Mustache Bash

Our baby boy is actually one.  It is so hard to believe.  I wasn't sure I was going to have much of a party for Parker's first birthday.  Well we can all see how that turned out.  Instead I think his party ended up being probably the best first birthday party I put together.  Once I saw all the cute things with mustaches the ball got rolling.  One of my loves is decorating and making things match and coordinate. I had such a good time putting this party together.  I tried staying on task and not get too carried away.  Mitch was there to try to keep me grounded. (he has his work cut of for him, he learned that a long time ago).  

We were lucky enough to have lots of family and friends to come and celebrate with us. Parker had a great time and even wore a mustache for a while.  He wasn't a huge fan of it to start but he left it on for a good 30 minutes.  The older kids thought it was pretty fun picking out mustaches even though they weren't on for long either.  They ended being used to decorate the back of the house.  That was where they were stuck on when they were done with them.

 The weather was beautiful, they got lots of fun play time out in the backyard. 

Parker decided to test his cake out with just his mouth to start. Once he realized how good it was then he dug in with his hands as well.  I enjoy so much watching the kids play with cousins and friends and just enjoy life without a care in the world.  I learn so much from them everyday and today was no exception.  

Happy Birthday to our sweet boy we love you more than you will ever know.

 my fam

the birthday boy

 bags are so fun 

 hi Uncle Sean

 my handsome Cooper

 Cohen and his best buddy Mila

 my loves 

 I got this!

 I make this look good

 The Blanton side, all the great-grandkids

 Poppop

 sister

9 Month and 3 Yr Check ups

Wednesday we conquered our dr. check ups for all 3 boys.  It was a busy day for them we started with swimming lessons.  It is down the street from the dr. office so I must have thought we were so close we should just go after they are over. Not exactly sure of my train of thought at the time but that's my guess.  Swimming lessons mind you are at noon so then I made appointments for 2.  Yes you are thinking to yourself when will they take a nap?  Good question apparently I thought missing naps would be no big deal. 

Well I wasn't far off, they actually did wonderful.  We were home in the morning to make sure Parker could take his morning nap ( which he sometimes misses when we are on the go). We went to swimming, got extra play time in the water to kill some time.  We then got boys dressed and headed to the dr. office.  Got in and stripped down baby boy and our wonderful nurse Jill started weighing and checking out the boys.  They all did wonderful and considering everyone listened pretty well. Parker was the only one that got a shot and finger prick.  I had promised boys if they were really good listeners that I would take them out for ice cream.  That is exactly what they got.  They both go to make their very own bowl and thought it was so cool.  Parker got his own little yogurt melts as his reward and was happy as well.  

They are growing up so fast so hard to believe. 

STATS:

Parker: Height 30 3/4 inches  98%

Weight 22lbs. 8oz   98%

Head 19 1/4 inces  98%

Cohen: Height 39 1/8 inches  80%

Weight 36 lbs  75%

Cooper: 39 1/2 inches  90%

34 lbs  50%

Monkey Business Party

We went with Monkey Business for the boys birthday party this year.  I couldn't come up with a better option then running and jumping for these 2 little monkeys to celebrate their day.  Let me tell you we made a good choice because they had a ball.  I was loving the fact that I didn't have to clean the house, get plates, cut the cake or pick up afterward. I was in heaven having the nice Monkey business employee do it all for me.  I was short one hand anyways having Parker asleep on my hip.   Cohen loves climbing anything he possibly can and Cooper wasn't to far behind him.  I could watch kids run around play and laugh all day long. It makes my heart melt just to watch them love life without a care in the world.  We couldn't have asked for a better day and thank you to all that came to celebrate with us.  The boys had so much fun and were showered with love.

the birthday boys

 Coop climbing 

 Luke, Mila and Noah

 Payton

 giving the rock wall a try

 Cohen going through the obstacle course

 Cohen watching all the big kids play

 parents had fun too

 Erin and Lyndsey

Mitch and grandparents watching 

 Cohen swinging

 Parker passed out and got his nap in.

 Finn

 Payton and Colton

 Eli and Addi

 ready to blow out the candles

 opening presents

 all the kids

 crazy Lyman clan

Best Friends are 3 Today!

