Presents from Santa

Brian and I had a lot of fun telling Michael and Logan all about Christmas this year and it was neat to see how much they understood. These are some of my favorite Christmas quotes from Michael and Logan....

"SANTA!!!! I want Thomas the Train!" (Michael - shouting to Santa at the mall)

"Mommy...where are all the snowmen?" (Logan - while looking outside at the snow)

"Oh no! Where is the snow?" (Logan - after the first snow melted)

"Santa ate my cookies!" (Michael)

"Santa brings you presents and Thomas." (Michael)

"Michael...let's feed the snowmen cookies." (Logan)

"I love you Christmas tree!" (Michael)

We had a great Christmas and had a lot of fun celebrating with our families. Here are some pictures of the boys opening their presents from Santa on Christmas morning.

Aiden's First Birthday!

Yesterday we celebrated Aiden's 1st birthday. I still can't believe my baby is already one! He can now say Mama, Dada, and Baba and is getting very close to walking. He woke up from his nap to find a house full of balloons, presents, cake, friends and family. The beautiful train cake was from our favorite bakery so that all our guests could enjoy a real piece of cake. Aiden got to have some dairy free cupcakes that were made by mommy. As you can see from the pictures below he loved every bite and ate a whole cupcake all by himself. He got lots of nice presents which he is now sharing with his big brothers. Michael and Logan were especially excited about the balloons and are still playing with them today. It ended up being a great party and a wonderful way to celebrate Aiden's big day!





Aiden with Grandma and Hazel with Grandpa.






Michael confiscated Aiden's new toy camera and pretended to be the party photographer. He walked around saying "CHEESE" to everyone.

One year ago today....

Brian and I were on our way to the hospital to have baby Aiden. We had to be there by 7am to get checked in. Once I was in my room I had an IV placed and took a pill to induce labor. At 8am Brian and I started walking the halls. Little did we know we would be walking for four hours before my doctor decided to start me on pitocin. Once the pitocin was started and I had my epidural in place we watched the movie Red Dawn (Brian's choice not mine!) and tried to take a nap. I couldn't sleep because I was so excited to meet our new little boy. By 5pm the contractions had really kicked in and by 6pm I was ready to have baby Aiden. At 6:24pm he arrived and changed our lives forever. We are so grateful to have him and are excited to celebrate his first Birthday today!

Waaay back When-esday!

I keep forgetting that this is not Aiden's first Christmas! I thought it would be cute to post a couple of the boys first Christmas photos. Aiden was just 5 days old and Michael and Logan were 9 months old when these photos were taken. I can't believe my baby will be one this Saturday!

Here comes Santa Claus!

As part of an annual tradition Sunday night we met with Brian's extended family to celebrate Christmas. The ladies meet at 3pm for tea and the men join us for dinner at 5pm. Dinner is always followed by a visit from Santa. Michael and Logan were excited to sit on Santa's lap and receive a present from him. Aiden was not too happy about it but survived long enough to get a picture taken. It was a nice evening and was great to see everyone!


Michael
Logan
Aiden

Baby Dedication Ceremony

Saturday night Michael, Logan, and Aiden participated in the baby dedication ceremony at our church. To my surprise all three boys did very well. They were not scared to be in front of a crowd and only escaped for a minute to run around the stage. It was a nice ceremony and I was happy to be able to have all three boys participate in it together.

Twin moms on the go

Last night my twins club hosted it's annual Holiday party. It was a fun party with a great group of ladies and a crazy gift exchange. Here I am with my good friend Kristy who has twins around the same age as Michael and Logan. We usually get together with all of our kids for playdates...however this was a huge difference from our normal kid outings...

drinking wine vs coffee
opening presents vs changing diapers
sitting in comfy chairs vs chasing all the kids
having adult conversations vs breaking up fights

All in all it was a fabulous evening and I think we should do it more often:)

Date night

Brian and I attended his annual work party this past weekend. This was the start of all of our Holiday festivities. It will be a busy month for us but I love this time of year. It is a great time to get together with family and friends!

Family Photos

Here are some of my favorite pictures from a family photo shoot we had a while back. There were so many good ones it was hard to narrow it down to these. The boys had so much fun playing at the park they didn't even notice that they were getting their picture taken. It was a beautiful day and Brian and I are extremely happy with all the great pictures we were able to get.

Michael

Logan

Santa!

Brian and I took the boys to see Santa and then out to dinner last night. We have been talking to Michael and Logan a lot about Christmas lately. We told them when they saw Santa they had to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. As soon as Michael caught sight of him he yelled as loud as he could...."Santa, I want Thomas the Train". Brian and I were surprised he had remembered and thought it was funny he was so excited. Logan and Michael were both in awe of Santa which is why they look so serious. Aiden made it through the picture and then broke into tears once he realized where he was. Here are pictures from the past three years. It's neat to see how much they have changed.

2008
2007
2006

Double trouble!

Logan
Michael
Who would have thought boy hair cuts could cause so much trouble! I cannot tell you how many bad haircuts the boys have had in the past year. Just when I found someone who did a great job she left the kid salon that we usually go to. The past two haircuts have been with new people who don't really know what they are doing. Since the salon is so kid friendly I decided to give it one more try. As I was standing with Michael watching the girl cut his hair you can imagine my shock as she buzzed all of Michael's hair off the back of his head. Oops! She had put the wrong attachment on her buzzer! At this point their was nothing left to do but finish the haircut. The boys are now sporting the buzzed look with a few spikes in front. I will be glad when this haircut grows out and am on the lookout for a new place to take them. If only all hair salons had race cars to sit in and a Thomas the Train table to play with while you wait for your turn:):)

Aiden is 11 months old!

Aiden is growing up so fast! He is getting very close to walking and in the past week has begun to say Mama and Dada. He is so curious about everything and has to be by Michael and Logan all the time. He would rather play with their toys than his own baby toys....which does not go over very well with Michael and Logan. He is keeping me on my toes as he is very fast and now loves to open any cabinet within his reach. Only one more month to go before he gets to celebrate his first birthday!

Finally feeling better!

After a long battle of runny noses, horrible coughs, and bad stomach bugs, I think all three little boys are finally starting to feel better. I can tell you that it is no fun to have all three of your children come down with a stomach bug at the same time. You can only imagine the messes I have been cleaning up! Luckily today all three of my little men seem to be feeling much better.

Trouble!

Aiden is getting more and more busy. He can open drawers, climb over anything, and always wants to play with whatever toy Michael and Logan are playing with. It's a good thing he is so darn cute since he is becoming such a trouble maker:)

Trick or Treat

Brian and I were able to get the pirate ship done just in time for trick or treating and the boys were so excited to ride in it. We only lasted about an hour and then went home to pass out candy. I think Michael and Logan had just as much fun answering the door as they did trick or treating themselves. I was a little sad to finally put their costumes away but they sure did have a fun month of Halloween festivities.