Xmas 2008

Well, we didn't exactly celebrate Christmas on Christmas day this year. Gigi was with us, but Grandma and Grandad weren't arriving until 10pm, so we decided to wait until the 26th. Then Uncle Corbin, Uncle Keeper, and Aunt June arrived late on the 26th and we had our Christmas dinner on the 27th. It was a rolling holiday and we managed to stay festive for the duration.

On the evening of the 23rd, Daddy tried to put together the bike Yianni sent to LR. It was so cliche... Daddy sat there struggling for 20 minutes and when I asked him what step he was on, he grumbled, "one." I sat down to help and after much discussion, Daddy finally realized that the front fork was bent. *sigh* No wonder we couldn't mount the front tire. We momentarily debated sending it back via mail, but we wouldn't have a new one in time and it was the one thing LR had asked for over and over again. So, Daddy and Gigi made a midnight dash to Toys R Us where they didn't have any more of that particular bike other than the floor model. Daddy asked for the floor model and they said they would sell it to us. Hooray! We didn't even have to put it together, we just had to exchange the one we had. And so Christmas was saved.

Daddy received an acoustic guitar from his soon to be musically gifted children and LR a nice harmonica and they jammed for a little while on Xmas day. Grandma and I put our minds to a cupcake project using the new book SwingDaddy and Lady M sent me. The snowmen and trees became our centerpiece for Xmas dinner which Gigi whipped up once again. We never get tired of her cooking when she visits.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Just Before Xmas!

It's hard to know where to start when you're more than a month behind with blogging. I need to cover Christmas, our au pair switch-er-roo, Missy's first steps, visits from a huge number of family members, and a god-awful week of stomach flu. I could start with posts from today (Jan 16th), but I think I'll write them on the days that would have been close to when they happened. That way it'll make sense when (if) the kids read it someday and my general readers can ignore the dates for a little while. Still with me?

So, it's almost Xmas and Grandma Nese has had a nice long visit with us, 2 weeks. She has helped fill the gap between au pairs. She's generous both with her time and with the gifts for the kids. She just can't stop herself from buying them toys! It's a little nuts. Derek's started calling it Chanukah-Christmas because we seem to be opening something every day. I'm not complaining though. The kids have loved the toys. One toy in particular keeps them really happy because Missy can push it while J Frog rides it. LR sometimes gets run over. It happens.

The days are still crazy busy, so it's nice to have a family member around all day instead of having help that goes off duty around dinner time. That means I have someone to help first thing in the morning and late at night. She helped get the babies from bath to bed and then helped me with dishes, laundry, and last minute Target runs. We kept the caffeine pouring and she kept the energy going. Thank you, Grandma Nese!

Being 3

It's tough being 3. New rules, new school, new siblings... it's been a rough year. I sometimes forget that he's still such a little guy and I'm harder on him than I should be. I don't have time to read the books on discipline or take him to Mommy and Me classes, so we're just wingin' it. Recently, that's been biting me in the ass as I continue to get bad reports from his teachers. The other day he bit another little girl in his Fun School class (not to be confused with his regular school where the teacher singled him out the first month.) I actually like and respect this teacher a lot. I walked away from her thinking, "once, just once, I'd like a teacher to tell me how awesome he was that day."

The first picture is of LR making his angry face. Every time he makes it I laugh, which makes it not so much his angry face as his this-will-get-me-out-of-trouble face. Sometimes it works. The second is a pig-pile on Daddy after he's had a long day at work. It's pretty much how we feel all the time. It's what Derek describes as the lobster-at-the-bottom-of-the-tank feeling.

J Frog at his Frogiest

I had a couple of shots of J Frog that didn't belong in any specific post, so here they are.

J Frog yelling at me. This child has perfected the art of the long yell. It's not shrill or particularly upsetting, it's just loud and long. I feel like a member of a musical when he starts the yell - I can check my watch, tap my toe, look around at the supporting cast, and still the yell goes on.



When taking holiday photos I got this nice one of the back of his head. Cheese!






Daddy and J Frog trimming the Christmas tree. J Frog was taken with the Tigger ornament.

