Wedding Week-end Away

Since they were born, I've never spent a day away from the boys. I haven't been ready to spend a day away from them. But the time finally came.

My good friend Terra, who I've known since we were about 13, got married this week-end in Dallas!


I couldn't be happier for her. Jason is a great guy and obviously head-over-heels for Terra. It was a sweet wedding and so nice to catch up with her entire family, many of whom I hadn't seen in, oh, 15 years!

**And since I'm doing a sneaky post-dated publish on this one, I can spill the beans (since she already has to all her friends and family). She's also PREGNANT! I'm sure she & Jason will be great parents to their lucky little one. I could not be happier for them!**




Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

My absence meant that Greg was home alone with the boys for 28 hours. He was understandably a little nervous at this thought. He'd never spent a whole day alone with them, much less got them up, fed, clothed, entertained, napped, bathed and back to bed all solo. It is no easy task.

But I'm happy to report everything went fantastically! Not that I had any doubts or anything, but I know how tough it can be. I called a few times to make sure everyone was surviving. They were not only alive but having a great time!


Greg put the phone up to each of their ears during my calls so I got to talk to the boys, reminding them to behave and take it easy on their old man. :) And to tell them how much I love and missed them.


Apparently, they'd sit there, perfectly still with the phone up to their ears. Greg was sure they knew it was me. They'd have big smiles on their faces when they heard my voice and kept wanting to hear more after the other one was done. Made for some very long one-sided conversations, but it was too cute to resist.


When I finally got home (traffic on I35 is a beast!), I was greeted with huge smiles and hugs and lots & lots of kisses. Love it!


My sweet boys are almost 14.5 months old.

An Evening to Myself

All three of my guys were in bed before 7 p.m. tonight. All the kiddos at daycare apparently organized a sleep strike today. (I wonder if that's a regular Monday thing... We'll see.) And Greg is sick!!!

Why the seemingly decadent use of exclamation points? Because Greg never gets sick. At least not enough to make him miss work. In fact in the 8 years he's been working at his current job, he has never once taken a sick day. Is that not insane??? Most normal people would take at least a cheat day every now and then. But not my husband. So when he called this afternoon to say he was coming home, I thought something catastrophic had happened. Somebody died. The lab blew up. Armageddon.

Nope. He's sick. So sick he couldn't even power through the remaining 2.5 hours of the work day. Wow. I had to blog this for posterity's sake.

I'm hoping for a short-lived convalescence. For all our sakes. :) Poor guy.

On a more positive note, Greg spent last night assembling one of the awesome presents a few families got for the boys for their birthdays. It was an instant hit.





I love Luke's little laugh at the end.

Every time we're at a friend's house who has these, the boys go crazy for them whether they're riding or pushing. I'm betting their obsession is what prompted these gifts so I have to say a huge thank you to some very generous friends. You know who you are! They will be well-used at Chez K. :)


The boys are already almost 13 months old. Wow. That sounds weird.


p.s. You're probably thinking in that first video, "OMG, is that Greg in his underwear??? On the interwebz???" And the answer is NO! Absolutely not. Because I love him, and I wouldn't do that to him. And I would appreciate it if you'd get your dirty, little mind out of the gutter, thankyouverymuch.

p.p.s. You totally replayed that video, didn't you?

The After Party

Just so you don't think we're mean parents, I thought I should include some happy boy pictures.

The guys woke up from their naps to a living room brimming with birthday presents just waiting to be ripped into.

Luke instantly honed in on his two favorite things - balls...

...and wheels.

The boy is obsessed. :)


Joseph helped us read the cards...

...and was just generally adorable.

They busted into each toy with gusto...

...and tested them all out for quality assurance purposes.

But honestly, destroying all those pretty packages was the best.

That and spreading little blue and green food dye stains on all the furniture.

Good times.

Now to find a place for all these awesome new toys. Yikes.

Smash Cake Fail

Luke kicked it off, but Joseph took it to a whole new level of awesome.




Heartbreaking, isn't it. Poor babies!

First Birthday Party

Complete with, what else, a World Cup theme!

Packed house with all of the boys' little friends, who are all 1 year old, give or take a few months. All THIRTEEN of them! I didn't know our home could fit this much baby!

