Pictures from Diane

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4.5 years old and Alison can SWIM!!!!

My Baby Girl swam the WHOLE length of the pool today and I am so proud, I cannot stand it unless others see it! :)

Martin's trying really hard, but spends a great deal of time telling himself that he "can't" so he doesn't. Working to get rid of that!!! He's really close, but can't get his head all the way to the side to breath.

Alison's first ballet recital

So our "Little One" had her first ballet recital yesterday. She did as well as a 4.5 yr. old can do! The outfits were not great, but she didn't know that!

The headbands were so thick that they were unable to be fastened to her slippery hair and she had to contend with that the whole time, but it was darling and we are so proud that our formerly, hug my leg shy girl, performed on stage in front of a couple hundred people!

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Family Trip to the Royal Gorge~

We took the long drive (2.5 hours) to the Royal Gorge in Canyon City Colorado (home of the Supermax prison and some really BAD DUDES!) and spent a full day enjoying the Royal Gorge. It's a spectacular site and has the highest suspension bridge in the World! Enjoy this (almost) 10 min. video when you have a chance!

The kids enjoyed having their Cousin Madi with them and love her to pieces!!

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Bye Bye Belly Button that she LOVED so much....

Well, the time had come to realize that Alison's belly button hernia was not going to close up on its own. So we had her hernia repaired and are waiting for the 'innie' that's going to result from said surgery. She was VERY, and I mean VERY attached to her button. Some kids suck their thumbs, Alison played with her belly button (when not chewing her finger or toe nails!) So I was concerned what she would choose to replace that habit with. So far, nothing has come up.....still waiting.

Below are pics from our brave girls hospital visit to have the surgery. In the pics you can see "White" her lamby that accompanied her with head protection and all! She was a trooper and was playing on the monkey bars the very next day....she's still a little sensitive in the area and slightly bruised around it as well, but the doctor says that 2 weeks out it's looking very good and within 6 mos. she'll have a flush belly button vs. an 'outie'.

Part of this surgery is cosmetic, but they told me that she wouldn't be allowed to play sports potentially in school with it because it's a hernia. So, there was no choice but to make sure she was able to do all that she could in the future!

Ali's Surgery 6-15-09

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Cute Video!

Ali was singing and Martin providing percussion! It was really funny and I just held the camera backwards and hoped I caught it. Yes, while driving! Good thing it wasn't too long!! GULP!

Some notes about your being 4!



Martin likes to start sentences with the phrase "Mooohhoomm, I told you..." (we're working to correct this :( )

Alison is showing a tendency towards drama!

Martin is now twirling his hair all of a sudden

Alison is using her belly button as a comfort spot and plays with it constantly. We are supposed to have it repaired. She's not going to be happy!

They love the new Madagascar2 Movie (so do I!)

They are both learning to swim - for real! The chlorine is wrecking their hair!!

Their friends as they list them are:

Martin - Nick, Carter, Kellen, Logan

Alison - Emma, Aliya, Avery and Isa

Alison loves to sing all the time.

Martin loves to play the wii (or have mommy play for him!)

They play characters. Martin is "John Chris" and Alison is either Timmy or Mommy in this scenario. If they speak to you or you speak to them, they won't answer unless you have the right name. (Good luck with that!)

They are the best of friends. They bicker, but don't have full blown fights. The bickering is enough, thank you very much!

Martin is about 34 inches tall - 32 ish lbs.

Ali is about 32 inches tall - 31 lbs. (our Well-Child visit isn't till April)

4th Birthday Party!

Time is certainly flying! Martin and Alison are 4 yrs. old! We had a super birthday party at Romp N' Roll. A local fun house!
The kids had cupcakes at school and then most of their school friends came to their party. It was truly a great time! We had a gift opening party at home on their birthday with the family. Poor Sharlyn had to drag herself out to our house in her delicate state to watch them open their loot. I'll be adding the house party to this Montage later. For now I'm sharing it with the kids that were at the party and it's long enough as it is!!

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A Christmas Story...

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First Ice Skating Episode!

