Sweet Caroline

Is it evil to raise my daughters to be Neil Diamond fans?

Perhaps his music should have died with the 70's, but I can't help myself.

As you probably know, we have a large and varied assortment of music at our house. We been trying to expose the girls to a wide variety from jazz and classical to their father's punk albums. But, the girls seem to get the biggest kick out of the Neil Diamond Greatest Hits album. Its the biggest stress reliever to make my babies dance. When we hit a stress overload point, I put them both on the floor and play Sweet Caroline. They are at an age that is very "pose-able". (Like action figures, only a whole lot cuter). So, I make them move their hands and legs in beat to the music. Its pretty funny because I can move them at the same time, so they look like dancers in a chorus line. Plus we can act out the words of the song, "hands, holding hands...reaching out...touching me, touching you!"

The girls find this quite hilarious. They squeal and laugh.

Who can stay sad when Neil Diamond is singing? We follow up Sweet Caroline, Cracklin' Rosy and Song Sung Blue. Suddenly everything is better.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all our friends and family a wonderful joyful holiday.
We love you!


Elsa and Lily in their special xmas outfits.


The girls said Merry Christmas to all my friends at work.


Daddy, Lily and Elsa put Baby Jesus in the manger. Note that we have new additions to our scene. The 3 Wisemen journeyed all the way from Grandma and Grandpa's house in Indiana. Plus, Great Grandma and Grandpa A sent Twin Angel Shepherds to watch over the Holy Family.


Mommy and her Xmas Elves.


Lily and Elsa received many wonderful gifts from all over the country. Thanks so much!

Special guest appearance

Monday night we had a special visit from the Stegmans (Dave and Wendy). Dave is a former Berkeley student who is now doing a post doc in Australia. They were in town for the AGU conference. Way back in the last century, Dave and Wendy put Mark up for a few days during his first visit to Berkeley as a prospective student. Mark had such a good time, that he ended up choosing Berkeley for grad school. For this reason, I will be forever grateful. Otherwise, we might have spent the past few years freezing our butts off on the East Coast somewhere. I love the Bay Area and am glad we ended up here (if temporarily).

I wanted to take a moment to show off the wonderful gifts they brought for Lily and Elsa. Wendy knitted a set of little green hats with matching thumbless mittens. The hats have little ear flaps and tie under the chin. I love hats, so this gift was especially exciting for me. She also made them a blanket to match the one knitted for us by the other Berkeley grad students. Such a sweet and thoughtful gift!


Wendy with Lily.


Dave holding Elsa. Wendy with Lily.

Mark your calendars.

Before I forget, a date has been set for Lily and Elsa’s Baptism. They will be Baptized on April 3rd down in Mark’s hometown of Columbus, Indiana. It will be an exciting triple baptism shared with their cousin, Brian Beggs. Brian is Mark’s sister Laura’s youngest.

Isn't he a cutie!

All our welcome to attend. We will combine the trip with a visit to Northwest Indiana for the Easter holiday.

Now on with your regular update,

Last night at dinner, Mark and I realized that we have named one of our daughters after a desert pastry. Can you guess which one?



It never dawned on us until I was holding Elsa and discussing the box of éclairs sitting in the freezer. I've had a mad craving for them for months. Now, I know why! We think this is pretty funny. And it will come in handy. I've been feeling a little guilty that Lily will probably be given lots of flowers for special occasions to match her name. Now, Elsa will have a special treat associated with her name, too. Let's hope she likes chocolate.

The past week has been very busy. Mark had his annual AGU conference in the City. Mark gave a talk on his research which went pretty well. For the first time in six years, Mark did not get sick. But, Elsa, Lily and I all have colds. It has been a loooong week.


Here is Elsa recovering on her dad.

On Saturday, my friend Cristin came over to get me out of the house. We've missed Cristin because she has been away on a 6 week trip to New Zealand and Australia. (Lucky girl!) We had a very nice lunch. And I went to the movies for the first time since the girls were born. It felt funny to sit still that long. I almost bounced out of my seat.


Afterwards, Cristin came over to hang out with the babes. Here she is with Lily. Lily is modeling what is sure to be the next baby fashion trend.

Finally, a cute picture taken this morning.


Elsa thinks sisters make comfy pillows.

Party on dude.

We should have known when Elsa wanted to wear tie dye that the girls were headed towards trouble. Last night they went to their first college kegger at the tender age of 3 months old. They were out way past their 8pm curfew, not getting in until after midnight. I'm not kidding. Yesterday was Santa Barbara's Day, named after the patron saint of geologists. Every year on this day, the Berkeley Geology Department gets together to celebrate the annual holiday party. It is great fun. Everyone comes from students, to profs, to visiting alumni. We never miss it. Not having babysitters within 2000 miles, we took the girls along. They did great. My little girls are attention hams. Thankfully, they do not appear to have inherited mommy's social anxiety. They love a crowd and were very well behaved.


Mark won this award, "department member most likely to get caught in a parent trap." Those Hayley Mills jokes never get old! Better than Olsen twins references, though.

And finally, a time lapsed photo sequence of Lily's new trick. She's ALMOST rolling over. ALMOST. She hasn't figured out how to move her arm out of the way. Instead, she keeps pivoting around her head in a big circle. Its pretty funny. And not to leave Elsa out, it appears she might be growing a tooth!

He's a natural!

This weekend Mark's childhood friend Tom Driver came to visit. Babies make him nervous. So we made him hold two! He did a great job. Although, it was so tempting to make a break for it once he had both babies. We teased him and said we were going to the movies. Elsa is on the left. Lily's on the right.

Welcome to December . . .

and baby, its COLD outside! California cold. So, I know you Indiana folks don't feel sorry for us, but I actually had to scrape ice off our car this week. That is a rarity. And naturally our heater chose this week to die, so we've had to snuggle for warmth. Thankfully, Lily and Elsa are little heat engines and our furnace was fixed yesterday.

As the girls are stirring from their naps, I will get right to the pictures.


Lily and Elsa snuggled into their doublewide stroller. We go on neighborhood walks just about every day. We live in a great neighborhood where we can walk to several grocery stores, restaurants, parks, shopping, etc. The girls are little celebrities on the bike path. They make friends everywhere. It seems that everyone has a twin story to share. I was telling Mark yesterday they bring a lot of joy to the people we meet. Our usual walk goes right past the Senior Center and the Junior High, so they know lots of people both young and old. Yesterday was especially exciting because they finally are big enough to have their seats propped up. Lily especially enjoyed seeing where she was going. She kept her eyes wide open the entire time.




This picture needs thought bubbles, like a comic. It looks like Elsa is telling Lily a joke. Probably about how silly Mommy is taking so many pictures.



Here is Lily sneering at the punchline. They make so many goofy faces. But, look how they've interlocked arms and are playing with each other's hands. They make me melt!



And finally, our best Xmas presents ever!
Elsa and Lily.