Happy Mother's Day!

There's lots to celebrate this Mother's Day!!!  First of all, there's a new baby in the family--and it's a boy!!!  My brother Jim and his wife Jen welcomed little baby James BoHua Kirkcaldy to the world at 9:08PM 5/8/2013.  He's adorable, and I'm thrilled my boys will have a boy cousin to romp around with!!

Right out of the womb!

Like a bug in a rug.  So cute!

With grandma, LiMei 

I'm in love!

They brought the baby home today...now the real fun begins!  ;)  hehe...I sure as hell missed holding an infant, but I was secretly grateful to come home to two boys that already sleep through the night!!!

Speaking of my boys, here's what they made me at the daycare for Mother's Day.  I LOVE their pictures!  They captured their personalities perfectly!

I was just thinking of last Mother's Day--Marcy and Judy came over the night before last year.  I made margaritas and there was plenty of beer as well.  Both Judy and I ended up hung over the next day.  I was so bad I couldn't get out of bed!!!!!!  I hadn't felt like that in YEARS.  Oh, good times.  At least this year, I won't be hung over.  Although those two trouble makers are supposed to come over next weekend...

Today we had a great day!  First, breakfast at Brianna's (which was newly remodeled).  Then we applied for the boys' passports.  Hope they come soon!  In theory, we have plenty of time (9 weeks) before we go to Mexico and they are reporting waits of 4-6 weeks, but I'll feel better once they are in-hand.  Then we went to Michelle's house down the cape.  The boys had fun playing with all the big kid toys and otherwise wreaking havoc on Michelle's house.  We had a delicious homemade chicken pot pie (I'm hoping Jeff shares the recipe!) and cake and cupcakes for dessert!  The boys were exhausted after lunch so we left around 1pm.  The boys took home an awesome battery car they can drive around in and some awesome clothes in 2T.  Thank you, Michelle!!!!  You are THE BEST!!!!!!

Finally, to end the post, some random pictures.

Love his hair...and his pose! 

Goodness.  What a time to show an interest in your feet!

Playing with Papi's hat

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Fist Bumping, Break Dancing, and Pampers Partying

A few videos today for your viewing pleasure!

These little monkeys make me laugh EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  They are too funny with each other.  I love to see them interact, although sometimes it's only them hitting each other, pulling each other's hair, or stealing each other's toys.  But more often, it's them laughing together or running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoCC2ZYT5-o&feature=youtu.be

Here are the boys out for a walk in the push car and wagon this afternoon.  They are too funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR6qpQA2gis&feature=youtu.be

In addition to fist bumping almost constantly these days, both boys love to dance.  Sebastian will be a break dancer in the future, I'm sure of it!  ;)  Way to work it, little guy!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQq7vMBvorU&feature=youtu.be

Today was a rough afternoon, though, in some ways.  After we got home from our walk, Adrian started spinning himself around in circles--dancing, I believe.  Of course, he made himself dizzy, fell down, and made himself cry.  Sebastian tripped over his own feet and fell head first into the corner of the stairs...he has a red welt on his forehead.  Good thing he missed his eye...Then, he fell head first into the bookcase.  He has another welt on the top of his head and a very minor cut/scrape there, too.  Wow.  They weren't even doing anything dangerous--just walking!

In other news, Sebastian now makes gimme gestures with his hands when he wants something.  Both boys now blow kisses correctly--from their mouths instead of their eyes or ears.  Sebastian says byyyyyy---eeeeeeee for bye.  But they are still so stubbornly selective about when they will say the words that they know.  They haven't said "ca-ca" in days.  Then again, we haven't had crackers for a few days, either.  Oh well.

Name Change to Blog!

I have always hated the name of the blog--I had to come up with something when I was in the hospital becausse I wanted to start writing.  I waited for days to have an epiphany about a name, and nothing came to me that wasn't already in use.  So I finally settled on Love and Spice, because Carlos always talks about things being "la pimienta de la vida," or the spice of life.  But it sounds like a porn blog or something so it needs a new name.

For now, I've settled on Two Little Monkeys because they are monkeys and they love monkeys (well, especially Sebastian).  But if you have better ideas, please share!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Trip to See Great Nana (a.k.a. Nana Banana)

We had a wonderful day with my nana today.  I LOVE taking the boys to visit her.

We started off the morning with an early breakfast at Panera.  We took a drive through Stonehill College on the way home because I hadn't been on the campus since I was in high school and I sometimes recommend it to Milton students when I'm doing college lists.  I thought I should get a refresher in terms of what the campus looks like!  It's quite nice--I was really pleasantly surprised.  We played until 9AM and then took off for Methuen.  The boys slept peacefully the whole hour ride to Nana's house.  When we arrived, she had toys waiting: a zoo and a car wash from some neighbors who gave them to her, a huuuuge Elmo doll, and a push lawn mower.  Of course, all the toys were a hit, but especially the lawn mower!  The boys kept fighting over who got to use it!

The boys ran around the kitchen, and then we went for a walk.  Nana was eager to show off her great grandsons to her neighbors!  Too bad these pictures aren't the greatest--the boys would NOT look at me!

