Christmas in California!

Where do I even begin? Christmas has come and gone...kinda. We had a great visit with Grandma Hutchinson and Uncle Scott. It seemed to fly by so fast. I guess that is my true welcome to parenthood at Christmas time. Christmas started with a church service on Christmas Eve followed by a nice dinner with the whole crew. We stayed up way too late on Christmas Eve and got up way to early (5:15 am was when Ryan awoke) on Christmas morning. You would have thought Santa had come and he knew it! :) We opened presents with all the Grandparents and Uncle Scott and for a year that we really didn't "exchange" gifts, there sure were a lot of presents under our tree! After working most of the week and going non-stop, we packed up our bags and headed to California to visit Uncle Brad and Aunt Heather for a week. I had A LOT of anxiety about this plane ride and rightfully so. The almost 5 hours we were on the plane were not my childrens' finest moments. Riley cried hysterically from before we took off until well after we were in the air. I won't even begin to guess how high my blood pressure rose during that time. Ryan wasn't so great either. I don't blame them because I myself get bored on a flight that long, but I truly felt so bad for the people around us (not to mention us). It was really not a fun time. Thank goodness Gramma and Grandaddy were with us. I really don't know what we would have done had they not been with us. It took all 4 of us full time to keep them entertained to some degree. We were all TOTALLY wiped out by the time we got to Heather & Brad's house. Oh yeah - forgot to mention that Riley and Ryan each only slept about 15 minutes on the plane. We took off about 11:00am so I was hoping for at least a short nap since the flight time fell during nap time, but not my children! I am just going to enjoy this week and worry about next Saturday for the flight home that day. We'll take it one hour at a time. Let's just say I feel very sorry for their teachers at school once they return next week. They are totally off schedule and have been surrounded by lots of family for almost 2 weeks (by the time they go back). Last night Riley and Ryan went to bed about 6pm here, which is 9pm at home - much later than their usual bedtime, but Ryan got up at 5:oo this morning and really didn't take a nap today. He's been wired since before we left Atlanta. I think he's afraid if he sleeps he might miss something. He's blossomed so much in the last week with his walking (assisted by one of us) and talking (almost non-stop today). It's been so much fun to see him come alive. Riley went to the farmer's market and Trader Joe's with Kevin, Aunt Heather and me this morning. She walked on her own at the market and had to wave to everyone she saw. There are no strangers in Riley's life. She is officially now a walker. She could walk as long and as far as she wants. She rarely even stumbles and navigates well around bumps and corners. We had brunch at the Mission Inn today and Ryan ate and ate and ate and ate. We started talking about all he ate during lunch and were totally amazed at the amount of food he gobbled up. Riley held her own and ate well, but I think Ryan ate more than I did. Today Ryan ate skirt steak, prime rib, TONS of fruit-especially blueberries, waffles, mashed potatoes, hash browns, tortellini, sausage, turkey, cheese, french fries - it makes me sick to think of all of this resting in his belly (as well as the diapers we will soon see). They had fun walking around after lunch and seeing all of the beautiful decorations. When we got home everyone crashed for a nap...except Ryan. He cried and cried when I put him down, so I let him play while everyone else napped (except Uncle Brad and me). He wanted to make sure he was up and ready to play! They are finally asleep and we are hoping for a later wake up time in the morning. This 3 hour adjustment is hard on all of us - especially them. I don't want them to totally adjust to Pacific time, but there is just something wrong about waking up at 5am every morning of "vacation" (I think that's what we call this?!?!?). Tomorrow the guys are going skiing and the girls and babies are going to Mount Baldy to see some snow! We didn't think they were quite ready for the slopes.

Web Albums Added:
Videos of Christmas Morning: http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081225Christmas2008Videos#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081225Christmas2008#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081227CaliforniaDays12#

Christmas is almost here!

Thursday night was the big Christmas Pageant at Open Arms and we were so excited to see our little angels! They were wheeled in on the carts that seat 6 babies. The carts were covered in white and all of the babies were in white. They were all so very cute! Unfortunately I don't have many photos to show, but they were so so cute - you'll just have to take my word for it. We tried to put them back on the cart for a photo when it was over, but they were having no part of that. So you see 2 crying angels...ready for bed.

They are really enjoying Play2Grow. Now that they are in the big room and have the ability to move around very easily they love all of the obstacle courses and things to climb on. They aren't so sure about the organized activities like puzzles and picking up objects and bringing them to the teachers, but they LOVE the free play. I love this photo I snapped of Ryan admiring himself in the mirror. He loves to climb up this wedge toward the wall that is covered with a mirror. We've caught him banging his head fairly hard on it several times. I'm not sure what all that means, but he enjoys it and we enjoy watching him. There is this red bridge that most of the kids spend most of the time on. They fight over who can be at the top and spend most of their time jockeying for position. With all of the wonderful things to play with, we can't figure out why this simple bridge is so popular. I'm guessing because it has some small stairs and we allow them to walk on them - most houses have gates and the kids are kept away from any and all stairwells, but who knows?!?!

We went to see Gramma and Grandaddy for a nice pot roast dinner on Saturday night. Gramma had new Christmas bibs for them and they even ate brownies and ice cream for dinner - what a treat! They played the piano and played with Gramma's bell collection before changing into the pajamas for the ride home. It was a quick visit, but it was nice to see them.

After church today, we drove up to Big Canoe to see Jeannie and her 2 boys Cal and Brennan. They are here visiting from New York and staying at her parents house. We had hoped to do some exploring on their 3 acres of land, but it was just too windy and cold for that, so we stayed inside by the fire and played. Brennan is just about 6 months older than Riley and Ryan so they had fun playing together. We interrupted his nap time and Riley and Ryan's nap was only an hour in the car, but all things considered they all behaved very well. It was nice to catch up with Jeannie and her parents. Thanks for having us! Riley, Ryan and I all fell asleep in the car on the way home and after a quick dinner and bath they were happy to go back to sleep. I'm hoping I'm not too far behind them.

