Pictures...

The last time I posted pictures the boys were half bald and half baby.

Meet Corey and Brady ... a few months older and wiser. (this means they are getting over... I am out numbered people!!!) PS did I mention they have hair now!!!???

Brady

Brady

Corey

Corey

Corey & Brady

All pictures taken 9.09

19 month update

Dear Corey and Brady,

I have not updated the world on your feats in months. I can only blame myself for the lack of writing because you both have definitely not stopped growing nor giving me material to write about. The truth is, you are growing up way too fast and I have been savoring it. I have selfishly decided that you both are too darn cute to share with the world, but today I woke up and realized that this is also a legacy for you to read one day. So I decided to come out of my shell and share pieces of you again.

Today, you both are 19 months old (plus a few days; 7 to be exact). You are both so different yet alike in many ways. These days you are playing together more often, which also ignites baby fights but you are learning to work it out amongst yourselves. You both are balls of energy and total lovers. You crave attention and love hanging out with Mommy and Daddy. You both are loud and spend all day long “talking” to each other. You both roll like true brothers and are developing that bond that Daddy and I wish for. You both love shoes, especially your rain boots. Even when Daddy hides them, you find them and beg to put them on. You are reaching all the milestones exactly as planned by Baby Center. You both love climbing, jumping and running around. You dance better than the Jackson 5. You can shimmy with the best of them and we spend a lot of time shimmying. You love books on bugs and butterflies. You love coloring and especially butterflies. Some of your favorite eats are macaroni and cheese, veggie burgers, pasta (of any kind), bananas, baby carrots (raw – God forbid I cook them), waffles and berries. You both are “talking” more each day. Some of your favorite words are “Mum”, “Dad”, “Ball”, “Car”, “Butterfly”.

Corey, you are one of the happiest babies I know. You love to smile and when you flash those amazing dimples it’s hard to say “no” to you. (Something you are slowly learning to use to your advantage!) You love trucks; it’s not uncommon to find you pushing one around the house, making “vroom” noises. You also love playing “ball” with Daddy. He has slated you to become a superstar running back in the years to come. You hold a ball with expert hold and run your “bum” off. You are sweet and very loving. You do have a mischievous streak and can get your brother on the bandwagon without much effort. You love to dance and are amazing with puzzles. You have taken a liking to building with legos. You are also totally taken by “Bunny”, a stuffed bunny you received for Easter. You carry Bunny around everywhere; it’s so cute to watch.

Brady, you are by far one of the smartest babies I know. You are so serious at times, but waiting to burst into a contagious laughter. You make me work for your laughter, but when you laugh you laugh harder than anyone I know. You are an amazing listener; asking you do to something seldom requires me to repeat myself. You have a streak of mischievous running through your body, but unlike Corey you always seem to get caught every time. You are a major flirt and growing up to be a ladies man. Anytime we go out, the girls flock you. You love the attention! You strive for our attention all the time, throwing fits if you don’t get what you want. You are a top chef in the making; you cook a mean soup (filled with lots of plastic veggies and blocks) and love “setting the table”. You offer me tastes of your “cooked” meals; which I adore. You are strong willed and will not take no for an answer. While your brother has taken to building, you have taken a likening to “destruction” – meaning anything he/we build you must destroy. You have a special look about you and when you flash me those eyes and flutter those long lashes… I melt. (This is something you are learning to use to your advantage) You also love playing “ball” with your Daddy. You have a mean throw and Daddy sees a superstar quarterback in future. You can throw with both hands… which is apparently an amazing talent. You love dancing with me, especially cheek to cheek.


We are so blessed to have both of you in our lives. There isn’t one day that your Daddy and I don’t look at you both in awe. We are amazed at your growth, your energy and your ability to make us smile. (Effortlessly) We can not believe how big you have gotten and how incredible you both are. I love every single thing about you both (even those gnarly toes)!


Love,

Mommy (edited by Daddy)

Toddler antics have hit a whole new level....

