Holiday get-togethers... GREAT times!

We had two really fun holiday get-togethers recently.

Last weekend our good friends Sara and Brad (& Leo) hosted a dinner party for us and our other good friends, Kathleen and Michael (& Livy and Maddy). It was a great time... super yummy food... lots of wine... and ROCKBAND. Yes, we all ROCKED OUT. It was a blast.

We've been getting together as a group on a regular basis since early 2006. The kids are sort of growing up together and it's so fun to see how they've all changed over time.

We try to take a photo of the kids at each get together... although, we often forget. But, here's one of the first photos and then the photo from last weekend. The group is definitely growing!

And, a few weeks ago one of my very best childhood friends just happened to be visiting the Bay Area because her husband grew up here and has family that still lives here. It's kind of crazy actually. Two small town girls from Minnesota end up marrying two guys who grew up in neighboring cities in the Bay Area. The plan was to take a photo of Jara and I with our kids. But, by the time we remembered to pull out the cameras... all the kids were VERY ready for their naps and a photo opp was IMPOSSIBLE. I tried. Trust me. So... I will leave you with the photo we took back in February. The twins were about 5 weeks old. All the kids were again ready for naps. And... Jara and I were laughing uncontrollably at all the chaos.

Just being DELICATE?!

It was day 3 of Dan's business trip and I was tired. I was fresh off of 2 nights with 5 hours of sleep or less. Not so much because the babies haven't been sleeping... but because I can't fall asleep if/when they DO wake up during the night. Yes, I've got major sleep problems.

5:05pm: I arrive home from the office & change into mommy clothes. Julia is scheduled to work until 6:30pm, so maybe, just MAYBE I can get a few things down before then, right?!

5:15pm: I head off to the grocery store to pick up food to make for dinner.

5:58pm: I arrive at Gabby's school... 2 minutes before they close and a per-minute late fee starts adding up.

6:10pm: Gabby and I arrive home... I begin unloading groceries. I put a pot on the stove and throw some minced garlic and oil in it... I'm going to make a easy, but yummy tomato pasta sauce.

6:15pm: Julia starts feeding the babies their go-to-bed meal. I get Gabby set-up with some dinner because the pasta won't be ready for a while. Grocery bags are still strewn across the kitchen floor. We're all tripping over them.

6:30pm: I bring the babies upstairs one by one... to feed them their bottles and rock them before laying them down for bed. Love this quiet time with the babies. Good hugs and snuggles.

7:05pm: Babies are down. I put groceries away and open a bottle of wine. And, start chopping onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and browning the meat and sausage.

8pm: Pasta sauce is ready. YUMMY! Julia, Gabby and I all eat pasta. Then, somehow I miss Dan's call... he left a message saying he'll be arriving home closer to midnight due to weather delays. Ugh! I was so looking forward to seeing him NOW!

8:45pm: I do all the dishes and put leftovers in the fridge.

9:30pm: I'm tired. I begin the go-to-bed process with Gabby. I prep her bedtime "drinkies" and get a new stack of books to bring up to bed. PJs are now on and teeth brushed.

9:50pm: Just as I get Gabby all snuggled into bed with books... Matt wakes up crying. Then Rocco wakes up crying. Ugh. You're kidding me. Seriously? Can't they wait until Dan gets home?! ;-)

9:55pm: I go down and fix a bottle for Matt. I feed him the bottle downstairs since I can't bring him back up into the rocking chair while Rocco is screaming in the bedroom.

10:02pm: Rocco cries himself back to sleep. Matt finishes his bottle. Sheesh.... I'm tired.

10:15pm: I walk into my bedroom... exhausted. I walk back into the master bath and find Gabby dumping my contacts down the drain. They're gone. Lovely. I explain to her (I'm sure with a tired and stern voice) that she is not allowed to touch mommy's contact case and that it holds my very important "eyes". She must not open and dump them down the drain or I will have nothing to see with in the morning.

Gabby looks at me and says, loudly, "Jodi, I think you are just being very DELICATE!" This was the official diagnosis by "Dr. Snow Princess Gabby".

Honestly.

It's just not possible to make this stuff up

CIRCUS or ZOO? Tuesday - December 23, 2008

Sometimes I feel like my home has become a small circus... or a zoo. Every single day seems to have some sort of chaos involved.

Last week's circus drama included (just the highlights, of course):
* Dan was on a business trip from Tuesday morning to Thursday night. And, I went into the office three days instead of two. Two very busy work schedules = exhaustion for the at-home parent... me.

