Following in his brother's footsteps

Anthony is following in Vince's tracks already. Last night he somehow managed to wriggle out of his pajama bottoms.

Christmas Eve

Well, Santa has come and gone from the Ripley house. He forgot to take his cookies though and now we're stuck with about 3 dozen cookies just because mommy wanted to practice using Grandma Lutton's sugar cookie recipe again.

We set up the train table and train for the boys and gated it off so that we don't have anyone going rogue and opening presents before breakfast. They're not going to mind that tradition right now, but I'm looking forward to a few years from now when they wolf down their breakfast in such a hurry to get to their gifts. Muah ha ha ha.


We love checking on Vince after he's gone to bed because sometimes he does the funniest things while fighting sleep. See Exhibit A.

Christmas tree

Vince loved helping with the Christmas tree this year. Anthony loves helping try to strip it...well, Vince does too, but Anthony is still learning the concept of "no." So, the Christmas tree is in jail this year.

Birthdays and Bedtimes

Dan and I are loving bedtime these days, and not just because it means the kids are going to sleep. They're so fun at bedtime and they both love to read. Anthony had his first birthday on Nov 12. We celebrated with some local friends and AJ loved his first taste of birthday cake. He did not love his birthday crown though...

Happy Halloween!

The boys enjoyed Halloween this year. Vincent didn't want to pose for pictures, but he loved trick-or-treating. He keeps begging for "more tick-a-teet peeze!" meaning he wants more of his candy. Unfortunately for him, he's not getting much of it. I have a feeling we'll have it around for quite a while. Our little cowboy didn't like having his hat on, but he looked cute without it anyway.

Anthony Speaks

Anthony is starting to talk a little bit, in addition to the few signs he has. The video below shows what happens every time we try to get him to say "Dada." I love it since Vincent said "daddy" first and never said mama until he was about 20 months old.

Pumpkins and Diapers

We went to the pumpkin patch today with Mariah, Sidney and Gabe. The kids had a great time and so did the mommies! We all played in the corn and in the bouncy house. They don't do hay rides during the week, so we missed out on that, but maybe if the weather's nice this weekend we'll try again. I got pumpkins for everyone and I thought Anthony's was particularly appropriate. His is the one with the "mohawk" stem. Love it!





Tonight Dan went in to check on Vincent and came out laughing. I knew right away Vince must have gotten into something and been sleeping with it. "What does he have?" I asked. "I think he has some diapers in his bed." I shook my head in amusement; this is not the first time he's played with his diaper drawer since we switched him. ... So Dan went back in to pick them up and he came back a second later, laughing even harder. "Well, I know why he has diapers in his bed." At this point I'm preparing myself mentally to go clean up a huge poopy mess or something. Then Dan says, "he has the whole drawer in his bed!" Sigh. How can you do anything but laugh at that? And take pictures, of course.

Big Weekend

Vince and Mommy got to ride horses tonight for the first time. A couple in our church hosts the Annual Fall Round Up at their farm and they invite everyone out for horse rides, hay rides and dinner. The boys didn't make it to the hay ride, but they got to see their first bon fire! We all had a great time. Vincent loved running around the property, chasing the big kids.


We got a visit from Dan's youngest sister and her family this weekend as they stopped by on their way through town. Bella and Vince had a great time chasing each other around and we loved playing ring around the rosy.

Scrunchy Nose

Well it's certain that Anthony has more of my features than Vince does. Here's the scrunchy nose to prove it. So CUTE!

