Four Generations

While Great-Grandma Hannold was in Brockway today for Christmas we managed to take a picture of the four generations on that side of the family: Great-Grandma Hannold, My Mom, Me, and Colin & Gillian.

Babies 2.0

Here you see an example of the so-called interactivity that Lea has labeled "Babies 2.0". Gillie-bean appears to like a purple seal (now named Percival) that came with here island-themed tummy-time play-yard. I'm not really sure where the seal fits into the island theme, but anyway Percival is her favorite. In the video below, Percival talks with the little Bean and gives her a kiss. The Bean accepts Percival's affection and smiles in return. This is pretty much the extent of the interactivity exhibited by Gillie’s implementation of Babies 2.0.

While limited in scope, Babies 2.0 is still preferable to Babies 1.0... Mommy is anxiously awaiting Babies 2.5 - Sleep-through-the-Night Edition.

Some Milestones

Gillie and Colin have started to be more "interactive" lately. Babies 2.0 as I tell Michael. They are awake a little more, more interested in looking around, and are beginning those first social interactions. Colin had his first smile around week 6 and Gillian a week later. They are still pretty fleeting, so they are hard to capture on camera. They are also starting to coo and squeal, which is music to my ears. Here's a picture of Gillian with her first favorite toy, Percival the Purple Seal. He came with this HUGE tummy time mat that Santa delivered early to our house. When you rattle him and make him kiss Gillie's face she gets this great smile and, I swear, is the next thing to giggling. Very cute, I assure you.

Getting Ready for Christmas, or Not Colin's Fav

So, on top of taking care of two 8 week old babies (yes, they are 8 weeks old today!), we're doing the whole Christmas thing. Well, maybe not the "whole" thing. I've been taking it pretty easy with buying gifts and decorating, and as much as I would like, no homemade cookies this year. But, we did put up a little 3' artificial tree (we usually have a 6' real tree) and have up a few other things. I dressed the babies in two of their Christmas outfits the other day and took a couple pictures. Gillian was very pleasant and, for once, not skeptical. Colin on the other hand, was not a happy little man. Here are a couple of my pictures (note that I took these, not Michael, so they aren't up to par).

Gillie looking cute:




Colin not being happy, but still cute:


One together:

Wearing Daddy's Onesies

During my summer/fall of restricted activity, I had a small amount of time on my hands (what did I do with all that time??), and I discovered the joys of internet shopping. I also wanted to get Michael a small gift for the day the babies were born that would be special to him. So, I found a site that makes personalized onesies and I thought, "Aha! That would be perfect!" So, I ordered two special onesies for us in size 0-3 months and they finally fit!

Here's Gillian:


If you can't read it, her shirt says, "Space: Not Just for Boys Anymore." Michael feels very strongly that both children will do well in math and science and will find gainful employment as some sort of scientist, especially Gillian. When I was pregnant and talking about the babies' future, he told me "You know, space isn't just for boys anymore." So, Gillie proudly wears her shirt! Also, she continues her streak of looking skeptical in photos.

Here's Colin:


When Michael was a little guy himself, he would often ask his Dad to tell him about steam. It is an infamous Uhl story. So, naturally, Colin will learn about the beauty of steam at an early age.

In fact, the presence of the onesies this week prompted a space lecture and a steam lecture. Michael asked the babies after work one night what their Mommy had taught them about space and steam. My response was, "Not much," so, we definitely need Daddy.

Ready for Their Close-Ups

Today we were taking some pictures that Grandma RoRo had requested and managed to snag a couple nice individual photos of the kids. C-Man...

Gillie-Bean...

Smith Family Thanksgiving

Here's the end of our Thanksgiving pictures!! We had Thanksgiving lunch with my mom's side of the family the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it was the first time that most of my family met C&G.

Great-aunt Sue LOVES babies, and especially loves giving babies baths. I don't particularly like giving baths, because C&G don't really like them yet.

Colin getting clean


Gillie's turn:


My twin cousins, Isaiah and Bernie, met C&G and we took the traditional "Twins holding Twins" picture. Isaiah was Twin A and he's holding our twin A (Colin); Bernie was Twin B and he's holding our twin B (Gillie).


And finally, we tried to get a picture of all four great-grandchildren together. They aren't he best, but they are funny in that Sarah is SO much bigger than the twins!! Benjamin was also a good sport in the pictures!!

C & G Meet the Keisters or The Bean to Bean Connection

On the Friday night following Thanksgiving we celebrated my Dad's birthday with the Keisters as is our tradition. This was the first meeting between the twins and the Keisters though Colin and Gillian already felt that they knew Jessica as a result of her blogging. Mrs. Kathy was supposed to come down with my parents when Great Grandma Hannold visited, but was unable to make the trip. So, there was much excitement for the meeting. After dinner the twins got up and came out to visit. Mrs. Kathy took a turn holding Colin and my Mom held the Gillie-Bean.

However, this was the last baby holding that Mrs. Kathy would get to do, as her kids soon stole C & G. Jessica (a.k.a. Jessie-Bean) traveled the whole way from Ottawa for Thanksgiving and to meet Colin and Gillian:

Joe was back from Erie on Thanksgiving break and got to know Colin:

Joe told Colin that he would educate him about planes and other vehicles, while Jessie informed Gillian about the contemporary art on display at her museum in Canada... there seemed to be a particularly strong Bean-to-Bean connection.

More pictures on Flickr.

Some of our Thanksgiving Visiting

So we had a very busy Thanksgiving holiday; it was the first time that Colin and Gillian had made the trek north to Brockway/DuBois. They traveled very well and slept the entire time in the car (Mommy slept some too!). Michael and I were excited to go "home" for the holiday too since we hadn't been there since the Fourth of July due to all of our pregnancy complications. Here are just the beginning of our Thanksgiving pictures.

Colin with his Great-grandpa Bish:


Great-grandma Bish wasn't feeling well, so she didn't get to hold the babies, but she said she'd take double the turns at Christmas.

Gillian with Aunt Emily:


Uncle Stevie and Aunt Emily got to meet the babies too! Uncle Stevie declined to hold them, but Aunt Emily scooped them up pretty quickly.

Colin and Gillie also got to meet their cousin Becky, her fiance Haiko, and their Great-aunt Ruth.







Lots more pictures to follow as the babies allow Daddy time to get them on the internet!