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!

Go Indians!

Just wanted to say thanks to Aunt Jenn & Uncle Bobby for continuing to send the hand-me-downs our way. Lovin' every bit of it!! I'm also trying to make use of this fancy Adobe software that daddy bought me for Christmas...

4 months old!

The boys had their big 4-month checkup yesterday. Doc says they're doing great! They weigh 12 1/2 pounds now and are catching up nicely to the other term 4-month-olds. Doc says that by 1 year they will definitely be caught up.

Both boys are getting SO close to rolling over. We worked on it this weekend and they're both about to get it. I had Ben on his belly at the doctor's office and I was trying to see how far he held his head up. (Doc wanted to know for developmental purposes.) I looked away for a second to finish filling out a sheet she gave me and when I turned back Ben had FLIPPED OVER!!! Since I didn't see it happen I'm not counting it as an actual roll-over. I'm sure the next real thing will happen at home soon.

Daddy and I played a rousing game of Monopoly last night. It's amazing how our evening entertainment has changed since we had kids! Dad won, of course. I still think Eli was helping him snatch a few bills from the bank or something! Just look at that innocent face!

Ok, had to share this one too. I remember getting these robes as a shower gift and thinking, "They'll never grow into these!" Man, they've grown up so fast!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

This weekend we celebrated Matt's first Father's Day! We christened the occasion by getting daddy his first official necktie from the boys. He also got a "Wedding Crashers" DVD...Daddy's favorite movie!

PS. If anyone reading this has pictures from the weekend, please send them my way. My camera is still broken so I'm relying on everyone else to take pictures these days. Grandma and Grandpa Psota were in town again this weekend. They had so much fun playing with the boys and enjoying their new little laughs. We spent the day on Saturday at the lake and Sunday we just hung around the house by the pool. The boys really like swimming in the water now!

The pictures above are what they "Made" for daddy at day care. Even I thought they looked alike in these pictures! The one on the left is Ben and Eli is on the right. Click on them to get a close up view of their pictures and to read the cute little poem. Aren't they adorable!!

Picture this!

The boys are getting cuter and cuter by the minute. Of course, I'm a little biased too! I made a snap decision to go to Sears for some quickie photos tonight since my mom was in town to help me. I'll try to post one of their shots. I was surprised, they turned out so cute!



Let's see...what's new this week? Grabbing onto things a little more now and definitely kicking and moving their arms a lot more. I guess that means that they're getting ready to want to start playing with toys. Yippee!! If they can entertain themselves for a few minutes it would help me out a ton!! I also got some great video the other night of them playing together. I think it was the first time they really "Noticed" each other. It was darling! They grabbed each other's hands and smiled at one another. I hope they're always such good friends!

Grandma & Grandpa Psota are visiting again this weekend. The boys are so excited!! It will be the last chance we get to see them before we head off to Aruba for Aunt Julie's wedding next month. We can't wait!!!

Ready for Summer!

Here's a cute picture that Daddy took of the boys tonight. They're smiling so much now and starting to laugh a little. I was washing all of their little bottle parts tonight and holding Eli at the same time. I had all the little parts spread out on a towel so I held Eli down close to them so he could put his hands in them. He loved it! He started grabbing all of the little pieces and spreading them all around. I'm so excited that they're starting to want to play with toys and stuff now!

First week of school! (Mom's back to work)

Well, it wasn't so bad. I thought going back to work was going to be the most miserable thing ever. I hate to admit it, but when I dropped the boys off at daycare for the first time on Tuesday morning I actually drove away with a sense of "Freedom!" Of course, about an hour later I was dying to call and see how they were doing. Picking them up in the afternoon is still the best part of my day though. I miss them so much & wonder what they're doing (and what I'm missing!) all day long. Having time to myself is a nice balance though.

My camera battery was dead on the first day of school, so I didn't get a picture with it but they did take one of them at daycare when we got there. If they give me a digital copy then I'll share it. Otherwise it will definitely go in their baby books.

We took them in the pool and in the lake for the first time last week. Eli loved the pool. Ben, not so much. I didn't get any pictures of Eli in the pool, but for some reason got several of my "Crabby" little Ben. They both enjoyed the lake water. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that either!

I also had to put a picture of their friend Ross on here. He has the most adorable eyes you've ever seen on a kid. Isn't he cute! I just loved his "Billy Bob teeth" pacifier too!!

Matt took some pictures of them early in the morning yesterday. They're always so smiley and cute in the morning! I think they look different (ie. Non-identical) in this picture. What do you think?

Enjoy your week!

Happy Memorial Day!!

<---- Ben

The weather actually ended up being quite nice this weekend. We spent our first night out at the lake on Friday and the boys did very well. I think they like the fresh air and everything out there. On Saturday we had a huge picnic at the lake house and today we had a family picnic & watched the race and stuff. Continuing with tradition, we all drew race car driver's names for $1 apiece today & Ben picked the winner!! We added his winnings to his new piggy bank. Good job Ben!

Eli & Ben ----->

<----Eli

So I guess the "New" thing is still the smiles. They're getting bigger and more regular now...and are still so cute!! Ben has all the sudden started sucking his fists. They used to do that when they were hungry, but now he just does it to pacify himself. It's kind of cute. I don't know if he'll eventually start sucking his thumb or not. Eli is getting close to rolling over, I think. It will be interesting to see who does it first. They both are kicking & moving their arms a lot more now too. They're also starting to get some little bald spots on their heads from rubbing and turning their heads more now. It looks so funny. I just hope their hair grows back soon!!

Here are some cute shots from the weekend. My camera is sort of broken, so it's hard to take many pictures anymore. I really wanted to get a new photo printer, but now it looks like we're going to need to buy a whole new camera instead. Oh well....here's a few that I got anyway.