New Year Resolution!

The babies Christmas morning.

Annelise takes after Daddy for sure!

It would be hard to get any sweeter than our boy.

Assaulting the presents one jump at a time!

Annelise and Bella the Bunny. She was so gentle!

This is seriously a new arena for me! New Year resolutions are not something I have ever been interested in taking part in. Mainly because they normally involve some form of physical movement in an attempt to lose weight or some hairball idea that you will never even really try. So having said that I really am going to put one into action. What is it you say??? Well, as you all know we have 16 month old twins (as of today. . .Happy Birthday!) and being twins isn't all it's cracked up to be all the time. Often times they are clumped together as if they only have one life between the two of them. Always being together, which is adorable, but rarely get the one-on-one time of a singleton. So this year I am hoping to get the children alone more to help them explore their budding personalities and to see who they are becoming as my little boy and sweet girl. Since we don't like to leave our babies this may be a challenge but I think Daddy and I can tag team the two of them and make it happen. It should be so much fun for us all and I really hope the babies get to feel unique and special. They really are so different and it will also be so much fun to post all about them!

Christmas Spirit at the Bates house!

"Is this serously not alright to wear outside?"

"I'm plenty warm Mom, I swear!"

Santa hats and babies are a holiday must have!

"If we could just open this silly gate we could get to that tree!"

Looks like a Christmas tree to me but temptaion to them!

Here are a few pics from the week. It's been chilly outside but we finally got a few decorations up after much procrastination. We have hardly shopped at all yet ( I know. . .I'm in trouble!) but we have hed the best time with the babies just playing and enjoying their ever changing personalities. It's been nice to just absorb every second with them and let the hustle of the holidays fly by without a care. Having said that everyone can look forward to our holiday cards getting out in the mail tomorrow! YIKES! With any luck we are only hoping you get them before New Years. If they come any later just change the year to 2009 and pretend I'm really on top of things for next year!

Hair today. . .Tummy tomorrow!

There are just certain meals that never make it to the tummy. I was busy putting up the Christmas tree (Yes, a whole week before the big day) and if you can imagine it was quite a challenge with a hundred glass bulbs and a curious set of 15 month old twins by my side. Since I needed both my hands I thought I would lavish snacks upon the babies as they watched me from their high chairs. By the time I really looked at them closely they had food from one end of the kitchen to the other, in their hair, down their shirt, and anywhere they could throw it. All this while I was literally 8 feet away! It took almost as long to clean it all up as it did for me to decorate the tree. The moral of the story is that food and Christmas trees don't mix! Then again, it's hard to find something cuter than a messy baby. (Except maybe a sleeping one!)

Surprise!

A friendly wave hello!

I'm pretty sure this baby looks like Daddy!

We figured the holidays were as good a time as any to share our thrilling news with everyone. We are currently ecpecting baby #3!!! For those of you who are thinking "How old are the twins?" Well, they are a whopping 15 months old which in turn means that when this baby arrives we will have three children UNDER the age of 2! We love a challenge! In order for us to have the twins we had to endure IVF and fertility treatments but not this time! We feel so amazingly blessed that this baby decided to surprise us. What a great surprise!! We have an ETA of June 17th and are looking forward to having a baby in the house again. We are certain it will be nothing short of busy around here but as my Dad always says "Busy hands are happy hands!" We could not agree more!

We love Santa. . . or NOT!

Yesterday we set out to get our favorite holiday Santa on film. This is Santa visit #4 for the kids and all of our other visits have been pretty uneventful. The visits were tear free and although Annelise isn't sure about Santa her brother doesn't seem to mind him at all. Until yesterday that is! We showed up during Santa's lunch hour and were forced to wait a solid 45 minutes for his return. Then the line grew so fast you would have thought they were giving out free drinks for the parents. No such luck! By the time we were front and center for Santa Claus he had already spoke to the babies and they were just fine with him so we remained hopeful. The second we put the twins on Santa's lap both Bodie and Annelise acted as if they had been pinched or abandoned forever. I have to tell you that it was hilarious! Santa tried his best but the babies were not buying whatever holiday cheer he was selling! The very second we touched the babies they completely quit crying and were fine only an inch off his lap. We love the tradition of visiting Santa and are certain that our future visits will be filled with excitement. Until then, we thought this photo would remind every single one of you of your child at the curious age of one and the days when no one was more safe than mommy and daddy.

