Let the potty training begin!

While Luke and Olivia aren't ready to fully potty train yet (ok, maybe it's us who isn't ready to train them yet!), we are trying to get them comfortable with the idea of sitting on the potty when they need to go. Sometimes they just sit on the potty with their diaper on so they can get used to what it feels like to "pee" in the potty. Olivia has peed in the potty, Luke not quite yet and neither one has done more than that yet. But they like to sit on them and they think it's fun to wash their hands afterward. Check out Luke's pic as he took off down the hall once he was done. How can you not smile at that face? Love me some Luke and Olivia!!!

We will probably start fully potty training them this summer, or sooner if they show signs of being ready. I hear it's one of the hardest things to do. We'll let you know!

Princess in training

Uh, oh! Could Olivia have any more pink on? Thankfully she loves to play in the dirt with trucks, too. A girly tomboy...love it!

My first wedding

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph a wedding for a great couple. The couple reunited at their high school reunion and haven't left each other's side since. Dan put on his daddy hat for the day and kept Luke and Olivia entertained while I was gone for most of the afternoon/evening. MauMaw and PauPaw kept them company as well. I got home just in time to help with baths and put them in bed...one of my favorite times of the day. I LOVE that I can spend most of my days with them and work on editing, etc (for the most part) while they nap/sleep at night. I only miss time with them for shoots, which usually don't last more than 2 hours or so. And it's great for them (and me) to have a little break and learn new things from other people. The best of both worlds!

Lil' Chefs

Recently Luke and Olivia have become interested in helping us "cook" in the kitchen. They stand across from one another on step stools with a cookie sheet, mixing bowl, a bowl of cheerios and various cooking utensils. They absolutely love it! Look out food network...we have 2 potential chefs in training!

Parent Date Day

Now that it's January and things have settled down a bit, we decided it would be a good time to start our "date days." Unfortunately, a trip to urgent care on Saturday night derailed our plans just a bit, but we were still able to make it happen.

Poor lil' Luke has pneumonia. Yikes! Luckily it is pretty mild and the medicine seems to be working. He isn't napping well but sleeping ok at night and his fever is finally down. We think he is finally on the mend and Olivia seems to be immune to it so far. Fingers crossed! We are staying inside lots and letting him heal as much as possible.

So, my "date" with Luke included a trip to the urgent care on Saturday. We got there around 5pm, after calling all afternoon for wait times...which were running 2 hours. They finally hit a slow time and we decided to go up there. Once we arrived, there was an emergency with an elderly lady that had fallen so Luke and I kept busy playing hide and seek in the waiting room. We also watched a little football together. Poor thing hates going to the doctor and gets upset as soon as they take us into a room. They did a strep test and flu test after ruling out ear infections. He had a fever of 102, so there was an infection of some sort. The doctor decided to do a chest xray and that is where she saw the pneumonia. He didn't have the standard symptoms of coughing and sneezing bu the did have the high fever. He got a shot of rocephin and she sent us home with a prescription to get filled. We got home at 7:15pm and little guy was so tired he went straight to bed. Although this wasn't the time together we had planned, I enjoyed having some one on one time with Luke.

Meanwhile, Daddy and Olivia were spending time together at home, including eating dinner...just the two of them. We talked about how different is it to just have one child at a time yet odd at the same time because we are so used to having them together. Luke and Olivia did great at being apart and seemed to enjoy the one on one time.

Sunday morning I took Olivia with me to WalMart to get Luke's prescription while Luke stayed home with Daddy. I have never been out with Olivia one on one and it was fun to have that time together. She did great sitting in the shopping cart all by herself and talked the entire time. Meanwhile, Daddy played with Luke at home and they took a short nap together. Luke and Olivia were happy to see one another, though, and they definitely prefer to be together. Twins...what a wonderful bond!

