More Updates: Vance

Poor Vance. With Joel I did at least a monthly update with all his new stunts. I guess it's the curse of the second born. But here's what is going on with Vance lately.

1) Vance is officially on the move. About middle of March Vance started scooting and inch worming around the house. He got really pretty good at it and moved pretty fast. He'd push himself up like he is in this picture and lunge forward. (He was so quick that he literally gave himself a blister on his big toe when I forgot to put socks on him one day). He has since discovered crawling on his hands and knees is a lot more efficient. He still goes back and forth between the two methods but loves that he can move. He's my little wiggle worm. Changing his diaper and getting him dressed are literally wrestling matches EVERY time. He just can't wait to go go go! And if that wasn't enough he is already pulling himself up and starting to cruise. Last Wednesday (4/9) Tj was unloading the dishwasher. Vance crawled into the kitchen. And when Tj turned back around Vance had pulled himself up on the dishwasher to standing. Thinking it was a fluke Tj took Vance back into the living room. Speedracer Vance headed straight back to the kitchen to the dishwasher and sure enough did it again. Since then everything has been fair game. Then Sunday Vance pulled himself up on his Bumbo but that wasn't very comfortable and so then he went from that to the toy chest. Crazy kid. Now he cruises from the toy chest to the foam tiles to his exersaucer. Or from one end of the couch to the other. So funny!

2) Vance has also started on solid foods. He's funny he always sees what we're eating and tries to make a break for it. So far though we've held off on the steak and potatoes and have given him rice cereal, peas, sweet potatoes, and green beans. He's not so fond of peas. But he'll eat them even if he sometimes gags.

3) Vance has found his voice. He has mastered the sounds "da" and "ga". He has also figured out how to squeal. Sometimes when he gets stuck from pulling up he'll just let out this squeal. It's actually kind of funny.

4) Vance loves playing with brother. So last week I put him in this laundry basket so Joel could push him around. He loved it!!! Where Joel is cautious Vance is a dare devil. When he gets stuck after pulling himself on something a lot of times when we won't come rescue him he'll just turn, tuck and bail. It is so funny to watch.

5) This picture says it all. Vance is a riot and is kind of particular. So we took him and Joel to the park the other day. The park we go to has the Astroturf grass. Vance was excited to get down and crawl around until he felt the grass. Then he wasn't so impressed. Isn't that face just classic?

6) Vance is such a good baby though. Yes sometimes he's particular but he's tough. Joel is constantly rough housing with Vance and Vance just takes it in stride. In fact it's funny because now that Vance is mobile he's turning it around on Joel. This last weekend Joel was lying on the floor and Vance crawled over to him and crawled on top of him and began "attacking" him. Mostly just trying to get Joel's hair (Vance has hair envy- lol). I think I have a long road ahead of me with these two. I foresee lots of wrestling matches, broken lamps and rough housing in my future. But they just love each other and it's all done in good fun. They just love to play together. Vance rarely cries and is just such a good natured baby. He just adds so much to our family.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to add that Vance has another first this last week. He got his first tooth. Well he's been working on it for the last month but it finally popped through. It's his bottom right front tooth. And just like his brother he's teething at least two at a time. So his bottom left one is right about ready to pop through too. Yay!

More Updates: Joel

So I have been so bad about keeping up this blog. I'm going to try and do a quick update. I know it won't be a complete update but I'll do what I can remember. (lol)

1) Joel is such an easy going kid. Nan (Tj's mom) and I took both boys with us when we went Easter dress shopping at the outlet mall about an hour away from here. Of course Vance slept most of the time but Joel hung out in the stroller the whole time with only minor complaints. Bless his heart. So as a treat he got to ride with Garfield. He wasn't so sure at first but after about the 2nd or 3rd time he was having a ball.

2) Joel always is doing stuff to crack me up. This is his peanut butter face. I started making him a sandwich but ended up getting distracted. Next thing I know he had gone into the kitchen and gotten what I had started and ate it. He couldn't wait any longer!

3) Joel has figured out the fine art of funny faces. He seriously makes me laugh so hard. His little personality is a riot. Of course he is entering his second year and the fits and tantrums aren't quite so funny. But he's always doing something that makes us realize how quick he's growing up- usually it involves imitating us. For instance we always dilute his juice with water from the fridge. So he got a toy kitchen from Nan and Pa for a housewarming gift. So the other day he was playing with Tj at the kitchen and put the cup in the water dispenser on his fridge and gave it to Tj and said "Juice".

4) Joel is our little helper. He thinks he is so strong. He likes to show how strong he is by making his muscles. Now Tj's taught him to make his muscles and then he'll kiss his arm. I'll have to try and get video of it. It's hilarious. Joel's favorite thing to help with is the garage door. He loves to push the button and say "Up" or "Down" depending on which way it goes. I swear he'd do it all day if I'd let him.

5) I don't know why I worried about Joel being a chub when he was a baby. That kid has SO much energy. Sometimes I'd like to concoct a way to siphon that energy while he sleeps and sell it on the black market. He loves going to the park and runs and runs and runs. He loves going for walks and again runs, runs, runs. Even in the house he goes non-stop. He's figured out how to jump too. It's so funny to watch. I took him to a play gym yesterday that was all those blow up jumping castles. It took him about an hour and a half before he was comfortable in them. He's my cautious little adventurer. He likes to check things all the way before he goes full force. Hopefully next time he'll remember he likes to jump!

6) Joel's newest word is "Cheese". He loves it! He's finally able to digest milk products without having an upset tummy and has discovered the wonderful world of cheese, yogurt, cheese, ice cream and did I mention cheese?! He loves it- string, cubed, sliced. Additionally someone (maybe Pa?) taught him to say "Cheese" for pictures. So we've now entered the crazy faced cheesy pics stage.

Speaking of words our mute has officially found his voice. Joel comes up with so many words all the time these days. We of course have: Dad, Momma, Dence (Vance), Nan, Pa, Tya (his friend Tyler), up, down, out, on, off, this, done. Then we've been practicing: Papa (my dad), Mo Mo (my mom who's Monie to the grandkids), Jay Jay, Ra Ra, Mema (cousin Emma). His favorite words also include: Mo! (more), basth (bath), No way, stopit (stop it), its on, num num num (which is said either when he's pretending to eat his play food at his kitchen or he's eating something he really likes), waer (water), juissssss (juice), cookie, oosp (oops), darink (drink) and bye-bye. He just cracks me up- usually. Sometimes he's too smart for his own good and will give me an answer that doesn't exactly help his cause. It's just funny to finally hear him verbalize what's going on in that head of his.

Home Sweet Home

So as many of you know Tj and I bought a house. I never thought we'd own a home in FL but I guess life is crazy like that. So because curious minds want to know here are some pics of our house.

So besides moving and keeping up with the boys life is going to be extremely busy but fun the next month. This week we have Tj's Aunt Jenni visiting. She's actually staying with Nan and Pa but that's another nice thing about our new home. Nan and Pa are just up the road (a little over a mile but it's a straight shot!). Then after Aunt Jenni leaves we're having OUR first house guests. Auntie Kimberlee and Little E are going to visit for a week. We're very excited. Then before too long we'll (Joel, Vance and me) are going to be headed out to AZ for Aunt Jay Jay's graduation. So it's going to be a busy but exciting time around here.

Fun Pre-Weekend Trip

So the boys and I just got back from a fun pre-weekend trip. We went down to go see some friends of ours. We met Davina and her husband Aaron at church when they were going to school here. Fast forward about 5 years and they now have three kids and we obviously have the two boys. Anyhow, Aaron works away from home during the week and Tj had an overnight so we (Davina and I) decided to that I would go visit them and have a slumber party. Five kids against two moms- it could have been a disaster. But it went really well. The three older kids played pretty well together- although Alyssa the oldest was quite upset that Joel was not 5 like her.

So we got there about lunch time on Thursday. Joel of coursed crashed in the car on the trip down there. So he napped while the rest of us had lunch. Then Davina took Alyssa to a doctor's appointment while the rest of the kids napped. After nap time we all went to the park. It was a little chilly with the breeze but the kids had a ball. But with two babies out in the wind we decided it would be better to head home where the babies could be inside while the kids ran around outside. So home we went. We put the babies down for naps and the big kids played outside with some of the neighbors while the moms all chatted. It was really fun. Joel rode around on a power wheels jeep for a long time. Practicing for when Grampa Clause buys him one of his own- lol. Then it was dinner time and bath time. Davina has these really cute towels and after all the kids were out of the bath I got this picture of them.

