Christmas Photos

Oh, the buddies had fun on Christmas morning! These are some of my favorite action shots from the day.

Texas Wigilia

Every year, on Christmas Eve, Steve's family meets at Aunt Maggie and Uncle Lenny's house for a traditional Polish Wigilia (pronounced va-le-ah). "Wigilia (from the Latin term vigilare meaning "to await") is the Polish name for Christmas Eve. When the first star appears in the sky, the Christmas tree is lit and the dinner begins. The Christmas Eve meal starts with the sharing of the oplatek (bread wafer) and exchanging of wishes. Although there are plenty of dishes on the table, this is traditionally a meatless dinner." --- Wigilia, www.polishcenter.org.

Since we did not travel to Penn- sylvania this Christmas, we hosted our own Texas Wigilia. Steve sauteed delicious pierogies for all of us and we shared a wafer in the line thanks to Aunt Maggie's care package. And everyone present had at least a little taste of pickled herring for good luck in 2007 - Grandmom would have been proud. Friends: Dan, Jean, Mia, Grandma Roberta, Madhu, and Rakesh joined our family in this wonderful tradition. We missed our Pennsylvania family so much but felt close with Wigilia.

Trikes

Grandma and Grandpa are here! Grandma and Grandpa are here! And they brought a truck full of toys!

Ben wasn't so sure about their new tricycles, but Ace jumped right on and wanted to ride. When Ben saw how much fun Ace was having, he jumped on for a ride with brother. And it wasn't long before Ben was driving his own trike all around the kitchen. They haven't quite figured out how to work the pedals but think it is sure fun to scoot around on them.

Now we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of cousin Michael, Aunt Carlee, and Uncle Mike. Hurry, hurry and get here soon!

Play Day with the Grands

Our Christmas celebration began today with the arrival of our first guests. The buddies had a terrific day getting re- acquainted with Granny and Gramps. Ace really enjoyed his time with Granny and Ben seemed quite taken with Gramps. They showed them all of their toys and books, ran all over the house and backyard, and took them on a walk in our neighborhood. I don't know who is more pooped, the grands or the buddies.

Now everyone is anxiously awaiting tomorrow's new arrivals - Grandma and Grandpa! We can't wait!!

A Philly Afternoon in Austin

After living in Texas for 10 years, Steve has finally found a place with a decent cheesesteak and it just happens to be right around the corner from our house. So, during halftime of the Eagle's game, we loaded up the buddies and enjoyed almost-authentic cheesesteaks for supper. If the sub shop had offered cheese whiz, it would have come close the sandwiches in Philly. We returned home to watch the Eagles win, so the boys in our house are happy tonight.

Toddler Top Ten List

At 19 months, the buddies have become little sponges. They learn something new every day and it amazes me how quickly my babies are becoming little boys. This is a list of the top 10 things the buddies have learned in the last few weeks:

10. Mommy and Daddy cheer when we say our new words: “ball”, “cookie“, “oops”, “great”, “pillow”, “more”, and “hat”.
9 1/2. (I had to add another.) Somersaults are fun but it is best not to do them off the edge of the couch.
9. Small plastic toys are not flushable.
8. Decorating Christmas cookies (and Miss Jen’s house) with icing and sprinkles is loads of fun.
7. Puppets like to drink out of sippy cups.
6. If you poop during nap time, just reach down the back of your diaper, grab a handful of poo, and smear it all over yourself and your crib.
5. When you smear poo two days in a row, Mommy washes the poo off in a cold bath and it is NOT fun.
4. On the third day, Mommy learns to dress you in onesies and overalls at nap time.
3. It’s fun to pull the cushions off the couch and dive on them.
2. Brothers are good for hugging.
1. Hugs should be gentle. Otherwise, you are really just tackling your brother, and he doesn’t like that.

Christmas Party Playdate

After a quiet week last week, we are back in our holiday party mode. Ace and Ben's friends, Brandon and James hosted our playgroup today and we had a holiday party. The kids all played nicely while the mommies had snacks and mimosas (just one each!).

Ace learned to ride on a tricycle and he thought it was great fun. Ben focused on scooting around James and Brandon's cars and trucks. He thinks he'll ask Santa for a cool looping racetrack - he was enthralled with it.

