17 Months

I have missed a lot of monthly updates on the girls but I am going to add 17 Months just because I actually remembered too. 

Hadley and Harper,
You are officially toddlers.  You both walk all the time.  There is really hardly any crawling anymore, unless you are trying to walk on an incline up hill or over a hump.  You feel more balanced and secure if you crawl.  You interact with each other.  You love to babble back and forth.  You are both concerned when the other sister is not around.  If I ask you "where is sister" you will look and look and until you find her.  Hadley, your FAVORITE word is UH OH.  It is pretty much the only word you know and you say it all day long.  Probably 50 times a day.  My favorite is when you say Uh Oh when you can't find something or someone so your little arms and hands go out as if you are confused or wondering where it is.  Harper, you say Uh Oh a lot too, but not nearly as much as Hadley.  Harper, you can say a lot.  Mama, Dada, Sister, Sadie, Balloon, Ball, shhhh (shoes), and dog. You love to make animal sounds (cow, cat, sheep, monkey, and your favorite is a dog). You both know the motions to Wheels on the Bus and the Itsby Bitsy Spider.  You love to clap for yourself and others when they sing with you. 
Now that you are both full time walkers we have been going to a lot more places to play.  We have been to the pool, Gymboree, Catch Air, the library, Barnes and Noble and of course a variety of parks.  The pool is the only place that I can't take you'll by myself.  You walk in different directions and have no concept of the danger of water and getting in by yourself. 
When we are home you love to help me unload the dishwasher, play in your water table, ride in your Cozy Coupes and eat/play with crushed ice.  You are both pretty good about playing and entertaining yourselves for a while when we are home.

You both eat very well. Harper, you are a little bit more picky than your sister, but both of you eat well.  Your favorite foods are yogurt, avocado, pizza, mac and cheese, BBQ pork or chicken, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon and Mandarin oranges.

You have so many teeth I have lost count.  You both recently got 8 in each at the same time.  Which caused both of you to have an ear infection but I had no idea for 2 weeks that is why you were grumpy....I thought it was just a cranky phase.

You are down to one long nap each day.  I still miss the 2 short naps but I will take the one long one (12:30-3:30)

You are happy girls and I love playing with you all day long!
Love,
Mom

Fourth of July

We celebrated the 4th of July with a lot of new and old family traditions.  The girls made their first appearance at the F.A.R.T.  This is a family reunion (Friends And Relatives Tournament) that has been a family tradition since the 60's.  We drove to Florida with very few stops. The girls did WONDERFUL in the car.  They watched hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and ate/played with snacks for the entire trip.

This is all the dads that introduced their children to the FART for the first time.

We were home on the actual day of the Fourth and celebrated with a parade in the morning and a neighborhood cookout in the evening. Sweating in the entire time, but loving every minute of it.

It was hot but a lot of fun! Look at those red faces!

(Thanks to Aunt Teri for taking all of these photos for us)

Wet Kisses

Harper has learned how to give kisses.  She is really good at making the "mmmmmmmmmm" noise as she gives the kiss but is still working on puckering her lips.

Her favorite place to give Hadley hugs and kisses is in the bath tub because Hadley can't run away (like she usually does).

Pink Ladies

My little ladies are getting so big.  They love to be outside, so we spend a lot of time happily in the heat

They look so much alike in these pictures! 

Hadley wearing her shades.

Harper absolutely loves wearing her sunglasses.  She takes it very seriously as you can see from the picture and will go about her afternoon wearing them, like it is no big deal.

Big girls! Hadley is a walker for the most part and Harper will stand up and take steps but still prefers to crawl.

 Hadley is performing "Wheels on the Bus" in case you can't tell.

They LOVE to ride and climb in their Cozy Coupe cars.  They spotted a dog in this picture. They are mesmerized by dogs and will freeze if they hear a dog barking and bark back of course! 

We have tea parties with crushed ice and water on the back porch.

Hadley and Harper's older cousin taught them how to eat a popsicle. Yummy!

Park Hopping

Our Saturdays are no longer filled with "bar hopping" we are now park hopping.  We have enjoyed many Saturday Mornings trying new parks in the area.  The girls love to swing and climb up the slides.  We spend a lot of time eating snacks on our blanket at the park. 

Harper found a new friend to play with.

Watching puppies in the park results in a lot of squealing and giggles.

Happy 1st Birthday!

It has taken me months to post their birthday party pictures! We had such a great weekend celebrating the girls first year of life. The girls turned one on February 10th. I took the day off of work. We celebrated all day. Martin made the girls chocolate chip pancakes in the shape of a "1" for breakfast. They loved it! We opened their birthday present...... Two pink cozy coupes and went to a bakery to pick up cupcakes. We all went to visit our FAVORITE nurse at the perinatal office and the nurses in labor and delivery. Being hospitalized multiple times during the pregnancy, we met some very special people that we still keep in contact with. Saturday we had a wonderful birthday party with family. The girls enjoyed their cake and opening all their presents. All of these family members have helped us survive this first year of twins. They all to deserve to be celebrated.
We did a Valentine's Day theme since we brought the girls home from the hospital on Valentine's Day last year.  A sweet and very talented friend made the invitations.  www.annahatcherdesign.com


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The girls gave their guest "hugs and kisses" as a party favor

A very sweet and thoughtful friend, Lisa Johnson, made the girls pink strawberry cakes in the shape of a heart.  She brought me this same cake when I came of from the hospital after the girls were born.   I thought it was only appropriate to have it again on their first birthday...and it was DELICIOUS!

I can't believe they are 1. It is unbelievable that these two little girls were in my belly. They changed our lives forever. Martin and I still pinch ourselves and say, "I can't believe God gave us these girls...two of them."