See those fingers in mouths? I realize now that the boys were teething, which explains in part how this happy soiree ended.
(A little foreshadowing there for you...)

I'm pretty sure the boys had money riding on this game. He's gonna have to pay you later, D. Mama is trying to set a good example and will not be funding the gambling habit.

Of course, Mama's gotta draw the line of virtue somewhere.


The ball pit was enjoyed by all. Success!

Luke thinks the party is going very well!

Or it was going well.

Until, that is, everyone started singing and staring at them.

And sticking flames in their faces.

And then it was all over.

And there was no going back.

Poor guys. Exhaustion from all the changes with their first week in daycare, teething and just too much partying finally won out. The perfect storm.

We took the boys upstairs for a nap, where they both promptly and quietly passed out. Meanwhile, the party must go on. But not too much longer. Around 4 p.m., the babies started dropping like flies. Naptimes all around! And nothing clears out a party faster than the threat of multiple impending meltdowns. Pretty soon we were left alone. In the quiet. With the aftermath. :)


So I'm calling it. First birthday party SUCCESS! Even if the cake smash portion of the day's festivities was an epic fail. It will make for a great story once the boys are older and can appreciate such trauma for it's entertainment value.

And just in case you're wondering, the boys woke from their naps in a fantastic mood and ready to rip into their presents. More on that later. But in the meantime, I'd like to thank each and every one of you guys who came to help us celebrate the boys' first year. It has been one of the happiest of my life, and without a doubt, THE happiest of theirs. :)

A House Divided

World Cup. England vs. USA. English daddy. American mommy. What IS a boy to do?

We were really torn with this one. At first we were thinking that we'd just flip a coin to decide which of the boys would support the U.S. and which would support England. But ultimately our inability to find a 2T American soccer kit ANYWHERE and our plethora of English soccer gear in the boys' closet meant that even if their spirits were with their birth country, their outward appearance would be screaming, "En-ger-lund! En-ger-lund! En-ger-lund!"

Luke looking absolutely adorable in the 2T England kit we could find

Honestly, they don't care either way. Of course. But isn't it interesting that all the U.S.A. kids' gear was sold out? Yay! Embrace soccer, America. Embrace it. And love it.

English or American, we will all support Daddy

BALL!!!

Joseph can't decide if he'd rather hang out with ladies...

...or use his wily charms to score a sip of beer.

Joseph, embracing his inner frat boy.

Mmmm, soccer balls are delicious ::lick, lick::
(Yes, those cute, little girls had money on the game in case you were wondering.)

Aaaaand TIE! Everyone's happy! Sorta.


Our future soccer stars are 1 year, 1 week & 1 day old. (Writing their age like this is getting a bit annoying. I think from now on, I'll just round to the nearest month, mmkay.)

Sprinkler Park

The boys and I met up with a bunch of mamas & babies at the sprinkler park.


There's a little button you can push that will make water shoot out of the ground in long, arcing streams. Most of the babies weren't too fond of being sprayed in the face. Others ran right up to the spouts and waited eagerly for it.


Joseph started making his way across the battlefield...


...and got caught in the cross-fire of 3 different water streams and was none too happy about it.


But as you can see, he quickly got over it.


And the peasants rejoiced.



Luke wasn't interested in getting wet. Instead he spent the afternoon fixated on his monkey.


After making eyes at each other all day, they tried running off into the sunset. But never made it too far under Mama's watch. I think I'm in trouble if we ever lose that damn thing.


The boys are 11 months, 2 weeks & 2 days old.

Making the Most of Spring

We met the Mamas & the Babies for another picnic in the park.


It feels like as every day of spring passes, I live in growing fear of summer. I know that at any moment the temperatures will shoot up from the cool, refreshing 70s and low 80s to hotter-than-hell-with-humidity-and-bugs 90s and 100s. I wish spring would last a little longer in Texas. It would give us more opportunities to sample everyone else's sippy cups...


...and slobber over other people's toys.


But until that oppressive heat arrives, I'm trying to make the most of it with the boys. Oh, summer, please be gentle with us!



The boys are 10 months & 2 days old.