James and Marc's First Christmas!

This year for Christmas, Billy, the boys and I stayed home in Phoenix. We missed our family that lives out of state, but it was nice to be home with the boys. We spent Christmas Eve at Marc and Margaret's house and went to Uncle Bob's and Aunt Shelley's for a few hours on Christmas. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing our boys experience Christmas for the first time. They loved the presents, and kinda got the idea of opening them, but once they opened one present, they just wanted to play with it and not move on. Next year will be a little more "crazy" I am sure! :)

Marc is playing with Toby at Marc's house...Toby is so good with the boys and they love crawling around him and playing with him. (I love how Marc is holding his paw...so cute!)

Here is Marc, Billy and James at Grandpa Marc's for Christmas Eve. Grandpa Marc is really close with his neighbors and so a lot of them came over for dinner and it is typical for them to eat in the garage...so that's where we had Christmas Eve dinner! Where did you have yours?

Family picture! :) The boys are intrigued by the fire pit that was going on the sidewalk.

CHRISTMAS DAY

James and Mama opening a present from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Hill

Marc and Mama opening a present from Grandpa Marc and Grandpa Margaret. He and James each got a Nike outfit and a book....Perfect!

Marc and James waiting for Mama to get the Farm Truck open so they could play with it! They can't wait! Thanks Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Dave! We love it!

Marc is playing with his CAT Tracker. He and Marc got two CAT Trackers.

James with more toys!!!

Grandpa Marc and Grandma Margaret reading a book with James. I love how intent James is with the book! :)

Grandpa with James and Grandpa with Marc on Christmas Morning. (Gotta love how Marc has his hands in his mouth...its a normal scene with the boys since they are both teething like crazy!)

Elizabeth (my friend from BYU) came out and spent Christmas with us this year. Elizabeth is holding James (her favorite...I called her out on it! :)) and I am holding Marc with their Christmas stockings!

Before Christmas, I got this walker for the boys. Marc is really starting to use it and is getting pretty good at walking with it! In the background, there is a Toy Story Tunnel that Grandma Cathy got for the boys. They love crawling through it and playing hide and seek in it. Love it!

We had a wonderful Christmas Season and are so grateful for all the good times and trials we had this year. Even though we had a lot of tough times, we feel extremely blessed and look forward to the new year!

Zoolights

Last weekend our family went to Zoolights with some of our friends. It was crazy how many people were there (I guess that's what happens when you wait to go the weekend before Christmas...lesson learned) and we were grateful we didn't have to stand in line to buy tickets! It was my first time going and the lights were fun and festive and we enjoyed ourselves.

Papa is pushing the stroller...notice how curious Marc is looking at the lights. Both boys had their eyes glued to lights the whole time! :)

James (left) and Marc (right) hanging out in the stroller

Our Cute Family! (Billy is holding Marc and I am holding James) We are so excited to celebrate Christmas in a few days and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Congratulations Billy!

I have the most amazing husband. He is the most kind, loving, loyal, hardworking person I know. He works so hard for our family so I can stay at home with our boys...which I am so grateful for! About a year and a half ago, Billy had the opportunity to make a job change. He was recruited by a company called EDMC that owns 4 private universities to be a recruiter. At the time, his crazy job with the French owned company, called Auralog, was going extremely well. He was on track to exceed his goal (which would have meant an all expense trip paid to Europe) and was really building great relationships with his clients and schools in his area. Out of no where, EDMC contacted Billy because his former Director at Auralog worked for EDMC and she wanted him to go and work for her. To make a long story short, Billy and I felt that it was a good move to leave Auralog and move to EDMC. After 4 months, Billy was promoted to be a manager and after about a year of being a top performing manager (who always met his goals!!!) he was promoted today to be a DIRECTOR of admissions at The Art Institute!!! I am so proud of him and grateful that he has this opportunity. He has always wanted to move up in management, and he is finally having that opportunity at EDMC. We are so blessed and know that Heavenly Father is looking out for us. He is so excited for this new challenge and I know he will be successful!

The Little Things...

...my boys do that bring such a big smile to my face!

James (left) and Marc (right) both love to crawl and move under the kitchen table. Since we got home from Thanksgiving, the boys have been playing together. They constantly are following one another around the house and it is just so cute!

The boys love to play behind the curtains together. Here is James is escaping!

Marc coming out from behind the curtain (sorry it's blurry!)

I love how James gets Rosey cheeks when he wears pants and a long sleeve shirt!

I turned my back for honestly a minute and when I turned around this is what I found. I couldn't help smiling and laughing...it is so cute!

Growing Up

Our boys are growing up so fast! They are turning into toddlers right before our eyes! Marc is "cruising" along the furniture and is getting closer and closer to walking. James is now crawling and he and Marc seem to always be together. It is so cute to see how much they love to get together all the time.

Marc is definitely a climber. He climbed onto my suitcase when we got back from California and he loves to climb on the treadmill. Thankfully we haven't had any head first falls...knock on wood!

My cute James in the crawling position. He started to army crawl right before we went to California for Thanksgiving and by the time we got home, he became an expert at it. He can get around so quickly it's amazing.

