Happy 5th Birthday to the Twins

December 19, 2015

These two sweet hearts had a birthday! We celebrated their 5th birthday with their cute friend Dillon Matheson cause his birthday is in December too. Because of the busy holiday season and because they share all the same friends we decided to combine it and have one big bash.
This year it was at a gymnastic studio. The kids got to play around on the equipment and play organized games...they loved it!

Jaxon: This kid is something else!! SO MUCH ENERGY! He never quits. He's always asking to play with friends and he plays hard! He sweats like you wouldn't believe. 2 minutes of even the smallest physical activity and he is drenched with sweat. Baths aren't his favorite, but he definitely needs one every day. 

He loves both his preschool classes: Mrs. Brenda's preschool and Mrs. Jenny at Inspired Child. He's super smart and does very well following directions, playing with other kids and learning so quickly. He loves to spell his name and is really good at writing it. He still sometimes writes his J backward and even though I've been hesitant to correct it cause it's so cute, I'm noticing his teachers are working on fixing it. 

He has a bit of a lisp and can't say his R's, TH's or L's. We talked to a speech therapist, but decided to let him try to grow out of it. He's quick to correct himself of the words we work on a lot, like "eLLiot" and "Little", also, "i Like.." He's a trooper and doesn't get frustrated easy so he learns quick.

He loves his gymnastics class at IEGA on Monday mornings (the only morning he doesn't have preschool).  He still rocks at doing his crazy eyebrows. It's amazing! He loves that he's the only one in our family that can do it too.

Jason brings our family so much joy and laughter. We sure love him!!

Miles: What a character! He is quirky and oh so fun! He is sweet and pretty low key. He is great at following rules. In fact, He loves to follow rules. He has a confidence about him and isn't dictated by anyone; me or even Jaxon. He prefers hanging with Jaxon, but when Jax runs off to play with a neighborhood friend Miles is more apt to hang at home watching kids YouTube or helping me with whatever I'm doing. 

He also loves his preschool classes. He's a really great friend and has the sweetest smiles and cutest, infectious laugh. 

He speak very articulately and even sometimes translates for Jaxon when people don't know what Jaxon is saying. He's done that since they were babies. Jaxon would babble nonsense and Miles would tell us just what Jaxon wanted. It still happens to this day. :)

He loves playing Mario Cart 8 on the WiiU. Even if he rarely wins, he still loves the race!

He loves hanging with mom and dad. He'll always choose us over friends or video games. He's not so much the hugs and kisses type of guy, but it easy to see that his love language is definitely QUALITY TIME. 

His quirky personality and funny little antics keep us laughing! I spend all day thinking..."I need to write that down." He's super clever and really thoughtful. I love this boy so darn much! He adds such an amazing dynamic to our family. LOVE YOU MILES!

Miles - Dillon - Jaxon

Their best present - Mario Maker! So much dancing and excitement when they opened it. :)

The night of their birthday we ate at Red Robin and even got dessert. 

Being 7 months pregnant makes for a very tired mamma. Any excuse not to cook is a great thing! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINS! 5 IS A GREAT AGE!

Luv my Boys

Sometimes I find myself wishing this "terrible 2's" time away...but I try to remember that this is the time I'll probably miss the most.

Sweetest smiles. Sweetest spirits!

Little Buckeroos

Little Blessings

Feeling Cooped Up

Twin boys were not meant to be stuck indoors for 6 months of cold winter. Luckily this winter we are getting an occasional "warm" day and are able to venture out.

Doing their favorite thing = pushing their cars down our driveway and  up the next door neighbors driveway and back again....over and over!

Here's to a warm winter :)

Favorite Place

They are getting too big for my lap...that will be the saddest day!

Twins 2nd Birthday

Happy birthday to 4 of my 5 children!! 

WOW, that is just crazy to say. 