Grandma Hutchinson arrives tomorrow and Uncle Scott arrives on Tuesday. We are looking forward to a few days with them for Christmas and then we are off for our adventure to California for a week. I can't imagine what I'll be posting this time next week from California! :)

Web Albums Added: http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081218ChristmasPageant#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081220Play2Grow#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081220VisitWithGrammaGrandaddy#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081221VisitWithJeannie#

Laughter

Riley has the most wonderful laugh when we tickle her and I was able to capture this awesome sound on video today in the car! Make sure your volume is up and enjoy!

Pure Bliss!

Pure bliss (and exhaustion) is the only way to describe this weekend. We are so very tired, but Kevin and I both agree this was the most fun weekend we have ever had with the kids. They are finally back to their normal selves and feeling much much better...and we had 2 birthday parties to attend. We started the weekend off with pizza with the Fenzl's on Friday night and we pulled Riley and Ryan's chairs up to the table. They ate like big kids and were so proud. On Saturday we took away their trays that go with their high chairs and started using plate like trays for them to eat from on the table. We know this will make Gramma very happy. She has never liked them eating directly from their high chair trays. We made it through 2 days of using these new plates and only ended up with 1 tray of food dumped on the floor. I think that's a pretty good start. Katharyn left her Santa hat at our house and the kids had a blast playing around with it. Whenever we put a hat on them, they just start laughing at one another...who would have thought a hat could be so much fun? We also have photos to show them fighting over the same hat, but that's to be expected, right? They went to Play2Grow on Saturday morning, took a nap and then we headed to Kangazoom for Owen's 3rd birthday party. Kangazoom is one of those jumping places for kids and we weren't sure if there would be much for them to do, but we were pleasantly surprised that they had more than enough to keep them occupied. We played hard for an hour and they were exhausted! They had a baby area that had all kinds of things for them to play on. We each took them down this huge slide (probably 12 feet in the air). Kevin and I agreed if we had known how hard it would be to get up to the top holding a baby, we would have never made the venture, but I think the kids liked it. Then at one point there was no one else in the jumpy house, so we took them in there and bounced all around them...they absolutely loved being bounced all over the place. They squealed a lot! Ms. Jada from school came over to babysit them Saturday night and I think they were asleep within a few minutes of her arrival. They had played very hard that day! Today we went to church took a quick nap and then headed over to Paul's house next door for his 4th birthday party. He had a construction themed party and Lori went all out. There were about 10 kids dropped off for this party, so it was quite fun to watch all the big kids play. Riley jumped right in and sat right next to all the big kids. Ryan wasn't so sure at first, but eventually came out of his shell. After a nice birthday dinner we are all home and hopefully heading to bed very soon. The kids pooped out about 6pm! A true sign of a fabulous weekend!

Web albums added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081213OwenSBirthdayAtKangazoom#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081214PaulSBirthdayParty#5279830481395170162
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081214FamilyTime#5279831111451373362

Popsicles make everything better!

It has been a very rough week in the Hutchinson household. It started off rough for me on Monday and has been downhill ever since! My birthday was Tuesday so you would think that would make this week a good week, but even that couldn't make this one any better! Ryan's teacher called me at work on Monday afternoon to say that Ryan was wheezing and she thought we needed to get him to to doctor as soon as we could. Since it was 3:00, I ran out the door and the pediatrician saw him right away when we arrived. She gave him a breathing treatment and sent us home with a mask and inhaler for him to do every 4-6 hours for the next week. It was scary, but he responded fairly well to the treatment in the office. She looked at Riley while we were there for good measure and she was all clear. Later that night he was up wheezing again and we were afraid we might be making a trip to the ER, but luckily he settled down around midnight and didn't wake back up until Tuesday morning. Kevin went out of town on Tuesday for work and I had a pretty good day at work. As I was pulling into the school to pick up the kids, they were calling me to say that Riley had a 102 degree fever and didn't seem to be herself. So - I got them home and they each melted down as soon as we walked in the door. I was trying to keep my cool and quickly feed them and get them to bed, but I just about melted down myself when I looked at Riley and she had just thrown up all over her dinner. At that point - I put in a call to my friend Lori (who lives next door) to "Come Now"! She was here in a flash and we got everyone settled and in bed early. The girls from the neighborhood came over for dinner and that was by far the highlight of this week! It was a great night, but I was quickly brought back to reality on Wednesday morning. I had decided to keep both kids home due to the fever, so I let them sleep in and checked their temp when they woke up. Both had fevers still close to 102 and they had had several rounds of motrin, so I put in another call to the doctor and the nurse said we could wait it out unless "they are fussy, clingy, can't be pleased..." at which point I responded with "all of the above - when can you see them"? Thankfully my mom came over to help me. After they napped, both of their temps had dropped back down to 98.2 and 98.6, so I even contemplated cancelling my 4pm appt, but decided to just go on anyway. Thankfully I kept the appointment because by the time we got to the dr's office, Riley was steaming hot. Her whole face was beet red and she was now wheezing pretty badly. They moved us to the top of the list (which sounds nice, but it's really scary) and gave Riley a breathing treament right away. It's an 8 minute treatment and she fought us hard, but by the end she was literally limp. Breathing better, but limp. I just knew the doctor's next words were "here's the directions to Scottish Rite Hospital", but we decided to wait it out in the office for just a bit. Her oxygen level was 95 (I learned anything over 93 is good), but Ryan's had been 99 on Monday, so I was very concerned. Riley eventually perked up and was her hyper self by the time we left there with a prescription for a mask and inhaler for her as well as steroids for both kids. Both of these can make kids hyper. We had a long wait at the drugstore (my mom waited in the car with both kids for almost an hour - she's a saint!) and eventually left without an meds. The insurance company wouldn't cover the medicine since it was just filled 2 days before for a child with the same birthdate. One of the fun challenges of having twins. It took us until Friday to get that straightened out and hopefull for good. Luckily we were able to use Ryan's inhaler for both of them, so it wasn't a big deal. We bought some popsicles and they enjoyed those on Thursday. Riley couldn't figure out which end to eat from and Ryan wasn't so sure about how to handle it, but they liked them and it kept them occupied for a brief period of time. Neither of them has had much of an appetite and as of Saturday, they have lost 2 pounds each. Ryan had a few pounds to spare, but Riley did not, so we are hoping the appetite returns soon so we can fatten her up. Kevin stayed home with them on Friday and he had a good day with them until about 30 minutes before I got home. Riley could not be consoled and he finally gave her some food. That was the only thing that would calm her. She didn't eat that much, but at least it calmed her down. Yesterday Riley went to run errands with me and Kevin too Ryan with him. Riley was so bored restless and I was "that mom" in Ann Taylor Loft. I just went in do a quick return and she lost it right there in the middle of the store. I was a bit short with the people working there because I just wanted to get out and the lady leaned over and said "we aren't supposed to let you use this coupon, but we went ahead and gave it to you this time since we could sense your frustration". Sounds really nice, but not in the condescending tone she used. I just wanted to get out of there - coupon or not!!! Today I took them up to the Stride Rite outlet to meet Gramma. She bought them some shoes for Christmas. It was a fairly tame experience, but only after Riley took down an entire stack of shoe boxes (it was loud). I tried to get them a treat, so I bought them a fruit smoothie and a plain pretzel. They just mastered the art of sucking through a straw, but they couldn't get the smoothie through the straw and had no interest in the pretzel. It just made them fuss more since it was too thick for the straw, so mom and I would suck it up through the straw and then empty it into their mouths. Not really fun for anyone participating! I was hoping they would nap on the way home, but no such luck. Grandaddy was over after they got home so they had a quick visit with him before going to bed at 5:30. I don't know what that means for tomorrow morning, but it was worth it tonight for them to just go on to bed. :) Their fevers have been gone now for 2 days, but their appetites are still not back to where they are normally and they are CRAZY!!! I'm hoping this is not a phase, but rather how the medicine has made them act. I don't think I can handle two hyper kids like this on a regular basis. They are done with the steroid and we are tapering off the inhaler, so hopefully the end is in sight! We are sending them back to school tomorrow, and we are looking forward to everything being back to normal in this new week! In the grand scheme of things, we have so much to be grateful for - even with them being sick. I can honestly see that, but I will be the first to admit that I am tired and look forward to having my healthy happy children return sooner than later!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081203Popsicles#

