Sunny Winter Days, Lazy Weekends, and Random Stories.

Every winter, I get the blues. I hate being cooped up in the house, but we've been really lucky with the weather this January and have had several beautiful days to talk to boys out. As much as Aaron works, the boys and I don't get out much. I refuse to leave the house with all three by myself, unless I'm just going to my moms. Even that is a nightmare, getting them all out of the house. With two infants, every time we go anywhere I feel like I'm packing for an overnight weekend. Two outfits, can of formula, 165 diapers, 18 packs of wipes, you get my drift. (Is my sarcasm translating through text?)

So basically, I've been feeling really locked away. Aaron and I discussed me getting a weekend job. Some spare cash would be nice, but it would be more about me getting out for a few hours at a time. I considered it for a long time, but the truth is I could never be away. It sounds easy, but it really isn't. I can get really overwhelmed sometimes with three kids this little, being by myself all the time (Aaron thinks I'm Super Woman), but I think I would be far more overwhelmed being away from them and thinking about them the whole time. Ok, really I'm more afraid of leaving Aaron alone with them. I'm 90% positive the house would catch on fire.

Speaking of Super Woman. I have officially earned that title. One winter weekend, Aaron and I decided to take the boys with us to Salina to do a bit of shopping. (This is one reason why we don't do this often). We were in Target, Aaron had Bennett in his arms, and Maxton was on my hip and Hendrix by my side. Aaron had a few shirts he wanting to try on, so we wondered on down to the dressing room. Since the boys  had been held, they refused to be put back in the cart, so I sat on the bench outside the dressing rooms with a baby on each knee. Hendrix was looking at the socks within my eye sight, when suddenly he yelled, 'I NEED TO GO PEE!!!!!' Well. Crap. Ok, I got this, here we go. With a baby in each arm, I hustled Hendrix to the nearest restroom (across the frickin store!) and got him inside the stall. I still had a baby in each arm as I fought to get his pants unbuttoned and down, when he then announces that he needs to poop. I absolutely refused to set either of the babies down on the disgusted bathroom tiles, so while holding tightly to each boy, I somehow managed to lift him on to the toilet seat. Alright, we got the first part down, now he's done doing his duty, and I gotta wipe him. Yes folks, neither of my babies touched that floor. Hendrix is done with his business. Don't think I'm going to leave this public restroom without washing his hands either. Being the Super Woman that I am, I propped him onto my knee and lifted him up just high enough for him the reach the sink and and soap dispenser. BONUS, I even managed to wash my own hands. Now I know I have you all impressed. Don't ask me how, but I am SUPERMOM.

Now back to the regular programming. Pictures of my beautiful boys on a few beautiful winter days. 

Walking to pick up big brother from school. We walked from Grandma Donna's house as ours is a bit far to walk.

Max had been napping so we left him in his car seat. He woke up when we got to the school and was back to all smiles! 

Loading up the car and heading to Lindsborg for a day at the walk. Bennett is excited!

Both the boys fell asleep on the 15 minutes drive to our favorite park. Bennett woke up soon after we got there, Maxton snoozed the entire time, up until we were getting close to leaving, but was in a grumpy mood and wasn't up to playing.

Bennett loves to swing!

Ben and mom

Hendrix was running around the entire time, making it impossible to catch a good picture of him playing, but I did get this one.

Getting dark and still didn't want to leave. He'd play outside all day if he could.

Stopped on the way out of town where they had Christmas lights still set up.

He doesn't look enthused, but he loved to lit up bridge. 

Driving home ;)

Henri and I trying to watch Veggie Tales. Babies make better doors than they do windows.

Lazy Saturday nights.

Hendrix playing peek-a-boo with the babes. He had both of them giggling pretty hard!

Hendrix and his Grandma with our Christmas gift to her. Such a cute pic.

9 months!

Time flies when you're having fun, and these months have gone by FAST!

The boys are now 9 months (ok, I'm a day early) and growing like weeds.

Bennett is now 21 pounds 15 ounces and 29 inches long

Maxton is now 20 pounds 8 ounces and 29 inches long

I love this picture of my lovies. These boys are so extremely unique which makes having twins that much more fun. As different as their looks are, so are their personalities. I love that Max's floppy ear caught on Bennett's chest and is sticking out. So stinking cute!

Both boys have hit every milestone for their age, and are both very eager to walk. They have even been daring enough to let go of the couch to hold a toy (neither have taken a step yet.) If I put money on it, my guess would be Maxton walks first, but I bet they'll both be very close! Maxton is just a stiffer baby which I think will have it's advantages. Maxton has his two bottom teeth, and the two top teeth are sooo close to poking through. Bennett is still at zero. They love baby food, especially the ones they get to feed themselves. They are a mess with a sippy cup, but think it's probably the coolest thing they've ever seen, next to their big brother. They both have great dispositions, always in a good mood until they're ready to sleep. 

