Happy Birthday Lilly & Owen!

o

g
My babies are THREE! I can't believe it! And Owen keeps telling my that he's not a baby, he's a big boy :) I have to keep telling him that he'll always be my baby, even when he's bigger than me.

It feels like more of a birthday week, than just one day. We had a great birthday party Saturday with great friends and family. The weather didn't cooperate, it was freezing, so we had to keep everyone inside, but we still had a great time. There was a dozen kids 4 and under in our little house, loaded up on sugar, hehe. It was a dress-up pirate and princess party. We had stuff for the kids to wear, and I was surprised that most of them really didn't want to wear the hats, eyepatches, tiaras, and jewelry that we supplied...those stubborn toddlers.

Monday morning, their actual birthday, after an exhausting birthday weekend.

Our neighbor "aunt" Lisa, and Aunt LaLa came in full dress - so great!

The littlest princess and our friend Veronica.

Lilly helping Owen blow out his candles. That's what big sisters are for.

Pirates and Princesses

Lilly loves Lisa & LaLa

I had planned on just buying a bunch of cupcakes like last year, but a few weeks before the twins birthday, I was inspired by a friend to make the cakes. I have fond memories of my mom making really neat cakes for my brother and I, so I decided to continue the tradition. Normally this is something I would jump at anyways, but I think the idea of doing two cakes at once was what was stopping me. I found some great cakes on line and was able to pretty much just copy them. I think they turned out pretty great - I was quite proud :) The kids loved them too, and that's the most important part. I had so much fun...I'm already getting excited about making Paul a fun cake for his birthday.

Paul and I both agree that the past three years has seemed like a blink, and also a lifetime. I would never want to go back to newborn twins again, but it is sad to think they will just keep getting bigger and bigger. Luckily I have a backup baby :) I'm proud of what we've done as parents, and I believe we have grown right along with Lilly and Owen. Now if we could just get a little more sleep!

The kids have had a lot of fun looking a photos of when they were born the last few days. The only thing Paul and I both noticed was that we both looked a lot younger 3 years ago! That's OK, I wouldn't have it any other way. I do believe that you shouldn't let your kids be your identity, or live through them (that can be hard when you're a stay at home mom). But I can say that my life would not feel complete without them..all 3 of them. These little people truly do complete me.


Now that the twins are 3, we are moving to "big kid" beds this weekend. Their cribs convert to toddler beds, so it will be easy to transform their beds. We've been dreading this move for months, but they officially look silly in cribs, so I think the time has come. I'm really hoping it's one of those things that turns out to be no big deal.

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate, we are so blessed to have you all!

Ginger and her Crib.

My baby girl is getting close to 8 months old now. In the past two weeks, she has gotten her first two teeth, sat up, pulled up, and I swear she's think about taking a step! I can't leave this squirmy wormy ANYWHERE for more than a second. We have all tile and wood on our bottom floor, which means we spend a lot of time upstairs, and she spends time downstairs divided between her high chair, exersaucer, and playpen. Nonetheless she still has a few bruises from those instances where she might not have been completely supervised...good thing babies are made of mostly cartilage, right?

Ginger is a happy baby and loves to watch Lilly & Owen at work. They like her too most of the time. They get a little frustrated when she tries to grab at books or toys they are playing with - 2 year olds aren't known for their sharing nature...

I put Baby Ginger in a swing outside for the first time last week. She absolutely loved it. That's great because it means we can be outside more.

So I'm almost done with Ginger's room now. What can I say, I'm not one of those mommies who had the nursery completed months before birth.

We have a 3 bedroom house, which means that Ginger's room was our guest room, and is still our guest room on occasion. Please don't tell her when she's older, that we're sleeping her in our bedroom closet when we have company at the moment.

I was glad to get to do a girly room since we had to go neutral with Lilly & Owen. The paint had to stay tan colored, since this will probably be Owen's room once the twins split. I think I managed to get enough pink in there to offset the tan walls though.

This dresser was Paul's as a boy..except it wasn't pink then. Paul re-did it and did an excellent job! We hadn't planned on using the original brass hardware that was on it, but with a coat of white paint, they turned out perfect.

Satisfied client.

Pop-up trundle aka guest bed.

Bad picture but got an adorable table and chairs set. Lots of tea parties going on here!

Santa Came! Santa Came!

OK, so this is really late, but had to get the Christmas Pictures in here. We had a great Christmas holiday and this year was truly special. It's the first year the twins really understood much of anything. We went to get Lilly & Owen on Christmas morning and watching them walk down the stairs and see the scene downstairs was priceless...Owen started saying "santa came! santa came!" Of course I'm pretty sure they would have been happy with just one little present and a candy cane, so needless to say they were overwhelmed.

