13 Months of Awesome

 Yesterday I told Annabelle to go get me the “Daddy Loves Me” book. And she got me the “Daddy Loves Me” book. And then I told her to get me the "Babies" book. And she got me the "Babies" book. And then I told her to get me the "Elmo" book. And she got me the Elmo book. She. Is. A. Genius.


We let them try chilli. Annabelle LOVES it. Loves Loves Loves it. Stephen…not so much. He makes this horrible(ly cute) face and shakes his head and reaches his arms up and coughs and you can tell he is just thinking, “no no no no no no no no no”.  So I made him try it a few more times…to make sure he didn’t like it…and to see that reaction again.

 Things They Definitely Know

Please (Sign Language), Head, Nose, Toes, Feet, More (Sign Language), Light (Sign Language),  “So Big!”, Give Kisses, How to Dance, The difference between getting me a book and a toy, Washing Their Hair, Stephen can kind of feed himself with a spoon, Water (Sign Language)

Things Seasoned Moms Would Shrug Their Shoulders at but Are New To Me:

We have entered a super clingy phase.   Annabelle and Stephen are no longer content to do anything by themselves. I must be there. Sitting with them. I don’t necessarily have to play with them but I cannot do anything else. Like empty the dishwasher. Or check email. Or go to the bathroom. No sir. I must sit. And read Go Dog Go for the 17^th time. I kind of love it.

They fight over me. And I love it. Fight may be a strong word. But if one is in my lap (usually Annabelle) the other (usually Stephen) throws himself on my and finds a way to edge her out and take over.  It is pretty cute. When I sit on the couch, one throws themselves with arms up at my lap begging to be picked up and then the other one comes and pushes the first one out of the way and they just go back and forth. It is cute. If I am holding one, the other one is right there with their arms up begging to be picked up too. They weigh over 20lbs each. It is getting heavy. But at least I am getting a work out. 

Their 18 month clothes fit better than I think they should. They are definitely still big but not as big as they should be in my head. Last night, we didn’t have any clean PJs for Annabelle so I pulled out one of the 18^th month onsies, thinking “this is going to be HUGE”. It was not huge. It was a little baggy. But it fit. And that kind of made me sad.

They are doing weird food things. There are some days where Annabelle wants her milk first and won’t eat a bite until she has had that. Then sometimes she will only eat one thing at a time until it is finished. Sometimes she needs sips of milk between each bite. And sometimes she needs two bites of this, two bites of that. Stephen does not seem to like milk much. He takes a few sips of it and throws his sippy cup on the floor. He has no interest. Oh well.

They, like, know stuff. It is CRAZY. They know where their head is and where their toes are. They know what the light is. They know how to act “strong” and how to dance. If I say, “Go get me a book” Annabelle goes and gets a book. Stephen can put the right shapes through the right holes on this little toy (picture of shape sorter toy).  Annabelle points to pictures of Brian and says “Da-Da!”  They can do paddy cake - especially the “roll-it” part. I am just not ready for this level of genius.

When I leave the house in the mornings, they go to the window, move the curtains and wave and smile and stick their tongues out. It is the sweetest thing in the world. And it makes me want to cry. I am so ready to stay home with them.

The 90's Called. They Want Your Cuffed Jeans Back.

For some reason I am currently obsessed with Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. I think it is because I got on a Friends kick recently and remembered how much I loved Rachel Karen Green.  I may or may not have a Google News alert sent to my email about them. I think my favorite nickname for them is "JenTheroux" or perhaps "Justifer" or maybe even "Jenthrax".  I don't know. 


I am not, however, too excited about this look that she seems to keep wearing:

What is the deal with the rolled up pants and weird shoes? I am not a fashionista by any means but I really don't want this look to roll down to us common folk next year. Or maybe it has already rolled down and I am just supper out of it. But still.  Say it ain't so.

I am a HUGE fan of her big grey scarf though. So if you can find one that is not 17 trillion dollars, please let me know. I love scarves!  And those Aviators.

                               

Speaking of the 90's - I discovered this :

 

All I will say is that's not Chynna Phillips singing back up...

A Fall Gift For You!

PSLs Without The Calories!

A few years ago, I was raving to my friend Kelly about the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) at Starbucks. I went on and on about how great it was so she decided to order one.  I ordered after her and got a chai tea.  She was like, “Wait? What? You’re not getting one?” very incredulously. And I said, “Oh no. There are so many calories in that thing, I can’t drink that.”  I am a terrible friend.

So here we are, four years later, I can finally make it up to her.  I got the recipe for a low-cal PSL substitute that basically tastes like the real deal – terrible sugar/caffeine afterbreath and all.

1 Grande Bold Starbucks Coffee of the Day

2-3 Pumps of Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Add your own Splenda and Half & Half

You are left with an [estimated] 90 calorie version vs. the normal 380 calories.  So put on your scarf and drink up!

