Summer Fun in the West

Vacationing with little ones can be exhausting, but it is definitely worth it when you get to visit your family. We just got back from a trip to Utah where we were lucky enough to be able to visit both sides of the family. We had a busy vacation trying to fit everything in and traveling from Logan, to Bear Lake, to Spanish Fork, to Cokeville. We were able to do quite a bit, and the trip was full of many firsts for the girls.

First Camping Trip: Nathan and I have always enjoyed camping, but since having the girls, we haven't been able to convince ourselves that it would be quite as enjoyable. I worried the girls would wake the entire campground up with their cries, or crawl into an ants nest, or have to sleep on the airmattress with mom and dad, or we'd run into some other unforeseen catastrophe. But I'm pleased to say our first experience with camping went rather well. We camped with my family at Bear Lake and had a great time! The girls loved being outside and there were plenty of people around to entertain them. We borrowed my parent's 3 room tent so we had more than enough space to set up two pack-n-plays and an airmattress. The girls actually slept really well and I've even contemplated setting a tent up out back for them to sleep in all the time......

Mommy and Eden showing off our spacious accommodations

Daddy-daughters bonding time in the tent

We also got a chance to camp again later in the week with my extended family in Wyoming. We didn't exactly "rough it" though because my Grandparents let us borrow their camping trailer! Both camping trips were really successful, and Nate and I were even considering a camping trip this fall until we realized the only reason we enjoyed camping was we didn't have to do anything! No packing, no set up, no planning; we just showed up and had a good time.

First Swim in a Lake: Although the water is a bit chilly at Bear Lake, the girls had fun splashing in it and eating sand! Nate and I had a blast playing on the jetskis my family rented. We rode together once but discovered we were both happier on our own jetski. What can I say, we both like to be in control and drive.

Cooling off in the shade with Gramps and Gran

Playing on the beach with cousin Jaxton

Nate fell off the jetski and lost his glasses in the lake!

First Call to Poison Control: I must confess I had a Mommy-fail moment on the trip. Lydia somehow got into some medicine and we had to make a call to poison control. Luckily, she only ate one tablet and she ended up being fine. The funny thing was it was a pill for urinary tract infections and it turned her mouth, tongue, and urine orange!

Lydia

 First Backyard Swim: The girls really love the water and the backyard blow up pool at my parent's house was no exception! My favorite cousin Betsy and her family were able to come spend the day with us in Logan one day. We went to the zoo, got ice cream, and finished the day off in the pool. The kids loved it!

Eden

First Family Reunion: Nate's parents live in Seattle, so we were so excited that they were in Utah for the Smith family reunion and we could spend time with them as well. We spent a few days staying at Grandma Smith's house in Spanish Fork. It was fun to see many of Nate's extended family members at the reunion as we haven't

Nate and Shane being manly!

seen many of them since we got married.  The reunion was at a park so the girls enjoyed the water games and playground, Nate enjoyed playing football and volleyball, and I enjoyed visiting and eating good food!
We also went to the Feuz family reunion in Cokeville, Wyoming. My grandparents have a huge yard so everyone always "camps out" for the reunion. We had a great time and the highlight for Nate was going 4-wheeling up in the mountains. 

First Parade: We were actually able to see two parades on our trip. The first was celebrating Fiesta Days in Spanish Fork. This parade is intense! You have to save your spot on the sidewalk at least a day in advance and then you still have to go early the morning of the parade because someone will steal your spot! The girls were enthralled with all the people and noise.

Watching the parade with Uncle Brady

Grandma and Eden having fun at the parade

Nate chased down Cosmo to get a picture with him

The second parade was in Cokeville celebrating Pioneer Day. This parade was a tad smaller. And by a tad, I mean the whole parade goes down main street, turns around, and comes back down the street for a second round! We enjoyed both parades.

The Cokeville parde

First Taste of BYU Creamery Ice Cream: I worked at the Creamery on 9th all through college. I have so many good memories of that place not to mention the ice cream is divine! I loved working there and met some of my best friends there. Plus Nate and I went there on our first date. So naturally we had to revisit and let the girls try some of the best ice cream! While in the Provo area we were also able to eat a Brick Oven (delish!) and meet up with two of my dearest roommates. I almost felt like I was back in college again. You know, other than the two munchkins in the high chairs.

Reunited with Erin and Tess!

We had such a fun time visiting everyone, and I'm afraid the girls are already bored with me so hopefully someone will come visit us soon!

Family selfie on the flight. Luckily, the flight wasn't full so we could sit by each other with an empty seat in the middle!

10 Month Old Twins PLUS Family Pictures

Sometimes I look at Lydia and Eden and think to myself, "Whose children are these?!?!" They are just growing and changing so fast, I hardly even recognize them. I'm a little late on the post since we were on vacation last week, but our babies are now 10 months old! I'm excited to have some beautiful pictures to share of them. Nate's cousin, Carly, took some family photos for us a few weeks ago and I was so pleased with how they turned out. It's not an easy task to get two little ones to look at the camera and even somewhat smile!

