Sunday best

It's hard to believe these guys are 16 months old.  Here they are looking absolutely handsome.

 Eli has discovered accessories; belts, scarves, sunglasses, you name it, he is excited to wear it.

 Evan is our climber!  He is capable but cautious, here he is preparing for his career as a performing cowboy.

 Eli

 Evan

These days Eli jabbers away with nonsense words, but will talk to you for ten minutes or more, Evan is working towards real words like ball, Papa, eye, bye, and a couple others (Eli on the left, Evan on the right).

11 months

 Here is Eli.  These days he smiles and laughs all the time.  His new favorite thing to do is raise both hands in the air and wait for you to say, "Yay!!"  He occasionally fights with Evan if there's a really cool toy involved.  He is completely mobile, even shuffling along the couch sometimes.

 These pictures were taken on OU's first game day of the season.  Kevin wouldn't have them dressed any other way to start off the season.

 Here is Evan.  See that spot just to the right of his mouth that looks dirty, it's a bruise.  These are the days of scrapes, bumps, and bruises.  Seems one of them gets hurt at least once a day.  Thankfully, I have two other boys that prepared me well for this stage, so I can say "uh-oh" instead of crying every time they get hurt!

If you are contemplating what to get your little one for Christmas, forget all the high-tech toys and get a box of tupperware.  All of our kids have seriously enjoyed playing with the tupperware cabinet, and it keeps them out of all the other ones.

This post is a little late, which means in just a couple weeks I'll be posting about their birthday!  

10 months

It is hard to believe that a just over a year ago, I was in Houston for fetal intervention surgery. Today, our little guys are ten months old, and healthy as can be. They are reminders of God's grace and miraculous power everyday.

Ronin put the cowboy hat on Eli, but Eli managed to give us his best John Wayne face all on his own. Eli is still "low crawling," but is pulling up when he feels like it. He prefers to use his brute strength to get places, he is determined to power through anything to get where he wants to go, even if it's your leg. He's got heart, and doesn't give up!
Evan is completely mobile now, he crawls, pulls up on anything with ease, and his favorite thing to do lately is pull everything out of this coffee table and climb inside. He is our little explorer, he ventures into the kitchen, the hallway, the bathroom (if he can get there while it's open), and any place he sets his mind to.
They are moving through baby food pretty quickly and seem interested in solids; we finally had to buy a second booster seat because they sit with us at meal-time occasionally.
They are incredibly smart and are already completing alphabet puzzles! Well, tasting alphabet puzzles is more like it. They love playing with the big boys on the floor!
A couple days ago, Evan was pulling up on everything in the living room and Davis said to me, "Mom, I can't believe how fast they are growing up! It won't be long and they'll be walking."

9 months

Here are the beautiful boys at nine months, pictured above is Evan, who started scooting just a couple days ago! Evan is our cuddler, he loves to snuggle with his family. Davis loves holding this guy (and sometimes carrying him around the house). His new found scooting ability has brought him a lot of happiness. As they continue to grow, it appears they will also be looking just like their Dad!
Evan on the left, Eli on the right, they are all smiles! These days they almost always need something in their hands to be chewing on; though they don't have any teeth yet, they do enjoy eating! They love each other. Both manage to get around the living room floor pretty well by rolling and turning, it's pretty funny to watch them maneuver over and around each other.
Pictured above is Eli, and if you can't tell, he really enjoys food; he thinks puffs are the stuff! He has been sitting up on his own for a couple weeks now and thinks this independence thing is pretty awesome.

We had the opportunity to tell their story recently to some new friends, and found ourselves in awe again of our great God who is still in the business of miracles!

8 months

Because I know you are all concerned with how big they are getting. Here they are at eight months old (Evan on the left, Eli on the right). Also, their shirts say "smiley" and "happy" which aptly describes them these days.

7 months

This was taken on May 2, the day we got home from our Colorado trip, and also when the babies turned seven months old. The big boys sincerely love the little ones. In fact, I'm telling them constantly they can't be so close to their faces. This is a pretty typical scene at our house, hope you can feel the love.

too quiet

Kevin was gone for work, so my wonderful mother-in-law took our older boys for a few days to help out. The first hour was so nice, so quiet, but then this morning I started feeling the need to scat around the house; bee-bopping around just so there was some noise.

Eli and Evan are now sleeping like big boys in their cribs and are no longer swaddled at night or for naps. This has been quite an adjustment, one that Kevin should be grateful he did not have to endure.
However, it means I get to capture little moments like these. Eli's little bare-feet, his face in his hands, and his new favorite way to sleep: on his tummy.

