Oh Sh*t

We leave the kids at Grandma & Grandpa G's for a few days and this is what they can do when we come back...

The next Michael Jordan?

Aidan monster dunking the basketball on his new present from Uncle David.

Nico has the right idea, wrong equipment

Twins watch, then beat Frosty

The Dudes Meet Santa for the 1st time

Nico liked him, Aidan didn't

Dudes 1st Thanksgiving not in the hospital

Some pictures from the Thanksgiving holiday

Macaroni is NOT a lapdog!!!

There is a joke here, I'm just not saying it in cyberspace

Pictures of Madison

Introducing Madison Elizabeth



Proud new parents Tommy & Jackie













1st time Aunt & Uncle:
Uncle Louie & Aunt Nikki with Madison





Uncle Sammy freaking out when she cries







Aunt Kelly and Madison

Welcome Madison!

Congratulations to my brother Tommy & his wife Jackie on the arrival of their daughter - Madison Elizabeth Sicilia. She arrived at 5:50 this morning and she weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. The dudes are very excited to meet their first cousin.

Being Louie, I noticed that Madison's initials are MES. It made me think of the messes my brother has to look forward to, here are a few of the thoughts that came into my head:

Aidan

Nico

Welcome to Parenthood Tommy & Jackie!

Dudes laughing

Twins "Blowing" out the candles on their birthday

Twins "Blowing" out the candles on their birthday at home

Videos of the dudes in action

Some recent videos of the dudes in action...

Aidan does not want eggs

Dudes jumping (notice Dad's camera work while he tries to get the dudes to jump)

Fun with the Family

We have been very busy and I am finding it hard to make time to keep everyone updated. The dudes are busy enjoying life and keeping me busy in the process. They roll every where they want to go and are now starting to get up on their hands and knees and rock back and forth. I don't think I am ready for the crawling to begin.

At the end of September, we took a long weekend and went visiting all over Lansing to introduce the Dudes to all of our old co-workers in Mason, Holt and Okemos. We also got to introduce the Dudes to their new friend Elsa. They always enjoying going places and getting to play with other peoples toys.

We also got to visit with all the of Miller family at Courtney's wedding it was very nice to see everyone. On Sunday, I think they were so exhausted that they actually slept in.

October has also been a very busy month. We got our first pictures taken at a studio. That did not go as I had planned. And we have traveled back to Michigan again to see David play soccer and MSU play football. It was a good weekend.

This weekend we will be meeting Grandpa and Grandma G in Bowling Green for a hand off. The Dudes will make the trip back to Jackson and we will get a free weekend and go see the MSU vs. OSU game here in Columbus. And finally, the last weekend in October we will be looking forward to Grandma K making the trip back across the pond to visit us for a whole month.

Grandpa G Playing with the Twins

We had quite an eventful weekend this past week visiting former co-workers and freinds, going to a wedding and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa G and some aunts and uncles. I will let Nikki post about the details. In the meantime, check out this video of Grandpa G playing with the twins - hilarious.

Giggles and Jumps

As the boys get older, they are starting to develop their personalities and their little quirks about them that make them unique. For example, Nico sucks his thumb, but Aidan doesn't, while Aidan has developed this funny giggle and Nico has not. Here is a video of Aidan with a case of the giggles.

Nico has taken a liking to the "Johnny Jump Up" that Nikki bought the boys, while Aidan sits in it, but doesn't jump around like Nico does. Check out Nico jumping around in his Johnny Jump Up.

Church Festival

Today we ventured out to the church festival at our parish here in Ohio. Our parish is called St. Joan of Arc, so they had this girl riding around on a horse dressed up as the patron saint.

They also saw some chickens at the festival as seen here.

Other than that, there wasn't much they could do yet because they are too young. Next year it will be much more fun for them as there was many activities for young children.

Aidan "Crazy Legs" Sicilia

As the boys get older they are starting to roll over and flip around in bed. Sometimes we catch them sleeping in the most awkward positions. Here is how I found Aidan tonight before I went to bed.
Yes, I fixed him after taking the picture.

Louie

Giant Noggin

Nikki and Uncle Sam took the twins to the doctor earlier this week while I was out of town in Virginia for work. The results of their weight/measurements are hilarious.

Aidan - 17 lbs 14 oz, 10th percentile. Head size is in the 70th percentile.
Nico - 18 lbs 6 oz, 20th percentile. Head size is in the 50th percentile.

That's right, Aidan has a weight in the 10th percentile and a head size in the 70th percentile. That means 90% of babies his age weigh more, but only 30% have bigger heads. Nico's measurements would be funny too if Aidan's weren't more exaggerated.

The boys are doing well, growing and doing more every day. If you haven't seen them lately, hopefully you will soon. Football season starts next weekend, so we should be in Michigan for a few weekends coming up.

They just added video to theses blogs, below is a test video to see if it works. Let me know if you can't see the video.

Louie

Dudes' new T-shirts from yesterday

Dudes and Dad surviving without Mom

Today we went to Church. I got the boys all dressed up in their Sunday best and we went to church in style. Here is a picture of them all dressed up and ready to go (Aidan on the left, Nico on the right).

