Some 9th Month Pics

Here are some pictures I took myself of my twins at 9 months. I have been taking my own monthly pictures with the blocks like you see in the background. My friend Jessica did take some professional ones last week so I can't wait to see how those turned out. Much better than mine. I tried to find matching outfits, because you know me and matching......Presley's is a little small and won't fit him for much longer so I just tucked the tag in and will return it. I can't believe that my babies are already 9 months old! They have been growing and doing things like crazy. Both of them are now crawling all over the place and Evie is crawling really fast. She even can climb the stairs already! She is like ninja baby. She also is always pulling herself up on anything she can. Presley mainly likes to crawl over things. If you lay on the floor, he loves to crawl over you. He and his big sis, Gracie, have fun doing that. Sadly enough, I have packed away one bouncy seat, as I only use those for feeding and also the swing, which has not been used in months. The exersaucer and jumparoo are next to go. They don't really like being in there now that they are mobile. They only go in there when I need to get in the shower and no one else is home. I guess pretty soon, I will need to keep a bucket of toys in my bedroom when I do that. And now I need to start thinking about their first birthday! We already have some ideas for the invites and will take their pics soon for that! Happy 9 months Presley and Evie!

Ready, Set, Go!

Presley is Crawling!

Old Friends

It's great seeing old friends. My good friend Rachel is in town this week for her dad's wedding. I became friends with Rachel Senior year of high school and we have remained close since then. When the opportunity arose to see her for dinner, we called up some of our old school friends, Jay, John, Josh, and Stauff. It has been years since we all got together like this. I was so excited! A kid-free dinner? Sounds like a vacation to me! We headed up to Merichka's for some poorboys and talked and laughed about the memories we had together. Rachel, me and the guys hung out a lot back in the day. We had fun talking about bonfires, parties, exboyfriends/girlfriends, our trip to the Dells, and funny things we used to joke about. Those really were the days. No responsiblities, no worries except to figure out what we were doing that night. It was great! We had so much fun!
I know we may not always see each other or talk to each other that much anymore because life keeps us all busy but I know we will all always remain great friends. Good times!

9 Months Old!

I can't believe my babies are 9 months old today! Where has the time gone? I'm happy that we've made it this far yet sad that the baby stage is almost behind us. Exicted that they will be walking soon and eating real food but sad because they don't like to be cuddled and laying in my arms anymore. It's can't believe it's already time to start planning their first birthday party! Their nine month pictures will be taken on Friday with my friend Jessica. I will post them next week! In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of my babies from the past month. Time is going by too quickly!

Playing in the Park

One of the things that we have enjoyed doing this summer is playing at the park. Although we spend plenty of time on Grandma and Grandpa's swingset, which Gracie does call the "park," we also like going to real ones. We've played at several in the area but there is one within walking distance of our house too. So when Grandma and Grandpa came to visit one night, that's where we headed. On the way there the twins were enjoying the fresh air and lounging in the stroller. I think it's so funny that they both put one foot up on the trays. Like brother, like sister.

Gracie's new thing this year is the swings. She LOVES the swings and even rides the big girl swings this year. Although we are still working on the pumping thing, she does good at holding on. The twins also love the swings. Good thing most parks have 2 of the baby swings.

Last year Gracie was diggin' the slides. Although she doesn't spend as much time on them this year, we still talk her into going down them.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next year when these 2 rascals will also be running around the park. I'm not sure if it will be easier or harder. I'll just have to make sure I bring an extra set of hands and a first aid kit!

Grandma also joined in on the swinging fun!

Busy, Busy, Busy...Zoo, Play, Carnival!

This week was full of F-U-N!

With work looming around the corner, I am trying to pack in all the family fun I can before I am only left to do things like this on the crowded weekends with all the other working parents.

Anyways, first stop was another trip to the zoo! The zoo is one of our favorite places. We are members so we can go for free. This was only our third trip though as it is hard to go with 3 small children by myself so I always need the extra pair of hands, sometimes two extras! When Gracie was an only child, we went like every week!

Anyways, thankful that we could go with Grandma and Auntie Amy, the kids got excited!

Miss Evie flashing her "I'm going to the zoo" smile.

Presley was rolling with excitement.

Gracie couldn't wait to get there as we haven't been there since her birthday. She wanted to wear her giraffe shirt for the occasion.

First thing we had to do was take pictures posing as as many animals as we could.

Then we made it over to see the penguins. They had fun playing in the water.

So that's where we headed next....to play in the water.

Then it was off to see the bears. We came across this sad little reminder that school is starting soon. (My school is the Wesmere wolves.)

We were super excited to see the polar bears though. This guy had a ball swimming and even came and swam right by us several times!

The grizzly bears had fun in the water too.

Then we were off to see more animals. It was a great day at the zoo because all the animals were up and about and we got up close with so many of them like the bison,
the giraffes,
the camels,

and the kangaroos.

Then it was time for some merry-go-riding!

Of course Gracie rode her usual favorite...the panda bear!

But the second time, I talked her into riding the gorilla.

So then we headed off to see the gorillas.

Seeing all of these animals tuckered the twins out.

So Gracie posed for one last picture and we headed home for naps.

We got some much needed rest because the next day was....

PLAY DAY!

Gracie's BFF Scotty and his brother Levi came to play outside at Grandma and Grandpa's kiddieland!

First thing they did was play at the "park."

Presley and Levi just wanted to hang in the pool though and catch some rays.

Gracie and Scotty were all over doing anything and everything though.

The twins thought the sprinkler was about one of the coolest things they had ever seen!

And Presley and Levi thought they would look pretty cool if they posed like they were going to go and ride the waves. They do look pretty studly though.

Miss Evie just wanted to work on her tan though.

And all that playing and posing made Presley hungry for a snack.

After lunch, Gracie showed Scotty her playroom at Grandma's and they had a ball.

They even decided that they better take a shopping trip to "Jewel."

It was fun playing with Scotty and Levi. Later after naps, it was time for more family fun.....

this time....CARNIVAL!

What do you know? They had a merry-go-round so Gracie rode it not once,

but twice!

And then Gracie rode the choo-choo train with Grandpa.

And she rode the dizzy dragons with daddy.

And then my little girl suprised us all when she said she wanted to ride the "Dumbo" ride. I told her that mommy and daddy would not be able to ride with her and she was ok with that. So I strapped her in as she held on to her dog "Brownie" and hoped for the best. I thought for sure they would have to stop the ride because she would be screaming but she rode it and rode it well! I couldn't believe it! My little girl rode a carnival ride all by herself!!! Wow! Preschool, carnival rides, pretty soon college! I was so proud of her!

And it didn't stop there. She drove the car all by herself too! She drove with such a serious face that made me realize that when that day comes, like 20 years from now, she will be a great driver and drive with caution.

And last but not least, Gracie took a ride down the giant fun slide to end the night!

Such great times with my all my favorite people! What great memories we made! Now I really need to start scrapbooking these pictures. Oh where to begin!