After they eat at eleven o'clock, they are usually bombarded by Ronin. He is in their face, talking, laughing, giving them toys.
Not this time; it was quiet, Evan went right back to sleep. He threw his hands up once at the sound of the shutter on the camera, but turned his head and kept on with his after-nap snooze. Evan's hair is growing much faster than Eli's for some reason, and I just love it.
It is nice to have some lazy time with the babies, but I think I am ready to have our big boys back in the house making a ruckus.

snowed in

It is quite a change living in Oklahoma after Colorado when weather like today happens. It is around 9 degrees here in Oklahoma City and I know for a fact that in Colorado Springs it is -10. I chuckle to myself that the governor had to declare a state of emergency in order for the roads to be taken care of in advance for the ice and snow that was headed our way yesterday.

I got the call around 7pm that Davis's school was going to be cancelled today, so we have been enjoying a day stuck inside. At 9 the boys were begging to go play in the snow, but the wind would have knocked them down. I knew if I did not let them out at all, they would be sad little boys all day long. So, I decided to let them make a small trek outside to scoop up bowls of snow to bring inside and make snow ice cream.

Ronin doesn't have any snow boots, so we had to put Wal-Mart sacks around his cowboy boots, I think the look is priceless.

Here they are admiring their snow.

cowboys and cannibals

What do cowboys and cannibals have to do with each other you ask? Nothing really, except it seems that's what my boys are. I've included a picture where Eli is not trying to eat Evan's head, just so you know they do actually love each other.

Here they are, loving each other. Eli is showing off his chubbiness, and Evan his almost steady contentedness.
And then, my cowboys. I have full-length pictures of both of them, boots, buckles, and all, but I couldn't resist posting this one with Ronin's face and Davis's smile.
Gotta love the giant pacifier and Eli eating his brother's head.

boys are on the menu

My wonderful sister-in-law utilized the Care Calendar, an online (free) tool that organizes help for individuals for any number of circumstances. In our case, it has been for meals and it has been so great. Two nights ago, someone brought us taco soup, which was delicious. As he sat in our living room across from Kevin, with Evan in a bouncer, Eli in my arms, Davis showing off his pull-ups (not training pants, for real pull-ups), and Ronin helping our guest take off his coat so he could stay a while, he chuckled and said, "Looks like boys are on the menu!"

Indeed! Our home is full of guys, but my heart is full of love and blessing. Here are three of our five guys.

Davis and Eli

Ronin

yes, they're identical

These days, if the boys make it out of their room, they can share the bouncer seat because they are still so small. We made our first trip to the doctor and Eli (right) weighs 5lbs, and Evan (left) is 4lbs.7oz. (about the same as his discharge weight). The hospital sent us home with monitors for the boys; so their heart rate and respirations are constantly at our attention in the form of blinking green lights. If their heart rate goes above 220 or below 80, it will alarm to notify us. It seems each day the monitor goes off less and less and this is more and more of an encouragement to us.
I spend a lot of time in this chair, they eat every three hours, so imagine the normal routine you do for a newborn, only right when I lay the first one down, I turn around and do the whole routine again, then go to sleep for hopefully two hours and wake up to do it again. It has not been as stressful as I anticipated and I am very thankful. We continue to be in awe of the miracles God has performed in the lives of these babies!

firsts...

Eli took a bottle for the first time and burped.

I got to hold Evan for the first time (10.9.10)

Eli was awake and responsive to touch for Davis (and all of us).

Daddy got to hold Eli (pictured here) and Evan for the first time. (10.9.10)

Today was the first time for both the boys to be in clothes...they look super cute!

the older princes

Davis started Kindergarden a couple weeks ago, and Ronin and I now have a few hours of quality time every morning. I think all of us are enjoying this short season before the twins arrive.

the twins and me at seven months

For those of you who are far away, or just haven't seen me in a while:

handsome boys

Since it was snowing on Easter, the boys didn't get to wear their new Easter clothes until yesterday.  Here they are looking incredibly handsome. 

our mid-April snow day

Yes, it's the middle of April and yes, winter is technically over.  But in Colorado, I'm not sure winter is ever officially over.  Today is proof:

Three hours later I took a picture of our snowman, and the snow was already melting.

photo shoot on the back patio

These are just some of my favorites, there are quite a bit more.