Weekend in the City

This weekend Beckett & Claire and I spent more time than usual in D.C.  On Saturday, while Chris was at the yacht club performing his work hours (read raking leaves for 6 hours at our little marina) the babies and I went into the city and met up with my college friend David for some thrift store shopping, brunch, and other wandering around.  The babies behaved very well, Beckett flirted with EVERYONE in the restaurant, and it was so nice to be out in the city on a beautiful day.

On Sunday, we went back into the city to meet my cousin Seth who was down from New York City visiting friends.  It was another beautiful day and the babies once again behaved so nicely.

We do make sure to choose louder restaurants, because both babies have discovered that they can scream quite loudly.  Claire screeches in joy.  But Beckett does so when he is upset, which often includes being upset that Claire is squealing in delight!  They have quite a thing going.  Luckily, neither showed off this skill this weekend (at least while we were in public.)

Apples

Mimi was watching the babies the other day while I was working.  She had finished feeding them and was tidying up so she gave them an apple to play with.  They both seemed to know exactly what to do with it, but without teeth had no success.  I finished up and came in soon enough to get pictures of them both, but by the time I thought to take a video, Beckett was terribly frustrated and had given up.

 

Claire Tries to Eat an Apple

 

Twins and Cherry Blossoms

Several moms that are part of my twins playgroup met in DC today to see the cherry blossoms that are almost at peek.  It was the first time most of us, including myself and B&C, had taken the metro.  So we paired up and met at the Smithsonian metro station.  We walked down to the tidal basin where we had a (somewhat) impromptu picnic and enjoyed the view.  All in all it was a success.  We all made it in and home, saw the blossoms, enjoyed each others' company and avoided any major melt downs from the kids.  What we did not anticipate was the spectacle we would be - six moms pushing double strollers filled with TWELVE babies!  We were an especially big hit with the many Asian tourists!

On the metro.

Yep, six double strollers!

Claire enjoying the sun (safely.)

Babies on The Mall

On the Monday after Easter, Chris had to leave for California, but everyone else was still in town until late afternoon.  We decided to go down to the Mall and visit the Native American History Museum.  Beckett got a little frustrated being in his stroller indoors, but they both behaved beautifully and made me feel like more field trips into the city are in order!

We did not realize it, but Ashley and David were in the background.  See them?

We ended the trip with a stop for coffee and then U. David and A. Ashley headed back to New Haven.  We were sad to see them go. 

Easter Baskets

The Easter Bunny (aka Mimi) brought the babies great Easter baskets this year!  I was really surprised that both Beckett and Claire were really interested in getting into the baskets and had a great time pulling things out.  It was really fun to watch (through the viewfinder!)

Claire agreed to "share" her chocolate this year.

Easter

 On Easter Sunday, the babies had quite a full day and several wardrobe changes (because they had so many adorable options (from wonderful Grandmothers with great taste) not for the other (yucky) reason (amazingly)!)  It was another gorgeous day and we enjoyed celebrating with friends and family.

Adorable antics in adorable Peter Rabbit PJs with adorable bunnies.  Too much adorable!!!

Chris and Beckett at Easter service.

Their (Easter) Sunday best for the cooler weather.
You can't really tell, but Beckett has a bow tie on!

Mimi, Pop, A.Ash and U.Dave helped us put together a wonderful brunch.  We were joined by our cousin Paul and by our dear friends, Katie and Richard and their boys, Henry and Matthew.  (Matthew is only a few months younger than B&C and we hope they will all be great friends!)

We have realized that getting pictures of babies during events is sometimes hard.  But the flip side is that, if we make the effort later to take pictures of them in their outfits, we can capture some pretty amazing portraits of these two!  Here they are in their Easter sailor suits.

Stenrud/Kremser/Stolar Photos

We had a lovely Easter weekend.  Mimi and Pop and Aunt Ashley and Uncle David all came to stay with us.  The babies loved having so many people around to lavish attention on them.

