Viki's Wedding

Things are finally starting to slow down and I can catch up a bit.

So the girls had their first trip out of the country just prior to their first birthday. We took a trip to Toronto for my good friend, Viki's wedding. Viki and I met in England when we were in University at Keele and have been friends ever since. I love this picture of her, she looks like a movie star. And here's her new husband, Dale.

Anyhow, I was initially worried about flying with the girls. They've been on a plane before, but now they are just so squirmy. There is a reason why you don't have to pay for a toddler's plane ticket--so few people are dumb enough to fly with them. Fortunately for us, the flights were not crowded at all and the girls had a whole row of seats to climb on. They were really great and didn't cry at all. I don't know what we would have done if they had had to sit in our laps the entire time.

Once in Canada we stayed with Viki's mom, Elizabeth and her brother Vilmos. (That's Elizabeth with Viki and the twins). The girls really loved them and they had the whole house ready for the babies--complete with pack-n-plays and baby gates. We joked that Elizabeth was going to keep them, and you know I think the girls would have happily stayed. Especially Evey. Every time she saw Elizabeth she put her arms out to go to her. Elizabeth made lots of Hungarian food, which the girls loved almost as much as Andre did. He even came home with recipes and a pasta maker.

We had so much fun. Viki's brothers Vilmos, Endre, and Endre's wife--Maria hung out with us a lot. They are some of the nicest, most intelligent, fun people to be around. I can't say enough good things about them. I wish we lived closer. Well, to clarify, I wish we lived closer, but still in warm weather. Canadian spring is still pretty darn cold.

The wedding was so awesome. I don't even know where to begin. I am tempted to begin by saying how amazing the food was, or that we had courses...yes, actual courses of gourmet food--like an episode of Top Chef. The dancing, the location, the decorations, everything was just amazing. But to be honest, (and I know this sounds trite, but its true) the best part was that my good friend who I so love married this incredible person who I know loves her. That was the best part of the wedding.

I also got to see Shelley; aka Shell-i-triple-i. Shelley, Viki, Brad, and I backpacked around Europe together. There is something about traveling through foreign lands together that creates this special bond. That's been about eight years ago now, which is hard to believe. I love those people so much and our travels are some of the most memorable times of my life. So it meant a lot to see Shelley and to meet her boyfriend Chris there too.

We had such a wonderful time, I can't wait until our next visit together.

The Girls Turn One

Friday, Rowan and Evelyn turned one. I've been trying to find the words to express what this year has to meant to me, but instead I find myself repeating the same old, "my how time has flown by" and "I can't believe its already been a year." Its the same old trite remarks I remember my parents saying when I was a child while I was thinking, "what are talking about? This year has taken for-e-ver!"

I have to say that it has been one of the most remarkable years of my life and I have enjoyed every bit of it. Even the difficult, messy, stinky, and sleepless parts were good because the girls were a part of it.

So in typical fashion for our house, we celebrated their first year with a huge blowout party. The party was a circus theme, complete with a cotton candy machine, popcorn and jump castle. Andre even had the local fire engine make a guest appearance. I made a two story carousel cake for them. The top layer was white cake and the bottom was chocolate. T

There were so many kids running around, it was absolutely beautiful. And our good friend Will flew into town from New Orleans to celebrate the girls' birthday and his too. Dolly, Starr, Jamie, Michael and Lily drove up from San Antonio and my dad drove down from Fort Worth. All in all it was a good turn out.




Mimi (their grandmother) made their little dresses. They had circus prints on them and big satin bows. The girls were so cute.

The Girls' First Year

Learning to stand on one's own

Rowan and Evey have been able to stand while holding onto something for a while, but they are now in the process of letting go and standing on their own. Its so cute to watch. It takes all of their concentration--like balancing on a tightrope, and they are so proud when they can do it.

Here's a little video of Rowan last night learning to stand:


Rowan learning how to stand from Leigh on Vimeo.

St. Baldrick's Day

Today was St. Baldrick's Day, which is a wonderful fundraiser created to help kids with cancer. Andre and many others today, raised money and shaved their heads at the Childrens' hospital.

Several kids battling cancer came down to watch the event and other kids who were too sick to come outside watched from the windows. Thank you everyone who donated. It really means a lot to us and I know Andre was very touched by the overwhelming show of support from so many people.

