Another example of how Caden is just like me: when he saw he was getting a hot dog for lunch, he started giggling and clapping his hands. When I wasn't getting it cut up fast enough, he started saying, "Biite" and signing "Please."

Ah, it's been a long time since I've blogged. I kept meaning to, but then a child would scream or I was trying to pack, or I was in KY with no internet. Anyway, we're back home now after a wonderful visit with the family! We had a party every night and then a great Christmas Eve! That was our day with Tim, Laura, Grace, and Holden. They came over for lunch and stayed until late so we got a wonderful visit! The boys are both blessed beyond measure and had so much fun! It's fun for us that Corban is starting to get Christmas. He definitely knows that Christmas is Jesus birthday, he kept telling everybody that he and his Daddy got the Christmas tree for Jesus birthday. But he's also starting to get Santa. We are doing Santa - some in his family don't, but I told him if he took Halloween away from me, I was doing Santa. I feel like I grew up doing Santa presents and I still knew the importance of the real reason we were celebrating.

Mom and Dad's new house is really nice, it was great to get to be there and not trying to go back and forth between other places. It was still a bit of a "camping" experience because they aren't totally finished with the inside work. We were mostly in the partially finished basement where she has a TINY kitchenette, but our bedrooms are all upstairs - no doorknobs on any doors! The boys both slept pretty well the whole time we were gone and have done decently since we came back. In fact, the little one is just now waking up and he went to bed very early last night. He's not "sick" but I don't think that he feels very good. Poor baby :(

Today Johnny is fishing, I'm hoping he doesn't get snowed in! We've got about 3 inches on the ground down here (he's up near Erie) and I'm debating going out to Target and the mall this morning. Friday we're having the group over for New Year's Day dinner - pork roast and sour kraut. I think Thursday we're just going to stay in. Di asked us over, but it's so hard with the boys, and we wouldn't be able to stay the whole time anyway. I can't believe that it's almost 2010! Didn't any year in the 2000's sound like they would never get here when we were younger, and now we're a decade in. I can't even begin to go back and do a "year in review" like Kim did (you must keep an incredibly detailed calendar!), but I know that my boys are growing up so fast and that we have been blessed as a family this year. We have a wonderful family, wonderful friends and church family, and God has given us all we need. There might be some things we wish we had sometimes, but when we think of what we do have, we can't help but acknowledge that all the good things we have been blessed with are not of our own doing, but come from Him. That's pretty comforting, that He is the one in control, not me!

One week until Christmas! Of course, by this time next week, my Christmas will pretty much be over. We're coming in on Monday, having the Brunker get-together that evening. Tuesday evening will be the Jenkins side I believe and we're doing our family Christmas on Christmas Eve. We'll just have a few things for the boys on Christmas Day then. Does anybody know if the Horse Park is open with the lights on Christmas Day? If it is we might think about heading up there. This has been a pretty decent week for us. Tuesday we had Bonnie keep the boys in the morning so that Johnny and I could finish up the boy's Christmas and then we were even able to eat a nice lunch together. Since then I've just been doing my normal thing. I didn't bake at all this year, and I'm totally fine with that! I'm finished with the wrapping and just have to wash clothes and pack, which I will do this weekend. I've been having to try to get out of the house quite a bit this week because the church's computer is being worked on so Johnny has needed to work from the house, which is next to impossible with the kids around. I'm headed to the gym for the third day in a row in a few minutes when Johnny gets back from running some errands.

I just listened from the other room while Corban and Caden did the "hot dog dance" at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - they sang along too and it was funny!

We had a good MOPS this morning, it was the Christmas brunch. A local minister spoke to us for a few minutes and then we wrapped the presents that we had bought for a local neighborhood ministry. Both boys were really good I think, so that always make me feel better. We came home and Johnny helped us get lunch around and the boys down for naps and then we watched a few shows while I wrapped presents of my own! I have emptied 5 rolls of paper - mostly leftover rolls from last year - in the last two days. The boys are loving their swords! No big plans for the rest of the week except Johnny is going hunting again on Saturday.

Kim, I'm not planning to buy any uggs for anybody, but I must say that they are probably more utilitarian up here than down there. I am looking for something really warm that I can pull on when I have quick trips to make around town.

Today on the way home from MOPS Corban and I were singing "Jesus Loves Me." He does it really well by himself now and it just always makes me smile. After that I started singing "Away in a Manger" for the first time around him and realized that he was singing along! I asked him where he learned it and he said at Church. My boys are growing up so quickly! I can't believe how big they are and how grown up they are both acting. Pictures and video to follow hopefully!

Today I went Christmas shopping! I think I'm just about finished except for the boys. Johnny and I are going to try to go sometime together, but not sure if that's going to work out or not. He kept the boys this morning while I went out. He took them to get haircuts and then to the mall to play and eat lunch. Corban's hair is a little too short for my taste and Caden's could have used a little more taken off. Oh well. Now I have to wrap all the the presents and figure out how to get them to KY, and Thursday morning I've got MOPS. I'm looking forward to it, but it's a brunch so we're all taking food, plus the gifts for the MOPS workers, plus the kids. It's hard to get in the door with all of that sometimes! Saturday Johnny is going hunting ALL DAY again.

The other day Corban told me that Jesus was his best friend, makes me feel like I'm doing something right. They've both kind of been handfuls lately. I try to keep telling myself that Corban is only 2 1/2, but that doesn't help my attitude with him sometimes! Caden is generally such a sweetie, but he definitely has a stubborn streak - wonder where he gets that? (ha ha). Yesterday we had Luke, Nadine, Diana, and Joshua over. Caden called Luke "Mama" three times, and he never calls me that - he calls me "Daddy!" Corban was so excited to get to hold Joshua and is always very careful with him. Having my two and then a little one in the house makes me realize we definitely need to wait a while before we have #3 - I don't think I could be alone right now with the two I've got and an infant! And going out would be out of the question too!

Today was Caden's 15 month check-up. Yes, I know that he is 16 months old, but we had to reschedule one when we came to KY in August, so this is when it worked out to be. Caden is 31 inches, and 22 1/4 lbs. His height is in the 34% and his height weight is in the 14%. Still cracks me up how different his percents are from Corban, he never had anything below 75%. The doctor said everything looks good and Caden got 3 shots. One of them was the booster for his regular flu shot. They actually offered the H1N1, but I declined. I'm not against it, but he was getting 3 already, he doesn't go to school or daycare, and it's on the decline now anyway. My baby boy didn't make a peep when he got his shots. I don't thin he's ever really cried when he got them, but this time he honestly just looked at us. Again, much better than Corban's last shot. I didn't hold his hands tight enough when he got his flu shot last Tuesday that he reached for the thing and broke the needle. The nurse yelled at me and Corban freaked.

I'm hoping that Johnny will take Corban to go get our Christmas tree today. It's killing me that it's not already up and if we don't get it today it will be Sunday before we can. And at that point we will only have 2 weeks before we're leaving for KY. Maybe he can even get our outside lights up, I bought old school big colored lights for outside. For the last few years I've had lighted snowflakes, but they were crap and I didn't want to spend that kind of money again. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sick and tired of spending money on stuff that doesn't last. And knowing that the same types of things (i.e. Christmas lights) used to last forever.

I also need a new crockpot. Does anybody have one that they're just in love with? I think mine that I melted might work, but I'm a little afraid to take the chance!

We had a pretty good week. We left Tuesday evening for Johnny's parents for Thanksgiving. They're in the house now that they are going to be caretakers of until the owners either sell or move back. It's a really nice house with lots of space inside and out. We were short on bedrooms - Johnny and I ended up giving Corban the king size bed in the master bedroom, put Caden in the closet in his pack and play, and we slept on a mattress on the floor in the loft. It was a good week though, John bought the 4 wheeler from the owners, so they spent lots of time riding around on that and Corban got to ride his tricylce lots out in the empty garage. Friday Libby and I went shopping early(ish) and then they all came out to the house and we had our Christmas that evening. It's fun to see Abby and Corban get excited over their new toys and the Christmas tree and all that.

Now I can't wait to get my Christmas tree and to get the rest of my shopping done. We'll be headed to KY three weeks from tomorrow!

We've had a lot going on lately. This weekend was absolutely beautiful, so we took advantage of the weather and raked leaves all day Saturday. Our yard isn't totally clean, but it looks much better than it did! Caden especially loved playing in the leaves, his face was brush burned from diving headfirst into the piles. Sunday we had church of course, and after naps we took the boys to the park wehre Corban was able to ride is tricycle for the first time! It's still just a tad too big for him and he just wasn't able to make it go on the grass or gravel, but he really made it fly on the basketball courts! We ended up eating supper with Don, Bonnie, and Mrs. Jean so that's always fun.

Sunday night I got home and had a message from Angela telling me about Jane and her baby. I had a really hard time taking that in and hurting so much for Jane and not being able to do anything. It didn't help that within a few minutes of hearing about Jane I read Mckmamma's blog and found out what bad shape her little boy was in and the scary prospect of his surgery. While I was reading that I was talking to Libby on FB and she was telling me that one of Cameron's cousins had just had twins and one of them didn't make it. It just seems like everywhere I turned there were babies who hadn't made it and families who were grieving. It really brought into focus how much God has blessed our family with and the fact that I've done NOTHING to deserve what I have been given.

