Party Pictures...

So I had promised pictures from the Birthday Party that we had for the girls at my mom's house. Everyone had a great time. So many friends came and brought their kids also.


Anna trying to liberate Lauren as Lauren gets ready to head home




Anna checking out the Busy Box from Mommy and Daddy



Our friend Anna... she and her mommy had a great time..


Anna with Natalie... Auntie Noreen's twin sister




Who needs a vacuum? We had Lily on the Clean Up Committee


Cousin Maddie.. Her mommy is my Cousin and her Grandpa is my Uncle


Lily really enjoyed eating her cake. It was everywhere on her.



There are a ton more pictures on my Facebook page.. Click the link to see them

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025312&id=1334719224&l=fd18f404e8

Go Go Lillian Grace

Wahooooo! I am so happy... Lily has finally figured out how to PULL HERSELF UP TO STANDING... I am such a happy mommy. She hasn't exactly figured out the getting herself down part yet and gets stuck easily...but that will come. But I have to admit I was worried big time over this.. I kept comparing her to Anna (I know I know I shouldn't be comparing them at all). Anna has done so many things early.. she crawled first, she pulled herself up first and figured out how to get back down without being stuck.

What I think is truly amazing though is that Lily is quickly trying to take steps... not on her own.. way too early for that. But she will walk herself forward if you hold her hands. Anna will take steps also but she was more hesitant to take those first little steps so soon after figuring out how to pull herself up. So now the official race is on as to who will be the first to walk completely on their own. I have a feeling that trying to reach a kitty will be part of that equation.

That reminds me... Lily is obsessed with the cats. Since we've been on the 3rd floor she is constantly crawling after the cats. Nora especially. Poor Nora. Squirt on the other hand is safe for now though I have to admit that Squirt is really loving sitting near Lily's highchair at meals. We've been recently worried about Squirt's weight and lack there of lately. Then Squirt figured out that Lily drops her food quite a bit. So Squirt now loves to sit and wait for Lily to drop her some food. We're trying to stop this behavior (Lily dropping the food) but at the same time are happy that Squirt might gain some weight from eating what Lily drops.

Knitting Post

Yes I still knit... heck it keeps me sane most of the time..

I made baby kimono sweaters for the girls' birthday...

I also just finished working on the blanket that I started a couple of months before the girls were born. I had taken some time off of working on it so it literally didn't take me 14 months to make... It just seems that way..

I have plans to make the girls a knitted party dress each for Christmas.. and I even started to knit one of them and then I made some major mistakes in a row that has a pattern to it (probably the only pattern row in the whole project) so I ripped out (technical term is Frogged) the whole thing.

Instead I am finally making myself something knitted.... a summer tank top. I hope that it goes well and fits me when it's done. So if I'm not around too much you can safely assume that I'm probably knitting or the girls have figured out how to tie me up...

Party Palooza

We are officially One now... wahoo... it's been fun to be one so far. The girls got totally spoiled with presents at their party. They got a TON of clothes, DVDs, some new toys to play with, a water table and a totally awesome Pool from their uncle and his family. We've already worn a few of the outfits and even tried out the new pool. The toys are so much fun.


The party went relatively well...


I made their cakes...


Everyone at the party was impressed that I not only made them but also decorated them.

They came out so well and are so adorable..









and speaking of adorable....

Look at the girls now that they are ONE...


Lillian Grace Ringen

Born 5-12-09
@ 4:52pm







Anastasia Elizabeth Ringen

Born 5-12-09
@ 4:32 pm









I love this picture so much...







BUT....



This picture totally cracks everyone up who sees it since the expression on Anna's face is just so her. I'm glad that the photographer was able to get it.






I have not downloaded the party pictures yet... But once I do I will make sure to put them up here. The girls loved the cakes and totally enjoyed smearing them all over themselves.

Just 17 more hours till the Big One

I think.... anyway... almost one year ago at 4:32pm and 4:52pm respectively Anna and Lily came into our lives and nothing has been the same since. For the past almost 365 days it's been quite the ride. Plenty of ups and downs over the past year. But I wouldn't have traded this past year for anything. The smiles that we get in the mornings and the hugs / cuddles that happen all day long are worth everything we have gone through. We're having a party on Saturday at my mom's house. I can't wait.

I finally had my very first Mother's Day yesterday. It was great. I had missed out last year by 16 hours or so. It was a great day. I ran in a 5k road race, got a few cards and spent a really great day with the girls and Lee at the Stone Zoo. Lee and I were kidding each other that it must be twin day at the zoo since we saw so many pairs of twins. The girls and I got in for Free and Lee had to pay. Not too bad. Hopefully another time we can go to Franklin Park Zoo to see more animals.

and on the 360th day.....

Lily crawled forward and Mommy saw it and declared that it was good.

I swear she's going to be the child that makes me pull my hair out.. She's sweet as anything but I think she FINALLY got the memo that her birthday is only 5 days away and that it's time to start to crawl with her tummy up off the ground. The amount of worry that she has put me through lately. I'm surprised that it took her this long. Now we need to work on pulling herself up to standing.. Otherwise I need to call EI for her to be evaluated.

Time for an Update

I've been busy lately... a bit busier than normal. So sorry that I've been lax about updating things here. I was away this past weekend in the mountains of NH with some of the ladies from church. It was nice to not have to deal with the girls for 48 hours and to have time for me to recharge my batteries. They had a great time with Grandma and were so happy to see me when I got back.

I'm also knee deep in party preparations for the First Birthday Party on May 16th. I can hardly believe that my babies will be 1 soon. It went by so fast. Faster than I thought it would at times. I'm looking forward to the next stages... the starting to walk and talk stuff and getting to do more stuff with them. It's been a fun yet exhausting year for all of us.

I've been knitting quite a bit lately.. my goal is to finish the second sweater so I can put both sweaters together before their party and give them to them while everyone is here to see them. My next project is dresses for them and then to finish the blanket I started while pregnant.