one..two..three!

Lately the girls will get a sudden urge to tackle her sister.  It is hillarious to me, and usually funny to the two of them.  They wrestle around for a while and laugh and giggle.  I love that you are such good little buddies, and have such a special bond. 
We are awaiting your baby sister, and I have a feeling the three of you are going to be best friends.  Hooray for sisters!!!

Hooray for o!

A is a proficient walker these days and I'm happy to announce that our little o has taken her first official steps!!! 9/11/11 was the date o decided to brave traveling on two feet!

dresses from someone really special

Our Grandma P gave us these darling little shirts/dresses for our first birthday!

more mobile

A has started to walk! O stands up all by herself and is so good at it! Soon, we will have two little girls running around our home.

so so smart

B and I have an animal flash cards app on our phones that we show the girls every day.  They LOVE it! They fight over who gets to hold the phone and tap the screen.  My favorite is that O will say many of the animals including: bear, bee and bird.  Today she said camel.  She also heard the 'buzz' of the bee from two rooms away and said "bee".  I'm amazed at how smart our girls are.  Every day they do or say something new.  I LOVE YOU you little smarties!

Words

Thank you
Doggie
Cat
They can say each others name
Grandma
Grandpa
K?!
Bath
Cracker
Cookie
More
Banana
Strawberry (my favorite!)
Go
Bye bye
Prayer
Amen

beautiful girls

 A

 L

 This picture totally looks like me when I was one.  LOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE IT!

Mindi's hair creation.

Our girls are now ONE!!!! You are incredible and fantastic.  You are beautiful and smart.  SO smart. 

I love you.

Lots to say

A and o. I love how you call doggies "dog dog". I love how you say "banana" (nana). I love how you fold your arms when we say a prayer and then say "amen". I love how excited you get when you see animals and you mostly call all animals dogs. I love how you love books and I can hold you on my lap and read to you any time I want and you love it. I love how you know where your eyes, nose and mouth are. I love how you love blankies and how you snuggle them and say "awe" web you do. I love how much you are growing and learning and that you are almost one!

Easter was so fun as a Mother! I can't wait until you are toddeling around looking for your basket and easter eggs.  I can't wait until we can teach you why we celebrate Easter.  I love being a Mother.  I could not help but make you an easter basket.  I was so excited to have two little bunnies to choose a basket for, add little things that I knew we could play with and use, and wrap cellophane around it just like my Mother used to do.  As I placed your baskets outside, just for tradition, I couldn't help but be so completely happy that I am finally a Mother, and to two amazing and beautiful girls!
A side note: There were two little snakes right at the bottom of the steps as I was coming back in the house...snakes?! In the middle of Salt Lake City? For some reason, I thought you only came accross snakes in my desert towns like the one I grew up in...  I really freaked out! I had to have Daddy come out and save me.  He didn't save me though, he just told me that they were harmless little water snakes and that there are probably hundreds in our window wells and yard area.  Yikes! I will try to forget that as we spend many summer days outside on the grass playing and enjoying warm weather....

You are saying "Mama" "Dada" with complete purpose.  You also learned how to say "ball" in the past week and a half and will crawl around saying "Jeff" although it is short of a clear J and minus the ff.
A will say "pop" when we are blowing and popping bubbles outside. 
You know exactly where the "light" is in any room and you know just where someone's nose is.  You love to "honk" that nose when you find it!
You are starting to be sad when people leave our house, mainly Dad and Grandma. 
L finally impressed me by giving the "more" sign language when she needed more snacks on her highchair tray-hooray!!
You both pull yourselves up extremely well on many things around the house-especially me when I am down on the floor playing with you.  The magnetic gate and the light barstools are making me nervous though...
You DESPISE getting your diapers changed, and I get anxiety prior to each one.  I know exactly what you are going to do: cry a little as I lay you down, immediately try to roll over, and continue to do so the entire time...argg.  I am having to get really creative with what I give you to distract you just long enough for me to get you a fresh diaper.  Haha-silly girls!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE you!!!!!

Nursery Rhymes

You love this one...

Baa Baa black sheep
Have you any wool?

Yes sir! Yes sir!
three bags full

one for my master
one for my dame

and one for the little boy
who lives down the lane

keeping up...

March 1st?! Shame on me for not posting here since March first! Oh so much has happened since then. 

You both crawl.  YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY A!!!!!!!!!! You learned at G & G in K Town.  You had to, to keep away from Uncle C!

You eat all kinds of food now: cut up fruit ( you LOVE strawberries ), crackers, avacados, cheese, macaroni and cheese, bread, and anything you find on the floor : )

You can say Mama, Dada and L can say the name of her roomate uncle.

You both clap and wave-oh I love when you clap and wave!!!!

You mimic us when we growl, hoot and ruff ruff.

You know where the light is.

You know how all your toys work.

Gosh, you learn something new every day, I can hardly keep up! I love every single second with you, and am so proud of everything you do!

SO many things

You have been learning SO much in the past few weeks!  I can't even keep up, but i'm taking time to take it all in and trying to remember everything-I love you SO SO SO much!!! This just keeps getting better and better.

 This is what happens when L doesn't take her second nap....

 A did take her second nap : )

 Best new discovery! Little mesh self-feeders.  We have put everything in it from banana's to strawberries to avacado's! A does really really well.  L looses interest after about a minute.  I clean up for about 10 minutes...

