A few current pictures....

The boys will be 18 months old THIS month!  I can't wait!  That means they get to go to Nursery during church.  The countdown is on!  It is so hard to actually pay attention during Sunday School or Relief Society/Priesthood with the boys.  Yes, I said Priesthood!  Troy was baptized on January 18th and confirmed on the 19th.  How cool is that?  (Pictures to come for that one as well - again, they are in my camera that I have not uploaded!).  I do have to say though that I am a bit nervous to have the boys go to nursery!  Even though we will be right there in the same building, they have never been watched by anybody other than myself or Troy.  Yes, you read that right.  NEVER been watched by anybody other than mom or dad!  Ok, before I get too sentimental and worked up about how they are growing so fast.....here are just a few more pictures that were taken this year. 

Landon and Tristan visiting their cousin Caroline at her final resting place.  We miss her and think about her every single day!

Picture with the Easter bunny!  Tristan usually cries for stuff like this, but this time he actually has a slight smirk on his face!  I think he was intrigued with the bunny.....Santa just down right scared him!

Our first family photo.  I will add more pictures from this photo session once we get settled (we moved back to my dad's).  This picture was downloaded and saved from the Picture People website.  I'll upload pictures from the CD which won't have the water mark in the background.

Landon snuggling with Maxie!  He sure does love both Maxie and Jeminye!

Do you think Landon sees mommy with Diet Coke often?!

Cousins!  Emily helping Landon on the tricycle.

My chubby cheek boy, Tristan!  Just enjoying the nice spring air!

A day at Wheaton Regional Park with the family.  Tristan LOVES the swings!

Boys FIRST Birthday!

I need to get better at blogging.  Looks like I have been posting every 6 months.  That's way too much!  And since it seems my brain is mush, I can't remember everything that happens during those 6 months.  So more regular blogging is definitely needed!

Last post was shortly before the boys first birthday.  So let's start with their FIRST birthday!!!  Landon and Tristan turned O-N-E on December 23, 2012.  What a day that was!  We had their party on December 21st.  Sadly, that was also the day of their Great Grandma Hill's funeral.  She passed on the 11th of December.  I was unable to attend the funeral because of all the party prepping, but Troy made it.  Because their birthday party was scheduled months in advance (that's me and my obsessive need to plan things well in advance), we didn't want to cancel it because of the funeral.  We still needed to celebrate the boys!  So while the morning of the 21st was rather somber, the rest of the day turned out to be great!

We had a lot of food!  Cheese and cracker platter, veggies and dip, fruit and dip, chicken wings, meatballs, nachos, bean dip, hot dogs, chips, grape skewers, etc, etc (this goes back to what I mentioned in the very beginning - I can't remember all the details regarding the food because of my lack of blogging.....hence the etc, etc. part.  Lol).  It was a sports theme - basketball, football, soccer, baseball.  We had sports decorations and I also made a basketball cake, football cake, and baseball cupcakes.  The basketball cake was a double layer cake, and was decorated with Reece's Pieces.  Yummy!  Everything went well, and I believe all had a good time!

Here are a few pictures from the party.  They are pictures taken on my phone.  I haven't saved the pictures from my camera onto the computer yet.....another task I need to accomplish soon!

I know - It's about time!

Finally - another post!  I haven't posted for about six months.  Where has the time gone?  I guess I just got caught up with being a mom!  Life has been busy!  Where do I even start?

Let's start with the 4th of July.  Troy, myself, and the boys were able to spend our 4th of July down in D.C.  We went to East Potomac Park, and just hung out for the afternoon/evening.  Troy walked to the D.C. Warf to get us some fish.  It was delicious!  Fried fish and hushpuppies!  Yum!  The boys slept for a good portion of the day, but we still enjoyed each others company!

Now we're in August.  A few things happened in August.  We were finally able to move into our own place, which is located in Hagerstown.  My beautiful baby niece, Caroline was born on August 24th, shortly before our move.  Caroline's spirit is so different from my other nieces and nephew.  Sadly, she passed on November 12, 2013.  She is greatly missed.  We truly had an angel here on earth with her.  She will be in our hearts forever!

September didn't bring much excitement.  Just trying to get settled into our apartment.  Lots of unpacking, getting the boys settled, etc.

October was the boys first halloween.  They were dressed up as a Tiger cub and a monster.  Too cute if you ask me!

November brings us to Thanksgiving, and the funeral service for our Sweet Caroline.  What a hard day that was.  I can only imagine what Chris and Liz were going through, and continue to go through.  My heart aches terribly for them.  The service was November 22nd, and the boys turned 11 months old the following day.  The following week brings us Thanksgiving.  We had Thanksgiving at our place with friends and family.  I cooked everything, except the turkey - that was Troy's job.  I made stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, ambrosia salad, waldorf (apple) salad, whipped jello, rolls, pumpkin pies, pumpkin cheesecake, and pecan pie.  Everything was homemade - nothing from a box!  We had a veggie and fruit platter as well as cheese and cracker platter as an appetizer while the food was finishing in the oven.  I think it turned out nicely.  Don't think I took any pictures of Thanksgiving though.  What was I thinking??

And now we are in December.  We are exactly one week away from the boys turning ONE!!  I took them last Friday to get their one year old pictures taken, as well as to get their first photo with Santa.  The boys are both very mobile, so that made the photo shoot challenging.  They didn't want to stay in one spot!  Their party is this coming Saturday.  Unfortunately it's the same day as the funeral for Troy's grandmother.  His dad wasn't very accommodating when selecting a date.  The party is at 4pm, and the funeral should end by 2:30 pm.  According to Troy's dad, there's enough time for both.  In what world?  It will take us at least an hour to get home, so that's 3:30 at the earliest.  Then I have food to prepare, a house to decorate, etc.  Not possible!  So I won't be attending the funeral, nor will the boys!  They have been sick anyways, so they don't need to be outside in the cold air.  Landon has an upper respiratory infection, and Tristan has the same, in addition to pneumonia and a corneal abrasion.  They have both had quite a few upper respiratory tract infections this fall.  Lots and lots of amoxocillin and use of the nebulizer!

Current stats for the boys:  Landon is 23 pounds, and Tristan is pushing 28.  They are some healthy boys!  29 and 31 inches respectively.

And now, what we all really want....the pictures!!!

And here they are at ONE!!!  (Well, ALMOST one!)