Adventures with Bean and Goober

Good Bye Bean and Goober!

2010-11-18T21:10:00.000-08:00

Hello www.emeraldcitykids.com.
I'm moving my posts to my other website over the next couple weeks so I can turn Bean and Goober into the baby book I originally intended it to become. Feel free to check it out in the meantime and send me any suggestions for blogs to books at helloterumi@gmail.com.
Thanks for following:)

What we've been up to

2010-09-20T15:00:00.001-07:00

Here we have Bean and Goober putting on a little show. They love the ukeleles we bought in Hawaii-they play them daily though they think they're just mini guitars. Bravo guys!

Happy Birthday Twice as Nice!

2010-09-10T13:48:00.001-07:00

Better late than never-here's a video from my twin momma PEPS group 2nd year birthday party that we held at Little Gym:

I have to say we all looked pretty good and dare I say way better than we did at this time last year. More sleep maybe? Definitely glad to be part of such an amazing group.

Home from Hawaii

2010-08-24T14:43:00.001-07:00

We've been home a week and its been a little hectic unpacking and getting ready for September. I think I've been dragging my feet because this year we're going 'back to school' with these toddlers and it's making me feel old. Time flies and sometimes I miss my little babies. We're all growing up-Bean even got his first bee sting and I survived. When I get a moment or two I close my eyes and we're still sitting here on the beach with the waves lapping at our feet. Thank goodness my mom sent me some pics so I can post them as I've been way too lazy to even get mine uploaded. So in no particular order, here are some of the highlights from our trip to the Big Island. We went with my parents and it was so helpful to have extra hands on the flight(and in the van, the hotel, the airport...)and we had so much fun exploring the island together.
Pic #1-Strawberry Mochi from the Two Ladies Kitchen. Yum! It was everything I read about and more.

Baby Daddy and I at the boys' first luau. Just having the word 'luau' as part of the boys' vocabulary makes coming here worth it enough.
Baby Daddy and Bean body surfing with the boogie board with a window we bought at Target for less than it cost to rent it for a week.
Blast Off!
The beach by our hotel on our first night in Kona.
Grandpa building his arm muscles at a farmers' market.
And Goober with his water wings. Watching the boys in the water on this trip in particular has been amazing. They are truly water babies and I don't know how these splashes and flops turn into swimming but one day it will.
As always I will promise to post more soon and hopefully upload pics before October. There are a few rainy days ahead, so there is hope. Thanks mom for sending me some of yours to get me started:)

We get by with a little help...

2010-07-28T13:49:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness for my double momma friends-sometimes I don't know what I'd do without them. I am a confirmed parkaphobe. There are too many things to fall off of, impale oneself on, scrape one's knees to the bone with and get sick by eating. It is not a safe place and I hyperventilate a little just thinking about it. But a recent article in my FamilyFun magazine reminded me that parks are such a great place for learning and such an important part of socialization. It pretty much told me to suck up my phobia and deal with it. So the past couple days I've been venturing to local parks with the twosome. Today was a highlight because I went with my double mommas and they always seem to get my crazy and help me deal. Thanks ladies-here are some pics to commemorate this day.

High 5 with Jamie and her little C

This looks almost like an impromptu circle of Ring around the Rosie:
Thanks for bringing a bag of balls Jane. The field was awesome!

So awesome with all our Twos that it could almost pass as soccer class (will post on this later) or any of the other fancy classes they have for toddlers now.
Picture and snack time:But this is my winning picture. As you can see it is taken from the bottom of the park apparatus. This means that I am at least 3 feet away from the children and they are in the air and out of my reach. I'm dealing with my issues one step at a time with very small and neurotic borderline crazy steps, but we all have to start somewhere right?

We are TWO!

2010-07-21T20:14:00.001-07:00

This past week has been a bit of a birthday extravaganza. It started Saturday with the boys' Elmo party. Ever since we went to see Elmo live, all the boys can talk about is Elmo, so I figured out how to get an Elmo suit and decided this would be the birthday theme. When the day of the party started out a little cloudy, I got a few waves of panic as I imagined screams, tantrums, hsyteria and tears when the special guest arrived, but the sky cleared, the guests showed up, the guest of honor made his appearance and we had a fantastic day. When Bean pulled up a chair beside the humongous red monster and Goober said "Elmo come" after the Elmo left, I knew it was worth it. They've been talking about it ever since.
Here's a dark pic of the goody bag and cake table:

Wish I could take credit for these but they are made by my talented little sis. She has a cookie company in Canada called The Steveston Cookie Company:
Goober and his friend L:
Hanging out with L and C:A and A thanks for coming all that way!
Surprise!

A little unsure, but Bean looks content. I on the other hand look a little too overjoyed. Grandma joining in the fun:

Sephie and her crew. I had to post two pics because M was enthralled with Elmo:
Bean pulling over his chair:

Yes, those are homemade, from scratch birthday cakes. I didn't burn them and they actually were edible. The desserts I served the guests though were from Trophy Cupcakes and Costco. I took no chances on my ability:Me and my sis. Thanks for helping big time!

Baby Daddy and his big bro Uncle Niv. Thanks for helping out with the BBQ! So glad you could come:)
Auntie Candy and our littlest guest:Hanging out in the kitchen. Auntie Jo and L and S all the way from Canada!

And a plaid crew of posers:
This picture below was taken around when Elmo had to leave. Say "bye" Elmo we told the kids and they ran up and gave him high fives and yelled goodbye. Very cool. Thanks for coming Elmo. And thanks Uncle Roo. You know why.
To add to this epic post, I thought I'd add what we did on the real birthday. Baby Daddy took the day off and we drove the toddlers to Remlinger Farm in Carnation because they have been requesting "on choo choo" for the last little while now and I've been promising them they get to do this on their birthday. Little did I know we'd also be picking berries, riding ponies, driving buses and climbing on fire engines. Toddler Heaven! So here we have a few snapshots of the day:
Goober or "Beebum" as he now calls himself driving the fire engine:
Both boys waiting for the train to start:
One of the only times these cutout pictures has kind of worked out:
Putting the toddlers to work. I think this is from the blueberry field where we picked a handful of green berries before deciding to head to the raspberry patch where we were way more successful.
Bean trying to 'hold tight' on his first pony ride.

And finally-all my boys in one stagecoach. We ended the day with icecream cake and raspberries that we picked today. And presents from Mom and Dad of course, but more on that later....

2 weeks till 2

2010-07-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

Actually I've been thinking about the big day coming up for a while now and it's evident that I no longer have two babies. The clothes are bigger, the shoes are bigger, the words they learn each day baffle me. We have even been trading in some of the baby toys like the baby basketball hoop above for the larger big boy models. It's got me reminiscing and realizing that in a mere two weeks I will have real two year olds. Two year olds that are teenager wannabes-wanting independence, questioning everything and running in the opposite direction of where I want them to go. Am I ready? Who knows. But in the meantime, here are some of our recent antics:
Brother driving brother on the trike:
Watching our first outdoor concert at the zoo:
Gulping lattes(whole milk, steamed, low foam, lukewarm, tall) to get through early mornings
and hanging out on the beach. These next few shots are from a recent trip to Vancouver island:
Petting Goats at the farm:
More beach:

I think this carries through to the next post. We're also enjoying the fabulous summer weather that just decided to show up. Not a meaty post here, but just wanted you to know we're still around:)

Meant to post this earlier...

2010-06-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

but forgot. I think it took too long to upload the pics. Here we are on the ferry to Vancouver Island

and here is a random shot that snuck in from one of our first Vancouver trips. We're at a restaurant called Tomatoes by UBC, (I like their yummy sandwiches)and Goober is doing his cheese face. Can't believe the babies used to look, well-more babyish! I'm glad this one snuck in:)

phone pics

2010-06-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

These are random pics I have on my phone that I keep meaning to put up. The one above is something we do almost daily and I have no idea why. They love to dig in pasta.
Below was a fairy recent double mamma outing at the zoo:

Eating sushi with uncle Mike:

More pasta silliness:

Eating cookies we made on the deck in our new red chairs:
Playing with Uncle Niv and Auntie Candi at the park:

Loving the helicopter at the Science Center tots area:
Hanging out on the EIEI-OH!

Can't wait for more summer weather. The toddlers are full of energy and I think we're going to have a great couple of months ahead! I can't think of a better place to live than in the northwest in the summer:)

Just add water!

2010-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from our recent Parksville Trip. It was raining so we are all got totally soaked while playing between the sandbars when the tide went out. We didn't even bring the camera for this shoot so these are taken from Baby Daddy's phone. The Bean was the most adventurous and scared me to death by catching a crab in a clamshell. More holiday photos to follow....