AMOM Holiday Party

We are attending one holiday function after another this year. This afternoon, we met up with our many twin friends at the Austin Moms of Multiples Holiday Party. My friend, Traci, organized this fabulous event. There was an inflated bounce house, a ball pit, jugglers, lots of food, wine, cookies, and best of all.... a singing, unicycling, accordion-playing Santa.
We arrived early since I had volunteered to prepare half the food and the buddies got some one-on-one time with the crazy Santa. Ace LOVED him. He just watched and watched as Santa played the accordion and sang Christmas songs. I think he was trying to figure out if it was his Uncle Jeff.

After two hours of running around with their little friends, playing in the bounce house with the big kids (the buddies have no fear!), and eating multiple cookies, we took them to the car tired and happy. Ben told us as much as we loaded him into his car seat. He said, "happy, happy, happy". I'm happy too, Benny.

Christmas Parade

This morning, Steve and I took the buddies downtown to the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade. During this annual event, spectators bring unwrapped toys to the parade to donate to the Operation Blue Santa Program. Midway through, the parade stops and all children are invited to deliver their gifts to the floats.

The buddies saw some of their favorite characters: Elmo, Curious George, Big Bird, Bob-the-Builder, Rainbow Bear, Rudolf, and of course, Santa Claus. They were enthralled by the floats and giant character balloons and loved all the dogs, horses, llama's, and ponies in the parade. Ben danced to the beat of every marching band and Ace shouted for joy when carolers on a float sang "Jingle Bells".

Curious George, brought to you by Starbucks!

Ace, watching the parade from his perch on Daddy's shoulders.

Ben didn't take his eyes off the parade.

One of the toy trucks, filled to the brim!

2006 Turkey Trot

My family has participated in the Dallas Turkey Trot every year since 1994. So, when my folks decided to jet off to St. Croix this year, it became our responsibility uphold the tradition. We were thrilled to discover that Austin also has a Turkey Trot!

The Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot is much like the one we love in Dallas, only on a smaller scale. The Austin trot is 8,000 runners strong, compared to Dallas' 26,000. We really enjoyed the smaller crowd - parking was easier (and free!) and we were able to let the buddies run around a little before the race.

After the race, plenty of snacks and drinks were available, including juice boxes and big cookies for the buddies. They LOVED the cookies! Ace drank his juice box plus half of Ben's - I think he liked using the straw like a big kid. This year, we didn't cart away all the free food we could carry or take pictures of each other as we exited the port-a-potties. Sorry, Grandma - some traditions can wait until next year when you join us.

We were the only participants wearing festive hats, but we're sure this tradition will catch on in a few years. I really think my folks were the first to wear silly hats to the Dallas trot. Now, so many people wear them at the Dallas trot that vendors actually sell turkey hats on race day. Of course, none of the hats can ever compete with Grandpa's bun-warmer turkey hat or Grandma's cornucopia hat. Look out, Austin - next year we'll have some experienced trotters in town!

A Photo Shoot at the Lady Bird Wildflower Center

Well, I've finally done it. After taking 200+ photos in that last two weeks, I finally have a picture for our Christmas cards. The buddies are fast and it is tough catching them in the same spot for even a second. I won't spoil the fun by posting our Christmas card photos, but these are some of my other favorites from today's outing.

We met our friends Allison and Annie at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center this morning to enjoy the nice weather and take pictures. It took all three of us to manage the buddies, their stroller, and the camera. I was so grateful that they could join us! The buddies were glad too, since they had more people to charm.


They loved running down the paths and climbing on the rocks and benches. The world is one big playground for these two.

The Wildflower Center was founded in 1982 by Lady Bird Johnson and the late Helen Hayes. The center protects and preserves North America's native plants and is known as the best place to take bluebonnet photos during Spring. We'll be back to check it out.

And the Winners Are...

Katie and Grandma!!! You two have correctly identified the buddies' bottoms. Congratulations! Below is a photo taken moments later, after they stood and turned around.

Cute bottoms

Quick Poll: Which bottom belongs to Ace and which one is Ben? Leave your answers in the comments section.

Now if only I could get a picture of their cute faces for our Christmas cards...

Dear Santa...

Can you believe the buddies didn't say one word to Santa today?? Here was their chance to ask for all the toys and goodies in the world and neither made a peep. They were a little afraid of their bearded friend and certainly didn't give us a smile, but they were pretty cooperative, all things considered.