Jaxon:

This kid is one of a kind! He cracks me up...he has so much personality it is the BEST! He's not a man of many actual words, instead if he wants something he'll walk over to you and stare you straight in the eyes without blinking till you say something or ask what he wants. Sometimes I let the stare game last as long as possible just to see how patient he is. It always surprises me how long he lasts...I'm usually laughing before he gives up. His other form of communication is non-sense words. He will talk to you forever just babbling away with only an occasionally recognizable word. Again, hilarious! He calls himself Jas and he calls Miles Jas. He has tons of silly faces and many expressions for every occasion. He loves to shake his head "no" just to feel his hair wave back and forth. He LOVES the Wii. For a while he loved playing mario kart (even though his car hardly moved at all) but lately he just wants me to turn it to the wii and he doesn't even want to play. He just likes having it as background noise I guess. He is a mama's boy. He definitely prefers me over J.R. J.R. tries to sneak in cuddles and get him to love on him, but that's usually only a rare occasion. Jaxon is a GREAT snuggler. He likes me to sing or hum to him before going down for naps or bed. He is a tank compared to Miles. He's about 5 lbs heavier then Miles and the gap just keeps getting wider. He loves all things boy...kicking balls, throwing balls, hitting balls like baseball or golf. He & Miles constantly have cars in their hands driving them all around the walls, the grocery store shelves or just about anywhere. He's good at eating pretty much anything I give him...but he doesn't love sweets. He'll eat a little but even if I offer him more he usually refuses. He did NOT want any of his bday cupcakes (not sure if he was having flash backs from his 1st bday) This kid is strong willed, but he's character melts my heart to mush. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!

Miles:

Sweet Miles...don't let his innocent face deceive you. On occasion a little devil gets out and that devil has some lungs! :-)  More often then not, Miles is a sweet heart. His smile and laugh can melt you to the floor in seconds. He loves to hug and kiss and is so giving of his affections. He's spiky blonde hair is enough for anyone to giggle just looking at him, then he smiles and it's all over. He has you heart and you'll do whatever he wants. He is picking up speaking fast. He's constantly repeating words and trying to make your same sounds. He just recently discovered his name is Miles, not Jas...but he'll answer to either. He LOVES his blankie. That poor thing gets drug around everywhere. (he carries around the blanket that was actually made for Elliot) He picks and bites at the seams so it's constantly falling apart. The sweetest thing to hear is him sing along with us before bedtime. He loves the songs Twinkle Twinkle and Lullaby (by Eclipse) We've been singing Lullaby to our kids since Landon & Lydia were born and Miles LOVES it! His little voice catching every other word or phrase is so so sweet! I want to bottle it up forever. He love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the mornings and talks along with the show "Oh Toodles!" He is obsessed with sweets. He's constantly asking for cookies, treats, suckers...you name it. He's as bad as Elliot. Miles is also obsessed with daddy! If daddy is anywhere near he won't have anything to do with me. He wants J.R. to get him in and out of his car seat. Wants him to snuggle him and sing before bed, read books etc...J.R. asks if it bothers me - it doesn't. I get all day to have his attention and love so it's easy to give it up in the evenings when J.R. gets home. Miles is so petite and cute I just couldn't imagine life with out him. He makes my days brighter! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!

Both boys are in LOVE with their older brother. They love watching for his bus and get so excited when he gets home. They all hug and kiss for several minutes when Elliot walks in the door from school. It's the sweetest thing. Elliot is a great big brother and is learning quickly his responsibility to be an example because they follow EVERYTHING he does. The twins are really great at sharing. They are easily settled when fights spring up over toys or games. They are good at taking turns or finding things to trade for the thing they want. Having twins is such a roller coaster. Most days are pretty tough. Grocery shopping is nearly impossible with them running in different directions and pulling things off the shelves. We don't get out much because it's so hard to keep them safe because they love to roam and I only have 1 set of arms and eyes. We try to do fun things when J.R. is with us or during the morning when places are less crowded, but still...the energy and mental awarness required to leave the house is usually too much to deal with.  Luckily they entertain each other really well so it's easy to get stuff done with them at home. As I look back at the past 2 years it still feels like a blur. I have small memories of moments, but in general I feel like we just survived most days. Twins have so many wonderful benefits and so many struggles as well. It's a constant roller coaster for sure.

