Tiny Dancer

So about a week ago Maddy finished her dancing class. They don't really let you watch but for the final class they do a recital and let everyone come in.

Maddy is forth from the left in the pink (big surprise) outfit. She is great at the singing and yelling parts and 'okay' at the dancing parts. Be warned that this annoying song may get stuck in your brain for way too long.

Anyway, just a quick update before Christmas. Take care......

Happy Holidays!!

Man, how is it almost Christmas already? Time sure flies.

Hope everyone is doing well. We have been sick for nearly a month! Well, not all of us but we have all taken a turn at being sick. Not much sleep for mom I am afraid. Otherwise, we are surviving with help from family and friends. The nanny is great and that is all working out well so that has certainly helped. Charmaine is back at work and enjoying it but has been very busy.

Maddy is almost done ballet classes and is enjoying her french immersion pre-school. Zoe and Ava are also doing very well. Ava is in to everything and goes everywhere (crawling) but Zoe is happy sitting and watching her sisters get into trouble.

Christmas is coming soon and we are all looking for some time together at a slower pace. I don't want to be all sappy and crap but I often think of a line from a little known Robin Williams movie, where he says (basically): "If we are all lucky enough to live the "average" life span of about 80 years, then we need to keep in mind what that means. If you are 40 years old, that means you have 40 more summers. 40 more springs. 40 more Christmas'. And that is if we are lucky..." It kinda puts time in perspective doesn't it?

Anyway, I thought this thing below would be fun and Maddy seems to like it. She watched it about 20 times in a row. Take care and stay warm.........

1st Birthday and beyond

Ava and Zoe turned "1" recently. We had a pretty simple birthday for the family and it went very well. Maddy and the Anderson's had fun and the twins were pretty content and even got a chance to eat cake and open presents.

I thought I would try to capture some of the differences between Ava and Zoe. Here are some of our observations:

Ava: Still a bit lighter and fairer then her sister. Started crawling recently and is always on the go. Not the best sleeper but has some good nights. Often makes high pitched sounds like she is trying to tell a story or hear how loud she can be. Also likes to be the 'bad twin' and get in to trouble. If Zoe has a toy (or anything for that matter), Ava wants it and usually steals it. Recently started saying 'dada' and 'moma' which can melt your heart.

Zoe: Tends to be pretty easy going. Typically laughs more. Does not crawl or really even pull herself up yet. Happy to rotate on her butt. Started putting her arms out in the "pick me up please" typical gesture. Strawberry birthmark on her side. "Dances" or bops when she hears music a very cute manner.

Anyway, thought I better add a few pics from the party. Enjoy and stay warm..................B

Summer's Over - Remix

Hello everyone. Hope all is well and everyone had a good summer.

This one will be quick. Maddy started preschool and seems to be enjoying and doing well. She is also in dance class which is pretty cute. The twins are in swimming lessons and Maddy and I go for a swim too, on our own.

Char is back to work soon and we have hired a live out nanny to come and take care of the kids while Charmaine is working half time. We are sharing this nanny with another couple (friends of ours) who also live in the neighbourhood. Melissa seems excellent and we look forward to her getting to know the kids more and more.

I tried a new software with the video below. I had tried a short version of it and thought I would do a slightly longer one now. Sorry for the sappy music but I thought it was a good fit. Take care everyone..........Brian

Maddy the entertainer

As the twins get older, Maddy is getting better and better at both helping out and also playing by herself. Mom and dad need all the help they can get these days. The twins (sorry I should really be calling them by their names) are doing well but still not the best sleepers at night. They can laugh for hours and they are fun to play with.

I get a laugh out of this video every time. Maybe it's just me.

Maddy decides she is going to sing us a song while Mom bottle feeds both girls (at the same time I should add for those who haven't seen her in action). So here is how she does it:

Step 1: Countdown. Instead of counting backwards from 5 or 3, she counts upwards to four and adds a "BLAST OFF" for good measure.

Step 2: Rock back and forth like you have to pee. Really, you are just bopping to the music. (you should see her do the head bop to dad's music)

Step 3: Start singing "Dina won't you blow your horn" but really you mean to sing "I 've Been Working On The Rail Road" instead.

