Hats!

These pictures are of their obsession with putting things on their heads. My mom and dad got them some hats at Cabela's in October and they love them. I actually have to hide them, because I get so tired of them taking them off, then not being able to put them on, or losing them and freaking out. The bottom picture is Xander, very proud of his pumpkin"hat". He likes to walk around with that on his head. Of course, it covers his eyes so he can't see where he's going. What a nut!

Our news is pretty limited this week. They're sick, again! (I feel like I say that a lot in my postings.) Will's cough is pretty bad, and Xander's runny nose is terrible. Grace isn't too bad, thankfully. Busy days over Thanksgiving, short naps and late bedtimes have not helped matters. Luckily, the workweek has put us back into routine and we've been in contact with the doctor. If things don't improve soon, we're going in. But, I think they are. We're hosting a multiples club playgroup here tomorrow (Tuesday) so I hope they are feeling a little better and the other moms aren't sorry for bring their kids here.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We ate at Lisa and Chad's in the morning. I helped cook and I forget how much work a Thanksgiving dinner is! Lisa did a great job, though. I wish the kids would have been more open to all the good food. I think they ate fruit and jello salad and a couple bites of turkey. After an afternoon nap, we went to Mike and Pam's for dinner. We ate a lot more, then had a bath and headed home to bed. They were very tired! Grace ventured out to the mall with Kara, mom and I on Friday morning. She was very well behaved and it wasn't insanely busy. The boys and daddy played at the indoor playground (no doubt where they picked up their illness). Saturday, they spent some time with grandma and grandpa Hoefs so mommy and daddy could do a little Christmas shopping. By Sunday, they were so sick that we stayed home from church and laid low all day. As I said, they are a little better today and hopefully getting better the rest of the week. Have a great week, everyone!

Family Pictures

We had Niebuhr family pictures taken on Saturday. Here are a couple of good ones. We actually had some good ones, despite the conditions under which they were taken. The photo place was running almost an hour behind. The poor kids (all 4 of them) were there for a long time over their lunch time. Luckily, they were all very good and we were able to get a few good pictures.

We've had another healthy week, thank goodness! The weather has been nice, so we've been to the park several times and playing outside a lot. Carter has been here a lot, with Lisa back at work. The kids are learning how to treat him nicely (i.e. not throwing things at him or stepping on him). The novelty of him has worn off, so they're not just staring at him and saying "baby" over and over again.

Our newest skill is recognizing colors. I should say, trying to recognize colors. They know all the color words, blue, yellow, purple, red, and green are their favorite ones to say. They just don't always match the correct word to the correct color. Grace and I were wearing purple shirts the other day, and now every shirt I wear is purple. To Xander, everything is yellow, he must like saying that word. Other new words are "water" (wawer), "pineapple" (p-papple) and "car". They say car a lot, that's practically all I hear when we drive somewhere. I'll post more after Thanksgiving!

Who's Who?

All three of the kids got a haircut on Friday. With the boys' hair cut so short, it is a little hard to tell them apart. They have the same haircut and if you're looking at the top or back of their head, there's a good chance you'll call them by the wrong name (I have been). If they're dressed alike, forget about it! On a good note, Grace's hair looks much better and isn't so wild. I don't have to pull it back everyday. That curly hair is going to be a lot of work! The top picture is of them standing side by side and they really do look a lot alike! Will is on the left in case anyone is in doubt!

Well, sorry to say, they're STILL sick. I think they got hit with a new virus last week, as they are running fevers and coughing more/still. Even Grace has been needing albuterol treatments this week because of her coughing. I've been up at night the last few nights giving one of the boys treatments, so we may need a trip to the doctor this week, probably for Will. He's got it the worst, as he always does. Poor kid, he just coughs all the time and it NEVER goes away!

I've started to lose track of all the new things they are saying lately. Their language has just started to explode. I am hearing new words daily, and lots of times, two words are put together. It's kind of neat to hear them say something new or learn new things. We were at the mall last week, and Xander looked at a 4 wheeler on display and said "traker" (tractor). I think it's amazing how he's trying to generalize these pictures he sees in his books at home. A moment of brilliance followed by a not so brilliant moment. (see bottom picture). This is of Xander sitting in the toy stroller. I don't know how he fit his butt into it, but he was awfully proud. The funniest part about that is that just before I took the picture, Will tried to push him. The stroller didn't move and looked like it was going to collapse, so he gave up, but it was hilarious watching him try!

Speaking of moments of brilliance, Will has really started coming along in his language and he even learned a new word BEFORE the other two (that hasn't happened before). I checked out a train book at the library on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, he brought it to me, pointed to the train on the cover and said "too-too" (choo-choo). I was so excited. Of course, now the other two can say it and after reading the book several times Grace says "cubby" (caboose), but it was still a victory for Will!

They had a big weekend. Since it was my birthday, we had a family dinner on Friday with everyone. Then Saturday, they spent the day and night with grandma and grandpa Niebuhr. Sunday, we had a bell choir concert at church, so they spent the morning at grandma and grandpa Hoefs'. That evening, we had dinner with the Hoefs at Firethorn. We don't ever take them out to sit-down places. So, they were really good, especially because the restaurant was so slow we were there almost 2 hours! So, we are going to lay low for the next few days, try to get rested and healthy. And, not catch any new bugs so we don't have the same problem on Thanksgiving like we did last year! More after Thanksgiving next week!

Leaves

Our one tree in the backyard is finally big enough that we had a pile of leaves in the backyard. We went out to play in it, but it was a little cold and the ball was just a little more interesting than the leaves. But, they played a little until Daddy mowed them up!

In other news, daylight savings time has kind of thrown us for a loop. They are still on the old schedule, and have been waking up at 6:00, which feels like 7:00 to them, but we are still putting them to bed at the right time, which feels like an hour later. That combined with still being a little sick, is not good. These colds are really hanging on, even mine. Will's cough is pretty bad, which may mean a trip to the doctor this week, we'll see. All three of them ran fevers at some point over the weekend, which meant they had been sick for a whole week! Today was a pretty grumpy day, as Mondays usually are. Hopefully they'll nap well this afternoon and we can work on getting on schedule at night.

Their obsession with Sesame Street was fueled this weekend when Grandma Ellen bought them stuffed Elmo, Cookie Monster and Ernie. They take them everywhere, including bed, and that talk about them almost incessantly. And if someone touches theirs, forget about it! A huge tantrum follows. Xander does a pretty funny impression of Cookie Monster now. He pretend that he eats cookies like Cookie Monster does, sounds and all. I died laughing when I saw him do it for the first time. New words include "truck", "car", "door", "outside", and "Ernie". They are also obsessed lately with one of my piano students named Audrey. Every day they ask for "Abby". If I tell them that "Yes, Audrey comes today" they run to the door and look for her. She's a 7th grader, so I'm thinking potential babysitter!!! Hopefully I'll have healthy news to report next week, along with less grumpy kids!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.... Or Stand Against the Yellow Wall and Smile!

Here are our Halloween pictures. As you can see they were Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. Their costumes were a hit in the nieghborhood. We also went to grandparents' house and a couple of their neighbor's houses to "show off". Grace discovered that if she bites on the candy wrapper long enough, it comes open and she can get the candy. She enjoyed some licorice and a candy bar in the car. Although, thank you to the grandparents for giving them healthier snacks like popcorn, blueberries and animal cookies. That way the kids can eat them and mom and dad aren't stuck with a ton of candy! They are still a little sick, but luckily that didn't ruin the Halloween fun. Happy Halloween everyone!