Being Thankful: Day 19

Today, I am thankful for all of the arts and crafts our kids do at daycare! They come home with the cutest things and I love dressing up my very plain and boring cubicle at work with their fun creations!

Being Thankful: Day 18

Well, I'm finding it hard to keep up with posting every day! So, for day 18, I'm thankful that our days are so full of activities! We really do stay busy and I'm also thankful that our kids are more than happy to keep up!

Being Thankful: Day 17

Today, I am thankful for the amazingly cute smiles my children have! No matter what kind of mood I'm in, they can make me smile with one of theirs. And thankfully, they do smile often!

Being Thankful: Day 16

For day 16, I am thankful for modern diapers. These things are wonderful, especially compared to the stories my mom has told me! There is no way I could possibly keep up with cloth diapers, though I am quite impressed with anyone who can. I am thankful to have to use of modern disposable diapers!

Being Thankful: Day 15

On day 15, Friday, I am thankful for Fridays! They make me smile every time they come around!

Being Thankful: Day 14

For day 14, I am thankful for yoga. I recently started taking a class after work and taking advantage of a class offered at work. I enjoy having time to concentrate only on myself and get a little workout!

Being Thankful: Day 13

Today, I am thankful for an amazing day. Today was an absolutely beautiful Colorado fall day! It was sunny and 65. It really doesn't get much better! I love living where 300 days of sunshine per year is normal!

Being Thankful: Day 12

Today, I am thankful for Pinterest! What a fun place to learn so many things! I am also thankful for all of those crafty people who are willing to share what they know so those of us who are less creative can copy!

Being Thankful: Day 11, Veteran's Day

Today, I am thankful for all of the men and women who have sacrificed to protect my freedom and safety. I feel very privileged to live in a country that allows me the freedom to male my own decisions and live my life as I choose. Special thanks to Jennifer Ramirez and Chris LaCour, my sister and step-brother who have and are proudly serving our country. A huge thanks also goes out to the families of service men and women as their sacrifice also makes our country what it is.

Being Thankful: Day 10

Today, I am thankful for coffee. We had a great time yesterday with friends at the beer festival and this morning would have been miserable without it!

Being Thankful: Day 9

On Day 9, I am thankful for the wonderful friends we have here in Colorado. We love where we live, but we are states away from our family and to have friends that are as good as family is wonderful. They help us with our kids, celebrate holidays with us and we all give each other support when we need it. Life is certainly more enjoyable with friends!

Being Thankful: Day 8

Day 8 brings thanks for technology! I took a picture of our grocery list, messaged it to my husband and he was able to pick up groceries before he got home. Technology also allows me to see what my boys are up to at daycare, it allows my mom to see the boys growing up even though she lives 5 states away, and it allows the boys to Skype with Tyler's mother and grandmother who are 2 time zones away! It helps us be more efficient in our effort to keep up with life so we can take advantage of our family time.

Being Thankful: Day 7

Today, I am thankful for the wonderful childcare we have. Balinda Price is an amazing person who truly cares for our children and does an awesome job teaching and loving my boys (and all of the other children she cares for). Our children absolutely couldn't be in better hands. I am so thankful that I can leave them in her capable hands and be confident in the fact that they will be happy and safe while they are there.

Being Thankful: Day 6

Today, I am thankful for the health of my family. The kids get sick every now and then and Blake has definitely had more than his share of ear infections, but I am very thankful that we haven't had any major sickness or injuries with our boys or with us.

Being Thankful: Day 5

On day 5 I am thankful for our puppy! He's a great dog! He's good with the kids and they love him! I don't think it's quite as mutual as I would like, but he does put up with them really well. He has a wonderful "personality" and is a great family pet.

Being Thankful: Day 4

On day four, I'm thankful that Tyler and I are able to provide for our family. We both grew up with little, and we are very happy that we can provide a comfortable home and everything our children need. And we still have some left over for fun!

Being Thankful: Day 3

In honor of my sister's birthday, I am thankful to have her! I couldn't be more proud of the person she is. She has stood by her guns her entire life doing what she thinks is right. I can't say that we have always had the best of relationships, but I love her and I'm glad to have her as a sister! Love you Jennifer!

