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!

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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 :)

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!

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!

Happy 5000 Giveaway!

Someone will be viewer number 5000 of the blog (since I added my counter) and in celebration of that milestone and my favorite time of the year I am having a giveaway! I've been baking and crafting like crazy recently and I want to share some of my fun craft finds with you. One lucky viewer will be winning one of my creations...which one has yet to be decided, but considering the holiday think Christmas :)

How do you win? leave me a note under this post, perhaps a joke, a random fact, a hello, or something else...get creative! Greg will choose the winner (he doesn't know that yet) **thanks Love** Get posting and you could win, lurkers welcome to post as well!! Good Luck!

Winner will be announced December 13th (ish)

A Little Christmas

Alex and Kaylee have brand new stockings that are hung...Thank you Crawfords! The girls love the sound of the jingle bell that is attached to the stocking :)
My other reindeer- I have been eyeing the reindeer placemats at Target, so I decided to pull out some empty canvases and make my own happy reindeer- I made a little boy deer and a girl deer. Did you know that the female reindeer are the only ones who keep their antlers in the winter?! Just a little Monday trivia from me to you.

It's Time For Reindeer To Snack

My little reindeer were taking a break from Christmas decorating to have a little snack. This rare breed of reindeer love cheese and bananas!

First Time Out

The whole family took a walk the other day to test out the new stroller-it was a little windy, but we managed. Greg was able to take some time away from exam studying to enjoy the windy walk as well! The stroller may be heavier than my original Double Snap n' Go, but it is a breeze to push-it glides so easily. I love it! The only minor issue I have with it is that you have to take off the seats to fold up the stroller...sad story, but I am sure I will get used to it as time goes on. I think even though the girls are getting a little big for their Snap n' Go I will keep that around for quick in and out trips and use the big kid stroller for longer trips out and for walks.
Pictured above is what happens when you take a baby for a walk and then try to feed...poor Alex didn't even get through eating from a spoon and that is her favorite part of meal time :( She was so tired that I was able to clean her off, take her out of her seat, bring her upstairs and lay her in her crib and she never batted an eye. All in all I think she enjoyed her new big kid stroller!

Christmas Came Early

The girls got their big kid stroller for Christmas..just a little early! The girls took a stroll around the house on Thanksgiving evening and LOVED their new ride. It may be kinda large but I think the girls and I will like it more than a side by side stroller.
Thank you Aunt Susan and Uncle Bill!

Growing So Quickly

Here is a little clip of Alex. pulling herself up and then taking a step or two forward. How has this happened so quickly?! She tries to stand up on everything that is slightly higher than ground level, including but not limited to, a file crate, my hands, books, diaper boxes, and Kaylee's head or chest.

Beautiful Day

Saturday was a beautiful and fun day for us. We started by having a photo session with our neighbor (pics to be posted soon), enjoying the weather a little while longer outside on the deck, giving Greg a haircut and the rest of the day was spent being lazy. It felt great having all four of us together enjoying a lazy afternoon before the reality of law school struck again sending Greg back to work.
Greg's idea of hanging out on the deck was a good one--These adorable pictures never would have happened otherwise!

Armageddon?

Looks like. I went to the grocery store to get cheese and yogurt melts for the girls and I walk out with $50 of produce and no cheese. Pictured above is part of my crazed shopping trip to the store, all of what is pictured was on my list, except for the yellow 'box' of yogurt melts. I'm pretty sure I can feed the girls for the next month or more with all the food I bought. The idea of Thanksgiving being just a week away made me panic. I don't want to go to the store at all next week so some switched must have flipped and I was in Veggie shopping mode. I guess I was scared that I wouldn't have enough veggies to get me through next week, or I was just caught up on the fact that I did not give my girls veggies yesterday..who knows? So what did I buy on this crazed pre-thanksgiving grocery trip?
1. a head of cauliflower (sorry Greg, I know it smells bad, but it is good for the girls)
2. 1.84 lbs. of broccoli
3. 1.52 lbs of zucchini
4. 4 avocados
5. 3+ lbs of sweet potatoes
6. 2 lbs of bananas
7. 2.18 lbs of green beans
8. 24 oz of peas
9. 1 lb of spinach
10. 12 oz of edamame
11. an acorn squash (apparently delicious)
12. a delicata squash (I'm not sure what it is, but the label said it tastes sweet)
13. 12 oz of corn
So, rather than blogging maybe I should be using some of this food?! before I go and in honor of Thanksgiving, I am thankful I do not have to go to the grocery store until next Friday- except for maybe cheese.


