Hearts and Fire Trucks!

We went to the American Heart Walk on Saturday! Cade would not get close to this heart!

They bounced on the entrance to this Jumping Castle but would not go inside!

Carson got to make book-ends at the Home Depot table in the Kids Zone!

Cade got to make some, too, of course!

Amanda is holding her dog Brody while her mother-in-law Debbie holds Bandit! Our Debbie and her stepson Robert are walking on ahead! I got Amanda to push Cade and Carson so I could get a picture of the group, but I forgot to tell the group to look before I backed up (and they just couldn't hear me)!

We did the walk as a way to donate from our facility (along with the $500 raised)! There was a great picture of me and Debbie at the sign recognizing that our company supports the American Heart Association, but we are no longer aloud to advertise the name of our employer on the internet! I can't say that I blame them for that - sometimes I wish to not be connected with the things that I say! Ha! Ha!

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So, here's McGruff the security dog posing with the twins after we completed the very hot walk! I thought I was crazy for wearing jeans - look what this dog is wearing!

We went to Niccole's beautiful house from there to give her a break from unpacking! She's letting the boys color on her unpacked boxes!

Choosing favorite colors - Carson chose blue, of course, and Cade chose brown today!

Mrs. Niccole teaches Carson and Cade all the fun things to be done with boxes!

Alex already knew what to do!

Pulling the wagon full of packing paper!

Of course, they would both fall asleep during the 15 minutes it took us to get to the fire house!

Walking in, the twins both had to hold Michael's hands!

We stopped at the fire hydrant in the entrance! Here's Cade, Alex, Carson, and Michael!

Our friend Rachael (she's a PTA at our work) set up an awesome visit to her husband's Fire Station! Niccole looks giddy with excitement here!

Cade, me and Carson with fire hats on! We learned that the black hats are for the regular firemen and the red hats are for the captains! Isn't that cool! Fireman Jay also taught us that the white fire hat is for the chief!

I got to be in a group pictures with all the little boys - Michael, Alex, Cade and Carson!

Me, Carson, Michael and Cade learn lots of cool stuff from the other fireman, too! He and Fireman Jay were so awesome explaining everything and talking to the boys about fires and trusting firemen!

Alex was born to be a fireman!

Although they talk about firemen and firetrucks all the time - it took the boys a little bit to warm up to the whole thing! Those trucks were huge!

Michael drives the fire truck with his Mommy!

Carson and Cade are driving with their Mommy, too!

We feel very powerful - despite that it takes three of us to drive this monster!

The twins are concentrated on driving while I talk to Michael in the passenger seat!

Rachael found a great big window to look out of!

Mrs. Niccole helps Cade, Carson and Michael get out of the fire truck! When Alex is not in the picture - it's because he's busy exploring and figuring out his fireman job!

You can kinda tell we're in there "driving!"

Driving another one! I think we got in all 4 fire trucks!

The firemen decide to drive one of the trucks out so we can blow sirens and horns!!!!

Cade thought it was funny but didn't want to be the one to blow the horns! He took to Mrs. Niccole the whole afternoon!

The whole crowd with our firemen (and Rachael taking the picture)!

Michael, Lisa, Carson and Alex!

Cade was driving his own vehicle!

Cade liked the jet ski, too!

Cade, Michael, Carson and Alex!

Lisa and Rachael chatting while Niccole mans the camera!

Such serious little drivers!

Cade did not get in the ambulance this time!

The guys showed us the cool medical equipment and tested it on Alex!

Cade, Carson and Michael drive the ambulance with the fireman close to direct them!

The boys from the front of the ambulance!

