We live in Tennessee, after all...

I present to you, 2 gals in a pick-up truck!

Taken by my lovely friend Carrie, who allowed Anna and Margaret to crawl around the back of her Honda Ridgeline while it was parked in our driveway. The girls were endlessly amused - it was like an elevated, outdoor playpen.

Carrie and her beautiful newborn baby girl, Adylin Claire ("Ady") came to visit us the other day, during which we (the girls and I, as well as our friend Mandy and her beautiful 9-month old daughter Hannah) sat and ooh'ed and ah'ed over her 3-week old baby, a whopping 7 lbs of cuteness. Her little gurgles and stretches and funny newborn faces (and audible toots - baby farts are funny) made my heart melt. Even her tiny little socks were falling off of her. I loved every second of meeting baby Ady - and was also eternally grateful to my girls for sleeping for the first hour that Ady and Carrie were here, as I knew that the second they were up, we'd have to be protecting poor lil' Ady from a toddler mauling.

As predicted, the girls wanted to touch baby Ady's face and were fixated on the poor kid the entire time she was there. Anna seems especially interested in babies (her new favorite word is "baby," repeated 10x per day - baby, baby, baby). Carrie took a photo of Anna's reaction to a sweet sleeping Ady - that little smile was on her face the entire time Ady was here.



In fact, Anna seems extraordinarily fascinated by both babies and dogs at the moment. Joey and I have been making a habit as of late of going for a jog down our neighborhood's greenway with the girls in their jogging stroller when he gets home from work. It's a perfect way to calm down the girls, get some exercise, and get outdoors and enjoy the fresh, crisp fall air. About that time of the day, many of our neighbors are taking their dogs for walks, and Anna practically jumps out of her seat with excitement every time we pass a dog.

I mention her love for dogs and babies because I find it sweet that Anna, typically the more aggressive of the two girls, has such a sweet side and love for those of the canine and infant variety. It's heartwarming to see, and a nice relief after watching Anna bulldoze through the house all day long, terrorizing poor Margaret and stealing toys out of her hand at every opportunity.

That's the cool part of raising twins - seeing 2 completely different personalities develop, and then being surprised the minute you see a side to them you never expected.

Rock Out!

We've survived September

Still alive here! I've once again slipped into my infrequent posting ways. September has been a crazy month! Here's a quick run down of the month:

We spent Labor Day weekend visiting Joey's family in Mishawaka, Indiana and attending his brother Aaron and sister-in-law Michelle's couples' baby shower in anticipation of the first grandson on Joey's side, soon to arrive in mid-October. 

The second weekend of September, my friend Anne and her boyfriend John visited Nashville and treated us to an amazing Ben Folds concert with the Nashville Symphony. Then it was back to Mishawaka the following weekend for the Notre Dame/Michigan game - otherwise known as Moonsoon weekend. The area received 11 inches of rain within 48 hours, and we were poured on during the 3rd and 4th quarters of the game - but managed to hang in there until the end, despite being soaked head to toe, as the game was awesome and we had 50-yard line tickets.

Last weekend was a big first for me in that I left the girls overnight for the first time (in the wonderfully capable hands of their grandparents) to join Joey in attending a wedding in Baltimore of a friend of his from law school. And despite the fact that I pined for the girls the whole time, thought about them incessantly - particularly during their bedtime, as that felt like the hardest time to be away - and had to physically restrain myself from stopping and cuddling every baby in a stroller we encountered in our walks around the Inner Harbor, I enjoyed the time away immensely. We slept in both mornings, enjoyed long, leisurely brunches with coffee and the paper, strolled around Fells Point with no particular purpose, ate the best crab cakes we've ever tasted at a local favorite, danced the night away at a fabulous outdoor reception under a beautiful tent (at a completely amazing venue), stayed up late partying with friends, and noticed how easy it was to get ready for a wedding without 2 babies whining at your feet. And though it was a nice reminder of how uncomplicated life is when traveling without children, I can't tell you how much my heart pounded with joy to pull into the driveway Sunday evening and see these beautiful little gals running to the car to hug us.

