Happy "First" Thanksgiving

I know.... I know... Thanksgiving was yesterday and officially, it is Amelia and Penelope's 2nd one. :)

I had every intention of writing a post on Thursday but the day sort of got away from me (and yes, that happens quite often!). Anyway, all week long I've been thinking about this year compared to last and to me, it feels like the girl's 1st Thanksgiving. Last year, they were about 3 weeks old at Thanksgiving and I was sooo sleep deprived and pretty overwhelmed. I think the girls spent their days eating and sleeping and crying while the only thing I remember doing was nursing every couple of hours. My how times have changed... I don't really remember much about last year's actual Thanksgiving Day(I had to read my blog post to trigger my memory) and when I asked Paul, he said he felt the same way, not remembering much of the holiday weekend. Those early days sure are hazy and blurry.

This year was quite different! We slept in a little, had some breakfast, watched some of the Macy's parade, played a bit, napped and then headed over to the Clopton's for a delicious meal. We let the girls sample some of the Thanksgiving meal, but only Penelope actually ate the table food. Amelia made bad faces with each food she tried. Her meal consisted of goldfish crackers, bread and a Gerber jarred meal. She did eat a few bites of my pumpkin style pie (mostly cool whip) and seemed to like that. Penelope though had a more traditional Thanksgiving meal. Since I was feeding Amelia, I'm not too positive on all that Penelope had, but I'm pretty sure she ate mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, roll and bite or two of turkey. I think she liked the pumpkin pie too. Uncle David kept suggesting I let them try the Pecan Pie, but I don't think they are quite ready for something that sweet just yet. :D

And not wanting to post without some sort of picture...here is a priceless one from the 12 month sitting. It is quite possibly both the best and worst of the bunch. Really sums up the whole experience. But we can't hold Flash completely accountable - it was Paul's idea to try putting them in the little sled together. LOL

12 month stuff

Picking up where my last post left off....

Amelia and Penelope had their 12 month check-up a couple weeks go and are right on target (as expected). Penelope weighed in at 21lbs 4oz and measured 29in. She was in the 50th percentile for both. Amelia was 21lbs 0oz and 29.5in and was in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for length. Interesting that the 1/2 inch difference between Penelope and Amelia in length makes a 25% difference in the rankings. Also interesting - Penelope's head size. I don't recall the exact #, but the nurse said it is in the 95th percentile. My little Peanut has a big brain! :D No wonder she's been having a harder time balancing and walking - big 95th %ile head on a little 50th %ile body. LOL! The doctor said they are track for both growth and development, but unfortunately both of them got 4 shots each - ouch!! so we left with 2 crying little girls. This was possibly the worst of the vaccination appts so far. Penelope seemed to take it the hardest and when it was Amelia's turn, her cries got Penelope all worked up again. Poor things. I felt like crying too.

Now speaking of walking - Penelope started to really get her groove about 2-3 weeks after Amelia (by late October I think). It's really neat to see the different ways that each girl balances and walks. Amelia does a hands over her head thing while Penelope can be a little more zombie like - arms straight out in front of her. Both are super cute and super busy right now! I swear Amelia is getting so good at walking, I keep saying she'll be running laps around the house by Christmas. Penelope tends to be more laid back and while she seems motivated to walk more and more every day, she is also quick to go back to crawling pretty easily (especially if she's fallen a time or two or wants to get somewhere faster). Amelia on the other hand - I haven't seen her on her hands and knees crawling somewhere in quite some time....

We got the 12 month pictures back today. The 2nd sitting went just about the same as the first. We got a few more smiles out of both girls (well, Amelia really) but neither were willing to stand still for more than second or two or smile very much in the direction of the camera. We brought toys and treats but they didn't work as well as we expected. And tonight I am feeling a little frustrated with the money we ended up spending on a few pictures that are just so-so. Even more annoying, the number of delays and mix-ups we had with Flash. My latest issue - paying extra for the "premier" session that includes retouching, confirming the retouching at the time of the order and STILL getting pictures back with snot and drool. Grrr... And for the # of people I've heard recommend them, I'd have to say I don't think we'll be going back there anytime soon. We liked the photographer at Olan Mills, the girls responded to her and we consistently liked the results. We should have stuck with her! Lesson learned - I think. :)

In other photo news, we are slowly but surely working through the birthday party pictures. I wasn't kidding when I said we had over 400! I made an initial pass and got it down to about 200+ favorites and maybes. Next is Paul's turn to get rid of some of my maybes and duplicates, etc. And then we pick our top favorites for Smug Mug (and the blog). We seem to have our plates full with picture projects right now. Birthday pictures, Smug Mug 8 month to 12 month galleries and ordering our Christmas card and 12 month photos. Maybe it'll all be done by 2010!!! :D

