Fun Weekend!

What a fun weekend! Friday we met our friends Auntie Kim and Kinley at gymboree.  We went for dim sum afterwards where the girls got to see a dragon fish (it was kinda creepy actually) and practice using chopsticks.  We have been having play dates with Kinley for some time, and Kim and I were tickled to see Kinley and Izzie having their own conversation about the strange fish at lunch.  Afterwards we took a walk, and the girls happily held hands and discussed their day.  The only problem...no photos!! We were too busy having fun, so I am including some older photos of the girls playing together.

Yoga

Chilaxin' 

first sleepover

Izzie practicing with her chopsticks, and doing awesome!

Then Saturday, Papa and Izzie went to the Environmental Education Center.  They walked the trails and fed the ducks.

And what did the rest of us do while Papa and big sister were away? 

Say ahhhhhh....

....or not.  So we tried it today. We tried to have Izzie's first dental appointment.  One can make the argument that Izzie has already had her first dental appointment (and her second, and her third...) since I brush and floss her teeth twice a day, but today we tried it for real.  I decided to take her to see her Auntie Urvi, thinking that a familiar face may do the trick. 

Nope.
Let's count your teeth.  No.
How many teeth do you have?  No.
Do you want to count your Mamma's teeth.  No.

All the usual tricks didn't work, so we decided not to push it and try another day.  

Dr. Urvi Auntie hard at work

Izzie with her Nani and a heck no look on her face

36

I am a planner... and I mean a serious planner.  I have a short term list, a long term list, and usually a 10 year plan somewhere in my brain.  The interesting thing about turning 36 today is that I am at the end of my longest laid plans.  I remember the day clearly when I sat down and decided how my life was going to go -- of course at 20 I thought I had that much control.  The funny thing is that all my plans happened...become a dentist, work in a private practice, teach part time, get married by 30,  have kids by 35.  Even with all the ups and downs, and learning the hard way that the only thing we can control is our attitude -- it all still happened.  Hmmmm.  Makes me reconsider the Secret.

Of course I still have some goals -- get everyone to sleep through the night, loose the baby weight, try to learn how to cook -- but great thing about kids is that they force you to live in the moment, I haven't had time to make any more plans :)

Seriously, why am I writing this for my children... to teach them to plan or to go with the flow.  I guess both.  Make the plans, work for your goals -- but know that things rarely go that way.  If they do great, if not, be flexible and go with it.  And most of all, make sure you are laughing along the way.

Channeling Martha

Everything about crafting appeals to me; finding the perfect project, organizing a work space, and finding materials.  I think it takes me back to shopping for school supplies -- to this day one of my favorite things is a freshly sharpened #2 pencil.  Since I wasn't sure what Izzie was ready for, I thought we would start small with cut out hearts and finger paints.  It was so much fun, and I discovered that Izzie doesn't like dirty hands -- she keep on wanting to to clean them after painting each heart :)

When life gives you lemons make...

...I have no idea yet! The lemons to which I refer come from one of our citrus trees.  We have orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, and pomegranate.  So far, all we have gotten is lemons, tons of lemons...and one single orange.  Every year, just one single orange :)

This year Izzie and I gathered all the lemons.  We froze the juice, and now I am on the lookout for a good dessert (lemon desserts are my favorite!).  Of course there are tons of recipes out there, but I am determined to find one that is not full of sugar and heavy cream.  The search is on...

picking 

checking

and finally washing the lemons.

Superbowl Sunday

We actually forgot it was the Superbowl until two days ago when our friends called to see what we were doing.  Since it is too hard for us to go anywhere, we had them over for dinner and the game.  The day started with pre-game exercises (tummy time):

pre-game clean up

and some general merry making

Max cannot wait for dinner

Adam out did himself with this dish:

We are still figuring out what to call it (he made up the recipe as he went along, something he does quite often with great results).  It is soy meat, mushrooms, spinach, cheese, and peppers seasoned and stuffed in filo dough - so yummy!!  I contributed a little bit with black bean brownies 

can you believe they have spinach in them

Milestone Alert

Since Max and Sonya were eight weeks premature, their development is being monitored by a nurse.  Violet comes to our home every two to three months to measure the twins and check their progress.  Miss Soni is already turning over, and Mr Max will probably be sitting soon.  He has a bit more trouble turning over, probably because he is 3.5 lbs heavier than his petite sister!  Overall, the twins are doing great and almost meeting their 6 month milestones.

12 lbs 23 in

Max falling off the scale at 15 lbs 13 oz and 25 in

Violet and the twins 

Max and Sonya like to hold hands and talk to each other

Sonya lifting her head and about to roll

Watch out ladies!

Flashback  -  What was Izzie doing at 5 months? 

15 lbs 14 oz  24.25 in