Twins meeting Twins!

This weekend my brother and his family came in town.  Max and Claire got to meet their twin cousins Brooke and Landyn! I can't believe Max and Claire were once that little.  I just know they will be best friends one day!

  Today we dressed the girls up in tutus and hair bows for some pictures!!

Claire, Landyn and Brooke

Claire and Max checking out their new cousins!

Mommies and their babies!

I love that Kasey and I are both in purple and the guys in blue - and it wasn't planned!!

It was pretty chaotic with all the kids (plus Kasey's three year old!).  Our beach trip this summer will be interesting!!

Seeing these pics motivated me to learn how to use our camera.  I've had it for a year now and don't know how to do anything special with it.  Time to learn!!

Hilarious!

Who knew an Ipad could be so much fun?!  Mom and Dad got one for Christmas and found this fun app you can take pics with.  I'm sure this is nothing new, but we laughed nonstop at our pictures.  Here are a few of our favorite:

Aren't these a scream?  I'm still laughing ;)

A little bit of randomness and a few things for me to remember.

I've been contemplating when to start using a sippy cup instead of a bottle.  Yesterday  I decided to try it for their 3:30 feeding and it went pretty well.

Although Max still threw a fit when it was empty.

Today we dressed up in our adorable outfits from Great Aunt Catherine.  Unfortunately they wouldn't sit still so this all I have

I turned around for a second and they had gotten into the diaper bag.

I promise I'm behaving!

Claire still has an awful diaper rash so after her bath we let her run around in her birthday suit!

*she has also started pointing at things she wants!

invites: check!

I've finally ordered the invitations for Max and Claire's first birthday!!  Now I just need to get my butt in gear for everything else!

Did you know...

Since the babes have been drinking formula, we have used Gerber, Enfamil and Target brand.  Gerber had the best coupons, Enfamil was free from the Doctor and well, Target is cheap.  For some reason, today I decided to look at the ingredients to see the difference b/t Target brand and Enfamil.  I was so upset, disappointed and surprised to see that corn syrup was listed as the first ingredient of the Target formula.  Are you kidding me????  Let's just say I will not be buying Target brand anymore.  I am so upset with myself for just now realizing this :(

Max 11 Months

Our big boy is 11 months!  Max is still the sweetest, most cuddly baby (can't believe he will only be a baby for one more month :( )  He has the best smile and flashes it all the time.  He can be sensitive too.  I know he is tougher than he lets on.  If he and Claire are playing in the crib together - it's all laughs.  I will hear their heads bumping each other or on the crib and it still results in lots of laughs!... but if he falls or barely bumps his head or something else in front of us, he whines or cries.... We're working on that!

Buds loves to dance and listen to music.  If he is crawling, he will stop and start bobbing his head to the beat! It's so cute!  He is crawling everywhere and he and Claire have discovered the bathroom.  We have to be careful to keep doors closed or they will go straight to the toilet.  Not yet walking, but doing better at cruising the furniture.  He loves to play peek a boo - especially around the coffee table.  He also loves when you say, "How big is Max" and he throws his hands up "so big" with the biggest smile!  He'll even tell you how big Claire is!!  Just this week he has blown a kiss.  I have caught it with a side eye only.  He's probably getting tired of Claire getting all the attention when she blows kisses!

Max is a big fan of bath time.  He loves to splash. And when I say splash, I mean he makes huge waves. I usually have to change clothes after giving baths!  He (along with Claire) are not a fan when I have to wash hair.  We have two sides in the tub: washing station (me) and play area (Justin).  They are like wrestling alligators when I lean them back to wash and rinse hair and their face.

Max is not the best sleeper.  I am not sure if there is a tooth getting ready to come through or what... He goes down 7/7:30 and has been waking up at 5:45-6:15 with a few cries during the night. If I go in there, he reaches up and does a death grip around my neck so I have to pick him up.  Although, his grandparents said he slept 7:30-7 with no cries this past weekend. - Oh how I wish he did that for us.

Buds has five teeth and I think a sixth coming through.  He has learned to bite.... not sure where or if he really knows what he is doing.  Yesterday I had them in the pack and play together and all the sudden Claire started crying. Ran in to see Max basically on top of her near her face.  A few minutes later I noticed teeth marks (4) on Claire's cheek.  Poor baby!

Max is a pretty good eater.  He can be finicky about some finger foods, but still loves baby food.  Their favorite meal is probably breakfast: blueberry pancake, 1/2 banana and yogurt.  I love to watch him eat.  He is so precise and always uses his pincer grasp.  He is a slow eater and only eats one bite at a time and wont even open his mouth until he is ready for the next bite!  He is doing great with the sippy cup.... although I'm afraid he is going to miss the comfort of his bottles.  He has 4 bottles and 3 meals a day. I'm going to start giving a sippy cup in place of his third bottle.

Just moved up to a size 4 diaper
First pair of real shoes 4.5 wide
12-18 mo clothes

Claire 11 Months

I'm still having a hard time believing Claire and Max are 11 months old! (a little late on individual post).  I am amazed at things they can do!!
For Christmas Claire got a baby stroller and after one time showing her how to walk/push with it, she is a pro!  We must have circled the inside of the house 10 times the first hour she started playing with it!  We are working on backing up now :).  As fearless as she is, I'm surprised she hasn't tried any steps on her own.  I am excited for her to reach the next milestone, yet I don't think I'm quite ready to have walkers!!

Claire loves to blow kisses and make the "muah" sound that goes with it. Her teachers at Mother's Morning out says she blows kisses to people as they walk past their door!  She's a little shy at handing out real kisses.  Every once in a while she'll give me one, but never two in a row.  She kisses her baby or will kiss your hand.
She claps her hands all the time, mostly for herself!! ha!  She waves bye bye and her newest favorite thing to do is play peek a boo!  Her and Max will take turns.  They usually do it in their cribs or around our coffee table.  She loves music!  Whenever she hears music or we sing, she starts swaying or bobbing her head!  She loves to sing "If your happy and you know it" and claps hands appropriately.

Claire loves her "bunny".  It's actually a giraffe, but she has like seven lovies and most are bunnies so we just started calling it bunny too.  She is always sleeping with it.  Claire moves around the crib and bunny goes wherever Claire goes!  I try to keep it in the crib only.  Sometimes in the mornings she hangs on to it until she has fully waken up.

Claire still has four bottles and three meals a day.  I think our third bottle is going to turn into a snack and be taken out of a sippy cup.  She is a great eater!!  Eats anything and everything that is put in front of her or that she finds on the floor!  I have been trying more meats and so far, so good!  We  need to work on slowing down while eating.  She double fist the food and takes turns shoving in her mouth....which is funny to watch bc Max has been great with his pincers for months and only eats one bite at a time!
Claire has four teeth.  The top two are slowly making their way in.

Claire can show us what she wants.  She has pointed a few times and she makes this puppy dog whine along with a smile when she wants more or wants what you have.  I have been a slacker with our sign language video and signing to them.... need to get back in that groove.
She is still a Mama's girl.  She rarely will go to someone else if I'm in the room.  Tonight we were at a friends watching football and she stayed on or around my lap for at least 30 minutes before she would play with the other kids.

Claire is a pretty good sleeper.  Always wakes up happy.  Bedtime is usually 7/7:30 and she wakes up around 6:30. I  think she would sleep longer if Max did.  Still take two naps a day - usually 1.5 hrs each.

Size 3 diapers
6-12 mo clothes
Size 3 shoe

Countdown to the first birthday!!