Wintertime

We had an ice storm over the weekend while much of the country was also dealing with winter weather.  Luckily we did not lose power like last year.  We have remained toasty inside while the temperatures have stayed below freezing.

We did go outside for a little bit once the storm had past.  The girls don't really remember last year's snow, so this felt like a new experience for them.  They were disappointed that they couldn't make a snowman and name him Frosty (you can tell what we watched recently).  It was mostly ice and did not want to be shaped into a snow ball.  Maybe we'll get some real snow this winter for them to play in before we move back to southern California and minimize our chance of every seeing much snow again.

 

 

They got to hold icicles for a bit which made me a little wary, but we kept a close eye on them.  Poking out their own eyes or each others luckily did not cross their minds.



I knitted them some mittens last spring, planning ahead for this winter.  They are still a bit big for them and awkward but at least they helped keep their hands warm.  It was cold out there!

 

The mittens have different fair isle patterns on them but the pastel colors make it hard to see unless you are looking at them closely.  I can't decide whether I am happy with my color choice or not.  Most of the time I like to knit bright colors for them.

 

The girls and I haven't ventured out since Thursday and tomorrow is also not looking good unless it really warms up in the afternoon.  Both our driveway and our cul-de-sac is steep and getting out to the main roads is difficult.  I also don't really know what I'd do if we got stuck.  Digging our car out of ice and snow was hard enough in New York, when I was in great shape.  I really don't see myself able to do much a few weeks away from delivering a baby.

 

 

Science Time

My husband's parents came for Thanksgiving week and it was lovely.  Two extra people helping around the house and keeping the girls busy.  Not a vacation for me but I was definitely able to take some long breaks.  We were very busy with family pictures, story time, a visit to the Museum of Discovery, Thanksgiving dinner and a trip to the Zoo.  The girls had such a nice time getting spoiled.

We are back to our usual routine.  The girls are delving deeper into the murky waters of the terrible twos.  I'm tired and losing my patience with them more than I wish.  They just aren't listening much and throwing more fits over little things.  I know it will get a lot worse once baby sister arrives before it gets better.  But at least it is Christmastime and I love Christmas!

 

This morning we tried out a 'science' activity.  They created a chemical reaction by mixing an acid and a base.  Of course the particulars of that did not matter to them.  They liked playing with an eye dropper for the first time.  And they liked how the baking soda foamed when they dropped colorful vinegar onto it.  Since it is December, I choose red and green food coloring for the vinegar. 

 

 

D needs to work on her timing with squeezing and releasing the eye dropper bulb.  But T got the hang of it and didn't need help from me after the first few tries.  There was very little mess and they had fun.  Success!

33 Weeks and 2 Days

This day in the pregnancy is an important memory for me because this was the point I was at in the last pregnancy when the girls were born.  They were 7 weeks early but healthy.  They spent 4 weeks in the NICU learning to nurse, putting on weight (although they were a good size for their gestational age, my little chunks) and spending time under the bili light (only the first week luckily, pesky jaundice).  Although my husband and I half-lived in the hospital during those weeks, I was always thankful I could go home when I needed to without worrying there would be an emergency and something would happen with one of the girl's health while I was gone.  I know some parents are not that lucky.

First time holding T

This pregnancy, I am so thankful I am not carrying twins.  I am so much more healthy, comfortable and able to do things that I could not handle at this point last time.  Although we have someone coming to clean twice a month now to help me keep the house livable, I have enough energy to take care of the girls throughout the daily routine and still manage to get out with them to story times and playgrounds.  I am still sleeping reasonably well at night and have gained less than half of the weight I had last time by this point.  The difference in how I feel is amazing.  I seriously look back on the twin pregnancy, wondering how I did it. 

First time holding D

 

 I love my beautiful twin girls but am so thankful it is just one this time round!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

 

I came up with this year's family costume theme solely because I wanted to dress up my belly bump.  Since the girls are conveniently still at an age where they don't care what their costume is as long as they get to dress up, we were all good to go.  Anna was a last minute addition to the group photo since I could not find a little stuffed Snoopy for T to carry around with her.  Her costume consists of herself with a name change, but she does look a lot like Snoopy so it worked!

