9 Months

I'm a little late with this post, the boys turned 9 months old on the 18th. It seems like they've changed so much in the past month.

We had their 9 month checkup on May 16th and Carter weighed 20lbs 8oz and was 28.5 inches, he's in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. Evan weighed 18lbs 8oz and was 28inches, he's in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th for height.

Both boys are too big/long for 9 month clothes. They're wearing all 12 month clothes, but some of the pants are a little big for Evan.

Evan has 6 teeth, Carter doesn't have any.

Both boys are crawling. Carter does the traditional crawl, Evan is able to, but doesn't, he prefers to army crawl. Carter can get himself into the sitting position and stand up on his own. He can pull up on things and tries to climb. Evan can stand, but isn't able to get himself up on his own yet.

Both boys are getting 4 bottles a day and three meals of solid foods. We're giving them primarly Gerber baby food, and just going through the stages, they're in stage 3 right now. We've given them a tiny bit of table food--watermelon, blueberries, cottage cheese, refried beans (we were at a mexican restaurant--they liked them!) and they're getting finger foods about twice a day. We usually give them yogurt melts and Baby MumMum crackers. We also give them water in sippy cups and Evan will drink some apple juice mixed with water.

The boys are interacting so much more now. They laugh at each other, follow each other around, "talk", smile, steal each other's toys, play together, etc. They'll also hold hands sometime when they're in their high chairs and when they're looking out the window, Carter will put his hand on Evan's back and sometimes when they're sitting, Evan will put his hand on Carter's back. It's SO sweet!!!

Evan's first word was "Carter" and his second word is "Yay!", he says it when he claps, it's so cute. He loves to clap, he does it all the time. Him and Carter both babble all the time and say mamma, dadda, etc, but we're not 100% sure they know exactly who is who, although I'm almost positive they know what "dadda" and "daddy" means.

They love looking outside and being outside. They love anything and everything that's not a toy. An empty milk jug, curtains, trash cans, their high chairs (when they're on the ground and not in them) chairs, shoes, drawers, etc. They are in to everything and they're fast!! I'll turn my head for a second and hear them take off. They cannot stand to have their diaper changed or clothes put on, they do not like being on their backs, they want to be up and moving and exploring at all times. We have to give them remote controls, coasters, etc. just to keep them occupied long enough to change a diaper.

They love bathtime. They also love their playtime right before the bath when they're just in their diapers. We tried bathing them at the same time in the tub, but they are too active for that. We bought a blow up duck that they can sit in one at a time and that's what we're using right now. They really like it.

They went through a stranger anxiety stage that lasted like, a week. I don't know if that's it or what, but they are back to the way they were before. Carter will usually make people work for a smile, he's not just going to smile at a stranger just because they say "Hi". He warms up pretty quick though, after a few minutes he can't hold out anymore and he's his normal cooing, hollering, laughing self. Evan is still a little ladies man. He's always been outgoing and friendly, but now he's really into girls. We'll walk by a young girl in the store and he'll look at them and smile and if they don't notice him, he'll holler at them until they do and then when they look, he'll give them a huge smile. And of course it works, they're like "Oh, aren't you just so cute". He knows what he's doing!

The boys are still great at getting out. They love shopping. We go out almost every single day with them. Either to Sam's Club, Target, Kroger, Walmart, the mall, etc. Sometimes it's just to get out, but we usually need something-formula, diapers, baby food, etc. They are so good while we're out, whether we're shopping or eating out, they're always so well behaved, we're really, really lucky with that. I hope they're like that forever. :)

We had the boys 9 month pictures taken and here's the link. My sign in name is samantha.westover@hotmail.com and the password is 2cuties, for anybody who wants to see them or order any prints.

And here's the ones that I was able to get at home.

So happy.

In the middle of clapping--one of his favorite things to do! & look at that mouthful of teeth!!

I was having the hardest time getting his attention and getting him to smile. He was way too concerned with what Evan was getting into.

I love this picture, I wish I could have got the "9 months" on his shirt in this picture, but I love how happy he

is.

This is what Evan was up to, and what Carter was watching, while I was trying to get Carter's 9 month pictures.

Carter playing with an empty milk jug that he found next to the trash can. As soon as he saw it, his face lit up and he rushed over there and played with it for the longest time.

They both are obsessed with playing with the high chairs.