Thanksgiving & Santa Claus

We had a nice Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday and have had a very busy weekend. Riley and Ryan weren't very enthusiastic about the meal we cooked for Thanksgiving. I figured they would love each and every bite, but they really didn't like any of it except the pumpkin bread. Oh well - they missed out on a great meal! After our lunch / early dinner we headed to Lawrenceville for the lighting of the tree. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and it truly was an enjoyable evening. Riley and Ryan loved people watching and seeing Santa arrive! After the lighting, Gramma sang with her choir and we heard the first of many Christmas carols for this season! They went back and spent Thursday and Friday nights with Gramma and Grandaddy. I think they all had a great time as did Kevin and I. We went out to dinner with friends to celebrate my 34th birthday. It was nice to have a free day (I only had to work a half day) and evening and then to sleep in on Saturday! I told Gramma and Grandaddy that was the best birthday gift they could give me. We were very excited to see them on Saturday and then we went to visit Santa Claus! I really thought Ryan would just scream the whole time, but they both did great. No real smiles, but at least no tears. They both looked so cute and much bigger than this time last year. The babies are growing up! We had another day of hanging around the house today. Kevin has been fighting a cold and I took the opportunity to get the house decorated for Christmas. It was a cold rainy weekend, so it was a perfect time to get it all out. I'm glad it's behind and me we can officially say "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"!

Web Albums added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081127Thanksgiving2008#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081129Santa2008#

First Steps

Well the day has finally come that we can say that Riley took her first steps!!! Kevin and I were both looking at her and she took one step then did her typical dive onto Kevin's belly. She was SO PROUD of herself as were all of us. We cheered and clapped and cheered and clapped and cheered and clapped (you get the picture). She did it several times and right before bed she took 2 steps. Today is a good day. We have happy healthy babies...and one that just took her first steps! :)

We had a nice weekend. We went to Avery's 1st birthday party and Riley and Ryan behaved perfectly. They sat at the kids table and ate lunch while we sat in the booth next to them. They sat their and at their lunch like big kids. That night we went to the lighting of the Christmas tree at Atlantic station and they got to see Santa! The lighting was at 8pm. We made it until 7:45 and then couldn't stand it any longer. It was very cold and way past their bedtime, so we headed home. We'll see the tree all lit up another time. I promise! :)

We have all been fighting colds, so we declared Sunday "PJ day"! Riley and I stayed in our PJ's all day long, but Kevin and Ryan actually put on clothes to go grocery shopping. I think it was just what we needed. We all woke up feeling much better today. Grandma came over to visit with us and she helped bathe the kiddos and put them to bed and Kevin was able to go watch the Falcons game. It was a nice break for all of us.

PS - we found 2 more bottom teeth (1 each) this weekend, so that brings each of their teeth count to 8!

Web Albums added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081122AveryS1stBirthday#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081122ChristmasTreeLightingAtlanticStation#

Winter Days

The cold weather has arrived and we are now bundling them like snowmen when we leave the house. It's funny to see them with their hats on! I snapped a few photos of them before we headed to church on Sunday. Loved seeing them in their church clothes. We also found that each of them has a new tooth on the bottom, so this makes a total of 7 teeth each! I took them to the doctor today since Ryan has been battling some stomach issues over the last couple of weeks and has lots of congestion and Riley has a rash, but both are "a-ok". No infections or anything that can be "treated". Just lots of rest.... :) They also got the 2nd part of their flu shot so we are done with shots for now. They were troopers, but both cried like they were dying. It was hard to manage that part alone - really missed Daddy on this visit! I gave them each teddy grahams and the tears quickly dried up. Thank goodness I had a spare bag in my purse!

