October

Since it's been over two months since the last post, I'm going to back track a little.

We started potty training Liam the last week in September. No more diapers! It took him a week to figure out what needing to go feels like and what he was supposed to do, then he did pretty good most of the time. It took another week to start going to sit on the potty himself and some where in there we stopped using diapers when he slept. Then in another week there were virtually no accidents, yay! Also, Owen started army crawling at the beginning of October and now tries to eat everything in sight. He'll get up on all fours and rock but he won't do a real crawl yet. He's pretty fast though and very busy! Just in the past week, he's started to sit up all by himself too!

Liam calls it "my iPod" He likes to play the truck racing app, the drawing app and the puzzle app (especially the puzzle app!).

Mid October we were invited to a pumpkin carving party. We brought home the pieces for the eyes and nose because Liam liked to use the Jack-o-lantern as a puzzle. We took pictures right before we threw it away because it getting was moldy inside.

A friend gave us 11 fitted cloth diapers and 2 diaper covers at the beginning of the month, so mid month I decided to give cloth diapering a try (On Owen, not Liam! Remember, Liam is potty trained! Yay!). After a couple weeks, I bought 13 prefolds and 3 more diaper covers to supplement the ones that were given to us. We're still working out the nitty gritty stuff, but it' seems to be working for the most part.

Liam is using a pillow for a turtle shell.

Owen discovered he likes climbing on things, especially Liam's froggy potty. The only problem is he gets stuck once he's up there. He has pulled himself up to stand using the stairs. He has also tried to pull himself up using the coffee table and the beds.

Liam wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. He got really excited when he got his pirate beard painted on, he would yell: "Arrrr matey!" When Liam saw what I was wearing he said: "Mommy, you a pirate girl!"

Liam also liked Owens outfit. It was to small to wear in the conventional way, luckily he didn't mind wearing it as a little hooded cape. He ran over to my make up in the bathroom and said: "Make me a tiger nose!"

September

Since it's been over two months since the last post, I'm going to back track a little.

Liam and Owen were delighted to have Daddy back! The trip to Orlando was about a 30 hour drive. We left Friday afternoon and arrived Monday night. Our only problems were Liam kept getting car sick until we got him some children's Dramamine and getting a flat tire the last day of the trip. Liam and Owen were suprisingly good for the trip. Still I'm pretty sure I want to avoid road trips that take longer than half a day in the future. Unfortunately, I know of two coming up before the year is over (ominous music playing...).

Owen started eating rice cereal at 5 months. He just wasn't satisfied with only nursing anymore. After a couple weeks we added the fruit and vegetable baby foods. He loves them all and so does Liam. Almost every time I feed Owen, Liam comes over and says: "Ahhhh" and waits with his mouth open until I give him a bite.







We went to Gatorland on Saturday the 19th since Tupperware offers employees free tickets.





It was pretty cool, Liam really enjoyed it. The gift shop had some awesome things like back scratchers made from real alligator "hands" , real lacquered alligator heads (they look alive), alligator skulls , plus toy alligators of every kind. (I really wanted to send my brother Chris an alligator back scratcher to use on his girlfriends, but I didn't... not yet anyway...)

The next weekend we went to Seaworld. They offer a Funpass which means you can come back all year for the same price as a single day pass, so we decided we should start going so we could make the most of our ticket price (we've gone three times as of November 1st). Liam loves all the fish. I think sea creatures are probably a big hit for kids of all ages, there is something so magical about them.

Kittens

So, Nathan's internship has been extended 3 months! So that means we will be driving out to Orlando. He will be flying in Wednesday night, I'm so excited! It's been a long 8 weeks. The boys have grown so much. Owen has been working at grabbing things. Liam is talking better all the time. They have been having fun playing with the little kittens. It is fun to watch all these little kids carrying them around. It has been nice to be here with my family and spend time with them and get to know my younger siblings better. We will be driving to Idaho for Grandpa Shirley's birthday. Nathan's family will be there, so it will be like a mini family reunion. From there we will drive another 37 hours to Orlando, yipee! Lots of things going on! Oh! I can't wait 'til my love gets here!

away

Nathan has been in Florida for 4 weeks now. So he is half-way through the internship. He says he's learning a lot, but he misses us and doesn't like being alone. The boys and I miss him terribly, but are getting along fine (I hate sleeping alone). I can't imagine being without Nathan for so long with out having my family around to help with the boys. Nathan and I talk every night either on the phone or webcam. Webcam is especially nice because Nathan can see the boys and they can see him. It's so fun to watch Liam talk to his daddy on the computer and see Owen smile and squirm when Nathan makes faces at him. Liam is talking better all the time and Owen is growing rapidly. They are both so very charming. I am sad that both Liam's 2nd birthday and our 3rd anniversary are going to happen while Nathan is away.

moving again

So, a week and a half ago, Nathan got a two month internship with Tupperware in Orlando, Florida starting in July! Since it's only for two months, it works out better for Nathan to go alone and the boys and I will stay with my family in Colorado. If they ask him to stay longer (his teachers say it's pretty likely) the boys and I will go out to Orlando at that point and I will have to cancel my classes for the fall semester. But in the mean time the boys will get to spend time with their grandparents and little aunts and uncles. Now we get to pack our things into storage again! We've already started tearing the place apart and filling up boxes. What an adventure!

photography class

I just finished my photography class yesterday. I have to say that the last assignment was my favorite, portraits. And, of course, I had to pick the most beautiful subjects that I had at my disposal, my boys! Here are some of my favorites. I just can't pick any less to show off than this and I wish I could post a lot more.

Liam and his favorite thing... can you guess?


sleeping smiles


dreamy baby


Owen with his daddy






Liam's first experience with a candle.

graham crackers

Here is a video of Owen. He is now a month old. He's cuter than ever and and doing great. Sorry about the car noise in the background in the video, I had the front door open to let light and air inside. Liam absolutely loves Owen (he calls him "oh-wee"!). If I hadn't taken this video while Liam was napping, you probably wouldn't have been able to see Owen because Liam would have been all over him. I think they are going to be good friends.
I am pretty much recovered and I feel pretty good. I have been walking the 15 blocks up to school with Owen tied to me for my photography class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also try to go running twice a week, if you can call my pathetic attempt running. I was so out of shape when I started a week and half ago, I could barely manage to jog a whole block and had to walk for 3 or 4 blocks before I could jog another. Now I can jog 3 blocks together and only have to walk for 2 or 3 in between. So at least there's improvement.
The past month I have tried making some different kinds of breads. I made some bedouin flat bread (kinda like pita bread), they weren't perfect but we enjoyed them. I also made wheat crackers that were good but a little dense (I will make improvements on both recipes next time hopefully). And finally, I made graham crackers last night that turned out wonderful! They were better than store bought (of course), buttery, and you couldn't even tell it was made with wheat flour.