endings and beginnings...

What a fantastic, long, hard, wonderful, joyous, crazy, inspiring, tiring and amazing year it has been! 2008 has been full of blessings--the miracle of pregnancy times two! As we emerged from the newborn fog and quit watching "Deadliest Catch" marathons through the middle of the night, we truly began to enjoy the journey that is twins. James and Isabella are now almost crawling and they each have two teeth. They are eating like horses and like to sample grown-up fare--graham crackers, banana chunks, etc. Isabella can say, "mama, dada, nana (banana)" an she tries to say "zuzu." She is also waving and laughing almost constantly. She loves music and will try to dance whenever she hears any. James is going to be my climber and mischievous one--he has already learned how to open the drawers and doors on our entertainment center and I constantly find him about 30 feet from where I placed him--my little explorer! He also blows raspberries all the time and is finally sleeping through the night consistently--HALLELUJAH!! His new thing is squealing with delight quite loudly many many times during the day! They are a constant source of amusement for me, even though they are also a constant source of work and needs...but what kid isn't? As for Lily and Ty, they are just continuing to grow like crazy. We began potty training with Ty the day after Christmas since Santa brought big-boy-underwear, which he LOVES!!! He has been doing really well--hardly any pee-pee accidents! The pooping thing may take a little longer, but I am just enjoying the ride--no stress this time around. I about went insane trying to potty train Lily and then after all my efforts she basically potty trained herself. With Ty and all subsequent children, I decided not to stress about it. But Ty is doing really well and likes that he's a big boy now. Lily is just blossoming daily--we love to hear what comes out of her mouth (most of the time) because she always surprises us with what she knows! We are all looking forward to 2009--may you all have a very blessed New Year celebration! Here are some pix from the the past two weeks--enjoy!

Uncle John's 35th birthday cake from me--too bad she isn't life-sized! She's a hula girl in case you couldn't tell :)

The Christmas morning mayhem...the babies enjoyed sampling the wrapping paper and packaging from all the new toys!

Uncle John was Ty's present opening buddy--the two of them had a ball opening and playing with each gift!

drowsy Mommy with Isabella...

Lily and her new boots...

This is my grandmother and grandfather, Aida and Jack, during WWII. She had this little telescope thing with this teeny picture inside and I managed to snap a photo of it--a handsome couple, don't you think?

And these are my great-grandparents, Louise and Joe, also during WWII...

Christmas Eve means matching PJs for everyone--but we couldn't get a good cooperative photo!

of course my girls were cooperating beautifully...put them in pink and they'll pose forever!

Lily opening her jammies...

our fam after church on Christmas Eve--no I'm not pregnant, but thanks for asking

Christmas Eve picnic with Lisa and Wy, Adrian, Jonathan, and Trevor at the park...

a night of rolling around in the twins' room...

Lily and Ty meeting Buffett at Mote Marine Aquarium in Sarasota...he likes to bump his nose into the glass! He actually did it two years ago when we took Lily for the first time and she still remembers it...

the babies enjoying their first trip to the aquarium...

checking out one of the loggerhead turtles...

this was the only sting-ray Lily would touch--she didn't even want me to touch them in their touch-pool--she was afrid I'd get stung...

by the shark tank...

Ty loved the sharks!

Christmas at Mimi and Poppy's house...

James enjoying his new train...

Mommy and Lily trying out her new TAG reader...

Mimi enjoying the unwrapping...

Ty in his new dress-up fireman outfit...

my two little characters...

Lily after her school Christmas program...

can you find her in the sea of faces?

saying good-bye to my good friend Kara (in the sombrero) as she and her family have now moved to Syracuse, NY--she will be greatly missed!!!!

My little artiste...

Miss Isabella spreading out on the floor...

Lily with her new guitar--thanks Uncle John!!!

James taking a moment to reflect on Christmas...

Ty digging in...

Mommy with her girls--Lily had just opened the taggie blanket I had made for her...

Poppy and James on Christmas Eve...

Lily and Ty on Christmas Eve...

Daddy and James after church...

