Lily walks and what a difference a year makes

here's some video of Lily walking a bit and gathering helicopters (you know those things from trees)



and what a difference a year can make...
Us headed home from the hospital.. the babies a few days old.



Us today June 30th (so a year and two weeks).. we're all grown up. :)


Lily is now walking all the time.... and Jason..he's working on running. Today he walked up and down the street exploring. I am going to have my work cut out for me when they are both really walking. Jason likes to take off (I imagine much like his cousin Liam) and Lily is happy to stay put and check stuff out (see below) - for now. I can't very well leave Lily sitting happily wherever while I chase her brother down though. ha Karen, what do you do? Will I have to put a leash on this kid? ha :)

It's 9:25pm right now and Jason is fighting the sleep thing.. he's past the screaming and now on and off babbling and - what I assume - is all out bouncing on the bed. He's quiet for the moment... let's hope if he makes any more noise tonight my ear plugs will block it out. Was up late last night.. need to sleeep... 2.5 hour ride tomorrow.

Oh, and I had my best swim yet today. We swam in the lake this a.m. It's not that it was all that long or that I was that great, but I didn't do any complaining and I only stopped to tread water about two times. I swam free style the whole way out and did a free style / breast stroke combo on my way back. It's annoying having to look up and see where you are going . Breaking stride when you aren't a good swimmer and your attitude sucks is hard. I am proud of myself for having a better attitude and keeping my cool this a.m. We swam about .75 miles today. :) Back in the pool later this week to work on technique some more. I really need to just log the miles and get in better shape.. more push ups too!

I'm thinking about doing a sprint distance tri on July 14th in Kenosha... I haven't decided yet. I'm nervous about the swim....

Mom my Ride

I think my dad was telling me about this.. I especially like the duct tape segment!

Choas continued...

and here is what I saw when I looked to see what the quiet (never a good sign) babies were doing shortly after I gave them some snack 'trappers':





I'm not sure if you can see the water in this photo or not:



Jason has now added "up" and "no" (thanks Grandma) to his vocabulary.

Training is going well.. though I'm still struggling to get the swimming in... I think I'm riding my bike plenty though.. just based on my SWEET tan line. I'm a site taking the kids to the pool...


I know you are jealous.. my arms look about the same, but the line isn't as defined. Speaking of... gotta get the kids bathed so I can go out for a 1.5 hour bike ride.

Gourmet Babies

So we get our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box every Saturday now and along w/ it comes a newsletter (which comes by email.. so we are saving on paper) that contains recipes. The other day I made a fritata w/ the spinach and garlic scapes (yes I am cultured now.. I had no idea what a scape was prior to this experience) and today I made tabouleh w/ the fresh parsley and chives. I had to use millet though so it didn't come out quite right texturally, but it's still yummy!

Well I make most of this stuff for the babies... though I usually eat it too.. so here are some pics of their lunch today. You totally wish you were them right now huh? Someone to cook your meals, take you everywhere, bathe you, do your laundry, and love you all the while. :)

Tabouleh


Fritatta (all chopped for them) The strawberries are from the CSA and DAMN they are GOOD!

A day in the life.

So this is what the house looks like (generally) when we go to bed at night/wake up in the morning:



And here it is after Jason and Lily have had their way w/ it.


(it looked a lot worse in person)

I had taken a photo of the kitchen before/after as well, but seem to have lost it... it may be worse than the living room. Ha ha So for those of you that haven't hit the toddlerhood/feed you every five minutes/tornado stage... watch out! And for those that are there.. .EEEK!! ha

That said the days struggles are so worth it for scenarios like this. Jason got some blocks down that have the long cylinder type pieces. We played a bit.. me building, him knocking down. While we were doing this Lily was working on carrying the cylindrical pieces around w/ her. First two then she graduated to three. Picking them up and walking with them. She is so determined and focused when she does this. Shortly after Jason discovered a cup sitting on the floor (see pic above) and found that he could put the cylindrical pieces in and swirl them around. He was quite proud of himself. Lily saw his pride and had to come over and check it out. They both thought they were pretty hot stuff for figuring this out - and this was great for Lily because now she could easily carry her three blocks. ha It's so amazing to watch them really focus on something and figure it out. When they get frustrated they grunt and cry to get me to help them.

Here are some cute photos of them discovering the blocks and cup. I can usually get more pictures of Lily because she is so focused. As soon as Jason sees the camera it's game on to get his hands on it. I try to let him look at it and take my picture to see my face on the camera - sometimes that works, but today he just wanted to eat it.




