Christmas 2008!

Christmas pictures!

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A Brief (or maybe not so brief) Review of Christmas!

On the first day of Christmas

My family sent to me

A bowling game for the Wii.

(Isaac being lazy.)

The second day of Christmas
My family sent to me

Two runny noses,

and A bowling game for the Wii.

The third day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The fourth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The fifth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The sixth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The seventh day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Seven kiss cookies,

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The eighth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Eight presents from grandma,

(picture presents here--blogger won't let me upload)

Seven kiss cookies,

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

On the ninth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Nine pounds gained from all the food,
Eight presents from grandma,

Seven kiss cookies,

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The tenth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Ten bowling pins knocked down in a strike, (can we say, "YES!")

Nine pounds gained from all the food,

Eight presents from grandma,

Seven kiss cookies,

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The eleventh day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Eleven sore muscles,

WARNING - Repetitive Motion Injuries and
EyestrainPlaying video games can make your muscles, joints, skin or eyes hurt.
Follow these instructions to avoid problems such as tendinitis, carpal tunnel
syndrome, skin irritation or eyestrain: Avoid excessive play. Parents should
monitor their children for appropriate play. Take a 10 to 15 minute break every
hour, even if you don't think you need it. If your hands, wrists, arms or eyes
become tired or sore while playing, or if you feel symptoms such as tingling,
numbness, burning or stiffness, stop and rest for several hours before playing
again. If you continue to have any of the above symptoms or other discomfort
during or after play, stop playing and see a doctor.

Ten bowling pins knocked down in a strike,

Nine pounds gained from all the food,

Eight presents from grandma,

Seven kiss cookies,

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A bowling game for the Wii.

The twelfth day of Christmas

My family sent to me

Twelve cans of Pepsi, (to help me make it through the day)

Eleven sore muscles,

Ten bowling pins knocked down in a strike,

Nine pounds gained from all the food,

Eight presents from grandma,

Seven kiss cookies,

Six musical toys, (what were we thinking?)

Five little cars,

Four brand new stockings,

Three picture books,

Two runny noses, and

A

bowl-ing gaaaaame

fooo-oor

theeeeeeeee

Wii!

Story Time

Another bug has descended upon Casa Lopez, and three out the four of us (hey, Isaac, what's up with that?) are feeling yucky. Of course, it was bound to happen that I would share in the germ fest, what with all the mouth/lip grabbing and eye licking that happens around here.

The good news is that neither boy has ear infections, and although they sound pretty cloggy, they do not have anything in their lungs. Yea. So, we are back to investing in bulb suckers and tissue over here. Fun times. Let's all hope that the boys are feeling better for their first big Christmas.

Anyway, I leave you with some pictures of story time... (yep, another confirmation that they are my boys--they love reading, too!)

Shawn Bon, Shawn Bon, what do you see?

I see a brown bear looking at me!

Jason is enjoying his favorite book, Peek A Boo. It is a picture book of different babies making various expressions. Isaac swears that Jason now says, "Peek Boo" because of it. I'm not so sure that is what he's saying, but who knows.

There's something about the baby he's touching in the last picture. It shows a baby crying, and he always stops to touch that picture before moving on to the next page. (He has no interest in the baby on the opposite page who is smiling. Funny, huh?)

Tonight's Entertainment

Tonight's entertainment:

Naked kid + armpit slurberts = giggles

(until he realizes the camera is on him, that is)

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Did you notice how he got back at me? We didn't realize that he had invented a new type of self-defense. It is known as "tongue-fu"! (You can learn too, for only three easy payments of $99.99! It's totally a bargain.)

Man, that thing is quick. I never saw it coming!

A New Trick

Drum roll, please

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This makes his mommy very happy

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TA DA!!!

Shawn had us all snowed into believing that he couldn't hold his own bottle. Who knows how long he's been able to do this before now. Apparently all we had to do was get busy talking on the phone and put his bottle down. Hunger was all the motivation he needed to pick the bottle up and go for it. Shoot, if that is all we had to do to motivate him to be a little more independent, we would have done it a loooong time ago!

Rock Stars I Tell You!

I was feeling a bit under the weather today (cough, cough, sniff, sniff), so I decided to take the day off. The boys were WONDERFUL and let me sleep in until 9:45. How totally amazing was that? It seems the boys are not morning people either!

