Our Little Ducklings

Guess I'll start with an update of what we've been up to the last several weeks. The boys moved up to the Ducklings class for the summer. In the fall, they will move up to the Robins class. The biggest change we have noticed is that they are much dirtier when they come home. The Ducklings get to play on the big playground where there is sand. The first couple of weeks, they had sand in their hair, ears, shoes, etc. We have started tossing their crocs in the bathtub with them each night!

A few weeks ago, Andy and I went to an engagement party for our friends Ray and Courtney (see pic below). What a great party! We started out at a beautiful home in Lakewood where we had drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Then we headed to Lakewood Country Club for dinner. It was a fabulous evening, made even better by Andy's parents who agreed to keep the boys that night in Fort Worth so we could stay out late and not be awakened at 6:00 am by two toddlers. We can't wait to see everyone again in Lake Tahoe for the wedding! And no, we are not taking the boys with us.

While Andy and I were getting ready for the engagement party, Ben and Henry were in Fort Worth with Mamo and Papo. They headed over to Fort Worth after their nap and went to ride the Forrest Park train. Mamo was kind enough to share some of her pictures (I can't find my camera, thus the limited number of other photos) - looks like they had a good time.

We decided to open up the house to the boys last week. They were limited to the living room and the front bedroom before and it had gotten to the point where they would scream when we walked toward the front of the house. So we removed the gate between the living room and dining room and are letting them wander around. As a result, we have learned that we need to keep a few doors closed. Ben heads straight for the bathroom to play with the toilet or the laundry room to put the cat's food in her water bowl. Henry doesn't seem to have an obvious pattern, but is able to find something he shouldn't be playing with in every room.

Henry did learn something new this past weekend. When we put them in bed Saturday night, Henry only had his pajama top on because he had stepped in the cat's water bowl and gotten his pajama pants wet. Before I go to bed, I always check on the boys. When I looked into Henry's crib, I saw an odd shape in the corner. I reached over and picked it up - it was a diaper. So I reached over to Henry and felt a bare bottom. Rather than put the diaper back on him, I got Andy to come see what Henry had done. Then Andy started to put the diaper on him, but we realized that he and his bed were completely soaked. So we changed Henry's clothes and the sheet in his crib and put him back to bed.

For Father's Day, we went to lunch with Andy's family at Ojeda's, Andy's and his dad's favorite Mexican restaurant. By the time we left, it was past the boys' naptime so they both fell asleep in the car. We got home and put them in their beds, but no luck. Their powernaps just re-energized them so they talked/cried/screamed for two and a half hours before we gave up on naptime. Also, Henry managed to remove his diaper again. Are we going to have to start using duct tape to fasten his diaper?

So that's about it for now. The boys' birthday is coming up so that will probably be the next post. Hopefully we will have pictures to share!

Big Boy Haircuts and Mother's Day

I am beginning to realize that my babies aren't really babies anymore. I guess that officially ends when they are 2 and we start tracking their age in years instead of months, which is less than 2 months away now. But it is time to get used to the idea that they are little boys now and not babies. So we took them to get their hair cut on Saturday. They've had their hair cut before, but I had wanted to preserve their "baby" hair so it was really just a trim. This time they really got it cut. By the time it was done, there was more hair on the floor than when I get my hair cut. Ben was really good through the whole thing, but Henry did not want to cooperate. Here they are after their haircuts.

After the boys woke up from their naps, Andy gave me an early Mother's Day gift. He took the boys outside to play so I could take a nap. While they were outside, Andy got the kiddie pool out for them. Of course, they were wearing their pajamas and had on regular diapers instead of swim diapers. So by the time I got out there, they were soaked and their diapers were hanging down to their knees. But who cares because they were having a blast.

For Mother's Day, in addition to letting me take a nap, Andy got me a beautiful bouquet of tulips. Ben and Henry gave me their handprints with a poem that they made at school and a bag of candy (Andy says that is all they could afford). This morning, we went to church and then met Andy's family for lunch at Peggy Sue's, where Andy tied a napkin around Ben like a cape. He wore it almost the whole time we were there.

Happy Mother's Day to Gee, Mamo, Aunt Christi, Aunt Nikki, and Aunt Kellie!

