I love this photo of the boys (taken this morning).  It's so hard to catch Owen smiling on camera--he is probably one of the least photogenic babies ever!  And he is such a smiley, happy little guy.  This photo is HIM.  

I'm currently enjoying a nice quiet evening at home....ahhhh :)

Myke is out for the evening with friends and the kids are all sleeping (at least I hope so.  Chloë has already come out of her room 4 times for different reasons: "Mommy, I want you and daddy to sleep with me."  "Mommy, I have to go poo-poo" (false alarm), "Mommy, my foot hurts", "Mommy, I need you to cover me up again now that I'm out of bed".)

I had plans to be productive during this time but instead I'm on the couch with a comfy blanket and my lap top...and the tv on...Not productive at all and it's kind of nice!  Really nice, actually.

The kids before bed tonight

This is my "supermom" shot

Fun with Sunglesses:

Jax & Chloë: A Photoshoot

big 3 year olds!

happy!

sad!

excited!

scared!

cute! 

hugs!

My Date with Kyla

Me and my "date" on Saturday night

Wow.  My life is so exciting.  I go on dates with my dog!  I have no shame sharing that either.  Hey, babysitters are expensive so Myke and I don't get to go on many dates.  Kyla, my furry beast, is the next best thing!  Such a submissive date.  I get to pick where we go, what we eat, she doesn't argue with me, etc.  There are limits of course on where we can go since obviously dogs aren't welcome at all the fine eating establishments here in San Diego.  I know I sound pretty sad that my Saturday night out was a date with my dog, but just in case you didn't know, Kyla is the best dog in the world.  She is more deserving for a night out than most dogs out there!  And isn't it proven that time with dogs can lower one's blood pressure.  It's good for the soul!  

The whole things started this past Saturday around 5:30pm when Myke, completely out of the blue, said, "Hey, why don't you go out somewhere tonight.  Go to a spa and get a massage or something."  I was TOTALLY thrown off guard.  I had just planned on hanging low that evening, thinking we would tag-team dinner with the kids, tag-team "3 men in a tub" bath time, and then bed time...and then just collapse on the couch with a glass of wine any other night ;)   What woman DOESN'T want their hubby to offer to do all the night time duties while you go relax at a spa?!   Myke, are you feeling ok??  Wait, who cares...let's just go with this while it's happening!   Unfortunately, 5:30pm was kind of last-minute for scheduling a spa visit...I felt like I needed a little more preparation than that.  I don't go to spas very often, so when I do, I like to do it right.  I like to get there a couple hours before the treatment and use the gym, then shower and use the sauna, jacuzzi, drink the free juices,  lounge in a robe, etc.  I love to make the most of it (I may sound like I'm a pro at "spa-ing" (is that a verb) but I've only done it a handful of times to be honest.).  You can't feel rushed to go to a spa or you miss out on the whole point of it.  That's all I'm saying.  

This could have been me....(but instead see the top photo)

So now my date with my dog is looking EVEN more pathetic than it did in the first paragraph as you now realize that I could have been having a massage or a facial instead!  Well, anyways, I told Myke I would do a rain-check on the spa treatment (and I WILL NOT forget it) and just get out of the house on this night.  I decided to take Kyla as she hadn't gotten out much that day...and I am constantly feeling guilty about her lack of exercise since we've had kids.  I ended up texting a friend and we planned to meet up at Wine Steals- a wine and pizza place here in San Diego.  They have a very nice outdoor patio that is dog-friendly...so good for Kyla..and good for me!  We had an hour to kill before my friend could meet up so I took Kyla out and spoiled her for a little bit.  Ahhh, just like old times before kids!

First stop Petco where she got to pick a treat & a new toy

playing in the grass with her new toy

At Wine Steals with Faith, Sisha & Kyla

Waiting outside a market we went to afterwards

Such good girls

Anyways, enough about my date with the dog.  It was just a really relaxing evening.  I highly suggest Wine Steals for those in San Diego- they have this awesome deal for two on Saturday nights.  A salad, a 1/2 carafe of wine of your choice, one of their yummy brick-oven pizzas, and two flutes of bubbly all for $35 total.  Great date meal.  If you are going on a date with a human...not a dog.  Faith and I enjoyed it though :)

Some pictures from the past week:

Owen is suddenly an expert at the stairs--he just powers up them.  We have 3 levels in our house.  You turn around for 1 second and he has bolted up to the 3rd floor.  When you get up there to get him he just starts laughing hysterically.  He is SO PROUD of himself!

The kids

Frozen yogurt with mangos on a hot day last week

The boys on a chilly morning

Chloë at the park

Look closely- a 5 PERSON BIKE on the boardwalk!  

Is this in my future?  Not if Myke has anything to do with it!

Chloë insisted on pushing the stroller on our walk to preschool this morning. 

Sounds good to me!

Though she got tired after the first block so she jumped on for a ride for the rest of the way there.

BYE!

Happy 11 Months to O & E!!

11 months!

Yup, they're 11 months old!  One more month until the big first birthday.  I have put an end to my back and forth indecisiveness about whether or not to have a birthday party for them.  I've decided to do it!  After all, you only turn 1 once!  Also, I had a first birthday party for Chloë so it's only fair.  Nothing big but we'll do something.  

I tried to take some photos of the boys today...but it was pretty much a fail.  It's just IMPOSSIBLE to get a good photo of the two of them together.  Have them both look at the camera AND smile?  Are you kidding??   The above photo is pretty decent, actually, but I probably took 50 shots before getting that one. They are squirmy little buggars!  

Owen (aka "Bruiser") tries to pull off Eli's hat

Owen pushing Eli on the train

(Eli doesn't climb up here himself, I have to place him on here and hope he stays balanced for the ride. He loves it though)

Chooo Chooo

Our time with Thom/Pop is coming to an end as he is heading back home to the east coast tomorrow.  We'll be sad to see him go as he has been SUCH a GREAT help for us!  Just in the past couple days he has helped watch the kids, gone on a Trader Joe's grocery store run for me (and that's a feat in itself...my list includes all sorts of "dark side" (as he likes to call it) vegetarian & vegan foods like tofu, chickenless chicken strips, and other "crazy" things like spinach, broccoli, veggie sausage patties, etc...but somehow he found everything.  I was pretty impressed to be honest!), vacuumed out and washed our car, filled the car with gas for us, built a wooden stand for the new fabric potted garden on our roof, took Chloë to her karate class, picked her up from preschool, and more.  I think he'll sleep for a week when he leaves here!  

Pop with the kids (minus Owen..he's probably behind the recliner)

Chloë at karate class

At least they're both looking at the camera...I'll give them that

Yup, she's a RIGHTY

We may have to tie her hand behind her back

(Myke & I are both lefties and Myke's parents and sister are all lefties, too...

one of the twins better be a lefty!)

Photos

Our friend Angie is a fabulous photographer and shared a few photos she had taken last month when we met up with her and her hubby when they were down here in San Diego- so now I'll share them here:

Chloë at seal beach in La Jolla, Ca

This is my favorite shot

Eli & Owen

the fam

me & my girl :)

Angie is the one who did both Chloë and the boys' newborn photo shoots - so if you're ever looking for a photographer (in California!) here is her site: http://www.angelagraves.com/

My Kids Are Official!

It has been a good week.  We were sad to see Maureen ("Mom-Mom") leave to head back to Philly on Monday but we were glad that Thom ("Pop") was here to stay on as our own personal "manny" for an extra week.  As I recall, he did this last year, too, since I was on some form of bed rest or another and he stayed on to help us out.  This year, however, he is actually RETIRED so he didn't have to take any time off from the job back home.  It has definitely been nice having the extra set of hands around.  I've gotten to get some errands done, some of which I had been putting off for years...

Like getting my children's birth certificates!!  Yes, my kids are OFFICIAL now!  I had never even gone to get Chloë's either.  Am I lazy?  Maybe.  But did I want to haul 2-3 children downtown to the County Clerk's office to wait in long lines for pieces of paper?  No. I imagined that I would be looking for meter parking, pulling out my huge double stroller, piling everyone in, walking blocks upon blocks, not being able to find an elevator, waiting for hours in a line while my toddler ran around the office like a wild-child, , etc.  Did I want to hire a babysitter and spend extra money to pay that person while I went downtown and waited in long lines?  No.  I could have done it via mail, yes.  However, each request form would have had to be notarized and that in itself would have cost $30 extra dollars on top of the $21 charge per certificate.  Over $100 for birth certificates?  I think not.  That's almost 4 pedicures right there!  And no one likes ugly toes!  Anyways, I just didn't see a need to really get these things until finally I had no reason not to.  So I went yesterday while Chloë was in school and the boys were down for naps and Pop held down the fort.  I went in and told them I needed 3 birth certificates.  The guy kind of looked at me weird and asked if they were all for my own kids?  Yes.  I guess most people don't wait 3 years?  I'm not sure.  Then within 3 minutes I had all the certificates in my hand and was done.  The entire time in the office was under 5 minutes.  No line.  And on top of that the building had free parking and I found a spot right in the front. No problem.  Easy peasy.  I could have done this 3 years ago!  But then again I would have had to go again now anyways so good thing I waited, right?   The only thing I found to be odd about this was that they didn't even look at my ID to confirm I was who I was saying I was.  They just gave me the kid's birth certificates.  Thom/Pop wanted me to ask them for President Obama's birth certificate while I was there, but that's a whole 'nother story....

