Almost fifteen months old...it is so hard to believe! Everyday is a new surprise with these babies...they constantly amaze me with the connections they are making. Cale is the sweetest baby boy....today his sissy was crying after she fell down, and he tried to give her his paci to make her feel better. We were sitting on the floor and I was trying to help her stop crying...when Cale crawled on my knee behind her and tried to hug her. He couldn't stand that she was crying. He is babbling so much now, although most of what comes out of his mouth sounds like "dat", "gus", "geesh"...maybe they mean something, but I'm not sure what! He is fast as lightning, but only on his knees. Still no interest in walking, but I have no worries about this boy. He understands everything I am saying, and knows the names of all his toys. He likes climbing the steps at Mimi and Popo's house, loves his bath, loves to dance and listen to music. He LOVES to eat, and gleefully gobbles everything we give him. He loves me (which I love) but cries when I leave a room (which I don't love). He says "uh-oh" all day long, and "dada" of course. He tries to say other words, but doesn't like to be prompted to say them...he wants to do it on his own. He is in to everything, and loves to make a mess...every chance he gets he grabs the newspaper from where his high chair sits, and throws it all over the floor. (then laughs) I can tell already he is going to be so smart, and kind hearted, and so much fun...

Hayden is a hilarious mess...she is getting better and better at her walking every day, and is so proud of her new squeaky sandals. She loves to pull the bows off of them, which I didn't anticipate, but am not surprised about! She is saying "night-night", "dada", "diaper" (which comes out "diapah"...like she's from Boston) "hi!" (to anyone who looks at her). She makes everyone around her laugh....in stores, restaurants...she loves to pretend, (especially like she is asleep) loves playing with her purse, loves listening to books. She eats a ton at breakfast, and then not much the rest of the day. She points out her hair, but still gets other body parts mixed up! When she falls down and hurts herself, she gets so mad she tries to bite me...but I totally understand that. When I hurt myself, I'd like to bite someone, too. She is learning how to give kisses, and sometimes when you try to put her down, she hangs on so tight that you can let go of her completely and she is still hanging on your side. She has four times the personality of an average kid, I am convinced. She is so clever and funny....she is going to be the best kind of handful to ever have the privilege to have to "deal with".

Both babies are blowing kisses, love playing with their bathtub basketball game, love dogs....They love being out and about, and are so good in restaurants and stores. They love crawling in tiny places, even though mommy sometimes has to help "rescue" them. They love to chase each other, and sometimes have little practice "fights" when they both want the same toy. (I am sure we have more of those ahead of us) They are so easy to smile or laugh, and are still amazing sleepers. We are so lucky to have been given these sweet and easy babies....I am loving this age and can't wait for what's to come....

Our weekend was busy...besides taking our family pictures...we hung out in southtown, ate at Mad Hatters for lunch (yum!)....went to a cookout Saturday night (sans babies)....saw a movie....went to Parks' third birthday party...busy, busy, busy! The cookout was at our friends from church's house. We managed to visit a while and have a few burgers before I talked to my mom and heard both babies screaming in the background! We headed home to get them into bed...they weren't "sick" really, but had runny noses. I think they were just conjested enough to make falling asleep hard, and they are getting to that age where they don't like their routine being jacked with. They finally went to bed just fine after we came home and settled them down. Shawn and I headed back out to see "The Dark Knight"...or so we thought...the movie was literally showing twenty different times that day, and the ONE showing we were there for was sold out. We ended up seeing "Stepbrothers" with Will Farrell, which is sort of funny...kinda like a really long Saturday Night Live skit. As usual, we were hysterically cracking up at parts that the rest of the theatre didn't seem to enjoy as much. We were just grateful to be out seeing a movie, so I think we would have been happy watching previews for an hour and a half.
Sunday we went to the Zunkers' for Parks' third b-day....Parks' mommy always throws the best parties....they had a jumpy castle (which my kids actually enjoyed a little), hot dogs, yummy cake....we had a great time visiting with friends, but our kids weren't really in the cooperating mood. They were grumpy and nose runny, and cried whenever one of us walked off. We had a little break when we put them in their little portable high chairs and gave them trail mix. They loved their first (and messy) taste of M&M's! Cale enjoyed feeding three quarters of his hot dog to Mally, their dog. (I kept wondering why he was eating his bites so fast...until I looked down and saw Mally licking his fingers and him laughing!) Finally we decided it was time to pack it up, after Hayden fell down and ate a dirt sandwich for like the fourth time, and dissolved into a fit of hysterics. Last night was one night when those babies REALLY needed their bath. They were covered in gravel, chocolate, sweat, boogers, icing....it was a long eventful day for them, and you could tell it by looking at them! It is a lot of work chasing after two babies....this age is crazy. They don't like being penned up in a play yard, or being held the whole time, but they are still too little (and put way to much in their mouths) to let them play on their own without following one inch behind them. We spent the whole party trying to listen to adult conversation with one ear, while our eyes were on the babies as they ate leaves and fed stuff to the dog. Fun weekend aside, I am now in aggressive remodeling mode. That means we are harassing them to get our loan closed sooner, and I am actively looking for sinks, fixtures, tile....I am going to be good to go the minute those people close our loan....

