Happy Birthday!

For one year now I knew this day would come and now it has come and gone. My babies, that I waited three years for, have turned one!! Where has the time gone? Sadly Jack was a little grump on their birthday and for their party. Come to find out, he is getting teeth in and not handling it too well.

I don't have all of the pictures from their party yet. Kedra took them for me and she is going to put them on a CD for me. Sidenote, please keep Kedra in your prayers. Her grandmother in Abilene isn't doing well so Kedra is going to make the trip up there to see her one last time.

The boys woke up on their birthday and Garrett made pancakes for them. He took the day off so we could spend it as a family and get the house ready for the party. We put a candle in the boys' cupcakes and sang happy birthday to them. Blake reached for the flame and we reacted so loudly that we scared him and he cried during his entire song.

Here is Jack as we are singing to him. Notice he is reaching for the flame. He was crying about 2 seconds after this; once again our reaction scared him. Oops. Maybe candles weren't such a great idea!

The boys got to open their present after breakfast. They got the rest at their party.

Here is Garrett helping them out.

It is a pool that has little water sprayers. Blake lost interest and Jack cried when Garrett opened it up, we think because the plastic smelled funny.

After their morning nap we went to the neighborhood pool. We had a great day with our toddlers. They are just the best little boys ever!

Time to party! Here are pictures of the house before the party started. I pretty much put balloons on anything that would stand still. We had about 50 in all. They really brightened up the house (which is what I was going for) and looked really cute! These are the pictures I quickly shot with my camera.

All the presents!

I made the sign (with the help of Kedra) and those pictures are from their one year session along with a new born picture of each.

Hanging above the TV are the rest of their one year pictures. I will post them as soon as I can, they are adorable!!!!

Here is the fruit salad, dip, chips and fixin's table. We had hot dogs and buns on the island.

The thrones for my little princes.

Lots of seating (even though the extra chairs hadn't arrived yet :) )

This is a horrible picture, but this bucket is full of the party favors on the entry hall table.

The party is here!

Fun weekend!

We had a fun and crazy weekend. My pictures posted in the wrong order, so we will work backwards.

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Lake Conroe to my dad's lake house to celebrate his birthday. He bought the house almost a year ago (right after the boys were born) and it has been a work in progress ever since. He has added a pool and done tons on renovations to the inside. So, this was the first time since last summer we have been up there. Now that the majority of the work is finished, we can't wait to pack up and spend weekends up there. It is so nice to have such a close 'vacation' home.

The boys went on their first boat ride on Saturday. I was nervous that they wouldn't be huge fans but they both fell asleep. I think the sound of the motor and the motion of going along the water just rocked them to sleep. We went back out on Sunday to go skiing and they did great then too. We also went swimming and the boys got dunked under the water for the first time. Jack wasn't a fan but Blake loved it. I'm hoping that Jack was just grumpy from a long weekend and not much sleep because no child of mine can have a fear of water. He loves his bath so I'm thinking he was just exhausted. I was a fish as a child and I want my kids to be the same way.

Before we went out to the boat we wanted to try the boys' life jackets on them. The have a strap on the top and my dad and Garrett thought it was funny to carry them by this strap.

Then they thought it would be hilarious to hang them on the hooks in the utility room.

"Pops this isn't as funny as you think it is!"

Poor little guys.

Jack is on the boat and ready to go!

Daddy and his boys. (Notice how thin Garrett's face is, he has lost 25 pounds over the last 2 months!)

Jack is just chillin' waiting to get out on the water.

"Let's go Daddy!"

Saturday morning we headed into the Heights for a first birthday party for Charlotte. Charlotte's mom, Ashley and I have been friends since elementary school. Charlotte was born just 2 days after the boys. Looks like the boys will be fighting over a girlfriend in the near future. There was a petting zoo at the party and the boys loved it! They had a great time and can't wait to see Charlotte again at their party on Saturday.

Poor horse, if Jack sees hair he is pulling it!

He loved watching and pulling on the animals.

Blake is also going in for the hair pull.

Blake also loved the animals.

Watching the animals.