Speaking of Pop, like I said it has a been great having him here.  Myke and I even got to go see a movie...at a THEATER last night!  I don't know when the last time we have done that together was.  Ages ago.  We saw "A Separation".  Apparently it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  I thought it was ok.  Didn't like the ending so much.  I feel a little cheated that I used my "movie pass" for that and now am unsatisfied with my annual theater outing and want to go again.  Anyone know of any good flicks?  Maybe Myke and I can get one more movie night in before Thom/Pop leaves.  That's another thing, I just cannot justify paying a babysitter to watch the kids while Myke and I go to a movie.  Especially with the cost of movie tickets being $21 for the two of us.  You end up spending $60-$80 for the movie, a babysitter, and a small drink.  Not worth it unless I KNOW the movie will be amazing...and even then...yah, not worth it.   We have a big screen tv and Netflix.  I can deal with that.

So we've gotten a few date nights, we've gotten some errands done, I went to the grocery store BY MYSELF this afternoon, I've done some non-grocery/non-Target shopping (fun!), I've gone out with some friends, I've been able to take the boys to their Gymboree class,  take Chloë on a play date with our good friends without Owen & Eli tagging along, etc.  It has been nice.  Also, Pop has taken the boys on walks, taken Chloë to the aquarium, and not to mention his "projects".  I could do an entire blog called "Pop's Projects" when he visits :)

Chloë in "time-out" at the aquarium 

This visit we have acquired a mini roof-top garden.  I need to take a photo of it.  Thom heard about hydroponics and started looking into it.  Basically, it's growing (certain) plants without soil.  There is a hydroponics store within walking distance from our house.  My guess is that most people who visit this store go there to get set up to grow marijuana in their basements.  Just a guess.  Thom was probably their more innocent customer to date.  After visiting the store a few times...probably more than a few because he even took the boys with him on occasion and one time when he went with just Owen the store clerk asked "where the other one" was...meaning Eli.  My babies are apparently regulars at the pot-growing store.  Anyways, after visiting the store a few times Thom came back with these fabric pots that you can plant things int.  They are actually pretty neat.  In the end we are not going the sans-soil route but instead planted a variety of veggies and herbs (not THAT kind of herb) in these "pots" and put them on our roof deck.  Hopefully, we'll have some yummy peppers and tomatoes sometime soon.  I have no green thumb (even managed to kill my cactus in college) so we'll see what happens.

Planting the veggie & herb plants in their fabric bag "pots"

Pop's other recent project was to re-organize our refrigerator.  I was a little surprised when he first mentioned that he was going to do it.  I didn't think it was THAT bad looking- but there were a lot of jars of things that were almost done, so it was getting cluttered.  He waited for me to go upstairs one day and he went to town.  When I came back down he had thrown stuff away, put labels on the shelves, and put out the "almost done" stuff on the counter and made us finish/eat all of it that day.  "We're pushing pickles here..who wants to eat this last pickle?".  That last pickle had been sitting alone in that jar for a very long time in the fridge.  It was time to get rid of it.  I didn't eat the pickle, but I did my fair share of finishing up the ready-to-drink margarita bottle that was almost gone.  Such a big bottle after all...takes up so much room...might as well drink it...so we can have space for other things...like maybe another (fuller) margarita bottle.

We'll see what other projects he will fit in before he leaves next Tuesday.  Until then, a few random photos:

bad quality pic done with my phone- 

dinner with a couple friends at a very odd restaurant downtown.

Odd in that it only had weird meats served and I had to special request a vegetarian dish (which, by the way, was absolutely amazing, to my surprise)

This may sound not-so-odd to some friends & family back east and the midwest...but this is California...not having a vegetarian option listed on a menu is pretty bizarre/rare for out here

This restaurant had antelope sliders, bone marrow pasta and...

Quail!!

...no I didn't eat it...but a friend did.

iPhone in photo for scale.

Another low-quality iPhone photo--but Chloë digging into her Easter basket.

Her favorite thing?  The Spiderman bandaids.  

Coloring eggs on Easter

....in a swim suit

More later...and I need to post some Eli & Owen pics next time.  My baby boys are turning 11 months next week!  How did this happen?  I can't believe they are almost one!  I know everyone says that kind of thing about their kids at probably every birthday they ever have...but I really can't believe it!  Where did my little babies go?  I don't feel ready for one-year-old-twins.  They have just been awesome though.  I honestly couldn't ask for better little boys.  They are truly a joy in our lives and so much fun to be around.

Okay, goodnite.  For reals this time!