Our House...Is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

My sister had given us a gingerbread house kit that she wasn't going to put together. We had intentions of all of us putting it together when her and Mike were in town for Christmas, but didn't get around to doing so.

So, the other night Greg, the kids and I put together the house (I think this was my first Real Gingerbread house kit as well as the kids). I took out the hard candies and luckily had some m& m's and hershey kisses from the kids' stockings to use. They had a great time unwrapping the kisses and then eating them. They also enjoyed the m&m's and a couple of times tried to sneak just one more after we said, "NO MORE CANDY!"

The house was having some structure problems in the beginning, but we frosted the heck out of it on the sides and it ended up sticking together. It's not the most beautiful/elaborate gingerbread house, but it was fun! Maybe next year we can have Baby Cora help.

Thanks Mandy and Mike!

Little Leah

We have confirmation that Leah was indeed sick and teething over Christmas Break. Her tooth has now come through (appears to be her canine tooth?) and Greg took her to the doctor on Monday and she is getting over Bronchitis. She has been sleeping SOOOOOOO much better within the past two/three days. Sleep pattern seems back to normal. She has been going down at night around 8pm and sleeping until 7/8am (which is a little better than normal). Her appetite is starting to come back around as well. Glad to have my Little Leah back ;)

Another Christmas has come and gone

This Christmas was full of fun, laughter and tears. On Christmas Eve I always have my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law over for brunch and then we exchange gifts. Evan and Leah really enjoyed opening gifts this year, rather than sitting on them like last year. They did very well opening the gifts and tore into them like pros. Mike and Greg played the Wii/Playstation 3 like they do every year as Mandy and I ventured out into the rainy weather to the mall. In the evening, we always head over to my Uncle's house and catch up with out of town family members from Texas. I got to see my cousin's little girl, Olivia, for the first time. She is an absolute doll! My other cousin, Keith, has twins Mia and Maddy that are almost 3 years old. Evan and Leah had a blast playing with them as always.

This is where the tears come into play... my kids, I thought, were a little too rambunctious and having Leah be fussy and whiny all night really started to get to me. The kids fought over the toys, etc. Evan drew the last straw for me as he kicked applesauce all over my uncle's couch as well as my sweater. That was it for me. I broke down into tears of embarrassment and rounded up the kids and we headed home earlier than expected. (Let me back track a little and also say that earlier that night as I was making a dessert and an appetizer to bring over, I realized AFTER I already poured the Bailey's alcohol into the chocolate mousse for my dessert cups, that it was a tad too runny. What could have gone wrong? Come to find out, I poured four times the amount of Bailey's that I was suppose to! The appetizer also ended up a tad runny. ) So, my kids and my food-gone-wrong all added up to a stressful and tearful night for me. When we got home, Leah fought sleep and we realized she is most likely cutting another tooth/getting sick and we ended up letting her sleep with us-after Greg and I both took turns for about an hour trying to get her to go to sleep by rocking, etc.

Christmas morning was nice and peaceful. Evan woke up around 7. He and I ate breakfast together, watched the snow fall and had a few laughs rearranging pieces on his new Mr. Potato Head. (This is a memory I will always remember fondly). We ended up being over at Greg's parents' house by 9:30 am, proceeded to open up presents and had a great time visiting with family from Texas and Oklahoma. We usually go over to my dad's side of the family in the afternoon, but with the kids not getting enough sleep over the last couple of days, we decided it was best to head home and let them get a good nap in.

The kids received many great gifts from family members and we thank everyone so much!
I look forward to next year as my niece will then be 11 months old and Leah and Evan will be 3.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we wish you all a Happy New Year!

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Christmas Cookies

This is pretty good

Here are our cookies!

Mom and the babes

Actually got everyone smiling!

I knew this year was going to be a little more difficult decorating Christmas Cookies due to the fact that both kids are wanting to be more independent and do things THEIR way! We had them sit up on the counter and I let them pour in the ingredients; which they did very well. I did the food coloring for the dough (hands are still stained a little ;) ) and then let them roll out the dough with the rolling pin. They loved doing this. They liked picking out their cookie cutters. Sometimes the cut-outs would overlap, but we fixed them. Leah impressed me as we were making candy cane shaped cookies. I had her roll the dough with the palm of her hand to make the one strand and she did a great job of keeping the dough in a log shape. However, when attempting to have Evan do the same, he just rolled and pressed the dough into the table.
The wonderful "independence of a toddler" came when it was time to use the sprinkles! Evan kept telling Greg, "No, no Daddy. I do it." Finally, we compromised on pouring the sprinkles into their hands and letting them then put it on the cookies. We all enjoyed a cookie as we watched some snow fall outside. What fun and great memories!

