Is it REALLY Almost Christmas?

Again, slacking on the blogging about the life and times with Gus & Rals, so sorry!!! I hope some of you are still out there...I've been busy, the boys have been in school, basically, big boy and big girl life has caught up with us all.  My business has taken off to put it mildly, which is so awesome and I am beyond words on how lucky and blessed I feel about that.  If you have not seen my new fancier website, I ask you to check it out sometime www.hamiltoncreekphotography.com.  I am also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hamiltoncreekphotography.  Any who, yes, the holidays are upon us and I feel like I have been living, breathing and snapping photos of families in their Christmas best since October, well, that is probably because I have been.  And, LOVING every second of it.

 The boys started school and are doing awesomely well.  Their first real report cards demonstrated what we all know, they are socially amazing, gifted, and Augustus was called the school's "knight in shining armor" for all his chivalry, and Raleigh is known for being so polite and quite the story teller.  They are delighted to have them in their school and we are looking forward to their pre-K start in the fall of next year, and I honestly cannot believe half of their school year is actually over already.  The boys are still imaginative little men with a love for the magical, mystical, all things a little spooky, but not too spooky, and superheros are still awesome to them, including the superheroes around town like firefighters, some police, and they know what the army and soldiers are a now, too and they think they are pretty awesome as well. While Mommy is still not keen on guns and gun playing, they still tend to be the sweetest boys who really are not too into it either.  I take the balance of these boys any day.  They love to cook and clean still and are not afraid to pick pink first and play with baby dolls, even if it is just to strip them down first and foremost. 

We have had a few holidays since my last post in September.  Firstly, Halloween was a big one for this family of course.  The boys still manage to dress up on a regular basis, and this year enjoyed three costumes each. For their multiples party Augustus was too sick to come, but he would have made the cutest Captain Jack...pictures prove that, and Raleigh was the most swashbuckling of pirates in his home-made Captain Hook outfit.  Next year we may re-purpose it as a Prince costume ;)  Then they were police and fire men for their school party. Finally, on the big day they were "storm troopers" or really Boba Fett and Jango Fett from Star Wars.  They did not know what Star Wars was when they picked these, but they loved the outfits and the sword "thingy" - which we did not buy, but they still  loved the outfits.  Now, they have seen a few scenes of Star Wars and Augustus is asking for the movie when he gets to talk to Santa...we'll see about that buddy, we'll see.  They do have a really cool Star Wars ship coming, so hopefully that will suffice.  Here are a few pictures of the boys during the Halloween extravaganza that was October.  They enjoyed trick-or-treating, but little Kaine, the boys cousin, may have had them all beat this year for cutest, most excited kid on the block.

Raleigh above, smells like CHOCOLATE - his fave!!!!

Thanksgiving was a tough one this year.  The day after Thanksgiving would have been my Dad's 68th birthday.  My mom has moved out of our house and was in her new place in November so she has gotten her new space and hopefully will continue to have more good days than bad.  We tried to keep her and all of us busy that day and even ventured down to the tree lighting in Hyde Park and had a "muff-cake" or cupcake for those of you who don't speak Augustus & Raleigh, in honor of Grandpa Pickles.  The boys had a ball, and I got there early in an attempt at taking the boys' Christmas photos, and while I got some magical shots of the boys being themselves, I just did not get that one shot, so we had a few more attempts this year. Always fun for me to try new locations and try to capture the boys, so I am not complaining!  The saddest part of the day was when we waited for what seemed like for forever for Santa to show up and then when he did it was in a drive-by in a truck, no not a decked out Christmas truck, just a truck with the jolly guy riding shot gun waiving to the littles

Next up is Christmas, and I will have more about that after the fact, but I can say 3 is more exciting for the boys than 2, but they are also so excited that they are also more out of sorts with their excitement than last year.  We finally settled down a bit with sleeping better and not all crazy behavior we had when we first started the season, but the old Elf on the Shelf, Hugh Caillou is not quite as effective as last year for our little family...sniff, sniff. One of my friend with an older son put it best though, enjoy the crazy, in 10 years they won't have time to be cute and magical about Christmas. So right, Jennifer, so right! 

Favorite Things Right Now:

Augustus was at the park and a little girl who spoke no English kept talking to him and he just kept playing and talking to her in English like it was no biggie, and then yells to me from across the park "Mommy, this girl is speaking Magic words to me!!!"  He was so excited and I almost melted from the cuteness on that one!

