Bathtime Crabbiness!

Crabbiness, but not from the boys!  These boys love their bathtime! =)  We have a special routine for bathtime in our household ... Justin bathes the boys and I put their diapers on and dress them in their pjs.  We both love doing it this way because Justin gets special one-on-one time with each of the boys after a long day of work! Plus, I don't get as frustrated wrestling putting the boys into their diaper and jammies as Daddy does! =)

But tonight, I decided it would be fun to change things up a little bit!

Our friend Debbie got the boys this pool right after they were born, and I thought tonight would be a perfect night to break it out!  Since the boys aren't sitting super-well on their own yet, I needed to wait until Justin was home to help.  So a Crabby Bath it was!

Jack enjoying sitting in the water

(During Jack's bath, Will was sitting with me on the swing, giggling and giggling!  I tried to get it on video, but somehow, I messed it up!  Too bad because it was super cute!)

Scrub-a-dub!

Our little froggy Jack!

Will's turn ... What are we doing Dad?

Our little puppy dog Will

We all had fun doing baths outside tonight! And of course, daddy couldn't resist trying out the crabby pool too after the boys were in bed! Silly man!

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Yesterday I had a really fun visit from a new friend!  Linda is a high school teacher from Washington who reads our blog, and actually used our babies as a case study of preemies with her child psychology class!  She was here in Texas and emailed me, and we were so happy to have her come and meet the boys!  

She was so sweet and brought the boys some adorable clothes that they wore today ... how grown up do they look??!

Big boy outfits!  I usually dress them in rompers and onesies!
They are growing up so fast!

Standing with Grandpa and Gigi

Thanks so much for coming to visit Linda!  It was so great to meet you!

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And just a few more pictures of the boys enjoying their puffs!

Jack is saving one for later

Will finished up with a smile!

The boys will be 10 months old tomorrow (sniff, sniff!), so be on the lookout for the 10 month blog! Have a great Friday!

First Swim!

This past weekend our good friends from college, Josh and Heather, came to visit us with their son Luke.  We had such a wonderful time together, catching up since their last visit, playing with all of our boys, and just relaxing!  Of course, I was relaxing too and didn't seem to get too many pictures at all! =(


But I did capture this cute one of Luke cuddling with Betsy!

Can't you tell how good Betsy will be with the boys someday?

On Sunday, we all went out to Providence, the neighborhood my parents live in now, and went swimming!  It was the very first time the boys have been in water deeper than 3 inches (their baths!) and they did a really good job!

All ready to swim!  Will on the right in this pic

Check out this video ... they boys didn't like the cool water much at first and shed a few tears!

But after a little bit, they were happy to be in their floaties with mom and dad!

Daddy and the boys

Mommy and the boys ... Jack (left) still wasn't too happy!

After they'd had enough water for one day, we just sat around a bit, soaking up the sun!  Well, mom and dad soaked up the sun and we worked hard to keep the boys out of the sun! Even though there was a breeze and it wasn't really that hot yet, I definitely didn't want their precious pale skin getting burned!

We finally found some shade under the clubhouse patio, and Daddy and the boys had a great time just chilling together!

After our swim, we went to my parent's house and enjoyed take out from our favorite Mexican restaurant!

And Grandpa got a little cuddle time too!

What a great weekend with friends, and so much fun taking the boys for their first swim! I'm sure our family will take many more trips to the pool this summer ... we want our boys to be little fish!

Will's head lost ...

**Disclaimer: My boys have very fair skin, just like their mommy.  It doesn't take much for our skin to turn red, so the following pictures look a whole lot worse than it actually was!  Just didn't want anyone to worry!**

So this afternoon Will's poor little forehead had a battle with Jack's two front teeth ... and his head lost!  

Poor guy!

The boys were having fun playing and crawling all over each other, when I saw Jack get the upper hand. Before I could get the 4 steps across the room, he had grabbed hold of Will's head and sunk his teeth in!  I pulled William away (who was crying by this time), told Jack "No, we don't bite our brother." Jack gave me a huge smile (which I always seem to get when I tell him no--hmmm), but then started crying when he realized that I had taken his brother away!

Who me?

But very soon, they were on the other side of the room, playing and having a good time again!

And right before Daddy came home from work to give baths, these best buddies had fun jumping in their jumpers! Listen to Jack giggling!

These boys are just the joy of my life! I have such a great time with them, and I'm always amazed by each new thing they do!  (Even figuring out how to get on top of the other one to bite his head! =) I know this is just the beginning of their brotherly "love", and every day I'm reminded that my life will never have a dull moment again! 

