Happy Birthday (ok, a month and a half later)

I'm sorry I'm so late in posting their birthday party pictures. :o(

(We've been super busy and have had trouble with our computer randomly freezing up or shutting down lately.)

The kids had a blast during the chaos that occurred while opening presents.

Lilly was really into opening her own gifts...and then playing with them...and then showing them off to the camera.

Austin was pretty laid back and not too interested in opening his gifts. He finally managed to get through them all with some coaxing and help from his cousins.

They both took time to relax in their new chairs.

And then there was cake of course...

And then some quality time with Uncle Pat.

Time is certainly flying by! They are growing so fast...changing every day...and coming up with new ways to make us laugh every minute! :o)

Swim Lessons

A friend of ours, who works for the local pool (Splash Island) invited us to take the kids to free 'mock swim lessons.' These sessions were not so much geared towards the kids but more to teach the new instructors how to work with small children in the pool. The one hour sessions were held 2 nights a week for 4 weeks.

The first week was awful for the kids. I'm sure you can see the terror in poor Austin's face.

The main instructor was great with the kids. He ended up taking them to the water and tried to help them ease into it.

The kids at the very least got wet at each session.

By the second night of the second week, Dustin got in the water with them. They got in, still unwillingly. By the end of the third week, they played in the water while Dustin held them. By the fourth week...somewhat of a success. They got in the water with Dustin and eventually went to one of the new instructors for a very short time.

We were nervous for the first trip to Grandma Jan's pool. We didn't expect the kids to get in for long. Much to our surprise, yet again, Austin LOVED the water! He was jumping off the side of the pool into Dustin's arms...again and again and again. Lilly wouldn't jump, but she was pretty comfortable in my arms in the water.

Those FREE 'mock swim lessons' really paid off for us!

Lilly's First Haircut

A couple months ago, (yes, I am that far behind on posting pictures) we took Lilly to get her first haircut. We fully expected to be embarrassed by her stubbornness and screaming. Much to our surprise, she sat calmly on her John Deer tractor without a single tear or peep.

"JUMP!"

Candy at the ball park

The kids enjoy going to cousin Kenzie and Shelbie's softball games at the ball park. Most of the time, they can count on Aunt Brookie to bring them candy. They LOVE ring pops if you couldn't tell...

Laundry

After folding 3 loads of laundry, I left the room to put Lilly's clothes away in her bedroom. I come back to find the kids 'helping' me by shoving piles of clothes in the drawer of Austin's dresser. Naturally, I leave the room to grab my camera.

This is what I find upon re-entering Austin's room...

Such great 'helpers' at this age! I couldn't help but laugh! :o)

Pool Time!

Togetherness

Although they don't get along 24/7 and often fight just for the sake of fighting as siblings often do, the kids really do seem to love eachother. It's so funny to watch them interact...they could be fighting over some random toy, start screaming and hitting each other. But the second that one of them gets sent to their room or put in 'time out,' the other one is coming to their rescue, making sure they have their juice, milk or blanket for comfort, even though they just got in trouble for hitting the other one. They may not look much like twins, but there's no denying they're siblings!

1st Trip to the Dentist

We were pleasantly surprised with how well the kids did at their first visit with Dr. VanNatter. We warned her that they likely wouldn't want anything to do with her, but to our surprise they both willingly climbed up in the chair.

In the end, they each ended up sitting on my lap in the chair, opening their mouth long enough to take a sucker (sugar free of course) in and out, and the dentist eventually got a few swipes of flouride in there. All in all, a success!

Sneak Peak

I know the quality isn't the best because I took a picture of a picture with my phone, but here's a sneak peak nonetheless. More pictures to come once I have time to upload them from our recent visit to Portrait Innovations.