Observations From the Couch

We're Three Years Old!

2011-07-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

A little over three months ago, Stella and Fiona turned 3! My mom came out for that week to help ring in their third year.

Because they're my children, a birthday box arrived from Amy and Christopher a day early, and instead of making them wait, we let them open it. I have a very hard time waiting to give someone a present and waiting to open one that has arrived early.

Early birthday present teddy bear for Fiona:

Early birthday present bunny for Stella:

We had a very laid back, fun day. The night before, my mom, Stefan and I decorated the living/dining room with festive Cinco de Mayo decorations (they were more colorful and vibrant than the regular birthday decorations). In the morning, the girls came out to decorated walls, cards and a little present waiting for them at the table.

Stella likes her sombrero, stickers and card:Fiona is also a fan of the sombrero:...and she's doing her best to not let a wiggly worm scare her:

After breakfast, Stefan and I took them to an open gym at a yoga studio that the girls enjoy. While we were there, Grandma Julia set up the living room with presents that we'd gotten for them and that had arrived from Vienna. It's fun enough having Grandma Julia here, but a room of presents?! FUN!

Stella had been asking for a stroller for months and she knew just what to do:

In the afternoon, we'd invited a few friends over to help celebrate. Imagine five giggly 3 year olds, parents, a few infant siblings, an aunt, and a grandma in our place. It was perfect!

Hostess with the mostest:Stella is 3:Fiona is 3:DANCE PARTY!The next day, the girls took their new and old dolls and their new strollers (Stella's is off to the side) for a walk:

The other big event of the week was our uneven, unironed, unraveling curtains that have been an eyesore and the butt of many jokes for over a year got measured, ironed and hemmed by my Mama. What she thought would take half a day ended up taking a day and a half, and I am so appreciative every time I look at them. Like right now.

Avery was over for a couple of hours that morning, and the girls were fascinated by the sewing machine, and very good at standing back and watching.

Grandma Julia with 3 curious girls:

Perfecting the Elaine Dance

2011-04-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I told the Facebook world how I was bursting with pride at my girls doing their own Elaine dances at a friend's birthday dance party (to see the dance that I'm referencing, Google "Elaine Dance" and watch one of the videos).

Here are a few videos of them practicing their dancing and faces in front of the mirror in their room...

Sharing the space, Stella in the black and white sweater, Fiona in green:

From 3 Years Old (Spring 2011)

Next, Stella by herself:

From 3 Years Old (Spring 2011)

Now Fiona makes sure she's looking and sounding good:

From 3 Years Old (Spring 2011)

And finally, rivalry for the spotlight rears its ugly head:

From 3 Years Old (Spring 2011)

Sleep, Fashion, Weather and Models.

2011-03-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

In the (cough, cough) months since the last post...

Stella and Fiona continue to move around quite a bit in their sleep:They continue to develop their sense of fashion:Friends that they have known since they were newborns have begun turning 3. Here's a photo from Teagan's 3rd birthday party in February:(The kids all wondering why the parents are such weirdos.)

Weather wise, it snowed:Got below freezing:Rained:Developmentally, Stella is doing things like zipping her own sweatshirts, knows her left foot from her right foot (useful for putting on shoes) and runs like a kid. Fiona is writing her name (sometimes completely backwards) and drawing faces.

Stella running:An early example of Fiona's faces - they've since evolved to her drawing the heads:(oh how these scary faces make me laugh!)

Oh, and Stella was a swimsuit model for Zulily.com (Fiona was as well, but she refused to wear the brand of swimsuit that they were shooting, and I wasn't about to be a stage mom and force it on her, so they couldn't use her photo):I'm not forgetting the fact that they just had their 3rd birthday, I'm just saving that for another post - and it won't take nearly so long to get it up!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

Since it's almost Valentine's Day, I thought I'd finish the Christmas blog...

Preparations for Christmas started early for us this year. We bought and decorated our first Christmas tree in 6 years on the day after Thanksgiving so that Stefan's parents could be involved.

Isn't it cute?With Stella and Fiona beginning to grasp the concept of something special going on, I found myself getting more excited by the build-up to the holiday than I have been since I was a kid.

We did a couple of photo shoots in front of the Christmas tree:

I jumped the gun talking up Santa about 3 weeks before Christmas when I told the girls that since we didn't have a chimney, Santa could come into our living room through our balcony door. They immediately both scooted away from the door and began crying. Over time, they stopped crying every time I mentioned Santa (and how nice he is), but we had a deal that he'd only come up in the elevator and leave their presents outside our door, in the hallway. It was only just before they went to bed on Christmas Eve that they conceded to letting him come into the living room to leave the presents by the tree. But he wasn't allowed to go into their room. :)

Notes, cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer:

My sister, Rose, wanted to build a gingerbread house with them, so we went over there one morning after she'd baked the gingerbread. Throughout the process of putting the house together with the icing and putting gumdrops, jelly beans and candy canes on it, not once did it occur to the girls that they could eat it! Rose was cracking up at the fact that they never licked their fingers that were coated with sugar and frosting. I was a proud mom.

Stella concentrating on placing the jelly bean just right:Fiona moving the gumdrop just so...:Finished!

My dad drove up from Arcata to have Christmas with us. He arrived at our place as were were driving home from Rose's with the gingerbread house. As seems to be the "it" thing to do with grandparents these days, he wanted to make sugar cookies with the girls. Coincidentally, a panhandler outside of Trader Joe's gave me a box of sugar cookie mix complete with cookie cutters (I swear, I was not the panhandler) the day before he arrived.

Fiona and Grandpa Lee:

Stella with the star cookie cutter: I told my dad that "all I want for Christmas is a Ramone's Bakery chocolate dipped peanut butter cookie." He delivered:

Here is how we left the living room on Christmas Eve Night:

We didn't want the girls to walk out into the living room before we were ready to take photos, so we left the stockings just outside our bedroom door to be brought back into the room. The excitement for the mandarin oranges in the stockings was just as strong as the excitement over the books.

Fiona:Stella:Stella looked at the dollhouse for about 2 minutes before asking to eat her mandarin:About an hour after getting up, Fiona finally begins playing with the dollhouse:
The first thing said as they walked out to the living room was "Santa brought a big house!" Then, "Can I eat the orange?" It took all afternoon for either of the girls to realize that they could continue opening presents.

Now they've caught on, and sometime after Christmas, they realized that they get presents on their birthday as well. Still 7 weeks away, we've been getting told what they want for their birthday.

2010-12-16T15:41:00.001-08:00

Way back in November, a couple of cool things happened: it snowed, and Stefan's parents came to visit for 2 weeks. The added bonus is that it snowed while they were here!

Stella and Fiona's preschool teacher took this photo on the playground and sent it to me:Here's Fiona making a snow angel:Here's Stella laughing because she ate some snow:Suddenly I looked up the hill, and here come Stefan, Stella and Fiona on a borrowed sled:

Stefan's parents spent their first week at a bed and breakfast 2 blocks from our house. Then the day before it snowed and created havoc on the streets of Seattle, they moved to a vacation rental across the street from my friend Brigette's house. On the 3rd snow day (no school), Stefan took the girls up there and they had some fun in the yard...

Fiona outside with Opa (Brigette's house is there across the street):Busy little snow people:Making cookies with Oma:

And, on another day, the cold weather outside didn't deter the swimsuits from being put on inside:

In early December, my brother and sister in law came and stayed with us for a few days. We haven't seen them in almost a year. It only took about 20 minutes before Christopher was asked to sit at their table and cut paper with them, and by the end of the visit, the girls were running and jumping up into their arms.

(After) Dinner at Rose and Robert's with Christopher and Amy:It always strikes me as funny when someone tells me I'm tall. Look at this photo! Even kneeling, Robert is only a head shorter than I am. I think that at 5'6", I'm pretty average.

More of This and That

2010-11-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

It's been a full couple of months that I'll sum up with photos and a video because I'm lazy.

Reading a book called Mein Körper (My Body) to each other:One page has different injuries, so here they're looking for their "little, tiny ouchies":

Their new favorite thing at the zoo is the carousel:

(and we're not allowed to hold on to them:)

My sister had back surgery, so my mom came out for 2 weeks:

Halloween came and went... One day, Stella was the Builder and Fiona a Wizard:

Another day, Fiona was the Builder and Stella was a Cowgirl:
Stella impressed Stefan by spending some time setting up a picnic for her baby:The entire idea was hers, and Stefan was only allowed to watch. She even got her floppy baby to sit up by itself:

Stella explaining what happened to her frosting. In her words: "I was having frosting, then I not have frosting anymore. Then I eat this piece..."

First dentist appointments were had and the girls enjoyed their visit. The dentist counted their teeth, commented that they looked great, let the girls hold and use the "spit sucker" and gave them a new toothbrush and a toy.

Fiona in the chair:Stella getting water squirted in her mouth, holding the spit sucker:
In case anyone was wondering, Fiona still comes out in photos looking like she's hitting a high fashion supermodel pose:

The biggest news? They've both been completely out of diapers for over a month now. I can't even call it "potty training" because they both decided to do it with no pushing from us. We even got away without using a potty chair! They just use the toilet, and we're done.

Other big news is that they love school. From a traumatic first month or so, to absolutely loving it - I still have parents coming up to me and telling me what a difference! Whew!

Finally, the newest addition to our household... I'll call her Marge:

First Day of (Pre)school

2010-09-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today was a landmark day in our parenthood. Stella and Fiona started preschool at the Seattle Area German American School. We did everything we could to prepare them for this - from talking about it, to visiting 3 times - but I don't think anything could have prepared them for 4 hours amongst new kids and new teachers, away from Mom or Dad. Let's just say their voices were hoarse when I picked them up because of so much crying.

