Friday Family Update {April 7}

We have been busy around here!  Ben has been super in to helping me in the kitchen.  The girls hit a big shopping milestone.  And we have been getting outside to play every chance we can.  

Ben decided we needed to bake a cake a couple of weeks ago.  It doesn't take much to convince me to bake something yummy, so we went for it.  Ben was such a great helper!  He is getting pretty good at measuring, cracking eggs, and stirring up the batter.  My favorite part is how much he is learning.  His favorite part is licking the bowl when we are done.  I handle the oven part, but Ben likes to keep checking in on his pans.  This time he decided he wanted a dinosaur space cake.  I just love his creativity!  It challenges me a bit, but we found a way to make it happen.  A couple of toy dinosaurs and some marshmallow stars and we were in business!

Baking buddies!

The best part- licking the bowl.

He was so proud of his cake!  I love the pride in a job well done.  Dinosaur space cake!

While we were baking Sammy decided to take up the study of medicine.  I'm glad she has a career path in mind.

Dr. Sammy.  She puts the stethoscope around her neck herself!

Ali has been all about the books!  I have a couple little readers on my hands and I love it!

Ali loves to share her books!

 Ali and Sammy took a break from their studies for an important occasion- their first shoe shopping trip!  The ladies are standing and starting to take their first steps.  I can't wait for them to be able to play outside with us, and that means they need shoes.  I can honestly say I had way more fun with this than they did.  They enjoyed themselves, but they are still a bit too young to get how fun new shoes are.  I loved checking out all the cute styles!  I do have to keep our budget in mind, so I didn't go nuts.  Flip flops and super cute high tops for these girls.  Not fancy, but they can pull them off in any situation. This little outing has me so excited for all the future shopping expeditions the three of us will hopefully have!

Pretty girls with pretty shoes.  They did like looking at their feet!

Look at those standing babies in shoes!

Rocking the high tops. 

The girls got new shoes, and Ben got a haircut!  My kiddos are looking good.  I just love these pictures because Ben pretended to drink coffee right out of the carafe and said he was 'just like mommy.'  Now, I don't actually drink it from the pot, but I do have a strong love of coffee.  The kid knows me.

Ben's impression of me.  Sadly not too far off. 

Ben got to sit in the police car, and the sirens and lights really work!  He was so excited.  I kind of want to get my hair cut in a police car.  

Who wouldn't want to get their haircut in a police car?

It is already hot here.  I know a lot of people are still waiting for their warm weather to arrive.  I am not a big fan of heat.  I prefer to hide inside.  But, well, the kids need to get out and play.  This means we do a lot of water play!  Nothing beats the heat like getting soaking wet.  I can't wait til the girls can play in the water with us!  Ben adores playing outside, so we spend a lot of time this way.

This kid just loves water!

A cake, new shoes, a haircut, and water play.  What could be better?

-Kim

Friday Family Update {March 24}

Time to catch  up on what the kids have been up to!

A couple of weeks ago we invaded Aunt Gail's house to visit.  We had so much fun!  Fortunately for us Aunt Gail and Uncle Dan have a bunch of toys at there house.  Ali, Ben, and Sammy are always happy to have different toys to explore.  Plus Aunt Gail's house has a big hallway to run down.  The best part- she doesn't mind! We played inside for a bit then had some lunch.  After lunch we headed outside!  I was able to let Ali and Sammy crawl around a bit for once.  I put out a blanket for them.  They crawled right off it, of course.  Ali actually ventured into the grass for a bit.  Sammy was a little more hesitant about it.  I think they really liked having the freedom to crawl around outside.  I can't wait for them to get past the everything-in-the-mouth time.  I guess they don't put everything in their mouth right now.  But they did attempt to taste some rocks.  They won't be loose very frequently.  I do also have some concerns about all the prickly plants around here.  While it is fun to let the girls crawl around free, they do still need some serious attention.  

I got some pictures, but managed to forget to get any of Aunt Gail with the kids!  Sorry!  But thank you for letting us invade and hang out for the day.  We had a lot of fun.

Sweet girls outside!

Sammy knows how to work the camera.

Ali!  I love these sweeties in their sun hats!

Ali was quite the explorer!  Ben made sure she was safe.

These three had so much fun!!

Sweet sisters sharing lunch.  I love that they are willing to share the little table.

And then your sister puts her foot on the table.  Twin problems.

A couple of weekends ago Pat's school had a 5k run.  No, we didn't run in it. Pat helped out so we went to check it all out!  I am so glad we did.  I got to meet so many nice people that Pat works with.  I loved hearing that they all liked him!  (I wouldn't expect otherwise.)  The race was a big event for the community, with music, food, and activities for the kids.  Ben got to go in a little petting zoo.  He played on the playground.  The highlight was getting to sit in a real firetruck!  It took some time for Ben to warm up to it, but he did climb up!  It was so cute to see him talking to the fireman.  The look of pride on his face afterwards was priceless.