Anyway, once my sniffles started to fade--at 9:46, I decided it would be time to try and get the notorious first visit with Santa picture. I called up my trusty sidekick (aka Mom--she's always up for an adventure) and asked her to be here after the boys' afternoon naps. Fortunately, everyone woke up in a good mood, so I put them in their new t-shirts, and we headed out. (I made sure to tell them not to cry or pout and all, but I wasn't sure they were listening.)

We got to the mall, only to realize that the stroller I always keep in the back of the car was no longer there. (Isaac helped with that.) Strike one. No matter. This could still work. We each grabbed a kid and were off.

Before we actually got in to see Santa, my mom noticed that Jason was looking a little blotchy. Upon further inspection, we found he had hives all over his neck, face, and back. (where could he have possibly picked that trait up from?) Strike two. It seems that his cute little t-shirt, that I hadn't yet washed, was making him breakout. Crap. It wasn't horrible, and he didn't act like it was bothering him, so we plugged on toward Santa. (with the idea to take the cute shirt off as soon as we took the picture-see, I am not a totally horrible mother. anything for the picture, right?)

Now I have to admit that my expectations were pretty low. We have all seen the pictures with babies screaming and red faced on Santa's lap. (In their defense, it is kind of creepy to have this big, hairy guy reach out and actually touch you! No offense to Santa or anything.) And let's face it, the Santa's "helpers" are not the most experienced photographers in the world, either.

I didn't care if they cried. I didn't care if they looked at the camera. I was going to be satisfied with the picture if we could get the boys in the general vicinity of Santa's lap. With two strikes already against us, I was bound and determined not to let a third strike stop us now.

So we set the boys on Santa's lap...

and backed up...

and waited for the hysterics to begin.

But our little boys were total ROCK STARS.

We picked the boys back up, thanked Santa, and moved over to purchase the miracle pictures.

Except...

There was a huge glare on Shawn's glasses. I was just going to buy the pictures anyway, until they offered to retake the pictures if we wanted.

Aware that I was tempting fate, we gingerly placed the boys back on Santa's lap.

I just knew that this time would bring on the waterworks.

But our little boys were total ROCK STARS--again! We got the cutest picture of them...




They didn't cry or fuss or anything! They just kept looking around and people watched. They checked out Santa (and thankfully didn't pull or try to eat his hair). It was wonderful! Even Santa said they were very good little boys. (That's right, people. Said by the head honcho, himself!)

Once again, I underestimated my little men!

P.S. The hives disappeared before we even made it home. All we had to do was take the shirt off of him.

More Naughty Than Nice Lately

A certain someone is being quite the naughty young man lately.

Shawn has started taking his glasses off at every opportunity. He'll reach for them, I'll tell him a stern no, and then he'll pull his hand down. He goes through the cycle again a few times until he finally succeeds and pulls his glasses off his head. (They have a strap that is supposed to keep them on his head even! Ha. The strap does NOT work!) I put his glasses back on, tap the back of his hand, and again tell him a stern no. Then he cries, not because he is hurt, mind you, but because I told him no.

That boy is going to wear me out in the not too distant future.

I am seriously considering getting him a helmet just like his brothers. While it is a pain in the rear end, it sure does hold those glasses on a boy's head! If he keeps this up, I just might have to...

Of course, it didn't help when Isaac was singing a song all night long about how Jason and Shawn were going to drive their parents crazy, either.

Sigh. I am outnumbered!

Because I am the MOM!!!



Thanks, Mona!

1 Is the Number of the Day!

Today the boys are 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day old! How cool is that? Happy 1111 birthday, boys!

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How strange is it that this is post #222? The boys are 1111 when I publish post #222. Weird.

Shawn's New Girlfriend

Shawn and his new gal friend, Annie...

Um, is she going to bite me this time?

Oh, soffffttt....

Mwah! Kisses time!

She likes me!

Pulling hair is fun!

I have to hand it to Annie. She has the patience of a saint. She let him pull her ears three times and didn't so much as turn her head toward him. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was desperate for some lovin, so she'll turn to any warm body now!

(Look at that. I had to hold Shawn back, or he would have layed on her!)

Snippets From Sunday

Ah, four day weekends are wonderful. I heart them very, very, much. Wouldn't it be incredible if every weekend was four days long? Sigh...

We had a really nice weekend. We didn't really do much but hang around the house. It was heaven.

I think the boys' colds have finally left the building. The runny noses are pretty much gone. Jason has developed a slight cough (occasional), so I am keeping an eye on that. They had their second booster for the flu shot and their RSV shot last week, so hopefully that will help to keep them healthier. (RSV season doesn't end until April, so we are pretty much staying secluded when at all possible until then.)

