Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Isaac

I had my 26 week sonogram today, and I got some new pictures of baby Isaac.  They said he seems healthy, and he weighs around 2 pounds, 6 ounces already.  That is in the 63rd percentile which they are happy with since I am going once a month to make sure he is growing. 

Here is his sweet little profile.

He is always moving, stretching, and kicking.  Here you can see his foot stretched up above his head.  

This is the first time I have ever gotten a 3D sonogram picture.  He looks like he has the "Lund lips."  I am really excited to see more of these 3D images as the pregnancy goes on. 

Zev told me that he needs to take this 3D picture to show his class at school because it is so much easier to understand what you are looking at. He took last months' picture to show already.  The boys are getting more and more excited all the time. 

Friday, March 21, 2014

An Update on Tahli!

Tahl is turning three really soon, and he is going through lots of changes. He gave up his paci a few weeks ago, and now we are working on potty training (again...)  It was going pretty rough for a while there, but it is getting a lot better now.  Tahl wore underwear to school this week, and he has been dry for four days in a row!  I do make him go every hour to two hours, so we are hoping he starts telling us on his own soon. Usually when he has an accident it is a "control issue."  For instance, he will purposely pee on the floor if I put him in time out. ( I just had to stop writing this because he was calling me from his room... I'll just say it really wasn't pretty. Potty training isn't for the weak of stomach...) 


Tahl has really gotten more and more hilarious.  Here he is showing off a Daniel Tiger mask from a birthday party.  Daniel Tiger is his favorite show right now.  


He told me this horsey had a name.  When I asked him what it was, he told me "Horsey Wee John Winterton." Maybe it came from school, but I've definitely never told him anything about a horsey named "Wee John Winterton." 

 He then proceeded to explain to me how it was a flying horse, but only when you push this button in his hand... 

On the way home from the party I had a moment where I just realized that I'm thirty, I drive a minivan, I was listening to the Lion King soundtrack, and I was wearing a TOILET shaped watch on my hand. People kept asking me if I felt old when I turned 30, but it is more the life I lead as a stay at home mom that reminds me I'm not 21 anymore! 

In the past few weeks, another change of Tahl's is that he is trying to give up his nap.  He has only been napping maybe only once every few weeks.  It has been really tough on both of us.  I did find him sleeping one day this week. 

When he woke up though, he had had an accident, and he was really mad at me.  I couldn't get him to put his pants on, so we just went to the park like this. 

Here he is shoeless at the outlet mall because I gave up on his shoes. In fact, Tahl is incredibly stubborn and throws a lot of fits.   He generally begins to rage, and it is hard to calm him down until it just wears off. I used to say that he threw less fits than Zev, but they lasted longer.  Now I would say he throws almost as many as Zev, and they are much more violent. I'm hoping that this big temper is a very small phase. 
That being said, he is just as sweet as his is grumpy. Tahl will always try to get me a paper towel.  If he can't reach one for me, he will rip his in half.  He is more likely to share his food with me than other guys around here.  He also loves babies and is always trying to talk sweet to them and tickle their toes.  He can't wait to meet his little brother. 

Here he is with a frog friend that he named "Avocado." This week he brought me his special kitty cat, and told me she had a name now, and it was "Goat Cheese." 
Tahl is always pretending something.  The jack in the box is the "cave of wonders."  He is Jafar, but only in a costume like Viola Swamp. He is really into Disney movies and stories (like his mom), and especially Lion King and Frozen. We love his imagination.  

There will be more to come about this guy with his birthday coming up! 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

An Update on Zev!

Zev is having another big week of news!

First, Zev has started to read.  He is really starting to sound out some words.  He asked my mom why her sewing machine said "push," and he read the word "play" at the park on a sign.  I decided to start working on this book with him. This is actually the book that I first learned to read as a little girl with my grandma.  I love trying to read it with him. 

Zev and Ari went to a magic show last Saturday. Ari thought it was pretty cheesy, but Zev thought it was pretty awesome.

( On a side note, Ari made Zev this fun lunch. )



Zev also started taking some new medicine this week. His teachers think it is making his mornings much smoother.  We are trying to all see how we feel about it and if there are any side effects.  In the mean time, Zev has had four good days of school in a row!

Here he is meeting fireman Brad. 

He was really excited about this, and he told me all about how he drew a picture of him in his journal. 

Zev also drew a picture of a pig and a cat in his journal this week.  We are all excited to see a picture of something that is not a machine!

