Line up

I am determined to get belly pics to chronicle my pregnancy this time. We tried with the triplets but never got enough so tonight Mark was going to take my 14 week shot and the next thing we knew there was a line up at my belly. I can only imagine how fascinated they will be when I'm really big...

McKenna giving me a little pat.

This one is my favorite, he was particularly interested in my belly button.

Just a sweet pic of McKenna in her jammies.

Back to the chair

Last Christmas Aunt Casey bought the kids the cutest matching sweaters and I was so excited that they finally fit (thanks Aunt Casey!). They looked so cute that we decide it was time to attempt a photo shoot in the chair again. Needless to say no one sat still and this was the best we could do. I love the one where McKenna is moving so fast her little arms are a blur!

A few other pics Daddy took today...

The Watson Salon

Brushing hair is a big hit around here right now, do you need a cut, style or one-year-old to pull your hair??

14 months ago...

So last night I started watching NICU videos, most of them I have never seen. That time was such a blur and it has taken me a long time to even be able to go back and reflect on the long journey we spent there. I came across this video from Thanksgiving last year and it just amazed me that the two babies in this video are the same one-year-olds running around my house right now. Many people didn't see the kids in the NICU so this video is a glimpse at life about a month and a half after they were born. By this time they had doubled their weights since birth, weaned off the ventilators and lost their iv's. So even though they look so tiny and fragile this is nothing compared to where they started. Amazing, amazing, amazing...

The best Christmas present

We had an extra surprise this Christmas, here is the video of the babies telling Mark all about it. I apologize in advance for the semi-swearing, Mark said apparently he reverts to street slang when he is in shock :)

Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas this year. Last year the babies had just gotten home from the NICU so this year brought us plenty of time to reflect on how far they have come. It is just amazing to have two little toddling, babbling people running around our house each day. I do have to get a little better at watching this many kids open presents though. I spent many years watching Ashlyn's every move on Christmas morning and now I need eyes in the back of my head to keep up with all of the gift opening (and wrapping paper eating)!

In the same spot, for a second, checking out a new toy.

Ashlyn with her favorite Christmas present

Knock, knock, can I come in??

Posing with our gingerbread house... we improvised a little on the decorations :)

McKenna with her new baby stroller, she's such a big girl!

I bought Mark a new camera for Christmas and he has taken some great pictures. Here are a few of my favorites...

McKenna's first glimpse of all the presents under the tree.

Parker peeking at his presents

Christmas morning

No caption necessary :)

We have a walker...

McKenna took her first steps this week, the more she tries the braver she gets. I can't believe she is old enough to walk. It was a year ago this week we brought her home after 70 long days in the NICU. She has come so far. By the way, the background "whine" is Parker who was helping me videotape.

Finally, the chairs!

Aunt Nancy made the cutest chairs for the babies' birthday and, I am embarrassed to say, we are just now getting pictures of them with the chairs. I've tried on my own a few times but we always lose a chair, a baby... something before I could get a good picture so while Mark was home today we got a few good ones. Thanks again Aunt Nancy!
Look how cute we are...


Okay they never stand this still and they never pose, I think Mark just happened to get them at the exact second I stood them there. It looks like we have such well-behaved children :).

Happy McKenna

Having fun on the couch

Lots of fun!

Okay, you have to know this video is cute since I am showing myself in pjs with no makeup on for it. They are just so adorable, always next to each other, and now they have found a way to push their toys together. Although if one falls by the wayside the other one just keeps on trucking with the toy... we still have to work on that :)

Oh and if you are waiting for a cute Christmas picture card from us this year, you may have to wait another year. After about 10 failed attempts at getting a good picture of all of the kids I think we may have to give up on it this year. Here is the best of the worst... don't look at the laundry in the background, I think I was so busy just trying to get them all to pose that I lost track of the scenery... and yes, those are Ashlyn's glasses in Parker's hand!

