Camping and 30 days of habit..

We took the girls camping when they couldn't walk, once, and once when they were just learning. It was probably more frustrating and draining than I had expected. Last year was a Lake Powell trip that while the houseboat moved my nerves were being shredded! So having them be able to walk, listen, and pay attention to certain things was much more exciting! This year we've already gone camping several times and without hesitation they got down and dirty.

The dude's parents took a camper up to Skyline for a few weeks and were kind enough to let us tag along with our motorcycles and kids in tow. The gremlins at first were a little frightened and uncertain of all bugs around the camp ground but eventually learned to ignore it all.

We actually had to go buy jeans for the first time that were slightly too big and allowed for lbs of dirt to leak down their little butt cracks. By the end of every evening they were filthy and generally super tired! I never understood how kids had so much energy! I must have been a little energizer bunny when i was a kid. They spent their days in the dirt, playing with their cousin, riding 4 wheelers, riding their strider bikes up and down a little hill and a little motorcycle ride. 

Surprisingly they didn't enjoy roasted marshmallows at all, they much rather just the regular mallow itself.  But they did love the fire and we had to very often remind them not to run around it. It was so much fun watching the explore and see what things did, testing the waters of nature. I'll be the first to tell you they are professional little squatters. ;)  We are really hoping to get a few more camping trips in this year to a couple new places. 

 As for 30 days of habit...it takes 30 days to start a good habit and only a few days to break one. Today marks that day that I'm throwing myself to the lions and fighting away a huge temptation of mine. Sugar. I've dont it before, around probably the worst time of year, Christmas. This year I'm starting earlier and hoping it sticks. Anyway, here are the few things I'll/we will be changing/starting today:

• No sugar unless natural- as in fruits and other raw foods.
• Keeping a journal - Either blogging for that day or writing in my personal journal. I miss blogging and I want to be able to look back on some details I may not remember one day.
• Telling someone every day something you like or appreciate about them - I have so many people around me that deserve to be told how amazing they are!
• Taking a walk - we may work out occasionally but I think family walks in the evening would be a great way to relieve some stress, talk, and enjoy the world around us as a family.
• Cold showers - I know! It sounds crazy, because trust me, I am the first to turn the heat up to scorching and burn while I shower. But after some research on the matter I want to see the effect it will have. All the benefits of cold showers I feel are things I'm slightly lacking needing in my life. If you'd like to see just a handful of these check it out here. 
• Natural Sleeping pattern - another subject you can find lots of research on. As you know your sleep goes in patterns of deep sleep to..well not deep. Setting a time to sleep and a time to wake ie. 11pm to bed and 7am to wake. Causes you to get too much sleep and is often restless without you even realizing. Research shows that following a sleep only when you're absolutely tired but waking up at a set time causes your body to enter a sleep cycle necessary to keeping your body rested.  

For example, I need to wake up roughly around 7:30am. So the night before I will go to sleep when my mind no longer is able to keep me functioning, eyes wont stay open, good way to test is read a couple pages from a book. For the first night I may end up being up till 1am but I will without a doubt wake at 7:30am. Making sure not to lay there and to, after a couple good stretches, sit up in bed. This may cause me to drag the first couple days as I feel super tired. But in turn that means by the evening I'll be tired enough to go to sleep earlier. Bottom line if you're laying in bed and you cannot fall asleep within 20 minutes, your body is not ready for sleep. Get up, go read, or do something small till you feel tired and certain you can pass out within a short period. Eventually after a few days your body will start a natural sleep patter that will properly assess when and how many hours your need to sleep. Generally keeping your bed time within a 2 hour window and keeping your mind and body at rest the entire night. 

So in ending, I feel like these are all things that can make a positive change in my life. Especially the sleeping since I haven't slept will since the twins were 6 months old. I plan to try and track the differences I feel and see. Possibly do a few blog updates.  As for today, I haven't had a bite of sugar, I took a cold shower that actually felt amazing and woke me up real well after falling asleep a little later than normal but waking at 7:30. So far so good! 

Signs&Distractions

Summer is coming to an end. There are signs all over! The sun is setting early and the air is feeling cooler, fresher even.

I'm excited for fall but at the same time will miss the early afternoon swims with the gremlins.  I never thought they would take so well to getting down and dirty in the water and mud. But they are girls after my own heart. 

With the cooler months on their way it's become a stressful thought as to how to keep the twins occupied when we aren't able to go outside as much.(Don't even get me started on the warmer clothes shopping!)  

