MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Joy to the World the Lord is Born!

These are some pictures of us in our Christmas outfits
Our "official" 14 month old picture

Santa, is it too late...

To ask for something for Christmas?! I've decided the best gift in the world would be a big, huge slide that looks like a tree. I need to be able to climb up one side of it and then slide down the other side. I was thinking because its so big, we could put it in the livingroom. That is the only room in our house that has tall enough ceilings. I got the idea from playing at our mall's play area. Here's a video of me sliding...I'm pretty good at it, huh?


Also-- its a "Christmas Miracle" (hehe just kidding) mommy said because look who has FINALLY learned how to clap?! You all guessed I'd clap first, right?!

Hey Mom, Look at Me!

This week has been full of a bunch of new adventures for us Riplets. I've been practicing walking with my push toy (wasn't my idea, mommy told me I needed to), Jack has been practicing walking as well with his PT, Katie and Jordan has been walking and walking and WALKING all by himself all over the house. He's actually been "practicing" it, too because he keeps walking the same course throughout the house. He's learned how to stop (while walking) and bend down to pick things up again and he's trying to get to standing without having to hang on to anything. He actually made it work two times yesterday, too!

Since I get slightly annoyed (mommy says jealous) whenever Jordan walks (for the record I took 6 steps yesterday all alone!) and everyone claps, I have decided its time to learn a new trick (my "so big" arms aren't getting the claps like it used to) so I've learned how to dance. I shake my hips, wiggle my hinder (Auntie Dawn says you can't use the "B" word on here) and shake my head. I think I am pretty good at it, too. Jordan thinks its funny, he laughs and laughs when I do it. I bet he's just jealous of my skills. Here's a video of me dancing.

Jack has also decided he's done letting Jordan get all of the clapping and attention. He's been practicing his climbing skills. He leans over his bench he uses with Katie for his PT and he pulls himself up on top of it. Once he's on top he sits and then jumps off onto the ground. Here's a few pictures mommy got of him doing it.

A Few of the Riplets Favorite Things!

We asked mommy if maybe we could do a post like Danielle's blog and tell all of our readers about how much we (mommy especially) LOVE A Few of My Favorite Things! Mommy is always finding great deals for us on it. She also enters every, single give away Danielle does. We've even been lucky enough to win a few times already! We've also been models for her products, when mommy sends in pictures of us wearing something we bought or won from the site. Today's post is one of those, we're showing off our "Rock" shirts. Just click here to see us!

Since Addison took over the last few posts, we thought "us boys" would show you a few of our other favorite things, too! Jack and I both love our blankies.

Jack also loves reading books and he's claimed this spot under mommy's sofa table as his "reading spot".

I also love my chair that my Aunt B and Uncle James got me for my birthday. I love to watch TV in it (okay, just Veggie Tales since that's all that's ever on around here)

One more of my favorite things is sippy cups. Especially when I get to drink 2 sippies as once. I guess its called "double fisting" which I am a pro at...please watch my video below.

Peek-a-Boo!

Brush-a Brush-a Brush-a

Guess what we love to do now? Brush our teeth! We started to brush our own teeth after mommy & daddy gave us big kid tooth brushes. At first, Jordan didn't want to brush his teeth at all. He hated it when mommy & daddy tried to brush for him, too. He only has 2 teeth ya know so maybe he just is embarassed or something. Anyways- a few days ago he FINALLY decided brushing is fun, too. Check out these pictures of us brushing. Notice I think I am a super hero with my tooth brush. Maybe you could call me "toothie girl" (like larry boy).

Also this week, we put up our Christmas tree! It was kind of a big project because mommy & daddy were trying to figure out how to put it up without us being able to get to it. I was really annoyed. Why would you put something up that we can't touch? Especially something that looks like so much fun! I guess we were first going to have a real tree but have it outside on the deck for us just to look at. Then, Auntie Dawn and Uncle Mark offered us to use Great Grandma Thelma's old fake tree. We tried that but it was too big and we could get to it because there wasn't enough furniture to move around it. So finally, mommy & daddy pulled out their old, tiny 4 ft tree and put it on an end table. boo! We wanted a big one to practice our climbing skills.

Here's a few pictures of our Christmas tree...notice once again Jordan is trying to show off by walking towards the camera! There's also a few other pics from the week...YES, most are of me, but I told the boys its my post, so I can do what I want! (Santa- if you are reading this...I was nice about it, I promise) Enjoy!

Look Who's Walking!

So you are all trying to guess who's walking aren't you? Well, if you remember who posted last you'll know that I am the answer! Usually we have to take turns posting but I begged (and bribed) to post again today since its a big milestone. (Some of you may know that I am also a huge computer geek and I really only needed another excuse to be able to type away at the computer's keyboard) So have you guessed who I am? Its me, Jordan!

