Nonnie's Birthday!

First, I have to report that my husband and my dad now have matching hair cuts...um, that's right Matthew has a military cut now. And he paid for it. What can I say? At least hair grows back I guess;) You know pictures will be taken when he is not looking!




Today the boys had an adventure out for lunch with Nonnie & Pickles, and dad was even able to join us for lunch too:) We ate at a Greek restaurant, and man, it was so good. The boys enjoyed helping Nonnie open her present, and singing the birthday song. The best part was that the waiters/waitresses threw napkins & yelled "opa" after they were done. The boys were entranced! This is one of my favorite restaurants, too. At night they even have belly dancers who will make you dance, or at least attempt to dance, it is good fun particularly with a few cocktails:)

Here are some pictures of their day out.

Nonnie's picture frame & the boys watching/helping:)

Cake arrives, their faces were priceless, "Opa"

The napkins were everywhere...which made me feel better about the mess the boys left behind!
The funny face Raleigh is making is because he "stole" the lemon from my mom's water.

Augustus has started the funniest thing. Whenever Matthew tickles him he talks so that his voice quivers & shakes. I caught a short video of him at the restaurant (he had the waitresses in stitches) but it is taking far to long to upload, maybe next time;)

On a side note, we just want to pass along our prayers & good thoughts for Lauren & her four beans. Keep positive! http://laurensblog.greenfamily.net/

Gasparilla for Kids

So this afternoon Matthew & I took the boys to the Children's Gasparilla Parade. This was our first experience with Gasparilla, although we have been in the Tampa area for years. We were slightly disappointed, but heck, it was beautiful out and the sun was shining on us, so can we really complain? No!!! Next year we know to go earlier, but this year we had to wake up Raleigh from a nice nap to get there for any of the celebrations. Their web site for those of you who do not know about Gasparilla: http://gasparillaextravaganza.com/extravaganza2/childrens_parade.html

Here are a few pictures of the afternoon.

Augustus & Raleigh checking out the massive balloons being played with next to them!

Dad & Raleigh - yes he was holding on to the fence & shaking it.

I have started to call him "King Kong"

Gus & Rals watching the parade


Dad, Gus & Raleigh

Mom & Gus

Gus laying on mommy's lap enjoying touching the grass!

Dad wrapping up the day pushing us back to downtown Tampa

The boys have been sleeping very soundly during the day and keeping us up at night with random wake-ups...but last night was a super good night sleep for all! Here are a few pictures of the boys at nap time. No, I could not help myself:) Augustus even fell asleep (finally) sitting up. So strange sometimes!

The video is of Raleigh walking himself around his play table that he has been running in for months...I can't believe he can walk himself around it on his own now. Amazing!

We Heart Beef Roast

Here are two videos of the boys enjoying them some beef roast. Definitely Matthew's sons with their love of meat and potatoes. Mom...not so much!

Augustus Cardiologist Update

Raleigh & Augustus snuggled up in their car seats.

Raleigh screaming because Gus is touching him...and Gus loving it. Man, do we have our hands full.

Augustus sleeping, could he look any sweeter?

Raleigh & Augustus' great escape.

Raleigh yelling at Augustus who was standing at the window banging.

Augustus & Raleigh in their Pumpkin Patch shirts from Nannie & Poppy - how cute!!

Augustus in his PP sweater vest, man that is the best store for baby boys clothes!

Today Augustus & I braved the cold winter weather to visit the cardiologist. It was literally in the thirties this morning, brr! The good news is that Gus is doing great, and his numbers are all about the same. Which means his pulmonary stenosis is still very, very mild. The great news is that the hole in his upper heart chamber appears to be closed. This was their expectation all along, so it is nice to actually hear that it has happened. He does not have to go back for another 9-12 months, so we can hopefully coordinate his next visit with Raleigh's next visit after April.

