Naomi and Eliza

Moving to the Suncoast

2011-11-14T13:59:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder: Naomi and Eliza have a new blog about all of our Florida fun.

Follow us at movingtothesuncoast.blogspot.com

Playing with the Dolly House

2011-03-01T17:57:00.004-05:00

Just some snapshots from a couple nights ago...

Naomi and Eliza

Naomi

Eliza

Naomi was playing with her dolls - she stopped as soon as I started the camera to ham it up, of course

Florida is F-U-N!

2011-03-01T17:41:00.004-05:00

I should have named this post "Florida is F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G" because it barely made it to 60 degrees most days while we were there. However, we had a couple good days on the beach during our Christmas holiday.

Naomi

Eliza, playing with her Christmas figurines

Naomi in the hole & Eliza standing up

Eliza

All of us on the Naples pier

Christmas Morning!

2011-03-01T17:21:00.003-05:00

Yes it's March, but here are some fun Christmas morning pics.

Here is the traditional Christmas morning hair pic - Santa brought Na and Z a "dolly house."

Nan got the girls Tinkerbell costumes. Here is Eliza modeling her costume.

Naomi and Uncle Chris

Naomi preferred to wear her wings with her Minnie Mouse nightgown.

Eliza dressed as Tinkerbell, holding a Tinkerbell doll :)

Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?

2010-10-30T23:13:00.007-04:00

Happy Halloween! This year we paid homage to The Wizard of Oz. Naomi was the Wicked Witch of the West, and Eliza was Glinda the Good Witch. The girls chose which character they wanted to be. Naomi said, “My wanna wear the green make-ups, Mama.” (Yes she says “my” instead of “I”. She thinks that “my” is her own personal pronoun.) We tried the green witch make-up on her, but we ultimately decided against it. Eliza just wanted to wear sparkles. They loved being witches. Here are some snap shots.

Eliza and Naomi eating suckers at Grammy's house

Eliza as Glinda the Good Witch

Naomi as the Wicked Witch of the West

It was seriously painful to get them to sit still and smile together - I had to enlist the help of David, Grammy, Becca, and Uncle Shan.

Most of our pictures looked like this - Eliza smiled while Naomi pouted. Naomi really wanted to eat candy. The girls, of course, don't eat candy on a regular basis. We made an exception for Halloween - they ate as many suckers, m&m's, candy pumpkins, and nerds as they could in 3 days. Not to mention all the candy the relatives gave them that I don't even know about.

I love Naomi's tights and broom.

Here they are walking up to GG's door.

Their candy buckets had Mickey and Minnie on them... of course.

Clearly Eliza is pleased with her spoils.

I started to take pics at home before the Ward party, but I only got to Naomi. Eliza had (and still has!) a cold and was asleep. Naomi was so pleased with her costume.

Here she is showing me her stockings.

Seriously - she is the cutest evil witch I have ever seen.

When Eliza finally woke up, it was time to go - I rushed the girls outside to snap a few pics. Eliza loved her wand. Her costume was sooo sparkly that there is now glitter all over the apartment and car.

Nerds.

In Naomi and Eliza's world, the witches are best friends who hold hands.

Yay for Halloween!

WKU Family Weekend

2010-10-19T20:48:00.011-04:00

Last weekend, Gramma Dot, the girls, and I visited Auntie Lolo for Western Kentucky University's Family Weekend, which happened to fall on Lauren's 20th birthday. Yay! Being veteran car-trippers, the girls traveled beautifully down to WKU. They pointed out every red or orange tree on I-65 to each other. Naomi would say, "Yook, my see an orange tree." Then Eliza would say, "Ooooooaahhhooo." It was adorable.

We attended two WKU women's soccer games. (Both of which the Lady Toppers won - woot!) Lauren also planned a trip to Jackson's Orchard. The girls loves running through the pumpkins, feeding the animals, riding ponies, and taking a hay ride. It was an absolutely perfect fall day. Here are some pictures of our weekend adventures:

Eliza, singing as per usual

Z loved sitting on the pumpkins

Naomi liked choosing the pumpkins she liked best.

However, she couldn't even carry the little ones around with her. hehe

The orchard was gorg.

But my baby girls are cuter...

I think Eliza is trying to ride a pumpkin in this picture.

Or maybe she is just trying to count all of them.