The boys are up to no good these days. They are sneaky and seem to stay ONE (or 2) steps ahead of us at all times! These days, they are obsessed with climbing; counter, chairs, couches, tables... basically anything that is above higher ground!

Today Mike sent me this picture to work with the following caption:

"HAHA this is how Corey was playing while I was cleaning up after breakfast!"
I was almost scared to open the attachment! (this is Me talking)

So while we laugh at the craziness we call life, this definitely could be dangerous. Except C&B totally think they are "SuperTwins" and thankfully one of us is ALWAYS there to "save" them!

Since they have been climbing our couches and they don't seem to share very well (with us). We decided it was time to get them their own couch. To keep the fights at bay, we bought them each their own, we went with the simple look as opposed to the swanky tub seats I love on PBKids. I cant wait for them to arrive! We got the same one below, minus the "Julia". I actually decided against personalization, we just aren't that type of people... monograms are overrated or perhaps I am just not cool enough.

Splish Splash I was splashing in the park

I am just not taking enough! I mean really what kind of Momma leaves the camera behind, me that's who.

Yesterday, one of our favorite people stopped by to visit with us. She came with us to the Splash Park. I have never been or seen anything like this. The park was not a fancy huge water park that you see advertised on the side of the highway. It was a small park with water everywhere; waterfalls, animals with water spouts, buckets and a huge water maze. The boys loved it! As we were walking up (the boys would not keep on their flip flops so they were carried in, much to their dismay!) Corey caught a glimpse of what was in store and clapped. They were so anxious to get inside. We kicked off the flops and went straight for the water. (literally!) Brady was fearless, walked right into the sprays of water, getting soaked immediately. Corey slowly walked in, getting portions of his body wet little by little. It was awesome. They had grins the size of Montana on their faces the entire time. We spent about an hour playing in the water, running after them. As Gina said "We need to do zone defense, one on one is not working!" That statement summed up our lives, some activities really require more than 2 willing and helpful people. It was awesome to have her here, I wish that she lived closer. ( I say this every time we see her!)
I didn't plan on getting soaked, drenched or even slightly damp but I walked away just as drenched as all the kids. LOL... so much for doing my hair in the morning!

Of course we didn't leave the park without one scrape, it just wouldn't be right to leave without a souvenir. Brady tripped several times, the last one leaving a red scrape on his forehead. Thank goodness he has long bangs (reminding me he needs a hair cut - he is starting to look emo)

This was a great activity and so glad we found it here! Love her and her great blog - check her out if you are local, she breaks down all things kids (and parents) in the area!

Weekly wrap-up (its not Wicked since its Friday!!)

Lists... I am feeling like making a list. So much going on to talk about its easier to list them! (unless you want a novel, but even if you do I am tempted to keep it short!!)



Childcare

• We are Nanny-less, which I briefly mentioned but still feel weird talking about it in more detail




• We have realized losing a nanny, is similar to breaking up with a boyfriend. In our case the breakup was pretty bad.




• Since losing our nanny, Mike has become a SAHD, a role he likes as long as I am not around. (watch this video for a total laugh - its been his theme song all week!)




• We really havent figured out childcare and Mike staying home is not long term but it has been helpful AND something we are considering while we wait for day care.




• I have decided I will never hire a Nanny again. (Ive tried 5 times and we cant get it right!)

Childproofing

• This is not a new subject for us, but as they get older (and taller) the proofing gets tougher




• All gates are down!! Mike took all of them down, except one. *our front door/foyer still is a danger zone*




• Corey now has learned to turn the TV, DVD player and Cable box on and off... lots of fun when you are watching TV. (3 days into the switch, Mike added a piece of cardboard to the buttons to deter Corey. It seems to be working.)




• All drawers that are belly level to me, which means they are on their tippy toes to reach are now duct taped shut!




• Since they are taller, we can not leave ANYTHING on tables, counters etc unless we want to clean up after them.

