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We flew up to Spokane last weekend to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with the Hornors. This was the first time that we flew anywhere with the boys. Wow. Those of you that have traveled with children know what I mean by that. The Alaska Airline people were really great and the boys were as good as can be expected, but it was still really hard. We had to carry around with us three carry-ons (one a diaper bag) a car seat to put in the seat we bought for the boys, two strollers, and two babies. They needed to be fed and changed and entertained. And we get to do that all again on Tuesday when we head home.

Once we got here everything was great. We are having a wonderful time staying with Susan and Rick, and we got to spend time with Rachel’s siblings Gwen and her fiance David, Sara, Alex, and Neil and his wife Tiffany and their 3 month old daughter Nadia. We also saw many of the Hornor family friends including, but not limited to, the ever popular Judy Potter, the Kendalls (happy 70th birthday to Jay!) and Bob and Claire. From the previous generation, Rick’s twin brother Randy (yes it’s Rick’s and Randy’s fault that we have twins) and Randy’s wife Sherry visited and I think that today we’re going to see Rick’s brother Greig and his wife Annie. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious thanks to Susan, Rachel and Tiffany who are all amazing cooks, although I will never understand green bean casserole. Also, I think Rick’s OCD deserves a special thanks for keeping everything so clean and tidy.

The unfortunate part of the visit is that Noah got a bad cold and subsequently gave it to Rachel and me. This is the first time either one of them got sick and as you can imagine, we had no idea what we were doing. Poor Noah was so miserable. He’s used to sleeping with a pacifier, but he couldn’t breathe with one, so he had a really hard time sleeping. We took turns sleeping with him upright on the sofa during the first night. On the second night he did better and Susan held him all night and the two of them slept pretty well all cuddled up. Last night Noah slept in his pack-n-play and amazingly slept through the night. He’s still not feeling well, but he’s much much better.

Rachel and I are exhausted and not feeling well ourselves. Still, we went on Friday to see The Lion King at the Spokane Opera House and it was undoubtedly the most amazing show I’ve ever seen. We both loved it and we’re so grateful to Susan and Rick for taking care of Jesse and ill Noah while we were living it up. They have been so generous, loving and caring that we feel overwhelmed by it.

So it’s been a great visit so far. And as a reward for your reading this long ramble, Jesse, who miraculously has not caught this cold from all of us, is going to make you laugh.

While Noah still hasn’t quite figured out how to roll over, Jesse is a man on the move.

Another benefit of the boys being able to sit up on their own is that we no longer need to use a special newborn/infant tub for them and we can bath them right in the kitchen sink. I bought a little rubber mat to put on the bottom of the sink so that they won’t slip and we gave it a shot. It seems like Rachel and I aren’t the only ones happy with the new bathing arrangement!

Jesse has two new favorite things to do. Observe:

Now that the boys are almost 5 months old, we thought we would try a little rice cereal to see how they do with food. Here’s how it went with Noah. Needless to say, we decided to abandon the food thing for a little while longer.

The boys turned 3 months old last Thursday. They are getting much bigger, and are discovering new things all the time – like their feet, and each other.

So…it’s been ages since our last post.  Sorry about that.  We’ve been a bit busy.  David’s work has been totally, ridiculously, insanely crazy, and last week he traveled to New Hampshire to meet with a client.  Then he flew down to Richmond to do a final clean-out of our house there.  (It’s rented, hallelujah!)  My dad, Rick, flew out to Richmond to meet him, and now the two of them are driving back across country in a Penske truck with the last of our Richmond belongings, and should be back in San Diego in a few days.

In the meantime, my mom, Susan, and I have been flying solo (well, duo, technically) with the boys.  We’re surviving, and the boys are doing well, but it’s definitely been BUSY!

Here’s a little video I took of the boys for David so he wouldn’t miss them too much while he was away.  Forgive the awkwardness – I took it with my iPhone.  They are getting so much bigger, and are showing signs of real personality now.  In this episode, as the title aptly indicates, Noah is having a lovely chat with the bunny hanging on his chair, and Jesse is eating his hand.  Enjoy!

You may have noticed that our posting rate has slowed down a bit over the last month, and you are probably thinking that we are so busy with the kids that we don’t have time to post anything. While that’s partially true, the real reason is that this whole baby-growing-up-thing just isn’t that interesting. I mean sure, they started smiling, but what else have they got? I mean, this process is so slow and the Internets expect more and faster — preferably now.

Sadly, that’s not happening. I find myself saying things to them like, “Why do you have to be such a big baby!” and “Oh please, grow up already!” But no. They are still doing the same things they did a month ago. There is really nothing new to tell you, and to prove it here is a short clip.

Jesse rocks so hard, he even does it his sleep.