To Dress Alike, or Not?

I always maintained that if I had twins, I would not insist on dressing them alike. This was partly because with three older daughters, I already had a full 4-season wardrobe of single outfits. What's the sense of letting all those cute, perfectly good clothes go to waste just because I didn't have two of each? And besides, it was a moot point because WHEN would I EVER have twins of my own???

However, now that we've hit the genetic lottery, I can't seem to help myself. Twins are *more* than twice as cute, especially when dressed alike!!! Let's face it, folks, they can stop traffic!

Just like it seems wrong to take one twin out without the other, it also seems wrong to dress them differently. If they're not identically dressed, then we tend to have them in the same outfit but different colors. Sometimes we differentiate by their shoes (that is, if we can find their shoes. We're terrible for losing shoes and jackets in this house).

I guess I'm addicted. When they get older and refuse to do it anymore, I'll have to stop. But until then, I'm gonna have some fun with this!!! Wheee!!!

Natalie is on the left in both pictures.

Brian's Digital Camera or How Pinkie & Purple-y Got Started

My middle son Brian received a digital camera this past Christmas when he was 11. I worried that he wasn't responsible enough for such a gift, but it has turned out great. He's always ready to whip his camera out when my own camera is in the back of the van, or left behind at someone's house, or out of battery, etc. He has gotten some great shots that I otherwise would have missed:





I don't even remember what they were fighting over now. Natalie is the one being choked.

Natalie is the pink baby,
Noelle is the purple baby.



The whole pink/purple thing started at the twins' baby shower, three months before their birth. So many of the "two packs" of sleepers, blankets, etc. came in pink and purple. My nieces and oldest daughter Sara decided that Noelle was a "purple" name. Since we were petrified of mixing up the little critters, we latched onto the system. Our other options were painting toenails (wears off), getting one twin's ears pierced (couldn't go through with it), or a tattoo. JK.

It turned out that Noelle had a pretty prominent birthmark on one eyelid, so we used that for a while. Of course that was AFTER Natalie changed back to pink from orange. She had jaundice pretty bad in the beginning. But then Natalie developed an eyelid birthmark on the opposite side, so if you could remember which side was which, you were okay. We didn't take their hospital bracelets off for two months, though, just in case.

Nowadays the twins keep morphing into one another, but their head shapes are different. Natalie's face is narrower, and Noelle's face and head are just a bit rounder.

I must say, however, that looking back at pictures from last year where they are dressed identically, sometimes I just can't tell who's who. It's so strange - I knew at the time, but I can't tell anymore. We thought they were so distinct, but I guess they were pretty identical after all.



Speaking of Brian, here's one of my favorite shots of him working his magic on his little sweeties.

My Maiden Voyage on Blogger

First post. Hopefully not the last post. I have tried to keep journals for the last two years, but the journal always ends up collecting dust on the nightstand or under the bed. Trying to homeschool, keep up with eight children, trying to keep a decent house with the twins, preparing two or three meals daily. Doesn't leave much time for anything else, unless I want to stay up half the night. Which happens half the time as it is.

Anyway, I can't add any more pictures to the verizon web page without losing all my formatting, and I've been posting pictures to snapfish, but I'm going to try this. I really ought to just post more pictures on facebook.

The twins are 16 months old as of Saturday. I didn't get any pictures because I was too busy trying not to lose one of them at the local amusement park. This was taken today by our back door. They don't look very identical, do they? Natalie has the pink pants. Noelle's sticking out her tongue for some reason.

I couldn't stand their bangs in their eyes anymore, so I tried again with the scissors. Noelle was fairly cooperative. I was able to use smoke and mirrors to distract her long enough to make a cut or two. Cutting Natalie's hair, on the other hand, was like trying to wrestle an alligator. I couldn't hold her still. Conor tried to help me, and got his hand jabbed by the shears for his trouble. In the end it took two of us - Brian basically had her in a headlock, and I held her head back against the couch with my left hand while I snipped with my right. This CAN'T be worth it!!

Please ignore these pictures. I had to post them somewhere to be able to link to them from another page.