"Welcome to my house!"

Eddie is finally at an age where he enjoys playing in a fort. I have tried to make our kitchen table into a fort in the past, but Eddie was too nervous to play in it.
Peter, of course, has yet to be scared of anything and loved scooting in and out of it.
It was too dark in there to begin with, but with a few flashlights, Eddie felt confident to stay and play.
Every time I peeked in the fort, Eddie called out to me, "Welcome to my house!".

Monkey on Eddie's Back

Eddie carrying Curious George the way Daddy carries Eddie. When I went to take the picture, Eddie had to sit down because "it makes me so tired", which is just what Daddy says and does when Daddy carries Eddie.

Peter Went Through the Tunnel

Peter crawled through Eddie's tunnel when it was out a couple of weeks ago. It surprised me that he didn't hesitate to follow Eddie through. He always went through if he could see me or Eddie at the other end.

In mid-scoot

Peter's Eating Update

Peter is eating a lot more things now. He never really liked rice or oatmeal cereals. I hesitated feeding him other foods, worried he was just going to waste them as he did the cereals. Ben convinced me to let Peter try yogurt. He loved it and got all excited while eating; it is still his favorite thing. Here is a picture of Eddie feeding Peter yogurt. I love how Eddie opened his mouth each time he gave Peter a bite; I guess that comes naturally to the mothering type!


Peter loves feeding himself. I think it is so adorable to watch him work so hard to pick up the pieces and get them to his mouth.

What Eddie Said

I.
Eddie (holding a peeler by the handle): This is sharp?
Me: It is kind of sharp, but not in the way you are thinking. (I knew he was thinking it was like a knife, which he is scared of-I trained him well)
Eddie: Tell me the truth, Mom!
*funny because he has never said this phrase before; he heard it on Super Why; I don't know if he understands how to use it correctly, but it fit here in such a funny way

II.
Ben was talking to Eddie about how food that you swallow goes down your throat and into your stomach.
Ben: That's why, when you're hungry, sometimes your stomach hurts.
Eddie: Yeah, and you have to eat cupcakes and birthday (meaning birthday cake)!

III.
Eddie: You are the BEST Mom!

What Eddie Said

Eddie and I had this conversation two days in a row.

Eddie: Mommy, Eddie is bigger now?
Mommy: Yes, Eddie is getting bigger and bigger!
Eddie: Eddie can drive now? (asked with so much hope and enthusiasm)
Mommy: Eddie is not that big!
Eddie: Eddie has to get more bigger!

Uncle Will

The great thing about Uncle Will is his boots! Eddie wasn't hesitant to ask to try them on.
And his hat!

He also has magazines with great pictures of animals, and he really listens to and talks to Eddie like he is an adult! I love you, William! Thanks for being such a good brother, uncle, and dad!

Maclay Gardens

My brother, William, and his family came for a visit this past weekend. We haven't seen any of them in a year, and, it's been even longer since we have seen William! We had a lot of fun getting reacquainted. Here are some pictures of our adventures at Maclay Gardens State Park, which is a mile from our house.

I love how you can see Eddie marching behind us in this photo.
Kyle and Eddie testing out a bench.

Here's our little runner. He loved taking off. Kyle and Jeremy were always right behind him. I was surprised to see that Eddie was the leader in this little group.
All three boys being chased by Will.

Peter slept for most of the visit.

Ben got some awesome flower shots.


We had a lot of fun and look forward to going back when there are even more flowers!

Li'l' Troublemaker

Peter's into everything now! Here you can see he dropped the Mr. PotatoHead in the pan, and now he is pulling the pans out of the cupboard.

He loves to open the broiler on our oven.

Some of his other favorite tasks are opening the toilet seat, transferring laundry from one basket to another, and pulling the garbage cans over. He is a lot of fun and a lot of trouble!

Two Brothers

Eddie told me that he has two brothers; he pointed to Peter and to the ball under his shirt. Thankfully he is the only one pregnant around here!

Christmas 2008

We celebrated Christmas at our house on December 16, as we were leaving for Utah on the 17th. When Eddie woke up that morning we told him that Santa had come in the night. He refused to leave his room for 15 minutes because he was nervous. Ben eventually got him to come out by telling him Santa had brought candy. Then Eddie ran to the living room. He spent quite awhile just eating candy. That night when I asked him his favorite part of Christmas, he said, "maybe the candy". He still talks about Santa coming to bring us candy.

Eddie's biggest reaction, an excited squeal, was for this dinosaur he found in his stocking.

Eddie loved all of his presents. Mom and Dad thought it was pretty cool that Santa brought him a toy with his name on the packaging ("Eddie and his Boulder Worksite"). Now Eddie loves playing with the two Little People that came with this toy, Eddie and Kevin (Mom made up Kevin's name, though she tried to change it to Peter a second after she said Kevin. It didn't stick, though.)
Peter was interested in the tags on the gifts. He was semi-interested in wrapping paper, but he didn't really do any unwrapping of his own.

He was most interested in random things on the floor, like water bottles.

Peter loved oranges!

Peter did love to kiss the gloworm he received.

We had a really merry Christmas, complete with a McDonald's breakfast and a Chick-fil-a dinner. Afterall we were packing to go out of town, too!

Highlights from our Utah Trip

Temple Square
seeing high school friends-I especially remember the good ol' days with Kennedy. She always had a pacifier in her mouth back then, too.
sledding
or was it a highlight?
the doggy door; Eddie used a little shovel to get things from outside
drinking Grandma's yummy hot chocolate out of a shot glass
eating little boxes of cereal that Santa brought
Eddie loved these Cars boots at Grandma's house; he has asked to fly on an airplane, which he hated, just so he could get these boots! Sorry, Eddie, no need for boots in Florida!

With Some of Our Favorite People

our whole family!
with Grandma-I love how he's leaning his elbow on her leg
so happy with cousin Hunter-I love how their feet are against each other
so unhappy with cousin Hunter
with Aunt Khrystine
with Uncle Mark and cousin Abby (Mark should have twins!)
so happy with Grandpa
playing with Uncle Kaleb's face
playing cars and lids with Uncle Tom

Alteration to the Nativity Story

On Christmas Eve I told Eddie the story of Christ's birth using our nativity set as a prop. He was an intent listener. When I told him that the wise men wanted to find the baby Jesus and give him presents, he quickly took Jesus from the stable and put him by the wise men. He was being helpful, not realizing that the wise men had to follow the star to find the Savior. Very sweet.

First Candy Canes

Both of my boys experienced their first candy canes this Christmas season. We let Eddie eat one as we were decorating our tree. He loved it, and within a few days all the candy canes within his reach disappeared from the tree.
Peter took the liberty of getting himself a candy cane from off the tree. I didn't stop him because I didn't think he could get it open, but he proved me wrong and was very upset when I took it away!