Happy 1st Birthday Clayton and Chloe!

It's hard to believe that our two little peanuts are now two busy, smiling, happy one year olds! This time last year I was holding my handsome little man, Clayton Joseph in my arms while my sweet little girl, Chloe Grace was being monitored in the NICU. It was such a bittersweet couple of days, but so worth it to know that my bugaboo was completely well. I made a slideshow (500 pictures later) of Clayton and Chloe's first year. It's incredible to really reflect on the year and all of the changes that have happened. I'll never forgot my beloved Papa saying, "Kimberly, when are they going to do something" as he held Chloe for the first time to now watching them take their first steps, get into everything, talk, giggle, have conversations, eat real food and give kisses (open mouth, of course). People love to ooh and awe over Clayton and Chloe when we are out and about and always say comments about how hard raising twin babies must be. While there have been challenging moments, it really hasn't been nearly as hard as the majority imagines. I think it all depends on your mindset. While the challenges are there, I am eternally grateful for them and thank God everyday for them. Maybe it's the infertility speaking or the growth I've made as a human being, but nothing is about me anymore and I truly wouldn't want it any other way. I've learned to accept that my house will not always be perfectly in order and that 8:00 pm is a great time to tidy up, that nothing else matters nearly as much as the happiness of my children (and husband!), that it's okay for one baby to cry (just a little) as long as I know they are full, clean, and not in pain, and that faith is my driving force.

I also want to acknowledge the most important people in Clayton and Chloe's life. Thank you Mom (Nonnie) for changing your career path to love and care for my babies. The sparkle in your eyes and the joy in theirs every time you see each other is beautiful. Thank you Dad (Papa Jim) for your daily phone calls to see how your "best friends" are, "Hello" song, and waterskiing game. I know they know how much you love them. Thank you Tracie (Grammie) for always being so available to care for Clayton and Chloe. You have the magic touch with getting the silliest giggles and sweetest smiles out of both of them. Thank you Louie (Papa Louie) for lighting up every time you see them. It doesn't matter how tired you are, you are always so thrilled to see Clayton and Chloe. And most of all thank you, Daddy (Ryan) for being such an incredibly loving, supportive, devoted Daddy to our children. You are so in love with your Brutus Man and Princess. I love watching them light up when they see you. It's a true testament to how very much they adore you.

Now on to their 1 whole year big news...

Clayton's News:
*Clayton is 21 pounds (25th percentile) and 30 inches (55th percentile).
*He walks from one piece of furniture to the next and even took his first recordable steps from one person to another on his birthday! Within the days following his first birthday, he has taken off. Clay walks all of the time now and even stops mid walk to wave his hands and has the most prideful little grin on his face.
*Clayton wakes up every morning with so much to say. I'd love to decode his baby language because he's so animated when he talks and often uses his hands to emphasize his "words." He also says "da da" and "ma ma" deliberately.
*He makes many silly faces, including pursing his lips in a kiss and sticking them way out. Clayton also sticks his bottom gum out with his big teefers and squints his big blue eyes.
*Clayton has 6 teeth now...2 on the bottom and 4 on top.
*He hates to be fed, which makes using up all of Mommy's organic pureed food quite difficult. The trick is to give him something chunky like chicken and then spoon feed him a veggie, starch, and fruit combo.
*Clayton has two of his three bottles out of a sippy cup now and does so much better than Mommy anticipated. The key was to give him his morning bottle when he's absolutely famished in the sippy. He's been drinking water out of his sippy cup since about 6 months old, but whenever I tried milk in the cup, he'd toss it and cry. He can have his third bottle in the sippy cup too, but Mommy isn't ready to give up that nighttime bonding quite yet.
*He loves food, especially cheese, yogurt, toast, and most of all pancakes. Whenever the freezer is open, Clayton heads straight for the box of mini frozen pancakes and helps himself!
*Clayton loves to be outside and especially loves the garage. He gets this determined look on his face and crawls at rapid speed when he hears the door open. Clay heads straight for the tires on Mommy's car, causing his perfectly pink hands to turn black, then to Roxi's food bowl (he seems to really enjoy her food!) and then to Daddy's tool chest.
*He has definitely discovered what he wants and what he doesn't want and throws a complete tantrum when he doesn't get his way.
*Clayton loves Chloe and loves talking to her. Every morning he heads straight toward her crib, stands on the top of his bumper and talks to her. She talks back, they giggle, they scream...it's absolutely precious.
*He is a blankie and paci boy--both are such perfect soothers for him.

