Welcome Back Daddy!

Luke snuggling with our friend Kirsten. This is what he does at most playdates.
Liam and our friend Jack

Lots of our Twin Friends!

Drinking some Water after our run

Liam

Playing peek a boo. The boys thought it was hilarious to open and close the door

Oops...Liam got mashed in the door (see Liam in bottom right corner)

The boys and I have had a busy week while John was out of town on business. He actually left over the weekend and thanks to the help of our friends, we survived! Over the weekend, we went out to dinner with two other moms with twins. We were quite the sight with 6 babies and 4 adults (one of the spouses came and the others were both out of town on business). We actually had to call ahead to check how many high chairs were available and thankfully we brought a few so that we would have enough. We had a great time and all of the babies actually did very well, perhaps better than expected.

We had a play date this week at a friends house and spent some time outside enjoying more of the nice weather. The boys are babbling and seem to understand more words that they did a month ago. They always point to balls and say "bababa". Liam, particularly, will chase a ball for hours. Luke loves to help out and even found a piece of paper on the floor the other day and took it to the trash can. I was expecting him to put it in his mouth, but he had other plans!

Welcome Back Daddy, we are happy to have you home!!

Growing Like Weeds

Our neighbor, Sarah and daughter Savannah, with several of the other babies

Snack time!!

Lots of babies


Liam kept running off the basketball court, he loves to go all over the place with that push toy

Brothers

Luke pushing Liam in his high chair

We had our 15 month check-up this week and the boys are healthy and continuing to grow appropriately. Luke is at 26 lbs. 10 ounces and Liam is 20 lbs. so they continue to be quite different in size. Both of them grew 2 inches since their 12 month check-up with Luke at 32 inches tall and Liam at 30 inches.

We had a playdate with our Twin friends up at the basketball courts at the park in our neighborhood today and enjoyed the warmer weather despite the strong winds. We each brought some push toys, balls, and other fun things to play with. The basketball courts give them plenty of room to run around but they are not close to the street nor is there a lot of sand or dirt for them to eat. Everyone did pretty well, but snack time was by far their favorite activity.

John just completed a small renovation to our laundry room. We pulled up the white linoleum floor and added a very nice slate tile. It looks fabulous. My only concern at this point is getting all of our laundry completed because we are at around 10 days and counting without the washer and dryer (they had to be moved to the garage for the project).

Enjoy!

Fun in the Sun

Mmm Pancakes!
I think it tastes better off the floor than in those high chairs

But Mom, I like the taste of the sand!

Swinging Luke

Swinging with Daddy

Liam

We have had a week of beautiful sunny and warmer days with temperatures in the 60's. The boys have been exploring all kinds of new things and enjoying the time outside. After dinner, we have spent an hour or so outside playing with the neighbors and swinging on our swings below the deck. We have also enjoyed more runs in the jogging stroller, bike rides outside, and a few play dates with our friends. I am posting a few pictures of one of our recent nights in the back yard.

I am also posting a few pictures taken recently when we made pancakes for the boys. I think there was more food eaten off the floor than in the high chairs. I would not worry about the food eaten off the floor being dirty considering how many times a day we have to clean the floor with all the food that gets dropped on it each time we eat a meal. Let's just say the mop is put to good use!

Happy Easter!

Liam in one of his very few "still" moments
Luke is collecting rocks in his push toy cart

The Bunny!

The four of us

Checking out the animals

Attempting to get a picture in the new chairs on our porch...very typical of Liam. He always tells us how he feels about things

Luke

At the Zoo with the Zebra

We have had a fun week that included a trip to the zoo and a visit with the Easter Bunny. We went to a free zoo in the St. Paul area and visited a few of the animals with some of our twin friends. The nice part about this zoo is that it really does not matter how long we stay since it is free. The boys are not always too excited about riding in the stroller for long periods of time so we try to find things that don't cost us too much if we don't last very long.

We went to see the Easter Bunny this afternoon. They also had several live animals as well so the boys got to see some little chicks, bunnies, ducks, and a little goat.

The boys have also enjoyed the warmer weather here and several trips outside including one in which Luke lost his balance a little and scratched his head (as you will see in the Easter pictures). I think the whole thing was more painful for mom than anyone considering Luke did not even cry!

We hope everyone has a Happy Easter with family and friends!

Messy Mealtimes

Who can make a mess in 5 seconds or less??? I can, I can

Note the missing shoe...Liam loves to take off his shoes and socks

Hurry, let's get the tupperware before she notices

Crazy Hair Luke

YIPEEE.....

This is great, Dad!!

Post Dinner Luke

Eating Dinner with Mommy

For anyone who has kids, I am sure that I am not alone when I say that everything we do creates some type of mess, mealtimes are particularly messy. We are generally in great moods at breakfast and lunch, but dinner can be a different story at times. It is often one or the other that is either tired or simply just not hungry when we sit down to eat dinner; therefore, sitting in the highchair is not nearly as fun as playing in the kitchen cabinets. So, the result is typically food on the floor, food mashed on the tray, food in the hair with one or the other of the boys. This scenario then repeats itself since they are both so good at imitating each other. It can be a guessing game trying to figure out what they want to eat, but it is pretty easy to tell what they DON'T want to eat! I am posting a few pictures of a recent dinner in which Liam was having a particularly difficult time. We don't usually get them out of their highchairs and hold them during dinner, but this particular dinner...we caved. For our relatives in Cincinnati, we were eating Skyline chili thanks to those who brought us a few cans at recent visits. I can't say that I really remember eating the Skyline, but I am sure it was tasty.

I am also posting a few pictures of the changing table where the clothes are typically folded and organized in terms of long sleeve, short sleeve, size for each baby, etc... On a recent weekend, John decided to let Luke have some fun pulling all the clothes off the table. I am not sure I have ever seen Luke so excited. In fact, we now have the changing table blocked off with two chairs in front because he won't leave it alone.

Enjoy!