Currently we are up by 8am.  Breakfast (after a rush to the restroom) is finished within 20 minutes. We spend a good 20-30 minutes reading books...the same books..over and over again. :)  Then they like to cuddle and watch a couple blue's clues or Go Diego Go before mid morning snack break. They then promptly insist on going out side to play on their slides and with their water tubs or even swim.   Before we know it it's lunch time.

Lately though K has insisted on going inside early. Even though the weather is wonderful. We aren't sure why she does this?

This in turn means more time inside and more time they end up becoming bored.  They even prefer to ride their bikes inside rather than out. 

I've been searching Pinterest (yes I  too am drawn to the addiction that is Pinterest) frantically for ideas of toddler games and activities.

That's when I came across this blog: Simple Little Home with 40 Ways to distract a toddler. 

Many of these we already do but the majority of these I never even thought of!  

For example ZipLock bag painting! What a great idea that keeps the mess off the kids (most importantly your house).  It has  sensory feeling and is a way to bring out their creative side.

I really need to pick up on the mommy awesome and schedule a good hour of crafting/painting/creating etc.  before their nap time. 

Do YOU have any great ideas to keep a toddler from throwing herself to the lions in a fit of rage? ;)

They grow up...

Most will agree..it's way too fast.  

I was going through pictures the other day of when they were new born's to 6 months. 

They were so cute, little, and pudgy! You just wanted to squeeze the guts out of the chub rolls, they were so adorable. (Yes, I'm biased)  

Now..  They are two 2 year old's ready to take on the world. Can you believe that? 8 week early preemies who now look and act like perfect, healthy, little angels. Not to mention I am proud to say that they are a good 90% potty trained at the age of 2! (the other 10% percent being the obstacle of the frightening public restrooms they refuse to enter) As long as we are only out and about an hour and a half or at some one else's home. We're golden!!  Boy is it nice to have no diapers in the house! 

People ask daily if it's hard to tell them apart. To be honest most the time yes.  That's because I know their personalities, how they hold themselves up, etc. But, I wont lie..there are plenty of times that I mistake one for the other, and to be honest as they have grown up, thinned out, and so on, it gets slightly harder to say right away: "oh yea, that's O." 

It's perfectly obvious how much they absolutely adore one another. I never thought I would get to experience such a close sisterly bond. Obviously they know no better, but it's still so beautiful to watch them learn with one another. To also teach each other new things, if one figures it out before the other. All children are miracles in my eyes but watching multiples grow up so close is a whole new experience that I wish everyone could enjoy.  

They take turns with each other, they give one another hugs if the other is hurt in any way. 

O will especially make sure "sissy" has a bear or stuffy before herself. She's such the mothering type it's amazes me.  How soft her heart is and how greatly she likes to take care of others just makes you melt.  She is also our dramatic of the two. Small things are made into large climactic events. The terrible two's should be spelled with her name in it! Fits are her cup of tea as her sister sits back with a look of "woman...chillllll!"  

K on the other hand is quiet, daring, loving, but most of all my ball of energy. Ironically enough mostly when she is tired. It's as though a switch is flipped and she will start asking you questions you could have never thought anyone would be interested in.  Her smiles lights up your life whenever she is proud or excited about something new. My parents always told me I had it coming. I would get a daughter who was just like me. Well, parents are always right people. Because sure enough Little Miss K is exactly like her mother. Leap before you think kind of a girl. After my own heart. <3

(had to get a shot of Aussie's skills!)

As you can imagine they love to play with "oussie" and "kona". Most the time walking around telling them what to do. But, also while outside throwing the ball, or chasing them around. Aussie is a perfect older brother. Letting them roll around on him or hold on to his back fur as he drags them around the house.  He more than loves the attention.

To say it lightly it's been an emotional couple of years. From a girl who never wanted to get married, not to mention have kids! To getting blessed with two amazing little girls. My heart is so full of love when I'm around them. 

I'll be starting school again tomorrow and being away from them during their bedtime stories is going to be another one of those silly hardest things of my life. It's a great thing to hear "Mommy, BOOOK!" as I get them ready to snuggle in bed. Or, "hug mommy, lub jew" just as they lay down to sleep. 

This last year especially has just been a busy whirl wind of crazy. I missed their birthday post..our vacation post..a post of potty training progress.  And in reality so much more. I suppose that should be my highest goal:

Time Management!

