Cutest Laundry EVER

 Laundry has never been cuter!

Good Times with Soren

Photo booth fun with my sweet Soren. Doesn't he have the most exquisite eyes?

A Chat with Asher

Both babies get really chatty when we hold them close--it's so freaking adorable.

Dangly Bird

Here's a photo of my Etsy Christmas present to myself--a sweet bird necklace! It's soo cute.

Asher with My Hair

Hah...this made me laugh.

The Look of Blogging

Fun with Mac's photo booth. What to post next???? Photos of stinking cutest baby babes and hubs? Indeed.

Soren's Hands

Soren has found his hands!!! So cute.

Asher's Music

Here's a cute video of Asher being...cute! 

A Whole New Me!

We got a new computer over the weekend because our old one had alzheimers and we never knew when it would recognize us. Sad. Wow am I loving our new mac! It moves with turbo speed and uploads my videos and photos in record time. Blogging has come to new heights! Yay!!!

Changing Table Dance

Asher loves to 'dance' after he gets a diaper change. It's the stinking cutest thing in the world! He lifts his left leg and bounces it up and down...so adorable. Here's a quick video of his sweet moves and as an added bonus, he's wearing the cute star onesie from Nicki. 

Christmas 2008: A Preview

Birds! Christmas tree 2008 will be covered in birdie birds. I can't wait!

Temple Lights

Jamie and I took Asher and Soren to see the temple lights as the beginning of another holiday tradition. What fun! We noticed that there were TWO limos at the temple, apparently the cool kids are taking the stretch limos to the temple these days.

Jamie Discovers Twins

 Here's the video of the 'big reveal' to Jamie that we were having twins. I slugged on the metro and the bus to my ultrasound appointment with a bladder nearly bursting to discover that I was having twins only to learn that Jamie had entirely forgotten about the appointment! He was in for a Sue-Prize. Pardon my silly banter and all that talk about hoping we'd have a boy and a girl so I could be done. I am so thrilled that we have TWO adorable boys and I'm still hoping there is a baby girl in my future. I will cherish Jamie's stunned response for the rest of my life. Too bad I didn't capture him walking into doors and in general acting in a stupor. Good times. 

Soren as a Wee One

I finally uploaded all of my videos so be prepared for a LOAD of videos to be unveiled. I'll start with a sweet one of Soren eating in the NICU. It was such an ordeal for him to eat an ounce of food, which is laughable now b/c if I take the bottle away for just a few seconds to burp him he gets entirely ticked and screeches. I love my healthy baby babe. 

It's a trip to watch this video and hear all of the NICU sounds--most memorable being the sound of the 'leads' alarming to alert the NICU staff to any possible baby distress. Notice the blue light at Soren's back--he had a 'Bili' light pad against his skin to bring down his bilirubin count. Also notice my postpartum fugs-I was just trying to survive.

Christmas with the Cutie Cutes

Christmas with the baby babes was ridiculously fun. We did little more than hang out but it was a blast! I made a Christmas Eve feast with a Tofurkey, smoked gouda mashed potatoes, home made bread, and home made egg nog without any eggs. What a delicious dinner! On Christmas day we were invited to a neighborhood progressive dinner and I impressed everyone with my butternut squash gallette and roasted veggies with herbed goat cheese. 

My parents generously give p-jay jays to all the grand kids and they graciously included Asher and Soren this year so they are shown in their adorable Christmas pjs. Thanks mom and dad!

Mourning Christmas

I'm taking down the Christmas tree and all the happy decorations of the season, which makes me enormously sorrowful. Saying goodbye to the holiday season always makes me sad because it is my favorite time of year and I always mourn it's departure. Saying farewell to summer is never difficult because the older I get the more I loathe the heat.

I love the holiday season for the warmth, cheer, and generosity it inspires. Someone in church the other day said that it's easy to be a Christian at Christmas--I understood exactly what he meant. It's a little bit easier to give, forgive, and act with sincerity and kindness.

This Christmas and holiday season has been especially beautiful and memorable thanks to my sweet baby babes and my even sweeter hubs. Jamie was home for FOUR days straight and oh the bliss of relaxed family fun! We mostly hung out, fed babies, and ate good food ourselves. Soren and Asher were the stinking cutest Christmas gifts we have ever received and I am thrilled for all the holidays to come spent with them.

I am sad to put away all the glorious Christmas music that I love! This year we bought a set of 'Swinging Christmas' cds and they were really fun because they had such a sense of nostalgia and old timey goodness. 

Honestly, what causes me the most heart ache on this day and at this time is the fact that I will be leaving my babies soon as I head back to work. Ever since having Soren and Asher I have spontaneously burst into tears at the thought of leaving them behind so as the wonderful, beautiful life as I know it NOW soon comes to an end, I feel a part of me dying and it is a painful, agonizing sensation. This blissful maternity leave and the memory of it will be like a phantom limb--it's ache will remind me of how much I LOVED my time at home with my baby babes and how tortured I am by our separation.