Not wanting to finish this post without some kind of picture to share, here are a couple from a recent trip to the local Plain City park. The weather in Columbus was absolutely gorgeous the first 2 weekends in November so we took a walk to Past Time Park one afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to find that there were a few toddler / bucket swings. I'd say both girls liked the swing although Amelia seemed to enjoy it more. She had this silly little grin on her face the entire time. The picture doesn't do her expression justice (especially being a cell phone pic). And you'll have to thank Paul for taking a picture of Penelope with the big triangle bar in front of her face...

Busy Birthday Week

It's been awhile since I've posted so I figured I better go back a couple weeks and try to catch everyone up... A few days after my Grandma's funeral was Amelia and Penelope's 1st Birthday. Paul and I took the day off work so we could just relax and spend some time together as a family. After lunch we dressed the girls up in their "picture" outfits and took them to a local photo studio for their 1 year pictures. Paul and I also got cleaned up and joined in for a few family pictures. We had been taking the girls to Olan Mills for 3, 6 and 9 months but I pushed for something a little nicer and fancier for the 1 year and family pics (Flash Photography). What a waste of time and money! :( Neither girl really wanted to have anything to do with smiling or sitting still for pictures. We spent a good hour there and when we went back a few days later to check them out, we had 1 decent family picture (although neither of them are smiling, but at least they both managed to look at the camera!) and maybe one or two OK photos of each girl. And getting a picture of them together AND looking good - forget it! :D So while Flash offered to waive our sitting fee and give us a percentage off our order for a mediocre session, we decided it was worth trying one more time and set up a "re-take" appt for the following weekend. I guess since there were SO many great pictures at the 9 month sitting, my expectations were pretty high. Silly me though - I shouldn't have ANY expectations when two 1 year old girls are involved!

Once we finished at Flash, we packed up the girls and headed to Target to buy them some birthday presents. I think I like the tradition of taking them out shopping every year on their birthday to buy one special gift for each of them. And as they get older, we'll give them the $ limit and then let them pick the store - and the toy too of course! I envision them in a few years realizing what they can get if the pool their money together... We ended up buying them some small toys that make noise and light up and then a ride-on/walk behind for each of them. They love the little airplane at Grandma Clopton's so hopefully they will come to love their "school bus" and "music parade" here at home. :)

After Target, we headed home to unpack the car but decided shortly after getting home, we wanted Der Dutchman for dinner. Now if Paul and I had been thinking, we wouldn't have pushed our luck... Since both girls had mild colds last week and didn't have any afternoon nap that day, we should have known better than to try eating out as well. Live and learn... Live and learn... *sigh* They were good for about the first 10 minutes and after that - we had to keep giving them toys and crackers just so they wouldn't fuss and cry. It was possibly one of our quickest meals at DD ever. LOL

After the girls ate their dinner, we stuck candles in a couple donuts and sang to them. They got a kick out of that and Amelia kept grinning at me. Then I gave them each a small piece of donut and we watched... Amelia touched it, didn't try it and then started crying. Penelope was a little slow, but eventually took a bite, liked it and finished her piece. It was a long day for everyone but pretty fun for the most part. I'm still in disbelief though that my little girls are a year old!

The rest of the week I was in party mode and worked hard to get everything ready for Saturday. Our theme was Barnyard Babies. Check out the invitation - that I made!!

I am by no means very crafty or creative and I did sort of steal the general idea for these from another twin mom's blog. But they came out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. I probably won't attempt anymore hand crafted invites for awhile, but I'm glad we all have a keepsake for this 1st birthday.

The party on Saturday was fun and I think the girls enjoyed themselves (at least as much as a 1yr old can). It took both girls awhile to warm up to all the strange faces in their family room but eventually they started showing off their walking skills and just being the cute and funny little girls that they are. They got lots of great gifts (books, toys, clothes, kid sized rocking chairs and a wagon). Paul made a really nice video of their 1st month (mostly from the first week or so) and although some of the clips of me are rough (ie - no makeup, yucky hair, glasses, etc) it was fun to look back on when they were such tiny little things. After the video and gifts, we had cake. Amelia acted the same as when I gave her the donut - just not interested. Penelope was pretty quick to dig in and start smearing frosting around on her face. Unfortunately, her cake experience was short-lived as she snapped her party hat band on her cheek which brought on lots of crying. And that got Amelia crying too. So they were quickly cleaned up and taken out of their seats. Not exactly the what I had in mind when I pictured them with their little individual cakes... But I suppose it's probably an OK thing that they don't have my sweet tooth (yet!). I can always hope for better at party #2 right?? Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share just yet, but hopefully they will be on Smug Mug soon. They are out of the camera but Paul is trying to sort and tag them all first and that takes a little time (especially when we combine pics from 3 cameras and total is over 400!!). Once they are on Smug Mug, I will post a couple of my favorites here.

