Happy Holidays!

The sprouts want to wish everyone peace and happiness this holiday! They are officially home on winter vacation until the ECHL reopens on January 4, 2010.

Kai and Finn gave their teachers, Ms. Melissa and Ms. Abby, gifts of hot chocolate, cider, and holiday sweets today. As it turns out, Ms. Melissa and Ms. Abby had something for them, too! The boys came home with two tumble ball toys. Super cool!

Kai must have had a full and active day today. He conked out at 7:35 p.m. after gulping down 6 oz. Finn is still hanging out and refusing his bottle, babbling "ie, ie, ie," and wanting to bounce on Daddy's lap or anywhere else he can spring off of.

Mommy and Daddy are hoping to enjoy a pizza and a glass or two of cab-sav with no creatures stirring, not even a baby. There are gifts to make and packages to wrap!

Tree hunting

This week was a bit of a whirlwind for the both of us. TGFTW.
Thank Goodness For The Weekend.

Santa welcoming visitors to the tree farm.

Today we went hunting for a Christmas tree. Since we are in "Texas Forest Country" here in Nacogdoches, it was only appropriate that we cut our own Christmas tree! We explored our options, avoiding the tree farm with the genetically modified trees, and ventured out northwest of town to the Diamond K Christmas Tree Farm.

Sarah drove the boys in the Versa, and I took the old pickup to handle the tree. When we arrived, we put the sprouts in Moby wraps and ventured onto the farm. As it turns out, the farm owner knew us. The owner is also the co-owner of the real estate company that represented our house when we bought it. Small towns can be scary like that sometimes!

Finn and Kai ready for a tree hunt!

After a thorough search of the farm, the sprouts decided on the perfect tree for our first house.

Finn and Kai examining the trees.

Watching Daddy cut the tree.

Carrying the tree back to the truck with Finn.

Cutting our own tree and getting the sprouts' photos with Santa are two goals for this Christmas. One down, one to go. When Santa arrives by sailboat at the Houston Yacht Club on the 20th, we'll be there!

...and the dish ran away with the spoon.

Finn with his Nana.

Thanksgiving weekend is coming to a close, and the sprouts are waving "bye-bye" to Nana and PaPa who drove all the way to Nacogdoches from Baton Rouge. We had a fantastic turkey dinner with all the trimmings here at our first house. Prue made the cranberry sauce and managed the turkey. Sarah prepped and cooked the turkey and made the green beans. I made the sweet potato casserole and pureed some turkey and formula for Kai and Finn ... they didn't like it. Fred mowed the lawn.

On Friday afternoon we ventured out for lunch and then went downtown for some culture at the SFA Cole Art Center (Daddy's work), Lyric's Decor and Gifts, and the Nacogdoches Antique Market. It wasn't until we got out of the car again that we noticed Kai received a five-finger-discount on a spoon from our lunch spot!
...and the dish ran away with the spoon.

This morning we got an earlier than normal start due to an early wake up call from two sprouts, who decided to go to bed early the night before! Thank goodness they're cute. Otherwise, 5-something a.m. wouldn't be so manageable.

Sitting up

Finn on Wednesday morning

A new development: the sprouts are sitting on their own! We attended a parent-teacher meeting last Thursday and were given the sprouts' current status according to their performance in the classroom. Both Kai and Finn are on track according to their age. This morning they demonstrated their ability to sit up on their own.

H, A, double L, O, W, double E, N spells Halloween!

Kai's first time in his Keekaroo high chair

Finn playing with Kai's leg on the play mat

What a wonderful day October 31st was! The sprouts were up at 7:30 a.m., a slightly later than normal time, allowing Mom and Pops to rest a bit more than usual. We did bottles, coffee for the adults, cereal for the babies, and were off to the Nac Farmer's Market. On our way to the market, the boys fell asleep in the car and continued to nap when we left the market to drive to civilization (ie. Sam's Club and Target) for essentials like formula in bulk, new pacifiers, and kitty litter. The boys woke up while we were shopping and fussed on the way home. However, once they had their lunch, a walk to the grocery, and a nap, they were ready for HALLOWEEN!
Skeletons!

