Throwing Cars

Yes...we are naked AGAIN...and really can you blame us?  When the weekly temps are in the 100's clothes just don't seem like a very fun option.  These are just a few pics of the boys enjoying some playtime after breakfast...we DID get dressed for the day shortly after I took these pictures.  I usually don't like to put clothes on the E's until after breakfast since it is inevitable that someone always makes a mess no matter what we are eating.

Like I have mentioned maybe a few hundred times...we have a slight obsession with cars in our house.  We love big cars, small cars, dump trucks, tractors, fire trucks, police cars, trains...you name it the boys LOVE it!  These big trucks are one of our favorites...they are big, you can push them, crash them and most importantly THROW them {they are made of rubber so the E's can do pretty much anything to them and they survive it all}.

The best thing about these cars is that they make all kinds of sounds when you hit the front into something...which gives my two crazies all the more incentive to throw them as hard as they can, crash them with all their might and drive them into any wall they can find.

Evan throwing his down...

...and picking it up just to throw it back down again.

Ethan...pushing his off of the chair.

It's just so fun to see the cars flying through the air.

My goofy child taking a break from his car throwing to play peek-a-boo with the camera.

All worn out...throwing cars is a lot of hard work!

New Crayons

The boys got a new box of crayons last week...actually their FIRST BOX EVER...which in this teacher's mind is absolutely tragic.  How we made it this long without me buying crayons for them to color is just sad...we've colored at restaurants many a time but we never got around to enjoying it at home.  

So...the teacher in me just couldn't resist when I saw all of the school supplies lining the aisles at the grocery store.  I had to buy the E's some to color with...and they LOVED it.

Our first piece of artwork.

Of course it's always more fun to color while standing on the paper.

Ethan...Mr. "I can't do anything in slow-motion."  He colored at lightening speed.

Our little collector of things...Evan had more fun putting the crayons in a sand bucket.

Coloring with such concentration...he only wanted to color on the cover.

Coloring is fun...but we still like cars WAY better!

Of course with coloring comes a few lessons in where it is OK and not OK to color...windows, walls, toys and brother's head are way more fun than the paper don't ya think?!?!

A Few Favorites

Just a couple of my favorite pics from this last week...

Our newest thing...holding hands...CUTEST. THING. EVER!  It is adorable to see them holding hands while walking and while we say our prayers before bed.  I hope they always love each other this much.

Mama's Little Helpers

The boys have a little bit of a fascination with our washer and dryer...they love to help me put clothes in and take them out, pour the soap, press all of the buttons, and {most importantly} shut the door.  A few weeks ago I happened to be washing their sheets and blankies while they were helping me...they are extremely attached to their blankies so most of the time I try to wash them when they are busy playing and not paying too much attention to what I'm putting in the washing machine.

At first Evan wasn't too sure about giving up the blankie and putting it inside but his apprehension quickly passed and he was eager to help pour the soap and shut the door.  He even had no problem taking it out and putting it in the dryer with everything else...I wasn't sure he {or Ethan} would be too excited to put their blankies in to be washed but they loved helping me.

LOVE getting help from my little helpers!

Our Adventure in Houston

We were in Houston for a few days a couple of weeks ago.  Jeff had depositions so we decided to load up the whole fam {including the 4 furry babies...can you say crazy!} and make a little trip out of it.  It was a good chance for us to have some time hanging out with Grandpa and to spend the weekend with some of our H-town friends.  The boys did great on the long drive there...it may have had something to do with the pups constantly popping their heads over the back seat to see what was going on and to lick their little faces.  When we got there the E's were perfect and played with their cars in Grandpa's family room while Jeff and I unloaded the car, fed and took care of dogs, and got the pack and play set up for them to go to bed.  Jeff's dad had been out and wanted the see the boys before going to bed so we kept them up a few extra minutes until he got home.

While we were hanging out Ethan took a dive off of the couch and landed head first into the edge of the coffee table.  It happened crazy fast and even though Jeff was sitting right next to him it couldn't have been stopped.  We're not even sure what he was doing because Jeff actually thought he had been asleep...which he wasn't...he just sat up and dove right off.

Evan was in my lap and all I could do was sit and watch him fall like it was happening in slow motion.  As soon as Jeff grabbed him and I saw the huge gash in his forehead I knew we were on our way to the ER...there was no way he was going to avoid stitches.  He was screaming and there was blood EVERYWHERE.  I'm usually one to not get freaked out by blood and cuts but I guess when it's your own child it's different...I couldn't even look at it.

{Ethan with his four stitches}

So...at 10:30 at night Jeff's dad and I went to the hospital while Jeff stayed at home with Evan and tried to get some sleep since he had to be up early the next morning.  Ethan actually did really good while we waited FOREVER in the waiting room.  Give the kiddo a phone with some YouTube and he is good to go.  Finally by around midnight he was back in a room getting looked at, all cleaned up and stitched back together.  They swaddled him up and a nurse held his head while I held his body so he couldn't move while the doctor stitched him up...let's just say that it was the ABSOLUTE WORST THING I have experienced so far as a mama.  It made me so sad to have to hold him and watch as he screamed while they were numbing the area for stitches...I hate seeing my babies in pain and it's even harder knowing there is nothing you can do to make it better.

