Ninja Turtles.

Some of you might now that my husband was a huge Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtle fan as a kid. (Nerd Alert!!) He collected all the action figures and everything else that went with them. He kept all the memorabilia from his childhood in the attic with the christmas stuff. The other morning he was getting the christmas stuff down and pulled out the Ninja Turtles to share with Landon and Leah. The lilos loved the new toys. The bug of course wanted all the large ninja turtles and kept calling them dinosaurs. Landon was only interested in the toys that had wheels, go figure.

Toddler beds...what a NIGHTMARE!!

The switch has been made. Landon and Leah have been getting up on the side of their cribs and riding them like horses or motorcycles, depending on who you ask, so we decided to save them the injury of falling out and convert their cribs to toddler beds. Well, it didn't save injury. Both of them have fallen over the smaller bar climbing and jumping in their beds...several times-what can you do? Night time has been good so far, but nap time has been interesting. They sit and play, giggling at each other, filling each others beds up with all the blankets in their room, running from bed to bed, and hiding in their closet. Luckily Landon is loud and vocal so I pretty much hear a play-by-play what is going on. I have to come up with something new everyday to keep them in their beds. They are smart little farts and figure out how to out smart mom. The best is when I go in there and they say "I wake up now" and want to be done with nap time. The joy of transitions:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This year our little family went with the theme of "Little Red Riding Hood". Originally we were going to have Landon go as the big bad wolf and Jer as the woodsman, but Landon hates to dress up. Everything that we would try to put on him he would say "don't want it" even when Jer would put stuff on he would say "daddy don't want it" "take it off daddy". So, we had Landon go as the woodsman because he just had to wear a flannel shirt and carry an axe. Jer was the big bad wolf, Leah was little red, and I was grandma. We had a fun time at our first trunk-or-treat on Saturday night. The lilos still didn't grasp the concept of trick-or-treating. They got a sucker at the 4th car and stopped and wanted dad to open it. From there it was like herding cats to get them to move from car to car. Landon didn't understand why the people didn't put all the candy from their bowl into his trick-or-treat pumpkin. It was fun to see them in action. On Sunday night we just hung out at home and watched movies. We had quite a few trick-or-treaters come by and Landon quickly took over the responsibility of putting a piece of candy in each kid's bag. He got super excited every time the door bell rang and ran to the door. He said, "trick-or-treat" and then gave them each some candy. He then said, "there you go" and "see you kids." Next year he might just be content answering the door and handing out candy. It was adorable to watch.

Carving Pumpkins!

We carved Pumpkins last night for family night. It was interesting this year. I guess I was expecting the Lilos to enjoy it a little more then they did. They hated the guts and the only part that Landon liked was being able to hold the little knives. He cried when he got the guts on him and Leah just wouldn't touch any of it. Jer had a brilliant idea to let them color their pumpkins. So, while Jer and I carved ours they went to town coloring themselves and the pumpkins. Maybe next year they will enjoy it more, but I will have the paint and markers ready just in case:)

Our 4 little pumpkins.

Cutting into them. Note: Landon with his knives.

Leah trying to help dad.

Landon with the knives again.

Landon riding his Plasma car because he was bored.

Coloring the pumpkins.

Leah's.

Landon's.

The finished products.



After carving pumpkins we let the kids decorate their own sugar cookies. They could have cared less for the cookie or the frosting. They sat and ate all the toppings. I love these two crazy monkeys!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the little pumpkin patch here in town with the Lilos to pick out some pumpkins! Maybe next year we will be brave and actually go to a real pumpkin patch, but this was perfect for us.

The Fam.

My cute bug!

Landon trying to push the wheelbarrow.

Love them!

Landon with his pumpkin.

Leah with hers.

Finding the trailer and 4-wheeler more interesting then the pumpkins.

