A Time For Refreshment

Liam practicing his standing while Luke plays
Liam taking a bath
Luke Taking a bath
Liam finally begins to fall asleep.....

We enjoyed a very nice and relaxing weekend for the first time in a long time. We did not do any home renovation or moving projects, no laundry, cleaning, or other chores. We really had a nice time with the boys and had a chance to relax and refresh for the upcoming week. For the first time since the boys were born, I went back to the fitness center. I have been running and biking from the house, but we actually put the boys in daycare for an hour or so and worked out. I really was not sure what to do with myself. It was so peaceful and so nice to have some time without babies! The boys did wonderfully and seemed to be in good spirits when we picked them up. We also made it out to dinner with a few of John's coworkers over the weekend and the boys soaked up the extra attention. Liam is quite an interesting baby that loves to study things. He is quite particular about what he does and does not want to do. He sleeps very little during the day, but loves to watch almost anything for hours and hours on end. Liam also amazes us with his ability to "stand" as you will see in the picture below. I am not sure if he will go straight to walking and skip crawling all together. Luke, on the other hand, is still quite a mellow baby that loves to giggle and coo. He responds to each of us with his "talking". He is typically very easy to please unless he is tired or hungry. Enjoy the pictures!

Hallelujah!

John and I woke up at 5:45 am this morning only to realize we had been sleeping since 10:00 pm without interruption. That is right...the boys slept through the night! They were up at 6:00 am and starving, of course, but they managed to sleep through the night for the first time. I am not sure I feel overly energetic today despite the extra sleep, but it will take some time for those hours to accumulate considering we have not had that much sleep since January. Oddly enough, it was not anything that we did differently like formula, cereal, or something else-it was just the boys! We do try to wear them out during the day as much as possible, but that has only helped us get a few more hours here and there. We were so happy to have a night of uninterrupted sleep. The St. Louis Cardinals outfits are courtesy of Grandpa Morse. He can't wait for the boys to have their own Cardinal jerseys.

A Great Weekend

We all enjoyed a wonderful weekend with nice spring weather. On Saturday, we actually took both boys to an art show downtown. A friend of John's from high school who is an amazingly talented artist had several of his paintings displayed in a local art gallery. The boys were phenomenal the entire time. They enjoyed all the people, the noises, and the bright lights displaying the paintings. We even went to an early dinner before the art show and they behaved quite well. They were so tired on Saturday night after all the action that they actually slept until 5:00 am! They got up briefly to feed for about 10 minutes and then were back in bed and we all slept until 7:30 am. That is the most consecutive sleep that we have had since January.

On Sunday, we took the boys down to the lakes in Minneapolis and ran 7 miles at around an 8:15 or 8:30 pace. I was very happy with the run as my distance and speed has greatly increased in the last month. There is progress, thankfully, as I am still working to get at least 10-15 lbs. of baby weight off. The weight is not coming off very easily, but hopefully will improve as we are more active with the nicer weather.

I am including a few pictures of the boys at playtime with their dad. We purchased one of the bouncy swings that hangs from the door at a local resale shop. The swing looks brand new and the boys are starting to get the hang of it.

Hope you all had a nice weekend as well!

Happy Spring!

The boys and I are enjoying some warmer Minnesota weather in the 60's and 70's. We took advantage of the sunny day and went for a run in the jogging stroller yesterday. It is quite the ordeal to get everyone dressed and out the door for a run and we are not always so excited to go (the boys that is!). Yesterday went pretty smoothly and I managed to get a few smiles before leaving. Just in case you are thinking how "peaceful" Liam looks, it is because he had already worn himself out with crying as we tried to get dressed, hence the reason he is sleeping. The cute jackets the boys are wearing came from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers and are quite useful.

Enjoy and Have a Great Week!

We are THREE months Old!

Liam is on the left and Luke on the Right

Luke and Liam are three months old today. In general, the time has passed so quickly although there are days that never seem to end. I would be interested to know how many diapers and wipes we have already purchased in this short time. It seems neverending. The boys welcomed their newest cousin (grandbaby #9 on John's side) yesterday. Jason and Sheryl had their second boy, Carter Phillip. Carter's older brother is Collin, who recently celebrated his third birthday. The boys want to send out a happy three month birthday to their cousin Calvin in Arkansas. We are still trying to catch up with Calvin in terms of growth, but that may take awhile since he is technically 4 weeks older! We tried pretty hard to get a few good pictures this morning after feeding and bathing and before we had any accidents in the new outfits. I am certainly no photographer, but I think that three or so out of 2o pictures turned out decent. Not too bad...

Jogging Stroller Maiden Voyage

We had warm enough weather this evening to try out our new jogging stroller for the first time. The boys were too cute in their little sweaters inside the stroller. They seemed to enjoy it, though I am not sure they will have a choice in the future when we start running in the neighborhood! They did sleep the entire time and they tend to be fussy at night so that was nice.

I am also posting a picture of the bumbo chairs again for my sister and Jennifer (John's sister). Luke's outfit is from Jenni's kids and Liam's outfit was donated to us from Calvin who is already out of his three month clothing. I think they were having more fun than they appear to be having in the picture.

Baptism Day

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

Luke and Liam were baptized on April 5, 2008. We had a wonderful weekend with family and friends and are very grateful to all who traveled to Minnesota to share in the baptism with us. The boys were able to meet their cousins Zach, Seth, Jacob, Caitlin, and Ella along with several aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We still have a few cousins to meet including Calvin, Collin, and Baby Carrithers of whom is scheduled to arrive this Thursday. The boys survived the actual baptism service and all of the action over the weekend, though they did catch up on some much needed sleep after everyone left. Thank you to all for sharing in this special occasion in their lives.

We Love to Read!

Here are a couple of pictures of John reading "Go Dog Go" to Luke and Liam. They are really becoming more alert and love to listen to almost anything we have to say. The boys are getting baptized this weekend and we are excited to let our families see the boys. We have several family members driving and flying in from both Arkansas and Cincinnati. The weather here is finally getting warmer and we can begin to see the yard, which is a welcome sight after several months of snow.