One year old!!

The babies turned 1 year old on Friday, June 20th. We got their one year pics done at Portrait Innovations on the 19th, and true to my word, I took some help this time. Grandma Sue came along and was a great help. They took so many shots and it was a much different (and better) experience than Sears. It had not occurred to me how much harder it would be to get pics now that they're so mobile. I mean you set them down and off they go, especially Charis.
But not to be outdone by his sister, Price is now walking also. You can tell he is so proud of himself when he walks across the room; he just beams. And Charis is just talking more each day, in the last week, I have heard "night-night, nose, thank you, puppy, kitty, cracker, more, ball" in addition to the regulars of "mama, dada, hi and bye". Price is still pretty much content with the regulars, and especially likes to say "bye" which sounds more like "ba" although tonight he gave "night-night" at try! And walking through the grocery store they just wave and say "HI" to everyone we meet. It is really cute, and no one can even help themselves, but to smile and say "hi" back.
Truly this first year has been the greatest year of my life. I cannot even imagine life now without them. They are amazing and wonderful, and just the greatest blessing God could have given us. It is almost strange to say, but I look back on the long struggle with infertility, and now I am so thankful - I know I would have been a lesser parent without it. I only thought I was ready for kids back then, but by the time they came, I knew that I really was ready. Jeremiah 29:11 sums it up nicely!!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

Look who's walking!!

I can hardly believe my sweet babies are almost 1 year old! I feel almost sad as we are down to our last can of formula, about to cut out the morning bottle (we have already cut out all of them during the day) and the babies eat most everything with their hands. They can climb up all of the stairs all by themselves. And Charis can officially walk. Price is not far behind though; he takes what I call "momentum steps". He can take about 3 or 4, but it is not the controlled stand-up and walk across the room that Charis does. It is just so amazing. They are also saying "mama, dada, bye, hi" pretty well. Charis says "nose & quack-quack" and I have heard her mimic "turtle, cracker" and something that sounds much like "kitty-cat". But then she also seems to be speaking something that sounds much like a mix between vietnamese and some clicking language. Oh yes, and Price is in fact playing in the toilet...nice.

Goin' swimming!

May has been such an eventful month, but one of the biggies was the babies' first time in the pool. On Monday, May 19, 2008 (the day after I got home from CA) we put the babies in the pool for the first time. Now when it comes to cold water, I am the biggest wimp of all, and this water was cold! But they got used to it pretty quick and seemed to really enjoy it. They have been back in several times since. Price especially seems to love it and even wants to put his face in. He has since started trying to put his face in his bathwater too (eww) - I think he may be trying to get a drink??

Mama took a girls' trip!!

Can you believe I left Chris alone with the babies?? Actually he did a great job! Better than I could have hoped for (although he does have a blog-worthy story that I will have him post sometime soon). I went to Corona del Mar in Newport Beach with Amy and Liz for 3 whole days, Thursday night to Sunday. It was truly blissful!! Check out Amy's blog for the details. It was beautiful and relaxing and so strange to go a whole day without changing a diaper. I thought it would be harder (and Amy said she never thought I'd agree to go!), but I missed them a ton and was glad to be home Sunday night!

Mother's Day 2008

This was my first Mother's Day. It was so exciting. Also neat to look back on where we were just last year at this time - I was huge already, and the babies were only about a month away from making their grand entrance to this world. We went to Church in the morning and then had the family over for dinner. The babies are doing great in the Church nursery now; it took about 3 times before they seemed to really get comfortable. But the evening with the family was great. We had burgers on the patio, and the kids seemed to have so much fun. And they love seeing their big cousins running around.

Big, giant turtle alert!

On a recent trip to the zoo with Cheree, Tony and Caedyn we had lots of fun seeing the turtle right next to the glass. And since Chris was along, we got to go in the area with the birds (I could not handle this without an extra adult!). But with a bird food stick (thank you Tony and Cheree) the kids got to see the birds up close too!

10 months old!

I am a little late on getting this posted, but the babies turned 10 months on April 20. They are just so fun these days. The cutest thing lately is how they will stand at the end of their cribs and look at each other, reach out for each other and crack up. They reach for each others hands in the high chairs sometimes too. And just smile at each other. It warms my heart. That is not to say there are not some struggles over toys. Charis used to just let it go when Price would take her toy, but no more. Sometimes she even will crawl over and take his toy, and then push him down (little bully). I know we have a lot of little, and maybe big, battles in store over the next few years. I am so excited that school is done, though, and I am not teaching this summer. We are going to have lots of fun. We have already been to the zoo three times!! It is hard to believe we are so rapidly approaching their first birthday. What fun times!