I have a few before and after pictures.







Here's one of all the firefighters.





After the head shaving we took the girls inside the hospital to a really beautiful garden. That green, green, perfect grass is not real. That's why its so green. Its awesome though and perfect for the girls--they can't pull any out to eat.

Pipes and Drums

Have you ever started something that became something bigger and more important than you imagined it ever would be?

Andre has been playing the bagpipes downtown all day to a large crowd of people, including the Police Chief. This little firefighter bagpipe band that started with just a handful of people, taking lessons, selling baked goods is now...how do I explain this? Its amazing.

Through their own hard work they started a nonprofit band to bring together firefighters, police, and EMS. You may not realize this, but in some places there is a huge division between those services. In fact, there are stories of knock-out, drag-down fights--and so this unified group is quite significant. The band has grown to about 30 members--all emergency service men and women.

What's more, is the importance that it has for our community. The public is interacting with them in an approachable, non-traumatic, friendly way. At the end of their set, they'll tell the crowd about the service men and women who have lost their lives saving others and then play Amazing Grace. Its such a moving song, especially with several bagpipes and drums playing in unison. Everyone in the crowd will raise their glass as a show of respect. I've seen grown men tear up. People are truly moved and visibly recognize the sacrifice that is made for the good of all people. For a job that is often so thankless, you can see people honor them, appreciate them, value them.

As a community it is crucial to have a good relationship between the public and the emergency service persons. It makes the public safer. It decreases violence in the community. It makes the emergency service persons safer too. All of this they've done, and they're a damn good band too.

This is the band playing for 911 this past year at City Hall.

Luck o' the Irish

These pictures have absolutely nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day. Such is life as a baby. The significance of green milk is really not appreciated at this age and so we skipped the festivities and spent the night playing instead. Here are a few recent pics:




Both girls are getting a lot of teeth now. You can see Rowan's grill here. She's quite a biter too. I've counted four new teeth for Rowan, and three new teeth for Evelyn.

There is never enough time--unless you're serving it.

I'm a bit behind here and I'm not exactly sure where last week ended and this one began. Anyhow, Andre and I came home last week to find our very good friends, David and Belen, had been at our house while we were away at work, pulled weeds and planted us a new garden full of delicious veggies. I think it has to be one of the most kind, thoughtful, amazing things someone has done for us and completely unexpected.

Belen said they had seen both of us looking out at our overgrown garden longingly and that we had both mentioned at different times how much we wished we had had the time to plant one this year. That's a good friend.

Lots of people give gifts that they themselves actually want, but a really good friend gives something they know you really want. It requires the friend to pay attention--and that is rare to find in another. They are really good friends.

I've been taking the girls out to see the garden every afternoon when I come home from work. I think they like it too.

We celebrated my sister's birthday last week too. This is Evey playing the drums. She was really having a good time. The girls were wearing their little guayaberas that their abuelo and nona brought them from Panama. Evey looked like she could be playing the drums for the Cuban band "Buena Vista Social Club" (albeit a very young member).

I was looking for a pair of shorts for Evey to match her guayabera she was wearing. I found a pair of pants she wore at 3mths that still fit her waist and the leg part that used to be down to the floor is now at her knees. They were perfect. Its so funny how much they've grown.

I realized yesterday that the girls turned 11 months. Its their last month until a year old. Of course some people will continue to use months for their babies, as in, "my baby is 18 months old," which is kind of weird I think. Why not just say, "he's just over a year," or "she's a year and a half." I figured that I'm 400 months old, which sounds very old and implies that maybe I should have done more in my life by now. Luckily I'm in a career in which the average age is "grey-haired and balding," whatever age that is.


We also celebrated our friend Julie's birthday. She had a pub-crawl by bike. Andre went the whole route on his big dummy bike (that's what its called--a "big dummy"--its a commuter bike and really cool, but only other big dummy people really know how totally cool it is). The girls and I met up with the group at one restaurant-pub. Everyone ooed and awed over the girls, then we went home and played the rest of the day.

Kite Festival

We took the girls to the 81st Annual Kite Festival. Well it was the girls' first, but I hope to make it an annual event. It was a beautiful day too.

We didn't bring a kite, so dad flew Rowan around for a while.