Web Albums Added: http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081116WinterDays#

Climber / Talker

I would have to label this weekend "climbing" and "talking". Let me explain... Riley was playing in the play room on Saturday morning and I looked up and she was standing on the seat of the car (picture to the left) with her hands raised in the air clapping. She was so very proud of herself I just had to grab the camera. By the time I snapped this photo, she was on her way down, but you get the idea. When I first saw her my heart sank since she was balancing hands free on something with wheels, but she was so proud I couldn't ruin her moment. She's pretty good on her feet. She has continued to climb all over the place this weekend. She and Ryan were both very very active at Play2Grow on Saturday. They climbed all over everything and proved that they are ready to move up to the next class next week. They will graduate from Baby Spa into the big kids room! Gramma came to see them at their last class and then joined us for the cd release party for the "Baby Grands". Our friends have produced a children's music cd and it's really good music. You should check it out for yourself: http://www.myspace.com/thebabygrands

Now for the "talking" part of this post. Ryan has developed a very distinct language and has had full conversations with us talking in this language. He has very distinct words and inflection in his voice and speaks with great passion. We just wish we knew what he was saying! He was upset with me yesterday when I was changing his diaper and I know for sure he was telling me off. I guess it's those times I'm happy I can't understand him! It's very cute to watch and listen to him talk to us. It makes me really look forward to the day they each can talk with us. I know... one day I will wish I hadn't said that since they will be talking non stop, but for now I truly wonder what goes through those precious little heads and what they are thinking!

We receive the CD with all of their 12 month photos this week (not just the ones on the slideshow), so here's the link to them: http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/2008101212MonthPhotos# We are thrilled with how they turned out. Thanks Jen! http://www.jenwunderlichphotography.com/

Web Album Added: http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081108Play2Grow#

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2008 has come and gone! Riley and Ryan had a lot of fun celebrating the big day and wore their costumes a total of 4 times over the last few weeks. I think that is great since I was expecting them to have them on for about an hour. I guess you could say we got our moneys worth. (esp since I bought them from someone in the multiples club at a deep discount!) They wore their shirts from Aunt Heather and socks and headband from Gramma to school and looked so cute! Riley was not digging the headband so I kept trying to get her to keep it on. Once Ryan saw how much attention she was getting, he went and took the headband. I put in on him and he LOVED it! I guess it's ok for now... Daddy wasn't so excited about seeing his son with a headband on, but like I said, I guess it's ok for now. We went over to the Fenzls for a dinner before heading out to trick or treat. There were grand plans of letting the kids decorate quesadillas like pumpkins, but once everyone arrived (14 adults and 11 children), it quickly turned into survival mode. Can you say chaos? It was totally crazy for about 30 minutes, but once we headed out it was fine. Everyone got lots of candy and Riley and Ryan loved riding in their wagon and playing with each other and Zack (the only one that was younger than them). They stayed up until about 830 before losing it and going straight to bed, but the best part is that they slept until 8 this morning! After Play2Grow we came home and all 3 of us slept for about 3 hours this afternoon. I guess I was really tired too! Overall a great time was had by all!

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081031Halloween#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081101Play2Grow#

Trick-or-Treating at MK

Today Riley and Ryan came to my office to trick or treat. There were so many cute costumes and, as you see, a great time was had by all. Riley and Ryan loved seeing the other kids and playing with Avery. We had a nice time playing with all of my friends in the office. As we were leaving Riley and Ryan both were blowing kisses at all of them. That's a first! They wanted to make sure to impress everyone with their talents! I also snapped a few photos of them before school this morning in their new winter hats. They weren't so sure about them, but they sure did look cute! Yesterday, we got a call that Ryan had a fall at school and bit his tongue. He was bleeding pretty badly, but he was fine. I washed out my first blood stains from his shirt last night. I hope that's the last time, but I'm betting not. I guess that's not so bad...almost 13 months in before the first bloodshed. :)

Web Albums added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081023SickDay#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081028TrickOrTreatingAtMorganKeegan#

1 Year Photos

We had their 1 year photos taken about 2 weeks ago. We weren't sure how they were going to turn out because the kids were SO TIRED (it was the day after their birthday party). Riley cried a lot, so I figured there would only be a few good shots, but once again our friend Jen came through for us with some great shots!

http://www.jenwunderlichphotography.com/

Go to the “Slideshows”
Click on “The Hutchinson Family”
Password is: R&R

Enjoy! Make sure the volume is up – there’s a great song to go with them.

12 Month Stats / Pasta Dinner

Riley and Ryan had their official 12 month appointment this week and I wanted to share their stats (or have a record of them - somewhere). It seems that both of them are going to be taller than their mommy! They are in the 75th and 90th percentile in height, so hopefully some of those "Hutchinson Height" genes have come truly through!

Riley
Weight 20lbs (25th%)
Height 29.75" (75th%)
Head 18"

Ryan
Weight 26.2lbs (90th%)
Height 31.25" (90th%)
Head 19.75" (93rd%)

Also, tonight they had a pasta dinner and LOVED it (from head to toe)! They've had pasta before, but tonight I decided to add a little sauce. The covered themselves, but ate every bite. I think they've had it at school before, but this was their first time at home. We will definitely have to go straight to bath time every time they eat pasta with sauce!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081022PastaDinner#

Sneak Peek

You are getting a sneak peek at the crazy monkies!!! They are going to be monkies for Halloween and they had their first chance to wear the costumes this weekend at the Multiples Club Fall Festival. Luckily they LOVED the costumes and even laughed out loud at one another once we put them on. I guess that is one of those good things about having twins. They didn't care that we had put this funny costume on them because they were too busy laughing at one another. It was a nice cool morning, so the thick fuzzy costumes were just right to keep them warm. We're hoping for a cool Halloween night as well.

Last night we hosted a baby shower for our neighbors that are having twins (yay!!!), so Ms. Shuronda came over to babysit. They were so excited when they saw her walk in. They loved playing with her - fun night for all!

Today we woke up this morning and all of us were so tired, so we all 4 went back to sleep. Riley slept for about 2 hours and Ryan almost 3 1/2! I guess we all needed the extra rest. They spent the afternoon with Gramma so we could attend a toddler seminar. It was a great afternoon for all of us. They got to play lots with Gramma and we got to learn lots on how to discipline and influence these wonderful young people into becoming wonderful children and adults! Let the fun begin...

Riley and Ryan both now have 2 more teeth on top for a total of 6 teeth each! Wow! We go for their 1 year check up tomorrow, so we are looking forward to a healthy report!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081018MultiplesClubFallFestival#

The Party is Over

We have partied for days and we are tired! We celebrated Riley & Ryan's birthday with a fun-filled party yesterday. We had lots of friends over to play, celebrate and eat cake! They both put on a great show by basically diving into their cakes and devouring them. They were covered in icing and cake from head to toe, but they loved every minute of it. Riley flung cake all over the place - including Gramma's face and clothes. Luckily all of the icing washed out just fine. They went to bed an hour early last night and slept for 13 hours straight! After church, they came home and slept for 3 hours! I think they were pooped...and we are too! It was a great way to end their first year and begin their second. We look so forward to watching them grow up during this next year!


