Ben is a genius!

Clearly Benjamin is a genius.

See the resemblance?:

It's been awhile...

Hi Everyone,

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. Approximately 6 months, give or take.  As you can imagine, 6 months is a long time in the lives of 2 one year olds and 1 four year old.  I truly wish that I could blog more often, but it's been a crazy 6 months!

Not only are we living our day to day as a family, but I started a new job in July, working for an inclusive preschool. Inclusive means that we accept all children into our program, typically developing kiddos, and also kiddos with special needs.

Because of the latter, to remain highly qualified in my position, I need an extra teaching certification in special education. I was lucky enough to snag a grant from my district and the University that allows me to do all this for very little out of my pocket.  That's the good news.

The bad news is that I'm away from my family far too much! Right now, I am attending classes at the University in Severe and Profound special education two nights a week.  Add in all the studying and writing that I'm doing, and I'm lucky if I get to see my little boys for more than 15 minutes some days (Seth goes with me to the preschool, so I see him lots :) ).

So, long story short, if you feel like you've missed anything with the boys over the last six months, imagine how I feel...

Anyhoo, here are a few recent pictures.  The twins are so verbal and active these days.  Parker loves to say "Aw Man!" and "Book!" Benjamin, sings "all through the town" and loves to use "up" and "down"
correctly.

They are learning how to climb these days which scares the poop out of me. Not so much that they might accidentally fall, but that one might purposefully push the other.

Another biggie these days is dancing.  The boys love to dance!  They especially love to Riverdance. They can really get their little feet a-moving.  It's a blast.

How did I get so lucky?

Ben

Parker

Seth (who also love to dance)

Three Haircuts

Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, we've had 3 haircuts around here this past week.  2 were intentional, 1 was not.

The babies hair has been getting longer and longer and scragglier and scragglier and several people, including my husband, were bugging me to get it cut. While I agreed that they definitely needed a haircut, I just couldn't bring myself to doing it. The boys have these beautiful curls that I just didn't want to part with.

We cut Seth's hair when he was 10 months old and he just never looked like a baby again, so in an attempt to keep them babies as long as possible, I decided we wouldn't do it until they were a year old.

Well, as you know from my last post, that deadline came and went a week and a half ago with no haircut.   After some gentle reminders from friends and family, I called my hairstylist, but she was booked solid this weekend. Knowing me and how I might have second thoughts if I didn't get it done now, G.G. (Grandma Gwen) called her stylist and got us in. Pat did a great job and the boys look really cute, but I do miss the curls.

Parker before the haircut

 Parker from the back before

 Parker getting ready...

 G.G. volunteered to hold the boys while they got their cuts

 "G.G., you're so funny!"

 "Mommy let me play with her sunglasses. Wow, she must really have wanted me to sit still."

 "Ok, I'm sooo done with this now."

 "How do I look?"

 1 down, 1 to go

Ben before

 Ben from the back before

 Pat and Ben get to know each other.

Pat is a twin mommy herself. Her twins are 33 now.

 "What?"

 I often wonder what the babies think when they look in the mirror.  If you spent all day everyday looking at someone who looks just like you, 

at what point will you realize that the reflection in the mirror is you?  

 G.G. lovin' on Benny

 Parker and Daddy play while Ben gets his haircut

 "Ok, now I'm done too."

 Those are some cute boys!

So, those were two of the three haircuts in our family last week.    

Seth got a haircut too!

Unfortunately, it was from a fellow three year old at preschool.  

He and a good friend decided to give each other haircuts. 

Hmmm... not quite as cute.  Oh well. It'll grow in.

3 Celebrations for 2 one year olds!

The twins turned 1 on August 4th!  I can't believe it's already been a whole year! What a blur!

When trying to decide what to do for their first birthday, I really grappled with the decision to have a big party or just something small for family. We decided to just do the small family party.

But, as soon as I made that decision, I decided I still wanted to do something with the babies friends, so I decided we should have a birthday "playdate" with some friends and their mommies.

Then, G.G. and Grandpa Mike couldn't make it to our family party, so we ended up celebrating at their house on the boys actual birthday.

So, we ended up having 3 birthday celebrations for 2 boys!  What fun!  Here's some pics to enjoy!  The cupcake photos are dedicated to (soon to be) Dr. Aimee Rogers ;)

Celebration #1:
The Birthday Playdate at Our House:

Kaitlyn and Parker

 Javi in eating action 

 Benjamin is excited!

 Colton and the Twins play some b-ball

 Seth has a dance party with Jacob, Nathan and Morgan

 Ethan decides to check it out:

 Morgan, the model (this girl knows how to pose for the camera!)

 Ami and 2 of her 3 Bunchkins, Ethan and Colton

 Heather and her twins, Taylor and Hunter.

Just kidding. Hunter is the third Bunchkin.

 Shannon and her little men.

 Karen and Kara

 The twins check out a present.

 Parker helps me open a present.

 Happy Birthday Parker!

 (notice his green cupcake)

Happy Birthday Ben!

 Seth helps Ben blow out the candle on his BLUE cupcake

 Mmmmm... this is pretty good!

 Did someone order a large "ham?"

 Whatcha lookin at mom?

 Yum!

 "This frosting makes a good hair gel too!"

 "I LOVE frosting!"

I kept insisting that this was not a birthday party, it was simply a playdate to celebrate the boys birthday. Scott finally said, "B.J., if someone asked you what you did today and you said 'I had a bunch of kids over, opened presents and ate cupcakes,' what does that sound like to you?"  

He may have me there.  But, it just seemed a lot less stressful to me to call it a playdate and not a party.

Celebration #2:
At G.G. (Grandma Gwen) and Grandpa Mike's House on the boys actual birthday:

Parker 

 Benjamin

"You mean we get to do this again?!"

"How's yours?"

"Too much sugar..."

We might be taking this whole Ben wears blue thing too seriously:

Seth helps Grandpa Mike clean off the frosting

Celebration #3:

In Phoenix at Grandpa Martin and Grandma Bambi's House:

Victoria and Parker

 The Peoria Martins and the Madsen Twins

 Aunt Donna and Benjamin

 Brittny and Ben, Victoria and Parker 

 More cupcakes!! These weren't nearly as messy.

 Uncle Tim spends some fun time with Parker

 Ben likes his new toys!

 Ben helps me open presents from Aunt Maggie

 Seth plays Legos with Aunt Donna, Brittny and Grandma Bambi

 Uncle Tom feeds Parker

Cousin Mat and Ben, Uncle Tom and Parker

 Whew, 3 celebrations can really tucker a big brother out!