merry christmas!

may your day be filled with joy and light!

love,

oskar and abel (and tracey and jordan!)

Virtual Greeting

happy hanukkah y'all!

if the first night of hanukkah was any indication of what this
holiday season will be like, i think my heart may burst by the end of
it! and the kidkraft wooden hanukkah set may be the boys' all time
favorite toy...ever. if you're jewish or not, this one is a serious
winner!

all by myself

there are certain things i didn't dare do by myself a year ago with the boys. i remember when the boys were a few months shy of 2, it was a big deal for me to take them out to lunch by myself (turned out to be no big deal, after all). the thought of taking them to the doctor alone sent shivers of terror down my spine. would i have done it in a pinch - of course! but it never came to that. i always managed to find a partner - either jordan or my mother-in-law, etc. heck, even putting the boys to bed by myself at that age wasn't a pleasant experience. sure, i did it (as did my husband) when necessary, but i didn't like it. and taking a shower if alone with the boys? sure, during nap time. i think i only tried it once while they were awake. craziness!

it's amazing to me how in a mere year, even less in some cases, we have entered a whole new world. taking the boys out for any meal by myself is just pure pleasure now. it's a treat for all of us, especially our saturday burger lunch at mighty fine! this morning they watched dinosaur train and i didn't think twice about going upstairs, showering and getting ready for work. both jordan and i have weekly evening commitments where there is just one of us putting the boys to bed and it is such a joy. for some bizarre reason, bedtime seems to go smoother when there is only one of us manning the fort. and when i scheduled a last minute doctors appointment for abel this afternoon, it didn't even cross my mind that i'd be on my own. doctors appointments can quickly turn disastrous, but i swear, they both sat on my lap and let the doc poke and prod, opened and said "aahhhh," and even answered the doctor's questions directly! i know it won't always be like that, but even the doctor was stunned at what great little patients she had. (abel is fine, btw, but has the beginnings of a sinus infection) and the practice i got by taking them to get their H1N1 vaccines a few weeks ago by myself - well - a doctor's visit with no shots just seemed like cake walk.

amidst some of the gunk that comes with almost 3 year olds, it's nice for me to have such a clear reminder of how far we've come!

higher education

a while back, i wrote about my foray into the world of pole dancing. it was a bachelorette party of all things, but it really sparked something in me. having been a gymnast for (still) the majority of my life, i think my body craves being upside down and moving in space - flipping, twisting and expressing in motion.

being the mother of twins empowers you in so many ways, however rediscovering the acrobat in me has not been one of them. the physical tolls of pregnancy (i know, it's been nearly 3 years now), the umbilical hernia i still carry around, the insane balance between parenting, work, partnership and dare i mention "me time," had created a whirlwind of "no's" and "can't do its" in my brain. i honestly began to question my physical ability; not so much to exercise, but to do something strenuous and that pushed the bounds.

but then i saw the ad to come see a performance from austin's aerial dance company. i didn't even know what to expect, but the idea of witnessing dance outside, downtown on a balmy summer night, where artists suspended from cloth and harness scaled buildings and flew through the air - it was too much to resist. the performance did not disappoint. i was mesmerized. and every cell in my body was saying i HAD to do it.

i started classes in august. twice a week for 1.5 hours each time. lots of really hard core work. stretching. and then learning the technique of the cloth. the first few weeks i could barely move i was so sore. every class is challenging, even though i'm getting better and better. i really love that about it.

last night we had an informal showing for our family and friends. this is the culmination of my twelve weeks and two classes of aerial dancing. i know i've got a long ways to go, but there's no timeline, not competitions, no standard that i have to live up to. it's just me, the cloth and some really great people doing it along side me. and the exhilaration of flying in the air again, twisting and flipping and being in motion.

p.s. this is a long (6 minute) video and moves a little slow at times, but i promise the end is worth it.

talk to me

the boys are such a riot these days, especially with what comes out of their mouths. i really want to do a better job documenting some of the funny phrases and conversations they have with one another. maybe i'll keep a pad of paper laying around in every room so i can quickly jot down what i hear.

on another note, the boys have made SERIOUS strides when it comes to manners. over the past two weeks, they have fully integrated please, thank you, excuse me and sorry. and when i say fully integrated, i really mean it. here's an example: abel was sick yesterday morning and started throwing up. i ran him into the bathroom and he puked in the sink. as he was getting ready to puke again, he loudly said, "TOWEL, PLEASE!" (the few times the boys have been puke-sick, we've always had them throw up in a towel, for convenience sake. i guess the sink just wasn't good enough.) for real, my child said please as he was getting ready to vomit. unbelievable! abel also says, "okay, mommy" more times than not when i ask him to do something. melts my heart every. single. time.

here are some of my recent favs, sans vomit:

ozzy: "i need a bandaid. and i'm not kidding around." (side note, these boys take their bandaids very seriously. ozzy typically needs a new bandaid before going to bed every night.)