Last night and this morning, I asked each of them what they were most excited about for when they get to school. Fiona thought about it and then told me that she was excited to sing, eat and play, and Stella told me that she wanted to play with the dollhouse. This is video of them telling us that:

Stella also wanted to play with the babies and give them food and milk. But, before we took any of these videos, she had already begun realizing that this was the day that we weren't going to be staying with them. Here, after telling me that she's excited about the doll house, and feeding the babies, she also tells me that she wants me to stay, and that I should play with her at the doll house for a long time. Sigh...

Not caught on video was Fiona explaining that if Stella got scared or sad, Stella could come to her to play and be hugged.

And, of course, photos...

In my opinion, rain boots and raincoats just make a kid cuter. As do new lunch boxes:

Stella giving Fiona a kiss:

"Why are you making such a big deal of us getting into the car?"

Stella is well aware of where she is, and she is not amused:

I had planned my first morning of freedom well: drop off Stefan, coffee with Brigette, and a walk around Greenlake. However, upon arriving at the school, the director apologetically informed us that because the girls don't turn 2 and a half until the 22nd, one of us would have to be on the premises (but preferably unseen) the entire time that the girls are there. So, after I dropped Stefan off at work, I came back and sat in my car in front of the school. In two weeks, I have every intention of walking around the lake and coming home to sit on my ass while enjoying a movie. Until then, I'll get a lot of reading done.

How did the girls like school once the trauma of having been left subsided? Stella told me at dinner tonight that she wants to stay home on Friday. Fiona told me that she held her teacher's hand. They both told me that they really like their teachers. We read Maisy Goes to Preschool and Maisy Goes to School at nap time and bedtime.

Vienna Part 2

2010-09-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

The second half of our Vienna trip was just as easy as the first. It included asking beloved Thomas and Kathi to babysit Stella and Fiona while we went to go watch our friend Luis's band (Kommando Elefant) play at a music festival. This was the first time we'd left them for any amount of time in 2 years. The previous experience left us scarred and not wanting to put any potential babysitters through such hell.

Here we are on our date:

Oh - the girls? While they hugged our knees and squeaked "You're back!" when we walked in the door, they had a blast playing with Stefan's parents, brothers and Kathi. We weren't missed.

We also spent 2 glorious days in Grabelsdorf - a little lakeside town about 3 hours from Vienna. Our friend Milan has a family cabin there, and he and his family were spending some time away from the city with their newest addition Baby Ian. While there, we experienced an impressive thunderstorm, went to the lake, saw many chickens crossing roads, and most importantly, enjoyed the company of good friends.

The thunderstorm moving in:

Fiona washing her hands in the lake:

Stella likes the chickens:

Stefan, Stella, Angelica, Fiona, Katarina, Baby Ian, Milan, Ciara (in front):

And, this post wouldn't be complete with out a few photos from the Clothing Optional For Those Under Three Car Wash...

Vienna Part 1

2010-08-07T05:24:00.000-07:00

We've taken the kids to Vienna again... The last time we were here was a year and a half ago, over Christmas and New Years. The girls were 9 months old, just beginning to crawl, had awful colds and we were only here for 2 weeks, meaning that the jet lag took up half of our trip. Jet lag is awful with kids.

Going to Vienna in the winter means bundling up every time one goes out:

We're here for 3 weeks this time, meaning the jet lag was only one hellish week and we can have a somewhat normal 2 more full weeks. Everything is easier this time in that we only had to pack summer clothes (the joke is on us as it's rained 1/2 the time we've been here). The girls are much more at ease with everything and everyone. They love all the modes of transportation that we've taken (tram, subway, train, car, airplanes). When Stefan's brother and his girlfriend (Thomas and Kati) are around, we may as well go away, and we have. Our good friend from Berlin, Pia, visited for a weekend, and they couldn't be more enamored. They love running through the rooms at their Oma and Opa's flat (grandparent's). They love the kitties where we're staying - at a good friend's house who's on vacation in Croatia the entire time we're here. And they've been loving all the sugar we've been letting them eat while on vacation ("Things are going to change when we get back to Seattle!" Stefan and I mention with every piece of cake that they eat).

And now some photos...

Jet lag!! Playing with Legos at 3:00 am:

Shopping for groceries, discussing the broccoli:Stella looking out the window at what could be, if only it weren't raining:In Küb, at Stefan's grandma's house... Fiona playing piano with Ur-Oma (Great Grandma):Throwing rocks at cows across the street - this was stopped immediately:

While we were in Küb and I had the help of lots of family, Stefan took the opportunity to fly to Sarajevo to visit his good friend, Marco (who lives in Cologne, Germany, but was in Bosnia with his family). From what he said, it's a very interesting place, getting it's feet on the ground, and sadly one of the biggest impressions that he took away from there was the amount of mass graves marked around the city from the war 15 years ago.

Those aren't houses in the background, they're gravestones:

Back in Vienna...

They've decided that it's 8:00 am, time to go climb into Pia's bed:Pia entertaining them with the hose:What good is a backyard if you can't take your clothes off?
Eating gelato, wondering why it's been withheld from them for so long:Stella on the U-Bahn:Fiona on the strassenbahn:

Oh George...

Here is one of the grand entrances to the Museum Quarter. It's pretty amazing and beautiful, as is the whole city, in my opinion:

...and immediately to the left of this entrance, the face of the building is having some work done on it, so it's covered by George Clooney:

I'm sure some ladies (and men) would argue that he's just as beautiful, if not more so, than the building, but there is always work being done on historical buildings, which means that there are ads and builboards everywhere, covering history, sculptures, beautiful building facades, and I get a little bummed out.

I should mention the German that continues to bubble up in conversation with the girls. While most of their talk is in English, they understand everything, and are able to translate words if asked. Stefan is really excited to see their bilingual skills begin to take shape. Two weeks after we get home is when they begin preschool at the Seattle Area German American school.

Tomorrow we join friends in Grabelsdorf, about 3 hours south of Vienna, to start off our last week here.

For my next entry, I promise some photos from the Washing Thomas and Kati's Car session, in which everyone under 3 quickly became undressed. Does that surprise anyone anymore?

"Hey Tefan, you like it gawlic?"

2010-06-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

The summer is taking a long time to get here this year. A month ago, we had a few sunny days where we could have our balcony door open the whole day. It was a nice preview for what is sure to come.

Some photos from our few summer preview days:

Stella decides it warm enough to take off almost everything:
Fiona is really happy to see that sun!
I took this through the door so I wouldn't disturb their chatting while Stella is "nursing" her doll:
Fiona on the common patio:
A lazy afternoon on the big chair (Stella w/ the ponytails):

Overheard here and there...

We've been beyond counting the number of words that Stella and Fiona are saying for awhile now, but the phrases that they are picking up and things that they are saying are keeping us pretty entertained.

For whatever reason, Fiona is calling us by our first names a lot: Tefan and Atatata.

The other day I was chopping garlic, talking about how much Daddy and Mama love garlic. When Stefan walked in the door, the first thing Fiona said was "Hey Tefan, you like it gawlic?"

Sometimes when Stefan is leaving for work, we hear things like: "Bye bye Honey!" I also hear them calling each other "Honey" and "Schatzie" which is the German equivilant.

A couple of days ago, while we were hanging out on the communal patio, Stella pat Fiona on the back and said "I love you sooo much, Fiona!" That night when I was hugging and kissing them good night, they both told me "I love you sooo much!" I'll take it!

Instead of saying "scoot" as in "scoot over,' they say "toot." All day long I hear little voices telling each other to "toot over" or asking me to "toot over chair" to get them up to the table to eat.

Fiona has informed me a few times that she'll stay somewhere by herself and get home on her own. I'm pretty impressed by her steadfast confidence in her ability to do it. One day we were on the communal patio on the 2nd floor (we live on the 4th) and when I said it was time to go home to eat dinner, Fiona informed me that she'll stay on the patio by herself. "Mama, Stella go home, Fifi on patio by self. Fifi open door, elevator by self. Mama go home." I wasn't sure how to go about getting her inside without a big hassle, but luckily I saw a little inchworm. For some reason, both girls are not fans of bugs or worms or anything creepy and crawly. I, so far, have not done anything to instill this fear in them! So, I pointed out the little inchworm ("Hey! Look at that! An inchworm!") and we were all heading inside and home with in 30 seconds.

There is so much else going on, I wish I could live this life with a video camera on 13 hours a day (we'll take out the sleeping and the not so stellar moments) and then another life to watch it all again. They are singing songs, can recognize most letters of the alphabet on signs (this makes walks even longer) and sound out what letter a word starts with. When racing or counting down to doing some trick, instead of counting "1-2-3" they count to 10...because they can, I suppose, and I've never corrected them. While they mostly use English, they are using more and more German words all the time. Fiona has also been throwing in her own made up words that I call "Fionese." In September, they'll start preschool at a German immersion school. They'll be going 3 days a week, 4 hours a day, and I'll be trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life - again.

For some reason I can't upload video, which is a shame because I have a lot and a lot of good ones. I'll keep trying though.

One last photo of the girls looking and inspecting their individual mini-chicken pot pies that I spent 2 days making. They never got around to actually eating it and I won't bother to mention the words that may have flown out of my mouth at some point while cleaning it up...

Mother's Day #3

2010-05-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my mom's Facebook wall (yes, we're Facebook friends) on Mother's Day:

Way back when I could remember my dreams, these two are distinct: 1) I had a dream that I could see you holding me when I was a baby, and I could FEEL your unconditional love; 2) For whatever reason, a woman who in my dream was a witch, was going to kill me. I figured that since she was going to do it, instead of putting up a fight, I'd just let it happen. But then she gave me one last visit with you. You told me to go into the room with her and fight with everything I had. At least I'd have given it a try, and not given up. So the dream ended with me walking into the room, ready to fight for my life, feeling empowered to do so.

