Annapolis

We were so busy last week with Renee and Jon here but we had tons and tons of fun! We did touristy things all week, spent hours and hours playing with the boys, ate lots of food and plenty of desserts too, taught Renee and Jon how to play Settlers and Ticket to Ride (and got them hooked on both!), went to church, went to Good Stuff and saw Top Chef Spike, and rested alot (they wore us out!) They saw pretty much everything Marine-related in all of DC, they even got to see the Marine Band parade on Friday night! We stayed home because it was after the boys' bedtime but I really want to see this one day, I hear it's really cool! They also made it to all of the main tourist sites (including the Holocaust Museum, the day before the shooting). We had a great week and the boys loved spending time with their Auntie Nene and Uncle Jon, they just ADORED all the attention they got!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Annapolis to see the Naval Academy on Saturday. It was a really nice day and I'm glad we got out of the city because it was much cooler on the bay in Annapolis than in the swamp known as the District of Columbia.

Annapolis

Uncle Jon and Auntie Nene

Jack in Daddy's arms

This is their new favorite activity... my arms are going to look like Kelly Ripa's in no time!!

Cullen and Auntie Nene

Their first experience with grass, they really liked it!

They loved pulling out fistfuls of grass and trying to eat it. Later that night, I found grass inside their clothes and inside Jack's diaper. Guess they wanted to keep some to play with later :-)

Jack fell over, so Cullen tried to help him up

Look who's standing up! They may have zero balance whatsoever but these boys sure are strong!!

Jackson and Mommy... look at that face, they're so cute it just kills me!!

A family photo, we don't have many of these

This is inside the Capitol building in Annapolis

This is George Washington's resignation letter

The Legacy Lives On

So the Lakers won their 15th NBA championship on Sunday night. My dad is one happy guy right now! He told me at the beginning of the season that the Lakers would win it all because each year that one of us girls was born, the Lakers were the NBA champions (except for poor Anna, they lost in the finals to Detroit that year). So, since his first grandsons were born this season, of course the Lakers would win... and they did!

Coincidence? I think not. Apparently, babies are tied to Lakers championships in my family (or at least trips to the finals). Time will only tell if this tradition continues...

Cullen playing with his favorite toy

Jackson Yelling

This is their newest conversation skill, they've graduated from grunting all the time to yelling. It was pretty funny, a few weeks ago they realized that if they open their mouths really wide, they can make new cool sounds and ever since that's all they want to do. I took them to the mall last week and they were yelling (happily) the whole time. They called out to people walking by and got even more attention than usual - I didn't even know that was possible. Also, if you say "aaahh" to them, they'll mimic it (hence all the funny adult voices in the video):

Jack doesn't want to be outdone by his little bro

As I was finishing that last post, I heard grunting coming from the living room. (By now, I can tell the difference between normal grunts and pooping grunts). I rushed in there, grabbed Jack and took him straight to the changing table. Too late- he had already blown through his diaper. *Sigh* Yep, we're definitely taking another bath tonight.

Anyways, I stripped him down and wiped everywhere, threw his clothes and the soiled changing pad cover in the hamper and then sat him up to wipe his back. He saw the pack of wipes in front of him and started playing with them. I tried letting go and to my surprise, he didn't fall over! I guess the curved sides of the changing pad helped him to balance, either that or he just really wanted to play with the diaper wipes. He looks like he's well on his way to sitting up too! I snapped these cute pics of him sitting up naked, I'm sure 15 years from now, he'll really appreciate that I posted these.

Sitting Up - Almost!

All of these following pictures are of Cullen. I'm not sure if it's because he's slightly bigger than Jack or if he just has better balance but he's getting to be quite skilled at sitting up by himself. He loves to practice too, if I lay him down he instantly gets mad and starts grunting and straining to sit up. They usually do everything only a few days apart so I'm sure Jack will follow shortly. Right now, though, Jack falls over almost instantaneousely. Anyways, here's some pictures of Cullen from a few days ago. I think you can tell from the pictures that he was much more slumped forward then. Now, he is working at sitting up straighter and can often hold it for several seconds before falling over.

Look at me Mom!! I'm a big boy!!

Wobbling back and forth

Oooh, feet, my favorite!!!

Jack: "Hmmph, Cullen thinks he's so cool because he can sit up. Big deal!"

Oooh, I see a kitty! I have a much better view from here!

These pictures are from today

Getting better

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Sitting straight up

Wobbling again

Falling backwards. Don't worry Cullen, just try again!

P.S. If you click on this last picture and enlarge it, you can see Cullen's shocked face as he falls. Those big eyes are pretty funny!