Breakfast with Santa

This year's Breakfast with Santa (through the Mother of Twins Club) was a lot of fun. We visited with our friends and their twins, ate pankcakes, visited with Santa and enjoyed some games and craft projects available. We let Evan and Leah observe Santa and get a little more comfortable looking at him before we asked if they wanted to go get their pictures taken with him. They did well walking up to Santa, but when they were right next to him, they both turned around and jumped into our arms crying. After about 10 minutes of trying to get Evan to even stand beside me (which I was next to Santa), the photographer's assistant grabbed two presents from under the tree and handed them to Evan and Leah to hold on to. That seemed to get their minds side-tracked for the picture.
I think next year, they will be ready to sit in his lap. Speaking of next year, we are hoping that Jackie, Greg, Peyton and the Thies twins (due to arrive June) will be joining us along with Kyle, Rachel, Drew and Blake for Breakfast with Santa! WINK, WINK- Jackie!

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Deck the Halls

I couldn't wait to get my Christmas decorations up. I love the house when it's all decorated for the Holiday Season. We debated on putting up the tree at all this year. Last year, we thought it would be too much of a hassle with the twins, so we put up my little mini tree. We decided to go ahead and try for the big one this year. The kids have been really good about not taking any ornaments off of it. They touch some of them occasionally, but have been better than expected as far as "getting into the tree." Evan, we found out, has a love-hate relationship with Santa. He talks about Santa, asks to go see Santa, but when he sees him at the mall, he starts whining. The Santa I have in the picture above is one he carries around EVERYWHERE in the house. That Santa has been in a stroller, in his bed (he puts Santa down for naps sometimes), in the kitchen to eat, etc. What a great purchase for a couple of bucks at a garage sale last year!

The kids were pretty funny decorating the tree. As you can see from some of the pictures, most of the ornaments ended up being placed at their eye level.

We Are Very Thankful!

I would love to say I was thankful the kids "slept in", but that didn't happen! Evan and Leah loved watching the parades broadcasted on tv and were very excited to see Santa at the end.
We had a wonderful time over at Greg's parent's house with his family. The kids didn't eat much. Leah's dinner consisted of a roll and a half, a bite of turkey, a bite of sweet potatoes and most of Aunt Sarah's pie. I am sure she ate some of other family member's pie as well. Evan did a little bit better. At least he ate a couple bites of vegetables.
We also spent some time over at my Aunt Bonnie's house; which the kids had blast playing with Great Aunt Connie and their 2nd cousin, Ben. They also loved playing the piano. I think we may have a future pianist on our hands. Leah tried crossing hand over hand and even took her fingers and ran them along the keys going in one direction (much of this was trying to copy my cousin Alyssa). Ben wore the kids out-thank you (no nap for the day) and they were asleep by the time we got out of the subdivision.
Greg and I are very thankful for our loving families and our two little turkeys!

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2nd Birthday Party

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For Evan and Leah's 2nd birthday, we went with a bug-themed party because they love bugs. I had fun decorating for the party, but it was a lot of work! I made bumblebee and ladybug cupcakes, we had bowtie pasta (butterfly wings), ladybug fruit kabobs, butterfly crackers, "ants on a log" and Bug juice (soda and lemonade). I decorated the bathrooms with big spiders and spiderwebs. The living room was decorated with tissue paper flowers that I made, some plastic bugs and books about various bugs. Instead of wearing party hats, we wore antenna that I made. I was very happy with the way things turned out for the party.

The kids had a great time decorating their bug catcher boxes, watching bugs grow from little capsules and licking and sticking oreo cookies onto a giant ladybug.

Once again, Leah didn't like everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her and began crying. Although, it could be because we turned out the lights momentarily. They both received some great gifts from family; which if very much appreciated!

I still find it hard to believe that they are two years old now. Here is a picture of them from when they were only a day or two old.

Lights off, lights on

I am posting this especially for my mom. I have been telling her that Leah loves to take her glow worms, or any toy that lights up for that matter, and shine them on whatever she may be playing with in her crib. Many a nights, when I am sitting there for a couple of minutes while they are settling into bed, I watch Leah and just want to burst into laughter at this routine she has. She sets up her babydolls all in a row. She will then press Baby Glow worm #1-lights up and plays music, press Baby Glow worm #2-lights up and plays music, press a toy train-which lights up and of course makes a choo-choo sound. While she has enough light as the toys are all going off, she sometimes uses the glow worm or toy as a flashlight and holds it close to the puzzle, book, drawing board (whatever else she has in her crib she is playing with) and as soon as the lights/toys are done, she presses them all again, going down the row. I think it's hysterical. I always say to myself, I should set up the video camera one night. The other night, I just decided to bring it in and tape her myself. She noticed and didn't care.

In this video clip, she is drawing on her new birthday toy- a Magna Doodle Board. I don't know if you will be able to hear her, but she says "draw" every now and then.

Halloween Bugs

This year for Halloween, we dressed Leah and Evan up like a ladybug and a bumblebee.
We started the night over at my parents house for the annual Billington's Halloween Spaghetti dinner. The night actually started out rough due to our car having transmission leakage (took it in to dealer earlier that day and they forgot to put a piece back on the car, thus the spillage on my dad's driveway!) After we got that all figured out, we were able to have my mom and dad take turns walking with the kids to some of their (and my old) neighbors. Evan and Leah eventually got the grabbing of the candy and looked like old pros. (It felt really weird trick or treating down the same street as when I was a kid)
We then went over to Greg's parents house for more trick or treating. Grandma, Greg and I went out trick or treating with them; which the kids, again, enjoyed. I also enjoyed Grandma's subdivision. One lady was giving out hot chocolate with whipped cream and liquor in it for the adults! Nice treat for the parents!!!
Since Halloween night, the kids know exactly where the candy is located in the pantry. We are going to have to relocate it very soon-before they start climbing the pantry shelves!
I really enjoyed watching them go house to house and hold out their little pumpkins for candy.

