This past month has brought lots of laughs as well as lots of illnesses. We were finally able to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Braden had an ear infection at the time and two days later Brock had walking pneumonia. The next week we got tubes in their ears. We went to Ft. Collins to Poudre Valley Hospital for the procedure. Brock and Braden got to wear the tiniest hospital gowns I have ever seen! The procedure went well. Both boys woke up pretty cranky,, crying for over an hour. We got in the car and headed back to the hotel and packed up our things and headed home. The boys slept the whole time. When they woke up we had the happiest babies in the world!! They have always been pretty happy, even when they are sick...but now they are SUPER happy!

Now, a week and a half later, the boys are still incredibly happy, talking ten times as much (and louder) than before. Some of their favorite words are Dada, Mama, Dog, Cat, Hi, and That. Brock is standing without assistance all the time and has added dancing while he is standing. Braden has learned to climb up the baby gate and refuses to sit down when we eat at a restaurant. He is always trying to go somewhere and see everything. Brock is very serious when it comes to meal time and is all about eating. They cover themselves up with blankets and hide behind things and laugh until we notice that they are wanting to play peek a boo.

Saturday my mom and I took the boys to Fort Collins for the Fort Collins Parents of Multiples Club Spring Party. Brock and Braden found two eggs each at the Easter egg hunt. They had tons of fun finding the eggs and figured out if they threw the eggs hard on the ground they opened up and some had candy and some had stickers! We can't wait for Easter in a few weeks!

Where, Oh Where could my (fill in the blank) be)

Lately we have been missing lots of toys and phones...
One day I found my running shoes packed full of many different toys. Socks are not eaten by the washing machine at our house...Braden eats them. Of course he doesn't swallow them, but he pulls them off as soon as you get them on him and he shoves them in his mouth. He has even started to take socks off of other babies at day care! We have a ball popper that has everything shoved down the tube except for the balls. THere have been socks and puzzle pieces, we are lucky we have been able to get them out so far!
Yesterday before school started my cell phone rang. It said Thor was calling...it was Brock...he called me twice!
Braden has learnd that if we say "get the kitty" he should go fin poor Sadie and try to play with her.
They are both getting really good at putting lids on jars, blowing bubbles in the bath tub and talking up a storm! I always thought Thor talked a lot, but these to little men have him beat!
In the last couple of weeks we have survived RSV and ear infections. Braden got his first tooth on Monday and is about ready to pop another one through. I think it will be there tomorrow. Next week we see the ENT. We are hoping for tubes in all 4 little ears! Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Birthday!!

So it has been a week since my little ones turned a year old! I can not believe that a year ago we were still in the NICU at PVH wondering when we would be able to come home! They have grown by leaps and bounds this past year. Brock is our chunky little guy. He is constantly in the 25th percentile, except his head...it is in the 75th percentile! He has almost quadrupled his birth weight! He thinks pretty much everything is worth laughing at and will be walking in no time. Braden is our little monkey. Although he is tiny, he healthy and growing well. He has constantly been in the 3rd percentile...well, sometimes below the 3rd. He has also quadrupled his birth weight! He is a goof ball most of the time and is not too far behind Brock with the walking...he may catch up and be the first to walk on his own. Their first birthday was a blast! They received lots of cool new toys and clothes. I think their favorite may be the slide that my parents (Amah and Poppop)gave them. The anticipation of falling cracks them up every time! Our friends, Britt and Randy were able to come visit as well. They came on Saturday and helped set up for the party on Sunday. We are VERY thankful for all of their help! Britt and Randy were at our house a year ago the night before the boys were born! We may have to make it our January tradition! We have had so much fun with our boys this past year and we are looking forward to another exciting year with lots of fun and memories and many milestones for the boys! Oh, and for those of you who are curious...Braden still doesn't have any teeth but Brock has six!