Eliza finally posed. I'm not kidding - I took over 50 pictures of the girls playing in the pumpkins....

But most of them looked like this... pretty girl, pretty pumpkins, bad shots

Here is Naomi on the hayride.

Naomi on the slide

Naomi loved the playground...

But she really loved the pony - amazingly, the girls waited their turn in line to ride the pony. This gives me hope that they may actually wait in the eternal lines to meet Mickey and Minnie in a few months time. Wish us luck. I really want them to have as much fun on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin as I do.

Eliza liked to pet the bunnies. Two-year-olds are not exactly the softest animal-petters... I swear I was having flashes of an Of Mice and Men catastrophe.

Here Eliza is looking at the turtles in the bucket.

Naomi, on the other hand, only wanted to feed goats.

She cried and cried when I tried to make her see the other animals. She said, "My haff to feed the goooooooooats!"

I tried to pose them on a cute bench, flanked by pumpkins. This is honestly the best shot I got. Seriously girls.

Here is Gramma Dot reading to Naomi. Poor Gramma must have read this book two dozen times in two days. The girls love repetition.

Eliza and Gramma

Naomi (left) and Eliza (right) in their "Big Red" t-shirts

Here they are waiting for Auntie Lolo at the end of her game - they were such hams. They jumped, danced, played ring-around-the-rosie, and many other games in front of all the families of the WKU soccer team. They thought climbing on this fence was big fun.

Silly girls...

Bay House 2010

2010-08-06T21:59:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know. We went to the Bay House over a month ago... Perdao, por favor. Anyway, here are some snapshots of our trip to Alabama.

Naomi, in perhaps my favorite picture of her since Halloween 2008.

Eliza with Auntie Emily

Naomi and Eliza in their Bay House t-shirts

Nerds

Naomi and Eliza, being "wild"

Naomi and Eliza

Naomi, Daddy, Eliza, & Mama - Naomi's face cracks me up!

Eliza, saying "cheese"

Eliza

Naomi and Eliza, enthusiastically watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Make-up Work

2010-06-17T21:14:00.006-04:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Please forgive me. I am a horrible baby-blogger. I have not posted anything in nearly 3 months. To make-up for my shortcomings, I decided to publish 3 posts simultaneously, including one with pictures from tonight's trip to the park. Please enjoy!

Naomi loves to swing.

Naomi

Eliza likes to sing in her swing.

Eliza

Naomi and Eliza

Naomi, in blue, and Eliza, in pink - these are their pajamas. We left the park tonight and almost immediately got ready for bed.

This is their version of hugging. They hug and put their heads on each other's shoulders.

Eliza, jumping on the couch in order to make her tutu float

Naomi, who often asks me, "Mama, I wear tutu peeeeze?"

Kiss your sister goodnight -

The Children's Museum with Emminnee & Nan

2010-06-17T19:54:00.009-04:00

Here are some snapshots of the girls at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Nan and Emilee (our favorite friend/baby-sitter) came with us.

Naomi, Nan, and Eliza (you can kinda see Emilee and David in the background)

No, little boy, it's not a mirror. It's identical twins.

Eliza, pondering magnetic blocks

Naomi on a cow

Eliza kept trying to eat the fake food - yuck. It was hard to explain to her why she couldn't put the fake fruit in her mouth when every other toddler who came to play them chewed all over them. Double yuck. In the end, we just left the little kitchen area for less-tasty looking toys.

Naomi, preparing her food

Na was better about pretending to eat the food.

Eliza in the tunnel slide

Emilee is so good with the girls - she played in the sand for over 30 mins. David, Nan, and I got bored in less than 5...

More sand fun

Eliza

Naomi

Naomi, pouring her "water", & Eliza, cheesing

Utah Trip Fun!

2010-06-17T18:55:00.003-04:00

Here are some snapshots of our recent trip to Park City, Utah. In total, we drove over 3000 miles in our sweet mini-van. We had a great time visiting with the aunts and uncles!

Andrew rode with us out to Utah - he was such a big help in the car with the girls. They absolutely love him. Here he is with Eliza.

Auntie Chrissy and Naomi

Uncle John Kelly and Eliza

Naomi in Baby Andy's rocking chair - Baby Andy is her 18 month-old 2nd cousin. I started to take pictures of the three toddlers together, but my camera battery exhausted. Lame.