Milestone day/week

Today was a big day at the Erbele house. We are officially bottle and formula FREE!!! Yesterday I gave the boys their formula in a sippy cup so they would get use to using one. Then today, on our way home from Bible study at church, we stopped at HEB to get some whole milk. Neither boy drank a ton of it today but they didn't scream or throw their cups. I'm hoping after the next couple of days they will get better adjusted and actually drink their entire cup of milk.

We are also baby food free. I don't have to make any more!! This has been a fairly smooth transition. Blake will eat anything and everything, Jack will not. However, I refuse to raise a picky eater. So, as I said in my classroom, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." I know this is awfully harsh to say to an 11 1/2 month old, but if he doesn't eat what I want him to and I fix him something new, then he will learn that he just has to cry to get the food he wants. If I leave the food on his tray long enough he will start to pick at it. As Garrett has said, he hasn't woken up in the middle of the night starving, so he is okay.

Here are the boys at HEB. This is actually the first time for the 3 of us to go to the store together. They did a good job and loved "driving" around the store. I, on the other hand, did not enjoy pushing that huge thing around. It was so hard to turn! I thought my bus of a stroller was rough, it is a synch to move around compared to this thing.

Big boys

Every day the boys are getting bigger and bigger. Yesterday we went into our playroom to play and watch Sesame Street. The boys sat in their little chairs and were just cute as can be! Seeing these pictures of them really shows how big they are. I am so happy and excited for what is to come but I am so sad that they are growing so quickly.

I was able to grab their attention for 2 seconds to take a picture.

Jack has mastered the art of relaxation. He is always lounging these days; in his crib, against the couch or chair and in his little chair. It cracks me up.

Nice n' comfy!

I was trying to get Blake to wave at me but he waved at Elmo instead.

So into the show. Oh my, he looks so old here! :(

Mother's day

Who wouldn't have a wonderful Mother's Day with these 2 sweet boys around? My boys did a great job of spoiling me on my first Mother's Day. I was awoken to breakfast in bed and the day ended with Garrett cooking dinner. There was lots of family time in the middle.

I thought a lot about my own mom on Sunday and how much I miss her. I think all the time how different our lives would be if she were here and how crazy she would be over her grandsons. I had the best role model on what a great mom is and I just hope that I can be just as great with my own kids. I love you Mom!!!!

I love the look Jack is giving in this picture.

Garrett has been out of town all week so my Aunt Lynda came over for a visit yesterday. I always enjoy when she comes over. We talk non-stop and all of a sudden it is 10:30pm. Before I put the boys in bed I handed them to her to kiss her goodnight. Here is Jack (going after her necklace) with his Great Aunt Lynda.

Blake just laid his head down and hugged her for a few minutes. It was so sweet!

A ham and a climber

Aside from getting ready for a very big first birthday party, we haven't had too much going on lately. The boys are still growing and changing every day and still the joys of my life.

Nap time, however, is not exactly going as planned. The boys are still in their cribs for two 2 hour naps but they are definitely not sleeping for that entire time. The other day I heard laughing over the monitor so I looked to see what was going on and they were playing peek-a-boo with each other. Both boys were standing up and Blake would squat down behind his rails and then pop up. Jack would then laugh hysterically. It was the cutest thing. To hear that sweet laughter over the monitor was music to my ears. We are going to stick to the two 2 hour naps until major screaming takes place and we have to knock it down to one nap a day.

Apparently another fun thing to do during nap time is to throw all of their pacifiers onto the floor. This is what I found when I got them up from their nap.

Blake has turned into such a ham when he sees the camera. He does this really silly smile and just giggles. It is actually really cute but makes for some interesting pictures.

Yesterday I was cleaning up the toys in the den while I was listening to the boys play with my mixing bowls in the kitchen. When I walked into the kitchen this is what I saw.

Yes, that is Jack INSIDE the drawer. He isn't wearing any clothes because it was very close to dinner time and he had drooled so much (I hate teething!) that his outfit was soaking wet; so I stripped him down to his diaper. I very quickly ran and got my camera and then took him out of the drawer (that isn't a phrase I ever thought I would say) and explained how we don't climb into cabinetry. We shall see if he listens. :) I should have known that this was a possibility when he had climbed up onto the futon earlier in the day.

I guess it is now time to grow the eyes in the back of my head!