A Christmas wish list conversation

Laura: "What are you going to ask Santa to bring you for Christmas?"

Nate: "I'm going to ask for the Lego Death Star!"

Laura: "Nate, that is way too expensive for Santa to make. It is $400. If Santa has to pay $400 for his elves to build it, then he won't have enough money for other kids to get toys."

Nate: "Okay, instead I'll ask Santa for $1000. Then I could get two Death Stars, one for me and one for Alex, and still have money left to get toys for other kids."

Yay for allowance to help teach them the value of money, boo for maybe teaching them to dream a little too big.

(Elfie redecorated the entire tree to surround himself with ornaments!)

Well, that settles that

We had a friend's boys over for dinner last night. Two observations:

• Four boys 5 and under are not any louder and/or crazier than twin 5 year old boys
• Jon and I are 100% done with two because we could NEVER afford to feed four boys

Elfie put Nate and Alex's underwear in the stockings today!

PS. For the photo enthusiasts reading... I bought VSCO film yesterday and played around with it last night. Jon is still confused as to why I would want to make my digital photos look like film. Because I want to be a hipster, Jon!

Another year where I am SUPER DUPER EXCITED about Christmas

I had a burst of inspiration for our holiday card photo this year. With many days off work, I had time to execute it. I asked Jon to help me set up a backdrop in my office.

What, you don't have a 9 foot tall roll of white paper laying around and a 6'4" husband to secure it? You think that might be going a little too far for ONE holiday photo?




There was lots of twitter speculation over what the photo might be. I knew it would be hard to top last year's photo which was SADLY taken a few days after I had holiday cards printed.




Well speculators, it's not going to be Christmas lights wrapped around the boys. There is NO WAY that is happening this year. Too much tomfoolery. Way way way too much tomfoolery, even when threatened.




Please, no guesses. Or rather, no public guessing. Let your ideas be a surprise. I'm not really that creative so you would probably figure it out and ruin it for everyone. I can't wait for you all to see the cards. I feel like a kid at Christmas, wishing the cards would GET HERE ALREADY.


Overnight, apparently Elfie had an epic battle with the legos. The fundamental flaw of Elfie? Two excited boys shouting in our room every morning over the Elfie's antics. Okay fine, I won't call it a flaw. I will never stop loving having two boys excited to tell me everything as it's only a few more years until I'm not cool to them anymore.





PS. While I still have an entire wall covered in white paper, there are going to be pictures out the wazoo.

Elfie came to town

We decorated the house for Christmas last night and Elfie was hiding in a box of decorations. Santa sent me an email letting me know Elfie might be a little naughty this year. The boys rushed downstairs to find Elfie enjoying himself:




Nate said, "I can't believe Elfie is being so naughty WASTING ELECTRICITY."

I wonder what else Elfie will get up in the upcoming month!

Giving thanks

This was us, four years ago around Thanksgiving:


Each year I struggle with what to write at Thanksgiving. I have no idea where to start on all the things for which I am thankful. Each year I could write the same post as the year before because every year feels as sweet as it did in the photo above. I look at old posts and wonder how I will top the sentiments there.

(Crap, I should probably just recycle the posts!!! You guys would never know!!! Too late.)

2011 has been an AMAZEBALLS year. Good health. Stable jobs. Forever home. Great kids. Chasing dreams. Happy happy home. The only teeny tiny sad part is the boys are growing up way too fast. (photo by Natalie Jill Photography)


Again this year we are so blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Time for you to have twin envy

When the boys were newborns, I had a serious case of one-baby envy. Sorry peoples, but it just looked SO EASY with just one baby. I waited and waited and waited for the day it would be our turn.

That day was this weekend.

Sunday morning, we told the boys to go downstairs, watch tv, make their breakfast, and come get us if anyone choked. (I have this weird thing where I'm always worried the kids will choke if eating unattended. It's because Nate used to chimpmunk food, stuffing his cheeks until he choked and vomited.)

Jon and I slept until 9AM.

9AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Date morning

Our life has been CRAZY TOWN lately. To help cope with the busy-ness, we have not been having one-on-one dates with the boys as much. This has been stressful for all of us.

Saturday morning we split up - Jon took Nate out while I stayed home with Alex. Alex and I had a blast, making banana bread and hummus and walking to the post office.