We ventured up to Keystone recently to ski and see friends! If I hadn't been SUPER sick, it would have been a great time. Alas, this is what we got out of it! Martin might have an affinity for skating. He's really excited to go skiing next!!!

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How about a Dole Whip?

We spent an afternoon at the Dole Plantation in Oahu, HI and I shot this picture of Ali eating a Dole Whip cone.  She endulged in the ice-cream, I endulged in some Photoshop processing :-)

Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo - Silly Bears!

We went to the zoo in Co. Springs - a great zoo - and the grizzly bears were worth the price of admission! Check it out! SHORT video!

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Ali's first Ballet Lesson!

I am sure that I'm getting very sappy about all these firsts, but this is our only shot at recording them! Ali started a mini-ballet class. I chose mini-ballet because I wasn't entirely confident that she would participate. Well, let's just say between preschool and swimming lessons she's coming along nicely! She has a very high opinion of herself and she's funny and cute! She really just went in and did very nicely having never seen or done ballet before! I was pretty proud and impressed. (What parent wouldn't be, right?) It's through a window, so there is a lot of mirroring.

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Swimming Lessons!

We are closing in on our first 3 sets of swimming lesson being complete! It's been an amazing journey to watch. From crying because they don't want to get in the pool to jumping in unassisted and trying really hard to find the instructor or the wall! It's just amazing! We'll take a break after the next two lessons and start again in April after a nice long break. I'm updating this swimming montage as we go to show progress.

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How to spend a beautiful Fall day!

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We spent a beautiful Saturday at Heritage Square riding all the amusement rides and just enjoying ourselves!! Come ride the ferris wheel with us!

Day out with Thomas Pics!

As described below. We spent a beautiful Fall day at the train museum. Here are the pics! 

T-ball post game interview!

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We had our last t-ball class last night. It's not really a very structured thing with 3 yr. olds. They were THRILLED when they received a MEDAL for participating. The "coach" made a big deal that they had to "earn" the medal. I didn't have my camera at the "event" so I took pics afterwards in front of the fire place. As you can see, Ali wasn't wanting her picture taken, so I turned on the video instead! The more I watch it, the funnier it gets! 

The swimming classes went well. They have a week off and then we start again. Martin really just doesn't like water in his face and doesn't like being cold. We have a total of 12 more lessons. Then we take a break till Summer time. They are going to make good progress!

The kids received rave reviews from Ms. Beth their preschool teacher. So that's going well and they are more willing to leave my side to participate in other activities now. Preschool is a GOOD THING!!! 

It's been a busy September! Last weekend we took the kids with their Auntie and Unca and Cousin Kellen to "Day out with Thomas" in Golden, CO. They had a great time riding the train around the yard. It was a neat little set up they had at the Train Museum. Lots of stuff to see and do! 

3 & 1/2 and the busy busy life is starting!

What a week it has been! 

Sunday, Rockies Baseball game with the Rush Family. Dinner at Sharlyn and Tracy's with Irene before she left to head back to Michigan after a week long visit. The kids LOVED having Grandma come stay with them one night while Jim and I went to Vail for our Anniversary! They cannot wait for her to come back in October! (We'll get to that in a min.) 

Monday, FIRST SWIMMING lesson! Well, let's just say that kids have a very strong survival instinct. I had to laugh at how hard they held on to the instructor. Mr. Ken. They were very reluctant to go under the water, so Mr. Ken did it for them!! Ali CRIED and CRIED. I missed Martin because Ali insisted she had to potty! She did that both days and I missed Martin going under both times. Daddy got to see it the 2nd day, but not Mommy - and for a f

alse alarm! :( False potty alarms are Mommy's LEAST favorite thing (next to accidents!). 

Tuesday, FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL!!! They had their new lunch bags and their "tote" for all their school stuff. We said our quick goodbyes (Jim was able to be here for the momentous occasion!) and left! (Mommy might have been getting a little teary eyed, but you'll never know unless you have proper clearance!) 

Their teacher is Ms. Beth. They LOVE her. They have a friend in the class already and we are working on learning all the other kids' names. (They can play with someone for hours and never know their name. Aaaaah to be 3.) They received a great report from the teacher for GOOD MANNERS and that they did really well. It was a long day 9:30 - 3:30 with lunch and quiet time, so they were a little on edge for the rest of the day and went to be a little early! (YAY!) 

