Memorial Day Weekend

It is Monday night and we are winding down from an eventful weekend. Saturday and Sunday we did lots of backyard outdoor time with the babies and had a roaring good time in the hammock:

We also made the rounds in the neighborhood in our stroller:

Aidan was a busy boy working on lots of milestones this weekend. We now see his two bottom teeth ready to bust through (Maddie already has two) AND he is beginning to crawl. It seems that watching his sister work her way around the room has inspired him. Maddie's new thing is to take off when Mommy turns her back. Just this morning she was "missing" for the 2 most panic stricken minutes of my life (I eventually found her in the bathroom).

And to cap off our family weekend, we had cousin Morgan (who manged 4 wardrobe changes during our visit)'s 6th birthday party to attend. It was a nice, relaxing BBQ at the Lance's in Littleton. Lots of playing outside!

Cousin's Morgan & Vivi ham it up in their wagon:

Aidan decided that if he couldn't eat BBQ, he may as well nap:

Maddie desperately wanted to play with the big girls:

As each day passes, we see Aidan & Maddie interacting with each other more and more. They often touch hands and giggle at each other and it seems they have a bit of an unspoken language. We are really looking forward to watching them discover how much fun (and trouble) they can create together!

Stay tuned for more adventures...

P.S - Aidan wants to share his thoughts on avocado with everyone:

P.P.S. - Maddie wants to express her feelings about bedtime:

8 Months Today!!

May 18th...it has been exactly 8 months since the blessed day our twins arrived! Due to the babies' newfound maturity, we decided it was time to try some finger foods. We had a prior attempt at cheerios (at 6 mos) that resulted in a horrific choking/vomiting episode. Needless to say Mommy was quite happy to put those cheerios back up on the shelf for some day down the road. Now it seems that day has arrived. We have recently noticed Maddie & Aidan eyeing our food with a look of longing. So this morning we cracked out the Gerber Sweet Potato puffs expecting there to not be much interest. Boy were we wrong!!!

Both were excited from the get go to fling them off the trays...but it was Aidan (of course) who caught on to the fact that perhaps these were for eating. Below are some pictures of the monumentous event:

Aidan's first attempt at feeding himself:

His initial reaction was one of puzzlement:

But eventually he decided to shove them in by the fistful:

And of course he is now mastering the art of the sippy cup - a boy needs to wash down his Gerber puffs after all!

Maddie did feed herself a few puffs, but was mainly interested in her teething ring:

And in chewing on the lip of her sippy cup:

(And yes, we do realize that Maddie often looks a bit "out of it" in her photos...that darn flash gets her every time)

Anniversary Flowers

Wednesday was Kurt & my 3rd Wedding Anniversary. Kurt sent an absolutely beautiful bouquet of flowers to mark the occasion (what a great hubby). Grandma & Peepa were over that day visiting with the babies, so we used Maddie & Aidan's interest in the flowers as an opportunity for a photo shoot.

Maddie thought the flowers were for her and Aidan was more interested in the balloons!

Oh Boy are we in for it now!

For those of you who have been keeping up to date with our blog, you'll know that Maddie is now crawling and pulling up on EVERYTHING in sight. The girl just wants to constantly be standing up. We are in the process of babyproofing, which is no easy job.

Aidan prefers the "lean" method:

Typical Saturday

For all those who are curious how we get things done with two infants wanting constant attention, below is Daddy washing the morning dishes (don't overlook the little helper at ground level):

Pool water tastes yummy!!

Kurt & I decided to sign Maddie & Aidan up for swimming lessons at our local YMCA. Granted they are only 7 months old, but we figured since we enjoy the water so much...the sooner we can get them used to it, the better. Plus it is a nice family activity.

They were a bit trepidatious at the first lesson, but by the end of the second lesson they were giggling and splashing up a storm. Miss Alicia is the instructor and she has us teach them how to kick, scoop and jump off the wall (with a bit of assistance). Aidan's favorite part is chewing on the little toy boat and Maddie loves to lap up the pool water and lick the chlorine off Mommy's shoulder.

They are by far the tiniest babies in class and there are no other twins, so as always, we are a bit of a show for everyone else. But the smiles on their faces when we do the hokey pokey make even the post-lesson locker room fiasco worth it!

Here are some photos of the babes in action:

Mommy--"The Greast American Hero"

Lori took some time from her really busy schedule taking care of Maddie and Aidan to write something nice about me. The fact of the matter is that Lori is amazing!! I am with the kids for a short period of time during the weekdays, while Lori is with them the entire day; feeding them, changing them, playing with them....taking them for walks, etc...You name it and Lori does it. I get to come in and be a hero for an hour or two at night, nice job if you can get it.

I say this to Lori all the time and I wanted everyone to know, the kids are doing as great as they are mainly due to Lori. She does such a a great job with them they are growing like weeds and they are very very healthy. Lori does not get or take all the credit that she deserves, that is why I am posting this message.

Lori you are the greatest and you are Maddie and Aidan's hero.

Love,
Kurt

Yesiree, We sure love our Daddy!!!

Maddie & Aidan are on a pretty regular schedule these days, but without fail, 4:30/5pm seems to be the witching hour. They always give Mommy a hard time with lots of whining and general fussiness. Most likely they are overtired from their busy days and having trouble winding down.

Like clockwork, Daddy walks in the door at 5:15pm and the babies are ALL SMILES! Their daddy is the funniest thing on earth to them. They giggle and laugh out loud at just about everything he does. Below is a typical welcome home Daddy moment:

Aidan getting love from dada

Maddie's turn

Not only is Daddy a blast, but he is a huge helper with the babies. He always takes over the majority of the baby duty at night by getting the babies into their jammies and entertaining them during fussy hour so Mommy can get a break. AND he is the one to wake up with them early in the morning and feed them their morning bottles so Mommy can sleep in a bit (if you call 6:15am sleeping in). Daddy is everybody's hero here at the Willners of Mansfield household.

The official lowering of the cribs

Such a happy and sad day in the Willner household. Our little babies are really growing up. Not only is Maddie crawling around and getting into all kinds of things, but she is now pulling up on everything in sight (including her brother). So it was time to lower the cribs to prevent baby acrobatics!


We made a special family event out of it. Maddie visited Aidan in his crib while Daddy lowered hers and vice versa. Sadly our little babies now look like they are in jail looking out at us from behind those crib bars, but we can now rest assured they are safe and sound (until they figure out some other way to stump us that is)!!

Though Aidan hasn't started crawling yet, he isn't far behind his sis. He looks innocent and sweet, but we are figuring we are in for a "sneak attack" with him!