On a happier note, our lives have been pretty much normal. We've been doing a lot of running and going, but that's OK with me especially while it's decent outside. I haven't made it to the gym for a while, but am hoping to tomorrow. We're trying to get ready now to go to Applebee's. They're giving veterans a free meal today. We're leaving the boys with Jean and Bonnie and going with Craig, Diana, Luke, and Nadine.

Caden made the sign for milk today - he also said it at the same time, so not sure how much good it's going to do me! He's saying all kinds of stuff all of a sudden, "juice" and "no, no, no" seems to be his favorites, but he says "ball" and "bubba" too. We were sitting on the couch one evening and I said, "Caden, where's brother?" He just about knocked himself out to get over and hug Corban and said, "Bubba." I think my favorite though is when I tell him to say please and he rubs his little belly for the sign and says, "pweese." Ah, I love my boys, even if they are destroying the house as we speak!

AWWWW!

Conversation in the car between Johnny and Corban.
J: Corban, who loves you?
C: God loves me.
J: Who else loves you?
C: Jesus
J: That's right.
C: God loves Caden
J: Who else loves Caden?
C: Jesus.

Usually, when Johnny asks him that, Corban says, "You love me Daddy." I think we both like this way better!

I didn't lose it!

My wallet that is (my sanity has been gone for a long time). Today I was headed out to the grocery store and bent down to pick up the reusable grocery bags and there they both were , sitting two feet from the front door under those bags! I was so relieved - $80 did not get lost, I don't have to replace Caden's insurance cards. Too bad I spent $12 on a new license and used my $10 off coupon to buy a new wallet. And too bad that my high from finding my wallet didn't last through a big grocery run with both boys. That teaches me to never forget the snacks and drinks again! The boys weren't very happy, Caden was doing his screaming thing, and I forgot I had to fix something for a pot-luck. People were giving me nasty looks and cutting me off b/c of that big cart (the one with the extra seat). The checkout girl was not happy I was using reusable bags, and she kept moving the turntable before I could get my groceries off. She even caught my belt loop as I was leaning over trying to grab my bags. Oh well, I'm home now and it is a beautiful day and both boys are down for a nap!

Speaking of the boys, Caden is giving out kisses now. He grabs my face and plants one on me. I love it! It's still open mouthed and slobbery, but it's too sweet! Corban was a wonderful little boy in church yesterday, even with me in the nursery with him. That made me feel better after he was a little devil boy in KY last week.

We went to Texas Roadhouse with Craig, Diana, Luke, Nadine, and Christina last night. We had their mom and dad keep the boys, so that was nice being able to eat dinner and not worry about them the whole time. I think I ate about 8 rolls while we were there. And of course had to think of Jimmy in my head every time I asked for "more rolls." Well, Johnny and I need to eat lunch and we're hoping to watch a show too!

Our trip to KY was pretty good. We were kind of between both places because my Mom and Dad hadn't moved into their new house yet. We pretty much were at Ann and Jerry's to sleep and then we were at the new house most of the other time. The hayride was cancelled, so I missed out on that. We were still able to get together with Larry, Lynn, Kerry, the Kenneys and the Marshes. Corban was a total nightmare the whole time we were gone and now he's having some potty issues. We're hoping to get that straightened out soon. Oh yeah, did I mention that my wallet was stolen in KY? I NEVER carry cash and I never let my purse out of my sight, but Mom and I were shopping at CATO and I was carrying Caden around, bringing her stuff in the dressing room, and I was incredibly hot, so I put my purse down on the stool for trying on shoes and left it. When I went to pay for dinner that night, no wallet. In fact, no wallets. I carried two with me and they were both gone. Pretty strong evidence that they were stolen instead of just one of my kids dragging it out of my purse. Johnny and I cancelled our cards, but the cash is gone. Dang it.

Right now the boys are playing here in the office and Johnny is at a coat drive. I'm not doing any of the stuff that I should be doing, but I'll get to that later I guess. I think Johnny's going to take the boys for a little bit after nap, so I'm looking forward to staying around the house alone for a while.

Caden is now saying, Daddy, Mama, Ball, and Juice. The other morning I'm pretty sure he asked for Nana and Poppy too! He's such a little cutie and smiling all of the time... until he gets upset and then he's a little monster! He loves to do this thing that if we pick him up under the arms and he doesn't want to be picked up, he puts his arms straight up in the air and we just about drop him. I just heard the toilet flush. I asked Corban if he had gone potty, and he said, "No, I just wiped Caden nose." Good grief! At least he's picking up the play room right now!

Yesterday we went to an orchard that has all of the fall festival stuff going on. We got there pretty late in the day because we let the boys take their naps and then it was quite a drive. We did a hayride and saw goats and other animals and played in the hay and went down these tube slides that they have built underground on a hillside. Then we bought a pie and went to Craig and Di's for supper - chicken parm that was really yummy! Tonight we're having a couple from church over for chicken noodle soup and apple pie - this one I made. I've got a lot of stuff to do, and so does Johnny before I come to KY on Thursday. I hope that we can get it all done!

Just now Caden was standing on the toy kitchen playing with an Elmo phone on top of it. I was calling Johnny in to see him and he turned around and fell off backward. This boy is such a little monkey; I know it won't be long before he climbs out of his crib. (Since then he has climbed up on the tool bench and also fell off). When we asked Corban what he learned in Church today he said, "how to be a good boy." I guess this month's lessons have been on obedience! He seems to be doing a little better about not biting Caden, of course I'll say that and he'll bite him 5 times this afternoon. I had better get my pie out of the oven.

We have an Art Bush concert at church tonight. He was supposed to be here at 3, called about then to say he would be here at 4, and just showed up at 4:49. The concert is at 6:30. Not that it's a big deal, but Johnny's got to miss supper now. I just finished the bulletin, but I'll print it while we're at church tonight. I did kind of clean up my kitchen and supper is in the over and I think I have a load of clothes in the wash.

Corban has been good as gold lately. I took him to the doctor yesterday because I felt like he had an ear infection. The nurse practitioner we saw really ticked me off, speaking down to me and not listening to what I was saying. Oh well, she did see some infection so he's on antibiotics. Then we went to JoAnn Fabrics and the mall. We had to pick up the pictures we had taken with the Watfords. I don't think that Paulette reads my blog, so I'll try to post some of those, they really did turn out pretty decent, considering we had 2 two year olds and 2 one year olds. What was my big idea with that anyway?

Caden has been the opposite story from Corban. He has been so whiny and cranky lately. I do remember Corban going through that, but I could handle that better, probably since I only had one to deal with. I'm hoping Caden gets out of this pretty quickly because he's starting to really make my nerves wear thin. All of their cuts and scrapes are healing up nicely, so I'm not so nervous to take them out in public - ha ha.

I am officially coming to KY next Thursday. I did decide to go ahead and have Johnny drive me halfway. I'm pretty sure I could have made it, but I spend a whole lot of the time turned around in the car while we're traveling trying to take care of the boys, so I'm just not sure how pleasant any of us would be when we got there if someone wasn't able to do that. We'll be in until Tuesday, and we're not sure yet where we'll be staying. Mom and Dad were hoping to get in this weekend, but that's not happening, so we might still be at the Brunker's. Well, I've got to get supper out of the over. Have a great weekend everybody! I think we're taking the boys to their first movie tomorrow. There is a free Christian film festival here and they are showing a kid's movie that isn't even out yet. We shall see how that goes!

So, people are going to start thinking I abuse my kids. Caden fell off my bed yesterday and has a huge knot on his forehead and some scrapes all across it. Dang it, I thought he was passed that! He looks so adorable with his new haircut. I'll have to get some pictures put up soon. They both got cuts yesterday. Caden sat in the seat by himself and did great while I had to put Corban on my lap and hold his head so that she could get at him. That was stressful, to have them both getting their haircuts at the same time. We also did some shopping yesterday because I had realized that Corban only had about 3 long sleeve shirts for just wearing around the house. I caught a decent sale at JCPenny and I had a 15% off coupon, so I didn't do too bad. Today we went to Target because we needed new phones in the house and I had a 10% off for there. I bought Corban some more shirts, a few picture frames, and the phones.

Last night I went to a Pampered Chef show while Johnny watched the kids. Second night this week that he's had both of them for dinner and to put to bed. It's been nice, especially since I'll be headed to KY in a few weeks and will be doing a lot more of that on my own. Which brings up a question. I am thinking about making the trip in by myself with the kids this time. I'm pretty sure that I can do it, but Mom and Dad are having a fit. I hate to have everybody end up taking two days off to get me there and back - we meet halfway and switch over. What are your opinions? It's a 7 hour drive, but it usually takes closer to 8 hours. I would go through Ohio because Alicia lives there and she would be backup if I needed her. We usually just stop once for gas and to eat.

Oh, and Corban is pretty much potty trained! He wears pull-ups for naps and nighttime, and he just had an accident, but it was because he was trying to go and couldn't get his pants down. Other than that, we've been accident free for over a week now and he tells us when he needs to go while we're out. I'm so excited! If I would start using the cloth diapers on Caden again, my diaper bill would go WAY down!

I wonder if I should take down the picture of the boys in the tub after those kids got taken away from their family. I know I don't know the whole story, but good grief!

