Fun February

I think it is so cool that at any given time throughout our day Fritz can be heard talking to or playing with Wyatt from the cartoon Super Why. If it is not Wyatt than it is Pig, Sheep or Princess Pea from Word World and Super Why. He is constantly playing with them in his head and it cracks me up. He is so creative and imaginative with his play!

Fritz and his trains

Gangster Fritz

Olly boy is quite a handful lately. He wants what he wants when he wants it and he wants it now!!! He is a tiny tornado around the house and wants to be into everything. He likes to climb up on the dishwasher and unload for us, tear all of my make up out of my bathroom drawer and throw it around the bathroom and empty the kitchen cabinets in a very loud fashion (flying pots, pans and spoons!) He is terribly cute, but exhausting.

Olly Edward Houston is One Years Old!

Olly turns one today! February 4, 2008 my little man came in this world screaming and he really hasn't stopped. That kid can scream! I can't say it has been an easy year. Olly certainly gave us a run for our money. He was out of his mind fussy from the first night of his life all the way until about the fourth month of his life, but he has certainly made up for it. He now is the cutest, sweetest love bug. He has an amazing laugh and vibrant spirit.

I really love this 12 month stage too! In the past few weeks he has become such a little man in a baby body. He babbles entire conversations and half formulates a handful of words. The obvious ones are Mama and Dada, but he also tries to say brother which I love! As he is babbling you can hear the influctions in his voice and it sounds like a real conversation. It cracks me up because I had forgotten that stage. My sister and I used to talk about how cool it would be when Fritz and Micah could actually hold conversations with us. It seemed so far off (like reaching driving or drinking age did). Now that we are there I forgot how cute the early babbles are!

For Olly's birthday we had a football themed party and followed it with the Superbowl. Everything went really well because I had amazing help from Mark, Mark's parents, my sister-in-law Jenni, Heather, Cat, Mindy and just about everyone at the party! Olly got great presents from all his generous guests and Fritz is enjoying each and every one of them!

Our friends, Mike Krause and Heather Skonberg, both took awesome pictures at the party for me. Here are some of those pictures!

He had me at "Hi Mommy!"

So last night when I got in from a wonderful night of adult conversation with the girls at BW3s, Fritz was still awake. I wasn't surprised when Mark told me he was in our bed. So I walk in and his handsome little face is poking out from under the covers just smiling at me. He said, "Hi Mommy! Did you have fun with your friends?" in the cutest little lispy 3-year-old voice. I said, "Thank you for asking Fritz. I did have fun." He said, "You had fun with your friends...did you play trains? Did you play trains with your friends?" I laughed and couldn't help but go kiss him. I love that in my 3-year-old's head playing trains is what having fun means. He was just sure that we had played trains.

So then as I was getting ready for bed I couldn't help but continue to laugh because I kept picturing all 16 of us girls sitting around a train table at BW3s. Perhaps it wouldn't have been as funny if I hadn't had four beers, but to me it was hilarious.

So then to top my evening off I come out of my bathroom ready for bed and Fritz is still peeping over the covers just smiling at me. He looked at me and said, "Oh Mommy...you are cuteiful!" I said, "what?" He said, "you are cuteiful!" Uhhhhh! My sweet angel. He thinks I am cuteiful. And yes I have called Websters and they are considering it as a word for 2010 :) There are really no other words for how that made me feel. So thank you Fritz William! Mommy loves you!

Cracks Me Up!

Here is a cute video of Olly and Fritz laughing. Apparently me throwing grapes up and catching them in my mouth is hilarious!

I got a glimpse into a little boy's brain today when Fritz found a lighter and asked "what's this Mom?" I grabbed it quickly and said that it makes fire and is very dangerous and he should never touch it. He replied very excitedly, "oh fire...let's make fire let's make fire!" Oh geez! I can remeber how cool lighters and matches seemed when I was a kid. I am going to need to spot check the house for all flammable materials!

LOVE MY BOYS!

I can remember when I was pregnant with Fritz people kept telling me, "boys just love their Mommies!" Not like any child doesn't love their Mom, but nonetheless I liked the idea of lovey little boys. Well it is so true. Fritz has always been my baby and is now my handsome little man. Now that he can articulate his feelings it is so fun to hear what comes out of his mouth. My favorite thing that he has been saying lately is "Mommy...you are my best friend!" Ohhhhhhh how my heart melts. He also likes to say, "Oh Mommy, you are so sweet!"

But with this new talent for speaking his mind also comes the other side. When he is getting disciplined for something he likes to say, "Mommy you have to be nice" or "Daddy you need to use your nice words." At first I thought okay he is right, but then after thinking about it I was like he is the one in trouble here. There is no way I am going to be able to effectively discipline a 3-year-old boy without at least pulling out my angry voice.

Olly reminded us yesterday that he is certainly growing up! Here is a picture of him scaling a box of toys to climb onto the coffee table. Once on top he teetered on the edge not even realizing the inevitable fall that would have occured had I not been there. Silly baby!

And out of the cave we crawl...

I am going to try to get back into the swing of things with this blog! I have been so bogged down with sick babies, husband, babies again, husband again, and a small operation for good measure! It has been an exhausting month and a half of puke, ear infections, tooth aches, headaches and that's right a little more puke. We have capped it off with Mark getting all four wisdom teeth plus one extra for good measure pulled last week. I say capped it off because nobody else is allowed to be sick. We have paid enough money to the doctors office and Walgreens and I have cleaned enough stomach contents out of my car to last me a decade.

There is a new ray of sunshine on our house this week as everyone seems to be feeling fine, the weather is GORGEOUS and we are getting excited about Mr. Ollybean's first birthday! Here are some pictures and updates on the boys.

FRITZ WILLIAM HOUSTON

Hobbies: Playing trains, cars, airplanes and dinosaurs

Favorite shows: Word World, Sid the Science Kid and Handy Manny

Favorite Movies: Robin Hood, Kung Fu Panda, anything Thomas the Train

Favorite Outside Game: Pretending to be dinosaurs or race cars, playing swords with noodles, playing soccer

Favorite Books: The Very Lazy Lion, anything Thomas the Train

Favorite Foods: Turkey and cheeto sandwiches, pancakes, fruit snacks

Here is a cute video of Fritz singing his ABCs. He gets lost in the middle, but he really does know them!

OLLY EDWARD HOUSTON

Favorite Hobbies: bouncing balls, capturing Dad's phone, banging cabinet doors

Favorite Shows: Any dance that Mom does, the Wiggles on occasion

Favorite Movies: anything that occupies Fritz long enough so he doesn't notice Olly playing in Fritz's room

Favorite Outside Games: Pushing trucks down the street, any playground equipment

Favorite Books: anything he can chew on

Favorite Foods: grapes, potatoes, mac n cheese, eggs, apples, broccoli, yogurt, chicken, anything that doesn't eat him first!



Here is a cute video of Olly walking down the street!

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for your advice and comments on my last post! I tried cups and he is definitely using them for water now, but the second formula touched his lips in a sippy cup he scrunched up his little nose and pushed it away. I had the same results with Mark giving him the formula. He aint no fool!!! Mama's milk is just yummier. I am sure we could power through it, but I am pretty sure that it is not worth the effort. He is 9 1/2 months old already and eating all solid food that he is offered so he won't die if he has to stretch out the time between nursings when needed. He has in fact gone up to seven hours without nursing a few times over the past week. I think it is just that time when they slow down on the milk and pick up on the solids. So thanks again for the help!

Here is a cute video of Olly dancing: