It's happening.....

It's hard to believe that 2 years ago this week I was cursing the sun and the heat and just wishing the babies would be born. Next Saturday, on September 5th, our little wonders will turn 2. I can't believe how the time has flown. I remember when I was 18 weeks and we looked at the sono and heard the words "dear, you have 2 babies." Talk about a rush of emotion. First I looked down to my tummy which wasn't even a bump yet and wondered where on earth they would go. Then I looked to my husband and wondered how on earth would we do it. Two babies at once! Talk about going from zero to 60!!! Within weeks I was sporting the most amazing baby belly. It's like a woman at work said to me "Wow! You went from zero to pregnant over night!" I'm getting off track here...... I remember looking at both Jack and Bella when they were born and knowing what it felt like to love something more than I could imagine. I love my husband more than life itself, but a Mother's love is a different love. It's a protective, I'll never let anything happen to you or EVER stop worrying about you love. I wake up in the morning and can't wait to hear their voices or hear the funny things they will say. I leave work and I can't get out of downtown traffic and to day care fast enough to pick them up. I find myself sitting alone and smiling at something funny that one (or both) of them did. The last 2 years have been the most amazing and fulfilling years of my life. Nathaniel and I live to watch them grow and thank God everyday for this wonderful blessing. We decided to have some pictures taken today for their second birthday and I have posted a few. Enjoy!!!

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

Au Revoir

Not really! The title of this blog represents the last month in our house. We have had our friends the Weldy's visiting from Paris for a whole month. Ryan, Jen and Carson were able to come home and visit and spent a lot of time at the Norgren house. Jack, Bella and Carson got very close while they were here and unfortunately they had to head back to Paris for the last leg of their year stay, last Saturday. Everyday since then Jack has asked for Carson at least once a day. We think he is finally getting it and he now says "Carson bye bye." As a fun thing to do before they left, we ordered pizza on Friday night and bought all the supplies to make sundaes. The kids loved it and we got lots of pictures. We also played music and had a little dance party for the 3 of them. We will miss Carson but we know the Weldy's will be back soon and you can follow the link on our blog to learn more about their stay in Paris! Also, you can see Jack's handsome new glasses in some of these pictures!



Jack and his sundae!!


Bella is very excited!


Carson getting ready to scarf down some ice cream!


We had to cover the table with towels and strip them to diapers and underwear!


Jack nibbling on pizza


Dancing to some old school hip hop!! Sweet moves!


Bella and her pizza


Bella and Carson pose!


What are you looking at?!


Guarding the ice cream!

While the Weldy's were here we also got in some quality time at the neighborhood pool. We spent a nice afternoon there. Jack and Carson really enjoyed the water while Bella was a little nervous to try it out. She'll get there!


Jack and Daddy


The whole family!


Buds!


Such a good picture of Barney we couldn't not post it!

Here he is!!

There are more to come, but I needed to get one out here because I already lied and said it would be the same day! Jack is doing really well with his glasses and enjoys putting them in the case every night before bed time. If you take them away he says "my glasses!" and wants them back!! Very funny. Sometimes he points to mine and says "glasses." He's very into it!

UPDATE!

Jack got glasses! I will post some pictures tonight! So sorry for taking so long. July was a busy BUSY month in the Norgren house!!

The 4th and the 4th....

The number 4 has two very different meanings in this blog. First of all I am adding some photos from the 4th of July. What a wonderful day we had! We had lots of friends over including Chase and Maia! We ate BBQ and played in the backyard. The highlight was the fireworks though. It's so funny to watch the kiddos react to them. At this point I have determined that Bella has NO fear. She was dancing around, laughing and pointing at the fireworks as they went off. She was in love. Jack on the other hand wasn't so sure. He sat back a little bit. He watched too but just didn't quite have that itch to get very close. He was cautious... but very cute!


She insisted that she wear her pink Crocs. She's at that age now.....


Jack and Maia


All the kiddos and Jenny!


Unsure Jack!!



Very excited Bella!

On to the significance of the second 4 in this blog. Today is July 8th and that means that this is our 4th wedding anniversary! What an amazing 4 years it has been. I can only pray for 100 more just like these last 4. Just for fun, here is a picture of Nathaniel and I on our wedding day and then today. My how times have changed!! It just keeps getting better! Love you Nathaniel!!
Sorry the "today" picture is a little blurry. Setting a timer with 22 months old twins and getting a picture at all is an art!

