Two of my good friends have taken on "Project 365" and have inspired me to do the same. Basically, the goal is to take one picture everyday for a year and to post the picture along with a brief description. It's been quite interesting and entertaining to follow these women's adventures and while I don't anticipate my posts to be as exciting as a new college grad or someone studying/traveling in Europe, I thought this would be a unique way to document the first year of the littles' lives. I can just about guarantee that this blog will not be updated daily and perhaps not even weekly, but I'll give it my best effort to post on a regular basis. My hope is that this will be a popular site for the grandparents, godparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and friends of the littles and that this can be a fun way to watch them grow.

*November, 2011* We made it through the year, and I thought perhaps I'd try to redesign the blog for the future, intermittent updates. But, this twin mom is going to keep it simple and just keep going. Do not expect daily photos; we'll just post highlights from now on. Enjoy.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes


March 24, 2011
Today was filled with changes. Josie has now become too active for her swing...and Noah's determination hold onto the seat while she's in it has raised safety concerns. So, after one final joy ride we packed it up into the garage. We were so dependent on both of our swings for so long that our home doesn't look the same without them. Replacing the swing is their new toy-chest. We were able to rearrange the furniture to look much more like our living room pre-parenthood, which feels a little odd for Ben and I. Finally, while Josie's been scooting short distances for some time now it often seemed as though she thought her belly was stuck to the floor. But today, something in her shifted and she had a great time scooting and crawling all over the house. This new-found mobility makes her much more interested in interacting and playing with her brother which is so much fun to watch.

For good measure, here's a picture of the two of them in their swings when they were one month old.

(Godmother, the title of this blog is for you)

Getting in on the action


March 23, 2011
Josie joined in on the fun today as both littles watched Bennett continue breaking up concrete.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

No Photo (but 4 teeth)

March 22, 2011
We didn't get a photo, but I didn't want to forget that Noah's 4th tooth broke through yesterday.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Adventurous Monday




March 21, 2011

I started the day by convincing Bennett to join me and some other MoMs and their twins at Chevy's for lunch. I enticed him by saying we could stop at Sears to look for a storage shed. We ordered a shed and found a steal of a deal on a pink beach cruiser. This is my first bike that doesn't happen to be a hand-me-down and I feel a bit like Phoebe from "Friends." Now we can all go for rides together. As I loaded the babies in the car, Ben started breaking down a cardboard box to place under the bike to protect the car. And that's when he cut his finger with the knife. We thought for a second he might need stitches, but we bandaged it up and he loaded the bike on the car while I attempted to maintain some sort of calm with Josie and Noah who had now been inside a car that wasn't moving for almost a half hour.

Needless to say, we didn't make it to Chevy's. But after a nap and lunch, Josie and Noah were piled into the bike trailer and I got to break in my new bike. We learned that the littles seem to fall asleep better in the trailer than in the car or stroller and they remained cozied up for sometime after the ride ended.

Later that night, project build an in-law began with Bennett trying out his new hammer and breaking up some concrete in the backyard. Noah found that hilarious!

Easy Sunday



March 20, 2011
We spent a nice lazy Sunday cleaning and playing around the house. Noah found the bumbos that we had tucked out of the way and decided he wanted to use them again and Josie enjoyed looking at books (her favorite thing to do).

Sunday, March 20, 2011

This one's for Loli (and all the Pouci girls)


March 19, 2011
I think my little Jo wants to be a Puoci. She has Tori's cheeks (well, almost), she flaps her arms like twins Annabelle and Juliette and now, the upside down pacifier like Olivia. We had an eventful day running errands while navigating the rain and wind. I was channeling Bennett when I found a steal of a deal on a craigslist purchase: Josie and Noah (I) now have a cool new toy box (and I now longer have to look at the messy heap)!

All packed up with nowhere to go...


March 18, 2011
Spent the day trying to entertain the littles while packing up for our long weekend at Nonna and Nonno's house. Unfortunately, we decided not to make the trip because Luka (also visiting) had a high fever. We were disappointed to miss out on the opportunity for the littles to meet the family and friends, but we hope Lulu is feeling better!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

March 17, 2011
Appreciating the littles' Irish heritage I fed them mostly green foods all day (they weren't too pleased).

Change of Scenery


March 16, 2011
This blog has made me realize how often the littles are in their excer-saucer seats so that Josie can digest a bit after each meal, so I decided to give them a change of scenery.

Already?


March 15, 2011
Realistically, I m bracing myself for the endless battle it takes my one-day teenage boy to keep his pants above his rear-end. (I hope that he never goes through that phase, but I'm not holding my breath.) I just didn't think it would happen this early.

Pi Day

March 14, 2011
Thirty-two years old with a wonderful husband, two amazing kids and a cozy home. I love my life.