This crazy kid with his snow boots and using my reusable bag like a cape to be a super hero.... we needed some time together alone to recharge our relationship. It was a good reminder that we can give up a lot of things to save time but not these dates. We all need them.

Answers the photo quiz... but first one more question

One more photo for the photo quiz.... was this taken with the big camera or little camera?



Do you have an answer? Good.

The answer is neither. The photo above was taken with my original iphone 1. As for the photo quiz, photos 2 and 3 were taken with the big camera. Really what I had hoped was to inspire people to think about the fact that you don't need a fancy camera to get good, meaningful photos of your kids. Keep snapping. Capture the moments like your kid's nose picking problem.

Being a long term blogger, I know blog comments are going to be light starting now until January. I'm planning some big photo projects around the house so I'll be documenting the ways in which I get the photos OFF THE COMPUTER and into our lives.

Why I buy more kleenex since becoming a mom

Last night we discussed with the boys what we should do for our big family holiday donation. Should we help people who don't have food, help buy supplies for schools that don't have them, help kids who don't have parents?

Nate said: "Why don't we do all of it?"

More kleenex, please.

(And ideas on incorporating giving with children, please. We want to GO BIG this year.)

A ketchup post. Or catch up post, however you pronounce it

The last two months have been crazy busy with my photography business which is AWESOME for two reasons. 1 - hello, dream coming true! 2 - Nate and Alex needed a break from my photography antics and I needed a break from them.

Since I am caught up on all clients, last night I decided to catch up on the last few months of personal photos and get them printed. My posts here have been light on photos recently so I thought I would share some ones that stood out to me. WITH TITLES PEOPLE, because I am a fancy pants professional now. Can you guess which are the fancy camera and which are the point and shoot?

1 - "I'm King of the Playground World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"




2 - "When does the gun phase end? Oh, NEVER???"




3 - "Boys will be boys"




4 - This meta photo will BLOW YOUR MIND. Me taking a picture of Nate who is looking at a picture he took of me. It is the matrix?




5 - And my personal favorite. Or rather, least favorite. "Why Laura has gotten so many colds this year, this is how germs are spread at Casa Case."




Only two of them were taken with the big camera, the rest with a point and shoot. Can you guess which ones?

A public service announcement

I learned last night the Ames' 5 year old development book only covers age 5 to 5.5. The Ames' 6 year old development book covers age 5.5 to 7. Title? "Your 6 Year Old: Loving and Defiant"

Some excerpts that apply to our household:

• dawdle and fuss throughout each meal, spoiling the whole meal situation for everyone else at the table
• fights and fusses with playmates, seeming quite incapable for playing peaceably
• nightmares bother them so much
• crying about almost everything

I feel so much less crazy every time I read one of these books. Less like I am failing as a parent.

The church post. One I never thought I'd write

I didn't attend church for 20 years so it comes as a big surprise to say my family has been regularly attending church for almost the last two years.

Right around the time my boys starting asking questions about religion, I made a new friend Katie. Religion frequently comes up in the south and as I had coffee with Katie one evening, she talked about how she loved that her church was a mix of everyone - Christians, Jews, gays, buddhists, agnostics, atheists.

I believe the look on my face was WHAT WHAT WHAT???? And that is how I started to learn more about Unitarian Universalism (UU).




I love that America is one big melting pot of cultures and religions. I also love that America is a place where you are free to express your opinions and pursue your own religious beliefs without persecution. And that is why I think being a UU is one of the most American things I can do. Two of the seven principles of UU are:

* Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth
* A free and responsible search for truth and meaning

For the first time in my life, I understand why people go to church. Every week I walk out inspired to be a better person. We have found a community of like-minded people. We have learned how hard it is to TRULY accept everyone, even those who disagree with you.

Yesterday our family proudly stood on stage to light the chalice at the beginning of service at UUFR. It's a place I NEVER imagined I would be with my family but I am proud we have found a spiritual home. A place where the boys can openly search for their own religious truth, even if it differs from my and Jon's beliefs. A place where they learn about every religion. A place where they learn the inherent dignity and worth of every person.



I promise not to go all crazy posting religious posts, but you will see more and more of UUFR here. Fall/winter season is particularly busy with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, winter solstice, and Kwanzaa celebrations. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love my crazy hippie church.

I'm gunning for most un-fun parent ever. Get it? GUNNING

The boys are off school for Veteran's Day so this morning we went for a round of dentist visits, hair cuts, and errands. Exactly what every kid wants on a holiday! And exactly what I imagine every working parent is doing with this day.



