We Survived the First Year! … So We Threw a Little Party.

Posted on 12 October 2012 by Diane

In late September, the twins turned one!

We didn’t really have a theme, just lots of fun bright colors. We had 6 one-year olds in the house and a few older siblings as well. We had a ball pit in the living room and lots of food!

The birthday boy and girl

Some party guests

Lucy and Evan each got their own mini carrot cake (they weren’t too sure if they liked it), but they had fun making a mess of it

Rainbow cupcakes for everyone else

We all caught the dreadful flu a couple days later. It was misery. Unfortunately we gave it to some party guests as well.

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8 Months in Retrospect

Posted on 5 August 2012 by Fernando

June is when things start to heat up (I realize we’re in August now). Fortunately, it’s been a mild summer so far. We’ve managed to go to the pool with some friends on occasion; Lucy and Evan really enjoy the water. I must say, I have been excited for these warmer temps to arrive — not that they really ever left since winter was nearly non-existent. Lucy and Evan both took to kicking quickly and love what little water time they get. I bought them little floaties to hang out it even though they’re rated for 12 month infant.

Why is it that baby floaties come in outrageous colors?

Lucy loved tasting the water…

Our happy little boy.

Father’s Day 2012.

Matching ties.

Evan is a major thumb sucker.

Grandma Gloria loves to visit her great-grandchildren.

One year older, one year wiser.

This frequently happens to Lucy, but she never complains.

Evan test driving his first beemer at a local park.

I experienced my first combo Father’s Day and birthday this year. I earned myself a “World’s Greatest Dad”-engraved jar, which I proudly display at work. It’s led me to overindulging, though since I can’t resist snacks. For my birthday, I got a lot of bike gadgets and accessories. I love being able to track my speed, time, etc. when cycling and I also enjoy riding my bike indoors on my trainer.

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7 mos documented

Posted on 5 July 2012 by Diane

Playing catch up here. We had five weeks where we were entertaining company. That’s my excuse. I promise I’ll get back to non-baby posts, but for now I need to mark “document 7 months” off my checklist.

This month’s milestones:

The kiddos have eaten all different types of baby food and love it…mostly.

Lucy is 14lbs, Evan 15 lbs

They can now go from laying down to sitting up.

They can pull themselves up into standing position.

Teething is in full force!

This is a classic picture of Evan. He absolutely hates the stroller and we end up carrying him most of the time, while Lucy gets the double stroller all to herself. She loves the back seat.

First Mother’s Day for me. It was awesome. And included breakfast in bed and my absolute favorite-Fran’s chocolates. In this house, it’s all about the food.

 

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I almost forgot…they turned 6 months…2 months ago.

Posted on 1 June 2012 by Diane

Wow time flies! Six month later, the pictures are finally hung in the nursery. The only problem is, every time I think to take a picture of it, the babies are sleeping in their cribs. Meanwhile, both kids have mastered sitting up and we began baby food.

On a side note…I may be a little slow at noticing this, but what the heck happened to EZcollage with Photobucket?

“Siri, insert collage”

If only it were that easy. Dang it, it would have been so cute.


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The kids are really starting to notice each other. I’m enjoying watching their relationship develop. Evan seems to like getting beat up by his sister. Not visa versa.

My parents came into town last month which was fun. My mom babysat while we went out for our anniversary. 4 yrs!

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Our Easter Weekend

Posted on 2 May 2012 by Diane

I hope every one had a nice Easter weekend.

We went to a new restaurant we’ve been meaning to try for a long time. Barnaby’s Cafe in the Montrose area. It is instantly the new fav. Never mind the rainbows. The food here is awesome. And huge portion sizes. I’ve gotta find a copycat recipe for the cumin vinaigrette. Yum, I’m craving their salads right now. Fernando had to endure the wrath of Diane as I had a monster headache both Friday and Saturday night. I guess I’m not pleasant to be around when I have a headache. Too bad that happens all too often.

We went to a farewell party for some friends of ours who are moving to Utah. We are so sad to see them go. They were one of the few families at church who own a house by us and are non- students/residents. Which means they were supposed to stay for a long time. Our heart aches every summer when our good student friends move on to start their residencies or further education.  Which means we lose a lot of friends and get to meet a whole lot of new faces fresh from BYU. Very few friends have decided to permanently settle in downtown Houston. Actually I can count them on half of one hand. If they are going to settle in Houston, they usually move to the burbs.

We headed to Hermann Park Sunday afternoon (along with the rest of Houston) and enjoyed the beautiful weather that we’ve been having here lately.

I made a paint chip garland. (hung it after Easter, but such is life these days).

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Houston Rodeo 2012

Posted on 24 March 2012 by Diane

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It’s been a crazy two weeks at our house. We’ve been busy hosting Fernando’s family. Over my birthday weekend, Ferd’s brother Carlos and wife, Darlyn flew in from Pennsylvania along with his sisters Carolina and Gloria (Massachusetts & California). It was their first time meeting the babies and they got plenty of quality baby time. (I was relieved to have some extra hands). The weather was pretty terrible and rainy while they were here so we didn’t get out much, but we did manage to briefly do the rodeo. We got standing room tickets at the door (it was so crowded due to spring break). After checking out the petting zoo, I desperately needed to nurse the babies so we sat way up high in the nose bleed section in somebody else’s seats, hoping they wouldn’t show up. We arrived so late we only got to see the calf scramble. Note to self next year if we go, it is way too loud for babies. Just as I finished the people came and kicked us out. Instead we walked around the carnival and ate some great fried food. This years goodies: deep fried Snickers and deep fried Red Velvet cake. The verdict on the cake: so good! The Snickers was pretty good as well.

