Burt and Ernie Say....

...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Burt and Ernie made their Halloween debut at my office on Friday. The hats were purchased on etsy.com and the outfits were made with love by Grandma Barbie. (Notice the attention to detail - Ernie's stripes are horizontal and Burt's stripes are vertical and he has the turtleneck.)

Daddy and Ernie

Mommy and Burt (the boys did not like their hats!)

After Burt and Ernie made it up and down the halls of MMC gathering candy they were able to make time to help mom with a little bit of work before heading back home for their nap.

Prior/Mason (minus their hats)

And here's a video of the boys helping themselves to some candy...

Untitled from K Schultes on Vimeo.

Splish Splash

Mason

Prior

My friend Julie asked me yesterday if the boys really fit in the ducky tub. They were in it long enough for us to realize it was the perfect size for one little boy, but not two (and to take a picture of course). So we took Beth's advice and it is now down in the basement as a climbing toy. Since that night we have been bathing in the big tub. The boys love it. Lots of splashing, shoving, kicking, etc. 

My favorite part is the burps after they get out of the tub from all of the bath water they drank due to the splashing. 

The Instigator

I continue to be amazed at how different these boys are considering they share the same DNA. Everyone's favorite question to ask us is "how do you tell them apart?" Well, my sister said it best when she said she can tell them apart by their personality. From day one Mason has been the one where Ben and I look at each other and say - "he's trouble". This picture is an excellent example. This isn't the first time one brother has caused the other to cry and it SURELY isn't the last. But when it happens I find myself laughing at the instigator (usually Mason) and consoling the injured (typically Prior) all at the same time.

Seriously - look at the determination on Mason's face!

Little Vampires

Prior

Mason

We love our BEETS! We hope you are as excited as we are for our very FIRST Halloween! Hint: we're not going to be vampires! Our costumes are pretty darn cool and we (MOM) can't wait to post pictures (and eat all of our trick-or-treating candy!) 

The weekend

This past weekend Dad went to Madison for the Iowa/Wisconsin game. We stayed home and got dressed up in our Iowa gear (thanks g-pa Don!) to help cheer on the Hawks. It must have worked because they won!

Grandma Julie came up and spent the weekend with us while Dad was gone and we had a great time. On Saturday we went to the farmer's market in Minneapolis and got lots of our favorite veggies: sweet potatoes, beans, and squash. We had so much fun with Grandma Julie - she read LOTS of books to us!

On Sunday, our second cousins, Sasha and Kaelen came over for brunch. It was very fun to meet our cousins for the very first time!

When Dad got home we were very happy to see him!

Prior - Mason

A Tub for 2

8 Months

P/M

Mason headed out of the living room, into the kitchen, around the island and right for Gus' dog dish.

Prior eating a rice cracker.

Prior and his handsome smile.

Kristi - our Puma track suits finally fit us! How cool are we?!

Yet another month has flown by and these two little monkeys are another month older. 8!? It's almost time to start planning their first birthday party.

So the boys...

Prior and Mason are very very busy boys. Constantly on the move - constantly. I'm not sure if it's a boy thing or if it is just their personality but I think I should have named them George - as in Curious George. Changing their clothes and diapers is a disaster. They like to be on their backs as much as turtles do. They are eating more and more cubes of fruits and vegetables every day. Mason has started to pull himself up and tries to crawl up the stairs with absolutely no fear. The fact that he doesn't even sit up very well on his own doesn't seem to deter him from trying to climb stairs. They have also started fighting over toys. It's kind of cute now but it won't be once the real fights start! And they have promised to consider sleeping more hours in a row at night during this 8th month - yippee!

Go Twins!

WIN TWINS!

(Maybe we should wait to wear grey until after we're done teething...)

(M/P)

Teething...still

P&M have been teething for about 4 months now. Each boy goes through about 4 bibs each day (8 total) and the amount of drool is a sight to be seen. Some days I wonder if they are dehydrated because there is no way the amount of fluid they are taking in exceeds the amount of drool that comes out. Anyway, 8 months old and still no teeth. Well, no 'real' teeth. This weekend we started giving the boys those cereal puffs that are like cheerios but dissolve easier than cheerios and the boys are slowly getting the hang of them. I, being the neurotic first-time mom that I am, break them in half. This picture is of Mason trying to eat a half of a cereal puff and it looks like he has two front 'buck' teeth. He's all smiles in this picture because we were laughing so hard at him!

Mason - when your front teeth do actually come in I hope they don't look like this! But if they do we'll have to take some of that college fund money and spend it on your grill!

Welcome Noi!

After dropping Cara off at the airport on Wednesday I headed back to the airport on Thursday and picked up Noi. We spent Friday and the weekend together going through the official Schultes family schedule and all of the checklists. Noi is settling in well and does very well with the boys. We are very excited she is here!! I told Cara that her reign as best sister aunt in the whole world was still intact but her best nanny title was short lived. Noi has cooked us two incredibly delicious Thai meals in the 5 short days she's been here. Cara was here 10 days and I think she cooked mac and cheese one night. Sorry Cara!!

Things Happen For A Reason (a Guest Post)

Mason/Cara/Prior

As promised, the following is a guest-post by Auntie Cara:

Things happen for a reason….

I am a firm believer in that statement. It may be hard to understand why things happen when they do and why at all, but in the end things always seem to work out, sometimes even for the better!

I knew that I had wanted to write about my ten day experience in the Schultes household, but wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to say. The phrase, “Great Birth Control,” had been coming up a lot. Even though I have no desire to have a child or multiple children right now, it wasn’t so overwhelming that I questioned the thought of ever having children. I could go into detail about the long days, late night feedings, and the fact that Ben was gone for a portion of the trip, but that would sound like I am complaining. The truth is the days flew by and didn’t feel long, I enjoyed getting up to help Kristin get the boys to bed and in fact I am thankful that Ben was gone (no offense), it gave Kristin and I a lot of time to catch up, chat, and enjoy each other’s company while also spending time with the boys. What this trip made me want to do was pack up my bags and move into their home (or maybe just near by). Prior and Mason are two of the happiest and cutest little boys, which how could they not be with parents like Kristin and Ben. It was so great to see the boys’ faces light up when their parents walked into the room. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to spend so much quality time with the boys and Kristin. This was the greatest trip home, a trip I will never forget. Thank you Kristin, Ben, Mason, Prior, and even Gus for such a great time at home and an experience I will never forget.

Things definitely happen for a reason!

Love,

Cara Mae