Chloe's News:
*Chloe is 19 pounds (25th percentile) and 29 1/4 inches (50th percentile).
*She started crawling right after her 11 month birthday! Chloe had just had her morning bottle and crawled all the way across the hallway. It was so exciting! I knew she would, but like all of her milestones, Chloe does it in her time, in her way, when she's ready. And when she finally does her new trick, she does it perfectly. Her little crawl is adorable because it's so strategic. She looks like a little puppet moving across the floor.
*Chloe crawls to our legs now and pulls on our clothes to be picked up, which never gets old.
*She has transitioned from sucking her thumb to sucking two of her fingers backwards. It seems so awkward, but she apparently her perfect little fingers are her magic soother.
*Chloe is so cuddly. She loves to be held and when she's tired she snuggles on your chest, which melts my heart every time.
*She talks a lot, still doing lots of "ahs" especially when we are in a quiet place and says "ma ma" all of the time, specifically when she's mad about something! Chloe definitely deliberately says "da da" and "ma ma."
*Chloe loves to clap for herself when she does something exciting. It's so cute because she gets the most dynamic grin on her face too.
*She loves Clayton and loves talking to him. Every morning she crawls to his end of the crib, gets on her knees and starts talking, giggling, and screaming with him. It's priceless and I wish I could video it, but the dialogue stops the second I walk in because they are ready to eat.
*Chloe climbed the step from the family room into the hallway for the first time on her actual birthday. She loves hanging out at the step and finally figured out how to get up it!
*She flaps her hands and kicks her legs when she gets excited. There's nothing better than seeing her arms and legs bounce up and down when she sees you. I used to do this too as a baby, so it's pretty cute that she does as well.
*Chloe eats chunky, solid foods really well, but being a princess, still prefers to be spoon fed. She loves whole wheat macaroni, cheese, organic baby yogurt, cut up fruit, and buttered toast.
*She drinks water and juice out of her sippy cup perfectly, but has made it abundantly clear that she isn't ready to drink her milk out of the sippy cup yet.
*Chloe can wave hi and bye and it even sounds like she is trying to say the words too!

Here's some pictures that capture Clayton and Chloe's eleventh month...

It was so nice to have our good friends, The Kline's, back in town. Clayton and Chloe miss their little friend, Paige!




Our sweet little sass grew up so much this past month!






A little look into our busy little man's life during his eleventh month.






Clayton and Chloe had a blast in Palm Desert and especially loved swimming!









Easter was a beautiful day...we dyed eggs the evening before, went to church, and celebrated the day with our families.








We love our wagon, but love our mommy even more!

Wow! Clayton and Chloe are 11 months big!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe my babies are already almost one. This time last year I was one week away from technically being off of bed rest even though my doctors encouraged me to continue it. I was so huge, though, measuring 40+ weeks at that point, so off of bed rest meant little outings like going out to lunch or for a short walk. I was definitely not dancing like my OB told me I could do at 36weeks!It was incredible to be a small part of civilization again.
Clayton and Chloe continue to fill our lives with so much joy, happiness, and pride. Every day brings more discoveries and accomplishments. My favorite new thing to do with them is to have a "crib party" when they wake up from their naps. It is so much fun. The babies laugh hysterically as they explore the other's crib (because it's so different!). I join the fun too and hop in the crib with them, which they both love! Ryan and I were just talking about how raising Clayton and Chloe has been much easier than we anticipated. I think there's many factors that contribute to this realization, including us being such a good team, Clay & Chloe have such a predictable sleep, wake, & eat schedule (thanks to Baby Wise!), and the journey it took us to conceive our precious miracles helps put any challenge into perspective.
This past month has been a really big month of accomlishments and milestones for both Clayton and Chloe. They are both still eating great and eat just about anything they are given. Clayton and Chloe are especially interested in whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating or drinking and always want some too. They drink juice or water out of their sippy cups perfectly and are almost ready to have their day time milk in sippy cups. Here's their update...