More new pics....

I am doing the babies' playroom in really bright colors, so if we ever actually start or finish remodeling our house, these pictures will look really amazing in there, against bright walls. I am excited to see them in print!

Our friend Brandi is starting a photography business, and we met her today to take some new pics of our brood. Shawn had scoped out some cool photo spots at Pearl, and we thought it would be neat to take some there....It's a combination of old crumbling buildings, and new construction, so we found some really interesting places to shoot. Of course, it was sweaty as crap....and the babies only cooperated for so long, but luckily Brandi is good enough, and shot enough frames that we decided the day was a success! We have only seen the few pictures she has posted on her blog, but can't wait to see them all! I am sure there will be a lot of pictures of the babies escaping the shot...I don't know how she did it, but she got some great pics of them nonetheless...she was so diligent at chasing after them and getting on their level to capture good pictures.....Miss Hayden will be walking in all of them, and Cale will be enjoying life from a seated position....

After we took pictures, Shawn took us to a really cool park in the middle of southtown....there is a big fountain that the babies played in and got soaking wet. I took a few pictures of my own....they are nothing professional, but they capture my baby people laughing and having a good time. They loved the water, and a few admirers stopped to watch them play.....it is heartwarming to watch them; happy and loving life, with no worries at all! Sort of makes me want to be one again!

Another weird rash under our belts...

Last weekend Cale was PITIFUL. I mean, the sorriest lookin' baby you have ever seen. He did not feel good at all, and wanted his mommy to hold him the WHOLE weekend. (I am not kidding) The sickness actually started Thursday when we heard crying coming from his room hours after he'd already been asleep. I wanted to take him to the doctor the next day, but we decided to see if it would go away on it's own....well, it eventually did, after a saturday a.m. visit to the doctor on call, who told us it was probably a virus and there was nothing we could do to fix it, besides making him comfortable. UUUUGGGGH! Luckily, he felt better after another day or so....and then a weird dotty rash appeared on his tummy and chest (which is what the doctor predicted) Now, he is right as rain, but the rash thing weirds me out. This is another rash in the growing list of them we have had appear in our family....I had them when I was little, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised my kids get them. I am just grateful he is feeling better...I hated to see him in so much pain. (But I LOVED that he wanted to snuggle so much!) He is happy now, and is rocking thirteen teeth....beating his sister who is apparently only going to grow four. He has been saying "duck" the last few days, and does a pretty decent attempt at "Dixie" (the dog) Both babies are trying to talk so much lately....I know they know what they are saying, but I'm not sure what is going on....I usually respond faster to pointing and grunting. (Great reinforcement, huh??) My mom insists that Cale can say "Akmadinashad" (I am sure that is misspelled...spellcheck just suggested "extinguished") and is concerned with Iran and nuclear weapons. It is true that ninety percent of the time he sounds like he is speaking Russian or something...
I need to build myself up to leave them.....tomorrow we are heading to Houston for Casey's baby shower and the bambinos are staying with their Daddy. I considered taking a baby or two with me, but then their naps dictate our time with Casey and Brenda and that is probably annoying for everyone (no matter how much they love them) Plus, time away is good. I know their daddy can handle it!

