Proud parents to 3 year old bouncy twin boys!

That's right! We are the proud parents to 3 year old bouncy twin boys! ;-) We have had a busy couple of days! Friday night was the birthday party for the boys at a local place called J.J. Jump! It is a large building with indoor bouncy houses, bouncy slides, bouncy obstacle course, etc....! We went to a friends party their a few weeks ago and the boys had a blast (as well as the adults)! It is a rough and tumble place and everyone has to be careful, so we only had kids that were over 2 years old. It was fun for the little cousins and friends to play together and fun for us adults as well! Many of us walked away with rug burns and bruises, and some of us adults left with sore backs (including myself)! My train cake was a hit and it survived the drive to the center as long as the air conditioning was aimed at it! Needless to say, I was FREEZING by the time we got there! The boys got their hands on the cake right before we lit the candles and started eating the candies out of the freight cars! Thank you to everyone who came to the party! It was fun and very memorable!

Saturday was a busy day for me! I was working the Mary Kay table at the Wine and Jazz Festival in Vancouver for about 4 hours! I met some great people, enjoyed some wonderful music and got some customer leads! I'm trying to grow my business so that I don't only sell to family and friends! I like bringing in the extra income to help out with bills and I simply love the product and sharing it with people!

Then Sunday was just another LOOOONG day! We had a family get-together at our house with just my parents, Bryan's parents, my grandparents, my Aunt & Uncle, my sister and her boyfriend and close friends that are like grandparents! So it was house-cleaning and cooking Pork Kabobs for dinner! Needless to say, I was running behind and in a very cranky mood. Thankfully, Dottie & Amber pitched in to help with cutting up fruit and making the rice and veggies, while I skewered tons of pork, carrots, peppers and pineapple! It took longer than I expected since I was making so much! I was pooped by the end of the evening! Cameron could care less about opening presents, so it was hard to wrangle him down to open anything. Especially since the first gift he opened was little stars that you put on the ceiling that glow! Thank you Dottie & Frank! Then they each got little digital cameras! Cameron is OBSESSED with taking pictures! We have a little photographer in our midst! He was so cute running around and taking our pictures! Daniel wanted to constantly play with a rubber snake they got. The kind that if you put it in water, it will grow 660x the size it is! Fun! NOT! Thank you to everyone who came to the birthday parties (both of them)! It was a memorable birthday to say the least! OH! And I almost forgot! My parents, my grandparents and Bryan and I went in together and bought the boys a swingset for their birthday! They love it and especially love the teeter-totter (AKA..peeter-totter)! So far they are getting along pretty well playing on it! Daniel loves to stop on the ground and leave Cameron in the air. He laughs and so does Cammy! Then Cammy says "Down brother!" Daniel looks at us and says "Cammy up high!", then he laughs some more! Very, very cute!

Well, that is the update for now! I will do more soon! Have a great day everyone!

Jen ;-)

Ode to binkie's!

The Binky Fairy came last night and the boys binkie's are gone (unless we find some hiding around the house)! We actually couldn't find any binkie's last night, so we told the boys that the Binky Fairy must have come today and taken them. We have been telling them that she would come soon and take the binkie's to little babies that need them! Amazingly, they went right to sleep without them last night! And I don't remember hearing them ask for them last night (however, I tend to sleep through a lot)! What a big milestone!!! Especially since the boys use the binkie's as a security when they are upset, cranky or tired. Now Mommy and Daddy have to be strong when the world comes to an end when they realize the binkie's are really gone FOR GOOD!!! Here is a little walk down memory lane of favorite pic's of the boys with their binkie's! Bye-bye binkie's! We will miss you!


Daniel & Cameron - 5 days old


Daniel & Cameron sleeping with Daddy


Cameron sleeping with Auntie Am


Daniel as a little monster for Halloween 2006!


Cammy, Mommy & Daniel!


Cameron & Daniel made their changing pad into
a little chair!


Cameron, Grammy & Daniel!


Daniel & Cameron sleeping in their toddler
bed together! (Love this pic!)


Cameron vacuuming! I hope he will
continue this as he gets older! ;-)


Daniel & Isaac!


Daniel sleeping in the car!


Cameron sleeping in the car!

Choo Choo! Here come the terrible 3's!!

The boys 3rd birthday was Wednesday the 19th! I can't believe my babies are now 3 years old! :-( Time has flown by and they are growing so quickly right before our eyes! We are having a birthday party for them on Friday at a local place called J.J. Jump that has indoor blow-up jumpers and slides! Their little friends will join them while they jump, jump, jump!!! I have planned a train theme for the party and decided to make the birthday cake again this year! So I found a cute train cake on-line and worked for about 6 hours to complete it! Here is the finished product!!! I'm excited that it turned out so nicely and can't wait for the boys and our family and friends to see it!!!

Have a great day everyone!

Luv,
Jen
(proud Mommy to 3 year old twin boys!)

Birthday time!!!

Well, lot's to share to catch up on things! We had our family vacation at Long Beach a few weeks ago and we had a blast! The boys actually enjoyed riding on the kiddie rides this year! We tried getting them to run in ocean, but they started screaming and crying and wanted nothing to do with the ocean! They wouldn't take their eyes off of it, for fear it would get them! Our friends, the Hathaway's, came down the same weekend, so we got to spend some time with them and Cole, who is about 2 months older than the boys! They had fun playing in the sand together and chasing the birds on the beach! The weather was decent for us and the company was amazing! We loved spending the time with my parents, my sister Amber & her boyfriend Dustin, my grandparents and the visit from the Hathaway's! Can't wait to do it again next year!

We had a busy weekend going to the "Family reunion" for the Oregon Center for Reproductive Medicine! The fertility clinic that we used to help us get pregnant with the boys, was hosting a reunion at the Oregon Zoo. It was an opportunity to see the Dr.'s and nurses we worked with and tell them thank you! It was amazing to see all the families and the children that are here because of them! Nearly 2,000 family members attended the event, including over 300 infants and more than 600 children (ours included)! It was even more fun for us, because we were joined by two of my friends from school! Deja (Brock) Hubbard and I have been friends since Kindergarten and Jennifer (Conway) Gay and I have been friends since middle school! They both were also patients and we all have babies now because of this clinic! Deja's twins, Ali & Madi are now 4 1/2 and Lilly is almost 2! Jenn's twin girls are 3 months old! Needless to say, we all had our hands full and had a lot of fun together! Deja & I and our familes rode the Max train over together so the kids were able to experience the "train" ride! It was long, but fun! I am attaching pics that were taken by the photographer at the reunion! Thank you to all of the wonderful Dr's and nurses!



Daniel, Bryan, Dr. Hesla, Jen & Cameron




Nik, Ali, Dr. Hesla, Deja, Lilly & Madi Hubbard



Jen, Adison, Dr. Matteri, Jeff & Aubrey Gay
(girls names may be wrong since I'm not sure
who is who!)

We took Cameron to the Physical Therapist on Thursday to look at the fact that he walks on his tip-toes and see if we have a problem. In her opinion, he stands 2 1/2 - 3" of the ground (heel to ground distance) and is up on his toes at least 75% of the time. She doesn't feel that it will go away, except go down slightly as he gets taller and gains weight as he grows. She feels that since he has been walking on his tip-toes since he started walking 2 years ago, it is how he has learned to walk. So he needs to be re-trained. Problems that we see are that he doesn't have a very good arch in either of his feet. Another issue is that since he isn't walking flat like he should, he is over-using his calf muscles, which leads to the under-usage of his knee muscles, which could possibly lead to issues when he gets older. So we have decided to do Physical Therapy weekly for 4-6 weeks and get braces for his feet that will not allow him to be on his toes. It will force him to walk flat on his feet, and hopefully retrain him how to walk correctly. He will wear these at least 3 months and at the maximum of 6 months. We feel it is best to take care of this while he is young, before he is in school, and before it gets too hard to "re-train" him. We'll see if it works!

The boys will be 3 years old tomorrow and I can't believe it! My babies aren't babies anymore! They are big boys! I'll update more tomorrow about how far they have come in 3 years and what they are doing now! This took longer than I expected to type and there is more to share (good and bad). But that will come later. Have a nice evening everyone!

Jen

Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars!

