2007 The Great Balloon Race 2007- balloon glow and before party.

Prior to the balloon glow, our friend Jeanette (who lives across from the park) invited us and some friends over for a lite bite and wine. The boys immediately fell in love with the watermelon (but it was messy).

First time eating watemelon. YUM! They loved every bite!
Connor
Logan

So we found out that every year there is this big Balloon Race in St Louis that happens at Forest Park. Well, the Friday night before the race, they have the Balloon Glow and blow up all of the balloons and light them up. It was very cool to see these balloons up close. Sadly, it was quite windy, so they had to be deflated after being up for only 30 minutes. The pictures arent that great as I had turned off my flash and so they blurred. I posted only the more unconventional balloons (which Trevor loved).

More pictures....

Trevor
Connor
Logan

Here we are at 19 months old

They are just too cute for words. Thier little personalities are just booming these days. Logan takes no crap from Connor anymore and is doing a good job at standing his ground. Both like to discipline themselves and tell each other "no no" when they do something they aren't supposed to do. For instance, they keep climbing in front of the TV. Logan will get out and tap himself on the hand and say "no no". he knows better, but the adventure is worth it, right.

Also, the other day Logan fell and hit his head. Connor brought over his lovey to him and said "awwww' in a high pitched voice. Logan reciprocates too. It is so cute to see them being "brotherly" toward each other.

Lately they continue to present us with more challenges. We have had to revamp our baby proofing as they had figured out the gates and how to crawl over them. They were getting up the stairs and into the kitchen, which are both off limits. We found this really great gate. It is extra tall and has a walk- through gate. It is great too as they cannot climb it!

As you see, they are none too thrilled with thier new challenge. They were very upset when I put it up and they cried for about 2 hours about it. They got over it and now we are very happy with it. We have had to order a new gate also to go in front of the TV. We had to get a big one from online that attaches to the wall. It too is white with the same type of skinny rungs. Hopefully this waill save the TV from damage. The TV is LCD and they poke it with thier fingers and I about have a heart attack every time they do this!
They both have many teeth right now. We had some molars come in on top and some more on bottom. We rearely eat baby food and have discovered a lot of new fruits and veggies we loooooooove.

A loving and touching story of two brothers using teamwork......

Logan really wants to get over the fortress in front of the TV, so wonderful brother Connor says, "he ain't heavy, he's my brother".....
Now, Connor climbs up just as proud as can be......

The whole time they didnt know i was watching them "did you see that flash,Logan?" "Why no, Connor, it must be our ancestors twinkling with glee at our big boy accomplishments"

So then I caught them and with a swift "NO" Connor gets down looking so innocent
''No, mother, I would never do that. I told Logan he would get caught.......". Logan just knew he was caught.

ARG! Pirates in a treasure chest!

Logan

We love our spaghetti!

Connor

Look at this treasure! (Logan on the left)

Our bottom line!

Look at Trevor's tan line.

Trevor is a first grader!

Sorry about the pix being turned. GRRRRR. AS you see, he loved his first day back on Monday the 13th. Mom is loving the time alone at naptime! WOO!
Every morning the babies go out with me to watch him leave on the bus. "bye 'rever" they say waving. So cute! I let them play at this early hour becasue the heat continues to rise during the day. In the background, you can see the limb that fell during a severe storm on Sunday night. It blew my flower pots 50 feet away!

Manchester Aquatic Center-Our insanely cool public pool!

Connor and Hayden get ready to have some fun!

With the weather nearing 100 degrees or more everyday, the only real way to cool off is to get out and enjoy the water. While Korrie and Nanny were here, we hit the local pool for a day of fun. The wonderful thing about our aquatic center is that there is enough room to play and enough fun for everone at all ages!
Trevor with Logan in the "jumpers" . I am a particular fan of these as they keep the babies safe and contained while I catch some rays!

Look at theose slides!
You can click on this shot to enlarge it and see the toddler area.

Hayden a nd Simon in the raibow sprinkler

Nanny get's a reminder of what she is striving for in the future- retirement with the kids!
Simon- the little dolphin
Connor enjoying the jumper.

