Monday, August 19, 2013

Surprise Surprise

What a fun day today, full of surprises!!!

Surprise 1: Kaleb has his first tooth!!  I am officially an amber necklace believer.  I think the trick is putting them on the baby before the teeth cut.  I didn't place my order until after Aiden's had arrived.  Kaleb slept like a perfect angel last night, and so far hasn't acted any different.  Still a super happy chill dude!  Except...he is back to thinking spitting is hilarious.  Ugh.


Surprise 2:  Our first Citrus Lane box arrived!  I think I was more excited than K&A.


 The book is my favorite.


Clearly, Kaleb is surprised by the earthworm.



Surprise 3:  I received my first box of Daddy's Pennsylvania garden tomatoes!!!  The postal service seems to ignore the fragile markings, so I immediately use all the broken guys to make yummy pasta sauce or tomato soup.


Surprise 4:  Kaleb is officially crawling!  He is such a ham.  I miss the days he would fly, fly, fly.  His belly flopping was also hysterical.  It looked like he was doing the worm!

Surprise 5:  Aiden has tooth numero DUO!  These puppies are coming in quick!  The boys will be eating steak in a blink of an eye.  Today they had sweet peas for the first time.  Kaleb makes the funniest faces when we give him new food.  Generally I think he enjoyed it, although he did stick his tongue out and yell "blah" at one point.  


Happy Monday everyone! 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Slumber

Another post about sleeping.....

Aiden on left (you can see his tooth!), Kaleb on right
In attempt to have a better nights rest we have been trying amber teething necklaces.  I have run into several mamas and babies here in the mountains who swear by these things.  They all started using them before the teeth came, and since they haven't experienced any unusual behavior, they refuse to remove the beads.  I was super freaked out at the initial thought of putting something around the boys necks...especially while they sleep, but I'm 100% comfortable now.  The first night Aiden was up at 130am.  I stared at the ceiling listening to him scream thinking "these necklaces are BOLOGNA!!"  The second night K&A slept through the night.  I'm not yet convinced it's the amber, since the following night was screaming again, then immediately rotated to sleeping soundly.  Who knows!?!

Earlier in the week we took a quick trip to the outlets and found some really cute jammies!  BabyGAP is my ultimate favorite.

Aiden in solar system, Kaleb has on dragons
 Maybe these will help the boys sleep, right?!  Wrong!!  Oh well, at least they look adorable and are super comfortable.
 
Two of our FAVORITE bedtime stories.  Goodnight Moon and Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.

Although our nights haven't gotten easier, grocery shopping has!


I'm not sure why I didn't try this sooner.  It's way easier for me, and the boys LOVED it!!

Other updates:  We've successfully transitioned to 2 naps a day, which results in an earlier bedtime.  K&A are also learning how to wave hello/goodbye, sign "mama" and they are doing AWESOME at self-feeding.  I give them Gerber organic apple and sweet potato puffs.  These are great for teaching baby hand-eye coordination, self-feeding, how to chew and gives them texture!

There are signs of yellow aspen leaves creeping into view.  Fall is on it's way!!  I'm so happy I'll get to enjoy some of it while in Colorado.  I have REALLY fun plans for Halloween this year!  Happy weekend everyone.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

This and That...purred the cat


 
Aunt Jessica welcomed us to her music studio this weekend for a jam session.  The boys had a dance party and chimed in with egg shakers!  


This and That were having a blast!  Bma and I think Kaleb is going to be a drummer (I can hear the boys Grandpa Rickel cheering from Ohio). 


 He had his first real go on a drum set and...the little drummer boy was born.

After playing at the studio we walked down the main street in Frisco, naming mountains and visiting old friends Adam and Luke.  The guys run an awesome apparel business called Zealous....check them out here!  The site is currently under construction, but you'll be able to make purchases soon.  My new shirt is SO comfortable I'll probably live in it the rest of my stay in the mountains.  Adam is gonna create some super fun shirts for the boys too.  Lucky guys.


K&A enjoyed their first wagon ride today and we're trying to get ahold of a bike Chariot.  What fun that would be!  Oh...and BOTH boys have been feeding themselves their bottles.  They still need some "corrections" but they're doing great!  We're still working on sippy cups, and avocados have been going well.  They love the sweetness of fruits....pears up next for Monday.


AJ's tooth is growing more everyday.  I wish the cuteness of the tooth came without the discomfort and screaming.  We're gonna try amber teething remedies on Monday.  Fingers and toes crossed!

Monday, August 5, 2013

8 Months

Yesterday the boys turned 8 months old!  I can hardly believe it.

To celebrate the boys had their first picnic at kite lake.  We were there just long enough to snap some photos and feed the boys their lunch...then ran back to the car to avoid the rainstorm.


Milestones:
Since Bma doesn't have a scale, I'm guessing weights.
Kaleb weighs approximately 16 pounds 13 ounces, and Aiden approximately 18 pounds 3 ounces.


Food:  Kaleb is totally awesome at holding onto the bottle to feed himself.  He likes to show off and go one-handed now.  Aiden isn't too far behind, but needs a lot more practice.  So far the boys have eaten bananas, carrots, sweet potato, apples, butternut squash, grapes and watermelon.  They will get a yummy taste of avocado tonight for the new weekly food!  They love everything so far except carrots.  I'll be so happy once they are over the new food allergy tests.  They are SO curious in EVERYTHING I eat and want to taste.  It'll be so fun to share.


Sleep:  Kaleb is still sleeping every night, 10-11 hours, and takes solid naps.  The other night felt like we're getting back on track...Aiden slept from 830-6.  I pulled him into bed with me where he cuddled up and fell back to sleep for another 1.5 hours. 


Babbles and Achievements:  K is still rocking "dada", and although I haven't heard Aiden say "mama" in a couple weeks, it's still his first word.  Aiden likes to dance to music by bouncing on his knees, and Kaleb is working on playing the flute.

Hope everyone is enjoying their August so far!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Sleep Deprivation

Congratulations to little Aiden, who has officially grown his first tooth!  He's worked so very hard over the past two weeks screaming and waking up his brother (and mama), refusing bottles, naps and turning away from all food.  Teething is Terrible...with a big capital T!  I can't believe I didn't figure out what was happening sooner.  Duh!  My all day long smile guy is so different now.  He likes to suck on his bottom lip...must feel good on his little tooth.


The boys also just got their first pair of TOMS!!  If you know me, you know I'm a BIG, BIG supporter of this amazing organization.


Sharing a room with the boys and listening to the screaming alllll niiiight loooong is NOT an easy thing to take.  For now I'm back to taking morning naps so I can function the rest of the day.  And for now I'm allowing Aiden to sleep with me, since it seems to be the only comfort I'm able to provide.

Kaleb loves his TOMS!
I can't thank my mom enough for taking us all in, helping to feed the boys and myself.  I could not imagine doing this on my own!  Speaking of eating, things have gotten better the past few days and AJ is back on track.  Kaleb even fed himself his ENTIRE bottle the first time this morning!

The little prince doing an awe-some job!!!
Aiden took notice and is finally showing serious interest in holding the bottle too.  Cheers.

Aiden standing, standing, standing