Happy Birthday Babies

Last week we celebrated the twins second birthday.  I cannot believe how fast the last two years have gone.  I remember so distinctly the few days leading up to placement.  It was on Friday, June 19 that we first got a call from our case worker.  She told us that they had a birthmom on her way to the hospital who hadn't placed.  And she was having twins.  Can we show her your profile?  Of course we were open to any situation and answered yes.  The boys were born early Saturday morning.  We got a call Saturday afternoon letting us know the birthmom was close to making her decision, but wanted a conference call with us.  Could we talk to her on Sunday?  Of course.

We spoke with her early afternoon, and then left for church.  Not long after we got to church, we got another call--she wanted to tell us herself that she had chosen us.  Happy Father's Day to Dan.  We hopped on a plane (thanks to a friend who flies for Continental and got us on stand-by) to Vegas, drove to Salt Lake, and were able to meet with the birthmom on the morning of the 22nd.  After signing all those papers--they were ours, and we finally got to meet them about 4 that afternoon.

And now look at them.

They have brought so much joy into our home, not to mention days full of chaos, but we love it all.

Brady is and always has been the big brother.

He has always been the leader, but he has also started looking to Carter and saying "no, no Carter" when he knows Carter is being naughty.  He is physical and active.  He loves to throw balls (and boy does he have an arm), jump from the kid slide to the bean bag, and climb on furniture or the outside of the stairs.  He can throw a tantrum like any other two year old, but loves to give hugs and kisses.  He has developed a great friendship with Tyler, and the two of them love to wrestle and play together.  While behind on speech, he does have about 30 words and is starting to repeat things back to us.  Dadda, Tyler, momma, book, choo-choo, car, and more.  He just started raising his hand and saying "me" whenever you ask a question.  I still can't get over his dimple and curly hair--watch out ladies.

Carter is my sweet baby.

He is usually calm and mild-mannered, although lately he has been letting you know when he is not happy.  He also hasn't been putting up with Brady's bullying, and fights back.  I have had to break up several hitting/biting matches.  Poor Carter is the one right now with teeth marks on his chest.  He loves to snuggle when he is tired.  He must have his taggie.  He is a thumb sucker, to the point his left thumb is raw and sore.  We joke that Carter is the engineer--he will sit with toys for a long time, and seem like he is just trying to figure it all out.  He has been having a bit of separation anxiety lately, and doesn't like Mommy leaving him places.  Carter is still a bit behind Brady, including speech.  He has about 20 words.  Doggie, woof-woof, Dad, Mom, choo-choo.  I hear mom about a thousand times a day.  He also signs more, eat, and please.

We had a super low key birthday,  We wanted to get some trikes, but still haven't picked them up.  Thank goodness grandma sent them presents so they had something to open.  We went out to dinner, and then had cupcakes back home.  And Tyler is the greatest big brother.  Happy Birthday boys!

Excuses

I knew it had been a long time since I blogged last, but didn't realize it was over a month.  I do have several good excuses though.

Like, this:

You know, moving into a new house and all.  These pictures were taken the weekend we moved in, and while we have emptied all the boxes, things are still not organized and put away properly.

Or this excuse:

Being a parent, which in the last little while included attending belt testing for Tyler.  Not to mention the parenting I do to the crazies each and every day.

Or what about this excuse:

I'm 12 weeks and have had quite a ride so far.  That's another post that will come soon.  Suffice it to say, at our ultrasound today the doctor said he is 90% sure it's a girl.  And now that my first trimester is coming to a close, and we have settled into the house, hopefully my posting can resume.

Playdates

A while back we had our friend Bryson over to play.  Of course, the boys all headed outside and made a beeline for the bubbles.   I grabbed my camera because a) the boys are cute and b) we had some great lighting.

Bryson and Carter

Brady

Carter

Don't eat the bubbles, Bryson!

We just love playdates.

Life is busy

There has been something else that has kept us more busy than usual.

We are moving in less than 2 weeks.

I think that a move just around the corner is as overwhelming as a move across state lines.

Tyler's first grade program

Proud mommy moment here.

Last week was the first grade music program at Tyler's school.  It was an animal theme, with one class dressed up as lady bugs, one as penguins, and so on. 

See, here is our friend K as a bunny:

Tyler's class=frogs.

But the proud mommy part: Tyler got to sing a solo in the closing number.  Now, this is my first attempt at uploading a video, so bear with me.  Sorry it is so small--I should have turned my phone the other way.  He sings first, so you don't have to listen to it all.

Let's play catch up

What have we been doing the last few weeks?

Lots of playing outside, including trying to ride trikes and scooters.  I think the twins are going to get new trikes for their birthday.

 Easter, with cousins in town.  Not a lot of photos, but a lot of fun--egg hunt, dyeing eggs, frosting cookies, Easter baskets, and of course a yummy ham and potato dinner.

Did I mention we've been outside a lot?  Here, the babies are playing with their new bubbles from their Easter baskets.

Messes

Within ten minutes of cleaning up this mess:

The twins managed to dump a box of plastic spoons on the floor, take out all the trash bags from their box in the pantry, and remove 2/3 of the silverware from the silverware drawer.

(I started this post 3 weeks ago, and finally uploaded the picture.  Yeah, it's been a busy few weeks.)