Tigg-Morris Twinatopia

Looking Cool

2012-02-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,
Here we are in February. The girls are doing great, except for fits of unstoppable coughing in the middle of the night that don't seem to bother them or make them grumpy the next morning. Also Ellie has been enjoying talking in a annoying baby voice lately and when you tell her to stop she just says "I'm not talking like a baby, I'm talking like a boy." Perhaps there is little difference between the two in her world. Other than those complaints, things are great.
pics: The first pic is of these awesome capes Abby made for the ladies, Tilly is a snow superhero and Ellie is an elephant superhero (I leave it to you to imagine what their powers might be, it was not made clear to me), El in the brown hat and Tilly in the vest and scarf (it was the only truly cold day this winter). T is sitting next to baby Andrew(friend and neighbor) and El is opposite them. El in yellow Pluto shirt and Till in the Cookie Monster one. Tilly is doing a snow angel on the floor by the way. I told you it has been a mild winter. Then in the last two we are "dressed fancy" and "acting cool" although I assure you both descriptions would send Marrium Webster to an early grave. The videos are of the girls discovering the greatness of mirrors.

Ellie is in green and Tilly is in the blue shirt.

Catching up

2012-01-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Sorry for the Nov to Jan. break in the blog, I know you've been missing it. The girls are doing great. They had a fabulous break in San Antonio with my family, they're loving school and growing up fast. They seem to have inherited the "goofy" gene from their paternal side, honestly I had been worried because it only ever skips 1 generation and since it skipped me I was pretty sure they would be irredeemable goofballs. Oh, well, they also got my devilish good looks and everything in life is a trade-off.
In the pics: the first two are both Ellie and Tilly is on the pony. Ellie was the self-proclaimed "Goat Girl" while Tilly rode the pony (still pronounced "poi-ny") that sums them up right there. Ellie is licking the icing spoon and Tilly has her doll in her kimono. Oh, who's that rocking the rake in the annual leaf-a-poloza concert? How did such a sweet photo make it into a children's blog? The girls are later pulling cruncle Chris on Rollerblades, it was as bout as safe as it looks. Then that's Tilly in the circle and later all tuckered out. I think that is Till handing and I think it is Ellie with the super close up but Abby will say it is Tillly and she'll probably be right. Look for some winter garden pics comng soon.

It is fall, the leaves are falling everywhere

2011-11-08T16:33:00.000-08:00

That means it's FALL! Say Hey Super Blog Reading People,

Along with the beautiful weather, the ladies have been great little guys. Here's the low down: the girls wanted to wash the car, a really good idea I know, Elinor is the first one and Tilly is the fanciest little car wash girl I've ever seen. Ellie is the fireman and Tilly is Angelina ballerina, a British dancing mouse. Sometime people ask me if they're different. Eisely, Beck and Brandt in some order. In the later pics Tilly is in pink (really?) and Ellie in yellow. Our garden is doing great, we've got tons of tomatoes, 8 or so gourds and 3 pumpkins. The gourds and pumpkins are about a month away, so let's hope we don't get anymore low temps. The almost freeze we got last week blackened many leaves. Enjoy. Oh, and yes I made the fire engine Ellie is wearing. It was awesome. (and Abby did make the mouse costume and fire jacket)

Planes and Soccer

2011-09-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Here we are in late September and heading toward October. The girls have started playing soccer. 3 year olds playing soccer is pretty awesome. The practices are really better than the games, i think. They really like it and it's hilarious. In these pictures we're at the Frontiers of Flight museum right next to Love Field. Tilly of course is in the piggy tails and wearing blue, Ellie in orangy pink. In the bubble pics Ellie is first and Tilly is reaching up. Tilly is playing with the tools. Oh, and the "Beware of Blast" is the blasting end of a jet. Duh, beware of blast, it's not rocket science! Oh, wait.

Zoo and School

2011-09-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Say Hey,

School has started for the girls and I. They are going to preschool twice a week. The teachers refer to them as "the professors". Oh, lord, I'd love to see them. With their July birthday and their relatively small stature Abby says they are the youngest and smallest in the class, luckily for the teachers and their classmates size and age does not hinder their bossiness. These pictures are from the zoo with Long. Monday was in the 70s with a breeze after this summer(not that it's over) it was the most beautiful day. Tilly of course is in the piggy tails and Ellie is not. enjoy. Thanks Papa and Nene for Zoo membership. Come on back and ride the carosel with us (them).

Its My Birthday!!

2011-07-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Say Hey My Children,

Guess who's going to win the annual family "Jesus Look-A-Like" contest? Bob molted, for the last time says the all knowing internet, and he now has awesome wings. I recommend clicking on the pictures to get a closer look. Again, Tilly is all pink and has hair poof-poofs and Ellie is yellow. In the "ring around the rosie" pictures I'll let you guess who is in the princess dress and who's just chilling in underwear. And yes of course that game led to falling and crying like it always does. The video is of the an Eric Carle animal game, I think it goes cat, lion, butterfly (not shown is the caterpillar, chrysalis, metamorphosis part that was done in the front room). Go with my blessing and may peace be with you.

Heat Wave

2011-07-23T18:54:00.001-07:00

Say Hey Friends, Special shout out to Minh Xuan 1 blog fan.

We have tons of pictures so here are 12 and then I'll do another 12 in about a week. Generally speaking if you see pink and/or hair "poof poofs" that's Tilly, any yellow that's Elinor Clair. The girls have been doing great great these days. Happy times.

Bob and Science

2011-07-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,
Sorry there have been limited posts this summer, we really just haven't done much. We're playing a lot of games and puzzles at home, swimming with the Schweers and going to the Y. The first picture is of Bob our praying mantis. We've raised him since he was a little hatchling, about a centimeter long. The girls love him. Ellie is in frogs and Tilly in white. At the science museum Tilly is in blue (for now she is ALWAYS the one with the sweet side ponytail) and Ellie in whitey orange. Here's a link to last year's visit to the Science Place, scroll down. There is also a link to the year before that's trip, thus you can chart the progress (esp. with hair). http://tiggmorristwins.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html

Katherine's Wedding and Dancing

2011-06-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Team, here are the pics from Katherine and Mike Wright's wedding and the dance recital they had about a week before. They were PERFECT at K's wedding as the flower girls. I can't tell you who's who, it's a mystery this time, so enjoy.