Duck, Elephant and Rabbit
aka
Alyssa, Joel and Rebecca

Then on Friday we all got up and headed over to the zoo. It was really pretty fun. Towards the end the kids had had it. And of course Joel didn't even make it back to the house before he crashed. But it was a fun time.

"Explorer Joel" and the snake.

Joel feeding the giraffe crackers.

Mommy and Joel with the giraffes.

Vance hanging out in the stroller. He didn't really
"get" the whole zoo thing but he loved being outside!

The kids: Joel, Alyssa and Rebecca.


Overall it was a really fun trip. And now it's on to the normal 'weekend' activities.

February Update

So there's been a lot going on here. At the beginning of the month Joel, Vance and I were all sick. It was not such a fun time around our house. But once we all finished our rounds of antibiotics life was good again. So here's the latest with each of the boys.

Joel continues to be our constant entertainment. He LOVES music and has discovered the joys of Disney movies. Joel's favorite songs are "Popcorn Popping" and "5 Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree". He's mastered the art of twirling around in circles to music. He's so funny. He gets dizzy and stumbles around but thinks it's so amusing! He's also become enchanted with Disney movies. It's been a real struggle to limit his time watching TV because he always wants to watch movies. He'll find one and bring it to me and say, "This?" and then point to the TV. His favorites are "Finding Nemo" and "The Jungle Book".
He's funny though. He loves building things. He's got the large lego type blocks and he's also got the big bead type blocks that snap together. He loves putting them together and then breaking them all apart. He's all boy! It's funny because Vance LOVES to watch Joel play and Joel just seems so anxious to play with Vance. It's great to watch. Joel is such a good big brother and usually shares REALLY well. Of course he has his moments but overall is really patient and loving with Vance.
Oh, so we've also entered into the fabulous world of "No!" Joel now will turn and put his arm out and shake his finger and say: "Na, Na, Na". It's funny but at the same time it's challenging. His vocabulary continues to expand. He's also starting to imitate what we say. He's still his own little man though. He'll try to repeat when HE feels like it but only on his time table. So funny!

He's still our little helper though. Speaking of.... here's a video of him helping Nan make rolls for Sunday dinner a couple weeks ago.

Vance is our little cutie! He's funny. He's beginning to get more and more mobile every day. He pushes up on his hands doing little push-ups. He also is managing to Army crawl it, plus he still spins himself around. He's also mastering the fine art of grasping at his toys and even manages to put his pacifier in and out of his mouth. He is just so funny. He reminds me of the little ditty: there was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good and when she was mad, she was horrid. When Vance is happy he is very happy and a true charmer. But when he's upset, whao!!! Look out 'cause he gets TICKED! He keeps me on my toes but when he starts giggling it's SO funny! He's getting big though. When I took him into the doctor he was already 17 pounds. I get quite the work out hauling him in his carrier. Maybe he'll start walking soon. lol It's pretty crazy to realize he's already 6 months!

Anyhow. All in all we're doing well.

It's a ball.

So Joel just cracks me up. So Tuesday afternoon Joel just wasn't himself. He didn't take a very good nap and was just in pain. I did what I could for him but after an hour of him crying inconsolably I called the doctor and took him in. (I'll interject here that I LOVE our pediatrician. Even with an unscheduled appointment like this we were in and out of the office in about 20 minutes including the time waiting and seeing the doc. He's fantastic and his office staff is amazing!) Anyhow, it turned out Joel's tonsils and throat were red and inflamed and he had a lot of mucus building up. So the doc writes us a prescription for some antibiotics and off we go.

So I go over to Target to get the prescription filled and while we wait we begin walking through the store. We go by the toy aisles and Joel points and says "Ball!" This was the first time he saw an object and said the name! He'd repeat things and he says words but this was a first. I was so excited. So I take him closer and he says it again, "Ball!" So needless to say we came home with a small ball. Well that night I take the ball out to show Tj and I ask Joel "Joel, what is it?" and he says oh so casually, "It's a ball." Well then....., okay.

