Twins 9 month photo shoot

   Hudson & Beckham are sitting up now, sometimes with the help of a Boppy and sometimes without.  They are moving all over by rolling and crawling and they always seem to be headed in opposite directions!

   Hudson is quick to smile.  He laughs and giggles very easily, has a lot of quick movements and screams for joy at the top of his lungs...a lot!  He eats everything I offer him, and banks his sippy cup to make loud noises.  He has a sense of humor, he will catch your eye and then cover his eyes and laugh like he is playing peek-a-boo!  At night he wants to snuggle and then will change his mind and want to get down again and crawl around, only to reach up to me to be snuggled again.  I think there is just so much he wants to do he can not decide.  I love you Huddy Buddy!

   Beckham is very intense.  He watches and takes in everything.  He has learned the sign language that I have been showing them, all of a sudden he started copying me and I didn't even think he had been paying attention!  He is quieter than his brother, but when he has something to say he sounds closer to words.  He does everything slowly, but deliberately.  When I put cheerios on his tray he picks them up one at a time, with his thumb and pointer finger, and puts them perfectly into his mouth.  Then he'll look at me and smile.  He loves to cuddle and stroke my arm, he is very loving.  He kisses us on the cheek, it is very deliberate and he holds you back, which I have never seen in a baby before.  I love you Becky Buddy!

Hudson

Beckham

   As twins I see how easy you are together.  If one of you kicks the other one, there is no shock or crying.  If one of you takes a toy from the other, then another toy is just reached for or the original toy is taken back and forth for a little while.  When you are in your high chairs, often Beckham will reach his hand across to Hudson and then Hudson will put his hand in Beck's and they will sit like that for a while.  It is such a beautiful thing to watch, I tear up a lot when you do that because I want it to last forever.  I am so excited for your future and the wonderful relationship of this brotherhood that I see in front of my eyes.  

  I remember so well a year ago when we still didn't know if the birthmother was carrying girls, boys or boy/girl twins.  I always said I didn't care, but deep down inside I was really routing for 2 boys!  I love my girls and love being a part of the sisterhood with them, but I was excited to have boys also, knowing they could be rough and tumble with each other and that their little personalities would add a dimension in our household that we did not have. 

   What I never expected was the sweetness that they would show for each other.  The pats on the back and the cheek.  The soft brushing of a brothers hair or handing a cheerio over.  There is such a tenderness between the two of them, I am in awe of their closeness even now.  I thank God for these two beautiful boys and the opportunity I have to be witness to their love for each other.

Twin Cribs

The boys are finally ready to come out of their Pack-N-Plays and sleep in cribs!  I bought 2 matching cribs in Espresso from Walmart Online.  I just love the dark color!

The cute zoo animal bumper pads and bedding also came from Walmart which is really odd because I looked everywhere for something cute and this was the only thing I liked!

  The boys had been sleeping in separate pack-n-plays, one in this room and one in my room.  Beckham is a great sleeper and slept in until 7am, but Hudson wakes up a lot and was usually ready to get up in the morning around 5am!  You can see why I kept them separated.

Hudson is smiling now, but at 5am he is usually just screaming!  But he absolutely loves his crib!  Now he wakes up and lays there talking to his little stuffed puppy or jabbering with Beckham.

Beckham also loves his crib.  He seems to talk to the animals on the bumper, it is so sweet!

The boys still like to be together, and sometimes we let them nap together.  They are just too stinkin' cute!!

It is already time to lower the crib!  Did I mention the boys are crawling already?!  Hudson is faster and he only uses his arms!  But Beckham is up on his knees, he is not as fast, he is just careful!

Sweet Dreams, Sweet Boys!

April and May...

Okay, now I can throw a bunch of photos from April to get caught up!  April is always a busy month for me with tax season ending and musical productions for the girls, etc.

Mackenzie and Katy were cast in Pudge Ate a Prophet, about the whale that ate Jonah.  It was a really fun show and the girls were Ninevites.  Pretty but evil Ninevites I might add!

Madyson performed in her 3rd Grade Musical "Saturdays".  She had a fun time and everyone spent the week singing all the fun songs from that!

Below she is posing with her Music Teacher Ms. Selby and her BFF Gracie.

Beckham loves his morning Bananas and Rice cereal.  I don't have a picture of Hudson eating this because he eats it so fast!!  

We got the new Curriculum Box from Sonlight.  I spent a night checking it all in and then labeling the books with the correct color for Core G - the Eastern Hemisphere.  Then I asked Katy to take down her books from this past year and organize the new books.  While she was up there, on the step stool she pulled out one of the books to look at, and...she stood there on that stool for over an hour reading the book!  I will say that Sonlight has the most fantastic books!  We just love reading them, even my Public School kids read them!

