The Bradley Bunch

Biblioteca

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

We go to the library and what do Liam and Dash care about?

Books? Psh! Fresh toys!

Animals on the walls!

Animals all over the walls!

This post could also be called The Day in Which Dash Didn't Smile in Any Pictures.

Okay, back to the toys! Puzzles at the library!

And more of those spinny loopy things.

Alright, there was some reading eventually.

And Dash came over to peek.

Then there was reading with Mama.

And Dash came over to peek.

Speaking of peeking... Peekaboo!

Aw, I think Dash might have been smiling behind there! Missed it! Next library trip.

Pull

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Among their mountain of loot they received for Christmas, my sister gave Liam and Dash a couple of fantastic pull toys. Not a day goes by that the boys don't take them for a spin around the house.

Here Dash comes!

There Liam goes!

A break for a little peekaboo (can you spy Dash?).

They moved so fast, I could hardly keep them in focus.

They're just a blur!

It's a rough life, isn't it Mr. Froggington?

Two Vids

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. Liam is an awesome jumper. Dash has become an awesome somersaulter:

(Somersault1 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

2. This is like taking the mirrored-bathroom-medicine-cabinet trick to a whole new level:

(Mirror Video2 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Rattling Heads

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, you just need a little massage.

Luckily, we have our very own buzzing, lit-up hand-held massager.

It's perfect when your teeth are a little achy, just stick one of the vibrating arms in and your teeth are as good as new!

Also works wonders on the scalp.

And the jaw!

Thank goodness for our massager!

Whirlwind

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Liam and Dash are lucky boys. Their Pompa came for a visit!

It may have only been a 24-hour trip but we made the most of it. After he drove in from his San Antonio business trip, we got together for dinner and then spent every moment having fun. Well, besides the sleeping parts. And between conference calls, Pompa was sure to pack his time with twin bonding.

He brought the boys a couple cars and launchers. Can you guess their new favorite toy?

It's so sweet, they'd shuffle over to Pompa, sit in his lap while they launched the cars, then bolt off to retrieve the vehicle.

It's a race to get to the cars first!

Of course, there was some iPad fun, always a given when playing with Pompa.

Dash and Liam showed Pompa their newfound love of the outfit with lots and lots of book breaks.

Then after their three-hour nap (THREE HOURS! Seriously. Happens, like, once every one hundred days. So they choose the day of Pompa's whirlwind visit. We actually had to go wake them up. They must have had a really fun time in the morning) it was a boys Lego party!

You see, my children have excellent Lego genes. Here's their dad and his mega-flexy Lego wall.

And here's their grandpa with his mega-tall Lego tower. The boys were born with Lego super powers

This tower represents Pompa's visit- making the most of it and full of a lot of silly!

Readers?

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

H, S, D, Z, and O: those are the letters that my children can pick off a page and make their sound.

Do you understand what I'm saying? They can point to an S of their own accord and start "sssss"-ing, no prompting whatsoever. Uh, that's, like, reading, isn't it? How can my gooey-dooey itty-bitty-witty babies read. Dude.

For a long long long long time they've liked to point out the C and H on the bathtub faucet. And there was this one book with title letters on each page they always liked to point out. But in the last week or two, it's been all about the letters. Every book title must be spelled out, usually the story within the book is of lesser importance to the boys than the letters. There's several they'll pick out when asked and will copy our sounds, especially, M, B, E, I, P, T, W, and Y (I venture to guess that only parents of toddlers set about making lists of letters). Dash likes to call most letters D- yesterday he persistently corrected me that the number 4 was actually a D. When Liam gets into a rhythm, he's a mimicking machine, making all sorts of sounds!

I'm happy to report that they're saying more words. Not a ton but more. Words like bib, bath, oval, and poo poo (sounds crass, but it comes in handy...). They're also kinda, sorta, a little bit counting. They don't say the numbers but they like to point to a group of something in a certain way that indicates to me they want to count, so I start numbering each thing they point to, without overlapped counts or missed items. Dash usually gives himself a silent, soft applause after each instance. Liam just gives a big smile. Gosh, they're darling kids.

I sure love their brains.

Birthday #27

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

The events of the anniversary of the day of my birth were these:

We went to a cave! One they found while constructing a highway. We thought it'd be fun for us all to go explore on a guided tour. Buuuttt... Liam and Dash did not want to stop moving. That doesn't work on a guided tour with lots of stops. I don't think I heard half of what the guide said, too much whining in my ear. Not to mention, we weren't allowed to touch anything. My back and arms hurt so bad by the end from all that carrying and restraining. They were finally happy when we got to walk from the back of the cave to the front without stopping. That was my favorite part too, because it was HUMID in the back and returning felt progressively cooler. Neat things:

- We saw a couple bats.
- I learned about helictites- sideways moving stalactites. Something I've never heard about before. Except maybe I have, since the wikipedia page says they're all over Timpanogos Caves, where I visited when I saw a youngin'. Maybe the info has been resting in my brain, waiting to be accessed again one day (this day!).
- The boys were at least excited on the way in:

(Cave1 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

We grabbed some lunch on the way back to the hotel and relaxed while the boys napped. We made this fantastic wall out of a couch, suitcases, and blankets, so we didn't keep the boys from falling asleep. We should have been engineers.

After the boys slept for a really long time, we headed to the University of Texas campus and on to the Lyndon B. Johnson Library. There, we got to see recreations of the oval office, Lady Bird's office, fun art and artifacts, and a little museum display of his presidency. And there was a cute girl the boys were acting shy around. And there was glass to attack:

(LBJ Library 1 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

We had a pre-dinner treat at Rita's Ice Water. Man, that's the stuff. My children very much agreed. They are pros at dipping spoons into ice cream for a little taste. Pros.

We meandered a local toy stop. It was very, very eclectic. In both their merchandise and customers. And it was super busy, I was really surprised. Dash and Liam thought it was fun and we found a little Leemer toy for our Liam (how could we not) and a frog for Dash. Then we left because there was a dude that was hanging around us a little too much for my liking.
I had asked my Facebookies where to eat in Austin and almost everyone said Salt Lick. Well... we didn't go there. Neither Sean nor I felt much like barbeque. Everyone's probably cursing me now. Instead, someone else mentioned the Hula Hut, so that's was my birthday dinner location and it was great. And I got free birthday dessert. And Sean discovered an allergic reaction to tuna! Whee!

We came home and hit the hay- we were birthdayed out!

The next day, we just packed up and came home straight to church. The one bonus of having 1pm church. And the kids actually took a good nap in the car. What a fantastic weekend it was! Thank you, my dear sweet wonderful hunky husband for such a great time!

A Capitol Idea

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

After the Children's Museum, we headed over to the Texas State Capitol.

I had quite a headache at that point so Sean had me sit down on the Capitol grounds to rest while the Bradley boys wandered around a bit.

Ah, the joy of freedom

Found a squirrel! Truly, there were squirrels dotted all over the grounds, they must have it good there.

Practicing some jumping.

And sharing some secrets.

Oh yeah, we're at the capitol! It's quite a lovely building, very stately, as you would expect.

It's not a bold white, like I usually see of government buildings, but made of pink granite. I quite like it!

The dome of the lone star. (I totally made that up)

We got to see some neat rooms, like the state senate and house...room... (is that called something?)[Ah, "chambers," thanks Sean]. Sean particularly enjoyed that. The boys, though, were making it known by that point that their shorter car nap hadn't quite cut it.

Are you done with the Capitol, Liam? Yes, "all done." (What a good signer)

More Than Just Trains

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Our first stop in Austin was to the Children's Museum. It was a quirky, old school type of place- indicative, I think, of the city itself. There were lots of nooks and tiny rooms to explore. Liam and Dash loved it. They were fantastic travelers that day so they deserved a treat.

They ESPECIALLY loved the big train table. Ohhh ho ho, they loved that train table.

I mean, look at it, it's the stuff one-year-old's dreams are made of.

After about 45 seconds of listening to story time, Liam found some more interesting fish shapes on the wall.

Then they found REAL fish!

Fish face!

They played on some musical frogs.

And they played me Happy Birthday on the pipes!

Then... back to the train table!

There were cars on the train table too, so that made it even better.

Then they tried out the giant Lite Brite (amongst my most favorite childhood toys. The normal sized kind, that is).

Then back to the train table!

This is the life!

Birthday Present

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

So, two Saturdays ago, it was my birthday! To celebrate, we went to Austin! I'll tell you about it over the next day or two. It was fabulous. Plus, Sean bought me a wide-angle lens! Whee!

It was also the birthday in which I forgot we live in an electronic world. I forgot the camera battery. The camera battery died the first day of our trip (so much for practicing with that wide-angle...). It wasn't a total loss, we still had our video camera to record the fun. But I forgot it for half the day on Saturday. I forgot my phone charger. My phone died (so anyone who meant to call me for my birthday and forgot, there's your excuse!). And... I broke the Kindle. You know, it was on the bed while I was playing with the kids and I pushed on it without realizing it- crack! Le sigh.

Buuuuut it was still an awesome birthday! Most chiefly because this happened:

(holding hands from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Best birthday present I've ever received.

Honeybee Actions

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

I admit it, I'm a blog stalker. Not generally, I usually make my presence known if I read a blog long enough. Sometimes, though, I write my first comment on a blog and it goes unacknowledged. That's fine but it makes me less likely to write a comment again. And I wonder if the blogger doesn't like my participation in the blog. (I'm totally not talking about all you guys who I know personally- you definitely don't need to respond to every comment I make, that's just silly)

That being said, anyone out there, feel free to comment! If you're friend or stranger, you're all welcome (except for creepers, you're not allowed). I'm happy you can share in the joy of my wonderful family.

[Post-edit: This was not meant to be a guilt trip in any way. Just a friendly "Welcome!" in case you felt wary of posting a comment or felt funny about visiting my blog without my knowledge. Whatever that means. I'm just happy you're here!]

One of the blogs I've enjoyed stalking is Baby Making- she's a mormon mom of twins and she's fun to read. Right up my alley. She also just made some Photoshop Actions (Honeybee Actions) and held a contest to give some away. Well, I won! And I've been trying out her actions. I made a sampling of her actions and thought I'd share it with you, too. I used a couple of photos my boys' Year and A Half post.

Here's Liam introducing some of the color action options:

Straight out of camera...

Here's Dash introducing some of the Black & White / Sepia actions:

Straight out of camera...

I think I'm most excited about Paisley, Softly, Iced Tea, and Christmas Cardigans. I am, of course, still figuring out the right photographic situation for each action, that takes time. It helps to see them all compared, doesn't it? Thanks for the actions, Becky!

Panel of Experts: Dinner and Books

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

1) What the heck do you guys do during dinner prep time? My goodness, the second I step into the kitchen to get dinner ready, at least one boys storms in whining. No matter if I've been playing with them since nap time, no matter if they were in the middle of a super-absorbing plaything, no matter if they just had a magnificent snack- they're always mad when I start making dinner. They especially want to be picked up, which doesn't work with most dinner prep activities (i.e. knife wielding). It especially doesn't work when both want to be picked up.

If Sean's home, it helps a ton since he'll play with them, though they still wander in from time to time for my attention. And Sean isn't always home to help. Soooooo... what kind of things work for you? I'm all ears for any suggestion!

2) Like I mentioned a few days ago, Liam and Dash often cannot stand sharing a parent, especially a parent's lap. Anyone have any good ideas on how to resolve that issue? It is getting a little bit better, maybe it'd just go away with time?

Okay, so sometimes they do share.

3) Do you guys have any parenting book suggestions? Books of any sort- how to raise a toddler, potty training, time management, etc. If there's any book out there that's been helpful to you, do share!

