Twins turn 3!

It's hard to believe it's been over three years since we became parents to these two beautiful girls! It's strange how I went from crying myself to sleep because I wanted to be a mother so badly, to crying because I never got any sleep with baby twins, to crying because my babies are now three years old. Why is there so much crying involved in motherhood?!?!?

Eden and Lydia had a great birthday. Nate and I took them to Chick-fil-A for lunch and opened some presents there. I made them Anna and Elsa dresses and we gave them a couple DVDs. They also requested to go mini golfing. They had never been before but had seen it on a show and kept asking to go. So we invited our cousins and hit the green. Let's just say the coordination left much to be desired, but they had so much fun! Afterwards we had cake and ice cream. They were very specific about what kind of cakes they wanted so I had to make two separate ones for the first time. Eden requested a "purple chocolate cake with purple finkles (sprinkles)" and Lydia wanted a "strawberry pink cake."

Eden is such a "big sister." Some may classify her as bossy, but I like to think of her as a leader. She likes to choose where we go or what music we listen to or what game she and Lydia will play. Usually, Lydia will go along with what she says, but every once in a while Lydia chooses something different and then we're in for the ultimate battle of wills! Eden is very confident and a daredevil. She's not afraid to try new things and even when she fails, it doesn't seem to phase her. She looks up to her older cousin Chloe and strives to do everything she can do. She loves playing with her umbrella and wearing her favorite costumes (or nothing at all).

She just couldn't leave the house without her crown!

Lydia is such a sweet little girl. She loves to help me with Adeline and be a little mother. Even though Eden is more of the "leader" Lydia is more of the "mother." Every morning she gets herself dressed and then picks some matching clothes for Eden to wear and lays them out on the floor for her. She enjoys learning and is constantly repeating the nursery rhymes and songs she knows. I think she'll have a beautiful singing voice like her Aunt Kaley. She's more timid when it comes to things outside her comfort zone. For instance, if we go to a new park and there is a tricky ladder, she prefers to watch Eden go first before trying it herself. But once she convinces herself to try something, she's just as adventurous as her sister. She loves playing with her baby and setting up pretend picnics.

Helping push Adeline in her swing at the park

Both girls are doing ballet this year and absolutely love it! I'm excited to see their recital in December. It will be a hoot! They also enjoy playing soccer with their Daddy. In the summer, Nate took them to the fields to play once a week. They are well on their way to being super stars! Swimming, playing at the park, exploring the Amazeum, having tea parties, playing Candy Land with mom, and playing hide and seek with Dad are some of their other favorites. Side note: they are terrible at hide and seek which makes it HILARIOUS to watch. We love our Eden and Lydia!!!

Singing in the rain

First day of ballet

Helping Daddy wash the car

The Twins are 2!

I hate that I can't seem to find the time to stay caught up on my blog! I love going back and reading my updates, especially on the girls because I've found I've forgotten so many things. It's nice to have things written down so those memories aren't lost! Anyway, I'm a couple months late on this update but I didn't want to miss it.

Eden and Lydia turned two on September 21st. Am I the only one that finds this crazy?????? I still find myself calling them babies on occasion, but they really aren't anymore. The "terrible" twos are definitely in full swing but also the terrific twos! Some days are so incredibly hard and I wonder what happened to my sweet girls that turned them into little terrors. But other days they are absolute angels that want to snuggle and kiss me and tell me they love me all day. Those days are the best!

EDEN: Eden has definitely taken on the role of older sister. She bosses Lydia around all day and luckily Lydia is super mellow and likes to follow along with what her sister says most of the time. For instance, for Halloween Eden was supposed to be Bo Peep and Lydia was going to be her sheep (very fitting for their personalities) but when it came time to put costumes on, Eden was insistent that she be the sheep and Sissy be "Peep." Lydia promptly handed the sheep costume to Eden and picked up the Bo Peep dress instead. At least they were both happy in the end. When we go for walks, Eden gets really upset if she is not leading the pack. She prefers to run ahead and call back, "Come on, guys!" Eden loves to draw pictures. I know I'll probably regret it one day, but the crayons are always sitting out at their play table so she can color multiple times throughout the day. Fortunately, she knows that coloring is only for paper and we've only had one incident of crayon on the fireplace. Both girls are pretty good with recognizing different colors so we're starting to talk about shapes now. I don't think they really get it at all but they love to say "circo" (circle) over and over as they draw their pictures and proudly show me their cirlces (aka scribbles). I also introduced finger paints recently and those were a huge hit!