A Study in Twins

2011-05-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Say Hey All,

The girls are having a rough time lately with their health. Last weekend Tilly was coughing all night and we ended up taking her to the ER. She's much better, they don't think it asthma, "it's just something in her lungs" which is my favorite diagnosis. Ellie, not to be out done, got car sick on the way home from the doctor and threw up all over the car. Poor Abby had a rough day and lucky James got to clean up a lot of throw up. Still less gross than cat mess, by the way. I was remarking that for 2 primies that spent the first month of their lives in the hospital, this is our first trip back. We've been lucky. They're fine, so no need to worry, just a rough weekend.

Anyway, here's the girls looking better. A study in twins, sometimes they are exactly the same and sometimes they are as different as Cinderella is to a girl in a saggy diaper and a pajama top. Legend at the bottom of the page.

Top 4 Dallas Arboretum both, Tilly, Tillly, Ellie

Ellie and Gramps

Tilly is reading, Ellie screaming, Ellie with the big tower and Tilly in the small. Tilly cooking with mama and again in the robot gear (i made that!) in the video they are playing library. At the end they are arguing over whether or not the book is "too expensive" which is code for "we aren't going to buy you that" poor children, growing up cheap.

2011-04-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters, Had a pretty nice day at the zoo the other weekend. Ellie is in the green hedgehog and Tilly is in the pink monkey shirt. Later that night they were worn out and had to crash in the storage bins. Yes, there is a sticker saying NOT to, but we didn't close the lid, which is what the sticker is really trying to say. At the end Tilly is reading the map and Ellie is in the glasses. She's yelling "hot dog" at me beacuse I'm not cooking things fast enough.

Dangerous

2011-04-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters, The girls had a great weekend. In an effort to raise the kids in my image we've developed a routine of free entertainment. Part of our weekly "daddy/daughter" time includes going to Barnes and Noble to play with their stuffed animals and books. Then we head over to Joanne's Craft Store to look at "more things" and finally sample dinner at Whole Foods. At home the cheap entertainment continues with "bumpy rides" which are a stroke of genius because to go on the ride they must first load the washers! Pics: 1)Tilly dressed in the bumpy rides and Ellie in still in her Pj's but with a beach towel overalls to gussy them up. 2) On the couch being "sick" Ellie is now in dark pink with Tilly in the light pink mountain shirt (with bows). 3) Tilly in purple (with 13 bows) and Ellie in green. Videos: Ellie in white and Till in pink. Tilly is reading in one and we're playing "dangerous" in the other. Dangerous is a game that entails me throwing them into pillows on the bed.

This one's really long, skip to 4 minutes left for the best part.

Sping Time

2011-03-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Team, sorry i haven't updated the blog in so long. Tilly is in the bows. she's into bows lately. They are at the Arboretum with their friend Piper. The doggy door is at my parent's house in SA. ...and Parents of the Year go to..... Mom, we sent you many of these pictures so check the mail. According to House Bill 342 if they arrive on Tuesday, then that counts as your birthday present.

2011-02-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Not much to report, but we had a great and happy weekend, which in itself is pretty amazing. I would say we had very few tantrums and relatively minor explosions. progress. Here's a video that I just had to put up for my dad. He loves to tell people that I learned how to do laundry when I had to climb up on the top of the machine to turn the dial. This here's a start and they beg to do it.

Snow Day

2011-02-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

here are some pics and a video from today and this week. Briefly, that's Tilly in the dark pink hat and Ellie in the light pink, except Ellie is wearing the darker hat in the picture where she's pointing her head up (I said "Show me your face.) Ellie building the animal train and I can't remember who's in the basket. They were both playing that game. I think it's Ellie, but they were both playing it.

Show Time at the Apollo

2011-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

Two videos for your enjoyment. The first is of the ladies playing "library" they check books out to each other then take them places and then recheck them out again. Listen for Ellie saying "beep" when the book goes under the 'scanner' then "here go" and she'll hand them to Tilly. The video also contains them spinning, which is one of their favorites (Abby constantly has to remind them to take a berak and let their heads rest). Something for everyone in that video, high brow and low brow. The second video is long, so be warned and it is of the girls putting on shows for each other on this plastic organizational tub.

NO, Davidand Jibber Jab

2011-01-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

Hey, here's 2 quick videos. The first is of Ellie reading No, David by David Shannon. She'll tell you what's happening on each page. In the video she tells you that he's "getting the cookies" that he has "mud on him" and that he's "him naked" that's her favorite page by the way and "That too loud". The book is about David being bad, if you didn't guess. The author states in the afterward that "yes" is a beautiful word, but it doesn't keep crayon off the wall.

The next one is Tilly. I've entitled it "jibber-jabber" she kept coming and telling me things. You might hear "baby sleeping" and "Books". This is one of their favorite activities, that is going from Abby to me and relaying "messages" sometimes Abby will actually ask them to ask me something that needs a real answer like "how long before dinner's ready?" If they were UPS i'd demand a refund.

Big Girl Beds

2011-01-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hey Hey Everybody,

Sorry about the lack of updates. No excuse. No reasonable one that is. The big news is that the ladies got their "big girl" beds this weekend. So far it has gone reasonably well. A little crying and banging on the door, but really they've been great. Slept till 8:10 this morning, that's not bad. Sunday night, however, they decided to have a slumber party. Finally after two hours of laughing, talking, clapping, and playing in their room, they both start crying at 9:00. We went in to find 15 books spread out all over their beds and their new babies tucked in on the pillows that should have held their angelic sleepy heads. The last picture is of the proof. Anyway, they are really proud of their new beds.
pics: Tilly is the first one with the blocks and Ellie is the in the other two (pretty awesome towers)
Tilly is in pink PJs and Ellie in brown cereal. In the dress up, Ellie is on the left of Eisley. Then it's Tilly in the monkey and Ellie in the cat pattern wearing my homemade Quaker hat.

Milkshakes for Baby Jesus

2010-11-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Blogtrotters,

Quite a few things to report this entry, most importantly, we finally purchased, received and built the playhouse the girls got for their birthday. They absolutely LOVE it. They spent the entire day outside except for naps and meals. Thanks to everyone who donated to the fund, especially Aunt Cherrie and Uncle Kenneth. Thanks to the Schweers (Smears?) for helping build it. Why wait, right Jamie? Good idea.
The ladies have been having a good time with the sand box lately too. Mostly Tilly spends 10 minutes filling a large cup with sand, then tells everyone who'll listen that it's a milkshake and it's hot and you have to blow on it. Then, because she's a generous soul, goes to give the concoction to the baby (the statue of baby Jesus and Mary). This entails dumping about a pound of sand on the young Lord.
Ellie and Tilly have been in great moods lately. When their not throwing the biggest tantrum they can muster, they are being as endearing as humanly possible. Their sassy little hair cuts from NeNe only add to it.
Ellie in the owl hat and Tilly is wearing her "lion" jacket. See the last picture for why she calls it that.
one video is girls "shooing" Sirus away (and him ignoring), the other is the girls learning to cook.

