8 Months Old!

 I think Ash took this picture. I guess they are gearing up for some piano duets already. Sounds good to me!

 Anna and Audrey

 They look soooo different to us now, but I suppose they do look a little bit alike once in a while.

 I was in the kitchen, and turned around to find Ash getting some yogurt out. It's not every 13 year old girl that walks around the kitchen with a snake around her neck. Yuck! But maybe her husband will love that about her!

 This is our only picture to document our campout. Well, sort of a campout. We were going to set the tent up but decided to sleep on the trampoline instead. I slept inside with the babies. It was a cold night but they all really wanted to do it!

 I took the kiddos to the consignment store last week. I had to snap a picture of the great help I had. Ash and Sadie each grabbed a baby out of the car and i was getting the stroller out of the back. I set it up and Ash and Sadie each started buckling a baby. I was so thankful for their help! It makes going out with two babies a lot easier!

 No matter what….they always find a way to be touching when they sleep. I love it.

 Anna trying out Dad's hat.

 I love this picture. Anna is going after the gun (Dave loves that part) and the look on her face is as if she is wondering why on earth Audrey would be crying. Poor Audrey - this isn't the only time Anna has pulled this stunt. It's almost a daily occurrence.

 One day Nate comes downstairs with last year's Halloween costume on. (He was Gollum last year…and yes, that's all he wore trick or treating in the freezing cold. I might have objected, or at least insisted that he wear something a little warmer, but I was in the ER that night so I didn't have a say.) Then he put on his crazy hat and roller blades and was blading around the house. Funny boy.

 Sadie worked hard to finish this scarf!

 Anna and Audrey had fun riding in the cart at Costco!

 Anna and Audrey enjoying some carrots.

 Anna wants her carrot and Audrey's carrot.

 Anna got it.

 Audrey wants it back.

 Is that comfortable Anna?

 Nate reading to his little sisters. So often Nate tells me that it's "way more fun that I thought" to have two babies.

 Cute Audrey.

 Had to document this. Anna and Audrey (but especially Audrey) LOVE to play with my hair when I nurse and feed bottles. They grab hold of a chunk of hair with one hand and then stroke the ends of my hair with the other hand. It's pretty cute. Sometimes my hair is in a pony and I have take it out because they are reaching for my hair. I recently cut a couple inches off my hair and I worried it would be too short for them but they can still reach it.

 Anna

 Audrey

 Anna

 Sadie and Dave were out pruning a tree. Sadie LOVES to do anything outside with Dave. She's an outside girl.

 Dave took Anna and Audrey out for a run. They loved it. Can you tell?

 Anna recently figured out how to stand up in the crib. She thinks it's the greatest thing. We help Audrey stand up so she can have some fun too. They are so happy standing up like that.

 I love Audrey's face.

 Nate has a loose tooth and is trying so hard to get it out. He wanted Dave to really loosen it and he was willing to be in a lot of pain! Can you tell it's hurting? But he says to keep doing it! He is a determined little boy.

 Anna and Dave having a Sunday afternoon snuggle. Dave was in heaven.

 There Anna goes again. Anna is crawling everywhere now. Audrey is getting there but can't go as far as Anna yet. Maybe Audrey is going to be crawling away from Anna to get away from Anna's latest trick.

Nate and Dave went on a fun hike.

 Anna has her hands like this the whole time she is in the highchair. Makes me smile.

 I think they are getting plenty of attention around here. And lots and lots of love.

 Audrey and Anna

Ash likes zipping a baby up in her sweatshirt and they like it too.

Fun in the crib

Lately I have felt so extra thankful for these babies in my life. I think I've been thankful every day of the last 7 1/2 months but some days it hits me so strong and I just can't believe what I'm holding in my arms. Every day isn't bliss because life is life and there are plenty of bumps in the road. But most days my heart is so thankful I think it will burst. These babies have brought so much joy to our home. We know they were carefully guided to our home and we are eternally grateful. I can't believe we've had them for over 7 months, but I'm happy that I can look back on the time and know that I have given it my all and have soaked up this time having two babies to snuggle. It is one of the best feelings in the world to have two babies in my arms. 

Dave was home with the babies and had put them down for nap. Usually they go down really well but this time he heard Anna crying and went to check on her. No wonder she was crying! She was pinned down! We laughed so hard at this picture. Audrey is all snuggled up with her arm around Anna…and Anna isn't in a comfy position to sleep! 

 I had to get a snapshot of their hands like this on the sheet. For months now, when we put them down, they rub their hands all over the sheet as they are settling into their sleeping position. It's an extra soft sheet and I think they both really like the feel of it. Sleepy girls after church today.

 They have so much fun in their jump-ups. The other day they were playing together in their jump-ups and were so focused on each other. Sometimes I don't want to do anything besides sit and watch them interact with each other.

 This is how I found the babies after a nap. They are like this so often now. They "wrestle" and coo and talk to each other.

 This is how piano practice looks when I'm sitting at the piano helping someone and I've got the babies on my lap. They love playing the piano. It just makes me smile to see two little heads together banging away at the piano.