Look out Omaha!

Saturday we packed up the car and drove to Omaha for the day to meet Jack and Bella's new cousin Lily. Lily was born in the end of February to my brother and Caitlin. She's precious. It's been such a hectic couple of months and since our kids are bigger and in day care, exposed to germs and yucky stuff, we thought it was better to wait and this weekend was the perfect time. Lily is beautiful. We had a nice lunch with Jason and Caitlin and then even headed over to Aunt Katina's store where I got some fabulous new clothes!! That's my shameless plug for my sister's store, Katina's Couture in Omaha. Check it out!!!
Also this week Nana and Popi stopped by on their way home from a nice relaxing trip to the lake. They brought with them some sweet Chuck Taylors for both Jack and Bella. Bella's are pink and fit her pretty well now. Jack's are a little big so we haven't put them on him yet. Here are some pictures of Bella with her new kicks. As you will notice I have pulled all of her old bows back out and she's started wearing them again with her ponytails. I am pretty sure no one cares about this except Nana and I but it's pretty cute!
While we are on the topic of shoes, the funniest thing happened today..... Jack and Bella both have a thing for shoes and tend to play with Nathaniel's and mine and hide them (not on purpose of course - they just end up where they end up...elmo baskets, cabinets, coupe cars....etc...etc.... you get the point). Today we were trying to leave to run some errands and grab lunch when I discovered that I couldn't find my shoes to leave. After Nathaniel and I searched for about 5 minutes with no luck, Nathaniel said "let's find Mommy's shoes!" and off Jack went over to the cabinet, opened it and pulled them out and handed them to me. We laughed so hard. It was so sweet. We told him what a good job he did and even shared a brownie at lunch!
Well, I better get this thing posted before Nana calls me again wondering why I haven't posted any pictures yet! Here ya go Mom.....

A little of this.... a little of that....

Just like a lot of my blogs, this one has a wide variety of pictures in it! All fun!!! Firstly, our great friends the Weldy's (see their blog on the right side of the page)who live in Paris were back for the first 2 weeks in June. We always kid around that Carson is Jack in a year. Very similar little boys. So similar that their Mommies bought them the same Spider Man PJs without even knowing it! We all laughed when we saw them in the same clothes.




Keeping with the Carson and Jack "same kid" theme..... they are both known for being a little clutzy. Most little boys are! They get so excited and run around so much that they eventually run into something. In this case it was a rocking chair for Jack. I have never seen something swell up so quickly. We cringed as he fell and it felt like it was in slow motion. It was nothing a little "I" and some love couldn't fix though. I = ice!! And yes, his pacifier is pink. It's the only Bling Bling pacifier we have left and he won't take any other. He's a very particular child. When it's gone (which will be soon) they are all gone. He's looking a little ridiculous with this in his mouth all the time and Daddy is not a fan of the pink!! =)






Next we had visitors from Iowa and Florida! Yay! All the Norgrens came to our house to visit and hang out for a night. Games were played, food was BBQ'd and good times were had by all. Aunt Kaisha and Uncle Jake were in town for a weekend wedding and we got to spend some time with them as well. Good stuff!!



So many visitors.... along with Norgrens and our Parisian friends we also got a visit from cousin Samantha from Ohio! Samantha got to spend a lot of time with the twins. She spent a whole day at the house with them and Nana and then she spent the night before flying back to Ohio. It was great!!!



Lastly we have our Father's Day picture of Nathaniel with the kiddos. Nathaniel has been working so hard and dedicating himself to a new exercise program. He looks great so the kids and I got him lots of new clothes!! He looks great and we're so proud of him. We're so lucky to have him in our lives! We love you Nathaniel!!!



As a little side note on progress with the twins, they are learning their colors right now. We're big fans of yellow, purple, red and blue. Bella also knows that Barney is white, or "whi." We work on singing the alphabet too. Bella loves to repeat after me. Jack just listens. I am sure he's taking it all in. Ha! We're just chugging along, learning everyday and loving it. This stage is so great with the kids. We're loving every minute of it!!! More soon!! Love ~ The Norgrens