Merry Christmas!

We hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with family and catching up. The boys were spoiled by Santa and are thrilled with all there new "prizes." I got a new camera, and tonight was my first opportunity to use it. We took the boys to the Eagles nest and I was able to experiment with my new camera. I still have to read about all the special features but I was amazed at the clarity of the pictures. Thank you to my parents, we will use the camera a lot!

Spring Training

Tay is warming up his arm, getting ready for spring training.

The boys

I am so blessed to have three wonderful boys in my life! They bring me joy and happiness everyday.


Due to the freezing cold weather of beautiful Minnesota, the boys have spent a lot of time at home this week. So what better way to pass time? Lets see who can pull off the wall hanging in the living room. The boys have teamed up, to successfully pull the wall hanging off of the wall and onto the ground twice. I caught Taylor ( 9 months old) trying to pull it off again.......

Not so fast big guy!

Here are my two angels showing some brotherly love.

Two and a half and cool

Riley has started to tell me what he wants to wear in the morning. One morning I grabbed the closest pair of jeans and put them on him. He stood up and promptly told me, "No Mom, I'm not wearing these!" Well okay then! Most of his outfits he picks out match, so there is a relief. Yesterday I was giving Riley a bath and singing a dorky song, and he looks at me and says, "Knock it off Mom!" as he rolled his eyes. It is clear that I am no longer COOL, I never thought I would be the dorky mom!

GO VIKES!

Dance partays!

Riley just loves to dance, and so we have made it an daily event to hold some pretty rockin dance parties. Auntie Kellie came into town to visit, and Riley and Kellie shared their unbelievable moves. Riley just adores spending time with Kellie, they are two goofballs together! Taylor decided he was sick of watching and clapping so he busted out a few moves himself. Tay can stand on his own and is very close to walking! Riley and Taylor have begun to enjoy each others company, and Riley asks often, " Mom Can Tay come and play trains please?" Taylor of course doesn't get the whole playing trains idea, instead he just tries to eat the trains, and thus that begins a big brotherly fight. My two monkeys have been such a joy to watch and I am so thankful they are my little guys! A special thanks to Aunt Kellie and Aunt Nikki and Christine, who helped me get through this last month!! Also a special thanks to Grandma Tammy, Grandma Jackie and GaGa for keeping the boys so happy, when I was exhausted!
Here is a sample of Kell's and Ry's new moves.......


Here is Tay rockin out...



And Gaga and Tay practicing the MN. Song!

Come on Santa......work with me!

So we were the first in line at the mall to visit Santa. Riley has been talking about Santa for months, so of course we headed to the mall the FIRST day Santa was available. In the past Riley has been terrified of Santa. This year he reassured me that Santa was not scary!!! As we approached Santa, Riley was repeatedly telling himself, "Santa not scary, Santa not scary, Santa not scary." The photographer and I positioned the boys and they were ready. Trying to get a 2 year old and a 8 month old to smile at the same time is tricky! I finally managed to get some smiles as I was singing, dancing, and moving around a plush Barney toy. I look over at the photographer, and she is on the phone. The camera is broken. For the next ten minutes, the boys remain on Santa's lap, and I am right next to them, trying to keep them interested and calm. I start asking Riley what he wants for Christmas, asking him to ask Santa about his reindeer etc. etc. Meanwhile Riley is giving me this terrible, uncertain stare. I know that we have limited time, before Riley wants to leave. As I am trying to prompt a conversation between Riley and Santa, I realize Santa has not spoken to the boys AT ALL. I mean come on, if you hate your job that much, than pick a different career. Santa was not friendly, did not speak, and looked overly annoyed at my persistence to get a picture taken. Finally, the camera started to work and we got our picture. Riley and Taylor left confused and I left pooped out!

I made some banana pancakes for Riley....

I made pancakes for Riley this morning and then went to the bathroom to throw my hair up and throw cold water on my face. I came back a few minutes later and Riley was in his room, and Taylor was enjoying the pancakes!!! He ate every last crumble! I asked Riley if he was done with his pancakes, and he shrugs his shoulders and says, " Tay Tay ate them!"

NEW MATCHING PJS!!!

The boys weren't as excited as I was about their new matching pjs. They really could have cared less.....