**side note** I did have to buy all of the above to go with my 3 lbs of carrots and 7 lbs of apples I already had in my fridge.

Christmas Cards Are Here!!

Is it too early to send them out? :)

Red Light, Green Light, GO!

She did it!
The girls have loved playing with a plastic set of 'keys' that my friends mother gave them. And on that set of keys there is a 'stop light' and the yellow light is a button and when you push it the red and green lights light up. Well if you would like to see a baby who is entranced just push that button and bingo! Well today, as you can see in the picture, Kaylee found the yellow button all on her on and boy, was she awestruck! She had the biggest eyes just staring at the bright lights in disbelief. I really don't think she could believe that she turned those lights on...She proceeded to turn the lights on and off staring in awe each time. And in the picture you can also see Alex attacking, she thought the lights were pretty great as well.

Say Cheese...with Cheese!

We had fun at Wegman's today. While cruising along checking my list to make sure I remembered to get all that was needed I remembered the girls had cheese for the first time yesterday and I needed to get them some milder cheese (Swiss was quite the cheese to try the first time out!)
side note: Alex liked the Swiss while Kaylee was not a fan.
Back to the story-we are at Wegman's and I picked up a milder cheese, Colby Jack, and Kaylee tried to reach for it- so I gave her the 8oz block of cheese. She seemed to like the cold feeling and perhaps the crinkle of the wrapping, she was smiling and talking to it-I'm not sure what it said back, but I had the feeling the cheese was funny b/c Alex started laughing. She just thought Kaylee and the cheese were too funny, so I gave her a block of cheese* too, Sharp Cheddar (for mommy). And who would have guessed, the sharp cheddar is a funny cheese as well! I was pushing my stroller around with 2 girls just talking up a storm to 2 blocks of cheese and I started to chime in on their conversation; I felt like I was missing out on all the fun. I am sure the other shoppers thought we were crazy for being so excited and happy about cheese but we had a 'Heluva Good' time :)

*I never intended to buy myself cheese, but I am sure this is the first of many times I will be buying 2 of something so that each child gets her own (insert unneeded/unwanted item here) to hold. All must be even in the world.

What Are They Doing Now?

The girls have turned 7 months old...now what?

Alex is continuing to build up momentum when crawling; she is so quick these days! I was playing with Kaylee and I turn around to see her fiddling with the vacuum cord across the room...this is why we don't keep things plugged in. Alex has shown an interest in pulling up. Now, call us crazy but Greg and I have been searching the house and rigging up contraptions to help Alex pull herself up. So far a plastic crate from college filled with books has worked best- I've attached some toys to the top of it to entice her :)
Kaylee has really started talking. Currently she really loves the sound "da", repeating it over and over, 'da, da, da, da, daaaa'. I know Greg will be over the moon when she can apply that sound as his name- that will be amazing! The little talker loves to sit! And since she has practiced sitting so much she is now working on clapping...so cute to see her happily sitting and smacking her hands together, perhaps a video will show up in the next few days.
They both are getting pretty good at their finger foods-Puffs are a hit! I just purchased the Target brand of Puffs the other day because they have blueberry flavor- the girls LOVE blueberries! Perhaps pictures to come later, a baby just awoke from her slumber.

9 Month Shopping

The girls and I went to Carter's and picked up a few things. I can hardly believe I was buying clothes that were for 9 and 12 month old children, what is that all about?! Regardless of the size we were successful- each baby got 2 sleepers, 1 fuzzy coverup with hood, 2 shirt/legging sets, 1 shirt, and 1 pair of leggings...so if I were to pay retail all of that would have cost $234 with an average of $18/outfit. And after shopping the sales and my kind neighbor who gave me her coupon the grand total was $82 with an average price of $6.60/outfit! I like good deals :)

I Spy

with my little eye....wait, I spy TWO little eyes!
Kaylee has awoken and decided to turn herself over (a first for her in her crib) Now when we go by their room in the morning we might just have two little heads peaking up at us. We are so proud of our little girl for using her skills.

No, Thank You.

These were the faces that the girls were giving me when I tried to give them their sippy cup with milk in it. They looked at me I like I was crazy and smiled. Both Alex and Kaylee entertained me by chewing on their sippy cup for a minute and then threw it on the ground. Clearly they still want their milk in a bottle and water in a sippy cup.