Step 4: Just sing both songs together and see what happens.

Step 5: Stop! Immediately run away and do a lap around the kitchen.

Step 6: Repeat step 5 if desired. And she does....

Meanwhile Zoe and Ava try to eat kleenex and wonder what the hell that crazy big girl is doing now.




For those that were going to ask: Zoe is on the floor and Ava is with Char.

Please keep sending me comments as I wonder if anyone is reading me anymore....

Summer Update

Well we have moved in to the new house and done a few changes. We had the main floor and 2nd floor completly repainted and did new flooring which included, tile, lino and carpet. We are very happy with how everything turned out. The house looks great and we are loving the new area. The parks are pretty amazing. However, I do miss the fact that we don't really have a close 'corner store'.

The twins are growing fast and cute as ever. They haven't slept well for the past couple of months but they are so easy going in the day, it is hard to fault them. No crawling yet but they sit and watch the world (and big sister) go by.

Speaking of big sister, Maddy is also doing well and having a fun summer. As you can see from the video, she has a blast at the beach and loves going to the parks back home too.

The heat has been pretty insane the past month so I am enjoying the cranked up A/C. We should enjoy it because soon we will complain about the snow and the cold. Take care everyone and try to enjoy what is left with the summer.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Madeline had her 3rd birthday party at our house, just before we packed it up to move. She and her 'twin' had a blast. Katie, born 33 minutes later, had her princess party the next day. Both parties were a lot of fun for the girls and the rest of the kids.

Charmaine and I are busy with the move and have a million things to do in the next week or so. We are lucky to have family and friends to help out with so much of the work.

Zoe and Ava are doing well and getting bigger by the day. They aren't sleeping great which is killing their mother. Hopefully that will pass soon.

Well, gotta go pack some more boxes. Take care and enjoy the summer while we still have it..............

6 months old .....(not that we're counting)

Hello again all,

The 'girls' as we tend to call them, are doing well. I call them the girls because the twins just doesn't sound right to me. They are 6 months old now and both are right around 15 pounds. Healthy and happy which is all you can ask for.

Maddy is also doing very well. She has transitioned into an amazing big sister. She is also playing more independently which is very helpful. She is doing gymnastics once a week and soccer once or twice a week. Both of which are a lot of fun to watch at this age.

Charmaine has started Zoe and Ava on some cereal and that seems to be going well. They still get up twice a night or so but that should slow down in the coming months. The girls have started laughing more and more. I forgot how cool it was to have a happy and giggling fat little baby, let alone two of them!

We took Maddy to "Shrek: The Third" on the May long weekend. It was pretty good and Maddy did really well for the nearly 2 hour event. She loves her movies, just like her mom and dad.

The house stuff is moving along. We have made plans for the flooring, painting and central air to be done. The week of the move will likely be chaotic. We also have someone's 3rd birthday to carry out too.

Just thought I would put a few pictures together for a quick slide show. Nothing much, just a few newer pics of the kiddo's. Take care.................enjoy the weather while you can..........

Moving out of the old and into the new.....

So we bought a new house. Well, new to us. We had been looking for a little while, but not that long really. We looked at about half a dozen or so but we knew what and where we wanted so that helped.

We bought in Wascana View and will take posession at the end of June. It is in a great area and should have lots of space for the 5 of us. It is a bit of strange layout but we liked that about it. It is a 2100 square foot - 2 storey split.

We will miss Whitmore Park and our first house. It has served us well. Sadly, the kids will not even remember it when they are older.

If anyone reading this isn't aware already, the housing market in Regina has become pretty crazy. Gone are the days of 'moving down' from the asking price, like you are buying a car. Houses go for much more then asking. Last week, a house I heard about went for $50K above asking. The 'lots' have basically dissappeared and some of the home builders no longer take new customers as their existing customers are getting 18 month possesion dates.

