Halloween: If you don't know me by now

 Part One: The Great Pumpkin

I need to change the phrase "pictures are worth 1000 words" to "pictures have 1000 funny stories behind them".  Case in point:

These pictures, at face value, may seem to portray a calm family, one who is leisurely posing in a pumpkin patch for some great pictures just as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean behind them.  In reality here is how getting these picture went down:

9 am: decided we are going to go to Half Moon Bay
1:30 pm: leave house after trying to get out for hours
3:30 pm:Arrive in HMB (should be a 40 minute drive but traffic was HORRIBLE), pull over and immediately feed screaming babies in parking lot
4:00: finish feeding boys, get drinks and snack for mom and dad
4:30: arrive at beach to let dogs run around and burn off some energy
5:30: leave beach, super tired, decided to forgo pumpkin patch and just go home
5:40: see random pumpkin patch on the way out of town, decided we should try and get pumpkin pictures and pick out pumpkins
5:45: run into store across the street from the pumpkin patch to buy Chris a plaid shirt
5:55: pull into pumpkin patch, Man yells "you have 5 minutes", race to pumpkins, snap pictures of us with  the boys, get stranger to take our picture, pick out 3 pumpkins, pay, walk back to car
6:03: realize boys are soaked, change their diapers on front seats and reload kids in car seats
6:20: leave for home
7:00: get home, realize we left our pumpkins on the side of the road (forgotten once we turned out attention to butts)

And that is how we roll :)

Part Two: Halloween

I have never been a fan of Halloween.  I can't pinpoint why exactly, but thinking of a costume and putting the "look" together was never that fun to me.  Now that I am a mom, I knew I had to 'woman up' and get excited for this holiday.  Chris was already excited.  He wanted to dress up the boys and kept offering to buy costumes whenever we were out and about shopping.  I knew, however, if I was going to participate in Halloween, we were going to do my kind of Halloween with a great character who's given me a great deal of joy.

 One day I googled "homemade moose costume" and found a picture that made me laugh out loud.  As soon as I saw a picture of a little kid in his homemade moose costume, I knew this is what Brady and Brody were going to be for Halloween.  We already had everything we needed except the white gloves.  I bought the white gloves a few weeks ago and they sat in my living room waiting to be sewn, taunting me for weeks.  My time in the evening is pretty limited,  I pump 3 or 4 times, wash bottles, do dishes, and go to bed as soon as I can.  Putting aide time to sew seemed nearly impossible.  In typical Carrie fashion, I waited until the day before Halloween to put together the first moose outfit.  As soon as I finished it, I tried it on the Brody and proceeded to laugh myself into a tizzy.  Once I saw his cute face in the getup, I knew this was going to be worth it!

Chris came home and after seeing Brody, immediately announced that we all needed to moose.  This was not in my plan; I had no intention of dressing up.  But in the spirit of the holiday and family, I sewed another two sets of antlers on brown sweatshirts and the family of meese came alive.

My husband does not do anything half way.  If he was going to be a moose for Halloween, that meant he was going to be a moose ALL day.  My normally well-dressed-man left for work in his moose costume to fly solo for a few hours until the boys and I met him at 12 for his office Halloween party.  To say we were a hit is an understatement.  We were applauded, cheered and praised every step we took.  It was hysterical and it would have been only half as fun if just the boys were dressed up.  We also wore our costumes when we handed out candy.  When we finally took them off before bed, I was a little sad to see my little meese disappear. Good thing I already know what they are going to be again next year! :)

P.S.  I did hear some people say we were awesome reindeer.  Um, yeah, those people were not allowed to oggle the babies or take our pictures

Month 10: Moving on Up

This is the best 10 month "birthday" picture of these boys I could get.  They are busy and mobile and have no intention of sitting still for mom!  Oh joy oh boy, these guys are moving!  Luckily, I was able to steal some pure moment while they were exploring their world!

 This was one huge month!  It seems like every day there was a milestone achieved.  Thank goodness for cell phones and texting records.  Because of texts to Chris, I was able to reconstruct what happened this month and remember just how far these guys have come in 30 short days.

