We've Moved!!

We're still getting settled in, but are really enjoying our new house.


Luckily, we were able to enjoy some time outside before the ice storm this week.


Of course, they had to try out their favorite red cars in the new yard........


Happy to see their slide again!

Dinner in booster chairs and on plates (paper plates, just to be on the safe side)! It's going fairly well so far and the cleanup is much easier!

Inauguration Day

Emery sat in my lap for quite a while watching the musical entertainment and events leading up to the swearing in ceremony. Gavin's favorite part of the day was watching Bush fly away in the helicopter. This has nothing to do with his political views. He just REALLY liked that helicopter. Other highlights were the tractors and trucks pulling floats in the parade. You know.....the important stuff!

Fun in Fort Worth

This will be our last weekend at Grandma's house before moving into our house on the north side of Dallas. So, we decided to get out of the house and enjoy the awesome weather (high 60's) and some fun things to do in Ft. Worth. On Saturday, we visited a park just down the road from my Dad's house, where we fed the ducks, played on the playground, and ran off some steam from being couped up all week. My Dad met us there and we went for a nice lunch at Chili's afterward. Gavin and Emery sat in booster seats in a booth for the first time. I was a little nervous, but it actually turned out great......and the waitress brought over some balloons, which made the babies' day.

On Sunday morning, we decided to check out the FortWorth Stock Show. The Stock Show is a big deal in this area. I remember going when I was younger, so I was excited to take the babies. Gavin and Emery had a great time. Gavin was entranced with the tractors, trucks, trailers, and animals. He walked almost the whole time. We covered a LOT of ground and he was a happy kid. Emery was not quite so easy going and spent some time screaming at the top of her lungs while we were in the horse stall area (quite a spectacle.....it makes me tired to think about it). I seriously thought we were going to cause a stampede. After she settled down she bounced back nicely and had a good time.

We saw some cows, baby pigs, and lots of other animals.

Emery checking out the baby pigs eating.

And they say breastfeeding twins is difficult!

They loved the cows. Gavin pointed a lot and Emery practiced her "moos".

We'll definitely plan to make a trip back next year. We might have to deck the babies out in some cowboy boots and hats for our next trip (and maybe some rhinestones for Emery). Apparently, we stuck out like a sore thumb........We weren't there very long when we were approached by a reporter from the Forth Worth Star Telegram (local newspaper). She said that we didn't look like the "typical visitors" to the Stock Show (hmmm, what is that suppose to mean?) and asked what brought us there. I explained that we just moved back from Indiana, but that I had grown up near Fort Worth and wanted to bring the kids. She asked Gavin and Emery's age and took down my name. Maybe we'll make the newspaper!! :-)

What are we saying?

My goal is to fill these posts with a little more substance.....along with the usual excessive amount of pictures. I plan on using this as a "scrapbook", so I want to make sure I document more of what the babies are doing and how they're changing. I still haven't even finished their baby books, so that is also a goal!

Gavin and Emery are now understanding much of what we say. We've actually had to start spelling words a lot of the time if we don't want them to know what we're saying (ie: o-u-t-s-i-d-e, m-o-v-i-e, b-a-t-h-t-i-m-e, etc....). They are each saying a few words and have learned a lot of new signs. We've been watching the Signing Time videos. They LOVE these videos and I am amazed at how much they've learned in a short period of time.

Emery says:

Uh-oh, Moo, Hello (do), Dada (doesn't sound exactly like this, but we know what she's saying), Here, and Duck (maybe......still not sure). She's also got a weird sound for dog. It's not a word. It's more like she's singing.....but it's consistently used for dog......not a dog in a book though.....just a real dog or a stuffed animal.

"Hello, Hello"

Emery's signs:
More, Please, Bath, Blanket, Flower, Cat, Baby, Dog, Milk, Eat, Drink, Car, Sleep, Ball, and I probably left some out. These are the ones she uses in context. She'll add a few others while watching the videos.

Absorbed in her Signing Times video. Yes, she is sitting on a wipes box. Hey....times are tough. Who can afford chairs?? Also, please excuse the crazy hairdo.

Signing more to Daddy so that he'll drag her around the room in her box again.