Another Monday

The boys' nap schedule is totally thrown off by church on Sunday so they're always extra tired and cranky on Mondays. They usually take longer naps but are much fussier when they're awake. Today, they've taken two naps for a combined total of 5 1/2 hours and are still sleeping! I spent most of that time cleaning because my sister and BIL arrive tonight. Yay! We're in for a fun week!

One of my old co-workers who has a 10 month old son stopped by for a visit today. We had lunch and played with the babies but they all started to have melt-downs around the same time so she left and my boys went down for their second nap. Cullen also had a massive blowout while they were here and is badly needing another bath (he had just gotten one this morning). He seriously had poop up to his shoulders inside his shirt and when I tried to get the shirt off, it smeared all over his hair and arms. Then he rubbed his arms all over his belly and face- of course! He got an anti-bacterial wipe "bath" right then and there but will get another real bath when he wakes up from his nap.

Oh, and I am now officially dreading the day when my boys start crawling and grabbing for things. Right now, I have it so easy. We just relax on the couch or floor all day smiling, tickling and playing with stuffed animals. They watch tv with me, blog with me, or just sit there happily playing while I clean or eat. Soon though, they'll be scooting around the house pulling books off the bookshelf, breaking things, grabbing for my food, eating my cell phone/remote control, and bashing each other in the head with their toys. (Don't worry, the visiting little boy did not do those things, although he probably would have if his mama hadn't prevented him). But as I watched her trying to constrain her son I imagined myself trying to control both Jack and Cullen and it made my head spin. Even watching her get out the door was crazy because he was squirming all over the place and did not want to be carried. It's hard enough getting them out the door now without any squirming, running away or crying. I can not even begin to imagine the hopeless situations that await me in the coming months.

But the silver lining is that I have gotten my reality check and I am determined to soak up these glorious next few weeks/months of having immobile babies. I figure I only have another 3 months - tops- so I want to enjoy my time of rest before the craziness begins. Oh! Another silver lining: I bet I will burn about a bazillion calories a day chasing after them and playing with them so hopefully I can finally shed those last 5 pounds and lose the infamous post-pregnancy 'pooch' on my stomach!

Go ahead, call me a fair-weather fan, but my family will disown me if I don't give a shout out to our beloved Lakers. Last night, they trounced the Magic 100-75 in the first play off game. Kobe completely dominated with 40 points. Sounds like a good start to me!

Go Lakers!!!

Can't Sleep

I can't sleep right now so I'm in the living room watching last week's Bachelorette and all of a sudden, coming from the bedroom, I hear a very high-pitched voice singing "I don't want to wait... for our lives to be over..."

Is he singing the Dawson's Creek theme song in his sleep?!?!


Update: Apparently, he can't sleep either. So he's playing Sudoku and singing the Dawson's theme song to himself. Oh that husband of mine, he never ceases to make me laugh!

Bible Study Adventures

I decided to attend the women's bible study for the first time this morning but it was nothing less than a 3-ring circus getting the boys there! It took me the usual 30 minutes to get them out the door and loaded in the car, but that was nothing compared to getting them from the car to the church. I got there 5 minutes early and I was ultra-proud of myself because I'm never on time for anything, ever. I started unloading the stroller and bags and then suddenly I realized that all the entrances to the church are only accessible by stairs- I couldn't use the stroller which is the way I normally get anywhere by myself with the boys. So, I stand there in the church parking lot for a few minutes trying to come up with a solution that doesn't involve me leaving one of the boys alone outside in the hot car. I decide to just wait for somebody else to drive up and help me inside, hoping that that somebody wouldn't have any kids of their own to carry. Of course, the only person to arrive is a mother of toddler twins who also happens to be pregnant. I felt terrible having to ask her to lug my child inside but I didn't know if anybody else would come along, so I did. Thankfully, she was happy to help and her children were well-behaved and didn't run away while she had her hands full.

So, I'm finally inside the church, the pregnant lady graciously carries Jack up 3 flights of stairs (seriously, how nice is that?? I could barely get myself up 3 flights of stairs when I was pregnant). We get to the nursery and I look inside and there are at least 20 kids all under the age of 4 running around and only 3 women to watch them. Jack and Cullen were the only babies who couldn't at least crawl around or play by themselves. I thought about bringing a couple of bouncers over for them to sit in but felt bad because there were already way too many kids up there in the first place. So, I decided to take them downstairs and keep them with me during the bible study. They're usually quiet and happy as long as they're being held and often sit with us during Sunday church services. The only problem was getting them back down to the main floor of the church...

