Quarter-life Crisis?

On my birthday I walked into our kitchen and started taking down the wallpaper. It is something that I have loathed since the day we got the keys. It makes the kitchen so dark and dreary. I decided it was time to fix the problem. I elicited Liam's help in doing a quick clean up...that boy loved to use a swiffer. Then he helped me peel off the vinyl layer of the wallpaper. Although, once the ladder came out, all he wanted to do was to run his trains on the "ladder train track". The he learned that the magnets would also stick to the ladder. I am not sure if he was helping me or making my work more dangerous! None the less, he though it was cool to hang out with mom and the tools.

This will be a work in progress. Once I started, it occurred to me that I have less than zero time for home improvement. (not to mention I underestimated the extreme height of the walls and the fact that they are recessed behind the cabinets...oops) I now have a kitchen that is half stripped. I will need to finish stripping the paper, repair some drywall, prime and paint. I know that in the end it will be so worth it. Already, the room seems bigger and lighter. I will keep everyone posted on my progress. 

Oh, and I guess that I got the housework bug because a few days after I started in the kitchen, I laid a new floor in the laundry room. Be impressed. It turned out well. Looks much nicer now. 

Happy Fall

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been busy around here. I am either working or doing school/clinicals. Dane has really been pitching in around here caring for the boys, doing laundry, cleaning. Needless to say, I am glad for a day off tomorrow (if you don't count 3 hrs of class in the afternoon) to spend some much needed time with the Liam and Gavin. Gavin was sick last week with 2 ear infections and a cold, but is now recovered. 

After not getting to play with my little guys much since last Tuesday, I was shocked to see that Gavin is so close to crawling. He goes from sitting to his hands and knees, rocking back and forth. He has the army crawl down, as long as he doesn't have to go too far to get to the object of his desire. If it is more than 1-2 scoots he simply is just not motivated. I am FINE with that. It makes me nervous to think that he will very soon be able to get into anything. It is so hard to control toys in this joint with a toddler. I am going to have to watch G like a hawk so he doesn't get something of Liam's in his mouth! Gavin is also pulling up on things. Tonight I was amazed to see him standing up, letting go after steadying himself and trying to take a step. He also was bending down to pick up toys while just holding on to things with one hand! Maybe he will 

just skip the real crawling?!? 

Liam is busy busy. He is currently obsessed with Mary Poppins...particularly the music. This is all he wants to do. He sings "step in time", "spoonful of sugar", and yes, he tries to sing "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". He has decided that it is even more fun to "Skype" with family members (that means webcam...he can tell you about it sometime) and make them watch him dance on our laptop. It is quite a site. He has rhythm...it is just a cross between dancing and a seizure. 

Here are some recent pictures of the guys:

Here is Gavin on the Bounce and Rock Pony that Liam got for his first X-mas. He goes crazy on it. The downside it that Liam gets jealous. He is also aware that the seat holding Gavin on is removable. Dane and I spend several minutes a day unscrewing the seat and then putting it back on. We have to be fair and take turns after all!

Last weekend, I took the boys on the trail and down to one of the fields. Liam was so elated to run. It is one of his many needs these days. He has a daily routine of running from our fireplace to the laundry room (it is a straight shot from one end of the main floor to the other). He will abruptly stop play to announce "I need to run." Then he stands on the fireplace and yells, "Ready. Set. Go" and then takes off. Nothing gets in his way of this task. He has good form. Who knows, maybe an Olympic Runner someday?

Yes, the ball pit is back. It was demoted to the basement when we first moved into our house. Liam got a kick out of going to the basement with daddy to play with his "big toys" (all of the things that have been given to him that are too large to keep out in the living areas of the house). Now Gavin gets to get in on the fun. He was a little leery at first, but it is growing on him. I know that you are wondering where we have room for this with all of the other things that are already scattered. The answer is a rarely used dining room thanks to my weekend away at work, constant hurricane rains, and Dane needing something to do with the boys while stuck in the house. He moved the dining room furniture and turned it into a playroom. It will stay for now. But come to think of it....the whole house is a playroom. All I can say it that payback is sweet. Tom- can't wait for you to have kids. You will see this again. I take good care of everything that the boys have. Your children will also be pictured in this ball pit. Start thinking about where you will put it!

Need I say more about that cute face? Isn't that the cutest hat ever? Who ever said that dressing boys isn't fun?

I want Dane to carry me around like this. 

When you are two, all you need is outdoor space and a stick to carry while you frolic. The end.

Hope everyone is staying dry! Will try to be better about posting! Have a great week.

They grow up so fast

Liam has decided that he can read books to himself. He will say "I'm gonna read books" and go to his room and sit in his blue chair with a book. It is the cutest thing because you can hear him "reading" outloud to himself. He has such a good memory that he can remember lots of words and phrases that are from the books we read often. Some he even knows by heart and if you didn't know he was just reciting from memory you would think that he was actually reading! Yesterday, Dane told me that he walked into the living room and Liam was reading The Very Hungry Catapiller to Gavin.

It is fun to catch these moments when he doesn't know we are watching

For the last almost 8 months, Gavin has laid in his crib staring at this fish mobile above his crib. Last weekend, Dane and I lowered the level of Gavin's crib now that he is semi-mobile. I figured that since he will be pulling up soon, we should take off his mobile permanently as well. I set it on the floor while we were putting the crib back together and he scooted right over there and was enamored with this mobile. I guess to finally be able to touch something that you have spent a lot of time looking at would be a big deal. It was pretty funny to see his reaction.

These next two pictures are just of Gavin. Although his expressions show how animated he is these days, what you don't see is that Dane is playing hide and seek with him from the wall behind where Gavin is sitting. Dane would crawl around the doorway and Gavin would go nuts. Then as soon as Dane would be out of sight, Gavin would bend in half to look for him.

Found you Daddy!

Pool Days

With Labor Day approaching, Dane and I have been trying to get the boys to the pool as much as possible. Here are some pictures that I took from last weekend of us at the pool.

Liam ready to jump in

"Digging" in the fountain with his shovel

My little fish

Bargain Shopping

I went shopping today with my friend Valerie and her daughter. The outdoor pedestrian shopping area (known as town center) was having a sidewalk sale. We went to Restoration Hardware... I could have gone crazy there. They had all of these pillow covers on sale.  We are getting a large leather ottoman delivered next month and I thought that I could give the couch a makeover with some new pillows. This post is really for my mom to see...but I am proud to say that I did get the pillows for $7 each! That is practically free from that store. If money was no object, I would have an extremely well decorated house. Interior design is my secret passion.
Unrelated to pillows, my dad had his hip replaced yesterday and is doing great! Lots of people knew it was scheduled and have been asking for an update. He is on the orthopedic floor at St. John's now and got up and walked several times today. He is quite the trooper and we are all relieved that it went so well. He will be back to running marathons is no time :)

Dancing with the Stars

Who needs to watch TV when Liam and Gavin perform 24/7? Since the addition of Apple TV into our home (thanks to Dane's uncle Richard) there is much more music dancing in our living room. We can play children's music while all of our pictures from our computer scrolls over the television screen. Here are some pictures of the little men dancing to Rhino Tap. 

Baby Fat

While I have been going to the gym almost daily in attempt to lose the baby fat, Gavin is increasingly earning his. I couldn't resist the near naked pictures. He might hate me someday for pulling out these pictures to show a future girlfriend, but who doesn't want to squeeze those rolls?

                                                            My happy Gerber Baby!!!

                                            Big brother Liam playing with Gavin.