Clayton's News:
*He is a whole 20 pounds and is wearing size 12 months and 12-18 months. Clay just had his feet measured at Stride Rite because it's time for some supportive shoes and his foot size is a 4 wide.
*Clayton is without a doubt one of the smartest babies ever (clearly his mommy is writing this!). He can deliberately shoot a basketball through the hoop of his baskball hoop toy, put balls in the ball popper and starts it, puts cookies in the cookie jar, and turns the light on and off of Chloe's laugh and learn kitchen.
*He found the bumble bee puppet in his toy box (Mommy learned to have a toy box in every room of the house) and after Mommy put on a show for him and put the bumble bee down, he brought it back over to Mommy and put it on her lap to play again.
*Clayton has randomly used the "more" sign that we have been working on for a while now. He's also working on "all done" even though he's perfected his version of "all done" by hitting the spoonful of food.
*He shapes his lips into an "O" which is his concentrated, pensive, face. He sometimes makes a short, grunting "uuh" sound with the face.
*Clayton cruises from furniture to toy to person, to Roxi, to everything and anything! He is very busy and always has places to go, people to see!
*He can stand unassisted for about 20 seconds and walks perfectly with his walker.
*Clayton has figured out how to climb on things to get up to where he wants. Mommy thinks he's pretty clever!
*He has full blown "conversations" now in his own silly language. Clayton often talks to Chloe who typically laughs at him!
*Clayton is obessessed with wheels. He loves playing with car wheels (real safe, right?), stroller wheels, walker wheels, any wheel! He obviously takes after his daddy.
*He loves the garage and loves it even more because he knows it's a "no no zone." Mommy and Daddy have had to clear Roxi's dog food kernels, leaves, and dirt out of Clay's mouth.
*Clayton can climb the stairs in about 30 seconds and is so proud of himself when he gets to the top! Looks like Daddy needs to teach him how to go down now.
*He totally understands "I'm gonna getch you" and takes off when you say it. He then typically stops, sits, and flaps his arms and hands up and down, laughing hysterically.
*Clayton climbs up Mommy and Daddy's legs and fusses when he wants to be picked up. Daddy does a much better job of ignoring him than Mommy does! He knows how to get his way with Mommy.
*Clayton loves playing with tupperware, anything in the refrigerator, his toys, going on wagon rides, going to the park, swinging in his backyard swing, and LAUGHING! He is Mommy and Daddy's pride and joy...not a day goes by that they are not eternally grateful for the joy his smile brings them.

