Post-Christmas photo post

Merry Christmas all!!!!

I just ran into work to fill out and fax my Flex spending forms (yes, I am still old school and use the fax machine). So I thought -- while I wait to get the confirmation that my forms have been received -- I'll catch up on reading friends' blogs and post a few pics from our lovely, lovely holiday.

Christmas Eve was so, so great. Lester took the boys to the Symphony of Lights (which they LOVED), and when they got home, they got into their PJs and had hot cocoa and cookies. 

Then we left cookies out for Santa (who is lactose intolerant, apparently).

Even though Clair fell asleep while the boys and Lester were on their way home from the Symphony of Lights, I managed to coax a sleepy pic out of her under the tree. I didn't get a Christmas Eve pic of all three of them, though, so that's a bummer.

She was SO tired, but she gave me a tiny little smile.

Handsome boys! Can you believe this is Christmas No. 3 for them?

In the morning, when the boys woke up, they came toddling into our room. We asked them, with great excitement: "Did Santa come?!" And they both shrugged and said, "No. He didn't." LOL.

So we had to tell them that you actually have to go downstairs and look under the tree. So off they scampered, and when they got to the middle of the stairs, Dean yelled, "Yes he did! He did come! Santa did come and he brought presents!" It was the cutest thing.

The boys got a kick out of Santa's bitemark.

Santa brought the boys Lincoln Logs and "professional people" for them to play with, lots of books, tin drums and stethoscopes. They really loved everything, but the drums were a huge hit. They marched around the house saying, "Marching band! Marching band!"

Dean is so serious about his music, yo.

Mommy and Daddy brought them cute little bath towels -- a green Dino for Cary and a blue sea creature for Dean. These were also a big hit. They clamor for bathtime so they can use them!

Clair's first ever Christmas present: Nesting blocks. She preferred the paper.

These two are twins, I swear.

We spent the morning reading and playing ...

Elephant and Piggie! Big hits! Also favorites: "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" and "Leonardo the Terrible Monster."  I think the book in my hands, though, is "I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words."

And then it was time for a nap, because Mommy and Daddy had to cook and get the house ready for dinner. Somehow, we talked ourselves into hosting Christmas dinner at our house for 11 people (16 if you count us!) Aye-yi-yi!

It actually turned out really nice. My sisters and their kids came, and so did my fabulous parents. Dad fell asleep on my floor. LOL.

Santa White and Mrs. Santa White

Clair was absolutely picture-perfect adorable in the dress that Lester picked out for her.

Seriously, doesn't she look like a Sugar Plum fairy?

And the boys had a blast running around with their cousins and performing a Christmas medley (Jingle Bells and We Miss You a Merry Christmas) for Nana and Granddad.

Nana built them a log cabin, and thank God she did, because Lester and I have no clue how to make those danged Lincoln logs work. How did Ma and Pa and Laura Ingalls do it?? Forreals. I could not have been a pioneer. We'd have been homeless.

These are two of the 12 "professional people" -- a farmer and a construction worker. The construction worker's a woman! And the doctor is too. And she's black! Love this set!!

Aunt Kadija bought Cary and Dean $2 Pez dispensers and they were hands-down the thing they were most excited about!  Everyone browbeat me into letting them eat two packs of that darn candy, so they were WIRED. I honestly have never seen them that bounce-off-the-walls energetic.

Dean was gregarious as ever, cracking everyone up, and Cary was right behind him, but we noticed that he was not quite himself. Both boys stayed up until 11 p.m.!! Craziness!

The next day, it snowed. It was freezing, but so beautiful, the boys just had to get out in it. So out they went to explore. Despite being frozen from head to toe, Lester had to drag them inside for a nap. They absolutely love, loved, loved playing in the snow.

"And after breakfast they went out together into the deep, deep snow." OK, the snow is not that deep. But this picture reminds me of Ezra Jack Keats' "The Snowy Day."

Back inside, though, Cary continued to be lethargic and cranky, and extremely moody. We both noted that he had been saying, on occasion, "I can't hear you," or "I can't hear Dean." So we made a doctor's appointment.

Turns out, my poor Carykins had a double ear infection! And a popped eardrum! No wonder he wasn't himself. Awwww. But he's on his meds now and is healing up well. I feel so bad for my sweetie. We had no idea.

We've got a few more days left of vacation and we're heading to New York for a few days a week from today. So I don't know when I'll get the chance to blog again.

