Crazy Cruz House

Monday Night Football

2010-09-20T23:34:00.001-07:00

Poor guys. It is football season and because of fantasy football, mommy goes crazy over each and every game. Of course, tonight was no different. The boys enjoy pacing with me and jumping up and down and cheering for my players. And, I won the week by a mere 0.5 pts....it looks. These weekly antics did come in handy when they had to cheer Daddy during the corporate football competition. They may not have noticed that Daddy's small chiro office got spanked by the huge Walmart team, but it was nice to hear them screaming, "Go Daddy! TD Daddy!" Well it was nice for the first 15 minutes of the 1.5 hr game. Love you guys. I dug these pictures out from last year's Super Bowl party. It was fitting for tonight's game.

It's Alive!!

2010-01-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, this blog has been seriously dead. I find time to update my facebook pics and add little tidbits on my status updates. I am lazy. Arghhhh. I have probably forgotten a million very cute, very important things already. Shame on me.

I will try to review a couple of things and it probably will be a little too brief. As you can see, Ben and Seb are perfectly wonderful. They are outspoken little hams. Seb, still the silly performer and always wanting to please everyone, and Ben the stubborn, head strong smarty pants.

They both talk non stop now. They speak in long sentences with quite the vocabulary. Some phrases that come out of their mouths make me do a double take. They can recite their ABC's courtesy of their frequent viewing of Super Why. They can count to 20, but sometimes will skip the number 14.....both of them do this, even when reciting separately. They know every nursery rhyme under the sun and love to sing them with hand motions. Ben resorts to singing Pat A Cake every time he is in trouble because he knows that his cute rendition makes me smile and melts the frustration before the first line is done. They love books and to play outside. They like to play restaurant in their play house and come up with the craziest scenarios. They fight like brothers, but also acknowledge that they are each other's "Best Friend".

They still love Thomas the Train. I fear this love of Thomas will never end and I am still looking for a break from those endless string of Thomas videos. I can't believe how grown up they are. I can't believe the pieces of me I see in them......both the good and the bad.

I love these guys so much. Every night I tell them how much I love them, how proud I am of what they have accomplished that day and how they have made me happy. Every night I choke up when I do this. I love my babies. Although Ben would remind me....."No mommy. We're not babies. We're boys!"

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-07-06T08:47:00.001-07:00

All hope of ever catching my blog up are futile. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will never actually attain such a feat. But, here we go anyway.

Memorial Day Weekend we went up north to visit the parentals. The boys can't get enough of the attention. A weekend full of two sets of grandparents who don't get nearly enough time with their grand kids on a regular basis leads to a lot of fun for the grand kids. We spent a lot of time with both sets of parents. We all ate too much. We went to a softball game where my old High School was playing for the championship. This gave a chance for my mom to show off her grand babies to all of her friends in the softball world. One of the cool things about this was that I was able to meet Willie McGee....baseball great who once played for the A's and Giants. His daughter plays in the league and so my mom has gotten to know him rather well. He is a very nice guy and I hope his hand shake gave the boys a little baseball magic.

How could I forget the boys' favorite part of our trip. First on the agenda was Pixie Playland, a toddler amusement park. The boys loved it and blew through ride tickets at an astounding pace. Of course, there was a train that went around the park. There was a tunnel and ducks and a lot to do geared especially to their age range. The boys loved it!

They had cars for the boys to drive. That was a ride it was hard to convince them to stray from. We also went on two roller coasters. The boys were not so sure how to feel about those. One was a dragon with big hills. I really underestimated how fast it could go. The boys didn't cry, but I don't think that Ben has ever clung to me so tight as he did on that ride. After the first go round I was hoping it was over. Of course, we went around three times before the attendant stopped the ride. Now, I love roller coasters. I have ridden them as long as I could remember. But, that dragon was kinda freaky. I don't know if I was scared because of the company I kept or because it was really all that fast or because of the surprise of how fast it came to be, but......I was glad that they didn't circle around to ride that thing again. When asked if the dragon was fun, Seb without hesitation said,"Yes....but, it was soooo fassssss. I get too scared. Fassss. Fassss. I done."

The boys also rode in this plane ride that not only goes around, but they control it going up and down. I was quite nervous with this one because we couldn't ride with them. I was secretly thinking.....What if they want off and jump out as the ride is high up in the air? I think the terror had tears in my eyes....I am an overprotective wimp when it comes to my babies, you know. Of course, they were fine. No daredevil antics. Ben didn't care for it all that much, but again, didn't protest. Seb, once he learned the controls, took the plane high up in the air. He liked it a lot and decided to return to the plane a couple more times. Brother did not ride it again however and promptly returned to the cars which were safely on the ground at all times. All in all, it was a very nice weekend.

The 3 yr old Photo Shoot

2009-06-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

A little more catching up.......
So, obviously I don't mean a photo shoot from three years ago, but do in fact mean that we took our yearly trip to Sears for a birthday photo shoot. So, yes, the following are the boys' third year birthday pictures. Of course, they are as handsome as ever and such big boys now. And, what a difference a year makes. Although the pictures came out just as great last year, it was quite the process. Last year, Mike had to grunt at the photographer just to take a picture when the boys looked still and decent. The boys were all over the place. Running here, running there, unable to take direction and definitely a handful.

This year, now that they are big boys, it was much, much, easier. The boys actually posed. They did not run around the studio room in a frenzy. They may not have held their hands where directed for long periods of time, but at least the bodies were in one place. And they did good. Quite the hams.

It is really scary how time flies. And, I know, I am a broken record on that one.....but, in the day to day, things just melt together. Then, before you know it, you are looking at a picture and thinking, "Wow. When did they get this big? This old." Yes, I know they are 3 and last year they were 2. But, those are just numbers. Then they come up with something new.....something that is probably a symptom of being 3 and it forces you to really stop and think. It makes you think of all that has happened in the past year/years and how happy that you are that you didn't miss any of those little things. For every time I have complained about missing out on something for myself......it reminds me why I am happy to not go to this movie or that party. I have gained so much more in being present. In spending time with my boys while I can....while they want me to spend time with them. While I am their everything, as they are mine.

So, yes......I hate watching Thomas a million times in a row. I do get a little exasperated with Seb's constant need for my attention. "Mama, mama.....I have to tell you something. I have to show you something. Mama.....will you sit with me? Will you read to me? Mama, I need you." I am glad that even if I don't get to take a shower right away in the morning or if I don't get to use the restroom exactly when I need to.....that I make the time to listen to what he has to tell me or see what he wants to show me....even if it was a ploy just to get my attention when I was trying to sneak away to wash the dishes or straighten the house. Even if I have seen or heard whatever revolutionary news he wants to share just ten minutes ago. I am happy that my answer is usually yes to sitting with him and reading with him because especially before bed, those are special times we have together that I will remember and I hope that they will remember too. Even if right now the wonder twins are making me read two Thomas the Tank Engine books about nine times each before falling asleep. It is a small price to pay to be such an important, wanted and loved person in their lives.

I am glad to report that Ben has begun talking more too. It seems that he is always a couple of steps behind Seb in new things, from getting teeth, to walking and now to talking. Although we don't know for sure, I have always believed Ben the "younger" of the twins. Ben is my baby. But, I don't know what I will do if he talks as much as Seb. We recently took a long car ride to the Bay Area and for every minute that Seb was not asleep, he was demanding I turn around for conversation. With Ben, for the longest time it was one word at a time and then most recently two. But, now he is stringing together more and more. "Oh, mama....a fan.....goes round, round, round (complete with hand motion)." "Oh, mama, look....bird.....fly.....tree!" And, the icing on the cake is that just last night, when we were doing our reading marathon and I asked a question about the story, I heard a little angels peep. It was Ben. I asked him to repeat because I barely could hear the answer. To be honest, I didn't know he had answered, I thought he was commenting about something unrelated. But, when he spoke up, he did have the answer to my question. He had actually felt confident enough to answer a question before Seb and without looking to Seb for approval. I am so proud that he is finally finding his voice.

So, I will try to get back to you all and talk about the ups and downs of our Memorial Day Weekend trip to the Bay Area. Until then, enjoy the pictures of my beautiful big boys.

A Nice Visit From the Grandparents and a Trip to Disneyland

2009-05-20T15:36:00.001-07:00

Catching Up ---Part III

As mentioned before, we had a lot of guests come through town to celebrate the twins' third birthday. We were especially lucky that my mom's Spring Break coincided with the birthday party. My parents came for a visit that week and of course spoiled the boys rotten. I almost feel nonexistent when there are such revered guests present. Each and every time I try to do something, it is,"No mama, Nonny do." Or it is,"No mama, Papa do." And boy, do they remember every little thing. For instance, my mom makes them their favorite breakfast each and every day (waffles/pancakes and sausage). I was picking up Bisquick from Costco the other day and Seb pointed to the box and said,"My Nonny makes pancakes. My Nonny loves me." Or, when we get into the car, Seb will ask,"We go see Papa now?" "No Seb, Papa lives far away. We will see papa in a month or so. We are going to see (whoever we are going to see on that day)." "Mama. We don't need to see (insert name). It is papa's turn. We need to see papa now."

Even when something happens that Seb is proud of, he must include his thought on missing those favorite family members. With a new haircut he goes through all the names,"Papa will like my haircut? Nonny will like my haircut? GG will like my haircut?" Or when it has been a tough potty training week and he actually has a good potty day," My daddy is proud of me? My Nonny will be proud of me?" "Yes Seb. Everyone is proud of you. " Then of course, it is inevitable. "I need to call my Papa on the phone. I need to talk to Papa. I tell him. I tell him."

The boys have enjoyed playing outside with their new toys. Seb thinks his motorcycle is more than awesome. He is also in love with his Sponge Bob thongs. I don't know what it is about Sponge Bob that kids like. The boys don't watch the show, but love the merchandise. I can't stand that show. I much prefer the barnyard.

My parents got the boys a couple of scooters. They are three wheeled scooters and so can stand up with little balance. The boys thought those were really cool, except for the fact that they didn't really get the scooting part for a couple of weeks. They wanted to stand on the things and have everyone push them around. I guess what they really wanted were Segways. Come on boys....you have to get some kind of exercise out of the whole thing. It was quite hilarious seeing my mom and multiple other adults trying to scoot around on these little scooters to demonstrate how they were to really work. Of course, instead of teaching them by example, the boys just laughed at such a circus act. No inspiration at all. Never fear, they have picked up the concept now. Although, they do still enjoy chasing mommy as mommy rides around the patio.

On the actual day of the boys' bday, Daddy took the day off from work so that we could go to Disneyland as a family for the first time. We were hesitant to do so beforehand because we were not sure how much they would enjoy it or if they would like to ride the rides etc. Since Disney was giving free tickets for birthdays and it covered half of the family, we decided to chance it. The boys were in heaven. They LOVED it, everything about it, from the rides to the characters to the overpriced refreshments. I apologize for the lack of good pictures, but you try running around with two kids excited to explore every inch of the greatest place on earth. Furthermore, there were few lines and so no time in between runnings around to stop and pose. We were go go going from 10am to 5pm when one twin finally fell asleep in the stroller and we thought it the perfect opportunity to run away while we still could.

The boys loved the Jungle Cruise, the Train ride with the Dinosaurs, the Autopia cars (I let Ben drive so that was certainly a bumpy ride) and the Winnie the Pooh ride. I was also not surprised that they loved the Buzz Lightyear ride which upon ending was the only time there was a meltdown the whole day. Ben didn't want to relinquish his seat and didn't understand that with no line we would be back in no time. So, yeah, that was a little awkward with me dragging a flailing child down the tunnel as every person in a 10 mile radius stopped to stare. But, for such a big day at such a young age, I think the day an overall success. The rides that the boys loved that came as a surprise were the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We were hesitant with those two wondering if they would be too scary. Seb especially loved them. In fact, for two weeks after our trip, everyday, several times a day, Seb asked when we were going to go see the Pirates again. He bragged to family members that he had seen ghosts. He also added," Oh, it was scary. But, I like." The one disappointment of the day was that he didn't get to see Goofy. I think that next year.......season passes are in our future. And given another year to grow, just imagine all of the new rides they will be eligible for. It really does make me happy to see my great boys that excited. I don't know what I will do when they start to get to the age when mama and daddy aren't the preferred tag along guests on their trips to new and exciting places. Thankfully, I think I have a couple of years left before I have to worry about that.

We Had A Bday Party

2009-05-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Catching Up - Part II

The boys' had their third birthday party. People came from near and far to celebrate. It was a Backyardigans party this year as last year was Cars and it just didn't seem right to have the same party twice. The boys had a great time. Of course, the favorite part of any party for them is the cake. Even more so than the gifts. Although a close second comes in two parts. They enjoyed the fact that all visitors let them take/eat whatever they wanted off of their plates (I was a little embarrassed at their scavenger like nature) and they loved my mom's homemade lemonade that was freshly squeezed from homegrown lemons (as did all guests - it was an unexpected hit to the party). I would say that hours were spent (especially by Ben) with a party cup and a fork. A fork?? Yes, how else can one dig out and eat the pulp string by string. Amazing what will pass for entertainment these days.

Back to the delightful cake though. I do agree with them that the cake was rather fantastic. Yummy! Vons does the best job and has the most delicious cakes. They did not have a Backyardigans design however so the boys got to pick out the design that they wanted from the cake book.

The good news was that they agreed on something.....that is a miracle in itself. The bad news.....they picked the Ratatouille rats. Okay....I know. The cartoon rats are very personable and cute. But, the thought of rats on top of my cake.....I didn't like. I tried to persuade them that Mickey Mouse would be better. Although still a mouse......a kinder, gentler.....less ratty mouse. We tried Speed Racer, Nascar......even hockey. They wanted the Rats. So, since it was their birthday and their cake, it was their decision. No one seemed to mind and I do admit that it didn't stop me from enjoying multiple pieces.

The boys were treated to an enormous amount of gifts. Of course, they weren't so interested in opening said gifts. I had to do the bulk of that job and had a little help from one of the other children in attendance at the party. Not to say that they didn't appreciate what was inside all of the neatly wrapped packaging and gift bags. They were just too busy running here and there to stay in one place too long. They made out like bandits though and I was just as happy that they got some very nice clothing as well.

We did the obligatory pinata thing. A great hit at any kids party. Of course it is a little stressful keeping all kids out of the line of fire. The boys did pretty well with taking turns. That poor Pablo bird took a beating though. I almost felt guilty at the prospect of watching this poor animal taking so many hits. Its head getting smashed in and knocked about. I half expected an animal rights activist to jump forth from the crowd to rescue the poor thing. Finally, we had to have one of the older kids break it open. Then the rush to candy grab ensued.

Mike was certainly a great host and was the grill master for the day. If there is one thing that we were successful at doing, it was feeding our guests. Not only did we have an island of snacks, but my dear husband was busy for the duration of the party grilling hot links, hot dogs and hamburgers for a ravenous crowd. To my surprise......he didn't char one single meat product. He was on his game folks.

So, I end this installment with pictures of the boys enjoying their party in their new house (bday gift from mommy and daddy). I think the boys had a fabulous time which is what it is all about. And mommy and daddy really realized how old they were when after the party they had to go straight to bed exhausted and passed up on the opportunity to go to another party that night at a bar where drunkenness and karaoke would have been in full effect.

We colored Eggs

2009-05-11T09:17:00.001-07:00

A little catch up -----Part I

So yes, I have been MIA for the last month. I used to hate when I tuned into some one's blog and it had been neglected. How could they??!!?? Right? I am now one of those people. Not that I have been held up by super important tasks or am a super important person. I have done a mediocre job of keeping the house clean. The minimalist approach of doing just what I had to not feel guilty. Yes, I have kept the family fed. I have spent a little extra time with those little dogs of mine. We have attended to a couple of local parties and obligations.

I have tried to be a good mom and spend as much time as possible doing things with the boys. This has meant playing in the backyard a lot in this sunshiny weather. Playing in the little pool, kicking the soccer ball around (boy is Ben getting good at dribbling the length of our lawn or zinging it across the yard), watching that horrible Thomas the Tank Engine (Tho-as ---no m pronounced---as demanded all day long by Seb or Choo-Choo as concurred with by Ben). We have gone about our routines which those who know me know that I love my routines. Seb continues to talk my ear off and Ben is still the "quiet one".

However, none of this is the reason for not having time for the ole blog. I know this because I still have time for pouring over facebook (and Mafia Wars). I still have time for my 3 fantasy baseball teams. I am moving right along on my second 162 game season on my PS3 MLB The Show. I am proud to proclaim that my DVR is wiped clean every week as I finish my recorded shows before the next one comes along. I have my unlimited 3 at a time netflix which I try to get back the very next day. And, of course.....I have my Roku player so that I can keep up with my instant play selections on those days that the mail is slow. I have turned my movie viewing into somewhat of a crazy activity as well. Just as I would play school when I was young and assign reports to the cabbage patch students and then go and write said reports......I have found myself pretending to be professor of interesting classes which compare movies/TV shows and find myself constructing said papers. How else could 20 episodes of season 1 Charles in Charge captivate me so. My excuse.....research of course.

So, down to it. Over the next couple of days.....no I will not be sharing the ramblings of my TV and movie findings. I will be catching you all up on a few of the occurrences around here of which I have neglected in blog land. I am going to do it. I am. So.......we colored eggs. This was back around Easter, duh. It was a lot less messy than I expected it to be. The boys were very patient and loved picking the colors and dropping the eggs in. They were excited to find that the red and blue made purple or the great combo that green and blue made. They enjoyed putting the stickered faces on after the eggs had dried. However, they still do despise the eating of eggs. So, mommy and daddy had a little eating to do. Egg salad sandwiches for lunch and a big vat of macaroni salad did the job on a week full of those pesky eggs. As for dietary likes and dislikes.......Seb generally will try everything and swallow at least one bite of anything. Very seldom does he request mommy's hand to spit something out. Ben on the other hand is king of picky. On a good day he will try something. He then will rarely swallow it. It used to be he too was a frequent user of mommy's spit out hand......but, now he has a new thing. He leaves said bite on the tip of his tongue......sticks the tongue out and expects mommy to pluck and discard. It is quite the sight and I try not to laugh to encourage such behavior.

I promise......tomorrow is another day......of blogging. We will tackle the birthdays perhaps.

Oooooh Kay.

2009-04-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

So, yes it has been forever since I last wrote. Why this is, I do not know. There has been plenty to write about.....I just haven't had the energy. I have been quite the procrastinator lately. I need to clean the house. I need to finish our 2 yr post placement report and send it off. The list really goes on. We did make it out to Little Ethiopia to visit with our friends at the monthly meeting. It had been too long and we are glad we went. I really missed those guys.

As you can see, the musketeers are still pretty popular around here. My mom made the tunics and sent some pirate hats which really have the boys over the moon. Seb is especially drawn to his costumes being that he is the budding actor in the family. He still has to act out and repeat any scene he is watching on TV. Whether it be a choreographed sword fight or Goofy spitting on his hand and smoothing down his hair under a hat......it is all mimicked quite convincingly. While watching the musketeers he must have his tunic, his hat (usually his Dodger's batting helmet??) and his guitar (which is used for being the troubadour and also doubles as a sword.)

Of course, the tunic is sometimes a source of a fight for me. Seb loves his tunic so much he does not want to take it off to eat.....or even use the bathroom. Luckily enough for me.....they don't insist on watching the Musketeers all day long anymore. They do pepper in a few other shows and my sanity thanks them.

Seb continues to amaze me with his linguistic skills. He really is quite the talker. What used to be "NO" morphed into "Not Yet" which is now "Ohhhhh Kayyy!". Of course, he now has picked up some of my not so finer moments in parenting to parrot back at me. "I told you....."(the exasperated mom thing of how many times have I told you, blah blah blah.) or "Mom, Don't tell me. I know, Mom." (when he knows I am about to go into the previously mentioned speech) or "What did you do that for?" (When I do something that he now finds annoying.) It could be worse though....thank goodness I don't have an overactive potty mouth! But, I am glad that he has so much to say, even if that means that he never stops talking. You never know what he will come up with next, from "My dada has big boobs" to "Scooby has eyes like me" to "We all wear blue" and on and on. Ben is still content to let brother do the talking. It is most likely to hear from him when he wants something or has a request.

Both Ben and Seb have learned most colors and can identify a jelly belly from a mile away. Ben has the sweetest voice and his version of "yellow" makes me smile. Seb's favorite color is blue. He insists on wearing at least one article of blue clothing at all times. One day he even refused to wear a Navy Blue shirt because "that's not my blue". Ben on the other hand isn't a color snob. He is a character or picture snob. Good luck changing his shirt when he has fallen in love with a certain logo.....whether dolphin, dog or a Cars character......I am lucky that we usually get clothes in pairs otherwise the kid may just wear the same clothes all week long. And when the well runs dry....you should see me convincing him that Handy Manny is just as cool as Lightning McQueen and very often.....it works.

The favorite food around these parts is an oldy, but goody. Peanut Butter! The boys love peanut butter....on a banana, in a sandwich, just on a plate.....PB & J or just PB sandwiches are an almost everyday lunchtime demand. Each twin polishes off a half sandwich and Ben can do it in what seems like a minute's time. Seb is so in love with PB that the color brown is rarely identified as brown. It is PB. It doesn't help that the brown jelly belly is PB flavor and so probably what put the idea in his head.

The boys are now learning to count to ten. I start them off and they say the next number before I repeat it. This all happened by surprise actually. After our nightly tooth brushing routine I would count to ten to allow them that last bit of "I do it myself!" tooth brushing time. One night, they started saying the numbers before I did. Now they enjoy practicing our counting routine.

Okay....so really....this picture shouldn't surprise anyone. My guys to a T. I love that they are such individuals with different personalities. Poor Benny, I promise that we really didn't set out to torture the poor kid. He was totally into it until the Bunny grabbed him. And he did so well with Santa this year too. Note to Bunny.....give Ben the candy before taking the picture.

Last year we didn't do any of these commercialized Easter activities. This year though we will be coloring eggs. I am also doing our little family tradition from when I was little where the kiddos awake to find that the "Easter Bunny" has hidden jelly beans all over the house. I remember finding jelly beans into the summer months sometimes, haha. I am sure we will be on a sugar high this coming Sunday. Then on to GG's for another hunt and a nice family dinner. Then the fam will be coming for Spring break and the boys' 3rd bday party. Seb keeps talking about, "My party" and is excited to name all the people who may attending. In fact, every time we go into the car he asks if "we go my party?" No Seb...the party is at home. Then on to who is attending again. "Papa goes to my party. Nonny comes to my party. GG comes to my party." etc. 3 yrs old.....can you believe it? and of course, their bday means that we are approaching our 2 yr famiversary........

Please...don't let me blink.....it seems like years fly by when I do so!!!

I Love You Too, Mama.

2009-02-26T10:20:00.001-08:00

Things are pretty much as can be expected around here. Ben's rash is just about gone. His stomach has a giraffe spot pattern from skin growing back darker and his face has a white spot pattern where the skin grew back lighter. Amazing really, but he is healthy and happy and that is all we could ask for. The weather has been pretty nice so that means good times in the backyard.....and also means that my two little bundles of energy can wear themselves out throughout the course of the day. They have been busy playing with their new basketball hoop, digging in the dirt, kicking the soccer ball, playing with the foam swords that Nonny and Papa brought for them......
In fact, Seb loves to put a bucket on his head and march with his sword. He calls himself, "Good Knight," when he does this. Of course, with the basketball hoop they are more into dunking than shooting, but it is hilarious to watch Seb dribble. He gets a few good bounces in and then the ball scoots away and he falls to the ground as if his balance was attached to the bouncing ball. Ben loves to investigate everything in the yard as if he has never seen it before. He collects and counts rocks. He checks out the many different flowers and trees and things falling from the trees and plants. He can spend hours shoveling rocks or digging in the dirt. He transfers dirt from the ground to the dump truck and then to various parts of the yard. Ben loves to be outdoors and will stay there long after his brother has decided to go inside.

