Cutie Patootie

As any other mother would do, I often find myself telling my children, "Gosh, you sure are cute!"  These were just a few photos of my little guys where I couldn't help but say that over and over again as I snapped away!

Construction Guys

This box sure has done it's duty. It was the box that my parents new bed came in....from two years ago. And since then, its been part of a major construction zone. The boys loved getting inside and using all their tools. Wyatt has been a little copycat of Grant lately, so whatever Grant does, Wyatt does too. They looked so cute with their concentrating faces!! Grant usually has his mouth open, in the shape of an "O", and Wyatt usually resembles a bulldog- lower jaw sticking out. 

Grant's concentrating face. He was working so hard to saw right through the side of the box.

Wyatt's concentrating face. It's not as in depth, because he's usually looking down, which makes his lower jaw protrude even more. But this is a pretty close look!

Working that screwdriver!

I asked Grant what face a construction worker makes, and this is what I got.  I think he needs to toughen that look up just a bit to fit in with the construction guys!

Oh, brotherly love is so sweet!!!

Corn on the Cob

Of course Wyatt would love corn, since Grant hates it. That's pretty much how things work around here. These boys couldn't be more opposite! But I sure do love that Wyatt loves corn because its something that will actually occupy him at his high chair while we eat our meals. Wyatt's meals usually last about 5 minutes- he inhales everything on his tray/plate and then wants out. (Of course, it will take Grant at least 10 minutes before he even takes his first bite!) So keeping Wyatt busy while I eat a meal takes work. Luckily, corn on the cob does the job!! 

Look-a-likes??

Here are two pictures of Grant and Wyatt, both wearing the same outfit. They are the exact same age in these pictures- 15.5 months old. I can't believe I actually have a picture of them wearing the same outfit, taken on the same day, only two years apart.

What do you think....look-a-likes, or no??

The Four Musketeers

These boys love each other so much!!  They might not always get along. There might be lots of tears, lots of screaming, and lots of fighting. But there is always lots of fun and loads of laughter!! Grant and Wyatt both had a blast being able to play with Mason and Luke the past three months. With them being just down the street, there were lots of playtime opportunities. Their favorite game was Star Wars. In fact, I don't really think I saw them play anything else- EVER- unless they were swimming, but I'm sure a battle still ensued. Grant learned all about "The Dark Side" and who's who of the Star Wars gang. Wyatt didn't play too much Star Wars, but he sure enjoyed eating off everyone's plates when we got together!

We will be so excited for the day we move back to Kansas so these boys can enjoy each other's company whenever they want!!

Water Fight!

While Levi was on deployment and we spent lots of time in Kansas, Grant and I liked to do special things "all by ourselves," as Grant would say. One of the things Grant and I did was have a spontaneous water balloon fight back on June 2nd. The balloons were a random buy at Walmart. They were just regular party balloons, but I only filled them up part way, so they were very bouncy! But that kind of made it more fun! We got to throw the same balloon over and over again, so our fight lasted much longer! Although, neither one of us got very wet!! Grant doesn't have a very strong arm (something I jokingly blame on Levi being gone for the better part of Grant's life), so the concept of throwing a water balloon was a little lost on him. He has never been a kid who throws toys or anything, because he just didn't know how. So this was fun to be able to throw things with a purpose.  He got pretty good at it too!!

This time I was throwing him the balloon...my mom taking the picture.

His laughter was contagious!

Then the tongue came out. I guess he was channeling his inner-Michael Jordan

Some just didn't want to break, so we had to squish them!! He loved the splatter on his toes!

More tongue-action!

Such big smiles!! I love our special times "all by ourselves!"

Slacker

I promise, one of these days I'll catch up!!! I just can't understand how I don't have time to blog anymore. I mean, I'm only raising two (wild and crazy) boys, emailing my husband 2x/day about whats going on, packing suitcases, filling boxes, doing umpteen loads of laundry, cleaning sticky fingers, locating lovies, breaking up fights, making snacks, vacuuming, picking up toys, picking up toys, picking up toys, bathing children, filling out endless paperwork to sell our house, all while enjoying an ice cold diet coke. Geez, I'm such a slacker! 

