heritage of love

Grandparents give their grandchildren so much.  Excessive toys, fun days away from mom and dad, snacks that aren't necessarily approved.  In our case, as in so many others, B&F's grandparents have given them something so much richer.  Without even knowing it, they have gifted our twins with a unique and amazing heritage of love.

Sylvia and Richard Hodge were married in 1970.  For nearly 43 years, they have been each others best friend.  Together, they have raised daughters and flowers and a loving home.

Anne and Jeff Shafer were married in 1980.  They have spent 33 years filling their home with three children, plenty of family fun (including the forced kind), and joy beyond measure.

These two couples have been married to each other, and only each other.  They have honored the institution of marriage.  They remain steadfast to their vows, and in so doing have provided a beautiful example for our children to follow.  I pray that, in many years, Barnes and Frances will both find someone with whom they can share their lives.  I pray that they will follow the example of their grandparents and hold tightly to their love, their commitment, and their promises.  And I pray that my grandchildren will one day be able to look at Andrew and myself and see this heritage of love continuing.

fat tuesday fun

B crowning F queen of mardi gras

These beads kept us occupied for a whole 30 minutes!

Why take beads off over your head when you can just shimmy them down like a pair of pants?

And on top of Fat Tuesday, it is also Cooper's 8th Birthday.
He celebrated in style with a "cheese and ritz cake."

Happy Birthday to our first born

17 months

B&F are officially creeping further into toddlerhood.  First, let me say that I love this.  I love how much personality they are showing.  I love that I feel I am getting to know them better.  I love how they can play and respond and interact.  But this is also proving to be a somewhat difficult stage for us.  They don't understand discipline yet.  It seems impossible to correct behavior that really can't be tolerated (biting each other, throwing toys at the dogs).  They get frustrated because, while they believe they are very clearly telling Andrew or myself what they want, we often have trouble understanding their babbles.  But overall, this age is proving to be full of fun and laughter.  Here's a little glimpse of what they are doing these days:

• Frances is a parrot.  She tries to mimmic everything we say.  Her best and favorite word right now is "car."  If anyone gets dressed, she starts pacing around, going to the garage door screaming car.  This girl is always ready for an outing.
• Barnes has started trying to repeat words as well.  Some of his words are a bit less discernible, but he talks non-stop.  Just this afternoon as we were getting our socks and shoes, we took turns yelling "sock" as loudly as we could.  A hilarious game.
• They are loving animal sounds.  We have currently mastered "arf arf arf" (dog), "quack" (duck), a clicking sound for bunny, a roar/growl for dinosaur, and Barnes can moo like a cow.  
• Frances gets very fixated on certain things.  On Thursday she realized that the pig puzzle piece was missing, and she spent a very long time (even by adult standards) looking for it.  We may have a type-A child in the making (no idea where she could get that).
• They both love stuffed animals, but Barnes is slightly obsessed.  He now has his giant dog and a teddy bear that he carries everywhere.  If we go down to the basement to play, he stands and whines until I go back upstairs and get them.  It's sweet...and a little strange.
• Barnes is not a morning person.  Waking up is definitely not his favorite thing.
• The one nap thing is really not working.  We've given it a month, and it's just not catching on.  These are some sleepy babies.
• Speaking of sleepy, we are trying to push their bedtime back a little (6:00 is just really early), but they are not loving it so far.  We kept them up until 6:10 tonight and Frances acted like she was being tortured.
• Their favorite foods are tacos, spaghetti, and fruit.  Their newest snack addition is pretzels.
• They love each other and miss each other when they are separated.  Barnes, however, was recently discovered riding Frances like a horse.  Probably won't be the last time.