Happy Birthday Weekend Mommy!

A lot to report after this fun weekend! First off, my mom arrived on Friday night, its so nice to have her here! Yesterday, Monday, was my birthday, and we celebrated over the weekend by going to the Horse Races at Santa Anita Race Track.

I decided on the track because I wanted to do something with the girls, and the track does have a play ground and lots of space to run around. Unfortunately it rained Sunday so the park wasn't really an option and the girls were slipping and sliding all over the wet tile. But, they had a great time and LOVED the ponies. As my sister said - the look on Josie's face when she saw the horses was worth the price of admission. They then took a nice long, cozy nap, while we kept betting on races. We got home just as it really started down pouring, had some wine and cake with friends and opened presents with the oscars on in the background (the grammys used to be on my birthday, but I guess that has changed.) 

The girls playing with refrigerator magnets for the first time.

I had some made with their pictures on them and they are obsessed with them!

They were just too cute sitting there playing for so long.

My sister made the girls these crazy cute headbands with flowers 

we got as part of a valentine's day gift. Alex looks SO grown up here!

The girls' nanny, Brittany, sometimes gives the girls their bath. I am so grateful for that when we only have so long at the end of the day to spend with them, get dinner made, do chores, run errands, etc. On Thursday I came home and she had put Alexandra in this adorable dress that just so happens to match her helmet perfectly! She was also carrying around her little elephant that happened to match the dress's sweater. How cute!

Josie was in a little summer shorts jumper. It was a gorgeous day, of course the temps have now dropped since my mom is visiting and must have brought the cold with her from Canada.

Boxes inside boxes = hours of entertainment

On Saturday the girls got a hold of Jamey's light saber chop sticks and 

had fun sword fighting and using them as pointers. 

Alex points to the catalog as Josie points to an empty box of crackers.

James bought me a Happy Birthday balloon, some flowers and a cake. I am not sure who was more excited for the balloon - me, or the girls! Alex's face just lit up when she saw it, and she was too distracted to finish her lunch. Josie then marched around the house with it. GREAT gift!

Thanks to the weather, the girls got to wear their adorable coats from Aunt Chey to the track. 

The infamous slippy tile.

Burning off some energy between races!

If you look closely, you will see Alexandra all the way down 

by the fence with aunt Becky and Tom. :)

Reading up on the ponies!

My friend Krista joined us with her son, Jack. I love this outtake taken while I was fixing my scarf!

Here are the girls in their awesome Cadillac stroller that fully reclines taking a nice cozy nap with their super soft fleece blankets. I think a lot of us were jealous of them. 

Post race track cake!

That is a LOT of candles to blow out.

Monday was my actual birthday, and I had a really busy day. I had Alex's helmet appointment in the morning, a few hours of work, then meeting with a vendor at the condo, then back to work, then home for dinner. Poor little Alex was very sick on her way to the appointment. Its about a 35 minute drive from home, and about 2 minutes from the doctor's office she lost her breakfast. All over the car seat and car. Happy Birthday mom! Luckily, I had her in a sweater I could just zip her out of and she was fairly unscathed underneath. Also, luckily, we had a nice clean car seat right next to the one she was in - so I put her in Josie's seat and threw the messy one in the trunk. I figured we might as well get to the appointment, 2 minutes away, and use their bathroom, than turn around at that point.

Alex seemed to be doing ok at the office, and played with the toys there after we got cleaned up. I guess I can now officially say that we have stood by the side of the road and cleaned up puke!

And good news at the appointment - the specialist was very pleased with the results so far and thinks that we will be graduating in just 2 weeks! So excited for no more helmet, and no more driving to Reseda every other Monday morning!

And for making it through yet another marathon long blog post, here is a video of Josie knocking over a tower in slow motion! LOVE her little giggle at the beginning!

Weekend wrap up!

 It was President's Day weekend here and James and I had Monday off of work, woo hoo for 3 days!

