Tubes

Austin had his ear surgery this morning. We woke him up at 2 in the AM so he could have his "last meal". We took him to the surgery center at 8:00. He was so happy at the surgery center and was playing all over the chair. The pictures above are him in his gown playing around. The Dr. told us he was so happy when they took him back to surgery and put the mask on. He said most kids conk out quick because they start screaming when the mask is put on and take deep breaths. Not Austin, he was all smiles, then he conked out. The surgery was so quick. We were probably apart from Austin 10 minutes or so. The smiles were over when he woke up. He was ANGRY for a while. He is finally asleep in his bed. We hope he is happier when he wakes up. I'm so glad that is over!

The last picture was taken yesterday. Tyler always has to put this goofy smile on his face for pictures now. (Notice Austin playing with his ear?)

Good Morning Sunshine

Tyler gets picked up for pre-school at 8:30, so Austin and I have until 11:15 alone until we have to leave to pick Tyler up. Usually Austin is ready for a nap about 9:00 and sleeps for an hour or so. He is so happy when he wakes up from his morning nap. This is one of my favorite parts of the day because I can just focus on Austin. The last picture is of Austin dressed and brushing his teeth while I do my hair.
He is standing on his own now. I don't think he will be walking by his birthday (next week), but it will be soon. He is getting tubes on Thursday. I guess those can be his birthday present.

Catch-up

It's been a bit since I posted. Mainly because I was so sick for a while, then Austin got sick again. He is getting tubes next week, and I couldn't be happier. He's such a good baby when he feels okay. When he's sick it is a different story! Let's hope the tubes solve the cranky baby situation.

Mike's parents came to visit for a week. We had a good time with them here. Especially Tyler. He loves his granparents, and was so sorry to see them go. Tyler had Mike post a sign on the front door that said, "No friends can come over because my Grandma and Grandpa are here". Grandma and Grandpa played a million board games with Tyler and got to see his cheating ways in action (Like father, like son) Tyler's best cheating is stacking the deck in Candyland. He volunteers to set up and just happens to put the cany on the top that gets you the furthest in the game. Grandpa busted Tyler when he said he wanted to go first this time! Tyler didn't know what to do.

Tyler and Mike are going camping with the scouts tonight. I don't envy them- it is FREEZING!

Halloween

I picked Tyler up from pre-school yesterday, and he told me that Halloween was the best day in the world (his exact words). He got to party all day long. His class had a party and they ate a ton of crap. Then, we picked up Mike's parents from the airport, and Tyler wrestled Granpa until he almost had a heart attack. When it was finally trick-or-treat time Tyler ran the entire time. It was a good day for Tyler.

Poor Austin. He didn't get to dress up for Halloween. We were just staying at home passing out candy, and I didn't want to make him mad by putting a costume on him. The poor kid is already getting 2nd child syndrome.


When I was passing out candy I would just stick the bowl out for the kids to choose. Some kids thought this meant that they should take as much as they could. I had some kids grab like 6 candy bars. I was a little worried I was going to run out of candy (we had plenty). But, come on, how rude. I hope Tyler didn't do that!

Bob Villa does it again!

Every 6 months or so, one of us gets the idea to embark upon a home improvement project. Mike is pretty handy so he does most (okay ALL) of the work, but our entire family suffers.These projects always turn into so much hard work! Our old patio was sinking into the house and was a complete eyesore. It was also too tiny to have a table on. Mike came home one night and said he was bored and would like to start a new patio. Weeks of backbreaking labor ensued for Mike, while Sheri spent her weekends alone tending the kids. We really do like how the patio turned out. The pictures above are the BBQ, finished patio, and Mike working on the patio. The patio is now pretty big (it actually looks kind of small in the pictures, but it's not), and it is not sinking into the house anymore. We say that this is our last project, but we'll probably be singing a different tune in about 6 months.

Just some updates on the kiddos. I'll start with Austie. Austin is no longer a calm, sweet baby. We have a wild little boy on our hands lately. We took him out to lunch today, and I'll just say that we probably won't be doing that for a year or two. He was all over the place. He is crawling, standing up with support, climbing steps, and I think he said "ball" yesterday. He is a great sleeper. He already likes to wrestle with Mike, and he is already a major daddy's boy. He likes to play with Tyler , but Tyler can get a little rough for his tastes. He know he isn't suppoused to go up the stairs so he will start to go up and laugh, then make sure I am watching and go up a few more stairs, turn around and laugh. He likes attention, and just like Tyler is not really great at playing alone. Austin and Tyler are a lot alike.

Tyler is our big 4 1/2 year old. He is learning so much lately. He started doing "real" puzzles and loves them. He is learning to write and recognize his numbers and letters. One funny/challenging thing about Tyler is his constant need for socialization. He will go around knocking on ALL the neighbors doors looking for someone to play with. ANYONE will do. He just wants to play with some kids. He is almost always happy and laughing. He isn't so hard to keep up with anymore. He uses a lot of his energy at pre-school and with friends, so at home he is a little more chill. One thing Tyler needs to work on is table manners. If he ever eats at your home, please remind him not to use his shirt as a napkin, and not to use the entire table as his plate. He is the messiest eater I've ever seen!

We love both boys so much!

Lazy Week

Last Saturday we hosted a couples baby shower for some friends. I didn't do an official, final head count, but there were at least 40 people at our house. Luckily, the weather was perfect and guests could be inside or outside. Mike's porch was all done, complete with tiki torches and the tree lit in white lights. It looked great out there. We had been working really hard to get everything ready for this party that I feel completely justified sitting on my patootie all week long.

Our only big news is we have now have a new addition to our family- a wii. Mike decided that this would be a great toy to play as a "family". It's been fun so far, but Tyler doesn't really get it yet. He needs constant help. I'm sure by next year he'll be just as proficient as all the other lazy american kindergardners.

Tyler can't wait for Grandma and Grandpa to get here. They are arriving on Halloween afternoon. Maybe we'll get Tyler all sugared up and let him have a slumber party with his grandparents that night!