to get us through the winter

Not to blog about the weather, BUT... lately we've had a few beautiful, warm days (60+!). When days like that are over, and you know you are still weeks away from Spring, and even further away from feeling like Spring, it makes me wonder if it's better to have been warm and lost than to never have been warm at all.

But it is better. ALWAYS. I'll have memories of busting out of the apartment with our friends to go to this great playground at Central Park. Memories, and photos--they will get us through.

*All photos by Mrs. Future-Dr. White. This last one I swiped from her blog. That A. Soleil is just too cute!

happy happy happy birthday Jared!

Wishing the happiest birthday to the man of my dreams, the love of my life, the father of my children, the apple of my eye, the keeper of my heart, and the spring in my step!

PS - HECK YES I'll be proudly sporting this awesome pin today, all day! I'd wear it all year long if it didn't make my husband so embarrassed. Try to have a happy birthday anyway, honey. I'm pretty sure you secretly love it. :)

all about 13.5 months, how they lied to me, speaking hebrew with your mouth full, and Mimi

The kids have really changed over the last couple of months. When they turned one, I felt like they weren't really all that different from when they were 6 or 9 months old--sure, they had learned some new tricks, but to me they still seemed more like babies than toddlers. Well, lately they've definitely tipped the scales in the other direction.

They have completely given up the crawl and are getting really fast on their feet. Here's the thing: Everyone lied to me!! (Okay, not everyone, but it does sound more dramatic that way.) Several people (okay, maybe just 3 or 4) told me that once kids start walking it gets harder. I respectfully disagree. Two babies that walk are two less babies that I have to carry everywhere. And when I'm trying to corral two crawling babies into one spot, it takes at least 3 trips: one to get baby #1 in, one to get baby #2 in, and at least one more to get baby #1 back in. Now, I can hold their hands and they'll walk along with me. It's a blast! Maybe this will change when they master the art of running in opposite directions, but so far, I just think it's easier overall. I love love love this new phase!

Their language has kind of exploded in the last few weeks. They don't say very many identifiable words, just mama, dada, nana (for banana), Isaac (they each have their own way of saying it - Bethany: ayah, Isaac: aysah), mmm (B's word for moo) and oh (Isaac's favorite). Lately their babble has gotten pretty prolific, and funny. I just know they are telling hilarious baby jokes. And while it's starting to sound more like real human English conversation, Isaac still sounds like he's speaking Hebrew with his mouth full of marshmallows. Bethany still rolls her Rs, especially when she cries, so she basically cries in Spanish. Check out my bilingual babies!!

My mom, aka Grandma Dixon, aka Mimi, came out to visit last week. It was perfect timing because she could help with the babies while my shoulder recovered--and by "help" I mean "do pretty much everything"--and, she was here while Jared was in CA taking the final portion of his dental license exam. (He was actually gone again this last weekend too. WHY didn't I think to have her stay an extra week??) But it wasn't all work for this grandma...

* We let her take 457 photos over 7 days, and didn't mind it one bit...

* We wiggled & giggled with the Colby clan...

Guess what, everyone--your lap is Bethany's new favorite place!

* We played in a cardboard castle...

You can't really see it, but Mom made this great little tunnel, complete with windows and skylights! The babies were in cardboard heaven!

Even pre-tunnel/castle, these babies love a good box.

* We attempted a casual family portrait...

...and quickly gave up...

* We celebrated her birthday...

* And when she left on Valentine's Day...

This love bandit stole her heart

This sweet girl wore her heart on her sleeve

Isaac checked into the heartbreak hotel

And Bethany became a prisoner of love.

Mimi, we love you too!

if I wore a sign

...or posted one on my stroller, it would say...

* Yes, they are twins

* A boy and a girl

* 13 months [or current age]

* Um, my cousin has twins [which has nothing to do with my twins, but do we really need to go into how they don't always run in the family?]

* We'll see [in response to "boy, girl, you're done!"]

* Oh really [or] that's great [or] I'm glad they survived [in response to hearing about all the people they know who have twins]

And then on the flip side I'd have it translated into Spanish.

Having my mom here with me has made me realize (again) how often we have this conversation when we go out! I feel a bit like a spectacle sometimes, like I'm parading my twins around on a platter, but I do love how people are so sweet, friendly, and seem genuinely happy to see the babies.

One thing we hear probably more than anything, is "God bless them." Is this is a New York thing, or a Washington Heights thing, or a Dominican thing? I don't know, I've only ever had babies here. But everyone says it! Old ladies, teenagers, middle-aged men. I'm not sure what the proper response is, but I always try to smile or say "thank you." Guess I'd better add that to my sign.