Busy Boys

I've been super busy with the boys the past couple of days. They've decided to grow up so fast!! Carter started crawling yesterday and Evan said his first word on Saturday--not mama, not dada, but "Carter"!! He loves his brother. I've been trying to catch him on the video camera saying it. I have some videos of Carter crawling, that I've uploaded to youtube. You can just click the link on the right side of my blog for the videos. Sorry this is so short. I'm worn out. I have no idea what I'm going to do when Evan starts crawling too, although he's super close. He can army crawl like a champ! I expect him to start crawling like Carter any day now. I've been worrying about eating healthy and exercising, but I think maybe after they both start crawling I won't have anything to worry about! ;)

Weekend Recap

We have been spoiled with Greg getting a 3 day weekend every other week, now our normal 2 day weekends feel so short. Saturday, we went to Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet to pick strawberries. The weather was perfect, it was sunny and not too hot. It was the first day of the picking season there, so we knew we wouldn't get a lot of strawberries, but we wanted to check it out and get the boys out of the house. Greg had never been strawberry picking before. So, when we pulled in the parking spot in front of a peach tree (which he has apparently also never seen before) he says "I wonder if these are the trees we'll be picking the strawberries from?" Bahahaha. I said "Greg, strawberries don't grow on trees" and he look completely confused and asked if they "grew on big bushes". That was probably the highlight of our trip on Saturday, I still get tickled thinking about it. Anyways, there was a cute little store that sold homemade jams, syrups, ice cream, etc. Greg and I shared two homemade donuts and some strawberry cider while we were there. I can't wait until peach season, I love peaches and they make homemade peach ice cream. We'll definitely be going back later this year.

I also found out that I won a giveaway on Life With The Bonhams. I won a month subscription to "5 Meals in 1 Hour" I'm excited to try it. If you're interested, you can go to the website and download a free week trial.

Today we had a relaxing day. We spent a lot of time in the car yesterday going to and from strawberry picking, so we didn't want the boys cooped up in their car seats today. During the boys first nap, I laid back down and took a little nap too, when they woke up, Greg got them and let me sleep a little longer. While I was sleeping, he took the boys to go get me breakfast, which included a yummy, frozen mocha frappe. Mmmm... He brought it to me in bed, he said he can't wait until next year when him and the boys can make me breakfast. We played with the boys, then went out to lunch at a hole in the wall mexican restaurant, there's was only one other family there. We went grocery shopping and got the ingredients for our first week of "5 Meals in 1 Hour", went home, played with the boys some more, and then put them to bed. Relaxing and low key. Perfect way to end the weekend and get ready for the upcoming week.

Here's some pictures from the weekend.

Evan at Chiles Peach Orchard

Carter at Chiles Peach Orchard

Greg picking strawberries

Strawberry Patch

The boys relaxing while Greg picks strawberries

The hats didn't last long.

This is Carter's new face when he doesn't have his pacifier and I ask him to smile.

We wanted to let the boys play a little bit before putting them back in the car for the drive home.

Carter seemed to like the grass more than Evan.

See, Carter always grabs Evan's pacifier, even when it's attached to him.

And this is the tree that we parked in front of that Greg thought we were picking the strawberries from. Hahaha

Pictures

Today was pretty uneventful. I did a post yesterday without any pictures, so like I promised, here's some pictures of the boys.

*they're all out of order and completely random, I just wanted to post some for our families*

Carter thought he was something sitting in my computer chair.

Those cups are still one of their favorite things to play with.

They love to hold the cups up to their mouths and holler.

I love his outfit, I got several shirts and shorts from Kohl's like this. They were so inexpensive and you can mix and match the shirts and shorts.

Both boys do this, but Carter much more so than Evan. They will reach for my camera while I'm taking pictures of them.

He had just woke up from his nap and we were playing until Carter got up

I love how blue his eyes are in this picture. Both boys have blue eyes, Evan's are a dark blue and Carter's are a light blue.

You can see his teeth, it's so crazy when he smiles real big and has a mouthful of teeth!!

This is what they both love to do, blow raspberries. Evan loves to do it with a mouthful of baby food.

Trying to crawl

He wants to crawl so bad!

Carter has both pacifiers in his hand, he likes to clink them together. You will never see Evan with a pacifier when Carter's around because Carter has taken it.

And I know this picture will probably embarrass them when they're older, but I think it's sooooo sweet. I love it!!

Thursday Recap

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Saturday, I'm getting my hair cut and colored, finally! The weather is supposed to be nice, which means we have endless possiblities of things to do--run errands, hang out on the deck, go for a walk around the neighborhood, grill out, go to the park, etc. There's so much more to do when the weather is sunny and warm. I used to love rainy days because it meant sleeping in and then snuggling up on the couch to watch movies. Not anymore. We have two cute little boys to keep entertained and rainy days really make that a lot harder.