MaeZee makes our day!

It must have been hard to move but they still loved it!

Early morning entertainment. The MaeZee and Lucy show!

She beat the sun outside this morning!

What a great weekend! We were so lucky when cousin MaeZee came to play. The babies and MaeZee spent about an hour playing in the tub and I'm pretty sure there were equal parts water in the tub and on the floor! They laughed at each other and played so nicely the entire time. It started snowing super hard yesterday and by this morning all the children just wanted to get out there and play! MaeZee was sooooo excited that she was literally outside by about 7:15 a.m.!! Seriously, it was still dark but MaeZee and Lucy, her new BFF, just kept the babies entertained and made sure to throw lots of snow at the glass and make the babies laugh. We did a little shopping and had hot cocoa after round two in the snow. We love to have her over and just get such a kick out of her funny expressions!

Mrs. Claus pays a visit to the twins!

Annelise listening contently to Mrs. Claus read one of many stories.


Leave it to Bodie to find a cute older girl to share his raisins with.

Barnes and Noble is one of our favorite places. We appreciate the free story hour for kids every week and the opportunity to embrace my children with books. This holiday Mrs. Claus made a very special stop and read lots of Christmas stories and even brought her husband Mrs. Santa Claus himself. They did take pictures for us of the children sitting on his lap but with the two of them it was hard for me to take my own photo. It was a great Saturday outing and the kids are sure curious about this red suited fella with a beard they keep running into.

Help! We were robbed!!!!!

Who says men don't cook?

King of the Hill anyone?

"They have books Mom!!!!" Anna's favorite!

In typical boy fashion, Bodie found all the boys to play with and Annelise found the girls. It's so funny to watch human nature take over. The boys played with the strollers for about 45 minutes running all around the entire place. The were Daddy's on a mission!

Pizza anyone??

Ok, not literally but it sure felt like it when I took the kids to Rafiki yesterday. Rafiki is an indoor play area for chidren and parents. Truly, it is nice and clean. There are numerous stations for the kids to play, a coffee bar for the parents or any other care givers who need mass doses of caffiene to keep up with the little people, and lots of things to climb on or over other than my own personal furniture. HOWEVER~ It was $7.95 per child!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who are as bad at math as myself that is over $16 (after tax) for my children to play for a few hours. I am a cost savvy gal (some call it cheap) when it comes to activities for the children. Planet kid is free for us for a whole more 9 months, public library puppet shows are free, Barnes and Noble story hour. . . again free! So maybe I am just in shock but they did have a marvelous time and it was a lot of fun for us all. They played with lots of other kids and ran around like hooligans. I love it when a kid can be a Hooligan!

NICU Holiday Party!

It was time again for the NICU Holiday party. This is our very proud second year in a row and we look forward to it from the minute the invitation arrives. St. Lukes NICU is one of the very top care facilities for premature infants and we were sooooo blessed that Bodie and Annelise had all those loving and capable hands upon them in their first 16 days. Our story of twins born six weeks premature isn't uncommon but our experience there sure is. Not a day goes by when we aren't aware of how lucky we are and how amazing our stay was. Bodie and Annelise had the best care and every year we are fortunate to be able to go back and thank them in person. Of course, Santa Claus and all the other children are a lot of fun too!

Do not try this at home!

An amazing balancing act that defies the laws of gravity!

The high flying trapeze-ish stunt of a bundled up snow creature!

Sure, you think that they are only one year old and what could they do that is too dangerous??? Well, well, well, let me tell you that 99% of the time I have to save them from harms way or I would take more pictures of their action packed adventures. If you think balancing yourself upon a pink pony that plays music is easy then you simply have never tried it! Also, those swings on our front porch may look all calm and mellow but once you put those things in motion the babies will settle for nothing shy of going HUGE! What can we say? These babies like action!

BUNJEE!!!!!!