Happy Elmo Day

2010-05-12T13:21:00.001-07:00

On Mother's day I tried to get the guys to say Happy Mother's Day, but they didn't totally get it. What they did get was that it was going to be a Happy Elmo Day and they still keep saying this over and over again. Happy. Elmo. Day. I bought the tickets to Sesame Street Live months ago and thought this would be a perfect way to spend my time with the boys on my 2nd official day for moms. It actually was amazing! They sat in awe as the real Elmo and Abby Cadabby crossed the stage. Goober waved until I thought his hand would fall off. They are going to be concert junkies.

Goober and Dad-this is minutes before the spectacle began. Goober isn't sure what to expect. I was a little worried here that this whole idea would be a big FAIL. Seconds later, the lights went off, the music started and my little boy was in Elmoland and didn't want to leave. It was a little cold in the stadium but he didn't want to put his sweatshirt on to cover his Cookie shirt. This is a boy who definitely knows what he wants.

Bean was entranced from the start. When the characters started to prance on stage he decided to give up his own seat to hang out on my lap. But this was pretty much the look for the whole show.

At intermission a bouquet of Elmo balloons like something out of the Times Square Macys' parade was marched out in front of all the kids. We were not one of the suckers who bought the balloons for their screaming toddlers, but we were pretty close. We were saved only by the louder screams of the dozen or so children who had the balloons but lost them within seconds to the ceiling of the stadium. Not cool Sesame.Me somewhat teary eyed with my grown up toddler boys. Yes, I teared a little when I realized that they were loving this moment. They are definitely growing into little guys with likes, dislikes and even LOVES. Man, these guys are turning me into a bigger sap than I ever thought I'd be.

Goober and I on the corner of Everett and 123 Sesame Street.
Here are more pics from my day and from the past couple weeks. I have downloaded a ton more but I really wanted to get my mom's day post up before June. So instead of giving them their own post, here's my bunch of pics:
Mom's day at the zoo-we ran into another set of twins from our twin momma's group. Hope y'all out there had a lovely day too! I know you ladies deserve it:)
Goober and Bean offering me hope that one day they'll come and read the info about the animals at the zoo.
My baby and his model face. What a ham!
Just proof that my hubby and I can clean up nice when we need too. We had an event for BabyDaddy's work. I thought the juxtaposition of our outfits and the rest of our room just proved what posers we really are...
I bought the splat mat and it is saving my floor. For anyone curious-it's by sugar booger.
Bean talking on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa.
Goober on the other line.
We went to the opening of the West Entrance at the zoo. Goober was doing fine with the giant penguin until it started talking. Bean pretending to be a meerkat.
Checking out our fish at the penguin exhibit.
Me trying to attempt the baby on the shoulders position.
Bean tasting the chocolate
and blueberry muffins.

Bean found my hat and modeled it for me.
I can't get enough of watching them play with their little lego and Fisher Price people. It's so precious!

I bought them a kitchen and it came broken so they turned it into a mock outhouse. If you look closely, Bean is sitting on a pot inside what is supposed to be the stove. Hopefully this means potty training may be okay.
They're getting the hang of filling gas.
We had a visit from Uncle Royce and Auntie Jo.

We rode the monorail.

And here is one of our favorite free aquariums. Thank you Petcetera!
And this post was brought to you by the letter U and the number 5.

Bunny Visit and Easter Recap

2010-04-15T12:58:00.001-07:00

Have you ever noticed that the year goes by in a blur of one holiday celebration mixed into the next so there's always something to look forward to and something to be excited about it? I didn't really appreciate this until this year with the toddlers being so excited about EVERYTHING! They even like silly bunny shapes made out of cheese. We started Easter off with a visit from some bunnies thanks to Brooke, one of the boys' babysitters. We talked about it for the week before the visit. When the day finally came, the boys knew something was up.
Here they are when the cage got set up:

What does Brooke have in the box?
Bunnies!
Goober was ecstatic...usually he is a little more hesitant around animals. He was all over these bunnies though.Feeding the bunnies some treats.

Bean in the cage:
Goober in the cage:

Goober playing show and tell with the bunnies. He brought them a book and their life-size daschund toy. I think Dashy scared the bunnies.No don't go!

Bye bye Brooke and bunnies:
Great Auntie Pearl and my cousin L also stopped in for a visit over Easter weekend. We didn't get many pictures but we did manage to get one of L with her hands full.And we got pictures of the boys in the awesome Olympic towels Great Auntie Pearl brought. Thanks a ton-here's Miga!
And Quatchi....

We continued the festivities with a trip to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa J for their Bunny Bounce. It was freezing cold so we had a short hunt but it was so neat to see the boys hunt for eggs with other toddlers.

One of the best things about twins is that there is plenty of toddler to go around when people visit. Grandpa J looks more comfortable in this photo

than in this one where Goober is trying to rip his face off...er I mean hug his head nicely and help Grandpa smile.
Group shot with the Easter Bunny. I always pictured him a little plumper with all those candy filled eggs he leaves. There were no tears though so maybe there is hope for Santa this year.
We wrapped our Easter weekend up with a visit from the Easter Bunny on Sunday morning. The boys were quite adept at finding eggs at this point and this year the Easter Bunny snuck some m and m's in with the bunny ohs and other healthy treats. YUM! We also had a lovely visit with Grandma and Grandpa P but no pics so we'll just have to shout out a hello and make sure we get some next time! (Grandpa P-please send pics!) Here is one tired Goober after all the Easter festivities. (He is actual faking-this is his nene face.)

Happy Easter! I think this one was my best one yet:)

Vroomvroomboomboom

2010-03-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Bean and Goober,
One day when you're old enough to fully understand, I just want you to know that your beloved playmobil dump truck did not just get left behind at the farm like I told you when one of you asked "vroomvroom?" today. Remember that BoomBoomBoom when mommy was parking, and mommy's door opening frantically and the sigh of relief from mommy when she realized she did not hit the garbage can, or the rocks on the other side of the curb? Unfortunately your dump truck fought an unfair fight today and was sacrificed in the line of mommy's parking. I'm sorry I ran over your truck.
Love mom

aloha beach!

2010-03-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit it but I have never changed a diaper on a plane. Baby daddy meanwhile is quite the pro. On the way home from Hawaii where we vacationed this past week, he had to change 7 poos on the flight home and I was grateful to be tucked away with my Us Weekly at my window seat feeling totally spoiled, tanned and taken care of. Babydaddys need (deserve) a bit of credit sometimes so here it is;)
We slipped away for a short vacation on Oahu and it was absolute bliss. The toddlers and I were so excited the week up to the flight-I swear they knew we were going on the plane to the "be!" (toddlerese for beach!). Here they are at the airport. They did well on their flight and even received a bunch of compliments.

We were even more proud of the scene they threw in the lobby of our hotel. After a room mixup and two screaming, tired, cranky toddlers we were upgraded to PH! Who would have thought having babies would sometimes amp up our style!

The lagoon by our hotel was our primary source of beach entertainment. We also loved the penguins and flamingos and other birds in the gardens there too. Uncle Roo and Auntie M had spring Break that coincided with Baby Daddys conference in Hawaii so after one morning of entertaining the two on my own I was so lucky when they literally flew in to the rescue and I had them help with the babies throughout the day. Here are some of our adventures:

finding geckos
playing in the lagoon
stopping to smell the roses (okay they were probably pikake or plumeria...)

Best Restaurant for Babies....the Ocenarium. We got there right before they fed the fish and the babies were awestruck the whole meal.This is the last pic and one of the only pics taken with our underwater cam..apparently Hanauma Bay was too much for it, I guess.

Despite living the high life, the best part of the trip was when BabyDaddy finished work and we all packed up and drove to a rental house on the North Shore. We were in a town called Haleiwa and it was sleepy, small and so tropical. I didn't want to leave.

Goober hanging on the "lanai" there is a rainbow in the back and yes he is in his birthday suit.

Fully clothed this time.Building on the beach.

For some reason I was determined to take the boys to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. It's like a cheesy Disneyland for pineapples but I love it...and they did too.
My boys!

Lost in the world's largest pineapple maze. And below Bean is feeding...
fish that think they are starving. Many came out on land just to get whatever fish drug we bought for 50 cents.
Bean + Train =Love
My boys again...boo!

Souvenir Shopping while waiting for our food. We forgot to get pictures with the requisite Matsumoto's Shave Ice..
Hanging with another set of twins we picked up at the playground.

And just like that it was over and we were back to the airport-

where we were transported back to Seattle with blustery winds and a rainstorm. But in my head we're still on the beach and I might just keep us there for a little while longer.

Defeat!

