Mommy's little piggies!

We started experimenting with more table food this week. I think I like the pureed stuff better though. It's much faster...and SO much cleaner!! The smiles speak for themselves though, they definitely liked Mommy's sloppy joes better than the pureed beef in jar!

They play together well now, too. Who knew pulling up on a stool could be so much fun?

First Santa Visit!

They did great, even though they don't look too excited in the picture. They were fascinated with Santa's beard! It will be interesting to see how well they do next year though! Only 14 days till their First Christmas. We can't wait until Monday when Jeff, Michaela, Anna & Zoe are here! So much fun ahead!!!

Update on the crawling...

We now have two crawlers!! Ben is always a day or two behind his brother, but when he finally does something, he does it with flare! He went from not crawling to RACING across the floor today! I think he could definitely take Eli on in a race. We'll try that little experiment over the weekend...

He crawls!!!

Ok, so I said earlier that they're crawling around. Well, what I meant was that they were TRYING to crawl. Today, however Eli finally figured it out and actually got somewhere!! I guess he had to "One up" his brother since Ben has one more tooth than him. So competitive already....geesh! Also, click on this link for a special Christmas treat from the Psotas! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1147181554

9 months...and SO BUSY!!!

Wow, so much is going on with these two now that I can hardly keep up! Let's see, Ben now has 2 teeth (he passed up his brother!) and both boys are starting to crawl. Look out! This past week they both had tubes put in their ears, so we're hoping for no more ear infections. That was driving us all crazy!! Already they seem so much happier. The doctor said they still had lots of fluid in their ears that he had to drain during the surgery. I think they noticed a difference right away.







We all went to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. While we were there we had some cute Christmas pictures taken. I'm not going to post them on here because I want to save them for the Christmas cards! We did go to Sears this past weekend though to get a few more taken. Here's what we came up with: (Ben is in the blue in both settings)

Crack me up!

"Daddy is such a funny guy!"

Ben is in front in the blue and even Eli is cracking up too in the background. They were laughing at us and we were laughing even harder at them. It was hilarious!

Happy Halloween!!!

B&E turned 8 months old this week, and Eli popped a tooth!! Daddy felt it in his mouth this morning at breakfast. Yesssss!!! The teeth are finally coming through! They've been working on them for months. I just hope the rest of the process starts to get easier for them. They've been sort of fussy lately and I think the teeth are definitely to blame.

We dressed up for Halloween this weekend. Ben and Eli were turtles. Aren't they cute! They weren't too thrilled about their costumes though. Matt and I went to a costume party on Saturday night. The theme was "Steven Speilberg Characters." We went as Tom Hanks & Catherine Zeta Jones from "The Terminal." Matt had lots of props, including a suitcase, plane tickets and a coffee can--which also doubled as a purse for me. What fun!

Big sis, Anna sings to Zoe

Unlike other 3-year-olds who would normally want to hand a crying baby back to Mom & Dad, Anna shined in her new role as "Big sis" by singing a lullabye to lil' sis Zoe! Good job, Anna!

Zoe Elizabeth Terkhorn is here!

She's finally here, and cute as ever!!! Zoe Elizabeth was born at 9:21pm (Germany time) on Saturday, October 12th. She weighed in at 7.54 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. Everyone is doing well. More pictures to come, and Jeff will update his website with some too: http://www.terksworld.com/. Welcome to the world, Zoe!!

Go Hoosiers! Go Dores!! Go Zoe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

College football day and, once again, we had to show off our team spirit! That was not the only thing we did today though...we got a new baby cousin today too!! Zoe Elizabeth Terkhorn was born today at 9:30pm (Germany time). Everyone is happy & healthy! Pictures of her will be plastered all over this blog once I can get my hands on one. We're all so anxious to see her! More news and plenty of pictures to follow!!
Eli is on the left and Mr. Slobbers (Ben) is on the right.

Grandma came to visit!

