December so far...

We've been having a lot of fun so far this month. The weather has been so up and down. One day it's almost warm enough we don't need coats to play outside and the next day it's so cold we need coats, gloves, hats and we're still freezing. We started this month off by celebrating Kevin's birthday. Avery and Grayson drew all over their daddy's card. They also made him a handprint picture that turned out super cute. I love that they are old enough to participate in homemade crafts. Avery and Grayson got to have a sleep over at Aunt RoRo's house so Kevin and I could join a group of our friends in Baltimore at a comedy show. We had such a great time but could not get to our babies fast enough Sunday morning. We got there just in time to see the snow coming down. Now we're ready for a good, fluffy snow, so we can really play in it.

 

Here are pictures of this month so far...

 

My cuties in the backyard on one of those warmer days.

 

We went to Kinder Farm Park and got to see sheep, ducks, and a calf. We also got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus and go on a tractor ride.

Yeah, surprisingly Avery was the one who wasn't a big fan!

My little family on the tractor ride.

Checking out the snow in her "A Christmas Story" snowsuit! Haha :)

 

They even got to play a little 'ball ball" (football) with their cousins.

This was our Happy Birthday Daddy picture! It melts my heart to see all of these sweet photos of my amazing husband being such a great daddy.

We also got to start the advent calendar that Aunt Devin and Aunt Suz made Avery and Grayson. They LOVE getting the presents down. So much so they have tried helping themselves a couple of times. We are working on asking mommy if it's present time. Avery opened a new little baby on her first day and as you can see she was in love! Grayson opened a lion puppet!

We went to Reston to visit the Fisher's and go to the Christmas Tree Lighting at the Reston Town Center. They loved seeing the horses pulling Mr. and Mrs. Claus more than they enjoyed seeing Mr. and Mrs Claus.

Love's his Suz!

We also went and cut down our very first Christmas tree as a family. Avery and Grayson loved running around the tree farm. This was not the tree we chose...but it would have been perfect for A & G.

 

On one of those warm days we had ice cream in front of this pretty Christmas tree!

That would be an empty cone with sprinkles. Poor Kevin is lactose intolerant and can't have ice cream which is one of the reasons I think this is only the second time A & G have ever had ice cream.

 

 

 

I volunteered at the Ronald McDonald house and this is the photo Kevin sends me of what I was missing. I can't get both of them to look at the camera together let alone look and stick their tongue out.

Practicing coloring

Poor Ellie is tortured on a daily basis.

Gotta love Facetime with Aunt Devin! Yes, my daughter is climbing in her kitchen cabinet. Never, ever a dull moment these days.

 

 

2013 Christmas Photos

Avery and Grayson had their 2013 Christmas photos taken last week. I'm not usually a fan of indoor picture places because I usually see really cheesy/ cheap backdrops and props used. I love the natural outdoor look so much better. However, this year I had a Groupon for $16 for Picture People at the mall and I figured I'd give it a try. I decided to go on a week day and not have Kevin and I in the photos this time around because that seemed  better than having to brave the crowds on a weekend just to have us in the photos. Let's face it, most people want to see our cute little monkey's and not us anyways so what's the harm in one round of pictures of just them? For the first time EVER Avery, my smiley little girl decided she did not like the photographer and was not in the mood to smile for him. We did however get a couple of pretty cute ones after I made him put a plain back drop in and take away the silly (really fake looking) Christmas tree and teddy bear that I'm sure a million kids have touched from Avery's hands. And of course Avery and Grayson decided they were not going to smile in the same picture for me. Oh well, that's where we are these days and it's the real us!

 

 

Go figure I went with a picture I took of them outside in the leaves for the front of our Christmas card this year. I couldn't resist using this one since I literally laughed out loud when I saw the face Grayson had as his sister practically strangles him to give him a hug and face the camera at the same time (Miss Priss). Love these two more than words!

Time Change Drowsiness

We've been having a tough time in the Hatcher house with the time change. I'm not sure if Grayson is hitting the terrible two's a little early or if this time change is just a little hard for him to handle, but we've had a rough few days with our little man. He has been throwing absolute, all out, body flailing, screaming at the top of his lungs (which is louder than I could have ever imagined) temper tantrums. If this isn't the terrible two's I'm not sure I'll make it. We are trying to work on it with him using consistency in how we react, using time outs, and basically anything we can think of to curb the tude. But we've still managed to have some fun with each other...

 

This was the Monday night after the time change. Poor lil man fell asleep on the floor in his room, dosed in his high chair and then fell asleep on the floor in the kitchen before I finally gave in and let him go to bed for the night at 6:30pm. I was afraid he was going to wake up before the sun came up but he must have been tired because he was still asleep when I left for work!

 

He thought it was funny to try and catch my tongue...eew!

 

Their absolute favorite 'teet' is having a marshmallow...can you say chubby bunny?!?!

 

Avery and Grayson had their 20 month check up and Avery officially surpassed her brother in the weight department. Avery came in at 21.6 pounds and 30 3/4 inches. Grayson came in at 20.15 pounds and 32 1/4 inches. What can I say, my girl loves to eat :) Still not quite on the charts but at least we are healthy and happy little monkey's.

 

She'll kill me for this one someday!

 

Hmm..guess we're not quite ready for potty training. Wishful thinking!

 

Snuggles with my baby girl.

 

Daddy aimed the blower at them one afternoon when he was out working on the yard and they thought it was SO funny.

 

I love watching them play together...until 5 minutes later when he decided he was done pushing her and dumped her to the ground. Sigh!

 

Kevin and I enjoyed a date day. He got me tickets to the Redskins/ Charges game for November 3rd. We had so much fun and even got to stay long enough to see the Skins pull off the W in overtime.

Fall/ Halloween Festivities

This year we had a blast experiencing all the fun to be had at Fall Festivals and Halloween parties. I was pretty excited to see Avery and Grayson really took part in trick or treating. Our only problem was that they tried taking handfuls rather than one piece. None the less, they understood the concept of walking up to the door, picking candy out of a bucket, and then placing it in their buckets.

 

We heard about a really neat place in Thurmont, Maryland that would be fun for the kids and adults. Our friends Shane and Reece joined us on our trip to Lawyers Farm.

 

 

 

 

Kevin had fun shooting pumpkins from a cannon at metal sculptures

 

 

Avery and Grayson enjoyed the kids play area and running around in the maze

 

 

 

All three kids riding together.

 

Running through the maze

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grayson loved throwing hay all over the place.

 

Little buddies Avery and Reece.

 

Grayson took the ladies for a ride :)

 

 

Later that same weekend we met up with our friends the Leichs and Schoens for our annual trip to Homestead Gardens.

 

 

 

Avery loved riding the pony.

 

A little harder to get the kids to sit and look at the camera this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actual Halloween was so much fun with our pig and cow!

 Avery the pig

 

Grayson the cow.

 

 

 

 

Going for it all :)

Running to the next house with excitement.

 

"Don't you dare try and take away my candy Mom!"

 

Halloween with my kiddos

 

 

 The day after Halloween we had our playgroup friends over for a Halloween party.

This shows how much fun it is to try and get 5 babies/toddlers to pose for a picture.

Ryan the super hero, Grayson the cow, Brenner, Avery the pig, and Reece the ladybug.