Blow That Bubble

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Daddy can blow bubbles. Dash can catch them.

And Liam can catch them.

Mommy can blow bubbles.

Dash can catch them.

And Liam can catch them.

You know who else can blow bubbles?

Dash can blow bubbles!

And Liam can blow bubbles!

We are a bubble blowing family!

The Park, by Dada

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Part the Second of our Outing at the Park. Featuring: Photos by Dada. Enjoy.

I love this fuzzy one. It looks so artistically cool to me.

Dash now likes to scooch far far forward, his arms bent behind him, before he lets go and descends the slide. He's building his own suspense.

The lawn maintenance crew came while we were there. Liam was enthralled.

Dash just stared and stared.

Dash also tried his hand at the long bendy slide for the first time.

And Liam figured out how to climb UP the long bendy slide for the first time.

Brothers look out for each other.

Yes, I know I'm beautiful.

I'm leaning my tummy against the fence, I'm so awesome.

Saved the best for last.

The Park, by Mama

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Part the First of our Outing at the Park. Featuring: Photos by Mama. Enjoy.

Hee hee hee!!!

Ha ha ha!!!

I can't get over those pictures! They're just too funny. Such strong hands, they can hang there for a good ten seconds before releasing into our outstretched hands.

Oh my Earnest Liam

Oh my Skeptical Dash

He gets that face from his daddy.

And he gets his giggles from his daddy too!

This... is something we're working on. I'll just leave it at that.

Looking adorable is not something we're working on. It comes naturally.

Do you think they take after their dad? Because, duh, they do. They're like little clones.

Anything climbable is climbed, no question. Even some non-climbable things are climbed too!

I think he's happy.

I love him.

And I love him.

Four Points

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. Dash says Uh Oh like nobody's business

His mouth goes as wide as it can for the "Uh" then a tight little circle for the "Oh." And he usually puts a nice long pause between syllables. Cracks me up.

2. Liam is the funniest jumper ever

(Jumping2 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Sean taught the boys to crouch down and then spring up in order to jump. For a long while, it was just couch-spring-crouch-spring but Liam now kicks out his legs, usually with the intent to fall. It isn't a jump unless you fall!

3. We're organized!

With some Christmas gift card money, we bought ourselves cubby shelves! The boys received a mighty haul this gift giving season and we could no longer try to fit everything under the coffee table. Now [most] things have their place and it feels sooo good.

4. Sheet washing day means mega-fun day

(Dash Flop3 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo).

For some reason, the bed become infinitely funner when all the sheets are gone. That kid is fearless. At least of falling on his face.

(5. Tomorrow it's my birthday!)

The Joy of Two

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Every now and then, one of our boys will wake up from their nap and it won't immediately wake up his brother. And that's when I get a chance to see what it's like to have just one child. We play and giggle in the next room. We gaze out the window and I whisper-read him books. It's absolutely bizarre to be able to give him my full attention and observe his behavior sans playmate.

When they were very young, maybe through the first six months, I had to purposefully prevent myself from wondering what it would be like to have just one baby. I knew it'd be much easier with one and I didn't want to foster any ounce of resentment. It was much better to think of how great it is to have twice the cuteness.

Now, I can allow myself to wonder what it'd be like to have one child because I then thank my lucky stars that I have both of my incredible boys. It is an absolute joy to see them play together and make each other laugh. It makes my heart spill over beyond capacity to have these two to love and to have these two love me.

Sure, it is lots of fun to have just one boy for a little while, one on one. But I sure do love having them both. So after about twenty minutes, I say I have to go wake up the sleepy boy so their schedule isn't too different. But really, it's because I miss him too much.

I love my twins.

Frustrations of a Toddler

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

Things aren't always sweet and sappy over here. When we were in Illinois, after an outburst of upsettedness, my mom said, "you know, this what the terrible twos are like." They can be happily playing, la la la, then out of the blue SCREAM! I think their inability to communicate vocally is really frustrating them. They just can't tell us what they want.

Then there's a whole lot of taking each other's things.

Which leads to screaming, biting (how do I stop this?!), pushing, and pulling hair.

They also like to do those things when they're very excited. Dash has found it particularly amusing to hit my face with hard things. Seriously, he'll be waving something around, notice my head, grin a little bit, and come at me. Not cool.

On top of it all, there's Parent Possessiveness. AKA jealousy. I'll give you an example. Dash decides he wants his dad all to himself and sits on his lap. Liam comes over anyway and joins him on his lap. Dash goes completely berserk and either falls onto the floor in a weeping heap of distraught or does all he can to shove Liam off the lap and out of his father's life for good.

Another example. I'm holding Liam. Liam decides he wants to play with a toy on the floor so I set him down. Dash sees I'm free, wants up, and I pick him up. Liam sees that I've picked up his brother and wails because I've obviously abandoned him forever.

Do they think that when I'm touching their brother, it's a sign that I must love him more? Man, it's tiring.

It's actually getting a bit better. A lot of times I can convince them it's okay- I can share a lap with both of you, I love you both. For a couple weeks, after waking up, whichever boy was picked up out of his crib second took at least five minutes to recover from crying about being picked up second. And usually the first one starts crying in the middle of the second one's crying because I'm paying more attention to the second boy (he's crying, afterall). That was rather miserable.

But, you know, we get over it. Food and drink help. They're mostly very happy boys, just hitting the Terrible Twos (or whatever) a little early. 'Cause they're advanced and all that. I'm so proud. Ahem.

Peekaboo To You

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

Mm, I just adore the picture I put up yesterday. Proof that I have the most wonderful life in the world. Imagine those sweet sweet faces playing peekaboo coupled with some hearty giggles and I become just a puddle of gooey mommy happiness. Here's a few more images of our fun game:

Where's my boys? Where's Liam? Where's Dash?

There they are!

Peekaboo, Mama!

A little brother steamroller action...

Then some brother kisses and tickles to cap it off. Oh so much fun!

Be Still My Heart

2012-01-16T08:04:00.002-06:00

Eyes Closed

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

While eating his lunch, Dash displays one of his newer habits, closing his eyes and tuning into the rest of his senses for a few seconds.

Mom grabs the camera to document.

Dash opens his eyes to see what's going on.

Mom: Close your eyes again, sweetie.
Dash: Okay, but just a little, I have to see what you're doing with that camera.

Liam: Look mom, I'll close my eyes. It's easy, just like this.

Dash: Oh silly Liam, you just close your eyes with your face, you don't need hands!

Liam: Oh that's right.You know what's neat? I can open my eyes without hands!

Dash: Woah! That's amazing!

Liam: Plus I can tilt my head and look cute. Mom loves that.

Dash: I know- I'll tilt my head cutely WHILE closing my eyes! Mom can't resist!

Those boys, always inspiring each other to better and greater things.

Wet Socks

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

We finally got dumped upon on Monday. One of my favorite parts about going to the med center each day when I used to work there was to see how high the bayous were filled on rainy days. We have a little bayou in our neighborhood and it filled up fast! Not only that, but the road was flooded too! Luckily, our home went unscathed- just a puddly yard.

The water fowl were happy. You know who else was happy?

These boys. They got to go splish splashing!

Look at how Liam reacted when he first stepped into a puddle:

"Can I really?"

And this boy just trudged right on into the deep end.

"Can you believe they're letting us do this?"

Marching marching marching marching...

From one puddle to the next, they couldn't get enough of it.

Here they are trying to escape to the road but happily running back to their water haven. Is it just me who thinks that toddler running is completely hilarious?

"Oh this is so great! And cold!"

Liam Bradley- making waves.

The best part, there wasn't a single brother fight the entire time. Blessed.

The happiness cannot be contained!

Those were some sopping socks. I didn't want to get their lone pair of shoes wet but they needed some tootsie protection, so socks it was.

The water was wonderfully deep in some areas- can you guess where the boys gravitated?

The boys are currently perfecting their jumping- come next rain storm, there's going to be some mighty splashing in Texas.

The outdoors: the best toy of all.

Clippy

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Wednesday is nail clipping day in the Bradley home. Sometimes the boys go with it, sometimes they flail about like a fish trying to find water.

But now they've decided they can handle the clipping all on their own!

Nice work, Liam! You're real handy with those clippers.

Great job, Dash- I've never seen a cleaner clip.

A little help from your brother to finish up and you're set. Thanks for giving mom a break, guys!

(I kid, they only did a couple nails themselves before I jumped in)
(I kid again. They're safe, don't you worry)

It's a Wrap

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

And thus we come to the end of our trip. A few sights and stories to round out the tale:

- We spent the entire time in Illinois sick. Tired, cranky, coughy, stuffy-nosed sick. It has lasted SO LONG. It began a few days before we left for my parents and we're still trying to shake off the last remnants (dang cough). That's two and a half weeks! I'm sure we passed it to a few people while there. Now, it was nice to be sick at my parents house- there was one particular day when both Sean and I felt gross, so we let my parents take care of the kids while we rested. But I would have much preferred to spend the whole time together energized and healthy. It didn't stop us from doing some fun things but I always felt it by the end of the day. I didn't even bother contacting old friends from home, I didn't want to get them sick, too!

- Every time the boys woke up, they cried. The super sob, takes-a-few-minutes-to-calm-down kind of cry. My guesses as to why are 1) waking up not in their own room, 2) feeling sick, 3) the pack n play mats were harder than their mattresses so maybe they were a little achy. But it was heartbreaking each time it happened, my poor bugaboos.

- We didn't get any snow while we were there. Well, that's not completely true. It started to snow a wee bit while we were packing up to head to the airport. There was an itty bitty teeny pile of accumulation on the edge of the grass. We showed it to the boys before we got into the car but they didn't care about it at all (there was hardly anything to care about!). I know they would have loved to play in some real snow. I guess we'll have to go back sometime :)

- Mom and Dad had a perfect pair of little kid chairs. Liam and Dash got a kick out of hopping in and out so easily. And they'd look so proud sitting up so tall.

- We discovered that my niece and I are hair twinners. Lucky Olivia. I wish I had some tricks to share on how to make this kind of hair look fabulous but I don't have any.

- One of the boys (maybe it was Dash?) at one point was adamantly asking for milk, which he received, but then he wanted to go play some more. The above photo shows where we discovered he left his milk. Clever boy.

- We spent quite a lot of time on the stairs. My dad was adding some chair railing onto the wall side of the stairway, so we hung out there a lot to help. Dash became an experienced leveler and Liam expertly took measurements. Dad had recently finished doing this same treatment to the dining room and hallway- You can get an idea of it from this picture I already posted.

It looks so good. It makes us want to fancy up our house. But then we remember that Sean is a busy med student and we live off of school loans. Sigh.

- I've mentioned it before, but Liam and Dash really enjoyed being around their older cousins. Luckily, I think their cousins liked them right back. Sometimes they're playmates, sometimes they're little dolls to dress up (as seen in the above photos, taken by Jenny and Olivia). Whatever it was, my kids liked the attention.

And now I say goodbye to our lovely holiday vacation. Twas beautiful while it lasted.

Chugga Chugga

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Since we didn't go on a train ride down to Chicago, my dad suggested we check out the little train that drives around part of the mall. My dad is a genius. The train was a mega hit.

You could just see in their faces, a train? We can go inside? It's going to move? This is going to be good!

Plus they received little train tickets with a picture of a locomotive. When they weren't in awe over all the changing sights on the ride, they were pointing at the train picture and making their choo choo sign.

I even got to go for a ride too. It actually was a pretty fun ride even for me.

My favorite part, though, was having Sean chase the train around to snatch some pictures. He totally did that just for me, the sweetheart.

Music was played inside the cars so we got to wiggle around to things like "I Like to Move It."

