Trying to make funny faces for the camera.

Gideon has taken several steps on his own. He loves standing and clapping for himself. He walks a couples steps at a time all day long, but so far has yet to qualify as officially walking.

Jordon's personality just comes alive when he wears a sweatsuit. I'm not sure what that says about him, but Pete and I sure get a kick out of it. Here he is sporting his new Lightning McQueen slippers from Christmas. He proudly stood for a photo to show them off.

YIKES!!!!!

This is what I came down to one morning a couple weeks ago. The boys were quite busy while I was upstairs getting ready for the day. Little did I know I should've been getting ready for an hour + of cleaning up a sloppy mess. This was the only picture I took before I was thoroughly disgusted and whisked Gideon out of the salmonella pit.

Anyway, this morning Jordon learned where the eggs were kept (while Brandon got in the fridge and was attempting to make his own popsicles-don't ask...). And he apparently decided they were way more fun if they were cracked all over the kitchen floor. Then I guess he wanted to add some decoration and so he poured a box of Cheerios out on top of the eggs.

Poor little Gideon, who apparently was hungry, got right in the mix and was eating the raw egg covered Cheerios. YUCK!!!!

Needless to say, I will no longer be taking a shower in the morning.

Just a couple days later this is how we found Jordon one night. He typically falls asleep right at the door to his room (hence the gate to keep him contained). So we make a habit of going in his room to carry him to his bed before we go to bed. Well, we were shocked to find this scene when we went in for our nightly routine.

When I said goodnight to him I noticed that this box, typically used to store his stuffed animals, was right at his door. But I didn't think too much of it. Pete made some comment as we walked downstairs that he should sleep in that box tonight. Well, he must have heard that because a few hours later he was all nestled in.

The most hilarious thing is that he stuffed his blanket and dog behind his head so he'd have a nice pillow while in the box. By the way, this box is a regular box of diapers, not particularly big.

December

Merry Christmas!

The boys in front of the tree on Christmas morning. Brandon totally understood that he was going to get a bunch of gifts. He was thrilled. Jordon didn't really get it, until the fun began and then he jumped right in and had a blast!

Brandon got a jet and a big remote control truck. He is just beside himself trying to figure out which one to play with.

Gideon took right to Uncle Rob. So sweet!

Jordon loving his new jersey.

Nini came to visit for a few days while Jordon was going to be getting tubes in his ears (again) and his adenoids removed. It was a great blessing that she was able to come spend some time with the boys and help out while Jordon recovered.

She brought some gingerbread man activities along with her. They love to "help" in the kitchen

Brandon's mean cookie.

Jordon's so proud of his creation.

Cookies. Candy. Icing. Nini sure knows what these boys like!!

Happy Halloween!!

This is the most successful picture we have of all three boys together. We had a great time getting into costumes. Brandon was a pirate, Jordon a red crayon, and Gideon a gnome.

Brandon and Carter, too cute!

Jordon was quite intimidated by the crowds of people, but once he got his eye on the prize, he was ready to go. He LOVED that candy. He'd carefully reach his hand into the bowls of candy and some how he'd always manage to take out at least two pieces, sometimes much more. Then he'd look up at the person holding the bowl with those big brown eyes. They'd always smile and then say, "Oh that's okay." And he'd gladly put all the candy into his bag. Great strategy!!

This guy was just too cute for words. Of course he didn't wear his hat and beard for very long. But it sure was cute. He looked just like the travelocity gnome.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jordon!

Look at that smile and anticipation on his face. Too cute!

All the boys to celebrate together.

Jordon got a jet plane cake. Of course he loved it and so did Brandon.

He got a little airplane flyer toy and was excited to go fly it outside.

Jordon loves his "choo choo train" from Nini and Pop. He has taken it up to his room and he plays with before bedtime. In fact, he usually falls asleep on top of it.

Gideon loved the paper and ribbon.

Brandon had a bit of a hard time letting Jordon celebrate his birthday without "help". Overall he did pretty good considering how hard it must have been for him. However, my sincere sentiment is Get used to it, pal!!

Brandon did very generously pick out two toys of his own to give Jordon for his birthday (this was his idea). One of those toys was a stuffed animal and the other was this piggy bank. He also gave Jordon some coins to put in the bank. I think that was such a great gift from Brandon to give Jordon. And Jordon loves this digital piggy bank because it beeps and he's just started getting excited about money, so this is perfect.

(Elly, it's the gift that keeps giving!!)

Pete picked out this super soft dog stuffed animal for Jordon. The minute he opened it he got super excited and yelled "doggy". Then he ran over and sat on Mama's lap and sat perfectly still all snuggled up with love for quite awhile. It was hilarious. He now loves his doggy and sleeps with him every night.

After our cake and gift celebration we went to the zoo. It was a great birthday...and the next day he threw his first fit in a store and had to be carried out kicking and screaming. Yea for 2!!!

A Day in the Life of Us

Brandon is being Superman.

Here he is practicing his "mean" face. He thought that this was just sooooo fun!

That's much nicer. What a great smile!

Jordon is playing with something that he shouldn't be, but what's Gideon doing?

Yep, that's right. He's trying to stand up. It's totally crazy; I can't believe he's already doing this kind of stuff. He's a great crawler and now he's been trying to pull up on things every once in awhile. In fact, yesterday I found him on the second stair. We are certainly not ready for such a mobile child. Oh well, I guess we'd better get ready! Gideon is also loving Cheerios. He's had a decent amount of different foods and loves his baby food, but nothing beats Cheerios as far as he's concerned.

September

Again, I did not take the time to put these in any great order. But these are the highlights of our last month of pictures. We had a lot happen this last month and we were able to capture some of it on "film" to share with you.

This is really a terrible picture, but I had to post it. Kate and Jordon have the same birthday.
Brandon, Carson, Kate and Jordon. The younger two were both hanging out in just a diaper and no pants for different reasons, but it was still pretty funny.

I was trying to plan some menus for the week and I was very engrossed in my cookbooks. Then I realized how quiet things were and I knew I needed to look for Jordon immediately. The funny thing is that I found him looking through my Hershey's Cookbook. Great taste!!

Gideon has started jumping occasionally. Hopefully those bow legs will straighten out at some point!!

He has started eating solid food now. What a big boy. Here he is trying his first rice cereal. He's now had sweet potatoes, pears and peaches. He likes it all so far.

Not so sure of what to do with that stuff in his mouth!

Brandon and Carter on the first day of school.

This year they are in a Pre-K program!

So excited to be back at school!

I'm not really sure what to say about this. But when I found the boys sitting on the front porch like this, it just struck me as hilarious!

This is the first good picture I've been able to take of all three of the boys...and it might be the last!

Happy little buddy.

When we got our sidewalk poured, we ask them to give us a little extra concrete so we could press the boys hands into it. It worked out reasonably well. It was next to impossible to get Gideon to open his hand, so his is a little rough. I guess that will just remind us of how small he was when we moved!

I just love this. This is Brandon sitting in our front door watching the workers prepare for putting our sidewalks in.

We went to one of the games that Daddy was coaching. We tried to nonchalantly walk up to the field. But let me just say that these two attracted all eyes on them.

And then Gideon and I followed behind the other boys.

Flying a kite.