Pizza and Photos

June 25, 2011

"People with babies should stay in on Friday and Saturday nights when adults go out..."

Evil glares made their way to our table last night, as my parents, brother, sister and law and our 4 kids ate at a pizza joint in Old Town. The glares were coming from 3 older people, who were perhaps too old to even be out on a Saturday night (as someone at our table recognized). Nonetheless, apparently they were bothered by our children. Okay, let me say - I see both sides of it. People that are out for dinner want to enjoy it. Got it. But, people with kids should be able to go out too. It's important to note that this was not a quiet restaurant at all - it was a very family-friendly place - AND the kids were not being bad. It was just a little noisy. Little Miss Haven is just learning how to express herself. She knows what she wants, but can't speak - so doesn't know how to communicate what it is that she needs. So, she squeals a little. I mean, come on - look at this face. Who could possibly be bothered by her? Well, other than the 3 old people who apparently need silence to eat their pizza. I hope the large group of people out to celebrate a birthday with pizza and beer didn't disturb them. Maybe they should be more careful what they mutter under their breath. Seriously. Ridiculous.

angel face.

So, obviously we have been in Colorado visiting Jay and Rebekah. It all started when we flew to Dallas last Sunday evening. Dusty was going to be at CalBaptist working on his Master's Program for two weeks, so the boys and I got plane tickets a few months ago to visit my parents. Somewhere along the way we decided we'd make a road trip to see Jay and Rebekah. Since leaving Dallas would cut two hours off the initial trip and we could drive through the night while the boys slept, we left as soon as we landed at DFW.... at 1:15 a.m. Kind of crazy, but we did it. We spent the past 4 days exploring Fort Collins and had a blast. It was so fun seeing how Haven and Jackson have changed and watching the cousins interact together. Haven and Jackson are walking now and are all over the place. Haven is the sweetest little thing, and is into everything. She is fearless. She is fast. She is determined. It's shocking how quickly she can get from one place to the next. The girl never sits still. She is absolutely beautiful, sweet and and so fun to watch. Jackson, on the other hand, reminds me a lot of Silas as a baby. He is so completely opposite of Haven. He's much more laid back and though he doesn't express himself much verbally, you can see his little brain in action. That boy is thinking about and contemplating everything. He's just chill. You also have to earn his affection - don't think you can simply smile and get a smile in return. Those don't come freely, you know! He's a little lovable sweetheart for sure. It's funny how kids can often be so 100% opposite of one another and these two definitely balance each other out. It was fun watching the 4 kids interact and also being able to see Haven & Jackson at this fun stage. They are oh so different from when we saw them at Christmas.

Of course we had to attempt a photo shoot while we were together. I gave Silas and Eli a pep talk beforehand. "Okay, boys. We are going to take pictures and I need you to be so big. When I say "smile", you need to smile. When I say "stand here", you stand there. Don't be silly because Haven and Jackson will copy what you do. You have to be a good example. If you are really, really good listeners, we will get an ice cream cone when we're all done."

Okay, I gotta brag a little. They were really good. I was pretty impressed, because photo shoots with your own kids don't always go so well. They were so helpful, listened, smiled and even tried to get the babies to laugh.

We had it all planned out perfectly. We made sure the babies got a long nap, got them dressed and ready to go in their cute outfits and found the perfect little location to take said photos. About 30 seconds in, I think we all knew it wasn't going to be easy. It seemed like it would be next to impossible. A photo shoot with two newly walking babies that don't want to sit still or even look in the general direction of the camera is kind of difficult. I mean - I've done this age before, but twins are a whole other ball game. Rather than one little one with older siblings, it's two that are the same age. Two moving all over the place, two that will not sit for more than a millisecond and two that don't want to stop long enough to smile.

I really don't mind this at all, because I can be as patient as long as I need to be. I totally get it. I just feel bad, because I want to give them some good photos. But, sometimes you have to know when to take a break. That's when we went to eat pizza. We figured after everyone had full bellies, we'd give it another shot. After all, everyone was dressed, so we might as well. Luckily, we managed to snap a handful of decent photos of the four of them and only because Silas, Eli, Mamaw and Papaw were singing the theme songs to "Wonder Pets" and "Veggie Tales" at the top of their lungs, in any attempt to get them to at least look and stand still for two seconds. We probably looked liked fools, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Of course there's some photos of Haven running away and some of Jackson crying, but I think that's perfect. It's a memory. It's such a representation of this time in their lives. And heck, it's funny. I'm not sure any of us will forget that experience, and luckily it's documented :)

All in all, we had a fabulous time and I am so glad we got to visit Fort Collins and spend time with Jay, Rebekah, Jackson and Haven. I love all of you and miss you guys. Thanks for sharing your home with us for the week and being excellent tour guides. We can't wait to come back for another visit!