Our Elf on the Shelf - Ralphie

Been meaning to post this for awhile... We had an Elf on the Shelf join our family this Christmas.  We named him Ralphie, in honor of The Christmas Story.  Ralphie spent a lot of time in high up locations, away from curious hands.  Adam wisely put him in the curio cabinect for his first visit.  We didn't go very gung-ho on creative positions for him {you should see some of the elaborate "mischief" other moms create for the elves to be found doing}. 

 

While Oliver enjoyed looking for him each morning, it didn't exactly work as the discipline tool (encouraging good behavior) that we had hoped.  Hopefully next year, Oliver will understand cause & effect a bit better and Ralphie will be more than just a month-long game of Hide & Seek. 

 

POTD: Photo Fun

Since Lucas was asleep, and Ricardo {Oliver's monkey} was also dressed in brown, just like Alex & Oliver, he was our stand-in for the brother photo this time around.

POTD: Sick Dayssssss

Sick days aren't so bad when there is an ipad close by with Netflix episodes of Curious George!  Oliver has been sick for 3 days now with a nasty cold.  He's been up at night unable to sleep because of the cough, has a fever, and looks just awful.  He's finally on the path to recovery, but Lukas is showing the early signs of the same thing.... oh oh....

 

Making a Poopie-face because he's sick

 

Missing her Already!

On Tuesday, Oliver and I took Pauline out for lunch and then dropped her off at the airport. When we dropped off Jana, Oliver didn't have a very good sense of what was going on.  This time he definitely understood and was very sweet giving her big goodbye hugs.  We enjoyed an amazing year with Pauline as part of our family and all of us are going to miss her.  Thank goodness for Skype, so she will never seem that far away. 

Meeting Santa at the SSC

Last weekend we headed up to the SSC to meet Santa.  It ended up being a stressful day for Adam and I even though there were plenty of people willing to hold babies -- no one likes to hold a screaming baby.  Opa and Tante Nicole were on hand to help out and Oliver had fun playing with cousin Devon.  Santa did not disappoint!

Weekend in Review

It was a happenin' day in our house today and all the boys were happy!  Win! 

 

The day started off with Alex trying solid food for the first time!  He's been grabbing my fork when he sits on my lap at dinner, so we thought we'd start with Alex first.  We struggled a bit when teaching Oliver to eat, so we had modest expectations today.  Alex was immediately a pro! He didn't even make much of a mess since he was getting so much of the pears in his mouth, and when I got up to get him a bit more, he complained that I had stopped feeding him! 

 

 

Baby Elves

This is what Grandma was up to yesterday while she was helping out Julia.  

Alex (L) & Lukas (R)

We have sitting babies!!!

A perk from working from home - cute baby photoshoots! 

 

Of course the boys did better sitting on their own when I didn't have the camera out!  Yes, technically Alex IS in the process of tipping over in this first photo, but trust me - they can do it!  Nicole bought me these Christmas outfits last year - she just HAD to buy something matching for the babies once she found out we were expecting twins.  

Alex (L) and Lukas (R)

Super cute photos after the break!

Holiday Au Pair/Kid Party

I had this great idea for Oliver to have a mini-holiday party and am so glad we were able to make it happen last week.  Originally, I was thinking the kids could decorate gingerbread houses, but I thankfully came across a link (ah, pinterest) for a toddler-friendly version -- decorating Christmas trees (aka sugar cones).  Since last week was Pauline's last week working, the party was also an opportunity for a final visit with some of her au pair friends/host kids.  

 

Being the Fun Parent

I feel like I'm always the parent that is saying we can't have dessert... its time to clean up our toys.... no more TV, etc.  On Sunday morning all the boys were in a good mood and I was up for a fun project with Oliver during my "shift".  (On the weekends, Adam gets up with the boys when they first wake up and then takes a nap after I have gotten up). 

I volunteered that we would make pancakes.  I remembered we had bought containers to decorate cookies with icing, and thought they would be perfect for making cool pancake shapes. We made all kinds of letters and I even pulled off some good looking christmas trees!  (HA! Take that William Sonoma catalog!)   Oliver had a blast with the creative-pancakes, and LOVED dunking them in syrup standing on his stool watching me work. 

