Our 1st Birthday Party

Arianna and Matthew celebrated their 1st Birthday party on Saturday, February 27th @ 1pm! Their party was at Mummu and Papa's house and was attended by many family and friends. Nana, Papa and Uncle Jake flew in from Nebraska to help celebrate their 1st Birthday too! Mom did a lot of work and preparation for their party to make it very special! They received lots of great gifts and really enjoyed eating their cupcakes! Matthew looked like a smurf at the end because of how blue he was! With both kids being sick and having no naps - they were GREAT! They finally crashed at 7:30 - and poor Ari was up 1/2 the night crying cause she really didn't feel well! Overall we had a great day!

new words!

Arianna's new words are: Duck and Dinner and Arf Arf she's so cute when she says them too - forgets the D for dinner so its more like inna (i need to be better at pronouncing my R's!) hehe

Last night when we came home - the dog next door started barking and Ari kept saying: Arf Arf...Arf Arf!

poor Matthew...he got a boo boo!

I got a frantic phone call this afternoon from David at work - saying "oh god - I think I just broke Matthew's hand!" so I flew home! On my way I called the neighbor to go over to make sure David was ok w/both kids - but more so to remove Ari from any situation...

So...David got home and both kids were there becuase today is a Becky day - so the kids stay at the house. He was in the bathroom washing his hands and the kids love playing in the bathroom - but we don't let them. David just finished saying "Get out of the bathroom" and he shut the door. About 3 seconds go by and he hears a blood curdling scream - Matthew's finger is in the hinge side of the door! David opened the door - realized he shut his finger and immediately ran it under water. He said it was as flat as a pancake!

I came home and 3 neighbors were here and Matthew was calm - one look at Mama and he had a meltdown again! We called the Doc and I brought him in - just for a check. They said his finger tip is probably fractured, but there is nothing they can really do...just ice it and tylenol for the pain.

I'm not sure who took it worse...Matthew or Daddy! Daddy felt awful - and when I got home he was sweating!

Matthew is walking!

Matthew was taking a few steps here and there - but this weekend really started to walk! He gets SO excited! After each step, screams at the top of her lungs cheering very loud. On Friday night, he walked all over the kitchen - Grammie, Daddy and I were cheering for him - and then Ari started yelling and clapping too! She was so proud of Matthew for his great accomplishment!

2.5 weeks...we did it!

In 2.5 weeks, Ari and Matthew will be 1! David and I did it! They say if you can survive the first year of raising twins, then you can survive anything! We almost strangled each other a few times, but we did it!

Here's the breakdown of this year:
Formula: $960.00 (80.00 a month x 12 months)
Diapers: $300.00 (luckily we had a 6 month supply)
Food: $600.00
The joys of raising twins...PRICELESS!

I'm actually having a hard time with the thought of the kids being 1. They are still my "babies" but they aren't babies anymore! Each day brings something new and exciting to our life! Today, Joyce called me and said Matthew walked the entire length of their kitchen...what? Matthew walked? He hasn't done that for us yet! Arianna has been saying more words and loves to imitate you. For example, I brought the kids to Joyce and Mike's on Tuesday - I said: we are at Mummu and Papa's. She then said Moo Bappa...so I said are we at Mummu and Papa's house - she then said: yea!

Their 1st birthday party is 2/27 - at Joyce & Mike's house. Can't wait...well...yes I can!

a few new firsts!

Let's see - the kids are now 11 months old and over the past 11 months have had many firsts! Within the last few weeks - they are progressing so fast...that it's scary!

Arianna - well she's our dare devil and has NO FEAR!! She climbs the stairs, she tries to climb on things (dishwasher, radiator, toys, etc.), and she just looks at you and laughs all while she is doing it! She has been walking non-stop now (pretty much gave up on crawling...except for her rabbit bounce she does). She has even mastered bending down, picking up a toy, while drinking her bottle and then stands back up and walks away! She claps for herself when she does something great! Ari still has 6 teeth (7&8 haven't completly popped out yet) - and she likes to bite! We're working on telling her NO! I have noticed she tends to bite when she is frustrated and we don't know what she wants. Usually she lunges towards Matthew when she bites...but I've gotten bit a few times and let's hope that is the end of that!

Ari has also said a few words over the past few weeks. She's been saying: mama, dadda, bubba for a while now, but her 2 new words are: Uh Oh and Honk. This morning when I brought the kids to Mummu and Papa's house - I took her out of the car and said "We're at Mummu's" - she then repeated: "Moo Baba" right after - for Mummu and Papa. She's so smart!

Last night we also had our first blood shed from Ms Ari. She and Matthew were playing in their room while I was putting clothes away. For some reason they love playing with the play mat they used when they were infants - they stand and pull on the top and well she was doing that, toppled forward and her top tooth went into her lip. I told her to be careful that she'd get hurt, but noooooooo we don't listen to Mom! So she started to cry and I looked at her and she had a mouth full of blood! GREAT! David put ice on it and all she wanted to do was eat the ice cube - so she was fine!

Matthew is more timid and shy than his sister! He's very reserved and has to scope things out first. He has now masterd climbing the stairs - and he tries to race Ari to the top. At first he'd climb up 1 stair and just cry for us to get him down - we need to toughen him up! LOL He has been eating up a storm - and we can't seem to get enough food into him. One of his favorite foods is bananas. I'll hold the banana and let them take bites off it - Matthew can't get enough in his mouth at once! He just loves food - Toast, Eggs, Chicken, Pulled Pork, Veggies, there is nothing that he won't eat! I'm very lucky to have 2 kids who LOVE food!

Matthew has taken 2 steps - but that's about it. He loves to crawl and the joke in our house is that he needs knee pads. He slams his knees down on the floor and is non-stop. He loves to help David with the dishes. He stands at the end of the dishwasher and bounces it up and down. Sometimes he'll take stuff out. Matthew is obsessed with doors and drawers now. He has to take all of the tupperware out of the cabinets - as well as pots and pans. He LOVES making a mess!!!

Matthew has been such a cuddle-bug lately and loves the ladies. He'd rather be sitting on the bathroom floor watching me get ready for work - than downstairs playing with Dad and Ari. He says: Mama, Dadda, Bubba, and his new word is also Uh Oh.

Oh the joys of twins! Love every minute of it!

Stars on Ice!

This weekend, the kids (and myself) were recovering from colds. Even though they have been under the weather, it doesn't stop their energetic personalities...sound familiar?? On Saturday, we stayed home and played and relaxed!

On Sunday, we went to Mom's house for Steve & David's birthdays. Brian and Eric joined and we had a yummy turkey dinner and played all afternoon! The ice was in perfect condition - becuase it has been so frigid here - so we all went out ice skating! Everyone got their skates on and I had a great idea! I saw 2 milk crates and asked Eric to bring them down to the ice. Then, Steve went and got some fluffy old towels and we plopped those in the bottom of the crates - put the kids on their knees and wa-la we have little hockey pucks!

They had a BLAST! Brian and David took their hockey sticks and pulled them all ove the ice! Arianna was screaming with laughter as she went flying all over! She loved it! Matthew is a little like me and more reserved. He had the nervous laugh going - and was having a good time until he hit a snow drift in the ice and fell over! He was done after that! It was good to have some fresh air and it really made all the snots come out of their noses! LOL

We headed back inside for some warm air and played until it was time for bath and time to head home. They slept the entire ride home - and Matthew stayed sleeping when David took him out of his carrier and slept until 6am this morning! Overall it was a fun weekend!