The boys' new favorite movie is the Mickey Mouse version of "The Three Musketeers". And, when I say favorite....I am talking obsessed! I am talking all day long, if they are watching something......it is that movie. Help me!!! I tried renting something else and putting it on the big TV in the front room (an enticing ploy... I thought). They watched ten minutes before Ben promptly led the charge into his room and demanded his movie. Of course, it is a crack up to watch the movie with them (the first 2-3times a day). Seb has to talk throughout the whole thing. He is like the second narrator. In books and movies he loves to point out the characters. "Ohhhhh, the bad guys. Where did the bad guys go?" He flips the page. "There the bad guys. What they doing? They jump big." or whatever the page shows. This goes on with any movie or book about all the characters. Of course his favorite is Pete which is one of the reasons why I think he loves the Three Musketeers. And the funny thing is, he loves Pete so much he will not classify him as a "bad guy".

Both boys are loving the traffic signals while driving. Where before they would get excited helping daddy navigate and screaming "Go!" with the green light and "Stop!" (insert obligatory stop hand motion) with the red light, they have now added the "Slow Down." for the yellow. Of course they say the words so that they are drawn out very sllloooow. It has really stuck with them and even in their gingerbread man book where the gingerbread man's chest buttons are those traffic light colors.....they talk about the colors and what they mean.

Also, when they watch their TV shows, they have been participating more. They answer the questions asked by the cartoon character and Seb will add to it even.

TV: Is this the sound of the tiger (audio of a bee)?

Ben and Seb: NOOOOOOOOOO!

Seb: A Beeee! A Beee!

TV: Is this Goofy's tie?(pointing to one of three ties)

Seb: Too tiny. (pinching hand gesture)

TV: Is this Goofy's tie?(again pointing)

Seb: Too big.

I am still loving our nighttime ritual. We have the TV off, music in the background and we just talk to each other and cuddle. Ben always tells me I have to sit with him first and Seb is usually okay with that. This is the time I get the most love from my Benny. He is a busy dude and although very loving......he is completely different then his brother. Nighttime is when he kisses and cuddles and tucks in his favorite stuffed dog by his side. He likes me to rub his back or his head and would like for me to never leave his side. At bedtime, Seb goes down the list of all the people he loves. He always starts with Mama, Daddy and Ben and then adds in whoever we have been talking about or visiting lately. Whether it be the dogs or Nonny and Papa or GG and Steve. His new thing though is after he declares who he loves, he turns it around. "Mama loves me. Daddy loves me. Gung Gung (Ben) loves me." and so on.

What is really special to me though is that Seb always makes time to tell me he loves me. Not just in a list of names. At random points throughout the day, he comes to me with a big smile and hug and says, " I love you too mama. I love you too." That just melts my heart. I love that Seb can express himself now. Yesterday I had accidentally bumped his head while cleaning the room and he said,"Mama, you hurt my head." That killed me. Also, whenever I steal away to get my chores done Seb says,"Mama. I help. Me clean too. I come." Outside Seb will motion to me,"Mama, sit with me." I sit and he motions to the dogs. "Jagr sit with me." Miraculously she comes over. Seb will look at me and say,"Mama, you love me this much." (he reaches his arms as far as they can go. I say,"Seb I love you this much." I reach my arms too. "Mama, loves me in heart." Touches his chest. I answer,"I love you in my heart." Seb replies,"I love you too mama, in heart too."

So, I know.....I could go on all day. I look at this picture and think.....what are they cooking up next? It is exciting to see them grow and learn. I am so proud of both of my boys. Their birthday is coming up in a couple of months as is our Famiversary. Happy times every day and celebrations to come. I love you too, Ben and Seb. I love you too. With all of my heart.

Who Knew??

2009-02-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

So, who knew? I thought I was lightyears away from seeing a picture of my kid at a party.....a party I did not attend......on someone else's myspace page, haha. Double take....is that really my Sebby? That must have been some Superbowl party kid.

Here is a big high five to my Seb though. He has been talking up a storm. For example, he'll see a monkey on TV. "Ohhh, monkey. Me love monkey. Daddy love monkey too. Mama no love monkey. Gung Gung (that is Ben....don't know how, but it is) loves monkey too." And then it starts all over with the next thing whether it be Mickey Mouse or a banana.

Seb has been working hard on his potty training too. Ben refuses to even begin and I am giving him slack partially because of his rashy mood and partially because it is easier for me to focus on one kid at a time in that arena. He sits on the potty once every hour and is doing quite well. He gets a jelly belly treat for going which he loves. Now he has taken to sitting Sally (the stuffed Porsche car) on the potty next to his. "Sally go Pee," he says. Then he sits and goes and exclaims,"Go Pee, Me go Pee." He gets his treat and says...."Sally candy too." I say that Sally has to share with him.....not falling for that one.....no way.

Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

So, yes, we are still unable to attend such events as Super Bowl parties as a family because of the rash that just wouldn't leave......you can't see it that well from the pictures as thankfully the head and back regions are only like former white blistery dust. That is very much welcome compared to the big red leopard spots on the chest and belly and those now spreading from the shoulders down the arms. When reading up on this stupid rash we did learn a couple things that explained some changes we had seen. The rash causes fatigue and headaches along with its obvious itchy nature. Bingo....after so long of no nap taking, Ben has been putting himself to bed mid afternoon for a little nap or falling asleep on the couch while watching a movie or TV show. He has been more irritable than usual. He has wanted to be held more, babied more and has decided that he does not want to bugger with using the big boy potty anymore and he used to be the star in that arena. Poor sick guy.....hope you get well soon kid.

Because of the dreaded rash and people's very dare I say racist or is it just anti- African view of what that rash must mean, after much deliberation we decided that Ben and I would stay home from the annual Super Bowl party. We figured Daddy and Seb could party down and Ben and Mommy would have some much needed one on one time at home.....the boys wouldn't notice.... right? Plus, Ben is a bit antisocial and doesn't usually enjoy a huge party of strangers while Seb basks in it. Ben loves alone time.....he wouldn't mind right?

Daddy had gotten his hair cut and so we figured the boys were about due for one as well. They both hate it, but I had the lesser hater of the two, Sebby, come to me first and Daddy told him that we were cutting his hair so that he would be ready for the party and ready to see his main squeeze Cassidy. With a little protest and a few tears we got Sebby's hair cut. The big surprise was to see Ben run over to me, plop himself into my lap and demand his hair cut too. Now usually Benny is a two man job because he hates it......with a capital H, Hates it. Writhing, screaming, crying, bending, moaning, freaking out.....absolutely positutely HATES HIS HAIR CUT! But, hearing that brother was getting ready for the party......Ben wanted to get ready for the party too. He sat without batting an eyelash through the whole thing. I praised him all I could, but knew he still couldn't go to the party. It really made me sad. Poor kid.

But, the boys still had some time for some fun. So, the brothers took their baths and got dressed up in their Raiders jerseys (as if the Raiders would ever make the Superbowl) and played for a while. Racing around the couch by foot, by hop and with the ever popular crawl races.

The boys were so cute, I couldn't help but take a couple of pics with them. And in the end, it wasn't so bad. Seb and Daddy went to the party until half time. Seb played with a gaggle of girls who carried him around and dressed him up in various outfits. He let all the mommies at the party dote on him. He even refused to let Mike feed him and insisted on sitting on our friend's lap and eating from her plate.....silly boy.
Ben and I ordered pizza which made him feel right away that he was getting the better deal. We did all those things that are impossible to do with brother home....we played with the train and Benny could build his own track and not fight over the tunnel piece. He got his doctor's kit out and I was his patient. He also enjoyed beat boxing into the stethoscope. We played golf in the house. We sat together and watched the game and he got all of mommy's undivided attention. Yes, mommy and Ben had a fabulous time. Although.....mommy was more tired after this day than any other in a long time. It is hard for me in my old age to run races around the couch in every manner possible and give into a toddler's every whim. But, I think Ben was happy to have the time alone and I was happy that he was happy.

My Big Boys

2009-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

These wonderful boys amaze me everyday. We have been pretty much stuck in the house and not attending functions since Ben caught a viral rash.....ugly, but not serious, so no worries. It isn't said to be contagious and no one has caught it as of yet. This is with Ben....when feeling Seb is getting too much attention lifting up his shirt to show his leopard spotted belly. He points out all the "boo boos" and laments his condition so that we can sympathize. Of course, brother being the compassionate dude he is, starts to kiss each and every boo boo. A little gross, but his heart is in the right place. We have enjoyed the quiet time together as a family though. Sometimes it seems like you are going all over the place to visit here and there and you forget that you are missing out on time together. So, we have really just been enjoying each other lately. My parents and my grandmother came for a visit last weekend and of course, the boys were spoiled with homemade waffles and a side of sausage every morning.....not to mention homemade pizza and all the attention two boys could ever get in a four day weekend.

Little by little my mom has been bringing things back that I had left in my old room that I like to think of as free storage. As these things make it back to me and find room in my garage, I am of the opinion that my junk is no longer welcome in its old habitat. This visit was a bunch of my.....well, for normal people it would be Halloween stuff.....for me it was just general room decor. My scream ceiling hangy thingy.....scream mask, scream figurines, a big crypt keeper....I don't know what else. Ahhhhh, memories, right? I was happy to see that the boys may take after me once and for all in my love of all things horror. The boys were quite taken with the Scream stuff......although I didn't let them near my most prized Crypt Keeper.
Very funny that characters in Disney movies can send them hiding behind the couch, but Scream masks are great to play with. They love "ghost". I keep thinking, ha, maybe our Halloweens of Pooh and Tigger are fading fast and a good old fashion movie marathon starring Jaime Lee Curtis will be in order before I know it. After all, mommy and daddy's first date was on Halloween for such a marathon. Even if Daddy has bad taste in movies.
Too bad I only had one mask. Seb so enjoyed running around the house in it and bobbing like a rapper in a video. He hid behind the couch and jumped out with an enthusiastic boo several times....followed by uncontrollable laughter of course. Note to Seb.....it isn't really scary if you do it from the same place over and over again a million times in a row. It doesn't surprise anyone. Of course, we love you so much we can't help but throw up our "surprised arms" and give a scared yelp. Poor Ben was so jealous of Seb's mask, he put the hanging scream over his head. Now that was funny. Especially seeing two little ones chasing each other around the house with loud giggles and enjoying Halloween in January.
The boys are just growing up too fast. Their vocab is growing and Seb is starting to put together little three word sentences. Usually, "I love.....(enter whatever he is doing)." I love ball. I love cookies. I love tools. etc. Of course, a big laugh came when he was writing with chalk and of course the ch sound came out as a hard c. So, he told everyone very proudly," I love cock." He also is telling me a lot more when he needs to use the bathroom. He says,"Go pee," and points proudly at the stream going into the potty. He also has become more independent. He wants to pull up his own pants or put on his own shoes....even when this could take a million years with tie laces (why he prefers his rain boots I suppose). If I try to help him with my impatience....he puts up the stop hand and says in a strong voice," I DO IT!" He also has become possessive with his things as so very few things aren't joint community items in the life of twins. Well....his bed is his. So, gone are the days when Ben could come over for a snuggle or sit next to brother leaning on the pillow. I frequently hear now..."Noooo! My Bed!" and of course, that makes Ben want to be on that bed more. I finally get Ben on his bed and all of a sudden one toe is over the divider and then one foot with a devilish smile and then I hear,"No! My Bed!" from Seb again. This is reminiscent for me of many battles my sister and I had over the couch when we were allowed a cushion each and pushing the boundaries would often lead to bickering and a call for MOM!
Both boys love to count never mind that everything in a line that they are counting is "2, 2, 2, 2". They also like to try to point out letters. Many times the letters are "E, O, O, T, T, A". Although I was impressed as we have been writing their name in chalk and they can point out letters if asked....don't know how much of that is coincidence in three letter names though. Ben can say his first name now which is a major achievement for him. If you ask, "What is your name?"....okay, usually if I ask as he doesn't talk to many strangers.....he will tap his chest and say,"Me Ben!" Seb also says "Me, Me, Me" when it is his turn for something. He also has started demanding milk, but he calls that "Me" too. I only give them milk or juice with meals and they get water in between when thirsty. Seb now will tell me," No wa! Me! Me!" If he sees me going to the refridge water dispenser as I still water their juice, he catches it. He says,"No wa, no wa".
They are in love with running races now. Ben is faster than a bolt of lightning. Seb runs well, but his big feet often get in the way. They get impatient waiting for me to start the race sometimes and demand,"Set Go!" Of course, once someone fell and my mom picked them up and gave them lots of attention.......they started doing dramatic flailing falls and laying out on the ground every single race. They would then call for the person they wanted to pick them up. I finally got tired of that game and tried ignoring the fallen children helpless on the ground. Of course, Seb then squeaked out in a very pitiful voice,"Help me, Help me." So I couldn't help myself. Seb is also very good in soccer. We set up a kicking triangle with Seb in the middle. He loves "kick ball". He is usually on target and even stopped a couple kicks between his leg....future goalie I imagine.
They are also fond of their slide. They go down it in every position imaginable. They push it over and make forts. They push it back and forth across the lawn for no apparent reason. We got a sheet out and made a fort the other day. We told Seb that we put up the sheet to make a fort of the slide. He said,"Sheep, Sheep," and looked under the sheet and said, "BAAAA?Baa?", looked out and said,"no sheep." We had fun though even with no sheep. The holes of the slide made good spaces to make ghost hands come up through the sheet and grab faces......a favorite pass time around here. We also took the sheet and made adult held hammocks to swing the babies in. That was fun for them too.

One more funny thought......the potato heads that the boys play with. They have become less interested in the potato, but love the accessories. They balance the hats on their head.....put on the Santa beard or hold the various lip pieces in their mouths so that they are in fact the potato head. Seb even took the potato head arms and played the piano with potato head's hands. It was very strange and my crazy brain had wonderful thoughts of horror movies in the making.

Anyway....thought I would say hi from our sick house and let everyone know we are in deed still alive. We miss you all and promise that as soon as the rash leaves we will be rearing to go and ready to hang out with you all.

Our New Year's

2009-01-07T17:48:00.001-08:00

So, as New Year's approached this year I was very upset not to have any plans. Babysitters are scarce and even my grandmother parties well into the wee hours on New Year's. Oh I complained and complained and hated that I would probably be in bed asleep by the time midnight approached. We were set to have a quiet evening at home. Nothing even special for dinner. Mike had popped into work earlier and a couple of friends said they were getting together and we could join them....but, I was reluctant to accept. The twin tornadoes can be a menace when presented with an unchildproofed house full of interesting things to touch and grab and perhaps even break. Michael gets really nervous too and so I convinced myself that they would rather not have the lot of us join them.

Luckily, I was wrong. A couple hours before said get together, the phone rang. It was one of the girls asking if we were planning on coming over. Defeated, I sighed and said that she probably didn't want the boys running around her apartment late into the night. But, I was wrong. She welcomed us one and all. So, we decided to go and I was glad that we did. We all had a great time. There was pizza and cookies.....and wine (see red face in picture). We were able to visit whilst the boys were awed by Nemo and Ice Age on the television. Also, the boys were overjoyed with the pet selection in this household. There were fish, lizards, frogs, cats and a big dog. Okay, Ben was very scared of the big dog, but there was a lot to keep the boys busy.
I always underestimate how grown up my boys are. They visited well and stayed up late without much protest at all. They actually mingled with the guests. Anyone who knows my boys knows that I am making an effort to socialize them. For too long I have kept them home with me and they are pretty shy when it comes to light conversation with an acquaintance. Usually when people try to talk to them, they are met with a stop sign hand and several "no's". Not tonight though. The boys were ready to party.
Seeing how well they did, I felt a little less guilty about keeping them out late....away from their cozy beds. But, if you look at those smiles.....you can tell, they were happy to get out. They needed it just as much as I did.
As the hours crept on, luckily the boys began to quietly fade. They melted into the couch which was just as good as their beds. We covered them with blankets and proceeded to watch an advance copy of Twilight while we chatted and waited for the arrival of the New Year.
Okay.....we got a little crazy too. And, this picture did wonders for helping with a New Year's resolution.....that much Booty is good for no one. Okay, Michael may disagree, but that is a whole different kind of blog. But, to sum up.....we had a great time with great friends and are confident the New Year will bring many good things for many good people.

Too Tired to Say Much

2009-01-01T14:30:00.001-08:00

With the holidays and the endless stream of visitors and the partying and cleaning and celebrating some more.....I am too tired to actually be coherent. So, I won't write much. With pictures being worth 1000 words and all, I think I will meet my word quota for this assignment. I was really even too busy to get that many pictures taken-good sweet wonderful ones anyway, so these will have to do. The boys had a great Christmas though. They had way too many presents and now, if not before, I can say that our house is nothing short of a toy storage facility. When I recover.....um, err, possibly by the summer, I will have to organize said toys. For now they are piled high in every spare closet --to the ceiling like some movie closet where an avalanche could break at any moment. Word of advice, do not open any doors that may lead to a closet in my home.....it could be hazardous to your health. At this moment, the four of us are warn out from our New Year's Eve partying......I may blog about that one some other time, but for now I am going to take a nap. Enjoy the pictures.

Wishing you all a fine 2009 and I hope you all had an awesome holiday season.

Santa Clause is coming to Town

2008-12-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

As if I didn't know that my boys are growing up at the speed of light......it is confirmed in a little tradition known as the Santa photo.
In one short year, look how much they have grown up. Last year, Santa was just an old scary man with a long beard who they didn't know and didn't want to know. Look at the horror....the terror....the tears.
A year later, is a different story. Number one, a candy cane is a great gift in the eyes of my boys. Santa is a superstar as soon as he starts passing out these sticky and soon to be slobbery treats. And although, Ben cares more about that candy cane than the mystique of the bearded one, Seb has a happy smile. No more tears and fears. My little boys are big boys and I am not imagining the fast rate at which their youth is evaporating right before my eyes. Oh boy, I can only imagine a goatee in Santa pic number three next year, sigh. Okay, a little overexaggeration never hurt anyone, right?

CA snow day

2008-12-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

So, what is even better than driving through snow on the way home from a trip.......having snow at home the next day! We awoke to a blanket of white snow and the prettiest dainty snow flakes fluttering down from the sky. Of course, our satellite dish will not work because of it, but it is something different for this CA girl. We did a year in MO and had plenty of ice and snow, but this is CA. This would have been a dream come true when I was a little girl.
Of course, we don't have snow clothes for the boys and my mom actually picked up some boots and gloves yesterday......which are not here today and won't make an appearance until Monday. But, I couldn't resist. Just looking through the window made the boys squeal with delight. And the snow started to pick up and there was a wonderland in our backyard. So, at 10am.....I gave in. I bundled the boys in layers of clothes and we ran outside into the exciting elements.
There is nothing like the joy on a kids face in their first experience of snow. They ate it from the sky with tongues hanging out as far as possible. They blinked as flakes stuck to their lashes. We made a snowman. We had a snowball fight. We created big snowy piles just to trample them like Godzilla. They enjoyed the slick slide with my assistance and were really in awe. Even our break for hot apple cider was taken outside because the boys were having too much fun.
Of course, though, the fun cannot last forever. As the clothes started to get more wet than dry and the fingers started turning red from the frost and I knew the tennis shoes had cold little feet with wet socks inside....we had to come inside for lunch. Inside to a nice heated house where we would change our clothes and put our shoes in the dryer and eat while we looked longingly at the scene outside. It just keeps coming down and is beautiful. I love the trees covered in snow. I love the look of a snowy yard.....even if I can't keep my balance to save my life. Okay...I only fell once so it is not that bad.
But, along with the good comes the bad. One of the scariest things is a Californian trying to drive in the snow.....or a So Californian trying to drive in the rain even. Okay, driving is scary all together, but you can't trust anyone in these conditions. So....the Christmas cards would have to wait to be mailed. If I can't walk in it....I can't drive in it. The schools are closed, even my husband's office was closed. Man, he couldn't even get the car in the garage when he returned home.....we are not armed with snow shovels and didn't know we would need to be. But, we will drink a hot cocoa and look out the window at the lovely scene and just relax and enjoy this holiday season........if I can convince dh that this is not an ideal opportunity to play NCAA football on the PS3 that is. Come on.....at least volunteer to take the boys out for their second jaunt into the wild snowy world that is our backyard. I already did my 1.5 hours today which was totally worth it, but I don't know how much more frost bite I can take.

P.S. Stay away from the yellow snow......how much can two little dogs pee in a couple of hours anyway.

Busy Busy Busy Bees

2008-12-16T08:15:00.001-08:00

As you can tell from the title of this particular blog....We have been busy! Okay, we are always busy, but we were especially busy this weekend. My sis and I were throwing our parents a party for their 25th wedding anniversary. Thank goodness she had the time to organize and put the details together. She was the backbone to this operation and of course, with her impeccable sense of style, it was a great event. So, we went home for a long weekend that flew by too quickly.

Can you believe that this is the weather we drove through on our way back from Nor Cal. It was actually quite pretty and the boys were very excited to see the snow. It almost rated with the Moos of the many cows, the baaaahs of the many sheep and the choo choos of the many trains that we saw on our drive.
We are lucky that the boys are so wonderful in the car. Six hours is not fun......even if there is a stop over at McDonald's on the way.
Of course, we have Einsteins on the TV and Twizzlers to snack on (this is the boys new favorite treat) and who could ask for a better excuse to travel.
We had kicked off the festivities of the weekend first visiting my mom at her school and showing off the babies.....um, errr, my big boys. That night we braved the cold to go to the Tilden park set up for Christmas. They had a really nice display of Christmas scenery and of course this included Winnie the Pooh which is always exciting for the dudes. The boys forgot the cold after the first 10 minutes of shaking like a tickle me Elmo and were not easily contained as they whipped around the area at full speed ahead.
The main draw was the Merry Go Round. Seb loves it! Although this Merry Go Round was like at supersonic speed. I have never seen something fly around so fast. Needless to say, I was a little dizzy.....but it didn't bother the boys.
This was the first time we were able to get Ben to agree to take a ride. Before, at other venues.....he always refused. Of course, with my big self pinning him to the tiger.....who wouldn't feel safe. So, he acclimated quickly and went on the next time without my riding behind him.
The boys did pretty well at the main event also. We had a very nice lunch at Scott's and my guys were quite dashing in their ties. Although the boys got a fruit plate instead of salad and chicken fingers and fries instead of the grown up food.....their appetite was unparalleled and I don't know how they ate it all. I was even impressed that they were able to stay in booster seats with no belts as there were no high chairs and we had forgotten our traveling seats to secure them in. They really are growing up and I have to remind myself as an overprotective mommy that I don't give them enough credit. They really are rock stars!
Here are the happy couple coming in from the cold to join their party.

And more of the boys in their ties.....I can't get enough of my cuties! Yes, a successful weekend...but too short. However, it gave me something to talk about in this here blog. Something other than the fact that a couple days previous in one of my panic rushes to get too much done....I gave the dogs the Twizzlers and the boys the Milkbones. Seb looked at me like I lost my mind and gave it back with a look. Of course, when I rush to Ben......he is eating the tasty dog snack with gusto and I feared he wouldn't trade me for his candy. Unbelieveable. I really need to slow down/calm down sometimes, hehe.

A Quickie

2008-12-04T18:33:00.001-08:00

So, no I haven't gotten my Christmas cards out or even started on them yet. I so wanted to take some nice pictures in the backyard where the boys have a wonderland of crunchy leaves to hop in, stomp on and throw. Who said that there are no seasons in CA. I swear that these leaves were very green at one time. Anyway, my best laid plan did not work, no big surprise here.

True, both boys are battling some kind of illness. Seb has had a runny nose and the most horrible poops lately. I know, TMI, but can I just say for the sake of commiseration that the only solid thing in the diaper has been the corn he ate the night before--- that in an ocean of murky brown swamp water. A smell that lingers for 3 hours in a room and makes me check and recheck for a repeat occurrence to find nothing. Hehe....I know, I shouldn't have gone there. But, I thought those days of washing all the sheets, changing the clothes multiple times and daily baths were in the past. Apparently not.

