Who needs pants?

The kids have a new skill - and it isn't one that I am too fond of! They can now help a little too well when it comes to getting dressed... or undressed. Pam has requested that Tyler, especially, not be allowed to come to daycare in anything but onesies that he can't get off.

So-So and Lance's Dad watched the kids for us on Saturday (thanks again!) and got some good pictures that I will have to get ahold of. I got the camera out this afternoon because Tyler was walking around after the Titans game (Go Titans!) carrying a football and looked so cute. Of course, once I got the camera he didn't want to have anything to do with the ball. He did, however want to test me to see if I really meant no when I wouldn't allow him to play with the fireplace tools. I think that is the most frustrating thing for me right now - I know he understands me and knows he is not supposed to be doing what he is doing, but there are no real consequences so they both just kind of look at me as if to ask, what are you going to do about it?

Katie is doing so well walking! I don't think I saw her crawl at all today, and she is really getting the hang of it. She falls a lot more than Tyler did when he first learned, but that's because she is kind of fearless whereas he is "Mr. Cautious." She has to concentrate really hard if she doesn't want to end up on her bottom, it is too cute.

Tyler decided to skip his nap today, but all things considering they were pretty good. Half smiles were about all I could capture but they finally had a weekend when I think they were both feeling ok and you could tell.

Oh, and I guess they are growing a bit - Katie can finally reach to get on and off her toy on her own and make it go!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Well, I rarely get public responses on here when I ask a question but some of you do email so I am putting another question out there. Anybody have a great solution for keeping toddlers away from the Christmas tree other than purchasing an expensive gate to put around it? Do you just put ornaments higher than they can reach and let them play with anything they can touch? Do you forego the tree when they are little? Do you just block it off with random things? It isn't really that big of a deal, I know, but we love looking at the tree and the lights during the season and want to have one up if possible!

It is hard to belive that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and then Christmas! Basketball season has started (thank you to Lance's Dad for watching the kids for us to go to the first game), it is a little colder, Christmas decorations are already up at the mall, and tomorrow night we are heading to Christmas Village for our annual trip - I guess all signs point to it already being that time of the year! No new pictures today, but I hope to get the kids picture taken with Santa at Christmas Village so maybe new ones soon!

Great Weekend!

We had a fabulous weekend! Great weather and good times - couldn't ask for more. The kids seem to be feeling better. They still have runny noses and Tyler is definitely about to get another tooth. Katie has her teething cough so she might have one or two on the way too, but I can't feel them like I can Tyler's. On Saturday morning we went to a place up the street called Monkey's Treehouse. They have a little toddler area with a ball pit, a lego wall, slides and tunnels and the kids had a blast. Katie LOVED the ball pit and didn't want to do much else. Tyler tried out pretty much everything but seemed most enamored with the legos. Of course, we have legos at home that he plays with for five minutes max, but since they were on the wall there I guess he liked them better. We then went to visit So-So at "Creative Chaos." Katie showed everyone just how far she can poke her bottom lip out and Tyler was sporting some new scrapes and bruises from an incident involving a table that wasn't sturdy enough and a picture frame! We had a good time checking out all the goods at the sale and the kids had a ball being the center of attention for a bit (as if that is unusual since they have their parents, at least, smitten). Today was a beautiful day and we (the four of us and Grandpa Fossick) went to the zoo. It was kind of a test for the kids because we let them skip their morning nap for the first time, on purpose. They did great - they were obviously tired but not too grumpy and they took a good nap once we got home. It will be wonderful when we can stop the morning nap because it means we can get out and about easier so I'm glad we gave it a go and it didn't turn out too bad.

You can tell Katie was pretty sleepy! The giraffes were awesome - I think they may be my favorite zoo animal!!!

Tyler was telling his dad all about the giraffes.

I don't know if Tyler was happier about being allowed to walk or the animals, but either way he was having fun.

Katie loves her grandpa and even trusted him to keep her safe from the goat.

