We love being outdoors and spend every second enjoying the sunshine and perfect spring weather!! We run everywhere we go...and Daddy sometimes has to chase us down and scoop us up...We even play on the back porch at nighttime!We enjoy spending time with our cousin Caden....And of course, we spend TONS of time at the park. We go every single day and are on a mission to hit every park in Okaloosa County. I think we have been to 10 so far, and the 3 best happen to be with a mile or two from home!and we are learning about ALL of our body parts.... Check out Brody's face...it looks like he is thinking, "Dude, mom has the camera out. Quit picking your nose...you are embarrassing me..."!We love to show off our bellies....We are getting into everything and exploring our world... All of this playing and exploring makes us hungry!!! Time for snack!

Check out Mommy and Daddy's "snack"! Warmer weather = BBQ!!!

We are going to visit the Easter Bunny this Saturday down at the Harbor. Let's hope the boys take to the Easter Bunny a little better than they did with Santa... We are dying Easter eggs tonight with The Hipsh family, and I can almost certainly guarantee that they will be going to school tomorrow covered in dye!!!

2 different eggs..........

Wow, do we have two different little men on our hands...You can tell they are brothers by looking at them, but their similarities stop there! I always tell people that although they are twins, they are really just brothers. What I mean by this is that they are fraternal twins...conceived from 2 different eggs. They had their own sac and placenta inside of my belly, they were just born at the same time. I think people expect them to act the same and we even occasionally watch them in awe, how they both excel in their own little areas...

Brody is excelling very fast in the language department. He can repeat everything you ask him to say and is starting to talk in 2 and 3 word sentences/phrases. We have discovered that if Brody is in the vicinity, Wade will not talk as much. It is almost as if he lets B-man do the talking for him. We are always practicing our words and sounds, asking each babe to repeat our words, and 90% of time, Brody speaks for both of them. This was a little concerning to me, but when Wade is without his bro-bro, he talks up a storm. He can also repeat all words and amazes me by intelligence. I think he is fine with letting Brody be the "spokesperson" for them...hahaha. Now, while B-man seems to be the dominant speaker, Wade takes the cake in the physical sense. He runs so fast, can climb up, on and over anything, is swift, has incredible balance and his perseverance is quite the admirable trait...hope he never loses that!! He is master at puzzles and can pretty much figure out how anything works.

Some cute "Harrell Boy-isms" at 19 months (Gonna sound a little jumbled, but here goes):

They both know how to make animal sounds for a cow, cat, dog, snake, elephant, lion, owl, monkey, horse, bird, frog, sheep, pig, etc...animals are our latest obsession...

They both can show us the following body parts: head, hair, teeth, mouth, tongue, heart(they point to their chest and say "beat beat"), knees, belly, belly button, arm, hand, elbow, foot, toes, "pee-pee", hiney...they are growing up so fast!

Brody loves strawberries, bananas, apples, green beans, broccoli, pastas, potatoes, some meats, cheese, and anything he can feed himself. He does not want to be fed anymore.

Wade dislikes all fruits and veggies this month, but will eat the heck out of all meats, cheeses, eggs, yogurt and loves to snack. We sneak in fruit by buying different freeze dried varieties and calling them crackers and he guzzles them up...sneaky sneaky....

The both ask for crackers "cackahs" all of the time, as well as water. My boys sure can drink! I am so happy that they love water...Brody actually prefers ice water to anything and Wade would drink gallons of juice if we would let him. They do not drink much milk at home these days...maybe 8-10 ounces, as they also drink it at school.

Another recent obsession is pointing at all of the water that surrounds our beautiful town. Every time we pass over a bridge or see the beach, they both scream "Wa-Wa"...over and over and over. They still love their bikes, helping to put on shoes and socks, as well as take off their clothing. They both feed themselves with spoons and forks, are getting better at drinking out of a cup and love taking bites of our food. After we brush their teeth, they actually do a pretty good job on their own! They both recognize when they have done something right or wrong, and have started saying sorry when they are mean or hurt their brother. They both are pretending a lot more, for instance, feeding themselves with a shovel and a bucket, as though it were a spoon and bowl. They can both throw a ball pretty well, which makes their "DaaDeee" so proud, he can hardly contain his grin. They love to open and close doors, turn lights on and off and can follow directions very well!!! The park has become an afternoon ritual after school, as the boys bedtime has moved back about an hour, due to the time change. We spend lots of time chasing them around, climbing up and down the playground, going down the slides and having a good time as a family. We are so blessed!

