Christmas 2013

So once again it's come and gone, the merriest time of the year! This was such a special, wonderful Christmas. Pics to come for those not on FaceBook... Twins 3rd Christmas, first was in NICU, second Chris was already living in Michigan and not with us, but the year was amazing!

Ending an at least 58 year tradition, my Grannie and Papa did not do Christmas Eve at their house, instead they came with my parents to spend it with us and the twins in Michigan. That alone made it incredible! Add to it, we had a beautiful white Christmas, Paige and Ella were so excited about it this year and very involved. Seeing it through a child's eyes makes a big difference. Chris and I were up before them Christmas morning we were so excited. Plus they behaved in church Christmas Eve and that is a miracle in itself!

The time spent with family was the best gift of all, my little girls are growing to fast and have sooooo much personality! It was hilarious to watch them wrap every grandparent and great grandparent completely around their fingers. The little Charmers!

We did attempt sledding... yeah... they still don't like it BUT I'm not giving up yet! They like playing in the snow, throwing snowballs and swinging on their swing set. Jess again grateful for kid snow boots!!


Ok, a few pics for now, can't help it!

Paige getting ready for church in her sparkly dress!

Ella taking pics with her new camera from Brookie....

Reading with their Grannie and Papa,

Swing with their grandparents in the snow!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Looking forward to the next year!!!!

Looooong Overdue

So I realized it's been a very, verrry long time since I posted. Last one was in Spring and it's definitely winter now!! Our backyard is inches deep in snow! But that's right, OUR back yard! Let me do a brief catch up for all those not on facebook and haven't been able to keep up, I'll add pics later.

So much has changed! The twins are now 2, Terrible Two's and fantastic at it, although the next person who tells me 3's are worse might get smacked ;-) Forget walking, that's just to slow, they RUN everywhere! They chase us, the dogs, each other and just plain run! They talk and make noise all the time,so loud! Since my last post so much has changed! The best and my favorite thing is we bought a house! No more apartment and walking dogs at nigh in the ice! Our house is fantastic, the neighborhood is wonderful, it has 7 lakes and in the summer all we have to do is walk across the street to go swimming, which we did. And in winter, like next week, we can cross over and go ice skating and sledding. A lot for this Texas girl to digest.

The neighbors themselves are so wonderful, and we actually went caroling in the snow with several of them. For those of you I've known forever... quit laughing. I seriously did and enjoyed it! We have made some great friends, and this year feel more at home than last year for sure. For all our friends at home, we miss you, and to ease your minds Chris has saved our moving boxes downstairs so we will have them "someday".

Other changes, the girls have grown up soo much! Their favorite word is no, but you have to say it it "no no no no" and shake your finger for the dramatic effective. They are way to smart for their own good! They really plot against us, it's obvious and then turn around for hugs and kisses. There's not much they can't say, they repeat everything and know what they are talking about. They still love animals, although Paige got stuck on moo and to her every animal says moo. She is mostly the sweeter one, she gets 2 of everything and takes it to her sister. She is for sure a daddy's girl. Ella is mine and is freakishly smart. Her hair is so long, not sure where that comes from! She can also stare you down like nothing else, you cannot beat her.

They still love Tiger and both know what toys belong to whom.. Ella gets Taggie and the blue bear,Paige is Hippo and the pink bear. The also have babies and baby strollers that the love and race around the house with. They are constantly asking to "jump jump" which means the trampoline in the basement. As far as eating the most noticeable thing is Paige and what her favorite Aunt Lizzie dubbed "Paigecakes". I have never seen someone her size eat so many pancakes! They are both growing and doing great. They love their new house and they love the kids in the neighborhood. Particularly the 2 next door and 2 down the street. And they have made several other twin friends. Once again we had 3 birthday parties, one here (did not know we knew that many people in Michigan already), one at the Herring's and one at the Pilger's (my side).

Chris loves his job, they had the coolest work Christmas party today, all about kids! It was so family oriented and fun. We had a blast!

Christmas will be extremely different this year, for the first time there will not be Christmas at Grannie and Papa's, an almost 60 year tradition, but I'm not to sad because they and my parents are coming to stay with us. Can't wait to to see Ella and Paige on Christmas morning!

We have sooo many things to be grateful for this season, even living in Michigan ;-)
Merry Christmas!

PS If you don't get a card from us, it's not because we don't love you, just because I dropped the ball and didn't order any or get a pic. Next year!!

Spring is here!

 So everyone told us that Spring would come to Michigan.... it finally did!! It's beautiful here! I had no idea! The flowering trees are everywhere! It's been a crazy and busy 2 months!  First, updates on the twins..
They are 17 mos. now!
Ella is 18.6 lbs. and is now going the right way on the growth chart! Whoop! Her favorite foods are peanut butter, french fries, sweet potatoes and of course apple juice! She can sort of walk..

but gets nervous and falls. She really likes climbing, she learned how to climb all the way up the couch! She loves her Mickey doll and knows how to show you her toes (yes we can actually go barefoot!) and most of her facial features, especially her belly. That's big with both of them! She is still loving on the big Tiger. She can say several words, momma, dada, apple juice, puppy to name a few.
Both girls still love reading. Ella likes making funny faces, she is full of expression!

To show a few :-)

Paige is 19.8 lbs! She is sooo dramatic! Her favorite thing to do is dance!!! Every time she hears music!

Her favorite foods are still carrots, peanut butter, french fries and sweet potatoes, oh and of course apple juice. She can say Ella, and a few other words if she wants, most of the time we aren't sure we want to know what's she's saying! The twins definitely have their own language. It's crazy to watch! Paige loves playing with her babies, Tiger and she's good at sharing, she always gets two toys and brings one to her sister. She has her expressions..

We have been very busy! We had a visit from Brooke and Brandon.. here's what they look like,

LOL! We went to Canada

It was cold, we are on the Canadian side of the Detroit River.
We went to the zoo

Polar bears are awesome!!!
Brookie kept them highly entertained!

Then we practiced getting into things... everything

After a couple of playdates... yes we are making some friends here! Which get us a little wound up...

 Mimi and Pa came to visit!

Pa makes Ella laugh!
Then we went to the Ford Museum,

Ella met some "Big Puppies"

Carousel... notice who's riding and who is hugging her momma screaming...

We had story time too

And naptime, Paige liked to cuddle her Mimi

Plus some really funny videos of what happens when mom and dad leave the twins with Mimi and Pa, but they're to big to upload, I'll work on it! After all that they were worn out!

Next adventure planned? TEXAS! In 10 days the girls and I are off to Texas, yes all by ourselves (yikes!) to see our friends and family there. Oh and buying a house.... still working on that!

Video

If you read this by email and the videos aren't showing up click on the button that says Double Trouble and it will take you to the actual page and video shows up there.
Thanks!

April so far.....

April in Michigan... I've been told it's Spring and that it gets warmer here... we'll see! Updates.. we are still house hunting. It is not a buyer's market here! So we are getting some extra close time in the apartment! Looking forward to a visit from Auntie Brooke and Uncle Brandon this weekend! All sorts of fun stuff planned!

Dr. visit this week, Paige is 19 lbs 8 oz and Ella is 18 lbs 3oz. Paige has her first ear infection and Ella's weight is going the wrong way, but nothing to be to concerned about right now, they are both breaking in 2 big molars each, explains ALOT!

Ella is a mess, she has no desire to walk, she is still a fast crawler though! Her favorite foods are mac & cheese, Spaghetti O's with meatballs. She does NOT like chicken. We were going to teach her to use a spoon, tried that with Jello Pudding...

She liked it a little to much.... as did her sister

Why use a spoon when you can just lick the bowl?!?
Ella loves doing handstands

Art

Rockin her ponytail and dancing!

And she is still such an animal lover

Paige has become a walking fool! She is all over the place! It's funny at naptime her "lovey" is a hippo that rattles, you shake it and she can hear from across the apartment and comes running with her arms held high! She is finally paying attention to animals. Her favorite foods are beans, pinto, chili, refried.. doesn't matter! She likes fruit and her veggies and chicken nuggets.
She likes draggin her new blanket around everywhere

And doing silly things

and of course running around without her clothes on... she's a fast little turkey!

Easter was good, they had their first egg hunt and Paige grabbed her two eggs and took off running with them!

They both LOVE the Ellen show and being silly together, plus High Fives are the new thing, don't leave a baby hanging!

Guess who threw the tub of spaghetti on the ground... does the guilty face give it away?!?!
And now we own our first Detroit gear,

That's all the excitement for now! Stay tuned for a fun filled weekend coming up!

What a month!

What a month it has been! All kinds of developments! First the big excitement... our Disney Cruise! Tons more pics later but it was FANTASTIC! Thanks Mimi and Pa! We were surprised at how much the twins loved the shows and that Ella is a dancing fool! Give her music and let her go! They had fun spending time with their cousins, Favorite Lizzie, Stephen and Mimi and Pa.




Trying on our Disney outfits..

And a few fun times on the ship

Last of which involved swimming and they weren't fans, we'll keep trying though! And that was the only good princess pic we got, they aren't really to fond of them... we shall see how the Easter Bunny goes this weekend!

Now back at home (I mean Michigan) we are readjusting. It's above 40 which is something, but it snowed whole first week we were back. Still house hunting.... not a fun process!

Big things... Ella has her 5th tooth coming in, she LOVES french fries and sweet potatoes. She stood up on her own for the first time just min ago. Whoop!!!! Her hair is growing like crazy, it's a constant battle to keep a clip in and it out of her eyes. She loves reading, the recordable books are favorites of both! She is still such the animal lover! She is close to walking on her own, uses the walkers to push and get places, but seeing as she was the Diaper Dash champ on the ship... she's a fast crawler! She, like her sister are juice monsters! They love it. Ella likes to cram herself into places she can't get out of...

This was between the fridge and a wall, and she has recently really start "loving" on her babies, she was talking to Raggedy Andy

Paige, still just 4 teeth, but has really figured out this walking thing! She can now stand up by herself and just go...

 She still loves reading and is dramatic as ever...

Both twins are very noisy and all over the place but growing way to quickly!! Looking forward to a visit from their Auntie Brooke and Uncle Brandon in about 2 weeks. Things are going well here, the snow seems to have stopped! We do miss our family, got to spend a week with Chris' and enjoyed a great stopover to crash my cousins wedding shower and see my side. What fun! A few short months and we will be back to visit Texas!