New Things

Aiden and Geno Jax out for a wagon ride 

The boys appetites are still out of sorts so I've been trying different feeding methods. I went to the "local" walmart, I'm not used to driving 45 minutes to hit up the junk store, to buy a few sippy cups. 

Kaleb says...Aunt Rachael, this look is for YOU!

K&A are all about drinking out of my nalgene so the cups were a hit right away. With lots of practice my little guys will be feeding themselves, and what a treat that will be for me!

Bippies=Baby Hippies

We have some new favorite toys and books! Bblocks are a blast and goodnight goon, a petrifying parody, is hilarious.

I took the twins to their first art show and they dipped their toes in the blue river.

We also went to their Aunt Jessica's violin recital and listened to all her students play amazing solo's and duets.

The boys playing at the recital

Apples are on the menu tonight for the new weekly food. Kaleb and Aiden both agree summer squash is delicious...anything but carrots.

Aiden is a guy on the go, and is SO strong. This past week he's been doing the elephant walk, trying extra hard to stand. Bma was so kind to show the boys they can hold onto the side of the crib, while standing, and talk to each other....thanks ma.

Hey guys!!  Whatcha doin'?

Now Aiden can't get enough. He pulled himself to STAND on his own, for the first time to have a better view of the kindle. I was shocked, excited and proud! Now he crawls over to his toy box, pulls himself to stand and looks for something new....or if I'm holding Kman up to stand and dance, AJ gets super jealous, crawls over and uses my arm to pull himself to stand too.

Aiden standing solo for the first time!!!

Kaleb has finally learned to belly flop forward, but still spends most of his time backing up and doing 360's.  Today he sat himself up on his own!

King Kaleb on his mighty throne

I can't believe the boys are almost 8 months old. Every month is my favorite age!! Things just keep getting better, and better!

Clouds

The clouds in Colorado are so different than Texas.  The clean air and soft whistle of the aspen leaves makes you feel like you're floating!  I can only imagine that's exactly how the boys feel swinging on the hammock.  We love it here.

Hammock View

For the first time in months the little rash on Aiden's neck has vanished, all thanks to zero humidity!  Mama and I took the boys for their first mountain hike, where we looked at rocks, smelled wild flowers, sang songs and galloped like ponies.  It was SO fun.

Mama and Kman..who was still riding his horse!

Alma's annual Festival in the Clouds is also in full swing.  Lots of rockin' bands and art to experience.  

Between all the festival's, and spending our Friday morning/afternoon's at the market, the boys have made a ton of new friends!  

AJ playing with his new book/blocks and Kaleb with his Sophie and Mr. Elephant

 They are little attention grabbers and I spend most of my time answering the same questions time and time again.   They are 7.5 months, yes they are twins, both are boys...Aiden and Kaleb, yes I'm the mama, they were 4.14 and 5.5 at birth, yes I'm busy, thank you I know I have adorable children.

Gabe, Michael, Mama and Kaleb at Festival

Kman played along with the drums all night, and Aiden crashed as I danced him to sleep!

K&A had a real rough day yesterday, and were completely out of sorts.  Today has been MUCH better, but their appetites are still off.  The next couple days I'll focus on getting them back on schedule. 

Hope everyone had a happy weekend!

1st words!

Roughly a week ago Aiden started saying MaMa!  I told Keith I thought he was calling me, and he was pretty quick to disagree.  Baby babbles jumble together and sometimes it's hard to tell if they are saying real words.  Monday evening my mom flew into town and after putting Aiden to bed she listened and confirmed my original diagnosis!  SO, now I'm all excited cause he calls me all the time, especially when I leave the room.  It's so darn cute. 

MaMa MaMa

The boys, K&A, Geno and Elliot James, mama and I piled into the car Tuesday afternoon and went on a big road trip!  The babies and kitties were outstanding passengers.  The drive was rough the first 12 hours with non-stop rain.  UGH.  Between the clicking of the windshield wipers and clunking of the little trailer the boys never got great rest.  By the 12th hour they were aching to get out of those car seats and roll around.  I pulled off to crash in a hotel and cuddled Kman while AJ tossed himself around the pack'n'play. 

