Two to kiss, Two to hug, Thank you God for Two to love...

Sometimes I think, "Life cannot get any better than this..." when I am holding these two precious kiddos in my lap and they look up and grin at me. And then, the very next day they will do something that makes me laugh out loud or tear up and it makes me excited all over again. We have such a creative, wonderful God.

Sure, there are really hard moments like when both kids are covered in carrots and sputtering the remainder of them on to my shirt...or when they are both crying at once and there is only one of me...or when they don't nap during the day...or when they both start screaming in the middle of Target when I have a cart full of groceries...But, it is all worth it of course. I know that I need to treasure these moments because they are only this little "once."

I think I am getting a little sentimental because I have been going through some of the kids things from the NICU that I am making into a scrapbook. I found their two little blankies that I slept with the night that I gave birth to them and then sent to Cooks for them to snuggle up with the following night. The idea was for them to learn my scent and get to know their mom, even though we were separated. I remember praying and begging God to let Matthew and Caleb make a full recovery and just dreaming of what it would be like to hold them in my arms. Now, sometimes when I look at them, I just get overcome with emotion thinking about what a blessing they are to our entire family. We are so thankful for them and I don't think I will ever take for granted getting to hold them in my arms.

With that being said, they are sweet, but SOOO ornery, too! They are changing so much every day and showing more and more of their independence and strong wills. Matthew now throws mini-tantrums if we take away his sippy cup at the table and Caleb loves to take toys from Matthew when they are playing on the floor together which really gets Chooch going!

Matthew grins and makes funny noises at Caleb all the time, but Caleb is more interested in everything else besides his brother right now. They both laugh out loud when tickled right below their chest and love it when their Dad sings them silly songs. They have started sitting up on their own with us nearby to make sure they don't tip over and crash too hard.

One of our favorite times is reading stories with them. They love to touch the pages and get excited when we talk in funny voices. They now know when it's time for bed because as soon as we walk in their room and turn on their "nap music" and give them their blankie/lovee, they start to pucker up. The crying lasts for about a minute, and then they crash. I think they are so active when they are awake that they sleep pretty hard! Here are some pics below of the boys eating at a restaurant and then hanging out playing...

Chooch is in his big boy seat at the table...

Cabers is ready for some grub!




Does it get any sweeter than this? Maybe equally as sweet in the picture below..:)

Caleb is full of JOY...you can't tell in this picture, but his hair sticks STRAIGHT up! It's so funny!