Wow, what a week! I had a meeting (my first 2 nights away from the boys) in Florida this week, and Matt had to leave for a few days too. Luckily, Grandma Psota came to visit and helped us out. The boys were both pretty sick this week, so needless to say, she had her hands full!! Thanks, Grandma...we love you!!!

Here are some pics of the boys, getting oh-so big! We love our "Brown's" and "Indians" gear! We took them to the park today and put them both in the swing. They loved it!!

Grandma and Grandpa Terkhorn are in Germany this week anxiously awaiting the birth of Jeff & Michaela's new baby. We all thought she'd be here 2 weeks ago!! Fear not, I will post pictures when she's born. I'm so excited to be a proud aunt...again!!

Almost 7 months

It's hard to believe that on the 25th they'll be 7 months old! Wow, how time flies!! Both boys are so busy playing with their feet these days. I can't keep socks on them anymore! They can both sit up pretty well on their own. In another week or so they should be able to do it without any crash pillows around them. Eli has also discovered some new sounds to make. "Da da da da da da da....." is all we hear now! I get an occasional "MMMMMMMMMMmmm" but nothing that sounds like "Mama." I'm sure it will come soon enough.


We've been battling colds and ear infections on and off since Labor Day. They were on antibiotics for ear infections (both had them in their left ears) for 10 days. I took them back in for their 6-month checkups and the Dr. said that they had cleared up. About a week later they started acting fussy again and were really congested. Day care called and said that they were coughing a lot and were uncontrollably fussy, so we decided to take them back to the doctor. Sure enough, the ear infections had come back. The doctor said "3 out of 4 ears are infected." When Matt asked which ones, he said, "It doesn't really matter. They'll both need to be on antibiotics again anyway." Ugh. Round 2 begins.

With that they also started nebulizer breathing treatments to help with the cough/wheezing and congestion. It has helped a ton, but the boys aren't really too crazy about the machine...even though the masks look like cute little fish. They could care less! We are having ear-rechecks on Tuesday so I'm hoping they'll be able to stop the nebulizer by then too. Wish us luck that the end of this bug is near!!

Both boys are doing very well on the solid foods. We've tried beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peaches, pears, applesauce, banannas and prunes. Eli hated the beans at first, but now he seems to like them. Otherwise everything else seems to be pretty tasty to them. They're great eaters!!!

The boys also dressed up in their "Browns Gear" and watched the first two Sunday football games this past month. It was a proud moment in Daddy's life...especially since they beat the Bengals. Go Browns!

Bath time!

The boys loved their first "Swim" in the big-boy tub! We took the sling out and let them sit up in the deep end. I might have been better off wearing a bathing suit, but I'm glad they enjoyed it! (Eli is to the left, Ben is below)

Half-way to our first birthday!!!

It's so hard to believe that the boys are already six months old!!! It's been awhile since I've posted...mainly because they are keeping me so busy these days. Let's see, what have we missed?

Eli & Ben both roll over both ways now. (And do it all the time!)

Eli has found his toes.

Both boys are sitting up by themselves...well, for a few seconds anyway!

Ben loves to bounce in the "Jonny Jumper." He even tries to jump when you're holding him in your lap. He loves it so much he bounced himself to sleep in it the other day!

Both boys are eating baby food, and love it!!

They're both, finally, getting some more hair.

They both love to grab everything in sight...including hair, neclaces & earrings!

Like I said, they keep us so busy these days. They are both so silly and make us laugh all the time. They're so good at that and they know it!

More goofy shots

Feeding is getting easier with a spoon now. Eli ate his whole bowl tonight! Eli also got up on his knees the other day when we put him on his belly. Matt and I looked at each other and just said, "Uh, oh!" I hope that doesn't mean they're going to start crawling early!

Pics:
1. Eli & Nana
2. Eli & Ben (Ben is in blue...as usual)
3. Ben & Eli playing together!




4. Eli in the high chair

5. Eli & Ben being so silly!

Baby butts!

Ok, so I got some embarassing footage of Ben grunting in his high chair, so I had to try and even the score. Here are some shots we'll use as blackmail on Eli one of these days...

First roudnd of sickness...

...No thanks to day care! The boys both developed Roseola this past week. Poor Eli got it while we were in Cleveland for Julie & Sean's wedding reception. He just wanted to be held but we had to make him ride in the car seat the whole way home with a wet wash cloth on his forehead. He got better in a couple of days, developed a rash, and then Ben got it. Ben's temp was even higher than Eli's ever got. I think at one point he reached 103.7. We called the nurse and she told us not to put washclothes on him (oops!) but to give him a larger dose of Tylenol. That did the trick. He went back to day care today too. He has a little rash, but I'm sure more will pop out like Eli's did by this evening. Here's a picture of him and daddy in bed. Daddy had a rough night staying up with him. They both needed sleep!!

We had a great time at Julie & Sean's reception though. Luckily the boys made it through the party before they started getting sick. Julie looked beautiful, as always. Congratulations, once again to the happy couple!!

As I was making bottles the other night I saw my camera on the counter and just had to take a picture. One of these days I'm going to look back and remember what it was like to have to make 10-12 bottles every night to prepare for the next day. It's madness!!!

Lots of "Firsts!"

Wow, have we been busy lately! Ever since their first roll-overs we've been adding to the list of "Firsts" left and right! We just got back from Aruba yesterday. We all went there for Matt's sister, Julie's wedding. It was so much fun! The boys did really well there and on the plane too. They were both a little fussy on the last leg of the flight last night, but overall they did really well.

So, let's recap the past week:

It was their first trip on a plane, first time out of the country, (alas, 1st use of a passport), first time at the beach, and first time at a wedding!

Thanks to Melissa and Melanie for letting us borrow the extra Baby Bjorn. Where would we be without those things??? We carried them everywhere in Aruba in them! They must have liked it because they almost always fell asleep in them when we put them on.

Today we added a few more milestones to the list as well. They both ate from a spoon today! Ben did very well. Eli, not so much. We'll keep trying though.

They also played in their exersaucers for the first time today too. They both loved them!!! Thanks to Jenn & Robert for the hand-me-down and to Jenn Whitacre for the gift. We'll get tons of use out of them, I'm sure!!

Pictures in order, from top to bottom:

(You can click on some of them to enlarge)

1. Ben & Eli at the airport

2. Eli in a towel

3. Daddy & Ben at the beach

4. Ben & Eli on the chair

5. Ben & Eli being silly in their crib

6. Mommy carrying one of the boys. We wore the Bijorn's everywhere!

7. Eli's first time in the exersaucer!

8. Ben's first time in the exersaucer!

Ciao for now!

UPDATE...

They both rolled over!!! Both did it for the first time on the same day (7-9-2007). Imagine that?! Ben was the first to go. He did it several times and Matt caught it all on video. I didn't think Eli was quite ready, even though he was 90% there but couldn't figure out what to do with his other arm that was tucked underneath him. I had him on his tummy and looked away for a second and Matt yelled, "Holle, look at Eli!" Sure enough, he had rolled over too! I'm still eerily amazed at how alike they are!!!

Mommy got a new camera--FINALLY! Let's see, what have the boys been up to? Well, making "Noises" is a new thing for both of them. They rarely cry anymore when they wake up in the morning. Instead, Matt and I get a kick out of listening to them "Talk" to each other and their crib mobiles each morning when they wake up. They also love to lay on their play mat and babble at the toys hanging above them. They're grabbing at their toys a little now. They can really grab onto cloth things.

They're holding their heads up very steadily now and are almost ready to start eating solid foods. We're heading to Aruba next week so we'll probably wait until we get back from our trip to start them on baby cereal.

They've also started letting out a few belly laughs here and there. It's so incredibly cute!!

Here's another picture of Eli in his frog towel. You'll have to scroll back to some of the older posts to see him when he was much smaller! I need to get one of Ben wrapped in his towel. I call him "Ben Burrito!" We got lots of pictures of Ben & his dimples though that I'll gladly share. Enjoy!