Christmas 2010

We somehow didn't manage to capture much by photo, but here is at least one picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses from Grammie.

Christmas traditions

A childhood tradition that I have carried into my adulthood is how after driving out to the Christmas tree farm and cutting down our tree, we would stop at a Greek deli for take out. Even though Aaron and I simply pulled out our super cheesy fake tree from the garage this year, we took the girls to celebrate with gyros and hummus at a local Greek restaurant.

First Hanukkah

Four generations of Siegels

Four generations of Schneiders.

Daddy love.

Hanukkah pony.

Lily is moving and shaking

It seems like things are different every day.

Penny has learned how to crawl pretty well, but Lily has been struggling a bit with getting herself moving. Today was a big step for them - we spent 45 minutes after dinner tonight playing keep away with a lego block. Penny would smack the block away, and they would both crawl toward it. Penny would pretty much always get to it first, but Lily started to get the hang of it. It was terrifically fun, and not at all a moment that I thought I would be cherishing (yes, I know it happened a few hours ago, but yeah, I'm being sentimental). (We captured some of this on video, so there will eventually be an update for the grandma channel.)

And while we lowered Penny's crib (what seems like) ages ago, Lily just lies down and rolls over to fall asleep. She never gets up or rolls over; she's always on her back. But tonight, I was on the phone, and Julie walks over with Lily and says, "We have a situation." Apparently, she poked her head over the rail to say hi. So we had to lower her crib too. :) She's finally learning some of the tricks from her sister. (Uh oh!)

And because no post is complete without at least one photo, here's an amazingly adorable photo of Lily chewing on a hangar on Thanksgiving Day before we headed over to the Turkey Trot in Long Beach.

Happy 60th birthday, Grandma Nan!

Eating with fingers

A few days short of 9 months Penny declared herself a big girl. She no longer wants to be fed by an adult with a spoon (she shakes her head and wont open her mouth) but would rather do it herself. The only solution was an all-finger-foods-dinner last night. Here are the adorable results.

Lily on the other hand is happy to try to eat with her fingers, but still lets us know (by these pretty annoying grunts) that we can speed up the shovel.

Happy Halloween!

Lily & Penny spent their first Halloween as super darn cute fairies.

(Lily - yes, those are two bottom teeth you see)

(Penny - totally on the move)

And here's some more Halloween cheer for you:

Penny on "The Event"

I took some videos of Penny's appearance on "The Event". Episode 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OKhFqgA7B8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kL646B15nM

Brief, but very powerful. OK, just brief. :)

Yay! Penny gets her turn on network TV! :)

FYI, there was another scene with Lily, but it wasn't shown this week. We think it *might* be on next week.

Aaron

All of a sudden they are 8 months old

Going back to work has certainly sped up life. I know kids grow up quickly, but this is ridiculous. I blinked and they went from 6 months to 8 months old. Lily has figured out how to hold her own bottle, which any mother (or caretaker) of multiples will confirm that this is a big deal..

Sleep Deprivation Redux

(By Aaron)

You may remember how sleep deprived we were about 2 weeks after the girls were born. Well, I guess we're not totally out of the woods yet.

Penny has been sick, and not sleeping well. Her nose is runny and it takes her a long time to finally relax enough to breathe and doze off. Last night, after crying for about 30 minutes, Julie took her into the bed to nurse her to help her fall asleep. (We know - nursing to help a child fall asleep is a bad precedent. We want them to be able to put themselves to sleep.)

In this particular case, nursing helped both Penny AND Julie fall asleep. I came in to go to bed around 11:30.

Me: It's time to go to bed.
Julie: What time is it?
Me: 11:30
Julie: What time is it?
Me: 11:30
...
Julie: What time is it?
Me: It's 11:30.
...
Julie: No. What time is it in our time?
Me: 11:30.
Julie: Huh? Oh.

:)

SLO - Alanna and Neil's wedding

We packed up the girls for a road trip up to San Luis Obispo to celebrate as two of our friends exchanged vows. A couple of my favorite pics from the weekend (none captured at the actual wedding so we'll have to wait for the official pics to come back):

Brunch with to the Governor

A few weeks ago we had brunch at our new favorite spot just walking distance to our home - Tiato. We didn't know that the Governator was also dining just a few tables away until he left. However, in looking at the photos this evening I found that we caught him in the background of a pic. Can you spot him?

Swings!

We braved the late summer heat and went to the park this afternoon. The girls seemed to love their first time in the swing! The baby next to us was pretty jealous that she didn't have a sister to lean on.

Baptism and Brit Bat

When Aaron and I first talked about getting married, one topic that immediately followed was if we wanted children (which the answer was a resounding yes from both of us!). Along with that conversation came discussion about how we would raise our then-yet-to-be-conceived children. While Aaron doesn't consider himself particularly religious, I see that he greatly identifies with his Jewish heritage and culture. And though I don't attend a church regularly, Aaron sees that the foundation of my Lutheran beliefs are an important part of who I am. So we agreed that we would attempt to teach our children about both Christianity and Judaism, about how the two religions are connected, and about what it means to our family to observe traditions from both.

Fast forward a few years...

On Sunday, we invited our family to join us to take our first formal steps with us on our journey to educate our girls. We asked my Uncle Mike to perform a baptism ceremony and as part of the service we incorporated a Brit Bat led by Aaron. A Brit Bat is a naming ceremony where we explained the meaning of the girls names and gave them each a Hebrew name.

We reserved a space at a park in Marina Del Rey and about 35 family members joined us for the occasion. The service turned out even better than I had originally envisioned and we all enjoyed a picnic afterward.