This was the first time Alex didn't cry and scream at the dentist so they were both given the privilege of picking any toy from the treasure chest. After talking to the dentist, I went around a corner to find Nate proudly holding a toy dart gun.

I made Nate pick a different toy. The hygenist asked what was wrong and I said we don't treat guns as toys in our house. And that they could not choose any other kind of weapon from the prize box either. It was a super awkward moment where I knew I was being silently judged but I was standing my ground.

I don't really care if I win lame parent award on this one. It seems completely crazy to me that you can't get CANDY at the dentist but you can walk out with a toy gun. I mean, what if they shot each other in the teeth?

(In other news, we could see the grown up teeth on the x-rays pushing up their front bottom baby teeth. )
(Now I'm off to have fun with the boys the rest of the day.)

Kids are 100% random

The first time I volunteered in one of the boys' classrooms, the first thing I noticed was that about half the kids were missing at least one tooth. I realized we needed to get some tooth fairy pillows quickly. The current trend is monster tooth fairy pillows (tooth fairy puts the money in the monster's mouth) and a crafty friend offered to make them for Nate and Alex.

I pulled up etsy to show Nate and Alex examples and they said they did not want monster pillows. I asked what they wanted and Nate yelled, "I want a turtle tooth fairy pillow!" Alex wanted his to be exactly the same as Nate's.

100% random.

A quick etsy search and we now own these:




100% random.

A conversation about the death penalty

This conversation was inspired by a religious education lesson the boys received at UUFR, when Jon was out of town for work one weekend.

Laura: How was church?

Nate: It was really, really bad. They told a story about a man whose family needed food. He stole a loaf of bread and they wanted to kill him! You shouldn't kill someone if they steal bread!

Laura: When do you think it is right to kill someone?


Alex: You should only kill someone if they kill someone else. If someone tried to kill me, I would kill them.

Laura: Some people like me think we should not kill people. Being in jail forever is a very bad punishment because they do not get to see their families or celebrate Halloween or have Thanksgiving dinner or have a birthday party.

Alex: What if someone tries to kill you?

Laura: If someone tries to kill you, punch them in the throat. Then they will fall to the ground and you can run to get the police.

Alex: I will punch them in the throat two times. (makes air punches)

Laura: The first time you punch them in the throat, they will fall on the ground because it hurts so bad. You should NOT punch them in the throat again while they are lying on the ground.

Nate: Maybe we could share our bread with people who don't have bread and then no one needs to steal or be killed.

I AM FINALLY GETTING THROUGH TO MY LITTLE REPUBLICAN!

The Ikea bed that would not die

Jon and I sometimes get mocked because we spend a lot of time researching purchases before buying anything big. It is all because of the Ikea bed that would not die.

When I moved from San Francisco to Chicago in 2000, I had nothing to furnish an apartment. Being a relatively poor, single 25 year old, I went to Ikea and bought EVERYTHING to furnish an entire apartment.

When Jon and I moved in together, my Ikea bed was supposed to be our guest room bed. Jon's queen bed wouldn't fit up the stairs of the coachhouse so the Ikea bed became our bed.

We moved the bed to our Raleigh apartment as a guest room bed, fully intending to get rid of it when we bought a house. We bought our house and found out we were having TWO babies, so we moved the Ikea bed into our first house with a plan to replace it.

Then we found out how expensive it is to have two babies at once. 4.5 years later, it remained our guest room bed. We said when we move, it is NOT moving with us.

Then we moved to the new house, our existing house, which is 5 bedrooms. When we moved, we had day care payments and two mortgages and 5 bedrooms to furnish, so that bed remained Nate's bed.

Our big anniversary present to ourselves this year was to say good-bye to that Ikea bed. I can tell you definitively Ikea beds are not designed to be moved multiple times nor are they designed to last as long as this one did. Nate's new bedroom furniture arrived this weekend. Do you think he likes it?

7 year itch? Nope.

Yesterday Jon and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. Sometimes it feels odd to celebrate this arbitrary date as we were best friends for four years before our wedding. At the same time, I love to celebrate this date because it is the day we stood in front of our friends and family and pledged to live out the rest of our lives together.




