Halloween 2010

We had a fantastic Halloween this year. We did a safari theme with our costumes. Nathan was "on safari", I was a zebra, London was a lion, and Lyla was a elephant.


On Halloween day we went to Calvary Chapel's fall carnival. Wow, that place was packed! They had a ton of booths with games, live bands, a DJ, about 20 bounce houses, face painting, Dions Pizza, Coldstone Creamery, pony rides, candy, and much more. I know the babies will love going there in the years to come. Most things were too big for them to do, but we still had a lot of fun walking around and picnicking on the grass.

Dana, Chau, Lexi, and Ella also made it to the carnvial. Dana and Chau were grecians, Lexi was pegasus, and Ella was an angel.

The weather was perfect at 70 degrees! It was a really fun day.
















We got these pictures done because the money was going to the food bank. This was also at Calvary:

McCalls Pumpkin Patch

We visited McCalls Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty a couple weekends ago. McCalls is a great place to take kids because they have so much for them to do. Lyla had a great time and I think her favorite activity was the corn box. It's basically a big sand box filled with corn. Poor London wasn't having the greatest of days. He had woken up early with teething pain, so he was tired and his teeth were really bothering him. But we were glad that we made the trip there anyway. Dana, Chau, Lexi, and Ella joined us as well. Here's a few pictures from the day:

Lyla is Walking!

Lyla had been cruising along furniture and other items for months, and standing on her own for just as long. She was just a little unsure about those first steps, as all babies seem to be. It's a daunting task letting go of that support to walk on your own two feet!
With her confidence in tow, August 8th, Lyla took 3-4 steps towards Nathan who was holding her pacifier and showing it to her. From that day forth she has been walking everywhere! She hardly ever falls down. She acts like she's been walking for months!
The look of pride on her face from walking is just so adorable and heart warming.

London is still crawling at super sonic speed. He's also cruising along furniture and standing on his own. The other day at the park he took his first step towards me. And then that same day (Monday, August 30th) he took two more steps towards me. He'll be walking in no time! And then boy will I have my hands FULL!

Their napping schedule is a little off due to growth spurts and other developmental milestones. Some days they take two naps and some day it's just one. But they still go down at 7:00 pm and sleep until 7 or 8 am which is so nice for mom and dad!

These babies are so much fun! They have such great personalities and are really interactive. They love learning about new things, pointing and asking 'wha tha?' (what's that?), and laughing those big belly laughs at sounds and faces or whatever else might have tickled their fancy. This stage is such a great time and we are really enjoying them.

Here's are a couple short video clip of Lyla taking some of her first steps!




Here's a video I took of the babies laughing in their highchairs. This was back in June so they're 12 months here. I'm not sure if I've already shared this video or not, but here it is!

Happy 1st Birthday, London and Lyla!!

On June 20th at 6:00 am my water broke. At 10:30 am we welcomed London Parker and at 10:31 am we welcomed Lyla Jane. Our lives were forever changed!
One year ago yesterday we were bringing Lyla home from the hospital. We had to leave little London in the NICU for 3 more days. I was so happy to bring Lyla home, yet so torn by leaving London behind. I never expected to be leaving the hospital to go home with just one baby. But London came home happy and healthy on June 27th, 2009.
I just cannot believe how fast this year has flown by. Everyone always said "remember them as babies because the time goes so quickly". You never really understand how true that is until you have your own. It really does go by in the blink of an eye.
It has been the best year. There have been way, way more ups than downs. I'm proud of me and Nathan for surviving the whole year!
London and Lyla have grown and blossomed and they're starting to develop their own personalities. We fall more in love with them each day.
Here is what they are doing now and how they are now (this does change quite often!):

London: Walks along furniture and items easily, crawls FAST!, says mama, dada and other cute babbles, can do sign language for milk, mama, dog, dada, and cracker, likes toys that light up and play music, good sleeper but early riser (gets up with the sun), pretty independent, loves it when we sing to him and loves to watch me dance around and be silly, he also loves to play peek-a-boo.

Lyla: Walks along furniture and items easily and quickly, crawls, says dada, mama, dog, and other cute babbles, can do sign language for mama, milk, dog, dada, cracker, more, and ball, loves her dolls and banging blocks together, very good sleeper, more dependent and loves to be held and entertained, laughs easily at being tickled and other funny faces and noises.

They're both drinking cow's milk now, no more formula. And they are eating more and more table foods. We are still giving them some pureed food, just so that we know they're getting enough of a balanced diet. They both love crackers, Gerber cheese puffs, and graham crackers.

Their one year birthday was held as my sister's house and we had a luau theme. It was so much fun and there was a good turn out (about 30 people). There were a lot of babies and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The babies received some wonderful gifts and the slide show I made was given good reviews! :) When it was time for cake, Lyla gently touched it and lightly tasted it. London dove right in and tore it apart! They were both unsure about what they were eating, but I think they liked it.
Thanks to all that have given such support to us over the year. We love our friends and family so much!!

Here are some pictures of the day:



































Here are a few pictures from their 1st Birthday Photo Shoot: