Yankee Doodle Dandy...

This year was the boys' first 4th of July.  We all piled into the Tahoe and headed up to the Peninsula for a pretty spectacular show.  Josh and I were a little unsure as to how the boys would react to the fireworks, crowds, heat...any or all circumstances.  But, we were pleasantly surprised!  The boys loved it all.  Foster couldn't take his eyes away from the show, he sat on the blanket staring at the sky with his mouth open.  Jaxson did get a little nervous from the booms of the fireworks but still loved the lights!  It was a fun and special family outing!

While we were waiting for the fireworks to begin, the boys were crawling around on our blanket...a little leery of the grass.  Foster would crawl to the edge and reach his hand out but was too scared to touch it.  Jaxson just kept reaching out and petting it.  I then decided to walk with them barefoot along the fairway...both boys lifted their feet up to avoid touching the grass!  We've got to get those boys outside more!  

The boys will be turning one on Friday (I can't believe it) and the 4th was our last hat holiday.  There's no way I can top all of these precious hats, although they will have some pretty cute birthday hats.

Check out our 4th of July pics below...

 Jaxson

 Foster

 Jaxson

 Foster

 Getting ready for fireworks

My little June bugs...

Time is passing so quickly!  It's funny, when your a kid time seems to crawl and everything is measured by summer break; but as you get older time goes by more and more quickly...and you're still measuring everything by summer break!

We have adjusted into our new "two-working parents" routine, it's been a tough adjustment but I think we've finally figured it out!  The boys are doing great at daycare, thankfully!  They play hard all day and are exhausted when they get home.  Their teachers are wonderful and caring which makes leaving them much easier.  The downside to daycare are the illnesses the boys have come in contact with.  We are battling our second round of sickness with runny noses and coughs!  Our first week, however, Jaxson brought home pink eye and lovingly shared it with his brother!  Other than the new germs the boys (mommy and daddy too) are very pleased with their transition to daycare!  Josh is loving his new job and is doing well!  Lots of travel for him, but thankfully he's home most nights by dinner time.


The boys have hit some pretty cool milestones too!  Jaxson's vocabulary is expanding to include "oh boy", "hey", and "bye-bye".  Jaxson greets everyone at daycare with a wave and "hey", he's the Wal-Mart greeter of the daycare!  Foster loves saying "mom" and I love it too!  He is also working on "hey" and "bye-bye".  The boys have learned to high-five and shake hands, they are also learning to stand on their own without any assistance!  I think we're going to have walkers very soon.  I'm in no hurry.

It's been a whirlwind month but I think we're getting there!  Check out a couple of pics below from the last month...

Strawberry Fields Forever...

Saturday we took the boys to Patterson Farm in Mt. Ulla, NC (just outside of Mooresville) for a LKN MoMs strawberry picking event!  We had a blast.  There was so much to do...farm animals, wagon rides, playground, picnic, a market, and of course strawberry picking!  We loaded the boys up along with their wagon Santa brought them and a picnic.  The boys were a little too small to pick strawberries so I filled up the basket while Josh, Jaxson, and Foster ate the pickings!  Foster wasn't too impressed with strawberries however, Jaxson couldn't get enough.

After we filled the basket we headed over to the picnic tables and enjoyed our snack with the other multiples families.  We let the boys play in the giant sandbox after lunch and they loved it...until they stuck their sandy hands in their mouths.  Finally, we admired the cute farm animals...bunnies, piglets, peacocks, sheep, goats, and ducklings!

What an amazing day!  We can't wait to go back.

So, what did we do with all the strawberries you ask?  I dusted off my canning supplies and canned 4 jars of strawberry jam and 3 jars of strawberry honey butter!  Not quite 150 lbs. of apples but who's counting!

Check out our fun pics below...

 Foster not too excited about the strawberries

 Jaxson couldn't get enough!

 Playing in the sand

 Piglets

 Pretty peacock

 Our harvest

Strawberry jam and strawberry honey butter...yum!

Week of Firsts...

This has been a very exciting week for the Ayers clan!  Jaxson and Foster have had many "firsts" this week...almost something every day.

Foster said Ma-Ma for the first time on Saturday on our way to see the McGraths!  While at Rachel and Alan's they boys "swam" for the first time in Miss Eleanor's splash pool.  Poor Ellie wasn't sure what do with my crazy boys invading her space; but she held her own.

