General Merriment

The big highlight of the last few days was Lucas' birthday! We had some fun establishing some family birthday traditions! One I totally stole from my uncle Jon is a homemade birthday banner. Granted, my uncle Jon is a talented artist...and I am not...so his banners are works of art, and mine...well, it's the thought that counts!

Lucas also got to pick whatever he wanted for each meal (a tradition of my family growing up), including a free steak and peanut butter thing from not Your Average Joes!!

Gummy Peaches...daddy's current favorite sweet treat.

He tried reading Dr. Seuss' "Happy Birthday to You!" to the twins (which I had done on my birthday), but they were getting sleepy and he didn't get to finish before the meltdowns began...

Don't you just LOVE the way Ryan is looking at Lucas?

what are some of your favorite birthday traditions?

The twins are getting more interactive and fun every day! We have always had the tradition of bringing whatever baby wakes up first in to get the other baby singing "we love brother/sister!" But we switched it up recently by placing already awake baby in the crib with newly awake baby (ok, so we needed to free hand and did it once out of necessity, and they were so cute we kept it up!). While we thought they would be possessive about the other baby being in THEIR space, they seem to love it. They happily welcome the incoming baby and excitedly talk and giggle!

This morning I ran to get my camera and came back to find that Allie had dragged Ryan into her lap and was hugging him! He was smiling...but had a "help me, mommy!" look in his eyes, so I separated them before snapping a few pictures. I love how much they love each other!

Another fun new thing is riding in the laundry basket!! I was suddenly struck with the idea that they might like this (while thinking of alternatives to sledding), and we tried it the other day. Ryan liked it so much that every time we took him out of the basket he threw a fit (a not so fun end to a really fun activity...).

BONUS: I had been looking for an easy way to transport both babies through the house together. I used to leave one while I moved the other, but they are too mobile to leave anyone alone anymore. I tried once carrying Ryan and trying to get Allie to crawl behind, but she kept trying to go where I did not want her to go (bathroom & kitchen), and so I had to set Ryan down, take her, and come back for him.

Now, I just load them both up in the laundry basket and away we go! They are thrilled with the fun ride, and I don't have to worry about leaving anyone behind! Thank God for the many uses of the laundry basket. Ours have served so many purposes since having babies!!

Every night, before bed, we pray with Allie and Ryan for their not-yet-born baby friends (5 to be exact). This morning we received word that one of these babies made a safe and healthy arrival into the world (Praise God!). Shortly after, we found out that another of these babies potentially has a serious neurological defect that might mean we never meet him/her this side of Heaven. While we stand before our God with unspeakable joy over the miraculous blessing of baby Sarah Grace, our hearts break for our cousins who received this devastating news. Please, join us in praying for Baby R and parents.