Gavin says:

Uh-oh, Dada (Doesn't sound exactly like it, but we know what he's saying), Tractor (Tak-ta), What's that? (Wu-zaa), This, Duck (still not sure about this one), Mama (he says this, but not sure if he's actually calling me mama).

Gavin's signs:
More, Please, Milk, Car, Ball, and I'm probably leaving some out. He's working on some others, but these are the ones that are used in context.

Signing more, asking for a quesadilla. This picture is from November when he had just started to sign.

I've been getting a little concerned that they aren't talking more, but they are really interested in signing. There is still a lot of grunting when they want something, but the signing has helped to cut down on it quite a bit. With all of the random noises that they make (and maybe some words that we just haven't picked up on yet), I really feel like the talking will come along soon.

We've had a small issue with the babies pushing buttons on Grandma and Grandpa's tv. Tonight, my stepdad looked puzzled when the volume showed up in French. Oops. So, we are trying a new "sit on your blanket or the movie goes off" rule. This was when the rule was actually working. Emery definitely looks relaxed. Probably resting from throwing all of those toys around the room earlier. :-)

More pictures

I got a new camera for Christmas, so I've been testing it out. I still have no idea what I'm doing (need to read the manual), but so far I LOVE it!

A few more pictures that I really like.........

It's REALLY hard to get a picture of Pete smiling, so I had to include this one......

Pictures from Grandma and Grandpa's house

I started this post on December 31st and never finished it! Just a few pictures from the fun we've been having and Grandma and Grandpa's house.........

Should we check her into rehab?

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Why is Emery so upset?


Because we wouldn't let her stick her fingers down her throat to make herself puke! What the heck?? I told her no a buzillion times and was able to stop her for a while. Then, she got away from me, ran around the corner, and puked on the floor right in front of Pete! Haha! Pete was completely grossed out and all I could do was laugh. Then, she stuck her fingers in her mouth again! We diverted her attention after than, so hopefully she's now forgotten about the "fun of the gagging reflex".

We spent 14 months doing everything possible to stop one kid from puking and now the other one is intentionally making herself puke! Unbelievable! :-)


**Side Note: For those of you who don't know us well, Gavin had major reflux issues and puked 50-60 times a day until he was 14 months old. Thankfully, the puking is now behind us.......at least we thought so!

Fun stuff

So, how have we been spending our time while Daddy is at work??

We've been doing a little reading........

Coloring and playing with stickers.......Trying to walk in Mommy's house shoes and wearing Daddy's hat......Checking out the moon sand that was in our stockings........

"Uh-oh". Emery was looking at me to see if Gavin was in trouble. :-)

Getting the hang of it......

Doing a spaghetti project........

If you click on the picture, you can probably see the massive amount of drool from Gavin's deep concentration.

And lots of lounging around........Not really. This was the first time I've EVER seen Gavin sit still and lay down on the couch. Maybe we're all pretty tired??

Pull it together and don't let the toddlers take over

The title of this post is what I've been repeating for the last few days (maybe even the last few weeks). We are now in our "temporary living". Pete's employer has rented us a 2 bedroom furnished apartment until we move into our house at the end of January. Until now, we've been living with my mom and stepdad (we are VERY grateful for that!). The apartment is pretty nice and we've been settling in quickly.

Gavin and Emery have been doing well for all of the moving around that we've done. However, they have also been testing limits (x2). Most of the decor from the furnished apartment is piled in our bedroom to minimize temptation. The word "no" means absolutely nothing now and they are determined to destroy everything in their path, or at least climb on top of it. In case it's difficult to see, Emery is standing in the sink of her kitchen.

I've forgotten how you can hear all that goes on around you when living in an apartment. So......sorry to all of our neighbors for the 5 hours of screaming each day. I fully expect to get a knock on our door soon for a noise violation.

Our cell phone doesn't get reception in the apartment and they haven't been able to set up our tv service yet, but luckily someone has an unsecured network....... so I'm "borrowing" internet service. :-)

We have been keeping busy with some fun projects. I'm racking my brain for every toddler activity I can think of.....with minimal supplies. I'll post more about that soon.

Until then (and speaking of "racking"), I thought I'd share a funny moment caught on film......

When Gavin tries to raid Emery's laundry basket,

She gets revenge in the worst way (look at her foot). That's for all of the hair pulling! Gavin should be thankful that he's still in diapers!