No excuses

There are no excuses for the lack of posts. And at this point, no one is reading, so it's really just for my own desire to have parts of our life documented. I wish I could say I'll be better at posting, but then I remember I have two 18 month olds who demand much of my time. So, we'll see.

Much of the reason I haven't been blogging is the lack of feeling creative. Maybe it's the weather - think lots of snow and cold, maybe it's the envy when I look at other mama's blogs and see all of the fabulous things they're doing with their kiddos, or maybe it's just lack of motivation. But either way, blogging has seemed a little dreary lately.

It might even make me a little cranky like two little things I know. It was a pacifier/lovey kind of day after an early morning of crying and moaning.

Thing 1 has a rhino for his lovey and assumes he can only hold it if he also has his pacifier. Which is pretty funny since he went through a phase for about 4 months where he wouldn't even take a pacifier.

Thing 2 has a sleepsack for his lovey. Their Aunt Christi made them sleepsacks when they were born. But when they grew out of them, Thing 2 became very attached to his and now sleeps with them. He'll find the arms and pull them up to his nose to snuggle; and the weird thing is this is exactly what big brother did/does (don't tell him I told you) with his blankie.

His newest trick is to slip his hands into the pockets on the arms that were to fold over and cover their hands when they were babies. It's quite the picture when he has both hands tucked in with the sleepsack over his nose staring into space.

Photo post

I've apparently been in a blogging slump for, oh, three months now. But looking around at the other blogs I follow, it seems to be the season. My excuse is that I've just been too busy having fun with my boys! But since it's 9:00 on a Saturday and I'm supervising our first sleepover with 5 crazy boys, I figured I'd get caught up on some pictures. So here's a few from Halloween to now.

Just your typical Star Wars family out for a night on the town.

If only he could actually rake for Daddy.

But we do love being outside!

This is our favorite reading spot, so we keep it well stocked with Heralds (our church's publication) to peruse.

Meet our walking disaster. He can get into, out of, or on top of anything.

Just having a little snack before breakfast.

Our first haircut went exactly as expected. Thing 1 just sat and patiently waited for it to be over.

Thing 2, well, this is a good shot. He screamed the entire time and tried frantically to swat her hand away.

Our handsome monkeys after their cuts.

These two are chunks!

Okay, so we've done a million other things this fall, but that's all I have energy for at this point.

Birthday Party

Here are some pics from the infamous 1st Birthday Bash!

Gotta look good for our party, right?

Two little monkeys, need two monkey cakes.

Monkey Sucker favors for our guests.

Thing 2 having a little cake. He thought it was just so-so.

Thing 1, however, thought it was awesome!!

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo. How about You, You, You?

Sorry, the music teacher in me, couldn't resist. Bub was not overly impressed when I sang it last week on our way, either. But anyway, we headed to the zoo last week during that fabulous 100 degree weather. S took the day off so we could have one last fun, family day before the school routine started up again.

It was hot, but we had lots of fun and got to see the new polar bear. Now, it's great to have a polar bear back in KC, but it's a really big deal around our house. We have been FOTZ since Bub was 1 and they announced they were bringing a polar bear when he was about 3. He has been asking on a monthly, if not weekly, basis when the polar bear would be here ever since. It's been a loooong wait. So, he was bouncing off the walls on Friday, when we announced we were headed out to the zoo.

Such a brave kid, petting a lion : ).

Well, she was absolutely beautiful and so playful. We got to see her dive off these rocks into the water, kick off the glass and flip backwards, stand on her hind legs, and eat frozen fruit while swimming around. It was definitely the highlight of our trip. And the Kansas City Zoo staff did a great job with the observation area. There is both an outdoor and indoor observation with seating on the inside and a great view of her pool. Good job KC!

This is the baby chimp, and he was fascinated with the boys. And they were smitten with him. He must have sat at the window for at least 5 minutes just checking them out. We even got a couple of "ooh-ooh, aah-aah"s out of the boys.

Somehow, we didn't get any pictures of the boys : (. I think they were napping when we took most of the pictures, and once they were awake we tried to keep moving so no pics.

Baby Jail

B.T. (before twins), S and I used to call the Super Yard a baby jail, and just couldn't imagine any parent needing to use one to help parent. Then came life W.T. (with twins), and we realized no amount of baby proofing could keep two babies out of everything without locking down the entire main floor of our house. So, out came the baby jail.

Most of the time, the boys really don't mind it, and we're usually in there playing with them. But on occasion, they realize they're all alone and we're out frolicking in the wide open spaces. And I get this staring at me.

Muffin Tin Monday

Lots of birthday party and zoo trip pictures to follow, but for now it's Muffin Tin Monday! It was our last Monday before school (Bub starts tomorrow); and he'll be going full day this year. So, I'm still deciding what we're going to do about MTM because he still really enjoys doing it each week. So, it may be a breakfast tin from now on.

But today, we had a Back to School tin.

We had - Goldfish (school of fish), 1 sandwich (1st grade), Star cheese (I was thinking he'll be a star this year. He was thinking Great Job), Apple (well, you know).

