Random pictures from June

Though nothing wild and crazy is happening at the DeVault house (outside of the boys' first parent teacher conference tomorrow at daycare), we thought it was time for some pictures of what has been happening lately.  Here are some pictures:

Is this my new bed?  It is much bigger than my crib.  I love it here.  - Jack

Look how happy I am waking up in my new bed.  - Jack

This is my chair and no one else can sit in it!  - Jack

Grandpa has started telling us at an early age that Led Zeppelin rules.  Kashmir is our favorite song without movements.  Patticake is our favorite song with movements.  - Mark

Umm...Mommy.  You are supposed to put our dirty clothes in the laundry basket, not us naked boys.

Jack reacts negatively to an air biscuit from Mark in the tub.

Look how happy Mommy is with her two boys.

I am doing two of my favorite things:  Holding onto my hammer and pulling up onto the coffee table.  -Jack

Touch no evil!   Hear no evil!

 

I am getting really good with my sippy cup.  When can I drink some Mountain Dew? - Mark

Father's Day

This past Sunday was the first Father's Day for Craig as a father.  I really enjoyed it.  It was very special for me to be able to be with Heather and the boys on this special day.   We went to church in the morning and then had lunch out at a restaurant of my choice.  We wound up at Outback for two reasons.  First, I really do like it, and secondly, they were having a contest that day where people who ate there on Father's Day had a chance to win Outback free for a year.  I would have loved that.  Alas, we only wound up with $5 off our next visit.  Oh well.  Maybe next year.

The afternoon saw us bring out our swimming pool and the boys enjoyed playing in it.  And then, we all settled down to watch the final round of the US Open.  Unfortunately, the golf was not the most exciting, just a bunch of pars and bogeys...kind of like my game.

Overall, we had a great first Father's Day.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Jack is telling me someone whom he loves...Daddy.

Not to be outdone, Mark also is sporting his love of his daddy.  Thanks buddy.

 

Check us out.  The boys and I are together.

I love Daddy more! - Jack

No, I love Daddy more! - Mark

Jack is looking outside wondering when the pool will be ready.

Daddy, when will the pool be ready?  We are SOOOOOOOOOO ready!

Hey Mark.  I think the pool is just about ready.  - Jack

Jack is wondering what is going on behind him.  Is Mark getting ready to do something that Jack will not enjoy?

I have no use for this mosquito.  I will SQUASH you.  Bye Bye Mosquito!!!  - Jack

Has anyone ever told you that I have really blue eyes?  - Jack

Mark stops and lets the water come down his face.

Look at the water in slow motion streaming down my face.  How refreshing is a pool on such a hot day?  - Jack

If this doesn't show the world that we are twins, nothing will.

What it takes to feed two boys in a week (excluding bottles)

Now that the boys are eating baby food, we thought everyone would like to know what a typical week looks like in terms of the amount of Gerber food the boys take to daycare.  We send a week's worth of food on Monday.  Each Sunday night, we label 30 individual containers of food (15 say Jack DeVault and 15 say Mark DeVault).  Here is how much food they eat in a week at daycare:

This is a shot of what our pantry now typically looks like. 

If anyone wants to buy stock in Gerber, now is a good time.

Mark laughing

While visiting Mama and Papa in Gastonia, Grandpa really made Mark laugh hard.  Mark dropped a toy on the hardwood floors and Grandpa started acting silly while picking up the toy to hand it back to Mark.  Mark thought it was hilarious and from there a fun game developed...take a look!

Trip to visit Mama and Papa in Gastonia

Last Wednesday, Craig left to go to TN for 4 days to help his parents get some projects done around their house.  So, Jack and Mark and I decided that we would go visit Mama and Papa in Gastonia for the weekend.  Of course, I'm not quite up to travelling with the boys by myself just yet, so we invited Granna and Grandpa to join us on the trip.  The were very excited to join us!  We had a really great trip.  I left work early on Friday, went home and packed the car, and then we went by to pick up the boys at daycare on our way out of town. We got caught in several traffic jams.  It took us about an hour longer than we had expected.  The boys did excellent.  They were almost an hour late eating their dinner by the time we got there, but they were very patient for two little 10 month olds.

We had a great visit while there.  Jack and Mark both slept through the night both nights in their pack-n-plays.  On Saturday night, we grilled out steaks and had a wonderful dinner celebration with lots of family for Papa's 87th birthday!   We sure missed having Daddy with us though!

On Sunday, some more family came over to visit with us.  We really enjoyed seeing so much family during our trip.  Too bad we don't get to see them more often.  We left after lunch on Sunday to return to Raleigh.  Once again, the boys were great travellers in the car on our way back.

Here is Jack and Mark with Mama and Papa....

Visit with G.G.

On Sunday, June 6th, we took a quick trip to Aberdeen to visit G.G. (standing for great grandmother).  She absolutely loved the visit from Jack and Mark.  We took a quilt with us to put on the floor, so she could watch the boys crawl around and play some.  She really enjoyed watching them and couldn't believe how much they had grown since she had seen them at Christmas.  It was good to see G.G.  She was doing really good and is quickly recovering from her broken hip.