Holy Batmans, Batman!

I splurged on Grant, once again! But this time, I haven't regretted my decision for even one second!! I bought the Imaginext Batcave off eBay for $12.00. It normally retails for $45 and is normally the first thing Grant asks for when we walk into Target. But not anymore!! I bought this about a month ago and since then, I don't think he's played with anything else! Of course, with the Batcave comes lots of Batmans (or is it Batmen?).  This Batcave came with Batman and Robin, but we somehow have 5 Batmans altogether, not to mention a whole bunch of other random superheros. Grant knows all of them by name and what their super powers are. He has his favorites, but of course, is always on the hunt for new ones!

Wyatt was taking of advantage of Grant having a nice long nap, so he could play with the Batcave for a change! Grant is very territorial over his Batcave, and poor Wyatt doesn't stand a chance most times. We're working on the whole sharing thing....

Here is the Batcave in all its glory, with figures strategically placed by Grant. His favorites: Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, Hawkman, Batman, Robin, and Batmite (which is supposedly a bad guy, but Grant thinks he's good.)  He's funny when it comes to the villains- Mr. Freeze, Penguin, and Joker- I don't think he likes the whole idea of "bad guys" so he pretends that they are all good guys!

And I just had to throw in a picture of Grant being Superman and shooting fire out of his eyes.

Yep, you read that right!!

Pool Play "Date"

Claire and Wyatt will be married in approximately 25 years, give or take. I know arranged marriages are frowned upon these days, but what better way to keep our friends close is have our babies get married!! Ok, we may be getting ahead of ourselves, but they did have a fun pool play "date." My best friend Carly had the day off work yesterday, so I invited her and Claire (11 months old) to come over and swim. Claire had never been in a pool before, but you sure wouldn't know it by seeing her reaction. She was like a fish in water- absolutely loved it!!! Grant was more interested in his popsicle, and Wyatt was only interested in eating lunch, so the date wasn't a complete success in that aspect. But all of us had a good time, nonetheless!

Fudgesicle Face!

Fishy face!

Cutie Face!!

Look at the cute little couple...

This was after Claire was already gone, but I'm sure he's wishing he could have given it to her...

A Day at the Pool

                            

Yesterday, we went for a swim at my aunt's pool. This was something we'd do almost every weekend last summer when I was visiting Kansas while Levi was on deployment. This year, our time in Kansas is about up, so we had to sneak in a quick swim while we had the chance! Boy oh boy, did Grant love that idea!! He swam his little heart out!! Last year, he was very timid in the water at first and required a life jacket AND water wings. This year, he felt very content with his jacket. He swam all lengths of the pool, jumped off the side, climbed up the ladder- he was a champ!! He wanted us to call him "Aquaman."

Wyatt wasn't so sure of the water at first. All he wanted was to be out of the water, or be held super tight while in the water. We were hoping he'd just go take a nap inside, but that failed. So out he came, but after a little while, he got much more comfortable. Towards the end of the afternoon, he was even jumping off the side to me- and by jumping, I mean my mom lowering him into the pool and me "catching" him. He thought he was jumping though!!!

Grant did a whole lot of smiling while swimming! He was just so content!!! I was so happy to see him not be timid and just jump right in, literally. He normally takes a while to warm up to new surroundings, but he must have remembered enough from last year to make it seem not as new.

He probably jumped to my dad about 50 times, no joke!

Wyatt's turn to jump! Love the little cloth swim diaper!! Looks like a speedo! :)

Grant found these sunglasses in Mimi's swim bag. My mom called them his superhero glasses, so he of course wore them while jumping in!

Here are me and my little guys from last year!

"Time to Hero Up!"