Oh, and the little purple pouch was his special treat from the grocery store this week. It's those KoolAid Fizzies. You plop one in like Alka Seltzer and it fizzes until it dissolves and creates grape Kool Aid. Bub thinks it fantastic!

Birthday Presents

I guess this is a creative post as well as a birthday post. I worked to keep the boys' birthday presents simple this year since they don't know the difference and don't really need anything. The only thing we bought them was a bilibo. It's so great because it can be just about anything they want it to be; and they're already having fun with it.

So, I made them art smocks since we'll be diving into messy crafts at some point this year.

And they each got a soft turtle buddy for a new friend.

1 Year Old!!!!

I now have two toddlers in my house, and I'm not sure how it happened. Thing 1 and Thing 2 turned 1 yesterday and are now my big boys. S has been working on their birthday video, and it's simply amazing to look back at pictures and videos from the first few weeks/months and then to look at how far we've come. There is a period from about 6 weeks to 3 months, that neither one of us really remember...literally. It's upsetting to me to think that I just don't have memories from this time period, but it reminds me of just how hard it really was. Between neither boy gaining weight like they should, having to supplement with formula after each nursing session, Thing 1's projectile spitting up 20-3o times a day before meds, and Thing 2's extreme colic/screaming for hours on end, and Bub starting Kindergarten - I guess we should just be thankful that we're all still alive.

Thankfully, things have gotten better over the past few months. I'm learning, like so many other twin moms, it doesn't get easier necessarily, just better or different.

Yeah, it's great that they can crawl and cruise now - but that means they go in opposite directions and you have to decide who's going to cause the greatest bodily harm and chase them.

Yeah, it's wonderful that they know the other twin exists now - but that means a whole new fun game of tackle my brother and pin him to the ground until he lets out a blood curdling scream that would rival a screech owl.

Yep, it's so amazing when they see Mommy and come crawling as fast as they can to get smooches and loves - but that means one kiddo is going to be in second place and will push and shove until he finds his rightful spot on her lap. Even if it means demolishing his brother in the process.

See, different, not easier.

But here's to different!

Here's what Thing 1 is up to these days.

He's cruising on anything and everything that will sit still long enough. He took one step yesterday as he was lunging towards me, so I'm sure walking's not too far away.

He stands pretty well, and usually does better if he's not thinking about it.

He still eats everything in sight and loves his fruits and breads. They got banana muffins yesterday (I'm waiting for the party for cake) with their candles. After one bite, Thing 1 showed his appreciation with a rousing "Mmmmmm."

He loves to play peek-a-boo and will throw his hands somewhere near his eyes to "hide."

Thing 1 has the best truck motor sounds of any kid I know. He suddenly began making the noise a few weeks ago, and now anything that can move, including himself, gets the added bonus of motor sounds. He even makes the sound for himself when he gets a ride in the hamper.

He suddenly decided he wanted to use a pacifier again after banning it for about 2-3 months. I didn't really care either way, but it is nice for him to have a way to self-soothe now. And when he started using the pacifier again, he began to cuddle with his lovey also, they must go hand in hand. Speaking of bedtime, when he knows it's time, he pops his pacifier out and says something to Thing 2 then waves, and nosedives into his crib. It's pretty dang adorable!

Thing 2 has had just as many accomplishments this month, and it's been hard keeping up with the two of them. I had to start keeping notes on my stickies on my computer desktop because I knew I would forget things. It seems like everyday, they have a new skill to show us.

He is also cruising, though not quite as fast as Thing 1. He's definitely our observer and usually watches older brother first before he tries it out. Thank goodness one of them is cautious - Thing 1, not so much.

Thing 2 is also a great eater. Those banana muffins I mentioned? I made them in the jumbo muffin tin so they were huge. Thing 2 finished his off today at lunch.

On top of peek-a-boo, he loves to play "How big is Thing 2?" So big!

His favorite word is "uh-oh" and he loves to use it when Thing 1 throws his sippy cup off the highchair. It's what we call teamwork.

He can also say duck (a du) and uses the corresponding sign to go with it.

He also signs for "more" and uses it correctly! We are so excited to see signs starting! He will let us know when he wants more food and will even look at the food he wants if we give him the wrong thing. Today, I tried to give him a bite of yogurt. He turned his head and then started signing more while staring frantically at the graham crackers. Nice try kid, yogurt first.

So photo shoots with both of them are really fun these days.

This is what the majority of the shots look like.

We love these sweet boys more than anything, and I can only imagine what next year has in store for us!

Muffin Tin Monday

I didn't try to hard for a theme today, so I went more for our typical summer fare. I almost forgot to snap a picture, and managed to catch one as Bub was putting together his sandwich.

He had grapes, cheese kabobs, build your own sandwich with flower and butterfly bread, duck meat, and tulip cheese, pretzels and then he polished off the babies' banana and flat bread sandwich that they didn't want.

You can head over here to see other great Muffin Tin meals.