I've really been slacking!

We have been so busy that now I have gotten WAY behind here. So, get comfortable, here it goes!
No more baby cereal!

We usually bought baby cereal 2 boxes at a time because the boys ate it nearly every morning for breakfast. During the last few months they have been eating less cereal so we still had some left and we just recently finished off the last of it. We don't plan to buy anymore so I got some regular oatmeal instead. I have only made this a few times, but, so far it is not going over very well! With the end of baby cereal means the end of formula. We made it a year with twins and NEVER spent any money on formula! We did get some sample cans from the doctor which I used with their cereal.
Big boy baths!

Ashton is so inquisitive and adventurous that he was no longer content with his bath seat. We had been fighting him for awhile now to keep him in the seat. Ayden was still pretty content though. So, on June 16th we got a mat to prevent slips and put it in the bottom of the tub, and now Ashton and Ayden are both happy.

We are really in trouble now!

Also on June 16th, Ashton learned how to crawl on top of the coffee table all by himself. I was shocked to walk into the living room and see my adventurous little boy giving me the biggest, most proud grin, from a top the coffee table! The first time I actually thought it was a fluke thing and that he had used another toy to climb up there. I was doubly shocked to walk in the room later in the afternoon to see him up there yet again. I quickly moved him down only to see him climb right back up there in front of me! I am a coffee table person and couldn't bear the thought of having to remove my table. So, of course, I did the obvious thing. I turned the table upside down! I think the boys thought this was even more exciting!

Summer sun and summer fun!

We spent lots of time outside last week. Saturday the 20th, "Aunt" Lindsey came over and we took the boys to the parade of homes. When we got home we ate dinner and then took the boys outside to play on their first "swing set"! We traded in our Little Tikes slide for a slide and swing. The boys loved it more this time then when we originally introduced just the old slide. They could climb up the slide as well as the rock wall side. The loved to swing also! Ashton even figured out how to make himself swing. The second time I put him in he couldn't quite remember what he had done to make himself swing the first time and instead of moving front to back he wiggled side to side! It was too cute! After swinging, Ashton decided it would be much more fun to climb into the swing and stand up! Ashton is really starting to become quite the little monkey! Monday I took the boys to meet up with some friends at a local splash pad. After our last couple attempts with splash pads I should have known what to expect...but, we went anyway. Of course, the boys HATED the cold water! I thought since it was 100 degrees outside they might make an exception - nope! They did enjoy sitting under the shade tree playing, eating a picnic and swinging on mommy's lap on the big swings. Tuesday I was brave and decided I would go with a friend and her two kids to the local swimming pool. I thought since the water would be warmer there they would like it better. Not to mention is was over 100 degrees again! Once Ashton got use to the water he really enjoyed himself. He splashed the water just like in the bathtub at home. Ayden was fine as long as he was sitting on my lap! I don't think he was feeling great that day. Taking the boys by myself to these kind of places is a lot of work so I didn't get any pictures! Since it was so hot we decided to take it easy and stay inside the rest of the week. Saturday the four of us headed down the street to the local Blue Bell plants Taste of Summer! All the ice cream and popsicles you want...mmmmm! There was live entertainment, facility tours, lots of jupiter jumps, kids crafts, car show, etc. There wasn't really a lot for the boys to do this year but I'm sure next year they will love it! We did let them have a few bites of our ice cream. That is a rare treat for them since the only sweets they have ever had was the cake and ice cream they had for their birthday! Ashton was apparently not worn out enough from our busy weekend because he was able to muster up the energy to climb up onto the couch by himself! We sat right there watching him, and knowing we were REALLY in trouble now! We don't really have "safe" place to keep things in the living room. The newspaper, our phones, the remotes, etc. have to go on the back of the couch so that they are out of reach. Well, I guess we are going to have to come up with something new!

Upside down?!

Ashton and Ayden have been going through a phase for awhile now where they liked to turn certain things upside down. Last week this phase was kicked up a notch, and everything has to be upside down!

They love to wrestle!

My new toys...errrr...I mean, the boys' new carriers! I can now wear them both at the same time with my new Beco baby carriers! (Jeff and I can each wear one also!)

They love all kinds of balls!

Happy Father's Day!

Jeff was out of town this weekend and got home about 3:30 this afternoon. It made for a short Father's Day - but it was great nevertheless! I took a few pictures of the boys, but he had the good camera, my regular digital camera is not working right now...so the pictures were taken with my iphone. Not the best for trying to get some great Father's Day pictures, but the subjects are cute all the same! We also did a little art work for our great daddy. (Check out the pictures below!) I am so thankful for the wonderful father my boys have. We love you Daddy! I am also thankful for my wonderful father who has taught me so much, and continues to do so! I love you Daddy! Happy Father's Day!

