Calli and Mommy helping with Thanksgiving dinner

The first Christmas decoration (fiberoptic), they loved it!

Dressed warm to play outside

Playing at Incredible Daves

Painting a turkey, thank God for non-toxic paint!!

Believe it or not, he LOVED painting, he was mad because I wouldn't let him have the paint bottle:(

This is a quick post to say hello and to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for! I want to share a few things that come to mind on a daily basis (in no order of significance): Health-our family has been very healthy this year and the mild illnesses that we have had have been quick to pass. The babies both had surgery (ear tubes) with no complications! Job-Craig and I are able to work our schedules to allow for time together as a family as well as time alone with the babies. Our jobs have been able to provide us with our lifestyle and we are so thankful! Friends: without friends and family we would be Very stressed! I am thankful for ALL of the people who are active in my children's lives. They know they are loved and that is priceless! I am personally thankful for my husband! He is a wonderful man to me and an even better man to his children. He is very dedicated and loyal and that is just one of the things I love him for! Freedom: We still have so many people in the war over seas and it sadens me to think of all of the families that are separated due to this.

I hope everyone feels as blessed as I do on this Thanksgiving!!!

They had to wear their rain boots one day

Halloween night-Craig's first Halloween in YEARS!

Max enjoying a Kit Kat

Calli enjoying a Kit Kat

Max enjoying a sucker

Calli enjoying a sucker

The grouchy ladybug and the happy spider

Well, Halloween is finally over! Calli dressed up as a Ladybug and Max dressed up as a Spider. They ENJOYED their candy (a little too much). Max would even ask for it just before going to bed "de". That was a fun habit to break:) Since I have taken down the decorations they walk around the house looking for the cat and pumpkins. We did get to enjoy all of the great weather lately. They love going to the park and walking through the leaves. We also have been going for walks around the neighborhood, which is just interesting (my neighbors think I am crazy!). They both wear their backpack leashes and we all walk. Unfortunately, they don't walk at the same pace, so I usually just play tug of war between the two of them. Now that it is getting dark sooner, they are really into the moon and rars (stars). When the moon can not be seen they say it is sleeping:)

They are really getting big! They have thoughts of their own and aren't afraid to share them. They are both becoming more demanding as far as what they want to drink or books they want to read. Max is really talking a lot. He can say just about any word you say (sometimes even the bad ones:( ) Calli is trying to talk, but is just a little too busy. She is my climber and jabber jaws. She really LOVES shoes lately, which is too funny to me because that is such a girl thing. Max is saying his name really well and he lets you know when "max" wants to do something.

This Christmas is going to be so much fun! If we don't sell our house we may have to sell our furniture just to make room for all the STUFF.

Night out for our 5th Anniversary

Calli loves to dress up like Abby from Sesame Street

Go CATS!

Tailgating with Aunt Sam

Calli wearing a new hair style

Halloween Party at Cardinal Hill's childcare (Aunt Lauren's work)

Calli is starting to get enough hair to put in a barette, but she takes them out and they disappear-she may eat them, who knows?

Everyone is still doing well! We STILL have our house up for sale with no hope of selling it this year. I think we have both come to terms that we may live here longer than expected. We'll see, maybe we could let Toys R Us use our house as a showroom:)

Max is talking up a storm! He will say just about anything you tell him to. Unfortunately, he has started to repeat words not intended for him to repeat:( Calli is talking a lot, but only she knows what she is saying. She skipped the whole one word thing and has moved straight to sentences. Unfortunately, no one else on this planet speaks "Calli", so we both end up frustrated when she tries to tell you something.

Craig and I have been taking the babies to an open gym at a gymnastics facility. We go there on Wed mornings which allows for us to have some good quality time together as well as an opportunity for the babies to burn off some steam. She really likes to jump on the trampoline and is starting to jump with both feet leaving the surface. He isn't as graceful, but enjoys it just as much. It has also been an opportunity for them to learn from other kids as well as set an example for some as well.

I guess that's it. I will post some pics after Halloween, they are planning to be a spider and ladybug. We have been practicing wearing the costumes to make sure they like them. I just hope the weather cooperates!

Busy days

Max is now holding the golf club with two hands:)

Max, Calli and Jessie at the Buddy Walk

Calli getting a drink after the walk

Max enjoying a sucker at the Buddy Walk

We have been so busy lately! We did the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome this weekend. They had their first sucker, which they LOVED. Calli dropped hers before I could get a picture. Max ate his all the way to the stick and then of course through a fit when it was gone:)

My friend Jessie (child with Down Syndrome) was too cute with Max and Calli, she tried so hard to keep them close by. She treated them like her lost sheep getting them back to their mommy.

We have "introduced" the potty to both of them. They are both attempting to go several times a day and actually doing something at least once a day. They think they are big stuff!!!

Still battling a little with control, but as they are getting older it is getting a little easier to reason with them. Max is now getting Time Out and Calli is well on her way:)))

They are loving the pumpkins and other Halloween decorations. They spot a pumpkin every where we go. They are practicing wearing their costume just to make sure they will tolerate wearing them when the time comes. We are even attempting to say "trick or treat" too bad no one will understand them. Any body know a good Speech Therapist ;)

We have had some playdates as well lately. It is interesting to see the kids interact. Calli certainly doesn't want to be a "baby" like the big girls want her to be, she wants to be the mommy too. Max just kinda goes around checking things out. He goes with the flow a little more (like his daddy) and Calli likes to control things a little (like her mommy). I am looking to get them into some program that offers a little more structure and interaction with same age peers. We'll see what happens...

Growing up!

