Brett and Emma's first Chrismukkah!

Even though it is already mid-January...I thought I would share Brett and Emma's first Chrismukkah :)

I was an awful momtographer on Christmas. I was having so much fun with my family that I only got a few pictures. 

                                    On Chrismtas Eve, Brian insisted on making cookies for Santa. 

 Making cookies hasn't exactly been a hobby of mine since I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Brian was pretty excited, though. It looks like Santa ate quite a few cookies!! 

The next morning Brett and Emma woke us up bright and early because they wanted to open presents! (Well, I am assuming that's why they were up so early!!)

Hanging out by the tree.

Hey mom, can I eat this?

Brian decided that Brett and Emma would open his gifts first. Two words: Big Mistake!

Gerber cheese puffy things...my favorite! 

Once these were opened, we had to hide them in another room and coddle B&E who were in tears because they couldn't eat their favorite snack at 7:00AM. I am not sure what is in those things but I swear it's baby crack! 

And then finally they were on to other things...

This is OK. Where are my cheese puffs?

Did somebody say cheese puffs?

Mommy, I like this one!

Presents for Emma!

We helped Brett and Emma unwrap presents for a little while and then I gave Brian his gift...

Who is excited?

He got a PS3! I know he loves it because he has a bromance date every night at 9:30 with his boyfriends :) Look for PAPAbox on Modern Warfare 3! 

When our family came over just a little while later, Brett and Emma got to open even more presents!!  

We had a great Chrismukkah and feel truly blessed for all the friends and family we were able to spend time with over the holidays! 

Shana Tova!

Hey, friends! No time to chat but wanted to wish everyone a Shana Tova (good and sweet new year!)

I made these adorable onesies for Brett and Emma. Enjoy...they will look even MORE adorable once the cutie babies are inside of them :)

               So, happy 5772!!! There is no better way to celebrate than with Phylis and Honor's cooking! Deliciousness! I think I will be stuffed for days...

Birthday wishes & more!

     Brett and Emma had a busy weekend...like always!! They got to meet their new cousin, Asher, on Saturday night! He was born at the same hospital as Brett and Emma :) 

     A co-worker of mine and her family came to visit Sunday night and we had a great time! I took the cutest pictures of her two girls holding Brett and Emma and then accidentally deleted them when I was uploading my pictures! They were seriously adorable, I am so bummed. 

     Today is my good friend Stacey's 25th birthday! Brett and Emma wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday!

  
     Celebrating 25th birthdays can be tiring so Brett and Emma decided to have a little tummy time and then take a nap. 

   I was looking at an article on BabyCenter.com today and then began browsing the site. It was my first time ever really on this particular website but I started looking at the baby week-by-week and found this:


"Guilt over not breastfeeding can hit especially hard if you had planned during pregnancy to do so but then circumstances made it impossible or more difficult than you'd expected.  ...  The main thing to remember is that how you feed your baby is ultimately not as important as providing love and care."


     Brian knows that I have had some guilt about quitting breastfeeding so soon...but he always reminds me that we are still giving our babies the best in every way we can. Society puts a lot of pressure on moms to breastfeed today and it really is for good reason. But you would be surprised at how unaccepting some people can be with the choice to formula feed. I didn't realize it until I was lurking around on some online message boards. It took a lot for me to not butt in and tell some of those biznatches off, but that is another story :)


     Anywho - this is what I was looking for to begin with...

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's brain is expanding in size and complexity. It will grow about 5 centimeters during the first three months.

You may notice short periods of time when your newborn is quiet and alert. This is prime time for learning. Use these calm intervals to get better acquainted with your baby — talk to her, sing to her, describe the pictures on the walls. She may not be able to add to your conversation just yet, but she's learning nonetheless.

New textures for her hands to feel and new sights and sounds (all in moderation) are all learning opportunities. Even bath time becomes a laboratory for understanding the world around her.




     Brett and Emma have had a lot of quiet alert time recently. It is so fun to play with them and try to make them smile and make funny noises. They like to lay on their play mats, bounce around on our laps, sit up in their Boppy pilows, and all kinds of things! I cannot wait for Brett and Emma to start really noticing each other and wanting to play together. That will be the best!!

