So, Michael left a couple of days ago. My parents and I have been trying to keep the boys busy. They miss their dad terribly though. Rowan had really bad diaper rash because of the cheaper Pamper diapers we bought and it doesn’t keep the moisture away as well. He walked around with his legs spread apart, poor thing. Elijah thought it was funny so he walked behind Rowan and copied his walk. It was too cute. We went to the local library and got some videos and books. I was quite impressed with the Kailua library, they have a lot of DVDs and good ones too. The only bad thing is that you have to pay $1 for 7 days. Not a whole lot but still. I guess I’d pay too for that selection.

Knit Picks Simple Stripes in Cocoa and Simple Stripes (can’t remember the colorway). Knit Picks Simple Stripes detail I have been knitting a lot too, which is weird since it’s so dang hot here. I guess it’s because I bought a lot of yarn and I feel like I should do something with it rather than just have it looking at me. I finished one foot of the Knit Picks “Simple Stripes” socks with Cocoa. I made a few modifications since I couldn’t get any dpns smaller than US2. I had to leave out one pattern section on the foot because it would’ve been too long. Bummer too because it is cool. I also changed the height of the ribbed section on the cuff as well as the toe shaping (I made it the standard “side” shaping). I don’t like the cocoa as the base color, I wish I had black. I was going to order black, but noticed that they are out of stock until after the middle of January. Bummer. I am also posting the picture of Michael wearing his new Jaywalker socks, which I finished last month. He likes it a lot even though it is hard to put on. It is super form fitting and warm. I think the colors are a little too flashy though. Magknits Jaywalker with Lorna’s Laces Supersock Mixed Berries What else? Nothing much. We had a couple of days of rain so the boys couldn’t play outside, but it looks like it’s getting sunny again. My allergies seem to not be as bad (maybe it was just a cold), but it is so frustrating not being able to taste all the ono food.

Today Michael went hiking in the morning and we just stayed home. Shaun and Scott came in today at around noon so my parents went to go pick them up. It was a pretty uneventful day, the boys are getting more feisty when they’re supposed to be napping. They tear that room apart! All my mom’s clothes were all over the place and they like to lie on the ground and kick the walls, which as you can imagine makes a whole lot of noise. After an hour or so, they fall asleep. I think it’s just so hot and bright that they don’t want to go to sleep, but they’re getting used to it.

I gave my sister and Scott their Christmas gift - their wedding video from a year and a half ago. I couldn’t wait until Christmas! So we watched it and they told us the story about how they tried to teach Scott taiko and it got more and more reduced until all he did was this drum thing in the beginning. After that, we went over to Aunty Karin’s house to pick up Michael. We just missed Kalen and Lexi! But they had lots of fun, Aunty Karin always has lots of snacks and toys to keep them busy. They are usually scared of a new place, but they felt right at home here.

In the evening, Michael and I had to pick up some supplies from Safeway. I was going to go to the health food store but decided on Safeway because we had some other things to get and we didn’t want to go to more than one store. Michael was reluctant to come with me but I convinced him to go because I haven’t seen him all day. As we were driving to Safeway, I said “maybe we’ll see Evangeline Lilly….nah, I don’t think she is even in town” And then Michael said “she probably is and she needs supplies since her house burnt down.” If you haven’t heard, Evangeline Lilly is the actor who plays “Kate” in the “LOST” tv series. And yesterday her house that she was renting with two other people burnt down. Anyways, right after we walk into Safeway, I was looking at the yogurts deciding if I need to get some or not. Then I decided not to, and then Michael said “maybe we need some yogurts.” I was kind of confused then looked back at the yogurts. Huh? Then my cart was in the way of some lady and so I said “excuse me” and moved it out of her way. I walked over to Michael and he was mouthing “it’s her!” And I turned around and who is standing there? Evangeline Lilly!!! She looks exactly like she does in the show, except maybe a little smaller. She looked tired, like she had a long day. We were just standing there with our mouths open, just shocked that one of the people we watch on TV all the time is right there. And there was no entourage, no media. Then we went to the next aisle, and got another look at her as she was at the cash register. No one bothered her at all. We wanted to say something about the fire, but didn’t want to seem like dorks, so we just said nothing. Later, Michael told me the story about how he never looks at people, but for some reason, she seemed like the right size and shape, so he looked at her as we were coming down the aisle and she gave him a nice sincere smile. I joked with him that he probably had a goofy stunned face in return. We walked through Safeway about 3 times because we couldn’t concentrate on what we had to buy.

