10/31/08
SpOoKy PuMpKiN cArViNg & BdAy BaSh! Thursday - October 30, 2008
We hosted our first pumpkin carving party! Everyone brought a SPOOKY food item to share, a pumpkin to carve and kids were in costumes. It was fun to see how creative people got with the food... and the kicker was that it also turned into a birthday party for Dan!
I let Dan open his gift at the end of the night... and being the crazy person that I am, I usually gift him with something I know I'll regret later. However, this gift actually had a benefit to myself AND our fun friends... GUITAR HERO III. This also resulted in a few neighbor friends and us rocking out for quite a while AFTER the party... drums, guitars, microphone. Uh oh... wanna-be ROCKSTARS! 
10/30/08
The great PUMPKIN PATCH visit!
We finally visited the pumpkin patch late last week. The weather has been uncomfortably warm... so we made the journey in the late afternoon.
We all picked pumpkins, rode the train, saw lots of cool scarecrows, etc. Gabby and Julia rode the carousel. Gabby went down a giant jumpy house slide. Matteo did his first exploration in the jumpy house.
Gabby really enjoyed picking pumpkins this year. She wanted to take almost every pumpkin home. She kept picking pumpkins up and loading them into the wagon. Dan kept unloading when she'd look away. She does this with stuff in the grocery store, etc. She's also really into telling us she wants things when she sees a toy ad on TV "OH MOMMY! I want THAT!" Hmmm... it all seems somewhat familiar! Poor Dan...
This was Julia's first experience with the Halloween holiday. Halloween isn't celebrated in Germany. So, Julia picked a pumpkin, carved it, helped decorate cupcakes for our Pumpkin Carving Party, etc.
Teamwork... or is it double trouble?
This morning I was unloading the dishwasher.
I turned around and this is what I saw:
I turned around and this is what I saw:
Apparently, the boys teamed up to get the cereal container off the stool... proceeded to open the container and spill cereal all over the floor. They sat in it. They ate it. It was a jolly good time. And, I decided to let them eat their morning breakfast right then & there. Super easy clean-up... just grab a broom, right?!
10/27/08
Danger is his name... Thursday - October 30, 2008
Danger is his name... playing is his game.
Wait... ROCCO is his name!
Latest daredevil activities include:
* Climbing atop his piano toy and standing. I kid you not.
* Climging atop his walker toy... and standing. Again. Kid you not.
* Climbing the sofa and teasing that he will head dive off the back-end.
* Climbing into the kiddy rocking chair.
This child is 9 months. He has NO fear. Lord help us.
These photos were captured by Dan and Julia:
Wait... ROCCO is his name!
Latest daredevil activities include:
* Climbing atop his piano toy and standing. I kid you not.
* Climging atop his walker toy... and standing. Again. Kid you not.
* Climbing the sofa and teasing that he will head dive off the back-end.
* Climbing into the kiddy rocking chair.
This child is 9 months. He has NO fear. Lord help us.
These photos were captured by Dan and Julia:
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10/20/08
SF Nike Marathon results! Tuesday - October 21, 2008
Running a marathon is a like childbirth. The only reason you run more than one is because the high you experience at the end far outweighs the pain you suffer. I signed up for the San Francisco Nike Women’s marathon last March for two reasons. One, I wanted to run another marathon. Two, it was another reason to work hard and lose the twins baby weight. Clearly…I was still crazy when I signed up.
I’ve always enjoyed running. And, I enjoy it now more than ever. It’s my only “ME” time. It’s a fast and good workout. Running also helps relieve some of the stresses that exist when you’re an adult, married with 3 kids under the age of 3, homeowner, a job outside the home, etc. I GET runner’s high…trust me!
After I had Gabby, the weight melted off with little effort. Four months after having her, I weighed less than pre-pregnancy. But it was a little different post-twins. Running really helped me lose the baby weight fast. But, I WORKED my BUTT off to lose the 40lbs I had gained. I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight in 6 months. Granted... the weight has shifted to different parts. For instance, I no longer have boobs. But, I probably have more muscle mass than I’ve ever had. And, muscle burns calories, right?!
I talked one of my best friends, Kathleen, into running this marathon with me. She’s run two prior to this. Registration was closed. But, THAT’S how good of a friend she is! Every Saturday for the past 5 weeks… we’ve gotten out of bed early and run 10-20 miles together.