Hayden having fun in the swirling whirpool. It is inside the lazy river.

punk rock boys!

"hey, I wanna be a rock star!"

The boys sported wild hair after getting lotioned up for some fun in the sun!

And- The Boys

Logan

Connor

Update: Both boys are doing remarkably well. Of course- both are so mobile and walking is the only mode of transport now. They also are saying words and repeating a lot. They both say "here ya go" "uh-oh" "thank you" "trevor" which comes out "rever' and the usual other parroting. Logan said his own name and we are really working on using our "words" Of course, they have thier own little babbling language they use and the expressions on thier faces as they "talk" is hilarious. They look at you like you should totally understand what they are saying.

Connor's foot has completely healed. It looks great and other than the pink coloring, you cant tell.

Both boys have gotten more teeth in. Logan has 2 top and 2 bottom and Connor has 4 top and 2 bottom. Of course we tease them because they are seriously some hillbilly teeth. Trevor's came in so straight and the boys are just- uh- wonky to say the least. They say this is common for preemies as early as they were.

They are doing incredibly well. Everyday they learn more and are such little spnges to learn new stuff. Hopefully next month we will have a new Dr and they can get thier 18mo check up done. Wow- 18 months old.

Rockin' time at city museum

Jor and Alanna exploring the metal mesh tubes above the Monstrocity.

City Museum has become a favorite of Jor and 'lanna. WE couldn't wait to go "play". Imagine a place that is a kids dream- tons of places to climb (4 stories worth) caves to explore, slides galore- that is City Museum. It is a fabulous place. Outside they have Monstrocity which is an outdoor playground of twisted metal, old airplanes to climb into, and mesh metal tunnels to climb high above the in the air. not to mention, a huge ball pit to play in~With our Jeans on and gym shoes on, we were ready to tackle the fun- oh, and be prepared to bruise or get some sort of abrasion. battle marks are a must! I came away with a bruise to my back from trying to squeeze my fat butt through a very tiny opening high above the playground in order to tackle a rockin slide!. Jordan came away with bruises and a good knot to her knee. I think Alanna and Diana needed to pop some Motrin and Trevor came away with a minor friction burn to his finger. It is so worth the little bumps for the fun.

Inside the first level of fun.
Jordan exploring the inner caves

On our way there

The outside of City Museum Monstrocity.

A little 80's reminiscing....

The 80's model pout
Cosmo girls...
One of the fun things we did was to go through my old high school stuff- scrapbooks, yearbooks, notes to friends and show off pictures of our big hair. This inspired the girls need to have some 80's hair. It was a blast. With Jordan being a freshman this year and Alanna venturing into 6th grade, They got to experience first hand what it was like every morning to primp and spray as an 80's teenager. They loved it.

My Gorgeous Neices!

Most people who know me, know that taking pictures of those I love, is near and dear to my heart. I was so excited to have the girls here in St Louis for two whole weeks. We planned to do these pictures for a surprise for Diana. I did pictures of the girls long ago, when I first got into photography and they were 6 and 4. I have wanted to do some more outdoor ones, but never seemed to have the opportunity to do so. Well, These photos were taken in pituresque Forest Park. I am astounded at thier beauty. Not that I wouldnt think my neices are absolutely gorgeous, but the fact that , WOW, my neices are actually growing into young ladies. (insert tears)

I had so much fun doing these pictures. They are naturals.

Alanna colored on B&W
Jordan's colored shirt
The duo

Jordan (14)
Alanna (12)
My absolute favorite picture of them both.

Long overdue updates. July 4th

Cousins picture 2007

(Alanna, holding Connor, Trevor, Simon, Jake, Lauren holding Olivia (our "plastic" cousin), Hayden, Jordan holding Logan.)

A perfect "10"

Me snuggling with my little men

The boys showing so much interest in girls at such a young age (spoken in a VERY sarcastic tone)..... Olivia was so enthralled with them, yet the boys were so stand-offish! MEN! Always sending mixed signals....