Resolutions

I normally don't do resolutions at the New Year... they're made to be broken, yada yada yada... like my cookbook resolution (the last one I made... and broke).

For whatever reason I've decided on a few resolutions (goals) for this upcoming year...

1. I'd like to waste less food.  When I was doing my cookbook resolution, I was doing an AWESOME job with meal planning - it was flexible, well thought out, and utilized the small kitchen space we had in our old house.  When we discovered Avery's food allergies, the meal plan went out the window, and so did my resolution.  Now, almost three years later I'm just barely getting back to a meal plan (it's really spotty) - but I feel like if I can plan it out better, I won't find food spoiling before I get to it.  I just feel so wasteful when I throw out perfectly good food.

2.  Blog more - I'm sure my family agrees...  If you look at the 'blog archive' on the right side of the page, you can see how my blogging has dwindled...

3.  Read more - I have always loved reading, but as any parent knows, it's not always easy to find QUIET time to read other than the books I read to the kids - I need to make a conscious effort to read for myself!

4.  I want to spend more time working on my OWN pictures.  I feel like such a picture hoard.  Friends and family think it's great that I take so many pictures, but they NEVER see any of them because they get lost in the abyss that is my time warp... and I always feel like my pictures have to be edited and 'perfect' before I show them to anyone.  So, I either need to suck it up and not worry about them being 'perfect' when I send them out, or I need to do a better job of allocating time to edit them.  (I chose the latter)

Here is an example:  I took this picture of Evan in February 2012...  I hadn't even looked at it until last week...

5.  Print my stinkin' pictures and put them in any kind of album... I was so good at that before the girls were born... and then they were born.  Avery and I were looking through Evan's photo album from his 1st year and she kept asking which picture was of her... when my answer continued to be that's not you, that's Evan, she started to cry.  Then I started to cry.  I need to print some stinkin' pictures of the girls and put them in any kind of album.  (see #4, these work hand-in-hand)

such is life...

I miss blogging so much.....

This image and the story behind it captures so much of why I haven't been blogging... like, at all.


The girls have been resisting naps with every ounce of willpower in their little bodies, and I have been desperately trying to hang on to naps with every ounce of I-just-need-a-freakin'-break-and-oh-by-the-way-I-need-to-get-my-work-done-while-you-sleep.

So today, Avery was practically begging me to take a nap - I figured as much since the girls don't seem to sleep any longer at night when they don't take a nap, and eventually it catches up with them.  About the 4th or 5th time Avery came running out of her room screaming because 'Brynn touched me' or 'Brynn hit me' or 'Brynn won't let me sleep' or 'Brynn slammed my leg in the door' I set her up in my room so she could sleep in peace. 

Brynn was NOT happy.  'I miss my sister' 'I need my sister' 'I promise I will sleep like my sister'  uh... no.  So I left her in her room to play by herself and after it got really quiet for a long period of time... this is how I found her:


So yeah, I really miss blogging.  I miss writing about all the crazy things my children do - but at this time in my life, I'm just managing all the crazy things they do and not really getting a chance to write about it... but this feels good to write... really, really good.

Nope... not even 2 minutes

The kids are playing quietly.

Getting along.

{rare}

Sitting ever so happily at the table with their crayons.

I'm getting laundry done.

This is fantastic!

Oh, the washer isn't quite full.

I'll just sneak into Evan's room and grab some of his clothes to throw in.

{Gone 2 minutes}

Come back into the room...

Why is Brynn's hair wet...

...and clothes...

...and her face...

Why does Avery have the bottle of stain remover in her hands?

Oh yeah, I'm doing laundry...

You have got to be kidding me.

{Scrambling to wash Brynn's face** off... dumping her into the bath tub instead...}


*sigh*


And that, my dear internet friends, is one of many reasons why I am having such a hard time getting things posted on the blog...

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed these days...

...and I can't imagine why.


**thankfully nothing was wrong with Brynn's eyes, but I will tell you that was not one of my finer moments walking back into the room and finding her trying to rub chemicals off her face... laughing the whole time (right along with Evan & Avery) until I snatched her up and feverishly tried to clean it off of her.

10 on 2sday

1.  I got a wee bit of good news a few weeks ago...

... and I wasted no time in booking our trip, lining up babysitters (thanks Mom & Dad!), and I'm sure I will come back with a ridiculous amount of pictures!!

