We didn't have any fun...
PS. coming up with blog titles is not my strong suit... it hurts my brain.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Outtake
Here's an 'outtake' from our little 'photo shoot' last week. Evan was my guinea pig. While the girls were taking their nap I had Evan come out and strike a pose... or two... or ten... so I could play with the window light and new backdrop.
We didn't have any fun...
PS. coming up with blog titles is not my strong suit... it hurts my brain.
We didn't have any fun...
PS. coming up with blog titles is not my strong suit... it hurts my brain.
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Birthday Flowers...
I finally 'bit the bullet' and bought a seamless backdrop to play around with, partly for the girls' 2-year pictures (that I attempted already, but failed miserably at... so try, try again!)
Anyway, I found a subject that would hold still for me...
Thanks Mom & Dad, I love them! They are perfectly bright & cheery for the drab, cold days of January!
Anyway, I found a subject that would hold still for me...
Thanks Mom & Dad, I love them! They are perfectly bright & cheery for the drab, cold days of January!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
10 on 2sday
1. I think the 'health conscious' side of my brain has gone into winter hibernation. It's been very discouraging, but I haven't had any motivation to wake up in the mornings and exercise. It's cold, and my body knows it, and my bed is warm. It's been WAAAAY too easy to just shut off my alarm clock. The only good thing, is at least I'm still setting my alarm clock. I figure the time that I don't even bother setting it... then I have issues. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.
2. Last time I took the girls shopping with me, it wasn't until I came home and was emptying out the shopping bags that I realized Avery must have thrown the loufa that I attempted to buy, out of the cart somewhere along the aisles of wally mart. whoops! That would be reason number 3 thousand 1 hundred and twenty2 that I don't like taking kids shopping with me.
3. Today is the last day that I don't consider myself "in my 30's". I figure the year you turn 30 is just a trial run, (right?) but as of tomorrow, I officially have to say I'm in my 30's. *sigh*
4. I finally had an "aha!" moment several weeks ago when it occurred to me that we are on the downhill slope towards Evan entering kindergarten. I've never really had much one-on-one time with him, so my 'aha' is that I'm going to start putting the girls in daycare every 2-3 weeks on days that Evan has preschool. It will give me a couple hours in the morning to get some errands done without kids (see #2), and when I pick Evan up, we get to go somewhere special for lunch. Just the 2 of us. Kind of along the lines of my epiphany... I don't want to get Evan into school and look back and regret not spending more one-on-one time with him while I could. He's a pretty neat little 4 year old, and that can get lost in the chaos of 3 small children.
5. Last week I got to experience, and be extremely thankful for, one of the fringe benefits of being a stay-at-home-mom of small children who aren't in school yet.... I didn't have to leave the house. Because who wants to go out of the house when it's -15 outside???
6. The girls discovered a new way to dismantle their room ~ and I suspect they are also using this new-found discovery of a bed that is light enough to move, as a way to jump from Brynn's bed to Avery's bed, just because they can... (oh, and to try and reach what's on top of their dresser...)
7. I gave Avery buttered popcorn last week. Butter. Which is a milk product. Which she is allergic to. On purpose. The ingredient was listed as "non-fat dry milk," and that's one of the ingredients my Sister-in-Law tried for my niece who is (anaphylactic-type) allergic to milk, and she did fine. So I figured it's time to start testing some of these ingredients to see how Avery handles it. She did fine!! I'm not going to push it and overwhelm her system, but I am ready to slowly start working some of the foods back into her diet... wish us luck!
8. Remember my strange-fact-I'm-sure-you-wanted-to-know about sometimes mis-typing my name as Loir? Apparently I'm not the only one...
9. Sometimes we have crazy hair when we wake up from our naps... and by "we", I mean Avery & Brynn, since I neverbother get bother to attempt to take naps...
10. I wish my brain would let me take a nap some days... like, maybe today...
2. Last time I took the girls shopping with me, it wasn't until I came home and was emptying out the shopping bags that I realized Avery must have thrown the loufa that I attempted to buy, out of the cart somewhere along the aisles of wally mart. whoops! That would be reason number 3 thousand 1 hundred and twenty2 that I don't like taking kids shopping with me.
