Comings and Goings

We made it safely to KY and are having a really good time. The trip was pretty good except for the last 2 hours. The boys were just whiny. My sisters, nephews and brother in laws were all in town as well, so we decided it would be a good time to take some family pictures. Who knows when we'll all be in the same place at the same time again. Eric and I are going to relax over the rest of the week and will be heading to PA Thursday maybe. We might try to hit the Cincy zoo on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Back Row - Grandma Karen, Bridget (my sis) Jason (her hubby), Grandpa Don
Middle Row - Gabe (Ann's Hubby) Ann, (my sis) me, and Eric (my hubby)
Front Row - Noah, Benjamin (Ann and Gabe's boys), Brandon and Connor (my boys)

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Cute Pics

Eric and I took the boys to the local children's museum on Sunday for about an hour or so. It started to get very busy with birthday parties, so we didn't stay long. The boys loved their gear wall! They are magnetic and can be placed anywhere.


Connor in the "construction zone" wearing his hat!
Connor walked around all night last night with his hand in his diaper. To some, this may look kinda gross, but he's a boy and this is what boys do! He has a little bit of a diaper rash from his antibiotics, and I'm thinking it felt good to get a little air in his pants!
We're heading to KY tomorrow morning and will be gone for 2 weeks. We'll be in KY for a week and then in PA for about a week as well. Wish us a safe trip with NO CAR TROUBLE!

Jimmy V Celebrity Classic

Last weekend, Eric managed to get some free tickets to a golf tournament in Pinehurst. Pinehurst is about 45 minutes away and is on the PGA tour. I think the PGA will be back through in 2011. Anyway, we attended the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic that benefits cancer research. I've never been on the course and it's absolutely beautiful. We didn't see many celebrities...other than the famous DENNIS HASKINS...AKA Mr. Belding from Saved By The Bell.

He graciously allowed Eric to take a picture with him! Honestly, he had a pretty decent following of adoring fans. Saved By The Bell was probably the best thing that ever happened to that man!
Here is a picture of what I think is the club house...I'm not sure though.
The boys passed out right as we were leaving, but it was noon and they didn't get their morning nap. They were troopers!

NC Museum of Life and Science

We took a road trip today to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham. The boys are a little too young to really enjoy it, but they will love it next summer. I'm glad we went now so Eric and I could enjoy it without worrying about the boys since they just sat in the stroller. They have a Butterfly Conservatory that was really neato! They have all kinds of butterflies and actually released some while we were there. The caterpillars are sent to the museum and they hatch into butterflies and are then released into the conservatory that is filled with beautiful tropical flowers and plants. Next time, we won't go on a weekend because it was packed! There are many many other exhibits to enjoy including a super cool park area for kids to play on. Like I said, the boys aren't quite ready for the size play equipment they had, but they will be next summer. Here are some pictures...

Butterflies being released. Eric and I both thought it would different than just an employee literally releasing butterflies from a net, but it was still cool.

Here are some pictures of the butterflies themselves...don't ask me which ones are which!!!
This one was HUGE...about the size of the cross section of a softball! I tried to get it to come onto my hand, but it flew away!


There was also an outside seasonal exhibit! When we realized no one else was out there, we made our way in and let the boys out to walk around a little bit. Of course, Brandon went right for the little pond and waterfall!!!
Back inside the main museum, they had a few snakes out. Connor was a little shy about touching it...
But Brandon was all over than snake! He was trying to pinch it!!!
We had a nice trip, and like I said, will definitely go back again when the boys are just a little bit older.

PSYCH

Boys being silly boys! Here's a little video of Brandon teasing Daddy with food at dinner tonight. They have been the biggest piggies today! Breakfast was cheesy potatoes and a banana, lunch was a piece of grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, and mac & cheese all left over from dinner last night...oh yeah and some raisins for dessert, they each had a big handful of honey grahams, a Nutrigrain bar, and a few goldfish crackers for their afternoon snack, and finally for dinner, they each ate a hotdog, 3 spears of asparagus, a crescent roll and a pack of freeze dried apples. Connor is currently boycotting all fruit, other than bananas, but he LOVES the freeze dried apples! Thank you to The Fresh Market grocery store! Eric and I took a trip to Southern Pines with the boys the other day just to go to The Fresh Market...I love that place!!!

Enjoy the video!

18 month check up

We had the boys' 18 month check up yesterday...here's the scoopage...

Connor - 26 lbs and 34 inches tall. He's in the 50th percentile for weight (perfect) and 90th for height. Does that surprise anyone since Eric and I are so tall??? Nope!

Brandon - 21.1 lbs and 31 inches tall. He's in the 5th percentile for weight and 25th for height. He's been closer to the 3rd for weight and 20th for height, so he's making some ground. For now, he's our small fry.

I expressed some concern for their lack of speech, but my pediatrician assured me that they are fine. The spectrum is so wide for speech development, and twins tend to be a little behind the curve. They follow direction really well, and she said that's a good start for their speech.

Some of you may know that I ended up in the ER with Connor on Sunday. He had some neon green discharge coming from his eyes since Friday, and after his Sunday afternoon nap, his eyes were almost swollen shut. After a phone call to the after hours nurse line I packed him up after dinner and took him to Womack. Long story short, we sat there for 5 hours only to be misdiagnosed with pink eye. I knew it wasn't pink eye!!!! My pediatrician diagnosed him with double raging ear infections. She said that ear infections can some times manifest themselves in the eyes. He didn't have a fever on Sunday, or yesterday for that matter, so the PA I saw at the ER didn't even consider an infection. I felt Connor's care was compromised at the ER and will definitely make note of that when I receive the survey to fill out about my experience.

