HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS

Wow! What a first holiday season C & D had! From a Chanukah gift filled evening at Mimi & Grandpa's, to an early Christmas dinner at Uncle Andy & Aunt Leah's house with lots of delicious homemade Italian food, and then a trip to Austin TX for a WHOLE lot of Christmas lovin'!

LET THE SLIDESHOW BEGIN . . .


** The Whole Gang Christmas 2009 **


** Nonna laughing at Carson, Carson laughing at Carson **


** Carson and Teddy bonding **


** Dean helping Bruce get fed **


**Dean could not take his eyes off of T-Pop's hat, so T-Pop bought him his own and Dean did not mind for 1 second having a baseball hat on! Such a big boy! **


** We love our Nonna & T-Pop!! **


** Santa found them in Austin! **


** A Dean Sandwich **


** That's one good looking family **


** Christmas was so special as Carson and Dean met their Uncle Anthony & Aunt Courtney! They always love seeing their Aunt Whitney. For some reason this year, Carson would just look at her and start laughing!! **


** Carson entertained us at Mimi & Grandpa's house with loads of belly laughs **


** Playing with Mimi **


** Hanging with family at Uncle Andy & Aunt Leah's. They loved their SuperStar present from them (for more pictures on this evening check out Leah's blog: allthingsconsideredmargulies.blogspot.com) **

Other fun notes: They received their 1st pair of Cowboy and Cowgirl boots for Christmas from Aunt Whitney, and some hand-painted art of Dr. Seuss to go in their bathroom from Aunt Courtney! Nonna & T-Pop took them to the park and on the swing sets and babysat several times so Mommy & Daddy could hang with the big kids. We loved seeing Gran, the Rogers clan, and all of the Steiner crew! Overall, a great Christmas!!

Our 1st Chanukah

Instead of eight nights of presents, Carson and Dean got 3. We figured Mimi & Grandpa could do the rest of the spoiling. We got them new Sleep Sacks (Carson looks like she just won the lottery), mittens, and an alphabet puzzle foam mat that takes up their entire playroom floor. Like last year, Meurice enjoyed his dradle cookie! Here are all of the children enjoying their gifts.

Santa Babies

Carson & Dean meet Santa Claus! Carson thought hard about what she wanted to tell Santa. She rattled off her list for him, while Dean did not take his eyes off of Me and Daddy!

We've been busy . . .

Last Thursday Eric left for AZ, for a work trip - - - and came back Sunday evening. 4 full days with the babies by myself, what was I going to do? I knew the days would be crazy, but after they go to bed at 7pm, I figured I'd get laundry done, maybe a Oprah tivo or two, and some holiday decorating. Well, that all changed, and we were busy!!!!

Thursday: My cousin Ronnie, whom I haven't seen since my brother's wedding last October was in Raleigh for business. He stopped by that evening for dinner / wine and had a chance to peek in on the little ones sleeping. It was great to see him and was glad he was able to visit and "see" the babies. I hope his work brings him back to Raleigh more often!

Friday: Mimi came over that evening to help with bath and bedtime. I also recruited Eric's cousin Alisha to come over too and help us decorate the Christmas Tree. (My Jewish family members are such troopers, aren't they?!!!) After dinner and chatting we finally got around to the Christmas Tree around 9:30 pm. Thanks for your help ladies!

Saturday: Our good friend Lillian drove up from Charlotte. The second she got here, I ditched her and the kids and ran to the grocery, and ran back to squeeze in a quick shower. We made dinner, watched a movie, and I put Lillian to work with the kids. She helped with feedings and bath time. Thanks Lillian!

Sunday: After Lillian drove off, I took C & D downtown to pick up Ashley & Noah (our college friends from Chicago) who were in town visiting for a wedding. They came home, ate brunch with us, and hung with the kids (and Meurice) and witnessed the chaos that occurs with a mom home alone with two 8 month old babies and a dog. (I hope they still intend on having kids in the future! :)

Moral of the story - - we had great visitors while Daddy was gone, but because Mommy was such a crazy lunatic by herself, she did not take one picture with ANY of these people and Carson and Dean!!!!! Figures, right? I do have a picture of Alisha & Mimi with the Christmas Tree.

*please note, you are not viewing the Christmas tree incorrectly. It is indeed blocking our closet door. After inheriting the necessary equipment that comes with children -- exersaucers and swings - - we are lucky the Christmas Tree isn't sitting on our kitchen table!!!

December 5th - - WE ARE 8 MONTHS OLD

Holiday Road

Friday morning after Thanksgiving we headed to HOTlanta to visit close family friends. We left at 5:30 am and were there by 1:30 pm. There was very little traffic, so that was nice. Carson and Dean did great in the car, at one point I did climb in back and spoon feed them carrots and bananas to help pass the time. I have to admit I was quite proud of myself for that one. We love you Negrin, Rosenthal, Strongin, Galanti, Calabro, Hamlen, and Bear families!!!! Thank you for loving on our babies for the weekend. We can't wait to see you all up in Raleigh SOOOONNNN PLEASEEEEE!!!


** Carson, Mere, & Elmo **



** I put my hands up they're playing my song the butterflies fly away . . . . . . PARTY IN THE USA ** (believe it)



** Our Modern Family **



** Dean & Lil **

Gobble Gobble Goo & Gobble Gobble Giggle

Thanksgiving 2009!

Carson and Dean enjoyed spending a few hours with family over Thanksgiving. They had fun visiting with everyone and playing with their cousins. They even decided to nap during lunch to give us a few minutes to eat. Very nice of them! They enjoyed their first Thanksgiving and look forward to when they can dig on in!

Highlight of the day . . . . Carson topping off the afternoon by pooping in her pretty party dress. Lovely.

Eric & I couldn't be more thankful for our beautiful family. Carson and Dean, we love you!

Hotty Toddy!

This one's for you Aunt Nut!

My younger sister, Whitney, graduated from University of Mississippi, and her and my parents are big Ole Miss fans. Nonna & T-Pop bought the kids some Rebel outfits when they were down there for a game a month ago. Here they are cheering on Ole Miss beat LSU!

Happy BELATED Birthday Daddy!

Eric's birthday was November 12 - - - so this post is over-due! We had a nice celebration at home with Carson and Dean. They baked him a cake and whipped up enchiladas for dinner. They are so good to their Daddy!

If you thought the swings were too much excitement for one weekend, then watch out . . .

because we also took the kids to their first gym class!!!!!!




(she was DONE at this point -- WAY TOO MUCH FUN)!!!

Wee!!! Wee!!!

Carson Belle's first time on a swing-set. She loved it!






Dean was a little unsure at first, but he got into it. It was a gorgeous day outside - -they had such a good time at the park. (Of course, Meurice was there to get in on a little swing-set action)!

IT'S COLD OUT HERE

THERE MUST BE DEAN AND CARSON IN THE ATMOSPHERE!

7 months . . . and 7 days

- - BIG BOY - -

- - BIG GIRL - -

- - "I bet I can destroy this" - -

- -"yup, I can"

The babies turned 7 months on April 5th, and to celebrate . . .Eric & I went to NYC! Actually, that was just a coincidence. My parents flew in to watch the babies and we headed to NYC for a long weekend of shopping, eating, seeing friends, and celebrating Justin & Cassie's wedding. It was weird / hard to leave C & D, but at 7 months, definitely time. It never would have been possible without all grandparents chipping in. THANK YOU!! My parents even loaded the babies up and took them to the DR to receive their H1N1 vaccine. Of course, that HAD to ONLY be available when we were gone. Anyways - - biggest 7 month milestone -- they are on the floor rocking their butts ready to crawl. They are thisclose. I think their "crawling" truly reflects their personalities. Dean is very methodical and looks like he is really thinking, "if I just put my knee here, my hand there, then I may be able to do this". Carson, on the other hand, kicks her arms and legs as hard and as fast as she can and shrieks / whines because she hasn't crawled out the front door. I imagine her thinking "JUST GET ME THERE - WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING".

Oh, any day now, our world will be turned upside down!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We had a great Halloween day and night with the kids yesterday. We even dressed Meurice up as the BIG BROTHER! Even though Carson and Dean aren't at the age of trick o' treating, we still took part in dressing them up! Eric and I had some neighbors over ( all of us celebrating our 1st Halloween with our children ) before the neighborhood kicked off a Halloween Parade. The kiddos were all SO CUTE! Carson held strong as the only girl --- dressed as a peacock! It was hilarious - - the costume was HUGE! I am convinced she could have won some costume contest had we entered her in one. As you can tell, she enjoyed playing dress up. Dean was our sweet little monkey! He was so tired and was a quiet, patient little boy all dressed up. In the future I hope for more crisp, fall like weather. It was very warm outside, I was worried that our children were going to melt in these costumes.

Hey, it's all about the picture!