abel: "i have one foot on the scooter and one foot on the ground!" (a master observer)

ozzy: "mommy, tell me an orange juice story." (??? when taking story requests at bedtime)

abel: "ozzy, go sit on your tushie!"

abel: "abie and ozzy are CUTE, mommy!"

hopefully you'll never realize how cute you really are!



post-queso bliss at the boys favorite tex-mex place, chuy's

comfort objects

soccer balls, helmets, a loader and bandaids on their legs. it's all
two little 2.5 year old boys could ever want.

flattery

today, as i was unbuckling ozzy from his car seat, he patted my breast and sweetly asked, "mommy, baby in there?"

phone photo friday

courtesy of oskar, the neighborhood tunnel monster.

it was just my imagination

it's totally amazing to witness brain development, at any level, happening in your children. we've recently witnessed the birth of abel's and oskar's imaginations. i'm sure the bud appeared a while ago, but it's really starting to bloom. the boys still love to jump in their personal trampolines, i mean cribs, and until a few days ago their favorite activity consisted of jumping in unison and singing every song they knew. rousing rounds of "a, b, c" "twinkle, twinkle" "ring around the rosey" and then of course the improvised "airplane song," and "dinosaur train song" were among their greatest hits. but this past week there's a new sheriff in crib jumping land and his name is alligator. "go away alligator! go away!" they shout off the side of their crib as they frantically jump, then scream at the top of their lungs (as the alligator makes its attack), then jump to their butts and wave saying, "see you later, alligator!" and roll to their backs almost completing a somersault. only to be repeated another 1,000 times until they are sweating and out of breath and chugging water like they just finished a biggest loser workout. jordan and i thought we would join the fun a few nights ago. i pretended to be the alligator and then jordan announced, "watch out for the dinosaur!" (sometimes they substitute dinosaur as the aggressor). big mistake. they both totally freaked out and were so scared they jumped out of their cribs and huddled in our arms until we assured them there was no alligator or dinosaur coming to get them.

i guess their imaginations got the best of them.

the great pumpkin(s)

>

iphone back to life

i don't normally do this sort of thing, but when i stumble upon a great product or service, i just have to share. i know the iphone revolution is a very real phenomenon, and unfortunately as i learned last week, so is a really bum battery. i was out and about with a fully charged phone when i suddenly realized i had no battery left. charge upon charge left me juiced up for less than a few hours. i told jordan and he said his dad recently had the same problem and had to just chuck his phone and pony up for a new one. given that i have a 2G, no upcoming upgrades and not about to shell out hundreds of dollars for a new phone, i started to look for options.

j actually found this company Milliamp LTD that replaces iPhone batteries in 2G and 3G phones (for very reasonable). i thought it was too good to be true, but i bit the bullet, ordered the service and shipped my phone to them the next day. j kept asking me if i thought it was a sham, but their communication was amazing from the get-go. they emailed me when they received my phone, when it was through their repair process and on it's way back to me - which took all of 3 days total.

i got my iphone back not even a week after i shipped it off to them and the battery is working perfectly again. they also sent me a complimentary back up battery, which is huge in my book, because it seems i'm always caught on the go with my phone at 20% and no charger. their customer service and communication have been some of the finest i've ever experienced.

apparently, this battery snafu is a major problem with iphones, so if you find yourself with a phone that won't hold its charge, don't fret that you'll have to buy another phone. just ship it off to these fantastic people (who are in san antonio, btw!). they also do full on iPhone and iPod repairs, too!

for all the truck obsessed boys out there...

we had ten yards of decomposed granite dumped on our backyard today. we're all soon to enjoy nice pathways through our woodsy land! anyways, it was quite thrilling, even from a non-male perspective.

has it been that long?

i have to apologize for the gross neglect of this blog. and for leaving these gross pictures of me as the first thing you see when you come to the site. i must admit that this update is prompted more by getting my ugly mug off the first post than by motivation to share things about our lives. tisk, tisk! but there is so much to share.

in the past month we've had birthdays, family-style projectile vomiting, family visits, major landscape improvements, lots of rain postponing major landscape improvements, major haircuts, refreshingly cold weather, minor surgery, our couches steam cleaned and scotch-guarded (!!!), aerial dancing, a new mustang for jordan, many attempts at making homemade yogurt, and non-stop antics and hilarity from the boys know as abie and ozzy.

whew!

some milestones to note:

1) the boys are now sleeping with blankets. like the big kind that keep you warm at night. we all took the SIDS warnings pretty seriously, i guess. the boys have never slept with a blanket or sleep sack for that matter. not even last winter. and when they got old enough to express an opinion about it, they strongly affirmed their desire to NOT sleep with a big blanket. but given the impending colder weather in austin, i went ahead and ordered them two spirited crib quilts from etsy. it was love at first sight, times two. and now they ask to be tucked in at bedtime and it's just the cutest thing ever. except when they wake up uncovered in the middle of the night and scream to be covered again. (thank god that only happens about once a week) they still sleep in full-on cribs, and while we're thinking off converting them into daybeds soon, the boys have so much fun using them as their personal trampolines, and there's no greater joy than watching ozzy use his crib as a jungle gym, we just don't have the heart to do it yet. heck, if it's not broke...