Thank you for the lifetime of unconditional love and unwavering support. I love you!

I used to have some intense dreams from the time I was about 17 to around 28 or so. Both of those fell into that time.

I talked with my brother last night, and he pretty much summed up how we observe and celebrate special days and holidays by telling me that his wife, Amy, recently told him that he might as well be a Jehovah's Witness. The same is true for me. Not only do I not have the energy or patience to go out and find gifts and cards for every special occasion, I also resent being made to feel like I'm supposed to, so I rebel by not doing anything. Stefan is very lucky in this regard because I don't expect anything either!

That being said, it is nice doing a little something out of the ordinary on a day when everyone else seems to be doing it. Especially when it's as gorgeous of a day as yesterday was.

So, in the evening, after my nasty headache finally subsided, Stefan pulled together a picnic dinner from stuff in our fridge, put it all in a bag, and we took the girls to one of my favorite places in Seattle, the Arboretum.

Stella and Fiona were excited about the idea of a picnic, and were thrilled when I took off my shoes and socks and let them do the same. It was a beautiful evening, and we ate pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and pasta with parmesian cheese.

I wanted to get a nice photo or two of me with the girls, since that is a rare occurrence, but payback is a bitch I guess. I don't think I started making faces in my mom's (or anyone's) photos until I was at least 10 years old. My girls started before they were two.

Setting up (Fiona's in dark purple; Stella's in light purple):
Me: "Stefan, can you take a photo with the girls and me?" Stefan: "Sure, Stella and Fiona, can you smile for the camera?":

Stefan: "Can you try to smile again?":
Taking off for an after dinner walk. The parents were told in no uncertain terms that we have to stay behind:
Another attempt at getting mother/daughter photos:

On the way back to the car, I thought I'd give it one last shot. I also thought it would be easier with one kid...

"Hey Fiona! Where's Daddy? Can you look at the camera?":Fiona realizing that Stella is way back, sitting in a patch of dirt, shoveling it over her legs:And off she went.

When we got home and were getting ready for bed, I told the girls that today was a special day when all the mamas think special thoughts about their kids, but soon, it will turn into a day when all the kids think special thoughts about their moms. And, honestly, I want that more than I want a card, or earrings, or going out to dinner. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms; Happy Mother's Day to all of your moms; Happy Mother's Day to all of you future moms; Happy Mother's Day to my friends who don't have or want kids, but do and did have moms! You're all special!

PS I'd like to add that I do love and appreciate the cards that I have received!! I'm not that jaded!

Where to Begin?

2010-05-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the the last two months that I get tired even thinking of writing about it. So I'll sum things up with captions and photos.

In March, we flew to Albuquerque to visit Kijrstin, Joey and Sonja. We didn't expect to have two sick kids on our first morning there, but it happened.It was either a 6 hour vomit virus, or altitude sickness because by the afternoon and after two naps, the girls were back in fine form.

While Sonja seemed a little startled by the fact that there were two girls in her room and bathtub......she quickly got used to it. Here is an example of exactly how I hope they'll be getting along for the next 80 or more years:After a couple of nights in Albuquerque, we braved a 5 hour car ride to go spend the week in Southwestern Colorado. Mancos, to be exact. My mom and step-dad moved to that area 7 years ago and my grandparents followed them out. This was the first time Stella and Fiona have met my grandparents, whom I've always felt very close to, so it was special. Here are photos from the week...

Every morning, my mom would come upstairs to get the girls. They'd spend the next hour getting dressed, talking and helping her make blueberry waffles.

Stella:Fiona:On the West Coast we've had an abnormally warm year, while in CO, they've had an exceptionally snowy year. This was great for us! We built a snowman named Ricky. He started with a carrot for a nose, but Stella thought "what good is a carrot on a snowman when I can eat it?"

Saying goodnight to Ricky:On the day that Stefan and Elias went skiing at Teluride...

...the rest of us met my grandparents at a great little coffee/gift/book shop/nursery. Here we got a 4 generational photo:My grandparents pulled out a bunch of things that I can remember from when I was a kid. This turtle stool is on of them:My grandma and me:Music was, of course, always around...

Stella listening to my mom:We discovered that Fiona has a talent for drumming and dancing at the same time:

My mom also put them to work...

Showing Fiona the snowplow:After teaching Stella to shovel snow:
A couple shots from downtown Mancos (hee!):

Not a week after we came home, we moved to our new place (you know, the brand new condo we bought)...

Having a snack before the movers brought over our belongings:

Decorating the brand new fridge with magnets from Grandma Julia:

Blowing bubbles on our balcony:Fiona and the view of downtown on the communal patio:

We're walking distance to the stadiums, and on our side of the building, if you're standing on the street and it's a clear day, you can see Mt. Rainier.

Somewhere between then and now, the girls turned two (on March 22nd). We had about 5 different occasions of little celebrations and gifts from various friends and relatives. One of their favorites songs is now Happy Birthday. Due to all the chaos, and lack of any one real party, I don't think there are any photos. Bad mom and dad, I know.

They've also become quite headstrong in what they wear (well, in every aspect, actually). This has resulted in people on the street commenting on their style, one lady even pulling over in her truck, cracking up, to tell me that she was impressed with their fashion sense. Here's an example (Stella):

What is that look, you ask? It's her camera smile. I'm not kidding, she said "No, wait, camera smile..." and did that.

Grandpa Elias was able to come out for a few days while working on a project up in Bellingham. With him around, Stefan and I weren't needed for bedtime stories: And finally, one day last week, I was asked to put their hair in ponytails and instead of immediately taking them out, Stella waited a couple of hours and Fiona the whole day:

Fiona

Stella

So many little things have happened, from new expressions that they are saying ("Holy moley!"), to them having a 5 week cough; enrolling them in a German immersion preschool starting in September; booking tickets for our 3 week trip to Vienna this summer... but instead of detailing every little thing, I'll just try to get better about posting again.

Shift the Power to the People

2010-02-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

I've never done this on this blog, but I feel strongly enough about what is going on (or what isn't going on) to let as many people know, any way I can.

Due to the massive storms this winter (and another hitting the East Coast right now), there are thousands of people on the Cheyene Indian Reservations (right now!) without water, food, power, and heat and people are dying. This has been going on for a few weeks now - and has not really become "news." Sadly, it's not like this is a new problem, but it is being compounded by the recent weather.

If you pay any attention to the news, it's great that Haiti is finally getting attention (unfortunately, only after such devastation); it's sad that celebrities are passing away from suicide or health conditions; it may be interesting to some that Brad Pitt took his girls shopping in Paris; it's really a shame that this isn't getting any press anywhere.

My good friend, Rene, helped pull together this PSA in just a couple of days after hearing about what was going on. She's a casting director in LA, and is one of those people who pours goodness out of her heart. She is living proof that you don't have to be an asshole in the entertainment industry to be in the entertainment industry. She believes that every single person deserves just as much of a chance as the next, whether it's auditioning for a role or, in this case, having the bare necessities. She's really proud of what they were able to pull off with this PSA and I'm really proud to know her and pass it along.

While I'm praising her, I should also give her public credit for suggesting the name Fiona. :)

Please watch the PSA: http://shiftthepowertothepeople.squarespace.com/. Read what is on the website. Send letters and emails to your representatives. They've made it very easy.

Angelica

The Jaguar Song

2010-02-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

This song was written by Stella during lunch and is sung by Stella and Fiona:

Fiona is in the pink bib; Stella is in the white one. The lyrics go a little something like this: "Jaguar, jaguar, jaguar..."

Future Fire Fighters?

2010-02-06T13:44:00.001-08:00

Our neighborhood fire house opened up for people to stop by today. I read about it last night and asked Stefan if we should shift our usual Saturday morning routine of taking the bus to the library and coffee shop, and go see fire trucks instead. "For fire trucks?!" He said, "Of course!"

There was no surprise when we walked into the station, and there were about 10 other little kids running around looking at the trucks, some of them wearing fire hats and vests, and one wearing his Halloween lion costume (hee).

A couple of the trucks were out doing training runs, but the girls enjoyed seeing the Medic One vehicle and the long ladder truck up close, as well as the fire fighters' boots, jackets and helmets. With all that, what did Stella keep wanting to go back and see? The washing machine that she caught a glimpse of in a different room. Let me be clear, it wasn't in a Joan Cleaver "I can't wait to start washing my husband's clothes and I'm already checking out my washing machine options" way. It was in a "fire fighters have washing machines too!" way.

Checking out the ladder truck:Pole dancer train- I mean future fire fighter training!
Fiona:Stella:

One Year Ago...

2010-02-01T13:28:00.001-08:00

I went out for the evening one year ago (I don't remember where or why, but let's just say it was for beer with friends), and when I came home, I found these on our camera:

The girls are done, but Stefan's not:

The question is: who's having more fun? Stefan or the girls?

The End to an Era

2010-01-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

The girls stopped nursing Friday, Jan 22nd! They were exactly 22 months old. There was no training, weaning, fussing or build-up. One night, I took our usual good night reading material into the bedroom, sat on their beds and read, they curled up and went to sleep. As with every other time we've dropped a nursing session, once we've done it once, there is no going back.

Here are a few photos of the nursing pillow that is now in the closet, waiting for a new home...

When they were much smaller, they used to hold hands while nursing:
Stefan was able to use it too:
Multi-tasking:

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T12:32:00.000-08:00

A little late, but here's a recap of our wonderful Christmas in LA...

The flights couldn't have gone any smoother thanks to good planning, good timing and both parents being on the plane. We breezed through the Sea-Tac airport on it's busiest day at it's busiest hour. Hurray to checking in only 1 bag and not bringing a stroller!

