Muffin Tin Monday

Today's theme was Birds and Nests and, of course, I remembered at 10 AM. So, we kind of threw together a themed muffin tin today.

We had Pirate's Puff Popcorn because birds like corn right? A slice of cheese cut like an egg. A bird shaped turkey sandwich with a cheese beak. Sticks for building a nest - a.k.a. pretzels. A nest of peaches holding cottage cheese (needed a fruit). And last, but not least, bird poop - a.k.a. yogurt with chocolate chips. Bub thought this was hilarious!

You can check out more muffin tins and Muffin Tin Mom

Apparently I'm Old

I have had a few incidents in the past week that have clued me into the fact that, even though I'm completely comfortable with my age and actually prefer my 30's over my 20's, I'm getting old(er). Two of these little happenings were yesterday and left me feeling truly like a veteran mom/CEO of a household.

I have been in need of a new iron for a few weeks now. My old one did me proud and has lasted for at least a decade, but last time I was doing some sewing, it was spitting all over my material. So, yesterday, I picked up this little beauty from Target (except in bright green).

Not only was I excited about my purchase, but I proceeded to try it out last night as soon as all three boys were in bed and got all our clothes ironed. S might not actually recognize the closet today, because ironing has been one of those chores that has definitely fallen by the wayside since having the babies. Besides for sewing projects, the last time I remember ironing, I was sitting on the side of our bed because my stomach protruded about 3 feet. So, yeah...But, so far, the iron is great! It gets the job done so much quicker than my relic, and it's cute! So there's my first clue to my age rising like the yodeler on Price is Right.

The next was also brought on by my trip to Target. I needed new blush and I hate changing my make up brands. I just feel like when I make a switch, it's never as good as what I had before, but then I'm not going to waste money to go back and buy what I had before. And by the time I use up the new-not-so-good-stuff, I've forgotten what I had before, or they've changed it for marketing purposes. But yesterday I had a great coupon (crap; another sign I'm old!!) for buy one get one free on any Cover Girl. So, I decided to give their new line a try. I'm not sure which factor makes me older, the stubborness of not wanting a new brand of make up, or the fact that I came home with a blush and foundation of Simply Ageless by Cover Girl. But, I've found a new favorite make up; it's fabulous!! So, I guess old dogs can learn new tricks every once in a while-as long as they have a coupon to go with it.

Kindergarten Mother's Tea

At R's school, they hold a Mother's Day Tea each year; which is basically the Kindergarten's music program. So, last Friday, I joined about 50 other moms who were all lugging their cameras and video cameras just like me (dads weren't invited, so we had to capture it all for them). Luckily, I met up with two other moms from R's class so I didn't have to sit by myself. Yes, even at 33.5, I still don't want to be the girl sitting by herself with no one to talk to. But anyway, the kiddos came out and stood on risers and sang about 7 songs for us. They were all really cute, and they did a fairly good job - yep I'm critical. There was a bit too much yelling vs. singing for my liking, but what are you gonna do? They even did signs for one entire song and did a great job!

They were singing in a round during this song - boys vs. girls. Hence everyone looking different directions. But check out the kid two over from R. Now that's singing!

After they sang, one by one, every student came to the mic and said, "I love my mom because...". R filled in the blank with "...because she loves me." I was a bit worried for a moment what might come out, but he made me melt instead.

The standard family self portrait; we take lots of these.

These are R's best friends this year - they also happen to be twins - they also happen to be twins thanks to the same infertility dr. we used. This is the second set of twins R has latched on to that were thanks to the same dr. we used for R and the boys. It's rather eery, but so amazing!

R with his teacher, Mrs. Lynn; a saint for dealing with our energetic, rambunctious, stubborn, intelligent, loving, class clown, almost first grader!

Nine Months

I'm blogging again today from the land of Denial. If you're a parent, I'm sure you've heard of this far away place filled with sweet babies who stay small forever and never, ever grow up without your permission.

The boys turned 9 months last week and I'm just now getting a moment to sit down and get some stats typed up.

I was hoping to do a little block of pictures showing the progression of the boys over the past 9 months, but realized I uploaded them as "centered" and would have to re-upload all of them to change the format. So, yeah, you're just going to have to scroll down; sorry.

This is Thing 1.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

It's hard to believe the change he's made from about 4 months to now. He just always looked frail and didn't have an ounce of meat on him to spare. He still doesn't have much to spare, but look at those cheeks! I never thought I'd be so happy to see chubby cheeks!!

Stats:

Weight: 16 lb. 2 oz.

Height: 28 inches

Head: 17.5

We are finally on the chart for weight (3%); that's the first time since birth.

Thing 1 is my mover and shaker. He started crawling about 2 weeks ago and hasn't stopped since. He can zip across a room in just under 2 minutes and get to exactly what he wants. He still enjoys tormenting his brother and will sometimes seek him out, I think, just to pounce on him and hear him cry. He's also becoming a squealer, so we're working on that. Neither S or I are big fans of squealers. But O is such a happy baby and has a smile for anyone that needs one.