here's bobo (ozzy) and tigie (abie) enjoying the solace with the boys' new quilts

2) the boys are now professional scissor cutters. we boldly let them use a pair of scissors while we were cutting their hair a few months back and there was no turning back. it's a total obsession and a day is not complete without them cutting paper into smithereens. abel is especially adept and is starting to cut out shapes, etc. the pride they feel in their work as toddler scissor experts is palpable.

abel down, ozzy to go, and both addicted to scissors

3) i forgot to mention that the boys moved into the next class at school. this happened, uh, back in august! we were all a bit surprised since we thought they'd be in ms. corazon's class until they were 3. since they potty-trained early, the teachers felt they were ready. they are now in ms. leti's class and she is one of the warmest, enthusiastic, wonderful teachers i've ever met. the boys adore her! and abel has an extra special relationship with her. he won't leave class until he gives her a bear hug and the affection they share just melts my heart. several of their friends from the last class transitioned with them, so they are in a wonderful community of children. and they are with another set of older identical twin brothers - two sets of identical twins in one class! here's their last report card from ms. corazon's class and a snapshot on their last day:

4) abel has shown a major aptitude and delight in taking pictures. when lee-lee was here, we let the boys play with our old point and shoot digital camera, and abel used it like a master. his pictures were amazing! ozzy, not so much. and he could take it or leave it. but abel just waltzed around documenting everything he could. here are some of his best shots:

lee-lee with an upside down ozzy

5) growth spurt! i have no idea how much they've technically grown, but their pants are all floods now and the boys continue to eat like starved horses. we're talking three bagels with cream cheese in one sitting. four clementines for an after-dinner snack. an adult portion of mac and cheese with a basket of chips and a bowl of queso. no kidding. it floors us how much these kids can eat. and their requests become more and more hilarious. coffee and prune juice make abel "feel better." they both regularly ask for coffee with breakfast so i indulge them with a splash mixed in with ample milk. you'd think i was giving them the nectar of gods.

ozzy having some bagel with his cream cheese

abel cultivating his coffee habits at the ripe old age of 2.5

there's so much more to say, but i'll leave it at that for now. hope you all are having a wonderful fall!

a small, and dare i say delightful, glimpse into my 35th birthday

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a day to celebrate!

happy birthday jordan, my honey! i don't know who's having more fun today, jordan or me and the boys. celebrating birthdays with 2.5 year old boys is where it's at. the boys gave jordan an awesome present of waking up at 7:20 this morning. we started our day with homemade pumpkin chocolate chip waffles in the shapes of farm animals. we took a nice hike in the woods and threw plastic sharks down a steep hill. we dug in the freshly wet dirt, made a construction site with pint-sized dump trucks and skid steers. we went to a new gymnastics gym open house and the boys jumped off of 4 foot high platforms, did somersaults down a wedge and slid down fireman poles. we ate mighty fine cheeseburgers and fries and fresh strawberry lemonade. and later we're going to have cake and candles and singing and then j and i are going to see bela fleck.

what a day to celebrate! we love you!

here comes the rain again

after a summer of near-record breaking temperatures and drought (we're talking triple digit heat w/ no rain, people!), the wet has finally arrived. we're on day three of beautiful rain, cloudy skies, mellow thunder and highs in the 70s and low 80s.

not even a potty break could spoil the fun!

phone photo friday - "the good samaritan"

jumping on laura c's friday theme, i'm posting some photos taken w/ my iphone yesterday at the library. we were leaving the library, just outside the door and the boys found a downspout with rain coming out (hurray!). just then, a school bus pulled up and about 50 fifth graders got out and started walking to the library entrance. ozzy ran to the door before they got there, opened it up (no small feat), and continued to hold it open until every last kid walked passed the threshold. it was unbelievably adorable, especially because the older kids were as sweet as could be and said thank you to him, patted him on the head and gave him high fives! that was all it took for ozzy to be hooked, and the next ten minutes was spent trying to convince him that he didn't need to open the door for EVERY PERSON entering or exiting.

san antonio zoo

i have two posts in "drafts" waiting to be written and so many thoughts that continue to swirl about the boys' zygosity determination, but for now, here are a few pics from our great visit to the san antonio zoo yesterday. abel was in heaven from start to finish and his favorite was the leopard. oz was scared of every animal except for the turtles and fish (he was also teething like a mutha and had a low-grade fever, though). hence, the apparent lack of animals in the photos. no matter though, the miniature train turned that boy into a giggle-puss in no time.

clarity

99.9 percent sure




i'm honestly in shock. still processing. i need some time for this to sink in and reflect on what this means to me. it's all good, of course. it's just that i've known them to be fraternal their whole lives, and now that notion has been turned on its head.

abel and oskar are identical twin brothers.

i think i'm going to need to say that a few more hundred times before it really sinks in.