Christmas with the Adams family!

We all had a great time with G.G. (Great Grandma), Grandma and Grandpa Adams, Aunt Vicke, Aunt Kimberly, Uncle Jack and cousins Maddie, Colton and Monica the Saturday after Christmas. We had a great traditional Christmas dinner and opened more presents with all the kids. The boys love being around so many people and always having someone to play with or hold them! We went to church on Sunday with the grandparents who always enjoying showing off their grand babies! Jeff had to go home Sunday afternoon so he could go to work on Monday but, the boys and I stayed until Tuesday morning. It is always nice to get away and to see family but it was great to finally be home after so many days of traveling. The boys have adjusted to all of this surprisingly well and we are very proud of them!

Grandma and Grandpa Adams

Maddie with Ayden

Mommy with Ashton opening gifts

Ayden opening gifts

We've come a long way!

This week we celebrated the boys 8th "monthaversary"! Time sure does fly! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing them home from the hospital weighing just 5 pounds each and waking up to feed them every 3 hours! Now the boys are weighing nearly 20 pounds and sleeping through the night! I thought it would be fun to see how they compared to their "coming home" outfits!

Ashton before and now!

Ayden, born my little man, now my chunky monkey!

Ashton and Ayden celebrate their first Christmas

Our family had a wonderful first Christmas! Grandma and Grandpa Kitsmiller and Aunt Amy arrived Christmas Eve and celebrated with us on Christmas morning. Aunt Amy dressed up as Santa and helped the boys open their gifts. The boys were in a great mood and loved playing with all their new toys! The family left after noon and we got our car loaded up to go see the other grandparents. We traveled during the boys afternoon nap and got to Grandma and Grandpa Adams' just in time for dinner. It was a simple day without a lot of fan fair but it will always be a memorable day for us!

Santa Amy with Ashton

Santa Amy with Ayden

Playing with the new jungle toy

Ashton

Ayden

Poor Ashton was so exhausted from all the morning's activities that he fell asleep in the exersaucer before we left town!

New discoveries!

We rearranged our living room last week to give our boys a little more room to move and play now that they are becoming so mobile. This allowed them to see some areas of the room they had not seen before and they were very inquisitive! This all happened in the first hour of the first morning...

First Ayden found the Christmas tree...



then, Ashton found my wrapping paper and tissue paper (we need more work on baby proofing!)


next, Ashton found the Christmas tree!

More MO Christmas pictures

Ayden with Granpa K - I love this picture!

Ayden napping with Aunt Amy

Ashton napping with Mommy

Ayden opening his first Christmas gift

Ashton opening his first gift

A weekend of firsts!

Ayden playing at Aunt Julia's

Ashton was anxious to open the gifts!

The grandkids!

At the hotel.

At the hotel


What a weekend! It started early Friday morning with Ayden's first tooth breaking through and continued throughout the weekend. We left after breakfast to head to Kansas City to celebrate Christmas with the Kitsmiller's. The road trip went great. We stopped in Carthage, MO for lunch. I'm sure it was quite a site...Me sitting in the middle of the backseat breastfeeding the boys and eating Long John Silvers (multitasking is a MUST for a mommy of twins!), Jeff sitting in the front sit, with both car seats, eating his lunch. We arrived at the hotel just after 3:00pm. This was the boys first stay in a hotel. We were very prepared and the boys adjusted pretty well. Grandma and Grandpa Kitsmiller, Aunt Amy and Karen arrived after dinner. The next "first" came at bath time. The boys had their first bath in a "big bathtub". We brought our travel bath but this did not sit well with Ashton! He got the second bath so the padding was a little cool and this made Ashton a very cranky little guy! He remembered this the next night and got upset before I could even put him down to show him that I had it warm for him! Needless to say, this was one short bath! Our next "first" was jarred baby food. Again, this did not go well. The only food the boys have had is what I have made for them. We knew it would be difficult to travel with this so we bought jarred food. We won't be doing that again! Ashton has always been a spitter so it was not much of a surprise when he spit up some of his dinner the first night. Ayden was the surprise. I may never get the stain out of his new outfit! He continued to spit up on Saturday and left a big orange stain on Aunt Julia's carpet (Sorry Julia and Larry!) By Saturday evening we were done with baby food and stuck with the ripe bananas and baby cereal we brought with us. I think their little tummies are better now, but we learned our lesson and we will be taking our own food to the other grandparents' house this weekend! And their last "first" was the very exciting act of opening their first Christmas gifts! The boys were spoiled with books, clothes, and toys. But, of course, their favorites were the boxes, tags, and wrapping paper! Overall it was a great weekend spent with family! The boys did great with all the changes. The hardest part of the weekend was naps. The boys have to have their cribs or pack and plays to sleep. We did not have either at Aunt Julia's so the only morning nap they got was the 20 minutes it took to get from the hotel to her house. By the afternoon we knew it would not be pretty if they did not get some sleep. Aunt Amy finally got Ayden to sleep on her "Magic Chest" and I rocked Ashton to sleep. Daddy said no one could move until they woke up. :) So, we didn't! The boys slept about an hour and a half and were good for the day. The first night we had some sleeping issues but the second night we all slept great! We were well rested and ready for the drive home. This trip went just as well as the first, but it was MUCH colder. The wind chills in MO were near -20 F! This made the lunch stop home interesting! We had the same set up as the trip up but this time we tried to do it all without getting out of the car! Getting from the front seat to the back, transferring car seats and changing diapers in your lap all make for a fun trip traveling with twins!