Mini Road Trip to Sac


March 13, 2011
Despite daylight savings and losing an hour of sleep we hit the road at 8am and headed to Sacramento to see Great-Grandma in her new place. She gave us a tour of the facility and we met some of her new friends. We also enjoyed a wonderful lunch with Great Aunt Karol and Great Uncle Kurt (although it was cut short due to an impending double meltdown). We hope we can make it out there for another visit soon.

Bike Adventure


March 12, 2011
After hunting for helmets small enough to fit their heads, Bennett took Josie and Noah out for their first ride in the bike trailer. They were skeptical at first but then liked it. (We've considered leaving the helmet on Noah since he is such a brut.)

Playtime with Grandma

March 11, 2011
Grandma got into town last night for a visit and we couldn't wait to play with her and show her all of our new (to us) toys.

Thanks Great-Grandma

March 10, 2011
Five years ago, when we lived in Walnut Creek, we spotted this snail in Tuesday Morning and thought it was cute. Great-grandma caught wind of this and went out and bought it for us (I think hoping that we'd have babies soon and assuming we'd only have one at a time). It came with us through 3 moves and now the littles love it too! Thanks great-grandma!

For AJ and Jules


March 9, 2011
Josie is taking after her twin cousins Annabelle and Juliette. When she gets excited she flaps her arms (you can see that her arms are a little blurry in the photo) and I even think she has a similar expression on her face, like they used to have.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

"You have your baby out in this weather?!"


March 8, 2011
Despite the drizzly weather we needed to head to Costco. So I put plenty of layers on the littles, grabbed my umbrella and lots of extra blankets. It was barely misting as we arrived, so I loaded Josie and Noah in the cart and held a blanket over their heads as I wheeled my way to the entrance. Just as we were about to go in, a little old lady looked at me and said "you have your baby out in this weather?" as she shook her head disapprovingly. I looked at her and smiled and said, "yes, I have BOTH my babies out in this weather" then smiled again and kept walking. Once in the store our paths crossed again and she wanted to stop and tell me all about her twin grandchildren...

Our New Toy


March 7, 2011
We stopped at BabiesRUs yesterday and picked up a new toy for the littles and here they are exploring it. Noah's practicing walking with it, and they both enjoy the music it plays (thank god it has an off button!). Thanks MaryAnn and Emma for the gift card!

Cousin Time


March 6, 2011
Michele hosted dinner for all of the local family so we could see our Parisian cousin Blandine. We all had a great time catching up and Josie and Noah enjoyed playing with their cousin Matthew's toys. (In the photo: Michele, Josie, Janette, Blandine, Karina, Noah and Fiona)

Yogurt Melts



March 5, 2011
Josie and Noah's first try of yogurt melts. Noah gave them a shot, but Josie didn't want to have anything to do with them. Now they love them although they're still working on getting them in their mouths themselves.

TV Zombies


March 4, 2011
Josie still has to be upright for some time after each meal because she still has reflux...so she and Noah typically hang out for a bit in their seats throughout the day. In the mornings, we feed them, put them in their seats, then sit down and eat breakfast and watch the morning news, but we typically move their high chairs to block the littles' view of the TV. We forgot to move them this morning and had little zombies on our hands. They never get to watch it so when then do see it they completely zone out.

No Photo

March 3, 2011
Can't even remember what we did that day...

Bad Parents

March 2, 2011
Despite the routine (eat dinner then play in their seats while dad plays the guitar or mom blows bubbles to keep us from melting down during the witching hour) Josie and Noah startle at the initial sound of the guitar. We had to capture it and share although it's proof that we're bad parents and laugh at our kids.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

8 Months Old

March 1, 2011
The littles are 8 months old. Time really is flying and they're growing incredibly fast!

Bumps and Bruises


February 28, 2011
I can't keep up with Noah's new obsession to climb up on everything and since he's still a little wabbly he has some bumps and bruises. Doesn't seem to slow him down though. (You can see the fresh mark on the right of his forehead - he had just tumbled and hit his head on the wall.)

True Love

February 27, 2011
Josie loves it when her Auntie Karina comes over to play.

Finally on the Move

February 26, 2011
Godfather Phil distracted Noah while Melody encouraged Josie to get moving so I could catch it on film.

Cozy

February 25, 2011
Thank you Khouzam family for keeping us warm and cozy on our walks.

Just Another Day

February 24, 2011
Just another day hanging around the house: wake, eat, play, sleep, repeat.

Happy Birthday Dad!

February 23, 2011
Josie, Noah and I headed to the grocery store to pick up all the fixins for dad's birthday dinner. We made manicotti, and chocolate covered strawberries. The littles' favorite part was playing with the balloon we bought for Dad.