Tuesday, November 3, 2009

the obligatory halloween post...

we had such a fun halloween weekend this year! to kick things off, on friday the girls and i went to a cute little pumpkin patch in pleasant grove with our good friends rebecca and carlee and their little gentlemen. what's more, emlyn and millie came down to join us. despite the freezing cold temperature (and yes, it did snow on us), we had a fun time looking at animals and catching up with friends.
avery giving me the i-can't-believe-you-are-pushing-me-around-in-a stroller-when-it's-this-cold-outside look.

tilly trying to keep warm...
i absolutely LOVE this little shot i snapped of these two pals, john-o and reid, near the rabbit cage

cute little millie donned her fairy princess costume on our little outing...
these goats seemed very desperate for food... they are probably eye-ing the babies in this shot as a potential meal.
that night we went to our ward's annual halloween party/ chili cook-off. we have such clever people in our ward-- the costumes were a hoot! and the chili buffet never disappoints! we went with a doctor seuss theme this year. jordan was mr. brown, i was a star-bellied sneetch, and the girls were, of course, thing 1 and thing 2...our little ladies ended up winning the "funniest costume" award at the party which could be considered a feat, if you had seen the other set of twins in our ward who made the most adorable mario and luigi. unfortunately, i cannot take credit for coming up with this costume idea however... it was inspired by these fun onesies the girls received from their aunt jana on their birthday...saturday we had a busy day, packed with fun. in the early evening we went to jeremy & emlyn's house in slc where the girls got to take place in a parade of costumes. it was so neat-- the police blocked off the neighborhood streets, and a city fire engine led the parade while the neighborhood kids and parents followed--in addition to this, all of the neighbors sit along the street to pass out candy making it a very fun and effective way to trick-or-treat. too bad the girls are still too young for candy:(

we got lots of cute shots of the girls that night-- the weather was GORGEOUS!





to top off the night, we went to grandma & grandpa stutz's to see all of the cousins in their costumes. whatta great weekend it was!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

a real daddy's girl...

video
this is the response i get every time i solicit a "mama" from tilly. avery does throw her old mom a bone by attempting it every now and then. ah well... in time...

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

updates, updates, updates...

okay, so i am not the best or most consistent blogger in the world, but you'll just have to pardon me. the girls have hit such a fun stage that it is near impossible for me to take my eyes off of them lately, and can you really get mad at me for that? both girls are crawling around like crazy, following us around like puppies, and just cracking us up altogether.

some funnies:

avery absolutely loves to sit on things. she will spot something in the room, and then go give it her best shot at making it her new place of rest. for example, the other day our family-sized book of mormon was on the floor, and well, you guessed it, she crawled over and set herself atop of it. the look on her face after she accomplishes such a feat is quite hilarious. she looks at us like "hey guys, look at me way up here!" I have even caught her swinging a leg at times, as though her feet aren't touching the floor anymore.
more recently she has been our furniture climber. if we are sitting on the couch she will come over, climb to standing, and then whimper until we take her the rest of the way. what makes it funny is when she climbs to standing on a piece of furniture she can't see the top of, like our bed for example. she looks like she is holding on for dear life, and she will not let go until she sees what is on the top of that mountain. if i hear a whine coming from our room, chances are it's avery, and she's stuck:) she also loves to do this pretty funny little shoulder shrug--and lots -of them, right in a row. avery also makes us laugh during feeding time--when i put a spoon of something up to her mouth, she will give it a lick before opening up her trap to fully receive it. she's a girl who knows what she likes.

tilly is loving the crawling thing now that she has it down. for a while she was doing the army crawl, which we were fine with, but she would get so frustrated when avery would just leave her in the dust. tilly cracks us up with her "funny face" where she scrunches her nose and shows all her teeth (they both have two on bottom, and fangs on top--can't wait for those two front teeth to get here, maybe for christmas?).
tilly also throws quite the tantrums--i know, already?! she just turned one! anyway, it is pretty funny nonetheless. if avery takes something away from her, instead of taking it back, she will flap her arms and make a noise that sounds like a motorcycle revving its engine. she looks at us with the crabbiest, most pitiful face like "did you see what she just did? help me out here!" we usually do, which doesn't make a bit of difference to avery, but means all the world to tilly:). tilly also has the cutest smirk you ever did see. she will smile at us and try not to show her teeth at times, as if she is challenging us to do something really silly so we can see them. another funny thing tilly does is ram her head repeatedly into our legs if we are sitting on the couch and she wants our attention. funny girl.

we have also been giving the girls more table foods which they love! the other day we gave them a taste of a pickle, which was pretty funny.
tilly & avery making pickle faces in their cute china-wear from grandma stutz. also, here is the requested video of them dancing. avery was not so much in the groove, but tilly busted a few variations of their moves...

video
and, not that this is anywhere near as exciting as what the girls are doing, but we celebrated our 3rd anniversary on the 6th. jordan planned a much needed mini-vacation to slc and we had a wonderful time. however, since our actual anniversary was on a tuesday, i had these delivered to me by someone special, as a teaser:)
it was a good lead into our fun weekend...


you can never go wrong dining at the roof...who doesn't like a gourmet restaurant that's all you can eat? see that couple behind jordan, they got engaged while we were there, i witnessed the whole thing from my seat. it was pretty neat, except the guy didn't even get down on one knee. i thought that was a bit odd...oh well...
we also stayed at the anniversary inn on 5th south... it was so charming, and our room was really neat-- go here to check it out. they have a bunch of fun, themed rooms, but some were a little too adventurous for my taste--we just went for luxury, and the anniversary inn did not disappoint.
the next morning we had breakfast delivered to our door--we enjoyed this cinnamon roll the size of our faces, among other yummy breakfast foods. i would classify our weekend as delicious, fun, and a great way to have spent time with my best friend. these 3 years have been wonderful, but not quite long enough, so we're thinking we'll go for another bazillion....
p.s. a big THANK YOU to mom stutz for watching the rug rats--we love you!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