LYDIA: Both girls talk really well, but Lydia definitely talks a bit more and a bit more clearly. She is such an imitator and copies whatever we say. When we read books or say prayers, she always repeats the words. She is quite the singer as well. She can carry a tune and she knows a lot of the words to the songs we sing. She also likes to make up her own songs. She usually sings herself to sleep at nap time. It's pretty cute. She made up a song about Eden and we think it's so funny when she sings it. The only problem is, Eden hates it! Whenever Lydia sings it, Eden screams, "No Lydi! No Song!" Lydia has always been more cautious than Eden but she's started to get over some of her inhibitions. She used to hate being pushed in the swing at the park but recently she's decided she loves its and will even tell me to give her a big push. Both girls still love the park and we've had great weather this fall so we go at least a few times a week.

SLEEP: Oh, sleep. I thought sleep issues were only things you deal with with babies. Hahahaha. How naive I was. They went through a really long stretch of good sleep but recently that has all changed. The girls went through several weeks of nap strikes where they just flat out refused to nap. In the beginning, it was fine because they would just talk to each other and read their books in bed but as the weeks wore on, they just started getting more and more overtired and nap time turned into scream time. It was devastating. Perhaps, you think I exaggerate and devastating is too strong a word, but if you've never dealt with two overtired, cranky two year olds day after day, you have no idea how horrible it is. I tried everything to get them to take their naps from crying it out (2 hours of screaming!) to sitting in their room with them to help them be calm to different naptime schedules to totally losing it and yelling at them to go to sleep. Nothing worked. It's so hard to accept that the are independent little people and if they don't want to take a nap, I can't force them to. I finally tried separating them and moved Eden to another room for naps but that did not go over well. Eden wasn't having any of that, but when she said Lydia should sleep in the other room, I decided to try it. Thankfully, we've seen some improvement. They still skip naps a couple times a week but at least they are taking some naps and we're able to avoid all three of us in tears every afternoon. Bedtime is also a challenge. They just don't want to go to sleep! I can't just ignore them, because Eden has started to strip down out of her clothes and diaper and I find her naked as a jaybird when I go check on her. One night, I didn't check, and about midnight she started whimpering and crying because she was cold and wet. We've found that the earlier we put them to bed, the better.  So recently we've been trying to get back to 7:00 PM bedtime. It just seems like it's so hard to have them ready for bed by 7:00. They are still in their cribs and Nate thinks we should just go ahead and move them to beds now while things are bad. He says it can't get worse. But it can!!!! So I'm sticking to my guns and we're keeping them in cribs for as long as possible! The good news is we finally got rid of their binkies. They obviously weren't helping them sleep anymore so we told them binkies were for babies and just stopped using them. The first few nights they would bring it up and say "binkies for babies" but they seem to have forgotten all about them now.  Let's be honest, the binkies were probably more for our sanity than to fulfill the needs of the girls.

OUR DAYS: Our typical day looks something like this
7:15 Girls wake up. Nate gets them out of bed and starts getting ready for work. I catch a few more minutes of sleep if I can
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 I clean up the kitchen while the girls color at their activity table
9:00 We head upstairs. I get the girls dressed for the day and then start my sewing for my Etsy business. The girls toy room is right outside my sewing room so they play with their toys while I sew. I break up the occasional scrabble but honestly, they play together really well. (Especially in the mornings when they are happy.)
10:30 We'll either have a playdate with friends, run our errands, or go to the park if we have nothing else planned.
12:00 Lunch time. Nate gets to come home often so we enjoy spending some time with Daddy during the day!
1:00-3:00 Nap time or "rest" time if they choose not to sleep. I use this time to work some more on my sewing
3:00 Girls wake up, have a snack, and watch a show. Their favorite thing to watch right now is a cute short film called "Room on the Broom." They ask to watch the witch nearly every day! Other favorites include Mickey Mouse, Dora, Curious George, Daniel Tiger, and Sofia the First.
4:00 We either play outside, go for a walk, go to the park if we didn't go in the morning, video chat with one of their Grandma's, or run any errands we didn't get to earlier.
5:00 Realize its almost dinner time and I haven't prepared anything. (Why does this happen every day?) Figure something out. The girls will either play upstairs or if they're cranky and I don't want to deal with it while I'm cooking I'll put another show on.
5:30 Nate comes home
6:00 Dinner. Playtime with Daddy while I clean up the kitchen.
7:00- Bathtime, stories, songs, prayer
7:30 Bedtime. Spend the next hour or so trying to get them to go to sleep! (Or more on a bad night. Less on a good night. Like I said, we're working on this!)
The rest of the night, Nate spends working on our renovation projects on our house and I spend working on my business.

