Where Have We Been?

This song is in one of the boys’ favorite books, and the start of it is quite fitting after our summer!

HOME AMONG THE GUMTREES

Words and Music by By B. Brown/W. Johnson

 

I've been around the world
A couple of times or maybe more
I've seen the sights, I've had delights
On every foreign shore
But when my mates all ask me
The place that I adore
I tell them right away
Give me a home among the gumtrees
With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Veranda out the front
And an old rocking chair
You can see me in the kitchen
Cooking up a roast
Or Vegemite on toast
Just you and me, a cup of tea
And later on, we'll settle down
And go out on the porch
And watch the possums play

We have had a whirlwind of a summer. I cannot believe how much we’ve done and how much the boys have changed. I still am slacking at blogging, but am trying to get back into it.  Starting a business will slow down everything else.  The boys are amazing, and I really do want them to be able to read this someday and think, Mom, you were crazy to write all that down, but we love it nonetheless! 

We made it to Australia and back in one piece.  The flight was so much better from TX to Brisbane than our last time around.  Click here for a flashback – HERE. The boys were so good, it was shocking really.  The worst part of the travel was coming home.  It was the first time ever that the boys would wake up and get out of their beds and come to our room.   Yikes, scared the living you know what out of me the first time I heard Gus say “Mommy, I never sleep” at 3am.  It took about 3 days for them to get back into a rhythm, and me, well, it took almost a full week to get back in tune with my body clock in the USA.  The boys eventually were fine, but definitely need a nightlight since traveling.  Raleigh was soooooooo in the “why” stage when we were there.  It was insane. He would ask why at least 5,000 times in one day. Nanny, Poppy and Auntie Peta can all attest to this!  I would laugh as we headed to a train station, endured the 20 questions as to why a number of things were the way they were, and then the ENTIRE time we were on the train Rals would ask “why this” or “why that.”  Seriously, I have no freaking idea why the guy is getting off on this stop or wearing a jacket or has curly hair, no – freaking – idea!  Thankfully it has finally stopped.  However, seriously within a week of returning to the US, Augustus had his “why” phase.    The boys got to meet just about everyone in the Aussie family.  We had a ball traveling and the boys thankfully still ask about the family every now and again.  They often ask, “where does Nanny Nelle live again?”  They got to go to the Gold Coast, Perth, Tasmania and Sydney this time around.  I think the boys would move to Tassie if they could.  They adored the time with their little boy cousins to say the least.  They also loved the room to move and explore and all the “sheepS.” I was just thankful we were visiting in winter and not during the active snake season, but I digress.  The only downer of the trip, besides having to say goodbye to our Aussie family, was the weather in Sydney.  We had a few hours of clear skies, but almost the entire time it rained. Our beautiful penthouse hotel ended up flooding through the windows and a crack in the wall, so that was a downer, too.  Of course, pictures were taken, lots and lots of pictures.  About 5000 or so, and I am still working my way through them...but here are a few of my faves in a little slide show.





In other big news, the boys started preschool and are thriving there. They only go twice a week for the mornings, and will likely stay that way while they are in a good nap routine.  I hate to mess with a good thing there.  They love school and today they told me that it was Raleigh’s turn to wave the American flag, and Augustus just broke out singing “Yellow Submarine” at lunch. I had tears I was so proud.  They have learned many lessons already and the first week’s lesson was on grace and courtesy, and they display it all the time now by asking how are day was, and are even better at using their pleases and thank you’s than before.  Augustus was having a slip back into some pronunciation issues this past week, but we think it was likely due to a little runny nose and maybe some clogged ears.  Although, we have read that when kids go through a physical growth spurt sometimes the mental spurt lags a bit before it catches up. Who knows, this week it is a bit better again.  Our biggest concern is that he become self-conscious with his language and fall behind.  He tends to get silly when he recognizes we don’t understand what he means right off the bat.  We love him and all his little language quirks that make him Gus, but man, isn’t it hard to watch your kid be self-conscious?


Here are a few pictures of the boys. They are getting so big.  Truly big boys now.  Hopefully I will catch up soon with all the little things that are so special about them.  In the meantime, a short list of things I love about these boys.

They are still full of energy and love to read.  They love everything from my little pony, Barbie, Tangled, The Karate Kid, Buzz & Woody, pirates, and everything in between.  They are starting to understand gender a little more, but I hope they still are so sweet and accepting of for a long time.  Raleigh is fascinated by space.  Augustus loves Batman, but he is tending to Spiderman and Captain America, too. He wants to be a super hero for sure! He loves to save the day! Raleigh tends toward Superman…not so much Spidey any more, but he will still wear his Spidey suit every now and again.  Dress up is still in full swing, although, usually not first thing in the morning any more…which is  a good thing because Mama needs her coffee before dressing up a like a pirate  They found the TV show “Little Einstein's” and all else pales in comparison.   I have to laugh because the character Annie is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO my Best Friend Kristy! 

