update and taking a break

who is who? same outfits, same drum-- can you tell? (answer at bottom)
I'm not too good at this blog thing, or keeping it updated, so I am taking a hiatus and from the computer in general (some people watch too much tv, I "watch" too much blog/facebook. In the meantime, hope the update helps! (PS-- I'm going to turn the computer off for at least a week, so if you need me, give me a call!)

Superman and Yoda at the arboretum


Superman!

The boys about to watch the UT/OU game

**Joseph is on the top, Matthew is on the bottom. =)

it's been a quick month....

Well, both boys are sleeping (which is an amazing thing!), so I thought I'd update our blog with what's been happening this month....
-Joseph has been sleeping better (although he has a cold right now, so he's not sleeping as good right now), and for the last 3 nights, the boys have slept in the same room! (Although, Joseph usually wakes up screaming at midnight because of his cold, so we bring him to our room-- but it's progress!)
-Matthew started his Mother's Day Out one day a week-- and is doing just great-- I love hearing from his teacher each week how good he does, and that he is well-behaved!
-Matthew is talking more and more-- and last night, he wanted some cookies, and I asked him, "what do you say when you want more cookies?" And he said "cookies, pease" (which is his word for please), and my heart just melted =).
-Brett and I actually had a date night a few weeks ago-- the cheapest date ever! We went and saw "Up" at the dollar movie, used a gift card at on the border, and then got some ice cream-- we had so much fun!
Everyday is a new adventure, but (most days) it's a lot of fun...

little blessings

Every night, we pray for dinner before we start eating. A few weeks ago, we were in a hurry to eat because Brett had to get to a meeting. So, when dinner was served, Matthew wouldn't start eating, and held out his hand-- he knew we were supposed to pray first-- isn't that wonderful!?!? We prayed together, and I silently thanked the Lord for the special moment from Matthew.

One last story--yesterday evening, we were getting ready to go to a concert, and Matthew points up to the table, and says Bible (which was still there from church). And then I had him take the Bible and go tell Daddy-- which he did as well. It's so nice to see all this repetition paying off! =)

team tooley hits hot springs

We just got back from a great week in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This was our first vacation for our family of four, and we had a great time getting away, not having to cook, clean house or do dishes! We didn't know what to expect with the boys, (driving, not being home, different foods), but they did pretty well-- our motto this week was- "someday we'll laugh about this!" We visited a beautiful garden, toured bathhouse row (can I just say I'm very thankful for our modern bathrooms!) Bathhouses were really popular in the early 1900's because of the natural hot springs there. There was a lot of tile, and personally, looked a little horror-movie-creepy to me, but it was very interesting! We also finished up the week visiting Lake DeGray, eating dinner there and walking around the "beach." Here are some pictures from our week:




we had the best homemade icecream-- they even had a little toddler-sized cone that Matthew loved!










we took this pic with the timer-- not too bad!

Matthew's 2nd birthday!

Well, I can't believe my "baby" is already 2! We had a fun party for him- complete with hot dogs, watermelon, and brownies (his favorite foods!). It was a wonderful evening with family and friends.


this was the best family shot we got!


my sweet Matthew


yummy cake!


Lions, elephants, and giraffes, oh my!


Blowing out his candle-- hooray!

ah..... change....

Normally, we put Matthew in his crib, and he goofs around and does anything not to go to sleep. This wasn't a big deal, because he finally gives up and conks out, but in the process, he's been kicking the bars of the crib so hard that we were afraid he was going to break it (and we sure don't want to have to buy a new one!) So, Sunday night, we moved him to his big-boy toddler bed. After two-hours of putting him back in his bed, he finally went to sleep. The last few nights have gone pretty well. Here's a pic from his first night....

Big Brother, Little Brother

Saturday evening, we went outside to take some pictures with the boys in cute "big brother, little brother" t-shirts that Nana and Grandpa bought them. I will say it was quite an ordeal, but we got a couple of cute pictures in the process!






doesn't he look ornery?!?