Raleigh starts EVERY sentence with "You know Mommy..." and that usually starts with "you know, you know, you know, you know Mommy blah, blah, blah" because he is so excited to tell me something.

They have moved from fighting each other for things and fighting for our attention to working together to fight us!  It is funny, they have become more buddies now and it is great, although it is really more for the evil mastermind to see how much we can get away with together instead of fighting each other.  It is just another milestone, and I take the good with the bad knowing that each day they are moving forward toward more and more independence.

They are still the best lovey, snugly, happy boys.  We are truly blessed.  The eat well for the most part, they sleep amazingly well, and nothing slows them down.  They love life and everyone that meets them adores them too.  We are blessed, and yes, I have to remind myself of that when we are having those moments, and yes, sometimes those moments turn into days or weeks, but they are just so amazing.  I try to remember to tell them that all the time and am trying to loosen up on my hovering of making sure they are being behaved all the time.  I think we are at a good balance for now.

They have some great friends and get so happy to see friends they don't see as often now that they are in school two days a week.  Raleigh has a new love affair with a little friend E who is about a year younger and he just talks about her all the time.  If we see her at a play date it is E, E, E, E the entire time.  She is just as infatuated with Rals, so it is great.  He also love his neighbor friend, H, but is more of a buddy than a love, love, love friendship. Augustus pretty much loves everyone and tends to play with the big boys, although his chivalrous side at school leads me to believe he still has a soft spot for his girlfriends, too.  They still have completely different friends at school despite being in the same classroom. It is amazing their self-reliance and ability to be so sure of themselves.  I love it! Not all twins or siblings are like that and these boys are just so self-assured. 

There are no secrets at this age with these guys!  NONE!!!  So let that be fair warning when we see a certain set of Grandies in a few months...ha!  They also have more awareness of different stores we drive by now as well, so let's say, you are the grandma, and you decide to take them to Dunkin Donuts, say, one time, well, then from that point on, you love Dunkin Donuts.  Every DD you drive by, they will tell everyone who will listen how Nonnie LOVES Dunkin Donuts, and that she takes them there all the time, and yeah, Mom, don't you want to go there now too?  If you let them watch something Mommy doesn't approve of, I'll hear about it!  If you ever say "dude, that guy cut me off" the next time you are driving with someone, they will point out every person who cuts you off, or merely changes lanes in front of you!!!  They will say things in the same tone as you, and man, it is hilarious to have all your idiosyncrasies come back at you double time!

Wishing you and yours a Merry, Merry Christmas!!!!  Here are some shots of the boys as we get ready for the big day!

For the real behind the scenes out takes from trying to photograph your own kids...

How cool is this train IN THE TREE  - $30 from Home Depot, highly recommend it!

Boys outside the Magic Kingdom on a special trip with Daddy!  Looking VERY IDENTICAL HERE! sorry for the grainy picture, but have to resize for web publishing!

The Polar Express ride again this year was FABULOUS!!!!  The boys are already pumped for next year's trip.

You Never Know What Will Come Out of Their Mouths Next

So, here's the scoop.  The boys are funny.  Yup, really funny. Sometimes without even trying, but in most cases, they are trying.  Raleigh will likely be voted "Class Clown" some day, and Gus will likely be the one to streak across Wimbledon or something...but I digress.  They still think penis jokes are funny.  They have moved on to poopy being even funnier, but I am holding strong that they cannot talk about it unless they need to go to the bathroom; which in turn results in them running to the toilet saying they have to poop just about any time they say "poopy" to be funny.  I wish I had a recorder with me at all times for the really funny things they come up with, but alas, the camera is about as good as it gets, coupled with sporadic blogging these days.  Here is a run down of the best things to come out of the cutest two three year olds lately.

Raleigh at bedtime, rubs Nonnie's cheeks and asks "why your cheeks old?" and then, not quite ready to give up a last cuddle and fall asleep, says "why your lips move when you talk" as he grabs her lips.  Master of distraction, that one, watch out, he's crafty!

Gus just makes the silliest faces all the time.  He knows he should not be doing something and just cannot help himself, and does whatever he shouldn't be doing with the funniest smirk on his face it is so hard not to crack up.

Raleigh while working on our art project for the Fourth of July, starts markering up and down his arms, declaring, "I have tattoos just like Mr. Isaac." Our friendly neighbor friend who has lots of tats up and down his arms. Not one to fully squash artistic freedom, I let it go on for a while, I mean, it is washable marker after all!

Raleigh to Nonnie "Your bum is big."  Nonnie, "no it is not."  Raleigh, "Yeah it is, I just saw it."  Nice.

