Summer Fun

The weather has been SOOOOOOOOOOO nice lately. We have finally gotten rid of the rain and have been loving the outside world again. The boys have been having a BLAST with their sandbox from Grandpa and Emmy. They play in it all the time. (Reed)

We are really trying to learn how to keep the sand IN the box. One day at a time. I will have to get some pics of the boys in the front yard too. Recently we have started hanging out in the front. They got some tricycles from Grangie and Grandpa Beck for their birthday and have been using them TONS. I'll post on that soon.

Yesterday we spent a couple hours playing in the pool. What a blast they had just getting in and out of the pool.

We don't let them splash in the tub, too much, because it gets water EVERY WHERE. So they were allowed to go nuts in their pool and thought it was so cool. I just love being outside with them and letting them burn off all this extra energy. It's amazing how fast they are falling asleep these days.

Happy Birthday Grant and Reed!!!

This week started with hard hats. Jeff brought home a hard hat from work for the boys to play with. It has been a hot item in our house. We take turns well wearing it around. (Grant)

Reed is a bigger fan than Grant.

Yesterday the boys turned 2!!! I can't believe that it's been two years!! My little Reed man in his birthday shirt.

Last year we were in Texas for their actual birthday. We celebrated with cake and happy birthday.

My big toddlers!! Grant looks seriously annoyed with my photography.

Reed is really into showing you his belly button. But, he wants to see yours too. Even if you're in the middle of Target.

I have great friends here who braved Mc Donalds at lunch time with me. We didn't want to do a big party this year so we went to lunch.

My friends Krystal and Laurie came with their kiddos. Laurie has twins too so we were the talk of Mc Donalds. We had mini cupcakes and played until we cried.

Laurie and Krystal (and the kids) got the boys some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cars, with a REAL Mickey!! They have LOVED every minute of them. Thanks again girls.

Since they LOVE balloons, I took them to the store after nap to get one for their birthday. They had so much fun running around the house with their balloons.

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with their balloons.

Reed was so afraid of the "hot" that he didn't want to be too close to the cake.

With each birthday I remember how these little guys started. They were so tiny and scary looking at 29 weeks. I helps me remember how far they've come and how blessed we are. I just can't believe they run around the house now making me CRAZY! Here's Reed minutes after birth.

My Reed enjoying his cake, with a fork, like a big boy!

Grant, as usual, was less afraid of the "hot" and was ready to eat the cake.

My little Grant minutes after his birth. We were so worried about this "grade 3" IVH. You can even see the bruise on his forehead from being stuck up in my ribs. Hard to believe he was bigger (by and ounce)

My Grant guy!

After they had finished off the cake. Jeff and I helped a little. (so did Archie) Thanks again to all our friends and family for support over the past two years. Hopefully one of these day we'll get to celebrate with everyone!

Climbers

These boys are getting into EVERYTHING!! It's too funny. Recently they have decided that they LOVE to get in the dog kennel. I was washing the blankets for Archie Doggie and they took turns climbing in.

Reed was helping Grant shut the door.

The boys have these little blankets that they call "lovies". They would carry them around 24/7 if I would let them. Right now we just say that lovies are for "night night". Well, we had a traumatic break down the other day. They say me put them in the washer. Horror of Horrors. So I let them have them for the rest of the day. They were so funny with them. They would just lay down in the middle of the kitchen on their lovies.

I was changing the sheets on the cribs, ugh, and Reed tried to climb in. He got stuck and started crying. So mommy quickly took a pic with her phone. They are not quite smart enough yet to know that they could climb out. But Reed has started climbing IN things. He can get on our bed all by himself now too.

Head Trauma Harry

As much as we will miss our little Deetz, life goes on and so does life with twin terrible twos. On Sunday Jeff and I tried to keep busy so we went to Lowe's to get some mulch for the yard.
The boys really enjoyed riding on the cart.


I swear I'm going to get Grant a helmet. We were loading the mulch in the truck and the boys were in the bed while we loaded. Grant ran to the edge and fell over and out on to the pavement. He was screaming and crying but seemed to be ok. We took him immediately to the insta care place, mulch and all, and had him checked out. Sure enough, he's perfectly fine. This "no fear" attitude was great when he was learning to walk, not so great now.

On Tuesday we went to meet up with our NICU buddies. What fun it is to see all our friends from the NICU. Especially since we are all about to turn two!! Everyone is doing so well. These babies are such a testiment to the power of prayer, love and support from families and hospital staff.