Grant is SUPER obsessed with all things superhero!!  He's also had super good behavior the past few weeks, so I thought it was time for a reward system! I've done things like this in the past, but it was mostly when we were potty training. Now that that is over with (thank God!), its time to start rewarding good behaviors! So, after doing some school projects that involved Batman printables, I was inspired to take it one step further and make him a reward chart. So I took my camera, all his action figures, and went to town on the computer! I made a chart and then took all the pictures of his superheros and turned them into magnets. So now, whenever Grant makes a "good choice" as we refer to them- ie, sharing, doing chores, saying nice things, being a good big brother- I'll let him choose a magnet to put on his chart! Of course, since he is obsessed with his superhero action figures, his "wishlist" of toys to buy is a mile long, so I know he's already planning to get the "Robin with a plane" toy when his chart is full!!

I couldn't be more proud of my little superhero and he couldn't be more proud of himself!!!

He's already got it halfway full after 3 days!

I have this little cardboard box with a big magnet on it that sticks to the fridge next to his chart. It holds all his magnets and he is very particular about which one he picks each time!!

Grant Right Now

 

• At this very moment, Grant is 3 years, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days old.
• He wears size 4 shirts, size 3/4 shorts, and size 8 shoes.
• He goes to bed at 8:00 every night and sleeps til 7:30-8:00 in the morning. He still naps for a good 2-3 hours every day! Thank the Lord!!
• He still would prefer to not eat anything, but he's slowly adding new foods to his tiny repertoire. His favorites right now are french fries, Little Cuties (oranges), Strawberry Mini Wheats, grapes, chips, mac & cheese, pizza lunchables (not warmed up, and without sauce!), and Handi-Snacks pretzels and cheese.
• He is OBSESSED with all things Superheros! He loves playing with his Imaginext Batcave and all the figures, while watching DC Super Friends or SuperHero Squad.
• If he sees anything he wants, he says, "I want to put that on my wishlist."
• He says, "May I please be excused?" before he leaves the table- I love that!!
• He is 100% potty trained!! He has been accident free for quite a few weeks now. He still wears a pull-up at night, but he needs no prompting during the day!! PHEW!
• He is such a sweet boy- very good at sharing, always there to give hugs and kisses, and says things like, "You're always in my heart."
• He frequently asks if I have any chores for him to do. I sure hope that keeps up as he gets older. I'm doubtful!
• He loves his cousins and asks to play with them countless times each day. We're enjoying the luxury of being in Kansas right now and having them only 5 minutes away!
• He loves reading books before naptime and bedtime. Of course lately, the only ones he wants to read are superhero books! Thanks goodness for the library!!
• He loves playing outside, whether its riding bikes, playing in the sandbox, playing in the pool, or going to the park. He'd play outside all day every day if he could!
• He constantly asks, "What are you talking about?" whenever he hears anyone having a conversation- in the car especially. That question is usually followed by 20 more questions starting with "Why...." It truly is a never ending cycle!!!

I wish I could video tape him for an entire day to really remember how amazing he is! He is just a ball of energy, knowledge, curiosity, and love that never stops moving!

I love you my handsome boy!!

 

Wyatt Right Now

 

• Wyatt is exactly 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days old.
• He is a HUGE eater and loves all things food. His favorites are all kinds of fruit, chicken nuggets, chips, quesadillas, crackers, cheese, etc. etc. etc. I love he eats whatever I give him!
• He has 7 teeth, and is currently cutting his bottom right front, and bottom right molar.
• He wears size 4 diaper.
• His clothes are 12 month if they are separates, 18 months if they are one piece.
• He is obsessed with his two lovies and MUST have them within reach at all times.
• He goes to bed at 7:00 every night, and usually wakes up at 6:30 every morning. He occasionally plays in his bed in the middle of the night for whatever reason.
• He says Mama, Dada, Bubba, Dixie, and some version of Grant- sounds like "Nun"
• He can point out mouth, eyes, toes, and hair. He loves combing anyones hair, and especially loves having his combed.
• He loves playing with whatever Grant is playing with. He's very fond of putting things inside things.
• He's loud!! He mimics all sounds he hears- yelling, coughing, laughing. He just does it really loudly!
• He's going to be an ornery little guy, as he laughs each time I tell him no. Timeouts will be horrible when we get there!
• He is the cutest baby I know, and I'm not saying that because I'm biased- he just really is!

I love you my little sweetsie boy!!