Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Eli's Coming...

I am delighted to report that Eli has finally decided to walk. He is still not using it as his primary source of transportation, but it is starting to overtake the crawling. Here's a glimpse of our little linebacker walking...


Monday, October 20, 2008

Zoo-per Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday afternoon we continued our fun-filled weekend with our first visit to the Birmingham Zoo. It was a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon and we plan to return for sure. In fact, we're seriously considering the year-membership so we can go a lot. As someone who grew up going to the National Zoo, I wasn't expecting much, but it was actually quite a nice little place. We saw lions, tigers, a gorilla, monkeys, sea lions, etc. I think Brandon and I may have enjoyed the spider monkeys the most; they were quite entertaining. But, I think M&E's vote went to the sea lions. Also, the zoo was decorated for "Boo at the Zoo," their Halloween program, so there were lots of fun decorations to check out too.
















Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday, Brandon and I took Madeline and Eli to the pumpkin patch. A good time was had by all. We arrived at Old Baker Farm at lunchtime, so Brandon, Madeline and Eli had hot dogs for lunch. Hot dogs gross me out, so I ate a bag of kettle corn - a whole bag of kettle corn. It was mmm, mmm good. When everyone was pleasantly full, we set out for the hayride, which took us to the pumpkin patch. After a photo session, we selected two pumpkins to take home with us. I have to say the pickings were slim, and it was only Oct. 18th! Don't pumpkins rot if you get them any earlier? What are people doing getting their pumpkins so early? Personally, I like to have mine last until Thanksgiving, but I guess that's just me. After we picked up our pumpkins, we rode the hayride back to the farm and went through the petting farm before heading back to the car and home for nap time. Madeline and Eli could not have been any better behaved for their first pumpkin patch experience. They were rewarded with snack cups full of graham cookies on the way home (and two pumpkins).







Friday, October 17, 2008

Just a Few Tidbits

I have been neglecting my blog lately - my apologies. Here are a few highlights from the last couple of weeks...


**Madeline and Eli were dedicated last weekend at our church. We enjoyed a good visit with our family members who came to share this with us. We are so grateful for these two beautiful children God has loaned to us and we are doing our best to be Godly parents to them.

(Madeline fell down the day before this and got her first big boo-boo.)

**Eli learned that "hot" means blow on your food before you eat it. He has found new ways to use this lesson as well. Yesterday, I fixed some homemade mac 'n' cheese and had just taken it out of the oven when I spied Eli reaching for the handle of the oven. I said, "No no, Eli. That's HOT." He let go, put his lips to the oven and blew on it. Forget the mac 'n' cheese, I want to eat HIM up!

**Madeline also is proving to be one smart cookie. The other day we were playing with some magnets, many of which Eli had chucked all over the room. I said, "Madeline, please bring me that magnet. It's by the stroller," totally thinking she wouldn't understand me. She walked right over to the magnet, picked it up and brought it to me! Now, I just need to train her to fetch diapers, wipes, shoes, etc.

**Eli is starting to walk more and more but not consistently yet. He has days when he walks quite a bit and the very next day he'll go back to crawling all day. We're working on it. On the other hand, Madeline is 100% mobile. Yesterday, I got home from some errands and took her out of her car seat and placed her on the ground. She walked over to the steps, crawled up them, walked (uphill) up the sidewalk, crawled up the next flight of steps and waited for me at the front door. My little baby, she is no longer.

**Last week, Mama Kaye taught M&E how to get down off of furniture backwards and feet first. It is so nice to be able to walk away from them when they're perched on the sofa and not have to worry about them nose-diving off of it. They're trying to crawl up on the furniture too, but aren't quite tall enough for that yet.

**Speaking of tall, M&E had their 15-month checkup on Wednesday. Madeline weighed in at 20 lbs., 2 oz. (just below 10th percentile) and her height is 31.5 in. (75th percentile). Eli weighed in at 24 lbs., 4 oz. (50th percentile) and his height is 32.5 in. (90th percentile). So, both children are tall and skinny like their mommy - yeah right. Dr. Smith said by looking at their growth charts, you'd never know they are twins, which made me feel like I've done a good job.


Tomorrow, we are going to the pumpkin patch. Brandon and I are very excited about it. We can't remember the last time we've been to a pumpkin patch! We plan to do it to the max, hayride and all. I also made M&E some new corduroy pants and fall design appliqued t-shirts today for the occasion. Unfortunately, my camera made an unexpected trip to Newnan inside Mama Kaye's purse, so let's hope Brandon's work camera does a good job documenting the experience! Brandon, by the way, is out at the farm tonight so he can wake up early and go bow hunting in the morning. Yes, I am sacrificing my Saturday morning sleep-in so my husband can go hunting, and I am patting myself on the back right now. If only I had a glass of wine and a good movie to watch... sigh.