Off To The Game

Matthew had a football game this morning at 9am so we loaded up and headed off to the game. It was so stinkin' cold out that we wanted to keep the boys in the stroller and out of the wind, so we had to get creative in keeping them entertained. I took cinnamon toast for breakfast for them so that took up a good 20 minutes. Then we resorted to the keys, the hair pick, the Puffs....anything to keep them occupied.

Here's Matthew coming off the field. He played an awesome game and his team won.
Yes, Matthew is probably the biggest kid out there. He hits hard too!

And this week we switched the boys' car seats around to forward-facing. Here they are looking like little men!

What a PARTY!!!

Yesterday we had such a wonderful 1st birthday party. Yes, I know....1st birthday parties are not so much for the kids but pretty much to make the mom happy. And yep, I'm happy! It went great. I loved our theme and everything tied together so well. We had wonderful food, and great family and friends over. I am so thankful for everyone that came because each play an important role in my boys' lives.

Here's the cake. Isn't it amazing? I was so pleased. Our friend Keith's mom makes cakes and she did this for us. She lives in Dallas and is so cheap for what she does. And the cake tasted great too, which is an added bonus! (I'll gladly give out her name and number to anyone interested!)
Tyler's picture board

Zach's picture board

You gotta have a banner!

The cake table - Noah's Ark confetti, Noah's Ark gummies, an actual Ark....too cool!

Tyler's cake - a panda bear

And yes, Zachary had a panda bear cake too. Shocker, I know.

Trish and Tyler

Lots of food (we had way too much, but better too much than not enough!)

Tyler dancing with Meredith

The boys chillin'. Oh wait, and Trish hanging with the boys! What a shocker.

Mike setting the burgers on fire. Er, I mean cooking.

Grandma and Tyler. Why he's eating an egg plate I have no idea.

I'll have some cake! No, me first! No, me first! Our twin friends Luke and Braedon with dad Keith.

Grandpa and Tyler just chillin'.

Zachary playing in the grass. Just chillin' too.

Lots of presents!

Once Tyler found some ribbon, that was all he cared about.

Yes, its Mike Jr. Tyler devoured his cake.

Zach was a bit more hesitant. He dug in but didn't really care for the frosting. He just wanted the cake part inside.

Playing around after the party.

Picture Day

We made the trip today to Sears for our 1 year photos. I think they turned out very cute! And the best part is that I got the CD so I can go get my own (much cheaper) prints!

Mini-Birthday Bash

Yesterday we let the boys open a few presents. We aren't having our big Noah's Ark party until Saturday, but you've gotta have at least a few presents on your birthday, right?

Tyler of course just loved the bows. Who needs presents? Just give the kid some bows!


Zach liked to tear off the paper, with a little help.

Does Tyler's grin not just say it all?

This is their new Winnie-the-Pooh ride-on toy, which they love! Thanks Grandma!

And the best part: here they figured it out that one could ride and one could push and it was fun for both of them! The chance of this happening again however are slim to none.

The boys had raspberry pudding cake, thanks to Aunt Trish. Yummy! And happy birthday to Aunt Trish too! The boys were born on her 30th birthday.

Happy Birthday Zachary & Tyler!

A year ago, at 12:23am and 12:35am, my little boys were born. And I was ready! I had been on bed rest for almost a month and wanted them out!!! I had a pretty easy labor I think. I had nothing else to compare it to so in my mind, it was easy. I went into the hospital on the 17th with major contractions and then was sent home as I was not progressing past a '3'. The next morning my doctor said 'You're a 4 and progressing. It's time!' So off to the hospital we went. Tyler's water was broke at 5pm, and I got an epidural after that (NOT BY CHOICE) but it didn't matter much because the pump on the meds was broke and I ended up with no meds anyway! By 10:30pm I was pushing and Tyler came at 12:23am. Zach decided that now that his brother was out and he had room, he'd flip all around and have a party. He was now in a breach position and the doctor tried to turn him for several minutes with no luck. So finally he just decided to deliver him breach. Little Zachary was born at 12:35am.

Here are my little boys just minutes old!

I think this is Zachary.

And if the above is Zachary, then this should be Tyler. They looked almost exactly alike when they were born.

Here they are sleeping nose to nose when they were just a few days old. Zachary is on the left and Tyler is on the right.

And here are my boys at a week old. They are such a miracle. After a long hard road of infertility and In Vitro Fertilization, God blessed us with these two amazing children. I had no idea how much one could love a child. They have made me a better person.

Happy Birthday boys!

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today, I still looked like this.

And I was laying in this bed totally in labor waiting for my baby boys to be born.
I can't believe its been a year already. Tomorrow is the big day. The big FIRST birthday. More to come tomorrow with their first photos and their birth stories.

Sunday Morning Paper

This morning we all read the Sunday paper................

Some of us ate it more than read it...........

Oh, and did I mention that the boys are walking now???

I lost my children!

Well, okay, I didn't really lose them, I just momentarily didn't know where they were. This morning we went downstairs to play before eating our breakfast, and I apparently forgot to put the baby gate up on the stairs. I took about 90 seconds to read the paper while the boys were playing. After about 78 seconds I noticed that it was awfully quiet and I didn't see any little children tearing apart the paper that I was trying to read anymore. So I start searching around downstairs. Not in the laundry room. Not under the baby grand piano. And not in the closet. Hmmm. So I look and yep, no baby gate up. So I dash upstairs and I find that my boys have gone up 17 stairs together and are banging on the windows of our great room. Lovely.

And this picture is yet another example of what I do all day. I chase these two around. Their favorite thing to do now is to relieve any drawers of their contents and fill them back up with toys or whatever else they find. The other night Mike couldn't find his cell phone. I said, uh, I bet its in a drawer somewhere! Call it. Sure enough, it was in the bottom drawer of Mike's dresser, compliments of Zachary.
And here is my little Zachary, looking like the innocent little angel that he thinks he is!
And Tyler too, playing with a toy, looking all cute and so incapable of escaping from mom!