More to Love about Babies

So my overweening love for Soren and Asher grows daily. I regularly marvel at their growth and development. Soren has recently discovered his hands and loves to bring them to his mouth, which I find absolutely adorable. Asher is really starting to discover his voice, which he manifests in vibrant chirps and coos, which I think are the most beautiful sounds in the world. I am lucky to have such happy babies who are so much stinking fun to be with all day long.

Both Asher and Soren are starting to smile loads and loads and their little happy faces make me swoon with love and joy. Once they start smiling I can't help but get super animated to keep them smiling so the other day I found that my cheeks were sore because I was smiling SO much. Isn't that ridiculous?

Honestly, having Soren and Asher has been the greatest experience of my life for many reasons. I have them because of my greatest love and joy: Jamie. Asher and Soren are little sources of wonder and beauty and I am enormously thrilled that I get to be their mom and watch them grow. Having them has given me new heights of emotion: happiness, gratitude, sorrow, fatigue and above all, LOVE. I have never felt better in my life--despite a harrowing pregnancy and delivery, I feel wonderful. Thank you Soren and Asher.

Vaughn and Margaret

Vaughn and Margaret stopped by for a few days on their way to Vermont. They were perfect guests and brought so much joy and fun to our home. They held, fed, burped, and loved the baby babes. We had a blast and look forward to their return visit to celebrate New Years with them. Yay!

Packages!!!!

The mailman knocked on our door at 9am this morning bearing two packages! What a joyful occasion. Asher and I were thrilled to learn that my sister and BFF Amanda had sent us Christmas gifts. 

I love, love, love the birdie birdens (read: birds) so my sister bought me some adorable bird ornaments for the tree. Hopefully next year we can have a tree covered in sweet birds.

Thank you Amanda for the roll mix and thank you Rebecca and Mary Gail for the toys--so far you have been our toy hook up.

Yay for being blessed with loving family and friends.

Computer...on....the....fritz

Ugh. Our computer has been a fussy fuss face and has made checking email or posting almost impossible because I never know if the computer will turn on or not. I have loads to post about so hopefully the Mac genius bar will solve our problems.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Cookie Fest

Do you like how I am a GIANT next to Nicole?


Nicole came over this morning for our second annual cookie fest. We made cardamom cookies, cranberry crunchies, chocolate crackle, and nutella cookies. Last night I made fudge so I am fully loaded with holiday treats for neighbors and friends. We listened to fun Christmas tunes and were highly entertained by the coos and smiles of Asher and Soren.

Ladie's Men

Uncle Stephen gave Soren and Asher these fun onesies. This was one of their favorite photo shoots--clearly Soren was really 'feeling' it.

Thanks Uncle Ryan and Aunt Michelle

Notice how Asher, whose skin has rarely seen the sun, is tanner than me. Nice.

My brother and his wife gave Soren and Asher the most adorable outfits--little pirate mouse numbers. For Christmas they sent stinking cute striped hats and socks. Here is a photo of Soren in the outfit and Asher with the socks.

Holiday Traditions

I love the Poinsettia tree!

Soren and Asher under my favorite Christ themed painting.

The Capital Christmas tree!!



At the National Gallery fountain with all of its festive beauty. So fun to be there with Jamie, Asher, and Soren!

A Christmas Tradition First for the boys.

Amaryllis, my favorite flower.


I love, love, LOVE traditions. I am always scheming on new ones, which inevitably involve FOOD. Traditions inspire nostalgia, a sense of place, and a sense of family. I want my children to have traditions to look forward to and eventually to follow with their own families. To celebrate Christmas in the DC area, I love taking a trip to the National Gallery of art to view their renaissance, Dutch, and Gothic art collections because they all depict the annunciation, the Madonna and Christ child, and the adoration of the Magi...all of which are celebrations of Christ's birth and life. My all time favorite painting is the 'Rest on the Flight Into Egypt' because it is such a sweet portrait of Mary and Christ. The National Gallery of Art also has concerts every Sunday evening and we typically attend one of the December Christmas concerts but we wont make it this year. Also indigenous to the DC area is the Christmas carol sing along at Wolf Trap, the only National Park dedicated to the performing arts. We wont attend this year but it's an occasion I look forward to in the years to come with the baby babes.

Christmas wouldn't be the same without confections! I have my favorite treats: fudge, cranberry crunchies, cardamom cookies, chocolate cherry cookies, and nutella cookies. Cookie fest begins this week.

My mom always made cinammon rolls on Christmas morning and I loved that tradition. I think I will do a variation on that theme with orange rolls. I love citrus and am always looking for new ways to use my microplane.


What are your family holiday traditions? My aim is to have a Christmas book to read each night of the month. So far I have ONE book but it's a lovely story by Pearl S. Buck. This year we started reading a chapter of Luke a night because there are 24 chapters and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Christ than to read about his birth and life.

This past weekend went into the city twice with Jamie's brother Stephen. We went to the National Gallery and saw the Capital Christmas tree. So stinking fun!!!