Crazy Labor Day

We had a really fun Labor Day weekend so I want to belatedly document it. I stay home every day and Danny works from home, but somehow a vacation day is still so exciting! On Saturday we went to Bencia with Katy and my parents to kayak, eat at Frankenburgers (a cute place we'd tried) and explore. Well, it was WAY to windy to kayak, Frankenburgers was closed because they're relocating and it was freezing.  I was worried, but fortunately it still turned out to be really fun.

Here is everyone freezing to death. Danny was determined to kayak so he went out on the water for ten minutes. The wind was so strong he was soaked when he came back in.

We found an adorable little cafe that made the best burgers and homemade chips I've ever had.  It was one of those fun finds when you're exploring.

My dad can't take a normal smiling picture. He always mugs for the camera.

 

That afternoon we crashed at the Leiningers to watch the BYU game. The babies decided the game was more interesting than their toys.

Camille came to play and she and Lucy played upstairs the whole time. They came down for cookies and to occasionally cheer for our team.

That is the craziest dress-up dress ever. She is being a Minnie Mouse bride/cheerleader if you didn't know:)

On Monday we had several plans, but we ended up driving to Oakland to explore a park with Steve, Marilyn, Spencer, and Camille. The kids discovered an old "castle" and each had a different sense that detected the presence of dragons.

While walking on some cute trails we were directed to the annual antler ritual. I can't remember what they actually called it-but it was wild. Everyone brought their antlers (?!) and they did a special dance with them. A woman walked by us and asked me to dance with her. I was a bit surprised and being a party pooper I said I should really be watching all the kids and couldn't. Well Danny immediately said he would dance with her. Marilyn, Steve and I just all stared at each other in surprise while Danny ran off (with Joycie on his chest) to dance the ritualistic dance with this random woman.  They borrowed some antlers and got their groove on. It was...memorable.  So there you have it-our Labor Day.

 

 

 

 

During the promenade

Photo-Op

The stars aligned yesterday. The babies woke up at 9 AM.  They had eaten and were cooing happily by 9:30. I was already planning on going to the mall and aimlessly wondering around the Disney store as our fun activity for the day (does that sound pathetic? It is actually really fun for both of us:)  I decided to put the babies in some cute outfits (courtesy of the Damianos) and if everyone was happy I'd take the babies in to take some quick pictures at the mall. I have a ton of cute pictures of them individually, but it is a lot harder to get them together-so it seemed easier for someone else to position them etc.

I purposely didn't get an appointment because I didn't want to feel rushed to make it-I did everything I could to trick myself into not caring/feeling stressed about this. Well, we ended up having to wait for quite awhile but the babies were cute and happy all morning= a miracle.  Waiting there I realized I was a little crazy. I had TWO babies, a preschooler and only one of me. I always took at least one other person to these things when I took pics of Lucy-what was I thinking?! Well it worked, I just would position one baby, grab the other baby from the stroller and position her and just kept trading them off. Fortunately no one cried or needed much one on one attention! The pictures turned out as cute as you'd expect from one of those places-especially at this stage when they can't sit but are super squirmy.  I was surprised that Joyce was the smiley girl that morning.  It was definitely worth going and I was surprised how easy it was.  Afterwards Lucy and I were exhausted and treated ourselves to a Mrs. Fields cookie and Disney store trip.  Now I have a picture of the two of them up on the wall. I'm proud of myself.

One too many babies

I think Lucy has just realized that she will never have as much attention as she used to.  She has not taken this out on her sisters at all, she still adores them. However, she has decided that babies get a ton of attention, so she has decided to become a baby again.  Today she has talked just enough to tell me what she needs: a bottle, her "paci", to play on the play mat etc. Unfortunately a talking baby is even harder to deal with than real ones. This baby wants learn how to walk, wants me to hold her bottle while she drinks it (it is her dolls bottle and paci), wants me to tickle her etc-and all RIGHT NOW.  I guess she needs a bit more one on one attention wouldn't you say? Three babies are too much for me.

Baby Girls' Room

This post is for mainly for Becca.  Since the babies were born we have had them in the same crib.  For the first couple months they calmly slept side by side and didn't even wake each up when they'd cry.  When they were about three months they got a bit more wiggly and even when we put them on opposite sides of the crib, they'd end up right next to each other. Well, around month four Lydia got especially squirmy and would often end up with her feet in Joyce's face/ribs.  One night Danny and I jumped up when we heard Joyce screaming a pained scream. Lydia was actively kicking her in the face. Just like she did in the womb:)

looks crowded

We decided it was time to put up the second crib. They have a small little room so it was tricky but we put up the crib (we got for $15 at a garage sale. It was a steal because it is pretty nice one!) 

trying some of the options...

you can see Lydia's toes there in the corner...but Joyce was still happy:)

Well, we tried the cribs in every position we could think of and finally found one we liked. Last week Becca sent me four more giant bags of clothes (Diana and Becca have really outfitted these babies!). The clothes ended up on the floor for a week because my little dresser wouldn't fit them all! I only put in what is their size too! I found another dresser on Craigslist, painted it pink (I couldn't help it:) and now their room is finally all put together. You can't get around the fact that a little room is stuffed with furniture-but I think it ended up pretty cute. Here are way too many pics:

I made this when Danny and I first got married

Thanks for this printable Bonnie. This is my theme with these girls. I don't want to miss a moment.

