We all five made it!

If you remember, these are the friends who were all trying to start a family at the same time. Well, we finally got a picture of the five of us and our children. Look at all these little cuties! We started our journey together almost exactly two years ago. So much has changed since then. Thank you, God!
Jeff was such a good sport today. I got to get together with these girls while he ran around getting ready for our trip to the lake. The babies are now equipped with their own lifejackets (so they can join us for some nighttime cruises around the lake to gawk at the beautiful houses) and organic sunscreen (You can ask, but it's a long story. Let's just say I'm relaxed about some things and a little neurotic about others. I'm just not convinced all these weird chemicals are doing our bodies any favors). Poor Jeff would never go to Whole Foods for sunscreen (weird chemicals don't bother him), but he did it just because it's important to me. What a great husband!!

Random happenings

Riley and Colter are starting to pay more attention to each other. I caught Colter grinning at Riley this morning when they were doing tummy time. They're still babbling to each other in the morning before we go in to get them up. Lately I've also seen them looking toward the direction of the other carseat when we're in the car and someone is making noise. I don't think they can really see each other, but it's still cute.
The bumbo seats are much more fun now. It's hard to tell, but they're busy looking at the cow that's swinging back and forth and playing "Old McDonald."

Colter has had enough.
We've also introduced them to the exersaucer. They love it!! Thanks, Amy, for letting us borrow so many great toys.

I remember when we propped them up in this chair for Easter. They were so tiny. Now look at them. Colter decided he likes helping with the laundry. Sleeping beauty was still napping, so I got some one on one time with my son. I like for them to nap at the same time, but am always grateful when somebody wakes up before the other so I can bond with them individually.

The Texas gang has arrived!

Jeff's sister and her family are in town. Riley and Colter have three more adoring cousins. Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Mark, Landon, Bailey, and Madison will be going to the lake with us on Sunday. After they hung out with us today, I realized Jeff and I are going to have so much help taking care of the twins. Yea!!
Colter is quite smitten with his cousin Bailey.

Riley and Aunt Jennifer got to bond.
OK, so Colter is smitten with his cousin Madison, too. He has many girlfriends.
Riley was a little envious of Landon's beautiful hair.

So, being the sweet girl that she is, Landon agreed to share some of it with her little cousin.

Doesn't Riley look great?!

Of course she made sure she got a quick chat in with Gram - I mean Gigi.

Jeff and his usual antics

Jeff and I spent some time researching beach homes for our September vacation. We are going to Florida with four other couples and their kids. I am very excited to get away and introduce Riley and Colter to the beach. Anyway, we tried keeping the babies entertained by moving their booster seats into the office.
They didn't stay happy for long, but we got a good laugh. Jeff decided to play the teacher since it looked like we had a little school set up. He looks like a very stern teacher. We know better!

Swimming at Gigi and Papa Jim's

No, Riley and Colter don't have a new grandma. Gram just put in a request for a name change. Since teenagers do it all the time, we thought "why not?" The Texas gang arrives in a week, so we'll see if the other grandchildren are on board with the new name.
We went to a pool party at their house tonight. (We were the party). We brought a pizza and hung out in the pool for a while chatting with the neighbors and letting Riley and Colter get used to the water some more. They were still kind of serious, but seemed to like it.

I was excited that Jeff was with us for this trip to the pool.
This may be a random picture for some of you, but it was taken during one of my favorite times of the day. Riley and Colter are in their p.j.s and had just finished their bedtime feeding. Look how sweet they are, asleep on the nursing pillow! I try and just soak these times up so I can remember them as clearly as possible.

Twins on tour to Ohio

We're back! For all of those who were praying for safe and sane travels, thank you. Everything went amazingly well. We even survived going through security at the airport.
We left Friday morning at 10:30. As you can see, the car is not nearly as full as it was for our trip to North Carolina at the end of May.

