Trey is very serious about his mechanic skills!

This afternoon, Trey had a purpose. He walked over and put his hat on (all by himself), went and got his tools and his tow truck, and sat down to do some major mechanic work. He was so engrossed in his mission, that when I turned off the television and started recording him, he didn't even notice! :)

Carrington is a Roller!

I've been trying like crazy to take a video of Carrington rolling, and they are ALL terrible. She either looks weird, or I only catch the end, the lighting is dark... blah, blah, blah. This is the best one I've gotten so far, so enjoy! :)

Trey- 22 Months Old

I can't believe that Trey is going to be 2 in just a few weeks (well, 8 weeks to be exact)! I had told myself I would NOT do a party for his 2 year birthday, especially since we went overboard on the party front for his 1 year birthday, but I might change my mind. Gymboree offers great birthday packages, and we love Gymboree. Plus, they take care of everything, and the participating guest limit is 12- I LOVE THAT! We'll see, but Doug and I are both thinking this is a good plan, so far.

Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, Trey had tubes put back into his ears for a second time this year. This meant having surgery and there is always risks involved with doing any type of surgery on small children. Unfortunately, last week when we were visitng the doctor for cold symptoms, we discovered that one of the tubes has fallen out. We go back in for a follow up with the ENT this week, but Dr. Lods said that there is a very good chance they will have to do surgery AGAIN to re-insert the tube, to guarantee Trey's healthy success this winter season. We'll see what they say on Wed!

Trey finally went back to preschool on Thursday this week (between Christmas, the snow, and being sick, he's had a lapse in preschool attendence). Thursday was slipper day and they made Smores. So fun!

Trey has been quite the polite little guy, saying "Please" and "Thank You" (which sounds like "Pees" and "Tank Too", respectively. He can count to five- not always in order, but sometimes we get lucky! He is also the little climber, and I have caught him on more than one occasion on top of the table or the kitchen island. How does he get there? Well... how else? He drags a kitchen chair, or a box of diapers, or a toy truck over to whatever he wants to climb, and uses it as a ladder! I've had to hide climbing items in random places, but I am at a complete loss as to where to put the kitchen chairs. All I can do is hope that this phase ends quickly and he moves on to other, less dangerous, activities!

Carrington 11-12 Weeks Old!

Carrington has been a busy girl these past two weeks! Let's recap her highlights:

January 15th (11 weeks and 1 day old), she rolled over- back to belly! :) It was exciting since Doug and I were both there watching her, so neither one of us missed it!

She has been spending time in her Jumperoo, she HATES her Bumbo (which makes me laugh), and she has no problem greeting us with big, huge smiles! With Trey, we would have to act like crazy people to get the smallest grin, but Carrington just gives away those happy faces, and I love it!

She slept a full 12 hours at one stretch on her 12 week birthday (she was already doing a straight 9 hours in a night), and I could not be more thrilled. She loves to sit up, and I think I've mentioned this before, but her "tickle spot" is just under her chin, and she starts giggling when we tickle her :).

To celebrate her 12 week birthday, we had our first playdate with two of my favorite Mommas- Liz and Lisa! Our kids all had a blast playing at Northlake and enjoying lunch at Chickfila. It was so much fun, and I was very, very ready to spend time with adults again!

I'm looking forward to the weekend with our friends and family! We have a babysitter on Saturday night, so that will be a first for Carrington, and 3 month photos on Sunday. I can't wait!

Survivors!

It's been a rollercoaster here in the DeEsch household the last two weeks. Where to begin... We have literally had a series of unfortunate misshaps that have completely stressed me out!

After all the snow Charlotte received, I spent the week at home with the kids, since school was closed and I couldn't take Trey to preschool. It worked out, since Trey and Carrington both came down with RSV (a fancy acronym for a bad cold), with symptoms of severe "old man" coughing and disgusting runny noses. Trey's cough got so bad that we ended up getting a nebulizer and giving him treatments daily. The nebulizer has made a huge difference, and Trey is back to his normal self again!

That week, we also received our new cooktop that we ordered over the holidays, since our existing cooktop was accidentally broken while cooking dinner one evening. The installer turned off the power and went to install the new appliance, but quickly discovered that the new cooktop was too small for the granite cut opening. JUST GREAT... oh well, we'll return the stovetop, order another one and hopefully have all of this behind us, right? Not exactly. When the power was turned back on, we discovered that the power failure blew the control panel on our double ovens and now there was no heat being released. Ok- let's call a service tech to come take a look! In the meantime, we now have no working cooktop, and now no ovens. The weather apparently effected the ability of Sears repairmen to show up to their scheduled appointments, so after 2 attempts at repair through Sears, we gave up and called a new company. Now we are 2 weeks into a non-working kitchen, but I am thinking positive thoughts! Again, how wrong I am. This week, Appliance Medic came out to repair the ovens, and while pulling the oven parts out, he dropped the front and shattered the glass. Of course he did.

That same day, the humidifiers for the kids broke and started spewing out water and damaging a portion of the carpet and furniture. I'm not discouraged, I still have a lot to be grateful for! Until Doug calls (he stayed home that day to meet the service man, while I went to work) to inform me that the baby swing's motor has died. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but when we start adding up the cost of all of these items, it is daunting! As I'm getting into my car to head home, I realize that my seat warmers aren't heating... upon further inspection, I realize that the GPS isn't working, and I realize the lighter isn't powering up. What more could possible go wrong?!?!

I write all of this to say that, despite everything happening in our home, my babies have no idea how these things effect us, and they are just happy to have Doug and I around, playing with them and just being there. Everything breaking has been a little slice of heaven for Trey, who has spent every opportunity getting out his tools and copying his "Dada" in all the repairs. I realize that none of these nuisances matter, and my family is what really counts.

SNOW WAY OUT!!!! :)

We've gotten a nice little bit of snow these past few days, and when we woke up Monday morning to a pretty little Winter Wonderland, I had visions of Trey happily playing for hours outside. I didn't take into account the fact that he has no snow boots, no snow pants, it's freezing cold and once I get him bundled up, he can barely move. And to top it off, Charlotte is completely unprepared for any amount of snow, and the roads are terrible, so at this point, attempting to get out and buy Trey proper snow clothes is impossible.

Needless to say, I put on Trey's far too large winter coat (size 2T, which is why he doesn't even come close to fitting in it), his hat, some bobo looking mittens that were on the clearance rack at Babies R Us a few weeks ago, some track pants, 3 pairs of socks, and some hand-me-down sneakers that are too big for him, but I don't care if he gets them wet. Doug also bundled up in his best winter outfit (hunting camo overalls, a fleece, and some hunting boots and gloves). Between the two of them, I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any classier! After spending a tremendous amount of time bundling up, they headed outside. Trey was so excited and he had a HUGE smile on his face when he walked out the back door. He took about 3 steps, and started crying. Doug picked him up, and we attempted to get Trey interested in playing, but at this point, he was wet (track pants and Nikes are not waterproof) and cold, and more than a little confused. We spent about 5 minutes taking pictures and promptly headed back indoors for the remainder of the day!

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Kinect, which Trey LOVES (and Doug's hates to play with him, since Trey messes it all up) and then we went up to the amenity center, built a fire, and played in the snow. This playtime in the snow was less threatening for Trey, since it was much more shallow and Trey could play on the hearth and tables.

I love how pretty the snow is, but I wish the City did a better job with the roads! Doug did venture to Babies R Us on his way home from work today, and he bought Trey a snowsuit and some snow boots (they were all out of boy's boots, so he bought tan girl's boots!).

Carrington- 10 Weeks Old

Carrington is growing like the little weed that she is! I know it doesn't seem like she does very much, but compared to when she was born, she has changed tremendously! She is SO CLOSE to rolling over, and every time I watch her try, everything inside of me wants to give her a little push, but I know that won't "count", so I don't help at all :).

I have been a total Nazi about not letting her drink more than 4 oz. every 3-4 hours (mostly because she's a puker), but this past week I gave in and I'm now letting her have 5 oz. at a time. Poor little thing was starving! I know most of you don't care about these random facts, but I want to document it so that I remember.

She's been an angel going to work with me 2-3 times a week, but now that she is spending more time awake, David (my boss) and I decided she really needed to feel more at home in my office, so we bought her an office swing that will hopefully entertain her a little bit more!

She is smiling like crazy, and her "tickle spot" is just under her chin. With Trey I had to act like a maniac just to force a smile out of him, but she is the exact opposite- she gives away those smiles without even trying!

