Month 13: Firsts...

The babies are 13 months old now!! It feels like we just had their 1st Birthday Party!! They are growing up so fast!

Last week we experienced our first Earthquake. Kevin was actually in Seattle and I was at home with the babies. I was sitting on the couch looking out the front door and all of a sudden, everything started to violently shake. At first I had no idea what was going on. It lasted about 15 seconds or so. The babies were sleeping in their cribs and didn't wake up when it happened. I was watching TV and about 5 minutes after it happened, the news came on and let everyone know that we just had a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. Everyone made a big deal about it because living on the East Coast, we don't experience them as often as people on the West Coast. Actually, that the was first one of that magnitude in over 100 years! I was a little scared after the earthquake happened. I've heard of aftershocks happening, but I didn't know what to expect and I was alone for a couple more days. Luckily all of the aftershocks that did occur, we did not feel any of them.

Friday night, Ashton decided to take his first step!! We are working with all of them and trying to get them to walk. Ashton will stand on his own a lot, but he gets too excited to take a step and falls down. Kevin and I were playing with them on the living room floor and Ashton stood up and took a little step!! He took 2 steps that night!! It was a proud moment for us! Also makes us realize that they will be walking in no time!

Saturday morning was here and it started to get windy and rainy. Hurricane Irene was upon us. About 11am the power went off. Since we camp a lot, we bought a generator a few years ago. When the power went off, Kevin went outside and started it up so we could have the refrigerator running so we wouldn't lose all of the food and milk that we just bought. Since the babies room was a corner room in the front of the house, I shut the door to their room so they would not go in their. We have a few trees surrounding that area of the house and with the wind blowing and gusting pretty strong, I did not want a tree to fall on that side of the house. Saturday night, we still didn't have power. We set up the playpens in their playroom for them to sleep in their. That was the safest room of the house if anything were to happen. It took them a little while to go to sleep, but eventually they did.

We woke up Sunday morning and it was beautiful outside. It was still a little windy, but the rain was gone and the sun was out. Luckily we didn't have any damage to anything. We had a few limbs in the front yard, but that was it. Irene came and went and only knocked out our power. As the day went on, it started to get hotter and hotter in the house. The babies started to get cranky because it was hot and I started to get a headache from the heat. We decided to get out of the house for a little bit, so we went to Kevin's sister's house and Babies R Us. We ended up eating dinner with his sister and brother-in-law. When we got home, it still was hot and uncomfortable. Since we got back from Hatteras a few weeks ago, we kept the trailer at the house. Because it was so hot in the house Sunday, we ended up hooking the generator up to the trailer and turning on the AC in there and that's where we ended up sleeping Sunday night.

Monday morning, still no power! I started to get a little worried on when the power was going to come back on because Kevin was leaving to go to Texas for two days on Tuesday. It was pretty scary and dark in the house at night and I did not want to be alone in the dark when he was gone. He was going to cancel his trip so I didn't have to stay alone and deal with the generator stuff. During lunch, the power came back on!! Yippee!!! I called Kevin at work and told him the power came back on so he didn't have to cancel his trip to Texas.

Having no power for 3 days wasn't any fun! It seemed like the babies knew something different was going on. They were cranky more than usual!

They have their 12 month check up in 2 weeks so we will get to see their weights!! Hopefully next month we will have some walkers!!!

Hatteras Vacation

We spent the weekend camping at Camp Hatteras on Hatteras Island with our friends April & Jerry and with Karen & Paul. It was the first time camping down there for the babies and myself. We checked in Thursday and while checking in, we noticed some people across from us on top of their campers with cameras. We asked what they were taking pictures of and noticed that in the distance over the Sound there were 2 water spouts. I have never seen a water spout or tornado in person. We actually watched a water spout form. It was pretty neat to witness, but at the same time, it was pretty scary because they were so close. Luckily they just formed, stayed for about 5 minutes and went away. They didn't come close to us at all! Thursday night we did get a really bad storm. After about an hour of constant thunder and lightning, I started to get worried about seeing those water spouts earlier that day. I was afraid that one might form again and come on land, but luckily that didn't happen!

This was the 3rd water spout that formed.

Friday after eating breakfast, we got ready and headed down to the beach. This was the first time the babies have been to a beach. They liked to play in the sand and eat the sand. When we took them down to the water, they didn't like it very much. Kevin took Ashton all the way in the water and Brittany and Caitlyn stayed up at the shore with Allison and I. Once they got comfortable with the waves, they started to enjoy the water a little more. Unfortunately we went down to the beach during their lunch and nap time so they slept pretty much the entire time we were there.

Since the babies decided to take a nap, Aunt Karen and Uncle Paul kept an eye on them while Kevin and I went out and played in the water!

Saturday we decided to go to the indoor pool since we got plenty of sun Friday. We put all of the babies in their floats and they floated around the pool. Our friends Chris and Deanna came down to hang out with everyone on Saturday and brought their nephew with them so he went swimming with the babies in the pool also.

Sunday we had to pack up and go home. We had a fun weekend and hopefully will go back next year! The babies were exhausted after this fun filled weekend. They pretty much slept the whole way home!

First Birthday!!!

July 29, 2011... it's our BIRTHDAY!!! Happy First Birthday Caitlyn, Ashton & Brittany. We didn't do much on their actual birthday since it was on a Friday. We went out to lunch and stayed home that night. Saturday we had a party for them. The party was at my parents house. We had a bunch of family and friends there to celebrate this special day with them. Our local grocery store does a baby's first birthday cake free. I was able to get them each a birthday cake for free. I thought it was going to be a small little cake, but it was a 8" round cake. It was pretty big for a baby!! We had a bunch of food, so everyone ate first. Then it was the cake time!!

We laid a sheet down on the floor and sat the bumbo's on top of the sheet. We put them in their bumbo's and put the cakes in front of them. They weren't quite sure what to do at first. Kevin gave them each a little taste of the icing. After that, Ashton went to town on his cake. The girls still weren't too sure about it. They started getting into the cakes a little more, but still didn't want to get messy. Ashton didn't care at all!! I think he ate all the icing off the top of his cake!! The girls would look at him like he was crazy! He would even try to eat the girls frosting of their cakes!



Waiting for our cakes!



Caitlyn's Cake - Before

Brittany's Cake - Before

Ashton's Cake - Before

Ashton is digging in and Caitlyn is looking at him like he is crazy!

 

Ashton with frosting all over him!

Brittany getting into her cake!

Caitlyn getting into her cake

Ashton's Cake - After

Brittany's Cake - After (Notice some blue icing in there!)

Caitlyn's Cake - After

After they were done with the cake, it was clean up time! We took them straight to the bathtub!! Wash up was a breeze! Word of advise... get Whipped Icing not Buttercream! Whipped Icing comes right off with water and is not greasy, plus it smears so much better! After they got cleaned up, it was time to open presents.

Kevin and I sat with them as they opened (tried to open) presents. Once the first toy was opened, they didn't care about the other gifts, they just wanted to play with their new toy. They received a lot of learning toys made by VTech. A lot of number and letter toys. We also received a double and single umbrella stroller, clothes, stuffed animals and money.

Once we got home, I went through their dresser and got rid of everything that didn't fit them so all the new clothes that they got from their birthday would fit into the dresser. Since they received so many toys, we had to go out the next day and get a toy box for them. Kevin and I took down our dining room and turned it into a play room for the babies since they needed the space for all the toys and so they could play.

Since the babies did not get a nap at their party, they were exhausted when we got home. They just wanted to sleep!

We thank everyone who made their first birthday a special one!!