We're Back!

And up to no good (with all of our new toys!)...

Jackson's first big boy haircut!

While we were in Idaho, we decided to get Jackson his first big boy haircut. Daniel's been lobbying for one for a while now, and while I love his sweet little curls, even I agree that there are a few locks on that boy's head that are out of control--so time for a hairscut it is!

Addison, Dad and Grandma looked on while Grandpa and Jackson suited up and prepared for the trim. We took Jackson to our friend Kristen's shop Hot Hair, and Ashley (the girl who cuts my dad's hair) gave Jackson his haircut. Jackson wasn't so sure about the scissors...but he was a big boy and sat pretty still on Grandpa Tom's lap--overall, it went well (and Ashley was fast, which helped).




Here is the finished product, Jackson with his big boy haircut--I think he looks just as handsome as he did before, but quite a bit older with his new do!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, babies! This year Addison and Jackson were really good at handing out and opening up presents (leading up to Christmas, they tried to be sneaky and get into boxes--they were super excited Christmas morning when they could really let the paper fly!). It was fun to have my entire family together for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning--then Andrew and John and Rachel and Chris all had to head home, and the rest of us headed to Blackfoot for Christmas dinner at Great Grandma Rodonna and Great Grandpa Ted's house. I just love Christmas, and babies, you guys made it so much fun and so memorable!

Rachel, Chris, and the baby girl in Rachel's belly (can't believe the babies will have a cousin in a month!):

Addison, mesmerized by the talking dog (one of the babies' Christmas presents from Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Tom):

And the babies rocking in the big chair with Grandpa Tom (and Jackson, mesmerized by the remote):

Sledding!

With the fresh, fluffy snow we got while we were home in Idaho, we had to take the opportunity to go sledding! The babies loved being pulled around--though they did not love the snow kicking up from the front of the sled and blowing in their faces (which it did the second time we went out). Anyway, it was fun to get bundled up and play in the snow!


PS How cute are those babies all bundled up in their coats, hats, gloves, and boots?!

Our First Visit with Santa Claus!

While in Twin Falls, we decided to stop by the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping and see our friends Lany and Denver and their cute kids Grace, Clara, and Owen. We also decided to visit Santa Claus for the first time--and the babies did a great job! Jackson wasn't sure at first, but both decided Santa was A-OK in their books (and forgave him for his scraggly beard, which was at least legit).

A Fun Family Lunch

While we were home, we were able to meet up with my Aunt Susan and Uncle Alan, my cousin Kim and her baby Brody, and my Grandpa Andersen for lunch in Twin Falls. Even though it was quick, it was so good to see them and get to spend some time catching up! (and we made such a mess of the back room at the Golden Corral)

Here we are with my cousin Kimmy and her little boy Brody and Great Grandpa Andersen.

And here's Grandma Kaye and Jackson (a very smiley pair), Kimmy with Brody, and Addison (who was so interested in the Brodster) with Aunt Susie.

Beautiful Kim and handsome Brody.

Jackson loved lunch (the evidence is all over his face)!

And here are the babies--Addison really wanted to hug Brody.

A White Christmas!

We made it to Idaho (and Daniel to Oregon, where he went to visit his Aunt Ginny and Uncle Dick for a few days), and this afternoon the snow really started coming down--looks like we'll have a White Christmas after all! Hooray, I love it!!

Here are the kids trying out their new snowboots from Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Tom--they loved playing outside (though they did not love having snow blow up in their faces when they were getting pulled around on a sled), but they really love playing around in Grandma's kitchen. My mom has a stuffed moose hanging by the door, and it has a motion censor in it so that when anybody walks by it starts singing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" (truth time: it is rather obnoxious...). The thing is: the kids LOVE it--they cannot get enough of dancing to Mr. Moose. Every now and again, the adults need a break so we switch it off--but the minute it gets turned off, Jackson runs over to it and dances and waves his arms, then looks at us, wondering why it isn't singing since he's dancing in front of it.

We're Idaho-Bound!

I couldn't be more excited--we are packing up our little family and heading to Idaho for Christmas. My head is spinning from all of the planning and packing--we leave tomorrow, and I can't wait to get there and spend the holidays with my family! Fingers crossed that we survive the flight with these two little munchkins (Daniel is really not looking forward to the long plane ride with our children)...

More Christmas Trains!

This past weekend, we decided to venture down to the National Harbor to have lunch, see the Christmas decorations at the gigantic Gaylord hotel, and check out the Christmas train (and Olivia came with us, yay!). Unfortunately, Santa wasn't there--but we did get to ride the train (which was ridiculously small, but the babies had fun).