Soooo -- happy holidays to all!! What a glorious time of the year!  LOVE it!

School photo failure

When the school sent home a note saying picture day was coming up, I scoffed.

I doubted my boys would sufficiently ham it up for school pics. I can never get them to sit still or even look at the camera when I want to take a picture of them. I imagined them looking goofy or irritated or with closed eyes or something.

So I opted to get a a tiny, tiny package of the two of them together and one individual photo/class picture combo.

FAIL!

Look at how great my boys did:

Look at those smiles and happy eyes! Aren't they the handsomest?? And so grown up. Ugh! I can't stand it. Now, I'm annoyed that I didn't get photos of them individually. As a twins Mom, this is an epic, epic fail. Booooo to me.

Who knew school pics could be actually cute?? Oh well. Live and learn.

And just for their sake -- for years from now when they're grown up and want to stroll down memory lane -- here's their class picture, with the names of their friends and teachers.

         Miss Christina, Jeffery, Miles, Avery, Isla, Marcus, Mrs. Toni
 Mackenzie, Dean, Penelope, Onyekachukwu, Esko, Graziella, Autumn, Cary, Janiyah
(Missing: Yusef, Olivia )

P.S. Today, on my way out, Mrs. Toni said "You have some really sweet boys. You really do. You're doing a good job, Mom."

And I decided then and there, I like Mrs. Toni after all. :-)

So I said: "And so are you, Mrs. Toni. So are you."

It takes a community

I had a hard time leaving Cary and Dean today at school.

As soon as I stepped out the door, the tears fell.

It wasn't until that very moment that I realized the enormity of leaving your children behind for someone else to care for -- and expecting that you will see them again at the end of the day.

I have been a wreck all weekend, thinking of the children in Connecticut and their families, and the teachers who died trying to save them.  We also had a bit of a family emergency this weekend with my sister Kadija and her kids, and so I have been thinking waaaay too much about child safety and child welfare and the uncertainty of life.

I have also been thinking about what a tremendous blessing and privilege it is to get to raise little human beings. And what a wonderful thing that I can trust others to look out for them.

Like our President said last night in a beautiful and moving speech to the Newtown community:

With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet we also know that with that child’s very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us, that we won’t -- that we can’t always be there for them.

They will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. And we know we can’t do this by ourselves.
It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself, that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation.

And in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children. 

I couldn't have said it better.

Today, my heart is feeling many things. But mostly, I am grateful for all the people who look out for my children every single day, as if they were their own.

Praise God for all of you. And may God bless the families of the people killed in Newtown last week, and watch them and keep them and wrap His love around them.

And may we all do a better job of caring for our communities' children from here on out.

Angel/Hellraiser

It has occurred to me that I might have given people an incomplete picture of my daughter.

Yes, she is a happy baby. Yes, she is good-natured and a lot of fun and fairly easy temperament-wise.

But please believe me when I tell you this girl has crazy spunk!! She is no shrinking violet.

In fact, she is a bit of a hellraiser!

Check out this video of her -- and her attitude -- when I tell her we are not allowed to eat packing peanuts. Even if they are, in fact, called "peanuts."

What was that little push-up thing she was doing at the end??

Hahahaaa! She cracks me up!!

And I love it that she finally decides if she can't eat packing peanuts, she'll just eat stray plastic. LOL!

The good thing is, even when she's mad, she's still hilarious.

My daughter = so much personality! And I love it -- every last bit.

I'm dreaming of NOT having Sickmas

Today, Cary had to stay home from school because of a 101-degree fever that started yesterday afternoon and lingered into this morning.

This was how he looked all morning. Awwww.

This also meant Dean had to brave the big, wide world of pre-school by himself for the first time.

Both boys did great! Cary cried a bunch at first when he realized that he wasn't going to get to go to school with Dean, but the promise of TV-watching soon cheered him.

And Dean, ever the good little brother, brought him popcorn home from school to make him feel even better. "I bringed Cary popcorn because Cary had to stay here because Cary is SICK!" he said when I called home to check on them both.

I'm not sure what exactly is going on with Cary -- he says his "neck" hurts (he means his throat) -- but I hope by the grace of all things good that it doesn't go coursing through the entire Davis family. I am so looking forward to some much-needed time off after this week, and I'd hate to be sick on my staycation. Also, who wants Christmas to be Sickmas? Bah humbug!

