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Boys Will Be Boys...

Grant is all boy. He is rambunctious, strong, outgoing, curious, fearless and loving all at the same time. He loves to play rough, for example, he loves for us to give him a little push so he falls to the floor. Okay, that sounds really bad, but it's not :-). Just a little push and he will burst out in laughter and fall to the floor. Thank God he has a nice fluffy butt to fall on.

Recently he has started to engage Gabby in his roughhousing. He usually grabs her from behind and takes her to the floor. She used to cry, but I think she likes it now. Grant was caught in the act...here are some shots.

Coming Soon.....Another Walker!!!

New flash!!! Last week Gabrielle took her first step. Yippeeeee!! She has been "pretend walking" on her knees for several weeks now and every once in a while she stands up for brief moments. Poor little princess is afraid of falling. Well tonight she took 3 steps!!!! She was so excited! I'm sure the weeks to come will be very interesting for Lil Miss Gabby.

Stay tuned....

Rock Star Babies

GnG are huge fans of music, so several months ago my mom bought them a pretty nice electronic keyboard. Yes, I know...way too advanced for GnG, but we occasionally allow them to play with it….Supervised of course. If unsupervised I fear the keyboard would just be keys scattered around the room. Tonight they seemed bored, so we pulled it out and this is what transpired. The video is a little dark, but still cute..Enjoy!

Hump Day Cuties.....

Gabby doesn't like it when I comb her hair..check out the look on her face below. She appears to be thinking "Why! mommy, why!?"

Grant, looks so relieved that he is no longer tortured by the big bad comb.

Black Friday Cuties...

The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" because it marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Well, being the adventure seekers we are, we actually set out on a trip to the mall, not for the sales, but for a much needed hair cut for Grant. Today was the day that Grant got his very first hair cut. We have been debating how to go about this for several weeks, so we finally decided to let the professionals do the job. We went to Cartoon Cuts since they specialize in kids. Grant screamed bloody murder through the entire cut. It was very difficult to see. We intended to simply even out his fro, but it turned into a full blown cut. I must admit I miss the fro already, but I know it will grow back soon enough. Grant looks like such a big boy now. Here are some pics of his new coif. Also below watch a great video of GnG singing a tune :-). The cuteness factor is off the charts.

My Twoddlers

Dear GnG -

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, my camera battery has been dead and I just found the charger. I know..bad momma :-). Well, you're adjusting to the twoddler phase very well.

Dear Grant, you no longer walk with hesitation, you run with skill. You can even do mean side step. You are constantly talking and most of your words start with G.. a lot of times it sounds like this "Ga..Ga..GaGa..Ga..GaGa..Ga..Ga..Ga..." Your daddy and I have even made a song to it :-). You are super strong and honestly, I don't know how much longer I can change your diaper, it's truly like WWII when you see me approach you with wipes and a diaper in hand. I have to tackle you to the floor and put my leg across your torso just to keep you still. There is absolutely no way I can change you on the changing table anymore. By the way, your new nickname is Sir Poopalot, yes, you my son can put out quite a load and you are VERY regular. Okay, enough about poop and diapers. Developmentally I think you're doing great. You understand many concepts, such as "Up!" When I say "Up!" you know it's time to climb upstairs. When I say kiss, you know I want a kiss...when I say no, well, you know to stop, but you don't always stop. I know you understand far more than I can write about, but you are a super boy. One of my favorite things to do with you is sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider Song. You get so excited and you even try your best to do the hand movements. You are very independent, in fact, I don't get a chance to cuddle with you like I would like to. You always seem like you're on the clock, so hurried and busy...too busy for cuddling...Kisses you give, but they are short, but oh so sweet.

My dearest Gabrielle. You are the epitome of a little girl, you are like a gentle flower. Even amidst the craziness that Grant brings to the picture, you still seem to stay calm and gentle. Just recently you started giving us big, big smiles, it is so cute. You are quite the talker, I think your record for talking non-stop is 30 minutes :-). I love it! You have a reputation around town as the little girl with the big voice. Many have stopped us to comment on the explosiveness of your vocal ability. While you are the sweetest little thing, you sure do know how to let us know you're unhappy. You've developed a knack for saying no to food. It's absolutely impossible to get you to eat sometimes. As a matter of fact, at your 12 month appointment you only weighed 16.8 lbs. Your Pediatrician is not happy with those figures, so we are on a mission to plump you up. You now rank in the <3% for weight. You recently started to stand on your own, it's so cute because you know it's a major accomplishment and you look to us for applause when you stand. My favorite time with you is bath time. I just love to lotion and give you massages. You seem so happy and relaxed. And I feel like you gaze in my eyes as if to say "thanks mommy, I feel so fresh". You and your brother love music, he does squats and you do the head banger dance.

GnG, I'm so excited about this journey we are in, this love affair is just fabulous. We are blessed to have each other.

Below is a video of your everyday life...just play, play, play!