The love to have their turn on the computer and Ali would swear to you that she never gets a turn, but it turns out she's "foofing" us about that! 

Wednesday, back to SWIMMING! They did SUPER well the 2nd time. It really went better than the first time and Ali put her head under on her OWN in order to avoid having Mr. Ken do it for her. The pride on her face was priceless! (She also thought she could get out and get warm in her towel then too - but NOPE!) They "jumped" off the side into Mr. Ken's arms. I got a little nervous when he put them out on the wall (they swam with the barbell thing) to hold on by themselves. (This is where the survival instinct was very evident!) Then they climbed out on their own and "jumped" in. Martin did NOT want to leave. He said "I had so much fun swimming" over and over (then, Ali copied him - naturally). They played in the warm shower while I shampoo'd them etc. to get them clean for the day. 

Thursday, back to SCHOOL! I thought they would be more upset the 2nd day, but they proved me wrong. Martin's having trouble getting his shoes on alone (they are very hard - in his defense) but over all they did great and are charming the socks off the teacher!

Friday, the played in the "playroom" at the Rec. Center while Mommy played tennis and Daddy worked at home. Then in the evening we had T-ball (2nd class). It's just a madhouse. It's almost silly how many kids they have in there at once. The "coach" is not 3 yr. old savvy and uses words and concepts that are way over their heads. He gives them multiple instructions at once. Like how to play all aspects of baseball. The parents had fun talking about how he needed to "dumb it down" a bit :) They have a friend in t-ball as well. (Jonathan).

Jim and I spent Friday night watching the Weather Channel, Fox News and CNN to see what was happening on the Hurricane Ike front. We admit to being disaster news junkies. We were relieved that it missed Aunt Bob and Uncle Jane in Florida (although, they might have had some beach erosion and lots of rain....we'll have to get in touch with them.) 

My Mom and Dad (Grammy and Grampy) are in Croatia right now on a 19 day trip! Mom has a broken foot and they rented a wheel chair type thing to help them get along. We finally received word from them today that they are not missing out on much because of her foot and having a great time. 

A busy busy fall and Holiday Season is a brewin' 

Jim's 18 mos. of weekly travel is bearing "fruit" finally. His Manager is brilliant enough to recognize his talent and dedication to his work. He nominated Jim for an award. The prize, should you WIN this award was a trip to HAWAII FOR TWO. Are you doing the math - that's SANS kids if you are playing along at home. So, when we found out that he was nominated (it's normally a "prize" for the sales people who reach and exceed their goals and a very few technical people are honored with it!) he went to work on his Mom to see if she would come out and stay with the kids should he win. She's got the patience of a saint! She agreed (thank you Mom!) and we waited. And waited. And waited. I assumed that it wasn't happening because it took so long to find out. 

Turns out HE WON! So, we are taking a week and going to Hawaii (ALOHA) in October - alone!! So exciting! I am beyond excited and thrilled. Even with the vacations we take, I'm never really ON vacation from the kids. So this is unbelievable for me. So, while we will miss Halloween with the kids (their first REAL attempt). We'll save $$$ on candy in this kid centered neighborhood we live in and the kids will get to go to Auntie and Unca's house to dress up and trick-or-treat with Kellen and Auntie and Unca! YAY! 

In November, we are headed to TX for Thanksgiving. I am flying in with the kids a few days early and going to visit a girlfriend (Trish)  and her twins in Austin. We have really enjoyed our last few years going to San Antonio for Thanksgiving to be with Jim's dad (Papa) and Jude (Gigi) and Jude's family. It's always a nice visit and fun things to do with the kids and the kids LOVE being with their Papa and Gigi. 

But wait, that would be TOO simple! This is the last season for the Dallas Cowboys to play at Texas Stadium (which we toured 2 yrs. ago) and Jim's been a lifelong fan and had a dream of seeing them play at home. They always play on Thanksgiving day, so he went to work to figure out if we could see them. His Dad and Jude have GENEROUSLY agreed to keep the kids that day and postpone (or we can just eat leftovers from whatever they do) Thanksgiving so that we can fly to Dallas and back in one day to see the Cowboys play! Thank you Jim and Jude! You are incredibly brave and generous! (No wonder the kids love you so much!) 

