Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time with Scott’s parents and Chris and David. We were so glad that they could come. We had a lovely dinner (thanks to “Chef Al” at Scott’s work who did all of the cooking!) and continued the eating for days. Friday morning we went shopping in Cedarburg, a cute little town just north of us.

Joe always enjoys having two hands to hold so he can swing. Whee!

Granddad treated us to pizza and garlic knots. Joe couldn’t get enough.

Luke enjoyed his meal, too.

Uncle Chris taught Joseph how to do “I’m a chubby bunny.” It comes out more like “I ba chubba bumma”

Uncle Chris with his godson Patrick.

Joe enjoyed playing with all of his (actually, the twins’) new toys and watching Cars with Grammie and Granddad. As their car was pulling away to leave, Joe kept saying, “No! This car, I want this car!” He wanted to get in the car with them. He wailed and cried as they left and would only be consoled with the promise of some cookies.

Roasting Turkeys

I left the roaster on the floor while trying to get everything ready for Thanksgiving. I came into the room to see this. They were watching Sesame Street in their new "chair."

First words

It was Patrick! He said “Ball” (what else could it be in this house!), but he also said “Doh, doh” (Joe joe) the same day. We weren’t sure if it was just babbling at first, but he said it pretty clearly and directed toward Joe himself. Yesterday, Patrick kept dropping stuff and saying, “Uh, oh!” The “uh” part is kind of a sucking in, like the start of a hiccup.

Luke is getting better at standing up by himself. He even stands up from squatting (without pulling up on anything) which Joe couldn’t do even after he had been walking for a while. Joe would have to crawl over to something stable and pull himself up before he could go on walking after he had fallen over. Patrick doesn’t really try to stand by himself yet. He will pull up on unstable things, like Luke.

We will have Thanksgiving pictures up soon. Sorry for the delay!

Thanks for nothing

We got flu shots for the boys yesterday. In a stroke of maternal genius, I remembered to bring Joe’s “Cars” band-aids to soothe and distract him after the shot. He did just great. I was very proud of him. The clever nurse had his “Bob the Builder” sticker all ready for him before he could even really cry. As we left the office, Joe told the nurse, “Thank you for the shot!” She got a big kick out of it and told all the other nurses.

You college football fans out there will be jealous. Scott had a chance to go to the Ohio State/Michigan game this weekend. Being a Notre Dame fan, I couldn’t root for either team, but I guess Scott decided on Ohio State. He had a great time with his cousin Johnny who was in Ohio to run the campaign for a congresswoman. The boys and I watched a bit of the game here at home, mostly to look for daddy in the crowd. Joe would say, “Oooo, watch for daddy! There he is. Hi, Daddy!” He waved frantically at the TV when he saw crowd close-ups.

Two of Joe’s latest phrases:
“Oh my gosh!”
“Guess what? Chicken butt!” (we’re so proud)

Eat your veggies

Yesterday, I was cutting a tomato for a salad, and Joe looked alarmed. “Mommy, you eating Bob!” Bob the Tomato is a character from the VeggieTales videos, pictured here with his friend Larry the Cucumber.

The twins are starting to stand on their own. There have only been a handful of wobbly attempts, but it’s fun to watch them try. They’ve also learned how to roll the tent over while inside. That feat produces lots of screams and laughter. Doesn’t Patrick look like he’s just done something naughty?

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Luke says “hello!” into his baby cell phone.

Scott found some “Cars” character band-aids for Joe. When Joe saw them, he immediately began searching his body for “boo boos” that really needed coverage. He found a tiny little nick on his ankle and he refused to wear his socks all day so he could admire his bandage.

Speaking of racecars, Joe got to see one up close tonight. The Lowe’s close to our house was having a “viewing” and you could take pictures with the car. For any of you that know me, you may know that if my soul is eternally damned to hell, I will spend eternity on the front row of a NASCAR race on a hot day. Nothing could be worse for me, but it’s given me the opportunity to sacrifice my own personal tastes for the kids. I’m such a martyr. We went out for drive through ice cream later. We have to remember to bring Joe’s bib or his carseat is a sticky mess.

Scott and I have been on Weight Watchers for 4 months now. I have lost a measly 18 pounds, but Scott has lost almost twice that much. It’s much easier to do with a partner, and I’m so glad we’ve both stuck with it for so long. Our Christmas gifts to each other will probably be some new clothes – I can pull my jeans off without unbuttoning them! When you see us again, please don’t remind us that we are on a diet (we know that already!) and don’t ask us if we are “allowed” to eat a particular something. The answer is almost always yes, but the key is moderation.

