Happy 2nd Halloween and 13 months!

Kate and Lily are another month old. Last year they were one month on their first Halloween. They were so tiny!

This year they are 13 months and ALL over the place. Kate is doing so well walking and Lily has been walking for over a month now. I can't believe how fast they are. They both love being outside and they also really enjoy taking baths now. We're currently working on no standing in the tub. I'm pretty sure they understand what I'm saying but are choosing to ignore me. We're having a little bit of a struggle weaning them from their bottles. They have been using a sippy cup since they were about 7 months old but have never really taken to it. I guess in part because I haven't forced the issue. Lily has been sick this week but I'm going to pack up the bottles next week and try going cold turkey. I already feel weak! Kate has drank all her milk from a cup twice now and Lily just throws her cup at me. It's hard because I can't give Kate a cup and Lily a bottle because Kate would prefer the bottle and gets upset. I got some advice from another mother of twins and she was able to make the switch by going cold turkey in a week. Wish me luck. It could be a very long week!

We are also starting to have lap babies on our hands, especially Lily. I secretly love it but it does become a problem when I can't get up to do anything because they want me on the floor holding them. As for food, the girls are really good eaters. They love sweet potato fries, salmon stix, chicken nuggets, cottage cheese green beans, apple sauce, strawberries, tomatoes, yogurt, cheerios and we just tried butternut squash last night and it was a hit. I've started letting them play around with spoons at dinner. It gets very messy so luckily bath time is next. As for sizes, both girls are currently wearing size 12M and some 18M, depending on the brand. They're in size 3 diapers and size 6-12M shoes. Here's another picture of Kate doing her hair. She brushes and then tries to put her bow in. Cracks me up!

 This age is so much fun and I seriously can't wait to see what the next few months bring. Can you imagine having two little talking girls. I have a feeling things are about to get crazy around here!

Happy FOUR Year Anniversary!

 Today is Devin and my 4 year anniversary. I immediately think about where we were last year and things have gotten so much easier. Last year we had two one month old baby girls and we were getting about 3 hours of sleep a night, all broken up. This year we have big plans to grill a nice meal outside and enjoy the wonderful weather on our new deck. I bought all kinds of great food from Central Market and can't wait to cook! We already took a celebratory trip to Napa Valley last weekend. My parents babysat and we had such a wonderful relaxing time touring vineyards and eating amazing food. We are so lucky to have my parents so close. They are amazing!

Our first trip to Napa was for our 2 year anniversary and we pretty much just bounced around. This year I really planned where we would go and eat so we had reservations and appointments at a lot of places that you can't just walk in, hence the wine was much better! Here's a list of where we went...a little reference for when we go back maybe in another 2 years!

Cakebread Cellars was our first stop. They are known for their Chardonnay but we fell in love with their own special red blend called Rubaiyat. It's a blend of Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel and Petit Sirah and they make such a limited amount that you can only buy it at their vineyard. I think we might have this bottle with our dinner tonight!

We made a quick stop at Folie a Deux for a tasting. This wasn't on our agenda but we had some extra time. I don't remember much about this place but I do buy their wine at my local Tom Thumb.

We then headed for some sparkling wine at Mumm Napa. We really enoyed their Cuvee M, which is a little more sweet. It's very easy to buy this at our local liquor stores and I'm very glad I now know what kind of champagne I really like. By the way, you can't call it champagne unless it's from France. That's why it's called sparkling wine.

We ended our first day in Napa at Elizabeth Spencer, our favorite vineyard from our visit in 2008. We only have one bottle left from that visit and it's from here. It's a boutique winery located in the old Napa post office 2007. It's so cute and we met lots of nice people there like we did during our previous visit. We bought a bottle of their  Petit Sirah and a bottle of their Chenin Blanc.

We then took a tour at Del Dotto Vinyards in St. Helena. This was by far the best tour we went on. They took us through their caves lined with Italian marble and ancient tiles. It was by candlelight and they got the wine for the tasting right our of the barrel. The caves were pitch black lined with small white candles. This vineyard was voted best tour and we agreed. Unfortunately, no cameras allowed inside but you can see a picture below of the outside.

