Painted piggies

Yup.  Those are painted piggies.  I've been wanting to pick up some kid-friendly, natural nail polish for the girls and found some this weekend at Tip Toes.  The challenge was getting the girls to stay still long enough to paint them and let them dry.  Thankfully the nail polish was fast drying.  I know I'm biased, but I think these are some pretty cute piggies! :)

Fun with Daddy

I love that the weather has been so nice lately.  I think Kaden loves it, too.  We've been trying to get outside as much as possible.  Kaden always looks forward to Daddy being home or coming home from work because then he knows that he gets some one-on-one time outside.  Kaden has gotten much better about playing by himself outside, and I can keep a close eye on him and check on him every few minutes if the girls are inside.  That has worked out pretty well.  I love that he's becoming more independent, but to be honest, it makes me a little sad.  He's growing up too quickly!!!

I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time outside this summer.  Good, clean (well maybe not), cheap fun.

Andy found Kaden looking at all of his fishing stuff in the shed and had to capture the moment :)

Kaden chasing Daddy with the water gun- fun stuff.

Got him! :)

Notes from the crib: 8 months!

Seriously.  How have 8 months gone by already?!?!?  Wow.  I can't believe my little babies are already 8 months old.  I was thinking back to what it was like when they were so little in the beginning and can't believe how much bigger they are now.  While I do miss some things about that stage (like staying in the same place where I left them and sleeping wherever/whenever, snuggling, etc), I'm liking these new stages, too.  They keep getting more and more fun, and every day is an adventure for sure! :)  Speaking of adventures, wow, is it getting harder to get them to lay still to take a picture.  This is the first one I snapped right before the rolling/crawling in the crib started.  Not too bad, huh?

{Maya left, Makenna right}

Yup, Maya felt the need to start laying on her sister.

Hey there!  It's me, Maya.  I'm going to hog this month's posts.  I was more photogenic this morning than my sister.  Probably because she was recovering from a little mishap in her crib.  I'll let her tell you more about that, but all I can say is, I've told her not to bump her head on her crib, but she just doesn't listen to me- her older sister no less!

So... here we are- 8 months old!  Look how cute I am.  I'm getting so much bigger and probably won't fit in the crib from front to back much longer.  Mom will have to get more creative in her monthly photos.  I think Mom showed you a video of my progress in crawling on here the other day.  I'm quite the mover.  I can get wherever I want very quickly.  I've begun to crawl for a few steps and then I fall over.  I roll and pull myself and try to reach for anything that looks interesting, but mostly my brother's toys.  Those look so much more exciting than my toys.  I've developed a new passion for spitting.  It's especially fun to do it when I'm eating, and I love to put my lips together and spit- leaving my mom covered in food, and my dad covered in sweet potatoes at dinnertime.  When they "yell" at me for spitting, I usually just giggle hysterically.  Haha- I've got my parents wrapped around my finger. :)  I still love to laugh and giggle.  I'll giggle at anything, and I love it when Mommy kisses my neck- it makes me giggle every.single.time.  I'm pretty happy, but when I'm mad, you know it.  Yes, I know... the drama queen.  I'm still a little smaller than my sister, mom is guessing around 15lbs, but isn't sure.  We'll get weighed next month at our 9-month appt.  Daddy likes to call me peanut because I'm so small.  Mom says it looks so funny to see me crawl because I'm so tiny!  Since I'm smaller than my sister, I fit nicely into 6-12 month and 9-month clothes.  I usually take 2 naps a day for about 1-1 1/2 hrs each.  I eat rice cereal with fruit late morning/lunchtime and veggies and/or meat (baby food) for dinner.  I get mad if you don't continue to put food in my mouth quickly.  I especially don't like it when I have to wait my turn when mom alternates bites between my sister and I.  I nurse when I wake up, before I have food for lunch, late afternoon, and before I go to bed for about 5-7 minutes each time.  I go to bed around 7:30pm, but lately have fussed a bit around 10:30-11 (sometimes I even eat- it depends on how much I fuss).  Usually after that I'll sleep through the night.  Mom is hoping that I start sleeping better soon!  We still use the snap-and-go stroller, but Mom will be using a regular double stroller soon.  My legs are getting squished by my sister's carseat.  Mom says that the ease of snapping the carseats in and going is about to end, and she doesn't like that so much :)

Here I am, spitting for the camera....

Yup, that's me again.... rolling around while Mom was trying to take my picture :)

And finally....