So, after today's late morning (and very needed) bathing, I thought I would try to put the boys in a nice selection of button up shirts in the quest to obtain the perfect picture for our Christmas cards. Staples is great and cheap to get such things done in one day and so I had high hopes that I would be like my former self and have those Christmas cards out with a quickness. However, Ben has been in such a mood lately. He will change his pants from day to day, but he gets attached to his shirts. Earlier this week to avoid unnecessary battles I gave in to allowing him to wear his pajama shirt for two days straight. So, when I approached him with a nice button up shirt....thinking hey, it's cold, he has to wear something after the bath....the battle began. No, No, No. So I moved onto a poloish long sleeve with fancy striped sleeves and a gang looking number on the chest (one of his usual favorites) and this was also a no. So, I gave him a choice which still left me with a No. Ben, dude, it is cold. You can't be half naked today and you aren't wearing pajamas. After much fighting I got him to wear a dinosaur shirt, hardly appropriate for a heart warming Xmas card. Seb seeing Ben in a dinosaur shirt of course had to wear his as well and so I gave up on the nice clothes and gave into their opinions.

So, I thought.....well, maybe I can still get a picture taken with both of them together....although not ideal, they are so cute......maybe nobody will notice or care. Of course, with this I could not get them barely in the same universe to take a picture together. Pose one and the other runs off. That is what I get for trying to get something done without my scary counterpart at home. So, whether or not we get a Christmas card made this year, I do not know. But, I do like to take pictures for the good ole blog and so today was not a wasted day. Who could be disappointed by these loving and cheerful smiles anyway?

Even if things don't (and by don't I mean never) go according to plan.....how can I not be the happiest mommy alive? I am lucky to have these angels to call my sons and a little independent streak never killed anyone.....right?

Coming Soon: The Busy Holiday Season

2008-11-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

So, I will start by saying that this last Thursday was the midnight showing of Twilight. My circle of friends near and far had been anticipating this movie for what seemed like an eternity. Luckily, my grandmother agreed to stay over so that Mike and I could join our group of 20+ Twilight Saga fanatics at the opening showing. People started lining up at 1pm for the midnight group. There were three sold out rooms in our theater and another theater with similar numbers down the street. Our wonderful friend Mina got there at 4ish and alerted the movie people that she was holding our spot. We got there at about 7pm and were happy to be about 11th in line.

Some may think that waiting in line for 5+ hours is crazy or would be boring to say the least. It was anything but. It was great to hang with the group and with the hordes of people all with a common interest. There were kids and teenagers. There were husbands and wives. There were soccer moms with whole soccer teams. People wearing preprinted shirts. People with posters and news clippings, magazines and official guides. The LA Times showed up to sell newspaper inserts at 50 cents a piece. There were heated debates about the characters. Those that hated Jacob and those who preferred Edward but couldn't help but defend Jacob from attack. Debates about casting and whether the movie could live up to the electricity pulsing from the characters in the books. It was a wild and fun time.

The whole movie watching experience was amplified by the shear number of fans piled in the room. From the raise of the curtain to the end of the movie, loud roaring cheers and enthusiastic clapping ruled the theater. The crowd even went crazy with the cameo of Stephenie Meyer herself.

The movie itself was good. For an addict like me it was sensational. I would like to see it again and again....if I had someone to watch the boys and also unlimited amounts of time and money. I do plan on reading and rereading the books until it comes out on DVD. And then it will be time to wait in line for the second installment. I don't know if people who hadn't read the books would see it quite the same, but Michael liked it and wouldn't like me spreading this all over town....but has said that he plans to read the books over his Xmas vacation. He may just be fanning a flame there though because he knows how amorous I return when I have spent a couple of hours in Forks immersed in the intensity of Edward and Bella. But, hey, the movie opened to something like 70.5 million dollars this weekend. So, I can't be that crazy.......especially when certain people that I know have already seen it three times!!!

Busy days are ahead. The holiday season will be here and gone before we know it. So, I have to admit that I put up my Christmas tree yesterday and rapped presents. I know....it isn't even after Thanksgiving yet! And, I usually abhor decorating. I always refused to put up a tree and got away with it last Christmas because we went to my mom's for the holidays and so I wasn't depriving the boys technically. Well, this year Xmas is at my house. And, after going back and forth about it.....I got the dang thing. It is a fake one and a little crooked from being shoved in a tiny box....but it will do. It is one of those three piece things that have the lights on it already. That at least took the lazy portion away from my argument. We were shopping yesterday....not my favorite thing to do during the holidays with the crowds, but better now than a couple weeks from now. So, we got the tree and the boys picked out a Cars tree skirt and some Cars ornaments to add to the box of ornaments I had gotten as a gift once and never used before this. Once home I assembled my tree and the boys were in awe of it. They loved it....the lights, the Cars ornaments, even the shiny assortment of Santas, Penguins, Snowmen etc. that were added to leave no branch unadorned. Not touching the tree takes some reminding, but the boys sat for hours oohing and aaahing and pointing things out. I suppose that is why it had to be done.

The gingerbread man book is still a favorite. When my grandmother came over to babysit, she made gingerbread men for the boys with raisin eyes, cherry mouth and papaya buttons. The boys were overjoyed. Seb kept placing the gingerbread man on its picture likeness in the book. Then he would bite it and we would say,"Ouch!" and he would laugh. He also shared the gingerbread man with the cow, horse and little old lady in the book. Ben on the other hand tore off his arm and leg right away to eat and then made him run around the table before finally biting off his head. One gingerbread man apiece was worth at least an hour of fun. Then later that night my grandma asked Seb where the gingerbread man was......referring to the book before bed. Seb smiled, opened his mouth wide and pointed down his throat. Then he rubbed his belly and said,"Good."

As I have feared before, Ben is really attached to me. I have always known that Ben would be one of the kids on the first day of kinder that would be howling and I would be the mother crying right along with him. We have started attending a new church with a great childcare system. They have five rooms --each for a designated year age with two teachers per room and a supervisor that patrols all of the rooms. The kids play and have a little lesson and then have cookie time. If your child gets too upset, they have electronic screens that flash your kid's number so that you know to come and rescue them. Of course, when dropping them off, I already had tears in my eyes. Seb steps in the room with a big smile and runs off to start playing without a glance back. Benny on the other hand pulls at my heart strings. He goes in and finds a toy and before I can leave, comes to me to grab my hand and show me the rest of what he has found. I get my hand back after a couple of minutes and slowly make my way to the door. But the stupid security gates.....it takes a million years to figure out how to open it. By the time I am on the other side, Ben is watching with wide eyes and a quivering lip. I blow him a kiss, tell him goodbye and tell him to have fun. I will see him in a little bit. The roar of death and ocean of tears erupt. I can't bring myself to go into the church. I hide with my back against the wall in the hall, almost crying myself. Michael wants me to leave, he will be fine in a couple of minutes. But, I want to stay and listen. I want to hear him stop crying so that I know he is alright. Of course, Ben senses me there. He climbs up on the gate and cranes his neck around to see me hiding in the hallway. He has an extra loud burst of tears to try and draw me back in. I blow him a kiss and assure him I will be back soon. I have to leave now.

Our number is never called, so I am calmer. Of course upon picking up the boys, they are happily playing. Ben doesn't see me right away and runs around the room as busy as can be. He has a toy spoon in his smiling mouth making quick laps around tables and chairs and Michael and I look at each other and know that that is our typical little Ben. Then Benny sees me....stops in his tracks.....the spoon drops and he runs to the door. He reaches his arms up and says,"Carry, Carry." He is ready to go home. Seb on the other hand, smiles and waves and says hi to us. He then makes his rounds and says bye to everyone in the room. All the way to the car, he walks hand in hand with his Daddy waving at every passer by. When in the car we ask the boys, "Did you have fun?" Seb answers with an elated,"Yeah, yeah!" Ben gives a nonchalant nod.

Not only is leaving the boys hard on me because I am one of those overprotective, hovering, following their every move moms, but because I have this guilt when I leave them. I wonder if it is just Ben's sensitive personality that has him upset or is it a real fear that I won't come back. That I am abandoning him. I think this is what makes it harder for me to be unemotional about it. It is hard for me to go.

One last thing. I have been teaching the boys how to say,"I love you." Seb is pretty good at it and now if I say- I -with a pause, the- love you- come out right after. With Ben, he is not the talker with this emotional stuff, so he has his own rock star moves. With Seb and I saying I love, Ben does an over exaggerated point for the you and adds the biggest sweetest smile so that you know what he means. Of course, if the subject is daddy, it is always, "I love Dada!" instead of the You. I don't know why. It is just how they do it. I love those little dudes.

We have so much planned over the next couple of weeks with trips and visits and parties that I don't know when I will get a chance to blog again. If I don't.....Happy Holidays to you all out there. If I do....well, then I guess I will just have to say it again.

Family and Friends: A Great Weekend

2008-11-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

So, with my run of luck lately, I didn't hold much hope for the weekend. We had plenty to do, but I was only guardedly optimistic. We had the CHS LA area picnic to attend and a whole group of family coming in from Friday through Tuesday just for a nice visit. Of course, a couple days before this very busy weekend got underway, the four of us got colds and I didn't know if we would make it to the picnic that we were so anxiously awaiting. But, alas, not wanting to be stuck with a potluck sized portion of hummus, we made our way to Culver City and were glad we did. The fresh air and warmer temperatures were good for both our bad moods and sickly condition.
The boys had a grand time playing on the swings and play structures and running in the endless green fields. It was great to meet Kristina, the CHS social worker who had been so wonderful during our process-- who put up with our thinly veiled exuses for emails which were attempts to see when a referral may be coming and who was the one that actually called when we were notified/surprised with our twin angels. In between chasing our energetic duo, we got to hang out with some of the coolest people known to man. I can never get enough of Lauren and Marley and now I can stalk JCMarie as well. So exciting to be a part of such a cool crowd. We were able to meet and put faces to people from the forum that we knew only as cryptic usernames and not as actual people. It was a really great time, even if a chocolate chip cookie and too much juice ended up as poop on my pants (not my poop...I said on, not in....- a gift poop from Seb, okay). We were sad to leave, but with all the excitement of several hours at the park and multiple people to visit with, Ben was overwhelmed and exhausted. He needed the long ride home to nap and recharge his batteries. When the tantrum tidal wave hits, it is time to run for cover.
So, it was back home to visit with my Aunt Evelyn, in town from AZ for a business trip. Also visiting were my parents from the Bay Area and my Nonny from down the hill. As I have said before, I love when my mommy is visiting because not only are the boys spoiled....I am completely spoiled as well. It is like Christmas come early with having help with the boys and help with the chores and help with the cooking......not to mention a big prime rib dinner that only mom can make. We also had fun playing American Idol on the PS3. Michael always wins, but it is fun to try to sing these songs only for Simon to tell you that you are hopelessly terrible. Although, I do feel bad when some of the less talented family members get the boot even from Paula. Now, that is really sad.

The latest and greatest with the boys are as follows. Sebastian has really been into role playing as a baby. He comes over and says,"Baby, Baby." He climbs into my arms and I rock him back and forth. He then will close his eyes and fake snore with a huge smile. Then he tells me to do the "Gucci Gucci Goooo". I tickle his chin with those silly words and he laughs and laughs. Ben has taken to making me exercise my arms. He comes over and fashions my hands into a makeshift butt seat. He sits and wants me to lift up and down. The trick is in the balance and being able to do it more than a couple times without my arms falling off. The real problem occurs when Seb gets jealous and wants to do the same thing. I definitely can't lift one butt per hand, but Seb is so solid, I can barely get a couple of lifts with two hands when he has successfully pushed his brother off my lap. It is good excercise though as the old lady arm fat accumulating under my arms can use a little minimization.
The boys are also fascinated with putting their toys to bed.....all day long. Whether the giraffe from the animal train or the wonder pets or tow mater, they bring said toy over to the bed, tuck it soundly in and give it a kiss on the head or snout. They then wave bye bye and throw kisses. Sometimes they lie next to the toy and stroke it while it lays under the covers. After leaving it for a few minutes they return to check that it hasn't moved. Then it is thrown overboard and a different toy is put to bed in its stead. Also, Cars has made a return in the DVD player. For a while I had been given a break. I couldn't remember the last time I had to watch it. The boys have too many videos and had actually gotten to a point where I wasn't watching the same one everyday. Although, in picking the video, I would have to go through almost every one before one or the other twin said yes instead of no. Then getting them to agree....a whole separate issue. For awhile I could get the "Ein--eins" in there which was victory because they would usually let me pick which of the eight or so Einsteins to watch instead of repeating over and over the same story. But, now Cars is the favorite again. And they oooohhhh and ahhhhh and scream crash and run in place and get excited like it is all new again. Plus, Ben asks for Cars by name. No going through a collection only for them to pick the last one I offer. Cars it is....again.

So, I leave you with a picture from the picnic courtesy of JCMarie. I had forgotten my camera in our hurry out of the house, so I am glad to have a memory or two of such a fun day, even if I looked half crazed. Lauren looks to really be enjoying herself though.....but that probably has more to do with the cookie than something I am saying. And of course, Marley is as cute as ever. Can't wait to meet up with everyone at the end of the month again. Good times.

Tomorrow...Here begins the end of the World

2008-11-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Maybe....well who knows really.

-------Skip this paragraph if you are tired of political opinion pieces-----------

But it is an end to the principles that this country was built to protect. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and as voting laws are changed to keep those who want to stay in power.....in power......as freedoms like the second amendment are stripped so the common man can't reclaim his rights under a tyrant...... as freedom of speech is done away with if it is a dissenting opinion ....you have to wonder where it all leads. A forced redistribution of wealth and a government who controls what used to be free trade....... With a nonexistant free press.....the Republic is dead. Will it all really be squashed so easily? There are already grumblings warning that this path will lead to a revolution....a civil war. I wish that some balance would occur to prevent such. Without balance, no matter what party or individual is in power......it is catastrophic for our way of life. So, politicians....suprise me. Be the men/women you promise to be. Don't make fools out of those people who trusted what you said and voted for you. At the very least, it will create the same situation we are in now.......but, with victory for the other side and no hope of bipartisanship.

On the lighter side of the political situation, the funniest conversation occured at a family dinner party. Of course, as is the trend for this hot election season, politics was the topic of choice. We agree on the presidential bid and were also debating initiatives. So, just as the conversation is winding down, my mom looks at the twins and asks....."Who are you voting for?" Knowing my boys, they don't talk much and their words are very much in a different sphere of interest. I expected to hear Tow Mater, McQueen, Dora, Wa Pets or Cow Cow. So, it was to the table's surprise when Sebastian smiles and says with a loud and confident boast,"CAIN! CAIN!" Everyone looks up in surprise and claps and smiles and Sebastian looks over at his brother with pride. Well, Ben looks at my mom with a thoughtful glance. He taps his finger to his chin. And proclaims," Obamama!" That brought on another roar of laughter. It is surprising how all of this political conferencing even made it into the minds of my toddlers. And how could Ben pick "Obamama". Ha, ha........Then I remembered.......the last two weeks we had visited with my wonderful (wonderfully liberal) friend Lauren and Ben had taken a liking to her. I thought that he was just after his buddy Marley's chicken while he sat on her lap.......now, I am pretty sure that by some kind of liberal osmosis......Ben was body snatched, ha ha. No more sitting on Lauren's lap buddies......it is just too dangerous. Okay....I am kidding.....but, thought it an amusing story anyway.

Okay, enough of the politics. On to the fun stuff. Daddy was a hit at work in his nerd costume and the boys had fun as Tigger and Pooh on Halloween. I dressed them up in the morning to play in their costumes for the day. We were leaving that night to make the drive up to the Bay Area after Michael got off from work. His cousin's son was getting christened in SF early Sat. morning and so we had to leave before the boys got to go trick or treating. Chocolate is still a no no with their lactose intolerance and so it is just as well anyway. I think at their age the fun of dressing up and playing all day was more exciting than going door to door. Plus, the grandparents made sure there was no shortage of marshmellow and gummy candies, not to mention videos and toys awaiting their arrival.

In the afternoon, Mike, Lauren and Marley stopped by which is the greatest Halloween gift that I could ask for. The boys and Marley played in the backyard and ate lunch together. Marley held his own with my two men who were obviously fiending after his chicken again. I tried to convince the family yet again to move next door and we joked about knocking down the fence and all the fun and parties we would enjoy. I will cross my fingers for this version of reality because there are few people, if any, I would rather have as my next door neighbors. So, we had a great visit and a noneventful drive up north that night. It was Mike and my 10 year dating anniversary as well.....so we missed our usual ritual of gory movies and pizza......but, I suppose I will get over it.

We had a good time seeing all of Michael's relatives at the baptism and then going to a beyond tastey Chinese restaurant for the reception. I think it was a 16 course meal and I gave up at about the 7th round. Sebastian held his own and probably made it through more courses than I did. Ben was all about the rice and soy sauce and of course had some noodles. They were doing fine at such a long dinner, but of course my husband is the ultimate poop. First he convinced his cousin that the hot mustard was honey mustard. Poor guy. Then he convinced the same cousin that the red pepper sauce was sweet. Then he took a whole crab shell and made it chase and pretend attack Ben at the table scaring him to death. So, the boys were well behaved, but Daddy left a bit to be desired. Well, I suppose Ben did start using the chopsticks as drumsticks....but that was after his daddy showed him how. And Seb was using the tip of chopsticks to stick into different entree sauces for taste tests. You can't take us anywhere, hehe! All joking aside, the boys were received very well by the family. In the past, we have had some problems with Filipino culture as it relates to our family situation. Most every person came over to say hello and reacquaint themselves with the twins. Every passerby stopped with an encouraging,"Guapo, Guapo."

We also got a chance to visit with my parents later that evening. It was nice to spend time with both sides of our family. Hence, the picture of the crazy woman with the boys is my mom who people say that I look a lot like. That picture is so a me thing to do. I love my mom.

The favorite song is still "Old McDonald" in which they love to make the animal sounds. This has been great for them as they will now answer with the sound if I ask them....."What does the duck say"....."Quack, quack" and they have expanded to horses and sheep and well, they are convinced that the farmer has a snake, which is their favorite. And, for halloween of course, the farmer had a "gos ---boo" and a "weesh ----hehehe". But, who cares, if I had a farm......I would probably have a ghost and witch too. Actually, my last condo was full to the brim with ghosts. Not by choice of course. The boys already loved taking baths and to make that addiction even stronger, I bought them some bubble bath. Why would I do such a thing to myself? I am dragging them out after an hour and Ben still chases me around wanting to inspect each of his "ra-sin" fingers. The boys also love their Imagination Movers CD. Sometimes they want it on so that we can dance and jump. Other times they are tired of my singing voice at night. I will sit down as I usually do and they will put the "no hand" up and say, "no, no, no". This means that they want to listen to their music and want me to kiss them and say goodnight to leave them to whisper their secrets and listen to music as a brotherly duo. Luckily this rarely happens as I love the time we spend together before bed.....or maybe I like a captive audience when I sing nursery rhymes and reminisce about my teaching days, hehe.

A quick 'ello'

2008-10-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

So, I have been taking more pictures lately and though it makes a good excuse to blog....even if I don't have much new to say. But hey, it doesn't stop the politicians so I guess I will babble a little too. And I can guarantee you that I won't repeat my stumping speech soundbites or make promises that will be near to impossible to keep. I won't try to get your vote by pretending to be just like you. I am not Robin Hood, I am not a war hero, I cannot fix the economy (which makes me not all that much different from our politicians anyway) and I may just crawl into a hole and not come up until groundhogs day. What really scares me is the direction that this election is taking. Not so much who wins the presidency on a personal level, but that when Obama wins, he will most likely enjoy a 60-40 advantage in the Senate meaning that all those things that I don't agree with will be streamlined into law. It may be just enough for me to join the NRA and all things that entail, before it is too late.

So, as this is not a happy household with things unraveling politically all around us.....we have to find things to do to keep us busy. Distract us from our impending doom. Fantasy football wasn't going well for me this last Sunday, so I let Michael convince me that we could drive down to the Orange County Auto Show. He had been working on me for quite sometime and I had come up with plenty of excuses why not....the expensive gas......need to catch up on housework......its too draining for the boys....I would rather be run over by said cars then be trapped in a crowded building with them for hours on end. Can you tell it is really not my idea of fun? Still undecided, we were giving the boys a bath and discussing back and forth for the upteenth time why we should/shouldn't go. Then Michael plays dirty. He asks Sebby who is enjoying his bath to the fullest,"Do you want Mommy to let you go to the car show to see all the cool cars?" Sebby gets the biggest smile on his face and jumps up with an enthusiastic,"Yaaaaaaa!" That was the clincher. How could I deny that sweet face? And, so the boys enjoyed themselves. Inspecting and touching and climbing in and out of cars all afternoon. They had a really great time.

And I suppose that Michael works really hard and should be able to do something he wants to do now and again, hehe. I usually say what we can do and what movies/TV shows we watch. I pick the restaurants and he never complains (except for Queer as Folk.....I had to watch that series all by my lonesome.) He didn't even bring up the fact that he babysat that Saturday so that I could go to the movies with some of the girls. It was really great to get away from my house o' penis for a couple of hours. Of course, the girls were seeing a total chicky flick that I probably could have waited for on video. The new Nicolas Sparks movie, the one with Diane Lane and Richard Gere was adequate. Usually I am a water fountain of tears, but not so much for this one. The others were sobbing away. Perhaps after such a movie going drought, I was missing my horror and suspense. I like the Romance too, but I guess this one just had something missing for me. Don't get me wrong....I had a great time.....being out and about and being me, not just mommy. I must say I have a date with the girls again for the opening of Twilight. We are so stoked for that one. And, having read the series......I know it is right up my alley. Okay....is it just me or is that saying just really nasty sounding. Anyway, the boys survived an afternoon with Daddy. Sometimes I have my doubts, but even when Ben cried for 40 minutes after I left......Michael was able to fix the problem. A trip to McDonald's for lunch and I was all but forgotten.

I will come up with some interesting twin happenings so as not to bore you with myself.....Let us see. The bath is a favorite activity in our house still. The boys love baths and will beg for one anytime of day if they are reminded by a cartoon bath on Blue's Clues or whatever program they happen to be watching. They splish and splash, read their books, play with their toys and wash eachother's backs. I still easily wash their hair with a cup by saying,"Waterfall! Waterfall!" and deluging them. They laugh and think it is the greatest. The other night, Michael went to set up the bath as the boys were finishing dinner. Seb was done and ran into the bathroom to get daddy to put him immediately in the tub. Ben was then in a hurry. He did not want to be robbed of those extra minutes of fun that his brother would get. He had half of an Oreo left on his plate. He looks at the Oreo, he looks down the hall, he looks at the Oreo and says,"Done! Down! Down!" The cookie did not rate up there with the bath. That is pretty surprising, but a good sign I think.

So, Oreos are the new favorite cookie in this house. It was once the Teddy Grahams, then the Sugar Wafers and now good old fashioned Oreos. At first we would get those mini oreos, but with the way prices at the grocery store are skyrocketing, I decided to try the Costco size box of the one's that I had grown up on. The boys loved them. Not because of mere size, but because they could twist them open and lick out the filling. This style of eating an Oreo must be innate to our being as I haven't eaten Oreos that way since I was young and I don't think that they were copying the Manning brothers.....all though twin NFL quarterbacks would not be too shabby of a future.

Another cute thing was Sebastian's desire to help me change Ben's diaper. The first time it happened, I was quite surprised although Seb is the caretaker and sensitive dude of the duo. I was even more surprised that Ben allowed such an invasion because although he is quite the flasher, he only likes mommy to mess with such things as diaper changes. But, Seb came over and grabbed a wipe and cleaned the said area pretty thoroughly without a complaint from Ben. If we ever decide to add to our family, Seb will make a very good big brother and helper. Also, the tickling over here is out of control! The boys love to tickle and they will chase me around tickling and saying,"ickle, ickle, ickle!"with giggles of delight. This has made it increasingly hard to get things done as they know the right time to launch an attack....like when it is time to clean up their room and get ready for bed. The tickling buys them at least an extra half hour of awake time as I could never ignore the swarm of little fingers. I think it has become a big thing because at home I make a big laughing deal out of the whole thing. I run around in circles and throw back my head in a fake laughter that they don't identify as fake yet. This is usually pretty fun although Seb got perturbed at me when I didn't respond as such in the middle of Costco. His tickle fingers under my chin with his "ickle, ickle" prompt was not enough for me to wrecklessly drive the cart around the store in a fit of laughing hysterics.