Pumpkin Time

2010-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Say Hey,

We went to the arboretum yesterday. It was raining at first, but then it cleared up a bit. As always Tilly is in the yellow slicker and Ellie in the pink. Then Tilly has the purple necklace on the entire time and Ellie has the bear in her pocket (although Tilly dose have a bear for some of the pictures.) Enjoy

2010-09-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Say Hey People of the Blog (the unsuccessful sequel to People of the Book),

The first two are from the first day of pre-pre school. Tilly is in blue/Ellie in white owls. The rest are from today. By the way, the 80's and 90's are back! Ellie has on purple hair ties and Tilly has pink. I realize that is almost no help at all, so sorry. I know that's Tilly holding the card and Ellie with the Flip camera. And Tills on the turtle. Tilly no longer wants me to take her picture "no cheese, no cheese" she yells at me. So there may be more Tillys pictures for a while.
The ladies are still in the throws of the terrible 2's. Perhaps it's the terrible 4's since there are 2 of them. Either way they are enjoying throwing tantrums and yelling at me. Their favorite new phrase is "Mama do it." Here's a typical conversation. Abby: "Girls can you pick up your crayons?" E and T: "Mama do it." Let's hope Romo throws 3 TDs today, I need the points.

2010-09-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters, Lots of picks today. The first 4 are of our hallway. Abby and I have been painting in the evenings for the past couple of weeks. Each animal takes a long time to complete. The rest are of the ladies at the Arboretum. It was the first time in a long time it has been bearable outside. Tilly is in brown and Ellie in pink. That boy is their friend Brandt, who always riles them up, or perhaps we rile him up, either way Exhibit A is the video. Oh, and that's Till pledging allegiance on the bus. (The ladies plus Brandt rode the bus and had a great time.)

Tree is nice

2010-08-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

School's starting so we'll probably blog less. I'll still try to get pics up as much as possible, although it is just too hot to take pictures. The girls have mastered the phrase "I want it, okay." the "okay" is not a question, but more of an after thought.

Tilly is the first two pics with the purple pillow background and Ellie is the second two. The last one is the new look of our living room. The way is blue and Abby painted the awesome tree. "Tree is nice." is what the ladies say, except sometimes the get mad at it.

Goober-inas

2010-08-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Team,
Here are the ladies at dance class. Last week was their first lesson and it was an unmitigated disaster, although it was pretty funny to watch. They were all over the floor, running around and generally doing the opposite of what the instructors wanted.
At their 2nd lesson they did SO much better. Little dancers. They still try to distract Eisley during the lesson as much as possible, though.

Tilly is in blue and Ellie in purple. I'm very proud of the picture of Ellie smiling, I had to trick her to get it! The video is a hodge-podge of their first two weeks.

Ci-A-Ya-Yo

2010-08-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,
We just returned from Colorado (Ci-A-Ya-Yo, if you prefer). Everyone had a great time. The ladies ran around in the cool weather, played with rocks and flowers and even did a little hiking. They were as close to perfect on the 14 hour drive. Since getting back they've alternated between complete wrecks and over-stimulated manics. Speaking for myself, I'm exhausted.

In an effort to make our daughters cuter and more marketable I'm trying to teach them facial expressions. So far I've taught them to point their index fingers in to their cheeks while smiling, then have them put their flat palms on their cheeks and make and "oh" face (a la "Home Alone"). As you can see in the video, it's pretty cute.
Pics: I think that's Tilly both times looking indie rock cool with the headphones. T-Bone on top of the mountain. Chris and I climbed it (with help from Nelson and the Green Bomber) it was so cold and I didn't have a hat, so a tied a pair Chris' long johns around my head. mmm...clean.
TeTe in the pink sunglasses and Ellie in Chris's. I don't recall which is which in the last 2.

Videos: In Eeee Oooooh, mostly it's Tilly who does it for the camera. In the second one Tilly is in the purple glasses and Ellie is in pink. The video is only a minute long, but I owe Abby a dollar because the ladies are actually wearing the glasses. And yes, the proper way to eat a cupcake is with a spoon.

Also compare Colorado to last year http://tiggmorristwins.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

Mario and Paintings

2010-07-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

The Ladies go to their 2 year doctor's appointment today. Right now they're practicing by sticking thermometers in to Abby and me. Just FYI if you are ever any our house and think you have a fever, you might just let it go instead of asking to borrow our thermometers. Those thermometers have been in places you don't want to know about.
Tilly is learning Old Mac Donald Had A Farm. When you sing it she accompanies with "Donald...Farm....EIEIEIEIE...CackCack" (which is what a duck says). They are also working on the hand gestures for "Itsy Bitsy Spider" although they are kind of mixed up. They have also become obsessed with video games. They demand that I play "Mario" during the day and Tilly's favorite books at story time are the game information pamphlets. I know my dad never wants to read "Hop on Pop" ever again. Well, Abby could do without ever seeing the instructions to Mario Tennis.
Pics: They found their boppies and wanted to be babies again. Tilly has the blue blanket and Tilly the pink.
The ladies painted the paintings all by themselves. They had a great time and they were not covered in paint afterwards.
Tilly is in the dress, Nene wanted a pic and that's the best one out of 19 that I took, sorry. Then that is Tilly feeding Ellie while she puts her feet up.
Videos: Ellie in white shorts and Till in blue. They are wild because Brant is over, although he wisely declines to join them. That's their friend Brant. He sees a tiny school bus that is in the corner of the room.
In the second video Ellie is telling you "I do it" that's a big phrase these days. Then Tilly has a conversation on the phone with Papa. This is why you get messages from us during odd hours of the day.
Thelast one is proof that they love video game pamphlets

Hooray for Science?

2010-07-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

We went to the Science Museum today. The girls had lots of fun with the Schweers'. The ladies still adore Eisley. Not much else going on. Tilly is in white and Ellie is pink.

http://tiggmorristwins.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html (then scroll down to "Labor Day")

Abby suggests looking at last September's posting where we went to the museum. Tilly still loves that NASA hat. What a difference 9 months makes!

2010-06-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

We just got back from San Antonio (Let's hope for another great draft tonight). The ladies had a great time. Cousin/uncle Chris is with us now. The girls are learning more and more words and are able to express themselves much more fluently.

Pics: The first picture is little James (3 years old and so precious!) Ellie is wearing my frog overalls and Tilly is in the duck suit. there is a squeaker in the duck and family lore has it that I came home from pre-school one day bruised in the chest from so many kids squeaking my shirt.