"johnny jump-ups" at their best...

video

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

charlie brown, jeans, and new tricks...

avery woke up this morning with this cute little hair do......and it reminded me of someone...
from the scary hair in back, right down to the one strand acting as a bang in front...she had her impression perfected right down to the last detail.
also, what is it about babies in jeans that make them look so grown up?

put these same babies in a onesie and a pair of stretchy pants, and they go back to looking like infants...isn't it strange what denim can do?
as for new tricks, well, miss avery has learned to crawl, and while we are excited that she has hit this milestone, we are not excited about having to worry about choking hazards and trying to keep homework out of her reach. tilly is not crawling just yet, but claps and babbles as if all the world is listening. sorry baby, just your old mom. she is also very agile at stealing things from her more mobile sister, which can be pretty hilarious at times. and, my personal favorite... dancing. yes, they both dance. well, i guess its more like a rock when they are sitting or on their tummies...but it still cracks us up. if they hear any type of music, they go on auto-pilot and start rocking. isn't it neat that we are born with that inate desire to dance to music? love it.
in other news, i have gone back to school this semester. jordan works an early shift from 6:30-2:30 so that he can be home with the girls while i go to evening classes. even though i would much rather be spending my evenings with my little family, so far it seems pretty manageable, and i keep telling myself "just another year, and you're done. you can do it!" i do love my program though, and my classes have proven to be a good outlet for some "adult time." we'll keep you posted as more new tricks begin to emerge!

Monday, August 31, 2009

double the fun and double the one!

we just can't believe our little girls turned one yesterday--and what a year it's been! although there were some downs in the begining, the ups have always overshadowed them and we have come away from this year feeling incredibly blessed. we have two adorable little girls who amaze us on a daily level with their progress, and we couldn't be happier. we celebrated a week early because my sister and her little boy were in town, so of course we wanted them at the party! it was an ice cream party, and i must say, the girls enjoyed their first go at real sugar:)
the set up--it was a warm, lovely evening in jordan's parents backyard...

tilly looking ready to party.
tilly practicing for "the real thing" with an ice cream cone bubble blower...

little avery
singing happy birthday...look at the confusion on avery's face...
i knew that if i put a cake in front of the girls, they wouldn't really know what to do with it. so, we decided to make them little ice cream cone cupcakes--these were perfect because the girls had a handle and, as you can see, they knew exactly what to do:)


jordan picking the grass out of tilly's frosting--perhaps we should have had them sitting on a table or something...
tilly
avery
after the clean up, we set the girls in these chairs and they were hilarious, swinging their little feet like they have been sitting in chairs their whole lives...(and aren't those sunsuits to die for? a good friend from california gave them to us at our shower and i have been waiting and waiting for them to fit!)
aunt lindsey, tucker, and girls... and this point the girls were done celebrating and ready for bed. i was right there with them:)

it turned out to be such a fun party, and we are so grateful to all who could make it, as well as all those who have sent birthday wishes our way! also, our good friend emily took the girls pictures recently, and as always, did a wonderful job-- go here to check out some of the pictures as well as the cute party invites she whipped up. this girl is amazing!

Monday, August 10, 2009

old news, new post...

ugh.  i just got finished telling my sister how much i loathe updating my blog with "old news."  but i guess that's what i get for waiting so long.  that, and the chore of having to upload a ba-jillion pictures all at once.  but it's all done in an effort to keep my blog followers satisfied:)  hope it works!
a couple of weeks ago we went to the hogle zoo in slc with aunt leah, aunt emlyn, and cousin millie.  we had a great time checking out all of the animals and the cool exhibits, but i would have to say the highlight of the trip was the yummy lunch we enjoyed in the cool shade:)

the girls and i in front of the huge metal elephant that plays "pop goes the weasel" (sounds like a tuba) and blows air out of his trunk.  
 taking a drink out of the lion's mouth.

that same week my mom and sister chris came out for a short visit.  it was so fun to have them here and to once again experience with them the magic that is j-dawgs.  if you have never been, i feel sorry for you.

the next day mom and i took the girlies to veteran's pool in provo.  they were pretty enthralled with watching everyone splash and play, as you can see.  they LOVE the bath, and this was like the bath times 100, so you can imagine how much they liked playing in the pool--err, you'll have to because i didn't take any pictures once we actually got in the water:)

mom and i also attended our ward temple session saturday morning and hit the provo farmer's market on the way home.  it was a fun time--but extremely hot!  and of course, my mom always brings some sort of treat for the girls when she visits--this time:  these adorable sunglasses from aunt linds.  we had to put them in a place where they wouldn't see them to get the pic.

our girls are growing like crazy!  in addition to sitting, they are rolling, eating pretty much everything we put into their little mouths, jumping like crazy in their jump ups, and our newest goal--teaching them to crawl.  yikes.  i know i will be sorry once they get the hang of it:)

tilly

avery in a daze...
the proof that the rolling is out of control... we will put avery to bed in a tight swaddle and then often walk in on this scene...she's so tricky!
the girls enjoying biter biscuits...i.e. sharpening their mini-razors (they each have two on bottom now:)

yes indeed, our girls are getting big and we love them more and more each day.  
oh, and jordan and i are doing well too:)