We're Back...

So after a very long absence from the blogging world...we're back. Although I cannot promise how much time we'll find to blog, but I hope to be a better mom and journal about my babies...well more like toddlers growing up. I also would love to catch up and see how everyone else's little ones and lives are.

There is probably so much that has happened since I last blogged, that I most likely miss most of it. I will try to highlight a few of the key points:

1. We moved successfully. We are all settled in. The boys were awesome through all of it. They didn't miss a beat. We love the new place and are looking forward to raising our family here.
2. I found a job!!! Yes, that's right, it's back to the working world. I start tomorrow and am super excited (and nervous) about it. I will be working for Cottingham and Butler in Dubuque. I went through 3 full days of interviews, but they finally decided to offer me the job.
3. Josh is LOVING his new job. He's doing so great and we're all so proud of him. He continually works on building his practice and we're all so thankful that he stumbled upon this opportunity because we think it's a perfect fit.
4. The boys say "mama", "dada", "uh-oh" and "hi". When you ask them where Atlas is (if he's no where to be found) they'll turn their hands up in the air like I dunno. They wave good-bye, give high five, clap, signal "TOUCHDOWN" and can give a heck of an Indian call.
5. Brody is walking (or running) everywhere and has 4 new molars in.
6. Aidan is still walking on his knees and has eight total teeth.
7. They got their first haircut back in the beginning of May.
8. They have a new cousin...Evelyn Kathleen Taylor "Eva"Here's a few quick pics of my monkeys!

First time with ice cream cones...YUMMY! Bath time fun...

Getting into my Baking Cupboard

14 Month Pictures

Our New Home

Some of you have been asking for pictures of the new home. For the most part we are all settled and loving it. We are still waiting on a few finishing touches: curtains, our new entertainment center that's being built, the TV I hope to talk my husband into once I get another job, and just some odds and ends. We have not decorated two of the guest bedrooms yet. For now they are furnished as is and there are no pictures of them. Maybe I'll get around to those sometime soon. Enjoy our new home...there's lots of pictures, so enjoy!

The Great Room - This room is probably still the biggest work in progress. It's pretty messy in these pictures too. Sorry about that. There are still some finishing touches to put in the kitchen, molding, shelves and curtains. The living area is getting a new entertainment center for sure and possibly that TV I keep speaking of. Notice Josh managed to find room to tuck his bar back in the corner, so we'll always have a cold one waiting for visitors. The white door is our private entrance to the basement.

The stairs lead up to Josh's new office.

Brody sitting in his big boy seat...we're still waiting for Aidan's...should be there today.

The patio door leads out to our back porch and the door to the right of that is our room.

The bar is tucked away back in the corner...the picture is kind of dark.

The Bathroom - Well, this is probably the biggest room in the house. When they built the house, they really thought this room out and I love it! There is a room with a shower and tub in it, a separate room with a sink and toilet in it and the main part of the bathroom with a double sink, storage closet, whirlpool tub and TV! Too bad the TV only has one channel. However, I do figure that my Thursday nights can be spent in the tub with a bottle...I mean glass of wine...watching Grey's Anatomy.

Here is the crapper room...The main room...that's the shower room on the left and the hallway door to the right of that...TV, storage closet and entry to the wash room...Tub and I forgot to mention the little guys' sink!

The shower room up close...

Our Room - This is a smaller room, but we love how it turned out. We used an old dresser my mom had and painted it black and antiqued it. We got an old end table from a garage sale and I covered my old headboard with black fabric (this was the second time around). Kathy still needs to work with the curtains, that's just what I threw up there to see with the colors. We can't wait to get the boys' one yearictures taken this weekend to put more pictures of the cuties up.




The Boys' Room - It's the biggest room in the house (well maybe except for the bathroom). It has a huge closet, which Aidan and Brody were nice enough to share with their mommy. I love how the decal turned out on their wall. That was from a good friend at work...thanks Holly! They love playing in their room so far. There is a surprise in one of the pictures...can you find Waldo?

Happy Birthday Aidan & Brody!

Aidan and Brody's birthday was nothing to write about. Poor guys! We were busy packing up the last of the house, but we did manage to squeeze in dinner at Chili's and cake with some of our best friends. Here's a few of the pictures. Their birthday party is going to be this upcoming Saturday, so hopefully there will be more birthday pictures soon to come!

Aidan is excited about food!

Brody's cheesy smile...Being goof balls...The whole happy "green" family...Finally...Cake Time! Thanks for making the great cake Kelly!

What Could Be More Fun?

So, finally a post, this time before I go MIA for a long time. Unfortunately, I will be busy this week packing and moving instead of practicing and watching the Pointers play basketball. We suffered a disappointing loss on Friday in the Sweet 16 to Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington. We lost by 13...we didn't play well and they shot the lights out. It's so hard to swallow such a tough loss when you know the team did not play their best basketball. Although it is sad to see the season come to an end, no one would have given us a chance to make it as far as we did this year. I am so proud of these women...it was a blast and a great way for me to go out. Not only is it the end of a season, it's the end of a chapter of my life. It is going to be so hard for me to say good-bye to these outstanding young women and all of my friends in Stevens Point to start building our new life in Lancaster. However, as saddened as am I am leaving, I am just as excited for my family to be making this move. It is what is best for us...now we just need to find a job for mommy!

So, yes we are busy getting ready for the big move. Josh and I have been able to pack up almost the whole downstairs today and rented the U-Haul truck for Tuesday. We hope to leave town early Wednesday and be unloaded by Thursday with just a few days to unpack and get settled. Then it's back to SP for one week for Josh and the boys before they leave their lonely mommy here.

