Kellen and Grant wish one and all a Happy Valentine's Day!!!









Kellen got hold of Justin's electric toothbrush today, and decided it was his best friend for about fifteen minutes straight. He crawled with it, climbed with it, and actually brushed his teeth! ---SM

While Dodo was here last week, she helped Kellen figure out that the dinosaur eggs he and Grant love to play with have a purpose. After much repetition, Kellen learned how to fit the eggs into the green dinosaur's musical holes, and now he's a pro. Grant is still waiting for a turn...---SM

Today the boys and I stayed at home and enjoyed the great indoors while Justin worked off a speeding ticket at traffic school.

Staying inside during sub-zero outdoor temperatures doesn't keep us far from the sunshine, though; we see and feel warmth just by being next to the windows. Today's light gently illuminated the boys as they ate their Cheerios. ---SM

For the past two weeks, the boys have been busy munching corn, carrots, chicken sticks, baked apples, pears, cherries, oranges, beans of all varieties, Cheerios, and so much more...

We're in the middle of watching the Superbowl and showing our true colors. Go Bears! ---SM

A typical day with the twins is never hum-drum, and that's no over-generalization. Even within the routine, I get more than my fair share of outstanding moments. Here are a few that happened in the last week. ---SM


(Above) Three hours of church would exhaust anyone, but last week, I taught a class after the regular meetings, and the boys were troopers. When we got home, though, they were clearly exhausted.


(Above) Of course, this photo may not have prompted you to think about what was going on about 2 hours before church! A few mischevious boys were chewing on their church shoes just before dressing-time.


(Above) Having a baby (or two) definately increases the laundry loads; however, Kellen is already about his chores. He is infatuated with the washing machine and pulls the laundry out of the washer whether I am loading or unloading the machine.


(Above) Kellen also acts as fix-it man. He likes to get inside the machine as far as he can (he's on his toes in this picture). Grant gets up there, too, if Kellen doesn't push him back. I have to referee time in front of the suds---that's when their curiosity peaks.


(Above) Grant has been pulling himself up since the day we got back from California. One of his favorite places to "pull up" is on my leg, something he does many times daily.


(Above) When Justin got home from work this week, he sat down and read a few books to the boys. I regret I didn't get his oration on video because he had the boys in stitches with his train and animal noises.


(Above) On Saturday, Grant, Sara, John, and Spencer Madson came over for a few hours before bedtime. J&S turned one year old this month.


(Above) John, Kellen, Grant, and Spencer on the bean bag.

(Above) Justin really likes to be first in the pre-boarding line, so he fed the boys while I watched on in a warm, sunny window seat out of line.

We spent the weekend in California, marking the boys' fifth round trip in their 10 months of life. They're great fliers; although, their mobility puts a damper on the tight space proximity airplanes provide. Fortunately, most of our fellow passengers are understanding, and even helpful. On the almost 5-hour trip to Oakland, one woman sat on the aisle seat in between my row and Justin's (we were lucky enough to be able to bring both car seats on board; as such, we cannot sit in the same row) who passed both Grant and Kellen back and forth as Justin and I alternated caring for them. On our return flight, a woman seated next to me held Kellen while I took a restroom break. Justin sat next to a former nanny of twins, so she felt right at home as Grant clawed at her book.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be a recipient of the service of strangers. I often wonder why it takes a baby for strangers to open up to each other when we all have a lot in common.

But to those who are less tolerable of flying with babies on planes (I haven’t found too many), I am empathetic. I must admit: pre-kids, my nerves would tingle in that nails-on-the-chalkboard way when I was forced in a plane with a screaming child who didn’t have a good excuse other than general fussiness, when he pulled or kicked the back of my chair, or when she endlessly shook a very noisy rattle way past the point of tolerability. It wasn't fair.

Pre-kids, I thought that all parents had the ability to control their kids at all times. Those who didn't were just too lazy to train their progeny. Ha! I suppose that could be true some of the time, particularly for children who have done a little bit of practicing. On the other hand, 10-month-olds have an understanding completely their own.

