oh yes, and Christmas too...

ok so,

I guess I left out a few details about Christmas yesterday. The girls' birthdays overshadowed Christmas just a bit...but that's exactly what Christmas birthday kids want, don't they? This blog is mainly for the girls to read when they are older, so I will just recap their 1st (I am not sure if this is their 1st Christmas or their birth day was their first Christmas) Christmas. Both girls were showered with gifts both in the morning but also in the afternoon/evening when my family and Augie's family came to celebrate with us. Augie's sister Judy was the hero of the day. Aunt Judy came bearing gifts for all. The girls girls received the new talking Elmo, which Bella is crazy about and Lily is cautiously curious. They both got beautiful dresses, bishop gowns and accessories from Strasburg Children. They each received a baby doll in a moses basket, loads of WONDERFUL books including a children's version of the Barack Obama story, an old fashioned string along phone and also a string along doggie, an activity table, a ride on car, a rocking horse, a lap activity car panel, an portable activity farm, 2 inauguration day t-shirts, a huge set of toddler friendly crayon/marker set, a toy cell phone/car key set, a couple of children's DVDs and 2 gorgeous faux fur-lined coats. As you can see, the girls are in want of nothing but mommy could use a larger house!

Party Poopers...

ok so,

Today was Christmas and the girls' first birthday. We opened presents in the morning like a traditional family Christmas. After our Christmas feast, we had the girls' birthday party. It was a lot of work trying to coax the girls into enjoying themselves. Bella had a blast and Lily...well, she didn't exactly relish the moment. We all had a great time and even cousin Gabriel proclaimed it his happiest Christmas ever! Wow, that's something from a 13 year old! In the end, though, after smearing cake on themselves, getting undressed, having a bath and getting a bottle, the girls both pooped out and couldn't even stick around to open presents.

Finally...

Ok so,

It is just incredible the way the girls are progressing at super light speed now. Not only are they starting to cruise the furniture, they are waving and playing pat-a-cake on cue. Bella can even hold up her palm to mean "all gone". The best part is that they both finally say their first words that have meaning. Bella says "kitty" all the time when she sees the cat only when she says it, it sounds more like "goat". Don't ask! Lily will say "hat" every time you put something on her head. She also makes funny faces at you if you make them for her. Lily smiles all the time and Bella loves to laugh. I can't believe how cute they both are.

So, finally on the 21st, we went to take pictures with Santa, oddly enough, at the Santa Anita mall with Great Aunt Gloria, Aunt Judy and cousin Gabriel.

Here is Aunt Judy with Lily:

Here is Bella looking for her imaginary "kitty":

Faking it is making it...

Ok so,

This Christmas should be quite an occasion. Last Christmas, I was knocked out in the hospital as the girls were being delivered via emergency C-section. After my 6-week stay in the hospital, I was hardly feeling festive. This year, however, the girls are healthy (well, as healthy as they can be in daycare) and it will be their first birthday. What? Yes, the Twincesses are turning 1!

And what do I have planned? Um, well, not much, got any suggestions? I have never known anyone born on Christmas let alone twins born on Christmas. I am at a loss. Thankfully, they won't really remember it but I hear that the first birthday is a photo-op that I may never live down! I need to stage something good! Luckily, I have already done a fairly good fake job with their 1st birthday studio photos. However, I had to bring in all my own props which was quite a task in itself! The final effect was sweet, though. The girls look like they are amidst a birthday tea party. In reality, the photographer had to shoot quickly before their next bout of hysteria.

It begs the question; how will the actual event go?...and is it really worth it? I'll let you know after Christmas...

Cat food stew...

Ok so,

The girls will be 11 months old tomorrow. They are now crawling, clapping, standing up on their own, eating table food and getting into EVERYTHING. Lily seems to love cat food. CAT FOOD!?! Her favorite thing is to crawl to the kitchen when mama isn't looking and grab a nice hand full of the stuff and stuff it in her mouth. Bella has been caught with a hand full once also. All that money Augie and I spend on their food! Who knew they'd love cat food? Ick! The girls generally love the cat and all the cat's things including the cat box. Bella can even say "kitty" or something that sounds similar when she sees the cat. The cat, howewever. being twice shy, hates the girls.

So, as you may have guessed, Augie and I have yet to completely childproof the house. I guess we thought the girls would be preemies for the rest of their lives. In truth, we have all the things needed to childproof but none of the time. I did, however, finally lower their cribs...and not a moment too soon as I have seen Bella ponder the task of escaping! Its hard to believe that this time next month will be the girls' 1st Birthday...oh, and Christmas, too.

The girls saw the preemie specialist again- the one that checks their growth and development. Lily and Bella are right on track, although they still function at 2 months younger than their biological age. He did say, however, that I could probably start transitioning them to regular cow's milk. Happy day! Their formula is 10 bucks a bottle and they go through 2 of them a day! Now all I will need is a gallon of the cheap stuff, a few cans of cat food and we're set! Yippee!

Woodland Fairy Twincesses...

ok so,

Here it is. The awaited Halloween costume pic. Some people at work assumed that an expensive studio took this one. Target Portait Studio fits my teacher budget and, with a few of my suggestions here and there (although this photo was an original composition by the studio photographer), they do ok.

1st Halloween...done!

ok so,

The girls are now 10 months old. For Halloween, they paraded through the grounds of their daycare dressed as a very long hungry caterpillar along with the rest of the infants at the center. The girls go to school with the children of a celebrity (whose name I will not mention for safety and privacy purposes), so paparazzi were swarming everywhere. Though the girls took fantastically beautiful Halloween pictures in their woodland fairy costumes (to be posted soon), aside from the parade, our 1st Halloween passed fairly uneventfully. We had few tricker-treaters...maybe 12 in total and we decided not to carve the pumpkins this year as the unseasonably hot weather would have surely rotted them, attracting all kinds of unwanted animal and insect life.Daycare has been quite a booster for the girls' development. When Lily entered daycare in late September, she had yet to roll over. Since then, Lily has not only rolled over, but she is crawling, getting into sitting position on her own and even trying to stand. Isabella has even perfected the walking motion and is all set to do it on her own...except for the balance part. Both of the girls have more teeth than is safe to check. Daycare has even given their immune systems a great big boost. I wish daycare could also sponsor their doctor's bills!

Pumpkins-o-plenty...

ok so,

We have had a lot going on these past couple of months. The girls started day care in September. So far, both Bella and Lily have been sick almost the entire month they have been there. I think we may just try another form of care for the girls while we are at work. We haven't decided yet. The girls are now 10 months. The both have a mouth full of (sharp) teeth, upper and lower. Lily has finally rolled over. In fact, she is quite the pro at creepy crawling and getting herself back into sitting position. They are both into everything, now!!! Eeesh! We finally got around the taking the girls' 9 month and Halloween pictures...well, on the 1st day of their 10th month. They wore their fairy costumes that we bought at the Renaissance Fair in Big Bear at the beginning of the summer. Suffice to say, we had a bit of trouble fitting them into the outfits. While the girls can still fit into their 0-3 dresses, I have started to buy 12 month clothes which has opened a lot of wardrobe options- how exciting!

We also had a chance, finally, to visit a pumpkin patch. Lopez's Pumpkin Patch on 3rd and La Brea in LA isn't glitzy or glammy (despite its shee-shee location) but it was simple and a lot of fun....mostly for Augie and me. The girls could take it or leave it, frankly. Maybe they'll appreciate it a bit more ncxt year.

Birthday festivities...

ok so,

The 22nd of August was my 34th birthday but my family and I celebrated yesterday. We went to StoneFire Grill for the first time. It was pretty good, but a lot of work for me…as usual. It is a family style BBQ restaurant. After our meal, our guests came to our house for cake and ice cream. Augie put 24 candles on the cake to be kind but I don’t mind my age. They all stayed until midnight. It was nice to see everybody. It has been a while since both Augie’s family and my family were together.

