New tricks

Drew thought sitting on Ryan's shoulders was so funny.

Lauren hasn't quite figured out how to pull herself up yet, but she thinks it is really fun when we stand her by things.

Lauren & Drew after spaghetti. She is much cleaner than he is!

All the kids have been learning new things lately. For Ryan and I, a lot of the things make us have to change the way things are done around here.
I find myself often spelling things that I don't want the kids to know. Now that Luke is learning letter sounds and how to spell, those days are going to be behind us soon. Luke is also starting to become more independent. As a mom, I know that is a good thing, but it doesn't make it any easier. I'm already dreading the first day of Kindergarten and it's only April! I was thinking about him being in school all day, every day the other night and it made me sad.:(
Reagan is starting to pick up on things that I say also and she is stubborn enough to not let it go. I must say "we'll see" to her frequently when she wants to do things (and she asks questions a lot!) and the other day she called me out and told me that whenever I say "we'll see" she never gets to do anything. She then said to me, "No more we'll seeing!". We'll see about that.:)
Drew is making it difficult for me to get things done around here and Lauren is right behind him. He figured out how to climb up the first set of stairs but thankfully hasn't ventured any farther. He also gets into everything. Right now as I type he has almost pulled the dollhouse on him 3 times. Eessh! Drew has also taken to pulling himself up on my leg and then trying to bite it! I love teething.:)
Lauren's top tooth is almost through, which I hope helps her grumpiness. She's pretty good natured, but has been having a rough time in the afternoons lately and at bedtime. She's a pro now at going from laying down to sitting up on her own. She's quite proud of this fact. The other day when I went to get her from her nap, she was sitting up in her bed with a big grin on her face. I think it's almost time to move her mattress down, too!
Both of the babies do a great job of eating table food on their own, which is making my life a little easier at meals. They like to sit and eat with us and many times I can feed them the same foods that we eat. Drew shoves it in with two fists and Lauren picks up one piece at a time. He's also much messier than she is at the end of the meal! They are both starting to pick up on some sign language that I am doing with them. They'll copy the sign for "more" and "all done" now if I do them. It's pretty cute.
My "to do" list for the day is still quite significant and the afternoon is almost gone, so I better get the bathrooms clean while the twins take one more quick nap!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Luke had his first tee ball game today. It was fun to see all of the little guys out there having fun and doing their best. Most of them don't really know what they're doing, so it's a good learning experience for all of them! Luke had some great hits and a good stop on a ground ball. The teams all get to bat their entire line up (unless they get 3 outs, which I doubt happens very often!) until the hour is up. Luke got three turns up to bat and got to play 3 different positions. It was damp and cool, but the boys didn't seem to mind. I was thinking on the way home that depending on if our kids decide to play any sports or not, this could be the first of many, many games!

A game well played!

Watching the ball....if he can see it past that hat!

Standing on first base after a great hit!

Swing, batter, batter

Grandma Marilyn came to help cheer Luke on.

He looks pretty cute in his uniform.:)

Ryan helped out in the field during the game so he's giving Luke some pointers.

Playing catch before the game.

The team listening to the line up.

The coach let us all know that when the team entered the dugout for their 2nd time at bat, they all sat in the right order the first time. Pretty impressive for 5 year olds!

Go, Yankees!

Big #8

10 months old!

Our babies are 10 months old. They are so funny and happy....but man they keep me on my toes! Yesterday I came into the kitchen from the playroom and I found the garbage can knocked over and Drew & Dexter eating leftover french fries. One of Drew's favorite things to do now is climb by the garbage can and chew on the bag hanging over the side. I have yet to figure out the appeal of that. We can move him to the farthest point in the house and he'll head right back over there. It took me five times this morning before he finally lost interest! His favorite toys to play with are Reagan's dollhouse people and the car. He knows how to make the car play music and he does a little dance when it starts up. He is a great eater. I can give him a lot of the same foods we eat cut in to small pieces and he shovels it in. Table manners mean nothing to him.:) Drew's two top teeth are also almost in.
Lauren is becoming sillier everyday. She likes to do things that she think will make us laugh. She makes funny faces and lets out a little squeal, and she loves to clap her hands and giggle. She rolls everywhere and got herself to a sitting position today. I was pretty excited for her! She is a pickier eater and has figured out spitting with food in her mouth. It's wound her up on time out a few times.:)
It's funny when they want to get to something because they'll either crawl or roll over the other one to get to it without even acknowledging that they are there. They are starting to interact more with each other though.When I was holding the two of them together yesterday, Lauren started patting Drew on the back. It was pretty cute. They'll also mimic each other's sounds some.
It's time for afternoon nap and I have two babies grabbing on to my legs, so that's my cue to go!

Easter

Reagan & Luke doing the bunny hop race

Lauren & Drew did a good job of hanging out in the stroller.

Reagan found a really big egg!

All the kiddos

Luke checking out the sheep

Luke getting ready to participate in his Easter egg hunt

Grandma's shopping crew!

Erica & Lauren

Reagan holding Hailey for the first time

Grandpa hid one of Jaren & Luke's gifts and they got to use the GPS to find it.

Oooh....candy!

I found something!

I thought maybe Drew would crawl around and look for things, but he stayed in this one place the whole time. Why search when everyone brings things to you?!?:)

Luke collecting his eggs

Reagan meeting Hailey for the first time.

We had a fun and busy Easter weekend. On Saturday morning we took the kids to Living History Farms for their annual Easter activities. Ryan had gotten free tickets through work, so we thought we would check it out. The kids had a good time, but I don't think we'll go back.:) It seemed like a lot of standing in line for very little, but at least it was a beautiful morning out. Lucas and Reagan each got to do a small egg hunt and a bunny hop race. We also went on a horse drawn wagon ride and got free popcorn and pop. They had live bunnies in the barn, but the line was atrocious so we opted out! I told Luke I would take him to Petco to see some bunnies.:)
On Sunday we went to the worship service at our church and then headed to Pella to spend the afternoon and evening with my family. This was our first get together where Brynn & Hailey were there and the first time the kids got to meet them. The older boys weren't super interested, but Bethany & Reagan loved talking to them and holding them. We also had a fun Easter Egg hunt outside. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits because I was in nursery and had to be at church early, but we'll try another Sunday.

Someplace new to explore

This is the funny face that Drew kept making.

Reagan loves to blow bubbles.

Luke was riding this little toy down the hill as fast as he could.

Rolling & Exploring

Drew and Lauren have spent relatively little time outdoors in their 9 months of life. When they are outside they're usually hanging out in the stroller. It's a lot of work to get two babies bundled up to spend a few minutes outdoors, but the other day was quite nice so I let them play in the yard for a while. They didn't quite know what to make of the grass and leaves. Drew kept making strange faces, but he finally did take off to explore. He of course put many leaves in his mouth and since Lauren is only rolling yet, she was covered in debris by the time we went in.:) I'm hoping they're walking this summer, because it will make it much easier to take them out in the backyard.

Plan B

Last Saturday we were supposed to go to Pella and spend time with family bowling and having pizza. Of course this is Iowa, so the weather ended up not cooperating and we didn't think we should make the drive. The kids were not at all happy with our decision, so we decided to improvise and take them to Pizza Ranch and bowling here. Aunt Barb was nice enough to come over at the last minute to watch the twins. We ended up having a great time. It's nice to be able to do things just with Luke & Reagan. That doesn't happen very often and they enjoy getting a little more of our attention! We missed hanging out with everyone, but hopefully we can get together again soon!