It's been a long, but good weekend. Libby and Cameron got here after the boys were asleep Thursday night. We got up Friday and took all of the kids to the zoo. It was a perfect day for it too. It was warm without being hot and it wasn't crowded at all. We were able to let the older two walk on their own most of the time, which is alway a plus with Corban. After Corban woke up that afternoon Johnny took him to get his stitches out. He did amazingly well. They still had to papoose him, but I don't think that he cried at all. When he got home though, he was sick. He had been working up to it for a while, but it finally hit him. That was a rough night, because both of the woke up quite a bit, but by the next morning he was feeling much better. Saturday we took everybody to JCPenny to get pictures done. We're planning to surprise John and Paulette with them this year. That was in interesting experience at best. The studio was crowded with other appointments and the kids weren't in the greatest mood. When we were trying to get just the 4 of them there wasn't a single shot where all 4 of them were looking at the camera. We finally did a whole family picture and those turned out OK then Libby and Cameron did some of just their family. After that it was lunch and back home for naps and Libby and Cameron packed up to head home.

This morning I have kept the kids home from church. I don't want to spread around whatever we've had to all of the other kids in the nursery. We also had to cancel a cookout we had planned for this afternoon. I've looked forward to doing this for a long time, so I'm bummed that we've had to cancel, especially at the last minute. I figure though that the parents would rather have plans cancelled than to let their kids get sick.

We don't have big plans for this week, but this weekend is a Celebration of the Restoration movement here in PA. Funny that the two places we've lived since we've been married are 40 minutes away from major restoration centers. So, our weekend is pretty busy with that and Johnny's parents are coming in for it too. Then he's got his minister's appreciation dinner next week and the next Friday is an Art Bush concert here at church and the next weekend I'm headed to KY!

I have been meaning to tell you what Caden did a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday, so I was in the house getting the boys and myself ready alone. I came downstairs and put Caden in his high chair - all 5 points of the harness - and went into the kitchen to fix breakfast. While Corban and I were in the kitchen, Caden was fussing the whole time... then all of a sudden I didn't hear him fussing. What I did hear was little feet pounding the floor. That's right, he got out of the straps of the high chair, got out of the seat, and somehow got down out of the high chair by himself. You should have seen him, he looked so proud of himself!

Yesterday after breakfast I was talking to the woman I babysit for and I had a show on for the boys. I kept hearing a noise in the dining room, but I thought it was the blinds clicking together. When I got off the phone I had to go in search of Caden. He was sitting up in the middle of the table surrounding by a mess - huge mess. Scary thing was, I had my sewing maching and a pair of scissors on the table. There's no telling how much damage he could have done with those.

Potty training is going really well. Corban hardly ever has an accident in the house, but we're having problems while we're out. Even though he's been in public restrooms, I don't know that he gets the idea of being able to use those whenever he needs. He's also doing really well with his eye. It looks horrible, but it doesn't seem to bother him anymore. We've got to go back to the ER on Saturday to get them out. I'm thinking they'll have to put him in the papoose again, so I'm not looking forward to that.

However, Libby and Cameron and the kids are coming up on Thursday! We're going to go to the zoo and hopefully get the kids to the photo studio to get pictures of the four of them together. I hate it that Corban's eye is going to look like it does, but this is the first time we've all been together when we've had a few spare minutes to get it done and I think it will be a great Christmas surprise for John and Paulette. Well, both boys are up now and I'm going to go make waffles and then head to the grocery store. I have a HUGE order of groceries to get b/c we're having company this weekend, plus having a cookout on Sunday, plus we're just out of everything. This should be interesting with a potty training toddler.

By the way, it is not 8 whatever, it is 11:35

Traumatized

We just got home from the ER. Corban stood up in the tub and fell and hit his face on the edge of it. He cut his eyelid pretty badly. It quit bleeding pretty quickly and he was acting fine, but we went ahead and took him to the ER. We were sure they were just going to send us home, but they decided it needed stitches. IT WAS HORRIBLE! They laid him on this stretcher thing that had straps that came around and velcroed. He looked like a burrito when they had him in it. If that wasn't bad enough, they had to put the thing over his face with a hole in it where he needed stitched, so he was in the dark, which I might add he hates. He screamed the whole time they were doing it and for probably about 45 minutes after. I'm glad we took him since he needed stitches, but man, was it rough. Now I'm all jittery and can't settle down.

Today had been a great day too. We had church, leftovers for lunch, and the boys took good naps while Johnny and I watched several episodes of 24 - Season 4. When the boys woke up, we went to play mini golf. Someone had given us a really good coupon that expires soon, so we took advantage of this beautiful day. Johnny's got Corban down to sleep. I'm gonna go talk to my husband and try to calm down.

I feel like crap. Potty training is going OK. We've got a birthday party for the afternoon/evening. I've got the bulletin done. Caden has discovered the word "No." But he also says "Daddy" and "Mama." We ate out last night, but it was miserable because we didn't get there until almost 8 and both kids were a little too antsy.

Potty training is actually going very well. So far he has pooped twice in the potty, and not at all in his pants! Both times it has been right after supper and he's just gotten down from his seat, gone into the bathroom, and taken care of business. I was riding a high for the rest of the evening last night, I was so proud of him! Today we're trying it with underwear though, so we'll see how this goes. Right after I put them on him, he peed, but since then he's gone once on the potty. I guess it's just that he's so young and learning control, but man, this boy has lots of pee in him! I think he's gone at least 5 times this morning. I need him to be more like me and only go about twice a day!

We had a rough night last night. For some reason they were both awake most of the night and Caden still doesn't feel good, so he's an especially cranky baby today. I guess I can't really call him a baby, he's officially a toddler, but he's still my baby!

Right now they're playing in the play room with me. Corban is alternating between playing with the mega blocks and making a train out of every vehicle he has. Caden is just getting into stuff and whining every few seconds. I'm going to get these boys some lunch and hopefully they'll both take great naps - and maybe I will too!

I have officially started potty training Corban. We started yesterday and so far he hasn't ever really told me that he needed to go, but we only had 3 accidents on the floor yesterday and none today! He's just going naked from his waist down and wearing a pull-up at night and at nap. Hopefully we can keep this up for a while and make some progress. I'm optimistic that we can have him mostly potty trained by the time that we come to KY in October.

We went to Williamsport for Kenan's first birthday this weekend. Doesn't seem like just a year ago that he had such a rough start to his life, but he's a healthy happy little boy now! We came home Monday, and we've basically been in since then. Caden has had a cold, so I haven't been able to go to the Y and I haven't needed to go anywhere else. We were going to have someone watch the boys while we went to group tonight, but Caden's fever has come back up, so we don't want to do that to anyone, so it looks like I'm staying home tonight.

Oh yeah, and Corban has started lying to us! I asked him this weekend if he needed a diaper change and he said, "No, Daddy just changed me." Johnny asked him another time and he said, "No, Grammy just changed me." Little stinker. Obviously we had not just changed him! I just watched Caden pick up Corban's bear and toddle over to Corban and hand it to him. Too cute! Caden is definitely getting a little personality. The other night we had our small group over here and Corban was in the play room, so Caden had us all to himself. He was running from one end of the room to the other roaring at us and then laughing hysterically.

This weekend we've got an 80th birthday party for a member of the church and then next weekend we're hoping for Libby and Cameron and the kids to come visit us. If that doesn't happen, we're headed out to an orchard for a fall festival type thing. October is filling up too, and then it will be the holiday season and Christmas shopping will sneak up on me.

Today Johnny left early this morning to go fishing. Now he's home and has both kids in the kitchen cooking supper. We've had a blah kind of day. We went to the Y this morning, played for a while in the play room and outside, had lunch and took naps. Oh yeah, did I mention that I got ridiculously angry at Corban? I am so tired of that boy grabbing things... everything... he takes things off tables, countertops, out of my purse. He just gets stuff all of the time and I'm ALWAYS telling him to stop. Today while I was fixing lunch he grabbed my half full cup of tea off of the end table and got it all over himself and the couch. UGH! After it was all over and we had made up, he said, "you scared me mommy." Now if that doesn't make me feel like crap.

We don't have plans for tomorrow, but Sunday after church we're headed to Williamsport for Kenan's 1st birthday. The party is at 5:30 Sunday evening and we'll stay the night and come home on Monday. We finally got new DVD players for the car, so I'm not dreading the traveling so much.

Caden's stats: weight 15% head 20% height 45%. He's such a little bit! He did great at the doctor's today, even though we had to wait forever. He was so exhausted when we left he was asleep before I even pulled out of my parking spot. This morning when I came downstairs with Corban, Johnny and Caden were already up. Caden wanted me to pick him up, so when I did I gave him a great big hug and he turned around, lifted his little face to me, and gave me a huge kiss on the mouth! He's such a sweetie already!

This afternoon while I was trying to cook and clean, I thought that the boys were playing really well together in the living room. A few minutes after I realized how quiet they were Corban came and got me and said, "Surprise!" No telling what that could mean with the two of them. I came into the living room and they had my purse on the floor, completely emptied out. Not a big deal, but still a reminder that I need to check on them very often.

I've got a lot to do today. I've got to make an eclair dessert and a hash brown casserole for our small group tonight. I've also got to clean the bathrooms and the microwave before everybody comes over. On top of that, I've got to take Caden for his one year check up. Yes, I realize he is quite a bit past his one year mark, but the appointment I had scheduled had to be rescheduled because it was while I was in KY, and I wasn't going to miss a trip home for a doctor's appointment. Caden has turned into a big mimic. Everything that Corban does, he does too. They make trumpet noises in the car, they are both monsters A LOT, and Corban does this weird cough/laugh that of course Caden does too. It's so funny watching them together when they actually play together and talk to each other. Sometimes Corban is great about it, other times he can't stand it if Caden touches ANYTHING. I feel like a referee most of the time. Susan, you'll have to tell me if it's any better with 4 years between them, or if that's just wishful thinking on my part.

I've been reading a few other blogs lately that make me question mine. They're all deeply introspective and informative, mine is basically just a list of what we do and what cute things the boys are doing. I guess I would feel differently if it wasn't just the few of you guys following, which brings me to another thought, how in the HECK to these people get so many followers on their blogs? Seriously? I know word of mouth, but still, it's insane that so many people continually check up on complete strangers lives. Oh well.

We've had an awesome weekend! Friday we played mini golf with Corban, Saturday I went shopping and Johnny took the boys to the zoo, Saturday we had a cookout with friends, yesterday we took the boys to the park after church, and today we took the boys to this indoor play center and we even got a few errands done. We're hoping that the boys are both so exhausted that they sleep really well, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

Kerry, the rest of this post is for you. If I had paid full price for everything at Children's Place it would have been $348, I paid $103, so I had a savings of $245. And even though I cringe at the thought of spending $100 on clothes at one time, I basically do this twice a year and then I don't buy them much the rest of the year. If I consider I spend $200 a year on the both of them, I can't complain. Also, the whole family ate Chick-fil-A sandwiches free not once, but TWICE today! The are stores were having a promotion that if you wore your atheletic apparel into the store, you would get a free sandwich today. We went to the mall this morning and wore our Steelers stuff, then we went to a different one after the play area. We bought drinks and fries, but the main part of our meal was free! Gotta go finish 24, we're on the last episode!

I just got home from the outlet mall. The only place I bought anything was Children's Place. Like I said, I generally don't love the outlet mall, but Children's Place is definitely worth the trip. They must get all of the clearance stuff from all of the regular stores in the area plus they have Outlet Only Deals. I bought a ton of clothes for the boys for next summer, plus birthday presents for lots of little boys, and some jeans and sweaters, for only about $100. I'm going to have to try to total up the original prices just to see how much I saved. Plus, for those of you not familiar with PA, we don't pay sales tax. OK, I'm done talking shop (ha ha!)

While I was shopping Johnny took the boys to the zoo. I was kind of concerned, but he said that they did great. After the boys wake up we're going to Don and Bonnie's for a Labor Day cookout. Other than that and church, we don't have any big plans for the weekend. We're trying to watch Season #3 of 24, we're about halfway through now and hoping that we can finish up before the new season of shows starts.

We just got back from the Y and the boys have both had lunch. Corban is watching a Curious George and I'm getting ready to put Caden to sleep. This boy has been so cranky lately! He really needs more than one nap a day, but it's for my benefit that he only gets one. It's either put up with the crankiness or not have then nap at the same time.

I am so proud of myself, this was my third day in a row to get to the gym AND I finally did 2 miles in 30 minutes on the elliptical! Kim, I know that's probably not impressive to you, but I was dang pleased. Then I did a lot more in the weights section than I normally do. That area cracks me up b/c it's usually a pretty even mix of old guys and youngish guys, then there's me. I've been proud of myself for not feeling self-conscience in there either.

Tomorrow I'm headed to the outlet malls! Usually I'm not too impressed with them, but Children's Place generally has awesome end of season sales, so I'm shopping for the boys for next summer - and maybe the next summer! I'm going completely by myself and king of looking forward to that. I don't shop well with other people for the most part; Sherry, Kerry, Laura, and my Mom are the only exceptions to that rule and since that doesn't work out, I'm in it alone. Well, Caden is almost begging to be put down for his nap, so I'm gonna go do my Mommy duties.

This is just a cute of Caden sitting in the toy box. I finally had to get trash cans to put in there to keep the toys separated a little bit. But he loves to climb things and then sit in things. Too bad he never sits still in my lap for more than 5 seconds. Next is Corban being silly at Don and Bonnie's. Seems like we're there a lot and I guess he just felt like getting into stuff.

Caden at his birthday party in KY. He had a chocolate beard! And there's Carter in the back - Hi Carter! The other one is Caden at his birthday party in PA. I still can't believe he's a year old!

Vacation at Niagara Falls. It's awesome and totally worth the trip. If you go though, try to do it from the Canadian side. Next is Abby, Kenan, Corban and Caden at Johnny's parent's house. Every time we get a group shot of C & C like this, looks like Corban is choking Caden.

I guess that's it for now! I don't think that our day is going to be too exciting. Johnny is helping Luke move a couch, then working. I'm hoping to head to the gym this morning. Sometime this evening I will probably head over to Diana's house. I had taken them a chicken Tuesday and I told her that I would make a potpie out of the leftovers, so I will try to have Johnny stay with the kids so that I can do that. Craig went back to work last night, so I'll try to do that after he's gone in the evening so that I can give her a hand with anything she needs. Other than that, I'm hoping to spend some time outside with the boys today. I have a feeling that our outside days are dwindling and I want to take advantage of them.

I thought that I was going to add a lot of pictures this time, but I realized I hadn't downloaded my camera after all. This one is a pic of Corban and Johnny looking at the sharks at the zoo. I have to go back as far as Caden's birthday at some point, you know, with all of my free time! I'm wondering how the person who has to be the most busy of us "bloggers" is the one who blogs the most. Hats off to you Susan!

We've had a pretty normal week so far. Sunday was church, naps, a new park that is really awesome, then Arby's to eat dinner. Yesterday we had to take the car in for inspection and found out we needed 4 new tires, or it wouldn't pass. Yeah, that was a heck of a bill. I'm hoping to get to the gym today. I've been once in the last 4 weeks. I haven't had Nina this week because we're trying to get her bus route figured out. You would be amazed how hard that is in a district of this size with this many schools. I don't see how they do it.

Corban is loving his new tee ball tee, bat, and glove. Rachel and Rebecca Lee gave him the bat and glove, so we went out and got the tee. It's all he wants to do anymore. Caden is finally pretty much off baby food (we had problems with him getting gagged and throwing up for a long time), and he's running around and getting into things like crazy. I HATE that about this age. Between the two of them, I spend my day as a referee because Corban can't stand for Caden to touch ANY toy and all Caden wants to do is play with Corban, or get into stuff that he shouldn't. Well, I had better go get breakfast ready. If I ask Corban what he wants I'm sure he'll say "waffles" and I just might make them for him!

It's a dreary day here in Pittsburgh. I got up and made Monkey bread for breakfast, Corban was very excited about that. After breakfast we went to Dick's and got a tee for Corban, some girls at church gave him their old tee ball bat, glove, and a ball, so we've been playing that a lot and we thought we would get a tee to see how he does. We also made a stop at Lowe's for some lumber so Johnny can fix the seat on his boat. Right now Johnny and Corban are getting ready to go mow the yard, I've got the bulletin to do and some cleaning. Not sure what we're going to do after nap, but Luke is coming over for supper and to play cornhole, at Corban's request.

I finally got back to the gym yesterday. It had been almost a month since I had gone. It felt good to get back, but I definitely could not do what I used to. On the way home Corban said, "See Di Di baby." He knows that Diana had her baby and I guess he really wanted to go see him. We actually dropped the boys off with Bonnie and Miss Jean yesterday so that we could go see Joshua. He's a cutie. He weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz and has the chubbiest cheeks and so much hair!

I am trying to potty train Corban, but I don't think it's going to go very well. He's peed on the toy chest twice already. At least he did come and tell me as soon as he did it. Caden is actually what's making it hard though, he can't leave Corban alone while he's on the potty and he can't leave the potty alone either. This is going to make for a frustrating day I think. Oh well, it's got to happen sometime, but if someone out there has any pointers for me, I'l sure take them.

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Last Monday we went to Altoona to pick up Johnny's cousin Katie so that she could spend a few days with us. She's the one who came to stay a week to help out when Caden was born, and she's headed to college at the end of the month, so she wanted to get in a visit with us. We took her home on Friday and stayed for Johnny's grandfather's 90th birthday party on Saturday. We drove home late and then were up half the night b/c the boys wouldn't sleep. The rest of this week is pretty clear, but I'm sure that will change fast.

While Katie was here, we went to play miniature golf one afternoon when I had Nina too. Corban did so well. I was afraid that he was going to chase everybody's balls and be a wild man, but he played his ball and waited rather patiently while the rest of us played each hole. He was always good for about 3 putts then he would pick the ball up and move it a couple of inches from the hole and then putt it in from there. He did however, make a legal hole-in-one! Yesterday afternoon we took the boys to the zoo for a few hours. We haven't been able to do Kid's Kingdom the last few times we've gone, so we started with that. We love our zoo membership and the fact that it's only about 20 minutes away.

