Home sweet home...

It was so nice for BOTH Matt and I to be in Indy this weekend, which after we counted, realized hasn't been for 6 weeks!  We noticed the house was eerily calm on Sat. morning (the girls were playing contently on the floor and Court was star-gazing in L.A.)  We honestly looked at each other like, "What do we do now?"  Luckily we had a full day's worth of activities planned or dare I say....we might have been BORED!!  Ha...oh to dream again!

We actually had so much time on our hands we decided to teach the girls how to read!  They are fast learners. :)

Despite the 100 degree weather, we braved Choo choo (Charlie Maczka)'s 2nd birthday party at Holliday Park!  The girls didn't seem to mind the oppressive temps and had a great time hanging with a few of their friends - Kate and Rory.  I enjoyed talking to a fellow twin mom who had her 22 month old twin boys there...up until she told me that things are harder now than they were at 6 months.  I think that's when I walked away from her.  ;)

Off to Charlie's party! (D & L)

Lilly

Diana

  All 4 of these little munchkins are miniature versions of their daddies!  (Matt, Di & Lil; Brad & Kate; Klint & Rory)

      

Enjoying some family time at the party!

Does anyone know where the girls get their rosy red cheeks?

Happy Birthday, Charlie!  We hope you like your Rody!

L

"Look Sophie, I have a red dot on my face just like you!"  (A battle wound, aka mosquito bite, from the party.)

After the party and a quick nap (for the girls, as much as I wished it were for me), we headed to my friend Meredith's for an AXO reunion!  Our friend Ali was in town from California to meet the girls for the 1st time, and then there was Maya (Meredith's little girl) and our other friend Allie and her 2 little boys (with the 3rd on the way!)  That was 5 kids in a little apartment but everyone got along great and the 4 of us elders actually found time to catch up!

Ali bonding with Diana and Eli

Eli

Ethan

Maya

Lil (sans clothes b/c her and Di just devoured some messy carrots!)

Diana

Allie said a bad word ("stupid") so she had to take a 3 min. time-out in the corner, per Eli.  Ethan also decided she needed a spanking (while naked, of course.)

And finally, a little play-time/rough-housing footage:

This is what I discovered when not paying attention

And this...

 And this too...Lil was rolling around in her own spit-up...not going to win any 'mom of the year' awards!

Tricks and pics!

Since I failed in my picture-taking from the wedding, I decided to snap a few this past week to show off the girls new tricks.  They begin in the morning with lots of rolling over to their tummies, followed by spitting up what seems like their entire bottles.  We hear this will end soon, which will make me, our washing machine, and the girls happy!  As much as I try to keep them on their backs right after a feeding, they refuse! They are only happy on a blanket or their play gym rolling back and forth, back and forth.  Although when I say back and forth, that means them rolling onto their tummies, screaming once they realize they can't roll back, and mommy having to finish the full circle.  This probably happens at least 15 times per child in a course of 45 minutes...you can do the math. :)  This used to be when I would make coffee, check Facebook, you know, all the morning priorities, but already I see this coming to an end!

The girls got into their first fight today - Lil was rolling over on top of Diana, Diana was crying, and then Lil fell off and her poor head crashed pretty loudly onto the floor!  I was watching the whole thing and wondering what the end result would be, and sure enough, it was tears for both!  And the fun begins....  :)

I used to find it so hard to believe when people would tell me that each stage gets better, but so far, that is true!  They are just so fun right now with their experimenting, loud belly laughs, constant smiles, playfulness, etc.  Yesterday the 3 of us went to the mall and Lilly seemed to be putting on a show, cracking up at absolutely NOTHING while people just oooh'd and aaah'd at her.  (Diana was sleeping the whole time, which is a typical portrayal of our days...one sleeps while the other does not. :)  And Diana just cracks me up pretty much all the time.  She is very expressive and is the one who is easily amused.  Instead of putting her belly into a laugh, it seems her whole body moves when she laughs!  We are so lucky to have such happy babies!

  Lil trying out her new toy - the jumperoo!

 

 "Well hello there cute froggy.  My name is Diana.  What's yours?"

 

 "See mom, we can get along!"

