Thanksgiving 09

We enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving weekend at my sister Stephanie's house in Arizona.  The boys happily ate their feast for 2 dinners in a row.

Ethan

Benjamin

Dress Up...

My mom sent out these costumes (yes, there are pants that come with them), but we decided to go with some different costumes for Halloween...so the tiger and the monkey coats are now being used for dress up.  The boys think it is so funny to see themselves and each other dressed up in them.

Thanks Nana!!

New Words...

Ben's Words: mom, dada, was dat?,  and hot

Ethan's Words: mama, dada, please and working on others...

I hate that uploading my videos distorts the image and sound.  I'll try to figure it out.

Dancing Boys...

We're Cool Like That...

I'm loving the fall weather and being able to dress these cool kids in their big boy jackets and jeans.  So big.

Sisterly Love

When we were in Utah for Labor Day weekend we decided to be oh so wild and crazy and went and played laser tag at about 11:00 at night...isn't it sad that this is as spontaneous as I get??  While laser tag was fun, Stacey and I had more fun spending all our money on the photo booth...

Don't mind her mushroom top and my giraffe neck.

Stacey fell out of the photo booth in that bottom left picture and we were both just silent laughing so hard that a worker came to ask if she was okay.

Hard at Work...

Ethan and daddy sending off some important emails...

*The only reason why PJ is shirtless is because his shirt was in the dryer :)

As of Late

I've been horrible at taking pictures of the boys, but here are a few as of late...

Ethan absolutely loves balls.  So it was a little piece of heaven when Grandma went ahead and put him right in the bucket of balls.

Ben thought it was scary being in the bucket, but came around a little bit once he saw Ethan having so much fun.

Ben walks around saying, "wasdat?" to just about everything.  Here he is pointing at my camera asking, "wasdat?"

Birthday Boys

My baby boys turned 1 today!!

It has been a long and crazy year, but I have loved watching Ethan and Benjamin grow and learn.  

I love that they love me unconditionally.  

I love that they think their daddy is the funniest guy around.  

I love that they are best friend.

Baby Ethan...

...is now a big boy that 

walks

yells for fun

chases Ben

scrounges through cupboards

throws his baseballs

eats anything and everything in sight...even if it is not food

loves drinking out of my cups

dances anytime he hears music

Baby Ben...

...is now a big boy that

walks

jabbers to himself while playing with toys

chases after every single bird and dog he sees

points to new items and says, "dat?"

thinks Ethan is always chasing him

loves fresh fruit

hates bath time but loves the pool

fake laughs for attention when I am laughing without him

Love you boys!!

Grandma Thursdays

I am lucky enough to have in-laws that babysit for me every Thursday!!  It is such a nice break for me and I know it is the highlight of the week for the boys! I mean, look how many toys there are for them to play with!!

A few weeks ago Grandma Mitchell dressed the boys up in PJ's old little league uniforms - so adorable!! 

Benjamin

Ethan

Wowzers.

Ethan

Ben and Ethan

An Eventful Saturday

We had a fun Saturday afternoon doing the following things:

The boys eating their lunch at their very own snack table at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Swinging in their swings at Grandma and Grandpa's

Riding in their new big boy car seats...there is so much to see!

Strolling around the Spectrum with some friends and getting some free balloons

Riding the carousel for the boys' first time

And Benny just cruising around the whole place like he is so grown up...Ethan still prefers crawling but he is almost there!

Holland Family Reunion

It is awfully nice living in an area that my family likes to travel to for vacation!  They all came to San Clemente last week and we had so much fun going to the beach and pool, eating lots of good food, and playing games late each night.  And I love that my boys get to be around their 8 cousins, 5 aunts, 4 uncles, and their sweet Nana!

Getting ice cream after a delicious dinner in Laguna Beach

Night out without the kiddies

All Ethan wanted to do at the beach was eat the sand! It drove me crazy, but it made him so happy!

Benny just being cute as ever.

Amy, Sam, Nana, Stacey, Ethan and Benjamin.  I love how Benny is sucking in his tummy for the picture!!

Ben and Ethan

Ethan

Ben and Ethan

Benjamin

Benny, Ethie, Sammers, and JJ

Crazy boys!

My mom and sisters

The whole Holland family

Enjoying some yummy mexican food.

Yes, this is the regular look on Ethan's face

Loving the Parks

We having been loving all the parks near our house lately: free concerts, Friday night movies, plenty of swings, and tons of birds and dogs for the boys to look at.  Now wonder the HOA's are ridiculous!

Some of the gang heading to the playground.

Nana pushing Ethan in the swing

Ben rocking along to the Neil Diamond cover band

Ben and PJ

Ethan waiting for the movie to start

Ben playing with Aunt Keri's hat

Ethan mesmerized by Uncle Chris

Benny and PJ

Ben, PJ, Ethan, Chris, and Stacey

Fun 4th of July

We started the day cheering PJ on while he ran a 5k. He did pretty well considering he went running about 4 times to get ready for the race.  

After morning naps we headed to the pool with some friends.  Ben and Ethan were thrilled when they realized where we were!

After afternoon naps we then met up with PJ's family for some dinner.

