Photo Friday

So I realize it's Friday and not Throwback Thursday or even Way Back Wednesday as I've seen on so many other blogs. However, this is what I want to post today so I hereby deem today:

"Photo Friday"

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of when the girls were small...and not talking, and not crawling, and not throwing their food on the ground... you get the picture.

Here they are on Valentine's Day 2007 only 17 days old and their 2nd day at home after a 15 day NICU stay.
I would have been 36 weeks pregnant with a whole month to go by this point!
Peyton (L) & Grace (R)

Little Gracie with an arm around Peyton.

The girls sleeping in their crib- we didn't put them long ways for a while!
Now they take up half their beds...
Peyton (L) & Grace (R)

So fun looking through old pictures! Thanks for humoring me!

Swimming at the South Pole...

...otherwise known as our neighborhood pool! Even more remarkable than our ability to escape from certain hypothermia was the girls swimming "all by myself" for the first time! It was adorable and we were VERY proud parents yesterday!

Daddy and the girls (so cute)




And they're off!




I'm swimming all by myself! They were all giggles over their new found freedom.

I decided against posting the pictures of them in hysterics after we took them out of the pool. You know, because their lips were blue and all. Mean mommy and daddy at it again!

Picture hodgepodge

Here are some random pictures from the past couple weeks that I am finally getting off my camera!

A cute one of Daddy and Grace!

I made strawberry shortcake for dinner couple weeks ago. What goes on top of all strawberry shortcakes?

You guessed it, whipped cream!
Although, make no mistake... ours was not fat free!

Of course once it's on top of your shortcake you HAVE to squirt some of the whipped cream in your mouth! Who doesn't, right? The next thing you do, as evidenced by Grace below, is let your mom squirt some whipped cream in your hands to play with. I am either the coolest mom on the block or the dumbest.

Here is Grace enjoying her hands full 'o whipped cream!

Here is Peyton cleverly using the whipped cream as a soothing lotion.
Looks like i've found the secret to baby soft skin!!!

(patent pending)

Here are the girls playing Mommy (P) and baby (G) at Grandma's house. Yes, Grandma put Grace in the pink dress so my "dressing twins by colors theory" does not work for this picture... I was much more traumatized than the girls - who never noticed.

Emily's (patent pending) Dressing Twins by Colors Theory:
Peyton: Pink or Purple (purple being the default color)
Grace: Green or anything but purple

Yes, I'm sure I'm scarring them for life but at least I can tell them apart while it's happening.

At Chilis and super-excited about sharing corn. Yes, this could very well be the first evidence of swine flu being transmitted between sisters (the results are still at the lab - kidding! or am I?) but daddy only had one ear of corn on his plate. Hence the need to share if only to combat what was sure to be an onslaught of dinner ending tears complete with leftovers that would have sat in the fridge for days before being thrown out.

AKA - we didn't want to be THAT family that ruins your dinner. You're welcome.

If the photo above isn't proof enough of our daughters tremendous capacity to share... here is video proof as well.

Meet Baby Mallory!

We went over to the Choe's house to meet Baby Mallory with the girls. Both girls wanted to bring a couple toys to "show" Mallory. Peyton brought a stuffed dog and a cat-in-a-cage thingy we got from McDonald's. I wonder what intern at McDonald's came up with that toy? Grace brought a stuffed dog (copycat) and Farmer Elmo. Mallory LOVED the toys (as she slept quietly).

Here are Peyton and Grace trying to give Mallory her first cold!
How sweet!

The best part of the evening was when I asked the girls if they wanted mommy to have a baby. They didn't really seem too excited. Then I asked if they wanted mommy to have FOUR babies and in unison they said "Yeaaaaaaa!"

So I told them to go ask Daddy.

School

I couldn't help but take pictures this morning before we walked into "school". They looked so cute and were so happy. Can't wait to pick them up this afternoon!

Grace is taking "cheese" to a whole new level here!

Peyton's in pink shorts and Grace has on the blue ones.

Bath Tub Picasso

Crayola Bath Tub Crayons... crayons for the bath!!! I know, right?! Makes me wish we had cool stuff like this growing up.

We highly recommend them.

We also recommend taking some Aleve because your arms will be sore from washing it off the tub. Although now that I think about it - this should be considered exercise as well... I mean I'm lifting 27lb "weights" (also know as my dear sweet children) countless times a day so why not count cleaning the bath tub as exercise too! On that note, I wish I could wash the tub with my abs...

And now for the proof that these little crayons work...

This was also an attempt at trying to get the girls to BOTH smile at the SAME time.

This shouldn't be hard, right?

I mean how difficult is it to smile when Mommy says: "Ok! Keep you eyes open, look up at me and smile when I say 'cheese'."

Obviously Peyton heard me, Grace did not.

Daddy always gets requests to draw things when we are coloring. To his credit he does a near perfect Mickey Mouse (of course he interned at Disney World during college so I really expect nothing less...) Apparently one of the girls made a request for Daddy to draw a mixed-breed dog or was it a character in Greek Mythology or was it a hair-less cat? The world may never know... But below is photographic evidence of what Daddy says is "Elmo", and I use the term "Elmo" lightly.

Daddy's "drawing" --- ~ --- The Real Deal

Elmo or blind-folded, left handed drawing of a horse?
You decide.

Amazingly the girls are coming along quite nicely with their penmanship. Check out this sweet note the girls left for me.

Makes your heart melt doesn't it?

