Boys Birthday

The boy turned 2 on the 21st of Oct. We had a birthday party for them. We had a yummy dinner, ate cupcakes and ice cream, opened gifts and played a little game. I wrote up this quiz about the boys and whoever got the most right won a prize. If you read the blog, you will probably get most of them right, since I took most of the questions from here.

All the party guests

Caleb & Owen blowing out their cupcakes.

Owen & Caleb’s 2nd Birthday                  

1. We like to destroy lots of thing, but recently what appliance did we break?
    a. Television
    b. Oven
    c. Refrigerator
    d. None, we never break things.

2. True or False: Caleb had to wear an eye patch.

3. What month did the boys move out of their cribs and into beds?
    a. Last October
    b. August
    c. September
    d. This October

4. True or False: Only Caleb got tubes in his ears

5. True or False: The boys weigh the same?
Bonus: How much do they weigh?

6. According to their last Doctors visit, in September, Owen was ___ inches tall and
Caleb was ___ inches tall.

a. both the same

b. 35 and 33

c. 33 and 35

7. We aren’t afraid of very many things, but we get scared and cry every time ____________ gets turned on.  

8. True or False: We are really good eaters.

9. Our favortie show to watch is:

a. Survivor

            b. Seasame Street

c. Martha Speaks

d. Wild Krats

10. True or False: We share a room.

Answers: 1.A , 2.True, 3.C, 4. False, 5. False, Bonus: Owen 33lbs Caleb 31lbs, 6. A, 7. Roomba Vacuum, 8. True, 9. B. 10. False

Misc Stories about the Boys

Vent - The boys love putting toys down the vent. They go around the house and take all the covers off and then shove as many toys down them as they can. At night when they were supposed to be going to sleep, they would get up out of bed and you could hear the clank and clatter of the cover coming off and toys being dropped down the vent. I finally had to nail the vent cover down in their bedroom. I think Owen likes to do it more than Caleb, because when we put them in different rooms, he still does it, where as Caleb really doesn't.

Splitting the boys up - Owen apparently doesn't need as much sleep as Caleb and it was starting to become a problem. Since we moved them into beds, and they've learned to turn the light on, they would stay up for hours just 'screwing around' in there room, when they were supposed to be sleeping. We decided it would be best to put them in separate rooms. It has been going a lot better. Owen still stays up late sometimes, but Caleb can at least get the sleep he needs.

Chewing Food - Something gross that they did for a while was put huge amounts of food into their mouths start to chew it up and then, I guess when they started to feel like they were chocking or their jaw started hurting from so much food, they would spit it out into their hand and drop it on their tray or want to give it to me. Yuck and no thanks.

Owen attacks Caleb - He only did this a couple of times, but it was funny. He would come up behind Caleb and bear hug him from the back. Caleb didn't like this very much and would wiggle and try to escape. So picture it, Owen bear hugging Caleb and Caleb wiggling all over to get away, they usually both ended up on the floor crying. Another one of Mike's favorite quotes that he would tell the boys, "Its all fun and game until someone gets hurt."

Building a House

I've been meaning to blog about this since we broke ground, but we are building a house. In 2010 we bought a piece of property about 1/4 mile away and just sat on it for a while, trying to decide what we wanted to do. Finally the beginning of this year, we decided we wanted to move forward and build a house. Our friends built a house and we love the work and detail of the house, that we decided to go with their builder. We work with an architect and came up with a plan and are now building a new house. We should be in the beginning to middle of November. I knew it would be stressful, but I didn't realize how stressful. I'm going to happy when we can move in. I hope all the many decision we have had to make will come together nicely.  
Here are some pictures of the house in progress.

The boys had fun playing in all the dirt.

Fear of the Roomba

My sister recently got a roomba at her house and yesterday the boys were playing with it. As they were touching all the buttons they turned it on and got it going. I hadn't been paying too much attention, but all the sudden I heard crying and saw them both running towards me. The roomba had started and was just vacuuming away, but it really scared Owen and Caleb. These two are brave little boys and not a whole lot phases them, but I saw real fear in their eyes. Funny how such a small little thing is so scary to them. We turned it on today so we could get it on video, I'm sure when they are older they will laugh at this. Poor little guys.

350ish Miles

I was going to tell you all about my sore butt and burning thighs, but my friend Jessica said it so much better that I'll just post what she wrote. 



This weekend I participated in the Salt2Saint relay with 7 great friends.