 

The costumes themselves were much easier than last year because I used store bought clothes and just added to them.  We already had black tights for them to wear.  I sewed a felt zigzag to T's yellow top and used fabric paint to put black stripes onto D's red top.  The tutus, as shown in a previous post, I made early on and didn't have to stress about them.  I had a hard time finding solid yellow and red socks, so I ended up with some yellow Sponge Bob Square Pants socks and had to use hot pink ones that we already had.  The color difference of the pink wasn't that noticeable though. 

What I put off to last minute and literally finished seconds before leaving for the Family Fun Fest were the felt shoe covers.  I never got around to making them for the girls' costumes last year and I was determined to do them this year.  They were really quick and easy to do luckily.  But, because hand, foot and mouth virus closed down the girls' Mother's Day Out program, I unexpectedly had the girls with me all week leading up to Halloween and had very little time to work on them. 

I used these basic directions on how to sew your own shoe covers to create a pattern.  After testing it out on the first one and making a couple minor adjustments, they were very quick to make.  The directions called for using elastic ties in the back which seemed a little messy to me.  So instead I put both Velcro and snaps in the back because I wasn't sure which one would hold better.  Occasionally one came loose while we were out, but they held together pretty well.  I added the faux laces while eating dinner, right before we left the house.  So I am happy they turned out as well as they did. 
 

 

They were all set to get some treats.  D has been hanging onto her duck blanket a lot at home, which is why I decided she would be Linus.  So we gave her a blue blanket to carry around and she thought that was great!  





 

For my costume, I made a pumpkin out of felt and stitched lines on for the curves of the pumpkin and the veins of the leaves.  Then I embroidered Welcome Great Pumpkin onto a rectangle of felt for the sign.  I pinned it on my green maternity shirt with safety pins and was good to go as the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.

 

 

The costumes turned out great and were not too much trouble to make.  Even though we did not go out trick or treating on Halloween this year, the girls still got a lot of use out of them with all the activities we did.  It was a busy week but we had a lot of fun.



Halloween Festivities

The Thursday before Halloween the girls and I went to Thompson Library's storybook walk.  It was really nice.  They had a bunch of high school kids and other volunteers dressed up as storybook characters passing out candy and little toys.  The girls got to practice trick or treating in a small area without too much walking and indoors where we didn't have to worry about the cold.  I loved that there were so many non-candy treats.  We don't let them have candy yet really.  All they got from their haul was one dum dum and a couple jelly beans (magic beans from Jack of course).  But they had spider rings, foam stickers and other little toys that kept them happy instead.  It was also nice bumping into familiar faces from our weekly story time and seeing the kids all dressed up. 

The girls were all dressed up too, as was I (sort of).  I had finished the girls costumes enough that people could tell what they were even though pieces were not finished and some details (that no one except me noticed) were messed up.  D is Linus, T is Charlie Brown, I am a pumpkin patch and baby sister in my belly is the Great Pumpkin.  I'll go into the costumes in detail in the next post when I have better pictures.

The night before Halloween we went to the Family Fun Fest at Immanuel Baptist Church.  It was amazingly crowded.  There were so many kids and parents everywhere, but it was a lot of fun.  They had games that you had to play to win treats.  The girls had fun playing them and won every single game (there weren't any real rules and plenty of help, so I'm sure none of the kids who came lost any games).  The cake walk had a huge line so we avoided that but my friend's husband won a cake.  They must have had a ton of cakes there, considering how many people we saw walking around with cake.  It was a lot of fun and a great alternative to trick or treating since the girls are so young. 

We also got all dressed up for Halloween Mommy and Me Yoga today at Barefoot Studio West.  It was fun trying to do yoga with all the cute kiddos around.   The girls spent most of the time watching the other kids and moms and also playing with balls.  But I did get a cat stretch and a brief downward facing dog out of D. 

