Our Wild West Adventure!

August 15 - August 26 we flew home to see our families.  Here's a few stats about our trip:

• 12 days
• 4 plane rides
• 3 checked bags, 3 carry ons, 2 car seats, 1 stroller

The babies met and saw:

• 2 great grandma's, 1 great grandpa
• 2 grandma's, 2 grandpa's
• 14 Aunts and Uncles
• 18 Nieces and Nephews

We slept in:

• 5 different houses

Babies Received Tons of Hugs and Kisses

and No one got sick!

August 15 we were at the airport and ready for our flight that left at 8 a.m.  Babies were in their pj's and wondering what was going on!  We parked the van at the airport, took the shuttle, made it through security, bought water (for the bottles) and boarded the plane.  I was a little nervous when the pilot announced that the flight was 3 hours and 47 minutes from Charlotte to Salt Lake City.  But all went well. 

 I held Kira and Nels held Isak.  They took two naps and ate once.  We sat by a couple who had twin boys and the husband was a twin also.  And we were across the aisle from sister twins that were in their 50's.  Crazy, huh!?  

Luckily we didn't have to change diapers on the plane.  The babies didn't cry at all.  They were perfect.

We landed in SLC and only had time to change the babies diapers before we boarded a small plane to go to Idaho Falls, Idaho.  

I love this picture of Kira looking out the window while we wait for the plane to take off.

We landed in Idaho about 1 p.m or so.  My mom and dad were there just smiling and waving.  I love that moment of when we first saw them.  We hugged, took pictures and got our luggage.

My parents took us to Gator Jacks to eat lunch.  It's a pretty cool place with yummy food.  We tried the Gator Bites appetizer which is baby potatoes with cheese and bacon on top.  Mmmmm good.

My mom took some photos with her iPhone.  This is how we feed the babies when we are out and about.

Nels feeding Kira.  

The babies got to ride their first Gator. :)

I love being home.  There is just a wonderful feeling there and I have so many happy memories. For dinner my mom totally catered to me and fixed my Grandpa Stewart's Enchiladas and my Dad's favorite chocolate cake.  She even put a Happy Birthday banner in the cake.  :)

We bathed the babies and got them ready for bed.  Kira fell right to sleep.  She slept in the crib that my parents had with all of us kids and I think every grandchild has slept in it.  But Isak...could not fall asleep in the pack and play.  So Nels held him in the bed and slept with him that night.  I slept in another room.  I checked the monitor to make sure everyone was okay before I fell asleep.  This is what I saw.  Nels being a sweet daddy.

That's the end of the first day.  More to come.

Remembering

My sister Jenny had these pictures on her iPhone.  It brought back some memories.

So tiny and perfect. 

 Nels's sister Kierstin gave us these cute monkey sleepers.

I came across these journal entries from January 2013.

"Are all Mom's sleep deprived? Because if they are; they sure hide it better than me!"

"Being a parent has helped me realize what it means to sacrifice.  We've sacrificed financially, physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, etc.  But we've gained two beautiful children."

"I'm glad messes can eventually be cleaned up.  I try to remember that when I get spit up on."

 I remember how exhausted I felt those first few months and how completely clueless I felt.

The exhausting part has improved, but I still feel pretty clueless.

The picture below reminds me of how demanding Isak was and how laid back Kira was.  They are still similar in that way.  Isak loves for his opinion to be heard and Kira generally goes with the flow.

Isak's hair is so brown in this picture.  They are both so tiny and their skin is rosier than it is now.  Just little babies.

It's fun to look back and remember.  We've come along way.

9 Months

The babies turned 9 months old August 11!  Can you believe it??!!  My little babies are growing up, sniffle.  

Just look at my baby girl!

 I love her big grin.  Speaking of big.  Kira is growing!  We bought her 6-9 month clothes and they fit!  She's eating 8 ounces regularly and sometimes 9 or 10 ounces in the morning and at night.  She still doesn't care to eat any other food.

She is sporting 2 front top teeth now.  She's a pretty good teether.  She's only grumpy about one day.

She can get into a sitting position by herself now and still does her funny army crawl to get around.  

She loves to be outside.

Kira started to say Ma ma.  She gets very serious when she says it--almost a whisper.

She doesn't care to wear headbands as you can see in the picture below.

 She likes to be teased so she can laugh and smile.

 She's becoming a little more adventurous in order to keep up with her brother.  She loves to follow him around.  See she is attacking the sign like Isak.

 She loves sucking on toys and play sucking on pacifiers.  She's not attached to a pacifier, she just likes to play with them.  She's just a sweetie.

"Noooooo, not another photo shoot!"  Off to a rough start...again.  :)

Isak is our Indiana Jones.  He climbs on everything and is happiest when he's exploring.  He loves to stand up next to the couch, cupboard, sliding glass door, chairs and especially our legs.  He crawls to get everywhere else.  He only plays with a toy for a minute and then goes onto something else.

He has four teeth and one more on the way.  This last toot has been terrible.  Lots of tylenol and a runny nose.

He still says Da da and other syllables.

This was the best picture I could get of him.

He is an excellent sleeper and eater.  He eats puffs now and loves baby food.

He LOVES to be outside.
He is still my little snuggler when he's not on the move.

 Together...can you see Isak behind the bear?

 I don't know what Isak is doing with his arms.  I must have captured him mid motion of throwing his arms up and down.

 I love Kira's happy face with her hands clapped together.

 Kira telling Isak how it is. :)

 Isak is wondering what the pink thing is on Kira's head and if he can grab it.

 Finally, they are both looking at me.  But I cut part of Isak's head out of the picture.  Oh well.

 Beautiful Blue Eyed Girl

 Handsome Blue Eyed Boy

I didn't even try the laying down pictures!  I was exhausted after just doing the above pictures.

Wrap for July

Random pictures taken in July 2013.

I gave the kids magical measuring cups, and they were happily entertained for a good 15 minutes!  That's why the cups are magical.  :)

This was one of the first pictures that show Isak's two front teeth.

Isak and Kira seeing their new toy for the first time.

I love how Isak is all over the toy and Kira is leaning forward to look, but not touching it yet.

Kira trying to get into a sitting position.

Isak standing next to the couch.

Isak.  Look at his adorable cheek!

Kira loves this soccer ball.

Isak woke up way early one morning.  He played around in the bed while I read the driver's handbook.  He wore himself out and ended up falling asleep on my feet.  Both Nels and I had to take the driver's written test in order to get our new licenses for North Carolina.  I'm glad that's done.

Red cup anyone?  Very entertaining.

The babies love to be outside.  We try to go out every morning while the patio is shaded.  One morning they had fun exploring the tractor sprinkler.

For a short time we bathed the babies together.  They were so cute and just talked and played.  We don't bath them together anymore because Isak stands up and falls down.  We need both arms just for him.

Kira woke up early and spent some time playing in bed with me.  She didn't fall back to sleep.  When she's up...she's up.

When Nels is home, both babies are glued to him.  He snuck into the bathroom and both babies crawled to the door and waited for him to come out.  haha.

Nels loves his babies.  He can make them laugh like no one else.

All together.

Kira wore this adorable pink tutu outfit.  She just looked so cute I had to take a few pictures!

Flies are annoying, but one day I was grateful for a fly that kept Kira's attention for a while.

Baby Indiana Jones at it again.

Kira and her favorite stuffed animal Kayla.

July was a busy month with Nels traveling (3-5 days a week, 3 weeks in a row!), unpacking the house, getting driver's licenses, registering the car, oh and throw in my birthday too.  :)