31 December 2010

New Posts in the New Year!

We've been hiding out until the new year- coming soon there will be more posts for a great start in the new year! For tonight, we'll be having a fun time at the Reddan's!!!! Happy New Year!

28 December 2010

Babies 1st Christmas!


What a wonderful morning! I did not sleep well with anticipation of Christmas morning excitement-I managed to stay in bed until about 5:30 or so. The girls had their Santa sleep sack on and were ready for presents! The girls had their stockings filled by Santa who brought them some of their favorite snacks as well as a new big kid sippy cup, a baby doll, socks, and travel snack cups. Their favorite part of the stocking had to have been the baby dolls! It turns out Kaylee is really good at ripping paper, Alex on the other hand isn't too interested in such tasks.
For the girls Christmas morning snack they had French Toast for the first time and LOVED it! The toast was broken up into little pieces and placed on a plate in front of them and Alex was double fisting the french toast faster than she could reach. Kaylee was being so sweet about eating by taking one piece at a time (I had to hide some food for her so that Alex didn't eat/destroy all of it).
We tried to keep the girls on schedule as best as possible and it worked, but poor Alex got a little stressed with the hub-bub of a busy house when it came time for lunch so we took her upstairs to eat. They took a good nap and were able to open a few presents from family later that afternoon. All in all Christmas was more than a success! We can't wait to do it again next year! :)

*Thank you Aunt Laura for our Christmas outfits!

Long Break!

Sorry for the long break from the blog. We all got sick last week and I was not up to picture taking or blogging. So we are returning from the infirmary and back to the blog! Plenty of pictures to come.

14 December 2010

So Fun!


I made this crayon apron for our neighbor's little girl who just loves to draw and practice her writing and spelling skills. I had so much fun making this so if you know a little kid that could use one, let me know! :)

Side note: I took this picture of myself and it really made me wonder how so many people (namely Brett Favre) are able to take pictures of their unmentionables and send them around because it took me quite a few tries to get a good shot. Perhaps I'm not cut out to be famous.

Update

Yesterday's gift guide was updated- I forgot to add a great gift idea. Check at the bottom of yesterday's post for more information.

13 December 2010

One To Go!

Greg has his last exam tonight and since it is a late exam we are going to celebrate the completion of his first semester tomorrow night and I'm makin' dinner! I'm thinking whatever I make will be better than his Chicken Nugget and Pop-Tart dinner he had tonight. I don't know who is happier with this semester being over-I'm dying to make some real, good dinners again!

Good Luck, Greg!
love.

Need Ideas for Babies First Christmas?

Many people are searching for the perfect gift for their children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren this time of year and I thought I would try to help out a little and put some of my experience to good use. Now, the girls will be celebrating their first Christmas so I haven't had too much experience in buying them gifts but think of these as suggestions from a practical mom.
BOOKS! All ages love them- fabric books have been a big hit in our house and after the girls nap we have a reading circle created from a selection of the board book collection we have been blessed with.
Ages 0-6
Play Mat
Must Have These
Or These
Floor Mirror
Ages 6+
Music Table
Sensory Balls
Stacking Rings
Jumperoo
Ages 9-12 months
Shape Sorter Toy
Push and Ride Toy
Ball Popper
Activity Cube

So just a few items that we own and love or would like to own in order to love :) We still use those basic 'must have' toys from age 0+ months. You should remember toys are not like clothes while the kids are growing into new toys they don't necessarily grow out of the old toys. I hope this list helps the littlest members on your Christmas list, if you have other suggestions please add them!
Updated 12.14: When buying gifts for babies or adults alike, don't forget places like TJMaxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods-we are frequent shoppers and have found some great toys there for a fraction of the major retail prices and it will be hard to not find a book for the kids that you just have to get :)
Not a fan of giving toys? Talk to the parents and see if they have started a 529 plan or savings account for their little one. It is a gift that keeps on giving and a gift of any amount will help and the kids will appreciate it much more when they are older!

Don't Forget!

Click on the link and enter for the Happy 5000th giveaway! Entries are due by tomorrow night on my birthday eve :) Good Luck to those who enter...it is really simple and I don't have to know you to win! :)
http://feedthebelly.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-5000-giveaway.html

A First Time for Everything

Today was a big day for the girls- they rode in a shopping cart for the first time! And boy did they have a good time! I took videos and pictures and I am sure the other shoppers thought I was more than strange, but how else to you relive the cuteness that was their first shopping cart trip?! Now you may be thinking 'How did you put those babies in a shopping cart? There are only 2 leg holes.' Well, fear not, I did not sit them on top of each other or let them lay about in the large basket area to roll around either :) Wegman's is pretty great and their shopping carts have 3 leg holes and because of this I was destined to have twins to place inside the described shopping carts. We will be back soon to enjoy another ride around the store and who knows what grocery store item will be the girls newest entertainment.

Quality Control Agents


It took all of 30 seconds for the girls to figure out food and other interesting things are placed behind them! Kaylee favored the deli bag of pepperoni while Alex went for the paper bag with a cheese roll.

09 December 2010

Chocolate Milk...For Me?


About a week ago I ran upstairs to get the girls some socks before my neighbor and I headed to Tysons for some shopping. As I was upstairs I hear a clanking noise and thought nothing of it since it just sounded like Alex was playing with the coasters. As I come down the stairs, about a minute later (maybe), I sense something is different but don't notice anything. Then I look at the coffee table, our band new leather steamer trunk and there was chocolate milk poured ALL over it! not only was the milk all over the coffee table but it was pooled on the girls play blanket and of course all over Alex. It looks as though she found my glass of milk and tried to drink out of it- only thing is that she doesn't really know how to do that :)
I wish the picture turned out better, but I was too busy laughing and trying to save my table (which is fine) that I wasn't able to get a good shot. But you can see the chocolate milk on her cheeks and her brand new onesie, that happens to be white and also on her cover-all outfit. Needless to say I had a good laugh and now I double check to finish my breakfast drink or move it way out of the way if I ever have to leave.