Well, I know it is something that everyone says, but my kids are growing up so fast. I feel like I blink and they do something new. They are teaching me a lesson or two, that is for sure!
Based on typical boy vs girl development I have expected Calli to be more advanced than Max with language. Well that is definately not the case in my family. Don't get me wrong, Calli has her fair share of things to say, like ALL THE TIME, I just can't understand it yet. Max on the other hand has had this huge growth in his vocabulary. He can just about say anything simple and will sometimes even put two words together. Some of Max's favorite words are: Moma, Dada, Ca (Calli), Papa, Me (Mimi), Nana, Papa, Juice, Shoes, Broke, Cat, Rox (for Roxie), Lo (for hello), Book, Bye, Bath, Walk, Truck, Ball, Golf, Bat, Elmo, Abby, Monk, (monkey), Raf (giraffe), Ke (blankie), Pa (paci), ock (sock), Be/Bi (bear), uh oh, beep (timer for time out), ouch, no no (he hears that A LOT), Man (aunt Amanda), Ball, peach, bite, more, all done, meat (favorite right now), min (vitamin), up (means both up and down), brush, help, be (bird), hippo, poop, thank you and love you are not clear and sound a lot alike.
Need I say more, that is a lot of words for a 19 month old boy! As for Calli her favorite words are: Moma, Dada, Buba, Papa, Nana, Papaw, (working on a word for Grammie), more, done, bite, help, up, bath, ball, baby, paci, bear, pupka (pumpkin), cat, dog, Abby (she calls her Abba Daba), Elmo, book, love you and thank you are also not clear and sound a lot alike, bye, poop, cup, and a lot of animal sounds.
We did go to the ENT this past Friday and he said Max's tubes still look great. Calli's left one was not visible due to wax, but he wasn't concerned. I requested a hearing test for her which indicated her hearing was normal. They said if I was concerned about her speech growth that they would re test her at 2. I will just have to be patient I guess! I really need to come to terms with the fact that she is a preemie and a little behind, it's just weird because I have Max to compare her to.
Anyway, on a possitive note for both of them, they both pooped on the potty for the first time today. I have had a potty in my bathroom and they will ocassionally sit on it with clothes on. When they take a bath I try to make them sit on it before getting into the tub, but they have never peed or pooped. Well today, they were both acting like they had to poop, so I asked them if they wanted to go "poop on the potty", they ran into the bathroom. I told them to push it out. We opened a magazine and looked at the pictures and before you know it, Poop in the potty!!! They were so excited, most of all because I let them flush the toilet.
Enough talk about poop, they are getting so big and I am enjoying every minute. Max is still acting out, but he is understanding consequences a little better. Calli doesn't act aggressively, but she sure does things to get your attention. She however isn't understanding consequences that well. We are working on that though:)

Here are some pictures:

Max wearing his backpack leash, getting ready for a walkCalli Cheesing, wearing her backpack leash getting ready for a walk

Calli wearing her tutu and watching Abby on Sesame Street

Balloon Festival

We had a fun family night at the Balloon Festival at Bowman Field Sat. Night. We got there just in time to see the balloons going up. We saw the Bear, B-day Cake and the HUGE Cow. Jared and Alyssa (friend's of ours kids) had fun walking Max and Calli around with their backpack leashes. We enjoyed the fireworks and listened to Kimmet and Doug (cool band!). The babies did awesome considering a short nap earlier that day. My favorite part was watching Max's expression when he watched the fireworks. He sat in amazement and pointed and said "wow". It was pretty cool. Calli just took it all in. They did great!
It seems like every event we have done this year I leave saying "next year the kids will love this". They are already so much easier to take into public, but it seems like it will only become more fun!

Hubers

We recently took a trip to Hubers with Nana Boo, Aunt Vicki, and cousin's Chloe and Carly. We had a blast feeding the goats and chickens. We also saw cows, lamas, bunnies, chickens, and peacocks. We played on the jungle gym and best of all, picked our first pumpkins. It was a very fun day!

Calli and Max both loved putting their fingers in the goats mouth. It freaked me out a little, but once I realized how friendly the animals were I relaxed a little. Calli really got excited and wanted to chase the ducks around because they weren't in a cage.

They also had a very large slide and all three (Calli, Max and cousin Chloe) did it without hesitation. It was great to hear their laugh as they waited for the next person to come down the slide.

It was a great day!!!

So we got 18 month pictures made today. Surprisingly we got some good shots. Their behavior was less than desirable. They want to do whatever they want and sitting and smiling was not it!!!

They also had their 18 month check up yesterday. They are both doing just great!!! Max weighs 25 lb and Calli just over 20 lb. The Dr. was very pleased with their development. We are working on getting down to just one nap, but they don't seem to understand sleeping for longer than one hour, which makes it harder later in the day when they are fussy before bedtime. Still sleeping very well 8pm-8am. They are eating everything under the sun. They love to eat "nack" (snacks). Calli's recent love is tomatos and pickles. Max loves pickles too. They sure must be my kids.

More later....

Outings

We recently took some trips to a Louisville Bats game and the KY State Fair.

Last Sunday we went to a Bats game and the babies loved playing on the playground! Max really got into cheering, even when no one else was:) He just started clapping and saying "yeah" as loud as he could. They got to meet Jake the Diamond Dog and they loved him!!! It was a good family day:) Plus, we won a free gas card, which is obviously very handy.

Our most recent trip was to the State Fair. We went with all the Hanke grandkids. It was a great trip with very few melt downs. The animals were as stinky as ever, but the kids really enjoyed them. Max and Calli's favorite was the duck and chickens because they made the most noise. Surprisingly, their favorite thing was a free cardboard bus that you folded to put together. They really didn't know what to think about the Characters walking around. Calli eventually warmed up and gave the fair bear a kiss, but Max would only give him a five. We enjoyed some good fair food and headed home for a good nap:)