We won't eat carrots, applesauce, or bananas but we will eat pumpkin guts

As most twin parents quickly learn, everything must now be done in stages and here is the perfect example why.

Exhibit A:

Kaden having a complete and utter meltdown

while Braylon enjoys watching Mommy

A close up in case the picture above isn't enough

This all occurred while Bryan and I were trying to carve pumpkins with the boys the other night. After lots of playing and rough housing on their play mat we thought the boys would enjoy watching us gut and carve their pumpkins. Man were we wrong. He waited until the perfect time. When Mom's hands were covered in pumpkin guts and slim and he let it rip. The screaming tantrum began. Thankfully Bryan hadn't dug in yet so he was able to console our little monster while I finished gutting the pumpkins.

We thought the boys might enjoy playing in the pumpkin guts so we let them stick their hands in the bowl. They loved it and the crying ceased for the moment. And like most everything that touches the boys hands the pumpkin guts went straight to their mouths. I thought they would gag and spit it out like they do their baby food but nope, they would have kept shoveling it in if we wouldn't have stopped them.

Here are some pictures of our half done pumpkins. We are hoping to finish carving them by Halloween, tomorrow if we are lucky.

Mommy gutting pumpkins

Kaden digging in

Kaden taking a little taste

Braylon enjoying squishing the pumking guts

Yummy!

I think I would like some more

Busy Bees

Wow! Have we been busy lately. The boys are so busy trying to crawl that it's difficult to get anything done around the house or get on the computer. Although they are not actually crawling they are able to move from point A to point B by either rolling or scooting on their bellies. It doesn't take long before they are frustrated and start crying or someone rolls into someone else or kicks the other in the head, etc. They almost need constant supervision. I have to put them in their play pin or swings so I can take a shower which is usually to the soundtrack of crying babies because they don't like being confined to one place.

Braylon has decided that he is going to be a wrestler. No matter how far I try and separate him from Kaden he will manage to get over to Kaden, roll on top of him, and pin him to the ground so he can suck on the side of his head or face. Kaden gets sooooo upset.

The boys have also taken up binky stealing. They look at one another's binky and pull it right out of their mouth and then slip it into theirs. I can hear it already "Mom....I had it first!"

We are still working on introducing solids but it has been hit and miss. One day they like baby food and do really well and the next day they don't.

On top of the boys being little busy bodies we have been keeping a pretty busy schedule too. We have tried to make the most of what was left of the nice weather and take in some of the fall traditions.

I have also decided to go back to work a little bit (as a nurse you are required to work a certain amount of hours to keep your license current). I fill in at St. Joes when they need extra help. I have worked a total of 12 hours over the past week so far and it has been great. It also works out nicely because I can work on days there is someone to watch the boys rather than try and find child care on the days I have to work. It has been nice to get back out into the real world some and the extra money doesn't hurt either.

Here are some pictures from our busy past couple of weeks. By the way, Braylon is sitting on my lap at this very moment.

The boys with their pumpkins and their special trick-or-treat bags

Bundled up for an afternoon stroll

Bundled up for another stroll

We Found Our Way Home!!!

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful and perfect weather for a stroll. We decided to take a little trip up to Sunset Park just above our house. The boys enjoyed looking around at the trees and the sky and took a little nap in their stroller while I read a few pages of my book. Kaden the "Cat Napper" woke up after a quick recharge so I got him out and let him play in the grass a little. He loved to run his hands through it until he got a fistful in his mouth. I had to pick as much of it out as I could but I am pretty sure he swallowed a few pieces.

We met my brother and Paige up at the play area and the boys had fun sitting on our laps and swinging. Braylon squealed with delight. Cody and Paige had gotten pumpkin milkshakes from Sharps and Braylon was obsessed with Paige's cup and straw. I think he wanted to try a taste. We have been letting him and Kaden have little sips when we go out to eat and they think it is fun. He was able to try the milkshake though since babies are not suppose to try cows milk/dairy products until they are a year old.

I thought that since Braylon enjoyed the swings so much he might like the slide. I am sure I looked ridiculous but with Braylon on my lap we went down one of the the slides. He didn't even care.

After we were finished with our fun at the park we walked back down the hill and headed for home where we met Daddy to go to the Clearwater Corn Maze. It is only open Fridays and Saturdays from 6-10 so you have to do it in the dark. I told Bryan I would go only if it weren't a haunted corn maze.

