Here we are...... Thankful

For thanksgiving we went to the Sharp’s house in Roll. The kids always have such a great time when there. They love to ride the tractors and have arctic cat rides. Plus their grandparents pretty much spoil them rotten. This year was fun because the kid’s ages are so much easier and they all seemed to play really well together. (Makes it easy on the parents :o))

The day after Thanksgiving we went to San Diego for the night. We spent the day on the beach and went to a farmers market the next morning followed by more time on the beach. Of course the weather was beautiful and the boys had a lot of fun running in the sand and building sand castles.

We met up with Adam and Kristen that evening and the boys all played together. They were so wound up and excited they were acting like drunken college kids running around, rolling on the floor, and screaming! We saw a little glimpse of our future I think. :o/

Oh the Fun We Had....Halloween 2011

Time flies! It was been way to long since I posted so I have some catching up to do! We will start with Halloween! The first item on the agenda was to pick out and carve pumpkins! The boys both picked out their pumpkins and then instructed me on how they wanted their jack-o-lanterns made by telling me “round eyes, cat eyes, fangs/no fangs, etc.” I had to do most of the work since neither of them will pull the “guts” out of the pumpkins! Both said it was “yucky” and I should do it. They both really enjoyed they outcome however and wanted to keep the pumpkins in the house so they could see them glow at night.

This year Koen said he wanted to dress up as a ghost which came as a surprise since he is scared of almost everything. I went online and found a nice “Friendly Ghost” costume and showed him and he said “No, I want to be a scawee (scary) ghost!” So we searched some more and found a “ghoul” costume that he liked. He was very pleased with his costume and told me “I won’t scare the babies and little kids but the big kids are going to be SO scared! They are going to say “AAAAhhh and scary ghost! But it will just be me!” He is so cute! :o)

Tegan had a very hard time deciding what he wanted to be. First he said he wanted to be a lion then he said a shark and finally he settled on an elephant. He practiced stomping his feet while leading up to Halloween to make sure he was ready. On Halloween night we got together with Adam, Kristen, Lisa and Drew and let all the kids make their own ice cream sunday’s and go trick or treating. All of the kids had a great time and were very good while we trick or treated. They were just sad when it was over. We should be able to knock on random strangers doors all year round for candy right??

Our little gardener!

Tegan's first watermelon came off the vine on the 14th! He was so excited to eat the melon he grew all by himself from a seed! He started it out in a little peat cup and then transplanted it under our lemon tree. He and Koen thought it was the best watermelon ever! At the same time that Tegan planted his watermelon seeds Koen planted pumpkin seeds but only one sprouted and then it died at some point in the garden. :o( Koen was not very happy so I "gave" him one of my moon and stars melon plants as his own. Now I am just praying that it produces! It has blooms all over it right now but no melons yet. We will have to wait and see.

Koen turns 4!

Where does the time go? It is hard to believe my big boy Koen is 4 years old. His birthday was pretty mundane. He requested Mickey Mouse pancakes for his birthday breakfast and then we went to Tegan's swim class. After that we went to view a couple of daycare/preschools for the boys as I will be going back to work next week. Koen seemed to enjoy the school tours after he discovered most classrooms had trains. :o) After our morning errands Tegan, Koen and I went by AJ's for the boys to pick out their very special birthday treat. Koen had a very hard time deciding and I think he wanted absolutely everything in the display case at one point. He finally decided on a personal Boston Cream Pie. When I asked Tegan what he wanted he ran over to the whole chocolate truffle cake and said he wanted that one. :o) Smart kid! I explained he had to get a personal sized treat so he settled on a pretty butterfly sugar cookie with purple frosting. (Looked WAY to sugary and sweet but Tegan seemed to enjoy it!) We sat on the patio under the misters and talked. Koen had many questions as to why his birthday party wasn't the same day as his actual birthday. He was a little upset by this and wanted his party "right now!" When daddy finally got home from work Koen was able to open his birthday present from us. He got a gigantic 10 wheel remote control crane and he is in love with it! All of his presents from aunties and uncles and grandparents will wait until his party on Saturday at the gymnastics center. At the end of the day when I was putting Koen to bed he asked me "will it still be my birthday tomorrow?" I said "no honey just today". He got very sad and said he wanted it to still be his birthday. :o( It makes me remember having birthdays when I was little and what a HUGE deal it was. I told him that he still had his birthday party on Saturday to look forward to but he was still a little sad. Poor little guy!

