Twin Trolls

Remember those creepy troll dolls from the early 90's? Isn'y this reminescent of them? So the boys are a lot cuter, but the hair is too similar not to make a comparison:

Sam, Seth

11 months old

What a fast month this has been! Maybe that's because Seth and Sam are moving so much...it's all I can do to keep up with them. The boys are crawling and cruising, but not yet standing alone or walking...whew! Seth tries standing alone some, and makes it for about 10 seconds. Sammy, on the other hand, is quite cautious and collapses as soon as we let go of him. Seth has tried to clap a couple times. Both boys have said "mama" on a hit and miss basis. "N" has entered our vocabulary. Ben taught Sam to wrinkle up his nose and sniff in and out...which he now does for pleasure and anger (it's absolutely adorable!) They love to copy "blowing rasberries" and coughing. They understand "no," but aren't always obedient, ha ha (they even know when we aren't looking). Overall, it's like they grow and learn every day.

One of our favorite moments of this month, has to do with our experiment of pushing the cribs next to each other. It lasted all of about 3 days, because it took the boys about 1/2 hour longer to fall asleep because they were playing with each other (cute, but not worth it!) When the cribs were still together, we woke up one morning to lots of squealing and laughing. Ben entered the rooms to find Seth and Sam holding hands above the railings and getting quite the kick out of it. Oh the joys of twins.

We started trying to wean the boys off of nursing this month, and it's been a bit rocky. Seth took the bottle immediately; Sammy on the other hand has been quite stubborn. Finally, after a week of fighting and A LOT of strawberry nestle quick, Sam took the bottle. Unfortunately, we've had a bit of a set back because the Morris household has been fighting a stomach bug the past two weeks. Praise the Lord, after another week of refusal, Sam is taking the bottle once again. Let's just say that I've had about all of nursing that I can handle and am ready to be done soon!

Seth, Sam

I'm loving that it's almost shorts season! I love their chubby legs.

Such a good daddy!

My boys are so lucky to have a daddy like Ben. I always knew he'd be a great dad, but daily he exceeds my highest expectations. Today, we were all outside: Ben and I trying to get some yard work done, while making sure the boys don't eat rocks, etc. I had to run into the garage to get something, so asked Ben to keep his eye on the boys. I came back to find him laying on the grass playing with them. I let him know that he could go "do something" now that I was back and able to watch Seth and Sam. He gave me his easy smile and replied, "I am doing something." Ben is so good at just being with the boys. Seth, Sam and I are truely blessed to have Ben as the head of our household.

Naked Time!

It's our nightly ritual to end with "naked time" for the boys. They love it! It almost like they know it's their last chance to let it all loose; some of our best memories of the boys are from their moments. (Seth first 2 pictures, Sam last 2)

Happy Easter!

We had a great first Easter with the boys! Ben's family was able to come for the weekend and spent some time at our house. After an awesome church service, we hosted most of Diane's family for a Sunday lunch, 16 people! It was pretty busy, but the boys did great around that many people. We're so thankful for a loving family and a home to host them in!

Back to Back

I came in the room the other day to find the boys playing back-to-back. Adorable!

(Seth, Sam)

A Twin Parent Conversation

As Ben and I lay in bed, we hear one the boys start to cry. "Funny how you can automatically know that's Sammy, huh," Ben says. I affirm that, telling him that I've been getting so much better at identifying the boys' voices. "Seth is much shriller, Sam more nasally." We chat about this, feeling so good about our new skill. Finally, since our boy hasn't stopped crying, Ben gets up to check on him. He returns in a couple minutes: "We're horrible parents," he states. I'm thinking they were tangled in a blanket or something. "It was Seth crying not Sam. We have no idea who's who." Oh my goodness. We got quite the laughs out of this. Of course, right when we thought we had it all figured out....they prove us wrong. I wonder how many times this will happen?

Locked Out...and the Kids are Inside!