At 5:30 p.m. we all piled into the car and drove over to see Great Aunt Leslie and Great Uncle Tommy. We also dropped by Scott and Kathy Robinson's house and Scott and Chay's before heading home to feed the children of Nacogdoches organic lollipops from Yummy Earth. Damn those lollies are good!

We were warned that our street was a magnet for trick-or-treaters of all shapes and sizes, but man were we in for a surprise!! Cars and trucks lined the streets from 6 to 9 p.m. Children from stroller age to teen swarmed people's yards. I have never seen anything like it! After the boys' cereal dinner, all four of us sat on the front stoop to greet the ghosts and goblins. Two wolfmen, a handful of punk rockers, a Jon Bon Jovi look-alike, one southern belle, and a kid with a Charlie Brown sheet-ghost costume were among the visitors last night. Afterward, we headed inside, gathered up the remaining candy, moved our spooky pumpkin indoors, unplugged the Halloween lights, and switched off the porch lamp. It was well past 8 p.m. and time for the sprouts' bottles and bed.

Today we're taking it easy. Hope everyone had a Spooktacular H, A, double L, O, W, double E, N!

November 1st morning

Booo!

Halloween is here, and the boys are ready! They've worn their "Frightfully Cute" ghost onesie and "Teething Bites" bat onesie to school a few times over the last few weeks, but today they get to go to school in costumes! Thanks to our friends Chay and Scott, the boys have skeleton onesies! Grandmother Cutler found them black tights, and I just finished their caps. They were so much fun to make! I used some white t-shirt material for the skulls, a black t-shirt from a now defunct scooter shop in Atlanta, and some random buttons we had lying around.

On Saturday we plan to take the boys over to a few friends' homes to go trick-or-treating. I hope they fill the sprouts' sacks with formula and baby food!
Skull caps!

Fun Saturday in Nac

Finn at the Nac Farmer's Market with his favorite custom onesie maker, Michelle Cox
Dr. Gregory "The Texas Cheese Man" slicing us some delicious jalepeño pecan cheddar
Holding hands on our evening walk

On the mend

This was a good week that followed a worrisome couple of weeks. Finn's and then Kai's sicknesses weighed heavily on our hearts and took tolls on our energy levels. On Wednesday morning we took Kai in to see Dr. Huggins. We were fit into her schedule because Kai's earache seemed to be very slow to clear. Kai was given a thorough exam and the thumb's up was issued! Kai could return to school! He's still a bit stuffy in the nose, but on the mend. Both boys seem to be finished with this round of sickness. If this is the way it's going to play out (one gets sick, passes it to his brother, gives it to one of us...) we have a rough road until kindergarten. Supposedly, kindergarten age is when kids tend to catch less or resist more.
Kai with Hannah Grace and Campbell

Ill baby and Threadless mystery solved

Good news first: James Hughes gave the sprouts their Threadless T-shirts! I contacted Threadless customer service and they contacted James. James, in turn, let us know via Facebook that he was behind the gift. Here's Finn in the arty monster T.


Bad news: Kai is sick. Sarah and I called the doctor yesterday morning when his temperature reached the scary level of 103.9! After a treatment of Motrin and loads of sleep yesterday, Kai seemed to be on the road to recovery. Last night, however, he was very fussy, feverish, and obviously in pain. This morning we called the doctor again, and she came into her office to see him. The doctor discovered that he has an ear infection and an ulcer on his throat. He's on medication now and napping. He's eating fairly well, but he's not drinking much at all. If we can't get him hydrated today, then we may have to check him in to the hospital to receive fluids.

It is so tough to see a baby in pain. They have no way of telling you what hurts, and when all the medication knocks 'em out and alters their mood, all you want to do is hold them... even if your arm goes numb and cold due to the weight!

Surprise package

Threadless T's

We received a surprise package this week! Someone sent Finners and KaiKai t-shirts from our favorite t-shirt company! But who done it? The packing slip had a note from the giver that reads:

"It might take a few more months for the boys to grow into these, but I thought maybe they could use some silly non-matching clothes. You know... to like assert their future identities as rockers/artists. All my best!"

Who sent use these AWESOME shirts!?