2.  Just before the good news we had our winter birthday celebration with my side of the family... it tended to revolve around Avery & Brynn a little more than everyone else (ity bity's will tend to do that, I think?), but it was nice to get everyone together... and get a picture of the cousins where my children were NOT screaming!  (although it was a close call until my Mom rushed in with a snack for Brynn!)

3.  Speaking of birthdays, my Dad celebrated a pretty momentous one... not sure if it's ok to post his age or not, but when have I ever really let that stop me??   :)  He turned 60!  With the help of lots of his family and friends, I created a book for him (using blurb.com - and I TOTALLY recommend them!) that had pictures from baby to now including letters and notes that were written to him for the book.  I was really happy with how it turned out... and I think he was too... a kid at heart...

4.  We got a new laptop not too long ago ~ which was a much needed upgrade.  I edited a photo session in about a 1/3 of the time it took my on my old laptop... soooooooooo sloooooooooooooooooooow it was.  Anyway, it's been a bit of a headache transitioning documents, making sure programs were moved over... and I lost every font I liked for my blog and my photog biz.  Very frustrating... I need to figure out how to get those fonts loaded back on the new computer, but I just haven't yet.  phooey.

5.  Avery & Brynn have been skipping at least one nap a week lately.  And they don't just skip a nap and lay quietly and play... they fight, they scream, they pound on the door, and they tear apart the little bit that is left in their room.  They have starting pulling each others hair during their little scuffles too.  lovely.  (I guess that's what sisters do?)

6.  So in light of their occasional nap-skipping (and general fondness of destruction), we turned their drawers back around... so dang frustrating that I can't even use a chest of drawers in their room.

7.  The girls have finally started pulling their weight around here and helping with the dishes...

8.  Brynn and Avery are still far more interested in the potty than I'm ready for... but again, I'm not totally discouraging it either... I figured for now we would just work on getting clothes on and off... but Brynn has taken it to a whole new level.  We now find her with her PJ's pulled down around her ankles at night when we go check on the kids before bed.  One night, instead of trying to put them back on and risking waking her up... I just pulled them off and let her sleep in her diaper.  I felt kind of bad about it, so the next time it happened I tried re-dressing her... she was a limp noodle... didn't even phase her...
 

9.  Evan and I were looking at the February calendar, you know... back in February... and he started counting... from 1 to 28, and he says... Mommy - it's missing 29!!  Up until that moment he was still forgetting a teen number here and there while counting, and all of the sudden he's counting all of the 20's!!?!?!? 

10.  Evan asked me to take a picture of him with all his favorite toys... and I couldn't resist...

to the potty we go...

This is how we spent the better part of our morning while Evan was in preschool...

...just hanging out...

...which is a big step for Brynn since she hasn't really cared for the 'big girl potty' until recently.  And they fought... at one point they both tried to sit on the big toilet at the same time.  

Brynn was very proud of herself that she could get on and off the potty all by herself.  And then she peed.  Unfortunately it was during one of the times she was off the potty...

Then Avery peed... in the little potty, and when I was all excited and giving her praise, she started freaking out... a little like she did with the candles on her birthday cupcake... except this time she had the freedom to get up and run away...

I am NOT ready to potty train, I repeat... NOT READY!

The Toddler Beds

Like I said on my 10on2sday post, we moved the girls into their toddler beds a couple weekends ago.

Let's just say I wasn't real happy about the move, mostly because it wasn't on our timing, it was on theirs... and I wasn't, and am still not ready for this move.

So... on to Day 1:

We got their beds set up in the morning so we could do a trial run at nap time, and it didn't go well... let me show you:

 

So we removed all their toys.

That night I think they were so exhausted from not taking a nap, it only took 2 trips into their room to get them to stay there and finally go to sleep.

Day 2:

Nap time wasn't any better than the previous day, minus all the toys scattered around since we had taken them out of their room.





...and we wound up pulling the changing table out when we found them both playing on top of it together!



Day 3, or 4 (I can't remember):

Probably the worst day.  They decided to yank everything out of the dresser drawers, and continued to use those drawers as a ladder to reach all the pretty breakable things that I was stupid enough to keep on top of their dresser....