I think the boys most enjoyed picking out grandma and grandpa amongst the crowd. Man, they sure do love them!

Everyone on the train had a blast and everyone else loved watching the twinners have such a grand time. Choo Choo!

Apparently

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

We rang in the new year playing games and munching on hors d'oeuvres with my brother's family (this trip, Dash added Bubba to his vocal repertoire, for Bubba is my brother's chosen uncle nickname). We were so into our Trivial Pursuit game that we nearly missed midnight- we noticed a mere twenty seconds before 2012. Close one, phew!

Here we all are with our apparent new year's resolutions.

Dash resolves to be more cuddly.

Liam resolves to sit up and take notice more often.

Oh, they both resolve to drink more milk.

Sean resolves to be more contemplative.

Naomi resolves to be cuter. That one's going to fail because you can't get any cuter, Naomi!

Chris resolves to be more restful.

Mom resolves to be more focused.

Matty resolves to not wear silly hats.

Dad resolves to watch more classic car auction shows.

Brian resolves to be more silly.

And due to my lack of photographic representation, I apparently resolve to get out of the spot light. 'Cause I'm totally in it all the time. People are always telling me, "sheesh, let someone else take center stage." Mm hmm.

Haaaaappy New Year!

The Elledges

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

My sister's family stayed with my parents for much of the time we were there. I tell you, my boys got a KICK out of watching their older cousins.

Whether it was Olivia entertaining them with a toy or Ethan doing a silly dance or Noah scooting around the floor on his back, they were entranced. And wanting to get in on the action.

A few of their cousins got a knitting kit for Christmas and Olivia decided to make hats for the twinners.

After several hours of work, Dash's was done! And she decided to take a break before making Liam's. Understandable. BUT ARE YOU WORKING ON IT NOW?? You better be, Miss Olivia. ;)

It was sad to see them go. They stood by the window a long time waving goodbye to them when they left for the airport. Until next time!

The Day of Plan B's

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

The plan was for the four of us and my mom to head down to Chicago to have a little city fun and meet up with Sean's brother and family as they drove down from Michigan back to their Indiana home via Chicago (i.e. traveling an extra couple hours just to see us, the sweethearts). That goal was achieved but all the details ended up a little differently than expected.

The Plan: Travel on train down to the city. The boys would get a kick out of being on a train plus they aren't confined to car seats the whole way. And no one would have the burden of being the driver.
What Actually Happened: After leaving the house a teensy bit later than planned (the boys woke up grumpy so everything took longer) and having to TURN AROUND to go back for my forgotten camera, we opted to not chance going to the train station only to miss it. Mom drove us the whole way down.

Luckily, mom's van has these gigantic windows and low seat headrests, so the boys got great views.

All those semi trucks on the highway made for a generally whine-free trip, yay!

The Plan: For our pre-nap activity we wanted to wander around the Shedd Aquarium. I love that place and haven't been in ages.
What Actually Happened: We arrived at the Shedd and the line was running out the door. Apparently half the population of the state had the same idea as we had. We waited in the cold a bit then someone in line just ahead of us learned that we were about an hour from purchasing tickets. Excuse me? An hour? It's cold! So Sean and Liam went to check on the lines for the nearby Field Museum. He called me to report the line was a bit shorter and all inside, so we made the switch. It did end up being longer than we expected and we probably would have gotten into the Shedd at the same time as the Field but c'est la vie.

The boys loved it just the same. The minute we walked into that great hall, Liam and Dash were pointing at everything. The Elephants were the first to catch their eye.

But then, my oh my, they were drawn like a Winnie the Pooh to honey toward the feature attraction.

Oh how they loved it so. What was it?

Sue. Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Be still my little boys' hearts!

Those are some fierce jaws. Keep your distance around those puppies.

We visited some dioramas and some more dinosaur bones. Like you'd expect, the kids went hog wild over all the animals. Especially if their displays had buttons.

Here's Dash tweeting like all the birds in the case.

The Plan: After leisurely perusing the museum, find a place for lunch. Then have the boys fall asleep in the stroller for their nap. Not something we EVER do but there really wasn't much option. Meet Kyle and fam at 3pm.
What Actually Happened: Because the entry line took so much time, we very hurriedly looked through a tiny bit of the Field, then discovered that the one restaurant in the place had a horrifyingly long line. We thought there was another place but it was just a little room with tables to eat your own lunch. I had brought a couple fruit items for the boys and luckily my mom had brought a little bit too. So the kids enjoyed a lunch of bananas, blueberries, and oranges. We adults didn't have much of a lunch at all.

By this time, we were nicely past naptime and it was showing. Oh, also, we discovered that the planned 3pm meeting time was Eastern time, really 2pm. Thanks for making that connection, mom. SOOO we scuttled off to the Sears Tower and the boys promptly fell asleep in the car. Trying to gently move them to the stroller worked for Dash but Liam was up again at the first touch. So he got about 10 minutes of sleep. Dash woke up 20 minutes later. Awesome, eh?

But we DID meet the Indiana Bradleys! Yay! Look at that sweet little girl. Oh those boys love their Avery Baby cousin.

The Plan: Enjoy an exciting trip up the Sears Tower (okay, Willis Tower, whatever) and then venture to Millennium Park. Who wouldn't want to see the Bean?
What Actually Happened: Apparently the other half of the state that didn't go to the museums went to the Sears Tower. There was a lot of line waiting. So much so that Millennium Park was off the table.

They jam packed those elevators. Also, I did not know my face looked like this when I took pictures. That's bothersome.

They break up the lines a bit so it doesn't seem so long. There's a line, then an elevator ride, then a line and a security check, then a few interactive games, a movie, and a line, and then another elevator ride.

Here's Liam in one of the moments he wasn't rolling around on the ground whining. Lack of sleep does unhappy things to my children. Leaving such a good impression on our extended family.

It was great, though, that we got to spend all that time with Kyle, Lindsay, and Avery.

And we finally made it to the top! Dash and Liam zipped straight to the railings, hopped right over and onto the venting units, and pressed their foreheads up against the glass.

It was quite a view

Sean admitted he'd been wanting to go to the top of the Sears Tower since we started dating. That's 2003, people. That's a long time to wait!

Katie, the girl from Chicagoland, finally makes it up to the top of the skyscraper. Now I can finally say I belong. Except I now live in Texas. Dang.

Avery took a moment to pose for the picture...

Then had to get back to sightseeing.

Mom, who has a bit of acrophobia, was doing surprisingly well looking out of those big, high windows.

Did I mention that my kids loved those windows? They loved it.

They are shaping up to be just like their daddy (just what I was hoping!).

We got up there as it was starting to get dark. The street lights came on but you could still see the city fine- it was perfect.

A perfect place for a little contemplation.

And then... and then there were these things:

Big glass boxes that jut out of the wall and hang over the city. Yes, glass bottom and everything.

And my brave (brave?) boys just walked on out like it was nothing.

I bet they were wishing we had windows like these. That's the way to do it!

We made our way out too. That first step is so... weird. You have to override your brain to make your leg work. But override I did. It's quite similar, I'd imagine, to Indiana Jones taking that first step onto the camouflaged bridge in The Last Crusade. Then sitting down to take this picture made me feel like I was about to lose my delicate balance and gravity would win. But it was SUPER awesome, no matter how weird it was. Really, BECAUSE it was so weird.

Mom, MY MOM, even went out! She closed her eyes for most of it but peeked for a tiny bit, so it totally counts. It was so crowded to get into these boxes that I couldn't manage a better picture than this. Proud of you, mom!

We took one last look around the city before it was time to say goodbye.

Dash and Liam will never be the same.

Goodbye, Sears Tower, the lines were worth it. And goodbye Bradleys, it was a marvelous few hours with you! Hope you had fun!

And so, the Day of Plan B's worked out just fine. Especially once the kids got in the car and slept all the way home.

Kooshake

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

The boys regularly found my dad's milkshake blender to whip up a quick batch of drinks. What's Liam making this time?

Ah, a koosh-shake. Looks tasty!

Chilly Chilly

2012-01-02T13:44:00.001-06:00

It's 2012 and we're back in Houston. We're all happy to be in our own beds but miss everything else.Well, maybe not the cold. Because it was.

Dash and Liam were going a little stir-crazy cooped up inside one day, so we bundled up into the great wilderness of the backyard. Those are last year's coats- they still fit!

How nice is it to have a playground right there behind your house? Someday...

Then there was a little running around annnnnnd... we're done. Too cold. Ten minutes outside will give you a whole new appreciation of the indoors. Especially when we're Ruined To The Winter Season Texans like we now are.

Don't worry, I have lots more pictures to show you, so we can pretend our vacation just keeps going and going!

Grown-up Eating

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

What's he so happy about?

Ohhh, he and his brother get to eat from their own bowls with their own silverware at the big person table in booster seats. All the more reason to love Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Daddy Daughter Time

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

My dad's a do-it-yourself kind of guy. And growing up I loved to help him in his DIY projects. My sister Jenny did, too. My brothers... not as much. Kind of funny, right?

So when my parents recently bought a big shelf with assembly required, Dad requested that they wait to put it together until Jenny and I arrived for the holidays. Kind of a Daddy Daughter project. It was double extra fu-un.

We take pride in our handy work.

Even the boxes needed putting together.

Extra thanks to my hubster for holding in his handimanliness to let us three have a special time. He got to play babysitter instead. Isn't he a cute Mr. Monkey Man?

Us and our masterpiece. We whipped that together in no time flat.

Organization care of Ikea.

And the boys broke it in in their own special way. When you see a hole, what do you do? Put your hand in it! I've taught them so well.

Oh, to be a little boy on Christmas

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Did you know that I grew up opening presents on Christmas eve? It's so weird to Sean. But that's what we do! And that's what we did. We had a big clan, with Jenny and Co. plus Brian and Co., though we sure missed Darren and Co. (love you guys!). I didn't even bother taking pictures of the present exchange because

A) There was such little light, there's no way any photos would turn out remotely nice,

B) I was feeling pretty cruddy (remember how the boys were sick? germs sure do spread), and

C) Liam and Dash decided to be the grumpiest of grumps that evening. Seriously, who throws crazy fits repeatedly while opening presents? I think it was a perfect storm of still recovering from their sickness, catching up on lost sleep from their night of airplane travel (although they were fantastic travelers), and a whole lot of commotion.

So it was all I could do to keep my kids slightly happy, let alone wield a camera. Our family gave us some wonderful gifts and we're so grateful. I'm most excited about the boys' new toy airplane, it's just perfect for them. You'll have to trust me, since there aren't pictures.

Buuuuut, I did take pictures of Christmas morn. After a good night's sleep and a quiet house, all was happy and peaceful and really fun. It looked a little something like this...

Wake up and check out the stockings.

Guess what! I made those! Sewed the last button on while driving to the airport. Yes, I should have ironed them again after unpacking them, but who wants to do that?

The stockings held a few books and this to unwrap...

Cars! Oh there can never be enough cars in a boys life.

Liam quickly parked them in a line underneath the coffee table.

Then the boys played with their new Magna Doodles. Sorry about the morning hair, mom and dad.

Then we played on the stairs. What a Christmas morning treat.

Especially if it means sitting with Grandma.

Grandma and Grandpa's stairs are way cooler than our stairs at home. Can't play peekaboo on ours!

Then we found the Christmas Matryoshka dolls.

They are such a puzzle.

And cap the morning off with playing with new toys (oh, there IS the airplane) and Christmas decorations. What a lovely day!

A Hint of Christmas Morn

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

I'll tell you about our fun soon. Promise.

Big Ol' Tree

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas was wonderful, thank you for asking.

I'll tell you more soon but for now I'm just letting the warmth of Christmas simmer a little longer.

