Big Boys

The boys seem to get bigger and bigger every day! Yesterday they officially became 18 month olds!!! Connor is going through a phase right now. I'm not sure what to call the phase, but he wants to be held or cuddled all the time and goes from laughing and being silly to crying that then turns into a dramatic scream. I find myself trying to get them to say more and more because I think most of Connor's issues are lack of communication. He chilled with Daddy on the love seat for most of the evening. We are without air again so it's almost unbearable to be in the house. The new unit is being installed and is a 2 day job. It should be complete this afternoon around 3 or so...THANK GOODNESS!!!! We went out to eat last night, which we rarely do because of B's allergies, but I couldn't take the heat anymore. We went to Golden Corral and the boys chowed on some rotisserie chicken, brussels, broccoli, pears, and ham. It's easier to go somewhere that we don't have to order and wait for food.

Connor chilling with the daddy

I couldn't leave today since the workers are here and constantly in and out of the house. So, I pulled out the kiddie card table my best friend's mom bought the boys for their baby shower. I bought some Color Wonder markers and paper at Target last night, and decided to have craft morning with the kiddos. They actually loved it! Connor can get in and out of his chair by himself, but B needs a little help. He almost took a nose dive off the edge of the chair...fearless little booger!
After we colored, I got out some puzzles. Usually, they throw the puzzle pieces, but when I put the on their little table, they played with them in the purpose attended.

As I was typing this, one of the A/C guys knocked on the door with a rodent in his hands. I immediately thought we had a rodent infestation problem, but that's not the case. Apparently, we have a momma opossum and babies living under our mustang trailer. She ran across the back yard and dropped this little guy right by the workers.
He may look cute, but his feet are freaky looking. Not only that, but I know opossums are sick when they come out during the day....since they are nocturnal animals. That gave me the heeby geebies a little bit...yeeck.

New "DO"s for the Dudes

I've been calling Brandon my WILD MAN lately...and not only due to his personality...baby has some crazy hair! He has 2 cowlicks that grow in different directions so we either have to keep his hair on the longer side or buzz it. I don't want either of the boys to have buzzes. I see too much of that here in soldier land. Eric was off today, so we took them to a kids hair cut place. Note to self...don't attempt this again around nap time!

Please note Brandon's hair...long...

She started cutting it stuck up even WORSE...buzz it was
She buzzed the sides, but not too short and trimmed the top with scissors. I wasn't too wild about it at first, but it's growing on me. His hair has been on the longer side for a few months now, and I'm just not used to seeing him look like a little soldier...hahaha. Yes he cried throughout most of it.
Connor started SCREAMING the minute I put him in his air plane chair. Once again, do not attempt hair cuts around nap time.
Even though he cried through most of it, he sat still and let her do her job.
Look at those tears!
I took a few more pictures after their bath tonight. I still shock myself a little when I look at B's hair.
I put gel in it for the full effect. I think I'll like it even more once it grows out a little.

Eric has a 3 am jump tomorrow and he wanted to hit the sack right after dinner. I took the boys to the mall in search of a formal dress for the battalion formal coming up in September. I found one that MIGHT work, but I have one more formal store I want to go to first. I've bought my last 2 formals at Kristinas and they are so nice there. They were very helpful when I needed a dress just a few short weeks after the babies were born. "Things" weren't quite back to normal and they were very sensitive and encouraging!!!! Wish me luck!

Playing at the Park

We took the boys to a local recreation center this morning to play. This particular center has "toddler" sized equipment and isn't near a main road. The boys only lasted about 30 minutes, but it was getting hot and they were getting sweaty.

Here's Connor thinking he can climb the bars...

B going down the slide HEAD FIRST...Connor watching him
WEE DADDY...here I come
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Connor LOVES stairs and any kind of step. He's doing pretty well going down too...he scoots on his butt...and he tends to hold on as he goes.
B trying to decide which way to go!
There was no one else at this park, and the boys seemed to like it so I'll definitely take them back again sometime.

My Day Out

My twin buddy, Theresa, called me first thing this morning to see if I could meet her at the mall for a "get out of twinville" day of shopping. Thanks to Eric for pulling Daddy Duty for about 4 hours while we shopped the clearance racks. It's amazing how much more I can get done when I don't have the boys with me. I can actually look, try things on, etc. The Children's Place was having a HUGE sale so I picked up 8 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of pants for the boys for next summer for a whopping $30...can't beat that. We rocked out the mall, had a salad at the deli, ran to Target to pick up prescriptions and came back home. The boys had fun with Eric and are back down for their afternoon nap. I'm going to curl up and read my book while they sleep. What a nice day...one of the perks of having a hubby home!