Video of Happy Birthday:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sidthedom/BigParty#5256367187880230274

Video Devouring Cake:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sidthedom/BigParty#5256383147771891938

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/200810111stBirthdayParty#

No Longer a "Snaggle-Tooth"

For several weeks now we have all been eagerly awaiting Riley's second top tooth to break through the skin and it finally made it's debut a few days ago! This means no more fussiness, right? We'll see... :) Ryan is about to get 2 more teeth on the top bringing his total to 6!

Riley and Ryan spent last night with Gramma and Grandaddy since their school is closed today. They should have a super day together. We can't wait to hear all of the tales...stay tuned!

1 is fun...right?

Today is Riley and Ryan's big first birthday! They woke up to mommy and daddy singing them Happy Birthday and then melting down. We started our day just as any other, but for some reason they both had melt downs before they left the house - for no apparent reason, of course. And since it was their birthday we caught it all on tape! I figured why not capture the moment as it really happened! Luckily it was all uphill from there. Kevin and I met them at school just in time for snack and they shared cupcakes with everyone in their class. Riley loved it from the moment she started and Ryan took a little while to warm up to it but eventually loved it too! Surprised? Absolutely not. It happened just as I would have predicted. Suits their personalities perfectly!

After getting home early from school and a little play time, Gramma and Grandaddy came over...with gifts! They brought each of them their own remote controls since they LOVE to play with the real thing. These were a huge hit. They also gave them a brand new fabulous wagon, which they also love, but the big hit was the empty boxes, pears picked from the tree in Washington and the mini pumpkins. Surprised? Absolutely not! Isn't that what 1 year olds do? They like the simple things! They also opened a few gifts from us, Joy & John and some awesome clothes from Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad. They are truly blessed!

Off to dinner after presents and I swear the sugar rush had a delayed reaction for Riley. I don't think she was still for one moment the entire meal. She wasn't bad, just very very active. She was either "dancing", clapping, bouncing, or moving in some fashion at all times. Ryan was active as well, but didn't hold a candle to Riley. Needless to say - Riley was sitting next to Kevin and he never touched his chicken. He mainly ate pieces of their chicken fingers and fries and has a nice take out meal for lunch tomorrow!

When we got home, the Fenzls came over for a quick cupcake and gifts. They played for a while, headed to bath time and hit the hay about 45 minutes later than usual. It was a good day. My babies are 1. I guess they are now my "children"...no more babies in this house. Oh did I mention that their teacher told me yesterday that they were "playing" us? Yes - our babies, um, children are already "playing" us. They have been giving us a hard time about taking their sippy cups making me think they didn't know what to do with them or that it's been traumatic to them to no longer have bottles, but their teacher said they guzzle their milk...from their sippy cups. So - last night mommy decided to completely remove any and all bottles from our kitchen. Yep - I packed them up and took them to the basement - for good! It felt good, but was also strange to look in the cabinet where 30+ bottles have resided for the last year and it be filled with only sippy cups. No more formula, no more rice cereal...only sippy cups. My babies are growing up. I like this new chapter and will embrace it like I have all of the others. Being 1 is definitely fun and we look forward to starting year #2!

Today Riley weighed 20.5 pounds and Ryan weighed 26 pounds!

We Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081007FirstBirthday

From Summer to Fall

After the long day in the car driving back yesterday, we got up this morning and headed to north Georgia to visit Burt's Pumpkin Patch. It was a cool crisp morning and made me really ready for Fall. Riley and Ryan loved playing around with all of the huge pumpkins and we chose a pumpkim for each of us. We went on a hay ride and Ryan immediatly popped up and hung on to the side of the cart and loved the wind blowing his hair and watching everything as we rode along. Our little scaredy-cat is becoming quite the dare devil! He has really come out of his shell over the last week. He was crawling all over the beach and up embankments and straight toward the water with absolutely no fear! I thought I was only going to have one wild one, but he might have been holding out on us. After we got home Riley and Ryan were playing in their playroom and twice when I checked on them Riley had climbed on top of something. She had opened the "oven" in their large play kitchen and used the door as a "stool" to get to the sink. Then when I went back she was at the other end of the room. She had turned the small kitchen completely over and was standing on top bracing herself with the wall. When I went in there she was just smiling from ear to ear like she had conquered the world. She is very persistent! I know someone else that has that persistence, so I can appreciate her accomplishments! It's hard to believe their birthday is less than 48 hours away...my babies are growing up right before my eyes, but I am so very proud of who they are already and what they can do! I look forward to all of the new accomplishments in their 2nd year.

I had to snap a few photos tonight during bath time - they were so excited to be in their own bath tub with all of their toys!

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081005BurtSPumpkinPatch#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081005BathNight#

Family Vacation is Over

Family vacation is over and I am tired! We had the most fabulous week, but as the saying goes, "I need a vacation to recover from my vacation"! I was amazed at how quickly the week flew by for us. I was expecting it to be a long week - especially with 4 children ranging in age from 7 months to 2 yrs old, but it was a very nice week. We used to travel with Joy and John a lot when we were all dating and first married, but haven't been on many trips together lately, so it was very nice to catch up with them this week.

Candler came down with a fever late in the week, so the last few days were challenging for them trying to figure out what he needed...and he was very needy. Poor little guy... We had a rough morning on Saturday when we were packing up to leave. Packing to me is always stressful, but with 2 children with fever (Palmer woke up with a fever also on Saturday), 2 Hutchinson children screaming for no apparent reason and 4 stressed adults trying to clean up and get everything packed, it was a rough morning for all of us. Kevin and I had a huge blow up which just added to the stress level. At one point Joy and I just looked at each other and said we could cry...and I did! :) It was not a happy ending to a beautiful week, but we got over it once we got on the road. No family vacation is truly a real trip without some sort of blow up, right? It turns out that Candler and Palmer have hand, foot and mouth disease, so Riley and Ryan were exposed to it. It is contagious, but they have shown no symptons whatsoever at this point. We'll keep our fingers crossed that is doesn't hit our crew.