And now for my turn- Miss Makenna, here.  Check out those two bruises on my forehead.  The one on the left-side is quite nice- a nice purple egg bump right on my forehead.  That happened this morning in my crib.  I like to roll around in my crib, and when I went to lay my head down, I whacked my forehead on the crib rail.  Needless to say I wasn't too happy about it.  Mom is thinking about putting my brother's old crib bumper in my crib because I've been bumping my head more, and lately I get my chubby legs stuck in the rails.  My sister doesn't have this problem :).  I'm a happy, smiley girl, too.  I keep getting bigger and bigger and I have rolls in all of the right places.  My chubby cheeks are to die for.  I'm still a little bit bigger than my sister- mom is guessing maybe 17lbs or more?  I fit into 6-12 and 9-month clothing, but I don't have a lot of extra room in them, that's for sure! :)  We're still in size 2 diapers, but I could switch to size 3 soon, and probably will since Mom's supply of size 2 is almost gone.  I eat at the same time as my sister- late morning/lunchtime and at dinnertime.  We pretty much will eat any type of baby food, although we prefer store-bought to homemade.  This doesn't make Mom very happy, however, Mom admits that it is easier, although not cheaper, to just buy baby food from the store.  We've been eating some of Mom's natural applesauce with our rice cereal in the morning, and we like that.  We also love Mom's sweet potatoes- delish! :)  We haven't tried any "real" food or puffs yet.  Mostly because we don't have any teeth yet (our brother didn't get teeth until he was 9 months old), nor do we sit up.  So, Mom doesn't feel the need to rush and we seem happy with the amount we're eating right now.  We've both mastered drinking from a sippy cup, although I have to use one with no stopper because it's easier for me.  This usually results in lots of water all over me and the floor after I finish eating.  I, too, will nurse in the morning, before lunch, late afternoon, and before bed for 5-7 minutes.  I've been assigned the right side, and my sister, the left.  My sister and I don't nurse at the same time anymore- in fact we haven't for months.  We fit much better when we get some one-on-one time with our mom, and it works out well for everyone.  I'm pretty happy rolling around on the floor, and even though I'm not "crawling" like my sister, I can use my arms and legs to get wherever I'd like to go.  I love playing in the exersaucer, too, and so does my sister!  I still love to talk, and most of the time you can hear me babble away as I play happily.  You should come and visit me sometime to hear me tell you all kinds of stories! :)

Till next month, friends..... keepin' it real from the crib.

This girl is almost crawling!!!

Miss Maya here is *almost* crawling.  She gets up on all fours, rocks, and takes a few steps before falling flat on her face.  Let me tell you- she gets around.  If she sees something that she wants, she will find a way there.  I think it's only a matter of time before she's an expert crawler.  Go figure- crawling before she sits up.  Who would have thought?!?!?


Check out this video of her in action.  Once again, I only caught her on my phone, so it's not the best quality, but I think you'll still enjoy it! :)

To nap, or not to nap.... that is the question

We've been transitioning to less naps during the day for Kaden.  I'm thankful that he's been a good napper for this long, and he's 1 1/2 months away from turning 4.  For awhile we were doing a nap every other day, and that seemed to be working out pretty well.  On the days that he would take a nap he wouldn't go to bed as easily, and when we skipped a nap, those nighttimes seemed like a breeze.  Typically his naps are 1-1 1/2 hours, but just enough to take his edge off.  Napping means a smoother afternoon and dinnertime, but more excuses at bedtime, coming out of his room more often, etc.  Not napping usually means a meltdown at the dinner table or about some random thing late afternoon/early evening.  It's a toss-up.  When Kaden doesn't take a nap I still make him have quiet time in his room.  Last week I went to check up on him, and this is how I found him.  He was dressed in his pads, ready to play baseball and hockey it appears.  Clearly he decided he was tired and took a snoozer right on the floor.


I'm not so sure we're ready to give up naps over here.  I've accepted that he might be done with naps, or transitioning out, but I don't think he's ready.  We seem to have been dealing with more meltdowns and temper tantrums at night over the past week, so I've been making sure he takes a nap every day.  Even when he takes a nap, he has still been having major freak-outs about nothing.  It's frustrating when it doesn't seem like anything you say or do even begins to affect him.  I'm kind of sick of the kicking, screaming, and just plain crazy behavior.  I can't think of any reason as to why he'd be acting this way all of the sudden.  He's getting naps, there have been no changes in our nightly routine or family life, and he only does it at night- never during the day (okay, maybe once in a while, but that's just being a normal kid).  He was complaining that his leg hurt quite a bit the other night, so I'm wondering if he's growing and just going through a stage.  At least I hope it's a stage, because it's getting tiring.


I think I might need a nap.

Sleepy girl in a high chair

I think this is the first time that any of my kids have ever fallen asleep in their high chair.  I knew we were pushing naptime when I was feeding them some lunch today, but clearly Makenna decided she would rather sleep and use up her stored reserves today instead of eating :)

Praise Baby

Praise Baby is seriously a miracle worker.  The girls were fussy when I was trying to get dinner ready, so I laid them on the floor, and they went from rolling around and fussing, to this.  The Praise Baby DVD's had the same effect on Kaden when he was younger.  I don't know what it is about these videos, but I'm thankful they exist.  Plus, my kids get to learn praise songs at an early age, too! :)  Kaden kept telling me to turn it off, but honestly, I think he kind of liked watching it with them :)

Fireman Kaden

A couple of weekends ago, Andy took Kaden downtown to the fire rescue expo.  Kaden had an awesome time spraying the fire hose, watching the "controlled" fire, folding up the American flag, and went through a demonstration on how to prevent house fires.  I also think that Kaden liked having a special date with just Daddy for a few hours on a Saturday morning.

He was pretty much in his glory.