On the Road Again

2008-10-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it seems that we are always in the car. Maybe too many cool people live too far away or we live too far away from too many cool people. It is hard to pass up a chance to see them even with gas prices the way they are. And, now to top it off......we have a gas consuming beast. Sorry to my eco-terrorist friends out there. We needed the extra space and this opportunity kind of just fell into our laps and was too good to pass up. We still have the Trailblazer to use for short trips here and there around town (as if that is much more ecofriendly), but the Suburban has the room for the stroller and booster seats and when we go on long trips, the dogs and our luggage. And hey, I was afraid that I was going to end up with a minivan.......I prefer this option to that.
So, it seems that every picture I have taken in recent history is in the car seats. And for most of those, even when awake the boys don't have their eyes open. In the new car we have their seats next to eachother. With no buffer zone.....we have frequent sibling skirmishes. It can be caused by the taking of a favorite toy or Seb wanting to hold hands and Ben wanting his space. Here we are on our way to Little Ethiopia for our monthly lunch gathering/play date at an Ethiopian restaurant. It is a good thing the boys have a couple of hours to recharge their batteries so that they are in a good mood and ready to go. I have come to the conclusion that the boys need to be socialized more though. Of course, when a friend came up to Sebastian, first he slunk away......not knowing what to expect of the little stranger. He adjusted well though and was playing in a few seconds time. Ben on the other hand wanted nothing to do with playing. He stayed securely standing between my legs.....his safety net I suppose. When taking out his "zools" (pretzels), of course, they were a big hit with the group. As to be expected though, Ben did not want to share. He tried to guard his bag of snacks to no avail. He did allow his brother to get his hand in said bag. Seb then in turn, passed out the pretzels to the rest of the group. We look forward to next month's gathering, especially since there were some very noticable absentees this month. Namely, two of our favorite families.

So, it has really been more of the same here. Michael has been tormenting me to agree that we can drive the distance again the next two weeks to go to car shows with the boys. Arghhh...not my idea of fun. At first I tried to thwart his attempts by saying it was too much gas, especially after all of our friendly jaunts down the hill. But, he may get his way afterall since one of my favorite people in the world will try to meet us at one of these horrid car shows with her beautiful family. I can't imagine passing that up.
Sebastian continues to love his cows and still brings that plastic thing everywhere we go. It still shares his food and in this picture has found love with a dinosaur. At night, he has taken to a new hobby. He has always loved brushing his teeth and will remind me when I tell the boys at night that it is time to get ready for bed. He always says,"Teeth, teeth." As if I would forget.....maybe Daddy would, not mommy. This is always to Ben's chagrin because he hates to get his teeth brushed. Anyhow, in the past, Seb always would brush and brush and it would be hard to actually get him to relinquish the brush in a timely manner. I figured, this was a good problem to have as teeth can never be too clean. But, now, it is not his teeth he is obsessed with. It is the teeth belonging to his cow flashlight. It is one of those that moos when the handle is pressed to open the mouth and shine the light. Well, now it is a half hour hobby of Seb's to brush the cows teeth. Not only does this take time without the benefit of getting his teeth super clean.....but the mooing is atrocious for that period of time. Why couldn't he have taken up the hobby of brushing his brother's teeth?......That would have been a win - win!
I continue to be impressed at the progress the boys are making in their behavior while dining out. True, they have whatever coloring activity the eatery has to offer and we bring a bag of their toys, but they do a great job whether it be Chinese, Pho, Italian or fast food. Here we are at Oggi's.....a great brewery/pizza/Italian type place. The boys got popcorn chicken, but I love their Italian Stallion pizza. The best!
Now for the newest of exploits. New ways to drive mommy crazy, I think. They have taken to going to their drawers and throwing every article of clothing out. This makes me very angry as I hate organizing and reorganizing, folding and refolding daily. Of course, I can get them to put the clothes back in the drawers and Seb does it with a smile......but that doesn't mean that it is neat or not just a pile of clothes willy nilly in a drawer. The blankets also come off of the shelf from time to time. The boys love playing ghost. It is too bad they can't see through the blankets as running around with a bed spread over your head (and entire body depending on size of spread and body) can be quite dangerous. The same holds true for pillow cases which are a little more restrictive. The other day, I even found Seb hiding between the matress and fitted sheet. How he fit, I do not know......but these kids come up with the darndest things.

The boys have also taken to removing the matress from one of their beds. They either place it so that it is a supreme bouncer to jump on while they scream and giggle,"Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!" or they fashion it into a slide from bed to floor. They are very excited when they move the matress to find lost cheerios and zools that are, who knows how old. They don't care.....it is still a tasty extra treat to them.
Ben has also discovered the joys of the doggy door. Our doggy door leads into the kitchen which is sectioned off from the house by a gate that keeps both the dogs out of the rest of the house and the boys out of the kitchen. As the boys are always running in different directions, one day I was chasing down Seb in the backyard and returned to find Ben missing. I called and looked and didn't see him. I was panicked until I heard giggling. He had climbed into the kitchen via doggy door and was looking through the window jumping up and down in excitement as I searched for him. I should have known he would figure out the doggy door. The previous week, he would push the flap open and peer in at the less social of our dogs (the one that makes himself scarce when the babies are wildly playing outside). Ben spent much time that week peering in and waving his hand as he said,"Heelllllooooooooooo, Heelllloooooooooooo!"

The boys have also grown fond of drawing with chalk. The cement in the backyard is one big canvass of scribbles. Of course to them they are pictures of either snakes, Tow Mater or helicopters. They have graduated from their fascination of making me draw moons. I just wish they weren't into the graffiti aspect of drawing their "nakes" on everything else......windows, their slide, the chair etc. etc. Something to work on.

Can I Be Anymore Boring?

2008-09-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay....so thinking about it.....I am really a boring person. Without my boys....I would have nothing to talk about. Well, there is politics, but being surrounded by lefties in CA in an election year doesn't put me in the mood. I have realized that I don't get out enough. Since moving, no girl's nights out or social lunches where the topics are revolving around adult themed conversation. All the cool kids live so far away. Plus, my singles or kidless groups have given up on me. I am no fun- a shadow of my former self. I used to have a flare for the innuendo.....now I have been reduced to stories about poop. Even Mike and I rarely get out anymore. And, as with this weekend, when we did go out, it was hard not to talk about and miss and wonder about what was going on with my little angels. I guess I am afraid that I am loosing my edge. For example, when the boys first came home.....I was determined to stay my cool quirky self. I wanted them to be matching Freddy Krueger's for Halloween. This year.....they will be Tigger and Pooh.
So, on to my favorite subject, the centers of my universe.....my boys.

As mentioned in my last post......the love of Cows and the need to chase me with snakes is still the most popular of passtimes. Although, we don't only have to watch those Barnyard cows anymore. Now I get to ask through each of their videos to see what the boys want to watch. Very rarely do they agree, but, at least we are back to some variety. They have also taken up liking the Noggin shows as well as the Disney Channel so that gives some more variety as well. But, cows in general are still all the rage. I found myself glaring at a cow on the side of the road yesterday.....just because it was a cow. I have even hidden the Gingerbread Man book because, yes, you guessed it....there is a cow that wants to eat the Gingerbread Man. We could be stuck on that page for a half hour at a time. Seb sees the cow and won't turn the page. And with that book or his puzzle or his plastic cows, there are two things that fascinate him. The utters and the tail. He has to point to every cows utters and say,"Boob!!". He will talk about the "boobs" for what seems like hours. At least with the tails, he will go to all animals and point them out. But, it always comes back to the cow. Even with a picture of a barn with no animal in sight, he will point at the doors and say, "Mmmm (his cow sound) ---inside---Mmmm."
Now, Ben, he is less prone to a one track mind. He plays with just about anything. He is quite the block stacker. He gives rides to his little men on cars. His favorite toy at the moment is a small remote control car. He says,"Push buttons," he pushes the buttons and says,"Go, Go, Go!" as the car goes forward or backwards until crashing. This can keep him busy for a very long time.
Ben is very much into tongues though. He uses his tongue as a taster tongue when he sees a food he is not too familiar with. He touches said food to the tip of his tongue to see if it is worth eating. He sticks out his tongue and points and says a version of tongue. He always wants me to stick out my tongue so he can point and identify it. Well, I finally took out the Mr. Potato head's that they had gotten for Christmas. They have taken to watching Toy Story and Mr. Potato head rates second to "Buzz" only. They even love him more than Woody. So, while I am making dinner, I put the boys in their seats and they pass the time with Noggin on and either color, do puzzles, play blocks or legos, or play with the Potato heads. To Ben's extreme delight, one of the potato heads has a tongue piece. He attached it and before I knew it, with a big smile, stuck his tongue out......they touched tongues and that is the story of how Ben and Mr. Potato head started their almost daily love affair.
Who knew that plastic potatos could keep kids so busy. Ben is one to build more realistically. He likes the pieces to be generally as they are intended to be. Although check out how my smarty flipped the mustache to make bushy eyebrows. Seb is an artist with his potato head, he puts parts wherever he gets the whim or will take pieces to build multiple faces on the sides of the potato.
My boys are a bunch of hams too. They love to be tickled and to tickle. They have taken up the art of fake snoring. Of course, they close their eyes and snore with the biggest smile on their face. Most of the time they remember to lay down before doing so. They love playing hockey and golf and when the clubs or sticks are put away will use anything to hit the balls. Seb is even known to try to putt the ball with his snake.....which he is able to do even with the snake waggling in curls. Until it broke, his plastic hoe also made a good hockey stick. Ben continues to have a good arm, both throwing the baseball and football. This is not a good attribute when he throws books, or crates or toys though. The boys have also taken to learning different modes to escape. They know dump toys out of their crates and stack them to climb over the baby gate. Once I confiscate the crates, they have been known to stack their potty chairs just as effectively. Too smart and brave and agile for their own good I say.
Speaking of potty training. We are still moving at a snails pace. I actually had a very bad week a while ago where one of the boys took up poo finger painting. Within minutes it was on the bed, the walls, the floor, the toys. Three days in a row, I had to figure out how to clean the offender, clean the room and keep the other twin out of said mess at the same time. I needed a twin or clone.....or maid. By that Friday, I was a mental mess. Although, who knows......if you consider it modern art, maybe I should get a canvas and make a fortune for future college funds. It was a crack up, albeit a little nasty when the next day, Seb dumps out his crate of toys. He starts looking through them one by one, putting most in the crate and a couple to the side. When he is done he points to the small pile of toys and says,"Poo". Whether this is him on a scavenger hunt in the backyard or pointing to his diaper and patting his butt, I know what this means. And, yes, the toys have poop from yesterday- dried on them. Poor Eyeore has a snout full of poop in fact. This did not make me happy that I had missed it from the day before, but I was very delighted that Seb could both sort toys and was able to bring my attention to the infraction.
The following week, I am happy to report that Sebastian made progress in trying to use the potty. On the first day, he took off his pants and diaper, peed next to them and then sat on the potty chair. I encouraged him and tried to explain that the pee pee belonged in the potty. Steps out of order and what not. The next day, he took off his pants and diaper and pooped next to them and then sat on the potty. This I was a little less encouraging about, but I try to look on the bright side. At least, it wasn't on the walls, even if it did take some cleaning.
Our nighttime ritual has changed a little as after the reading of a couple of stories, the boys now want me to sing to them. Of course, this usually is about a half hour singing the same two songs over and over. Yes, I do know more songs than two.....I taught Kindergarten after all. But, Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Grand Old Flag are the two that I am made to sing until my voice is gone. They enjoy the hand motions and will sometimes join in with them. Then, after my singing it is time to kiss them goodnight. Although, this too goes on for a good 15 minutes......they have a little thing where they tell me to kiss the feet, kiss the belly, kiss the lips. over and over again-- times two silly boys. Just when i think i am done.......i get a foot in the face and can't resist their giggley request. FinallyI end with the usual,"Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" This I also follow with a zombie like gobbling on their bellies. But, this means game over and I finally make my exit to their laughing and then a last contented sigh. They do have me rapped around their little fingers. I love though, that I am their favorite person on this earth. They smile upon seeing me enter a room. That never gets old. I get up in the morning, go straight to their room and am met with the most amazing welcome. Sebastian covers me in hugs and kisses and Ben gives a warm smiley wave with his "ello". No matter what is wrong in the world, this is guaranteed to cure it. This is why I don't mind not being anything more interesting than Ben and Seb's mom.

Where does the time go?

2008-08-26T08:23:00.001-07:00

I am sitting here, a little guilty that time has been a little short and I haven't really had all that much chance to blog this month. We had our anniversary, my birthday, and many a house guest and event to attend. Mike was rarely home as he was working twice the hours.....August is the time for school physicals which his office volunteers to do at every school (middle and high school) in the area. But, there is no excuse really, as I know that a million very cute, very cool things happened and I know that because I waited so long, it is inevitable that I will forget something. The boys continue to amaze me everyday, both with their developing personalities and how much mischief that they can find in the most seemingly safe situation.

They are actually starting to talk a little bit more. Of course, it is the toddler language that is best understood by me being that I am with them 24/7. But, it is coming along and they are making progress. Ben has added a very convincing "no" to his bag of words. Before, it was just Seb who asserted his opinion at every turn. Now, Ben is the naysayer. I put in the wrong movie......the sweetest little montage of no's comes out. I make the wrong food or pick the wrong book, and it is, "no, no, no". I love that he is finally expressing himself and now I have taken to creating questions just to hear his little no. "Ben, are you done with your food?" "No, no." "Ben, can I take your plate yet?" "No, no." The only time that I have been the least bit annoyed with his no is yesterday when the DVD player wouldn't work and they couldn't watch their favorite movie. I tried everything on TV to replace it, but it was a futile attempt. I think that there was a steady stream of head shaking and increasingly louder no's until we went outside to play before lunch. Of course, many of you may think that the word no is no big deal or that a bigger word would be more attention worthy. The boys have plenty of words or version of words that they say. Ben somehow even managed to say dinosaur the other day. Both routinely tell me to "sit, sit down" when I am buzzing around the room. Or they tell me to t-ckle or "again book" for reading another book before naptime or bedtime. They can recite almost any Disney character and have added Buzz and Woody to the cast of Cars. But, why I love the word "no" from Ben is that he was one never to give his opinion through a word and do it so well. Tantrums yes, but actually expressing himself before frustration is a new thing.

Besides their constant need to climb to new heights.....I don't know how Ben scales some of the surfaces he does including closet walls and toy chests, the boys have discovered a love of scaring mommy. Not just giggling when they are doing something dangerous mind you. I have a very real fear of snakes. Usually amid a night terror where I am thrashing around in the middle of the night, running here and there and waking my poor husband up.....he will try to settle me and ask what it was this time and it is usually snakes on the floor or in the bed or whatever. (The last time, it was actually barbies everywhere, but that is for another post.) Anyhow, on our last vacation, the boys got wooden snakes. Somehow knowing, or perhaps my dh put them up to it, they got it in their head to chase mommy with the snakes. Now, I realize they are wooden and cannot hurt me, but they still give me the creeps. So, the boys make the ssssssssssss sound and think it is great fun. Okay, I let it be fun for them with exaggerated squalking and running around in circles.....but I know that it is only a matter of years before those wooden snakes are replaced by their real life counterparts. That is what is really scary.

Watching Cars everyday is now a distant memory. I am lucky to convince them to watch their extra Einsteins, Manny, Cars, Rats etc. at all. There is a new love in town. It is Barnyard. With Seb being so crazy about Cows, we got the movie in the off chance he would take to something new. Little did we know it would consume our lives. Everyday, I try to slip in something else. I offer suggestions to the sweet little no's that I love. It always ends in, "Cow, Cow!! Mmmmmmm!" They love that movie. We even bought the compilation of TV shorts of the same Nick series that the movie is based. This didn't leave the DVD player for a week straight. Not even the old Cow movie was allowed to replace it. I couldn't believe that they knew the difference. What do I expect with how well Seb can act every scene. Seb in his quest for perfect reenactment of every scene has even begun to set up props.....moving the toy chest and turning over a crate to make an ideal replica of the cow's computer work space. He mimics everything from their actions to their emotions and is starting to mix in some of their words. I am amazed by what he can glean from cartoon animals in the way of direction and facial expression. A very talented youngster indeed. Another cute little story which I hold close to my heart occured the other day after giving the boys a bath. We have those sliding glass doors on the bathtub and it is always a struggle to keep the boys from sliding them back and forth when they bathe together. Seb is more private and always wants the doors closed. He is a crack up with other people in the room. We call him Mr. Modest because he will close his knees together and hide his privates if anyone but myself is in the vicinity. Ben on the other hand loves to be free. He will run naked with reckless abandon, letting it all hang out so to speak. He prefers the doors open. So, when I bathe them together I try to put my hand as to block the doors from sliding back and forth. One day, with my grandmother visiting and the boys playing with no thoughts of the doors, I let my guard down and although my hand was up there, it was not at ready position. All of a sudden, my grandmother's rogue boob accidently pushed one of the doors open, trapping my fingers in between the doors. Ouchy....to say the least. I got my fingers out and couldn't help but cry....yes, I am a baby. Ben concerned, wanted out of the bath. I picked him up to dry him off.....thinking he just wanted out. Instead, he gave me the biggest hug imaginable. He reached behind me and grabbed a tissue. He then dried the tears on my face. This melted my heart. Ben who is usually not a big hugger/lover type....usually just on his terms and with reason......took care of his momma.
Here is a picture from the boys first trip to a GG's pool. Ben was terrified most of the time and had the death grip going on. He finally relaxed a little by the end, but had to be in my arms at all times. Seb was like a fish in water. He loved it and got the kicking down right away. He even blew some good sized bubbles in the water.

And for all those interested, Seb is still traveling everywhere with his plastic cow. The cow even had to alternate bites of spaghetti with him at an Italian restaurant. Although very cute, it took forever to finish dinner...although they finished every bit of food on the plate. Ben sucks those noodles like lady and the tramp and Seb took a spoon and cow and himself didn't leave a drop of meat sauce. Seb can be quite the caretaker when he wants to be. Many a time during lunch he will feed his brother applesauce or whatever is on the menu and Ben opens up like a little baby bird. I much prefer this to when Seb is trying to abscond with the last cookie to an outcry of, "YaYa YaYa Ya Ya," by Ben. Of course, Ben is in to asserting himself now. The last time this happened I heard a deafening scream by Seb and turned to find Ben biting the offending finger and not letting go. I was afraid that it would be bitten off....but he released to my scolding and Seb was left with a swollen purple fingertip for the day. I don't think he tried to strong arm another Lightning McQueen graham cookie away from his brother after that episode. Now he knows he has to be a little more slick and shifty. Of course, when I wanted to relay this story to my mom with Seb in the room.....he was embarrassed. He wouldn't let me tell it. He said,"Nah, nah, nah," waving his hand at me with a very stern look on his face. He then put his hands on his hips and shook his head. I wonder where he gets that from.

Hopefully the month of September is not too hectic. I am in need of a little monotony. Then, maybe I can keep up with my blogging.

OT- Books

2008-08-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blog and thought it to be interesting.

The story is that apparently the National Endowment for the Arts estimates that the average adult has only read six of these books.

Here are the markup guidelines:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Star the ones you love
4) Reprint this list in your blog

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 *To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 *The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women- Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles- Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. The Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 *Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 *Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows- Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code -Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi- Yann martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time- Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 *Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart Of Darkness- Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

An Earthshakingly Great Day

2008-07-29T16:27:00.001-07:00

The year long quest to get the boys readopted has now come to completion. Ben and Seb are now really Ben and Seb and are one step closer to becoming American citizens. Yes folks, CA has finally recognized our adoption and the year's tasks were more than worth it!

We got up early to make it to the courthouse on time. My parents as well as grandmother would make the day extra special. In fact, we got there 1.5 hrs early as I am a worrier, and would not miss this date because of flat tire or crazy mishap. This did give us time to make our way to Krispy Kremes for a little pre-court donut and coffee refreshment. Then, on to the courthouse. We were starting to get worried as our appointment time approached and the halls filled with dozens of families. Luckily, we were first on the schedule and wouldn't have to wait long.

We were sworn in, signed the paperwork and the baliff was kind enough to take several pictures. Before leaving the courtroom, the court staff cheered the finalization of our adoption.
Once exiting the courtroom, all of the other families cheered and congratulated us. I am not sure if that was partly because they were eager to get onto their turn.
Even the powers that be were excited. How do we know this you ask? Because there was a pretty wild earthquake, of course. No one was hurt, but it was a kind of funny end to a long and drawn out struggle.
The day would end with a celebration at Chuck E. Cheese, the boys' favorite. We would also go home to enjoy some ice cream and pie. It was a day to remember. One that will be close to our heart as long as we live, even if somewhat of a formality. Now, on to the COC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to the Maggott races

2008-07-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

Cross our fingers, we have had a pretty good time these last couple of weeks. Okay, it didn't start off that nicely when we awoke one morning to find thousands of maggots racing across our kitchen floor. Well, I guess my darling husband found them and was on his way out the door for work and woke me up. Everyone knows how I hate bugs and how overactive my gag reflex is, so it was a fun three hours of cleaning for me. I never knew how fast those buggers were. Thank goodness it was a one time outbreak and hasn't happened again in the last three weeks. I tell you, scream queen as I am.......I thought that the end of days was on its way......if horror films do nothing else, they make you paranoid. Never saw that many maggots in my life....if I had seen any at all.

The worst part was that I discovered that they had hatched from my poor little Peke's armpit. There was a laceration which had obviously been a good hatching ground. I felt so guilty when I discovered such. My dogs were my children before we had our boys. Spoiled and treated like royalty. Now they get a lot less attention and when I went to bathe my dog babies on that fateful morning (didn't want to leave any stone uncovered or dirty), I discovered that my Roenick had been neglected. I felt like such a bad mother. Of course, the vet said that it wasn't neglect, that it was a spider bite that got chaffed by the harness and not a sign of neglect. I still felt bad. But, aren't you glad I didn't take a picture to post of this embarrassing moment in life.

Here are my boys playing with their blocks and dancing to the top 40 playlist on XM radio via our satellite TV. Sebby really gets into the music. He is going to tear up the dance floor when he is older.....unfortunately, that may be literal.

The boys are still working on potty training. We are going with a no stress approach. We introduced them to the potty and encourage them to use it. They are now to the point that they ask to use it throughout the day with some success. They are still in diapers and not always successful, but doing rather well considering that the lazy side of me is still not structuring things enough. I guess at some point I will have to push it more, but right now I will be content with what we all can handle.

We went back home to the Bay Area for my grandfather's 75th birthday. Who knew that being a child of divorce could get any more stressful? I guess being a married child of divorce takes the cake because then you have three sets of grandparents wanting to spend time with the grandchildren. It worked out okay, but guilt monger as I am, I never can help feeling guilty that a three day weekend does not have enough hours in it to spend time with everyone.
We did have a great time though. It flew by way too fast. We drove up Thursday afternoon. Yes, my wonderful husband actually took a couple of days off from work. A much needed break under good circumstances this time. We spent Thursday night and Friday morning with dh's parents. The boys were very much spoiled by Lolo and Lola who let them get away with anything they would like to do. This usually translates into using fruit as play equiptment. Bananas and oranges as bats and balls, with a carrot mixed in for good measure. It is enough to drive me crazy, but I try to breathe and get through it. They are having way too much fun to have me step in and keep to my rules in someone elses house.
On Friday afternoon, we met up with my parents where we would stay for the weekend. We went to Bezerkley's Tilden park where the boys walked through the nature center, conned Daddy into buying them a few books and then we rode the steam train. It was a great time as my brother, his wife and his new baby accompanied us all. The boys loved the train and liked the toot toot of the steam blowing. Other kids on the train were screaming their heads off, but my boys were happy as clams: Ben sitting with me and Sebastian with my mommy. At first I thought it may be because Uncle Richard gave them each their very own donut for the ride, but even after the donut was long gone, the boys made it known that they now have a very real interest in trains. We rounded out the day by going out to lunch and thankfully the boys were ready for a nap and a peaceful rest of the evening.
On Saturday, my Dad, his wife and my Aunt and cousin, who were visiting from the east coast, were going on a trip to Pier 39 and invited us along. Knowing this wasn't a good idea for the boys, my parents offered to take them to the park and lunch while dh and I met with my other side of the family. It was great to see the shops.....except for the chocolate shop which set us back 50 bucks. We enjoyed the scene from a restaurant on the water and ate some great sea food. The only downside of the experience was the parking cost......7 bucks an hour......unbelievable!!!