Vance has figured the fine art of pushing himself up on his elbows. His face may be saved from his attempts to be mobile after all. Yeah! And so far he's the only one who's been saved from this terrible cold or whatever it is. I'm hoping we keep it that way. Other than that not much else is going on.

Oh, Tj's pretty excited about a new toy they got at work. It's a King Air 200. I guess it looks something like this (good ole Google):

Anyhow, it's pretty nice and he's one of the first pilots at his company that will get to fly it. I guess that's one of the perks of selling your soul to Vintage. (lol) But really he's pretty excited about flying this plane. He starts on Friday. Yeah!

So that's what's going on here!

Brothers!

Okay, can I start by saying, isn't this one of the cutest pictures you've ever seen?! They are so cute together! Joel just loves Vance and wants to help and is just so sweet and loving with him. The whole time he was holding Vance for these pictures he was just putting his head close to him and being so sweet. He's such a good kid. And Vance wants to be doing whatever Joel is. I think that they're going to be pretty close as they grow up.

Vance is mobile! He's not very quick but now in addition to being able to turn himself in circles once he turns himself on his tummy, he can also inch forward. It's so funny because he just puts his little head down into the carpet and pushes with all his might with his little feet. It's not graceful or speedy but it's progress. I'm waiting for the day he gives himself a rug burn on his forehead. So funny. He's also starting to beginning signs of teething. Absolutely everything gets gnawed on. And talk about drool city! At least I got a little bit of a break between Joel and Vance teething right?!

Joel is getting more and more entertaining every day. His current favorite word is still "Uh, oh!" He says it for EVERYTHING! Sigh--- what can you do? His vocabulary is growing. I can't remember what was in his list last time so here's his current list (that I can remember): Mom, Dad, Vance, Pa (Grandpa Tom), Nan (Grandma Cindy), eye, arm, more, done, nana (banana), juice, down, kiss, ow, one and of course the ever popular uh, oh. He's also attempting more words. If you get eye to eye with him and say it for him he'll try and repeat it. He also can point to his eyes, ears, head, nose, mouth, arm, and leg when you say the word. He loves singing and dancing. His favorite songs include Popcorn Popping, Five Monkeys Swinging From a Tree, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Pat-a-Cake. He LOVES the Jungle Book and will watch the elephant marching scene about 40 billion times (43 billion if he's watching it with Pa). He is just a riot. I know every parent probably thinks so but really I just have the best kids. Some days they drive me crazy but I wouldn't rather go crazy with anyone else. lol

Other than that Tj and I keep busy with work and everything else in life. It looks like there may be some changes in our near future (no we're not pregnant!!!). Unfortunately, it's not job related for Tj yet either. Anyhow, we're busy but we're doing well.

Joel Update- January 2008

So Joel is now 19 months. This is such a fun age. He keeps us laughing at the things he comes up with. His latest thing is when you ask him a question he will stop and say, "ummmmmmmm, yes". It never gets old. He's just so funny. He also loves praying. Yes, praying. He makes sure we never forget a blessing on our food or before bed.
Joel is such a good big brother. He is SO sweet with Vance. He loves giving him kisses and plays with him. He loves giving him his pacifier and making Vance smile. He gives Vance hugs and Vance just loves watching Joel play. It will be so fun when they're finally able to play together.
Joel is also getting pretty good at putting together puzzles. He got a leapfrog animal match up toy from cousin Emma and Matthew. He loves it and is getting pretty good at finding the right animal matches. He likes his new blocks that he got for Christmas and is getting pretty good at building with them. He also is loving being home and visiting Grandpa and Molly. His new thing is that he loves to ride anything. His train, his friend's bike, Molly, whatever. He's so funny. Luckily Molly is patient with him. We may have a cowboy on our hands. lol

Hanging out with some friends. Thanks Denise!

Riding the rocking horse at Grandma Monies.

Talking on the phone with Grandpa.
Yes, he's obsessed with phones.
Where does he get that?! lol

His shock and amazement at Santa.
He didn't want anything to do with Santa.
Maybe next year.

Helping Dado hold up the wall at the science
museum.

