It's Beginning ...

to look a lot like Christmas!!!

I started some decorating this weekend for Christmas and yes, many things will be different this year. Anything meant to go below waist-high will have to stay packed away for another year (or two) or used at the church youth house as the little monsters have a way of destroying anything shiny or non-toy-like. The Christmas tree is still a "probably" though as I have a fence from my wonderful sister-in-law, Brenda, that she used to go around the tree when her boys were little.

My latest Christmas project was making stockings for my boys. I bought some for Jack and me ages ago and wanted something similar ... but alas, no luck in the stores so I headed for the fabric store. I revved up Grandma's old sewing machine and went to work putting together new stockings for my little boys. The trim around the boot I had to hand-sew and the letters were iron-on. I'm still struggling to find some snowflakes that don't look old-lady-like ... I thought I could cut them out myself but that is way harder than you'd think with felt. Anyway ... here's the result!

Guess Who's Walking!!

I caught Sam this morning in a walking mood (and I always forget I don't know how to turn the video ... so turn your head instead :) ).

Almost One!

It has been a beautiful November week. It was almost 70 degrees a few times this week so of course, we had to pack in a few more stroller rides and romps in the grass for the year. The boys just love it.

They both have taken some steps -- up to about 10 "baby steps" and then they crash. They still much prefer the faster crawling method of transportation, however, and they both started about the same time. They love to babble, but I'm not sure that "mama" really means me yet. They both have 4 teeth; two top, two bottom. Sam was a little ahead of Tyler on the teeth. They both officially have a cold right now and it is very much a snot-fest around here. We are struggling with skin issues and I feel terrible that I gave that to them. Both have excema and we just haven't been able to isolate it to one specific thing or food and it is VERY frustrating. Tyler still has it "worse" and even gets serious (at least to me) reactions from time to time where he itches his eyes so bad they puff up and get swollen (and I immediately grab the benadryl) after eating certain foods. They still love their trucks and we have races daily. Sam likes to ride on his sometimes now too. Sam also loves to read books -- we'll find him quietly in the other room just reading "Brown Bear" all by himself. They both still love remotes, phones, and other gadgets we'd prefer them not to play with and both throw a fit when they are taken away (in fact, in order to finish my blog, they each have one of these unapproved gadgets). They love to play the piano. They love to take baths. They love to eat sweets.

I can hardly believe they are almost 1!

Roar!

Two Tigers .. Twice the Roar, Twice the Cute!

The Boys

Not much new around the Ploeg household in the past few weeks. Both Sam and Ty have taken one or two steps and can totally stand on their own, but no "real" walking yet. I don't think it will be long though ... and I'll be sure to catch it on video! We're struggling a little bit with naps of late as I think we are approaching the transition to 1 nap. It's probably time to get tough again with bed times (I feel this has happened every 3 or 4 months)... which is no fun as much crying is involved. Grr. Other than that, the boys are cute as buttons and love to giggle and play.

Here are some pictures from a beautiful fall day at Nana's painting pumpkins with the VLugt cousins:

Truck Races

October

I am now over a month into my job and I'm relieved to say we have great childcare and the job is going well. The woman watching the boys is a wonderful Christian mom -- actually, she's a mom of someone I went to high school with so I feel like I know her enough to feel comfortable with her in our home and with our boys. I am so excited to have that piece in place. The job itself is going well too. I work with two "older" guys, the partners, and one other guy my age-ish and we do audits (which I did before) of governments and non-profits (which I did not do before). So far I really like it and I have been busy enough while at work to feel like I'm learning a lot, contributing some, and distracted enough to not think of the boys too much. I'm so glad that it is October rather than September with all its unknowns.

The boys are not yet walking but they both stand unassisted and love to walk behind their new toy trucks (or sit on them, as below). I may have even seen a step by Tyler but I'm not so sure on that. Sam has three teeth with another I think I see on the way; Tyler has one and there must be another coming as he is pure drool and snot and chewing on his fingers. Tyler is still very much a Mama's boy, but he does love to play with his toys, especially the new trucks. Sam loves books and technology. He'll take a remote or a cell phone any day over a toy (which, by the way, don't be surprised if you get a call from Sam some day). He also loves to just sit and turn the pages of his books, particularly "The Turkey Ball". It's a lot of fun to watch them grow and learn!