2010-03-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Notice the broken baby proofer sadly dangling from the top of the cabinet. All I need now is a little white flag to wave....Goober even managed to put his beloved bus on the top shelf.

C is for cooking

2010-03-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

and also for cleaning and I am just finishing now.... but this is how the morning started with a simple cooking experiment from Anabel Karmel's First Meals book (LOVE her!) and I haven't blogged forever so I took pics to document. I thought we'd make these buns from her recipe for bread animals because they have no egg in them and I've been having a problem with the babies wanting to eat the batter for the things we've been making. Anyways, here is what happens in the kitchen when we cook:
We set up the ingredients on the floor.(Practical yes, hygienic no. We do not do this when we cook for guests and I am in the process of acquiring a splat mat).
Then someone decides to see what flour feels like on his foot.
And we digress...

For kneading the party moves to the table where I am so proud the babies (toddlers) can now sit at the big people chairs sometimes.

I do believe some pre-baking sampling is occurring here. Hence my happiness for no egg in the recipe.
This is as far as these guys get to see the process. We had an unfortunate event with both swinging on the oven so now that part is magic and occurs during nap.
Tasting our product.

This last pic should be named "Lonely Bun". I think we kneaded and cooked these treats a little too long. But, what a fun day. Repeat cooking cleaning continuously (interspersed with crying, craziness and complete happiness) and we have most days in our house;)

BabyLOVE

2010-02-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Valentine's was a huge deal for us this year. The holiday started at preschool where we delivered cards to all our classmates. Bean was proud to put all the cards in the right bags at school and LOVED this one card he received in particular. For their cards, I had them pose with hearts I used for a garland for our Broken Hearts Party (more on that later). Here are some of the attempts getting the toddlers to cooperate.

Our Broken Hearts/Valentine's Party was an excuse to get our twin mommas together as a send off for one special momma and her brood who is moving away. This momma was in our prenatal class and somehow we both ended up in labor on the same day....and we are definitely going to miss her! So on Valentine's Day we had 14 babies and their 7 mommas together in our house. Somehow I have no big pics of the guests of honor, the food we had or any of the Valentine's decor, or even 12 of the 14 babies posed on the couch....BUT here are some scenes of the madness to give you an idea....
Ah! Here we are 7 of the mommas in our twin momma's group! How lucky we are to have met each other and survived over a year of babies and still have such great smiles on our faces...H we will miss you(and Em and M) and we hope you visit often!
And like all parties, we had some wildness of our own. Somehow someone brought barrettes and unlike adorable L pictured belowwe have one unimpressed Bean

and a skeptical M all wondering why on earth they ended up at a party with so many ladies and love and barettes! What good sports.We had so many leftover "make your own cupcakes" from the party, so after dinner we cleared the tables and had the boys try decorating. They kind of seemed to get it-I love the way the Bean is concentrating so hard to get this cupcake just right.
I think Goober's going for the perfect icing swirl...

We did not get pics of the eating frenzy that occurred.
Icing became hair gel in the process.And to top off the sugar load, the Bean had another helping of Jello too!

And finally here I am with two of my dear boys after a wonderful day...a little tired but what a memorable Valentine's! Thank you Baby Daddy for humoring me and for hanging my silly love garland project in the window for me:)

18ish months

2010-02-08T06:23:00.001-08:00

The picture above could be from any point in the past month. We've been sniffy and gross, but going crazy when we're stuck at home alone, so being outdoors at the zoo is usually where we're at. By the way, I'm to lazy to put these in any particular order today (I think they're actually alphabetical from what I named them when I saved them). Please bear with the running commentary:)

Bean and his ball. This is our new favorite game. Usually it involves them throwing the ball into the garden so that they get to climb through the jungle to retrieve it.
Goober trying out a scooter at the local drop in toddler play. Perhaps this is the source of our snottiness....but it was a lot of fun.

Grandma and Grandpa J when we went up to Canada for a visit. Yummy breakfast at the boathouse. Bean is staring at a giant fireplace in front of our table. There is nothing like a 6 foot long open flame to entertain two boys!
This is the countdown to the Olympics in Vancouver Counter Thing. Yes, it is raining and a bright blue blur, but I couldn't help but take it AND post it. I'm beginning to get the spirit...
Back at the zoo again. Goober's current favorite animal is I for Iguana, and I know this is not an iguana, but at this point any lizardy thing is an iguana and that's okay.
Back in the jungle playing the ball game described above.
One night they both insisted on eating on our kitchen chairs instead of in their high chairs. I think we have budding two year olds.
Around their 18 month birthday Baby Daddy had a crazy call weekend, so Grandma and Grandpa J and Great Auntie Sal and Great Uncle Brian came to babysit me for the day and take us out to dinner. It may look like Goober's making a heart with his hands, but I realized later it's because he's holding a clamshell. Anyways, Uncle B, I hope to see the pics soon, because this is pretty much all I have.
The usual Bean and his head against Grandpa pic.
This is the current favorite toy. Thank you Nina! This is so much more entertaining than the oven for them now, and I'm so happy.
Breakfast at the Dish in Ballard. We meant to try this prekids but there is always a huge line. We came here on a weekday and had a great time and the amazing waitress had both kids entranced and let them play with cool squeezy toys! What a great breakfast!
At our second favorite place this past month. We are at Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue and they LOVE the farm!
More farm.

Finally, 3 videos.

This video is from this morning. I dragged about the blocks and then caught Bean stacking them.

Then I finally caught them both on camera practicing their Japanese climbing on the toy that is the bane of my existence. At least the lessons are paying off;)

And this is one from a few weeks back. We are in Africa....at the zoo. They love this dancing circle.

Christmas Update

2010-01-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

Here we are in the New Year, but I have to backtrack a little and prove that November and December did exist. At somepoint in this time period, we learned to climb on chairs:
And climbed on and in our stroller. And in the colander. He did this himself:

And so did he:We made wishes at many fountains, starting with this one in front of our favorite Indian restaurant in Wallingford:

We smiled,and posed:

We had a visit from our relatives from Singapore
We monkeyed around the house :
And we made more pizza:
And no, that is not lipstick, it's Nutella
And we went to Phoenix. We wanted to go there for the sun and for a chance to swim outdoors in December. Unfortunately it was freezing cold there and we had to improvise. We found a great train museum that was all decked out for the holidays.We visited the famed Phoenix Zoo. It had some pretty fun exhibits. The boys loved the tractor at the Kids' Farm area.

Dad and Bean were brave enough to touch and feed the Manta Rays.
The Fisher Price Little People look a lot bigger here than at home:Here we are lost in a tropical forest:

After a day at the zoo, it was still too cold to go swimming. We found a teddy bear factory where you can do tours. Apparently it's been around since the 1950's.

Bean adored all the big stuff animals. He had to go and hug each one. Bean sailed away at the Hear museum. And then we came home.When we came home from Phoenix we didn't have a lot of time for a tree before we headed up to Vancouver. Baby Daddy wanted a real tree, so this year we got a small one from a tree lot and started decorating.

Next year I will remember to put pants on the kids before we do the tree. Babies' first tree decorating experience will have to go in the baby book with the shot above, not the shot below.
We traveled home to Vancouver for the usual Christmas festivities. Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa P's with both boys enjoying their first Borscht:

First Gingerbread:
Caroling with mom:
Opening a jeep (their first super manly toy! It has a button with a muscle on it and when you push it says "we're big and strong!") from Great Auntie P and Great Uncle R.

Visiting another Santa at Grouse Mountain (So much calmer than their original Santa pic!)
Presents!
Opening yet more presents at Great Grandpa Jichans:
Here's Santa Grandpa:And with Grandpa and Grandma P

And at Great Auntie J and Great Uncle D's house on Christmas Day. All in all we went to 5 houses on Christmas and survived!
PS great Auntie J if there are marks on the table, it's because of Goober
Here's Baby Daddy and I at our first Canucks' game in years after we survived Christmas madness. Yes, I'm wearing a helmet, but not a real one, it's a toque:
The End!

mi amore

2009-12-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist...

What is cuter than two babies making pizza on the kitchen floor?

Two babies cleaning the whole things up!

Seen us around?

