Christmas at MeMa's

We share Christmas day with Brian's parents, and that side of the family. We enjoy this time so much every year. It's impossible to "outgive" my in-laws, but we did give them a special surprise this year--tickets to take Owen to see Bob (the Builder) LIVE! It's in a couple of weeks . . . As you can see Owen received a very special "keyboard" from MeMa and Pop Pop which should encourage his love of music and newly acquired love of "instruments." The twins also got special rocking chairs that I hope to personalize to each of them. I had special time on the porch with each of the babies in the afternoon, though Layna is the only one I got a picture of.

Just give me a box . . .

and I'll be a happy boy:) That's our Judah and this has been him most days since opening presents. Everyone needs one like him in my opinion, but sorry cuz he isn't going anywhere since he loves his mommy so much :)

Christmas Morning

What a fun Christmas morning this year was! Before I took Owen upstairs to get ready for bed on Christmas Eve, I showed him all of the "new" presents under the tree and told him when he got up, we would open them up. Well, he cleaned up his room and wondered if it was now time to open them up; then brushed his teeth and wondered if it was time to open presents then. We told him he had to go to bed first . . . how neat then we he woke up on Christmas morning and came in the twins' room to play and upon hearing the mention of presents, he ran downstairs by the tree. The challenge is that now that he "gets" it, is to realize they all aren't for him. This is still a challenge as he plays with things that were the babies' presents and doesn't want them to play with them. The wonder in his eyes this year was just wonderful. As you can see the babies' big gift was an activity table which they love to stand and kneel at to play. Looks like Layna and Owen will be the ones who need to work on sharing.

sledding with the girls

I always knew Layna would be the one who is always "up" for a fun time of our 3 kids and today was no exception. The snow outside found her sledding down the hill with her older cousins, Kaylie and Kelsee. Most times she was smiling when she reached the bottom. I have to add that it is so fun to see her with my nieces who have grown up before my very eyes. It seems like only yesterday, I was holding them in my lap the way they hold the babies now. Time really does fly by so quickly doesn't it?

a "twin thing"

Before we had twins, Brian always mocked my observations of funny occurences (mere coincidences in his mind) that would occur between Abby and me by saying "it's a twin thing" sarcastically. Now that we have twins, there have been times he's seen it a bit more as I do, though likely never altogether like me I suppose. So, this picture was taken during dinner last night where the twins, on 3 separate occasions, grabbed their feet simultaneously. The other 2 times they each grabbed the right foot and this time, one grabbed right, the other left. In my mind, this is in the category of being a "twin thing." We'll let Daddy have his own opinion on the matter:)

9 months old!

So we opted for snapshots for the twins 9 month pics . . . these were taken the night of the actual 9 month birthday. They're growing up so much aren't they? Layna does a belly crawl/tummy scooch thing and is very close to the real kind of crawling. Judah is more reluctant, bending forward with a 6 foot radius around him that he seems to be able to reach toys in. When he is on his tummy, he will push up on all fours and if he moves anywhere, it's backwards. They're so different in every way, but really love to be together. We feel so blessed to have them. We loof forward to so many more great memories.

chomp chomp

Between teething and our "little" boy's appetite, he likes to have something in his mouth most of the day. This little netted feeder is full with clementine. We thought it was pretty cute when he didn't hold on but just jumped away with the thing hanging out of his mouth. Also, not sure if the picture does his hair justice, but there's lots of red in it.

huggable

Even though it looks like they're dancing in this picture, they were trying to hug each other. I know . . . too cute:)

it's starting already . . .

We better get going on that "family plan."

"Do you still love me . . ."

Daddy? The eyes of his little girl looking up at him with a blue face due to her exploration of the properties of a crayon when Daddy wasn't looking could only make her Daddy love her more. I don't know what was funnier, seeing her with the blue on her face and jammies, watching her pose on the couch while Daddy and Mommy took pictures of their adorable little girl, Brian checking for teeth marks on the slobbered-up crayon (she has no teeth yet :), or finding multiple strokes of the crayon an Daddy's office floor . . . several feet from each other.

a preview

The production of the Driesse Christmas card is underway and I just wanted to give you all a preview. If we don't have your mailing address, make sue that you e-mail me with it: sdriesse@gmail.com. Hopefully, you're getting into the "spirit" of the holidays as much as we are trying to:)

playmates

My mom always said after we turned 2, having twins was easier than having one because there was always a playmate. We already see that at times. The other day Layna was playing with a balloon and Judah was having a blast watching her. They're just so cute as they continue to grow and develop. This cube is just about Judah's favorite thing to play with right now. We turn it on its side so that he can play with it while sitting down.

daddy's little girl

When I put this onesie on Layna this past saturday, I realized that it too is going the way of all her clothes in this size range--to baby Emma . . . While we love sharing the clothes, I am always a little remorseful to see certian things go. This onesie is one of them. Before we said goodbye, I had to snap a shot of our little Layna with the Daddy she is coming to love very much. She has even picked Daddy over Mommy in recent days, which is saying quite a bit since she has always been "mommy's girl." I love seeing the twins love for their Daddy increase as well as his love for them.

matching shirts

So when I put on my orange t-shirt with white shirt under it the other day, I wanted to put the one Judah had on too. The only problem was that it was dirty, so I improvised and found another one for him to wear. Since I'm always the one taking the pictures, I thought to ask Emilie to take this one (not bad Emilie, although it looks like I could have taken it myself:) At any rate, I now have a picture to prove that I am mom to at least one of our children:)

3 years old!

 

Owen proudly answers the question of how old he is by saying "3 years old!" We had a great birthday week that began with mommy and daddy taking him to IHOP. The next day he had fun with his friends Ian and Abby Kaiser and his cousins, Cami and Sophia Klingen at a place called Kid Junction. We sang Happy Birthday to Auntie Krissy too (her b-day is the 13th and Owen's the 12th). We rounded out our week with a family and "helpers" party. It worked well to celebrate in smaller groups given Owen's personality. We are thankful God has preserved him these 3 years and feel abundantly blessed to have him in our lives.

Here is the link to the whole album: http://picasaweb.google.com/sdriesse/OwenS3rdBirthday#

my playlist

Don't really know what I'm doing here, but I love to hear music while on my laptop doing things, so if you do, great! The first song is our "family" song--it was dubbed as that before we had any of these little pumpkins and when we thought we'd have at least one "carrot top."

they're 1 month old . . .

and I finally got a picture of Judah's bottom 2 teeth that came in a month ago! He smiles, but not always for the camera and not always when you can see his teeth. Both twins just get cuter by the second and they interact with each other in such a neat way. No teeth for Layna yet. She will probably get them late, like Owen. He is 3 tomorrow and just cutting the last of his "2 year" molers.

happy swinger!

Judah and Layna enjoyed swinging in the swing that Bri set up indoors last winter when Owen missed swinging once the weather got cold. Both of them are growing up and holding onto the ropes as they swing. I wish this picture showed Judah's 2 teeth that broke through several weeks ago. Layna is on the same track as Owen. He didn't cut teeth until 9 months. He has a great smile and the 2 teeth just seal it:)

our little jungle crew

So, we aren't the type to go from door to door on October 31st, but we have taken our kids in costume to friends and family. Owen hasn't ever really liked being in costume, so this year, I just had last year's ready for him. The elephant costume Layna is wearing was Owen's when he was one, so that left finding another one to go along with the theme for Judah. Brian and I both thought of a giraffe and Bri found this on clearance. The really cute thing is that Judah has attached himself to a little tikes giraffe. He loves to hold it up and talk to it. So, here's our crew. We think they're pretty cute, how about you?

Layna looks pretty cute with the food on her face too:)

lunch outdoors

We enjoyed a walk with my kids and Auntie Nea one fine fall day. The babies rode in the wagon and I thought it'd be a great place to feed them. Judah just couldn't be cuter with the squash on his face, so I had to post this pic.

our little talker

Judah has taken to holding things up and talking to them. He is so deliberate about what he says. The first time I remember him doing this with is something he still loves--a little tikes "little people" giraffe. I'll try to post a video sometime . . .

em-A-LEE!

That's what Owen likes to call Emilie, our monday and friday helper. It's been great with Jussley no longer able to be here fulltime, to have her help for few hours on those days. She loves our kids and they love her! What a blessing!

his own swing

up until this day, the twins had always been in the same swing, but I realized with their fleeces and significant growth sing our last trip to a swingset that they needed their own. It's a good thing 2 were available:) How cute is this little guy?

computer for owen

My sister passed on this computer to us for Owen. The first time he initiated using it on his own was one night when Daddy was using his laptop on the downstairs couch. I came home and saw them together and couldn't believe how grown-up he looked. Since then, Owen has gotten into using his computer and we are teaching him to do as much as possible on his own, so mommy doesn't have to stop feeding the babies because of a computer "emergency."