Happy 1 Year!

My dearest Ella & Avie,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 1st BIRTHDAY!

Your Dad and I are so proud of you two! You both have made this past year one crazy, yet extremely wonderful ride!

Looking at you both now, it's amazing to think you were once 5 lbs and that I could just leave you on the floor for hours and you'd be fine. Now, you are little chunky babies that won't sit still! Here are a few things that you have accomplished in the last month!

Avie
- You are now walking by yourself. Longest has been 5 steps!
- You are very good at mocking others. Coughing, clicking or sticking out your tongue
- Mama Mia!! (Hands on your head)
- Both arms in the air when someone says "Yay!"
- Climbing up on everything! Coffee table, fireplace, etc.
- Love using your teeth, biting everything! (4 teeth on top, 2 on bottom)

Ella
- Clicking your tongue
- Not quite walking, but you are great at standing
- Who loves Erica? I DO!
- You love the camera! You've established a cheesy face and even do it on cue
- Little Miss Whiness! You want attention, definitely a Momma's Princess!
- Love music! You will dance when you hear music and smile when we sing!

We celebrated your birthday with the whole family and all the friends at the house! You were spoiled beyond belief and got the cutest clothes! You absolutely loved the toothbrushes that your Cousin Jesse gave you. You won't stop playing with them. They actually helped us get you guys to be more comfortable in the bath again. Another favorite toy is the "Little People Home Sweet Sounds" that Grandma and Grandpa Snow gave you! I love seeing you guys playing with dolls!

Your Auntie Erica made you each a huge cupcake for your birthday! Avie, you jumped right in! Making sure to use both fists! Ella, you were a bit more timid. You enjoyed the taste of the cake/icing, but didn't like the whole getting messy thing.

You guys were surrounded by love and have been ever since you arrived! I can't wait to see what the coming months will bring! We are especially looking forward to the Snow Family Reunion coming up during the 24th of July. We are hoping that you guys will be ready for the annual races! Gotta earn those Cracker Jacks! Plus, it is going to be great seeing the whole family and all of the beautiful babies!

Ella, Avie... Mommy and Daddy love you with all of their hearts, more than words! You've changed our lives in so many ways and it's all been for the better. We still look at you both and are amazed that you are ours. It is still so surreal! We enjoy every minute with you, even the ones where I want to pull out my hair. Thank you both for being the cutest little girls EVER!

We love you!
-Mommy and Daddy

We also got your 1 year photos down at FotoFly (amazing  place!) Avie, you were a little pill! After the first picture, you immediately started to freak out. Nothing would calm you down! Miss Ella, you were a little princess! The camera loved you and you LOVED the camera! We got some great shots of you! However, you started getting a little upset when you got you messy with the cupcakes! Avie, you loved it! You dug right in and got all messy! You are definitely my daughter!

{ 11 Months }

Long post. Sorry!

But yes, 1 more month and I will have 1 year old twin girlies!! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I'm a little late at posting. Technically the girls reached 11 months last Saturday, but I was in Vegas so I wasn't able to post then.

What's changed? The girls are so smart and growing every day. They both are still sucking their thumbs as you can see from the pictures below. They generally do it as a comfort when they are tired. They used to do it all the time, which Ella still does I guess.

They are standing alone really well now and are almost walking. It's pretty cute to see them struggle. Especially Ella. We've noticed that if she wants to get somewhere, she will first try to stand up like she is going to walk over. But then she realizes she can't walk, so she crawls. Oh and crawling! Man they are fast! We've got our entire living room gated off! It's not that we don't want them down the hall and/or the kitchen, it's more just to keep them in one location. It won't be long until the gates will have no more purpose. Like I said, they are smart. They both love to be on their knees, which is adorable. They look so grown up when they do it. Their falls are becoming less and less severe. They can catch themselves almost every time. And they will walk along all of our furniture, so I can see them walking before their 1st birthday, which is "Oh crap" for us!! But hey!, we need to start training for the 24th of July Races down in PV!

What else is new? Oh TEETH!! Both girls have their two bottom middle teeth in. Avie has the 4 top teeth almost through, but poor Ella doesn't have any. She doesn't even have signs of any coming in. She'll probably cute all 4 at once. At least with Avie, it was 2 at a time. But with teeth comes more food opportunities! The girls love noodles and love to make a mess with them. I've been sharing cheese sticks with them here and there, but I'm trying to introduce as much food as I can so they won't be picky eaters. They like eggs, toast, yogurt or pudding, most fruits and veggies (at least all the ones we've given them) Okay, no wait I lie. Ella didn't like raspberries. Which I didn't expect her to, but I thought I would try. But hey, they like olives! We haven't yet introduced juice, just water. The girls are still on formula, bottle fed. Some days I get over ambitious and try to give them formula in a sippy cup but they end up just getting frustrated and crying. I have yet to find a sippy cup that works well. They like the ones with handles, but it's too hard to drink out of. Then the ones that are easy to drink out of don't have handles and the water comes out too fast. See the problem that I'm having?! Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I need to start weaning them off the bottle asap. The girls are doing great at feeding themselves, Ella a little more so.

There is more?! Of course there is!! They are growing babies!! They both love to talk, sing and dance. They dance on queue when Mickey Mouse Club House has their end Hot Dog Dance or when any music is playing nearby. They can say Mama, Dada, Baba and my step dad Kelly is convinced they have said Papa, but I have yet to hear it. Erica taught them to raise their hands when she asks "Who loves Erica?" Avie responds with both arms stretched! They are both starting to know more and more about the NO concept. The majority of the time, they'll stop what they are being told no for and look at me all sad. So I think it's starting to click. Right now we are trying to teach them to blow kisses. They are however great at blowing raspberries. Avie will still do her coughing thing and she has now learned to stick her tongue out at you when you do it to her. Both girls give kisses, Ella's are a little more open mouth and slobbery, but we love them anyways. They both still hate grass! Erica enjoyed torturing Ella the other day. She would put Ella on the grass standing and try to have her walk to her. Ella couldn't do it and was afraid to sit down. It was kinda sad!

We are no longer swaddling the girls, so we find them in the weirdest positions in the morning. Ella is a big fan of sleeping on her belly, butt up. Avie is mostly on her side. Bedtime and Naptime has been getting better. I mean, there will be some bad days. The girls have now started throwing everything out of their cribs on to the floor. That's another game they like to play. At a restaurant, in their highchairs, wherever... you give them a toy, they drop it. You give it back to them, the look at you and drop it. Silly girls!

Below are a few recent pictures of the girls. I'm hoping Erica might be able to take more this weekend when they are more cooperative. It was close to bedtime so the girls weren't at their best. But Erica does a great job regardless!! I'm not going to lie, I like having Erica around. She's become an expert at not only taking photos but editing them as well. Thank you Erica! See more of her photos on her photography blog here! (My girls are featured in a few!)

We've got a full weekend ahead of us for Mother's Day! Saturday we'll be with Nancy and Sunday we'll be with my Mom. I don't know if we are going to fit KJ's Mom in there. He hasn't said anything about it. I'm hoping that I'll have some time alone with my girls for MY Mother's Day, but with me working both Saturday and Sunday (insert UGH here) it may be hard. No worries, just having them is all I need to celebrate!

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all have a great weekend!