January has definitely brought runny noses to the Payne household. Ethan just recently recovered from another ear infection and the twins finally had their first sickness this week. I didn't think both of them would get sick at the same time but I should have known since they are right next to eachother almost all the time. We are seeing some improvement today so I took the opportunity to take a few quick shots of them while they were smiling.

The boys are 8 months as of yesterday and it's hard to believe they were once so tiny. Carson weighs in at 17.5 pounds and Mason at 16.5! I love the fact that they are getting chubby wrists and legs! Here they are in the exersaucer and jumparoo having a blast.

I had to post this because it definitely shows Mason is not feeling so hot. If you've ever been around him, you know that it takes a lot for him to be upset. This just looked like such a sad face. Yucky runny noses!

Carson is only a couple of weeks away from full on crawling! There's no turning back now I guess but I have to say that I'm in complete denial and we're so not ready for them to be off and exploring. The next project will be babyproofing!

This is just before naptime and they are looking ready for it! Let's hope for healthier kiddos next week!

Baby food galore!! I always thought Ethan was a big eater at this stage. I was clearly wrong. The twins were slow to start with the baby food but they're definitely making up for lost time! Eric and I, and all of the other families with multiples are keeping Gerber in business!

Above is a picture of just some of the weekly damage of buying food for the twins.

Thank goodness for lots of cabinet space! I don't think we could have found a place for all of this in our old house. Sadly, this amount of food will only last us a week and a half! I wish I was one of those people who could whip up batches of fresh baby food... but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll probably never do this. I admire my good friend Julie for this very thing. She is always throwing things in the cuisinart (pizza, avacado, pasta, etc.) for her son, and she is always trying to talk me into doing this for the twins. God bless her for trying, but I can hardly find time to cook my own food, let alone prepare the massive amounts of food I would need to feed these boys! Thank God for Gerber!

Right before mealtime. Once they see the jars of food, it's all over. They scream in fits of fury until they get the food. Then it's a race to see how quickly I can shovel it their mouths. If one sees the other being fed, he will scream in envy until he gets a scoop. I think it's safe to say that mealtime is not my favorite most relaxing thing right now.

Happy and content boys!

Ethan's current favorite book is titled 'Big Little'. We have to read this book before every bedtime and naptime. When I first introduced the book to him, I would talk in a high voice to emphasize things that are little. He picked up on that and ever since then, we have to make a big deal out of the word "little". Click on the video above if you want to see a cutie!

Last night, January 2nd, Ethan spiked a fever of 103.8! I frantically called my sister and then our pediatrician's office for some advice. We put him in the bathtub which brought it down a little, and took his tempurature every hour and a half to see if it was going down. He is fine this morning but I still decided to keep him home from playgroup.

Since I knew he would probably get restless from just sitting around all morning, I planned to get the fingerpaints out and do some art with him. As you can see, he had no interest in this whatsoever. He watched Toy Story as I sat and painted.

I just had to show off my artwork! I never knew how much I liked to fingerpaint. Needless to say, the morning flew by for me. Ethan seemed to feel better and better. I'm so glad he's back to normal! High fevers are scary!

This was taken a couple of days before Ethan got sick. As you can see, I'm not looking my best at all! I forgot to mention that I was sick before Ethan. The trip to Texas must have really worn me out. My New Year's Eve consisted of me going to bed at 8:00. On the upside, I did get some time to just hang out and relax with the boys.

Christmas 2007 came and went in the blink of an eye. Perhaps everything seemed like such a blur because we decided to drive to Texas this year. It took us a full 26 hours each way (that includes 90 minute stops every 4.5 hours) and let's just say that will be the first and last time we ever do that again! The kids did great but we're still recovering from the journey! After spending a few days in Dallas/Ft. Worth with Eric's side of the family, it was off to Round Rock to see my side of the family. We had a blast as usual and the kids received toys, toys, and more toys! Enjoy the pictures below!

I got the chance to spend some time with my good friend Lindsay. She was my college roomie and we're still great friends to this day!

Hmm....I wonder what Ethan is getting for his 3rd birthday??? He loved being driven around by Ryan.

Ryan was nice enough to pass his mouse ears down to Ethan. Needless to say, this is now one of his most prized posessions! He just had to wear them on our drive back to Nevada. He got lots of attention in McDonald's, which he loved!

The twins really loved all the toys they received for Christmas. They insisted on both playing with the piano at the same time.

Here are just some more photos from our Christmas trip in Texas. I couldn't resist putting these on the blog.

Papa and Eric in their college t-shirts. The OSU shirt was part of Papa's gift this year. Now he can proudly wear it while walking the dogs.

Ethan and Ryan always jump on the upstairs couch in the playroom. This went on for almost an hour! They are wild when they get together! It's really a lot of fun for Ethan since his brothers are too small to play with him.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting together with my sorority sister from college. Meredith and her husband Mark always go out of their way to visit us during our trip to Texas for Christmas. We always have such a blast with them...the time together always goes too fast!

