Christmas 2007

(Click on the title for Christmas Pictures - too many to add here. They will hopefully be there by 1/1/08.)
Well the boys understood the whole Christmas thing this year. They understood presents, family, and running around. We celebrated 3 Christmases between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Well actually 4 if you include Christmas morning which was just Kris, me and the boys. Christmas Eve was with my family and Christmas day was with Kris' family, then Kris' mom and the LeClair Family. We still have to celebrate with my cousin (Kris and I are their kids God-parents) and with my friend Stephaine. Sometimes I think I should just start celebrating Chanukah, then I already have 8 nights to get through all these dinners.

Christmas Eve
My family came over around 12:30. Dinner was supposed to arrive between 1:45 and 2:00, however, Boston Market forgot about our order so it got there late. But we were playing with the kids and there was a large pile of presents on one end of the couch. Alex decided to be a little sneaky while mommy was on the phone with Boston Market and walk to the pile of presents and see if he could get very far with one. He slowly grabbed a present and slowly started backing up, looking at everyone to see if they noticed. Well Mommy noticed when she got back in the room and nearly scared him to death when she walked up behind him and asked what he thought he was doing. Turns out it was his present though. I think he was just saying, "Let's get this ball rolling!"
A little while after that, I believe it was after dinner while we were opening presents Kyle was doing something and his dad, Dan called him a sissy. Trevor promptly turned around and said clear as day, "Sissy!" It was his first word... Kris thought that it was Kyle that said it since our kids haven't talked yet but Lacey, Dan, my mom and dad were all rolling because they clearly saw Trevor say sissy and they started picking on Dan for teaching Trevor to say sissy. He hasn't said it or anything else since then. Every once in a while Kris and I think we hear them say something clearly but we don't know if it is our ears playing tricks on us or if they actually say it because they don't repeat it... We are well on our way to talking. I can't wait. ONLY because Alex is sick right now and I really just want to hear them say what's wrong instead of me trying to figure out what's wrong.
Trevor also absolutely LOVED my dad. He kept running up to him with his arms raised and Grandpa being the sucker that he his kept picking him up. Luckily he's been working out with all those watermelons. My boys are still light compared to them.
Presents
They each got a PowerWheel (designed for 1 to 3 year olds), they got books, a push around train (little, not one you sit on), and Grandma and Grandpa will be buying them helmets as well.
Mommy got games for her Nintendo DS and books. Daddy got books, a gift card and some HD DVDs.

Christmas Day
Christmas morning the boys came downstairs for breakfast to a NEW inflatable ball pit and presents in their stocking. Alex was the one who noticed the presents in the stockings. His eyes got really big. They could hardly eat their breakfast they wanted to play so badly. So we let them play and started handing them presents. They were really cute opening presents, they would rip on little piece of paper then run and give it to Kris or me saying their yuck sound (which basically sounds like clearing your throat). Then they would run back to the present, which of course is on the other side of the room by now, and rip another piece of wrapping paper off and bring it back. It was taking FOREVER, but they got the hang of it and they opened all their gifts. Until....
Presents
Inflatable ball pit, hide-n-seak tunnel tent thing, books, clothes from Eric and Carrie and Tristan, Elmo phone and Cookie Monster remote.
Mommy got HD DVDs of Harry Potter 3 & 4. Daddy got socks (from Santa :-)), and HD DVDs.