Seasoned travelers... Stefan and Stella walking toward the gate:

Travel bliss was interrupted on the drive to Christopher's house when Stella got car sick for the fist time. Those memories were easily erased by rides on his office chair once we got there:
Huck is Christopher and Amy's sweet, patient dog and an absolute thrill for the girls...

Looking at each other through the glass door:
Everyone's happy:

Christmas Morning...

Stella's tutu:
Santa Fiona:
Stella's new rain boots:
Amy helping Fiona get her footing in her new boots:
Stella showing making oatmeal for Grandma with her new pots and pans:

Here is a video of Stella playing with her new pots and pans, surprised at first by Huck, and then she quickly gets over it. You can also hear Fiona, off camera, say "Huck" as she passes him...

Christmas Photo, Santa Streakers, and the "Cissy Bus"

2009-12-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not kidding - of the 30 photos we took to get a family Christmas photo, this is the closest we got to having everyone looking at the camera and everyone smiling (Stella's doing her "camera smile"):

Nothing better than being naked while wearing a santa hat!
New bath time fun - Bubble Beards!
Stella's:
Fiona's (well, it's almost gone, but she did get another one):

Our new Saturday routine is to take a trip up to the library after breakfast and before naps. To make this trip even more, insanely exciting, we take the bus ("cissy bus" as they call it). It's an easy, 5 minute ride. We spend about 10-20 minutes in the library, then walk around the block, and catch the bus home! It all takes about an hour and it excites them enough to fall asleep quickly for their nap, and talk about all week.

A few photos from the bus ride last Saturday...

Stella making sure the driver's watching the road:

Fiona - "Is that damn camera in my face again?"

Uh-oh! Someone's getting on the bus

Cookies, Carousel, Camera Smiles

2009-11-28T13:25:00.001-08:00

This year, Stefan and I decided to begin our own family tradition of baking a batch of cookies and letting the girls help. I found an egg free recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies (egg free is important because of little fingers being unable to resist the temptation to eat cookie dough - and I mean Stella and Fiona's little fingers, not mine). They loved being able to help make the cookies, and now call cookies "pat, pat, pat" because their job was to pat the cookie dough flat.

Some photos from Thanksgiving Cookie Hour:

Stella patting the cookie dough into shape:Fiona patting her cookie dough:Little fingers picking out a raisin:Stella really wants a cookie, but is being told that they are too hot:Fiona looks out the window in an attempt to distract herself while waiting:Fiiiiiiiiiiinallllllyyyyyy:

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I realized that for as much as we talk about buses, the girls have never been on one. Nor have they ever been downtown (I generally avoid it at all costs). So after breakfast, we schlepped them to the bus stop, excitedly hopped on the #11, and both girls promptly started crying. Fortunately, the crying was only in bursts, and the ride was only 8 minutes. We passed the morning at the Westlake Center where they've just lit up a (sadly anticlimatic) Christmas tree, there is a carousel, and Santas are doing photos in the windows of Nordstrom's and Macy's. While looking at the carousel, a man overheard us wondering how much tickets were and gave us a couple of extras that he'd bought. The fake Christmas trees in Macy's were a little confusing, but the jingle bell ornaments were a hit. Boots on display in windows drew more interest than anything. The bus ride home was much happier, and we've been hearing about the "city bus ride" all day.

Here are a few photos from the morning (we weren't obnoxious enough to take photos on the bus)...

Stella enjoying the carousel ride (from the bench seat):Fiona was a little more apprehensive:And remained so:Waiting for the bus to go back home:

A few more odds and ends... talking is pretty much underway, and the conversations are getting funnier and better. Some stuff they pick up and decide to say in German, others in English - there's really no rhyme or reason to it. They can both climb into their own high chairs and Fiona is getting the buckles down. Stefan's pulled out his guitar and learned Rock-a-bye Baby and Old MacDonald, and to hear the girls "singing" is enough to melt hearts.

Stella's latest "camera smile:"
Fiona's latest "camera smile:"

2009-11-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

Watch the video to see if you can catch everything going on here. It's an example of how the girls know exactly what they are talking about, even if Stefan or I don't understand exactly what they're saying:

We're eating cauliflower, which Stella has been calling "broccoli." I asked Fiona what she's eating, Stella points to the stove (where more cauliflower was in the pan), says "broccoli" (well, she says something like "botli") and then she she starts doing the sign for "flower" (putting her hand to her nose as if smelling a flower). I wasn't putting all of that together, and couldn't figure out what she was pointing at, which is when I ask if she saw a flower. Notice how they both correct me when I ask if Fiona has a flower on her shirt.

I was still confused as to what Stella was talking about and why she kept signing "flower" so I changed the subject so that she wouldn't get frustrated. That's when I asked about the bibs, because it's always an amusing conversation. Fiona is wearing the coveted bib that says "I am your tootsie wootsie." To try to make the other bib appealing, we call it the "funky monkey bib." They call the bibs "wootsie" and "aa-aa" (as in a monkey sound). At the very end, just as the video is ending, Stella starts suggesting that Fiona (Vri-vri) wears the monkey bib instead.

After I stopped recording this video, Stefan finally put together what Stella was saying. "Broccoli" and "flower." Excitement and excessive reassurance that we finally understood what she was saying followed.

Hour Long Walk Around the Block

2009-11-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you may have noticed my status update recently that said this:

Stella really wanted to go to work this morning. She put on Fiona's vest (inside out), got her "backpack" (little butterfly bag), and followed Stefan out the door while saying "Del-ya wook...backpack." So I bundled the girls up and we took another lovely, hour long walk around the block.

Stella was so adamant and sweet about going to work that I looked outside to make sure it wasn't raining. It took us about 15 minutes for everyone to get socks, shoes, sweatshirts, hats and jackets on, and it still wasn't raining, so off we went.

Lately, we've been able to take some really nice walks - but I'm not kidding, they are litterally around the block, and they can last longer than an hour. The girls know enough to stay with me, or at least listen when I tell them to stop and wait for me. We'll see how long that lasts. There are a lot of distractions along the way: leaves on the ground, people to stop and stare at, people who stop and stare at them, rocks, windows, water hoses, sirens, busses, squirrels, pine cones, flowers, sticks, dirt, etc.

Here are some photos from this morning's walk. Stella is wearing the vest that my mom bought for Fiona (Fiona is fine with sharing), and Fiona is wearing the pink and white jacket.

Pockets, Monkeys, Uncle Thomas, Hair Cuts

2009-11-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Stella LOVES walking around with her hands in her pockets. Whether they're on her pants, sweatshirts or jacket, she's a happy little camper when she finds them:

"What's that around her neck?" you ask... Stefan's brother and girlfriend came to visit en route to New Zealand and they brought the girls a monkey that has velcro on the hands and feet. We quickly realized we'd need two monkeys (something we don't do very often is buy 2 of the same thing).

Fiona also likes pockets and monkeys, but she doesn't like being told to stand back against the wall for a photo:

Thomas and I took the girls to a local library to see fire trucks. Here are Fiona and Thomas:
On the way home, Thomas and Stella:

Stefan and I finally got up the courage to chop off the back of their fly-away hair that made them look like little Unabomber terrorists...

Checking out Daddy's sore knee while also showing off their newly (unevenly) cut hair:

Just a Phase

2009-10-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

No, this is not allowed. And you'll notice, with the exception of the first photo, there are no chairs around because my threats of "If you climb on the table one more time, I'll take the chairs away..." are not empty.

On their play kitchen:
Problem is that once Stella gets up, she can't get down. Then Fiona wants to join her:
Two stuck babies:
Different table, different day, same Stella:

Lunch in San Francisco

2009-10-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is a flight attendant for Alaskan Airlines, and even though she's had two years off for maternity and "new mama" leave, she still gets to take advantage of some perks... like vouchers to fly stand-by for free! So, before she returns to work (in a few weeks), she treated a few fellow friends to a day in San Francisco.

The day couldn't have gone smoother or better if we had done any planning. Everything from the timing of flights to the weather was perfect. We said "bye" to our spouses and babies at 7:30 am, breezed through check in and security with enough time to get food and coffee; boarded; landed in Oakland and took BART into San Francisco. My friend Julie met us at the Embarcadero and suggested Cafe Zoetrope for lunch. We spent a couple of lazy and delicious hours there. My friend Wendi came by and joined us for a glass of wine and showed off how much her baby has grown. Then we walked a couple blocks to Chinatown where we were overwhelmed, but not above buying a bunch of cheap crap, mostly for our babies. From there, we walked down to Union Square, said "bye" to Julie, hopped on the BART for SFO, grabbed dinner, boarded the plane and got home by 10:30 pm.

It was so amazing to get away for a day, be with friends, and be in SF again! Plus, the star treatment we got on our flights will make it hard to travel without Brigette again.

Here is a photo round-up of the day...

When the flight attendant asked if I wanted Bailey's with my coffee, I said "sure!":So did Brigette:

...and Betsy:

"Hey Julie, I'm coming to SF on Saturday, can you hang out?""Hey Wendi (and Maya), I'm having lunch in SF on Saturday, wanna join us?"Betsy, Shelly, Angelica and Brigette - food, coffee and wine make us smile:
Brigette, Angelica, Shelly and Betsy at the gates of Chinatown:
And so it goes, if there's something to pose in front of, why not do it?
While posing in front of the dragon, I looked across the street and realized that there was Cafe de la Presse, where Kijrstin used to work:
Shelly and I bought ourselves slippers, and later asked "why?"
Heading back to SFO on the airtrain with the sun setting in our eyes:
One last hurrah - it's not coffee and it rhymes with ..."Rosmopolitan..."
Fiona loved the silk pajamas that I brought back from Chinatown:
Stella didn't:

Happiness

2009-09-28T13:36:00.001-07:00

We have happy kids!