My little walker...

How much does this picture crack you up?? I love the look on her face (proud) and the way her arms and legs are all akimbo....So funny! Now I am on the manhunt for shoes...they have a bunch of Robeez, but I am wondering if she needs something with a little more stable sole if she is going to try to walk outside....I found some shoes for "emerging walkers" online that squeak when the baby takes a step....I guess I need to order some....any suggestions???

Note to my readers: Before you snicker with disdain (but you're nicer than that!) at the clownish amateurity of my photo editing skills, let's just applaud my effort and excitement and pretend I am a five year old who just drew a really cruddy picture! :)

I am so excited I can't hardly contain myself....I now have Photoshop installed on my computer and LOVE the stuff I am learning to do to pictures of my kiddos! The only problem is, I don't have a degree in rocket science so I can only do about four effects on my pictures. I really, REALLY need to take a class. I could probably figure a lot out just by playing with it myself, but I know things would look a LOT better if I had an informed person tell me what to do. I just want to become more proficient with it for fun....I will leave the professional photography of my family to the professionals....Plus, if I am taking the pictures, I am not in any of them. I told Shawn if I died tomorrow, my kids would have all of four pictures of me; fat and swollen in the hospital on the day of their birth, and that is it! For now, I am going to pay other people to get some shots with me actually in them, and work on taking cuter pictures of my kids; just to frame and use in scrapbooking....

Let me start by saying that this fourth of July was more successful than last fourth of July. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will remember that my son screamed his little bird head off last year at the slightest mention of "fuegos artificiales" (fireworks...shawn and I saw that on a sign on the highway and for some reason thought it was hilarious) This year, we were hoping for a little bit better reaction...and we got it! We decided to take the babies to the Randolph fourth of July festival to meet Andrew and Holly. Too bad for us that we didn't eat before arriving, because thirty billion people were in about four food lines. Neither Shawn or I could imagine standing in those lines, so we decided to head out. We lasted for about thirty minutes! (We had seen our fill of guys with tattoos in tank tops smoking a cig) Anyway, we went and got food (DQ-what's more American than that??) and went back to the same church parking lot we parked at last year. We sat in the back of my Tahoe with the babies, and they literally stared at the entire fireworks show and NEVER peeled their eyes from the sky. There was only a little bit of whimpering on Cale's part when I was turning him around on my lap and he thought I was letting him go. He clung on me like a monkey and started to panic! When he realized his mommy was going nowhere, he settled in for the show. He is normally not terribly clingy, so that was the only indicator we had that he was still a little nervous about the noise. It was MUCH more successful than last year's attempt... and so funny to see my little family watching fireworks....able to go do "things" together as the babies have gotten a little older.

We are all moved out of our house, and messily ensconsed in my parents'. I am not sure they realized how much junk comes with a family of four, two who are 14 months old. We have totally taken over their house, and although I know they are glad to provide us with somewhere to stay, they will be happy when our renovation is complete. I am fairly certain we will never move ourselves again. After four VERY long days, Shawn (with lots of help from his brother, and a few friends) managed to move all our stuff. The only problem is, it is in a 16 foot pod, a 15 foot self storage unit, Shawn's mom's house, and my parents' garage. Moving back IN our house is going to be hilarious. I am POSITIVE we will hire movers, though, which will make it tons easier. To make matters more difficult for Shawn, I came down with some 24 hour bug and felt HORRIBLE while we were moving, so I wasn't any help at all. Even if I had felt okay, having two babies sort of makes me worthless in the moving department anyway. I am SO glad it is all over....

This week brought some major news in the baby department....Hayden is walking! She is not very sure of herself, but can really make it pretty far if she is not paying attention. She can get across a room, unless she realizes she is doing it by herself. If that happens, it is straight to the floor. Cale is blissfully uninterested, and will seemingly remain that way for a time to come. I am okay with having her walk first....it means I can adjust to one walking baby before I have to chase two! It is so funny watching her learn to walk...I love the stumbling little drunk guy thing she does, waving her arms in the air as she totters from side to side....I can't believe I am a mother, much less one with two babies...even LESS one with a baby old enough to walk!!! It makes them (and me) seem so old!