Here are pictures with G.G. 

Waking up in the morning

So, a typical morning at the DeVault house consists of Jack waking up around 5:45 - 6:15am.  We go get him and bring him to our room.  He will snuggle with us in bed and go right back to sleep.  Mommy loves this snuggle time with Jack!  Mommy gets up around 6:45 to get in the shower and get ready for the day.  Jack and Daddy continue to nap for awhile.  Mark typically wakes up around 7:00 - 7:30am, but will just hang out in his crib very contently.  We typically go in to get him around 7:30.  Lots of mornings, we will go in to find him sleeping and he will wake up while we are standing there at his crib.  It is so cute to watch him wake up.  He wakes up so happy and smiley!  What a joy to start the morning with two happy and sweet boys!  Hope you enjoy this video of Mark waking up....

New Car Seats

At the doctor's office on Thursday, Mommy asked about when we should consider moving the boys from their infant carrier to a convertible car seat. The doctor said that when the feet of the boys are even with the edge of the carrier or if they are hanging over that it is time to move them.  Well, Jack's feet are hanging over the edge of the carrier currently and Mark's are even with the edge of the carrier.  So Daddy took the convertible car seats to the Fire Department and they helped him install them correctly.  Take a look at us in our new car seats.  We went from being big in the infant carriers to small in the convertible car seats:

Mark is chilling in his new car seat.

Jack shows off his new car seat.

We are really going to like our new car seats.

In our new Swimming Pool

Today, Mommy and Daddy got the boys a swimming pool.  Grandpa and Daddy blew it up with a lot of hot air (they both have ample supplies of that says Mommy and Granna) as well as using an electric air pump.  They put some water in it and then the boys were able to start using it.  We took a video of them playing in the pool.  

Visit with Mimi and Poppy

On Memorial Day weekend we visited Mimi and Poppy in Kingsport.  Here are some pictures of the trip as we had a really good time:

Just as soon as we arrive, the boys take over the house.  Mark is inspecting a rocking chair used by Mimi and Daddy while Jack is trying a new crawling technique.

Hey guys!  Watch me climb these stairs.  I can't be stopped.  - Mark

A Mark in the box and a Jack in the bag.  2 great gifts. 

It's bath time.  Where is my brother?  Mommy, he isn't undermeath the rug.  I checked.  - Jack

Mimi helps me get ready for bedtime.  I am really glad to be here!  - Mark

After the last bottle of the night, we fall asleep on Mommy and Mimi's laps.  How relaxing this is.

Poppy looks down on the ground not believing an almost naked Mark is at his feet.

The boys are introduced to Mimi and Poppy's long time neighbor's, the Taylors.

Both boys are checking out the cute girl in the swing to their right.  We really enjoy swinging.  It is one of their favorite things to do.

I am wearing my Tennessee orange while in Tennessee.  This is AWESOME!!!  - Jack

At a cookout with Mimi and Poppy's long time friends, Jack is getting concerned too much fun is happening and we are going to forget to feed him.  No worries, Jack.  We will never forget to feed you or Mark.

Almost a 4 pound difference

Today, I took the boys to the doctor for their two week ear recheck appointment.  Unfortunately, we found out that Jack's didn't clear up and actually has gotten worse in both ears.  So, we are trying a new antibiotic for 10 days....hoping this will clear both ear infections!!  Mark got a good report as both of his ears looked good.  So, we are thinking this explains why Jack hasn't been sleeping well.  Oh, how we long for the nights where he will sleep through the night again... we had gotten used to that! 

They weighed the boys at the doctor today.  Mark weighed 18 pounds 2.5 ounces and Jack weighed 22 pounds 1 ounce.  I can't believe they are almost 4 pounds different.  This is the largest difference yet! Jack typically eats a little better than Mark.  And, Mark stays on the go.  This little guy is everywhere.  He can pull up really well.  Jack pulled up today for the first time all the way to his feet.  We are thinking that its a combination of both of these leading to the larger weight difference.

Climbing Stairs

On Memorial Day weekend, we were supposed to go to Knoxville to see our new niece (and cousin) Macy.  However, the day before we left we had to take Jack to the doctor because we were concerned that his ear infection was not getting any better because he was not sleeping well and was still tugging on his ear.  The doctor said his ear looked a lot better but he was showing signs of something viral in his throat due to the pinkness of the discharge she could see.   When we heard the word viral, we became concerned about going to see Macy as we didn't want Jack to give whatever he had to her, as she would end up in the hospital.

So we decided to postpone our visit to see Macy until the July 4th weekend.  Instead of hanging out in Raleigh, we asked Mimi and Poppy if they would be up for a visit.  They were definitely up for a visit.  Once we got there, the boys wanted to play as they had been good travelers for us (only stopping once on the 4 1/2 hour drive).  Within 5 minutes, the boys found something new...stairs.  The following video watches Mark as he tackles the stairs for the first time.  This boy is smart and strong and fast.  Enjoy!