Summer is long gone but the memories & fun times are still remembered.  We had lots of adventures this past summer with the boys. They sure do love being outside- playing in the sandbox, swimming in the kiddie pool, picking produce from Mommy & Daddy’s garden (not a recommended activity), swinging at Grandma & Grandpa’s, feeding the horse…..the list goes on! Here are some pictures of some fun summer times!

Playing in the pool

Jack swinging

Eli on the swing set

Feeding the horse

We also took a few trips away from home this summer. One trip we took was to the beach with the Mann Family in July. They loved playing in the sand, the pool & the ocean. We had sand everywhere!

Playing at the beach

Chasing the birds

In the ocean

Eli

Jack

Our family at the beach

We also visited Dollywood & Dolly’s Splash Country several times with our families. Here are a few pictures from one of those trips.  The boy’s favorite things to do at Dollywood are by far the train ride & the duck ride.  They love it!

The Duck Ride

Family Picture with the Conductor

It was a wonderful summer & we had lots of fun!

We had a really great fun-filled weekend celebrating the Fourth of July with family & friends.  On Friday, we took the boys to visit our friend Drew & his family on the lake.  We got to take the boys on their first boat ride! They loved it!

Our first boat ride

They also got to watch us wake-board.  It was really funny because the whole time I was wake-boarding, they were waving at me constantly! Here is a picture of Jack waving.

Jack waving at Mommy wake-boarding

Uncle Drew also let them drive the boat! Too cute! They thought that was big stuff! Elijah kept turning the wheel in the same direction, so we went around in circles for a little while.  Then you can see in the picture below, Jack was trying to look to see where he was driving! Such a good driver! Haha!

Elijah driving the boat

Jack driving the boat

On Saturday, we had lunch with my family and then headed over to the Fuson’s for dinner.  After dinner, we stopped by to see some of our friends that were having a little pool party.  There were quite a few kiddos and most of them were twins and boys (6 out of the 7…sorry Aliza!)! They got to play in the pool for a little while.  Jack & Elijah love water!! Here is a picture of a few of the kiddos.

Pool Party.....where's the parents?

We had a great weekend spending time with friends & family!

So I just realized that it has been over 3 months since we last posted! Yikes! Well, to make up for it….I will make this one a good one to catch you up on life with the Fuson twins!

We have been on the go quite a bit lately! We have taken the boys to the Chattanooga Zoo a couple of times.  The first time back in March with Grandma Connatser & Uncle Michael and then in May for our friend Isaac’s 2nd Birthday! They love to see the animals! They can make a pretty good animal noises too! Here is my favorite picture of the boys at the zoo…..hehehe!

Eli & Jack at the Zoo

For Easter, we visited our families up in Maryville and ate lots of delicious food.  They absolutely loved playing with Easter eggs.  Here are a couple of pictures of them from Easter weekend.

Eli & Jack- Easter 2009

Easter Eggs are so much fun!

For Mother’s Day this year, I made some homemade (also eatable) finger paint & we did handprint cards for the Grandmothers! Of course after we did the important part, I let them go crazy & be messy! Let’s just say we had to take an early bath that day…..

Jack & Eli fingerpainting

Eli

Jack

Here is a picture of me with Jack & Eli on Mother’s Day.

Mothers Day 2009

We have also been on a few picnics this year. I have to say that my favorite picnic spot will always be Metcalf Bottoms. Maybe because our family basically lived there every Sunday when I was a kid. Here are some pictures from a picnic at Metcalf Bottoms with Grandma & Grandpa Fuson & Cousins Emily & Katelyn.

Eli & Jack in their own special chairs

The Fam

Here is one last picture of the boys with their Daddy on Father’s Day.  It was right before bedtime & we realized we never took a picture to commerate Father’s Day.  Matt reads a story to them every night before bed.  As you can see, they have their “helmets” on their heads.  They like to wear those around the house & pretend they are helmets.  Funny boys!

Dad & the boys

I think that catches us up for now. To view all of these pictures & more…click on the Pictures tab to view our latest slideshow. Enjoy!

Believe it or not Jack and Elijah are 1 year old (they’re actually 13 months old now…so we’re a little late with this – sorry).  We went in to Maryville to celebrate their birthday, February 6th.  We decided to do the party on Saturday the 7th and lots of friends and family showed up!

The Cake

We waited for everyone to get there – and the boys used this time to play with some of their decorations.

Elijah

Jack

Once everyone arrived we started eating some of the great finger foods that our families provided.  They were delicious!  Of course all of that food was capped off with the cake.  And the boys each had their very own small cakes to eat!

Jack's Cake

Eli's Cake

So you can see what the cakes looked like beforehand.  Very attractive and delicious (thanks Pat!)  Everyone sang happy birthday and clapped for the boys as the cakes were presented.  The boys got to see their first birthday cake shortly thereafter and were very interested in the candles (Elijah even tried to touch it)!

