Swings!

Last night, we took a walk to the park near our house. Since it was before 6:00, the swarm of toddlers who come after their parents get off work wasn't there yet so we were able to let Jack and Cullen try out the swings. As you can see, we put them back to back and they fit perfectly and they loved it!! So much fun, we'll have to do it again soon, maybe tonight!

Jack

Cullen

Ummm, I really hope he didn't catch some contagious disease from that!

Chubby little legs

I guess Jack's giving the kid next to him a dirty look

For Some Reason...

Whenever I leave the boys with Brandon, I always come back to find them doing wrestling moves on each other. He says he's teaching them from a young age not to be 'sissies.' I always tell him not to worry, with him as their father, I don't think there's any danger of that :-)









*Although it may appear so, Cullen is not actually gouging out Jack's eyes. They were both laughing the entire time.

Cullen

See how good they are at sitting up now? They're getting to be pros at it!

Jumping Jack

Jack and his rattle

First Fourth

Jackson and Cullen's first Independence Day weekend was super busy but really fun! On Friday night, we went to the Capital to watch the rehearsal concert. We did this two years ago when we were engaged and I just love it; it's the same concert as the actual one on the 4th of July but waaaayy less crowded. We were able to bring some blankets and snacks and had a really fun time with some friends from church. Two years ago we got to see Dierks Bentley perform which was the highlight for me. This year, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow and the characters from Sesame Street were there. And yes, we got to hear Copa Cabana live, I know you're all just seething with jealousy! And, this year it didn't thunderstorm!!

Here's the view from our seats, it may seem crowded but this is nothing compared to what it looked like the next night!

Here's our view of the stage, if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see Aretha Franklin singing the National Anthem, how cool is that?!?! ?

We watched most of the performance on the giant screen above the stage

Here we are two years ago, a little over a month before we got married (I'm glad Brandon didn't wear the same shirt to the concert this year- how funny would that have been though?)

And here we are two years later, a little more tired, a little less tan and glamorous but with the two BEST little babies anybody could ask for. I love my family!!

Mommy and Jack

On the 4th, we had a picnic in the park near our house with some friends from church but we somehow forgot to take any pictures, darn! We had a delicious all-American meal of burgers, grilled chicken, potato salad, cornbread, watermelon, homemade lemonade and cherry pie! It was so good and it made me really jealous of people who have barbecues! I feel like I'm missing out on one of my favorite parts of summer without burgers and grilled veggies. Maybe somebody with a grill will read this and invite us over for a BBQ? ;-)

After our picnic, we went home, let the boys take a nap and then headed out again to try and see the fireworks from the Iwo Jima Memorial. It was one of those things that I'd never attempt again and, had I known how difficult it would be, probably wouldn't have gone through with, but was glad we did once it was over. We circled the streets for over half an hour looking for a parking spot, had to park several miles away, strap the boys on in Baby Bjorns and powerwalk for about 30 minutes to get there in time but we did it! We may have been out of breath but we made it with about 15 minutes to spare. We squeezed into a small gap on the lawn and settled in to watch the fireworks. The boys watched most of the show and Jack decided about halfway through that that was the opportune moment to have a massive blowout in his diaper but it was still really special for us to take them to see the fireworks on their first 4th of July. I'm already excited for next year!

Here's Brandon and the boys waiting for the fireworks to start. Thanks Nana and Aunties for the cute, patriotic outfits!!

Jack

Cullen watching the fireworks

Eat Your Vegetables!

Update: I realized I forgot to post their stats from the doctor's appointment this week. Cullen is 16 pounds, 6 ounces and 26 inches long. Jack is 15 pounds, 7 ounces and 26 inches long. So Cullen is now a full pound bigger than Jackson! They're both in the 40th percentile for height and Cullen is in the 30th and Jack in the 20 percentile in weight. So I guess they slowed down in growth recently but I'm sure that will pick back up now that they're eating "solids."

Oh and the carrots and pears tonight were a hit! They liked the carrots way better than those nasty peas and couldn't get enough of the pears!



This is a flurry of posts today but I have been storing up all these pictures and probably won't have time to post again until the end of the weekend. On Tuesday, we had a 6-month check up and the pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to start feeding the boys fruits and veggies- yay! I've been looking forward to this! So on the way home I stopped at the grocery store and bought a bunch of baby food (I plan on making my own but my food processor hasn't come in the mail yet, so I have that adventure to look forward to next week!).

At dinner that night, we gave the boys their first taste... and they weren't too impressed! I started with peas since I hate peas myself and I want Jack and Cullen to like them. I'm not sure if there's any truth to the myth that if you feed your baby too many sweet things at the beginning that they'll grow up to not like veggies, but I didn't want to risk it so we started with the worst tasting thing I could think of - peas. As you can tell from the pictures below, they don't seem to like peas any more than I do. They immediately spit everything out and continued to do this throughout the whole feeding. It literally took me two days to get rid of one container of peas between the both of them.

