Sunday, October 26, 2008

SWEET 16

I cannot believe that 16 years ago, I gave birth to the two most perfect children in the world....here they are through the years. (Can you count the matching outfits?! At least they do NOT have rhyming or alliterative first names)


Christmas 1992 - 7 weeks

Back in the Day when Grandmother made us all dress up for Christmas dinner. Those poor baby necks look just slightly uncomfortable....those are 2 tired parents....

University Reunion with Mom - 7 months old 1993


I was the only classmate at my 5th year college reunion with babies. And you were too cute for words, needless to say....


Christmas 1993 - 14 months

Still waiting for Son's hair to come in - while Mom was still sporting her 80's do in the 90's....


Christmas 1994 - 2 years old


Yet another year of matching outfits at 2. How fun and easy it was to dress you back then




I told all about this in a post below...


First Day of School - 4YO - Spain

I remember the days in Spain where the children dressed so beautifully every day. And every morning Daughter would come out and say in her tiny little voice, "Brother Am I beautiful?" And Son would answer in all sincerity, "Oh you are so beautiful. Am I handsome?" and Daughter would answer with equal conviction, "OH yes, you are soooo handsome." and off to school we all walked, hand in hand.


Easter 1997 4 1/2 Spain
Why yes that IS a boy's shirt with a peter pan collar and embroidery on the front. The Boys in Spain dressed very nicely.


Disney June 1997 - 4 1/2 years



The children who saw every single Disney movie in spanish and English were sooooo excited to go to Disney that Daughter, jumping around on the plane, slashed Daddy's cornea with the "flight emergency card" before we even took off. Daddy spent the 4 day "vacation" in and out of emergency clinics and in the dark hotel room while I tooled around Disney, by myself, with 2 very excited 4 YO's. We had fun and made due. Signs of futures to come? Who knew..



The Season that Started it all - 1998
She gave up t-ball, picked up soccer, and has never looked back...




The Hippy Hop Kindergarten 1998

Yep we were cool hippy dudes. Used the self-timer in the camera so they could later appreciate the lengths their mom would go to for "theme parties." I love my kids!



Easter 1999

No I don't know how much their uncle bribed them to get them to pose for this....



Cousin's Wedding October 1999 - 7 years old

The Jr. Bridesmaid and Ring Bearer of the wedding, you stole the show...


Mom's Law School Graduation 2001
Hat Head on Mom never felt so good....


State Champs - 2003 - 11 Years old
Mr. Tough guy, center on the Pop Warner State Championship Football Team. What a year.



Last Day 7th Grade - 2005

Losing the baby-faces and becoming teenagers...



The 8th Grade Dance Spring 2006




That's his "girlfriend" (was) on the left and his Sister on the right in yellow. The Ex-girlfriend was then and is still Daughter's best friend!


First Day of School SJC 9th Grade - 2006 nearly 14 YO

Son had to run next door and ask Pop how to tie a tie, Daughter lamented the skirt, the itchy shirt, the socks. We read the rule book so many times on proper attire. Clearly that stuff is just for Freshmen (see, e.g. Junior Year first day)!!!!




The Regimental Ball (it's a military school folks) Freshmen year 2006



Ah yes, sometimes we can still get them all dressed up. This was Son's first lesson in "men get a new $30 tie, girls get a new $200 dress. That's fair." Son wore the same suit to Reg that he had worn to Homecoming just 6 weeks earlier. But did anyone notice? Probably not. Change the shirt, change the tie = new suit. Daughter, however, did not wear her Homecoming Dress (a $20 bargain at Filene's basement and a short cocktail dress) to the Reg Ball. Oh no, for that we had to go to the Jessica McClintock Store. Uh-huh yes we did...and she snagged the dress right down the front at the dance, thereby ensuring it would be worn exactly once....sigh....