Next up, Fernando’s brother Mike and wife Jessica drove in from Chicago with their kiddos to stay for the weekend. We walked around the park. Right now Hermann Park is featuring Chinese Zodiac animal heads from now until June. They’re pretty cool.

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We decided to hit up Hermann Park and the rodeo again. The rodeo on a Saturday during spring break is not a good idea. We got separated and didn’t find them until a few hours later when we wanted to leave. But I did get one picture of everybody together:

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We of course had to get our favorite food item at the rodeo: the Cowboy Burrito.

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Great grandma Gloria has been staying with us for the last six days. The babies are going to wonder what happened when everybody goes home and they are no longer being held all the time. She helped me cook batches and batches of homemade baby food. Now our freezer is ready for when they turn six months!

Here are the babies monthly onesie picture (taken late as usual).

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Lucy rolls over like a mad woman. But only one way. Its so frustrating. Now I have to pin her down on her belly until she falls asleep. Gone are the days when I could lay her in her crib awake and walk away. She’s also starting to sit up by herself. Evan continues to be the most easy going child ever, although he can cause some trouble if left alone…

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Hanging out in onesies

Posted on 1 March 2012 by Diane

Its been so darn hot here. Wish I could wear a onesie of my own, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t be cute.

With a double baby shower last weekend, I was forced to get back into crafting. I’m sure you’ve seen the Mila baby shoe from fleetingthing.com. I have been making more seersucker ties and loved the shoes here, so I copied them.

With a couple of matching hairbows

I’ve been making tons of felt roses for headbands. I couldn’t find a tutorial for the flower, so I made it up. But if you downloaded the Silhouette free shape of the week last week, its the same template as the rolled rose.

I went to Joann’s last week and was shocked at the cute flannel they had. Plus it was all 50% off! Loved the whales in pink and blue.

I’ve had just as much fun making things for boys as well. Lots of ties (I’ll post them later) and a couple of freezer paper transfer onesies. Like the aviator one above (thanks to a Google image and my handy Silhouette), it was a piece of cake.

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Post Valentines Post

Posted on 18 February 2012 by Diane

Some day we’ll get it right and actually take the kids’ picture on the right day. For now, here are the twins 4 month photos.

Four months is a great age. I feel like I can actually catch my breath. They really started noticing each other and hold hands whenever possible. It’s sweet to watch. Evan rolled over one week after Lucy and both enjoy standing up.

For Valentines we had some friends baby sit for us while we went to Chinatown for some Dim Sum. Unfortunately the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed for the night, but we went to another favorite of ours instead and ended the night with some Gelato. We made Creme Brûlée french toast for breakfast on Sunday. Recipe courtesy of Foodgawker (of course).

Here are the other Foodgawker recipes I made recently:

Fish Tacos from bakedbree – most flavorful ones I’ve made. I used Tilapia and added cabbage and a zesty mayo sauce (mayo and a tiny bit of vinegar). This one’s a keeper.

Spinach and cheese manicotti

Courtesy of teacher-chef

Its hard to mess up a recipe that contains ricotta cheese. Yum!

I also made the Biscoff cookies from Picky-Palate that I mentioned last post. So good! I need to buy me more Biscoff.

I’ve been trying to figure out what to have Fernando make for my birthday. What do you think? Cake or pie? …or red velvet cupcakes?

All this talk of food reminds me, I’m looking for that perfect pair of skinny jeans. I don’t want to go all out with designer ones since my post pregnancy shape seems to be ever changing. But I need a solution to my stretched out saggy butt pants for now.

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Mladineo Milestones

Posted on 7 February 2012 by Diane

A few blog worthy milestones to note last week:

  • Lucy rolled over
  • I sewed something
  • Fernando watched the kids alone for 3 hours. That’s a record!
  • I took the kids grocery shopping all by myself. (yes it took 4 months)

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Guilty Pleasures

Posted on 2 February 2012 by Diane

Thanks to my friend Monica, I recently discovered this awesome TV show:

Season 1 is on Amazon Prime Instant Video as well as Netflix; Season 2 is on PBS.com for free.

The cast is phenomenal.

Anybody else wondering why hasn’t O’Brien been sacked yet? I mean, what she did with that bar of soap is horrible!

Who else has the Downton Abbey fever?

On another note, lets talk about food.

Ginger Snaps

Soft and chewy. Not overly sweet. Delicious.

And I’ll include the recipe because I haven’t found one that compares to this one.

And last but not least:

Biscoff Spread

You know those cookies you used to get on the airplanes? Well, they turned them into a spread. Spread it on toast, eat it with a banana, in a crepe, or eat it straight out of the jar. Just like Nutella but better. Way way better. Picky-palate has some amazing recipes with this stuff. I’m dying to make these cookies. Yet another thing on my to do list.

You’ll be lucky if your grocery store carries it. HEB has it in the PB isle. And now they have crunchy spread. Wish HEB sold that too…

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