We're Four Months Old!

Yo yo yo!

We found our feet, dude. Nothing like some good ole' fashioned toe jam in the mouths. This, combined with our spit bubbles, is deeeeeelicious goodness.

We also got to hang out with Daddy for his first ever Father's Day. Mommy already told you about that day, but I bet she left out one tiny detail. She CUT Anderson's fingertip while trying to saw off these long fingernails, yo. There were a lot of tears shed by both of us. Mommy said she's going to have to hire a new fingernail cutter person because she can't muster up the courage anymore. Yesssssssss. Anderson 1 - Mommy 0.

It healed up okay, though. Slap on a bandaid and he was back to batting at the toys hanging from our floor gym. We loooove that thing. Our Mimi gave it to us when we were born. Workin' on the triceps and biceps has never been easier. We can even grab hold of the toys and put them in our mouths! We think we're starting to get those teeth-y things so we want to put everything in our mouths, including our thumbs. Gotta keep those fingers hidden from Mommy so she won't cut them off.

Mommy got us a jumperbouncerthingie and a red Mustang. We're pretty fly for some white guys. We spend most of our time jumping and driving around the living room looking for chicks. She said that we're not allowed to date yet, but we can still look. As a matter of fact, she said we can't ever date. >eye roll< Whatevs.

A also learned how to climb over his boppy during tummy time. He can also roll from his tummy to back. B is still lifting weights teething rings and working on his upper body/core strength.

We wore our Boom Boom & Pow outfits on the Fourth of July and got to celebrate our transfer. Mommy said that they watched us slide down a tube into her uterus a year ago. We don't really remember that, but bet it was one heck of a water slide.

Mommy and Daddy give us a bath every night and make us go to bed around 7:30 after we tell them about our day, say our prayers, and get our milk drunk on. A still likes to get up for a snack around 4am, while B prefers to stay in LaLa land, that is if A's screams don't wake him up. We drink about 7-8 ounces of breast milk each at 8a, 12p, 4p, and 7:30p. Sometimes we like to snack in-between feedings so we just cry and they come running. Haha. Ha. They usually give us formula for our snacks because we're impatient and don't want to wait for the boobie stuff to warm up. Our favorite time of day is when we nap from 9ish to 12ish, 2ish to 330ish, and 6ish to 630. They give us these things called head rubs which makes falling asleep prettttty sweet.

We caught another cold from daycare this month. Blahhhh. Hopefully we'll be immune to most germs by the time school starts!

We had to go to the doctorrrrr for our four month checkup. They made us drink some crazy syrup, dug wax out of our ears, and stuck needles in our legs! In hindsight, we think our meltdowns were a little dramatic, but still. Put.the.needles.down. Sheesh. He told us to start eating some rice cereal in our bowls at dinnertime, so we showed Mommy and Daddy how it's done. Of course, we have to get baths afterwards. Next month we get to try veggies!

Anderson weighed 15 lb 3 oz (51%) and was 26" long (88%). Head circumference 17" (75%).

Baney weighed 16lb 13 oz (85%) and was 25.5" long (75%). Head circumference 17" (75%).

We are some big & tall boys, considering we were born 2 weeks early!

Here are crazy camera lady's pictures from this past month.

Our Aunt KK, Uncle B, and Morganism came to visit!

On a mission for chicks.

A cooking lesson from Daddy

Baney's first 4th

Our first 4th...wearing our onesies from Aunt KK!

Anderson's first 4th

Love

Having fun with Daddy!

Happy Transfer Day Boom Boom & Pow!

Chillin' in the glider

Time to eat

What the heck is this crap?

Oh.My.Gah.

Well, I guess it's okay.

Interesting.

I love my Daddy

Baney

Giggles

BFF's for life

Cuteness

Enough of this being serious stuff

Anderson

Love.Them.

See ya next month!!!

Happy Boom Boom and Pow Day!

Because, I think it's fun to make myself cry. 

To view the full resolution video on YouTube, click here.

Conception

Most people don't know when their children were conceived. We knew the exact minute. 

One year ago today, Boom Boom and Pow (along with all of their siblings) were created! It is absolutely amazing how they went from two cells each in a petri dish to the precious boys we are holding today. Unbelievable. I went back and read the post that I wrote exactly one year ago, and it gives me chills. If our donor wasn't anonymous, I would find her and give her the biggest hug. She was a selfless rockstar and gave us the greatest gifts ever.

We spent that week in Charleston, and ended up transferring Boom Boom and Pow on the Fourth of July...hence, their nicknames. So, the Fourth is going to be a pretty big day for us this year. We plan on having a little celebration for our miracle boys and I can't wait!

I just can't believe it's already been a year. I wish I would have known then what I know now...the future has turned out to be much better than we could have ever imagined! Thank you God for giving our doctors the knowledge to help us become parents!

Weekend before the transfer...hanging out with my sis and our friends!

The looooong five day wait while our embabies grew..nothing like the beach to get rid of some nervous energy!