Grandpa Chuck and Brooke's house. We got there around 12:30, and there was a MOUNTAIN of presents under their little 2 foot tree. (They just got back from Lake Tahoe on the 23rd.) So after a little getting comfortable time for the boys we started opening presents and this time it was starting to take forever. So we had to jump in and help or we would've been there all night and we needed to get home for the last Christmas dinner. We thought we were going to be eating an early dinner there but dinner wasn't until 4:00. We were only minutes late from being able to leave before the rest of the Partlans got there so we ended up leaving later than we hoped. Luckily the boys didn't wake up from the car trip when we put them down for a nap at home.
Trevor didn't want Grandpa to put him down the entire time. I hope Grandpa's back doesn't hurt nearly as badly as mine does. I was holding Alex a lot this weekend and Trevor sometimes too. There were just too many people around. So I've been living on a heating bad and motrin...
Presents
3 stage tricycles for each of them, trailer for the wagon, 2 little people sets, race car set (for older than 3 so they won't be getting this one yet), turtle night light that illumniates stars on to their ceiling, leash/backpacks for each of them, books, and I'm sure there is more I'm just forgetting.
Mommy got MyVu goggles to watch movies full size from her video IPOD, and speakers for her ipods. Daddy got an HD DVD player (he got a few weeks ago for some rebate), and an XBox 360 game and a gift card I think.

Then there was the final Christmas celebration. Sandy cooked (heated) dinner while we were at Chuck's house and some of the LeClairs came over around 5:00. We had Beth, Tim, Kim, and John. Paul was sick and Peter and Carmen stopped by during dessert. Peter and Carmen are now engaged too. Yeah for them! Tim and Kim brought their dog Gracie over who is just an addorable little puppy and my dogs and Alex had a blast playing with her. It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone. And the boys were really getting this present thing under control now. They saw the presents and just started ripping through them. One for each of them was soft though they really didn't want to open that one. They must be like their dad and they don't want clothes for Christmas.
Presents
Hoodie towels frog and bear, books (had to exchange 3 of them - thats pretty good for how many books they got), Tonka cars and trucks.
Mommy got Quantum Leap Season 5 (final one I needed), we also got gift cards to 7-11, McDonalds, Target and a check to go away for a nioght no kids, babysitting care of Sandy. We're going to work on getting a weekend or ask my mom to take the other night, so we can get a weekend. Yeah!

Ahhhhhhhhhh......
Christmas is almost over. Saturday will be spent with Jerry, Christy, Dustin and Dylan and Sunday with Stephanie and Monday isn't Christmas but dinner with Matt, Pamela, Annalise and Nikola. No rest for the weary!

You can click this picture too, to see the same pictures mentioned at the beginning of this post. Again I hope to have them posted by 1/1/08.

Christmases of 2007

Blankies and Swords

Trevor, and his blankie. Luckily we ended up with 4 of these blankies when the boys were born. Because now Trevor is completely attached to them. Luckily I can swap them out so I can clean them because they are like velcro for dog fur. So we now have one in his crib and one in the living room. Every time be bring him down from sleeping he cries all the way down the stairs because we made him leave his "blankie" upstairs. But when he's in the living room and see's is blankie he runs and picks it up and stops crying. So when will he learn that there are multiple blankies and there is no need to scream in my ear on the way down the stairs?

I do think that it is very cute how he carries his blankie around and sucks on it when he's tired. Alex hasn't taken to a blankie yet. He doesn't even like to be under his blanket in his crib while he's sleeping. Almost instantly he rolls over and lays on top of his blanket. Usually he lays on his stomach with his butt up in the air. I think that's addorable too.

I was wrapping presents the other day and ended up with two cardboard paper rolls. I used to give these to the dogs because they love chewing on them. The dogs were very tired though so they kinda just ignored them. Not even thinking about them anymore, I brought the boys down from their nap. And they almost instantly went for the cardboard rolls. And then like its in their blood or something they started playing swords with them. Now I cannot for the life of me think of where they got that. The TV is hardly on because we don't want them watching TV with all the hype about over stimulation or whatever... I haven't watched a Pirates of the Caribbean lately or a Star Wars. I suppose they could've been playing baseball too, but I'm pretty sure they've only watched one of my games, and about 3 innings of a Tigers game. Baseball is never on our TV at home because Kris doesn't like watching Baseball - "It's boring!"