2009-12-17T10:51:00.000-08:00

Since having babies, there are a couple (or maybe hundreds) of moments when I've looked around and thought every other momma has it together but me. Like the other day when two diapers simultaneously exploded minutes before the doorbell rang and I had poo on my sleeve as I shook hands with the new cleaning lady. Or when the monster in me came out and I yelled WAIT YOUR TURN! at a man pushing me and my two babies over in the line at Costco because he couldn't wait 30 seconds longer. Times like these make me think that someone up there is having the greatest joke ever by giving me TWO babies at once. And, times like these used to make me wonder why people get so frazzled and grouchy at such a festive time of year.
AND now I know. So, I'm slowing it down and taking it in stride but I still had to post something because I haven't posted in ages and I needed to redeem myself. Next week I'll post some angelic Christmas pics of me, baby daddy and the two toddling cherubs. But today, you get me and the babies in the raw. It's been quite a crazy couple weeks;) Wait till you see our Santa photo.

recent movies

2009-11-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

I love my iphone video ap, and take them all the time, but keep forgetting to put them on the blog. So here's a few of the recent ones. The on above happened yesterday. The weather got nice and so I took the kids to a farm/park in Bellevue and we were lucky enough to see the 'farmer' feed the pig.

This video is the madness that happens in my house on a routine basis. I always thought tag was a game you had to teach kids, but I think it's actually just instinct.

The videos above are now from about two weeks ago. The one below is from Kidsquest Museum a couple of weeks ago too. They love the water exhibit there. I'm getting so lazy at posting so I'm just going to upload it now and press post because they change so much each day, these videos seem ancient now. By the way-the babies are now crazy. They run around the house, opening doors and shutting themselves in closets. I frantically ordered some of those babyproof door things and Baby Daddy and I have both been locked in and out of rooms in the madness. But things are a lot more fun too so I can't complain.

more october pics

2009-11-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

These guys make sure we never miss a sunrise...Getting ready to cheer on our favorite hockey team!
My favorite boys.

More modeling.
He put these on himself.
Tractor parade.

Rolling his pumpkin to the wheelbarrow.

October Shenanigans

2009-10-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

As usual we're finished the month and I still am way behind in posting pics. We had a wonderful October with visits to Canada for Thanksgiving, pumpkin patches and trick or treating on Halloween. For now, here are the pics that I have so far:

Bean at breakfast:
Goober humoring mom in a fuzzy snowsuit:
Squished in the dining room:
At Pumpkin Prowl at the zoo:
After mom's Pumpkin Push run:
The whole family at the run:
At Biringer farm on the way home from Canada:
Feeding the goat:
With Auntie Mika at the locks:
Tailgating:
And finally:
I'll post more soon.

Packing pros

2009-10-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

We head home to Canada quite often and the babies are getting quite proficient at it packing and getting ready for a long car drive. Here is the Goober when we got ready for our Thanksgiving trek home and I swear he did this all by himself:

I had to go and grab the camera pretty quickly and I couldn't stop laughing. The first time he did it, he climbed in, shut the lid and then popped out and waved. Hide and Seek is going to be a favorite game at this house, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for this yet.

It's begining to feel a lot like Ugg weather

2009-10-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

After spending last year hospital bound, we really lived up every moment of this glorious summer and we never thought it would end. But all of sudden the cold weather creeped up on us and I had to scramble to find mittens for the babies' outing to the locks last weekend. This year I guess I actually need shoes, rainboots and actual coats? Here they are in their matching jackets at a trip to the zoo. When I picked red, I never realized how much this color would come in handy for trying to see and catch them as they try and race away from me:

And finally, here's a picture of the Bean in the van where he loves to sleep. Today I asked the boys where they were going to sleep-in the van or in their bed, and they both pointed out the door to the van. I took it as a sign, and within seconds they were out.

Video Updates:

2009-09-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Before I forget, I have to post these videos. We've been working on drinking in cups since we took our baby class last year. Now the babies can bubble and spit, so it's become a lot more interesting.

Also, we love our neighborhood playground! Here is babydaddy and my crazy kids on the swings:

All Gone buffet and Old Country buffet....

2009-09-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Actually this post should be called Dear Goober, because he has been a really dear boy lately. Especially because I've been trying to wean him and I know it's difficult for both of us and we've been bickering a lot. On the list of "I nevers" that I keep doing along with nursing past a year, I never ever meant to teach my baby sign language. However, Goober has been pointing at this and that and everything lately, and his signs are quite effective. Great Aunty Pearl bought an amazing book called "All Gone" and for some reason when I read it, I make a sign like, well check out the picture:

This sign I guess means all gone or all finished, because this is how Goober and I have learned to talk about things we do. When he finishes his breakfast-"all gone". When he's finished in the jumperoo"all gone". We've even come to the understanding that the momma buffet is "all gone". Tonight when he refused his bottle and pointed at me, I did "all gone". For the first time in weeks there were no tears and no fighting-he just buried his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. All gone.

We also had another buffet experience today-the Old Country Buffet. It is one of the few restaurants by the museum we like to hang out at, and today the babies were starved after they played and this seemed like a fast food option because I of course did not think to bring anything for them to eat. It turned out to be brilliant because there were so many things the babies can eat there and they can eat for free! The staff there was so friendly and accommodating and they have enough high chairs for a small army of babies! It was a bit of a juggle because it was just me and them, but here is a bit of documentation that it was somewhat successful:

And I think this is my pic of the day-here's Bean in his convertible:

They are so cute now that they can toddle around, and they even have a bit more independence from me and from each other. I am so excited about their walking skills!

We have a walker(x2)

2009-09-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Baby Daddy's birthday was the other night and low and behold someone decided to walk-yes walk across the family room to help with the celebration. Yay for Goober who seemed to know to put that little bit extra out for daddy for his big 3-3! We had a family birthday dinner at Tutta Bella where we only managed to get one photo:
The boys enjoyed eating the pizza but they definitely loved the gelato the best. Mom and Baby Daddy will be celebrating out to eat this weekend thanks to Amanda our babysitter(mmm Spinasse was amazing!).
After all the excitement of yesterday's walking the Bean also decided to get some fancy footwork going and this afternoon he too walked across the family room. Both boys still seem to prefer crawling as their transportation mode of choice, but I think we we will have more walking practice ahead. Goober refused to take off his shoes all day today.

(This is from a day or two later but here's a video of babies not only walking, but brushing and walking!)

no crying over spilled milk anymore!

2009-09-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

At one point in time, watching Bean do this might have made me cry, but now we are using real milk and formula and it is so amazing to have the babies hold their own bottles and even drink out of sippy cups and straws. I can't believe how fast they're growing up. Today is supposed to be their one year corrected birthday so I'm a little sentimental. And because it's pouring rain outside I thought I'd post a few pics taken during those oh so hot weeks we had not so long ago!
Below is a bad omen of things to come...why oh why do babies have to climb on things??

And here is Goober basking in the sunlight!
Emptying out the cupboards!

A Bean in a box
All the Uncles and Baby Daddy
Mr. Standerstand
And Bean holding Grandpa's head...(he has done this on more than one occasion)And to all the Uncles and Aunts and Grandparents going back to school tomorrow, we hope you have good classes this year. 182 more days or so till next summer but who is counting;)

Summer Fun

2009-08-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

In my pre-baby days there was always one baby phenomenon that I found hilarious and never imagined that I would partake in, but once again the Momzilla in me came out and I entered Bean in.....a Baby Derby! I couldn't help myself. It was my one and only opportunity because these crawling days won't (hopefully) last forever. And it was oh such fun!PS. Our sweet Bean came out a champ winning a toy for himself AND for his brother!

Goober had his own moments of glory at the amazing 'million dollar' waterpark we went to when we visited Auntie Mika and Uncle Roo in Steveston BC. This boy is definitely my waterbaby. I will definitely have to find some waterparks nearby our house here to hang out in on sunny days. I'm glad Uncle Roo sacrificed his clothing and went with the crazy water monster instead of me.
Finally, I had to include this picture taken by Great-Uncle Brian! I love the way he's made my usually tornado stricken house look like a serene parking lot for the twinmobiles. I only wish it always looked like this. Note the Diaper Genie in the corner looking like some modern side table!

a month of celebrations!

2009-08-19T19:50:00.001-07:00

Bean and Goober are now one year and one month and it is so neat how their personalities are becoming more and more evident - we’re realizing now that two boys born at the same time can be SO different and we can’t believe how much we can love two crazy poo and mess factories who keep us moving all day and awake all night.

We celebrated their birthday night at Spaghetti Factory and Goober showed off his ginormous tongue. He also showed his skills as a budding artist and I’m scared of what crayons are going to do to the walls of my house in the future. Bean and Baby Daddy shared a plate of Fettucine Alfredo and it was instant LOVE. In the past month we’ve dined out a lot at places like Tutta Bella, Saltys Boom Noodles and Portage Bay, but it’s always a ticking time bomb as to if we’ll actually make it through our meal. So far the only disaster has been at Taco Del Mar, where an illplaced jar of baby food met an unfortunate demise on the cement floor where it exploded into a million pieces to my utter horror when I was dining with the crazy boys alone. We won’t be going back there anytime soon to say the least.

