Boxers & Babies: Happy New Year & Year End Review of 2009

So 2009 was quite a year for Jeni, Matt, and definitely the girls. Sydney & Olivia have gone from chubby little observers to pot-bellied climbers and walkers.

Here are some highlights of the 2009 year...

We started off January with finding our nanny Nikki to watch the girls 4 days a week while Papa Rick and Nana Sharon watch the girls the other day. Nikki was blessing to us and great for the girls. While we didn't originally plan to have a nanny, it turned out to probably be the best for the girls as they didn't have to leave the house and be exposed to new, nasty germs.

In February, the girls hit some milestones. They learned how to roll over on their own. They started eating some jar baby food like peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. They also got to go out for breakfast on the weekend for the first time.

In March, the girls started to sit up for short periods of time on their own...before falling over. We took our first trip to Sams (FUN!) and some more regular trips out to breakfast on the weekends. The weather was great so we took lots of walks in our jogging stroller around the neighborhood to see all the new sights that the girls didn't get to see over the winter. Also, over Spring Break, we took the girls to the Botanical Gardens. This was our first big trip out anywhere beside the doctor! We had a great time. The girls were visited by Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Nancy for the first time since they were out of the NICU.

In April, Sydney and Olivia got to try on some new outfits that made me very happy. We wore some Mizzou outfits to help cheer on the basketball team in the NCAA tournament AND we got to wear our Cardinals outfits for opening day of Major League Baseball! April also brought a visit from The Grand Dude (Jeni's Dad) and Grandma Carol. At the end of the month, we went to Forest Park to celebrate healthy babies by walking in the March of Dimes walk.

May arrived along with some new tricks for the girls. Both of them learned to pull themselves up on things... cribs, couches, dogs, you name it! They are eating multiple kinds of solid foods and started playing with the dogs. We ventured out as a family and went to our friends' Brent & Laura's house for their sons Collin & Cameron's birthday party. Also, by the end of the month, Olivia decided to start sitting up on her own. We also got a visit from our friends Keith & Amy and their daughter Caroline over Memorial Day weekend.

June's arrival also meant the arrival of Summer vacation for Jeni. She was very excited and lucky to get to spend days with the girls! On the first weekend, we got to show off our beautiful girls to members of Matt's family at the McNabb family reunion. June also was the first time that we were away from the girls for more than 24 hours. I went to Vegas for a work conference and Jeni went as well. Sydney & Olivia stayed with Nana & Papa and had a great time. Sadly, in June, Jeni's Grandma Cook passed away. On the positive side, her passing led to a fantastic family get together later on in the year...

In July we took some trips out to enjoy the Summer weather. We had our first family picnic at a park near our house. We also traveled over to Keith, Amy, and Caroline's house for the 4th of July. Also, the big day in July was Sydney & Olivia's first birthday. What a great day! We had 2 celebrations: on the 10th for just family and the girls ate their cake; then on the 11th we held an open house for all of our other friends and neighbors. The week after their birthday, Jeni's whole family came to St. Louis for a memorial service for her grandmother. While it was a sad occasion, it was great to have all of her brothers here visiting along with her Dad & Stepmom at the same time. What a great month!

In August, Jeni went back to work and the girls started going to daycare at our neighbor, Georgine's house. We still use our nanny, Nikki, as a sitter, but the girls travel to the cul-de-sac behind our house 4 days a week now. Both girls started to cruise or crawl everywhere in August as well. Their eating habits changed in August as they started eating solids like cheese, turkey, cooked veggies, fruit, cheerios, and more.

In September Sydney started getting some teeth. Sydney's bottom teeth popped through first. Olivia on the otherhand started taking steps on her own while Sydney still crawled. We also got to wear our Mizzou cheerleader outfits for the first time.

In October, Olivia perfected walking. We all went to a pumpkin patch and had a great time exploring! Also, October marked the month of the girls' baptism. Finally by the end of the month, Sydney picked up the walking thing. For Halloween, the girls were Thing 1 & Thing 2 while Matt was the Cat in The Hat. We visited the neighbors for Halloween and even hit a couple of local houses for our first time Trick or Treating.

