Celebrating 1 year!

I can't believe that my girls are already 1!  It seems like such a short time ago when we were celebrating their entrance into this world.  A year ago we were praising God for these 2 blessings, thanking Him for His faithfulness, for their health and protection over the 9 months inside of me, and thanking God for the grace that only He can give.  2 perfect blessings from above.  It doesn't get much better than that.

So, how do you celebrate the first birthday of twins?  You have a party.  You invite the people that have helped you survive this past year, your family, and your closest friends.  You know the saying, "It takes a village?"  Well, it really does.  We've been blessed by close friends who have helped us over the past year.  Brought us meals, took Kaden for awhile to give us a break, folded our underwear, came over to hold babies and provide emotional mommy support, watch all 3 kids so I could go to Target in peace, etc.  We've had so many people support us over the past year, we wanted to have them celebrate this first year with us.  Celebrate making it a year, and living to tell about it :)

Those early days seem like a blur.  Lots of time spent late at night walking the house with crying babies.  Lots of feedings, disrupted schedules, crying (from all 5 of us), fussy babies, and poopy diapers.  I don't ever want to forget how much work this past year has been, and how difficult it really was at times (okay, maybe I'm a little bit glad I've already forgotten some of those).  However, I want to celebrate the good times.  The moments we laughed because we didn't know what else to do.  The times the girls pooped or puked all over and we just hunkered down to deal with it.  The times when all we could do was smile looking at these little babes.  The moments when Andy and I would look at all 3 of our SLEEPING babies and think, "GOD.IS.GOOD."

So, girls, on your 1st birthday, we celebrate you.  For the joy and laughter you've brought us, for the ways in which you've taught us to be flexible, for the friendships you've helped us strengthen, and for the individuals you are becoming.  Even though you're identical, you are very clearly 2 different people.  Different personalities, physical builds, interests and expressions.  Those are the things that make you, you.  We celebrate you for who you are and are overwhelmed with thankfulness that we've had you in our lives for one year already.  We are looking forward to celebrating many more happy birthdays with you, and love you more than anything!

Owl cake- of course we had an owl-themed party :)

Checking out the gifts

Kaden takes a swing at the pinata

Makenna takes a bite out of her cake

Mmm.... this is good, Mom!

Mommy and her girls

Everyone waiting in line for their turn at the pinata

Makenna takes a swing

Grandma and Grandpa VDH with the grandkids

What, Mom?  I'm not allowed to make a mess?!?! :)

More fun toys!

Mommy and Makenna

Grandma Rysdam and her grandkids

Daddy and Makenna

Maya takes a swing

Owl cookies- LOVE how they turned out!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."

Looking adorable in their birthday tutu's

Makenna

Maya playing with her cake

Maya.  Love that girl.

More Maya

Our family

 Makenna eating her dinner

Maya working on her dinner

One year birthday banner- a photo for each month of the past year

The Birthday Girls

Cake time!

Presents!

Chevron blankets from Grandma VDH for their dolls

"Wow, are these all for me, Mom?"

Kaden's first "real" soccer game

Kaden started soccer 2 weeks ago through Wyoming Parks & Rec.  I love the easy-going schedule they have- just show up at your scheduled time on Saturday mornings.  It doesn't make our week busy at night, and gets us going on otherwise lazy Saturday mornings.  Plus, nothing beats watching a fall soccer game with a cup of coffee in your hand! :)  Kaden plays on a team with other 4-5 year old boys and girls from Wyoming.  His game times vary from 9-11am, and last for 1 hour.  The time starts with a 20-30 minute practice, followed by a 20-3o minute "game."  I used quotations for a reason there.  It's quite entertaining watching a bunch of kids all clustered together running after the ball.  Half of the time they don't know which direction they're even running in or who their teammates are, or where their goal is.  Ha! :)  Andy has already decided that he's a much better coach than Kaden's current coach.  Maybe Andy will be coaching next year when we live in BC! :)

Kaden, our sports boy, isn't as into it as we thought he would be.  He loves going, and is getting a bit more assertive in actually looking for the ball and trying to kick it.  However, sometimes, he's just as happy to be standing on the sidelines watching everyone else kick the ball and waving to his fan club.  We'll have to work on that :)

Of course my son would be the only one out there with sunglasses on.

Taking his turn being goalie.  Looks like he's ready to go...

Here comes the ball- block it, Kaden!!!

Bummer.  The other team scored.

I think he got sick of being the goalie after that.  He spent more time looking around than actually paying attention to what was happening! :)

Learning how to say "good game" to his opponents.

Faces

Someone loves making faces for the camera.  I think he's got quite a few different faces up his sleeve.

ESPN

ESPN is on a lot in our house.

When we went to the ESPN store a year and a half ago on spring break, we picked up a shirt for Kaden that says, "I watch ESPN with Daddy."  Andy thought it was a pretty cool shirt so we got it for Kaden.  He's wearing it below.  And yes, I know you can barely tell.

Well, I happened to find some ESPN rompers on the FB twin site I'm a part of.  Even if they are a little boyish, I knew they'd make the perfect picture :)  So, we tried to get a family photo shoot with the ESPN shirts on.  You can see here that Maya was cooperating :)

Daddy and his ESPN kids.  Yes, I should have put bows on the girls, but you're lucky you got this picture :)

First day of preschool!

I can't believe my little man started preschool yesterday.  I know that everyone probably feels this way when their oldest goes to school, but seriously?!?  Where has the time gone?!?

When people ask me if I'm sad about Kaden going to school, I say, no!  Not because I'm a selfish mom who wants a few extra hours to myself 3 days a week (um, like that's possible with the girls still home?!?!?), not because I don't love my kids, or not because I'm happy to "get rid" of him.  I'm happy because I know how ready Kaden is.  He's ready to meet some new friends, join into a new community unfamiliar to us, learn, grow, and get the third leg of the stool we all value and treasure in Christian Education.  I know how much I loved school, and I know how much Kaden loves school so far (yes, I know that might change, but I'm savoring it for now).  I'm pretty sure it's the teacher in me that gets excited about school.  I love the feeling of fresh new opportunities.  New school supplies.  New excitement.  New situations.  New friends.  New shoes.  New memories to be made.  I love it all.  So am I happy for Kaden?  Absolutely.  Happy that he is able to get a wonderful Christ-centered education.  Happy that he'll make new friends.  Happy that his learning experiences will keep getting richer.

Does that mean I didn't get a lump in my throat when I said goodbye to him yesterday morning?  Does that mean that my heart didn't break when I heard a little voice from the back of the car say, "Mom, I'm a little nervous about school."  Absolutely not.

Here's my little man all grown up.  I'll admit, the Converse shoes and the grown-up jeans help make him a little more handsome- haha! :)

SO excited to start!

Being silly

The girls were very excited to see Kaden off on his first day!

The first of many BCCS pictures!

*notice that he's not wearing sunglasses?!?!?  For those of you who know Kaden well, you know that's a HUGE accomplishment! :)

First day info sheet.