That night we went to my Grandpa Doug's birthday party at the Pear Street Bistro. The boys were champs being surrounded by many a new face and my parents were great in picking them up after dinner so that Mike and I could enjoy the rest of the evening visiting with my dad into the wee hours of the night. The next day would be our last day of vacation in which we went to a barbeque at my Grandpa's house and visited again with our relatives from afar. We had a great weekend and it was hard to go, knowing that we didn't know when we would see this side of the family again. We are back at home, settling into real life and I am getting kind of bummed that the summer is half way over. This afternoon I put on a DVD of the boys pictures from when we picked them up until recently. It made me cry to see how much they have grown. It is like time is slipping away. I am so proud of my boys and love watching them grow up, but just wish it wasn't all happening so fast. They are such their own little selves with their own little personalities now. They are actual people with a will to communicate their own wants and desires. Gone are the days when I could pick a video for them or even when they agreed on which video they would want to watch.

As of late the favorite video is Barnyard which they call "Cows" and when I confirm that Barnyard is what they want to watch, they smile, stamp their feet and Ben says in his loudest cow immitation,"BOOOOOOOOOO!", as there is still no "m" sound in many of his words and then Sebastian follows with, "MMMMMMM", as his moo takes after the tractor/cows in Cars or the cows in the Einsteins, not sure which. Watching them playing or learning or sleeping or laughing brings an immediate smile to my face and then a tear to my eye as the love I feel for them is so intense, it just pours out of me. I can't imagine loving anyone more than I do those two little men.

Blogging to Improve Mood

2008-06-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

----Notice-----
Finally the county has said they approve of our file and paperwork. No more driving forever to our old stomping grounds every week for this piece of paper or that. We have our courtdate to readopt/refinalize.......finally after what is almost a year. Can you believe our whole Et adoption process took less time (9 mos) than CA (1yr). What is up with that?? Anyway, fingers crossed the actual court date goes well. It is Tues. July 29th. Anyone who would like to celebrate or lend their support, feel free to email so that I can give you the particulars. Family and friends are very welcome....hope to see you all there. (Ms. Heather Bean.......it would be captain fantastic if you would drag yourself over here and give birth in the middle of the process....how cool would that be, really?....as long as we didn't have to postpone the process any longer I suppose.)
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Hi All. It hasn't been all too long since my last post, but I had some pictures sitting around in the ole camera and it always cheers me up so I will put pen to paper....or finger to keyboard in this case just to keep on keepin on. So, I sit here tired out of my gourde - my own stupid fault. I got all 3 netflix movies yesterday. Watched 10,000 B.C. (Mike's pick) and it was good. There was a little time left before bed and so I popped in Californication Season 1. Didn't know much about it going in but the title entrigued me and Showtime and HBO shows are the best so I figured I'd watch a few episodes and decide whether I liked it or not. Well, I liked it a little too much and didn't stop watching until I had seen the entire season. This took me into the wee hours of the morning. Not too smart.

Little did I know that I would get an uber headache and the fun from the arrival of my endometrievil today. As if that wasn't enough, the boys decided to get the poops and be super terrible two-sy as well. I am miserable and if that wasn't enough, I found that two of my bills got lost in the mail last month and so I was trying to straighten that mess out during naptime. So, I need to look at my pictures and blog a little to take my mind off things. Hope this works, otherwise I will be hittin' the liquor. No need to front right. Not that it is the perfect fix, but when the advil might as well be a gummy bear......what can I do.
Here are my boys watching racing. Since we have the DVR up and running Mike tapes every race on the earth. Usually I would rue the day. What is so exciting about cars going around and around in circles unless if you are actually the one racing, but even then I hear it is hot and uncomfortable which sounds not so fun to me. But, on the bright side, the boys love watching the cars with their dada and I can get some stuff done as they wind down for the evening.

Rock stars in the making. They love their keyboard, a gift from their Ninang on Xmas. We finally have it set up and they love to make sweet music......not so much together.......then it becomes a shoving match most days......but they are pretty effective solo artists. Seb is quite interested in instruments thanks to Little Einsteins. Now, when his bro plays the piano, he pretends to play the violin. Here, Seb has the super fake cheese goin' on and Ben is either Jerry Lee Lewis or needs to take up the air guitar in a metal band. Of course, Seb wouldn't let go of his new sippie cups for the picture. Chalk it up to the Cars characters, of course.

Awww....the more gentle side. Ben losing the hard rocker in him and Seb, well even if Seb won't share with his brother, he will share with his cow. From the dollar bin at Target, it started with dinosaurs and now he is absolutely crazy about the farm animals complete with sound button. He only has the cow and ram so far, but we look in the bin for more to add to his collection everytime we go. His animals go everywhere. In the car, out to restaurants, outside in the backyard....I try to keep them out of the little play pool though even if cows need a bath in this heat. They go on his little bus and enjoy rides around the backyard. He gives them water from his sippie cup, pushes them down the slide. He moos and baas at them. He makes them kiss and kisses them. With all the expensive toys....cheap little barn animals make him the most happy.

Awww, I feel better already. I think I can wait for my drink until after Mike gets home now. Well, time to make dinner for my crazy dudes. Seb has gotten into quite a love affair with shrimp and so I gotta get to work so it will be ready in time. Last week was pepperoni and pineapple pizza. But, hmmmm, Shrimp....who woulda guessed it??

A Mini Vacation - a good time under bad circumstances

2008-06-16T15:15:00.001-07:00

So, it has been pretty busy around these parts lately. I must say that the twins are really doing well. They still aren't much for talking beside the words they frequently use. We just keep on reading and talking with them and hope that the language thing will catch on. Although, Seb will have conversations with us, it is less of our language and more of his twin gibbering. But, he has progressed to the point where he will try to show you what he wants if he can't verbalize it. He takes you by the hand and leads you to whatever he wants done. Whether it be a snack, a toy or if he just wants you to sit someplace in particular. This weekend, at my parents house, he was cracking everyone up with this new skill. Beside scoping and tracking the cat in her various hiding places, when she jumped on top of the bookcase, he went straight to Papa, led him to the bookcase and motioned for him to be lifted to the cat. He rearranged seating arrangements by making guests stand and putting people where he wanted them on the couch. He also took a blanket off my mom and put it on his Papa. It is all about Papa for Sebastian.

A couple of weeks ago, the boys had their two year old check up at their new pediatrician. Unfortunately, they had a lot of shots to catch up on. They have to go back in a couple of weeks for more vaccinations even. Luckily though, there were no side effects. They had a slight fever the night of and were a little cranky the next day, but that was it. I was expecting a lot worse. When coming home, both boys were at about 5th percentile weight. Seb is now in the high 80's and Ben is in the 70's. The doctor actually suggested putting Seb on a diet where he was to get no juice and no snacks. This was surprising to me because although Seb has chubby cheeks and a thick build, he is not really fat. He is very muscular and I hate to use the phrase big boned as that is a usual excuse. Ben is very spindley comparatively, but has always been the one with the bigger belly, although that is still probably the effects from long ago and his preference for carbs over meat. I just couldn't bring myself to agree with a diet at their age. Maybe I spoil them, but I still give them their morning snack of Cheerios and afternoon snack of raisins. I have cut down on the juice and what juice I do give them is watered down. They do get an occasional sugary treat, but I try to keep those to far and few in between.
This weekend we had to travel up north for my grandfather's funeral. Mike took Friday off and so we drove up Thurs. evening. We did so with heavy hearts, but it would be nice to see the family and with gas prices the way they are, we don't see eachother as often as we used to. Friday morning we took the boys to my mom's school. She is a teacher's aide at a Middle School and it was the last day of school. Every body was anxious to meet the twins as my mom is very much the proud Nonny and so everyone in the school feels like they know my boys. Her class was having a smores party...you can't really do much on the last day of school.....so it was the perfect opportunity for the boys to sample the school atmosphere (they did not partake of the smores). The boys were passed around from counselor to teacher to aide and oogled by the students. They had celebrity status. The boys enjoyed meeting everyone and running around the classroom. They also enjoyed the fact that there was a party in every room they visited and each teacher let them sample the goodies. I saw some old friends from my days as a teacher and it was nice to catch up. The only part that the boys didn't like was the loud bell to change classes. I have never seen Seb jump so high into my arms and hug me tight around my neck like it was the scariest sound ever. Of course, he recovered quickly and joined in the festivities soon after the noise was over.
After a wonderful day at school we had to get ready for the burial proceedings. We dressed the boys up and made our way to pay our last respects to our Grandpa J. Sebastian stood like a perfect gentleman and took in the solemn occasion...of course not grasping what was occurring. Ben on the other hand was a fit of cries. Whether he sensed everyone's sadness or was just cranky we don't know. We all felt down that day, but returned to my parents house to share stories and spend time as a family. The boys took a long nap and woke up refreshed...ready for running around the house and playing a little ball. It kept us going. Everytime I looked sad or had tears in my eye that day....Sebastian hugged me in a way that instantly made things seem that much better. My tender Sebastian always knows what mama needs. He will come up behind me with a bear hug or put his arms up and hold me tight around the neck as I pick him up. He also has the soothing pat down, where he hugs around the shoulders and his little hands/fingers go up and down to console anyone needing a pick me up. I am lucky to have such a sensitive boy.
I must say that Ben has a few tricks up his sleeve too. He may not be the little lover that Sebastian is, but he is a ham. When someone needs some cheering up, never fear because silly Ben will know just what to do to make you laugh. Of course, I cherise this just as much. In fact, as we made it on Saturday to the church service for Grandpa J....Ben was in his element. Not to say that it was the right venue for his act, but it did keep me from getting a sinus headache as you can't help but not cry when a sweet comedian is doing his best to cheer you up (even if it is during a sermon). Seb was the perfect gentleman again, sitting quietly on the pew like a big boy, very intently listening to the service (or so it appeared). Ben on the other hand, swiped my moms reading glasses and put them on in a various amount of stylings. He made faces and spoke his language and gestured and people couldn't help but kiss him and smile. When we gave him the shoosh finger, he paused, pushed the glasses back on his nose and stood up facing the rest of the mourners. He gave a lopsided grin and made the shoosh finger and sound at the rest of the congregation. Of course, Michael who wants the boys to be perfect was very distraught at the whole scene. I don't know if the attendees were so old that they didn't hear or see, but many of the ladies came up to us after the service and said that our boys were so well behaved. The pastor also said that she enjoyed having them in church. Perhaps they were just being polite, but given their age, I think that they did a pretty good job sitting through a service where the overwhelming vibe was so sad.
After the service the church ladies put on a lunch which was much appreciated. We visited with family and friends that we hadn't seen in many years. Afterward, we went back to my parents and ate some more (grief = overeating in my family). We wish we were getting together under better circumstances. We were happy to get together with the family though. My brother Richard and his wife and new 4 month old baby boy were there. My sister Valerie came in all the way from New York and it was fun to catch up with her who we haven't seen in more than five years time. My little sister and her hunky husband came in from Texas. And all the local family was there too. Of course, we didn't let the solemn occasion interfere with our crazy sense of humor. We spent a good hour joking and hypothesizing about the pickle bread someone had made for the lunch. It looked to be pickle and cream cheese in the middle of bread. You can use your imagination on what us kids were joking about and at one point my brother even offered us money to give a piece a try which we all declined after the nasty joking of the day. Old times....Old times. The weekend was too short to say the least. I could have spent many more days catching up with everyone. We made it home on Sunday and were and are still absolutely drained. It is hard to recover from something like this even when you get to lean on family.

A Tribute

2008-06-11T08:14:00.001-07:00

I have been really lucky in my life to have three great grandfathers. Unfortunately, yesterday we lost one of my grandfathers. Just as special and unique as the other two, Grandpa Jacobson passed away yesterday. Instead of taking this blogging time to talk about the boys' doctors appointment or their latest and greatest feat, I thought I would take the time to celebrate Grandpa Jacobson.
Grandpa Jacobson was the quiet grandpa. He was always there when you needed him and at every function to lend his support. He really was a man of few words who kept in the background of a crowd. He was of Finnish stock and started school with English as a second language. He worked hard and excelled to the point that in adulthood he graduated from UC Berkeley and became a chemist. Not only was he proud of scholastic achievements, he was very involved in the church. Even with his busy schedule, Grandpa Jacobson always had time for us kids. We spent a lot of time visiting Grandpa's house. We loved his big back yard in which deer always could be found grazing. There were always berries to pick and make into pies. He let us take old wood, hammers and nails to build a fort (which really was at best a couple of gate looking pieces when done). We played lots of board games. When younger, there was Mystery Date. When older, we would play one of those games where you have to guess the lyrics of songs. Gr. J was always a judge and a strict judge at that. What is more is that in his very stoic way, he would read the answer lyrics without a smile in a business like tone, no matter how silly the lyrics actually were. He attended all softball games. You could spot him standing by the fence or sitting in the bleachers quietly observing, always dressed in jeans, a long sleeved denim shirt neatly tucked in with a belt and a straw hat, chin strap in full effect. He gave me my first car.... a blue station wagon with AM radio only .....but still a car I could call my own. He made every graduation and every party. If there was an event in our lives, no matter how small or trivial.....he was always there, quietly observing and a very important part of the family.
Grandpa Jacobson hadn't been well for quite sometime. He had been struggling with Parkinson's and other complications that come with the disease and old age in general. It was hard to see him struggling in life, but it is also hard for us to know that he is gone now that his fight is over. We take comfort in the fact that he will be reunited with our Moo Moo and will no longer be in pain. We are glad that we were able to make it home for Christmas this year as it was the last time we would see this magnificent man. The boys got to meet their great grandpa Jacobson, but it is sad that they will never get to know him. As we go back home to pay our respects, we have nothing but fond memories of our Grandpa Jacobson.

Is it Summer Yet

2008-05-27T10:29:00.001-07:00

I feel as though the season played a cruel joke on me. We had been blessed with some pretty outstanding weather for the last month and I got spoiled. Summer is usually not my favorite season, but I was actually excited this year. The boys had been playing for hours in the backyard and this would not only keep them happy and busy, but would wear them out. We could eat all of our meals in the backyard which meant less clean up for me; a quick hose off of the little picnic area and the boys splashing in their mini pool and clean up was complete. Yes, for once, I was happy that summer was here. (Mind you, I am a person who will stay out of the sun at all costs --my immune system has been slowly eating my pigment over the last 20 years and so summer sun has never been my favorite thing.) I usually love a moderate cold spell.......

But, the last couple of days have been the worst. One week, it is 100 degrees and then these last couple of days we are barely at 50. This meant less time outside. This meant no water fun for hours. This meant, when the rain came in, that the boys had to eat at the table and mommy stressed about not letting the floor and the table get too dirty with flying food. The boys did pretty well, all and all. They got to stay up a little later since they hadn't burnt as much energy. And, not too much food made it to the floor: Ben somehow managed to throw spaghetti on Sebastian's hair and face without splattering it anywhere else. That, my friends, is an art form!
So, never again will I moan and groan about the heat and the sun and being stuck outside for hours on end. Gone are the days when I could ignore the season and be happy to plop in front of the TV or play video games all day long. It is a new era in my life where maximizing outside play is the key both for happiness and sanity.
We are lucky to have the whole summer season ahead of us and as a former teacher, I know how quickly the months of June, July and August seem to fly by. As yesterday the weather seemed to pick up and the boys were able to play outside once again. Viva El Verano! There is so much to look forward to doing whether it be playing as a family in the backyard or visiting and celebrating with family and friends.

One of the things that kept us busy this long holiday weekend was getting the boys' picture taken again. As most of you know, professional studio pictures have been a disaster. There isn't one picture without tears and screaming. Goofy cheesin' and silly faces at home. But, step in a studio with a stranger taking a picture and forget about it. So, we felt brave and were rather stir crazy from this week. We had an appointment with Sears at 12:30 and hoped it would all go well. We had wanted to slick them out in the cutest of summer apparel, but it was cold and I think we did okay with the wintry alternatives. The boys had a late snack, an early nap and we made it to our appointment just on time with fingers crossed. Of course, Sears was running late. They were an hour behind and moving at a snail's pace.
But, we waited and the boys did a lot better than their Daddy with the wait. Of course they were bored and a little whiny, but so were we all. Michael was so mad that while we waited he said that we better order the minimum so as not to reward their bad service. However, then we saw the pictures and fell in love. We ordered a huge package because we couldn't help ourselves. Our boys took their first no tear pictures and I think that the pictures captured every aspect of their little personalities.
So, we got over it. I tell you though.....I can stare at those pictures for hours. We had one loaded as our screen saver the night they were taken and I was just staring and thinking and reflecting on our journey to becoming a family. (yes, again) I will never know how I got to be so lucky. We are truly blessed. Michael and I sat that night and talked and talked and just reveled in the boys and reminisced about all of their feats. Not only do we have wonderfully smart, talented and loving children.....they are lookers!
So, I finish up this update as quickly as I can.....the boys are ready for some outside fun. Mommy needs to set up the pool and make lunch. Meal time has been a little tricky as of late. Ben has become a picky eater. I haven't found the answer for it yet. He will not eat something that he does not want to eat. It either finds its way to the dog or he will sit forever and stare and play and not eat it. If you try to feed it to him, the lips pucker, the tip of the tongue pokes out for a little taste test and the head turns away. Sending him to bed without an alternative does not faze him one bit. Luckily Sebastian eats everything. He is easy going. He will trade his fruit for Ben's meat. It is interesting to watch their bartering system. 1 chunk of banana for two chunks of chicken. They hand each other the trade as Ben learned that his brother wasn't to be trusted. The other day Seb helped himself to Ben's piece of mini moonpie which he was saving for after his meal and which Seb had eaten his own as an appetizer from the get go.
I try to hide foods among foods Ben likes. He eats around it. If the texture is different.....he knows it is a trick....it won't be eaten. He loves fried rice and chow mein, but will pick every strand of cabbage, every pea and carrot out and place it to the side of his plate. Sebastian doesn't waste anytime in eating his. He even insisted on an extra coconut shrimp at lunch yesterday which Ben wasn't the least bit interested in. Sebastian will try anything. At least one bite and if he doesn't like it, he will shake his head and say, "Nah, Nah, Nah!" Ben won't even try it. Even if it is something he usually likes....if it looks different....forget it. So, I continue trying to introduce new things and give him the same meal we all are having. I also have stocked up on things he likes. The boys love Salsa. They are dippers. I have never seen babies take so much care dipping their McNuggets in Hot Mustard or Sweet and Sour sauce. They do it so neatly. The same as the chips and salsa. They love it. So, I have stocked up on fresh salsa (not the processed jar stuff) hoping that the little nutritional value upgrade from ketchup will do some good. I love both of my boys and love that they are unique. I do wish in this instance though, that Ben was a little less picky with his food. Not even to the extent of Sebastian who very often is just like his Daddy - a human garbage disposal.

One Kick "Butt" Mother's Day

2008-05-12T09:40:00.001-07:00

So, this is technically my second Mommy's Day with the boys. But, I have to admit that it feels like the first. I barely remember the actual first because we were still jet-lagged, trying to learn how to be parents and my eyes were still partially swollen shut from the pink eye. Not that it wasn't special mind you....because I was finally a mother. Before I had dreaded Mother's Day...almost as much as I dreaded Valentine's Day when I was single. A very painful reminder of what I didn't have or couldn't have every year. So, that was definitely over last year because I was very grateful to have two little boys to call my sons, but I couldn't take full advantage of the day which I see as the ultimate excuse to just do nothing for once. Not that this doesn't just delay things until the next day. Any dishes not washed or laundry not done do not magically disappear and will be twice the work tomorrow.....but an excuse for procrastination is always welcomed.

My first Mother's Day gift last year was a double stroller....thanks honey...what a gift for me, huh? Mike is not the romantic gift giver he once was (showing up at my college classroom every week with long stem roses)....and of course, this year he didn't buy a gift...which was just fine. I don't need a stroller or blender and I have two vacuum cleaners and mostly laminate floor anyway. I will try not to sound too materialistic and admit that the best gift of all is for us to spend all day as a family. And the money that would go to some crazy gift could allow us to do whatever we want as an outing. It is nice to have an outing once and a while you know and luckily, one of his patients gave me/us a great Mom's Day gift. He handed over his four tickets to the Dodger's Game (probably because his wife had forbidden him to go), but I love baseball and so it was a great excuse to take the boys to their first MLB game.
So, we did it big. Now, I do feel like quite the sell out because I am a SF Giants fan and hate the Dodgers. I grew up in Candlestick park watching Dodgers fans get beat up in the bathrooms and thrown over the railings to the bottom decks. We threw gum on their seats and expletives were the norm. Of course, when I wear Giants gear to Chavez Ravine, I expect no less treatment and had some scary moments in turn. What a rivalry! And, we are no longer in SF and the owners in SF are not tops on my list anymore, so, I decided to sell out.....maybe just for the day......and hand down to my boys a love of the game. A pure love for the national league baseball and if that had to be in Dodger town, we would bleed dodger blue. We would go all out. We would have our matching Russell Martin jersey shirts and hats and would be good dodger fans booing the Astros and cheering the bums.
Many would call our bringing twin 2 yr olds to a ballgame crazy. And I agree, I was fearful. But, we had 4 seats and we could leave at anytime (hey, it was only a dodger game). I am glad to report though, that the boys had a great time. They watched a bit of the game. We had great seats, even though in the upper deck it was right behind home plate with a good amount of sun and shade. Ben took in a good portion of the game sitting quietly on Daddy's lap. Seb was busier. Standing in front of the seats, dancing to the in between inning music and sitting on Mommy's lap here and there. They loved seeing birds fly by (we were fairly high in the sky). Seb made friends with every person he could sitting around us. Every time the crowd cheered, Seb would pop up with a proud smile and clap as if they were cheering for him. Not short on confidence, my son. They thought the wave was great. They loved the beach balls that were smacked about from fan to fan and Sebby got to hit it twice. But, most of all, they loved.......

the food. We didn't even get to the Dodger Dogs which are very tastey I must say. We didn't get the fries or the chicken strips. We were junk food junkies at this game. We started with a helmet full of popcorn and some churros and we added some frozen lemonade to the mix. We oogled the snow cones and the cotton candy and mommy so wanted the dreyers ice cream as well. It was Mother's Day so we didn't worry about the crazy pricing mark ups and just had a good time. The boys picked out a Dodger's Bat and Ball set which I am sure will have to be confiscated later as I don't think the dogs will like being poked with them.
We stayed until the 7th inning. We could have stayed longer and I did stay until the no-hitter was broken up, but not long enough to see the Dodgers blow it and lose, hehe. The boys liked the experience, but we were parked miles away and wanted to beat the traffic. Now, being a real baseball fan....I would never leave a game before it was over....but this was a Dodger's game so I didn't feel as bad doing it. It was a long trek to the car, but the boys were troopers. We carried them some, they walked some, we carried them some, they walked some and then we were at our car and making our way home with no problem. They slept in the car after their day of excitement and by the time we got home, it was dinner time and Mommy's don't cook on Mother's Day....do they?

So, we decided to go out for dinner. Of course, with no reservation, our options were limited and we decided to go to our favorite fast foodish Chinese Food restaurant. A ton of great food for a low price was the best thing after the pricing at the game. The boys love their Chinese Food too and Sebastian as usual charmed all the other patrons. Every single table of people had to stop to say goodbye or comment on our smiley, happy, handsome boys on their way out. And if we hadn't gained enough weight or spent enough money yet, we ended the day by going to Baskin Robbins for dessert. Of course, I was so stuffed, I barely touched my ice cream creation until later that night while I sat glued to the Survivor Finale. It was a good day.

And after this very shallow recall of my day....I do want to say that I know what is important. I can have a day like this....a day focused on nothing and doing absolutely nothing of substance and be happy about it because I have these two amazing boys to love and who love me. All day, I had my two boys spontaneously coming over to me with a smile and putting their arms around me and kissing me and giggling with joy and happiness. Without that, none of this would mean anything....would be enjoyable. Because I have the love of my boys and because I work so hard to make my boys happy everyday of the year....I don't feel bad in having a day to just have a day. Because of my boys and their love and their happiness......
My mother's day was kick booty!

