We love Elmo

The boys have recently fallen in love with a red furry little monster that goes by the name of Elmo. They've met Elmo in person by way of our tickle me Elmo and little stuffed Elmo as well as in multiple books. They had never seen Sesame Street or Elmo on TV up until last week. That's when I captured this picture. I love it, because even though it's been almost 16months I still grin from ear to ear when I see our twin boys. One of my favorite things is that I'll always see double the rest of my life.

We love our sister!

Will and Ben adore Josie. Ben wants to do everything she does. She laughs and puts her head back and two seconds later Ben is doing the same. Josie goes down the stairs like a big kid and Ben refuses to scoot. He wants to walk down. Will likes his sister too. He doesn't always mimic her, but he Will give her his best smile, belly laugh, and lots of claps too.

There favorite thing to do with their sister is climb on her and wrestle her to the ground. Like the picture above. Will is still in his pajamas. This tends to be a daily occurrence.

Yesterday, Billy said to Ben "Where is your sister, where is Josie?" He goes running over to her and gives her a close line that knocks her to her feet. After that we decided maybe pointing to who we are looking for is a better option.

My two men

The boys are growing up fast. Here are some fun things they are doing!

Ben started walking just before his first birthday. Now he runs! Everywhere. So fast that sometimes he can't slow down in time. He is still such a snuggle bug. In the morning he will finish his bottle and come running over for cuddle time. He loves to moo and roar at pictures of cows and lions. Ben is a sharer. If he has two binkies he will bring one to Will. He loves to shake his finger at Will and say "no-no". Ben is loud and just a little bit more sensitive then his big brother.

Will has just started to consider walking. For a bit, crawling was the way he could get there faster than Ben. But now that Ben is running he is getting to the finish line sooner. So last week, Will took 4 steps in a row. He's been doing the same about every day now. He finally seems interested in it! Will is a master climber. He can climb on the kitchen table faster than you can blink. When you tell him no he only gets more determined. He loves to steal Ben's binky and crawl away and giggle. He gets super excited when he sees balloons. Will loves to point and show you everything around you. From trees to buttons, the kid is very observant.

My boys might look alike, but they continue to show me they have their very own personalities. I love them more everyday!

The Before and After

We had the boys 3rd hair cut last month. They had them done at the same time to speed up the process. We told each stylist that we'd like them to go short. Well... their individual definitions of short were two different things. Ben's hair is like a little man haircut, longer on the top. And Will's haircut is pretty much a buzz! They both look adorable and it's been great being able to have everyone tell them apart at a glance.

The pictures above are the morning of the haircuts. Ben is hanging from the cabinet door, ready to swing. Will is laughing watching his brother. The after picture, Will is on the left :)

Ahhhh Nuts!

The Friday after the boys first birthday I had planned on making them a delicious tuna melt sandwich on warm biscuits. When I opened the tuna can I didn't like the way it looked. I thought, there is no way I am feeding this to the boys when they have their birthday party tomorrow! It is much too risky. I didn't want them to get sick from rotten tuna before their big event. So I gave them peanut butter. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Until moments later I noticed they both were red in the face. When I cleaned them up they appeared uncomfortable and the redness turned into hives. Large white bumpy hives all over their face and anywhere the peanut butter had touched them. On the arm, on the knee, hives traced the peanut butter areas. (The pictures are from the beginning when I first noticed a little redness. Ben is on top, it looks like he is praying!)

I was scared! I called the doctor, I called Billy, and I started praying that my boys would be ok. Not just for their first birthday party, but be healthy again. They wouldn't let me put them down because the pain was no fun. With a little Benadryl and some hydrocortisone they started to look "normal" again. I was so relieved.

Since the PB incident we have gone to an allergist. The boys are both allergic to eggs. On a scale from 0-5 they both are a 2. Which means they can eat eggs in baked goods, but not plain eggs. So no scrambled eggs or french toast for breakfast. The allergist thinks they will out grow this. As far as peanuts go, Will is a 2 and Ben is a 3. Which means no peanuts or tree nuts of any kind as they tend to be packaged in the same manufacturing plant as peanuts. The goal is to not have any sort of reaction to nuts and avoid them all together for now. If the boy's numbers decrease then we'll do a peanut test in the office to see if they succeed.

So we now carry around 4 EpiPens where ever we go just to be safe. We need 4 because each boy needs 2. They may not respond well with just one dose, so then we'd have to poke them again.

Josie started helping us with the boy's allergies. If she gets a snack from someone at music class or on a play date she will ask if it has peanuts because her brothers cannot have nuts. We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and this worker helped us load pumpkins into our car. Josie said, "These are my brothers. This is Will. This is Ben. But they can't have annnnnnyyyy nuts!" I was beaming. For the rest of your lives boys... your big sister will always be there to protect you.

The Big Day!

Happy Birthday Ben!
Will was so excited to see all the balloons he sat up to drink his bottle while Josie sang to him again.
Dad with the birthday boys dressed for the day!
The boys at their birthday breakfast!

Our boys turned one on Tuesday. I am still in denial. I think partially because the first 6months of their lives were such a blur. It was complete survival mode. Or maybe it's because they started off in the NICU for 12 long days. So maybe since we didn't bring them home for almost two weeks after they were born, I'll feel more like they are one in two weeks? Most likely it is because I just started and finished their first year photo album. Attempting to get a year's worth of pictures into one album all at once. Either way, some how I am in complete denial that the boys could possibly be one already.

They are starting to act more like one year olds... here is an update on each boy:

Will points to everything. He is very close to pointing with one finger every time I ask how old he is... I'm hoping by Saturday it clicks, perfect timing for the choo choo birthday party! He says mama, dada, ball, does so big, waves hi, signs more, and moves his little fists to the wheels on the bus. Oh and tonight for the first time he covered his face for peek-a-boo!

Ben waves hi, loves to clap and say yeah, picks up a cell phone puts it to his ear and says hi, does so big, and he says mama dada and ball too. He also gives one of the best hugs/snuggles ever.

Happy Birthday Boys!

Balloon Festival

Will showing Dad the balloons!

We took the kids to the Indianola Hot Air Balloon Festival on Sunday. It's the 3rd largest in the world! They have a bunch of carnival games, fried food, and ice cream. Not to mention the little train from the farmer's market is there oh and the balloons! It is a perfect family outing.

The best part was how much Will enjoyed the balloons. He would crawl over to Billy, pull up on him and point up to every balloon that came over us. He was in awe. It was so fun to watch him. Ben was having a hay day too. Ben was more into the people around us (such a flirt) and the funnel cake. I guess he takes after me (and my sweet tooth) after all.