Week in Pictures

"What does Owen have?"

"I love this ball, and it's all mine."

"Owen, you better give over that ball!"

"Oh, never mind, something shiny caught my eye!"

"Forget that stupid phone, I DO want that ball!"

"He can have that stupid ball. This maraca tastes great!"

"So glad Mom found the antlers when she got out the Christmas stuff! They go great with all this food on my face."

"I definitely think I'm cuter than Owen!"

"Why does Mom insist on putting these crazy things on our head? Happy Turkey Day!"

"Get that thing off your head. You look ridiculous. Remember Halloween?"

"Thank goodness Mom didn't put anything silly on my head."

We are pooped from all that turkey!

When Mom steps out of the room...

Milestones, Milestones, Milestones

Wow! What a day at our house. Glad to report nothing gross and unusual came out of either of my children, a nice change.

1. Brody is officially crawling. He's taken a few "steps" but sits as soon as he reaches whatever it is he is after. But, today was a new story. He crawled for me and Lily this afternoon just a little, but really turned it on for Dad.

2. Owen now has a tooth. He has been quite jealous of Brody's and now he is armed with a sharp little weapon of his own.

3. Brody was so proud of himself he is clapping. Whenever we yell and praise him, he grins that famous Brody grin and claps for himself.

The boys have also begun to fight over toys. I know I should discourage it, but it's so funny. They go back and forth taking the toys from one another and then the fun ends and someone cries. I never know who will cry first, but someone always does. Hopefully we will get this out of our system early. Tonight we were all on the floor and Owen was chewing on an old cell phone while Brody performed his new crawling skills. Todd and I started talking and the next thing we knew Brody had raced across the rug and snagged the cell phone, leaving Brother Owen screaming and pissed. Of course, we laughed. Owen was not only mad, but I think quite shocked at the sneak attack from B-Boy. We are embarking on a whole new journey! Can't wait!

My children hate me!

I have decided that my children hate me. After the Austin Barf-o-rama I thought I was in the clear. The boys were extra fussy today so mom was extra grumpy. With Grammie's help, I made a much needed trip to Lowe's for the last few item for the bathroom redo and a few other stops. We get home and feed the boys and all is well. Steph runs home because I finally have things under control. Well, the yard guy got here and I needed to let the dog in, but the painters are terrified of her and I need to contain her. Easy. Not when Owen has finally decide to fall asleep and Brody's content. I manage to carry both boys upstairs without waking Owen and decided the lawn guy can skip the back yard. Steph gets here right as Brody's starting to fall asleep. Life is good. She helps me rearrange some furniture and do some catch up things. (Have I mentioned Brody is awake and crawling in and out of his ball bit right now. It's 10:08pm)
I'll skip the feeding and jump to Steph's departure. I was calm, Todd would soon be home, I had dinner almost ready, then...another EXPLOSION! Not barf...the other end! Owen's back was wet and I was not so happy the poop had escaped up his back. Little did I know, it had also dripped down his legs. There was poo everywhere. I was in a total panic! It was on his forehead, hands, armpits, back, stomach, pretty much EVERYWHERE. I called Todd while I held Owen up by his pinkie (the only thing with no trace of mess). He was down the street. Brody was screaming, I was gagging, and Owen was giggling. Welcome home, Dad!

Our Little Austin Adventure

It has been crazy for the Rogers, in a good way though. Todd had meetings in Austin last week so we decided to make a little family trip out of it. Tuesday night I called the Driskell Hotel to request two cribs for the boys. They were very confused why Todd Rogers would need two cribs. Come to find out...Todd Rogers is the manager at the Driskell, which made for funny comments from everyone there. On a side note, we also started a remodel (minor) of our master bath last week. What a mess! We are showering downstairs and running upstairs to get dressed all while dodging the workers who may or may not show up on any given day. Back to our trip...we hit the road and I must brag, with only two suit cases, two totes, diaper bag, and my car bag. Almost to Austin...Brody starts it...barf! Are you kidding me? We pull over and change him into that trusty shirt I put in the diaper bag (had to wipe off pants, didn't have extra of those) and we're off. We pull up to valet and the Todd-Rogers-confusion continues. So again, I have a white-trash child in his Halloween shirt and wet-ish pants walking into this BEAUTIFUL hotel. Check in and we're riding the elevator to the room. Todd takes this time to explain to our children that this is not the norm as far as hotels-where-Rogers-stay. We are a Howard Johnson type traveler.