Stella:

Fiona:

Fiona & Stella

Words

2009-09-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

Latest spoken words (as opposed to signed words):
Cheese
Banana
Apple
Door
Down
Spoon
Diaper
Back Pack
Taxi
Shoe
Zoo
Towel
Owl
Night night
Water
Bean
Zu = to close in German
Lu lu = to go pee in Austrian German (a child's term)
Ei = egg in German

"Bubble":

"More":
Here is a link to a video of them saying "more?" taken by my mom while we were in LA. I can't download it unfortunately, so take my word for it that it's cute and you want to click here.

Always fun is asking them to blink and stick out their tongues at the same time:

I'm still working on "coffee." I do get very proud when they point to the coffee pot and say "Mama!"

One Quiet Morning...

2009-09-15T23:23:00.001-07:00

A couple of days ago, I was enjoying the fact that the girls can play so well together while I disappeared around the corner to make breakfast. I heard a couple of "Uh-oh!...Uh-OH's", but I didn't think anything of it because they'll say that if they drop a spoon, want to play hide and seek, or tear a page in a book - all normal and frequent occurances.

But then... I began thinking... that things had gotten too quiet... So I peeked into the living room and found this:Stella was dressed the last time I looked at her.

So, I gathered her diaper, got some new clothes (she chose them this time) and put her on the living room floor to dress her again. That's when I realized we were sitting next to a door from their new play kitchen that had been ripped from it's hinges and was on the floor. Take a look...

New play kitchen w/ a forcibly removed door:

You can see the damage to the particle board on the upper and lower right side corners:

This would explain the "uh-oh's" that I had heard. I still can't figure out who had the strength to do it!

The Last Three Weeks

2009-09-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Stefan's parents and youngest brother came to visit for 10 days. We spent 4 of those days in Port Townsend where Stefan picked up the gnarliest virus he's ever had. I don't think it was the healthiest way to lose 15 pounds, but that's what it did to him! He was tested for influenza A, B and H1N1, but all came out negative. No one knows what it was, aside from brutal.

On to photos from Maria, Erwin and Clemens' visit...

Stella walking with Erwin and Maria:
Stella and Opa:
Fiona and Uncle Clemens:

Our good friend, Eryn, also made her bi-annual trip up to Seattle:

We had plans to fly down to LA for my brother's wedding on the day after Stefan's parents left, but due to Stefan's inability to even get out of bed, we pushed the trip two days. Even then, the girls and I had to leave him behind and attend the wedding without him. To say that I was tired, haggard and concerned would be the understatement of the year.

I took two photos while down in LA... Fortunately, I come from a family of shutterbugs...

After the ceremony, my side of the family:The two reasons I'm so glad Stella and Fiona have a sibling, because I love mine so much:
I really am the shortest one in the family, but I'm sure we were standing on a slope:
The ladies of the family (Mom, Stella, Me, Fiona, Aunt Ellen, Rose):

I can post more of the wedding photos when we get the professional ones. The photographer told me that he got a lot of great ones of the girls.

A few more photos from LA...

Grandpa Lee warming his way into their hearts by blowing bubbles:Spinning in an office chair at Amy's parent's house. They're both saying "Moooooore?":Fiona taking a walk down the hotel corridor with Aunt "Ro Ro":

By the time we got home (after a very long 2.5 hour flight complete with screaming babies and a brave Aunt Rose), Stefan was feeling good enough to have cooked a full meal for us and even eat a few bites.

All I can say after the last few weeks is "Moving on!"

First Family Camping Trip

2009-08-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't been camping in over 10 years, so when a friend organized a group camping trip here, I was both excited and hesitant. Excited because we were going with other friends and toddlers, which is what we did every summer when I was growing up, and I had a blast. Hesitant because we were a group of 5 families with 6 toddlers. 5 families, one night, post rain/post heat wave, happy and busy babies, tents, camp stoves, happy parents around the camp fire when all the babies were in bed, beer, s'mores... We had a great time.

Here are some photos:

Happy Campers:
Happy Campers with unlimited gravel to eat and play with:
Stairway to temporary heaven:
How many adults does it take to wrangle 6 toddlers into chairs for a group photo? More than we had on hand:After "hiking" the interpretive trail (all of 1/4 of a mile):Stella on the long stretch of road back to camp:Helen coming to inform Stella of the newest stash of rocks discovered:Teagan tickling Fiona with a long piece of grass:Stella helping with the tent take-down:

Born to Rock

2009-08-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

One of my goals as a mother is to get the girls to like music that isn't crap. I know that's a totally subjective goal, but I have no qualms about trying to steer them toward original, rock, worldly music and away from Barney and who ever will be the Brittney Spears and Jonas Brothers in their future. Fortunately, for now, they have no say in the matter!

I think we're off to a pretty good start. When I do an iTunes search for one of our Putumayo CDs, I get lazy and usually type "put". This turns up all of the songs on the CD, plus one song by Faith No More called "Sitting Naked in Front of the Computer." It's a good song and Stella likes it too. Yay!

Here she is dancing to "Sitting Naked in Front of the Computer" by Faith No More:

I walked out of the living room one day, and a few minutes later, walked back in to see Fiona drumming on a step stool, a wooden drum, and a ball. Here are the last 10 or so seconds of her session:

They make me so proud!

Sizzling Seattle Scorcher

2009-08-01T09:59:00.001-07:00

To say we've had a hot couple of weeks would be the understatement of the year. Ever, actually. Seattle has been breaking all kinds of heat records - from hottest month EVER (I can't even count how many days have been above 90º lately), to the hottest day EVER (103º - it was 100 and above 3 days in a row), to a record high at night ( 72º).

After a few days in a row of temperatures in the upper 90s, Stefan and I decided to buy a portable air conditioner. So did the rest of Seattle, apparently, because there were none to be found. Finally, on Tuesday, after being told by the news that the headache, nausea and faintness I was feeling were symptoms of heat sickness, and after despairing over the girls who had wet, dripping, sweaty heads, I broke down and asked for help.

Our friends, Melanie and Courtney (parents of Jack and Avery) have a place out in North Bend, about 40 miles east of Seattle. I called Melanie and asked if they have AC and if we could stay for a couple of days until it cooled down. Not only did she say "yes," she loaded 2 more carseats into her mini-van and came and rescued Stella, Fiona and me at 2:00 (Stefan had our car in Tacoma).

Here's a photo of the temperature inside our apartment as we fled (bottom right):Stefan came home later in the afternoon and said it was up to 96.

A few more photos from our hot, hot days...

Fiona's head is too sweaty to properly hold the new clips that Kijrstin sent them:

One of the many ways I tried to cool the girls off was by freezing wet wash cloths and having them suck on them:

Aaaaaaaaahhhh - and now it's time to cool off...

After days of restless naps and hot, sleepless nights, here's Stella napping peacefully on the cool guest bed:
For the next 3 days, Melanie and I found ways to entertain 4 babies during the day without going outside in the over 100º heat:The news actually said that North Bend hit 113º, but if you notice, it was a cool 74º indoors.

Here's what 4 toddlers eating in the kitchen looks like (Avery, Jack, Fiona, Stella):
Jack is thrilled to show off his Tupperware cupboard:
Jack and Stella playing on the AC vent:

They have a cool tower in the kitchen that allows kids to stand on a shelf that gets them up to counter height so that they can see what's going on. Before we got there, there had only been 2 babies standing on it. We put it to the test and got 4 in there.

Stella, Avery and Jack (about to climb onto the counter):

Fiona and Avery feeling a bit crowded:

Our 2nd day, Melanie's parents came over and helped entertain everyone. Before it got too sizzling, we had a little time outside in the pool and with the sprinkler.

Jack and Melanie's dad, John, sitting in the chairs; Fiona in the pool; Mel helping get Stella in the pool:
Avery showing Stella everything about the sprinkler. Stella's not sure she wants to get wet:
Oops! Got wet!

Brushing teeth is almost torture for all of us... except if they have an audience. There were perfect tooth brushers if Melanie or Courtney were watching:

Avery showing the girls how to sweep the kitchen floor after they've all thrown their lunch on it:
What's cuter than 1 baby playing on a potty chair? 4 babies playing on potty chairs!

To add to the excitement of friends and new toys were 2 dogs, Katie and Allie. The girls are fascinated by dogs. On our 2nd night there, Fiona started making her dog barking sound in her sleep.

Fiona and Stella take time out from playing in the Tupperware cupboard to point out Allie:

Finally, on Friday, with the temperatures dropping back down into the upper 80s (ugh), our vacation close to home had to come to an end. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Stefan had to stay in Seattle on Thursday night, so Melanie, once again loaded us all into the mini-van and drove us back home.

Jack telling Stella not to worry, that he's got everything under control. Stella's not too sure:

By the time we got into Seattle, 2 were down with 2 to go:

Mel, Court, Jack and Avery - Thank you so much for opening your home to us and making us feel so welcome!

Hats

2009-07-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

Nothing new to report except for a couple of new words (ball, more), unprompted "thank you" signs, and some ungodly heat.

Here are a few photos of the girls in hats to keep you coming back:

Fiona with her chick hat from Auntie NeNe:
Fiona with her supermodel pout and a new sunhat:
Stella is perfecting her pout in the new sunhat:
We can't forget their very first sunhat photos:

Blueberries. Oh, and Arcata visit!

2009-07-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

We took a trip down to Arcata over the weekend to give the girls a taste of where I'm from. They loved it. We all loved it. Every time I go home, I realize how much I miss small town friendliness, the familiarity, the quiet, the lack of traffic, places to roam, etc. Not that I could live there again, but the thought does cross my mind every time I leave.

We stayed with our good friends who live out in Freshwater on 5 acres of meadow with a huge garden and our fill of blueberries that are just becoming good enough to eat. We saw lots of family friends who I've known most of my life, as well as old and current high school friends (it was the weekend of my 20th high school reunion after all).