I thought I'd be a nice mommy and not force them to finish the peas so after a couple spoonfuls we moved onto prunes, which they didn't like much better. I think maybe the prunes were a bit tart and too flavorful for them? I'm not sure but by that time they were so over eating real food and were beginning to cry. Poor kiddos!

Today, however, I mixed bananas into their rice cereal and the results were like night and day! They devoured it!! Jack has always been a bit slower of an eater but I have never seen him eat anything so fast. I didn't even know he could do it! I literally couldn't spoon it into his mouth fast enough and he was screaming for more in between bites! I guess they have a sweet tooth after all! Don't worry though, I'm not going to give up on veggies. We might take a break from green veggies for a few days (maybe try some carrots or sweet potatoes) but we'll keep trying! Then, I think I'll be smarter about reintroducing them by mixing them with rice cereal and then gradually reducing the amount of cereal. Anyways, here are some pictures from the first traumatizing meal of peas and prunes, their faces are priceless!

Here we go...

"Hmmm, not too sure about this"

"Uh, I don't think I like peas!"

"Yep, it's official, I hate peas, Mom! Get that spoon away from me!"

Jack (our little drama queen) gagging himself on the peas


Cullen's turn

"Sick! Mom, what is this??"

"Yucky! I can't eat this, I'll just push it all out with my tongue"

Oh well, onto prunes with Jack

"Ummm, these are just as bad as the peas!"

"I take that back, they're worse!"

"I'm not eating another bite!"

"Waaaahhhh, I can't believe my parents made me eat that! They're so mean!"

More Pictures

These picture are all from our Father's Day picnic last week

Jackson

Cullen

Tough Guy

6 Months!!

I meant to post this on Tuesday which was their actual 6-month birthday but life got in the way. We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning and found out they are growing big and strong! They have changed so much over the past 3 months it's hard to keep up with it all, but here's what they're up to lately:

*They will put anything and everything into their mouths as soon as they get their hands on it.
* About a month ago, they discovered that their feet are endlessly entertaining and now constantly play with them. This makes diaper changes difficult since they immediately reach for their feet and won't let go.
*They've both become a lot more clingy recently. They get very upset when nobody's in the room with them and if I leave them playing on the floor to go cook dinner they start to throw tantrums until I come back. They have been practicing their most pitiful cries and wails and save them up for these moments.
*When this happens while they're in their bouncer or activity center they throw their heads back and their arms out into the air. Sometimes, they'll accidently hit a button and music will start playing. This usually stuns them for a few seconds and they often forget why they were crying in the first place.
*They interact with each other a lot more now. They are always reaching for each other while they're playing and trying to eat each other's hands and feet. Sometimes they even smile at each other which I think is just the sweetest thing ever.
*They aren't big on rolling over although they definitely know how to do it, they prefer to just roll from side to side. If I place them on their tummies they eventually roll to their backs but they have only rolled from their backs to their stomachs a handful of times.
*They love to watch the cats and (if they're sitting within reach) pull out large fistfuls of cat hair and eat it. Then I have to spend 15 minutes fishing out a million little white hairs from their mouths.
*They now play with all the toys in their activity centers and have just recently begun frantically waving their rattles and stuffed animals in the air or banging two toys together.
*I have a feeling they will grow up to be little daredevils because they seem to love the sensation of falling. They have always liked to be bounced but now they like us to throw them in the air or jump up and down with them in our arms. They also love hanging upside down and whenever they're laying on my lap they scoot themselves so that their head is hanging off upside down.
*They "talk" incessantly and have started making gasping sounds lately too. They have also started laughing at things going on around them rather than just in response to us smiling at, tickling, or bouncing them.
*Last night they slept for 11 hours!! From 8:30 until 7:30!! Over the next few weeks we'll try to put them to bed even earlier and hopefully they'll keep sleeping for 10-12 hour stretches.
*At only 6 months their eyelashes are longer and thicker than mine will ever be. We seriously need to have a girl because it seems unfair to waste such beautiful eyelashes on boys!
*They haven't grown much hair, they're still little baldies! They even have a full-on bald spot on the backs of their heads from sleeping on their backs. When I was a baby I had masses of dark hair but Brandon had hardly any so they obviously take after him.
*Speaking of Brandon, they looove their daddy!! They already get excited when they see him walk in the door and they just love to play with him. If Brandon's in the room while I'm nursing them, he has to stay out of sight and keep quiet or else they'll whip their heads around to look for him and if they catch sight of him they refuse to nurse any more.
*They still love to go for walks and be around other people, they are great when I take them to Bible Study and are content to play on the floor and look around. Last week, Cullen started cracking up out of nowhere (I think he was laughing at a lady's foot that was above his head) and soon the entire Bible Study was laughing with him.
*They still haven't mastered sitting up but are steadily getting better at balancing themselves for longer stretches of time. Cullen is still better at it than Jack but I think this is probably because he's bigger and a little sturdier around the middle than Jack.
*When they take baths now they kick their legs excitedly and splash water all over the kitchen and me. I am excited for them to get big enough to take baths in the bathtub together, they just need to learn to sit up a little better first.
*Sometimes when they see us eating, they start making chewing motions with their mouths.