My favorite thing Gus is saying right now, isn't really a funny one, but so sweet nonetheless - is he calls Willow, our cat, Willows.  Our other cat is Checkers and I just think he thinks all cats should be pluralized.

In other non-funny talk, Gus still says "me" instead of "I" for all instances of the word. We have been reading lots of Aussie books recently preparing for our trip, and the book Koala Lou has a line, "Koala Lou, I do love you."  And when Matthew tried to correct Gus to say "I do love you" instead of "me do love you" he started crying big crocodile tears saying he couldn't do it.  Ah, buddy, it is okay, no worries!  We don't correct it much, but it must have been something he realized he isn't saying right, and he was so sad. Heartbreaking stuff I tell you, for them and us!  In other heartbreaking news, we were at an indoor jump area recently with a lot of twin friends, but Raleigh suddenly made friends with an older little girl who wanted Raleigh to chase her and find her all over this massive play space. Well, she decided she had enough and told him to leave her alone.  I honestly don't know who had their heart broken more, Raleigh or me.  He was in tears and wanted to be hugged and to leave, and I just ached watching him hurt.  Unfortunately, it won't be his last heartbreak, but it is so hard to understand it at three, right?

Other things we have been up to:

Father's Day. That was rough, but after a rough week preparing for the worst feeling and dealing with the sadness of missing my own Dad, I think I was able to concentrate on Matthew's day as a Dad and the boys had a great time with him.  We went out to brunch at Cheesecake Factory, and Raleigh impressed us again with his freakish memory when he looked at our waiter from the last trip as he walked by and said, "There's my friend Tim."  Yes, he remembered that was our waiter from last time and he remembered his name.  We do NOT go there that often, so that was crazy! The boys made some coffee mugs for Matthew inspired by spider webs, and had a great day overall.  We also had an impromptu photo shoot when my morning client cancelled.  I was happy to get some shots of my boys, so it all worked out nicely!

We had a trip to visit Grandpa Pickle's head stone with my brother and his family this week. It was sad, but I know my Dad was looking down so happy that all his grandsons were together.  Raleigh found a feather at the headstone, and we have been telling them every time they find a feather it is from Grandpa Pickles and he is watching them and thinking of them.

The boys are now in really big boy beds.  We opted for full sized beds that can be put up as bunk beds eventually.  They are doing great in them and are so happy to have more room to stretch out!  Seriously, they were almost squished into the toddler beds.  Now, I still need to find the perfect comforters, but for now, they are happy to have new sheets and space to move.  The rest will come!

We've been packing for our trip to see the Grandies in Oz soon.  The boys are so excited for the big plane ride and seeing the Grandies and Auntie Peta.  They can hardly stand it.  I think the Grandies may be more excited though! I am super excited because it means lots of time with Matthew, too!  We are headed to winter weather, so that will be a welcome break as well.  See you all real soon :)