Years ago, meetings were full of plump little old ladies almost exclusively. We’ve been surprised to find a lot of men around our age that are going through the program (even though they rarely talk about it!) We really like WW and would recommend it to anyone who asks (not like we’re doctors, but both of our doctors recommended it…)

We're on a seafood diet. See food?!

Flung!

I have finally flung my old Mazda. The charity is picking it up this evening. We were only too excited to see her go. I have had her since I graduated from college – the summer of 1999. She was already 10 years old and had 120K miles. A little old and rusty, but she ran great! She has been with me through FOCUS at KU and Benedictine, living at home and in good old Overland Park. Scott and I had our “relationship defining talk in it. I even drove her to my wedding. I can proudly say that she started very reliably through the cold Iowa winters, even when my co-worker’s brand new VW Jetta wouldn’t.

She’s been scrapped, bumped, dinged and love-tapped (Emily, you know that was you!) Recently, the poor thing has endured her toughest abuse – sitting in our driveway for over a year (I’m totally embarrassed about that!) doing nothing. Since the twins were born, we could only use the van because of all of the car seats. The Mazda has served us well, but she will not be missed. She will likely be sold at an auction and then be able to fulfill her destiny – being driven and loved again.

I have included her picture for your viewing pleasure. Please notice the lovely $10-for-the-set hubcap on the rear wheel. It’s the only one left on the car. That tire is also almost flat, too. Her paint is chipping near the rear window and there is a good bit of rust next to the backseat door. She is a vision, isn’t she?

Oh, yeah. I forgot to explain “flung.” I’ve been trying to follow a little house-keeping plan put together by the FlyLady, Marla Ciley. She’s a southern lady who knows how tough it is for people who aren’t born organized to just keep their house in order. She’s really big on “flinging” your clutter – don’t try to organize it, just get rid of it! So, my biggest bit of clutter was my car. My biggest collection of clutter is in the basement, but we are going through it box by box. Just taking baby steps so far. You can see her website by clicking on this link:

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http://www.flylady.net

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Two cute things Joe said recently: “Gimmie the little guy!” Joe was asking for a mouse figurine; and “Bless you, Joe Joe!” I must have forgotten to say it after he sneezed so he did a self-blessing.

Patrick and Daddy relaxing after a day of hard work and hard play.

Luke giving us his I’m-about-to-be-naughty face

Compromise

The babies LOVE Joe’s special chair from Grammie. They fight over it sometimes, but I found this compromise the other day:

Patrick: “Hey, you’re on my side! Scoot over, Luke!”

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From the mouth of Joe:

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After helping Daddy push the button to open the garage door, Scott said, “Good job Joe, you did it!” Joe replied, “No, Daddy, we did it!”

There are always geese around our neighborhood this time of year. Joe sometimes calls them ducks and occasionally, I’ll correct him. He said: “Guck, mommy!” “Actually, Joe, that’s a goose.” Joe replied: “Ak-silly, Mommy, it’s a guck.”

“Somefing wrong, Mommy?” I must have had a funny look on my face.

Scott was talking about how everyone goes potty on the toilet to inspire him to start using the potty chair again. He asked, “Does mommy poop?” Joe: “Yeah.” “Does daddy poop?” “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

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From the mouth of the twins:

Bob bob bob bob

mamamamama

dadadadadadada

ah ah ah ah ah ah

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Best of luck to Uncle John in his election! We're praying for you!

Labels

The verdict is in – that little reaction to cheese that the twins have is really an allergy to cow’s milk and casein. They have been put on a strict avoidance diet. Their doctor is confident that the will outgrow it in a few years. The less they have now, the quicker they will outgrow the problem. If they were to have more, the problem would continue longer in their lives and possibly become more severe.

I hardly know where to start. Their high-butter diet is over (this was because they were underweight at their 9 month appointment) and I’m noticing that milk ingredients are in SO many foods (their bread, pancake mix, even lunch meat and Stove Top stuffing!). I think I need a 3-hour trip to the grocery store just to label read. The doctor also recommended avoiding nuts and peanuts for several more years now, too. Since they have one food allergy, they are very likely to have more and nuts are the worst ones to have.