The girls are then playing "hug" which translates roughly to "tackle and push down the other, while laughing" if you set them apart and say "Huuuuuug" then they run at each other looking for the take down.

Ellie is kissing the kimono dragon, Tilly is drinking, I think that's Till in the bathing suit and again alone in the pink Nana shirt.

Video: Tilly on the floor "sleeping" and Ellie bringing her books.

Do you need some protien?

2010-06-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

So it turns out we were being racially insensitive in the last blog. We didn't know that Ellie's gibberish was a slur, so I censored the last entry.

Here's a wonderful video meant mostly for my family. Sheila will you please make sure Katherine sees this? Turns out both babies need a peanut butter spoon!!

no title

2010-06-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Ellie now says "Thank you CENSORED". I don't know what a CENSOREDis but I have a deep desire that one day I will read a cheap Sci-Fi book where the line "Thank you CENSORED" is uttered at the denouement. The ladies when to the new Safari thing at the Dallas Zoo with the Schweers. Apparently it was AWESOME. So many baby giraffes! And you can feed them. (only 5 dollars for a piece of lettuce. That rivals the 1 dollar sugar water at the SA Zoo). Theresa Tiggeman, you should come up and see these giraffes and other animal type things.

pics: babies. (Tilly in necklaces, if you can see them.) And Ellie is holding Eisley's hand.

"Pockets" and Reading

2010-05-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

The good moods continue. The good times continue as well. The girls are happy and cuddly and having a wild time. Ellie has begun to say "I saw-we" (I'm sorry). All the time. It's really cute and pathetic. She is teaching Tilly to say it also. Ellie has also learned how to make all check-out clerks in the metroplex love her by saying "tank you" to them. Oh, babies.

Pics: LOOK AT THESE PICTURES!! These are the hats Chris crocheted for them last year and I have been trying to get a good picture of them wearing them for a year and a half. So any way, here they are. Ellie is in the mouse (both girls call it an owl) and Tilly is in the lion.

That's Tilly reading to her animals.
Videos: The first one is Tilly putting her phone in her "pocket." That's all I'll say. The second video is the girls reading books to themselves. They've been doing it lately and it's really cute. It lasts 5 minuets and it's all pretty much the same so don't feel like you have to watch it all, but feel free to.

2010-05-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

These are mostly pics from the weekend that Abby had her open heart surgery. In the first group I think Tilly is in the pink and Ellie in the stripes. In the middle their both wearing the same thing, so one is Tilly and the other is Ellie, or if you prefer, one is Ellie and the other is Tilly. (Tilly was happy all weekend and Ellie was in a funk so you can take that into consideration.) The last group Tilly is wearing monkey gear and Ellie isn't. The dog is Cher, of the next door neighbor's Sonny and Cher. The girls absolutely love the boo dogs. Ellie is learning to say "Boo dog". cute. Oh, the video is the girls being wild, not "gone wild" mind you.

Ye Olde Pizza Stand

2010-05-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters and Weirdos,

We went to the Renaissance Faire yesterday with good neighbor Frank. Lots of weirdos. Good times though. The girls saw a lot of horses. They like horses. We had to drag them away from Ye Olde Petting Zoo. They girls have been super happy and wild lately. Their vocabs have really exploded, too. Abby has recently tried to write down all the words they know. According to http://www.mychildsagenius.com/ our children are geniuses. You only have to pay 9.99 to get a certificate.

At the Ren. Faire Tilly is in the purple tutu plus leggings and Ellie is in pink. The black goat kept chewing on their tutus after we ran out of carrots. The sloth is from aquarium. At the NICU reunion picnic Ellie is again in pink and Tilly in blue.

2010-05-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Blogtrotters,

Here's a video montage. A good 80's montage is the only way to get some things done.

2010-04-29T19:13:00.001-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

The first picture is Ellie. Thanks for the 'cakie' Katherine, Chris, Tim and Mike W. It is fun to say 'cakie' by the way.

The girls are loving the water table. Tilly is in orange and Ellie is in the white. We're going to the NICU reunion picknick this weekend. Hope we'll meet some other crazy former premies there. oh, Tilly at the end.

2010-04-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters-
It hasn't been the best/easiest 2 weeks at our house, but some fun has been had. I (Abby) had my heart surgery last Friday. The procedure went great and I should have a normally beating heart from now on. I can already tell a difference on walks and playing with the girls. My parents and James' parents were amazingly helpfull and we really appreciate all of their support. The girls got sick over the same weekend, so this past week was not the happiest, but we are all doing much better.

The girls are growing like the weeds that infest our yard and learning lots of new things everyday. Elmo is still the king in our house, and we imagine it is going to stay that way for awhile. To Elmo's credit, I don't think any of us would have survived this past week without Elmo's World on DVD (thankfully the library has a large collection). Ellie is learning so many new words and Tilly is still gibber-gabbering away.

Here are some new pics:
We went to the zoo with Jami, Aunt Steph, Eisley and Baby Beck. The Dallas zoo has a fun water area for little kids. Tilly is in blue and Ellie is in purple. The elephant is named Lucy and that's Eisley riding a camel all by herself.

These are some pics from today playing with our new water table (thanks Nana and Grandpa). Baby Beck is in Blue with his Papa Matt, Eisley is the bigger girl, Tilly is in orange and Ellie is in yellow. They had the best time with the table and cars. Ellie worked very hard filling buckets and removing the water from the table. At one point Beck took her shovel (although their were 3 others within her reach) and she started screaming, "BECK!! BECK!!!" It was so funny.

Garden Party

2010-04-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Well Texas Stadium did it one more time. Years of traffic going to and from work. Promise Keepers, HS football and Billy Graham. And now Waking me and the babies up this Sunday with its implosion.

The flowers that David Tiggeman planted last spring have really exploded with color. The girls are so interested in them that I cut out a little flower patch for them of their very own.

I planted some last week to fill in the gaps and the girls have a knack for pulling up the ones that are newest and most fragile. So anyways they have their own dirt pit to play in. Ellie likes the glove and both like to move the dirt around. We'll plant some cheapo flowers in there soon, but for now they've just loved playing in it.

Coloring and Elmo are also big now a days. They constantly shout for Elmo and to color. In the pictures Tilly is coloring and Ellie is typing at the computer (Abby just opens up a word doc and increases the font and maybe put is on a crazy looking font and the girls enjoy typing, this is called being a digital native in the business, if you are reading this you are a digital immigrant, sorry)

Desk looks good, right? We haven't used it for coloring yet, but probably today.

Oh, and of course that's Little Piper with the girls on the bench. We went to the park yesterday.

