More Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Gavin!!!

This afternoon my friend Alison helped me take the boys to a fancy-pants photo studio in town. The event was much different than I had imagined. For some reason I thought it would be a casual affair with pictures snapped while the toddlers toddled. In actuality it was much more formal sit-in-a-studio quick photo session.

I paid $10 for a digital print, but it was pretty cool in that they took about 20 photos and I'm sure one of them will have turned out well. Thank god Alison was with us because it took FOREVER and it could have turned ugly. Here are some snapshots I took while we waited for our turn. For reference, we were the fifth in line and we were out of there after almost an hour!

These pictures look better in a larger size. Click on them, if you'd like.

Henry's mad: "Why'd you get the light costume? This weighs a ton!"



Elliot checks Henry out and admits that he got lucky.



"You called, mama?"




Sometimes it's easy to ignore the fact that they're twins; they're very different in looks and personality. I'll take a series of pictures, however, and they're totally in sync. What great babies!

Sneak Peek of Halloween 2008

Baby E's First Haircut

I cut Elliot's hair this morning, and I think I'm going to outsource the job from now on.

First I combed it out so it looked horrible to insure that I would actually cut it.



A side view of the rat's nest.



Of course I had to wet it for cutting and you can see all the curls trying to spring back to life. I knew I had to cut now while I had the good scissors out; if I chickened out I would come after him with the dull kitchen shears one morning after an oatmeal smearing.



"Oh no, mama! I look so preppy in this polo shirt and country club regulation hair cut. And where did these ears come from???"






"Lady, how am I going to show my face at Story Time when you did this to the back of my head?" Poor boy, it looks worse in person.



This delightful curl used to be on my baby's head.



But so did this:



Probably a good thing we cut it.

Notes from almost 16 months

Babies love sweet potato fries
Henry now chews up a whole mouth of food and then slowly spits is all out
Henry managed to get into the bathroom and stick the hairbrush into the toilet. yuck.
They LOVE to climb. It's going to be the death of me. Or of them. Who knows?

Here's a video from last month.

Babies at Debbie's

A boat load of photos from Debbie!

Henry likes to crawl under tables. He often stands up while under them.





Sharing!






Maybe Elliot should be the tin man for Halloween.



Delicious, and surprisingly clean.

An Enthusiastic Homecoming

I received a warm welcome from Willie and Bianca upon our return from Atlanta. You know who didn't seem to care that we were back?

MY CHILDREN.

Mike and I went on vacation and gave the babies a week at camp. Camp = Auntie Debbie's house. Debbie sent me lots of pictures of the boys having a great time playing at the park, feeding each other and eating popsicles. I thought it would kill me to be away from them for five nights (as I hadn't ever been separated from them for more than a handful of hours), but we all did great. Debbie claims to have photos of their adventure, but I think she's going to hoard them all. So instead here are a handful of Georgia pictures.



My dinner in Savannah. Savannah is a 4 hour drive from Atlanta, where we landed. We hopped right into the rental car and started driving. It took forever to get to the coast, and the whole way we were regretting the choice. Until we (er, I) found out that we can drink beer on the streets. Mike was mortified that I took a photo of my meal, but it was so awesome looking, and even better tasting. Those are baby back ribs, sweet potato fries and gouda scalloped potatoes. I set the gouda potatoes aside because they weren't spectacular and I had other items to deal with. Did I mention that we were watching the OSU/USC game at the same time? A FANTASTIC night!







Houses in Savannah. The greenish one was listed for $3 million a few years ago, but we could probably afford a garage that's still in the historic district.



A sign by this bridge says "HILTON HEAD". I suggested we drive there so we can claim to be all upper class, but all the resorts are private and we didn't get to see the ocean. Lame-o. We did drive up to Atlanta on the "Doc Hollywood" route; two lane state highways that wound through tiny towns.



Mike and I like to eat at regional chains when we travel. We finally made it to a Waffle House, thank goodness! They are all over freeway exits and we choose a great one; the head waitress hollered a bit while we were there and bossed everyone around. I wouldn't want to fill the shakers wrong if I worked there! I had my second Waffle House meal all planned out, but we didn't get back to one. I would have taken a picture, but as I reached into my purse for something (not the camera) Mike insisted that I behave. We were at the bar at nine at night; we stood out enough without me flashing around.

These last few pictures are of Stone Mountain, outside of Atlanta. That's a fancy carving of the heroes of the War of Northern Aggression.

Fall Harvest

Babies' first corn on the cob. Henry likes it, Elliot does not. My favorite part is how when Henry chomps down it sounds just like when a grown-up takes a big bite!

Also, in that first picture where Henry's looking not so happy? An expression I see many times a day!

Okay, They're Pretty Cute Too

, originally uploaded by crankyisgood.

sisters & brothers

sisters & brothers, originally uploaded by crankyisgood.

seriously, could we be any cuter?

Mama and Her First Born Babe

Elliot and Lindsay, originally uploaded by vellumblue.

I like pictures of me with the babies. It's nice that I'm still clean in this photo as well. Little E is totally everything he looks in this picture!

Elliot and Aunt Daphne!

IMG_0467.JPG, originally uploaded by vellumblue.

Also from the rehearsal dinner. One must be fair in the photo count (and my sister is the perfect aunt so she should be represented occasionally).

Lovely Weekends

DSC00296, originally uploaded by d_adair.

We've had a nice weekend. Mike and I tore up the basement bathroom and he installed tile (so far so good!). It's the first time he's used a tile saw and it went pretty well.

The babies and I hung out with Auntie Ada (wedding photos on their way) and then walked to the park with papa before bed. Today we walked to the coffee shop with Jake and Cody and their mama and dad. It was such a beautiful morning and we joked about how we were the perfect Portland picture after a police office pulled up next to us and waved. I said that all I needed was a lesbian partner by my side!

After Mike finished laying all the tile we went to the park again. It would be so easy to get used to this lovely weather and the family outings in the park.

(This picture of Henry is from Aunt Daphne and Uncle Seth's rehearsal dinner. Professional photos coming soon as well.)