Donkeys & Pumpkins....What a Week

This was a first for all of us -- last week the school held a fundraiser by hosting a donkey basketball game. Mom took Harrison and me up to watch and it was exactly what you would guess from the title....the players all had to ride donkeys in a basketball game. It was very entertaining -- especially the one that kept bucking off whoever was riding him. Definitely not a high scoring or fast paced game, but well worth the evening out! Harrison ran into his friend Carter and sat by him....he's turning into such a big kid who doesn't need his mommy anymore (sigh....)The twins are still doing great....they pretty much still just eat and sleep and you won't hear any of us complaining about that! Madison even fell asleep in the middle of her bath the other day!
All clean and wearing their adorable new sleepers from Pops, Gams and Aunt Gina...(Madison is on the right)
Speaking of sleepy kiddos....the Notre Dame game on Saturday really wore poor Harrison out (the rest of us too....these games are way too close for comfort, but at least we won!)
Yesterday we decided to give pumpkin carving a try. Last year, we just painted our pumpkins but we were excited to try something different. That is, we were excited for about the first five minutes. Once we got the top cut open, Harrison and I lost interest and headed off to play.....leaving Daddy the job of finishing up the work. I was happy to return at the end to put the top back on, inspect his work and help light it up. Thank you Daddy for doing all the work!
(Harrison thought he was such a big helper by resting his hand on top of mommy's to help her carve out the lid...0



We are getting so excited for Halloween! In fact, Harrison's costume came in the mail today and he's wearing it already....it's very possible he won't take it off again for another few months he's so excited about it!

Goodbye Nona!

We tried to get a few group photos today before Nona headed out to the airport. Harrison wasn't too interested at first, but we finally got him in the shot! (Reagan is holding Madison, Nona is holding Kennedy)Mom is still in her pajamas but Nona really wanted a picture of all of us together...then again, Mom spends a lot of time in her pajamas, so it seems appropriate that our first family photo would reflect that...We're really going to miss you Nona. Thanks so much for coming out to visit and help! Love you!

The Shed

We got to take Nona out to see Papa and Grandma's shed on Sunday night. Like most, she was surprised to see it. I guess when you hear the word "shed" you don't quite picture this....
We had a great time showing Nona how well we drive. Papa and Grandma have set up obstacles for me to do figure 8s around and man, am I getting good. I even lean into turns and have figured out how to slam on the breaks, turn the wheel and skid into a stop. Look out on the roads in 10 years (yep...out here in good ol' South Dakota, they are going to arm me with a license at 14....even though I'm ready now apparently!). This picture is a bit blurry, but Mom had to add it because Nona captured my driving face quite well -- crazy!
It was opening weekend for pheasant season and I was pretty fascinated watching the guys clean their birds and collecting feathers. There really isn't much I'm grossed out by these days (did I mention that my new favorite hobby is collecting millipedes?!?!)

Harrison and I were also very happy to help Papa wash his pickup. We sure are glad that Papa and Grandma built that great big playground for us! :)

Fall -- It Came!

My best friends, who I refer to as "the twins" (but have since amended this title to "the big twins") came over to meet "my twins." Mom is so grateful to have a good friend who lives just down the street who has twin girls to serve as her mentor on this latest journey!
We were starting to think we were going to skip straight into winter. Not that we've been out much in the past two weeks, but everytime we opened the blinds in the morning, it was frosty or snowy or just darn right cold outside. But this weekend brought gorgeous weather and as soon as we saw the sun, we all ran outside to enjoy it. Daddy got to work cleaning up all the leaves and kept tricking Harrison and I over to the railing of the deck to scoop a pile of them on top of our heads (and yes, we willingly fell for it everytime!). We got our Halloween decorations up and colored the driveway with sidewalk chalk (there's a picture of me posing with the pumpkins I drew all over). Then we came inside and Nona helped Harrison and me bake some pumpkin bread. It was a great Saturday (followed by a disappointing loss by the Irish, but at least it was a close game....we kinda thought it would be a blow out). Today is another beautiful day and Jenna just came to take us to the park. Rumor has it, we're going out to Papa and Grandma's shed later too to show Nona how well we drive our cars out there!


Where were the twins all this time, you ask? Doing what they do best..... (Madison is on the left)

The twins are doing great - eating well, nursing at night which makes mom's job a little easier, (mostly) sleeping well, and just being really cute. They saw the pediatrician on Wednesday and he used the word "perfect" in his evaluation. Madison was 5 lb, 11 oz and Kennedy is climbing up there at 5 lbs, 6 oz. Still little peanuts that swim in their premie clothes, but growing the way they're supposed to and doing great.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

We are settled in so nice at home -- the only complaint Mom has would be about the snowflakes that keep falling out our window....but as for us kids, she just keeps saying she couldn't be any happier. It's been a pretty smooth transition so far -- aided by lots of help from Grandma, yummy meals brought by friends and family, the fact that the twins are still in that newborn stage where all they do is sleep, and now a visit from Nona. Madison and Kennedy are doing great, eating well, sleeping lots and getting so much love from me and Harrison.

Speaking of Harrison, he is such a proud big brother that he absolutely refuses to take off the bracelets they gave us when we visited the babies in the hospital.....(if you can't read them they say Kennedy's Big Brother and Madison's Big Brother -- one bracelet for each baby just like Mom and Dad had)
I personally can almost always be found holding one of the babies (usually Kennedy, but I'm trying to be more fair with my affection at the request of Mom and Dad). I'm a great helper and will run to put in pacifiers when they fuss and can usually be counted on to feed one when it's time for them to eat.
I'm such a good helper that I convinced Daddy that I could handle holding both of them at the same time. As I told him "I saw Grandma hold two babies, so I think I can hold two babies...."I could probably stand to sit and watch them all day long..."I just love them so much"
The cute little outfits are already coming as gifts from friends....these are from Daddy's cousin & his wife Kerrie....(Madison is in front)
We were pretty excited to show the babies off to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa (Daddy's Grandma and Grandpa). I think they were pretty excited to see the babies too...Nona flew in yesterday for a week and she is quickly learning how to love all 4 of us at the same time. I keep attacking her with hugs, Harrison is always asking her to play cars with him, and the babies just love to be held and to look at her. Mom is grateful to have her here and appreciated getting sent to her room by Nona today for a three hour nap!The babies took a pretty good nap too. No matter how you lay them down, they always find their way back to be nose-to-nose. It's just too cute!!!

Home Sweet Home

Mom and Dad and the twins finally broke out of the hospital yesterday. They were so happy to be home and I was thrilled to have my baby sisters at my house where I can see them anytime I want! Harrison and I are already helping out every way we can. With Grandma and Papa's help, we fed the babies --- although I'm very certain that I can do it myself and actually did a great job feeding Kennedy her entire bottle. Harrison likes being in charge of throwing diapers away, which is fine by Mom and Dad. Everyone had a smooth first night at home. Kennedy and Madison only woke up once between 12 and 7 so Mom and Dad are in pretty good moods this morning. Hopefully, they'll continue the trend. We'll see....

Here are a few pictures of our first day home together as a family....