Twins turn 3!

It's hard to believe it's been over three years since we became parents to these two beautiful girls! It's strange how I went from crying myself to sleep because I wanted to be a mother so badly, to crying because I never got any sleep with baby twins, to crying because my babies are now three years old. Why is there so much crying involved in motherhood?!?!?

Eden and Lydia had a great birthday. Nate and I took them to Chick-fil-A for lunch and opened some presents there. I made them Anna and Elsa dresses and we gave them a couple DVDs. They also requested to go mini golfing. They had never been before but had seen it on a show and kept asking to go. So we invited our cousins and hit the green. Let's just say the coordination left much to be desired, but they had so much fun! Afterwards we had cake and ice cream. They were very specific about what kind of cakes they wanted so I had to make two separate ones for the first time. Eden requested a "purple chocolate cake with purple finkles (sprinkles)" and Lydia wanted a "strawberry pink cake."

Eden is such a "big sister." Some may classify her as bossy, but I like to think of her as a leader. She likes to choose where we go or what music we listen to or what game she and Lydia will play. Usually, Lydia will go along with what she says, but every once in a while Lydia chooses something different and then we're in for the ultimate battle of wills! Eden is very confident and a daredevil. She's not afraid to try new things and even when she fails, it doesn't seem to phase her. She looks up to her older cousin Chloe and strives to do everything she can do. She loves playing with her umbrella and wearing her favorite costumes (or nothing at all).

She just couldn't leave the house without her crown!

Lydia is such a sweet little girl. She loves to help me with Adeline and be a little mother. Even though Eden is more of the "leader" Lydia is more of the "mother." Every morning she gets herself dressed and then picks some matching clothes for Eden to wear and lays them out on the floor for her. She enjoys learning and is constantly repeating the nursery rhymes and songs she knows. I think she'll have a beautiful singing voice like her Aunt Kaley. She's more timid when it comes to things outside her comfort zone. For instance, if we go to a new park and there is a tricky ladder, she prefers to watch Eden go first before trying it herself. But once she convinces herself to try something, she's just as adventurous as her sister. She loves playing with her baby and setting up pretend picnics.

Helping push Adeline in her swing at the park

Both girls are doing ballet this year and absolutely love it! I'm excited to see their recital in December. It will be a hoot! They also enjoy playing soccer with their Daddy. In the summer, Nate took them to the fields to play once a week. They are well on their way to being super stars! Swimming, playing at the park, exploring the Amazeum, having tea parties, playing Candy Land with mom, and playing hide and seek with Dad are some of their other favorites. Side note: they are terrible at hide and seek which makes it HILARIOUS to watch. We love our Eden and Lydia!!!

Singing in the rain

First day of ballet

Helping Daddy wash the car

Feuz Family Reunion

After our trip to Disneyland, we got to spend a couple of weeks with my family in Utah. First, I dropped Nate off at the Salt Lake airport so he could come home to work, and then the girls and I headed to Mimi's house! We had so much fun. The girls loved being with their grandparents and playing with their cousins. I was afraid the girls would be tired of vacation and ready to come home, but they had a blast! 

Riding Papa Horse

Uncle Shane was so nice to take the girls on donkey rides

Helping Mimi make pizza

There is always ice cream at Mimi and Papa's house

My parents had to go out of town for a few days, so we got to spend some time at Brianne's house. We loved playing at the splash pad, riding some little indoor rides at a fun center, running in the backyard, eating slushies, visiting the park, and just spending time together. Jaxton and Grace were the sweetest playmates for my girls and my cousins Betsy and Cori Lynn brought their kids for a visit one day as well.

Grace, Lydia, Eden, Jaxton, and Adeline had so much fun together!

We stayed busy every day at Mimi and Papa's house. Activities included swimming, playing on the swing set, eating ice cream, jumping on the trampoline, riding the donkeys, petting/chasing the cats, and running around with cousins. Time seemed to fly by and before we knew it, Dad was flying back from Arkansas to stay for a few days before we all drove home.

Nate got there just on time for the First Annual Feuz Family Reunion! It was so nice to get together with all my siblings and their kids for a long weekend. The only thing we don't like about living in Arkansas is being so far away from family, and I really want our girls to know their aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had our reunion over the 4th of July weekend. My mom did a great job organizing fun things for us to do every day balanced with enough down time to just sit and visit. Highlights from the reunion included a pie baking contest, variety show, shirt painting, badminton tournament, giant water blob, Jump Zone, fireworks, marching in a parade, soccer match, swimming, go kart riding, family pictures, and of course eating lots of delicious food!  I won the Best Tasting Pie award for my Raspberry Cream Pie and Shane and I pulled off a classic dance number to Single Ladies for the variety show. You'll have to check out the video for one minute of pure entertainment. (Admittedly, I need a bit more practice before our next dance duo!)

The BLOB!

Sweet little Adeline was worn out from all the fun.

Nate was one of the distinguished judges on the pie contest panel.  

The girls sang Twinkle Little Star for the variety show

Mike and Em were probably the most talented number of the night with their Oklahoma song 

The whole family together

Our trip was over all too soon and we made the long trek home. The girls all did great on the drive and we even decided to make a little detour and stop at the Omaha Zoo on the way. They absolutely loved seeing all the animals! Plus, walking around several hours in the sun wore them out enough that they pretty much slept the whole rest of the way home.

We are already looking forward to the 2nd Annual Reunion next year!

Adeline's Half Birthday

Can you believe we had a baby 6 months ago!?!? (Well, almost 7 months now since I'm late in posting this.) I swear time slowed down when our twins were babies but it is flying by this time. I get a little jealous when I see people with their tiny newborns and realize how much Adeline has grown already. We love this little lady so much!

At her 6 Month checkup she was 27 inches long and 14 pounds. I can't remember percentiles but I think she was quite long for her age and but also pretty light. We think she's perfect, of course! She has two teeth on the bottom and likes to bite Mom now. She started sitting up when she was 5 months old so I thought she may be starting to be more mobile by now, but she has zero interest in crawling. She just wants mom to pick her up and move her from place to place. Well, lets be honest, she just wants mom to pick her up and hold her most of the time. I actually love that she wants to be held and snuggled and hugged and kissed all the time. It does make it difficult to get things done so I do wish I could hire a housekeeper and chef.  She's only going to be in this baby phase once, so I'm truly enjoying it.

Speaking of phases, one phase I would be ok with leaving behind is the waking up in the middle of the night phase. To be fair, she has gone from waking up multiple times a night to just once a night so things are much better! Adeline and I usually have an early morning rendezvous about 4:30 AM. Sometimes I think she's probably just waking up out of habit and not hunger, but since she is pretty small, I feed her anyway. She goes to bed about 7:30 so after 9 hours, she could legitimately be hungry. Eventually, I hope she just figures it out as I have no desire to "sleep train." I'm still recovering from sleep training the twins!

Adeline is an adventurous eater, just like her sisters were. She detests baby food and will literally just swat the spoon away and make a giant mess. But hand her a watermelon slice or a slice of french toast, and she will go to town! She just wants to feed herself and have nothing to do with purees. I'm fine with her skipping baby food, the trick is just finding foods that she can hold herself and not choke on.

Adeline may be a momma's girl, but she is also a daddy's girl and a sisters' girl. She gets so excited when Dad comes home and I can't nurse her while Nate is around because she just squirms around until she can see him. She also loves to just sit and play with her sisters. Lydia and Eden are so sweet with her. I was worried we were crazy to have another baby when the girls were still so young, but I'm so happy we did and I hope the three of them will always be close friends!