Happy Birthday Mary Wells!!

One of Turner's favorite playmates turned three! We were thrilled to help her celebrate at the Little Gym.

The "mean kid", Turner, Taylor and Mary Wells. "The mean kid" was named by Turner and is Mary Well's cousin who stole Turner's juice, then insisted on sitting beside him. They keep wanting to see him as we review pictures on my phone. Funny kids!!

2011 Christmas Day at Nanny Dove's House

Christmas day tradition!! Nanny Dove's for the day. I have been going there for the past 37 years and will never stop. After the presents were upwrapped, we showered and loaded the boys for the short trip to Winnsboro!!
Even Monkey and the new elephant were invited too .

Taylor looking handsome in his Christmas sweater.

Taylor: "Nanny, we are here!!"

Sweet Nanny giving out the little presents to tide the kids over for the big ones!!!

New pencils and candy for the big kids and cars for T and T!

Aunt Martha (Gan's younger sister) and Nanny Dove (93) pose for a quick picture.

Sweet ole Turner loves to give hugs to his monkeys!!!

And the day would not be complete without a hug from Gan. Poor daddy was tired from the early morning awakening.

Nanny Y gets some love from Taylor!!!

Boo, Turner and Gan

Taylor helps Nanny open her presents.

T and T with Nanny

2011 Christmas Morning!

Funny thing. The hype was forgotten when the boys woke up at 6. Ben and I heard the pitter patter down the hall and felt the thug as the boys greeted us good morning. No mention of Santa...just the normal request to watch Dora in our bed. Daddy jumped up and made the announcement.... it was then that the excitement began!!!

Turner inspecting Santa's table.

Playing with their new critters and their new home!!!

" cooking donuts and pop tarts for breakfast"

Taylor cutting some fruit.....Turner: " bull is hungry"

Taylor: "he like milk and cookies"

Tearing through the presents!

T and T cooking for all the animals.

Tay is relaxing with his new lamb!!

Turner and his animals enjoy breakfast with a "uvie".

Addicted to his new Dora, Diego and Clifford "uvies"!

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

Taylor and Turner were super ready for the big day! We had been reading books about how the jolly old man comes down your chimney and the other ritualistic plans. Of course, Mr. Serious (Turner) was believing none of it. I swear he looked at me like "Lady please. No fat man is coming down that chimney!!!" Mr. Innocent, Taylor, was in awe. He got everything ready with precise detail.


We made and decorated cookies and Tay picked out the plate. He placed the water in the sippy cups and left carrots for the reindeer. He left Santa there, I guess, as a decoration for the table. Even the reindeer was invited to the party by Turner.

Mama cleaned the house of the toys so Santa could find his way through the trains, trucks, animals, blocks and 1000 other toys that take over our den every day!!! I bet Santa took a double take, thinking he had gone down the wrong chimney!

How did Santa know a Pottery Kitchen would be a hit!!!

New animals, Books about Dora, Diego and Clifford, "uvies" (movies), games and puzzles and a scuba diver!!

Stockings overflowed with all of their favorite things....

Man, Santa left in a hurry! Crumbs on the floor, half eaten carrots, dirt from the chimney and the gas logs everwhere! I guess he liked the water because the sippy cup was empty on the floor. Even the reindeers must have enjoyed a treat because Mommy's All Clad Pan was filled with water on the oriental rug!

More presents under the tree!!! T and T must have been very, very good.

Santa the Slob leaves the house in it's natural look.... yes, Santa, you have the right house!!!

Waterfront Park Visit

Every day Ben and I say how thankful we are to live in one of the most fabulous places in this world! We are beyond blessed to have such a wonderful place to call our boy's "home town". A new waterfront park just opened, so we had to check it out! For weeks, the boys have been admiring the "big cranes". Now, we can all check out what the excitement was about!!

With their gingerbread houses in tow, we head to meet daddy!!!

Taylor ponders over whether I will detect the opening of the bag for a mid afternoon snack while Turner contemplates throwing his house away so he will have a bag to collect some animals!!