 

 

The rest of the plan for Halloween afternoon is to carve pumpkins and pass out candy to trick or treaters (if we get any; we had 2 last year).  Happy Halloween everybody!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch



 

We headed out to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  We went to BoBrook Farms which is the same place we pick blueberries in May and where we went last year for our pumpkins.  Because of the cooler weather, we waited until after nap time so it would be warmer.

We hopped on a waiting hayride first thing after arriving.  The girls had been looking forward to it because of some of the books we read and pictures they saw of last years pumpkin patch trip.  They liked being pulled by the tractor and the smell of the hay.

I took the photo of them by the growth chart, just like last year.  They have grown so much!  Almost 3 feet tall now.

The best part about the pumpkin patch this year was the corn pit, hands down.  They had so much fun playing, jumping, dancing and rolling around it.   They did not want to leave. 

 

We did get them out eventually though.  After a quick trip through the hay maze, we headed on over to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins.

 

Unfortunately, we had trouble finding good pumpkins.  We were specifically looking for pumpkins that were small enough for the girls to pick up and had no luck.  I think waiting until late afternoon/ evening on a busy Saturday probably had something to do with that.  We saw some families with wagon loads of pumpkins, so had we kept looking we might have found something.  But we gave up after searching through fours rows and headed over to see the animals. 

 

We took a couple photos with some larger pumpkins but between the bad lighting and the girls not cooperating, I didn't get any good pumpkin pictures this year.  There is a small pumpkin patch on a corner near our neighborhood that we've already gotten a few pumpkins at.  I may take the girls back there for a few more and a chance for some better pictures with lots of pumpkins.

 

There were a pair of adorable piglets at the farm, along with goats, a pony, chickens and the piggy momma.  Makes me want to keep chickens for eggs and raise piglets but I don't think I'd have the heart to kill them after.  By the time we finished with the animals, it was getting close to dinner time so we headed back home.  It was a nice trip to the patch this year even though we came back without pumpkins. 

October is Here!

I have pulled out my small box of fall decorations and put them up: leaf garlands for the wreath out front and the mail box, a pumpkin I knitted a few years back that the girls liked playing with, and Halloween cookie cutters that I don't have energy to use this year.  Not much, but enough along with a white pumpkin sitting out on the front porch to make things festive. 

 

The girls and I also baked pumpkin granola (using our own pumpkin puree).  It made the house smell so good.  It has pumpkin, apple sauce, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice in it and really just smells like fall.  I loved the scent while it lasted. 

 

The girls were big helps mixing everything up for me.  It was less stressful than last time I tried to make cookies with them.  They still made a mess but tried eating less of it.  Also having everything ready to put in helped--preparation is key when it comes to toddlers.  We have been eating it on cereal and with yogurt.  It is yummy but I think I'll put a little less maple syrup in it next time. 

 

This morning I made some pancakes using my usual recipe but substituted the rest of the pumpkin puree in for the egg.  They were delicious, moist and fluffy. I want to have them that way all year long now.  I put the extra in the freezer as usual.  So we'll see how well they hold up to that and heating in the toaster. 

Pumpkins!

I am a sucker for pumpkins.  Usually I can hold off buying them until October.  But this year when I saw those cute little pie pumpkins, I caved.  I bought two, one for each of the girls. This was last week.  And either I picked a bad pumpkin, repeated dropping on the tile floor or the cozy corner of the kitchen where they patiently waited to be cut into did not suit one of the pumpkins.  It was partially rotten when I checked them this morning.  I saved what I could of it and tossed all the seeds, but after roasting it, the flavor was still off so that whole one is ending up in the compost pile.  Its friend though tastes delicious. 

 The girls got to help by taking out the pumpkin seeds for me.  They lost interest pretty quick.  Still, it is nice to include them in the kitchen/cooking activities and it kept them busy for a short time.

