I year checkup

Thomas had his one year checkup yesterday. It went well. He is still such a little boy. He weighed 19.4 lbs (6th percentile), was 28 3/4 in tall (19th percentile), which is a little under what Matthew was at 1 year.

Things the boys are doing now:
Thomas- loves to cuddle, walking everywhere and gets going pretty fast, eating table food and drinking whole milk from a cup, says mama and dada and babbles all the time, loves watching Matthew and follows him around, pointing at everything, likes to hold out his index finger to give love (Matthew used to do that in daycare), likes climbing on things, super sweet boy!

Matthew-loves dinosaurs and any kind of animal, starting to use potty again and getting more interested, teaches Thomas (see pictures below), shares well with Thomas- if Thomas has something he wants, he goes and gets another toy before taking it from him.lol, always giving hugs to us and pets our heads, can count to 10 pretty well, count to 20 with help, likes to cuddle now, so sweet and thoughtful, loves his brother "baby", started swimming lessons this week. He did great and loved it. Was able to pull himself out of the pool by himself by the end of our class. He also wore goggles which I couldn't believe because he is just now starting to wear his sunglasses.


Little Drummer Boy




Hey mom, look at me! Want some of my snack?


Matthew teaching Thomas what all the puzzle pieces are. He also reads books to him...so cute and sweet

Happy Birthday Thomas!

Thomas is 1 year old today! We celebrated his birthday Saturday with a few friends and family. Thank you to everyone who came and made his party so special! I think back over this past year with Thomas; he has been such a blessing! Paul and I were a little scared about having two so close, but honestly, we wouldn't change anything about it. He and Matthew get along so well. They really are best friends and play together so nicely (for now at least). I love that Matthew has a playmate 24/7 now, and Thomas just adores his big brother. We have had a great year! I have truly enjoyed staying home with the boys and seeing Thomas go through all the first year phases and how Matthew adapts to him at each phase. Now it should get really interesting with 2 yr old and 1 yr old boys. But for now, Life is good! We love you Matthew and Thomas! Below are pictures of the party.


Thomas' cake


Thomas digging in. He really loved his cake!


He really dug a hole in the middle of his cake. Too funny!





Matthew and his best buddy Jackson. Mimi and Paw Paw watching them play with the trains.


Thomas and his best buddy Reed, who also turned 1 this weekend and is Jackson's brother.


Birthday Boy!!



Opening presents. I had some really good helpers; Matthew and Ava Greear


Cousin Tucker


Thomas is showing off for Caroline. No shirt, haha. I had to change him because he had cake all over him.

Don't underestimate a 2 year old!

Well we come home from the gym and Target and I take the boys inside first as usual. I go back out to the car to get the milk and a few bags. When I try to open the door it was locked!! That is right...Matthew had locked me out. I tried so hard to get him to turn the lock to let me back in, but he didn't understand. I was holding up treats and begging, but it didn't work. He was just running around playing. He would come to the door and wave and say "hey mommy", then run off. He managed to pull his shirt halfway off too. Thomas luckily stayed at the door the whole time with me, so I could see him. Although he did start to play in Roscoe's water. I just knew he was about to start eating dog food, but luckily he didn't. So I called a locksmith, and they said it would take 45 minutes for them to get there. There was no way I was waiting that long! Now I am in panic mode almost ready to break a window or door, so I call the police who sent the Fire Dept over to try and open the door for me. Luckily, they found a way to open the door without having to break any doors or windows, and 40 minutes later I was able to get my 2 yr old and 1 yr old!!! Just another day in the Williston household.....Never a dull moment!

Thomas will be one in a few weeks. He is starting to take steps without holding on now. He is also taking a sippy cup well! I feel like my baby is no longer a baby ;( It makes me sad to see him growing up, but it is also exciting. He and Matthew are able to interact and really play now, so I know they will have a lot of fun together!

Matthew is so funny these days especially the things that he says!! "I don't like that", "Baby need to go night night mommy", "don't worry baby, mommy come get you", "Oh Mommy"-like on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when they call for tootles....just to name a few. He loves trying to hide from me now and usually gets under the table or behind something if he doesn't want to do what I ask him. He really is becoming a little boy!!

