Do you love Shutterfly?

This year, Shutterfly is offering 50 free holiday cards to bloggers, and I can't wait to upload a few of our pictures and see which card looks best with one or two of them.

Christian's sister, Lindsay takes wonderful photos and has offered to come to our home on Saturday to take some pictures of us and the boys. Christian's mom even bought the boys some Christmas overalls that will be so cute! The plan is to use those to make some Christmas cards to send out to family and friends. I am so excited for this and since we don't have the money, 50 free cards sounds absolutely wonderful to me!

Here are a couple of my favorite cards from the Shutterfly site.

Click the photo and it will take you to that card on the website...

To find out more about Shutterfly's free 50 cards to bloggers. Click here.

A Belated List of Thanks

Life just moves on and on. Soon these boys will be 10 months old. Where or where has the time gone. Last year around this time, I was so very pregnant and so ready to finally meet my boys. While we are so grateful for these little lives that bring smiles to our faces, we never knew it would be so much work!


Let's not forget the many wonderful blessings that come from them as well.

21. Snuggles with boys before bedtimes.

22. Splashing and laughing at bath-time. I'm so happy it's a fun experience now. We definitely need more bath toys!! Any good suggestions?

23. Free KU tickets to the Opening game of the season and witnessing the BIGGEST smile on my husband's face. He was so happy introducing his boys to the KU Jayhawks!

24. Colder nights with more time for snuggles and also Maddie burrowing under the covers to get warm.

25. The new "games" the boys come up with. Yesterday it was, "lets pull Maddie's tail while she runs in circles and try not to fall over." They were laughing so hard.

26. Kind and thoughtful patients the Christian helps. Yesterday, he got some smoked rib tips and a whole smoked chicken that they had extra of and wanted to reward Christian for his hard work!

27. A very mobile Payden as he moves all over the floor. Patrick just watches; I'm hoping he'll get envious and start moving too.

28. A very spiritual Enrichment last week with a rousing game of volleyball afterward. Our wards have started playing volleyball and since it starts AFTER the boys are asleep, I go and thoroughly enjoy myself!

29. Beautiful leaves that are still changing. We have 2 trees around the town-homes that have red and yellow leaves. I love the sound of the CRUNCH!

30. Grocery store smiles - I put Payden in the Grocery Cart for the first time. He had the time of his life! We were talking and talking the whole time.

Bathtime!

Here are some photos from a recent Bathtime. They are loving it so much now that they can sit in the tub and splash to their hearts content.

Note to self: A Poncho would be helpful!

Rock Chawk, Jayhawk!

Yesterday, Christian received 4 free tickets to KU basketball's opening game of the season. Why 4 tickets you ask? At the magnificent Allen Field House, they require tickets for everyone INCLUDING infants. Just last night we saw 4 tickets were advertised at $100.00. One of Christian's patients was appreciated of the wonderful work of therapy that he had did and wanted to reward him.

He couldn't have chosen a better way. We set out for the biggest adventure of our lives!

Here are the KU outfits of choice - Christian's sister bought the little jersey's. They are 12 month and fit them just fine!

I have to say the boys had a lot of fun! When we got there, their eyes were HUGE, taking it all in: the noise, the band and the bright lights. They were like that until 5 minutes into the first period and Payden fell asleep and then Patrick 10 minutes later. They each had a 20 minute nap and then woke up hungry for their bottles. Once the bottles were drunk (ie ..inhaled) they were much happier. Payden was fine until halftime when I went to get refreshments. When I came back he realized how much more fun it was to be away from all the noise. Patrick, on the other hand, relished EVERY bit of it. He is so much more of a social bug.

For the next 45 minutes or so, I was wondering Allen Field House with Payden. We saw the NCAA Trophy up close and even got to touch a few basketballs. Then there was time to explore the gift shop. I was amazed how many parents were buying whatever their kids wanted. It must be nice. About 8:30 or so, I got a text from Chrisitan saying Patrick was getting antsy. I met him up there and we walked down and began our trip to the car and then home.

Making it to the car was quite the site because of the rain. We had zipped our coats over the babies who were in Baby Bjorns so they wouldn't get wet. Then after 10 min in the car they were SOUND ASLEEP. We made a quick stop at Hyvee in order to get some of the sales and then went home to put the tired little guys to sleep.

Here are some pictures... I wish we would have had better ones of the 4 of us but oh well.

Trunk or Treat

Last Saturday night, our ward had their trunk or treat. This was to be our first trunk or treat and we weren't exactly sure how it would work. I was a little nervous, not knowing how the boys would do. They ate at 2:30 and played for awhile. At about 4:30 we decided since it was still over 70 outside, we'd take them to the park and swing on the swings. Apparently this helped convince them that they didn't need that 3rd nap; or so I thought.

We fed them about 5 and then got in the car to go. Earlier in the afternoon, I had made 2 batches of Rice Krispie treats to hand out while we were there. Christian and I had been craving candy so badly, it seemed so wrong to buy a ton only to give it out to other people. :) I literally jumped at the idea (suggested by Christian's mom) to make Rice Krispies. I think I spent $3. In the end, I had about 50 so I thought I would have enough. I was so wrong.

When we arrived, we found out that this was tri-ward function for all 3 wards that attend our building. Sadly I knew that I didn't have enough treats. There was about 30 minutes of waiting (until everyone got there, cars ready and costumes situated just right). In that 30 minutes, Payden fell asleep in his costume in my arms. We decided that I would stay behind with him in my arms and hand out candy from the back of the car. Christian took Patrick and walked with another family to trick or treat. I think he was more excited than Patrick to get candy!

Christian finally returned to the car with Patrick snoozing in his arms and told me to take Payden who was now awake around trick or treating. I couldn't believe it, it was too good to be true!! I guess... double the children, double the trick or treating power and double the candy. We had a great loot and we've been eating it like crazy. I guess it tells you how long it's been since we splurged on candy!

Here are some pictures from the wonderful night.

Our little bugs - Payden a Bumblebee and Patrick a Spider. We got some huge bags of clothes from a past ward member and there was a bumblebee costume in it. Then Christian's mom bought the spider one for Patrick. The temperature was just perfect. They needed a jacket and the costumes worked out perfectly!

Patrick and Payden are 9 months!

I know I say this every month but time just flies around here. Maybe that's why I have a hard time getting any cleaning done around the house! :)

Here are this month's stats for our two boys.

Patrick:
Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (up from 18lbs 3 oz a month ago) - 33rd percentile
Height: 28.75 in
Head: 18.75 in

Payden:
Weight: 16 lbs 14oz (up from 15 lbs 13 oz a month ago) 4th percentile! - up from 2nd!
Height: 28.75 in
Head: 19 in

Patrick: He has recently started showing us that he has a very stubborn side whether it's taking a nap, learning to crawl or play on his tummy. When he wants something, he'll let you know.

• Constantly taking toys away from Payden. I caught a few tug-of-wars this past week and usually Patrick wins. Payden has started fighting back and has won a handful of times.
  
• has 2 bottom teeth. I keep thinking that he's getting the ones on top but no.
  
• I love his new smile - with his two teeth
• And with those two teeth, he is expertly biting off little bits of graham crackers and saltine crackers. Just beware of your fingers because boy does he love to chomp!
  
• He loves to jump! One of his favorite toys is the exersaucer and the johnny jump up. He screams and laughs and jumps all at the same time.
• When he's grumpy, it's "mum mum mum" and when he's happy... "da da da da" Hopefully this isn't a pattern of things to come!
  

Payden:

• He is now (as of the first week of October) a very accomplished sitter.

• He has been rolling in his crib but just last week we was able to roll over on the floor and now has been doing it all the time. It just took that one time and now he's all over! He loves to do it in order to get the toys on the floor. Diaper changes are quite the workout for him and mommy has you try to somehow get the diaper on a continually wiggling child. I'm sure it will only get harder as they get older.
  
• Last Sunday he blew his first little raspberries with his tongue, it is the cutest thing. Usually if I blow one at him, he'll stick his tongue out too and mimic me. The therapist that comes every week said that blowing raspberries is a precursor to talking. That made me happy!
• One little tooth on the bottom which makes breastfeeding almost impossible because he loves to chomp. The only time I can do it is when he is extremely hungry or tired.
  

More Pictures!

Monday Thanks

It's been a tough night and hard morning.

My list of thanks will come from the past week in no particular order.

11. Cancellation of Ward Choir yesterday and extra time to spend with family. Usually Christian takes the boys home and feeds them and plays with them. It's nice to have a break but it's always nice to have a change in plans.

12 Primary Program yesterday. I loved it and know it will only be a matter of time until our boys are up there too.

13. Payden blowing raspberries with his tongue for the first time yesterday.

14. A wonderful dinner of Chicken and potatoes. We cooked it a different way and it turned out wonderful. I'm always nervous cooking something I've never done before.

15. Laughing as the boys have figured how to jump in the Johnny jump up and have a total blast!

16. Watching Payden roll from his back to stomach and then back again on the bed. Then today, he finally has rolled over front to back to stomach on the floor and is so proud of himself! To watch it was truly something.

17. Waking up to the babbling of baby talk at 6am. (yet confused on how to get them to sleep a little longer).

18. The thrill of going to the pumpkin patch for the first time with the boys.

19. Introducing them to their first cow (2 month old calf) and having it moo right in their face. It was priceless.

20. Enjoying free time in the evening as the boys are usually in bed between 8 and 8:30.