It’s been a pretty exciting last few weeks. I was in the shower one day thinking about Avery and Alex’s room, and someday giving them their own rooms by moving Avery to the guest room. For as rarely as people spend the night here, it seemed a waste to leave one of the largest spaces in the cramped house empty 99% of the time. So I told Don my idea in this “Someday, I think we should…” sort of way and he was all, “Yeah, let’s do it by next weekend!” We talked it up with Avery, painted some pink stripes on her walls and got her a princess canopy for the bed, which she’s coveted ever since she saw at Ikea a year or so ago. We made the move and hoped for the best, and it’s gone beyond my wildest dreams well. Don had to sleep with her the first night, and she came and slept in our bed around 3 the next night, but since then, she’s done pretty well, with only a few instances of coming to our room saying she needs someone to snuggle with her. She loves having a girly room and wasted no time in hauling every pink, girly item in the house into her room. I came downstairs one day and she was dragging the cradle/highchair combo that sat unused in their play area into her room. She now plays with it and her dolls every day during rest time, and it’s so cute to hear her in there setting up picnics, packing bags for them, etc.

The move has been good for Alex as well. He’s getting a big-boy sports themed room, with a full mattress and he now has room for some of his own toys in his room too, since we took Avery’s toddler bed out. He also plays nicely with his cars or tools during rest time. Even better, both kids seem to be getting the sleep they need rather than being subjected to the other’s scheduling. Alex tends to need more naps, but when they were sharing, we had reached a point where they wrestled and were loud and silly most days instead of getting any rest. Everyone was whiny and cranky on those days – not fun for kids or mom or dad. Also, Alex tends to be an earlier to bed, earlier to rise sort of person than his sister. We still have arguments about them not being ready for bed, or not being able to sleep, but at least now they only affect themselves and not their twin as well.

We’ll post pics once Alex’s room is finished.

Will I ever catch up on all the milestones in this house? Here’s a big one.

Upon our return from the Outer Banks, we decided to try having the Binky Fairy come to take away Alex’s 2 binks and leave him a big boy toy. I was dreading the big event, sure it would mess up the one child in this house who does reliably sleep through the night. I know he’s 3, but it’s not like he’s that 5 year old in Walmart taking his pacifier out so he can suck down his Mountain Dew. The old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” sprang to mind every time I considered it. But when a speech therapist from Frederick County Public Schools could tell within a 5 minute conversation that he used one, even if it was only at bedtime and for naps, and hinted that it could be causing some of the speech concerns we have, I knew the time had come.

We talked it up for a few weeks before, and Alex was mostly on board. He wanted a suction cup dart shooter like his good buddies Evan and Jake have at their house in exchange for giving the pacifiers to a new baby who needed them via the Binky Fairy.

I was feeling wimpy, though, so I decided to give it a trial run on the night we got home from the beach. The kids were exhausted and we put Alex to bed telling him that we couldn’t find his binkies, they must have been packed in our luggage, and I’d bring them when I found them. I figured if things got ugly, we could give them back and lie to ourselves about him just not being ready and put it off another 6 months or so. To my great shock, he slept all night without them. Success! The next night, he got a letter from the binky fairy explaining that she had taken his binkies, and she’d leave him a great toy the following night because she was so grateful and proud of him. He got his suction cup dart shooter the next morning. Turns out the binky fairy didn’t read the packaging that said the toy was appropriate for kids 8 and up, so Alex can’t pull the action part back, and you have to do that every time you want to shoot. I helped him a few times, but for the most part now, a couple of weeks later, the gun is MIA, the kittens play with the dusty old darts when they find them under the couch, and Adam has bitten 2 or 3 darts in half. The biggest miracle of all is that after the first couple of days, when Alex would randomly ask for his binky, he has completely forgotten about them. We’ve not had a single tear, much less the crying, screaming fits I had envisioned. I’m so proud of how easily Alex gave up something that gave him lots of comfort and really helped him to settle himself down when he was upset.

Now, we just need to get Avery to stop sucking her thumb! A long time ago, she asked me if there was a thumb fairy who would come and cut hers off. I told her no, but we may need to revisit that.