This is the boys enjoying the fab room and waiting for their sitter so mommy and daddy can go to dinner with other adults. We ate next door at Louie something and it was great!
Brody is covered because he is no longer wearing the vomit-pants

Thursday, I took the boys shopping. They did great and I shopped well. Looking back, Brody got quiet and droopy as the day went on. I should have been concerned when he napped FOREVER. Just wait...

The boys finally got to meet Melissa. She came by to visit before we went to dinner and brought us these cute bibs. Yes, those are longhorns! We love them because they came from someone so special.

This is where the story really get interesting. Melissa helps dress and entertain the boys so Todd and I can get dressed for dinner at III Forks. I bought the boys cute "professional" outfits for dinner and had a long talk with them about their behavior. We arrive and our group has a private room in the back and everyone is so sweet and excited to meet the boys. The boys are placed at the head of the table so Todd and I can be on either side of them (and everyone has a perfect view of them). Now...let the barfing begin! Think "Stand By Me" Barf-o-rama. First Brody. I take him to the bathroom and use the hand towels to make a mat for me to sit on in the handicap stall floor. Change him into the outfit Todd grabbed at the last minute. He's on fire but falling asleep. I grab a to-go bag and head back to the table with a bag of vomit clothes. Not five minutes later...Owen's turn. I do it all over again...the washcloth pallet on the floor of the bathroom, the to-go bag, the utter humiliation. Please, note that I'm wearing a cute, short, satin dress and heels. Great attire for just such an event.

We get back to the hotel...smile, laughter, and perfect babies! Wow. My children have fabulous timing. I just want to thank III Forks for having washcloths instead of paper towels. I think I left with quite a few. Sorry!

Friday we headed home. Phew! We survived, and I don't know if the 20-group will be inviting the Rogers family back. I guess Todd will be attending meetings alone or we will be doing a couples get-away next time.

Friday, we also heard about our new girl friend!

Congrats Whit and Kevin & Welcome Maggie Claire!

We Are Still SOOOO Cute

Busted! The boys love to pull up on the ottoman and dump the diaper box

Brody with his brother's pj's on his head

We have had a great week. Not too much to report from the Rogers house. Mom did get to experience baby vomit for the first time! What a thrill! Sweet Owen was a little queazy yesterday and exploded first on him and Mom and then all over Mom's bed and Mom. I do love all these new adventures! Hope everyone is having a great week.

Stroller Strides Rocks

I tried Stroller Strides for the first time today. The boys and I loved it. It was windy today, but still a beautiful clear day. I have been hearing about this Stroller Strides class from Darby and all my friends in Dallas and Portland, and I have been very interested. Well...it finally reached Midland! I loved being outside, getting a good workout, not having to find someone to watch the boys, and seeing friends I don't get to see very often. It was the kind of class where you get out of it what you put into it. We are all at different physical stages and you do what you can do and what you feel comfortable doing. We had a great first day and I'm looking forward to many more days with my fellow mommies. I think this will be a physical workout as much as a mental workout. Not that I have to concentrate (maybe a little), but that I get to be around great girls going through all the same things I'm doing and they can comfort me let me know I'm not losing my mind. I know Todd was really excited for me to be around adults and have adult conversation so I don't attack him when he gets home from work because I'm starved for contact.

Lesson Learned

I have "the most-prepared-mom-box" in the back of my car. It has diapers, burp cloths, wipes, buggie covers, travel highchairs, even formula and water. I did forget one thing though...
a change of clothes. Halloween night, Owen had to come home topless (this is why God gave me boys) because there was only one onsie in the diaper bag. Brody was the chosen one who got to wear it home because it was a 3 month size. As you tell, I check and stock my diaper bag often. They did get to wear pants, only because my parents had put some in while they were here. Today we went to Jorge's for lunch. As we're walking in, I noticed Owen was quite ripe. I dumped all the stuff at the table and headed for the ladies room. WOW! It is up to his shoulder blades. So bad, that a little girl walked out of the stall and announced just how bad it was to anyone who might not be aware. Her grandmother came around the corner, and felt so bad she offered to help. Picture it, Owen naked with only his Aggie Converse Hightops on standing on the changing table laughing, of course, as I am about to die. While very cute, the outfit was a total loss. So I returned to the table with a once-again topless Owen. There I sat with my white trash baby wearing pants and a Dallas Cowboys bib during lunch.
When we got home, I did not do anything before I put two shirts in the diaper bag and two in "the-most-prepared-mom-box". Lesson learned.