My lucky lad and lady!

I hope everyone had a Happy St. Patty's Day!!


Brett and Emma did!!! 

Punch in the face?

Sorry, brother!

Look at this cute bottom!!

Big stretch!

Bigger stretch!

Brett's shirt says 'Irish you would kiss me'...so adorable! 

On Wednesday night some friends came over for dinner and to visit the munchkins! We ordered from my favorite sushi/thai place Fuji Yama. It is so good. I definitely missed sushi when I was pregnant, but I am making up for lost time, no worries. 

Lauren and Emma

Kristina and Brett


*Kristina has a beautiful two year old daughter and is expecting a little boy of her own this summer! *

     We have a fun weekend planned. We are going to Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete tomorrow morning with Grandma & Grandpa Boksen and their new stroller ....the Baby Jogger City Mini - in purple!

     I am excited to see it in person and see how it moves when we walk around downtown. 


Saturday afternoon Brett and Emma get some daddy time while I go to Lauren's for a Scentsy party that she is hosting. Even though I can't smell, Scentsy warmers are very cool and I am looking forward to picking up some new plug-ins for Spring and this autism awareness warmer. 

100% of the proceeds go to Autism Speaks!

     We also have some visitors coming by on Sunday to see Brett and Emma. Are you noticing a trend here? People come to see the babies, not us! 


     That is all for now...be back soon!

~Happy Friday~ 

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!! Brian and I sure did. My family came over yesterday and it was so nice. My mom and Grandma cooked a lot of delicious food, all my favorites! It was so nice to see everyone and still get to relax at home. THANK YOU!! :)

Brian really spoiled me this Christmas with a beautiful necklace with "Brett" and "Emma" on tiny little footprints and a birthstone for January. I hope I don't carry these babies into February!!! He also got me a little sea monkey farm! I was very excited :) He really surprised me with Marc Jacobs sunglasses I have been wanting for a while and a beautiful blue Burberry scarf. He wasn't expecting much for Christmas since I gave him 8 awesome presents for Hanukkah but I slipped a new XBox360 under the tree and he was so happy! He has been complaining that his hasn't been working well for a little while so I figured he would get rid of it when he got a new one. Nope. Now he has one upstairs and one downstairs...how convenient! Oh well, he can get all of his video gaming in now while we wait for the babies. Plus he has something to do when I make him go to bed early with me :)

Rusty and Rocco had a good Christmas, too. They got a lot of doggy toys. Rusty loves the Christmas tree. Here she is sleeping under it:

Isn't she sooo cute!!

Even though it was a great Christmas, we are really looking forward to Christmas with the babies next year! The babies are just a few weeks away from being born and there are still a few things to do. The nursery is almost done, but we need to finish putting away all the clothes and gifts! I started washing everything but I am getting tired of that, so I think I will just start hanging everything up and washing it as we need it. We have clothes from newborn sizes to 24 months, so there will be plenty of time for laundry. (OK, I know I will be kicking myself for that later!!)

We also need to pack a hospital bag and choose the babies' coming home outfits! The first outfit they wear after the hospital is very important. That is all I can think of for now, but I am sure there will be more and more things to get done!

Right now the babies are the size of honeydews. WOW!!!

Your amazing baby is on the move! They’ve been riding fairly high in your stretched-out womb till now (while kindly compressing your poor internal organs), but now they’re planning on making the big move to your pelvis this week. If you haven’t noticed it already, you’ll be feeling the weight shift that signals that your baby is most likely out of breech position, with their head now resting on your pubic bone. In liver news: although not quite fully formed, your little miracle’s liver is now capable of processing a certain amount of waste. In general, most of your child’s prenatal physical development is pretty much up to snuff and ready for the outside world. Naturally, further weight gain is expected—so you’re still not at maximum capacity despite probably feeling like you definitely are maxed out.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! Thanks for reading, and we will continue to keep you updated on Brett and Emma!! THEY ARE ALMOST HERE!!!! :)