Kids' Halloween

For the kids, we had at least 10 costumes to choose from, all provided by Grandma Nancy. So we decided on a ladybug for Charis and a frog for Price. I have to give it to Chris, I should have gone with the lion for Price; the frog costume was not exactly manly. Our big outing was to My Gym - which they continue to LOVE! So we started getting them ready - I really thought they would like the costumes - Charis had even called hers "Melmo" (Elmo) a couple times. So I thought this would be a breeze. But I got the ladybug outfit on Charis with her crying all the way through it - Price took one look at her and melted down. Then I had to get the ridiculous frog outfit on him with him screaming all the while. It was so bad it was funny. So we got to My Gym and Charis decided she was pretty cute. So she pranced around pretty happy the whole time. Price, not so much - he was like Ralphy in the pink bunny outfit in A Christmas Story - you could just tell he was miserable. But we had a fun time and got some cute pics too!

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So my mom recently challenged me to write down all of Charis' and Price's words. She said "I think you'll be surprised..." So here we go.

They can both say: mama, dada, hi, more, snack, bite, no, pray, amen, thank you, cookie, drink, touchdown, (ba)nana, night-night, nose, eyes, milk, ba-ba (bottle), bubble, ball, bow, Elmo, bye-bye poo-poo, Ray-ray (Charis' sleep aid), two, nine, nice, out, shoe.

Charis says: cracker, (avo)cado, turtle, puppy, kitty cat, cow, moo, wa-we (water), okay, up, cheese, go go go, me, home, waffle, glasses, down, puzzle, Pricey, baby, pop-pop, boobie (thanks Chris...), yellow, blue, I know (great, huh? Note to self to STOP saying "I know").

Both will respond "moo" to what does a cow say and "grr" to what does the bear say. Price's words that Charis does not say are "doggy" and "movie". So she is a bit ahead verbally, but sometimes he will get in the mood to try a little harder and can get pretty close on a lot of the words she says. They can also point to their "cabesa" (head), eyes, nose, belly button and "weiner" - again, thanks Chris... Charis seems confused though as to why she does not have one.

So this is my documentation of the babies' status as of 16 months. Yay babies...I am so proud of you both!

I'll miss you Grandad!

Seems like it has been so long since I have posted, but I just got behind because I wanted to get something put together to show some pics of my Grandad. He was born August 3, 1922 and died October 24, 2008 at 2:05am with my Grandma by his side, just the way the majority of his life was spent. They were such a great picture of love and marriage. Even when her memory got fuzzy, Grandma knew if he was not there (if he was at the hospital) and would get up and get dressed and wait for someone to take her up to the hospital to be with him. I guess after 60+ years of marriage you get pretty attached! I am so thankful that he got to meet the twins, even though they won't remember. We had some special times together this summer too when he and Grandma came to visit for a week or so. We'd go over and see them each day - I'd take the kids and feed them on my mom's back porch and my grandparents would just sit and watch and interact with the kids. The kids seemed to know them, and even at the funeral, Charis would just go up to my Grandma and kind of reach out to her (maybe to "give her 5") but you could see a little connection. So this past Monday was a celebration of his long life - I am so thankful for all the fun memories I have with him. When we were little, he would tell the best bedtime stories, play with us for hours, let us "help" in his garden, let us go to work with him at his furniture store and just play all day. The greatest praise of course is that he was a Christ-follower, so we can rejoice that he is in Heaven with Jesus now, and free from his earthly body that was beginning to break down in these last few years.

PS - I know Grandad has to d's but I have always spelled it this way - it is like his name, so it sticks! Also if you click on the image you can see them bigger. And ignore my glorious 80's style jams and black T-shirt - I was 12...what can I say?

The sickness came back!

Just a couple pics from before the sickness; this was over the weekend at the park.

I thought we were all through with the sickness, but I woke up to Price throwing up Monday morning. They had a vomiting illness almost a year ago to the day, but they only drank formula back then. This was a lot different. Thankfully, though it was just the one time, and he seemed pretty well back to normal. Then Tuesday night I got it - I got off easy with mostly just nausea last weekend, but last night it was the works - throwing up every hour on the hour most of the night. The scariest thing is the possibility of the kids catching it. With their VLCAD, a sickness like what I had last night would land them in the ER, no doubt. So Chris stayed home from work today and cared for the kids, and I was quarantined to our bedroom ALL day long. Hard to believe it is 6pm and I am just now blogging! I told Chris I need a day like this (without the sickness) once a quarter! I missed the babies so much - it was so sad just to be able to see them on the monitor playing in their playroom or in their cribs and not be able to go be with them. So here's a pic of Chris everytime he had to come in the same room as me.

Funny, right? hmph. Guess it is better safe than sorry.

Family pics

We had a big weekend planned for this past weekend. Friday night we were going out with friends, Saturday was family pictures, and I was going to meet a girlfriend for dinner, and Sunday we were supposed to go to a wedding. But then the sickness came...Friday night we tried going out but I was nauseous and so we had to bail before 10. Saturday, we did all make the pics, but the rest of the day was shot. Chris was in bed from 3pm Sat until 5am Sunday. I did think I was better by Saturday afternoon and had a friend over to play for a little while - unfortunately it turned out we were quite contageous as well. Funny thing though, the kids never got it (Praise GOD!). Price actually seemed to have a touch of something, but I think it might have been related to teething (5 teeth in 3 weeks. 4 of them molars ... ouch!). And Sunday was a waste as well - just recooperating from the beating of being sick for 24 hours. But at least the pics turned out pretty good! Yes, you'll be seeing these again when I send out Christmas cards!

Learning to color

Well, mama took another girls trip. Kendra and I headed to New Jersey to see our friend, Laura that had a baby boy, Jack, at the end of July. So Chris was on his own for 4 whole days! My mom was not even in town to help out - and no babysitters available. So he was really on his own. He did a great job though, and I am so proud that a)he is willing to take this on and b)that he can actually do a good job and c)that he didn't complain!! When I came home the babies had learned to raise their hands and say "Touchdown!" but alas they had not learned to color. Guess those Crayolas just taste too good!

Fun night out!

On September 19th, we got together to celebrate Kendra's birthday - now she is old like us. We had a fun night out with the McDaniels and the Hammonds, having dinner at Taverna, drinks at Reatta, and home before midnight; my how things have changed!