Chloe's News:
*She is 19 pounds of petite plumpness. Chloe wears size 12 month and 12-18 month clothes and has clearly let Mommmy know that bows and flowers are a thing of the past!
*Chloe is officially doing the "Chloe crawl!" She crawls about 1-3 strides and then pancakes to her belly typcially because she's found something to entertain herself. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of her!
*She goes from her tummy to sitting and lands anywhere her little bottom takes her! Mommy and Daddy love that she mastered this trick because it's totally fitting since she has so despised tummy time. It only makes sense Chloe would learn how to sit from her belly before she truly crawled!
*Chloe can pull up halfway from the ground to her knees onto a toy or her crib rail.
*She is extremely flexible, often sitting in the center splits. She's suprisingly pretty well balanced too!
*Chloe sits up in her crib now and moves everywhere. It's so strange, but wonderful to see her not in the same position she was put in when she went to sleep.
*She gets into drawers and Mommy couldn't be happier. She's officially a girl on the move between rolling, sitting, and crawling, Chloe gets where she wants.
*Chloe is the queen of reaching. When all else fails and she doesn't want to work very hard, she reaches until she gets what she wants. Mommy watched Chloe hook her finger in the loop of her play mat to drag it closer to herself!
*She falls gracefully now when standing at her music table. No more elephant tears for this tough little girl!
*Chloe claps all of time. She totally knows to clap when she's done something great. She gets this huge, prideful grin that melts Mommy's heart.
*She can pick up puffs and cheerios perfectly with her awkward little fingers, which makes snack time much easier for Mommy!
*Chloe plays ball so well. She typically uses her left arm, winds up, and tosses the ball right at the person she's playing with. It's so stinkin' cute and another "world's smartest baby" moment. I guess Mommy has the two smartest babies on the planet, right?!
*She reaches to be picked up and always meets Mommy's arms with a precious little smile.
*Chloe talks all of the time, says "da da" constantly, loves to do her happy scream anytime we are anywhere in public (she clearly loves the spotlight!), and loves to laugh at her silly brother.
*She loves sucking her thumb when she's tired (it's raw), her fingers because it feels good on her swollen, bottom gums, her toys, going to the park, swinging in her backyard swing, Roxi, being kissed, singing, and cookies (Baby Mum Mums).
*Chloe truly is the sweetest, happiest, girliest baby. Mommy and Daddy couldn't have dreamed of a more loving baby girl whose smile literally sparkles. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger and Mommy imagines she always will. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of all of her accomplishments this month. Mommy knew that Chloe would meet her milestones, but it would happen when Chloe was ready. She has never not accomplished a milestone, it's just always been in her own time.

Here's their month in pictures...

Mommy attempted to do a little photo shoot with special hats made by Clayton and Chloe's very talented Grammie to update the newborn pictures in their room, but the babies weren't that cooperative. The pictures still turned out pretty cute, though!



We took Clayton to Rainbow Kids Hair Salon for his second hair cut. He did really good! We even bought Clayton his own bottle of gel.


Oh my feeding is so much easier now when I am by myself since both babies now hold their own bottles, though Chloe still prefers for us to hold it for her!


Such happy babies and a daddy who loves to tickle his little princess.




All dressed up in green for their first St. Patrick's Day!


Clayton is a little man on a big mission...he walks so well with his walker, but hasn't quite figured how to walk by himself yet.


Celebrating Grammie and Ryan's birthday...we had so much fun showering them with presents!



Dinner time! Clayton and Chloe are wondering when they'll get to taste real food like, ice cream!



We made breakfast in bed for Daddy's 30th birthday morning celebration. He enjoyed it lots especially since it was his first time having breakfast in bed!




Watch out world...Clayton can climb the stairs so quickly! Don't worry, Daddy was right behind him to catch him if he fell, but so far no falling backwards yet.



We celebrated Ryan's 30th birthday at Yard House with our dear family and friends. Ryan had so much fun and felt so loved.







And the birthday celebrations continue and ended for Ryan's birthday dinner at my parent's house.




Crib party way past bed time! Papa Jim and Nonnie swear that they weren't responsible for the silliness, but I think they are full of it! The story so they say is that once they put Clayton and Chloe in bed while I was at my Open House, they could hear Clay and Chloe laughing and talking, so they went in their room to find Clayton bouncing around his crib and Chloe sitting up. I was happy, though, because I got to give them goodnight kisses and tuck them in.


Silly, happy babies that I can't get enough of. Their smiles light up my world. And yes, Buddy figured out how to flush the toilet!






Clayton and Chloe LOVE drinking juice and water out of their sippy cups...it's almost time for milk too!


Another crib party! Thank goodness Daddy strategically placed Clayton's crib away from the window and shutters because look what he found right away!




Sure glad I folded the laundry!