Picture day

Last Wednesday was picture day at the SFA Early Childhood Research Center where the sprouts go to school. On Tuesday evening, when we picked up Kai and Finn, the teachers reminded us that picture day was on Wednesday morning. That evening, after the boys' dinner, we got them ready for their baths. This is when we received another reminder about picture day:

Needless to say, we remembered to dress the boys for picture day! Kai and Finn wore their tie onesies, custom made by Michelle Cox of made-by-michelle. They looked so cute! Little did we know that the photographer was going to lay them down for their photo shoot. That was fine. Kai and Finn were two of the only infants of the infants, toddlers and other wee ones to not freak out in front of the camera and lights! Their photographer father is SO proud!
Top: Finn the playboy, Kai the goof.
Bottom: Finn: "Hey!", Kai: "I'm cute."

Overdue post about the sprouts!

We have been delinquent. There's no denying the fact that we have not posted to cutler.sprout in over a month. As Kai and Finn mature, so has their daily routine. They are sleeping less during the day and more at night. This is great for parents who need their batteries recharged with a decent night's sleep, but bad for finding time to blog!

News to report: The boys, especially Kai, have found their laughs! We discovered baby giggles in Houston over Labor Day weekend when playing with the boys. We'd scoop up Kai and raise him into the air over and over again. This produced strengthened hamstrings for Daddy and giggles from baby! Check out the video below of the boys' encounter with their babysitter's dog on the SFA Native Plant Center walking trails:

Bumping into the Robinson family on the trails

Recent portraits

Kai
Finn

Update on cereal and sleep

Kai and Finn ate all of their cereal AND finished their bottles before going to bed last night. We thought they'd sleep soundly, but we were in for a big surprise. From 12:20 a.m. to 5 a.m. Christian and I were getting up constantly to tend to fussy babies. After 5 a.m., they were both AWAKE. By 5:30 a.m., they were desperate for bottles. When they finished their breakfast, we all went back to bed. After napping for about an hour, the boys were all smiles, ready to start their day and go to school. Needless to say, we got very little sleep last night. Maybe we'll be able to take a nap this weekend..."maybe" being the key word.

Kai and Finn's first experience with cereal

On Tuesday Kai and Finn had their 4-month doctor's appointment. They weren't super thrilled with going to the doctor, and the shots didn't help, but the doctor only had good news to report. Kai now weights 12 pounds 2.5 ounces, and Finn weights 13 pounds 1 ounce. They seem to be doing well, and the doctor said we could try feeding them cereal now. We've only heard good things about cereal (like babies will sleep for longer stretches at night), so we were anxious to try it. Last night Kai and Finn had their first taste of rice cereal, and it went pretty well! It took them both a few mouthfuls to get the hang of it, but they seemed to like it. As for sleeping, though, that's another story. Finn slept incredibly well for most of the night, but Kai woke up around 4 a.m. with a tummy ache. Once we got Kai back to sleep, Finn woke up. Maybe tonight will be better. We're hopeful.

a hairy situation

Kai and Finn @ 4 months

For those of you who have experienced the joys of pregnancy, childbirth and beyond, you know that each stage has its challenges as well. Well, I’m in the “I’m losing all of my hair” postpartum stage. Good grief, I’ve heard about shedding hair after having a baby, but this is ridiculous! Our two cats combined don’t shed as much as I do now. I feel like I’m going bald.

Speaking of balding, I’m not the only one losing hair. Kai and Finn are sporting a new, sparser look on top of their heads. Their fine, wispy newborn hair has given way to new growth. It’ll be a while before they each have a full head of hair, but they’re on their way. Their eyebrows are also filling in, and their eyes are getting darker. You definitely can see the underlying brown color of their eyes in the sunlight.

Early Childhood Lab

Another photograph from the opening reception of the SFA Early Childhood Lab.
Strollering in the heat.

SFA Early Childhood Research Center Grand Opening

Today we walked with the boys down to the Grand Opening of the SFA Childhood Research Center. We now live within walking distance of the boys' school and the SFA campus! We had our doubts about the Grand Opening occurring a month in advance of the actual opening date of the center, but the building and classrooms presented well. I'm sure there's a lot of fine tuning to do and logistics to iron out, but it looked amazing. Kai and Finn's classroom is 5-times larger than their current classroom! We joked with their teachers that the classroom is so big they may lose our children in it.