We moved about a week after their birthday and the boys love having all the space in their new house. They also love their new twin cars that showed up on moving day courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa J. Before we moved I did make sure I got a shot of the Bean lounging in his favorite spot in the window from our old place. Remember the cage? We don’t really need it anymore but we’ve put it on the deck where sometimes we catch a bunch of grandparents or whoever else thinks they are brave enough to go in.

The boys also had a blast at their one year old birthday where so many friends and family from out of town made the trek to our favorite beach spot to celebrate the milestones these babies have made this year. This Baby Momma was truly thankful for all the people (aka the Aunties and Uncles) who put up with my Momzilla wishes to have a ‘real’ celebration to welcome these guys into the world and celebrate their crazy and miraculous first year. Both Grandmas were put to work with Grandma P making a fantastic cupcake display and Grandma J putting together a wonderful collage of the babies. Old friends, work friends, a couple of double momma celebrities and their families and aunts, uncles and some great grandparents made the babies’ first ever party such a special day. After about 6 years of living here, having all of our friends and family together in one place made Seattle truly feel like home.

And finally, this post is coming from Vancouver BC, where the babies are asleep in pack n plays in our lovely hotel room. We’ve had a great time playing tourists in our hometown for a quick getaway from unpacking.

The Day after the Babies got older...

2009-07-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd be such a sentimental momma, but I've spent so much of the past day wondering how the time flew by so fast that I'm now the mom of two one year-olds. So here goes the baby letters that I thought only other momma's write, but I totally couldn't help myself, I love these boys so much.
To my Bean,I know you're growing up right before my eyes when I saw you pick up a book and bring it to your dad and sit on his lap the other day so he could read it to you. You have had quite a year. From the moment you entered this world, you knew what you wanted and you were determined to do it your way. You were so determined that you used up all your energy screaming when you were born and you ended up in the NICU. But, that is life sometimes, and you definitely give things your all. When I change your diapers and some bird flies by the window, or some toy catches your eye, it is all I can do to get that diaper on your behind. Or today, when I didn't want to give you the whole cheese string, but you wanted it and even when I hid it you knew I still had it in my hand, you wouldn't give up until I caved and gave it to you. Maybe we should have known this when we gave you a name that means 'fighter', but we love this fearless determination in you. Sometimes I just watch as you figure out what toys can fit into other toys, or as you say "ba" everytime you bounce a ball to me. I love the way your face lights up in a smile when you are happy and I love the way peace washes over you when you curl up in my lap and fall asleep. Waking you up in the morning is a joy. You are definitely a boy who loves life and doesn't want to miss one minute. I love hearing you try out new sounds, and I love how you get so calm when you listen to your favorite songs. I am so thankful I am the mother of such a sweet sweet boy.To my Goober,
I swear you said "yay" the other day when you clapped your hands as your dad walked in the door, and it almost brought tears to my eyes. I know you love your family-we joke sometimes that you think you are supposed to be an only child since you came home two weeks before your brother, but I see you share a lot and I know how hard it is for babies to share. You are totally inquistive and it is so neat to see you try and figure out how toys work. I love the way you make your cheese face when the camera light is on, and how you goof around with me when we play your Putamayo CD. Even now you never let me play my songs on the radio on your playhouse-you always stop my favorite halfway through and I wonder if this is going to be a recurring battle. I love how you know I'm your mom and somehow you think I can comfort any or all of your woes when I have no idea what I'm doing-it is truly amazing that you think I'm that perfect, and I just want to do whatever I can to make you happy and make you smile. You are protective of your home and you take awhile to warm up to other people, but I think this will go away with time. We call you "mr. Standerstand" when you wave your arms and stand up by yourself. When you learn to walk, I think things will definitely be crazy around here. I love to watch you try new foods and eat with gusto, and I love how you smile and laugh your head off when your dad tickles your belly. You splash in the bath like no other. I am so thankful to be your mom.

Cake for Breakfast

2009-07-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

What's Bean looking at?
Oh!

Not the most healthful breakfast I know, but how often do your babies turn one at the same time? This has been the most incredible year because of these two boys and baby daddy and I were so excited to celebrate we started the festivities at 5am with our morning wake up call from Bean and Goober. The boys were treated to balloons in their bedroom and then we sang "Happy Birthday" with their birthday cupcakes. We have big dinner plans tonight so we'll post how that goes, but in the meantime here are some pics from our morning celebration:Goober meets chocolate....

Balloons!
Mommy has to help blow out the candles.Happy Birthday!

On the Move...

2009-07-12T07:23:00.001-07:00

This time it's not just the babies getting more mobile-it's the whole family. We have two more weeks in our current place then we're moving about 5 minutes away, but to a place with way more usable space! I'm so excited to move, but we love this place and I know we're all going to miss it a ton. We have many good memories here. The boys especially like the big window facing the alley and because I do so much online shopping there is a constant stream of UPS, FEDEX and Amazonfresh trucks for us to look at.
There are so many new milestones lately and I've been hoping to post pics, and I keep forgetting to download them off the camera. Here are some pics that have been waiting in my blog box forever:

The boys love helping me do the laundry. It's hopeless: the basket always ends up transforming into a car.
Here's the Bean napping with the dogs that the boys were given by their Great Grandpa Jichan. Somehow he managed to put both dogs on top of himself. I moved the one off his face after the picture, but they absolutely love these puppies.
Here they are with dad in the pool I bought for the backyard. In the picture on the pool box, it looked like a mini pool, but it takes up our whole yard and our whole family can fit in it. I'm so glad I didn't by the bigger pool!Finally here is a pic of me with Auntie Mika at the March for Babies. This was such an amazing day for our family. The purple lei represents premature birth and it was so uplifting to walk with so many people who were supporting the same cause. I will definitely do this again next year. Auntie Mika I miss you! I hope you're having a great trip, but I can't wait for you to come home!

Babies in the Grass! Babies in the Grass!

2009-06-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

I've noticed that these apologies for not posting baby news are getting a little old, but we really have been busy. We're in the process of moving and it is definitely a bit of a challenge with two babies who would rather us schedule days around their play rather than grown up things like house inspections and bills. Can you blame them? Anyways, we have been out and about enjoying the great sunny Seattle weather when we can, and we have had so many memories in the last while. Our favorite activity has been to go to the zoo where we let the babies roam free in the big field. When we say roam free we really mean it:

The babies are also starting to 'toddle'. Today both babies stood up by themselves for a couple seconds, and I am getting very scared. Thank goodness we are moving soon, because we are definitely going to need more space once they figure out their legs a little better!Grandma J came for a bit of a visit and we enjoyed the requisite zoo trip and a picnic at Alki Beach. What I didn't get was a picture of us trying to chase the crows away from our lovely picnic-every bird on Alki seemed to want a taste of our sandwiches!

And, here is Goober enjoying a pizza. We are getting more adventurous in our food selections. We now eat pretty much anything! This particular pizza is from Tutta Bella and yes, we are enjoying it at the zoo. Don't be jealous Uncle Niv!

Pics from the past couple months

2009-05-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

The babies are napping so I have a bit of time to catch up. We have had a lot of fun these past few months as the babies are becoming increasingly more mobile. They love the front window in our home and like to watch the cars and people in the alley. We also people watch as we get to go out a whole lot more and enjoy the beautiful Seattle sunshine! We even had a modeling session at our home with a pro photographer who has two crazy twin boys herself! The boys have tried many new foods: cheerios, rice, red mango, beans, chicken, squash and most recently a bit of risotto we ate for dinner. They love to try whatever we're eating and we have to be so careful of leaving things too close within their reach. Our most recent favorite activity is going to the field at the Woodland Park Zoo. The babies can sit on the cleanest grass in Seattle and crawl around-no dog poo and no geese! Sometimes we don't even see the animals. But usually we try and make a stop at the penguins-the new penguin exhibit is definitely amazing and the stroller can roll right up to the glass.

The pic below is the babies at their favorite class. We have so many pictures to catch up on-I have to add more later.

We're back!

2009-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

We've been back for a little while, but it takes a bit to get adjusted to real life after being on vacation mode. Even though we tried to get the boys to sleep later while they were on holidays, they still seem to want to sleep early and wake up early. Needless to say-we rarely miss a sunrise in this household and this past week I have not been that grateful for the wake up calls we've been getting. Anyways, Baby Daddy made a slideshow of our trip so this is mostly for the grandparents, but here you go just the same.
PS the boys learned how to wave Hi while in HI (corny I know but I couldn't resist). Goober really hammed it up and started wiggling his arms in wave mode during the flight there. Then, while we were at a mall on our last day of the trip Bean wanted to get his portion of twin celebrity-ism and started waving at passersby. We'll post pics soon.

cage-free is for chickens only.

