Happy Birthday Boys!!!

So the boys were lucky enough to have 3 birthday parties this year. Two in Canada and then one here. I posted the pics from the Canada birthday parties but have been slacking with the one we had for them here. We had a lot of fun and the boys liked their "smash" cakes. One of our grocery stores here called Giant Eagle gives each child what they call a "Smash Cake" for free for their 1st birthdays. I was figuring they would be a small little cake...well...I was wrong!! They were normal 8" round cakes. Well Ethan finally didn't cry this time when we gave them their cakes. He still didn't really want to eat it but at least tried it. Cohen on the other hand...well...the pictures tell the story!

Thank you to everyone who came to the boys birthday party. We all had a really fun time.

Opening gifts
Ethan would rather watch but Cohen dove right in
Cousin Gabrielle (or Gabby:) with Ethan

Aunt Stacey & Ethan
Uncle Cy & Ethan
Aunt Jill & Cohen
Aunt Sarah & Cohen
Ethan riding the new Tonka truck!
Isabella trying it out too!
Isabella & Asche
Asche trying out the Jumperoo...trying to decide if she wants one (I think she does!!)
Aunt Michelle, Asche & Cohen
Cohen was SO ready to open gifts and new exactly what to do! Ethan wasn't as enthusiastic.
He wanted to play drums instead!
COOL!
Cohen's first football. Thank you!
MMMMMM...yummy card. Ethan's favorite part of the gifts were the cards! He's so thoughtful. :)
The "SMASH CAKES"!!

Cohen decided it was easier to just dive in with his mouth. Forget the fingers, that takes too long!
Yummy
OK..this is good but I'm trying not to get TOO messy!!

GO ROCKS!!!!

This past weekend we decided was going to be a laid back weekend. The only thing that we did do that was fun was went and watched our cousin Gabrielle cheer at her high school Football game. It was a lot of fun! I had never been to a high school game (or any football game for that matter) so it was neat. The girls did a great job with cheer. All the back flips are crazy! Oh and Gabby also just got her learner's permit too which is always an exciting thing! After that we all went out for lunch and the boys ate their first meal from a restaurant. Grilled Cheese and fries!! Yummy. They really enjoyed it and left a nice mess for the poor waiter.

I also feel like the worst parent ever. We went to the game that day and it was cooler out but it was a beautiful day. Well as the game went on it sort of good warmer but when the sun went behind the clouds it cooled off. We weren't thinking and did not put sun screen on the boys faces and they both got burned. Their poor little faces were SO red. Josh was too. I didn't get burned but boy did my freckles come out like crazy! I guess it's because my face lotion that I use every day has SPF 15 built in to it. :(

Anyways, below are some pictures from the game as well as some pictures of the boys. Aunt Sarah and Uncle Cy got them Ohio State Buckeye shirts for their birthday and it was a home game that day against Michigan so the boys were in spirit wearing their shirts!!

That's Gabby in the black pants doing flips
Gabby
This is Patrice. She is Aunt Jill and Uncle Trace's friend and just loves Babies!!
Just arriving at the game
GO BUCKS!!
Ethan sitting in the bleachers with daddy. Such a big boy!
Gabby and Cohen
Gabby & Ethan
Ethan's poor little sun burned face
Cohen ejoys walking behind their new Tonka truck.
CUTIE!
Two cute diapered bums.
Just a picture I took this morning of the boys.
Don't you just love the rolled up sweat pants?? I did that because every time he crawled they would cover his feet up!
Ethan's funny hair after he woke up from a nap.
Cohen riding his truck
"All hail the HOCKEY STICK!!!" (notice the drool all down the front of him? He had been chewing the stick just before i took this picture!)
Two little corn on the cobs!
Hey!

12 Month visit to the doctor

Today the boys had their 12 month visit to the doctor for their check up and vaccinations. They had to get so many shots so they weren't very happy. This was by far the worst appointment as far as shots go that I have ever been to. Two in the leg and one in each arm. Poor little things. I was ready to cry. They would have got one more too (Flu Vaccine) but they were out of the preservative free ones so we postponed it for a couple weeks until they get them in again. I think 4 was enough for them. So here are their stats...

Cohen

Weight: 23 lbs 5oz (65th percentile)
Height: 29 1/4" (45th percentile)

Ethan

Weight: 23lbs (50th percentile)
Height: 29 1/2" (50th percentile)

Looking at the boys everyone thinks that Cohen is so much bigger than Ethan but he's only 5oz heavier. He's slightly shorter than Ethan but not by much! They always seem to stay pretty close to one another in the weight and height area.

Both boys got a clean bill of health and are doing very well. We still can't believe that they are already a year old. We love you Cohen and Ethan! You've come a long way from being those early babies that only weighed just over 4lbs each. You were so itty bitty and now you are such little men!

I don't have any pictures of them from today but there are plenty below this posting from a week ago or less. We are having a 3rd (and final!!:) birthday party for the boys this Saturday so we can celebrate with friends and family here in Ohio.

Our Vacation to Canada

Our trip to Canada went very well. We had SUCH a good time and it was so nice to see all our friends and family. For a lot of people it was the first time meeting the boys so that was pretty neat. We did a lot of visiting and the boys even had two birthday parties for their first birthday! Both were a lot of fun and the food was so yummy. Thank you to everyone who came and who bought the boys gifts as well. They love every single thing they got (and we do too)!