In November, I had a huge work event that I had been working on for months. Of course, this event coincided with the suprise party for Jeni's dad in Arizona. So, Jeni flew out without me. She did however take Sydney with her. While they were gone, I took Olivia to the zoo and out to breakfast. Sydney had a great time on her trip and Olivia loved her time here with her dad. For Thanksgiving we spent the day at Nana's house with both sides of the family. Since Sydney was in Arizona when Olivia and I went to the zoo, we decided to go back with both girls on one of the warmer days in late November. The girls loved the penguins!

Well, that brings us to December and our holiday break...

For a special Christmas gift to our family members, we decided to have some professional photographs taken at Tower Grove park. We also took advantage of one of the nicer fall days for the photographs below.

But before we get to more cuteness from Sydney & Olivia, we can't forget our other family members: Cassius & Sugar.

Seriously one of the CUTEST pictures of 2009!

Here are some of our professional pictures, taken by our fabulous photographer...Stephanie Cordle. YOu can find her at stephaniecordle.com .

WE HIGHLY recommend her if you are looking for a photographer!

Our family at a holiday party!

Christmas morning at our house...AFTER Santa came of course! He brought many great things! :)

Sydney was ALL for the car! It took Olivia awhile to warm up to it! :)

WE LOVE wrapping paper, that would be why we 'helped' unwrap MANY of the gifts under our tree! :)

Olivia...playing at Nana and Papa's house on Christmas Day!

Santa ALSO brought a car down at Nana's house...apparently we must have 2! There was some rumor about sharing being for wimps!

Sydney Playing at Nana's on Christmas Day!

Here's my belly button! So fun! :)

LOVES her car!

Livi and Mommy at Grandma Pat's!

Sydney and Daddy....

Christmas Eve at our house!

The girls LOVE LOVE LOVE the tree...we only had 1 ornament casualty this year....Sippy Cup 1 Ornament 0. :(

I can already tell that Olivia is going to take after her mommy in her love of the Christmas tree!

Livi, playing hide and seek around the corner!

Sydney...dancing it up!

Santa came to visit before his big night out...some of us were fans and others were not!

Sydney was not so much the fan of Santa this year...

I LOVE the look on Olivia's face in this picture!

Playing around with Daddy's slippers AFTER Santa was here..so cute!

Playing around with our cool backpacks from Grandma Carol and GrandDude!

Hey..there's something on your backpack...so cool!

I captured this shot on Sat, December 21st during Breakfast...the girls were holding hands it was so so so cute and sweet.

Sat, Dec 21st was Christmas out at Grandma Vicki's and Grandpa Gale's house....we had so much fun! Sydney wasn't feeling well, but later we would discover the culprit is/was/continues to be, her 2 top molars that are coming in. :(

A combination of the girls 2 favorite Christmas presents, their baby doll stroller from Uncle Steven and Aunt Corey and their baby from Miss Georgine!

Sydney was cool with the golf clubs untile her sister clocked her on the head with one! :(

Olivia had a GREAT time at Christmas...she loved playing with her cousin Jonah's sports stuff...especially the golf club set!

WE stopped by Nana's on the way down...here are the girls with Nana!

Nice puppy....Sydney LOVES the dogs! We spend a lot of time working with the girls on being NICE to the puppy and teaching them how to be gentle. BOTH dogs are amazing with them...Cassius has infinite patience, Sugar...well, she can only take so much and then she'll just relocate herself! So cute!

Daddy and Olivia doing puzzles while Sydney is annoying the dog!

Olivia Rocking the pink hat...they LOVE those hats now!

Sydney says...this gate stinks, but hey look, I found a way around it...I WANT THAT ORNAMENT!

Family Christmas at Nana Sharon and Papa Rick's with the Tweedy Family...Here is Miss Sydney..

Olivia and Mommy...

Tia and Sydney....

Tia and the girls...

Miss Olivia...

Daddy and Olivia...

Playing around as Mommy puts up the Christmas Tree!

Olivia LOVED the Christmas Tree, she would just sit there and stare at the twinkling lights and talk to the tree and when we would come around, ask us to get her an ornament or two off the tree!