Here he is in gym playing with a friend. 


This week in discovery, the kids learned about bridges.  

This is Zev working with two friends to build a bridge. 

I think it turned out pretty nicely. 

Zev has also been maturing some lately (having nothing to do with any medicine.)  He, as always, has his moments, but he is trying really hard. We are very proud of him. 

Happy Birthday Mimi!

The boys had so much fun celebrating Mimi today.  We went out to dinner for her birthday, and the boys gave her some art that they made.  They are sad that she is moving out, but I think we are still going to see her all the time.  They just have to wait and figure that out. We've been so lucky to have Mimi here with us for the past 6 months. The boys loved getting to spend extra time with her. Thanks Mimi for everything you do!

We love you! 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Spring Break!

The past week has been Zev and Tahl's spring break from school.  We have been calling it "adventure week," and we had a great time! 

On the first day, we went to the Perot Museum. The boys were lucky enough to get these free hats! 

They were pretty excited.

When we got there it was pretty empty.  We had a lot of fun shopping and paying for fruits and veggies. 

The guys wanted to deliver their veggies to 100 street. 

Next we went camping.  Zev insists this is how he sleeps in a tent. 

After we grilled our food at the campfire we sat down to eat at the picnic table. 

Then Tahl went back in the tent to sleep again. 

We also had a lot of fun digging outside. 

Zev loves this sand table.

(You can see a little bit of plumber's crack in this picture.)

We couldn't leave without some time in the water. 

Zev also wanted to go up to the space section before we left. 

Then we went outside for a real picnic in the nice weather. 

After which, the guys went running in the water. 

Tahl ended up pretty wet, of course. 

Notice his handsome potty watch. 

Zev actually stayed pretty dry for once. 

The boys finally got to play on the frog statues in front of the museum. 




On Tuesday, we had a play date at our house (no pictures). 

Wednesday, Tahl finally got enough stickers on his potty chart to get the Jessie hat (from Toy Story) that he has been begging for. He was really excited. 

Another example of the horrible faces he makes when he is actually just trying to say "cheese."

We went to the zoo with friends too.  

As you can see it got a lot colder than it was at the beginning of the week. 

We were really excited to catch the trainers feeding the elephants for the first time ever. 


The Simba my mom bought Tahl has been all over town this week too! He loved visiting the zoo.  Tahl was driving him to Pride Rock here. 
Wednesday afternoon, Emily, Grey, and Holden came over to play! 


Thursday, the boys and I went to the Children's Garden at the Arboretum. It was pretty empty when we got there too.  We started off playing on the veggie play area. 

Simba got to go on a boat ride. 

And even a ride on the slide.

Tahl told me this was "Guy-he" the dinosaur who always sits on his shoulder. 

Mr. Z making it rain. 

Here are Zev and Tahl using the binoculars to check out the fish pond. 


We parked behind this fence to watch the puppet show while the guys at some of their lunch. 

Then we went to play in the water section. 

I think this is still Zev's favorite part. 

We went next to play in the nest. 

It's hard to climb with Simba in your hands. 


Zev really wanted me to take a picture of him almost upside down. 

Here they are trying to pose for me. 

More picture faces.



Zev was sitting here to lay his eggs. He laid 70, 80, 90, 100 eggs! 

I tried to get a picture of the boys together, but I think I sat them in too sunny a spot. 

As you can see from the squints. 

At least I got a little hugging. 

Tahl insisted that he needed a picture alone with Simba. 

This one turned out pretty cute. I think he might be in love.

Zev wanted his own picture alone.


Friday we got to hang out with Emily, Grey, and Holden.  It's so fun to have friends in from so far away! We even got to spend the day with Kade too. 

The guys had lots of fun together in the sand box. 

Grey loves some good truck time.

Tahl was trying really hard to be sweet to Holden. 

He may have been dragging him around a little bit... 

Here he is trying to help him up. 

Tahl and Grey on the slide. When we got home, Tahl told me he wants red shoes too.

Some relaxing bench time.

In the afternoon, Holden went home to nap, but all the biggest boys got to go to the movies. Here they are on the floor waiting for snacks. 

Here we are in the theatre.  Grey thought it was really loud, and he held his ears the whole time. 

We had such a fun week, and I was so glad to get some extra time with Zev. Tomorrow Zev and Ari are going to see a magician for their big day out.  Zev is really excited.