Here are some photos...

Enjoying blueberries directly from the bush with Tisa:
Different day, same blueberry bushes:
Stella wants to help Al rake the garden:
En route to the "guest barn," stopping to munch on a few blueberries:
Fiona playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa Lee:
Angelica and Stella with one last stop at the blueberry bushes:
Stella smelling a dandelion flower:
Playing the "forward and backward" game in front of the guest barn:
Stella's newest fun thing is deliberately making funny faces, and it cracks me up:

Hot Summer Daze.

2009-07-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Arcata did not prepare me for temperatures above 65º and below 45º, but I'll tolerate up to 75º (maybe 79º if I'm already in a great mood) and down to 30º without complaining.

Here's how we've been beating the heat the past few days while the temps have been above 85º.

Pool Party at Cindi's!
Cindi (of Ian and Miles fame) knows from her own experience how damn hot it gets indoors, so she invited us over for some back porch splashing around on Thursday. This was the first time I've put the girls in swimsuits, and just hoped for the best when I took their diapers off...

Cute little swimsuit butts (Fiona is in blue):

Fiona and a new hat:
Stella stayed in the pool longer than anyone and Fiona is just realizing that it's not as warm as bathwater:

Stella thinking "I kind of like it in here!":
Miles and Ian wondering who is in their pool:

Crossroads Park "Sprayground!"
On Friday we met Melanie, her sister Stefanie, Cindi and all the kiddos at a park in Bellevue that not only has wide open spaces for the kids to toddle around in, it also has a "sprayground." This is an area with a rubber ground and has rubber sculptures and various holes in the ground that spit fountains of water on excited kids. Stella and Fiona loved it until they started getting sprayed...

Fiona with Mama just before deciding that she doesn't like being sprayed unexpectedly:

Playing with a fountain that randomly shoots up water (Stella in red):

"Mama! It shoots up water!"

Cal Anderson Park Wading Pool!
Cal Anderson Park (a few blocks from our apartment) hosted a fabulous Fourth of July party and we met some friends and their baby there. In addition to bands geared toward kids (Recess Monkey anyone?), free root beer floats from Molly Moon's, lots of dogs and people watching, there is a wading pool that the girls loved walking around in. This was their first time being in such a large pool of water.

Fiona is getting ready to jump:

Looking around, wondering why everyone isn't partaking in such fun:Stella kicking and splashing with her feet:
Fiona: "It's unbelievable how fun this is!"

I'm hoping we have only one more day of this weather before it cools down to a reasonable 70º. So as to not sound like such a wimp, I should add that we live on the top floor of a 3 story apartment building, and have the corner apartment with lots of windows facing East and South. We love the apartment and it's windows, but on hot, sunny days, it's like a full day sun party and sweatfest in here.

Funny enough, on Thursday, we're heading to Arcata where it's been in the 50s lately. I won't be complaining one bit!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

Stefan's life as a dad in photos...

Babies!
Babies at the park!
Sleeping babies!
Happy first Father's Day!
Sofa sleeping with baby!
Mama's gone, let's play with the camera!
Sharing a laugh with Fiona:
Getting a flower from Stella:
Playing at the park with toddlers!
Sleeping on toddler beds!

Happy Father's Day, Stefan! You're a wonderful dad. I love you, and the girls adore you.

Love, Angelica

"Daddy," Sophie the Girafe, Doctor, and a Whistle

2009-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Newest word to the vocabulary:

Fun with Sophie the Girafe:

After their doctor's appointment last Wed:As you can see by the band-aids, they received shots. Thank goodness that aside from flu shots in the fall, these are the last ones for a few years. The doctor is very impressed with their growth, both in length and weight, as well as their comprehension and coordination.

In other news, Stella fully undressed herself yesterday. It took her over an hour, but here she is at the moment she finally got that second leg out of the pants:
Our friends Sarah and Whitley not only have a kitty that the girls like, they also have a cool whistle. Last weekend, the whistle lessons finally paid off...

Fiona:

Stella:

Hee!

Hi, bye, potato

2009-06-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Stella and Fiona understand things said to them in both English and German very well. They also sign more and more, and it's really exciting.

Currently our signs are: more, all done, up, down, eat, drink, milk, mmmmmmmm..., please, dad, mom, bath, car, bird, wash hands, diaper, bathroom, siren, hear (as in "I hear a siren"), airplane, owie/hurt, where is it?...

Animal sounds are: dog, duck, monkey, peacock, cow, sheep, bear, lion, basically anything that roars, elephant, chicken, and most recently, turkey. Hee!

The vacuum cleaner and motorcycles also elicit deep growls from them.

As for real words, we don't have much. From everything I've heard, twins as well as bilingual kids take a little longer to talk. I'm not worried or worrying at all, as their comprehension in both languages is incredible. They do, however say "Bus," "Hi," "Bye-bye," and Fiona has started saying "Potato."

Here's the first time we realized that Stella was saying "Hi" - amazingly caught on video. It was taken May 18th, so almost a month ago. They now have it mastered:

Trying to catch a "bye-bye" on video has proven difficult, but here's one with Fiona waving, blowing kisses and saying "bye-bye" taken a few days ago:

Fiona doesn't like potatoes, so it's funny that in her babbling, she actually says "potato!" This wasn't a one time occurrence - she says it a lot now and it cracks us up every time:

Sun and Fun

2009-05-25T20:25:00.001-07:00

Some photos from the last couple of sunny weeks. Summer is here, and the weather's been gorgeous (minus a few days ago when the temps got into the 90s, making our apartment unbearably hot)!

At the park up the street:

The petting zoo is open! Fiona isn't sure about touching a goat:

It didn't take long though:Stella likes to cluck at the chickens:
Another funny sleep night...:
...30 minutes later:
Backyard fun in the sun with Helen @ Brigette's house:
The Gang (Teagan, Stella and Fiona) check out the new zoo penguin exhibit:
Kickin' it on Ian and Miles's porch:
Another backyard party at Katherine's:
Fiona in soccer training mode:
Kick the ball, Stella - don't sit on it!

Dancin'

2009-05-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the summer hit So You Think You Can Dance!

Fiona (Stella doesn't realize that American Idol ended last night):

Stella joins in:

Sleep (or lack of...)

2009-05-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Our sleeping arrangements must change SOON. For those who don't know, we live in a 1 bedroom apartment. There isn't enough room in our place for 2 cribs, so by default, we all sleep in the same bed. Thank goodness we had the foresight to buy a Cal King bed a couple of years ago!

However, in the past few weeks, the girls have become very bad bedmates. They crawl in their sleep. They roll over each other. They turn sideways. They crawl to the head of the bed and and head-butt the wall. They crawl off the bed and into the wall. They roll off the bed (we have our mattress on the floor for this reason) and onto the 1 toddler mattress that we have right next to it. All this without us in the bed. Imagine Stefan and I trying to sleep through it. Last night I snapped and slept on the sofa.

Here is a photo series of a night in the life of Stella and Fiona...

They started the night off in the middle of the bed. Stella's hanging off the side here:Soundly sleeping:Oops! Stella's off, but didn't notice:Stella trying to get back on the bed, but her head's too heavy with sleep and this is as far as she got:

Different night, same story. They both started sleeping with their heads toward the pillows. Stella is laying on Fiona's leg here:

Thanks Uncle Christopher

2009-05-06T19:47:00.001-07:00

Technology is amazing, and thanks to it, we are able to see our long distance families via Skype (online video chatting for those not in the know) quite often. We frequently chat with my brother because, not only is he fun to talk to, but he has a dog (Zoe) that the girls go nuts over whenever they see her. The drawback to this, however, is that although he's far away, he can still teach them things.

Here's something Stella learned from their last video chat:

Fiona

2009-05-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

With no special training, we've found that Fiona strikes perfect supermodel poses in a lot of her photos.

Examples:

She has a new babble. Here she is after just waking up from a nap:

She's also got all 8 front teeth, and I don't think her molars are far behind.
According to our bathroom scale, she's 21 pounds.
She can stand on her own, and is taking tentative steps. I think she'll be walking by this weekend.
Her newest signs are: bird, light, bath and car.

She also, completely on her own, started standing her plastic animals on their feet. This was something that she must have observed me doing when I'd get the animals out. A few days ago, she was playing with her dogs and looked at me with a big smile and started clapping. I realized that she had put them upright... And I experienced that moment that I'm sure every parent does: I must have the smartest kid in the world!!!

Here it is:

Port Townsend

2009-04-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

We did our first family get-away over the weekend and we went to Port Townsend. It's a cute, quiet tourist town 2 hours and a ferry ride away from Seattle.

First time on the ferry. SO EXCITING!!

Out of the car, sitting on the ferry bench:Our cottage in Port Hadlock for 2 nights:The ladies of the family in front of our cabin:
The girls ask: "Mama? What's grass?"
Mama giggles.
The view 50 feet from our door:
Perhaps Stefan will explain why Mama giggles at the word "grass?"The lighthouse at Fort Worden:The girls were thrilled. THRILLED!!They were much more interested in sitting on a log with Daddy:Or eating wood chips:We timed the ride home around their naps:
Yay!!! Back on the ferry, heading home!!!!Whooopieeeeeeeeeee!!

Sleep

2009-04-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

Stella flops around a lot when she's sleeping. She'll sit up, then fall back over, then sit up again, and fall over again. We've found her in some pretty good positions, but this is the best. So good, in fact, that we risked waking them both up by turning on the light to get a video.

2009-04-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

The girls are really sweet when they wake up from their naps. Sometimes I hear them talking or laughing together, other times, it's a wimper... usually when I go in, one or both are sitting up with big eyes and messy hair, looking to the door for when I get there.