This is my mother and Augie's younger sister Judy with Lily and Isabella...My father, though suffering from bone cancer, loves to get together with the family...especially Augie's...

Here is the girls' cousin, Judy's son Gabriel and composer of the photos (he took this pic himself)... Here is Augie in a rare candid moment...
This is my older brother, Ken. He is one of a (fraternal) match set. Yes, my mother and I both carry the twin gene and no, it does not always skip a generation!...
This is my other older brother Kevin, and Ken's twin.
Here is Aunt Judy, Isabella and Gabriel hamming it up...
and a quiet moment with Lily and her daddy...
This is Judy and Augie's Aunt Gloria on their mother's side. Although their father is Danish-decent, their mother was full-blooded Mexican as is Gloria. Gloria is rarely photograhed...
Boopey also joined in the festivities and presented me with a "gift" on the floor the next morning. Thanks Boopey!

A Breath of Fresh Air...

ok so,

For the last week I have experienced the life of a stay-at-home mom...but it will all end next Tuesday. Augie is currently replacing a councelor out on maternity leave and had to report to work this week. I thought it would be a lot harder having the girls on my own but it has been wonderful! The girls and I play for hours with all their floor toys and we take long walks at the mall (where the air is cool & we spend many hours at Baby Gap). I wish I could stay home with them all the time. Hopefully, daycare will contribute to their development as much as I do!

Our summer and my rambling...

ok so,

We've had quite a full summer! The girls are now 8 months old and doing very well. Though Augie and I both taught summer school, we were able to make a lot of day trips to places like Santa Barbara, Solvang, Big Bear and a host of summer fairs!

While I lament my summer almost being up (I go back to work in a week and a half), I am sitting here with Bella at a quarter to ten. Bella is still very much awake and ready to go. Where, I am not sure, but she's ready all the same. In fact, she has so much energy, its scary. And demanding! I hate to compare the two girls but while Lily is our placid, calm girl, Bella is our "diva" as my mother describes her.

My parents keep on me about giving them pictures of the girls. I haven't shared many photos with my family of late. I spent all that time and energy to find a good camera and yet I have a problem with just about every photo I take. I can't seem to find the right setting or lighting or angle ...that and almost all our home photos reveal a big, fat mess!

I used to be so organized! Every item in the house had its place and the kitchen used to be immaculate (partly because I just don't cook). Since the girls, however, I can't even find time to use the bathroom, let alone mop or scour it! I wish our finances could afford domestic help, but alas, the girls will be entering daycare next week at a very pretty penny! At any rate, hopefully all these pictures from our summer will suffice.

I am worried about daycare a lot. I find it hard to trust strangers with my girls, especially since they have so many preemie issues. Lily still takes quite a bit of Zantac which her father even sometimes forgets to give her. What if they mix the girls up?

Strangers constantly come up to us and ask how we tell the girls apart. I find this a silly question as they look nothing alike...at least not to me. They probably look more alike than I think but still, Lily has blue eyes and Bella has brown. Lily is lighter and has blondish hair while Bella has olive skin, dark hair and looks quite ethnic (we are not sure if she looks more Mexican since her dad is half or Armenian since I am half). Shouldn't that alone give people a clue that, no, they are not identical and yes, I can tell them apart.!?!

At least, however, the girls are now 8 months old. When I went back to work when they were 2 months old, I felt so much better knowing my mother was caring for the girls and not strangers. Although they do have a little stranger anxiety, both girls have enjoyed the security of mom, dad or nana for their lives up to now and I think that has made them more able to handle scary situations. Although neither girl has yet to reach 16 lbs., its hard to believe that they were once so tiny. They have, however, grown out of their car-seat carriers- not so much in size, but in development. They hate being so confined in them. We ordered big-girl car-seats and are awaiting their arrival.

The girls are eating all kinds of food, they can sit up unassisted for about 5-10 minutes, both now have a tooth and both can hold their bottle (although Diva Bella would rather you do that for her). Oh, and they are finally wearing 6 months clothes...with a little room to spare.