 

Maybe with more practice they will be bigger helps this fall, and if not, there is always next year (or the year after).  After I finished up gutting the pumpkins for the girls, I quartered them and put them in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.  I didn't want to oil them because I want it to be just pumpkins in the puree.  That turned out fine, nothing stuck to the pan.  I put the seeds in oven for the last ten minutes with a little salt and olive oil.  Next time I'll try 13 minutes because they weren't as crisp as I like them to be.  I was trying to avoid burning them like I have in the past. 

 

 

The flesh is really easy to scrape off the pumpkin skin once it is cooked.  I whirred it in the food processor until smooth and separated it into two plastic zip bags for the freezer.  Now I will be able to try out a pumpkin granola recipe and bake some cookies.  We will get more pumpkins when we go to the pumpkin patch and those will be destined for pie.  I'm so glad making this puree was easy and good.  It will make things that much easier this holiday season.  And with baby C on the way, I need to have things like this prepared ahead of time. 

Fall Knitting

I don't have a lot of time for crafts but I am able to get some knitting done while I watch the girls.  I've been planning to make wool cardigans for the girls for over a year and a half.  I am happy to say that one is completely finished.  It took me about a month and a half to do.  So hopefully, with some dedication, cardigan number two will be ready in November. 

 This was just after nap and my model was a little bit grumpy

They are made from Lionbrand Collection Superwash Merino Wool.  The colors are beautiful, so rich and deep.  That is one thing I love about knitting it myself, I can choose a color that is not traditionally for little girls.  I also really like the pattern, Helena on knitty.com.  It was actually a second or third choice for me and the others fell through because the yarn didn't swatch to the right size.  The pattern is easy, yet has a lot of interest to it.  It only requires a little sewing for the hem (and if I learned to do the 3 needle bind off for the second one, I might be able to avoid that too).  So far I am really happy with it.

First Signs of Fall

Cooler nights and the start of 'school' (unfortunately along with the colds picked up there) are this year's heralds for the beginning of fall.  So excited!  It has been a wonderfully mild summer, but fall is my favorite season and I can't wait for its arrival. 

To celebrate, I got started on the girls' Halloween costumes.  I won't tell you what they will be yet.  I know nobody cares that much or will get out anything out of me keeping it a surprise, but the thought of it just makes me smile so I will keep it to myself for now.  When I have some pictures of it all together in the next month or so, then I will share what it really is. 

In the mean time this is what I made yesterday:  little black tutus.

 

Unfortunately only one is complete because I ran out of tulle.  I thought 4 1/2 yards would be enough for two, but apparently not.  For now, the second tutu has a small gap in one side that will only be remedied by a trip to Hobby Lobby.

To make the tutus, I followed this Treasure for Tots tutorial on Pinterest.  Man, it went by so much faster than when I had previously made them.  It was so easy and quick to cut out.  I'll never make it another way again.

 

 

I bought 4 yards of tulle and had a 1/2 yard from another project to use.  The tulle was from a 45" bolt, not one of those 6" wide spools that the tutorial mentions.  So I had to wrap the tulle lengthwise and cut it along the side before I could cut the strips into the right length.  

But it went fast and turned out great.  I was able to cut it while the girls were at their 'school'.  And then I made the skirts while watching them play.  D was a great help.  I had left the strips on the template under one rubber band and was pulling them out one by one as I used them.  So she started pulling them out and handing them to me as I needed them.  She was so cute.  She kept saying "your welcome" after each one even when I didn't always say "thank you" after each one.  It'll be so much fun when they are older and able to do more crafty things with me. 

Quilt #2 Finished

It's done.  Finally, finally done.  D's baby quilt is complete.  Never mind that she is two years and two months old.  I did have the first one done before they were born so had I only had one baby, I would have been in great shape.  I still consider one quilt in two years with twins pretty good. 

It is similar in layout to T's quilt and bright which I love.  The butterfly blocks turned out well. 

