My, Aren't We Popular!

Today was a crazy day of visitors! It started off with Lizzy coming over to watch the twins while Patrick and I worked on a few things around the house.

After the Bengals game was over, she left and more visitors came. Grandma and Grandpa came to stay the night on their way home from St. Louis.


Uncle Timmy and Aunt Melissa also joined us to visit and have dinner. They stuck around to help read a bedtime story. Unfortunately Grandma and Grandpa had to leave the next morning, so the visit was short. It was nice to see them even if it was so brief.

A Sight as Momentus as a Giant Squid Spotting!

Today is Ethan and Elaine's 9 month birthday! We finally caught Elaine eating cheerios on her own! Hopefully she keeps this up and stops demanding us feed her them.

9 Month Checkup

Today was the kids' 9 month checkup. I had to take them alone because Patrick had taken the previous day off to watch them. This was quite an experience. If anyone knows the stage that the kids are in, then you'd understand. They can't sit still and refuse to just lie on their backs. Dressing them is as Aunt Jamie describes "trying to dress a cat!" Luckily the nurses helped out tremendously and we made it through the measuring, examination, and two shots without too much chaos. Dr. Deblasis gave them a clean bill of health and was so excited to see how big they have gotten.

Their stats are as follows:

ETHAN:

Weight: 19pds3.5oz (29%)

Height: 27.25in (18%)

Head Circumference: 17.9in (57%)

ELAINE:

Weight: 17pds10.5oz (29%)

Height: 28in (67%)

Head Circumference: 17.75in (81%)

Both babies are trying their hardest to stand. Unfortunately they seemed to have inherited the "Blair" arm strength and cannot pull themselves up. They can, however, push themselves up on their feet from lower objects like steps, our legs if we are sitting on the floor, and their all-time favorite....THE DISHWASHER DOOR!

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

We need ANOTHER BABY GATE, they've started climbing stairs!!

Love,

A Very Good Jenny & Patrick

Future Jedis

Bev, the twins' sitter, gave the kids these light toys that she picked up at a festival. I had to cut the plastic rods that came out of it due to my fear of them poking themselves or the other in the eye. They love them and constantly practice their light saber Jedi moves.....I think they both have a long way to go!

In Training

After spending Thursday and Friday in Urbana with their Nonie, Poppy, Aunt Jamie, and Aunt Tuffy while I was in Columbus for a two day conference, the twins were excited to see their Daddy and Charlie.

They also can't resist a chance to "cheese" for the camera. If I whip out the camera, they will immediately stop crying and shoot a smile or a giggle. I'm trying to teach Elaine how to "smile with her eyes" so she'll be ready for America's Next Top Model-Cycle 80...Tyra Banks would be proud of her progress!

Feeding Time at the Zoo!

The kids have been eating Cheerios and loving it. Both can feed themselves, but Elaine refuses to 99% of the time. Ethan, however, is like an animal. Like an animal, he gets a little distracted by crowds watching him.

ps. that is Princess Elaine in the background demanding to be fed another Cheerio!

Just like any animal, if you wave the food in front of him long enough he'll eventually ignore the crowd and dig in!

A Surprise in the Mail

Ethan and Elaine received really fun pumpkin toys from their Grandma and Grandpa in the mail today. Ethan is a little unsure, but Elaine can't enough of it. Now if I can just teach her to push the button so I don't have to do it!

!st Halloween!

Tonight the twins experienced their first Halloween! We weren't going to take them out because they clearly can't eat candy, but Ethan's cold had brought down my mom, Morgan, and Jake. (who had school off) So we took them around with Morgan and Jake.

You can clearly see the excitement in their eyes as we get ready to take off!

The end result was great. I think the kids enjoyed watching everyone and receiving a crazy amount of attention from fellow trick or treaters. Morgan and Jake got a boatload of candy. Everyone was a little wired was bedtime came around, but eventually we got them down.

Future President Barker

Ethan has mastered waving "hi/bye". In fact it is his new favorite thing. From the minute he gets up he waves, while smiling, down the hall, down the steps, to the fridge, to the stove...I think you all get the picture! As I watch him do this two images pop in my mind....beauty pagent and politician. I think I'll stick with the politician image! :)

Elaine can also wave, but she is MUCH more selective on who, when, or why. This makes it much harder to get a picture. I'm working on it though.

Nonie to the Rescue!

Ethan is still sick! It started at the pumpkin farm on Sunday. We took him to the doctor on Monday and he was diagnosed with croup. After missing one day of work for me and two days of work for Patrick, we had to call in reinforcements....Nonie to the rescue! My mom came down tonight and will help us out the rest of the week. We can only hope he will be better by this weekend. Trick or Treat is Friday!

Super Elaine

Meanwhile, Elaine is fighting off Ethan's croup like a champ. She even has time to help with the dishes.

Shoes

Today the kids got their first shoes! They got to try them out at the pumpkin farm. Nothing to crazy or fancy...Patrick just got sick of them pulling their socks off and thought these might help.

Pick a Pumpkin, Any Pumpkin

This Sunday we took a trip to a pumpkin farm. The kids had fun picking out pumpkins and watching kids play in the playground. Next year we promised them we would go into the corn maze and on the hayride.

Towards the end of our adventure, Ethan started taking a turn for the worse. We quickly packed up and headed back home.....have you seen anything this pathetic?!!!

HallZOOween

Today we headed to the zoo for HallZOOween. Our nephew Jake came with us and attended a class "Being Gross is Great"! After the class we got our costumes on and went trick or treating around the zoo. Actually just Jake got treats. Patrick only tried once to get candy for the kids and was denied. He was crushed becuase it was his favorite...tootsie roll pops!

We finally found out what's more annoying than being in public with twins.....being in public with twins dressed as giraffes! We couldn't take one step without people pointing, talking about us loudly, or stopping us to look at the twins. It was crazy.

Chef Jake

After the zoo adventure we headed back to the house where Jake showed us his culinary talents. Chocolate/Peanut Butter cookies....YUMMY!

Bye Bye Bumbos

The kids have said goodbye to the bumbos! They now use their highchairs to eat. It's a sad day for me...they are growing up TOO fast.

College Visits Already?!!

Today we went to homecoming at the University of Cincinnati. We got there in time for the parade. The kids enjoyed the parade...especially Ethan because he liked the noise from the marching bands.

After the parade we headed to the Chi Omega house to see the house and feed the kids. Ethan practices flirting with the girls as Grandma and Grandpa take a break.

Elaine poses for a picture as a future legacy with Aunt Melissa and me in front of our old sorority.






Afterwards we headed to Christy's for a beer and then shot over to Camp Washington Chili for lunch. Once we got home the kids were whipped.

Rubber Ducky is Definitely "The One"

The twins have grown out of their "baby" bathtub. Tonight we went to Target and got them a new tub that goes into the bathtub. Patrick blew it up and put it on the floor. Within seconds Ethan was trying to climb into it! There is a sound chip in the beak that quacks when squeezed. I didn't think Ethan could get happier, but he did when it quacked at him.


Once we pryed it out of Ethan's hands long enough to take it upstairs and fill it with water, Ethan was ready to enjoy some splashing time.

Elaine was equally excited. The new tub is a raving success. Bathtime will never be the same! I just wish they made one big enough for twins. Oh well, we'll be able to use the regular tub for both of them at the same time before I know it.