Birthday Presents Galore!!!

For the boys' first birthday, they were blessed with many presents, both fun and functional!! They weren't that into unwrapping their gifts, and Mommy and Daddy had to do most of the work. But make no mistake. After the parties were all over and the cake had been eaten, the boys have been doing a great job of enjoying all of the awesome presents that they got. So for all of you generous gift givers, I thought we'd show you some pics of the boys in action, enjoying some of their gifts:


Here were are opening presents during the family birthday party. This part was fun, but not nearly as fun as watching them enjoy their presents after all of the busyness subsided!!


Brock is reading one of their new favorite books. It sings to you when it is open, and the boys think that this is great!! Thanks, Grandma Leman!!


Here are the boys modeling their new backpacks to use for church. They ran around with them on for at least a 1/2 hour, and didn't want to take them off. They don't quite get the whole purpose of them yet, but I'm sure they will figure it out soon!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Martin!!


"See Mom, we can wear these things while we play!!"


Kyle's new obsession seems to be anything baseball (this is a surprise to us, as we're not sure where he gets that:). He loves this new ball and bat toy, and is rarely seen without the bat in his hands as he wanders about the house throughout the day. It's definitely a hit!!!!


Here's another favorite. This little tree sings when you put the balls through the top. It's a winner with Brock, as he tends to focus more on the balls than the bats:).

Here's Kyle reading another singing book. Notice the bat in his right hand. This is a common seen. Could he be a multi-tasker????

Brock finally got a chance to use the bat. Swing batter batter, swing!!

Kyle loves the Little Superstar Sing-along Stage that Mommy and Daddy got for the boys. They like to dance to the music, but their favorite use is to look in the mirror and give kisses to themselves. What funny boys!!

Our other birthday gift for them was a ball pit with tunnels to play in. We set it up in the basement and it takes up all of our open space!! But, the boys love the balls, and I definitely think this is one that will grow with us for several years (and it folds down very compactly so we can put it away easily:).

Here's Kyle looking at Daddy through one of the tunnels.

"Can you see me Mommy?? How do I get out of here??"

"Yum!!!! These taste good!!"

We are so thankful to have such a wonderful family who love our boys as much as we do, and for the generosity that they show. We appreciate you all and are thankful for all that you have done to support us in this past year. We love you!!!!

Happy First Birthday, Brock and Kyle!!!

Can you believe it??? Brock and Kyle turned 1 year old on Sunday, February 8th. This past year has gone unbelievably fast and has been a ton of fun!! We had a big weekend of birthday celebrations. We started on Saturday evening with a little Leman/Martin party, complete with Grandma Leman, Grandma and Grandpa Martin, several Leman aunts and uncles, and Aunt Kara from Colorado!! She came home just for the celebration. The boys enjoyed all of the attention, presents, and of course the cupcakes!! They made a super mess:). Here are some pics:


Brock and Kyle on their birthday. Remember the pictures of those two little babies in this huge chair?? Now the chair doesn't seem so huge, does it?? These special outfits were Christmas presents from Grandma Martin and Aunt Kara. Aren't they precious??


The boys think we've already had enough pictures taken, and we still have another party to go!!


Kyle says, "I'm out of here. I've got new toys to play with!!"


Brock says, "I'm right behind you, brother!!! Let's play, then let's go see if we can find any of those leftover cupcakes:)."

Here they are with their birthday cupcakes on Saturday night. They looked pretty intrigued with everyone singing to them, and then Mommy and Daddy handed them cupcakes with fire on top!! What's the deal with this birthday stuff!!??!!

Brock was a little timid at first, which Mommy and Daddy didn't expect. He liked the butter-cream icing, but Mommy had to break the cupcake up in bite size pieces to get him to eat the cake part.

He then proceeded to smear what was on his hands all over his face and hair.

"I'm all done!! Now, what's next??"

Kyle, on the other hand, was nothing close to timid!! He picked up the entire cupcake and took a huge bite!! "Yummy!!! This is good!!"

He also did a little bit of a smear job, but his signature move was to wave his frosting covered hands dramatically to spray the wall, cupboards and front row of the crowd with frosting bits!!

Here he is looking over to see what Brock was doing. "Was yours as good as mine was, brother??"

"We're all done and ready for presents!! Who's going to clean us up??" Thanks Aunt Polly and Grandma Martin for volunteering for that very messy job!!

Move over, Liberace!!

Last Sunday at Madison's birthday party, Aunt Stacy graciously offered to let Brock and Kyle "play" the piano. Oh what a treat!! I think they have "played" once before at my parents house, but they didn't remember and this was another new adventure for them. Brock almost cried at the noise when he first pounded on the keys. He definitely didn't expect the sound he made, but he quickly recovered from his fear and moved onto sheer delight. Kyle didn't take long to join in the fun, and actually persisted in "playing" the piano longer than his brother. Brock definitely had a lighter touch, but Kyle showed alot of passion. Both boys had tons of fun. It made Mommy realize that her hopes of having a piano someday are best to be just that...............someday!!! Thanks, Aunt Stacy for letting us abuse your piano a little. It was fun!!

Behind Closed Doors;)

One of the boys' new tricks is to go into any open room that they can find and shut the door. Any room will do, but the bathroom is their favorite. Any time it gets quiet, we go and investigate, and sometimes find them sitting in the dark. They usually don't cry, and they're usually not alone. These are adventures that have safety in numbers:). Here's what we find when we open the door - mischievous looks of pure delight!!

Looks ominous, huh?? Who knows what havoc's been wrecked behind there!!

"Peek a boo, Mommy!! I see you!!"

"Here she comes again to ruin our fun:(. I thought we were quiet enough this time!!"

"Come in and play!! You wouldn't believe what we've found!!"

"Hi Mommy!!!"

"That's it for now, folks!!!"

Is this where you would choose to keep your paci??

Ewwww!! Yuck!! This definitely got a bath!!

Basement Fun

Brock tends to be a longer napper than Kyle, and as a result, Kyle often gets to spend time in the basement "helping" Mommy work on the computer. Daddy's computer is right next to Mommy's, so Kyle has started to imitate what he sees. Sorry Daddy!!! If you ever find weird things when you turn on your computer screen, now you know why:).

"I love this thing Mommy calls the mouse."

"See, this is how you move it around on this square thing here and tap on these keys at the same time."

" I think something should have printed. Now if only I could reach up there to those papers!!"

"Okay, I'm bored with the computer. Now Mommy, come and chase me up the stairs. I'm getting really good at the up part, but not so much at the down part!"

Monkey see, monkey do, too!!

Yesterday, I was working in the boys' room, putting away, rearranging clothes in their closet, and taking inventory for summer needs. I turned around from the closet to see this:

Kyle found the open drawer and climbed right in. He looked at me with a funny face like "What did I do?? Where did I end up??"

Then, he realized that this was kind of fun, especially when Mommy went for her camera to take a picture!!

Brock heard the commotion and came over to investigate. He always wants in on the action!!

He wouldn't rest until he had a turn in the drawer.

"This is fun, but what am I supposed to do now??"