Last Day On The Farm





The girls and I are spending our last day on the farm today. We have had such a busy day today that the girls forgot to take their pre-lunch nap! We started our day with breakfast in bed (pictured) and then we played a bunch and pet the dog and took a nap. After the girls had a quick nap we played with a sensory ball which just had Kaylee laughing, I think it tickled her. Alex ran off and was happy playing with the air vent and feeling the heat blow on her face and up her shirt :) I brought the girls together to play on their music table and then Kaylee found the newspaper, and boy did she have fun! After about 15 or 20 minutes into playing with the paper she became tired and ripped a piece of paper to use in place of a blanket (pictured). We had a slightly early lunch since we didn't get a nap and the girls were beat (pictured).
I'm going to get busy tidying our mess so that when grandpa comes home we can put up the Christmas tree!!!

07 December 2010

Gone For A Visit

Greg had his first law school exam last night, our hope is that he did well :) So today we decided we wanted to visit before he got fully immersed in the studies for his next exam on Thursday. While I had some time at home with the girls napping I planned on making him dinner, but there wasn't really any food left to cook (only bachelor food left- cereal, cookies, and chips and salsa)so I'm going to run out and get something when he gets home so I don't have to take the girls out in this ridiculous cold and wind.

06 December 2010

Oh, a Tree!



They girls have been introduced to the tree and seem to like it and the cord :)

I'm Up!


And I found lots of great things in mommy's pantry. And apparently if I try to step up on this shelf all these toys fall out...cool.

Calming


The girls sometimes reach out to 'pet' one another when they are fighting the good fight before they fall asleep. :)

Cleaning is Hard Work!


On the farm there are hardwood floors everywhere and they get dusty! So sometimes you need/want to get creative to get the job done. Grandma (and the girls) had fun cleaning the floors.

I'm Trying!


Little Kaylee, who doesn't seem so little anymore, is trying to crawl. She lifts her hips up and manages to scoot herself backwards- this is how she ended up half way under the couch...and stuck. But no worries mom will always be there to take a picture :)

03 December 2010

Packing Up Twins

So I know I am not the first to take a vacation with twins, but this week the girls and I are going on vacation to....the farm! Greg is going to be home busy studying for his first law school exams so in order to give him an opportunity to study in quiet we are 'over the river and through the woods'.
In preparing for this trip and the idea of packing for a family vacation one day I have flash backs to my childhood trips to the beach. My family along with 2 other families would caravan down to the beach and I always remember following the family with one child- a surburban packed so full you couldn't see a stream of light coming from the back window. The one particular image I remember was a full sized doll house pressed up against the back window sandwiched in between a bag of stuffed animals and barbie dolls. I was probably 10 when I saw this, and to this day I refuse to travel in complete excess. Now I've been known to pack a few extra clothes, who doesn't? But I don't bring excessive amounts. So my thought on packing for twins w/o excess (hopefully).
Trying not to stress out about what to bring and what to leave I decided to think in categories and in terms of less is more. I thought of 5 main categories: Feeding, Sleeping, Playing, Reading, Outing.
Feeding:The feeding pack is pretty easy since my mom picked up a bunch of finger foods at the grocery store, I'm just bringing an acorn squash, sweet potatoes, some fruit and the corn squash mixture I conjured up last week. Bottles, spoons, bibs, and ice cube trays for the food I make while I'm there.
Sleeping:Pretty simple they need their Santa sleep sacks w/ onesies and 2 pairs of footie pj's. When packing, always remember things can usually be washed once you arrive to your destination- less is more!
Playing:Easy, we have a small basket where we keep our toys so I am going to just pick up the basket and go. As of right now the girls usually play with small toys so I don't have to think too much of bringing big things, although I will be leaving their jumperoo and exersaucer, I may have sad babies, but I think they will survive :)
Reading:We can't go anywhere without books! I picked out 7 books to bring because after the girls afternoon nap they come down to their reading circle- a circle created by books that I have placed standing on their edge. Each day is a little different, but the girls seem to love to look around at all the pictures (Alex likes to bulldoze the books)
Outing: The girls need clothes to go out in and I figured I would bring 3 matching outfits for the week, their cover-up with hood, and their adorable hats!

When typing the list of things I am bringing for our first trip it seems small, but lets see how everything fits into my car now that I have the behemoth of a stroller in the back of my car!

01 December 2010

Happy December!

For those of you that don't know December is my FAVORITE time/month of the year, hands down. My obsession with December may have something to do with my birthday and Christmas but not limited to. It is truly the best time of the year; I just love how happy people are, decorations, how generous people are, jingle bells, snow (on good years) and a good coat (or 3). I feel like when this time of year comes around I want to craft and bake like crazy so I think I will try to keep this momentum for awhile. In order to keep this momentum going the meat of the blog may change a little- more how to's, why do's and how comes will be posted. I hope this will be helpful and entertaining for you all, and maybe learn something from my crazy musings and adventures.

Don't Forget!

If you are a first time visitor or you know your way around here make sure you scroll down to Monday's post and enter my 5000th view giveaway! Good luck!

Santa Was In Town


The girls and I went to the mall with grandpa and saw Santa! When we walked into the mall there was no one in line to see Santa, he was actually walking around greeting some of the kids walking around the mall (I got butterflies I was so excited). The girls were so well behaved and enamored with Santa and his beard, but I think the picture we got was pretty successful. I'm not sure if the girls had a fun time with Santa, but I LOVED it!