General Update

Both of the girls are walking machines. From here to there and everywhere! :-)

Not a whole lot of talking still, which kind of worries me, but not to the extent that I'm losing any sleep over it or think about it all the time. Our doctor told us that twins are usually later to talk because of two things:

1) they kind of develop their own language with each other - no, I'm not crazy, studies have been done and the term for it is Idioglossia or "twin language" and

2) limited individual communication with us, the parents - a singleton is coo'd over and ooohhh'd and aaahhh'd over on an individual basis whereas we've had to share our time - and you might think, well, I have a second child and they're learning just fine - it's not the same thing when a second singleton has a an older sibling because your first child can already talk, again strengthening what the second one hears and observes.

Now, on to some positive thoughts about their speech. They both immitate us a ton. If we do the ssssss like a snake, so do they. If we roar like a lion, so do they. In fact, they're both starting to get it before Mike and I do it for them. For example, if we say, "What does a snake say?" they will sometimes sssss before we do. And Nicole has the lion thing down. She will roar if we ask her what a lion says. For Kaitlyn, she's starting to say Daisy when she sees our dog. And of course they both say DaDa and can say MaMa although it's not a popular word. :-(

Our doctor said by 15 months, she'd really like to hear them both saying three purposeful words, meaning say DaDa when they see Mike, say Daisy when they see the dog, etc. Unfortunately, we're not there yet. We've got about 2 1/2 weeks until 15 months, but their dr appt is more like 4 weeks away. Wish us luck.

On a fun note, we took them to their first movie on Friday - Kung Fu Panda. It was playing at the dollar theater in East Cobb. We wouldn't have gone otherwise. So, we spent about $2.00 on our tickets and only stayed about 1/2 hour. They enjoyed walking around more than they did looking at the movie. Nicole did stare right up at the screen when we first got in though and started to applaud. I think she was impressed. :-)

We've got Sesame Street LIVE next Thursday. Kung Fu Panda made us a bit nervous about the whole sitting down and watching the program; however, they really like Sesame Street and know the characters. Not to mention we'll be packed in like sardines at Phillips, so there won't be anywhere for them to go. I think it will be a whole different experience. I'll let you know.

Are We Crazy?

This past Sunday, we took our 14 month old twins to SIX FLAGS!!!! Yep! So, I ask you, "Are we crazy?" Those of you who know us best would say the jury has been out on that one for a long time. :-) However, on today's topic, I don't think we are crazy. The girls had a blast at Six Flags. Not for even one minute did we regret the trip or think we shouldn't have gone. (Truthfully, the Six Flags trip was also a trial run to see if we could even consider a 2008 Walt Disney trip. I think we may pull the trigger on that one and try to go in November since this went well.)

Here are some photos from the trip to the park.

One of the best parts, if not THE best part, was just that the girls could walk around outside. Our driveway is not the smooth kind of cement, and it's on an incline. The girls have a terrible time trying to walk out there in those conditions. Not to mention when they have to walk outside, they have shoes on. Since they've just really figured this whole walking thing out, they walk better barefoot. We even tried last Thursday night to let them walk down the street with us since it's at least flat. Well, Nicole got tripped up on her shoes and fell. Even worse...she was carrying a toy, so she didn't brace her fall with her hands. She literally fell (execution style) down to the ground with her knees hitting first followed by her forehead and nose. It was awful to watch. That was our first real accident with blood. Guess that's one for the baby book...not a good memory, but nonetheless a memory.

Anyway...my point (and I do have one). It was really nice to let them walk around at Six Flags. All the pavement is smooth and you can find parts of the park that are flat, especially this new Thomas Town that they built. Below are some photos of them walking around in Thomas Town. They don't watch Thomas, so I don't think they cared one bit about the decor, but they enjoyed themselves.




And below, on the Six Flags merry go round.

All in all, I think we rode 6 rides with the girls. Mike even managed to squeeze in 2 adult roller coasters while I dished out a snack in the shade for the girls. It wasn't crowded AT ALL!!!

Oh, and if you're still not convinced that we're not crazy because Six Flags is expensive, I'll let you in on a secret. Six Flags is offering a Big Six pass right now for $40. You can go 6 times off the pass. A season pass is unlimited for $70ish, but I don't think I'd ever go 6 times even with a season pass, so this Big Six pass was perfect. We bought two and our kids are free (under 2 years). We literally live only 5-6 miles from Six Flags via back roads, so we plan to go 2-3 more times (maybe even one trip for adults only during Fright Fest...Yeah!). So, for $80, we plan to get at least 3-4 trips to Six Flags. Not bad. You do have to pay to park every time which is a bummer, but it's not the end of the world.

A good experience indeed.

Pictures and More Pictures!!! I think I should become a Photographer!

Here are some more pictures of the girls. I'll narrate as they go along. :-)

(Descriptions below each photo.)


Kaitlyn in her crib. These days, it seems like she only sucks her thumb when she's holding duckie...her ABSOLUTE favorite toy without a doubt. That being said, we immediately went out and bought two more. We own three duckies! No chance we'll be without one that way. (We own three of Nicole's favorite toy too...although it seems that she's not as attached to her "favorite" toy as Kaitlyn is. I mean, Kaitlyn will stop everything when she sees duckie. Nicole isn't like that with her "bug.")


