Happy 2016!

We ended 2015 in style with a fabulous family vacation to Breckenridge, CO to celebrate Christmas.  We left the humid, warm and still very green DC behind for the snow packed Rockies and some seriously good skiing conditions.  We were lucky to have Aunts Alice and Whitney, along with their husbands Brian and Ryan, join us for the fun.

Whitney, Ryan and the girls on Christmas morning

Gus had his first ski school experience; the initial excitement that he was finally getting to do something that Hank has been doing for some time wore off quickly when he realized that a) mom and dad weren't attending with him and b) Hank would be in a different class.  At any rate, he learned how to stop and actually did quite well the one day we took him for a few runs with us big kids.  

Hank did very well at ski school, taking the chair lift up the big hills and focusing on getting those skis parallel between turns.  We were pretty proud of his progress.

The girls were super well behaved on the plane and for their babysitter, Annie, who came along with us.  They adjusted well to the elevation and even had their first playing in the snow experience, in spite of the chilly temperatures.

Kelly the Elf

The morning after we got 8 inches of powder

Matt and I skied for 7 days in a row, a record for me.  The snow was great so it was hard to resist, even though it was really pretty cold when we were there. This led to short but sweet ski days with nice long lunches in between runs, just the right speed for us. 

The boys in the hot tub after a long day on the slopes

Family photo

Brothers

Dad and June

Glamour girls - they have no hair for the bows they got in their stockings so we just wrapped the whole thing around their heads 

Hank in his R2D2 hoodie

Pretty girls in their Christmas dresses

First snow 

Matt making his way through Dulles at the end of the trip.  Hank and Dylan are in the stroller, June is in a carrier on me and Gus is riding on his back.  Yeesh.

All in all it was a great trip that we will remember for some time.  Lots of great food, great drink, fresh air and playing silly games with our siblings, both young and old.  

We have chosen to stay home this New Year's Eve partly because we've been out a lot in the last two weeks but mainly because we are old and we want to go to bed early :) This marks our 8th wedding celebration anniversary (not to be confused with our actual wedding anniversary, January 27th).  Time flies when you are having fun and having way too many kids!  Can't wait to curl up in front of a good movie with my honey after feasting on his Big Green Egg created dinner.

As for 2016 - I'm not usually one for making a big deal out of resolutions since they never seem to stick but I have a couple for this coming year: 

1.  Take more pictures of our family and appear in more of them myself! I don't know why but it is just not my natural instinct to snap a lot of photos and I wish I could remember to take more.  Maybe I just need to resolve to do it?! 

2.  Try out one new recipe every week.  That will mean 52 new recipes will be attempted this year...chances are that some will be keepers. This week's recipe:  Vinegar Glossed Chicken with Cheesy Grits and Roasted Brussel Sprouts from Mad Hungry. 

3.  Lumping together these three because they are just so g'damned basic that I'm annoyed I even have to "work" towards including them in my daily life:  Exercise (like just any kind of exercise, any at all), Drink More Water (used to be good at this when I went to an office but can't seem to do it at home for some reason), and Floss.  Really, I'm 37.  Why is it hard to remember to floss?! 

Wishing you all a great start to the new year - make it a good one! 

Happy birthday to June and Dylan!

Around here, we often say that the days are long but the years are short. That sentiment has never felt more true than today.  It is hard to believe that our little babies are already one year old, crawling, cruising, clapping, waving and trying to chat with us.  I remember holding both sleeping little ones in my arms as I was wheeled back to my room at the hospital - they were so tiny.  

Moments after arriving...

The past year has been challenging and humbling.  Even with lots and lots of help, keeping up and caring for so many young kids is a crazy ride.  It's exhausting.  It's frustrating.  It's maddening at times.  There is almost always someone crying in this house. It isn't always one of the kids.

There has also been a lot of laughter.  Laughing at the ridiculous of it all.  Laughing with our silly, hilarious and non-stop kids.  Laughing about how lucky we are.  What did we do to deserve four healthy, happy and beautiful children?  

Juniper and Dylan, what can I say?  You came out of the blue and doubled the size of our family just like that.  You've tested your mom and dad so much already but I think that your testing is making us stronger and that is a good thing.  You've brought out the most lovely qualities in your big brothers who've shown us how sweet and affectionate they can be when they want to. You have no idea how much you are loved and what a delight every day is spent with you.  Happy 1st birthday, we can't wait to see what you have in store for us next!

Maman and her filles (June in red, Dylan in black)

At their little birthday fete last weekend

Gathered around for their cakes.  Yes, two cakes. 

