Twin's 1st Halloween! (outside the hospital that is...)

I have been looking forward to Halloween for such a long time:) Last year, when I was packing my hospital bag, I shoved in two adorable little Halloween onsies just in case the babies came early:) Well...they did--on the Eve of Halloween...and my life was turned upside down:) I was adjusting to be a mother to two babies and also dealing with one of my babies being in the NICU. Overwhelming to say the LEAST....

My "Lilly Bean" in the NICU
"Jake Jake" hanging out with me in my hospital bed...
SO....I've really been looking forward to enjoying my babies this Halloween and having them both healthy, happy, and out of the hospital:) I've actually never been a big "Halloween" person but over the years of struggling to be a mother, it was one of my hardest holidays to get through...I am so ECSTATIC that I now have little ones to dress up and take around to trick or treat:) Pictures below:)

My lamb and piggy

This piggy is a HAM!

Jake and Lilly hanging out with their favorite monkey!

Mother Goose came for a visit again!

My little lamb:)

The farm animals and their farmers:)

They one 1st place for cutest costume at a neighborhood block party!

Jake was tuckered out and eventually fell asleep in the wagon:)

I love this pic of Jake asleep- Lilly was perfectly content and stayed up past her bedtime with no problem- she loved all of the attention! She also loved playing with Jake's black ribbon on his costume...we caught her (on several occasions) pulling at his ribbon and making him sit up when he was asleep:) Poor guy...
All in all it was a fun night:) We may rethink doing the birthday party the day before trick or treating next year...mommy and daddy were EXHAUSTED!

Twin's First Birthday!

Its been a crazy fun-filled month of birthday parties, trick or treating, and a busy social calendar:) I've been having fun planning the twin's birthday party for a while now with the help of my party-crazy sister Holly:) We had a "nursery rhyme" theme and the twin's got so many wonderful children's books:) Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:)

Jake and Lilly (best shot with 1 year olds!)
Some party decorations

Mother Goose (aka Grandma B) came for a visit!

Birthday Dad!
Lilly was such a "lady" with the cake:)
Jake...not so much:)
Mommy and Lilly!
Lilly swimming in her tutu I made:)
Jake having a blast!
The twins attacking me in the bounce house:) They LOVE climbing over me at the same time and I call them my little monkeys:)
My Miss October:)
My little guy hanging out in the grass:)
It was such a fun day and we literally celebrated all day and night! Here are some more detailed pics of our nursery rhyme theme decorations:

Awesome Cake!

Birthday highchairs!

Humpty Dumpty Pinata

Custom Water Bottles

Little Piggies that went to the Market (pigs in a blanket)
3 blind mice (chocolate mice)
Hot Cross Buns (sticky buns)
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (pb&j sandwiches)
Mother Goose Reading Area

Red Wagon

There is something about a red wagon that reminds me of childhood so much:) Hence my excitement when I found a great deal on this radio flyer wagon over the weekend! This is going to be perfect for the pumpkin patch, halloween, and evening walks now that the weather is getting nice! The kids seemed to enjoy it and Jake only tried to climb out at the very end (thank goodness for seat belts!) Since ALL I've listened to over the past couple of weeks are football commentaries; here' s a play by play of the red wagon premiere!

Lilly and Jake the first time in the wagon- seem to like it!

Jake's now NOT so sure once it starts moving...Lilly is enthralled with the flowers:)

There was a moment of excitement for Lilly when they passed through the gate- FREEDOM!

Hmmp--now they're both not too sure about this...

Ok they decided it was FUN after all!:)

Let's go on our walk ALREADY?!:) (Geez-why does Jake have to look so grown up in these pictures???)

On a completely random note we (I) painted pumpkins today with our close friends:) It was so much fun!

Tail of the Sprinkler:)

Well it's that time of year where all of the Phoenicians plant their winter seed and water our yards to our heart's content:) It's kind of an "unofficial" welcoming of fall/winter where the temperatures are slowly dropping and its not completely unbearable to be outside for more than 30 seconds:) Lilly decided to skip her nap and hang out with Daddy and the sprinkler. These are one of those "first time parent" experiences where we think it's cute the first time but NEVER again:)

Lilly looking at Daddy- "CAN I?"

OHHH FUN!

Army crawling over:)

First touch:)

And then she's DRENCHED!:)

Daddy has one messy girl!

It's ok- he cleaned her up and she's all better!:)

11 months!

When I went to take my monthly shot of the twins last night I got teary eyed that I'm only going to do this one more time! (only planned on doing monthly shots for the first year). I have no idea how time has passed so quickly and my little peanuts are now pre-toddlers! I do have to say that gotten harder and harder every month to keep these monkeys still for these pictures:) They don't want to sit still and are little explorers (monsters!):)

Another big milestone is that the babies are now wearing "big kids" pajamas! I can't believe how old they look in these pics:)

Lilly Bean:)

Lilly's new cheesy grin!

Jake in his prime!
My sweet boy:)
Another "Lilly" grin:)...btw I think she's getting a mullet:)