It's Our Birthday....FOR Real Though!

The boys turned 3 on March 21st. This time of year is always bittersweet for me. Maybe it's because it's March for Babies (donate to our family team here: http://www.marchforbabies.org/KatieLynes) time and that always brings up memories of the NICU, which was altogether a happy and sad time for us. But looking back on the past three years, I am more happy than sad this time. I honestly feel like my life is on Fast Forward. And not regular fast forward, but the four click Fast Forward on my DVR. But I can say that the boys are thriving and doing so well. They are starting Pre-K this fall and I'm excited to see them grow and progress even more. They are swimming and looking forward to being in the water A LOT this summer. They are ALLLLLLLLLL BOY and play with anything that is boy related (trucks, cars, tools, trains, etc.).

So here are some pics from their birthday and their birthday party. It was a great time!

Ben plays with their new Black & Decker drill.

Excited to see what's in the box that Daddy is opening.

More Cars cars......from the movie Cars. This set was Mater, Doc and the Sheriff.

The kids made their own pizzas and they LOVED it. Clair and Bowen wait patiently for theirs to cool.

Chowing down on their handmade pizzas, Ben, Kate and Alex eat up!

!!!SNOW DAY!!!

Finally we got some really good, powdery snow. The boys LOVED it and cried when we made them come in. We spent about 45 minutes outside playing with our neighbors in the snow.

Alex and our neighbors son (also named Ben) had fun on an icy driveway with a sled.

But Alex fell over backwards as soon as Ben let go of the sled. It was so funny!













We think sliding into a pile of snow was more his speed.













Ben laughed so hard when he hit the pile of snow he couldn't get up on his own.

He also enjoyed eating the snow off of the hand railing in on the swingset. ICK!

Oh and then there was Ben's face-plant. He kept falling and I kept shooting pictures. 'Cause that's the kind of Mom I am. Take pics of your kids in an embarassing situation.......THEN and only THEN help them out of said situation.













This was one of the first pics we took. It's right outside of our house. They were throwing snow at each other almost immediately. It's so cute how somethings are just natural, like a snow fight with your brother.

How to Know When Your Kids REALLY Love Their Knit Caps

The boys have fallen in love with their knit caps. They wanted to sleep with them on the other night. But we had to go in and take them off after they fell asleep because their little cheeks were so red and they felt hot. It was adorable, though. Sometimes, they'll just sleep with the hats...not on their heads...just somewhere in the bed with them.

Buzz, Woody, a Train Set...bada bing....CHRISTMAS!

Christmas 2009 was building up in my mind to be the best Christmas ever. People told me that once I had kids, Christmas would take on this whole new meaning. It would be all about them and I would be so excited to see them open their gifts. So as the Christmas holiday approached, I saw this prophecy coming to fruition. I was so excited! I couldn't wait for the boys to open their gifts or at least see them sitting on the couch Christmas morning.

But almost a week before Christmas the boys and I came down with a wicked stomach bug. We left the church Christmas party early because it was sleeting.

It was a good thing because Alex threw up on the way home. As soon as we got in the door Ben threw up in the living room. About and hour later I threw up. There was a lot of vomiting going on! After nursing us all back to health, Creighton came down with it. We had illness in our house for five full days. But we were all well in time for Christmas Eve.

This pic is of Alex and Ben with Santa at the Christmas party. Ben was not happy....in case you can't tell.


Christmas Even night we went to Stephen and Rosalind's house and enjoyed reading the Christmas story together. It was a fun way to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Rosalind also had a fun kids activity to help explain the Christmas story. The kids realliy loved it. So

Creighton and I stayed up late and waited for Santa and helped him put out all their gifts. I wa so excited for Christmas morning I could hardly stand it. I wondered if the boys would sleep late or wake up early. As soon as I heard the softest sound from their room on Christmas morning, I went in to get them up. But to them it was just like any other morning. They wanted to come in our room and watch TV while we got ready. They weren't interested in going downstairs just yet and didn't fully understand why they were wearing special green pajamas.

As you can see here, they weren't too happy about being forced to come downstairs and they certainly weren't happy about having their picture taken!

But eventually they were persuaded to take a look.

This is the train set they got. By far this is their favorite gift.

They inspected everything before touching it. Like they couldn't believe it was ALL for them!

Alex showing off his Buzz and Woody dolls.

Creighton and I were expecting something akin to the Nintendo 64 Kid but alas we were sorely disappointed. It was kind of anti-climactic. We thought the day was going to be this wonderful, laid back day when the boys wouldn't fight and we'd have a totally easy day just hanging out, eating good food and the boys would play with their new toys in the floor while we watched a movie. No such luck! For them it was a regular day......with some new toys added. Oh well! Can't blame a girl for dreamin' right?

Speaking of dreamin'......I'm so excited for next Christmas. I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning!!!

Niven's Apple Farm

We had a great time at the UMOMC Fall party. We went to Niven's Apple Farm and the boys loved it. There were lots of activities, a really cool store, hayrides and lot and lots and lots of twins, triplets and even some QUINTS!

After 2 1/2 years....they are finally co-bedding

Well we never could co-bed the boys. For one reason or another. One was too small, or too sick, or too big. Whatever the reason we never did it. But we recently went to toddler beds. The initial transition was rough. Two days of no naps and late bed times. But after the first couple of days (and quite a few spankings) it got better and better. Now they go to bed when they are asked and stay in their beds. SO NICE! I've heard we actually had it very easy. I've heard weeks of no naps and up all night, etc. So I am really thankful that this transition was super easy for us.

So we went in to check no them the other night....it was about their third night in the toddler beds. I was out with my UMOMs group and on the phone with Creighton while he went to check on them. He whispered in the phone, "they're in the same bed!" I couldn't wait to get home and see for myself. It's so cute! I took this picture with flash in the dark at the risk of waking them just because I had to have the picture.

Spooktacular Time at the Redfearn Halloween Party

Our neighborhood Halloween Party was held today. So it was our trial run with the boys in their costumes. They looked so stinkin' cute. I could hardly stand it. I knew my kids were the cutest ones out there, but doesn't every mother feel that way about their own kids? They were yet another dynamic duo this year, Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story fame. Alex, being the "oldest" was Woody....the one who is the self-appointed leader. Then there's Buzz, and although Ben is really nothing like Buzz, it just seemed appropriate for him to don the spacesuit since he loves airplanes so much......I figure it's not much of a stretch for him to go from planes to the Space Station.......anyone else following this logic?

A guy in our neighborhood puts up a bunch of the blow-up decorations in our common area. He does it for the kids and our kids love them. So here they are in front of the Jack-o-lantern.

We go out in the afternoon sometimes and play, "Race To The....." and they have to race to the blow-up thing that I call out. "Race to the cat," "race to the pumpkin," "race to the skeleton on a motorcycle..........." Yes, you read that correctly!

As part of the festivities, the boys made a foam frame and a neighbor lady took pics. Then she ran into her house and printed them all on great photo paper. We had the frame and the pic before we left. How sweet! So here's one I snapped while she was taking pics, too.

Alex giving me the obligatory "cheese" so he could get back to his cupcake.

Ben looked so precious standing there waiting for us all to finish our cupcakes and "get up!!!" I had to take this shot.

Another activity was "decorating" their own pumpkins. They had all these really cool push in face pieces and each kid could make their own face on a small pumpkin. All of the mouths were gone by the time Ben got around to getting to that box, so his pumpkin is mouth-less. But didn't they turn out super cute?