Eating and Flowers

2010-04-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Here are the girls in all their glory. They're having a good time getting in to all kinds of trouble. They are tall enough to reach things on the counter which has not led to any major trouble yet, but it certainly will.

Their new favorite friends are Sunny and Cher our neighbor's French Bulldogs. They run around and weave in between as they girls squeal with delight. It is tons of fun to watch. We'll try and get some video.

Tilly is in the hat, she demanded to wear one night at dinner.
In the next two pictures, entitled "A Study in Pizza" Abby thinks it goes Ellie, Tilly. I think it is Tilly, Ellie. Feel free to side with her, or come up with a 3rd or 4th option.
The girls were tons of help with the flowers. They only pulled up 2 flowers right after I had planted them. Tilly is in pink and Ellie is in yellow.
With the cupcakes Tills is in blue and Ell in purple. We included Eisley because she eats her cupcake daintily not like the Beast as Sheila would say.

Spring Break Oh Ten! Whoooooo!

2010-03-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Spring Break! The ladies and I went to the Arboretum yesterday and it was beautiful. The girls had such a great time. Then we had the fondue at Taylor and Chris' house and the girls sent to sleep there. We felt like real adults having a good time at night. Take that Early Bird Special!

Today the girls ran into their friend Brant today. They still love him.

The Mary statue is for my day David Tiggeman who commissioned a blond haired blue eyed Jesus. The girls talk to the baby and his mama constantly. They love patting his head and they argue about who gets to hug him (them). I suggest clicking on the close up of baby Jesus.

At the Arboretum it will be hard to tell the difference between the girls when they have the jacket on. Without the jacket, Tilly is in hearts and Ellie in flowers. Peace.

2010-03-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

None of these pictures express the absolute pure joy that the ladies had playing in the puddles. Ellie is still going through what the doctors refer to as the "troubles." They symptoms inclue yelling a lot for no reason and/or when things don't go exactly as she demands.

They've really started to learn so much. They know how to stand in front of the cabinet where we keep the cookies and point, amongst other things.

I'll use this blog as a substitute for the Facebook page that I don't have update my status: "Go you Spurs! Ginobli 23 points in the first half!" Take that Facebook.

PS -- have ya'll seen Brent Barry on NBA TV?

In the pics where there standing next to each other Tilly is on the left. That's Ellie who fell in the water. In the videos Tilly is the one in the front, mostly and the one who ate something (it was really nothing) and Ellie is the one who loses a boot in the 2nd video.

Animoto.com

2010-02-25T14:03:00.001-08:00

2010-02-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hey Blogtrotters,

Everyone is sick and miserable. Well, I'm sick and making everyone else miserable. Vocabulary and articulation continue to grow. Babies turned 19 months yesterday. They are too tall for their old undershirt oneise so Abby cute off the bottoms. They fit fine until they gorge themselves on dinner, then their bellies stick out. Their little muffin tops are pretty cute. That is Ellie first then both together. Tilly is trying to put my shoes on. The Super Mario pictures are Tilly.
In the videos, I don't know which is first, Tilly is the little mama who is feeding her baby. Abby says she does it all day. Ellie's video is her playing peekaboo and singing with Abby.

Hugs Not Drugs

2010-02-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Bloggtrotters,

Sorry no updates in a while. I plan to be more regular with blog entries in the future now that my schooling and professional betterment is coming to an end. To help with that, Abby has purchased some Metamucil.

The little ladies are going though a rough patch. Recent visitors can attest to the tantrums setting in. They're getting in their fang teeth, and that must hurt. Also they have not had the pleasure of getting their way 100% of the time. (I think we're down to as low as 94.8%)

Anyways, other than being kind of sad sacks, they're doing great. They vocab continues to grow, they've added words such as giraffe, turtle, baby, yes and no. Ellie has really mastered 'apple'. It is her most complete word, in that she can say both sides of it very clearly. They are also mastering many animal sounds. They quack really well. I'm trying to teach them to put a "B" in front of their "quack, quack" to make it sound like BEC-CA, who is Abby's friend and coming to visit. We tried this same strategy by trying to change "fish" into "Chris". I think all we did was help them think that their crunckle Chris is some sort of aquatic animal.

On the 'yes and no' front, Abby asks them questions all the time and if they're in a good mood they then will answer "yesh" or "yeah" very seriously to all her questions. Tilly is especially good at the game and it's very cute.

Pics: They are really into hugging lately and they love the statues at the Arboretum. They also like feeding the statues little pieces of sticks and mud. If they were as sweet to each other as they are to those metal animals then we'd be the happiest family on Earth. Enjoy the pictures. They are super cute. Oh, the last one is of Chris getting a thirst quenching drink from the water fountian where we usually wash the girls hands. Mmmmm...

Coming Soon: Snow pics, awesome pictures of Tilly being Super Mario over Chirstmas!, pictures with Abby's friend Becca

2010-01-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Blogtrotters,

The Lady Babies will be 18 months this week (Friday I think). That's a bid deal! They are doing great in general. They learned how to give high fives, which is pretty awesome. The new big word they have is "cookie", or at least they say a word with a hard "c" sound that means "give me a cookie! I don't like waiting!! And 'yes' I do need one for my other hand." The first set of pictures from this week's installment illustrate my point better than words. We went the arboretum today. It was a beautiful, but the the arboretum is in a time of flux in mid-January. (That's a nice way of saying there weren't many living plants there.) Didn't matter the girls still had a great time.

Pics: first five are what happens when Abby tries to sleep in one day per week. The ladies find a bag of cookies. The sixth picture is the result of me taking the cookies away. Ellie is in blue with the sweet boots and Tilly is in pink sitting on her throne eating. Both are wearing their poodle vests)
Arboretum: first two are E. Tilly in the window by herself. Tiggeman on the deer looking regal. Ellie standing in front of Spiderman and Tilly by the baby deer.
PS that kid in the Spiderman suit was awesome. He ran around nonstop and refused to answer any questions that were not directed to "Spiderman" his job was to round up his brothers and sisters.
The video is of the girls yelling/talking to the deer. They have about 20 little animal sculptures around the place and the girls give each one a good talking too. Tilly is the one who starts by the deer and Ellie comes in next. If you're no good at playing the shell game and lose track, Tilly has the cup with the yellow lid.

