Who Says boys Can't Wear Pink?

Leland can often be found wearing my shoes. This day he selected my pink flip flops. I think this picture may be worth more to me when Leland is a little older!!!

Looking For Adventure

Sutton continues to do well and is looking for things to get into all over the place. Changing his diaper is lots of fun these days!! He also thought it would be fun to make his way into our shower, of course I had just been in it so it was wet!!

O'Christmas Tree

As much as I wanted to cut our own tree this year we decided to wait at least until next year when the boys are a little bigger. So we again opted for a pre-cut. As usual we waited until it was dark. And as luck would have it the location we selected had very minimal lighting with which to select a tree. Even with little lighting we were able to pick a nice tree and realizing that it was not going to fit in the trunk of our impala they offered to deliver it to us!! Leland was very excited about hanging only a few ornaments, those being a tractor, a cow, and the Oscar Meyer weiner mobile!!

Early Christmas

After we ate dinner and the kids had a nap we headed to a visit with my step-mom's family, grandma Rosie and grandpa Pete. For several years they have left for warmer weather before Christmas arrives, so they celebrate Christmas on Thanksgiving. It is always nice to see them. Even though they live rather close to us we usually only see them at this time of year. Leland took a little while to warm up, but once he did there was no slowing him down!!! I wonder if the M&M's, chocolate covered pretzels, and OJ had anything to do with that?!

Our Little Turkey

We stayed home this year for Thanksgiving. I think this is the first time that Nathan and I have ever stayed home and made our own Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice!!! Nathan got up at 5:45 am to put the turkey on the smoker, which turned out delicious!!! My grandma, mom, and aunt joined us.

Keeping those whites pearly

Sutton is very interested in everything that Leland is doing, including brushing his teeth. We thought we would start brushing Sutton's teeth, he actually likes it.

Fall Photo Shoot with Jack

Every fall a professional photographer comes to the day care down the road from where the boys go and offers pictures at a much reduced price. This was the photo we got. Sutton wouldn't smile for anything!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma

My grandma celebrated her 78th birthday on November 10th. We had her over for dinner the next evening (she went out to dinner on her actually birthday). Leland was excited to giver her her gift, so excited in fact that he thought he should open it for her!! He also enjoyed helping her blow out the candles, we thought he had a lot more hot air in him though then he showed when trying to blow them out. Sutton also got into the fun, he really enjoyed the whipped cream from the gingerbread!!!

Teeth!!!!!

I have been trying without success for quite some time to get a picture of Sutton's teeth, finally success!!!! He now has 3 teeth (2 on bottom and one the top). His second tooth on the top is trying to come through. He is getting teeth much quicker then Leland did, Leland still did not have any teeth at this same age.

Not FALLing Over

Sutton went for his 4 week check up to the U of M on Halloween. He continues to get stronger everyday. He is rolling over both directions, army crawling all over the house, sitting up (pretty well, he still falls over every now and then), and getting up on all fours and lunging forward. His x-ray showed that his hips are still in the correct location, however his bones are still not yet forming around the femur. He is now wearing a brace (which puts him in the same position as the cast) at naps and night time. Thankfully so far he has not seemed to mind the brace and has been sleeping much better. We don't have to go back for 3 months. The poor kid can get no relief though, he has had a yucky cold for about 2 and 1/2 weeks and is cutting his two top teeth. So all in all he has been really good considering every thing that is going on.

Trick or Treat

I'm feeling like I negelected my kids in the area of costumes this year, but hey they both had one and still had a good time on Halloween. And Since Halloween is at the same time every year, I will aim to do better next year!! I was going to make Leland a tractor costume, but waited too long. I ended up taking the Monday before Halloween off work, one reason being I needed to find Leland a Halloween costume. So you can imagine the selection!!! But I did get a heck of a deal. The costume was originally $20 and I got it for $5, so I really shouldn't complain. And thankfully Leland wasn't too upset about being Tigger. Sutton of course used a costume that I had gotten for Leland last year.