AND DRUMROLL FOR L's BIGGEST AND NEWEST:

 I went in to check on her today during her nap and this is what I walked in to see.....she has learned how to get into a sitting position from laying down!!! A very proud moment for Mother : ) Grandma BJ also got to witness it!  She did it a couple more times later today as well.  Way to go!

My little skookums.  Getting so big and so smart!

These little faces melt my heart all day

Little gymnist A

sharing a room

We figured since you are 8 months old now, we would move your cribs into the same room.  The big move took place yesterday, and I must say-I love seeing both cribs in your room!! I also got to talk to Daddy in a regular voice rather than whispers last night.  I have been dreading this move, because I know naps are not going to be as easy as they were.  And I did miss having one of you so near to me last night while we slept.  Maybe that is why I couldn't sleep and why I checked on you both about 75 times...and I made Dad get out of bed to check on you too once : ) Your first night went pretty good, but what made you wake up at 3:00am? Hopefully that does not become a regular thing...

However, your first nap today went perfectly! Here is the before and after video:

And 5 minutes later......

Your second nap is not going quite as well as the first, as it never does.  One of you is wimpering, and I suspect- keeping the other up.  Who is it? I will go check....It's A: )  L is actually asleep.  A is also playing with those bumper ties that don't reach around the middle pole of the crib.  How do you always find them after I tuck them down? Now you have stopped, lets hope you are closing your eyes : )

oh wait, nope-still wimpering.  I'm crossing my fingers........please....go.....to ......sleep.....

Our little Valentines

 A opening her Valentines card from Dad

O trying to trade cards with A

 O reading her card from Dad

I can't wait for more Valentine's days with our two little cupids!

sitting

Can I just say that I LOVE that you both are completely sitting now.  It has opened up so many possibilities!  Grandma BJ puts pillows behind you, because she doesn't know that you never fall over anymore.  You are pro's at leaning in any direction to pick something up.  You will sit for your entire play time and not even think about being belly-bound.  I love it! You look so grown up and cute.  However, it does make me miss my little teenie babies...you are growing so fast!!!

Hooray for this milestone!

headbands and scabs

 we needed some new and fashionable headbands/clips...so your Mother decided to try her hand at crafting some.  These are just ok.  I'm getting better and better-just wait!

These little scabs are almost a permanent feature on your darling little faces.  No matter how often I clip those nails.  No matter how hard I try...there they appear, just as the one before has vanished.  It finally occured to me that the culprit is your thumbnails-during the eye rubbing that occurs prior to naptime.

 p.s. I made you some valentines my dears : )

January thoughts

We are enjoying good health finally! It has been a great month, and beginning to a new year.  I am so excited for 2011 being a new Mom to twin girls! I really can't wait to experience the next exciting milestones.  I am completely blown away by the development and progress of A and O so far.  You can roll over and all around the room! A can sit up for long periods of time by herself, and O can as well but just doesn't want to : )  You are very vocal  and like to make all sorts of sounds-I love all of them! You are very experimentative with your hands, and grab anything in sight! You love remotes, phones, Daddy's nametag, drinking glasses, Daddy's glasses and more.  You are very very aware of everything around you and you are so fun to play with! Daddy and I love to make you smile and laugh.  My favorite sound in the whole world is your little laughs! Please make laughing a big part of your life. 
We are going a lot of places and you are so good when we go out.  You do really well in the car and will look out your windows at all the things going by.  This week alone, we probably went out 8 times.  I want you to see a lot of things and experience everything! I want you to see lots of colors, hear lots of sounds, see lots of people, and discover so much! I have made it a point to not be confined to the house just because I have two babies.  So far, it has been great-and we have figured out how to do pretty much everything, us 3, while Daddy works during the day.  I can't wait until the weather is warmer and we can go outside.  I can't wait to take you to the park for walks-maybe runs;)  We will have so much fun!
Life is so full for us, and I cherish every day as your Mother.  Dad and I are so blessed to get to be your parents.  We are looking forward to this year!

Stranger anxiety

A and O: You are constantly around other people.  Your aunts and cousins are a part of your regular scenery.  Your Aunts want to hug and hold you all the time.  So my question is, why do you fear them so? I tried really hard not to shelter you.  Yes, secretly I love that you just want to be with me.  i love it.  But, sometimes I need some help to hold you.  Your Aunts would leap for joy if you lept into their outstretched arms and gave them a smile and a snuggle. 
Also, it's plain ok that you don't like strangers-real strangers.  However, when we go to get pictures taken-the photographer actually becomes a non-stranger and you are supposed to instantly love him.  He is really nice and is really good at making silly sounds.  He has our best interests in mind.  And you can like  him.  Enough, anyways to smile for him. 
But if you really don't want to smile for him, at least smile for your Mommy who is jumping, peek-a-booing, singing, toy shaking, and being silly right behind that stranger boy. 
AND-even if you don't smile even then-I will completely and utterly love and adore your pictures.  I will look at them over and over again and remember the grand time we had at Photo Fly today.  I will remember your stranger anxiety phase at 7 months old.  I will admire your precious, sweet faces with those big beautiful blue eyes. 

Thank you for being mine (and Daddy's).

Angels

Bloopers

Little beauties