Vance Update- Jan 2008

Vance is almost 5 months old. How did this happen?! I can't believe how old he is getting and he's growing so big too! He's such a happy baby. We really did win the happy baby lottery. I didn't think we could get a happier baby than Joel but Vance is. Now the opposite end of the spectrum is that when he's mad he gets MAD. But it happens so rarely that it's manageable.
So here's the latest with Vance. He is a rollin'. He loves being on his tummy and playing but often that's when he rolls over. Then he gets ticked because he doesn't really like being on his back. He's such an easy smiler. He charms everyone, especially his aunts and cousins. He also loves grabbing his toys. You can tell he's concentrating so hard to maneuver his hand to the toy. And once it's in his grasp he gets SO excited that he sometimes beans himself in the head. He loves watching what his big brother is doing. His favorite perches are his bumbo chair and his exersaucer.


Watching mommy. He'll tolerate being on his
back as long as he can see someone. He doesn't
like being alone.

Chilling in his swing at Grandma Monies.

Vance with Santa. Thanks Sandy!

Playing with his rattle that he got for Christmas!

The Latest and Greatest

So I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Ours was really wonderful. I will post later about that. While we were in AZ my fantastically talented little sister took these pictures of the boys. So here are the latest and greatest pictures of the boys.

Cir du solei, look out!

Joel has figured out the whole climbing thing. Yipeeee (with my voice dripping with sarcasm)!!! Here was one of his first expidition captured on "film". Bring on the bumps and bruises for our little monkey!


Joel steps on the wipes container--

He tiptoes on the wipes box.

Then he pulls himself up on the couch
and the end table.

Now he's up on the end table. But
he's not done yet..............................

Now he's up on the couch-
and sometimes the end table!

Trick or Treat!

We were all feeling a little better by last night and so we took the boys over to Grandma's house for a little Trick or Treating. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

So it's Halloween 2007 and most of us here are sick.... again! Luckily we did a little celebrating last week and got pictures of the boys in their costumes. Our local library had a Halloween party and then our Ward's party was last week as well. Joel LOVED the party at the library. There was story time, dancing, flannel stories and a puppet show. His favorite part was probably a toss up between the dancing and the puppet show. He really had a good time, although towards the end he was a bit tired of it. Then that night was the ward party. He had a really good time with his friends. There was a jumping castle and towards the end of the night they had a 3 and under time. Joel wasn't so sure about it. Towards the end though he was getting the hang of it. He decided that jumping was kind of fun. Unfortunately he has decided that the couch is a pretty fun jumping spot too. So we're working on that. lol
So here are pictures from last week. We may try and go tonight. But I know how terrible I feel and if the boys feel half as bad then it won't be any fun! So we'll see. Maybe if we get to feeling better we'll make a few stops to Grandma's house and see Rob and Norma.



Our Joel Dinosaur! Pretty cute
if I should say so myself!

Vance was our little chili pepper.
He slept most of the time though so
he didn't wear his costume much. Oh, well.

This is my friend Diane and me at our ward
party with our boys.

Joel Update

Joel is my sweet boy. He is my helper and my comic relief. He is such a good kid. Of course he's a toddler so he has his moments but he is great. Let's see if I can remember all the new things he does now. He loves dancing- radio, commercials, his TV shows. It doesn't matter to him. It cracks me up. I love that he loves music so much! He is talking more. Here's his list of words: Vance (although it usually sounds more like dtence), juice, this, mom, da, and ba (his universal word for EVERYTHING). He loves buttons. If he can push it he will find it and turn it off and on and off and on and off- well you get the idea. Joel is getting more social and likes to play with other kids and of course Vance. He's pretty timid in social situations but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Of course anytime we're out and about everyone always tells him how adorable he is and he of course flirts and charms everyone. Funny boy. Anyhow, here are some of his pictures.

Joel's fake smile. He is so funny. He
has figured out what he's "suppose" to
do when mom pulls out the camera.
But you can see most of his teeth. He's
currently working on 3 more. Two more
on bottom and one more on top. He
finally got his left top canine tooth. We're
all looking forward to the break in teething!

Joel's big boy haircut. Tj broke out
the electric shears and cut Joel's
hair. He looks like such a little
boy now. You can see his sincere
smile here. You just gotta love
this stage. He's such a happy little
boy. His smile and his laugh just
make your heart melt. I know
that sounds sappy but it's true.