GOALS: There are a few things I'm hoping to do better as a mother this year. I don't yell at them often but enough that I'd like to do better. It doesn't help and just makes me feel guilty. Potty training. The girls are definitely showing signs of readiness but I'm not ready. I'm pretty busy with holiday sales with my business and I just don't want to deal with it! My plan is to try in January. The baby is due in February so we'll see if we can knock it out before baby comes. I'd also like to do more at teaching them things. They are like sponges and I feel like I should be introducing them to more new things. Stupid Pinterest makes me feel like I'm a bad mother because I don't do any of those activities with my kids. I don't need to go crazy but I'd like to dedicate some time to my children's learning.

We love these girls so much and feel blessed to have them!

20 Month Update: Where has the Time Gone?!?!

I've been meaning to do an update on the girls for months and just haven't gotten around to it. I didn't document when they started walking, their first words and sentences, I have no idea how many teeth they have or how tall they are. Sigh, I'm afraid life has gotten busy and the milestones are just flying by. Luckily, I'm somewhat of a laid back person, and I won't feel too guilty about "missing" the milestones, because trust me, I didn't miss them. I'm right in the thick of the action! I just may not get around to documenting everything. I'll just do my best to catch up on the big things in this post.

The girls are now 20 months old! It is crazy to think they are now closer to two than one. What has happened to my babies? How did they become rambunctious toddlers overnight? Like most kids their age, they love running, exploring new things, and playing silly games. They absolutely love going to the park and we are there at least three times a week. Eden will sit in the swing for hours (no joke) and frantically shake her head "no" if you try to take her out. Park time would be way too easy if Lydia liked the swings as well, but alas, she hates them! She prefers to wander around and follow the birds in the grass. So I divide my time between pushing Eden and chasing Lydia when her wandering takes her to the road. At home they like swimming in the sand, taking Ollie for walks, playing with playdough, watching Daniel Tiger, jumping on the bed, reading stories, rocking their babies, blowing bubbles, and drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Eden has taken the role of older sister to heart. She is very concerned about Lydia. If I hand Eden a treat, she immediately says, "Sissy!" and wants me to hand her another one to give to her sister. When we pull clothes out of the dresser she says, "Sissy!" and wants to grab Lydia's clothes a well. When I ask her which high chair she wants to sit in, instead of choosing one for herself, she points to one and says, "Sissy!" Eden has become very particular about which carseat, which side of the stroller, and which high chair she sits in. Luckily, Lydia doesn't care at all or we could have some serious fights on our hands! Eden also loves to run everywhere. She rarely walks anywhere these days, so it's always an adventure keeping up with her, especially because Lydia is more a stop and smell the roses kind of girl. When we go for walks outside Eden usually runs ahead and then realizes Lydia is lagging behind staring at a cat or something so she runs back yelling "Sissy" and grabs Lydia's hand to pull her along. Eden's favorite toys are her baby and her stuffed animals. Not sure on her stats now, but at her 18 month appointment she was 19 pounds.

Eden loves wearing Mommy's shoes and does surprisingly well walking in them

Lydia is still my smiley, affectionate girl. She loves to give hugs and kisses and tease her Momma by not giving hugs and kisses when she asks for them. She is pretty laid back most of the time. She hates wearing shoes and socks and always pulls them off the first chance she gets. She does have chubby feet so I imagine it's not very comfortable stuffing them inside her shoes. She does however, love toting her socks around with her. Ever since she was a baby, she's loved socks! Lydia is a great sleeper. She would probably sleep in every morning and take a nice long nap every afternoon if Eden would let her. Eden is ALWAYS the first one up. I used to try to get her out of the room before she could wake Lydia, but it didn't really matter because as soon as Eden realized she was playing alone she went and pounded on the door calling for her sister to come play! Life would be too easy if we had two Lydia sleepers! Lydia loves reading books. She has become quite a little parrot and will try to repeat all the words if you read them slow enough. Lydia's favorite toys are her baby and her princess Little People. At her 18 month appointment she was 23 pounds.

Both girls are relatively good eaters. Eden is definitely pickier though. I refuse to short order cook, so they get to eat whatever we're eating. I try not to panic when they refuse to eat something because I know they're not going to starve and eventually they will eat. If I'm really desperate, I'll put Daniel Tiger on and I can sneak all sorts of food into their mouths when they become engrossed in the show! Luckily, they eat most things we give them. I finally weaned them both a few months ago as my birthday gift to myself. When we first started breastfeeding, I never dreamed in a million years that we would make it 16 months! I'm going to go ahead and give myself a pat on the back for that accomplishment :) I was definitely ready to be done though (You know its time when they can say "Thank you, Mommy" when they finish nursing!) and the girls seemed to be ready as well, as they made the transition to whole milk in sippy cups really easily.

Unfortunately, they both like picking their noses!