So, that's November (a few weeks after trip #1 to Hawaii). A few weeks after our trip to San Antonio and Austin we depart for our originally scheduled trip to Hawaii for Christmas and New Years (3 weeks in paradise!) We'll go to my parents condo just before Christmas and stay for a while. Jim has a good friend from College that is stationed right there in Kaneohe and we'll enjoy getting together with them as much as we can! 

It's a good thing we have little travelers in the family! It's going to be a very fun, wild and wooly Fall and Holiday Season! 

A few more pics! 

Potty Training or Mommy Training?

So, the question has to be asked. Are they getting trained or am I the one who's actually trained? For the past 2 weeks I have been doing a potty training boot camp of sorts. John Rosemond, a parenting book author tells me that I am "Insulting their intelligence" by not training them before 3 yrs. old. (Excuse me while I roll my eyes) He does give me an idea of HOW to train them, so I decide to go for it! 

Well, they were very gung ho at first and then we seemed to backslide quite a bit, but for the past 5 days, Alison has been ACCIDENT free during the day! (Pull ups at night - I know a WHOLE other beast!) Martin is a little more of a focused individual and I choose to believe he knows to go, but gets really invested in whatever he is playing with and has an average of one accident per day. Mostly tinkle, but sometimes the dreaded accident. I find myself a little unable to completely relax till t

he poo poo hits the potty. 

Last Friday was about as much as I can handle in a day - here is a story that I told my friends at Twinstuff! We had taken Ali and Martin to get their first ice cream cone because they had a (virtually) accident free day... well - no one can ruin a day playing with friends, ice cream and a trip to the park like some 3 yr. olds! Sniff!

You don't have to read below. It's for purposes of torturing the kids later in life! To embarrass them when they are 16 and acting horrible!!! 

It's a BEAUTIFUL DAY and after 4-5 inches of snow 2 days ago, we are LOVING IT! We get to go to the park because there are no accidents and everyone is behaving etc... WOO HOO!! YEE HAW! At the park, my patience starts to wane. Ali's doing the potty dance, but refuses to let go of it after a long time on the potty. Imagine the echoing building with the toilet that the stuff goes to some strange planet below! It's LOVELY. So we go in. We go out. Mathena has to go, we go in with her (Ali's holding herself and crossing her legs) she see's Mathena go. Great, Ali's turn again. Sits and sits and sits. NOTHING. I say "OK, if you have an accident - we are leaving". Go out, Martin has to go. Go in (dizzy yet?). Martin tinkles. We get down, we go out. Everyone is getting ready to leave. Katrine's MIL has to go. As soon as we get out, Martin insists he needs to poop! So, I tell them to leave and bring Ali in the potty. Well she's NOT happy about that. (remember it all echoes!) 

Martin: I need to poop!
Me: Ok - pull pants down
Martin: NO! I don't need to poop
Me: Pull pants up
Martin: Screaming, NOoooooo, have to poop. 
Me: Pull pants down, put him ON the potty (with the foldable seat thingy) 
Martin: NO, no poop (he's PI$$ed NOW!)
Me: leave him there
Ali: CRYING IN THE CORNER OF THE GRODY BATHROOM ON THE FLOOR!
Me: tearing up
Martin: NO! jumps off potty
Me: pull pants up
Martin: No!!!!!!!!!!!! Need to poop. 
Me: Drag them BOTH out of the bathroom
Outside: The people outside the potty are trying not to show me their laughter!
Martin: Have to POOP!
Me: grab Ali and Martin, back in the bathroom
REPEAT ABOVE, but TURN UP THE VOLUME BY 100 Decibels! 
10 min. later we emerge from the toilet, I'm in tears Martin's naked from the waist down and I'm carrying him.
THROW all our CRAP into the diaper bag (they don't have SHOES ON EITHER!) and get Ali's hand carrying Martin. 
Martin: SCREAMING over and over and over all the way back to the car - which wasn't just across a tiny bit of grass and a sidewalk (otherwise we would have used the car toilets). 

