Snow in February is totally normal right....right...

So we here in the Pacific Northwest have been dumped on in the last couple of days, now I know that 2-3 inches + of snow to alot may not be worth closing down schools and staying inside but here thats all it takes.  My poor babes have super stuffy noses which means no playing in the snow for them.  All of the schools have been closed down and it is ICY folks.  Luckily both of our vehicles have AWD so were A ok in this weather but we still have to be careful.  Here are some pics of our lovely cold snap. 

 I am really hoping my tulips don't die

 This is what our sky looks like today

And just for fun we put the twins and their friend Scarlett in baskets to contain them while we snapped photos! lol

9 months old and time to start party planning!

They twins are now 9 months old ::sigh:: and I just can't believe how fast they are growing up.  I am the luckiest mommy in the world to have these two literally perfect babies! They are so happy all of the time, they sleep like angels, I just love mommyhood!! Here is some shots from our photo shoot:

So we took the babies to their 9 month well baby check up and here are their current stats

Landon: 21.9 lbs, 28 1/4 inches long
Ava: 18.9 lbs, 27 1/4 inches long

They are doing wonderfully developmentally for being preemies.  They are doing most things that a full term 9 month old would be doing so we couldn't be happier!

So naturally since I now have only 3 months to plan their 1st birthday party, and for anyone who knows me I love to plan parties! I am most likely sticking with colors since they have plenty of birthdays that they will what characters or themes, I plan on doing a candy buffett like some I have seen online and on other blogs! I have started picking up glass containers already! I luckily have a mother in law who is super crafty so I am sure I will be requiring her help on favor tags and labels.  And I am most excited for doing CAKE POPS! I purchased Bakerella's cake pop cookbook today and I can't wait to practice!

I'm thinking that each of the babies will have their own smash cake and then I will have cupcakes for all of the adults and kids at the party! I am such a fan of cupcakes rather then a sheet cake! Well I just wanted to update really quickly, I am still doing horribly at blogging regularly but its hard to be a working mama of twins. 

TWINFANT BABYPROOFING

So the twins have began to crawl, scoot and roll to what they want these days.  I don't understand why when a baby has literally a hundred toys, they want to play with the vacuum cleaner ::shivers::, a dirty vacuum cleaner, so now it has become a daily routine to make sure that EVERYTHING that is not a baby toy is off the floor or is not within reaching distance, my daughter has a thing for shoes, all shoes, if there is a shoe within reaching distance she will get it.  Landon loves anything that it a cord or shoelace.  We have begun the babyproofing of our house. 

 "Mom look what I can do"

 He loves to pet Mogley

And the blinds

All of these milestones are amazing to see, they are becoming these little people with such BIG personalities, but at the same time everytime they do something new a little piece of baby seems to drift away.  They no longer like to rest in my arms while drinking their bottles, they want to hold them all by themselves. 

At the same time every milestone creates a need to change our house/lifestyle to accomadate their newfound independence.  I love these little babies with everything I have and somedays when they are napping in their cribs, I creep in and watch them sleep, still so innocent and peaceful and I sometimes still cannot believe that they are all mine.

Baby Food making 101

So since the twins were 6 months we have added solids into their diets, some they like and some they dont, but I have been making it all.  At first the thought of trying to make their food was a little daunting but after I started adding up the costs of jarred food and added in the fact that jarred food isn't fresh and has additives no matter what the kind of food.  So my mom purchased a great baby food cookbook called: Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler, you can find it here
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Love-Healthy-Delicious-Toddler/dp/0312621922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296681400&sr=8-1

I love this book, it spells everything out for you, now I knew I wanted to make a lot of food so I wasn't having to make it everyday, so I invested in a food processor and Gladware 4 oz containers that are freezer and dishwasher friendly, they were only 2.34 for 8 at Target.

Once I had everything in order I started. 

We started with sweet potatoes

It was so easy, pop the sweet potatoes and 8 oz of water in the oven for 60 min at 400 degrees, pull them out, let them cool off, spoon the flesh of the sweet potato, put into a food processor or blender, add up to 16 more oz of water depending on what thickness you are looking for, pour into freezeable containers or an ice cube tray and BAM your done!

Once I figured out how easy it was, I was hooked, I have now made 100's of ounces of baby food.  This book is awesome!

So far I have made:
Perfectly basic apples
Perfectly basic pears
Perfectly basic peaches
Perfectly basic mango
Banana Apple Pear
cinnamon apple oatmeal raisin
very blueberry and apple
apricot pear
perfectly basic carrot
perfectly basic butternut
perfectly basic sweet potato
sweet zucchini and carrot
creamy cauliflower
Alba's chicken soup (this one is so full of awesome veggies and protein for baby)
poached salmon with carrot(I am determined that while I may not like fish my kids might)
lentil soup

                                                 This is what my freezer now looks like

This book is great because it gives the age recommendation right next to the recipe so it is easy to see which recipe's your baby is ready to try.

I highly recommend this book!!