July 19 was a very special day for our family. Friends and family gathered from near and far far and wide to celebrate the baptism of Alex, Avery, and Adam. (We don’t have anyone who lives “near.”) I’ve always felt a bit guilty about not getting myself organized and motivated enough to have had the twins done when they were babies. Choosing godparents was enough to drive me crazy because of the Church’s rules about one godparent being Catholic and our lack of male Catholic friends, coupled with an age requirement that allowed Aunt Lauren to be a godmother now, but not when the twins were babies. Poor Aunt Hailey was still shut out due to her age. Better late than never, though. Baptism was important to me not necessarily because I believe everything the Catholic church espouses, but because I think religious education is an excellent foundation for becoming a good person – one who makes the right choices when it comes to treating others kindly. I know I am far from perfect, but I do believe my years in Catholic school shaped me to be a person who looks for what’s on the inside, is tolerant, and respects others. I hope their baptism will be the beginning of a similar experience for my children.

It was a beautiful day and the kids looked adorable… angelic, even… dressed in their white outfits.

We gathered in the little white chapel of St. Michael’s Poplar Springs and were immediately taken with the intimacy the small venue provided. Deacon Harbe spoke for a while about the history of the parish as we waited for everyone to arrive, and then the celebration began. The twins were really great about sitting quietly and mostly paying attention, even if they didn’t understand everything (anything?) that was going on. Adam, on the other hand, was all over the place. The baptism took place smack in the middle of naptime, which made him even harder to deal with. He was not the most pious toddler, making me chase him into the office area, climbing all over the altar area, falling off the step in front of the altar and crying, and generally being crazy. All that kept going through my head as I chased him was, “I hope God has a sense of humor!”

When the time came for the Holy Water, we carried each child up individually. Adam was first because he was already up at the altar.

Joined by his godparents, his 2 Aunt Staceys, at the baptismal font, he wasn’t phased at all by having the water poured on his head. Have I mentioned before what an easygoing kid he is?

Next it was Alex’s turn, and he also did really well.

Don held him and his godparents, Uncle James and Aunt Jen looked on as he received the sacrament.

Next it was Avery’s turn, and she was in tears before we ever got her up front.

She’s the kind of kid who gets super shy when she knows she has attention focused on her, so to be in front of a room full of people, with some guy she didn’t know about to pour water over her head, was just too much for her. Adding to that, we later found out, she had somehow gotten nursemaid’s elbow again at some point earlier during the ceremony, so her arm hurt and she couldn’t move it. Aunt Lauren and Uncle Bill stood with us for their godchild, and we got her done as quickly as possible. Thankfully Aunt Stacey knew how to reduce her elbow and get everything back into place, and that was taken care of quickly.

When the ceremony was over, we traveled back to Casa Kitchen for burgers, hot dogs, and lots of time for everyone to socialize. I was struck that day by how blessed Don and I, and Alex, Avery and Adam, are. Our families are small but close-knit, and our friends are amazing. They love us all so much, and it just felt really good to know everyone had come together to show their commitment to our children. Thank you to all of you who joined us that day. We love you all.

So many of these deserve their own posts, and they may well get one someday, but for now, a quick roundup of the events of the last month.

So much to look forward to writing about. For now, a firm intention to record our memories for posterity soon!

Last Saturday while Jen went to get her hair done I decided to venture out with all three kids on my own.  I’ve done this before and it definitely wasn’t easy on past attempts.  The main issue really is the inevitable “I gotta pee” or “I gotta go poop” that comes at the most inconvenient time (like right when we get to a store or wherever we were going).  After thinking about it leading up to Saturday I figured the park down the street was a fun place for them and an easy outing for me.

This park is pretty new (~ 3 years old) and has 2 different playgrounds.  As we were headed in Alex and Avery said they wanted to play on the lower playground, which we don’t usually visit.  Luckily we had the whole playground to ourselves which made my job much easier.  All 3 kids had fun and the park even had some small stuff that Adam could enjoy.

After a while on the playground I got out the stroller for Adam and we all 4 went on a nature walk around a very small part of the ~ 1 mile path.  The kids enjoyed all of the nature (birds, bees, etc) and luckily there were some very clean/over-sized porta potties for when the moment we spoke of came (leave it to Alex!)

Luckily I was able to snap a bunch of good pictures while the kids were all playing and getting along.  All in all it was a fun little outing that I was able to handle (as Alex and Avery would say) “all by my own.”

