Friday, December 26, 2008

Happy Holidays

Well, our Christmas was great and white! The family loves snow, B, myself and the girls. This was the year to enjoy the weather especially because B was on vacation. It snowed for days on our hill, my only word for this was INCREDIBLE! We were able to drive everywhere with Brian's car that is truly a snow machine and the girls played outside several times.


Christmas Day: While the girls were not jumping for joy at the site of gifts, we think they had an awareness of something special. And, if nothing else they always enjoy an all day grazing on food. As we opened their girfts the girls played with their toys and some of their clothes. While they preoccupied them selves Brian and I were able to open our gifts without too much interruption. For whatever reason we believe that some items should be adorned as presents are opened (as you'll see in a couple of the video's).


In the video they have their new furry coats on, with morning jammies underneath and thier new monkey slippers. They are listening to their musical christmas cards and dancing to their own tune.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

November Updates

Halloween was fun. Both girls were extremely mesmerized by our candy bowl and if you've ever had a toddler, you know that everything within grabbing distance is fair game for the mouth! Samantha had her hands all over the twix bars, as fast as I could put the candy back she had another in her hand. Eventually, I gave up and that's when she chewed through the wrapper and managed to take a large chunk of caramel. We had to check each bar for bite marks!

The girls were able to do some trick or treating. They greeted three neighbors in their costumes, walking almost completely on their own. They would walk to the door, wave at the home owner, and quickly determine what fun decoration they could play with before being dragged away by their parents.

Thanksgiving was great. This year we ate at the kitchen table together and we had enough food for twenty. Brian and I managed to make an excellent meal for the family while the smaller 1/2 of the family was demanding our attention at every moment. It was great - we grazed all day (the girls prefer this method of eating) and they had a lot of variety to choose from. Samantha's favorite was stuffing and Michaela liked the black olives!


The girls are just over a year old, and developing fast. They are talking, using baby sign language and trying to help out with everything. They throw their diapers away, they help to empty the dishwasher and they are learning how to wash their hands. It's amazing to see how quickly they learn because the language is making sense and they understand how to follow direction (when they want to).

Love of all things music. The girls know all the "moves" to wheels on the bus - and their animation makes it cute as heck! Patty Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Thumpkin are more favorites. Both really enjoy music, and love to dance. The visual goes like this...imagine an iddy bitty methodically swaying their hips side to side while intermittently doing squats, then add the occasional head bang. It's a treat!

Below is a video from a couple months ago and it's my favorite. They are playing in the corner of the living room next to the toy box and they began to banter with each other. Typically it's impossible to film them because as soon as I whip out the camera they stop (as soon as I reach for the camera). I could not help but continue filming until Samantha almost pulls down the plant.