We had a great Christmas celebration and want to thank our family for the wonderful food, gifts and company!

Teeth!!

Ayden's first tooth broke through over night! Last weekend he got a small numb over his left tooth. By midweek he had one on the right as well. We knew it was only a matter of time so I have been anxiously checking for teeth everyday! I think we will have #2 by Christmas!

We officially have sitters!

The boys have been sitting with assistance for several weeks now. Both could sit for several seconds by themselves, but would then do the "mommy check" (leaning back to see if I was still there). All of a sudden this weekend they were ready to go it alone. Ayden is doing much better at the moment, but Ashton can hold his own! It is so exciting to see their eyes light up at seeing everything from a different perspective! They are also able to interact more from this new position - also very exciting for mommy!

Picture Tag

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same - NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Here is mine!



This picture is from the boys 6th month file. I took them outside to play for a little while on a nice fall day. Ayden was not very happy at the moment! Ashton, as usual, was just hangin' out!

Your turn! Leave a comment with your blog address and post your pic!

First visit with Santa!

Another milestone! Today the boys had their first Santa experience! I love experiencing and documenting all of these precious moments that will only happen once! I have to say, despite my worries, the boys did AWSOME! We went to Bass Pro and wore the boys while we walked around and waited in line. When it was our turn Santa took each boy in an arm and they were instantly mesmerized! Who wouldn't be with that long white beard! Lucky for Santa it was a real beard - the boys are major hair pullers! It was a great experience all in all!

Ayden Lee

Ayden is what I like to refer to as a "perfect singleton baby". He does not realize, nor care, that he is not the only baby mommy and daddy have to take care of! He is very vocal and always lets me know what he wants, how he wants it and when he wants it! Ayden loves to be with mommy, forget playing with Ashton! We have called Ayden "high needs" for a long time, but recently he has been a little less needy. The boys could not be more different, the Lord knew we could only handle one Ayden! Ayden was a very serious (because I don't want to call it sad) baby for a long time. He rarely smiled and fussed a lot. We have recently had a major turn around and now he has become a big ham and smiles all the time. Ayden loves bath time and has recently began smiling up at me really big as soon as I turn the water off. I think this is because he knows his nightly massage is coming next! My "Ayden Baby" loves to chew! He puts everything in his mouth, mommy and daddy's fingers are among his favs! Although he was born smaller Ayden is now my "Chunky Monkey". He started waking up to eat 1,2,3 + times/night at about 5 months old. When we went to their 6 months checkup I guessed he would weigh one pound more than Ashton. Sure enough, 1lb 2 oz up on his brother! Ayden loves to play silly games and be read and sang to. Ayden HAS to have his sleep! Once we get him to sleep (which has been a problem lately) he is a good sleeper!

A few milestones:

Born at 5lbs. 3 oz. and 17 1/2in.

- at 7 months 15lbs. 4 oz.