The Last year in Review - Pictures

2008-05-05T09:18:00.001-07:00

A Photo Tribute to Ben and Seb

This week Last Year - The End

2008-05-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Homecoming
Okay, so I realize that a week is only seven days, but Ethiopia week stretched on a little longer. I will close by finishing up our trip by lumping the last couple of travel days together. We had a fabulous time in Ethiopia. Not only meeting our boys and becoming parents, but meeting new people and enjoying a country which we knew so little about before starting the adoption process.

On our last day, we had to be packed up with our stuff out of the room by 1 p.m. so that it would be ready for the next family. I must say....the luggage wasn't packed near as nicely and tightly as it was coming in. I guess with two babies getting into everything and with being so tired, you really don't care about the wrinkles and fitting things in just perfectly. The boys were crawling around like crazy and getting into everything, so it really was a rush job....but, we got it done. We chilled in the common areas and visited with families as they came in and out of the guesthouse, following the schedule for their week. We had our last meal, hugged the wonderful cooks and the minibus came to drop us off at the airport. We would have a five hour wait, but were thankful for the ride. We checked ourselves in and carried the boys in their slings around the airport. We still couldn't process this unbelievable trip and just kept plugging along because if we thought about it all.... We were exhausted and I had not one ounce left to support any kind of memory emotion. We boarded our plane to leave Ethiopia in the dead of night. Luckily we had the bulk head seating with bassinet and we had purchased one extra seat for the boys, so we had plenty of room. Depending on the wants of the boys, they took turns sitting or laying in the seat next to us, sitting in our laps or lounging in the bassinet. Of course, no leg of the flight was without its drama. Once in the air, Seb had fits of screaming bloody murder. He had his sippy which apparently didn't help his ears as much as a bottle would. He wouldn't take a pacifier. He just wanted to cry and cry. Of course, the flight attendants felt they should whisk him away and ease his crying fit. Michael did not think this was a good idea. It was the whole bonding thing. We needed to continue fulfilling his needs and couldn't have people constantly taking him to do this for us. We didn't want to be rude, but had to hold onto Seb and try to calm him ourselves. He really did calm down after we had been in the air awhile. It was really smooth sailing once we hit Italy.
Now, the poop department was something else entirely. We had packed a ton of diapers and ten outfits. Upon landing in Dulles, there were no outfits left and we were unshowered and covered in food, poop and spit up. I am surprised they let us back into the U.S. with the way we smelled. At one point Seb had such a poopy explosion, it went through his two layered outfit, the Et Air blanket and onto the bassinet. Luckily, the passengers let Mike skip in line to the bathroom to clean Seb up right away. He then had to give the blanket back to the flight attendant. He asked what he should do with it. She took it with a smile and shoved it under another passengers seat. I guarantee you, with that smell, that passenger wasn't smiling for the rest of the trip.

We landed at the Dulles airport on Monday morning. It took no time at all to make it through the immigration line. Although, finding our luggage took some time. Luckily, one of the airport security guards took pity on us. Two frazzled, crazy looking parents with babies in slings trying to wrangle several luggages and not knowing what to do......that man had a big heart. Many would have run in the other direction. He helped get our luggage, escorted us to the other immigration line and helped us recheck in our luggage through to CA. We then had a couple of hours to get Mike a new shirt and have a snack before going on to Denver. Of course, I send Mike to get a snack for the boys and he comes back with a bagel and hot chocolate. I was like dude, why not a muffin and juice. Our toothless and (we didn't know at the time....lactose intolerant) boys would not do well with this breakfast. Back to the snacks in the diaper bag for them. Although....unfortunately, we gave Ben a little of the hot chocolate and 15 minutes later.....he threw it up all over me, exorcist style. At this point, there was no time for a new shirt as we were about to board the plane. I cleaned up the airport chairs and carpet the best I could with baby wipes and thought that juice would have smelled a lot better on my shirt and pants than curdled milk. But, we were making our way home. I just had to hold on for a little bit longer. Of course United had to make things worse on us. We were there forever waiting to board. We were there before anyone else. Of course, they decided to redo all of the seating. We reminded them several times, we needed our three seats together. They said it was no problem. Of course, when they pass out the new seating arrangements.....only two are together. We could cramp together and waste a seat or separate the boys with each of us, still not maximizing our investment. They would not reorganize their seating plan. We were upset...but of course, upon getting to our seats we were allowed to switch. I think the man who had the seat next to us, saw a smelly frazzled woman with two active babies and thought......how do I get out of here?

We landed in Denver and rushed to board our next flight. There wasn't much of a cushion and so we immediately boarded and United had arranged our seats together this time. I was still exhausted and now that we were so close to home, it was hard not to cry. I pushed it back so as not to think about the extraordinary life changing trip we had almost completed. We weren't home yet. I couldn't think about it yet. I didn't want to cry yet. We had a pleasant flight. There was an adoption agency head on our flight and she came over and talked with us and played with the boys. Again, she offered to take Ben for a walk around the plane. I kept thinking....what is it with people wanting to take these babies.....do we look that bad? I won't answer that, we probably did.
As the plane pulled into our local CA airport, it was even more difficult to keep the tears back. We deboarded the plane and made our way down the big escalator to where my mom, stepdad, and Nonny were waiting with balloons. I had tears, but wasn't bawling yet. We kissed and hugged and said our hellos and introduced the boys to their Nonny, Papa and GGNon. The men went to get the luggage and I sat on the airport bench, trying to hold it all in. My mom asked about the trip and I got maybe two sentences in with a shaky voice and I lost it. I was bawling. I was crying hard into my mom's shirt in the middle of the airport. I was overcome with the emotion of the last week. I was home. Safe. I had the comfort of my Mommy's arms and shirt. I buried my face and cried for a long while with Ben in between us still in the harness. Although in a very long winded way I have described this week to all who would read it.....it is really indescribable. I can tell about events and schedules and try to touch on the feelings....but I can never relay what the trip was or meant to us. It is something that no one can imagine unless they went through it. Most of it was happy emotion. Some of it was sad emotion. Happy about becoming a family. Sad about the extreme poverty that created the opportunity for us to become a family.
Mike was back to work the next day. Luckily my mom stayed for a week to help me with the night time feedings when I was jet lagged and to take care of the babies when both my eyes were swollen shut due to pink eye. When my mom left after that week I was scared, but my Nonny started coming twice a week to help me out and we had a nice little schedule. It is hard to believe a year has passed. It went so fast, yet, it feels like these boys have been a part of my life forever. They are my everything. They have filled a void in my heart and have made me happier than I could ever imagine. No matter what happens in this life, I can be content as I have been more than blessed by my two little angels. We love you Ben and Seb.

This week last year - Day 7-

2008-05-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Even though we were not leaving today....today reminded us that the vacation was almost over....our real lives were just around the corner. There were only a few things to do on this day and for most families, it was a day to prep their luggage and begin their travels home. In the morning there was to be a braiding class and Ethiopian cooking class. We didn't get to see much of either. The staff member that was sent over to assist in translation was a nurse from the care center and one of Seb's favorite people on the earth. As soon as he saw her walk through the door....it was as if the progress of the last couple of days melted away. It didn't help that if Seb even whimpered, this compassionate woman would take him into her arms and coo until he was all giggles again. It wasn't that we could blame her or get mad, but we needed to create that space and boundary so that Seb could be happy with us....like he was the day before. Mike took Seb to the swing outside (as you probably can tell by now...it was Seb's favorite place). Keeping the distance minimized the damage, but it meant we couldn't take full advantage of the instruction offered.

Later that day, I had the scare of my life and it made me feel like an awful parent. We put the boys down for a nap in our room in the little portable toddler beds. Our room was a stone's throw from the front room so I sat on the couch and listened for a whimper or cry. Mike decided to go with the other's on a tour Massi was giving of the new new guesthouse which would be first opened with the new group coming in this week for overflow guests. The staff was moving all of the beds from the office, which in the early days of the program used to double as a guesthouse to this new guesthouse. So, I was alone, but felt I could handle the sleeping twins. So I sat in the front room, not really paying attention to the soccer game on the TV waiting for the boys to awake. Finally I heard a cry and went in. Benny was awake, but there was no sign of Seb. I looked around....had Michael come back and taken him to the swing without me noticing. I looked outside - there was no one. I ran around the common areas - no baby. I asked the other visitors if they had seen Mike...had he come back....had anyone come back. They said they didn't think so. I was in panic mode now. Running about with Ben in my arms and looking for Seb. The craziest thoughts went through my head and I didn't want to scream out too loudly because I felt so stupid....so inadequate to have already lost track of my kid. Finally I went into the Bailey's room to take a look as I was going to go room to room at this point. And there was Seb. By the closet, sucking on a rather large screw. I felt horrible. How did he make it there without me seeing or hearing? I felt lucky that he didn't come to harm. This was a great introduction.....an ushering into parenthood.

The other families packed up their things and got ready to leave. We had a picture taking and said our goodbyes. We had exchanged information so that we could keep in touch and we have. For only knowing people for a week...it is amazing how quickly we have become friends. We still frequently communicate and share our lives with eachother----the good, bad and ugly. I am thankful for each and every friendship we made that week. Whether it be for advice from the wise and practiced members or commiseration on similar issues, they have really helped me through this process of becoming a parent. I can't wait until the reunion :) I just hope that if we ever go through this process again, we can be so lucky. But, does lightning strike twice? What are the chances we can all go through it again at the same time? That would be perfect, haha!

Mike had to take a ride with the group to go pick up the twins documents-birth certificates and passports and immigration paperwork. Since he was in the minibus, he would have to make all stops before coming home - that meant the Hotel and the airport. I was nervous again about watching the boys...this time they were awake and all over the place. I wanted to finish moving our stuff to the Bailey's room before the next group arrived. We needed the space even though it was only for a couple of days. Luckily, the SD couple volunteered to help out. They were great with the boys and their girls weren't at the guesthouse as of yet so they didn't mind. The time flew by as I finished moving our stuff and then spent time with the boys and visited with our CA compadres. I changed my first poopy diaper of the trip since Mike was not there. He will never let me forget that he was the diaper duty man on our trip. I was so freaked out about the concept of changing the diapers (I get nervous doing things I have never done before...or was that my excuse), but I left that to him. For the trip all the way through the plane ride it was his job and he didn't complain.... well not too much. But, over the last year.....with him working so much and me being the SAHM, I think I more than surpassed his totals. But, every time, even as of late....I complain about a diaper.....Michael says he has a get out of jail free card. He did the dirty work on the trip so he is exempt. I don't know if it works that way, and I don't know if that is quite fair.....but it is what it is. My husband getting out of dirty diapers duty now, by bringing up one week in the past year. But, I do have to agree that that one week is the most important week in our lives, so maybe it does work that way.

Michael and Massi returned with pizza and ice cream which we all enjoyed. We went to bed, already missing our travel group and getting ready to meet the next. And of course, the night was a night of interupted sleep and poop everywhere. The spice of life!

This Week Last Year - Day 6

2008-05-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Down Day - A Day for Bonding- Not much to report

This day had no preordained plans and it was up to the families what they wanted to do. Anyone that knows us, knows that given a choice we will be as lazy as possible and stay at home and do nothing......so that is what we did. This had more to do with us all adjusting as a family than with us being lazy though. Many of the other families were going back out shopping. Although we could have used more gifts and would have loved to join them, we didn't think it was wise to drop the boys back off at the care center. We didn't want to lose any of the headway we had made with Seb. We also couldn't take them with us as it is against custom to take small children out in public. I certainly was not ready to take care of the boys on my own. There was no way I would let Mike go out for us. So, The Bailey's kindly offered to do some shopping for us and we had them pick up a few items while they were out and we couldn't have done a better job ourselves.

There wasn't much to tell or describe from this day. We just spent good old fashioned bonding time together. Playing in the front room, in the courtyard grassy area and swinging on the swing. We fed the boys rice cereal and formula. They ate on our laps for meals. Ben with no teeth and Seb with two, enjoyed the injera and wat, but to this day hated eggs. They smiled and cried and pooped and smiled and cried and played and pooped. We were really settling in. Tomorrow we would have to say goodbye to our wonderful travel mates. A new group would be coming in. We were staying a couple of extra days because of flight availability. The Hilton may have been a better option as the next group was HUGE, but not knowing that ahead of time, it did allow us the chance to meet more people. That night another couple from CA would arrive. They really reminded us of home as they were from San Diego and the typical cool, surfer So. Cal folks. They would have the other small room across from ours until our group left and that night and following day we shared the bathroom. We gave them the overview - the lay of the land- and they scoped out the rooms to see which they would take when our group left and before their group arrived. We had dibs on the Bailey's room which was closest to ours, but a bit bigger and had its own bathroom.

It was nice to have a down day to take things easy. The previous days, although enjoyable, seemed like we were rushing from here to there. So much to do, but no time to digest or think about the events of the week or the experience. This day....we could breathe and kind of soak it all in. I think it was this night that Mike and Nathaniel went out after dinner to pick up some Metro Pizza. We were ready for a little taste of home and pizza seemed the best way to accomplish this. Anna and Heather helped me keep an eye on the boys until the guys returned with our snack. We enjoyed the company of our travel group and I was sad knowing that we would all be retreating to our own parts of the country tomorrow and the following days.
+++++Fast forward a year......being it is Saturday and the perfect day to celebrate, we are going to celebrate becoming a family today. We are going to spend every moment of today grateful that we found each other and thankful that we are a family. If the boys will cooperate, we will have their 2 yr. old picture professionally taken - hopefully it won't be a crying, screaming, tortured look like the last time. We will go out to lunch. We will come home to our nice backyard and CA weather and set up their little pool and relax for the rest of the day. Life is good!!!

This week Last Year - Day 5 -

2008-05-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

The First Real Taste of Parenthood

So, after another amazing breakfast we made our way to the care center to spend some time with the boys. We decided to be brave and take them back to the guesthouse today. The one thing about the guesthouse is that it is a first parents greatest nightmare when it comes to childproofing. There are stairs and wires and outlets and sharp corners and being that I was already scared of the prospects of making a horrible error with the boys on our own....this made things even more challenging. Also, we did not pack enough toddler toys to keep them busy. Yes, empty water bottles came in handy and a variety of other things as well, but a bored baby = an exploratory baby and so with the stairs and wires and outlets looking like much fun, we had to be on guard at all times. On a good note, Seb seemed to be adjusting rather well to us when away from the care center's many familiar faces. Mike was great with him and would take him out to the courtyard or the grassy area and swing him. We were still in the very small room which now was even smaller with two toddler sleep thingys shoved in. It wasn't too bad though. We enjoyed getting to know the boys without the distraction of a million people and we could tell some progress was being made.

Later that afternoon, we had a meeting with the doctor where we could go over any concerns and also where they would give us the medical records etc. Each family had a scheduled time and after the appointments we would have the Goodbye Ceremony. The doctor's meeting didn't take too long and we waited in the room and played with the boys as the staff set up for the ceremony. A little before the ceremony was set to begin, we were to put the boys in the traditional Ethiopian attire for the party. We also decided to change the boys diapers at this time since we were taking off their clothes anyway. Seb got changed without a hitch. Ben, on the otherhand, as soon as Mike took off his diaper decided to do his imitation of a fire hose. Being the unexperienced parents we were, we didn't cover the hose with a wipe to protect us and our surrounding from a good spray. Anyone who knows Mike, knows that he can get flustered in a tight situation. I had to suppress a laugh as I saw my stressed husband trying to clean the baby, himself and the play mat all before the ceremony began. I thought.....this is it.....a real moment of parenthood. This was the first of many times we would be soaked with a number of the boys bodily fluids. This would be barely the tip of the iceberg really.

All of the families were lined up in chairs, holding their children, on the periphery of the room. The older children were in rows of chairs in the back of the room. The staff were across from the parents and with the older children. It was almost like a graduation and you could feel the emotion in the air. Again, I tried to keep my emotions in check as I didn't want another crying video memory of myself. The older children sang and it was hard not to wonder if each and every one of them had a family already. The staff passed out little heart shaped cards to each of our children. The videographer came around to tape everyone and asked for a message. I didn't want to talk....as I was trying to hold it together, but of course, Mike was plotting against me, or maybe he couldn't talk either for the same reasons. So, I managed to mumble a very lame thank you which I cringe at everytime I watch the video, wishing I were more eloquent and could truly express how grateful and blessed I feel to have the opportunity to raise these children. I felt this way then, but now I feel it more. Now that I know what it is to be their parent and to wake up happy every morning to their voices. I have so many words, but still I think I would fail to articulate them in such a way to really explain how I feel. There are no words that can fully express what I feel. As I know it is delusional, but I am so full of love and emotion for these boys that it is almost like it is a feeling that is so intense no one can understand. Like it is a feeling I invented, as how could anyone feel this much. Or maybe I am just full of "it" today. I don't know......back to it I suppose....

The children were also each called up to put their handprint on the wall in paint so that they would always be a part of where they came from and so that their memory would live on there. Of course, the boys did not like the paint and cried....if only given the chance now they would be in heaven and would have thought to make a mess. Fingerpainting instead of a handprint, but, it was a lifetime ago. I think they also felt the emotion in the air and were probably confused and scared and this was probably a very traumatic week for them. The staff led the families in a prayer. I kept my tears at bay, although I didn't really have to. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place and we were surrounded by friends. It was a truly special event. To close, they had a banana cake. We stayed for awhile and ate our cake which was delicious. The children played and we said our goodbyes and thank yous to the staff. We retrieved the boys' photo album and embroidered blankets that we had sent before we knew them. It was time to journey back to the guest house with our boys.

We had to take turns taking rides back as they had a car the size of a geo metro and there were many of us. Luckily, one of our travel mates let the four of us squeeze in with her and her son in the back seat. Talk about a can of sardines or maybe a clown car....I don't know, but we were exhausted and happy to squish such a kind, Christian woman since she had offered to let us do so. That night would definitely be a trial. Our first night of dealing with the crying and nighttime feedings. The first night of poopy blowouts. It was an art that Seb had perfected and something we had to get used to for almost six months after this point. You have not had the joy of cleaning a diaper until you have wrangled with the poopy blowout. This was a staple of our lives in that it occurred all day, from the morning through the evening. Because it happened so often, we had to wash by hand and hang to dry onesies almost constantly. It was worse at night because you are half asleep and as if in a cartoon, the distinctive horribly toxic odor wafts under your nose like a finger summoning you. You awake, praying you will catch it in time. Please be contained in the diaper this time! But, alas, it has a mind of its own. It will not be contained. It will find every crease and crevice to make its way out and leave its mark on every piece of clothing, every body part, every blanket and piece of bedding that you can imagine. An hour later, even after you think you have done a CDC outbreak contamination quarantine like job, you will find a splatter of poop somewhere and say......where did this come from? I tell you....it had a mind of its own. It didn't help that in these first couple of nights, changing diapers led to very unhappy screeching babies. I guess if an acquaintance...almost stranger....woke me in the dead of night to change my diaper, I might scream too. So, we thought for sure that the other guests in the guest house would think how horrible we were. What must we be doing to these kids? Why could we not fulfill their needs and make them quiet so the world could sleep? Mike was panicked. Should we be taking these kids if they are so unhappy with us? It takes time babe. We will be okay. Don't lose faith. And he didn't. And we didn't. And we made it through. And I hope that the boys will always know how much we love them and we will be happy if they love us even a tenth of that because that is a whole lotta lovin'.

I think to this point of all the things that had to align for us to have these boys...these perfect additions to our family and in many ways extensions of ourselves. There were so many things that occurred in our lives good and bad that lead us to the specific point of starting this process when we did and if even one thing went differently; if Mike became a Dr. in KC, or if my sister didn't fall in love when she did or if we would have delayed when Mike was in his accident....we wouldn't have our boys. It is weird. We see so much of ourselves in them and it could be nuture vs. nature or it could be that it was meant to be. I say this with a heavy heart as I don't think God thought us better than their Ethiopian parents and I don't know how to reconcile the thoughts, but.......thinking here......I don't know. How did we get matched up with these two guys....these boys who are perfect for us.....these boys who are so much like us. I think all of this blogging is driving me crazy. Anyway...the week is coming to an end.....never fear......the fluff blogging will be back in no time. After the week tribute to Ethiopia is over of course.

This Week Last Year - Day 4-

2008-05-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Shopping.....Time with the boys......The Crown Hotel

(we were tired but happy)

****Note - from here forth, pictures do not necessarily match the dialogue *******

This day seemed more of a touristy day.....not that we didn't spend a good amount of time with the boys, but we were out and about in Addis for much of the day. After another wonderful breakfast the minibus came to take us shopping. It was nice to get another glimpse of life in Addis, but if I didn't mention it before, car trips are like riding the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. There isn't much order to traffic and you swish here and there on unpaved uneven rocky roads with no seat belts. This is not a complaint. I enjoy wild rides and Indiana Jones is one of my favorite so it is just an observation really. Another thing....Upon leaving the guesthouse, you could never miss the goats. There were always goats for sale. Those goats were so obedient, following their master when told in a perfect group and resting on the ground waiting, in essence, for their death the rest of the time. When purchased, sometimes they were thrown in a bag and over the purchasers shoulder and carted away. I also spied a grotesque pile of heads and felt bad for these well behaved little guys.

We made our way to the first stop of the day, a line of stores selling every kind of treasure you could imagine. They say that the farther down the line you go, the cheaper the same merchandise gets. We haggled price, probably not too effectively as we knew what we wanted and I guess the American in us, just paid the price. Now on items we weren't sure of, that was a different story. Shop owners did not want to let you leave without buying something. Not in a sinister manner as I guess that sounds, but they will haggle until the price is so low, you either feel bad not paying it or you just want to politely leave and that is the easiest way to do it. We got some very nice things for our family and friends at home. We also picked up some future gifts for the boys. We definitely didn't buy enough. If ever we go back, we will definitely buy more more more. It was nice to shop and that means a lot coming from me who hates shopping even here at home, but it didn't come without its price. We could somewhat deny the street vendors selling their maps and watches etc. But, it was hard to see the disabled people and starving mothers with their starving babies needing help and not being able to give it. We retreated into the car to try to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of not being able to help. From the window, Mike couldn't resist buying a shoe shine from a little boy and it really turned into a poor idea. He should have just let the boy shine his tennis shoes. Instead, my husband, being the butt that he is, told the boy to shine one of our travel mates more appropriate shoes. The travel mate didn't realize this and was trying to turn the boy away who couldn't not shine the shoes because he took the money. In the confusion, the guard came over with his stick to hit the boy. Mike, quite embarrassed had to explain the boy's way out of trouble. This stick was not a new concept. If the vendors got too pushy or if the beggars would not leave....the stick came out and the people cowered in a way that you knew that they had experience with the stick. It was one of those things that made my stomach turn. We needed the protection, but to see other human beings in that condition and having to come up against a stick....that was just something that bothered me and still bothers me. If I was in a similar situation....would I risk a beating so that my baby could eat that day....just horrible. Not really a choice at all. But, we saw why we could not give handouts first hand. When you give handouts to mothers and children, when they turn the corner they get mugged for their gift and can be hurt. In our case, mothers with their babies (who were obviously starving) crowded our windows looking for something, anything to take away. People had granola bars and began passing them out through the window of the car as we were about to leave. Unfortunately, word gets out at super sonic speed and we had a crowd around us forming. You could feel the crowd pressing around the minibus and we had to leave in a hurry.

We left for our next destination which was more of a one stop shop with everything you could need and it was inside more of a compound. The people still followed, but there was a gate and some distance so catastrophe could be averted and guilt wasn't as in your face. Here there was no haggling, but the prices were still very good. We ended up buying some really nice jewelry and boy, the people in our group emerged with bags and bags of stuff. If only we had the room in our luggage, we would have left with just as many.

We then drove through the merkato which is the authentic market place in Addis. We were not allowed to really go there because it was deemed too dangerous. It was nice to drive through though and get a taste of what things are like. The streets were jammed with people and there were many old Toyota pickups piled high with stuff and people....and I mean piled. We drove through town and saw some schools and universities. We saw a beautiful mosque and Mike was even amazed to see a shop full of shiny chrome car rims. Our outing ended as we made our way to the supermarket to pick up some groceries. We bought some formula, cookies and rice cereal for the boys. They had everything there....all the comforts of home....from Twinkies to Rice Crispies. Go figure!!! I couldn't imagine coming all the way to Ethiopia to enjoy a Twinkie, but that is just me.