My boys checking everything out!

Ali! Happy to be at the event.

Sammy, trying not to smile.

Ben and the firemen!  He listened so carefully to them.

Future fireman?

Finally, as I mentioned Pat and I had our 8 year anniversary on Pi Day.  We didn't do anything big, but I did take advantage of the day to make Pat's favorite pie- banana cream!  My favorite part of this was that Ben could help with pretty much every step.  We helped me press the crust into the pan, make the filling, cut the bananas, and put the filling in the crust.  I am pretty certain his favorite part was liking the bowl afterward.  I don't blame him- that was my favorite part too!  Ben was so excited to show Daddy the pie, Pat didn't even get through the door before Ben was running up and telling him about it.  

Mixing the filling.

Cutting up the bananas.  Just a butter knife, but I was a bit nervous!

Filling the pie.

Liking the bowl!  The best part.

My happy helper!

Thank you again to Aunt Gail for letting us come visit!  We all had a great time.  Looking back on these pictures is making me want more pie.  I wonder what I can let Ben help me bake next... :)

-Kim

First Birthday Party!

We had a great birthday party for Ali and Sammy's first birthday.  We kept it small.  I mean, Ali and Sammy didn't really know what was going on.  The celebration is for them, but it is also for Pat and me as the parents.  We made it to a year!  Woot!

We did a simple party here at home.  We grilled up hot dogs, had some family over, and of course played hard.  The big kids got to run around outside.  Sammy and Ali got some very nice gifts.  Oh, and there was cake!  Isn't that the best part of every party?  I made the girls smash cakes.  Just a simple banana cake with cream cheese frosting and banana slices.  Like Ben, the girls weren't super into them.  In part because they had just eaten lunch.  I think one downside of doing BLW (and there are very few downsides) is that my babies haven't been in to their smash cake.  They have been feeding themselves for months now, it isn't a new adventure to get to touch the food.  They know how to eat, and know they can not eat if they don't want to.  Basically they taste the cake, think it's too sweet, and stop eating.  Probably for the best, that much sugar can't be good for them.

Getting ready to party!

Ben was rocking his big brother shirt for the occasion.  Happy one year anniversary of being a big brother!

Ali, Aunt Gail, Meo, and Sammy!  Party time!

Benson playing cars under the table, Sammy playing cars under the table.  Good times with cousins.

Hugs!  These two love to play!

Sammy and Ali adore being wherever their big cousin Peyton is.

The play zone- pre total destruction. :P

Presents!  Thank you everyone

Ben helped with some of the unwrapping.  It's a big brother's job.

Loving Uncle Evan and Aunt Jessee!  

These girls were loving all the attention

I didn't go big with decorations.  With our little house and five kids running around there was enough going on.  I couldn't resist decorating Sammy and Ali's chairs for their cakes though!  The girls found the decorations to be pretty interesting themselves.  Almost more interesting then the cakes.

Cake for the birthday girls!  (Ali L, Sam R)

They really just poked around at the cake and ate the bananas.  Much like Ben when he was one.

Ben picked out the cake.  He was so proud of getting his sisters Minnie Mouse!

I love putting up the month pictures from the year and seeing how much my babies have grown!

Thank you to the family that was able to make it to the party!  We loved having you there to celebrate with us.  And we totally know that not everyone can drop everything and travel for a kid's birthday party, so thank you to the far away family who sent lots of love to our girls.  It was a fun little party, and a great way to celebrate our sweet girls.

-Kim


I loved the party dresses I found for the girls.  A drawback to twins is if you find a cute outfit you need to buy two!  Their one pink party dresses were inexpensive and perfect for the party!  (affiliate link)

Schedule update: One year old twins and a three & a half year old!

We now have two one year olds in our house!  Ben is cruising along at three and a half years old and busy as ever.  The schedule hasn't changed too much in the past month, but we have made a few tweaks.  The holidays gave us a chance to try a few new things, and I'm liking how we are doing!

Here is our basic outline of the day:

7:00am- Ben up! We spend a few minutes together and get his breakfast going.
7:15am- Ali and Sammy up!  I get them to the living room and nurse.
7:30am- Ali and Sammy play while I make their breakfast.  Ben helps now, which is super sweet. (But means it takes a few minutes longer)

7:45am- Everyone sits to breakfast.  We try to facetime with family during this time.  The kids eat a better breakfast with someone besides me to look at. ;)

8:30am- Done with breakfast, kids play while I clean up.  I try to squeeze in some reading time and play with the kids.  