(is she not the cutest little cutie you ever did see?)





Lily's fascination with animals is escalating. We came back from a walk the other day and there was a rabbit in the yard. I stopped the stroller for them to see it and she got very excited. When he hopped into the bushes she cried ... the whole way into the house. They both love to look out the window (unfortunately this requires the assistance of two adults) and look at the birds, squirrels and rabbits. Lily squeals w/ joy every time she sees and animal and points at it. Today there was a robin hanging out on our back fence when we got home and it just sat there for minutes all the while Lily pointing and squealing at it. Future zoologist? Animal rights activist? Vet? or simply a dog owner... who knows.

Both kids are working on teeth right now. Jason on his second bottom tooth and Lily on her first top tooth... they are getting so big! They seem to be changing daily. I think Lily will be all out walking by the end of the month.. she takes more and more steps every day.

Here's Jason playing w/ my headband... ???

1 year pictures

God did I spend WAY TOO much money. SHHH don't tell Tom. They are just so cute and they trap you RIGHT THERE on the spot and make you choose while your kids are running around raising caine and needing lunch... you have to choose.. NOW and damn it's hard to pick they are all so cute!!!! So if you are in the family or like family you can expect to be getting a print of your grandkids, nephew/niece and a few b/c we've got LOTS! haha

Here are two cute ones:

The pool and puppy

Yesterday we went to Papa and Grandma's to go to the pool then out to dinner and for a stroll at the mall.

This was the second time we took the kids to the pool. Lily really LOVES the water. She wants out of her little floaty so she can 'swim' and be thrown up in the air. When you put her back in the floaty she tries to crawl out. Jason on the other hand would rather walk around the deck checking things out, but will tolerate the floaty thing. :)

Here are some photos.


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After our dinner out we took a little stroll through the mall and during our stroll we discovered the Lily does really have a shoe problem. She reached for all the shoes we passed. As we walked by Build-A-Bear she got very excited and reached out of the stroller in the direction of the store so we walked in. I'm not sure if it was the VEGAS style lighting of the eye level merchandise that caught her attention, but she definitely wanted to go in. She LOVED all the animals and Papa being the softy that he is bought her a puppy and Jason a teddy. Jason held tight to Ted the whole way out of the mall and the entire way home (he's never done that before) and they both took their new animals to bed w/ them. When I went in to get them I thought surely the animals would have been tossed out in the night, but Lily was holding Puppy up when I went in. As we walked out she had to take Puppy w/ her and proceeded to give him many loves throughout the morning.



I think Lily really like animals. The TV was on and Martha had an animal specialist or something on her show and Lily was up close and trying to touch all the animals and was VERY animated about it. So cute!

One year appt.

I almost forgot. Jason and Lily had their one year well baby appt. All is well they are growing and we are happy. Jason weighed in at 22lbs 1oz. (about 50%) and Lily at 18lbs 12oz (25%). We have to wait to turn their car seats around until Lily is 20 lbs. I guess we could turn Jason around, but that just doesn't seem fair now does it!?

They got four more shots yesterday... BOO. They handled it pretty well. We also went ahead and had them treated for lead since we live in this old house and I've noticed some of the windowsills are chipped from Phoebe "looking" out the window. Don't know if the kids are taste testing them (probably are) and have no idea if there is lead paint under the many layers of paint on them. Just thought it was better safe than sorry. We won't get the results for a couple of weeks. Thankfully our doctor's office doesn't do the MMR or Chicken Poxs vaccination until 15 or 18 months so we didn't have to discuss delaying. :)

Sorry so short and uninspired.. I guess when talking about doctors appointments that's a good way to be!

Happy Birthday party...

we had a little get together today w/ gma and gpa and a few friends. We dove into some cake. Lily went to town while Jason was a bit hesitatn. Lily definitely suffered the sugar high followed by the sugar low. Mom pulled a "DOH" on the birthday party the day after a round of shots... oops. So they were a bit out of sorts already... oh well. We got through. :)

Here are some photos from the "party" and of the cardboard house we got from Fiona (and Greg and Karen) in the next year we can have the kids decorate the house w/ their personal artwork.

One more for today...

And just in time for her first birthday peanut (aka Lily) is getting walking down. She takes about 3 steps at a time, but as you can see she will try a couple times before she resorts to crawling.

another video... and a tooth

are you getting the impression that these kids eat a lot?? Here's another video of them in their high chairs... one of their FAVORITE places.



and here's Jason's first tooth: Sorry it's blurry.. moving target.