We experienced:
8:00 am start time at the State Capitol on Friday morning.
Taking turns riding each leg of the race, ranging from 13 - 22 miles each.
Temperatures ranging from 40- 90 degrees.
 Rain, rain, rain and more freezing cold rain.
Headwinds.
Flat tires and tire blowouts and tire replacements.
Healthy food and junk food.
Riding in middle of the night on semi-lit highways and pitch-black bike paths.
1-1/2 hours of sleep (from 6 am to 7:30 am)... sitting up or crammed between the seats of the Yukon.
Beautiful scenery.
Hills and valleys.
Crossing the Utah/Arizona border.
Skipping 4 legs at the end because we were running out of time.
Riding together across the finish line at 5:00 pm on Saturday evening.
Rewarding ourselves with 4 pizzas, breadsticks and soda.
Ridiculously sore buttocks.
Laughing and talking and cheering on friends who we know we will cherish forever.

Biker Chick -  That's Me!

That doesn't look good.

I'm smiling on the outside, but on the inside I was crying and asking myself, "Why am I doing this?"

Nate Anderson: Even if he has been up all night, he still likes to look nice.

Alan Bingham riding, Justin Adams running him in.

Cami Bingham, Me, Kristin Anderson, Jessica Adams. Nate Anderson, Justin Adams, Craig Petty, Alan Bingham.

Love these Ladies!

Crying Together

Owen got in trouble the other day and every time he would cry Caleb would start to cry too. I thought it was so cute and sweet that he felt sad for his brother and was crying along with him. They are such good little friends and play so well together, for the most part. I hope they continue to have such a strong bond as they grow up.

So Much Trouble

The boys finally destroyed something of significant value today. I knew it was only a matter of time. They are kind of destructive. I'm hoping that it is normal for the age and for the gender. They take their toys and throw them down the stairs. Whenever I build something with block or legos the first thing they do is knock it down or tear it apart. Well today it was the TV. This is the TV Mike bought when we first moved into the house and it was his birthday and Christmas present for like 5 years in a row, because it was so expensive. The only reason we bought it in the first place is because he said we wouldn't have to replace it for many, many years to come. Then we had kids. Dun, dun, dun. Anyway, not sure how it happened, in fact I'm not sure how they even go up so high, but you can see the initial hit was in the top right hand corner. Here is what the damage looks like.
 
 Mike wasn't too pleased when he got home and the boys got in a lot of trouble. They cried for a while and then Mike told them they weren't allowed by the TV anymore. He told them that the 3 ft radius around the TV was the Dead Zone and that is where little boys went to die. I thought that was hilarious. Those two better watch out. 

Big Boy Beds

Last weekend we went and bought twin beds for the boys and took down their cribs. It hasn't been too bad, a little crazy, but not much crying was involved, which is always a good thing. The first night the boys only came out of the room once and Caleb fell out of bed once. I heard him fall and when I went in to see if he was ok, he was just crawling back into bed. :-) Nap time is a little more chaotic. If they are together they don't want to go to sleep. They will talk and play and talk and play and then when they are done doing that, they open their door and see if I'm looking and if I am, they get big smiles on their faces and come running out of the room. I chase them around trying to coral them back in and for some reason it has turned into a big game for them. :-) I've had to start putting them in separate rooms for nap time. But anyway, back to my original reason for this post. We bought two twin beds, but we may have wasted our money on one of them. When I go in to check on them before I go to sleep, this is what I've found the past couple of days, the two of them sleeping together. It sure is sweet to see.

Owen & Caleb (in the striped onesie)

Early Intervention

I feel like the boys have not been improving in their language skills for quite some time now. I was going to wait until they turned 2 to do something about it, but after thinking about it for a few weeks, I wondered why I was waiting until then. If I was going to do something about it then, why not do something about it now, so I did. I called Early Intervention the end of August and set up some appointments. Early Intervention conducts two initial meetings. The first one they had in our home and they tested the boys in a bunch of different areas; Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognitive, Receptive Language, Expressive Language. Social Emotional and Adaptive. Both boys did well in the Gross and Fine Motor areas, but they really struggled in the Receptive and Expressive Language. In fact they were at less than 1%. Because of this, they qualified for a learning program through Early Intervention, so we will be meeting with some teachers and figuring out the best way to help these two with their language. The second meeting is at a school and they go over medical history and they test their eyes and hearing. Both boys did fine with the eye test, but not well on the hearing. Caleb is on the border of hearing loss and Owen has some hearing loss. The tester checked their ear drums and she said they have a lot of build up behind them, so the ear drums isn't able to vibrate properly when the sound travels through it. She was concerned about this and recommend I talk to my Pediatrician. I made an appointment with our Pediatrician and he confirmed what she said, so now I need to make and appointment with the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor and most likely the boys will be getting tubes in their ears. I'm glad I listened to my instincts and had them tested. I'm hoping that their speech delay is just a problem of they couldn't hear well. Once we get this all sorted out we will go back in for another hearing test. In the meantime, the teachers will be coming out to set up a speech program with the boys.
Their stats at their appointment today were:
Caleb: Weight 31 lbs, Height 35.25
Owen: Weight 33 lbs, Height 35.5

Time for Big Boy Beds

I thought this was a funny story.Mike was in the living room this morning and out walks Owen from his room. He thought I had gotten up and was in their bedroom changing Caleb's diaper. He could smell that Owen needed his diaper changed too so he decided to go in their room and change Owen there. So, Mike walks in the room expecting to see me. Instead he sees that Caleb is in the Owens crib and I'm still asleep in my bed. :-) Looks like they both know how to climb out of their cribs and back into each others. I think it is time to upgrade to big boy beds.

