32 Week Belly and Dr's Appt

Here is our 32 Week Belly Picture! And today we had a dr's appt. All is well, only thing to report is the heart rate at an average of 130 bpm.. slowing down! Looks like there's getting to be less room to move in there! You aren't kidding! Next appointment is in 2 weeks.

Judging by the pictures I guess perhaps this baby is slightly higher and and sitting much perkier.. just remember by the wives tales... basketball = boy, watermelon = girl. We clearly have a basketball!

32 Week Baby Belly!

Cole's 32 Week Baby Belly

Caden's 32 Week Baby Belly

Christmas #4

What do you get when you put 30+ people in one house? The Pyndo Family Christmas! With more food than you can imagine, gifts galore and multiple Yankee Swaps, it is one heck of a party! The kids had a blast playing with my cousins, there was no lack of attention! They had a human obstacle course for Caden, Brian was generally the obstacle.. and Cole wanted to be just like his big brother so followed close behind, until they bumped heads anyway! Caden had a new best friend every hour! His favorites were Taryn and Bill, with Brian falling close behind! The rest of you will have to try your hardest to be "in" next year!

Needless to say, the kids were exhausted. Cole fell asleep less than a mile away from the house. Caden managed to stay awake the entire way, possibly due to Rob's infatuation with our Christmas GPS which he uses to get everywhere now. When he put it in the first time Caden said "Daddy, but we know how to get to Grammy's!" Where as now he has joined Rob's team and says "Daddy, where is the map? I want to watch it." Unfortunately I didn't take all that many pictures.. but enjoy the ones we did take!

The kids got a cool fireman's outfit to dress up in! I think we'll have to try and convince Caden to be a fireman next Halloween!

Hey.. I think there is something on my head!

Caden and Cousin Taryn play cash register

Maine - Christmas #3

Friday afternoon after the Chirco Christmas we travelled up to Maine for Christmas with my Dad and Brian, unfortunately the Waterhouse Family Christmas scheduled for Saturday had to be postponed. We arrived in Maine and visited with the Temm's where Caden and Cole received the cutest cook's aprons ever! Neither would try them on, so unfortunately we don't have a picture... yet anyway!! We then went to dinner with Grampy Waterhouse, Uncle Brian and Becky... what are the odds that Uncle Brian and Caden would have the same shirt? Let alone wear it on the same day?!! Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast, notice Cole stealing my cereal? This is after he ate his own oatmeal, and then had some of Caden's cereal that he didn't quite finish! Apparently Christmas makes Cole-bear hungry!

Uncle Brian arrived on his snowmobile, and much to our surprise Caden willingly went for a ride with him! and he remained smiling the entire time!

Grampy came back from doing barn chores and it was present time! Here are Caden and Cole unwrapping a massive amount of Disney books!

Cole looks so proud of his new remote control John Deere Dump Truck, although he could only figure out how to make it go backwards, so we had to keep turning it around for him so it wouldn't just crash against the wall or furniture repeatedly!

The kids also got money for college... When I asked Cole to give me his he took the money out of the enveleope and handed me the empty envelope! Smart kid! We then said, what is he going to put it in his pocket? Sure enough he caught on to our game and was trying to stuff it into his pocket! It was hilarious!

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting the pony Ruby, which Caden willingly pet, fed and rode! It must be Christmas! We also went to Grampy's barn to see the pigs and Caden helped give the horses some hay, and even sat on one of the big horses! Seriously! Who is this kid! Enjoy the rest of the photos in slideshow form!

Christmas #2!

The Chirco Family Christmas was Friday morning. 5 cousins all close in age getting together creates a lot of fun! and next year there will be 3 more babies! My this family is growing!

Cole with his cool new Bruins Jersey! Daddy will be wiping his tears on Cole's shoulder when they beat the Flyers!

The kids gather round to watch Uncle B. as he tries to put together one of the toys!

Cousin J models her new bike helmet!

And so begins the mad chaos! 5 kids spinning in one room..luckily no one hit their head on othe brick chimney!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning Cole woke up rather early, so he joined us in bed since we couldn't bring him downstairs. Caden woke up around 7:15. Caden knew Santa had come when he found his ornament hanging on his door. This year he got a John Deere Tractor ornament and Cole got a little kid on a sled, since it's the first year he has truly gone sledding.
I ran ahead of the kids to video them seeing the tree first thing. Caden didn't even look twice he just went to the couch and said "cheese". Apparently I have been making him pose for too many pictures these last few days! Cole immediately ran to the tree, grabbed "Rody" by the ear, drug him to the middle of the room and hopped on. Caden joined him for a picture. (we learned of Rody because 2 of their cousins have one, and anytime we are over either house it is their favorite toy!) Caden had a hippity-hop waiting for him, although he was a bit more excited for the Rody.. it actually became a trend throughout all of our Christmas' that he liked Cole's presents more than his own!
After the bouncer excitement we opened stockings while breakfast was cooking (cinnamon rolls). Caden's favorite was probably the etch-a-sketch and Cole's the sesame street remote, although he put it up to his ear like a phone... two of his favorite things are the real remotes and the real phone.. so we were hoping to distract him, unfortunately "he ain't no dummy"!

