7 months old...

The boys turned 7 months old a few days ago. It is so amazing how quickly time goes by! We have been busy this month as we are remodeling one of our bathrooms, so pictures are not currently available, but we wanted to let all of you know how we are doing. Joshua continues to refuse to roll over completely onto his stomach, but will go from side to side over and over again. Caleb on the other hand is all over the place in his crib at night and we never know how we will find him in the morning! He seems to prefer sleeping on his stomach, as that is often his position when we come in to get him. Joshua can sit up on his own for 10-15 seconds at a time and then usually gets too excited about something and over he goes! Caleb is a little too active to have that sort of control yet, but he is working on it. Joshua has also perfected the art of passing the ball from one hand to the other as he is playing. We made a quick stop in the doctor's office yesterday for flu shots and weighed the boys with their clothes on. Here are their approximate weights and lengths:

Caleb: 15 lbs 5 3/4 oz, about 27 inches long
Joshua 17 lbs 7 3/4 oz, about 27 1/2 inches long

They seem to be growing well! They have also both mastered the art of eating rice cereal at this point, so we are venturing into new foods. (I am waiting to start each new food at the same time with both of them to make it easier to keep track.) I am attempting to make our own baby food as much as I can and we are starting with peas! We will try to take some pictures of this and future new tastes to come. We continue to be so thankful for the boys and look forward to seeing what they will do in the next month!

The twins' first Christmas

We had a great time experiencing Christmas with our boys for the first time! The boys had the flu just before Christmas, so unfortunately they were not their usual happy little selves, but we got a few grins out of them anyway! They were even able to help open their presents. We traveled to Oklahoma City the day after Christmas to visit with Alison's family on her Mom's side. It was great to see all the relatives and to introduce them to the boys. It was also a great time for us to spend with Alison's immediate family as well. We stayed in a hotel, so the boys got to go swimming for the first time! I think Mom and Dad had more fun than they did, but that's okay! The stockings that you see were made by Alison - she got them finished just in time for Christmas! All in all, 2008 has been a year for us to remember with lots of changes and many blessings. We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us in 2009!

6 months old!

It's hard to believe that the boys are 6 months old already! Time sure does fly when you're having twins, graduating from seminary, selling and buying a house, moving, starting a new job, etc... The boys have continued to grow and the doctor was pleased with how they looked! They continue to be long and lean, but Dr. Duff says that's just fine! Here are their recent heights and weights:

Caleb: 26 3/4 inches, 14 lbs 4 oz
Joshua: 27 1/4 inches, 15 lbs 12 3/4 oz

Caleb is now rolling over from his back to his stomach and Joshua continues to be very close. Alison, Caleb, and Joshua all had the stomach flu for the past couple of days, so it has been a little interesting around our house! Everyone is on the way to getting better... now we just have to get back into our normal routine again! We are off to Oklahoma City the day after Christmas to visit some of Alison's family, so I'm sure we'll have pictures from that adventure soon. In the meantime, we wish you all a very blessed Christmas.

#3 Green

#2 with some Sound!

This one was about 117 frames I think.

The First, Hopefully of Many and Better to Come

So I finally found a way to do some cool effects, a free program called LS Maker. Some day when I figure out how to render videos properly there will not be any logos on the middle of the screen. There is only about 3 seconds of footage to watch, which you can do over and over if you like to make it seem longer. Those 3 seconds are comprised of about 104 frames, each which have to have effects applied. So the short is that it takes a long time to put together a whole bunch of video. Watch out Vader, here comes Jedi Master Soppe!

GO CARDS!!!!

Now, we know that baseball season is still a long ways away, but Alison has already been talking to the boys about the Cardinals and how they're the best team (and only team) to root for! Alison and the boys had a fun time one day dressing up in Cardinal gear and taking a few pictures. Beyond a doubt, Caleb and Joshua will be ready for spring training when it comes... and you know it will be here sooner than you think! In the meantime... GO CARDS!!!!!!!