2010-01-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Bloggtrotters,

It was a wonderful break in December. We had a great time in San Antonio. The girls' vocabulary is exploding! They can still say the old favorites (ball, flower and bird), but now they can really say cheese, shoes (sounds like ssssssshhuze), owl and socks. They are understanding so much more too. They can execute simple commands like "Go get the book" and often they will do it. Tilly was able to "Go get the remote" which is one of the Parents Of The Year qualifiers. They can also communicate with their sign language so much more than just a week ago. Tilly will tell you constantly that it is both time to eat and time to sleep. (except we no longer refer to nap time as "nap time." A more accurate term is "crib time.")
All ladies in the house are sick or at least trying to get over it. I also am sick, but I won't elaborate what I'm sick of since this is a family blog. We're extremely thankful because if they had gotten this RSV last year, then would have been back in the NICU at the hospital. This year it just means we've had a really bad week. Last year at this time they were still premies, but now their just little ladies.
Congrats to my parents for getting a new car! Take that 1993! We hope you feel better Nana.
PICS: Ellie is on the right for the first two and on the left for the last three (coming second she is the sinister twin for all you latin lovers)
That is Ellie with the granola bars. She's been playing with these for the past 3 days. As you can see in the video she puts them in different baskets and carts them around, takes them out, organizes them, puts them in the cabinet drawer, takes them out and moves them to another location. The good news is we no longer have to do the expensive DNA tests to see if she inherited the "crazy" gene. The odds were very likely since both Abby and I are carriers.
Video: turn the sound up on the last one so you can hear Abby asking them the questions. Tilly knows all the things as well, but only Ellie was participating.

2009-12-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

Dearest Bloggtrotters,

For your viewing pleasure tonight I offer you scenes from the Dallas Arboretum. The girls had a great time. I was a little disappointed in the reindeer. I think it is cheating to use a word that has the same singular and plural (sheep, deer, fish, spaghetti) to imply that there might be many reindeer at a certain location at a certain time and then only have one surly deer. Oh, well more Yuletide disillusionment. Anyways, the girls had a great time at the arboretum.
The girls really talking up a storm Tilly says "flower" really well. It sounds like "FLOUUUrrrr" with a really soft R at the end, almost like and after taste. She was able to use this new information quite a bit today.
Pics Tilly has a pink shirt on under her coat and Ellie's is white. look hard. The second picture is my new favorite! Can I humbly suggest you click on the fourth and fifth pictures to enlarge them. It's Tilly by the way. In the last two videos Tilly is in white and Ellie in blue.

2009-12-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Sorry we haven't updated the blog in forever. Brooms now out number people in the house. With so many people helping, it's a wonder why our house is always a mess.
Tilly is in the purple print and Ellie is in the red pants. In the first video Tilly is wearing white socks and Ellie is wearing purple socks. They both have brooms.

2009-11-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Here are some pics from arboretum again, and then from around the house. The girls are doing great and getting bigger all the time. They're really talking up a storm. Abby says they can say "bird, cat, pretty, baby, ball and sesquipedalian and archipelago" The only problem is the pronounce it ARCH-a-pelago instead of ARK-a-pelago.

Pics: Tilly in green and Ellie in red; Tilly in her pink poodle vest (I assume we're all thinking of Mr. Burns' "See my vest" parody song) In their chairs Isadora Welty and Sirus Tiggeman; Ellie in purple and Tills in blue (By the way those chairs look innocent, but they are dangerous toys)

Video: I think Tilly is in purple and brown with Ellie in red/pink

2009-10-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Bloggtrotters,

The girls and my parents went to the pumpkin patch with Eisley, Beck and Jami Schweers and my parents. They had fun. It was a beautiful day. We went to the local Autumfest the next day where the two ladies got to ride a pony, each. ok. That's it I suppose. We had a wonderful weekend!

Pics: At the pumpkin patch: Ellie in white(flower hedgehog) and Tilly in pink (mushroom)
Tilly is covering her eyes, on the swing, in the pink poodle vest. Ellie is the one in the highchair with the finger. I think you should look up Bernini's damned soul. That's what I think Tilly looks like with her hair in the shower (minus the pained expression of course. FYI Bernini used himself as a model for that sculpture.)

Catalina Wine Mixer and Balloonfest

2009-09-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Most of the pics are from the Plano Balloonfest, which is as close to the Catalina Wine Mixer that Abby and I can ever hope to get. The girls loved the balloons and running around too. Todd and Melissa came and had brunch with us on Sunday. Her brother Zach turned 21. Todd's adopted brother, too. Really I feel like he's my adopted brother Todd's adopted brother, so we're pretty tight. Abby sees him as more of an acquaintance, but she has commitment issues so no one should be offended. (Zach, if you should ever read this, which you won't because I assume you have a life, Abby wants you to know she likes you) (not in that way)

Pics: At the Catalina Wine Mixer, Tilly is in "white" and Ellie is in pink. Both found the catsup. At first we really thought Tilly was bleeding. Look at her nose, it really looks like she's bleeding! She has a future in low budget B horror movies. Oh, Eisely's in yellow.
In the chair Ellie is on the left and Till on the right. The last 3 are Ellie, one with Mr. Snoozy the awesomest knitting creation ever. Made by Chris. Then she is lounging in overturned box. And finally looking fancy.

Labor Day

2009-09-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Bloggtrotters,

Labor Day weekend was fantastic! The ladies were in a great mood the entire time and all we did was play. We went to another grand opening and took part in the time honored American tradition of scaring our kids by shoving them near hideous over sized cloth monsters. Ellie did alright, but Tilly was having none of it. On Monday we went to the Dallas Science and Natty History Museum. We all loved it. The girls really liked the taxidermied animals and all the other junk. We finished the day by swimming with the Morrises. They've(the girls not the morrises) just been doing great lately. I think that's it. Nana will be in town next weekend so I'll post a bunch of pictures. Oh, they are both getting a pair of molars. David Morris sent those sailor suit pics so be prepare yourself for cuteness. I'll try and get them up this weekend.

Pics: car Ellie on the left (Driving) Tilly on the right (asleep at the wheel), Couch Tilly on the left, Ellie on the right (sorry, we should always have them on the same side), girls with Geoffrey, Tilly scared of Geoffrey.
Science Museum: Tilly in pink, Ellie in white. Getting shocked, playing water, becoming astronauts.
Videos: Splashing at the Science Museum, Playing with the maracas from Uncle Mike and Aunt Cathy.

This Leash Demeans Us Both

2009-09-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

Dearest Blogtrotters,

School has started and that means weekly blog updates have ended. Sorry Dad(s). Oh, that reminds me. David Morris, send me those sailor suit pictures and I'll put them up. Sorry their aren't many pictures. We misplaced the camera and have been lazy/tired. These are from the grand opening of a toy store. Eisley had a great time although Abby did hit her with a cart and then refused to apologize, teaching Eisley that it is ok to not apologize when she hits baby Beck. Lessons we learned: babies love Sunshine Bear. Babies hate the sand people from Star Wars.