Has anyone figured out how to squeeze more time in each day?

24 hours simply isn't enough. The blog has been getting the back burner to a few pressing projects around here:


- Construction is nearly done! We've had our first overnight guests even though there are some final items to be completed (touch up paint, hooking up utility sink, etc). We're super happy with the results and will post pics soon.

- I am starting to settle into a work 'routine.' I've been back at work (just part time at first) and trying to figure out how to balance work and life again. It's not easy, and I still need to tweak my plan, but I'm getting there.

- Planning for visitors. Both of my parents, my grandparents, and a few aunt and uncles are coming to town this weekend for a dedication of the girls. Think baptism with a Jewish twist.


And then of course just generally trying to maintain sanity!

Summer vacation in Oregon

A special long weekend at the end of July brought Aaron, the girls, and I to Seaside, Oregon to spend time with my mom, Papa Dave, both of my brothers and each of their families. It was a wonderful coastal getaway where we simply spent time enjoying each others company.

Sitting pretty

Aaron teaches Penny how to drive

We took a road trip on Saturday to the middle of nowhere. Even though Penny can't reach the pedals, we thought it's really never too early to teach her how to drive*.

*By drive, we mean distract her with the dashboard lights in the El Pollo Loco parking lot while Lily is nursing. But isn't it cute to see her behind the wheel?!

A visit with the Musicers

Jason and Andrea are in town and were able to fit in a picnic with us at a park in Manhattan Beach. Talia was especially interested in Lily and Penny. Eric *may* have been more interested in the slide.

Bottles in highchairs

To get ready for my return to work, Lily and Penny are having a practice day eating with out me and instead with nanny/cousin Rebecca getting bottles in highchairs for the first time. Such big girls!

Drews family reunion in Wisconsin

The Drews family reunion was held in Trego, Wisconsin this year over the 4th of July weekend. It was a short but sweet visit with family. All of the aunts were clamoring to get their baby fix (luckily we have two!) and Aaron and I enjoyed some time to relax a little. Lily and Penny did great on the flights, though they did need some adjustment for their sleeping schedule and routine to fall into place. Aunt Gwen pulled together an "Adult and Children's Program" where everyone participated by showing off the talent they drew out of a hat. Aunt Chris threw a "Welcome to the Drews family" shower for all of the babies born (or to be born) this year. With these gatherings happening only every 3 years, it's fun to imagine that the next time the girls will be running all over the place!

Fathers Day and Mark & Jule get married!

In addition to celebrating Aaron's first Fathers Day, we spent the day with family celebrating Cousin Mark & Jule's wedding! We were down by the water in Long Beach with beautiful views of the Queen Mary and the rest of the harbor.

First Day

Aaron looking sharp for his first day at the new job.

Santa Barbara getaway

Aaron recently accepted a new job and with a week off between the old and the new, we went for a family road trip to Santa Barbara for two nights. The first day was absolutely beautiful and we spent most of the day just wandering around downtown shopping, eating, and napping in parks. The second day was a little gray, but we still went to the pier for lunch and a stroll before hitting the road.

The grandma channel

Since 2 of the 3 grandmas live in other states, I've set up a special YouTube grandma channel so they can see all those slightly mundane things the girls do as they grow and learn. Of course everyone can watch it, but really, I mostly envision their grandmas constantly tuning in for the latest drool-fest and Bumbo time. The channel is accessed to the right on the blog and I'll try to add short videos regularly. Enjoy!

(Note: I'm still working out the technical difficulties. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.)

Bike ride to brunch

A very generous baby-sitting offer from a friend allowed Aaron and I a chance to head out on our bikes this morning to a local breakfast stop.

These babies are just too darn cute!

Penny

Lily

Construction update

After a long delay due to our own change of mind (resulting in needing new permits) we have our construction project back on track. In the last 10 days they've cut the old concrete patio, dug out the new area, put in some piping and electrical requirements, placed re-bar, passed an inspection, and poured concrete. Current completion guesstimate is Labor Day weekend, which really means Halloween, right? Either way, we are so excited about the progress!

Rollin'... rollin'.... rollin'....

Not since her 2 month appointment when she showed off for the doctor has Lily rolled over. Until today! Video proof for your viewing pleasure:

Play date!

I have been getting together with a number of moms who I met through the WLAPOM group Aaron and I joined when we found out we were pregnant with twins. Our little group becomes a bit of a circus act with so many babies and when in public we get at least one or two curious strangers who are brave enough to approach us and ask about all the twins. That aside, it's been a wonderful way to get to know new people who share similar interests - the really obvious one being babies!

The Sunshine State

We bravely took our first flight with the girls at just 3 1/2 months old to Venice, Florida. We spent time at the beach, hanging out at the pool, taking golf cart rides around the neighborhood, and sampling the best orange ice-cream in Florida!

Also, the trip was timed with nephew Carson's birthday which we celebrated at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens holding baby alligators and feeding flamingos.

Cousin Calvin!

We were super excited to learn that Nate and Amanda welcomed their first little guy into the world on May 12. At 21.5 inches and weighing in at 10 lb 3 oz, we are pretty sure it won't be long before Calvin Henry outpaces the girls. We are all looking forward to meeting him in July!

First Mothers Day as a mom

As a very special treat, my mom came to town to help me celebrate my first Mother's Day.

Santa Monica Festival

On a perfect Saturday afternoon, we took the girls out for a walk around the park just around the corner from us to check out the Santa Monica Festival where local organizations, vendors, and entertainers were set up.