Especially after seeing THIS preview of how adorable Christmas is gonna be with Clair around this year!

OMG. Seriously, y'all.

 Awwwww!

My friend Monica took these and other photos when she came to visit this weekend -- after filling her belly with cheese grits. And I must say, it sure doesn't suck having friends who you love to gab with and drink brandy-spiked-eggnog with -- and who just happen to know their way around a camera and a flash!

 

When you say, "kiss," she leans in and eats your lips!

Dean accidentally broke a bulb and was so horrified about all the slivers of red and gold glass on the floor, he refused to put on other ornaments without adult supervision. It was really cute how serious he was about getting those bulbs on the tree intact!

Seriously, ya'll! Look at that face!

No sir. It doesn't suck at all!

Monica, I LOVE YOU, girl!!!

Ho-ho-ho!!!!!

Thinking hard about Christmas, faith and Santa

This is a hard post to write, because it is me looking hard at myself, seeing where I have fallen short and owning up to it. It is about religion -- what I believe about it -- so if you are not a fan, feel free to skip this post.

Yesterday the kids were looking at a photo of themselves from last year. Michelle had it taken while we were at work, as a surprise gift to us. It's of them with Santa Claus, looking miserable as can be (but still cute). They didn't get the whole Santa thing at 1-and-a -half, and they only sorta get it now.

So, sitting in front of our Christmas tree, I decided to explain.

I showed them YouTube videos of Santa in his sleigh, dropping brightly-wrapped gifts off for good little boys and girls. I taught them the "Santa Claus is coming to town" song. I laughed when Dean told a whining, crying Cary: "Stop it that noise, Cary! Santa Claus won't bring you any presents!"

I thought it was all so cute, I told that story to Lester after the kids went to bed.

And my wise husband said, "Hmmm. I wonder if we should have talked to them about the real meaning of Christmas first before introducing the Santa/presents concept." He said it in a very non-judgmental way, like he was really just thinking of it for the first time.

I stopped in my tracks, realizing that he was right. I -- we -- screwed up big time. He thought of it for the first time last night, but *I* hadn't thought of it at all. Ugh. Ugh. And oy!

I know that we can still go back and talk to them about Jesus, and help them understand on a 2-year-old's level how the two things (sorta) go together. So it's not like all is lost. I know that.

But I'm disappointed in myself.

As long as Lester and I have been dating seriously, we've consistently said that we wanted to make sure our kids had a good sense of God in our lives and theirs.  But ever since Lester and I stopped going to our old church, we have been woefully delinquent in that department. We haven't taught the boys about praying (except for at night and sporadically before meals); we haven't read the Bible (save a few kids' Bible stories). We haven't talked to them about God in any clear and consistent way. Worse, we haven't shown them by example that we intend to live our lives with God at the center.

And now that Christmas is here -- a perfect time to talk about religious traditions and what they mean and why -- I went straight for the secular.

I'm not even one who thinks that you *have* to go to church to be a person who has a heart for God.
But for us, it seems that without the accountability of a church home and family, we slowly have let our faith lapse. That worries me on so many levels.

Without going into private details, I'll just say that coming from a family where I think Mom and Dad did so many things right, except that, I have a heightened sense of anxiety about what can happen to a family where there's no sense that you have a purpose on this Earth other than to serve yourself.

So I have to do better. We have to do better. Whether we find a church home or not, there's no reason not to at least talk to our kids seriously about what we say we believe and value.

This is incredibly important to our family. And we just can't make any more excuses.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The boys went out with Lester this weekend and picked out a fat and wonderful-smelling Christmas tree. Gracious, it smells good in our house!

And then we spent the weekend decorating it, letting the boys hang bulbs and talking to them about some of the more personal ornaments and what they meant to us, like the one we made at a pottery shop in Fredericksburg, Va. on a little mini pre-anniversary trip we took in 2007. (I was pregnant with the boys and didn't know it!)

He was so deliberate about every bulb.

Mommy, I want this one to go up high! Way up high!

So far this holiday season has been really great because the boys have been really in to the whole thing -- from picking out the tree, to decorating the house to singing "Jingle Bells" and "We Miss you a Merry Christmas." (That's how they say it.) And we aren't spending every waking moment trying to get them to NOT TOUCH THE TREE! Even Clair hasn't been a problem. She crawls around and touches everything, but not the tree, for some reason. She likes to stare at the lights, though, and kick her little feet at how beautiful it is.
 

Best time of the day: When the kids go to bed! We like to just sit, and have a holiday-cocktail and just look at the tree.

Sunday, my friend Monica came over and had breakfast with us. She's from the South, so I used that as an excuse to serve some good, old-fashioned cheese grits, made with plenty of butter! Lester made pancakes, too (more butter, YUM!). So we had grits and eggs, sausage and pancakes and have never been so happy. :-)

Monica took a few photos of us while she was there, and I can't wait to see them. She's an amazing photographer -- really, simply amazing -- which is why I was so surprised when she told me that her favorite camera right now is her iPhone.

Really? She showed me some photos on her phone that she took with her iPhone and they were absolutely breathtaking! "How can I be down?" I asked her. How do you do that?

So she introduced me to some photo enhancing apps she uses, but most were still too advanced for my Mommy brain. I picked one to play with called Camera +, and I am now obsessed with it!

I apologize in advance for all the photos I'll be enhancing and posting. It's just so cool!

Here are a few existing photos I had in my phone that I enhanced using Camera +:

You're my...Bright-Eyed Girl. Sha-na-na-na-na-na!

Look at the color!

This seriously looks like it could be from back in the day. My boys look so dapper. Their look is what my dear old Grandmother would call "smart!" As in, "Don't those boys look smart?!"

I think this should be an ad in a magazine for something. I don't know what. But for something.

Focusing in on Cary and his favorite activity (after whining and arguing), and making everything else go softly out of focus. Cool!

Again, more color -- and light! And Deanie smiling! What's not to love?

I don't know if there's a filter I could use that would make me NOT love this photo of my two super cool dudes.

 Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, this is my new toy, so indulge me, please. I'm pretty sure this too shall pass. (Until the next thing comes along!)

Oh! Last thing to point out:

This morning, Dean seemed not himself. He was subdued and slow and said he wanted to go back and take a nap. He said, "My tummy hurts." At one point, for no apparent reason, he burst into tears.

I got down on my knees and tried to get him to tell me what was wrong. But he just sobbed.

Finally, I said, "Baby, please tell Mommy what's wrong, so I can help you. What do you need?"

And he said, through tears, "I-I-I-I.... I need a hug."

OMG -- I had to hold back the tears! Seriously, I can't tell you how much that tugged at my heart. My sweet boy!

I hugged him long and hard, and rocked him like a baby.

And it was the saddest and happiest moment I can ever recall.



 

Laughter is good for the soul, right?

Embarrass Mommy While Daddy's At A Work Event:  A play in one act 

The scene: Electrician's in the kitchen. Kids are at the dinner table. I note an unpleasant odor. I know it well.

Me: OK boys, who has a poop?
One innocent face; one sheepish look.
Cary: I think Mommy has a poop! (Giggles)
Me: No, Mommy does not.
Dean: (Giggling) I think Daddy has a poop!
Me: Daddy's not even here.
Cary: The bapairman has a poop!!
(More giggling.)
Me: (In hushed tones.) OK, that's enough. That's not kind. The electrician does not have a poop.
Cary: (Loudly) Yes he does! The bapairman is STINKY!!
(Hysterical laughter. Even Clair is laughing. She has no idea why.)
Dean: THE BEPAIRMAN IS STINKY!!
Cracking up laughing to the point of choking...

And...scene.

**********

They can be maddening at times, but I do love hearing the sound of my kids laughing. 

 

We love the French! (especially their fries ... and their toast)

I have a lovely and lucky friend Lynn who married a Frenchman in her 40s, ran off to France, popped out a beautiful baby girl, then a beautiful baby boy, went back to school to get her Master's while raising these two babies and is just generally living la vida loca (shutUP! I KNOW that ain't French!), sipping French wine and strolling through villas in Lille, eating Nutella and croissants and having a blast. Also, she's a size zero.

I hate her.

OK, actually I LOVE her! We worked together at The Sun, and even headed up the newsroom's wing of the Newspaper Guild (our version of a union) together, rabble-rousing for a good cause. She left to come to the company where I work now and when the owners were looking for a good writer to hire, she suggested me. So that's how I got to be where I am today.

She's awesome and super-fun and cheerful and giving, a real straight-shooter and always, always ready with a laugh (California girl that she is). And I miss her.

