Maryland Vacation

Adam had six weeks off for school so we decided to go to Maryland to visit my parents in January. Bradley and Kiersten were so tired because they woke up at 3 am and didn't go back to sleep for more than 15 min at a time until we had arrived in Maryland. That night they slept in until 10 AM!! Getting them on East Coast time was a breeze! Getting them to stop waking up at 5 am when we got home- still working on that a week later....
The first weekend we were there My Dad and the four of us went to Williamsburg Va for a few days. It was very cold and snowed a little but while we were walking around the town.
I really wanted a picture of Bradley and Kiersten in the stalks in Williamsburg but my Dad didn't take that great of a picture...maybe next time? The lens got a snowflake on it and and made the pictures blurry.
Walking around was VERY COLD and Bradley refused to wear his gloves so he has bright red freezing cold hands. But despite the cold they are very happy to be out and about. We tried to pet the horses that draw the carriages around but one decided that Kiersten's fingers would be a very nice treat and pulled her glove off with his teeth. He scared her death and she of course started screaming so we said goodbye to the horses so we wouldn't startle them. Her fingers weren't hurt but were cold so after I warmed them up she was happy again.
The next day we visited Norfolk Naval Base in Va. and took a bus tour of the base. When someone is stationed at the base they are required to take turn at the tour station. Our guy wasn't very thrilled but he did make a lot jokes which makes it more interesting. I even saw a Tim Horton's on base- Canadian Starbucks...
Afterwards we went back to Williamsburg and went to Outlet malls! Wahoo! My dad's Christmas gift to the twins was a small shopping spree at Carters. We got some new cute Sunday clothes : )
But probably my favorite part of Williamsburg was the Target that had at LEAST 30% (if not more!!) of its stock on clearance. I have a very big weakness to clearance items...thank goodness we couldnt fit everything I wanted into our suitcases! I would have been in trouble!! But I did get some cute new Elmo slippers for each of them and some other small things...

The next weekend we went to Washington DC and toured the capital building.
Kiersten threw a fit because it was cold....

Did you know that there are armed security officers with Machine guns at the capital??? Took me back a little. The capital was great. We go to church with our Congressman so we were able to get tickets for the gallery of house and senate. Unfortunatly their office was on a staff retreat so we didn't get a one on one tour while we were there but did go to a group instead.Bradley being patriotic in the gift shop.

After the Capital we went to the Bureau of Engravings and learned how they print money. That day they were working on $20's and $1's. In the gift shop there is a sign on the wall showing what you would be worth standing next to a pallet of $100 bills. We couldn't resist the kids pictures being taken....


















The last weekend of the trip my stepmom Kelly and I had a girl's day out. It was a lot of fun! We got our toes done, went out to eat, and went shopping at several stores.I have never painted my toes anything other than pink or red so this was a fun big change.

After that I waited in town (45 min away from my parents house in the middle of NOWHERE) and met up with Adam and we had a date night! It was GREAT! We saw the latest Narnia movie in theaters and then we went to Applebees for dinner. About after 5 minutes of eating, a couple started to set up a kareoke system on the other side of the petition from us about 2 feet away. We had the same thought- Uhoh! Eat fast so we don't have to be stuck listening to drunks!! The best thing about the kareoke being set up was that when they lifted the speaker it directly blocked Adam's view to the TV where the game was playing : ) Made concentration a little easier.
We flew home on Thursday after that and kids had a rougher time flying home than getting there. We did a lot of walking up and down in the aisle this trip...probably annoyed a lot of people since the aisles are soo small. We had a layover in SLC going and coming and the first layover was great- had time to use the restroom, change, get food, and run around the terminal and play. Coming home was different! We were delayed being taxied in and so we had 10 minutes to get from one side of the airport to the other. I had to run to keep up with Adam who was pushing the stroller. We got to our new terminal about 5 minutes after the boarding was suppose to start but wouldn't you know it- they were behind schedule too... We made it home safe and that's all that matters.