So the girls are both officially walking. Josie seems to forget each morning then as she figures it out she is up and running. They toddle around as if they have never known anything else. Everyone warns us that we are now "in trouble" but let me list the PROS here:

1 - no more carrying heavy babies everywhere they need to go.
2 - we went to the park this weekend and it was a whole new world - crawling in sand looks awful and gets babies so dirty, but toddling around in sand is adorable. Also dirty but not like totally disgusting.
3 - last night I was alone with the girls while James was out and said "ok bed time" and they WALKED to their bedroom. I guess this is up there with "no more carrying babies."
4 - they just look so adorable walking around like little drunk chicks.
5 - opens up a whole new world of places to take them - now they wont be stuck in a stroller at museums and the mall and other activities.

Of course I know that they will be getting into more things, and of course it will be a pain when they decide that they HAVE to walk and don't want to be in a stroller, but as a non-baby person I am embracing these little toddlers!!

How cute are these little jean skirts?!

The girls are the best. Josie is cautiously walking around. She is really liking being held lately - she seems to go through phases where she needs the additional comfort. She is saying no and yes by shaking her head. She eats like no other - I can't believe how much food this girl can put away, but boy oh boy it takes her forever! She likes all of the food we give her, I don't think she has ever rejected anything. She really loves her milk warmed and spits out large amounts of cold milk to express her dissatisfaction. She is still watching the window and yelling out "dog" whether there is a dog or not. She also likes to point at the ducks in the bathroom and say "duck" which sounds a lot like "dog." She also responds when you ask "what does the cow say" with "mmmmmm" and when asked "where is your belly" will lift up her shirt and poke her belly button. She is doing great at using sippy cups of all kinds.

We decided to get out of the house and go to Target. The girls were really good there, and seemed to like riding around in the cart. We let them get out and toddle around and they found some baby soccer balls. 

"we refuse to both look at the camera at the same time"

The girls love the park - they love swinging and have no problem being pushed fast and high. Alex giggles uncontrollably and when I took her out of the swing pointed at it because she wanted to go back in. They love the slide - we put them on it and let them push themselves down into our arms. They are so proud of themselves when they push themselves down! 

Alex as usual is really surprising us with how aware she is. On Saturday James was watching the girls while I was out with friends and Josie was crying (as she does every time she SEES her milk but doesn't have it yet) - Alex put her fingers in her ears and looked at him like "why is this happening" lol. She does yes, no, and smacks her lips if you ask her if she is hungry. She totally knows her belly. And of course is still doing hand motions to twinkle twinkle and all of her other favorites. She also knows "head and shoulders, knees and toes" even the part with "eyes, ears, mouth and nose" She is really brave.

Climbing at the park!

On the swings at the park in their stylish hats!

Both girls are testing us - they do things we say "no" to, like pulling on outlets or on the stroller, and looking at us to see if we will react. I am trying to follow some guidelines for reacting to things like this, but it can be difficult. Alex also likes to drop her food onto the floor if she is no longer interested in it. She's already a bit of a picky eater, which surprises me, I thought that wouldn't happen until much later! 

I asked Josie where Alex's belly was...and this was the result!! ha ha

And a SUPER cute video James took while I was out on Saturday night :D <3 p="">

Josie's First Steps!!

Josie you really surprised us with this one - with the amount of standing you were doing so early on, we thought you would be running before your first birthday. You were, but not without the assistance of any form of walker - even a flimsy box. I guess you needed a little bit of security! Its ok to be brave but cautious! xoxox

I got a text from Brittany at about 3:30 that you had taken your first few steps. That was it though. Until bed time - when you decided to walk between mom and dad! As seen in the videos, you kind of took a long silly dive into my lap every time you came back my way! You are so proud of yourself and I can't wait to see you and your sister running all over the house. I'm sure, just like Alex, you will be running in no time!

Happy Valentine's Day

From the Crocket Twins.

Alex saves most of her love for Guy, but mom 

and dad get some of her lovey eyes too.

Well, lately Josie is either upset, or asleep, so this is her

Valentine's day photo.

Eyes of love

Alex has been very sweet about comforting Josie. xoxox

(though here she kind of looks "over it")

At story time, the girls made valentines <3 nbsp="" p="">

And Josie isn't crying or asleep! Success! 

The Valentine's Cards came out pretty good!

Birthday Party

I never did do a birthday party post. I kept thinking to myself I would do it when I felt better. That day has been slow to come, having been hit with a second round of illness.

Well here it is.

