The Zoo...

On Wednesday we took advantage of a gorgeous spring day here in Indy and spent a few hours at the zoo. As always it was alot of fun. Austin and Caitlin love their animals. They remembered most of them from last year's several trips. This was the first time that they got a chance to see the dolphin show. They sat there very mesmerized, clapping for the dolphins when they did their tricks and Austin, of course, was very concerned about getting the water cleaned up when they splashed the crowd. They got a kick out of hearing the dolphins make their sounds, doing flips out in the water, and waving at them. Other hits of the day were riding the merry go round, "the man" feeding the penguins, the rhino, the elephants, and the zebras.

Yesterday (Friday), we went to Ft. Wayne to see our friends Carrie and Andy, who have twins (Ben and Kate) about a year younger than Austin and Caitlin. It was great to see them play together. They did very well for the most part. I tend to still think of Austin and Caitlin as pretty small, but when you put them next to kids a year younger, they are much bigger. Really amazing, and you understand how quickly they are growing up! I can live with them already about to turn 3, but not sure I want them to get much older or bigger. It is so much fun where they are now! It was a great few hours hanging out. We wish we could do it more often!

With it being so nice out this past week, Austin is doing his duty mowing the lawn (he hasn't lost the love of it over the winter), and is consumed by "mumping bahbage" (dumping garbage). Caitlin is basically just trying to learn everything. It is hard to single anything specific out, although she is breaking out as a performer. She will act out and sing entire episodes of "The Backyardigans." It is a cute show about 5 different characters whose families share a big backyard. They use their imaginations to act out all kind of different things, from being pirates, to clowns, to knights. I actually don't mind watching it out of all of them. Austin and Caitlin will act them out, and I think it has really encouraged them to use their imagination.


A few pictures from the past few days...

Helping Daddy plant a lilac bush...

Austin maintaining the lilac bush the next day. They will tell you we have to check it and water it every day!

Caitlin always ready to smile for the camera. She is sitting in the grass with "Hoopie." She has made sure to tell us he is "tinky" and needs a bath!

seen and heard...

austin requests his naps and bedtime daily...so sweet.

caitlin's favorite words..."wha choo doin?" and "can we...."

dancing and singing to the backyardigans theme song AND acting out almost an entire episode where caitlin plays the roles of "queen tasha" and "uniqua the knight" and austin gets to be the "moose of the mist". they have great imaginations!

using color wonder markers and paintbrushes to color the same picture over and over together.

playing on the swingset and in the sand table because we've FINALLY had some nice weather!

wearing their new bicycle helmets (dora for caitlin & thomas the tank engine for austin) to do EVERYTHING! safety first! :)

austin putting on his own pants and shirt! caitlin putting on her own shoes!

Boopsie (Austin's version of whoopsie)...

Sorry we haven't posted in some time. Kim hasn't felt great the past week or so, and I have been busy doing what I do most of the time...work! We had a great Easter, and we will post pictures soon. Caitlin loved getting all dressed up, while Austin wasn't so excited. He really wanted his vest "boff" and kept tugging on it all morning. They loved the fact that the Easter Bunny stopped by, and we really had our first experience of toddlers on a sugar high, and then coming down to the low...NOT FUN!!!

We had our friends Justin and Bethany over last weekend to watch some of the NCAA games, along with A&C's favorite, "Baby Kellen", their nearly 6 month old son. Kellen holds a dear place in the hearts of our kids. It is cute to hear them talk about him.

I hope that Kim will update this quickly...she is the one that has all the good stories on these two.