Getting the Christmas Tree

Both Julia & Pauline wanted to participate in our family outing to get the Christmas tree, so we went on Saturday.  While it would have been nice to participate in the annual trek with my dad and that crew, the last weekend in Jersey taught me that staying closer to home would be the less stressful/more enjoyable option.  We went to Linvilla, where we go often throughout the year to pick berries, apples, pumpkins, etc.  We rode the hayride out to pick our own tree, but weren't impressed with the selection of trees they had (dry needles near the trunk of all the trees).  So instead, we opted to pick a pre-cut tree from their garden center.  It was a bit strange, and almost too easy... they have a drive-thru area where you pull up in your car, hand over your ticket, and they tie your tie to the car for you.  Since I'm not the one ever securing the tree to the car, I wasn't about to say that having them do it for us was screwing with tradition.  Let's face it, with twin babies, we need the easy option.  It was completely unplanned, but we ended up making the trip in two cars, which worked great - the babies got tired and cranky shortly after we found our tree, so the girls and I took them home, leaving Oliver & Adam to enjoy the playground. 

5 Months Old!

 

Starting Our Day

It might be time for a king-sized bed!  There just isn't room for all 5 of us in our current bed and the kiddos are only going to get bigger.  One of the babies will usually first join us in bed around 4am (they alternate who sleeps through the night and who wants some company).  We are largely done with the middle of the night feedings, which is nice, but also means we are adjusting to a new routine (since the daily feedings are every 4 hours, we are switching from 4am/8am etc. to 6am/10am, etc. which throws everything off a bit) 

We would NEVER allow Oliver to watch TV at this age, but as is common with younger siblings, all three watch Caliou or Berenstein Bears while Adam & I (and 3x/wk Oliver) get ready to leave the house.  Wed/Thursdays when I work from home happen at a much more leisurely pace, since I don't have to worry about getting myself presentable.  Usually, the babies are in great spirits and can now play with toys (or in Alex's case steal toys). 

Babies First Visit to Opa & Mormor

The day before Maultaschen-making, Julia and I came up to visit my dad & Margit. The babies were in rare form and the visit really took its toll on me.  Alex was upset for close to 4 hours during the trip and when we arrived.  I slept in a room with all three kids, and while Oliver & Alex slept straight through the night, Lukas had me up repeatedly.  That's the last time I'll do an overnight without Adam for awhile - we are going through one doozie of a phase these days!

 

Maultaschen Sunday

I actually look forward to our annual Maultaschen-making event as much, if not more, than I look forward to Thanksgiving dinner - this year the event did not disappoint.  It was colder than last year, so we had to enjoy a different kind of fun (not excatly the weather for tractor rides and playing outside), but all the cousins still had a blast hanging out together.  Here's our attempt at a photo of all SEVEN boys (from 5mo to almost 3yrs old).  

A Quiet Thanksgiving at Home

With two (sometimes uncooperative) babies, and two au pairs, it was asking a lot of anyone to take us in for the holiday.  We happily celebrated at home with Ken, Lee Ann, & Tammy-- Adam really enjoys playing host.  This year, Adam handled the bird, stuffing, gravy and I made the string bean casserole, mashed sweet potatoes - the most I have ever contributed to Thanksgiving dinner!

Before we sat down to dinner everyone but me and the babies headed to the park for some fun.  Oliver was ecstatic about going to the playground with Pop-pop.

POTD: Learning to Share

Pauline emailed us this photo yesterday with a note that said "Reading books.  Alex stole Lukas' toy and started crying when I gave it back to Lukas. But luckily Lukas is a really good sharer."

POTD: Rainy Day Reflection

Today I am thankful to have wonderful au pairs as our childcare arangement.  It was a monumental effort to get Oliver to daycare and myself in to work this morning, because of the rain.  I shudder at the thought of getting three kids out of the house every morning - just imagine how early we would need to get up to have everyone out the door by 7:15am! The bus wouldn't even be an option.  Actually, the cost of 3 in daycare fulltime (not to mention the collasal hassle) would likely make me a stay-at-home mom.

Somewhere under that umbrella is Oliver waiting at the busstop this morning!

POTD: Gymnastics Fun

Today is Pauline's last day having the kids solo.  Tomorrow Julia arrives and the two of them will overlap/alternate duties for the next three weeks.  Pauline and Lukas took Oliver to gymnastics this morning and just reported that he's having the time of his life in class!

 

 

Cousin Photo Shoot

Yesterday, we had family photos taken (... and I can't wait to see how they turned out!).  Since Nicole and Devon couldn't join us as originally planned, we had an impromptu photoshoot (at the very same park) on Sunday.  We got SO very lucky with the weather both days.

These are some of my favorite shots.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  Perhaps I should consider a Mommy-photography gig as a back-up career....

 

POTD: New School

Today was Oliver's first day at his new daycare.  The old daycare wasn't awful and we liked his teachers, but the owners/director really didn't have their act together and we were concerned about the high teacher turnover (parents talk, and we were hearing lots of concerning stories from other classrooms, we felt it was only a matter of time before we would be the ones with concerns). 