After breakfast we opened presents. We had a lot to open since not only did we have our own and Santa's but the Rogers' family presents which were shipped, as well as a Rogers' Extended family Secret Santa. Cole tired of opening quickly, but Caden was the 'mad un-wrapper' faster than lightening and then asking what else he could unwrap. Apparently Cole was overwhelmed since he kept going upstairs and getting old toys to bring downstairs. Perhaps he doesn't like change?! Caden was more than happy to help unwrap his presents for him, and ours.

At one point I looked over and Cole had climbed up onto the coffee table and was looking out the window, for what we will never know, but he was adamant about it!

While I was putting together a tool bench Cole had received he decided to perch himself on top of it! That put a small delay in the construction, but we were almost done.

Cole models his new shirt, and wears it the rest of the day.. size sticker and all!

Christmas Rule #2 in the Rogers' Family Handbook is that we don't leave the house on Christmas Day and we can stay in PJ's all day if we'd like. As has become tradition, in the afternoon my Mom and Tony came over to see the kids loot and have Christmas Dinner with us, Chicken cordon bleu my personal favorite! After dinner we played with the new stuff Caden and Cole examined Grammy with Cole's new Dr's kit... here you can see that Caden got to Grammy first with the mirror, and the closest tool Cole could find to copy was the syringe! Perhaps Cole was really playing dentist with novocaine!

We all had a fabulous Christmas, it was especially fun to see the kids enjoy Christmas... that is what makes it even better for us parents!

'Twas the Night Before...

As by the rules in the Rogers' Handbook, the kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve, chosen of course by us the parents... Christmas jammies! We also read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" under the Christmas Tree, mostly that was Caden and I, but Cole stopped by for a brief moment.. enough to capture in a photo, and point to a picture of Santa, and then he was off again doing Cole things.
After the the story we put together Santa's snack... Cookies, Milk, Carrots (Caden insisted we have enough for all of "Rudolph's reindeer friends" as well) as well as a special Santa treat.. beer! I've heard Santa leaves extra presents for the parents if he finds a brew-ski waiting for him! As you can see by the picture the kids snacked a bit on the food as they were preparing it. You will also see Cole's "cheese" face (him saying cheese) not exactly every photographer's dream! But cute for the time being!

After the snack was put together Caden and I read "Charlie Brown's Christmas" and "The Polar Express" while Rob put Cole to bed. Once the kids were down we hustled around to finish wrapping stocking stuffers and blow up their bouncy toys for them to see first thing when they came downstairs. We also had to of course eat Santa's snacks.. or at least some! We started a new tradition this year as well... Santa tracks... fake snow sprinkled around Rob's feet coming from the fireplace. We also learned however, from now on to vacuum up the tracks prior to opening presents, as it made THE largest mess I have ever seen.. I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing fake snow all the way 'til next Christmas!

"Caden + Cole, Thank you for the snack. Rudolph and his reindeer friends loved their carrots. Tell your Daddy he makes great beer! - Santa"

Flu Shots

The kids went to their new pediatrician yesterday, which is about 5 minutes from our house rather than 25... While we loved our old pediatrician, it was getting to be too time consuming having to travel that far. So we made the switch before the new baby arrives and we are going even more often.

Both boys had flu shots... Caden was not a fan, and cried for about 1 1/2 hours, part of that time was a result of being overtired.. as I am sure he had no idea what he was whining about after the first 10 minutes. Cole took the flu shot and his vaccine like a champ with about 5 seconds tops of crying. He also had his 18 month wellness visit. Weighing in at 24lbs 12oz and measuring 33 3/4" which is interesting because that is how tall he was at his 15 month visit... so we're not sure which one is incorrect since he has definitely grown, in fact he is growing much like a weed these days. He can now stand on Caden's stool in the bathroom and turn on the water to wash his hand (yes singular, he only washes his right hand, I think because he still needs to hold on with his left). We often suddenly hear the water running as he has snuck into the bathroom.. he is quite a clean boy!
The Dr. doesn't seem too concerned with Cole not talking yet. If we don't see any advances in 3 months we should call and we can talk more about speech therapy, etc. We're not too worried as it is clear he is well advanced in his motor skills. It amazes me that he can jump, and both feet leave the ground! He also goes up and down the step between the kitchen and family room with no hands.. I was washing grimy fingerprints from the doorway forever with Caden! He can also uncap and cap a pen with ease, perhaps memory fails, but I don't remember Caden being able to do it as well as he! Cole however has made huge strides in just the past month verbally, he actually will sit for a story most of the time now, rather than throwing the book and then stomping on it! although he still does that from time to time. He is also trying more to say words when we ask him to, although it is generally just the first syllable that he repeats.. better than nothing, before he would look at us as if we were crazy and run off to climb something!

