My baby's at a friends' house!!!!

I knew this day would come. Sometimes when he was a baby, I'd dream that this day would come. And now, I can't believe the day is here! Our boys are often watched by a babysitter, or my mom, or Tanya, or sometimes Aunt Shelly. BUT, it's always because I have to go somewhere, do something, or work. ALWAYS! I have never not had Wayne or Weston at home, when I am home. That is just wrong! (Okay, as I'm typing that, I do remember him taking a ride to Lynden with Aunt Shelly while we were building the garage, but he was only gone 45 minutes, and was just running errands.) Today... he left me. Wayne left his mom. Tanya and Ethan had stopped by to do a few things, and when they were done we were waving "bye" to them at the front door. Tanya was teasing Wayne and asking him to come with them, thinking he'd run back to me, but.... Nope! He got all excited and grabbed her hand and started heading for their van. We laughed and said sorry, we were teasing, he had to stay with mom. He pouted and stuck his bottom lip out, and looked at me with big, puppy dog eyes and said, "peas go to Ethan's mom?" Tanya piped right up, "he can come, Jason will bring him back before church!" Since it was 4:30 and I knew they'd be back by 6:15... I said sure! Wayne was GRINNING from ear to ear... He asked, and he got what he asked for! I could still see him with a HUGE smile on his face as the van backed out of the driveway and down the street. The house is pretty quiet with just Weston here, and dinner was a piece of cake to throw together without Wayne underfoot. Hmm.. Now I remember why I had Weston... thing's were too dull around here with just one! Wonder what three will be like? We might have to call the Auntie-mobile for a pick-up!!! :-)

Breaking News: Madelyn's Mobile!

I heard it through the grapevine that my darling Miss Madelyn rolled over TWICE yesterday! Of course, she wouldn't do it again after that, but I thought it was pretty exciting. I can't believe she's that old already. I think her excersaucer has been assembled too, so she is officially out of the newborn stage... Go Maddie!

Brotherly shananigans...

Goodness. If today is any insight into the coming years, I've gotta say.... I'm toast! Those two little hoodlums... What they don't get into! First, Wayne has figured out that Weston likes to follow him. So Wayne gets him to follow him into a dark place (the bathroom or a closet.) Then Wayne turns off the lights and shuts the door. Weston giggles hysterically and Wayne is quite proud. If that's not enough, then Wayne "roars" at Weston until Weston's giggles turn to scared cries. Or Wayne puts Weston underneath an upside down laundry basket and says, "Wesson! Go woof!" Nice. Or when all else fails... just wrestle! Wayne pins down Weston's legs, or Weston tackles Wayne in a fit of giggles. Through it all though, I am amazed at how gentle they are with each other. They seem to get that they can't get too rough or the fun will end. Boys!

{all about Weston}

Okay, I'm back. And it's time to tell you all what's new with the Weston-Peston! Well, in case you missed it, he's one now. That means a whole lot of things to us, but not so much to him. He's working on the walking thing, and is up to making it about 3 or 4 feet when properly motivated. He is also done with formula and on whole milk. He still drinks around 24 oz. per day, and it still has a TON of rice cereal in it to provide weight (as if whole milk wasn't "weighty" enough!) but all reflux considered, he's doing pretty well on it. He's got seven teeth now, and has become a snuggler/Mama's boy. For his first 11 months of life, I NEVER, not once, rocked the boy to sleep. He's just not the kind of kid who can lay his head down and check out. He must be in on all the action. However, he is mellowing out in his older months now, and occasionally he wakes up about an hour after going down at night, at which point I GLEEFULLY race upstairs for the chance to rock him to sleep. Mind you, it only takes about 3o seconds or so, but I'll take what I can get! He loves to take baths, and sits in the tub for about 30 minutes a session. His carseat is turned around facing forward, and he thinks he is majorly hot stuff now, because he can see Wayne better, see out the front, and see the DVD player too! :-) He continues to be the wild child... and it's a good thing because Wayne "loves" on him plenty, and it's a good thing Weston's wild and tough! He is a TERROR on the changing table. He cries when we walk into the laundry room, (where I normally change him) and wiggles, kicks, screams and cries until it's over. Aagh! Sometimes I make Tyler help by holding him down. He is such a stinker! His cheeks are all red now again from the cold weather. He's getting one major smeering of vaseline on them tonight before bed, that's for sure!!!! He's also in love with the dinosaur from Uncle Todd for Christmas. I swear he thinks it's alive, and loves to tackle and hug it. Silly boy!

Engagement Pictures!

Let me start by saying that as *HOT* as my dear sweet brother is, he is NOT easy to photograph! There is a long history in our family of him not smiling... family photos, weddings. It's not that he doesn't try (okay, I guess he really wasn't trying at our weddings, but other than that....) he just is not comfortable in front of the camera. Of course, his sister asking him to kiss his fiancee couldn't have made him comfortable, but there are sacrifices to be made here! :-)

And sorry for the abundance of pictures... I tried to only pick my favorites! Thanks for letting me post them Tyson and Breanne... I am so excited for the wedding, and so thankful that my brother has such good taste in finding a wife! We already consider you a part of the family, and look forward to many fun times ahead.

what's new in the zoo?

Just thought I'd actually take the time to write to you all in a little detail. Things around these parts are going well these days. It's Sunday afternoon, and both boys are in bed, and I am about to take a nap myself (see Tyler!?! I do rest on a occasion!) Wayne is doing really well with potty training, minus the poop issue. He is not really telling us he has to go, but at the same time he holds it until we take him. I try to take him every 45 minutes to an hour, but that's just not realistic when we go away. He often holds it for 2 hours +. Amazing! He usually doesn't even want a treat after, just a "Hip-hip Hooray!" He has been napping well these days, but not sleeping so well at night. He suddenly insists on having his door open, and we've caught him several nights now with his lights on, sleeping on the floor. He also has been making FREQUENT trips to our room, crawling in bed with me. However, Tyler is really putting the kabosh on that one, so I moved a safety gate to his door frame yesterday. When we went to bed, Wayne was asleep in his bed. We left the door open, and the hall light on, hoping that would help. When Tyler left for work at 5am, Wayne was asleep on the floor in front of the gate, with his comforter. I heard him up at 5, and by 5:45 he was making too much noise so I went to get him... He was again on the floor in front of his gate with his comforter and.... he had taken all of his pajamas off. He patted his chest with both hands and said, "look Mommy, naked!" :-) Oh my. He is with his binky less and less... and he is talking more and more. He loves coloring lately, and he is actually starting to stay between the lines. He is still a snuggle bug, and I still LOVE that! He is a BIG eater, and ate a chicken drumstick last night for dinner and thought he was pretty cool eating it off the bone. Boys, whatever! :-) Hard to believe he is almost three! Uncle Ryan measured him last week, and he was 41 or so inches tall. He's also been putting on the pounds, because I am having to readjust his elastic waist adjusters on his pants. I can't believe we've watched him grow for 3 years now. I hardly remember him as a baby, and love to go back and watch video and to look at pictures I took of him. Those days were so fleeting! I can't believe we're potty training now... I might as well toss him the keys and sign him up for college!

Okay, now I'm tired. More later on the other family members.

More lost photos... Weston's Birthday!

As tradition holds, we had lunch at McDonald's for Weston's birthday. He loved the fries, nuggets, and didn't quite know what to think of the ice cream! To think that one month ago, he was on 100% formula!