The Adventures of Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley came to visit us in February. He arrived on a very cold day in Dallas (about 30 degrees). In fact, he was lucky he made it to our house that day because the roads were icy. When Flat Stanley arrived, he was very tired because he had traveled 770 miles to get to our house.

While Flat Stanley was with us, he traveled to many other cities, including Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Galveston, Phoenix, Glendale, Las Vegas, Denver, and Cheyenne. Here are some pictures of his adventures!

Flat Stanley at Hayley's 1st birthday party

Flat Stanley got stuck in a cactus in Phoenix

Flat Stanley riding the train at DFW Airport

Flat Stanley rode in First Class from Phoenix to Dallas

Flat Stanley at the Alamo in San Antonio

Flat Stanley at the Alamo in San Antonio

Flat Stanley in Cheyenne, Wyoming

Flat Stanley celebrates Easter with the Iveys

Flat Stanley's new favorite food - crepe with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

Flat Stanley in Denver, Colorado

Good bye, Flat Stanley! We will miss you! Safe travels back to Georgia!

Easter at the Iveys'

Yes, we're still here. And still busy. The boys are growing like weeds and talking up a storm now. We still don't understand most of what they say but are recognizing more of their words everyday. Henry's favorite word/phrase seems to be "thank you." He says it any time you do anything for him. But I can't get him to say "please" at all. Oh well.

A couple of weeks before Easter, Andy and I went to Houston for my cousin Reagan's wedding. It was a great to see so many of my family there. We had a great time hanging out with my cousins.


On Easter weekend, Jordan and her friend Jessica came to stay with us. They had tickets to see Nickelback in concert and wanted to shop in Dallas for Jordan's prom dress. I got to help Jordan pick out her dress, which was a lot of fun.

On Easter Sunday, we had all of Andy's family over to our house for burgers. Fortunately it turned out to be a warm day and the rain had stopped so we were able to play outside all afternoon. We had an Easter egg hunt for all of the kids, with the boys getting a head start since they are the youngest. I helped Henry hunt for eggs, holding his basket and helping him find more eggs. He did great until he found one that had coins in it. When he heard the sound it made when he shook the egg, he lost all interest in the hunt for more eggs and just stood there shaking that egg.



Ben found a few eggs, put them in his basket, and then flipped his basket upside-down and watched the eggs fall out. He thought this was a lot of fun so he did it again and again. Lucky for him, his cousins decided to help him get more eggs.




We took the boys to the developmental pediatrician last week and were amazed at their progress in the last few months. They are both ahead of schedule when it comes to their motor skills. And although they are still behind on language skills, they have definitely made up some ground since their last appointment. They are now caught up to their adjusted age. Maybe when we go back in July, they will have caught up to their actual age.

On Thursday morning I received a call from the school that Ben had an "accident." He fell on his face on the concrete when they were playing outside. His teacher was concerned that he might have damaged his front teeth. So I left work and drove to the school to see if I needed to take him to the doctor. When I got there, he looked pretty bad - his forehead and nose were all scraped up and he had a busted upper lip. I tried to look inside his mouth, but he didn't want me to touch so all I could see was that his gums were bleeding. I decided to call the pediatrician's office to see if I needed to take him in. I talked to a nurse who told me to take him to a pediatric dentist. I decided to check his teeth again before calling them though and was happy to find that both his front teeth were still firmly in place. So no trip to the dentist, but he looks pitiful.

Guilty!

Life in the Ivey house has been pretty boring lately. I've was working long hours and finally about to have a break. I didn't have much on my calendar for last week except I had to report for jury duty on Monday. After the previous work week, I was actually looking forward to being somewhere other than the office and having a good excuse to not answer my phone or email. I also looked forward to picking up the boys once I was dismissed and getting home early. It didn't quite work out that way.

One thing I learned is that the county is probably the most inefficient organization I have ever experienced. I had a book with me and actually read the whole thing, start to finish, while I was there waiting. Another thing I learned is that there are a lot of stupid people out there, and the voir dire process is great for exposing this stupidity. When I had had just about all I could take (it was almost 7:00 pm), they finally picked the jury, and I was one of the lucky 12.

