more of Fabulous February.....

Continuing with pictures from the twins' 1st birthday:
My baby sister, Boo Boo, created these two and posted them on FaceBook. I love how she included pics from their first days of life with pics from now. It is still so hard to believe the growth & development that they have accomplished already!

My friend & former co-worker, Jill, brought the most clever gift wrapped present! Isn't it so cute how she wrapped it half-n-half style?!

Cowboy Kooper playing with all the balloons!

Cowgirl Hadlee and Cowboy Kooper enjoying all their friends & presents!




Cake Time!

Singing Happy Birthday!

*Make A Wish*

Hadlee was so sweet and shared her cake even with Marley....she giggled so loudly everytime Marley took a lick! It was adorable & Marley loved the sugar snack!

....and she shared with her Mommy, awe.....such a sweetheart!

The cake wasn't enough sugar, Hadlee decided to eat a white-chocolate cowgirl hat while smashing her cake. Yummy!

Koop and his beautiful blue eyes with a face covered in icing.

After the party, my Mom gave the twins a bath & dressed them in their Birthday Onesie's that a great friend of mine from college (Susie) bought them. They were a little too big, but they were still so cute on them!

My parents bought the twins personlized chairs for their b-day gifts and as you can see, they really enjoy climbing all over them!

As I said in my last post, my cousin Bret, was also able to drive up from his place in SC and spend the weekend with us all. Hadlee & Kooper love having him around because he is so much fun to play with. Bret was so kind to pull Hadlee around the house in the little toy wagon while I was nursing Kooper. She didn't want him to stop!


"Before" Kooper's first hair cut


"After" his first hair cut. I was so sad....he looks like such a big boy now :-(

We also had the twins' 1st Birthday pictures done by the photographer that took their 5 month pictures last summer. She did a wonderful job even though it was too cold to spend much time outside. I'll be posting those pictures next!!!

*Fabulous February*

February is forever going to be my favorite month now that it is when we get to celebrate the twins' birthday! Since I am waaaaaayyyyy behind in blogging (I started this one a few months ago & today is May 31st....so yeah, I'm way behind) I'll post as many pictures as possible but there is no way I can remember everything that has happened, unfortunately.

Here is little Miss Hadlee being silly [Feb. 2nd]! She found the jar of Vaseline and as you can see, she thought she needed a few hand-fulls! It was a mess, but it was also so cute to see her trying to get it off her hands when she realized how much she had on them.

Note to self: When busy cleaning for birthday party, do not leave jar of Vaseline unattended. :-)

My night only got better....while I was cleaning up Hadlee & the Vaseline disaster, Kooper came running out of their bedroom...minus his pants and with one of his socks hanging out of his mouth like he was a proud cat that just caught a mouse. It was hilarious! I was so confused on where his pair of jeans went, so I went looking in their bedroom and they were laying on the floor in front of the window as if he had pulled them straight down off of himself. I figured out later that they were too big & he was stepping on them so that must have been how he got them off so quickly & easily. I wish I had taken a picture of his jeans but I was a little busy cleaning Vaseline off my carpet & Hadlee.

On Thursday, Feb. 3rd, their actual birthday, we didn't do anything special b/c it was a work day & we were having their birthday party on Saturday. However, I was able to take the day off to take the twins to their 1 year well-check with their pediatrician on Friday, Feb. 4th. Little Miss Hadlee weighed in at 14 lbs. 2 ounces and Big, little brother, Kooper weighed in at 16 lbs. 10 ounces. Here they are waving HI for the camera :-)

[Kooper is wearing 3-6 month clothing & size 2 diapers. Hadlee is wearing some 0-3 month clothing, but mostly 3-6 month and size 2 diapers. Kooper loves his fuzzy, brown blanket and still sucks his left thumb. Hadlee loves her silky-pink blanket and is addicted to her NICU paci. Kooper's favorite words are "huh" and "Dah" (dad) and shaking his head NO. Hadlee grunts, points, & shakes her head NO as well. She is a fast learner & copies whatever Kooper does!]