While at Del Dotto we met some people from Texas that recommended Fleury, and we're so glad they did! We dropped in with no appointment and they managed to squeeze us in to one of their private tasting rooms. We had a lot of fun and ended up buying some of their wine. We left with their 2006 Lauren Bryce Cabernet (named after their children) and a bottle of their 2004 Port. I know most people don't like Port, but I love it!


We had such a nice trip and it was so nice to be away with Devin- even though we missed our girls so much and talked about them non-stop!

The Dallas Zoo

I took the girls to the zoo last week and we had such a nice afternoon. We got a family membership to the zoo from grandparents (Devin's parents) as well as our Aunt Melissa, Uncle Chris and our cousins, Grayson and Sloane. Such a nice gift! The highlight of the visit was riding the carousel. I'm sure you're wondering how we were able to maneuver two one year olds on a moving ride with horses, but we pulled it off. A nice man with an older son helped and also took pictures of the girls on their first ride. Side note- someone asked where I got their outfits. The pants are from Petit Frere and Petit Souer. A woman in Dallas started the line and she distributes to small boutiques around the area. She has lots of warehouse sales where she sells her off season items. I'll post the next sale when I get the information for those in the Dallas area. Super cute things! As for the shirts, I ordered the solid shirt and  had them monogrammed. However, I have an embroidery machine on order as well as a box of "blank" items waiting to be monogrammed. If all goes well I plan on posting things to customize at reasonable prices. We shall see!

Happy Friday!

We're about to head to the Dallas Zoo for the first time...wish us luck!
Here are some pictures from this morning. Happy Friday!

 Kate is trying to put a bow in her hair. She just started this and it's so funny!

Lily took a piece of string from Kate (not sure where they got string?) and you can see Kate's feelings are very hurt. Lily is definitely a little bully!

What we do during nap time

Kate has learned to take off her clothes and after her afternoon nap, I usually find them on the floor outside her crib. Luckily she had a onesie on and she hasn't learned how to undo snaps. Last time we took our pants off, the diaper came off as well. It was a mess.

Pictures below:
#1- Kate in onesie.
#2- Kate's dress on floor.
#3-View of the dress removal.

Our Gigi made the dress Kate took off. Could it have been a dress malfunction???

12 month measurements and new clothes

Here's where the girls are on the growth charts. I'm sure this is no surprise, but we have some very tall babies!

Kate:
Height: 30.5 inches; 90%
Weight: 20.4 pounds; 48%
Head circumference: 45.2; 52%

Lily:
Height: 31.5 inches; 97%
Weight: 20.5 pounds; 48%
Head circumference: 47; 90%

Lily's head is still on track to be rather large. It cracks me up because we have trouble getting her shirts over her head!

The day of the girl's birthday party my mom and I took a sewing class and learned how to make pillow case dresses. It ended up being harder than I thought, and there were some mistakes, but I think the dresses turned out really cute. I'm hoping to buy a sewing machine as well as an embroidery machine soon and start making the girls clothes. Yes, I'm crazy.

We also got some cute outfits from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Jeff. They're so cute and the girls look so old in them...little toddlers! Speaking of toddlers, Lily is walking everywhere now and Kate took her first two steps last week. Our little girls are growing up!

Our little pumpkins at the pumpkin patch

I can't believe how amazing the weather is in Dallas right now. All I want to do is be outside. I took the girls to the Arboretum yesterday to see the pumpkin village. We had a picnic with our cousin Sloane and had a great time walking around and playing in the millions of pumpkins! And we love our new pumpkin dresses from Gigi!

Birthday pictures

Kate and Lily had the very best birthday ever. They could not have been in better moods and really enjoyed all 40 of their closest friends and family at their party. We spent the majority of the time outside and the weather in Dallas was amazing this weekend! We grilled mini sliders and I made pink lemonade as well as adult lemonade. The bakery brought us cupcakes and the girls each had their own smash cake. Their cakes were so cute! Devin made a wonderful slideshow and the girls enjoyed opening their presents the next day (even thought we said no gifts!). They are in love with their new toys and books. It was perfect and so nice to spend such a wonderful day with people we love. Here are a few pictures. The first one is blurry because it's an action shot, but I had to add it because I think it's so funny that they push each other around the house on their new toy!