3. Today is the last day that I don't consider myself "in my 30's". I figure the year you turn 30 is just a trial run, (right?) but as of tomorrow, I officially have to say I'm in my 30's. *sigh*
4. I finally had an "aha!" moment several weeks ago when it occurred to me that we are on the downhill slope towards Evan entering kindergarten. I've never really had much one-on-one time with him, so my 'aha' is that I'm going to start putting the girls in daycare every 2-3 weeks on days that Evan has preschool. It will give me a couple hours in the morning to get some errands done without kids (see #2), and when I pick Evan up, we get to go somewhere special for lunch. Just the 2 of us. Kind of along the lines of my epiphany... I don't want to get Evan into school and look back and regret not spending more one-on-one time with him while I could. He's a pretty neat little 4 year old, and that can get lost in the chaos of 3 small children.
5. Last week I got to experience, and be extremely thankful for, one of the fringe benefits of being a stay-at-home-mom of small children who aren't in school yet.... I didn't have to leave the house. Because who wants to go out of the house when it's -15 outside???
6. The girls discovered a new way to dismantle their room ~ and I suspect they are also using this new-found discovery of a bed that is light enough to move, as a way to jump from Brynn's bed to Avery's bed, just because they can... (oh, and to try and reach what's on top of their dresser...)
7. I gave Avery buttered popcorn last week. Butter. Which is a milk product. Which she is allergic to. On purpose. The ingredient was listed as "non-fat dry milk," and that's one of the ingredients my Sister-in-Law tried for my niece who is (anaphylactic-type) allergic to milk, and she did fine. So I figured it's time to start testing some of these ingredients to see how Avery handles it. She did fine!! I'm not going to push it and overwhelm her system, but I am ready to slowly start working some of the foods back into her diet... wish us luck!
8. Remember my strange-fact-I'm-sure-you-wanted-to-know about sometimes mis-typing my name as Loir? Apparently I'm not the only one...
9. Sometimes we have crazy hair when we wake up from our naps... and by "we", I mean Avery & Brynn, since I never
10. I wish my brain would let me take a nap some days... like, maybe today...
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snow!
We made it outside earlier this week (when it wasn't ridiculously cold), and lasted more than 4 minutes playing in the snow! Apparently Avery learned from the last time and kept her gloves on! (and I'm not sure if you can really tell or not, but if you click on the link to our last snow experience, you will notice we have A LOT more snow now...)
Only a few face plants, and a couple attempts to throw snow at my camera (yikes!) ~ and again, totally worth the 25 minutes of preparation to get a chance to get outside to play!
Only a few face plants, and a couple attempts to throw snow at my camera (yikes!) ~ and again, totally worth the 25 minutes of preparation to get a chance to get outside to play!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Singing along...
Last week my cousin, Kelsey, posted an adorable video on her blog with a little girl and her dad singing. Well, yesterday the duo was on Ellen ~ and Avery & Brynn were glued to the screen watching them, and Brynn even tried to sing along a couple times!!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Epiphany
Since the girls' birthday is coming up, and it will be here before I know it, I've started writing their "letters" so I don't get to the day and start scrambling and writing in a hurry (which I do far too often,... hello, 10on2sday posts...)
Anyway, as I was writing notes on all the little things that make my girls who they are, I had an epiphany.
When we lived in St. Louis and I worked full time, Evan spent the majority of his waking hours in the care of someone else. I had the commute to work, so Dan did the majority of the dropping off and picking up from daycare.
One of the few times I was at the daycare, one of the gals who watched him during the day asked me a question about his routine.
I had no idea. I don't even remember how I responded to her, but I remember full well the thought that was going through my mind... You know his routine better than I do.
In fact, we just followed the same routine that the daycare did. Naps, feeding, whatever.
I cried inside.
And I wanted to be home with my child.
It wasn't feasible at the time, but it never left me.
As a college student dreaming of having a career, it never once occurred to me that I would want to be a stay-at-home-mom. I always knew I'd have kids, but it was never even a thought in my mind how I would take care of them, or who would take care of them.
So the desire to stay at home, even though I enjoyed my job, my career, was a very strange feeling.
Dan and I are both pretty logical people (hello, logistics majors) so we did the math. Daycare is expensive.
So, to the point of my epiphany.
Sometimes I take this time with my children for granted.
I have lots of days that I think about going back to work, and it's really strange how the tables have turned. Although, I will admit, it's usually the days where my children all need something at the exact same time and they express their desires rather LOUDLY, and often... and most likely when I'm in the bathroom.
And I needed the reminder of why I wanted to stay at home in the first place.
And this is a decision for our family that I will never, ever, regret.
