11 Months Old

Are we really only 1 month away from ONE YEAR?!?!? Let the party planning begin! Luke and Madison turned 11 months old on Tuesday the 30th. They are battling colds right now and I feel like we are going through a box of Kleenex a day. Hopefully they will be better by this weekend for Easter.

To recap this month, here are some thing that they are doing now...

*Madison took her first steps this past week!

*She is moving from object to object in the house.

*She has been strong since she was born! I had to put baskets and the play pen around the den so they do not sneak away and Madison has learned how to push them out of her way!! Amazing!

*She has 2 bottom teeth.

*Luke has some top teeth poking through.

*He loves to clap now! It is so cute to watch him!

*He likes to do "All done" in sign language at the table.

*He is starting to get shy around new people. He will tuck his little head into our shoulder.

*He loves to point at books with his little finger.

*They both love to play chase when we are crawling on the floor.

*They love to play peek-a-boo!

*They love to read books.

*They are interacting more and more with each other. It is funny to watch how they will follow each other around in the den and play. If one goes over to the book basket, the other will shortly follow. Jonathan said the other night Madison got tickled at Luke because he was playing with her. It it so sweet and priceless!

*They are enjoying being outside more and more with this beautiful weather!

Here are some pictures...

If you could only see the video of this. Madison loves to push Luke around! You should see how fast she gets going!!!

Luke took a break to read Little Jesus, Little Me...one of his favorites!

I am loving the fact that Madison is a Daddy's girl through and through!! This is her "I don't feel good" face :( She just wanted to cuddle with Daddy!

So back to the wagon (she doesn't slow down for long)! She was trying to push Luke one morning but she kept slipping on her pj's. I tied them up for her so she could get around. Luke is just along for the ride.

My turn! Madison got a chance to sit while Luke pushed. He was so proud!

I love this picture!

It was nice and warm one day so we opened the doors in the sunroom and I hooked their jump jumps to the door frame. They loved jumping together. It's a little dark but Madison's mouth is wide open :O

Luke loves to give good wet kisses these days! We love to get them from this sweet boy!

Madison is laughing more and more and her laugh is so funny! She brightens our day!

Oh Windex...why do I even clean these doors? I love to see their little handprints!

Can you guess what cabinet we got into??

And I literally meant INTO! Do you see how she is standing on one to get just a little higher?

Just one more back there....reeeaaacccchhh.

Yep...I caught you! That was great entertainment for about 30 minutes, then they moved on.

Happy 11 months Luke and Madison!

We can't wait to celebrate your first year of life on April 30th!

First Playdate

Luke and Madison had their first 'official' playdate last week! We invited over Ellison and Parker to play for a while. Luke and Madison were SO excited to see their friends and share their toys! Here are some fun pictures from the day.

This is my FAVORITE picture! Nicole brought Ellison in, sat him on the floor, and Luke and Madison crawled over to him so fast and were amazed at their friend!!!! They were both squealing with excitement! I am not sure Ellison knew what to do at this point :)

Luke and Ellison checking out the book selection.

Ellison, Parker, Luke and Madison. We can't wait for them to grow up together!

Parker was slowly falling over into Madison's lap. Her face is priceless! Sweet Parker just wanted to give you some lovin' :)

Parker...such a cutie!

"Mom, this is so fun and such a great idea!! Can we have them over again tomorrow??"

Thank you Nicole and Lauren for coming over! It was great to have 'mommy chat' and watch the little ones play!

We're Marching, We're Marching

Ok, so maybe not marching just yet, but I thought one step may count as your first step but I guess not. We need a few in a row to really count. Their 10th month has been a big one! Madison has her 2 bottom teeth, Luke is getting a few teeth on the top, and Madison is standing and really wanting to take some steps. I cannot express in words how much we are enjoying them! They make us laugh every day with the funny faces they are making, the funny sounds they are making, and how they play together and with us. Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

This is how the chase began...

...and this is how it ended when she finally caught him :)

Hanging out together after dinner

So...teething biscuits...NASTY!! They are so gross but they loved them!

We are trying to introduce a lot of solids and Madison loves them!

Luke, not so much. He does not have a lot of interest right now so baby food it is until he is ready.

Playing outside on those beautiful, teaser Spring days

Sweet boy! This month he has really started laughing hard at things which bring pure joy to our hearts to hear him.

Luke loves to stand on his toys to play.

No words...

Who loves Aunt Jenny?? "I do!" says Madison

So this month we started weaning. It was just time. My body was telling me and they were really loosing interest. It was a true blessing to be able to nurse them for 10 1/2 months! So how do you give twins a bottle? Just like this!

"I can stand!!"

They love to crawl up on the door...

...and on each other. They are SO busy these days!

We have a lake near our house and on our walks we love to go see the ducks. Here they are spotting some! I love their faces!

Miss Campbell Lynn Epting was born on March 17th. What a 'lucky' day to have a baby! She felt like such a little peanut when I held her! She was beautiful and perfect! Madison is so excited about having Campbell to play with!

Congratulations Bert and Hannah

Austin started T-ball so we went to his practice to check out his mad skills!

Aunt Sharon made Luke's day letting him walk on the stands. We will turn around and Luke will be out there playing ball!

Madison loved cheering on Austin! Go Nationals!

Since this little girl was born she has been SO strong! This is her new trick. She pulls up on the pack-n-play!! She has amazing upper body strength. I think she has been doing P90X with Daddy!

Oh the tongue. I am not sure if it is a teething thing or what but lately her tongue has stayed like this! Too funny!

This is her other trick that she loves to do. Move chairs all over the place!

I can't believe they will be 11 months in just a few short days then ONE right around the corner! Every night when we are putting them down one of the songs we sing is "How Great Is Our God." It was a song that was in our wedding and our desire is that every night Luke and Madison are reminded of God's goodness and the many blessing he gives us. As the song says, "And all will see how great, how great is our God" We hope that all will see how great our God is through their lives.

Happy Birthday Quinn and Riley

Twin buddies! Quinn and Riley turned 1 on February 26th. We celebrated with them in Columbia on Saturday the 27th. We had such a fun day playing with friends! Quinn and Riley are an example of God's faithfulness and love! We are so honored to be friends with Geoff and Brenna and to walk this journey with them! We know that Luke and Madison will be best buds with Quinn and Riley forever :) It truly was a day to celebrate!

Caleb and Luke...I love Luke's face! He loved his buddy!

Madison and Riley...sweet little girls!

This is how Luke and Madison stood almost the whole time they opened presents! They were amazed! I think they were picturing their party in 2 months! 2 MONTHS...bring on the tissues!

Geoff and Brenna and their precious twins Quinn and Riley.

Happy Birthday to you!

Riley got a handful right away! She wasn't so sure about it once it got in her hand :)

Brenna giving her a little taste

Quinn wasn't so sure. How cute is he??

The girls :) Kelly and Sara Grace, Me and Madison, and Brenna and Riley

This was all of us feeding dinner! Evan, Brenna's sister's little boy who just turned one, and then 2 sets of twins! The fun part is that Madison tried meatballs and whole green beans for the first time! Thanks Evan for letting us steal off your tray :) She loved them!

"I don't want to be a girl!"

Luke was as happy as could be and then Daddy thought it would be funny to put Madison's bow in his hair...he LOST it! The moment we took it out he was fine!

We got in our pj's for the ride back home. Jana, Brenna's brother Joe's wife (got that?), is going to be the best mom!!! She loved all over Luke and Madison and all the other babies there all night! She was getting Luke settled so he could fall asleep on the ride home! Thanks Jana!

Happy Birthday Quinn and Riley! We love you!

2 more new posts below...check them out :)