Being Thankful: Day 2

For day two, even though I'm a little late, I'm very thankful for my amazing husband. He does everything he can to make sure we have a happy, healthy family. He's a true friend to me, an amazing father to our children and a wonderful person. I am very happy to share my life with him and I truly couldn't ask for a better person to share the rest of my life with.

Being Thankful

It's November 1st already! Not that I'm not thankful every day, but Thanksgiving is this month! So, 30 days of things I am thankful for. And of course the first thing(s) I am thankful for are my kids of course! Being mom to my two amazing little boys is the most wonderful and awesome thing in my life. They bring joy to my life every single day. Reece is the sweetest, most considerate little boy, I am so proud of the person he is becoming. Blake is absolutely full of personality and loves to make people smile. Those two little boys are the most amazing little gifts I could ever receive and I am so thankful to have them in my life.

Update!

It's been quite a while! Well, we've been busy. Just for an update from one of the last posts, Reece is basically potty trained. We have occasional accidents and he still sleeps in a pull-up, but the accidents are becoming less frequent and Reece is waking up dry more often and we've even had a few successful nights in big boy underwear.
We had a very busy summer! Tyler and I had a parents-only vacation to Alaska (which was AMAZING and we definitely have to go back!), we took a family trip to South Carolina to visit Tyler's family, we finally managed to finish siding and painting the shed, and I started a new job!
The boys are doing wonderful, Reece never stops talking now! He always has something to say and impresses us often with what he knows. Blake is starting to talk and has about a handful of words he uses often. One of them is shoes, he says "soos" and he knows where they are that they go on his feet. I think it's his favorite because he loves to go outside and we always tell him that we need to put shoes on to go outside. He does everything he can to keep up with Reece.
We did have a little scare with Blake. We learned via an ambulance ride to the ER that Blake is allergic to peanuts. We had him tested for other typical allergens and peanuts were the only thing that showed up.
As Blake gets older, there's quite a bit more that they can do together and they actually get along pretty well. I hope they will always be close, and it's always better to hear them playing together than fighting!

Funny Things #3

Reece likes playing with my tablet computer, so this morning (a weekday morning) when he asked to play with it, I told him it was broken. Then I see Reece going downstairs and I hear something slam, then he runs up the stairs with batteries in his hand saying "barries for mommy tab!"
Reece and I had mini hot dogs and bagel pizzas for lunch. After lunch, Reece was in the bathroom, while peeing he points to his penis and says, "Hot dog!" I almost peed myself!
Those were quite a while ago!
But here's a recent one. Friday, we went to PetSmart to get the kids an aquarium. So, we're just sort of browsing and letting the kids look at some of the animals. Every animal, snake, mouse, rat, guinea pig... whatever, he said "aw, so cute!". I have a feeling we'll be housing a few of these in the future!

Potty Training and Blackmail

Well, since we are potty training, we might as well get some blackmail pictures, right? Here's a good one, and a cute one of Blake because I just can't help it.

What?

Pretty cute in Mommy's hat!

Experiments: Big Boy Undies

Last week, while I was giving the boys a bath, I caught Reece peeing in a cup. He was standing up in the tub holding the cup while peeing in it. At this point I figured that if he has the control to do that, he has the control to use a toilet! Saturday was the big day, we decided to switch Reece over to big boy undies! He did pretty well over the weekend, he was better than 50% with pee, even making it through a nap. Unfortunately, he didn't do so well with the poop. He had one accident on Saturday and then just decided to hold it. He made it through Monday at daycare perfectly with no accidents, but no poop. Then on Tuesday, it came! Accidents all day long, he went though 5 pairs of undies and pants before 9 a.m.! And he had no potty use at daycare. He did pee in the toilet twice at home. Wednesday was much better with only a few accidents and finally on Saturday, it happened! Reece pooped on the toilet all on his own!
While I still expect accidents to happen, I think we are definitely reducing our diaper budget by one little butt! Yay Reece! I am definitely one proud and happy Mommy!

Is it spring yet?

