Jack and Bella Are ONE!

What a weekend! Jack and Bella turned one on September 5th. We can't believe it's been a year since they arrived! We started off our weekend on Friday. Nathaniel and I took the day off and we took the twins to the Kansas City Zoo. They fiested on chicken nuggets and a fruit cup and enjoyed seeing the animals. We also went to a toy store and picked out a fun picnic table for them. Saturday was our big day! Jack and Bella got to smash into cakes, eat brisket and potatoes and open lots of presents from all of their wonderful family and friends. We were really touched by all of our friends and family who came to help us celebrate. The grown-ups at the party also got to taste some delicious cupcakes from Baby Cakes here in Kansas City. If you have had one - good for you! If you have not had one - get one as soon as you can. We decided not to have a cake but to have 50 of these little gems instead. Wonderful! All in all it was a wonderful weekend. The kiddos were worn out and slept for 12 hours last night. Whew! Thank you everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

Jack and Bella's 1 Year Pictures!

Hey everyone!

Jack and Bella had their 1 year pictures taken last week and they are out on the web for your viewing enjoyment!

Take a look and let us know what you think! Feel free to order some if you'd like!

Jack and Bella's 1 Year Photos!

T-Minus 2 days till 1!
The Norgrens

Little Explorers

When Nathaniel and I get home from work at night we will often take the babies out for a wagon ride, eat dinner and then play indoors (or take a bath) before bed. Well, the other night after dinner the kiddos were doing their usual exploration when I decided to snap a few pictures. Before anyone scratches their head and wonders why the high chair is in the living room - no we do not keep it there! Bella loves to push it around and walk behind it. It's quite the site to see such a little peanut pushing such a large object, but she loves it. She pushed it all the way from the kitchen to the front of the fire place this night (supervised of course!). Jack, as you can see, is a big fan of looking out into the yard. He likes to pull up on the window and bang the blinds all while peeking out the window. I caught him in the act! Enjoy the pictures! We have a BIG birthday coming up that we are planning right now so that's something exciting to look forward to out here!

Organized Chaos

There is no real point to this post. :) The twins have a project called "all about me" at daycare. We were assigned the task of providing 6 pictures of each baby with family, pets, doing things they love, in their room or just anything! We decided that we needed to take a few new pictures since we hadn't taken any in a couple weeks. They were so funny that we decided to post some. Needless to say, getting 2 babies and a dog to pose is near impossible!! So this is us....this is who we are....enjoy! :)

Baby Steps and Baptism Pictures!

Greetings from the Norgrens! As promised I created a slideshow of the baptism for everyone to enjoy that was unable to be there. With that said, I think it is so important that I tell everyone that Bella took her FIRST STEP this morning! It was only one though and then she grabbed mommy like there was no tomorrow. We were at day care and showing Miss Nicole her trick (that she can stand on her own) and she just suddenly looked at me and stepped toward me. She did it several times after I finally got her to loosen her grip on me. She was a little frightened after the first step because everyone cheered. She did not want me to put her back down, but she came around. Anyway, I am going to go cry now since she's getting to be such a big girl. What's next? College?!?!?
Love to all!

Stephanie is 30!

Stephanie turned 29 again on Monday, July 28! I think overall she had an excellent birthday.

Saturday, I threw her a surprise party with a little help from her friends. Turns out she was, well...surprised! Her party featured some fun beach-themed decorations, including a cardboard cutout and palm trees. There was also a pool which got very little use but looked excellent in the back yard. I think maybe I'll dig a giant hole, line it with some tarps, fill it with water and enjoy the rest of the summer lounging around in it. I don't think the HOA will have much to say about that. Her party also featured some delicious Goodcents sandwiches and a party bus. There was a great time had by all and an excellent way to bring in her third decade.

Sunday night, since we had the 'day off' from Jack n Bella, we enjoyed a fantastic meal of food at Olive Garden. We also took in a movie on Sunday afternoon.

We both took Monday off (I worked in the morning) and went to Holton to pick up the kiddos. It seems like every time we leave them they change so much, even if it's for a couple of days!

I will post some pictures of Stephanie and the kids when I have them. Thank you to all who made Stephanie's birthday one to remember!

Jack and Bella's Baptism

Jack and Bella were baptized in the Greek Orthodox church today. It was such a beautiful and special day for our family. A lot of our family was able to make it to town although we did miss those out east and wish they could have been here as well! We started out the day at the church for the service by Father Nick. The service lasted about 45 minutes and was such a beautiful service. Following the service everyone came back to our house where we all dug into a lot of authentic Greek food. We had Greek salad, gyros, spanakopita, Greek chicken and potatoes, baklava and galatoboureko. Delicious! We were also lucky enough to have several friends join us back at the house to enjoy the Greek feast as well. I think when all was said and done there were about 35 of us celebrating the big day inside since it was the hottest day of the year so far and the new deck was just toooooo hot!

We had a photographer there taking pictures but haven't gotten those yet. When we get them I will be sure to post some here so that everyone can see the ceremony. At least we snagged this family picture when we got back to the house. Bella is in a dress that was handmade in Greece and also worn by her cousin Samantha for her baptism 13 years ago. Jack got a brand new outfit all for himself. It was fun to see them so dressed up! Aunt Katina and Uncle Dave are the Nouna and Nouno (Godparents) to both. We're so glad to have them be such an important part of their lives.

Thank you to everyone who came to be part of such a special day. You all really made it so wonderful! More pictures to come!