The video is the demeaning leashes we now have for the babies. Abby hopes, in vain I think, that they will lead to her having greater control over them on single adult outings. I suggested the cat carriers as a means for greater control but Abby points out that they are all dusty from sitting in the garage all year. We've been taking them on walks down the street lately after dinner. The babies love the walks, the weather has been wonderful lately in Big D.

We'll try to put more up over labor day. (babies cooking burgers, babies relaxing by the pool, babies waving miniature American Flags, etc.)

Colorado

2009-08-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

Well we are back from Colorado. We stayed at Uncle Nelson's(aka Grandfather Amen) family's cabins in Monarch. The Amen Family Cabins are wonderful, so anyone looking for a mountain getaway (summer or winter) should check them out at http://www.coloradocabinrentals.com/ I don't know if the address will hyperlink when I put the blog up, but it's pretty easy to type in.

Colorado was magnificent. The girls are more than a little sad that they lost the privilege of running around outside in the beauty and splendor of the mountains, but that's what happens when you return to 100 degree weather in Texas.

As for us we had a fabulous time with everyone in Monarch. Abby hiked to a secret lake (no so secret, but we were the only ones there at the time) and I claimed a mountain for myself. It was formerly known as Mt. Taylor, but will be hence forth referred to as Mt. T-Tiggeman-Tigers.

Girl update: Walking and running. Learning to dance. Switching to whole milk(although this is not going well it will mean about $67 per week in savings from formula, so I predict they will make the switch...or starve). Wearing bows, occasionally. Biting.

Pics: Tilly trying to enter the dishwasher, Ellie with Grandpa at a local music festival, Tills trying to break into the poison cabinet, Ellie showing you who's #1, Tilly with the cup, James and Abby in the dementor fog at the Continental Divide, Tilly with a cup, T on top and E on bottom - playing, Tilly on a hike and Ellie with a stick, both girls playing with Old Man Tiggeman, E looking cool, Elinor also getting into the cabinet and finding a hat, and finally both girls picking wildflowers - one of their most favorite activities in Co.

Rainy Days and Mondays

2009-07-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Say Hey Blogtrotters,

The ladies are 364 days old today. If you're viewing this tomorrow or in Australia then they are 1 year old. After the craziest year of our collective lives we are truly thankful for all the help, love and support from everyone we know. We are also thankful for the rain, it gave us not only a brief reprieve from the heat, but an excuse to use our sweet new rain jackets, thanks Auntie Jill. Tilly loves that rain jacket. Sometimes we just put her in it when she's being fussy and let her walk around the house despite the relative dryness.

To go with being big girls, Nene and Papa (the morrises) got them some kickin new shoes.

Pics: Elinor in the pink rain coat, Tilly Bean in the yellow. Playing with sticks, playing in the tacky garden and walking around.
PJs: E in white standing, T sitting in pink, both are looking at the AC repairman with utter reverence.
Shoes: I think it goes Ellie, Tilly, Tilly.
Video: same jackets, those are our neighbor Frank's flowers, but to my knowledge he doesn't check this blog so just don't tell him that we go over and have our unruly daughters destroy his garden.

Summer Fun

2009-07-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Bloggtrotters,

Nana and Grandpa(the tiggemans) were up this weekend. That's why there are so many photos on the blog this week. (that's also why the pics are of a higher quality than usual). It was a short visit and the 105 degree heat really limited how much we did. The big exciting news is that the girls were granted access to the hallway, and by extension, their room. Grandpa installed a gate (see below) and we have plans to allow access to the kitchen when they are a little more stable on their feet. As soon as they realized that the door to the hallway was not bared, they went crazy with screaming and running and chasing and falling and laughing. They loved it so much! They've begun to chase each other and when when one catches the other they fall down in a fit of giggling. It's really cute, of course. Recently they have become much more aware of each other, most of the time it's really sweet. Sometimes it's painful.

Nana and Gramps also gave us a new lighting fixture for our up coming anniversary. 5 years. That was the original contract so after negotiations with our agents, Abby and I have decided to sign a 3 year extension for just over the mid-level exemption. There is a team option for the forth year, most likely that one will depend on my knees holding out.

Abby and I were excited to get our Fantasy Football invite. Joe Frank was smart enough to grab "World Wide Prestige" as his team name before anyone else could. I felt entitled to the team name because I haven't had a carb since 2004. Speaking of fantasy sports I think this is the year I finally take home the Golden Broom in my Fantasy Sweeping League. I'm in first place with a 35 clears lead. With 5 weeks to go in the season nothing is written in stone, but I'm gaining momentum going into the playoffs. I'm pretty confident because I haven't scored less than 5 1/2 clear sweeps in any week and I average about 18 dustpins per fortnight. My OBP (Optimum Brooming Percentage) is .482 and I'm brooming around .387, we haven't seen those kind of numbers since Ted Williams was brooming for the Boston Clean Socks. Anyways, things are looking good, I'll let you know how things turn out.

Pics:
Ellie in orange(you glad i didn't say banana?) and Tilling in blue. they've really gotten into books lately. that's also tilly naked doing her new thing. when she's really excited about an object she hunches over her shoulders and does a really goofy laugh, if you didn't love her before then you should look into it. that's Ellie of course saying "Ta-Daaaa" or some such.
Feeding: i don't know which is which, but they like to feed you their food now. i am especially fond of slimy, half chewed grilled cheese sandwich bites. Mmmmmmmmmmm...

Tilly in blue and on Abby's lap, i have Ellie

Ellie is the first gate picture and Tilly is the "Oh, my a gate" type baby.

Video: that's Tilly coming at you first and the one that is playing with the lunch bag. Ellie is the one in the hall. oh, thanks to the FM Gilbert PTA for the lunch bag. Join your local PTA!

2009-07-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Blogtrotters, Good times. The girls had a great time hanging out Todd, Melissa, Zack and Andrew at Paul and Debz house. They really loved playing Rock Band and listening to awesome rap songs while playing the maracas. Also that pie was real good. Other than that we didn't do a whole lot last week. We're going to try to go to the DMA tomorrow for some free family thing. They ladies had a great time there last week. Tilly "hooted" at a lot of the art. (if you haven't heard her new "hoot hooting" then you're missing out)

Our AC is on the fritz so that's not good, luckily it was the coolest day of July and it's back on. NASCAR is kind of dumb. Harry Potter movie comes out next week. Other random thoughts.

