Lilah and Jaxon Walking???

Well, maybe not to you, but to me yes! Just recently our home has been filled with MANY new accomplished milestones. First, big brother learned to ride his bike without training wheels. And now, Lilah and Jaxon are offiically "walking" on two feet. The FIRST time Lilah and Jaxon were able and willing to move their feet, on their own, by use of the walker was yesterday. And again, as you can see, we have TWO of them (walkers). Lilah is much better at this then Jaxon, but I have no doubt Jax will catch up before long. Lilah was so proud of herself. She displayed a smile from ear to ear almost the entire time, just like her big brother when he rode his bike for the first time without training wheels. The fun is just around the corner. I need those extra prayers :)

Pink + Blue = TWO

As you know, with twins, you never buy just 1 of anything. For Lilah and Jaxon's birthday, Poppy and Cee Cee purchased a pink "buggy" for Lilah and a blue "buggy" for Jaxon. Daddy tested out his level of patience as he put together both of them. I think this is the only area that has been hard for Darren to cope with when dealing with twins. It's bad enough when he has to put together ONE toy, but now it's TWO of everything/everytime. The twinsies are having a blast in their new cars. Thanks to Poppy and Cee Cee, Darren and Ty now have a reason to go drag racing.

Lilah & Jaxon's First Popsicle

After a really long walk the other day, I decided to let Tyson, Lilah and Jaxon have a sugar-free creamsicle. This was their very first taste of a popsicle...ever. They both wolfed it down in a heart beat. Lilah as mad as a hornet when the popsicle was melting all over her because it was so cold. She loved the popsicle so much that she cried for another, hence the reason she has two sticks in her hands.

"Me and My WOMB-mate!"

Today was such a gorgeous day. We took the kids for a nice walk to the East Salem Elementary School. While there, I captured a few cute pictures of Lilah and Jaxon. I pray their bond grows deeper and deeper as they continue to be in each other's midst.

"Four little hands to guide and to hold.

Two special lives to shape and to mold.

Two little babies are gifts from above.

Two special people to snuggle and love."

Pizza Face

Over the last year, by the Grace of God, I'd have to say, WE, as a whole are handeling twins pretty well. I haven't had that many melt downs. My blogs have been spared of grumbling, minus the post, "Boy you have your hands full." Remember that one? However, I will admit though that one thing that has been getting under my skin lately is Lilah & Jaxon's meal time manners. The food goes everywhere. And I'm not just talking about on the floor. It's on the sliding glass door, it's in the cracks of the table, on the chairs legs, in Ninja's fur, and in every body part that contains an open hole. It seems like by the time I prepare breakfast and clean it up, it's almost time for lunch. By the time I prepare lunch and clean it up, it's almost time for dinner. I live in my kitchen. Thankfully, it's a nice one.

I don't want to get in the habbit of preparing one meal for the babies, one meal for Tyson, and one meal for myself, so lately, one meal is cooked for lunch and everyone eats it. The other day, I decided to let Lilah and Jaxon eat some of Tyson's homemade pizza that we made together. I knew it would be disasterous, but little did I think that the pizza would end up in the hair, in the ears, up the nose, on the toes.... Needless to say, Jax got a bath and so did my floors after this meal.

Lilah despised the pizza. Jax is the eater of the two. Lilah is the drinker of the two. My Uncle Paul made me laugh when I told him the above and he replied, "Well, then it can't be that more expensive to have twins if ones eating and the other is drinking." True!

I know through the experience of twins, God is trying to teach me patience, kindess, love, and self-control. All of those "fruits" are tested when it's time to eat in our home. As you know, I am a neat freak and it's tough watching your sparkling hardwoods go to shambles in a matter of seconds. BUT... I agree with the doctor. The only way Lilah and Jaxon will ever learn to eat on their own is to let them eat on their own. Anyone know of a good cleaning lady? LOL!

Phillipians 2:14 states: "Do all things without grumbling or questioning." I'm a sinner, so some days I am better at being obedient to the Lord's command to honor this than others.

Preserving Memories with a TIME CAPSULE!

For Lilah and Jaxon's 1st birthday, we decided to echo what we did for Tyson ~ a time capsule. If you've never heard of this before, let me explain. We asked our guests to bring an item that is representative of Lilah & Jaxon's 1st year of life (2009-2010). Lilah and Jaxon will not be permitted to unseal the box until they turn 18.