Now to start baby quilt #3.  I have some cute fabric for it.  Now I need to figure out a pattern for it.  Hmmm . . .

Museum of Discovery

Last Tuesday we met a friend and her two boys at the Museum of Discovery here in Little Rock.  It was our first time going.  I hadn't planned on getting the year the family pass because I figured having one to the zoo would be enough.  The past few weeks though I have come to the realization that I won't be able to push the stroller around the zoo so easily in the next few months as my belly gets bigger and bigger while I get more and more tired.  That and the zoo trips, being outdoors, are restricted to good weather.  We have been really lucky to have a nice, mild summer with plenty of cool mornings for zoo trips.  But I will now have some place to bring the girls when it is too hot (like this week) or too cold in the winter.

The museum is really nice and interactive.  The girls played with things that demonstrated science, not that they got it or were the right age for a lot of the things.  But it at least introduces them to things that they just don't get otherwise.  We also got to go to the story time (no stories involved--a science experiment instead).  It was great!  They learned about polymers, which went right over their heads.  But they got to play with a bunch of things made from polymers and stick a colored pencil through a Ziploc bag of water with out it leaking.  This is stuff they just don't get at home.

This weekend we went back, this time with my husband.  It is right around the corner from The River Market.  So after we picked up some fresh fruit and veggies, we headed on over.  The girls got to watch the shapes that sound waves can take as they adjusted a sound dial.

 

They both got to create designs in sand as the table spun around. 

 

 And of course, in the body room, they got an anatomy lesson from daddy.  He told them all about their spine (which we've practiced before because it's in the song 'This Old Man').

 

 

Catching scarves that have been sucked through tubes and spit out at different spots is so much fun!  It kept D busy for a long time, although Miss T lost interest before long and kept trying to climb the stairs instead.  The museum also has some small animals like mice, ferrets, snakes, frogs, insects which the girls liked looking at.

 

And then there is a playroom, where there is a lot to do and I can conveniently sit down and keep an eye of them.  I think the investment in the family pass will definitely be worth it this year.



 

 

 



Potty Training

I had read blog posts about potty training a toddler in 2 or 3 days and always imagined doing that when the girls were ready.  However, at the same time because they were cloth diapered and could easily feel when they got wet, we have been potty training since last fall.  That is when I started introducing the potty to them and trying to get them on it in time when they asked.  This spring I made going to the potty part of the bedtime routine, and D got pretty consistent going on the potty in the evening.

After our trip to California in June, I was planning on getting serious.  I thought I'd pick a few days in a row where we were not doing much and have them mostly trained by the end of it.  I completely underestimated how much energy it takes to potty train two just-turned-two years olds and overestimated how much energy I had in the first trimester of pregnancy.  I would get them on the potty first thing in the morning, spend the morning in the tile rooms waiting for the success/accident to happen and a few hours later have them in diapers or training pants because I just wanted to lay on the couch in the living room. 

So I decided the gradual approach was more for us.  We were already doing potty time in our night routine, so I added mornings to the mix.  After a week or so, they started hanging out in their big girl panties (with Dora the Explorer on them) for an hour or two in the mornings and if they hadn't peed on the potty, we would move to the tile rooms just in case.  There were accidents (there still are accidents).  T took longer to get the idea of going on the potty.  D had it down for the most part from nights and mornings but would still have accidents. 

Then about two weeks ago it all clicked together.  When home, if they aren't sleeping, they are usually in their big girl panties (except when they haven't pooped in awhile or in the evenings when I'm tired and don't want to clean up a mess).  They are much more consistent going pee than poo.  They are generally progressing with the occasional bad day.  I finally washed the diaper laundry after a little over a week even though they still have clean diapers because I didn't like the thought of the dirty diapers sitting that long.  They still wear diapers or training pants when we go out somewhere.  But most of the time they either ask to go potty while out or are dry when we come back. 

