Results of a mid-afternoon bath:

We'd like to call this look the curly fauxhawk:
And a side-view so you can see all the curls. I guess Aveeno shampoo= curly baby hair?

A few old random photos

my two reindeer

We've been getting a ton of questions about what the boys want for Christmas. They certainly don't need anything, and I really can't think of anything they want.

If you ask Trent what he wants, you probably won't get an answer of any kind. Unless you ask what he wants from Santa, in which case he'll respond "candy canes". Neither Joel or myself has really explained Santa to Trent (short of he's a nice guy at the mall who gives out candy canes). We talk a lot about Christmas, but more about the Jesus' Birthday part and less about the Santa part.

If it helps at all, Trent does like Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny. He loves books and crafts (but not coloring with crayons at the moment). We've been buying "big boy" books- the kind with real pages- and he does like them. He also really likes backhoes, tractors, dogs, and dancing. He's in 2t but is already outgrowing some of the things we own in that size.

As for Ryan- he's a busy little guy. He has pretty much everything (including a new found ability to crawl and two front teeth- the bottom ones!). He really has no idea what's going on but he does love the Christmas tree and sparkly lights. He's too little to have too many specific likes but he does love making noise. He also puts everything in his mouth (very unlike his big brother at the same age) so we have to be especially careful of choking hazards with him. He's in the 6-12m/9-12m size range at the moment.

(Aren't they cute in their little antlers? They jingle too, which makes everything so much cuter!)

a Trent update

A few things about Trent:

He's obsessed with the word "neighborhood"

He does not like sugar cookies. He will hold them without eating them until he gets tired of holding it or it starts getting crumbs on him.

He will ask you several times during the day if you need or want a cappuccino.

When asked if he wants a cappuccino, he will tell you "No, I don't like that, no, I don't like a cappuccino, no I don't like them. Seriously? I don't want a cappuccino."

Santa gave him two candy canes. They're both on the tree. If he asks if you like candy and you say yes, he'll show them to you. (along with every other ornament we have)

If he offers you a muffin, you should also say yes. Tell him you can unwrap it by yourself and you might actually get enough muffin to eat. Otherwise he will eat 90% of it for you.

a Ryan update

Ryan is making all kinds of crazy progress recently. He's a great self feeder (provided you give him small finger foods or a pre-loaded spoon) and really loves all Thanksgiving type foods. Yesterday he seemed to be getting the hang of moving his knees forward to crawl forward and I imagine he'll be taking off in no time. This morning, he even said what I'm sure was "cereal" when he noticed his big brother munching cheerios. He's growing up quickly!

babies in sweaters

We had our family Thanksgiving today, and thought it might be fun to dress both the boys up.

They're adorable, right?

and then, of course, things got a little crazy....

Look at Trent(inabox) and he shows you that he is MUCH bigger than Ryan. Be sure to also check out Ryan's expression, because being spun in a chair really is that much fun.

christmas cards

If you read my other blog, you know I recently ordered some photo cards for Christmas. I won't share the photo with you now, but if you want a preview of the boys being adorable and Christmas-y a little bit early, here it is:

They had a lot of fun rolling around in jammies all afternoon!

Of course, being that cute can be exhausting!

the best toy in the house?

were you wondering what it is?? the toy box, of course!!

Trent is an excellet stir-er

Trent & I made pumpkin bread at the begining of this month:

Look at what a great helper he is!
All that stirring and baking can wear a kid out!

Ryan worked on self-feeding skills:

But he wasn't quite up to the challange yet:

(he has gotten much better since these photos were taken though!)

A bunch o' pirates!

He's got a sword (and a paci!)

ARRRRRRRR!

What a cute pirate! Ryan was a wiggly monkey pirate all night so all his photos were blurry!

for auntie emi

Trent picked this banana all by himself. The banana was less than thrilled about being eaten, I think!

Ryan's new habit

Trent's pumpkin

he did all the painting himself!

It's a colorful spider!

A few random photos

Ryan doing what he likes best, making noise:
...he also likes reading, just not as much as he likes talking!

This is what happens when you claim to be "too old" for naptime. The whole balloon boy scandal on tv was not exciting enough to keep Trent awake:

This one is a little bit old, but back when we were all sick- Trent made dinner (mostly) by himself in the form of crockpot chili. He's awesome!!

the corn maze: previous years

I couldn't resist! Here's one from 2007- Trent is a mere 4 months old here:
he was sound asleep by the time we finished the maze (see the wagon?)

Here he is again in 2008, at 15 months (and very deep in thought):

Corn Maze!

We do the same corn maze every single year- of course they change the paths each year and this was one tricky maze! Here's a few photos from our most recent visit, starting with all the boys posing at the enterence!

It didn't take long for Trent to find a stray ear of corn:

I love this shot of him walking. Ryan and I tried our best to keep up with Trent & Daddy!

Here's Trent double checking his scorecard to make sure we punched it right:

A half-way through the maze pose. We had a tough time finding all the spots so we stopped for a quick break.

There's one! They found it (and studied it for a bit):

Lots of opened ears of corn this year. Someone must've been hungry!

Trent and daddy hiding in the corn! It was so tall and thick this year...

...and a picture of Ryan just hanging out in the stroller:

They did it!! hooray! We'll call this the "happy we made it out of the maze" pose:

with a happy Ryan!

They even have the same wagon! Of course by this point getting everyone to cooperate and pose for just one more photo was getting tricky!