A Double Birthday Celebration

Well we made it!!  We survived the fist year of life with twins!   I really can't even believe it has already been a year since these two boys joined our family.  The last 12+ months has seemed to disappear so quickly.   Life has been much more crazy since the arrival of these two boys (this is noticeable in many ways, one being how long it has taken me to update this blog).



In Juen we got to celebrate Donovan and Paul's first birthday!    I absolutely love 1st Birthdays.  I know that the birthday boys don't even really know what is going on and really all the celebration is for the adults and for pictures but it is something I always look forward to doing.   This 1st birthday party was even more fun 'cause it was x2!   It was a slightly different in the fact that Neal and Tyler were away in AK so only half the family was here but my parents were able to come down and join us so we had a party and of course took lots of pictures.





Neal and his cousin were able to Skype with us during the birthday singing and cake eating and it was fun to hear them both talking to the birthday boys and laughing with them as they made a mess of their cake.



And what babies birthday party is complete without the birthday boy (or boys) crying...



The idea of opening awesome new toys and then having them taken away just to open other toys is not quite understood by the one year old.  I think Gwen ended up opening most of their gifts for them as we finally just let them play with what they wanted since the whole idea of gift opening is very uninteresting at this stage of life.  



Looking back over the last 12 months seems like a blurry memory in many ways...babies just grow up and change so quickly.   These boys may have been born on the same day and love to share almost everything and would sleep side by side as newborns but they are very different in many ways. It is so fun to see them grow and change at different rates and to see how their personalities are so different from one another.   We pray that you both will continue to grow strong and healthy and that you both will continue to grow a deep friendship with each other and come to know, love and serve Christ in the years ahead.






Donovan: 
1) You have the most sweet little smile around.  You are always giving a grin to whoever you see (especially to your mommy)
2)  You would always stick you tongue out when you smile, making for an adorable and slobbery face.
3)  Your favorite song is "Vroom, Vroom, Vroom, we're going to the moon"
4) You have almost 7 teeth and are crawling around everywhere.  Happy to be playing with toys in a room and content to quietly play by yourself and to listen and enjoy those around with.
5)  You are the best and most snuggle one out of all our kids.



Paul: 
1)  You have the cutest laugh around.  You are often found laughing either at your siblings or just at life in general.
2) You are always giving the most crazy and silly facial expressions no matter what you are doing
3) You favorite song for now is "A Sailor Went to Sea"
4) You still have no teeth at the age of one but love to show off your toothless grin.
5)  You crawl around so quickly and are always wanting to be in the room where something is happening.  You do not ever want to be by yourself and always want to be right in the middle of the action.

Turning 6

So we now have a 6 year old in our house!   Neal being six means that he is more then half way done with kindergarten, reading, and always full of energy.   We had a fun little party for him on his actual birthday this year with of few of his closest friends.  

We all had a great time celebrating and it was a lot of fun to get to meet some of his friends from school who he talks about all the time.   The morning was filled with laughter, pizza, cake and presents.

It was quite cold outside for his birthday, in the low 30's.  But with friends, jackets and lightsabers the kids didn't mind the cold.

Also, when you are having so much fun I guess everyone is to busy to eat, so we had just a bit of pizza left over...

Some of Neal's favorite things at the age of 6:

1. Star Wars
2. Riding his bike
3. Reading chapter books with mom or dad
4. Friday night movie night ("The Music Man" is his favorite)
5. Breakfast Burritos
6. Making people laugh

Happy Birthday to our sweet, funny, energetic, imaginative and creative boy! 

Birthday Celebrations

Last month we celebrated Neal's 5th birthday!    Five years ago Neal joined our family and made Tyler and I parents for the first time.  What a joy and blessing he has been to our family over the past 5 years.

We celebrated on his actual birthday at home with some fun little spiderman cupcakes and gifts from us and the Grandparents.

Then a week later we all got to celebrate again with some of Neal's friends with a small birthday party.   Neal chose the theme of Transformers for his party this year and we all had a fun time playing and celebrating together.  

Neal also chose to have his party at the TWR lodge, which is where we first lived when we moved her while we looked for a house.  It was fun to decorate the lodge and celebrate somewhere different then our house.   One of the great things at this age is there was no organized games or activities needed.  The kids had so much fun playing with the balloons at the party, coloring and building with legos that all the parents were able to visit and relax while the kids played together.  (we were all having so much fun I forgot to take many pictures.)

Neal is growing up so quickly and there is a lot about his personality that Tyler and I recognize in ourselves.  It is fun to hear his imagination grow and to listen to his stories and watch him play with his sister and friends.   Neal loves to play with anything that can be a robot, transformer or that he can have a battle with.   He always wants Gwendolyn to be right beside him playing along.  He loves to read books and really likes to have us read him chapter books with him before bed at night.  A few of his favorite books that we have read so far are "Charlotte's Web" and "The Mouse and the Motorcycle".  He loves to listen to Adventures in Odyssey and is always up for almost any activity that can be done with Mom, Dad or Gwen.

Neal 2010

Neal 2015

He has changed and grown a lot in the last 5 years and will be starting school the end of this summer. The phrase, "the days are long but the years are short" seems so true, especially with little ones around.

A First Birthday Celebration!

Out little Gwendolyn has turned one!!

We are so thankful for the great blessing and joy God has brought our family in this little girl.  She is such a joy to be around, always full of smiles and laughs.  She loves to play with Neal and actually likes to snuggle at times, which we love.

We celebrated her birthday a few weeks early, while Grandma was visiting.  It was fun to make some girly decorations and cupcakes and Gwendolyn looked adorable, as always.  

Grandma brought all the birthday decorations and she helped to make some amazing flower cupcakes with me for the birthday treat.

We had a few friends over for dinner to help celebrate the birthday girl and Neal was very excited to help her with every birthday task, like blowing out the candle and opening her presents.  

This last year has seemed to fly by and it seems to have gone even faster then Neal's first year.  I don't know if it is getting older that makes time seem to fly by or if it's just that life keeps getting busier and busier with these two kiddos and so time goes by more quickly.  Whatever it is I wish I could slowdown time.  I have liked every stage of life thus far with the kids for different reasons but I have to say I think the first few years, from newborn to toddler, are my favorite and they seem to be here and gone way to quickly.  

Gwendolyn has her own little quirks and things that she does which make us laugh.  It's fun to see her growing up and to see her personality start to shine through.  She loves to give snuggles and "kisses" (her kisses are leaning her head into you so you can kiss her).   She crawls around with her hands in Neal's shoes, holds a cell phone up to her forehead and pretends to talk, loves to play the kazoo and can often be found with her hands in the air smiling and asking to be held whenever Tyler or I walk into the room.

She makes plane and car noises when she plays with any of Neal's cars and planes and loves to throw herself backwards on pillows. She will throw herself off your lap or the couch if you don't watch her. Her favorite time of day is tubby time and she would choose Neal's superhero toys over her baby dolls.  I think she is going to be more adventurous and outgoing then Neal was at her age and we may have to watch out once she learns to walk on her own.

What a difference a year makes...Happy Birthday sweet girl!!

A Birthday Celebration!

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago we welcomed Neal into our family.  He has been such a blessing to us and I have learned so much from being his mom.  It's amazing how fast times goes, especially as you watch your little kids grow and change each day.

This year Neal wanted to have a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" (TMNT) birthday.  I have had to become a TMNT  expert over the last several months and can now tell you each turtles name, his weapon and I can even sing the theme song (from 1980's cartoons).

I think I might get as excited as Neal about his birthday parties each year 'cause my favorite thing about birthday parties is making the cake.  I had a ton of funning making "Michael Angelo" for Neal and decorating the house with Ninja Turtle balloons.

I worked on the cake while Neal was napping and it was so fun to see his face when he saw the cake for the fist time.  He was so excited he immediately starting reenacting ninja turtles and "saving" Gwendolyn and I from the bad guys.

We had a great time at his party and enjoyed visiting with everyone so much that we didn't really get any pictures of the actual party...but we did record the highlight of the party, the birthday song.

Over the last four years Neal has changed and grown so much and each new stage of his life brings about things that I hope to never forget.   So, here are a few saying and things about Neal at age four: 

Favorite Things: 

1) Any superhero (especially The Flash, Bateman, or a Ninja Turtle) 

2) Reading books

3) Being silly, or trying to get people to laugh

Silly Phrases/Saying: 

1) He calls M&M's "m & m & mies"

2) "Can we Skype on daddy (or Grandma or Gigi)"

3) "Mommy when I grow up big i'm gonna have fur on my legs, just like daddy" 

4) "Are you kidding me?" 

Neal has such a sweet and gentle spirit, he often comes up and just wants to give us hugs, kisses or snuggles and will quite often, out of the blue, just say "mommy (or daddy) I love you".  He has been a wonderful, caring and very helpful big brother.  He always looks for ways to help with Gwendolyn and always wants to make her smile or laugh.  We continue to pray each night that Neal would know, serve and love God, and pray that Christ would soften his heart and bring him to salvation.  We are beyond blessed with this precious and undeserved gift from the Lord.

Happy 4th Birthday to our favorite little boy!!

The Big 30!

This week we got to celebrate Tyler's 30th Birthday!  We had a small family celebration here at the house.  Neal and I worked on his cake while daddy was at work.  Neal wanted a "Mr. Incredible" birthday cake for dad, but that was a bit out of my skill level so Neal's next idea was a baseball because "daddy loves baseball, mommy."

Neal is exactly right, daddy does love baseball.  For his birthday gift Tyler got to go see a Red Sox game in Baltimore with a few guys from church.   They got to see a great game, Red Sox won, had great seats and perfect weather.

Neal was so excited about Tyler's birthday that as soon as he walked in from work Neal told him all about his birthday cake Neal could hardly wait 'till after dinner to sing happy birthday and have a slice.

I am so thankful that I get to spend the rest of my life with this amazing man.  He is a wonderful husband and such a great father.  He always makes us, his family, his priority and is always making Neal and I laugh. We have a lot of fun together as a family and love to spend lots of time together.  

Tyler is always doing things with Neal and it is fun to see Neal want to be just like his daddy.

And even though he may have tuned 30 he is still a kid at heart...Neal and him are so much alike.

Happy 30th Birthday Tyler!!