Later when Michael told the story to my parents and to Shaun, he said that she said “Hi!” and I was like “oh now she says hi to you?” It was funny! So that’s our story of our brush with fame.

We have enjoyed our stay in Texas, eating fast foods of all sorts (still haven’t had Taco Bell because of the ecoli scare), and of course some big steaks! Michael’s dad got sick while we were here so that added some stress onto an already overwhelming visit. The boys did very well though, they enjoyed running around and playing with Raggs (the dog). It took a little while for both of them to get used to each other, and sometimes they still get a little over excited. But the sweet goodnight kisses that they gave everyone made up for that.

They are talking more and voluntarily saying words now. The other day they said “toast” out of the blue, which I didn’t know they even knew that word. Elijah loves to tell everyone “bye bye” whenever he leaves or they leave. He even says bye to dogs and strangers. I think having more people around them speaking English maybe helped them to vocalize more??? Who knows, at least they’re making progress.

Tomorrow we’re on our way to Kailua, wish us luck. I hope it goes better than the trip here as far as the aiports are concerned. I am hoping the people in Denver will be friendlier. It’s a 4am thing again…

Yep folks, we actually saw a movie. The boys have been really, really good so far. They got up pretty early this morning and since they can get out of their cribs, they make a whole lot of noise. I got up and put Elijah back in his crib (Rowan didn’t get out yet) and then waited. They went back to sleep for a little while, then got up again an hour and a half later. By that time it was 7:45, so I let them out. We’ve been eating eggs and sausage every morning so I fixed them that. They love it!

It was a fairly lazy morning, we just hung around the house. Then for their nap, they didn’t want to go down and kept playing and getting out of their cribs so I went in there and slept with them. That kept them quiet and in their cribs and we had a nice long nap.

In the afternoon, Michael’s parents took care of the boys and we went to see Casino Royale. It was pretty good, better than the other James Bond films we’ve seen, but not as good as the reviews say. I do like the new James Bond better than the previous ones. The action sequences in the beginning were really well done.

After the movie, we ran some errands. We went to Wal-Mart where there were some really creepy birds on the tops of the cars. It was like in that old movie “the Birds”. We also went to a real butcher shop. Before we went, being of German shopping mind, I wondered if we would be too late and can’t get any meat. Then I thought, wait a minute, we’re in Texas! There is no way that would happen. Sure enough, there was so much beef, it was hard to believe. We got some nice rib-eyes and sirloin strips and I bet in Germany it would’ve costed over 50 euros, but it was only about $20. We ate like kings!

In the evening, I put stamps on the envelopes for our newsletter. It’s going out tomorrow folks! YAY! I also wrapped up some gifts and are sending them out tomorrow as well. I’m so on the ball this year, hard to believe!

It was a loooooooong day today. We flew to Texas via Frankfurt today. I stayed up the night before to pack. We left the house at 3:30am. Poor boys, they had no idea what was going on. They were fine though. We got there early enough to get the “bulkhead” row on one flight but not the one to Houston. The boys were really good at the airport and liked running around.

When we finally had to board, we were hoping that we would be able to preboard, but unfortunately, they just had general boarding. Elijah threw a fit because he didn’t want to leave and he was really tired. As we made it down the plane with one screaming child, people around us were all staring and thinking “oh crap!” it sucks that I am near this child. Rowan was really good and quiet, thank goodness. It turns out their “bulkhead” row was just a regular row with a cloth that separates it from the “economy plus” section. No extra room. Michael got the car seats in and Elijah fought his way the whole time. He was so mad - he even tried to bite Michael. Once we took off, they both fell asleep, much to everyone’s surprise. I was able to catch some zzzz’s as well.