9:00am- Ali and Sammy to first nap.  Ben and I do a one on one activity now.  I choose it and I try to make it educational.  My goal is at least ten minutes of directed activity, but if he is in to it we stretch it a bit.  After that he does his independent play while I get some work and chores done.
11:00am- Ali and Sammy wake up and nurse.

11:30am-1:45pm- This is still our busy time.  If we have early activities we head out to those and then get home for lunch around 12:30 or so.  If we are just doing our own thing we usually do an early lunch.  We go to libraries, parks, and do any errands we might have.  Home time is spent reading and playing with the kids.  We are trying to get as much outdoor time as possible too!
1:45pm- Ali and Sammy nurse and head to naps. Ben gets a snack if we did an early lunch.
2:00pm- Ben to nap.

4:30pm- Everyone is up!  I let them up any time after 4.  Ben is pretty good about staying in his room if he wakes up early, but most days I still have to wake him up.  I try to stretch the girls a bit as sort of an independent playtime.

4:30pm- The kids get a small snack.  I don't like that they eat so close to dinner, but the girls at least cannot make it to dinner without a little something.  Ben usually just gets some milk.  If everyone is happy I will skip the snack.  Some days just a few bites are what keep the girls happy and playing til dinner.  This is when Ben gets to watch a show too.
5:30pm- Dinner time!  We all eat together.  If Pat is working late or the kids are really having a hard time waiting til dinner time I start them off early, but we aim to all eat together.
6:00pm- Family play time!  (And baths on rotating nights.)
6:45pm- Jammie time for Ali and Sammy, then they nurse.

7:00pm- Ali and Sammy to bed for the night.

7:10pm- Ben starts his bedtime routine.  

7:30pm- Ben in bed for the night.

As the girls are getting older we can be slightly more flexible with their schedule.  We can shorten their morning nap to get to more activities.  And they are can move their solid meals around a bit if I give them a little snack.  This really frees us up to go more places.  We have also started the slow move toward weaning by dropping the post afternoon nap nursing session.  The girls were not happy to have to nurse then and have been so much happier in the post nap time without it.  As a bonus they are nursing better at the other time of day.  As I said we aren't rushing to wean, but it is the first step!

I've added in the directed activity for Ben and he has been doing so well with it!  It has been great practice for him to have to sit still and do what he is told for a bit.  We do puzzles, crafts, color, work on letters and numbers, and do work on other concepts through play.  I think the special attention helps him keep a happy attitude throughout the day, and we are working on things he will need in preschool.  Ben has also been super into helping out lately.  He loves to help me with any chores I am doing and with the cooking.  It does make things take a bit longer at times, but I appreciate his interest in what I am doing!

This schedule is really working for us right now.  Ben is doing really well with his extra attention, and it makes him so much more patient with his sisters!  The girls are so much fun, playing and getting into everything.  I've added in a planning session every evening too.  Just taking five minutes to jot down the plan for the next day makes everything go much more smoothly.  We deviate from the schedule as needed, but having a game plan helps me make sure everyone's needs are met.

-Kim

Twelve month update

Well we survived our first year with twins!  Go us!  I can honestly say it was not as terrible as I though it could be.  I suppose it helps to think of the expression 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.'  I was prepared for life to be chaos, and fortunately it wasn't!  Oh, there were moments of it for sure.  But overall it really wasn't too bad.

The girls are still doing their army crawl to get around.  I rarely see them even try to do a traditional crawl anymore.  I think even they don't see the point.  They are super fast when they want to be.  They are sitting amazingly well!  It feels like they couldn't be bothered to try to sit, they wanted to be on the go.  Then all of a sudden they realized it left their hands free to grab more stuff, and they were all about sitting!  We have a fun new development now- they are pulling up on everything.  Half of me is super excited for them and the fact that they are hitting milestones.  The other half is thinking, Oh shoot.  They can get into more stuff now.  ;)  Ali is really into pulling up and standing.  She does it as much as possible.  As per usual, Sammy can do it as well, but isn't as into it.  Ali is trying really hard to figure out how to cruise around holding on to furniture.  She isn't quite there yet.  But I know she will get it soon, and then Sammy will realize she can do it too.  Seriously, nothing is safe in our house any more.

