End of Year Wrap-up

We took Grandpa John (and the rest of the family) to the aquarium for his birthday, and what a treat. Andrew really enjoyed seeing all the fish, and he was always ready to move on the next exhibit. Santa happened to swim right up as he moved to one of the big viewing areas!!!
At the annual birthday party for Jesus at church. There is usually a petting zoo, and Andy loves his animals, guess he's just checking out what the donkey is doing.

Our little guys loving on Apollo (such a trooper)!

This has been another amazing year! Starting with the introduction of Matthew 5 days into the year, we have had so much fun watching our boys grow. It is hard to believe that we will be celebrating Matt's birthday over the weekend. Both Andrew and Matthew have experienced lots of firsts, including preschool, talking, potty training, along with smiling, crawling, and new teeth. Matthew has taught us to be more relaxed, as we do our best to let the boys have fun while we still give them a good structure to build on!

We can only imagine what 2011 will bring, but we're excited to see all the new things Andy and Matt will be doing, especially being great brothers to each other!

ENJOY!

Underwear!!!

That's right folks, one more Christmas present, I think for everyone!! Andrew was giving us lots of signs that he was ready to start using the potty, so we got the underwear and dove right in. He's doing really great, and we're not going back, so it's a great way to end 2010!

Christmas 2010

A White Christmas, but far too cold to venture out, the boys were happy seeing it from the door!
Matthew wasn't quite sure what was going on, but still fun to help him open his goodies!

Andrew on the other hand knew what was going on, it was great to see the excitement on his face, and the playroom is very happy for all the new additions!

It wouldn't be Christmas without a book, and of course we need "The Night Before Christmas", thanks to Grandpa John for recording it for us!

The Pink Pig

These are not the best pictures, but we tried! This was an interesting experience, and one that I think Brian and I will only embark on again if the kids beg us! Cool idea, but the line/set-up could use a little work!

Decorating the Tree

Believe it or not, this is about as close to the tree as they get!
We let Andrew hang some ornaments this year. He only dropped one, and it was a great lesson on how careful we have to be! You can definitely pick out his branches, they are supporting 2 or 3 ornaments each.

These were the exciting "balls" that we had to see!!

Some November Fun

Helping Dad make sure it's level!
Two little boys on ride on toys, oh my!!!

One of Andrew's favorite things to do is to help Dad bring the cars back in the garage after they've been washed. You can't get a picture with him sitting down b/c the seats are so low, but that smile says it all!! Dad is very responsible, and uses seat belts to move the 10 feet down the driveway.

The Faces of Matthew

Mr. Matt is into everything!! The days of staying in the playroom are long gone, and we often find him at our feet. I would love to say that is a good excuse to keep my floors clean, but Zeus & Apollo make that almost impossible. Thankfully, he's holding an actual kid toy here instead of his beloved dog toys!! He's quickly learning to respond to "Matthew Bennett"!!
Looking ever so handsome after eating his first Thanksgiving dinner! Very fun that he actually got to participate in the eating. He loves to eat!!

I promise I'm not getting into anything, Mom!

Ouch!!

It's a little hard to see, but the boys have matching boo-boos on their foreheads. Andrew got his first, and the next morning Matthew decided to bump his head too!

Halloween 2010

Sometimes we forget that everything that happens this year is a first for Matthew!
Our little lion!

Andy really got the hang of going up to the cars to pick out candy. He was super cute, when people would say, "oh, it's Thomas," Andrew would look down and hold up his costume!

And, after every car, he would come show us his loot, and say, "whoa"!!

Thomas & Sir Toppam Hat!!

First Horse Ride

The World of Horses was great! We had no idea what to expect, but Andrew loved it! He got about a 10 minute ride on a pony, the only scary part was no seat belt on the saddle. One of Andy's favorite phrases right now is "what's this?", so there were many reminders to keep two hands on the saddle, but he stayed on for the whole ride!!

World of Horses Activities

So, we interpreted 90 minutes at World of Horses, to be a 90 minute horse ride. Upon arrival, we found all of these activites instead! Really fun experience for Andrew to play in all the horse stalls, and lots of fun to have Grandpa John to help me out!

Crawling

So Mr. Matty finally decided that he needed to get places!

October Update

It is so much fun to see toys being used for the second time! It is still hard to believe how big Matt is getting. It's a blast to watch the boys play together, we're working every day on sharing and being good brothers. I'm always surprised at how they are teaching each other things!! There are far too many memories that the camera isn't fast enough to catch!
Gotta love that hair!!

Andrew is following in dad's footsteps. He did this all on his own with no encouragement from mom. We were walking through the mall, and he spotted a car and he had to sit down and appreciate it! It was a lovely Bentley convertible.

Nothing beats this! We love the zoo, we are there almost once a week, and this visit can't be beat. Andrew knows all his animals, but Kiki & Frost are his favorites!! This day was awesome, the lions were playing, roaring, and finally as Andy tells us, sleeping!!

The boys are doing so well, we've got our crazy moments, but it really is fun to take in all they do. We have been so lucky to make friends with all the kids on the street and now everyday is playtime in the cul-de-sac, so much fun!!

Andrew is adjusting well to school, we had some hiccups after missing school with vacation and then the stomach flu (no fun!), but I think we've made a big step! We've gotten 2 notes home in the last week telling us that Andrew was very, very happy, and that he's having GREAT days!! It definitely lets us know that he's doing well. He has picked up so many cool things already, it is really great to watch him grow!

Matthew is filling in the role of the baby so well!! Maybe too much at times! We have figured out that Mr. Matty is capable of doing many, many things, but Mommy and Daddy don't make him, so why bother! For instance, holding his own bottle, eating table food, and crawling. All of which he is doing, and has been doing, but only if he really wants to!!

It's really interesting to see how we were so concerned about Andrew completing all these tasks, and with Matthew, we are just letting things happen. It's hard to say if we were overly crazy the first time or a just a bit lazy this time. Either way, we've got two awesome little boys!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Going to pick pumpkins gets more and more fun! Obviously this is Matty's first Halloween so we had to put him near all the pumpkins, but it's funny to let Andrew actually pick one out. He walks all around, and just picks one and of course a smaller one for Matt. More pics to come!

Charleston 2010 - part 2

Our first trip to the beach was a huge success! It's a bit of a haul to take 2 little people 2 blocks to the beach, but it was worth it to see them both playing in the sand. Andy really liked the water & waves on day 1, day 2 was a little unsure!

Charleston 2010

Making dough with Grandpa!!

Looking at horseshoe crabs with Mommy, it was very special to share this with him!

The pool in the backyard was fabulous!

Such a fun vacation, the whole Wagner/Somar crew got together. So much fun to have everyone together including 3 kids under 2!! We did so many fun things including the aquarium, the beach, shopping on market street, and lots of playtime!!