Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! First of all, let me say congratulations to the Apple Family. Their first daughter, Reese was born this morning at 11:24am. A new year baby...great start to the year. I'm hopefully going to visit her tomorrow. As far as I know, everyone is well and she has a head full of hair.

2008 was an amazing year for us. I can't help but reminesce about this time last year. I was hugely pregnant and anticipating the arrival of my boys. Then their birth was text book and I was lucky enough to have them in the regular nursery right away. Their first few months were a blur of feedings, changings, exhaustion and pure love for these two wonderfully healthy, gorgeous baby boys. I often wonder how I got so lucky. From about 4 months on, life started to get easier as we got to sleep through the night and real routines were underway. Now at 10 months we are walking all over the place, still healthy, into discovering everything and I just can't wait to see what else is in store for us.

Since daddy is on duty today (get home soon daddy!), we went to the park with GG and Grampa in our new wagon! The boys had a wonderful time. They were fascinated at everything from the wheels of the wagon to the handle...very exploratory. Then we decided to go for some swinging. Jonah wasn't too keen on it and so I decided to swing with him. He liked that a little better. Jake on the other hand just entrigued his Gramps because he was leaning into the swing to go forward and leaning back when he would swing back...in other words, he understood the momentum with his body. Either way, Grampa was baffled. Then, I climbed up the park swingset and we did some sliding! That was fun. Althougher, it made for a great day. We hope that you have a great 2009!

Christmas and 10 months!

Well our Christmas was GREAT!! The boys had a blast with all the new toys and clothes. They weren't quite crazy about opening the presents, but the tissue paper was another story. They were fascinated with tissue paper. We spent the morning with just mommy, daddy, Jakie and Jonah alone to see what Santa brought. Then, Grandma (GG), Grampa and Aunt Lo joined us. We had a wonderful breakfast after the boys went down for a nap. Then, we got up and continued to open all the presents.

Later that night, we noticed that Jake felt hot and he was not feeling good for the rest of the day. He ran a fever through the night. I figured it was because he was still getting his two top teeth. We gave him some tylenol and he felt less hot the next morning. However, Jonah had the same issue the following night. I know fevers are a normal way of the body fighting off something...but they scare mommy! We were supposed to go over to GG's house the next day but with Jonah running a fever over 100, we put it off until the following night. The reason we did 2 christmases was b/c our Aunt Lissa is a police officer and had to work on Christmas.

SO, Saturday, which was our 10 month birthday was spent at GG and Grampa's house. It was great. Aunt Lissa got us a cool new toy. And GG and Grampa got us a wagon!!! We put the boys in it and just drug them around the house a few time and they both giggled. It was super cute.

Both boys are back to normal by now. Jake is still working on getting those two top teeth out. They are slow movers. Other than that, we are looking forward to 2009. Happy New Year!

The monkeys LOVED their rocking dogs...Jonah especially!

These shirts were in our stockings. They say, "My brother is the naughty one". I couldn't resist!

Daddy is reading a card from Grampa George

We loved our present from Aunt Lissa.

Best wagon ever!!

Well the cutie patooties are doing well. They are masters of walking now. They baaarely crawl anymore and if they do it's only for a few strides. They started picking toys up and carrying them places lately. So now they're multi-tasking walkers!!

We had another case of the sniffles lately that seemed to last a little longer than I would have hoped. Jake is popping in his upper teeth so now he'll have more than just his bottom 2. Jonah still stands firm at 4 on top and 3 on the bottom. Jake has started this new thing where he will purse his lips together and out like he's going in for a kiss, while shutting his eyes and doing what I like to call a "fake whimper". It's really cute and kind of pathetic all at the same time...already finding out how to be dramatic! Jonah on the other hand has still got this ridiculously high pitched squeel that has yet to stop. He will be the center of attention!

Both boys are getting better at their pincher grasp. They are picking up food and self feeding some at meal times...and then there is the picking up of everything else they can find that is even hard to see with the naked eye. It is amazing to watch them eyeball a TINY piece of fuzz and watch their thought process motion them forward to pick it up.