That's about all that's going on around here. We're getting ready for our trip to KY and PA next week. We're heading to KY on Thursday and then to PA sometime that next week.

Surprise Reception

My coworker, Audra, and her boyfriend Greg got hitched on July 4th. Greg and my other coworkers threw a surprise reception together for Audra. Needless to say, she was very surprised...especially when Greg presented her with her diamond ring...heart shaped and absolutely beautiful!

Me and the hubby...



I LOVE to do pottery! It's become a tradition to make my friends a wedding plate when they get married. I just made one for Renee, who I work with, in June so there's no way I could leave Audra out. While we were sitting at dinner, I had Donna, another coworker, ask me to make one for her daughter who will be getting married in a few weeks. I should start advertising these things and selling them for a profit! Here's Audra and her "Danko Original" wedding plate. I use ceramic letters to spell the names at the top, paint a bride and groom in the middle, and write est. and then the wedding date. So cute!

Leash Up???

Now that the boys are super mobile and running everywhere, it's getting harder and harder to go places. We can always put them in the stroller, but that doesn't last long. Plus, if we go somewhere that is kid-friendly, we want them to be able to be active. So, I decided to but them a baby leash, AKA "harness." I've always had mixed emotions about these things, but now that I have 2 running boys, I think they are a good idea. Obviously, they are not meant to "choke" the baby like you do with a dog. I would rather someone judge me for using the harness than to lose my child. Since we are going to the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic tomorrow at Pinehurst, it's going to be a good day to test these out. We're also going to the natural science museum in Raleigh on Monday, so hopefully these will work out. The boys will like to museum better if they can walk around and see/touch the exhibit.

Brandon has the monkey...and didn't mind it too much...while....

Connor has the bear and HATED IT! I have a feeling he won't mind it when we're out on the green tomorrow and he's able to walk freely.
Both boys are battling some allergies right now. Poor Connor is leaking out of his nose and eyes...poor baby. I put them down at 10 this morning, left to run a few errands, hit the gym, pick up my formal gown, and rushed home to help Eric with lunch. When I got home, all 3 of my boys were fast asleep. The boys continued to sleep until 130!!! Nice long nap. I'll let everyone know how the harnesses work tomorrow.

My New Claim to FAME

Life wouldn't be fulfilling if there's never a time of feeling famous. Well, I had another one of those moments this week. I've had a few in my lifetime and they felt awesome. I'm published in the newest People Magazine. Yeah...that's right...the one holding the $14 million dollar pictures of the Jolie Pitt twins. I wrote a little letter to the editor in response to a story they did on a man named Tony Snow. He was a white house dude who suffered from cancer and passed away. The article depicted him as a very happy man all the way through his last day. I have to admit that they didn't write what I emailed them verbatim. The first sentence said "Tony Snow, the former Fox News pundit and White House spokesman, was truly remarkable." I didn't say that...I would never use the word "pundit" in a sentence! Although I did say the rest of the snipit "He was a genuinely happy guy who may have left this world too early, but he did it with amazing grace" I scanned the page and attached it. It's the very last entry on the bottom right hand side of the page. GO ME!

Just some pictures

After our evening walk, we played outside for a little bit...

Brandon and his dirt...

Connor and his ball


Connor LOVES to sit on things now. Here he is just chillin' in his chair!

Crazy Babies

It's official, Eric and I have the craziest kids ever...and we wouldn't have it any other way! If you take out Connor's high pitched scream, and Brandon's ever loving lust of throwing food on the floor, they are perfect kids. They copy each other a lot now. For example, Connor was licking the bottom of his shoe in the car the other day, and then Brandon started doing it. I know, I know...licking the shoe is gross, but we definitely stopped it when we realized what they were doing. Connor is getting more and more gutsy when it comes to climbing on things and getting off of the things he climbs. They both listen really well to directions. I told Connor to get his cup and I would put more milk in it for him, and he did! He went into the hallway, picked up his cup, and handed it to me. Tonight, Eric was laying on the floor with Connor's blanket over his head...they were playing BOO. I told Connor to "boo" Daddy and bring his blanket into his room because it was time for bed...and he did! They were especially goofy at breakfast this morning...Connor biting his toes...which Brandon had just done and Connor was copying him...

And B was searching for Booger Treasures!
I know it's gross, but it's funny too! They are kids...so why not let them act like it! There is always time to teach them new things, which I do, but I love watching them be normal 18 month olds.

A/C is BACK ON!

After almost 2 full days of 95 degree weather INSIDE my house, our brand new A/C system is up and running. I took the boys to the mall to walk around and get some A/C yesterday afternoon, but was abruptly forced to leave due to a severely embarrassing tantrum from none other than my Connor-man. As soon as I managed to get the heck out of public and into the parking lot, he stopped. Toddler-hood...we have arrived! I called Eric to check on the status at home and he told me not to bring the boys to the house and that it would be another 3 hours or so until it would be completed. A big THANK YOU shout out to my twin mommy buddy Theresa for allowing us to come to her house and letting our twindles be crazy until after dinner time. She treated us to some homemade pizza and a whole lotta salad! My boys were very well behaved while we were there...even without their much needed afternoon nap! The workers have to come back today to fix the gas hookup to the water heater...we don't have any hot water right now. Who the heck needs hot water when it's been in the 90's INSIDE the house? I'm taking the boys to MDO, then I'm going to hit the gym for a workout and just shower there. I sure hope this brand spankin' new system is worth all of this HOTNESS!!!