Today the weather was really nice. It was sunny and in the low 70's. I went for a walk with my neighbor and her 4 month old daughter. We walked for over an hour and let me tell you-I am feeling it! I'm so sore. I'd love to blame it on pushing a double stroller, but the fact is I'm so out of shape. My sore legs are a reminder that I need to get my rear end in gear, my boys are already all over the place and they aren't even crawling yet. How on earth am I going to keep up with them when they start crawling or walking?! So, starting tomorrow, I'm going to start walking on a regular basis and eating healthier. I say this all the time, maybe typing it out will keep me accountable. We'll see.

This afternoon two UVA communications students came over for a study they're doing. I heard about it from a mom in one of the groups I'm in. They recorded (voice only) me playing with Carter for 2 minutes, and then a conversation that I had with them for 2 minutes. That was all, it was so quick and easy and Greg participated with Evan. We each got a $10.00 gift card to Starbucks. so, basically, I got a $20.00 gift card to Starbucks ;) And we were able to help out some students with their research and it didn't take up that much time.

After we put the boys to bed, I went with a friend to a MOPS meeting. I've been really wanting to check out this club at a local church and when I found out she was a member, she invited me to check it out. It was the last meeting of the season, so they had a luau theme party. It was a lot of fun and I was able to meet some other moms, some of which even live in my neighborhood. They start back with meetings in the fall, but they try and stay in touch with playdates and activities throughout the summer. I've been looking at so many "mom groups" and trying to find one that's a right fit for me and the boys. I've met a lot of nice people along the way and I can't wait to get really settled into a few of the groups.

Going to this meeting tonight also gave me a little peek at the church since it's a church group. Greg and I decided that we would start looking at churches when the boys started sleeping through the night and were on a pretty good schedule. They are now, so it's time to start looking. Just like with the "mom groups" I think we might have to try out quite a few before making a decision. I have a few in mind that I want to start with, so we'll see how it goes.

Well, pretty boring post today. I didn't take any pictures. I'll do a post with pictures of the boys tomorrow to make up for this one today. ;) I hope everybody is having a good week. And Happy Cinco de May!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm linking up with Jamie for "What I'm Loving Wednesday" I haven't participated in a few weeks, so it may be a little long.

First of all, I'm loving that Starbucks is having a "Happy Hour" from 5/6-5/13 where all their frappachino's are half priced! Woohoo!! If there's anything I love more than Starbucks frappachinos, it's Starbucks frappachinos for half price! They also have a new flavor "Coconut Mocha" and I can't wait to try it. Sounds so yummy and perfect for summer.

I'm loving that Cinco De Mayo is tomorrow. An excuse to go to El Agave and eat chili rellana, chips & salsa, and sangria?! Yes, please.

I'm loving the white noise machine that we got for the boys room. I know I've mentioned this a lot on my blog, but I just can't say enough good things about it. It's the best thing ever!! We actually bought a second one this weekend to keep in our room for when we seperate the boys for naps, they'll each have one. I don't know what we'd do without this.

The warm weather. I've been so excited to put the boys in their cute summer outfits. All their summer clothes are so cute! Plus, with the weather warming up, we can go outside on the deck and the boys LOVE it outside.

I'm loving that I'm starting to fill up this month's calendar with playdates and activities. I love getting out and doing things, I think it's good for me AND the boys.

I'm loving Dunkin' Donuts Strawberry Shortcake Coffee. It's not cheap, but it's so tasty. I'm going to have to find some coupons for it and get some more. Yum!

I'm loving that Mother's Day is this Sunday. It's so neat that this is a holiday that applies to me now. My first Mother's Day.

I'm loving the book "The Help". It's so good! I've been reading it on my ipad at night before going to bed and I actually don't want to finish it--it's that good.

I'm loving the giveaways that some of my favorite blogs are having this week. I Heart Organizing is giving away a Jo Tote and Life With the Bonhams is giving away a month's worth of "5 Meals in an Hour" both are such great giveaways! I would love to win either one. Or both ;)

And I'm loving our troops!! This is been an eventful week, I know everybody feels differently about all that went down with Bin Laden, who gets credit, who doesn't, was it the right thing, does this mean anything,is it okay to celebrate the death of somebody even if it was an enemy, etc. I don't want to go into any of that. I just want to say that I love our troops! I love that there are men & women out there that sacrifice every day to defend our country and I'm so thankful for that!!

What are you loving?