Weekend before our transfer...ice cream date!

Waffle cones rock.

Little did we know that five days later, we would become Mommy & Daddy! So grateful!

Yep, we were partying in the petri dish this time last year. Woohoo!

First Baby Daddy Day

No man can possibly know what life means, what the world means, until he has a child and loves it. And then the whole universe changes and nothing will ever again seem exactly as it seemed before.

- Lafcadio Hearn

One hundred and eighty degrees. 

The past fourteen years of our relationship have been turned around, flipped upside down, dumped into a blender, and thrown in fifty different directions. The last three and a half months have trumped all of those years. We don't know how we ever lived without these two precious men! I'll say it a million times...we definitely have been blessed with more than we deserve.

I tried to get Andy to write a post about his first Father's Day, but he wasn't having it. He said that he would spend three days erasing things and telling himself that he sounded stupid, and it just wasn't worth it. Awesomeballs! One day I WILL convince him to be a guest blogger. I'm sure that it would be entertaining to say the least!

Yeah, Andy...you read that right. Get to thinking.

I hope that I made his first Father's day special...I really, really tried! It's sooooo hard trying to buy things for a man. I definitely didn't want to get the generic wallet or tie...I wanted him to look back and remember this day.

I started out by cooking him breakfast in bed. I'm so creative....no joke. I made heart-shaped cowboy eggs, an entire plate of grease-slathered bacon, complete with a bowl of Reese's Pieces and Miller Light on the side. Man + Meat + Candy + Beer in the AM = Score.

We started out by making the boys their own stepping stones complete with footprints! This gift led up to Sunday, when I surprised him with two baby Japanese Maple trees. I thought that it would be so cool to watch these trees grow up with A & B! We had a planting party Sunday afternoon and placed the stepping stones in front of each boy's respective tree. If we ever move, I'm not leaving without having them transplanted.

I hope that Andy enjoyed his weekend...there is nothing like watching the joy on his face when he's with Boom Boom and Pow. I can't even begin to describe how it feels seeing this side of him. I'm so glad that I could finally give him the gift of fatherhood! He has been such a good father and I don't know what we would ever do without him. I can only pray that they will grow up to be just like their daddy...without the smell!

Cuddle time with daddy

Love

Being silly

Heart shaped cowboy eggs

Breakfast in Bed, complete with Reese's Pieces and washed down with a beer;)

Telling secrets...shhh!

Time to make our stepping stones!

Messy stuff

Putting our footprints on the stepping stones!

More interested in the chandelier

Baney's stepping stone

Anderson's stepping stone

Boom Boom and Pow left this message for Daddy:)

Daddy, his boys, and their baby trees

Who's yo daddy?

Baby Japanese Maples and their stepping stones

Can't wait to watch them grow with our babies!

Can't forget hose time with the firstborn...

Happy Father's Day Andy, finally! You deserve every minute of it!

We're Three Months Old!

What upppp errbody!

We're a quarter of year old! Mommy always tells us that she's gonna take us to Neverland so that we can't grow anymore. We are both in size 2 diapers now. Daddy weighed us on his scale and it looks like Anderson is 13ish pounds, and Baney is 15ish. What can we say? Mommy has amazing juggies.

Our eyes are are starting to look dark greenish. Daddy's eyes change from blue to green all of the time, so we're probably taking after him. Our hair is medium brown with a little Auburn/copper tint to it. Baney lost a lot of his and was starting to look like Charlie Brown, but it's growing back now. Anderson's, on the other hand, is gelled and mohawked on a daily basis.

We eat anywhere from 6.5-8 oz of pumped breast milk every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Anderson still likes to eat a couple of times during the night, but Baney prefers sleep more often than not. We like to take 2-3 hour naps mid-morning and after lunch, then a short power nap late afternoon...onnnnnn a good day. We do like to stay somewhat unpredictable and skip naps sometimes...it keeps Mommy on her toes. And we laugh. Haha.

Mommy had to leave us at the end of May to go back to some crazy thing she calls work. We were a little discombobulated at first, but we're kind of getting used to the new schedule. We saw her crying a lot, so we worked really really hard for a couple of nights and taught ourselves how to giggle. That made her smile a little more. She told us they're letting her work part-time, so she gets to stay home and cuddle with us TWO extra days a week. Can't beat that.

Our grandma (Mmmie K) takes us to a nice lady's house when Mommy has to work. We have made lots of friends there and even brought home our first colds! It was terrrrrrrible. It was so hard to breathe, but mommy stuck our faces in that steamy thing and woke us up in the middle of the night with a big sucky thing up our noses. She made up for it by rocking us back to sleep...so it's hard to stay mad at her. She tries.

This past month we have learned to giggle, flirt with hot mamas, do push-ups, sit upright in our Bumbos, and drool.  Anderson got all crazy one day and decided to roll over on his back during tummy time. Baney has yet to master the skill, but he was jealous and has been working on his upper body strength by lifting weights teething rings. We also discovered one another and like to make silly faces at each other. We even try to make conversation, but we can't understand all of that babble yet. We decided that we are going to have to make up our own language to drive Mommy and Daddy bonkers! We're pretty much geniuses.

