Sunday, January 24, 2010

BT


Otherwise known as Before Twins.
I love this picture for multiple reasons. Andrew picking his nose, Maddi's smile, my freakishly big arm. But look how relaxed we are! Ah the days....
If you had told me back then that the following year we would double our kid population, I would have called you CRAZY. But it's also been one of the best things that could have happened to us. This picture is so incomplete now. We need to get new family pictures!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

A Bit of Nostalgia

There is nothing like a drive in movie. Just ask Andrew.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Nothin' like a little Child Labor...

So our children, angels that they are, are always wanting to help out especially with "grown up stuff" So when it uhhhh lightly snowed a few months back. We asked if they would be ever so kind and shovel the snow for us. Maddi gave us a wink and said they would be delighted to.


Notice where they were shoveling. Hmmm, however they DID get a lot of work done!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Twin's 4 month Check Up

Did anyone else notice the title? It was their 4 month checkup. Hmmm....the babies are almost 5 months. We got a little off on the appt scheduling (and when I say we, I mean that the dr went on a vaca and the receptionist scheduled me 3 weeks after they turned 4 months.)The dr was all impressed at how well they were doing until I pointed out that they were almost 5 months. He said, "Hmmmmm, that may make some difference but they are still ahead. Not sure how much I believed his back peddling, but thanks anyway for trying to spare my feelings(not that I don't think my children are AMAZING, cause we know that they ARE. It's just harder to get an accurate picture of where they are developmentally!) When I sheduled the next appt, I made sure it was much closer to 6 months. So we'll see!

Ellie's Stats:

13.45 lbs- 26th percentile
25 inches long- 56th percentile
17 inches, head circumference- 87th percentile

Ellie's Gross Motor development is crazy advanced. Even though she is supposed to be at least a month behind. because of her gestational age. She loves to stand and can sit on your lap without bobbing around. She's very good at grabbing toys and rattles and is especially smiley when she first wakes up. She's pretty laid back and loves laying on the floor playing with her kick gym.


Emmy's Stats

12.3 lbs- 9th percentile
25 inches long- 56th percentile
16.5 inches, head circumference- 59th percentile

Emily is way ahead socially. She smiles at ANYONE that she sees whether they are looking at her or not. She calms herself when I walk into the room or she hears my voice. She watches everything Ellie does. She's a firecracker when she gets going, but she's so happy the majority of the time! Her favorite past time is drooling. You think I'm kidding......I'm not.

Emmy's adorable drool.
(Eww mom, GROSS! No KISSING!)

Ellie was so fascinated with Maddi she would NOT look at Jesse. It was funny. She sure can concentrate, that one...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Halloween!!!!!

It's not so incredibly weird to talk about Halloween in January, is it? IS IT? ANSWER ME! Nope, I thought not.

Halloween was fun this year. We did have lots of visitors. But the more the merrier. Here is a direct quote from my sister's blog: "Once I slept in, got a pedicure and did some laundry, Julie called Lisa and invited us over for dinner. So, we went down to her house and ate sloppy joes." And then Rebecca called up. And Mandy came over. We had so much fun though. Too bad we didn't get a picture. But I DID make a mountain of sloppy joes.

I grew up eating these on Halloween. So I started the day with my making pancakes, with orange food coloring and making pumpkin faces with chocolate chips. Yeah, I ended up eating them all since my kids were weirded out. It maybe because the faces didn't turn out as well, they did look kind of demented.

Here's my two peas in a pod. Yes, I think I am clever. Emily's costume was Maddi's old one, then I found another at Target at clearance. It was so cheap (seriously, it was like $5) I decided to buy a another one so they would match better. That and the Target one was SOOO much nicer. However they didn't have the right size, so it was a no go. It's ok, I still think it worked out.
Emily was pretty awake the whole night. Elizabeth was OUT. She slept through people holding her, children running around and screaming and the doorbell ringing a zillion times.

Emily: ".........wha?"
Elizabeth: "zzzz......zz......zzzzzzz...."

"ahhh....that's better..."
"...zzzzz...zzzz..zzzzzzzzz"

Andrew:"Why are they dressed like legumes?"
Maddi:" I feel like throwup" (direct quote)
Emily " Wait!!! there isn't any food coming out of this! Is this a cruel joke?"

Elizabeth:" zzzz.z......zzzzz.......zzzzzz....snort....z.....zzzzz.."

Madalyn:" I may feel like throw up but I REALLY like my costume and pumpkins!"
Andrew:"I actually wanted to be Lightening McQueen. I just realized that."

Madalyn: " Daddy, I really want to go Trick-or-Treating. But I feel like throwup. Can you pull me in the wagon? OHHH LOOK AT MY TIGHTS!"
Andrew: "I TOLD them I wanted to be Lightening McQueen. I told them like three times"

Mandy, so cute.
Elizabeth " zzzzz......zzz....zzzz.....zzz..."



Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Open Letter


Dear Happy Sumo,

Oh what have you done.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would like sushi, I would have called you crazy. Oh how ignorant and short-sighted I was. And how MUCH I was missing out. It wasn't that I didn't like seafood. Quite the opposite. It started with fish sticks as a kid, worked my way into fried shrimp and then shrimp scampi. I have gone up from there. I would say up until I was introduced to sushi, Lobster was a definite high point. OH! and the BBQ salmon I had in Seattle when we bought a fresh one from Pikes Place and our friend's mom cooked it. Changed my life.

When my roommate first offered me some of her homemade sushi, I hid my gag right before I put it in my mouth (I'm sorry Kamalani, I love you. BTW, I still make your egg rolls as they are divine.) looking back on it, it was actually quite good. It was just the preconceived IDEA of it.

(And Mollie, I'm sorry darlin' that I scoffed when you bought the "How to make your own Sushi" book at the book fair at UVU. The book even came with it's own bamboo mat. If I had known then, what I know now, I would have bought one too.)

But oh, when Brad and Ashley invited us to dine at Riverwoods with you, I was skeptical. However, much to my relief. I was pregnant with Maddi at the time, and couldn't possibly partake of any sushi. And so, I was saved from any awkward questions or situations. So under that guise I safely ordered the Teriyaki Chicken with Tempura vegetables. It was divine. However, my dinner-mates were all drooling and ooohhhing and awwwing. What could possibly be so incredible? Jesse had ordered a fully cooked roll and so I bravely asked if I could see what all the fuss was about. Ohhhhhh man. It was a surf and turf roll. Steak and crab with green onion, cooked in Tempura. It was heaven in my mouth. I felt joyous and empowered. I was no longer scared of this new concept.

After having Maddi, it was my turn to plan Valentines Day. I choose you. I was so confident with my decision. But I had no idea how awesome it would be. We asked for recommendations and we ended up trying the Vegas Roll and the Sunset Roll. Amazing.

When you created the VIP club, we jumped at the chance to join. Little did we know how ominous that decision would be.

Fast forward and here we are. We received your monthly newsletter and VIP club calender. We noticed that Tuesday was Twofer night (two for one or half off). And so, we met up with Brad and Ashley and their young-un Magnum. (completely adorable by the way) . Four adults and five kids. Wow have times changed.

We all loved the Edamame, even the kids. Although Andrew was pretending they were cars and making vroom vroom noises and pushing them around before eating them. The kids loved their Bento Box they shared. They ate ALL the Tempura veggies, Teriyaki chicken, rice and crispy thingeys. And most impressive, they insisted on doing it all with chopsticks. It was amazing. Andrew is only 3, but he was able to eat his dinner, it was messy, but he did it. These are life skills here folks.

Jesse and I went absolutely crazy and decided to try some new rolls while getting some of our favorites. Since we couldn't decide between some, we ended up ordering FIVE rolls. That's right you heard me. No shame here. FIVE rolls. The Vegas, The Jezabelle, The Rockstar, The Panko Popper and The Bacon Crunch. Last time it was Twofer we ordered 4 and we took home left overs. BUT we figured leftovers were fine. However, it was so divine, we (gulp) ATE......THEM................ALLLLLLL!!!!!

However as it turns out Andrew DID help. But STILL!

So here I sit, completely full, and yet, strangely satisfied and not completely disgusted with myself for shamelessly eating so much.

So Happy Sumo, tell me....

HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

Sincerely,

Me.


Jesse's graduation dinner. The WHOLE family fit in the TINY restaurant! 25 people.
See how HAPPY Rebecca looks? It's because she just tasted heaven. And look at Grandma, she LOVES it.

*UPDATE* I just weighed myself this morning and I have lost a pound. What sort of DARK Magic IS this, Happy Sumo?

Monday, January 18, 2010

Carving Pumpkins!!!!

What says Halloween more than carving a freezing cold gourd-like squash (thanks wikipedia) and pulling all it's innards out and then scraping it's insides. It's dirty, slimy, smelly, and we do it every year? Hmmmm interesting...

We didn't know it at the time but Maddi was starting to not feel well at the time and almost didn't go Trick-or-Treating. You can tell just looking at her face, she's not feeling so hot. Two days later, the dr confirmed that she pneumonia. Ahhhh....fun.
Why is it in every photo, it looks like Andrew is taking a mug shot? I swear he DOES smile. A LOT!
I think how we choose to carve our pumpkins says a lot about how we were feeling at that particular moment. This is Jesse's. Hmmmmm....guesses?
Here's mine. Keep in mind the twins were barely a month old. Is it a yawn? A scream? Any guesses?
Madalyn's.

Andrew'sElizabeth's
Emily's
One big Happy Family! uhhhhh.... of Pumpkins!

spoooooookkkkkyyyy!!!!!