The story of "us"

The apparently on-going trend in the Ian-Merry relationship is to have something BIG happen every four months. Since we started dating, every four months something happens - it has always been good - but it has also always been somewhat life-changing, and it is always something unplanned. Here's what I'm talking about:

July 2006: We start dating. Four months later...

November 2006: I moved into Ian's condo - we had been planning to do this in December, but, a day or two before my Dec. rent was due, we decided to save that cash and spur-of-the-moment go ahead and move a month early. Four months later...

March 2007: Ian proposed. He had intended to propose on our mini-break to the quaint town of Galena, IL in mid-April, but once he had the ring in his hand, he couldn't wait. Four months later...

July 2007: We go married! We had originally been planning a June '08 wedding, but decided we didn't particularly care for the planning process, and wanted to do something completely unconventional. Four months later...

November 2007: We closed on and moved into our house! First, we weren't really looking to move quite that early, then, we were supposed to close in December but changed the date to accomodate the sellers. Four months later...

March 2008: We found out we were having a baby! We had intended to plan the pregnancy to fit our "teacher" schedules - which would have been more the July/August timeframe. But, apparently, we are extremely fertile. Four months later...

July 2008: Twins! At the last minute, we opted against the 8 week ultrasound (we just didn't want to know the results of the tests performed at that time), which would have meant finding out in May. Four months later...

November 2008: Cora and Evaline! Born three weeks earlier than their December 4th due date. Four months later...

March 2009: (this one is a bit of a stretch...almost made us think that our streak was at an end) A surprisingly awesome tax return. For anyone planning minor (not HGTV "Spice Up My Kitchen"- style -- that's a little "pie-in-the-sky") home renovations, I recommend having twins towards the end of the calendar year. Of course, taking care of said twins will prohibit any renovations (or cooking, cleaning, reading, hobbies, real excerise, socializing, etc) from actually getting done. And now that leaves us...four months later...

July 2009: I got a new job! Not that my old one needed replacing, but...I will now be teaching social studies at Jefferson HS - the same school as Ian! This also happened unexpectedly - the job only became available through a unique turn of events that went down in July...and it happened just barely fitting the schedule as I found out at the very end of the month.

So, I guess the question now is....what more could possibly happen four months from now???



(and...I'll post more pics later - we've gone a little camera-crazy this summer, and I need to whittle down the recent ones...)

Picture pages...

Summer seems to be getting close to the "wind-down" stage, and I don't really want to think about that. Instead, I'll think about why I'm loving being home this summer:


I have these little boxes that you can nest inside each other, or stack up to make a tower. Here is Cora's reaction to Evaline knocking down the tower:


And here is Evaline's reaction to knocking down the tower:



The girls' favorite room (kitchen) and favorite toys (potato masher and wire whisk...weird):



Cora's begun to make a new face - usually when she's a little nervous or is around someone "new" or at least she doesn't see everyday and is still warming up. We call it her "cabbage patch kid" impression. (BTW...Cora has become quite the little wimp lately, some things she is terrified of: the vacuum, the hair dryer, men, and this cute little penguin that you knock over "Bobo-the-clown-style"....she will scream and then sit in my lap with her head buried for about 10-15 minutes...again...weird.)



Evaline has learned to pull herself up - and is learning all sorts of new tricks, like climbing stairs (with us right near by, of course). Now, if she could only learn to get herself down once standing...





"Look Mom! One-handed!" What a show-off...



Climbing all over their dad...



Just looking cute...



Another girl, just looking cute... (she's starting to smile for the camera!)


Getting ready to go for a walk - all shiny-ed up with sunscreen...


And finally, playing together, without even really knowing it. They are both having a good time, but are both stuck here (Evaline can't sit down, Cora can't crawl out!)...

Maybe the cutest thing about twins yet...

...might be the way that these girls travel in a pack. Cora officially began to crawl about two weeks ago (video below), just about a week/week and a half after Evaline. It took her about a week to accomplish the crawl-sit-crawl technique, but once she did - off she went! My prediction about their methods was pretty spot-on: Evaline is so anxious to move that she does so by any means possible - usually in the "kick-stand" position with her left leg straight and propelling her about; Cora likes to do things correctly, and she'll take her time to get the perfect crawl (which she has). Evaline crawls with her "little stinker" grin - Ian calls it "shit eatin'" - while Cora sticks out the tip of her tongue in apparent concentration. It's very funny how they can do the same thing so differently.

Another funny thing about their new developments is that before they could crawl, they would see each other and squeal and babble (or, rather, Evaline would babble and Cora would spit and squeal). Now, when they see each other it is like they show no visible signs of recognizing that the other one exists. But, they always travel as a pair. They are almost always right next to one another and following each other around...but at the same time don't pay any attention to each other. So bizarre. Here's a bit of video of this...and of perhaps the cutest thing about twins yet: if Ian or I leave the room to go into the kitchen, no matter what the girls are doing, or even if they actually see us leave, they will follow us. To hear their panting, and then turn around and see this just melts my heart. In this particular clip they are both crying/whining because I had to try about three times to get a good video and they were quite sick of the game :-).

Here are the vids and pics from the past couple of weeks:

Cora's first real attempts at crawling:

Traveling together:

Their mom left the room and the girls had to go hunt her down:

Wrestling already...although I'm pretty sure they aren't aware they're doing it...

People always ask if we can tell a difference in their personalities. The answer is a resounding absolutely! My dad calls them "The Stinker" and "The Thinker". I'll let you make the call on which title goes with which girl. The following pics are very representative of how they like to play:

We'll start with Cora:

and Evaline: