These are random photos from the holidays. The babies are no longer babies!

Charlie learned it was fun to brush his teeth at the sink. What a big boy! Look at how proud he is!


Kate did her part to decorate the Christmas tree... with her snack bowl. We found a used sippy cup on the tree the next day!

Kate poops out after a long day out and about. She is actually asleep on her face.

We decided to make cookies, which they loved! Now they want to make cookies all the time.


Charlie loves to imitate his Daddy. He found his Longhorns jersey, and attempted to put it on. What a handsome little man.


Kate sometimes likes to dress in her tutu. She's recently, much to my chagrin, become a fan of pink. She points her tiny finger at everything and verbally labels it as "pink." It does no good to argue with her. Again, I am predicting that she will be a difficult teen. Here she is brushing Jimmy Dean.

The Tots are Two!

We had an Elmo themed party for the kiddos on their second birthday!
Charlie was tired after his nap, but he soon warmed up to the idea of a party when people started arriving.


Charlie loved his "Melmo cakes."



Kate thought they looked delicious. Unfortunately, though, she wasn't as excited as Charlie to dig in. (She doesn't like getting her fingers yucky.)


Charlie borrowed Kate's sunglasses and accessorized himself. Brent thought he looked like Felonious Monk.
Here the kids are drinking their juice with (what little) dinner they ate.


Here's the good stuff. Check out that cool dude.



Kate gave in to messiness, starting with Elmo's nose.


She also got a peek at Charlie D's goodie bag.


Kate enjoyed picking all of Mommy's roses before the party in her fairy wings.


By the end of the evening, Katie was pooped out and asking to go "night, night" on Mommy & Daddy's bed.


Overall, it was a good birthday with great friends. Thanks to all! We love you!

Halloween

The kids dressed as Pebbles and Bam-Bam for Halloween this year! They enjoyed the holiday much more since they've discovered candy! Charlie spent the entire evening running a baby doll stroller up and down driveways. He could've cared less about the actual collecting of candy. Kate ate hers while we trick-or-treated.

Christmas Pics

We went to Market Street to see Santa. The kids weren't too sure about him at first, until he offered them candy... We then dropped and ran, just like last year. The screaming commenced, and as we stepped back, we realized Charlie had chocolate all over his mouth and fingers. Santa's poor gloves. He was a great Santa, though. The kids played peek-a-boo with him afterward.





We walked over to the Market Street park to see if we could get any Christmas card worthy photos. Of course, I didn't send any, but I got some cute pics anyway.
Charlie on a weird donkey statue. (The statues in Market Street don't really make any sense to me, but he liked this one.)

Music Men

So, some great friends of ours "loaned" us a piano. Mark is a saxophone pro, and his mother played piano. We're happily storing one of her pianos in our kitchen/breakfast nook. The kids love it, and so do we. Thanks, Mark & Gretchen!
Charlie likes to play with his thumbs, which is just the cutest!

Toddlers.

The kids are truly toddlers now. They're so much fun! I can't believe all the new things they do everyday! They're learned how to climb up into our tall dining chairs and get snacks off the counter. They love it. Every morning now they slap the countertop and demand "O's" (Cheerios).

Snacking from their own bowls...
I lost track of them yesterday while doing laundry and heard them laughing in my room. If they weren't fighting over the dog crate ( they love to climb in it) then something had to be up. Yep, they were jumping on my bed -my very tall bed. Who knew they could even climb up there? They are showing some terrible-two symptoms, although I keep kidding myself hoping this is just a grumpy growth spurt. It's frightening!!!

I've attached some cute pictures from the last few days...
We switched to one nap a day and boy, was she tired.

Charlie is not as fond of blueberries as Kate. So he lines them up on the table next to him.

Kate in her first pigtails! Unfortunately, she was allergic to the no-tangle spray I just used in her hair. We had to give her a bath right away! We went to church and had to turn around and come back home. 2 hours of preparation to undergo, and 2 minutes to show em off!


I wish this pic wasn't blurry. She was totally showing off!

The kids acting silly in each other's sunglasses.
Lil Elton:


Lil Kate:


Poor Jimmy Dean. We found a skin cancer on his leg, and we had to have it removed. He chewed the staples out at the vet, and then chewed them out again after breaking out of his Elizabethan collar! Sneaky little turdhead!
Cancer is apparently taken care of, but he had to be hand-fed, since he couldn't reach his food. What a baby! 3 toddlers!


While I was cleaning up after breakfast the other day, I heard them playing on the piano. When I looked over, they had both climbed on to the piano bench by themselves (another first) and were playing happily. I had the best "Aw, cute" moment when Kate suddenly reached over and hugged Charlie. I grabbed the camera and asked her to do it again- she happily obliged.



By the way, all the color on their faces is blueberry pancake leftovers.