Brody.
Brody is crawling!  This boy can move and he is so happy!  He sprints down the hallways, crawls over anything in his path (including his brother) and in general, is super ecstatic that he can explore his space! Brody has earned the nickname "bull dog" due to the way he looks when he is roaming around.  His little arms turn in ever so slightly, his wide chest puffs out and his little behind waggles as he plows around the house.  He struts around with so much purpose and confidence that it is hard not to laugh when he is barreling down the hall toward your feet.   Before crawling though, he learned to pull himself up into standing position.  I watched as he did this for the first time, looking on with awe and amazement that he was going to use the overturned laundry basket I left not he floor as his first prop.  He crawled over to it,  placed his hands on top of the basket and pushed himself to standing.  He looked at me, smiled ear to ear, and sat down so he could promptly do it again.  Attempt number two was the same, instant success, and then on the third attempt, he looked right into my eyes, and removed one hand from the basket.  It was as if he immediately knew that standing was just one small task he needed to master in a linear path of skills that lead to walking.

look mom, no hands

Brody also has learned to wave.  His wave is adorable.  He tucks he thumb in, leaving this four fingers standing and moves his hard back and forth.  He waved whenever you look at him, he waves at strangers, and he waves after he has crawled away and when he is taking a rest.  I joked one day that his wave is like his version of small talk.  He pulls it out when he is not quite sure what to do or what we are thinking.  It always make us smile and cheer so it is really a fool proof plan on his part!    He has also started shaking his head back and forth as part of a game.  He shakes, we copy, and so on until someone changes the movement.  Smart baby!

Gunsy (Gunderson, B B the Guns -all still nicknames we use) is obbsessed with the animals.  He tries to crawl over to them and pet them (or pull their hair) every chance he gets.  Adriane and he have a special relationship.  Whenever she comes over to sniff his face, Brody opens his mouth and she proceeds to [french] kiss him.  It's gross and cute all at the same time.  Oliver also is very tolerant of Brody's love pats.  He will lay within range of the babies and let them "pet" him just because he wants attention and he stays until he absolutely can't stand being fondled anymore.

Last, I can feel Brody's two bottom teeth poking through.  This makes me a little sad because 1. he likes to bite and getting him to stop biting is going to be hard! and 2. I am not sure I am ready to lose that gummy smile.  For some reason teeth say to me "big boy"  Oh well, I know time marches on and I can't stop this freight train from getting older.

 you can just barely see them in there!

Brady.
Brady too has accomplished some major milestones this month!  He has learned to stand, doing this first in his crib and then using either Chris or I as his rails.  When he stood for the first time, he immediately started to try and jump up and down almost like he was cheering for himself!  His movements are so much more calculated than Brody's.  Brady looks at the furniture and decides how he is going to stand instead of just going over and muscling his way up.  He has also learned to sit up on his own, affording him the freedom to change positions.  He still mainly scoots or rolls to get from point a to point b, but now that he can sit and stand, he is that much closer to crawling and less frustrated.  He is still a bundle of potential energy though.  Often times he will be sitting in one spot and when I look back at him, he has managed to move himself feet away just by flapping his arms in excitement.  He giggles relentlessly when he sees one of the animals and I suspect he is plotting ways to chase them around as soon as he learns to crawl.  Brady has become a much better eater this month.  He does not gag every time he takes a spoonful of food and he even seems excited when he gets to eat.  This change is a good reminder to me that parenting is largely about diligence and sticking with things.  Kids change so fast and they often do not like things the first few, or 10, times they try something.  But, if you keep exposing them to new things, they will eventually learn to like them.  

Chris has enjoyed helping the boys learn these new tasks.  The weekends seem to include some sort of "clinic" where we work standing, crawling or walking. Really, it's just a chance for boys to play like boys do while mom looks on adoringly. 

Brady has also learned how to say duck and ball.  Teaching him these world was a matter of me looking at him, holding out a duck and saying "DUCK".  He repeated immediately after me and now every time I ask him what the object is, he says duck.  Same with ball.  This boy is meant to talk. It is a good reminder to me that I need to expect that he will be able to communicate with me instead of filling in his worlds for him.

Brady is super good natured.  Since Brody has learned to crawl, Brady has been crawled over, pushed out of the way, used as a handle to stand up or sit down, been gnawed on and drummed like a bongo. He takes all of these brotherly affections in stride and you can pretty much count on him giggling when he see Brody approaching as if he knows some kind of mayhem is going to ensue. 

This month was so much fun.  I hope to do some more frequent posts as we approach the boys' first birthday!  There is so much I want to remember, so many things about raising twins that I want to write down and reference as they grow.

