Perhaps its worth mentioning that our little buggers have just recently turned TWO YEARS OLD!  My god how time flies – in retrospect anyway (the individual days feel pretty damned long most of the time).  Two years ago we were living in abject terror, watching these two little kiddos fight for life, while Katie was in hell from the pre-eclampysia medications.  A year ago we were just starting to break quarantine, and the boys had their public debut with some of their many fans.  And this year, we’re just desperately trying to keep up.

We kicked off the festivities last Saturday with a big birthday party / play date.  We invited most of the boys playmates over for a couple of hours of general mayhem.  The weather broke just in the nick of time, so we spent some time playing inside, and then another hour running around in our backyard.  Its amazing how much noise 25 some odd people can make, including 12 children.  It did make one thing abundantly clear to us, though – if we have 12 children, we’re going to have to think long and hard about finding a bigger house.  The boys did a great job, even though we had people here even before they woke up from their naps.  They clung to Mommy for a little while, but then got into the swing of things and started tearing it up.

By Monday the boys had started to develop colds, which is bloody typical.  Tuesday there were both much worse, so I ended up staying home with them on Wednesday (coincidentally their birthday), taking Dex in for a Dr. Apt, and finding that he had yet another sinus infection.  More antibiotics, nose drops, and sleeping in a car seat.  To celebrate their infection (or birthday), we had some of Katie’s family over for dinner.  And after a quick meal, the boys settled in to opening their presents, which they’ve gotten very, very good at.  Perhaps too good.  The presents now need to be markedly elevated if you want to have a chance of the boys waiting for you to be there for the unveiling.

And after they finally finished and went to bed, we conscripted the middle generation of Katie’s family (i.e., her generation) into moving all of our furniture out to the garage.  It’s amazing how quick that can go when you have 5 people helping you.  By 8pm our house was empty.  The next morning, we got new carpet.  YAY!!!  We’ve been debating that for years – knowing that our carpet was entirely worn out, but thinking that if we got it now the boys would spill on it (or pee, poop, vomit, etc.)  But then if not the boys, it’ll be the inevitable dog.  Or something like that, to the point that if we’re going to wait until the carpet will be respect, we’ll have to wait until the boys are off to college, and even then only if we prevent them from visiting.  So now the boys can play on the floor without bruising their knees (okay, okay – so now I can play on the floor without hurting my knees).  In fact, Dexter today fell over backwards (did I say “fell”?  To be entirely honest, he was pushed, though I swear unintentionally), smacked his head on the carpeted floor, and started laughing.  Success!  There’s no limit to the child abuse possible now!!!  Oh, wait, that didn’t come out right…

And on Sunday we’re taking the boys down to Vancouver, WA to visit with Aunt Joanie, and see cousins Caetano and Felix for a few hours of play.  Wish us luck on the 3 hour+ drive.

And with that trip done, the 8-day birthday extravaganza will be complete!