We had so much fun and I must say that the boys were thrilled to see all those firetrucks and various equipment! They loved it! They are just so in to firetrucks and firemen right now! They love to look out for fire trucks and ambulances and police cars! They're my little heros! We always pass by the fire station on the way to church. As we get close, they usually gear up with: "Firetrucks gonna be on my side today." or melt down with "Firetrucks not on my side today." They always talk about the firemen and the ambulance workers and note whether or not they are there or out to help somebody! It's the sweetest thing to me that they ask me to pray for the firemen and ambulance workers if they're out to help somebody! (I always say a quick prayer for any emergency workers when I see them out and always have since Shellee mentioned that she did that in high school! So, since the boys have been growing up so fast - I've started saying my quick little prayers out loud for them to hear, and they've caught on to how important it is for God to protect these special people!) Just brings me to tears typing it.

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It used to always be Mater from Cars that they wanted to be when we'd ask them what they wanted to be for Halloween. And no, there was no one be Mater and one be McQueen. It was always both wanted to be Mater. Same thing if we mentioned Peter Pan and Captain Hook - they both wanted to be Captain Hook. Mario and Luigi, believe me we threw lots of duo costume ideas their way. They always end up wanting to be the same thing, oddly enough - always the "sidekick" character.

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So, when Fireman Jay sent fire hats home through Mrs. Rachael at Mommy's work a couple of weeks ago they started wearing them all the time. I put a picture of the boys in those hats up on FaceBook, and my sister-in-law asked if they were going to be firemen for Halloween. Great idea, Suzanne! I hadn't even thought of it! I asked the boys: "Do you want to be firemen for Halloween?" Carson answered yes, and Cade said, "And I'll be a policeman!" So the next night we found a Halloween store and tried on the size 2-3 in each. The fireman's hat was much more cool, and Cade started crying for one. The nice lady opened up the size 4-6 package so he could try on the hat, too. Well, then he wanted to wear the yellow outfit like Carson! So he got to try it on. I finally got them convinced that they could wear fire hats with the fireman and policeman costumes, so we bought one of each and left. In the car, about to drive off from the mall, Cade starts talking about Halloween. Carson informs me: "Mommy, we both want to be firemen!" I verified this with Cade (with lots of questions - even asking if he would want to be a blue fireman), and then I called the number on the receipt that said absolutely no exchanges or returns! She was so nice. We ran back in and swapped out the policeman for the larger fireman (no where has 2 of the same size - often true in most all specialty stores, FYI)!

They tried on the costumes the next day after I got them washed and were so excited to wear them all around the house!

A week later, Cade was talking on the way to Day Care that morning, and was pretty set on being a policeman (again despite my questions, including how about a yellow policeman). So that afternoon, before I went to pick them up I drove back to the Halloween store and bought it! I mean, when a two year old is set on being a policeman for Halloween, he should get to be a policeman. Plus, I thought it was so much cuter with them in different little hero costumes! So after getting it washed and dried I had it all ready in their closet with the other fireman costume hidden away. I asked them if they wanted to dress up, and they said yes! Believe it or not - they both wanted to be firemen again! So, we do have 3 costumes for Halloween, and we'll have to see if we have 2 firemen or a fireman and a policeman on Halloween, I guess!

Library, Pictures, Festival, Outlets, and Concert, Oh My!

Carson, Daddy, and Cade eating breakfast with Daddy at the kitchen table one day last week!

That afternoon after DayCare, we went to the library! They love going there to check out books!

Carson loves to read!

Cade loves to read, too!

Friday we had a family picture scheduled for our church directory, so the boys enjoyed dressing up!
Carson and Cade are playing with trucks Grandma brought to entertain them while we wait on our turn for pictures! The boys did great, but of course Kevin and I were not too happy with how we looked, so we didn't buy any!

Carson and Cade check out the horses at the Dixie Stampede on Saturday at Dolly Parton's Imagination Festival!

So that festival wasn't nearly as fun as it was last year - (no firetrucks this year), so we ended up at the outlets! The boys love to go there! They played in the fountain! A nice man gave them each pennies, and they threw them in and made a wish!

Here's Alvin and my Chipmunks!

They rode with Woody Woodpecker and Chilly the Penguin, too!

Cade went for a blast off!

I had to post this picture of them in a helicopter even though it's bad, because last time I posted them in a helicopter, Kevin corrected me that it was clearly an airplane!

