6:37pm and 6:39pm

A year ago, July 23rd, I became a parent to the most sweet, well mannered, smart, handsome and FUN twin baby boys.  Laying there on the operating room waiting for a C-section after a whirlwind  turn of events, I couldn’t have imagined the year that lay ahead of me. After years and years of wanting to have a baby with no success, I have to say that it was well worth the wait (someone knows what He’s doing) for these two incredibly entertaining babies to come. 
The first memory I have of Nathan is when I first heard him cry after he was born. I couldn’t see him, but I heard him and I immediately began to cry at that sweet sound. The nurse brought him around to show me and he was covered in white and hardly making a sound. Two minutes later, Cameron came screaming into this world. The doctor held him over the shield and made him wave to me and said “hey mommy." I was indeed a mommy now.
I feel so grateful to have these two boys be mine. It’s fun to look back on all of the things I’ve experienced since these boys have showed up a year ago. They have taught me to look at the world around me with a new eye; finding The Incredible in the little and simple things. Everything is amazing to them.
HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY to my happy boy Nathan and my loving boy Cameron! 
For their birthday, my parents drove the 13+ hours from Utah to be here to celebrate. I am so thankful that they would take the time to do that. It was so special to have them here for their first birthday.
On their birthday, my mom decorated the house with birthday signs and balloons (this was just a small portion of what was hanging from the ceilings all around the house): 



and we (not them) opened presents



We went to lunch at the Spaghetti Factory and then headed to the Ballard Locks so the boys could see some boats and play on the grass. It was a beautiful sunny day (thanks for bringing the sun with you from Utah, mom and papa)! When we got home, the boys had their first taste of cake…and that much sugar. Cameron actually surprised me and was the first one to dig into his cake. He didn’t bother much grabbing handfuls of cake. His strategy was to just pick up the entire cake and eat it that way. Guess it seemed less messy

After a while though, he decided it was time to get his hands dirty
This is his “I’m so full of sugar that I can no longer blink” stare.  They’ve never really had any straight sugar like this before, so I think it was a shock to their system.

It surprised me how slowly Nathan started out on his cake. He is usually the shove-food-in-my-face-ask-questions-later type of eater so I was expecting some all out craziness when the cake was placed in front of him. And while that didn’t happen, he did no disappoint.
He started out just picking at it:

But then he got down to business! His method to handling this cake was to just plant his face in the cake and inhale:

He’s come up for air:

And he’s back at it:


And we can’t forget the babies VS. the soccer ball pics! These aren’t the best because it was almost bedtime and we still had to do the cake, so they’re rushed. I’ll have to redo them….

Nathan

This little boy is a mover now! He is standing and crawling and bouncin up and down. He crawls after Cameron around the house and Cameron thinks Nathan is the most hilarious thing in the world. He is getting his third tooth on the bottom. He now waves and claps with you, instead of randomly doing it (although, there is still a little bit of that too). He loves to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  He has started standing up in his crib and chewing on the railing when he wakes up. He is addicted to his pacifier and will frequently steal Cameron’s pacifier right out of his mouth. He does the downward dog yoga pose frequently. He loves to climb up the stairs and play underneath the kitchen table.  He babbles a lot: bab bab bab, dad dad dad. He makes a croaking sound like a frog. He’s happy to see Devin when he get’s home from work.  He has started drinking from a cup instead of blowing out the liquid. He throws his toys out of his car seat and then complains that he has nothing to play with. He is getting really good at standing and is soclose to standing on his own. When you catch Nathan’s eye across the room, he will give you the most gentle, sweetest little smile.

Cameron

This handsome boy gets very concentrated on what he is doing. He spins toys, chases the ball, flaps at loose fabric, all with a purpose. He sees something he wants, he locks his eyes on it, and he’s off to a running crawl after it.  He has started to stand for longer periods of time without support.  He loves olives, taco chicken, and stewed tomatoes.  He will crawl over anything and everyone (his brother mostly)to get to something he wants. He laughs at nothing in particular and will babble a lot while in his car seat.  He loves to read books, and loves the touch and feel books.  He kneels a lot.  He likes people to chase him around the house and up the stairs. He refuses to stay seated during bath time.  He is still very ticklish. He hates having his fingernails or toenails trimmed.  He loves to climb on everything! He likes to drink from a cup but frequently chokes on it.  Anytime he sees me talking on the phone, he has to talk on it.  He has started to become more cuddly, especially when I read him a story.

And for the boys birthday, I made them a big two-tiered cake. Okay, really it was a cake for the huge crowd (4 adults) that were at attendance at their birthday party. It was fun to make but a ton of work. Thanks, mom, for helping!