A big thanks to Daddy for manning the first "bath with crayons" in a while AND managing to wash hair! That's not a feat for the faint of heart! Best Dad in the world!

What would YOU do with a bean bag?

The girls got some super cute beanbags the other day (thanks Corey!). They have found many ways to play with them. First, they climbed on top of the "tall mountain" like Dora. Then they were beds for their babies and Elmo to sleep. Last night they started flinging themselves onto them which was pretty hilarious.

Pay no attention to the state of the living room either... a new study just came out from the AAP that says messes in the homes of small children actually promote a more well-balanced child. I'm just (lying) following what the doctors are saying.

Not sure what skills are being sharpened here but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Warm Weather = Fun times!

We had a really nice weekend. The weather was great and we got to spend some time with family and friends. First up though was getting ready for the big day. The girls like to play "mommy and baby". They switch off the mommy and baby roles pretty frequently which I find interesting.

Guess who's the baby...

I always love a great hugging picture!

Then it was onto the park before a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's. We went to C.O. Franklin park in Germantown for the first time and it was nice. Still a bit older than what the girls can really handle with the gaping holes and all but overall a really nice park.

Love this one!

2024 Olympics here we come!

After the park we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch and a nice long nap! Then it was time to play outside. We brought the "outdoor toy" Popa and Nana got them for their birthday which is a super cute sprinkler. It was a little windy but warm enough for the girls to run through and get their feet wet.

At Grandma's doorstep

Daddy helping the girls get their feet wet!

Peyton fixing her lawnmower - don't worry, she's compensated by the hour.

Toddler life = playing & chillin'

I told Peyton to give me the "somebody just took my toy and now they're gonna pay" look.

I'd say she nailed it.

On Sunday we had a blast with the Sells Family at the Zoo! Of course the only time we got a great picture of the kids was when they were mesmerized by the Buddha statue near the Pandas. Thus you have my "zoo" picture sans an animal.

We also tried for the ever elusive "twins holding hands" picture...


We are still working on this one!

Cartoon Forces Unite!

A drop of dew falls from a leaf in the rainforest, a baby duckling learns to fly, a child is born... these things are all beautiful and magical moments. But nothing is MORE magical and MORE beautiful that when the forces of two Spanish cartoon cousins UNITE!

That's right, pure toddler bedlam ensues when Dora the Explorer and Diego combine their smash hit shows into one 22 minute captivating cartoon! The following clip makes paying the monthly cable bill worth it.

And before you ask, no, I have no idea which one is which. They're wearing the same thing!

So I'm kidding, Peyton is on the left and Grace is on the right.
Right Stephen???

Hitchin' a Ride

I just love the fact that the girls are wearing their sunglasses in the car because it's sunny. So cute and a reminder of how they are growing and maturing. Here are some pictures I took (safely) while we were on the way to "school" yesterday morning!

Here is Peyton making her morning calls on her cell phone, hailing a taxi, and being a mother to a girl plastic doll named "Nathan" (who is her real life baby cousin). Her multitasking skills clearly outweigh her two year old counterparts.

Never mind that her sunglasses are upside down (or upy-side down as she calls it). She's two, come on, give her a break!

And here's Grace, not playing along with Mom's attempt at trying to get the same type of picture for both girls so we can put it in the yearly calendar - side by side. Thanks for nothing Grace.



Cute smile though, don't you think? Although, she was probably smiling at Diego on the DVD player...

Change Anyone?

A couple times a week we check to see if the girls are carrying any loose change...

We have yet to find any...

I sure hope they don't think they'll be getting a free ride straight through college.

'Sup?

Yesterday, the girls rolled up in their ride and proceeded to walk the black "carpet" into the local mexican restaurant, Rancho Grande. Just an average day for these two classy toddlers. Sometimes I don't know how they deal with the paparazzi - but below is a great example of keeping your composure while the camera is shooting.

It's hard to be cool but they pull it off so effortlessly.

As you can tell, they were prepared for the onslaught of cameras. Grace's pose could be in Harper's Baazar or the runways of Milan. Peyton looks a little "catalouge" in this shot but she also woke up from her afternoon nap early so I think she was a little tired. However, you can still tell she is smiling with her eyes behind those glasses.

Parents magazine front cover here we come!

Stop the Presses!!!

Subject A: two-year-old whose world revolves around the word "Mine!"

Subject B: two-year-old whose world revolves around the phrase "No! MINE!"

The following video will forever change the way you look at small children.
(who belong to me)

Look at what others are saying about it!

National Geographic said: "a moment in time to be treasured! We're adding it to our archives as we speak!"

Gene Siskel says: "most heartwarming moment to EVER pass before my eyes, two pointer fingers...way up!"

Travelocity says: "Southaven, MS - a miracle happened here!" ~ 5 star property from 1 review

And now for the clip...

That's right... you just saw sharing between toddlers!!! Amazing!

Easter '09

The girls had a great Easter this year. Being the first one where they could actually grasp the concept was really fun!

Here are the Easter baskets:

Modest you might say but this is probably the last year we can get away with that "theme" so we took the opportunity! Sadly, I don't think we'll be able to use this approach come Christmas time...

Here is a little pre-egg finding glee:

The girls had a hard time opening the jellybean filled Easter eggs. We were silly enough to underestimate the mental prowess of our two-year-olds. We thought we had a second to go change and by the time we came back about 2 1/2 minutes later; jellybeans were the only thing on the breakfast menu.