Outlet Shopping!

Yesterday was a beautiful yet cool day so we decided to venture out to Birch Run to walk around the Prime Outlet Stores. The goal was to get some exercise in the beautiful outdoors (mission accomplished - the place is huge and we walked everywhere...never moved the car) and try to find both Matt and I some clothes as we've both lost enough weight that are clothes look ridiculous on us now. (Thanks, Weight Watchers!)

Of course, we stopped in many stores including some of the children's outlets to look for winter coats/accessories for the boys. When we got home and started sorting out the loot, Matt put the new winter hat on Joseph, and Jacob just started laughing at him. I wanted to capture it on video but it was too dark in the room to capture it well so I took a couple photos...

Joseph showing off his new look

To try to be fair, we put a hat on Jacob too and Joseph just started laughing at him. It's so funny to see how they react to each other.

Jacob in his new hat (still laughing at Joseph)

Loving the Camera!

These two little characters love the camera! I'm always trying to sneak up on them to take pictures or video when they are doing something cute, but as soon as they see the camera...it's show time.

Here's Jacob with his big laughing smile (plus drool, of course)...

And Joseph...always trying to climb (everything, everywhere)...


And the boys playing under their jumperoo until they see the camera (Joe hamming it up)...

Baby Gates....

Well, the boys have gotten so fast and into EVERYTHING, that we've quarantined about 1/3 of the living room for their "safe" play area. They actually love playing in the area most of the time, but if both Matt and I are in the kitchen on the other side of the baby gate, this is often the sad sight that we see...

By the way, did you hear Joseph repeating his favorite word? (mama mama mama) Music to my ears!

And of course, there is the occassional "fight" by the baby gate...

Can you believe it - 8 months old???

Yes, our "little" baby boys turned 8 months old yesterday! Time seems to have flown by and they are just growing up so quickly.

Right now, the boys are eating a lot of real food. They've had bananas, strawberries, advocados, squash, potatoes and pretty much anything we have laying around that can be cooked or cut up small! They are pretty good at feeding themselves with fingers and have begun to use a spoon. They can't quite get the food on the spoon themselves, but if I put food on the spoon that they are holding, they know how to get it in the mouth!

The big thing they keep working on is standing up. They like to grab anything near them to leverage for standing. Joseph likes to pull himself to a standing position on his crib and on the gate we had to put up in the living room. Jacob likes to use anything - preferable the closest person to him!

Here's a brief sample of all the photos we took yesterday:

Jacob "hitting" the books again!

Joseph - as happy as ever!

Daddy with Jacob (left) and Joseph (right)

Joseph patiently waiting while Jacob crawls over him to the piano!

Jacob playing the guitar!

Joseph driving the car!

And if you want to see all the photos taken yesterday, you can find them on my flickr website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulytam/sets/72157602077795882/

Weekend in Port Austin

Matt booked a great surprise weekend in Port Austin (on Lake Huron) for our wedding anniversary. We had a great time. The boys got to play on the beach. We all went for long walks in this quaint little town. I beat Matt in putt putt golf and we saw some beautiful sunsets.

Here's Matt in the boys just after a swim in the pool.

Here's the cottage where we stayed.

One of the beautiful sunsets....

Joseph on the beach....

Jacob on the beach (after deciding to taste the sand - face first)...

Both boys fast asleep after playing in the sand and water...

If you want to see all the photos from the weekend, click on my flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulytam/sets/72157601842371122/