Gingerbread

Aunt Becca sent Tate some fun mail which included some gingerbread house decorating candies. I constructed houses out of graham crackers and Tate and his workers decorated it with candy. It was a lot of fun. He slept over at grandma and grandpa's and did great. He went to bed just fine and then he was up for a little while in the morning then went back to sleep until mid morning. 

Sick

I took the girls to the doctor today. They have had colds for a while and they got worse. The doctor thinks it is just viral. Tate stayed with grandma and didn't want to leave when I got back and still didn't want to leave when dad was ready to come home for the day. He stayed for supper and Brett went back to get him. He must have played super hard because he was tired and had a night terror. 

Big girls

Ellie has been working hard at standing without holding onto anything. She stood for 14 seconds today. She really loves to walk behind her little push toy. She always goes to the left and gets stuck and whines until you get her going again. Audrey tried standing on her own today too and managed to take a few steps with the push toy. Both girls are working on teeth and have bad colds. I am taking them both to the doctor in the morning. Tate has really formed a great friendship with a kid named Luke that is in his class. He tells me all about what they did together at school. 

Q

Giggle

We are trying to get the girls to sleep in the same room again. Audrey woke up Ellie at 4:30 then they giggled for a while and Audrey went back to sleep. Ellie was up for the day. After church we went on adventure to a play place and loaded the van full at Sam's. Everyone had a good day. Audrey is started to get some bumps on her gums. 

Names

QTate has started to call the girls names if they touch his toys. Usually it is just stinker or bad girl but today he told Audrey that she was pee and needed to be flushed down the toilet. Poor guy was really upset. He had a lot of fun in the snow this afternoon. The girls have started to talk to and laugh at each other. It is the sweetest thing. 

Boobies

Tate was playing with Barbies today and brought a few up at bedtime. He took their shirts off and told us he likes their boobies sticking out. Everyone had a pretty good day!

Bath

The girls got their 9 month pictures taken yesterday. Ellie wasn't feeling it and whined and cried the whole time. Tate and I went to story hour today so I could take my friend some food since she has a new baby. My mom watched the girls. He didn't want to go at all. He did well while we were there but didn't want to participate in the song or finish his craft. The rest of the day he didn't want to listen and did everything in his power to do the opposite of what I wanted. The girls had fun in the bath tonight. 

Tired

Tate may have been tired from our big adventure. He fell asleep in the living room while we were eating supper. The girls are such a mess. They are waking up super early and whenever I leave the room they cry. They also can't decide if they want to be held or get down to play. Ellie absolutely doesn't want to take long naps.

Monster Jam

We went to see Monster Jam today. Mike and Joan came down to watch the girls. Sounds like they all had a great day. Tate was too excited to sleep last night so by the time we got to the event, he was tired and grouchy. He did not want to go through security and screamed at the guard when she called his beanie baby cat a baby. He was ready to go by intermission but after a trip to concessions and a $15 bag of cotton candy that he took one bite of he was ready to watch the end. We stopped to see Owen for just a bit and then hit up a McDonald's with a play place on the way home. It was a fun day!

A

9 Months

The girls are 9 months old today and had a well-check this morning. They are both doing great but Audrey got an antibiotic to try to stop never-ending sinus/runny nose issues. Ellie was 20 lbs. 1 oz. and 28 inches long. Audrey was 19 lbs. 6 oz. and 28.5 inches long. They are both in 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers (4 at night).  They no longer eat any baby food or cereal but just eat what we are eating. Audrey LOVES bananas but Ellie won't eat them at all. Ellie more prefers the main dish.  They both enjoy pizza, quesadillas, blueberries, carrots, pancakes, muffins and CHEETOS!  They drink about 7 oz. of formula every 4 hours. Ellie can clap and wave but not always on command. She is crawling, pulling up and does a little bit of cruising. Audrey can wave but not usually on command. She is also crawling, pulling up and has cruised just a few times. She likes to jabber and really likes to shout in her high chair. Ellie hasn't started adding in consonants but will always sing along to any song I sing. They both love toys that make noise. Ellie likes balls and stuffed animals. Audrey prefers to just look for trouble. She loves the toilet bowl.  They go to bed around 6-6:30 and sleep until 6:00.  Ellie would like to start her day earlier than that. Audrey sometimes sleeps until 7 if it isn't a school day. Audrey has been napping okay but I can't get Ellie to take a decent nap at all. They are really aware of each other and get excited to see one another. They follow each other around the house. I am enjoying them so much!

Outside

It was such a nice day that I made the crew go outside. It was a disaster. The girls cried the entire time. They hated Duke and if they weren't on my lap they were screaming. It is hard to take them outside so we don't do it very often.  Audrey did manage to eat rocks and put her hand in the dog water. Tate wanted a picture with his monkey family. 

Dress up

The girls got in on the dress up fun yesterday. I think Ellie is working on more teeth. She is a slobbery mess who only wants to be held, especially to sleep. 

Funday

Today was definitely a Sunday Funday!  Everyone was good in church. Brett played with Tate while I made spinach, squash and carrot muffins for the girls.  Later in the day I made whole wheat pumpkin oat waffles. I am trying to get the freezer stocked with good, quick foods for the girls. After dinner, Tate and I played dress up and blocks. We had fun!!   When I was putting Ellie to bed she was playing peekaboo with her burp rag. It made her have the biggest giggles!!  Brett is awesome because no matter how big of a mess I make in the kitchen he always helps with dishes and washes bottles. 

Tate told me that he wasn't going to marry me anymore when I wouldn't let him eat cake for breakfast. 

Party

Our friend, Jessie, had a 30th birthday party at the local bar last night. We put the girls to bed and then my mom and dad came over while we went out. It has to be about the first night out we have had in several years. It was fun!  Today I went and sold some stuff to a friend who just had a new baby. Brett and the kids were all snuggled in the chair together when I got home. Tate and I made angel food cake and ice cream from scratch today. He is starting to be a good kitchen helper. 

Fun

A rainy, yucky day meant extra daddy time at home!  The boys played outside in the mud while the girls observed. I had the girls try painting today. It didn't last long since I don't have a lot of extra time for big messes. 

Haircut

Tate got a haircut this afternoon and told me he wanted to do my hair. No thanks, son!  He did good being dropped off at school this morning. The girls were tired and grumpy. 

Wave

Audrey waved a few times this evening. It was mostly to a YouTube video of a lady doing aerobics but she did wave to daddy too. It was a rough morning. We have a very strict flush and put the lid down bathroom policy in place since I found Audrey splashing dirty toilet water on the walls. I was trying to put a fence around Tate's toys when I realized I heard splashing sounds. I hadn't want to push Tate too much in the bathroom since we had potty training issues but after just a little resistance he followed the new rules all day. He seemed to really need to be the center of attention today.