And here's Carson driving the Ice Cream truck while Cade hands out the ice cream!

Cade and Carson drive the dump truck!

Who likes sitting at the table now that Mommy finally took the high chairs out of the kitchen!

Cade and Carson after bath time Saturday night! This is apparently their new thing - they line up all their favorite animals (just the ones they sleep with), and they proceed to sing their hearts out! It is so cute!

Jesus Loves Me - Duet!

Beautiful Sunday Morning Hymn sung by Cade and Carson Jordan!

Fall Weekend!

We got to have a fun outdoor day on Saturday last weekend! It was nice to have all four of us at home on a Saturday!
Cade has parked to "fill 'er up"!
They are using straps from the boat cover as gas hoses!

Daddy is cleaning vinyl!

Carson and Cade are working hard on their tractors while Daddy cleans gutters!

Cade is standing in front of the Oak tree that Daddy planted when he was born 2 1/2 years ago!

Carson is standing in front of the Oak tree that Daddy planted 2 1/2 years ago for him, too!

Both boys wanted to stand together at Cade's tree!

They had Daddy spray them with the hose from the roof!

Cade, Carson, and Mommy in a Bubble Bath!

Just a shot of how full their closet is!

Eating at Outback for Grandma's Birthday!

The boys are taking Mickey Mouse(s) for a boat ride! (They always pretend the green Legos boxes are boats on trailors behind their trucks!)

Twin Language!

Brace yourself, I think this is gonna be a long one! Here's Carson and Cade in the Bubble Bath when the power went out the other day - it kinda freaked 'em out! We had to finish the bath quickly and get out to go tell Daddy, who was cutting grass outside! In the process, Mitchell (another Electrical Engineer at his work) called his cell phone. So when Kevin left for work, the boys kept talking about it! Carson said: "Daddy needs to fix that power." Cade responded with a question for me: "And Mr. Mitchell?" Carson answered him: "And the guys at Daddy's work."

Just my twins and their favorite fish!

"Mickey's in the boat, and we're backing up to Georgetown!"

Playing with all Mark Randall's cool toys at his birthday party! Happy 3rd Birthday, Mark Randall!
Luke enjoyed the party as much as everyone else!
We have attended a lot of birthday parties lately, and it makes the boys think they should have a birthday party! Of course with all the fun "water" themed parties over the summer - they think they will get to play in the water on their party (the end of January)! I keep trying to remind them that it is a long time away, that lots of stuff will happen between now and then and that it will be cold. And they just keep asking silly questions: Is Suzi gonna come to my party? Is Mackenzie gonna wear her bathing suit? Austin's gonna slide in the water? Grandma might not wanna get wet? We have to go to Nana and Bopa T.'s first?

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So we've discussed that it's a long way off. And of course I don't expect them to actually get the concept of time. I've gotten the calendar and shown them how many months with various holidays and birthdays that occur along the way. One night about a month ago lying in bed with them after reading and saying prayers and singing, they brought up their birthday. So again I went through every thing that had to happen before their birthday. When we got to Christmas, Carson requested: "Sing Santa Claus", so I sang Santa Claus is coming to town. (Over and over again, at their request!) The next night on the phone with Nana and Bopa T., the twins requested Nana and Bopa T. sing Santa Claus! That was really funny, because my parents were not expecting to have to sing on the phone that night!

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Since then, Cade and Carson have really gotten into the Christmas thing! Let's just say the boys know and sing a lot of Christmas songs now! They'll shout: "Jingle Bells, Hey!" going through department stores! So just the other night in another Bubble Bath, Carson blurted out: "I want a bathrobe." So I inquired, "Do you want Santa Claus to bring you boys bathrobes?" And they both responded: (Carson) Uh huh & (Cade) yeah (and again with a little prompting: Yes, Ma'am)! So I asked them what else they wanted Santa to bring them.



