1 year older and wiser too!

So much has happened around here.. 

 Amy (Lances sister )got married to an amazing guy named Brad! It was such a fun day, and I was honored to take their pictures for them.. It got a little difficult when I had to be in them however.. A lot of running back and forth between the tripod and family!

 The happy couple.

 Beautiful Amy.She is so happy and we couldn't be happier for her!

 Our little family...

 Happy to be at the wedding!


Also, our little babies have officially turned one!!!! Can you believe it? It is so crazy to think we have two 1 year olds!! I hate how fast they have grown up! It seems like yesterday we were going to the hospital to have them!

 Do you remember when they were this big?? It is amazing how much they grow in the first year!!

 My plan is to take a picture of them in this awesome retro chair that my grandma gave me on every birthday!

 Our sweet babies! They love each other so much! Evvie Jane always keeps an eye on her brother. She watches every move he makes! He is one busy boy and she loves it! Will for some reason has no concept of personal space when it comes to being around Evvie. He is always sitting down on her legs  and feet. And most of the time Evvie Jane doesn't even care! It must be a twin thing..

 Their birthday bash in Cedar. It was so fun to have EVERYONE in our whole family there!

 Their tiny cakes that I baked in tin cans! Such a fun idea!

 An audience while they experienced frosting for the first time.. I must admit, it made me cringe just a little bit as their healthy diets were suddenly destroyed in an instant! But... it was worth it for the cute pictures!

 Our Evvie Jane wasn't crazy about digging in.. A little skeptical you could say.

 Will on the other hand... I think the picture describes how he enjoyed it.

 He even tried to eat the candle.

 Opening presents. Will LOVES his basketballs!!! And Evvie LOVES her doll. Thanks to their awesome Aunt Kym!

 Two 1 year olds with 1 ginormous balloon!

 Loved this picture. She is so sweet.

 Swinging in Circleville! We all went on a family vacation to Brian Head and then on to Circleville where my dad grew up! It was so much fun to see it all again! I miss going there! My dad showed all the kids where he grew up and where he milked the cows! The kids loved seeing the cows get milked and we even tried some milk fresh from the cow!

 Possibly one of my favorite pictures of her.. This is my baby stroller that I played with constantly growing up. She loved pushing her baby in it!

 Will is a crazy boy and loves to be on the go! A few things about Will right now..
-He talks like crazy! Or so I think anyway.. His favorite word of all time is Basketball (Ba-Bawl)! As basketball loving parents we couldn't be more proud!! :) That is the first word he says when he wakes up from his naps! I love going in to get him when he wakes up! He is always so happy, and as soon as he sees me he gets really serious and points with his finger and says.. "Ba-Bawl!" I love it.
-He also says "uh-oh", Jesus, MaMa, DaDa, Ball, Duck "Da", Moo(for the cow), SSSSS for the snake, WHooooo for the owl, BaBa, bye bye, Hi..
-He loves anything that is round and bounces. He is constantly pointing to things and if he ever sees a circle he will point to it and say "Ball!" For instance he will find an O on our clothes or in a book and point to it and think it's a ball! So Smart!
-He loves to eat, and he eats a lot! But as soon as he is done he scatters everything off of his high chair leaving a huge mess! A good hour of my day is spent cleaning up after him eating I swear!
-He loves to climb into our kitchen cupboards and play with the pots and pans! He also loves to empty out every drawer or cupboard! I have a hard enough time as it is trying to keep things clean around here I don't' need any more help making messes!
-He loves Evvie and is always trying to feed her or comb her hair, or do something to make her cry!
-Loves to read and has such a good attention span! It is crazy how he can sit and focus while you read him book after book!
-Loves animals, but HATES elephants.. Weird.. But if there is ever a pictures of an elephant in a book he gets nervous and turns away from it, then if Dad makes the elephant sound it's all over!! He also is terrified of balloons!
-Is getting really good at screaming and throwing little fits that involve throwing his head back and arching his back! :)
-Loves shooting hoops on his new little tike hoop. He pulls himself on the net and shoots forever!
-Loves his mama and dada and gives lots of really good kisses!