I've got so much updating to do - the girls are doing all kinds of funny things that I've wanted to make note of - but for now I'll leave you with some great new photos (click here!) that my friend (and our favorite photographer) Kim took of the girls. Kim was in town over the past 3 days and stayed with us on Thursday and Friday night, which was so fun - and so we managed to squeeze in a photo session and finally (!), after 15 months, get a nice family picture of the four of us. Thanks, Kim!

Hoping to write more soon...but in the mean time, we're truly enjoying being in town this weekend and just hanging out together as a family.  Have a great rest of your weekend!

We took the plunge...

and finally bought ourselves a minivan.  My transformation to a (future) soccer mom is now complete.

The day after we bought it, my parents congratulated us, and then my Dad jokingly told me to go to McDonald's, order 3 orders of large fries, and then dump them all over the back seat and floor of our minivan, as eventually it will look like that.

I'm not sure why I still cringe a little when I tell people that we bought a minivan.  Seriously, it's completely awesome, and brand new and wonderful in every way.  I read that the Honda Odyssey (which we purchased) is often regarded as the Lexus of minivans, and that couldn't be more true - the ride is smooth, the interior is beautiful, roomy, and comfortable, there are compartments and storage areas for just about everything you can think of, and the car is just built for kids with side curtain airbags, automatic sliding doors, built in sunshades, and tons of other great safety features.  Best of all, Joey can actually drive this car (he was too tall to even get behind the wheel in my old car, as the convertible car seat forced the driver's seat so far forward that his tall legs wouldn't fit).  We've already taken one road trip up to South Bend, IN in the minivan, and it honestly seemed like Anna and Margaret were just more comfortable.  Throw in some snacks and a DVD, and voila - a (somewhat) whine-free road trip.

So I'm getting over that minivan stigma quickly, although strangely enough I still find myself behind an infuriating driver of on Odyssey, Sienna, Town and Country, etc. -  driving 10 miles below the speed limit and changing lanes without even looking - and I find myself mumbling under my breath, "Dang minivan driver."  And a few other words that I cannot print in this blog.  Luckily, I really don't care about the "coolness" aspect (or lack thereof) in driving a minivan - I neither measured my hipness based on the car I drive, nor ever could claim to be hip in the first place.  

I really do feel so lucky to be driving a brand new, completely awesome car that is perfect for our girls - and I'm so thankful to Joey for working so hard to enable us to do this.  Our girls are positively giddy about the car.  I made the mistake on the first day we owned the car of letting them crawl around inside (while parked in the driveway) while I was organizing a few things and setting up the car seats, and I think the thrill of not being strapped into car seats got to them, as they now demand to play in the car every day.  Something about pushing the radio buttons, climbing up and down the seats, sitting behind the steering wheel, and walking from the front seat to the back provides for the world's best indoor playground.  I really should never have started that - but hey, it does kill about an hour of time every day.

I need to update you all on a few cool new things they are doing and saying - so I'll work on that today!  Have a great Thursday!

Happy 30th Birthday to Anne

Today, my friend Anne turns 30 years old. Happy Birthday Annie! Wishing you so much happiness on your special day!

Anne and I met when we were 15 years old at the fine academic institution of Visitation Academy High School in St. Louis, MO. I feel so blessed to have had Anne as a friend by my side through high school, college, grad school, and our moving all over the place - her to Philadelphia and back to St. Louis, me to North Carolina, DC and Nashville.  We've seen each other through job changes, relationship changes, house moves, and the ups and downs of life.  

Anna and Margaret are so very blessed to have "Aunt Anne" in their life - Anne was calling and emailing me moments after their birth, spent a weekend getting to know them in Nashville when they were 4 weeks old, and then made multiple trips to see them since then - and was there to help us celebrate their first birthday. She's spoiled them with gift after gift and treats them with so much love, generosity, and kindness.  We are all so lucky to have her in our lives, and I often feel that I don't deserve such a perfect friend who unconditionally loves and supports all of us, even through this last year when I haven't been the friend I've wanted to be because I've gotten so caught up with caring for the girls.  To have a friend who forgives you for not returning emails and phone calls, and for not being there when they could have used your company and support - well, that truly is a good friend.