We got to Frankfurt and we were hoping that our stroller would be waiting for us but it wasn’t. The flight attendant said that it will be there and asked the people below about it. We waited and waited and in the meantime the boys were getting agitated. Then, they wanted to start boarding for the next flight and told us to leave. We said that we were told to wait at the gate and they said, well, just move out of the boarding area. We figured our stroller either went to the other plane or we lost it. In any case, we had to get all of our stuff and the boys to the next gate without it. We tried to ask one of those people who drive those vehicles for the disabled to help us to no avail. One lady was busy, and the other guy had his full and tried to call someone else but there wasn’t anyone. Then he said “why did you bring so many bags?” I wanted to just put one between his eyes! I said “We have only 1 bag”. So, we got two more bag carts and had Rowan and Elijah sit on it. They didn’t have a child seat thing, so we just had to put them on the baggage area. They hated it, Rowan especially. Elijah got used to it and was ok. But then, we had to go through customs and another security check and we couldn’t take the carts through. We were so mad at Lufthansa for promising us our stroller and not delivering it. So, now we’re at customs with one screaming baby, trying to get our bags through without the cart. The customs guys felt bad for us and let us go through with the cart. Then we had to go through the security check and the security lady said “I don’t know how you are going to do it but you need to leave the carts here.” I said OK, then left a screaming Elijah sitting there next to her and walked our baggage to where we needed to take it. She was kind of startled by this action because she thought I would carry him with me. But there was no way I was going to lug a 30+ pound baby while moving luggage. So then she felt bad for us and tried to entertain the baby. Then they got a cart for us since they realized that their rules would make us (and them) pretty miserable.

Then when we got to our second gate, the lady looked at our car seats and said we need to check those in. And I was like “what? why?” And she called over some other Lufthansa lady to look at them and she said “yes, we need to check them in” I was so upset at this point but managed to kept my cool. So I asked why and she said that there was no sticker of approval for flying. I said that I just got off a plane and have many flights with these car seats. She said “That’s impossible! Not on Lufthansa.” And I was like “Do you want to see my boarding pass?” And then I saw the sticker that said “this carseat is approved to use in motor vehicles and aircraft”. HA! She looked at it really good, TWICE, and then said “I guess it’s ok”. I am really shocked that they haven’t seen these car seats before, they are one of the most common ones.

After we got that taken care of, we waited for the 2nd flight and was able to preboard. The boys were better this time and had no problems. During the whole entire flight, they were great. We only had one crying outburst, but the rest was ok. They napped for a couple hours. The rest of the time, they ran up and down the aisles or we went down to the bathrooms. They pooped so many times. We used 16 diapers during the trip!

We had this woman in front of us who had 4 seats to herself and she was a real jerk. She decided to sit in a seat in front of the boys and put it way back. So the boys started kicking the back. So then she left it in the back position while she got up and went to the bathroom and when she came back, she sat in the seat in front of Michael. As Michael was eating, she decides to put the chair way back so he almost drops his drink. He couldn’t get out since there’s hardly any room. We think she did that to “get back” at us for having kids who kicked 1 of her 4 chairs. Ugh, so immature.

We finally made it to Houston and everything was fine. I really have to admit that the boys did really, really well. It would’ve been much better had we had the stroller in Frankfurt, but that wasn’t their fault. I hope the flight to Hawaii goes better.

We’ve been enjoying visiting with Michael’s parents and today we went to “chilis” and had a good ol’ american burger. MMmmmm

Sorry about the non-posting. We lost our internet connection on Monday, because I upgraded to the new and improved faster speed and we didn’t get the corresponding modem. So we are internetless again. Geez. So, it’s been a hell week, Elijah was really sick on Monday and Tuesday, diarrhea everywhere and vomiting too. Oh joy. But he has recovered and is fine now. Rowan is also sick, but just a regular cold. I’ll update more when we have a connection again.

Today I got to sleep in, which was a nice luxury since I have been so busy getting Christmas gifts together. I’ve been getting usually 6 hours sleep a night, which is usually ok for 1 or 2 nights, but not all the time. So it’s nice that Michael will get up and take care of the boys while I get more zzzz’s.

We didn’t do much, in the late afternoon, we went to the English Garden and fed the birds, and then we went to the Knipples’ to drop off their Christmas presents. Logan was so funny because once he saw the gifts, he asked if it was for him and his brothers and I said yes, then he tried to hurry me in. I wasn’t going to come in, I was just there to drop off their gifts so I stood outside and chatted with De a little while. Logan was like, come in, come in, mom, let’s go inside. He wanted so desparately to open presents. I reminded him that Christmas isn’t for another few weeks and he had a disappointed face for a second, but decided that that’s not going to stop him. He was so cute!