 Our sweet Evvie Jane! A little about her..
-She really is so sweet. She is a good balance to our crazy boy! She LOVES her Mama, maybe a little too much.. But I don't really mind :)
-When she cries she immediately sticks the back of her hand in her mouth. And "muffles" her cry. It is quite entertaining to pretend like I am going to leave the room and watch her get her hand ready to muffle, but as soon as I turn to come back she puts it back down and is fine!
-She is our little jabber box! She is always saying Dadadad, ba ba ba, Ma Ma Ma, Na Na Na.. She says them as if she is saying sentences and asking questions. It is so cute!
-Could sit and be entertained with absolutely nothing around her. (except her Ma Ma) She is so mellow and easy going!
-She is so easy to make smile or laugh. I could just stare at her with a blank look on my face and she will giggle and giggle. I love it! I have tried to convince Lance for a long time now that I am hilarious, so it is nice to have someone who agrees!
-Loves to cheer for herself whenever she does something good!
-Loves to give kisses and wave bye bye!
-Loves to shoot hoops and cheer for herself after every shot!
-She is an avid shaker of rattles. Weird, but she will shake every toy, and if it rattles, stand back! She will shake that thing like crazy!
-Loves to swim in our pool and starts squealing and laughing every time she gets in!

Overall, life is so good. Lance is in the Clinic seeing "real" patients and is enjoying his time there. We go swimming almost every day to our awesome pool. We also feed the fish and the ducks on a regular basis. All the birds get excited when they see the double wide stroller coming through. Will and Evvie have even started throwing their Cheerios to the ducks. Yesterday a duck came and ate the Cheerio right out of Will's hand. He loved it!

We are so glad we have these two miracles in our lives! Happy birthday Will and Evvie!

Another Month!

Another month has gone by, and I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that our babies are little humans who sit up, eat food, smile, laugh hysterically,play peek a boo,give kisses, whine, pound things, drool, and refuse to leave socks on their feet!
Today Lance and I were just watching them play and couldn't believe that we have 2 kids! They are getting such fun personalities!



They are loving to eat! Anytime they see us eating ANYTHING they NEED to have some of it in their mouths too, and if we don't act fast they will start grabbing and yelling until it happens!

I have found myself thinking several times that with motherhood, there needs to be an owners manual that comes with kids. I'm serious. A lot of times I feel like I have NO IDEA what I am doing and I find myself "googling" things like, "When can babies be expected to sleep through the night?" or, "What can't I feed my babies?" or, "How many naps does a 7 month old have?"
Google used to answer all of my questions in life, but ever since I had these babies I find that it is confusing me more and more. Everyone has so many different opinions about how to raise a child. I had so many "sleep training" books and I read all of them.. But when the time came that Evvie was waking up every 2 hours at night just to eat, none of them seemed to have the right answers to solve this problem! Turns out it was just a phase (thank goodness) and she kind of grew out of it..

ANYWAYS, my most recent google question is something like this, "When should I introduce different foods to my kids/how can I encourage healthy eating habits/how can I prevent a picky eater/what should I feed my baby?!?!?!?!?!"

For some reason I have found myself stressing a lot about this. I don't know why, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am a Nutrition Major, or the fact that I have too many friends who eat ridiculously healthy and it's kind of rubbing off on me... I just feel like I have been given a "clean slate" to work with. My kids have never eaten anything unhealthy... (Well, besides the tastes of ice cream from when grandma and grandpa were in town), but besides that, they are clueless to things that taste so good that are so bad for you..

I really want to let my kids experience all types of healthy foods. I don't want to fall into the trap of convenience with "Easy Mac", chicken nuggets and hot dogs! No offense if thats all your kids eat.. Mine will probably love those too...

So, I have been pureeing a lot lately.. And giving them things in their little "mesh food holders" (Which I recommend) like avacados, mangos, papayas, cauliflower, broccoli, parsnips, spinach, sweet potatoes.. And so far it's been going really well. Except for cauliflower, they gagged many times with that.

I really need to relax about the whole issue probably, and remind myself that even if they don't have the best nutrition possible, they will still grow and do well. Anyone else ever feel this way though??

Anyways, that went on a lot longer than planned.. I apologize.

Spring training.
Will has become quite a skilled binky swiper.
Notice the fabric shoes. Thanks Mother for your craftiness!

Giving Will a massage.



Love these two.