Outside of me only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before the race – we were ready! And, I think we did really well! I felt like we started the race slow because we found ourselves having to weave through a lot of riff-raff and turtles. Clearly, there are a lot of people who don’t know race etiquette. Slower folks stay to the right and start within your pacing group, people! As it turns out – we started the race quite fast. San Francisco has one of the more difficult marathon courses because of the hills. Our goal was to finish in just under 4 hours – we missed it by 3 minutes and 51 seconds… partly thanks to my pit stop at mile 5. I broke our "no stopping" rule. But - we kicked butt! Nine months after having twins, and mommy to 3 under 3... I kicked butt!
Official Finishing Stats:
Finishing Time: 4:03.510
Avg. Pace: 9:18
Overall Rank: 470
Female Rank: 383
Female, ages 30-34 Rank: 68
Total # of full marathon female finishers: 4535
Total # of full marathon female finishers, ages 30-34: 829
I’ve always enjoyed running. And, I enjoy it now more than ever. It’s my only “ME” time. It’s a fast and good workout. Running also helps relieve some of the stresses that exist when you’re an adult, married with 3 kids under the age of 3, homeowner, a job outside the home, etc. I GET runner’s high…trust me!
After I had Gabby, the weight melted off with little effort. Four months after having her, I weighed less than pre-pregnancy. But it was a little different post-twins. Running really helped me lose the baby weight fast. But, I WORKED my BUTT off to lose the 40lbs I had gained. I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight in 6 months. Granted... the weight has shifted to different parts. For instance, I no longer have boobs. But, I probably have more muscle mass than I’ve ever had. And, muscle burns calories, right?!
I talked one of my best friends, Kathleen, into running this marathon with me. She’s run two prior to this. Registration was closed. But, THAT’S how good of a friend she is! Every Saturday for the past 5 weeks… we’ve gotten out of bed early and run 10-20 miles together.
Outside of me only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before the race – we were ready! And, I think we did really well! I felt like we started the race slow because we found ourselves having to weave through a lot of riff-raff and turtles. Clearly, there are a lot of people who don’t know race etiquette. Slower folks stay to the right and start within your pacing group, people! As it turns out – we started the race quite fast. San Francisco has one of the more difficult marathon courses because of the hills. Our goal was to finish in just under 4 hours – we missed it by 3 minutes and 51 seconds… partly thanks to my pit stop at mile 5. I broke our "no stopping" rule. But - we kicked butt! Nine months after having twins, and mommy to 3 under 3... I kicked butt!
Official Finishing Stats:
Finishing Time: 4:03.510
Avg. Pace: 9:18
Overall Rank: 470
Female Rank: 383
Female, ages 30-34 Rank: 68
Total # of full marathon female finishers: 4535
Total # of full marathon female finishers, ages 30-34: 829
Checkpoint splits:
M/KM Time: Pace:
5K 0:27:29 8:50
10K 0:55:54 8:59
15K 1:24:29 9:03
13.1 miles 1:56:19 8:52
25K 2:20:32 9:02
30K 2:49:18 9:04
35K 3:19:30 9:10
40K 3:50:54 9:17
Finish 4:03:50 9:18
M/KM Time: Pace:
5K 0:27:29 8:50
10K 0:55:54 8:59
15K 1:24:29 9:03
13.1 miles 1:56:19 8:52
25K 2:20:32 9:02
30K 2:49:18 9:04
35K 3:19:30 9:10
40K 3:50:54 9:17
Finish 4:03:50 9:18
SF Nike Women’s Marathon results for all 20,000 participants will be posted here soon: http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/race/nwm08.html
Course map and elevation grid: http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/40000_2032_course_map_v7.pdf
While Dan & the kids gave us a quick cheer at mile 22… they couldn’t find parking within miles of the finish line. Sadly, I don’t have a photo to share of Kathleen & I after finishing the race.
Finishing loot included a really cool Nike t-shirt and a commemorative Tiffany & Co. silver necklace (replacing a finisher's medal - which I was actually bummed to find out!).
Course map and elevation grid: http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/40000_2032_course_map_v7.pdf
While Dan & the kids gave us a quick cheer at mile 22… they couldn’t find parking within miles of the finish line. Sadly, I don’t have a photo to share of Kathleen & I after finishing the race.