* Rocco cut his eye-lid open just at the crease above his eye. While playing on what? The dishwasher, of course. Minimal bleeding... but it left a nice black and blue and red bruise. He cried hard. Poor baby! Thank the Lord it wasn't his eyeball.

* Matteo managed to get his two fingers stuck in a kitchen drawer. He was playing in the plastic container drawer. They shut automatically when they get close enough to being closed. I was upstairs getting Rocco out of bed and heard a shrill scream. Poor baby! I'm happy to report all fingers are still working properly. It probably hurt quite a bit, but scared him more than anything.

* Rocco and Matteo managed to OPEN one of the securely sealed, fool-proof, baby-approved and tested (supposedly!), egg-shaped shakers that came in a "Parenting"musical instruments drum. WHAT?! I still can't believe this. I got a call from Julia, our au pair, while driving home from work. She said there were little pieces EVERYWHERE. I get home. I clean up the mess of tiny pieces. I call poison control. Yes... I CALL poison control because what if they swallowed some of these little things? For all I know.... the little pieces came from China and they're loaded with lead. Poison control recommends I go out and buy a lead test, which I did. Test was negative. Boys are fine. Crisis averted. Deep breath... I think to myself "For real? What's next?! No. I can do this. Dan will be home tomorrow night." Then, I try busting open the other egg shaker. I can't get it open. Amazing. These two little guys are unbelieveable. Teamwork results in amazing feats, doesn't it?

* Dan gets home approximately 3 hours late on Thursday night because of flight delays across the country (due to weather). I was SO happy to see him walk in the door. SO HAPPY!

* Then, to top off the already crazy week... on Sunday, Rocco decided to do his first dive off the top and backside of the sofa. I was upstairs helping Gabby get dressed. Dan was putting Matteo down for his morning nap. Dan heard a thump and a cry... ran downstairs and found Rocco on the floor behind the sofa. So this of course is our assumption of what happened. Now we either have to get rid of the sofa in the family room or make sure Rocco is secure in the playroom before he's ever left alone. So... I'm sure you know what our decision was.

Rocco walking!

Rocco is walking!

He's been testing the waters with walking for a few weeks now... but here is the long-awaited video footage. Of course... I never have the recorder with me when he walks for a LONG walk. But, here is just a taste:

It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas!

I just LOVE the holidays! And, it's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas at our house.

We've got lights on the outside of the house, stockings hung, the house decorated, presents are under the tree.... and today we decorated the tree.

It was a bit of a blunder... the boys were busy trying to climb the sofa and dive off, and every once in a while it looked like fun to grab ornaments off the tree and bite them. Not such a great idea, right?
Well... the tree was finally decorated. Memorable moments included:

* Gabby (dressed in a princess dress, of course) hanging all of the ornaments she could get her hands on within a two-foot radius.

* Rocco ripping ornaments off the tree and being scolded repeatedly by Gabby.

* Matteo grabbing ornaments off the tree and trying to eat them... and then getting SUPER mad at me when I'd try to recover the ornament from his little hands.

* Gabby trying to take a bite of each ornament that looked like a gingerbread cookie. We recently made gingerbread cookies... so this made sense to me.

I am just LOVING this year's holiday season! It's so different from last year's high-stress holiday. Last year I was pregnant with the boys, on bed rest and doing everything possible to keep the babies in my tummy for as long as possible so they could have a healthy start at life. Making Christmas cookies was completely out of the realm of possibilities. Also, we were still living in a rental while our house remodel was approaching completion. The project ran over by almost 2 months... and I was starting go a little nutty on the contractors. Honestly... you really don't want to mess with a SUPER-pregnant mommy who is in full nesting mode with nowhere to nest. Just a tad bit stressful.

This year is just SO WONDERFULY! I have 3 healthy babes and a fabulous, loving husband. We're in OUR home. And, Gabby's excitement for the Christmas holiday is so much fun... and brings out a little bit of the kid in Dan & I. It's wonderful... wish I could remember each and every moment forever...

Christmas cookies and holiday hearts!

When I was a child... one of my favorite holiday memories was making Christmas cookies with my mom and her mom (my Grandma Leona). We would make a variety of cookies... and LOTS of them. This year I started the tradition with my daughter.

We cranked up the holiday music and made cookies! It was so much fun... and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more... me or Gabby. She just loves to bake and cook.

