Babies on the Go-Go!

I love this expression!

Don't try this at home. It's a man's job for sure! Bodie helps his Daddy every morning stack the kindling for a fire. You should see how proud he is of himself when the orange glow lights up the room.

I love a happy baby!

Static cling???

Seems we rarely slow down around here anymore! This week was full of play dates, parks, and adventure. We enjoyed an afternoon at the public library with our buddy Anson and his mommy Amber. I mixed up a few dates and we were attempting to hit the once a month puppet show only to find the theatre empty. Oh well! We read books and and hit the Municipal Park in downtown Boise that we all love! No matter what, seeing our friend Anson was a special treat.

The kids played at our standard Rafiki on the coldest day and helped mommy on her weekly errands. We got to see Grandpa Duane and Nanny for lunch as well.

On a very thrilling note. . .Mommy's cousin Jessica and her husband Tyson welcomed their baby boy Weston this week!!! He is beautiful if I must say so myself! We are sending them lots of hugs and kisses! We are so happy for their new family!

Picture crazy!

"Sure, I'll clap for you!"


Annelise and Annalise playing so sweetly this week.

Grandpa Duane and Bodie at the park.

Nanny and her not so cooperative subjects.

" I love it when I sneak my paci's from the crib!"

Cutest bellies in the west!

Picasso

I love her little profile!

Men at play! Bodie loves to ride on his Daddy's shoulders.

Just a few pictures from the past couple days. We had a fw fun play dates, some park time, visits from Grandparents and lots of play time and coloring. I just can't stop myself from taking photos of these kids! They are getting so big and seem so much less like babies every day! Life really should come with a pause button.

Just for my Dad!

Yesterday I was on a mission to fix my recently problematic camera. This was a job I thought my father would be of great use for. He likes cameras and although he rarely uses his I knew his opinion would be handy. Reluctanlty he decided to join us. With one baby sleeping in the car I ventured in to go over my problem with the sales clerk and my Dad stayed in the car with the babies. After about five minutes I was getting ready to walk out and here comes my Dad with Baby Bodie in tow followed by Anna Banana. To make a long story short, if you know my Dad you know we BOTH left with fancy new cameras and all the trimmings! I certainly wasn't expecting my Dad to buy me a camera but I must say I do LOVE it!!! So here are the first test photos. They love the new camera as well.

My Father's generosity is one of his truely amazing gifts. It's more than material things he showers us with. He is always available when you need him and he has never been near without making us laugh. He came to the NICU every day when the babies were there and a day is never complete if I don't hear his voice. It's true I have always been a Daddy's girl but if you know him you know why.

Gorgeous Prairie Day!

The entire Cook clan!

It was just too nice of a day to stay home. So we packed up our little people and headed for the hills. What a beautiful day! The sun was so warm and we were joined on a little snowmobile ride by the Cook family which really made our day. You have all heard me say it before but it truly must be said again that we just adore all of our Prairie friends. It's a great feeling to know you are surrounding your children with genuinely warm, compassionate and caring people.

The children finished off their night by dining at their favorite eatery. . .The Y-Stop! Cort was celebrating his 60th b-day and Annelise really enjoyed seeing her friend Mary as well. An afternoon well spent to say the least. Happy Birthday Cort!!!

Also, Congrats to our friends Darin and Marjorie who welcomed baby girl Kadence Grace on the 17th! She will be joining big brother Aden and we can't wait to see them next month when they come to visit! Another family we are so proud to call our friends! Congratulations!

Drum Roll Please. . . . . .

Well, all is well. The baby measures right on schedule and is infact two days ahead. This kid is already early for everything like it's mother! YEAH! Every little limb and body part is just where is should be and we can already tell this baby is as sweet as the other two. It was great to spend an hour checking out our newest family member and we always appreciate how wonderful my OB is. There have been many guesses regarding boy or girl so I will let you all be the judge. . .
If anyone needs this better defined let me know! For those of you who haven't seen an ultrasound in a while I guess I will let you know it's a BOY! That's right! Our little fella will be getting a brother and Annelise will be getting another man to dress up and protect her! Daddy and I both thought it was a boy from day one but it's still a surprise to get it confirmed. Although, the news that Annelise is our only girl made me a little sad that we won't be seeing anymore infant girl clothes again. Oh well! We are all overjoyed though that the Bates Babies will now be three and two sweet little boys and one dear daughter are just perfect for us!

24 hours to go. . .

Will it be a this?. . . .

Or a that?. . .

Tomorrow is our big day! Tomorrow afternoon we will find out if we are having a baby boy or girl! We are seriously on pins and needles around here. Taking bets from every friend and family member we have. Probably driving people nuts! We can't go wrong with either one but it will be so much fun getting ready for either one! You all know I am buying the two children of the same sex matching clothes right? Less than 24 hours to go. . . tick. . . .tock. . . . tick. . . tock. . . .

Happy Valentine's Day. . yesterday!

Maybe it's just me but I think that we should all awake everyday to cards telling us how much we are loved and candy that suggests somebody somewhere thinks we are fabulous! Well, this is how our day started and we could not complain. The kids were sporting Snoopy t-shirts in honor of their Daddy's favorite childhood friend. He thought it was very sweet of them. The best story of the day though is from Miss Annelise. She may be only 17 months but she is as fashion forward as they come. Now she INSISTS on picking out some of her own clothes and she has also discovered she can dress her brother. Yesterday this resulted in Snoopy t-shirts with snow boots! Adorable but not exactly something we can take her out in. Daddy had to work but all-in-all we had a great day. I didn't manage to take any fabulous photos but not every day is my best with the camera. Oh well. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Hugs and kisses from us to you!