Then we went to the Münchener Freiheit Christkindlmarkt, but it was too crowded and the boys were getting fussy and Michael was getting stressed out so we left. Just as well, no need to be buying even more stuff! I’ll probably come back later during the week when it isn’t so busy and I can push the stroller around. This one is cooler than the others because it has more hand-crafts rather than stuff manufactured in China.

I stayed up way late because I finally figured out how to crochet circles. I tried a couple of nights ago and gave up because I just couldn’t do it. But as I was thumbing through my “One Skein” book that I bought in London, it had better pictures and I finally understood what I was supposed to do. The first circle came out pretty bad, but the 2nd one I did came out really nice. I was so happy that I finally understood it!!! This is for Christmas presents so I can’t say what it is or have pictures of it just yet.

This morning, Michael went for a dawn patrol and promised to be home at 11am. Did that happen? Of course not. He was maybe an hour and a half late but he made up for it by getting lunch at McDonalds. We both took a nap and then quickly got the boys up and ready to go.

We were invited by Michael’s boss for a 2nd Thanksgiving. They weren’t in town for the actual Thanksgiving, so they decided to have it this weekend. We had a hard time getting there, mostly to confusing Google Maps directions, but we finally found it. They have a beautiful house! The boys were fussy at first, but quickly warmed up to Vincent (Dan’s son) and his toys. They were still having little fussy fits until they brought out a couple of bobby cars. Then they were pretty happy for the rest of the evening. The food was all delicious and the company was great as well. Another American co-worker, Austin, was there with his German wife, Brita. Everyone was fun to talk to and we never had so much wine to drink in a long time. It was a really nice evening. Thanks to Dan and Angela for the wonderful meal!

I made Dan a CD with some episodes of “Heroes” on it to get him hooked too. I think he will like it a lot and will help him get over Lost being on a break. Heroes really is a good show, I recommend everyone to watch it. Although, I think it would be the most enjoyable if you saw it from the beginning.

This morning the boys and I went to the doctor to get their 2 year check up. We’ve been meaning to go to this doctor for a long time because he is in our neighborhood and recommended by Riki. But we’ve never had the opportunity because every time the boys are sick, his office is closed and we were referred to the emergency care or this other doctor, who was further.

Anyways, I liked him a lot. He was a really nice guy and very patient and gentle with the boys. The thing that I liked most about him was that he was very supportive in the immunization schedule that I chose to do. He recognized that I got them immunized in a minimal way, getting the essentials on a slower timetable. Most other doctors have criticized my decision and recommended that they get 4 shots right away and tried to use scare tactics. But now that they are almost fully immunized, they only need 2 more shots. He didn’t even push those either. He said that for the MMR, you can get it anytime, now or whenever. He said only 60% of German kids get their 2nd MMR, and it’s the 1st one that gives them 80% immunity, so the 2nd just gives them a little more coverage. I was also really glad that he didn’t push the flu shot as well. Rowan was such a good patient. He lied down on the table and let the doctor do whatever to him. The doctor said that it was highly unusual for someone his age to not cry while he is doing the exam. Elijah, on the other hand, cried almost through the whole thing and really clung on to me and he said that that is more normal. Rowan is now 87 cm’s (34.3 in) and Elijah is 86 cm’s (34 in), which is in the 49% and 45%. I was kind of surprised because they were always in the 10% - 25%, so they have finally caught up! So, the good news is that they are very healthy. The bad news is that they are speech delayed. He said that it’s not too bad, so we’ll wait and see in 6 months. He thinks it has to do with them being in Germany and hearing both German and English, as well as being twins. So keep your fingers crossed! By now, they should be referring to themselves by their names, but they don’t even say their names. They should also be answering questions in yes or no. When I ask them if they want something like water, they won’t say “yes”, they’ll say “wawa”. There might have been another thing they should be doing but I forgot.

Rowan was feeling a little warm this evening, but no other symptoms. I always hate when they get sick! Especially since they can’t tell me what hurts.

We got pizza hut tonight because we both were exhausted from the week! Poor Michael had to go out on his bike and hold a pizza all the way home. It was really good though. It’s sad because now that we have a taste for Pizza Hut, the regular delivery pizza just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Can you believe it’s December already? Man, time flies!