Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday(s)

Happy Birthday to Michael and Samuel! Although they were still recovering from the stomach flu, Michael and Sam were still able to enjoy their birthday.

The day was pretty low-key with the exception of several spontaneous performances of the Happy Birthday song by mommy, but as dinner time approached I decided that sick or not, you have to have a cake on your birthday. So I made a vanilla cake - two 9" rounds - and frosted one in blue for Michael and one in green for Sam. Those have become their colors for things like bath towels, sippy cups and toothbrushes.

Josh got home early and we all ate dinner together. The boys were thrilled with their birthday cards. They kicked and giggled and spend a long time looking at and comparing them. They liked Granny's the best with the little boy and his dog in a rocket. Granny knows boys!

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It has been the best and busiest year of our lives. The busy part doesn't even matter. We have had so many moments where we're just full of joy and awe that we have a little family. Christmas has been especially wonderful as I have explained almost daily what the nativity set and Christmas tree are for. I cry a lot and I laugh a lot and my heart has grown about a million sizes.

Michael ate his little piece of cake in bites like a big kid.
I love you Michael Bear!

Sam preferred the approach where you lick all of the frosting off the cake before you eat it.
I love you Sammy Angus!

They loved their new walkers, books, and jack in the box. They're really moving on to toddler toys and have been having fun with them since they opened them. Of course, opening them was enough fun in itself!

Here's a reminder of how they looked last December.


We can't wait to live each day of the next year with our sweethearts.

A Flu Christmas

I've been inside for almost 2 weeks straight and had time to write this little ditty to the tune of Elvis' "A Blue Christmas". I know it's too long but I had to record the whole experience.

We had the flu with two little babies.
If you've had it too, you know it gives you the crazies.
Plus their dad sure feels bad, it’s the worst flu he’s had
Yes, we had the flu and two babies.

On Monday night, little Sam didn’t feel right.
He couldn’t sleep and we heard a little peep.
Josh picked him up, he threw up, and I had to clean up
Then we had the flu and two babies.

Then Tuesday night, little Michael didn’t feel right.
He couldn’t sleep and we heard a familiar peep.
His bed and his head – it was all cover-ed!
Then he had the flu, my poor babies.

Then Thursday night, Daddy Josh didn’t feel right.
He stayed in bed and I said I can't handle this.
But the days all went by, and the flu passed me by

'Cause I never caught it from the babies.

I did my best to keep up with the mess.
Towels, sheets, and clothes, heaven knows, laundry woes.
Then what to feed? What do they need? When’s the last time they peed?
Now I have two dehydrated babies.

We watched TV, quietly, by the Christmas tree.
We drank sports drinks, looked up web links, used up the Lysol.
On the couch, my bed made, oh yes I sure prayed!
And I never caught it from the babies.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful visit from Grandma and Grandpa. Within minutes of their arrival Dad was reading books to Michael and they became instant friends. Sam was teething and took a little longer to warm up but both boys loved the one on one attention.

Our table wasn't fit for royalty, but we had turkey, rolls, and all the fixin's and we listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing "Bless This House" as we ate, so it felt like home.


The boys became so attached that they crawled all around the house the day they left looking for them. We had fun just hanging out in our pajamas and eating meal after meal.

Grandpa did the dishes for me after every meal and Grandma helped with all of the cooking and even took the stroller out for a spin!

We watched "The Shop Around the Corner", got PF Chang's takeout, and Josh and I even got to go out and buy the boys birthday presents and go out on a date.

Now that they're gone we miss them as much as the boys do. Thanks for such a fun visit!

Tagged

They found me and I've been tagged . . .