First Snow of the Season

Almost 2 weeks ago we had our very first snow of the season. LR was happy to go outside to play first thing in the morning and Daddy joined him. The babies and I stayed indoors where it was warm. Daddy and LR threw snowballs at the sliding glass doors both surprising and entertaining the twins for a good 15 minutes.

LR was showing Missy the snow.







Daddy was really pitching those snowballs hard, but the kids loved it.






Missy warning the paparazzi to stay back.








LR enjoying the season's first icy treat. mmmmmm... lint-y











There's a big storm on the way tomorrow - 6-8 inches maybe. LR can't wait to use his new sled. We tested it yesterday and it seems to slide along really fast.





J Frog, you're gonna have to wait a little while on that sled. :)

Missy's Surprise Tooth

All last week I was convinced that she was getting her second tooth. I even posted when it finally came through. The day after I posted that, I looked at the top of her mouth and saw that she had another tooth. Surprise, surprise! I missed it because it wasn't one of her top two teeth. It's one just to the side of them - or at least I hope it's not one of the front tooth since it's way off to the side. So, now she's Little Miss Snaggletooth.

Abra's Last Day

Last Friday was Abra's last day. It was a busy day. I had to go to work and then we tried to go out to dinner as a family. Daddy was late, so Abra and I ran out of entertaining things for the babies. They were crawling all over us and the neighboring diners. Missy especially was making friends with the people behind her.

On Saturday morning Abra was up bright and early and gone before any of us were up. We couldn't have made it through this year without her. For that we are forever grateful. She was great with the kids and I know they'll be missing her for a while. Good luck on your travels, Abra!

First Foods - Good Thing They Have Teeth!

Over the holidays the babies tried many new foods - I know, they're supposed to have a couple days gap between each new food, but we haven't had any problems. So with a fridge packed with lovely food that none of us felt like eating, we ordered some pizzas for a fast, easy dinner. Cheese, tomatoes, bread... nothing new there, so we tore some small pieces for them from our slices and let them test the yummy waters. It was a huge success. I haven't seen Missy sit that still for that long since she started rolling over. She made sure to eat every little bit that she had before she moved. J Frog loved it as well, so I'm not sure why he was making such a funny face in the picture. He wasn't as meticulous about cleaning his plate as Missy, but he didn't let much of the pizza get away either.

On that note, Missy is getting her second tooth today. It's driving her a little crazy, but she's happy with a teething biscuit in hand. Unfortunately, she's in love with climbing on the couch and now there is biscuit schmutz all over the couch which is driving me a little crazy.

Brrrrr - Reason #1 for Leaving

So Abra has only 4 more days with us and it's hard to blame her for wanting to leave when this is how we get ready to go for a walk. It was 32 degrees and we walked for only 15 minutes before we decided to go home, but when you're desperate to get out of the house...



We were afraid Missy was having some sort of reaction to the cold when she decided to hang her head over the side of the wagon for the duration. Enjoying the vibrations of the wheel? Maybe. Too cold to sit upright? Probably.




J Frog just loved chewing on those mittens. Anything fabric to chew on and that kid is happy. Glad I put the waterproof ones on him.

Thanksgiving 2008

I can't tell you how many injuries the kids have sustained in the last 5 days. With 5 extra people in the house, you would think we as a tribe could keep 3 kids from bumping their soft heads, but no. J Frog has a black eye this evening and Missy had 3 bruises fanning across her forehead like some bizarre reverse turkey. LR just came down with another cold causing him to miss 2 more days of school. This time he knew it was a school day and just about cried when I told him he couldn't go. Had we made a trip to the ER it would have been reminiscent of another Thanksgiving when my Aunt L was cleaning the electric knife and just about took her finger clean off! Nothing quite so dramatic here, but the kids are getting increasingly accident prone as they grow more adventurous.

Papa and Grandma Nese showed up first and LR got to hang out in the cockpit of Papa's new plane for a few minutes when they arrived. He didn't seem too interested in pushing all the colorful buttons on the dashboard and for that, Papa was thankful. The next day Aunt K and her boyfriend T arrived. The babies got a little overwhelmed and Missy couldn't help but cry every time Papa or T smiled at her. J Frog, however, was happy to get so much attention. Smiles and cuddles all around. LR was pretty content as well with so many playmates.

There was lots of good food and great company. More photos to come.