Thanksgiving 2011

We had a fun Thanksgiving weekend this year with the Koupals and Josh's mom here visiting.  It was a busy weekend with lots of playing for the kids, lots of eating for us, and a little shopping mixed in too.

We started out the morning at the Turkey Trot.  This is the third year I have run this race and it gets bigger each year.  There are all sorts of people out there - walkers, people running with their dogs, strollers, families running together.  I really like the tradition.

I had a good race and came in second this year and was beat by a girl who came in under 19 minutes while running with her double stroller.  Ouch!!  That one hurt a little.  Notice Piper's hat in this picture.  We were rushing out the door and told them they needed to wear hats and she insisted on wearing her sun hat, which really looks like she is heading out for a fishing expedition.  But we didn't have time to fight her.  

 Josie and Grey look a lot like brother and sister.  The kids really had a good time playing together.

 Alden helping the girls out with their mash-ups.

Dudes in the kitchen.  Josh fried another turkey.  I was really glad not to have to worry about cooking a turkey.  Too much pressure!

 The girls thinking they are so big and ready to eat at the big table with all of us.  They liked the sweet potato casserole (which was of course full of sugar and butter), but didn't really dig any of the

Blue just watching the world go by.

 Alden and Piper being sassy.

We went out on Friday for some Black Friday shopping.  This was my first time and it was much more low key than I thought it would be.  It was busy, but not crazy.  However, we didn't get there until after 10 and I guess all the crazies head out at midnight on Thanksgiving now.

That Twin Thing

We try hard not to think of Josie and Piper as a matching set.  We don't insist on dressing them the same, I won't force them into the same activities, and I didn't give them matching names for a reason.  They aren't identical and they are pretty different little girls.  Josie is silly and goofy, breaks out in song and dance on a whim.  Piper is intense and focused, a little quieter with a very tender side.  When I pick them up at preschool, or at the Y, they aren't always playing together.  They are often interested in completely different things.  Yet it's hard to deny their "twinness".  

One example: Josh goes in their room each night to check on them before we head to bed, and this is how he finds them most of the time:

Night after night, they end up in the same position in their crib. And, we noticed a few months ago that, despite the fact that their language was picking up, they still won't say each other's names.  I tried prompting them, pointing at Piper and asking Josie "who's that?"  For some reason, her answer was "dada".  So I asked Josie the same thing about Piper and she said "dada".  Huh?  We tried it over and over and they always came back with "dada" as the answer.  I am certain it wasn't their limited language ability because they say much more complicated words just fine.  I suspect that "dada" was the very first sound they made and they immediately associated it with each other - they did, after all, know each other before we even knew them.

So we started talking about them as "sissy", which they picked up on right away.  They talk about sissy - each other and themselves - interchangeably.  I'll ask Josie "where's sissy?" and most of the time she points to Piper, but sometimes she points to herself.  Last night in the bath, I asked them where Piper was and they both pointed at each other.  I can only guess that they have been so "together" for the two short years of their lives that they still think of themselves as interchangeable. 

Airplane Haircuts

We recently took the girls for their first haircuts.  We heard about a place downtown with a little kid airplane chair.  Their mullets were getting unwieldy and I didn't trust myself to cut it myself. 

 Their preschool teacher thanked me for getting their haircuts and said they look different enough now that they can easily tell them apart.  Apparently, they were keeping them straight because Josie looks a little bigger than Piper, so they referred to them as "Petite Piper" and "Juicy Josie" (Josie's in utero name!).  They are still almost exactly the same size, but Josie has a little bit of a fuller face. 

 Anyway, their hair looks much better now and we will definitely be back for airplane haircuts again. 

Halloween 2011

A Visit from Aunt Brynn

Aunt Brynn came to visit us late last week and left on Monday.  It was a much anticipated visit.  The girls have been talking about Aunt Brynn for weeks.  I wasn't sure if they knew what we were all talking about, but something must have sunk in because they were definitely excited to see her!  They went right to her and pretty much stuck right by her side the entire time she was with us. 

We did some fun stuff while she was here, including storytime at the library, gymnastics class, the park, pumpkin patch, and the aquarium,  And we also went on a few great runs (my sister is my very best running partner), got massages one day, and went for a shopping trip to Wilmington.  We were pretty busy and packed in the activity each day.  I'm pretty sure we sent her home tired. 

Here are some of the shots from the aquarium down in Atlantic Beach.  This is the third time we have been down there and the girls had a lot more to talk about this time.  They ran around pointing out the fish, turtles, snakes, sea otters, and alligators.  Josie is on a kick where she likes to RUN AWAY from us as fast as she can.  Unfortunately, she did that at the aquarium and ran smack into another little girl, which prompted a complete and total meltdown.  After that, the aquarium wasn't so much fun for her. 

