My Life

I was sitting on the couch after a long day and was looking around me.  This is what I saw: dirty dishes piling in the sink, shoes, toys, blankets, and an enormous amount of crumbs everywhere.  The counters are covered in stuff, doors and cupboards are open, the bed is not made. 

A pile of laundry sits next to the vacuum from the 4th round of throwing up I endured with Crew today.  (Finn had it on Monday.  They both had the flu just over a week ago.  Yes, the flu was kind enough to wait a week and a half before visiting us again.) 

I'm still in my clothes from the night before, I have not showered. I have a headache from the smell of puke after cleaning it out of sheets, toys, clothes and towels.  But then I look around again and see two other things: My sweet boys quietly playing and reading their books. 

And I thought to myself... I love my life.

1 year older and wiser too

Finn and Crew have been over a year old for several weeks now, and let me tell you, life has been great.  We went to the boys 12 month appointment where they are between 6th and 8th percentile for weight and height.  But, their head sizes are in the 89th percentile!  Small boys with big heads.... they couldn't be any cuter. 

The boys with "Kevin." 

(The Messer's big bear they like to place in random places and take pictures.  Super funny.)

 

Enjoying the nice weather at the park!

 

A little about Finn:

• Has been in a helmet for the past 6 months to reshape his head due to torticollis.  As of a week ago, the doctor said we could take it off!  Good job buddy!
• He is Daddy's boy.  As soon as he is in the door he is tugging on his pants to pick him up.  He follows him around everywhere.
• When he doesn't want something I'm feeding him, he will tuck his chin into his chest.  When he's done eating, he'll move his hand back and forth or bang the tray until every. piece. is on the floor.
• Total goofball!  He is always trying to stick his hands in Crew's mouth and laughing at every little thing.
• He is the leader between Crew and him these days.  Crew follows him most places.
• LOVES his teddy bear!  Every time I stick it in the crib he lets out a long, dramatic sigh, it's hilarious!
• Has a strange obsession with the tub.  If I leave the door open to the bathroom he books his chubby legs as fast as he can towards it.

A little about Crew:

• Mommy's boy.  I probably shouldn't be happy about this... but oh I love it.  As long as he's not this way forever :)
• LOVES binkies.  He will go wherever one is, even if it's in brother's mouth.  He likes to hold two or three at a time and then switch them out every 30 seconds.  It's so great.
• When he gets excited he'll just go berserk; laugh, squirm, scrunch up his nose then.... head butt you.
• Loves to eat crackers.  I wish it was something healthier, but what can you do?
• Is skinnier than Finn, but is also taller!
• Major cuddler.  He will sit with you for a good 10 minutes (12 hours in baby time) and not move a muscle.
• Loves to watch the beginning of the animated version of Robin Hood with the whistling and singing.  He stands right by the TV at this part and watches the whole thing.  (If I want to get anything done, I have about 3 minutes to do so, during that part)





 

Love you my sweet boys.  So blessed to have you.

Ride 'em Cowboy!!

The boys turned 1 last Saturday!!!! I wasn't going to make it that big of a deal, but then I decided that they only turn 1 once and that is a huge milestone.  Plus, as of right now we are close to family, and that may not be the case in the near future.  Okay, I just wanted to spoil them.

Brian decided that he wanted them to have a cowboy party! Brian is a cowboy at heart and loves anything to do with that genre.  Luckily their birthday was on a Saturday so it worked out perfectly for the party. 

I found these adorable invitations on Mixbook.

Finn the Cowboy.  In his blue jeans and cowboy onesie.

Table with lasso picture collage, old fashioned root beer, sheriff stars, and bandannas.

Cupcake tier made by the amazing Patsy Messer. 

 (Brian wasn't thrilled that I stole his cowboy boots but he was a good sport :)

We had sandwiches, chips, fruit and a veggie tray.

The boys got the best presents!



The boys eating their birthday cupcakes!

This took a lot longer than it should have... I messed up a lot. 

 Thanks for your help Camille and Brian!

Thanks to the artistic talents of my brother Tyler, we had a storefront from the Wild West!

I loved helping to paint these, it was so much fun.

 

My family, Brian's family and Brian were a huge help, and I was worried it wouldn't all come together in time but it turned out amazing.  Megan and the boys came up and all the kids loved playing with the storefront, toys, and balloons.  We also had a Finn & Crew birthday quiz, and the winner got a gift card to Dairy Queen.  My mom was the winner :)  She had a home court advantage but she's a pretty smart lady.  I wanted to do a "Pin the hat on the cowboy," but we ran out of time.

 

I love my boys.  It was such a fabulous party and I love all my family for their help and enthusiasm.  Here's to hoping this next year is as good as this year was, but I wouldn't mind if it went very slowly.

11 months

Our sweet boys are now 11 months old.  In a few short weeks we will have two 1 year olds around this place.  How did we get so lucky?

We're still working on the sleeping through the night... it seems like as soon as we get the hang of it, someone will get sick or thrown off somehow.  I'm hoping we can cement it down before they turn 1.  Wish us luck!