On the way home we drove through Tallahassee and visited with my college roommate, Andra Kay, and her family (Brian, Fuller, Mary Carlton & Mac). We had never met her 3rd son, Mac, and had never been to her house, so we took the opportunity to stop by and eat lunch with them. I was very sad when we left and it made me wish we lived closer to one another. Her 2 oldest are 7 and 8 years old. I so wish we could watch our children grow up together. I realized why we loved living together and, as usual, we picked up right where we left off! Around dinner time, we were near Cordele, so we stopped any my Aunt Tricia met us for dinner at Wendy's. Uncle Carl was working, so we were only able to have a quick visit with her, but it was nice to catch up.

Since we had such a tough start on the way home we let the babies (I can still say that a little longer, right?) have their milk in the bottles. I'm hoping to get them totally transitioned in the next week. They are not happy about no more bottles. I've decided they like anything you put in their bottle. Ryan even chugged some cold water from a bottle this week. I guess that is their norm, so I don't blame them, but change is good...they are growing up!

Riley and Ryan did great on the trip home. They loved watching the DVD's and cheered loudly when we put on Classical Baby that Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad sent them. They clearly communicated to us that those are their favorites! Vacation is over and back to reality tomorrow. Did I mention that I need a vacation? :)

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081002DestinDay5#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081003DestinDay6#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081004DestinDay7OnTheWayHome#

No More Formula!!!

We have officially transitioned from formula to milk! Yes - that's right - no more mixing of formula!!!! We had hoped to be done with formula and bottles at the same time, but they still aren't so sure about the sippy cups. We tried giving them their "bottles" yesterday in sippy cups, but they were not participating. I guess one thing at a time. We hope to have the bottles transitioned out in the near future.

We are having a blast at the beach! I still can't believe how much they love the sand and ocean. They only went in the edge of the water, but they kept crawling towards the waves as they were coming in yesterday. One even rolled over Ryan fairly fast and he didn't get upset. Riley was quite fussy yesterday (when we weren't at the beach) and so far today. We are all hoping her second top tooth comes in soon. I think that is what is causing this fussing. You can see the edges of the tooth so any day now it should be in (we've been saying that for a few weeks now). Yesterday morning they just "had to get out", so we headed over to the Baytown area and went to breakfast. We then walked all around the shopping area and went out on the pier and saw some very large yachts. It was just what the needed. They loved being outdoors and seeing all the new sights. When we got back we headed to the beach where they played hard. They won't wear their hats, so we are being extra careful about the sun on their heads. Otherwise they would have stayed out for many more hours. They took an almost 3 hour nap yesterday afternoon after all the fun. Joy and I were able to get out to the outlets for some shopping during nap time. We found some good deals, but the best part is that we weren't rushed. I didn't realize what a treat that is! Even when I have time, I'm rushed because I'm usually trying to cram in a bunch of errands into a limited amount of time. This morning they ate scrambled eggs for the first time and LOVED them! They goobled them down! I scrambled 2 eggs for them to share and I think Ryan would have easily eaten both of them. We convinced him that Riley needed to at least try them. We're off to the beach again soon, so logging off for now.

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080930DestinDay3#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081001DestinDay4#

Destin Day 2

Today was a great day of vacation! Since we are on central time, the time difference has been a bit challenging for Riley and Ryan's schedule. Ryan woke up this morning at 4:58am and it was tough to get up. He "rested" in the bed with us for just a bit and then Riley was up about an hour later. We went for a family walk down to the beach while it was still cool and basically had the beach to ourselves. It was so nice and peacefull. We had a quick nap time and then all 8 of us headed to the beach. It was quite a process getting all of us and our stuff down there, but it was very nice once we got settled in. I love this picture to the left because Riley and Ryan don't really interact all that much, but today they were definitely fighting over toys and crawling all over each other. Typically Riley is the one giving Ryan a hard time, but today it was Ryan fighting back! This sums up a true sibling love!

They ate well and slept well after a few hours at the beach and a quick dip in the pool - which they absolutely loved! Today was a good day for the Hutchinson Family. We look forward to a fun night relaxing with Joy and John. Hopefully tomorrow won't start before 5am! :)

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080929DestinDay2#

Pure Bliss!!!

We are in Destin for the week with our friends Joy & John and their 2 sons Candler (2 ½) and Palmer (7mos). I’m looking forward to spending a full week with the kiddos. I’m sure we’ll all be exhausted by the end of the week and ready to get back to our routine, but it will be a nice week for sure. We are supposed to have beautiful weather all week so that only adds to the great time. We arrived in Destin just after lunch time and had a very nice and easy trip down here. We moved the kids to forward facing in their carseats so they would be able to watch DVD’s on the way down, but I think we could have made it without them! They definitely watched them, but I think they would have been ok even without that distraction! Once we arrived we made a trip to the grocery store and took naps and then headed to the beach. We weren’t sure how they would react to the sand, but they absolutely LOVED it! See for yourself in the photos I’ve loaded. I think Ryan would say today was one of his all time favorite days. Pure bliss is the way to describe his time in the sand. He loved crawling in it, digging in it with his hands and feet, and even taking a taste…yes we caught him on film eating sand! Riley didn’t take to it quite as well as Ryan did, but she definitely enjoyed her time too. I would love to know what was running through their minds as they saw this never-ending path of sand. I'm sure they felt very "free"! More to come later in the week I'm sure, but thought we’d share a glance into our day today with you!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080928Destin#

Ryan's First Haircut

We are 2 weeks shy of their first birthday and the time had come for Ryan's first haircut. The hair that hangs over his ears and the jagged neckline (did I mention mullet?) have been around too long. I've heard it's bad luck to cut their hair before they turn one, but regardless of luck, the time had come. All 4 of us gathered at Super Cuts for Ryan's first experience with a haircut and he was remarkably brave. I had visions of him being eternally traumatized, by this experience since he's usually unsure about new things, but he did great. He only fussed a little (as you will see in the pictures) and basically sat there and let the lady do her thing. She used scissors as well trimmer and he just sat there and took it all in. I think he liked the attention we gave him. He wasn't overly fond of her getting near his neckline, but other than that it was no big deal to him. I was amazed and proud! Our little guys are growing up right before our eyes. First it's the haircut, then the first day of Kindergarten, then driving off for the first time. This is the first of many "firsts" and I have to say I'm one proud mama of my little boy! We celebrated this momentous occasion with a dinner at Chick-fil-A and they LOVE their chicken nuggets. Again, the first of many "firsts"!