The humor of nursing toddlers

Nursing sessions with Ashton and Ayden have always been our special time. As they have gotten older these times have not only grown shorter, but also less frequent. Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining. Those first months I would be sitting on the couch with my huge pillow and both boys latched on and I was stuck there for 30 minutes to an hour at a time and we did this up to 8 times a day! Now they usually nurse 4 times a day for about 10 minutes. During the past year our nursing sessions have changed from needing a pillow to support the boys, me doing a lot of the work, even holding their heads in place to our now comedic sessions. The boys move around so much that we now nurse laying on the living room floor. They pop on and off, laugh at one another, crawl to get a toy and then crawl back. They often switch sides, only to later crawl across me to switch back. I think tonight was the most entertaining session yet. Jeff had a front row seat and couldn't stop laughing. It started out with Ashton blowing on my belly/blowing raspberries...whatever you call that. He did it over and over and would sit up and laugh in between. Ayden thought this was HILARIOUS! He was doing huge belly laughs (while trying to nurse and laying across my chest)! In the mix of all this they switched sides-for the second time. Then Ashton tried to do the same thing to any skin he could find, of course the closest thing was my breast! Again, Ayden could not be contained (mommy and daddy were laughing pretty hard too)! Then Ashton wants the side Ayden is on so he just pushes his face right off and "takes over", so to speak! Luckily, Ayden went with the flow and took the other side without complaint. Next Ashton starts in with this new sound he makes with his mouth. If you sort of purse your lips and make a "ppptttt" sound, that is kinda what he does. He does it sort of off center though and it looks like he is spitting tobacco or something. He does this, and smacking his lips, a lot lately especially when he wants to nurse. He will make the tobacco spit face if he hears someone else do it too. So while all this craziness is going on (mind you we are suppose to be winding down for bed) Jeff starts making this sound. Which of course was instantly repeated over and over by Ashton!

I so cherish these times of not only cuddling, but laughing as well! Not only that, but my boys are receiving the best nutrition made especially for them by mommy!

You know how I am with the pictures and so I of course have some great nursing pictures. But, this is a public blog and there are no telling what kind of sick-o's could find this...therefore I will not be posting any pictures this time :(

My Little Stud Muffins

Yesterday we went to the local farmer's market and to the AT&T store to get mommy and daddy new phones. Nothing too exciting - but I thought I would put the boys in some "cute clothes" for some pictures later. Of course, my stud muffins did turn lots of heads and caused lots of smiles while we were out though! "Are you talkin' about us?!"

Ashton has recently received the nick name "Cheeseball" because he has become such a ham lately! He really turns it on for the camera too! I have picture after picture of him showing off his cheesy grin. He also loves to get right up in the lens of the camera. This poses a problem when I want to get a picture of him doing something. As soon as he sees the camera he smiles really big and starts crawling to the camera.

Such a sweet smile - I love it!!

Ayden has a few things he started recently also. One is throwing fits and putting his head down between his legs. Yesterday he did this while sitting on the tile floor - OOUCH! Another is doing the yoga pose, "downward dog". Standing on his hands and feet with his tush in the air - too cute! He has also been sticking his tongue out a lot lately. Usually to the side with this cute, silly face - what a personality!

I just missed the downward dog - he's too quick!

See the tongue?...

Such a silly boy! (He ALWAYS has a ball in his hand!)

See the ball? (It is blue, in the hand on the left!)

Yup...always!

Budding Artists?!

If today's art project is any indication of Ashton and Aydens future...budding artist was definitely not indicated! The boys received crayons and coloring books for their birthday and we decided to introduce them today. I tore them each out a picture of Handy Mandy and got one crayon out of the box for each of them. Jeff got the video camera ready and I put the art supplies down in front of them on the coffee table. Both of them were really excited that I had actually left paper within their reach ! I tried to get them to hold the crayon but they were too interested in the paper. Once I did get them to hold the crayon, what do you think hapened? Yup, just like everything else, it went straight into their mouths! Ayden actually bit a big chuck of blue crayon off into his mouth! (Good thing crayons are non-toxic huh?!) With that we decided that today's art project was complete. Now, I am excited that I have my children's first artwork to hang on the fridge!

Playing in the park!