Eden: Our Little Peanut weighs about 15.5 pounds. She loves Ollie and I'm convinced she even says dog, although it sounds more like "Dah." Ollie loves her too, especially around lunchtime! She has started doing the sign for "more." It's usually more like clapping her hands, but we know what she means. She is often giggling and still loves to do her fake laugh to make us laugh. She is really into faces and likes to pinch lips, noses, cheeks as she explores your face.

Lydia: Lydia weighed in just under 17 pounds. She has turned in to quite the imitator. She'll smack her lips or blow bubbles if you do it first. Lydia doesn't really like to play with toys unless Eden has it. Then, she immediately thinks she needs to steal it. Eden seems to have figured out that Lydia will quickly get bored and toss the toy to the side, so she can snatch it back pretty quickly. I've also noticed that Lydia likes to lead the music in church. As soon as she hears the organ playing, she'll start waving her arms to conduct the music! Lydia is also into head-butting. When you hold her she likes to bonk her forehead into yours and if she is on the ground and wants to be picked up, she will head-butt your legs.

Eating/Nursing: Both girls are still really good eaters. They normally eat whatever we're having for a meal and we haven't found many things they don't like. Although, sometimes they are a bit finicky about eating their vegetables so I have been known to get creative (spices, dipping in pear juice, even a bit of brown sugar on the carrots!) They prefer to feed themselves and can get pretty mad if I try to feed them, especially Eden. She'll swat my hand away, spit the food out, and scream if I attempt to feed her. Self-feeding can get pretty messy (hence, Ollie loves mealtime!) but it keeps the girls happy. As they are eating more, they seem to be losing interest in nursing. They still nurse four times a day, but they're easily distracted and are pretty quick to finish. However, I plan to continue until at least their year mark, possibly a bit longer. We're planning a trip to Disney World in October and I'm debating whether it will be easier to still be nursing them or tote around milk with us. Any opinions?

Walking? Nope; thank goodness! I'm not ready for that yet! Both girls will pull themselves up on their knees but not their feet yet. I think we're a ways off from walking, but I guess you never know with how fast they change!

 Sleep: I don't like to write about sleep because it makes me depressed! Neither one of my babies take consistently good naps, especially Eden. Anywhere between 30-45 minutes is typical for her. So if your baby takes two, two-hour naps a day, keep it to yourself. I don't want to hear about it! I've come to the realization that all I can do is be consistent and set the stage for good naps. Eventually, I hope they get the memo and we can have at least one long nap a day! The days are long but at least they are usually good sleepers at night. (Except when we're on vacation and out of our groove.) This month they decided to move their wake up time to 5:30-6:00 AM. I'm not a fan, let me tell you. The nice thing about their routine being thrown off with our vacation is we get a chance to reset things and I'm (desperately!) hoping to make 7:00 AM the normal wake-up time again.

While the girls aren't perfect, we do think they're pretty much the best kids we could have ever asked for. We love them so much and look forward to each day with them!

Independence Day in St. Louis

Since the 4th of July was on a Friday this year, we decided we had to take advantage of the long weekend and take a road trip to St. Louis. It's about a 5 hour drive so we hoped if we timed it just right, we would be able to minimize crying and maximize sleeping from the girls! And I must say, they did pretty darn well and slept most of the way there.

We found lots of fun and free things to do in the city. (And you know me, I love FREE!) Friday morning we went to the zoo. We were quite impressed with how nice it was especially since admission is free. I don't know that the girls really cared about seeing the animals, but they enjoyed being outside in their stroller and observing everything. Plus, they were probably the most popular sight at the zoo. I'm pretty sure more people were admiring the twins than the animals on display!

Daddy and Lydi checking out the elephants

That afternoon and evening we went to a huge fair celebrating the 4th of July as well as the 250th birthday for St. Louis. Once again, it was free! There were concerts at the fair and we were able to watch Gavin DeGraw and Matt Nathanson. We also had front row seats to some great people watching including a girl passed out at the trash cans, a drug bust, and a domestic disturbance. Despite the trashy picture I just painted, it really was a family friendly event and we really enjoyed taking the babies to an outdoor concert. We were all pretty tired by this point, so we headed back to the hotel and skipped the fireworks. The girls probably would have been scared of the loud noises anyway. I mean come on, Lydia is terrified of the vacuum. Somehow I don't think she would love the fireworks.

Mommy and the girls enjoying the free concert at the fair

After a long day, Lydia was tuckered out while Eden was still going strong!