Their verbal skills are picking up too. I'm starting to wonder if "maa" means mom. And I've heard a few "daa"s in there too. They seem to say "maa" a lot when I get home. Some of my favorites times of the day are when I get them up from sleeping or when I get home and see their faces light up as I'm coming towards them. Those times make me forget about all the bad that is going on in the world and focus on those two amazing faces who just want to be in your arms. It's just precious!!

I took a few pics of the boys next to their Grandmother's christmas tree. I would love to tell you they're actually helping to put the ornaments on the tree but actually it's just the opposite. Oh well...at least the photos are precious. :)

Our two monkeys!!

9 months!

It's crazy what a difference about a week makes. My boys have gone from taking a few steps and falling over to walking from a room into another room, bending over to pick something up then standing back up and continue walking and then changing directions before losing their balance. We headed back over to grandma's house tonight and she was AMAZED at the progress they've made since she saw them last week.

We had our 9 month appt. the other day. Both boys are VERY healty!!! Jake weighs 21lbs and Jonah is at 19lbs. They are both the same height now and Jake's head is just a hair (get it) bigger than Jonah's. We're getting over the sniffles again this week. I hate when they get sick...b/c we all get sick...and I really hate it when my babies feel like the poo!!!

This video was taken right after Thanksgiving.

And these were taken last night.

Our Thanksgiving was great! The boys had fun playing in grandma's kitchen, or should I say destroying it! Unfortunately they slept through the main dinner but we discovered they like cranberrys and mashed potatoes. We have MUCH to be thankful for. I still can't believe we have TWO beautiful, healthy baby boys. They are the highlight of my every moment. I can't wait to see what they'll do next. I still can't believe it sometimes. Even tonight my mother said, "Shannon, your CHILDREN are walking! YOUR CHILDREN...how did that happen that you have kids?!" I said, "I know...I have to remind myself sometimes too that this happened and there's two at the same time...and it's the most amazing thing I could have ever happened to me!" I thank God for these babies and pray everyday for their continued health and progress. Even our doctor said they're way ahead of the curve as far as physical accomplishments. He said that even if they weren't twins it would be big but especially as a multiple. My kids are awesome!

Walkers!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been busy lately. So, since I've last written, Jake took his first steps two weeks ago and Jonah took his first steps last week. Oh my!!! Jake is getting a lot more courageous lately with his standing without holding anything and trying to take a few steps before falling over and resorting to walking. I was amazed that he was the first one to branch out since Jonah was pulling himself up to a stand for at least a week before Jake. Jonah is still a little more timid about cruising from one piece of furniture to the next without crawling over to it...even if it's just a step in between but I see him getting a little less scared every day. I can't believe my babies took their first steps before they reached 9 months old!!!

We had our first playdate a little over a week ago with our friend Paisley. We had a great time and can't wait to see you again soon Paisley. And we're looking forward to getting together with more friends as soon as we can!

Eating

This is just a little taste of what it's like while feeding Jonah & Jake. It's a lot of fun but also a lot of messes. They are testing the waters a lot these days by spitting and rubbing the food all over their faces. Jonah is very interested in holding his own spoon sometimes. Jake is not very good at opening his mouth wide enough to get much food in so he usually takes a lot longer to eat than his bro.

They just started to eat some protein, just chicken and turkey as of right now. They definately liked it! Their favorites are sweet potatoes, bananas, apple sauce, peas, carrots and a few others they've tried. I dont think they are too wild about green beans or spinach but we'll work on that. They definately let me know when something is not good. Jonah looks at me like "WHY would you give this to me" and Jake makes the funniest gagging sound. He's not actually gagging, it's just a noise to protest my choice of veggie.

I do make my own baby foods as well as give them some store bought. BUT, everything is organic...even their juice. That's important to me to try to reduce the amount of chemicals/artificials that go into their mouths right now. I'm sure they'll have plenty of time to load up on unhealthy things when they are adults but I want to start them out on the right foot.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

No we didn't go trick or treating. But we did get dressed up for a short time. These costumes were a bit too thick for the Texas heat so we didn't stay in them for too long. That may be why we look a little p.o.'d.

So here are Mommy's little monsters!