Swimming

Kate, Caleb, Owen and Cole

This summer we have spent a lot of time in the pool. We go over to my dad's house once a week to swim with some friends. Owen is so brave and loves to go out in the water and splash around. Caleb isn't quite so brave he likes to stay close to me. All the kids were sitting on the side of the pool and I got this cute picture. As I was going to take my camera back to my bag, one of the boy fell in. Thank goodness Suzanne was there and saved him. Despite the scare, we still love swimming.

Owen with glasses.

We found these glasses at my dad's house and put them on Owen. Cute, but a little nerdy. Let's hope he never needs them. :-)

Light Switches

The boys, especially Owen, love turning the lights off and on at home, at church, anywhere they can reach the switch. At first they were using our ottoman that has wheels on the bottom and they would push that to which ever set of lights they wanted to turn off and on. We put that away, hoping that would be the end of that, but then they just started moving their little yellow chairs around. They stand on their chairs and turn them off and on, off and on. I find that we have a lot more lights left on now a days.

Owen

Caleb. He's a little far away,
but if he reaches far enough, he can get it.

2nd Year: Herriman Triathlon

So my triathlon buddy went and got a stress fracture in her foot and couldn't compete this year (missed you Michelle), so I had to go and recruit some new buddies (Nick and Mariah) to compete with me. We had a great time racing together. I was really hoping to beat Mariah, so I could rub it in her face, but turns out after all, she was faster than me, by about 6 minutes. I'll have to work harder next year. :-)
Like last year, the race was a lot of fun. I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I finished the race in 2 hours and 3 minutes (about 6 minutes slower than last year). I was hoping to beat my time from last year, which was 1 hour 57 minutes. I had a great swim, but I knew right from the start of the bike that I was going to struggle. The first half of the bike is a gradual uphill and it kicked my booty. I did beat my time in the 5k by 1 minute. I was happy to cross the finish line. I love having the opportunity to race right in my own neighborhood. Already looking forward again to next year.

Nick, Mariah and I.
A family that Swims, Bikes and Runs together, Stays together. :-)
Mike says he doesn't believe in paying to exercise,
so he is our designated babysitter and camera man. Thanks Baby!

For Rebecca

So I lied. I've got at least two people who read my blog. :-) My sister told me she wants to see more videos and pictures of the boys, so here you go.


Playing at the Splash Park at Daybreak.

Owen

Caleb

The boys playing with their toys.

Playing on the steps.

Playing at the splash park.

For Alexis

This post is dedicated to my niece, Alexis, because she reads my blog. The other day we were at Mike's parents house and Caleb had his patch on. One of the cousins came in and asked what had happened to his eye. Alexis was in the room and heard him say this and she turned to him and said, "Don't you read their blog?" It was so cute and funny. I always know I have at least one reader out there. Thanks Alexis. Here is an update on the boys, so if any of the cousins ever ask, you can tell them what is going on. :-)

Speaking of Caleb and his eye patch, we went to the Dr. at the beginning of the month and he said the eye has improved, but he can still see it wander a little bit, so Caleb has to have the patch on for another two months. Hopefully after this it is all fixed. He is getting better about wearing it, but still we will be happy when his eye is fixed and the wearing of the eye patch is over.
Whenever Caleb points at something he crosses his index finger over his middle finger.
Caleb loves carrying cars around the house.
Both boys love eating grape, strawberries, asparagus and olives. (Kids loving veggies is totally a Slade trait.)
Owen loves going swimming, we went to the neighbors pool the other day and they have a really big section of the pool that is only about a foot and a half deep. He was playing all by himself and dipping his face in the water and exploring the drop offs. He went over the edge a few times, but I had my eye on him.
Owen is starting to "talk" a little more. He has a couple of funny expressions that is says over and over. He will turn his hands up and say, what you do (at least that is what it sounds like to us). 
They love going on walks around the neighborhood.

It was so hot on Saturday, we went to Target and bought the boys a pool. We moved the slide over by it and they had a lot of fun sliding down into the water. 

Boys Pictures

A couple of weeks ago I got the boys pictures taken. Caleb fell flat on his face after the second shot and was not very happy after that. He was clingy and didn't want to smile, so I wasn't sure if we were going to get any good pictures. However the photographer (Butterfly Love Photography) was great and got some cute shots of the boys. So, for your viewing pleasure here are some of the photos. 

Owen

Caleb

The Boys Together