But not for long...Diana is screaming right now and Lil is 2 seconds away from flopping over and banging her head on the floor!

 Diana and Mr. Panda Bear having a heart to heart.  Meanwhile Lil can't wait to sink her gums into that bird!

Y

Off to Mindy's wedding we go!  (5 days later, but who's counting?!)

"Hey mom, are there going to be any cute boys at the wedding?"

"Yeah, we know we're cute.  You don't need to tell us."

A

Attention span = 5 seconds  :)

 

Albright wedding!

So finally, I found time to post.  Before you continue, be warned that I have ZERO pics from this past weekend!  I was relying on others to take the pictures and then I would steal from them, but so far I haven't received any so I will just continue to hope for pics of the beautiful bride, her handsome groom, and my adorable little chiclets! 

Despite all my stresses and concerns beforehand - traveling, staying at my parents' house, lining up the 'sitters', making sure the bride was happy, accomplishing all matron of honor duties (including my SPEECH) and all the while trying to have FUN - everything could not have gone more smoothly!!  Mindy was the coolest most laid-back bride ever, not to mention one of the most stunning!  She looked absolutely incredible and was never seen without a smile on her face.  The wedding itself was probably one of the most fun nights I've had in a very VERY long time.  It's hard not to have fun when dancing, drinking and mingling are involved! 

I have given many shout-outs in my blog, but I think this one needs to be shouted the loudest:  TO AUNTS MAUREEN AND ROSE, YOU ARE AWESOME!!!  Best.babysitters.ever.  :)  Believe it or not, they had the girls for oh...like 20 hrs. or something...and STILL stopped by on Sunday to get one last cuddle with the girls before we hit the road!  I can't get the image of them marching around my parents' family room singing "Old MacDonald had a Farm..." out of my head!  And the same holds true for TOM AND CINDY!  After babysitting the girls on Saturday and taking them to church, they came back over on Sunday to relieve Matt and I while we packed and cleaned the house (or in my case, slept!)  And to DEBBIE, KRISTA, and anyone else who stocked my parents' house with goodies and necessities - THANK YOU!

I wish I was able to spend more time with the Burger/Bohnert/Burns crew, but I was told they had plenty of fun with Lilly and Diana and I know that's who they really wanted to see anyway!  Hopefully next time though I can join in the fun!

Stay tuned for pics!!!

 Cousin Griffin stopped by on Sunday - such a stud!

Diana's rolling debut!

It must be a blogging type of week b/c this is my 3rd post in 2 days!

I had to share Diana's big rollover accomplishment since I shared Lil's the other day.  Whereas I caught Lilly in action after seeing her do this a couple of times, this was only the 1st time Diana rolled over and I caught it on film...you can tell by my (and Courtney's) excitement! 

D

"Don't worry Diana, I'll save you!"

"Whooo...that was a close one!"

It's all about the babies

Have the Monday blues?  Watch this cute little 'movie' of Lil and Di and maybe it will make it better!  Enjoy!  :)  (Pause the music.)

5 months old!

The girls hit the big 5 month mark last week! Here are a few recent photos and a video of Lil rolling over!

The girls haven't been feeling well this week therefore naptime has been rough, so I let them nap in our bed. So precious!
 

Di loves her green beans, mmm mmm good!

"Reagan, you make a great pillow!" Love, Lil 

Fourth of July Chicago-style!

We have had 4 very busy days and as I settle into bed after all is said and done, I am sad all the fun is over!  Here is a recap in all its glory....

Friday
Since Matt and I's weekends seem to be spent apart lately (due to a wedding, bachelorette party and an upcoming softball tourney), he took this day off to kick-start a family-filled holiday weekend!  We headed to the zoo to take advantage of the nice weather and truthfully for lack of something better to do.  Little did we know that we would quickly become the most popular exhibit there.  They should have paid US an admission fee!  Being gawked at isn't a new thing since having identical twin girls, but I am constantly amazed at the 'in your face' approach.  Some people are extremely sweet, some are entirely inappropriate, and EVERYONE has a story about twins.  My fave comment of that particular day was, "Ya'll should be in a f*cking Target commercial."  Thank you man in the cut-off jean shorts and velcro tennis shoes.  I like your barbed wire tattoo.