One of our favorite things to do to Evvie.. Blow in her face. For some reason she loves it!!

Our fat child. Will weighs 3-4 more pounds than Evvie Jane!


Look at that body!... He works out!

Such a happy girl.

Cowboy Will.

6 months and counting

Well, this was supposed to be the 6 month post.. I started it when they were 6 months old and finally finished it today.. 5 days before they turn 7 months!Oh well, better late than never. Seriously, it's all a bit depressing. Time is going by so fast and I can't believe that in only 6 more months they will be 1 year olds!

Life is good and we have enjoyed being home and getting back into a routine and schedule after our holiday visits, although we loved being home for those too.. The bad thing is we are finally in a good groove with an awesome schedule going.. JUST in time to mess it all up again as we go and visit our families for a whole month this week! But we wouldn't have it any other way. We love seeing our families and having our kids be around their grandparents and cousins!

ANYWAYS, life around here consists of Lance studying his brains out and me trying to hold down the fort here at home! We do lots of walks, naps, baby food, baths, singing, book reading, tickling and laughing around here.. mixed in with some laundary, cooking, constipation(for the babies :) ), cleaning up messes, burping (for the babies as well... sometimes) and trying to squeeze myself in a nap if ever possible. Is it weird that I am still exhausted and trying to feel back to normal after having these two sweet babies? I tell myself it's normal for having twins with absolutely no family around.. But at the same time I think I need to come to terms with the fact that Lance and I will most likely be sleep deprived the rest of our lives, and this is our "new" normal.. :) Despite feeling exhausted 95% of the time, I am loving being Will & Evvies mom. They are so much fun!

6 Months Old!!!

Thank you pinterest for the free tie and skirt patterns!!

Rockin the Jordan Outfits. .

Baby Blues..

Remember how I said I always catch them doing the same things??

Our BBQ party.. This is right at the bottome of our stairs with 2 grills we love it and use it quite a bit. Don't mind Will's pink hat.. poor Will.. I couldn't find his so he borrowed Evvies.

This is how my husband comes home from school a good 30 % of the time.. notice the pupils.. The life of an optometry student!

Will LOVES Evvie! She is always cracking him up! This is how messy they get everytime I feed them. Is it weird I don't care? We give them baths right after, so I figure why waste money or laundry on bibs??

Our handsome boy

My favorite outfits of theirs right now! Thanks Aunt Brenda and girls! Too bad Will is getting too fat too fast! I don't know how much longer the size 9 months will fit him!!

Pretty Girl.

Whenever we put a new outfit on Evvie Jane she looks at her sleeve for a while and studies it out. I think she thinks I have great taste.. I love it!

Little Miss Evvie Jane is OBSESSED with those toes of hers! She loves to grab them! But usually only her left leg!!

Sometimes I make them cuddle.. Is that a bad thing? As you can tell Will is loving it!!!

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas! What a great Christmas it was..We were able to spend 2 weeks at home between Alamo and Cedar and it was awesome. We have such great families and although we like it here in Arizona, we are reminded everytime we leave that we definately want to end up around family! I think it's crazy how much Will and Evvie look alike in the picture above..

My babies are now 5 months old.. I'm a bit depressed. I cannot believe how fast this is all going!! I was reading in a baby book the other day that if a 150 lb person were to grow as much as a baby in one year, they would end up being 450-500 lbs by the end of the year!!! Crazy right? That explains why Lance and I swear they grow over night! This is Will above. They have now figured out that they can put their hands and anything else they grab into their mouths, so needless to say we have a lot of slobbery shirts around here.

Our Pretty Girl.. I think my kids are so dang cute.. My parents always say, "Every mother's baby crow is the blackest." I guess it's true! Will and Evvie loved Christmas. They loved the lights and all the music and things to look at. They were even lucky enough to sit on Santa's lap 2 times!!! Maybe I will get around to posting those sometime..

Thank you Pinterest for the pose idea above.. Isn't Pinterest just great??

Our little guy is so funny! I get comments all the time from people about how they think he pulls the funniest faces. It's so true. He is always doing something different with his facial expressions! His eyebrows are so expressive.. if thats possible!! He has officially rolled over both ways as of tonight.. He finally got from his back to his belly, although he did get a bit high centered on his arm during the process!