Cade: Baseball Gloves

Carson: Baseballs

Cade: Elmos

Carson: Poptarts

Cade: Cupcakes

Carson: Blue Presents

Cade: Boats

Carson: A telephone

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In that same bath, the crazy boys started to splash too much (which they know they're not allowed to splash water out of the tub), so before Carson made another splash after Cade, I interjected with a stern: "No, Carson." To which Cade replied: "Don't tell CarCar no. He's my brother."

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About 3 weeks ago, we went to the library (not that we don't have half a million books at home - we just like to visit because it's a great place and I think it amazes the twins that there are so many books in one building)! The boys were picking out books from the shelves and checking things out. They saw some cute 3-ft displays of some book characters, and Carson goes: "It's Peter!" And Cade goes: "And Willie!" And I was totally amazed they remembered their names! So, of course, that's what they wanted. They kept saying, "I want a Peter and Willie book." I went to the librarian, but there was no children's librarian on duty and this one had no clue. And then it hit me: Keats. Ezra Jack Keats, The Snowy Day! We checked out that one and Whistle for Willie! They were thrilled!

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One night in the middle of the night (after going to the beach that afternoon), I woke up hearing Carson call for Mommy. I ran into their room and laid down with them wrapping my arms around each of them. Carson proceeded to call out: "I need a blue ball." I thought about it for a second and said, "here's your blue ball, baby" and pretended to hand him something. Then he said, "My ball's broken." And he stopped talking!

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The next morning they woke up early and wanted to go potty in my bathroom (well, really they just requested: "I want to pee pee in Daddy's potty." So while we were so close I decided to finish getting ready. They were with me in the bathroom while I was brushing my teeth. They're always fascinated with my toothbrush holder and will pull it apart and put it together again and again. Well, this time in the middle of brushing my teeth I noticed Cade had put my toothbrush holder right over his "tinkertoy." Yucky little boy - they are such boys!

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Usually Kevin gets them ready because I'm gone before they wake up, but this same morning I was the one getting them dressed. I like for them to choose their clothes, so I asked what do you want to wear today (but it was before I had two outfits in my hands for them to choose). Carson announced quickly: "I want to wear a blue shirt!" Cade retorted: "I want to wear a white shirt." Neither child wanted to change his mind, so we put on shorts that would go with either. During breakfast (yes, they eat breakfast at home and again at Mrs. Charlie's - believe me, I'll feed them when they want to eat - because there's so many times when they don't eat much like dinner or whenever a crowd is around), Carson started crying. When we asked him why, he said he wanted his white shirt like Cade! I think it is so cool that they want to dress alike and that they find identity in each other. They're always looking for each other, wanting to play with the same toy his brother is playing with, asking if the other one did it (when I'm trying to get them to do something like wash hands: "Did CarCar use soap?") I can't think of a better person for either of my sons to share everything with!

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Sometimes in the afternoon when I pick the boys up they are barefooted (most of the time), so I just chunk their shoes in the floorboard of the van and get them out when we get home. Well, one morning as I was driving to work, I got a call from Kevin asking where the twins' shoes were. Of course, the only two pairs that fit at the time (all 8 shoes) were in my van! Oops! Carson cried and cried for his shoes that morning! Bad Mommy!

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My boys are talkers! I think they love to hear themselves talk. From the moment they wake up: "Hey Mommy!" to right before they fall asleep: "Time to go night night. See you in the morning! One more kiss. And right there, too! Kiss me all over. I love you more!" I love to hear them talk - even with the crazy speech errors, incorrect grammar, and country accent! Carson says I do like "ah do" and house is "hayouse". Cade says I don't feel good - I need to go see Dr. Rabon like "I don peel good - I nee go see Doc Ray." Still, both boys are stimulable for all sounds and Carson does a pretty good job correcting when I model! For the most part I understand all of what they say, however silly and nonsensical it may be. But there are times when even I have to ask the other one, "What'd he say?" They always know what each other has said - it must be their special Twin Language!

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They play really well together! They are actually sharing a lot better. Cade will ask Carson: "Where's your puppy?" or hand him a toy and say: "Here's your trailor!" We do hear a lot of: "Me first." "No me." "Don't do that." "He spit on me." kinda stuff and "Hey, watch me!", "Look!", "I'm gonna drop the elbow on you!" and "Hey, watch this!" followed by injuries or cries some times, but all part of being 2 year old boys!