Jaxson said Ma-Ma for the first time on Wednesday!  Nothing sweeter than hearing ma-ma for the first time!  However, I am sure they have no idea what they're saying...but that's ok with me!

I took Friday off and we all headed to Birkdale for a quick outing.  Of course we had to make a stop at TCBY for some frozen yogurt!  Being the nice mommy I am I shared my fro-yo with Jaxson and Foster...I wish I could have gotten their faces on camera!  They haven't experienced anything that cold before...their faces were priceless!  After they recovered from their brain freeze they couldn't get enough...they loved it!

Finally, today we headed to Jetton Park for some mommy and son time while daddy went fishing.  Our last "first" for the week involved a swing set!  Check out the video below of the boys swinging for the first time...

Foster, Jaxson, & Ellie playing in the pool

 Jaxson swinging

Foster swinging 

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Foster and Jaxson are getting so big.  They are both standing, crawling, and getting into everything!  They are talking and jabbering like crazy...we have mastered "ba-ba", "da-da", and "pa"...still no "ma-ma".  Jaxson sticks his tongue out all the time, especially when he's trying to get into something!  Foster, on the other hand, bites his lower lip.  So funny.  They are so giggly too...whenever we make funny noises or faces they both just giggle.

We have started introducing water and a sippy cup.  Both have failed terribly.  Foster hates water, he makes the most awful faces if you give it to him...and then gets mad when he figures out it's not milk.  Jaxson just chews on the end of the bottle and won't drink.  We started mixing in a little bit of juice with the water and that seems to help.  The sippy cup was a disaster!  They hated it, screaming and crying for their regular bottle.  They kept throwing down the sippy cup and screaming.  However, something clicked today and they drank from the sippy with no tantrums!  Quite amazing.

Last weekend the boys met the Easter Bunny and had their pictures taken.  We also participated in an Easter Egg "Hunt" with the LKN Mothers of Multiples...really we just put a few eggs in front of the boys and let them play.  Nothing too exciting.  Finally, this morning we gave them their Easter baskets filled with a stuffed animal, "Pat the Bunny", "Run-Away Bunny".  Then we headed to the park for our Easter photo shoot...

Pictures from the LKN Mothers of Multiples Easter Party and our Easter Photo Shoot...

 Foster & Jaxson with the Easter Bunny

 "Hunting" for Easter Eggs

 Hello Foster!

 Jaxson found 2 eggs!

 Hanging with mommy

 Nana tickling Foster with her scarf

 Jaxson

 Jaxson

 Foster

 Foster

 Jaxson

 Jaxson

 Foster

 Jaxson

 Foster

 Jaxson

Luck o' the Irish...

Well today we had a our little St. Patty's Day photo shoot on the green way near our house.  The weather was beautiful and the boys loved being outside!

The boys are growing so fast (I think I type this statement on every blog post)!  Foster is crawling like a champ and if he can't crawl to where he wants to be, he rolls.  He is saying "da-da" and other 2 syllable words but has no clue what he is saying!  Jaxson is standing and bouncing and continues to crawl.  He too, says "da-da" and such like his brother.  The difference in their personalities is really amazing...Foster is the quiet, reserved one and is content playing with whatever is in front of him.  Jaxson, on the other hand, is in to everything!  He will dump out all of the toys in his toy box and play with each of them, he also likes to take whatever Foster is playing with!

The boys have also graduated into an inflatable tub for their baths and out of the blue plastic infant tub.  Jaxson seems to be a little more cautious about this bathing experience and whines a little, Foster really appears to enjoy it!  Foster splashes and plays in the water and steals the bath toys (a little payback maybe?).  Maybe Jaxson just prefers bathing alone, who knows!

Life as a working mother is getting a little more manageable; we have all settled into a routine and Josh continues to rock as a stay-at-home dad.  I truly treasure my time with the boys when I get home from work and on the weekends.

Check out our little Leprechauns below...

 My little Leprechauns

 Foster

 Foster

 Jaxson

 Best pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow...

 "Hey, let me see your hat!"

 Jaxson

 Jaxson

 Jaxson

 "What are you looking at?"

 "Let me fix your hat bro!"

 Checking out the grass

 Foster

 Foster

 "Hey, I can't see!"

 Foster...all smiles

 Jaxson

 Jaxson

 Jaxson...Mr. Serious

 Splish, splash takin' a bath!

 Jaxson getting squirted by a rubber ducky!

Foster relaxing...