[I hope this does not come across as a guilt trip for working Mom's, believe me! I've been there and done that and felt the guilt, and I have the utmost regard and respect for women who do. I often times wonder if I would have stayed home had we not had twins... and I really couldn't say.]
Anyway, as I was writing notes on all the little things that make my girls who they are, I had an epiphany.
This is why I stay at home.
When we lived in St. Louis and I worked full time, Evan spent the majority of his waking hours in the care of someone else. I had the commute to work, so Dan did the majority of the dropping off and picking up from daycare.
One of the few times I was at the daycare, one of the gals who watched him during the day asked me a question about his routine.
And I was silent.
I had no idea. I don't even remember how I responded to her, but I remember full well the thought that was going through my mind... You know his routine better than I do.
In fact, we just followed the same routine that the daycare did. Naps, feeding, whatever.
I cried inside.
And I wanted to be home with my child.
It wasn't feasible at the time, but it never left me.
As a college student dreaming of having a career, it never once occurred to me that I would want to be a stay-at-home-mom. I always knew I'd have kids, but it was never even a thought in my mind how I would take care of them, or who would take care of them.
So the desire to stay at home, even though I enjoyed my job, my career, was a very strange feeling.
And then we found out we were having twins.
Dan and I are both pretty logical people (hello, logistics majors) so we did the math. Daycare is expensive.
And God knew the desires of my heart.
So, to the point of my epiphany.
Sometimes I take this time with my children for granted.
I have lots of days that I think about going back to work, and it's really strange how the tables have turned. Although, I will admit, it's usually the days where my children all need something at the exact same time and they express their desires rather LOUDLY, and often... and most likely when I'm in the bathroom.
And I needed the reminder of why I wanted to stay at home in the first place.
I don't ever want someone else to know more about my children than I do.
And this is a decision for our family that I will never, ever, regret.
[I hope this does not come across as a guilt trip for working Mom's, believe me! I've been there and done that and felt the guilt, and I have the utmost regard and respect for women who do. I often times wonder if I would have stayed home had we not had twins... and I really couldn't say.]
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
10 on 2sday
1. Nap times are going a little smoother these days... a lot of times I only make one (and even none) trips into the girls' room to get them to quiet down... although...
2. Brynn still goes to sleep behind the door. And it really bothers me. I think there have only been 2 times she hasn't fallen asleep behind the door - once she actually stayed in her bed (or Dan moved her and I didn't realize it), and the other time she slept in Avery's bed. I don't know what to do about it. I'm not sure if she doesn't like her bed? Or is scared of her bed? Anyone out in cyber-land ever dealt with something like this?
3. I've realized that I have not linked to my photography 'sneak peek' blog in a while, and I have done a few photo shoots in the cold months... so here you go, a link... :)
4. I spent about 2 weeks going through all my pictures from 2010 (personal ones, not my business ones) and deleted THOUSANDS of HORRIBLE pictures. But the neatest thing was seeing the improvement over the past year. I took lots and lots and lots of really bad pictures... but as the year progressed, I was deleting far fewer of the blurry, out of focus, and poorly exposed pictures that I started the year taking. I still have a LOOOONG way to go, and a LOT to learn, but it's been a pretty darn fun process! (Disclaimer: I have a really hard time deleting pictures... crappy, or not... but I managed to delete about 6GB worth of true crap, and probably could have deleted another 6... it was hard.)
5. A random developmental tid-bit... I just noticed yesterday that Brynn's 1st 2-year molar broke through... as much as she has been trying to eat things that aren't edible lately... it wasn't a surprise.
6. Speaking of 2-year... it's coming up... the girls'. 2nd. birthday. (I just let out a big sigh) This is the exact age that Evan was when I felt ready for another child. (I just let out a little chuckle... a child) There is no more baby left at 2 years old. When we moved the changing table out of Avery & Brynn's room, I was really sad. A changing table is very "baby," and I wasn't ready to let it go yet, but I had no choice. Now that Avery & Brynn are so close to 2... I'm excited for our family to grow...
7. ...not in numbers... but as little people... Evan and Brynn and Avery are such great little people, and I'm feeling pretty lucky that I get to have them as part of my family.
8. Speaking of little people... as much as I love them, it's sometimes nice to go places without them! And we lucked out and had Grandpa & Grandma K watch all the grandkids on New Year's Eve so we could go out and have fun!! For the first time in many years, I actually stayed awake all the way up to and through midnight! (I usually fall asleep on the couch and Dan wakes me up at midnight to say Happy New Year's, and then I go to bed... exciting, isn't it?