After the festival we went to see the new movie Coraline in 3D (Tia Laura babysat). It was a really good movie based on a Neil Gaiman novella; although I think its too scary for little kids.

Father Daughter Dance

Scott and Sydney went to a father-daughter dance this weekend. Its so crazy how fast she's grown.

playing

As a kid you can always find something to play with or make a mess.

Here's a picture of Evey finger painting (with yogurt and food coloring) and one of Rowan pushing the dog bowls around.

St. Baldrick's Day

There is not a person around who has not been touched by the devastation of cancer. Our family is no exception. Andre is a two time testicular cancer survivor.

We can all think about our lives and imagine if some key moment had gone drastically different and how that could have changed everything. It is so easy to take for granted that Andre survived cancer both times. That he had good doctors and good treatment. That he is healthy and we have beautiful children now. It is simply unimaginable that it could have gone any other way and yet I know that everyday someone loses someone they love to this horrible disease. In fact, we lost my uncle to cancer just this year. Cancer is something that we must continue to fight, to find new treatment, and improved methods for early detection.

Andre in 2003
So to help fight this terrible disease Andre is participating in St. Baldrick's Day and raising funds to help fight cancer in children. Children at Dell Children's Hospital undergoing chemotherapy will help shave the participants heads and share their stories on March 21st.

Andre hopes to raise $1000 for this cause, every little bit gets him closer to his goal. If you would like to donate to the cause you can go to his website at: http://bit.ly/BaldAndre or click here Bald Andre All proceeds are tax deductible and go directly to the foundation.

Happy Birthday Dad

Andre, the girls and I went to visit my dad to celebrate his 74th birthday. To celebrate we went to dinner with Uncle Ray and Aunt Donna. They are relatives by marriage--the marriage ended years ago, but the inlaws remained and they are truly wonderful people.

My dad is doing really well. He's a young 74, which surprises me considering the crazy life he's had.

Its been a joy getting to know my parents as an adult. To begin to see them as their friends must see them. I find that I have a new appreciation and a new love for them both. I like talking to them about their lives and hearing the real story--not the phoney baloney stuff you tell your kids when they're little so that they have a good example--but the real stories, the stories that make them interesting, complex, fallable and human.

My dad really has some great stories too. And he never tries to cover up his mistakes or make himself out to be the good guy if he wasn't. And his stories are funny too. Like when he used to drive an ambulance back in the day when ambulances were owned by private funeral homes and the ambulance drivers would fist fight over who got to take the patient, or they would drive a "not yet dead" old person around the block a few times because they'd get paid more by the funeral home than the hospital--that sort of thing.

He's lived a hundred lives in one, been married to four women, had many girlfriends, many careers and traveled all over. He's one of the few people I know who can make friends with anyone and treats them all with genuine kindness--sometimes to a fault.

Anyhow, this time I asked him about his favorite car. He said it was a 1956 Ford Skyliner that he bought in 1956. It was two tone blue. This is a picture of one, but not his--he totaled his "doing something stupid," he said. When he talks about that car you can still see his eyes light up. I wish I could see him as he was then. I'm sure he gave (his mother) poor old Juanita a terrible time.

Emma, Alan and Maisie

Its funny the places that life takes you and the people you meet along the way. I spent a year in England on a study abroad program while I was in college--or "uni" as they would say. I met some of the most amazing, wonderful people and I've been lucky to stay in touch with so many of them.

Well, as luck would have it, one of my very good friends, Emma, married a man from Texas. Isn't that crazy? I mean, sure its a big state, but I never imagined that she'd have ties here. They may even move back one day! He's really awesome too and absolutely perfect for Emma.

Anyhow, they visit family and friends from time to time so we got to meet up with them. They just had a baby girl who is only a few months younger than our girls. Her name is Maisie and she's beautiful. She has the clearest blue eyes and porcelain skin. She's just a doll. It was so nice to catch up with our friends and always feels like no time has passed between us.

Girls First Visit to the Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo. Its a small zoo that's actually an animal sanctuary for animals that were confiscated or retired. They have a few lions and tigers, some other big cats, several monkeys, birds, and lots of goats.