We walked to the doctor's office yesterday for their check up as it was such a beautiful January day. Hendrix stayed with Grandma because having two children sit still in a waiting room is hard enough. We hardly ever get out of the house all together, and the babies really don't go out in public often as it is so difficult at this age with three of them. Not to mention they're so little and it's flu season, I try to avoid the as much sickness as I can. You can imagine what it would be like to have three sick kids. And trust me, as much sharing as we do in this house, they'd all get sick. The boys loved exploring, every chance we get we take them outside, and they are so eager! Both boys were all smiles for the doctor and any other person sending them a friendly glance. What can I say? My boys are little lovers.

Having twins has made it very clear that children are born with personalities. These two boys, born at the same times, raised in the same house, have two completely different personalities. 

Big brother had to jump in the photo. I love being the mommy to these sweet boys!

Bennett's duck face. It's only cute when he does it. Ever.

Brushing our teef. (The one that doesn't have any.)

Maxton is my wild thing! He does not like to cuddle, ever. Once in a blue moon he will rest his head on your chest, or let you cuddle him and kiss him. But he loves to play! He is super ornery, and has a pretty bad temper. If Ben takes a toy Max wanted, he will scream and wave his arms till he gets it. He is a spitfire, so funny, full of personality, and so fun. He is also very independent and rather be crawling around the floor looking for dirt to put in his mouth than be on your lap. I'll always catch him zooming around the room with a big goofy grin on his face. 

My wild thing!

Bennett is always in my lap. He is such a momma's boy, and I'm a sucker for his soft snuggles. He is the biggest momma's boy of all my babies, and often fusses until he is passed back to his mother. He has the sweetest personality and is such an incredibly chill baby, rarely ever cries. He is super easy to get a smile out of, and is always eager to play with either of his brothers.

Maxton with cousin Kayla. I adore his rosy cheeks, big dimples, and floppy ears. He is such a goober!

Getting belly laughs out of Bennett.

Always attacked by the babies if I'm on the floor (especially this one!) 

Happy babies!

  

 3 more months until these babes are one year old! Can you believe it?! 

December with the Brothers.

Obviously I'm pretty good at this blog thing, right? Update it only once a month. I'll try to get better at this, at least an update every two weeks. But for now, I'll fill this post with photos from the past month. If you're my facebook friend, you've probably already seen a lot of them, but they are some great pictures. The babies are 8 months now and have been so busy. Max has two teeth, Ben still has none. Both the boys are crawling everywhere, Ben has mastered the stairs. Both the babies pull themselves up on just about everything and even walk along things. They definitely keep me on my toes! Hendrix is still the proudest big brother in the world. 

My beautiful blonde boy.

Max has such a feisty personality. He is the smallest, but the loudest. He's the one we always find with something in his mouth, I mean he puts everything in his mouth. He loves to be tossed around and talked to. Basically, he loves to play.

Bennett's sweet baby face. 

Just decorating the Christmas tree, do it all the time.

Hendrix playing in his toy box.

Maxton bundled up ready for the cold weather. My Max is such a fair skinned boy, his cheeks get chapped so easily.

Brothers playing together

Bennett eating sweet potatoes.

Nom noms

Typical.

Oh you're just so funny!

Maxton always gives me this sweet big grin when I catch his attention.

Stinky feet I suppose ;)

The boys are always pulling themselves up on me when I try to sit down to relax. Now there is no escaping them :)

Bennett being naughty

                                                 

Caught the boys laughing at each other through the sunroom door

Snuggling with big brother

Henri and his monster boots. They were suppose to be a Christmas present, but he found the Fed-Ex box they came in and open it when I wasn't paying attention. So he got them a few weeks before Christmas. Needless to say, he absolutely loves them and has to wear them everywhere.

Hendrix ready for his Christmas program

Hendrix at his program. It was hard to get a good picture, they all turned out so dark. You can tell in this picture how tired Hendrix looks, and he really was. A couple songs in they pulled the preschoolers off to the side of the stage and dimmed the lights for one of the songs. The audience all had lit candles. I guess this put the perfect scenario for a nap. Henri was out in seconds, his teacher had to carry him to me in the audience where he slept the rest of the performance.

Hendrix and Sharkie. Aaron and I and another couple spent a night in Kansas City the weekend before Christmas to visit an old friend and go to the Chiefs vs. Packers game, so we brought Hendrix home a present. He's been kinda into sharks lately so we found this cute little guy at Pier1. By kinda into sharks I mean giving us little pinches (aka shark bites), giggling, and running away. 

He looks so big lately. I find myself asking him if I can hold, even just for a second, but he's often too busy to slow down even for a kiss. He always says 'Ugh! but I already did!'

Bennett is such a curious little boy. He is so proud of himself and thought his brother was so funny playing in the bath.

A couple pictures from the Chiefs game. (Hope you don't mind being in my blog Casey :) It was SUCH a fun game. We seriously didn't expect the Chiefs to win as the Packers had been undefeated until then. 

We had some great seats, too.