Papa was a big help when it came time to feed the twins. Here is Mason covered in sweet potatoes!

The twins finally got to meet their baby cousin Kaitlyn. They enjoyed interacting with her and it was such a blast to see all of them together. I also enjoyed getting to hold her and feed her. It's amazing how fast the twins have grown. I can't remember them being as small as Kaitlyn!

Ethan enjoyed his one on one time with his Nana and Papa. We were so glad to have a couple of nights with everyone. With 3 babies and two kiddos in the house, Nana and Papa got a glimpse into the craziness of our everyday lives. It was fun!

Ryan just turned 4 years old on December 23rd. I cannot believe what a little boy he is now! His favorite thing is dressing up in superhero costumes. Here he is playing "Santa" disguised as Spiderman.

Our favorite gift we got Nana and Papa was the photo quilt. We had a bunch of family pictures (old and new) put on a quilt for them to hang in their house. I think it was a hit!

This was the start to a night I will never ever forget. I have to say that I felt something crazy coming on but I didn't know it would be this extreme. As you can see, Ethan is strapped into his booster seat doing his favorite activity so I could tend to the twins. Mason and Carson had been to the doctor earlier that day and had shots so I knew they weren't feeling well. Not to be too graphic but stuff was coming out of both ends of their bodies. I picked Carson up off of the couch to discover that he had a massive explosion (not of the mouth) all over the couch. Horrified, I yelled for Eric to come and help. As Eric was transferring him to a place to clean him up, Mason began projectile vomiting all over his vibrating seat. Meanwhile, Ethan is about to tip himself backwards in the chair screaming that he wants to get down. After discovering that he had painted his face, I rushed him upstairs to bathe him while Eric cleaned up the puddles that our sons created. I think the whole ordeal lasted an hour and a half from start to finish but it felt like an eternity! I must admit that I was in complete and utter shock. So much so that I don't think I spoke much at all last night. I just couldn't wrap my brain around the chaos!

Little did I know that this morning I would be reminded of last night's events. How could I forget to mention that Ethan decided to stick peas up his nose during dinner last night? Eric removed a few last night and Ethan removed the leftovers this morning at Pump it Up. For those of you wondering, Pump it Up is a place full of inflatable bounce houses for kids to go wild in. I was telling a girlfriend about the craziness that swept over our house last night and I truly don't think she believed me.....that is until Ethan comes up and hands me two peas from his nose. Tonight HAS to be calmer than last night. Stay tuned for more tales from the Payne family and Ethan's latest trick!

I have so many things to be thankful for this season and this is the biggest one! Here is Eric over the Thanksgiving break with all of the boys. He is truly a Superdad/Superhusband! He is someone who works incredibly hard at his job and as a father. As soon as he walks through the door he asks me how he can help. This is usually one of my only moments during the day to relax for a minute. I don't think I could ask for anything more!

Here is an example of me having no patience at all. One of Ethan's gifts for Christmas is a play kitchen. Yes, I know Christmas is a month away but we were so excited for him to have it. For some reason Ethan loves kitchens! Whenever he goes to a friend's house that has one, this is what he mostly likes to play with. Maybe this means he'll be a chef or just a really helpful husband one day. Anyhow, I think I was enjoying this a little more than he was. Maybe this is me getting my little girl fix, or because I always wanted one growing up. I'm not sure, but I do know that we had lots of fun "cooking" that day.

Since we didn't go home to Texas for Thanksgiving this year, we had our good friends over to our house. We all had so much fun preparing the meal and watching the kiddos have a great time. Here is Ethan and Danielle enjoying their Thanksgiving meal. I'm happy to say that Ethan tried everything on his plate this year. Peer pressure can be a good thing!

Here is a picture of all of the babies together. Kyle, Danielle's brother, is on his belly. He and the twins are only a few weeks apart. Instant playmates!

This week was one of many accomplishments for the twins! To begin, here is an update of their latest stats: Carson now weighs 14 pounds 5 ounces and Mason was 13 pounds 15 ounces. Wow! It's truly amazing to go back and look at their NICU pictures and see how far
they've come. Pretty soon all three boys will be eating everything we have in the pantry. We love SAM'S for this exact reason.

Last week we had to take the boys to the children's lung specialist for their RSV shots. We found out we would have to take them once a month for the next 6 months. Poor babies! I hate watching them get shots. Their faces turn 4 shades of red and they let out an enormous cry. Not fun at all! However, being at the lung specialist and seeing all of the kids hooked up to breathing machines once again made me extremely grateful that our boys are healthy.