The boys got to enjoy a bunch of new foods this weekend. (Maybe enjoy is too strong a word.) The boys tasted a bunch of new foods. That is more accurate. I am trying my best to get them away from Stage 3's. Now that the boys are eating so much more, the baby food bills are really adding up. (Target loves me, though, because that's where I get most of it.) Anyway, some of the new foods were hits, while some were not. I often have no idea whether a food will be a hit or miss--the boys are not predictable at all. (where do they get that?)

Shawn is usually the one to eat all of his food while making lots of "mmmm..." sounds. Jason? Not so much. He has taken to putting his fingers in his mouth between bites. That could mean another tooth is trying to come in, or, what I am more inclined to believe, he's blocking the entrance with his hands. Whatever the reason, meal time is full of flying food, yells at me when I take his hands out of his mouth, or puking. Fun times!

Added menu items at casa Lopez--our yays and nays:

mashed potatoes - yay

pureed turkey - nay but they've had it twice and finished it (scared the crap out of the boys when I turned the processor on--they cried for-ev-er on that one)

pumpkin pie filling - yay

squash - nay but slowly becoming a yay

fruit salad (kind of like ambrosia salad) - nay with puke (what is wrong with you guys? that stuff is good)

sweet potato - nay (interesting because they like baby food)

stuffing - nay with puke (at least I can understand that)

mushed mixed fruit - yay

yogurt drink - depends, sometimes yay and other times nay

apple pie filling - OMG YAY (my picky boys became little birds with mouths wide open)

eggs - can take them or leave them

mushed bananas - not exactly a yay

creamed corn - yay for the most part

chunky green beans - eh, not a favorite but they'll eat it

The plan is to get them off baby food by the end of winter break. Positive thinking is the key, right?

I swear the boys have gained loads of weight from the new menu! (at least they feel like it to me) Gaining weight would be nice because we've hovered at the 20 pound mark for the last two months or so. Shawn isn't quite 20 pounds, so he is still facing backward in the car, too!

Now, I leave you with a few snapshots from the weekend:

eating our new foods...

(notice Shawn's mouth already has food in it. he's trying to add more!)

what happens when I turn my back for just a second...

a little bed time lovin...

I love Jason's face in this last picture!

Parent Style Entertainment - Part 3

or what it would have been like if we made it to Beijing...

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Okay, that is the last of these...for now! (you'll have to share if you make some of these yourself-it's the law!)

Parent Style Entertainment -- Part 2

(or what we looked like the first morning the boys slept through the night)

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Part 3 tomorrow...

How We Entertain Ourselves--Parent Style

Isaac has been having a lot of fun with the boys over the last few days. They have made incredible strides since he's been spending so much time with them. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them do this.
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OMG--I just noticed that Shawn has underarm hair! Jeez. Where has the time gone? Wasn't it yesterday that he was just getting teeth? :-)

Think that was awesome? Come back tomorrow and see what he and I have been up to lately. It will blow your socks off--we are way too talented!

New Teeth!

Shawn has some new additions in his little mouth--two upper teeth have finally poked their way through his gums. So this explains his tantrums and bottle refusal over the last few nights. Think now thing will go back to normal with him? Please?

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is so much to be thankful for...far too much for us to ever accurately express with mere words. But thankful we are--so very, very thankful. Here's two of the reasons for a majority of all this thankfulness...

(No fancy outfit today. Instead, Isaac and I decided to go old school and got all crafty. Meet my little Indians...er, um Native Americans...--they are 1/64 Indian you know.)

Jason wanted to hold Shawn's hand. Shawn wasn't all that interested in this plan, but he was overpowered...I see loads of this type of thing in our future!

Look at all them teeth!

Shawn did not like his head dress. Thank goodness he doesn't have to wear a helmet!

We hope your Thanksgiving was as fun as ours. May this next year bring even more to be thankful for than this for us all!

(Mostly) Silent Saturday -- Entertainment

I think we are starting to feel better. The snot is still flowing everywhere, but they seem perkier today. That has got to be a good thing. Plus, we were only human pillows for under an hour last night. Hallelujah! Ah...sleep, glorious sleep, is such a wonderful thing.

As for the pictures above, if this is all we have to do to entertain our little men, we could be a whole lot richer (from not buying toys, etc.) and our lawns would look a whole lot better. The boys thought this was fas-cin-na-ting! So much so, that Jason had to continue watching while he drank his bottle. Could this be better than TV? :-)