Spaghetti Spaghetti EVERYWHERE!

I gave the boys spaghetti for the first time last night. I've waited so long because tomatoes tend to be an eczema spiker! Brandon's skin is had been pretty much eczema-free for a while now and he's even off his allergy medication. It was time to let them get messy with spaghetti...and they definitely did. Brandon liked it pretty much, but he didn't eat as much as he normally does at dinner. He had it in his hair, all over his face, and down his legs.
Connor had it in his hair, behind his ears, down his back, on his legs, and up his arms. They loved it though. Connor's expression is hilarious in this picture...."Yes I like spaghetti...do you have a problem with that?"

Thanks Grandma Karen

My mom, Grandma Karen, bought the boys these really cute outfits and dropped them in the mail to us. They fit perfectly with plenty of room to grow! She even bought them their "colors" Brandon in blue and Connor in red. Another coincidence, the outfits have a monkey and an elephant on the front, and she crocheted them a suede monkey and elephant when they were born...hmmm....


We went to see the "girl twins" today and had lots of fun playing in their playroom, ate lunch which included chinese veggies for the mommies, and then headed to my friend Heather's house to drop of some Pampered Chef stuff she bought from me and to see her puppy, Cassie!

This is B playing with Josie...a doggy they are doggy sitting. Brandon loved her!!!
Here's Cassie...isn't she adorable?!?!?!?!
Cassie freaked B out a little but only because she licks...a lot! Once she calmed down a little, Connor sat down to pet her...or at least attempt to!

New Fridge

Old fridge...



NO fridge

NEW fridge
YAY! The fridge is up and running and the ice maker is pumping out ice now!

I bought these steaks from the commissary to try. They were stuffed with spinach, red pepper, and mozzarella cheese. I would have liked mine to be cooked just a little longer, but they were still pretty good...they looked really pretty too. Eric liked my parmesan crusted grilled brussels. Yum

6 Years Ago

6 years ago Eric and I got hitched! We treat ourselves to a nice meal every year on our anniversary. Last year we spent it apart, so this year we decided to do it up!!!!! We went to a really nice restaurant in Southern Pines called Ashtens. For our readers who are golf fans, Southern Pines is right next to Pinehurst! We had a very delicious meal, and believe it or not, we didn't talk about the boys at all!!!

This picture looks dark, but I tried to take a picture of the front of the restaurant.

Silly Boys

Our boys are funny kids all the way to the bone. No idea where they get THAT from...

We've been working on utensils lately, and they are doing really well! Connor has started trying to poke his own food with his fork. Brandon dipped his spoon in his applesauce tonight and put it in his mouth. They had pizza for the first time tonight and liked it! When they eat all of their dinner, I give them a chocolate mini eggless muffin and B loves them...Connor not so much. Last night, Brandon reached over to Connor's side of the table and stole half of his muffin with out him noticing....sneaky sneaky.

After a trip to hh gregg to finalize the purchase of a new fridge...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME...we came home for a bath and gel time. B's hair goes into a mohawk really easily...here are some pics


Connor's isn't long enough, but I tried anyway.

Chillin' on the couch

I've really missed being able to chill on the couch and type on the laptop!!!! Eric took it with him so we could communicate easier, but it's nice to have it home! While he catches up with his parents, I thought I'd make a quick post while I watch the season premiere of Project Runway.

Eric was given the day off today. He has to report for formation at 630 tomorrow, but it was nice to chill today. He had a few military errands to run, and then we ran a few together. We got new cell phones today! We now have Verizon instead of Sprint. If anyone has problems reaching us on our cells, let me know because we had our old number ported. We also signed a contract on a new A/C unit today. It should be installed sometime next week. Since the contract is signed, this new company will service our current unit with no extra charge if it goes out before the new one is installed. Not a bad deal!

I made egg free chocolate cupcakes for the boys and let Eric give them chocolate for the first time. Brandon inhaled it, but Connor wasn't so sure. He would lick it, put it in his mouth, take it out, put it back, put in on the table, lick it..etc. He ended up eating it after about 2 minutes or so.

Home Again...for the Second Time

Eric arrived home safely this afternoon from his second deployment in the last 4 years. No more deployments for at least 3...WOO HOO!!!