Pushing buttons!!!! Joel found Grandpa's weather
radio and figured out how to turn it off and on.
Anytime he gets to go into the office that's the first
place he goes is to turn the radio off and on and off
and on and off and on- and well again you get the idea.

Joel is not the least bit spoiled or pampered.
Grandpa bought him a new car seat- along with
several other "essential" items (a toy laptop among
them)- and then turned the box into a little fort.
Joel loves going over to Grandma and Grandpa's
house. They have the best toys- Grandma and
Grandpa! (lol) Joel loves Grandpa and looks
forward to the weekends when he can play with
him. Grandpa always has something fun set up
for Joel. Whether it's a fort made out of blankets
or letting him walk Molly Joel looks forward to
his time at Grandma's house.

Vance Update

Okay, so here's the latest with Vance. He's now two months old and has decided that he likes us and is going to stay. (lol) Okay, so I'm lame and that sounds dumb. But really we're getting to see his personality more lately. Vance is a smiler and charms everyone. He also has found his voice and will goo at you. It's so sweet. He's such an easy baby and really laid back. I'm really fortunate that my boys are so easy going. Anyhow, here's a few pictures of Vance.



Vance loves tummy time. As long as
he can see and/or hear us he is happy
to play. We have to keep a pretty close
eye on Joel though when Vance is
playing on the floor because Joel
loves Vance and loves playing with him.
Vance has already rolled over. I put him
on his tummy for tummy time a couple
of Saturdays ago (10/13) and he just
rolled himself over. He hasn't done it
again but he keeps trying.

Vance in his little man outfit. It just
makes me smile seeing him all dressed.
He has a doctor's appointment next
Tuesday (10/30) and we'll see how big
he really is. Time truly is flying!

Vance is such a cuddle bug that after
a few minutes of posing for pictures
he decided he was done. He doesn't
fuss a lot and so his little cry just
breaks my heart. Of course I couldn't
resist getting this picture before
I rescued him.

Another week gone by.

So it seems like the weeks just keep passing by. Joel continues to keep us entertained. He has such a happy personality. He loves to laugh and him and dado play and laugh all evening once Tj gets home. He continues to jabber away and we're hopeful that any day now he'll start talking. Or should I say start using words we can understand. He knows exactly what he's saying- it's just us who can't interpret him. He's getting more interested in Vance. In a way it's cute and on the other hand it's terrifying. I know it's just a matter of time before he tries to hold him or move him. So I make sure to keep my eye on them whenever Vance is within reach of Joel. But he's so sweet to Vance. He tries to share his toys. So cute! Joel is mommy's helper. He loves to help. He'll bring me blankets and loves to help lift things. He thinks he is so strong and loves to show it.

Vance is starting to be awake more and we're getting to know him too. He's pretty laid back and takes the mauling from Joel in stride. As strong as Joel is Vance will be at least as tough. He's got to be to survive. (lol) Vance loves to look around and is just so bright eyed when he's awake. I guess there's always something to look at or listen to when you have such an active big brother. It's fun getting to know him- as silly as that sounds.

Life has been pretty typical although this last week has been pretty eventful. Tj's grandma (Gram) has been visiting- staying with his parents- and so the boys have gotten to spend time with her. Last week we made the adventurous journey to Orlando for three days. It was quite an experience traveling with two boys. But we made it and for the most part came out unscathed. (lol)

So here are some pictures for all of you who need your Joel and Vance fix.


Joel's so silly! He decided he didn't
want to listen to our music the other
day in the car. So he plugged his
ears. Silly kid. He thought he was
pretty funny too!

Vance spending quality time with dado.

Vance all snuggly after his bath.
I couldn't help but take a picture!

Nobody gets Vance's paci! I guess
he's already learned he's got to protect
it from being stolen by Joel. Joel likes
to "help" mommy and take the paci
and bring it to me wherever I am.
Even if that means taking it from Vance!

Joel and Tj at Sea World. Joel was
such a trooper. His entire schedule
got out of wack but he really tried
to be a good sport. You can see
how tired he is.

And he's out! In the walk from the park to the
car he lost his battle with sleep. Classic photo, eh?!