Pics: Tilly did that to her hair herself, Ellie in the yellow pants (2), Tilly is the first one on the second row and Ellie is in the middle (they are both chasing me, which is kind of a fun game when you think about it), and that's Tilly sitting quietly and reading.
Video: Ellie in yellow pants and Tills in blue

The Best Cat I Know

2009-06-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Well Blogtrotters, we present our week in two acts tonight. Act I: What happens when Dad lets Mom sleep in. Take that folded clothes! Act II: Little One, the nicest, most patient cat. I never thought I would ever use the SAT word "inured," but I think that might sum it up. Look it up, you'll never know when you get to use it in a blog.

Pics: Tilly in white/blue and Ellie in green (consistent in both acts), Jack Black in his orange DJ Lance Rock costume.

walking coming along, still trying to get good video. peace.

Aquarium

2009-06-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Dearest Blogtrotters,

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium today with Taylor, Chris, Bash and lil' Piper cub. The girls had a great time! Tilly especially loved everything. They went crazy for lots of different things.

Pics: Martha the Manatee, Ellie and Taylor, Tilly and mama, Ellie, Larry the Octopus, Bash with indiglow jellyfish, Bash with turtle, Girls laughing at a waterfall, Samuel the toucan, flamingos (Fred, Ida, Jozy), Ellie with the drum lid and Tilly chewing the play mat edge mmmm.... there's very little meat in these play mats

video: yeah, so I haven't figured out that you can't tilt the camera to the side when taking video like you can when shooting stills. Perhaps in the not so distant future I will add that to my rolodex of knowledge. Anyway, the video shows a little bit of the burgeoning walking abilities as well as Ellie's ability to make a "bub bub" sound with her finger (Harvard class of 2030 here we come!)

The Hottest, Coolest Time in Texas!

2009-06-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Good Morrow Blogtrotters,

Well our, my or Abby's (all depending on how you look at it) vacation in SA was pretty fantastic. Tilly learned how to stand and make Theresa and Sheila do whatever she wanted. Since she already had NeNe in her pocket, she's doing quite well for herself.

They had a great time at Schiltterbahun. ***Todd/Mel, Tien/Long, and anyone else, we're thinking of heading down the second week of August for a baby free trip to the bahun.

Like the valosoraptors, they are always testing the boundries that Abby and I set up. As you can see from the pictures they quickly learned how to go under the chair boundary. Since then the 2 foot gap that is their only means of escape to the wonderland I mundanely refer to as the "kitchen" has been occupied by a large hedgehog balloon toy, boxes and a pink standing toy. After destroying all of those it is currently blocked by a dirty cloths hamper. Luckily we do not lack for dirty clothes and so it is too heavy to move. They can squeeze their heads through the small gap. They celebrate this accomplishment by screaming incessantly.

Ok, well that's it for now. We might try to go to the DMA pretty soon as it is too hot to go on walks.

Pics: Ellie with the rattle, Tilly sitting in yellow polka dots, Tilly is always in the pink swimsuit and Ellie always in the blueish purple one. The last two they are wearing the same suit (the same design, not sharing) so... the first picture at the end is Tilly and the second is Ellie. The elderly gentleman in the back of each photo is Augstus R. Philpott, Esquire.

Summer in San Antonio

2009-06-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Blogtrotters,

True to my word, (word is bond) I have up dated the blog. I'm here in San Antonio with the girls, letting Abby have a bit of a well deserved break. I hope she enjoyed the last 4 days, because she's not scheduled for a break until April 2011.

Tilly is wearing the pink heart swinsuit and Ellie is in the purple/blue one. I'm trying to always keep them in the same suit for future reference. Although both babies look happy in their floaty thing, only Ellie likes it. The other one screams until you take her out. We've been going swimming most days.

Ellie is standing wonderfully and has learned to pick her nose. Tilly isn't really doing either, but she's real close.

We went to the zoo and had a good time.

The dog loves the babies and the babies love the dog. She's real attentive during feeding time, and she's well rewarded for her assiduousness. Lilly lets the girls climb and grab all over her; she's really sweet. That's Ellie attacking her, but if I had waited 5 minutes I could have taken the same picture with Tilly as the antagonist.

That's all.

Oh, I do think the girls are extra cute in their little surfer girl uniforms. Perhaps you disagree, but that'd make you a big jerk.

No time for love, Dr. Jones and no time to proof read so enjoy the grammar mistakes if you can find them. (5 pts. per mistake corrected)

Oh, and yes I'm aware that Elinor has a furture in the exciting field to dictaorship.

Long Time No See

2009-06-01T17:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Intrepid Blogtrotters,

Alas, it has been many a week without the update. So much has happened in the past 8 weeks or so. Let's see...the girls are of course getting bigger and bigger. They are "talking" or at least screaming. They still love to bounce. Crawling has been conquered. Eating and fine motor control are becoming easier everyday. The big deal recently is standing. Tilly was first to pull up, but Elinor, perhaps the braver of the two, has mastered "free standing" (like a kiosk in the mall). We are so proud that no other baby has ever down the above mentioned things like our little angels have!

Sleeping is better ever since some jerk decided it was time for them to go to bed, crying or not. Since this taskmaster approach has been implemented they have stopped crying in their cribs earlier and earlier, tonight at 7:37 pm. So I ask you jerk or genius? Perhaps both. They say Jim Belushi, two time winner of Nobel Prizes in biophysics and star of CBS's sensational hit sitcom According to Jim, has a very short fuse.

Anyway, here's a movie and lots of pictures. This summer we will update the blog weekly, cross our hearts.

The water was COLD! Eisley in the Kitty house. Pretty ladies

Kris Kross'll make you..........

2009-04-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

Caution: May cause motion sickness!

Busy Afternoon

2009-04-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

I took advantage of a sale at Target today and bought one little push walker/car thing. They seem to like it and we'll probably get a second one even though they can't use it that well yet. Here's a little action sequence of Tilly with the new car:

While Ellie got a turn on the car, James and Tilly ate some cheerios and puffs:

And Isadora found a fun new place to hide:

Then the girls were rewarded with cherry oatmeal:

Ellie with bowl, Tilly without bowl

Don't Judge Us

2009-04-04T18:58:00.001-07:00

So don't judge us, but sometimes, just sometimes, instead of folding our clean laundry right away like my father recommends we dump it in one of the baby's cribs. (A basenet really, but I don't understand the difference.) Well last week I thought I would combine my love of not folding clothes and the babies' love of looking out the window and occasionally petting a cat. The results were a smashing success! Abby got some time to herself and took a long shower and I ate graham crackers and peanut butter while the little ladies gazed out the window on a blustery day. Good times.

Here are 3 beautiful pictures the Morrises took of the girls today. Thanks for rolling around on the ground through ant hills, David, it was worth it, the pictures are great!