Wish me luck ;)

Water Parks

 As soon as the summer weather was finally set in and before we set out on all our road trips we bought our season passes and headed straight to the water park to cool off.  Since it was the first week of great weather the park was packed and finding even a sliver of grass was so impossible.  Luckily we found a nice place even with some shade from a tree.

 It was going to be the first time in 7 months since the girls have been in water greater than 2 ft deep.  

They love their kiddie pool and love the bath so it was to be expected that they would completely love the water park.

Their most favorite was the lazy river, were we just held their arms and let them float and enjoy splashing around.  They even attempted to kick their legs like little frogs!

Due to their size and age we kept to the river and a small kid area where they could stand on us and splash away in the shallows. 

We were actually a bit surprised in how well they have taken to water.  I've seen kids be frightened and cling to their parents in pools but these girls were fearless!  

Regular sunscreen and snack breaks were in need because of the blazing sun and heat.  

They actually held strong for 3 hours until they were definitely showing sign of "we need a nap, now"!

We have been so busy since it's been hard to go again, not to mention the weather has been as bi-polar as it could get.  Hopefully if the forecast is correct we will get a couple more good days in soon!

I have so many pictures from our adventures so far to go through it's crazy.  Just memories we will hold onto for a life time, a life time that keeps changing as the days go on!  Hopefully I'll get more down time and get in those other updates soon! 

I hope everyones summer has been full of fun in the sun!

{Happy Thursday!}❤

There's one, where's the other?

It's been a while since I've done an update post on the gremlins and their progress.

Things have changed so much in just a months time.

At 13 months they weight about 23lbs each. Both are crawling and the statement, "you'll be chasing one while the other goes the opposite direction", has come to life.  I end up hearing one in the kitchen while the other one attempts to attack the entertainment center.  Luckily if mom says no they generally listen and move along.  Keeping them in one spot is nearly impossible unless there are snacks.

Both can pull themselves up to stand using furniture or other things around them.  Kenzington has once or twice walked a gap from one piece of furniture to the next but they generally stay attached to the furniture walking along it.  For now, anyway.  They love little animals and fluffy things.  Especially Oakley who likes to cuddle them.

Both talk and giggle all the time.  It was probably one of the most adorable things as a mum to watch Kenzington sit on her gammas lap with a magazine flipping through the pages and reading to her gamma.  Literally for 5 minutes just pointing at pictures and text, jabbing away.  

Yes, Doggy, Igty (kitty), hi, daddy, momma, are the choice of words so far but they are constantly trying to say new ones.  They can both sign milk, all done, and more.  Dancing to music and clapping is something they just love to  do daily.  

Just like their mom they love to swim and can't get enough of the water, they are even attempting to kick their legs to swim now.  We recently took them to Las Vegas for the 2nd time this last week and they do amazing in the car.  They talk and play, never fuss and sleep without a problem.  Going to see new things and new people is something they love to do as well.  They flirt and just smile shying away.  We thought while we were in Vegas visiting my brother that they would get scared like they sometimes do with guys they haven't met before and it had been a while since he'd seen them.  Surprisingly it was like they remembered him and just loved sitting on his lap and playing.  He's such a good uncle.  

We now realized we have to keep their pants on at night otherwise they take off their diapers, haha.  Luckily there wasn't an accident.  

Both have 8 teeth and counting, we are getting to the more painful sets and it's causing some discomfort. They are chasing the dogs more and more. I'm pretty sure the dogs never thought this day would come, as Auzzie sat without moving while K probed his eye with her finger...yeah we have to watch for that now.  

I cannot believe how fast they are moving along and how much we get to see for the first time daily.  I've said it before but it just amazes me and I love it!

We have been blessed with some amazing kids, family and great friends who are always there.  I seriously hope we can keep up with the craziness because I don't want to miss one minute of it! 

For the 4th we are off to spend time with family and friends in WA.  It's going to be so much fun and great to see everyone.  

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday weekend! ❤

Summer Adventures To the Zoo!

This summer started off pretty busy, as a lot of you can tell by my lack of posts!

I had this great idea that I'm going to post our summer adventures (So far we have 4 that I'm editing pictures for and so on)!  Great idea? Yes! I agree, hehe.

  We took the girls camping and it was probably something that I never thought would go as smoothly as it did.  Of course nap time was a bit of a hassle but other than that I think it went better than planned.  