Mommy and Bella after church...

the fam...

Mimi and 3/4 of her babes...

Mimi and bright eyes...

my mom, the celebrity...

catch my mom on the Today Show--she's just above the logo on the left hand side after a minute or two of filming...her friend Linda is in front first and then she moves my mom into position...enjoy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28139081#28139081

a thought or two for the day...

this is from "The Velveteen Rabbit" and it really struck me on several levels...i encourage you to find your own "take-away" from it...

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were laying side by side near the nursery fender..."Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made, "said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are REAL you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up, " he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once, "said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen too often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are REAL, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are REAL, you can't be ugly except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are REAL," asked the Rabbit. And then he wished he hadn't said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me real, " he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are REAL you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

My Little Elves...

There's been a lot of talk about elves at our house lately--from watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," to hiding the "elf on the shelf," to dressing the twins in their elf suits, it seems I either hear or say the word "elf" 5800 times a day. Truthfully, we've had so much fun with all of this and the kids have been enjoying the little fantasy world that exists this time of year. The twins had their 9 month well-baby check-up this week and James weighed 22 pounds, Isabella 20 pounds. They each got four shots plus the Rotateq vaccine orally. I have come to dread these visits since everything is times two! But they really are very healthy and we are so blessed. So here are two of my little elves...

Brave Santa...

we actually had a successful visit with Santa today--all four said "hello" and everyone mostly cooperated. Isabella was not too sure and cried for a minute or two, but she pulled it together for her photo. Lily told Santa that she wants a pink bear and Ty told him he wants a blue bear and a bouncy ball and Thomas the Train--I'm sure we've got all that covered five times over in our playroom already so I guess Christmas shopping will be easy-peasy this year, right? Actually, the kids are already done, so I can now focus on all the special grown-ups in our life. Lily has been asking MANY questions lately about Santa--does he have a mother, who is his wife, where are the reindeer (while we were at the mall), among many others...as a person who strives for utmost integrity, I still struggle with the whole Santa-thing. I have made it a point to not lie to Lily or Ty and somehow talking about Santa and what "happens" in our culture on Christmas has been eating away at me. I really want my kids to focus on Jesus and His birthday as they celebrate Christmas, but I know that I am fighting a culture that preaches otherwise. I also know--on the flipside--that my kids spend LOTS of time in little fantasy worlds and the whole Santa-thing plays right into that, so when they are developmentally ready to move on, the the true story can be revealed without much heartache. I don't think I'm scarred from believing in Santa and learning he wasn't real--I'm not even bitter about it...teehee...
Anyway, the babies are growing like crazy! Their nine-month well-baby doctor visit is tomorrow and I am always curious and excited to see how much they've grown. They are both rolling quite efficiently and they like to get up on all fours...crawling won't be long now. Both of them have one tooth on the bottom left--within a day of one another! Isabella is trying to clap and she also waves if someone waves to her--very social. They are also aware of my presence or absence and DO NOT like when I am not around. I love this age. Ty has been blossoming lately, too. He has grown an inch since August and he has been so much fun--on Mondays we drop off Lily at school and then we go to the "Bagewy Bakewy" for a muffin--he looks forward to this and starts talking about it on Sunday night each week. I cherish that time with him, too. He's also been very good at being two lately...but that's another post for another day...cheers

It's A Marshmellow World in the Winter...but not here

The weather has been gorgeous here lately, but obviously no snow...wah wah wah...sometime I want to get my kids up north experience snow at Christmas time! We are all on the mend--all but Lily are on antibiotics. The house is decorated for Christmas and the kids are thoroughly enjoying it all--we put little candy cane lights outside and they have had fun looking at them. This will be a short post tonight because I am tired, but all is well. cheers

The Elf Yourself video for you...

I thought I would just download this and put it on here so you can watch at your leisure--enjoy!!

go elf yourself...

I couldn't resist--I'm borrowing from my good friend Jeni B who did this with her family--too funny! Click on the link and it will take you to the video of me dancing with my little elves--enjoy!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/dOIbGuIXfF2GvZrcum65