9 Months: Sitting and hoping

 9 month fist pump. (Brady may be pumping his arms because that shirt is too small and he needs to keep the circulation going, but I squeezed him into it for. . . well, for me!)

 How aMOOSING are these shirts.  Thanks Auntie T, mom makes us wear them all the time!

 Babies + flannel = adorable

Month 9 came and went way to easily around here partially, I think, because we were coming off the high of my mom visiting, we were enjoying the summer to fall transition in the Bay Area and we were looking forward to celebrating my 34th birthday as a new mom.  One thing became abundantly clear this month, my babies are not babies anymore.  They are little boys with minds of their own who want to explore their world!

We have a couple of fun things to highlight this month! Top on the list was that we made our first attempt at having the boys sit in high chairs at a restaurant.  Up until this point, we have either avoided going out to eat or, if just me and the boys, I leave them in their stroller and sit at an outdoor table.  Now that they are sitting and eating solid food, they are more comfortable sitting with the grownups  One of the very first times I had the boys out to eat I was with a mom's group.  We had gone for a long walk and then stopped at a cafe to eat.  My boys were amongst the older kids in the gathering, so for space, it seemed to make sense for me to seat them at the table.  What a dibocale.  Within 3 seconds of them sitting down, I had hot coffee pouring down my lap and my food was on the floor.  Four hands verses my two won handily (he he)-no contest.  They won that round and I totally felt like the other moms were looking at me with pity and a little smirk.  Practice makes perfect  though, and after a few family breakfasts out,  the boys were ready to sit at the table while my mom, Aunt and I enjoyed a light lunch! It looks like they enjoyed themselves too!

 Here is Brody going in for the steal.  Tricky baby.  How can they take their time at everything else, but they can pull food off a table in nanoseconds?  Ninjas. 

Another highlight for this month was the start of college football season.  Chris was very happy to have his boys to watch the season opener with.  Shockingly, we had no Michigan gear in this size so we quikly make these onsies in honor of the first game.  #craftsy

The boys started doing this funny thing we call "dolphin calling".  It started with Chris kind of mocking the boys when they grunted.  Not to be outdone, the boys would repeat his grunt in what turned out to be a game that could go on forever.  This game morphed into a round robin sort of song where all four of us would "grunt" in sequence.  The boys totally get that it is a game and that we are all playing together.  Now they dolphin call to each other when they are in their cribs and to us when they are not quite sure where we are.  It is so fun to see them start to understand their world and how to interact with it.

Bath time is so fun with these guys.  We bathe them in an inflatable insert so they are kind of corralled and more manageable.  A few weeks ago Brady and Brody learned how to splash each other in the bath.  One starts slapping the water and the other twin follows and soon Chris and I are soaked beyond belief!  They love the water and we are really looking forward to getting them some swimming lessons.

Brady
Brady's tricks for this month include waving, saying Mama, Dada, hi, and rolling like a champ.  This cute guy is still super vocal and really sweet.  He giggles when his brother comes toward him, even if it is just to steal his toy or bite his head!  Brady is parts tough guy and part sweetie. Sometime when I am walking around his room so he can go back to sleep, he finds my hand and slips his tiny paw
into mine.  No matter how tired or cranky I am, my heart melts and my eyes well up when he does this. It is like his own silent text message saying that he is happy I am there.  When Brady smiles, his little checks puff out and become even more kissable than I thought possible. 

Brody
I say that Brody has spent a large amount of this month frustrated!  This boy wants to be mobile and wants to crawl!  He has learned how to roll out of his room and into the hall but once there, this is often the face I see!

Distant toys frustrate him and he often screeches in annoyance that he is not able to get someplace he wants to go.  He is able to say Mama and Dada, but he speaks less than his brother.  He is interested in smashing, thrashings and playing and once he can crawl, he will be so happy!  Brody gave me a very personal gift on my birthday, he sat up for the first time on his own.  This skill has made him very happy and put him one step closer to freedom! He is still the master of the flat line smile, one eye brow raise and super cute giggle.  He likes to rub noses and still, on occasion, does the Brody bite.  It is takes restraint everyday not to kiss his checks raw.

Taking a good picture of these guys together is a thing of the past.  Now, I just enjoy the funny moments captured "on film" while I am acting like an idiot trying to get them to look the same direction and smile!