My Kids: The Crime Fighters

I am sure you have seen that movie - or all of them - where the unsuspecting beautiful woman gets into her car and up pops the bad guy who was hiding in the backseat. Every time I get into my car, I play the part of the beautiful woman (of course). I'm smarter than the women in those movies though because I always check the backseat of my car for the bad guy before I drive off. I'm paranoid. Or I used to be. Shortly after installing those last two car seats in my car when Sean and Aaron came along, I realized that all those kids were keeping me safe. A bad guy would have to be an insane guy to think he could hide in my car. The back seat is off limits as there is really no room with three car seats back there and a floor covered in books and toys and a diaper bag. Marcus's seat is in the way back and there is some cargo space back there for the bad guy to hide in. However, in order to try to get to me up there in the driver's seat, he would have to climb over the back seat which is filled with car seats. So thank you young children of mine for keeping bad guys out of my car.

But their crime fighting doesn't stop there! My kids also keep me safe in my house as well. Based on the all the toys that are constantly laying around in random places in this house, it is like Macaulay Culkin has been permanently left home alone here. Currently if a bad guy tried to come in my front door, he would trip over Aaron's shoe that he pulled off and left sitting by the door. Then said bad guy would get tangled up in two Cozy Coup cars before finally landing with a thud into a ball pit. If the police didn't get here fast enough, surely the bad guy would realize that this house contains little more than a bunch of brightly colored kid's toys and he would leave on his own. Plus Marcus assures me often that if any bad guys do come around, he will fight them off with his light saber.

Thank you dear children of mine. You do the community a service just by being in this world. In many ways.

Toothless

Another event in January I forgot to post about...

No, this is not a post about how Sean is nearly 14 months old and still doesn't have a single tooth and Aaron has 7. This is a post about my BIG kid Marcus and his teeth. Or lack thereof.

Back in October when Marcus went to the dentist, the dentist pointed out that his bottom two teeth were loose. I had no idea. At first I was shocked that there was something going on with Marcus that I wasn't aware of. Then I remembered that he isn't my little baby anymore and I don't brush his teeth or stick my fingers in there. Thinking back to the days when my teeth were on the verge of falling out, I recall it being a cool thing, a status symbol almost that you finally hit that monumnetal moment when teeth fall out. I recall having a loose tooth and ripping that sucker out just so I could show everyone. Marcus is not me. That kid pretty much ignored his loose teeth. Had it not been for Greg and me wiggling them periodically as per the dentist's instructions, those teeth probably never would have fallen out.

As it was, it took almost two months before the first one was really ready to make its exit. One evening, just after the first of the year, Greg reached in there with a paper towel and came out with a tooth. Marcus was a little shocked at first.



But slowly he realized the awesomeness of losing one's first tooth.




It was so cool that a couple days later, he didn't mind much at all when Greg reached in and grabbed another tooth out of his mouth. I'm sure the lure of another visit from the tooth fairy played a part as well.

January

Some random photos from January so I can feel like I am kinda caught up in blogging...

Sharing...


A rare moment of everyone playing together nicely...


We set up the ball pit/slide thingy that used to be Marcus and Will's back in the day. Now we have that instead of a living room...




I went to school with Will to celebrate his birthday a month late...


There was some unseasonably warm weather so Will set up his tent on the back porch to play in...


And this is just one of many times that Sean managed to get his hands on a box of Kleenex...

Naps

Among the many things that have changed in my parenting style as our family grew from one kid to four, is how I handle naps. When there were two kiddos in this house, I knew exactly what time nap was. I didn't care where we were or what we were doing or even if Marcus and Will were tired, when it was time for nap those kids were going to nap.

Now there are four. Even if I wanted to be a nap nazi, it just couldn't happen. There is too much running from one place to another. Too much getting kids to school and to activities. Too many chances for little people to grab a quick snooze in the car. Too many chances for an scheduled nap at home to be cut short because we have to go pick one of the big kids up from somewhere.

So, napping happens when it happens. Which mostly just leads to any sort of sleep goodness with Sean and Aaron to be non-existent. And this happens with one or both little guys at least once a day.


I get Aaron and Sean up pretty early in the morning to try to get them ready to go before I have to focus on getting Marcus and Will out the door for school. Sean inherited his daddy's love of sleeping in, and also his ability to sleep just about anywhere.

Even Aaron thought this was ridiculous.

Beep Beep

Luau!!

First birthday party luau!!! It was probably back in September that I decided that Aaron and Sean's first birthday party was going to have a luau theme. We had their party the first week of January. I figured most people would probably be burned out with snowmen and Christmas trees and winter themes by then. What could be better to get your mind off all that stuff than palm trees and grass skirts? Okay, so there were no palm trees or grass skirts at the birthday party. But there were Hawaiian shirts, fake hibiscus flowers, pineapples, and beach balls!




We had the party at the local Elks club. Back when my first babies (Marcus and Will) turned a year old, most of our friends either had no kids or just some tiny babies. Five years have gone by and those tiny babies got bigger and our friends did some more reproducing, so we figured we better have some more space. The idea was to let all the guests run around the room with beach balls and wear them out. It worked out nicely!





We had lunch.





Then it was time to... LIMBO!


And then some quiet contemplation of flowers.




And of course there was cake! And of course, Aaron approached his cake carefully and Sean... didn't.



