Welcome Babies!!

A few weeks ago, my mom and her friends had a welcoming party for Preston and Ethan. We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day! The day was filled with great food, drinks (Peach Sangria!!) and friends!! Preston was flirting with all the women at the party. Ethan, however, was cutting his first tooth and was miserable the entire time...so out of character for him.

I've posted a few pictures from the party below. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I was unable to put captions to the pictures. So frustrating. Here are my captions for the pictures: The cake had a pea in the pod decoration and was all chocolate, which, if you know me, I LOVE CHOCOLATE!! The party favors were two peas in a pod cookie. The tables were decorated with pictures of the boys. The pictures of the ladies below include my mom, my sister, Aunt Chelsea and Aunt Annoula, my mom's close friend. And yes, my sister is pregnant and very cute, almost as cute as I was when I was pregnant with Preston and Ethan... :)))! I'm so EXCITED for my boys to have a cousin so close in age!!

Happy 6 month birthday babies!!

Preston and Ethan are a 1/2 year old already! Huh?? Where did the time go?? We've had a lot of fun over the past month. We had a welcoming party for the boys (post and pics to follow) and Mother's Day was a fun day as well. This month, Preston started sitting on his own and playing peek-a-boo with his blanket!! Ethan is very close to crawling. He will get from one side of the room to the other in minutes. They are doing everything by the book as far as when they should be doing what by a certain age...Praise God!! The boys also had their 6 month well-baby visit. The pediatrician was very pleased with their growth and development. These are the stats from their 6 month well-baby visit:

Preston:
Weight: 14 lbs, 7.4 oz
Length: 2' 1.75"

Ethan:
Weight: 14 lbs, 5.3 oz
Length: 2' 1"

~Preston~

~Ethan~

~Brothers~

I went out to the grocery store ALONE with the boys for the first time since they've been born. It was a pretty big step for me. The boys were great and I actually cried as I was walking into the store, just me and my boys, for the first time. It was quite empowering, actually. I was amazed at the number of people that asked if I needed any help. My response? "Thank-you, but I do this all

the time." Haha! Ya right! I had Ethan in the shopping cart and carried Preston in the Babyhawk. It worked beautifully!

Ashley Family Happenings!

As promised, here is what we've been up to the past month.

The boys started eating solids. So fun!!! While I had every intention of waiting until they were 6 months of age, they both showed almost all the signs of readiness to eat solid foods. I started with avocado, followed by sweet potato and currently we are on bananas. Their first bite of solid food was a very special day, too, since we started them on March 29th, which would have been Karissa's 6th birthday.

I'm making all their food, as I did with Karissa and I love it! I went and bought the Super Baby Food book and have been using it as a reference.

~Preston's first solid food~

~Ethan's first solid food~

~I don't think he's quite sure about avocados!!~

This month we also hosted a few riders that raced in the Redlands Bicycle Classic. We hosted a few riders back in March of 2008, a few months before Karissa died. We haven't done it since, so it was kinda a big deal for us (or me really) to do it again. It brought back a lot a memories from when Karissa was here with us. ~My dad and I waiting for the cyclists~

~It's a lot of work to watch other people workout!!~

Preston's two bottom teeth have come in! I think he may be working on his 3rd, too!

Ethan is really close to sitting all by himself. Apparently, he's also a great multi-tasker, since he can barf and focus on sitting up all at the same time!

I ran my first 5K with the boys this past Sunday! It was local which was so nice. We didn't have to drive anywhere, in fact, the start and finish was right down the street from our house. I did fairly well, considering I hadn't trained AT ALL and was pushing the boys in the BOB. I completed it in 32:14, (a hideous time, BUT, I was pushing close to 60 pounds so I'll take it) and came in 17th out of 129 for my age group. After the race, we cooked up a fabulous breakfast at our house and enjoyed it with some friends who ran the 1/2 marathon.

~Ethan and I after the race~

The boys are growing up so fast. Much too fast!! They are doing well in their development and are hitting all their milestones as they should, some even a bit early! They are blowing raspberries and Preston has started imitating sounds and was copying me saying "uh-oh" just the other day. They are really starting to interact and play with each other much more now. It's so fun to watch.~And, this is how I roll when the boys BOTH demand to be held AND walked around!!~

5 months old!!

Here are some 5 month pictures of the boys! A lot has happened this past month which I will blog about shortly.

~Preston~

~Ethan...I tried to get him to smile but he
wouldn't budge!~

~My boys~

4 months old!!

The boys turned 4 months old a few days ago. I'm having so much fun with them and watching them grow has been a blast. Preston rolled over from tummy to back a few weeks ago and has started imitating and blowing raspberries! Ethan talks up a storm and gives the biggest smiles ever. Both Preston and Ethan are bringing things to their mouths and can grasp rattles, teething toys, ect. They both love their playmat and I love watching them try to figure out how things work. Last week, they started watching Baby Einstein DVD's. I only allow one a day. I am amazed at their attention spans...they will sit and watch the entire DVD and both show excitement and kick their legs at different times during the show. It's so fun! Here are a few 4 month pictures. It was a bit of a challenge to get them to smile since they were both sick at the time they were taken.

~Preston~

~Ethan~

~Grouchy babies~

~I love how Preston is checking his little brother out~

~ The boys intently watching Baby Einstein~

Two days after the boys turned 4 months old was the one year anniversary of my embryo transfer. Here is a picture of the 4 embryos that we used...I'm so thankful that 2 of them decided to stick!!

3 months old!!

My babies are three months old! I can't believe how quickly time flies. I adore my little blessings and am trying to cherish every little moment amidst all the craziness that is life with twins!

~Preston~

~Ethan~