Well, it turns out we have extremely talented little 3 year olds! Or at least they are talented in my eyes! We have been working on singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" lately and Cameron has picked up on it very quickly and sings it VERY LOUDLY and pretty close to being right in tune! He hits the notes he should and sounds adorable! But they have also learned that they are very good at arranging music! The words have been changed and it sounds more like "Like a diamond in the sky! And a moon! And stars! And the sun!" It is never sung quite the same each time, so it is very entertaining!

Daniel was showing me his imagination yesterday in the backyard! He was pretending that Thomas the Train was coming and he had to jump out of the way fast before it would get him! He did it many times and it was very, very cute to watch!

We cut the boys hair ourselves over the weekend! Daddy needed a hair cut, so we pulled out the clippers and Daniel suggested we do it outside! So outside we went! We decided that the boys could use a trim, and thought we would try it ourselves with Daddy's clippers! So we buzzed their hair with the 1/2" clipper! It took some convincing and the promise to take a trip to the store and buy a candy bar if they would sit and get their hair cut! Finally, Daniel hopped on my lap and Daddy buzzed his hair! He did a great job and listened when we told him which way to look! We were very proud! Then we talked Cameron into doing it and he did very well too! So we fulfilled our promise and hopped in the car and ran to Safeway to let them pick out a candybar! Cameron chose M&M's and Daniel chose a Heath Bar! That was fun and I think we will continue that through the summer!

1 week from today we head to the beach!!! YIPEE!!! I sooooo need the break and relaxation of time away! I'll be the one asking Bryan, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"!!! I can't forget to bring the movies for the car! My favorite is Monsters Inc!

Have a great day everyone! Stay cool!
Jen

Story time & 9 days to go!!!

Took the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad out to Moulton Falls!


LOVE THIS PIC!!!


Standing on the train together!


Grammy & Daniel!


Papa and Cammy!


Cammy, Papa, Daniel & Mommy ready to ride
the train!


How does Papa want to spend his 53rd Birthday?
Taking the boys to Red Robin! LOVE Cameron's
smile! ;-)


Sliding on our tummies on the slide!


Cameron was pushing Daniel in the swing!


Cameron loves the bubble machine!


Daniel holding a bug!


Papa showing a bug to the boys!


Papa took the bug and put it on a spider web
and they watched the spider wrap it up to eat
later! Thanks Papa for that "wonderful" lesson
in the circle of life....


Daniel enjoying putting these blocks together!

For all you Mommy's out there, you know that "wonderful, melt-your-heart, get a tear in your eye" feeling you get when something special happens with your children? I had that wonderful feeling and moment with my little Cammy man last night! It was time for bed and getting them changed and ready to sit down and read a book! Normally I read to the boys. Well, Cameron had a Thomas book and said "I read"! So I said, "OK! You read to me and brother!".

So we all sat on the rug in their room and Cameron proceeded to turn to the last page in the book and begin there! (Big smile on my face!) He started saying, "Gordon. James. Thomas. Percy.", and pointing to each of them. Turn the page. "That's snow!" Turn the page. "Uh Oh! Henry falling!" Turn the page. "That's Toby! Those are birds!" Turn the page. "That's Thomas! That's a cow!" I ask what a cow says and they both say "MOOO!" Turn the page. Skip a page. "More birdies! That's a polar express!" (Thomas has the snowplow on the front of his engine, which looks like the polar express train.) "Those are fish! That's a boat! That another boat!" So then we start over again (at the end of the book) and I begin asking him what other thing in the book are. If he is unsure, I say "That's a windmill!" His reply was, "That's a windmill! Right!" I had this huge smile and giggled! Every time I pointed something out he didn't know and then told him, he repeated and ended with "Right!", sounding like "Oh yea! Right! I knew that Mom!" (It's starting already!)

Daniel normally doesn't sit quietly and let Cameron do the talking. He usually jumps in and answers, but he sat quietly and was listening to Cammy tell us the story! It was so sweet and so wonderful to hear Cameron talking so much! He's always been the quieter one and didn't speak as well as Daniel because of his hearing issues, but since he got the tubes in his ears, it has made a huge difference! Now we just need him to have the confidence, like last night, to speak up and not let Daniel speak for him. I'm so very, very proud of him and how well he is doing! He warmed my heart and made me feel so wonderful watching him do so well!!! This is one of the many joys of being a Mommy! I LOVE IT!