We flew into Bellingham, WA on Tuesday the 2nd and then rented a vehicle and drove across the border to my best friend Sherri and her husband Mike's house in Langley (which is basically Vancouver) British Columbia. We stayed over night there and had a great visit. It was our first time meeting each others kids. Their daughter is almost 8 months and is SO adorable. Her name is Mikayla and you'll see her throughout my pictures below. So we stayed overnight there and the next morning drove to my sister's house in Vernon, BC which was about a 4.5 hour drive. It was such a beautiful drive. The only bad part was driving over the Summit which is very high in the mountains. It was sort of slushy snowing up there but otherwise it was a nice drive and went by quickly.

While at my sister's we got to go and see my nephews play hockey. Levi & Caden are 7 and 5. It was Caden's first hockey practice and what a good little skater/player he is. I couldn't believe it. And then Levi had a hockey game (first of the season) and their team won and I think Levi scored 3 goals which was awesome. He's an amazing hockey player already at 7 years old! I can't wait until our boys start playing. I think I'm ready to be a Hockey Mom!

The boys celebrated their birthdays twice. We had their first celebration on Saturday the 6th and had friends come over during the day and then in the evening we had family over for dinner as well. It was a lot of fun. SO many people and it was great to see each and everyone of them! I miss them all so much. Ethan didn't like cake at all but Cohen enjoyed it! We celebrated their birthday on the actual day (7th) with their Papa (my dad) which was also his birthday. So they got another cake and another dinner cooked for us! Once again Ethan didn't like cake but Cohen enjoyed a piece!

We ate like Kings and Queens while we were there. So many home cooked meals. Everything was so yummy thanks to my sister, my mom and my dad's wife Sherry. It was tough coming home after eating all that good food.

So I have added some pictures. They aren't in any particular order. The first few are just some beautiful scenery pictures of our drive to my sister's house. Such a beautiful country.

Oh and I will add that the boys did very well with flying too. It was a 4 hour flight directly from Columbus, OH to Bellingham, WA. We got comments from people saying that they were the best babies they had ever flown with. I said people must have been thinking "OH NO!" when they saw a set of twin boys boarding the plane but they were good. We just had to keep them occupied with toys, books, jumping on our laps and food!! Enjoy the pictures!!





Mikayla & Sherri
Herbie (Sherri's dad) and Ethan
Just a cute one of the boys together
Their second birthday cake. Ethan cried again when it was brought out!!
Papa (my dad) and the boys. It was all three of their birthday's.
Grandma (my mom) and Ethan
Jess and Ethan. That water bottle game was SO funny for him!
Dave & Michelle making Ethan laugh SO hard
Thank you for the book Michelle & Dave
Thank you Michelle & Dave
Thank you for the gifts Papa and Grandma Sherry
Thank you Papa and Grandma Sherry
Grandma Sherry & Ethan
Papa helping Cohen open gifts

Great Auntie Belinda
Brandon and Cohen. I love this picture.
Brandon and Ethan
Great Grandma and the boys

This is my cousin Brandon. He was in a 4 wheeler accident about a year and a half ago and broke his neck and injured his brain stem. It was a great miracle that he survived and he has come SO far as the doctors didn't think he was going to make it. I love you Brandon and I'm praying that you will walk again soon. Stay strong and keep going like you are. You are my hero!!
Uncle Jay and Cohen
Auntie and Ethan
I love your hat Uncle Jay
I love this picture of my sister and Cohen
Great Grandpa feeding Ethan his bottle. Such a precious picture.
Great Grandpa made Cohen smile a lot.
Weeeeeee....
Great Uncle Jamie and Cohen
Me and my nephews little kitten named Lucky. He's adorable.
One of my bestest friends Kristy and her oldest son Jesiah. Sorry Krist...this was the only picture I got of you.
"Auntie" Tyson and Jamie with the boys.

Me & my boy
Cohen with his cousin Taylor who is only 4 months old and weighs in at 26 pounds!! Can you believe it?? He's such a cutie pie!
Cohen with his new boots (Stonz) from Auntie Sherri, Uncle Mike & Mikayla. Thank you we love them!
Ethan apparently did not want cake. Cohen ojn the other hand...well...the picture speaks for itself!
The cake. No I didn't make it!
Cohen enjoyed it but Ethan didn't even want to taste it even if we tried to feed it to him.
Me & my birthday boys. I love you guys.
The big cousins reading to the little cousins.
Opening b-day gifts.

Showing Mikayla how it works...or is it the other way around?? :)
Ethan with his new boots (Stonz) from Auntie Sherri, Uncle Mike & Mikayla. Thank you we love them!
Caden & Ethan
Caden & Cohen
Me & Caden
Auntie & Cohen
Grandma (my mom) & Cohen. Such big smiles!

The boys playing with Mikayla (my best friend Sherri's little girl).
Cutie pie Mikayla. We miss you already!
Looks like trouble!
So angelic

My sister Tracy, Brother in law Jason and my nephews Caden & Levi getting ready to go on the wagon ride up to the pumpkin patch. We had so much fun there.
I love you little pumpkins!!

My nephews Caden and Levi with their little cousins in the pumpkin patch!
My two little pumpkins!!
On our way home on the plane.
Josh holding both sleeping boys on the plane!
From Left: Darren, Joy & Katie. Sherri, Mikayla and Mike.
From left: Katie, Mikayla, Ethan and Cohen. Katie and Mikayla you girls are so adorable!!
Me & my girls. Sherri (far left) has been my best friend since 3rd grade and we've known each other since Kindergarten. I've known Joy (middle) and have been best friends with her since 8th grade and boy do we have all have some stories...