We came back to the guest house for a nice lunch and a little rest. We unpacked our stuff and got ready for what was going to be a nice evening at the Crown Hotel for dinner. We went to the care center to spend time with the boys. Some guests were ready to visit with their children in the guesthouse, but we decided to play it safe and spent time with the boys on their own turf. Of course, that decision was cemented when Seb screamed upon seeing us. But, we made the most of our time together. We played in the playroom and the courtyard. We took turns with the boys one on one and then together as a family. Seb really started to calm down...but every time he saw a familiar face, it was two steps back. He loved the staff and knowing him now it all makes sense. Seb loves us and it takes time for him to feel comfortable with new people. He likes to be with us constantly and doesn't prefer to play independently. Ben on the other hand is an independent dude. He loves us and loves to spend time with us, but he can look at a book alone or is content exploring the backyard without holding our hand. So, it is no surprise, that Seb needed time to trust us. It was hard to leave them this day to go out to dinner. But, it was good not to rush things. It was good to transition slowly. This would be the last night they would spend in their familiar care center toddler bed together with their roommates and nannies and everyone they knew. Tomorrow would be the last day they were at the care center at all.

So, we left for the Crown Hotel. We had a wonderful night. We were seated and ordered our drinks. Their was a great buffet with so many yummy foods that I don't even know the name for. Our hands were washed in the traditional manner. We enjoyed watching the dancers. After the meal, as it always is in Ethiopia, there is coffee service. The coffee is to die for and can last for three rounds. Even on our flight....coffee followed every meal. It was great. This was really a great trip. We were bonding with our boys and enjoying Ethiopia to the fullest. We couldn't wait for the days to come. Although, we were a little scared about taking the boys tomorrow. We hoped Seb would be ready. So, we enjoyed our last night of sleep, uninterrupted sleep for awhile.

This Week Last Year - Day 3-

2008-04-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is a day we never will forget.....the day we met the boys. As mentioned before, our alarm didn't go off and we had 15 minutes to take a shower and get to breakfast and believe me....we needed the shower. We made it though and reintroduced ourselves to the awesome group of people that would make this week the magical week that it was. You cannot believe how wonderful the cooking was at the guesthouse. I really miss it and even the scrambled eggs were the tastiest scrambled eggs in the history of eggs. The cooks were very skilled and the kindest of people. After breakfast, a car was sent to take us to our boys.

We put on our badges that identified us as the boys' parents and made a stop at the office. We went over our paperwork for the embassy appointment and signed a release form so that our first meeting could be filmed for the lifebook. I can't even describe the anticipation we felt as we walked from the office to the care center. The boys were in the first room of the toddler building which meant only a short flight of steps was between us and this very emotional meeting. The cameraman went upstairs to get a good angle and the social worker alerted the nannies in the room that we were coming in. They motioned for us to come. It was a very weird feeling....the last 9 months of process was coming to its intended end result. We were actually going to be holding..meeting...and loving real live...breathing kids. We would be parents after all these years of trying. Not that we didn't love the boys before meeting them. We were in love with them from the first emailed pictures...maybe even the phone call referral that occurred before the pictures. In that 10 second walk, every fear surfaced and subsided. I just had to focus on holding it together. Me, who cried - bawled- all the way down the aisle on my wedding day. I didn't want to scare the kids off and have me blubbering on the video. Once in the room, we were immediately handed our little guys. Ben went to Mike and Seb went to me. Ben was obviously just figuring out who we were as he quietly stayed in Mike's arms. I wouldn't go so far as to say he was content....but a little scared and adjusting to the situation. Sebby came to me very reluctantly and with a whimper. I was so lame. I took out a toy and tried to hold his attention. Tried to make him smile. Like a mere little toy was going to make this easier on my little guy. The nannies were crying. They take such good care of the babies that they really bond with them. It is hard for them to let go. Especially when it came to Sebby. He was a "nanny favorite" around the care center. Everyone loved him and couldn't resist his infectious smile and happy giggle (a giggle we wouldn't produce without much effort for some time).

The camera man left and we looked around the room. There were a few toddler beds, some toys, and a little table and chairs for meal times. The boys had two roomates. A very cute and quiet little man who was very interested in who we were and what we were doing there and a beautiful little girl who throughout this week was very playful and really eased the tension we felt when being rejected by Sebby here and there. She was the peek a boo queen and a joy to play with. She really captured Mike's heart and I think this is the beginning of his quest to convince me that we need a daughter in the next couple of years. The boys spent most of their time in this room with their roommates as they had been just moved from the infant house a little before their birthday and were not big enough to co-mingle with the bigger toddler children in the toddler house. It was a pretty nice room and I think that the boys were very happy with this station of their life.

We were instructed to take the babies into a play room near the doctor's office. This was important because Seb needed time alone with us as he was very unhappy without his favorite nanny. The nannies and staff can't stand to see a baby cry and so if Sebby was crying....someone had to swoop in and ease his pain. This is good for building trust and love and proving that there was never neglect, but difficult when you are trying to bond with a child on your own. We are very thankful that Ben was more accepting as it was hard to be rejected and see your baby cry and not be able to comfort them because you are a stranger taking them from all they know. It was hard with one, I don't know what we would have done if both of them had it so hard. The good thing was that the boys looked pretty healthy. They had colds, but hey, I had one too. They were as beautiful as they were in their pictures and more smart and charming than we could have imagined. We played and got to know each other throughout the morning. We returned to the guesthouse for lunch and unwound a bit, knowing that we still had a long day ahead.

After lunch we grabbed our paperwork and a change of clothes for the boys for the special embassy appointment. We were very nervous as we wanted the U.S. to sign off on this thing and didn't know how the boys would respond to being away from the guesthouse with us, that they just met this morning. We arrived at the boys room, and immediately, Seb began screaming. Ben was asleep, but quietly came to us as we pulled him out of bed. The nanny helped us put Seb in khakis and a sweater vest. Ben had a matching outfit, although as we were getting ready to put Ben's on, a poop explosion occurred and a blow out had shot a stream of liquid brown everywhere. Luckily the outfit was in tact and after a quick sponge bath we made our way with the boys in slings down to the minibus to take our trip to the embassy. It was nice to see Addis during the day and soak in the culture even if through a quick drive through town. We got to the embassy and had very little problems. Mike had some trouble making it past the metal detectors because of the rod in his shoulder, but other than that -smooth sailing. It was hot and stuffy, but we kept the boys happy with sippys of water and Gerber graduate snack puffs during our wait. When it was our turn, the embassy lady asked a couple of questions and that was that. We were done. On our way back to the minibus, we met some boys on the street playing soccer. They were friendly and talkative and of course said that they would love to come back with us to America. The driver shooed them away and we waved goodbye as we went to the Hilton to confirm our flights back to the states later in the week.

The Hilton was very nice and it wasn't too long before we were making our way back to drop off the boys at the care center for the night. Some may think it is weird that we didn't have the boys 100% of the time after we initially met them. We would have loved nothing else, but it wasn't reality for us. They needed transition time though. This is something I didn't realize before making the trip, but after seeing how attached Seb was to his caregivers.....we needed to give him time. Ben may have been okay, but we weren't going to separate them. Plus, we were still jet lagged, I was sick; we needed our sleep and it wasn't like we weren't going to see them tomorrow. We couldn't wait to see them tomorrow even though we were just dropping them off this evening. And tomorrow is another day.....and everyday we would make a little more progress with Seb. Everyday he would open his heart to us just a little bit more. No doubt, in that first day we did make some headway, but we had to be understanding and it would be a week long or more process before Seb would accept us as his new number one caregivers and then his parents. As for the rest of the evening, we enjoyed mingling with the other guests, we had a wonderful dinner and there was Satellite TV and of course, all the soda we could drink.

This Week Last year - Day Two -

2008-04-29T08:56:00.001-07:00

Day Two - Late night arrival and First Peek at the Guesthouse/Guests

This was a really short day, or so it seemed. Most of it was on the plane and that day really ran into the previous one. We landed very late at night. It was very dark and I think close to midnight. Maybe it felt like midnight, but in any case it was really late. We gathered our stuff and went to the visa line where there was only one other person waiting. This was a good thing as how I mentioned in the earlier post.....I had decided I wouldn't use the bathroom on the plane again and really really.....REALLY....had to go at this point. Thankfully, the visa process took only two minutes and I used the airport bathroom which is not much higher on my list than a airplane bathroom, but I have no fear of being sucked into space on that one and there is more room to maneuver. I am glad that I had toilet paper with and in a matter of minutes was ready to rock and roll. We were waived through customs, changed our dollars to birr and ventured outside to find our CHS driver. Fekadu was waiting for us with a sign. We loaded up into an old van and scooted through the streets at full speed ahead. We took in the city which was rather alive at night and made a stop at the director's house to meet him and his wife. They were very nice people and wished us luck.
Exhausted we made it to the guesthouse where Massi showed us around and gave us the lay of the land. We met a couple of our travel date mates for the first time. Some were already asleep, but the ones we met seemed like okay people (okay....we would get to know them as phenomenal, but at this point, half asleep and shell shocked.....they were okay). We were the last to arrive which meant that we had the last room available. A small room with a double bed and closet, no private bathroom.

The bathroom was right next door and not too bad. As you can tell....I have major bathroom issues (mostly psychological) and was terrified of the fact that you weren't supposed to flush t.p. and also that the door did not lock.

But, I was more than happy with the accommodations as this was not supposed to be a vacation to a five star hotel or a romantic get away. This was a trip to pick up our very handsome twin boys and we liked the idea of the dorm like atmosphere as we were first timers, me with no experience at all - not one diaper- and it was good to have helpful hands and advisers a stone's throw away.

Looking back, the friends we made, the way we were treated by staff and yes, the accommodations were more than adequate. They were perfect and nicer than any vacation we could have even had in the states.

We wouldn't change anything about our trip. Almost immediately after arrival we went to bed. We looked over the packet of info we were given on the boys. Tons of new pictures, their schedule, their personalities -likes and dislikes. This was real and we would be meeting them tomorrow morning. TOMORROW!!! We tried to memorize every detail for the embassy appointment the next day as well.

The other travelers would be going to the museum as they arrived days earlier and had already had time to adjust and meet their little ones. No one to guide us in the morning, so to say. Even with all the excitement.....it wasn't hard to sleep. Okay, wasn't hard for Mike to sleep. I still had a horrible cold and phlemy cough. I was hacking and choking all night and finally took the antibiotics my uncle gave me just to get some relief. I finally got a couple of hours of sleep. The alarm didn't go off and we woke up about 15 minutes before breakfast and needed a shower the next morning.....but that is for tomorrow's log. I will end today just saying how much I loved the guesthouse, the staff, our travel mates and also....the most important thing........the unlimited supply of SODA. Okay....Ben and Seb were the most important by far as the other things I mentioned previously...but the Soda was mighty fine.

This week last year - The Plane-iversary

2008-04-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

So, the camera is gone to Best Buy warranty dept. for 4-6 weeks. Luckily....this week is a week of memories and so I will get by without it. This week is a very special week for us as it is the most special anniversary of our lives.

This date last year.....APRIL 28TH....we were getting on a plane for Ethiopia. We were going to pick up our twin boys who as to this point were babies in pictures that we tried to imagine a personality for. I spent endless hours drooling over the referral photos and wondering this about them and that about them. We had about a 1.5 week heads up when we were going to travel and I was pretty much packed in the first couple of days, but you are never ready for this kind of thing. So many unexpected events and needs....how do you plan? Getting flights and time off work and no matter how prepared you think you are......something happens and poof!

I was scared to death even before this crazy day hit. Not so much about becoming a first time mom....not yet anyway. I so do not travel. I had never been out of the U.S. and I don't think I had even made it to the East Coast before so the flight to Dulles would be a first. I had an onslaught of crash nightmares which were fun....but, not enough to kill the excitement of meeting the boys. The scariest thing was that my dh's passport was due to expire in August which is less than 6 months from travel which was technically going to prevent him from getting an Et visa. I spent the week making calls and there was no way to get him a renewal and getting a visa was iffy. We had hope.....the Et embassy in Washington said if we were flying ET Air they would let it slide and we were. We were just worried that United would notice. Or someone would notice...and how could I.....a non traveler...handle twins on my own. We had the paperwork done....one with Mike traveling and one as a POA if he couldn't.
Early in the morning on the 28th, we awoke....I think 4am we had to get moving. We didn't sleep much that night, duh.....I don't know who could have. The anticipation had me shaking...literaly. That morning, I was tingling.....and twitching and my limbs had a life of their own. Just thinking about it know has me in vibration mode. My Nonny would stay with the dogs all week in our house and my uncle Steve was dropping us off at our local So. Cal airport. I am very thankful that he is a seasoned traveler and handed me some broad spectrum antibiotics before dropping us off. We were in the airport, wide eyed and on our journey. We went to the United counter with prayers in head and fingers crossed. We handed over our documents and the lady at the counter reminded Mike that soon he would need to renew his passport, but beyond that.....she had nothing to say and checked our luggage through to Ethiopia. So, I knew I'd have my rock for a while longer. We got on our flight....no problems....and landed in Colorado. We ran across the terminal with 15 minutes to spare and were sitting on our plane with no problem in no time.

Ha ha.....and here is where the real journey begins. We had a 2.5 hr cushion once landing in Dulles only and were sitting on our Denver plane watching the clock. The plane couldn't take off yet. There were suspected mechanical issues. I was close to tears, but praying we would make it. If we missed our Dulles flight....Et air wasn't flying the next day and so we would miss our embassy appt. My husband didn't have more than a week off from work....we were stressing. After waiting what seemed like forever, we finally took off. Still, I was uneasy and then I knew why. The captain came over the radio to say that the electronics on the plane did malfunction. He was flying blind and because of the weather and poor visibility, it was impossible to continue. All of the electronics in the cockpit were down and we had to turn around mid flight and land in Chicago. They were rerouting their European connections as he spoke.....but what of us....going to Ethiopia. I was balling. My wonderful husband was trying to hold it together, which for him is more of an anger release.
We landed in Chicago. We were all there trying to figure out what we could do. Time was ticking and we were already into our Dulles time cushion. I have never seen so many upset flyers. I was still balling. No one could answer our questions. No one knew what the answers were. Somehow, there was a near empty plane. Only 6 passengers who were more easily rerouted than all of us...a jam packed and full flight. They gave us that plane....but we had to board within 5 minutes or else we would have no flight crew. They were getting close to their regulated hours and if we didn't get on, they couldn't fly us by law. I have never felt so much like a herd of cattle as I did in that moment, but was really very thankful that we were able to still have a go at it. While waiting in Chicago, we called our travel agent and CHS and tried to see what the options were. It was a weekend and we hadn't heard back yet, but we were on the way to Dulles and had more praying to do. If the flight landed on time.....our Dulles flight would be leaving 15 minutes later. So, needless to say.....I was still balling.
So, on the upside....the flight landed in Dulles without further issue. On the downside, we had 10 minutes before our flight was leaving and had to run all the way across the terminal. We must have been a sight running with our carry-ons all tired and red faced and let me tell you....I am far from graceful. We ran and prayed and hoped and reached the ET air check in. We handed over our tickets and the plane had already boarded and was waiting. Waiting for us, because our travel agent called and told them we were coming. They actually waited for us and got our luggage loaded and we were on the flight that would bring us to our babies. The Et airline staff was very kind. The other passengers were very kind. Our nerves were frazzled, but we had made it. We now had a gazillion hour trip to settle down. Okay, who am I kidding. Now, we could get jittery again thinking about our babies and what they would be like and if they would like us and how our trip would be and how the guest house would be etc. etc. The good stuff.
We had a very noneventful flight. Yeah!!!! The food was good. The movies were good. I started getting a horrible, horrible cold......my nose wouldn't stop running and I could barely breathe through my coughing and the mounds of flem, but we were on our way. I would take it! Unshowered and with little sleep, we made it through. The bathrooms...well.....plane bathrooms are not my favorite. Ewwww for the yuckiness on such a long flight, but also because I have a fear of being sucked into the flusher....irrational I know, but still....and the flap that closes was broken and so that sucking sound had me convinced I wouldn't go to the bathroom again on this trip. He, he....that idea really was irrational...

So, tomorrow......I will speak of my landing on the 29th. Yeah, I know, not too interesting.....but this whole experience is something I never want to forget and ....since I wasn't blogging at the time.....I am sure I have forgotten so many things during this year. Ben and Seb....here ends the first installment of the week we became a family.

The Rest of the Pictures

2008-04-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

So, as promised I will deliver more pictures. I will try to keep it short, ya right, since it is the boys bday and I am sure they want to spend it with their mommy, not mommy on a computer.

This was really a great weekend. There is nothing I love more than seeing my boys happy and sharing a little bit of their greatness with friends and family members. This weekend also had me reflecting on the process. Somewhat because I was writing the boys one year PP report and thinking about the year in review. I also got to thinking how lucky I am to have my mom still with us. With her almost dying last year to having her here now to really spoil us, I don't want to imagine what things would be like without her.

Last year at this time we were preparing to travel. We knew of our boys, but didn't know them. We were frantically getting things together and the roller coaster ride was beginning. I was sad that we were missing their first birthday....but in retrospect.....we were lucky to travel the following week since we made life long friends with our wonderful travel companions.
This year we wanted to do it big for the boys because it was our first birthday together even though it was their second birthday. I think we successfully infused who they are into their party. Their obsessions with Cars in decor, cake and the movie on the HDTV and really the traditional American birthday party with their Ethiopian clothes and food and of course, we allowed them a little bit of Ethiopian coffee.
They were happy with the company and food and of course the balloons and decorations.
And boy, was it really good cake.

They have more toys then they know what to do with and I think they will be clothed for quite some time too. I didn't know so many Cars outfits existed.

But, when it comes down to it....what is in a birthday? It is special to us because it is so close to the date and timing when we became a family. It gives a chance to pause and remember all of the gifts we have received over the year. From witnessing Benny's first teeth and the boys learning how to walk, to the first hugs and kisses and all of those nights of rocking the boys to sleep and feeling their heartbeats right against mine. Waking up everyday to the giggle of happy twin boys......I am lucky to have gotten to know my boys and their very different personalities. So, on a day that is celebrating the boys birth, instead of focusing on what we missed, we can't help but think of the biggest gift of all----being trusted to parent these boys. Being given the opportunity to be their parents and enjoy in their lives. I can only imagine what the next year has to offer....but knowing Ben and Seb, it will be even more incredible than the last one. As life has become everything that I have ever dreamed, I cannot help but feel guilty. There were at least four people missing from our party who don't need an arbitrary date to remember the boys. People who miss them everyday and may or may not see the happy pictures of them growing up, but even if they do, are missing out on knowing the most amazing two boys in the history of the world.

A little taste of things to come.....

2008-04-21T10:19:00.001-07:00

So, the 2nd bday party for the twins went really well. Since my camera is without flash....I only have a few outside pics from before the party that I will post until I can get my hands on my mummy's pictures of the actual party. Unfortunately, it was a little cold and windy day of, so most of the party was held inside. I decorated to the max with Cars decor and the boys were very excited. I made Marcus Samuelson's version of Ethiopian beef stew. We had snacks ranging from homemade Lumpia to represent the Filipino part of the family, salsa from the Guadalajaran element and then oldies but goodies like Spinach dip and sourdough. There was Harris Ranch hamburgers for the faint of heart and Et coffee with the Disney Cars cake.

Boy it was a day, but have you ever seen such happy boys?
They didn't even know that there would be cake or loads of presents at this point.
Just having Nonny and Papa and Lolo and Lola in town was enough to kick off the day with big smiles!!!
But, hey....if I tell you everything now.....I won't have anything to say when I get the party pics....so, here is a little taste of the day and I will get back to you all later. Hopefully my camera will be fixed in time for the Chuck E Cheese celebration the day of their actual bday on Tues.

Later sk8ers.

Still too Busy

2008-04-13T20:29:00.001-07:00

To all of you who have moved recently......does the busy ever end? There are endless things to do on top of the usual busy. Of course we still have time to spend as a family and have some fun, but then it is back to the grindstone. We've emptied the boxes, but now it seems as if we are moving junk from one room to the next. Will it ever end......I do not know. Our goal is to have things for the most part done by Saturday.....

Yes, this is Sebastian laughing at that goal. There is still too much to do, but we are having the boys second bday party Saturday and cannot have a messy house for the guests. Although, I know this means, most likely shoving things in closets and cabinets and drawers and revisiting them later. So, please, any attendees.......don't look in the nooks and crannies. There may be an avalanche raining down from overhead.
I couldn't resist adding a picture of Roenick here. Such a good sport with the babies. And of course, both dogs are heavily rewarded as the babies love to share with them.....not with eachother.....but with the dogs -- Yes!
They love playing fetch with the dogs too. Sometimes this is throwing the ball and letting the dog retrieve it. Other times this means throwing the ball and racing with the dog to get it. When they do get it, it also means running with grand laughter as the dog chases them.
There is nothing Sebby loves more than to take some time to look at his own reflection. The major error we made with our new house is that it has a ton of windows. I have never seen so many windows which means I have never seen so many face, tongue and finger marks on windows in my life. Another thing to put off that must be done by Sat. The windows. Arggghhh.
Here are my guys again. Busy, busy, busy.....soaking up the sun and playing with the dogs.
There is nothing better than spending time together on a weekend in a big backyard. Just chillin'. Although, it is already getting hotter here than is comfortable for me. It was in the high 80's and I fear the summer heat....but that is something I will worry about later.
Things are good though. The boys love being corral-free in their room and the backyard. We are starting with the potty training with Benny at a very slow pace. Sebby is just not ready yet....doesn't want to sit for any length of time. At this point to familiarize Benny with the potty, we sit him there a couple times a day. He has been pretty successful pee pee wise as he loves to sit and wait and watch some TV. We aren't to the point of looking for dry diapers or anything (especially with just moving and all), but we are taking baby steps at least. And, now, I must try to tackle our one year Post Placement. Procrastination my friends, is not pretty. Gotta get right on it.

Later gators!

A Work in Progress

2008-04-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

To start:
Belated Easter Pics at Lake ArrowheadTia Lourdes With Seb
Benny with a flashlight (What is it with Flashlights anyway?).

Now to be brought up to date...

The boys love their new house!!!

So we are moving in, STILL....have been here over a week, but every minute is consumed with setting up. I fear that my garage is like Mary Poppins bag.....every time I unpack a box, another one pops up in its stead. We got the floor in, got the living room delivered, but still have a million things to hang and put away and scratch our heads and decide where to put. Also, there is that constant struggle where you want to discard or have a garage sale and the grandmas and mils want you to keep everything you have had sense the turn of the century(mismatch cast off hand me downs that you politely took in the first place)....i vote secret garage sale, hehe. I will post some pics and get back to unpacking. I will try to write more in my next post, if only I could also find some time to sleep.

To sum up....house = great, neighborhood = great, we = happy. The boys have their big boy beds and only fall out two times a night, haha. Check out the super cool double toddler bed my uncle made in Disney Red I may add! Things are looking great. The neighborhood kids came over to ask if the boys could come out and play (although our boys are a little young, it was nice to have friendly neighbors and nice kids around.)

The only bad thing to happen is stupid Best Buy hasn't mounted our flat screen yet. It has been a week, they no showed and then claimed to have no record of the appt. I didn't pay 400 bones to have a box in my front room dudes. Last time we trust the Geek Squad. You can't get anyone on the phone and when you do, they don't want to help. Have an appt. set for Monday (a week from my original appt.) Please let this work....I miss my TV!!!!!

I wish my to do list wasn't so long. Set up the house, write our 1 yr PP report and send in, get on the state of CA for not moving on our readoption and plan the boys 2nd bday party (running out of time on this one, have to get the invites out ASAP.
So long...until next time.
P.S. Here are the boys playing in Daddy's new "Jake Ryan" Porshce. Car guys already. Daddy told them it was Lightning McQueen (but I think Lightning is more of a Corvette).....I guess the boys wouldn't get the 16 Candles reference.

Almost Home

2008-03-23T09:48:00.001-07:00

Yipeee!!!!!!!!! We bought a new laptop and so now can do everything from the hotel room that we could from our desktop at home. That means pictures people....I know how you have been missing the sight of my cute little men. We are signing the paperwork on Tuesday and so by Thursday at the latest should be in our house. Of course we need to get it all set up and move in our stuff...fun stuff.....but we will have an actual refrige and microwave and stove.....things which we miss so much. We will miss the hotel though, but after today....not as much as I thought we would.