I just had to snap this picture of Mason on his playmat. I guess all of that stimulation tired him out. That is another accomplishment! The boys are now sleeping without being swaddled. No more baby straight jacket!! However, now that they're free to move their arms and legs, they wake eachother up in the middle of the night so it's time for them to be seperated. We're very curious to see how they take that one because they really do enjoy eachother's company....but sleep is soooo precious! Sorry boys!

Twice the teething means twice the drool. I had completely put this stage out of my mind. Ethan used to soak several bibs throughout the day and it looks like we're headed down that road again!

I saved the best pictures for last. We discovered Ethan drawing on the walls yesterday morning. Mornings seem to be difficult for us on the weekends. If we don't get him out of the house and on the way to the park or running errands with one of us, this happens. I know we should have probably gotten on to him a little bit more as to prevent this from happening again, but it was just too funny. I always predicted he was right brained and this just confirms it! The hilarious thing about this was that when we asked him to clean it up, he started scrubbing the wall with a Clorox clean up wipe. I think he enjoyed that more than he did creating the masterpiece!

This is the look of "Yes, it was me but don't I look so cute and innocent??" I think he got this tactic from his mom! I can remember getting myself out of a lot of trouble this way. Let's just say that from now on all of the art sessions will be supervised!

Wow! I can't believe it's that time of year again! It seems like the holidays come earlier and earlier each year. Stores are already selling Christmas decorations and holiday music is playing everywhere you go. We decided to get a head start this year by taking the boys to get their picture made for our Christmas cards. Eric and I decided to sit this one out this year and just send pictures of the boys. Thanks to our VERY patient photographer, we were able to snap some great ones.

Lynette, our photographer, pulled out her candy box to try and get Ethan to cooperate and pose for some pictures. This seemed like a great idea until he decided not to let go of the sucker just to try and get one good picture. I took this shot of him laying on the bench in the studio. Meanwhile we were getting shots of the twins individually while I pleaded with Ethan to come and take his picture. He wasn't going to budge!

This picture cracks me up! I love the way he got so comfortable on the bench. He knows he has won the battle at this point. This is where I decided to leave him alone, thinking maybe he would get bored and decide he wanted to have his picture taken after all.

Finally! He finished his two lollipops by now and we persuaded him to come over and sit with the boys. We had to use a little bit of reverse psychology to get him to smile. We kept saying, "Don't you smile at us!" He thought this was hysterical and finally gave in. Yes! We may just have a Christmas card to send this year after all.

If only Ethan would have been in this one throwing a fit, this picture would have been the one I would have chosen for the card. It amuses me that every year I have these ideas of taking the perfect picture. I can see it clearly in my mind. Ethan hugging the twins while they all flash bright smiles for the camera. It never seems to go as planned but I love it anyway. That is part of the fun of trying to take pictures of three kids two and under. You never know what you'll end up with. As this holiday season begins already we wish you lots of J O Y!

I thought I would take a moment to post some pictures of the boys that were taken today. I must admit that I've been bad about not posting a lot of pictures of the twins. I've been making a real effort to leave the camera out so I can snap some quick shots if I need to. There is always something hilarious going on in the house with a 2 1/2 year old and 5 month old twins! Like today for instance, I was running around the house trying to make bottles, clean up, feed the dogs, and chase Ethan all at the same time. I went out to the garage to bring the bag of dog food in and I enter the laundry room to find Ethan kneeling over the water bowl and lapping it up just like a dog. My first reaction was to raise my voice and give him a stern no but I just had to laugh. I grabbed the camera and he sat there smiling and saying "cheese." That's been my rule of thumb to handle this with as much grace as possible- laugh when you feel like shouting or crying. It makes things so much better and you really enjoy these moments that you'll never get back.

Ethan continues to keep us on our toes! Eric and I are always waiting to see what will come out of his mouth next. The sweetest thing he does lately is give us bunny rabbitt kisses on the nose before he goes to bed. He always says "I love you" and "bless you " when you sneeze. He has his tantrums like any other two year old but everyday I get glimpses into the future and I see what a boy and eventually man that he will be.

As for the twins....where do I begin?? They are sleeping through the night (hallelujah!) and they are smiling and even beginning to laugh. I just had to dress them in their dachshund shirts today. We can't forget about the dogs! I tried to have Tucker pose with the boys to show off the shirts, but I think he just ended up getting freaked out. He looks like a deer in the headlights here. Poor Tuckie.

It's rare that I can get them both smiling at the same time so I had a quick second to snap the next picture. Last but not least I had to get one of Mason sucking his thumb. He looks like such an angel baby! I think the word blessed just about sums up how I'm feeling. When most people find out we have twin babies and a two year old they say "wow- you really have your hands full" or "how crazy- better you than me" (that's my favorite). I just respond with a smile and think to myself how blessed we really are. It's triple the smiles, laughter and most of all the love. I can't wait to see what's next. That's it for now. My eyelids are heavy and it's only 9:00!