Sure wish the car wasn't photobombing my temple picture

Saturday morning, Nate and I took turns going to temple. I was able to go while the girls napped and then Nate went while I walked the girls around the grounds. It worked out perfectly. In the afternoon, we decided we couldn't go to St. Louis and not check out the Arch. We didn't go up, but it was still neat to walk around and see the outside of it.


The journey home wasn't quite as smooth as the journey there. Lydia cried for the first hour while Eden slept. When Lydia finally fell asleep, Eden woke up literally 10 seconds later. I am not even exaggerating! And then it was Eden's turn to be fussy for an hour while her sister slept. All the while, Nate was freaking out because he was trying to listen to the Netherlands World Cup game on the radio and the station kept cutting out. And then, like a Godsend, we spotted a Wal-Mart and decided it was time for a pit stop. We walked around the store for probably an hour and I fed and changed the girls. They were happy to be out of the car for a while and we were happy to not have to listen to their crying. There was a Denny's across the street that we decided to hit for dinner which took another hour. (Wow, this pit stop was turning into an all evening event.) Once again, the girls were a hit at the restaurant. The place was dead so every single waiter, waitress, hostess, busboy, cook, and manager had to come over and ooh and aah at the babies. These girls will have no shortage of self-confidence! When we finally got back on the road, they thankfully slept almost the whole way home, minus the last twenty minutes when we had to stop for gas and they woke up screaming. (Why didn't we fill up with gas during our two-hour pit stop? Beats me. We like to make things a challenge.) Overall, we really enjoyed St. Louis and are eager for another chance to go back as there are still a lot of things to do that we didn't have time for.

The famous Arch

The Girls are 9 Months Old!

Where has the time gone? The babies are 9 months old and growing up right before my eyes! They were much healthier this month until this week when they both got ear infections again, but I'm grateful they were healthy the majority of the month. We had a busy month with Grandma and Grandpa Feuz, Auntie Emily, and Uncle Shane visiting, then Auntie Kaley came for a visit, then we babysat cousin Savannah (5) and cousin Sawyer (9 months) for almost a week while their parents were away. The girls did great with all our visitors but we are ready for some relaxation!

Swimming with Auntie Kaley

Eden: Our sweet Eden has tripled her birthweight and is 15 pounds 3 ounces! Recently, she has decided it is quite fun to laugh and will often be found playing on the floor giggling to herself. She also has learned we think it is so cute when she laughs, so she has even started fake laughing for attention. I'll take a laugh for attention over a cry for attention any day!

Lydia: The lovely Lydia is still a bit bigger than her sister at 16 pounds 10 ounces. Technically, they are both "small" for their age (7th percentile and 20th percentile), but they seem just right to me! Lydia thinks she rules the roost around here. When she wants something, she lets you know she wants it now! She can also be a bit of a bully pulling Eden's bows off her head and crawling right over her ever chance she gets. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother Eden at all.

Lydia loves splashing, but went a little crazy this time!

Lydia with her bully face on while climbing up cousin Sawyer.

Teeth: Both girls finally have teeth. Eden got one first and Lydia's followed two days later. Then they both got their second tooth on the exact same day. They must be twins. Thankfully, teething hasn't been too painful of a process as they were really only grouchy the day of. They are pretty tough babies. Every once in a while they bite me while eating and those little teeth are sharp!

Swinging at the park

Movers: I can hardly keep up with these two. They are cruising all around the house and getting into trouble. Lydia's favorite mischief is splashing Ollie's water and eating his dog food. Eden prefers to find every tiny thing that has fallen on the floor that we don't see and put it in her mouth. She even choked one day and thankfully, immediately threw up all over the floor!

Why yes, I made these adorable Thing 1 and 2 outfits!

Finding my Zen: Perhaps the biggest change this month is actually with me. The last several months I've been finding myself becoming more and more of a control freak! I was caught in the perfection cycle. Whenever we would have a bad day (or even just a bad moment in the day) I would blame myself and try to figure out what I could do differently. I felt that if it was my fault, then that meant I could fix it if I tried hard enough and was the perfect mom. Every night I would go to bed despairing over the events of the day and resolving that I would do better tomorrow. Well, tomorrow would come and inevitably something would go wrong at some point which would lead to a break down on my part. My former laid back self no longer recognized the neurotic mess I had become. Things finally came to a head this month and I realized what I was doing was not healthy for me, the babies, or Nate. So Nate and I sat down together and brainstormed my "Treatment Plan." The plan involved doing some things for myself like getting regular exercise and having regular outings both with and without the babies, as well as relinquishing some control and letting Nate take over certain things. Oh my goodness, that was hard for me! Telling a control freak that they are no longer in change of something doesn't always go over well. Anyway, as I've let go of things and started to accept that I can't make my children and my husband behave in the exact perfect way that I envisioned, a huge weight has been lifted from me. I am so much happier which means the entire household is as well. Funny enough, I swear things got better the minute I quit freaking out about every little thing going wrong. I'm sure the babies could sense my stress before and were reacting to that, so naturally they are reacting differently as my calm, laid-back self returns. I've certainly missed that side of myself and I am thrilled she is coming back.

