I've been better about taking pictures and videos this week so I thought I'd share a few.

First, Addison and Fischer had a special visitor. They were so excited!! Sadly, he/she hasn't been back since.

We had a play date with some twin friends, Kyran and Karyssa, yesterday. Here they all are taking a break from playing to watch a little TV. It was exciting that they finally got to meet, and it was fun watching them play together. When we were leaving, Addison walked up without any prompting and gave them both hugs. It was so cute!

Addison showed off her hop-scotching skills while we played outside earlier this week.

Fischer showed off his dancing skills tonight.

And, Addison wanted to get in on the dancing too. I took this video trying to get Fischer to dance again when she started dancing too.

We are looking forward to a weekend full of nice weather!

Just a quick house update tonight. Scott went over today and took a couple of pictures. There will soon be an upstairs and a roof - it's coming right along!

We got our next assignment from our builder - we have to pick our shower faucets and valves this weekend so that they can start roughing in the electrical and plumbing next week. Stay tuned for our decision!

I think Addison and Fischer are finally back to feeling like themselves! Fischer, especially, still wasn't acting like himself until today. He finally ate all 3 meals and both snacks today! That's a first since he got sick a week and a half ago. He also really enjoyed gym this morning. Addison did too, but she always does. Last week, we had to leave early because Fischer just wasn't having a good time, and he was letting everyone there know about it. I wish I could take a video of Addison during gym because she loves it so much!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that in this older gym class, the kids are encouraged to say their own names during circle time. This morning, Fischer said his name when it was his turn! I really thought Addison would be the first since she says it all the time at home, but Fischer beat her to it. It came out as "Dee Dee" but that's how he always says it. I was so proud of him! They also had to do an activity this morning where they had to wait for their name to be called (no easy feat for 2 year olds), then run to a cone and put a ring on it. Then, they had to wait for their name to be called again, run back to the cone and take the ring off. Addison and Fischer did both things perfectly!! It's amazing how proud I felt. They are doing so well in this more challenging class!

Speaking of class, they are officially going to preschool in the fall!! I got the phone call today that they got the last 2 spots in the "2s" class! They will start in August and go for a few hours every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Now, we must work on them being apart from Mommy since I won't be going to class with them. :) They are just growing up way too fast.

And, finally, something funny that happened today. We were looking at some old pictures (which Addison and Fischer loved, which was thrilling since I love pictures!). We looked at one of Scott and I at a Bed and Breakfast. When I told them it was a Bed and Breakfast, Fischer said "cereal??" This made me laugh - I love how their little minds work.

I've had a hard time gathering my thoughts lately, so this post is going to be a lot of random thoughts...23 thoughts, to be exact, since Addison and Fischer are 23 months old (but not for much longer!).

1. We had a "play date" yesterday. Addison and Fischer had a great time playing with the other kids - they are 3 and 5. The mom is a friend of a friend I had in Charleston, and they went to college together in Tennessee. Small world!

2. I can't believe Addison and Fischer will be TWO in 2 weeks.

3.  If my New Years resolution was to take less pictures this year, I'd be doing great! I am disappointed in myself so far this year - I must start taking more pictures!!

4.  It looks like Addison will be on soy milk for now... she doesn't seem to tolerate the 2% milk either. Fischer is doing well with it though, so he is completely transitioned. I had high hopes of having them on the same milk, but it won't be happening right now.

5.  Addison says "I'm sorry" all the time now. If she has a dirty diaper she says "I'm sorry, Mommy" while I'm changing it. If she drops something, she said "I'm sorry." She's always worried about others!

6.  We are dealing with the joys of tantrums on a daily basis now. And I keep hearing that the 3s are more challenging than the 2s. Yikes!!

7.  Since having the stomach bug, Addison and Fischer still aren't eating as much as they were. Fischer has become quite picky and only wants to eat pickles, chex mix and ketchup. I hope their appetites come back soon - we aren't used to this picky eater thing.

8.  When Fischer is listening to something, he puts his hand up to his ear (much like people do when they are trying to hear something better), raises an eyebrow, and smiles. It is so funny and I have no idea where he got this from!

9.  I am officially registered for my 2nd half marathon. This one will be in April in Nashville, TN. I really need to get busy with my training.

10. I think Fischer's (and sometimes Addison's) sleep patterns are directly related to playtime outside. On the days we don't get to go outside because of weather, he doesn't sleep very well.

11.  Addison has become quite the little helper - more and more everyday. She loves throwing things away, putting dirty diapers in the diaper genie and dirty clothes in the hamper. Fischer is slowly jumping on board!

12. I love how they do things so differently sometimes. For instance, when they work on puzzles, Addison points to the piece she wants to put in, then tries to find it. Fischer, on the other hand, grabs the first piece he sees and tries to make it fit. Also, when putting clothes in the hamper, he doesn't care if they don't go in all the way. Addison makes sure everything is neatly put inside the hamper before putting the lid back on.