Benjamin

Ethan loving some french fries

Ethan in some silly glasses Grandma got for him

Ben didn't think they were as neat as Ethan did

Outside Lucille's BBQ

This was actually the first time the boys have ever had the chance to climb stairs...and they were up them in about 4 seconds.

We finally met back up with some friends for the firework show right outside our place. So fun to be there with everyone!

Ben playing with his friend Jake Mullen. 

Ethan and Dad (this is the top half of the picture)

And Benny was hanging on to dad's leg

Ethan can't wait for the show to start!!

And Ben thought this was the best night of his life!!

The boys LOVED the fireworks and giggled with each other as they watched the show!

It was a fun filled weekend that wore the boys out!!

Ethan's Turn

Just enjoying having PJ home for lunch.

Stinky Toes...you're going to get sick of me saying this!

Seeing Double...

Sometimes it is hard to share...

And even harder to teach "sharing" to 9 month olds.

But occasionally they figure it out.

Thank goodness there aren't 4 of them!!

PJ's Birthday

We went with PJ's family to a Tepanyaki restaurant to celebrate his birthday.  We thought the boys would love the fire and the food being cooked, but they were a little scared and more concerned about mom and dad feeding them.  

Ethan

These next two pictures make me laugh.  Their mouths are always hanging open.  And yes, we did find out they are IDENTICAL.

Ben showing dad his cracker

Ethan humoring his dad for his birthday.

The boys were very thoughtful and got daddy some baseball cards.

Diaper Babies

My sweet baby boys are 

9 Months old!

They are my little explorers and are crawling all over the house. 

They LOVE the swimming pool and giggle and jump, jump, jump when we put them on the pool steps.

They are learning that banging toys on the tile makes fun noises.

They love to watch their crackers leave their hands and fall to the kitchen floor.

They would rather feed themselves. And the food on their brother's tray tastes better.

They are pulling themselves up on anything and everything...but sometimes not sure how to get back down.

They think that the toy their brother has is ALWAYS more fun. Even if they are holding a duplicate of that toy in their own hand already.

They love to giggle with each other through their crib bars while waiting for mom to wake up.

I thought I would take a few cute pictures of the boys in their diapers (my favorite).  Ethan was first....but wait, did Ben see a flash and hear the camera click??

Sure did! He turned right around for his famous camera smile.  I honestly never see this face unless the camera is out.

Pulling themselves up on the ottoman.

Their new favorite way to watch their video.  Yep, Ben is still smiling.

Dear Ethan,

   I think you are such a silly boy! I love having you around all day.  Your little brother thinks you are the funniest guy around and is constantly trying to get your attention. It is my favorite to listen to you talk and giggle to yourself in your crib after waking up from a nap.  You love to play with my hair, hands, face, or your own hair when you drink your bottle.  You are so good at picking up your snacks in your fingers and feeding yourself.  You are my big eater and my good sleeper. When we play out on the grass, you find every last leaf on the ground in a 10 foot radius and try to eat them. I love the goober smile you give, and your dad and I always laugh that your mouth is usually hanging wide open.  
You are my mellow child and will often sit back while Ben runs the show :)  I really appreciate that!!  You have the deepest belly laugh and I love to hear it when I push you in the swings or when I hide behind the chair and jump out and scare you.
I'm glad I'm your mommy and that you are my big boy!

Dear Ben,

    What would Dad, Ethan, and I do without you around the house?  You make us all laugh with your silly faces and strange noises. Right now you do what we call your Darth Vador voice.  You have decided that you do like a binky now, but only during play time.  At nap time you stand up in your crib and yell and yell until I come lay you back down...then you'll kick your legs until you fall asleep.  Saltine crackers are your all time favorite snack, and you love to eat toast.  You are very active and are learning something new everyday! You'll pull up on everything you can find, and managed to pull the garbage can over onto you tonight.  You love peek-a-boo and would play all day long if you could.  I think you make the most adorable faces, and this smile could make anyone laugh.
I like to say that you wear your emotions on your sleeve.  You are constantly smiling and laughing and trying to get Ethan to laugh along with you.  But when you get hurt or are sad, everyone in the room hears about it :)  You were my little guy 9 months ago, but now are showing Ethan how to do new tricks!!
I'm glad I'm your mommy and that you are my baby boy!

Could I be any luckier?

Time for Haircuts!!

It was about time that we cut the boys' hair.  Despite being dressed in blues and browns, people were still mistaking them for girls.  Ben didn't mind the hair clippers, but they scared Ethan to death.

Benjamin's before...

...and during

Ethan's before...

...and during

And some after shots while out on the town:

This picture sums up the boy's personalities: Ethan is a lot more mellow and laid back, while Ben is my high energy, go getter!

Ethan enjoying a ride on dad

Now Ben's turn to play with him

I have about a million pictures of Ben making a face like this.  Every time he sees the camera scrunches up his nose and shows us his gums/teeth.

The best shot I could get of both of them together.

I bought the boys a dump truck with some blocks, but they didn't really think it was that cool...until I gave them some rides in it!!  They whine when I take them out.

Ethan

Benjamin

Ben was nice enough to pick up their blankets so they could get ready for bed.