Anyway, either someone is spying on me, or every mom of twins has the same deal, because this video is spot on...

I've even been asked if the twins are "natural." My response (later, to Jared only) is always "they are not robots." Haha.

New Yorkers, God bless them.

Scoping out the subway

Central Park in the Kaki Wagon (aka Lee Limousine)

Exploring Georgetown in the Valco

(anyone want this?)

Serving up chunky legs and chubby toes on a City Mini platter

Snoozing in a borrowed stroller in Utah

L.O.V.E. my little family!

nat wen eht si elap - behind the scenes

The kids are currently taking a blessed meganap after waking up ridiculously early this morning. My mom is also napping, since that hour was even ridiculouser for her, coming from Utah. She's here! I did the excision yesterday! It kinda hurts! But it's done, and I'm glad. Yay.

To celebrate, here's a peek behind the scenes in the making of this post...

I took 85 pictures trying to get a good one. (I want to meet the person who gets it perfect on the first try. Oh wait-- that's ALL of you? Well dang.) Jared was on the phone and the kids were in bed and this is how I chose to entertain myself.

Weird shirt wrinkle.

Cut off letters.

Weird smug? face.

Too close.

Might've worked, except...

That's about when I realized: taking a self portrait in the mirror doesn't work with a texty t-shirt. Haha.

So then Jared comes along and saves the day, like he always does. He only had to take 4 shots before we got one I could live with.

PS - "nat wen eht si elap" is "pale is the new tan" backwards. Obv.

living lee: winter edition

Winter 2011, NYC. There's been snow. A LOT of it. It's been cold. We've all had colds and two little ones had the stomach flu. Aaaand, I'm ready to accept that my camera is just gone. Because of all this, we've been spending a lot of time trying to entertain ourselves indoors, and I have just a few Blackberry pictures to show for it.

So... Here's a peek at what life has looked like lately. In no particular order (especially since I don't know how these pics are going to show up on the blog):

* Isaac finds new places to burrow and hide.
* Bethany designs her own measuring tape statement necklace.
* I draw hearts on the babies' foggy (or ice-melty) window each day. Sometimes their entire window is coated with ice, on the inside. I guess their curtain does a good job keeping the cold out and the warm in.
* Friends come to visit, like Lisa who I've known since kindergarten!
* Babies play with their new birthday toys.
* We still occasionally venture out and remind ourselves that cars are not necessarily more convenient in the city.

Okay Winter, you can go now.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

full body scan + pale is the new tan

Two friends--one 26, one 36--found out last year that they had melanoma. If you're like me and kind of know what that is but were going to wikipedia it anyway just to be sure, I can save you the trouble. It's the most dangerous kind of skin cancer. Both friends were treated over the course of the year and seem to be doing well, but what a scare. A scare that inspired me to do what I've been meaning to do for years and years--go to the dermatologist. I called mine up a few weeks ago and made an appointment for what my doctor calls a "full body scan." I giggled a little when I thumb-typed that into my calendar.

Although I haven't spent a whole lot of time in the sun, I do have very fair skin and have had a couple good (as in bad) burns. I had my skin checked a time or two as a teenager and have thought ever since that I should do it annually, but I never have. So I just went in last week to get things checked out, just to be safe. Just to be proactive. Just because it really could (but probably wouldn't) happen to me.

I thought for sure there wouldn't be anything to be worried about and that the experience would just make me feel good to be officially keeping an eye on things. That may still be true, but I'm not off the hook. My doc found a spot on my left shoulder blade that looked suspicious, so they took a biopsy. My doctor called back a week later and said that there were some changes to the cells and that it "could be melanoma."

I'm going back in a week to get a slightly bigger area removed to be sure they got everything. Jared & I would have wanted to do the follow-up sooner (we initially scheduled it for Friday, 2 days after the phone call), but we decided to slow our row a bit because after the surgery I won't be allowed to do any heavy lifting for 4-5 days. And both of my one-year-olds would definitely qualify as heavy lifting! So, we decided to do it as soon as my mom could get out here to help with the babies. Thank goodness for my amazing and selfless and available mom!

Thank goodness also that my friends shared their very personal stuff, otherwise I would still be putting off that nagging voice in my head. And not to turn the nag on you, but if you're reading this and you have skin and it has (or hasn't) seen the sun, you may want to make your own appointment for a full body scan. Hopefully you'll only come away with peace of mind. It's just a bonus that it's kind of fun to write those words on your calendar.

One of my old work friends in L.A. gave me this tee as consolation because my friends were always teasing me for my whiteyness. And now I'm using it to change the world! Joke's on them.