The boys are so mobile now I am having a hard time pinning them down to feed them their bottles (yes, the lazy men still want mommy to feed them...). Not to mention trying to change their diapers and clothes is almost a full contact sport now! I can't wait to see how things change when they are able to run away:)

In three days the boys will be ten months. Time has flown so fast, I can't believe they are here, let alone almost 10 months old. I still remember my baby shower last February and looking like I had a basketball stuffed up my dress! Hard to believe the babies are no longer babies; they are really toddlers trying to walk and having a good old time crawling all over anything & everything. Raleigh even cut two more teeth this week. Augustus is still working on the next two bottom teeth erupting. That makes 8 for Raleigh and Augustus has 6. Next up the 12 month molars. I figure by that time we will just have them back into a sleep routine from our trip to Oz, and then they will be miserable again while their molars come in. Oh well, that is the fun of parenthood:)

Hoping everyone is well & staying warm if you are in the U.S. and those of you in Australia, hope you are staying cool!

Just some cute photos and a video of Gus really crawling

Augustus being silly as usual:)

Raleigh - sheer joy & pride in his eyes showing me he can stand on his own
Gus looking like he is showing Raleigh what to do:)

The cutest brothers ever!! Augustus & Raleigh

So, for months now Gus & Raleigh have rolled, stretched and army-crawled their way everywhere. While in Australia, they even became speed army-crawlers. Now, Augustus is up on all fours trying out the real crawl. I actually caught a short video of him crawling too - hard to do since he does not do this crawl exclusively as he is still faster on his belly crawling. Plus, yesterday they had their Cotton On Kids outfits on and they were just too cute, so I had to post these pictures too:) They are pulling up on everything all day, every day now too:) So here are a few shots of them standing. Hopefully, I will be able to get a short video of them pulling themselves up to stand, but it is hard to do when I am trying to watch for them tumbling over at the same time!!

Enjoy.

9 Month Checkup Today

Christmas at Nonnie & Pickles

On our newest toy

Gus' favorite new sport, crawling over Raleigh

The boys had their 9 month checkup today. Only shot was their Synergis - and boy do they hate it!!! The boys are doing awesome of course. The doctor heard a slight murmur on Raleigh's heart, but she was not concerned. Augustus' iron level was a bit low, so they are going to recheck it next month when they go back for another Synergis shot. Otherwise, we could have added half whole milk to his formula. Raleigh's level was fine. They have also graduated to their next car seat, so daddy will be busy installing them this weekend:) Raleigh weighed in at a whopping 20lb 4oz, and was 29 1/2 inches long. Augustus is two pounds heavier exactly, and a half inch longer.

The best news is that they have settled into a better night routine since we returned from Oz. They are getting to bed around 8pm and sleeping usually until at least 6am straight, although Raleigh still has some weird wake-ups from time to time. Gus even made it 12 solid hours one night this week...one can only hope this will be a trend sooner than later. Of course our pediatrician rained on our parade and said pretty soon their molars will come in and their sleep schedule will be all off again soon:) Yeah! Cannot wait...

This week has been a new adventure for us with both boys pulling themselves up to stand and standing on their own. This means tumbles & watching them to make sure they are not pulling each other down while trying to pull themselves using their brother. Raleigh has even tried cruising between his kitchen toy and the chair in our play room. Look out, they will be walking soon!! Unbelievable=)

Videos of Our Trip

Gus & Raleigh back home in their Life Saver outfits from Auntie Peta & Uncle Paul - too cute!!!


Here are a few videos of our trip. The first is of us arriving in Cairns. The camera may make you dizzy, but it is great to capture the family as we got there. The second one is Keith & Christine, aka Poppy & Nannie, viewing the awesome calendar that the boys' great-auntie Dee made for them. They both had tears in their eyes, so classic. She also made one for my parents too - how nice! So creative. The last video is from Palm Cove. As we walked on the beach we saw hundreds of live shells coming up through the sand, just beautiful!! Enjoy.

Nasty Jet Lag

Augustus & Raleigh with Santa Claus - not a tear was shed, no beard pulling and they kept their hands to themselves too:) So GOOD!!!


Augustus & Nanny - look very similar, no?


Poppy & Raleigh - yes, they do look similar too!

Just a quick note to post these great pictures of the boys from Australia. Soon we will have the video of them arriving in Cairns. Just have to work on arranging all the great pictures & videos of Australia.

Hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year!

