Two year ago today.....

two perfect little embryos snuggled into Aunt Jamie's tummy! Never, ever in my wildest dreams would I have believed, on that day, that two years later I would have the amazing boys that I have today. Our gratefulness and love for Jamie has only grown as our boys have grown. Truly, I am trying to figure out what to write and I can't think of anything because our debt to her is beyond words!

So, I leave you with this..... never in a million years did I believe on March 31, 2009 that two years later one of those embryos would be refusing to eat only one piece of cheese and demand that I give him 7 pieces all stuck together, which he would eat and hold like a sandwich.

(you can't tell in this pic but, yes, he is holding 7 pieces of cheese)

Sugar and Spice

These pictures sure do show off Ben and Sam's personalities!

Spice (left) and Sugar (right):

Spice:

Sugar:
How did Ben get such dark eyes?
Man, I love these guys

Sorelle Pies

I've never really been into pies....more of a cake and cookie girl myself.....that is until I met my husband and met his family! He comes from a long line of AMAZING pie makers - his grandmas, mom, sisters, aunt, cousins, etc! He used to always talk about how good they were and he was totally right! Now, cherry, apple, whatever type pie made by his family is my favorite!

His cousin, Sara, has taken the family trade and started her own business - Sorelle Bakery. I have tried the peach, lemon meringue, and one of her own creations - a stout type of cream pie with creme de mint whipped topping (I'm sure I'm explaining that incorrectly, so sorry, Sara, for butchering the description of your delicate creation). The dessert is well worth the prices and she even makes little bite size ones and individual 3 inch pies.

Check out her website!
http://www.sorellebakery.com/default.html

Happy Birthday Dada!

Today is my Mootsie's birthday! I'm not going to say how old he is just that he's A LOT older than me. It was such a fun birthday weekend. Saturday we dropped the boys off at G and G Bleything's house for their very first overnight stay! Matt and I went to a bar with some of our friends and watched the heartbreaking K-state loss. I was really hoping they would win mostly because I know it would make Matt happy for his birthday. But, no such luck.

We slept in (thank you SO much G and G Bleything) and immediately called to see how the boys did. They slept through the night and the sleepover went off without a hitch. Before going to get the boys, we went to breakfast at First Watch and ate in peace and actually got to taste our food. We picked the boys up and went to church with Matt's parents.

After coming home and playing outside with the boys, I surprised Matt with a massage! No, I didn't give it to him - get real! We both went and got one - it was so nice and relaxing. I also surprised him with a babysitter so we could go out to dinner but the weather was so nice and we just didn't feel like being inside so we got stuff for hamburgers and cooked out.

All in all I think he had a wonderful 29th birthday ;)

I would also like to say a special Happy Birthday to a boy born exactly 33 years after Matt! Today is also Murph-dog's birthday! Happy B-day, buddy! Sam and Ben wish they could be at your party!

Here are some pictures of the family playing outside in this BEAUTIFUL 75 degree weather.


Birthday boy and his little dudes (little dudes DO NOT like to pose for pictures!)
Who is this kid?
We got out the wagon that we bought them for their birthday. Sam loved riding around it in and Ben cried. I think he cried because he didn't want to be contained- not because he was scared:
Ben preferred playing with the ball:
Mommy and Ben:
Daddy and Sam:
Picking tulips before they even have a chance to bloom:

Sam ran away to the neighbors house:

They found some sticks:


Sam found a really big stick- we all stayed out of his way when he started swinging:

Ben was working under the hood of the wagon:

How cute are their little bodies in those overalls?!

Need advice.....waking at night

The culprit:

The problem:
I need some help from those of you who have maybe experienced this. For the last week Mr. Ben has been waking up one or two times a night and screaming bloody murder. When we tried to let him "cry it out" it doesn't work like it usually does. And he's not just crying but absolutely screaming very, very loudly (Sam still doesn't wake up!).

When we go in to pick him up he immediately falls back asleep on top of our chests as we hold him out on the couch. Nothing is wrong - he just wants us to hold him as he falls back asleep.

While this is quite sweet and we like to cuddle him this way - we are not used to the boys waking at night and don't want him to get in this habit.

Has this happened to anyone? Any advice on how you got it to stop?

Thanks so much!

Save the drama for your mama!

I love this picture! Both my boys have so much personality but Sam is emerging as the class clown. He loves attention, loves to dance, and loves to make us laugh.

My little drama king:

Love their hats much?!

Matt went on a (almost!) week long Colorado ski trip with his buddies. It was quite hard with him being gone but luckily we have the best families in the world and they helped me out a ton while he was gone!

He brought back two orange "Colorado" hats for the boys. Even though they typically do not let a hat touch their little heads, they love these things! They gladly keep them on their heads and revel in our laughter and attention with how cute they look in them.

Here are some pics of them sporting their new digs:
Their friends even get in on the action!

Peek-a-boo! (something is wrong with America when this is the body of a baby who is only in the 25th percentile for weight!)

Nancy's Shower

My friend, Nancy, is having a little baby girl in about 6 weeks and yesterday my friend, Camille, and I threw a baby shower for her! It was really fun and Nancy looked adorable! Here are some pictures of the affair.

Gotta take a pic of the food!! We made: fruit salad, sausage wontons, spinach pastries, brie pastry, veggie and dip.


My Aunt Marlene made these adorable and delicious cookies! She made the owls because that was kinda the theme of the shower. Owls were on the invitations and Nancy also has them in her nursery. The baby carriage cookies were also so cute and detailed with pearly white (edible) beads.
Camille is baby-shower-thrower-extraordinaire! She made a diaper cake for the centerpiece of the table:
And also this pregnant belly statue with feather base! These were just a few highlights of the tulle, signs, and balloons used to decorate!

Nancy got tons of really wonderful gifts! Notice the other pregnant girl sitting next to her. That's our friend, Amber, and she and Nancy are due on the same day!

Our friend, BK, gave Nancy this owl hat. Isn't is so cute?!

From Nancy's sister, Sarah:
Nancy and her sister, Sarah, trying the onesie on the new baby:

Nancy and the Grandmas! It's the first granddaughter for Nancy's mom and the first grandchild for Will's mom!
Nancy and the hostesses:
Our rad friends, Lonni and Sarah, from Denver also made it to the shower. Here they are posing by their (rented) hot rod!
All the pregnant girls at the shower (Shannon, Amber, Emily, and of course, Nancy):


I wish I would have gotten a group picture of everyone there! All of our good friends from K-state were there and I know it meant a lot to Nancy! Thank you all for being there to celebrate!

Can't wait to meet Baby Rigdon!