Hiking at Devil's Den

It's Always Fun When Grandpa Comes (and Grandma, Uncle, and Auntie)

We love living in Arkansas but we don't love living so far away from our family. We were thrilled when my family decided to come and visit us. (And by us, of course I mean they were coming to visit the twins!) Sometimes I think my family wonders why we live half-way across the country, so we decided to branch out from our usual tour of the ol' Walton Five and Dime store/museum and show them there is more to our life than Wal-Mart.

Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Shane, and Aunt Emily flew into Branson so we decided to make a weekend of it and stay in a condo for a couple nights. We found a great deal and ended up having more space than we would have at our house with all the girls' crap baby equipment strewn about the house. We enjoyed the amenities and took the girls for their first swim. Eden was a bit leery, but Lydia took to the water like a fish.

From a distance, Nate thought this was a basketball hoop but upon further inspection, realized it was an old person assist chair. After his initial disappointment, he was eager to give it a try with Eden. 

Lydia was a big fan of splashing

We also were able to check out Silver Dollar City (theme park) and had a blast. They had some pretty sweet roller coasters, including a brand new wooden coaster that is the world's steepest wood coaster (drop of 162 feet at 81 degrees) and the world's second fastest wood coaster at 68 mph. Yeah, it was pretty darn cool! (I had to ride it twice because I was terrified the first time and closed my eyes at the best part!)

Grandpa, Shane, Nate and I about to embark on the Outlaw Run. Nate was obviously excited!

Other than rides, they had some fun music/comedy live shows as well as demonstrations like glass blowing and old fashioned candy making that you could watch. One of the neatest things we did was tour the giant underground cave that the park is built on top of. The cave was stunning and a bit scary at some points. (I was afraid I would trip and drop my baby down a bottomless pit!) All in all, we were quite impressed with Silver Dollar City.

Touring Marvel Cave

After a great weekend in Branson, we headed back to Bentonville for some more fun and adventures. Some of the highlights included a Devil's Den hike, the food trucks and splash pad just off the town square, and a Jason Aldean concert. And of course, a lot of time just spent hanging around and loving on the babies! It was way too short a visit and we miss them already, but luckily we are headed to Utah next month so we'll be together again soon!

Family picture at the dam at Devil's Den

Grandma, Grandpa, Shane, Em and Ollie enjoying the beauty of the Ozarks

Lydia rehydrating on the hike

Eden was pretty sure she didn't want to get her feet wet and refused to put them down! She did like touching the water with her hands while Mommy held her though. 

8 Months with Twins

I had a bit of writer's block when I sat down to type this month's update. Looking back over the month, everything is a haze of sleeplessness and sickness. I didn't even take one picture the whole month! (The ones I'm including in this post were taken before their 7 month mark or after their 8 month mark.)

Sickness: We've had better days but I have to say my girls are troopers. Even when they are sick, they still try to be happy, loving, and affectionate for at least part of the day. They are sweet girls, I just wish they were healthy girls too! We've dealt with colds, allergies, possible asthma, ear infections, chronic congestion, and fevers for the girls. Nate's allergies have been terrible and did I mention I'm fighting off a bout of mastitis? Seriously, who gets mastitis after nursing for 8 months and never having a problem? I'm ready for a new month and one that doesn't include sickness!

They are big fans of splashing in the water and eating the bubbles.

The Cute Factor: I hate to sound dreary, so let's talk about how cute my babies are! I have a mother's biased opinion of course, but everywhere we go, everyone tells us they are so cute so it must be true. In some ways they change and look different everyday while in other ways they look exactly like they did the day they were born. It's weird.

Undeniably cute!

Mobile: Both girls are cruising all around the living room these days. They each have their own style for getting about. Lydia lunges from a crawling position then pulls her knees back up under her and lunges again while Eden rolls to her side, pushes forward with her feet, then rolls to the other side and pushes forward with her feet again. A little non-traditional crawling but they get from point A to point B a little too quickly for my liking!

They say three is a crowd but things often get crowded with these two.

Firsts: We took the girls to the park for the first time. Eden loved the swing and Lydia just looked like she had motion sickness! We also took them to their first Naturals baseball game. It was a fun evening and they enjoyed all the people watching. They still don't have their first teeth which is fine by me. They manage to chomp down solid food just fine with their gums.

First masterpiece! They will definitely be accomplished pianists!

All of us are currently taking different cocktails of antibiotics, otc drugs, pro-biotics, inhalers, and essential oils for good measure. We have a busy month ahead of us with family coming to visit and lots of fun things planned so I'm praying we'll all be healthy enough to enjoy it!

Eden

Lydia