I have such a hard believing that 3 years ago today my sweet, adorable twin baby boys were born.  It is such a privilege to have twins and so much fun to watch them grow together.  They are the best of friends and I have enjoyed watching them learn to crawl, walk, talk and play together.  They are a perfect pair together and yet have such different personalities.  I pray they will always be each others best friends and there for one another ALWAYS.  

Cooper is 2 minutes older and is so passionate. His emotions are able to flip like a switch from screaming upset to sounding so sweet and saying "I love you", in the blink of an eye.  He is very technical and pays very close attention to detail.  He usually doesn't mind having some time to himself and can play alone well.  He is a rule follower most of the time.  He loves to ask "why?" to everything.  I love his big blue eyes and the heart he has.

Cohen is also extremely passionate.  He is extremely loving and gives the best hugs ever.  He literally wraps his entire body around you.  He asks to hold Parker every morning the minute I grab him out of his crib.  We call him monkey boy because he climbs on things, like a real monkey.  He is mischievous and loves to know as much as possible.   Cohen  is very social and would prefer playing with someone than alone.  He has learned to turn on the charm and bat his eyes when he wants something. 

Happy Birthday to my sweet boys,  I love you with all my heart!!!

Christmas Festivities

Holy pictures over load.  I just lumped all the Christmas activities that happened over the week into one post.  So be prepared, I gave you warning stop now if you've seen enough of my kids.  

Here we go. We had to make our cookies for Santa.  That was hilarious to watch them all try to roll out their own dough because they insisted they could do it themselves of course.  We finally made some progress once they allowed Mitch and I to give a helping hand.  We waited until Monday morning to decorate them.  One activity per day is enough and clean up.  I think Santa is used to having a tiny bit of cookie along with his mounds of icing on his cookies.  They loved the sprinkles as well WOW!!!  Luckily we had plenty of sprinkles because we went through a lot of them.

The kids even got some snow while Daddy was already off work.  Thank goodness or they would have been begging me to take them out, which would have been hard to accomplish with Parker. We got to stay inside and make hot chocolate for them when they were finished.  

Christmas Eve we went to my parents that morning to celebrate with them.  We spent most of the day there and opened gifts and enjoyed a late lunch.  We enjoyed our Christmas Eve service at church.  I always love listening to our good friend and Pastor, Steve give wonderful messages and that night was no acceptation.  We headed to my grandparents and celebrated with my Dad's side of the family once church was out.  The kids did so well considering they had such a long day and Parker was the only one the napped.  One of our family traditions is getting new p.j's on Christmas Eve to wear before Santa comes. So they were all nice and cozy and dressed for bed before we left.  After some good family fun we headed home.  All 3 boys passed out in the car after being on the road for 2 minutes.  Payton stayed up and was able to put out reindeer food, pick out Santa's cookies and milk.

Christmas morning seeing the kids so excited is one of the greatest joys of being a parent.  I don't think anyone was disappointed.  Payton was the only one that actually asked Santa for anything and she was so sure he would bring her a hula hop, and amazingly he did.  Cooper and Cohen each got a dump truck and Parker got an animal stacker.  They played with their new toys and then Mitch's family came over late morning and we had brunch and then opened gifts with them.  We are so blessed and the kids are lucky to have such a great Aunt and Uncle.  They even had the boys birthday present since they won't be in town for their party.  We played games later in the afternoon during naptime. 

We had a great Christmas!! It's so hard to believe it's all over and the new year is around the corner.  Time goes by so fast it's crazy.  We loved spending good time with family and enjoyed having Mitch have a couple extra days off work and have us all together.  We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

yes, he found the tree

 ready for cookie making

 loving cutting out cookies

 rolling out the dough

 pretty much just making a huge mess :)

 only way to decorate cookies is with your shirt off

 Payton wearing her apron

 Cohen helping pull the sleid

 lets go

cute boys

 Blanton celebration

 train time

 Oh... that's for me, THX

 look another gift

 Mimi and Cohen

 Cooper and Papa Jim

 In our Christmas p.j.'s

 Pepa and the babies

 my sweet girl after putting food out for the reindeers 

 cookies for Santa 

 Santa came

 Cohen in his stocking

 Parker checkin out his present

 Cooper sportin his new hat

 Christmas breakfast

 Payton ready to dig in to her gifts

 the boys enjoying their trucks

 Peek-a-boo

 Aunt Jodi

 Lovin with Uncle Sean

 beat!