The past few months...

Just wanted to post a few pictures from the past few months before the boys' birthday comes around, which is almost here! We have been busy playing and getting ready for little boy number 3 who will be here before we know it! As you can see, the boys are growing like crazy. They are slowly but surely gaining some new words and we are hopeful their vocabularies will increase so we will be able to understand them more and they will be less frustrated.

Communication continues to be our biggest challenge - the boys can understand TONS of what we say, but are not able to let us know what they want/need. Frustration is evident from both sides as we struggle to understand what they are trying to say. Each time there is a new word (or we understand a new noise that is supposed to be a word) there is much rejoicing in our house!

The boys absolutely LOVE being outside and as the weather has gotten warmer, we have tried to be out more frequently. My pregnancy has been going smoothly and I am still feeling good for the most part - it is AMAZING how much I can still move around and do with "only" one child inside! =) Currently, I am 34 weeks and counting... The boys have figured out that Mom can't move as fast as she used to and do take advantage of that from time to time!

The other exciting thing that happened a few weeks ago, was that Russ was given a motorcycle from a family in the church. He has worked at length with their son and they chose to show their thanks with what we think is a generous, extravagant gift. It was a complete surprise for Russ and a bunch of the people from church, who own motorcycles, came over on their bikes to be a part of the presentation. It was a lot of fun!

Last weekend Russ took a motorcycle safety class and passed all the tests, so once the paperwork comes in the mail, he will have his license. Enjoy the pictures and I will post some more soon after the birthday celebration!


The boys...

The motorcycle!

Baby Boy Number 3

We had our ultrasound a little over a week ago and found out that we are indeed having another boy in July! We are also now able to officially say that it will just be one baby joining our family this time, which is okay with us. Everything looked great on the ultrasound and we are looking forward to welcoming this little one into the world! Enjoy...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...

Okay, so life around the Soppe house has been full of fun and surprises! In case you haven't heard, we are expecting a new addition to our family in July! We are looking forward to having another member in our family. We have also had some family stop through over the past couple of months and have enjoyed seeing all of you! The boys finally got their first haircut in December and I think they grew up right in front of my eyes in a matter of minutes! They definitely look like toddlers now instead of infants. We stayed here in KS for Christmas and had plenty of snow to make it nice and white. The boys had a great time opening all of their gifts, but insisted on stopping to play with each one before moving onto the next. We had a good time!

The boys had a good check up in December. At the time, Caleb STILL did not weigh 20 lbs, so their car seats are still facing backwards... They are not saying official words yet, but we have LOTS of fun with all the animal sounds they can make: cow, sheep, chicken, duck, donkey, dog, snake, monkey, owl, rooster, and probably a couple more I'm forgetting. It has truly been fun to watch them begin to express themselves more and more! They LOVE to read books and I usually get tired of reading before they get tired of listening. =) Enjoy the pictures of our growing boys!

Happy November!

Wow! It has been a busy couple of months around here... Fall is in full swing and so are the boys! They are moving and "running" all over the place which means we are moving right after them. They have figured out how to crawl down the stairs and giggle the whole way. They are putting more and more food in their own mouths which is FANTASTIC! They also are much more proficient at using sippy cups, so eating has become much easier for Mom and Dad. We are still waiting for those first words, but they are starting to sign for "more" and are waving goodbye and understand much of what we say. Their play is becoming more sophisticated and they are starting to play with each other more all the time. We recently went to visit Russ's family in Wisconsin and had a great time. We got to celebrate Ayden's first birthday and spent lots of time with family. We even got to see Alison's family on the way there and back as we passed through St. Louis. It was good to be there and also good to be home! The boys were real troopers and did well in the car and sleeping in lots of different places. Joshua has had a battle with hives for the past few weeks. We have no idea what has caused them and are on our second round of steroids, so hopefully he will soon be on the mend. The boys wore their pirate overalls for Halloween and looked cute as ever. After all the activity of the past couple months we are now looking forward to a little bit of "normal" for a while. Enjoy the pictures!

Caleb's Climbing!

I wanted to share one more special thing that Caleb has been doing the past couple of weeks... climbing on top of the chair! So far there is only one chair that is low enough for him to climb up on, but I'm sure that won't last as long. He is such a ham and is always so proud of himself once he accomplishes his goal as you can see by the pictures! I can only imagine what I will find him on top of as the days go by!

1 year and 2 months old

We have had a busy, but enjoyable second half of the summer here in Kansas! The boys continue to grow and change all the time. Both Caleb and Joshua are now walking proficiently and even starting to pick up the pace quite a bit! Both boys continue to chew on EVERYTHING... Joshua has a total of 6 teeth and Caleb still only 2 to show for their efforts. Both of the boys will now put food into their own mouths which is fantastic!!! We are making progress into feeding ourselves independently! We are still working on figuring out how to tip the sippy cup so we can get a drink, but I think we're making progress. I still enjoy being at home with the boys and Russ is getting into full swing again with fall programming at work. Enjoy the pictures of the antics the boys have been up to!

One year checkups and more family!

We had the pleasure of having some of Russell's family visit us as well this past week. Willie and his fiancee Christine came for a quick visit this past weekend. What fun we had playing with the boys in the pool and going out to eat while the boys slept at home with the babysitter. Mary Jo and Gary also came to visit for a few days and we had a lot of fun with them as well. The boys continue to enjoy all the company we have been having. Caleb showed off for Mary Jo and Gary while they were here by starting to walk! He can now walk across a room all by himself and he is so proud! We went to the doctor yesterday for their one year check-up. The poor little guts had to get 4 shots each, but they were troopers. It was a good visit and he says they are doing great! Here are their current heights and weights:

Caleb: 29 inches long, 17 lbs 12 oz
Joshua: 29 1/2 inches long, 20 lbs 6 oz

We now know just how much heavier Joshua is than Caleb and trust me, you can tell when you pick them up! Here are a few more pictures of us and our recent visitors. Let us know if you want to come and visit too!