Our 1st trip to the ocean and a bit of culture to boot!

We took the twins to the OBX w/my brother and his family a few weeks ago and they had a blast! They loved the sand in their toes and to see the big blue ocean was amazing for EVERYONE, it's been 2y since I've been back to OBX and Den said it's been YEARS since he's been to OBX. Our house was fab, same one from before, oceanfront, 30y from water and close enough to run to the store to p/u what you need. We're hoping to go back this fall & maybe take Gracie.

All of the animals are doing well, getting sun, exercise and 2 squares a day. Pangea is going to her second show next month in Lexington and has really filled out. I'm trying to ride maybe 2x week, thanks to some very good friends who offer me their sweet horses to ride. I remember when it was hard to ride once every 2 weeks.

Culture note: I joined Bozart (Art gallery) last month and am very excited to show some new work. I'll post the invite on here so if anyone is interested please stop by during the month of August and see some local art; the official opening is 8/7/09, part of our Art First Friday.

Happy 1st Birthday to Sam and Nia!

quick post due to busy twin life ;p))

WE LOVE OUR TWIN LIFE, busy times and new adventures, some pix til I can detail the past few weeks. Pangea is at her 1st show w/Lynne handling her and the others are from our wknd. trip to PA; Sam w/his cousin Katelyn and Grandma and Nia. The one of myself and Dennis is in Hagerstown across from the water tower.

Blankets & Cruise Control

It's almost been a year since their birth & I'm still amazed we have twins. Whenever I go out w/them I just stare at them in the rearview mirror and smile so big. They are a blessing and I'm so excited for them to enjoy the wonderful things we have planned for them and to just be HAPPY healthy kids!

We've discovered Sam is a "blanket baby". He loves to have anything cover his face and play peek a boo; I saw him holding a tiny bib over his face and it only covered a small part of his face and I rushed and got him a blanket, mommy to the rescue, hmm, he has improvising skills already! Sam has 6 teeth, Nia has 8. She's cruising around, just call her speedy, getting a few scrapes here and there and Sam is busy playing in the excersaucer. I think he would sleep in it if he had his choice. I suppose finally getting a high chair for them was an inevitable move equal to the discovery of cheerios for Nia. Sam has no interest in them, so we only have to sweep up after one child, not too bad for now ;p)

Our animals are doing well, Pangea has her first show this month and I'm moving my retired horse, Arionna, closer to home (mile up the street) this week!! Now we can go visit her more often and bring her lots of goodies, she is 27 this year, bless her sweet heart! I will post a new pix of her once she gets settled in her new home.

All is well here at Baby-Central, Spring has taken a break, it will be 90 the next few days and I absolutely LOVE IT! News on the front is quite scary, Nia is now standing and walking SLOWLY around the edges of the playard and her crib. She's taken a few mini tumbles, no blood shed ;p) and is pretty happy just standing around looking at the new view. We are not sure of her eye color at this point, gray, blue, green? hazel? From what I have read, their eye color can change for years to come, so hopefully by the time she gets her drivers license they will have resolved the color change, LOL, uhhh, that scares me already.

Sam has ALMOST mastered rolling but enjoys the exersaucer the best and will stay in it for hours if we let him; his eyes are definitely brown and his hair is really coming in, I knew if I brushed it daily it would grow, at least 100 times right? His voice is starting to change when he laughs and does the baby gibberish, it's deeper, not so babyish and he still smiles when he sees Gracie, he just loves her and since we are so animal oriented it's makes my heart ache with joy.

Both are eating lots of diff. foods, latest is asparagus with baby red potato's and avocado is the staple food, goes great in my salads as well. What a perfect food. Pangea is just starting out with daily training besides the usual handling and is quite the teenager, lots of sass but a good heart under it all. Her first show is coming up in May, how exciting, I won't be showing her this time but this summer I'll be out there with my girl!

Oh yes, I forgot to post Easter pix, so here are a few ;p) and it also happened to be on daddy's B-day. Dennis had a great time with the kids and family; we gave him a custom belt from Pinnell's it had a silver handmade buckle, the date, his name and our names on the inside and he also got some Anthony Bourdain books and some yummy chocolates, wow ~ a dual blessed day! I thank the good lord every day for blessing me with such a loving & wonderful family.

SPRING IS HERE!!

Yesterday was our first grass cutting of 2009, it smelled so good and the daffodils and crocus flowers looked so colorful, ahhh Spring really is here ;p)) So nice to have daylight savings time, we get to spend more time outside and bedtime is a bit later but no big deal. We've never been too strict about it (or much else at this point) usually by 8 they are pretty much done for the day. Nia is still crawling but now pulling up or pulling down what she can reach; and the past few days she has started babbling long sentences instead of the single bahhh repeating; Sam is almost rolling, loves his piano and will sit for an hour if we let him. He's also started this very shrill squeal and my eardums have been achy for days. Del is great (gained 10lbs since last Oct.) and stands at about 54lbs, he sneaks the twins toys, sock, bibs or whatever he can find on the floor to the back of the house; he has finally found his match(s) and lays in the same room with them now, before he would run down the hallway, stop and look them and then bolt back to his bed. He's a curious guy but he really is such a baby like them and with the kindest heart ;p)

Pangea is GROWING UP SO FAST!

