ohio & the friends who left NYC too soon

In October we got to visit some of our faaaavorite people-- some great friends we made during our first year in NYC, before they moved to Ohio.

He and Jared are both dentists and have a friendship that is "white hot." That's in quotes because those words have actually been spoken. She was the first person I met on our first Sunday in New York (did you know that?), and we just might be even white hotter. When friends like that get together, there's not much on the agenda other than having the best time ever and watching our 4 babies become besties too. We still managed to snap a few pictures during the couple days we were there.

A walk through their lovely neighborhood.

(Don't tell Jared I posted a pic of him with a Bjorn. He hates it passionately. I think it's hot. At least that's what I tell him?)

Daddy helps Bethany with her new kicks from Miggs. You can't really tell, but they're black Chucks. The twins also got red ones, so either kid can wear either color. How smart is that? (Say that with a British accent and then it means genius and fashionable.)

Isaac and their adorable 3 year-old feed the giraffe at the zoo. I might have been as excited as the kids were. I've been compared to giraffes in the past and I'm not totally sure how I feel about it...

The big kids. Jared & I worked on teaching their big girl all the appropriate situations to say "oh snap!"

Family portrait (grabbed from Miggy's blog) because we love this family like our own. Seriously tempted to send these out at Christmas. (Note Isaac wearing one red Chuck. That boy.)

Ahh, friends! It's true. You left New York too soon!

10 months old!

The babies turned 10 months old on Sunday! They have been soooo much fun lately (medical emergencies aside).

Bethany...

* is one seriously cool chick. If we weren't related, I'd still want to be friends.

* smiles easily, but if you want to make her laugh, she's going to make you work.

* will almost always laugh if you hang her upside down and tickle or kiss her neck.

* has had a bunch of very minor medical things ever since she was born: slightly high blood sugar those first couple days, a little bit of jaundice, a mild case of thrush, plugged tear ducts, an umbilical hernia, a urinary tract infection at 6 months, and then a couple of eye infections. Her eye is the only thing we've needed to be truly concerned about.

* has almost no hair, just like her mama at this age.

* has never been much of a cuddler. She's an independent woman.

* can clap, point, wave, click her tongue, and stand and walk when supported.

* will clap and grin ear-to-ear anytime you say "yaaay!" It's pretty much the best thing ever.

* loves her walker and will do laps in the hallway for as long as you let her.

* gets mad when it's Isaac's turn to push the walker.

* has 3 teeth (2 on bottom, 1 on top) and at least 4 more (3 on top, 1 on bottom) coming in now.

* is definitely Daddy's little girl. That man is whooped over his little sweetie.

* steals from her brother, and doesn't even feel bad about it.

Isaac...

* loves to squeal and shriek and scream happily. He can be LOUD, and I love it.

* laughs so easily it's not even funny. (Except it really, really is.)

* gets attached to the most random things: at first it was the turtle on his crib mobile, then the bath toy turtle, then the nasal suction (never used, for that purpose anyway), etc... and now it's the baby hairbrush.

* has a respectable amount of hair on his head now. Jared thinks that's why he suddenly loves the baby hairbrush. Naturally.

* has been the picture of health from the beginning.

* has a knack for finding danger-- he goes straight to the electrical outlets, bites on cords, tugs on the floor lamp.

* can point, wave, and stand and walk when supported. He's almost got clapping down, but he usually just slaps the back of his other hand like he's punishing himself.

* tries to eat dirt and rocks the second we go outside and Mom turns her back. Basically, he tries to eat everything. (When do they outgrow this stage? It's exhausting! But my finger sweep is getting good...)

* has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom), and 1 more coming in on the bottom.

* has already chipped his front tooth (probably while trying to eat rocks).

* loves roughhousing with Daddy. He loves to get tickled and tossed around.

* steals from his sister, and doesn't even feel bad about it.

Dixon girls in NYC

My sister and niece came to visit us in early October, and we loved it. It was especially meaningful because my brother-in-law--a very talented and educated architect--had just recently ended a long stint of unemployment, so it felt like a continued celebration of his new job and an honor that the girls' first big trip would be to come see us. Thanks, sis.

A musician in the park started playing All of Me-- our wedding song!