Eliza in the rocking chair

Andrew had his 19th birthday while we were in PC. We celebrated by BOWLING! The girls did not bowl, of course, but Naomi loved the hand dryer on the ball return.

Here she is trying to blow into the hand dryer...

Eliza preferred to "play" video games.

Spring Break!!!

2010-03-25T21:45:00.008-04:00

To celebrate David's last official Spring Break, we flew down to Naples, Florida, future home of Nan and Grandad. Even though it rained for the first three days, we had a great time! Naomi and Eliza loved the pool, beach, and sun. As we have had the world's coldest, snowiest winter, I forgot how much fun it is to be in a warm, sunny climate. Here are some vacation pictures for you to enjoy:

Eliza and Naomi

Naomi LOVED the sand! She ran around, throwing sand up into the air like confetti. She laid face down in the sand and patted it. She would have played all day and night if we would have let her.

Eliza in yellow, Naomi in orange

Naomi liked the waves too, but the ocean was really cold.

Lo and I took the girls down the beach to touch their toes in the water. Eliza waded into the ocean up to her hips and dove into the water head first, waves crashing over her head. I immediately pulled her out of the water, expecting her to be scared and crying, but she came out smiling and yelling, "BUBBLES!" (She called the waves bubbles the entire vacation...) She loved the water. I played with her as long as I could in the freeeezing ocean, then David took an even longer turn. She never tired of playing in the waves. She cried when we finally made her get out and play on the warm beach - even though she had cold purple lips and legs.

Dancing Eliza

One night after dinner, Nan and Grandad thought it might be fun to let the girls plays in the fountain on the boardwalk... that's right, my parents. Once we got to the fountain, we realized that someone would have to get into the fountain with the girls so they wouldn't slip and fall or run away from us, all wet and slimy. Just as I was about to beg David to get in the fountain, Nan (my mother... btw) rolled up her pants and walked the girls right in. That's right - my mother played in the fountain, fully clothed in public so that her grand babies would get to play in the water. Can I just say WOW?!?

Eliza on the left, Naomi on the right

Naomi

Here is video evidence of the fountain incident. It's about one minute -

Library Fun

2010-02-26T20:08:00.003-05:00

Gramma Dot and I took the girls to the library to play on Thursday. They LOVED playing with the magnetic letters and puzzle games. Eliza especially liked the car and train set. They stayed in the play area pretty well... although Naomi did escape a couple times to run down the aisles. Here are some pictures of the fun. Naomi has a blue bow, and Eliza has a purple bow.

Baby Gymnasts

2010-02-26T16:28:00.002-05:00

I tried to take some pictures on our way to gymnastics last Saturday, but the girls were super-involved with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They are crazy cute in their leotards. Eliza is the dancing and stretching baby in dark pink. Naomi is in pale pink.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T22:49:00.003-05:00

Nan bought the girls these adorable Valentine's Day dresses. They wore them to church today with the "ruby slippers" their Poppy picked out. Although they were somewhat unwilling models this morning, you'll get the idea. (Naomi on the right, Eliza on the left)

Vancouver 2010

2010-02-14T22:32:00.003-05:00

David's Uncle Paul and Aunt Susan sent the girls these Winter Olympic T-shirts, so of course they wore them for the Opening Ceremonies on Friday. Here are some snapshots of them playing at Gramma Dot's house. (Naomi is in green, and Eliza is in white.)

Video!

2010-02-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

You're in luck! I felt bad for not posting anything in over a month, so I am posting a video of the girls playing tonight. The quality isn't great because it's from my camera, not my camcorder... but you can still see my silly girls. They sang the ABC's all day long today - until I wanted to record them. Anyway, the clip is about 2 mins. Enjoy!

Snow Day!

2010-01-07T22:12:00.005-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Winter Blast 2010 has hit Zionsville, Indiana. Fortunately we bought snow pants and boots for the girls weeks ago. David and I took the girls out to play in the snow for the first time today. They LOVED the snow. Naomi kept trying to run to make the snow kick up all around her, which only made her fall down dozens of times. Eliza took her gloves off in the first few mins, so she didn't last very long outside. As soon as she fell down, snow covered her hands - she couldn't figure out why her hands were so cold and painful. Finally she cried to go in. I filmed a couple mins of this scene with our camcorder, but it wouldn"t upload to the blog... maybe I'll try to post it later. Anyway, here are some pics of today's fun -

Eliza, getting dressed to go out

Naomi in her snow pants

Eliza and her freeeeeeeeezing hands

Naomi, making snow trails

Naomi, down but not out

Naomi would have stayed outside all afternoon...