The day after Koen’s birthday we went to his 4yr check up. He saw Dr. Aaron instead of his usual doctor. (Dr. Curran) Dr. Aaron asked Koen if he knew his abc’s and Koen said yes so Dr. Aaron asked him to sing them to him. Koen walked to the middle of the exam room and placed his hands on his hips (he wearing nothing but his underwear mind you) and belt out the abc’s all the way to the “won’t you sing (big breath) WITH (big breath) MEEEEEEEEEE!” After Koen’s performance the doctor told me I had to get it on video. I guess my big guy is just a born performer! Hahaha Koen doesn’t seem to be growing as fast as he once was. He was only in the 90^th percentile for height (42.3inches) and just above the 60^th percentile for weight (37lbs).

While at his appointment Koen had to get his eyes and hearing checked. The nurse tried to lead us all to the screening room and as we got in the hallway koen told me “You could stay here mom. I could do this all by myself.” So back to the exam room Tegan and I went while the “big boy” went to have his testing done. I guess he turns 4 and already doesn’t need his mommy anymore! :o( When the exam was all done the doctor informed us that Koen was due for 5 vaccinations. I asked to split them up so he was getting three that day. Tegan also needed two vaccinations. I reminded Koen of our Bernstein Bears book about going to the doctor when sister bear gets her vaccination and she is so brave and doesn’t even cry. So the two nurses come in and koen tells them “I want to go first! I am going to be soooo brave! I’m not even going to cry! I’m going to be just like sister bear!” (the nurses are laughing) So the first shot goes in and he jumps but doesn’t cry then the second shot goes in and he goes “aaah!” then the third shot goes in (this one burns) and he SCREAMS and starts crying! This causes Tegan to FREAK out and then all hell breaks loose! Tegan was so upset by the time it was his turn, it was such a mess! Now I know, they do NOT get shots the same day!

Last Friday Koen, Tegan, Molly, and I headed up to the Sharp's cabin for a little vacation. The weather was perfect when we got there so we spent most of our time outside playing with sidewalk chalk, going to the park and taking walks. On Monday Bryan came up to meet us. We drove around and would stop whenever we saw something pretty we wanted to check out. We hiked around Porter Mountain, Greer, and Alpine.  We saw lots of deer and elk when we took the dirt roads through the forest on the way back! We also fed ducks and played at Woodland Park. The boys were really well behaved and I think we all had a wonderful relaxing time. The day before we were to come home the temperature really dropped. It rained and was windy all day and when we were on our way home from Alpine the rain would mix with snow flurries and hail. It was really cool to see (even though it was cold!) since we don't get that weather in Phoenix. The next day when we woke up there was about three inches of snow! The boys were so excited and wanted to go sledding!We hurried and got dressed before it melted and they were able to sled down the little hill in the front of the cabin. This was Tegan's first sledding experience and he loved it!

Koen has gone before but he must have forgotten because he told me "Mom the snow it fweezing!" I had a hard time not saying "well duh!" The poor kids little hands were like ice from playing in the snow! I was a bad mommy and I wasn't prepared for snow so I didn't have any gloves for him. :o( We made it a very short sledding experience and hustled back into the cabin. Koen asked me if I would make him some "hot chocolate milk" like grandma does so of course I made him some and both Koen and Tegan were big, big fans!

While we were playing at Woodland Park Koen found a "Treasure" aka: a log and wanted to keep it to take it home with us. I told him we should probably leave it there and he said "No, what if someone steels it?!" I had to assure him that the log would be fine and that it lived in the woods by the park so we shouldn't take it.

 

Tegan is getting to be such a big boy! While we were in the mountains he really made large leaps in his speech development! He would say "Me... outside...go... play... FUN!" He was too cute! He also bonded with Bryan while we were there. He is usually such a mamma's boy and wants very little to do with Bryan but since he was able to spend so much time with bryan while we were there he really wanted to be around his daddy much more. It was very cute to see!

The boys are getting to such a fun age to do things with them. It used to be hard when one wasn't walking or only one would be able to enjoy something because it was not in the appropriate age range for the other. Now it seems like we can all go out and have fun as a family without someone sitting on the sidelines. I can't wait until our next adventure as a family!

