Hailey... and the Seattle Aquarium

Today I did a little 1:1 outing with Hailey. We went to the Seattle Aquarium, and had a great time! Hailey is our little animal lover, so she is fascinated by seeing any kind of animal. She had a delightful time watching the sea otters, who are very cute and interactive. We also saw big seals, all kinds of colorful fish, and the highlight of the show, the Giant Octopus! (We called it the "Octo")

Here she is watching the Giant Octo...


This is a fake plastic octopus tentacle (um, gross), but Hails played with it curiously for a long time.


This aquarium has a giant pool where you can stick your hand in to touch certain sea life. We touched the big purple starfish, and then Hailey said "all done."


Smiling at delight over the adorable sea otters!

For those of you who don't live in Seattle... this is what it looks like when salmon are returning to their spawning grounds (tons of fish, all on top of each other, swimming upstream.) This is part of the 'salmon ladder' that is at this aquarium.

Random updates...

Okay, I thought I would do a quick post with a few random bits of news from our end.

1) I am 37 weeks preggers, as of yesterday. (A complete pregnancy is 40 weeks.) This is a BIG milestone from my perspective, because at 37 weeks, doctors consider a baby "full-term." Any baby born before that is premature, but any baby born after that is considered healthy enough to be full-term. So, YEA!! This means that Baby G is pretty much fully developed, although she will just continue to put on weight for the next 3 weeks. So, staying pregnant until June 25th has been my goal for months, and I am happy to say we made it!

2) I wanted to give a little praise to my husband, because he won a big award yesterday at Microsoft! It is called the "Great Performers, Great People" award, and only 30 people win this out of several thousand employees! He was voted by his peers to get this award, and then he also was voted by the executives above him to receive it. So, it is a fabulous pat-on-the-back for Greg, after how hard he works at Microsoft. He also gets a little spending bonus as part of it, which is fun. Way to go, hunny, we are so proud of you!

3) Okay, this is random, but we have finally put in a fully fenced backyard! It was about 80% fenced before, but didn't have the two sides closed. So, after calling lots of folks on Craigslist, I found a guy who did it cheaply for us in 2 days. Now I can let the twins "hike" in the backyard, which they love to do, and I don't have to worry that Drew will be running down to the street to watch cars! Oh, and we also just finished putting in a bunch of new drainage under our lawn, so that we no longer have gigantic mud puddles in our yard for the whole year. Finally.

The only other random news here is that Drew, Hailey and I are really sick. We have the worst colds, and there is a lot of snot in this house! Hailey took a 5 hour nap yesterday, while Drew slept in until 11am! As for me, I am trying to sleep as much as possible, but it isn't easy. Say a prayer we get through this quickly!

A Boys' Weekend Away...

This past weekend, Greg was a happy man. Why? Well, because he got to leave all of his family duties and responsibilities behind, only to head into golf territory for 3 days with 10 of his college buddies. Sound fun? I don't think he could have had any more fun.

Details: (or as many as I was told...) :)
- The trip was in Whistler, a beautiful mountainous area in British Columbia.
- 10 college buddies, 3 rounds of golf on good courses.
- poker night, steak dinners, US Open golf on tv, gin and tonics
- most importantly, NO diapers to change, and no tiny mouths to feed
- one additional benefit for Greg: he got to use his new golf driver, which was his fathers' day gift from us. He loved it!

While Greg was putting on the greens, my only duty was to make sure I didn't go into labor. The good news is that I passed that! I was home with A&H by myself, and we had a good weekend together. The only problem was that the kids were both so sick! High fever, middle of the night waking, etc.... Yuk! So, we spent a very mellow time together, with long naps and lots of medicine. They finally rebounded, right before daddy got home (interesting timing on their part, thanks kids!) But they were both much more 'cuddly' with me for the weekend, so I soaked that up!!

Happy Fathers' Day, honey! We love you so much!

A fabulous weekend away...!

A few weeks ago, Greg decided to get us scheduled for a "babymoon," which is the new term for getting away before a baby arrives. So, we just returned from 36 hours away from our house/kids, and it was wonderful!!!

We stayed at a cute inn that was right on the shores of Gig Harbor, WA, which is a cute town with shopping and restaurants along the water. It is a sleepy town, and we enjoyed walking through the parks, marinas, and touristy shops. We had a lovely dinner out last night, and just couldn't believe how wonderful it was to just be away from it all, with no agenda. And we are reminded by how much we love being with each other, too. :) It was so refreshing to us, and we couldn't get over how much we enjoyed every second of it.

Other highlights:
- Sleeping for 10.5 hours last night! Wonderful! We woke up at 9:15... and that never happens at home!
- a morning kayak ride in the harbor this am, complete with harbor seals
- sitting on the giant deck of the Inn, reading books under a blanket, enjoying hot tea
- stopping at Barnes and Noble along the way, spending a gift certificate by browsing for over an hour (how decadent!)
- seeing an 11:30 matinee movie today (when was the last time we did that??) ( we saw Up, and loved it)
- a lunch of yummy soup/sandwiches at our favorite restaurant, Panera Bread

A million thanks goes to Aunt Jenene and Uncle Robbie who offered to watch the kids for us. They have both been so extremely generous in babysitting for us, and we couldn't be more grateful.

