Christmas Celebrations

I'll just admit it now and get it out of the way...our children are spoiled, big time.  Even with all the conversations when we were pregnant about how we wouldn't spoil them or treat them specially because they were twins, despite it all, they are spoiled.  So now that that's out there we can move forward :-) This year Christmas was loads of fun because the girls really enjoy seeing their cousins and getting gifts. They especially love gifts.  We started off December with the annual Chadbourne Christmas Bingo party. The girls ran around with their cousins all evening and tore through presents like it was a competition (I have no idea where they might have gotten such a competitive side but for the record, I AM the reigning champion of the game of LIFE in the Chadbourne household-I will concede the game of Clue to Natalie but that's only because she is a cheater).  It was fun this year to see the girls actually running around and interacting with their cousins.  We also learned first hand what a handful Emma is going to be!  She had all her boy cousins eating right out of her hand.  She gave them her cute little smile and chased them around until they sat and she could throw herself in their laps.  Lu always take a bit to warm up but once she got going she jumped right in the mix :-)  A week later we had a low-key Christmas Eve at home with the girls--we watched The Grinch (for the millionth time, it's their fav) and then headed off to bed.  On Christmas Day morning both our parents came over to open presents with the girls--who, as I pointed out are incredibly spoiled, got way too many things (baby dolls, their own personal couches that fold out, a dollhouse, a double sided easel, a play kitchen, tons of clothes, play jewelry, etc.)  Then that evening we all headed over to Corey and Lauren's to open MORE GIFTS with baby Penny and Corey's family.  All in all it was a great holiday and I already can't wait for next year when baby Avery and baby Penny are older and will be running around right next to the girls--it's about time the girls give the boys a run for their money (if my math is correct, I think we are finally even at 4 boy cousins vs 4 girls cousins hehe).

Making a gingerbread house with Auntie and Nana

Chadbourne Christmas Bingo

Exchanging gifts with Reaghan

Hugs!

Having pizza together

Christmas morning

Not a morning person

Baby Penny

Just in time for Christmas! Our beautiful niece Penelope Louise Feldt entered the world December 20, 2012 weighing 7 lb 12 oz.   I'm so exited for the girls to have another girl cousin so close in age to them!! They have no idea how lucky they are :-)  I also can't wait to spoil Miss Penny and have a teeny-tiny baby to hold that can't run away from me or yell the word NO at me hehe.  Alex and I got to meet her at the hospital and the girls have already met her several times since she's been home!  For the most part the girls can take her or leave her but when they are interested in her they know no boundaries--i.e. getting in her face or petting her like a dog.  It's been good for them to work on these types of interactions since they mostly play with each other, friends their own age, and older kids.  Corey and Lauren are adjusting to parenthood wonderfully and it's nice to have another family to spend time with and talk about baby-things :-)  I look forward to watching these little ladies all grow up together: Emma Lu, Livi Lu, and Penny Lou...our very own Three Musketeers hehe.

Trying to behave themselves to meet baby Penny

Catching Up

I've been behind on updating the blog!  So here are some pictures from the last couple months:

Two generations of women...sisters + cousins

Thanksgiving 2012

Turkey Turkey!

Pie!

Disneyland Visit #2

Even though our planned-months-ago trip was pretty much rained out this weekend we STILL managed to have some fun :-)  The girls loved Disneyland a lot more this time but were also scared by more things than they were before!  When we first got there it was raining pretty hard so we decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe to kill some time.  As we were being seated the hostess said "Are the gorillas ok?"  I just nodded because I had no idea what she meant....Yaaaaaa cue huge animatronic (sp?) gorillas going off every 10 minutes.  It was an interesting lunch to say the least hehe.  It was still raining like crazy so we went to our rooms for naps.  We then had a nice dinner at the Storytellers Cafe and then donned our ponchos and headed into the park :-)  We managed to do a few rides before the girls were ready to crash--they LOVED Pirates of the Caribbean this time!  On the way back to our room Lu entertained everyone we passed by yelling "Yayyyyyy" and throwing her arms up in the air (she thinks the stroller is a ride lol).  In the morning we got up super early to get into the park an hour early and managed to get a number of rides done rain-free.  This time we avoided Pinocchio (the girls hateddddd it last time) and tried out Peter Pan for the first time (which they loved) and Dumbo.  Of course we had to do Astro Blasters a few times since the girls love that one so much.  We met a lovely group of young girls all at Disneyland for their first time and they wanted to know where the girls first-time pins were....I laughed and said "Oh these girls??  They're veterans!"  People might think we're crazy for taking them so often because of the price and the fact that they won't remember but since they're free until 3 and we have season passes the money isn't really an issue.  So what if they won't remember?  We do and even though it can be stressful, tiring, and down-right miserable (when it rains) we love the memories and the time we get to spend with them.  I also try to take enough pictures so that they can remember through the pictures (at nearly 1.5 the girls have SEVEN large photo albums of their first year and a half!).  We ended our trip by riding It's a Small World and then grabbing some sugary treats for the drive home.  Even though the trip didn't go quite as planned, it worked for us and I can't say it enough but we have some pretty awesome kids that go-with-the-flow!  It was also a great birthday weekend for me and I know I said this last year but I will say it every year:  my birthday became the greatest day ever since the one I had TWO years ago when I found out I was pregnant.  The years have flown by and at the same time I feel like the girls have always been a part of our lives :-)

Lu wanted to "love" all the Bullseyes

She said "hi! hey!" to every single one

The good thing about rain is it really empties the park :-)

It's a Small World

Lu wanted to take pictures