Here's a short story that melted my heart: This morning (Jan. 11th), I had gotten Trey out of his crib and he was playing in the bedroom while I was finishing up getting ready (brushing my teeth, putting on makeup,...). All of the sudden it occurred to me that it was abnormally quiet in the bedroom. When I took a look around, I didn't see Trey anywhere and I was about to start calling for him when I looked over and discovered the sweetest thing- Trey had climbed into Carrington's cradle and was snuggled up next to her falling asleep. Now, as a parent, I know this is extremely dangerous on so many levels: 1) How did Trey manage to climb in there? 2) What if he had fallen on top of Carrington and suffocated her or hit her head, or hurt her? 3)How did I let so much time go by and not check on him?. But, as a mommy, I almost cried it was so precious to see him love her so much. Don't worry- I promptly removed him and had a discussion about how he is not allowed to climb into the cradle! :)

Other than that, she is cooing and smiling, trying to roll, and sleeping like a little champ!

Holidays are so fun!

I'm attempting to catch up on the events and activities of the past 2 weeks. It's funny to me that I write this blog so that I don't forget any of the wonderful memories we share with our babies, since I never want to forget their milestones, and it is almost impossible for me to remember what even happened yesterday!

We had a full house for the holidays! It began with Doug's birthday on Dec. 23rd. Brian, Kristyn, my mom and dad, and my Grammy and Papa all came down in time for dinner and presents. We celebrated with a delicious turkey dinner, cupcakes from "Just Baked Cupcakes" and presents. It always feels like everything is complete when the entire family is together.

Trey was his usual, crazy self. He was showing off and running around like crazy. I'm ashamed to admit this, but he hasn't gone to bed before 9:30pm even once in the last few weeks!

Trey was, by far, the most spoiled out of everyone for Christmas! He received his very own tool set and work bench, a Jeep powerwheel, Yo Gabba Gabba dolls, Clifford books, clothes, the list just goes on and on. I'm thrilled to say that he actually loved all of his toys and has been playing with the tool set from the moment he opened it up. We knew that the Powerwheels wouldn't be a huge hit until the Spring, but I know Trey will love it when the time comes :).

Carrington also celebrated by being completely spoiled, cuddled, kissed, and loved by her NaniJay and Grammy who couldn't keep their hands off of her! Santa brought her a pink swing for the swingset outside, and of course, clothes.

As you can see in the pictures, we took Christmas Eve Pajamas to a whole new level this year by getting a pair for EVERYONE. It's super cheesy, but a ton of fun, and everyone loved them... well, at least loved them after the initial shock that we would all be twinsies, and that's a little creepy :).

One of the best surprises Christmas brought was SNOW!I didn't expect it in Charlotte, NC, but it was beautiful and made the day feel extra special.

Immediately following Christmas, Trey went in for surgery to have his tubes put back in, and to have his adenoids removed. I was worried about a second surgery this year, but Trey has been so miserable and sick, and then with a severe double ear infection, we knew there was no real choice- surgery was the only course of action. So, Doug and I bundled Trey up in his jammies and headed to the surgery center at 6am on Monday, Dec. 27th. Since Trey was also having his adenoids removed, they gave him a sedative before they took him away from us. I'm slightly embarrassed to have done this, but Trey was so hilarious when the sedative started kicking in, that I had to take a video. Trey's actions were the equivalent of him being completely drunk. He had silly smiles on his face, he would drunkenly say "Hi" to anyone that walked by, and he kept wanting to say "IWUVWOO"- his version of "I love you". It was so cute, and I hated it when they took him away! The surgery itself only lasted about 10 minutes, and we were back with him in 30 minutes, before he even fully woke up from the anesthesia. That afternoon Trey had a rough time and slept with me for most of the day, but within 24 hours he was back to his old self! Since the tubes have been reinserted, Trey is the healthies I have seen him in months. He is also a little chatterbox, talking about everything in his little baby head! He can clearly say "Brian"- which we've been practicing for forever and his "S" sounds are almost perfect!

Carrington has been working on her rolling, and makes a valient effort to get from back to belly every time she has the chance! I predict a perfect roll in a few weeks! Her other cute quirk is that every time she sneezes, she follows it up with a little "eeewwww". It's so cute, and I wish I could record it, but how can you predict when someone else will sneeze? :)

Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn came back for the New Year, and we had such a great time. Unfortnately, Doug came down with a stomach bug, but we still managed to have lots of fun! Trey did his very best to stay up with us, but at about 10:45pm, he couldn't stand himself anymore and fell asleep on the couch. Aunt Kristyn did her "Auntly Duty" by making sure both kiddos had their picture taken in the New Year.

I'm looking forward to everything that 2011 has to bring!