Happy Eating

Holly and JD have been very happy babies since they got over their nasty colds. Honestly, I think I am done with those. It always seems like they get a cold right when sleeping at night starts to get better. So back to happy babies. I love that I can pull their high chairs away from the table and say, “it’s time for lunch/dinner” and they come ready to be lifted in their chairs. They are especially excited if I have cheetos or blueberries waiting for them. They definitely come in handy when I am trying to make dinner. Anyway, at lunch they were playing with chip clips while eating Cheetos and JD snagged one in between the clip. He didn’t notice until he went to pick one up with his fingers. When he realized what he did his eyes got really big and he started eating it right off the clip. It was pretty funny.

Can’t Help But Smile

Gone are the days that I can shower or go to the bathroom and come out into the living room to find Holly and JD content and playing with their toys or watching their music video. Here are the days that I come in to find them into something. Thankfully it’s not anything that can cause a huge mess and they aren’t hurting each other. I am learning that Holly is more the instigator and JD likes to follow her. A few days ago I found Holly digging in the church bag and out popped her hand with an apple. It’s healthy, she has teeth, no big deal. So I let her chomp away. When she was through she handed to JD so he could have a few chomps.

Holly’s new favorite thing to do is to climb up on the couch, ottoman, our laps, you name it she’s climbing! We keep diapers, wipes, kleenex boxes, and the computer on top of the couch because the babes couldn’t get to them. That is not so much the case anymore. I gave the babies a little snack to eat while I showered and when I came out into the living room it was quiet. I found JD eating kleenex, well he mostly sucks on it and sticks his tongue out so I can get the little pieces out of his mouth. Holly on the other hand is sitting on the couch pulling tissue after tissue out of the box. She was totally surrounded by them and all the while with a grin on her face! I just love these babies kids.

Swimming

The first time I took the babies swimming it wasn’t the hottest day. It took them a little while to get used to sitting in their floaties in the water without holding onto me. But after a while they got used to it. We have since been a few more times and they absolutely love the water. Their floaties are in the back of the van and every time we get into the car JD points to them wanting to go swimming. They are getting a little more adventurous and love the water without their floats. JD enjoys jumping off the side, holding on to my hands of course and Holly loves splashing and dipping her little face in the water. What’s great is they both actually keep their hats on the whole time. Everyone comments on their little tans now thanks to getting out in the sun to swim! Hopefully we’ll get to go swimming a lot more this summer.

Child Proofing

Holly and JD are standing taller, reaching farther and getting into everything. It’s definitely fun to see how adventurous and interested they are in the things around them. And it’s getting a little crazy to keep up with them. It’s a good thing I’m not alone in this whole parenting thing. A while ago we bought a new dvd cabinet because the one we had was tall and could easily tip over on the babes and didn’t have doors. The new one we got has little handles and doors that stay closed with magnets. We thought we were safe for a while. That “while” came quicker than we thought and one day JD opened the cabinet door and Holly came rushing over. It was as if they found a treasure! Never mind the two big toy bins that are out in the open all day long. So instead of fighting them to put the dvds back I took a few pictures, let them empty the whole thing, built a few towers, knocked them over (the towers not the babies) and then put them all back. We have since put a rubber band around the handles so they can’t open it anymore. They have since moved on to bigger and better things to get into!

Bro Bro

JD is our little walkin boy. He is getting so much more adventurous. He knows how to turn around on stairs and go down on his belly but sometimes he just wants to walk, good thing we are there to catch him. He loves the pool and would jump in without help if we let him. He really, I mean really, likes buttons. He has since taught his sister the tricks and thrill he gets from pushing the tv and video buttons. It drives us crazy. Almost everyday I’ll look at my dvr’d shows and find shows that both Jim or I did not record like Who want to be a Millionaire or Sid the Science Kid. Too funny! JD is a little copycat these days too. It’s just so amazing how fast they both are learning. We sure do love our little guy.

Holly Bolly

That’s my new nickname for her. You might also hear Sissy Bean, Sis, Hols, or Sweet Cheeks. Recently she has been sick with just a little cold, very snotty and the poor girl can’t breath when she sucks her thumb! But that doesn’t stop her from playing non-stop with her partner in crime. In fact she has since mastered climbing on the ottoman and the couch, encouraging JD to do the same. She hasn’t started to walk freely like JD but she loves to use the walker-ing toy(walker sounds so elderly), and can even turn it and maneuver it in a straight line. So cute. She loves swimming and splashing in water, especially the bath tub. And when we take pictures of her she doesn’t smile at the camera like JD, she squints her eyes. We just love this girl.

Let Freedom Ring

Growing up my family and I spent most summers in Texas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. My grandpa is retired from the Army and lives right by the Fort Hood Army base so on the 4th of July we would celebrate on the base. It was patriotic. It was fun. It was special. And I’ll admit it, I enjoy watching the specials on tv. And now, I almost always cry when we sing The Star Spangled Banner in church. Mostly because we sing all the verses and the words just really get me. This year I held it together I think because I was holding a restless baby. I’m so thankful for my grandpa and the sacrifice he made for our country and the sacrifice my grandma made while he was away from home. How I miss spending time at their house in the summer. But grateful I have those memories and for a grandfather who instilled such patriotism in me.

This year I dressed the babies in red, white and blue in effort to show our patriotic spirit. It was a very low key day with naps and hot dogs with the family. I tried to make a flag cake but realized late Saturday night that I didn’t have white cake mix so I went with the red velvet cake. Turns out my father in law’s mom always made red velvet so it was a nice treat for him. We ended the day with some fireworks. Shh don’t tell!