13 months old today!



My babies are no longer babies, they are now toddlers! *sniff*

Kellen is walking everywhere now and is loving his new found mobility. Lorelai still prefers the speed of travel that crawling gives, but takes some tentative steps when she feels like it.

It is exciting to see them growing and changing so fast, but it's also bittersweet. We are trying to catch as much of these fleeting moments on video as we can. They are the joys of my life and they keep me happily busy most of the day.

Here's some of our favorite pictures from the past month:


A wagon built for two!




Our little princess



Last of the crawling days



Little surfer boy



Little surfer girl



A new grin



Sweet little boy



Kellen loves to push his car around



Giddy up lil pony




On the good ship lollipop

A Wondrous Wet Refrain




In honor of the wet weather we're having here in Southern California, I am posting pictures of my bathing beauties. : )

Sometimes Two are Just Meant to Be



Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are a few pictures of my funny valentines:








*Thank you to our friend (and crafty woman extraordinaire) Raquel for the adorable heart onesie as seen on Lorelai*

The Chemistry of Pie




I don't have a lot of experience making pies from scratch. Crusts are hard for me; not only making one that is light, flaky, and tastes great, but that also looks nice. This was my most recent attempt at making an apple pie. The crust still needs a little work, but it didn't come out too bad. Most importantly it was fun to make. Maybe not great for the waist line, but definitely good for the spirit.

I have always liked dabbling in cooking. Recently, I have become more passionate about it. Not only is it great stress relief by allowing my a creative outlet of sorts, but it fills in a missing gap for me. In college I loved and excelled in chemistry labs; be it inorganic, organic, or biochemistry it didn't matter I loved it all. I miss those days of discovery, where precision was rewarded by successful identification of an unknown substance or solution. Long hours in the lab sometimes resulted in frustration and the need to begin anew, but most often that wasn't the case. I enjoyed the work and even liked writing up detailed reports explaining the steps I took, the results I achieved, and what it all meant. Someday, I might enjoy doing lab work for a living, but until then I will continue my work in the kitchen making tasty comestibles.

Now as in days gone past I grab my trusty glass flask with the name Pyrex etched on the side, add my universal solvent with a keen eye on the meniscus, and then slowly titrate in the necessary solutions. Finally, I heat the resultant solution over my bunsen burner (ok so it's really my circa 1970's gas stove, but we can pretend). Sometimes I cook very precisely wanting to have repeatable results (that's the scientist in me) and sometimes I throw caution to the wind and be creative. Most often I like having a base to work from and then create changes from there so that subtle hints of flavor differences are easily noticed. Spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite mediums for this.

I don't always have the time to be as creative in the kitchen as I might like, but I try even if in small ways like adding a hint of fresh mint or asian pear to a salad. I am also learning ways to have more time to cook. I have discovered the magic of a few stainless steel bowls, a couple of spoons, and some plastic cups. The kids will stay occupied for at least twenty minutes! One day I would love to take a cooking class for fun, but until then I will have to continue experimenting in my laboratory like the mad kitchen scientist that I am.

Ugh Teething!



Let me just say teething is no fun and times two is how should I say? Hellacious! Yeah that works. This week the kids cut their second tooth and life as been really, really hard. There is a light at the end of this immediate tunnel as each one's new tooth is finally through the skin. I am now convinced that the reason we can't remember our first year of life is that it is so damn painful most of the time. Between the actual birth experience, growing pains, shots, incoming teeth, and assorted other maladies, evolution has stepped in to protect us from the memories of it all.

I give lots of cuddles, hugs, and kisses but still can't make the pain go away. That has been very hard to handle. It rips my heart out and sometimes my soul leaves for a little while just so I can endure as a parent. For me, it has been yet another lesson in letting go of control. However, as I write this I think to myself how thankful I am that thus far I have only needed to go through the normal trials of raising children. A quick reality check is all that is needed to imagine what it's like for the parents of chronic or terminally ill children (or other loved ones). For they are the ones that really have to learn how to relinquish personal control.

Well, there you go... I was sitting down to write a simple paragraph about our teething experiences as of late and I waxed philosophic in the end. The nature of the beast we call the blog!

A Winter Stroll



Last week I took the kids to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden . We strolled underneath the mighty oak canopy, visited the native cacti, and took a brief respite in the shade of the palm oasis. Mommy got some much needed exercise; nothing beats pushing two kids in a double stroller up a steep incline!
Here are some pictures from our day:

Watch out here we come!


Sure the hat looks good on, but it's so much fun to take off!


Touching a pine cone for the very first time.




We stopped to visit the ducks at the pond.




It's time to go home, Peach is tired! (Peach has been our nickname for Lorelai since she was born)

So Big!





Pictures taken today

I suppose an update is long overdue ; )

Kellen and Lorelai are 8 months old now!
They are getting so big. They are eating all kinds of solids foods and I try to make their food when I can. So far they are great eaters and enjoy almost everything. I feel very lucky in this regard. Kellen doesn't like avocados, but that has been the only food so far he didn't like. Lorelai likes everything so far especially fruit.

