Growing Up

Our last two days have been full of wonderful adventures but they have been very bittersweet adventures that have left me in tears more than once. Yesterday both boys figured out how to cruise around the living room pushing their stand-up walker. Though they have been standing on their own for awhile now, they really hadn't shown much interset in walking... until all of a sudden they are racing around the living room and there I am in tears because my little boys are starting to walk. Who gave them permission to grow up? Because I surely didn't! But sure enough as soon as they went to sleep last night, Jon and I sat down to order the invitations for their first birthday party. I finally gave up on the idea that not throwing a party would prevent them from turning one, though I did so VERY reluctantly.

The boys weren't interested in giving me a break this morning and they continued to grow up right before my eyes. This morning they got their first haircut. I have been toying with the idea for the last week or two but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Their hair is thin, but it was getting long and raggedy. Plus Matthew's hair was long enough to cover his little ear mark and we were having to constantly tuck it behind his ear in order to tell who is who. My mother's whole family is coming in to town for my grandparent's 50th anniversary party on Sunday so at the very last minute this morning we decided to go get their hair cut for the party. I needed to do it quickly like that so I didn't have time to think about it and change my mind. We took them to my dad's barber. She has cut my dad's hair for years and also did my grandpa's hair before he passed away, so it was only right to take the boys there. They did amazingly well and looked so handsome sitting up there in that chair. They look absolutely adorable with their hair trimmed and cleaned up, but afterwards I cried thinking that I can never undo what I had just done. They will never have all of their baby hair again, with those natural ends that first poked through their little heads. They will never have a first hair cut again. Now I look at them and they look like handsome little men and I can't help but wipe away tears while I look past them searching for my babies. As if that wasn't enough for one day, we took them to their first dentist appointment this afternoon too. They each have six teeth a piece and we know this because they sat like big boys while the dentist stuck his little mirror in there and counted them out. They were very excited show the dentist how big they are (soooo big!) and to get their new toothbrushes. Ever since, I have been desperately racking my brain trying to find a way to stop my precious babies from growing up. I've got one month to figure it out before they turn one year old and are officially little boys and not babies any more. Because at the rate I'm going, I'm not sure if I can handle this birthday!!! I may not even survive until then!

Daddy's Home!

Daddy has been home for exactly four weeks now and gosh are we having fun! We have been on so many different adventures... the lake, the zoo, the Hands-On Museum, the Metroparks, even the dog park! The boys have love the lake. They love to ride the speed boat, the paddle boat, and last weekend we took them kayaking for the first time. We also go up the Greenfield Village two or three times a week. Our goal is to ride each animal on the carousel this summer! They also love to ride the train and the model-T cars, and they love the horses and other animals at the farm. For Father's Day we got daddy a pull-behind bike trailer that has a stroller attachment, so we have been taking the boys rollerblading and biking all over the place. Rigby likes when we go rollerblading on the path at Lake Erie Metropark so we can swim and run along side us until his tongue just about touches the ground. Earlier this week we were going to bike up to Pizza Hut to get a pizza for dinner and despite saying to each other "It kinda looks like it might rain..." we went anyways. Luckily the boys were completely covered in the trailer because just as we were leaving Pizza Hut the sky let loose with the biggest downpour we have had in months!!! Jon and I were soaked to the bone but the boys seemed to enjoy the rain and when we got home and cuddled into a cold, sopping wet puddle in the basement, we all laughed so hard we about peed our pants.

Aside from adventures, the boys have learned a ton of new tricks since daddy has been home. They can give high fives and kisses. They can feed us bites of their snacks... unless its something they really like, then they just pretend they will give us a bite and at the last second shove it in their own mouths :) Any time we turn music on, of one of their toys plays some music, they dance and be-bop all over the place. They are both standing on their own now and believe it or not, head bonks aren't as common as they used to be. It won't be long before they are walking! YIKES!

I can't believe four weeks of summer have already passed. I've got to do a better job of keeping track of our adventures. Next weekend we are taking the boys to New York to meet Jon's grandparents, and then two weeks after that we are going to the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio! But for the time being, we're just enjoying every single moment of our whole family being home together day after wonderful day :)