The good news is that we will do fairly well on our existing house. We had a one day open house for about 5 hours and had nearly 100 people through. We accepted offers until noon on Sunday (May 5th) and ended up getting a conditional offer. The conditions (typical stuff) were done a week later and it is sold. The couple that bought the place are fairly young, married and getting their first house together. I don't know how young people will afford 1st homes in a few years if the prices continue to climb.

We may need to call in favors when the actual move happens but that is not for a while. It will come quick. Sorry, I guess most of you reading this would rather see pictures of the kids then hear about the house so I will try to do another posting very soon.

Charmaine, Maddy, Zoe and Ava are all doing great and having more fun each day. Take care all...........

Twin update......Pickly too!

Sorry for being slow to update our site. Life has been good and we are very lucky. The twins are doing good, growing and becoming more then just 'blobs'. They are smiling, laughing a bit, grabbing at toys, sucking on each others hands, and watching big sister Maddy.

Speaking of Maddy, she is doing well too. She just finished gymnastics which she loved and will be starting a new gymnastics class soon, as well as soccer with cousin Katie. She also informed us a few days ago, that she has a new friend by the name of 'Pickly'. Apparently Pickly is a 2 year old girl that only Maddy can see and hear. Although sometimes she calls her a him. Should we be concerned???? It is pretty cute actually.

My folks come home right away (April 5th) so it will be nice for them to catch up with all the grand kids (and us too). Char's folks are going skiing for Easter and then before we know it, it will be time to open up the cabin. Can't wait!!!

Hope everyone is ready for spring and has a great Easter. Take care and let me know what you think of the site or would like to see or know about...........Brian

(Zoe is left in the video and Ava is on the right)

"Kapow"

Just thought I would try something different for this post. I like comics and thought this was kinda fun. Otherwise, not much new to report.

Babies are still not sleeping great but some nights are better then others. Char is the one that has to do all the work, so I can't complain.
Maddy is doing well too. She is busy with the sitter (so much more than just a 'sitter') Auntie Dallas and she does gymnastics once a week too. We are signing her up to soccer as well and I hope she enjoys that once the weather gets nice. Speaking of weather, how sick of snow are you? Not that I shovel anymore.

On another note, our good friends Andy & Cynthia are now expecting and we want to give a 'shout out' to them. Congrats! You are going to have a lot of fun when the little one (hopefuly little ones) come. You should have twins or triplets so I don't feel left out........take care........

Getting into a routine

Hello everyone and hope you are well. Everyone seems sick these days so take it easy if you can. We recently returned from a great visit to see my folks in Arizona. We had nearly 2 and 1/2 weeks with 'grandma & grandpa Stouse'. The extra hands were great and being outside everyday with the kids was a treat. The Phoenix Zoo was excellent and it gave us some time with just Maddy. Char and I both love zoo's so it was awesome. Click on the title of this post to see the Zoo site. I have also added some zoo pics to my 'Flickr' badge beside this post.

The twins are changing from week to week at this point. Developing personalities and characteristics. I thought I would add a bit of video for this posting just to let everyone see the girls again. I think they look pretty different but they are getting more similar as time goes on.

Have a look and let us know. Zoe is in the 'bumbo' chair and Ava is beside her.

Also - I came across a simple tool for those that want to get email notification of when we update this site. Check out this link. http://www.rssfwd.com/
All you need to do is cut & paste our blog address (http://brianstouse.blogspot.com/) and then type in your email address.

Greetings from Arizona

Hello all. Sorry for not giving an update earlier. Life has been busy. Christmas came and went. The twins are doing well but not allowing a ton of sleep around our house. They are actually pretty good so I shouldn't complain. As of today (Feb.1) we are spending 2 weeks in Fountain Hills, Arizona with my folks. Getting here was a bit of a nightmare but at least we are here and missing the crappy weather at home. The weather here is not fantastic but not too bad. It is beautiful down here. The desert and the mountains are something to see. Having my folks as an extra set of hands is also great!

The girls still look a bit 'different' from each other but they are getting bigger by the day. Here are a few pictures from the first few days in Arizona. Take care everyone...............

(if you are wondering who is who, Zoe is on the left)