Merry Christmas!

Hope you are all enjoying some time off with your families.  Merry Christmas from the Schlegels!

Santa Claus is likely not coming to our house because he was not met with a nice reception the first time he met our boys

On Thursday night our children took part in the time honored tradition of dressing in uncomfortable clothing ("But ___fill in your child's name here___, don't you want to look nice for the picture?), climbing onto a complete stranger's lap, being prodded to smile by ridiculous bells and plastic toys which would clearly entertain no one and would certainly not make anyone want to smile, crying because this ritual only proves your parents are into torture, especially around the holidays, and then having the entire moment forever immortalized in film.  Here is the proof.

Halloween

Again, act as if it's October.  Act as if we're living out Back to the Future and we're all merely pawns in Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox's scheme.  Man I love those movies.  Which one was your favorite?  I hated 3, loved 2 and liked 1.  All of which is completely irrelevant information.  Don't drink and blog - public service announcement.

Anyways, this whole working on my dissertation, teaching a class, taking care of twin toddler boys while their dad is gone more than half the month, and moving across the country thing (more on this in an upcoming post; work with me, it's only October right now and therefore Ty and I have no idea about this life altering news yet) is no joke. So we're catching up now to Halloween.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it was really warm for Halloween here in Austin.  Ty's mom sent these awesome furry costumes, but we couldn't wear them because it was 85 degrees.  Ty's work had a Halloween party, and I wanted it to look as if we were into the Halloween spirit and not just there for the free food and candy (isn't that what Halloween is all about though?), so I improvised.  Much like all of my parenting thus far.

The boys were golfers. Complete with sweater vests, khakis with tiny golf clubs embroidered on them, clubs (not the best choice for toddlers in an office building with very expensive technology equipment- 2nd public service announcement of the blog post) and golf balls.  We had a great time.

Dad's Surprise Party

Imagine with me if you will that it's October 2012.....Perfect.  Now these aren't two months late in being posted.

We traveled back to Indiana in late October for a surprise retirement party for my dad.  After many years of single-handedly keeping the entire pharmaceutical business running, and developing many innovative ideas for commercials for sexual enhancement drugs (long story, alcohol was involved (duh), my dad claimed to be the brains behind the Lilly commercial where two people are relaxing in separate bath tubs and advertising a male enhancement drug; I don't understand why being in separate bath tubs is a good advertisement for said drug, but that's another story for another day), my dad threw in the towel.  So we came to celebrate him with lots of his friends.  Ty's parents were also able to drive to Indy for the weekend so they got to participate in the festivities as well.  We all wore red for Wisconsin (Bonnie even wore a Bucky shirt in place of her traditional Ohio State attire.  These are the depths of her respect and love for my parents).

We didn't get a ton of photos simply because it's difficult to hold beer, a child, and a camera.  And we certainly weren't putting down our beers.

My dad was continually surprised that people he knew came to his party.  I guess that's the point?

My mom, Carter and my parent's friend from college

My neighbor from growing up and her husband.  They graciously hosted us the night before the party so we didn't spoil the surprise for my dad.  

Nothing is better than drinking and driving with your grandpa.

The day after the party, we relaxed at my parent's house and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather.  The boys had never played in leaves before, so it was a big day.

Uncertain about this Midwesternness

Equally uncertain

The boys really enjoyed relaxing in Grandpa's recliner.  Ty now has claimed that not only he wants a recliner, but the boys do as well.  I may need some more estrogen in my house.

Spontaneous displays of affection were abundant that weekend

In the airport, ready to head back to Texas after a great weekend.  Anderson loves his Grandma.  Carter is ambivalent about his mother.

Family photos

Ty has been gone again since last Tuesday, so many apologies for the lack of posting.  Usually I get more posted when he's not here, but I am unfortunately working furiously on cleaning the data for my dissertation.  Ugh.

Anyways, we visited a friend's mom in early October who happens to be an amazing photographer and she very graciously offered to take some photos of the boys.  Unfortunately the weekend was really cold and with the travel, the boy's schedules were a little off.  We only got about 15 minutes to take some photos, but I think she got some great ones.  Here are a few of our favorites:

Hello ladies

He looked so cute and then he ate too big of a piece of apple and vomited all over this, right before we left for a party.  Sigh.  At least it was captured on film. The outfit, not the vomit.

Some days he still makes Benjamin Buttonesque faces

Pure joy.  For both of them.

 

After seeing this photo, I made a note to get a haircut immediately.  Next time I'll try to do the haircut pre-photos..

I just love Anderson's face in this one

Carter does what he wants, when he wants.  No exceptions.

Anderson now has a fake "camera" smile.  It is exhibited in this photo particularly well.  

Apparently squinty faces are genetic

Thanks again Elizabeth Simmons!  For your hospitality and wonderful photos!

Golf, pants optional

As you may remember, we threw a golf themed 1st birthday party for the boys.  If you need some help recollecting, here is a not-so-subtle reminder:

In order to present an authentic golf party catered to infants, we of course purchased plastic golf bags, clubs and balls for the boys.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the boys didn't get a whole lot of use out of their clubs last spring, but now that temps are a bit more comfortable, they often want to play a hole or two after their nap.  As temps are not always totally comfortable in the early evening, sometimes pants are not required.

Yes, Carter is exactly as much trouble as he appears to be in this photo

Some days though, shorts or even pants are included in the ensemble. 

So happy that he has stolen both clubs from his brother

The love and mystery of the game

Anderson also enjoys swinging his club around, and thankfully he usually chooses to do so when his brother is not around.  Sometimes its used as a sword, sometimes as a bat to crush trucks, and miraculously, sometimes it even looks like its being used as a golf club.

Hanging out with Grandma

Ty has taken a new position at Google and it involves copious amounts of travel.  Fortunately for the boys, this means they sometimes get to have Grandma Jean come down and stay with them.  Unfortunately for me, it also means that I am a single mom fairly often. Anyone who actually is a single parent, you are amazing.  Truly.

Ty recently went to Tokyo and since he was going to be gone for about 10 days, my mom came down for part of it to see the boys and give me a little break.  Anderson is in a huge book phase. I have probably 20 children's books committed to memory as I read them so often.  And that sweet kid makes this face and gets so excited every time he sees his books, even though they are the same books every day.  Anyways, Grandma did her fair share of reading to the boys.

Since Daddy was away for game day, Mommy and Grandma got to select the outfits.  They look pretty amazing in cardinal and white (please disregard their unhappy faces, I have no idea why they wouldn't be happy in these outfits).

Both boys loved hanging out with Grandma, but Carter especially loved getting to spend some quality time with Grandma.  They even took a nap together one day.

I know, how can that be comfortable at all?

Thanks for coming to see us Grandma!!

Someone's getting curly hair like their Daddy....

Reading the paper

The Schlegel boys have a love for reading and couponing that far exceeds their months on this planet.  Perhaps their favorite activity on a Sunday (second only to screaming mercilessly in the church nursery until their parents are forced to leave the service and come get them, at which point they will walk away and begin playing with toys as if nothing happened) is going through the ads to plan their shopping trips for the week.

Front Porches

In their exploration of our front yard, the boys have taken a particular liking to the rocking chairs on the front porch.  This presents many safety issues, but when properly supervised, can elicit pure joy from Carter and Anderson.  I didn't get my camera out quite quick enough to capture the glee on their faces, but this is pretty close:

Please note my hand holding Carter as he tried repeatedly to slide through the side of the chair.  Alas, babies that are normally too small to be walking present unique issues to parents trying to keep them safe.

Tailgating

As I said in the last post, the boys and I have been enjoying some time outside in the afternoon. One day we decided to test out their new tailgating chairs (an awesome birthday present we hadn't been able to use yet). They are ready for the next home game!

Slides

Most people warned me that my life would get infinitely harder when the boys were walking.  Thus far, I'd have to say it's been the opposite.  There were many places I could not take the boys when they weren't walking simply because it was too hard to carry both of them and a double stroller doesn't exactly fit everywhere.  Also, when they started walking, they also decided that not everything needed to go into their mouths, which was a very welcome change.  Coincidentally, this all also happened just as the weather was starting to cool down a bit here in Austin, so the boys and I have enjoyed playing outside most afternoons.  They love getting to explore and I love being outside of the house.

A few weekends ago, Ty and I decided to see if they'd like a playground.  We walked to an elementary school nearby and while the playground as mostly too big for them, we did have fun on the swings, slides, and grabbing playground gravel.  They were having so much fun on the slides that we decided we needed to capture it on video:

Fully Mobile

(This post is about a month and a half late.)  As the title would suggest, the Schlegel boys are fully mobile.  Anderson managed to learn how to walk before Carter; I think this might be the first developmental milestone Anderson reached first, and Carter still seems a bit perturbed by the whole thing.  Since Anderson learned first, Carter spent a significant amount of time pulling Anderson down every time he stood up.  Carter probably started walked a week or two after Anderson.

These days they are not just walking, but even some running when they get really excited or when Mommy is chasing them.  I've managed to catch a little on video, hopefully showing the progression of their first steps to current walking skills.

WWF ain't got nothing on the Schlegel boys

The boys have recently taken up wrestling.  Perhaps they were inspired by the Olympics?  Although I can't tell if this Greco-Roman or a more traditional form.  Either way, it's pretty entertaining.

It's often difficult to tell who's winning, but Carter seemed to be the clear victor in both of these videos.  Anderson usually ends each match by crawling to Mom.  Sort of the same thing as holding a championship belt above your head, except better.

Visit to Ohio

We also took the boys to Ohio this summer to spend time with friends and family.  Unfortunately, we did not remember our camera and therefore have very few pictures of the week and a half.  Luckily my mom was able to come up for a day to see the boys and she is never without her camera.  Here are the few shots she took:

On a morning walk with Mommy and both grandmas, checking out Lake Erie

Bama trying her best to get Carter to like the sand, he was pretty skeptical

Anderson liked the water, but enjoyed it more when there were big waves.  

Mommy and Anderson, RIP sunglasses.  Please note above caption describing Anderson enjoying large waves.  Large waves + holding onto a baby + fashionable but not utilitarian sunglasses = disaster