Cakes with candles

With the candles blown out (courtesy of Mama and Aunt Suzy) the cakes were placed on the boys’ trays ready for consumption.  At first they just picked at the icing here and there.  But after a few minutes they really got into it.  Especially Jack who pretty much destroyed his entire cake.  Take a good look at the before pictures of the cakes above, because here is the aftermath.

Eli and his cake

Jack's decimated cake!

Overall I think the boys really enjoyed their cakes.  It took a highly skilled team of cleaners to rid the boys and their high chairs of every piece of cake and icing (I think we’re still picking cake out of their hair).

Boys eating cake

Next up was opening presents.  The boys got some GREAT gifts – thanks to everybody who got them something.  At first they were more interested in the bows on the gifts than the gifts themselves.  But once we started opening them they started paying attention to what was inside!

Presents!

All in all it was a really great day and the boys had a great time (so did mom and dad!)  Thank you everybody for making their first birthday so memorable.  Here is one last picture of mom and the boys (dad had a bad hair day…)

Mom and the boys

Special thanks to Denise Ensor for the great pictures!

Okay, so really, today is Jack & Elijah’s birthday….they are 1 year old!!  I never got around to posting their 11 month update, so this will just be a recap of this past month and then next week we will post about their first birthday!
Anyway, the boys are into everything these days! They definitely keep us on our toes.  They both are taking steps and walking all over the place.  Jack has been at it a little longer than Eli, so he walks quite a bit. Elijah is still working up his confidence.  They also love to walk all over the house pushing the toy cars they got for Christmas.  It is hilarious.  They practically are running when they get going! Here is a picture of them.

"Watch out! Here we come!"

They also are literally into EVERYTHING they can get their hands on.  Every time the bathroom door is left open, they come running to try to get in there…they love the toliet paper!

Why can't we play in the bathroom?

They also come running every time the refrigerator door is opened…

"Mmmmm....Mustard!

And if you leave them alone too long in the office, the bookshelf will be cleared off…..guaranteed!

"We have NO idea how the books got on the floor!"

They are also so funny when they loose on of their toys under the couch, they both will get down and look under there.  It doesn’t matter what the other one is doing, if he sees brother looking under the couch for something, he will go over there & join him.

Where did the ball go?

They are eating so much food now! I feel like some days they are going to eat me out of house & home!  Jack has 7 teeth now & Elijah has 8 teeth.  We are feeding them steak now! Haha!

They are also saying a few words. Of course the usual….mama, dada, bah (ball), etc.  The other night was so funny because Jack did something and I said “You did it!” and he replied as clear as day “I did it!” Matt and I looked at each other and laughed so hard! He said his first sentence! Haha!

Here is a picture of them cheesing together…..

Elijah & Jack- 11 months

To view all of these pictures & more, be sure to check out the “Pictures” tab. We have posted a new slideshow of pictures from the last month of so.  Maybe you will see yourself in one!!

Last month, our friend Daisy took some pictures of the boys for Christmas. They were 10 months old at the time. They are so cute! Thought some of you might like to check them out!

Just go to  daisyclients.com and click on “Elijah & Jack.” Then enter your email address and it will take you to them!

Enjoy!

Well, I know Christmas & New Year is pretty much gone at this point, but I haven’t had a chance to post anything since the plague hit our family! We ended up catching every contagious sickness over Christmas and it has taken 2 1/2 weeks to recover! One of us has had something wrong every day since Christmas! The boys have just now recovered from the last cold that left them with a nasty cough & runny noses.  We are praying for health for the New Year!

Anyway, Christmas was wonderful this year with the boys. It was also absolutely crazy because we had a million family gatherings to attend but we survived.  Poor Elijah had a rough Christmas because he reacted to his flu shot and ran a fever the whole time.  Someone ended up holding him almost the entire time. They still had fun opening presents and playing with the paper….and then eventually the toys.  They got all kinds of toys from cars/riding toys, walkers,  to toy maracas and guitars.  They were so cute to watch as they inspected the toys and tried to figure out what to do with it.  Santa Claus sure was good to them this year! They definitely racked up! Our living room has been taken over by toys….

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas with the boys….

Opening presents at Grandma's

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning at Grandma & Grandpa's

Playing with their loot

Eli & Jack with their new car from Grandpa

2009 is here! I can’t believe it.   Last New Years I was enormously pregnant.  It is amazing how time flies! We brought in the New Year (of course Jack & Eli didn’t know it…) and we are excited to see what 2009 brings.  Here is a picture of our family on New Years. Can’t you tell they love the hats……haha!

Our Family on New Years 2009

Since Thanksgiving, this month has flown by! The boys are 10 months old and into EVERYTHING! They keep me so busy now.  They have been so much fun lately.  They helped us decorate for Christmas earlier this month.  They loved playing with our beaded garland and some of the non-breakable ornaments.  They also enjoyed helping me unpack the storage tubs with Christmas decorations.  Here are a few pictures of the boys “helping” decorate for Christmas.