Thanks for coming to visit us Brynn!  We are so glad Christmas and our trip to Utah is only two months away!

22 Months

There was no cooperation this month for a picture together.  The girls simply refused to sit in the chair together.  So this will have to do.  I never got around to an update for 21 months, and I think this will be my last until they turn 2.  Twenty-two months is a FUN AGE!  Yes, they are opinionated and tempermental, but they are talking more and more each day and always amaze us at the things they understand.  They started preschool last month on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  According to their teacher, their class can all sit together and have their snack, they drink out of normal cups, throw their garbage away, and push their chairs in when they are done.  For circle time, they sit there quietly with their hands on their legs.  This amazes me!  I have not yet figured out how to make them do this for me, but apparently they are capable. 

Shoes and hats are still a big thing around here.  They love to run to their closet and pull out the drawer with their shoes.  This is the outfit Piper put together the other day.  They also love to play with their babies.  They put diapers on them, take their clothes on and off over and over again (or ask us to) and wrap them up in blankies. 

The girls also wore their Garber preschool shirts to school the other day.  Our girlies are still pretty small and the shirts were just way too big for them!  The firetruck came to visit that day so all the kids wore their shirts.  Piper loved it and Josie really hated it.  She is not a fan of big, loud noises and cries when it rains and thunders.

So far this update is all over the place ...

The girls still don't watch any TV with the one exception of Animal Planet.  When we get a little desperate for ways to entertain them, we'll pile onto our bed and watch some Animal Planet for a few minutes.  They are so fascinated by animals and lately have learned about crocodiles, walruses, and elephants.  We took them to the pet store the other day to get Blue's food.  There was a pet adoption fair going on, so we wandered around and saw the poor sad doggies and kitties. :(.  We went to a park the other day with a pond and the turtles swim right up to the edge, so now they talk about the turturs.  We still go running to visit the horses and the birbies (birds). 

We have been skyping with Bubba and Grandpa and they are to an age now where they really understand who is on the screen.  They point to the computer and say "bubba" and get very excited when we see them on the computer.  They will blow kisses, wave, and talk to them. 

I can't believe how close we are to having 2 little two-year-olds.  There are days I wish I could push the pause button.  They are growing up too fast!  My sweet girlies. 

Mumfest 2011

New Bern's big event each year is the Mumfest.  It's your typical street fair with fried everything, tacky booths, and lots of people.  We went this year in search of a petting farm/zoo that we thought the girls were love.  But no dice.  We had to settle for ducks at the waterfront.  The girls still had fun being outside on a beautiful fall day. 

Pumpkins and Playing

Oh October, you are slipping away from us so quickly!  I know fall is lovely everywhere, but I think it might be particularly nice here in North Carolina after the sweltering heat and humidity of summertime.  We have been spending some time at the local park/pumpkin patch downtown. 

Josie got pretty brave here and used some of the skills she learned at gymnastics to hang on the bar all by herself. 

 And Piper did some climbing.  Something I'm pretty sure she will want to do from now on over and over and over again.

 Checking out the pumpkins.  All different shapes and sizes.

And of course swinging away. 

Cherry Point Duathlon

I did one last multi-sport event for the summer.  The Cherry Point Duathlon, which was 5K run/10 mile bike/5K run on base.  I did this race back in 2008 while Josh was in Iraq.  It is low key, very small, and a fun little race.  It rained all night the night before, so I wasn't sure the race would still be on, but we got a break in the weather and it was a perfect cool and cloudy day for a race.  Josh brought the girls down to catch the tail end of the race and we all had breakfast at the cafe on base afterward. 

 Getting close to the finish. 

 All done - you can see how low key it is.  Just a few orange cones at the finish line. :) 

Yay, I won.  I came in second three years ago, so I was happy to improve.  I got a rather large trophy. 

Williamsburg with the Koupals

Last weekend we took another little trip - this time up to Williamsburg to see the Koupals and Nana.  We had a great time.  The girls LOVED playing with their cousins and Blue had the best time of his life playing with his cousin Clyde.  Piper insisted on wearing these shoes and socks and necklace as we headed out of town.  Davis Hall brought the necklaces to them at gymnastics a couple of weeks ago.  Too cute.

We spent the weekend checking out their neighborhood pool, playing some games, visiting historic Williamsburg, and just hanging out. 

 All the kids looking a little hot.  And Josh kissing an important old guy.

 Here is proof that Josh and I are as mature as Alden and Grey. 

 The Jones family and the Koupal family in front of the horses in historic Williamsburg.  The girls said "neigh, neigh" and got to pet their noses. 

Playing some games and hanging out at their house.

The dogs having the time of their lives!  We stayed at a hotel, but Blue stayed at the Koupal's house.  He was a great guest and peed and pooped inside their house!