Twins: You have a built in BEST FRIEND FOREVER!

Love you Jaxon & Miles - Landon & Lydia!
Happy Birthday!

1st Haircut

Some may say, "It's about time." Not me. Getting haircuts is a big step. It means their growing up and I don't like it. Not to mention the idea of cutting off their curls scares me to death. Luckily most of the curls remained. 

They both did great sitting in the chairs. No major tears or tantrums. But the moment we were headed to the car and trying to take a good "after" picture they hit a wall. They screamed and thrashed all the way to the car. Even with balloons tied to their wrists they were still throwing a fit.  Luckily we all made it home in one piece. I got a sample of both their baby hair and some fun pictures.

You can't even tell Miles got a trim. I think the lady could tell I was nervous about chopping the curls so she was very cautious. Unfortunately I paid like 12 bucks for almost no hair on the ground. Jaxon on the other hand had TONS of hair on the ground. I even got brave and told her a little shorter. He looks cute, although I'm thinking he looks more like a girl now then when it was longer. Now if the curls curl just right it looks like its "smartly bobbed." Nice. 

Another milestone crossed.

ps: notice the cut on Miles face? He was in the path of one of Elliot's projectile toys. Not on purpose, but still looks pretty intense. (I overheard one of the girls at the child watch at the YMCA call him "scar face." Ahh, poor baby.)

What we did today

We had a fun busy day today. It began with our first Easter Egg hunt of the year. Then we moved on to  completing a "PIN" I've wanted to do for a while. Then we moved the fun outside to the sun! 

I love days like today when the T.V. rarely gets turned on and the kids are sunkissed and tired. 

Good day!

Rainbow rice was so fun to make and they LOVED playing in it too. I prefer this over sand for sure. (Even though I still have a bin full of sand) I think they liked it better too. Jaxon & Miles both attempted to taste the rice, but quickly realized it was not a good idea.

A peek into our back yard. 

If the sun is out, so are all our toys. Welcome Summer!

 I filled another bin with water for the twins. They were getting sweaty and needed a way to cool off without running through the sprinkler. 

Jaxon did attempt a sprinkler run, but it ended in him soaked and crying. Lesson learned.

 Proof that he doesn't cry ALL day. He does smile sometimes. 

Elliot and Alexa have been best buds lately. She came with us to the zoo yesterday too. We love this girl! Such a good friend to Elliot and loves helping with the twins.

Warm Weather Fun

Sick Weeks

January was not nice to my 3 boys. They were so sick and seemed to take turns feeling crappy. First it hit Elliot. High fevers for 6 straight days. The Doc couldn't figure out why so we just had to wait it out. By the end of the week he was SOO bored...(I was too) Being stuck inside for that long is close to torture.

Then a few days later Jaxon starts screaming and not eating. I could tell almost immediately it had to be strep. On a whim we took him in and sure enough STREP. I asked if Miles could also get an antibiotic cause they share everything and if not we'd be right back in his office tomorrow with the next baby. Thankfully he gave it too us. :) Sure enough Miles started feeling crappy too. He would either just lay in your arms or lay on the ground totally quiet and still. It freaked me out. No whinning or crying, just laying still. I was ready to take him to the ER it was so strange, but J.R. made me wait a couple more days and he finally bounced out of it. 

By the end of those 3 crazy weeks I was exhausted. Thank Heavens me or J.R. didn't get sick and that he was on an easy rotation that got him home early each day. Poor babies! Hopefully that will be the end of it this winter. We're so ready for spring, which is funny cause the weather has been so nice here. But I'm ready for everything spring brings....school out, trips home, etc.

Elliot's normal core temp is at least 150 degrees on any normal occasion. But while he was sick he couldn't get warm enough. He loved sitting on the vent and warming up the little bean bags.

This is what Miles did. Laid there still and quiet. Scary. So glad he's back to his busy self. 

I couldn't leave Jaxon out. Poor messy face. There was lots of messy everything that week. I couldn't keep up. They were just lucky to all get fed and changed each day.