Lots of news....

So most of you know the reason for the long absence from the blog and some do not. On November 29th my mom passed away after battling illness for a couple of months. She will be dearly missed by our family. She was a very loving woman and cherished the time she got to spend with her kids and grandkids. While I'm very sad that my boys will not grow up knowing her personally, I am very thankful that she was able to meet them before she went home to heaven. Thank you to all my friends and family that have been so helpful and supportive through all of this.

Since it has been such a long time since I posted an update there have been tons happening with the boys. Eric is still very active and now is EXTREMELY independent. Everything is "I do it all by myself" or if he asks what something is and you tell him he says "No it's a..." and will argue with you until he is blue in the face! Drives me bananas but cracks me up at the same time. :) Eric also had his first night away from us a couple of weeks ago. He stayed with some friends of ours and had a blast. I was worried how he would do but apparently he didn't really miss us that much. He slept well and played hard which is nice to know. He is now all geared up for our trip to California that is coming up. He can't wait to see Grandpa Dale, Aunt Risa, Omi & Oti and of course Santa as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how he reacts when Santa walks in on Christmas Eve...I'll definitely have my camera ready for that one! :)

As for Tyler he is just getting too big! He is almost 10 months old now and is all over. Not only does he speed crawl everywhere he is also cruising holding on to the furniture. I foresee his first steps within another month or so. As it is now I never get anything accomplished because I'm always chasing after him, I can just see what it will be like when he can walk! :) He is saying "dada", "mama", "baba", and "clap". Well...his version of clap but it definitely means clap because he says it every time we tell him to clap. He is also giving us high fives already which is really cute. He gets really excited when he does it. He had his check up today and weighed 19lbs exactly and was 28 1/2 inches tall...so he is taller than Eric was but weighs less than he did at this point. One of my favorite things he does is when we are eating in the living room he stands up by the ottoman and will babble and scream until you give him some of what you are eating. He thinks if you are eating then he must be eating as well. Maybe I'll have one good eater between the two boys. :)

That is all the news from the Lemmon house for now. We will update more after we get back from our trip. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

Falling behind...time to catch up

I'm guessing it is way past time for another update! Ugh...time just goes by to fast!

Eric is actually growing! Yes, I know that is what kids do but for the longest time the kid just did not get taller or gain weight. Finally he has grown 2 inches and gained 2-3 pounds since June. That means he can actually fit in 2T clothing...yes he is just now going into 2T and he will be 3 in January! :) One tough decision we are making is to pull Eric out of his preschool. He will be finishing out the month of October and then we will stop for the time being. While he enjoyed it at first he really is having a hard time going lately...crying, hitting, etc. Plus I have never felt 100% comfortable at the school he is at so that was another deciding factor. Right now we will just start taking him back to playgroup and probably go to story time at the library. We will rethink it next year and go from there. A cute Eric story...as you will see in the video Eric loves this band that is on Disney Channel in the mornings called Cho Cho Soul. One day Eric was taking an especially long nap so we decided to wake him up. He just wouldn't wake up so we left the door open to his room hoping all the noise would do the trick. All of a sudden I hear him say "hi daddy". I go in to see if he is awake and he is out cold still...he then proceeds to start singing "all aboard the cho cho train...cho cho" while still sleeping! I had tears rolling down my face I was laughing so hard. It was so cute! I do believe he is obsessed!

Tyler is definitely getting a personality all his own lately! He has grown like a little weed too. I'm not sure how much he weighs since his next checkup isn't until he is 9 months old (he is 8 months old today!) but I know he is definitely getting heavy to carry! So far he has managed to get himself into a sitting position once on his own and is army crawling all over the house! Let me tell you this is when personality comes into play. He gets into Eric's toys all the time. When Eric takes them away Tyler starts screaming and fussing at him! Eric better watch out when Tyler is able to really tackle him! :) Tyler is also working on cutting his 8th tooth...yes number 8! He seems to teeth 4 teeth at a time. He gets 2 in within a day of each other and then 2 more within a week or so of that. He got his first one at 6 months and is now getting his 8th one. That is just crazy! I'm hoping that once it cuts through we can go back to getting some sleep! :) He is eating like a champ despite the teething. He still isn't a fan of fruits but will chow down on the veggies. We are starting to give him some more finger foods as well since he seems to prefer that over the baby food. Tyler's favorite pastime is to be in his bouncer and just bounce away...he just gets the biggest kick out of it. He just starts laughing while we are driving in the car...even if there is nothing funny going on. He just starts cracking up randomly. I love it...it is so funny!