I'm Excited!

Christmas cards have been created and I'm pretty sure they are great and will be well received...I mean who wouldn't want such happy babies to greet them from inside an envelope?

Selling Sand

I sent this picture to my mom and she shared it with a co-worker or two...or four :) and one of the responses I thought was so nice and funny...

They need to be in commercials. They can sell sand in the desert.

We like What We See!

The girls are really starting to enjoy the mobiles that I made during one of the snow storms earlier this year! I'm not sure how far back Alex head can go...it is pretty impressive how much her neck bends

Trees? I like Trees!

Kaylee likes to learn through exploration and touch and Alex, well she like to chew on things to learn...

Peek-a-Boo

Alex may seem like Miss Independent (suppressing my urge to sing that Kelly Clarkson song) but not so deep down she likes to cuddle or bulldoze in most cases.

Post Napping Baby

The Sounds of a Baby

Alex had recently woken up from her afternoon nap and was happy talking to her feet...Their room is dark for their nap, so you can't see anything in the video..just sound this time.

Farmer and Crop

Halloween was a great day at our house; I was so excited to get the girls all dressed up; I mean don't we all have children just to dress them up on Halloween?
The neighborhood continued with its halloween block party tradition and this is the first year we were able to participate with children- the food was good and the friends were even better! Greg and I couldn't be happier living here surrounded by such great families! There were quite a few shutterflies out there so we are hoping to get a really good picture of the four of us dresse as Farmers and their crop of 1 pea pod and 1 carrot :)

Whoo made those?!

After I saw a picture of these cute owls I just HAD to make them myself! So easy and so cute! Am I the only one who still has a thing for their high school mascot?!

Cardboard Take Me Away

If they aren't wearing a diaper they are eating one, playing with one, rolling out of one, and now riding around in the diaper box. Alex loves to play peek-a-bo with the box and Kaylee LOVES to be pushed around the house in the box...she is a master sitter which helps!

Trick-or-Treat?!

Early on in the pumpkin season I got this crazy idea to put my child INTO the pumpkin-I'm not too sure how my mind gets these ideas, but I seem to follow along pretty well. think the girls knew what they were getting themselves into when they were born and somehow they don't mind...too much :) (see below)

The great thing about that pumpkin is that we used all of it! It was a crucial part in a photo session, it became the girls food (lots of food!), and I cooked the seeds...all in all I great use of a free pumpkin!

Insert Thought Bubble Here...

Stay Tuned...

I just got a great idea for new funny baby pictures. Now that Alex is moving all around the landscape pictures I used to take are much harder to make successful...I may have figured out something great! I'm going to get working on this pretty soon!

Who's There?

I see your little face Miss Alex!
Alex and I played with an empty diaper box today. She LOVED it!

It's a Leaf Party

They girls and I went off-roading in our neighborhood and searched for the best patch of fallen leaves to play in..and boy did we find a good patch! The girls loved sitting up and playing with all the leaves that were surrounding them. Kaylee tried and tried and tried to eat the stem of the leaf and each time it landed in her mouth she would stick out her tongue and scrunch her nose. Alex loved leaning over to grab as many leaves as possible and she too promptly tried to shove them in her mouth. By the time we left Alex had cleared the area around her of all leaves and Kaylee wore most of her finding on her pants :)

I know I had fun watching the girls explore some new sites and textures of the world, I think the girls had fun as well...don't you?

Spoon Please...

I would like to eat her up!

photo was taken by one of my great neighbors, Rosa!

Monday Confession

I sometimes listen to the sound machine in the girls room through the monitor to help me fall asleep.

and- I often have the urge to jump up and down when the girls are playing in the jumperoo or exersauser. I get excited seeing them so happy and bouncy.

thanks for letting me get that off my chest-I feel better now.

Pumpkin Girls

This morning we took a little trip to the Cox Farms in Vienna to stroll around in their pumpkin piles. The girls weren't too sure about the big, cold, orange pumpkins at first but they went with it :) Kaylee ended up interested in touching or eating the pumpkins while Alex really couldn't care less about them the whole time we were there. We strolled around the gourds and apples and had a pleasant morning.

We are home now and Greg is busy reading, reading, reading, and perhaps a little research to spice things up in his life as a law student.