About to chow down...

Drumroll please!

The results of the DNA test are in!  Dylan and Juniper Kelly are......

IDENTICAL!!!

In DNA only as far as I'm concerned :) Their personalities are quite different and I  can (almost) always tell them apart. Turns out the doctors aren't always right. As Matt says, the randomness of life has struck again! 

Gus at the museum

We've noticed that Gus has been a bit extra sensitive lately, or as Matt likes to put it, "he's a man without a country".  Hank is a natural attention-getter with his outgoing personality and general obnoxious tendencies (that are just great, ha ha).  The girls have been getting more and more attention lately with their crawling, waving and clapping skills.  Poor sweet, soft spoken and quiet Gus sometimes get a bit lost in the mix.  I try to spend as much one on one time with him as I can to make him know how important he is to me.  Here are some shots from our date at National Gallery in November: 

Identical or Not?

That is the question.  Believe it or not, we do not have a definitive answer on whether the girls are fraternal or identical twins.  Our doctors have always insisted that they are fraternal since they had separate sacs and placentas, but there is actually a one in three chance that they are identical.  You see, if the zygote splits early enough (within a few days of conception) then each embryo grows its own placenta and sac. Want me to drop some more twin knowledge?  Twin sisters are also known a sororal twins.

Since they have always looked different to me, I've never really questioned it, but over the past two months June and Dylan have started to look more and more alike. The fact that they are both girls and have red hair and share the same blood type made me even more suspicious. We decided that we should find out so I've done a DNA test to get a conclusive answer.  I'm still on team fraternal but what do you think?  PS - test results are due back December 18th...

Thanksgiving 2015

We are lucky to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice a year, with the first event taking place in October with our Canadian family and the second in November with the Americans.  A less intrepid couple might have sat this year out on the travel front and celebrated both occasions at home with their many young offspring but not La Famille! Don't get me wrong, Matt and I had more than one instance of "What the hell were we thinking?!" looks as we ran through the airport, held crying babies on the plane and listened to whining in the back seat of the rental car, but in the end it was worth it to see our families and have the kids visit with their cousins.  

The entire Mailloux crew descended on my parent's house in October for our first turkey day.  That meant 6 grandchildren aged 5 and under in one house at one time, which, as you can imagine, was a literal zoo.  The kids had an amazing time though and we really appreciated the opportunity to get them all together in one place; visits are few and far between when you live on opposite coasts. 

Gus canoodling with Hayes

All 6 cousins...ages 5, 4, 3, 23 mos, 10 mos

Hayes and Hank, BFFs

For American Thanksgiving we took the crew down to Hilton Head, SC where the Kelly's had rented a beach house for the week.  Both of Matt's sisters and their families were there, as well as his dad, Bill, who was celebrating his 80th birthday.  The weather was beautiful and the beach was lovely but lord these kids are a lot work!  I can say for sure that I have never been more thankful for our nanny than I was when we returned from this trip! And for an added bonus, a stomach bug worked its way through the inhabitants of the house while we were there, claiming a new victim or two every day.  By the time Friday rolled around everyone agreed it was time to get out of dodge.  But we did manage to catch up with our cousins, walk along the beautiful beach and enjoy a really delicious Thanksgiving dinner.  

Auntie Alice with a sleeping June 

Dylan

Matt showing the girls the ocean

A windswept Gus

Running on the beach

Dylan and June - why yes, those are red suede ballet shoes, naturellement! 

The kids with their cousin Maggie

June and Uncle David 

The boys with cousin Harrison

And since I never got the chance to say them out loud amid the madness of the actual Thanksgiving meal, here are the things for which I am most thankful:

• My beautiful, intelligent, funny, silly, precocious, curious and delightful children.  Every day is a roller coaster with you kids but not one goes by without me appreciating how blessed I am to have four amazing kiddos.  
• My handsome, supportive and patient husband who's on this ride with me.  Matt, thank you for everything you do for our family - you provide more than we need and then some and still manage to be home every night for bedtime.
• The health of my family and my extended family - may we always be as healthy as we are right now...
• And almost as important, in no particular order: 
• Coffee.
• Wine.
• Amazon Prime. 

And with that, I turn to the Christmas season. We spent last weekend setting up the tree and getting excited for the most wonderful time of the year!  The next month will be busy with lots of school holiday events, the girls 1st birthday and a ski trip to Colorado. So much to look forward to...

Hank with "the boys" tree

Our tree pre-decorations - Hank "sleeping" beneath it.  He is a BIG fan of xmas. 

The decorated "boys" tree