That's right! We were super lucky that my cousin Aaron came and stayed with us over the holiday and we always have so much with him. He really wanted to go bunjee jumping and sice we have some connections. . .don't ya just love to be able to say stuff like that?. . . .we hooked him up. . side down! We jumped from the Kings bridge in Glenns Ferry and had a great day. The babies were bewildered by what was going on but here are a couple pics for everyone!

Bates Holiday photo.

Everyone gathered around for a Bates family photo.

Turkey Day!

The Plaat kids. . .a.k.a the A-team! Alexandra, Andrea, Alyssa, and Austin.

Annelise really found her buddy in cousing Austin. He was sooooo good with the babies and Annelise knows a sweet boy when she sees him. She had a real soft spot for him all week.

Snacking on appetizers before dinner.

Must be a good topic of conversation going on.

A darling picture of our "Nanners" at the track!

On Thanksgiving itself we were doing our usual running around! We started at my brother Kurt and Angela's house. They deep fired their turkey and made quite the holiday spread! The babies were pretty fresh at this point and had a pretty good time checking out the gold fish pond and seeing Bella the bunny. Lots of family members to share stories and laughs with for sure. It's always nice to spend the holidays with my Dad as well. After early dinner we headed over to Nanny Bates' house were she outdid herself on the turkey dinner! She set a lovely table for everyone and it was nice to have all of Bodie's sisters and brother in one big space. The babies had to get to bed so we missed all the games but we hear it was a really fun time! Lastly, we did eat dinner over at my mother's house as well on Saturday and as you can see I never did gt any photos because at this time the babies were falling apart. It wasn't anything we really could have avoided. Chalk it up to a week of over-stimulation and by the sixth or seventh dinner for the week the babies were on full melt down mode. Bummer but she did make a great dinner as well and it was nice to hang out with all my family again.

Holiday pictures!

Shelley and Chris with three of their kids at Grandpa George and Grandma Linda's farm.

Annelise loving the baby kitty on the farm.

Getting ready for some back country trail blazing!

Andrea and Alyssa with Bodie at the Go-Cart track.

Bodie and cousin Chelsea!


Bodie's sisters were both here for Thanksgiving along with their family. We had a GREAT time with everyone and did everything from bowling to go-carts, visiting the farm and playing lots of fun games. We of course all ate our weight in food and I don't know if I ever care to see a turkey again but it was delicious while it lasted. Shelley and her husband Christopher also got the chance to visit Grandpa George and Grandma Linda's farm in Midvale Idaho. They had a great time on the four wheelers and checking out the wide open spaces. We feel so blessed that they have the farm because both Bodie and I feel that the kids will really benefit from the life style out there. Caring about animals and the land, spending time with your loved ones with no city hustle, and the simplicity we both grew up with means a lot to us both. It was a great way to start the week!

It's a twin team effort!

Must need a little break before the next round!

"I've got your back. . . and your Blankie Bodie!"

"Let me get the heavy lifting Annelise while you carry the balloons!"

The twins are witty as ever lately! They have really began to appreciate the companionship of the opposite twin as well. They find each other very useful when one of them needs a hug, someone to babble with who understands, someone to hit, and most recently when two arms just don't seem to be enough. They recently had two blankets and two ballons out and were trading jobs as they carried things from one end of the house to the other. They would stop, switch, and yell as if to say "Look what we can do!!!!" It was so fun to see them understand the concept of helping eaching other to get what they want and hopefully it will only continue to get better!

Can't stop the cuteness!

Love this!

The new thing around our house is making a fort out of anything and everything. If you can't find us just look under the nearest blanket.

I know it's blurry but it's just too cute to resist! Bodie was wrestling Annelise to the ground to share his love this week! She didn't always appreciate it but it was sweet of him!

This dog gets a lot of love around here!

He'd defend her until the bitter end! Man and his dog!

The week in a whole has been pretty uneventful for us but we still managed to capture some moments that I just had to share! We did get our for some park time, a trip to Grandpa's to tear up his house, and lots of errand running. Today we are actually attending a birthday party for Keylie Joe who is now joining the ranks of all of us who are one!!!! Big stuff!!! Look for pics!