We've gotten a lot accomplished today. Johnny made chicken and pasta salad for the picnic today - I made blueberry dessert yesterday. I did the bulletin and when I got home Johnny cleaned up the kitchen while I tried to organize and pick up the play room. That still has some work ahead. Both boys have been super whiny this morning, but after lunch they both went down well for their naps. Right now Johnny is headed over to the church picnic and he'll come back when the boys wake up so that we can all go over together. I am going to go watch some TV and cross stitch while things are quiet.

AHHHH! I'm back! We finally got our computer back, it's bug free and we got the internet all set up at church, so we're using their wireless. I am so thankful to have the internet back, I can't even tell you! A lot has happened since I've been able to post. We went on vacation to Canada, Caden turned 1, we've been to Kentucky, my nephew Holden was born, and I'm sure we're missing lots. I'll post pictures of everything in a while, I've got to see what's been removed from the computer and get my pictures downloaded first.

My baby is 1! We had a party for Caden here at church, and all of the family was able to be here except for Tim, Laura, Grace, and Holden. The day after the party, Mom and Dad took me and the boys back to KY. We were able to stay from Sunday until the next Tuesday, so we had a great visit. Corban got to ride the tractor and see the cows, he even got to feed them the "haybale" he made for them! Caden mooed and sqealed at the cows. Both boys had fun playing with Grace and being outside, except that it was brutally hot. Mom and Dad's house is coming along really well. It's going to be so neat and we can't wait to visit them in it next time!

Now we're back home and planning a church picnic on Saturday and a trip to the zoo tomorrow. both boys and I have had some stomach issues, Caden can't seem to get rid of it. We had to change his whole outfit three times yesterday on the trip home. Oh, and Corban had a little trip to Kings Daughters in Grayson yesterday. He got his finger caught in the door at Pilot and Johnny thought that it was broken. We drove him over to the medical center there on campus and had it looked at. They were going to X-ray it, but he calmed down and we iced it and could tell his hand wasn't broken, if anything there might have been a hairline fracture in his finger. Rather than wait on the X-ray, we came on home. What do you think Kim, should we got get it X-rayed now? Well, I guess I should go get a dirty diaper changed... Caden's, not mine!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. We went to Johnny's parents a few weeks ago. Johnny got to fish and have a cookout with some of his friends from his old youth group, and we were able to be at Abby's birthday party. Since we've been home, Johnny finished building the boy's sandbox. It's actually Caden's birthday present, but we figured if we waited until his birthday they would miss out on playing with it for so long. It's a really nice box and he was able to make some flower bed boxes for me out of the scraps. We're trying to get ready for our Canada/Niagara Falls trip which is coming up really soon. We're leaving the 27th to go to Wolfe Island for a week of fishing and then we'll stay one night at Niagara on the way home. Getting ready for that trip is a big deal.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sick and tired of this weather. We've been in the pool one time and other than that, it's been rainy and just dreary the rest of the time. I know in a few weeks I'll be complaining about how hot it is, but this is not summer as far as I'm concerned. Well, got to get ready for dinner and small group.

Not much has been going on around here. Our computer is totally screwed up, so I pretty much only get on the internet when Johnny brings the church's laptop home. The boys are doing really well. Monday we got the boys rooms switched. Now Corban is in the front room in a big boy bed and Caden is in the nursery. Caden has made the switch much more easily than Corban has. He likes his bed, but now that he can get in and out freely, he does so often. So far we've had to spend about half an hour every night and naptime putting him back in bed. I finally got lazy yesterday and just looked at him standing at the top of the steps and told him to go back to bed... and he did! I had to tell him a few more times before he actually stayed there though. He didn't get up at all during the night last night, so that was an improvement.

Tuesday we're going to Williamsport for a few days. Johnny is going to fish Wednesday and Thursday and then we're having a picnic on Friday with some of his friends from his old youth group. I'm getting Corban and Caden's hair cut on Wednesday I think. Caden is in desperate need of one, and I promised Johnny I wouldn't let his get in as bad of shape as I did Corban's before his first hair cut. Bums me out though, that Brenda won't be giving him his first cut. I don't know what I'll get into while Johnny's fishing. Well, the little one is crying and it's naptime f or him.

So far we've had a really good weekend. We had friends over for a cookout last night. This was the first time entertaining on our new deck. The adults were able to hang out and talk while the kids played in the yard. It was a very nice evening, except for that the neighbor decided he needed to mow his lawn while we were out there. Oh well. I'm up early, which I am not loving, but Caden has a little cough and I don't think that he feels very good. Neither boy has been sleeping all that well lately, so Mommy and Daddy are pretty tired. Yesterday we had both been to the gym and showered by 8 am. Yuck. Today is a work day at church, so Johnny won't be around much. I don't even try to get involved with stuff like this because I would spend more time chasing the boys than working. Tomorrow is church and a cookout at Don and Bonnie's. Libby and Cameron had talked about coming down and taking the kids to the zoo on Monday, but that didn't work out. Now Johnny and I are trying to find something fun to do.

We found Caden's first tooth on Thursday! He does patty cake now and I'm pretty sure that he's said "bye" a few times. His "Ma Ma" and "da da" noises sound more and more like he's actually saying our names. Both boys are getting hair cuts in a few weeks, and then we're finally going to have Caden's "9 month" and Corban's 2 year pictures taken. I'm looking forward to that.

Mom and Dad have been out with their stawberries all week, they'r having a lot of fun with them, but I am so jealous not to be eating any of their strawberries! Maybe next year the boys an I can come down and "help." Have a great Memorial Day weekend everybody!

Caden is doing much better! Every day I could tell a difference in his tongue from morning until night. It's still not pretty, but I don't cringe every time I see it now. He will probably have a scar, maybe even a dent in his tongue, but I guess I would rather that than something more visual or that would hinder him. Of course, he never knew anything was out of the ordinary, he took it like a trooper.

So I haven't cooked in a long time. Tonight Craig and Diana had us over for stuffed shells, last night we ate out with a group of couples (no kids), Sunday night Bonnie and Don had us over for a cookout, so maybe I cooked Saturday but I'm not sure. We don't have plans for Memorial Day yet, we'll see what happens.

Trip to the ER

Those of you who have FB know that I had to take Caden to the ER last night. We had already had a busy day. Both boys had to go the doctor, Caden's 9 month visit and both of them had to have their ears checked after their ear infections. Then we went to Target and the post office to get my passport renewed. We came home and had a good afternoon and then went to the gym. When we got back I was trying to put the gate up so that Caden didn't climb up the stairs (again). He was getting in my way, so I stuck him in his high chair w/out the tray (there's a mini tray under the one that comes off). Anyway, I was fixing dinner too, so I left him there a little too long and he fell out. He hit his mouth on the table on the way down and bit through his tongue. There was SO MUCH blood, and I was home alone with the two kids. I ran next door and asked my neighbor to drive us to the ER and called Diana and Johnny on the way there. By the time we got there Craig, Diana, Penny, Luke, and Johnny were all there. They brought Corban home while we stayed in the ER with Caden. In the end, there was nothing to be done for him. If it had been really bad they would have had to taken him to Children's and sedated him to put a stitch in it. I've consulted with two Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors and they've both said the same thing, it should heal on its own. It's really gross though and freaks me out a little bit. In fact, I got kind of sick after everything was pretty much over last night. I felt bad for Johnny b/c he had to deal with me AND Caden.

Caden's check up went well though. He's 40% for height, 25% for weight and 15% for head circumference. He's never been above 50% for anything, which is funny b/c I don't think that Corban was ever under 50%. He also has a little heart murmur, which is no big deal. Honestly, with the stuff that my family has, I'm surprised they've been as healthy as they are! Well, gotta get Nina's hair ready for dance.

This morning when I got Corban out of bed he said something about the lion on the bed. He kept talking about it while I was changing his diaper and when we got done and were going out in the hallway he said, "Go see the lion now. Mommy and Daddy bed." When we went in there and he saw there was no lion on the bed he was truly dissapointed then he wanted to check the pack-n-play for the lion. I asked him if he had seen the lion while he was sleeping and he said yes. I guess the poor boy has inherited my vivid and wierd dreams.

No plans for today except that there is a planning meeting for Diana's baby shower this evening. I might head to the Y as soon as babysitting opens at 5 so that we can be home for dinner in time for me to go to the meeting. The boys are playing right now. Most of the time I feel like a referee because all I do is tell Corban to get off his brother or to give him some toy. Ma, they're growing up fast!

Two things I wish: 1) I wish that it would stop raining and be pretty weather already! We've not gotten to be out on our deck yet because the weather has been so yucky. 2) I wish that the boys would get over the runny nose. We have gone through a HUGE box of Kleenex in just a few weeks because their noses just won't quit running.

As soon as Johnny gets finished with a board meeting we' re going to Johnny Carino's for Luke's graduation party. It's taken the guy so long to finish school because he's been on at least two deployments with the National Guard. After that I'm hoping that the boys come home and take good naps because Caden had me up all night last night. He seems to sleep really well all week long, and then Saturday night a switch is flipped and he decides he jus doesn't want to sleep.

Corban is saying a prayer at mealtimes now, he says, "Thank you God, Amen." Caden is climbing stairs. I've got to get the gate up because he'll be halfway up them in no time and he's going to end up falling eventually.