 The other day the babies were on the floor in the kitchen while I was doing dishes. I'm so used to this sight with one baby but I really had to laugh as I looked down and saw two babies playing with kitchen items on the floor. It's so much fun to have two! My babies never liked real toys but loved measuring cups and everything in the kitchen.

 Some days I have trouble leaving their room. They are just at such a fun stage and are soooo interactive and LOVE attention. As I leave their room, I always have two sets of eyes watching me all the way to the door…with the biggest grins on their faces. How do you leave that?

They were getting as close to the rail as possible to get close to us. Sadie was with me and we were having a fun time making them laugh and laugh.

Dave's Guatemala Trip

Dave had the neat opportunity to go to Guatemala with a group of local dentists to help them with their dental care. We were sad to see him leave for so long but so glad he could help so many children in need. We hope we all get a chance to go with him one of these years! Ashlyn is saving her pennies to go with him next year!

 We made a few quick blankets for Dave to take down. He tried to get a picture with all of the kids that he gave our blankets to. She has gauze in her mouth since she just had some teeth extracted. Dave extracted a total of 192 teeth on mostly children.

 This was their sterilization setup. Dave was warned that he would have to lower his standards just a  bit. The people were so incredibly kind and anxious to help. And most of all, very, very thankful.

 For a couple days they worked at a school in a Mayan village. Dave needed to go to the bathroom and this is what he found!

 Such darling little girls!

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Dave and the group took a ton of food to this single mother of 12 (two recently passed away). He couldn't believe their living conditions with no running water, and many other tough things. They were so thankful and appreciative of the food. They had never had a box of cornflakes in all their life and were pretty excited to get a box.

7 months!

 Audrey and Anna

 Audrey riding the rocking horse with Ash.

 I've waited a long time to park here at the library! I had to take a picture! :)

 Anna chewing on a bell pepper.

 Audrey, Sadie and Nate enjoying the beautiful weather outside!

 Dave brought Nate a machete home from Guatemala for Nate. He LOVES it! Can you tell?

 Nate using his machete to cut his bagel at our school day with our home school group. He really wanted to try it and I didn't really want him to but I decided to let him and he was pretty excited about it. It really made me laugh. Don't think he could pull that off at public school!

 Sadie and Anna eating lunch together. Anna is chewing on a carrot.

Beautiful white dresses

My good friend, Brooke, offered to make these beautiful white dresses for Anna and Audrey. I love them! I love the hand embroidery. They were a labor of love and we will keep these special dresses forever! 

 Audrey

 Audrey

 Audrey and Anna

It's near impossible to get them both smiling in a picture!

 Audrey and Anna

 Anna

Audrey and Anna

6 months old

Hard to believe they are 6 months old. Although, it seems like we've had them a lot longer than 6 months!

 Can't get enough of their sleeping positions. One thing is certain…no matter how they fall asleep, they are always touching in some way. It's adorable.

 Fuzzy picture but adorable smiles. Boy, do they bring a lot of happiness to our home!

 I think it was the day they got shots and they were feeling a bit lethargic. I snuggled them close to me and I just couldn't move - for at least an hour - because I didn't dare interrupt that precious time.

 Blanche is the best!! Seriously - what 95 year old woman takes a bearded dragon right out of Nate's arms to "take a look at that thing". She is an animal lover, so she and Nate get along well. She came for Ashlyn and Nate's piano recital. I love her personality and attitude about life. If I live to be 95, I'm going to try and be just like Blanche.

 Grandpa and…can't tell. The babies got a lot of love last weekend!!!

 I love this picture of 4 of my favorite people!!! Thanks so much for coming, Shannon and Chad!!!!

 Ashlyn and Sadie looked so sweet in their white dresses. They had matching pearl bracelets with Anna and Audrey that they can use as a keepsake from our day.

 Grandma and Anna

 It was such a treat to have Jeremy and Michiko come for the weekend!! We LOVED spending time with them and wish it lasted longer! They have 4 boys, so it was pretty fun to see them with girls. I thought Anna and Audrey looked like they fit right in with them! :) The babies seemed especially snuggly with Jeremy - and that was so fun to watch! It's hard to believe it's been over 9 years since our San Francisco days of dental school! We love you guys!

 Chad and Anna having some snuggle time.

 Sorry for Nate's pose. He is such a boy. No worries about him being surrounded by sisters and not learning to be a man. Grandpa, Sadie and Nate after a 3 hour hike up the hill for a picnic and then on to look for fossils. Dad's sporting my gun in case they found a rattler. No such luck. And for the record, we haven't had one rattlesnake around our house. Dave and his brother found one at the top of the hill, but I don't count that.

 We went to our first day of school (where we attend once a week) with older babies. They were easier when they were 2 months old and slept most of the time! I managed to get them both asleep and put them on the couch for a little nap! Too bad the nap didn't last very long.

 So sleepy after a feeding.

 They are mobile! They aren't crawling but they can get around between rolling and scooting. I was amazed one day when I left for a minute and came back to the room and saw them a good 10 feet from where I left them. Here we go!!!!!

Audrey has a tooth coming in - which is pretty early compared to Ash, Sadie and Nate who all got teeth at 10 months!