The pregnant lady had to take her kids to the bathroom, so she handed Jack off to one of the childcare volunteers. I then took Cullen downstairs and enlisted another woman to carrry a bouncer down to the bible study. It had already started so we tried not to disturb anybody but Cullen was not excited about being put into a bouncer (They're in the phase where they don't like to lay down at all, they think they're such big boys and only like to sit up nowadays). So the woman who had carried the bouncer down took Cullen for me so I could run and get Jack and bring him downstairs. I was seriously sweating and out of breath by the time I finally sat down for the bible study (and 15 minutes late at that point) and felt like the biggest disturbance ever, but from that point on, everything went great! The boys were quiet for the most part and just sucked on their hands or pacis. Right before it ended they fell asleep and slept the whole way home.

So, in the end, I'm glad I went but I think I'll call a friend and have her meet me in the parking lot next week!

Also, by popular demand, here are a few recent pictures:

Jack and I just hanging out on the couch. So what if it's 3 pm and I'm still in my sweats, don't judge me!

Jack eating his froggy rattle

Cullen sitting up like a big boy

He lasted for about 5 minutes before falling over, he then stayed in this position for another 5 minutes snuggling with his bear blankie and trying to eat his own feet.

They were smiling immediately before this picture. They always smile at me but as soon as I put up the camera to take a picture they stop smiling. You can read the confusion on Cullen's face, "Where'd my mom go? I see her body but what's that weird black thing covering her face?"

Cullen Laughing

California

We had SUCH a good time in California! At first I was a little nervous since I was traveling all by myself with the twins, but they did sooo well on the airplane. Not to brag or anything, but not only do I have the cutest kids in the world (in my opinion) but they're also incredibly well-behaved! They both have such easy temperaments and rarely cry unless they're hungry or overtired. Even when they 'cry' it's really more like fussing most of the time.

We had two seats so I held one in my lap and put one in the car seat next to me. The first flight was in the morning and they were wide awake for most of it but only got fussy a few times. When that happened, I just switched them up and held the fussing one, who usually settled down within a few seconds. They played with their toys and looked out the window and smiled at the person sitting next to us. (I would have given anything to know what went through that person's mind when they first sat down next to me and my 4 month old twins, they must have thought they were in for the worst flight of their life!) But the boys charmed both of our seatmates who eventually were practically begging me to hold them. The flight attendants even told me that they had never seen such calm and quiet babies on a flight before. They were so good to us too, they helped me load all the gear onto the plane (by far the most difficult part of traveling alone) and were constantly offering to hold the boys if I needed to use the bathroom. They helped me make bottles and dimmed the lights once when I needed to rock Cullen to sleep in the back. And my stroller made getting through the airport a breeze. The carseat that I took on the plane just snapped into the front seat of the stroller, I stowed all of our carry-on bags in the storage basket under the seats and it even has a cup holder for my Starbucks. There I was, strolling through the airport, sipping on my latte and laughing to myself at all of the sympathetic looks I was getting!

And of course, once we landed in LA, I had more than enough help from all of the eager grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts and uncles, extended family and family friends that were waiting for us! We took it easy all week, mainly hanging out at my Mom's apartment by the pool. The weather was perfect! And the boys really seemed to like their pool floats I got for them. Whenever they got bored, there were more than enough volunteers to sit in the shade with them so that I could lay in the sun.

We also took the boys to Disneyland twice, once on Friday afternoon and once on Tuesday afternoon. They were much more interested in it this time around and didn't sleep the entire time either. They even went on their first ride, It's a Small World! As far as I could tell, they enjoyed it too, they were looking all around at the bright colors and moving characters and hearing the happy music.

Besides the pool and Disneyland, we didn't do much else. It was a really fun, relaxing week filled with lots of admirers for the boys and lots of good food for Mommy! Below are tons of pictures from our trip:

They finally got to meet their Uncle Jon, and he obviously has the magic touch with babies :-)

Cullen splashing in the pool with Mommy

Jack (if you click on the picture, you'll see that he's raising one eyebrow. I wonder where he got that from?)

Jackson loving the pool

Mommy loving the sunshine

Cullen (yes that's technically a girl's float, but what if we have a girl someday? She'll need a pool float too!)

Auntie Rachel on the Disneyland tram with her boys

Their first ever Disneyland ride!

My Mom bought them these cute onesies (which are size 18 months, but she couldn't resist trying them on) and those ridiculously cute sunglasses. We all laughed so hard when we first put those on their faces!

My Mom also kept up with the tradition of bathing them every single night (which is way more often than they get bathed at home). I figure once they start eating food next month and sitting up then they'll need daily baths, until then, I'll continue being lazy...

Seeing Tigger for the first time

This is another 4 generations picture. The boys, me, my Mom and her Dad.

All of us with Grandma Sue

My mom caught this cute moment where they're holding hands

Aunt Nene with her boys

Grandma Sue

Their Great-grandpa Dennis

My mom and her best friend, Debbie