We DID miss the kids, of course. We came home and played with them for a few hours. Greg took Drew for a bit, and I did watercolor paints with Hails (she loved it!).

Ahhh... we will have to remember our weekend getaway once Baby G arrives!

A trip to the Fire Dept..

I have recently been trying to do more 1:1 activities with the kids. So, today I took Andrew away for an hour, to visit our local Bellevue Fire Department. It is at the bottom of our hill, so we just walked and I boldly knocked on the door that said "Call 911 for Emergencies, or contact us via this phone." Well, it wasn't quite an emergency that we see a real fire engine, but they were certainly kind enough to let us in for a quick tour.

Andrew got a chance to sit in the big engine, play with the hoses, and spin a few wheels. Then the nice firemen gave him his own fire hat. I am not entirely sure he knew what was going on the whole time, but he liked it.

I then took him to his second activity, which I guarantee he liked better: sitting on the side of road near a big intersection, watching cars go by. Sound boring? Nope!! Not with Drew! We sat there in the grass with Drew in my lap, for at least 35 minutes. We rejoiced over every motorcycle, big truck, police car, and racecar that drove by. We worked on our colors, counted the cars at the stop light, and waved at people. When I finally said "Time to go, buddy," Andrew literally burst into tears and kept saying "more car, more car, more car..." It was so precious!

The Two Year Check-up

Andrew and Hailey had their 2-year check up at the pediatrician yesterday. The doc says that they are doing great! She still cannot believe that they were born early, because all signs show that they are just totally healthy, and even slightly above average on height and weight. Yea!

Andrew:
- 29 pounds
- 33 3/4 inches tall

Hailey:
- 27 pounds, 2 ounces
- 33 1/4 inches tall

Oh, and since the kids are two now, I have been reflecting on all of the little things about them that we love. Here is a quick list:

What we love about Hailey:
- her total daredevil spirit... she will do anything, without any fear. we love that!
- her nurturing spirit. she takes sweet care of her dolls by giving them bottles and tucking them in at night, and she always tries to wash BroBro's hair.
- her complete and utter passion for books. she loves them to no end, and will read for long stretches if she can. she just loves to learn! she always wants to know what is in the book, what things are, etc.
- her fixation on certain foods. right now, she is addicted to raisins, and HAS to have them daily. she also loves having ice!
- her very bright mind. Hails is showing signs of being extremely quick to learn, and understands complex games/concepts easily. she can figure anything out!
- her precious giggle and love for cuddles. we love it especially after she wakes up, because she is a little groggy, and will just crawl in bed with us to cuddle.

What we love about Andrew:
- his adorable sweet personality. Drew has such a kind, loving affectionate heart. He hugs people everywhere, and just has this charming sweet smile.
- his ridiculous passion for CARS. he has them everywhere, and could play with them 24/7. His favorite word is "racecar."
- his quick ability to pick up words and sign language. he has always been very good with signing, and still uses it now, even though he knows most words. he also is great at repeating new words and learning them quickly.
- his need for affection. he is way more into hugs, kisses, and cuddles than Hailey. he just has always been like that, and it makes him so precious to us. we love holding him before he squirms out to go play cars..
- his love of adventure and stories. Greg gives him piggyback rides and races throughout the house, while Drew is clinging on for dear life, laughing the whole time. He loves it! He also loves when daddy tells him stories, and he will sit quietly, while Greg makes up a whole long saga.
- his wonderful smile. when Drew smiles at you, it melts your heart. he is going to win the ladies over quickly with that one. Uh-oh, Mamma.

We love you Drew and Hailey!!

THE TWINS ARE TWO!!!

Andrew and Hailey turned TWO on Monday, June 1st!! Wow - I can hardly believe two years have passed - we love them to pieces, and can hardly remember life before them!

We had a simple celebration here at our house, with Aunts and Uncle, and some neighbors. The kids got their share of frosting on their faces, since they both got to devour a cupcake. One of our neighbors showed up with balloons and then proceeded to make balloon animals for all of us - it was great!

Hailey got an Elmo stuffed animal, which she loves, and also a kitty stuffed animal (from Nanny). She has moved into the phase of carrying a stuffed animal everywhere, so we think it is pretty cute. She feeds them crackers and milk, and it is precious. She also got a Hello Kitty shirt, which is bound to be her favorite shirt. The coolest gifts were the handmade adorable hair barrettes made by Aunt Julie; Hailey loves having them in her hair!

Drew got a really cool truck shirt, a car puzzle, a Grover stuffed animal, and his very first nerf "gun" (dare I say that word?). He and daddy have been shooting that all over the house.
They both also got new lifevests for the pool, lots of new summer pajamas (great, since it is 90 degrees here today!), and new puzzles, etc.

I will try to post videos later, but for now, here are a few pics. Happy Birthday, Hailey and Andrew! We love you!!!!!!!