Today I took the boys and met some friends at the Tulsa River Parks new QT pavilion and splash park. It was their first time to a real park and a real splash park. They had a great time, with the exception of the water part! Honestly, I don't blame them! The water was cool and their was a cool breeze blowing on top of that. They did love the fresh air, lots of people, and their first picnic! The Reading Roadshow was performing when we arrived. As usual, we were late and didn't get to see but the very end of the show. We hope to go back again in time to actually see the show! I tried several different areas of the splash park, but none of them made the boys happy. To make matters worse, they would not let anyone else hold them...it had to be mama! As one lady commented, I had "one on each hip". Let me tell ya, that is getting more difficult each day! We sat under the shade tree playing and visiting for awhile before we got out our picnic. The boys loved eating on the ground, as opposed to the constraints of their highchairs! Not quite so exciting for this mama though! After lunch we tried the splash park once more...again, it was a no go! We went back to our spot in the shade and played some more. After having been at the park for two full hours we packed up and headed home. The boys were exhausted and slept nearly the entire way home.

Ayden had a great time flirting and making friends with some of the girls in our group!

Ashton grabed a whole slice of bread and tried stuffing it all in his mouth at once. He is grinning here at the excitment of getting so much bread!!

It's all about family!

I am a little sad that, as I write this, it is Sunday night. This means our fun family weekend is officially over. We didn't do anything extra special or fun, but it was fun just spending so much time as a family and doing things we use to do before babies! And, to top it all off...my amazing husband didn't leave us for one cigarette the entire weekend! (Tomorrow will be an entire week smoke-free!)

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and headed to Wagoner to their Summerfest event. We didn't know much about it, but it was only about a 20 minute drive and it was a chance to get out and see some new sites. Unfortunately, it was quite a disappointment. It was suppose to start at 10am, but we arrived at about 10:30am and the carnival rides were not going, the concessions were not open and only a few vendors had arrived. We had passed a farmer's market and a lot of for sale signs along the way so we headed back. We got the best sour cream peacan coffee cake as well as some produce from the farmers market. We then drive around looking at some homes for sale in Wagoner county and Coweta. We we got home we ate lunch and took the boys on a walk. Our neighborhood builder is starting a new subdivision with bigger homes across the street so we went to check out the new model home. Right now moving is just wishful thinking. We feel as though we are busting out the seems in this home. As the boys grow older and/or we have additional children we will definately need additional space. After enjoying some fresh air, we put the boys down for a nap. After doing a few things around the house mommy and daddy decided they needed a nap also! It felt great! I very rarely take a nap and it was so nice to just relax on the couch and take a little nap. After dinner we took the boys out to the backyard and introduced them to their slide. We have had this slide for months but, obvisiouly, the boys weren't ready for it yet. We decided it was getting close to time and we wanted to see how they would react. They seems to really enjoy it and wanted to investigate how it all worked! I think this will be a hit this summer as they continue to grow.

This morning we had biscuits with some blackberry jam we bought at the farmers market yesterday - mmmm, so good! After the boys took their morning nap we left to do a little shopping. The boys each rode in the front of the carts today - this is a new event, and it seemed to go over well! Ashton and Ayden let us know when they were ready for a nap and we headed home. While they napped we got some work done. This evening we had a favorite for dinner - El Salvador's Mexican! We are sorta in a rut and always get the same thing but, today we each tried something new. And...we both loved our selections! After we put the boys to bed Jeff headed down the street to a new sno cone stand we found and got us each one. When he come home we sat out on our front porch one the bench my dad made and ate our first sno cones of the season!

On a side note: Ayden has been quite the chatter box since early on. He doesn't say real words yet, but continues to make new sounds every few days lately. Both boys have been saying "mamamama" and "dadadada" for awhile, but never seemingly associated with us. This weekend that seems to have changed. Ayden is definately calling me "mama" and maybe even calling Jeff "dada"! This is another one of those things that just makes a mama's heart melt!

Mama's got a couple fish!

Ok, so the splash pad didn't go over so well...so, we decided to try a pool instead! The water in the splash pad was constantly circulating right from the hose, which meant it stayed cold! We blew up the pool and put a couple inches of water in it Sunday morning and let it sit out in the 90 degree heat all day to warm it up. By the time the boys woke from their afternoon nap it felt great! We put on the boys' new swim trunks, bucket hats and sunscreen and headed to the back yard. We took it slow and let them get used to the idea. Initially Ashton wasn't too sure about this, but as soon as Mama got in with them he was happy! Ashton and Ayden made huge splashes and giggled at one another as they enjoyed their new pool. Ayden enjoyed sitting by me (ya know, the whole "mama's boy" thing!), while Ashton enjoyed crawling around in circles. They sit in bath seats in the bath tub, so this new opportunity to possibly "go under" or even put their mouths up to the water, was a new one! They both blew bubbles in the water a few times and both were startled as they put their head under too! They both started to get antsy in the pool so we dried them off and put them on the porch to watch daddy cook some steaks on the grill. I can't wait for all the summertime weekends to come!