Happy Halloween!!!

Costume trial run...


Colin is a happy monkey - he seems to like his costume.






Ava is a not-so-sure ladybug. Her costume is limiting her movement and she doesn't like that!


We'll see if they're up for a stroll this evening for some trick-or-treating!

Happy Anniversary!

Four years later... and twice as many family members!

Eleven Months!

Check it out! We're 11 months old today! Mommy is lucky to even have these sub-par pictures because Ava is always on the move these days...



Here is Colin acting like such a big boy.



Case in point. Ava on the move...


Where is that remote???


Got it!!!

Colin Before and After

Looking through old pics... The changes the babies have gone through are amazing!



And they are not even a year old yet!!

Colin has changed quite a bit - back then (this is about 1.5 months old) he was very fussy because of bad reflux... we felt so badly for him and gave him baby Zantac twice a day. Thankfully, he eventually grew out of it, but feeding him and worrying about his eating during that period was not fun for him nor, consequently, us!

His eyes were still blue back then, they've morphed into his daddy's and grandpa's more hazel/green/gray color you see here. And he's grown into his nose!

New Toy: Bucket of Water

Our friends over at Sotoriffic Twins posted on toys that don't make noise, and one of the suggestions was Water Bucket with floating toys.

Boston Mom thought that was a great idea. So, we got a bucket and floated some toys and put it on a towel in the living room!

Well, the toys didn't last long, they were discarded and the REAL fun began... splashing!

Pumpkin Pickin

We went pumpkin picking at Eagle Farms in Milton today while the sun was still out...




Ava eyeing the pumpkins...


She picked out a little one - just her size!


Mom and the little pumpkins.


Colin has something to say...


Time to go home!

Easybaby Car Belt Review

Welcome to the first of our Product Review installments! We hope to do these periodically to give our thoughts on what products are GREAT for babies - especially twins - and which are TERRIBLE.

First up, the Easybaby Car Belt!



Verdict: TERRIBLE!

um..... WHAT were they thinking!?!?!? Just look at that kid!


(yes, this is my new go-to photo for expressing incredulousness...)

Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Happy Birthday, Mommy! We're busy blowing up birthday balloons for you!



Wait you are HOW OLD?!?!?


That's ok, c'mere and give us a birthday kiss...


Mmmmmmwah! Kiss!


Happy Birthday! Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Love, your loving lovely family

Vegetarian Babies

We - meaning Boston Chef/Parents of Boston Twins - are not vegetarians. We like all kinds of meat, prepared lots of different ways. We've even made Bacon Candy!

However, and in spite of our fondness of carnivorous cooking, we often wish we were MORE vegetarian. We TALK about eating less meat, even ranking our meats into 3 levels of... sin? Starting with mammals as the most "sinful" (beef and pork), down a level to birds (chicken and turkey) as a little less sinful, and finally fish as the least sinful. Don't get us wrong, we don't sit around and bemoan our terrible eating habits while we pull apart a 5-hour-braised pork butt! It's actually when we AREN'T eating meat that we say "we should eat less meat!" We're obviously still working through this ourselves...



So, we are not vegetarians. The babies, however, are another story. They've never eaten meat - not at ANY of our three "levels". They get plenty of protein from their formula, yogurt, oatmeals and bagels and other cereals and grains... we even have them trying tofu! They don't NEED meat by any stretch of the imagination. Many millions of people throughout the world (hundreds of millions, actually) are vegetarian. 10% of U.S. adults identify their diet as "a vegetarian-inclined diet" and 3% of Americans are vegetarians... numbers that are on the rise and numbers that skew towards younger people. Being vegetarian is not only better for your health, but better for the health of the planet!



However, as noted, we are not vegetarians. So it brings us to a crossroads. We don't think we'll raise vegetarians - we, the Parents, are not going vegetarian. We'd like to go MORE vegetarian (eating less "sinfully" - as based on our meat levels - i.e. more fish, less red meat) but where does that leave the babies? At what point, if we keep them veg, will they look at us eating a perfectly roasted chicken and say "Hey! We want some of that, too!" What about - omg - when they come across the inevitable frozen chicken nugget monster? Or - gasps! - microwaved hot dogs? :faints:

Should we just get it over with and steam up some chicken for them? The French-Chicken-In-A-Pot we made the other night would be PERFECT for babies... but we don't even think about giving them any. Instead, we introduce tofu and wonder what to do. (update: they're NOT fans of the tofu!)



Now that the babies are staring down 1 year old (on Thanksgiving, no less! oh, turkey...) we realize we are going to have LOTS of decisions like this one. We have already made many "life decisions" but these decisions seem to be steadily increasing in order of magnitude...



Thoughts on veg or not? Should we just take the plunge? Ava loves her fruits and veggies, but Colin less so. He is really dependant on his 30ozs of formula every day - what about when we take that away from him? If it is inevitable, why wait?

Little Patriot Fans

Our little guys are pretty disappointed - along with the rest of Boston - with the Patriots and Red Sox both blowing it this weekend!


Doesn't she look upset?



Or, more likely, they don't really care about the Pats and Sox. They just want to play.





Ava looks upset that Colin has her toy...



... but it appears she may have devised a sneaky idea to get it.



Ava's favorite thing to do, go upside down:







Modelling her Moss jersey. Colin has Welker...


There's always next week!