Happy FIRST Birthday!

Wow ... w/ each of my Happy "whatever month" birthday wishes to the little ones it's hard to believe that this is their first OFFICIAL birthday ... oh except for the actual day one year ago when they were taken from my body - aka born.

I've been reflecting a lot over the last couple of months over their arrival. Looking back at the pictures of their first days. It seems like such a short time to have already been a year yet it's like they have been here forever.

I marvel at how much they have changed and learned in such a short span. From doing NOTHING to walking and starting to talk. Amazing! I know that this next year will bring tons of changes as well and I look forward to every moment.

As I stare out over my DISASTROUSLY messy house all created by a tornado of toddlers (okay some of it is mine) I wouldn't change a thing. I'd rather have this messy house and spend time w/ my wee ones... I'd rather change poopy diapers and deal w/ whiny babies than go to work every day and deal w/ whiny adults! :) It's all worth it for the snugs (Hugs) I get from Jason and Lily. For the moments of shear joy when they walk or talk. The excitement and pride on their faces when they figure something out. The amazement in their eyes when they see something new. And the LAUGHTER!!! Oh the baby laughs are the best. And though it is bracketed by poopy diapers, messy eating and crying it is amazing every time.

We went through so much to get here and I would do it ALL again... ALL of it. To get these two perfect little babies. Sure they were (okay are) challenging in the beginning, but now all that energy... all that exploring... they do everything w/ such ... such... determination and excitement.

I'm EXHAUSTED from it all, but I am so happy they are who they are and know that their strong personalities will take them far.

Happy Birthday babies. I love you!

Taking after her mom...

Lily seems to like shoes... A LOT. I brought a pair up from the basement (thanks Riley) to see if they fit and they did, but she's not walking so I took them off so she could crawl... she immediately grabbed one and handed it to me while holding her foot up so I could put it back on. VERY cute.

First tooth and tantrums...

Jason's first tooth FINALLY popped through. It's too little to get a photo of... but I'll work at it.

Here is his latest trick... the tantrum. If he doesn't get what he wants.. WHEN he wants it this is the result:



It takes all I've got to not laugh. :)

And here's another in response to Lily teasing him with a spoon - apparently she finds his tantrums mildly entertaining as well. :)

She's all better and he's walking...

Lily is all better... she got her little personality back a few days ago and is back to life as usual... though she has a snotty nose again (as does Jason) I'm hoping the coccyl isn't back!!!

Jason is now walking all over the place. He still crawls quite a bit, but that is usually after walking for a bit. He walks all the way across the room now - he looks like he had one to many most of the time, but he's getting there!

Of late the FAVORITE game if to play on the couch and have grandma push us over so we flop down on the softness... :) Both just dissolve into laughter every time!! I'll have to get out the video camera next time, but I have to do it before BOTH are on the couch b/c it's a bit much to try to manage.

Jason and Lily are now consistently down to two naps a day... I am VERY happy about this development. Now I have a bigger chunk of time to do stuff during the second part of the day. YEAH.

I'm very excited to be the proud owner of a bread machine (which I got on Craigslist!)!! When I was in Chicago at Kelly's she had just gotten her bread machine and made a couple of fresh loaves.. not only was the bread delicious the aroma of fresh baked bread was fantastic. The machine just started it's second knead cycle on my very first loaf... a few more hours and we'll be dining on some delectable fresh bread! Mine is a Breadman, but there are many variations out there.

She had/has...

Poor little Lily girl had/has a viral rash. ... It's some -coccyl. The doc said it a number of times, but I can't remember what it was. Poor little girl ended up w/ some little red dots on her nose... burst blood vessels... most likely caused by the virus. She got blood work to make sure she is a-okay - and she is. She was quite interested in the band aids (we had to use two so she couldn't get them off) on her finger. (The nurse said, "make sure she doesn't eat it" - Oh REALLY? Babies shouldn't eat band aids?? Geez!) We just wait it out now. Good news is the fever is the worst of it. Her rash is pretty much gone this a.m., but she's still a little clingy. The doc said she was surprised that Jason managed to get through w/o catching it... there's still time for him to get it I guess. Doc said to wash up really well after changing L's poopy diapers b/c it will still be present there for a few more days. Hopefully we'll make it through w/o Jason getting sick too.

Jason is walking more and more... not sure when to classify him as a walker... maybe when he stops crawling???