Their pediatrician started talking about doing some lab work for them because of their low weight gains, but after talking to Nick & I and hearing how well they eat she said we should wait until their 15 month check to test them (if needed). She is still concerned about Kooper's gag reflex, but said he'll probably just need some speech therapy before long & that will help. We were informed while they were still in the NICU that preemie's tend to have gag reflex issues and not to be upset if they require speech therapy to help them with the tongue movement & swallowing of different textures. Thankfully, Hadlee doesn't appear to have this issue...unless it is a food she just doesn't like. Their Doc was also very happy to hear they were still nursing and of course I could start transitioning to whole milk whenever I wanted to. I am so happy & thankful I was able to breastfeed the twins! With them having spent so much time in the NICU and not in our arms, I feel that it really helped me bond with them. Who knew I would be able to breastfeed 2 babies for a whole year???? Not my Mom...she had no faith in me! Thanks, Momma ;-)

*First Birthday Party Time*
We were blessed to have some family (my parents, Aunt Boo, Cousin Bret, & Nick's parents) and TONS of friends come to our house for the twins' 1st birthday party! It was a wonderful Cowgirl/Cowboy theme party as you might notice in the pictures. I have lots more pictures, but it takes forever to up-load them, so I'll add more to my next post! A special thank you to my Mom & Dad for driving all night long to make it to the party, after having just flown to Indianapolis from Aruba....glad you didn't miss any of your vacation to make it to the party!

My baby sister, Trista, is a beautitian and gladly gave Kooper his very 1st haircut while she visited for their birthday weekend! My camera was full, so I only got these 2 pictures before she started cutting, but I'm sure we got more pictures on my Mom's camera. I'll add those soon!

*My cute boy*

January 2011

January has come & gone & I'm still trying to catch up. For the most part, the twins spent January at home & inside. We've had an abnormally cold January, with the most snow in 15 years! Hadlee did continue to go to her weekly therapy lessons & on January 3, she went to her pulmonologist again for her synagis (RSV) shot. She weighed in at 14 lbs. even! She's getting bigger, but at 11 months old she is still very small! Both of the twins are walking more & more. They do prefer to walk, but are still faster when they crawl. They play very well together as long as they don't have to share :-) I was very happy to spend 4 snow days at home with them & loved every minute of it! Too bad I have to make them up later in the school year. Kooper showing off his walking skills! They decided that Daddy didn't need to finish putting their wagon together that they received as part of their Christmas from my Grammy. They thought it was fun just climbing in & out of the bucket part! Our twins LOVE bath time! And they LOVE the tunnel Mommy & Daddy bought them as part of their Christmas gifts! Look at all the snow!!! We felt like we were back in Indiana :-) Nick played for hours in it with all the guys and their 4-wheelers. The twins & I stayed out less than 30 minutes. I enjoyed the warm, dry inside of our house....and the twins LOVED having Mommy & Daddy home all day with them! The twins also found all the kitchen cabinets! We have so many & their favorite, of course, is the one filled with tupperware....and the one with our pots & pans! Although Abbie's twins share the same birth date as our twins, we celebrated their Circus Themed 1st Birthday party the weekend before their actual birthdays! It worked out great because we were all able to make it to each other's parties since Hadlee & Kooper's wasn't until the weekend after their birth date. Ansley & Bentley's circus celebration was ADORABLE!!! Abbie's sister said that it was a party done "on a budget" but you would never have guessed it based on all the fun docorations, food, & games. Nick & I were so happy we both got to go. Although Abbie & I don't see each other anymore at our weekly MED classes, we still really enjoy each other's friendship. Plus, her family is super close like mine, other than the fact that I live 10 hours away from them. I really enjoy visiting with her sister, mom, dad, & husband. They are blessed with 2 absolutely precious girls! Kooper & Hadlee should be proud to share their birthday with them! At the end of the party: Kooper, Hadlee, Bently, & Ansley (plus me and Abbie) **We have more pics on Nick's cell phone from January....I'll add those once he gets them up-loaded to our lap top.