Just before it got too hot out here we decided that since the girls were showing more and more interest in animals it would be perfect to take them to the local Zoo.  Neither of us had been in so long, the girls weren't the only ones excited about seeing animals.  

The entire time was just so much fun and the girls G-rents came along for the experience, which made it even better.  At first it took a while to get the girls to notice the animals.  They were mainly entertained with the simple fact that they were out of the house and seeing new people around them.  

We saw some kids on wooden horses and I insisted on putting the girls on them..I'm pretty sure we enjoyed it way more than they did, ha!  It was just too cute. :)

Our zoo has a Jurassic theme going on where scattered throughout the park there are animatronic dinosaurs.  It was cool at first, but to me it just got annoying only being able to hear fake dinosaur roars instead of the wildlife.  

The girls were afraid of the T-Rex because he would roar every so often and it was loud!  

But we still figured feeding him might make him happy ;)

After a bit they really started to notice the animals around them.  Kenzlee especially completely fell in love with them all and would squeal with glee despite the "please be quiet" signs.  Oakley on the other hand has a completely odd reaction to animals.  She does it at home as well with her pretend kitty and ducky.  She gets super excited but if they come too close or she feels like they are too close she gets very nervous and does this "I'm excited but I'm going to cry too", type of thing.

The male tiger was separated from the females and was just walking around his area growling!  It was sooo cool!  He would just get louder and louder and then he would jump around from his den to tree stumps.  I can say I completely loved seeing him almost as much as I loved seeing the Chimps and Monkeys.  

They had the baby elephant out that day and o.m.g. so cute!  Everyone was just in aw at how adorable the mother and it were!

Something I have to say while we were leaving we saw protesters outside the zoo, stating that the elephants were suffering within the zoo- while they stood in the 90 degree weather with no shade holding a child that looked to be 6 months non the less.  Anyway, I couldn't help but just shake my head at the fact that these people seem to not understand the options these animals have.  I will admit, maybe I fully don't either.  What I do know is this:

I've been to Africa, I've spoken to the people, villagers, and park rangers about the elephants.  Even if the elephants are placed in a "protected" thousand acre reserve out in Africa, poachers still sneak in at night and kill them.  It's something that is so completely hard to stop that it's causing lots of government issues among other things.  Heck, while we were there we saw poachers jumping the fence and running as we were leaving the park late at night.  From what I've seen and heard, how is it worse to live in a zoo were you are fulling taken care of, live a full life, compared to the chance of being killed while your young is left to die to the elements?  Isn't that suffering as well?

Sorry, it's my "people don't make sense to me" speech...but moving on!

Going back to the monkeys this little guy and his buddy just made me laugh and giggle.  He just sat quietly on his branch holding his lovey!  Another tiny monkey.  He would just pet it and look at it.  

The girls really seemed to like this guy, he was walking back and forth in front of the window waiting for his trainer.  The girls would just giggle and watch saying "igty igty"...loved it.

Surprisingly we finished in a couple hours, it resulted in a great experience and a good chance to get out of the house.  We cannot wait till they are more aware of what the animals are and can take them again.

What summer adventures are you experiencing?  

Happy Tuesday! ❤

Flipper!

OK, maybe not "flipper" himself..but you know..cousins ;)

So, I have yet to post about one of the adventures we had on our trip to Mexico a couple months back.  First something you may have never known about me is, I have always had a desire to be a marine biologist.  Specifically working with whales and dolphins, you know all the good stuff.  Even ask my parents, when I was as young as 6 or 7 years old if you asked me what I wanted to do I would have said Marine Biologist.  I choose not to take that route though, crazy, but I didn't.  

Anyway, it's been my dream to swim with dolphins.  I've already gotten the chance to be in a boat along side them in the wild and even swim 50 yards away from them in the wild.  But to be actually in the water interacting has just been at the top of my bucket list.

We go to Hawaii usually every year or so and on the big island they do have a dolphin experience, but it usually costs a car payment and you have to be on the list for up to 5 months.  So when we heard that not that far from where we were we could go and swim with them any day we liked, for 1/4 of what we would pay in Hawaii.

