Birthday Boys

Carter Francis Hill is 3 years old. This picture says more than I could ever write about him. What a sweet, silly, mischievous, tiny little guy. He still loves to snuggle, cuddle, and dance with his mommy and daddy. I hope that lasts forever. He went from being a terrible eater to being much more open-minded at meal time which literally feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Not surprisingly, his favorite foods are still bacon, chocolate, and strawberries. I am contemplating combining those three things into some sort of delicious gourmet birthday cake of sorts. Like all little boys, Carter is obsessed with cars and trains. He still loves to read books and has memorized nearly every book we own! Carter is way more talkative in the past few months and I overhear him saying the silliest things. The other day I heard him counting backwards from 10 to 1 (something I have not taught him to do.) I said, "Wow! Who taught you that?" Carter responded: "Mickey Mouse did!" (So I guess TV isn't all bad, right?) During Halloween, Carter received two plastic spiders--one black and one pink. He came up to me and held them together and said, "Awww so cute. Look Mommy! They are best friends!" When he is happy or feeling lovey, he always comes up to Dave or me and says, "Ohhh.... you're the best." If we say, "Awww thank you. You're the best too." He says, "Yeah... I know." Gotta love it!

Archer Anderson Hill is 1 year old! My baby is no longer a baby now that he is toddling around everywhere. The only problem is I can't find shoes to fit his feet (he has cute chubby feet but skinny heels and ankles so he steps out of all his shoes). So alas, he goes barefoot everywhere so I guess it's a good thing that we live in Southern California! What can I say about this kid? He is the opposite of Carter in so many ways. He is a big boy! He will eat anything and everything that you serve him, although he usually always wants whatever I have more than what he is given and then ends up eating more of my lunch than I do! We lovingly call him a bully because he is very hands-on and loves to wrestle and tackle us all to the ground. He is so strong! He loves Carter more than anyone else and desperately tries to keep up with him and mimics everything he does. Archie is a kid that you can't turn your back on for a second as he is into EVERYTHING. If I try to take a shower, he ends up opening every cabinet in the bathroom, removing every item, and then climbing inside! He unrolls the toilet paper rolls daily, he gets into the pantry and tries to climb the shelves, he pulled out all of our important documents out of our filing cabinet, etc. He definitely keeps me on my toes! Despite his wild side, there is nothing sweeter than the moments I spend with him, snuggled up, nursing, and watching his big blue eyes drift off to sleep. 

Grayson Hunter Hill would be 3 years old but he lives in our hearts as a newborn. This time of year is a little bittersweet but not so much on their actual birthday. As stressful as the twins' birth was, it was still a joyous day for us and I have some good memories of that day. I was thinking of the moment I saw Grayson for the first time and remembered that Dave had captured it on video. I cut the video down to a little clip of when I saw his sweet face for the first time. I watched it over and over today and couldn't believe how incredibly perfect his little face was. See for yourself!