Finishing loot included a really cool Nike t-shirt and a commemorative Tiffany & Co. silver necklace (replacing a finisher's medal - which I was actually bummed to find out!).
Standing, yoga moves, words & 9 month growth stats!
When looking at the boys, you'd assume Matteo weighs more and has the bigger head. The official 9 month growth stats are below... and proof that looks can be deceiving.
Rocco
Height: 29.5 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs (70th percentile)
Head: 48cm (off the charts)
Matteo:
Height: 29.5 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 20lbs, 11oz (50th percentile)
Head: 47.5cm (93rd percentile)
Lots of exciting stuff happening around here lately:
* Rocco & Matteo took their first bath TOGETHER last week in the big tub. Rocco loved it… was splashing around like a duck. Water was EVERYWHERE. Literally. Matteo was not a fan of Rocco splashing water in his face every 3 seconds and cried the entire bath. Even after we turned Rocco around to redirect his splashing, Matteo continued to cry. I will have to record the next bath so I can share it.
Rocco
Height: 29.5 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs (70th percentile)
Head: 48cm (off the charts)
Matteo:
Height: 29.5 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 20lbs, 11oz (50th percentile)
Head: 47.5cm (93rd percentile)
Lots of exciting stuff happening around here lately:
* Rocco & Matteo took their first bath TOGETHER last week in the big tub. Rocco loved it… was splashing around like a duck. Water was EVERYWHERE. Literally. Matteo was not a fan of Rocco splashing water in his face every 3 seconds and cried the entire bath. Even after we turned Rocco around to redirect his splashing, Matteo continued to cry. I will have to record the next bath so I can share it.
* Rocco began cutting another tooth on top. This will be his fifth.
* Matteo is expressing an early interest in yoga. His favorite position is the downward dog. In Gabby’s gymnastics class, they call it “making a mountain”. He is constantly showing off his new move… he’ll be crawling along and suddenly pushes up onto his feet and hands and sticks that butt high up in the air!
* Rocco began standing alone last week. Now he has no problem standing on his own for 20 seconds or longer. He is SO proud of himself that when he does it now he starts clapping and screaming with excitement. Hooray! Again… something I need to record.
* Matteo has said the words “two” or “too” and “toe” or “tow” on numerous occasions. In my mommy opinion, I would think he’s saying “two” since he has a twin brother and “toe” because he has really cute big toes. Ok... in all reality, I'm sure he has no clue what he's saying. ;-)
* Both boys are able to hold and drink water out of sippy cups.* Gabby has gotten really good at riding her Dora big wheel/tricycle outside, up and down the sidewalk. Driving straight isn’t yet a skill set. She is still trying to learn that you can steer while pedaling… meaning, you don’t have to get up and redirect it by lifting it off the ground. She’ll figure it out eventurally.
* Gabby has a new favorite cereal - “Chicky Charms” (aka, Lucky Charms). And, it seems that the only edible part of Chicky Charms are the colorful marshmallows.
10/11/08
Stanford vs. Arizona Saturday - October 10, 2008
We headed out to the Stanford vs. Arizona game today. The weather was perfect. The game was great… UNTIL Arizona lost in the last minute of the game (Stanford’s homecoming).
You’ll think we’re crazy… but we brought the whole family! The kids all loved being outside in the fresh air and wearing their Arizona t-shirts. And, Julia enjoyed going to her first American football game.
We were supposed to meet up with so many different friends. But, the kiddos kept us pretty busy… and that made us tired. So, we just spent some quality time with one friend and her new baby.
Oh… and this was Gabby's second Stanford vs. Arizona game. She is sooooo NOT a fan of Stanford’s mascot. She doesn’t like the tree one bit... it freaks her out. Also, she was shocked to hear that the football players got a time out... she thought they were all in trouble. Not sure if our explanation of the sports time out made sense, but hey... we tried!
Bear down, Arizona!
JailBrEaK!!
So… we put up a new gate separating the front of our house from the family room and kitchen. The other gate was ok until Rocco decided to continuously hover around it… pushing, poking, pulling… and finally always figuring out a way to get by it and crawl up the stairs faster than you’d ever believe. Stairs + baby = danger. Right.
We thought the new gate would eliminate any problems. Boy… we’re stupid. Check out our new problem in the video below. Rocco is the one being crazy, of course. Sheeeesh… he’s only 9 months old! What next?!
