Happy Thanksgiving

We just got home from the Thanksgiving buffet at the club and a nice stroll afterwards. We had some good food (alongside the turkey there was shrimp bisque, sweet potato casserole with pecans, and of course pumpkin pie) and family time, the twins loved running around on the dance floor in the dining room, and Sarah even had her own little Thanksgiving dinner of pureed sweet potatoes and oatmeal. The weather is beautiful, though it's hard to believe it's Thanksgiving when we're walking around under the warm sun and palm trees.

There are a few more pictures of our dinner on the November photo page.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, I hope you are spending it with family, friends, or at least something to be thankful for!

The Poop Fairy

Russ thinks a construction worker is sneaking into the nursery at night and leaving things in Jimmy's diaper. Me, I think it's Sarah's crib that the Poop Fairy visits -- it is hard to imagine how something so foul and voluminous could come out of such a sweet precious little girl baby.

Today's challenge is to have everyone awake, dressed, and ready to eat at 2pm when we have reservations at the club for their Thanksgiving buffet. My plan is to skip the morning nap, then having an early (and light) lunch and nap before we head down there. Should work for me, I don't know what I'm going to do for the babies.  Ha ha.

Sarah is pulling up on everything she can, but doesn't know how to get down so just cries when she is tired of standing and waits for one of us to rescue her. Hopefully she will learn the down part as easily as she learned the up part, and soon. I remember Katie going through this stage, I don't think it lasted very long. Jimmy gives us kisses all the time now, very slobbery. He even kisses Sarah and pats her on the head nicely. Katie is picking up a lot of words and a few new signs and using them often. Jimmy only says a couple of words ("tickle tickle", and yesterday I think he said "read"), but he goes on and on in his own language, in a very serious and determined tone of voice, with lots of hand gestures. I have no idea what he is trying to say, but it is fun to watch.

The house addition is very close to finished now. There is some tile work, plumbing, and a few electrical repairs which shold all be done in another week or so, and then we can paint and get the carpet and flooring in. If all goes well, we will be able to have our Christmas tree in the new living room!

I added a few new pictures and some more (out of order) pictures from Holly & Hank's visit to the November 2008 album (don't miss page 2 -- click on the little numbers 1 and 2 at the top or bottom)

Camping & Fireworks

We had our big fireworks camping trip over the weekend up in north Florida. We took the whole crew, both of us, all 3 kids, and Kristina (our nanny). We spent a lot of time inside the camper because it is cooooold up there this time of year, but we had a good time in spite of the weather. A few photos of our camper life are on the November photo page. I didn't take many other pictures this year, as it was quite busy keeping up with the kiddos, even with help. Sarah was perfectly happy to sleep in the top bunk, which we converted to a "crib" using a mesh bed rail. The twins shared the bottom  bunk, which we had to blockade using a board and the bathroom door. They were none too happy about the situation at first, but got used to it pretty quickly. By the last night I realized that continuing the normal bedtime routine (change into PJs, brush teeth, read a story, play music) would help even in a strange place. Duh. the fireworks didn't bother any of the three; they seemed to enjoy watching the ones they saw, and they slept right through even the loud ones later at night.

Jimmy is getting steadier on his feet, starting to sign "more" and "eat", and giving spontaneous, if slobbery, kisses. Katie has become quite demanding, but is also discovering the power of her cute little girl charm. They both love their hide-and-seek game anywhere they can find a little hidey-hole. Jimmy's first molar is finally poking through, and I think Katie has a second one now as well.

Sarah has her first tooth, with the second not far behind. She is crawling, sitting, and pulling up to stand all over the place -- had to rearrange the living room yet again today to keep her out of the TV & stereo. I also put up a more permanent baby gate across the opening into the addition (which is creeping slowly toward completion -- the current  delay is finding a new tile company after the last one fouled up the job three times and then tried to cover up the rest of their mistakes in a way that would have caused us major problems a few years down the road), so we don't have to step over play yard fence every time we want to walk in there. She is still eating well and loves everything we have given her -- so far just a few fruits & vegies, plus cereal, but she finishes a couple of ounces and then begs for more.

We were all happy to be back home in our own beds last night after four days away, but it certainly was a fun trip. Everyone even did very well during the 5-hour drive, with the help of some extra toys, snacks, a nice long lunch stop, and a portable DVD player (which actually saw surprisingly little use).  I look forward to future camping trips, when it's not quite so cold and the kids have outgrown the wild-chimpanzee stage and can enjoy more activities with us.

I spoke too soon.

Sarah is definitely crawling now, slowly, but it's real crawling.

She also pulled herself up to standing three times this afternoon.

I think we're in trouble with this one...

6 Months Old! Visit from Aunt Holly! Busy Busy!

Haven't dropped off the face of the earth, just had a busy couple of weeks. Aunt Holly (Tracey's sister) was here with Hank (her younger son) for almost a week. We had a great time visiting playgrounds, taking a cruise on the boat, swimming at the club, and hanging around the house playing. I have posted some new pics from that visit and more on the November 2008 photo page.

Sarah turned 6 months old on the 7th and at her check-up a few days later weighed in at only 14 pounds, but she's nearly 26 inches tall so still growing well. She was a real trooper through her shots (3 of them). I think having the magic boob at the ready helped a lot -- she nursed right through the shots and only cried for a few seconds.  She is sitting up well now, and not really crawling for real, but cretainly getting herself where she wants to go. She finally figured out how to get on her hands and knees (or feet -- the little butt up in the air is so cute!) and pick up a hand without flopping down on her face, so I suspect real crawling is just around the corner. She is still enjoying her solid food -- oatmeal and several fruits & veggies so far. 

Next up was our twins club garage sale last weekend, where I not only sold nearly $500 worth of clothing and gear that all three have outgrown (which all had to be sorted and tagged), but also worked on the setup and the sale. I did buy some things too, but st least I spent less than I made and came home with the truck half as full as when I left. My women's club's annual arts & crafts show was also last weekend, and I also spent some time volunteering there.

The twins just keep amazing us with their development. Jimmy has gotten a lot steadier on his feet and is now even doing little dances, turning in circles, even walking backwards (we think it's on purpose). Katie has caught on to the meaning of the "more" sign, and now uses that when she wants some of whatever we're eating. It's a nice change from the whining and crying she used to use. They both love looking at books and finding the pictures they know words for. They are playing together more and more, which sometimes means more squabbles, pushing, and crying, but also seems to be a lot of fun for them. We play a little hide-and-seek game where they run behind the couch, I pretend to search all over the living room for them, and then they pop out to "surprise" me and laugh when I say "Oh, THERE's Katie!"

This weekend is our big fireworks camping trip, in the travel trailer, with all 3 kids and our nanny. We had a great time last year with the twins; this year brings a new set of challenges but also some things that will be much easier. The packing and preparation means that I may not get caught up on anything else until next week, after we return.

First Food for Sarah

New November 2008 photo page, featuring Sarah's first taste of baby cereal! She had just a little bit of baby oatmeal mixed with a few tablespoons of mommy's milk, and LOVED it. She dribbled a bit, but had no problem figuring out the spoon and swallowing most of what went into her mouth. She wasn't very happy when the cereal ran out, but settled for topping off straight from the tap.