Best Buds .... and some good news.

I'll start out with the good news. Just called Best Buy for an update on my camera (being serviced) and they have it on record that it HAS been fixed and will be shipping out in the next day. YAY. That means that next week sometime I will have my "precious" back :) Cannot WAIT to start snapping away and playing with all the things I learned in my photography class.

The main reason for this post though..... just a little story about the little doods in my life and how sweet they are. Lately bed time (including what used to be referred to as nap time) has been a bit hard. They are now skipping a nap entirely, tho I am trying to establish a routine where they at least have "quiet time" (about an hour) in their room. They are free to bring one toy in with them, and have a vast array of books .... they don't HAVE to sleep (tho it is an option) but I just keep reminding them they need to be quiet - I use Evie as the reason, that she is napping and they need to be quiet. This at least gives them some time to wind down (tho they usually don't)... but more importantly it gives me some time to give Evie some one on one time before her nap, and it also gives me time to get things done around the house or take a shower - whatever I need that day. So far they have only napped once during their quiet time - which you will see evidence of in the pictures below.

Bedtime has been a bit hard too. One would think that when they dropped their only nap of the day that they would conk out at nighttime, but that hasn't always been the case. I think they are getting their 2nd (or even 3rd or 4th) wind right about bedtime and they are just going wild prior to that. We now are going to try putting them to bed just a little earlier to try beat that 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) wind ... and also are going in every 10 minutes like clockwork to put them BACK in bed and tuck them in... as they constantly get out of bed and roam around the room. Usually they just gather all their bedding and throw it in a corner of the room and then they both just huddle in there with it all and hang out. It's sorta cute how they work together on all this... but we're usually pretty irritated that they aren't going bed, too much to really appreciate it most of the time. ...... except for the other night. As per usual it was like any other night where they were up for about an hour after we put them to bed - us walking in there every 10 minutes to put them back in bed and tuck them in. So around 9:30pm it got quiet in there and we were able to finally just relax on the couch and enjoy whatever program we were trying to watch. We finally got up to go to bed around 10:30, at which time I (like always) went to go tuck them in one last time and make sure they were covered up with their blankets.... only to find the boys snuggled up, spooning in Oscar's bed. And of course, me being the wonderful mother that I am, I turned on the light for a short stint, long enough to take some pictures to cherish that moment forever :) Just proves... no matter how much they hit, bite etc each other, no matter how much they fight... when it comes down to it, these guys really are best buds. And if you can see it in the pictures you will notice that MacKay has his PJs unzipped clear down to his waist.... and Oscar has a big drool spot on his pillow too. Additionally, last night (Fri 3/26) Jolene and the kids came over to watch the kiddos while we met some friends out for a couple hours .... and Kelly and Brandon wore those little guys out. When we put them to bed I think it took Oscar about 1 minute to totally conk out... yet MacKay wasn't quite ready, and about 10 minutes after I put them to bed I went in to check and found MacKay sitting on the floor by Oscar's bed, with a book open on Oscar's bed right next to him.... reading to Oscar hoping to wake him up so he would have someone to hang out with. They crack me up daily....

Anyway, that's all I had at this point. Enjoy the pictures.

First off... just had to share. This is the outfit I bought from Matilda Jane for Evie - hoping it will work for her 1 year pictures. I cannot wait for this to arrive in the mail so I can see it in person. We got the top shown in the first picture (Skye Knot Top), and the ruffled "Sprite" leggings in the 2nd picture, and the white "Simple" Tee shown in the 3rd picture to wear under the Skye Knot Top during cooler months.

A couple of pictures of the boys during "quiet time". The first is the ONE time they have napped recently during quiet time.... note they didn't bother to get into their beds, just passed out on the floor. And the second was taken just today, they immediately climbed in MacKay's bed together, Oscar with his fire truck and MacKay with his book.

And finally, the classic snuggling best buds pictures.

Love this comparison as the first picture is when they were 3 months old - pretty much exactly 2 years ago..... and here they are doing the exact same thing 2 years later (tho they are in opposite positions in the pictures).

Since my "precious" will be back soon (camera), I'm sure I'll have LOTS more to load up here in the next couple weeks - so come back again soon

Hilarious ....