The past few days have been rough on Mom & Dad - the boys are great despite their lack of sleep. The boys keep waking up around 10 pm and want to play until about 1 or 2 am. We have tried to keep them on their normal schedule, which we did brilliantly yesterday, but alas, they still woke up and would not stop crying until they were allowed to play a bit. Seems their will is stronger than ours...I am sure we will have this struggle for years to come.

The jet lag is much more difficult coming back from Australia then going to Australia. Probably more difficult without live in help of Nanny & Poppy as well! The boys are at Nonnie & Pickles this afternoon since I am now sick. Hopefully the boys will not catch the nasty chest cold I have brewing. But, being on a few planes with a bunch of germy germs will do it every time!

Home Again

We made it back safe & sound. Although, probably a little more tired than usual. The boys had an absolute blast in Australia. Mom & Dad did too of course; particularly with a little parents time with three nights away on our own - thanks to Nannie & Poppy!!! The cats & of course Nonnie & Pickles are so happy to have us back home, but it sure is sad to leave all the family in Australia. I know this time around with the boys it is definitely harder than usual. The boys had a really special Christmas this year. They of course were spoiled silly & have enough books to open a mini-library which makes Mommy very happy! We are going to celebrate again with Nonnie & Pickles tomorrow. The boys already got one gift because Nonnie could not wait any longer. They have an awesome stand & push walker with lots of bells & whistles now. The great news about returning from Australia is that the boys are officially over their swing!!! Yeah, we can get rid of it now, along with the snap-n-go stroller. I think Mommy & Daddy are over the need for the breathing monitors under their cribs too. I know the boys are much better at sleeping through noise as well after our trip too. This is partly because of the noise on the airplanes and mainly because Nanny helped us get over our "be quiet, the boys are sleeping" routine;)



Little run down of the long flight with two 8 & 9 month olds (as they were younger going over):

• Having bottles ready is really the best advice when flying with little ones, especially since ours boys usually only cry when hungry!
• Friendly flight attendants can really improve your trip - that and great seats - or empty seats next to you which we got on all except the LAX/Australia leg.
• Bassinets on the flight were great on the trip over, not so useful on the way back - the boys were having no part of that on the way home. That meant we carried the boys on our laps for over 24 hours...and this is where the age matters as they were MUCH more active coming home & bigger too;)
• The time difference did not really mean much to the boys - this was the best news of all.

Highlights of the trip:

• Seeing Nannie, Poppy & Peta's faces when we landed.
• Finding Poppy playing on the ground with Raleigh the first night we arrived at 3 a.m. - even better was Mommy doing the same thing the night we got back at 1 a.m. - after giving them much grief & laughs for doing it:)
• Mommy & Daddy time at Elandra in Mission Beach & Palm Cove
• Seeing the boys become speed crawlers while away & Gus learning to pull himself up by the end of the trip too.
• Australia itself - how beautiful!
• Taking the boys to the zoo - even though it was super hot out, they had fun & Nannie & Poppy probably had even more fun!
• Spending Christmas with the Hamiltons - the first for me & the boys - the food was truly amazing!

Here are a few pictures of the trip - I took too many pictures that I broke the camera...and I had too many to burn to cds. We'll get them via mail in a few weeks, so look for more in the future. I should probably get to bed since I have had about 9 hours of sleep in the past three days.

Augustus - got to love the look:)

The boys at the boulders, Matt, Gus, Rals & Poppy

Rals

Auntie Peta getting her hair pulled, all I can say is this is classic for the trip!

Nanny, Gus, Rals & Poppy

Raleigh with Auntie Peta

Raleigh crawling over Gus

Feeding themselves...thankfully:)

Who is more tired, Rals or Dad?

Nannie & Gus playing with the raspberry

Who wouldn't want to wake up to these little ones?

- Gus in the "mommy" shirt, Raleigh in the blue shirt

Augustus & his new teeth - all four on top are in, came in right before the trip over

Gus using the teeth to get Dad's nose

Keith & Gus at the Botanic Gardens

The boys

Raleigh with his Christmas crown

Raleigh on Uncle Paul's lap

New cheeky grin...Uncle Paul also taught him to stick his tongue out on Christmas Day

Raleigh

Augustus