Christmas Pics

We had a few pictures taken for Christmas. One of the pics of our family we bought the rights to and then we bought two prints. We scanned the two prints to archive so the resolution isn't the best but I thought that they would be fun to share.

6 months and counting

So the twins turned 6 months on November 28th and here shortly they are going to be 7 months. I think at least once a day i think "I can't believe I have twins" and to go along with that I can't believe I have 6.5 months old twins. They are growing so quickly and amaze me always. Both Greyson and Bentley are so active. They enjoy rolling around and grabbing and holding objects. They are doing a modified crawl but each in different ways. Greyson gets on all fours and rocks back and forth but then thrusts his legs forward under him, while moving his arms forward and Bentley has the army crawl down pretty good. I can't believe how well they can get around. I love to watch them interact with each other. They grab at each others faces and suck on each other. Bentley likes to take Greyson's pacifier out of his mouth and put it in her mouth even though she sucks her thumb. Greyson likes to pull off any head band that I put on Bentley. They always seem to find each other when they are playing on the floor. They have started eating solids. They have tried: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and bananas. I love watching their faces as I introduce a new taste to them. I often find myself laughing at their cute expressions. I am pretty sure they are saying ma and it melts my heart. I love it, even if they are just learning to make the sound. It makes me feel good. They can both sit with support and when sitting without support they topple to the side eventually or occasionally on their face. They are both getting really vocal. Greyson is drooling like crazy but has yet cut a tooth and Bentley has two teeth on the bottom. Greyson really enjoys playing with balls and kicking at anything. Bentley enjoys biting and looking at books. She also likes the sound of crumpling paper and will grab at any paper when she gets a chance. They both will pull out toys of their own choosing from the toy box when playing on the floor. They also love going to story time at the library and listening to anyone sing including myself, which is something because I definitely can't carry a tune. I love these little guys and look forward to each day that I get to spend with them.

Super Twins

My friend Abbey bought these onsies for Greyson and Bentley and they just look too adorable in them. Thanks auntie Abs for always being so kind and thinking of us!!! Silly pic...

Kayden's Birthday

Kayden's (my nephew) birthday was at the end of October and we were able to be at his birthday party. He received a lot of new books and puzzles... which he loved. I love you Kayden.

Thanksgiving

It is nearly Christmas and I am just getting to Halloween and Thanksgiving posts. This year's Thanksgiving was really nice. Again, Lisa hosted and we had a fabulous meal. The highlights of the day entailed running a turkey trot (4 mile run) with my sister. Then going on a short hike with my brothers, the babes, and Shane. Followed by reading through the paper to scout out "good deals" and then I topped myself off with a ridiculous amount of food. We were encircled by great company and enjoyed a nice quite evening minus an incident with the turkey. My brother helpfully took out the turkey from the oven and lost his positioning, which resulted in dropping the turkey on the ground. So on the ground lay the turkey, next to my brothers feet. Dan, my brother, quickly had to take off his socks as to not burn his feet but was not a hundred percent successful. Along with a few blisters, my sisters oven read error and needed to be serviced due to the grease hitting the front door. Regardless of the incident the remainder of the evening went smoothly and everyone recovered. More than anything it made it memorable. A side bar to the evenings happenings, I wanted to note a few of the things that I am grateful for this year. Of course I am thankful for the twins but mostly what I have discovered from the twins. I have an increased gratitude, love, and respect for Shane. I also am grateful for the opportunities the twins have given me to serve and recognize that life is so much more than myself. I am grateful for the light and meaning that the twins have brought to my life. I love them and feel honored to be their mother and hope that I can always treat them with the respect they deserve. I am grateful for the influence they had on the career change that we are embarking on at this time and the new found opportunities, growth and friendships that have come with that change/move. I am grateful for gratitude in general and the emotion that is felt when expressing or feeling gratitude for anything in life. I am grateful for the opportunity to live such a privileged life and I look forward to the new year and all the new trails and blessings that we will experience as a family and that I will experience individually.