I think I figured out where some of our problems around here stem from. As we were getting ready to come in for the bedtime routine tonight, Don told the twins to pick up their sidewalk chalk, which was scattered all over the garage floor. Avery didn’t hear him, so I told her to please pick it up. She looked at me and said something along the lines of, “No, I will never pick up anything you ever tell me to pick up again.” After a time-out, I called her over and asked her who was in charge, who was the boss, who could give directions in our house. Her response? “Me?” as she pointed to herself, sort of incredulous that I didn’t know that already. Umm, that would be a big old no, sweetie, but now that we know for sure that’s what you thought, we’ll get that clarified for you.

So, a fireman, a cheerleader and Batman were having a tea party…  (sounds like the start to a bad joke, right?)

I think that cheerleader is doing some binge drinking!  More action shots from the event here.

Yesterday we were invited to spend the 4th at Bill and Judy’s (Jen’s Uncle’s Sister’s house) in Leesburg, VA.  It was nice because Leesburg is only 30 minutes from us so travel was pretty easy yesterday.  What started out to be a rough day (thanks to the kids having colds) turned out to be a nice day where everybody had fun.  Bill and Judy have a beautiful home with an amazing pool.  As you’ll see in the photos we essentially had the whole thing to ourselves.  In addition to the cool waterfalls the pool was also heated, so swimming was a blast!

By the time we got home everybody was pretty zonked and ready for bed.  We didn’t see any fireworks but heard lots of them going off in the neighborhood.  Maybe next year we will try to take the kids to see a fireworks display.

Maybe we should lock his door at night so he can’t escape!

Well, since June is over tomorrow it seems like a good time to fill you in on what happened in June here in our little world.  We’ve been busy as usual and June, like every other month, seems like it went by in the blink of an eye.

Alex and Avery turned three on the 13th and we had a Handy Manny and Tinkerbell pool party for them.  The event was fun as usual and brought friends and family from all over together.  Luckily we only had a brief rain storm right before folks arrived and had decent weather for the remainder of the party.  We even got to use the pool for a while, which is where Alex decided to show off his swimming skills for the first time ever.  He, with just his water wings, was paddling all over the pool and even ventured into the deep end.  I was very proud of him and enjoyed truly enjoyed seeing how much fun he was having, and how proud of himself he was too.  All in all the food was good, the cake was tasty, and everybody had a good time catching up with each other.

The following Saturday we took the kids to a local horse farm where they got to do a 1 hour lead line horseback riding session.  The place was hard to find and because of a scheduling mix-up the class almost didn’t happen.  We hung in there and gave the organizers a chance to improvise and the kids eventually got to ride the horses.  Both Alex and Avery did great and seemed to have a blast riding high in the saddle.

Last week the kids visited our neighbor’s church for a week long VBS (Vacation Bible School).  Again, they had a blast and picked up many fun songs, worked on lots of cool projects and seemed to soak in more about the Lord in 1 week than I would have ever imagined possible.  After the first day Alex broke out into full on televangelist mode at dinner while telling us about a game they learned called Jesus Came Down.  Based on his volume and excitement level I thought he was going to give Avery an Amen! on the forehead and push her backwards in the chair or something.  They will be attending another VBS in August at our church which I’m sure they will also enjoy.

Oh, and Jen didn’t mind the quality time with just Adam from 9-12 for a whole week.  I think I saw her secretly Googling for other VBS sessions that could fill up the rest of the summer

On Father’s Day we went to Pop-Pop’s house for some burgers and hot dogs on the grill.  It was a nice day and the kids had fun posing in Pop-Pop’s garage with his hot rods and all his tropheys.

This past Saturday Jen and I enjoyed a nice dinner to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary (which was Sunday the 28th).  The night out was a nice break and allowed us to have a proper date, which we don’t really get to do anymore. It’s hard to believe that six years have gone by already!

And last, but certainly not least, we have two new additions to the family.  Last night Jen went to pickup the two new kitties that we have been waiting for for two months now.  I would tell you their names but we haven’t been able to agree on any yet.  We got a boy and a girl and are wading through long lists of names that go together. I’m confident that they’ll have names by tonight or tomorrow.

Since they didn’t arrive until last night at about 9:30pm today is their full day home and they’re already getting comfortable around the house and the kids.  And it took probably one hour for the kids to become obsessed with their new kitties.

Stay tuned over the next few days for more updates on our two new (un-named) family members!  Also, in case you didn’t catch the links above we’ve added more photos (finally).  Here are the new/updated albums:

• Alex & Avery’s 3rd Birthday
• June 2009, Part 2
• Father’s Day Weekend 2009 at Pop-Pop’s