Candy Canes

2009-12-15T21:02:00.007-05:00

Tonight David and I gave the girls candy canes to try. They LOVED them. Of course, the candy canes made them sticky from head to toe. Before we rushed them off to bath, I snapped a few pictures of their cute messy faces.

Naomi loves her reflection- after all her middle name is Lauren.

Side note: Every time I think their hair is going to be stick straight like mine, their hair curls up the next day like this Naomi picture.

Eliza, kissing herself

Look how pleased she is with her sticky kiss print.

Eliza and Naomi, soaking the sticky candy canes away

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:33:00.005-04:00

Our 2009 Halloween Tour has ended. The girls had an excellent holiday - especially because they LOVED wearing their costumes. As you will see below, Naomi was a flower and Eliza was a bumblebee. (Actually, Naomi was a daffodil.) We practiced all week wearing our head pieces and wings. They danced around and admired themselves in every mirror they could. All the practicing paid off, as they won ribbons for their costumes at the Tri-Ward Trunk-or-Treat last night. However, Naomi and Eliza, being 18 months old this year, did not cooperate for Halloween pictures nearly as well as they did last year... so I hope you can tell how cute they were.

Happy Halloween!!! Love, Naomi and Eliza

Fall Break 2009 in Memphis

2009-10-18T22:39:00.007-04:00

Naomi and Eliza

Naomi

Eliza, laughing at Grandad

Naomi, examining her soccer ball

Eliza on her new slide

Most of the time, Eliza crawled up the slide, and Naomi just sat at the bottom like you see here. They both eventually understood how to climb up and slide down.

Naomi and Eliza loved playing Aunt Chrissy's piano

Naomi carefully played each note, then turned around and waited for our applause.

Naomi and the Mook

Eliza and the Mook at the Comissary

Cooking with Nan

2009-10-18T22:22:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, Naomi and Eliza made cookies at Nan's house in Memphis. I snapped a few pictures of their big fun.

Eliza

Naomi

Eliza, eating the fruits of her labors... hehe

Naomi liked her cookie too.

Playing in the Crib

2009-09-10T13:37:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, I put both girls in Eliza's bed while I made their lunch. They LOVED it. They ran back and forth as fast as they could at the same time so the mattress made loud noises. They jumped and sang. They even played this wrestling game, (which I didn't understand) that made them giggle like crazy. They were too funny - so I took some pictures.

Naomi - singing

Eliza - mischievously cute

More Naomi yelling

Naomi - making an Eliza face

Eliza - throwing Curious George

Naomi - being adorable

Eliza - holding her teddy bear

A glimpse of the wrestling game

Coloring

2009-09-10T12:50:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures of Naomi and Eliza "coloring". Whenever we go to restaurants, the servers always bring us crayons. Even when the girls were 7 or 8 months-old, we got crayons at restaurants. Now that they are 16 months-old, David and I finally started letting them experiment with crayons. After a couple minutes of "coloring", they both started to eat the crayons... but it was sure cute while it lasted.

Naomi

Eliza

Naomi - check out that form

Eliza - David and I think she may be left-handed. She favors her left hand when eating, throwing, and reaching for things. I guess only time will tell. (Also, check out Na in the background reading. She "reads" all the time. We're talking hours each day.)

Scenes from Sunday Afternoon

2009-08-12T19:28:00.004-04:00

Brianna and Chad are "throwing it in the oven" during a patty-cake game with the babies. Aren't they fun cousins?

Eliza and Chad, "conniving and collaborating" as Gramma Dot would say

Brooke and Eliza

Brianna with Naomi, who is "throwing it in the oven"

Naomi, who I swear was smiling sweetly until I took the photo :)

Eliza and Jill

Naomi, running with her favorite "toys"

Eliza, cheesing it up

Okay, so this pic is not from Sunday, but I heart these carts at Wal-Mart. Normally, David and I have to drive separate carts when we go grocery shopping with babies. At Wal-Mart, we can drive one cart like this one, where the girls can play while we shop. Here Naomi is "reading" a book - one of the girls' favorite past times.