Preschool

Today I toured a local preschool that we are thinking about enrolling Luke and Olivia in this fall. It will only be 2 days a week from 9:30-1pm, but it still makes me teary eyed at the thought of them starting on the road to school full time. Luke and Olivia both wanted to get out of the stroller and check things out, which I took as a good sign. I was worried they would be fearful of a new place, but they jumped right in the mix and probably would have stayed the entire time if they were able to! Just seeing that gave me comfort, and solidified the fact that it will be MUCH harder on me than them as this next transition happens!

There are two other places we want to check out, but a lot of Luke and Olivia's friends are at this preschool so I know that will make it more comfortable for them. Enrollment starts in Feb/March so we will be making a decision soon. Man, time is going by much too quickly!!!

Off to Atlanta

Even though we were just in Atlanta in November, we had a couple of reasons to make another trip back this month. Dan had a meeting on Thursday that he really needed to be there for in person, our good friends twins were turning 2, and I wanted to meet my friends new little boy Carter. Time to pack up the car once again!

We headed out just after 5pm on Wednesday with the hopes of stopping for dinner around 6:30pm. Thankfully we didn't hit any traffic or accidents this time so it was smooth sailing. We had dinner and a little playtime before putting L and O in their pajamas for the rest of the ride to Atlanta. We got to our hotel around 10pm and thank goodness they already had 2 cribs set up for us. Once we got Luke and Olivia settled (they fell back asleep quickly...yay!) we unloaded just a few things we needed for the night.

We got up Thursday morning, had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Dan headed off to work and I headed over to my friend Joni's house for a playdate with Charlotte and to meet her 5 week old little boy. What a cutie! We had a great morning playing and then it was time for naptime. I had the pack and plays with me and set them up in two different rooms. Olivia napped but Luke was having nothing of it-which is quite to opposite of things at home. Usually Olivia stays awake and Luke falls fast asleep. Go figure! So we had some nice mommy/son time while the rest of the house napped. Once Olivia woke up, I got the car all packed up and picked Dan up for work.

Then it was off to our friend Lisa and Dan's house for the next few nights. We were glad to get there so we could finally get a little settled. Luke and Olivia were happy to see their friend Anderson and to have new toys to play with as well. On Friday, I headed back over to Joni's house while I took Dan to Starbucks so he could work for the morning. Joni and I took all of the kids to the park and had such a fun time seeing everyone one the swings and slides. It's still hard to believe all of our babies are toddlers now! Around lunchtime I headed off to pick up Dan so I could get back to Lisa and Dan's for naptime. Thankfully both kids took a much needed nap and woke up much happier campers!

Our good friend Billy D came over for dinner on Friday. He hasn't seen Luke and Olivia in over a year and he couldn't believe how much they have changed. It was nice to catch up with him and have so many old friends together at once.

Saturday morning was relaxed and we just spent some time outdoors. All of the kids had to take an early nap since we had Ethan and Maddox's birthday party at 2:30pm. Olivia stayed in her pack and play for over an hour and never did sleep; she just talked and played the entire time. She is so funny! Luke took a short nap and wasn't happy to be woken up but was ok after about 5 minutes. Who like to be woken up from a nap? No one!!!

The birthday party was at Gymboree and it was lots of fun. Luke and Olivia had the best time playing with all of the other 2 year olds and checking out all of the equipment. They were great at the "organized activities" and are listening really well (for the most part!). Then it was time for their favorite part--CAKE! Olivia just eats the frosting while Luke delves into the cake part. The party went by really fast and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Jen and Marica were having family and close friends over to their house after the party for dinner and presents, so we went to their house for awhile. We left around 7:30pm and by the time we got to Lisa and Dan's house it was time for L and O to go to bed. It was nice to sit and just chit chat once the kids were all asleep, although we all ended up staying way past our usual bedtime!

Sunday morning we got the car all packed up and headed to my Grandma's house in Gainesville. We were going to spend the day with her for a "late" Christmas. We arrived at her house around 11:30am and by the time we got a few things unloaded, it was time for them to eat lunch. Then we opened some presents and they laid down for a nap. It was wonderful to sit and talk with my Grandma; she is an amazing lady with so many stories to share. Once L and O woke up, more playtime, dinner together, and pj time. We hit the road around 8pm and arrived home around midnight, totally exhausted!