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080923RyanSFirstHaircut#

Almost a year...

We are just over 2 weeks shy of Riley & Ryan's first birthday! I can hardly believe how time has flown by right before my eyes. As I reflect back on this first year we've come so far. I'm still amazed by them each and every day as well as being blessed with such a wonderful partner in this journey. Kevin is not only a great daddy, but he had gone above and beyond what most men will do these days. We are truly partners and for that I will be forever grateful. Riley is on the verge of walking. She is pulling up on everything and "cruising" from one thing to another. Ryan is getting more and more vocal each day - even sometimes repeating after me. He especially loves to talk (very loudly) when we are in the car. Riley has learned to let us know (right away) when she is done with something or is no longer interested. Ryan still loves to cuddle and just relax with you, while Riley is up for any new adventure. Ryan is tender hearted while Riley is tough as nails and very determined. They both have great smiles that can light up a room and the very best belly laughs that only I can get out of them on demand. They love to eat (just about anything) and are great sleepers. They love to be out and about and experience new things. They are happiest when we are on the go (just like their mommy).

I went through their many many hand-me-downs tonight and was going through some old clothes and just had to reflect. I remember very clearly this time last year looking at the 3-6 months clothes thinking how huge they were and now they are so very tiny. Someone gave us a pair of 12 month pants for Ryan when he was born and I thought - he will NEVER wear these - and he wore them today. They have grown so much in size but it's also been amazing to me to see them develop mentally. They catch on to things so well now and are sponges. I realize the responsibility we have and I am almost overwhelmed. How will we ever teach them everything they need to know? ...but I know we will. We've almost survived the first year of twins, right? So many people say that if you can survive the first 18 months to 2 years with twins that the hardest part is behind you. I've thought all along that this has been fairly easy (considering we didn't really know how we would do this a year ago), but mobility has brought on new challenges. I've been more overwhelmed and had more feelings of helplessness and sheer exhaustion in the last few weeks, but also had a greater sense of joy from my time with them. I guess the good times are getting better and the hard times harder...thus the theme of parenthood. Can't wait til their teens!

So enough of the reflection... just wanted to capture some of my feelings since we are almost at a milestone! We had the fall festival this weekend at their school and it was a fun time. Gramma and Grandaddy came to play with us and the weather could not have been any more perfect. I worked with the silent auction, so I was preoccupied toward the end, but I think overall it was a success and everyone had a great time. Ryan has some long patches of hair, so we bid on a gift certificate to SuperCuts and won! We will be making a trip there this week so he'll be stylish for the big party! We will leave on Saturday for a week in Destin, FL with our friends, Joy & John and their 2 boys Candler and Palmer. It should be an interesting week, but we are looking forward to a change of scenery and the beach should be beautiful this time of year. We'll see if they take to the sand any better now than when we went 6 months ago. That's all I have for now. I'm off to bed to get some much needed rest!

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080909HangingOut#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080920Play2Grow#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080920FallFestival#

Mr. Mom

I was out of town all week at a conference for work and Kevin did an amazing job playing Mr. Mom. He always makes it look easy. We've done a lot of resting and catching up this weekend and we're about to head to bed again soon. I'm trying to catch up on all the rest I've missed preparing for and going to this conference. It was a success, but as usual, I'm glad another one is behind me. The kids were excited to see me when I picked them up on Friday. They've been a lot of fun this weekend. Ryan started pulling up to standing on his own yesterday and Riley's top teeth are visible through her gums - any day now! We went to Katharyn's and Tatum's 5th birthday party yesterday at the horse park. Riley & Ryan loved watching everyone ride the ponies. Everyone was so well behaved. We were amazed to watch 17 little ones ride ponies without a hitch! Gramma returned from California last night so she and Grandaddy stopped by on their way home from the airport. It was nice to see her after 3 weeks!

Web Albums Added:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080906Play2Grow

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080906KatTateSBdayParty#

Labor Day Weekend

Grandaddy arrived home from China on Tuesday and brought Riley and Ryan some neat gifts. He brought them each a traditional Chinese silk outift. I can't wait to see them in the outfits - once they get a bit bigger.

To start off the Labor Day weekend, we had Katharyn and Paul over for "kids" dinner. All 4 of them sat at the table and ate like big kids. It was such a sight to see! :) We went to Play 2 Grow on Saturday morning and then took a trip back to Memorial Park on Sunday. Riley ran errands with Daddy and Ryan with me. It was nice to have some one on one time together. We've spent a lot of time at home this weekend trying to get a few things done around the house. I think Riley and Ryan are bored being at home so much. We are just not as entertaining as they are used to. Grandaddy came over on Sunday to play with the kids and then he stayed over and let us go out to dinner with some friends. Grandaddy is on his way over again to go to dinner to night for Labor Day. I'm off to Memphis tomorrow and Kevin will be keeping them by himself until Friday. I'm sure they will have a great time! We're tired...Hanging out with 2 11 month olds is quite a job!

Photo Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080826GrandaddyBackFromChina
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080829DinnerWithTheBigKids
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080830Play2Grow
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080830LaborDayWeekend

Growing up FAST!

Riley & Ryan are really enjoying their new class and new schedule. We tried to keep with the same schedule this weekend and I think going to 1 longer nap is going to work out great. I feel like we did a lot of napping and eating this weekend, but they were happy. I think the feeding themselves part is taking them a bit longer than when I just fed them, but they are getting better each day. Sable & Sam are LOVING this stage. They get lots of cheerios and other dropped food and get the leftovers.