So when she rolled through town for a hot second this week, with her baby boy Gaston, who is 7 and a half months, even though it was a crazy week I knew I had to make time for her to come visit!

Tall AND tiny! I hate her!

This is how she always looks. So happy! I love her!

Gaston is Clair's first French suitor. Too bad he was all debonair like, "Bonjour, mademoiselle!" And Clair was all Baltimore like, "French fries?? Where?!" LOL!

And I'm so glad I did.

We had Gil's Pizza (a Baltimore landmark) and Cupcake wine. Clair was into everything and the boys showed off mightily (grrrr!). We talked about marriage and kids and France and Baltimore and families and old friends (and Lester even managed to work in French politics, of course). We had a blast until Dean stole her Pellegrino and chugged it, and started pretending to have a meltdown and Cary stole Clair's toy from Gaston ("NOOO! It's Clairzeee's!") and started having a real meltdown.

And just like that, our very short visit was over. She and her family are off to California for the holidays and then back to Lille, and it'll be awhile before she makes this trip again.

Sniff.

Au revoir, Lynnie! We'll always have Baltimore.

Kate Middleton is pregnant! (and other random baby bits)

The first thing I did when my co-worker and friend Stacey yelled out in the office, "New York Times reports: The Duchess of Cambridge is knocked up!" was not go to the NYT to read up about it.
No, the first thing I did was go STRAIGHT to Suri's Burn Book to see her reaction.

It was priceless! Hands down the best part of this announcement.

In other baby news, on Day 2 of the Big Boy Beds, it took Cary and Dean 45 minutes to settle down last night while I was giving Clair her end-of-the-night bottle. So after I finally got her down, I went in to tell them to "Go to sleep!" Cary was in Dean's bed. And four of the slats in the blinds near Dean's bed had been pulled out. Great.

The thing that baffles me is that those blinds were always there. Nothing has changed about his proximity to them or his ability to reach them. So who knows why now he decided to destroy them. Toddlers are inexplicable.

The good news is it only took that one time to get them settled and they were conked out after that.

So while Lester was at the Redskins/Giants game having a blast, I got all the kids asleep by 8:30, and the dinner dishes and bathroom cleaned up and their next-day snacks made by 9.  Which meant I got to watch two full episodes of Teen Mom 2, in the bed all to myself, no kids, no remote-control-hogging husband and no noise!! Hooray!

In other baby news, Cary and Dean are smart as whips. We played with Play-Doh together this weekend and I was amazed at their creativity. They're also doing so great recognizing all their letters. Cary can recognize them all, and Dean is not too far behind him. And they're becoming slightly more purposeful about their drawing/coloring adventures, which makes for some interesting "Mommy, look what I made!" mysteries. (Most of the time, I'm like, "Uhhh....ummmm....errrr....a squiggly line?? A big mess? Some sort of Rorschach test that will explain your future life choices?")

But sometimes, they surprise me:

Um, Kate Middleton -- let me see your Royal Baby do that at 2-and-a-half! HOLLA!

Big boy beds! And the aquarium!

The big boy beds are here!

(I know saying this probably means the kiss of death, but...) So far so good!

Yay! I'm a big boy!

I'm free! I'm free!

Lester converted them on Sunday, so we've only had one nap and one overnight to practice, but aside from a little bit of extra time to actually get them in the beds, we have not had any issues. They stayed in their beds for the entire nap and overnight too. Both times one of us had to go in the room once to say, "Hey, knock it off!" for some reason or another. But as is usually the case with them, right after that, they were conked out.

So let's see how this goes from here on out.

Also, we took all the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium for the first time. We met up with our friends David and Stephanie, and their beautiful boys Dylan, 2, and Landon, 2 months.

Here we are at the dolphin show, which was a huge hit!! Landon is wearing the outfit we bought him, which says, "World's cutest little brother!" Awwwww.

This is the classic Dean face.

The boys loved all the fish and the dolphins, but truthfully, I think they liked riding on all the escalators much more. So we'll wait awhile before paying the $30-per-adult (!!!!) ticket price until we think they are really ready.

Afterwards, we went out for lunch at the Inner Harbor and ate seafood -- appropriate, right? :-) 

There's a huge guitar on top of the restaurant. When Cary saw it, this was his reaction. He thought it was the silliest thing he'd ever seen.

  All in all, a  very good weekend!