Halloween

My parents flew in on Halloween night and we all convened at Lisa's house for dinner followed by trick-or-treating. Lisa made her famous white chili which was scrumptious and then Shane and I took Amaris around the neighborhood to get her fill of candy. She was so much fun and the babies of course came with via their front packs i.e. papooses as we like to refer to them!!!

Five Months...on Thursday

Greyson and Bentley are five months on Thursday and they are getting so big.

Just a brief update (in addition to their three month talents):

-they are both rolling from their backs to their tummy, if fact they are just rolling in general.. I will lay them on one end of a blanket and find them minutes later on the other end or even off the blanket near our table or recliner

-they are starting to really interact with one another by grabbing at each others faces and sucking on each others heads, hands, and feet

- they have had an increase in their vocabulary... especially Bentley, she already knows how to chew us out and use tone inflection to show us she means buisness

-they are both starting to laugh with the help of their daddy's coaxing

-good sleepers... most of the time!!!

-Bentley just cut her first tooth this past week

-Greyson loves to kick at everything it is so fun to watch and Bentley likes to flutter her hands

I can now say that I love being a mom. I have had so much fun getting to know Greyson and Bentley. They are so different and have such unique personalities. I look forward to the time that I get to spend with them and for the opportunities we get to develop together . At first being a mother was completely different then I had invisioned and more difficult than anyone could've described. Both Shane and I have been perplexed how these two babies continually suck the life out of us and we keep coming back for more. I guess that is called being a parent and it is all in the cards. As for me, I am proud of the my new skill set I am developing and although it isn't always measurable in terms of what I am used to, I will continue to make deposits in hopes of building some interest.

Round Two... Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island

I purchased my first groupon coupon in Portland (or every actually because I was unaware of the existence of groupon before residing in Portland) for the "Heart Maize" out at Sauvie Island because I hadn't got my fill of Halloween fun yet. So on Saturday we met my brothers Seth and Dan as well as my niece Amaris . We also met up with some new friends and their son. We took a hayride with the Bob stroller out to the pumpkin patch where my brother attempted to finish off the twins feeding. It was really nice... he just jumped in so Shane and I could go pick out a pumpkin with Amaris. The Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie island is huge and filled with an assortment of festivities. Amaris played for a while on the haystack and then we went to the farmer's market and stocked up on some yummy produce. Plus we purchased some pumpkin butter which was worth the trip itself. After everyone left, Shane and I ventured in the corn maze with the babes. Once again we lucked out with the weather, although it was raining on the way out to the pumpkin patch we hit a great pocket of time that it wasn't crowded and he weren't in the pouring rain.

Cute Greyson Pics

Round One...Pumpkin Patch Bend, OR

(I love that Shane and I are both smiling when we are supposed to have a serious face as we are "unsure" as to whether we will be getting good crops for the year...some posers we are)

My sister, Emily came to Bend for the weekend with her family from Enterprise Oregon where they recently moved. So we decided to join them and make a weekend of everyone visiting my parents. My brother Nicholas also lives in Bend with his wife Emily and son Kayden. Anyway we all went out to the pumpkin patch by Smith Rock for the afternoon and had a great time. We hit in a perfect day because it was cold and overcast but not so cold that it wasn't enjoyable but apparently enough to deter others.

Sporting their halloween pj's compliments of HONEY!!! Thanks for always spoiling the babes mom.


I love this picture of Bentley and Greyson... they look so tired but I love how they are snuggled together.

Hiking with the babes

We live near Washington Park which has a huge trail system. So we have been going on several hikes to enjoy the nice weather. We have found that it has been a nice fix to the outdoors and there is quick access from our apartment. It takes a minimal amount of time and effort to pack up and drive to and we can load and unload easily as that has become more of a production these days.

Some Fun Pics...