Sorry it was quite a long post but that was our Awesome vacation to Maryland! Thanks for sticking the stories out!

Our Christmas

So I don't think we have a picture of our decorated tree like promised in the last post- sorry! We had a train that went around the base of our tree and the twins LOVED it! Bradley was a little afraid of it at first because it was very noisy but then he warmed up to it. We had a small Christmas for the four of us a few days before Christmas and then we headed down to Modesto for the week.

Bradley, Eli, Jackson, and Kiersten on Christmas Eve
We kept saying "Say Cheese!" and Bradley kept saying back-"tree? tree?"


We saw my three sisters and their two cousins and the kids met my Mom for the first time . Kiersten and Jackson reading a book with my Mom.

We spent Christmas Eve day and Christmas morning with Adam's parents in Oakdale. We spent Christmas Eve Night in the Emergency Room for a very very sick little boy. You know, it never matters why we go to the dr, they always spring back from their death bed the second they get in the car. When we got to the waiting room he started climbing chairs and running around with more energy then he had the last two days combined. " So what's wrong with him? Well he WAS lethargic..."
On Christmas night my in-laws lost power AGAIN! Both years we have been at their place for Christmas they have had terrible rain and no power! So we stayed at our friends Tommy and Laurie Scott's and had a fun night of watching netflix and played couples skip-bo while the kids slept like logs.
We went home the next morning because Kiersten was starting to get sick now and if Bradley was a cranky sick boy Heaven help us! Kiersten gets very cranky when she is sick.

Our Christmas Tree Adventure.

We decided to cut our own tree down in Butte Meadows this year. Its only half an hour away and a permit is just $10- should be fun. I HATED it! There were so many times I just wanted to quit and go home and buy a tree but the permit said no refunds so on we went...
It was soo snowy up there! We had to stop the van about half mile before the chopping area and walk up hill to where we could start looking. Once we got there we had to walk another 1/2 mile or more to find a decent tree that had been combed through by tons of people already. The snow was so bad that even trucks with AWD and chains were skidding and getting stuck- and that was on the plowed road too!

We finally gave up and got a thinner tree than we wanted so we could turn back and go home. The kids were cold and tired of the snow and refused to walk so we had to carry them and drag the tree back too- it was an adventure!! Adam put Kiersten up on his shoulders and tied the tree around his waist to drag behind him and I carried Bradley. Getting the tree home was almost as an adventure as finding the stupid thing! We had to pull over a few times and re-tie it once coming down the hill.Here is Adam cutting down our tree.

Adam dragging our tree back and carrying Kiersten
sorry the picture is blurry. Some snow got on the lens and melted.
Bradley and me walking back to our car.

He kept pulling my hair and taking my glasses off. I haven't been able to find my contact case in over a week because the kids hid it somewhere in the house....Darn hooligans : )

So here is our tree before it is decorated- We haven't gotten the time to do that yet. It is not the type of tree I normally like but its better than what I remembered up the hill. I'll post a picture of our finished project later.

First big ouwie.

So I thought we were having a rough day on Wednesday and how could it get worse? Adam left for school before any of us woke up and he wouldn't get home till about 7 that night. It was a long day with crabby kids, problems with the apartment ( I am starting to hate this place), and we were all ready for Daddy to get home. So about 5 minutes before Adam got home Bradley was walking towards the kitchen and he stepped on a book on the linoleum and he slipped and hit his head in the book shelf. I got up to grab a pacifier because I knew it would comfort him and when I came back his eye was bleeding and he was still holding his breath. I first wanted to freak out and lose it but amazingly I calmed down and called Adam who was 5 minutes from home. So I packed a bag to entertain Bradley and got myself mentally prepared for a long ER visit with a screaming wiggly toddler.
But the visit was actually the opposite! He was so happy to be out of the house and to spend time alone with Mommy. We checked in and then sat down. I tried to get him to stay still and read a book but he wanted to play so he walked laps around the waiting room and waved to everyone he saw. Everyone loved him- especially the nurses! I mean, how often do you get a cute a red head toddler in for stitches that isnt screaming and is really happy?? He only cried for about 10 minutes the entire time and that's when we swaddled him tight and did the stitches.
So because he cut his eyelid right under his eyebrow, they couldn't put surgical glue or steri-strips on it so he has two tiny stitches. The Dr only wants them in for 5 days unlike normal stitches which are 10-14 days.
Kiersten enjoyed the time alone with Adam and she made him sit on the floor with her the entire time and read her book after book.

