Rock-a-bye Baby!

Birthday = Cake

My dear precious Allison,
I cannot believe that you turned two today. I am sure I will be starting each birthday post with that first sentence. It seems we blinked and you turned into a little girl, no longer the baby we wanted you to stay! This morning, Daddy and I came into your room singing "Happy Birthday." When we asked how old you were, you said, "Cake." A girl after my own heart...birthdays are definitely about cake! We had your "Storytime Picnic" birthday party at Bicentennial Park this morning. It was perfect because we included all your favorite activities: storytime (led by your Auntie Michelle), playing on the playground, and swimming in the wading pool! At your party, all of your guests got to decorate their own cupcakes. You enjoyed putting gummy bears, teddy grahams, and a gummy frog on your cupcake. And boy did you savor it when you got to eat it after lunch! You first ate all the candy, licked off the frosting, then finished off each tasty morsel of cake.

Then this evening, we had a family celebration at a Korean restaurant that serves cold noodles (neng myun). Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jun brought another CAKE! You sang with us when we sang "Happy Birthday" to you, then you blew out your candles with gusto! You chose the elephant and frog candles for your cake, and of course, you got your second piece of cake for the day. Birthdays are fun, aren't they? Mommy kind of makes a big deal out of them because I want you, Bailey, and Bennett to grow up knowing how special you are and how immeasurably blessed we are because of you.

There is so much I want to say to you and so much I want to record about what you are doing these days. But alas, Mommy's tired and has to sign off. Oh, I will have to say that you're developing quite a shoe addiction. Aunt Sarah gave you shoes for your birthday, and when you saw the boxes, you said "Shoes!" and sat down to take off your shoes to try on your new ones. We were pretty floored that you knew what they were before you had even opened the boxes. Your Harmony would be proud!

I will try to post more pictures of your party soon and maybe post a few more heart-felt words about the joy I feel being your Mommy. But for now, know that I love you dearly, more than words could ever express!

Love,
Mama

Rising Star

Easter Weekend

I cannot believe another month has passed. As you can tell from the sore lack of updates this last month, we've been quite busy! So little time to take pictures and post them on the blog, but I want to be better because this might be the only scrapbook of memories I have of them!

Bailey and Bennett were baptized on Easter and Phil's mom came in town for the occasion. We had a fun weekend...On Friday, we went to the Dallas Arboretum, and Allison had a blast rolling down the grassy hills. On Saturday, I attempted "bluebonnet pictures." You can see the funny results below! We also tried to go to an Easter egg hunt but it was over by the time we got there. After church on Easter Sunday the whole family came over to our house for lunch.

I started back to work the week of Easter, so life is going even faster than before. I hardly have a spare second. I really should chronicle what my typical day is like. I don't know how I do it but by the grace of God!

The twins are FOUR MONTHS old...how can that be??? I'll try to post their four month pics soon, but for now, here are the pictures from Easter weekend. Both babies are smiling up a storm, although I have yet to capture those elusive grins on camera. They are also cooing and Bailey especially loves to "talk." Both are still GREAT sleepers, although they are still waking once at night to eat. We are enjoying them so much!

At the Arboretum with "Harmony" (Phil's mom):


This is what the babies did all day:




BLUEBONNETS!!

We missed the Easter egg hunt at our neighborhood park so we had a picnic and played on the playground instead!


Allison in her Easter dress:


Bailey and Bennett's baptism (with Pastor Rob):

Three...

...the number of months that we have already enjoyed with our precious twins Bailey and Bennett (can't believe it!!)


Here they are having tummy time:


...the number of children we have!



...the number of minutes I have to update the blog before I have to play with Allison on the slide (her favorite), read her a book (also a great favorite activity), or feed babies!

A fun picture of Allison in her firefighter raincoat and boots, playing in the rain:

Two peas in a pod

The twins are two months old! Here's Bailey at two weeks:


And here she is at two months:


Bennett at two weeks:


And here he is at two months (I call him "Sweet Cheeks"):


Look how big they are getting!

Gifts that will start preschool yard brawls

Aunt Lisa sent some cute clothes in the mail today. When Phil got home and saw Allison, he was not his usual excited self. Concerned, I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Why is my daughter wearing a Steelers jersey?" I told him his sister sent it and what was the big deal? He said something to the effect of, "We're in Cowboy country & she is not going to be popular wearing that." Oh well, shows you how much Mom knows about sports!

Text messaging

I finally broke down and got a new phone after people kept complaining of static. We also decided to embrace the 21st century and get text messaging, something I had previously resisted. I have to say, it is pretty fun. So, for all of you out there who like to text, send me a message! Phil changed his phone number with our current area code, and I'm slowly considering that as well...but it might be too much exciting change for me at once, seeing as nothing else major has changed in my life recently...I still have the same number I've had since living in Houston--that's more than 10 years! So send me a message--I'd love to hear from you, plus, if you haven't heard from me it's because I lost all my contacts in my phone when the old one died and I had it fixed.

By the way, the family pictures Phil posted were from our newborn shoot when the twins were two weeks old. Check out our photographer's website: www.laurenlarsenblog.com

Bailey & Bennett are two months old! Check back for more pics, hopefully later today.

More!

Major picture update

Life with twins and a toddler is wonderful, but very time-consuming! I feel so badly that I don't take more pictures of Bailey and Bennett, and the ones I do have I haven't posted. So, although I should be napping right now when all THREE kiddos are asleep, I am updating our blog with pictures for our loyal readers!

The babies are eight weeks old tomorrow! Almost two months, I can't believe it. Here are some pictures from the last month. This one was taken right around when they turned one month old. Can you tell which is which?


Here's a hint:


As you can see, Bennett has really filled out! At their one month appointment, Bennett was 8 lbs, 4 oz and Bailey was 7 lbs, 2 oz. We call him our Chubby Chubby Lumpkins!

And this is how you feed both babies at once:


Allison is such a great big sister. She loves to hug the babies and rock them in their carseats. She has such a sweet, nurturing heart.



My two Love Bugs!


However, Allison has regressed a little. She loves to play with her old toys that she is too big for. Remember this Baby Einstein floor mat? She loves to get under it and play with the toys!

This is for the babies now!


My brother got bumped from his flight back to New Orleans and spent the night with us so he could meet his new niece and nephew:


As I've said before and will say it over and over again, life is moving way too fast! Some nights seem to drag on and we can't wait till the babies are sleeping longer stretches, but all in all, LIFE IS GOOD!!!

xoxo

Happy Valentine's Day to my dear husband, who made me breakfast in bed this morning! Yes, I am still amazed that we have three beautiful children and so blessed that we will celebrate six years of marriage in July. I couldn't imagine living this adventure with anyone else. I love you!