10 Things About Marathon Training You Didn't Know

1. Diaper Rash cream works like a gem to prevent chafing.
2. Ice Baths are the real deal. Take them after every run longer than 10 miles. 15 minutes of torture is worth it. And wear wool socks so you don’t get hypothermia and have to get your feet amputated.
3. It turns out that you need a crap-ton of Gels, Electrolyte Drinks, and Water. At least 30-60 grams of carbs PER HOUR!  That is like 2 gel packs an hour. That is about 5 times more than the two Gus that I took during my last marathon. I am excited to see if I don’t feel like my stomach is being ripped out of my body after I finish this race.
4. On that note, it is really true that if you aren’t going to bother with nutrition and hydration then you might as well not bother with training.
5. When you think you have had enough water, you haven’t. Drink more.
6. The key to long runs is breaking it up in your head mentally so you only focus on small increments. For example – an 18 mile run is actually 2 sets of 4.5 miles out and 4.5 miles back or 3 sets of 3 miles out and 3 miles back. A 12 mile run is only two sets of 3 out, 3 back. Mentla games work wonders.
7. Running for over 4 hours gets boring. Doing anything for over 4 hours is boring. Except for watching good TV on DVD. Like Friends or Friday Night Lights. 
8. Running for over 4 hours is hard and it hurts. Embrace it. Accept it. And Keep Moving Forward.
9. Nesquick double chocolate milk is the perfect recovery drink. And thoughts of it get me through the last three miles every time.
10. I start every run over 3 miles wondering if I will finish. And I am surprised every single time that I do finish. It never fails. It is a great feeling to complete something you really aren’t sure will happen.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Party

I wanted to post some of my favorite details of the Dr. Seuss Birthday Party. We got lucky in that Target and Michaels were featuring Dr. Seuss this summer so we had lots and lots of stuff to work with.

Cat in the Hat Life-Size Cut Out for a Picture Station

Poms!!!

Favors with lots of stuff from the Dollar Spot at Target

Happy Birthday to you Books served as the Guest Books for everyone to sign

I used a Dr. Seuss calendar to make different posters. 

We Love Poms! 

Jello + Sprite = Beezlenut Splash

It wouldn't be a party without Green Eggs and Ham! 

Julie's attempt at a bowl of Jello with Fish. Most of the [Sweedish] Fish "died."

All the toothpicks were made from adhesive foam stickers from Michaels.

Family Picture! We found Cat in the Hat shirts at Kohls.

I ordered the plates and napkins online.

My favorite detail is this 12 month birthday banner. It is hard to see in the picture but it was pretty freaking awesome. 

This cake was the source of a lot of stress. But thanks to Brian and Julie it turned out amazingly. 

Separate Birthday Cakes for Annabelle and Stephen to eat.

We made the cake pink and blue for A & S. 

I ordered the iron-on Dr. Seuss "1's" from Etsy. They turned out splendid.

We Survived the First Year!!!!

We have officially been parents for one year, and three weeks! We survived a year with twins. And it has been one of the greatest years of my life. Even better than 8th grade, which was seriously one of the best years of my life thanks to being on the Bay Beacons and watching lots of Bob Ross and playing SPIT.

The babies are pretty much entirely different people than they were in my last update. They are so awesome. I can't get over how much fun they are.


Annabelle Rae is running the show. She is definitely the dominant one at this point. Some of my favorite things about her are:

• She loves her baby dolls.  
• She loves to bring stuff to you and make you pat them like they are a baby doll. 
• She loves to be picked up and when you do pick her up she waves at all the pictures and things on the shelves. 
• She has three teeth as of August 25. 
• She has started saying, "Hi" just like I do. She just goes, "hi. hi. hi. hi." and when I notice that I do it too, it makes me so happy. 
• She can also say Ma-Ma, Da-Da, and Baby.
• When Brian comes in the room she goes, "Da-da-DA-DA" very excitedly.
• She dances. Really well. Especially to the Glow Worms.
• She knows where her head and her nose are. 
• If you tell her to get you a book or a toy she knows what to do. And she has definitely mastered saying "please" in sign language. 
• She loves to climb in and out of laundry baskets and Huggies boxes. 
• She is the sturdiest walker and so speedy. At our company picnic she just walked and walked and walked. 
• She is the sassiest and most outgoing one at home but in public she is shy, serious, and takes a while to warm up to people. 
• She also very much enjoys climbing onto the bottom shelf of the book shelf and pushing all of the books onto the floor.  
• Right now, my absolute favorite thing that she does is bring me a book and then scoot her way into my lap and snuggle in to turn the pages. It is the best. 

Stephen Michael is just the sweetest boy in the world. I love him because:

• He is such a cuddle bug. 
• He is very focused. 
• When he is playing with a toy he gets engrossed in it. 
• And he can sit and play with one thing for a while. 
• He loves his See and Say. 
• He is a big flirt. 
• He has the best smile and when he is in public he makes googly eyes and smiles at everyone. 
• At our company picnic he went up to random strangers and held his arms up to get them to hold them. 
• He is a walker too. 
• When he gets really tired he walks like a drunken sailor and often times tries to reach out for the couch or the table and just misses completely. 
• He loves to go to the window and wave when you leave the house. 
• He has the giggliest laugh in the world. 
• He loves to pull every piece of tupperware out of the cabinet in the kitchen. As does his sister. 
• He still only has two teeth. 
• My favorite thing about him lately is that he will just sit in my lap contentedly for a few minutes here and there and it is the greatest time of my life. 
• He can say Da-da, Ma-Ma, and Nana. 
• He knows how to give kisses and high fives. 
• He has crazy hair. 
• He is also pretty freaking good at patty cake. He dominates it.

A few more cute family pictures:

Finally, I am well on my way to being trained up for running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th. I will probably write a separate post about it but it is really exciting to be here. I started the year in January running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute at a time with the hopes of training for a 10K. And now I have run 16 miles and I have 18 miles this coming Saturday and then we have 8 weeks till the race. I really didn't think I could get here . So it is pretty exciting. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. And exciting.