We got to the Charlotte airport at around 3pm. This was pretty good considering we stopped so Riley and Colter could eat at 1:30pm. I am so grateful we have a minivan. I was able to park away from the rest of the folks at the rest stop and use the back of the van like our own little room. The babies loved being able to stretch out on a blanket, too. The DOT website lists the location of all their rest stops. I had made a list of the northbound and southbound stops in South Carolina, so it wasn't too bad to guage when we needed to stop.

We met Grandpa, Aunt Rita, and Uncle Shawn at the airport. Going through security was hectic with 2 kids and 2 babies, but we survived. I knew the carseats had to come off the stroller, the stroller had to be folded, and everything had to go through the scanner, but I hadn't visualized who was going to be holding the babies while I was doing all of this. Grandpa to the rescue! Rita and Shawn entertained Riley and Colter while we waited to board the plane.

Riley sat with Grandpa. Obviously they were both tired!

Colter sat with me.
They did really well on the flight. Riley fussed a little, but it was no big deal. (Easy for me to say since I wasn't holding her!)
After getting our bags, we met Joyce outside. By the time we got to her house, Pat and Greg had arrived with the guest of honor: Great-Grandpa! Colter was pretty impressed to meet somebody 90 years older than him.
Riley was happy to have yet another person to snuggle with.

Riley and Colter got to get to know most of the Ohio relatives. Aunt Rita was there to entertain them when they weren't being passed around.

She hung out with them in the hammock.
She helped Riley practice sitting up.
Great-Grandpa enjoyed spending time with the next to the youngest members of his family.

He was even up to holding both babies at once! We may be looking at four different places, but this picture means the world to me.
On the last night of our visit, I heard the story of how Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma met. Thank goodness they did, otherwise this four generation group wouldn't exist!
Rita and Shawn adore our cousin Bethany. She'll be going to graduate school on a full ride (plus stipend!) next month. We are all really proud of her.

As many of us know, Colter is sometimes too busy looking around the room to stop and "talk." Joyce got his attention, though.
Doesn't Jeff look like a natural holding Riley?
We spent a ton of time on the back porch. It's a replica of the porch Great-Grandpa built when they lived in the woods. This swing used to hang at "The Patch." It doesn't look like we're doing much besides talking and relaxing, but we got a good number of laughs on this swing. It had just been retied and would shift downward ever so slightly as the knots tightened. Greg blamed it on us girls. We just couldn't stop watching the knot and laughing.
Colter greeted Peggie, Bob and Bethany as soon as they arrived for the birthday party on Sunday.
Doesn't the birthday boy look great?

He got a little help blowing out his candles.
Riley and Colter enjoyed partying on the hammock.

Colter spent time chewing on Riley's dress. I guess he saw her doing this and didn't want to be left out.
We got a group picture of Great-Grandpa and some of his grandchildren.
Lesson: the more cameras taking the picture, the less likely people will be looking at the right one.
Monday was our last full day in Ohio. Joyce and Grandma took us swimming at the rec center. This was Riley and Colter's first time at the pool. Riley was looking pretty cute in her Hula Honey swimsuit! Rita of course was right there to help.
We're ready to get in the water.
This pool was awesome. There were tons of slides, fountains, and a lazy river - all inside! Rita and Shawn were in heaven.
The twins did really well. I was afraid the water might be too cold, but they didn't seem to mind.

They spent most of their time sucking on their fists and looking around at all the other kids.

Grandma and Grandpa couldn't believe how big the twins have gotten. I guess Matt and I weren't this round when we were babies.
On Tuesday, we met Grandma, Aunt Rita, and Uncle Shawn at the airport to fly back to Charlotte. We were sad to leave, but ready to be home with Dad and Governor.

This trip was really special to me. It had been two years since I'd seen Great-Grandpa and most of the rest of these Ohio relatives. I am so grateful Riley and Colter got to see make the trip. I didn't get pictures of everyone on my camera. Thank goodness for digital photos and email!

p.s. Cousin Alan got home on Friday! What an answer to prayer. He's already growing like crazy.
I think I recognize this little outfit!Already a dog lover!