All in all both boys are healthy!

Surprises... or not!

I thought I was done blogging for the weekend.. but Caden just had me practically crying with laughter, and Rob steaming in.. anger and disbelief! I was wrapping a few presents, and Caden said to me, "Daddy wrapped some presents for you, they are under the tree... NO PEEKING, it's a surprise!" I said don't worry I won't peek I like surprises. He said "Yeah, it's a jacket!.... and he wrapped up some books too!" Rob says, that's the last time he lets Caden help with wrapping!"

Merry Christmas! Hope your little elves aren't snitches!

Belly Week 31 and Dr's Visit

So we were late getting pictures taken because of the power outage, and had to forgo the 30 week picture since we were living out of our bags, and didn't bring the green tank top!
We also had a dr's appt this past Tuesday. All is well, baby is still head down. Heartbeat is 140, which is the same as Caden and Cole were back in the day. She says the heartbeat truly is a wives tale (below 140 = boy, above = girl), she says she has delivered many girl babies that were in the 120 range. Doesn't matter anyway since 140 is right on the line. I can say this baby is definitely carrying differently, perhaps not visible externally but internally I have a bowling ball of a head much lower than the other two.. I can't bend forward very far without being stopped, and it is already harder for me to walk long distances, especially at a substantial pace! or stand for very long. I feel lazy and useless! and we still have 8 1/2 weeks to go! Yikes! With the boys I didn't feel this way until the last week or so, hopefully we'll have a shift in position. Enjoy the belly comparisons! We'll get back on track with Week 32 next weekend!

Belly Week 31
Cole - Belly Week 30

Caden - Belly Week 30

Gingerbread House

We attempted our first Gingerbread house this year! We bought a kit, maybe next year we'll do it from scratch. It worked well, no unexpected collapses! Cole wanted to help eat the candy and cookie pieces as you can see below when he is on top of the table...Rob could only keep him away for so long! We were nearly done when Caden said to me..."Okay Mom, have fun decorating" His way of telling me he was done helping, and going to play!

1st Big Snow!

Friday was the first big snow. When I got home from work Rob and the kids were already outside doing some shovelling, and gearing up to take out the sleds. Here are a few pictures, it had to be quick since the snow was still coming down! Cole didn't like sledding the first few times down.. but warmed to the idea after that, as long as he was sledding with Rob, he was still not a fan of solo rides! After they came inside for some Hot Cocoa, you can still see their pink cheeks, although they had faded a bunch!

Deck the Halls

Two weeks ago it was tree decorating time! Caden was a huge help this year! He loved putting the ornaments on the tree. Granted many of them ended up on the same branch which I needed to rearrange later, but he tried at least! He also took a great interest in the ornaments themselves which was exciting, as most have a story, either as to why we have them (vacation, special event i.e pregnancy, new house, etc.), or who made them. The kids have also begun their own collection of ornaments, so as to have ornaments for their Christmas tree when some day (a LONG Long long time from now!) they move out. I have many ornaments from my childhood which my Grandmother got me, and friends made or gave me. For Caden's first Christmas and ever since we adopted my friend from work's tradition.. Santa leaves an ornament on the kids doorknob on Christmas Eve, which they find on Christmas morning, each year it is something that relates to the past year, or just an interest they have. Last year Caden got a Thomas the train ornament and Cole got a Baby's 1st Christmas Ornament.
Cole helped undecorate the tree. He would put an ornament on, usually with help because he would get frustrated when it would fall off the branch, then he would take it off and point to a new spot where he wanted it hung. This went on for quite sometime, until finally he grew more interested in trying to remove the ornaments from the ornament box and redistribute them onto the floor. Once we were able to put the lid on, he perched himself on top of it (see below!) He also proceeded to tear apart the shoe box that had held the kids ornaments separate from the rest. Luckily shoe boxes are in abundance in our house! Cole decorates the tree.. you can also see the blue bunny to the left, Caden's 1st homemade ornament!! I was very excited about it!

Caden especially liked placing ornaments as high as he could reach!

He was very focused...

Here Cole takes a break from destroying the place on top of the ornament box

Ta-da! Great shaped tree!