First presents

Tonight we decided to let the boys open their first Christmas presents which happened to be from Aunt Cindy, Uncle Steve, and cousins Denin, Ian and Luke. Colvin tore right into his like he's done it before. Nolan lost interest once paper starting flying from Colvin's gift. The toys, fancy little monster trucks at rev up and go, were a HUGE hit. Did I say HUGE?! I mean HUGE! I had to hurry and finish unwrapping the second one in hopes of squashing the big fight over the first one. Colvin only wanted whichever one that Nolan had so they continued fighting over these toys for about an hour, playing and fighting, playing and fighting. We got a video with our new video camera. Once I figure out how to do it, I'll upload a video clip of all the excitement.

This was a test run for Colvin's outfit for our family pictures that we had done yesterday. Nolan was asleep so I don't have my own pics yet of the outfit he wore. I'll have to take a couple because it was really cute and the ones from the photographer don't really do his outfit justice. I'll post some of those pictures once I get them loaded up on the computer.

Nolan - "Get'r done!"

Nolan was rockin' out on his pony.

Colvin in his car.

I think it's so cute how Nolan sits.

I'm not sure what I did, but Colvin sure was giving me the evil eye.

November 2009

Somehow, I didn't manage to take a ton of pictures in November. I guess I was busy at the gym. My mom and sometimes my dad have been coming over to watch the boys while I'm at the gym each day so that I don't have to put them in childcare at the gym. It's been so nice not having sick kids. Thank you, Mom and Dad!!! My mom has also been making meals for the boys that have a ton of veggies in them, but not so as the boys would ever know. She's very sneaky like that.

What else has been going on? We've been taking lots of walks with the boys in the side by side stroller. They are so good; they just look around and check out everything that's going on around them. Sometimes we stop at the park and let them swing and play in the playground. They really like that, but then they don't like to get back in the stroller to go home.

Nolan has a very cute way for grabbing for things with his thumb and forefinger. One day I was cleaning windows and had noticed a fly buzzing around. Next thing I knew, I heard Nolan laugh and he had caught that fly with his two fingers. I'm going to give him some chopsticks and see how he does with those next time. :)

The boys are talking all the time. Most of the time I can't understand them, but they have said a lot of things that were plain as day. Here are some of the things Colvin has said... "I'm a big boy", "Good Grief", he tried to say "Great Googly Moogly", "Good Morning". Nolan doesn't talk quite as clearly as Colvin, at least he doesn't repeat words that was say so much. Today he was saying "Outside" and they both say "Babies!" when they first see each other in the morning. Nolan will answer questions with yes or no, whereas Colvin doesn't do that too much. They are so different. They do play really well together, but they also fight really well too.

Both boys have been blissfully healthy this past month. Maybe all that anti-bacterial gunk I smear all over everyone is doing the trick. :) We've only had a few minor bumps and bruises, although Colvin had a scary fall. He dove, head-first, off the play fort. He acted kind of funny for a while so I was worried that he'd hurt his neck. He ended up being just fine. Thank you, God! Oh yeah, the only other boo boo was the big set of teeth marks that Nolan left on Colvin's back one day. Ouch.

Everyone (my parents, Ty & Sarah & Myles, and Jeff & Steph came over to our house for Thanksgiving. It was a lovely day and a super yummy meal that everyone contributed to. Well, I'll quit blabbing and get on with the pictures.

Nolan and his Thanksgiving feast

Nolan was trying out his spoon.

I don't know what Mark was trying to feed him, but I don't think Nolan was too excited about it.

Colvin liked the sweet potato, but that was about it.

He tried my brother's mashed potatoes and got quite the shock when he tasted all the garlic that Ty put in them. You should have seen his face.

Colvin

Nolan at the park

Colvin loves to put Mark's hats on.

Little buddies.

Colvin got all caught up in the soccer net.

Nolan and Mark at the playground.

Nolan

Nolan got himself stuck in the tote.

Colvin in his new car. They were supposed to be Christmas presents but I couldn't wait.

Mimi and the boys.

Mimi and Colvin all snuggied up.

The boys love sitting in this toy bin and watching TV. I think that, mostly, Nolan is the one who loves to sit in it. Colvin sat in it because he saw Nolan do it. :)

Colvin

Nolan

Halloween 2009

A little picnic inside during this crazy little cold snap we had the past couple days.

These are the pumpkins that Mark and I carved. Mine is the little guy. I thought they turned out pretty good considering neither one of us has carved a pumpkin in at least 15 years or so.

Colvin the giraffe, Mark, and Nolan the elephant - getting ready to trick or treat for the first time. We were in Jeff and Steph's new neighborhood checking out their great new house.

At the first house the lady let the boys reach in and grab what they wanted. Colvin got a candy in each hand. I eventually took the peanut butter cup away since he was chewing on it, but he kept a death grip on that little package of Whop*pers the entire time. It was adorable.

Nolan was not having any fun in his costume and cried until we took it off and just let him run around in his onesie.

Suprisingly, Colvin was quite content in his and seemed to have a good time running around the neighborhood. Maybe it was the magical package of Whop*pers in his hand.

Nolan thought his costume was much more entertaining when Jeff was wearing it.

Colvin and his trick or treat bag. They were out of pumpkins at the store so I grabbed a couple black gift bags and Steph and I covered them with Halloween stickers. They actually turned out pretty cute.

Back at Jeff and Steph's house.

A few more Oct. pics

October 2009 Pics

Nolan was so cute sitting on the couch with Daddy.

Me and my lil' punkins

Daddy, Nolan, Aunt Steph, Colvin, and Uncle Jeff at the pumpkin patch.

Nolan

Colvin

Colvin likes to hang out with this orange bowl on his head.

The boys like to take rides on our backs and stomachs when we are trying to do floor exercises.

I think Nolan is trying to do a pushup too.

Colvin says, "Come on, Dad, you can do 10 more pushups!"

Colvin getting a ride while Dad does pushups.

Colvin

Nolan thought Mark's pushups needed to be a little tougher so he added 32 pounds or so.

Nolan

Mark and Nolan in his Giraffe costume.

Colvin in a Zebra costume that we took back and traded for an elephant.

Colvin and Nolan

Nolan - when I first put these costumes on the boys I laughed so hard I got hysterical and nearly peed my pants.

Sunday bike ride to the park. Colvin was doing a safety inspection.

Mark and Nolan

Nolan

Nolan playing in the park.

Colvin and Nolan. Colvin was mostly interested in playing in the woodchips. It made me think how much he would have loved visiting the saw mill where my Uncle Dave Fiscus worked back in Indiana when I was a little kid. They lived out in the woods and I loved going to visit.

Peek-a-boo.

Colvin working on his pile of woodchips.

Nolan and Mark

Colvin and Nolan LOVE to swing.