The Twins Turn The Terrific (sometimes Terrible) Twos!

Where has the time flown? My sweet little miracles are now two, and truly, I can't believe it. Pete and I waited and wanted these babies for so long that every year on their birthday I am in awe of them . . . and all of their "perfectness"!




So we wanted to spend all day together as a family. We woke up to Daddy's famous french toast, which Avery and Pete LOVE! Lil Pete seriously eats more than I do!

We decided to go to a wildlife park near our home and what a hit! This "zoo" was really the coolest thing. I have never seen some of the animals we saw that close up. There were llamas, camels, rhinos, zebras, emus, ostriches, deer, kangaroos, donkeys, and the list just keeps going and going. The kiddos are so smart - they would see a new animal and just keep screaming out the name of that animal with utter fascination (and alittle bit of fear on Lil Pete's part!)

As we were first driving in Daddy Pete was so mesmerized with all the animals that come to meet your car. There are so many animals that it is difficult to drive! He rolled down all the windows and was feeding the animals out of his hand. All of the sudden he looked my direction and was laughing because this huge emu had stuck his head inside the car looking for a handout. Needless to say . . .I was not amused.


Then we rode a tram with a really knowledgeable zoo keeper. We learned all kinds of things about the animals (like not to feed the emus from your hand because they will bite it off . . .yes, the same emus that Pete was feeding earlier and yes, the same emu that stuck it's head into our car, inches from my head . ..needless to say, again, not amused.)


Avery, of course, was fearless. I think she wanted to jump out of the tram a couple of times and run after the animals. At one point, she was hanging over the side petting a camel (yes, they are OK to pet). She also got to ride a pony which she still talks about! She had the best smile on her face and was just radiant the whole time! I have the coolest pic of her riding the pony and giraffes walking around in the background!



Pete loved it too, but in his own special way! Most times, he wanted to be holding Mommy's hand and look at the animals from afar (in most of the pics of Pete, you can see my hand not too far off!) . No hanging over the side of the tram for him! He is such a smartie and was calling out the names of all types of animals as they would come up to the tram. Sorry, baby, but I have to include the picture of you screaming your head off because you ddin't want to ride the pony!




We finished off the day with brownie sundaes (which I think is going to be our new traditional birthday desert!) They LOVED it and scarfed it down! What a fun day for us all to celebrate the birth of our precious little ones!



Avery and Pete, always know how much we love you and how lucky you are to have so many people in your life that care for you! Yo are truly special, unique individuals that have so much to offer the world.

A WONDER-ful PETS Party

Once again this year we held Avery and Pete's birthday party over Thanksgiving so we could have as many people in town as possible to help us celebrate. I spent days cleaning, planning, cooking and decorating (I'm a bit of a neurotic hostess!). I was so excited about the decorating because I knew that A & P were going to flip out over all of the Wonder Pets paraphenelia that I had! I made little Wonder Pets shirts for all of us. Daddy Pete was "Wonder Daddy" and I was "Wonder Mommy", fitting right???





My mom luckily took A & P right after Thanksgiving to give me some time to get things ready on Friday. And another luckily, one of my best friends, Christie came in on Friday to visit. Christie is always such a big help and rolled up her sleeves and really dived in. I'm not sure how everything would have gotten accomplished without the two of them!




When A & P walked in Saturday morning they were shouting "Pets! Pets!" and it truly made my day. I remembered why I did everything I did . . .for that moment right there! We had so many special friends and family come celebrate with us. The weather had been fantastic for everyday before the party and unfortunately on Sat. the rain and drizzle set in. The funny thing is though, it didn't really faze all the men who were out back throwing footballs and playing games. It actually looked like training camp in our backyard! The kiddos loved it and ran around all afternoon playing and just having a blast.




Once again, our kids were showered with amazing toys, clothes, books and more. They enjoyed opening presents more this year, but were getting a bit tired by the time we got around to it. I also did cupcakes instead of a big cake this year, which I really liked doing. It kind made it alot easier, and people just noshed on cupcakes throughout the party instead of having to wait for the big cake. Avery and Pete loved the cupcakes and got a real kick out of everyone singing Happy Birthday (individually!) to each of them! They still are a bit unsure about candles, so Mommy and Daddy stepped in to help them out!




All in all, a great time had by everyone. But, next year, we are totally going somewhere to let them just run around . . . maybe the park! That sounds easy right??? Somehow, the hostess in me never makes anything easy!!! Oh well, it is out of pure love and joy for my children that I do everything . . .Happy Birthday my sweet 2 year old . . .I love you!

My little artists

Look very closely at Hailey, then very closely at what Avery and Pete are doing. You have to be VEEEERRRYYY careful in our house. . . .

This picture was shown to my husband when I came home from running errands tonight and said, "What the . . .?"

9 months and growing, growing, growing

Miss Hailey has just turned 9 months which is still almost impossible to believe! I remember those early colicky nights and now we have the most happy, smiley, talkative baby ever!


Hailey is pulling up and scooting along furniture and crawling like a champ. We keep thinking that she will be walking by Christmas which would be so fun! She gets around so quickly. Yesterday I was changing A & P's diapers in a room across the house from Hailey. In just a minute or two, Hailey had made it all the way across the house to where we were. She just sped right in, smiling with every step.


She is also going to sleep in the same room as her sister, at the same time! This makes for a very happy mommy who has all her munchkins in bed by eight! She did a little crying (just a teeny bit) but now knows exactly what she is supposed to do. I actually turned the girls cribs so they can see each other, and they seem to love waking up together.


Hailey is starting to try and grab her brother and sister's toys. Avery is a bit nicer about it,but, Pete, whew . . . he really doesn't like it! He likes to tell her, "NO, Hawee, NO!" But, he also loves her alot, gives her kisses and shares (sometimes!) with her!

Our Christmas card

This is our Christmas card photo for 2009 . . . .whew, it is tough with 3 kiddos!!! (You'll notice Ming-Ming duckling had to be in the photo also.)

Here's some of the out-takes:
(This was Avery's reaction to the big painters light that I was trying to use instead of having to use my yucky flash. I LOVE this picture!)


(You'll notice the grip I have on my son - this probably would have been the winner except Lil Pete just couldn't keep still - love the light, though!)


(Avery's yelling "TOUCHDOWN!!" and I'm trying to HOLD Pete down!)


(Pete's still in a mood, and Hailey just thinks her finger feels so good in her nose!)


(Passing the time while Mommy tries to get it right! So sweet!)

O Christmas Tree!

This was the first year that we all trimmed the Christmas tree. Avery and Pete LOVED it and had a blast! I'm a big believer in putting all the things that you love on the tree! So we put up all our wedding ornaments, kids ornaments, candy canes and all the extras! I feel like I have a memory with many of those ornaments and can't wait to get more "handmade" kiddo ornaments up there!