Boy Oh Boy!

Raising girl/boy twins, I have had a unique opportunity to watch the innate differences between males and females reveal themselves as M&E have grown. Lately, I can't help but laugh at most of what sweet Eli does and says because... *sigh*... he is SUCH A BOY! Some examples:

• With potty training and coed bathing come many discussions on the anatomical differences between girls and boys. You know, boys have pee-pees and girls have bottoms, etc., etc. A few days ago, Eli pulled his underwear down to go to the potty and declared, "Mommy, I love my pee-pee." Yes, boy, I know you do.
• In the same category, like most men, Eli has recently become very particular about the environment in which he is able to poo-poo. (Sorry, can't think of another way to word it.) He has to have the space heater on and right on top of him, the bathroom fan on and the door shut. After all of this is done, he could be in there for 15 minutes or so. The other night we offered him the newspaper. It was well received - see above photo.
• Perhaps I may not be eligible for the Mother of the Year Award but yes, I let my child play with guns. He's a boy for goodness sake. A favorite Christmas gift this year was a toy rifle that looks like the real thing and even makes the noise. Eli loves to take his gun "hunting", in fact he told me that he needs to "Go farm. Shoot big deer in my camo."
• Doctors are also one of our favorite subjects currently. Obviously, M&E cannot remember the last time they received a shot because they become overjoyed at the thought of a trip to the doctor's office and will even feign a "boo-boo" with hopes of a check-up. Eli was playing doctor the other day and shining a light into my ear. I asked him what he saw in there. What was the boy's answer? "Big boogers", to which he died laughing.

Oh how we love our boy! While he's a goober just like the rest of them, he's one I could eat up.

The Rooks Take Virginia By Storm. Well, After the Storm.

On the afternoon of Christmas we took down all of our decorations. Poor Eli led a sobbing protest at the removal of the tree, "No take my Kiss-mas tee!" Nevertheless, everything was packed away until next year. I'm one of those people who cannot leave a messy house when I go out of town and we left the next morning at 5:00 a.m. for Granddaddy's house. The 12-hour drive up to Virginia was pretty easy. Brandon got us a DVD player for the car. Normally the children won't sit still long enough for one episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but when you're stuck in a carseat, you have no choice. It seemed to keep them entertained (along with the bags full of toys and snacks I packed).

We had to make a few extra stops along the way this time. I put M&E in pull-ups for the drive thinking they would probably fall asleep and have an accident. Boy was I wrong! They would not go in their pull-ups and we made several stops along the side of the road to pull the frog potty into the front seat for a quick tee-tee break. I am so proud of these little ones - they are doing awesome with the potty training. They have been wearing underwear all day for a couple of months now and I put a pull-up on them just to sleep in but more often than not they wake up completely dry. Okay, enough with the potty talk. Here was the view once we entered Virginia...


On Sunday, Granddaddy took us to Monticello. Brandon had never been and it had been years since I had been. Here are M&E enjoying some customary 18th century snacks on TJ's lawn with Granddaddy. They had Goldfish back then, right?


Here is what we learned on our tour of the house: Madeline and Eli wanted juice. Here are M&E enjoying said juice on TJ's back porch after the tour.


The nickel shot:


Brandon gives thanks for the visit and Eli holds tight to a founding father's ideals. Now if only our current government would do the same... sigh.


The next day, we boarded the Metro and headed into D.C. for the day. Our destination? The National Museum of American History. As soon as I stepped out of the station, I regretted forgetting my gloves. It was COLD, so a quick pause for a picture and then a beeline for the museum.


M&E enjoyed the "big choo-choo"...


... and the "big truck".


Also included were "big boats," "big horses" and "big guns." Personally, I always love the First Ladies' inaugural gowns display but I was disappointed with how small it was this time. We grabbed some lunch at the museum, looked at a few more things and decided it was getting a little too crowded to drag around two worn-out toddlers any longer, so we headed back for the metro.


On Tuesday, we had lunch in Charlottesville with a dear friend and got to meet her precious 4-month-0ld. All in all we had a great trip and a wonderful visit with Granddaddy and Vivian, who by the way, gifted M&E with a giant blow-up ball that they can climb into and be rolled around in. It has provided hours of entertainment during this seriously cold weather we've been experiencing here in "Awabama", as M&E say.


Sometimes, they even play in it whilst wearing their "Mamajello" shirts.

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 was a joy in our household. I can hardly believe this was our third Christmas with M&E!

Here we are before heading out to church for the Christmas Eve service:

Attending a church service with two two-year-olds in tow was sure to be an adventure and M&E did not disappoint. Madeline began the service by loudly announcing that "I wanna go eat!". I told her that we were going to sing some and then we would go home to eat. As soon as the music started she broke into dance. During one of the songs, a girl performed a dance up front and Madeline watched the entire thing without moving a muscle with a look of awe on her face. (Could there be dance lessons in her future?) Eventually Eli became a bit too fidgety and Brandon had to take him outside for a minute. Madeline then asked (very loudly), "Where E-I go? E-I go poo-poo? I go poo-poo too!" And so, Miss Madeline also was escorted outside. Both kiddos had a trip to the potty and we all returned to our seats for the remainder of the service. At the very end, right as "Silent Night" finished and the entire sanctuary was silent, Eli let out a resounding "AMEN!"

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Amen, indeed!

After church, we enjoyed a hearty meal and discovered that M&E are Honeybaked Ham enthusiasts. I think they probably ate 3/4 of the ham we had. We concluded the meal with a birthday cake for Jesus.

Sometime in the night, Santa visited. I awoke at 5:00 am to the sound of someone playing in the living room. I went in to find Madeline sitting on the floor under the tree playing so sweetly and quietly with a new babydoll. I said, "Madeline, what are you doing?" and she replied, "Santa Claus bring me this. Santa Claus bring me this babydoll!" So precious.

Santa also brought a "trash truck" for Eli.

He also received a remote control tractor from Mama Kaye.

This is how he likes to play with that tractor. It's just safer that way - no way to run over himself.

Mama Kaye gave Madeline Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls. I must have taken this picture right as she opened the box because she promptly tossed Andy to Eli and said, "Here, E-I. Dis your baby." I'm still working to convince her that both the girl doll and the boy doll are hers.

Once again, Madeline and Eli were our greatest gifts of the year. They continue to provide Brandon and me with plenty of entertainment, challenges, love and exercise.