9-month shenanigans

Can you tell I'm getting caught up on my blogging?!? Here are some photos and happenings from the twins' ninth month of life! (Another post I didn't realize was still a draft from way back when.)

The biggest milestone they both reached at 9 months was full-out crawling, which in turn meant getting into everything!! So we're basically living in a permanent baby-proofed jungle gym nowadays.

9 month chair photo

taking a bath outside to beat the heat!

playing London Bridge .. err, London Fridge?

B not sure about sharing that stroller with a cat ...

Brayden smooches! <3

I considered just putting carseats and all in their cribs and calling it a night.

big cheeses!!

not sure what happened between last photo and this photo..

under the kitchen table is a fun place to play!

Mozart and Beethoven 

daddy doing some weightlifting

B hanging out w/ Kayman

getting the job done

Great-Grandma Lois Nutt and Kyla Goza swinging the boys

(at Gpa & Gma Stidolph's house)

9-month celebratory breakfast with pancakes

nom nom

B-ing cute :)

respecting the boundaries

yes, we use dining room chairs as our baby gates

finding something to eat

looks like the ham pulled out the ham!

getting squeaky clean!!

finishing his own bottle and contemplating finishing brother's too

"helping" me fold laundry

"helping" put away the dishes

"helping" organize the cupboards

bedtime stories w/ daddy and Uncle Chet

Smart Water's new advertisement!

jus playin in a box

C's turn in the box

being goofy :)

I should learn not to leave the mail within reach of C's johnny jump-up range

looking for the puppy

raiding the diaper bag

getting TOO big!!

5 years and counting

While going through my blog postings, I noticed that this one said "draft." I must have finished it but not ever posted it! It's back from late July ... so sorry to just be officially posting it now. Here it is!
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I must say, 9 hours of straight sleep feels quite amazing.

This past Friday night, Nate & I went to Omaha, NE to celebrate our 5th anniversary. So the boys had a little vacation of their own and had their first sleepover at Grampy and Gramma Stidolph's house. It felt odd to leave the boys behind and revisit our pre-parenthood days for 24 hours. Although, once a parent, always a parent ... we often found ourselves talking about the boys and even noticing other families with babies and discussing our opinions on the strollers they were using. Regardless, our little getaway was a wonderful short break from it all and our time together just the two of us was very enjoyable and relaxing.

Friday evening, we dined at a fancy steakhouse close to our hotel in downtown Omaha. 801 Chophouse. By far the BEST steak we've ever eaten. The dollar signs reflected it, too. Our wallet didn't thank us but our taste buds sure did!! Saturday, Nate & I spent the day at the Omaha Zoo - what an amazing place! And yes, some people thought it weird that we would go to a zoo to celebrate our anniversary and leave the boys behind. However, we had taken them to the Des Moines Zoo just a couple weeks earlier and they were much too young to appreciate the giraffes and monkeys just a few feet from their stroller .... so we'll be sure to take Thing 1 and Thing 2 to the Omaha Zoo once they are old enough to appreciate it (possibly next year since I want to go back soon!). Then it was home again to get some greatly-missed baby snuggles!

our downtown hotel

ya know it's a fancy place when they put a gold sticker on your toilet paper

yep, I ate the whole 16 oz

and so did this guy!

we chose a soufflé dessert that took 40 minutes of preparation ... it did not disappoint!

served with with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry sauces

jellyfish at the zoo!

there's a butterfly on his head!

(inside the butterfly house)

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*Below are pictures of our trip to the Des Moines Zoo mid-July*

they noticed the zoo animals were all sleeping in the heat, so they took note

C checking out the lion fish in the tank

Brayden, there's a fish right in front of your face ...

B has no fear ... nose to nose with an alligator

awestruck by the peacock

Cooper making friend with the wallabies

thanks for bringing us to the zoo, Mom and Dad!

ps: this grass tickles!

baby fever

No, we don't have baby fever now, but we are experiencing the results of it. Almost all of our close friends have babies now and most of them are just within a few months of each other. It's awesome that our kiddos are all going to grow up close in age, but it sure does make it interesting trying to get together with people while they're all still so leetle!

The first weekend of October, we had 8 adults and 6 children (ages 19 months and younger) here in our "fits a family of 4" house. One of the quotes from the weekend was ... "Some day, we're all going to look back at this and wonder what in the world were we all thinking by getting together (while our children were SO young and SO needy)." Although the demands of the little ones were quite high, it was really great to watch them interact, and the grown-ups did get a few chances to have some decent, uninterrupted conversations!

Here are some pics from the fun, crazy, too-short, packed, sleep-deprived,

"if I could only get in two words before I have a child clinging to my leg"

weekend :)

looks like Addison's already got the boys eating out of her hand!

don't worry, that is a baby doll that Cooper is playing with ... it's not one of the real babies

making lunch for their parents

we decided it was a good time to switch out our stove

since there were a few extra man hands around

the living room = baby play room

and yes, Addison's sitting on the keyboard

Nate showing Logan the safari on the ceiling of the nursery

Brayden and Cooper showing Logan the contents of the fridge

Logan has officially entered the fridge

"would you like ranch or caesar?"

Kalee handing out snacks to the zoo animals

Zoey, joining the boys at the baby barricade

sleeping arrangements were tight, so the kids slept 4 to a crib

... not really ;)

twins!!! ... wait a second... that's not Brayden

(I think Logan and Cooper could pass for twins a lot more easily than Cooper's actual twin!)

Logan, not sure what to do about his 1st birthday present

cousin Zoey came over to help him open it

... and then ALL the kids came over to help him!

Logan trying to blend in with the pumpkins

Brayden choosing his pumpkin

Brayden, Addison, Cooper, Logan ... not sure where Zoey was for this pic??

maybe she found a nicer pumpkin to pose by

sun must have been bright!

examining their harvest

faster Daddy faster!

posing with the *do not touch* pumpkins

hee hee hee

couple of punkins in the punkin patch!

Craig and Brad would have kept zipline-ing til sundown if they could have!

a picture to use on a photo board at their future wedding

Craig saddling up Addison on our pet horse, I mean dog!

giddy-up, Kayman!

And for whatever reason, I got NO photos of Marty and Beth Faber and their baby, Claire :(

I also didn't get a photo of the whole group,

so I guess we'll all have to get together again to get more photo proof next time!