Still Loving Bugs

Leland still LOVES bugs. Nathan's mom found this bug. Leland kept it in a cup for a couple of days and then with much thought he decided he would let it go. After dumping it out he watched it for a good 20 minutes, even laying his face right down on the cold concrete to get a better look!!!

Pumpkin Guts

We did our annual pumpking carving the Monday before Halloween. Leland enjoyed it, he had already gotten some practice becauce he had aleady carved one at day care. Sutton on the other hand was not so excited about touching the guts, but he did with some gentle help from dad.

1st Hair Cut

At Nathan's urging I decided it was time to get Sutton's hair trimmed. If it weren't for some upcoming pictures I probably would have kept letting it grow. Once it was done I was glad though. Since getting it trimmed no one has confused him for a girl.

Gear Head Already?

Sutton has been getting into lots of things lately!!!! He is just like Leland and Daddy, already enjoying looking at the car magazines. I am really out numbered!!!

Monster Truck Car Wash - Officially Closed

Leland has been wearing and keeping underwear dry since September 22. It has been really nice to get back to only having 1 kid in diapers, not to mention the savings!!!!!

We Love You Grandpa

Well..... it is with a heavy heart that I make this post, but I really felt like I needed to. My grandpa passed away on Saturday morning. He had been in failing health since about Feburary. Although I know it is better for him not to be suffering any longer it is still hard knowing that he is not here anymore. I will always remember my grandpa's kindness, he was able to strike up conversation with complete strangers and by the time they were done talking he had made a new friend. And boy did my grandpa like to talk, I can remember going places with him and begging him to go because he had found someone to talk to!!! I will also always remember his silly habit of writing or engraving his name and purchase date on anything he could get his hands on, peanut butter, coffee, car batteries, you name it he had his name on it!!! My grandpa was never in a rush to go anywhere, evident in his only driving about 40 mph max speed. When I would tell him to go faster, he would always tell me you don't have to drive the speed limit.

Enjoying Life

Sutton has enjoyed being able to get back into the bath tub!! He is also enjoying being able to sit with us at the dinner table during meals. Must be sometimes our conversation is dull!!

What are these things?

Sutton's cast came off last Wednesday (October 1st). Actually having the cast cut off was rather traumatic for Sutton, but we kept reassuring him what a good thing it was!!!! We had to hold him in some rather interesting positions so that the lady with the saw could get all the cuts she needed. Since coming out of the cast he has been doing well and re-discovering his legs. We were also hoping that he would re-discover the wonderful world of sleeping at night, but we are still waiting for that. He is consistently up at 11, 2, and 4!! His trunk and leg muscles are rather mushy, but we are working on sitting up and rolling over everyday. We go back on Halloween for his 4 week check-up. At that time the doctor will let us know if she feels he needs to start wearing a brace or not. I didn't know Nathan had taken a picture of the empty cast until I was doing this entry, but what a great picture, it is nice to see an empty cast!!!

The Last Block

Nathan was finally able to finish the landscaping wall that he started back in May. He didn't want his picture taken, but I thought he needed the memory of placing the last block. Now next summer we can get it filled with dirt and lots of nice plants/flowers. For not really knowing what he was doing it turned out really nice!!!

Kindermusik

We signed Leland up for a Kindermusik class. We have gone twice now, he seemed to enjoy it more the second time, so hopefully he will continue to enjoy it.

1 Week and Counting

Well the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to get really bright!!!!!! Finally!!! Sutton has continued to do well during the day, night time not so well, but hopefully we will get sleep soon. He surprised us last Saturday when he rolled over twice. He no longer stays put. The instant he is put on the floor he is gone. We have a bet going to see how long it takes him to get moving once the cast comes off.

2 Weeks and Counting

It almost seems impossible that we only have 2 weeks left!!!! We are both getting pretty excited and wondering if we will recognize him without the cast. Sutton continues to be a trooper and has done well except for the fever/cold/virus that Leland decided to share with him. Leland came down with the wonderful stuff on Sunday and Sutton came down with it on Monday. Both of the boys are still trying to recover. Hopefully this won't be a long winter, especially considering this is only September!!!!!!