This past weekend we had the pleasure of dogsitting for our friend Jason. Wilson or "Willy" as we like to call him is the most gentle and calm animal you will ever meet. Our mini weiner dogs had great fun barking at him nonstop so it was entertaining for all of us. Ethan took to him right away of course. I think he loved having a big dog around and by the end of the weekend, he didn't want to see him go.

Willy seemed a little depressed when Jason dropped him off so Ethan made sure he was not lonely. One funny thing I have to mention is that Ethan started calling him a walrus. I have no idea where this came from but it was so funny. So now whenever Jason comes over Ethan asks where Willy the walrus is.

Poor Wilson. I think he had given up by this point and accepted the fact that being in our house for the weekend meant being ridden around like a horse.

One of Ethan's latest pastimes includes burying his brothers with toys. This started a couple of weeks ago but instead of burying the twins, he would bury us with the massive pile of laundry that sat on our bedroom floor for 3 days. When we finally got around to putting it away, he transferred this "game" over to the toy room.

This started out to be a cute little game and the twins loved the attention at first. I managed to take the pictures while they were still enjoying it. As the pile grew bigger and you could no longer see them, they of course began screaming their heads off. Ethan didn't understand why they didn't want to be buried. Poor little guys!

Here they are after being recovered from the rubble. If you're wondering if the playroom always looks this messy, well, the answer is yes. I've had to resort to covering the carpet in blankets due to the constant spit up. Sweet potatoes and carrots don't go well with light carpet.

Mason is under there somewhere. I just keep telling Ethan that one day it's going to be two against one and he will be the one buried underneath a pile of toys. Ha!

Things have been pretty quiet lately which is a good thing considering all of the craziness lately. It has given me some time to take some more pictures of the boys and update the blog. I cannot believe how fast the boys are growing! Ethan is so expressive these days. Some of his newest phrases are, "That is so cool Mom!" and "I fly to Texas on an airplane right now!" I now know to wait until the day before we are leaving to mention Texas, otherwise everytime we go anywhere, he thinks it's to the airport.

We have managed to get two in the tub at once and that's about it. Maybe we'll aim for three when the boys can sit up by themselves. Ethan loves taking baths with them and entertaining them by making funny faces and trying to shove bath toys in their mouths. This is definitely a two person job!

Mason (right) is now 18 pounds and Carson (left) is 18.5 pounds! They are both crawling now which has opened up a whole new world for them. We have to be fast on our feet these days. They are extremely efficient at getting across the room.

I love this picture because they basically have the same expression on their face which is rare. Although they are fraternal, I think they look a lot alike here.

Ethan has finally become interested in the large Legos we bought him. It only took a year and a half! He loves building towers that are taller than him. He's a pretty funny little guy and a total blast right now. Can't wait to see what else is in store!

One of the twins latest accomplishments is picking up Gerber fruit puffs and putting them in their mouths. We're one step closer to table food now! So exciting! Mason sure seems happy with his new found ability.

So Ethan's latest funny antics involve the dreaded time-out chair. Yes, I must admit that I have resorted to strapping him into his booster seat on the floor so he can't leave time-out. If I don't, I end up chasing him around the house which leads to him eventually forgetting why he was there in the first place. So...I got desperate and was positive that this was the solution. Wrong!

First he began scooting across the floor in the chair. It wasn't long before he figured out he could stand up and walk with the chair attached to him. Eric and I had to look the other way in order to hide the fact that we were cracking up. I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. So I guess I need to come up with another way to keep him in time-out. Any suggestions?

Evidently, Ethan has decided that just because the time-out chair doesn't work for him, that doesn't mean it won't work with Woody, his new favorite pal.

On another note, those of you wondering what happened with the car, they ended up totalling it. :( The rental car was only covered a few more days so we had to make a quick decision to get a replacement car. Introducing THE BEAST. It's a great car with a perfect amount of room for the boys. Although the circumstances weren't great, we really love the car. I had to explain to Ethan that the car is no longer at the "doctor." May the minivan rest in peace now.

Carson finally has two bottom teeth which makes munching on things a lot easier! Here he is giving his famous half smile.

I have most definitely seen better days than today! It started out as a normal day today. I took Ethan to school this morning, went running, and picked up lunch for my mother-in-law who was back at our house taking care of the twins. I was driving along when a car coming out of a neighborhood on the right pulls out in front of me. I instantly knew that we were going to crash into eachother, so I honked and before I knew it, my car slammed into his at 45 mph. After both of the airbags exploded I realized I was still going. I steered off to the left towards a brick wall and once the car stopped I sat their shaking, completely hysterical. Ambulances and police came and got the man out of his car which had flipped on it's side. Eric came 10 minutes later and helped calm me down. They gave the man a citation for failing to yield. Even though it was his fault I still kind of felt sorry for the old guy. I mean, he was trapped in his car probably scared out of his mind. Thank God for seatbelts and airbags and I'm so lucky the kids weren't in the car with me.

I escaped with only cuts, bruises, and burns from the airbag and seatbelt. We took pictures for insurance purposes. Above is a cartoonish looking knot that popped up on the outside of my arm.

Ouch! That's a burn from the airbag. That's really going to hurt tomorrow!

More airbag and seatbelt burns.

Me looking pathetic after my miserable afternoon! I forgot to mention that the wreck happened in Sun City, a retirement community. After it happened, it seemed like the whole neighborhood shuffled out with their canes to see the action. I told my Papa about this and he joked that this was probably the most excitement they've had in months! Thanks Papa for always making me laugh...especially in times of distress! I'll update later on the status of the poor car. I'm going to go slather myself in Neosporin now.

January has definitely brought runny noses to the Payne household. Ethan just recently recovered from another ear infection and the twins finally had their first sickness this week. I didn't think both of them would get sick at the same time but I should have known since they are right next to eachother almost all the time. We are seeing some improvement today so I took the opportunity to take a few quick shots of them while they were smiling.

The boys are 8 months as of yesterday and it's hard to believe they were once so tiny. Carson weighs in at 17.5 pounds and Mason at 16.5! I love the fact that they are getting chubby wrists and legs! Here they are in the exersaucer and jumparoo having a blast.

I had to post this because it definitely shows Mason is not feeling so hot. If you've ever been around him, you know that it takes a lot for him to be upset. This just looked like such a sad face. Yucky runny noses!

Carson is only a couple of weeks away from full on crawling! There's no turning back now I guess but I have to say that I'm in complete denial and we're so not ready for them to be off and exploring. The next project will be babyproofing!

This is just before naptime and they are looking ready for it! Let's hope for healthier kiddos next week!

Baby food galore!! I always thought Ethan was a big eater at this stage. I was clearly wrong. The twins were slow to start with the baby food but they're definitely making up for lost time! Eric and I, and all of the other families with multiples are keeping Gerber in business!

Above is a picture of just some of the weekly damage of buying food for the twins.

Thank goodness for lots of cabinet space! I don't think we could have found a place for all of this in our old house. Sadly, this amount of food will only last us a week and a half! I wish I was one of those people who could whip up batches of fresh baby food... but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll probably never do this. I admire my good friend Julie for this very thing. She is always throwing things in the cuisinart (pizza, avacado, pasta, etc.) for her son, and she is always trying to talk me into doing this for the twins. God bless her for trying, but I can hardly find time to cook my own food, let alone prepare the massive amounts of food I would need to feed these boys! Thank God for Gerber!

Right before mealtime. Once they see the jars of food, it's all over. They scream in fits of fury until they get the food. Then it's a race to see how quickly I can shovel it their mouths. If one sees the other being fed, he will scream in envy until he gets a scoop. I think it's safe to say that mealtime is not my favorite most relaxing thing right now.

Happy and content boys!

Ethan's current favorite book is titled 'Big Little'. We have to read this book before every bedtime and naptime. When I first introduced the book to him, I would talk in a high voice to emphasize things that are little. He picked up on that and ever since then, we have to make a big deal out of the word "little". Click on the video above if you want to see a cutie!

Last night, January 2nd, Ethan spiked a fever of 103.8! I frantically called my sister and then our pediatrician's office for some advice. We put him in the bathtub which brought it down a little, and took his tempurature every hour and a half to see if it was going down. He is fine this morning but I still decided to keep him home from playgroup.

Since I knew he would probably get restless from just sitting around all morning, I planned to get the fingerpaints out and do some art with him. As you can see, he had no interest in this whatsoever. He watched Toy Story as I sat and painted.

I just had to show off my artwork! I never knew how much I liked to fingerpaint. Needless to say, the morning flew by for me. Ethan seemed to feel better and better. I'm so glad he's back to normal! High fevers are scary!

This was taken a couple of days before Ethan got sick. As you can see, I'm not looking my best at all! I forgot to mention that I was sick before Ethan. The trip to Texas must have really worn me out. My New Year's Eve consisted of me going to bed at 8:00. On the upside, I did get some time to just hang out and relax with the boys.

Christmas 2007 came and went in the blink of an eye. Perhaps everything seemed like such a blur because we decided to drive to Texas this year. It took us a full 26 hours each way (that includes 90 minute stops every 4.5 hours) and let's just say that will be the first and last time we ever do that again! The kids did great but we're still recovering from the journey! After spending a few days in Dallas/Ft. Worth with Eric's side of the family, it was off to Round Rock to see my side of the family. We had a blast as usual and the kids received toys, toys, and more toys! Enjoy the pictures below!

I got the chance to spend some time with my good friend Lindsay. She was my college roomie and we're still great friends to this day!

Hmm....I wonder what Ethan is getting for his 3rd birthday??? He loved being driven around by Ryan.

Ryan was nice enough to pass his mouse ears down to Ethan. Needless to say, this is now one of his most prized posessions! He just had to wear them on our drive back to Nevada. He got lots of attention in McDonald's, which he loved!

The twins really loved all the toys they received for Christmas. They insisted on both playing with the piano at the same time.

Here are just some more photos from our Christmas trip in Texas. I couldn't resist putting these on the blog.

Papa and Eric in their college t-shirts. The OSU shirt was part of Papa's gift this year. Now he can proudly wear it while walking the dogs.

Ethan and Ryan always jump on the upstairs couch in the playroom. This went on for almost an hour! They are wild when they get together! It's really a lot of fun for Ethan since his brothers are too small to play with him.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting together with my sorority sister from college. Meredith and her husband Mark always go out of their way to visit us during our trip to Texas for Christmas. We always have such a blast with them...the time together always goes too fast!

Papa was a big help when it came time to feed the twins. Here is Mason covered in sweet potatoes!

The twins finally got to meet their baby cousin Kaitlyn. They enjoyed interacting with her and it was such a blast to see all of them together. I also enjoyed getting to hold her and feed her. It's amazing how fast the twins have grown. I can't remember them being as small as Kaitlyn!

Ethan enjoyed his one on one time with his Nana and Papa. We were so glad to have a couple of nights with everyone. With 3 babies and two kiddos in the house, Nana and Papa got a glimpse into the craziness of our everyday lives. It was fun!

Ryan just turned 4 years old on December 23rd. I cannot believe what a little boy he is now! His favorite thing is dressing up in superhero costumes. Here he is playing "Santa" disguised as Spiderman.

Our favorite gift we got Nana and Papa was the photo quilt. We had a bunch of family pictures (old and new) put on a quilt for them to hang in their house. I think it was a hit!