Naomi and Eliza help Aunt Lolo move to College

2009-08-12T19:11:00.004-04:00

Here are Naomi and Eliza helping Aunt Lolo move into her dorm at Western Kentucky. They had big fun running around her room and watching themselves in her full length mirror.

Eliza and Lauren

Naomi and Lauren

Naomi, standing, and Eliza, on the floor, playing in the dorm

Naomi is clearly not tall enough to live at WKU.

Beach Babies

2009-07-13T22:33:00.005-04:00

Naomi and Eliza on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama - Nan got them these cute beach chairs for their birthday. They actually sat in them for a few minutes before they ran away.

Naomi loved the sand. She touched it and threw it - most of all she loved to walk on it.

Naomi trying to figure out how to walk in the sand

Naomi feeling the sand in her toes

Naomi sitting in the sand

Naomi throwing sand

Eliza was very uncertain walking in the sand

Eliza picked up handfuls of sand and ate them...

Eliza liked the waves better - here she is with Aunt Emily.

Eliza, laughing at the ocean

Eliza in the water, kinda

After this picture, Eliza got soaked by a wave. Both girls eventually got in the water and played in the waves on my lap... but there's no way I'm posting those pics. My mom-swim dress may match my super-cool mini van, but it is certainly not internet ready... hehe

Baycation 2009

2009-07-13T21:20:00.007-04:00

Okay, it is decided. David and I have the best babies ever. We drove 12+ hours down to the Bay House and 17+ hours back (we made a slight detour to Nan's in Memphis...) without any crying, fussing, or yelling. (Well, that's not true exactly - I may have fussed a bit in traffic on the way down. Stupid interstate construction!) The girls played, talked, and sang during every minute of the car trip. In fact, we drove 340 miles of the car trip home before I even got out any toys. They just looked out the window and talked to each other. Everyone should have twins.

Anyway, here are some pics from our visit to the Lammers' Bay House on Mobile Bay in Fairhope, Alabama.

Eliza, David, and Naomi
Aren't my babies big???

This is Eliza - I just wanted everyone to see her beautiful red curls...

Naomi and Eliza love to eat at Wintzell's. Naomi ate 6 little shrimp.

Naomi is cute even when she is sad

Eliza loved to walk on the pier. She wanted to run around and poke her fingers in the slats, but we made her walk with a chaperone. Here she is, trying to escape Aunt Glenda.

What? Babies eating again... Did I mention that the girls adapted so well to Baycation lifestyle that they spent at least half the week in their highchairs eating? I think they intuitively knew that at the Bay House we all spend equal parts eating, sleeping, and playing in the water. My beautiful baby girls ate like ravenous wolves for 5 days straight.

Naomi loves the Bay!

So does Eliza!

Eliza with Grandma Lammers... and her ducky

Naomi with Curious George - yeah that's right. Curious George has been to Alabama. The girls are now carrying around stuffed animals all the time. We knew better than to leave them at home.

Here they are with their 2nd cousin Brody. Brody is about 7 weeks younger than the girls, but you would never know it. He is slightly taller than they are and outweighs them by 5.75 lbs. We are just barely out of 12 month-sized clothes, and Brody is wearing 24 months already. Naomi chased him around, calling out "Baby", while Eliza kept trying to hug him. Brody, an only child who is barely 1, was not used to being pushed over and outnumbered. On the first day, he cried for his mama to hold him if the girls came around him. But by the end of the weekend, he played just fine with the girls. Even if they are big bullies... Watch out Zville Nursery, the Lammers' Twins are coming in just 3.5 months!!!

We tried to take a picture of Naomi and Eliza in their reunion t-shirts like last year (if you haven't seen them, check out July 2008 blog posts), but this is the only way they would pose on the couch on t-shirt day.

Most of the pics look like this...

We took lots of traditional family shots, but this one is my fave. I am holding Naomi, and David is holding Eliza.

On the way back to Indy, we decided to surprise Nan and stop in Memphis. I called the Mook, aka Grandad, and made sure we were cool to stay the night, then we made a sharp turn west in Birmingham and headed to Germantown. When we arrived, we saw Nan, Mook, and Lo out on the back patio by the pool - so we opened up the back gate and let the Naomi and Eliza toddle up to surprise Nan. She was very happy.