2009-05-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today we are blogging in sunny beautiful Maui, and I know it's not an excuse, but we haven't posted in weeks because it's been a ridiculous amount of packing, unpacking, repacking and then wondering if we should just pack it in all together and not go at all. But here we are. We finally decided to take it easy on this trip and if the most we get to do is just SEE the beach, we are happy. We took this mantra a little too much to heart at the beginning though, because we were so relaxed at the airport when we first left that we didn't hear the announcement that our plane was boarding early and had to rush to board without food or bathroom breaks! Even so, we survived the flight over with Bean and Goober befriending everyone around them and us surviving the dilemma of diapers and yucky airplane bathrooms with some stealth poo changes in our seats. Yes, I know it's gross but you have to do what you have to do:)
When we got here, we found our hotel to be beautiful and beachfront,and the room was pristine and just screaming for our boys to destroy it. To my horror NONE of the boys toys and stroller I ordered were here. They are very laid back on this island, and the baby rental guy had forgotten our order. It was good karma though because we were able to add a baby cage to the rental and now we are completely at ease. I don't think these babies or I could live without the cage! Now we are safe and sound and both babies can go in either direction and baby daddy and I do not feel so outnumbered if one of us has to say go to the bathroom, or get food, or perhaps write and post a little bit of blog;) Anyways, we are very happy to be on vacation and you can watch the little video below to see what we're up to.

Nine Months and Go Canucks GO!

2009-04-21T18:53:00.001-07:00

Things have been busy in our household lately-I can hardly believe it's been 3 weeks since we last updated. Both boys are currently teething up a storm. Bean is getting his 3rd and 4th teeth. And we've lost count of how many teeth Goober has. In the past couple weeks, we've had our first family portraits done, we've visited Vancouver for Easter, we've had some relapses in our sleep schedule (uggh!) and we've been enjoying the sunshine. We even suited up for the recent Canuck game-and yes they are Sedin twin jerseys.(Thanks Milligans!) We have also tried some new foods in the last little while. Beans are a hit with the Bean. We also tried yogurt at class the other day and both boys found it rather yummy. Gerber puffs and Baby Mum mums are also favorite foods at snack time. And, I've been little successful at making SOME of my own food-today I made stewed peaches and they tried diced up cooked carrots and both boys had at least seconds:)
As you can see, we have also been running out of room in our teeny tiny house. Both boys are on the move, with Bean crawling forward now-and Goober trying to stand. And both boys now notice each other big time-they may look cute in the picture above, but if you notice where the Bean's hand is, you might realize that this innocent pose could potentially end in fisticuffs depending on Goober's mood today.
Our hardwood floor is really not the best for young crawlers and we were having a dreadful time with rug fuzz all over the place from the mats we put down in their play area-both boys had figured out how to make little fuzz balls by rolling their drooly fingers up and down the rug until they had a big slimy ball of sheep hair. We gave up on hoping that our 50th time vacuuming the rug would cure this problem and recently got our shipment of baby floor and hopefully it will make the "cage" a little more pleasant.

And even though we haven't moved yet, we decided to get the boys their own little bit of real estate. We'll try and post a bit sooner than 3 weeks next time!

asleep at last....

2009-04-07T15:00:00.001-07:00

The boys are napping! This is the second time today they are napping at the same time. I don't want to jinx it but hopefully we'll get a common nap schedule soon. They are however, on the big bed, so I have to pretty much stare at them so they don't roll off, but maybe if this works I'll get brave enough to try and transition them to their little holding cells...I mean cribs. Anyways, they are both moving all over the place when their eyes are open. Goober finally figured out how to go forward and Bean still rolls around, but Bean is beginning to bum wiggle and shuffle, and I foresee crawling soon...we'll see. Thank goodness the cage has arrived.

What a disaster our house has become!Is there any room for us left?

March for babies

2009-03-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

After months of blogging about being neurotic parents, we are finally gearing up to bring our babies out and about like we've wanted to for so long. May is our official "coming out" month because cold and flu season will be over, and there is finally less threat to their preemie lungs. We are kicking off our time to finally show off our babies with the March of Dimes Walk for Babies on May 3rd.

I remember when I was in elementary school, there was a preemie Cabbage Patch doll and everyone wanted one because they were teeny tiny and cute. Never in a million years did I ever think that one day I would have two preemie babies of my own. And never did I think they would come into the world with so many cords and beeping machines. We are so fortunate that sometimes we are starting to forget they were preemies, and it's hard to believe now that only a short time ago we were visiting the hospital several times daily to see them. It is so amazing that we will be able to go together to the walk as a family to celebrate such a huge milestone in all of our lives.

Please help us support the March of Dimes. They really are an amazing organization and we really appreciated their help during our stay in the hospital.

PS. Here are some pics of Bean and Goober's recent antics:

With Baby Daddy before bath time.

Hmmm......What are you guys up to?

Who us scrap and fight?? We're BFF'S!

Plotting escape....

8 months!

2009-03-25T07:06:00.001-07:00

We can't believe that we're at 8 months already. After barely surviving a few nights alone while baby daddy was away for a conference, and with our mommy's helper still out sick I made a frantic baby "cage" purchase online yesterday, even though I swore I'd be able to keep them roaming free. With Goober backing it up and Bean rolling all over, there is no longer any safe haven from baby movement. While we wait for the pen to arrive, we are desperately trying to keep the babies contained using pillows, barriers and other big obstacles. Goober is now 16 pounds 11 ounces and Bean is 15 pounds 91/2 ounces. We are getting huge!! In the past weeks we have tried avacado, winter squash, baby mum mum biscuits, apples and bananas. I finally got an mmmmm...when I mixed my mashed bananas with oatmeal and milk. Other foods I've made have had more adverse reactions. I swear the Bean said 'yuck' to my mashed avacado.

Anyways, here is our newest video release:

Poo before you Jumperoo...

2009-03-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Baby Daddy had a conference in San Diego, so the babies and I were left alone for 4 days and 3 whole nights. I was a little scared at first-it was a whole 76 hours and I can barely take care of myself for that long. But, the doctor said I couldn't go, so you do what you've gotta do, and in the end we survived and had a fabulous time. Here is a run down of some of the events and what occurred when Dad was away.

Day 1
Rain! Rain! Rain!
Seconds after dropping Baby Daddy off at the airport, both boys began wailing all the way back home in the car. I should have known this was a sign of things to come.
Bean jumped so hard in the Jumperoo that he poo'd all the way up to his neck. The jumperoo seat was saved by the lovely overalls he was wearing. But the poor onesie was another story-goodbye baby seal outfit!

Day 2
We had rain again followed by a gloomy forecast of more rain in the future. To avert potential craziness I took the babies to the biggest one story mall I could think of-Alderwood Mall. It cleared up for a little while when we were there, so we could walk around outdoors. We did a lap or two and then tried to head home when both boys decided that they no longer wanted to be in their carseats. Wailing ensued, but not before we got completely ensnared in traffic congestion due to a weekend highway maintenance project. I panicked and headed to the 99 where we hit more traffic and a serious lack of gas problem. Luckily Costco was nearby so I pulled off, fed both boys and headed to the gas bar where more screams, and more complaints from the not so funny farm in the back seat. As I filled the van, I checked on Bean who promptly emptied his stomach for an audience of about 10 waiting cars. Poor Bean was shoved back into his carseat and fell fast asleep. What was supposed to be a one hour trip turned into a 3 hour nightmare. But, we made it home in one piece and we all slept soundly.

Day 3
The three of us had our groove down by this day. We hung out on the mat, took a morning ride to the Starbucks drive through and had a lovely walk down the canal. We even did a video conference with Dad-how hitech we are! When bedtime came, we all were thoroughly exhuasted, and once again we all slept well through the night!

Day 4
Grandma and Grandpa P came to visit and hang out at Monday Baby Class. We tried pumpkin and sang all our favorite songs and had a great time. Both boys showed off all their new tricks and were thoroughly tired by the time Baby Daddy got off the plane.

Teeth, teeth, teeth!

2009-03-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

There's a little moment of time between the screams, so I don't have a lot of time to post an actual blog, but enjoy the conglomerate of footage that has been our past couple weeks:

Where is all the time going?

2009-03-01T21:39:00.001-08:00

As usual we can hardly believe where the days are going. I resigned from my job this week, the boys have tried a ton of new foods, and we installed a new gate because look who is trying to crawl!!

We also enjoyed a couple of wonderfully sunny days and a brief morning of snow. We also love 'naked mornings' where the boys wear their diapers and play on the big bed. Here is a recent pic where the boys spontaneously decided to gather and pool their toys after I had spread them out on the bed.