Spraying the fire hose

Spraying the "pretend" flame

Kaden and his buddy Sparky

And of course, a trip to the fire rescue expo would inspire this when he got home...

Now he keeps bugging me to go to the Children's Museum so he can play with the fire gear there.  This kid loves rescue vehicles.  In fact, the other night Kaden and Andy had to take a walk down the street to check out a bad accident.  Really, Kaden just wanted to watch the policeman.  The policeman gave him a police sticker and even offered to let him sit in the police car, which Kaden turned down.  I was relieved to hear that he didn't want to sit in the police car.  Remember that later on, kiddo :)

Playtime

I love that the girls are really starting to interact with each other more.  It is so much fun watching them wiggle themselves towards each other, fight over the same toy and talk to each other.

I know I'm biased, but I think twins are pretty cool.  Especially mine :)

Family walk

Last weekend we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a nice long walk together as a family.  The girls got to ride in their new Joovy stroller for the first time, and Andy pulled Kaden in the wagon.  We walked for about an hour, which is a little too long for him to ride his bike yet.  It was nice to spend time outdoors together as a family.  We decided that long walks as a family need to become a part of our regular routine this summer.  Sometimes simple things like a walk together can be better than anything we'd have to pay money for.  Plus, a little exercise never hurts! :)

Enjoying a walk in their new stroller!

Mother's Day 2012

I've come to realize that I have the best job in the whole world.  I get to spend every day with these 3 kids.  Thank you, God, for this AMAZING blessing.

And yes, sometimes the good life is a crazy life.  This picture pretty much sums that up.  The girls are both trying to grab my necklace and eat it at the same time and Kaden is being his normal silly self.  Life would be boring if it wasn't filled with the craziness from these cute kiddos.

Capturing Conversations- Bob turns 21

Kaden: "Mom, did you know that it's Bob the Builder's Birthday today?"

Me: "Oh, really?"

Kaden: "Yeah, he turned 21, so now he can drink wine."

Yes, I do enjoy a glass of wine now and then.  Yes, we've explained to Kaden that you have to be 21 to drink it.  I'm glad that Bob the Builder can now enjoy adult beverages when he's not building houses with Scoop, Muck, and Wendy.

Dutch kids

Early last week, while my mom was still in town, we got the kids all dressed up in their Dutch costumes and headed to Holland for the afternoon.  We decided to go while I had some extra hands to help me and before the chaos of tulip time officially started.  We were able to find some tulips that were still blooming in the park in the center of downtown.  We had the whole park to ourselves, and set up a little photo shoot.  I have to say, these kids are absolutely adorable.  Wow.  Could you have 3 kids look any more Dutch with their fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes?  

The girls didn't mind being dressed up in their costumes, and of course to Kaden it was just another thing to dress up as.  We all know that Kaden dresses up as multiple identities during the day, so on that day he was a Dutch boy. 

I love these kiddos!

Makenna checking out her Klompen

Maya- happy little girl!

My mom with the kids

The girls hanging out

Makenna

Maya

Maya

Makenna

Me and the kiddos

My mom with the girls

Our little Dutch boy

Silly little Dutch boy

Grandma and Kaden

Mommy and Kaden

Smelling the tulips.  Love it.

Celebrating 35 years at Great Wolf Lodge

Last weekend my parents came out for a visit.  It was their 35th Wedding Anniversary in April, and they were taking our whole family to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City to celebrate!  We headed up there on Friday morning and stayed until Sunday.  Kaden had a great time- he was in his glory in the waterpark and went from one thing to the next.  He was especially excited because he was tall enough to do ALL of the waterslides!  I'll be honest... it was a little scary seeing my little boy fly down that waterslide all by himself.  I think I was more worried about it than he was because after he got to the bottom he said, "Mom, that was AWESOME!  I want to do it again!!"  :)

Traveling with 3 kids, 2 of which are babies of the same age, always makes things a bit chaotic.  We tried to keep a schedule for the girls as best as we could, but they still had to take some naps in their carseats by the pool or in the car, and didn't sleep well in their pack-n-plays at night.  We couldn't go out at night or spend time at wineries all day, and that's just the way it is.  As I've blogged about before, we've accepted our new normal a long time ago, and we embrace it daily! :)  It wasn't a relaxing vacation for me at all, and I think my family got a small glimpse of how crazy our lives really are.  But, we were all together celebrating the blessing of 35 years of marriage for my parents, and that's what was most important.

Daddy and Kaden swimming in the pool

Makenna hanging out in her bathing suit

Daddy and Maya

Kaden playing in the pool

My parents with the girls!

Me and Kaden before he went to storytime with his wolf ears on

Kaden doing the GWL dance- "Stomp, stomp, clap, clap..... awoo!!!!"

My cute little wolf in his jammies

Proof that Kaden is coming out of his shell a bit.  He willingly took pictures with the GWL friends.  Normally he'd never do this!

The girls hanging out on the floor.  I'm pretty sure they didn't know the difference between rolling around on the floor in a hotel room vs. rolling around on the floor at home! :)

Kaden being his normal silly self hanging out in the room.  Don't you just love the couch?  My mom said she felt like she was staying in a Cabellas! :)