We also had lots of help from Julia, our au pair from Germany. And, Dan even helped put frosting on some of the cookies.

We made gingerbread cookies, holiday wreaths, chocolate covered peppermint and almond flavored cookies (red and green), and peppermint bark. We still have to do the cut-outs at some point... maybe next weekend.

SO MUCH FUN!!

The only difficult part was that I was EXHAUSTED after! Well... it probably didn't help that we started the whole cookie mess at 9:15pm on Friday night. Yeah... because I'm REALLY bad at sitting around not doing anything. I had a moment to sit and couldn't deal with it.... so I started baking. Yeah. I know. Stupid. Somehow, I always find a way to keep me up on my feet until midnight. Can you not tell in the photos that we all look a tad bit tired? But happy and having fun, of course!

Here are some photos:

A Gingerbread house! Saturday - December 13, 2008

Dan and I had a date night... which meant Gabby and Julia (our au pair from Germany) had an in-house date night. And, they made a fabulous gingerbread house!

Julia took lots of photos... because she knows how I love seeing what the kiddos are up to when I'm not with them. And, I hate missing out on fun stuff like this.

Here are some fun photos to share:

Another memorable Santa visit...

Well... we had another memorable visit with Santa this year. Definitely something the Martino's are good at.

This was of course the twins first visit to see Santa. And, this was Gabby's second Santa visit. Unfortunately, we couldn't get her near Santa last year... she wouldn't have touched Santa's lap with a ten-foot pole.

Anyway, Rocco did real well... a bit shy actually. Matteo wanted OUT of Santa's lap... immediately. And, I thought Gabby was going to be ok with it this year... she was acting excited and talking happily about Santa up until the moment it was our turn. Then, she wanted nothing to do with even looking at Santa. I ended up holding her on my lap next to Santa... and she kept her face covered for the entire 5 seconds we all sat with Santa. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him. Poor little monkey.

And who could forget Gabby's classic photo w/Santa from 2 years ago:

Boys are 11 months old! YIKES!

Yikes! I can't believe the boys are 11 months old. Life has never been busier... and I think it's just gonna keep getting busier!

I think it's finally safe to say that we're officially over sicknesses in our house. After 6 weeks of sick kids and a sick mommy & daddy - we're done. Finally. The boys have been swapping their yuckies back & forth (bronchitis and double ear infections), Gabby got hit with bronchitis (she kicked off the sicknesses), and then Dan and I both had bronchitis and coughs that wouldn't quit. Add busy work schedules for both Dan & I... and wha-lah... welcome to the crazy Martino home. CRAZY! Literally. But... now we're ready to breathe again and enjoy the holiday season!

Recent news in our home:

* Rocco is walking a lot more now and balancing real well. He'll walk 7 steps... stand there and then walk a few more.

* Both boys are doing well experimenting with more table foods. They seem to love macaroni and cheese, cheese slices, deli turkey meat, apples, bananas, cinnamon raisen bagels, pears, and avocado.

* Both boys love sitting on the fireplace and climbing up and down on it.

* Matteo now also loves climbing up the stairs. And, like Rocco, if he finds an escape to the stairs he'll take it. Any chance they find... they're off and racing to the stairs.

* Matteo has now been standing on his own for a few weeks. He's busy practicing his standing moves!

* Rocco now has 6 teeth. Matteo is cutting his 5th tooth.

* Both boys LOVE playing and exploring outside. No matter how cold it is... they love outside adventures!

I'm just SO in love with my little monkey boys. Their little hugs warm my heart. I could spend hours just watching them play... if only they didn't poop or get hungry or laundry didn't scream my name, etc. ha! As soon as the hear my voice or see me enter the room, they both scurry over as fast as possible... screaming and whining the entire way. It's like a little turtle or mouse race. Then, they stand up on their feet and hold onto my legs and wait to be picked up. Eventually, I always manage to pick both boys up... like my little bear cubs. It's hilarious. I'll have to get Dan to record it at some point.

Now, they're beginning to act the same way when they hear Gabby come in the room. As soon as they hear her voice, they get so excited and scurry over to her. They LOVE their big sister. Matteo will try tackling her... pulling at her hair and poking at her face. Rocco tries to grab Gabby and then he screams with delight. He also love holding onto her and climbing her. It's SO FUN to see all the kiddos playing together. I love watching them interact. They just adore eachother.