Not happy with Santa...

We took the kids a couple of weeks ago to Coscto to meet Santa. They were mad at us because we wouldn't let them explore the tree and get into trouble elsewhere. When we handed them to Santa it was like we had committed the ultimate sin against them. They screamed and screamed and wiggled and I was suprised we had gotten as good as a picture as we did.
So I thought, no big deal, two more opportunities to meet Santa.
We went to our Twins club Christmas party on Saturday and Santa was going to be there. I let Bradley and Kiersten mingle with the other kids right next to Santa to get them use to him and they were the last ones up in his lap. Did it work out this time? Well, see for your self...
We still have one more chance this Friday...

being silly and growing up fast

When we eat dinner they love to be silly and play with our bowls and spoons. Last week they wore our bowls like hats. Bradley's bowl fell off of his head while I was taking a picture and it turned out really cute. They refuse to wear bibs so we just strip them down to eat and they are happy as clams to be in just a diaper.
They eat almost everything we eat now and they don't like baby food anymore. Kiersten's favorite food is yogurt bites. When she sees the bag she gets all excited and does everything she can to get ahold of it. Walking by the baby aisle in the store and seeing dozens of bags of them is a huge tease! She starts screaming and tries to climb out of the cart to get them.

Bradley loves bananas and will eat one in less than a minute. I will give him one then go take care of Kiersten and when I turn around his banana is gone! I sometimes lift the tray and search the floor because I don't believe he could have eaten it that fast.
Kiersten had a huge teething spurt and got six teeth in two weeks- we were all miserable for her.
She now has 11 teeth and Bradley has 10. I can't wait for them to be finished cutting all of their molars.
They both walk very well now and rarely will crawl. Poor Kiersten walks like a drunken sailor and go back wards to both sides and then forward to get places. She couldn't walk a straight line to save her life! I try to let them walk to the car but one always runs for the dumpster and the other runs to tear the plants up the other way.
Its getting easier to take them to the park by myself now because they are more interested in playing on the slides then eating the bark and acorns on the ground.
Bradley knows 7 words now. He can say ball, train, uh oh, Ow, daddy, duck and quack. Kiersten only knows Uh oh and Ow. They babble all the time in their own language and are starting to follow commands. They are starting to get the concept of clean up and stack toys in their bins. We have been teaching them to fold their arms to pray and its a lot easier at home then at church! At home we say "prayer time!" And they put their hands together- but at church they scream as loud as they can and forget what to do- we are still working on it.

Bradley's First words

We have a few toys that work better on the linoleum than on the carpet so on Friday I cleared the dining area floor and put the table in the living room so we could play. We have a toy train that pops balls out and the train rolls and sings when you press a button.
So Bradley grabs one of the balls while I was still getting toys out and he says Ball and put the ball in the train. I drop what I was doing and said Ball? Ball?
And he looked at me and smiled like - yea Mom, I know you want me to say it again but you know I wont!
So this morning the kids were playing with our Duck bag dispenser that you keep in the diaper bag and then Bradley said- duck! And then of course we couldn't get him to say it again... so we had to run an errand before I dropped Adam off at school and when we were putting the kids back into the car Bradley saw the duck again ( he brought it with him into the van) and then said- Duck! Quack! Quack!
We started laughing and playing with the duck and he kept quacking- it was soo cute! Kiersten wanted to join in on the fun and said over and over duh duh- so close to duck! I almost want to count that as her first word because she hasn't said anything yet.