Lots of Love

Well, we have been sick at our house...again. Brock had a cold and was miserable, Braden acquired thrush from his many antibiotics for ear infections as well as a fever, and Thor and I are miserable with sinus infections. We are getting better though and are all returning to our normal activities. This morning I put Braden in his car seat to go to daycare. We haven't gone all week due to us being sick! Once I got him all strapped in and ready to go I called Brock over. Brockers has been a little goofy lately and will put his cheek to mine and give me loves...every once in a while he will do it to Braden too. The problem is, once he has his cheek next to yours he pushes his big old head down so you can't get up! I really do like to believe he means well! Anyways, Brock came over to Braden's car seat and stood up. Normally when he does this he is getting ready to shake the car seat as hard as he can...then he laughs, we call this the "shaken baby". I looked at him and said, "Don't even think about it, Buddy." He looked at Braden and looked at me again then laid his head on Braden and had a big ol' grin on his face! So today he just gave Braden lots of love...no shaken baby!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wow! What a busy couple of weeks we have had. The boys hardly noticed the big pine tree in the living room until Christmas Day. Then they were VERY interested in the lights but still didn't bother it too much. Braden has decided that it is OK to crawl like Brock but only when no one is watching. His swimming crawl is almost done with. I must say though, he is a lot faster when he does his swimming crawl. Maybe that is why it took him so long to do a four point crawl. He just knew that he was quicker on his belly!
For Christmas the four of us enjoyed some quiet family time while we were snowed in in Laramie. On Christmas Eve I took the boys in for their RSV shots and we discovered that they both have ear infections...in all ears. So now we are looking at getting tubes soon. On Christmas Day we let the boys open presents all day long. They opened one and played with it for a while and then opened another. We took a nap then opened some more...and so went our day. I think opening presents all day kept them from becoming overwhelmed. We did have to fish wrapping paper out of their mouths every once in a while, but for the most part they had a great time. We bought them Tonka dump trucks and discovered that they actually fit in the dump part. SO we put Braden in the truck and Brock pushed him around the living room for most of the day. They had a great time.
We celebrated Christmas with our families on the 27th once we could get out of Laramie! The boys were spoiled rotten, which is fine. But we have decided that we are not getting them any toys for their birthday...just clothes. Our living room looks like it has more toys than our daycare!
We enjoyed having my cousin Rebecca here for Tuesday night and then we all headed to Cheyenne for Matt and Rachel's wedding. Their wedding was beautiful. Both Thor and I were in it. Brock and Braden were perfect angels the whole day. Braden was a little chatter box during the ceremony and I had a really hard time not laughing, but I was able to control myself a little!
The best part of this Christmas season was remembering back to last Christmas and having to lay in bed! Last year I was scared and didn't know what would happen with the boys, if I would make it to 32 weeks or longer, if the boys would be OK when they were born or not. So this year was special. We have two beautiful boys that are healthy (except for the many ear infections we have had). That was the best part of Christmas. I still haven't gotten my Christmas present from Thor. I told him all I wanted was nice family pictures done close to the boys' first birthday. SO we will be getting that scheduled soon!
Thor and I are looking forward to this upcoming year. We have lots going on will be kept busy with the boys. We wish the best for you and your families in the New Year! We hope you have many blessings and lots of fun!

Cat in the box

Braden has discovered that our cat, Sadie, can be a lot of fun....in a box. The other night Sadie crawled into an empty diaper box and fell asleep. The boys had a great time pounding on the box and moving it around the living room. Later, Braden crawled over to the box and stuck his hand in it and Sadie batted at him. He thought this was the funniest thing ever and continued to do it. He had the biggest gut busting laugh I had ever heard. This went on for a good 10 minutes. Then Sadie got sick of him and started to hiss. This is when I told Braden enough cat tormenting for the day! Brock loves Sadie too, but he is actually trying to be nice. He will lay down next to her and pet her until he falls asleep.

Walking by one???

So the big question is: Will the boys be walking by their first birthday??? To tell you the truth I think they will be! Brock for sure! We went to some friends for dinner last night and we were all standing in the kitchen talking. I looked into the living room and my Brockers was standing up pushing a car type toy. He was walking behind it!! This is very exciting!! Although Braden is still doing a combat crawl and not a four point crawl, he is now pulling himself up to standing, I am sure that it won't be too much longer until he is walking behind things pushing them as he goes!!