Nicole just getting out of the bathtub in her duck towel.
Kaitlyn at her friend Lily's first birthday party.

Nicole, also at Lily's birthday party.

Both of the girls at the party. Boy, mommy and daddy have gotten super creative when it comes time to feed the girls 'on the go.'

Playing with Lily's balloons. Hope she doesn't mind. :-)

Photos in the backyard after the party becuase, yes, mommy does think she's a photographer. Yeah right! We do have a nice camera though, so part of me thinks, hey, if I figure out how to work this awesome machine, maybe I can save money on professional photos...although, I know my desire to spend money will still lead me straight to the studios. How'd you like that run on sentence?

Oh, and speaking of professional shots. I'll put link at the bottom of this post to some photos we had made about 2 weeks ago. A girl was portfolio building so we got a good price. They are the first shots we've had done of the girls outside. They turned out really nicely. Her blog only has a "taste" of what she shot, but we were happy with them. Our photos are her "A Family Affair" entry. And if you're curious what Brad and Ceylese's kids look like these days, their post is right after ours: "Rain, Rain Go Away."

OK, back to the pictures...

Still in the backyard.

Moving to the front yard (pesky mosquitoes) to capture a shot of Nicole about to try to eat a leaf. Yep, she'll eat just about anything. We're constantly prying bark and rocks out of her mouth too. And that's getting dangerous these days because, unfortunately, Nicole seems to be a biter. Ouch. Look out! We tell her no, but I think she's a bit too young to grasp it yet. In the meantime, we just reign her in when we see her open mouth approaching Kaitlyn. It's mostly after they take toys from one another. Guess we need to work on sharing next, huh?

The girls got this table and chairs from nanny Joanna for their birthday. We thought we'd try it out for snack times. They seem to really like it. Like being at a little cafe. And when the weather cools down and the aformentioned mosquitoes are gone, we'll move it to the back deck and really get the full cafe experience. :-)

Here's the link to the professional outdoor photos: www.atfirstsightphotography.blogspot.com

Pictures of My Beautiful Girls

The first two are left over from Hilton Head. I meant to share these but forgot to upload them. In each picture, the tide caught hold of their toys and so, off they go, crawling after it. Then a new wave comes in and takes the toy a bit farther. So, they keep crawling. It was entertaining.

Just some random photos around the house.

This past weekend, we went up to my parents house. Brad, Ceylese, cousin Mackenzie and cousin Blake were there too. The first photo is of Mackenzie, Kaitlyn and Nicole (L to R). They had such a good time up at the lake. As I've said before, they LOVE the water, so this was perfect!

Hilton Head - Finally - and a Walking Update

I still haven't updated on Hilton Head, so I'll touch on that quickly and then on to the walking update.

As defined by every mother:

-A vacation: Time away from home with lots of relaxation and time to do whatever you want whenever you want.

-A trip: Same old stuff, different location. :-)

So, what does that mean? About the second day, Mike looked at me and said that we weren't on vacation. Instead, we were merely on a trip. I immediately agreed. Let's face it. Taking care of two one year olds is taking care of two one year olds. It doesn't matter if you're in traffic congested, smoggy Atlanta or the beautiful picturesque beaches of Hilton Head. It was work. Don't get me wrong, we had a fantastic time and enjoyed the extra time with Kaitlyn and Nicole that an Atlanta work week doesn't afford. However, it wasn't really a vacation. Do you know that I was so delusional when we left that I actually thought I might come back with a tan. No way.

Kaitlyn and Nicole LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE water. Doesn't matter if it's a bath, the pool or the ocean. They loved it! No fear!!! The first day (and all the days after) we would put them down on the sand, and they would take one look at the ocean and crawl straight to it.

Ok, now for walking:

Nicole is really getting it. She walks very slowly and carefully, but she gets there. She can go several feet - maybe up to 10 feet?

Kaitlyn can walk maybe distances of only 4 feet. She takes 4 or 5 good steps and then comes clumsily down. It's truly hysterical to watch. It's like a drunk baby. :-) Good stuff. We're enjoying watching them figure this whole thing out.

By doctor's definitions at their one year check up, they were both officially walking. I just figured that since they turned one exactly one month ago that we'd be there by now. I didn't realize that from the first steps that it took this long to get "good" at walking. I should probably be thankful that they aren't all over the place quickly yet though. It will happen when it happens.

Oh, and some good news for Kaitlyn and Nicole. Sesame Stree LIVE is coming to Atlanta in September and we got tickets!!!!!!!! They're going to love it! I'm SO excited. Yeah!

Fourth of July - Finally!

Here are the last of the Hilton Head photos. If you scan back through all of the vacation posts, it looks like I've been able to weed our 440 photos down to 37 for you all to enjoy. :-)

All of these were taken on the Fourth of July!!! We all had our patriotic clothing on - the Barbrees were all about the red, white and blue.

I still owe you all a general update on the trip though.

Even More Photos - Told You We Took a TON!!!

STILL not even to the 4th of July. That will be my next post. Enjoy these other photos.