Happy Thanksgiving!!

Cousins Zach and Seth with Liam and Luke

Cousin Seth and Luke
Cousin Collin

Dad with Luke, Liam, and Cousin Carter

Mom feeding us Thanksgiving Dinner

Uncle Russ and Cousin Seth with Luke and Liam

Aunt Jennifer and the Boys

Cousins Jacob, Ella, and Caitlin with the boys

We all had a very nice Thanksgiving with John's family in Cincinnati. The boys actually did very well with the drive. They slept and napped well the entire trip, which was a blessing. We were very fortunate that things went so smoothly with the long trip. We had a wonderful time visiting with all of John's family including 7 neices and nephews. John and I ran the 99th annual Thanksgiving Day 10k race in Cincinnati with John's brother and sister. The boys loved all the attention and new people to play with so Mom and Dad will probably seem pretty boring over the next couple of days. We greatly appreciated all the help from Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Ann, Aunt Jennifer, and everyone else so that we could have a little time to relax. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Iowa Hawkeyes and Early Christmas

Luke and Grandma
Curious George!

Grandma and the boys

Liam and Grandpa

Do you think he knows what the camera is?

We enjoyed a visit this weekend from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers. They came up for a visit and were able to attend the Iowa Hawkeye vs. Minnesota Gophers football game. This was the final game for the Gophers in the dome because they are building a new stadium. The game was lots of fun and the Hawkeyes pulled off a big win.

We also enjoyed opening a few early Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers over the weekend. The boys received some new pajamas and toys and Mom and Dad got a few things as well. We also received some Curious George books and stuffed animals from our relatives in Iowa, Tom and Charlene. The boys loved the Curious George monkeys! Next week we will make our trip to visit John's family in Cincinnati for Thanksgiving and we look forward to visiting with everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sick Babies

Liam...the climber
Now that's Talent!!!

Playing in the Ball Pit from Grandma Mimi

This is great!

The boys have had a rough couple of days and therefore John and I have not had a good night of sleep in a couple days. The boys are on their second round of antibiotics due to another ear infection for both of them. Luke was up pretty much all Saturday night so we took him in on Sunday with a fever. He had an infection in the opposite ear. While we were there, we had the doctor check Liam's ears which were both infected a few weeks ago and sure enough he had an ear infection as well. Luke is still not feeling too great, but seems to have a good couple of hours and then goes downhill again.

Other than the ear infections over the weekend, the boys also got a few new toys from Grandma Mimi as early Christmas presents. We are in the process of getting our bonus room set up as a play room. We are getting a few things to climb on and play with inside during the long winter months.

We will be heading to visit John's family in Cincinnati for Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing everyone. We also will have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers this weekend. Grandpa is coming up to see the Iowa/Minnesota football game. We are hoping the boys are feeling better by then!

Have a great week!

Happy 10 months Luke and Liam!

Playing together
Liam...Can you see his top two teeth? He has six total!

Happy Luke!


10 months Old...Luke (left) and Liam (right)

4 months old...Liam (left) and Luke (right)

3 months old....Luke (left) and Liam (right)

I am always amazed at how much the boys have changed when I look back at some of their older pictures. The days can be so long, but a year passes so quickly and we are approaching the one year mark! The boys continue to have very distinct personalities. Luke is still very mellow and easy-going. He rarely fusses unless he is tired or hungry. He is always laughing and smiling at just about anyone. Liam is a little more quiet, but very outspoken when he does not like something. He is quite mischievious and observant. The boys are beginning to interact with each other and enjoy playing together. I am posting a few pictures of the boys in their rocking chair from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers. We also want to wish a happy 10 months to our Cousin Calvin who we are looking forward to seeing over Christmas.

We are bracing ourselves for another Minnesota winter and hoping this one will be a little easier considering we won't be moving, selling and buying houses, and welcoming two infants into our lives. Have a great rest of the week!

Daylight Savings Time

Mr. Mischievious
Do they make these any bigger, Mom?

I think our week has pretty much revolved around the time change that occurred last Sunday. I say that because it took us until Thursday to finally be back on our "normal" routine. I never would have imagined an hour would make a difference, but it did for us. The boys alternated waking up an hour early each morning this week which made for some very long long days for mom. In addition, they always seemed to be more hungry and more tired than normal which was followed by being more cranky than normal. On top of that, we were teething and recovering from ear infections so I would not say it was one of our better weeks. We had another playdate this week with our Multiples group and enjoyed several rides in the stroller courtesy of the 70 degree temps in Minnesota. The temperature, however, dropped last night and we had snowflakes this morning. The boys also went to vote for the first time and thankfully we walked right in with no wait whatsoever. We are also preparing the house somewhat as the boys become more mobile. Luke is still not really crawling, but pulls up on everything and has very quick hands. Liam is all over the place and very quiet and fast. I read something in a book this week that I thought was good in terms of dealing with personal possessions that could be broken and/or permanently disfigured (for lack of a better word) during this period when your kids start getting into things...."don't cry over anything that can't cry over you." I am not sure that we have that many items that cannot be replaced easily, but that seems to keep things in perspective.

3 Ear Infections + 3 Teeth = Scary Halloween

Luke chilling out with Dad
All the neighborhood kids with the firetruck

The Four of Us

All the neighborhood kids at the Parade

Our neighborhood friend, Savannah

Trick or Treat!

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Getting ready to Trick or Treat with Mom

We have had an eventful past few days. Considering we made it nearly 10 months without being sick, I feel like we were very fortunate. However, on Thursday night, Liam was very upset and started running a slight fever. We went to the pediatrician on Friday morning and discovered he had a double ear infection. After some antibiotic, he was feeling much better by that evening. The advice from the doctor was "to watch and wait" and start Luke on meds if he began having the same type symptoms as his brother. So, on Saturday night after Luke started acting quite different than his normal, we started him on medication. In addition to the ear infections, Luke is finally getting his first two teeth and Liam is getting his sixth tooth! We have had some cranky babies recently, but we are surviving and have thankfully had some very nice warmer weather in MN so we can still go out in the stroller since that is the boys favorite activity.

On another note, we had a great Halloween. We have an amazing neighborhood with tons of kids. We made a very quick loop around the neighborhood for some trick or treating on Friday night (despite our ear infections). Luke and Liam went dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 courtesy of some costumes made by their mom and dad. On Sunday night, we had a Halloween Parade with the neighborhood. One of our neighbors who works for the fire department drove a firetruck around our circle and then we enjoyed a potluck afterwards. It was a lot of fun as you can see in the pictures!

We hope everyone had a nice weekend!