Late Night with Ethan Barker

After my double header softball game, I got home late only to find someone waiting for me....Ethan! Apparantly he was not tired and did not want to go to bed. It is hard to tell, but he was actually really happy and giggling when I took this picture. The flash made him squint. Eventually I was too tired and put him down. Thankfully he was fine for the rest of the night.

Finally! We Can Play With the Keyboards

Today the twins went to visit Patrick at his office. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't suceed in baby proofing his office. Luckily they have used computer parts galore, so it wasn't too difficult digging up some fun stuff to distract the twins from all of the wires.

A Bit of Italian for Dinner with Family

Nonie and Rhonda came down last night to watch the kids today while Patrick, Michael, and I ran the ACT. Rhonda was up from Kentucky to visist my mom after her graduation. Congrats Rhonda! We went to Buca's for dinner that night. There was a small wait that turned into a huge one so the twins got a little crazy.

Once we were sat, they were all smiles. They LOVE pasta! After dinner Nonie and Rhonda headed back to Urbana.

15 Month Checkup

Today we took the kids to the doctor for their 15 month checkup, almost a month late.... Here are the stats:

Ethan:

Weight 21lbs 6 oz (7.8%)

Height 29.5 inches (4%)

Head Circumference 18.5 inches (38%)

Elaine:

Weight 21 lbs 8 oz (22%)

Weight 30 inches (25%)

Head Circumference 18.5 inches (75%)

After the doctor's appointment, the twins got visitors. Friends of ours, Brian and Jen Russell, came over. They are expecting boy/girl twins later this summer. I was amazed, the twins were so warm to them. Usually they are very shy around strangers, but they loved hanging out with them. Ethan even let Brian hold him a few times!

Bring On the Heat!

After Uncle Don, Aunt Cate, and George left we relaxed, had lunch and they went down for a nap. We ran a few errands later in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day in the yard playing. The kids had a blast....especially after we showed them their surprise we picked up for them at the store. A POOL!

We didn't fill it up since it was almost dinner time, but the kids still had a great time.

Memorial Day Camping!

Every year Patrick has to leave the Sunday before Memorial Day to get his company's conference ready. So the kids and I said goodbye to everyone and headed up to Dayton to meet my family at the campgrounds. It was completely night and day to the Labor Day trip. They could walk around, play, and enjoy so much more! It was so hard to pick pictures to show everyone.

No Kids Allowed!

We got to the hospital to see the new baby, but the twins were not allowed to come in. You can see the lost expressions on their faces as we told them! :)













While Patrick and I went in to see Phillip, the twins hung out in the waiting room with their grandparents. Once they saw all of the distractions, they quickly forgot the devastating news!

A New Arrival

After almost three days, the twins new cousin was finally born! Phillip Padberg Barker.

PS. I do not have the Swine Flu! I had some allergies and was being precautious in case it was a cold.

Our Baby Days Are Coming to an End

Grandma and Grandpa came today for the upcoming arrival of our new cousin. Pretty soon we won't be the babies in the Barker family!

Training for the Major Leagues

Tonight Patrick and the twins were able to come to my softball game. The kids had a blast playing with their toys and running around. Patrick and I are now talking about taking them to a Reds game this summer to see if they enjoy it.

Happy Birthday Morgan!

This weekend we went up to Urbana for Morgan's birthday. Her birthday is actually a day before mine, but my parents were in Hawaii until last Sunday so we had to postpone the celebrations. The twins had a great nap at Nonie and Poppy's before heading over to Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mark's house. Elaine had a hard time waking up and needed some Nonie time to wake up.

Morgan's Uncle Chuck and her cousin Lily were able to make it to the party, so Elaine immediately ran over to see who the new chick was!

Ethan, on the other hand, chose to lock himself in the dog's cage until he could size the new girl up. His interactions with girls is mainly Elaine and she is a bully so he needed to be cautious. Once he deemed Lily safe, he joined the ladies for some fun with cars.

After dinner we all sang Happy Birthday to Morgan and had some cake and ice cream. By the end of the night, the twins were spent and quickly fell asleep!

Mother's Day

Today we went over to Melissa and Timmy's to celebrate Mother's Day. The boys hung out with the kids while Melissa cooked up some sides and I put finishing touches on the upcoming baby's room.

We had ribs, mac n cheese, corn and brownies. It was scrumptious.

The Grass Isn't So Scary!

This weekend Patrick and I spent a lot of time outside working on the yard. We put a retaining wall along the driveway and had a bunch of dirt delivered so we could level out the yard. Now we just need a lot of rain and warm weather to get this grass seed to grow and a bigger yard for the twins.



After the babies woke up from their nap, I took them outside to play. For the first time they didn't flip out being in the grass. The only tears were from fighting over toys! :)

On the move!!!

The kids have started walking!! They've be doing this for almost two weeks....just in time for their Nonie to leave on vacation and miss it. Yes, they are evil like that. Their Aunt Cate and Uncle Don got to see them in action last weekend though.

Who Says Shopping Isn't Fun

The kids love grocery shopping at Bigg's and Kroger because they have the double race car carts. I have to admit we love it too because we can put them both in the same cart.

Elaine is gearing up to be a high performance driver just like her mom! She is constantly turning her wheel and laughing. Ethan enjoys it also, but spends a lot of his time trying to take over her wheel too.

Our First Crab Experience

The twins had crab tonight for the first time. They were not that impressed and thought it was much more fun to play with the claws. Oh well, more crab for us!

Bbbb...BALL!

Our First Walk For a Cause

This morning the twins and did the March of Dimes walk. We walked in honor and memory of a past sorority sister's triplets. It was such a great event. Her two girls who have been in seclusion for the past 15 months were able to come for the walk that honored them and remembered their triplet brother.

After a while, we had to stop to let the kids get a drink....getting pushed in the hot sun is really hard!

Visitors From Down South

The Cole's came up this weekend for a visit. It had been a while since they'd last seen the twins, so they were floored at how big they have gotten.

Ethan especially loved taking advantage of Bob's long limbs for extra high fun!

Elaine took the life of leisure and worked on being cute with Katie.

I Thought We Were Too Old For This

Since the bathroom with the bathtub is being renovated, the twins have had to take baths in the sink. They love splashing and I love that I don't have to get the bucket out to clean the floors! I just let them splash away and mop afterwards...just kidding.