13. Addison and Fischer will only watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the Toy Story movies right now. They no longer want to watch Sesame Street or Word World. I did order them A Bug's Life and Cars for their birthdays - hopefully this will switch things up a bit.

14. I made Fischer another hair cut appointment today. That boy's hair grows like crazy!

15. I am about 1/2 way through my 3rd book of the year - woohoo!! At this rate, I may average one a month!

16. Addison and Fischer both seem to be between pant sizes right now (18 months are too short, 24 months are too long), which is making getting them dressed a challenge.

17.  Addison loves to "tap and twirl." I think we may have a little dancer on our hands!

18. She has also started referring to herself as "Aaa-sin" a lot. She says "Aaa-sin's bed" or "Aaa-sin's shoes" and on and on.

19. Fischer asks to play with play-doh a lot, and he always tries to eat some. So gross.

20. I can't wait to find out how much they weigh at their 2 year checkup at the end of this month. They feel so heavy... and I know they are getting taller by the day because they can reach almost anything on the counters now.

21. Addison loves playing with my purses - she fills them with "treasures" then takes them all out, only to fill it up again.  Fischer takes his turn on occasion too. :)

22. I feel like I'm constantly buying shoes for them - their feet grow so fast.

23. They are slowly but surely learning their colors. We work at it everyday, and I know they'll get it eventually, but I do get excited when they get several in a row right!

I think that's enough for now - I hope you are all having a good week!

Desperate times call for desperate measures! It has been so rainy here, so our outside time has been non-existent, which makes us all a little stir-crazy.

I remembered reading several months ago about a potato and jell-o art project. You are supposed to cut a potato in half and cut out a shape into the potato. Then, you dip it into the jell-o powder and stamp it on paper. We tried it out this afternoon, and it didn't work so well, but the kids still had fun making a mess. I also skipped the step of cutting out a shape into the potato, and just let them dip it into the powder and smear it around onto the paper. They lost interest in this pretty quickly though. You can sort of see their orange smears in this picture...

So, it was on to the next messy project. Since we already had a sheet out on the kitchen floor, and they were already dirty, I decided to let them "cook." I gave them little bowls of flour and water, and a bigger bowl to pour those "ingredients" in. Then, they stirred it all up with their spoons. They, of course, each had their own bowl to stir. They loved dumping in the flour and kept asking for more "fow-fue." Eventually, they got a little bored so Scott added some green food coloring which got them excited again.  They kept stirring and saying "cook." It was fun! But, once they decided they were done they started roaming around the kitchen leaving little green spots everywhere. So, it was time for a bubble bath!

We are hoping for nicer weather tomorrow so we can spend a lot of time outside.

In house news, we now have toilets! Our builder called yesterday and said Lowe's was having a huge sale on some Kohler toilets (1/2 off!) He bought the 3 that we'll need, which ended up saving us $450.

Such big changes are happening with our new house!

Today, they started on the second floor, which is where Addison and Fischer's rooms will be, along with their playroom and bathroom. We were able to prop up a ladder so we could climb up and walk around.  It was a little scary since there are no walls - I just made sure not to go near the edges. Addison and Fischer stayed on the ground with Jim and Dianne.

The first picture is a view from where Fischer's room will be. He will be above the garage, and Addison will be above the kitchen. I would not want to be those guys standing on a piece of wood!

The second picture is looking down into the dining area and living room.

We also walked through the first floor. All of the rooms are framed so you can really visualize what everything is going to look like now! I'm extra excited that I am going to have a little "me-room" for working on my photos albums, or any other projects I may want to do. It will be a smaller room, but I am very excited to have a place to keep all of my supplies! It will be big enough for a desk and some shelves, so I don't need much more than that!

Here is the cut out for the staircase.

They also did the framing for the garage, which will be big enough for both of our cars and many of Scott's toys!

We are hoping next week will include the walls for the second floor going up. And soon after, a roof!  All of the changes are so exciting!!

I think everyone around here is on the mend... hopefully, by tomorrow, everyone will be back to normal!

Scott and Fischer did get a chance to head over to the new house today to check on the progress, while Addison and I stayed home and enjoyed some girl time. They are moving right along this week, and it's really starting to look like a house! We also got our first "decision email" from our builder today. We've already picked out several things, but today he emailed saying we needed to pick out our interior doors. So we looked at some options online and made our decision - easy as that! If only all the decisions were that easy... :)

Here are some pictures from today.

The front door...

The guest room...

This will be looking from the kitchen into the dining area and the living room... Obviously all of those boards won't be there, they are there for support right now.

I can't wait to see what's next!