Anyways...that is all the news for now. I will try and update a little more frequently so the posts aren't that long! :) I'm only going to post a few pictures here but if you want to see more you can visit our winkflash site at http://swl1109.winkflash.com/ .

Just living life...

I haven't updated in a little bit so I thought I would while I had the chance. I should be doing housework but telling others about my kids is much more fun! :)

Eric is doing great and loving school. I went to pick him up the other day and he started crying because he didn't want to leave! I guess that is a good sign. We were able to go outside the other day while Tyler was napping and Eric had a blast on the slide as you can see from the pictures. I love his expression in the last one...he went flying down the slide and his expression was priceless! We did have all his outside toys and swings in the garage when the hurricanes were threatening but have finally been able to put them back out much to Eric's delight! :) I just started watching a friend's 5 month old son 2 days a week and Eric just adores him! He constantly asks me when he is coming back again.

Tyler will be 7 months old in a couple of days. I don't have many good pictures of him at the moment so I'll try to take some over the next few days and then post them. He is doing so well. He now has 4 teeth and is working on 2 more! I swear this kid is going to have a full set before he is 8 months old at this rate! He still loves eating his veggies and absolutely hates fruits...very strange but I'm not going to complain. He is really trying to start scooting/crawling so I don't think it will be to much longer until he does. He is also sitting up much better on his own. He too likes the little boy that I'm watching. They just smile at each other while they are playing on the floor. :)

6 months already?

Wow...I can't believe it has been 6 months since Tyler was born already! Where has the time gone? He is doing so well and getting so big! At his checkup he weighed 17 lb 10 oz and was 26 inches long. Believe it or not he is lighter and shorter than Eric at the same age. Tyler is getting so much more animated lately. He is babbling up a storm (I love hearing all the little noises he makes) and loves watching Eric. His favorite past time at the moment is rolling around the living room. I'm pretty sure he will be crawling in another month or so. Eric better get ready to defend his toys then! :) He is able to sit up by himself for a short period of time as well. Other big news with Tyler is that he has 2 teeth now. He cut both teeth within 24 hours of each other...that was not the most fun experience in the world for sure! He is doing much better now though for which I'm eternally grateful! ;) He is starting to eat more solids and still prefers veggies over fruits. We are also introducing a sippy cup to him. Right now it is more of a teething toy for him than a way to drink but it won't be long until he has it down.

As for Eric he is still enjoying school and still asks me everyday when he gets to go back. :) This makes me feel much better about him going at such an early age. Some great news is that Eric is trying more and more new foods (sticker charts are our friend)! You don't know how excited this makes me...for well over a year he barely had any variety in his diet. Over the past few weeks his eating habits have changed dramatically and I'm loving it. Now if we can just get some momentum going in the potty training department I do believe I would be on cloud nine. :) Eric is also becoming very independent and dare I say strong willed as well. Ah...the joys of a 2 1/2 year old. :)

Rain, rain go away....

As most of you know we have been dealing with Tropical Storm Fay for the past few days...it's the storm that keeps on giving unfortunately. Many of you have called to make sure we are okay and I really appreciate it! We had some major rain (probably about 8-10 inches) yesterday morning and evening and today all day and quite a bit of wind (max sustained around 40mph with gusts in the 50's) but overall nothing to bad. Because Fay came on shore here in our county we actually got a small break in the rain and wind yesterday afternoon...until the backside of the storm started coming through. No damage to the house but our yard is a mess with debris! Some streets in the neighborhood are flooded but ours is okay and we can come and go without any problem. Poor Eric (and mommy) missed school on Thursday due to the storm. The schools will be opening Monday though so back to normal then. Eric has not enjoyed being stuck in the house that is for sure. We finally braved it and went out this evening to visit a friend and he had a blast. His attitude was much improved for the rest of the evening! :)

The video isn't during the time when the winds were at their highest but you can still get an idea of what it was like. I actually loved laying in bed at night and listening to the wind...very calming. Of course it if had gotten much worse I probably wouldn't have been calmed by it. :) These pictures are from yesterday so the debris has only gotten worse. As one of the pictures shows the sprinkler system for our neighbor was not turned off and it was running right during the storm...just thought it was funny to see someone watering their lawn during a tropical storm! :)

First day at school!!