SPLASH WARS

The boys have been very into taking baths, especially together. At first I thought it was cute but now they have figured out how much fun it is to see who can get the most water onto the bathroom floor! They literally use all of their little muscles to splash water out of the tub and onto the floor. Riley eggs Taylor on and before you know it, our bathroom is flooded with two laughing boys in an near empty tub! Riley makes sure to say, "Uh-oh it's all wet momma." Thanks Ry, I hadn't noticed. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of a little team of schemers:0)

The Hair Pulling Bandit

I was up most of last night with Taylor, as he is sick. The stomach flu has hit our family hard and we have had it for over 2 weeks! Taylor would sleep for 20 minutes and then start crying all through the night. So I decided to just put him in bed with me, that way when he cries I could just pat his back until he goes back to sleep. So I put him in the big bed with me, and I hear this devilish giggle. I start patting his back the way he likes, and he drifts off to sleep. I soon follow, and then am awakened by a hard tugging of my hair. I look over and Taylor is smiling at me with this huge grin, as he is yanking on my hair. I pat him on his back, and I hear the giggle again. Finally Taylor falls back asleep, and I do too. Only to be awakened again, by the pain of hair being pulled from my scalp. I look over and Taylor is smiling the devilish grin again!!! This continued for most of the night, and I learned a valuable lesson, don't allow the kids in bed with you!

"Is the witch in there?"

So Dad took the boys trick or treating and Riley decided it was appropriate to ask each person if there was a witch in their house?!?! The only problem is when Riley says "witch" it sounds clearly like "bitch" so as they made there way from house to house my little tiger was innocently asking each house, "Is the bitch in there?" .....great! I guess Matt would try to explain that he was looking for the witch, as people often wondered why we would teach our two year old such words. The hunt for the witch continued, and then they came to a house and knocked on the door. An older man answered, and Riley took a step in and yelled, "Is the bitch in there?" and the man quickly responded, "No she is not home now, I don't know where in the hell she went!" (obviously referring to his wife!!) Riley seemed to accept this answer as the witch/bitch question was finally dropped. When Riley gets something in his head it is so hard to get him to move on, thus this was a perfect example. I apologize to all of those people who we insulted along the way in our search for the witch!

MY Penguin and Tiger

Riley practicing his "ROAR!!!"

Taylor looking like an innocent little penguin.

And the pestering begins, they have a love hate relationship! And I must say that Tay usually starts the battles.

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to wish everybody a happy and safe Halloween. I am sick with the stomach flu, so dad will be trick or treating with a penguin and tiger ( pictures to follow). Here are the boys carving the pumpkins! I explained to Riley that tonight he was going trick or treating in his costume and he replied, "OH MOMMA, SANTA IS COMING!!!" So I guess we need a little more work on our holidays but we talk about Santa everyday:)

Grandma Tammy Came to Visit!

We enjoyed having Grandma Tammy stay with us this past week. Riley loved having his "grammy" to play with. It was great that the boys and Grandma got to spend time together. Thanks for coming "Grammy."
Grammy and her boys!

Here is Taylor eating a magazine, the kid is an animal.....

BISCUITS BISCUITS BISCUITS!

Taylor's teeth are bugging him, so I gave in and went and bought some teething biscuits. I have never seen a happier baby! He went to town on his very first biscuit, and made sure to get the teething biscuit slime in his eyes, eyebrows, hair, and ears. He was so pooped out that this is how I found him about an hour after giving him the biscuit...........

It's Time To Hibernate!

We have been blessed by having the opportunity to live in warm climates the last two winters, so this winter is going to be a rude awakening for us all. I am excited that the boys will see snow, but am dreading dealing with the freezing weather for the next 6 months! Riley is still enjoying his pre-school and talks non-stop. He is such a good big brother and enjoys playing with Taylor. Taylor is almost 7 months old and can stand up on his own, holding onto something. Taylor doesn't seem to want to crawl ( his head is in the 98 percentile) but he scoots around the floor on his back. It is so funny to watch him get from one side of the room to the other on his back. We are spending more time inside, as the beach days are long gone. We recently went to the Eagles Nest in New Brighton and both boys would live there if they could. Here are a few recent pictures. ( Riley is hard to photograph these days because he is on the run 99% of the time!)
Me and the boys ( Taylor's hair is def. RED!)

Taylor playing football, he is less than 9 pounds away from Riley!

Taylor at the Eagles Nest.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I WORK FULL TIME!!!!

Boys will be boys.......

First Day of School

On Monday Riley went to school for his first day. He is attending Centennial School Districts Early Childhood Education Program. He went to music class, gym, story time, and art. He had a huge smile on his face the whole time and didn't want to leave. We live across the street from the school so now everyday he says "hi" to school as we drive by. He likes to tell you about his teacher and all the kids. He is really coming along with his language skills and we are so proud of him!
Here he is on his way into school.