They are amazing bike riders and fearless at it, too.  They light up when we see a Starbucks…yes, Mommy is proud of that one, too.  They adore getting to go to Home Depot with Daddy.  They are awesome helpers and fight over vacuuming up after breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They talk about Grandpa Pickles all the time. We just had the kick-off to football here and when we brought out all the Packer shirts they remembered Grandpa Pickles and it makes me so sad, but so happy that he leave behind great football fans who appreciate his team, too.  They still squeal when they find a feather that “Grandpa Pickles is thinking of them.”  They love their best friends. Right now it is Hannah, or me if you ask Raleigh.  Augustus is basically anyone he is with at the time, particularly my mom friends who are let's just say, well endowed.  They say things like "I'm going to be a love bug for Happy Halloween" (Raleigh)

They know their alphabet and can count to 20 on most days.  Strangely, as their little heads fill up with with more and more information daily, they started singing the abc’s like this “ABCDQRS…”  Weird. I remember when I was little that I though MENO was a letter, not L, M, N, O, so it’s all good

Why I Love These Boys!

I know, if you read this enough, you are probably sick of me telling you how much I love these kids, but seriously, they are awesome. I love this age!  Not every second of every day, but they are amazing!!!

 

Just today, I heard them tell each other they loved each other, both of them asked each other for kisses at random times of the day, they constantly tell us they love us…and no, not only when they want to wrap us around their fingers even more!  Here are a few of my favorite loving moments shots of the boys, including Valentine’s Day photos, which was ridiculously special this year with how the boys can understand the holiday and the sentiments, and also communicate with us. 

 

 

Spidey and Batman kissing…yes, it is February

And no, not every picture is great, sometimes they are over my incessant picture taking…case in point, here, neither of them would look at me! I still love their little smirks and looks, though!

Unfortunately, right after Valentine’s Day, Augustus started with a bad cough that was just impacting his sleep too much, so I took him to the doctor only to find out he has an ear infection.  Only his second one in almost three years, so I cannot complain.  I know I had an ear surgery by that point and was on amoxicillin more times than my parents could count.  Last night was rough for sleep again, but hopefully he will make the turn quickly.  We have a birthday party on Saturday that we would love to go to.  The shirts in the picture of the boys with the amazing roses Matthew sent me are hand made by the boys.  They should be a heart, but I put their hands the wrong way.  They look more heart like if you use the palm s for the top of the heart and connect their fingers downward for the point of the heart, but heck, this way we can see their handprints better. We made them at a play date for our moms’ group and had a great play date with all the kids just getting along brilliantly.  If this is what 3 is going to be like, bring it on!!!

In case you missed this video, it is one of my fave’s ever!!! Just click on the hyperlink below.

Riding Bikes

 

In other updates, we have been to the zoo with our besties, and other friends who  shall remain nameless, but are so crushing on tour “older” boys.  We hit up our neighborhood school’s local ho down for their fundraiser, and the boys had a blast.  They were most fond of the fishing game and not the bounce house which surprised us.  I just finished ordering the boys birthday invitations yesterday.  This will be our first real hard copy invites as the last few years we had big parties and used evites, but I am so happy with the invitations…I cannot wait to get them and send them out.  If anyone needs a code for Tiny Prints I have two – TPFriend will give you 10% off any order, and WELCOME for 15% off orders of $49 (free shipping right now for orders over $45, too). 

 

Gus looking for a  “needle” in the hay stack with his pants on the grounds

This one is for Mr. Jim and Ms. Kim…look out, Gus has his eye on Miss J.  He literally held her hand for 15 minutes straight! all over Busch Gardens!

 

The biggest news may be that we decided upon a preschool for the boys and they were just formally accepted.  They are only going to start part-time, to ease us all in, and heck, they are only just going to be three.  They had a trial day, or really an evaluation by the school on the boys, and let’s just say they passed with flying colors.  The director wanted the boys to start immediately, even though their program does not start until 3 years of age. We are holding off until fall though to give them some time to enjoy being free to do all the fun stuff we are doing all the time, and prepare us parents little more. It is a Montessori school, so if anyone has any experiences with them, feel free to leave me a comment!

Here is a shot of the boys before they went to school.  They were excited to say the least!  When we got back that is all they talked about and are so sad that they have to wait.  The funny thing is that their uniform colors will be green and red too!  We know it will be Raleigh in Red and Gus in green, just like always!

Funny things out of their mouths lately include -

Today, while holding his stethoscope, Gus asked where his heart was, and I pointed to his chest.  He said “under here” while lifting his shirt and I said, “yes, underneath your skin.”  He then looked at me confused and proceeded to put his fingers…all of them into my mouth.  When I asked what he was doing, he said matter of factly, “getting to your heart.”

 

Raleigh saw my new pink bra hanging on the door and said “I love your pink boobies.”  Hopefully soon he will figure out that a bra is not really boobies…a few weeks earlier they were in a department store, and in the little girls section when they spotted the training bras they both started yelling “little boobies!”

Gus now says “maybe no” anytime he does not want to do something.  “Gus, do you want to go potty?” or “Time to get out of the shower.” Is met with the sweetest, “Maybe no.”

Developmentally, they are both singing their ABC’s finally!  Memorization is not their strongest suit right now, so that is huge for them.  It is adorable to hear them sing it together, they usually pause and let one sing some of it, then pause again and let the other one sing for a while. They are both singing more songs in general too.  Raleigh keeps asking “what is it” when he sees something he does not understand.  We are trying to work on more descriptors, because “it” can be hard to determine.  They are still obsessed with their penises, not touching, or any more than most 2 year olds touch them I suppose, but talking about them…I hope they stop before school. I don’t want a write up about how they told some kid how their penis is really big.  Oy!