Rolled to back 5 weeks

Rolled to belly 3.5 months

Sleeping through the night 3 months (this stopped at 5 months) and then 7 months (let's hope it continues this time!)
Smiled 4 months
Started eating baby cereal 5.5 months
Started eating solids 6 months
Picked up toys without assistance 6 months
Getting on all four's and rocking 7 months
Sitting unassisted for short periods 7.5 months
Crawling....you never know with Ayden!

Ayden with Grandma at 2 days old

8 weeks old

3 months old

6 months old

Ashton Ray

Ashton is what I call a "perfect multiples baby". He goes with the flow and not much seems to bother him. He is very content to play on the floor rolling around by himself. He is very interested in touching everything around him. Ashton loves to show his dimply smile and to cuddle! We call him "our little football" because he is always curled up, when he sleeps and when he is being held. Ashton loves bath time! He nearly closes his eyes and doesn't make a peep the entire time. Ashton loves to smile, giggle, and be read and sung to. "Ashton Love" is also a little sensitive! Sometimes he gets upset when he is disturbed, especially when he is eating - that is serious business! This is happening more often since I nurse them at the same time and they are getting pretty big now! Ashton is a great sleeper...as long as he has his pacifier.

A few milestones:

Born at 5lbs 9oz and 18 1/2in long

-at 7 months 14lbs 4oz

Rolled to back 6 weeks

Rolled to belly 3 months

Sleeping through the night 3 months (this stopped at 5 months) and then 7 months (let's hope it continues this time!)

Smiled 4 months

Started eating baby cereal 5.5 months

Started eating solids 6 months

Picked up toys without assistance 6 months

Getting on all four's and rocking 6 months

Sitting unassisted for short periods 7.5 months

Crawling....any day?!

Ashton with Grandpa at 2 days old

7 weeks old

3 months old

6 months old

Getting up to date

We have absolutely fallen in love since bringing the boys home in April. They are now 7.5 months old and are all I could have imagined and more! Both boys have been very healthy since coming home. They each got a minor cold, but that is it. I attribute this to 1) staying home a lot 2)breastfeeding. The boys have great gross and fine motor skills. They are rolling all over the place, sitting up well and about to crawl any day. They are picking up toys and working on their "pincer" grasps. At 7 months old Ashton weighed 14lbs. 4oz. and Ayden weighed 15lbs. 4 oz. They had been a little slow at the weight gain, but since starting solids at 6 months they have really started putting on the weight! I make their baby food and they love to eat-I guess they get that from their daddy! We have loved celebrating all their firsts. Each little thing is noteworthy and I keep a journal of it all! We are now looking forward to their first Christmas!


Ashton and Ayden at 7 weeks old


Ayden and Ashton at 3 months old



Ashton and Ayden at 6 months old

Our story

It all started in the fall of ''07 when we decided we were ready to start a family. We were very lucky to get pregnant right away. You see, we had it all planed out to have a baby in May so that I could spend my summer vacation home with the baby. Well, so much for planning! At our 20 week ultrasound on January 8th, 08 we were told we were having TWIN BOYS! Wow...that caught us off guard! My husband had made lots of jokes about us having twins, but they were only meant to be jokes. We had no reason to believe we would be pregnant with twins. We spent the next few weeks preparing for our new life. It was both exciting and nerve racking! After a couple weeks off work and on bed rest due to high blood pressure I developed pre-e and had an emergency c-section on April 22nd, 2008. I was so excited to meet my two precious babies whom I had already fallen in love with and felt I already knew. Ashton, baby A, was born first at 5lbs 9 oz. He was so beautiful when they finally brought him to him! I could not believe he was really mine! He was the quiet, happy baby I had anticipated. Ayden, baby B, was born weighing 5lbs. 3oz. He wanted to build up the anticipation of our meeting, so he would not suck for the nurses and had some blood sugar issues. After a few hours they finally brought me my precious "Ayden Baby". He was the louder, needier baby I had also anticipated! Both boys got to come home from the hospital with me a couple days later. Those first few days were rough on all of us. Breastfeeding was a struggle for my tiny little babies, but with the help of my husband we all got through it. The boys slept a lot, but they also ate a lot! We had to feed them every 3-4 hours and it seemed like just as we were getting to sleep it was time to eat again! Now, though, all those days are a distant, and
foggy, memory!

One day old

Going home from the hospital

Five days old