I know this is a long post, but I am diligently updating this blog, not only for our family and friends, but for the boys, and Todd and I, to have as cherished memories in the years to come.

And, of course, pictures of the little guys that I just went on and on about....

"Reading" Mommy's books...

Helping Daddy plant flowers for spring!Trying on Momma's rain boots....Enjoying the beautiful weather...finally!Don't let him fool ya...he didn't touch his broccoli!Spring is officially in full bloom.......

Being a twin

Being a twin, means always having someone to share lunch with...

and wrestle with...

and zone out with...and watch The Backyardigans with...

and get into trouble with...

and explore with...

and play with... and to ride bikes with...and to read stories with...

and to spend time with...But, most of all...too LOVE!!!!

Our dogs are only 10 days apart and they are from the same blood line, so they are our "1st set of twins"...We seem to do things in pairs around here!

Miller:

Buckley:

Happy Birthday Grandmother!!

We drove over to Macclenny to spend time with the Harrell clan...and to celebrate Grandmother's 84th birthday!! We helped Grandmother celebrate her birthday with Uncle Andy, Aunt Marilyn, cousin Alex, cousin Andrea, cousin Madeline, Uncle Scott, Aunt Allie, cousin Caden, Grammie and Pop's! This was the first time that all 4 great-grandchildren were able to all be together at Grandmothers!

This was the best picture out of the 30 or so pics we took, while all of the "greats" were sitting with their Great-Grandmother!

All of the Harrell boys and little Miss Madeline came out of the bedroom, doing a birthday march, singing Happy Birthday to Grandmother!

And then, they presented her with their artwork!!
Alex, Marilyn and Madeline serenaded Grandmother with a song, while playing the Ukulele...or however you spell it...We all chimed in, and the boys danced...The B-man was not quite acting himself this weekend...he was starting to come down with a cold and was reserved and cuddly. Wade on the other hand, acted like a maniac. He was literally running in circles, climbing on everything and everybody, all weekend long. He showed the family why we call him "Crazy Wade". He was so excited to be around everybody that he could just not contain himself!!! He actually stayed up until around 10:30-11p on Saturday night. He really wanted to play board games with the big kids! Maybe in couple more years Wade!! This pic was taken LONG after Caden, Madeline and Brody were asleep...

The Daddies and kiddos spent a lot of time in Grandmothers huge backyard, playing ball, exploring, riding bikes and just running and running!The weekend would not have been complete without tons of hugs and kisses!Today is Madeline Annabelle's 2nd birthday!! Happy 2nd Birthday Madeline!!! Glad you were able to soak up some of the FL rays, before heading back to New England!
On Sunday, after we packed everything and everybody up, we headed home and settled in for our 5 hour drive back to Shalimar. We like to break up the trip for the boys and the dogs, so we stopped by a big grassy field and let them chow down on McDonald's!!

One of our many road trip picnics:

And as I got closer and closer, I realized B-man was holding the french fry containers upside down...And then, I saw what happened. He was in heaven. French fry heaven...Ahhh, to be young again and not have a care in the world!While we were in Macclenny, we were all commenting on how much Wade looks like Pop's. G-mom dug out baby photos of Lee, and the resemblance is incredible!!!! Wade looks just like his Pop's!! See for yourself:On a sad note and with a very heavy heart...I do not even know how to write this. I know it is an impersonal way to tell family and friends that might not know, but I believe that this will save Todd and I the stress of having to relive it, over and over. Telling our family and friends is such a hard thing to do!! Our pregnancy was no longer viable and I am no longer pregnant. I was 10 1/2 weeks when we found out. It was/is still a shock to us and our families, but we are moving on and we know, without a doubt, that God has a plan and that His decisions will make sense in time. Please know that we are OK, that we have found peace in the situation and we thank you for your prayers and concerns. There is really nothing more to say, except that our "baby" will forever be a part of us... :( Love, Carly and Todd