Hope everyone is well!!!

excitement...

on wednesday we spent most of our day at the pediatrician and e.n.t. because austin stuck a foam craft shape up his nose!!! ryan went in to the offices with austin while caitlin and i waited in the waiting room. she was not happy that her austin was away from her!!! the e.n.t. finally removed the thing (with ryan and 2 nurses helping to hold austin still). when they came out i held austin and the poor thing was drenched with sweat. he took a great nap in the car on the way home and is fine now. hopefully that was the first and last of our "foreign objects" dr. trips!

today's news...

well, the kids had school this morning...here's what their teachers told me...caitlin needed to get a diaper change so austin had a fit that she was leaving the room without him. when caitlin returned, austin ran over and gave her a big hug. how sweet is that? apparently caitlin was going around asking each kid if they'd like a hug too. :)

then a & c "double teamed" one of their classmates who was riding in a fire engine. they both stood next to the fire engine then caitlin climbed in over the back while hooking her arm around the little boy's neck. she finally got in and sat next to him...he was not happy about that so he got out and ran....austin jumped in and they rocked back and forth in the fire engine for a few minutes. it's funny to watch them with other kids when they don't know i'm there!!! :)

we finally had a decent day of weather over the weekend so the kids were able to try out the new swingset...they loved it! poor ryan got quite a workout pushing the swings! it's going to be so much fun having that this year!

we are excited too about the vacation we have planned for this year...we're taking the kids to the beach in florida! (no disney for another couple years) ryan found a nice condo to rent on the beach in siesta key so we are looking forward to some nice relaxing family time!!! we're driving which will be an adventure in itself...hoping the kids will be potty trained by then so between a, c, and me i'm sure there'll be a ton of stops!!!!! my poor hubby!! ;)

another funny thing...caitlin had a hangnail & she told me..."have a toenail on my finger mom." then i looked over and saw austin trying to pull it off for her!

why are these two so funny?!

this is gonna be quick...

1st, austin is going through a great phase where he prefers to be bare from the waist down. this wouldn't be a big deal if our guy would use the potty! however, last night, unbeknownst to us, he took off his pants and diaper at bedtime and woke up crying b/c he was sleeping in a puddle!!! see, never a dull moment around here. tonight i did a check once the kids settled down and the pantsless wonder struck again. thankfully i re-diapered him before he had an accident!

2nd, the kids are sooooo loving toward each other lately...seeking hugs from each other and once hugging, they will say "missed you aussin" and "missed you keekee" (don't know why they would miss one another since they're usually attached at the hip, but whatever...i love watching it!). at bedtime tonight they gave each other hugs and kisses and said "love you aussin" and "love you keekee". dang, they're the best!

ODDS & ENDS...they made up a game of putting plastic eggs on top of a blanket and shaking them off...they loved that! caitlin said her tights were "really socky" (which i found HILARIOUS!)...dang, i know there's more but my brain is fried at the moment...perhaps i'll think of it later......

yep, they're still cute!

sorry it's been awhile...

the kids got their swingset and we haven't been out to try it out. it has been sooooo cold lately! can't wait till spring FINALLY rolls around! ryan likes to think ahead to how excited they are going to be when they get to run over to it and play. me, i'm just worried about splinters. (typical mom!).

the past few days the game has been for austin to hold caitlin's hand while caitlin directs the play...she tells him, "come on aussin. find one more clue." soooo, i drew a dozen or so blue's clues paw prints and taped them around the house for them to find. austin was way more excited about this game then caitlin. i thought it would be the opposite...just goes to show that you never know what's going to excite them!

the day before, the excitement was about an "art project". i taped pieces of contact paper to the sliding glass door with the sticky side out. austin and caitlin adhered pieces of yarn and some foam shapes to the contact paper. they both loved this one! it kept them interested for quite awhile and they ran back and forth to it throughout the evening.

we have really been enjoying them the past few days...they can be so loving toward one another and they are usually really well behaved.

austin has been "anti-pants" and when he's cranky he can kick up quite a fuss when you try to put his pants back on (literally). so, a lot of the time i just let him run around in his diaper and shirt. whatever. he also does the funniest, longest fake sneeze in the world. so funny!!! caitlin is back to enjoying baths since we introduced bubbles and "paints" in the tub. she is very dilligent about using a sponge and washing all the bubbles off of her diego bath toy. there is no disturbing her during diego's sponge bath! :) she's a crack up!!!