...the dresser got turned around and the breakable things removed, and while we were at it, we figured a way to keep them out of their closet as well:

 



A week later:

Nap times are still challenging, but on top of that, Brynn started to lay down behind the door and fall asleep at night.  I don't know if she decided she doesn't like her bed, or if she's trying to peek under the door and listen to what's going on outside...



This was a day I forgot to clip the closet door closed and of course they figured it out and pulled their diaper bag out and started rifling through it...



We knew it would take some time, and eventually they'll get it, and I can go back to a less-stressful nap time and bed time routine (in my dream world) ~ but I will admit it was pretty cute to see them both peacefully sleeping together in the same bed one night, although not cute enough for me to leave them that way!



Two weeks in:

Today was the first day I didn't have to go into the girls room at nap time and tell them to get back in their beds.  It might be a fluke, or maybe they are just used to the new beds now?  Either way, I'll take it when I can get it!!

Another installment of...

...what we do for fun around here!



And what's more fun than one?



Two, of course!

The laundry basket; functional AND fun!

My thought today...

Our ideas and opinions are limited by our experiences and perspective.

Probably why God instructed us not to judge others.

Prime example:
Before I had children of my own I used to "judge" parents who put those backpack leashes on their children, thinking to myself... "geez, why don't you just watch your kid?" 

Um.

I get it now.

In fact, I just may be in the market for a couple of 'em.

Perspective.

Busted!

I'm thinking we need two...

What do you think?

10 on 2sday

1. Avery and Brynn decided to switch up their personalities last week.  We were at the library for story time and Avery was the one clinging to my leg, and Brynn was the little socialite.  Not sure if it's going to stick, and I've heard of twins doing that (switching personalities), but man, as soon as we think we've got 'em pegged...

2.  I ran a 5K a couple weekends ago with the hubby.  Yes, he basically left me in the dust, however he did run with me for close to a mile.  Problem was, I was running faster than what I'm used to, and he was running slower than he is used to.  I ended up walking portions (boo), yet I still beat my previous time (only by 20-ish seconds, but still).  So I learned that I need to pace myself better from the start and not try to keep up with the hubs!

3.  The same weekend that we ran the 5K, my parents came to visit us!  My Mom wanted a head shot done, so we got a chance to play around and do a little photo shoot!  So, this one is a bit near and dear to my heart!!  :)  Love you, Mom!

4.  So I was really excited and shared with everyone last week that Evan started riding his bike.  But perhaps the more important part of this is that he did it AGAIN, and AGAIN!  It wasn't just a one-time-fluke!  And his quote last night as he was riding his bike; "Mommy, I am awesome all of the time!"  Guess he doesn't have a self esteem problem!!

5.  We have been back to the drawing board with Avery a little.  Her skin and digestive system has been acting up recently.  We are pretty sure we discovered strawberries as an additional allergy (yeah, REALLY disappointed).  We even stopped giving her soy milk for a few days wondering if that was causing problems.  It doesn't seem to be, but I started keeping a food journal again to see if I can figure out what's going on with her.

6.  Just a random tid-bit... Brynn takes splinter removal like a champ.  We've gone through 2 splinter removals now and she didn't even flinch! She just watched what we were doing with total curiosity.  That coupled with her being rather detail oriented and having great fine motor skills, and Dan and I are now convinced she is going to be a surgeon!  Nothin' like having high hopes and dreams for your kids!!  :)

7.  I just realized yesterday as I was reading several facebook statuses about kids starting kindergarten or going back to school, that I am happy to have one more year left before Evan starts kindergarten.  Sure we have our rough days, but I'm kinda partial to the little guy!

8.  I did another senior photo shoot recently!!!

9.  It is almost impossible these days to get all 3 kids in a good picture... this is my closest attempt:

10.  Last week we had a fun play date in the park, and I actually allowed my children to romp in the mud.   Totally not like me, and I was cringing THE ENTIRE TIME wondering how I was going to get them home without getting mud all over the van.   (ok, I didn't so much LET them as I didn't see what Avery was doing until it was too late, and by that time I just threw up my hands and said fuhgetaboutit, they may as well enjoy this cause it's NEVER HAPPENING AGAIN!)

18 months

Well 18 months sure came and went quickly.  (broken record, I know...)

This was my favorite age with Evan.  The curiosity of an 18 month old is unmatched, they use (some) words so you can communicate (a little) with them, they can walk pretty good on their own (saves the back), they can navigate stairs pretty well, they love to play, they (for the most part) share the same schedules as everyone else, and they haven't quite gotten into the terrible 2's yet.

