Cousins and Cars

Yes, Tracy is STILL blogging for Jon and Julie! Lucky you guys!

This weekend we went to Aunt Sarah's. She has the coolest house. Toys and more toys! Plus lots of kids to show us how to use them! Plus, if you're lucky, cousin Audrey will feed you playdough! So nice that Audrey!

Here Mom is showing Isaac a cool toy that is used in Chemistry. She said, "The balls are like molecules and the long parts are like bonds - Ionic or covalent!" Yeah, Isaac wrote that down for future reference. Isaac is thinking, "I wasn't planning on Aunt Sarah having SMART toys. Geesh!"

Then Cousin Audrey invited Avery into the "BASKET OF WONDERS!!!" Say with an echo like Aladdin.

Yep, we fit! Can you see Audrey and Avery together in the basket? Hannah is so nice to make sure it's secure on the ground. Dad released Avery soon after this picture was taken. Good thing. Aunt Tracy was too busy laughing.

So, the boys are moving onto vehicles they can actually drive. Here they are in their new coupes. Checking all the hardware. Making sure the blinkers work, and so on. Avery, the adventurer, finds that there is a door!! Isaac learns quickly. He is off to help Avery now figure out the emergency lights!

The boys are moving!

This is Tracy. Jonathan has asked me to guest blog for him, as I am taking lots of pics while I get to watch the boys for two weeks. For those of you that frequent my blog, yes, the videos are a repeat, but well worth the watch the 2nd time around! (or even the 3rd or 4th!)

When I first got to Jon and Julie's I let the boys walk by holding my fingers. Little did I know that 1. Julie wanted them to crawl (to further brain and coordination development) until they were one year old and 2. They would not let go of my fingers!

Mckelle and I took the boys to the park on my first day. Wonder of wonders it was FILLED with wheeled vehicles! Scooters, trikes, cars, lawnmowers, even a skateboard! We decided to see what these wanna-be walkers could do, minus our fingers.

Well, the pavement was WAY too slick for them. They pushed/leaned so hard on the vehicles they biffed it. Mckelle thought the grass might slow them down a bit. (Really, Avery just kept pushing until he hit the grass, and kept going.) The grass was the ticket to unblemished faces and away they went!

Isaac is in green with the coordinating tractor.



Avery is in stripes with the raucously tipped hat. Funny to see what competition does to them!


After some diversion on the swings and slides we took the boys back to the paved area. Isaac quickly ditched the tractor for a sleeker, red set of wheels! It was amazing to see how quickly they had learned how not to lean so much but really walk/run!


Next, stopping and turning!

The boys definitely love the park by our house. Avery crawls right up the little hill while Isaac takes a little more coaxing!

Avery and Isaac yesterday on the swings at the park. Avery gets so excited and pumps his legs and Issac gets so happy he starts this laugh/hiss and scrunches up his nose!

We finally moved into our new house on May 8th and love being in it and having the space. The boys definitely enjoy have much more room to roam in!

This is Mama, Papa, Avery and Isaac on the 700 block of 34th West Street in Baltimore, MD the night after Christmas. All the neighbors on this short block light up and decorate their row houses. If you don't mind a Christmas tree made entirely out of hubcaps and massive amounts of lawn oranaments normally seen in a trailer park or perhaps some very rural parts in the South you would think it was pretty cool!

Our Mr. Avery rolling over. Both boys have been rolling over for a couple of weeks now. Isaac in the morning rolls over every chance he gets. Avery on the other hand figured out how to roll over and then decided it was cool to just roll on your side and talk to Papa or Mama as they tried to encourage him to roll over!

Mr. Isaac rolling over. It was the 3 Little Monkeys song that really motivated him!

Video of Papa with his two boys strapped in and loaded! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Seriously have you seen two cuter boys?!! (Avery on the right and Isaac is on the left)

Okay seriously Mom and Dad how long do we have to spend on tummy time why you blind us with the camera flash?!

This is Isaac excited about his new stand up play thingamajigger!! He loves to eat the dragon you see him mauling at the moment.

Papa has doubled down on the Baby Bjorns and has both his boyz strapped in. Papa and his boyz checkin' out Papa's new Blackberry Storm. The only TV/video these boys get to see until they are 2 says Mama!

This pics were taken this week. Avery is on the left with his soulful eyes and Issac with his charming smile on the left!

For Thanksgiving Will and Sarah had us up to their home. The boys were a little sacked out after their Thanksgiving dinner and walk outside so they sacked out (in their winter walking suits) in Elizabeth's crib for a few minutes. We were so excited to have our first Christmas with the boys! Our two bedroom condo has suddenly become very tight for space with two of everything so we put our little Christmas tree up in the window with all the gifts. The boys are so grateful for everyone's gifts as are we. They were most fasicinated by the lights and crinkling wrapping paper!

The Joe and Amanda Clan of the Meyers Tribe visited us in mid-October for Avery and Issac's blessing. We took them to the National Archives to see the original signed Declaration of Indepence and the Smithsonian museum of Natural History where they were able to see dinosaurs. Lucas educated me T-Rex and Carter educated on me on how to get over the barriers for the exhibits. Jax was a great kid throughout! In the pic on the right we were visiting the park on the north side of Reagan National Airport where the boys were able to see the planes come in right over their heads as they landed.

Here our house is once the framing is complete. The concrete truck in front is pumping concrete into the basement for the new basement floor. We extended the entire back of the house out 8' feet on all three levels. We also tore out the basement slab and dug down 10" so the we could have an 8' ceiling in the basement.

Our new house is coming along (slowly but surely). As of right now it will be complete end of January, early February. The picture on the left is house as it was when we purchased. There is actually a second floor up in the roof. The picture on the right is after we have removed the roof in preparation to rebuild the second floor and new roof.

Boys just chillin' in their vibrating chairs

Here are Avery (on the left) and Isaac hangin' out in the kitchen one afternoon. They both like to sit in their chairs and just watch or talk with you, especially with the vibration turned on in their chairs.

Boy talk in the mornin'

Here is a video of Avery(on the left) and Isaac in their game day gear their Uncle Les bought for them (Go Skins!). They are both quite the talkers. Avery is currently just under 12-1/2 lbs. and Isaac is 13 lbs 7 ounces. When they wake up in the morning and smile at us we are reminded each time how much we love them and how blessed we are to have them as part of our family.