Eric started preschool today and it was a hit! I thought we might have some problems this morning when he started crying at home while we were getting ready but as soon as we were in the car he wouldn't stop chattering about school. When we got there he walked right in his class and started playing. Never even cared if I was there or not! By the time I left he was sitting at the table drawing a picture for daddy and was happy as a clam. :) When I picked him up he asked me when he was going back to school again. We went by the church to visit some of our friends and Eric was definitely telling them all about his day. I got a few pictures this morning before we left and a couple at school. They didn't turn out real well because Eric was in a hurry to get inside and it was so humid that my lens kept fogging up every few seconds. There are also some pictures from the other day of Eric helping daddy mow the grass and one of Tyler from this morning. It was really nice to have some one on one time with Tyler while Eric was at school. I think it will be good for Tyler to have some time with Brian and I just for him. It was so weird to walk into the house without Eric and for it to be so quiet! I think I will get used to it though! :) That is all for now. The kids are napping and I'm enjoying the peace & quiet.

Day to day life..

Just wanted to update everyone really quick on what is going on in our world.

We finally witnessed Tyler rolling over yesterday! He got a kick out of doing it and was smiling like crazy. Too bad I didn't have the camera handy. He is in the middle of an epic teething battle lately. I do believe he has a worse case of it than Eric ever did if that is possible. I can't wait for that first tooth to cut through. Other than when his teeth are bothering him he is just a happy little boy though. He loves to be tickled and laughs so hard when Eric jumps around pretending to be a frog and calling out "ibbit, ibbit"! :)

As for Eric, the poor little guy is sick. He has his first tummy bug. :( He seems to be feel fine though for which I'm really thankful. He is his normal happy busy self so I guess I shouldn't be too worried. We all made a trip to the farmer's market today and had a lot of fun. Eric really liked walking around and looking at everything. :) We had our first taste of a chocolate covered key lime pie slice on a stick...yummy! We might have to make Saturdays at the farmer's market a tradition just for that reason! :)

That is it for now. We are going to be busy over the next few days getting ready for Eric to go to school, Tyler's 6 month checkup (can you believe he is already 6 months!?) and for a possible hurricane! Fun, fun! :)

And it begins....

Okay...I have finally broken down and started blogging. I send out emails each month to update on the boys and this just seems much easier! :) Let's bring everyone up to speed. I have been blessed with a wonderful husband, Brian, and two fabulous kids, Eric & Tyler. Yes I am the only woman in my house (even the dog is male) and I love it! ;)

Eric is 2 1/2 years old now and a bundle of energy. He does not stop from the time he gets up in the morning until his head hits the pillow at naptime and then it starts all over in the afternoon until bedtime. His favorite expressions right now are "I do it!", "Watcha doing?", and "What's that?". I am dreading it when "why?" is added to the list. Haha! The biggest news with Eric is that he will be starting preschool on August 19th. He will be going for 2 days a week from 8:30-12:30. I know he is going to love it! He loves to learn and be around other kids (he calls everyone his friends) so this is the perfect atmosphere for him. I think the structure will be good for him also. He is also very fond of going on bike rides with daddy in the bike trailer. The day we got him his helmut he wouldn't take it off...as you can see from the picture! :) The coolest thing lately that Eric does is play peakaboo with Tyler. Eric can get Tyler laughing better than anyone else in the house and it cracks Eric up too!

Tyler is just over 5 months old now. He is starting to get his own personality each and every day. Like I said earlier...Eric is the only one that can get him to laugh so I just know he is going to adore his older brother. At least until Eric learns to wrestle with him and until they get old enough to fight. :) His biggest thing lately is that he has started on solid food. He loves sweet potatoes and green beans. He isn't too sure about applesauce though. At least one of my kids will eat veggies...for now. haha! He also rolled over from his back to his tummy today and I missed it! He has been rolling from his tummy to back for a month or so now but never back to tummy. I laid him down today so I could go find directions for something in the other room and when I came back he was on his tummy and in the process of rolling to his back! Ugh...missed it...oh well maybe he will wait and do it for when Brian gets home so we can both see it at the same time.

Well...I believe that is it for now. I will do my best to keep this updated at least a couple of times a month but I give no promises! :)