At one point Trevor's "sword" broke. So he went over to Alex and stole his. Alex just burst out crying and Trevor just looked at him like, "what's the problem?" Then Trevor just did the cutest thing. Still clutching on to the the good "sword" he took the broken one over to Alex and handed it to him. Alex looked at it and just started screaming again so Trevor tried to give it to him again. Trevor was trying so hard to please Alex but it just wasn't working. Alex was just starting to get sick during this escapade so that could've been part of the problem. And he sure wasn't going to give up the good "sword". Eventually, Alex found something else to play with and one of the dogs picked up the broken "sword". Trevor thought that looked like fun so he started playing with the dogs. That made the good "sword" accessible and Alex didn't waste any time picking it up. :-)

My boys now have no fear of the dogs. They will take toys from them and play tug-a-war with them, they just don't care. They even try to take bones out of their mouths. Thank goodness the dogs are VERY good about it. I'll have to watch the kids with new dogs though. Not all dogs are equal...

Trevor just had a blast playing with Nicky and the old cardboard tube. He'd pull it away and Nicky would grab it and pull it away and then Trevor would take it again. It lasted quite a while while Zagnut the protector just watched over them.

First Hair Cut

For quite a while now I've been thinking that the boys really need a hair cut. They were starting to get tails and Trevor had this crazy afro-fluffy hair-do in the back of his head. I was just super paranoid and didn't know how to do it. I was afraid their hair would look uneven and that they would have this wavy haircut. But yesterday I decided it just had to be done. Look at all this hair. And it approaching their eyes.

It has taken 15 months before the boys got their first hair cut. My nephew isn't one yet and I think he's had 3 or 4 already. But my boys have really fine hair and I also had the free that I would cut their hair and they would look bald again. Well I decided we just needed to go for it now and if it looks horrible we can get it fixed before all the Christmases with the families. I set them in their high chair one at a time and used my husband's clippers. I even tied a burp-cloth rag around their neck so they wouldn't get hair down their necks. Here's Alex in his high chair after his hair cut.

It's a much cleaner look but he almost looks bald. But I really cannot believe how much hair came off while I was clippin'. It just really didn't look like they had that much hair. And me being the good scrap booker that I am I saved and labeled a good chunck of each one's hair. It looks darker than their hair that they have kept. I was also amazed at how well they did while I was clipping. Kris thinks it must vibrate their head or something because they just sat there and took it. There was no screaming or squirming. I was very greatful for that. I don't think I would've been able to finish if they were squirming because I would've thought I was hurting them. So here a picture of them after their hair cuts. It was almost bed time so they were a little droopy eyed afterwards. Trevor is sucking on his arm and I think Alex is wondering where his hair went. :-) I did learn some lessons during my first haircuting though:

1.) Cut their hair before the bath so you can wash all the other hair off of them before bed.

2.) Kris told me that I should use his other clippers since I made their hair so short. Apparently the other one would work better for that. (I didn't even know there was a difference.)

3.) I need to strap them down pretty hard while I clip the hair around their ears. The Clippers didn't get that hair so I had to use scissors. Actually Kris used the scissors but they kept whipping their head around because I couldn't hold them still when they jerked. Maybe the new clippers will work better for that.

4.) Don't be afraid of the clippers. They don't hurt them and use them more often so I don't have to go through so much hair.

Our First ER Trip

I'm sure this will be one of many but I had my first ER trip with Trevor last night. He's had a cold for about a week now and yesterday he started breathing really shallow and he wouldn't lay down to go to sleep because it would get harder for him to breath. So I called the pediatrician and she said he might get worse through the night if we waited till morning to come in. So off to Beaumont. Now when I used to go to the ER at Beaumont quite regularly as a kid I seem to remember being there for hours and the way we would get pushed through quicker was by my throwing up on my dad (this happened many times). Plus adults and kids were always in the same area. Well now Beaumont has a Peds ER area so we only waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes and then we were in a bed. The total trip only took a little over 2 hours. I was totally amazed.

Trevor was a trooper. When we got there he was waving to everyone and all smiles. When we saw the first nurse in the waiting room she had to put a pulse-ox sensor on Trevor's finger. So Trevor pointed his finger out and gave it too her. He did cry while she took his temperature though. His pulse-ox was 99% and no fever so that was good.