I spent countless hours trying to come up with a clever and polite way to do this. It's never easy requesting your guests to bring something to your party. I try not to boast in much, other than Christ, but these little boogers made me all giddy inside. Along with the party invitation, I inserted a homemade mickey mouse or minnie mouse silhouette. If the guest was a boy, he got the Mickey Mouse insert and if the guest was a girl, she got the Minnie Mouse insert. Each silhouette was hand cut and taped to card stock. Afterwards, I created a "bow tie" for Mickey and a "bow" for Minnie out of grosgrain ribbon. Finally, I purchased black glitter and used it for the ears. This added a special dimension and glow to the insert. For those of you who complained about black glitter all over their home, imagine what my home went through making over 40 of these.

The insert read:

"Soon we'll be one, time passes so fast,

so we're gathering a collection of things from our past.

Think of things reminiscent to our special day,

then mommy and daddy will hide them away.

When we turn eighteen we will open our presents

and reflect on our lives when we were once infants.

Bring pictures, receipts, anything that will show,

just how different life is to the world we now know.

We know we are loved, you show it so well,

but whether life is the same in 2027 only time will tell."

We are very grateful for everyone who participated in this fun event. We received a nice collection of items, not to mention some of you were very creative. A few of my favorite items were:

The Loader Family: Bekka captured her children shopping at the grocery. She captured every move. From walking in the store, to placing food in the shopping cart, to checking out, and then delivering the food to the food bank drive. Bekka created a gorgeous and professional photo book (2 of them). Their gift to Lilah and Jaxon was a food donation and their time capsule gift was documentation of it.

The Williams Family: Brett and Jody recorded, on cd, the first time Darren and I shared our testimony in front of our Church body. Lilah and Jaxon will get to hear that on cd one day (if a cd player exists).

The Crisafi Family: My step-mom purchased a precious heart-shaped hand print mold for Lilah and Jaxon to imprint their hands onto. In 18 years, they will be able to compare their hand size to when they were once 1.

The Shelor Family: Tabby enclosed the cell phone that I called her on to tell her that I had just found out I was having twins. She was the first person I called.

The Pierce Family, Kaitlyn Barnette, Maddie Benson, & Gram: All included sweet letters to our dear children. Every single one focused on their desire for Christ to be their treasure.

The Hurley Family: An old ipod. It will be hilarious to see what Apple comes out with in the next 18 years, compared to the year 2009.

The Maxey Family: In 2009, Puerto Rico came out with their first quarter. We received two of them.

Reid Bolling & Nanna Bolling: A gold USA coin worth $5.00. It's itty bitty, but very cool. We also received two of them.

The Carroll Family: A list of popular baby names for 2009. Jackson was #3 (even though he spells his name Jaxon) and Lila was #52 (even though her name is spelled Lilah).

The Fernandez Family: A copy of Aaron's speeding ticket (one of many) in 2009 and the cost associated with speeding.

The Maggi Family: (3) Cds FULL of the parties details and guests. She's an amazing photographer.

The Higginbotham Family: A family photo and (2) Mickey/Minnie 2009 snow globes. Jill, I assume that was you?

The Shaffer Family: A copy of worship songs. Gretchen is the worship leader at our church. She has a passion for music, so with the cd she wrote a note that read, "It will be interesting to see how music changes in the next 18 years."

The Harris Family: A 2009 newspaper. I assume this was you Ashley?

Mommy, Daddy, and Tyson: I enclosed all of the party details. Daddy is enclosing the party video on dvd. I also plan to turn the blog of their first year of life into a book and put that in there as well.

Who can claim the grocery store receipt?

I apologize if I missed anyone. I was going to list my favorites, but they all were very cute and creative in their OWN way.

For those of you who could not make it to the party, I hope you still plan to add to the time capsule. The more that is added to it, the more exciting the box will be to open in 18 years. Kaitlyn, Shawn, Elise/Destiny, Uncle David, Aunt Ashley, Aunt Morgan, Aunt Whitney, Uncle Paul, The Reed Family, and The Schoonover Family, I will haunt you until you add to this box :)

I was having a difficult time deciding on what to use as the time capsule box. I wanted the box to be big, beautiful, masculine and feminine, and theme related, but being they will be opening their time capsule on their 18th birthday, I didn't want it to scream Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. I worked hand in hand with a very talented woman in California. She normally makes photo boxes for brides, but I had her step out of her shell and design a box that worked for the theme of Lilah and Jaxon's party.

Enjoy some of the pictures below of the insert and the time capsule box. All photos below are compliments of Shannon Maggi.