This painting was given to me by my Grandma Kay when I as a baby and hung in my room growing up. I love that its in the girls' room now.

both girls' footprints

those are all little jackets and hoodies in the door!

My helper this afternoon.

Vaughn Life Coaching

Some of you may know but my younger sister Becca married a Vaughn. As a huge Alias fan I was supportive from the very beginning of their courtship on the chance Becca would have a little boy one day and name him Michael. They have an adorable Ruby so far and she is the cutest baby ever-she is a perfect mix of her parents.

Proof

Kyle works as a life coach. You'd think that would make him intimidating (because he could run my life better than I can), but Kyle is an incredibly fun guy.  I love reading his blog. Once a week he posts a "Ten Minute Fix" tackling a chore/or issue and giving you tools to fix it in ten minutes. His ten minute fix "Honey I'm Home" about the first minutes after you/ your spouse arrives home in the evening made Danny and I discuss what we want in those first moments home.  Kyle is also hilarious. His posts are always entertaining and he frequently posts really funny "Sticky Notes".

Life Coaching is a great way to figure out what you want in your daily life and set realistic goals to get there.  A life coach is a great support to help you make decisions and clarify your goals.  Kyle's rates are very affordable and make life coaching possible for anyone.  Check out his website and blog for more info. If you go this week you can enter his Dinner and a Movie giveaway-I don't mind a little competition:)
http://blog.vaughnlifecoaching.com/

Preschooler

This week Lucy started Mrs. Perona's Preschool. We have been looking forward and talking about it for months.  At night before bed Lucy would ask to talk about it so it would give her good dreams.  We talked about all the exciting things she would learn and she was very excited about playing on a play ground and riding scooters. The day finally arrived and she was not disappointed.  When I picked her up she hopped in the car, told her sisters how much she missed them and looked so happy.  When I asked her what she did in preschool she said "I don't remember".  How cliche is that?! I remember saying that to my mom.  After some probing and a nice email from Mrs. Perona telling us what they did, I got a bit more info out of her. She has also been singing several songs around the house that she didn't learn from me:) I can't believe I have such a big girl.

meeting Mrs. Perona's rabbits Poopsie and Sweet Pea

4 months!

The girls are four months already. When Lucy was four months I thought she was huge! I was excited to start feeding her cereal and was worried she wasn't rolling over very often. It is funny what a different experience having a second (and third) child is.  Yet again I am so happy that I have an older child before twins. I am so much more easy going with these girls. I think I can also savor this age a bit more, rather than looking forward to what is ahead.  Four months is wonderful and like every age I would like to freeze them at this moment. Both girls smile and interact with us constantly. They love "talking" and smiling at Lucy too.  They both spit up and drool pretty much constantly, laugh occasionally, and cry every once in a while:)  I put them in bed about 9-10 PM and they fall asleep on their own then sleep until 4/5. After a quick feeding they sleep again until 7/8 AM.  I couldn't be luckier. Their nap schedule is still a bit loose, mostly because we are out and about quite a bit, but I think they will start having a more regular nap time soon.  Right now they sleep in their car seats, after nursing or whenever I swaddle and put them in bed.  I'm still swaddling them at night and it has been wonderful because they associate it with bedtime and fall asleep easily.  They both can roll from their tummies to their backs (beacsue they hate tummy time -which I hardly ever give them) and have started trying to turn from their backs to their tummies. They wiggle and move around constantly. Their favorite thing is to stand.  When I hold them on my lap they straighten out their legs and arch their back so I'll let them stand.

I love how they usually end up finding each others hands/limbs.

Joyce
12lbs 3 oz,  25.3''

(As you can tell my beautiful Joyce likes to claw her face. No matter how short I cut her nails she finds a way to injure herself. I'm not editing her claw marks out so I can show her the damage she caused when she's older. )

Joyce is such a sweet baby. She has left her previous reputation(she was harder to sooth and cried a bit more) behind her.  She smiles all the time, but still doesn't love smiling at strangers.  She often looks serious and you can tell she is thinking and figuring things out.  She loves grabbing toys above her and loves trying to get toys into her mouth.  She has started soothing herself by sucking her index and middle finger on one hand and grabbing her ear with her other hand. It is really cute:)

Lydia
12 lbs 4 oz., 25.9''

Lydia has many different smiles. She has a general smile when she is happy, a special "your interacting with me" smile she gives to anyone who will look/talk to her, a grin when she thinks something is especially exciting, and and over-the-top thrilled smile that just shines with joy. Tyra would be proud because the girl can smize too;) Lydia is easy going, but when she is upset she really lets you know it.  She loves grabbing toys and checking out new things. Today at the Dr.s she was trying to flip on to her tummy and found her toes! She was so excited! Then she worked on getting them into her mouth-it was adorable.

This whole twin thing is hard at times-- well most of the time--but it is also incredibly fun. I adore these babies. Next post-preschool!