We get into the curtained area and see a nurse who checked his ears, nose, and thoart and listened to his breathing. Trevor just sat still and let her do what ever needed to be done. So by this point I figure he's just really tired...But when that nurse left he wiggles himself onto the floor and starts getting toys and books out the diaper bag. Every once in awhile he looks at the nurses station and starts waving at all the nurses. He is such a flirt.

After 2 doctors and another nurse we are told that he has croup - without the cough. At least we didn't go to the ER for nothing. They gave me some steroids to give him right there and when we finished the syringe of medicine the nurse and I said, "Good boy Trevor!" and Trevor sat up straight and started clapping for himself. I tell you this kid just doesn't have an ego problem... The doctors did tell me that it's contagious and that Alex will almost definitely get it too. Apparently it is common for preemies in their first 5 years of life and most common in the winter. However, cold air and cold liquids help it a lot so I got that going for me right now.

Everything is good and we're just waiting for Alex to get it now...Plus Kris is sick right now and isn't getting very much sleep so I'm sure eventually I'll be getting something too...

Google Famous

Have you ever tried Googling yourself just to see if and what comes up? Well I decided to do that because a radio station was having a competition that if you knew someone famous and called in you could get a gift cards some place. Well their definition of someone famous was that when their name was Googled something about them came up on the first page. So I Googled myself, and guess what the first article is ME!!!

I am a mentor for a middle school competition called Future City. Here in Michigan it is sponsored by the Engineering Society of Detroit and the National Competition is held in Washington DC during Engineer's Week in February. Well last year my team (then Helen Keller Middle School in Royal Oak) won the Michigan Competition so we got to go to Washington DC for the National competition. Our team ended up in 3rd place our of 38 teams that competed nationally. During the competition our team was interviewed and apparently I had a lot of cool things to say becasue they wrote an article with quotes from me.

I am continuing my mentoring duties at what is now Royal Oak Middle School (they combined the two middle schools this year). We have a good group of kids this year and it would be nice to bring home more medals and trophies.

So now when you're asked if you know a celebrity you can say Yes I know a Google Celebrity. :)

Zoo Boo again

I went to the Zoo Boo again tonight. This time I went with the girls I grew up with. Angie, Angie, Rachel and Megan. Rachel and Megan's parents were there and Angie Twiss's mom was there too. We all had a really good time and this is a picture of all the kids except Kyle and Brennan, my mom brought them too. From the left the kids are Leyton (2), Gavin (2-1/2), Alison (1-1/2), Mason (2), Tori (1 - 3 weeks younger than my boys), Trevor and Alex. I bought the boys some flashlight sparkley things and they just enjoyed being out again. It was cold this time though.

We also stayed for the show this time. Trevor absolutely loved the show. Alex liked the music and was dancing with Trevor. The show was pretty good and interactive, though my kids weren't interactive yet. It was fun to see the girls again. Ross Menendez said that we could almost get the softball team back together again. I was just excited to see everyone again and hopefully I'll get to see them some more.

Zoo Boo

This weekend was full of Halloween activites. On Friday we went to Halloween Nights at Greenfield Village. That was a lot of fun but I didn't dress the boys in their costumes because they wouldn't really fit in their car seats. The boys had fun watching everyone and fell asleep by the end. We got lots of candy, chips and a beanie baby black cat. We saw ghost and goblins and one other attendee was dressed as Captain Jack - Johnny Depp and was acting the part awesomely. He looked down at my two kids who were dressed alike at this point and said, "Oh, I'm seeing double again. I need more Rum." He was hilarious.

Then on Sunday night we went to the Zoo Boo at the Detroit Zoo. We dressed up this time Stephaine went with me and we pulled the boys in the wagon. We dressed Trevor in the Alligator costume and Alex in the Turtle. I did this because I thought Alex would just rip his head piece off because he hates things on his head now after his helmet. But Alex actually kept his head piece on until we got to the zoo and then he kept it on a few times when I put it back on. We went there this time with a couple from my Twins Group that I met through Beaumont. There was supposed to be another couple but they got there late and we had already gone in so we missed them. Luckily they were still able to get tickets to go in though. And they should've been right behind us.