Here are some pics to capture our day at the zoo....

Matt giving two thumbs up!

 

Sophie - "America's Next Top Elephant"

Saturday

Last week Matt sprung on me the idea of heading to Chicago for the 4th of July since we weren't able to make it to Matt's cousin's wedding in New York (for obvious reasons.)  My initial thought was, "Let's do it!"  Until I heard the next proposal of staying with Andy/Audrey/Thomas/Lila & Phil/Krista/Addie.  Count that up.  That's 5 kids all under the age of 4 under one roof.  Hmmm...?  But, Andy persuaded us to do it, and Audrey assured me that although we all could potentially be insane, someday we will look back at it with fond memories.  However, my one stipulation for the weekend?  Matt attends only one Reds/Cubs game instead of all 3 as the rest of the male fleet was doing.  (Refer to the above fact of not having many weekends together lately and my purpose of blog...newborn twin girls.)  To Matt's defense, he never even wanted to go to more than one game...or so he said.  

Highlights from Saturday:  playing in the park, lunch at "the rice and beans store" as Thomas calls it (aka, Chipotle), a man who looked just like P. Diddy cruising in his Escalade hanging out the window screaming, "ARE THOSE TWIN BABIES?  THOSE ARE SOME CUTE TWIN BABIES!!!" (Audrey and I were dying at this), an hour of free time while the men took the kids to another park, and dinner at Tavern on Rush - adults-only - while Kristin Braun babysat Lil & Di!  Saturday = success!

Apparently it takes a few booze to get through a park adventure with 5 kids.

A

Andy swinging with Lil

And his fellow Reds fan - Diana

Sunday

I was a little nervous about the girls sleeping through the night in their pack n' play on foreign territory, but they did!  Andy took charge early in the morning and once again let me, Krista and Audrey do a little shopping while the boys stayed with the kids, then we all met up at Whole Foods for lunch.  I was the real winner of the group because Matt watched the girls in the morning and also wasn't going to the game, so I had help the entire day!  We braved the 4th of July madness on Lake Shore and took a long stroll along the lake.  I don't have a favorite quote from this day but a man did ask to take our picture.  I probably should have asked to see his I.D.  This could be bad...

Later on, we all were very surprised when there was a knock on the door and Mimi & Bapa (Cindy & Tom) appeared!!  There were smiles all around, ESPECIALLY from Thomas and Lila!  We were all so happy to see them!  Grilled kabobs + corn on the cob + wine + happy kids + fun surprises + fireworks (on TV) = Sunday success!

D

 Diana, you are such a diva!

We asked the weird guy who wanted to take our picture with HIS camera to also take a picture with OUR camera.

Me & my ladies with the lake and skyline in the background

 

And I wonder why people stop us?  The girls have on sunglasses and hats. I should go to jail.

Lila coaching Lilly on how to do tummy time!

Monday

Another successful night of sleeping and we were up and at 'em bright and early.  After a trip to Starbucks we headed out with the whole crew to the beach.  We introduced our girls to the frigid Lake Michigan temps and sandy beach!  They did great for about an hour and then were DONE with the sun and sand.  Off to Navy Pier we went, where T & L rode the train and carousel, then lunch at Harry Caray's.  After that, we packed up the car and with the exception of a few fusses early on, the girls did great on the final lap of the road trip!  We are so proud of you, Lil & Di!!!  We have some great little gals.  Monday = success! 

Getting ready to hit the beach!  (BTW, I really only put sunglasses on for pictures.  My 5 month olds are NOT wearing these around - yet.  :)

Bapa/Lil & Mimi/Di in the lake!

 My 3 favorite peeps.  :)

To Andy, Audrey, Thomas, Lila, Phil, Krista, Addie, Tom and Cindy - we had a GREAT time, so thank you all for a fab 4th of Jewww-lie (as my dad would say!)

More pics of all the cousins:

S

Sweet little Addie! (So apparently after a hard day's play with her cousins, when Krista said, "Addie, it's time for bed."  Addie's response was, "Thank you, mommy."  :)

Adorable Lila in her pretty swimsuit! 

Crazy-man Thomas giving us a big grin!