Fun With Pillows

Happy Halloween everyone! The twins won't be trick-or-treating this year (as their walking isn't too good yet!), but I'm sure they'll enjoy helping Grandpa and Nana Cermak answer the door and pass out candy this afternoon to the neighborhood kids. I do have some cute Halloween outfits they'll be wearing, so look for those pictures next week!




The twins have been interested in pillows lately (anything can be a toy when you're 12 months old)! Here's Gavin relaxing on the floor:



Then wrestling the pillow was more fun than resting on it:



Evie took a turn relaxing:

While she rested, Gavin gnawed on the strings of Dad's hoodie:


And when a pillow isn't close by, just use Dad's head:

Here are a couple videos of Gavin playing with pillows (the shaky picture is becuase of Evie, trying to grab the camera!):

Here's another video:

Time For Ghost Stories

This week, the twins have been getting into the Halloween spirit by learning to tell ghost stories.

"OK, Mom, we've got our flashlights and we're ready! What's next?"



Evie got the hang of it right away. "Mom said to hold the flashlight like this and say something scary..."


" ...and the next morning when the twins woke up, there were no sweet potatoes left in the house! The only food left was... carrots!! Aagghhh!!"

Gavin was more interested in gnawing on the flashlights at first:

But he got the idea soon enough. "I'm thinking up a story about a haunted pack-n-play!"

More New Tricks!

The other day the twins surprised me by putting their toys into this bin:



Usually they just take everything out and fling it on the floor! Of course, they added some new items: you can see a flashlight, some mini pumpkins (this is significant, keep reading to find out why) and one of Francis' PlayStation games.

Evie is quite pleased with herself!


Then Gavin climbed into the bin and got comfortable. "King of the castle, king of the castle!"



Gavin is also pleased that he climbed in there all by himself. Evie decided this was a good time to do some yoga:


Evie rested after her yoga session:


The twins have learned to do "So Big!"

Hmm, not quite so comfortable anymore... I wonder why? When I pulled Gavin out and the rear of his pants was sticky, I realized he had been sitting on the other pumpkin and had smashed in the top if it! Time for the third outfit of the day (the first outfit didn't survive one of his diaper changes)!

Special Note: One year ago today, we were able to bring Evie home from the hospital! Woo-hoo! Of course, since then we have had "crying in stereo!"

First (Official) Photo Session

Every day is a photo session around our house, with impromptu pictures taken by me, but one day last week was a special day. My friend Dusty has her own photography and design business, On a dot, and she came over to photograph to twins. This is something I have really wanted to do - get a professional photo of them at this age.

It was great that she came here, because it was a lot easier for me, and the kids were more comfortable in their usual surroundings. Dusty is so great with kids! The twins took to her immediately with no stranger anxiety at all. Before I knew it, Evie was tugging on Dusty's pant legs, wanting to be picked up, and Gavin was trying to pull her glasses off.

The kids were absolutely fascinated with her lights and extension cords:

I wanted to have a white background, but the twins decided they would rather sit on the backdrop then sit in front of it:

We gave up on the background and just used the scenery in the back yard!

Then Evie decided she wanted to get behind the camera and climbed right into Dusty's lap:


Maybe she will be a photographer!

Gavin didn't get her glasses this time, but he did later on!


We had a great time! For a sneak peek at our photo session, click here!

Pumpkin Patch, Part 2!

We had so much fun last week at the pumpkin farm that we just had to go again! This time we went to Johansen Farms, which is close to where Uncle David and Uncle Brad live. We met them there and enjoyed looking at everything, even though it was quite a blustery day!

The pumpkins here seem as big as the twins!





Evie has fun sitting in a pile of mini pumpkins:

What a mischievous look! She's got 'trouble' on her mind.

Evie and her uncles:

Here's one of our "pumpkins" - that scale is pretty accurate!

We were browsing through the fall / Halloween merchandise - Gavin got scared of a monster-faced decoration that made noise and popped its eyes out. But Evie wasn't even fazed by it. "I'm not scared of this stuff," she said.

"I need a hug, Uncle Brad! Then I'm gonna chew on these strings on your hoodie!"

David and Brad were here 2 weeks ago at 1 pm, and they said it was mobbed. Yesterday at 9 am, we just about had the place to ourselves...so we got to take LOTS of pictures!

Gavin was "all about Daddy" while we were there:

He walked around a bit by himself:

Then it was back to Dad:

There's No Stopping Gavin Now!

Gavin walked and walked yesterday for me and my mom! And he has learned how to stand up without holding onto anything. It was really amazing to see him keep getting up and doing it over & over.


He was a bit hesitant at first:



Then he just took off:


















Evie is thinking, "Hmm, I really better figure out this walking business. I don't want Gavin to run circles around me!"

Thursday Cuteness

Gavin is thinking up some mischief:


"Who, me?"


Time for a story. Evie likes her Care Bears book:


Gavin likes their pirate book (this book had to be moved upstairs because almost all the pages are torn!):


Playing with Mommy:











Here's Evie, dancing to 80's music again:

Little Entertainers

Update: Gavin has been doing a great job with walking! Every day he takes a few more steps. A few days ago he walked 10 feet for Francis while I was upstairs with Evie, and yesterday he walked for Uncle David and Grandma Cordes.

One morning last week, the twins were playing with their hats (and actually left them on their heads for more than 2 seconds).

"How do I look, Daddy?"


Someone is up to mischief:


Gavin just loves to do this stretch with his leg:


Sometimes Gavin is just not in a mood to wear pants. If we have to go somewere, I follow him around until I can sneak his pants on. If we are staying home, I just let him be (til the next diaper change)!


Evie loves her new jeans (she likes wearing pants - it's the socks that she won't keep on):


Gavin loves to put things in the seat of this bouncer, and then take them out. He's quite busy at work here, and you can hear Evie playing the musical table in the background:



(I think this video would have been even funnier if Evie had kept pressing the button that plays "The Entertainer" - it's like a soundtrack to Gavin's activity!)