So I think we have decided that we will not start the boys in Pre-School in September. We have been talking and decided that it would be better to start them next year when they are 4 and then a 2nd year of pre-school at 5 and then start Kindergarten at 6. Boys do not mature as quickly as girls emotionally, they are physically much smaller than children their age, they aren't close to being potty-trained and it will probably be better for them in the long-run when they are older. It's better to hold them back a little at this age, than when they are older. Financial reasons are another part of it, but not the main part. I am thinking that I will put my Early Childhood Education to good use and prepare a plan to work with them over the next year in a similar way they would be worked with in pre-school. My mom was also a pre-school teacher for many years, so I think between the two of us, we can come up with a plan. We have also decided that we will start putting them into other programs instead this next year, like swimming lessons and Community Ed programs.

Well, 9 more days until we go to the beach!!! I am so excited and can't wait! I need to get away and relax and enjoy some family time! I'm looking forward to the boys playing more on the beach and hopefully the ocean (it was chilly last time) and swimming in the pool together! My parents picked up these really cute body suits for them that have a flotation device in the body area to help them stay afloat on their own! We'll see how that goes, since last year they clung to us like glue!!! And Bryan and I have only 1 more month from today until our 10 year anniversary! L

We hope you are doing well and enjoy the attached pics from the last month or so!

Luv,
Jen

Finally asleep and life's a beach...in 16 days!

Well, it is 9:39PM and it is finally quiet in the boys room! They didn't take their nap today, which usually means early to bed! So I was rocking my tired little men in the living room about 7:45 and Daniel zonks out fast! Cameron is starting to close his eyes, so I have him walk to their room and carry Daniel to bed. Easy right? I wish! Daniel didn't blink an eye as I changed his diaper really quickly and Cammy asked to go potty. So he went potty, got a new diaper and climbed into bed. So he went to sleep, right? Yeah right! It is quiet for a few minutes, then the fun begins! Climbing out of bed and trying to leave the room, "Mommy....binki!", "I want a kiss!", getting out of bed again, talking to brother (who is sleeping), chatting to himself and his stuffed animals, trying to leave the room AGAIN!!!! I think I went in there 30 times to put him back to bed. I tried to bring him in the living room to rock again in the hopes he would go to sleep, but that didn't work! He wanted to PLAY! So back to bed he went! Then he got mad and started stuffing his binkis behind the bed so they fell to the floor and I couldn't get them! I'd get him a new binki and 5 minutes later I would hear "I want my binki!" and he stuffed it behind his bed again! So we have 1 binki left (from our stockpile) and I offer it to him. "NO BINKI!" So fine, I set it on his bed! He picks it up and chucks it across the room! So I pick it up and leave the room with the binki. What do I hear next...."MOMMY I WANT MY BINKI!!!" I ignore it for a few minutes, then I hear that he wakes up Daniel! So I attempt to get Daniel back to sleep and give Cameron the last binki just to get him to quiet down and go to sleep. He won't take it. I try one last time and he shoves it away. So I turn around and leave. "MOMMY I WANT MY BINKI!" I offer it to him one last time (yes I know I said that already) and he refuses! So I leave the room. "MOMMY I WANT MY BINKI!" I continued to leave the room and he continued to scream. So to make a long story.....well, not as long since I've already written half a book..... he finally took the binki (yes I caved, but I wanted Daniel to stay asleep). So he is finally asleep! Now I can head to bed, once I've finished typing this!

As you can see, there is a new background! We are heading to Long Beach on 23rd for 3 nights with my parents, grandparents and my sister and her boyfriend Dustin! We did this last year and stayed at a campground I grew up going to and we had a blast! They have a pool, a playground, and are just over the dunes from the ocean! I'm hoping and praying for nice weather, since it was overcast last year when we were there. I know we could use a good vacation and get away from the every day stresses of work and bills and everything else.

Well, it took me almost as long to write this blog post as it took to get Monkey #2 to go to sleep, so I should go to sleep too! Plus Bry should be home in a few from work. Just in time for me to go to sleep! Sleep tight everyone!

Jen