First Movie Theater Visit

Riley, Ryan and I all have today off.  Daddy had to work, so I was trying to think of something fun for us to do today.  I called the Fenzls and they were heading to Phipps Plaza to see a movie so I asked if we could tag along.  We went to see The Princess and the Frog and they were great!  Riley ate her weight in popcorn and the made it through the entire movie!  Yes – all 95 minutes!  They loved it.  I wasn’t sure how long they would last, but they were rock stars.  Ryan sat in my lap most of the movie and Riley sat with Lori or in her own big girl seat.  They were too cute.  The only issue was when we ran out of popcorn.  I thought Riley might have a breakdown, so I had to run out and get more.  Oh and there was Ryan dropping his cup and me down on my hands and knees looking for his cup under the seats in front of us.  Can’t say I ever imagined doing that, but anything to keep the peace.  I’m one proud mama of my little ones.  Now they are napping, so I’m going to try to get a few projects done around the house.  Oh, forgot to mention the movie is delightful.  A great storyline and wonderful music.  Riley and Ryan were dancing a few times.  I might even be purchasing the soundtrack!

My blogging eyes have been opened…

So my sister told me about a new blogging tool called Windows Live Writer.  She said it has changed her blogging composing world, so I have been eager to test it out.  So far (just about 5 minutes) into this test, I already LOVE it!  All the frustrations of my old “way” seem to be a piece of cake here.  Now that it seems to be easier, I think I might just have to send out some updates more often!

In the meantime, below are their school photos taken this Fall by
Muddy Faces Photography. 
I think these turned out great…especially for school pictures!

Mini Makeover update:  Riley’s pink room and their yellow dressing areas and bathroom have been painted!  They look great!  Gran-daddy and Daddy worked hard all day long and it looks like professionals were here.  They plan to finish up tomorrow with Ryan’s blue room – which will be their shared room until we separate them at some point. 
Well done boys! 

We all say a
great big thank you!
(in pink of course!)

Mini Makeover Preparation!

So we are going to paint Riley & Ryan’s bedrooms this weekend, but we aren’t quite ready for the transition to 2 rooms or to full size beds, so in the interim we are going to spruce up the bedding on their toddler beds and work on decorating their bathroom. It will all be ready once the time is right for moving them to their separate rooms and beds. So – we purchased this shower curtain for their bathroom.

It has all the colors from Ryan’s and Riley’s future bedding, so it should be a good starting point for making their shared bathroom flow from both rooms. For Ryan, we purchased this toddler bedding. It’s the right price for something temporary and is fairly good quality.

Same for Riley – we purchased this set.

I’m very excited about doing a mini makeover this weekend and presenting them with their “new room” with fresh paint and GIRL bedding and BOY bedding! Now – we just need to finalize our paint colors and purchase the paint so Dad and Kevin and do their magic!

In Kevin's words, "what's wrong with the current bedding"? And my answer is, "nothing". But...we did not find out the gender of the babies before they were born, so we had to decorate the nursery in very gender neutral tones with very little options. I have picked out train bedding for Ryan and a very girly print for Riley with lots of PINK! Now is the time that I am going all out with decorating for a sweet little GIRL and a precious little BOY! I look forward to posting photos after this weekend!

New Class & Snow!

Riley and Ryan started in EPS2 this week and had basically no transition issues. They seemed to adjust without a hitch and had a great first week. They have each gone pee pee on the potty (Riley more than Ryan) and seem very happy when I pick them up each afternoon. This last week had lows in the teens most every day and it rarely got above freezing, so they have had lots of time indoors. I know they are looking forward to some time on the playground this week.

The only hiccup in their new class was Riley falling and busting her lip...but it was on Thursday afternoon once I arrived. She was running with her hands in her pocket and fell and hit her lip. There was instant blood and crying. I was actually getting the update for the day from her teacher when it happened, but we all jumped into action and stopped the bleeding. She looked pretty pitiful, but has recovered nicely.

On Thursday night we got some snow! It was mainly ice, but there was a little snow to look pretty. School was closed on Friday, so the kiddos had a day at home with daddy. It's been a snowy and icy weekend, but we've had a fun time playing inside! The kiddos only braved the cold briefly on Friday to walk next door, but they had fun pointing out the snow and ice. It was so cold, we didn't have to convince them to come inside.

While we were next door, the kiddos played down in their basement and watched a movie. This was the first time ours went down with the big kids so we checked in quite a bit. Riley seems to have a crush on Paul (always has) and this is what I found on one of my checks. She left playing with the other kids to join Paul for some quiet time to watch the movie. Too cute!

