Showing posts with label toddlers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toddlers. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Catch Up with Christmas

A lot has happened between my last post in September until now...but I am going to ignore my absence and move on like old friends. (I know my friends and I can be away from each other for months or years but we always are able to pick right up where we left off like there was no time gap.) That's how I feel about the blog. I want to continue to blog. I do. I just feel like the last 8 months have been difficult: sadness over Dad's illness and death, busy job, busy toddlers, etc.

 I do regret not making this space a priority. I am not going to make any promises but I do want to try and write more. It may be very therapeutic. 

I have a million things to say. But let's start with Christmas!

Christmas was a great time as a kid. I remember the excitement and anticipation. I loved our traditions and I loved the idea of Santa. Heck, I think I finally found out the truth when I was 12 or 13. I just wanted that magic to last.

That's what is great about having kids over Christmas. Bringing that Christmas magic alive to them is amazing. Seeing Christmas through their eyes makes my heart melt and it brings back that childhood magic times 100!

We tried to take the kids to any holiday event that kids would enjoy. But I have to admit, we had just as much fun as they did.

We started a new tradition of the Elf on the Shelf.
This is Ellie Doodle. She made our lives amazing for a few weeks.
They slept in (you know because we had to wait until Ellie Doodle gets back)
She made them want to actually poop in the potty because she would be so proud of them and tell Santa.
What would we do without Ellie Doodle? 

They had so much fun decorating the tree this year.
Cheesin'


I love a good crying Santa picture. They are so cute!



My whole family (all of them!) went to the Country Club Plaza for dinner and a sleigh ride. It was so much fun and a lasting memory. We need to start making new memories and traditions because Christmas is so different without our Dad.

Photo bombed on the Plaza
Weather has been so odd here. Weeks leading up to Christmas were so warm for the season. A week before Christmas, Jeremy and I were removing leaves from the yard. Crazy weather!

We made cookies to give to friends. And made cards for their teachers at school. They had so much fun!

There is a Magic Tree. It is gorgeous. 

Magical, right?

We went through the drive through park with Christmas Lights. The kids got into jammies and got to sit in the front seat.

We had to wait in a long slow-moving line for 45 minutes and they did fantastic.

We visited our train station downtown to go through Santa's train. We stayed to look at a couple giant trees too.

We then decided to make our own train. Icing was the real attraction here. 

I feel like all of these events, outings and fun were good for them. But they also took my mind off of the idea of spending Christmas without my dad. They distracted me from the deep sadness and anxiety I had. I am not sure what I would do without them. I think our whole family would have been pretty depressed without these two. They brought laughter and smiles during the holiday season. The way Dad would want. We had a noticeable hole where Dad should be. His chair, his laugh, his smile, his prayer, etc. We missed him but we also enjoyed family time. Together. The only way Dad would have it.

Christmas with Jeremy's family

Missing a couple nieces and their husbands but this is most of the crew

We love our Nonnie

Christmas morning
"Mama, Santa came!"

My fam


All 4 of us

Their smiles are really funny lately. 
A few days after Christmas, the weather changed and we finally got SNOW! I am not a huge fan of snow. These two LOVE it. I had to force them to come inside. Nonnie got them snowsuits last year and we only got to to use them once. They still fit this year and she got them these sleds. They had a blast. 



Part of the Max and Harper's present from Mommy and Daddy was their big kid beds. My sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew watched them for their first ever overnight. I was sad, but it was time. I was mainly worried I wouldn't be there when they needed me. Come to find out...they are just fine without me. Sad. But it was great to have a date night with Jeremy. We also put together their toddler beds while they were gone. That way they could come in and see them. They have been sleeping amazingly! I wish we had done it sooner. They are sleeping rock stars.


Max loves firetrucks. And Paw Patrol. We blew his mind with this one.

First night in his big kid bed.

Princess Harper's bed (this is how she refers to it)

She got a little crazy the first night. I had to move her. The 2nd night I found her on the floor at 2am. She is staying in her bed better now. 
So Christmas was pretty great. I hope to make other posts in the next couple days. I go back to work on Monday and need to make sure I am getting caught up. I hope you all had a fantastic holidays. I am now going to spend my afternoon getting caught up on reading your blogs. I haven't read in a month so I am sure I missed quite a bit.

-Lisa-

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Where Has the Time Gone? And other updates

Max and Harper have been growing, changing, and learning so quickly! They are over 14 months old. Seriously. It seems like they should still be like this...

But, really they are toddlers like this...

So, our house is a lot louder. It is filled with giggles. Blocks banging. Screaming from fighting over toys. Furniture being moved. Doors of our TV stand being ripped by the hinges. But gosh, it is so great!