I haven't been very good about taking pictures lately, so I will try to do better and post some soon. It is getting harder and harder for me to find time to do things with Thomas being so much more mobile now, and Matthew just being Matthew. LOL..I really can't take my eyes off of them.

What a Merry Christmas

We have had such a fun month. We have gone to the Christmas parade downtown, Santa in the Park, the Zoo, Christmas in the Oaks, Christmas parties, Lighted Boat Parade, West Point, and many more. I took Matthew to see Santa, but he would not say a word, much less sit in his lap. I will say Santa was very good to us though. The boys had a wonderful Christmas! I swear our house is like a Toys R Us! Toys everywhere. We really enjoyed seeing everyone over the holidays. It is so fun to catch up and see how the kids are getting bigger and changing. Here are some pictures of the past month.


Ava Greear, Tucker, Thomas and Matthew. We took these pictures over Thanksgiving when we went to see my sister and Family. I always forget to take pictures in West Point. We had a great visit with everyone.


The Christmas Parade downtown


Santa in the Park...It was really cold.


Matthew eating a chocolate cookie. Paul trying to clean him off.


We had Christmas at our house this year! So much fun! Toys everywhere :)


Sweet Mimi and Pawpaw! We love you!


Matthew got a bike...


a John Deere Tractor....


and a Home Depot Workshop...I think Thomas likes it better though ;)


Matthew and Whitt wrestling....what I have to look forward to...I'm a little scared.


"The Who Dat Babies"

Almost normal

Our house has been crazy for the past few weeks! Lots of work going on here. Hopefully it will be finished this week. We have just been all out of wack. Matthew has been sleeping in his old room, Thomas has been in ours because Matthew had a virus last week. We have been kicked out of our house so that people can do the repairs for us, but we couldn't really go anywhere since Matthew was sick so we ended up at Paul's parents for a few days. Then we went to West Point for Thanksgiving. Thomas woke up about every 3 hours since he is teething! So needless to say, we have just been here, there, and everywhere and running on little sleep. Paul did surprise me for my birthday and took me to New Orleans for the night! A much needed get away! We have never left the boys overnight so it seemed as though we were gone forever! We had a great dinner at the Pelican Club, had a horse and buggy ride afterwards, went to church the next morning, and then lunch at Mother's. What a great birthday, Thanks Paul!!


Busted! Playing in the spices. For some reason, both boys loves getting the spices and playing with them!


Thomas is everywhere and loves being by his brother! It was very had to keep them separated when Matthew was sick!


The boys having a jump off.


The finished product!!!

What to do

So we had a little water in our kitchen now from a leaking pipe that we did not know about :) We have floating wood floors, and the pad was soaked halfway through the kitchen. Now we are trying to figure out how we want to fix it. These are the options we are between now. Do we
1-tile the kitchen area and leave the rest wood?
2-tile the whole room?
3-put down brick in kitchen area and leave the rest wood?
We figure we need to do some kind of tile/brick in the kitchen to prevent this from happening again. We also have to pull up all the original floor because water has gotten under it. We still like the wood in the kitchen so we thought if we did half and half it would break up the room a little, and we only would have to repair half the room which is half the cost. But will it be worth it, or would it look better to go ahead and do the whole room? If we did half and half we would go from the kitchen area through the walkway from the side door to the dinning room door, and the dining area would still be wood(about where the wood stops in the picture). Suggestions are welcome and appreciated :)
Here are some pictures and ideas





Check out the Old South Carolina tile to get an idea of the transition in the room
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Loving this weather!

Matthew and Anna Gray walking around at Seward Farms



Thomas and Caroline at Seward Farms



On the Cow Train



Matthew pushing Thomas in the car



At the Zoo with Nana. Our camera died so we didn't get many pictures :(



Halloween Party at Kindermusik. Matthew is Woody from Toy Story. "Cowboy"



Chilling in the bed with daddy



Such a big boy!



I was cooking one day and Matthew had taken some Chili Powder and sprinkled it on the window ledge. He was rubbing it on his face like I do with my makeup. haha