Hugs

It's been pretty amazing to watch the twins change and grow and develop personalities.

 

Recently, Chloe has started giving hugs and kisses. I think it first started with her Moo Moo and now she does it to baby dolls and stuffed animals. If she is digging through a toy box and finds a baby doll or stuffed animal she will will pick it up and hug it and sometimes make a "mmmm" sound (I think because when we see her hug something we say "awwww, so sweet").

She also hugs us. If we're on the floor playing, she will sometimes stop playing and come over to one of us and crawl up in our lap and give us a hug and sit for a few seconds and then get back down and continue to play.

Connor has also started to give us "kisses".

So last week, when the twins were playing next to each other, we said "Connor, give sister hugs" and he leaned in with just his head and put his head on her shoulder. This is how he gives hugs and it's so funny. He doesn't do it every time we say it because he doesn't listen to us half the time, but when he does he will lean in and put just his head on her and smile up at us (again because we say "awww, so sweet").

Last night we went on a walk and pulled the kids in the wagon. They were facing each other and reaching out and playing with each other so I told Connor to give sister a hug and he leaned down and put his head on the wagon. He was hugging the wagon instead of Chloe! It was still cute though!

 

Then last night in the bath tub, we told him once again (because it will never get old and I want a picture of it!) to hug sissy. But this was one of those times he wasn't listening to us. But Chloe heard us and leaned in and wrapped her arms around Connor and kissed him on the back. It melted my heart!

A Walk in the Park

We had really great weather this weekend so we decided to get out of the house and head to the park.

 

Can you see all of those teeth?! He almost has 7 teeth!. Chloe still just has 2.

 

Chloe giggles when she swings and Connor laughs and smiles at first but then he gets this relaxed look on his face. I'm not sure if it just makes him sleepy or what.

Swinging with daddy.

They're still a little too small to really play on the playground, but we tried it out.

Connor liked the slide.

We love the wagon! The kids love riding in it (and yes, we try to remember who sat where the last time and switch them out every time), and I love it because of the storage on the back. I don't have to carry a diaper bag!  And there are cup holders for the kids and for us as well as cell phone storage.  We're looking forward to our first trip to the zoo in the wagon.

 

 

This big boy was walking even more this weekend! It won't be long until they are both running through the house.

1 Year Pictures

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but if you can't tell, I LOVE pictures. I always kind of have but it started getting out of control the second my babies were born. I take a lot of pictures, almost daily, and for this first year I was very adamant about having their pictures taken professionally every 3 months because that's what you're supposed to do, right? They are only babies once and I wanted it all documented. The first year is filled with milestones and I think each one of our sessions showed that. It also shows all of my different hair styles and colors throughout the year!

 

CC Miller Photography did our maternity, newborn, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year pictures.

 

Maternity:

 

Newborn:

 

They were so tiny! Their newborn session went a lot smoother than I expected. Carissa knew what she was doing and she was able to get them to sleep and to stay asleep while we moved them around in different poses.

 

3 months:

 

The 3 month pictures were a little harder. Chloe had really bad tummy issues at this point and she just wasn't a happy for long periods of time so it was hard to just set them down and walk away without them screaming and crying. And they couldn't sit up yet so it was hard to get them in pictures alone without us in them.

 

I love this picture even though both babies are crying. It shows exactly how our life was at that moment.

 

6 months:

Things got a little easier at the 6 month pictures because they were sitting up on their own, and we could get their attention by making noises and waving our arms around.

 

When we took these pictures, David and I were singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider the whole time because at the time it was the only song they liked and it go their attention every time.  It was also 90 something degrees at 8:00 am with about 120% humidity and I was sweating profusely after dancing around trying to get their attention.

 

 

9 months:

Things got even easier at the 9 month pictures. They were sitting up full time on their own and even standing. And their personalities were forming and we could get smiles!

Our strategy for this shoot was David and I would go set them down and then run away really fast towards Carissa and scream while we were doing it. That way the babies would watch us and look like they were looking at the camera.

And by this time, they were used to me taking their pictures almost daily.

 

1 year:

Their 1 year pictures were just a little bit challenging for a few reasons. It was a little cold for one. I mean it is January after all even though it was 50 something degrees that day. Chloe was getting sick (RSV) and we didn't know it so she was miserable and had little patience. Connor on the other hand was a little ham and loved every minute of it.

 

 

It was also a little hard to get both of them to look at the camera at the same time. They are very interested in everything going on around them so we can't distract them like we used to.

 

By the way, this little man took 5 five steps on his own yesterday!