I've been trying to take a photo of the boys together each month. Here is their 11 month "twin" photo. As you can see... getting a photo of them sitting is next to impossible. They sit for 15 seconds and then they're off to the races. You can see Julia, our au pair, trying to corral them in one of these photos. Next month when they turn ONE, I'll post their monthly photos from the past year.

Dishwasher magnets. Thursday - December 11, 2008

We're having trouble keeping a few magnets away from the dishwasher.

The dishwasher magnets (aka, Rocco and Matteo) scurry over like little mice as soon as they hear or see any action around the dishwasher. They just KNOW every time it's opened. They like to take stuff out and put it back in. They will grab things out of the dishwasher and hand it to us, as if they're helping.

I think it's kind of cute. Dan on the other hand gets annoyed. Dan will build barricades that keep the babies away. And, wow... that REALLY upsets the boys! Poor babies!

And then, how cute is this... the boys playing outside a few days ago:

Bathtime CRAZYness!

Bathing multiple infants at the same time requires a bit more energy, work and time than it does to bathe one. And, bathing two very active 11 month olds requires two adults, at minimum.

The boys are just plain crazy when they get in the tub! No. Seriously. Two words that summarize each bath experience… STRESSFUL and CHAOTIC!

Immediately upon entry, both boys are splashing as hard and as much as they possibly can. They get the biggest smiles on their little faces and are letting out lots of laughs and happy-screams. Dan and I are usually dripping wet from the waist-up, 60 seconds into bath time. That doesn’t sound bad, right?

Then, Matteo starts what I call “butt-swimming”. He kicks his legs really hard and slides across the tub floor on his slippery butt. This is followed by attempts to crawl, getting mad at me because I’m trying to hold onto him, and repeated face-plants into the water. With every self-induced dunk, I pull him out of the water just as quick as he goes under. I always expect him to cry, but he gets up and continues on his merry little way like nothing ever happened. Followed by another attempt for me to hold on to him. Him getting angry at me and shaking his arms angrily and screaming. Another face dunk while attempting to crawl across the tub. Another rescue by mom.

Rocco has always been the busier of the two. At the start of the bath, he’s entertained by the splashing and reaching out to touch his little bath buddy, while laughing. But, that quickly gets boring. So, instead of just crawling across the tub floor, he’s now more interested in standing up. He pops up just as quick as you sit him back down. And, getting him to sit back down is a trick because he grunts angrily while stiffening up straight as a board. Oh, and then of course… every once in a while he pretends to be a big boy standing in a bathroom stall. So, we get to witness him practicing his standing pee. Sadly, he pees into the tub water. Poor Matt!

Sheesh… it’s stressful!

And, if that isn’t enough to exhaust you… well, then we have Gabby who wants to participate in bathing the babies. If she hears “baby bath”… she is right there with us. Getting in between Dan & I and leaning into the water, grabbing soap, trying to squirt soap on their heads, splashing with the babies, dumping water over the babies heads to wash their hair.

Maybe, just maybe... I can record a few moments of it and share it with you here. The whole process is utterly exhausting. Honestly!

Gabby's first DENTIST appointment! Monday - December 1, 2008

Gabby had her first dentist appointment at the start of the month.

I had been prepping her for a few weeks. Telling her that we’d be visiting a dentist, what happens at the dentist office, explaining the sounds, where she would sit and the things she would see. Never once mentioning anything about my dental anxiety. ;-)

Gabby did SO great and seemed to somewhat enjoy getting her teeth cleaned and polished. The dental hygienist was great with Gabby and took away any fears she may have had. It pays to visit a pediatric dental office! Gabby did cry when the actual dentist finally came in... but, I chalk that up to us having to wait almost 15 minutes after the hygienist had finished. And, the dentist was a super tall guy wearing scrubs. So, he had a slight intimidation factor as well. I jumped into the chair so she could sit on my lap and then everything was fine.

Gabby got to wear cool little sunglasses while the light was shining on her face. And, they also gave her a huge bag of loot! She must have left with 20 stickers (all Dora & princess stickers), a princess toothbrush, a Tigger toothbrush, dinosaur children's floss sticks, 2 rolls of floss, toothpaste, a pink coin purse and a new ring with some major BLING. Dang... I think I might have to switch dentists!!

And, the appointment was made extra special because her Gammy from MN was able to join us! So, we got some cute photos of Miss Gabby in the dental chair. The little monkey sure is growing up fast lately!