Here they are after just waking up from a nice 2 hour nap:

Easter the Easy Way

2009-04-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

I know next year or the year following, Stefan and I will have to get creative and dye Easter eggs with the girls, hide them (the eggs, not the girls), and get carob candy and honey sticks for their Easter baskets, but this year we decided to let the zoo do the Easter entertaining for us.

At the infant and toddler section of the egg hunt. As you can see, the eggs weren't too hard to find:

P.S. I would never put carob candy or honey sticks in their Easter baskets.

Making Art

2009-04-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our daily color sessions last all of 5 minutes. Fiona loves coloring, but doesn't know to look at what she's doing. She just looks at me and grins as she "draws." Stella still wants to eat the crayons and tear the paper. This video shows how much they love it and how easily they are distracted from it. (Also note that Fiona is a lefty!!)

Fiona has the huge smile; Stella does the talking:

Videos

2009-04-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Something's not working right with Picassa's ability to upload my videos, so I'll just put a few here to keep the grandmas, grandpas, omas and opas satisfied while I try to figure out the bug.

An Easter package arrived from Vienna over the weekend with bunnies! Fiona is in the background, Stella is in the foreground:

The video is 2 minutes long, but there's a lot in it. When they put a hand on the side of their face, they're telling me that they are tired and it's time for a nap. When you hear me say "schnulie," that's the word used in Austria for a pacifier (I probably spelled that wrong). It's pretty typical at nap or bedtime for them both to head for the bed as soon as I say "Are you tired? Is it time for a nap?" Along the way, they'll stop to give me the sign for "nap" and "milk."
Here, Stella's ready for bed. She and Fiona have been really sweet together lately, as you can see when Stella tries to give Fiona the "schnulie" at the end of the video. Stella just doesn't realize that she has to let go of it:

Stella will be walking soon! Just before this video, she took 5 steps:

Other exciting happenings in the Moritz-Hesse household...

We turned their carseats around, to the delight of Mama. They couldn't care less. A carseat is a carseat is a carseat in their eyes:

We bought them crayons about a month ago. I thought it would be fun to see their reaction at creating something on paper. All they wanted to do was eat everything, so the crayons went up on a high shelf. Yesterday I brought them down again and had better results!

Stella was still more interested in eating the crayon, but Fiona really enjoyed making lines with different colors:

The Meeting, Part 2

2009-04-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

...continued from yesterday's post -

The first executive board meeting of the Cheerios for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Club was called and held at the new Moritz-Hesse table on Thursday, April 2nd...

Present at the meeting were Lucy, Stella, Fiona and Teagan:
"I think all adults should listen to us. WE WANT CHEERIOS FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND DINNER!" calls Stella. "Hey girls, are you paying attention?"

"I think I got my point across" Stella says proudly.
"Yes, I think my mama heard you and will agree!" says Lucy.
"If I throw a Cheerio on the floor, can I still eat it?" wonders Fiona.
"Where are my damn Cheerios?" thinks Teagan.

"Any questions Mamas?" the girls ask their Moms, who, at that exact moment, are discussing weaning.

The Meeting, Part 1

2009-04-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here they sit at their new table, eating some Cheerios:

Fiona says sweetly, "Why can't we have Cheerios for breakfast, lunch and dinner?!"

"By golly, Fiona! That's a great idea!" says Stella.
"Thank you, I have those ideas all the time."

Stella calls a couple friends to get them in on it...

"Dammit - I can't get any bars on this phone..."

"I think I can get through now..." mumbles Stella.
"I really hope so," replies Fiona.

Mama says "Hey girls! What's up?"
"Oh nothing Mama! You look really nice today!"

To be continued...

One Year Old!

2009-04-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been busy with visits, a birthday, sickness and outings.

Grandma Julia came to help celebrate their birthday. She wanted to take them shopping, but this is as far as she got:
March 22nd was Stella and Fiona's first birthday! We had a very small, sweet birthday party at home. I slaved* away in the kitchen the night before, worrying over how their homemade carrot cakes would turn out. The verdict? A little dry, but nothing that couldn't be fixed by lots of frosting!

Here are some photos from the day:

Stella wondering if the presents in their new birthday tent are for real:

Fiona will take the big box, thank you!
Stella sneakily opening one of Fiona's presents:
Obviously, Fiona has noticed:
Fiona testing the frosting to see if it sticks as well to her face as it does to the cake:
Stella testing the "goop factor:"
Here are the girls playing destroying their cake. If you look, you can see Fiona signing "more," and if you listen, you can hear her say "bu-" because she saw a bus:

Both Mama and Stella are very proud and excited that she's standing:

An attempt to go to the zoo ended 4 blocks from home when both girls vomited in the car and were sick for a couple days. 4 days later, we made it out to the Aquarium...

Fiona-fish:
Stella-fish:

I hope our girls continue to look at us adoringly for the rest of our lives:
Grandma Julia's last morning:

*It should be noted that anything that takes me more than 10 minutes to prepare equals "slaving away in the kitchen."

The Last Year

2009-03-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Babies-

I love you so much that tears well up in my eyes sometimes for no particular reason when I see you.

Love, Mama

Here are some photos of the past year:

The drip has started, the epidural has not:
Funny, Stella still makes this face sometimes:Fiona, doing her best to be modest for the camera:
If only they still slept so well:
Hee!
Stella's first camera smile:
Fiona's perfect pout:
Identical twins:
Stella's getting on the Cute Bus:
Fiona has been ridin' the Cute Bus for miles:
You can take the mama out of CA, but you can't take CA out of the Mama:
Stefan w/ Fiona in Santa Cruz:
Without all that clothing, Stella found her toes!!
Hey! So did Fiona!

The aliens have landed:

Fiona planting a big kiss on Stella's forehead:
First Halloween:
Great things come in big boxes:
One of the many snowy days in Seattle this year:Learning the ways of a baby gate:Fiona's oh-so-cool:Stella's new sleeping position:One week before their first birthday:First Birthday CAKE! The concept of "in the mouth" is still a bit foreign:

Then/Now

2009-03-20T14:14:00.001-07:00

One year ago today, I looked like this:Then: I was 38 weeks + 2 days pregnant, 95 pounds heavier than I am now, and the docs decided that it was time to induce me because I was showing no signs of going into labor on my own (in the timely manner that they wanted). Originally, I was opposed to induction, but seriously? When they called and told me to check into the hospital at 7:30 the next morning, I would have run if I could, I was so excited to stop being pregnant.

Here we are 1 year later:Now: I could run if I wanted to, I have no intention of ever being pregnant again, I eat a lot of brownies and ice cream, and I drink a lot of coffee (oh - nothing new there).

Let's talk about the girls, shall we?

Tooth watch: Fiona = 7, plus 10 more on the way judging by her swollen gums and drool puddles the last week. Stella = 7.

Motor Skills: Crawling all over the place. Walking along the walls, gates, sofa and fence. Dancing. Stella has been working on standing on her own and a couple of days ago, she took 2 steps toward me - twice! Fiona has just started letting go and standing on her own. Assisted, Stella likes walking backwards then leaning against things (James Dean style), and Fiona likes walking forward while kicking a ball.

Signing: after looking like fools for months during meal times and diaper changes, our efforts have finally begun to pay off. About 1 month ago, they started signing "more" and "all done." Then, out of the blue, Fiona started doing "diaper." Here's the only video we've gotten so far - they tend to shut down when they see the camera:

Words that they are signing so far are: more, all done, diaper, milk, eat, brush teeth, nap/sleep. I'm getting tired of grunts and screeches when they want something, so "please" and "thank you" are now in the signing repertoire.

Nothing's cuter to me right now than when I ask if they're tired and Stella claps both hands over the sides of her face (her variation of the sign for "nap"), Fiona does her one handed sign for "nap," and they both head for the bedroom, sometimes stopping to do the sign for "milk." I'm not making it up!!

Animal Sounds: All families have to do it - we do it too. They roar like a bear, tiger and lion. They moo like a cow. Cluck like a chicken. Make a loud raspberry-spitting sound for an elephant. They also smack their lips together when they see fish. Yesterday I was feeding them chicken at lunch, and every time I asked if they want more chicken, they would cluck. Hee!

First Word: If they could pronounce the "s" sound, they'd have "bus" as their first word. From our kitchen, we look out onto a busy street where buses pass often. They say "Bu-" every time they see a bus (and a truck, and vans). My goal to make "coffee" their first word probably won't happen, but when I say "coffee," they look up at the coffee maker. Thank you very much!

Babblelot's 1 Year Birthday!

2009-03-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

We had a group birthday party for all the twin babies that we've known for over a year now. We rented a play space tailored for kids under 5 years old and let all the babies run/crawl/scoot around for four hours. While most of us have continued to get together most Fridays, this was the largest gathering since June. Here are 2 photos from the 2 events - you can see the differences.

June, 2008 (S & F are in the lower right)

Look at us now!
Here are some more photos from the afternoon:

"It's a cupcake - you eat it...:Sitting at the table, snacking on Cheerios:Stella and Jack playing under the table (adding fuel to the rumors of their affection for each other). Stella sees her reflection in the post: Stella waiting for the Cute Bus:Fiona's favorite item in a huge room filled with toys:Our first family photo in months:

Weak Week

2009-03-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

It was one of these weeks last week:
There were some bright moments though. On Sunday, we took the girls to Madison Park:
On Monday afternoon, we (the girls and I) had 4 friends and babies over. The babies milled around and played with everything on the floor while the mamas drank coffee and had adult conversations. Sadly, I only took 1 photo.

Here is Jill showing the babes some of the cool toys she brought:

On Wednesday, I schlepped the girls over to Brigette's house so that they could play with Teagan and the kitties. We decided that the three girls needed naps, so we put them in their strollers and strolled on up to Red Mill Burgers and then on to the zoo. Stella and Fiona fell asleep, but Teagan didn't want to miss a thing.

