9 months brings lots of milestones

Cole turned 9 months last week and he is just checking off his milestones like it's a grocery list.

Putting himself in a sitting position, by himself - Check.

Clapping - Check.

Cutting his first tooth - Check.

Crawling - Check.

It's crazy around here. And that's just one kid. Carter is doing great too. He absolutely loves school. He comes home and insists that his artwork from that day go up on the fridge. He tells me about his day, though it does take some questioning on my part. Geez, now I know how my parents felt when they would ask me how my day was and I'd respond "fine." Carter does something similar when I ask what he did at school. He almost always says "I played with my friends." Too cute. Though tonight we were talking about his friends and he mentioned one girl at school and said "She pushes." I asked him if she pushed him and he said "Yes, outside." I asked him if Mrs. Hewitt saw it and he said "No, Mrs. Zarse did. And she told ****** 'No pushing." I love having conversations with him. I sure hope it lasts. Tomorrow is Circus Day at school. They are transforming the gym into a Circus and he's looking forward to it.

We've had wonderful weather here lately. It has really made for some fun family time. Two weekends ago we went to the Cy Fair Fire Fest. Carter loves fire trucks and this got him up close and personal with some trucks. Check out the matching shirts the boys have on. My friend Phoebe gave those to them when Cole was born. I promise I didn't go out and buy fire truck shirts just for the Fire Fest. But the cold spell came just in time to show them off. Just perfect.

And compare the picture from this year to the one from last year.

We went to the zoo this past weekend. It was Zoo Boo, where they celebrate Halloween. They had candy stations setup all around the zoo and Carter had fun "trick-0r-treating." It was good practice for the 31st. Here he is petting the goats.

We've been spending a ton of time in the backyard lately. Carter plays on his climber and slides. Brian throws the frisbee around. Cole and I sit on a blanket and play with his toys. We blow bubbles, throw the ball around and just really try to appreciate this season. It's been great so far. This is a video of Carter doing some somersaults.

This is one of Carter after he caught his first frog. He was carrying it around for awhile and as the minutes passed, the tigher he held onto that thing so it wouldn't hop away. I really thought he'd squish it to death. We finally let him go, though Carter came back looking for him the next morning. Thankfully for the frogs sake, he hasn't returned.

Here is Carter running around the backyard popping bubbles.

And Cole standing by his play table. He is getting good at balancing himself. He'll hold on with one hand quite often and then sometimes just use his belly for a little support. Rarely will he stand by himself because he'll fall after a second or two.

Another thing he's mastered is his Little Tikes basketball goal. He's really into balls right now and putting them where they belong. Here he is scoring his first goal, seriously, it was his first one. I just happened to have the camera out when he did it.

And another one of him with his favorite ball toy.

Here he is getting ready to crawl. I have tons of "almost pictures" of him getting ready to crawl. None of the actual event. But I did get it on video - even better. I've tried to get him to do it again, but I need to wait until Carter is at school or napping. Carter keeps taking the toys I use as incentives for Cole to crawl too. Or even better, he'll just give it to him. He doesn't understand the point of my "game."

While it's been mostly good weather we have had a little rain. It prompted me to have Mom pick out some cute rain gear for Carter to wear to school. I think he's going to need it for real tomorrow morning. He's just been playing in it lately.

And this is a cute picture of the boys in the bathtub. Carter loves to wash himself and Cole as well. We go through soap like crazy, Carter washes his hair several times a night.

So as you can tell we've been pretty busy lately. Now imagine us all (well not Brian) being sick. No it's not the swine flu, though there was a close call when one of our friends came down with it. Just your run of the mill cold that has turned into ear infections for the boys (again). I'm just suffering from the coughing and sneezing and utter exhaustion, but I feel I might be turning the corner. We have another weekend of great weather coming our way, so we MUST get healthy soon. Besides, Sissy and Ruppert are coming for several days. Matthew was in for the night last night. And Allison is coming for a short weekend stay as well. Then next week Erica and her boyfriend Jake are coming for 4 days. Then the following weekend Becky is headed into town for 4 days. So we have LOTS of fun ahead in the coming weeks, no time for sickness.

Off to bed, this one blog post has taken an HOUR to do and I need my sleep.