My Year in Facebook Status

(you should be able to click on the photo to zoom in)

My favorite 5?

• just fished dog food out of gavin's mouth
• got an f-ing HUGE tax return this year!
• ate cheesecake for breakfast
• found two pacifiers in her cereal box
• got 7.5 hours of UNINTERRUPTED sleep last night!

#39: start a new holiday tradition

A couple of years ago, Wes and I decided that we would try to have a different theme for our Christmas Tree each year. And, we would buy items for the next year's tree during the awesome sales that follow that year's Christmas. For Christmas 2008, we did a purple and red tree and we decided that the next year's tree would be blue OR pink (which ever gender baby we had; because at that point we did not know that we were having twins or the gender of either baby). Little did we know that we would be having one of each. So, our 2009 Christmas tree was blue AND pink. This year, we didn't put up a big tree, so Wes and I just decided to do a blue and green table top tree. 

We went shopping a few days ago to get stuff for next year's tree and the deals were incredible! We bought a bunch of different colors and we're planning to let Gavin pick one color and Vivian pick a second color for next year's tree. We'll have to just wait and see what they choose...

Don't Worry, Be Happy...

... is a phrase that my Dad lived by. He would try to look at the bright side of things even though it was extremely difficult to do so at times. He was a jokster who was really funny. He was thoughtful and creative. He had a knack for fixing things. Even though he was usually cursing and yelling during the process, he almost always still fixed it. He was a hard worker- he was willing to do anything to provide for his family. He was humble. He could have a conversation with anyone. He gave people second chances (and third chances and fourth chances). He believed that people were inherently good. He didn't care about material things- even his much-loved cars were expendable. One time, my sister pulled his fully-restored 1969 Firebird out of the driveway and dragged the metal fence along the side of the car. He didn't care. Another time, I wrecked his favorite truck into Wes' parked car (no, I was not intoxicated; it was a complete accident). He didn't care. Instead, he would ask us if we were okay and then he'd just fix it- or he wouldn't. You see, to him, those things didn't matter. Keeping up with the Joneses was not a concern of his. He was who he was. All of the time. Around anyone. He knew what was truly important in life and "things" weren't ever on that list.

He experienced the loss of both of his parents and older brother by the time he was 15, bouts of homelessness and being passed around from family member to family member as an adolescent, working long hours as a teenager to only be robbed by people who were supposed to take care of him, the death of his beloved sister and best friend as an adult, and a debilitating terminal illness for 12 years of his life, among other things. Needless to say, he lived a hard life. But, he kept smiling. He kept finding joy in the small things. He would say that there was always someone else who had it worse off than him and that he was thankful for everything that he did have. He loved my mom more than any single person on this planet and it was clear to anyone who knew him. He was exceptionally proud of his two daughters and he bragged about us to anyone who would listen. He was a great husband and maybe an even better Dad. And since today would have been his 61st birthday (and one of his absolute favorite days of the year), I thought I'd dedicate today's post to him.

Happy Birthday Daddy. We all miss you.

Our Family Christmas Photo

A lot has changed since last year...

The Middletons

On Sunday morning, we piled the kiddos in the car, turned on a San Diego Zoo DVD from Linda, and drove 2.5 hours up to Great Falls, Virginia to visit with the Middletons. The Middletons include my Aunt Rita and Uncle Kenny, their son Kenny and Kenny's wife Jeanine, their daughter Chrissy and her husband Woddie, and Chrissy and Woodie's four kids- Lily, Julia, Chloe, and Leo. My Mom and Nana were there too, but left before the group photo (see below).

It took Gavin and Vivian all of five minutes to warm up to everyone and then they were on the run. Literally. Wes and I were chasing them all over the place.

Gavin stopped for a short period to eat. 

 And Vivi took a drink break.

 But other than that, they were on the go!

It was great to see everyone and catch up! We hope to see you all again soon!!

Christmas Videos

Christmas Day 2010

This first gift given to us was Gavin and Vivian both sleeping until 7am! This is an extremely rare occurrence at our house (in fact, I think that this has only happened one or two other times; at least one twin is always awake before 6:30am- and it's usually around 5:30am).

When we all finally woke up on Christmas morning, Santa had arrived. Gavin and Vivian enjoyed emptying their stockings on the floor and playing with all of the goodies that Santa brought them.

And then Gavin felt the urge to wear the stockings. He walked around the house like this for about 30 minutes.

Later that day, the rest of the family (which included my Mom, Nana, Meghan, Joe, Linda, Ted, & Philip) came over and we opened presents again. Vivian and Gavin were thrilled! They ate cookies, distributed gifts to everyone (which may have been one of their favorite parts), opened presents of their own, and played with their new toys. They had a TON of fun! 

Oh yeah, and they fought over toys a lot too. 

Before we all sat down for dinner, I got a few shots of the Christmas table decor.

After presents, it was time to eat dinner...

... and then dessert.

The day ended with a few obligatory family photos.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve 2010 started just like any other day. The twins shared a chair while they ate a snack and watched a little Curious George.

Then, I got the presents wrapped and the stockings stuffed before Grandma (Wes' Mom), Grandad (Wes' Dad), Uncle Phlip (Wes' brother), GG (my Mom), and Great Nana (my Nana) arrived in Bridgewater.

We had dinner together that night and then it was time to go to sleep and wait for Santa...

Merry Christmas!

Lunch

happy holidays!

Yesterday

More Jacket Love