Eating is going well overall.  When they like the food they are champion eaters. Table manners are a different story though.  They are like tiny vikings!  When Sammy doesn't like something she just throws it down on the floor.  Both of them like to slam their cups down to indicate they want more to drink.  Sigh, we are working on it of course, but it is slow going.  They are very aware of what everyone else is eating.  This means they want whatever Ben has, and that somehow the food on my plate is way better then what they have.  This is despite the fact that they eat the same things we do most of the time, the only difference being I let theirs get a little cooler.  This is the opposite of Ben, who thought anything I had was terrible.  I am trying to mix foods that are new and healthy with those I know they will eat to be sure they get enough to be full.  I have to hide the 'good stuff' at the beginning of the meal sometimes.  But I am trying to trust their little bodies know what they need.  If I only serve the healthy stuff they will be fine.  Oh, and smoothies.  Thank goodness for smoothies. :)

Nursing is going pretty well.  I am thinking the girls are losing interest.  They like the first eating of the day, and usually the one right before bed.  The rest of the day they can be pretty disinterested.  They eat a small amount or sometimes none at all.  I follow their lead on this.  I think soon enough we will wean.  I'm not in a big rush to do so, but I'm not stopping it either.  I plan to go slow of course.  and let the girls dictate the pace.  I am beyond thrilled we made it to a whole year of nursing.  It is truly a blessing.

Sleep is going pretty well too.  Overall I still can't complain.  They do well at night.  A few wake ups, but really just giving them their pacifiers solves the problem.  They know what is expected of them at sleep time, and don't fuss about going to their cribs.  They are starting to play a bit at the beginning of naps.  These girls, they think they are just the funniest two people in the world.  I don't always know what they are laughing at, but they are just giggling away at each other!  If that happens I just let it go.  I know when they get older they may take longer to move bedtime later if they talk and laugh after lights out.  We are just fine with that.  It is really sweet and I love peeking in at them.  They do love their beds though and I am very happy they don't fuss when it is time to go to sleep.

This was of course a big month with all the holidays!  Ali and Sammy did really well with all the excitement, visitors, and schedule adjustments.  They loved having Omi, Meo, and Uncle Jared staying with us.  They ate up all the attention when we were with the whole family too.  They are little snuggle bunnies and just wanted to be held and loved on, which everyone was happy to do!  Their first new years eve wasn't very exciting.  Honestly they were coming down from the Christmas fun and were a little out of sorts.  We did a netflix count down and all the kids went to bed on time.  They loved having Daddy home for winter break.  We sure kept busy this past month!

Sammy and Ali are just little balls of personality.  They are so funny!  They love to giggle and play and snuggle.  They adore meal times, they are always hungry.  They come charging into the kitchen when I move the gate for meals.  They are pulling up to stand and finding they can reach new levels of mischief.  The kids got a ton of Little People toys for Christmas and the girls love to play with them.  They still love the toy kitchen.  Any time Ben isn't looking they start digging through his trains.  (Only a year old and they already know how to pester their brother.)  Ali still loves pulling things off shelves.  Sammy is still in love with socks.  Ali has started pulling hers off more and Sammy will go right for them.  They have started to chase each other around a bit, which is just a hoot to watch.  They are dancing now!!!  I love little baby dances!  They hear music and they just start wiggling back and forth.  It is the sweetest thing ever.  We have a lot more dance parties now, and the girls are so into it.  They adore watching Ben run around and dance.

Both girls are little loves.  They are still the loudest babies ever, but it is ever so slowly going down.  Ali is still more open with her feelings.  She is quick to yell but even quicker to smile.  She is my little buddy, following me around and crawling to be in my lap.  She works hard for her goals.  She is funny and likes to be part of the action.  Sammy is still a little more reserved.  But she has a sly smile that just gets you.  She is determined, but it is a quieter determination.  She is more content to play on her own, but she still loves a good cuddle.  She is funny and loves to play.  Both girls are just a hoot.  They  love to smile, play, laugh, get into mischief, and dance.  They want to be with the group and play with their brother.  They play with each other too!  They love to giggle at each other in nap time.  They are always so excited when Pat gets home.  It is so sweet to watch them love their family!

Double trouble, always finding things they shouldn't get into.  Ali (L) Sam (R)

OSU lost, but these fans were still looking cute! (Sam (L) Ali (R)

Playtime with Daddy is the best!  (Sam (L) Ali (R))

These girls love to be out and about!  Ali (L) and Sam (R)

They adore their big bro. Sam (L) Ali (R)

I love how they end up almost on top of each other sometimes.  Sisters! (Sam L, Ali R)

These two think they are so funny. :)  Sam (L) Ali (R)

My one year olds!!

Ali and Sammy are amazing girls.  This has been an incredible year.  I love the baby days and will miss them so much, but I am so excited to get to see these two grow.  They are delights and bring joy to our lives every day.  Thank you for being such sweet girls, Ali and Sammy.  We love you so very much.

-Kim