piano fun

dance party

gabriel working on a new dance move


the boys had a dance party last night in the living room

as promised

too hot for clothes


the boys love nathan


i think he loves them too


proud of his construction hat


thinks mama is funny

still here

it's been awhile since my last update - i guess the world of blogging is the first thing to go when my world gets busy. well, that and i just finally recharged the camera batteries, which is my usual method of posting.

pictures to come soon.

the boys are 15 months-old today. i enjoy watching them grow and learn. just the other day nap time had rolled around and i said, "ok boys it's nap time" and they both grabbed their nuks and headed for the gate at the bottom of the stairs. i followed them, opened the gate and watched them climb to the top of the stairs. "head to your room", i instructed and sure enough they rounded the corner into their room. i stood amazed watching them both walk over to the sound machine and turn the volume on. i picked them up, placed them in their cribs, gave them a kiss and that was that. we've continued that routine ever since. i think they feel like big boys putting themselves to bed.

addison, in particular, loves to read. he'll bring me books and climb into my lap to flip through pages and point at things. gabriel loves to play peek-a-boo around large pieces of furniture. they chase each other around the coffe table. they LOVE to dance. they climb on top of each other and laugh hysterically - it looks like they're wrestling but i think they're just tickling each other. did i mention that when they dance their cheeks jiggle?

that's all for now, but hopefully pictures will follow soon.

turning 29

i've never actually felt the shift in years before but this year something is different...

1. my body is sore (from multiple games of mud volleyball at the cox's) and i'm choosing to believe it's due to the passing of the year's and not a sign that i'm horrificly out of shape.

2. i can't sleep. this morning i was awake at 3:30. i tossed and i turned and decided i must be awake for a reason so i spent the time praying for my family.

3. i'm hearing things that don't exist. while i lay awake in bed in the wee hours of this morning i was convinced i heard a knock on our front door followed shortly after by some other sound. then, through the monitor i could hear one of the babies stir so i decided we needed to investigate. it was 4am when i gave kevin a gentle nudge and whispered the words, "i heard something". with cell phones in hand we quietly walked through each room of the house starting on the top floor and working our way down. there was nothing, thankfully!

so with the start of this 29th year all i can say is something is different... my body hurts, i can't sleep, and i'm hearing things... but i'm embracing it. get ready lor and d - it's your turn :)

more pictures

so i realize that these baseball caps are seriously conflicting, but look how cute they are!

before and after

one year ago


yesterday

elephant

addison


gabriel


disclaimer: no babies were harmed in the making of this short film


daddy time

a true story

i was on a mission. i'd spent the boys' morning nap scrubbing the front porch (including the railing) to remove the grime and surface mold that had been accumulating. since i'm goal oriented and slightly OCD i couldn't stop there - the back porch had to be done as well. the boys had woken just as i finished the front porch project so we had some lunch and then off to the back yard we went. addison sat in the activity center and gabriel sat in the walker, both watching their crazy mama with a hose, a mop, and a scrub brush. i knew it wouldn't be long before they got bored to tears (literally) so i kicked myself into high gear as a lean mean porch cleaning machine. there i was.... spray, scrub scrub scrub, spray, scrub scrub scrub (boys started to fuss), run inside, wash hands, get a handful of cheerios, give cheerios to the boys, spray, scrub scrub scrub, spray, scrub scrub scrub, spray.... AHHHHHH.... laugh at myself cause somehow the hose got turned around in my hand and that last spray was aimed at the right side of my head! i was drenched! i was cleaning the porch so it's not like the hose was set for a gentle mist. i had been switching the settings between cone-jet spray and flood. so, what was i going to do? nothing but laugh. i had a limited window of time before those cheerios were gone. in the end, all turned out well. the porches look greatly improved, the boys got some cheerios, and i had a good laugh.

resemblance

so i know that my boys look like their daddy, but i know i'm in there somewhere! ha ha! anybody else see the resemblance or am i crazy?

the following pictures are comparison pictures. Libby and Guy are the children of my 1st cousin, David. people often commented that David and i looked a lot alike - do you think our offspring will carry that torch? cast your vote!



Libby Allen

Addison


Guy Allen

Gabriel and Addison (just comparing fuzzy blonde heads and chunky cheeks)


Libby Allen

Gabriel

picnic table fun

the boys are exploring their new birthday gift from family



this is his vogue face


Gabe: "ok so i'll go to the right and you go to the left and we'll see who mom chases after first, ok?" Addison: "ok, on three..."

1st Birthday

i can't believe my boys are one year old already! more thoughts to come on that but for now some pictures and videos of our celebration. this was the boys first cake (and overall sweet) experience - a sugar explosion, really. gabriel thoroughly enjoyed every moment. addison enjoyed the cake but was a bit overwhelmed by the people and the laughing... you'll see in the video.

busy days

this is some of what we've been doing with our time. it's coming, a little at a time.

new sandstone path to back porch. iris' growing on the left. spiria growing on the right. you can see we still have some work to do on the right of the path - we need to get some green grass growing.


newly turned garden. two new diablo ninebark flowering shrubs growing. can't wait to see the fruit of this in a few years!


front garden bed. new weeping pea tree in the middle. pink peony on the left. white peony on the right. some lupin. some black-eyed susans. some orange tiger lily's.

pics and videos

update

it's not that i haven't thought about you, dear readers... it's just that we've been busy. and when i do find a free moment to pull out my laptop and write to you, it's really only a matter of seconds before two little people come racing over to touch the lighted apple on the back of the monitor.

so, quickly...

the boys love each other. they love to chase each other. they laugh with each other. they're starting to take steps on their own.

and now i have to go. :)

JMB

these boys love music and they seem to have a particular fondness for the JMB. maybe it has something to do with this...


maybe, maybe not. all i know is that every morning the boys say, "mama it's time for julia!" and that's my cue to pull out the laptop and hit play. ok, ok... so those aren't their exact words, but they grunt and i know what they mean and so we listen and we dance dance and we shake it shake it and we clap clap.

AI

all i have to say is DANNY GOKEY!!!

true confession

a little history: i was the first one from my family to be born in the united states. my mother and father are from england. all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins still live in the UK.

knowing the above information you would think that if i didn't have an english accent myself than at the very least i would be able to do a decent impression of one. the truth is that i cannot. my imitation of a british accent is horrendous. at best i can imitate the accent one word at a time. my efforts to speak full sentences result in embarrassment and laughter. i sound like a mixture of a brit, an irish man, an american, an african, and occasionally a pakastani. what's even funnier... sometimes when i'm reading stories aloud to my sons and no one is around, i try to practice my english accent.

just thought you'd want to know.

music men

projects

so i promised some pictures of our new bedroom wall color, and here they are with some added bonus pictures of our 12-hour day project on saturday. we decided to paint our upstairs hallway and stairwell. the color is called sensual silver - it's supposed to be a pale gray color but you can definitely see the blue in it, which in this case i don't mind. we also decided to paint the trim on the stairwell an espresso color.

with no further ado:

the coat area at the bottom of the stairs


the stairway


upstairs hallway


upstairs hallway heading towards bathroom and nursery


master bedroom


master bedroom - the next project involves painting that built-in dresser the espresso color


just because they're so cute. these boys are best friends - they love to play together.