Our Summer - 2011

I have not been a very good blogger in the past months.  Despite being off school for the summer we managed to keep quite busy with our little fellows.  Now we are back into the swing of school, beautiful fall weather is here, and the holidays are fast approaching.  So I thought I would recap all of our summer fun for you!

 The boy loved playing out on the front porch!  They have slides, swings, balls, and sand & water table, John Deer tractors, and lawnmowers.....what more could 2 guys ask for!

Nanny Annie got them this awesome splash zone pool for their birthday and they spent many afternoons enjoying it!  This was their first time in and they were way too excited to waste time getting their swim trunks on!

 The boys really enjoyed helping Daddy with the yard work and then cooling off in the pool!  They are such big helpers!

The boys working hard to get those teeth clean!

 Their first trip to Sams Club. 

Jace looks petrified and Bret is mad because the bacon lady ran out of samples!

We took our first family vacation this summer and headed to the windy city.  We went to Lincoln Park Zoo, the Children's Museum, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, and the Lego Store.  The boys rode the bus, train, and zipped all around town in their strollers.  Their favorite thing was the awesome park by our house that had an enormous sprinkler for all the neighborhood kids to play in!

The boys took their first trip to Indiana Beach this summer on the annual Hueston-Sweet Family trip!  They loved the rides and we loved having Sammi and Lilly ride with them and hang on to them!  Bret was our little daredevil who would try anything and Jace was doing ok until the Frog Hopper.  It was all downhill from there and he preferred watching and cheering for bubby!  They ate hot dogs, watched the ski show, and splashed in the water park......it was a great first trip to Indiana Beach!

Aunt Jami Jo did our family pictures in July and we were so excited to have Aunt Megan home to visit from Virginia Beach.  The boys were very good for their photo shoot and spent most of the time running and playing with the chicks at Memaw and Papaw's house!

 We spent a really great summer with our guys and were sorry to see it come to an end.

Our Past Month...

We had such a great time with the boys this Easter.  We went to Easy Acre Farm in Kokomo to see the Easter Bunny, we went to church, and we had lots of Easter fun with all our family!  The boys loved their baskets, the egg hunts, and our time spent at the farm.  Jace loved the Easter bunny but Bret was completely petrified!  It was so fun to see how much enjoyment they can get from little things like an egg full of Cheerios!

Big news at our house.....both boys are walking now!!!  Bret has been trying it for about a month and walking steady for 2 weeks.  On Saturday Jace surprised us by standing up and taking off!  He had not walked a single step up until that time and now they are both zipping all over the place!  They are playing together more and more; walking around, getting into trouble, and 'talking' all the while.  Now that they are walking, playing together, and having wrestle mania, I feel like someone (me included) always has a bruise, goose egg, scratch, or bite mark somewhere on their person! 

The boys love their playhouse, swings, sandbox, basketball goal, and all the other goodies they got for their birthday!  They love to play outside, swing on the porch, and ride in their wagon!  In the past month they have gone to Lowes, Sams Club, La Chareada, Meijer, Sears, and the mall!  It's fun for us as well to take little family trips now that they are bigger, almost completely off reflux meds, sleeping at night, and on a good schedule.  We are so blessed with our two sweet little fellows and awesome family and friends to support us as we raise them! 

 

Twins First Birthday!

Birthday candles with breakfast!

Ok, I have not been very good about updating the blog in the past 6 weeks!  So this is way overdue but here are some pictures of Jace and Bret's first birthday party!  They had a Pirate Party and had a total blast!  They got lots of summer clothes, a playhouse, a turtle sandbox, a wagon, quilts, a pirate overnight bag, sandles for summer, some toys, and much more.  It was a fun day and the boys had a great time turning one year old!

Hanging out in our birthday gear!

Our turtle sandbox.....not sure about it!

Jace Mitchel

Bret Carlton

Time Goes So Quickly



Jace Mitchel - 1 day old



Bret Carlton - 1 day old

 

 



Jace - first sponge bath



Bret - loved the first bath!

This Saturday my two little guys are going to be one year old.  This has been a neat week as I remembered going into premature labor, being flown to Indy, worrying about the boys coming too soon, and then being blessed with two healthy little guys who were perfect in every way.  At 4 lbs 9oz and 4lbs 6oz we were thrilled that our two month preemie twins were healthy, hefty, and breathing on their own. 

Bret Carlton

snoozing Bret

snoozing Jace

Jace Mitchel

The boys spent one month in the NICU at St. Vincent Women's Hospital and we were so blessed with excellent nurses and doctors for our little guys.  They did not need breathing tubes, slowly weaned off the feeding tube, and gained weight steadily.  We so looked forward to the day that we could bring them home!

At the end of March they were moved into a private room where they could be together and we could spend time with them, bathe them, feed them, and play with them both at the same time!  Aunt Amy got them the little preemie baseball outfits and that was the first time they got to lay together and sleep in the same bed.

Jace

Bret

Snuggling together!

We were able to bring our little guys home on April first and that was such a wonderful day!  Potsie Lee was thrilled to meet his brothers, family and friends stopped by to greet them, and we spent our first night together as a family.  We have been through a NICU stay, acid reflux, sleepless nights, teething, sickness, ER visits, and everything that could possible happen times two.  But this has been the best year of our lives and we are so blessed with the two little red headed fellows God sent us! 

Heading home for the first time!

Potsie meets his brothers!

Our first day home!

They may have come before we were expecting them but I would not trade one minute.  I look back and can't believe that my two preemie guys are 25 pounds, crawling, walking along the furniture, talking, waving, laughing, clapping, and so enjoying life!  We are so blessed and I can't wait to celebrate with them on Saturday.  Happy 'Almost' Birthday my sons!