As most of you know, the big birthday is right around the corner. Unfortunately, due to our traveling for the NCAAs we had to postpone the boys birthday party until April. We will have a small party with good food and great cake for the boys on Tuesday and celebrate with more family and friends when things die down a little bit and everyone can come see the new place.

An update on the cuties...well Brody took 4 steps today before falling. Josh and I both witnessed it in amazement. It's not going to be long now. He also now will stop WHATEVER he is doing (even crying) to give you the cheesiest smile for the camera (proof below). Little Aidan has 4 teeth through with 5 & 6 almost through. They are so much fun right now and I love spending time just watching them. They play a came of hide 'n seek daily. They like to copy what each other is doing and then giggle uncontrollably about it. Brody has been saying "uh-oh" quite a bit, which is pretty funny too.

Anyways, wish us luck these next few weeks as we transition two 1 year olds to a new home, new babysitter, new routine and a mommy away from her babies. It may be a rough transition, but one that will be worth it the long haul.

Aidan checking out his toys, but... He thinks that boxes are more fun...

Playing with the boxes as we pack them up...note the cheesy grin from Brody... And in case you needed more proof, here's a few more...

Sweet 16!

I just wanted to give a quick update before I head out on our road trip tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's well wishes. The boys are feeling much better. It seems as though at least two, if not three, of Aidan's teeth have broken through the gums and he is much happier. Brody has stopped throwing up, so all is well on that front too.

The Pointers are in the Sweet 16! We won both of our games last weekend and leave tomorrow to play Illinois Wesleyan on their home court Friday night. Tip off is at 8:00 pm. We couldn't be more excited for the opportunity to play the #1 team in the country who just happens to be undefeated. We'll give them our best shot, and you just never know what might happen. Hopefully we will have a game Saturday too. The hardest part of traveling is going to be spending 3 nights away from my babies...well, they're not really babies anymore...only five more days until the big 1!

I hope all is well with everyone else! I promise more pictures of the cuties soon, but for now GO POINTERS!!!

Game Day

Today is game day. I cannot believe the NCAAs are here. Tonight the women's field of 60 will get cut to 32 and tomorrow night there will only be 16 remaining. Can the Pointers make another run to the Sweet 16? Let's hope so. Maryville will be a tough match up for us tonight. Especiall with a few of our players having a bit of a bug, but I know they can pull through. It's win or go home and I think we all remember to well how awful it felt to go home last year. I couldn't think of a better way to calm game day jitters than with a little blogging.

Well, another bout of the pukes ended Brody up in the doctor's office the other day. I really think that his puking has something to do with drinking too much, too fast. Looking back at the daycare sign out sheet, he had 7 oz. at 5:00 PM, ate supper at home at 6:00 PM, and another 7 oz. at 7:30 PM only to throw up his entire bottle. Once he was done, he was happy as could be. However, the doctor did say along with his cold,he seems to have a little stomach bug and an ear infection. It's the first one either boy has had that we know of. She said that it wasn't bad at all, and no need to worry since it had not really been affecting him. She did go on to say that this ear infection could be causing him to throw up because it's near the "vomit center" in his brain. That was a little weird to me, but what do I know. She's not the boys ped, we couldn't get in to see him. We'll just keep on trucking, but we haven't had a bad poop or puke since Wednesday night. Hopefully it's finally over.

The boys attended their first women's hockey game a few weeks back to watch the Pointers take on Gustavus Adolphus. It was a defensive battle, and ended up being a 0-0 tie. It doesn't mean that the boys didn't have a great time watching "Auntie Ann" coach her team in a great game. Of course "Auntie Kelly" had to get some cute pictures of the boys.

This is my favorite...Aidan is watching the game, but you see Brody's reflection in the glass...Something good must be going on here...

Following the puck, back and forth...back and forth...

Puking & Pooping - No Rhyme or Reason

Well, what the heck is going on in our house is beyond us. Since last Thursday/Friday, the boys have had diarrhea and puking every day and most days it's really quite random. I feel so bad for the little buggers, but the problem is, the don't seem sick at all. Aidan is really the one with the bad case of the poops, but it is getting better. It looks like he is getting all four of his top teeth at once...maybe that's it? I don't know...this is my first go. Brody had ABSOLUTELY NO problems with teething. Brody seems to have something wierd going on too. He's randomly projectile puking entire bottles. Reflux anyone? He usually only does it once a day, but it's really throwing a wrench into our week. They couldn't go to daycare on Monday...luckily our Friday sitter could cover. Yesterday Brody got sent home early from daycare, so although I swore I would not miss any work on this HUGE week for UWSP (see previous post), I did. Josh came home from work early so I could get to practice at 3, and when I picked Aidan up I found out Brody cannot return until it's been 24 hours since his puking incident even though the doctor does not believe he is sick with a stomach flu. UGHHH! So now, Brody got to come to work with mommy this morning because we really have no other options...my mom is busy with month end at work and Josh's parents are on vacation. Could this have happened on a better week? Oh well, hopefully today will be the last of our issues. Thursday the boys are home with daddy and my mom is coming up Friday for the weekend's games so we should be covered there. Anyways, that's what's going on in our house. If any mom's have any advice as to what might be going on that would be greatly appreciated.

Wearing our pink and red for beautiful Sydney and Carynne on Friday

"Please mommy, take the gate down and let us in the kitchen..."

Atlas wants in too...the three trouble makers...Brody showing off the boys' new trick...holding their bottle...

Look mom...one hand...