Re-arranging Our House

So awhile ago, mommy & daddy made a room just for us and its called "The Toy Room". Well, we all really think the room is just too small for all of our toys and its kinda dark in there compared to the living room. Plus-when we get to watch Veggie Tales, that is on the big TV in the living room. Since we are getting pretty big and can move things on our own we decided to do some re-arranging. The three of us worked together yesterday and moved all of our toys (ok at least most of the toys) into the living room to play. Notice the second picture below is the old toy room. Its nice and open now for mommy & daddy to sit in and use as their living room.

We decided the living room just fits our toys and our needs much better. Now I can lick the slider window and Addison and sit in her chair and look outside. The toy room didn't even have a window we could see out of! Jack likes this room better, too because now he can push his toys into the kitchen. Check out this video of him.

Santa is Here!

Mommy told me on our way to see Santa that "he knows if you've been bad or good" and that I better make sure I'm nice to him (and don't cry) and nice to mommy,daddy and my brothers. Ok, here's the thing...HOW does he know? When we went to see Santa yesterday I checked the big guy out. He didn't have any cameras that I could see and I definitely know he hasn't been hanging out at my house. I mean, he's a big guy I'd notice him. I am really not sure how he knows what I am doing. Anyways- as I figure him out, I wanted to tell you about our visit.

We took our choo choo wagon to the mall and we wore our new Christmas shirts that mommy's friend, Sara made us. When we got to Santa he recognized us (mommy says because he knows us already, but I know he just remembers seeing our crazy choo choo wagon come to the play area all the time) and was excited to see we were coming for a visit and pictures. We met our cousins there, too. It was nice to have them around since they've met Santa before and they didn't seem nervous. During pictures mommy told the elves that "Addison has stranger anxiety and will probably cry at Santa". Well, that just made me mad! So of course I didn't cry, instead I made sure Jack cried in my place. Just to make mommy look silly. Jordan LOVED Santa and sat on his lap. Infact- he didn't even want to turn and look for a picture he was so interested in Santa and his beard. (Jordan just wanted to show off)

Here's some pictures from the afternoon. Enjoy!

13 MONTHS OLD

We are 13 months old today! Daddy said he's sad because he liked being able to say we were "1" year old and now we have to go back to saying it in months.

Here's what we can do now:

Stand by ourselves

Cruise along all furniture, kitchen cabinets, and walls

We all can say: "dada", "mama", "baba", "all done"

We can walk forward hanging on to someone's hands

We all weigh 20lbs or larger (Addison is closer to 22 lbs)

Can pull to standing with their push toy and push it around the room
Can climb over anything in their way including other bodies on the floor (adults and siblings)

Can climb the stairs alone

Open and close the cabinet drawers that have safety locks on them (how you ask?!)

Jack:

Can say "ball", "bye bye", "bob", "mom"
Has the fastest growing har and gets it trimmed regularly

Has 4 teeth (2 top & 2 bottom)

Jordan:

Takes steps (4-5) towards toys or people
Can pick his nose with both fingers at once (one up each nostril)

Has 2 teeth (bottom)

Addison:

Can get to standing on her own (in the middle of the floor)

Shows us "so big" with her arms
Can wear pig tails

Has 4 teeth (2 top & 2 bottom)

None of us can clap or wave "bye bye" yet. Although Jack is close to waving. We all failed our 12 month check up because we couldn't do either of these tasks. We've decided we will NEVER learn how to do them now in protest.

Here's a few pictures of us from this week and the first picture is our "official" 13 month photo.



Jordan and his fake laugh...

Countdown to the Holidays!

We are so excited because mommy just told us that a week from today is Thanksgiving! We have some pretty BIG plans for that day. We are going to Auntie Dawn & Uncle Mark's house to eat. That is what everyone keeps telling us. We do LOVE to eat so we are excited, but we aren't sure how or why this "Thanksgiving" day is any different then us eating any day of the week? We usually get turkey for lunch anyways and we eat veggies with every meal, too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what all the hype is about.

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Speaking of food though, we have to tell you that I FINALLY got to eat a cheeseburger! Mommy & Daddy took us to this place called McDonalds and boy was it a good time. We got to eat chicken nuggets, french fries and we tried daddy's cheeseburger. We all decided we really love cheeseburgers, too. Even Jordan, who everyone already knows doesn't like food that much. He still would prefer mommy or daddy just feeds him jarred food. He loved all of the food at McDonalds and he really loved all of the very big toys they had there.

Mommy has been getting us out of the house everyday now so that we don't get bored or "whiny" (that's the word she used but we never whine so I don't know why she'd say that). So far we've gone to a few parks, to Starbucks drive thru (for mommy), Walgreens, and to the Mall to their play area. Walgreens was kind of fun, mommy took us there by herself and we rode around in our choo choo wagon. The manager had to help mommy get her stuff to the car though, because we kept throwing the stuff out of our wagon as she put it in. (hehehe) The play area at the mall was fun, too. I crawled through tunnels with Addison while Jordan followed around all of the "big" kids and tried to play with them. None of them wanted to play with him though because he can't walk. Addison and I didn't understand why he didn't want to play with us, we don't care that he doesn't walk because we can't walk yet either!