Church was challenging at times being outnumbered 2:1, but all in all it was not as big an ordeal as you might think. It started raining right when we pulled into the parking lot, but we survived and made it into church. We parked in the cry room. The boys were very well behaved and were flirting with some of the baby-chics that were in the cry room. I had Aidan in my lap and Nico playing with toys on the floor when he leaned too far forward and took a header into the wall. I set Aidan down and picked Nico up and he was laughing. That could have been disaster, good thing he has a thick skull. Right about when communion started, they began getting fussy, so I packed them up and we came home. The picture to the right is proof that we really went to church and that God loves us and we are going to heaven.

I believe Nikki was setting me up for some interesting colors in their diapers with the food lineup today. Lunch was green beans, then banana-plum (green and purple). I'll keep you updated on the results with a picture (just kidding). Because of the food choices, I decided it would be best to take off their Sunday best before eating. Here is a picture of them after they ate - happy and shirtless.

We got news today that Uncle Sammy is coming to visit tonight. We are currently napping getting ready for his arrival (and mom coming home too).

Louie

Nikki's three children left alone in Ohio

Nikki went back to Michigan for the weekend leaving me alone with the boys. I think it is a test. We are having fun, laughing and trying to learn how to crawl (without much success). We went to Best Buy this afternoon looking for some Ipod stuff. Then I took them to Old Navy and bought them each a cool new shirt for being so good. I'll take a picture of them in their new shirts tomorrow and post it. For now - here is a picture of what it looks like at our house this weekend.

Last Weekend, Nikki and I went on a houseboating trip with a bunch of friends from the UP. Grandma & Grandpa G came and watched them, but I didn't download the pictures they took properly and have nothing to show of their stay. I do have some pictures from few weeks ago when we were in Jackson visiting them that I can show instead. The first is Nico watching Disney with Grandpa G - hilarious. The second is Grandma G and Aidan(?) with his new Mickey Mouse ears Nikki bought him when she went to FLA in July.

While we were on the boat trip, Grandma & Grandpa G took the boys to the park by our house and taught the boys how to swing. We took them there again the next week. They seem to enjoy it.

Busy Busy

The Dudes have had a couple busy weeks. Two weekends ago we were visiting in Michigan again. We took the Dudes and stayed at Grandma and Grandpa G's house. We also took the Dudes out to visit at Uncle Mike and Aunt Sheila's house, where they got to see a bunch of their cousins. Then on Sunday the Dudes went to church with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle David. Uncle David wanted to show the Dudes off to his girlie friends.

The next week Uncle Sam came to visit with the Dudes on his way to Washington D.C. The Dudes love it when they get visitors at home because they get to show off all of their toys. On Friday, we went out for our anniversary and the Dudes stayed home with Brenda and Marlise. The dudes enjoyed their time with two of their newest girl friends.

Dad's favorite new photo (notice the Spartan pacifiers)

Here is the link to the latest batch of pics on the kodak website:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=18kujkvo.8ojs2gkg&x=0&y=jhpru5

House Guests

The Dudes have had a busy couple of weekends. Last weekend we went home to Michigan and they visited with Aunt Kelly, Chuck and Uncle Sammy. And they also attended their cousin Ashley's first birthday party. This weekend we stayed home in Ohio, but a house full of visitors. Aunt Maureen drove down on Thursday from Canton and then Grandma G, Uncle David and Aunt Tracy drove down from Jackson on Friday. The Dudes had so much attention they didn't know what to do with themselves.


The Dudes also received their first haircuts. Aunt Tray cut Nico's hair and Aunt Maureen cut Aidan's hair. They just trimmed a little around the ears of course and we kept some of it for their baby books. And contrary to what uncle Sammy thinks the dudes do not want a mohawk like Uncle David.

New foods

It was a big week for the Dudes. They tried all kinds of new foods. They tried some pear juice, which they enjoyed very much, but still not enough to hold their own cups. They tried some snacks which included Cheerios and teething cookies. As you can see, Nico enjoyed the Cheerios. So much so, he thought he would save one for later. He did not really care for the teething cookies though, because once again that would mean he would have to hold it himself. The Dudes are pretty lazy eaters.

Aidan on the other hand decided that he preferred the teething cookie to the Cheerios, as you can see from the mess all over the front of his shirt. He gets that trait from his dad. They also got their first taste of peas this week and unlike their dad they seem to like their veggies.

This weekend we are traveling home to Michigan again for a wedding. We will be getting some much needed grown up time and the Dudes will be spending their time getting spoiled by Aunt Kelly and Uncle Sammy.

The Dudes have all the gear to attend their first Tiger game, but we have not made it there yet. This past weekend we went home to Michigan to visit with the Kelly's. On Saturday, we attended the memorial lunch for Uncle Bud and the met quite a few new people. However, they were not very well behaved. On Sunday, we walked to downtown Plymouth for lunch. The dudes liked the fountain in the square. Then we visited over at Uncle Joe's for a little while in the afternoon. They had a very busy weekend and slept most of the way back to Ohio.

Twins in their Tiger warmups