Changing every day

I can't get over how the boys are changing every single day. Blake is now catching up with his brother and so proud of himself. He has gone from army crawling to officially crawling. He still throws in the army crawl every now and then but he is loving getting around just like Jack. He is also pulling up on everything. He isn't quite as brave as Jack and not as adventuresome, but he is doing a great job!

Jack is now a talker! He is saying 'dada' and 'dog.' We are working so hard on 'mama' but he hasn't quite gotten it. Blake is making the appropriate motions with his mouth to say 'mama' but not making any sound with it. I keep telling them that they can only get a bite of food if they say 'mama' but they still won't do it. They are getting awful skinny! Just kidding!!

On Saturday we made a trip to Costco and the boys sat in the cart like big boys. The best thing about Costco (and Sam's) on a Saturday are the free samples. We came to a cart that had GoGurts and the boys seemed quite interested in them. Garrett and I fed them to the boys and they couldn't get enough. I think we went through four samples. After their last one, they proceeded to scream for more. We didn't feel like I could get more samples so we just quickly finished our shopping and got out of there! They are now eating yogurt like champs and loving it!

**Please excuse the numerous pictures of the boys in their jammies. If we don't have plans to go out for the day we all stay in jammies. :)

Here is Blake standing. This was the first time he pulled up all by himself.

Here is my newest crawler!

"Look Mama, I can do it!!"

Blake is doing a great job feeding himself.

Instead of jumping in his jumperoo, Blake enjoys grabbing the poles and holding on tight.

How can you not LOVE this face?

This is how all of the pictures of Jack are lately. If he sees the camera he crawls right over to it.

Jack is also doing a great job of feeding himself.

I love this picture. Jack is trying to eat the bird on his jumperoo. Such a happy baby.

I think this is my favorite picture of Jack. It perfectly describes him. He is always so happy and always climbing.

Here are the boys with their two favorite things: the learning table and the ottoman.

Playing together like good boys. That plant in the corner has been the source of lots of "no-no's". The boys love to pull the leaves off and they get in trouble for it. This plant is from my mom's funeral and isn't going anywhere. The boys are slowly learning not to go near it.

So happy playing in their cribs.

Hi brother, I see you!

I spy...

Daddy!!!

Garrett has been working from home since about a week and a half before Christmas. His company decided to close their Houston office and Garrett was one of three who was able to keep his job. We are SO grateful!

To be honest, I was very worried about this new situation we found ourselves in. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband but we weren't used to being together all day every day. We worked out the kinks in the first couple of weeks and it has been great!

The boys love having Garrett home. They worship the ground he walks on and just light up when he walks into the room. They are also able to see Garrett a lot more than before.

I love it because I get to see Garrett more and just pop into the office and talk to him for a few minutes every now and then. I also LOVE him being home because I can put the boys down for their naps, take the monitor into the office, and I am off. I've made doctors' appointments during nap time and run tons of errands. It has been great! The lack of laundry and ironing has been a major bonus too! T-shirts and Nike pants don't need a lot of maintenance.

Now that Jack is crawling everywhere, he has come to realize that Garrett spends his days in the office in the front of the house. He will crawl that direction, pull himself up and bang on the windows all with a huge smile on his face. It is too cute! Then of course he cries as I get him and bring him back into the den.

Sometimes change is a good thing. In this case it has been great!

Long few days

Last Friday was just a typical day around the Erbele house. It was 'cleaning house' day and then just another lazy day around here.

Fast forward to about 9:00pm Friday night. Garrett and I are watching the VERY boring opening ceremonies of the Olympics and my stomach starts to rumble. "Hmm," I think, "that is odd." Fast forward 2 seconds later as I'm running to the bathroom. Yes, I had the stomach bug. Friday into Saturday was a long and awful night.