At my bridesmaid luncheon in July 2004

Holding 4 week old Anna

And 4-week old Margaret

Thank you, Anne, for being the most loyal, supportive friend in my life.  Joey, the girls and I are so thankful for you!  We are so excited to celebrate your birthday this weekend in Nashville.  Lots of love from our family to you.

Discoveries

Every night, after we put the girls to bed, Joey and I go through the living room and kitchen and put back the myriad of toys strewn about the house - a hurricane clean-up of sorts.  In the past week, I've found the following items in rather odd places:

• My car keys in the dryer
  
• One of the girls' shoes in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator
  
• My cell phone in their playhouse
  
• Cheerios in the bottom of my shoe
  
• The TV remote control in the storage drawer below our oven
  
• Hair clips in the tupperware cabinet

And you know what?  Finding these little things always makes me smile - because they are just little end of the day reminders that we have these lovely - and very, very busy - little ladies in our lives.

 

Taken in May 2008: The last time they ever sat still long enough to get a picture of them together.  

Perfect Weekend

So I'm a day late in posting this, given it's now Tuesday...but I thought I'd give a little run down of our fun past weekend in Nashville:

Friday

The girls and I met Joey right as he was getting out of work at the Nashville Courthouse Public Square, which happens to be directly across from his office and viewable from his office window.  I've been wanting to take them there for some time to play in the huge spray fountains.  Not to my surprise, they were entirely intimidated by them - particularly when they towered at least 6 feet over their heads - but they were quite enamored by the reflecting pools.  After an hour and a half of playing in them and being soaked from head to toe, we literally had to drag them away, kicking and screaming, to take them home for a late dinner and bath.  I'm sure we were quite a sight as we frantically pushed two screaming toddlers in just their diapers toward the car.

Thrilled at walking back and forth across the reflecting pool

As an afterthought, it's pretty gross that we let them play in these, given the pools are frequently visited by dogs

The aforementioned fountains in the background of this photo - apparently we're not quite ready for those just yet.

Soaked!  And taken just after Margaret dunked her entire face in the pool

Drying off by chasing Daddy on the lawn

Saturday

We enjoyed a quiet morning at home, making breakfast and playing with the girls.  After their nap, we took a test drive of a Toyota Sienna as part of our ongoing search for a minivan.  The car was nice, though the test drive was slightly humorous, as our car salesman happened to be a 3-days in rookie on the job and didn't know anything about the Sienna.  As we were driving, Joey and I were actually pointing out the features to him, so I guess we sold him on the car, ha ha.  No big deal, though - everyone has to be a beginner at their job at some point.

That night - a babysitter came over to watch the girls so that Joey and I could have a date night!  We enjoyed a 4-course meal at Zola and really got a chance to talk, free of the distractions of the girls and household chores that we normally get wrapped up in while we are home.  We shared a chocolate cappuccino tart for dessert, fulfilling my serious craving for chocolate that I've had for the past few weeks since we've cut out buying ice cream in an ongoing effort to drop the pounds.  

Sunday

Joey's college roommate, Bo, who now resides nearby with his wife Rhiana and daughters Evie (2.5) and Amelia (3 months), called and asked us if we wanted to meet them at the Nashville Zoo.  Seeing that we thrive on last minute planning, and it was the perfect day for a trip to the zoo with overcast skies and cooler temperatures, we jumped at the opportunity and even bought a family membership while we were there.  It was perfect - the kiddos behaved well and the animals apparently were up for showing off that day, getting close to the fence to let us take some pictures.

As you can see, Anna and Margaret are far more interested in their snacks than the very cool giraffe behind them

Margaret and Daddy

Well, off to attend to my non-napping daughters - I hear them both screaming and "talking" to each other in their room. I think Anna and Margaret are caught in this weird, in-between phase of not being tired enough to take the morning nap, but not ready to stay awake until their afternoon nap, so our days have been erratic and often filled with overtired meltdowns. Toddlerhood has been interesting!