There has been more poo and pee of course. I changed a diaper in the front seat of the van because I found out the Bean had poo'd upon arrival to the zoo when we went there for our afternoon adventure. I momentarily thought about pretending I didn't smell it until we got home, but I thought that was very cruel and ungrownup of me. I also dropped my first poo on the floor at home. Somehow it slipped out of the diaper while I was changing Goober and plopped on the hardwood, where it kind of camofloged itself there for a moment or two. Yuck! And then the Bean peepee'd all over me and a cute outfit I was wearing, and all I could do was sit there in shock as the pee kept streaming and streaming. But, I also managed to catch the Bean singing on camera. He is very elusive and tricky with his singing. I hear it all the time because he loves to sing, but as I've said before, he should definitely be a ventriloquist one day, it is that hard to actually see his mouth move. See for yourself:

Highs and Lows

2009-02-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

We have had many highlights in the past couple weeks. Both boys are teething- Bean is getting his first two teeth and Goober is on tooth number three. We even think we can see a molar popping up in his back gums. That said we do have times of utter misery in our house right now. They are chewing on absolutely everything. I even woke up to the sound of slurping over the monitor one morning because Bean was chewing and drooling on the bars of his crib. But this is only one small part of our past little while-let's break this down by participant.

Highs for Bean.
He...

Has tried solid food-Bean plus peas equals love forever.
Does a little bum raise while he's on his belly; perhaps there is crawling in Bean's near future.
Loves to jump and jump and jump. We should rename Bean Tigger.
Loves Monday class. He loves his friends, he loves singing time, massage time and even meal time on Mondays. Someone is an extrovert.
Still thinks Baby Beluga should be on the IPOD 24/7
Loves to sing with his mouth closed. If I had to choose his future career now, I think he'd make one awesome ventriloquist.
Rolling, rolling, rolling....

Lows for Bean.
He...

Has tried solid food-Bean does not heart the following: rice cereal, banana, carrots, peaches, pears, sweet potato.
Teeth. Bean is very confused about the two bumps in his mouth.

Highs for Goober. He....

Has tried solid food and wants to eat anything and everything in sight. He seems to love rice cereal the most.
Has 2 or more poo poos a day which is a lofty step up from his one poo poo a week.
Is a ginormous flirt. Goober could not stop making eyes at two of his little classmates this week. One even crawled over to his mat 3 times!!
Has learned to cover his ears. This is good for him because he has also learned how to shriek.
Likes to be Big Liam. I need to get a picture of this.
Rolling, rolling, rolling....

Lows for Goober He...

Is full of teeth. We don't know where they all are coming from, but they keep coming. Poor Goober.
Does not know what to do about all this poopoo. Hence the shrieking.
Wants to move forward, but only knows how to back it up.

High for the Swing:

Thank God you guys found the Jumperoo. I can only take so much you know!!

What Would Brangelina Do???

2009-02-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I saw that Brad and Angelina brought their twins on display for the first time at Tokyo airport in a magazine at the grocery store. And normally I don't really empathize with celebrities, but this headline caught my eye. I can't imagine how a celebrity must feel going out and about their daily business with twins(plus 4 other babies now is it?), since every time we leave the house, despite being common, non-celebrity type people with crazy neurotic-ness about germs and strangers not coming anywhere close to the babies we still somehow manage to elicit comments from every single passerby. (Baby Daddy often jokes that some very sweet old ladies have almost met their doom coming too close to our baby behemouth stroller, but in my defense, people really should not try and touch babies they don't know without asking mom first.)

In a moment of wanting to blend in and have a quiet afternoon out and about with the babies and not getting one, (I know my twin momma's group moms have shared this moment) I decided to keep track of the comments I received. I was trying to have a peaceful stroll along the canal after a stressful double lunged shout out by two angry babies who wanted food at the same time. During our one hour walk, these are the comments we received:

Whoaaa wide load!
Wow twins are a double blessing!
OOOOoooooh! Twins!
New babies!!
OOOoooooooh! Twins! (yes, I heard this twice or maybe three times.)
Are they yours?
Are they the same age??
Stop, stare, point. This one was not out loud. This was a visual comment.
And my favorite-
can I see them?.....to which the unfortunate answer was "No!" and then I put my fists down, ungnashed my teeth and told the poor homeless lady that she could see them in 3 months when it is May and the babies are no longer in danger from RSV. See you in May, she said.

After I got home and wrote down these comments, I realized I'm probably the crazy one. But, some days being a double momma is hard. And, sometimes when your hair is unwashed, and your makeup is undone, and you have two screaming babies who are cutting teeth at the same time, and you're pushing a big red Escalade of a stroller that begs "look at me!", you feel like Brad and Angie on those days they get ambushed and put on the "Stars they're just like us page" in Us Weekly looking horrible, haggared and strangely human.

Reading my twin rant does come with a reward-Goober is learning to talk and we caught some of it on video:

Movers and Shakers...

2009-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we made a short surprise trip home to see the Grandparents and its taken about this long to unpack and get ourselves back to normal. We're realizing that the days of just packing up and racing home and back are gone, and now we actually have to plan. We had a nice visit and we've had a lot of firsts to share since we last posted.

We've had car (ahem...van) rides where both babies have managed to stay awake for more than five minutes.

We've tried solid food.

We have some nice family photos.
(oh my pants are rolled up due to an excessive amount of dog poo at Rocky Point...yuck!)

And, the Bean has learned to jump thanks to a new toy from their Auntie and Uncle J's. Please excuse the circa 90's old school "rap" but I'm trying out the fun gadgets in Imovie. It was either this or House of Pain.

If you're happy and you know it fill your pants...

2009-02-02T16:04:00.001-08:00

Today Bean and Goober almost became Denise the music teacher's children. But let me backtrack first so you understand why. We started a mom and me class last week to give Bean and Goober an opportunity to see and play with other babies in a safe and germ-controlled environment. It consists of a music time, a snack time and a mommy talk time. Amanda, our nanny/helper comes along for the first half of class so that both babies can be held for the music and snack. Last week Bean slept through all of music class and Goober spent his time flirting with the baby on the mat next to his. It was calm, low-key and fun and I figured we could spend the next few months like this no problem.

Today, things were totally different. Goober wailed through song time and demanded to be held. Bean wasn't just pleasantly happy-he was ecstatic. He loved seeing all the other babies around him and kept trying to roll to see more of them. At snack, he even ate voraciously because he got to sit with others. After snack, Amanda got us settled on the mat for the mommy talk time (where they teach us about baby nutrition, or various other baby topics) and left for school. Bean and Goober both seemed pretty content. But when the other mothers and their well-behaved babies came to join us on the mat my babies showed their true colors. Goober started wailing again and Bean demanded his bottle. And then I heard it. Not just a little toot, but a full on splatty splat sound, and I knew I needed to change the Bean. I passed Goober to Denise the music teacher and headed to the bathroom for our first public bathroom change. I spread the disposable bathroom liner down, got my wipes ( I used all 10 of them) and fresh diaper ready and pretty soon, it was finished. Not so bad, I thought.
That was until I saw the Bean's neck.
You have poo poo on your neck, Bean! I yelled in the public bathroom. There was poo poo everywhere! Somehow, Bean had pood outside his diaper. I had never seen so much poo poo on the Bean before. I didn't know what to do. I yanked the soiled outfit off and threw it in the garbage and paper towelled him off until all the poo poo was gone. I could have thrown the Bean out then too. There was that much poo poo.
Somehow we got out of their alive. At some point I collected a sad Goober from his new friend Denise. At some point Bean was even put in a new clean outfit. And then completely pooped out in more ways than one, we all returned home. I now know what my children are capable of and it completely freaks me out!

Doctor, Doctor

2009-01-29T19:46:00.001-08:00

The babies had their 6 month check up yesterday. We were congratulated for our efforts at being crazy overprotective parents and were told to continue "Operation Purell" and perhaps even amp up our "Cold and Flu Radar" until we make it to glorious May when we can let the babies roll around in filth to celebrate the end of cold and flu season. Thank God! Anyways, Bean and Goober are doing fine so far. They even are "big" for being such preemie babies, and Dr B was very surprised to see that Goober had 2 teeth! AND-tomorrow we can start them on solid food. There will likely be some interesting video-stay tuned:) We also took some stealth pics of babies at the drs.

All by themselves....

2009-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

The babies are now in their own room after living with mom and dad for the past 5ish months. They are still undecided if they like this new arrangement. Right now Baby Daddy is helping convince Bean that he should embrace this new found independence. This is one of those "they're growing up so fast" moments for us, but we're all taking it in stride. Anyways, we've had a lot of growing in the past couple of weeks. Here is a video that shows some of the baby tricks we've seen.