We went to the park yesterday with Lori, Katharyn, Paul, Alli, Tatum and Owen. They were on the swing for quite some time and squealed with joy the entire time. I think they would have stayed there for 2 hours. I went to a consignment sale yesterday with Jenni and got some great things for them. One of which is the rocking horse they both had to try out today. They liked being on it, but it will be heavily supervised until the get the hang of it. Riley also took a few steps walking behind the "walker". I had my hand right behind her, but she took at least 3 steps without me touching her and she was pushing right along. I think she'll be walking soon. She wants to stand up all the time and pulls up on anything she can. She just pops right up without much effort. Ryan is crawling like he's been doing it his whole life. He is so much happier now that he can get where he wants to go. He's drooling like a mad man, so I'm assuming that means more teeth!?!? Not sure but he's always been a drooler and this weekend has been much much more than usual. They are enjoying their new sippy cups too. They are babbling more and more, still mainly saying da-da and ma-ma with an occasional ba-ba. They have both started putting their hands on their head and patting it like they have a headache. Kevin has started saying "oh my head" and Ryan immediate grabs his head and cracks up. It's amazing to me that he can hear that and know what to do. They will be 1 year old in 6 weeks - unbelievable. Life is just blowing by us!

We got a message today that their teacher from their last class, Ms. Jada, had her baby boy this weekend, so we'll miss getting to see her at school for a while. I'm sure they'll be glad to see her when she returns. Grandaddy gets back from China on Tuesday, so I know they are all going to be so excited to see each other. Grandma is still in California and returns on Sept 6th. It will be nice once everyone is back home again.

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080823MemorialParkRockingHorse

Ryan has joined the "Crawlers" Club!

No pictures tonight, but I had to post about Ryan's big accomplishment this week! All of a sudden on Monday morning Ryan just started crawling, He has really taken off. He's crawling as good or better than Riley who has been crawling for a month. We have officially entered the world of mobility and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be...yet! We've only had a few incidents with the dog bowls and one night I thought Riley was headed straight for the stairs, but besides that we've been remarkably good. They stayed home from school on Monday with Daddy, due to their "digestive" issues, but headed to their new class at school on Tuesday. We were snapping a picture of them on the couch, when Ryan dove off - head first onto the rug. He bounced off the ottoman first and then hit the ground. It scared me to death, but he's fine. Just a few battle scars, but I'm sure it's just the first of many to come. They are enjoying their new class and have been eating the breakfast, lunch and snack that the school provides. It blows my mind that they are big enough to eat "school lunch". After we get them off the bottles/formula, we will be able to just send them to school - no food. That's crazy to me when you see what we pack each day. The babies are growing up before my eyes and I have to say I'm one proud mama!

Weekend at Home

We've been very lucky that Riley and Ryan have not been sick this summer. They've been happy and healthy, but this week they just couldn't seem to get over some "digestive" issues. We've been through LOTS of diapers in the last week, if you know what I mean! They came home early from school on Friday and are still not much better. We'll be making a trip to the doctor tomorrow to see what's going on. That said - they've been remarkably happy. We've had a fun weekend mainly hanging at home.

They had a transition week at school for their new T-Tots class. Riley did great, while Ryan was not as into the whole transition thing. By the end of the week, they said Riley was crying when she had to go back to her old classrom and Ryan was thrilled to be back to what is familiar. This is one of the first of many transitions and I think Ryan is going to be a little more affected than his adventurous sister.

Riley is really beginning to explore throughout the house. You'll see in the pictures that she crawled to the front door to look outside as well as crawled around the kitchen and got into the water bowls for the dogs. We are really going to have to get our eggs in a row to keep up with her. Ryan is also coming along in getting around. He can do a perfect 360 degree spin on his stomach to point in whatever direction he needs to go and then he eventually scoots there. He is not crawling, but is not letting that stop him from getting from point "a" to point "b". Another funny picture is Ryan with one of the foam tiles around his neck. They have discovered how to remove the foam flooring tiles and they are especially attracted to the letter "D". (Kevin says it's for Daddy). Ryan got the tile up, punched out the letter and proceeded to put the tile over his head. He was so proud of himself! He worked very hard and was determined to make it happen. Today Kevin put them in their NY Yankees hats and we had a short photo op. What cutie pies!

One last story and then I'm off to bed... Yesterday during "nap" time I heard the two of them belly laughing - not just giggling, but a full-on laugh from both of them. Kevin and I listened for a while and I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to go peak in on what was so funny. Riley had pulled up and was standing at the end of her crib. Ryan had pulled up on his knees (first time I've seen this from him) at the end of his crib and they were right across from each other. They were reaching out for one another and cracking up. This is the first time I've seen them TRULY interracting and it made me so happy to see them so happy! I'm sure it only means many days and nights of trouble from them in their bedroom, but today it made me smile! :)

Web Album Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080816WeekendAtHome

Road Trip

Gramma came over and spent the night at our house on Friday night (Grandaddy is in China for the Olympics). We watched the opening ceremonies - what a spectacular show! We got up on Saturday and went to Play2Grow. Gramma got to see us play and we had a lot of fun. Ryan was the most animated he's ever been there. He's usually very serious, but he let his hair down a bit this weekend. They played with hay for their sensory play and they weren't so sure about it at first. But by the end Riley was crawling all around in it and Ryan even chewed on a few pieces - making a great photo op.

After class we drove to Washington, GA for our 2nd visit to Gramma & Grandaddy's house. Our last visit was in November 2007 - we were just 4 weeks old. We've grown a lot since then and they've done A LOT of work to the kitchen and bathroom (and lots more). It looks great and I know we'll have many memories made in that very special house. I look forward to the day when Riley & Ryan will be able to play in the backyard on the slip n slide like I used to do at my Grandma & Grandaddy's house. :)

Ryan woke up on Sunday morning with 2 new teeth - front and center. We are hoping that now that these teeth have broken through the skin that maybe he'll sleep a little bit better. We've had quite a few fussy nights lately. They also started the transition into the "T-Tots" class at school today. The teachers said everything went well and they enjoyed it. They start all day in that class next week. We will officially no longer have babies....time flies!

On a side note, not really related to Riley & Ryan, I have to tell a story that still makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it. Mom, Kevin and I were pulling some weeds in the backyard and all of a sudden Kevin jumped up and started swatting at something. It was a swarm of wasps attacking him. He ran so fast and screamed like a girl all the way to the front yard. Knowing that he's ok now, I can't help but laugh. It was like a scene from a movie - screaming like a little girl, waving his arms and running the fastest I've seen him run...I think EVER! :) He was stung 7 times, but he had no major reaction. Once we got over the initial worry, we laughed and laughed and laughed some more. Memories...


Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080809Play2Grow
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20080809Washington