twin differences

It is so fun to start to see the boys' personalities really developing. They are definitely becoming their own little people. For example, we took them to the park and pushed them in the baby swings. I thought they'd love it since they adored their infant swings.

Well Gavin thought it was awesome!

Andrew not so much...

hahaha! I love his sweet little serious face!

Gavin also loves to be thrown around by his dad while Andrew runs hot and cold (sometimes he loves it, sometimes it makes him cry). 

Swings aside, they both loved the park. Too bad the cold weather is already upon us!

5k

As I sat down tonight, determined to put something up on this here blog, it dawned on me that I don't think I've posted anything on this blog about my 5k.

Yes, that's right, MY 5k.

The 5k I've had on my 'want to do' list since I was an undergrad.

Check that one off!

I was super nervous about being able to actually run the whole thing since the last couple weeks of  training sort of flopped
(life just gets in the way sometimes, ya know?)

But I am very pleased to say that I was able to run the whole thing!

(with my shoe lace untied 2/3rds of the time no less! That should count for something, right?)

In our haste to make it to the race on time we forgot our camera (doh!). Thankfully,  a friend was there with one and they got a few shots for me (some more flattering than others. Turns out it's hard to look your best while running ;))



{Here we are just before the race started. Nathan and the boys came out to show their support which was brave because it was freezing cold.}

{My original training buddy wasn't able to make it (bummer!!!), but I made a new friend on race day and happily we were pretty evenly matched. Plus, she has an awesome name: Katie}

{Here we are on the home stretch. We did it! I totally love Katie in this one. Captured what I was feeling exactly.}

{At the finish line. Note: 53:33 was not how long it took me to finish (thank goodness!). My time was 35:02}


I am so glad I was able to do this and it was a great experience. Nate and I really want to try to run one as a family in the spring. He'll be pushing the stroller of course!

Telling our twins apart

A couple of people have asked me recently how we tell the boys apart so I thought I'd do a little post on it.
 I think the following picture highlights their differences.



Basically it's like the picture says: Andrew's eyes are a little larger and his hair is a little longer than Gavin's.

So let's see if you can tell them apart too!
(Answers are at the bottom of the post.)

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

Now let's make it a little harder and do a couple photos where they aren't side by side:

Picture #4


Picture #5


And I'll be really impressed if you can tell the apart in them bonus picture!

Bonus Picture


Honestly, the older they get the harder they are to tell apart. They still weigh about a pound different, but that made more of a difference when they were 12 lbs and not the 20+ they weigh in at now. The take turns being the shy one or the flirty one, the sober one or giggly one. I used to be able to tell their cries apart. Now I can about half the time (which always impresses Nathan). And I swear they look more alike by the day.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has any tips or tricks for telling them apart.

Answers:
Picture #1: Left: Andrew; Right: Gavin
Picture #2: Left: Gavin; Right: Andrew
Picture #3: Left: Gavin; Right: Andrew
Picture #4: Gavin
Picture #5: Andrew

Bonus Picture: Left: Andrew; Right: Gavin

More Family and Orchard Fun

We followed up our weekend with Nathan's cousin Tyson with a visit from his sister Angela and her brood. We headed out to a local orchard we'd heard good things about and it lived up to its reputation!


{The boys perched and ready to go have some fun!}


The orchard had an awesome play area with all kinds of cool play stuff. We started out on the oh-so-exciting swings :) I think this was maybe the second time the boys have been in a swing.

{Gavin LOVED it!}

{Swinging with their cousins}

{Andrew liked it too, but it took  him a little longer to warm up to it. Also he insisted on sitting all hunched over like that. Guess he wanted something to hang on to!}

After the swings we headed over to the tractor track and Nathan took them each for a little ride.

{Andrew was in HEAVEN}

{He seriously loved it so much. I see a push and ride toy in his future...}

{Gavin was a little unsure at first}

{But he was diggin' it by the end}

Then we each took a baby down this really cool slide they had.

{Nathan and Andrew}

{Gavin looks totally indifferent, but I thought it was a blast!}

Then it was off to the petting zoo! 

(see I told you this orchard was awesome)

{Here is Nathan being super dad and balancing both kids on his knees so I could take a picture!}

Then we just goofed around a bit while we waited for the "hay" ride

{ah! he looks so grown up in this picture!}


Gavin looked so cute standing between his cousins that we had to get Drew in on the action

{Notice Gavin leaning forward in this one? He was totally like "Let's go!!"}


Then we attempted a cousin pumpkin picture which was a total failure because our two were sick of sitting still.

But we managed to get in a couple of family shots:

{Notice Andrew pushing my hand away. "All Done Mom!!"}

We finished off with a "hay" ride that didn't involve any hay whatsoever.



And some pumpkin taste testing.



We had a great time with our family and we are looking forward to go back next year when the boys can enjoy it even more!

Visit from Big T

October was a crazy month for us. Nathan took the first part of his big licensure exam and we had family visit two weekends in a row, plus I got called to serve as the secretary to the new Primary Presidency ~2 weeks before the ward Trunk or Treat which we had to plan. Whew!

Our first family visit was Nathan's cousin Tyson and it was fabulous! These two are more like brothers than cousins and it had been way to long since we'd seen him. We were so excited to introduce the boys to their Uncle Tyson. The boys weren't exactly sure what to think at first.


{Andrew was totally scoping him out. Trying to figure out if he was safe or not.}

{They circled around him, keeping the oh so important 3 foot radius}


I realized Tyson's visit was the first time we'd had any one over to our new place for longer than a few minutes (how lame are we? answer: very). They are doing much better with strangers these days (eg. they don't scream when people look at them any more), but I think it was weird for them to have a "stranger" in the house. They kept looking at me like "Mom, what is this guy doing in here? Strangers are supposed to be outside our house!"

But, no worries they were totally warmed up to Uncle Tyson 30 minutes later. And by the end of his visit Gavin crawled over to him and "asked" to be picked up!

{Having a laugh with Uncle Tyson: Gavin's face is just hilarious in this one}

{Honking Tyson's nose: Nathan taught them this one. When they squeeze our noses we make a honking noise (like a car horn). One of their favorite games to play with Mom and Dad, but I've never seen them do it to any one else. Tyson, you should feel honored}

{Yea for Uncle Tyson!}


We had a really good jam packed weekend that included an introduction to some Kentucky culture via the horse races. But like a goof I forgot the camera. Tyson had his and took a bunch of pictures, but I forgot to get them from him (noticing a theme here?)

We can't wait for our next visit from Big T!