Random Pics from the weekend

2009-04-12T21:13:00.006-04:00

Here are Naomi and Andrew. Naomi is demonstrating her "Oh No!" expression. If anyone says, "Oh No!", both girls throw their hands up to their heads.

More "Oh No!"

Eliza loves sweet potatoes.

Naomi, ready to eat

Eliza loves to say "Hi." She greets anyone and everyone who comes into the room. She also loves to wave. However, she only knows how to wave backwards. (Think a "come here" motion.) It is adorable.

Eliza, laughing at Uncle Todd

That's right. Naomi is reading her favorite bath book, What Floats?

Here, I am trying to capture the Sesame Street phenomenon. The girls play all day and night without playing a bit of attention to the television. We can watch whatever we want, and they don't care about it at all. But when Sesame Street comes on... the girls literally freeze in place and stare at the television for the duration of the program. I'm not kidding. All they have to hear is the sponsors' commercials at the beginning of the show, and they are gone. They laugh out loud at any Muppet character, and sometimes they dance along to the songs.

Here is an overhead pic of the Sesame Street phenomenon. It is unreal. Naomi is pressed up against the playpen wall, straining to see Big Bird.

Walking in Memphis... sort of

2009-03-06T22:45:00.013-05:00

Here is Naomi with her Dadadadada at the Commissary in Memphis, TN on her Gramma Dot's 70th birthday. Although they are still a little young for barbecue, both girls had a great time. They played and sang the whole time.

Naomi, singing with her hairbrush...

Here is Eliza, sitting between Nana and Aunt Becky. Later that day, she took her very first solo step - just before hurling herself into Nan's arms. Naomi has been very close to walking for weeks. She can stand alone, dance, bend to the ground then get back up... but Eliza decided to actually take a step today. We are going to try for more steps from both babies tomorrow.

Eliza loves to sing too.

Eliza, laughing at her Grandad. He can always make them laugh out loud.

Naomi, wishing she could eat barbecue

Naomi, laughing at... guess who... Grandad

A New Baby Trick

2008-12-09T17:44:00.005-05:00

Last Wednesday as I was cleaning up the family room during naptime, I heard this terrible banging noise coming from the babies room. Much to my surprise when I went in to check on the girls, I saw Eliza doing this -

That's right. She was STANDING UP in her crib hitting the nursery wall.

If you are thinking - wait, she just learned to crawl and can't even sit up properly yet - you would be thinking the same thing I thought on Wednesday. I think that's why Eliza has this pained expression on her face in this pic. She can't figure out what to do next. Over the past few days, she learned to fall down to her bum and turn over. She can also walk along the side of her crib now by holding onto the bars.

Eliza thinks she's so funny.

Naomi also thinks Eliza is funny. She laughs all the time at her antics.

Naomi can pull up to her knees now so it is only a matter of days until she learns the new baby trick too.

After a couple minutes of picture taking, Naomi made this face at Eliza. When I turned around to look at Z's crib, I saw...

Eliza standing on the OTHER side of her crib! I have no idea what I am in for...

Breakfast with the Babies

2008-11-30T20:43:00.003-05:00

Here are some snapshots from breakfast a few days ago.
I let the girls play in their oatmeal...

Eliza loves to eat her fingers.

Eliza also loves oatmeal.

Naomi was not having a good morning...

The only thing that made Naomi happy was eating her bib.
No worries - she took a nap and turned back into her usual bouncy self.

The Hexagon

2008-11-30T20:09:00.006-05:00

Due to the the babies recent crawling escapades, David and I decided that it was finally time to put up baby gates. Gramma Dot had these interlocking gates that form a playpen-style baby area. David has taken to calling it the "Hexagon" just like the Octagon for UFC, because the babies use it as their own private wrestling arena.

Here is a pic of the "Hexagon."
Here are some pics of Eliza and Naomi practicing wrestling in Z's crib.Eliza and Naomi

Naomi is really into biting her lips right now.

Eliza is really into eating everything, including her crib.

Don't worry - she likes it.

And so the wrestling begins - Naomi had Eliza nearly pinned when...

Eliza flipped Naomi over and took her down.

Just for Fun

2008-11-20T20:20:00.005-05:00

Here are some pics from tonight when I got home from work.

First, I gave Naomi a kiss.

But... Naomi gave me this look,"oh mom!"

