The twins' first birthday

Ok, you have to excuse my obsession, manifested in this extraordinarily LONG post. I LOVE LOVE LOVE kids birthday parties, and get so excited when I get to plan one. I've never given my other kids a first birthday party before. I wanted to give one for the twins because, one, it's not every day that you get to celebrate twins! And, two, it really is a miracle to have them here with us at all. 100 years ago, we would have all perished during child birth. That is a sobering thought. And three, they are probably my last babies, and four, see above where it says I LOVE birthday parties. Please feel free to skim over this post if you'd like. Really, I won't be offended. I couldn't part with any small details getting captured on film and for posterity's sake.

We had their party on Monday, July 6th at our house, and invited Scott's family, and my mom, sister Julie, and nephew Kyle. We were honored to have everyone attend, and most even came in costume. (though my sister said only I would be crazy enough to have a costumed party in July)

I made Bakerella's cupcake pops. So time consuming, but so yummy! And cute. We called these pat-a-cake pops.

Ring around the rosies and silver bells and cockle shells.

Grace as Queen of Hearts

Irelynd was the little girl with a curl--read it, it's Irelynd to a tee.

Maddie as Twinkle Little Star--so creative, Sallie!

Lizzy as Little Miss Muffett

Cadi as Baker's man

Spencer as Wee Willie Winkie--can you believe this costume all came from DI??

My BIL as the Muffin Man. He even had real muffins in that basket. Notice the flour on his face? Good job on the details Bradford!

And my favorite, 3 Blind Mice: Brooke, Julie, and Megan.

Kyle and Emily announced their news with this costume. Look closely at her mid-region. (in case you can't read it, it says "hill")

This was the cute birthday banner I made. I also tried Martha Stewart's pompoms but they didn't turn out like the picture. They looked like squashed flowers.

We played name that nursery rhyme.

The cakes. Keaton had the Humpty Dumpty one, Waverly the Little Miss Muffet and yes, those are sheep.

Here's a close-up, because I thought he was really cute. Scott did the wall--didn't he do a great job?Cami as...well, I'm not sure. The lady on the horse, maybe?

We played Jack be Nimble with homemade candlesticks the kids put together.

Then the kids helped Little Bo Peep find her sheep (hidden all over the yard.) The one who found the black sheep won a prize. We also played Little Jack Horner, like hot potato. The one who uncovered the "plum" was out.

Kissing tag with Georgie Porgie. We used stickers and the first one to "tag" someone with all their stickers first won.

Little Miss Muffet, like Duck Duck goose.

Waverly was Sugar and Spice. Grandma Henry made her skirt, and I appliqued the cupcake on the shirt. There's a reason why there is not a close up of it. I better stick to birthday parties.

Keaton was frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. I also appliqued his shirt. It's a cute snail.

Savannah as Little Bo Peep. Good use of her old Halloween costume.

We also played the 5 little piggies. The kids had to pop the pink balloons to find the pieces of the 5 piggies rhyme. When they got to "wee wee wee," Scott sprayed them with the hose.

Me as Mother Goose, Scott as Old King Cole. I had an apron to complete it, but couldn't find it.

Wrigley as Little Miss Muffet. Another skirt made by Grandma Henry.

Opening gifts

Cake time!

Waverly was so dainty with hers--just ate it with her finger.

Keaton dug right in with both hands. He finished almost the entire cake by himself.

Waverly had to try some of Keaton's...

Waverly

Keaton

Chloe as Jack Sprat's wife. She apparently came up with this by herself. Isn't she so creative?

I gave each food a name. My favorite was the BBQ'd spidered hot dogs, called Little Miss Muffet's revenge.

Thanks for looking! I'm offering my services to anyone who needs help planning a children's birthday party--Scott is afraid I'm going to talk him into more kids, just for the birthday planning aspect:)

We survived Year One!

I can't believe it's been a year since the twins were born. It's gone lightening fast! I didn't think I'd make it at some points, but we are all still alive and sane! I have enjoyed having twins so much more than I expected. The first six months were sheer hell, but it has been a riot since then watching them entertain themselves and interact with one another. It's amazing to note the differences between two babies born at the same time to the same parents. Anyone who says it's nurture over nature, come to my house and I'll change your mind! They come with their own, unique personalities. Here's the differences:

Keaton:

He is my white child (if you've read The Color Code you'll know what I mean). He is so easy-going and sweet tempered. He does have a temper and he will let you know if he's not comfortable, but he's so sweet and loving. He likes to snuggle, and will lay his head down on my shoulder and be content to be held close. I could spend hours like this.

He loves bananas. He is going to be like his dad and find the foods he likes and just eat those over and over and over... He loves balls and is starting to understand how to play with them.

Until recently, anytime you held him, he would grab the hair at the back of your head. I suppose it made him feel more secure, in case he got dropped (no, not from experience!) I found it hilarious. Savannah, my tender-headed child, did NOT.

He is my more serious twin, but he's also quick to laugh, if he thinks you are funny. He loves playing peek a boo with his blanket at bedtime, and loves his chin and collarbone tickled. He has a big belly laugh that's hard to distiguish from crying, if you don't know him well. He makes the sound of a weed wacker when he's trying to get to sleep anywhere other than his crib. He eventually winds down to silence.