The kiddos have have finally learned the rule "no jumping" on the couch, so they have been pulling off all the cushions and playing on them. They spent hours this weekend entertaining themselves with jumpin, crawling, and just having a perfect time. They would get "stuck" and crawl under the cushions. We even built a fort today with the ottomans. I'm truly amazed at the amount of time they played in there. Gran-daddy came over last night before he left on his trip today for a visit. He brought over some steaks and the kids LOVED eating a few bites off of our plates. Smart kiddos!

Today, we went to St. Benedict's for Jack & Eliza's baptism. We couldn't take any pictures during the service and they fell asleep in the car after the service, so there aren't any pictures of them. We were honored to be a part of their special day. They did great during the service and Riley and Ryan had fun at church with "new friends" in the nursery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20100104FirstDayOfEPS2#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20100107BustedLip#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20100108SnowWeekend#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20100110JackElizaSBaptism#

After Christmas Recovery

The week after Christmas has flown by and it hit me that tomorrow starts the first normal work week we’ve had in about a month. We have been “off-schedule” for quite a while. It’s been a lot of fun things, but we have realized how much we all thrive on routine. It is going to be tough to get up at my normal 5:45 tomorrow morning, but I’m kinda looking forward to getting back to a normal routine. The kids have been wild this week and I was worried that the terrible two’s had finally hit, but we seemed to be through the adjustment and back to normal this weekend. We’ve had a few really good days this weekend, so hopefully that was just “post Christmas disorder”.
Last Monday we took Ryan to a really cool place to get his hair cut. It’s called Snipits and is just for kids. They had toys, treats, lollipops and all the right things to make a 2 year old feel completely comfortable while getting his hair cut. This is the first time Ryan didn’t cry at all and Riley was even begging to get her hair cut when it was all said and done. The lady was very sweet and put some “jewels” in Riley’s hair. She was so proud and they stayed there all day! Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad were in town so we had fun playing with them on Monday. But after our day on Monday, we decided to declare Tuesday and adult day and decided to send Riley and Ryan to school. It was a good choice and gave us a chance to rest and relax.

Riley's hair "jewels"

laughing with Aunt Heather

working hard at the new easel from Gran-daddy

spaghetii dinnerIt was back to work for me on Wednesday and Thursday and then a few more days off for New Years. We went out for dinner with the whole gang on New Year’s Eve. Mee Maw, Gran-daddy, Aunt Heather, Uncle Brad and the 4 of us. It was an early dinner and then back to our house for a quick visit before Mee Maw and Gran-daddy headed out. They convinced everyone to play with the play doh and we all had fun watching them create things.

Mee Maw and Riley cracking up over play doh
(the play doh in Riley's hand a a "Christmas Tree")
We had some nice family down time this weekend and it was a lot of fun for the 4 of us. We made a trip to Costco and ran some errands on Saturday and then had a family movie night to watch Mary Poppins – their gift from Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad. They were mesmerized and we all really enjoyed the movie. Kevin had never seen it, so it was a must-see for us.

Today we stayed home all day and just got the house back in order. All the decorations down and put away and most everything at least picked up. Naptime was almost comical today… Ryan didn’t really want to nap so he summoned me in a couple of times. First it was a “stuck” foot in the rails of the bed. I heard him crying for me saying “Mommy Stuck” and he was only getting louder, so I knew it was time to go in. I found that he had ripped his pillowcase a the seam and had thrown all kinds of stuff around the room. Clearly not ready to sleep. I settled him down (all while Riley was snoozing away) and all was well for about 20 minutes. Then I heard him begin screaming as loud as he could “Riley Wake Up”. I quickly went in and found him standing over the edge of his bed and over her head screaming for her to wake up. I swooped him out of the room and brought him into my bed. I told him he had to be quiet and watch “mommy’s show”, which he did for a few minutes. He was just glad to be out of his room. Then he quietly told me “no watch mommy’s show”. It was so very cute, but we finished mommy’s show. I didn’t want him to think he just has to scream over Riley and then I will come rescue him to watch Dora in my room. Lessons to be learned…

Overall the holidays were thrilling and exhausting. It was a great season and I wouldn’t take back anything we did, but I’m looking forward to normalcy and routine. Crazy to hear me say that, but man is it true!

Ryan with the beard from the Santa Mr. Potatohead

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091228RyanHaircut#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20091231SpaghettiDinnerNewYears#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20100101#