2 Year stats.

The Lilos had their 2 year well-check today... 2 years!! Their immunizations are finally done. They did get the flu shot and Landon didn't even cry. He just cringed and then saw the candy mom had which apparently made him forget all about it. Leah on the other hand reacted as though she had been betrayed. She cried like the world had ended and said, "I have owie now". We've been blessed with very healthy and happy kids. Here are their latest stats:

Leah-
Height: 34 1/2 inches. 69%
Weight: 26.2 lbs. 42%

Landon-
Height: 34 3/8 inches. 53%
Weight: 27.8 lbs. 43%

Jer and I were discussing how the first year seemed like it was 10 years and this last year seemed like it passed in just a few short months. We love our kids to death and love to watch them grow and explore. Some things we always hope to remember about this stage in life are:

Landon
flexing his muscles for total strangers, yelling "monster trucks", "oh no crash" , repeating anything you say like "Como?" and "hijo-le", playing "chase you" EVERY single day, being friendly to strangers waving and telling them "hi" and "good-bye", grabbing your had and saying "play cars mommy" and "come on daddy", sitting in his car seat and telling you where to go by saying "go dis way" , asking for a sucker when you drive past the bank, calling a Ring-Pop candy a "sucker binki", having an eagle eye for spotting any type of jeep, truck, bus or motorcycle from three blocks away, always teasing his sister and enjoying every minute of it, thinking that sitting in the corner for time out is a game, sticking out his tongue when he is concentrating on things, being ticklish everywhere, saying "totally awesome" or "park it right there", his dead drops backwards which broke dad's nose one time, saying, "What?!" after he farts, saying "I wake up" and "ssshhh Leah sleeping", his inability to whisper or be quiet, doing backflips on the tramp (which are actually him just rolling to the side), wanting candy for breakfast and then saying, "how bout...", shaking side side at the waist when we tell him to dance, bringing in a black widow saying "spider", riding his "bee-cicle", always laughing, playing "bounce bounce" on dad's chest, pointing out daddy's work as we drive by.

Leah
talking to her kitty and dogs like they are little babies, putting diapers on all her stuffed animals, her sweet little "please", requesting something and then saying "k" like it was your idea, saying to Landon "need a minute" when he has a rough wake up, or "peas come" when he is straggling behind, going to bed with every stuff animal that she owns...making us line them up along the wall so they can watch her jump ... then having to pull them all out with her in the morning, her temper tantrums which she prefers to throw on the nice soft carpet as opposed to the tile, her little voice when she is singing, her saying "I sit in corner now" even though it is Landon that should be there, her cuddles and squeezes when you try to lay her down in her crib, her sloooow eating, her saying "rock star" as we pull into parking lots and find a good parking space, always saying "don't want it", doing her puzzles, her getting out of the tubby and screaming "aaah!!" because she is naked, saying "my turn" so dad will swing her in the air, the sad quivering bottom lip, the bloody noses, refusing to look at the camera for pictures, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder, putting her food in her cup, wringing the milk out of her fruit-loops before she eat them, wanting to wash the dishes after dinner, being a hoarder, wanting to be thrown in the air even though it terrifies her, saying "I bonk a head".

Together:
holding hands, watching DVD's all the time, taking an hour to fall asleep because they're giggling at each other, playing "hop, hop, hop" on the couch cushions, watering the garden...and whoever is standing in the vicinity, running driveway to driveway in the neighborhood, playing in Micah's back yard, playing "chase you" on the trampoline, "mashing" every bug they come across, being concerned for each other...making sure if one gets a snack or drink that the other one has one too, swimming or as they say "schwimmin", playing "night night...wake up, wake up, wake up", hiding under the pillows on the bed, drinking the tub water, yelling at the dinner table to see who is louder, giving dad a hug and a kiss as he is leaving out the front door and then slamming the door in his face, telling us "wuv you".

Birthday Surprise!

Our cute next door neighbors, Micah and Val, brought over some birthday gifts for the Lilos. Landon and Leah love Micah and "bal" and play in their backyard every chance they get. They spoiled Landon with a remote control monster truck, and Leah with a "Fur Real kitty." They each got a halloween flashlight too. Thanks Micah and Val!!!