A Shout Out to Our Cousins in Helsinki!!

I spent the afternoon breaking a sweat while planting my winter flowers in 80 degree heat. So, when the buddies woke from their nap, we filled their pool in the backyard and went for a swim. Yes, it is mid-November, I'm already preparing for the holidays, and we're swimming. You gotta love Texas weather!

Later, when I logged onto my cousin's blog, I learned that her family is enjoying quite a different November experience this year. I'm not sure I would enjoy their freezing weather and blizzards, but it would be nice to find a happy medium between the two.

Hello, cousins! We miss you guys!

November in Texas

November in Helsinki

Opposites

I've been trying for days to take one good picture of each boy in a Santa hat and their favorite overalls. Ace complied during our first photo shoot and gave me a great big smile. Capturing that same excitement in Ben has proved difficult. It's not that he's not a happy little guy - he totally is. He just gets really involved in whatever he's doing and can't be persuaded to stop and smile for the camera. Whether he's driving his cars or sorting shapes or stacking blocks, he gets completely engrossed in the task.

Today, I tried yet again to get that one picture. First, I wiped the crusty booger beard off his face (his nose won't stop running and he smears it all over himself). Then, I put him in his overalls and hat. Ace still hadn't been dressed for the day and was running around in his diaper. This is what I got:


Meanwhile, Ace, who was watching the whole thing with much interest, was trying to get my attention to take his picture. He's quite the ham for the camera.

Could these two BE any more different???

A Visit With Our Dallas Friends

We enjoyed our weekend with friends, Marc, Amy, and Lane, from Dallas. The buddies were busy entertaining their new younger friend. Lane is such a good baby and just sat observing our crazy little guys all weekend. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

We'll show this picture to their girlfriends one day...

The buddies, looking to get in on Lane's snacks.

Ready to eat barbecue at Rudy's.

We LOVE going for walks. Yippee!

Our 18 Month Stats

We saw our pediatrician this morning for our 18 month well check. Both boys are recovering from a cold but otherwise are doing great! We were able to get our first round of the coveted flu vaccine and will be back next month for the second dose. Our stats are as follows:

Ace:
Height: 34", 95th percentile
Weight: 27 lbs, 10 oz, 60th percentile

Ben:
Height: 32", 50th percentile
Weight: 24 lbs, 10 oz, 30th percentile

We had a long discussion about asthma, since both boys have had breathing difficulties related to viral infections in the last month. Steve and I feel a lot better after discussing our concerns with their doctor. He does not think they have asthma, but rather that they are prone to wheezing when they have infections. We have a home nebulizer and a huge supply of xopenex, should we have problems in the future.

And the best news is we don't have to return to the pediatrician's office for a well-check for 6 months!

A Playgroup Halloween Party

The buddies have been quite the party animals lately. In the past 4 days, they've attended a Fall Picnic and two Halloween Parties. Today, they had 12 of their friends over to our house for a Playgroup Halloween Party. Their little friends enjoyed the scary haunted house in Ace and Ben's room. Then, the kids made handprint spiders and footprint ghosts. Miraculously, our house isn't covered in black and white paint. :) We served lots of spooky treats - hotdog ghosts (we borrowed the idea from Mia's party), pumpkin muffins, and chocolate cookie worms.

We all enjoyed the good company and Ace and Ben were two tired puppies by the end of the party. Check out all the great costumes here!

Mia's Disney Halloween Party

Yesterday afternoon, the buddies went to a Halloween Party at their friend Mia's house. It was an incredible party. Mia's parents, Jean and Dan, served an amazing buffet of spooky foods - hot dog ghosts, lady fingers (with red fingernails!), punch with floating ice "bones", creepy crudite, plus lots of homemade Halloween desserts.

The buddies played with Mia's toys and ran all over her big backyard. Ace learned to walk up and down stairs while holding onto the railing. I'm not sure I'm ready for him to practice this skill at home - his Dad was watching him when he tried this out at the party. They even stayed up past their bedtime, since we were all having such a good time and they were behaving so well. They are good little boys.

And... our family took home the trophy for best costumes. The buddies dressed as dalmations, Steve was Horace, the robber, and I went as Cruella DeVille.