Swifts in Portland

Shane and I ventured on a family date night with Greyson and Bentley to check out the Swifts. Some students in Shane's cohort suggested that we check it out as it only happens once a year during a few weeks in September. Several thousand migratory Vaux's Swifts descent into the chimney of Chapman Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. They continue their journey to Central America. So we made sure to follow the sidewalk on the side of the school were the chimney was visible to assure a good show.

First Trip to the zoo

The Portland zoo is in a really pretty setting. Shane hadn't been yet so we decided to make a day of it with my brother, Dan and niece Amaris... compliments of my brothers annual pass!!!

Baby Video

Date Night

Shane and I went on our first date since pre-babies. My parents watched the babies while we were in Bend. We decided to go out to dinner and a movie. We shared a dish at El Rosa and then used some movie passes to watch the movie Salt. We ended the evening passionately by returning to my parents house excited to see the babes. Thanks mom and dad for a fabulous evening that was much needed and very appreciated!!!

Honey and Tutkee

Honey and Tutkee are the names that my parents go by with the grandkids. Honey was coined by my niece Bailey and Tutkee is what my grandfather went by and so my dad initiated the passing on of the name. Greyson and Bentley love spending time with Honey and Tutkee and as always they were spoiled up. Aside from being amazing parents, Honey and Tutkee are outstanding grandparents and we are so fortunate to be able to share the twins with them.

Updated

I think that our blog is pretty much up to date. I have had this blog since April and I haven't been utilizing it and I wanted to make sure and document the twins so I back dated posts and now my plan is to keep it current. Some of my posts are super long for my own documentation and recollection purposes...yeah for blogging, finally a form of journaling that just might work for me.

Three months

Greyson and Bentley were three months old on August 28th and the following are all of their current talents:

Both of them can roll from their tummy to their back (Greyson first rolled to his back at 7 weeks and Bentley just rolled over September 1st)

They can play on their tummies and hold their heads up and look side to side

They both coo, smile, and grasp and bat at objects as well as make bubbles

Self-soothe: Bentley sucks her fingers, especially her thumb and Greyson sucks on his fists (however he still enjoys the binki to calm him)

Greyson weighs: 13 lbs 11oz
Bentley weighs: 13 lbs 7oz

It has been so much fun to interact with both of them. It makes it so rewarding and fun to be a mom when they smile or cuddle into me.

Trip to Boise

Shane had a week off in between his summer and fall classes so we decided to take a road trip to Boise. Initially, we weren't sure that it was going to work out but then everything fell into place. I was in survival mode when we moved and unable to really share the babies with our friends and family so it was so fun to go back and share Greyson and Bentley with everyone in a more "normal" state. We got to Nampa in the early A.M on Friday August 27th and stayed through the following Wednesday September 1st. It was a rushed trip and unfortunately we weren't able to see everyone but we will be back in December and hope to stay longer. While we were in Idaho we went to the doctor's for a wellness appointment. The babies also got some of their shots, which was so sad to watch. Greyson weighs 13 lbs 11oz and Bentley weighs 13 lbs 7oz. They are getting so big. Shane's family had a dinner/get together on Sunday and it was so fun to be able to see all of his siblings and their families that live in the area. We stopped by my work to see old co-workers, went to a company picnic at Roaring springs, had lunch with friends, went to dinner with friends and family, had dinner at friends houses, went to breakfast at friends and had visitors stop by the house. We stayed in our house, which was interesting without furniture but we had a really good time. My friend Emily stopped by and left all the necessities on our counter which was so welcoming when we got in in the middle of the night. She even thought of condiments to put in the fridge. Thank you so much Emily... you are always so detail oriented and one of the most fabulous people that I have met. We miss everyone so much and had such a great time visiting with everyone. We love you and can't wait to see you soon!!

A few pics while in Boise....

Neices and Nephews with Greyson and Bentley

Shane and I with his parents

Me and Andrea

Shane's sister Tammy and her husband Tom with the babes

Lena, TeRonda and I