9. My parents moved away from Omaha last weekend. Farther away. From me. It's the right move for them, but I'm bummed that I won't be making trips to Omaha anymore. (well, hopefully not never, but certainly a lot less)
10. Speaking of missing people... I miss my running partner... it's been too cold/windy/snowy/icy/you-name-it to run outside. And it's been at least 2 months since we've ran together. So I guess what I'm saying is it can warm up ANY TIME NOW and that would be alright by me!
PS ~ Sorry, Mom, for the lack of grandkid pictures... I know you are probably disappointed to only see me and Dan... I'll get right on it... :)
2. Brynn still goes to sleep behind the door. And it really bothers me. I think there have only been 2 times she hasn't fallen asleep behind the door - once she actually stayed in her bed (or Dan moved her and I didn't realize it), and the other time she slept in Avery's bed. I don't know what to do about it. I'm not sure if she doesn't like her bed? Or is scared of her bed? Anyone out in cyber-land ever dealt with something like this?
3. I've realized that I have not linked to my photography 'sneak peek' blog in a while, and I have done a few photo shoots in the cold months... so here you go, a link... :)
4. I spent about 2 weeks going through all my pictures from 2010 (personal ones, not my business ones) and deleted THOUSANDS of HORRIBLE pictures. But the neatest thing was seeing the improvement over the past year. I took lots and lots and lots of really bad pictures... but as the year progressed, I was deleting far fewer of the blurry, out of focus, and poorly exposed pictures that I started the year taking. I still have a LOOOONG way to go, and a LOT to learn, but it's been a pretty darn fun process! (Disclaimer: I have a really hard time deleting pictures... crappy, or not... but I managed to delete about 6GB worth of true crap, and probably could have deleted another 6... it was hard.)
5. A random developmental tid-bit... I just noticed yesterday that Brynn's 1st 2-year molar broke through... as much as she has been trying to eat things that aren't edible lately... it wasn't a surprise.
6. Speaking of 2-year... it's coming up... the girls'. 2nd. birthday. (I just let out a big sigh) This is the exact age that Evan was when I felt ready for another child. (I just let out a little chuckle... a child) There is no more baby left at 2 years old. When we moved the changing table out of Avery & Brynn's room, I was really sad. A changing table is very "baby," and I wasn't ready to let it go yet, but I had no choice. Now that Avery & Brynn are so close to 2... I'm excited for our family to grow...
7. ...not in numbers... but as little people... Evan and Brynn and Avery are such great little people, and I'm feeling pretty lucky that I get to have them as part of my family.
8. Speaking of little people... as much as I love them, it's sometimes nice to go places without them! And we lucked out and had Grandpa & Grandma K watch all the grandkids on New Year's Eve so we could go out and have fun!! For the first time in many years, I actually stayed awake all the way up to and through midnight! (I usually fall asleep on the couch and Dan wakes me up at midnight to say Happy New Year's, and then I go to bed... exciting, isn't it?
9. My parents moved away from Omaha last weekend. Farther away. From me. It's the right move for them, but I'm bummed that I won't be making trips to Omaha anymore. (well, hopefully not never, but certainly a lot less)
10. Speaking of missing people... I miss my running partner... it's been too cold/windy/snowy/icy/you-name-it to run outside. And it's been at least 2 months since we've ran together. So I guess what I'm saying is it can warm up ANY TIME NOW and that would be alright by me!
PS ~ Sorry, Mom, for the lack of grandkid pictures... I know you are probably disappointed to only see me and Dan... I'll get right on it... :)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Sluggish...
I've definitely been a little slow to blog these days... I had a reflections and resolutions post like last year started... didn't finish. I had a 10on2sday post started... didn't finish. I've been having a hard time focusing these days, so it's no surprise (to me) that I haven't been posting much.
Anyway, I thought maybe to end the week I'd at least share a couple of my favorite pics from the week ~ and one from Christmas...
I have no idea how she knows to make a boy and a girl doll kiss... but it's only these two...
We made a quick visit to Ames this week to meet up with my parents and some great friends, and one of the favorite "toys" by far were these beads... girls and jewelry, I tell ya...
Anyway, I thought maybe to end the week I'd at least share a couple of my favorite pics from the week ~ and one from Christmas...
I have no idea how she knows to make a boy and a girl doll kiss... but it's only these two...
We made a quick visit to Ames this week to meet up with my parents and some great friends, and one of the favorite "toys" by far were these beads... girls and jewelry, I tell ya...
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