Best Friends

Vince loves to get into Anthony's crib at bedtime or naptime and begs to sleep with him. They are so sweet together...usually

The Apple Festival

This week is the Apple Festival. We decided to take the boys this afternoon. Last year I was heavily pregnant with Anthony, and Dan was working nights, so Vince and I wandered around a little bit. This year was Vince's first real experience with the rides. He had a great time and was sad to leave. The first ride we put him on was a car ride, which looked like it went really slow, but there were sharp curves and the machine went really fast on the curves. Vince sat there, shocked for the first two turns, then after the second turn, he started wailing...and so did I. The nice gentleman running the ride stopped it for us and let him off, and I was pleased to see that he was willing to get on a slower car ride right away. I was afraid he would be too scared, but he jumped right back in and had a blast. We had a ridiculously expensive "dinner" and listened to an auctioneer sell some apple butter and apple pies, and then it was back to the rides. He spotted the duck on the Wiggle Worm ride (or whatever it was called) and rode it twice; Vincent quacked the whole time! Then mommy got a caramel apple and we took him to a bouncy slide. It took forever, because until today he has always hated those inflatable bouncy houses, but finally he climbed up the steps and with a little help from Daddy, he got down the slide. The whole way home he begged, "Rides? Rides? Rides?"

If you look closely you can see that Vincent was very near whiplash...we are the worst parents EVER!!!

Making a very tough decision...which car to drive. Notice the hand at his chin as he contemplates.

"Quack!"

So high in the air!!

New Blankie

I finally made something for Anthony. I've already made 2 pillows for Vince, plus some other gifts for friends and family, so I thought I better get something made for little man. He was totally posing with it; he was so cute.

Growing up!!!

We recently moved Vincent into a big boy bed. I had been hoping to keep him in his crib a little longer (like 3 more years) but his crib mattress springs started poking him a little too much. So rather than go buy another crib mattress I decided to bite the bullet. He has done much better than I expected. He loves his bed, which he calls a "bee bo bay" when he says it fast. I was worried that he would get up and play, but we've left his crib in there for a little while as a little reminder that he better behave or he'll go back in his baby bed. He doesn't seem to realize that the crib mattress is missing. One day I went in there to get him after his nap and it took a while to notice that he had emptied his diaper drawers onto the floor and that there was a book in his bed with him, which had not been there when I left the room. Now I leave a book with him, (which, let's face it: I sometimes fall asleep with a book, too!) and he doesn't have any problems staying in bed. The first night was hard because I didn't have his bedrails up and he tends to move a lot in his sleep. But now that we have the rail on there, he does great.

Before the bedrails...

After the bedrails...

Mommy lost her seat.

Anthony is really growing up fast. He went to the dr yesterday and weighed 21 pounds and was 28.75 inches long. He has started using some signs. He signs "more" and "eat." He also has been saying "mama" but I'm hesitant to believe he's talking about me. I had forgotten how funny it is to watch a baby try to feed himself. We gave him green beens and some chopped up chicken and he had a blast. This morning I gave him bananas and I had forgotten how slippery they are when you cut them up! I rembered Jamie telling me that she coated the bananas in crushed graham crackers, but of course I didn't have any, so I just dipped them in baby cereal and it worked just as well, with a lot less work for me!!!

Big boy food!!

Feasting on an orange S

Checking out Vincent's new bed. Anthony approves.

A few weeks ago Dan went to Ft Benning, GA for two weeks. My dad came to stay with us for a few days and then later my mom came down for a week. The boys loved having their Papa Dave and Nana visit.

Papa couldn't keep his eyes off AJ. Who can blame him?

Papa and Vince

Sharing a love for trains.

Nana and the boys.

Who can resist cuddling with Nana?

A Trip to the Zoo

We went to the Saint Louis Zoo last week with Mariah, Sidney, and Baby Gabe. The kids had a great time despite being nap-deprived. Vince was particularly fond of the train ride and the carousel.

Anthony says, "I'm hot!!"

Vince and Sidney rode in peace most of the day. They each started taunting the other, putting one leg over to the other one's side. They're just like brother and sister!

Pretty Sidney riding the train through the tunnel.

Vince was only a little scared of the dark tunnel, but mommy was there to comfort him.

So sweet.

Enjoying the sites in the zoo train.

Riding the tiger in the carousel.

Hangin at Home

"Chomp!!!"



Bedtime reading; my favorite time of the day. Vince loves his Thomas book...and all things Thomas in general.

Vince kept walking to the door and telling me, "Go. Go. Go."