It amazes me, how fast they are learning. They say new words everyday and have even started stringing them together. They love talking about animas and making their different noises. They love learning new songs especially the ones with fun actions. I feel like I should be better at introducing letters, numbers, and colors and things just because they are at the stage when they are soaking up everything like a sponge! However, I don't aspire to create child prodigies who can read by the time they are two so we'll get to those things eventually. Right now we're all just enjoying spending everyday together doing fun things and exploring the world around us!

They like learning about their body. Their favorite parts to say and point to are eyes, ears, mouth, nose, toes, and of course BELLY BUTTON!

Did I mention they love their babies?

Ice cream is their favorite treat

Family Hike in Devil's Den

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A Look Back

Birthday girls in their birthday outfits!

As I reflect back on the last year, I find myself amazed at all that has happened. There were somedays (ok, MANY days) that I wondered how we would ever survive the first year with our twins yet, somehow here we are. One of Nate's cousin's recently had twins, and she called me up asking me how I did certain things with my newborns. I felt like I was of zero help to her because I don't know how we did it. It seems like such a blur now and the only thing I can say is I am 100% certain that we could not have done it without God. Somehow, He enabled us to rise to the challenge and He sent us angels in the form of family and friends when we were in desperate need of help. I may not remember everything from this whirlwind of a year, but I wanted to take the time to share a few memorable moments.

The girls were very confused when everyone started singing the birthday song

I remember the first six weeks or so, the babies had no idea the difference between night and day. Especially Lydia. She would wake up at 3:00 AM with no intention of going back to sleep anytime soon. We would take turns holding her and rocking her in the recliner and eventually fall asleep with her on our chests. Those nights were so long but I almost miss it. She just loved to snuggle up and be held and of course has little interest in such things now.

There was no confusion when it came to what they should do with the cake. They went to town on it!

Hey Nate, remember that time you woke me up in the middle of the night with your hallucinations? You were rocking the pillow back and forth and when I told you that wasn't a baby, you started frantically searching inside the pillowcase looking for her. Good times!

We had their party at the park with the Shepherd and Pendleton cousins. The girls absolutely loved the rocks! Lydia got her hand caught in the cookie jar in this picture trying to eat a rock!

Eden refused to look up at me because she was so enthralled with her rocks.

Remember that time I was struggling to get in the door of the store with the twins and the lady commented on how I had my arms full and then kept right on walking without even holding the door. Duh, my arms are full! A little help would be appreciated. Geesh!

They got a little messy with the cake so we had to strip them down. In an effort to get them to smile, everyone started playing peekaboo, but it backfired and the girls just played peekaboo too!

Lydia, remember when you had a massive blow out at Christmas and ended up with poop all the way up your back and into your hair? Yeah, that was gross! Eden, remember when you projectile vomited all over the restaurant at Silver Dollar City. You better bet we left a good tip!

I remember the days when I would snuggle in bed with both my babies (and Ollie at my feet) and all of us would take a nap together. Then they hit the age were they busted out of their swaddles and rolled around and that was the end of that, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Eden giving Lydia a ride on their new birthday toy from Grandma. They have two of these but still usually fight over the one. Silly girls!

I remember hitting my breaking point, more than once, and bursting into tears wondering what I was doing wrong. Why weren't my babies conforming to my delusions of what rearing children was like? I did reach a point where my emotional state had spiraled so low, and I had to really reevaluated my priorities and expectations. I had to quit being so hard on myself, Nate, and the babies. It was a difficult process and the crazy lady still appears at times but I've learned it's better to be happy with my reality than pining for my unrealistic expectations.

Peeking over the crib to watch Daddy work in the yard

I loved when the girls first learned how to smile and how to laugh. Those first couple of months, you feel like you're only a milk machine/bum wiper to your babies. But then one day you walk into the room and their faces light up and they give you the gummiest, sweetest smiles you've ever seen. Next thing you know, they learn how to giggle and chuckle. That right there is a slice of heaven on Earth!

Nate got a bike trailer for Father's Day and it's been a great investment. We love going for rides in the evening after dinner.

One of the girls favorite songs was "Tomorrow" from Annie. Whenever we were trying to elicit a smile or get them in a better mood, we started singing it at the top of our lungs and usually intentionally off key. They espeially loved when we belted out the high notes. They would just stare at us like you are the weirdest parents ever and then burst into smiles

Playing in the water on a warm day

I'm sure if I thought about it longer, I could write a short story entitled "Memoir of a Twin Mommy." I'll just leave it at this and say that this year has not been smooth sailing, but I'm happy to report our ship has not sunk! We take every day as it comes to us and just try to do our best. I hope our girls know we love them so much!