Taylor goes exploring off the beaten path with Shem Creek in the rear.

Snacktime!!!

PLAYTIME!!!

December 2012 Catch Up's

The 3 1/2 years age is full of fun times and challenging times.

Independence: The boys like to get themselves ready and undressed. Turner loves to run around in only his diaper, The minute we get home, he is stripping down at the front door!!!

Potty training: Turner continues to have no interest in potty training and is resisting my every effort. The teachers at school have told me to halt my efforts, in hopes he will be motivated by the peer pressure of Taylor's behavior. Taylor wears big boy underwear all day with few accidents, even during nap time. His teachers say he likes being the cool one (and only one) who stands peeing up in the urinal. He continues to ask for a diaper when he has to poop. We make him sit on the potty while we read one book, then he gets his diaper. When he is done, he brings me the wipes and declares " I got poopy. Change me."

Playdates: What a great age for a playdate! We still love hanging with our neighborhood buddy, Davis, and our twin girlfriends, Lela and Meddin. Thank goodness for Elizabeth who understands the challenges with having twins!! Baby A's (Lela and Turner) and Baby B's (Taylor and Meddin) seem to still be favorites when you ask who they like to play with. Our favorite family hang out is still with the Khouri's...dinners are often and sunday brunches are the norm. Thank goodness for great friends!!!

Favorite foods: Chickfilia, Mike Caulders, Menchie's...fruit and meat still rule the diet. Turner now refuses milk, which is so odd. That kid used to love his milk. Water is the preferred drink when juice is not allowed. They love the freedom of going to "their drawer" in the refrig to get their own snack.....go gurts, applesauce squeezes, cheese slices, fresh fruit, deli meat and turkey pepperoni!!

Tantrums, oh lord!! We have hit the jackpot here. Turner goes from 1 to 10, takes himself away from the situation and comes back a new man. He does great at calming himself down and re-grouping. I always wonder if his ability to self soothe is because he learned early on without taking a pacifier to self soothe? Taylor, on the other hand, goes slowly from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7,8, 9,10 and will put you over the edge with his whine. No ability to self soothe, just 1, 2, 3....you lose a priviledge.

Fighting! The wars have begun. They are now hitting, jumping on each other, holding each other down, dragging each other to time out and just being boys. They still want only the toy that the other brother is playing with. Funny, how the grass is always greener....

And yes, I am still frantically trying to kept our house in order and living with slobs. Poor ole Ralphie doesn't think we should organize and pick up stuff because within minutes, the house is trashed again. (He does have a point by looking at this picture.) We continue to work on throwing your food away when you are done, throwing your clothes in the hamper, while singing out " clean up, clean up...." song.

We still love our beloved Falcons!!!

Monkeys are still Turner's ole faithfuls. The rest of the zoo animals that reside with us tend to have their days as favorites. Some days, it is the deer, other days, the tigers, birds, lions, elephants, dogs, raccoon....the list could go on and on!!! Naptimes are fading although mommy is trying to force them, as they are still up most mornings by 6am!!!

Turner's pose of the year!!!

And visitor of the year......Sweet ole Caroline stayed with us for a long weekend and we loved her. We forgot how much we missed having a dog. Still dogless until the boys are a little older. Maybe a potty training reward for Turner???

St Simons for New Year

What a great picture to open up this BLOG post with...so typical of our days in St. Simons. T and T beat up on their sweet cousins, Elizabeth and Jack, who took it like champs!!!

Daddy and Taylor reading books in bed.

Sweet boy playing in the tub!! No even bath time, although the tub makes for a great hiding place!!

Turner and Daddy playing ball.

Taylor posing with his cousins on the stairs.

Mommy getting some much needed love from Doodle!! Love that dog!!

Turner looking outside, trying to decide if it is worth coming outside.

Taylor about to go biking with Poppy.

Poppy and Anna pose for a picture.

Turner watching a "uvie"....his favorite thing to do.

Cruising through Hawkins Island..... how lucky are we!!!

SNACKTIME on the way home.

"no thank you" says Turner. All this kid needed was his movie!!! : )