Well, last Tuesday, the boys and I had quite the day! It all started when I went to the garage to put something in the car (I was getting ready to go have lunch over at my friend's, house). As I was walking out, my phone rang, which distracted me from unlocking the garage door. Thus, as I went to re-enter the house, I found the door locked. "Shoot," I thought, "It's been a long time since I've done that!" No worries, though, we have an extra key hidden in the garage. Unfortunately, I've never been able to get that key to work. I figured, however, with a little perservance and some patience, the door would be open in no time. Wrong. I jiggled, readjusted....tried and tried and tried. No problem, I didn't want to get muddy, but I'll just go get the hidden key for the front door. Huh, not there. Oh, right, Alicia has it because she stayed with us last week. Well, back to trying the garage door. I've been outside for a good 15 minutes now, and am trying not to panic. Seth, my little shadow, has crawled to the front entry way because he can hear me. Sam, however, is missing. I run over to my neighbor, Tina's to see if she can get the stinkin' key to work. As she jiggles, I run around to all the windows trying to find Sam. No luck. Sam is missing. And then I hear a big thud. Seth has knocked the plant stand in the entry way down, spilling the plant and dirt everywhere. Great. It's probably been 30 minutes now that I've been outside. I'm panicing; mostly because I have no idea where Sam is. I've called Ben about 10 times and can't get ahold of him. Tina and I are wondering if we should call a locksmith (or break the door down with a sledge hammer...Tina's idea). I've calm down a bit because we found Sam. He crawled to the entry way to play with the spilled plant, go figure. Finally, I call Ben's boss and curtly say, "I need to find Ben NOW. I'm locked out of the house, and my kids are inside." He calls back in about 5 minutes to say that Ben is leading a training session in front of about 30 people. Really? Ben never leads training! Finally, it's been almost an hour, Ben calls, and Prince Charming is on his way to rescue us. All the while, Tina and I are watching Seth and Sam through the window as they play in the dirt, eat the dirt, wave the plant around, and knaw on the plants' roots. They didn't listen to the command, "Don't eat!" At one time Sam had a piece of bark in his mouth, trying to chew it like bubble gum as Seth sucked on the roots of the plant. Ugh.

So after about 1 hour 15 minutes, Ben arrives at home to save us. Whew, what a morning. Not the relaxing coffee and lunch I was planning with my friend. But, the plant was not poisonious, and we an unexpected lunch with daddy...oh, and a great story!

Prince Charming (Daddy) with Sam (face covered in dirt because of eating it!)

Seth wasn't a huge fan of the reinactment. Notice the roots on the plants...a hot commodity to chew on!

Seth and Sam: 10 months old!

I can't believe my baby boys are already 10 months old! Looking back on the month of March, I cannot believe how much they have learned...it was a big month of growth. First, they became proficient crawlers. At the beginning of the month, they were barely moving around. Now, they are crawling all over the house. One of my favorite moments was when Seth crawled from our back room, and turned the corner to come find me in the kitchen. When Ben was watching them on Saturday, they apparently had a "great migration" (Ben's words) from our bedroom, down the hallway and into the den.

Next they learned to pull up. While this was quite exciting, it also was a bit of a challenge, because it took them a good two weeks to learn how to get down. Yikes. They were so excited about their new skill that it took them a good hour to fall asleep every bedtime, because all they wanted to do was stand (and they couldn't get down on their own). However, the novelty finally wore off, and they are getting to sleep much quicker (thank goodness!)  Now, we're just cruising all over the house. They pull up on everything (including each other) and walk from table to couch to basket, etc. It's really fun.

Other exciting "firsts" were that they learned how to wave. It's so wonderful when they wave "bye bye" to Ben in the morning and then wave at him when he gets home. They also learned how to "high 5," which is a very monumental milestone in this sports household! They are jabbering quite a bit, and have finally said "mama" a couple times.

What an exciting month! I can't wait to see what we'll be reporting for month 10!

Seth, Sam

Sam, Seth

First Trip to the Beach

Ben and I were so blessed over spring break to get to spend some time in Lincoln City at a house with my family! We had a wonderful time. This was the boys' first time to a beach, so it was fun to see their reaction to the sand. Truthfully, I was expecting them to be a bit more "into" it; however, they were kind of uncaring after the first couple of bites. We had a great time as a family: walking on the beach, playing games, watching basketball, shopping at the outlets, and playing with all the kids. It's so nice to spend extended time together. We'll always cherish this trip as Seth and Sam's first real vacation!

The whole Ruda family...we're getting so big and my sister has another on the way!

Seth and Sam's first experience with sand

Papa showing Seth and Aidah the beach!

 

Grandma Stevie "in heaven" reading with all her grandkids!