Halloween Follow-Up

We started Halloween with cards and treats from Nana and Papa D

Monkey was not sure about the carseat

Brody Bear had the AC cranked up on his side

Grammie loves her wild animals

Pa Doss and Dad tried to contain us (notice how wet Owen's tail is)

We were so excited to air out after those costumes. The blocks helped too.

Today we had a great day with Dad. We went to the park for the first time!

Mom was wild!

We could not get Brody to sit up at first. He was totally happy like this. I guess he was watching the ground through the holes.

On the other hand, Owen leaned ALL the way back. They have to be different!

Thanks for a great Saturday, Dad!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Rogers Zoo

Owen loves his monkey tail

Brody Bear was cute even though the hat was a little small

WHEN MONKEYS ATTACK......

Ball Pit Info

I had a couple of comments on the ball pit. I found it at Sensational Beginnings. It is actually a baby pool, so it's on sale. They also had the big bag of 100 balls. I love this website and catalog. They've got great stuff for little ones and very reasonable.

Owen rolled around in it while Dad was reading.

This is the book, "Look at Me", I mentioned. They love it. Look how cute my hubby is!

My Little Pumpkins

I have been admiring everyone's cute pumpkin patch pictures on their blogs, so...I attempted the pumpkin patch. The boys obviously planned to sabotage me. When one would look at me, the other looked away. We had fun and got a few cute pics. Brody loved to put whatever he could pick up into his mouth. If he couldn't pick it up, he just licked it. Owen was only concerned with all the interesting folks at the patch. I wonder if next year will be twice as hard or twice as nice?

Todd thought this pic was funny because it looks like Owen is pointing at something and Brody is checking it out. We think they are so smart.

The wagon was very exciting, and gave Grammie a Christmas idea.

Brody was wondering how in the world he was going to get that pumpkin into his mouth.

Cute little pumpkins.

Mom with her boys

Owen did great...for this one picture. I might bribe Erin to go with us next year.

How stinkin' cute are we?

Eight Months Old!

Owen and Brody were eight months old yesterday! I can't believe how far we have come so fast. I was looking at Brody today, he had wedged himself between the bouncer and the toy basket, and for some reason I thought back to a dinner Todd and I had while the boys were in the NICU. We drove around Odessa waiting for the shift change and looking for some place to eat. The boys were about 12 days old. It was a hard night for me because we were going to check out of the hotel the next day and go home. I remember sitting at dinner so upset and just wanting them to come home sooo bad. For some reason when I looked at Brody and thought back, I felt so overwhelm and blessed that they are healthy and wild little men.

What are we doing at eight months old:

• We have made it through all the fruits and veggies. Brody does not like pears and Owen does not like green beans. Other than that they eat like baby birds.
• We can get around. Owen arm crawls with one arm, kinda dragging himself. Brody rolls from laying down, to all fours, to sitting, then repeat. (he just realized he can do all these positions last night, so now he does it in a continual sequence)
• Brody's favorite word is Dada and Owen is nana. Owen also loves to smack his lips. We sleep so good! I don't miss the two hour feedings every three hours! We've even been napping in our cribs!
• We love books! Our favorite is "Look at Me". It's a book of animal faces with holes cut out so mommy and daddy can use the book as a mask and make funny animal sounds. Second favorite is "There's a Wocket in my Pocket". It's funny to hear mommy and daddy mess up.
• We have two new favorite toys. Our first is the walker (thanks Darby for the loan) and the second is our new ball pit. Thanks for the idea Lillian! We also love anything that sings or plays music! (mom and dad don't enjoy those as much!)
  Nothing in the world beats our Rain Forest Jumper. These boys can jump! (Brody ended up underneath his today) Brody is sporting two bottom teeth that refuse to grow. They broke the skin last week and are at a stand still. Owen is still prepping with the drool.
  

Brody pinned Owen today.


Aren't we cute?

Sweet Baby Boy B

Mr. Owen is all smiles!