Thanksgiving in Chicago Part 1: Outings

We got to be tourists while we were there.

 We went to Harry Caray's. Which is apparently THE place to go to eat while you're in Chicago. It was yummy.

We then got to experience the Children's Museum. And despite Jane's look in this picture, she had a blast.

There was a snow room which was fun. They had cotton "snowballs" to throw, an ice rink for the kids, and a snowman building station.

They had a baby and toddler room even. That is where the boys spent most of their time.

Since we didn't know when we'd have all the grandkids together again, we had to take pictures. Here is the waiting room...

And the arranging of six little kids age 5 and under was crazy.

Eating lunch at Culvers

Shopping! It's always the best shopping with my sisters and Imy.

12 months of pictures

I thought you would like to watch the boys grow with me. I tried to take a picture of them each month of their lives for the first year. I can't believe how they have grown!

Just so you know, Bennett is always next to the giraffe and Cooper is next to the elephant. I purposely labeled them that way so it would be easy to tell them apart later on. You're welcome. ;)

First day Cooper was home from the hospital (at three weeks old)

Cooper's 12 month stats:

weight: 15.87 lbs. - 0.39%

length: 27.5 inches - 0.62%

head: 17.5 inches - 10%

Bennett's 12 month stats:

weight: 16.18 lbs - 0.64%

length: 27.5 inches - 0.62%

head: 17.75 inches - 23%

This may not seem like much, but the doctor was very please with their growth. They are in the highest percentiles they have ever been! Also, they are no longer anemic. Way to grow boys!

They went from this....

....to this in a blink of their mother's eye.

It has been a GREAT first year. I am so excited for many more!

Birthday Party in Brigham City

 So the order of these pictures is mixed up, since the boys ate their cupcakes first, then opened presents. But I don't want to switch them around.

 Cooper and Bennett got quite the haul thanks to having so many grandmas around.

The twins struggled with the concept of opening the gifts up, so Daddy (the other birthday boy) had to help them.

But they sure loved playing with the toys once they were opened!

Jason got Jell-o cake, per his request.

We sang to both Jason and Evan since Evan's birthday was coming up as well. And they both turned 27, so... perfect!

 The cupcakes started out normal enough...

 We sang to the boys and then let them dig in. Cooper didn't want to touch his. Bennett had fun smearing the frosting all over.

But when he tasted it...

 ... it came back out.

...and this was the end result...

The boys got scared of everyone standing around staring at them. They really didn't like us trying to force them to eat the cupcakes and were quite traumatized. We quickly cleaned them up and moved on to presents.

I'm sure next year the cake will be a MUCH bigger hit. But it sure was fun to be able to play with so much family anyway.

One Year Photo Shoot

I have a lot to update that I have been procrastinating. But this is one post I could not wait on. Jill, once again, has been kind enough to do a beautiful photo shoot of the twins. I love all of the pictures and MUST share them. So... enjoy!

These first few photos kindly label the boys so I don't have to for every picture. ;)

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