It has been so long since I posted that I can't even remember half of what's been going on. Here's a brief update.

-Christmas season is here. I am almost done Christmas shopping already! Kind of nice to have things checked off my list, but also makes for a long December. I feel like Christmas should be here, but it's still three weeks away.

-A had a Christmas Store after school today. He was able to pick out a few gifts on his own: one for C and one for each of his Grandmas. It was pretty cute, and he actually did a great job. I did have to convince him to put back the penguin keychain and pick something different for C, but other than that, he picked out pretty decent job of selecting gifts. Be excited, Grandmas!

-A has a Christmas Program coming up at school. I can't wait! I'm sure it will be very entertaining! He has a "part" that he has to memorize. It's two lines long, and he says it in a group, but he's excited about it. He's also been teaching C some of the carols they are going to sing. It's so cute to hear C singing Jingle Bells.

-C is almost 2! I can't believe it. He got his first big-boy hair cut... kind of. I basically just cut around his ears, cut the mullet off the back and trimmed his bangs out of his eyes. It took a pack of Smarties to bribe him to sit still for the few brief minutes that I had, but it turned out pretty cute. I'll post a picture soon...I hope.

-P and I got to spend a weekend with out the kids! It was great! We stayed downtown, ate some delicious meals, did some window shopping and just enjoyed uninterrupted conversation. It was great! Long overdue. Thanks Grandma and Nonno for watching the kids for us!!!

-Some great Holiday events coming up. Look forward to posts about: The Annual Cookie Making Marathon, Gingerbread Houses, Trains Downtown, trip to Cleveland, and possibly A's first Ice Skating Attempt.

This post is mostly meant for me... a few weeks from now...or maybe a few minutes from now when I'm having a bad day.

I realized this week that I truly have the BEST job. I love what I do. The boys are at such fun stages. They are more independent and love to play. I doesn't even matter what they are playing. They just love to play.

They wake up happy and full of energy... maybe too much energy for 5:45 am, but at least they love life.

A is about the most inquisitive child I have ever met. Like his daddy, he knows a little bit about everything. He can correctly identify a robin, a maple tree, rhyming words and a waxing gibbous moon (which most adults can't do!) He knows when you skip words in a book. He loves his little brother and spends a lot of time at school telling his teachers all about C. And he loves to tell stories. Man is that little kid a talker. Someday he's going to end up in journalism or PR. I'm calling it now. He just loves life and wants to share that with everyone he meets.... yes... everyone.

C is at such a fun age. The kid has the CUTEST smile in the world, especially when he's pretending to be shy. He has learned early how to break hearts and constantly has strangers gushing over him. He thinks he is so much older than he is, which is simultaneously dangerous and adorable. He jumps off our stairs, our couch... okay, pretty much anything. And he loves to sing. He'll randomly break out into "Take me out to the ball game" or the goodbye song that A learned at school. And he's amazingly independent. He's wanted to do everything by himself since he was four months old. He's always fed himself with a spoon... mommy's not allowed to help. He refills his own water, puts his own jacket on and tries so hard to zip it up.

And I love the flexibility in our schedule. I love that we can drop whatever we are doing to help a friend or if someone calls last minute to hang out, we are pretty much able to say yes.

I love my job. And I love my kids.

-We are battling sickness yet again. C has some nasty stomach bug. I'll spare you the details, but it's been three straight days of not venturing too far from the house for fear of the mess that could come at any moment. Poor kiddo is doing a little better each day, but still far from being well. He was actually playing today, but he is so drained and isn't eating much. So far no one else has gotten this bug, and I'm praying that continues because...

-This coming weekend P and I are going to be kid-free! My sweet, sweet parents have volunteered to watch the boys for the weekend so we can get away for the first time in 3 1/2 years. We aren't venturing far. Actually, we'll just be downtown Cincy, but we'll be staying in a hotel overlooking Fountain Square. But there's so much to do downtown that we never get to do. I am so excited!

-Despite his sickness, C is amazingly cute. He has two new favorite phrases. "Almost" as in "C, it's time for naps." "Almost" or "C, are you finished eating that?" "Almost" His other favorite is "Can't see" as in "Mommy, can't see candy!" "Yes, I know. I hid the Halloween candy on purpose. That's why you can't see it." or "Mommy, can't see skid steer loader." "I know... we passed the construction site two miles ago."

-A has had a rough few days. He NEEDS to be outside running around a LOT. But with C being sick, we can't venture too far. Despite his stir-craziness, he's spent a lot of time playing by himself over the past few days, which is not one of his strengths. It was fun to see him dump his entire bucket of train tracks out and build a huge track by himself. It even looped under the couch leg and had two bridges. I was pretty impressed.

That's about it for us. Kind of a slow weekend. Not much to report.

• I know you have all been waiting anxiously to find out if our strategy worked for the time change.... and the answer is.... kind of. On that blissful Sunday morning when the entire country enjoys an extra hour of sleep, A slept until 7:15! It was amazing! Of course, it would have been a lot more exciting if C hadn't been awake at 5:30. Since then, we've settled on 5:45 as our standard wake up time. Not exactly my favorite time, but definitely better than the 4:30 I had anticipated.

• The boys and I made pine cone bird feeders... twice. I know, it's not super creative... pretty standard as far as fall crafts. BUT, both boys can do it by themselves, it's fun to do with friends, it's easy and it gives them something to look forward to as they check to see if birds have come to eat. I have actually realized that these cute little bird feeders are torturous for the birds. The poor chickadees that populate our yard come, check out the feeders and try to get some seed. But this is not easy as the pine cone moves and they don't hover in midair as hummingbirds do. They have to eat fast and then take a rest. Luckily, the boys spilled enough birdseed in the process of making them that the birds could enjoy a winter-long feast just eating off the ground.

-Once a month I have to lose something really important, like my car keys. This gives me the motivation I need to clean my entire house from top to bottom. Organized pots and pans cupboards. Dusted every shelf in our house. Sorted through toy boxes. Literally every inch of our house got cleaned yesterday. Oh, and I found my keys... in a pile of leaves outside.

-I used to love the fall time change. It meant an extra hour of sleep! Who wouldn't love that? But now, I dread it. Seriously D-R-E-A-D it. My kids are earlybirds. C gets up around 6... if we are lucky. Sometimes earlier. For those of you not so good at math, that would put us at at 5am wake up every day once the time changes! Ugh! That doesn't even count as morning in my mind. So this year, we are thinking ahead. We are prepping for the time change. We've been putting the kids to bed a little later each night for the past few weeks and trying to eat meals a little later, too. I am really hoping this will prevent my kids getting up at 4:30 am on the day of the time change. It's made for a few long days. A has even been taking naps a few times a week because he's been so tired. But, I am hopeful that it will work. We'll see.

Happy Birthday, Daddy

The boys made some cards for Daddy's birthday. After they were finished drawing, I wrote word for word what they told me they wanted to say to Daddy. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I am excited to give you your present. I like when we go to the park at Bell Tower and play on the swings. And I like to play hide-and-seek with you. I love you!

Love, Baby Bear A

(Yep... he signed his card Baby Bear. Not sure why, but he insisted. Made P laugh out loud when he read it.)

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I like to play with Mr. Mister and Mr. Newton (his cousins). I like to rock it out. I like to sing, "Old Ball Game". (meaning "Take me out to the ball game.") I love you! Love, C

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Joey Votto and the Cowboy.