Happy Birthday little dudes! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Getting Spiffy

I finally, after almost 2 months, got my photos set up and ready to go on my new computer. Which means I can no longer use that as an excuse for not blogging. So... where were we. Yes... there was Christmas and Sean and Aaron turned a year old. However, the big birthday bash had not happened yet. Before it did happen, Greg and I thought Sean and Aaron could get a little more spiffy and have their first hair cuts.

It has always made me mad that we missed out on Marcus's first hair cut. We had visited him in Guatemala and he had so much hair at 5.5 months old, that it looked like he was wearing a wig. A few weeks after that visit we got some photos of him and he had received a buzz cut. I was so angry. It was just a couple weeks after that that we adopted him and his short hair. I was so livid that I missed that "first" with him that we ended up waiting far too long before we took Will to get his first hair cut. Of course now I realize that it was just hair and it grew and I am really tired of having to cut it so often at this point. Will's hair was out of control by the time we got it cut. (Just did a quick search for a blog post about Will getting his hair cut with no luck.) So third time around, we decided to be more reasonable about hair cuts for Sean and Aaron. They were looking a bit shaggy and we wanted them presentable for their big birthday party, so a hair cut was in order.

I attempted to get a "before" photo of these guys but they weren't interested. Aaron doesn't have much hair but it was starting to cover his ears. Sean's hair was down over his eyes.



A friend of my mom's (who is a friend of mine but since she is my mom's age, she is primarily my mom's friend) said she would go along with me to the hair appointment. As usual, the logistics with twins is complicated. My mom was at home with my big kids. Greg was at work. And I couldn't figure out how I was going to hold one baby while he got a hair cut while simultaneously entertaining a second baby. So the friend came along. The lady that cuts my hair has a studio connected to her house. She also has 5 year old twin girls. The entire family - husband and twin girls - ended up coming in to watch the first hair cut take place. All those extra people meant that not only did I have a someone who could hold the baby who was not getting a hair cut, but also there was someone around to take photos!

I'll spare you all the photos, but here are two. And I am happy to report that no one even cried. Not even me.



Here is the part where I would include the "after" photos if I had taken them. Trying to get "before" photos was so unsuccessful that I didn't even bother with the "after" photos.

I was sent home with a few snippets of each baby's hair. At which point I ran into a problem. What am I supposed to do with them? I don't have a baby book for any of my kids. The closest thing I have is this blog. And I can't really go taping a few strands of hair to my blog. Oh... the crazy problems us people in 2012 have.

Christmas #2

Christmas this year was the season that just kept on giving. It is still giving now since I am just getting around to posting about the rest of our festivities. As things worked out, we had our Christmas celebration with Greg's side of the family on New Years Eve. It was really nice to have it spread out so much. Just when the rest of the world was putting Christmas 2011 behind them, we were getting more of it. Having our second Christmas a week after the first one also meant that it got all the special attention it deserved, instead of just becoming one more part of the whirlwind of holiday gift giving.

Apparently I must have been a bit burned out though. I barely took any photos. Not a single one of Marcus. I promise he was there. So was Greg and Greg's dad. (I even missed Marcus opening gifts on our first Christmas of the season.) Guess that is what I get for trying to enjoy the time we had together instead of worry about capturing it on film.

Christmas #2 started out with the assembly of Sean and Aaron's first birthday presents. Despite all the hammering and other sorts of banging, the little guys were so worn out they slept through it all. They were mighty excited when they woke up and saw their gifts.

These little cars are a favorite of Aaron and Sean. They can now climb in and out of them alone. Aaron loves opening and closing the door and Sean loves to push Aaron around in the car.

Then it was time for some Christmas presents!





It was a nice relaxing day after that. We ate some lasagna. We played with our new toys. And we enjoyed our family.

This Christmas season was spectacular, even if it was rather busy. It certainly was much better than last Christmas when I was days away from giving birth, recovering from major surgery, running out pain medication, and developing pre-eclampsia. It was simply a wonderful season of following old traditions, making new ones, and being with the ones we love.

First Birthday - Part 1

We planned an official first birthday party for Aaron and Sean, but it wasn't going to happen until about 2 weeks after their actual birthday. So, we had a pre-party on their actual first birthday, way back on December 29th. With all the holiday craziness and the plans for a "real" party, it was very low key. But, anything simple still ends up complicated.

Sean got a fever for his birthday. It was a present from Will, who had been diagnosed with strep throat the day before. The day after their birthday, Sean and Aaron got checked out at the doctor office and they were both diagnosed with strep through too. So there was lots of last minute calling between my mom, my sister, and me to see if anyone even wanted to risk the germs at our house. A little bit of Tylenol and Sean was feeling better. And our germs didn't even scare people away. So a "simple" birthday event was held.

First up was the first annual birthday picture. My dad gave us this little chair for Marcus's first birthday. It belonged to my dad and my uncle when they were little. The word from my dad was that it was a really old chair even way back then. So every year on their birthday, my boys have had their picture taken in this family heirloom.



With the help of big brothers, the gifts were unwrapped.




We got them their own little bicycles. Aaron was not a fan of the helmet.




Then, cupcakes!



As everyone in the grocery store likes to point out, Sean and Aaron don't look alike at all. Not only are they different on the outside, they are very different on the inside. One is very physical, plows through life, and dives right into whatever is presented to him. The other is a little more cautious, likes to study things, and takes his time. Can you guess which is which?


Eventually Sean had enough of the cupcakes, or else he was mad that there wasn't much cupcake left. Or maybe the Tylenol was wearing off and he remembered he had strep throat.


Eventually Aaron decided that cupcakes were a good thing and getting a little messy on your birthday is certainly an approved activity.