(Special thanks to mom's coworker for this most mesmerizing tree display)

We Two Kings

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

We two kings of orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar.

Field and fountain, moor and mountain,

Following yonder star.

O star of wonder, star at night,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Merry Christmas! Happy holidays! Love from the Bradleys!

(Posting may be a little light next week. The holidays and all. You understand.)

Sittin' Pretty

2011-12-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Because it was a tiresome day with sick little boys and we're all a little bit exhausted, here's one little picture of my sweet boys just playing at the table. Aw.

On the Pot

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have two little boys who looooove their potties. Really and truly. Yea and verily. The moment they see the pots, they start tugging on their pants. (Yes, we do remove their clothes when they go, I just didn't want to post of picture of it. I no dum dum). We're not trying anything dramatic, just getting them used to the idea of using a toilet. They have a turn before bathtime each night and they usually insist on a visit before naptime.

The very first attempt, Dash tinkled in his potty and we were tickled pink. Liam wanted nothing to do with it and clung to us in desperation. A few nights later, the tables turned and Liam sat on his pot for minutes on end while Dash ran away. Then we promised him a sticker for trying to sit and, just like that, potties were magical. Since then, there's been nary a complaint.

We've had several successful tinkles over the last month, even a few days where BOTH boys went, and they get a kick out of dumping the bucket into the toilet and flushing it away. I must admit, however, that more pee ends up on the floor since the boys make the most their nekked freedom and run around the bathroom like wild men. Small steps, right?

Sometimes a boy just needs his dad

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Gifts Now!

2011-12-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

Since we're going to be with extended family for Christmas, we wanted to do our own little gift exchange between the four of us. And if we're going to do it early, why wait longer than we have to?! Because, seriously, the hardest thing about Christmas is waiting to give your kids all their awesome new toys. This whole last week, all the toys in the living room seemed so boring. So on Saturday, we celebrated our own pre-Christmas morning.

These cars are the far and away biggest hit. We had them sitting out under the tree and it was love at first sight. You see, they have buttons that spit out music and cause the lights to flicker and the wheels to spin. Instant love. They wouldn't even think of setting them down for their breakfast of blueberries and cheerios (I've never been one for fancy breakfasts...). Yes, they may part ways for a spell, but only after hauling them around for a half hour. Oh my, when I wouldn't let them take the cars into their crib for nap time... it wasn't a pretty sight.

This little race ramp was our most highly anticipated gift. Cars, speed, fun, dual mode... winner of a toy! And luckily, the boys agreed.

I'm most happy it's something they can play with together and not fight over it. Well, at least not yet.

It's really easy to set off the noise mechanism, so I'm real glad to get that thing out of our closet. Vroom vroom vroom egh

AND it fits matchbox cars, score.

Liam and Dash now have a bigger collection of puzzles, of which they never tire.

Love me some Melissa & Doug.

Somehow Dash and Liam found out about a book about MAPS by KEN JENNINGS and kept it a secret from their dad until it was time for Christmas presents. Smart sons, they know their daddy.

Our kids are proud new owners of some excellent bouncing balls.

Can't bite through them, doesn't hurt when they hit you in the face!

The kiddos were so prodigious with their wrapping paper removal, they just had to help their mommy with her gifts.

The kiddos certainly enjoyed mommy's shiny new pots and pans! (So does mommy!) Once I put the cookware in their cupboard, the boys kept opening the door and flopping on their belly to get a good look.

These blocks make an excellent stepstool. Not exactly what I intended it for but ....whatever.

Liam and Dash were expert Mr. Potatohead-ers. In a Picasso sort of sense.

And just so you know, the feet can NOT be stored within the potato. Let me just ask, where are you going to store them? Huh? Where, Hasbro?

Already indoctrinating them into following in their father's footsteps. That's what Christmas is all about!

Dressing Up

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sean has had to work long nights this week. Including traffic time, he'd be gone 14-15 hours, then come home to get some minimal sleep. He'd be up with us all for an hour or two, then be off again. Our little boys were missing their daddy.

So each evening after he left, the boys would scrounge around the house to find an item of Sean's clothing to wear. Today, Sean's tie and scrub shirt. Smashing (love the plaid on plaid, don't you?).

Missing their daddy made them kinda weird, too. Good thing that Sean's taking his OB/Gyn test today and is off for two weeks! Play time, here we come!

Whilst Skyping

2011-12-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

Every weekend, generally, we take a little time to skype our parents. So the boys could have a little cyber bonding with their relatives. This was easy peasy lemon squeezy when they were little, just hold them in view of the camera. But now a days, they zip zoom all around the house and we have to chase them with the laptop to share a glimpse of their fun. Sure, when they first hear the "boo bee boop" of the skype ring, they're rather enamored with the new faces on the screen, but soon they create new entertainment.

On this particular occasion, Liam took to can sorting.

Taking a moment to analyze...

Gotta rearrange.

Dash chose that moment to begin launching off chairs. Luckily, always while seated and holding daddy's hands.

Catch me, dad!

And... do it again!

So I guess they're grandparents are getting quite an accurate look at what their twin grandsons do every day. Always on the go!

A High Chair Convoy

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

We rearranged the furniture a bit when we put up the Christmas decorations, which created a more open space in the living room/eating area. Dash and Liam have utilized this space for high chair transportation. More than once Sean has come home to the high chairs blocking the door to the garage.

Push them back a little here...

Adjust it a bit there...

A quick nudge from the foot...

And thoroughly enjoying it.

Not to mention their beloved new activity: climb up the high chair and give mom a heart attack:

(Climbing on High Chair from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Ever since they started doing it last week, they're going up and down those things like a squirrel raiding a pine tree. Dash fell and whacked his head hard twice in one day. Didn't stop him from climbing right back up (after he cried for 20 minutes each time). Oy.

Owls

2011-12-13T07:00:00.001-06:00

Last year we bought Liam and Dash's first annual Christmas ornament: Snowmen. Seeing as the snowman is such a integral part of our family's beginnings, it seems perfect.

So this years ornament? Owls. Just screams Christmas, doesn't it? Naw, it's more representative of this point in their lives, since they love owls so much.

Or rather, they love to eat owls so much. Apparently.

And play with their wings.

Poor half-blind owls.

Last year's snowmen are still beloved.

They double as phones, you know. Hello? Yes, I'd like to know when we'll be getting snow. What?! It doesn't snow in Texas?

Oh whatever am I going to do? Don't worry, son, we'll find somewhere cold and snowy for Christmas. Don't you worry one bit.

Christmas Decor

2011-12-12T07:00:00.001-06:00

The Christmas decorations have been up for a week and we've all been quite enjoying the festivities.

Even before we up the decor, though, we had won a cute Santa candle holder in a white elephant gift exchange and stuck it up on the mantle. The first time the boys went into the living room, they immediately noticed it, climbed onto the coffee table and frantically pointed at the thing. How in the world did they notice so fast? Clever kids.

When we pulled out the Christmas tree (fake all the way, baby!), Dash and Liam thought it was the weirdest and funnest thing. Recognizing the star shape, they liked that bit best.

Yes, that middle chunk of lights is out. Can't figure out why. The bottom little bit sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. What can you do? Oh, buy another tree, you say? Or better yet, go natural? Nah.

They like to make their rounds each day, you know, got to make sure the tree's in fine health.

Check the strength of a limb here and there.

Some things deserve a closer look.

Hmm, he may have detected a problem.

Must check it through his special filter.

It checks out after all. Hurray!

Now, we thought the boys might get used to the tree quickly and leave it somewhat alone. But we shot ourselves in the foot in the first few minutes of setup. I was wondering if we ought to keep the classic round ornaments up out of their reach. Sean said no need, for they are unbreakable! And to prove his point, he dropped one on the ground, which bounced away unscathed.

But of course, that became the boys' new most favoritest game in the world. And all orbs that came within their grasp were promptly thrown across the floor. Day after day, it doesn't get old. But my efforts to return them to their tree limbs do.

So my floors look like this.

And the bottom of our tree is a barren wasteland.

And the top of the tree is a crowd of cheap plastic balls.

It's beautiful.

We don't have a lot of other decorations, nor a lot of places to keep them out of harms way. Our little nativity squeezes onto our bookshelf, while Dash looks longingly at that tasty looking manger, and Liam at that gnawable lamb.

Perhaps most importantly, our little snowman sits snuggly on our mantle. For this snowman was made on the very night we were engaged. This one belonged to Sean, mine has sadly disappeared in the ether. Little did either of us know that Sean would be proposing a few hours after my lab party in which the snowmen were made (thanks for the snowman craft, Kim L!). For Sean had received the engagement ring that day and just couldn't wait a day longer to ask for my hand. It sure made for a joyful Christmas season!

Here Comes Santa

2011-12-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

Our church had a little Breakfast with Santa last weekend. It was the boys' first meeting with the jolly saint. With a squirmy Liam in my arms, I managed to snap this picture:

Poor Dash. Sean had just tried to stick him on Santa's lap and Dash was having no part of it.

So then I passed my camera to someone else to take a few more pictures with Liam included. And... none of the pictures took. She thought she was taking them but nope. Sad.

Luckily, there was someone there taking pictures of all the kids already! So let's see how it went down:

Trying to console Dash with a Christmas bear. Don't touch me, man!

Liam doing okay while chomping on a Christmas ornament but firmly latched onto my side. Do NOT let go of me, mom.

Welp... maybe next year. Ha, fat chance.

After that ordeal, we just let the boys wander the church building. They found a chalkboard and became completely happy again.

Draw draw draw (and a few moments of eat eat eat the chalk. When do they stop trying to eat everything again?)

Surprisingly when storytime came around, Liam gladly sat in Sean's lap and listened. Dash meanwhile kept running towards the Christmas tree until he realized Santa was right next to it. Tree! Yay! Santa! AGH! You could see his head get whiplash with how fast he'd spin back around.

But they're warming up to the idea of Santa bit by bit. See here:

(Ho Ho Ho5 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Mix a little bit of owl sound with a little bit of monkey sound and you get Santa!

When the Tongues Come Out

2011-12-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Eight Items of Business

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. A few months ago, Liam and Dash switched cribs. Dash kept going over to Liam's crib at naptime and compelling me with his urgent whine to get in. Liam would follow suit with his brother's crib. Pretty soon, it became the norm. It's nice because Liam, who was closer to the door, keyed in on all the sounds that meant I was peeking in. But Dash hasn't caught on to them all yet and I can sneak with much more ease.

2. The boys' sleep has been better. Really, the trick was going to Colorado. Since we've gotten back, they generally sleep later than they had been. I really appreciate that.

3. The boyos have caught a cold. Dash started his runny nose Monday morning and Liam yesterday around naptime. It's not too bad, mostly just congestion, not too much lethargy. You know, I really wish that they'd get sick at the same time. There's always a day or two lag between them. It's really hard to cuddle one sicky while keeping up with a crazy.

4. Dash is starting to develop an aversion to dirty hands. A few minutes into eating a messy meal, he offers up his coated hands with a pathetic grunt. After a few more moments, he starts rubbing them together to try and get the dirty off. Hopefully this means that use of utensils will improve!

5. Yesterday, while I was dishing up dinner onto their trays and Sean was playing with the kids, Sean looked up to discover Liam chilling in his high chair. How'd he get in there? Accepting the unspoken challenge, Dash toddled over to the other chair and climbed right up, like it aint no thang. Sheesh, boys!

6. Look at these profiles (Liam above an Dash below). They's beautiful. Such beautiful boys. Oh, and yes, there are more pictures of Liam in this post than there are of Dash, but the reverse is true in the last post. Even stevens.