Thing 1 has two bottom teeth.

He babbles all day and his first word is "pat." He pats to the music on command and then says "pa- pa-pa." It's pretty dang adorable.

Thing 1 is very good at entertaining himself and can roll around/crawl around on the floor with one item for a good 20-30 minutes before he gets bored. Those 10 days in the isolette after birth must have prepared him for entertaining himself (he used to lay awake starting at the nurses walking by instead of sleeping like normal newborns do).

I mean, come on, look at those cheeks and the double chin! Who would have guessed 9 months ago?

He still adores his dog and attempts to pet/love on him whenever he can.

My big handsome boy!

Thing 2

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

The biggest change Thing 2 has made is his personality. His colic was so extreme and severe for the first 4 months, that it's hard to remember when he was ever happy. His smiles were few and far between and were hard earned by anyone who managed to eek one out. Then as the colic subsided, an entirely new baby emerged (thank goodness!!!). Now B is a happy baby, who's quick to smile and always has a twinkle in his eye. He also has the best belly laugh I've ever heard - well since his big brother Bub, who had the same laugh.

Stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 1 oz.

Height: 27.5 in

Head: 18

Thing 2 is about two weeks away from crawling, as he's doing what Thing 1 did just before he started scooting. But he's quickly learning he can roll to get just about anywhere he needs to be - and he's quick. He is his momma's boy and wants to be within eye sight of me most of the time. He has become a little bit wary of others holding him and usually lets them know by diving towards me and my arms. It can get a bit tiresome, but since I've never had a momma's boy, it's also sweet.

Thing 2 finally popped a bottom tooth a few days ago.

He does get irritated by his brother mauling him, but I've noticed in the past few days, he's starting to dish it out himself. He'll roll over to Thing 1 and try to climb on his back; all's fair in love and war boys.

He went through a phase where he said "hi" to everyone. Now he's moved on to "da-da-da-da." Why, oh why, can't their first word be a tribute to the person who cares for them 24/7? Thank goodness for him, it's absolutely adorable when he says it.

Both boys love being outside and immediately start to giggle when we head out of the house. They eat three solid meals a day, and when given the chance, they eat, and eat, and eat. Our grocery bill is already taking a hit from these two. They much prefer feeding themselves table food over baby food, so we have to shovel the baby food down first when they're really hungry and before they get bored with it. Then they can spend the rest of meal time feeding themselves "real food." Some of their faves are, grilled cheese, pizza - minus the sauce, mac and cheese, beans, avocado, banana, cheerios, graham crackers, yogurt. Okay, so really baby food broccoli is the only thing we've found they don't like.

They nurse every 4 hours during the day, go to bed around 6:45-7 and sleep until about 5:15 when they want to eat again. Then it's back to bed until 6:45/7. We're working to cut out that early morning feed, but they're pretty adamant at this point.

This gives you a pretty good idea of what most of our days look like - someone's always tackling someone else. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to have my own WWF team in a few years.

I love you boys.

Muffin Tin Monday

It's Muffin Tin Monday again! Today was no theme, but we ended up creating our own. We managed to have "round" day for our muffin tin.

We had grapes, cheese stick cut up, tomato, peanut butter/cracker sandwiches, and bananas.

You can always pop over to Muffin Tin Mom to see other tins.

Kindermusik Graduation

Bub has been in Kindermusik classes since he was 8 months old, and this past Monday night he graduated! We are so proud of him and all that he's learned over the past 6 years. He has so many skills that I know are directly related to what he has learned in his classes and it's been amazing to watch those skills carry over into other areas of his life. Now we just have to convince him that the next step is piano lessons - as if I'm going to let him not take piano lessons.

Had to Have It

Ok, every music teacher's child needs this onesie, right?

First Royals Game

We decided it was high time to get the babies to a Royals game; after all, big brother was going to games every week when he was their age. Of course, it's a bit different with two babies and one big kid. But they all did great and we were so proud of them.

Bub watched basically the whole game and didn't need to get up and move until the 7th inning. Both boys went to sleep at nap time and slept for about 2 hours; which meant we actually got to watch some of the game. We lasted the entire game which I didn't even think was a possibility!

That's Thing 1 hidden in his hat! Why, oh why, do we make sun hats sized 0-24 months??? Obviously someone is not going to fit into that hat.

But we had a great time and we can't wait to try it again!

Daily Dose of Thing 1 and Thing 2

Here are a few pictures to catch us up. For not working anymore, it sure seems like I'm just as busy as ever! Maybe it's because I have two mobile babies that are into everything, and a Kindergartener finishing up his first school year with lots of activities.

We've been busy, but it's been a good busy. The boys are sitting up all the time now, Thing 1 is crawling and Thing 2 isn't far behind. Bub is fully reading now and has had a great school year ( minus the talking too much/being a class clown issues).

So what happens when Thing 1 finds his bed skirt just lying around begging to be played with?

He's looking more like Bub every day.