Rainy day

We had several days of cold and rainy weather not long ago and we were searching for things to do with Jake and Miles. We decided to check out the Laura Bush Library nearby. It had a pretty cool kids' section but we didn't stay too long. I don't think Jake and Miles have the attention span to bring their energy level down and hang at the library just yet. We might try again soon when there is a story time or something.

Rockin' & Readin'

Puzzle time with Miles

Jake wanted the puzzle all to himself

There's that ornery smile.

Another quirky smile.

Miles made a beeline for this treehouse.

They both loved this special door made just for people their size!

Family!

I apologize for the delay... technical difficulties!

Uncle Bill, Aunt Michelle, Grandma, Taffy and Papa all came for a visit last weekend. It was awesome! Jake and Miles got to meet more family and they were in heaven. We played in the backyard, squeezed a nap in and went to the County Line for some yummy bbq! Come back! We are really hoping that we can find a way to visit sometime in the future. I didn't get that many pictures, but managed to take a few...

Shortly after this trip we began a new bedtime ritual. After our bedtime stories & prayer, we go through a list of people that love Jake and Miles. Or a list of people that Jake and Miles love...depending on how you want to look at it. :) These guys are creatures of habit and they LOVE this new addition. Tonight Jake requested it..."people people." We go through a list (and I mean a long list...pets, babysitters, etc.) And before we are even done they are demanding it "again." We had to cap it at two times. It is so sweet and it seems really special and important to them.

Uncle Bill showing Jake and Miles the stump in our back yard. Whenever we play in the yard now they run over there and say "Ucle Bill stump!" They love it. They both like to sit on it and also make it very clear that it is not for Mama to sit on.

Papa with the boys. They are 'uppy-monsters' these days.

Aunt Michelle reading the tractor book to Jake and Miles. Still a favorite. They thought it was super cool that Aunt Michelle and Uncle Bill have real tractors.

More playtime...

Heading to the stump.

Children's Museum, take 4?

We've only been to the Austin Children's Museum a handful of times so it's still quite the event for the boys when they get to go. This week is Spring Break so Eva helped me out in the morning and we took Jake and Miles there. They are no longer content to just hang in the toddler area and have to have the run of the place so it's definitely a two person job. They had a blast and I even managed to take some pictures.

Miles operating heavy machinery

Part of the wind exhibit...

Tractors!

More of the wind exhibit...really cool interchangeable tubes that fired wind at some twirly things. They couldn't get enough.

Playground-palooza

The weather this weekend was absolutely beautiful and we spent a bunch of time outside. We made a couple of trips to the playground, played in the backyard, ate outside, and went for several walks. I also had some 'me' time on Saturday morning and got to go to yoga and run some errands. Peter and I also went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday night. This evening we had the playground to ourselves. I don't know where everyone was but it was such a pleasant surprise. I know there are a bunch of pictures, I couldn't narrow it down...

Shiny Happy Babies

I know, I know. Another story time picture. This was one of the boys' favorite times with Papi, each evening and morning. "Papa, tractor book." He headed home yesterday and will be missed in a big way. This picture was taken on his last night, right after bath time and before bed time.

Dining al fresco

The weather has been awesome lately and it has been nearly impossible to drag the boys inside. Today they requested to eat outside and loved it. Jake is giving the camera his feisty look...I've been getting a lot of that from him lately. Pretty funny! Miles is wearing his St. Patrick's Day necklace and he's been all about that these last couple days. He had a moment tonight because we wouldn't let him wear it to bed.

Fun with Harlan!

Harlan came to play with Jake and Miles yesterday and the boys all had so much fun! So did the mamas! Gorgeous weather and good company :)

Miles picking weeds for us...look at that sky!

Smelling the flowers

Jake riding his bike

Miles and Harlan giving each other the once-over

Harlan rocking the fedora!

Jake giving Harlan a "snuggle"

More visitors!

My parents and Grandma also made a day-trip to Austin to see us (ok - I'm not kidding myself, they came to see the boys). It was really quick and really fun. As you can see from the latest picture variety, Jake and Miles love story time. It's also one of the only times they are still enough to catch a photo of them! We got to play around the house, outside and even go out to dinner.

Papi!

I think I've been spelling Papi wrong (Poppy)...oops! So Papi is here for a visit and Jake and Miles are in heaven. Here they are enjoying some story time. I've got to get better about taking more pictures again. For some reason I've been slacking. Peter's dad is in town with us for a few weeks and somehow one week is already down. It's flown by!

It's SNOWING in Austin!

Really snowing. Not kinda snowing/sleeting but melting the second it hits the ground. We had to go outside and enjoy it for a little bit before lunch today. It's snowed once before in their short little lives but they were too sick to enjoy it, so this is the first time they've seen snow. Jake was all about it and Miles wasn't so sure. As you can see we weren't exactly dressed for the weather. They had fun.

Dance party! Jake and Miles film fest...

Jake and Miles are so into music that it's ridiculous. I know that they have been influenced because Peter and I love music so much but I don't think they would be so enthusiastic if it wasn't something that they were genuinely interested in as well. They ask (scream) for specific songs by name and can recognize songs within the first 10 seconds. Here is the favorites playlist currently...

1. Back on the Train - Phish ("choo-choo")

2. Say Hey - Michael Franti ("Franti")

3. Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson ("ca-cakes")

4. The Blues are Still Blue - Belle and Sebastian ("ba-lue")

5. Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson ("bubbe")

6. Car Car - Donovan ("car-car")

7. Pink Moon - Nick Drake ("peenk")

8. Truckin' - Grateful Dead ("tuck")

9. Yellow Submarine - Beatles ("lellow")

10. Wilco - Wilco ("wico")

11. Baby's Got Sauce - G. Love ("sauce")

They are also really into dancing and it's the cutest thing. Here are a couple of cute videos...one of them is kind of long but they are funny. One is also more of a chase-fest than a dance-fest...

Wow!

These guys have been busy! Which means we have been busy and I haven't taken many pictures lately. They are so much fun right now it's crazy! It keeps getting better and better. Let's see...

They are OBSESSED with their colors. Everywhere we are, all the time, they are constantly pointing at things and identifying the colors. It's pretty funny and also pretty impressive. They became interested in all things yellow and so we started talking a lot about yellow and then all of the other colors came pretty quickly. They know red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, pink, black, white and gray. Wow.

Their absolute favorite thing to do is play outside. That usually involves running up and down hills and in circles over and over again. Climbing is a close second and that's been really challenging because it means I have to be watching them like a hawk constantly. They climb on the couches/chairs and try to launch over the backs. We're working really hard on learning that furniture is for sitting, but they are stubborn these days.

They had an awesome visit from Uncle Butch. They loved meeting him and even got a story from him before naptime. I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of the visit. It was a great time and we were so glad to have him in town!

We also had a wonderful visit from Taffy. She had to go home today, but we squeezed in a lot while she was here. Plenty of running around outside (it's finally warming up) and a trip to the Children's Museum. Both boys were super psyched when she got here and Jake was so overwhelmed and excited that he literally danced/marched around for about 20 minutes. I've never seen anything like it.

Here are a few recent pictures. I need to get better about keeping my camera out again...

Miles checking for mail in his new mailbox that Taffy brought the boys. He loves checking for mail and screams "ma-eel ma-eel" over and over. We've been leaving them little notes in there and they love it.

Jake enjoying his Valentine's Day cupcake...Beckett was over and he and Miles were very slow and methodical about eating theirs'. Jake just went for it. This look says "What are you gonna do?"

Miles demonstrating the art of the fake smile while coloring.

Puzzle time...

Baby Gray!

Jake and Miles invited some of their friends over today and had some super fun playtime! Angel and Bella came over this morning and then after naptime Gray came over for a visit. Jake and Miles were excited to see their friends but didn't allow me to do much visiting...something about "READ THIS TO ME NOW!" and "MAMA MAMA MAMA!" and "LAP LAP!" But they shared nicely and did plenty of showing off. They especially enjoyed bringing their outgrown baby hats and socks to Baby Gray. Jake even shared some dance moves with him. We managed to get a picture of the boys with Gray. Look how small he is! I love the one where he and Jake are checking each other out!

Jake and Miles are growing up...

I took them to the nursery at my church for the first time today. I had built it up in my mind because of our experience at my athletic club and was prepared for a major scene. I've been dreading it and have put it off for quite some time now. We got there and there were tears before we were in the door...MINE! What was wrong with me??? I don't have any logical explanation, I was not so heartbroken to part with them for an hour. I think I was sad in anticipation of their sadness. Except that they didn't have any. Not even one tear. I felt so silly. When I walked in I explained that it was our first time there and then that they had not really been left anywhere before this. I was met with a couple of stares of amazement, so I said "I know, I'm crazy." And a little boy about 3 years old look at me, waved, and said "Hi, crazy. I'm Rowan." It was so funny.

But the boys were fine. No tears at all. They just looked at me, waved, and said bye-bye. I talked about it a bunch with them over breakfast, so maybe that helped. But I also think they are just getting a little bit more independent. The only time they cried was when we had to leave. The women working there said that they explored the room the whole time and were super into all of the other little kids.

I started a Sunday School class today for parents of preschoolers and am really looking forward to the rest of the 6 week session. The class is taught by a counselor and he seems very knowledgeable. Today we focused on the power of positive affirmation. He stressed importance of affirming the wonderful things they are doing in order to give them confidence and build up their self esteem. I feel like I try to praise the positive stuff, but I'm going to try to focus on it more this week and see what happens!