7. There's a window upstairs that gives us a magnificent view of all the cars passing by. We spend many an afternoon, naming each kind of car. When a big van goes by, watch out, those boys are thrilled. Don't even get started on the buses. When a bus goes by, they stick a feather in their caps and call them macaroni!

8. Did you know I can't go five minutes without kissing one of their cheeks? Oh mercy, it's delightful. This motherhood business is the right business for me.

The Right Way To Wear Pajamas

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

As much as they love their Toy Story PJs, there's another set that makes Dash and Liam's hearts go pitter-pat. They're covered in cars and the boys can't get enough of them. And sure, they like to wear them to bed but they've found a better way to use them.

What do you do with your car pajamas, Dash?

That's right, you love to set them atop your head.

The less you can see the better.

Also favored are wearing the pants around their scalp, resting them across their shoulders, or just looking at them. Pttt pttt pttt!

Now, while all this was happening, Liam decided to opt out of his favorite pajama game and go read books in Dash's crib. Whatever makes you happy, babe.

Buzz and Woody

2011-12-05T07:00:00.001-06:00

When Target put these pajamas on sale, I couldn't resist:

My very own Buzz and Woody.

Here's Buzz playing with his contact lens spaceship.

Woody practicing his lassoing technique.

(I didn't choose these props for them, we just had them around and they picked such appropriate playthings. They like to get in character. Also, what does that say about me that I have an empty contact solution case and rope laying around with the kids' toys?)

Admiring each other's buttons.

Buzz and Woody: (almost) always working together.

Woody and Buzz: (almost) always buddies.

See, how could I not buy these pajamas? Too perfect.

New Crayons

2011-12-02T07:00:00.001-06:00

We bought some new crayons recently, the kind with a plastic encasing that twists to let the crayon out. So now Liam and Dash can't chomp off giant hunks of crayon for their gnawing pleasure, only itty bitty nubs. No more purple goo diapers! This photo also features one of their favorite places to color: wedged between the table and the sliding glass door. Maybe the snugness makes them feel extra secure?

Their other favorite place to color is upon top of the table. They shimmy shimmy shimmy up on and sit or lay any ol' which way. They love a higher vantage point.

One on top, one wedged in. Perfect. (I have a feeling they're right handed)

Or sometimes they hang their legs into the wedge. Best of both worlds.

Early Christmas

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

We held an impromptu Christmas gift opening party since we won't be in Colorado for the holiday. Except it was just us opening gifts since we didn't bring presents to give. Gotta keep that USPS in business, right? Liam and Dash have been furiously using their new HP Touchpad and gigantic box of Duplos. Sean and I love our gifts too- among them, a new necklace and the Harry Potter bluray (finally!).

The boys also got these neat balls that change color with body heat. Through this we learned that Sean's mom and Rachel do not emit heat whatsoever.

These balls are now sporting nice mouth-sized divots.

They also got a pair of recorders.

Man, they are good at tooting their own horns.

Next came a Lion puppet and a tiger puppet. Dash made sure the Lion gave everyone a kiss or two.

Since we weren't planning on doing a gift exchange, I didn't prep the kiddos with the idea of opening wrapping paper. I think they were a little confused why I was telling them TO rip the paper.

But they always loved what was underneath. Particularly The Polar Express book. Choo choo!

Thanks for the gifts everyone! Twas a most lovely trip!

Animals and Dinos

2011-11-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

Whilst deciding where we might go for a grand adventure, we landed on a trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, though I was nervous there wouldn't be a whole lot for the boys to do. Boy, did I underestimate the excitement of seeing. The boys couldn't get enough of the animal dioramas. So many animals! So easy to see!

They'd run up to one of the scenes, observe for a while (all while grunting and performing animal noises), then...

...chase off towards something else. Got to see it all!

Truly, they were there a moment,

then off!

All traces of separation anxiety, gone. They just followed their fingers.

It was adorable and hilarious to witness them "oo oo oo"ing all around the room, Liam and Dash criss-crossing each other as they discovered the next amazing creature.

Though they did sometimes take a minute to let us help them notice all the small stuff.

Woah, is that a dragonfly, daddy?

Following the theme of observing animals that have, ahem, passed on... we visited the dinosaur bones. Big big big hit.

There was a whole lot of roaring going on.

They just loved seeing the big creatures all around the room. There was even an exhibit with animatronic dinosaurs (no pictures allowed) that got them all kinds of excited. And a little nervous. But still excited!

Dash and Liam of course took the time to read all about these prehistoric wonders, they like to learn.

But they also liked to just hang out and soak in the wonder!

What We Did in Colorado

2011-11-29T13:19:00.003-06:00

We played with new toys.

We tried to quack like Pompa.

We played on the iPad.

We played on the iPhones.

We giggled and laughed.

We laughed and giggled.

Sean took flattering portraits of his parents. Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

We made lots of dinosaur roars.

We had perpetually static-y, messy hair.

We watched the Winnie the Pooh movie.

And I got in a picture!

Believe or not, more to come.

Back from CO

2011-11-28T07:00:00.001-06:00

We've just returned from a semi-last minute trip to Colorado. A lovely and relaxing trip. Also known as The Trip in Which the Twins Slept Awesomely. Seriously. I'm trying to figure out how to recreate that dark, quiet room, because they had some good sleep in there.

It started with their flight in. They took their daily nap on the plane. Which was a decent nap but certainly not it's usual length or comfortable quality. Incidentally, Liam and Dash were really quite good on that flight. Did you know that we usually can't sit by each other on airplanes? There's only four emergency masks per row, so only one lap child is allowed (unless there's an empty seat). It's fun when someone who's been sitting by you realizes at the end of the flight that there's another one of them a few rows up. Not one but two cute toddlers!

Oh, I should mention, we weren't even supposed to be on that flight. We were supposed to be on one six hours earlier. We woke up 20 minutes after that one departed. Uh... whoops. We still haven't figured out what happened to that alarm. But luckily Frontier swiftly put us on the next flight (and luckily there were seats!). Props to them!

Anyway, back to the point- then the boys had lots of good food (twas Thanksgiving after all). And that night they slept 13 hours. THIRTEEN! I woke up at 7:30 and just stared at that monitor for half an hour, dumbfounded that it wasn't going off yet. Every night was good, every nap was good. It probably helped that Liam and Dash had so many people to play with them. So awesome.

This actually threw a wrench into our return flight. When we picked a time to fly home, 3pm, I thought, oh yeah, they'll be waking up even earlier on because of the time zone change so they'll have already taken a nap by the time we need to leave for the airport. Not so. They had to take their nap in the car, about half the length of a normal nap. This manifested itself on the plane. They weren't too bad, just very antsy and vocal. Then the decent really made their ears hurt. They're so rarely so complainy. I'm just glad that flight's done.

Stay tuned for some family fun!

Kiss Your Brother!

2011-11-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

Hey Liam, hey Dash, can you kiss your brother?

Oo, almost!

Here, Dash, try kissing Daddy. Perfect!

Okay, Liam, you're turn to kiss Daddy. So sweet!

Now try to kiss your brother again. Almost there...

Ah, near miss!

Let's give you guys a kissing break.

Ok, ready, try again. Kiss you're brother!

Yay! What a sweet kiss!

Let's try once more!

Whoops! That's okay, still cute, still cute. I think that's enough kissing for one day, don't you?

This is what I'm grateful for

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Park with Daddy

2011-11-23T07:00:00.001-06:00

These are the reasons why we like to go to the park with Daddy

1. He jumps right in the fun with us!

2. He makes sure we go down the slide feet first.

3. He lets us practice our boxing moves.

4. He gives us stickers!

5. He lets us kiss mommy. We know he likes to do that.

6. He lets us play in the sewer!

7. He leaves dirt in our hair.

8. He follows us around sneakily.

9. He makes us sing praises! Hallelujah!

10. We glow when we're with him.

11. He giggles just as much as we do!

Walking and Dancing

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

I mentioned a while ago that I was on a quest to record Liam's stomp walk (Dash has adopted the behavior as well!). Well, I didn't realize how difficult it would be. I'd have the video camera with me all the time but because the stomping only lasts a few seconds, I'd inevitably miss it. I need a video camera in my eyes, you know? Like Olhado in Speaker for the Dead. I eventually got a couple of examples that sort of give you an idea:

(Stomp Walk from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Right at the beginning Liam does his stomping with his shoulders and elbows back, head jutted out.

(Slow Stomp Walk from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

And this is a slowed down version. Usually he's stomping like crazy. But you get the idea.

The boys are also wonderful dancers:

(Dancing from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Looks like we're ought to throw Dash a Dance Party.

And just for giggles:

(Mirror Love from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

A little narcissism never hurt anyone. Right?...

Nursery

2011-11-21T07:00:00.002-06:00

Yes, the boys are now 18+ months old, the magical age in Mormondom when little children get to go to nursery. Stake Conference was last week so yesterday was their initiatory attendance. I'd say, it was a hit!

As much as I was looking forward to this new stage (I can do all my church responsibilities without keeping 80% of my brain focused on my two curious children), I was really nervous too. I mean, who are these people, these nursery leaders? I've hardly let anyone watch these kids besides family, and suddenly I'm going to hand over my precious cargo for two hours?

I stayed the entire time, trying to hang back a little bit, helping out here and there. You can probably imagine how they enjoyed all the new toys and little kids with whom to play. I even left for a minute and they seemed all right when I returned, just a bit nervous. When a situation arose that I would have handled differently arose, I had to just let it go, not everyone thinks like I do. When Liam got pummeled over by a kid who had been repeatedly warned to not pummel, I had to just accept the fact that things like that happen (I mean, I think the kid was just really excitedly giving hugs).

They're definitely going to have to get used to sitting at a table for longer stretches, not eating crayons, and accepting that most kids are not awesome sharers. They only had a couple cries each- when someone kept them from playing with their desired toy and when the toys were put away (oh, and when Liam got hurt). That's pretty good for the first day, right?

And I brought my camera and everything and completely forgot to take a picture of this momentous occasion. I kick myself. So you'll have to settle for these goofy pictures from my 50 mm lens that no longer focuses properly (yes, I cried a little bit when that was discovered):

Dash channeling E.T.

Liam turning contemplative.

I think the boys are excited to go back. If for nothing else but the bubbles.

1.5

2011-11-18T07:00:00.003-06:00

Did you know I have two one-and-a-half year olds? I have two one-and-a-half year olds. Actually, they are one-and-a-half years and six days old now. I can't quite wrap my brain around it.

It's funny, it seems like each six month block is going faster and faster. In my mind, that infancy chunk took years. Sure, they were a beautiful six months but a sometimes difficult and certainly sleepy six months. The half year leading up to their birthday was filled with development and curiosity and scheduling. Now this most recent third of their life was just a bucket of fun and learning, which apparently transports time into overdrive. Things flow well, everyone's generally happy, life's peachy! I don't know how it's been another six months!

We had another doctors check-up a couple days ago. Dash began hysterically crying the second I started taking off his shoe. He remembers what happens when stripped down to the diaper in a doctor's office. Liam waited until he was laid down on the examination bed to let his wails loose. At least there was a good view of the highway to distract them after the trauma was over. The doctor told us to start potty training. Weird. Okay, not really potty training, just to let them sit on the toilet before taking a bath to get them used to the idea.

Mr. Dash Bash is 32.5 inches tall (57%) and weighs 22 lb 14 oz (13%). He's not a five percenter for weight anymore!

Mr. Liam Biam is 32.25 inches tall (48%) and weighs 23 lb 10 oz (20%!). It doesn't surprise me he weighs almost a pound more, he eats more (and much faster) than his brother.

Want some outtakes from our little 18-month photo shoot outing? Comin' atcha!