Here are two very happy boys eating their lunch and drinking from their first sippy cups!  They seem to be happiest when you let them to it themselves!  Mr. Independents!

My Mom flew back into town at the beginning of May because I personally had a big milestone that she wanted to be here for...I graduated from college!  I originally went to college right after high school in 1979, but I really did not know what I wanted to study and it just didn't feel right, so I left to go to work, then I married and had Randy and thought off and on that I would return.  

  After I divorced Randy's Dad, I went back to college full-time, I worked very hard and spent the first 2 years at the Community College in San Diego and the transferred to the University of San Diego.  I spent almost 2 years there, but ended up leaving school my Senior year with just 6 classes left to finish.  It is a long story, but the main thing is that I was very tired of going to school, living with my parents and being a struggling single mother.  I wanted a good job, an apartment of my own and time to spend with my growing son!

  Fast forward to 2010 and my fast approaching 50th Birthday.  Yes, I said 50, even though I only feel like I am in my 30's!!  I was thinking about the whole age thing and how I had thought about going back to school when I was turning 40 and now here I was, 10 years later and I still had not finished.  I knew I didn't have to finish.  I mean I have a great career, I have never let that little piece of paper stop me.  But I don't really like to leave things unfinished...just not my style.  So I played a bit on the internet, found out that Baker University had a special program to finish in just under 2 years and called them.

   Just 2 weeks before my 50th Birthday I was sitting in class with 22 other people and we were on our way!  There are a lot of things that have happened to me in that 2 years, but nothing ever stopped me from going to class, doing my homework and knowing that I would not quit this time.  I do not regret putting it off, because the people I met in this class were so awesome.  We all stayed together the entire program and on May 11, 2013 at 1pm in the afternoon, we all walked together across that stage and accepted our diplomas!  It was one of the most exciting times in my life!  I couldn't believe that I had made it all the way through!  Big time proud!!

Here is my Team!  All wearing the Baker Orange & Blue!

(Which were also my high school colors, isn't that weird?)

Here I am in the middle of it all!  I just kept smiling!  And thinking, "I am really short!"

I am so glad my whole family could be with me that day!  Such a great celebration 30 years in the making!!

The first 3 rows are all my family & friends who came out to cheer me on!  I was definitely the graduate with the most children!

It's never too late to finish what you have started!

And I wasn't the only one in the family who graduated...Ava Marie is ready for Kindergarten now!!  She will miss her teachers Miss Christy and Miss Vickie very much.  They were so sweet and encouraging to her.

And she will also miss all of her friends from class.  Two of the children will go to the same school as Ava Marie, but most are going to be spread all over Olathe.  I am so glad we called this school in September to see if they had any openings, it has really made a big impact on her life!

The formal celebration was followed by lunch in the park and playing with sweet friends one last time!

Happy Spring!

Faster than a speeding bullet...

  That is how fast this year is whirling by!  I closed my eyes for a moment and it is almost July!  How does that happen?

  I remember as a little girl it would take FOREVER to get to summer, and then summer would stretch on and on until my birthday would finally arrive in August, and then the last weeks of summer would crawl across our yard until we could finally go back to school to see our friends!

  Now it seems like you oversleep a few hours and you'll miss another year!

I have NOT been a good blogger this year...again...sorry.  But I take A LOT of pictures, so here is another one of my synopsis posts just to bring you up to speed.

March - The boys are rolling and playing and spending a lot more time awake.  Hudson is on the left and Beckham is on the right.

I am making my own baby food.  I wanted to write a whole post or even a series on this, but then I probably wouldn't have time to actually do it, so here are some pictures.  I made applesauce first, then pureed peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

Since my Mom lives in California, we Skype with her in the afternoons.  Here is Hudson having his one on one time with Grandma!  He has such a fun time and giggles for her when she makes funny faces.

And here is Hudson, Beckham and even Ava Marie lined up on the kitchen table so Grandma can see them and read them a story.  I think we are so lucky to live in a time when you can stay close to someone, even if they live 2,000 miles away!

MORE snow!

Brothers learning to love one another!  I really hope this is how they will always be!

Sisters making time for little brothers.  Every sister loves to spend time with the twins doing special things with them.

 And Big Brother too!

We celebrated my Mom's 72nd Birthday when she came out to visit.

And we celebrated Easter with 2 special little bunnies!  You know I will save this picture for their high school yearbooks! 

And that was March!