Merry Christmas...only 3 weeks late!

Well now I am getting emails from my mom asking about an update and yes she is right...I really need one! Although I am not sure where to start! I guess we will start with Christmas! We did Christmas Eve at my mom's house which is a family tradition. Then we hosted Christmas Breakfast with my Dad, Grandma, Bro, Sis-in law and my nephew. After that we took naps (all of us) and headed over to my brothers for his annual Christmas festivities. Then the day after Christmas we packed up the car and headed out to Alabama for the weekend to see Daryl's family! Quite a whirlwind couple of days there!

The boys of course made out like bandits! They are very into Thomas the Train now so they got a lot of Thomas stuff! New trains, toys, Thomas Pj's..the works! They also got Cozy Coupes, ride on four wheelers, a new table to eat/play at and much much more!

Once all the hustle and bustle of the holidays had calmed down we put an offer in on a house! Yay! The only thing is it's a short sale so we basically have to just sit and wait for the bank to decide if they like our offer! It's so annoying just sitting here waiting and if they say no we are back to square one! The house is great! It's in a great neighborhood, in the area that we want to be in and the deal we would be getting would knock your socks off! So please cross your fingers for us! OH and one huge thing about the house....it has a huge separate PLAYROOM!! Woooohooo!! No more toys taking over my living room! Well I know there will still be toys but not to the extent that it is now! I mean I have an train table as an end table people!!

The boys are doing great. Finally getting over a pretty nasty cold that turned into double ear infections for both of them. They were some pitiful little dudes the past couple of weeks! We were stuck in the house on lock down for about a week and a half so you can imagine I was going crazy! This week was the first that we had been out since New Years! Of course I know you all know how cold it has been here for the last 2 weeks. We had snow and sleet last Saturday although I only saw the sleet! Still it has been freaking freezing here! But happy to report that today it will be back into the 70s thank God!!

Here are a few pics from our Christmas break!

One Huge Meltdown and Two Hours Later.......

Yes you read that right. We waited in line for almost 2 hours to see the "Best" Santa in Orlando! Why you ask? Oh I don't know...because I'm an idiot maybe!! LOL!! He is a cool Santa...very vintage old school Santa! But worth waiting 2 hours to see him only to have your children totally traumatized? Ahh I don't think so!

We all did great (I say all because Daryl was there too and not so thrilled about waiting) right until we were about 2 people away from meeting the big guy! I don't know what happened exactly but Carter threw an official temper tantrum right there in the front of the line! I mean threw himself down on the floor, screaming and kicking! Nothing would help so I knew we were pretty much S-O-L for the Santa pic! Well of course as expected all hell broke loose as soon as we sat them down!! All we could do was laugh about it and hope for a better outcome next year!

Our Attempt at Holiday Photos

Being a photographer, you are always behind the camera...never in front! So my Mom met up with us in downtown Winter Garden yesterday for some cool family photos. Alan, April and Hayden also met us so mom could get some shots of them as well! They have really revitalized this area and it really shows! It's an old historic district so the buildings are old and aged which I just love! They have an old train and old tractors set up as well! It's a great backdrop for photos!

As expected the boys were not having any part of any kind of group photo with mommy and daddy! They wouldn't sit still for one second...not surprised! They were more interested in running up and down the sidewalk then exploring the Choo-Choo!! Oh well I think we got a few decent ones..I hope!!

Quick Update

I just want to pop in and give a quick update because things have been crazy around here lately. I am up to my eyeballs in picture editing thanks to all of the mini sessions I did with the business. I had 6 families come out over two weekends and I have two more shoots this coming weekend as well as a newborn shoot on Wednesday. AAGGGHH!! I wish I could hire an assistant this week to help me!! Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining because busy means money and Lord knows we all need that these days!!

The boys are doing great! I think we are finally shaking the last of this cold/cough. I swear the nurses must be sick of me with as many times as I have called them over the last month now! We have just been doing the normal stuff lately with our playgroup! Daryl and I have taken the boys to a couple of art festivals over the last few weeks as well and that's really about it! I know, nothing spectacular or news worthy that's for sure:)

This week we are gearing up for Turkey Day! I am running my first 5K in over 6 years and I am not too happy about it! hahaha!!! We will be having Thanksgiving at my brother's house this year. That's great for us because the boys have a blast there with all of cousin Hayden's cool toys! They are entertained for hours which translates to mommy and daddy relaxing for hours:)

I know I won't have a chance to get on here anytime before the holiday so I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!!!

18 mth Check up

We had the boys 18mth check up today and Thankfully Daryl was able to come with me! Going to the doctor is now quite a traumatic experience for all of us...including the staff!! The boys now know where they are and from the minute we enter the room it's full on pandemonium!! Screaming, kicking, crying...you name it!! This was the first appt. that Daryl had been to since the boys were just teeny tiny babies so it was good for him to see the HELL that I go through every time we go to the doctor!

The boys have both had colds now going on about two weeks. We took them in last week and was told the same old same old routine of humidifier, saline drops and lots of fluids. Well here we are another week later and still in the same boat. So my regular doc gave us some antibiotics to help kick this infection!

They are growing fantastically!! Here are their stats

Cameron
Height-32.5 inches
Weight- 26.4lbs


Carter
Height-33.5 inches
Weight-26.12lbs


They both grew about 3 inches from their 15mth visit and gained almost 2lbs!

This visit is also a developmental evaluation . We had to fill out this very involved questionnaire basically to see where your child is at with all his communication, gross motor skills and things like that. We were a little behind in a few areas, more Cameron than Carter but none the less we have some things we have to improve on. She did say that it's normal since they are only 16mths adjusted due to their prematurity but as a parent you never want to hear things like that. Honestly I know they are behind on talking but other things I think they are doing fine. We will re-evaluate the situation at 20mths and see how they are doing and to see if speech or some kind of other therapy is necessary.

Storytime

On Monday I met up with some of my twin mommy friends for story time at Leu Gardens. They do it every first Monday of each month and the best part is that it's free! I knew we were in trouble when I pulled in to the parking lot and they were directing traffic! Once we got in it was total chaos for us! The boys don't handle crowds very well and this day was like no other! It was probably the worst I have ever seen them! I was mortified because everyone was staring at us and I could not get them to calm down. These are the days where having twins becomes very difficult! These are the kinds of things that parents of one child get to enjoy where as parents of twins do not! Days where I actually envy a mom that can do these kinds of activities and not have to try and calm two babies!
After story time we headed out to a local park where I surprisingly ran into my brother and my nephew so we had a little impromptu playdate with them too. We were all exhausted after we got home and I think the boys slept for like 3 hours! Guess we won't be doing that again anytime soon!!

Happy Halloween 2009

We had a great time on Halloween this year! Not only was it the boys first time trick or treating (we didn't' take them last year) but the Gators beat the snot out of the Georgia Bulldogs and that always makes me happy!!! Once the game was over we got the boys all suited up in their Batman and Robin costumes and that didn't go so well. Carter hated Batmans wings so we had to tape them down. Neither one of the boys would wear their hats or masks but I knew that would happen! Once we got moving outside they loosened up and had a really good time. They were up way past their bedtime but managed to get up right on schedule...7am! I think it was because of the time change though! I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Enjoy the pictures:)