So funny story...today I put both boys in their cribs for their naps before they fell asleep. We have gotten into the bad habit of rocking them to sleep since they share a room and sometimes they played for hours before falling asleep. Anyway, last night we decided that we needed to not rock them to sleep anymore. When I was done pumping, I decided to go and check on them since they were being quiet. I peeked in the door and saw Marc with his pants off and wide awake. He must have been working so hard to get them off that he was so quiet. Meanwhile, his brother, James was in the next crib over sound asleep. It made me laugh!

P.S. The two boards on the floor used to be leaning against the wall between Marc's crib and the dresser. Don't worry...he knocked them both down today while he was standing up in his crib banging on the wall.

Thanksgiving

Our family was able to go to California for Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time spending time with my family. We were there for about four days and the boys loved it...being in a new place, exploring Grandma and Grandpa Hill's house and meeting some relatives they hadn't met before. We flew to San Francisco late at night hoping that the boys would sleep throughout the flight and in the airport. That was a bad decision because their sleep was interrupted as soon as we got to the airport. Security was a hassle and there was NO WAY they could sleep through it. Since the airport was a new thing, they were just so interested in everything around them and didn't want to even think about sleeping. On our way to California, our flight was delayed about an hour and a half and we always get to the airport in plenty of time to avoid missing flights, so after being in the airport for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, both Billy and I and the boys were done. Thankfully, as soon as the plane took off, Marc fell right to sleep, but James wasn't interested. He finally fell asleep after about an hour on the flight and then before we knew it, we were landing and had to get off the plane, only to wake both boys up again. The story goes on and on and it was about the same story on the way home except for the flight wasn't delayed. Anyway, those who plan to travel with babies, don't plan to fly late in hopes that your kid or kids will sleep...they won't.

On Thanksgiving we drove to Napa to spend the afternoon with my dad's side of the family. It has been a tradition my whole life to spend it with my dad's cousins and their kids. We had a fun time seeing Uncle Gil and Aunt Sharon along with the Reid family. We missed seeing Kyla and her family along with Diane, Tess, Dusty and her family and Uncle Ken and Aunt Shelly. However, we were able to meed Bay's girlfriend and her family...who knows, maybe there will be a wedding in the future. I didn't get many pictures at the Thanksgiving celebration, however, I was able to snap a few of the kids playing area.


This is a normal site at our house...Marc climbing all over James and James is happy about it. If you enlarge the picture, you can see he has a happy face.


Once again, Marc climbing all over James...the good thing is that since we have been home, James has been crawling A LOT and isn't such an easy target for Marc anymore. He can defend himself so hopefully the mauling time period is over...

Grandma and Grandpa had tons of "new" toys for the boys to play with. Here Billy is playing with Lego's with James...Notice how jealous Marc looks in the background! :)

Gotta love that smile...Grandma is playing with James and he obviously is enjoying it!

Marc loved this train cause he could use it as a walker...He loved pushing cousin Alise around!

Marc can find any crack or cranny to crawl and explore in. He figured out how to get behind the love seat and in the corner by the end table one day while we were there...he had to be rescued because he couldn't figure out how to get himself out!

Grandpa is helping Marc with the train...so fun!

Since Uncle Ken and Aunt Shelly were unable to make it to the Thanksgiving celebration, they came over to my parents house on Friday to meet the boys. Aunt Shelly is holding James and Uncle Ken has Marc.

Here is Great Grandma Hill with James...we love her!

Marc with Great Grandpa Hill...I love this man...he is the hardest working person I know. He does not love to hold kids, but I think he does it just for me, so I can get some pictures. He is so cute too, because he is going to be 89 in January and he is planning a trip to Phoenix with my Grandma, Aunt Shelly and Uncle Ken and my parents so he can come visit the boys again. I love that even though most people his age are in a care facility, he is still living life and enjoying it!

Great Grandparents with the boys (James left, Marc right)

It was such a great Thanksgiving and I have so much to be grateful for...especially this year as we have been blessed with our two boys Marc and James. It wasn't easy for us to conceive the boys, but after having faith, we were blessed with the best two boys ever. They make us laugh daily and are so cute and precious! We are so lucky!

NINE Months!!!

We love our Marc and James and can't believe they are 9 months old! This evening Billy and I were talking about how much we love our boys and how cute they are. Really we are so blessed and fortunate! Marc we LOVE that you are so curious and inquisitive about everything. That curiosity keeps us on our toes, and we love it! James we LOVE your beautiful smile and your contagious laugh. I think you make everyone smile when you smile and laugh.