First Day 10th Grade 2006



The Grandparents' 50th Anniversary Cruise June 2007

Yes, Perspective is everything. For them, "the best time of our life." For me, "the cruise from hell" just 4 days before the Beginning of the End. So why did I go? For moments like the one, right here. The Grandparents with their 5 beloved grandchildren. Just 7 months later Mother would fall down the stairs and our lives would all change forever. But for one perfect moment, all was right and beautiful with the world....and that was worth pasting on a smile and sharing a room with a man who hated me. (BTW, Daughter is on the far right in Yellow.)





Christmas Baking 2007 - 15 YO








Daughter and her new Puppy Lorelai July 2008


That smile says it all.

First Day of School Junior Year 2008

Illegal shoes on Boy, untucked shirt on Girl, Son's collar not buttoned, tie loose, illegal socks under illegal pants. ...sigh....They have Upperclassmen Attitude for sure.

Happy Sweet 16 my dear, sweet children. May life continue to bless you. I wish you enough....


19 comments:

dkuroiwa said...

Happy Birthday, Twins!!! I wish you both the best of everything...and look, you've already got a great start on that as your Momma is one of the best!!
Have a great day...eat lots of cake and I hope you get tons of presents!!

(your daughter's hair when she was little was toooooo cute!! i do love me some curly hair on little kids!!! THAT was a great post!!!)

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

I love the Life in Pictures. Happy Birthday to them!

Lakeland Jo said...

what a lovely way of showing the progress of your kids- I loved having a look. I will visit your blog again soon

ChiTown Girl said...

What an awesome post!! It's just what I needed at 5:30 in the morning, after just working a 13 hour night at the bar! I'm not so cranky anymore ;-)

Busy Bee Suz said...

I love this. Thank you so much for sharing. We have even more insight to your family.
Your kids are gorgeous, and daughter is a clone of you!!!
I hope they have a great bday.

Oh, the eye damage...sorry, it was a bit of a chuckle for me. :0

Paranoid said...

Aw, sniff. They're so beautiful. Happy birthday to your two wonderful kids. They couldn't have asked for a better mom.

Sugee Andersyn said...

Your kids are gorgeous. I love the way the family dog gets in the school pics lol :)

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

A great retrospective. Happy Birthday to all 3 of you.

How much does your daughter look like you?!

Persnickety Ticker said...

Absolutely loved this post! It was great to see the twins "grow up!" Happy birthday to them and a very happy birthing day to you!



Just have to add...my word vert was "mestfust" and it made me giggle.

DF said...

AU must really like being around all his GIRL cousins! Makes him feel like the one and only King (in his mind, anyway).

To both of them, Happy Birthday.

Carol P. said...

Happy Birthday, Sh and Au! You look great and it's fabulous to see how you've grown over the years!

How does the time go by so slowly and yet so quickly???

Clippy Mat said...

16 years in the blink of an eye eh?
well done, you've done/are doing a great job with them there twins.
:-))

laurie said...

oh my gosh pictures so sweet as to break your heart.

katydidnot said...

how fantastic are they? urgh. cute as heck. like syrupy smurfy level cute. the 4yo one in spain? whoa.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to your little Military School Rebels! Your tribute to them is SO sweet:) My 16 year old has been tons of fun....I hope 17 proves to be the same, because it's right around the corner!

BTW - I, too, was still wearing a banana clip in 1992. I was so busy caring for an infant that I did't have TIME to figure out a new hairdo!!!! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Hula Girl at Heart said...

Cute, cute kids!! Happy birthday to them!!

Marjie said...

And so the time goes. My oldest is 24, with a PhD. Why? I think I'm only 25, at least in my heart I am...

Jason, as himself said...

What a treat--watching these two grow up before my very eyes!

Having twins must be a real adventure.

Anonymous said...

My first time here (came over from Mrs. G's), and I wanted to leave a comment about how great these pictures are! My oldest will be 17 in just a few weeks, and seeing the pictures of your children growing up sent me down a memory lane of my own. Take care!