I think I here someone waking up from a nap, so it's time for me to wrap this up. I have more to share (stats from the 12 month Dr appt, a general update of what both Penelope and Amelia have been up to lately - accomplishment wise, how our "re-take" session went, etc, etc). I will have to save that stuff for another time though. :)

Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my girls! I cannot believe it has been a year...

Amelia and Penelope - I look at your newborn pictures and videos and have a hard time remembering when you were so small (but at the same time, it feels like we just brought you home a few weeks ago). I thought you were both so tiny and fragile and I was afraid to even change your diapers fearing I might hurt you. I made Daddy change the first few. I was just too nervous! But you were both actually so strong and healthy and grew so fast.

And just look at you now, one short year later... Some days it can bring tears to my eyes. It won't be long now before you are officially toddlers. But you will always be my babies, my little girlies.

I can't really remember what I did without you both (except maybe sleep more LOL). It certainly wasn't anything all that important. I love you so so much and that love continues to grow with every passing day. You are my heart and my true joy in life. I would do absolutely anything for you two. Just please please please, don't go and grow up too fast. I don't want to miss a thing! Happy First Birthday! Love you, Mommy

Mixed Emotions

This weekend has been strange. Emotionally, I've been all over the place. One minute I'm smiling and giggling with my girls and the next minute I'm crying. I was emailing back and forth with my sister and she pointed out that she thinks the day(s) after a funeral are just as hard if not harder than the actual funeral itself because that is when we have to face the reality of the situation and that life does actually go on without that person. And that is exactly how I've felt the past 2 days. I found out my Grandma passed on Tuesday morning and I was doing OK until Friday. I guess work and the daily routine kind of kept me distracted. And then on Friday, all the emotions just sort of overflowed and they kept coming all day yesterday and today. And it's hard to describe all the reasons for my crying. I'm obviously sad about the death, but at the same time, I'm relieved that my Grandmother is no longer suffering and is finally resting peacefully. What I am starting to realize though is that with her passing, I no longer have any remaining grandparents and am feeling like a full fledged adult (you'd think having twins would have gotten that point across to me, but hey, whatever...). And the idea that my childhood is done and over with and those wonderful summers in Indiana are a thing of the distant past has just completely gotten to me. I am mourning what to me feels like the loss of a simple and carefree time. Sure, I know those days were gone a long time ago but I guess maybe I didn't accept it or face it. Accepting that my "growing up" years are gone means accepting where I'm at in life and all the choices I've made to get here - good and bad. So maybe I'm sad that some areas of my life aren't like what I pictured when I was a kid and I can't just get a "do over". Food for thought I guess...

Speaking of food, both my sister and Dad reminded me of 2 other things that were favorites from Grandma and I can't believe I forgot either of them. Grandma made an unbelievable chocolate cake and when she discovered how much us Reinke's liked it, she would make it for all of our visits. And no holiday gathering was really complete without her church windows. We've tried to recreate both desserts over the last few years (using her recipe) and they are just not the same. She must have had some secret ingredients that she forgot to write down! :)

Now on to happier times... Paul and I did get to have some fun this weekend. We took our little marsupials out trick or treating around the neighborhood on Saturday night. Once we had them in their costumes, we let them walk/crawl around the house for a bit so we could take pictures and it was a riot! Amelia got the hang of walking in the costume pretty quickly (once we took off her shoes that she was wearing underneath) but then she absolutely refused to put the purple croc down. I think she has it in her hand in almost every single picture we took. And poor Penelope... I made some adjustments to the koala head to make it fuller and thicker and didn't take into account the weight of 4 burp cloths pinned inside there. It just kept sliding off backward on her. Maybe that's what threw off her walking as she couldn't quite get the hang of it like Amelia did. Anyway, I've included a few of my favorite pictures below. If want to see more, check out our Smug Mug site.

Adorable Koala

Sassy Kangaroo

Had a hard time walking - or standing - in the costume

Didn't care to leave her baby Joey in the pouch