It was really cold but we enjoyed finding our way through the maze. We were even brave enough to go map-less.

Here are some pictures from the park and the corn maze.

Cody and Braylon

Paige and Kaden

Mommy and her boys

Perfect playmates

Dad and Braylon at the Corn Maze

Mom and sleeping Kaden after walking through the corn maze

Picky Eaters

I think we may have some picky eaters on our hands. I don't know where they got this from because Bryan and I are not picky eaters but these boys do not care for "real" food. The doctor told me to "broaden their horizons" by introducing new foods and it has been a bit of a challenge.

Braylon gags on absolutely everything and Kaden swishes it around a bit and then manages to spit it back out. I don't know if some of this has to do with the tubes they had in their mouths while in the NICU but even the nurse at Dr. Ambroson's office was surprised at how gaggy Braylon was considering he had no trouble taking his Prevacid in the past.

The boys absolutely hate cereal. Rice, oatmeal, they want nothing to do with it. I think it is because it has such a strong iron taste from being fortified. I even tried hiding it in their baby food and I swear they can sniff it out.

The very first food besides the cereals they have tried was smashed bananas but after trying to sneak cereal in there they have decided they don't care for bananas anymore. I waited a week to see if they would forget and tried some green beans, nope! Waited another week and tried applesauce, nope! So I waited another week and tried carrots. Surprisingly they have tolerated the carrots without a whole lot of fuss but what a mess.

Instead of doing the usual routine of placing them in their booster chairs and putting bibs on them I decided to put them in their bumbos and go without bibs (since they needed a bath and I was doing laundry anyways) hoping they wouldn't remember our failed attempts from before. It actually kind of worked and I think they enjoyed it a little, or at least for a little while.

Here are some pictures of our picky eaters.

Kaden wearing his carrots

Braylon's carrot beard

Braylon letting me know he has had ENOUGH!

Kaden kept looking at Braylon like he didn't know what all the fuss was about.

A Trip to Elk River

The weather has been absolutely beautiful and we have been trying to take advantage of it and spend as much time outside before the bad weather hits.

Monday we took a day trip to Elk River to hike into the falls. Before visiting the falls we decided to take the boys to see the largest cedar tree in the Rocky Mountains, 18 feet in diameter. It is approximately 3000 years old.

After visiting the Giant Cedar we headed for the falls. First we hiked to to the lower falls 1/4 of a mile down hill and then 1/4 mile back up with babies in tote. They rode in their front packs and loved it. Bryan took Braylon since he is about 2lbs heavier than Kaden. After hiking back up from the lower falls we continued up the trail to the middle falls and back and then to the upper falls and back. We figure by the time we got down hiking around and back to the pickup we hiked about 5 miles and the majority of it up hill.

Although our legs were tired it was a great hike. The falls were beautiful. I have lived in Idaho my whole life and had never seen the Elk River Falls. Well worth the work.

Mommy, Braylon, and Kaden in front of the Giant Cedar

Daddy and Braylon in front of the Giant Cedar

Howlands at the lower falls

Lower Falls

Daddy and Braylon at the upper falls

Mommy and Kaden at the upper falls

A photo Mommy took for her photography class

An Afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch

Today was the last day of the Fall Festival at the Red Barn in Colton, Washington. We have been wanting to take the boys to pick out their first pumpkins and lucked out to have picked this weekend.
The boys enjoyed strolling through some of the vendors and listening to the music. There was food and hot apple cider.
We took the boys through the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins. They decided on two smaller pumpkins each and one larger mommy and daddy pumpkin. We also got a pretty pumpkin just for decoration.
By the time we got back home the boys were too tired for pictures with their pumpkins and then it began to rain. Hopefully we will be able to have a little photo shoot soon. I have been taking a photography class and the boys are my favorite subjects and I am always looking for an excuse to take their pictures. Speaking of photos, some of the ones below are a little blurry because I forgot to take the camera off manual settings for Bryan, oops!

Proud Daddy and his boys

Mommy with the cutest pumpkins in the patch!

