The Twins First Birthday

The twins turned 1 on January 15th!

I can not believe we have two under 2 in my house, and we LOVE it!

They have been such good babies this entire experience and we love watching them grow and become their own little selves. 

Ford is a sweetheart with a huge personality! He loves meeting new people and being social. He is not afraid of strangers and sleeps like a champ. He has had one cold where he had a fever and we took him to the Dr. but other than that, he has been super healthy this whole year. He eats everything I give him, but lately he is declining avocados :( (he ate them in the beginning). He does not use a pacifier, but lately he is really attached to his football blankie which is really sweet. We took these 1st birthday photos at the park.

Sloane is the shy one, but not all entirely. She has her moments where she gets super excited and happy, and can stay up late with the best of them. She is not as good of a sleeper, but she does sleep in her crib on her own at least half the night. She is the tightest hugger, and everybody thinks she is the Mr.'s little clone. She loves to play with her little shopping cart that she walks back and forth with, and LOVES avocados (Yay!) Sloane has never been to the Dr. but did get a cold after Thanksgiving after Ford passed it on to her. I absolutely adore this little girl.

I decided to make them their smash cakes and order them their birthday party cake. 

The theme for the party was navy/pink monograms. 

The whole thing was hilarious as they barely ate the cake and more just played with the icing. I was actually glad being that I have a phobia of sticky things everywhere, and I didn't want to clean up a huge mess!

I had to custom make all of the decorations for the party and I had the most fun doing it. I ordered their wooden monograms from Etsy and I basically cut/glue-gunned everything else. 

I made a monthly-pic collage and painted their monograms. 

I ordered some really cool custom cookie cutters from Esty with their monogram and made sugar cookies as favors, they were a hit!

I made this banner on my computer and it turned out great, I made an additonal collage with pictures from throughout the year.

I made the banner for the fireplace out of plastic table covers, it took forever, but it was really cute. 

My mother in law got me these huge balloons from Hobby Lobby and they looked great on their high chairs. 

We had a killer spread including, 

Mini Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Meatballs

Crack Dip (Cheese Dip)

Veggies dipped in Ranch

Snack Cups

Pasta Salad

Cupcakes 

Bananas with Cream dip (my fav!)

We had a delicious variety to choose from.

(my nephew Sebastian)

The kids got a slice of cake and enjoyed picking at it, but they were mostly just eating the icing!

They got some pretty amazing gifts and enjoyed opening them. 

Overall, it was a super fun party. The twins had a great time being around family, and I saw how much they are loved. We look forward to this next year, and can't wait to see how much they grow. 

For now, here is the chalboard I made for them with some fun facts!

~Mrs. S

Holidays: 2015 Edition

I may as well accept that for the rest of my life, the period between Thanksgiving and Mid-January will always be a busy time in the Simmonds house. 

This Holiday season was especially special for many reasons, but most of all because it was our first time experiencing the joy of Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family of 4. 

New Years couldn't have been more fun either as we got to take a trip to Colorado and visit the Rocky Mountains. It was the babies first flight and they did great. 

We can start with re-caping Christmas which we spent in Tulsa. I visited my family the weekend before for my sisters PJ's and cookies party but unfortunately I did not take any pics. We headed to T-town on Christmas Eve morning after spending Christmas Eve-Eve at home opening the kids gifts from us. I know it is pretty early for this gift, but I got Sloane her first guitar as her Christmas present. She was intrigued by it, but mainly just pulled on the strings and enjoyed the sounds it made. I look forward to teaching her how to play it as time goes by. 

Ford received a fun adventure play set and he loved it, 

We knew that our in-laws would be spoiling our kiddos for Christmas and they did not disappoint, the kids got a ton of great gifts (as did we) and we all felt very loved. We spend Christmas Eve at the Mr.'s dads family's home and Christmas Day with the Mr.'s moms side of the family. It was a wonderful time, and the kids enjoyed being around family.

We came home on the 26th and the next few days were spent getting ready for our Colorado trip. We left on the 30th and got back the 2nd. It was a short but awesome trip complete with dinner in Aspen for New Years Eve and an unforgettable first ski experience for me and the Mr. 

This was the view atop Snowmass Mountain. We did not take ski lessons or research the fact that this mountain has 0% beginners, so it was no surprise that within the first minute I took a hard fall, as did the Mr.. We got up and kept at it, only for me to find my stride and really get into it. I had to guide the Mr. as best I could as I was actually very natural at it, but it was still challenging yet of so fun! We definitely plan on going again.

This was the view from our hotel. We stayed in Basalt which is actually about 30 minutes away from Aspen but so beautiful nonetheless.

The twins were able to get out a few times and enjoy the cold weather, to say we over layered (and overpacked) is an understatement. I think they were actually sweating in their car seat on the drives to and from places. I think they are hot natured like my husband...

We went to a charming little restaurant "The White House Tavern" for dinner on New Years Eve, and from what I had read about it, it wasn't a fancy place so I didn't think we needed reservations... well, lucky for us a table for 7 cancelled just before we got there so we were able to eat without a reservation or a wait, thank God because the babies were great, just not the best situation in general for 2 babes to be out too late. We watched the early fireworks show at Aspen Mountain and we headed home for a quiet night with the twins at our hotel room.

We had a great time visiting somewhere with actual snow, there has not been one snow day here in Oklahoma. It was also nice to go somewhere different for once. The past few years have been beach vacations, and we enjoy it and all, but we were glad to explore our adventurous side and get to know the slopes!

Hope you are all having a wonderful New Year so far!

~Mrs. S