Happy Happy Birthday!

To our most beautiful baby girls, we wish you a very Happy 1st Birthday! There were times (namely when we were up many times a night feeding you two, shushing you two, changing you two, and then also up all day long doing the same) that I thought I just might not survive to see this day. But we're glad to say we've made it! I will not even go into how many diapers we have used this first year (we are saving that fun fact for your birthday party quiz). Dare I say your most important accomplishment so far has been sleeping through the night? (well for us anyway). Never mind the first smiles, the first rolling overs, the first crawling, the first words. They are nothing in comparison. I know that you will not understand any of this until you have twins newborns of your own. (The odds are in your favor, so mentally prepare yourself now).

 

These days you are (mostly) tons of fun. You love to laugh (especially at your Dad and brother) and will also play peek-a-boo with each other behind the curtain. SO. ENTERTAINING. You can both play nicely together and also get so upset with your sister. In fact one of your newest tricks is to give a good hard bite to her when she steals a toy you were playing with. A forecast of things to come? Let me assure you that I will be much less patient if this continues until your teenage years, but for now I still assume that you "don't really know any better" - but let's work on that, huh? Your climbing skills rival some rock climbing legends, and your ability to balance in strange places makes me think we might have some gymnasts on our hands. For now, lets just focus on the walking, though. Okay?

We sadly had to cancel your first birthday party due to extreme cases of what the doctor told us TWICE was the "common cold" (with vomiting). We are rescheduling a party for you on the same day as your older bro's. He is not thrilled. You guys really owe him one. However, on your actual birthday, common cold and all, we just couldn't miss giving you a little taste of cupcake:

Ashlyn

 

Kaia

Family Photos

We attempted to get some family photos this spring. I had no hopes of perfection, and would have been completely happy if our photographer was able to just get us all in the same shot in any fashion. Seriously, I have trouble just getting the children to remain In. The. Same. Room. It literally took us all morning to get ready, as in from 7am until noon. This is not because we were leisurely sipping coffee and watching cartoons. Usually my children have food stuck in their hair, bed head, and berry stains all over their faces and clothes (in retrospect I should have posted a before and after pic). They needed some serious work to look this good/clean. However, we (barely) managed to pull it together, and our photographer was fab! (Thanks Aunt Erica:) Check it out..

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*Note: In case your are identical-twin-challenged, Kaia is in the pink dress with the smiling-so-hard-my-eyes-are-closed-look (gotta love that kind of enthusiasm); Ashlyn is in white, eating the flower, climbing out of the moving wagon...

Celebrities

Any M.O.M. (Mom of Multiples...I know creative right? I didn't make it up.) knows that you can't hardly venture out of the house without a holgillion people making all sort of comments about your kids. There are always the world's most obvious questions..."Are they twins?" Ummm, no. One is two years older than the other. "Are they maternal?" Yes, they definitely have a mother. Well, and a father too actually. "Do they ever cry at the same time?" Of course not. They know better. etc. etc. etc. 

Then of course there are the squeals of joy perfect strangers make when they see twins. Once someone actually asked me if she could take a picture of my twins. Is that a serious request? REALLY?  Most of the time I am a really friendly and polite M.O.M. and I patiently answer the stranger's questions and thank them politely for their kind words about how cute/wonderful/joyful my children are. However, there are moments when I just don't feel like it. It is at these times that I have extreme sympathy for real bonafide celebrities. Seriously, it gets old. Trust me. During such moods I usually choose to shop indoors with my dark black sunglasses on. People still squeal behind my back and make comments that I CAN STILL HEAR, but the difference is that they don't actually address me or expect any type of response. A few times I have taken just one babe out and about and I was actually surprised that NO. ONE. NOTICED. US. Not a single comment from a stranger or even an extra glance our way. It was so so nice.

 

Tonight we experienced another first. We took the whole fam out for a walk around the neighborhood. Twins in the double stroller (usually a give-a-way for squealing, comments, and ohhs and ahhhs), big bro in his super cool shades, and Daisy by our side. We passed a middle aged man and his wife riding bikes. The guy says, "What a cute Boston!" as they passed. As in Daisy. Our dog. For some reason this was hilarious to Casey & I. We decided that some people are just "dog people." Thank goodness or else Daisy's self-esteem would be greatly suffering. 

  

Times have changed...

For a (very short) while, my two little peanuts were quite content sitting outside on their blanket. In fact, the idea of venturing out onto the pokey grass was enough to keep them quarantined within the invisible "fence" around their lawn blanket. And honestly, this was not only perfectly fine with me, it was actually RELAXING. However, times have changed my friends. Last night they ventured off, and look what they got themselves into...

Look how dirty I can get in about 30 seconds! Isn't it great?

Ummm, excuse me, is there room for two? (the answer: not really)

No, I didn't try to taste any sand. Not me, uh-uh.

Dump trucks are totally my thing...

An escapee

Today as I am making lunch and Casey is rounding up the children to eat, we realize that we are missing sneaky little almost-one-year-old Ashlyn. In fact, less than 1 minute ago everyone was here...?!? Did we look down the hall? No baby girl. In the other living room? Umm, also not in there. Then Casey says completely matter-of-factly, "Oh, there she is. Crawling out on the deck." WHAT?? EXCUSE ME??!!? Casey (also in a matter-of-fact type of voice) says, "She must have gotten out through the doggie door." Ummm, yes that is perfectly normal for one of our children to just quietly slip out of the doggie door completely undetected and start to roam around our back yard unsupervised. I am going to have to start doing a head count every few minutes or so. SHEESH!!!

A few recent conversations...

After doing something that drives Casey crazy (apparently) he says to me, "Why do you like to drive me crazy?" Then guess who pipes up:
Connor: Mama, you drive me crazy too!
Me: Really? What do I do that drives you crazy?
Connor: You just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
Me: (laughing so hard, I am totally speechless...now I know why Connor often tells me after about 30 seconds of questions about his day at preschool, "That's enough talking, Mama.")

As Casey is sitting in the driveway on his way to Home Depot...
Connor: Why's daddy's truck still here?
Me: I don't know. He's probably just checking to make sure he has everything he needs.
Connor: Oh! I know what he is doing, checking his iphone to see if they have z-bars at the store for me!
Me: Umm...I don't think that is what he is doing (especially because he doesn't even have an iphone).

As Connor is getting ready to head out the door with his Dad, he has socks but no shoes on, and is still talking in riddles...
Connor: Daddy, wait! I am still missing two somethings.

Back to the Beach

After nearly one year, we finally decided we were ready to take our much larger family on an overnight outing to Grandma's and the beach. We barked at the sea lions, ran in the waves, explored Grandma's house, played with cousins, and ate lots of good food. FYI, the Pacific is still quite cold in April. However, that didn't stop us and didn't even slow down our three-year-old or our four-legged kid. I might have guessed that jumping waves would have been the highlight of the trip...

 

However, after all was said and done, I asked Connor what his favorite part actually was. His reply, "Sleeping in the same room as my sisters!" (Yes, all three fit into one bedroom with two cribs and a bunk bed.) I wasn't exactly sure if very much sleeping would take place, but as it turns out it did...as far as we know.