He has been the last one to do everything; he watches Waverly do it first and then seems to decide if he wants to put forth the effort to accomplish it. He has developed a defense tactic of spinning in circles. If he has something that Waverly wants, or if he's stolen something from her, he'll sit and spin back and forth so she can't take it back. It has worked very well for him. He also gets very excited when he sees his bottle and waves his arms and legs back and forth very fast. He looks like a bird almost.

He likes bedtime. He is my only thumb-sucker, and has been that way since he was home from the NICU. I think it's adorable, but know it won't be when he hits kindergarten and has crooked teeth. He's also another Linus baby, being attached to a special blanket Grandma LeBaron gave him at birth. He has to have it in order to go to sleep.

Waverly:

She hates headbands. Especially the big flowery ones like below. She is my little firecracker. She babbles all day. If she's awake, you know it. Heaven help us when she starts to make words. She is already throwing mini tantrums and is very determined in what she wants. She was the first to do everything, including birth. She laughs and babbles at you the minute you walk in the door, and I can't help but laugh when I see her. She loves to play peek a boo, but her hands go over her ears instead of her eyes, for the moment.

She walks on her tiptoes when we help her walk. She likes dolls and cups. She hates to be held down too long, even to be cuddled. She is very interested in everything that goes on around her, and wants to be a part of the action. She's not a picky eater, but has to inspect everything that goes into her mouth by taking it out half gooey. Not a pretty thing to witness.

She loves to play patty-cake and loves the song "the wheels on the bus." I can see a lot of Savannah in her, and expect the two to be very similar in looks and personality.

She likes her baths, but only for a short time. When she's ready to get out, she'll let you know pronto. She will be the brain behind the antics when they both get older.

She's very smiley, too, and will give you her big, toothy grin with very little effort. It takes more to make her laugh though. She loves games with anticipation. She does not usually like strangers, and wouldn't go to even her grandmas until recently. She loves dolls, and sleeps with one. It's close to being her first word, as she calls it dah dah.

We have been so blessed to have not one, but two babies in our home this past year. They bring with them such a big piece of heaven. The joy that surrounds them is almost tangible. Keaton and Waverly, I am so honored to be your mother and that Heavenly Father trusted me with this challenge of raising two babies at once. Thank you for coming to our home. We love you both so much!

Brighton is at it again

Brighton is back to his earlier antics. Here are a few crimes captured on film:


Ok, I have to admit, this one was very funny. I'm assuming he thought these were great big bandaids. The laughter was enough to offset the mess that I did not photograph behind me.
I came into the kitchen one lunchtime to find that he had gotten into my baking cabinet and shared the spoils. Look close...that's brown sugar Keaton is dining on. Yeah, he did like it. And it was nice of Brighton to share. (See, a mom's gotta look at the positives).

Not photographed due to not wanting to add to the prosecuting attorney's case against me should I fail to calm down in the 10 second countdown...

Death of a banana bread loaf...I came down one morning to find crumbs strewn from the landing on the stairs, through the entryway, across the sunroom, through the kitchen, making sure he got around the island adequately, and into the family room, where we found it's drying out corpse, in crumbles on the floor and couch cushions. It was a banana bread massacre. The clencher to this case was that I had just mopped the floor the night before...not 12 hours earlier. 12 hours people! All kinds of buttons were pushed here!

Polka dot van...this is the bomb. While talking to my mom one day, Irelynd came running in to where I was hiding from the beasts to tell me Brighton had Scott's big hammer. Some weeks ago, Brighton discovered how to pry the child covers off the doorknobs (ending any illusion of mine that our house was "child safe"--haha what a joke. I'd like to pit Brighton against any of the makers of the "child safe" contraptions.) One of the covers he pried off was the garage door. Apparently he wandered out into the garage, found a hammer in Scott's tool organizer (I use the word organizer loosely here, but that's another post), and punished the van with it. My poor minivan. It had already sustained bodily damage during the NICU weeks last year. (We received a "souvenir" scratch and dent on all 4 corners! I'm campaigning for a special parking lot for all the elderly and bad drivers at the hospital. We have gotten a scratch with every birth, but this is a little much!) Plus last winter I got stuck and had to be pushed out by a neighbor's car--that left its mark too, on the bumper. Now we have added to all that little dots where the hammer made contact...about 40 of them across the side and concentrated on the trunk. Good thing for Brighton my mom pleaded for his life and he still lives to do damage another day.

Yesterday I left Brighton in my big bathtub while I got the babies dressed and put down for a nap. Ok, ok, bad decision right there, but I assumed, besides a water mess, what could the little monster do? I'll tell you. I found him screaming bloody murder, he had turned the water on full blast which was about to overflow my large jetted tub, and he was standing naked on the other side of the bathroom. Apparently what he did was try to feed the shed key (which he found on my dresser in my bedroom--explains the puddles across the floor), and tried to feed it to the oscillating fan in the bathroom. Fans don't like shed keys being rammed down their slits, and the resulting bullets-in-the-garbage disposal noise freaked him out. No sympathy here.

Irelynd and I spent 30 minutes scrubbing blue crayon off the wall, only to notice that we also had pencil to scrub off too.

Every day is an adventure with this little man. I only hope he survives to adulthood because my mom promised me he will be a terrific kid. And I'm holding out for it.