Since I already posted one of Liam, here's Dash's sneeze:

Bless you!

Don't let that slight look of shame fool you. He's totally proud of himself.

They have a good life.

You know what they did yesterday? I'll tell you. Dash gently ran his fingers through my hair while I snuggled him before his nap. Later, Liam leaned over to peek at me while I was helping Dash brush his teeth. I had my head down so he brushed my hair behind my ears and my bangs out of my eyes so he could see my face better.

I have a good life.

Zoo-warding

2011-11-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

On Saturday past, we returned to the zoo.

There was much pointing.

Much peering.

Much staring.

We saw so many fun animals that we decided to award some of the most outstanding.

First we begin with a six-way tie for Sleepiest Animal.

Sleepy Giraffe

Sleepy Cheetah

Sleepy Lion A

Sleepy Lion B

Sleepy Bear

We decided this guy had the Prettiest Spots.

This one's the Cleverest Animal. We thought for a while that his horns were stuck but after a while concluded that he was just using the rope to scratch his scalp.

This section of the zoo gets Best Viewing Arena for it's slanted glass that Dash and Liam could lean against and smoosh their face into.

Comfiest.

These guys are the Three Silliest Monkeys.

Oops, spoke to soon- these guys are the Three Silliest Monkeys.

This tiger wins for Piercingest Eyes. New word, everyone.

This cat wins for Most Entertaining. He kept going after his straw like it was stuffing in a teddy bear.

Seriously, Dash was laughing off his rocker.

These two win Most Mary Cassatt-esque.

Liam and Dash told me these birds should be declared Cutest Tooshies.

I decided this bird wins Awesomest Legs.

These three win the gold in Synchronized Scratching.

Thirstiest.

These birdies Make the Biggest Waves. I know I know, I couldn't think of a good one.

And finally, this guy also wins the coveted Fluffiest Face. Watch out for that visage on your morning cereal boxes, ladies and gentlemen!

Wow, quite the awards event at the zoo!

Smorgasbord

2011-11-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

1) Whenever I use my sewing machine, the stitches always end up like this:

Why? My only guess is that maybe I'm pulling on the far end without realizing it? It's really annoying. And makes for weak stitches.

2) This is one of my biggest life mysteries. Almost invariably, my shirts look like this:

I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that at least 60% of the shirts I wear will have a couple of little holes in the front, bottom center of the garment within the second or third wearing. Do you know how infuriating it is to put on a nearly new shirt and find holes? And I can't for the life of me figure out what's causing them. I don't notice myself pulling down on that area of the shirt, I've never seen myself zip that part of the shirt into a zipper, I don't go around catching my stomach on sharp objects... I'm stumped? Many of Sean's shirts have suffered the same fate. This has been going on for years and years and years. Does ANYONE have any clue what's happening?

3) Houston has some crazy roads. I believe I see no less than seven overpasses here:

(You better believe that the gross tarp hanging out of the truck in front of us splattered some nasty dark liquid all over our windshield). Sometimes it's hard for my brain to understand driving when it involves several large highways. I'm used to just one big road, you know? One thing I do like, though, is all the U-turns. It was super confusing when we first moved to Texas (the left turn lane suddenly became a U-turn lane!) but once we got used to it, we realized how beautiful it was to have so much frontage road along the highways, so many access points to the highway, and a great way to avoid a light. I always plan for the u-turn if it means I'll skip a light. I can drive back from Hobby Lobby without hitting a single one!

4) I love my boys and their brains:

And their cute hands:

Over and out.

The Things We Do

2011-11-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

Alas, they did escape! Play in the playground they did! These are the things we do at the playground:

1. Practice our new favorite face.

2. Practice our Grinch smile.

3. Kiss the Blarney-saurus.

4. Become too distracted to pay attention to mom.

5. Sneeze.

6. And play with abandoned, rusty trucks.

All in a days play at the park!

Escape the Bike Trailer

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

"Woah, do you see all that playground equipment out there, Dash?"

"No kidding, Liam! We need to get out there!"

Maybe we can push our way out through this mesh stuff..."

"Yeah, maybe if we reeeeally push."

"Okay, new plan, maybe we can bust out of our safety harness. Start leaning."

"eeeeeeeeeeeeeerrg. It's not working!"

"I know, I know, there's a weak point up here. Maybe I can pull it open."

"No, no, it's over here, let me try over here."

"Ugh, we're never getting out of this thing."

"Ooooo, and I wanted to play so bad!"

Stay tuned to see if Dash and Liam ever escape their bike trailer imprisonment!

Love You

2011-11-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

Dear Liam and Dash,

I love your grey-blue eyes full of swirling depth and a touch of pale yellow in the center, just like your daddy's.

I love your beautiful skin that's so soft and squishy and kissable.

I love that when you cry, you still look ridiculously cute.

I love that when you're zoned out, wow, still super cute.

I love how your face perks up when I give you a smile.

I looooove when you run at me to give me a bulldozer hug. And when you walk over, flip around and flop on my lap. And when you give me the sweetest kisses.

I love your amazing laugh.

I love your goofy snickers.

Liam, I love how like to insert a little silly all the time. With a funny face or a cowboy walk or a wacky throat snort, you just like to keep things a little goofy.

Dash, I love how you like to reserve yourself to bursts of silliness. Sometimes you like to peacefully flip through a book but then other times you just throw yourself around in giddy fits full of giggling and wiggling.

I love how you boys have my heart and fill it with love at every moment.

Love you forever,

Mama

Kid Table

2011-11-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

Sean finished his kid table! He actually finished about a month ago (thank you radiology rotation). I was just taking my sweet time taking pictures of it.

I think Sean is most proud of his mortise and tenon joints. As him about it, he'll talk your ear off. I think I may have accidentally chosen his least favorite example to photograph. Sorry honey.

We don't have chairs for it yet, but no matter, we all prefer to stand or sit on the table itself.

The table's the perfect place to have snacks and color.

Note to self: tape the paper down better.

Second note to self: tape paper closer to edge.

It really helps keep them occupied when I'm getting a meal ready for them. Except for the regular thirty second interruptions in which I have to remind them to color with the crayon, not eat the crayon.

I think our longest crayon at this point is about half an inch long. But they're learning. With the help of Sean's awesome table!

I think someone misses the pool...

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

They Like Mom's Blog

2011-11-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

I made a blog book a while ago. My first and only one so far. It is a print of all my posts through the end of 2009. And it's become one of Liam and Dash's very favorite books.

They love to leaf through the pages pointing out everyone they know. They even like looking at their ultrasound pictures (though I think they're a little confused when I call the little peanut shapes a "baby"- that doesn't look like any baby they're used to!).

It's motivating me to get working on my 2010 book (it's a lot of work to produce!) because, can you imagine how excited they'd be to see their little infant pictures?

I'll do anything for a little more cuddle time like this!

This is for...

2011-11-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

Raspberries are for poking.

Lids are for filling with grapes.

Milk cups are for balancing.

Milk cup balancing is for laughing.

Straws are for pea flinging.

Cute Twinners

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

My twinners are cute in the sunshine.

My twinners are cute when they go down the slide over and over and over again.

My twinners are cute when the wait on the stairs until we're not looking so they can go down the slide face first.

My twinners are cute when they kiss dinosaurs.

My twinners are even cute when they're doing nothing at all. Pretty stinking cute.

Who Needs Words?

2011-11-03T07:00:00.002-05:00

I've mentioned before that Liam and Dash don't talk much. Really, the only things they say where they absolutely know the meaning is Dada and Mumum. They used to say Dog from sunup to sundown and an occasional Hi but those have gone by the wayside.

But they understand a whole hecka lot. They know to put the Legos back in the bin when I ask them to. They seek out and find a slew of animals on a page. They can pick out several shapes. They have all sorts of specific grunts to identify Important Things (cars, Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, the favorite animal of the day, the sun, the moon, etc.). In fact, if they point to something and I identify it wrong, they give me this look and their grunts become incredibly urgent until I say the correct name. They can name lots of things by sign language- favorites being Shoes, Airplane, Fish, Bird, and Butterfly.

Sean's parents told me that when Sean was at the boys' age, he was the very same: no talking but understood a ton. Then when he finally did talk it was practically in sentences (the boy does like to impress). Seeing as Sean is perhaps the most intelligent person I know, I'm not really worried. Liam and Dash and I communicate just fine and talking will come. Though I am pretty excited to hear their sweet little voices.

It really amazes me to think of how far they've come. Just a moment ago, it seems, they were utterly helpless creatures completely dependent upon their parents. How in the world have they learned so much?!

They have a few puzzles that they are mastering. It's watching them do these puzzles that impresses me the most. Here's Liam doing the shapes and colors puzzle:

(butterfly puzzle from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Dash was helping me take the video. Hence the "dramatic" ending. Dash is just as awesome at the puzzle. Did you notice how Liam flipped over the square piece to make it right-side-up?

When they do their alphabet puzzle, I'm constantly surprised at how much they understand:

(alphabet puzzle from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

I think that's pretty good matching! Though that X is tricky- it has the same character on top as the K piece and they're both a shade of blue. And how similar are X and K, anyway? Very tricky. Did you notice how Liam pointed out the O without even seeing the piece? And I had barely handed Dash his new piece before he smashed it into the Q spot. I love my smart boys. They understand it all.

Quite a Sight

2011-11-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

We saw some interesting things on our walk yesterday.

First we saw a pterodactyl. They're not extinct, apparently! Isn't that lovely?

Then we saw a flying cat land on a power line. It sure did purr.

Then there was a three-inch alligator snaking along the curb.

Then a hawk got his beak stuck in the moon! Which is pretty amazing, given that a waxing moon doesn't appear in the morning. Someone check the tides, they must me in a right state!

Oh my goodness, did a two-foot firefly just snatch up that mini-alligator? What a sight!

Over there is a line of ants jumping off the lamppost into a specially designed ant pool. The ants around here live in luxury.

There goes that purple-wigged unicorn again. He's got to hide his horn, you know, or else he'd be hunted endlessly. But you can't deny a brother a little flying time, now can you?

Now, I didn't see any of these things myself, mind you, I was taking pictures. But the boys told me all about what they saw in their grunt language. Twas a mighty exciting day, I tell you what!

Froggy Family

2011-11-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

The last two Halloweens we've ended up doing something with the Hamakers, so we kept up the tradition with another Pumpkin Party

Last year, Christine was, well, a little cry-y. But she was a perfect angel this time! Super content to play with all the new toys. As opposed to Liam and Dash who get nervous when people are in our house and became super clingy.

We all awed Jeff's Pooh Pumpkin, and thought Angela's floating letters were awesome.

I made a frog catching a firefly (in keeping with the frog theme), while Sean sculpted out this toothless wonder. We never did light them.

Behold the Froggy Family! You've met Froggy Dash and Froggy Liam already, but let me introduce you to Lily Pad Mama (green shirt with a lily on it, that works, right?) and Tadpole Daddy (who very impressively made his own costume! Love the tulle tail [see next picture]. And the chompy teeth).

And we couldn't pass up smooching our cute frog princes.

We didn't really do trick or treating last night, just a little ride around the neighborhood.

We had to let everyone soak in the cuteness, after all.

And to close, enjoy a little froggy croaking:

(Halloween Frogs2 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Two Little Frogs

2011-10-31T07:00:00.001-05:00

It's Halloween, it's Halloween!

We've got one little Dash froggie.

And another little Liam froggie.

Froggie Dash thinks he's found a fly to catch but realizes it's just a thread in his face.

Froggie Liam just wants his Halloween candy. (and for his mosquito bite-caused swollen eye to go down)

These two little froggies sat so sweetly on the curb, waiting for some fun.