Quick drive by here with new pix of Pangea, she is 9m old today, sassy but really sweet, typical filly and the twinks turned 9m on the 17th, wow that fast. The kids pix were taken at Uncle Craig's B-day party on March 12th.

New teeth, Gracie is better and MRSI has left the building~

Nia has sprouted another top tooth, making 3 on top and 2 on bottom. Sam's top teeth(2) are coming in also /has 2 on bottom/ but he hasn't fussed like his sister, only starting to drool a bit more. Who knew that teeth could be so interesting to talk about, sorry to all of you non-kid buddies, but these little teeth will of course drop out and new "4-ever" teeth will appear and the discussion of teeth will never resurface UNTIL a new mommy brings the subject to light.

Sammy our cat has been on temporary release from her cabin for 10 days then we re-test and see if MRSI hit the road; Gracie is improving from her bout of Lyme disease but still has joint issues from the bacterium. Hopefully in 2 weeks her gait will be much improved and at the same time Sammy will get her good news as well.

Sam is now sitting, new world for him and Nia loves the upright company. She crawls, drags herself or finds some method to get to the big box of toys turns it over, ignores all of the fun toys and proceeds to eat the corners of the box. Yes, it's a mess but apparently some books say it's ok to have lots of mess around them and I agree, I would enjoy falling asleep in the middle of all my favorite things, how dreamy, but how do you fit a horse in there?

They will be 9m next week, I know I've said this before but it's all going too fast, I wish it would slow down.

Cabin 10 requesting maid service

As promised, a pix of our new screen door IN our house. Poor Sammy has been inside for weeks, hopefully tomorrow we'll get some results on her release. I must say that it's been neat at night w/her nightlight on, like being at summer camp as a child, what FUN memories! Pretty swank for a cat, she has heated tile set at 90 and a radio to keep her body, mind and soul busy ;p))

CRIKEYS! We finally named our dog ;p)

Yes, as the title implies, we named our dog after 3 months. His name is Del and that happened to be one of our "boy" names until "Sam" came along. He is still a shy pup and I can just see such an excitable and crazy puppy ready to reveal himself. He plays with toys late at night when the house is quiet (twins are asleep) and I cannot find the words for him, he is so kindhearted it actually breaks my heart to think someone could be mean to him or any anmal in general.

The other pix are of Sam on our way out the door, Nia in her ladybug tights; since she has become a "Bindi the Jungle Girl" fan I found it quite appropriate to buy her some zebra, ladybug and giraffe tights, and the other 2 are of the kids and our needy cat "lit'l Bit". She takes Nia's hand squeezes with no qualms and rubs against Sam hoping he will pet her ;p))

All is well except one of our cats is sick and confined to a bathroom, so we decided to take off the door and put a screen door on so she can "interact" with the other 6 furry housemates. It feels like summer time with the porch door in the house; Will post the pix, quite funny because it's on bathroom door.


Next post I'll put lots of pix in a "slideshow" so they won't take up too much space. Until then Nia is sitting and rolling all over, Sam is rolling and soon he'll be sitting as well and this afternoon we're heading to The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Museum, gotta get some culture this weekend and show the kids "Bindi" art.

Another Milestone, 2 fast 4 me!

Now Nia is sitting, I've posted a pix of her and one of Sam, who has now become the biggest fan of the exersaucer and can stand in it for LONG periods of time. All else is great; keeping busy w/our new family and introducing new foods slowly, how fun is that ;p))

UPDATE~ Double Duty Tooth Fairy!

OK, they are finally here, all of the grunting, eating our exersaucer toys and drooling has paid off! 2 teeth (bottom center) came in 2d ago for Nia, amazing to see, and now she is making funny faces with her lower lip! Sam is doing great, playing alot with his toes & working on rolling over. Nia is working on sitting and still loves standing. Both are eating avocado and sweet potato and Nia can hold her bottle and eat now, so independent (much like her mommy ;p))

Happy New Year!

Well I can't seem to think of anything to be more blessed than last years big arrival of the twins, Pangea, and our new hound; so this year I will just say many prayers for all of God's creatures and ask that e/o extend good vibrations and powerful prayers to help our loyal 4 legged buddies. We have so much to be thankful for and one person can make a difference. Kids are growing super fast, Nia is scooting backwards and Sam is sleeping better (still up 2x night). Hopefully he will make it back to the nursery by February, well that's our goal; oh and another new thing, our cat "Lit'l Bit" has always tapped the hanging chime on the door to go out and now the new dog comes running when she does that! Hysterical!