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2 Years Old!!

Their birthday present from Greg and I- a train table with all 172 pieces!!!!! FUN FUN!

Our babies turned two years old on Monday! We can't believe it. My how the 2 years have gone by. Greg took off work to help celebrate their birthday. It's, I guess, what some people call their "golden/special" birthday because they are turning two years old on the second day of the month!

Here is how we celebrated the day...we started at our Parent Interaction Program class in the Parkway School District. Singing, dancing, playing, etc. Then we went to a park, ate lunch out in our backyard and then had them take a nap. After their nap, we went to the YMCA for some Parents As Teachers activities. We just made a craft and played some basketball.

Leah has been talking/pointing and saying, "Yeah, Yeah" to a picture in her scrapbook of her at the Brunswick Bowling Arcade. So, I told her that is where we would go on their birthday. We ate dinner and then played in the arcade. Watching them play ski-ball is a riot! Throwing the ball in the lane you are suppose to is a tad difficult still :) Enjoy the video.

Making our Jack-O-Lantern

Saturday night we let the kids help us scoop out the seeds from our pumpkin and play in the gooey stuff. They both were unsure about touching it. It took Leah a good 5-10 minutes before she would touch it. (which is crazy because she LOVES getting her hands slimy and messy)

We also let the kids draw on their little pumpkins with marker. They both loved doing that as well.

This year, I decided I wanted to make a new tradition of carving our pumpkin and making/eating pumpkin pie. Why not if you make cookies, etc. when putting up Christmas Decor.

This pie was not homemade though. I tried it in the past and it didn't turn out so well/tasty! So, we will just stick to canned pumpkin. Evan and Leah loved helping me stir in the last of the ingredients. They love pumpkin pie just like their mommy!

2 Little Pumpkins

Saturday, we took the kids to the Rombach Pumpkin Patch along with our friends Kyle and Rachel and their twin boys and Jackie and Greg and thier daughter. We went last year with the same friends and hope to make this an annual event for many years to come!

Evan and Leah had a blast this year. They could run everywhere and play on more things at the farm. Evan surprised Greg and I when he said he wanted to go on a pony ride. He loved it! Leah was a little too scared. Maybe next year. They both rode on this little choo-choo train through a cornfield/pumpkin patch and had a great time on it.

The adults can't believe how much the kids have changed in a year's time. Last year, Evan and Leah were only 11 months old and the Laramie twins and Peyton were only about 6-7 months old.

It's POTTY Time

I bought the kids potty chairs about a month ago and have been letting them "use the potty" when they want to. No pressure. At first, we only bought one and let me tell you with two little people wanting to sit on the little potty at the same time, I learned quickly that they needed their own. So, for the past month we have sat on the potty, made faces and some noises on the potty, but nothing has emptied into the potty, until today. Leah went #1 on the potty two times today. She told me she had to go potty, so I let her and went in her room to get some clothes and a new diaper, thinking, "she's not going to go. I won't miss the first "pee pee on the potty experience." Well, I did. She came running in her bedroom telling me she "pee peed." She was so excited and I could tell after I jumped up and down, clapped, etc. that Evan was bummed that he had nothing in his potty. That poor little boy sat their grunting till his face was bright red trying to make something come out. It told him his time will come and I will be just as excited for him. Leah ran to tell Greg and then proceeded to tell him, "Pee pee...Bubby (which is what she sometimes calls Evan) Bubby noooooo." Like she was rubbing it in. :)
Anyway, if I could transition just one out of diapers within the next couple of months, I will be a happy mommy!
This picture was when we first got the potty chairs- so they have not been dirtied at this point when I took the picture!

Curious George

Greg's cousin got us tickets to Curious George Live. She works backstage for the Curious George production and scored us 2nd row seats right in the center! The kids have watched the tv show a couple of times so I think they kind of recognized the theme song and got very excited when George came out on the stage. The kids did fairly well watching the first half until Evan wanted his blankie and wasn't going to stop whining about it until I went to get it out of the car. Normally there is no re-entry at the arena, but I told them, "We are going to have a big meltdown if we don't go get his blankie." We came back in only to sit down, watch five more minutes and then it was intermission. The second half was more visually stimulating than the first, but you could see all of the kids in the arena getting antsy and tired. Evan watned to walk around, so I took him out by the concession stand where we walked around and he played with the large curtain for about 15 minutes. Evan and Leah enjoyed picking up confetti after the show was over. We visited with Greg's cousin for a couple of minutes and headed home.

Thanks again Jessie! Evan and Leah enjoyed their first experience with a live theater production.

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