Here's the situation....My parents went away on a weeks vacation, left the keys (oh wait....that is the Fresh Prince...not my story)....
So, we go to our usual complementary hotel breakfast. As I am making one of my many trips to get the boys more juice etc. I hear a guy talking to his wife saying how immigrants need to stay in their respective countries and how it is crazy to have Filipino nurses and doctors come to the US for work. I feel bad for the lady since she is a young Filipina wife to an old white man with such views, but it wasn't my conversation so I went to the table to eat.

When I get to the table, I see that my wonderful husband is very angry. I thought perhaps it is because he is Filipino and a doctor and even though he is US born, his family and parents are not. I told him to settle down, but if you know my husband, you know that he has quite the temper and will speak to things people say in a not so nice manner. Okay, not only that, but in an 8th grade school yard way. It was my turn to be embarrassed on this beautiful Easter morning. He started loudly commenting to the man. For example, (as I turned red) he exclaimed, "At least my kids won't grow up to be an ignorant white man who looks like Ben Franklin." He kept calling this clown Ben Franklin and I have to admit, he looked like a lumberjack version of our fore father. As the kids and I are headed to the elevator, my husband pokes his head back and says, "So, it isn't okay to have immigrant workers in this country, or to adopt children from abroad, but old lonely ugly white men can get mail order brides with no problems!"
So, we get in the elevator and I ask what the problem was. I was more than a little annoyed with him...given the day and the fact that the kids were there to witness their dad getting mad. I mean he is entitled to be upset by the anti-filipino message but that was over the top. Then he tells me that I missed the first part of the conversation. The speaking about the filipino invasion was the second part of a conversation /comments directed in a round about way toward our family about how unwanted, undesirable children don't need to be shipped in from abroad because there are plenty right here in America who don't spread disease and whose higher IQs will make this country a better place in the future. I don't think it would bother him so much if it was a domestic v. international flavor, but it was the way international was blasted. Like our kids were unwanted and dirty and just the scum of the earth. I am glad that he said something....but not in the manner he did. But, that is my husband. That is his way of expressing himself. I told him we better catch two Easter Sunday services today. It is hard to believe the things people will say....but we wouldn't let us keep us from enjoying the holiday.
I am just glad that the boys were too young to understand the conversation. They won't be that young for much longer. Hopefully we can raise them to be strong in this world that has so many ill informed ignorant people. I hope that they find a way to respond that doesn't lessen who they are. That doesn't bring them down to the level of the other person. Although......I guess there is worse language than bringing Benjamin Franklin into the mix. Just not the most educated eloquent way of responding. At least we were profanity free.
Here is to a big backyard in a matter of days. Here is to the boys wearing themselves out exploring and playing and soaking up the sun so that they still take a nap. I can't wait to get to work setting up home.

I will leave you with these smiling faces and will keep you posted as to our progress. Fingers crossed we will see some more language development as we approach their second birthday. I think that international adoption and being a twin set is slowing us down a bit. Not that they don't say some words, mostly understandable by us. It is just so hard not to compare. I hear what others, even in our adoption arena, have to say development wise and it starts to get to me a little. Something to work on.
Oh, and P.S. Do you like Ben's new style? Daddy isn't too keen on it, especially coupled with the numorous people who think Ben is a girl. I can't stop this kid from the off the shoulder look.
But, hey, he is happy and that is all that matters!!!!!

Take care all!

The Honeymoon is Over

2008-03-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry, still no pictures with this combo of slow wi-fi and an archaic laptop. Bare with me and I will make it up to you all.

First and for most, I want to acknowledge our one year referralversary on 3/6. Again....I will have to post photos of the referral pics to now when I can....what a difference a year makes. We had come back from Vegas after my baby sis's wedding and for the first time in five months waiting, I was not waiting to hear the phone ring. I was playing my new baseball game on the 360 and "the call" came. It was Kritina asking if I had time. I knew then, but....the surprise of my life....twins. I couldn't get ahold of my dh, so I called my mom and all I said was "twins" at first. Then "boys". "Both boys". Then I tried dh again. He was on his way home....with his cell off. Dude, in a 4-6 month wait quote....five months and three days in....you gotta have that stuff on. So, I couldn't contain myself. I called Heather B. Then I looked at the email info for the first time. I read it again and again and looked at the pictures until I heard dh pull into the alley. I ran out like a mad woman, in sock feet and in the middle of the road wrapping crazily on his windows. He rolled down the window startled and asked, "What Happened?" He thought some tradgedy had occured with his wild eyed wife losing it on the side of the road. "We're parents.....to......TWINS!!!!"....."Now, why wasn't your phone on jerk????" We looked at the info for the rest of the day. Officially accepted the following day. Made up 8x10 photos and hung them on the wall. And waited for a travel date.......which would come with 1.5 weeks notice for the end of April.

Flash forward to current updates:
The positives first-
1.WE ARE IN ESCROW - set to close on or before 3/28- hoping everything works out so we can bring some closure to the hotel chapter of our lives.

2.WE HAVEN'T KILLED EACHOTHER - In such close quarters (and with only one bathroom) we are as much in love and a family as ever!!!! I will kind of miss the atmosphere of closeness we are forced into here. There is no watching TV or playing the 360 in separate rooms.....it is like Little House on the Prarie with a Pa and Ma and kids all enjoying eachothers company (okay, except for the HBO, maids, buffett breakfast and other crazy...and that is putting it nicely.....guests)

3. WE ARE REMINDED OF HOW LITTLE YOU NEED TO BE HAPPY - I am not saying we are in a shanty or anything and don't want to imply that this hotel is "roughing it" in any comparison around the world, but compared to the rat chase of American living my comment is aimed. Don't concentrate on number of bedrooms and bathrooms in a house, they distract you from spending time with eachother. Don't fret when you can't tape your favorite show because you have to do something for the family unit, we watch too much TV and are missing our real lives. Don't long for prime rib when you are on a hamburger budget, you can get by on much less (namely cup of noodle and pb and j, haha). This stay has really been a great opportunity to reflect. We can be happy without the extravagance we get caught up in achieving. I have always known what was important. Our family, our boys, have always been priority number one. But, it is funny to think how much more time we can be dedicating to that family. As I watched October Road last night....and was missing Medium because of no VCR....it was the first time in a long time I didn't lament it. That will be one more hour to spend with the boys today or with Michael tonight. I just hope I can hold onto these perspectives once we are in our new house and beginning real life again. Not to say I won't tape my shows or cook prime rib or tell Michael to watch Tokyo Drift in another room for the millionth time. I will just try to remember what is important and how we can all be happy with a little less indulgence. We will be stronger for it.

Now for the scary incident which made us want to be out of this hotel as soon as possible. It was 2:30 am as I had awoken from a nightmare and went for a drink of water and bathroom break. I just settle in and there is a big thumping on our adjoining door. It gets louder and louder and I know that someone is trying to come in and in a not too subtle fashion. I wake up Michael as with him sleeping through the last eight years of my night terrors and screams....he will sleep through anything. I get him up and he is scared too. I tell him to put a chair under the doorknob....it isn't tall enough, but at least it is a barrier. The pounding continues and my heart is pounding just as hard. Michael is calling the front desk and I am surprised that the babies were never awakened. They must be used to hearing my antics at night too. Finally, I roar,"Hey!" in a very deep authoritative voice and the bashing, thumping ceases. The front desk comes up to question the couple next door. They don't open their door. They tell us, there is nothing they can do....who knows what was happening. We couldn't get back to sleep for another couple of hours...it didn't help that Michael reminded me that it was similar to the movie "Vacancy" which was an okay slasher flick, but not one I would particularly want to live. We don't know why the dude was trying to come in, but he was slamming doors and banging toilet seats all night. Whether they didn't know we were there and wanted an extra room or if dude was so drunk he didn't understand why the bathroom door wouldn't open and was trying to force his way in....we don't know. But, that was scary. Then he smoked all night and day on our "no smoking" floor. I go with the drunk theory as we ran into him later in the day. He was in the hallway on the cell phone, no shirt, no shoes, pajama pants, door wide open to a thrashed room. Thank goodness he was moving through town and gone by the next night. Just a little flavor to add to our whole experience.

Sorry I haven't had much to share about the twins. This has really been a me, me, me post. The boys are doing well. They love walking the hotel and meeting new people. Sebastian still stops to greet each and every person. The server at breakfast has to retreat into the kitchen often as Seb will keep waving and jabbering until he leaves. For the most part people have been very accomodating. There are a few sour puss RR workers who are not into the toddler thing. But, surprisingly enough, I have seen Seb even melt many a gruff face. Well, not melt....there is still a grim frown, but a hand comes up for an obligatory wave. It makes us smile at least. Sebby is our little Cindy Lou Who, converting Grinches one heart at a time.
Soon my babies will be in their very own house with a big backyard. In the next couple of months we have their second birthday, will tackle potty training (fingers crossed on that one) and will try losing the corral. Needless to say....adventure awaits us.
Take care all....hopefully the next post will be all good news.....in my own house, with my nice fast picture full computer and with superfast internet speed.

The beginning of something special.....we hope

2008-02-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
So, we are officially mortgage free. I prefer that phrase to homeless at the moment. We spent the last couple of days, endless days, horrible packing and cleaning and cramming days, moving out. I was so busy, I didn't have a chance to feel the gravity of it all. Of course, the boys were real champs even though their schedules were disrupted and their momma barely got a wink of sleep. I went through so much Monster that my system is now having a hard time correcting itself. Leaving last night, I felt that twinge for the first time. That twinge of leaving our first home, the boys first home with us and a pretty darn good start for us for the last 4.5 years. My doggies are staying with the inlaws and we are missing them like crazy too. The hotel is actually very good (we decided to upgrade so it is really the same as a mortgage payment). Every morning we have started a new breakfast ritual. We get up early with Daddy and go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Everything we need is there....cereal, eggs, sausage and the boys very favorite: the french toast sticks with syrup. My favorite is the coffee as now I am giving up on the energy drink crutch and replacing it with something just as leathal. Oh to be back with my closet of diet coke....
We have a line on another house. We are guardedly optimistic as we have lost out on two other houses we were trying to buy. If nothing else, the market is flooded so we will keep on trying until it happens for us. It is a funny thing though. Talk to any realtor and they will say that nothing is selling here. Now, two properties in a row we bid on has gotten other offers....Who is spying on me???? Stop please because as nice as living in this hotel is (even though we don't have a babysitter for Karyoke Tuesday) we want to move into our new house. The boys deserve it. I have to admit though, having Daddy home for breakfast and lunch and before bedtime is already a treat. Things are coming together. We are just waiting for the finishing touch. We have faith that our house will come. Until then, I will see this as what it is...a pseudo vacation with no cooking and cleaning.
Wish I could post some pictures, but am on my little lap top in the room and it is no where near what our desktop at home is.
Take care,
I hope to write again with good news soon. And pictures if we can actually win a bid.

The Count Down Begins...not enough time in the day

2008-02-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone. Well, I have been a little lax with my blogging. So busy with house stuff and putting out escrow fires. The movers officially come this Sunday and we are closing on Monday, which was first next Saturday....then today.....now Monday. Talk about on our toes and stressed out. I pack and pack and amass huge piles of boxes to the ceiling and barely scratched the surface. The next two days will be cram days.....Unfortunately, I don't know when I will be able to blog again. Because we don't have a new house ready (don't get me started on that one), we have to move into a hotel for three weeks. Our stuff will be in storage. I suppose we can pretend it is like the Suite Life of Zach and Cody....except I won't be a lounge singer (that would clear out the hotel fast). We are supposedly supposed to have a high speed internet connection, but will see how it goes. If it works well, perhaps I shall blog, if not......I will see you all in a month.
So, here we go. Embarking on a new chapter in our lives. Daddy will be a more present participant in our family and hopefully soon we can set down roots again. I don't even want to think about all I have to get done in the immediate future. I am already so pooped.
So, I will end showing you guys the cutest faces in the world which you may or may not miss for a couple of weeks. Ben, the biggest cheese in the world....who wouldn't miss this face even for a day.
And Sebby. Waving bye bye and ready to rev his engine and ride off into the sunset. This new chapter in our lives is fast approaching that timespan called the terrible twos. Please be easy on me guys. I will love you no matter what, but mommy is stressed to the max. Sebs favorite word now is no. Are you ready to get out of the bath? Vigorous head shaking and no, no, no. Why aren't you eating your cracker, don't you like it? No, no, no. Come on, it's good. You like it. No, no, no. Not to mention when the dog or his brother misbehaves, finger out, head shakes and no, no, no. Come here Seb----no, no, no. Always with a playful smile that no mother could resist, but still.....a preview of things to come.

Okay. I have to get back to the endless packing. Enough procrastination. And, I hope I'll be back sooner than later!

Close your eyes, count to three and we are Gone!

Please let's make it to Valentine's Day

2008-01-24T09:03:00.001-08:00

As usual, things are busy around here. We are in escrow again and trying to make an offer on a new house. We are making repairs and hoping that we make it to closing, right before Valentine's Day. To top it off, poor husband o' mine got into a crash, wrecking his Audi on the way home last night. There was snow over the pass and his brakes froze and we are lucky that he wasn't physically injured, minus the usual car accident soreness. Let's hope that is our only little bit of misfortune for the rest of the year!

Here is my guy holding Sebby. Sebastian has amazed me lately and is really starting to widen his vocabulary. Of course, the last sound of the word doesn't come out just right, but he is getting there. His latest triumph is the word "more" which comes out without a full "r" sound, kinda like the old Oliver Twist movies. This "more" has replaced the very male grunting that he used to use to tell me he wanted a refill. No longer a cave man, he knows that it is hard for mama to deny his request when his little angel voice asks for more. Sebastian has also fallen in love with cows. It is his favorite animal by far and he often "moos" around and gets excited when anything cow is in a book or on the TV. The baas and quacks are now in a far second place. Of course, not even the cow can compete with cars and balls. And just yesterday, he sat me down and took my finger and pointed to my "eyeee", "no--", "head", "eearaa" and "bell butta". The boys can point out almost anything you can ask them to, but the words are now starting to come together as well.
Now, Benny....he is just as smart. He is definitely more into figuring things out and is really a trouble shooter. He can rig any situation to get what he wants. He is heavily into the snaps, velcro and zippers of anything he can find. My living room pillows are not safe with his constant zipping and unzipping. I try to remember not to put the shirts with snaps on his brother otherwise he is constantly snapping and unsnapping them to Seb's disgust. Ben speaks, but is shy when Sebby is participating too. With only one of me, when we are going over a book and pointing things out, Sebby is the dominant one. He will push his brother out of the way and answer first. If Ben is by himself, he will answer just fine, but Seb is a monopolizer. I was undecided before, but I think they may have to be in separate classrooms when older so that they both can shine. For, even if I give Ben a chance, he will look at his brother and let Sebby answer first.
I really think Benny will be a model. He loves the camera. He smiles right away and says Cheese....I know, I might as well be the paparazzi with all the pictures I take. Sebby isn't into the picture taking thing as much, but Ben loves it. If I try to convince Sebby to smile for a picture too long, Ben starts smiling and demands, "Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!" until I put the camera back on him. What a Ham!
And to end on a positive note, here is my Benny yesterday enjoying what is left of his lunch. Sometimes peanut butter and jelly is eaten and sometimes it makes for a good play toy. Ben eats his pb& j crackers like oreos mostly. Pull them apart and lick, lick, lick. Who cares about the crackers once the good stuff has been sucked off.
Sebastian wasn't too keen on the Boysenberry jelly. He ate some, but mostly crumbled and smashed his crackers in disgust. He did end up eating some as you can see by his jelly goatee. All that mess making makes a boy hungry. He couldn't help but eat after all that hard work.

So, everyone....cross your fingers for us. Pray for us. We really hope that everything goes well and that there are no more speed bumps in the road for awhile, a long while. Hey.....at least we are a happy family. Who couldn't be after looking at these smiling faces everyday? We must be doing something right with such healthy and happy boys.

Great Holiday Season.....Now back to Reality

2008-01-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a great holiday. We had a wonderful time going back home for Christmas. The boys met everyone under the sun and charmed the pants off of them all....not literally, thank goodness (not that kind of party).

Here is Sebby with his first car.....an Audi of course. I think Daddy is trying to rub off on him. Santa and the grandparents were too kind to our boys this year for their first American Christmas. In fact, my parents had to drive back with us and their minivan was literally full from front to back with gifts. We were planning to save many of them until we move, but the stinky buyer pulled out of escrow with only 2 weeks to go and have left us back in the limbo of trying to sell in this yucky market. At least we have each other to make it through this trying time.This smile melts all the worries away. Benny is just the cutest little guy, even just in pajamas and slippers at his Nonny and Papa's house. Those Mickey Mouse slippers are the only things that Ben will keep on his feet....socks and shoes are chucked aside even in the cold weather. Happy Kids= Happy Mommy, no matter what is going on in the grown up world.

After enjoying a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas, we were able to get the boys baptized at St. Patrick's church. It was a wonderful occasion to share with our family and friends. The boys were not all too keen about staying still for the service nor allowing the priest the ritual with oils and water, but we all survived.
Here is Benny and myself.....he is a wiggle worm even before the service. I must say though, my three dudes were all very handsome in their suits.
I think that Sebby is laughing here, although it may look like he is about to cry. He is all about the fake laugh now-a-days. Funny little man in a three piece suit.
Of course, after the ceremony as the family posed for about a million pictures, Ben was running happily through the chapel. No one can keep up with him......look at him go.
Here are my other two guys. All dressed up for the camera. It was a great day indeed.The reception rocked too. Here is the beautiful cake that my wonderful hubby picked out for the boys at the same place that did our wedding cake. It tasted as good as it looks.....but cost almost as much as the entire reception.....It was worth it though.
My boys love their Chinese Food, so it was fitting to have their reception at a place where they can drown in Chow Mein. They each had two big plates piled high with noodles and donuts by the time they were finished. They also loved running around the establishment as the family visited.
We have now arrived home. The hope and thrill of a move is dead for now. Michael is back to driving 3 hrs every day.....we really miss him after having him with us for the week. But, it is nice to be home. It is nice to settle back into our routine. We are grateful to have each other and that is all that really matters in this life.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

It's the most wonderful time of year. Knock on wood, we have enjoyed much success in many areas of our lives that were weighing on our minds. Now we are preparing to go back home for the holidays for a busy week of showing the boys off, getting them christened and seeing our family. We haven't been home forever and are really looking forward to this year's festivities. We will also take the boys for a tour of our college campus where we first met and fell in love (gag inserted here). We will see what kind of experiments we can cook up for them in the science lab too, ya-hoo!!!!! Back to the week at hand though. Mike's co-employees had a party at Chuck E Cheese and the boys did amazingly well and had a great time.

They were big boys sitting without a high chair in the booth and ate their hot dog, fries and mandarin oranges off of a big boy plate. I was so impressed. It was hard to take good pictures with them running around like crazy, but here is what I managed. Ben liked the Teletubby rider, but not as much as the Merry go Round or Chuck E. Jeep that is not pictured. He didn't like taking turns with the other children and cried when he had to move to a different vehicle, but he got over it. He was so tired by the time we left that he insisted I rub his legs and feet all the way home (a 1.5 hr drive twisted from front seat to back). What I am willing to do for my dudes.
Here is Seb, the first time the airplane started to shake. He was leary about the turbulance at first, but insisted on riding this one 5 more times. We are happy to say though, we survived Chuck E. Cheese without a migraine and even if we had gotten one, it would have been worth it to see the boys having so much fun.
This is a pretty short blog as I have so much to do before we leave and I probably won't be blogging until we return around New Year's. So, Happy Holidays everyone!
I promise some great pictures of our vacation in our next blog. Take care everyone and don't forget to tip your Santa on the way out.

See you next year!
Okay, even Ben thought that last joke was lame........like, oh mom, stop it already, you are embarrassing me! He, he.

The Busiest Time of Year

2007-12-14T08:34:00.001-08:00

I have neglected my little blog. I feel so bad, yet the time has just gone by in a hurry. We are getting ready to go home for Xmas which will be a very exciting yet stressful task. The boys will also be baptized while we are home which took a lot of doing since Daddy is Catholic and there is a lot of prep that goes into such an event. Can't wait to share those pics as I am sure they will go about as well as the Santa pics to be seen later.

I do have to say one thing about my boys. They love to brush their teeth. Okay, there is some brushing and some chewing, but they enjoy it. I used to stress and dread tooth brushing every day. I had one of those finger slip ones and as more teeth arrived, it was inevitable that I would be bitten several times by each boy.
Finally, I just decided, at my mommy's suggestion to switch to the big boys tooth brushes. Mommy gets her turn first and the boys can then work on brushing themselves. I used to do this right before bed, but found it a great way to keep the boys occupied while I wash dishes.
Now, they eat dinner and have their drink. When done, their tray and themselves are wiped down. Mommy brushes and then the boys have time to brush. I make sure to constantly remind them by turning to them and saying, "Brushy, brushy," and modeling the stroke. They always smile and eagerly want to show that they can brush like big boys. Then I reinforce how great they are doing and they smile the biggest, brightest smiles. I am so glad that I get to keep my fingers and that I don't have to endure a crying fit. Note: Look how old Sebby looks in this pic. You can almost remove him from the high chair and put him in the driver's seat of a camero and he wouldn't look out of place.
I hope he stays my goofy silly little man for a while longer. The boys are really into being my little helpers now. All I have to say is "Can you be a good helper for mommy?" and they smile and will move mountains for me. After a diaper change, they help me put the wipe container and changing pad away. They help clean their rooms by putting away their books and toys with mommy. If I ask them to retrieve something or bring something to daddy they will. If I ask them to go get brother so I can do X, Y, or Z, they will. They are on the verge of putting on their shoes by themselves. Unfortunately, Ben knows all too well how to take off his clothes. It is getting cold, yet in the morning I find him with no socks and no shirt. Now, with the shirt I fear he will be a future stripper as he tears it off with a smile and dances while waving it above his head in a circle. He is also my little mooner as he very often likes to pull down the back of his pants and diaper and run giggling flashing his cute little booty. Thank goodness Sebby is more modest.
So, we went to see Santa at the mall and didn't mention the flashing or streaking, haha. You can tell the boys just loved it. I think this is the worst crying Santa pic ever! Not pictured here is when they stopped crying. It was as they got off of Santa's lap and Santa gave them a See's sucker stick. Oh, the sticky icky mess that made, but they ate that whole thing. Then they were happy and mommy wanted to cry as the sticky syrupy goo was hard to scrub. Although, I think this pic will be a funny thing to look at every year.
Here is Sebby in the stroller on Santa Day. He wasn't too traumatized I guess. The long line wait to actually see Santa was made easier with the generous gift by Lauren and Mike of the little Cars murses. Okay it is a lunch box, but my boys love purses so much that they pretend it is a purse like anything else that has a handle. On this day they liked opening and closing it and looking at their reflections in the silvery surface on the inside.
Everyone at the mall that day stopped by to see our twins in line. Who wouldn't? They are cute little guys. We also had twins behind us who were about 3 yrs old and just as cute. The boys practiced their waving and laughing and we made it through the day. Now.. onto Xmas. Our very special first Christmas as a family. I wish we could move already because with all the bikes and toys the boys are getting, there will be no room for us in this house when we return.
Wow, this has been a month. Sunday we are going to Chuck E. Cheese for a party....can anyone say MIGRAINE. I have my last, please let it be the last, appt for my tooth next week. Mike has his office Xmas party which starts at his boss' house for dinner and gift exchange and then ends with limos to take us all to a club. Last year, this would have been very exciting......this year it will need to be cut short as the boys will be at home and we are supposed to leave for our vacation the very next day. There is nothing less attractive then being hung over on a 7 hr drive or getting sick in rest stop bathrooms all the way up. Being a mom changes everything. I haven't even had communion wine since bringing the boys home. I need all of my faculties about me.
One last very important thing. Congrats to Heather B. on her pregnancy. I am so happy for you guys. Charlie will make a great big bro and you too will know the craziness of two crazy children running through the house getting into everything. Stay away from the Chinese for awhile though. You don't want to drive a yellow school bus.