The twins are nine!!

Ugh, I think this is a record for being late on writing this post. Their birthday was two and a half months ago. OOPS! 😉

Can we blame 2020?

These babies that made me a mama 9 years ago are growing up into such lovely young ladies, and I’m so proud!

Nick and I fashioned Paisley a ‘stage‘ for her birthday (above), and customized a bike for Dell! Sister has some lonnnnng legs, so she was well overdue for an upgrade.

The girls have chosen to celebrate their birthdays on separate days and have separate parties. This year, Della chose to have a water birthday party with friends in the backyard (the world was opening up again a bit after strict COVID lockdown), complete with a make-shift tarp as the slip’n’slide. It was a beautiful HOT day! And Della chose an assortment of pies instead of cake. 😉

Paisley chose to have a sleepover with two friends… our neighbors, Leona and Ella (and Della of course). This was extra special, because just a few days later, they moved to Tennessee.

One of the girls’ birthday presents from us was ‘borrowing’ a kitten from some friends with farm kittens. LOL! Nick and I definitely didn’t want another can (two is enough), but fostering one for a few days was SO FUN! Meet Eugene.

Every year, I look forward to taking their pics together in this silly orange chair. I’ve been doing this since the day they came home from the NICU. How long will they still fit together? 😉

If you’re wondering if Della wears that romper everyday, the answer is YES.

When the twins were born, I took their pic in this orange chair EVERY SINGLE WEEK until they were 1, and monthly until they were two. After that, I just do it every year on their birthdays. It one of my favorite traditions, and I’m so glad I had the presence of mind to do this in those early sleep deprived days.

CLICK HERE to see them all in succession.

Another thing I love is that we planted each girl a tree when they were born. The twins each got a willow, and we’ve taken their pics with it each year to so how much they’ve grown (the children AND the trees!)

When we moved to our current house, we had to use a tree spade to move the willows… we couldn’t just leave them behind! They’re now planted in my Grandma’s pasture.

The trees made it through the move, but were really shocked by the transition and lost lots of branches. This is the first year after the tree relocation.

And here is this year!! The dead branches got trimmed and they look so much happier now!

This year of 2020 has been a wild one, but we’ve been together as a family through it all, and are closer than ever!