There are these little wiggly things at the end of our arms that fascinate us. We try to eat them but they don't taste very good. Slobber is just sooooo bland. They are good for pulling out Mommy's hair and punching each other in the face, though.

The best part of this month was taking our first swim! We dressed up in special diapers and hats and played in the water with Mommy and Daddy! We loooove water and it was so much fun. Bath time is now our favorite part of the day! Ahhhhh.

We get to go out to eat every time we turn a month older...it's turned into a tradition and so far we've behaved every time. Mmmie K and Daddy Mike got to come with us this month! We love to people watch so that keeps us distracted while the 'rents put this stuff they call food in their mouths. Too bad they can't suck on boobie milk all day like we can.

We could get used to this thing called life. It's preeeeettttty cool. We can't wait until next weekend...it's Daddy's first Father's Day, so we have to think of some surprises! We got this.

Our 3 month shoot...mommy and that camera.

Giving a shout-out to our Aunt Ebeth in Chicago! Gooooo Cubs!

Our first swim! We call this redneck pool day in our inflatable pool.

Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?

Mohawk Mania

Baney has a meltdown during our first pool day.

Baney's first swim

Anderson's First Swim...not so sure about this, haha

We're 3 months old!

I just love my Mommy

Baney

Anderson

Pictures are soooo overrated. Gah.

Chunky Monkey and Spider Monkey

Our first walk!

And this is just part of our daily loot. Mommy said she's going to become a professional bottle washer.

I'm Daddy's clone

What uppppp

I love my Mmmie K

I love my Daddy Mike

3 Month Celebration

3 Month Celebration

See ya next month!

   

An Anniversary Road Trip to Remember

11 years. Eleven. Eeeeeeleven.

Whew.

I called it last year! I said that we would have a family by our 11th anniversary, and looky looky what came true! We usually go on some crazy unplanned road trip to a far away land every year, but we were perfectly content just chillin' with our homies. Well, it started out that way. Then, my parents offered to watch them while Andy and I went on a date! Sounds easy enough, right?

We might as well have hired a crane to lift our house up and set it down in my parent's backyard.

We started packing all of their things up the night before. And kept packing.

...and kept packing.

Sixteen hours later. Yep. Still packing.

Two-of-everything-stuffed-in-our-car-later, we hit the road Saturday afternoon to drive ten miles to my parents house. We dropped the boys off and made sure that we handed my parents an entire page of instructions on how to take care of our babies...as if they didn't raise four kids already.

An hour later they finally convinced us to put the babies down and leave.

We planned it out. We were going to stuff our faces, see an afternoon matinee, stuff our faces again, then partake in an evening of adult beverages. We would then take a cab back to my parents house and crash there for the night.

All started as planned...first stop, Mexican. Ole! Or whatever you say in Spanish. It was a mild and beautiful day, so we sat outside on the veranda and showed the cheese dip and margaritas who's boss. I'm so glad that I had on maternity jeans. I don't think I'll ever be able to give those bad boys up. Muffin-top be gone.

It all went downhill from there.

Next stop, Target. We got our Starbucks fix, then hit up the clearance section. I was so excited that I found the Dove lotion that I've been searching for...cucumber and green tea. I LOVE the smell of it. Not to get off track, but I just realized (nearly a month later) that it was body wash. I've been putting BODY WASH on my legs for the past month. I was wondering why it sucked. Blame sleep deprivation. 

After our Target shopping experience, we pulled to the back of the parking lot and I hopped in the back seat of my car and...haha. Not what you're thinking. I plugged in the Medela and pumped away. Ahhhhh. The life of a breastfeeding mommy. It's a full time job in itself.

By this time, it was already too late to see a matinee, so we just went on to dinner. We decided on the Ale House so that we could try out some new drafts and catch some games. We basically talked about the boys the ENTIRE time, flipped through pictures of them on our phones, ate, and were back at my parents house by 10:30. I ran upstairs to their pack n' play to give them some kisses and make sure they were still breathing. Then I pumped again.

~~~ Happyyyyy. Anniversary. ~~~

Since the boys were out of their element, they were confused and ended up staying up ALL night. We tried to mimic their cribs with the pack n' play, but that was a lost cause. Thankfully mom brought them downstairs the next morning so that we could get a little cat nap.

Moral of story...stay home where your camp is already set up, buy some fancy beer, cook, and cuddle with babies!

A & B on our anniversary...they wanted to be dressed for the occasion!

I'm pretty certain that the ten mile drive to my parents house was the best anniversary road trip we have ever taken in our eleven years together. All because we finally had our babies with us. With a little practice and a moving van, we'll be good to go come this time next year.

P.S. Look like lotion. Smell like lotion. Not lotion.