Big Doin's

As my mom would say, "Big doin's at the Secor house" this weekend. In the completely wrong order:

• Greg came!!! As you can probably tell from the picture, he's about 50% excited to see his growing babies (and wife) and 50% nervous about the bar. We cannot wait till Thursday night when he can relax, hang out with his family, and eat something!!
  

• Matt was in a 6 stake dance festival. As totally "un-cool" as it could sound, it was quite an amazing production and I don't know if the performers or the audience had more fun. This a terrible picture, but it kinda gives the idea of just how big it was. 
  

• Where were the twinners while mom, Kris, the Packers and I spent all night at this festival? Well, these guys took care of them:
  

I heard there was little bit of man-to-man, a little zone defense, but suffice it to say, when I got home, they were fed, changed and sleeping soundly. I didn't really want to know the details, but I heard it went "okay." 

• Lastly, we will have a new addition to our family on November 8th. Jen and Thomas got engaged!!! I am so excited! Jen is a lucky girl. Thomas has been my big brother in the best of ways and one of my best friends all of my life. I absolutely love Jen and can't wait to have her as my sister! Congrats!

Hangin' Out

I was about to send these photos to Greg in an email, since we haven't really done anything blog-worthy lately, but I figured just hanging out with these guys is blog-worthy.

Thanks Aunt Kristen for tie-dying  these hip onesies for us. Peace!

Kate got really into the ESPYS this year. She figured with mom on bedrest, she probably caught more sports this year than she ever will. 

Ethan loves his uncles.

Even Uncle Brad, who he hasn't even met yet, but he has great taste in clothes.

and Uncle D.

and who wouldn't love Aunt Kristen?

I realize most of these pictures are of Ethan. I don't know why. Kate's still here. I seem to go in streaks of who I'm taking pictures of. I'll catch her this week. 

Because we just had to...

Don't worry, we used SPF umbrella for 3 of the 4 minutes we were outside, but even the 80 degree shade was quite exhausting.

Kate seemed okay with the dip of the toes but Ethan was not feeling it.

It all starts with a look...

... and then a touch...

Kate has finally relearned that she has a brother. In the early days, she used to look to him all the time, but then she decided she was the only thing important in her life. These past couple of days, she has been quite interested in her big brother. There is hope!

In case you don't speak Ethan, let me translate: "Hi dad. We're having a good time in California. The Secors are crazy people, but they take good care of me. We play lots of games and they have really fun toys to play with. I've made sure to spit up on everyone everyday just like you said. Uncle Matt has to change his shirt a couple times each day. Uncle Jimmy hasn't taught me to play basketball yet, but he promises he will soon. I'm trying not to get too big, but I'm trying to be really good as promised. Please come soon. I miss you a lot. Good luck studying. We love you."

After Church

Both Ethan and Kate are very good babies, but every baby has their sleepy, hungry, sad times, so catching them when they are BOTH in a great mood is really fun. When this happens, I get a little camera-crazy. It should also be noted that Greg came through with a new camera before we left for California. It is so much easier catching their cute little expressions. Here they are right after church.

Ethan has acquired a new nick name since being here- the Big Easy. From this picture, I'm sure you can see why.

Bumpa and Darling's

It's quite impressive that these guys were born with 4 great-grandparents. We took them to meet my mom's parents this morning, who we affectionately refer to as Bumpa and Darling. Darling (Helen is her first name) also had a twin brother, so it seemed natural that we give Kate Darling's name as her middle name. Darling wasn't feeling well, so we'll get a picture with her next time.

They were charming as usual and we had a wonderful visit. They can't wait to meet their other great-grandmas.

New Friends

Uncle Jimmy

Uncle Thomas

Uncle Matt

Aunt Kristen

Happy 4th of July!

Just a little warning... With us being away from Greg for the month, I've promised him a picture a day. I won't post them all here, but there will definitely be an increase.

Being the life of the party can get a little exhausting...

This is what we look like in California...

We have cool kicks...

We have smiles on our faces...

We get really fat...

...and we get our hair done after NINE months (3 due to waiting the appropriate time, 3 due to bedrest, 3 to twin caretaking).

the Taste

We all have a list of things we like to do while living in a city for a short time. I'm pretty close to completing mine and I checked off another yesterday- the Taste of Chicago. It's a food-lovers dream. About 60 restaurants from the Chicago area come to give a "taste" of what they have. I've been told it's the largest food festival in the world, and after seeing the crowd on a Monday afternoon, I can believe it. My mom, sister and brother are in town for a couple days before they help us fly to California for a few weeks. Greg wasn't able to join since he is studying hard, but we found a way to enjoy ourselves.

Mom was in heaven- walking around with fork in hand, ready to "taste" at any time.