Okay, it's long, but they're worth celebrating!
Reese and Nate have turned 2!
Um, have you seen how cute they are recently? They are big kids! I used to say I wanted a time machine to get them from here,
to here:
Now, I although it has been a long road and I've aged horribly, it has been 100% worth it! I have loved every stage and every bit of progress they have made!
Okay, random information and some pictures:
Reese thinks he is funny. He loves attention and will do just about anything to get it. He had a rougher go of it at first and has pulled through like a champ. He has been a bit delayed with development, but it making progress. He has been walking great for a couple of months now and just today, I saw him run! So fun! Unfortunately, although he loves attention, he really does not love working. He hates therapy and will not perform for any of his therapists, so they don't think he can do anything. He cries and cries with the Wednesday therapist, and won't even be near her unless my mom is sitting next to him with her hand on his back the entire time. When he isn't getting what he thinks is enough attention, he will growl a giant growl (thanks to his floppy air-way, like a whoopee cushion) and then smile waiting for a laugh. He is a doll.
Nate is so stubborn. It kills me how serious he appears all the time. He really can do and say a lot, but he will not perform. For anyone. For anything. If it's his idea, sure, he'll do it, but he won't do it again if you ask him to. He is such a sweetheart and loves to cuddle, but no one except for family will ever know that. Nate is always sucking on his middle and ring fingers. While sucking, he scratches and picks at his face with his index and pinky fingers so he has little scratches all over his face, all the time. I keep his nails trimmed short and have tried putting band-aids on his face so he couldn't get to skin, but he just scratches around it and picks it off. He is a smarty and a thinker and will figure anything out, just to prove you wrong. I love watching him think and play.
These boys love hats and glasses.
They love to eat
and separate their food, who knew that was an inherited trait?
(P.S. Things they don't want go in the cupholder, if I'm lucky, otherwise it's on the ground.)
They are talking a lot. Reese's first word was, "what-dat?" and Nate's, "look!" followed shortly with, "Oakley." He'd say it to himself over and over all day.
Now, what I hear all day is, "Mom!" "Ta-Da!" Which usually looks like this:
or this.
One funny tradition they've decided on related to this "ta-da" is whoever is in the smaller highchair finishes their food quickly and then climbs into the other highchair and sits on the
person in there. Neither ever complains when they are the sat-on. I still don't get it.
The thing I love so much is that they love each other so much. The other day, Nate sat on the trike and was bummed that he couldn't peddle. Reese came right over and started pushing him around. Now doesn't that just make you smile?! I love these boys!!
Sometimes I don't stand a chance.
Eighteen years after he started, Jason graduated from ASU.
When he decided to go back, I was uncertain how it would end up. I shouldn't have worried because he hunkered down and plowed right through. He took a heavy load each semester, including each summer session and got done in about 15 months, pulling almost straight A's (statistics his last semester was not his favorite, but he did get a high B in it!)
Oakley went along with to see Jason graduate. Now every time we are in the vicinity of ASU, he says, "There's Dad's college." "Remember when we went to Dad's graduration?" "ASU!"
Some of my favorite comments from Oakley that night were:
- when we sat in our seats at Wells Fargo Arena, "Mom, go get me some cotton candy."
As Amanda conceded about her own most recent family picture adventures, "Well, it's a family picture, cause we're all in it." I concur.
sometimes I get this face and look like Sabrina Teenage Witch, with one glass eye and one lazy eye, and Jason, well, looks a little "grunt like you're birthing a baby"-ish.
to here:
They love to eat
and separate their food, who knew that was an inherited trait?
(P.S. Things they don't want go in the cupholder, if I'm lucky, otherwise it's on the ground.)
or this.
One funny tradition they've decided on related to this "ta-da" is whoever is in the smaller highchair finishes their food quickly and then climbs into the other highchair and sits on the
Okay, maybe not to him in 13 years, but it really makes me laugh.
The best thing about this vacation was how relaxed it was. We had no plans. I was in heaven! We woke up when we wanted (when we were tired of "shshing" the babies) and ate a delicious breakfast of eggs and breakfast meats (I was in love, as I am pretty much the dog from the Beggin' Strips commercial, "Bacon!") and hashbrowns. My brother-in-law, Tim is a fantastic cook, and was gracious enough to take over meal time. I know, right?! Like I said, best vacation ever!
romping in the grass,
blowing the grass, 
(had to post for documentation, because he usually looks like this:)
okay, he's smiling here too, but it's just because he threw a handful of sand onto Reese's head,
boogie boarding,
nerf guns,
orangutanes,
the Midway
and Coaster ride.
All in all, it was a blast. I call dibbs on going again next year!