Random stuff

• Yesterday, Michael Jackson died... I am still very sad about it. I turned on the radio for our nightly predinner dancing and Thriller was on. (a classic) I started dancing and the boys hopped off the floor and started jammin' out! (love it!)




• Brady is truly our next Top Chef. He loves all things kitchen including spatulas and ladles.




• Corey is car obsessed, loves any and all cars. Lays on his belly to push them around while saying "vroom". (priceless and love that I started doing that with them when they were 4 months!)




• They have crushes on the 2 cutest girls on Nick Jr!




• C&B are climbing anything and everything these days. They love sitting on the couch like big boys, but if you aren't watching them carefully they will do the "superman" dive!




• We are their favorite props for climbing!




• This week since we were both home, we got 2 opportunities to have play dates with our favorite girls. They are getting more comfy around each other but truly this is more for the parents!

We have a busy weekend ahead and I plan to post pictures. Here are a few from this week!

It's never TOO early to have a celebrity crush...

... right?!?! At least not in the Appleby household. I read somewhere that with little boys, their Momma is their first crush but I promise you that is NOT the case here.

My boys are totally smitten over these big eyed brunettes!!

Lucky for me, my fearless and quite advanced duo have different taste is women cartoon girls.

Corey's obsessed with Kai Lan!!! As soon as her show comes on (at the crack of dawn) he is smitten and hanging off the side of the entertainment center. He bounces when she talks and claps when she returns from commercial breaks. The downside to this obsession is that it comes on at 6:30am or some OUTRAGEOUS time before we want the boys awake.

Brady on the other hand, salivates at the sight of Dora the Explorer. He will also bounce ala Tigger when her face is magnified on our ginormous TV. He dances to her music and gets beyond thrilled the minute he hears her intro song. As I type this he is bouncing to "Come on, vamonos"!

The best part of this true story is that while these girls make my boys go cuckoo for cocoa puffs, its only individualized... Brady could care less about Kai Lan and Dora does nothing for Corey.

I think its adorable and can already imagine poster size prints of Kai Lan and Dora emerging next to said crib. Wait maybe that is too advanced?!?!?!

For every bit of bad news, I expect something good in return...

We are all well despite all of the craziness this week. Many events have transpired over the course of 4 days that have impacted my family. Thankfully the metro accident did not affect us or anyone we know, such as friends, family or colleagues. The accident occurred on the line (Red) we use frequently, if not daily (Mike) but it was going the opposite way we ride it. Even though it occurred during rush hour, we were very lucky that Mike was home with the boys, since we lost our nanny. (more on that soon)

I witnessed the aftermath, since I was in Arlington filming the last taping of the show, I had to take the blue/orange to the red to get home. It was nothing short of crazy when I got to Metro Center. Imagine a metro station filled to capacity with people (a mess of both Tourists and Commuters) waiting/fighting for trains to get them home. I made a friend, a commuter and we made fun of the situation by saying it reminded us of a zombie movie. I think I waited for over an hour, without a clue about the crash and its magnitude. We were told someone died and we both collectively assumed suicide. (considering the high rate of metro suicides in recent weeks) We agreed to wait until the mass of people got on the first few trains and we, my new friend and I embarked a very packed train. It was here we learned of the crash and the fatalities. I felt awful since my phone had died and I couldn't let Mike know I was OK. Anyways, I got home safe and Mike missed out on the Metro tragedy completely. I was home very late, but he figured it had something to do with the show and filming and nothing to do with a fatal crash on the Metro rail.

We were glued to the TV last night, watching every interview and glimpse of the crash. It was surreal to think this is a train line we use and all the "what ifs" or "could have beens". Our hearts pour out to the families and loved ones affected by the crash.

In other crazy and sad news to share... We recently cancelled (yesterday) our vacation to Dominican Republic since the Chileans lost my passport or rather ignored my request for renewal for 9 weeks. Apparently, not having a valid passport is traveling suicide and I am at fault! Mike is a God and somehow convinced Travelocity to refund us our money, so a new trip is in the works but not until I get my passport. We are all very bummed to not be going on vacation!