After having a bit of snow last week, we had a pretty nice weekend. Most of the snow was melted, but there was still a little left on the ground. Since everyone has been cooped up with colds and ear infections, we decided to take advantage of the sun and warm weather and get some fresh air. The boys were excited to play in the snow and Tyler was excited to get outside and grill. So, I decided to get out my camera!

The fun continued inside where the boys decided to run back and forth across the kitchen.

Funny Things - Round 2

Here are a few more of the funny things Reece says...

Smow - Snow, similar to "Mo" and "Mo way", the /n/ sound is a hard one for Reece.
Eecey - Reecey, most of the time "Mo bunga, Eecey's (fill in the blank)"
Punky - Pumpkin
Washy hands - obvious
Brushy teeth - another obvious one
Mook - book, Reece always likes to read mooks before bed (Little Blue Truck especially!)
Um on - come on! As in 'um on Mommy, come play with me'.
Cereal bar - this seems obviously correct, however when he says this he is typically referring to a bowl of
     cereal and not a cereal bar!
Ka ka ka ka - choo choo - this is Reece's interpretation of how a train souds.
Bix it - Fix it "Eecey bix it!"

Silly Boys!

The boys have been really cute lately, Reece has really seems to enjoy trying to include his brother. Here are two examples, plus something Reece did that was just too cute not to mention!
First, Tyler and I love to tickle they boys, like most little kids, they just sound adorable when they giggle and it always brightens the day. Reece was sitting next to me and Blake was in my lap, Reece reached over and gently poked Blake's belly and said "doo" and Blake giggled (Reece has done this a few times before and it is really cute!), this time Blake reached over and poked Reece and and then made a raspberry sound!
Second, Reece received a battery-operated train set for his birthday. We just opened it this weekend and set it up on the dining room table and he absolutely loves it! It's already on the third set of batteries after just the weekend! Yesterday, he was playing with it and Blake was walking around in the dining room. Reece apparently decided he wanted Blake to enjoy the train set too so he pushed a little chair over to a big chair so Blake could climb from one to another to see the train.
Then, this morning as Reece was climbing into the car, I noticed him hide his blankie behind him in his carseat. We don't allow him to take it because he has one at daycare. So, I pull it out from behind him and say, "Are you being sneaky?" and he replies, "I not sneaky, I Reecey!"
These boys just keep getting more and more fun! I can't even imagine how much they'll get into as they get older!

Showing little brother how to climb up on the chair...

Watching the train set

First Steps and Walking!

Blake took his first steps at the end of December and finally the weekend of January 25th, he decided that walking would begin being his primary mode of transportation! Let the fun begin, we now have two active boys on two feet!
He's such an amazing little guy, he always has a smile on his face and he loves to follow his brother around. He climbs on everything and will eat anything. We love our little Blake Bear!

Little walking man!

Morse Boys' Birthday!

Since the boys' birthdays are so close (Dec. 29 & Jan. 5) we have decided to do joint birthdays as long as we can! This year we decided to rent a bounce house that we could put in the garage and what a hit that was! The kids had a blast, our house stayed fairly neat and clean (since the kids were in the garage) and we were able to enjoy our friends in our own home. We also didn't have a specific time limit. I would definitely do this again!

Blake Bear's cake!

Reece's cake

Fun in the bounce house!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! I enjoyed spending time with my mom and sister and it was a blast watching the kids open their gifts. The "other Morses" (my brother-in-law and his family) came over on Christmas Eve to exchange gifts with us. Our first Christmas as a family of four was great.

Luckily this year, there were no carbon monoxide alarms and no ER visits!

Reece helping Tanner open his Christmas gift

Blake enjoyed every part of his gift, even the bow!

Checking out Reece's cool new dinosaur book!

The awkward but cute cousin hug

Mom and Jenn!

My mom and my sister were able to join us for the holidays! My mom showed up just in time to babysit for my office Christmas party! We had a wonderful time and it was great to get out without worrying about the kids! We had a great time and enjoyed each other's company. We made it to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, and we took the kids to ride the Christmas train at the Railroad Museum. And of course, we've also spent some time shopping!
Jenn and I also found a common interest... sewing! I decided to donate/gift my old sewing machine to Jenn and upgrade my own for Christmas!

Mom, Jenn and the boys on the train