The cool thing is that on each animals cage or fence there is a sign that not only says what kind of animal it is, but also where it came from. One of the big cats was confiscated from a drug dealer, another one was kept as a junkyard guard animal. Its crazy and cruel. The zoo said on their website that they get an average of 200 calls a month asking them to take in new animals.

Of course the girls favorite animals were in the petting zoo area. You can buy food pellets to feed the goats and sheep. Rowan and Evey both laughed when they got to touch a furry goat. It was really cute.

Phoenix Award

Last Saturday, the girls and I went to see their dad honored for saving someone's life. Not too many people can say they've saved someone's life. This was Andre's third time to receive the award. They are all for people who were saved using a defibrillator.

Andre played with the bagpipe band at the ceremony as well.

Happy Valentine's Day

Rowan and Evelyn On The Go from Leigh on Vimeo.

The Girls at 10 months

Well, they'll be 10mths on the 10th, but we went ahead and took their pictures.

Pediatrician Wellness Checkups

The girls had doctor visits today. Rowan weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces and is in the 50% for weight. Evelyn weighs 16.12 ounces and is in the 25% for weight. Rowan is 28 1/4 inches tall (75%) and Evelyn is 27 inches tall (25%).

The doctor said that both girls look to be doing really well. They are growing on schedule and developmentally they are doing well.

They both got a polio vaccine and didn't even flinch. We're following Dr. Sears vaccine schedule so this is their first polio shot.

Playing Hookie

I had court yesterday morning and took the rest of the day off to spend with Andre and the girls at the park. They are growing and changing too fast not to play hookie when the opportunity presents itself. The weather was so beautiful its hard to imagine its winter.

We took the girls to see the ducks, geese and swans first. They were quacking up a storm and the girls really loved it. I wish we had some bread for them. They were kind of feisty--the geese, not the babies--and they apparently attacked some girl who was trying to cross over on some rocks. People were still laughing about it.

We walked around a bit. Went through an exhibit set up about water conservation and ecology. Andre bought me a snow cone and we walked around the place where he proposed to me. It was under an old tree during the Festival of Lights. The tree is just a stump now, which is kind of sad. But its nice thinking about our engagement, and then being at the park very pregnant eating snow cones, and now back there again with our girls--and with yet another snow cone. Ah memories... And it occurred to me that I should have asked for Cotton Candy flavor instead of Coconut--note to self. It also occurred to me how happy I am with my little family.

Back at work today made me appreciate our time together at the park even more. All of my work days tend to run in together. Even the exciting ones. But being in the sunshine, playing in the park, was really zen. Those are the memories when you're sad or blue, or when you're laying in bed at night thinking about your life, you can pull out of your mind and hold in your hand again. That's an important thing to have.

playing

I never could have imagined how much fun it is to play with the girls at this age. I guess I pictured pre-verbal babies to just sit around and play with chunky toys like they do in commercials. Our babies rarely sit around to do anything.
They're playing fairly well with each other. I try to give them time to play together without us and when we're all playing I try to facilitate them playing nicely with each other.

I think their favorite game is attack mom and dad. They speed crawl to us and then climb over us, slobber us with kisses and giggles. I'll grab them and roar which they find hilarious. And Andre likes to zerbert their bellies.

Andre said Rowan stood up on her own today. I think she's going to be walking soon. I'll hold her hands and help her to walk across the floor. Evey too, but she really hates it. She wants to be held instead and complains the whole time she's walking. She's getting a new tooth though and will soon have two vampire teeth like Rowan. They change so much every day.

The girls are eating more grown up food. They haven't quite mastered the art of using utensils, but they are very adapt at giving the dog their food. The babies are the best thing that ever happened to Joey.

Weekend getaway and Superbowl

We went on a mini vacation this past weekend with three other couples. We rented this really wonderful lake house that included two additional cabins. We took the girls and the dogs, enjoyed the nice weather, played lots of games, and cooked great meals. The only downside was that it went by too fast.


They had a fabulous porch swing that the girls and I loved. There are those sweet moments when you're holding your baby and just wishing that time could stand still. This was definitely one of those moments. Rowan was all curled up in my arms rocking, and with every rock her little eyes would get heavier and heavier.


We returned Sunday evening to a Superbowl street party with our neighbors. The kids are so cute and Evey and Rowan have so many friends. This is such a good neighborhood for them grow up in.