{Right after getting the stitches removed}

He was definitely a trooper though and even started falling asleep toward the end of getting stitched up.  He got them out a week ago and we are on the road to recovery with hopefully no other adventures for a while.  Now when you ask him about his boo-boo and his stitches he points to his head and jibber-jabbers all about it...so hilarious.  He is most certainly our little dare-devil ALWAYS keeping us on our toes and giving this mama many gray hairs in the process!

{How I kept him still long enough to get a few pictures of his head}

The Things They Say, Vol. 1

 Back in the boys' 18 month update I included words that each one of them were saying.  Since this is something that is constantly changing as they are learning more and more everyday I wanted to do a few updates from time to time with a little bit more detail...I think it will be fun to look back and remember not only what they were saying but the context in which they were saying it.  So...here are a few of my favorite things the E's are saying right now...

weee and whoa:

1. What the boys say when we are driving in the car and we stop fast, turn a corner, go down a hill, etc.
2. What the boys say when they play with their toy cars and the car goes down a hill.

ot:

1. What Ethan says when he sees me pouring coffee, getting something out of the oven, ironing clothes, drying my hair, cutting up food for him to eat, etc.

2. What Ethan usually says when he touches the ground outside.

hi:

1. What Ethan says to us when we walk in the room.

2. What the E's say they are riding their cars and stop when they see us.
3. What the boys both say when I go to get them up in the morning or up from a nap.

bye-bye:
1. What the boys say when leaving a room to go somewhere else.
2. Most of the time accompanied by a cute little hand wave as they are running out the door.
3. What the E's usually say when they see a car drive by our house and they can't see it anymore.
4. What they say to the flowers, rocks, trees, and plants when we leave a restaurant.
5. What they say when we drop off Jeff at work from lunch...which Jeff never gets to hear because it tends to be when he has already shut the door and I'm driving away.
6. What Ethan says to the downstairs when we are going up the stairs.

car-car:

1. What the E's say when they see a car outside {Ethan usually interchanges it with "tuck"}.
2. What they say when they play with cars, ride their cars, point out cars in books.
3. The E's ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WORD...we are obsessed in our house with cars {mama already knows the theme for our second birthday party}

Uh-Oh:
1. What the E's say when they fall or drop something.
2. Usually followed by laughing because they think it is so funny.

fo:
1. What the E's say when they see my phone anywhere in sight.
2. Usually it's followed with trying to get my phone to try and play with and watch a movie.

cash:
1. What the boys say when driving their cars into the wall and each other.
2. What the boys say when crashing their toy cars into each other.

fa:
1. What Ethan says when his car tips over.
2. What Ethan says when something falls off the table.
3. What Ethan says while pointing to his new Strider Bike {it doesn't have a kick stand so when not riding it the bike usually lays on the floor}

eyes:
1. What Ethan says when putting his fingers in his eyes, my eyes, the dogs' eyes, his stuffed animals eyes...he is a little obsessed with eyes right now.

aw man:
1. What Ethan says randomly for no reason...I guess we say it a lot around here.

da-ee:
1. What the boys say whenever we pull into the parking lot at Jeff's work to pick him up for lunch.
2. What Ethan says when he picks up the remote, our push-up bars, my phone {he has called Jeff a few times on accident}...he knows these things belong to daddy.
3. What the E's say when they hear a lawn mower outside...they are fascinated with watching daddy work on the yard.

Smart Little Cookie

This sweet, cute, adorable, innocent looking little dude has figured out how to unlock mama's phone.  He is so proud of himself...if there is one thing he may love more than all of his cars, it is definitely my phone.  He loves the fun kiddo games I have on it, watching "movies" on YouTube, talking to Da-ee {who he has called a few times after unlocking the phone} and anyone else who he happens to call.  Try as I may to keep the phone hidden or out of reach he has an unbelievable way of finding it and getting his little hands on it.

I have an app that the boys both love called "I Hear Ewe."  It has two pages with animal icons and one with transportation.  When they tap any of the animals or transportation they pop up and make their sound...so very entertaining for them.  It has definitely saved us on a few occasions when out to eat.  They have their favorites which they go to...train, car, monkey, snake, lion {which Ethan is making the sound for in the above picture}.

I'm sure it won't be long before he figures out what to tap on to get "I Hear Ewe" to pop up...which I'm thinking I may just teach him...better than having him call random people or mess things up on my phone.  Or...I could be the smart mom and actually put a password on my phone to unlock it...but that would be way too easy! :)

PI-TI-FUL!!

For the majority of the time the boys are best of friends...they play together, chase each other around, copy each other, want to be where the other one is and do what the other one is doing.  There are times though when they don't always get along...surprise, surprise!  With two almost two year olds who usually want the same thing and can't completely verbalize what they want and their emotions...I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

Today Ethan threw a car at Evan.  He quickly went to time out while I took care of an upset Evan.  He didn't cry for long but continued for quite a while to give me this sad, pitiful face...

 Little dude has the pout down to perfection!

Could he be any more sad?!

Of course he wasn't too upset to happily go finish brother's drink while he was in time out {and he definitely knows which cup is his and which one belongs to brother}.  Fun times!