Big Boy Seats, and other fun things

Last week we moved the boys from their infant seats into their big boy seats!  Mommy's arms were finally tired of lugging almost 20 pound babies around in car seats!  So after much online research, in-store tests, we decided on these First Years seats ... and they came in coordinating blue and green matching seats!  I love them, and the boys seem to also!

In the house test run ... I'm not sure what Jack did to crack Will up,
but he definitely thought his brother was funny!

And all ready to go on our first ride!  They did really well!

 They boys are having such fun playing on the floor lately!  They are all over the place, especially Jack, but somehow they always seem to gravitate to each other! 

  

Pretty typical scene ... one brother or the other on top of the other!

Right now, the boys absolute favorite toy to crawl to and chew on are these plastic purple discs off of the activity center.  They usually each go for their own, but look what I saw a couple days ago ...

Sweet boys sharing the toy!

The other day, Jack figured out how to crawl underneath the activity center.  He was SO proud of himself and had a blast!!

 At the end of the day, the boys and I usually sit out on our swing while we wait for Daddy to get home. Thanks to the front camera on the iphone, we usually send Daddy pictures of us as he is driving home!

Father's Day ...

What a great day Justin had today, I think!  He seems to have had a relaxing day, even with rebuilding part of our fence, and had fun with his boys!

Early morning cuddles with Daddy

Their shirts say, "If you think I'm handsome, you should see my Daddy!" Perfect for Father's Day, don't you think?

They love their Daddy!

Justin sure knows how to make his boys laugh!  They absolutely LOVE it when their Daddy dances! 

For Father's Day, we got Justin a bike trailer so he could pull the boys behind his bike.  This morning, before it got too hot, Justin took the boys for their first ride!  The boys were a little bit tired, so we didn't get too many smiles, but they seemed to be relaxed during the ride! 

"What are we doing, Daddy?"

Ready to ride!

Third loop around the cul-de-sac

Video of them riding ...

Serious little faces!

Success ... they are cyclists now, like their daddy!!  

3 generations of Steiner men!

This has been a great week, and a fun Father's Day!  

 And last but not least, the boys had fun taking some self portraits on my phone!

Will

Jack

Have a great week!

Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the three best fathers ever!!!

 First of all, to my Daddy ...

I love you so much, and I can't begin to tell you how much I love having you here with us in Texas!  It is such a joy for me to watch you being Grandpa to my boys!  You completely light up and just beam the moment you are with these boys! They sure love you, and I love it that you get to be around to watch them grow! You have always been such a wonderful father to me, and I look forward to watching you guide and teach the boys as they grow up!  I love you so much! Thank you for always being there, Papa!!

And to my father-in-law, Gene ...

I am so thankful to have you as a father-in-law!  You are such a positive person and and encouragement to all who are around you, and I am so glad that the boys are going to learn those traits from you as they grow!  It is so much fun to watch the boys smiling and interacting with you!  Thank you for being such a great father to my husband, modeling for him what it means to be a wonderful father!  Happy Father's Day!

And to my sweet, wonderful husband ... the best father ever to our precious sons!

Justin, from the moment I met you, I knew you were the one I wanted to grow old with.  I knew you were the one for me.  And for years, I dreamed of the day that you would finally be the father of our children.  I hoped for the day when you would finally hold our baby in your arms.  I  prayed with everything in me that I could give you a child that we would be able to raise here on earth. 

Our sweet angel boy 

God has finally answered the deepest cry of my heart, so far above and beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of! 

I have loved every moment of this "first" father's year with you!

First moments ....

First time holding boys together ...

First kangaroo cuddle time together ...

First month pictures ...

First trip home ... 

First cuddle time at home ...

First trip to the park ...

First play time on the floor ...

First One of many cuddle times ...

First professional pictures ...

First time going to church ...

First shoulder ride ...

First trip far enough to have to adjust to a time change ...

First time at the ocean ...

First baby-wearing experience ...

First Mavs Championship ...

 I am absolutely more in love with you today that I was the day I married you.  Seeing you with our boys shows me what I always knew would be true ... you are the best Daddy ever! Thank you for loving me, and loving our boys so much! The boys just don't know (yet!) how lucky they are to have you as their Daddy, but they sure do love you!! 

Happy First Father's Day, My Love! I can't wait to experience a lifetime more of firsts with you!