My girlfriend can HEAR US and hasn't left yet (20 min. later!). She's trying to help, but I have LOST MY TEMPER completely. I put them in the back of the car on the potties. They are having a fit. I get angry at Ali and that makes her cry - she's the one that was actually being a bit cooperative and I messed that up completely (I gave her a big hug and told her that I was very sorry and the I was wrong yada yada yada). 

Martin on the other hand. I put a pull up on him - thinking he's going to retaliate by pooping in his carseat. Put him in the car and attempt to buckle. NOTHING DOING!!! So I closed the door to tend to Ali who was with Katrine. Martin's trying to climb OVER the seat with the carseat on it and the stroller behind it. Katrine goes around to get him and he's SCREAMING that he has to poop. She's got him, but I am not buying it. I get Ali in her seat (after a long hug and kisses and apologies  ) and finally have to use actual physical muscle to get Martin strapped in. He almost choked himself to death!  

Give girlfriend a hug and get the heck out of dodge! Martin threw a fit the WHOLE way home (5 min. - 6 tops!). Thank goodness it wasn't long. I was crying, Ali was trying to sleep. It lasted till we came in. He tried to leave through the garage! Little rascal! 

3 years old going on 15!

The kids scored his and hers birthday cakes this year. Dora (she really wanted DIEGO) and he got Cars! 

Naturally, they were ice cream cakes. 

We had a nice little party for the kids for their 3rd bday. There are a BILLION pictures. I'll see if I can select a few key photos.
Ali and Martin received so many wonderful gifts. Lot's of CARS stuff for Martin. The mini-Cars stuff is all the rage. Ali doesn't really have a focused interest like Martin does. She's a bit harder to buy for. All our friends with girls her age are really into everything PRINCESS. We only have Cinderella, so she's a little behind the curve on the princess hoopla (phew!). She does seem to like musical stuff. Her little piano toy is something she's really enjoying. She LOVES bubbles and blowing bubbles.

Grammy and Grampy made it on their actual birthday from Hawaii again (same as last year) to see them turn 3!! They loved it and all the presents (The basketball hoop and train set) that they received from them as well. I'm optimistic that the basketball hoop will get more action when the weather is nicer and it can be moved outside.

We had family and 3 yr. portraits taken. Ali was very difficult to capture and Martin was a bit of a camera ham to say the least. We had pictures with both sets of Grandparents and probably more to come with Grandma Knight visiting soon.

The week after their birthday, Papa and Gigi came during Papa's Spring Break. We celebrated with them as well! What fun. They managed to get them a lot of presents. Just kept on giving! 

They love their scooters and are getting more adept at using them.

The week after Papa and Gigi were here, my friend from College, Stephanie and her son Lucas, came to visit. The kids had a great time playing. He's a super sweet little man and smart and very coordinated. He can dress himself from head to toe and totally potty trained!! He was a WIZ on the scooter! He's a very busy little guy, but SO VERY LOVING. A direct result of the love he has received, I am certain.

March was a busy busy Month. At the beginning of March, the kids and I traveled out to DC to meet Jim and we drove to Boston. Jim had a training in the area and I have a lot of Twin Mom friends from twinstuff.com that I was dying to meet, so off we went. It was a hectic two weeks, but the kids are super little travelers. We managed to make it to Fenway Park for a tour. I guess since they beat us in the World Series last year it was a good stop. That and we like to visit stadiums and places like that. It was the coldest week of the year while we were there. Brrrr. We went to the Boston Aquarium with 3 other sets of twins.

One of the other highlights was the Air and Space Museum at the Dulles Airport. Really phenomenal! There is an ENTIRE space shuttle in there!!! Unbelievable how enormous this hanger is! You see one of the family favorites to the left here!! I wasn't lit well, so I had to do a little computer magic to help it out a bit! 

Overall the round trip in the car went quite well and we were really surprised and pleased. They did it all with NO DVD player. Imagine!! (Ok, we watched ONE movie on my laptop!)