Chris just sent me this picture over email of the boys from what seems to be SOOOOO long ago. I just don't even remember when they looked like that or were that small. So just had to share (btw - that is Oscar on the left, and MacKay on the right).

Additionally, just some new pictures of Evie. Just playing with her top and the balls from it (she loves to hold onto two and knock them together... then knock them against the balls you are holding)...... and trying so hard to get closer and closer to that little mirror on her play gym to see into it - almost looks like she would be crawling any day now, but I think that is still a while off.

All Better.....

Well, as the title states it... we are all (finally) better. All the kiddos are done with their antibiotics and back to their old selves. The boys are back to not napping during the day (unnnghhh) tho I do put them in their rooms for "quiet time" most days just to have some "me" time and get things done around here (shower, clean etc). But we've been enjoying the GREAT weather and getting the boys outside a lot... they LOVE it out there. Nothing like some good fresh air and running around to wear them out for a good night's rest. :) Last week I even was adventurous enough to haul all three kids with me in to go shopping at Walmart (hate that place). Walmart has these new carts that work REALLY well for two kids, and we had a small list of things to get so Evie and her car seat fit nicely right in the main part of the cart. Everyone did really well so it was a positive experience ... must try it again sometime :) And just this last weekend Grandma Diane came up to visit and got her fill of her grandchildren - so that was a fun time for everyone.

Evie... poor little Evie. Though she is feeling better she is going straight from illness (ear infection) to teething. She is fine most of the time but nighttime is a little worse than normal. She has a hard time getting to sleep and wakes frequently and is obviously uncomfortable. I've given in and given her some motrin on a few occasions and that seems to help. So we're just waiting for her to pop through that 2nd tooth that seems to be bothering her. Now that she's feeling better she's gotten her appetite back too. She is just scarfing down the solids and back to drinking a decent portion of formula daily (still not the recommended amount, but if you look at her, she definitely isn't suffering and has quite a bit of chub). She's just such an easy and happy baby. When she does cry (which isn't often) it is usually something big .... she's hurt, very overtired or just REALLY wants that bottle that she sees in your hand. Otherwise she is just all content and smiles all day long which makes her such a breeze to care for. Lately she loves standing up too - she will grasp onto your fingers and pull herself up into a standing position and is just happy as can be standing there for a very long time. Even does some deep knee bends/ple-ays to show off her leg strength. She's just so very sturdy. Now we've just got to work on crawling with her ... tho she seems content to get around by "butt scooting" across the floor. Very often she will be feet from where I had originally put her just bouncing on her butt and smiling proudly at her accomplishments.

The boys... well they are LOVING being outside. Mainly they love putting on their new boots. While at Walmart last week I let the boys pick out a new pair of galoshes/rain boots to stomp around in outside. Our yard is SUCH a mess from last fall/winter's construction with dirt and much everywhere, so the boots are a must if we are going to spend any amount of time outside. They wanted to put their boots on right there in the store... but I was able to put them off until we got home. They wore them around for the rest of the day/night and refused to take them off. It has now been explained that they can only be worn outside cuz they are dirty and they seem to understand that.. but now just want to put them on all the time and romp around outside. You should see their face light up when I even MENTION going outside. MacKay was always more about digging up the remaining patches of snow (now it is all gone - bummer for him) and picking up and showing me rocks, while Oscar just loved going in the garage to look at "Daddy's Traaa-Ker" (riding lawn mower) and running to the edge of our yard to point at the school bus parked just a couple houses down from us. Just obsessed with buses and tractors lately. I've had fun snapping pictures of their outside fun though.

The boys have also been little chatter boxes lately. They constantly want to show their knowledge of things and point things out and label them... and they keep repeating themselves over and over and over and over again until you FINALLY acknowledge it and say, for example, "Yes Oscar... that is a semi truck" :) Oscar is obsessed with ownership as well..... in this last week I have found out that it is "Daddy's Traaa-Ker", "Daddy's Shower" and "Daddy's Vacuum" .... but it is "Mommy's Garbage" and "Mommy's Sink". Interesting..... :) But they are very inquisitive asking what things are, loving to be read to ... or should I say loving to look through pages and point everything out that they know. They know most of their colors now and can count to 10 with me pretty well.... but a lot of the times they will get distracted and the numbers don't go in order anymore. It's so fun to see them learning all of this new stuff.