I will just say it was probably one of the most touching experiences of my life, not only to connect with such a large and super intelligent animal but to know that this was one of the facilities that was actually helping the animals and not taking them from the wild.  (If you have seen The Cove, you know what I'm talking about)

(Yes, I know odd that I'm wearing hat and sun glasses..but don't worry I wasn't the only one and they said it was OK. ;) )

I'll be honest.  When I first got in I was a little nervous!  These girls were huge and you just never know what to really expect, ya know?  Not to mention when they signaled for the two girls to swim around us so we could get to know them and pet them, the smallest of the two swam quickly towards me and kind of smacked her nose really hard into my shoulder...not by accident, I mean really how could it have been..and then swam in front of me and on to someone else.  It made me nervous cause it was hard, and hurt a little.  Needless to say I think it was a term of endearment because she seemed to like me as she would generally come back around to me and sit there nuzzled into longer than the others.  

(She was the biggest of the two, about 15 feet I think?)

We ended up getting to have about 5 minutes of one on one time with them.  Getting to dance with them, hug, them and even get wet salty kisses from them.

For about an hour they talked to us about how they train them, keep them occupied, random facts about the animals and so on.

When it was getting time for everyone to be over we all got the chance to ride them 2 different ways!  All I can say it was sooo exciting.  To just feel the strength and grace of how they moved so swiftly through the water and would carry us with ease.  Just amazing, really!  When it was just you and the two  of them you could catch them every so often turning their heads to look back at you, as if to make sure you're doing alright.  

Call me weird or silly, but to feel like you connected with a creature like that in some small way just to meet for a day was just something we'll never forget.  An opportunity that I really do hope to go back one day and experience again. 

Oh Hai!

I know I haven't been updating as per usual.  I think I've come to be a bit lazy in these growing summer days.  We are all doing awesome.  The gremlins were both weighed and measured recently

Oakley 22.9lbs  27in

Kenzington 22.5   27in

via

we have had a lot going on through the weekends but then our weekdays are pretty much boring! That's not really a bad thing in the summer right?

I do have a question for all you moms or people who just know! 

The twins have recently stopped wanting bottles and are really just wanting solid foods regularly which is great, it's about time for them.  The thing is, even after some faithful google searching,  I just can't seem to think of good meal plans for them.  You know what to feed them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  Oakley seems to be super picky and if we are persistent she'll eat what we give her but usually she would prefer to settle for bread and oatmeal.  

They aren't allergic to anything so far, we've tried peanut butter and eggs so on.

So my question is, when your kids started to eat solids regularly what did you feed them for meals?  Easier things are obviously more appealing to me but semi more in depth is great too! 

Any help would just be great cause I seriously have a brain block with this. 

We are taking the girls on their first camping trip this weekend and I'm super excited but super worried too.  Mostly worried that I'll forget something they'll need, or they wont sleep well.  Any tips there, also welcome! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of their dirtyness and first time in the wild, right were they belong, hehe.  

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll be sure to keep on top of updates and posts here on out!

{Happy Friday!}

Birthday Party

The twins First birthday turned out to be such a fun day! Despite me stressing over, pretty much everything.  

I really need to just say a huge Thank You to everyone who came and gave the girls some great new things.  Also to the family that came from WA and to other family for helping with food and deserts! Oh, and to my mum for letting me use her kitchen for 10hrs to make the girls cakes. <3

I wasn't able to finish the orange one's icing around the edge because sadly the icingerthingymabob broke. :(  I have an exercise to help you though -imagine a cake, and orange cake.  Now imagine pink icing in cute little bumps around the orange cake- get a good picture?  Good! 

The fondant turned out really tasty though.  A hint of lemon flavor and some pieces had a hint of vanilla.  YUM! 

Everyone said they probably wouldn't just go and dive into the cakes because of hearing or having experiences with others not wanting to.  Boy we were surprised..

 Oakley instantly picked hers up, flipped it, and starting eating from the bottom!

First impression-odd.  But after some warming up, LOVED IT!

Kenzlee took another approach and decided to just take big bites out of the side without using her hand.  I think I got more pictures of her because of the faces she was making.  She would open up super wide, lean over, then as she would bite down her eyes would instantly cross!  Perfect!

Afterwards of course they were a giant mess!  This was the aftermath of their destruction of moms hard work, ;) joking of course, hehe.

We had some great friends and family over, including 5 babies and 3 toddlers.  It was a party house.  After opening up some gifts, cleaning up some cake covered kids we all dug into some ice cream and cupcakes and just sat around playing with the little ones and chatting.  It was really a good night, although much of it seems a blur.  

After planning and getting it all ready for the first time, I really know how I want to do things for the future birthdays to come.  I really loved our theme, Julius the Monkey just seems like a fun happy character.  It wasn't one of those fancy parties but it was our party!  ❤  

What themes do you like?