So we got to walk through the Zoo and stop at some treat stations and see some animals made out of pumpkins and squash. We got to go through the "Reptile Haunted House" and take Alex and Trevor's picture by the turtle scuplture. Once I got Alex out of the stroller he was having a blast. He started talking and waving to everyone. Trevor was more interested in what was in his bag because he realized people were putting things in there for him. Then we went through a tent that had shows every 15 mintues or so but we didn't stay to watch because it was too warm. Then we were at the end. It was a lot of fun to see all the other kids dressed up and to watch my kids get excited.

We're going to the Zoo Boo again on Saturday with my friends from high school and their kids so that should be a lot of fun. Hopefully, I'll get a picture of all the kids then.

Weekend with the boys by myself

Well I made it through my first weekend alone with the boys by myself. Kris needed some much deserved rest so he got a hotel room for the weekend and slept. He is definitely refreshed. I was able to get a lot of chores done and catch up on all my TiVo shows too. Since the boys are on Kris's schedule meaning they wake up pretty late I was able to get up long before them and get a lot of chores done before they even woke up. Then while they were taking naps I could watch my TiVo shows.

Side track: Have you caught the show The Big Bang Theory? I am such a dork but I love that show and some the jokes I think only geeks would laugh at. I was watching it last night too with Kris and he just kept looking at me for the things I was laughing at. I also love How I Met Your Mother which is on right before The Big Bang Theory. I didn't really get into until this year but I just think that show is hilarious too.

So the rest of the weekend: I fed the boys fish sticks for the first time and they loved them. They ate more than I did. And Trevor loves tarter sauce. I dipped his fish in my tarter sauce and he licked it off and gave it back to me to dip again. I read a lot to the boys and chased them around the living room. I really think I need more books because I'm really getting tired of Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Panda Bear, Panda Bear... But the boys enjoy them. They even flip through them themselves and the books are upside right most of the time now.

We took a walk on Saturday and Alex just had so much to say. He was talking to everything. There weren't very many people out but he was talking to the trees and squirrels and the monkeys. When we walked past the zoo the monkeys that are by the rhino were screaming and making all kinds of racket. Alex just kept talking. The monkeys weren't moving so I don't think the boys could see them.

It was really a lot of fun and the rest of this month we'll be doing a lot of Halloween stuff. I'll actually be out of town on Halloween so I'm taking them to Halloween Nights at Greenfield Village this Friday. Then this Sunday we are going to the Zoo Boo with our Twins' group friends, and again we're going to the Zoo Boo with friends of mine from High School the following weekend. So at least I'll see my boys in their costumes a few times. I'll post pictures when the picture thing is working again.

Remote Blogging

Remote blogging. What an interesting concept. I can be typing an email and make it look like I’m working by any bystanders walking by but really I’m just filling in my blog. Gotta love technology.

First Timer

I've seen other peoples blogs and thought they were cool so I thought I'd start my own. Though I know I will not be able to post often because I'll be too busy but hopefully I'll have fun doing this. I still have to figure out everything but I'm sure it will come easy enough in time.

So if you're reading this you probably already know about me but I'll give a quick synapses. I am an Electrical Engineer for Jacobs Technology which designs and builds wind tunnels and other test facilities. We currently have a lot of work with NASA while they get ready for the Constellation project.

I am also a mom of 13 month old twin boys who are walking and getting ready to run and working on talking very soon. Their names are Alex and Trevor, and my husband stays home with them, he loves it, though I think he's really getting burned out. So he's taking a vacation weekend next weekend which will be my first weekend alone with the boys by myself. It should be interesting, I'll definitely post during or after that experience.

So check back often and I'll try to figure out how the picture posting works.