They really were troopers while we traveled, especially having to nap/sleep/play at so many different places. They are so resilient and we're glad we are able to travel with them. We hope to get back to Atlanta this summer for a Braves game and to see friends again. For now, there really is no place like home.

Back to normal

The decorations are down and packed away, and it's time to get back to our normal routine. Dan is back to work and back to traveling (although nothing in the near future right now). I am back to playdates and story times at the local library with Luke and Olivia. I am staying busy with my photography business and we always have projects going on around the house. We hope to get a new table for the kitchen and hopefully get some rooms painted this year. Only time will tell what we actually get accomplished!

A few 2 year pics

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is upon us and most of our preparations are complete. The cookies and eggnog are on the fireplace for Santa, along with a picture from Luke and Olivia. Most of the presents are under the tree (except for the ones from Santa, of course) and the stocking are filled by the fireplace. Santa's elf, AKA Daddy, has been busy building a kitchen, workbench and table/chair set.

Earlier today Oma and Opa came over to spend some time with us and open presents. It's really cute because Luke is really starting to figure out the present thing. He loves to open them-the bigger the better. He gets the biggest smile when he tears the paper open, while Olivia still prefers for them to be closed (although once opened she loves what's inside). It was a wonderful visit and heartwarming to see Luke and Olivia interact with Oma and Opa. Olivia took several toys to Opa, one toy at a time. Luke played with his keyboard and played with them in general.

Once Oma and Opa left and Luke and Olivia woke up from naps, we took them for a wagon ride around the neighborhood to see the lights. They LOVE to see the lights and we love to hear them talk about them. "Blue lights, red lights, Santa, man (snowman)". Sometimes Heidi the cat joins us on our walks, too. They are also excited when we get home and say "YeeYee's lights, Guke's lights." I will be sad once all of the lights are down, but we will look forward to more walks next year.

After dinner, our tradition is to let Luke and Olivia open one present each. This year, they ended up opening a joint present because it was the one they chose. It was a puzzle card set with the ABC, numbers and opposites. They were having so much fun playing with it they didn't want to start the nighttime routine. They ended up staying up until almost 8:30pm. Good thing Santa stays up later!

We are looking forward to tomorrow and especially to spending time together as a family with no rush to be anywhere. Can't wait to see their little faces in the morning! Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Let's see Santa

I remember the first year we took Luke and Olivia to see Santa Claus. They were about 2 weeks old and slept through the whole thing. Last year, we tried 3 different times, and each time ended with Luke crying, Olivia crying, or both of them crying. This year we hoped if we talked about Santa a lot, read books, showed them pictures and let them just see him in passing, they would be cool with sitting on his lap for just a minute.

No such luck.

We waited just a few minutes in line with high hopes. We had even planned on having lunch out together as a family complete with a sucker right after their visit with Santa. Well, as soon as we got to the big guy in the red suit, Luke and Olivia clung to us as if we were about to throw them into a pit of fire. There was NO WAY they were letting go of us. Hence, the picture of the 4 of us, which wasn't part of the plan. Oh, well...there's always next year! Until then, enjoy these faces:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Now that we have celebrated Luke and Olivia's birthday, it's time to start getting ready for Christmas. We try not to decorate until after their birthday, and since their birthday is in early December it works out well.

Dan is always in charge of putting the tree up (yes, we're an artificial tree kind of family) while I take care of the rest of the house. This year the tree was a tangled mess of lights and he had to take them all off and start over. It took him several hours, but the end result was beautiful! I got started hanging the stockings, putting up the garland and decorations in general. I also got out our Christmas china and decorated the dining room as well.

We don't really have a lot of outside decorations yet, but we hoped to finally hang the icicle lights that have been sitting in their box for a couple of years. A few bows on the porch, mailbox and outside lights along with a few outside decorations and decorating was complete. How did those few things take us two days? Oh, yeah...we had 2 little helpers.