Farewell, Mary!

(As much as I don't like to think about it or admit it...) The babies will likely have a series of caregivers throughout their childhood--and their first just left. Mary has been with us through the past year, and babies, how she loved you! She's moving onto different things--our new nanny Whitney will be here at the first of next year--and I'm really excited to get to spend the next two weeks at home (and in Idaho) with Addison and Jackson. I really, really love the time we get to spend together!

Anyway, Mary wrote the following post on her blog about you guys, and I wanted you to see what she had to say about her year with you and her observations on your personalities from the time she spent with you (and you'll see from reading this--you guys charm almost everyone you meet!):

I got into D.C. on January 1st of this year when the babies were about to turn four months old. And now they are going on 16 months in a couple of weeks! I have spent thousands of hours and hundreds of days with them as they changed and grew this year. I'm not sure how many diapers I've changed this year... but it was a high number! I've been through colds and diaper rashes and teething with them. I've been on a few plane rides with them. What a year! I've heard the first year of a child's life has the most drastic changes. Here's what the twins looked like when I first met them.

(They were blobs of fat! Haha! Love the scared expressions on their faces.)

Here's what they look like today:

Jackson

Addison

I saw them both reach a lot of milestones and I felt just as proud as their parents when they learned or did something new. They learned to sit up, roll over, crawl, walk, and use sign language while I was here. They can climb up the stairs (working on going down) and they both love to dance and sing. Personality wise, they are pretty different.

Addison is: mischievous, always running before looking, not afraid to take control, loves to wave to strangers and give hugs and kisses to people she doesn't even know. Has a killer fake laugh and a cute real laugh. Has the biggest bluest eyes that strangers always comment on. Really good at signing and saying words.

Jackson is: sweet, likes to take time to smell the roses, he will explore things slowly and is interested by a lot of different things, whereas his sister runs ahead to check out the situation. Sensitive, smiley, ticklish, likes to give hugs, easygoing, determined when he sets his mind to something. LOVES to dance and "talk" on the phone.

Today is my last day working as a nanny for them. It's bittersweet. I'm ready to move on to the next phase of my life but it's sad at the same time. It's sad that they will not remember me or all the time I spent with them. But hopefully the things I did and the way I loved them will make a difference somehow.

I LOVE YOU JACKSON AND ADDISON!!!! (Yeah, tearing up right now....)

Christmas Trains!

Yesterday, we took the babies to the Botanic Gardens to see their Christmas train display. The kids love trains, and were signing TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN like maniacs the entire time we were there.




After walking through the display, we ran around out on the lawn in front of the Capitol. It was pretty chilly, but the babies had fun--and you can't beat the view.

15 month check up

Addison
head circumference: 17.75 inches (26%)
height: 31.5 inches (80%)
weight: 21 lb 12 oz (32%)

Tall and skinny--just like her mom?

Jackson
head circumference: 18.5 inches (44%)
height: 31 inches (45%)
weight: 23 lb 4 oz (31%)

Poor Jackson has been scratching his ear more than normal lately (he's always been an ear scratcher/puller, especially when he gets tired), so I mentioned it to the doctor to see if something was up. When she checked his ears out, she saw that he had some fluid behind his right ear drum--the poor baby had an ear infection! It was a good thing that we happened to have a doctor's appointment that day--except for one unusual crying episode that morning, I wouldn't have known anything was wrong. It would have had to get worse before we'd have headed to the doc, so I'm glad we were able to catch it early and get him on some antibiotics and back to feeling better!

A Weekend with the Satterlee Ladies

Aunt Casey, Aunt Kelly, and Nana Candy came to visit last weekend (and while Dad was out of town for work, Nana Candy stayed much of the week to help with the babies). We had one more weekend of beautiful, unseasonably warm weather. So we went on a lot of walks and played outside a whole bunch--in fact, the babies walked all of the way to the park, played for a while, and walked all of the way home. They are getting to be such big kids!

Here are the babies playing out front. Both Jackson and Addison are quite the little soccer players--both are really good at running and kicking the ball.







We tried again to get a good family picture for Christmas cards--we ended up with a couple of good shots, and lots of funny pics.



When we're playing out front, Addison has taken to hightailing it to the front door and sitting down squarely on our Christmas rug. She must be digging the festive, bright red snowman rug!

A good picture of Jackson and Aunt Casey.


And a good picture of Daniel and Casey.