Four Places I've Lived
1-Stockholm, Sweden
2-Chesterfield, MO
3-Salt Lake City, UT
4-Bloomington, IN

Four Jobs I've Had
1-Grocery Store Checker
2-Temp Agency Office Manager
3- Sales Rep
4- Senate Hearing Planner

Four Things I'd Like to do Before I die:
1-Go back to Sweden
2-Learn how to be calm
3-See the constellations of the southern hemisphere
4-See a show on Broadway

Four Favorite Desserts:
1-White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
2-Hot fudge sundae
3-Apple crisp
4-Coconut cake

Four Interesting Facts about Me:
1-I rode a camel in front of the great pyramids.
2- I starred in our stake musical 2 years ago.
3- I traveled throughout western Europe but as an infant so I don't remember any of it.
4- I have twins but that doesn't mean we had our family in "one shot." We still want more!

Four Favorite TV Shows
1- Lost
2-Heroes
4-Martha Stewart - yes, she still has at least one fan left
3-Arthur

Halloween Pictures

Happy Halloween!

We never posted pictures of the boys in their costumes. Here we are before the ward Trunk or Treat party. I love how they're both biting on their fingers in this one! They look like that most of the time these days.

Here's Sam playing peek-a-boo out of his hood at dinner.

Someone asked me if Sam was the Beast to go with my Belle costume - the same one I've worn each year since Mom made it for me in 1993. Thanks Mom! So, here's a "Beauty and the Beast" shot. He let me hold him all night. A rare treat from this wiggle worm.

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Here's a video of Michael after the party. We had to capture his new grunting laugh! Click the forward arrow to play it.

This one was actually taken on Halloween. We met at my sister's house and took the boys to a few doors on their street. They loved it! Sam couldn't stop looking around and Michael was just happy. He kept laughing and looking at all of the kids outside. He is so social. They kept us warm in the cool air and we got to eat all of their candy. Sorry, boys! Better luck next year!

The age old delima - chocolate or fruit flavored candy first?

Happy Birthday Daddy

It was recently Daddy's birthday and let me tell you birthdays are a hundred times better with kids in the house. Maybe it's because I was home instead of working and I got to do more or maybe I was just excited to celebrate with the babies but it was the most fun birthday we've had at our house to date.We started the day with waffles that the boys were able to eat with us. Daddy had the special birthday plate and was able to play for a few minutes before dashing off to work. Later, my friend came over and asked me if I wanted to go out to lunch. Five second consideration - YES! She helped me feed the boys and made it so much easier to get them in and out of their stroller and car seats. She even played peek-a-boo with them at the lunch table and kept them entertained. We went to Marshall's which is my new favorite store and got some presents and 10 things I hadn't planned on buying but needed.

The boys took 2 hour naps that afternoon and I was able to wrap all of the presents and make the chocolate cream pie. When Daddy came home - early! - we had shredded beef tacos which had been quietly cooking away in the crock pot all day. The boys were so confused when I turned out the lights to bring in the pie with candles on it. They clapped when I sang Happy Birthday and laughed when Daddy blew out the candles. I gave them little tastes of the pie. Sam kind of threw up his bites. I guess that's why we're supposed to wait until after 1 year to introduce chocolate and milk. Hope he's not allergic.

We gave the boys baths and put them to bed, then watched "Transformers" which we missed when it was in the theaters. Save yourself $5 and 2 hours and skip it unless you were a huge fan as a kid. We skipped a lot of scenes to get to the end, but it was a good excuse to sit on the couch and eat popcorn.

The whole day was made sweeter because I knew the babies would be there for the party and because Josh has been working such long hours and was recently out of town for a few days and was sorely missed.

He received phone calls from all of his siblings and cards from most of mine. Thank you to everyone who made it such a great birthday!

Happy birthday Daddy! Next birthday is the boys'!

Adventures in Laundry

After doing all of the laundry the other day, I found this pea in my washing machine. I have so many questions. How long had it been sitting in the laundry pile? How long was someone wearing it in their clothes without knowing it? Is it clean enough to eat now that it's been through the laundry? How did it remain intact? It's not even wrinkled! Now that the boys are feeding themselves more and more, do they sell garbage disposals for washing machines?