Avery's First Year

A few hours old

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months


Happy first birthday, sister girl!

Austin's First Year

Just a few hours old

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months


Happy first birthday, little dude!

Where's Austin?

We have been spending a lot of time outside this summer. Last weekend we went to the duck pond on campus. Austin overcame his fear of grass and went exploring. We wanted to see how far he would go and he just kept going! He crawled as fast as he could until he reached the end of the shade, then he whined until we walked over to him and picked him up. He's such a funny little guy.

The Fourth - A Little Late

Our Independence Day was a hoot! My mom, dad, and brother came out to good ol' Orem to celebrate with us. We went swimming, ate yummy food and took naps. That was all before the actual festivities started! For the shindig, we headed to my dad's aunt and uncle's home. I guess they would be called my great aunt and uncle. This extended family thing is pretty confusing. We visited with lots of fam we haven't seen in awhile. The kids in the pictures that aren't mine are Maggie (the older one) and Kierra (the lil' one). Maggie is my dad's cousin's daughter and Kierra is my dad's cousin's daughter's little girl. Ha. We'll just call them our cousins because when it all comes down to it that's what they are! And it's so much easier than saying third cousins, or fourth cousins once removed, or something. Whatever the relationship, we love them! Sorry about the tangent...

Anyway, we ate some delicious food at the BBQ, and the babies got to play with the other kids. But Austin wasn't having any of it. He cried the entire time we tried to take a group baby picture. Typical. I was worried the babies would have a meltdown once the fireworks started. But they just sat and watched for about twenty minutes. Finally they broke down and there were lots of tears. I attribute their lack of enjoyment of my favorite holiday to the fact that it was about three hours past their bedtime. Still, it was fun to see my dad and brother light fireworks. And to my delight, aerial fireworks are legal now! This made for quite the display. After our meltdown, we went inside and watched through the front window while Austin and Avery drifted to sleep. We got home that night around midnight and boy were we beat! What a fun Fourth of July!

11

We have a couple of first birthdays in our house coming up in just one more month! I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe how fast time flies. We've been chasing around two very active 11 month olds and we love every minute of it!


Austin is such a joy and so much fun. He has a cute little personality and a radiant smile. He's such a flirt! If you make eye contact with him, it's almost guaranteed he will grin back at you. He follows his sister around (or gets chased by her). He's started clapping his hands and waving hi and bye. He has the funniest limp-wrist wave. When I tell him NO he shakes his head back and forth, but keeps on doing whatever he was doing. Austin sings now too, which is adorable. During church today he joined in during one of the hymns. He makes all sorts of noises and talks as if we should know what he's saying. He crawls super fast now and pulls himself up on almost everything. He can stand on his own, too. I think he really likes to stand but freaks out when he notices that no one is holding onto him. I predict he'll be walking pretty darn soon, though. This boy loves to play with his daddy. He chases Andrew around on the floor and laughs when he gets caught. He is the epitome of boy. In a sea of toys, he usually picks out his toy truck and ball. He pushes the ball around and follows it around the house. He occasionally likes to kick his toys, or anything near his feet. A soccer player in the making, maybe? Love this boy!


Avery is as cute and sassy as ever. Who knew an eleven month old could have such an attitude? She is blissfully happy when she has what she wants, and you better stay far away when there is something she can't have. We are trying to teach her about, and helping her understand she can't have everything. Since she literally tried to hold everything in her hands at the same time. She is full of fun, I promise. She waves hi and bye, and shakes her head when she hears the word NO (although she has a much better understanding of the word than her brother). She has a speedy crawl, pulls herself up, stands on her own, and has even taken a step! She can repeat sounds back to us like a pro. It is so funny to hear her try to say words. We haven't considered any of them as her real 'first word' yet because so far it is just gibberish. Cute babbling gibberish though. When she hears music, she swings her hips, shakes her head, bounces up and down, and does this weird sprinkler-like movement with her arms. During a musical number at church (we do more than just sing, promise), Come, Come, Ye Saints sang a capella by an older gentlemen, I looked down to see Avery rocking out. As long as it's music, she doesn't mind. Girl can groove.


I love these kids. I can hardly call them babies anymore. They are so big and independent. They bring so much love and happiness into our home. Sometimes, just sometimes, they fall asleep in my arms and I want to savor those moments forever. I love the feeling of a cuddly baby and that just doesn't happen too often anymore. My almost-one-year-olds are so sweet but I know that our years are numbered with them wanting and letting me hold them and kiss them and love on them, so I'm taking advantage of those moments while I can! My, oh my, this has been the best, most trying, most love-filled eleven months of our lives!

Could it be true?

Ok, it's not that crazy, but it's a big deal to me.


Looky look! They are holding their own bottles!!! I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time! Does this mean my babies are growing up? They don't even need me to hold their bottles anymore. Now only if I can teach them to change their own diapers...

Summer Fun

We were finally able to trade our winter coats for summer hats and swimsuits.

And it has been wonderful. There are a couple rosy-cheeked water babies around here that love to splash and shimmy all around the kiddie pool at Seven Peaks, our local water park.

Avery has too much to do to pose for pictures

We've gone almost everyday, and it has been refreshing. Most days we wait until the late afternoon so Andrew can come and watch the little fish with me. Our favorite activity at the water park is to sit in the shallows of the wave pool with babies in our laps. The babies think this is the bee's knees. They sit all slumped and relaxed as the warm sun wraps around them and the waves tickle their toes. They also like to yell at the big kids as they splash in and out of the pool.

