We’re moving back to Oregon! It’s a long story, but the plans are now being set in motion for us to relocate – again – back to our home and family. Since we decided to do it while we were on a visit up here to Oregon, the boys and I have already been here in Oregon, staying mostly at grandma “oo-wee’s” house (as the boys call my mom, Susie), for 2 months. It won’t be long, however, until daddy heads up here with all of our things from AZ in tow. He’s come up to visit a few times, but we sure miss him a lot!

The boys are doing well so far with the transition, and have been exerting their “terrible two-ness” with mom and grandma any chance they get. They’re sleeping in makeshift big boys beds (one queen bed that they share) since we couldn’t wait until their cribs got here. The pack and play cribs just couldn’t hold them anymore, but they surprised mom by doing a good (not great, but good) job of staying in their bed.

Carter is talking all the time, though he still leaves a few key letters out of most words, requiring a translator for most people.  He thinks it is hilarious when mom makes up words to songs he knows – he says “dat not ight ong mommy!!!” Logan is also starting to talk more, though his favorite word is still “NO.” In the last few days, he’s started to respond to one of mommy’s reasoning statements (since she knows that reasoning works so well on 2 years olds – ha ha!) with a simple “Oh.” Last night he was getting ready to launch in to a full tantrum when mom drove past the mailbox (he wanted mom to get out of the car to “get mai!”) when mom said, “Grandma already got the mail.” He stopped mid whine and just say “Oh.” That was all it took! If only it were always that easy. J

Here I sit again, looking at the date of my last entry and wondering what I do with all my time. Aren't I an efficient enough mother to take care of my children and keep up on the blog of them growing up? HA HA HA. No, I'm not. Therefore, if you are one of the few disappointed followers of this little blog, I'm sorry. There probably will never be regular entries. (Though I do hope sometime soon to fill out the boys' baby book...or at least start it.) :)

That being said, here is the latest. Both boys are talking all the time now, and turning in to very big helpers (whether I ask for the help or not). They are becoming very independent and can do more and more things on their own. They still keep me very busy, and both take turns with some pretty great tantrums, but we're surviving day to day, and sometimes that's all you can do. The boys are almost always dirty now (which is something I haven't quite gotten used to), and their favorite game is still chasing mommy, being chased by mommy (while I try to catch them for a diaper change or to get clothes on) or being chased by each other. They love horsey rides as well on anyone's back whose willing to gallop around the living room on their hands and knees. If you make the mistake of sitting for too long, one or the other will inevitably try to climb up and yell "ee-yah, ee-yah!" (What's really funny is when whichever boy who is not up on the "horsey" crawls under the horsey's legs on his hands and knees and trys to keep pace just underneath the horsey's head. The boys crack up hysterically when they do that, though it makes "galloping" a little difficult.)

Carter is telling me all about his world; about the things he and his brother do, and about what he wants (and wants me to do). He will stand in his crib holding a book out yelling "mommy put book away!!" or "mommy put banket on me!" His speech and pronunciation are not perfect, and sometimes he needs a translator (me), but it amazes me already some of the things that come out of my baby's mouth. He tattles on his brother sometimes, which I hate to admit, but is hilarious most of the time. If I chastise Logan for something and say, "this is your last warning; if you do this again you're going to get a time out," Carter will say, "Bubba need Ime ouww." (He puts emphasis on the "www" and makes an "o" with his little mouth - also hilarious.) A few times after Carter has said this, Logan will hang his head and silently walk over to sit in time out! (I hardly ever leave him there!)

Carter also really likes to read and/or look at books. He will sit and turn the pages, one by one, until he's finished a book, and then quietly sit and "read" it again. 

Logan is doing everything he can to assert his independence. He wants to put his shoes on himself (which he's getting pretty good at), walk up and down the stairs himself (and he does walk, even on his little short legs), and climb up in to his car seat himself. He likes very much to play with his ball sets, including golf, baseball and basketball (all of which he got for his birthday), and if a new person comes to the house he pretends he's shy for a minute and then runs to get a ball so he can show them how well he throws it. He grunts sometimes when he's trying to throw the ball, and it is absolutely adorable to see the effort he puts in to it.

If he wants to play with me, he now comes in to the kitchen, takes hold of my hand and literally walks me into the other room, then points to a space on the floor by his toys and says "it down." He can open the refrigerator very easily, and any door he'd like to (except the ones we've put locks on), and has gotten very good at reaching up to turn the light switches on and off.

And a quick story to wrap things up...

Last Friday, (the 3rd) I went up in to the boys' room to lay them down again, since they were supposed to be taking a nap but were playing and laughing like hooligans instead. When I walked in, my heart stopped for a minutes, because both boys were out of their cribs running around. I recovered quickly from my heart attack, tried not to laugh from hysteria, and laid them down, back in their cribs with a stern talking to. They went to sleep shorty after that (which was more than an hour after I laid them down originally), so they didn't do it again that day. The next day, after Evan (who doesn't work weekends) and I had laid them down and were sitting and listening to them laugh and yell in their room, we heard a door slam shut upstairs. We looked at each other with the "Oh Sh**!" look and both bolted upstairs. Evan got there first, and gave Logan, who had climbed out of his crib, opened the door and then shut it again, a firm verbal reprimand and his mean daddy look. They haven't climbed out since.