It's been the same old thing around here lately. Both boys have been sick and had ear infections. We went to Johnny's parents for the weekend and that's about it. We've not been out on our deck once, due to being gone and bad weather. We're planning to get furniture for our birthday. Tomorrow we're going to the Outback and to watch Wolverine for our birthday. Diana is coming to watch the boys for us.

Today Corban was sitting at the table while Johnny and I were getting dinner out and he said, "Amen. Thank you Craig, Di Di, Luke, Nadine, J.B" They're all his favorite people... too precious! Also, today he was playing with his Aquadoodle and handed the pen to Caden and said, "Here Caden, you try." Sometimes he is the sweetest thing! Caden is pulling up and walking around the furniture. He's still not too steady, but he's getting there much faster than Corban did. He cracks me up because he is such a happy baby, but every once in a while he will let out this high pitched scream that is for no other reason than to hear his own voice. Oh, and we went to the Zoo on Monday. It was a pretty good visit. When we would leave an animal that Corban especially liked he would say, "Bye Bye ____. Thanks for comin!" Well, gonna go watch a show with Johnny before I fall asleep.

Both kids have been sick. I think that's all I really have to say about how my week is going. BUT, we got our new deck finished! John and Paulette came up Friday and Johnny and John got started then. They worked all day Saturday and finished up at 6 on Sunday. Of course they finished up in the rain and it's been raining ever since, so we've not gotten to use it yet. I am so thrilled with it though and am just visualizing cookouts and hanging out with the kids back there. I am so thankful that the church was willing to help us out with it.

The kids and I don't have anything planned until Friday. We've moved small group to church on Wednesday and I'm not going to go to MOPS due to illness. Friday we've got Corban's 2 year check up and we're supposed to be headed to Williamsport for the weekend. Johnny's cousin is home from Iraq, so they're having a party. We'll see if that happens though. We got this sick from Paulette, and they're all sick up there. Everybody will have to get to feeling better before I'm willing to get together.

Wow, it's been a busy couple of weeks! I don't even really know what to say we've been doing, but it seems like we haven't stopped. Johnny's parents were here last weekend and they got the layout done for the deck and Johnny's been working every time he can out there to get things ready for his parents to come back this weekend to get going on it. I am so excited about that deck! It's going to be tiny, but since that side of the house is a mud pit all summer, and it's the only bit of shade we get, it is a much needed addition. I'm so thankful for the church for helping us do it! We had a good Easter and have had something going on almost every night this week. We got a babysitter Monday and went with Craig, Diana, Luke, and Nadine to see Fast and Furious. I didn't like it quite as much as the first, but I did really enjoy it.

This week has been neat because it's the first time I've seen Corban really enjoy Caden and want to play with him. It's like he's finally realizing that Caden is going to be his buddy and he can't wait. Of course, Caden has just started a cold and the last few nights have been really rough. I keep telling myself that this not sleeping through the night stuff can only last so long. Eventually they're going to want to sleep all day... that's what I keep telling myself anyway!

Just to clear up any confusion, I am absolutely NOT PREGNANT! We have been taking all the measures possible to make sure that this does not happen again so fast. One day though, we do want to have #3. I'm putting in my order now for a little girl!

Can I just say that I am ready for warm weather? I was planning to head to the Y this moorning, but got up and saw that there was an inch of snow on the ground, and it was still falling! I am done dragging these babies out in the cold, so I decided to skip the Y. We've had a busy week. I got back from KY on Thursday Friday we had a big Family Movie Night event at church; Saturday was pretty decent, after Johnny and I got last minute church stuff taken care of. Sunday was busy as all Sundays are, but we did get Corban out to the park and had dinner at Friday's. Yesterday I had a HUGE grocery run and Nina and then the yearly congregational dinner and meeting at church. Since I'm not doing the Y today, we're pretty open. I'm debating coloring Easter eggs with Corban, but I had hoped to do that outside, not sure if I want to make that an indoor activity or not.

KY was great. I got to hang out with Sherry and Kerry one day. Mom treated us to day of pampering Wednesday. There were 4 generations getting pedicures - Nanny, Mom, Me, and Grace. Mom and I got our nails done too, and after lunch we got a massage. I also went to CATO and bought a couple of pairs of shoes and a purse. Corban got to see lots of animals at Paul Coleson's, he got to ride a horse, and play with all of the cousins. We stayed at Ann and Jerry's, so it was really nice getting to spend some time with them, Marilou, and Alicia and the kids.

Seems like we've got something planned every day this week, Johnny's parents are coming in for the weekend, and of course Easter Sunday will be a big day. Hopefully his parents are coming back next weekend to get started on our deck! I am so looking forward to having that area be something useful.

Caden is pulling up on the furniture now. I know he's doing this quite a bit sooner than Corban. I 'm looking for him to be walking before his birthday. Watch out Shirey house! I can only imagine what it will be like when he is fully mobile - especially if he's a destroyer like his brother. Caden is getting weened - he's doing much better with it than I though - and I'm doing better than I thought too! I also got cloth diapers. I just got a few and we're going to give them a try for a while to see how we like them. I'm really hoping that they work out well for us though. We'll save money with this little guy and then our next one won't cost anything in diapers. Oh, speaking of #3 - I called Johnny while I was in KY and told him that I was pregnant again. He reacted really well, he seemed calm and not even too upset. That changed though, when I told him that if it was a girl I wanted to name her April - as in April Fool! He actually hung up on me! I thought it was hilarious, but he's vowed revenge.

AHHHH! My weekend was wonderful. Johnny took the boys on Thursday afternoon to his parents and came back on Saturday afternoon. I got to take baths and watch movies and cross stitch and just be lazy. I kind of even got to sleep in! Yesterday was kind of hectic just because Johnny had to go speak at an afternoon service downtown. It wasn't a big deal, just took him out of the house for a while. Today things are back to normal around here, and we're planning our trip to KY on Thursday.

Most of you already know, but for those of you who don't, please be praying for Laura and Tim. She was having some problems with the pregnancy and without sharing too many details, she has to be on bedrest for the rest of the time. She's just about 21 weeks, due July 28 or so, so she's got quite a bit of time left. Today was her first official day on bedrest and she said she was already bored at 10 am, so it's going to be a long 4 months!

Well, I've got to go pick up Nina. Johnny and Corban are swimming at the Y and I've got Caden.

My boys just left. All of them. Johnny is taking them to his Mom and Dad's for the next two days. They're coming back Saturday morning. I need to get ready and I'm headed out to buy doorprizes for the Movie Night we're having here at church on April 3. I'm still keeping Nina tomorrow, but other than that, I'm hoping to get a few things done around the house and do a whole lot of nothing. I'm planning to take baths and naps and watch movies and cross stitch. I have one to finish for Kenan's birthday and I would like to get Caden's growth chart done by his birthday too.

And, just one week from today I will be headed to KY!

Well, I seriously have to get going.

I'm going to be home alone this weekend and am looking for a good movie to rent. Got any suggestions?

Corban's birthday was good. Mom and Dad came up on Friday and spent the weekend. After church on Sunday we had a few people over for soup and sandwiches at the church. There were 11 adults and 4 kids. We didn't even decorate or anything. Corban was blowing at his candles before the cake even got to him! He did really well opening his presents and saying "Thank you." I think his favorite was the aquadoodle or the flashlight. I'm keeping out the color wonder markers until we come to KY next week. He was also really good about telling everyone that he was "Two years," which of course came out as "two ears." Caden is crawling around like a crazy man and trying to pull up on stuff a little bit. He'll be 8 months in two weeks. He looks so much like me, it's weird seeing my face on a boy!

I'm trying to get Corban to pick up his toys so that we can go outside and play with some of his bubbles, but that's not working so well. Yesterday he came up to me with my checkbook and said, "Wal-Mart. Goin" Then he walked to the door and put his hands on the handle and said, "Craig, Luke, goin" I guess he really wanted to go somewhere and Craig or Luke's house sounded good to him. Well, I'm going to go tackle the toy issues again.

Caden has been sick all weekend. I can't remember now if the fever showed up Thursday night, or Friday morning, but it's been about 101-102 all weekend. Poor baby, he looks so pathetic, but he's still smiling and cooing at us. Obviously, he and I are staying home from church today. I am planning to send Corban, but I went in to wake him up a few minutes ago, I put my hand on his head and sat down in the chair beside the crib, but he didn't wake up at all, so I think I'll end up keeping him here with me unless he wakes up on his own soon. Doesn't make sense to wake him up to send him when I'm going to be home anyway. Plus, Iwouldn't mind if this translated into a later morning for us on a regular basis.

Johnny took Corban to the park yesterday afternoon. I think they were gone for about two hours. I'm so glad that he was finally able to get out of the house. After dinner last night we were still sitting at the table and Corban said, "Mickey Mouse." We told him we weren't going to watch a Mickey until after bath. He got very emphatic and said, "No, no bath. No guys." And then looked at us with the most expectant look on his face and said, "Mickey Mouse?" I just can't believe how grown up he is and how much he can talk and communicate with us now. He's always coming up to us and saying, "What doin?" Too cute.

One week from today Corban turns 2 years old. I can't believe how fast it's gone and how big my boy is.

I just read my last post and I sounded completely out of it. I don't know what got into me yesterday.

I went shopping today and had a really good day. It was freezing cold, but not too bad. I did AWESOME! I got two huge bags of stuff at Children't Place and only spent about $53. I think my favorite find of the day was a winter coat for Corban next year that I paid $2.99 for. This coat is nicer than any I have ever owned I think. I'm going to go get Caden to bed and watch some TV with Johnny right now.

We've had a pretty uneventful weekend. Saturday we got to hang out together all day, Sunday we did church and then stayed home. Corban has had a really bad cough and had a high fever Sunday night and didn't sleep well, but the fever was gone in the night and he's a little bit better now. Yesterday I had Bible study in the morning, kept Nina, and we went to Diana and Craig's for dinner. This morning Johnny is at Bible study, but when he comes home I am taking Caden to go shopping and he's taking Corban to Cabela's. Kim Fitzroy and Brody are coming with me, and Greg Voss and Alden are going with Johnny. I'm hoping to shop for the boys for this summer and next winter. I've got a ton of gift cards for Children's place and we're going to the outlets, so I should do pretty well. Tomorrow is small group at our house and Friday Johnny and Luke are going fishing. Right now Thursday is completely free, but it's going to be a busy week!

Corban made my day today. We were sitting on the couch this morning watching a cartoon and he gave me a huge hug and said, " Mommy, wubbu." In Corban speak this was, "Mommy, I love you." It's the first time he's said it without one of us asking him to! Ten minutes later though, he threw his head back and cracked me in the nose. I'm afraid I'm going to be the one with bruises this Sunday. All of a sudden, he's become a little chatter box. Yesterday we called Poppy so that he could tell him he saw a squirrel. Corban calls them "agirrlll." He's also started telling Caden to "Be quiet. Snuff"

Caden isn't to be outdone. He is crawling now... kinda. He's doing that same army-crawl that Corban did, but he does act like he's going to crawl up on his hands and knees too, he just hasn't gotten there yet. Both boys are sleeping great and Caden is learning what he thinks about cereal. We haven't tried veggies yet, I guess that should come soon.

For those of you who don't know, Laura is having a boy! She's due in the end of July, so Caden will be just at 1 year when he's born. We're pushing for Holden James, but they haven't made any decisions yet as far as I know. Well, Caden is NOT happy in the swing anymore, so I've got to get going. Not much on the schedule for today or tomorrow, Monday things start getting busy.

Our weekend was wonderful. We had an early dinner at Buca, took the incline (a glorified roller-coaster used for commuters that has a beautiful view of the city at the top), had dessert at another restaurant, and then got to sleep a whole night's sleep... until 9 am! Saturday we lounged around and then got ready, had lunch, and went to see the play. It's been a long time since I've been to a professional performance, so that was cool. the whole weekend was desperately needed and we're so thankful we were able to take the time away.

Today Corban was in the car and said, "Get it woosels." For those of you who watch My Friends Tigger and Pooh, you know that they always talk about woosels, but you never see them. This came out of the blue and totally cracked us up. Caden is sitting up on his own now and pushing himself up on his hands and knees, but he's not quite got the crawling thing yet. He's such a cutie though and crinkles up his nose when he's talking to us, it just melts my heart every time I see him.

Life is good. I have a clean house, my kids are being well behaved, and Johnny and I get to go away for the night! We're just going downtown to spend the night and then go see "Fiddler on the Roof" tomorrow. His parents are coming down to spend the night with the kids. We've hardly had dinner together, much less a whole evening, since before Caden was born. I think the thing we're looking forward to the most is getting to sleep late in the morning.

Caden sat up by himself yesterday! I don't think he even realized what he did, but Corban and Caden and I were all playing on the floor and all of a sudden I realized Caden was sitting up when he had been laying down. I can't believe how fast he's growing. And Corban is such a little boy now. He's talking all of the time and making so many connections with things. He's "reading" now too. We have this Boynton Dinosaur book that he loves that just says thinkgs like, "Dinosaurs Happy" and "Dinosaurs Sad." He was looking at it by himself the other day and saying the right words with the right pages. His nose is looking better too. We're pretty sure that he broke it, but there wasn't anything to do to help it, so we haven't even taken him to the doctor for it. Poor baby, I don't think he even noticed it though. Well, gotta get some laundry done before we can go this afternoon!

The top pic is of the toy chest that we were given on Saturday. Johnny was supposed to build one with Dallas (Bonnie's Dad - she's the one we go swimming with) for the boys, but Dallas passed away before they could get to it. A friend of Dallas' wasn't here when he passed and wasn't at the funeral, when he heard about it, he just built one. I think they said they talked to him about it one day and by the next weekend he said he had finished it. They are such a wonderful family and have been a blessing to us here in Turtle Creek.

The second pic is of Corban's boo boo. Before church yesterday he was sitting on a pew and fell forward into the book holder on the pew in front of him. He has a cut across his nose and he turned blue instantly. Today the cut looks better, but the bruising is even worse. He's starting to have racoon eyes. Poor kid, it took the better part of church to calm him down. Thankfully I was in the nursery so I just got to stay with him.

Today we got groceries and did some cleaning and then went to family swim at the Y. I still haven't gotten in the pool yet, Corban has a ball in the pool though. Tomorrow Johnny is going fishing all day and I've got to get to the mall at some point to pick up Caden's pictures. Friday night John and Paulette are coming to stay with the kids so that Johnny and I can stay downtown and go to "Fiddler on the Roof" Saturday. I'm looking forward to that.

We've had a pretty busy, but normal week. Last weekend though, we took Corban halfway to meet up with Johnny's parents so that he could spend the night. Hayley, Johnny's cousin's little girl, was having a birthday party and Paulette thought that it would be nice for all 4 of the kids who were born at that time to be there together. This was the first time since he was 7 months old that we've been away from him other than the hospital stay for Caden. He apparently didn't cry or cause any problems at all. Johnny and I got a babysitter for Caden and went out to eat and to a movie, something we hadn't done since last May. It was such a quiet weekend at our house!

Caden got his 6 month check up Tuesday. He's 50% for length, 30% for weight (16 lbs, 9 oz), and 10% for head. He's so little compared to Corban! Everything else is looking good, and he's done well with his shots.

I had MOPS this morning, it was spa day in preparation for Valentine's Day. I won a free haircut and it is so cute! I feel like I'm "stepping out" on Brenda though! I didn't get a massage, b/c I was getting my hair cut at the time, but I did get to do a parafin treatment on my hands and eat lots of yummy stuff dipped in the chocolate fountain. I just woke up for a nap, and I think both boys did too. It's been very VERY windy here since last night and it bothers me.

You can see the difference in the marker stains on the couch, but it's still not gone completely. We're living with it though :(

It's been a busy few days. Of course we watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. We went to Diana's and it was just her, Nadine, Luke, and us (Craig works Sunday afternoons now). I had a hard time watching because there were two little boys to take care of, but I got the major gist of it and I got to see the two big plays as they happened, so I was OK with it. Monday was a family day, Johnny has been taking Monday as his day off, so we worked out at the Y in the morning, came home and had lunch, the boys took naps and Johnny and I got caught up on some shows. Nina came, and later Johnny took Corban back to the pool at the Y. He LOVES the water and every once in a while he'll just say, "paddle, paddle" out of the blue. This morning Johnny had a Bible study in Oakland and then he and the guys are at the Steelers Parade downtown. I think they got their free grandslam breakfast at Denny's too. I tried for it after the boys and I went to Target this morning, but it was just too much to deal with. Corban fell asleep on the way home, and I actually got him in the house and in bed without waking up. There's no telling when he'll wake up now since it was so early. That's OK though, because they're all Johnny's tonight. I'm going to a game night at one the girl's from MOPS. I might even stop by the mall on my way and see if I can use my Lerner coupon.

Bored bored bored. That pretty much describes my last few days. I've got so much that could be done, but I feel like I'm just wandering around the house in a daze most of the time. We're planning an early dinner though so that we can go to the Y and work out and do family swim after. We've not gotten in the pool yet, so we're looking forward to doing that to give Corban some exercise. I HATE it when I feel like he's been this cooped up for this long. He's been surprisingly good though, and even seems to be listening better to me.

Caden got up an his hands and knees for a few seconds yesterday. I'm excited for him to start crawling, but I'm not sure that I can keep up with both of them. Life is about to get very intersting with both of them on the move.

Yesterday turned out to be a really good day. I was having a hard time with the kids at first. Caden was only sleeping for 15 minutes at a time, Corban was getting into everything and I felt like I was telling him no all day long. Finally I got to get a shower and Johnny came up stairs and told me to dress to go out because Diana was coming to keep the boys. We got ready, Di got here, and Johnny and I went to Target and Olive Garden, then we came home and went to Luke and Nadine's for Luke's birthday cake. Johnny and I were probably only gone for about 2 hours, but other than the funeral the other day I realized I haven't been without kids since before Christmas, so it was long overdue. Today there was no school and Nina's dance got cancelled, so we've all just been home. I'm going to pull my old slide up here for Corban to play with in the hopes of driving away some of the restlessness. They both took good naps today and I even got to catch a few minutes!

Today Corban seemed to really interact with Caden for the first time. He "jumping" in front of Caden and Caden was giggling and Corban just kept doing it to keep Caden laughing. They're going to be such fun!

I'm keeping all of you KY people in my thoughts - be carefull out there!