Even when I try my best to control what's in their reach, I'm not always successful. On one flight, Kellen managed to pull the hat of the woman sitting in front of us, and she shot us a deadly look. I guess it didn't help that she couldn't recline her seat since our gigantic car seat was butted up behind her. Several times, she pounded her upper body quite forcefully into her seat as though that would help it recline. I almost felt guilty that Kellen wasn't occupying his seat when the woman glared back at me through that slit between her row of chairs. Oh well. When I fly singly again, I’ll note NOT to sit in front of a baby seat if I can help it, and sincerely, I hope the woman remembers that, too.

Regardless, our weekend in California was truly relaxing. My parents had the twins sleep in their room again so they could wake all together in the morning. Unfortunately, the boys remained on Chicago time, so their internal alarm clocks woke them up at 5 a.m. PST. My mom and dad could have dumped them off in mine and Justin's room; instead, they treated us to a few extra hours of sleep---very relaxing, indeed: indicative of the entire weekend. ---SM


(Above) Gram and Kellen after Kellen wet through his clothes. He managed to keep his socks and shoes dry!


(Above) The boys holding hands in their stroller.


(Above) All weekend, Kellen was in the habit of sticking his tongue out. My dad decided he wanted to do it, too.


(Above) Gram, Kellen, Papa, and Grant


(Above) Auntie Staci and Grant


(Above) Kellen and Grant crawling


(Above) Kellen and Grant atop Gram's glass table.

Christmas in Denver


(Above) Enjoying an outside walk.


(Above) Dodo and Grant


(Above) Justin propping Kellen and Grant in a big bag of wrapping paper on Christmas morning.


(Above) Trammell and Grant


(Above) Uncle Brian and Kellen


(Above) We were able to meet up with the Bakers who moved back to Colorado after business school. Outside a Mexican restaurant in Denver stands Banks, Sophia, Jen, Malina, Steph, Grant, Justin, and Kellen.

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Our stay in Denver over Christmas week was memorable for so many reasons: family, weather, the twins' first Christmas, oh, yeah, and the norovirus that Grant caught then spread to just about everyone, made the trip extra special.

Top 11 highlights:

1. Upon our arrival on Christmas Eve, (Uncle) J brought the twins in to meet 7 of their 9 cousins for the first time. The energy in the room was both invigorating and inviting. The boys were in awe of all the attention, and at several hours past their bedtime, they were on their best behavior. Kellen, especially, enjoyed watching the ceiling fan in Auntie Gina's house as he and Grant were passed from one set of loving arms to another. It was a scene from a Hallmark card or a Christmas carol: Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays.

2. The freak blizzards allowed us entry to the Denver Airport just after the first storm, but delayed our departure one day just after the second storm. It also allowed my nephew Parker to take a Christmas morning (12:01 a.m.) luge ride outside his front door. I forgot to ask him if he saw Santa jumping down any chimneys.

3. The norovirus. Uggh. First Grant. Then me. Then Kellen. Then Jodi (Dodo).

4. Playing Speed Rummy and adding new rules continuously; playing Speed Yahtzee with Parker and X. while laughing the entire time; playing Hoops with 5-year-old G. and losing almost every time; playing SCUM while J. talked with a Chicago accent; playing Speed Scrabble while nibbling the best Saltine crackers I had ever tasted.

5. Wrapping presents with Justin, J. and M. until 3 a.m. Christmas morning.

6. Celebrating Gina's birthday at a BBQ joint and not noticing that Grant spewed what Justin dubbed "Green Bean Salsa" that no one noticed until we were about to leave the restaurant and saw it on the floor.

7. Meeting Trammell's girlfriend Allie and realizing how mature he is about it when most teenagers would get embarrassed about girlfriend/boyfriend talk around their families. And realizing that when I first met Trammell he was five years old. Oh how time flies.

8. Watching old home videos and seeing a younger version of almost everyone in the room.

9. Watching my neices and nephews throw all of their wrapping paper from their Christmas presents over to the twins, who seemed to love and rip through the paper with as much enthusiasm as they could muster.

10. Catching up with the Baker family.

11. Watching each individual family member hold the boys and realize the answer to their prayers was looking back at them. ---SM