Here's a cute one of Ashlyn, she was the only one who would pose, only after bribery though :)

We want to play outside!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving over Nana and Papa's house. The kids didn't know what to do with themselves at first because they haven't been out of the house much since RSV season started but they quickly realized there was lots of exploring to do and made themselves right at home. Parker decided to entertain everyone with kissing and some very exaggerated spitting, I managed to get a few minutes of McKenna talking too but Parker had to steal the show again with more spitting...



Parker eating his first Thanksgiving dinner, Daddy couldn't feed him fast enough, he loved it!

McKenna with Mommy at the dinner table. The only thing we could get her to eat was a roll but at least she was smiling. She did love the fancy glasses though!

Parker with Papa, back for round two of turkey.

Nana gave McKenna some pearls to keep her happy and she loved them, she kept them on for hours.

Playing drums on Nana's coffee table, notice the pearls are still on, Daddy's in big trouble with this little princess!

Parker helping Ashlyn with her word search, he had his eye on her mechanical pencil.

Kisses

McKenna has the cutest way of kissing Parker. We have been trying to catch it on video for ages and I finally caught it. Whenever we say kisses he just leans his head in and waits for one. It is so sweet...

Goofing around

My kids are turning into nuts at the dinner table. For some reason as soon as they are in their highchairs they start putting on a show. Always looking for a good photo op I grabbed the camera before dinner last night and sure enough the show began...

Parker waving at the camera,

and doing any other move he can think of to keep the camera on him.

McKenna being a goofball...

no that is not a barrette, it's a piece of ravioli that she was very proud to have stuck in her hair.


We also had a fun visit with Aunt Casey, Uncle Keith and cousin Gracie this weekend. Parker loved Gracie's curly hair and kept trying to put his hands in it. They are going to have a blast growing up together especially with Gracie's new brother or sister on the way.


Sitting (sort of) with their big cousin Gracie.

"We are Parker and McKenna and our mom won't stop matching our clothes." I really have a problem with this. I buy clothes I don't even like just because they coordinate. I promise I will stop before they hit grade school, well, unless they still want to match of course :)

Growling and waving, waving and growling

I have been trying to catch Parker growling on camera for weeks. He does this growling sound all the time and it is so cute. If you say, "where's the monster?" he starts crawling towards you and growling. I finally caught it! After I got lucky with the growling sound I tried to get a few of their new words/sounds out of them but they just wanted to wave at me...

Sunday at home

We had a great Sunday playing at home with the kids. I am very excited that Mark put up our new baby gate, much less running to the stairs with one baby under my arm while the other is trying to head down head first. Although I'm sure they will find a new form of danger very soon! Both babies have their first cold, we went to the doctors and thank goodness it is not RSV but they just don't know what to do with themselves with little stuffy noses and coughs. Here are a few pictures from our day...

Their new favorite place to stand, overlooking the great room. I'm sure many toys will be falling through this railing sometime soon!

Helping Daddy put up our new baby gate.

Working, working, working with Daddy.

Today the babies are 13 months so we had to do the usual "white chair picture" to see how much they have grown. This was the only one where they were both sitting and sort of smiling.

Big kisses for McKenna! (I LOVE this picture)

One year olds are so much fun!

The last couple days have been great. We spent the weekend having fun with Daddy and since we have the next 6 months to stay in away from germs we have been so thankful to have a few days nice enough to take a walk this week. I think they are stunned by the fresh air because they are silent the whole walk which NEVER happens at home. I thought we would be developing cabin fever after being able to get out and about so much this summer but they are trying so many new things that they seem to keep themselves (and their mom) entertained all day long. Did I ever mention I love being a mom :) ???

McKenna sporting a mohawk, courtesy of all the food she decided to smooth through her hair!

Out for a stroll by the lake

Playing with Daddy in our jammies

Trick or Treat!

Since the kids couldn't go out for Halloween this year (RSV season) we put them in cute skeleton pjs and took lots of pictures, of course! This was their first Halloween at home, last year they spent Halloween in the NICU with little pumpkin pictures taped to their incubators, I don't think Parker was even 2 pounds yet and McKenna was still on a ventilator. It is amazing to see them now!

Ashlyn and the babies before she left to trick or treat with her friend Gabby's family. The girls went as janitors and put their janitor buckets to good use, getting them filled with candy.