Then, I tried to make Eliza smile.

But, she didn't smile - she just continued to eat her hand.

Here is Eliza's very own face pic.

Naomi didn't want to be left out, so here is her face pic.

Two babies together!!!
Naomi on the left and Eliza on the right

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T22:08:00.006-04:00

Naomi and Eliza are the cutest babies in the entire world... especially when they are dressed as the tortoise and the hare!!! How cool is it to have twins on Halloween? Oh the costume possibilities - Thing 1 and Thing 2, Two Peas in a Pod, etc, etc, etc. Anyway, we loved the idea of having our babies dress like adorably soft animals. I found the turtle costume online and l-u-v- loved it. And that's how we settled on the tortoise and the hare.

Today, we visited Gramma Dot, Aunt Mimi, Aunt Doris, Uncle Bob and Aunt Edna, Gram and Grampy, Uncle Shan and Aunt Annie, Becca, Aunt Lib and Uncle Dave, Claire, David Jr, Ellie, Annie, Mamaw and Poppy, many of Mamaw and Poppy's neighbors, Aunt Becky and Uncle Todd, Andrew and Jocelyn, & Aunt Annette. The girls were amazing - we started at 2pm and got home after 9pm. They smiled and played the whole day, even in their costumes. So here are some snapshots from Naomi and Eliza's Trick-or-Treat World Tour 2008.

Naomi = bunny, Eliza = turtle

All the pictures of the girls on the bench were taken at Gram's.

Here is Naomi patiently waiting to trick-or-treat at Gramma Dot's house. Yes, she is sitting shotgun in the Subaru.

Naomi, eating the toy Gramma gave her as her "treat"

Eliza didn't mind waiting - she got to sit in the driver's seat.

Our last stop was Aunt Becky and Uncle Todd's house, where we decided that it might be fun to have the tortoise and the hare actually race on Aunt Becky's beach towel... Look the tortoise is winning!

I don't know if anyone won the race in the end. After all, they only know how to scoot backwards. Neither baby can crawl forward yet. However, they are super cute when they get up on all fours and rock back and forth.

Baby Bath

2008-10-28T20:40:00.004-04:00

Tonight, the babies discovered that they could sit up in the bath... yikes. I already leave the bathroom soaked each night after bath time because last month they learned how to kick water up and splash mommy. They think they are soooo funny. Anyway, here they are sitting up in the bath. I have a feeling that we are going to have to move to the big tub.

Eliza

Eliza (look at her chubby tummy stick out over the tub divider... both girls are actually sitting pretty far up because the bath seat reclines back)

Eliza

Naomi

Playing in Argyle Sweaters

2008-10-20T21:57:00.004-04:00

It is finally cold enough for the babies to wear their sweaters. This Sunday, they looked especially cute in their argyle sweaters and plaid skirts.

Naomi

Eliza

Naomi

Eliza

Bedtime Again

2008-10-20T21:44:00.002-04:00

More pics from bedtime... Eliza is on the left and Naomi on the right. (FYI: the babies are the same height, but Liza is standing up taller in the bed.)

Two Giant Babies in One Little Crib

2008-09-24T22:06:00.008-04:00

So we finally decided to separate the girls into two cribs for naps and bedtime... They are just too big for one crib. For the past week, we have been waking up to find Naomi flipped over on top of Eliza OR Eliza pulling Naomi's arm out of her swaddle blanket in order to gnaw on her fingers. (As you will see in the next picture, the girls are big fans of putting everything in their mouths these days. I have a feeling that this teething phase will be a LONG one.) Anyway, I thought I would take pictures of the girls in one crib this afternoon to show everyone how big they were the last time they woke up in the same crib at home.

Eliza in a remarkably good mood

Naomi in an unusually bad mood

The crib seems big enough...

Here are the girls together

Apparently, Naomi does not care for this either.
(Side note: check out Z's face in this pic - classic.)

Then she decides to play with Eliza's foot...

Now she's happy!

Don't worry - at bedtime, Naomi returned to her normal, happy self and wanted to play.

Futebol

2008-08-22T09:48:00.005-04:00

Here are my baby girls watching the Bronze Medal soccer game this morning. They were too cute. They watched soccer with me for over an hour. Eliza is the first video - she kicked and cooed during the entire game. Naomi, the second video, was too nervous - she only sucked on her hands. They are of course fans of A Selecao...(Que pena que sera mais quatro anos ate Brasil vai ganhar a medalha de ouro... Penta Campeao!)

