Enchanted

There's a Disney movie called Enchanted. (I rarely see anything that isn't Disney these days). The movie has a song called "That's how you know". The kids love this song so much that they sing along with the movie. Watching the boys belt out "Knooooooow" is so entertaining.

See for yourself! Will is first (in red) then Ben (in orange).

And if you wonder where they get it from...

Oh what a week!

(Please read the title to the tune of "Oh what a night," by the Four Seasons).

The boys caught a virus Monday, April 4th for Ben and Wednesday, April 6th for Will. Billy was pretty much gone for the week, so it made for a long week! By Thursday I took the boys into the doctor to discover Ben's evolved into a double ear infection and a "really bad, really really bad infection on his tonsils". When a doctor says really bad multiple times you figure it must look pretty gross in his little throat.

During all of this, some pretty cool things happened too. On Monday, while Ben had a 102 temperature he decided it was a perfect day to "go" on the potty. Two days later when the virus hit Will, he had potty fever too and went. Pretty much once a day since then, they boys have been going on the potty. They are 20 months today, so we are pretty impressed!

They continue to grow their vocabulary. Some of their best sayings right now are:

show me (as they tug on your hand to have you go with them so they can show you something)

Come on (waving to each other to follow)

Where are you?! (when we are waiting for friends to come over)

Ohhhh Josie! (They love to call for her)

Mine (ugh... I don't like this one, but man do they love to say it!)

Okayyyyy (Ben especially does the long drawn out Ok)

Snuggle me (when they wake up from nap)

Happy 20 months boys!

Ben and Will - a tackle turned into a love hug.
Will was still having temps of 103 at Grandma and Grandpa's but what a trooper!
Beginning of the week, Will in his frog hat snuggling Emily
Ben wearing underwear after he went on the potty for the first time!
Ben burning up on the couch.

Smarty Pants Will and Ben

This morning we were having bath time fun with the boys. I sprayed shaving cream on the walls to make shapes and then let them "draw" with it. Shaving cream is great for creativity. It's like finger paints!

The boys yelled out "circle, heart, triangle." And most of the time they were pointing to the right shape. Then they started to count and I thought my mom would fall down in shock (grandshe is visting this weekend!).

It went something like, "One, two, three, Five! High Five!" So we are forgetting the number four and technically high five isn't part of counting, but pretty impressive for our soon to be 20 month old boys.

They also love telling you different colors. While Will's favorite color seems to be blue, I make him say pink a lot just because he melts me when he scrunches up his face and blinks his eyes so hard when he says "Pinnnkkk!" Ben seems to be a big orange fan. If he isn't sure what color something is, orange is his fall back color.

They are learning something new everyday. We just love seeing what they will pick up on next.

Ladies men

The boys had a fun play date with their gal pals Lucy and Quinn last Thursday. They shared their toys with the ladies and used their manners while our friends were here. While the boys tend to fight over certain things, I think we are set when it comes to our "girlfriends". As you can see from the pictures....

Ben posing with Quinn Marie.

Shh-shh-shh baby Quinn

Will and little Lucy looking good together! Will is doing sign language for baby.

Will's in stitches.

Sweet little Will.

When he sees a camera, he always says "Cheese!"

It was a typical night. Dinner then our living room mayhem started. Wrestling matches at first turned into dance party U.S.A.

I went upstairs to start some laundry. That's when I heard it. What sounded like a loud thud followed by instant crying. Now, if you live in our house, you know not to panic when hearing such chaos. It wasn't until Josie (followed by Ben) came running upstairs and said Dad said you need to come quick that I realized the severity. Billy was covered in blood. Will had tears running down his cheeks, but he wasn't hysterical anymore. Normally I can't get the kids to keep the "boo-boo bear" ice packs on their war wounds. But this time Will was holding it on his forehead. There was a large gash smack in middle of his forehead.

Will was doing one of his best moves when the accident happened. I like to call his famous move the helicopter. He spins in circles, turns his head slightly over his shoulder and looks up to the sky. He lost his balance and smacked his head on the wood frame of the couch at the base. OUCH.

After a two second conference, we decided that he needed to go to the ER. We also decided that this looked like a job for Dad. I'm weak when it comes to stitches and I don't mind admitting it. I couldn't sit still just looking at Will's little forehead.

He ended up getting 2 stitches (all that blood for 2 stitches!). They normally prefer to do glue when it is on the forehead and when they are so young, but because it was wider than what they prefer they said stitches was the way to go. Poor guy had to have a needle in his forehead to numb him. Then they wrapped him up like a mummy so he couldn't move. While he may not have been happy at the hospital, he was pretty pumped when he got home. The nurses thought he was pretty cute and gave him loads of stickers. If you have an 18month old or two, you know stickers are like gold!

We need to make an appointment for Friday to have them removed. Wish me luck!

Boys will be boys...

Ben - I took this today! He is feeling better. The kid cracks me up. I told the kids we were going to get dressed and go outside. So what does Ben do?! He grabs a necklace and his coat!

This picture of Josie and Will is from earlier this week. We were playing with shaving cream and I made the mistake of mentioning that our "paint" was the same thing daddy shaved his face with. Next thing I know, Will started to put on his face. I guess he was listening. Josie had to follow suit.

My friend Nikki took this a couple of weeks ago. Will is in the footballs. This is how the boys are on a good week. No space boundaries.

This was a really long week. Ben had his second cold over a three week period. Each cold lasts at least five days, which feels like a century. Ben is not the best sick kid...in fact out of three he is most needing of my attention.

Today was the first day Ben finally seemed to turn the corner. He no longer has a fever, just snot flooding from his nose. Unfortunately it was also the first day Will had a fever and started showing definite symptoms of catching the cold his brother had. (Looks like our lessons of sharing are finally starting to click!) Poor Will just wanted some mama loving and Ben was not willing to share me. Every time Will would crawl into my lap to join on the snuggle, Ben pushed him away (OK so I lied about the boys understanding how to share).

But here is the thing... while I heard more crying this week than normal, the little moments out weigh the tiring ones. I think that's the best part about being a mom. A smirk, a new move (the boys now do fist bumps), or a snotty kiss make it all worth while.

18 months and counting

The boys turned 18months on February 17th. I was on jury duty, then they had double ear infections, so we are little behind on our 18month pictures for the family wall downstairs.

Yesterday I took the boys into Portrait Innovations to capture their little faces. The boys fell asleep on the way and are still getting over their double ear infections. So needless to say they weren't exactly thrilled with the idea. But I figured I just need 3 good pics. One of each of them individually and then the two together. Click, click, click.... done! WRONG.

Long story short, the photographer didn't want to be there and neither did the boys. After 5 minutes of attempting to take their pics, she gave up and told me to come back that afternoon. That's when I decided, forget you Portrait Innovations! I can do this. And I did. We walked into the house I took off their coats, sat them in our lazy boy chair and said "Smile! Say Cheese! Peek-a-boo!" I even had to wake up Will, who fell asleep in the car on the way home. Yet, I still captured their amazing personalities.

At 18months, Will your smile is infectious. You look mischievous and while your brother is usually the one who gets caught, something tells me you are the master mind behind it all. Oh and after 18 months of saying Ben is in blue, you decided to change that. You now always pick the blue outfit. Everyday.

Ben you smile like your sister. Tilt the head and give it your all. You give great hugs and have great determination. You love to play with play-doh and listen to music.

Above...Will is in white. Ben is in yellow.