Until they found the fun and hop hop hopped away!

These froggies hopped so much, Daddy had to rescue them back to safety.

Yes, mommy made their little froggy suits. The whole time I was sewing, I was determined to never make a halloween costume again. But then they turned out so cute that my determination is now wavering.

I've never tried to make anything close to this and it shows. I used some pajamas to make the pattern but it somehow ended up tight (even after resewing all the seams to loosen it up). It made their hopping a little restricted.

We went to Trunk-or-Treat at church on Saturday. I started at their normal bedtime so we only stayed around a little while.

They didn't even trick or treat, they just wandered around from car to truck to car. And wiggling to the music.

And really enjoyed being froggies for the night. Makes a mama proud.

Radiology

2011-10-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Sean is rounding out his first week of his Ob/Gyn rotation. Yesterday he walked by the OR where Liam and Dash were born!

He just finished his Radiology rotation, which had the most marvelous hours. We're now spoiled and complain about his current schedule. Sean loved his radiology rotation. He was especially excited to try out Interventional Radiology- doing procedures while the patient is being imaged. It seemed like a good mix of his interests. On his first of three days in that specialty, he texted me:

"I've found my calling."

Now, he hasn't committed to Interventional Radiology, or even radiology for that matter, but he's said it has raised tremendously on his list. Still, I think "I've found my calling" is a pretty big statement to make. At least we've got some direction!

One problem though. I always accidentally say Radiation instead of Radiology. And when I try to think of the specialty, I think of Integrated. So if he goes into that profession, I'll end up calling it Integrated Radiation all the time. Huh?

Still, no matter what he ends up doing, this is how we feel when he comes home:

(Daddy Comes Home from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

P.S. Anyone have any good Primary chorister tips/ideas/resources? Guess who's the new one in her ward... (funny story, too, [sorry lots of LDS jargon going on for those who aren't Mormon] I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday when, to my surprise, I was released from my last calling and sustained as primary chorister. That's right, no one extended the calling to me. I found out along with everyone else. What a surprising session of Ward Business.)

Sights on a Walk

2011-10-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

(On a Walk4 Showing Off from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

This is our typical fare on a walk, pointing things out and making car sounds. The only things missing are Stop Sign, Airplane/Helicopter, Bird, Grass, Cloud, Cat, and Flower. And recently Pumpkin.

Now, I should say we typically stroll about identifying all the sights around them but recently, we just spend the entire time avoiding mosquitoes. Swatting and dodging and running. I prefer the pointing.

Zoo-tastic

2011-10-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

A trip to the zoo was our final adventure with the Grandma/Pompa/Austin. It was a tinsy bit hot but a lot a bit fun.

Fun for the boys because they got a whole lot of attention.

AND they got to see monkeys!

I'm itching to go again because the boys just learned to make monkey sounds. It'd be a riot to hear them "oo oo"ing all over the place!

A rare moment when one of the boys would actually hold on to someone's hand instead of wandering off to wherever their feet led them. And a funny Grandma face. Hee hee.

When the animals are a little far away, the zoo becomes more of a place to people-watch. People-watching is one of my favorite hobbies, I'm glad they enjoy it as well.

You think they're all related or something?

Then we went to the Petting Zoo portion. You would have thought it was Christmas morning they way Liam and Dash reacted to those goats up close.

Goats are like hippogriffs, first you have to make eye contact and establish a connection.

Then they'll let you climb all over them! Liam jumped right in.

So many goats, which one to pet next?

Dash spent most of his time approaching goats but then backing away at the last minute. Sometimes he'd manage a pat but not much more.

That is, until he found the goat in the feeding trough. He liked that one.

Did you know goats double as backrests?

Once we were done with the goats, we did a little playing. And apparently, goofy face-making.

The unsurprising biggest hit of all? The buttons that make animal noises. If we let them play instead of scurrying them out for dinner, who knows how long they may have listened to the owl hoot.

It was a fun trip to the zoo and a fun time with the in-laws. Thanks for the visit Bradleys! The boys (and the parents) can't wait to see you again!

Where's the Dump Truck?

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

"Uncie Austin, do you see the dump truck? Right there on the iPad?" says Dash.

"Look, right there, there's a dump truck riiiiight there!" says the twins in unison.

"Where?" wonders Uncle Austin, "I don't see it yet!"

"Here it is, silly Austin!" squeals Liam. "Bttttttt!"

A Tale of Three Photographers

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

You guys are in for a something special today. You get to see the work of three different photographers all from one camera!

1) First, the photographer is POMPA!

I had to run Pogo back home after we reached the park (no dogs allowed. You have to sing it) so Pompa made sure I didn't miss a thing.

Apparently they were enraptured by the guy playing tennis. He had his very cool tennis ball shooter contraption, after all. How could you not watch?

They also got their supermodel on for Grandma.

Look at Dash work that pose. Tyra would be pleased.

Liam went for a hair toss pose. It works for him.

I returned and tried to show everyone how much my boys love me and pay attention to my every move. Fail.

2) Now, the photographer is ME!

Dash takes a little sampling of a ladder rung

Liam gets in on the action. So many flavors.

How did he get up there? I just can't... seem... to move up. Hmph.

Liam and Grandma play a little hide a seek with Grandma's fingers.

Ah ha, found you! Now I'll go hide!

Hi ho Silversaurous! Away!

Then all the gentlemen had a little swing time. Dash apparently wanted to be flung off while daddy swung.

This is a perfect pace, Pompa, keep it up.

Daddy, you're so much fun!

3) And a few photos from SEAN!

I got a turn at the swings too, and I have to say, it was heavenly. Just to have a quiet moment with my son. Blissful.

And my very favorite photo of the excursion. I can never get over their eyes.

If you happen to want to see some more photos from both Pompa and Grandma, take a gander over here. Bonus, there's pictures of sweet Avery!

One More Pool Venture

2011-10-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Taking advantage of being in the southern climate, we seven Bradleys went for a dip in the pool.

It was fun but, holy mackerel, that water was cold! The boys may have been shivering by the end.

But if you splash around enough, the cold kind of goes away. Because you're numb.

(Pool with the Bradleys1 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

A little taste of the the fun we had.

Our neighborhood pool has a little kiddie pool where we can set the boys in with arm floaties and let them roam around. I'm not going to lie, I do it just so I can giggle at them wobbling to and fro. I'm just lucky they like it too.

(Pool with the Bradleys7 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

That was probably the last pool trip of the year. So long, summer heat relief, you've been good to us!

A Bradley Visit

2011-10-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

For two (and a little bit of an evening and a little bit of a morning) fun filled days, we had the pleasure of a visitation by not just Pompa, not just Grandma, but also Uncie Austin!

Liam and Dash's days were FILLED with playing.

And FILLED with kisses.

And boy oh boy, did we read a lot of books.

Did I mention we read books? Lots of them.

There were a few snuggles, too. Awww.

In Which I Complain About Sleep Again

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

(Photos by Sean which I've thrown in here to give a little light-heartedness amongst my stream of complaints, but don't correlate to the text beyond the fact that both are about my children.)

Sigh. Sleeping is all messed up again. I hardly have any control over it, why do I let it affect me so?

We had been doing so well, too. For several weeks, they'd been sleeping until 7 or 7:30, making that about a 12-hour night! Even if the nap was just an hour and a half each day (I'm still waiting on the regular 2-3 hour naps everyone promised when they switched to one nap...), I'll take a nice long stretch at night. Especially since I seem physically incapable of going to bed before midnight (yes, you don't have to point out that I'm holding a complete double standard when I expect my kids to sleep well when I don't. I know it.) so that meant I got more sleep too. We had gotten into a really good rhythm and I really liked it.

Meet One-Shoed Dash, the famed boxer. Here he is displaying his amazing feinting technique.

But Sean's parents and brother came into town for a couple days (posts to come!) late last week and the schedule got all screwy. They stayed up late, were woken up too early, had an interrupted nap, and now they can't seem to get their sleep groove back on (don't worry Bradleys, I dont' blame you). Every morning starts at 6:20 or earlier (how I shudder when I see the clock face begin with a 5) and every morning I hope they go back to sleep. And every morning they don't. Instead of 12-hour nights, they get 10 to 10.5 and the difference is definitely not made up in their naps.

Meet One-Shoed Liam, the brilliant but absent-minded doctor. "Where'd I put that stethoscope again?"

This problem is certainly exacerbated by the fact that's there's two of them. In all the books, they claim that twins are going to be awesome sleepers because they learn to sleep through the noise of their twin. BZZZ, wrong. Take Monday morning, for instance. Liam wakes up at 5:50 crying, a sure sign he's still tired and wants to go back to sleep. It takes 20-30 minutes though for him to do so. 20 minutes of Liam crying off and on wakes up Dash, who is babbling, a good sign (though not certain) that he's up for good. I cross my fingers that maybe he'll still go back to sleep; maybe Liam's crying will be contagious and make Dash fall asleep, too. After an age of crying, Liam finally falls silent. Asleep, perhaps? I think. Dash is still babbling and starts talking loudly, flopping all around his crib. After ten minutes, I hear Liam give a whimper- he's back awake. The sun's up by now so I throw in the towel. After beating up my pillow first. It's frustrating business.

So that's where all the milk went.

I'm trying to restore their schedule but so far it's not taking. But even if they did, it'd just change anyway, since Sean starts his OB/GYN rotation next week, which has crazy hours. So they'll probably wake up with his alarm no matter my efforts. Not to mention that daylight savings is around they corner. What once was a blessed gift of an extra hour of sleep is now the bane of my existence. The kids don't know to sleep for an extra hour. So now they'll wake up at 5 instead of 6. [Retch] I've been wracking my brain to figure out a way to convince this nation to get rid of this silly daylight savings practice. No luck yet.

Huff. I needed to get that out of my system. Hopefully things will improve soon. They need more sleep and I need them to sleep. Maybe I'll ask them one more time, real real sweet with lots of kisses. Maybe then they'll agree. Fingers crossed.

Typical Behavior

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you how many times a day I see Liam do his stomp walk/dance/celebration. Whenever he becomes excited about anything, he juts his head forward, throws his shoulders and elbows back, and stomps very fast. While wearing a wide grin, of course. Sometimes he stays in one place while stomping, sometimes he walks, sometimes he spins. I have a new goal of catching that on video because it's too funny to keep to myself.

Now, when anything exciting happens to Dash (or anything surprising, for that matter), Dash puts on The O Face. That's also what he looks like when he's pretending he's a hooting owl. He just brings his lips in real tight and real round for a nice O effect. Come to think of it, I think that's the face I make to him when something exciting happens. Huh, kids mimicking their parents, who'd of thunk?

Happy Face

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

a flower for you

2011-10-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

"Look, I've found a flower! A bright, beautiful flower!"

"I think I'll give it away. To my brother. Yes, that's what I'll do."

"Here you are Dash, my brother dear. Oh, you don't want it? Well then..."

"I'll just keep it!"

Bayou City Art Festival

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend we had a fun afternoon strolling around the Bayou City Art Festival.

We were able to see all sorts of paintings and photography and multimedia displays and woodworking and sculptures. And a zillion other things.

Its really fun to be surrounded by so much creativity and so much appreciation of the arts. If we had, you know, an income, we sure would have picked out a few things to adorn our home. Really fantastic stuff there.

We stopped by the kids craft area and let the boys make tulips out of their handprints.

They sure enjoyed themselves even if all they kiddos did was provide their hand for tracing and play with tape and markers.

The flowers turned out lovely, don't you think?

It even had a pipecleaner stem- how cool is that?!

Ah, the smell of fresh construction paper.

When they were done, they scoped out the area for a lady to whom they could present their flowers.