These videos are from my camera, not my camcorder, so the quality is not great... at least you can see my gorgeous baby girls.

Dinner Time

2008-08-13T20:03:00.004-04:00

Today was my first official day home with the babies. As of this week, I switched to part-time to stay at home with the girls on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was so excited to start my domestic lifestyle that I decided to go all out and make Brazilian food for dinner. Although our girls are still on a strict, baby formula-only diet, David and I thought that they should be a part of dinner too. We put them in their highchairs at the dinner table with us. Here are some photos from the evening.

Eliza with her toys

Eliza loves her highchair.

Naomi also likes her highchair.

But... she doesn't seem to understand it yet

David at dinner

After dinner, we watched Naomi and Eliza's favorite Olympic sport - synchronized diving...

Naomi watching the Olympics

Eliza watching the Olympics

Good Morning Babies!

2008-08-13T19:53:00.003-04:00

Naomi and Eliza love the mornings. Here are some pictures of them playing under their activity center this morning.

Three Months Old

2008-08-09T14:40:00.005-04:00

Wow - Naomi and Eliza are three months old.

Naomi

Eliza

Naomi

Eliza

The Bumbo Seat

2008-08-09T13:20:00.014-04:00

We recently purchased a "Bumbo Seat" for the girls. As you will see in the photos below, it is a little purple chair made of hard foam that assists babies in sitting up properly. Although the babies aren't old enough to sit up by themselves, they love to sit up on our laps with assistance. We thought this would be a good way of helping them learn to sit up alone...

Eliza really likes the Bumbo - she laughs and looks around like
she is getting away with something. She thinks it is fun to sit up alone.

Naomi, on the other hand, does not get understand the Bumbo. After trying for nearly ten minutes to get her to stay sitting upright, she leaned over before every single picture taken. Apparently, she thinks its a recliner. Maybe this week she will get the hang of it.

Bedtime

2008-07-30T22:56:00.007-04:00

The girls really love bedtime. This is Naomi demonstrating the "baby burrito." While neither baby likes the be swaddled up during the day time, both girls sleep so much better (even through the night sometimes) if they are wrapped up tight in a soft blanket.

Eliza also loves her swaddle blankets. Isn't she adorable at bedtime?

Baby Fight Club

2008-07-30T22:01:00.005-04:00

One morning last week, the babies were being absolutely adorable. They were smiling, kicking, and cooing together on the sofa. It was so cute that I had to snap a few pictures. However, I did not catch their precious baby smiles on film - instead I discovered a new side to my girls...

This is what happens when my back is turned...

Apparently, both Eliza and Naomi like baby flight club.

Playing with Daddy

2008-07-18T23:32:00.008-04:00

The girls love their daddy. Here they are playing with him .They sat for over 30 minutes - smiling, cooing, and watching...

Naomi

Eliza

Here they are playing their favorite game. We call it the "tongue game". Aunt Becky taught them to do it a couple weeks ago. First, you stick out your tongue, then they stick out their tongues back at you. I had no idea babies could mimic so early. They were only 8 weeks old when they did it for the first time.

What could be cuter than twinners holding hands?

Babies at the Bay

2008-07-18T22:34:00.004-04:00

For those of you who do not already know, every summer David's family has a reunion on Mobile Bay in Alabama. I have heard his mother refer to it as "Baycation", which always makes me smile. While most reunions (including my family's...) consist of an awkward afternoon of bad potato salad and mindless small talk with random relatives, David's family chooses to spend a whole week together swimming, sailing, fishing, eating amazing seafood, and genuinely enjoying each other's company.

In any case, perhaps the greatest event of the entire week is the unveiling of the "bay shirts". That's right - in true family reunion fashion, everyone gets a matching t-shirt. Vibrantly-colored and adorably-designed, the shirts are truly the highlight of the week for me. Over the years, I have accumulated quite a collection of these fabulous shirts - a collection which is coveted by my closest friends and treasured by yours truly. They even sent a shirt to Brazil for me. So you can imagine my excitement when this year, Mary ordered tiny baby t-shirts for Naomi and Eliza. As you can see, the girls loved them. They must take after their mother...