Otherwise, we are all doing well. We recently (Sunday) got the boys a wooden kitchen (with Fridge) and Baby Emeril in training (Brady) is in heaven. Corey, on the other hand loves that the kitchen provides his new fire truck a smooth surface to ride and crash into the sink.
They are both excellent dancers and are self teaching themselves to swim in the bath tub, much to our dismay. This means they stick their heads completely under water while moving from one side to the other of the tub... yeah its frightening! They loved staying home with Dada yesterday and today they had a play date with our favorite girls. (while I am here stuck at work, sniff!)

Check out my blog for good news about me

Happy Father's Day, Mikey

Today we celebrate a special person in our lives. We enter the day with zero expectations and without requests or demands (unlike Mother's day a few weeks back).





Thank you for being you.




Thank you for every diaper changed and meal made.












Thank you for rushing home from a long day at the office and an even longer commute... with a smile.





Thank you for remaining positive no matter what the situation is.







Thank you for every ball kicked, thrown and dribbled. *your confidence that you are raising professional athletes is proof that you want only the best for us*

Thank you for being different than the rest; you never balk at extra work around the house, you do what it takes to help us. (this includes dishes and laundry!)

Thank you for taking the boys on long walks and to the park, they enjoy that time spent with you. The best part is that these ideas come from you and never require urging from me.

Thank you for being selfless and thinking of us first, time and time again.

Thank you for keeping the peace, for entertaining us and being a walking cartoon character. *we love your goofy personality!*

Thank you for reading books and playing games with us. (I am included here, thank you for the endless uno games)

Thank you for keeping an open mind, especially when I ask you to do things outside your comfort zone. (like play dates on saturday's with 7 families with twins... thank you!)

Thank you for genuinely being a great Father. You take your title seriously and will do everything in your power to be the best. Its only been 16 months, but I cant imagine anything less from you!

You are so invested in us, you could be completely different but yet this is so natural to you. You are amazing! You are a great friend and I know you will do anything to protect us. Thank you for being you, plain and simple. I respect your dedication and admire your strength.

We love you!! Happy Father's Day, Mikey!

Play Dates, are they for me or them?

As of late, I have been very diligent about organizing play dates for the boys. It has been entirely way too long since they linked up with other children their age. I often times worry that they are not socializing enough. Other children could be the key to calmer children… or is this all for me? Do I want to make more Mommy friends that coincidentally have children?

When the boys were 6 weeks old, I had spent way too much time on the couch watching insane amount of TV. View at 11 and Ellen at 2, I remember this vividly.(I would breastfed to those shows during the day) I remember being desperate for conversation with adults and not my infants that didn’t talk back. I was anxious to hear how other Moms were juggling and managing. I signed up for MCPOM with the quickness. I think I joined a playgroup within 2-3 weeks. That day, 10 moms and their multiples filled up a basement and bonds were made. I walked away with one great friend and several other acquaintances. Since then, we have met a few more times, but it gets complicated with that many Momma’s and double the amount of kids. Anyways, here we are 14 months later and I am getting the play date itch again.

Last week, we spent an hour or so with my favorite twin girls (and their Momma) in Bethesda. My boys trashed their home while she gossiped. Wednesday, one of my friends from high school and her 18 month old son came over. We gabbed while the kids trashed my home. It was a great evening and we are planning on doing this every week! Today, we have another play date with another twin Momma. I am excited to share lunch, watch our kids play and spend some girly time!

I hope that my kids get as much joy as I do from these social setting, cause I am doing it for them… well kinda!

Simplicity

Life is so simple for the boys. They have a few basic needs and are amused so easily. Its so easy to come across as amazing in their eyes. I love that!

I got home late today and as soon as they saw me, their faces lit up! I have never ever seen anyone (besides Mike when we first started dating) get so excited to see me. They literally stopped what they were doing and ran to me.

I declare that simple moment, my favorite time today.