You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why....

For the past few morning leading up to Christmas, I sang "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" every morning while dressing the babies. They must have taken it to heart about the no crying, pouting, shouting bit because they were absolutely wonderful this Christmas. I keep referring to today as their '1st' Christmas, because for all intensive purposes, it is. And besides- I was so tired this time last year I don't remember anything about the day except for what I see in pictures! For comparison's sake (and you know how I love to look back), let's see the difference between last year's Christmas Eve after mass picture and this year's.



Every child needs Christmas pajamas, and since we have double the children, we have double the Christmas pj's! Here's PJ's #1 a few days before Christmas. We're just warming up for the big day.


And here we are with the day of Christmas PJ's. I think I can get away with dressing them alike until they're, oh, 18-ish?


Speaking of dressing alike... In case you missed it in the first family photo, here are the duo in their matching plaid Christmas clothes. It's practice for Catholic school! I could just eat them up.




Much progress has been made in the way of actually understanding receiving new gifts, as evident by their reaction to....

1- the new indoor climbing/sliding/crawling around in gym from Meema and Papa


2- the Woolly and Lucy pillows from Grammy and Pops


3- the piggy bath toys from Uncle Jon and Aunt Niki


4- and last but not least... what every baby dreams of... their very own personalized Daisy BB guns from Papa!



We had a wonderful day and are very thankful for all of the wonderful people in our lives. Merry Christmas everyone!

Holiday Festivities

Uncle Bill, Aunt Blake, and Will were in town visiting at the beginning of the month and good times were had by all. We went to Uncle Marvin and Aunt Edie's house on the river to see the Julington Creek boat parade where Reid fell asleep for the parade and Eva jumped up and down waving to all of the passing adorned vessels. Does this surprise anyone?



Our next adventure with Will was the annual Oyster Roast at Meema and Papa's house. It was scaled down this year for just family but we still had a blast. All of the cousins hopped on board for the hayride around the pasture, bundled up against the awesome cold winter night.



We've been making the rounds visiting all of our social circles lately as well. So many places to go and people to see! Our first Christmas party was with the multiples club we belong to- JACKPOTTS (Jacksonville Parents of Twins and Triplets). Yes, triplets- there were 3 sets at the party. Ack! I'll keep my twins. This was also our first encounter with Santa. I shouldn't be surprised by their reaction, as evident in a picture my parents have of me at around 20 months old crying my eyes out with Jolly Old St. Nick.





Next stop, Christmas party at daycare. The reaction to Santa was not much different here and produced even more tears, but I don't have it documented just yet. The daycare assistant has that picture which I will be picking up shortly. Here we are snacking with our school buddies.



So far, we've had a very adventurous season and are really looking forward to Christmas Eve mass, dinner, and of course the big day next week. We'll check back in then!

Toddlerhood and Baby Blues (eyes that is)

So far, being one is awesome. Besides being sick since we turned 1 (yes, that's right- 2 weeks straight of illness), it's not too bad. Both kids are on antibiotics for ear infections discovered right around the time of their 12 month pediatrician's appointment. Reid weighed in at 23 lbs. 11 oz. and is 31 inches long. Eva is 18 lbs. 14 oz. and 30 inches tall. Looks like we're not closing the gap on the 5 lb. weight difference anytime soon.

I pulled out a few things to decorate with for Christmas yesterday, trying to find what I could put up that (1) would not be accessible by little hands and (2) would not clutter our already crowded house. I got to put the stockings up as the kids aren't quite tall enough to reach them. Next year will be a different story. For a perspective on how much they've grown in a year, take a look at these

November 30, 2007:


November 30, 2008:


Speech is getting better now, at least with Eva. I can recognize "yes", "doggy", and "thank you" (ta-ta) from her little pip squeak mouth. Of course "da-da" is a hit for both of them as well.

We have a collapsible tunnel that they LOVE chasing each other around in. Here's Reid enjoying the chase:


Aunt Susie and Uncle Scott got them this cool table and chairs set for their birthday. Not only has Eva learned how to climb in the chairs, but she's discovered she likes it up higher as well:


And finally, here's a few shots of what I get to see every day. And I thank God for it :)

A Year In Review

This is part 1 of 2 blogs I am posting this week about the big birthday. I feel I couldn't get everything I wanted to in one, so here it goes.

One year ago.... I was sitting in a hospital room, drugged up on Percocet and Motrin with a revolving door of family and friends coming and going. And the whole universe revolved around 2 little, tiny, itty bitty human beings who had just entered this world at 35 1/2 weeks along. Weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs. 11 oz. (Eva) and 5 lbs. 7 oz. (Reid), they were absolutely amazing. And now I proceed with my (abbreviated) year in review.

1 week before the big day. Whoah.


Just after midnight, November 15, 2007


Home at last, 3 days old


Still tolerating each other at 2 months old


First smiles at 3 months old


Baptism at 4 months old


Hanging out in our crib at 5 months old


Chilling at the pool at 6 months old


Playing on Mommy & Daddy's bed at 7 months old


Rocking out at 8 months old


Vacationing at the beach at 9 months old


Getting into trouble at 10 months old


Buying big kid shoes at 11 months old


Welcoming toddlerhood the right way at 1 year old. Sigh.

One of the many reasons having twins is so fun..

.. You get to dress them up together for Halloween! This year was a Disney year- Peter Pan and Tinkerbell had a very busy day. We started out at Merrill Lynch (or Bank of America I guess I should say), then went to Ross' office, and finally lunch at Chick-fil-a. Later on we 'trick-or-treated' around the neighborhood in our wagon. A good time was had by all! Reid was a bit tired toward the end, but Eva was really enjoying herself. Although she can't eat it yet, she really got the hang of the whole candy thing. I'm already planning for next year's costumes...




The weather has been unseasonably cooler than normal, and I love it. I don't love having to wrestle the babies to put shoes and more clothes on them, but they do look pretty cute in the end.


Back to the wagon... a wonderful early birthday gift from Meema and Papa and our favorite mode of transportation these days. Here are a few snapshots from our evening walks.

When are 'Babies' no longer 'Babies'?

So, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When are my 'babies' no longer considered 'babies.' I mean, don't get me wrong- they will always be MY babies (hello! MY Mom still calls ME 'baby'), however, after they turn the big O-N-E, they are technically toddlers. This makes me very sad. As most of you know, these 2 will most likely be it for us. A family of 4 plus 2 cats and 1 dog complete us. Unless God has other plans down the road, we're done. So, while I'm looking forward to all of the exciting stages ahead, I can't help but mourn my 'babies' being 'babies' for only 2.5 weeks longer.

We had a very exciting weekend in the Koelbel household! I think it all started with the almost nightly ritual of playing on Mommy and Daddy's unmade bed (shhhh, don't tell Meema the bed rarely gets made anymore!). This is by far one of the most exciting times of the week for these little guys, as you can see for yourself:




Then, we all went and had our family/one year birthday pictures made with our wonderful wedding photographer, Linda Olsen. It was such a whirlwind, but they turned out so well!! Afterwards, we went down to the beach with Meema and Papa where we took a few shots down on the stormy coast.






Next stop on Sunday- the pumpkin patch. The Diva wasn't as into it as wild man, but we got some good shots anyhow. Thank you Aunt Te-Te for going with us! They were just too cute and the weather was beautiful!



Our next update will be all about... Halloween! Can't wait!