Here's our sign welcoming Daddy home
Connor being goofy
Brandon...finally not crying. Poor baby cried all morning until I gave him his pacie...serious teething issues right now.
Here's a picture of the waiting area...lots of people
We walked to the next "hanger" and let the kids get out and play. Fortunately, it wasn't a super hot day!
Here's a picture of the plane coming in. We aren't allowed to take pictures of the plane once it lands or the soldiers in formation until they start marching into the waiting area...so no more pictures of that!
The boys passed out waiting for Daddy. We left the house at 930 and we didn't see Eric until 230, and then didn't get back to the house until 530...long day!

Here's a video of the troops marching in. Eric is in the very front, but it's hard to pick him out. I thought it was cool that they had a live band playing!



Here's all of us
Eric and his boys. They played with him tonight like they are best buds! It was nice to clean up dinner without having to stop every minute to see what the boys are getting into.

That's it...I'm exhausted from the day. Don't be surprised if we don't answer our phones or make any posts for a while. Lots of catching up to do! Thanks to everyone who supported us!

Operation Preparation

Eric should be home this week some time, so we're in the middle of Operation Preparation. I had a long list of things I wanted to get finished before he came home. Some of those things included...

Welcome Home signs...DONE
Mowing the Lawn while simultaneously killing the mower...DONE
Cleaning his office and getting rid of my junk I allowed to accumulate there...DONE
Vacuuming out both cars and wiping the drops of milk from sippy cups...DONE
Stocking the fridge with more food than I've bought in a really long time...DONE
Scrubbing all hard floors Cinderella style, on my hands and knees with bleach...DONE
All laundry...DONE
Cleaning our bedroom so it doesn't look like the local laundry room at Victoria's Secret...DONE
Scrapbooks caught up...DONE


Needless to say, I'm totally wiped out. I don't have a lot to do tomorrow, and I plan on chilling all day other than getting another estimate from an A/C place. We managed to get the A/C up and running, but I don't think it's going to last long. I got one estimate on Friday and realized this unit and duct work will cost us as much as I paid for the first 3 years of my college education...mild heart attack. I'm going to schedule a few more estimates. Once we decide, we're going to go ahead and do it before this old one konks out on us again. The unit itself is 17 years old and it's been good to us for the last 4 years. Oh well!

Here are a few pictures of the boys...playing outside...

...and eating at the big boy table! I don't miss those high chair trays at all!!!!

ThermoSTAT

We need a new one...STAT!!! Some of you know that our air conditioning is on the fritz. That's the nice way to put it. I'm not going to go into the long story about what happened, but a worker came to look at the unit and it hasn't worked since he left. We're HOT HOT HOT! Here's a picture of my thermostat reading 85 degrees at 10 last night.

Needless to say, I put the boys to bed in diapers only. Here's their new favorite place to sit while they brush their teeth!
We aren't sure how "broken" our unit is, but it's the original unit on the house...17 years old. Since we added on, the unit is a little small. We were planning to replace the entire heating and cooling system in the spring, but we might be doing that now! I'm bummed that Eric might have to come home to a HOT house after being in the sandbox for almost 14 months. The boys are at MDO to enjoy a little air while I'm here waiting for some estimates...none of which have showed up. If any of my readers are local and have extra fans or a random window air unit sitting around...HOOK A SISTER UP! There's a small chance that it won't need to be replaced, but I'm not holding my breath...that would be nice though.

If the unit isn't working by dinner time, we're going to pack up and head to Theresa's house for the weekend. What's one more set of twins in one house!!! I'm so glad I have friends who will stick their neck out for me in a time of need. We'll probably spend the better part of the afternoon outside since it's cooler outside than it is inside. It rained really hard last night so the ground is cool and wet. The boys will love it!!!

Crazy Day

Today started out as just another Danko day..until B busted his mouth!

I'm honestly not sure how he did that! He never fell on anything, wasn't chewing on anything, and wasn't crying! I looked at him and noticed blood. I gave him a cold wet washcloth to chew on and his water cup and he's was fine. He's a tough kid.
The boys have figured out how to get on the couch without any help from me. Lord help me! I was waiting for the appraiser to come so I couldn't put them down for their nap, but they were SO tired. Brandon was just laying on the couch chillin'.
While the appraiser was in the backyard, Jade and Rena were in the house. The boys were trying to give Rena their pacies. So cute.

I had a plumber and an HVAC guy out today to fix some little things. The HVAC guy did something to our A/C unit, so we currently don't have any A/C. It's about 84 degrees in the house! I called him and he said he would be out after his next 2 appointments. In my opinion, he should have come to us first since he screwed something up. Instead, we're going to have to live in the heat until about 6 or so. The boys went down for their nap, but I have a feeling they will be waking up soon...SWEATY! Hopefully he can come out and fix it real quick, or the boys and I might be looking for somewhere to stay tonight.