My, how our vocabulary is growing!! Enjoy this video of the boys telling me about their "watermelon".

In Memorial

It’s with a heavy heart that we pass along the new that our little Deetz has passed away. She was very special to us and we will miss her very much. She has been having a hard time with her anxiety and we finally got to the point that she wasn’t living a happy life anymore.






Deetz came to live with Jeff and I in the spring after we were married. I really thought Jeff was trying to find the strangest dog out there when he showed me her picture. She was skinny and skittish and wouldn’t eat eggs. What dog doesn’t like eggs?? This was the beginning of her neurotic behavior. She was our first “baby” and we loved her anyway.

Jeff and Deetz had a very special bond. They would spend countless days together while Jeff should have been studying for law school.

We were both struck by how much her passing has affected us. Even though she ended up driving us crazy towards the end, we will miss her bad breath, picky appetite, ability to escape the babies and her desire to curl up under a blanket.

Deetz did have a few loves that will always remind us of her; chicken, cupcakes, candy, laying in the sun, rolling in the sun, whipped cream, treats, and Jeff. We will miss you Deetz. (above: rolling in the grass)

We know it seems weird to be this upset over a funny looking, 3 1/2 pound, crazy little dog with one blue eye and one brown, but she held such a special place in our hearts. She made us laugh so much we only hope that the memories of her time with us will get us through this tough time.

Jeff asked me to add this photo, it's one of his favorite's. It was her second Halloween with us. We were living in Ft. Worth at the time. She loved to dress up. :) Not at all really.

Playing and Reading Books

On most days the boys take all the bowls out of the cabinet in the kitchen. I don't mind because it keeps them busy for a long time.

After they finished taking all the bowls out Grant decided to get in. Reed had fun opening and closing the door on him. They both thought it was really funny.

Grant put himself in a tiny little bucket to read his book. He was happy as a clam there.

We've been working really hard on using a spoon. They are really good at it until they get full. Then it because a weapon. They start throwing their applesauce with the spoon. Reed thought it was too funny. They are actually good at it though.

Both boys have been talking a TON lately. It seems like in the past 2 weeks their vocabulary has grown exponentially. This is just a little video of them saying different things about bedtime. They were reading this book that has Burt from "Burt and Ernie" sucking on a pacifier.

Grandpa, aka "pa pa"

The boys got their first taste of a popsicle this weekend. On Saturday we let them have one outside in the nice weather. It was funny to watch them try and eat them. (Reed)

Grant had a better idea of what to do than Reed did.


They had a lot of fun with it even though it ended up getting all over them. I think there was more on the ground by the end then in their tummies.

WE have been really working on trying to find ways to burn energy during the day. Our new favorite thing to do is go to the elementary school by the house. With Jeff studying so much we need things to do so that mommy doesn't go crazy. (Reed)

We used to play in the kiddie/tot playground but have graduated to the big kid area. It's a much better area for supervised chaos. (Reed)

There is just so much room for them to run around and throw their ball.




Grant was having such a good time. Then he took a break to come sit by me for a snack.

My dad came into town for a day yesterday. He had an extended layover so that he could see us. Reed was VERY interested in his laptop and kept pusing the buttons.

Grant got a bigger kick out of his blackberry. Dad was nice enough to let Grant play with it. He was so happy sitting on the couch next to "pa pa". One minute after my dad got there and we said, "it's Grandpa" they started calling him "pa pa". Too Cute.

Grant looking serious as he gets ready to call "daddy".



The boys' birthday is in a few weeks and Grandpa (and Emmy) got them their presents while dad was here. No need to pay for shipping!! Anyway, they got a new sand/water table and a picnic table. Dad and I put together the sand table so the boys could start playing. I'll post some pictures of it in action later this week. We can't wait to use this and our new picnic table. We really are looking forward to spending some time outside in the nice weather.

We went out for a nice dinner at Red Robin and then took my dad to the airport. Thanks again dad!! We had a great time. The boys were good for the meal, not the worst they've ever been out to eat. Grant was so entertained by my dad's piece of watermelon.

Reed was sad to see him go. The entire drive home he kept saying, "bye bye pa pa". I tried to get it on video. If you listen carefully it's the first thing he says. But everytime I asked him to say it, he would tell me "no". As soon as Jeff would put the camera away, he would say it. He kept saying it all the way home, just not for the camera, ofcourse.