Our hour at the zoo...

In front of the duck pond:In front of the cows:In front of the miniature horse:It was at the horse barn that a donkey startled the girls awake with some loud braying...jack ass.

The girls woke up just in time for the peacock show:Back at Brigette's house, here's Stella chasing after the kitty with Fiona joining in:

Showing off their mad dancing skills (Teagan is missing because she's "napping."):

They keep looking up at Brigette who is over my shoulder making faces.

The week finished with a bang. After staying home all day on Thursday and making sure they took good, long naps, we were all in high spirits on Friday - just in time for our twins playtime! At one point, we had 12 babies in the living room. It's downright laughable for anyone who's been in it, but it worked!

How many babies can you count?

11 Months Old

2009-02-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

A few of the babies and families that we've gotten to know in the past year have turned one by now. It's a little emotional for me, and from what I hear from the mamas who have gone through it, it's very emotional for them! I've still got 26 days to go before my big, blubbery "I've been a mom to 2 awesome little girls for 1 year" day. But who's counting?

I started off their 11 month birthday by putting them in new organic cotton outfits for their monthly portraits.

It didn't go so well:

A couple hours later, Ernie helped save the mood:

As well as a few minutes in the "office:"
The next day got off to another rocky start:

Let's just blame all of this on more teeth coming in, shall we?

And now on to Newest Tricks Caught on Video...

Stella smacking her lips like a fish and Fiona is showing us that fish:

Playing around after their bath:

Stella takes "socks go on your feet" literally. She gets frustrated when she's trying something and it doesn't work like when Stefan or I do it (I find that hilarious!):

Both girls have impressive learning curves right now. Fiona is a couple weeks behind Stella, but she also puts in about 1/2 the work to learn something that Stella worked so hard on. Just when I think Fiona has no interest in doing something, she just does it (pulling herself to standing, for example) and we realize that she's been observing Stella the entire time.

Nap and bedtimes have become more difficult for one person to manage. They can both roll over, sit up and crawl off the bed (all mattresses are on the floor for safety!). It can be a bit like trying to get 2 cats to lie still and go to sleep at the same time.

They can both smack their lips if you say "kiss" or "fish." They can also find their toes - even if their toes are hidden by socks or blankets. Fiona still has no interest in "mooing" like a cow or clucking like a chicken, but Stella has added to her sound effects repertoire and says "vroom" for cars. Fiona is not making liars of anyone who's said that this is the age of repetition. She'll hold up Ernie or the same book or her wooden barn that has windows over and over again until Stefan or I magically make them disappear. They can also find Spidey, Ernie, Ice Bear, the tambourine and/or egg shakers, and the fish in a room cluttered with toys and distractions.

Now for one last video of Stella using the bead maze to help her walk through the living room:

Oh - they can also play the tambourine and shake the egg shakers like nobody's business! One day I'll get that on video.

7 Teeth, Valentines Moo, Video

2009-02-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

Both girls are popping out their 7th and 8th teeth now. It's impossible to get photos of their mouth fulls so you'll just have to take my word for it. I can only assume the new teeth are responsible for Fiona's scream-fests this morning at 4:00 and 6:30.

We had a fun Valentine's Day at the zoo. Stella is now "moo-ing" and "clucking" when she sees pictures of cows and chickens in her books, but I realized that she has no idea of what a real cow or chicken looks like. Fortunately, the zoo has a farm section, so she got to hear her mom and dad making fools of themselves and finally associate a cow and a chicken with her new noises. I also have no photos of this.

What I do have is a short video of Fiona expressing her distress at Daddy going to work and Stella telling it like it is:

Eryn's Visit and First Birthday Party

2009-02-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Our friend Eryn maintains her Most Frequent Visitor From Out of Town title and came up to Seattle for a short visit with us and another friend (Sizzle!). We always love and welcome her visits and the girls have become very comfortable with her.

Fiona getting danced into the kitchen:
Eryn explaining to Stella why she can look at the necklace, but not eat it:

The other exciting thing this weekend was the first of a couple of planned group birthday parties. This was with the group of people that I met when I started going to the First Weeks drop-in classes when the girls were 3 weeks old. In the past year we've formed a great community that has proven invaluable in support, advice, outings and most importantly, friendship.

We had the birthday party in the cafeteria at the Woodland Park Zoo. After snacks were eaten, gifts were exchanged and photos were taken, we went on to look at some of the animals. Most of the babies by this point were asleep, including Stella and Fiona. A discussion on the hotness of Keanu Reeves and/vs. John Cusack also occurred. I, as usual, have different taste than the others.

On to some photos from the birthday party...

It was no coincidence that we were seated in front of the cupcakes (or that the cupcakes are pushed out of the way of little hands):
The birthday hats didn't last 10 seconds on the girls.
Stella:
Fiona:
Dads and Babes:
Moms and Babes:
Mama and Babes:
Daddy and Babe (Fiona):
Stella and a babe (Eryn - hee!):

That Damn Balloon!

2009-01-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

Our friends Marco and Sunita gave us a big, green, "eco-groovy" balloon while we were in Vienna. It's durable and won't pop, wasn't made in a sweat shop, it's non toxic....etc, etc. Being the owners of Sunimar, they're very aware of important issues like these.

Anyway, we've been trying to get video of the girls playing with it because they really have fun with it and crack each other up, but everytime I get the camera, they either put the balloon down and crawl away, or they hurt themselves. Observe...

Yank!

Crash of the Heads:

Success!

Bed Head

2009-01-28T22:44:00.000-08:00

Fiona's hair after waking up from her nap:

Stella's hair after waking up from her nap:

Final Week in Vienna, The Inauguration and a Mighty, Mighty Vomit Fest.

2009-01-23T19:53:00.000-08:00

And once again, it's been awhile since updating the blog. Between the return jet-lag and a rather gnarly bout with a nasty flu bug, we've been sort of paralyzed for the past couple of weeks.

Here's the summary of our last week in Vienna and our first couple weeks home:

Stefan's brother, Thomas, was gracious enough to let us take over his studio apartment when Michi and Marion returned home from their trip to Portugal.

Taking over the living room in Thomas's apartment:

We met our friends Marco, Sunita and their 1 year old son Aljoscha at the aquarium. It's called the Haus des Meeres and it was built in a 9 story WWII Nazi bunker. The girls enjoyed watching the big fish swim by. Aljoscha called every fish a "shark" which sounds a lot like the word "egg" which is his first word in both German and Bosnian. Hee! There was an incredible view of Vienna from the top of the building.

The aquarium from the outside:

We spent our final days hanging with Oma and Opa, Uncles Clemens and Thomas. Opa spent a lot of time on the floor with the girls, telling them about the Christmas tree, his watch, the Ice Bear (polar bear), the lint on the rug, and playing peek-a-boo.

Opa telling Stella why she can't eat the Christmas tree ornaments:

Our return trip started at 4:00 am. It was a long, long, very long travel day and inspite of everything we had going against us, the girls could not have done better! The only times they even fussed were when they were hungry or sleepy and both were easily taken care of. Even after arriving in Seattle and having to waste almost 2 more hours going through immigration and customs; realizing that one of our car seats hadn't arrived; filing a missing luggage report with a very slow customer service representative; and the 20 minute car ride home. They hung in there!

A very special thanks to Courtney who took us to the airport and picked us up!!! She and Melanie have twins (Avery and Jack) and a very convenient mini-van with enough room for car seats, adults and a bunch of "crap" as Melanie puts it. If it hadn't been for Courtney picking us up, our missing car seat would have become a huge problem in terms of us getting home.

Jet lag was again a wild hell raiser on our sleep schedules. I never, ever want to do that again with babies. Ever. It's not in our plans to have more babies, so it's basically a moot point. Whew!

Upon returning home, we got visits from very missed friends. Brigette and Teagan came over. Teagan was the very excited recipient of our #3 diapers that the girls have grown out of, and Brigette was the recipient of some good, strong coffee and gifted me with some well needed adult talk.

Here are the girls playing with the diapers:

On Thursday, Cindi brought Ian and Miles over. I couldn't hand down any more diapers, so I just handed Cindi a good, strong cup of coffee (an obvious, ongoing theme in my life) and Ian handed down his amazing shrieking skills.

Cindi has some Cheerios and everyone wants some:

Our inauguration day plans were scrapped because we were all hit with a nasty bug making its rounds around the country, apparently.

Stella dropped first - waking up at 2:00 am on Sunday morning and covering us and the bed in projectile vomit. She was fine 5 minutes later, but Stefan and I were left with a messy bed and shaken nerves. She did a lot of throwing up that night and the next day and it was horrible to watch. I felt so bad for Fiona, knowing full well that it was just a matter of time before she'd be doing the same thing. Things happened for her on Monday night, and while Stefan and I were a little more prepared, nothing makes seeing a baby convulse and dry heave and whimper easy. Ugh.

By Wednesday, I thought I'd escaped getting sick, and just as I was settling in for a TV night of Lost, I got hit hard. I'll leave it at that with no more details because they aren't pretty.

Needless to say, we spent inauguration day in our apartment. The sickness couldn't contain our excitment and I'm so proud to be able to tell our girls that they were alive and around for such a time of hope and inspiration.

Here are some final photos to wrap up this long entry.

Stella resting in Stefan's lap after a hard day of being sick:

Our first view of our new President!!!!

The newest furniture in our apartment is this awesome baby gate:(The girls don't think it's that awesome. They're watching Stefan shave.)

Their new tunnel from Aunt Rose:
Fiona, hours before getting sick:Fiona, hours after getting sick:
Their new reaction to food:Thank you. Thank you very much.