Christmas Card Outtakes 2008

It's been a while since the last post. We have been busy. Especially Sophie and Mary. They are walking, well sometimes running (Sophie). Mary is not walking quite as much as Sophie but she gets where she's going pretty fast, whatever the mode. We're all having fun.

About the pictures: We had a Christmas picture made yesterday of our family with the girls wearing these fancy dresses given to them by Grandma Ilona. It won't be ready until the 18th though, so I went ahead and took some pictures of the girls at home that afternoon while they still had their dresses on.

I don't think we have a winner for the Christmas card. I'll try again later. There's still 16 days to get around to it, right? Sophie was ready to ham it up, but Mary (probably still a bit groggy from nap time) was very focused on the camera. And this ultimately resulted in a very upset Mary when she could not have the camera. It's just too bad she's so cute when she's angry. Don't worry, she's fine.

Something is about to happen.

Mary goes for the camera/Sophie still being cute

Hey, that's a cool camera, Mom - what's up with Mary?

End of session.

We've grown a lot this year!

Our 2007 Christmas card picture!

Greenfield Farm

We had a fun visit today to Greenfield Farm in Ruckersville (about 20 miles from C'ville). There were lots of pumpkins, hay, farm animals and beautiful views. Mary and Sophie got to see some turkeys, sheep, pigs, chickens and goats for the first time today. Sophie was very excited about seeing all the animals. Then we all went on a hay ride. We all had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful day. (It's sunny and in the low 70's today in C'ville.)

Mom, Sophie, Mary and Dad at the entrance of the farm

Dad and Mary with the goats

Mom and Sophie with the goats

Little Pumpkins

Happy Halloween!

The girls had their first Halloween dressing up - as twin monsters. As is tradition for kids in Charlottesville, we went down to Jefferson's Academical Village AKA UVA lawn for trick-or-treating. The girls also had their first bus ride. It was a fun filled afternoon. We met a lot of people along the way, both familiar faces and new.

Mom with Mary Monster and Sophie Monster




Dad with the monsters (we were waiting for the bus in these pictures)

We ran into Elana (AKA Dorothy)! The girls are still warming up to the crowd.

Mary and Sophie with twin UVA students!

More baby twins! 10 month olds - bat and skunk.

Twins and Twins

Simon was a little disappointed that he dressed up but got no candy.
Bailey's still a little too skittish for Halloween.

Mary and Sophie's first portraits

The girls had their pictures made at a portrait studio for the first time on Tuesday. At first they were confused, thinking, "Who is this man, why does he want me to sit on this stool?" But after he started making them laugh and flashing the camera they started to act like professionals.

Here are some of our favorite poses:

Birthday Party at The Little Gym

Let's get ready to party!


Elana and the girls on the parachute

Sophie playing ball

Mary playing ball


Austin and Sophie


Blowing Bubbles


Our first birthday cakes!

Mary

Sophie and her big piece of cake!

Mary and Sophie's 1st Birthday - More to Come

Our Family - Dad with Sophie and Mom with Mary

Well, we've made it through the first year! The girls turned a year old on Tuesday, October 7th. They actually had their birthday party on Saturday at the Little Gym. It was a blast and we got lots of great pictures. Unfortunately I don't have time to post them right now. All the grandparents came up to C'ville for the party. My dad even made it after having back surgery last month. The trip was probably harder on him than he'd admit, but I think the girls were very therapeutic for him. They have that effect on people, especially their Papa.

My parents stayed in town and drove back home on the girls' birthday. Yesterday I left town for a transportation conference in Luray, VA (where I am typing this now during our break between meeting and dinner). More to come when I get back to C'ville!

Baby Fight!

Sophie being attacked by Mary Monster!

Mary is a little rambunctious. We try to keep her under control before it gets too out of hand. Sophie takes it in stride. She did get upset the other day when Mary started a fight in Kroger. Just a little tug on the ear, no harm done. We try not to attract too much attention when shopping (with limited results) but I had to laugh - they're so cute when they get upset.

It's been a while since the last post. We've since had a great trip to Georgia for a conference and to visit family. I went to a transportation conference in Atlanta and the girls stayed with Grandma and Papa. We stayed a few days after the conference and visited family. We all had a great time, but I think Mary and Sophie had the most fun.

Sophie, Palmer and Mary

Mary and Sophie got to meet their new cousin Palmer during our visit. Unfortunately, this was while Peter and I were in Atlanta so we did not get to meet him. What a cute fella! Palmer has a blog too - palmeredge.blogspot.com. His parents are my cousin Jeffrey and his wife Susan. I can see some similarities between him and Mary - they both favor the Edge side of the family.

I also think that Mary favors my Aunt Tricia (my dad's sister) in the next picture. People say she looks like me but I don't know. She definitely favors me more than Sophie does. Sophie's Peter's baby. But she loves her Mama. :) That's Aunt Tricia's granddaughter Kadie in the right corner. We did get to see her when she came to play with the babies. She saw Mary and Sophie during our last visit, but they were bigger and able to play a lot more this time.

Sophie, Mary, Great Aunt Tricia and Kadie

Sophie favors Peter's side as you can see in the picture of her with his mom! The girls visited her in Atlanta, then she and Peter went to visit them at my parents' house in Forsyth while I was at the conference.

Sophie and Grandma Ilona

Unfortunately, we missed another baby - Lydia came to play twice while Peter and I were in Atlanta. And no one took pictures! Oh well, there's always next time. She came to visit with Mema and Papa (my adopted grandparents) and her grandma, Gayle.

Peter and I had fun getting some time to ourselves in Atlanta and spent some time in Athens visiting our friends Bret and Alli and their daughter Gray and our friend James Griffith. Peter also stocked up on Georgia shirts while we were there. The girls got some Bulldog gear too! Some outfits from Grandma and some pink Georgia Bulldog shoes from Great Aunt Janis and Great Aunt Marilyn. (Thanks especially to Aunt Marilyn, that gift was hard for her being a GT mom.)

Our last day the girls and I went out to lunch with Grandma and stopped by to visit Great Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Cecil. It just happened to be that my cousin David and his family - wife Michelle and daughter Mackenzie - were visiting, and he also was going to a conference in ATL. That was an unexpected treat since I have not seen Mackenzie since she was a little baby.

I think Peter was ready to get back home and back to work, but I did not want to leave. It was nice to be back home again and around family and friends. Not to mention I did not have to wash dishes all week. But it was good to get back. The girls were excited to be back in their own room again. And the dogs were happy to be able to lay around inside all day.

There's no place like home!