Shenanigans

First; Catching up - Here are a few pictures of Jacey's 6th grade promotion from last month.

Jacey is in the middle, being recognized for community service.


Getting her diploma from the principal. Can you see how happy this lady is that she doesn't have to deal with Jacey's shenanigans anymore?!


Jacey and me.



Okay, some big news! We have a new baby nephew / cousin! Michael Dominick Ryan was born on June 18, 2008, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs., 14 oz.! He's SO freak'n cute an we love him so much. Mommy and Daddy (Dena and Sean) are doing well. We took a trip down to see him when he was 10 days old. Killian and Payton just loved him. They pat his head, touched his feet, tried to give him cups of water and were very interested in his bottle! Here are a couple pictures of the new little dude.







Our 4th of July was pretty mellow. I had it in my head that we just had to do something "fun" during the day, so Chris and I decided to take Killian and Payton to the LA Zoo. My first choice would have been to go the Long Beach Aquarium, because it was supposed to be pretty warm, in the 90s, and the aquarium is mostly indoors so you stay cool on hot days. Well, that's like 45 minutes away on a good day. We decided not to take our chances with traffic on the 5 on a holiday, and we stayed local. The LA Zoo is less than 10 minutes from us. And I had free passes to the zoo that I got back in January when we were going to take K&P on their first birthday, but got rained out. So anyway, we were out the door by 11:30, and by the time we got to the zoo it wasn't too hot yet.

If you have never been to the LA Zoo, this place is a concrete jungle. There is NO breeze in the entire zoo, it's all uphill (I don't know how that's possible, but it's seriously ALL UPHILL!), and like 50% of it is under construction right now. (BTW; If you haven't been in over a year, they tore down the reptile house due to termite infestation! I suppose they are rebuilding it, but that was one of my favorite things there.) Okay, so we're in the pits of hell at the zoo, it's like 101 degrees, Killian and Payton are NOT happy that they have to get in an out of the stroller to see an empty lot of dirt where an animal should be but their not because they are smart enough to hide in their cool indoor eating area, and they are sweating and red and very very pissed (K&P, not the animals). I don't remember exactly what I said to prompt it, but Chris responded, "Do you want to leave?" and I jumped all over that! We were in and out of the zoo within an hour. Back at home by 1:00 in our air conditioned living room, popped in a DVD and did nothing for the rest of the day!

Note to self: Don't even think that taking K&P to the zoo is a good idea until they are at least 4 years old and it's exactly 68 degrees.

At 9:00 at night we walked outside to the sidewalk and watched the fireworks from the local high school. K&P actually liked them. They got bored with them about half way through, when they started being very interested in the other people standing around, a trash can, and a car across the street. No pictures were taken, no cute 4th of July shirts were worn. What is wrong with me? Am I losing it!? I'll make up for it on Halloween! :)

Here are some pictures of Killian enjoying some yogurt, and Payton with Jacey's shoes, to hold you over.

Easily Amused

It's so funny how excited I get about the little things these days. Okay, I've always been very easily amused, but life with twins has taken that to an entirely new level. Every day they are saying new words, signing new words, loving new foods and doing tons of new things. New words they are saying this week include Mess, Please, Rice, Nemo (as in Finding Nemo), Red, Orange, the letter "O", Turtle, Bye-Bye and Mine! Not only do they say "mine", but they point to themselves as they say it, so they understand what it means. I've added a few more words to their signing list too. They follow two commands at a time, like "Get your blanket and bring it to Mommy" or "Find your water and put it in the diaper bag". They are also signing two or more words together and signing mini sentences. Like, "More Banana Please" or "Daddy's Car".

The most exciting thing that happened this week was they went down in their cribs for a nap! This has never happened before. (Have you noticed that the most exciting things that happen in our house have to do with sleep?) Since getting rid of the swing, I have been putting them down for their mid-day naps in their infant car seats. Usually in front of a Baby Einstein DVD. Every once in a while I would try to put them in their cribs, but they would cry and cry so I would eventually just go get them and then nap time was all screwed up for the rest of the day. Well, yesterday I had it with the short naps they were taking (which makes for very grumpy toddlers at about 4pm), and I put them in their cribs, turned some soft music on, told them that they were going to lay down and take a nap, gave them kisses, and left the room. Killian cried for a while, I went in to check on them once, and within 10 minutes they were both sound asleep! Oh My Gosh! I thought I was in a Twilight Zone or something. They were actually taking naps in their cribs in the middle of the day! I wanted to call everyone and tell them what an amazing feat this was! I did call Chris and tell him - he didn't think it was as cool as I did. LOL.