We have been laying low from play dates and such to hopefully keep the germies away before our trip.  Fingers crossed.  We have been around our buddy Little C, but so far so good on the plan to stay healthy!  It has been a great time to just hang with the boys and do some new things around the house while staying relatively cool.  I don't know what we are going to do without our trusty treasure chest of dress up clothes during our vacation.  A few outfits will be tucked away last minute so they have something as a surprise!  Their creativity astounds me daily, and I know Nanny & Poppy will be blown away, too.  This morning we were playing with magnets and I only have one little magnetic board so I grabbed a few larger pans that the magnets would stick to, and then the magnets were cookies, and they needed hot pads so they were not burned, and they were finding things to be the oven and had the most fun taking things in and out of the oven, cooling them down, etc.  After that we did some play doh inside with edible peanut butter play doh, and had even more fun.  They used their train cookie cutters and only ate about half of the dough!  We broke out the sprinkles and that was when it got really messy, but still so much fun. I was really happy I waited until today to mop the floors!  Then we walked over to see a local high school band practicing their drum line in our neighborhood.  Afterward, we played some more outside, including play doh, and more body art in the form of whiskers - both cat type and pirate type stubble!  At lunch time they even sat right next to each other and were so happy together.  It was refreshing, even though they don't fight that much and share really well for three year olds, it is always so nice to see them be lovey to each other.  Ah!  So much fun in so little time.  Seriously, these boys do more before noon than some kids all week, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another amazing year of ups and downs, but we are always thankful for the people in our lives who help keep the ups way higher than the downs.  The boys just continue to amaze us, and we feel truly thankful for them every day!  For me personally, I am ever so thankful for my husband.  He is the constant care giver for our family in more ways that just earning the moola!  Raleigh had an awful fall on Wednesday, and as I called to let him know we were on our way to the ER, he was so quick to say he would meet us there.  I cannot tell you how much I feel his support unconditionally.  Additionally, it was great to have even more supporters when I was able to leave Gus with our neighbor and friend, Miss A, so I could go with only one two and a half year old!  Truly thankful for her kindness!!!  My mom of course was also there in a blink of an eye, her selflessness this year is beyond amazing.  Seriously, this week alone she got my car washed, and scrubbed my awful cream colored sink that is my nemesis, and of course cooked a delicious turkey yet again this year.  Of course, my dad is always there too, making us ridiculously amazing food on a almost daily basis.  Some days I think I may starve without him!  We are thankful that we got to spend another birthday on Thanksgiving with the big guy, especially after a hard year dealing with so many heart issues.  We are thankful that Auntie Peta is joining us next week for the entire month.  The boys even get to spend Christmas with her!  What a treat.  Sadly, the grandies are not joining her this year, but we are thankful that we get to see them soon in the new year.  I am so thankful for the friends who have come into our lives just because we had twins!  How lucky to have joined a spectacular group of women and moms that my kids can enjoy time with their kiddos, but I really benefit from their friendships most.  I am thankful that my best friend in the whole world is still my best friend after 30 years and I even get to see her once and a while despite our different states of residence.  Simple things I am thankful for, include, nap time, wine, great books, time to read, music, time to listen to my music loudly, mom’s night out, and not having to work (well outside of the home that is). I could go on and on and on and on!

 

We were even more blessed this year with a change in plans the day after Thanksgiving to meet our friend Miss Stacey yet again for free entry into Disney. We even got to see Stacey’s mom, whom I have not seen in probably 18 years.  We hit Animal Kingdom, and although it was busy and we got rained on before the parade, we all still had fun. It was great to enjoy the park with Daddy and the boys.  We got to spend a lot more time in the dinosaur area of the park, and I have to say, it is really cool.  I still think Busch Gardens blows away all other zoos and animal parks in regards to animal proximity, but this has the coolness factor of Disney, so it was still great.  The animal sightings on the Kilimanjaro Safari experience was spectacular!  The weather was slightly cooler than our last trip, and it was overcast, so a ton of animals were just chilling in the savannah.  Amazing.

 

Back to Raleigh’s fall.  He fell up the stairs in our backyard. Miss A and I were on the porch, just opposite of where he fell, and heard him hit the cement and I was truly thankful he did not hit is head anywhere except his chin because I think he may have knocked himself out.  Unfortunately, he hit his chin just right so he left himself with a pretty big gash. I knew as soon as I saw it he would need stiches.  So off to the ER we headed where bravely endured the three stitches along his chin. Now he has matching scars to Poppy, me, and about 50% of the population who fell on their chins at about 2 years of age!  It was more painful on me…I think.  He did not cry to badly, and even slept like a champion that night and ever since.  He really hates getting his Band-Aid changed, but even that is getting to be less stress on him.  I cannot tell you how painful it was to help hold him down while they put in the stitches. It took two other nurses to hold him down, on top of him being completely swaddled in a bed sheet.  Whew!  He is  strong little bugger.  His pain tolerance is amazingly high; probably stemming from his time in the CVICU. 

Here is a picture from the day after the fall. Looking good.  It is just now getting to the point of being itchy, so we hope it is not too bad before he goes to get them removed on Wednesday this next week.

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving – love the shirts the boys did themselves for the occasion – and Disney.  If you are reading this, just know how thankful I am, it makes me super happy!  What makes me even happier is a comment or two every once and a while…Enjoy!

the next two picture are pretty indicative of how much the boys don’t want to take pictures right now!  They may smile, but mostly don’t want to look at the camera!  Oye, I thought I had them trained;-P

Here is a piece of sweetness. My favorite part of Thanksgiving happened during this picture taking.  Matthew and I had just kissed and Gus looked at me, then looked at Matthew and said “Daddy loves you too, Mommy.”  Then he reached over and planted one on Rals.  Ah, at least we are doing well at “training” them to be sweethearts!  What good men they will be some day!

Snakes, meanwhile, Daddy was standing a good 20 feet away, not these boys, they just went up and petted them!

Those were a few of my favorite shots, but here is a cute slideshow of us and the “manimals”