We did a lot of fun things this past few weeks! Some of which are:

Trying mac and cheese for the first time! Crew was shoveling handfuls into his mouth so fast that most of it fell on the floor.

Going bowling with family!  We all had to switch off bowling then holding babies, it was wonderful:)  Brian and I played two games, and when I saw that he wasn't doing too great on the first game I decided that we should make a bet.... The bet was that the loser of the next game had to do the dishes at home.  Well, wouldn't you know, guess who stepped up their game and got 7 strikes that round? Little stinker.

 Someone found Aunt Camille's Pringles can.... sniff in the goodness my dear.

This occurred when my sisters, Brian and I watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy (the extended version) It took a very long time and poor Brian kept having to explain everything to us, but we had a great time all the same.

This happens every day, and I'm sure it would be an all day event if I let them.  I limit the number to 5 a day :)

Last picture for this post, this is my sweet Crew in his new Sunday outfit.  Every time we dress them in these outfits, Brian says, "I want one..." Who doesn't?!  He would look mighty handsome.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Christmas time has come and gone...

I boxed up Christmas today.  On one hand I was glad to put it away and put up the regular decorations, but I couldn't help feeling sad that Christmas is already over.  I would think to myself, "2 more weeks until Christmas, 1 more week until Christmas," and now it's been a week!  I think I was most excited for Christmas this year than past years.  I got all my Christmas shopping done early and had to wait for such a long time! (Or so it seemed)  But, it was an amazing Christmas and we had such a good time.

It was the boys first Christmas too!  I told myself that they wouldn't even know it was a special holiday so I really didn't need to get them anything but I just couldn't help myself.... I ended up just buying a lot of things they needed and wrapping them as gifts.  Christmas time with children is so much fun.  I can't wait until they're old enough to understand it better.

Can you believe these two pictures are the ONLY pictures I took all day??  I'm so mad at myself.

 

We started Christmas at the Messer's, our scheduled time was 6 AM.  Brian's little brother Trent gets super excited and can't hardly wait, so even 6 was pushing it.  I'm totally okay with it though... I was always the one who woke everyone up early because I couldn't sleep.  At about 5:30 I got a text from Trent that said, "Cockadoodledoo, be here at 5:50 okay?"  I love that kid.

 

At about 8 we headed back to my house and put the boys down for a nap.  So they didn't actually open presents with the Clawson side but that's okay.  I got some great gifts this year too!  I know Christmas isn't about the presents but I was so amazed at how much time and thought each person put into the gifts this year.  I love Christmas!

St George

At the beginning of November, we took our first family trip to St. George!  Brian was going to surprise me the night before because he had 3 days off of work but got too excited... plus his mom told him that he should probably tell his wife about a 3 day trip with twin boys.  (Smart woman)  Either way I was thrilled! We were a little worried about the drive down but the boys did pretty well!

We were able to stay at a friend's condo that we had stayed at before with friends so it was nice to stay at a place that we knew.  We slept in, went shopping, ate ice cream and barbequed, and went hiking.  It was beautiful weather!

 Grocery shopping

 Poor guy was so tired!  I love that cheesy smile

 Playing at the condo

 Attempting church there... we lasted about a half hour

 Hiking!

 Freaking out.

 Me and Crew

 I love this picture

 The horrible storm on the drive back!! It made our drive about an hour longer and was super scary.  I said a lot of prayers.

But don't worry... Finn got us back just fine ;)

 

The boys surprised us by sleeping through the night down in St. George and then about 4 days after that.  It was the best week of my life.... kidding, but seriously, it was awesome.  We're working on the sleeping routine thing again.  We'll get there right?!

 

Love my family, and I'm so glad we got to spend a few days together.

Zoo Trip

Several weeks ago, my friends Katie and Mindy invited me to go to the zoo with them!  It always seems like I can't go whenever they ask to do something so I'm glad they didn't give up on me :)

It was cold, but thankfully sunny.  The boys did a great job even though they really didn't know what it was we were doing.  I'm so excited to take them when they're older and are mesmerized by the animals!

I'd have to say this was my favorite part of the park... It reminds me of SeaWorld, which is probably one of my favorite places ever. 

It just seems like such a peaceful life...

It must have been a field trip day for the elementary schools because we saw so many kids that day! Many of the kids were very concerned about the helmet on Finn's head.  One girl came up to me and she kept looking at Finn, then at me, then Finn, and back at me for like 2 minutes while absentmindedly rubbing her head.  She finally asked, "Why is he wearing that thing on his head?"  I don't think she quite understood why after I told her, I should have just told her it was his Superhero helmet!!

 

Funny story: After we came out of the Reptilian House, we heard a women exclaim, "Oh no!!! Where is your mother?!"  We were worried until we found the source of the exclamation.... a young boy had decided that he just couldn't wait one second longer and proceeded to pee on the road in front of his classmates!  He looked completely calm and confident as he did his business for what seemed like 3 minutes... while everyone was laughing and pointing.  When he was done he zipped up and ran away like it was no big deal!

Our last stopping place was the giraffes, but Crew was done before then.  Poor guy passed out as we were walking back to our cars and they both slept the whole drive home.

Thanks for the invite ladies!