The nighttime sleeping is going well, although they've been waking up at about 4:30am the last few days. Needless to say, by 3:00 in the afternoon I'm wiped out. Payton had a bit of a setback with the going to sleep in her crib a few nights ago, but it was short lived, and she's back to laying down and going to sleep at bedtime now.

We haven't dropped that morning bottle yet - I actually haven't even attempted it. I'm not looking forward to how that's going to work. The pediatrician says they should be off the bottle by 18 months, so I still have about 4 weeks before they hit that age.

I took a day off work last week and we all went to the Aquarium of the Pacific . K&P LOVED putting their hands in the touch pools and touching the starfish, sea urchins, rays and sharks! Yes - they touched the sharks. They loved it! :) Besides the touching pools, I think Payton's favorite exhibit was the puffins, and Killian's was watching the SCUBA diver. Jacey and Bryleigh fed the Lorikeets and they had birds landing on them. Killian really wanted to touch one of the birds, but he didn't have sugar water, so they didn't want anything to do with him. I'm pretty bummed I didn't get many pictures of them enjoying it. It's hard to take pictures while trying to keep them from diving into the touching pools at the same time. I bought an annual family pass, so we will be going back a lot this year. I'm sure I'll get some good pictures eventually.

Oh, and thank you so much to my friends Tanya and Jill who took me out to dinner for my 32nd birthday! I had an awesome time! I love you guys!

Diaper dilemma

Yes, two posts in one day, and no, I'm not sick, I just don't feel like editing the previous post. This is a funny a story, I thought you may want to laugh at my expense.

This morning was rough. Killian didn't sleep well last night, which means I didn't sleep well either. We were all cranky and tired and by the time their morning nap time came around, I was ready to take one too! I was really looking forward to it actually. So, at 10:30, they'd eaten breakfast and were ready for their nap. I put them down and they would not stop screaming, especially Killian. I went and checked on them every 5 minutes, then after the third check-in, I realized that Killian was crying because he was pooping. I knew there were no diapers downstairs because I had to use the two in the diaper bag earlier in the morning, so I went into the girls' room to get another pack. Well, there weren't any!

Someone else in the house must have pulled the last pack of diapers from my usually well-stocked stash, therefore I didn't know we were using the last of them. And my monthly delivery of diapers from diapers. com was not scheduled to arrive until at least tomorrow!

So, I have two very tired babies, one with poop - oops - make that TWO with poop by this time - one tired mommy who is still in her pajamas and hasn't brushed her teeth, and we all have to make a very necessary trip to the grocery store.

Thank goodness that I didn't pack up and give to charity the lot of cloth diapers I used as burp rags for the first year! I was able to make temporary diapers out of them, held up by their shorts. I think they actually liked them too! I'm sure they were more comfortable than the disposables. For a second I thought, "I should switch to cloth diapers for the remainder of their diaper days." But, then I remembered Jacey's time in cloth diapers - and then I came back to reality!

Okay, so we made it to the store and back....with no accidents....the make-shift diapers worked)!

Here they are FINALLY sleeping in their stroller after we returned. And I didn't get my nap. :)

Stickers and Funny Faces

Every time Killian and Payton have a new experience, it amazes me how comepletely different they are. Of course I know that siblings can be, and usually are (look at Jacey and Bryleigh, or my brother and me!) different, but with twins I thought maybe they'd be a little more alike. Nope. Not at all!

For example, my mom gave them some sheets of stickers yesterday and Payton proceeded to stick each one of the stickers all over her legs and feet. She had a fit when I tried to remove them when we got in the car, so there they stayed for a few hours, then she reapplied some new stickers a when we were home at night.

Then there's Killian, who we assume thought the stickers were band-aids, and says "ow, ow, ow" and signs "hurt" and points at them on Payton's legs. He freaks out and starts crying if a sticker gets on his hand or fingers, so the only place they are safe on him is on his shirt or shorts. One at a time, of course.




Signing "hurt" or "owie"












Look at me! I'm so brave - I'm touching a sticker!



Making his "funny face"


Funny faces




"Cold" face. We ask if she's cold and she locks her jaw and shivers. It's pretty funny.



"Sleepy face" I didn't get her with her eyes closed, but she can't stop laughing when she does this.



I've updated the list of signs they are doing, and will add more as I remember them.

