UNDER THE WEATHER

This little one is sick AGAIN.  I'm not sure he ever got completely over his last sickness...his green snotty nose improved but his cough never went away.  He finished his medicine last Friday and except for the cough I thought he was much better.  Until yesterday...his fever came back and wouldn't stay down even with Tylenol.  It got up to 103 by the afternoon so off we went to the doctor...between sickness and well checks this month I feel like we should have just moved in.

So...one of his ears is slightly pink but she said his throat is bright red (explains why he wouldn't eat or drink his bottle...a rarity for him).  His lungs sounds good (hooray!) but he still has his cough and head congestion.  So...we are on new, stronger antibiotics that will hopefully do the trick.  Now the fun part...trying to keep the boys as separated as possible so Evan doesn't get it too...should be fun!!

A couple of pics from yesterday before our trip to the doctor...and yes, I do put clothes on my children...the last few posts we just happened to be in our diapers...

Poor pitiful baby while brother plays.

"You'll feel better soon brother...are you sure you don't want to play?"

"No...then I will just crawl over your face to get to my toys!"

MEALTIME

Everyone told me the puppies would turn into "just dogs" when the babies were born...I wouldn't love them the same as I once did.  I have to say that they do get a little less attention, it just comes with the territory of two new little guys in the house...but, I don't love them any less.  They are still my babies and definitely not "just dogs."

Life may just in fact be a little better for the four of them...just take a look at these mealtime pics.  Extra treats everyday that get dropped or thrown on the floor...I'd say it doesn't get much better...

Sawyer...hanging out behind the highchairs waiting for something to drop.

Brinkley has it all figured out.  He is usually here...

or here...

or here.

Waiting patiently while I feed the boys...

Because they know this is soon to follow...

Chicken in a jar...could life get any better?!?

COLD FRONT??

What do you do when a cold front comes to town...bringing with it the promise of temperatures no longer in the 100's??  Wear long sleeves of course!!  Let me tell you I was so beyond excited yesterday to have cooler (for Texas in August) weather.  I can't remember the last time it hasn't been in the 100's.  I may have gotten a little carried away with my excitement because I broke out my favorite long sleeve shirt and wore it all day!  It's a little sad when a morning in the 80's feels cool.  Here's to hoping many more cooler days are on their way...this is my favorite time of year and fall can't get here soon enough!

My shirt that I wore yesterday...

I LOVE this shirt...it is hard to see in the picture but the boy part is white and the mom part is metallic silver.  My sister-in-law's parents got this for me when the boys were born and I practically live in it when it gets cooler...so soft and so comfy.  Go check out the boymom designs website for other cute shirts (and they have a few girlmom shirts too for all of the girl mamas)!  I will most definitely be getting a few more in the near future!

A POST OF COMPLETE RANDOMNESS

August...what a horrible month it has been for blogging.  On top of the boys being sick for what seems like FOREVER, we have been dealing with these lovelies in our bathroom...

Seriously NOT FUN at all!!  They are red which means they bite...which also means I have moved myself to the guest bathroom to get myself ready for the day.  They are in our shower and all over the floors and THEY ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!!  What is it about ants that makes it feel like your house is so dirty?  Even if I have just cleaned (which is rare) it makes me want to clean everything all over again.  Because of the dogs I am afraid to spray ant spray or get those little ant traps...so for now I vacuum them up every once in a while...is it wrong that I find great pleasure in this?!?!

Anyway...enough about the ants and on to what everyone comes here to actually see...pictures of the babies...not a whole lot going on.  We pretty much just play, play, play!

My friend, Cathy, brought this toy over to let us borrow for a while and it has brought HOURS of fun for Evan.  Ethan likes it too but only sticks with a toy for a few minutes before moving on to the next thing.  We call Evan our "thinker."  He can play with just one thing for a long time...looking at it, analyzing it, figuring out how it works.  

Ethan's favorite part...the little blocks that came with it.

We are also getting really good at picking up our puffs and cheerios to feed ourselves.

How many can we possibly get in our hands at one time?!?

AND...a few pictures from this afternoon...

I have a baby gate at the door to the boys' room and I finally figured out how to get it tight in the doorway where they can't remove it or push it down.  They pull up and stand at it all of the time, peeking over to see what's going on outside their room...usually it's to see the dogs and pet them.  Every once in a while it will get pulled loose at the top and I just have to go push it back in.  Well...it must have been loose this afternoon because while I was making bottles they managed to get out.  Brinkley, who is very protective of them, was laying there in the middle of the catwalk almost guarding them so they couldn't go anywhere.

Seriously...what am I going to do with them?!?  I ordered this shirt for them for when it gets a little cooler, which I think describes them perfectly!

Like I said...not a whole lot going on besides playing.  Our Life Group starts back up for the fall tonight and we are kicking it off by going to dinner as group to Chuy's.  I am so excited...counting down the hours!!

NINE MONTH STATS

Ethan

Weight: 19 pounds, 8 ounces

Length: 27 inches

Head Circumference: 19 inches

Evan

Weight: 20 pounds, 13 ounces

Length: 28 1/4 inches

Head Circumference: 18 1/4 inches

NINE MONTHS OLD!!

We have been M.I.A. AGAIN...both boys have had nasty horrible colds/infections.  Evan's sickliness brought his first ear infection to visit...BOO!  He has been on medicine for a week now and is doing so much better.  He is normally so happy and nothing ever really bothers him so it was sad to see him in such a miserable mood.  Ethan is my one who is always hard to figure out...he is definitely more cranky so it is sometimes hard to know if it is just because he is mad about something or if he truly doesn't feel good.  I thought he was getting better over the weekend but on Monday all he wanted was for me to hold him.  So...after a two hour doctor visit (by myself with BOTH babies during nap time...can you say FUN!) complete with a chest x-ray (also lots of fun!) it was concluded that he has some sort of upper respiratory/ bacterial infection.  He is now on medicine and will hopefully be feeling better soon.  His poor cough is just so sad...it kept waking him up last night making it hard for him to sleep.  So that's where we are in the Burchfield household...and hopefully getting better VERY SOON...mama is very tired of green snotty noses!

Anyway...On to our nine month update.  It's amazing to me that we are only 3 very short months away from the boys' first birthday.  I am sad and excited all at them same time.  They are definitely not little babies anymore but I am loving the stage they are at right now...SO FUN to watch them play and discover new things.

I attempted some pictures of the two of them together and HOLY HANNAH to say it was hard to keep them still and all cute and smiley is an understatement.  They wouldn't cooperate for anything.  We started in the chair in their room, where we have always taken pictures, and they were not having it.  So...I put them both in Ethan's crib.  I figured they like to stand and be silly so I was sure to get a good picture...YAY RIGHT!  Here is what I got...

So not interested in the camera.

Not afraid to show how he really felt!

Brother just wanted to play!

I thought putting them in the chair with their sippy cups might work...not so much!

The best picture I could get of the two of them all day! (side note...Ethan is shorter than Evan but not by this much.  The picture is deceiving.  Evan likes to stand on his tip toes and Ethan was kind of bouncing with his knees bent)

A little brotherly love.

And just a few individual pics...

Poor baby...this was the part of the day where he really started to feel yucky and didn't want to do anything.

A little blurry but so cute...he just loves his sippy cup.  Such a grown up boy!

Working on our standing skills.

Going for a walk and pulling his Baylor bear out from his crib.

So...here is where both boys are at 9 months old...

* Still in size 3 diapers

* Still in 6-9 month clothes but are also wearing some 12 month stuff.

* We still do four 7 oz. bottles a day.  Ethan finishes each one every time and gets mad if there is a single drop left...surprise, surprise...it hasn't changed since the day he was born!  Evan usually leaves a few ounces in a few of his bottles so he is probably getting somewhere around 24-25 ounces total a day.

* Both babble and make all kinds of sounds.  Evan has just started making the "ma" and "ba" sounds and Ethan's favorite at the moment is "gee."  He just says it over and over all day long.  Neither one has said any actual words yet.

* We have started trying more "people" food recently...really just the chopped up version of stuff we have already tried...sweet potatoes, bananas (which are the favorite by far...we could eat these all day every day and be completely happy).  I gave them kiwi the other night at dinner and it was HILARIOUS!  Neither one liked it all...I'm guessing because they have never tried anything so tart.  Jeff recorded it on his iphone and it is just too funny.  We also still love our puffs and have tried graham crackers which they seem to really like.

* Among the things not so high on our food list...MEAT.  It is just sooo G.R.O.S.S!  The smell, the taste (yes I have tried it...just a little curious what the babies were tasting)...everything about it is disgusting.  We will be moving as quickly as possible to the "people" version so we no longer have to get it from a jar.

* We have tried yogurt which the boys can't get enough of.  They LOVE it but have gotten a diaper rash every time we have tried it.  So...we will be waiting until their next appointment to discuss with their doctor what to do about it and other dairy products.

* Both are still great nappers and sleep 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the morning and afternoon.

* Both have discovered the fun of opening drawers and cabinets and pulling stuff out...child proofing here we come!

* They have become shadows of each other and play together all of the time.  Where one goes the other is usually right behind...crawling in the bathroom, pulling up to look out the window, getting into the box of diapers...I rarely find one without the other.  I hope it is always like this!

Ethan at 9 months...

* Has EIGHT teeth...four top front and four bottom front.

* He has figured out how to grind these eight teeth together to make noise which drives me crazy...like nails on a chalk board!

* Has figured out how to hold his bottle and will hold about 50% of the time.

* Loves to stand and can take a few steps when holding on to something.

* He is crazy busy and all over the place but will sit in my lap absolutely still if I am reading to him.

* Has figured out how to turn the page when reading if I say "turn the page."

* Always sits with his legs crossed wherever he is (floor, car seat, high chair) and it is the cutest thing ever...it makes him look so grown up.

Evan at 9 months...

* Has four teeth...bottom front two and side top two (he looks like a little vampire).

* Has some major separation anxiety but only when going to sleep.  He is OK when you first put him in his crib but as soon as you start to walk out of the room the crocodile tears start flowing and he becomes hysterical.  He is fine when dropping him off at church but I think because there are enough distractions to keep him occupied.  

* Will not hold his bottle during feeding but will grab it, shake it, turn it upside down and try to drink from it when we are all done...can you say a little annoying!

* Waves all of the time now and will wave if you say "hi" to him.  I wave when we say "bye-bye" also but he hasn't figured that one out yet...more fun to wave when saying hi.  He makes sounds when he is waving almost as if he is saying "hi" as well.

* Claps a lot and thinks he is hilarious.

* He is becoming really good at standing and pulling up and will take a few steps when holding on to something.

* His newest thing over the last week is to bounce and "dance" when he hears music or me singing.

I think that is about it for now.  We go for their 9 month well check on Monday and I will post all of their stats then.  And because I think there hasn't been enough pictures in this post...here are a few more of my 9 month old sweet ones...

I just don't think it is possible for them to get any cuter!

BEST BUDS

Isn't this the cutest picture ever.  I took it today just before our afternoon nap...as soon as I put Ethan in his crib Evan crawled right over to see him.  I just LOVE watching them interact and hope they will always love each other this much!