Bronchiolitis

Well, I guess I should have expected it since they had the flu but poor little man has bronchiolitis, again. It usually affects children under 2, but peaks between 3-6 months so I was hopeful that we were not going to have as bad of a Fall/Winter. It seems that anytime Tyler gets sick (although bronchiolitis is usually caused by RSV or Flu so maybe he won't be that sick again now that they are vaccinated) he is going to be at risk to get it. We are giving him breathing treatments and watching to make sure it doesn't develop into something more serious, like pneumonia. It is long lasting so we are hoping that he feels better by the end of next week. We plan to go to Christmas Village that weekend, and want to go to the Kentucky game on Saturday so hopefully all can get well by then. It seems that all signs point to Tyler definitely having asthma when he is older since getting bronchiolitis when younger seems to indicate that will happen. On a good note - Tyler was 20 pounds, 12 ounces!!! He gained 10 ounces in two weeks - way to go Tyler Bear!!! Maybe that is because he is actually eating his food these days - he was throwing it on the ground constantly - no worries, Katie had picked up that habit from him so Marley is still getting fed ;-)!

Lance was right...

I hate saying that, but he was. Katie is walking!!! She still primarily crawls if she really wants to get somewhere but can take 10 or more steps at a time and does it well. She prefers walking upstairs on carpet and hasn't really tried that much downstairs - smart girl as far as I am concerned. The hardwood, edges, etc. scare me to death down here. We really need to find a solution, too, for our stairs problem. Tyler can move the pack and play and make it halfway up the stairs in 30 seconds! I wish I could figure out how to put video up here so you can see our little he-man move that thing - even when we load it down with stuff we think will make it too heavy for him to move. We have got to find something to block off the living room from the dining room and thus the staircase but haven't found a gate that is wide enough or that will actually open and close! I have seen some online but am reluctant to get them because I can't see them in person - plus they are expensive. I guess I will just add it to the wishlist along with a new couch - two new holes in the nasty ones that we have now. I agree that we might as well wait until the kids get older before we get anything nicer but these are embarrassing! I am just putting it out there for anyone who seriously questions my decorating sense - these are by necessity not choice!!! We will need more seating when the kids get older, but for now I have my eye on some cute little chairs to get the kids for Christmas that will work until they are bigger. I think poor little Tyler is getting another tooth - he is very fussy (but better now that I gave him tylenol) and his lower gum seems to be bulging. He is definitely ahead of Katie in the tooth department 8 going on 9 to her 4!!! Titans game back on - I am trying (unsuccessfully) to get them to watch so I can - right now they are more interested in helping me type this :-)!

A dinosaur and a ladybug

Well, good thing I opted for the 70% off Cracker Barrel costumes since we didn't really do much in-costume. The kids have a cold (have I mentioned that I HATE cold weather) and we ended up not doing any trick or treating because it wasn't dark by their dinnertime and was already pretty cold. We did stroll around our neighborhood and the neighborhood by us but didn't go to any houses since it wasn't dark yet. We did go to the little trick or treat shindig at Publix and the kids were in costume most of the afternoon and had a good time - Tyler trying to walk with slippery feet and Katie showing off her tutu. Here are some pictures - Tyler was a dinosaur because it was a pretty good costume for $6 and Katie's ladybug costume was too big but it was all they had and I really wanted Katie "Bug" to be a ladybug!

Happy Almost Halloween

The kids had their little Halloween party at Nana Pam's today. They must have had a good time because they were pooped tonight! They both took a little catnap in the car on the way home and then went to sleep about 20 minutes early with not even a whimper. I am dreading the time change coming up since it means the kids will wake up at the same time as usual and I DO NOT want 5:30 to become the new time to start the day! I guess we will have to tire them out good in the next week while they get used to it. That means plenty of time practicing climbing the stairs and playing on the bed - Tyler will LOVE it! Maybe this is the week that we can finally get Katie walking. She is getting oh so close and has taken a step here and there but no real walking yet. Lance thinks it will happen any day now and I think she has at least another month before she gets up the nerve - we'll see, I hope he is right. Not that I am super anxious to have two walkers (one runner now), but I really am ready to be done with the odd, kind of alarming crawl and I know she will be so proud of herself once she does it. Every little thing that she does in preparation already, like walking with one of their push toys or taking an itsy bitsy step, makes her look at us to see if we saw it, followed by a big grin. Speaking of grins, they weren't very forthcoming with them for picture time at Pam's - she has the same problem as me, they refuse to smile at the same time when the camera is on them!

Tyler blowing a kiss - he is sooooo sweet doing it and he is eager to show off his new skill as long as we don't request it :-). They will both clap or say hello or wave bye bye, etc. all day or night until we try to get them to do it for someone else!