At dinner last night, Jon and I reflected over the last eleven years. Trips to Europe and Hawaii. Back surgery. Hearing surgery. Move to Raleigh. Dream house. This little surprise:




The way we summed it up is that on our wedding day, we were so full of hope and anticipation of this life we would create together. Seven years later, so many of our dreams have come true. Living in a place we love in a home we love with two amazing children - we are so blessed. Not every day in our marriage is perfect, but we are certainly better together than we ever were apart.





Everything you see here, everything I write about, is only possible because of Jon. He cares for the kids, does stuff for the house, supports me in this crazy photography dream, and works super hard at his job. It's why I married him and why I had kids with him. We make each other better and we are a freaking great team.

We have to be a good team to deal with this duo:



Here's to 70 more years together.

On craziness

I got an email via my photography blog that again, my photos have been stolen and used by someone on a personal Facebook account. Here's the thing. I can watermark them. I can make this blog private. I can refuse to post pictures of my children. I can use fake names.

BUT THEN THE CRAZY PEOPLE WIN.

I refuse to let one rotten apple spoil the whole bunch.
I refuse to let one crazy person who wants to pretend my adorable children are theirs ruin what I've built here.
I refuse to let the hard times ruin what is an amazing experience, raising these little babies into boys into men.

I took this photo of Nate last night to remind me they're still so little.

I also took it to remind me the crazy people can post these photos on Facebook all they want, they will never have what I have here. I feel sad for them, longing for a better life instead of getting out there and LIVING IT.



Crazy people, stealing my photos will never find you happiness.

And then there's this

I never want to make it sound like an age is ALL bad. It is never all bad. These letters came home from school yesterday:




Top from Alex:
"Dear Mom, I miss you. Me and dad have pizza for dinner."

Bottom from Nate, when asked by his teacher to write what would make his life better:
"I wouldn't be bad anymore."

And then I died from cuteness.

Do I have to be the first to say it?

I am not a fan of the 5.5 year old disequilibrium stage. In fact, this might be one of my least favorite ages.

Back me up May06 Babycenter mamas!

I think the politically correct way to say it is that I am not well-suited to deal with the difficulties of this age. The most negative attributes of this age are my biggest button pushers:

• Defiance. OH MY. This is my #1 button pusher.
• Arguing/back talking/sassing. Whatever you want to call it. It makes me want to scream.
• Not listening. I mean REALLY not listening.
• Twin escalation syndrome. This is perhaps the worst age for TES we've experienced. More on that below.

Individually, the boys are delightful, rational, and calm. When we get them together.... I truly feel like I am going crazy. They can not keep their hands off each other. And the bickering. THE BICKERING. I have recently taken to turning off my hearing aid when I'm on my own with them.

I keep reminding myself we are at the heart of age 5.5 and that this particular phase is needed for emotional growth. Joanna (who has recently started watching two 5.5 year olds after school each day) has been amazing at telling me that YES this age with two is really that hard.

Obviously there is unbelievable awesomeness is the craziness. And obviously I love my children and shower them with love, affection, and attention. And then there's this (prepare to die):





But I'm ready for a couple of calm, quiet days.

And yes I know I'll need to wait another 13 years for those days.

Halloween 2011

It had to happen. After FIVE Halloweens in a row where the weather was sunny and in the 70s, we finally got a rainy, windy, cold Halloween. We weren't going to let that stop us. Oh no, I was going to stand in the rain and make sure my boys got to trick or treat until they dropped.




You would never know Jon held an umbrella over me while we stood in the rain to get these photos.




Because of the cold and rain, we got a lot of early trick or treaters. I mean, people rang our doorbell at 5:30 while we were eating dinner. This led to the boys wanting to head out early, which led to crankiness because we didn't want to ring the doorbells while other people were eating dinner.

(This picture pretty much sums up life with twin 5.5 year old boys.)





We did go out and they were COLD. Jon did one loop, they came back to warm up and refuel with candy, and I went out for another loop. I think we hit five houses before they both complained they were too cold and wanted to stop.

After the boys went to bed, I told Jon that not every Halloween can be THE BEST HALLOWEEN EVER. What matters is that we're out there every year, trying to make memories, and keeping a positive attitude. From their perspective, they still got to decorate the house, dress up in costume, and get tons of candy.

And from my perspective, I want every photo of my children to be in masks. No need to look at the camera, no need to smile, everyone wins. Well, except for me and Jon who stood in pouring rain to take photos.