Cereal time

Another busy weekend is in the books.  Grandma S and Aunt Erica and Uncle Luke came up for the weekend.  So Lindsay and I ditched everyone and went to the KU football game Saturday night.  It was cold and wet, but we still had a great time.  We also put some finishing touches on the basement makeover, and it's almost baby proof, which is a good thing because we are hoping this will be their playroom.

On Sunday we gave the twins their first taste of solid food, if you consider cereal mush a solid food.  Here's what happened.

I'm hoping they'll get better at this whole eating with utensils thing, as you can see we all needed a bath in the aftermath.

Hope you had a good weekend too.

Justin

With bedtime comes a sigh of relief

I love every moment I get to spend with Owen and Olivia.  They slept great last night, and played so well all day today.  So, we headed out to some friends house to watch the KU game and eat dinner.  I was sure it would be a great night after the day we've had.  O&O lost it.  They cried the entire car ride there, for about 30 minutes at their house(then we left), and Olivia cried the entire way home.  We walked in the door, and they stopped.  They were fine.  When did they become babies that can't leave the house? 

But really, no matter how good of a day we've had, or how many naps they have taken, thank goodness for bedtime.  For the most part, both babies go down without much of a hassle.  And after they've been asleep for about 10 minutes, I breathe a sigh of relief that we survived another day.  Tonight, that sigh was extra loud.  

Here are a few pics from our week.  Owen absolutely loves his woobie. This afternoon, he discovered that he has two woobies!  And then he discovered that Olivia has woobies too.  You can tell by the picture below that he quickly began to stockpile them. 

Olivia didn't seem to mind that Owen stole her woobie, and I am sure it will happen many more times.  Instead, she loves to play with her Sophie Giraffe.  Both babies have started putting everything in their mouths, and Sophie is made for that!  We thought it was funny to have Owen's giraffe also named Sophie (that's actually the name of the toy), so apparently we have renamed it Stanley.  But here is Olivia clutching her Sophie!

Happy weekend everyone!

Lindsay

Picnic in the Park

Today, we didn't have anything on our agenda (amazing, huh?!), so we picked up some sandwiches and headed to the park.  Owen and Olivia love being outside, and they had a great time for about 30 minutes.

Gameday (Rock Chalk Jayhawk x2)

So the twins attended their very first KU football game today.  Well, at least a few plays of KU football.  The noise was too much from Ms. Olivia.  By the opening kickoff, she was screaming bloody murder and Lindsay had to cart her off to the hill.  She's always been pretty sensitive to sounds, so we should have known better.  Olivia wasn't even in memorial stadium long enough to take a picture.  Owen lasted a bit longer, but by halftime, we were on our way home.

Owen and Abby

O&O in their gameday gear, Olivia's hands wouldn't leave her tummy, but it's a pretty standard Rock Chalk Jayhawk shirt.

Owen has also been working on rolling over.  He's good at going from tummy to back, but here's a picture of working on back to front.  He'll get it eventually.

Back at home

We're back.

The road trip ended yesterday.  It's nice to be back home and have a little more than a blanket and a few toys to entertain the children.  Unfortunately, they are now accustom to both of us being around to entertain them.  This is no longer the case, I'm outnumbered again, and they see this weakness, and are in the midst of exploiting it.

We had such a great time on vacation though.  We got to see a whole bunch of family, and they got to see the twins again.

O&O did so well on the road, with the exception of the last 20 minutes of each leg of the trip.  I hope as they get older, they will do just as well.

What I learned:
1. Every week these babies seem to change A LOT.  On the road trip alone Owen decided he doesn't always want to eat or nap very much.
2. A cargo car topper from the 80s will survive a 1,000+ mile trip, even if the winds are blowing just shy of hurricane status.
3. You can rent baby trailer in mountain towns, thus we don't need figure out how to cram one in the Jeep that was already packed to the brim.
4. You can only abandon your wife and kids for so long to go on a bike ride before a meltdown similar to Chernobyl will occur.
5. Owen is not a fan of allowing adults to eat a nice dinner out.
6. Motherhood overrides altitude sickness.
7. Don't speed anywhere near Scott City, for more information ask almost any male Shoaf.
8. When these babies start crawling, life will become exponentially harder.
9. A book on tape makes driving through western Kansas less boring.
10. O&O love the mountains.

Justin

Road Trip: Part 1,495

We made it to Dodge City.  Another long day in the car, but the babies handled it like champions.  I think Lindsay had to shoo a few generations of Schmidts out of the room to put them to bed though.  That's ok, these babies are loved no doubt.  No pictures just yet, I'm sure the cameras will be out in full force tomorrow though.

We are here to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.  I hope someday Lindsay and I can get together with all our kids- their kids- and their kids- and their kids- and play cards.

Tomorrow, if we survive the heat, we're exploring the old west. Or at least the old west that "Gunsmoke" presented.  Unfortunately, unlike in that show, we can't see the mountains we just left.

Justin

Road Trip: part 75

We've left Breckenridge.  The town is much quieter now.  We'd like to thank all the residents and tourists that put up with our screaming babies.  Ok, I'm being a little dramatic, I'm sure that not every single resident and tourist heard our babies, just the vast majority.  

We had a great time in the high country.  I think the babies liked it.  They were really quite well behaved most of the time.  Especially considering the fact that we overstimulated them almost every hour of the day.  

This evening we went to dinner with some friends of ours and all the kids that have arrived since we left Colorado.  Here are a few pictures from a great evening.  

Gone Swimmin (and hiking)

Justin and Owen leaving on a hike

Family swimming time.  Note: The pool is outside, but is heated.  There is an indoor entrance to the pool so you don't have to get in and out in the cold air.  The babies were plenty warm!  Plus, check out Owen's cute wet suit!

Road Trip Part 4

Good morning!  We'll see how much I get posted with our poor internet connection.  We've been having a great trip!  Yesterday, we didn't do much, but enjoyed walking in town and Justin got in a good mountain bike ride.  Last night - we had date night!  We dropped the kids off with Grandma and Grandpa and we headed to our favorite Italian restaurant here, which only has 10 tables, and therefore no room for babies.

Breckenridge is basically deserted this week.  Since school started, there aren't any families in town.  I'm guessing we are the youngest people here.  That's ok with me though - I have loved going to lots of restaurants and not having to wait.  Especially since Owen has decided that he hates eating out, and would prefer to be carried around the entire meal.  Luckily, I've only seen one restaurant patron roll their eyes at the sound of our crying boy.  Other than that, Owen and Olivia have been fantastic!  Last night, both slept straight from 9PM-7AM without waking at all.  We didn't have to give any binkies!  Plus, when they go to bed, they don't seem to care that we have the tv on.  We went to starbucks this morning and both babies are already asleep for morning nap.  Today is shopping day, so hopefully they cooperate as we make our way through the outlets.

More pictures later, but here they are on casual jeans Wednesday!