The weekend started on Saturday with a trip to a local part and a photo shoot!  I had contacted my amazing photographer, Wesley, about taking some pictures of Beckett and Claire in their baptism outfits.  It turned out that she was only available on the Saturday before Easter and then she was going to go on maternity leave!  So we decided to seize the opportunity and have her take pictures of the whole lot of us.  It was a beautiful day and she really is an amazing photographer!!!

I can't get over these two!

The whole crew.

This candid of Dad and Beckett is priceless!

 

We will treasure these always!  Thank you, Mom and Dad!!!!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

 

On Saturday Beckett and Claire, Chris and my mom, "Mimi" (as the babies "call" her), and I went to hunt Easter Eggs at the park.  The event was put together by my local mom's group.  Even though the babies are a little young to hunt for the eggs themselves, we all enjoyed watching the 1-4 year old set scramble about, having some coffee and scones (which Mimi stayed up late with me making) and meeting some new people in the neighborhood!  It was another beautiful day and we were happy that we were able to walk to the hunt and enjoy the sunshine!  (Babies wore sunblock!)

 

St. Patrick's Day Leprechauns

Chris's mom, Gloria, has sent Beckett and Claire holiday pajamas for every holiday since they were born.  They had a Halloween outfit, Thanksgiving outfit, Christmas outfit, Valentine's Day and now a St. Patrick's Day outfit!!!!  Thank you for the adorable outfits, Grandma!

Babies Like Each Other!

It is official, based on these smiles!!!

 

 

Baptism

 

Last weekend Beckett and Claire were baptized. It was a beautiful day and the service was very nice. Both Claire and Beckett looked adorable. Beckett wore a Christening outfit that his great grandmother made for Chris when he was baptized and Gloria saved for all of these years, and Claire wore a beautiful silk gown that Mom and Dad gave to her. They behaved beautifully throughout the entire service and did not cry, even when water was poured on their heads. In fact there were virtually no tears until the pastor said something about casting Satan from them (it sounds worse than it was... it is a Lutheran church after all!) and laid her hands on them. It must have scared them because they each cried when she did it to them!

The babies are quite lucky to have my sister, Ashley, as a godmother and TWO godfathers, our dear friend, Ken, and Chris's brother, Dan. It was a very special day and my only regret is that we did not take any posed pictures with our family and the godparents that were present. However we did get some great candid shots (and are going to try to recreate a posed shot or two with the babies in their clothes when we get a chance.)

 

 

 

The church is just up the street from the house and it was such a beautiful day the guys (who were not wearing heels) decided to walk home with the babies.  I snapped this adorable picture as they arrived back to the house.

 

 

These little guys are six months old...

William Beckett and Claire Elise joined us on September 11, 2012 and today they are six months old!  Those two tiny beans smile, eat oatmeal, rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, and carrots, reach for objects and Beckett has rolled over a couple of times.  Their laughs are contagious and they are each very much their own individual. 

Beckett is the life of the party, quick to smile and laugh.  He loves being around people and can sit happily for extended periods of time simply watching adults around him converse.  He is currently making very high pitched noises and is quite the talker.  He naps, but only for short periods of time (lest he miss out on what is going on).  Beckett is always interested in what Claire is doing and what she happens to be playing with at any given time.  His favorite toy has been his jungle arch (with the koala and dragonfly) for some time now and he still loves his swing.  He has a million funny faces that often get captured in photos (and then posted by Chris.)

Claire is beautiful.  She does not make as many faces as she once did and her tongue is usually in her mouth these days.  But she still often furrows her brow in a way that says she is skeptical about what is going on around her.  She loves her baths and makes the sweetest noises (sighs and laughs), but is also trying out some noises that sound a little more like grunts currently.  She is always happy to burp for us (we are going to have to stop cheering when she does or explaining to her why she should not do that in public is going to be hard.)  Claire loves her hands and studies them and the adult hands around her quite often.  And Claire LOVES to dance.  She dances all the time (even when she is sleeping (which she also loves to do) - travelling all around her crib each night.)

I cannot express how much I love each of them, but hopefully I can use this space to record some of the daily goings on around here that make me love them so very much.