The Graduate

I can't believe my baby brother Jeffrey graduated Friday night! Jeffrey was only 6 years old when I started high school and he was my little buddy. I used to take him around with my friends, he knew all the words to our punk rocker songs, and we all called him 'J-money.' Now I take my kids to watch his basketball games, it's crazy how things change. Here's how I remember Jeffrey...
Just look at that face, are you surprised he was nominated most handsome in his senior class? Now here he is in all his senior glory...

Check out the slideshow for more pics of graduation night...

Congratulations Jeff, we can't wait for you to get your mission call!

1 month old

I can't believe the girls are 1 month old! On one hand, it seems like I was just pregnant yesterday...on the other hand I can't really remember life without them. So far everyone is happy and healthy, and we just feel lucky to have survived 4 (almost 5) whole weeks with these 2. So for a quick update: Elsie now weighs 8lbs. 5 oz. and Ava is exactly one pound bigger weighing in at 9lbs. 5oz. I feel like all I do is feed them all day long, so I guess it's good to know that they are growing tons and getting bigger. Here's how they spend their days (and nights)...
hanging out together (a,e)

chillin' in the swing (a)
getting kisses from kaydree (e)

having tummy time (e)

snoozing (a)

chatting with dad (e,a)

more tummy time (e,a)

crying! (a,e)

Here are some pics from our first Sunday at church, which deserves a post all by itself. It was madness and craziness...and we only stayed for sacrament meeting. Despite taking ALL morning to get ready, we still got there late and had to sit in the chairs in the gym (mistake #1). Thank goodness Ava slept the whole time b/c I was trying to keep Elsie quiet and Ryan was busy chasing after Carver. I don't know what we're going to do when both girls get fussy, I guess just hang out in the foyer the whole time. But they sure looked cute in their dresses so it was all worth it...

AvaElsie
E
A
Ava & Elsie
Here's hoping we make it through another month!

Jackson James

My younger brother Brent and his wife Janeen welcomed their new little guy into the world late Monday night. I know they already posted this on their blog, but I was just so excited that I had to put some pics up too! I am so proud of these guys for taking the plunge and having the courage to start their little family while still in college. And after 23 hours of hard labor, Janeen is definitely my new hero!

Jackson James
6 lbs. 15 oz.
21 inches

Congratulations guys!

Cute Cousins

We had a visit from Ryan's cousin Jared and his family yesterday. They are in Dallas for a couple of weeks, so we had them over for dinner and a fun visit. We hardly saw Kaydree and Genevieve the whole night, they played so well together. Carver and Aubrielle (their little 8 month old girl) tried to follow and play with the big girls and they had a pretty good time too. Look at these cute cousins...

As for the adults, we had a good time just hanging out and chatting. Rachel, Jared's wife, bought the cutest outfits for the kids - matching everything, including accessories for the girls! What a fun gift, I can't wait for the kids to wear these...

Oh yeah, Ryan and Jared also spent the night trying to keep our colicky newborns quiet and they did a pretty good job of it too...

We wished these guys lived closer, but we're also glad to have some cousins in San Antonio who are always up for visitors!

Sisters

a sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost

sisters are different flowers from the same garden

When mom and dad don't understand, a sister always will

In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips

What's the good of news if you haven't a sister to share it?

A sister is a forever friend

I am SO glad my girls have each other...

(PS: Thanks for the dresses, Nana!)

A Mother's Day for ME!

This year is the first year of celebrating Mother's Day that it actually felt like it was for ME. Usually I think about my mom on Mother's day or Ryan's mom or my grandma, but yesterday I really felt like a mom. Exhibit A:

Check out this beauty. That's right, I got a VACUUM CLEANER for mother's day, a husband's cardinal sin in my opinion. Now that's a mother's day gift that SUCKS (literally). In Ry's defense, I did ask for one. We have had the same vacuum for a whopping 5 years, 3 of those years being in our new house where I am still sucking up that new carpet fuzz. That's enough to ruin a nice vacuum right there. And I am not one of those who will drop a couple grand on a vacuum cleaner...when I spend that kind of cash on something it gets parked outside in my driveway and has a comprehensive insurance policy to go along with it. So we replaced cheap and old with cheap and new, and I am crossing my fingers that this bissell will last us another 5 years so I won't have to ask for a household appliance for a "gift" for awhile.
Don't worry, the day only got better from there. Ryan and Kaydree made me breakfast complete with orange julius (my favorite). They also got me these daisies (another favorite of mine)...

And Kaydree seriously spent HOURS on Saturday making this card for me...
Carver didn't do anything special for me (boys will be boys), but don't worry...he pats my back every single time I pick him up and that makes me feel special everyday.
My little sweeties sported their "I love Mommy" onesies and looked cuter than ever...

But the best gift of all is that I get to be MOM to my four little crazies. I feel so lucky to have 4 perfectly healthy and beautiful little children who I learn so much from everyday. Check out our many failed attempts to take a decent picture together...

The Man of the House

We took Carver in for his 15 month check up the other day, and I can't believe how much he has grown in the past few months. He has gone from light and easy to pick up to broad and hefty, this kid is a tank. He is still only in the 20th percentile for weight and 75th for height, but I seriously expected it to be the other way around. He just looks like a football player all of the sudden. Here he is just a few months ago helping Daddy with his tools, looking like SO much like a baby...
Now here he is just a few days ago, glued to the TV, the man of the house...
He also got a big boy haircut the other day. I expected him to freak out, but he did surprisingly well...

His new favorite thing to do is to climb all the way on top of the couch; he can fall easily and it's so dangerous. He just laughs when we tell him "NO" so we figured it was about time to start time-out with him. He just laughs through those too...he is such a boy!

The verdict is in...

The first question everyone asks when they hear about twins is "are they identical or fraternal?" Well, from the very first ultrasound our doctor told us he thought they were identical, but you can't tell for sure until after they are born. In all the ultrasounds it looked like there was one outer sac (monochorionic), two inner sacs or a membrane dividing the babies (diamniotic), and only one placenta. These things are usually true of identical twins (monozygotic). Fraternal twins always have two chorions, two amnions, and two placentas because they come from two separate eggs. But, sometimes weird things can happen...like the two placentas can grow together and look like one or things can be unclear from the ultrasound, so unless the twins are definitely fraternal they don't tell you for sure until after the babies are born. Well, enough of the medical mumbo jumbo (you can tell I had some time on my hands during pregnancy, huh?). The pathology report is in and I am finally ready to answer the burning question. Drumroll please...
Ava
Elsie
IDENTICAL!
As to when the girls will sleep and eat at the same time, apparently the jury is still out on that one...