After our walk, Tia Mimi and Lucas stopped by on their way to Greek Easter.  Lovely to see them, as always!  Then we had lunch.  By then the boys were pretty tired and they didn't eat that well.  It's crazy because nana made them fish sticks--their favorite.  Too much stimulation maybe??  Anyway, after lunch we hit the road so the boys could nap on the way home.  Unfortunately, Sebastian only slept a half hour and Adrian didn't sleep at all!!?  Oops.

When we got home, my mom came over.  We played in the back yard.

The boys worked up an appetite playing outside and some more inside so we ate dinner.

After dinner,  the boys were tired and went to bed at 6:30.  Then I went outside and weeded nearly the whole yard.  (I actually took these pre-weeding.)  We need to order and spread mulch, and there are lots of improvements I would like to make, including planting some azaleas, tulips and daffodils, and mums (when the time is appropriate for each thing).

This will be a pretty hydrangea when it blooms, I think.  It was given to the previous owner by her mother.  So we have to take good care of it!

So, weeding was a good thing done.  I just took a shower and feel relaxed and sleepy!  Almost time for bed!  I love weekends that are productive, but it's even better if they are productive AND fun!

Like Mother Like Son

In addition to his two sock monkeys and Thumper, Sebastian's new favorite stuffed animal is none other than BUNNY.  My bunny.  He discovered Bunny in his closet...On one hand, I like that he loves my precious Bunny.  On the other hand, I don't want Bunny ruined and covered in grease and yogurt.

Is it just me, or do we look alike?

Here are some others of Sebastian and Bunny in color.

This is the same photo as the one in black and white.  I wish it weren't so blurry!

In other news, today was a great day.  We got up at the same time as always (6AM) and headed out for breakfast at Brianna's.  Afterwards, we hit a yard sale in Bridgewater that had some great kids stuff.  We bought a little grill and a slide for the boys for $10.  Seemed like a deal to me!  Everything is complete and in great shape.  The grill has all its grilling utensils and "food," and it even sizzles and makes steam when you start it up!!!!

The boys LOVE the slide.  They have fun dropping their spatula and tongs from the grill down it.

They can't really climb up and situate themselves to slide down on their own.  The climb to the top but then climb back down again.  We have to lift them and put them at the top of the slide if we want them to slide down.  I'm sure they will figure it out soon, though.  I think they have mastered the slide at daycare?  I'll have to ask their teacher.

We had our friends from the NICU over today with their twins, a boy and a girl who were born the same day as Adrian and Sebastian; they are just about 3 hours younger.  Their kids' cribs were in front of ours in the NICU, and we have stayed in touch since.  The NICU nurses matched Sebastian and their daughter--they are to be married someday.  We had a great time with the four of them!  We took a walk in the neighborhood and played outside.  Then we had lunch and played inside for a bit.  It was great to catch up with them and compare notes, and it is SO WONDERFUL when it's chaotic (how could it not be with FOUR toddlers running around?!) but you don't need to offer explanations!  It's so nice when people are used to the same chaos as you are!

After they left, the boys napped.  Then we went to BJs to get some diapers and other stuff.  I put some sirloin steak to marinade (chipotle honey...delicious!), and went for a walk with the boys while Carlos mowed the lawn.  when my dad showed up around 5PM, and we took another walk, fed the boys, and put them to bed.  Then we had an adults-only dinner with steak, sauteed spinach, and scalloped potatoes.  And beer.  Perfect end to a great day!!

More Than Words

In the past week, Sebastian has said "car," "bye," "dog," and maybe a few others I can't think of right now.  The only thing is that he usually only says it a few times, and then you're not even sure if you heard right!  Adrian said "shoes" today.  They're getting there...

The weather has been so nice!!!  The boys come home hungry, dirty, and tired from playing at daycare on the playground.  They have sand in their shoes, stains on their pants, and sunscreen all over.  When we get back to the house, we put them in the push car and wagon to go for a walk, give them dinner, bathe them, and put them happily into bed.  Sometimes, we have a "pampers party," as Carlos calls it, before bed.  Basically it consists of stripping the boys down to their diapers and letting them run around wild, slapping their pot bellies and giggling like crazy.

Can't you just imagine this little guy throwing baby dolls at the teacher at daycare??  He has a glint in his eye...

Last Sunday, I had to work at Milton from 9-5 at our huge college fair.  We have over 130 colleges show up.  It was a long day of laying table cloths, hanging signs, running around, talking to college reps, and breaking everything down.

The highlight of my day was riding the golf cart...

While I was working, Carlos took the boys to Hull to my dad's so the three of them could spend some time on the beach.  I wasn't at all jealous!  The last time the boys were at the beach was August and they were barely even crawling then!  Now look at them!

Here are some other pictures of the boys.  Here they are showing off their new shoes from Tia Mimi.

Adrian likes to put bowls on his head.  Smart kid, that one.

This weekend we have another play date coming up, with another NICU couple that had twins on the same day as us.  Their daughter is betrothed to Sebastian.  The two don't know it yet, but they will fall in love soon enough.  On Sunday, we'll all go see Nana Banana.  We can't wait!