The last clip of Bean might need a bit more explanation. If you ever call the house and hear that noise over and over and over in the background, you can get a small taste of what it might be like for us in our madhouse. They can do this for HOURS!

1/2 birthday trip to the zoo

2009-01-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a little tired, and should be sleeping but I couldn't resist posting this. We had such a fun day at the zoo today, and the boys were more wide awake than they've ever been when we've gone there.

I didn't realize this until after, but the sign beside the cows says "donkey"

Pictures of the Bean awake:

Happy 6 month birthday babies!

2009-01-21T22:34:00.001-08:00

Goober and Bean are now 6 months old. We can't believe how far we've all come!
Bean, this is you back in your Swedish days when you were still less than 4 pounds! They used to call you 0 to 100 there because you were so determined. You even pood all over your isolette so you could have a real big boy crib. Some nurses fought over having you as a patient because you were fun to hold.

Goober, this is you when you were just 4 pounds and change. You got the nickname Mr. Personality and you used a lot of charm on the nurses at Swedish too. You did not like your first bath in the hospital, but you are a real swimmer now that you are home. I can't believe you now have teeth! You are growing up so fast!

Here are the two birthday boys, with Bean nearly 14 pounds and a bit while Goober is nearing 16 pounds. They are starting to notice each other
and are even beginning to be great friends.

Happy 6 month birthday Goober and Bean!!

Obama-momma!

2009-01-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

Everyone always remembers where they are at the exact moment of a monumental historic event. Goober and Bean, just in case you don't remember, I took some video for you:

It seems like they both realize Obama is somewhat important. I think Goober even thinks he's talking to the new Mr. President.

One more video

2009-01-17T23:08:00.000-08:00

Dad finally got some giggles out of serious Mr. Goober.

First attempt at a video

2009-01-17T22:37:00.000-08:00

Let's see how this goes:

Babies on their Bellies

2009-01-17T03:13:00.000-08:00

One of our activities in the day is tummy time so we don't get flat heads and have to wear helmets. Yes there are helmets to correct baby flat head. But so many babies loathe tummy time. In the beginning, Goober and Bean both cried and complained the second they were placed anywhere near being on their belly. Bean even learned to roll to get out of being put on tummy time. But now they are big fans as picture #1 shows:
No crying here right? There may even be a glimpse of a smile on Goober's face. And these guys can now do tummy time for hours if we wanted them to! But before you go out and congratulate us on solving this problem check out picture #2
This is our first compromise in the Pong household. Sesame Street for our burgeoning tv addicts BUT only when they're on their bellies. Thank goodness for Elmo for preventing helmet head!

Mom, Dad and Us at the Movies...

2009-01-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

So Baby Daddy was home again today and promised me he'd take me to a movie. Not just any movie though, but the Mom's and Babes movie at Lincoln Square because I wasn't sure if I could take two kids by myself and actually survive. So we packed the van and headed to Bellevue. Did I mention the movie I picked for us was Bride Wars?? Anyways, we were a little late and I was worried we wouldn't be allowed into the theatre. But then we saw it. The baby train. The crazy baby and mama train that wound its way through Lincoln Square. More strollers and mamas than we've ever seen in our lives. I wish I had a camera. We paraded our way into the theatre, where we faced a stroller back up and a dilemma. There was only one row of parking for strollers and two rows of accessible seats. Everything else was only accessible if you could walk up stairs. Luckily I had brought my Baby Daddy Hero(the only Baby Daddy in the mom infested theatre) who decided he could single handedly maneuver the stroller up escalaters and down flights of stairs so I got one of the best seats in the house. Was it enjoyable? Maybe for me. Maybe even slighty for Baby Daddy though he won't admit to liking such a chick flick. Maybe even for Goober and Bean who were both stunned into silence by the biggest tv they've ever seen. But I won't be doing that again any time soon. Too many babies. Too many moms. And I can't imagine how this activity is any good for my babes. But it was oh so fun to be at our first movie in forever. And it was priceless to see my first stroller backup

Rollover!

2009-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just finished writing my last update, when low and behold, Goober rolled from back to front! Bean is currently sleeping in the swing....

Out for lunch

2009-01-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

Baby daddy was home yesterday, so we were able to get out and about the town. We always put one baby in the stroller and one baby in the baby bjorn for easy escapes. Today Bean started in the Baby Bjorn and Goober started in the stroller. We made it to downtown early and we toodled through a couple stores. The highlight though was lunch. We managed to sit down at Il Fornaio and have a lovely bite to eat. Actually having a sitdown lunch with tablecloths and bread was a total delight. Both boys behaved wonderfully and even enjoyed small formula snacks. We were congratulated when we left on having very well behaved kids. So, yay for a successful outtrip. This was definitely a high.

Only so many drive thrus

2009-01-08T21:55:00.000-08:00

Now that there's no snow to worry about, we still have a couple months of rain where we have to be wary of any indoor place people are going to congregate to. So, as I did before the big snow, I've been scouting out every drive through in the neighborhood. Starbucks is a daily stop and now both boys can usually manage to keep their eyes open until we get there. When I get a chance I'll take a pic for the baby book, but I'm sure this Starbucks will be embedded as one of their first memories, poor boys.
Highs of the week so far:
Goober staring at himself in the mirror.
Goober's teeth are poking through.
Bean got his Jumperoo
Mom got one night of good sleep.
Lows:
Goober does not like the Jumperoo
Bean needs to drink more milk.
Mom hates pumping.

Snow and more snow!

2008-12-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

We have now been stuck inside for nearly 1 week! This snow and ice is just getting to be too much. I decided to open the back door so Bean and Goober could get snow pics without getting too cold. When I figure out how to download the pics, I'll post them.

I have no idea why this pick of Goober downloaded so teeny weeny!

forgot to press post again...oops

2008-12-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday I go to a twin mommies group where we talk about highs and lows. This weeks low was also a high. This past weekend we were supposed to head North to visit the grandparents because Baby Daddy had a conference in our hometown. Early Friday, Grandpa J called to say Grandma J was sick. So sad. So this was the low because we really wanted to see them. We decided to go anyways because we had plans with Grandma and Grandpa P,(yes all grandparents live in the same city) and booked "Babies' first Hotel Stay." This was definitely the high.
We arrived very late, and everyone was so friendly and helpful. We even were given FREE room service and an amazing view of the library. The room was big enough that I could play with the babies all day while Daddy worked and both babies cribs were next to floor to ceiling windows. I really hope they aren't scared of heights.
We had a lovely visit with Grandma and Grandpa P. Goober was a little fussy, but Bean squealed and cooed with his Aunties and Uncles and showed of his ability to roll. Yes, babies are rolling now.....time to baby proof the house!
Anyways, we had a great time and now know we can holiday on our own! Yay babies!

HIGHS
All of us loved our hotel. The boys loved swimming in the ginormous bathtub.

LOWS
Grandma's cold. We missed you this week. Please get better soon.

2008-12-04T19:04:00.001-08:00

I can only do so much shopping while I pump, and I've done way too much damage already. So it's time I turn to a much more constructive hobby. Now that I'm a momma I want to document my clueless efforts so my kids actually have something to read in their baby books one day. I also figure if I do this blog thing, I'll also have some kind of pressure to get out and do something so I can write it down. It can get pretty easy NOT to load up the double stroller some days. I'll commit to one post a week for one year-but as of now I'll be surprised if I make it past a couple weeks max-things can get crazy around here!

Friday December 4-forgot to press the publish button

2008-12-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

The brothers are now 4 months and change. We had our four month dr. appointments on Monday and things are so far so good. We still have to be wary of groups, malls and everywhere there's people(boo!) because of cold and flu(if we get sick we go back to the hospital.....grrr), but the boys are gaining weight (yay!) and seem to be in pretty good health. Bean is now 11lbs14ounces and Goober is 13lbs4ounces(these are Monday's official weights-they should be heavier now). We got our 2nd set of shots and both boys are super grouchy this week. Any semblance of a sleep schedule has been completely disrupted and Momma is therefore super grouchy too.
Highlights of the week so far:

Bean: Found his voice this week and likes to sing and call out. He can now spin the bears on his Bjorn chair

Goober: Holder of the Poo Poo of the week-he had to be cut out of his outfit there was just so much everywhere! He is also 3/4 of the way rolling back to front.

Momma: For fifteen minutes Bean loved me more than the swing. Took Goober to PEPS as a singleton parent.

LOWS:

Bean: The swing had a brief battery-less period.

Goober: Poopoo of the week. This was a high and low depending on the perspective.

Momma: Returning a dress to Banana Republic. Let's just say my ribs expanded since the pregnancy;)