We woke up to a lovely note from their twin cousins Annabelle(l) and Joelle(r)! How sweet is this?!!

We started the day off as usual with bottles and some play time. We gave the girls a few of their gifts (as long as they were paying attention) including their little ride on lady bugs (which, in hindsight, have been a great gift!). They seemed into the idea of opening presents and enjoyed themselves. Then they went down for a nap - I wanted a really good nap for them so they would be on their best behavior for the party. I was really pleased when they slept and slept! That gave us tons of time to decorate the house and put everything out. We were all really having fun with it. I was even feeling better than I had been for a while.

Grandma Barbara sent us this kid table (they use it every day!) Here is James pretending to be annoyed at being sent a project. 

And, less annoyed. 

PRE-PARTY

I had made the girls my favorite cupcake recipe and decorated them the night before. I had also ordered some chocolate covered pretzels and cookies in the shapes of ladybugs - so cute!! Thank you to Etsy for all of the amazing stuff they have on there! They were awesome and both delicious and decorative! 

These cookies were buttery and divine!

 

James made his famous cookies - this time Red Velvet with white chips! MMM

The Champagne Bar and Sweets all set out!

As the girls kept napping longer than expected, we kept adding to our set up - here Becky and Stephanie use some red crepe ribbon to decorate the room. We set out a red lady bug tent that my mom got the girls (they love that, too!). There it is next to their little ladybug ride on toy.

 

Finally put this up - wasn't sure what to do with it!

The tent.

Finally the girls were awake and we put them in their little party dresses that James had bought them in Singapore when he went back when the girls were 4 months old. I was looking for ladybug themed outfits but we were reminded that we actually already had these, and noticed that they would fit them perfectly for their birthday, and heck those little red and dark blue polka dots seemed just too perfect! They are really nicely made. 

I had asked James if we could recreate this photo of him holding both babies on the day that they were born, wearing the same t-shirt and sweater. He was happy to oblige and I love how it turned out. Ok I wish the girls weren't so serious!! But they were a bit confused about what was going on. 

FOOD

While the girls were sleeping and Becky, Stephanie and I were setting up, James and my dad went to get the good. Thank goodness I sent my dad with James because when you order a 6 foot sub from Monte Carlo - they actually put it on a 6 foot loaf of bread. I had envisioned already cut sub in separate packages. NO, this is the REAL DEAL. And it was delicious. 

Thank goodness we had put in the leaves of our table....

Pasta salad, antipasto platter and 3 bean salad.

Cutting into the celebratory sub.

CAKE

Before it got too close to nap time, we did cake. The girls seemed a bit confused about what was going on, and kind of freaked out to be encircled and sung to. 

We help them blow out the candles. 

Cautiously digging in

Alex, you have a little something on your bib... 

 

Had the dr. check her ear for cake a few days later at her 1 yr appointment.

 

They eventually dug in and enjoyed it. And loved it all again a week later during their cake smash photos! Of course they like cake, who wouldn't after a steady diet of pureed fruits and veggies!

PLAY

We finally had some downtime to visit with everyone and play. The girls had a great time playing with their friends and visiting with everyone. Alex took the opportunity to test a new skill and stood for the first time at her party!! She was SO proud of herself and was looking around to make sure everyone was watching. A month to the day she would start taking her first steps! 

Josie prefers crawling or assisted walking! They were very cute about leaving their hats on! 

GIFTS

This may sound weird but I was really grateful that James didn't mind opening gifts. The dad doesn't open gifts at the baby shower and it can feel overwhelming. I appreciated taking a back seat and not being the center of attention and taking the opportunity to relax and enjoy the party for a moment. He was so good at it and the girls got such a great mix of stuff!! They truly do play with almost every new toy they have gotten! 

POST PARTY

 

Taking a moment to play with their new toys before bed time!

Tom testing out the tent!

All in all I think everything was very successful considering that we had 5 kids under 2 there, I was recovering from a cold, and we were at the mercy of baby schedules. I think that the adults appreciated the adult foods and beverages, and I hope they all enjoyed themselves. :) It was almost exactly what I was hoping for - just a small party without too much stress, some good food, a big sub sandwich, cake and cocktails! I was glad the girls liked the cake and enjoyed seeing people who have been there for us all year.