They are not only signing some (two) colors, but they can recognize colors them and sign them if you ask "what color is this?". It's pretty cool that at 16-months old they can do that. AND, they know the number "one". If you ask how old they are, or tell them "just take one", they will hold up one little finger. So cute!

Did you notice in the pictures that we have 2 new recliners in our living room? Daddy got himself an early Father's day present - 2 new chairs and a 60-inch flat screen DLP TV! Yes - a 5 foot TV in our living room. I can't wait until football season!!!!

Cold Turkey

Can you tell I've been busy this month? It's been over a month since I've posted and I know everyone is going crazy for more pictures and updates.

A lot of changes have been going on these last few weeks. This stuff may not seem like a big deal to some, but to us, it's very huge. First off, we ditched the swing. We folded it up one day and didn't use it again. Not even in an emergency. The swing was used every night and day for over a year to put Payton to sleep in. It's now been passed on to our new nephew who is arriving on June 18!

Then, we dropped the afternoon bottle (weaned off), then the evening bottle (cold turkey) about 2 weeks later. They actually did fine with this. I think the first night without it was confusing to them, but they don't seem to miss it at all. So, now they are down to only one bottle a day; their morning bottle. I think they really enjoy this one the most, and it may be the most difficult to drop. I plan on doing that cold turkey when they turn 17-months old.

And now the big news.....Okay, are you ready for this!? Payton is actually sleeping through the night. Yes, it's official, she's slept through for 7 nights now! And not only that, but I can actually put her down in her crib at bedtime and she falls asleep! Chris and I decided to just bite the bullet and do it cold turkey. It took 4 nights of her crying in her crib for an hour, and waking Killian up in the process, and then on the 5th night, she fell asleep without crying. Now I can put her down after the bedtime routine and she falls asleep in her own crib. Not once in over 16 months has she done this, so this is a very big milestone for her! It's been life changing for me, too.

They had their first fast food chicken nuggets and french fries this month. Not something I'm very proud of, as I was hoping to keep that away from them, I much rather they have a veggie burger or even grilled cheese sandwich. But we had a busy day one day and we were all hungry, so they lucked out and got some chicken stars. I don't think they loved them, and definitely won't miss them if they don't have them again for a while.

I figured out a way to get Payton to eat foods she doesn't like- which is anything that doesn't have carbs or cheese in the main ingredient. Ketchup! She loves to "dip". She'll dip anything and everything in ketchup and actually enjoy it. Her chicken, sandwich, veggie burger, broccoli pancake, and she dips her waffles in applesauce. The girl loves to dip! Killian does it too, but not because he enjoys the taste, it's only because Payton does it first.

The babies enjoyed a day a the pool (about an inch of water in a small pool in Grandma's backyard) recently. Killian loves to put his face in the water. He thinks it's hilarious. They'll probably be doing that a lot this summer.

Killian got his second haircut, and Payton got her first. Pictures were not taken this time. I'm surprised child services wasn't called, actually. The screams they let out were not like anything you've ever heard. I'm going to need to learn how to trim hair. There is no way I'm taking them to have their hair cut again. At least not by strangers.

The girls are finishing up 5th and 6th grade and have been very busy with year-end projects and events. They were in music this year, Bryleigh in clarinet and Jacey in percussion (drums), so they had a music concert and then a choral concert a few nights after that. They've had year-end fundraisers and carnivals at school, lots of assemblies and field trips. I'm freaking out a little that Jacey will be in Jr. High next year! Jacey's softball season is officially over, but they are continuing in the playoffs. They won the first game of the playoff knock-out tournaments and are having their second game this weekend. Hopefully she makes the All-Star team and can continue to play through the summer. If not, she's done with softball until Fall.

They will go to a day camp that will keep them busy during the day, and they'll go on a field trip every week and swimming every day. They will also be going to specialty camps; which include a Girl Scout camp, a YMCA week long sleep away camp, and a horeseback riding camp.

My very big news is that after 5 attempts at finding the "perfect" double stroller, I have found what I think to be the closest that exists. I love love love it! It's a Baby Jogger City Mini Double, in orange / gray. I can highly recommend this stroller to anyone looking for a lightweight side-by-side double. Chris is also very happy, as I will not by purchasing then selling strollers in all my "spare time".

Here are some pictures from the past 6 weeks.

Another reason we got rid of the swing:

My cuties (their stickers say "Kiss a Cutie"):

Night-Night faces:

In the pool at Grandmas:

Summertime watermelon: