My Coffee

When I go through the espresso stand it is now required (my mistake!) that I get the twinnies  "my coffee" . Their coffee consists of about a 1/2 cup full of apple juice They charge me like 50 cents or something crazy so I always tip the barista well because they are so sweet to do that for us. 

I guess apple juice tastes better when it 

comes from a latte cup.

Swimming

Twinnies started  swimming lessons and are really loving it. We do not get in the pool with them and the teacher is wonderful. The only problem is getting Carter out of the pool...he throws a fit every time because he doesn't want to leave. AND I mean a super-sized tantrum. Like the  kind you just want to grab your kid and run. So ya, still working on that aspect but at least he likes it.

Jerame & I sit on the side of the pool like cheerleaders. I am fairly certain the other parents think we are are annoying.

We are proud of them.

Break in the rain

We had a beautiful day and I finally got to let my little caged animals out into our yard to play. It was such a nice break for all of us. It's hard to figure out stuff to do with them day after day when the weather is so miserable.  I couldn't believe how long they wanted to stay outside. I had to bribe Carter with lunch to come back in.

Things learned this weekend

1.Just because the Hawks lost it does not mean the "Seahawks rally beard" is going to be shaved.

2. That dancing to our new fav song Rihanna's "Whats my name" is REALLY fun. Good song choice for a two year old?....the jury is out :)

3. That this little guy loves to say cheeeeeseeee for the camera...well, we actually already knew that.

4. Being pulled on a blanket around and around the kitchen is awesome.

5. Flashlights, sticks and a warm winter evening are a great combo

6. A broken water heater is a huge pain in the *** but the bright spot is a really fun box to play with from the new one

My Bubby

Chlo calls Carter 'Bubby' which we assume is short for brother but we really are not to sure how the name actually manifested itself. But it has stuck and now almost everyone close to him calls him either Buster, Bub or Bubby. Carter even refers to himself as Bubby.

Today Chloe insisted on eating lunch right next to her Bubby. Two peas in a pod.

If she wasnt putting food in her mouth at lunch she had to be touching her Bubby. It was so cute, she was having a very loving moment with him. I say moment because I think shortly after I took this picture I had to switch to referee mode because he took her grapes.

This evening we had a dinner date with my Mom (Nanny). It was such a great restaurant experience. Yes...I did just say restaurant/toddler & good experience all in the same sentence! They actually ate their dinner & sat there for a decent amount of time. They even lasted long enough to order dessert. We have come a long way from this post They sit in regular chairs at restaurants now (no boosters or high chairs), eat on normal plates, try to use silverware (for the most part), can actually assist in choosing what they want to eat for dinner, they say thank-you to the waitress and surprisingly they don't make that big of a mess.

Just more signs they are growing up so fast.

SeaHAWKS!!!

Ok so I am not the BIGGEST football fan out there but we went to the Seahawks playoff game this past Saturday and I have to say it was one of the most fun times I have ever had in my life. The energy in that stadium was pure magic and it was so exciting to see our 'underdog' team come out and win against the defending national champs.


The Seattle Seahawks home crowd is called the "12th Man" on their football team and now we have seismic proof of their deafening roar.

King 5 News in Seattle, the local NBC affiliate posted an item on its Facebook page that is positively astounding. It's almost hard to believe except it comes from some reputable sources and hasn't been denied in the hours after its posting.

A seismic chart for the time period prior to, during and after the Marshawn Lynch stunning 67 yard touchdown run, measured the ground movement in and and around QWest Field. Although it was barely noticeable, it registered as a slight earthquake. You can see it posted to the right of this article. Here's what King 5 had to say:

"The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network captured this reading from a sensor near where the Kingdome once was. It registered about the same time that Marshawn Lynch made that spectacular touchdown run. Can you say Beast Mode?" ---via : http://www.huliq.com

I loved this little blurb on a website I found. I do not doubt that a minor earthquake was created by the noise in that stadium. It truly was amazing.

The twins are still recovering from that very nasty bug that hit them late last week. We ended up having to take Chlo into be seen on Saturday because of her reactive airway stuff and she was diagnosed with Croup. Poor baby. So they have been putting in some major movie time over the coarse of the last several days. Parents of the year I tell you :) Hey, we do what we have to do.

memory lane

`I love pictures. Love to look back on them and remember what I was thinking or feeling during that time & place in my life. I do this often and find that it is one of my favorite things to do. The funny thing is, when I look back on pictures of myself when I was pregnant with the twinnies it's hard for me to REALLY remember what it was like to be that big & uncomfortable. Sure I remember it as a memory but I don't actually remember how it felt. Sounds strange I know. To be honest though, I think most women would agree with me about this because otherwise I don't think people would willingly sign up for round number 2, 3 or 4. It sure is amazing what our bodies are capable of. (this picture was taken right before I delivered the twins

A few of my long time girlfriends are pregnant right now and both of them have said to me numerous times, "I just don't know how you did it with two". Looking back on it, it does seem crazy and daunting because one thing was for sure we had no idea what we were getting into! But you just do it because you have to. Plus now that we are on the other side of the baby stage we can easily look back and say...wowzer, look what we made it through. And that is just it...we made it through and we will make it to the other side of our current challenges of the toddler stage. I for one, need to remind myself of that more often and not get caught up when I do feel defeated by the job I feel like I am doing as a Momma.
The twins have their 1st major flu/cold of the season if you can believe that. They have done so well so far this winter in fighting off sicknesses. A huge difference form last year. We have been holed up watching movies today. They are loving, Happy Feet, it is so cute.

p.s. Chloe just looked at the picture I posted on this post, and she asked me "is that Momma??"

Christmas 2010 Highlights

We celebrated Christmas with my Grandma's traditional prime rib dinner with my Mom's side of the family, The Kelly's, the weekend before Christmas.

Round #1 with presents, they got the hang of it very fast! My Grandma made Chloe a doll bed and a ton of baby clothes to go with a new baby. She loves it. The baby bed has to go everywhere with us. This little girl LOVES baby dolls.

We had a little gingerbread man decorating party and it just turned into a frosting/sprinkle fest. So fun!

My Grandparents got Carter his first remote control train. This thing is so awesome and is perfect for this age. It's by GeoTrax and we would highly recommend it. They both loved it so much we had to go and buy Chloe her own car & remote so they would stop fighting over the train! Now they both can play together with it :)

These two little friends showed up on our doorstep as a gift for Jerame. It was a live lobster dinner for two shipped to us from Main. Very cool idea but Omg they were alive and squirming around in there little ice box. They sure were yummy but what an experience to cook them...I couldn't watch Jerame throw them in the boiling water.

We went to my Mom & Jerry's house for xmas eve dinner & presents. It was a blast...4 kids under 3 will make anything exciting especially Christmas!

We started a new tradition the Christmas Eve cousin jammie picture

Christmas morning at our house, I think Chloe is saying "wow" in this picture. They were so happy, overwhelmed and in awe of all the gifts they received this Christmas. We have moved 1/2 of their old toys into bins & out to the garage to make room for new.
The plan is to switch them out every so often, otherwise they have so many toys they have no idea what to play with.

Christmas morning

We hosted Jerame's family & my Dad/Shelly on Christmas day

We got together at Jer's Mom's house after Christmas for some more time with his Grandma (who is celebrating her 90th bday next month) who lives in Chicago.

such a lucky shot that we are all smiling & looking at the camera...it's not an easy feat with all these kids!

4 generations : Thurik, Schramm & Bennett ladies

And this is how we ALL have felt in the days after the holidays. It was so much fun but oh so exhausting!!! Such is life with little ones though