Because I always manage to post pictures in the exact opposite order that I want them, here is Christmas morning in reverse...

Who cares about awesome new tricycles that Santa brought us...there's a LEAF PILE!

Lilly in her princesessness

Candyland!

Santa brought Owen underwear because he really wants him to be a big boy.
Can you tell he's excited?

Buzz and Woody!

I totally got gypped...

Making cookies for Santa

Carpe Rain

otherwise entitled "Things That Wouldn't Happen if The Clean One Daddy Was Home."


It's the Tuesday before Christmas. I promised Owen we would play outside when we got home from errands, but then it started raining, and when it stopped, it was nap time. I LOVE nap time.

Maybe it's because I finally got to the bottom of my laundry hamper and I can handle a few more dirty clothes. Maybe it's just the magic of the season. But whatever it is, sometimes it's just nice to take a break from being a mom, and take time to be a kid. And to see sheer joy in my childrens' eyes.

"Look Lilly, another puddle!"

And now it's practice time for my Idol audition.

And bow.

And now the twins are down for a late nap, Baby Ginger is awake from her nap, and I've got a disaster of a house to clean, and naughty dogs to beat.

Christmastime

If you come to our house in the near future, you will likely be asked by self-named "santa Owie" to sit in his lap. He is always wearing his santa hat, and often has ornaments swiped from our Christmas tree, hidden in it. After he asks you what you want for Christmas, he will remove his hat and give you a gift, usually a candy-cane ornament, or for Lilly, her purse-ornament, since that's what she usually asks for. After you have sat in his lap, he will often invite you to ride in his sleigh (aka Pauls arm chair) and let you ride into the sky with his reindeer. I asked his teacher at school, Ms Debbie, if he asked her to sit in his lap, and she said "oh yes!". I know in a few years this will probably be inappropriate, but right now it is really stinking cute! If Owen doesn't grow up to be a rock star, he will surely find employment at the neighborhood mall come winter.



e

The twins day school had a Christmas program last Thursday morning. You would have thought Celine Dion was in town the way that Sanctuary was packed in the middle of the day to see all those kids. It was so sweet, and I have to say, my kids totally rocked it. I know the picture is blurry, but those are MY kids dancing and singing like they're supposed to. Oh yes, my kids know how to sing and dance, and I was a proud momma that day! I was in tears by the time the kindergartners did their part...many of them had solos and there is nothing more adorable than a 5 yr old singing a solo in a Christmas program.

Wow! One week until Christmas! It has been an incredible month! I think this has been my favorite Christmas in a long, long time. I love how the twins are SO excited about everything. They love the music, the tree, the lights, the ornaments, the cookies, everything! They really don't go into stores that often, I usually try to go alone. Anyways, last Saturday, I decided to take Owen with me to Target and Kroger ( a 4 hour trip when you're with me). We had some great mommy-son time, and he was in awe of everything he saw. I love seeing everything from his eyes, it's all so new and fun!

Before we left, I wondered out loud to Paul how Owen would be with just me. Paul remarked that he'd probably surprise me by being really quiet and calm - he's really LOUD most of the time. Well, from the moment we left the driveway, that kid never stopped talking. It's hard to have a voice in this loud house sometimes, so I think he decided to take advantage of it. He was a good, sweet boy and I really enjoyed all of our "conversations", and he was definitely ready for a nap by the time we got home. He mentioned Daddy, Lilly, and Baby Ginger several times while we were gone, and even said he missed them. I don't know why it's so hard to get away with just one child, but it rarely happens around here. I hope it happens more often.

Surfacing.

Wow! Where did November go...did you see it? Life is great in the Brown Household. Christmas is in the air and I am loving every bit of it. This is the first year that the twins kind of understand what is going on, and seeing the fun and magic of the season through a child's eyes just makes me so happy, and reminds me what it is all about.

We have seen the man with the red hat - couldn't get Owen off his lap. We have the tree up, we've seen the pretty lights, we've had our candy canes, I've started on my baking, we had a snowy day, life is good! Tomorrow the kids have their Christmas program at school. I'm hoping to be able to post a video of their "performance" later in the week.

We got all dressed up and the whole family went in to get a family shot since Ginger was having her 6 month pictures done. Paul took some shots of the kids in front of the tree, they turned out great!

My happy girl!

Handsome Buddy!

Big Sister Big Brother

My Big Girl loves her new dress!

Oh, and what did they ask Santa for? Well I don't think they actually spoke to him (Owen was just starstruck). But, Lilly tells me Santa is bringing her princess gloves, and magic wand (old one broke), and just recently added a crown to the list. Owen is still hoping for a candy cane and "toys." I love my kids :)