One year ago. . .

This photo is from exactly one year ago. It's just so hard to believe that my babies are toddlers now! What a difference a year makes! I swear if feels like just yesterday we took this picture. They are just sooooo sweet!

Shine. . shine. . .shiner!

Yesterday was another standard day of play. We were busy doing some errands for Daddy and then we hit good ole' Rafiki! When all else fails just drive on down to Rafiki and let the kids run crazy for hours on end. They love it and so do I! The most funny thing ever was listening to Annelise yell for "Bo, Bo" every time he was ten feet away. She sure is aware of where he is at at all times. Bodie was perfectly fine being doted on by his sister all afternoon. They also hold hands now on the way to and from the car. It's so cute I can hardly stand it!

Then last night as we were playing Bodie took a digger into the coffee table. He was running as fast as he could and he tripped over some of our hundreds of toys out in the evening. It looks worse in person, I hate to say, but we're all so proud of him for taking it like a champ. A second of tears and then he was all good!

A weekend of events!

Daddy hitting some big air!

Kara and Tyler about to take the plunge!

The kids and Daddy at the snowbike races.

Annelise showing us she's a camp fire girl for sure.

Bodie's surprise look as he hits the horn!

What a beautiful weekend it was!!! Things just couldn't have been nicer and the babies were in a great mood all weekend so that always serves as a double bonus to whatever fun we are trying to have. First we headed to McCall where the sun was out in full force. It was packed but the kids loved it! We saw some of the ice sculptures in town and watched the snowbike races in the afternoon. The races were pretty fun and one of our friends even took home first place. Whoohoo! We winded out the afternoon lounging at the cabin and then my friend Kara's wedding at the Shore Lodge. All I can say is she looked stunning and the wedding was breathtaking. What a great way to start their future together. McCall is always a treat for us and it's nice to be able to visit just a few hours from home.

We followed up our crazy weekend by heading out to the desert in Murphy so Daddy and some friends could ride motorcycles. As luck would have it, the weather was again so nice! The temperature was on the low side but the sun was shining and we were all having a great time watching all our friends jump, ride, and laugh it up together by the camp fire. The kids have really shown us how great they are at traveling since they were small. It's such a blessing that they can be so adjustable to new places and people. Even the once shy Annelise has few traces of her old self. I would never know it was the same girl as she bounds towards new people and adventures. All our hard work seems to have paid off!

Waiting for Daddy

This morning was a very sad morning for our little man. Daddy is heading to McCall where we will be joining him tomorrow but but that isn't soon enough for Bodie. With this said, he decided that the next best thing is wearing Daddy's sweatshirt until he returns. Some people tie yellow ribbons. . . we wear their clothes. This weekend should be a blast. We will be attending the Winter Carnival in McCall and one of my dearest friend's weddings. Not to mention the Special Olympics are kicking off tomorrow and we want to be front and center of it all! I can't wait for the kids to see the giant ice sculptures and they will no doubt love watching the thousands of people cheer and enjoy the Festival.

On a new baby note. . . we find out boy or girl on the 17th so place your bets. I wish I had the self-control to wait until the baby is born but I can safely say that gene was passed on to my cousins Brandy and Jessica.

I want to Kees you!

Here is the result of Bodie's new obsession. . . Annelise trying to get away! He just loves to plant a little love on his sister and who can blame him? She is awfully sweet!

Park crazy!!

"Let's make our park plan. Divide and play!"

"A wheel but no car? Hmmmm???"

"I'm on my way Bodie!!!!"

"Is that a slide I see?"

"I'll have one cheeseburger please and a milk."

Today we felt like rock stars on tour! On tours of parks of course! The weather was too beautiful to be inside and so with that we hit the road. Maybe it's just me but I always think the twins like seeing new places, or at least places we don't see often, so we thought we would go to a park we hadn't been in a while. The babies had a blast and there we met three other sets of twins! Wierd! The only thing the park was missing were the baby swings and my kids LOVE those things. So, it was sunny and so nice outside that we decided to pack up after a couple hours and head to our favorite. . . Settlers Park. We managed to grab our favorite man (Daddy!) on the way and played some more. We literally played from lunch until dinner. Can't think of a better way to spend our day! Oh, and I have to tell you that Annelise can often be heard calling for her brother now days. Just listen for "Bo. . . .Bo. .. . .Bo!" It's so sweet. Bodie's newest thing is doing a lot of kissing. I mean a lot! I can't complain though. A mommy takes her kisses for as long as she can get them!

To be a twin. . .

If you haven't clicked on the button on the right for Tuesday I would sincerely encourage anyone to please do so. No, we don't personally know them but the two year old twin girl named Tuesday passed away of cancer on Friday night. A parent's very worst nightmare and I cannot begin to imagine how much grief they are feeling right this moment. Any and all thoughts and prayers would be so deeply appreciated.

For our family, the idea of Bodie ever having to be without Annelise or our Nanners without her Bo just breaks my heart into a million small pieces. Twins are a uniquely special gift and as much of a gift as they are to us they are so much more to each other. They are thick as thieves most of the time and even though they can fight famously, there is a love between the two that is more rare than anything I have ever known. I thought the photo of the two of them dancing together this weekend was very fitting.

So please keep this family in your thoughts as they begin a life without one of their twins and as her twin sister Piper navigates a new world with out her other half.