At nine months, Marc and James are the same height...they are 28 1/2 inches long which is the 50th%

Marc weighs 19lbs 6 ounces (25th-50th%) and James weighs 18lbs 14.5 ounces (10-25th%)

Marc's head is 17.5 inches in circumference (25th) and James' head is 17 inches in circumference (5th%)

Over the last few months, the boys personalities have really started to come out. Both Marc and James love having their mouths wide open. They often suck on each other or bite each other or their mom! Marc loves to climb up on the treadmill and pulls himself to standing often (it won't be too much longer until he is walking). He crawls very quickly and gets into everything! He crawls over, under, through just about everything. He loves digging through the trash and playing with the scale in mom and dad's bathroom. James is starting to slowly army crawl around the house and loves sitting up! He loves to play with toys and loves to laugh and smile. He is soooo ticklish (he gets that from Billy) and I love tickling him! I have a feeling that James will be a little flirt because at park day on Tuesday, he was sitting by the playground and there were three little girls all circled around him playing with him and trying to feed him Cheetos. Too bad I didn't have a camera!

We are starting to feed the boys transitional foods like yogurt, avocados, pasta, cheese, etc. We are still working on getting the idea of sippy cups and holding their own bottles (can't wait for that!). Currently we have the boys sharing a room with their cribs side by side...this is causing a problem for mom and dad because they love to play with one another when they should be taking a nap or going to sleep for the night. We might end up splitting them up in different rooms! :( The advantage of having them share a room is that when they wake up in the mornings, they end up playing with one another and giving mom an extra few minutes to sleep before getting up! :)

We know we are blessed to have Marc and James in our lives and to be their parents. We know that we have a big responsibility as parents, but we feel so blessed to have such great little boys. We love you boys and are so grateful for all the happiness and joy you bring to us every day!

***Wish I could have included pictures, but I got a virus on our laptop and our desk top keyboard is broken from the move...so this is the best I could do! Happy 9 months boys!!!***

This week was a good week. I can't believe how quickly the boys change each week and how much they grow up. James is now sitting up! I know it's kind of late...being that they are almost 9 months old, but Marc doesn't really sit up on his own yet. I am so proud of James and LOVE that he will sit there and play with his toys.

This week Billy and I bought this stroller off Craigslist. I was wanting a stroller where the boys could look at each other and this works well. I took them on a walk one night while waiting for Billy to get home from work and the boys didn't know what to think...they don't have to stay in their car seats anymore...so much more comfy! :)

On Friday James fell asleep while I was feeding him and Marc. I fought him for a while cause I wanted him to eat more, but he won...I let him just fall asleep. The boys cousin Kathryn falls asleep at the table all the time and my brother J (James Jr), used to fall asleep in his high chair all the time...I guess you can say it runs in the family! :)

Such a cute close up of James sleeping!

The boys are so cute. They are playing better together every day. I went to Kohls yesterday and found this toy/walker they can use. They both loved it the second I busted it out of the box. It was definitely time for a new toy...

We are so thankful for our two healthy boys. I met a lady in my new ward last Sunday who has twin girls who are a year old. One of her daughters has "failure to thrive" and still has a feeding tube. I guess she isn't really crawling or anything. We are so blessed to have adorable boys, but more importantly, we are blessed to have healthy boys! We love them so much!

This is the LIFE!

This is the best part of having kids...when they fall asleep on you! And I have two of them that fall asleep on me at the same time! Priceless! I love all THREE of my boys!

First Halloween

This year was the boys first Halloween. Marc dressed up as a football and James dressed up as a baseball. About a month ago, I decided that I should make sure the costumes fit, as they were hand me downs from the Mitsudas (thanks!) and they hadn't tried them on yet. When I put them on, the boys did not like the hats and I didn't think they would wear them on Halloween. However, the boys were so cute and wore their hats almost all night at the Trunk or Treat put on by our ward. I think they were taking in all the costumes and festivities that they forgot that there was something on their heads! :)

At the Trunk or Treat, there was a costume contest and I entered the boys in. I wasn't expecting anything, but they won a cutest contest award. They were sooooo cute!

Here Billy is holding the boys at the Trunk or Treat

Marc (left) and James (right) hanging out with Mama handing out candy at the Trunk or Treat

On Halloween night, Billy and I took the boys over for a short visit to Grandpa Marc's house. Here the boys are chillin with Grandpa.

Our first Halloween as a family of four. We love our cute little football and baseball and had a fun Halloween. Can't wait for next year when we can take the boys trick or treating! :)

A Day with Marc and James...

People tend to ask me what I am up to these days. I really can't say too much other than watching my little rascals! I love them so much...but here are a few things I do day in and day out with Marc and James...


Marc LOVES climbing all over James. I am trying to teach him to go around him, but let's just say its a work in progress. James is such a great brother and usually doesn't mind Marc climbing on him. He usually just smiles.


Let's just say that Marc is a very curious individual...he loves looking in the basket to see what toys are available to play with. He is so cute because he can get himself in the basket, but doesn't quite know how to get out.

I couldn't resist to include this picture. I LOVE James' smile. The dimples get me every time. James is also very ticklish and he loves to laugh and show off the beautiful smile!

One day I was getting ready to go out. James was in the family room playing with toys and Marc loves playing in the master bathroom. I was in my bedroom and knew that Marc was in the bathroom. Marc was being really quite and I know that is a sign that he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He had climbed up in the shower and was playing with the shower drain....so cute!

I love our boys so much and am grateful I can stay home with them. They definitely keep me on my toes, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!