MN State Fair

We braved the crowds on opening day of the fair. Let me make a recommendation, don't try to take a 5 month old and a two year old to a crowded fair. Luckily both Matt and I were there so we each could tend to one of the kids. Riley had a blast in the buterfly house, riding the BIG yellow slide, and checking out all the animals. Taylor was frustrated because he kept seeing all this food and would start crying because he couldn't have any:( I reassured Tay that next year he could have whatever he wanted. We spent about 4 hours at the Fair and then Taylor had a melt down so we left. Riley is heading back to the fair with Gaga on Labor Day, and he reminds us about that every night before bed.
Riley in the butterfly house.


Riley and dad flying fown the big yellow slide.

Riley at the Timberwolves shoot out. He thought he would just stay there all day and play ball with all the kids. He loved this building, which had booths with all the MN sports teams.

Shakin it with the Care Bears!

Riley is perfecting his dance moves once again.........

Thomas the Train The Tumbleweed Express

Gaga surprised Riley and bought three tickets to go see Thomas the Train live. The event was held in Lakeville, MN and included a 25 minute train ride on Thomas. Sir Topham Hat was there as well as live music, games and tons of trains to play with. Riley scored a new Thomas the train watch and sweatshirt. He got his first tatoo done in which he picked out. He picked a helicopter out, and can't stop saying, "copter, copter!" Thanks Grammy and Gaga this was a really neat experience for Riley!
Here comes Thomas!


Gaga and Riley taking Thomas for a ride.

Riley enjoying playing with all the different trains and tracks!

Baby Boom!

When I had Riley I was the first of most of my girlfriends to have a child. Times have changed, and in the last year there are six of us with babies. We have all been scattered around the US the past year but we finally had the chance to get together with our babies! My girlfriend Ashley hosted a girls dinner, and all six babies were there. We had a ball, sharing stories, comparing parenting ideas, and watching the babies interact. It was so fun to all be in the same state and see what beautiful children we have made:) Thanks Ash, you were a wonderful host!
Here are the four youngest babies. Taylor (4 months), Ethan (6 weeks), Keeghan (4months) and Beau laying down in the front is 2 months!


Here is Miss thang, Princess Sophia. Sophia just turned one and she is nicknamed "tornado".

And last but not least little, innocent Meadow. She is so calm and sweet. She is 10 months old and almost walking.

We Learned A New Word!!

Riley continues to impress us with his expanding vocabulary. We read books for at least an hour a day, he loves learning! That said, Riley decided to share his new word with everybody in the elevator today. We got on the elevator and there were three other people already in the elevator. So we crunch in and I was holding Riley. I had a v-neck top on and Riley looks down into my top and yells " OH COOL! BOOBS!" So I try to ignore Riley as my face turns bright red. Riley continues as he reaches down into my top, " MAMA BOOBS!" By this time, everyone in the elevator is laughing, and Riley continues to say, "BOOBIES!" until we rush off onto our floor. I guess he was bound to learn the female anatomy at some point!

Our little fisherman

Riley got his first new fishing pole, and so we decided to take the boys fishing. We stopped and picked up some bait and drove to Lake Johanna. Riley is a true fisherman, he caught 7 fish in about 45 minutes. Dad helped him take the fish off the hook, and then Riley would hold the fish for a few seconds and throw them back in the lake. Riley is scared of so many things ( slides, fireworks, rides) but he has no fear when it comes to fishing! He just grabs the live fish, like he is a pro.

Here is the bass he caught, pretty good size for just off the dock!


Here is dad showing Riley how to use his new pole.


Riley grabbing the fish!

This is what we do at 5 AM!!!!!

Taylor has developed a wonderful routine of waking up at 5AM. I roll out of bed and bring him out to our living room so Matt can continue to sleep. Taylor then proceeds to hold an inservice........here is a clip of what he has to say EVERY morning. If you are interested in attending, let me know, they are held daily from 5AM to about 5:30AM. We might just have a public speaker on our hands:)

In other news, we spent the afternoon yesterday at the beach. Riley made friends and found clay under the sand. He was so excited about his find that he decided to rub it in his hair, on his stomach, and all over his clothes. Meanwhile Taylor found Riley's sunglasses (which he refuses to wear) and tried them on. He thought he was pretty much a stud in his new shades. Here are the boys at the beach.