Enjoying a beautiful fall day

Daddy and his treats

Our little pumpkin patch

The boys picking out their pumpkins

A Little Day Trip

Last spring Bryan got a gift certificate to Cabelas for his birthday and now that we have the camper he has had the perfect excuse to go and spend it (I am actually surprised he didn't spend it the day he got it).
When we woke up Wednesday morning Bryan surprised me by asking, "Wanna go to Post Falls?"
Since we were headed that way we decided to make a day of it and stopped in Couer d' Alene for lunch. It was a beautiful day so we took a little break at the park on the lake to feed the boys and let them out of their car seats for a while. We let them play in the grass for a while and look at all of the pretty fall colors and flowers. Who ever wasn't being fed got to take a walk with Daddy to admire the lake and the bronze moose statue.
While I was feeding one of the boys a mom with two little boys stopped and asked if we had twins. Her two boys were twins also and were three years old. We talked for quite a while about what it is like to be a mother of twins. It was so refreshing to talk to someone who has been there not too long ago. She knew exactly what I was talking about while talking about raising our boys.
Bryan and I ate lunch at Crickets and we made the mistake of sitting outside. Every person that walked by asked about the boys. We usually don't mind the questions and comments but it took 2 hours for our lunch because the waitress decided to join in with the conversations too.
Once every ones tummies were full we headed for Cabelas. Bryan was like a little boy in a toy store. I would be walking and visiting with him and he would just disappear mid conversation to look at something. After a few embarrassing moments of discovering I was talking to myself I decided to go do a little browsing myself. I took the boys to look at all of the animals on display while Bryan was admiring guns.
I am not sure how much time we actually spent in Cabelas but we left empty handed. Bryan narrowed his selections down to three things that he wanted to use his gift card towards but he couldn't decide on which of the three it would be. So I imagine we will be making another trip up there soon.

Soaking up some fall rays

Rolling around in the grass

Still need some help sitting up

Kindermusik

For almost two months, the boys have been attending Kindermusik and they LOVE IT!!! The minute they start singing the "hello song" they start smiling and bouncing in your arms. They are beginning to recognize when the whole class is singing hello to them individually and their faces just light up. Braylon has even started cooing at his classmates while they are singing.

They get to explore all sort of instruments but they especially love the shakers. They usually end up in their mouths (they sanitize after every class) so we have to help them actually shake them.

We also do different dances and activities with them. The newest and one of the boys favorites is being pulled around the room on large scarves. Last week Kaden fell asleep while being pulled around on the scarf. Braylon had already passed out before the activity had even begun.

This past week they used a blanket to "hammock" the kids. Kaden got a chance at "hammocking" while Braylon got to try the scarf, since he missed out the week prior. They enjoyed it so much.

The class is so stimulating for them that usually by the second to last song, which is a soft slow, rocking song, they fall asleep. They sleep through the "goodbye" song the majority of the time but everyone finds it cute.

Braylon on his scarf

Kaden "hammocking"

Camp Howland

After months and months of trying to sell the waverunners we decided it was time to just trade them in and what a great idea it was.
We never thought a camper dealership would be so interested in used waverunners but to our surprise they were and so now we have a camper!
We were so excited to try it out, we couldn't wait until next summer, so we headed up to the North Fork. I haven't been up there for years and it was just as beautiful as ever. The leaves were beginning to turn and the river was breath taking.
We set up camp at Purple Beach. There were some nice camping areas and this time of year it wasn't very busy. We spent our time exploring with the boys in their front packs and taking rides all over the Clearwater National Forest (we had to go in the pickup because it was too muddy for a four-wheeler ride).
While exploring the river along Purple Beach we noticed lots of blue-back/kokanee that were bright red and ready to spawn. They swam so close to the beach that Bryan was able to scoot one up on the sand with a stick and then scoot it back into the water. For those of you who don't know I have a weird phobia and that being fish! This made my skin crawl and Bryan got a real laugh out of it. I can't tell you why fish creep me out so much but they do. I don't mind fishing but I hate to touch them and they have to stay a poles length away from me. I am sure the boys will have lots of fun with this when they are older.
The weather was cool but not terrible cold, but it did rain, actually it pored Sunday night and rained off and on all Monday. We didn't mind though. We were happy to spend time in the camper. The boys napped off and on during the day while listening to the rain and we snuck in a nap too. Bryan and I passed the time playing cribbage until we went for our drives.
It was so relaxing. We can't wait to do it again.
Although it was sad to watch the waverunners go, because we had so much fun on them, we are excited for all of the memories we will have with our new past time.

The Howland Outfit

Dad and boys having a slumber party

They loved rolling around in all of the blankets

The creepy red fish (shudder!)

Bryan and Braylon

Kaden and a not so good picture of Mommy

Braylon sitting at the table with us for dinner

Kaden having dinner with Daddy and Mommy