All Aidan

Aidan has turned out to be quite the entertainer.  Well.  Actually, their personalities change every few months, so we'll see if that lasts.  But the last couple of months, he's been very outgoing and hilarious.  He makes the greatest faces!  He's happy all the time.  He looks just like me, but is every bit of Andrew.  He can play with one toy for the longest time and he gets completely caught up in whatever he's doing.  He has a deep-thinking look while he's playing and then he'll turn and look at me and just smile - and then go back into whatever he was doing with that thoughtful look again.  Cracks me up.  (That and his little pointer finger.)  This week, the boys have had a little fever virus of some kind, so their sleeping schedules have been off from each other.  The day Jordan went down early, Aidan decided to read in his quiet time.  He turned all the pages of this book and then closed it.  These pictures are not staged - look at all the different pages.

I love to read!

He also sat in my lap and let me read to him a good bit this week.  Just happy as can be!  And he turns the pages for me.  :)

He's also fearless.  Around bedtime the other night, I was digging through their under-the-bed box for some bigger clothes and he decided to help.  Before we could get a camera, he just climbed right in!

Daddy was, of course, trying to entice him to climb up further, but he was happy lifting the lid.

Such a silly boy!

Ups and Downs

Well, we had an eventful weekend to say the least.  Let's be honest, I don't remember Friday.  The only thing I remember was Aidan jumping out of my lap into a pile of stacking cups and banging up his left eye.  Pitiful, but he handled it really well.

Saturday, we were supposed to go to Tuscaloosa for a first birthday party of the daughter of one of my best friends from college.  But it was A-Day at Bama, so that didn't happen.  We were really sorry to miss her birthday, but we hope to see them in a week or so.  Instead, Andrew got some work done in the yard and we got ready to go to a farmers' market and craft show after we ate lunch.  We were supposed to meet a friend there, but we were ahead of schedule and they were behind (ain't that always the way?).  So we walked around and found us a nice place to sit.  Too bad it was on the rocks - ya know, those little pebbles that fill gardens and such?  I had a big blanket, but it didn't stop Jordan from trying to eat the rocks.  He threw a fit (seriously) when I took them all away, so we moved to the grass.  Yep, they ate grass.  Better than rocks, though, right?  Until Aidan got choked on a piece, gagged, and threw up on the blanket.  So we packed it up and went home.  It was hot anyway and the boys were wearing down pretty fast.  They fell asleep on the way home and Aidan stayed asleep once we got back.  Jordan went back down about an hour later, when Aidan woke up.  Whatever.  It was Saturday, I wasn't all that concerned with schedule.  My friends came over after all the naps ended and we sat outside and talked while the babies played on a blanket on the grass.  We had planned to cook out at Andrew's parents' house, but I couldn't justify getting the boys back in the car on such little napping, so all the family came to us.  It worked much better that way, even if it was a little crowded.  We cooked out, got the babies bathed and fed, and played a little Uno Attack. 

Jordan playing with Nana & Aidan playing with aunt Adrienne

Jordan trying to get a ball out from under the couch - how cute is that??

Uncle James pushing Aidan on the car

Gotta get both boys on the cars

Saturday night, we heard someone talking into the monitor (Aidan, I'm sure) a lot of the night.  He wasn't fussing or crying, just talking.  So we were up a little early, but we needed to be for church.  We dropped the boys off in the nursery like always, giving our instructions to the young girl who helps keep their class.  (Instructions: put them in beds at 9:15 and let them fuss until asleep; no bottles; and please no jumperoos or exersaucers.)  When we picked them up, the young girl was sitting in a chair putting Jordan back on the floor telling him how fussy he was.  She immediately picked him up when she saw me, so I got him from her quickly.  He had snot running into his mouth.  They told Andrew (because I was wiping Jordan's nose) that neither of the boys slept at all.  I have since talked to a friend whose baby is also in that room and found out that she saw Jordan in a jumperoo when she picked up her baby.  I am still pretty angry that they didn't do what I asked them to and did exactly what I asked them not to.  I have already had an incident with this childcare during my small group on Tuesdays.  It is different nursery workers, but the same directors.  I've also noticed the last couple of weeks that the boys have crusty faces when we get to lunch after church.  I kept wondering what in the world could've happened because they weren't like that before church.  Now, I realize that it's been snot that wasn't wiped from their noses that got rubbed all over their faces.  That's just unacceptable, they're in there for 2 hours and you can't wipe their noses??  I know I need to let it go and it might not be what goes on all the time, but now I just don't trust them.  (And I have worked preschool/childcare and I know how challenging working 40 hours a week with other people's kids is, but seriously, it's 2 hours on a Sunday.  And it's volunteer work.  If you don't want to work with kids, don't be there. Period.)  We hadn't been set on this church being the perfect place for us, but were really enjoying it.  Now I won't leave my kids in there.  I just can't.  So I guess we're on the search again for a home church.  I just feel so disappointed.  I'm at a loss for church-looking because I went to the same church all my life before college.  I don't really even know where to start.  Anyway, the boys slept a little on the way to lunch and then on the way home from lunch.  But once we got home, they wouldn't sleep.  We went for a walk and Aidan slept then; Jordan fell asleep eating supper.  It was just a rotten day after all that.  We did buy two toddler beds from a fellow Mother of Multiples - two beds for $25 total!!  They are dark cherry wood and perfect.  So that was the bright spot in my weekend, along with a visit from friends.  And today I feel accomplished because I vaccumed.  That's a big deal.