It took 3 days to present the evidence, make closing arguments, and deliver a verdict. The defendant was charged with aggravated robbery. The most interesting witness was the defendant's accomplice who claimed that his handwritten signed confession was all a lie and that he had been sexually coerced into testifying by the female prosecutor. We also got to watch the video from the surveillance camera at least 20 times. After about 8 hours of deliberation over 2 days, we the jury found the defendant guilty of aggravated robbery. While we were deliberating, the attorneys had negotiated a sentence in the event that we came back with a guilty verdict so the judge sentenced the defendant to 5 years in prison, and we were dismissed.

Other than jury duty, we have been pretty low-key. The boys are talking more and more, which is fun to hear. And they are exploring everything. They have figured out how to open the drawers of my dresser so we have discovered my clothes all over the place. Once they have emptied the drawers of all clothing, they like to climb in. They also love to try on our shoes. I put one of my tall boots on each of them and got some pictures of them walking around the house. And they are fascinated with my suitcases and love to drag them around.

Hayley Turns 1!

Happy Birthday to cousin Hayley! She turned 1 this month and had her first birthday party on Valentine's Day. We drove down late Friday night again and didn't arrive until almost 11:00. But the boys slept most of the way so it wasn't too bad. They had a really good turnout at the party, lots of little kids running around. And Hayley got lots of presents. She seemed to love being the center of attention and had a great time eating cake and opening presents.

After dinner, the boys and Hayley took a bath. I got some great pictures of them all in the bathtub together. The boys had a great time with their cousin and it will be so much fun to watch them all play together when Hayley starts walking.

Sunday morning we got an early start back to Dallas. It was nice to get back early that afternoon and have some time to unwind before the week started. The boys and I took advantage of the beautiful day to go on a walk. They love their new jogging stroller and the opportunity to be outside.

On the way back to Dallas we stopped at McDonald’s to eat lunch. This was the boys’ first trip inside a McDonald’s. We got them each a Happy Meal, one with chicken nuggets and the other with a cheeseburger. We also got one with french fries and one with apple slices. They boys have recently discovered the joy of dipping chicken in ketchup so Andy gave Ben a little tub of ketchup. He had lots of fun dipping everything in it, including his apple slices. We got some fun pictures to document this momentous first.

On Monday night we had our friends Jon and Kristina over for dinner. They just recently moved back to Dallas from McKinney. It will be great to have them so close. We look forward to seeing them more often. On Friday, we had dinner with Ray and Courtney to celebrate their engagement! They are getting married in Lake Tahoe in September. We can’t wait to go – what a wonderful time of the year to go to Tahoe. It should be a gorgeous wedding.

Snow Day!

I guess a more accurate description would be "Ice Day." The boys have stayed home from school the past two days thanks to the winter weather. I was in Phoenix Monday and Tuesday so Andy stayed home with them yesterday. I was lucky enough to make it home last night before the ice got too bad, but we woke up to find the driveway, streets, and Andy's truck covered with ice. School was closed again, as well as the doctor's office (the boys had an appointment scheduled for this morning), so I stayed home with them today while Andy braved the cold to go into the office for a few hours.

We headed down to Houston this past weekend to see Dave Ramsey with Christi and Bryan. Andy and I recently completed his Financial Peace University class so we were excited at the opportunity to see him live. We got Christi and Bryan tickets for Christmas and then Christi called into the show to get his advice and he gave her two more tickets. So Andy and I got to tag along. Thanks to Gee and Sally for watching all of the kids all day!

The boys had their 18-month check-up a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe they are 18 months old! The time has flown by and before I know it, they'll be in kindergarten. Andy has been encouraging me to post some trips down memory lane so be prepared for us to rewind a bit. I had considered starting a blog when I was pregnant but didn't think I would keep up with it. Now I wish I had so I would have some sort of documentation of that time. So I will just have to try to do it now while I can still remember everything.

Other than that, here are a few pictures of the boys with one of their favorite (and most annoying) toys. It is a cat piano with a microphone, which they have discovered and love to talk into. One of the particularly annoying features is the "Meow" sound. You know the Meow Mix commercial with the song "Meow, meow, meow, meow,...?" You can play that on this piano! I'll try to record it and post it one day so everyone can experience it.