Luckily, I have the best husband in the world who got up with the kids and took care of them (and me) all day. I think I woke up around 9:00, came into the den and watched the boys play before their nap, and then I was asleep again around 10:30. I definitely slept more on Saturday than I was awake but at least the vomiting was over.

I was so bummed because our annual Valentine's dinner with our good friends was Saturday night and I was going to have to miss out. This is always a fun night where the guys cook the gals dinner and the gals are in charge of dessert, which always seems to be fondue. I wasn't willing to risk getting everyone else sick so we stayed home. Around 8:30 I made Garrett go and hang out with our friends at Matt and Georgia's. If I couldn't have fun it didn't mean he couldn't.

By Sunday afternoon I was finally feeling a little better. Enter Sunday night. Garrett gets sick.

Then, before heading to bed, I went to check on the boys as I always do and Blake was sleeping in a huge amount of vomit. Sweet baby. He never cried or anything so we had no way of knowing he had thrown up. We got him up, bathed and sheets changed (Garrett is getting sick during all of this as well) and put Blake back in bed where he puked again. So, he slept in the pack n' play in our room so we could hear him. Sweet boy would fuss while he was getting sick, Garrett would hold him up so he was sitting, I would hold the bowl under his chin and then he would just lay right back down and go to sleep. The last time he got sick was 2:30am. We thought we were in the clear. He wanted his bottle at 7:30, slept great during his nap, ate his lunch bottle and then I put him in his high chair. He proceeded to puke again. AHHH!!! This is when I thought I was going to loose my mind and kept saying "I just want my mom!"

Luckily by Tuesday morning everyone was healthy and happy. Jack never got sick and we are keeping our fingers crossed that he won't. But, if he does, hopefully he will be as good of a patient as his brother.

We survived our first family stomach bug!

8 months

I know I'm very behind on this post but better late than never. We had a very exciting month 7 full of many firsts and I'm sure this next month will bring many more. Life is very busy now.

Jack is crawling EVERYWHERE! He is also pulling up on everything. He is also responding well to the word 'no.'

Garrett and I are of the belief that you do not clear off tables around the house. I will/have removed items that are sentimental or will hurt the boys but I refuse to clear away everything. I know this means a lot of work for us, but it also means that our children will learn not to touch and when we go to other people's homes our jobs will be much easier. I would rather work my tail bone off now then have to continue to constantly guard items for the next 5 years. This is what my parents did and they didn't have any problems with my brother and I.

Blake is army crawling and pulling himself up into the crawling position and rocking back and forth. He is trying so hard to crawl. I think he is starting to get frustrated that Jack can crawl and he can't. He is also wanting to stand a lot. He has great balance while holding onto something. Both boys love to stand around the leather ottoman and hit it with their hands, they love the sound it makes.

Here are a few things going on with the boys:
-no longer in infant car seats, they are officially in toddler seats :(
-we are now using the huge, mammoth stroller (bye bye snap n' go, I will miss you!)
-boys are bathing in kitchen sink and LOVING it! They love to splash!
-both are such happy babies and smiling all the time
-Blake has 2 bottom teeth and getting his first top one
-Jack has 1 bottom tooth and the second one is almost in
-both boys can go from laying down to sitting (this was huge for Blake, he has been working on it for a looooong time)
-Jack wants whatever toy Blake is playing with (fun times ahead :))
-Blake loves to growl
-Jack scrunches up his nose and breathes in and out really loud, he thinks it is hysterical
-still taking 2 two hour naps a day...yahoooo!!!
-still sleeping 12 1/2-13 hours at night...yahoooo!!!!

Every month that comes and goes makes me sad; however, every month that we enter is so exciting. The boys are learning and doing new things every day and it is so much fun!! Garrett and I are so blessed to have such wonderful, easy babies!

Here is a little brotherly-love wrestling match. Many more of these to come.

Blake, surrounded by some of his toys.

Jack, so proud of his crawling abilities.

Blake LOVES bath time.

Jack LOVES bath time too!