Jack & Eli playing with decorations

Eli & Jack helping unpack the decorations

Since we put up the Christmas tree, we also had to put up a barricade to keep them away from it.  The first day it was up I was here all day by myself I thought I was going to throw the tree out in the yard.  They would not stay away from it…the lights, the garland, ornaments, the needles that had fallen on the floor…who knows how many of those they ate!

This month they have learned lots of new skills. They both are officially crawling on their hands & knees as opposed to the arm crawl they had previously been doing. They are pulling up, cruising around the furniture, standing by themselves and the newest is CLIMBING STAIRS! So we had to put a gate up at the bottom of the stairs because they can be at the top in no time! You really cannot turn your back on them for a second.

One of our favorite things they do right now is carry things in their mouths like a puppy dog and crawl around the house. It is so cute! Here are a few pictures.

A little puppy dog

Yes, that is a sock in his mouth....

They are becoming much more vocal and babble all the time.  They will go on and on trying to tell you something.  They also talk to each other quite a bit.  One of our favorite books we read is about farm animals.  When we get to the cow part I will ask how the cow goes and I will moo like a cow and Elijah will imitate the sound! It is so cute! Also, since we started telling them “No”, Jack has learned to shake his head back and forth when we say “No” …I definitely think he understands…

They are eating everything now.  In fact, it is getting really hard to even get them to eat the pureed baby food.  They like to eat “real” food…and not only that…they want to feed themselves and pick it up on their own.  They will eat anything. In fact, there is  a funny story about Elijah… Matt had this sticky man that he would throw up on the ceiling and they would laugh so much when he did it.  Well, one time the sticky man was left up on the ceiling but he fell at some point…when I realized what happened, I found Elijah with it….and one of the legs were missing.  So….lets just say the 4th leg was located the next morning in Elijah’s diaper.  Here is the remains of the sticky man…we do not play with sticky man anymore…

The remains of Sticky Man

This past week we traveled up to Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving & Christmas with the Fuson Family.  Despite the horrible traffic we encountered there & back, we had a wonderful time visiting with family and it was well worth the trip.

On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving by eating lots of turkey and delicious food! The boys tried some sweet potato casserole & turkey.  There was too much going on for them to really enjoy it- they were keeping their eyes on all of their other cousins and aunts & uncles that were running around.  Uncle John also has a Mickey Mouse train that goes around the “kids” Christmas tree that they couldn’t keep their hands off of! They loved it! Here is a picture of our family on Thanksgiving.

Our family on Thanksgiving Day

On Friday, we celebrated Christmas with everyone.  We do a gift exchange with all of the cousins.  Aunt Kathie & Uncle John get a present for each of the children.  Jack & Elijah loved all of the excitement.  Elijah tore right into his like he knew what he was doing.  Jack was a little distracted by all of the other kids but we finally got him to open his present.  They each got a wooden puzzle board and they loved it.  They sat & played with it the rest of the night.  Here are some pictures of the kids opening their presents.

Can you find Jack & Eli?

Jack & Eli opening their presents

Jack being distracted & Eli having fun!

It was a fun trip & the boys did great traveling.  We look forward to visiting Ohio again next year!

Well Michelle has been asking me to write a post for a while, so here I am – Ta da!

We went to the doctor on Thursday for our nine month check-up.  The boys did great and are growing like weeds!

Jack weighs 18 lbs. 14 oz. and is 28″ long.

Elijah weighs 18 lbs. 12 oz. and is also 28″ long!

As you can see they stay pretty close in size to each other (and Jack did have a poopy diaper so that could have accounted for maybe an ounce.)

We also had to get a few shots – the final Hepatitis shot, and the first of two flu shots (with the next one given in one month).  They also had to have their blood drawn for an anemia test.

I was worried that they might freak out with the blood drawing but they actually didn’t even cry (they pricked their toe and only took a small amount).  Good job boys!

Both of the boys are now pulling up to standing.  They just need something about waist high, and they do the rest!  In fact we had to lower Jack’s bed because he would stand up and take his razor sharp little teeth and gnaw on the edge (he actually left some pretty nasty bite marks in the wood, oh well).

Speaking of gnawing, they do that to everything as they both have four teeth now!  Jack had three for a while but he finally caught up with Eli.

They’re also both crawling around everywhere now.  They’re both doing a funny army crawl but lately Jack has been taking a few crawls(?) – the correct crawl I guess you could say.

They also talk and blabber on all the time.  It’s mostly a “dadadada” or “mamamma” or “babababa”, but it’s really cute.  I’m pretty sure their first word will be “Dada”.  In which I will reply with a sugary treat as a reward (don’t tell Mama).

The last thing that they have been doing lately is dancing whenever music comes on.  It’s not necessarily a dance but they start bouncing and moving when they hear music they like.  It started with this little spider that plays a sort of “rock” version of The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and now they do it to just about everything.  It’s so funny!  I guess that’s about it.  Be sure to check back for updates, and subscribe to the blog if you haven’t already – that way you will get automatic emails each time we update (use the link to the right for that).

Here are a few recent pictures of our big 9-month old boys.

Jack & Eli

And here’s one last picture of them.

9 Months - Jack & Eli