Koen and Tegan Stories

Koen
Earlier in the week I had an emergency situation where I had Koen, Tegan and Fiona in the car as well as Molly (the dog). The kids said they were "starving" and we couldn't go home for another couple hours so I was forced to do the unthinkable and go through the drive through. :o/ I chose Chick-fil-A because I have heard they are not AS bad as some of the other fast food places. I pulled up to the order speaker and placed the kids order and when I was finished and went to pull up to the window Koen asked me "Mom, why are you talking to that sign?" Hahahaha I have never been more proud! It wasn't until then that I realized Koen had never been through a fast food pick up and had no idea how it worked or what I was doing.

Tegan
Tegan is going to be my little smart a** jokester, I can tell already! Tegan is my little shadow around the house and follows me EVERYWHERE! Even when I tell him not to follow me somewhere, I turn around and there he is with a smile on his face. I was cleaning the house so I was walking back and forth. I went into their bathroom to clean it and told Tegan to "stay here, don't come in." I walked in and of course he followed me. So I told him "No, I don't want you in here. Turn right back around." So, Tegan being the smart a** he is starts turning in circles laughing but not leaving the bathroom! Of course it is a little hard to keep a straight face when he does these things and that only encourages him.

I just can't believe Tegan is two!

Today Tegan turned two! I woke up thinking about the day he was born and how we didn't even know if he was going to be a boy or a girl. Then I remembered how tiny he was and how he used to sleep with his little arms up by his head. Then at about 6:15am my little Teggy Monster came running in our bedroom yelling "momma! momma!" What a difference two years makes! Tegan was a very busy boy on his birthday. He started the day off by going to the doctor for his yearly checkup. He was 36.25 inches tall and 27.5 lbs. He is in the 95th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. Doctor Curran said he looks very healthy and his vocabulary is very good! Tegan is not a big fan of the doctors office and usually screams bloody murder the entire time someone walks into the room. We have been reading the "Bernstein Bears, Going to the Doctor" book and I have been talking to him about going and what the doctor will do. He did much better this time. He lasted about 10 seconds before he burst into tears. :o) He still did everything the doctor asked him to do but he cried the whole time and kept yelling "poopoo". He thought that if we went to the bathroom he wouldn't have to see the doctor. Although he cried the whole time he didn't seem to be as upset as he usually gets. I could actually hear the doctor over tegan which is a huge improvement! Tegan finished his day with a birthday dinner with his Aunties Lisa and Kristen. His cousins Cade and Fiona were also here. It was great to see all the kids playing and running around. Tegan's favorite part of the day was the cupcakes and presents! Thank you everyone for thea gifts! Tegan was very excited!

 





Our first post!

Ok, I am going to try to start doing this blog thing. We will see how it goes with our busy schedules. I decided to give it a try because I want to remember all of the little things with the boys growing up. I have found I am already forgetting some of the little stuff that is so precious that they do, so this is my attempt to be able to look back and smile at all of the good times our family has had. 

My Big boy Tegan Gage!

This will be a very big month for Tegan as he is turning two! I can't believe my little man is two already! He got a strider walking bike for his birthday and he is learning to use that. He is also doing really well in his swim lessons! He can "monkey walk" with his hands along the edge of the pool and then pull himself out all by himself! He also kicks his legs when we practice swimming and he can hold his breath although he still doesn't like to put his face under water. When he has to pick up the sink ring he uses his toes instead of getting putting his face under. :o) I cant really fault him, it is pretty smart of him! He is talking more and more everyday and he does really well with please and thank you. He is also completely potty trained and has been for a couple of months now! Such a big boy! Tegan also put together his very first train track all by himself! He even went to get all of the pieces by himself! Look how proud he is!

Koen Jack aka: "Mr. Social"

My scary monster Koen is getting so, so big! He will be 4 in August. He is know in the family as Mr. Social because he will talk to anyone and everyone who is willing to listen! He also makes friends any place we go in about two seconds flat! He doesn't care how old or young, boy or girl, he is ready to be friends! He is truly a very lovable child!In the picture above he decorated the monster mask he got in his goody bag at his cousin Nolen's b-day party. He didn't want to take it off and wanted to go to bed with it but I had to put my foot down and insist he take it off for bed. (mean mom!) We will be signing him up for swim classes through the City of Mesa for the summer. We will see how it goes. He was in swim classes in the fall and he did not want to have to go under water at all! He would cry and beg me to not make him so we finally took him out of the classes to give him a break and try again later. I am determined that he will learn this summer! He just doesn't know it yet! :o)