They each have one tooth. Kellen got his first followed by Lorelai six days later.
Kellen is definitely clingier than Lorelai and is already showing some signs of separation anxiety. Lorelai is our independent girl she loves to roll around on the ground and play with toys (more like dismantle them). They both sit up well unassisted and use me to pull up to standing.

In addition to various other vocalizations Kellen says mama and baba and Lorelai says dada and baba. Very appropriate since Kellen is definitely a momma's boy and Lorelai a daddy's girl.

They are growing and changing so fast! I can hardly believe that in a few short months they will be one year old. Then we will enter the new phase of toddlerhood. It will be an exciting, but frightening time for us. I am compiling information from other twin mommies I run into about how they handled it all including the common scenario of one running one way while the other is running the other way.

It will be a challenge to say the least, but I look forward to sharing it all right here (when I get a chance to sit for a moment). : )

Happy New Year!

Haven't had much time to devote to the online journal lately, but we wanted to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year!

The Great Pacific Northwest Part 2


Lorelai on the bank of the Rogue River in Grants Pass Oregon

After our breakfast in Davis we hit the road and headed to Grants Pass. The babies were great and only really fussed when we were getting close to our destination. We learned that their tolerance is 6 hours, 52 minutes, and 40 seconds. Ok, I might be off on the seconds, but their limit fell very close to 7 hours throughout most of the trip. Most of the time this was the scene in the back seat:



At long last we arrived at the home of our friends Jeremy and Keturah. Here are some pictures from our visit:



Despite having slept much of the day, Kellen realizes that it's his bedtime and Jeremy makes the perfect pillow!



Waking up is hard to do! Here's Jeremy, his son Nolan, and our happy boy Kellen.



Keturah and Lorelai looking so pretty!





A very tired daddy and sleepy little girl was our cue to turn in for a little shut-eye.

The next morning we got together for an amazing brunch at R Haus a pretty restaurant that over looks the Rogue River. It is also the place that Jeremy and Keturah got married! It was absolutely beautiful and the food was great.


Keturah, Nolan, and Kellen


Jeremy and Lorelai


Jeremy's son Justin, Jeremy & Nolan, and us


Soon we had to hit the road again off to our next stop Olympia, but we had a great time in Grants Pass and look forward to coming back again!

Onward Washington bound...
One great thing about travelling during this time of year was seeing all the beautiful fall foliage.



We also saw the manditory roadside bovine.


In the early evening we reached Portland and took a couple of drive-by pictures from the car.





Almost to Olympia we got to see a pretty sunset from the car.



Next post part 3 Washington!

Good Eats!




We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Kellen and Lorelai turned 6 months old last Tuesday and started on solid foods! As per Thanksgiving tradition they had sweet potatoes for their feast, and as you can see above Kellen is already starting to suffer from the post Thanksgiving food coma.

Alas, there have been no updates as of late. We have been experiencing the joy of twin teething while at the same time going through a growth spurt. Most of the day involves trying to put out baby fires as I like to call them and even then sometimes the fire rages on despite my best attempts to extinguish (ah I just love those moments...ok, not really).

Since I do have a moment I will share part I of our trip...

Day 1:

Estimated time of departure: Noon
Actual time of departure: Four o'clock

We learned a couple of lessons right away.
1. Packing for little ones is a major undertaking (they need many more things than just two adults do) and all possible scenarios have to be covered.
2. They will not always be on board with your plan to pack and get out of the house at a certain time. ie. I must be held and you will do it now!
3. Letting go of expectations is good! We're in their World now.

So after a late start we finally settled in for a drive to our first destination Davis. The kids handled the drive well and slept much of the way there. Our wonderful friends Matt and Jill opened their home to us and provided us with a place to stay. We in turn gave them a glimpse at life with six month old twins including the late night fussiness that comes prior to feeding. Hopefully, we didn't scare them too much! ; )
The next day we all went out for a good breakfast and then we were off to our next destination Grants Pass. To be continued in part II

The Great Pacific Northwest and Weird Science Part Deux




We just got back a few days ago from our first family vacation to the land of:

Overcast days
Logging
Rain
Douglas firs
Razorback clams
More logging
Oysters
Volcano's dormant and active
Morel mushrooms (amongst others)
Even more logging
Moss
Little road side coffee/espresso shacks
and hey did I mention logging?

There are many other things symbolic of the Pacific Northwest, but this is a fairly good representation off the top of my head. = )

Here's just one of the many logging trucks we whizzed past during our journey:



In the upcoming week, as time allows, I will post a little photolog of our trip.

Until then I leave you with the next installment of Weird Science...
and you thought it was just for drinking and cleaning pennies!

India Agriculture


Soda Science

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Here's a fun little link that shows how popular your first name is.

Birthday Alarm

Enjoy!

'Nuff Said

Happy Halloween!



We hope that you got lots of wonderful treats!