Oh, me?! My, I'm touched, I'm honored, I'm thrilled! What? Oh, the lady next to me. Well, she looks nice... and... and let's just keep moving. [sob sob]

We let the boys loose in the sculpture garden.

And loose they went.

But we made sure to keep them hydrated. It's still hot out here!

Liam and Dash really, really enjoyed the big, graphic sculptures, constantly running and pointing piece to piece.

"Hello, Mr. Fox, my name's Dash, what's yours?" (Don't worry, this was a permanent piece, I didn't let them have free reign over the displays)

So much to see, so much fun to be had.

"It sure was fun, mom, thanks for bringing us!"

Framed

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hulk Grunt

2011-10-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

The newest trick around these parts is something I like to call the Hulk Grunt. It usually makes its appearance at mealtime. It involves the boys flexing all their muscles and emitting a gravely, low tone until they transform into a giant green monster. Okay, not really on the transformation part.

Dash usually starts.

Liam joins right in.

You want to see it in action, don't you. Alright:

(Hulk Grunt from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Cracks me up every time. Sorry you had to hear Sean and my efforts, too.

They do all sorts of funny things in their high chairs, here's a couple examples (both happen to be Liam):

(Blink Blink from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Its a thing he does, sometimes he just likes to exercise his blinking mechanism.

(Liam's funny voice from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

It's like he's mimicing an infant cry without being sad himself.

They're just funny boys who keep me (and themselves) entertained every day.

And I think they know how much I love it, too. Ham it up, boys!

Dusting

2011-10-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

People have kids to form their own cleaning crew, right? And all the love and cuteness is just a bonus. Right?

So in accordance, these children are my designated dusters. You know, for things like my bedroom carpet.

The duster also doubles as an American Gladiator jouster (Dash flees in fear).

And can be used for exercise. He's trying to beef up his shoulder muscles. Because vacuuming's next.

Impressive

2011-10-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

Warning: Mommy bragging in... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

My boy-os are constantly impressing me. Although they don't say many words (even things they used to say have disappeared), they seem to have a complete understanding of everything I say. Well, okay, not everything, but pretty close. So close that if you round up, it's everything.

So if I asked them where the hippopotamus is on the page, an animal I'm pretty sure I never even mentioned, they find it no problem. Put the letter G piece into the wood puzzle, oh yeah, it goes right there. Maybe not in the right orientation, but in the right spot.

Take Legos as another example.

Look at these two towers (is he the next Tolkein?). One tower all of the same color. And a second with a repeated green-blue-yellow pattern, capped with red. Wow! (and totally not just a mom trying to find genius things in actions of her kids)

Dash knows it's awesome, too. That's a face of pride if ever I've seen one.

Liam wants to show off his Sears Tower-esque (ahem, Willis tower-esque) structure. First a sideways glance to make sure mom's paying attention, then...

"Dad, dad, look! I'm going to be an architect!"

That's right, honey, you can be anything you dream.

four things

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

1. The boys' dino rawr is one of my very favorite things. It's less like a roar and more like a croak from a sore thoat.

(Dino Rawr from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Liam's was surprisingly good. Here's a more typical Dash:

(Dash rawr from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

It just makes me want to scoop him up and squeeze him, it's so cute!

2. Liam and Dash have learned to treat Pogo really well. Despite the fact that Pogo always runs away from their slightest touch.

I could be petting her the same way as one of the boys but she'll run away from them and not me. She's always been nervous around little kids. If I hold her still, though, she'll tolerate some hugs and pats and kisses.

Just look at these faces.

Me: You're okay. They just love you.

Dash: I love you soooo much!

Pogo: HELP ME!

3. When Dad/Mom/Jenny were here, we visited the splash park again. They warmed up to it faster this time.

(Splash Park with GnG3 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Yes, it's long. So here's another!:

(Splash Park with GnG5 from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Babies getting wet, never gets old.

4. When we had the big family dinner, dishes inevitably were left around, which provided many opportunities for little toddlers.

(Painting the window with Gpa from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Whoops, sorry about the end, there. What can I say, I have a happy husband.

Choices

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

You can do things one way...

...Or you can try a different approach.

Sean had a meeting this week and realized he's going to have to make some choices very soon. In the next, mmm, eight or so months, he has to decide in which medical field he's going to specialize.

You know, no big deal.

The problems lies in the fact that Sean is interested in everything. And he's really good at everything (except maybe kidneys. But that's okay, that's one he's already eliminated. Heh, that's kind of a kidney joke, isn't it?). So it's really hard for him to narrow in on one specialty without missing something that another specialty would offer.

Sean just finished up his internal medicine rotation. He really enjoyed the diversity of cases he encountered. You really have to think on your feet in that field. But those 6-day-weeks were brutal on me and we only had to live through it for a couple months- as an intern, that's how it is for a whole year!

So internal medicine is in the mix. He's also really liked ophthalmology (eyes are cool), urology (surprisingly, it's one of the most technologically progressive medical fields), and radiology (good hours, uses his knowledge of physics, and is in the same vein as his love for maps. Plus he exhibits quite a knack for reading images.) Pathology may intrigue him but he hasn't had a chance to experience it yet. Not to mention he may want to narrow even further into a pediatric version of all the aforementioned.

With all this tumbling around in his head, you could say he's a little overwhelmed. How do I ever decide?! he keeps asking me. A whole lot of thinking and praying, I'd say.

But no matter what Sean chooses, these boys (and this girl) will always be there to back him up and support him.

Tough Guys

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

(yes, tough, even if Dash had to wear the girly glasses and Liam's wouldn't stay on his ears)

GC Oct '11

2011-10-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

Another General Conference bathed our weekend with happiness and learning. It's a little hard to continually focus upon the speakers with the little tykes having fun. But they certainly had moments of reverence. Actually, each time someone spoke from the pulpit, this is what they did:

Mmhmm, folded their arms. They were ready for about 25 prayers over two days.

I really wonder why. Did the spiritual setting give them a sense of a prayer atmosphere? Did their voices sound like a prayer?

My heart's just bursting.

Lessons impressed upon me from this session of General Conference:

- What an idea, that memorizing a scripture is like forging a new friendship. Thanks Elder Scott.

- Something I've never really ever considered is that so many individuals may be lost without even realizing it. That really gives me a different perspective.

- "Compared to God, we are nothing. Yet we are everything to God." [Deep, feel-good sigh]

- Why'd Elder Ardern have to say that being busy is not always productive? Sheesh. I'm busy all the time, but with what?

- The best way a father can teach a daughter is to love her mother. Did you hear that? The best way a father can teach a daughter is to love her mother. I love that so much. Thank you Sister Dalton.

- In a world of diminishing morality, the Lord's constancy is something upon which we anchor.

- It is never to hard or too late to make good choices. Thank you Elder Bennett.

- Feeling too sinful to pray is like being too sick to see a doctor. Thank you Elder Cornish.

One final General Conference highlight:

(Dancing to MoTab from Katie Bradley on Vimeo.)

Rainy Play

2011-09-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

You know you're in a drought when you're hoping for a hurricane to hit you.

While we're not aching for the water like, say, the farmers are, it has made things less fun for us. Remember the landscaping we did back in May? How lush and green it looked. Here it is now:

I leave the few green sprouts nice and long to camouflage the rest of it. Like a yard comb-over.

Back when we had laid the sod, we watered daily to make sure the grass stayed healthy. A few weeks later it was time to visit Colorado for three weeks. We thought, the grass is in a good place now, it'll rain a few times while we're gone. You know, like it always does during the summer. Nope. No rain. Dead grass upon return.

And it's rained here four times since. For about 20 minutes each. Until...

...over the weekend that my family was here, it rained two days in a row. I couldn't believe it and couldn't stop talking about it.

We took Liam and Dash out to experience the wetness.

Oh, that's why it rained! Dash did his tried-and-true rain dance! He must have done it while I wasn't looking yesterday, because we got a nice soaking (with hail!).

Liam's watching the water flow down the bayou. Actually flow. Even slosh a little.

We gave them a Julius Caesar look. It's okay since we're nowhere near the Ides of March.

Et tu, brute?

Here's where Liam found a puddle and I said, "oh no."

Then Dash followed and I said, "oh no."

Then I said, "Aw, just go for it."

And go for it they did.

With gusto. Should have brought out the shampoo, what with how wet they became. I'll know for next rainy day. Hopefully sooner than later.

Funny Faces: Extended Family Edition

2011-09-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, are you ready? Because it's time for another edition of... Funny Faces! Yay! Woohoo! Yippee!

Looks like Liam caught a whiff of a not so pleasant aroma.

Yep, it definitely has something to do with the nose.

Sean tries to prove to my parents that their daughter married a smart man, all while trying to not slip off the back of the couch.

She's going for gold in the watermelon spitting contest.

It's the sleepy couch.

Ack, it's contagious!

While previewing the professional photos, Dash isn't too pleased as to how his turned out. We're always our own harshest judge

So he went to work practicing his pouty lips.

Gesundheit?

Are you done yet Grandma?

Chisos

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Do you remember Chisos? Darren and Niki's newest pooch (named after a Mexican mountain range, pronounced chee-SOS)? We met her back in February as a pup and, although now full-grown, she doesn't look too different. That's the mark of a cute dog.

Chisos came to the family gathering too. She ran into our bedroom and pooped within 30 seconds of entering the house. Impressive. As Pogo was known to do similar things as a youngin', we just chuckled and dealt with it.

Liam and Dash were smitten with Chisos and followed her all around. A dog that's smaller than them! Wowee! But I wonder why she looks so nervous?

Oh, right, because she knew a mega-hug was imminent. Really, I don't think Chisos minded too much. She even licked their faces, which the boys thought was the berries.

This is the best: since the boys have been doing a great job of pointing to the right people when you ask where they are, we prompted, "Where's Chisos?" They both turned and pointed to this picture on the wall:

Close enough :)

And don't worry about Pogo, she got plenty of lovin' too. Sweet girls.

Darren Visits Too!

2011-09-27T07:00:00.002-05:00

A highlight of the Mom/Dad/Jenny visit was when Darren & Co visited too! They were kind enough to drive down so the twinners could still get a proper nap.

During their visit, Dash insisted on wearing the white balance card lanyard.

So Liam, naturally, had to wear something around his neck, too. The only thing available besides the camera strap was my necklace. What could I do? He does look rather cute in it. (I love that necklace, I keep playing with the soft metal strands. Did you ever play with those pinpression things? It's like that. I discovered that both Jenny and Dad -but not mom- both enjoy the very same thing. Guess it's genetic.)

Not to be outdone, Dash donned his bracelets. We were calling them "weights" until Sean saw and called them bracelets. Way to feminize, Sean-o.

We all previewed the Beach Pictures we (finally) got from the photographer. Captivating, apparently.

We all watch in our own way.

Or not at all.

There was also a yummy dinner and a rousing game of Farckle. Though these boys didn't play. And the dinner rendered them shirtless. But it looks like they had fun, no?

When Family Comes to Town

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Family came to visit!

I think it was originally conceived as a girls weekend, having my mom and sister fly out while Sean was busy at work. But Dad wanted to come too (who wouldn't?!) and Sean wasn't super busy like usually. So it was just fun awesome family weekend!

They all had fun chasing around the little toddlers.

They even watched the boys one afternoon while Sean and I went out for lunch and a movie! Contagion: two thumbs up for scientific accuracy!

We did do some girly things, like shopping (how was it that the poor med student's wife was the only one who bought clothes?) and watching project runway. But we also had fun at the splash park, played lots of games ("whatever you do, don't triple farkel!") and ate lots of dessert.

It was lovely. Look forward to more pictures in the days to come!