Well here are some of their newest pictures.... again, sans the nice camera. Which I can give an update on. We received it back from Nikon late last week, only to immediately run it into Best Buy for service and find out it will be yet ANOTHER 3 weeks before I see it. Good news is that they will know in the first 7-10 days if it is able to be fixed or if they will junk it.

Oscar sucking on a grape freezy pop - this was when he was sick and had a raging temperature. He really liked this treat, tho MacKay didn't want anything to do with it.

Evie during one of her baths... and a picture of Evie wearing her first pair of jeans. I know I know, weird that it has taken this long, but I just love sticking to onesies and sleepers for the first 6 months - so much easier.

Oscar and MacKay (not feeling well) sorta cuddling up on the couch watching "Up" together one morning

Oscar and MacKay sporting their new boots .... and Oscar with his new set of golf clubs. He thought the golf bag was a vacuum...

Goofy MacKay with his bud Angus. First picture he was leaning over and pointing out his eyes and counting them "One.. Two.. Eyes"..... and the second picture he just decided to go lay down on Angus and cover up with his blanket saying "Angus sleeping"

Next is just a ton of pictures shot of the boys playing outside.

Oscar with his prized possession, "Okar's Traa-Ker" .... love the picture of him in his hat. He's the only one I can get to wear hats like these just for the fun of it - MacKay will only wear his winter hat when it is cold.

MacKay running around and playing in the last bits of remaining snow we had ... and lastly showing me one of the MANY rocks he found and wanted to save (putting in the back of Okar's Traa-Ker)

MacKay and Oscar trying their best to figure out how their Schwinn Low Rider trikes work - they haven't quite gotten the concept of pedaling yet.

Just a few cute pictures I was able to snap of the boys together.. even working together to scoop snow into the trailer of Okar's Traa-Ker

MacKay worked diligently for about 20 minutes scooping snow and putting it into the trailer of Okar's Traa-Ker .... I couldn't believe how that kept his attention.

Oscar on his Thomas the Train trike and with his hoe. Love the last couple picture with the bus in the background... can just hear his sweet little voice repeatedly saying "Skoo Bus, Mommy..... Look Skoo Bus ..... Daddy's Bus" - love that he thinks that is Daddy's bus. :)

Lastly, just a happy picture of our smiley little girl. If you look close enough you can even see a hint of that little protruding tooth on the bottom.

Geez.... I look at these pictures and I just want my Nikon D40x back ..... soon hopefully.

Until next time...

More Evie photos ....

I can't help myself, I just love the pictures Trina (LuminousPrints.com) snapped of lil Evie a few weeks ago. And came across a few more favorites that I cannot believe I missed in my original post. Enjoy.

Stay tuned.... lots of pictures (sans "good" camera) of the boys playing outside in their new boots (galoshes)

Evie's 6 month (really 7 month) photo shoot

First off, I just need to say.... if anyone in the Brainerd area needs a good photographer, look up Trina Sutton at LuminousPrints.com. She is fantastic. I LOVE these pictures and she is SO good with kids - really takes the time to get to know them and let them get to know her. Thanks again Trina.

Let's start off with Evie in her adorable little Matilda Jane knot dress. Was going to save this for her 1 year pictures, but using it now just gives me a reason to find another cute outfit for her 1 year pictures. :)

Gotta always have the plain white onesie pictures (we have these of the boys for their 6 month pictures as well). The cute red rocker she is in was borrowed from a friend of mine, another fellow mother of twin boys - Shawna Williams. Thanks Shawna.

And the petti skirt we borrowed from my good friend Heidi. This was definitely the highlight and I just couldn't seem to pare down the pictures of her with this one. She loved sitting there in all that frill .... playing with it, being bashful and hiding behind it. SO CUTE.

Some pictures in a cute hat we also used from the big bag of stuff Heidi sent our way. It was just such a cute and simple hat. Note, two of the pictures are the same, just one is in BW with the pink flower.

Lastly, something I had seen in other photos and wanted to try ..... naked little Evie on our bed. I was just praying she wouldn't pee or poo the entire time.

Well hope you enjoyed them. I LOVE them and cannot wait to see what we can get from her 1 year pictures. Once we have all those we're going to look through what we have for the boys' and Evie's first year of pictures and figure out what we want to put up on the wall - hoping to do some creative canvas prints.