Where do the days go?

No time for pictures tonight, but I at least wanted to get something out there.
We are enjoying sharing the Christmas season with Riley and Colter. We took them to the Christmas program at church on Sunday and had a blast! They loved all the music. I couldn't believe they made it through the whole thing, but they did. Colter flirted with the people behind us and Riley made friends with one of the trumpet players (we were sitting in the first row). It was so much fun to see everything through their eyes.
They were quite the little troopers yesterday. I took them out to run errands yesterday after they woke up from their afternoon nap. I knew it would take a long time (traffic!!!) so I packed a picnic dinner and fed them in the car between going to the mall and the post office. We could have gone home in between, but it's such a production to get them both upstairs into the house, unbundle them, feed them, rebundle them, carry them downstairs, etc. It turns out they would have been miserable if I'd tried to make it home to feed them because it took forever to get back from the mall. They were not happy with me. But, we got our packages mailed and I think they actually enjoyed visiting the post office. Go figure.
A few days ago we discovered Colter has his third tooth. Thank goodness there is a reason for all the fussing he's been doing. He's also learned to push himself up into a sitting position. He still prefers rolling as his mode of transportation, but he's giving us some signs that he's interested in this whole crawling thing. Riley is crawling more and more. She gets the funniest look of concentration on her face whenever she does it.
I worked today, so I haven't seen them since last night. It's time to go sneak into their room and take a peak at my little cuties.

Playdate with Caroline

Our little friend Caroline came over for a little while today.

They played,

jumped,

ate,

and performed their very own Cirqu du Soleil Baby.

For those who are curious, we are surviving the whole going back to work thing. I've always wondered how working moms did it, but I now have an even better understanding of how hard it is! Thank goodness I'm only working twice a week. We have two nannies, so even though my schedule won't be consistent, we should be able to line one of them up to care for the babies. They both are very sweet and affectionate. Jeff has now experienced caring for both of them for an entire day. He did great - especially when you consider they both weren't feeling well (yucky colds). Work is stressful but manageable. I think I'm really going to like it once I get through the "being new" phase. I've met some great people and my patients are amazing! I miss my old coworkers though. I don't start working night shift for a couple weeks, so we'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to not missing an entire day of being with Riley and Colter. It stinks to leave before they're awake and get home after they're asleep. It sure does make me appreciate the days I have at home!

Ready for the cold

Don't we look cute in our hats?

"If you're not going to eat this string, then I'll take it!"

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving with my brother and his family. It was pretty low key and not very stressful (which is amazing, considering we had 3 babies under 10 months).

It was strange to be doing Thanksgiving dinner without any parents. I had to keep reminding myself that WE are parents now!

Nicole had a great turkey recipe and helped me get the bird in the oven. She took charge of the gravy making. Since I've never made gravy in my life, this was a good thing!

Jeff and Matt handled the carving. Alan served as our table decoration.

Riley and Colter debated on pulling the whole meal off the table. And Governor was elected for clean-up crew.

I'm so glad we finally got Riley and Colter together with their youngest cousin.

After many weeks of doing yoga moves across the room...

Riley can finally crawl!

The motivating factor was a book I had left on the floor. I'm so proud!!!

We had a big day today. Besides Riley's new skill, the three of us met a bunch of friends at the mall downtown to ride the Pink Pig. This is an Atlanta Christmas tradition. Turns out the ride used to go around the toy store (above the toys!), but now it's in a big tent on the parking deck. Not quite the same, but still fun.

I was really bummed when we got in line to buy tickets and found that each baby has to ride with an adult and each seat only holds two people. Ugh. Thank goodness for friends! I rode twice - once with Riley and once with Colter. Thanks to Julie and Tressa for holding a baby! I think Riley enjoyed the ride more than Colter. Maybe it was all the pink.

I'll post Thanksgiving pictures soon. We had a great time with Uncle Matt, Aunt Nicole, and cousin Alan!

Quick note

It's too crazy around here to post some pictures, but I wanted to at least say that we're home from N.C. We had a great visit! It's back to the real world now. I started orientation today. Riley and Colter did well. I sure do appreciate all the extra work that working mothers do to get their kids ready for the next day. Yikes! Since Thanksgiving is on its way, I thought I'd list a few things we're especially grateful for right now:
2 good little travelers (It's amazing!)
safe travels
a new job for me
we think we have childcare figured out
good friends who are willing to keep the kids this week
wonderful families
healthy children (this job definitely won't let me take this for granted)

That's all for now.

Gotcha!

Jeff and I are constantly finding Colter with his sock in his mouth. I could care less except a soggy sock makes for a cold foot. I thought I'd caught him at it again, but this time it was Riley who had his sock! Why should she let her feet get cold?Riley and Colter love sitting on the floor and taking toys out of the toybox. I enjoy watching them paying attention to what the other one is playing with.

Governor is usually close at hand to see if there's anything he'd like to snag. We lost a little wrist rattle the other day. I still think he's doing well though, considering he's only ruined three little toys so far.Gigi and Papa Jim stopped by tonight to say goodbye to the babies. I'm taking them to N.C. tomorrow to see the Raleigh side of their family before I start my new job. We'll be back on Thursday!