They are both holding thier heads up so good now! They have just started noticing each other and I love it! They are always so happy in the mornings, so I always lay them on their side facing each other.. They spend a good 5-10 minutes babbling and taking turns sucking on each others fingers. It is so fun to watch! Sometimes they will be crying and I will turn them towards each other and they will immediately stop and start cooing at each other. Gosh it's so cute. They are so lucky to have a built in best friend!! I hope they are always close.

My sweet Evvie decided to roll over onto her back on New Years Eve! It was a great day for her because it means no more tummy time for her! Man she hated it! And I hated it even more.. I even stopped doing it for a while until friends and my doctor made me feel as if I would ruin their whole lives if I didn't continue doing it! She is still sweet as ever, and starting to love her Mom and Dad! It's so fun that they are starting to recognize us and get happy to see us.

Classic example of play time.. Notice how Will doesn't seem bothered one bit! They don't mind at all that someone else is sticking their fingers in their mouth and occasionally making them dry heave. It seems as if Evvie is always on a mission to find something in his mouth..

We have officially started baby food around here! Will INHALES it, and Evvie is very polite and has great manners while eating. It's so funny to see the difference between these two. Notice how they are holding hands.. That is my favorite thing lately.. They are so good at grabbing things now that they will grab each others hands. They do it while their eating, playing and falling asleep. Sometimes I swear Will is playing "Uncle" with Evvie and bending her fingers backwards on purpose. She screams and I have to intervene and break it up! I love it!

Things Evvie is doing-

-Being the happiest baby possible

-Laughing when we tickle her neck or when we blow in her face.. odd thing to laugh about so cute though. When she laughs it a cute, low and gruff noise. SO CUTE!

-Getting longer every day, she takes after her mother I suppose

-Talking seriously to us occasionally. Hard to explain, but it's as if she has something very serious to say and she is trying so hard to tell us something.

-Just barely found her toes, and likes to suck on them. Will could never get close to doing that! His belly is too large.

-Growing some great hair up top!!!

-Loving toys and putting them in her mouth!

-Loves her binky and a soft blanket she has. Whenever her face hits that softness she is out for the count! Great sleeping tools. She also likes to hold Lances finger whenever she falls alseep. (that's what he says anyways) wether she does or not I think it's pretty cute. One night I woke up and didn't know where Lance was. I found him laying on the floor asleep next to Evvie while she was holding his finger. Hahah, cute right?

-So patient. Poor Evvie gets taken advantage of. If it comes down to them both needing something at the same time it seems like Will is always first. That's because we know he will blow up if it doesn't happen soon! So poor Evvie just waits patiently. I guess it will be good for her in the long run!

Will just can't get enough of Evvie.. He is so much more solid than her! We are really starting to notice a big difference between them! I'm glad it's Will who is larger, not the other way around! At least for now.. Who knows what the future will bring!

Waiting for Dad to come home.

The Dr. is in!!! Lance is now helping at the Clinic once a week. He loves it and likes the change it has brought to his schedule. He is swamped with material. I feel so bad, but am so proud of him. I could never dedicate myself like he has! No joke he is studying or going to school for 12-15 hours a day!! We have found ourselves completely exhausted in different ways.. He is mentally fried, and I am sleep deprived!!! We will surive though! :)

Cute toes..

What Will is up to-

-Like I said, rolling over both ways

-Laughing and squeeling a lot

-Being a happy baby

-Loving to eat, eat and EAT!

-LOVES to bounce in his jumper toy. My brother and SIL gave it to us and man is it a life saver!! it will entertain him for a good 30 minutes! It is so fun to watch him jump like crazy!! Evvie isn't so much into the extreme sports like her brother is.. she doesn't like it one bit!

-Still in love with Elmo and the book that has Elmo in it..

-Loving baby food and playing in the sink cleaning off after he eats it!

Being a twin mom is starting to get crazier! I used to have things down, but as they are getting older and doing more things I feel like it is an amazing day if I can just manage to give them baths, get myself ready, clean the house AND cook dinner. Unfortunately that really never happens too often!! I am constantly reminding myself that all that matters is that they are alive and happy, and to enjoy every second! They are so much work, but I am LOVING be their mom!!!