Taking walks has also been on the agenda lately. During the day I'll take them out in the stroller for a long walk around the neighborhood across the street. The babies usually drift to sleep and I get some nice quiet time. I like to look at the houses and make mental notes to what I want someday in my future home. It's always fun to wish.

This summer is off to a good start.

Hair

Austin got his hair did! No, no, no, this is not his first haircut but his THIRD. The first two weren't dramatic enough to document, although I did save the snippings and took a bizillion pictures. Here's the proof from this time around:

Before

After

Austin still has a ton of hair but now his mop is manageable! We think he looks pretty darn cute.

Little Big Babies

Today we took Austin and Avery to get their seven month photos. I actually meant to take six month pictures but never got around to it (much like all the other things I've been meaning to do lately).

My sweet babies are learning and growing every day. We love watching the new things that they do. Austin is quite the talker. He is still our calm baby most of the time. He smiles and laughs at almost anyone.He's very observant and it seems like he will study things until he has it figured out. He lays on his back and scoots around. He's starting to sit up and he pats anything he can get his little mitts on. When he's on his tummy, he wiggles side to side until he gets to his destination.


Avery is always on the go. She is shy and timid and will let you know when she's not happy. But she will also let you know when she is happy and that's the best. She is sitting up and gets up on her knees but no crawling yet. She gets into everything so we need to be careful what we leave within her reach. She loves crinkly things and will find the tag on any item we give her. She also just started making this really gross noise with her mouth. It sounds like she's grinding teeth together but she only has bottom teeth...


Speaking of teeth, Austin has two and a half and Avery just has two little ones. It makes me laugh whenever they smile. They just seem too small to me to have teeth. It's goofy. Other than that, teething times two is no fun. They are eating so many different foods now. They love just about anything I give them, although Austin is a little more cautious of new foods than Avery. Whenever it is time to eat solids, they get so excited and pound on their highchairs. We're finally making the big transition to formula! I couldn't be more excited about this. Since they were born I've been pumping breastmilk, and all this pumping shenanigans is wearing me out! Once I can wean life will be wonderful! Full formula feedings is an adjustment, but the babies are doing better with it and I just imagine being comfortable and not worrying about pumping every 3-4 hours!


I know I've been posting a lot about babies lately, so here's a little update on the grown-ups in the family, if we can be called grown-ups:

Andrew is one busy guy. He works full time, goes to school full time, and is a full time husband and daddy. He just signed up for his last class that he'll take next semester. So, if all goes as planned he should graduate in December! We are all looking forward to this. Even though school is time consuming, he seems to enjoy his classes. He's majoring in Advertising and minoring in English. I think he rocks.

As for me, I stay home with the babies and am enjoying watching them grow up. I can fold laundry in record time and dishes have nothin' on me (haha...)! I've learned to balance two babies in my arms AND while holding two babies and two bottles at once I can still manage to talk on the phone or text or change the channel! I have other friends with babies (and one with a brand new beautiful baby girl) and we get together often to keep each other sane...not that staying home makes me insane, but it is nice to talk to an adult during the day every now and again!

(I wanted to post pictures of me and Andrew, but we really don't have any decent ones. These kids are hogging the spotlight! We'll have to work on that...)

Food!

We tried rice cereal for the first time a few weeks back. We did it mostly for our enjoyment. I don't think the babies really need it or want it quite yet. And after changing the first poopy diaper after eating solids, they aren't getting rice cereal again until they beg for it...But let me tell you, if you need some cheap entertainment on a Friday night, give a baby some solids for the first time. Austin wasn't so sure about it. He mostly made faces and spit it all out. Avery was a ravenous monster. After she first tasted it she couldn't grab the spoon fast enough to shove it in her mouth. Here are some gems from the night:

Unrelated question: Does anyone know of an easier way to create and format your blog posts? I think I'd like to blog more often if it was easier and I could make it more personalized (like a different font than blogger offers, where pictures go, etc), if that makes any sense...

Six Month Craziness!

First time out without the carseats

What the heck! Weren't my babies newborns like, yesterday? Austin and Avery are officially six months old today and had their well baby check. Here's their stats:

Austin weighs 18 lbs 5 oz, and is 26 inches long. He's in the 75th percentile for his weight and the 25th percentile for his height-what a chunk!

Avery is 15 lbs 11 oz and is 25.4 inches long. She's in the 25th percentile for her weight and height.

It's so fun to watch them learn and grow. They crack us up every day. I love having twins. They are starting to interact with each other and it is hilarious. We have to keep their nails pretty short or they'd gouge each others' eyes out! Their personalities also couldn't be more different. Austin is usually laid back and pretty chill about everything. He is such a happy boy. He smiles at everyone and laughs at everything, including himself. But trust me, he has his moments. Avery is turning out to be quite the drama queen. She is so sensitive and doesn't like when her brother invades her space. When she is tired or annoyed or uncomfortable in any way she pouts and cries until mom or dad pays attention. I think we have our hands full with her, but we think she's cute. We sure love having them in our family.

Here's some fun things that they do:

• Sleep through the night (more fun for me than them)
• Roll over and over and over
• Stick their tongues out and blow bubbles
• Reach for toys and shove them in their mouths
• Steal each others' binkies (I will occasionally find Austin sucking on a pink binky and Avery playing with a green one)
• Steal each others' toys
• Try to crawl and get frustrated when they face plant
  
• Austin loves his jumperoo. You should see this boy bounce! Avery thinks it's just ok.
  
• Avery pants with her tongue out like a puppy
• Austin loves to fake cough and make his mom think he's choking (it is annoying and so funny at the same time)

I'm sure there's more but this is all that comes to mind at the moment.