Kai and Finn

The boys' new infant classroom at the ECRC

Kai and Finn's SFA ECRC student aides

Moving is worse than taxes

Unpacking

We just moved! We apologize for the lack of posts lately, but the move has turned our world upside down. We are slowly but surely setting up house in our new abode. Property Virgins no more!

The wood flooring took longer for the installers to finish than initially expected, so our move was a bit hurried. We did, however, get into the house and out of the rental on time. Big "thank yous" are in order for Uncle Tommy, cousin Graham, Aunt Leslie, the Cutler grandparents, the Cox family, Chad, and Pam.

House pictures are coming soon! Our new address is: 3419 Raguet St., Nacogdoches, TX, 75965.

Changing station project

Ever since Sarah and I saw a changing station by Oeuf at Kuhl-Linscomb in Houston, I've wanted to make one myself. So for far, far less diñero, I hit the table saw and built my own.

High end Oeuf changing station with a high end price tag... $230!!!

Made from poplar and birch covered plywood, the station is ready for paint or stain.

We decided to paint the station to match slate-blue accents in the nursery. The color is Jekyll Club Pulitzer Blue by Valspar. Two coats of semi-gloss did the trick. I think that white would look extremely nice too.

So, if anyone's interested in a Oeuf-inspired changing station, I'm taking orders!

Recent pictures

Here are a few recent pictures we've been meaning to post. Right now Kai is asleep in a Moby on my chest, Finn is resting in a bouncer, and Sarah is making blueberry muffins from a Made-By-Michelle recipe.

Sleeping Finn

Kai's new sleeping pose

Cute and accurate cartoon sent by Sarah's Aunt Katherine

Blueberries Wanted

Moby wrapped with Mommy at the NFM

The weekend is here again! Hooray! Sarah and I have grand goals, as we usually do, to get packing and organizing done, complete unfinished creative projects, and catch up on sleep. We'll see how well we do.

We started our weekend accepting an invitation from our friend Michelle to go blueberry picking. We headed out early for The Blueberry Place. We slathered on some SPF70, tied on the Moby wraps, and put the boys in their car seats for a 9am berry picking adventure! Unfortunately, The Blueberry Place was closed. The word on the street is that a winter freeze has delayed blueberry ripening this year. So, as to not waste our outing prep efforts, we headed over to the Nacogdoches Farmers' Market! The farmers' market was bustling with shoppers but they hadn't purchased all the blueberries yet.

Berries galore

We bought a container of blueberries, some homemade cheese bagels, caraway seed cheddar cheese and two trumpet flower vine seedlings. Kai and Finn were once again considered a bit of a spectacle. "Are they twins," "Wow! Twins," and "You sure have your hands full" were some of the comments heard today. Next week, look for Sarah and Christian's booth at the farmer's market. Views of the twins: $1. Questions regarding the twins: 50¢.

Cheese, flowers, organic veggies, breads, homemade gifts and more at the NFM

Long overdue updates

We hope we have not lost blog readers due to our lack of blog entries lately. These little boys leave us little time to do ANYTHING. Dinner enjoyment for mother and father has fallen to past nine p.m. most nights. I recently got a haircut after being mistaken for a Wookie. Laundry has taken the form of the Rocky Mountains in a closet and near the laundry room. Showering/bathing... what's that? But hey, it's all for a good cause!

Veggies and NFM t-shirt

Last weekend we took Kai and Finn to the Nacogdoches Farmer's Market. We have discovered that twins are something of a spectacle. It's as if we're a circus sideshow. One of us is the "Bearded Lady" and the other is "Twisto" the musical contortionist. Strangers flock to us. We were at Sam's Club on Tuesday and a woman went out of her way to see the boys saying she "just had to see!" I'm charging people that I don't know one dollar per peek next time.

Sleep and a date night might be obtainable this weekend. Grandmother and Grandfather Cutler are coming up for a visit. Hooray!
Seriously tired. Yes, that's a toothbrush!