Julia recorded this as evidence for us to see:
We thought the new gate would eliminate any problems. Boy… we’re stupid. Check out our new problem in the video below. Rocco is the one being crazy, of course. Sheeeesh… he’s only 9 months old! What next?!
Julia recorded this as evidence for us to see:
Laughing... such a good thing!
Here are some recent videos of the boys… laughing. I think they’re so funny. Maybe you’ll enjoy too!
Twins turn 9 months and other recent happenings
Things have been sooooooo busy around here lately. Work, Gabby's gymnastics & swimming lessons, the twins growing, developing and trying ner things every day... it's been hard to keep up lately.
Here are the latest happenings since my last post:
1. Rocco's top two teeth have come in.
2. Gabby's tounge heeled nicely.
3. Matteo is pulling up to stand along the sofa.
4. Rocco started climbing up onto the sofa from the ground... a bit scary... we're worried about him not stopping and climbing right over the top to a crashing finish on the ground.
5. Matteo's top two teeth keep pushing their way out and both are not quite visible.
6. Gabby now does a pretty good job of pedaling her tricycle up & down the sidewalk.
7. Rocco's teeth marks line the top of his crib... and he is continuously trying to scale his crib. We may have to remove the bumper, as it's being used as a stepping stone.
8. Matteo seems to enjoy grinding his teeth. This kills me... the sound gives me goose bumps and I cringe each time.
9. Matteo will stomp his feet SO hard when I lay him down for bed sometimes... he'll shake the whole crib. And, he's starting to be entertained by pulling himself up on his crib rails to a kneeling position.
10. Rocco is entertaining himself with standing, unassisted for up to 7 or 8 seconds at a time... and can easily squat and stand up with little assistance from objects around him.
11. Matteo continues to steal the pacifier out of Rocco's mouth... then quickly get away... and pops it into his mouth. It used to make Rocco really mad and now Rocco just deals with it.
12. Matteo & Rocco continue to steal toys from each other. They used to make each other cry. But, now, they more often than not just kind of watch the other take their toy and move on like nothing happened.
Here are the latest happenings since my last post:
1. Rocco's top two teeth have come in.
2. Gabby's tounge heeled nicely.
3. Matteo is pulling up to stand along the sofa.
4. Rocco started climbing up onto the sofa from the ground... a bit scary... we're worried about him not stopping and climbing right over the top to a crashing finish on the ground.
5. Matteo's top two teeth keep pushing their way out and both are not quite visible.
6. Gabby now does a pretty good job of pedaling her tricycle up & down the sidewalk.
7. Rocco's teeth marks line the top of his crib... and he is continuously trying to scale his crib. We may have to remove the bumper, as it's being used as a stepping stone.
8. Matteo seems to enjoy grinding his teeth. This kills me... the sound gives me goose bumps and I cringe each time.
9. Matteo will stomp his feet SO hard when I lay him down for bed sometimes... he'll shake the whole crib. And, he's starting to be entertained by pulling himself up on his crib rails to a kneeling position.
10. Rocco is entertaining himself with standing, unassisted for up to 7 or 8 seconds at a time... and can easily squat and stand up with little assistance from objects around him.
11. Matteo continues to steal the pacifier out of Rocco's mouth... then quickly get away... and pops it into his mouth. It used to make Rocco really mad and now Rocco just deals with it.
12. Matteo & Rocco continue to steal toys from each other. They used to make each other cry. But, now, they more often than not just kind of watch the other take their toy and move on like nothing happened.
13. Rocco is clapping!
14. Rocco can say "mama" and "dada". I think he sort of gets what they mean... because he will say "mama" when upset or sad or if he's crying and crawling around chasing me.
15. Matteo can say "mamamama". Doesn't know what it means yet.
16. Gabby is going to be a butterfly for Halloween. Rocco & Matteo are going to be bats for Halloween. I'm going to be a doctor and Dan is undecided at this point.
17. The twins turned 9 months old!!! I can’t believe it. Wow. Time flies.
16. Gabby is going to be a butterfly for Halloween. Rocco & Matteo are going to be bats for Halloween. I'm going to be a doctor and Dan is undecided at this point.
17. The twins turned 9 months old!!! I can’t believe it. Wow. Time flies.
18. I just realized in all the crazyness of the past week... I completely blew off their 9 month doctor appointments on Friday. Ugh... I'm sure the doctor's office is thrilled with me. Great. 
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