Happy Birthday To Ya! Happy Birthday to Ya...Happy Birthday......(Sung to Stevie Wonder's melody)

Dear GnG -
Wow, I can’t believe an entire year has gone by; this year has been incredible. This year started out a little rough as we learned how to best care for you, but we eventually learned how to please you and make you happy. Today you’re happy babies and so much fun to be around. This day has been so bittersweet for me, while I am so happy to see you grow and learn at such a fast pace, I’m also sad when you can’t wait for me to let you go so you can run and play. For me to get a kiss I have to chase you down, but that’s always lots of fun too. People always comment on how tired I must be with having to care for twins, but they are wrong most of the time. Most days I awaken to a feeling of excitement to see you and be with you. You’re so addictive! I am so excited about the new year ahead. Here are some pictures from your very first birthday party.

Your first cake....





The gifts were great, but all the paper was even better!



Lots of family and friends came to celebrate.

So You Think You Can Dance?

GnG are developing a love for music and a little rhythm as well. Check out this video and watch as they get their groove on.

Hide 'N Seek

Over a month ago we bought GnG a hide 'n seek tent tunnel play zone.
(http://www.amazon.com/Hide-Seek-Tent-Tunnel-Combo/dp/images/B000KHH5H4).

Chris and I set it up the day it was bought and GnG had no interest, they just stared at it..I even demonstrated how it should be used. Yes! I actually squeezed my way through the tunnels. Well it wasn't until today they showed some interest...We are so excited!! They actually crawled through the tunnels and tents and played hide and seek with us, it was lots of fun. Hide and seek may seem like just a simple fun game, but it is also a developmental milestone.

Cuties 4 Life!

A picture is such a wonderful thing, it can capture an emotion and tell a story. So this weekend we decided to dress up Grant and Gabrielle and take some pictures here at home. This is bittersweet, my babies are getting so big, so fast. But I will forever be able to look back on these photos to remember how they used to be..so they will be my "Cuties 4 Life".

What the pictures don't show is the background commotion that was going on during the photo shoot. This so-called photo shoot was a workout for me. I was jumping jacks and doing all kinds of antics to get them to sit still and smile, we got some good shots, so the the workout was not in vain.

p.s. Thanks to daddy for his skillful picture taking :-)

More Pics From This Weekend

I just have to post some more pics from our visit with my Great Aunt Ira and my grandmother Oricent, I just think it's wonderful to see the two together, the very young with the not so young :-).

Gabi wearing her Great-Grandmother's hat

We Love Holidays!

Holiday weekends are great, it allows us to spend extra time together to do fun things. The weekend started out with a trip to Lifetime Fitness to participate in Tornado Toddlers, a class for kids to participate in sing alongs and other gross motor activities. GnG are still a little too young to enjoy all this class has to offer (i.e trampoline, arts and crafts) but it's definitely something they will enjoy in the future. One cool thing they did was create a tree using their painted hand, very cool. On Sunday Nana came for a visit and we watched our favorite team demolish the Detroit Lions...GO REDSKINS!

After the game we visited my cousin to meet the newest member of our family, Briana. She is tooo cute. On Monday, my grandmother and Great Aunt came to visit along with my mother. GnG put on quite a show for them. They were all smiles and up to all sorts of antics.

By the way, this weekend Gabi waved for the first time. Did I also mention that Grant is a full time walker now. He is rarely on his knees anymore, it's all about the foot action. Both GnG love to clap too, Grant claps for himself whenever he walks and Gabi claps for him as well. They are like sponges these days....I feel like I should take advantage of this sponginess (is this a word?) and teach them their alphabet, 1,2,3's and Spanish...but I'll start slow...Right now we just read to them and talk a lot, I think this is the best I can do for now...But, if it were up to me they'd be programming SAS code tomorrow to help pay the bills around here..LOL!!

Beautiful Baby Briana and her mommy, Sanny


Grant Walking


Strolling through the mall while Gabi chews on her socks...(don't ask)


My Great Aunt Ira (Left), My Grandmother Oricent (Right) with GnG

Birthday Party

Last weekend my mom and I took GnG to their first birthday party. My friend Jennifer's son, Ethan invited us to celebrate his second birthday. We had a great time and GnG had a blast playing with the older kids, playing in Ethan's playroom and tasting his toys :-(they taste everything!!!). I can't wait for them to stop tasting every thing in sight. I'm a bit of a germaphobe so it drives me crazy trying to keep things out of their mouths. They enjoyed their first taste of vanilla ice cream and even took home goodie bags which I enjoyed eating :-). Here are some pics from our day.

Grant and Gabrielle, playing and tasting :-) and me feeding Grant

My friend Nse, her beautiful daughter Adiaha and handsome son Ajani

The Birthday boy, Ethan (he is such a cutie)!!

Puffs, Puffs Everywhere.....Uughh

I guess this kind of thing happens...they look guilty don't they? Grant hurried to stuff his mouth with the spilled puffs while Gaby was going to town on the lid :-). What a waste of puffs, I had to throw all of that away, but it made for a great picture.

Look Who's Walking

The Cuteness Never Ends!

As Fall approaches the weather is cooling off and we've been taking daily walks. Below are pictures fron one of our walks this week. My sister Colleen even came over one day to take a stroll with us.

GnG love the getting out of the house and Grant will sometimes throw a mini-tantrum when we bring him back indoors. On our walks we either use the stroller of the radio flyer wagon and walk around the neighborhood, sometimes we just stay on our cul de sac and go around and around. GnG usually enjoy a little snack on the walks too.

Uncle Chris Look-a-Like

I came across this picture of my brother Christopher and I'm just amazed at how much Grant looks like him. What do you think?