At some point during our road trip adventure Kaleb kicked talking into high gear calling out DaDa, DaDa!  Melts my heart, and I feel so awful they will be away from Keith for a time!

DaDa, DaDa

In the meantime the boys get to have lots of fun playing at their Bma's Colorado Cabin home.  My mom went totally above and beyond setting up an Amazing nursery for them!

It's beautiful here inside and out, and she made it extra easy to move in with all our favorite things we brought from Texas.

It's great to take the twins outside to breath in the fresh mountain air, and pick out new books to read!

Elliot James and Geno Jax, making themselves at home

Tomorrow the boys and I are headed to the market to help sell fun stuff...and we're gonna go shopping too, since I forgot to pack pants for myself!  Whoops.  
 
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer.
A very, very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the boys honorary Aunt Kerrie!!!  Enjoy your day, we LOVE and MISS you so very much!

Stars and Stripes

Yesterday was extra exciting celebrating our great nation and the boys turning SEVEN months!!

Kaleb in stars, Aiden in stripes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA AND HAPPY SEVEN MONTH BIRTHDAY K&A!

Our home scale is not working properly, so weights are a rough guesstimate at this point.  Mr. Kaleb weighs approximately 16 pounds 4 ounces and Mr. Aiden 17 pounds 6 ounces.

Milestones:
Kaleb consistently sleeps through the night, and a couple nights a week Aiden does the same.  Last night I was shocked they slept through every firework boom!

The boys are still slightly off balance, but are basically sitting on their own!

We are SO happy to be home after our vacation and have settled back into our wonderful routine.  Babies (and Mama) love routine!!  Geno clearly missed the boys and is all about head knocking them and laying close by.  Pretty cute.

This past week we transformed our upstairs living space to a fun-filled play area.  The boys are totally digging all the free space.  We have daily dance parties and wrestle with their water dragons, who also keep them safe!

Besides upgrading our play area, we've also upgraded to highchairs!  Finally something to help keep my guys still.  Aiden climbs the twinz pillow like it's great Mt. Texas and escapes in seconds....and Kaleb flips upside down like it's his job! 

K on Left, A on Right.

The boys love watermelon, bananas and seem undecided with carrots.  We'll see how they do on Monday with homemade sweet potato!  I'm in love with making baby food.  It's SO fun and I can't wait to experiment as their food palette grows.

In no time at all the boys will be able to giggle and enjoy the silliness of my "special" holiday meals, and enjoy all the baked goods I seem to have constantly sitting around the kitchen!

Red White and Blue Pancake Breakfast!

All the cupcakes disappeared SO quickly yesterday, and since I made a huge batch of buttercream icing, another cake is currently brewing in the oven :)  The house smells like birthday two days in a row!

Charleston Vacation

We had a serious blast on our first family beach vacation in Charleston, SC.  What a charming, historic and beautiful place to visit!

Loved our Southern Beach House!  Wrap around porches are my favorite!

The boys got to feel the ocean waves, smell the salty air,

Beach walk with the boys.  Aiden looking VERY stylish!

and put their toes in the sand for the first time!

AJ's sandy toes!

Kaleb is a totally cool dude!  Thanks Auntie Julia for lending us those super awesome goggle sunglasses!

We managed with a crazy messy schedule and did really well sharing a room with the boys for the week. Kaleb and Aiden had a ton of fun playing with their cousins.

Kaleb even got Teddy to suck on his fingers, haha.

Chloe and Sophie are the BEST, most HELPFUL big cousins EVER!  I don't think we would have survived the week without them!

Cousin totem!

Being with family is the best thing in the world and I seriously hate living so far away!  Some favorite memories of this trip include witnessing Will do a crazy awesome SILENT (don't wake the 4 sleeping babies) stomping happy dance when the Hawks won the Stanley Cup!  Watching the sunrise on the beach,

Swimming on the rooftop,

And ultimately lounging with family for an entire week.

Can't wait to do this again...when the babies are older.  Our adventures with the twin cousins will only become more humorous.  As long as Chloe and Sophie are around I think we'll all be just fine!

Thanks to everyone for a GREAT trip!  Love and Miss you all!!

Happy JULY!