Our house is also a disaster area. We now need new floors and refuse to have people over until it is done. (We needed new floors B.B.-before babies-but now we really need them!)
When can they start helping clean up??
They are learning machines, I tell ya! They literally can repeat anything we say. I told them "dangerous" when trying to rip the safety outlets out for the 100th time. Pretty soon, anytime they go near the outlets and we say "no", they say "dangerous". It's adorable. They talk all the time. We don't always understand their babbles but for the most part we can communicate pretty well. They sign "more" but also say "more" now when they sign. They say and sign "all done" and "milk". They say "uh-oh" for everything. Here is another list of their words: night-night, bye-bye, hello, hey, ball, dog, momma, dada, no, thank you, diaper, toothbrush, Bella, Grampa.

Many other words they can repeat but they don't really use when they are talking to us regularly.

They are not only walking, but running. So that's fun!

They climb like champs. On furniture. On us. On each other. In fact, Max has now started this aggressive hugging. I know that seems like an oxymoron but seriously, he starts hugging Harper sweetly and then winds up tackling her to the ground where he holds her down. All while appearing to be a loving brother. Poor Harps! She also gets the brunt of his biting. Although, I think he is getting better with this the more he learns to communicate.

We started a Timeout Corner. At first, I thought they were too young for this. However, daycare is teaching us a lot about what they can do! They sit at a big kid table, sleep on cots (not cribs!), and play on playground equipment.

The daycare teacher sent us proof that they sleep on cots when I didn't believe her.



Grandparent's Day at their school (All four of their grandparents were there!)
Big kid activities mean they get in big kid trouble too. Harper nearly fell off the slide on the playground and a teacher had to try and catch her and wound up scratching her cheek. Poor girl got a nasty scratch but I will take that over a head injury any day!
Harper's scratch

Max impresses us with his engineer mind. He inspects everything to figure out how it works. Then, this happened!

How the heck does a 14 month old make block towers?! That just seems crazy to me. Such a smarty pants! He thinks everything through...you can see the wheels turning. Usually, he is plotting his next move to get around the barriers we have in place or to do something he is not supposed to do. But he is such a lover. He gives the best smooches and hugs. But he also has a cry that breaks your heart. (Along with an ugly cry face to boot!)

Harper is the sweet, cuddly girl. She melts your heart with one glance. Her eyes smile from deep inside her soul. She is such a Momma's girl too! I love that. When she is sick or tired, only Momma can make it better.
Loves Momma and Me Selfies

They love this tub! No idea!




















Both have been cutting multiple molar teeth. How awful for them?! They are handling it like pros. Harper still only has two top front teeth, three bottom front teeth, and now FOUR molars! Max has four top front teeth, four bottom front teeth, and now TWO molars! They are both working on more too. Thank goodness for teething tablets. They have made all of our lives better.


I have no idea how much they weigh or their height. We go to the doctor in October for their 15 month checkup. I would guess around 21-22 pounds. They wear size 4 diapers now and 12-18 month clothing. They are short so we usually have to roll their pants so they fit them. My shorties!


The twins have had their ear tubes in their ears for a couple months nearly...but we see their doctor that did the surgery this week. Max has an ear infection now but the tubes just let the infection drain out. It is gross! We put in ear drops a few times a day and wait to see the doctor. Hopefully, that will make it all better.

They eat everything in sight. Heck, they ate chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant last week! They are going to eat us out of house and home. And our dog is loving cleaning up the food they purposely throw on the floor.
No more ravioli in the middle of the day!



They sleep really well. There was one night last week that Max woke up at 2am. He didn't ever go back to sleep. He didn't cry, just thought it was play time. He didn't nap until 12:30!!! It was insane. And Jeremy and I were exhausted too! But normally, sleep is great. Although, I miss the rocking and soothing a bit...we just lay them in their cribs. They go to sleep on their own and self-soothe for the most part. Max still MUST have a pacifier to sleep. But he is pretty good about finding it in his crib in the middle of the night in case it falls out of his mouth.


Our lives are so busy. Between my two jobs, Jeremy's job, my parents' anniversary party, Halloween costumes, organizing closets, Zumba classes and trying to keep an organized chaos with the rest of the house...I am exhausted! But it is so much fun!
New Classroom before school started


Now some other random pics of the last two months. I have not been great with taking too many pictures so I am sorry!


They love bath time and splashing us. 

Max is now obsessed with his Tickle Monster hands

Pigtails!!!!!!!!!

Watching Dada mow

Dinos



See you soon!
-Lisa-