A request

My friend Rachel asked me to put up Luke's picture from his first Biter Biscuit so here he is-


These were taken exactly two years ago =)

Mmmmm.....good.

The twins had their first Biter Biscuits tonight. Abby enjoyed hers a bit more than Jack- probably because she actually has teeth to bite with and Jack hates any and all food again these days. Oh well, Jack had a good time banging it on the tray of his highchair....whatever makes him happy!

Why didn't I listen to my better judgement??

I went against my instincts, got persuaded by the Dr. and decided to give the twins the H1N1 vaccine last month.........then I saw THIS today. Now I know that I should have just followed my gut. I didn't feel comfortable that there had been enough research and testing done on the vaccine and I can clearly see now that I was right!

Look Mother......I finally did it!!

I have always loved the Spritz cookies that my Mother makes every Christmas and just after Brian and I were married, I got a Williams-Sonoma Cookie Press in hopes of making my favorite little morsel for myself =) In August of 2006, I decided to give the ole' cookie press a test run before the holidays and tried to make Spritz cookies using the fish shaped disc. IT. WAS. UGLY!!!! Mother warned me that the dough can get too thick and if that happens, thin it with milk "a little at a time." Well, my estimate of "a little" wasn't quite small enough I guess and then my dough was too runny and I was over the cookie press. I was so over it that I haven't opened it again until tonight!

I am really getting into doing the same things with Luke that my Mother did with my sister and I during the holidays....like reading The Snowshoe Rabbits from Richard Scarry's The Animals' Merry Christmas and making cookies. I put on my brave face tonight......and made Brian help me =).......and I was determined to make Spritz cookies once and for all!! And guess what.......









I finally did it.....with help from Brian of course!!!!

Can't we just stay like this forever?

I am going to admit it right here and now......I am currently trying to resist LOTS of changes that are about to happen to us. I am not so naive that I don't know that change is inevitable, but with so many things happening all at once, I will admit that I am a little {alright, maybe a lot} scared!

First, it was the "big boy" bed issue. Luke's new furniture arrived WEEKS ago, but I just don't want to change things. Luke is such a great little sleeper and goes to bed so great on his own. I am terrified that a change in the furniture will cause total chaos in his routine and in his sleep habits. While dealing with that issue, I also realized that I have been delaying making Luke give up his paci. I know, I know, he's two and a half and he DOES. NOT. NEED. IT! But it's a habit, and habits are hard to break. Now combine making him give up his paci and making the move to a big bed.........I am beyond terrified of how this could turn out. And just for fun, let's throw potty training into the mix and see how wild this can be!!

As if that weren't enough, now Brian has started going on about the twins' carseats. The babies are still in their infant carriers and I am just fine with it. But I do see his points- the babies are getting heavier and harder to tote around and lifting Abby over the middle seat to get her into the back is a true workout for your arms! Not to mention, that they are both so long now that whoever is stuck in the back of the stroller gets his or her little feet squashed by the front carseat.....and I am sure that isn't too fun for the baby getting squashed. But a change in their carseats also brings with it several other changes.

Carseat placement is the first issue that comes up. Luke is currently in one of the captain's chairs in the middle row, along with Jack, and Abby is all alone in the back row. Since the babies still have to be rear-facing in the convertible carseat, it would be easier to get them in and out if they were both in the middle row captain's chairs and Luke was in the back row. While that arrangement will make it easier to get the twins in and out, it will make it harder to get Luke in and out over the twins' carseats. So we are really trying to figure out the best possible placement of all 3 of the kiddos to make getting in and out the easiest it can possibly be. We would also have to start using the bigger, bulkier double stroller which will make it a little harder to load them when we go places. Then we would have to rethink going out to eat {not that we do that all too often these days!} Without their carriers, we would have to either tote along their booster seats or use highchairs, which could get interesting with 3 in highchairs! I realize that I did all of these things with Luke, but with only 2 years between our children and doubling everything this time around, even little changes turn into huge changes.

I was chatting with a friend recently about the big boy bed switch and potty training and she told me that she had all the same fears that I am having. Her husband finally made the decision to just do it and she said that it all went so much better than she had imagined it would. So maybe the chaos I am imagining is all in my head? I know that in the end I will have to suck it up and get it over with. If Brian gets his way, we will is do EVERYTHING all at once, deal with chaos and then be done with it once and for all.....and heck, maybe that is the best answer........Stop worrying about it and get it over with. But I just don't know.

Well friends, that is where I stand this Monday morning......with LOTS to think about and no idea what the best answers are. Oh and just for fun, I am busy wiping noses.....again.....because all 3 have colds.........again =)

At least we can say we went!

Tonight we decided to go to Santa's Village after our church open house. I am glad that we went and that I have pictures to prove it..........because I can't say that we'll be back next year. Wow, I was a little overwhelmed!


We arrived at about 5:45 {they are only open from 5 til 9 p.m.} and I figured that tonight wouldn't been super crowded since it's been raining here today. Well, it wasn't packed but there were lots of people, lots of kids running around every where and lots of mud! Oh My! I can't even imagine what it would have been like had it been packed! It was hard to maneuver the double stroller around the narrow little sidewalks of Constitution Village and there were plenty of people who were standing around and NOT going to let me by, so needless to say we did a few activities, walked around a bit and called it a night after 30 minutes! The line to go see the man in red was soooo long and we already have plans to do that next weekend, so we felt like we could skip that part tonight. Luke did get to make an ornament, ice a cookie....and devour it, see the elves' workshop, peek in on a few reindeer, drive a sleigh, and write a letter to Santa asking him for bells, trains, and trucks. As we left I was glad that we went for Luke's enjoyment and I was even more glad that we were leaving!

Making an ornament......

My happy little passenger, Abby - and by the way her eyes have gotten lighter and are almost a blue/green now......

My hungry little passenger, Jack....

Hopping on for a sleigh ride.....

Devouring his cookie....
As I said, I am glad that we went so that I can tell him {and show him} that we did =) I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend, too!

Date Night

I had one of the best date nights of my life tonight and here's how it went.....

First, I made hot chocolate and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies....
Then we climbed into our bed in our jammies....
And we watched this together......
Luke had the best time eating {lots!} of cookies and drinking hot chocolate and Brian got a good nap, despite Luke jumping on him occasionally =) It was perfection and I know that these are memories that I will cherish for a lifetime!