Also this week we've all been doing some new things. Jordan has decided to help mommy sweep and vacuum now. He chases mommy and the machine around as she's cleaning. I am scared to death of the vacuum so I stay in the playroom while mommy uses it. Jordan also has made up a fake laugh. He only uses it while he watches Veggie Tales though (which really annoys me because I'm trying to watch the show and he's next to me laughing and laughing and laughing). His laugh is like an old man's laugh, too and he makes a pretty goofy face as he does it. Mommy took a video of it so hopefully we can show you it soon.

Addison has been practicing her dance moves and is always dancing (aka: shaking her hips) while she watches Veggie Tales. She definitely is dancing because she only does it when music or songs are on. She also figured out how to lounge in our choo choo wagon. I have been trying to lay back in my seat since we got it and Addison figured it out for me now! She's also in trouble with mommy because she's been chewing on her crib and mommy just found bite marks and some of the paint missing. Addison has also learned how to climb from chair to chair (the one's Auntie B & Uncle James got us) and stand on them and try to rock.

I've been busy standing without hanging on to anything and I am walking around furniture and copying what my siblings do a lot. I've also been fixing up my house that Memere and Pepere got me for my birthday (the other two think its theirs but I know its mine and I just tell them they can come visit me). I have learned how to turn the light "on" and "off" and ring the doorbell (although I really wish Addison would learn to ring it and not just barge in on me) and open and close my mail box. I even give my mail to Isaiah when he comes over. I also just figured out how much fun a suit case can be! I asked mommy if maybe she could pack me up and send me to Memere's house to visit now that I know I fit in it.

We're Famous!

We told everyone before about entering the Picture of the Week contest on A Few of My Favorite Things blog, right? Well, now we are on today's post and give-away featuring a great Etsy Shop called Peanut and Pumpkin . We already have a few items from this shop so they decided to use pictures of us in our "1" onesies and of Addison in her tutu from the shop!! Look at how cute we are and be sure to check out Peanut and Pumpkin on Etsy. Sara is the owner of the shop and does an AMAZING job hand-crafting all of her products. We actually just got some Holiday onesies in the mail today from her as well. We'll take a few pictures of us in those for another post and we asked mommy if we could wear them to see Santa, too!

Here's the link to A Few of My Favorite Things and to Peanut and Pumkin's Shop. Don't forget to enter the give-away too!

Finally, here are a few more pictures from our family photo shoot that Rachel did for us. Check out more of her work at Brisham Photography. Jack would like me to point out that he seems pretty happy in these shots so he'd like us to "take back" what we said in an earlier post about him being so mad during the shoot.

You CAN teach us new things!

Since our first birthday we've been changing so much and learning a lot of new things. First of all, let me tell you what I have learned to do. I know enough to put my arms up in the air when someone asks "Addison, how big are you?" I know that I am "SOOO BIG!" but I choose to just show them how big instead of saying it. Once daddy saw that I can do that with my arms he decided to teach (really confuse) me how to do "TOUCH DOWN!" when we're watching football. I am also growing my hair out really long. I decided I want to get rid of that "baby" look and go for the longer, more stylish hairdo. Here are a few pictures of me from this week. What do you think? Notice the layers in back and the side swept bangs?






Jack has also been learning how to do "so big!", too. He just finally figured it out yesterday afternoon. He's ok at it, but nothing like my way. I like to bring my arms up like I'm dancing. He just goes straight up. I guess he's just not as coordinated as I am. I am planning to start dance classes with Auntie Dawn soon so I need to show off my moves and much as I can. Jack has also learned how to walk with our push toy. He pushes it all over the living room. He surprised mommy and I last week with his walking. We were emailing on the computer and we saw him walking by with the push toy!!


Jordan is also learning to do A LOT of new things. He is really working on his walking skills. On Monday, mommy saw him taking a step from the push toy to his chair but Jordan told me she scared him by screaming "GOOD JOB JORDAN!" and that's when he fell on his cheek up against the chair. Mommy seems to think Jordan secretly walks when no one is looking because she's been catching him standing in places he couldn't have gotten to on his own. We know the truth, but we are the Riplets and what happens between us STAYS between us. Sorry Mommy!



We also entered a Fall Favorites Picture of the Week contest on a great blog called A Few of My Favorite Things. Its a blog put together by a friend, Danielle who has twin girls. I love this blog because she's always giving-away great things and always giving me new ideas for the kids. She knows so much about all of the latest toys, clothes, and accessories. Anyways- please vote for us! I'm sure we'll be adding our pictures to this Picture of the Week contest a lot but this is our first time, so please check it out!
http://mybabyfaves.blogspot.com/search/label/Picture%20of%20the%20Week


Finally- here are a few pictures from this week. Mommy & Daddy got a kick out of dressing us in these Adidas outfits. We thought they were nice, but mommy & daddy laughed at us saying we looked like Run DMC. We weren't sure if that was a compliment or not?!