Without wanting to rush life forward, I have really been looking forward to this age with the girls.  I was ready for the fun, the walking, the talking.

Turns out I wasn't exactly ready for 18 months with twins.  I didn't think it was possible, but it seems this age is harder than the lack-of-sleep-with-2-newborns-stage.

Their curiosity takes them in different directions.

Not only do they walk well, but they are running well too - again, opposite directions.

It's been an interesting summer - we haven't gone to the park as much as I'd like - Brynn is fearless and will climb to the highest point on the playground equipment, and once Avery finally got over her fear of grass, she no longer would sit still in the stroller while I went down the slide with Brynn.  So we've stuck around the fenced-in-backyard quite a bit.  Although, you won't hear anyone complaining since all 3 kiddos love the water table and the sprinklers!

Taking the kids on the driveway for sidewalk chalk was the bravest I've gotten all summer:

I figured as soon as one of the girls started running towards the street, we'd be done.  Surprisingly they managed to stay by the garage for about 15 minutes!

Getting to know Avery & Brynn's personalities has been the most fun part of the past 18 months.  From the beginning so much of their personalities have been far more obvious since we can compare kids side-by-side.

Brynn - introverted, prefers playing by herself, and definitely prefers being by herself when she is upset (or just snuggling with Mommy) - she is absolutely fearless (which scares the crap out me) - she loves books...

Avery - extroverted, loves people - warms up rather quickly, much more reserved when it comes to risk-taking - she loves to be the center of attention (although, sometimes she likes to play shy) - she loves shoes...

I suppose it's pretty obvious they don't look a ton alike... even just by looking at their hair.  I think Avery might have a little hair envy... whenever she sees me putting Brynn's hair in a "ponytail" she asks for one too... and I can usually get a little tiny one on the top of her head!

It's been a fun and exciting 18 months around here - certainly not many dull moments...

TGIF

new...

favorite...

picture...

The answer: no

The question: Is your house ever quiet?

never a dull moment!

These are the types of fights I get to break up...

This bites

Ok, so "This bites" is both literal and figurative.

The girls are entering a stage that I really don't like.

Not that biting is new, but they are starting to leave marks and bruises these days.

We have had really bad experiences when it comes to biting.  Not gonna drudge it up in its entirety, but long story short we moved Evan to a new daycare when we lived in St. Louis because he was getting bit so frequently and nothing was being done about it.  (most daycares have policies regarding biters)  But regardless of the fact Evan was getting bit, I was always happy our child wasn't the biter.

SO.

Fast forward a bit - the deciding factor in separating the girls into their own cribs when they were 9 months old, was because Brynn was biting Avery.

Fast forward a little more - I used to put the girls in the same crib to play while I showered, until I'd come out of the shower and Avery would be screaming bloody murder because Brynn bit her. 

And now - Avery has started to return the favor.  I think most of it is teething, but a little of it seems to be aggression and not knowing how to express their frustration at this point.

And unless I'm a foot away to break them up before they can chomp down... like in this instance:   
(although it does kinda seem like Avery was asking for it by sticking her fingers in Brynn's mouth, huh?)

...I'm gonna be dealing with tears.  And bruises.  On arms.  And shoulders.  And sometimes the face.

Loads of fun...

...and I'm not talking laundry!




Just one more of the many fun things about having twins...

She never saw it coming...

Avery & Brynn are a constant source of entertainment.

I love to watch how their interactions with each other have been evolving.

It keeps me in stitches.

Avery has been working on pulling herself up.

And she will practice on anything.

Even Brynn.

Giggles x 2

This is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever been witness to. Ever.

The kids were down for naps and I was in the basement when I heard what sounded to me like the dog whimpering or something. So I came upstairs to find out what was going on, and it wasn't even close to being the dog.

It was Avery and Brynn. Giggling. Laughing with each other in their crib. I have never heard anything cuter.

Be sure the sound is turned up when you play the video, and it will be black to start with. I was trying to capture the giggles before opening the door, I was afraid they would hear or see me and stop laughing.




I have discovered just one of the many joys of having twins...

first fight!

Avery & Brynn had their first fight this week...

hmm... that looks fun

here... let me have it... NO, it's MINE

hey... give it here, or else!

boo hoo...