 

I'm already in love with the new place!  Adam said they called him at work around this 11am to let him know how things were going.  A few minutes ago, I just got an email/photo of our lil' guy and this note - I just wanted to send you on a picture of Oliver doing a Science experiment with the other children earlier on today. He is napping right now and seems to be having a good day.

 

 

The new daycare is across the street from Adam's office, which makes drop-offs/pick-ups easier.  The only drawback is that we need to provide lunch (and they don't have a microwave, so I can't just send dinner leftovers). 

4 Month Twin Photos

It is just starting to feel like the babies are little people and not just blobs... Alex loves playing with his feet and both are starting to figure out how to hold things, although often they don't realize that they are clutching onto whatever I have handed them.  They are {this close!} to being able to sit up on their own!

POTD: Halloween Adorableness

We forgot to put the boys in halloween-themed outfits yesterday, so we did it today.  I love, love, love this shot I got of Lukas!  I think it is my favorite photo of him to-date. 

 

Here are Oliver & Alex in the same outfit.  Oliver was 6mo at Halloween, so a bit older than Alex.  Do you think they look alike?  Once you get past the blue eyes, pasty complection, and baldness, I'm not so sure anymore... 

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a bit of a disappointment this year.  The Halloween event at the local park was cancelled on Sunday because of the looming hurricane and Oliver wasn't too enthusiastic about his daycare Halloween party.  Fortunately, we did get some trick-or-treating in yesterday, but it was chilly!  I got off easy on costumes this year - the babies had received the skelton PJs as a present from my stepsister and Oliver loves his fireman dress-up clothes, so I saw no reason to buy him something new for the occassion.  I promise to put a bit more effort in next year, as my window of getting all three boys to dress in a theme will be very short-lived....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surviving Hurricane Sandy

We were very fortunate to avoid any excitement from Hurricane Sandy.  It's heartbreaking to see the devestation sustained along the Jersey Shore in towns like Ocean City and Avalon, where we spent time this summer. Most of my family in New Jersey is without power and likely will be for the next week.
 

Our basement flooded, of course, but no more than it usually does when we have a heavy downpouring. The lights flickered a bit, but it was well after all the kiddos had been put to bed.  For us, the storm experience consisted of too much local news, lots of soup eating, and a stir crazy husband (much moreso than the kids!).  Adam worked until noon on Monday and had Tuesday off.  One of the downsides to working from home - I didn't get any time off!

 

On Monday morning, Pauline & Oliver baked cookies.  After nap, Oliver & Daddy attempted to decorate them, but both lost interest pretty quickly - less than 10 cookies decorated!  On Tuesday, Adam struggled to come up with an activity for him and Oliver out of the house.  Although there was little-to-no damage within the city, everything had shut down in anticipation of the storm.  They ended up at the Nest play gym in the morning, followed by pancakes at IHOP.  After nap, we built a fort in the basement.  Good thing Mommy stepped in to help - it was clear that Daddy did not build forts to pass the time during snow storms when he was a kid!

 

 

Welcoming our New Au Pair Soon!

I completely forgot to mention this....

We matched with our next au pair a few weeks ago!!!  We are all so relieved to have this process behind us - it's extremely time consuming to search and interview au pair candidates and we knew that this time we would need to be the pickiest, since this coming year will likely be the most challenging for our au pair (as the babies learn to eat, crawl, walk).  

 

Our new au pair is Julia and we are so excited for her arrival!  She's German, about to turn 27, and has been working at a daycare center for the last few years.  We feel like we hit the jackpot!  She lives in Berlin, which means she shouldn't have any trouble adjusting to city-life.  The only wrinkle in the plans is that because Julia turns 27 on Thanksgiving, she needs to be in the country before then (visa rules - au pairs are from 18-26).  So, Julia will be joining us on November 16th and it will be a bit of a tight squeeze in our house, since Pauline is working through December 7th and won't fly home until December 18th.  This means Julia will be stuck sleeping our basement for a few weeks and things will be a bit cramped, BUT, it also means that Pauline will be doing most of the training for us, and we will have oodles of childcare hours at our disposal -- Adam & I plan on doing lots of socializing and sleeping in during those weeks of overlap! 

 

Welcome to the family, Julia!



Julia at Checkpoint Charlie

Oliver: Our 2.5yr old Devil!

Oliver turned 2 1/2 earlier this month.  I think this is the first time I can honestly say I will not be sad when this phase is over.  Yikes!  He was such a cute and adorable 2 year old - what happened?  We never know what to expect out of him these days.  What he thought was silly/funny yesterday could set him off today.  Explosive is the best way to describe his personality lately.  We are very much living with a tiny Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde and it's exhausting!