So, Corban redecorated my couch last night. We had had a very long day and it was turning into a long night. I was fixing Corban's dinner while Johnny was helping Luke butcher his deer in the basement. I thought that Corban was watching a Curious George until I went in to get him and realized he had gotten a red sharpie marker out of a drawer and had used it all over the couch, the recliner, the wingback chair, the carpet and blanket, and the basement door. I know this sounds like a lot, but he was in there seriously not even 10 minutes. I've got about 3 bottles of hairspray on the ink. It's faded some, but my couches are never going to be the same again.

Just got back from the Y and Wal-Mart... two places I think I have a love-hate relationship with. Corban totally fell asleep in the cart as I was wheeling it up to the car, poor boy was sleepy. Johnny got him out of the car and put him right to bed, we'll see how well he sleeps with no lunch though. Caden is sitting on my lap making all kinds of interesting noises, I wish I knew what he was thinking. If any of you watch Curious George on PBS, you know what Caden looks like. I laugh every time I see him because that little monkey looks just like Caden. Anyway, Johnny is getting ready for a viewing and I'm hoping to get a shower at some point after lunch, which is "skinny soup." Tomorrow we've got the funeral and meal, I'm still looking for a babysitter for that. Man, it's been a crazy week.

We've had a really good couple of days. Sunday we skipped Sunday School due to weather and Johnny didn't preach his full sermon since the crowd was so small. After lunch and the boys naps, the Bizub girls and I went to watch Bride Wars. At fist I thought it was OK, but not one I would want to own, but I've been thinking about it since I watched it and realized I really enjoyed it. After the movie everyone came over here for dinner and the game... the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl! Monday we got up and the whole family headed for the Y. We were able to do more this time, but it's still hard to fit it in between Caden's feeding times. I went shopping because I heard Circuit City is going out of business and they were supposed to be having amazing sales... not so much. After that I did my running with Nina and Alexandra and came home and fixed dinner, roasted eggplant ratatouille, which is REALLY yummy. Johnny and Corban played in the snow while I was gone, I guess they had a big time. Today we're back to normal. Johnny's on a hospital visit, Corban's down for his nap, and Caden won't sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time. I'm hoping to get some laundry and dishes done today, and I'll be happy with that.

I just realized I need to explain the pathetic shape of my Christmas tree in that picture of Corban on the horse. That was taken after we had been gone for a week and had obviously not watered it well even beforehand. In the tree's defense, it was very pretty until it got into my neglectful hands.

It's not been quite as cold here as it is in KY - we're in the low teens and looking at below 0 temps overnight, but we got a lot of snow yesterday too. I don't mind the snow, just wish it was a little warmer so that Corban could go out and play in it more. We were going to go sign up for the Y yesterday, but the roads were really bad, so we ended up going today. We're getting a really good deal on the membership and we're getting more and more excited about it. After we did the paperwork we went upstairs to work out a little. We only had time for about 20 minutes on the treadmill, but I was pink-cheeked when I got done. Johnny was giving me a hard time and I reminded him that other than chasing after two kids, I haven't done anything to strain myself for a LONG time... Kerry, I think the last time I worked out was when we were going to the life center together.

We were watching an episode of America's Funniest Videos tonight and there was a clip of a bunch of guys playing a pick-up game of basketball in a gym and I said it looked a lot like KCC. We looked at it a little closer and it WAS KCC. We didn't recognize any of the guys, it looked like it was quite a few years ago, but I'm 90% positive it was the gym. That was weird. Well, Johnny's putting Corban down and I'm going to get the little one down.

Corban came out with a couple of firsts yesterday. We were in the car and he said something and I said, "No you didn't." He quickly replied, "Yes, I did." So that was officially his first sentence I guess. Later on in the tub he was playing and a bubble burst. He said, "Oh no, bubbles all gone." Although it's not a prefect sentence, it's got all of the parts so that's sentence #2! Also, Johnny went up to get him from his nap, changed his diaper and put him back in the crib to get Caden up and changed from his nap. By the time Johnny was getting finished with Caden's diaper, Corban was out of his crib. I came up and wanted to see it, so I put him back in the crib and had to go to Caden's room, by the time I came back he was out again. He's not getting out when he wakes up in the morning, but it looks like a big boy bed is going to be in the near future for us. I've been looking for bedding for months now and I can't find anything I like. We've got the two twin beds already, and I want bedding that's not juvenile - I want them to be able to grow up and still be able to use the same bedding.

Caden's not doing much different nowadays. He ate his cereal in the highchair for the first time yesterday and Johnny said that was some easier. I so wish that boy would open his mouth like Corban did... oh well.

We took a tour of the Y yesterday. Looks like we're going to give it a try. I've never been one to work out, so I'm not sure how this will go and I CAN'T do those exercise classes because I have no rhythm and just can't get my feet to do things while the rest of my body is trying to do something different, I might try spinning or some of the water classes. Johnny and I are trying to be really serious about eating better and exercising. I've never dieted though... never. This is the first time I've needed to lose weight and even though I know I need to, I just don't think about it when I go to get a snack.

Yesterday was pretty nice. We had church, Johnny had a board meeting and I had to clean up some stuff after so one of the ladies whose husband is on the board watched Corban and Caden in the nursery for a few minutes and then we all 4 got to come home together and eat. We had beef vegetable soup leftover. It's funny to say "beef-vegetable" soup because we never had any other kind - I didn't realize until I was older that there are people who actually don't put meat in their vegetable soup! Anyway, the boys both took good naps, I took a nap, and Johnny tied flies. Afterward we watched the Steelers and I ran to SubWay for dinner.

Saturday Johnny and I got to watch "Get Smart." It was pretty good, very funny.

Yesterday in church Johnny had Caden during the song service and then I took him back a few minutes before Johnny had to get up and preach. Caden was "talking" and it sounded just like he said, "I got my Mommy." We both giggled b/c I am definitely his favorite right now. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts because if he's anything like his big brother he is definitely going to be Daddy's boy. Well, I've got to go clean and do laundry.

Right now Corban is playing with his nesting boxes, Caden is asleep, Johnny is at the church working, and I've got to get some bills paid. There's snow on the ground so I'm hoping Johnny can take Corban outside to play for a while and I've got to get the bulletin done this afternoon. I also have to make something for the fellowship time in between church and Sunday School at some point today... got any ideas?

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday to buy plastic tubs because I keep pulling things out of closets and cabinets that I say I'm going to put in a yard sale this summer and I want all of the stuff out of the way now. I'll be honest enough with myself and say that I'll get this stuff packed away and it will end up sitting in the basement for years. At least it won't be in my way anymore :)

Happy Birthday to Sherry and Kerry! I think that years ago we made you guys pizza in the dorm, does that sound right? Wish I could be around to celebrate with you now!

So we've finally had some really good nights with the boys this week. I've just decided that Caden is NOT going to eat after he goes to bed so he's slept through the night completely a time or two and there have been a few nights that he's woken up and we've just calmed him down enough to go back to sleep. He's hilarious though b/c he's such a smiler it's hard to tell when he's really upset. He's really moving around now and I know it won't be long before he's crawling... which is going to present a whole new set of problems. We started him on cereal New Year's day. At first he took it really well, but after that it's been a struggle. He's going to be more of a messy eater than Corban... Corban always opened his mouth so wide that NOTHING got dropped on the bib.

This morning we went to MOPS, which I really enjoyed, but Corban fell asleep on the way home and by the time I got his shoes and coat off, he was awake again. He ate a hot dog and watched a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but right now he's screaming in his crib, not wanting to go back to sleep. I let Corban eat his hot dog on the couch while he watched his Mickey and I fed the baby. When he got finished with his food, he got up and took his plate back to the kitchen and put it in the sink... how cool is that? I'm sure it won't last past the toddler ages, but he's a really neat kid. Johnny's home, we're going to eat lunch and then I'm not sure... it's snowing a little bit here, but I feel like Iwould like to get out again.

Happy New Year Everybody!

We've had a pretty full couple of days. New Year's Eve we spent with Diana, Luke, Nadine, and their 5 yr. old cousin and our boys. We came home by 10 and had a HORRIBLE night with the boys after that. Thursday we had the same group plus Craig, Christina, and her boyfriend over for the traditional sour kraut and pork. The pork loin was incredibly good, and everything else was pretty good too. We played Wii (Diana's) for a while and then went over to the church to play corn hole (my Christmas present from Mom and Dad). It doesn't work too well indoors, so now we know. The boys played really well together, so that was nice. We'resupposed to go over to the church to play dart ball Saturday, but I think we're going to get a babysitter for Corban if at all possible. Last night Corban finally slept good, but the baby got up twice in the night. We fed him cereal before bed and everything. Anybody got any suggestions on how to get the child to sleep?

Coban is right now riding his stuffed pony. He will put the hat on and say "Yee Haw." It's the cutest thing. Now he's carrying around an empty coffee mug saying, "Coffee all gone, more coffee."

Sherry said something about ringing in Y2K with us at the farm house, I had completely forgotten that. I mostly remember spending December 31 at Bertha and Gary's house, but I think that year we played Shanghi Rummy with Mom, Dad, and Tim. New Year's Eve has never been anything real exciting for us, has it? Corban is having a breakdown - later.