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I love to hear them say some of their little particular phrases! Whenever Carson is looking for something and he finds it, he says: "There's it!" Cade loves to look at me and say, "Hey baby!" Cade also loves to announce: "Kiss you knee." get down from his chair and kiss my leg and climb back in his chair! Carson loves to imitate his Daddy with: "I need to go study." and "I'm gonna pay bills!" Cade imitates more of the fun stuff Daddy does: "I gotta cut grass." "I take the boat to Georgetown and back in the water!" Kevin was dropping the boys off one day and said goodbye and kissed Cade on the head. Carson was already going up the steps, but he turned around and started coming back to Kevin saying, "kiss my" very quietly and Kevin couldn't hear him several times. Finally he spoke up and said, "KISS MY" and pointed the top of his head right at Kevin!

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One time Kevin had the boys in the bed already while I was getting ready for bed, and he called for me. A couple minutes went by while they were reading books, and Carson asked: "Where's Lisa?" They will sometimes say, "I love you, Lisa" or "I love you, Kevin" when they're being silly. But for the most part they don't actually use our first names!

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One night after dinner, we had grapes. Kevin was pretty full from dinner, but the grapes were so good that he ate a bunch. Later, he said he didn't feel good, and he ended up going to bed early that night. While I was laying with the boys, Cade said: "I don't feel good." Carson said: "I probably ate too much grapes." Cade replied: "Gotta chew 'em up!" As if they thought Daddy felt bad because he didn't chew up his food all the way like I'm always telling them to do!

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They are so funny when they tell me: "I have plenty drink." or "That's enough cheese." I love how they know so many concepts. They're always telling each other answers for me and Kevin. Like if one asks: "Can we go to Myrtle Waves?" The other may answer before one of us can: "We might go after nap!"

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They have recently decided that they are big boys! They think they can do just about anything. Potty training was a success! They still wear pull ups at night, but keep them dry a good bit of the time. Every other night there's one wet one, maybe! Bedtime is still a work in progress, but they think they're big boys for staying in their bunk beds all night (even if they still want Mommy to lie with them for a little while before falling asleep)! They sit at the table all the time now. We're working on big cups (when Daddy can stand the stress of spills or when he's not around). I've decided our potties are taller than standard homes, because they can just barely get their tinkertoys over the rim to pee in standing up! And our light switch plates are hung higher than standard, because they can't reach them at home but they can do these things at other people's houses! When I sing Rock-A-Bye Baby and other sweet songs, they remind me they are not babies. They say: "Finley's a Baby!" talking about the sweet little baby at DayCare, and then they request that I sing the songs with her name in there! I still love it when they say, "I'm Mommy's big boy!"

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They love to talk about bad guys, and I think are very prepared for an emergency situation (as prepared as a 2 year old can be)! They can't quite say our address yet, but they know to dial 911 in an emergency! This is a recent success, since Carson first announced 991 (the first time I read the 911 Emergency book that Nana and Bopa T. gave them for their last birthday) and they got stuck on it the wrong way for the longest time. They know to pitch a fit, holler and run away if a bad guy tries to get them! Now we just have to get rid of those fit pitches when bad guys are not around!

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They still love firetrucks and fire stations! They talk about firemen a lot. I recently realized that our new PTA at work is married to a fireman! When she heard me talking about how much the boys love firemen and stuff, she got all kinds of cool stuff for them. They were thrilled to have fire hats and fun trading cards, pencils, pamphlets, badges, and stickers! We hope we're gonna get it worked out to go meet him at work in the next couple of weeks! They are so excited about it, and also a little apprehensive as they keep asking me if I'll be there with them! Probably my next post will have a little more fireman stuff as they've gotten more and more excited about their firehats! I think this is enough for now. I'll try to do better at posting all the recent things I want to remember here and there instead of in one huge long post next time!