9 Months

We were supposed to go for the boys 9 month well baby appointments last week, but with the ear infections we had to put it off a week.  We went yesterday afternoon instead.  Both boys are 29 inches long; Aidan weighed 23lbs 4oz and Jordan weighed 21lbs 4oz.  I kept thinking Aidan would slim down a little once he got moving, but he's on the go now and I don't see that happening.  It might still happen, though, in the next couple of months.  They were 75th percentile for everything.  Both are crawling really well - they roam around the house together and it is SO cute.  I need to get a video of it.  They love each other (most of the time) - they're always standing up laughing and talking when I go to get them out of bed.

They do just about everything together, but don't seem too upset if brother isn't around.  I just can't explain how they interact; there is definitely something mental/telepathic about it. 

Tooth count for Aidan is still 8 and for Jordan it's 7.  Here's Jordan:

They are such happy babies.  Aidan laughs all day long and Jordan has started "talking" really loud.  It's actually kind of funny now when he fusses at me because he's so loud.  We spend a lot of time out on the front porch in our play yard.  It's the perfect lighting for pictures.

Aidan

Jordan

We have two drums and they love to play (beat on) them.  One is a LeapFrog (not my favorite - it never shuts up), but the other is a set of bongo drums that I love, too.

Aidan's new trick is to point with one finger.  He's been using his "pincher" fingers to pick up food for a while now, but he's just started making a fist and leaving his pointer and thumb out.. it cracks me up.  The first time he did it, it was to my pointer finger - like E.T.

This week, the sweet lady that Andrew's sister works for gave the boys some bedroom slippers.  They are too funny!  Monster feet!

They fit pretty well and Aidan actually kept his on!  Love it.

Outside today, Aidan got to his feet with both hands on my knee and then let go and raised up the rest of the way on his own!!  He wasn't up very long before he realized what he'd done and got too excited to stand up.  But he did so good!!  They do a little "cruising" - mostly walking around the music table while holding on.  Jordan is a lot less brave about it, though.  But since they pull up on everything, I went through and further toddler-proofed the house this week.  A big thank you to my friend Courtney for bringing Noah to play and help keep the boys occupied while I sorted out the bookshelf in the kitchen.  All the books/websites say to give baby(ies) a bottom cabinet to play in - my only bottom cabinets are under the sink and on either side of the oven, so no deal there.  But we do have a bookshelf in the kitchen (for lack of cabinets), so I gave them the bottom two shelves of that.  They have a great time playing with the old Tupperware bowls and cups and a couple of spoons I put down there.  They are also eating more table food, which is great for the food budget.  I can't get them to eat apples or bananas, but they love asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Whatever, it's good for them.  Oh, and pasta.  So I'm hoping and praying this is the end of the baby food.  This weekend, I'm working on switching over to sippy cups for everything but bedtime bottles.  They do really well during the day with them now, so we'll see how that goes.  I've got more pictures to post, but will probably wait until after this weekend - Lindsay is coming to town and we'll see her on Saturday at the farmers market/craft fair!

B is for Baseball

B is also for Bryson, who got to see play baseball this past weekend!  But let's start from the top, shall we?
Friday morning was awful.  The boys obviously felt terrible and wouldn't stop crying.  Seriously.  So I was trying desperately to get the car packed so we could go pick up Andrew and it just wasn't happening.  They had gone down for a nap really early and didn't sleep well, so that didn't help.  So I put them in the car, grabbed the diaper bag (has my license in it), my shoes, and my phone and took a drive around the neighborhood.  It only took about 10 minutes to get them asleep, so that was good.  I parked in the driveway, left the car running, and scurried around getting the car packed.  I must have looked a mess, y'all.  I was barefoot (not a big deal to me) running between the house and car with the front door open, the car running with two sleeping babies in it.  Got it all in the car, though.  Check.  Had enough sense to turn off the lights and the computer before setting the alarm and locking up, but still called Andrew's mom on the way out to ask her to run by and at least run my dishwasher.  She was sweet and also finished the load of clothes I'd been trying to wash.  Drove to Publix to get medicine to put in the nebulizer (it's helping us knock the allergies out), but it wasn't ready.  Went and put gas in the car.  Check.  Babies awake, but content.  Drove around Publix parking lot several times and finally parked.  Five minutes later, babies started fussing.  Drove back to the pharmacy window (looking very harried, I'm sure) and finally got prescription.  Check.  Forgot teething tablets.. too late.  Picked up Andrew at work (babies were back asleep, thank goodness) and drove through Arby's for unplanned lunch.  Bad idea.  I can't resist the roast beef and my stomach cannot handle it.  Stomachache.  Jordan woke up about 10 minutes from my Pappaw's house (my daddy's daddy), but was quiet and happy until we got there.  Aidan slept the whole way (yay!).  Got there just in time for bottles and baby food.  The babies got to play with Pappaw for a good bit and one of my daddy's brother's came over with one of his daughters, who also enjoyed playing with the boys.  We got barbecue for supper and my parents and neice met us there.  We all went back to Pappaw's until the boys bedtime.  We stayed with Pappaw and Jordan slept perfectly soundly in the pack-n-play.  Andrew and I shared sleeping time with Aidan in a recliner because he still couldn't breathe well laying down.  Overall, the day ended well.

Saturday, we got and had breakfast at Jack's with Pappaw and one of his sisters and her husband.  We headed on up to Huntsville and got to watch Bryson's baseball game.  It's his first season to play and I think he really likes it.  He did a great job and his team won!  He got three hits - two on base -  and two runs!  Those were his first runs ever.  :)  I was so glad we got to be there!  He also got a Game Ball.  That game ball is usually given to the player who did the best that game.  This game, the whole team did so well that they gave two balls.  The first was to a kid who really helped lead the team to the win.  The second was to B who has really improved and is working hard.  We're so proud of him!  (I must say, baseball suits him better than basketball did.)  He was excited that Andrew and the boys and I were there, and that Pappaw came, too.  We went over to Mama & Daddy's for lunch and baseball cupcakes (courtesy of my *sweet* sis) before it was time to head home.  We had to stop back by Pappaw's in Arab because we forgot our nebulizer, but it's not too far out of the way, thankfully.  We had a great time seeing everyone and the boys really enjoyed getting out of the house.  I think it helped them get to feeling a little better, too.  They seemed perkier yesterday and have played happily and slept pretty well since we got home.  Hopefully we're rounding the corner on the these ear infections.

Our First Easter

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter!  We did.  I spent all weekend with two songs stuck in my head: 1. In Christ Alone & 2. Up From the Grave He Arose.  Both excellent songs and great for reflecting on Christ's resurrection.  We didn't hunt any eggs yesterday because, let's face, the boys are only 9 months old.  But we did go to an Easter Egg Hunt the weekend before and here are the pictures from that:

The hula hoop made for good entertainment when the eggs got a little old.

But who wants eggs or a hula hoop when there are bulldozers to be played with?

So yesterday before church, we got the boys dressed and let them see their Easter baskets:

The boys got Easter cards earlier this week from Mimi & Grandpa, so I saved them for their baskets.

They both got a stuffed bunny (actually given to them at a baby shower before they were born - can't remember by who, but we're thankful to them) and a new pair of shoes from Nana & Pops.

After church, we went to Nana & Pops' house for lunch and funfilled day of family.  Uncle James was there and he gave the boys each a big stuffed bunny and a dragon hoodie towel.

We played outside

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Then the adults played Uno Attack before supper.  It was a fun day, and boys were wiped out by the time we got home.