So there is definitely a lot of progress.  There are also times where they go all day on the potty like good girls and then pee on the bathroom floor a few feet away from the potty in the evening.  I just don't get it.  But it is a long process and they are only two and still learning lots of basic life skills.  We aren't anywhere near being fully potty trained where they can go by themselves without any accidents but so far potty training is definitely a success.

Foot and Hand Prints Quilt

I have been too lazy to take pictures of this project, but finally I got on it.  These are squares for a quilt I plan to make for myself in a few years.  On their first birthday and again this year I took the girls' hand prints and footprints with fabric paint on 9x9 inch squares. 

The difference between footprints is more noticeable than hand prints.  Look how much D's feet have grown in the past year.  As you can see with T's hand prints, it's harder to tell which one was more recent. 

The plan is to do the same at least for the next year and possibly the year after, along with any new additions to the family.  Then I will make it into a queen or king size quilt for our bed. 

I regret not doing it when they were newborns.  You can see on the baseballs how itty bitty their feet were.  Their tiny hands were just precious too.  They grow so fast!

Toddler Beds

Well, now that pacifiers are gone, the next step to accomplish this summer was transitioning to toddler beds. This weekend we busted out the Allen wrenches and a power drill and got to work turning the girls' cribs into beds with a small and ineffectual railing on the front. 

At bedtime, I put the girls to bed as usual, walked away and grabbed a snack thinking, "that wasn't bad."  Then the screams started.  We had put the gate up so they couldn't leave the room, but Miss D pulled open the door and stood at the gate crying.  Miss T remained in bed throughout the extra hour and a half it took for them to fall asleep but she cried a lot too.  After two separate attempts on my husband's and my part, I ended up sitting on the floor near the door until they fell asleep.

Then around midnight, T started screaming again.  I went in there and discovered them both on the floor next to their beds.  T was screaming for me while D was snoring, completely oblivious to the fact that she rolled out of bed.  Later that morning, D woke up to go potty and didn't go back to bed for a good hour or so with me sitting on the floor by the door.  They woke up at 5am, so this momma did not get much sleep.

Luckily last night went much better.  They went to bed without a peep.  T woke up twice during the night because she rolled out of bed but didn't take long to go back to sleep.  I need to do something about her railing.  For now I'll roll up a towel and stick it under the sheet along the edge.  Hopefully that will help keep her from tumbling out.  I need to find another railing that runs at least the majority of the length of the bed.

I'm sure like with the pacifier, we will have good nights and bad nights as they adjust to the new beds and new freedom.   Hopefully the next few nights will be good ones.

Pacifiers, Popsicles and Popcorn

The last post depicted taking the pacifier away in a rosier light than reality.  We have had some minor setbacks, mainly Miss T crying a little at nap time and longer at bedtime.  There were a few nights where it was hard getting her to bed but she has been doing really well the last few nights.  She doesn't ask for her pacifier anymore, but is still learning to soothe herself without it. 

I told a friend about our experience and she decided to apply the same strategy in a different way that I thought was neat.  She took her daughter to a toy store and let her pick out a new doll.  Her daughter had to 'pay' the clerk for the doll with her pacifier.  Apparently the clerk wasn't thrilled and thought it was disgusting, but all part of working at a toy store I guess.

A few days ago, I tried making fruit popsicles for the first time.  I put a couple cups of watermelon in the food processor (we don't have a blender) and added a little lime juice and a few squeezes of honey.  They turned out yummy, very refreshing.  The girls loved them!

Today I made popcorn which I haven't made for a long, long time.  I used to snack on it all the time when I was pregnant with the girls.  But once they got old enough to want to eat what I was eating, I stopped making it because I didn't want them to eat it and choke.  But today I thought about the delicious taste of fresh popped popcorn and decided to go for it.  I make it the old fashion way, in a pot on the stove.  A little bit of olive oil and some salt and I'm good to go. 

 

The girls got to try it too, but I only gave them part of it once I had pulled off the kernel.  Yes, I am paranoid . . . dealing with a choking toddler is not something I want to experience, ever.