Happy Birthday to the greatest twins of all!

Happy birthday to Eli and Jude!

I know we haven't posted a lot as of late, and for that, I'm sorry, world. Life has just gotten in the way. Kind of like how I feel when realizing that my two boys, Eli and Jude, have just turned 3. Where did the time go? It feels like only yesterday that the boys were waking every 4 hours for milk, or starting to crawl, or getting up to walking during a football game, or climbing out of their cribs and flopping to the ground. These 3 year olds sure have grown a lot... but the best part about it is that they're not going to stop. What I am going to do this year when they want to go everywhere "by them selves" as they already have begun asking? What sort of trouble will they get into with their newest car, a red fire engine (which the boys will loooove getting into trouble with this year, I guarantee that, thanks Granddad!)? Will they swing so high on their new swing set that they turn inside out? Will anyone else get that reference? What I'm saying really is that life has been pretty good for them, and for us, for the past 3 years. Sometimes we forget that what really sticks in our memories are the good times, the special moments. Sure, I vaguely remember the times when Eli had a bit of "explosive diarrhea" at me, but so many of the little things I got upset about just don't matter that much. I have two miraculously well behaved and well mannered three year olds and I am thankful every day that they are who they are.

Today we'll be going out in the backyard to drive the little car around, play ball, and watch Daddy try to build a swing set. We'll go to a birthday dinner at Red Robin (probably their favorite restaurant we've been to) for the little ones and we'll come home to snuggle up to several bed-time stories (they love reading, so one is never enough). They'll go to sleep and I think I'll cry just a bit thinking about how lucky I am to have these loving, special pair of boys.

But for now, I'm going to go out there with the boys eating a snack and snuggle them while I can. They're 3 after all, so that means I get less and less opportunities to snuggle them. They are always so busy, and often politely decline my snuggle request with a "No, thanks" because they have something to do. Soon enough, they'll be too big for me to scoop up and spin around the room with, but for now, I'll settle with what I can get.

Oh, and by the way, I had a bit of a iPhone catastrophe earlier in the week when my iPhone took a tumble from the van into a drainage ditch, cracking on the corners and getting wet, so I dryed it out and reset the phone, so no more videos, but I will get some up as soon as we can. Maybe today, or maybe tomorrow. My New Year's Resolution is to pay closer attention to the little things that make life worth living, and to let go of the little things that nag at us all. Our brains are smart organs; they expel the little nagging things and with rose colored glasses, view the past through the lens of the great things that happened to us.

Friends don't let friends get eaten by Mommy

Me: I'm going to eat Judah all up!  He smells so yummy!
Eli: NOOOOO!  Don't eat him!
Me: Why not?  He is delicious!
Eli: No Mommy!  He's not delicious!  He's my best friend!

We're Back! :)

Sorry for the long absence, we've had a great summer!  Lots of visiting family, playing at school, getting jobs/working, etc.  We even potty trained!  To make up for our long time away, here's a super cute video that shows just how much our little people have grown over the summer.

New videos

We've been having a tough couple weeks on the job hunt and working our butts off, so sorry about the late releases, but we've got two videos today! Sorry about the lighting; the sun was setting so it was hard to get a good lock on the contrasts/brightness and I was a bit too lazy to edit in iMovie. I hope you enjoy!

Cute baby dinner!

Sleepy reader post

Eli and Jude are really getting into reading. Here they are after they were reading right before naptime today; I figured that i'd take a quick shot with my iPad (which allowed me to read in their room before they finally fell asleep)!

Eli and Jude at Bedtime these days

The boys are getting rowdy going to sleep these days, and certainly don't like to sleep much despite their need for it... this is an accounting of our nightly struggle to get into bed. I hope you enjoy (and they're characteristically cute at bedtime too!)