Find us on the screen in Times Square! (Hint: look for the stroller)

Not only did we have a great time together, but I also learned a few very important things. Examples:

• I previously believed that the New York food scene had something for everyone and nothing lacking. That was until I looked for a restaurant that could accommodate a gluten-, dairy-, egg-, soy-, yeast-, peanut-, cranberry- and sugar-free diet (my poor sister is intolerant to all of these things). Yeah, that restaurant does not exist.
• I also learned that Rock of Ages is a fun musical, but not exactly appropriate for 13 year-old nieces (oops!). While watching it I realized I also shouldn't have recommended it to other people without seeing it first (sorry, Martins!). Haha. It's funnier now...
• And lastly, I was reminded of how awesome my niece is and how if she wants to move in with us forever I'd take her gladly.

We love you both! Come back soon!

a year ago: Jared & his pumpkins

I'm going to do a few "a year ago" posts, and I'm kind of excited about it because (1) a year ago I didn't have a blog--or even a non-blog--and (2) a year ago is when things started to get, um, BIG.

I can't pretend this was my idea--Jenn B did a similar thing the day before her baby Violet's 1st birthday, where she posted a picture of herself a year before, so pregnant and soooo ready to have that baby. I thought it was brilliant. Maybe she wasn't the first to do it, but she's the first that I saw and so I'm crediting her. And then copying her.

Let's start with this one. It wasn't exactly a year ago today, but it was about this time of year, and I just checked the rules and they say that's okay. I also just wrote the rules. Also, I didn't really write them, so I can't show them to you so you'll just have to know that whatever I do is fair game, k? (Sheesh, it's exhausting assuming everyone's a fact-checker like me.) We went up to CT last Fall for pumpkin picking with our good friends, the Shamos. Jared found the perfect pumpkin that was just the right shape and size...

Just after this I got accused of smuggling pumpkins. Hahaha. Rude!

a spooky sunset + halloween 2009

Tonight the sky dressed up in orange & black for Halloween. Okay, so this picture was taken just a few minutes before that happened, but trust me, it did. :)

Somewhere in this photo, thousands of people are lining up for the NYC parade. Last year we were part of it, looking like this:

An astronaut, and Saturn 7 months along with twins.

For Halloween 2010, keep scrolling down...

trick or treat x2

We have a bad habit of doubling up, it seems. So when you're a Lee baby you get two costumes for Halloween.

First, the babies...

Tink & Tock!

Yep, the sassy fairy and the hungry crocodile from Peter Pan, of course!

Bethany heads for the hills for a little rock climbing.

Isaac makes sure the dirt tastes like dirt. Yes, yes it does.

This picture was taken a month ago. I miss my little girl's two good eyes. Two big, round, kewpie doll eyes. The infection is gone but the eyelids are still so swollen from the plugged tear ducts, we think. Specialist appointment tomorrow, wahoo!

Thanks to Aunt Kristi for the adorable costumes. Just looking at that little Isaac crocodile made me laugh. I want him to wear it every day until he grows out of it. And Bethany wore that fairy costume like maybe in a previous life she was a fairy, but definitely the sassy kind that steals her brother's new orange binky right out of his mouth.

Then, the fam...

A barbershop quartet!

We decided on these costumes on Tuesday-- as in Oct 26-- and needed them by Friday so Jared could wear his to clinic, and the kids and I could visit the clinic in ours. (We were informed that the babies' attendance was mandatory.) I made the vests and bow ties, Jared made the hats, and let's just say we didn't sleep a whole lot this week. But we had fun getting creative. The project also involved a trip with girl friends in a car to a fabric store and late-night dinner in Jersey-- to someone who regularly drives and/or lives in a place with reasonably-priced fabric stores, this wouldn't sound all that exciting, but lemme tell ya, it was.

Those little cuties put on a great show. The babies actually wore their hats! I could not believe it. Bethany won't even wear a headband anymore. Speaking of, we later added a flower to her hat because people kept asking what was wrong with "his" eye. At least this time she really was dressed up like a boy, so, our fault.

Happy Halloween!

halloween sneak peek

Inspiration struck about as late as it does every Halloween with the Jared & Debi Lee clan. On Tuesday Jared had an idea for our little foursome that we could not resist, and it has been a mad rush to piece the costumes together ever since. I'm not going to say what they are for fear they will be a complete disaster and we have to change plans (thankfully we already have some pretty adorable baby costumes that Jared's sister donated to the cause, which we are excited to use this weekend as well)... but here is a sneak peek!

All you super sleuths out there-- what could we possibly do with 4 different colors of seersucker? (Really, what couldn't we do?!)