The Only Child

Today was really different than usual. Instead of running errands with 3 in tote, I only had one. TJ came home early from work today so that I could do the Thanksgiving shopping alone! But then I thought to myself what a great opportunity for me to be one-on-one with just one of the twins. They have really NEVER been apart except for 2 times. I realized that just like Tyler, they too need some alone time with mommy and daddy. So off we went to Target and the grocery store.

I felt a little guilty at first leaving Ryan behind, but I knew that he would be getting his one-on-one with daddy. We loaded up in the car and the first thing Noah said was"mommy, Ry-Ry with daddy" It was too cute. So my usual 10 minute task of loading the kids up only took me probably 30 seconds flat!!!! Driving down the road I heard his little voice chatting up a storm pointing at everything going by and saying "mommy, what's that?" I looked at him in the mirror and saw his big grin and his big pearly whites. He was LOVING this alone thing. No older brothers to overshadow him...no one to compete with...and 100% of mommies time.

Once at Target he held my hand so nicely, a thing that usually ends up in a battle with the others in tote. He NEVER ran off, he NEVER cried, he NEVER screamed...he just sat in the cart so content. It was during our Target excursion that I realized that Noah doesn't have a speech problem what so ever!!! He has so many words in his vocabulary and most of them I had never heard him say before. He was putting 2-3 word sentences together like he has been doing it for months. I found myself laughing so much because it was so strange to witness. We were in the card isle and he was pointing at all the cards saying "mommy, happy", mommy, balloon, mommy cho-choo, mommy what's that" He was just so sweet the whole way through.

Then it was onto our next task of grocery shopping. When we were in the refrigerator isle he kept pointing and saying "mommy, mommy, what's that" I kept saying "cheese" and he would say "no, mommy, that" It took a bit of "this", NO, that, this, NO that....until I finally pointed to the thermostat and he said "Yeah" I said "oh, it's a thermostat"....and he said "yeah, that's right". Like he had known all along!!! My shopping only took me 35 minutes! I didn't have to say "Don't touch that, NO, get over here, get out of the way, Tyler stop it, give me that, NO share, if you don't stay by me I will beat you, Santa's watching etc....It really made me realize how stupid and naive I was when I only had 1 child!!! ha ha. I would NEVER change it, but it just makes me think of how much I have grown and changed as a person after having Ryan and Noah.

When we were done it made Noah's day because he got to eat a whole bag of M&M's by himself. He didn't have to share them with Ryan. I totally enjoyed my time with him and can't wait to have some mommy time with Ryan and Tyler. I now see the absolute NEED to have alone time with each one of my boys.

Grandma Cheri's

This week the kids and I went to my mom's aka Grandma Cheri for a visit. The kids LOVE spending time with her, as I do. We play outside, make trips to the park, laugh, talk and just all be silly. Even the animals love to be with us too.Here are just a few snap shots of our time there. I didn't get any of Tyler because he was off hiking and playing with Papa Ken.

Halloween Parade

Today was a FUN Halloween filled day. At Tylers school they had a carnival and a Halloween Parade. I got up at 5:45 am to get everyone ready for the day. They closed the streets and had the junior high marching band lead all the kids up and down the streets showing off all their costumes. Even Ryan and Noah joined in. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Pumpkin Carving

Yes, the holidays are here. Starting with everything Halloween. We've done the Pumpkin Farm, we picked out the costumes and now we have done the pumpkin carving. We got 3 pumpkins, one to represent each boy. Obviously Ryan and Noah are too little to do their own, however, Tyler got to design and carve his very own pumpkin this year! Daddy did the other two. Tyler had a blast, and surprisingly he stayed with this project. Ryan and Noah enjoyed a nice afternoon nap while we did the pumpkins. I had every intention of including them too but as they were waiting for us to get everything together they fell fast asleep. And since naps are pretty rare these days I decided I would take advantage of it. We have yet to light them at night so when we do I will post up another pic. Happy Halloween everyone.

Heavenly View

TJ and I had the opportunity to go away for our 30th birthday celebration. We went to a place called Aptos. It's about 15 minutes from Santa Cruz. It's beautiful, quiet and just what we needed to recharge our batteries. My mom and Ken graciously came to our house to stay with the kids. TJ and I walked the beach, talked, drank cocktails, sat by the cozy fire at night, had a wonderful meal that consisted of lobster tails, fillet Mignon, and vanilla bean creme brulle. The best meal we have EVER had. Here are a few pictures of the sunset that we had the pleasure of watching. It's hard to tell where the beach ends and heaven begins. Thank you mom and Ken for making it so we could go enjoy our time and for being such wonderful and loving parents and grandparents. We loved having you and so did the kids. Keep your heads held high, you will rise above. We love you.

My Beautiful Boys

Just a few pics at the house this weekend. They are just too cute not to post.

Dell Osso Family Farm

Well, it's been forever since my last post. But today we had an awesome day at the Pumpkin Farm. TJ took the day off to take us. The kids had a blast. We did the petting zoo of course which was stinky, but fun. All the boys fed the various farm animals. We did a tractor ride, a train ride, Tyler and TJ did the Pumpkin Blaster which is a huge air gun that shoots out mini pumpkins at speeds of 100mph! We did the corn maze, and a bouncy thing. Here are some of the pictures of our boys from the day.

No More Suckies

Well, the day has finally come.....NO MORE SUCKIES!!!!! It's official, Ryan and Noah haven't had a suckie in 2 weeks! I started weaning them when we moved. I only allowed them to have them for naps and bedtime. I didn't even let them have them in the car! Then one night they started chewing holes in them and in just a few short days, they all had holes. I saved all of them and they threw them in the garbage and said "bye bye suckie". And that was it. The first night Noah cried for just a few minutes and Ryan didn't even make a peep. The second night there was nothing and on the third night it was the toughest. They cried and asked for them but never again after that 3 night. I am so proud of my babies and SO happy to be done with suckies forever! It's a bitter sweet thing like most of their milestones. Mostly because I know that they are our last babies. But here's to Ryan and Noah's BIG accomplishment.

Loving our new pool

I have to say, now that we have a pool, I don't know how we ever lived without one. It is so nice to be able to just walk in our backyard and enjoy a swim whenever we feel like it. And with the heat these days, this gives us something that we can do outdoors without sweating our butts off! Here are a few Tyler from last nights swim.

Monterey Overnighter!!!

Well this past weekend we took our family to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had such a great time and the kids really loved being by the beach. No surprise there. We spent most of the day at the aquarium on Saturday and looking at all the sea life. We even got to see the sharks being hand fed in the big tank. We ate at Bubba Gumps for lunch and walked all around Fisherman's Warf that night. The next day we spent running along the beach, playing in the sand and looking for shells and sand dollars. Tyler found 7! Here are a few pics from our adventure.

Ryan and Noah Get A Makeover!

Mommy finally did it......I cut off their beautiful blonde baby locks! I was SO nervous about doing it because I was in denial they were getting older. But....I am so glad I did. Just when I thought they couldn't get any cuter. I think they look more alike now. What do you all think?