The 12 Things I learned in the 2nd year of Mommyhood

Last year after the twins turned one I wrote a whole post on the 12 things I learned from my first year of mommyhood, you can read it here.  I figured I should do another one because that one was kind of funny to look back on.

1.  I will say this now, my toddler twins are harder then my newborn twins were.  These tantrum throwing, sibling fighting, independent humans have a mind of their own and they let that be known now.  99% of the time that are sweet, loving and considerate but that 1% well that 1% is a doozy.

See my mad face mom

 2.  An endless supply of snacks is sometimes necessary.  This one is true for me in the car, sometimes they love the car sometimes they hate it.  If I have "nacks" they will ride along happily.  Our favorites are the fruit pouches and animal crackers at the moment.

Example of perfect car behavior

I promise he didn't eat all of those

4.  The outnumber me now.  It used to be ok because they were running around, but now, now they run and fast at that.  Usually I'm chasing one and the other thinks it is hilarious to run the other way (They must know I need to run).  Man on man defense is our best method right now, at church we have a ratio of 2 adults to one child to keep them entertained...

5.  Disney Junior is sometimes my best friend.  (Don't judge unless you know), I may know the hot dog song by heart now and honestly never knew what MMCH was until we started watching and if you know what it means too I won't say anything.  But during that "witching hour" as we call it, usually between the hours of 4-6 when they are starting to get hungry and cranky, it is all that will call them down.  They ask for Mickey and Steins (Little Einsteins) now. ::hangs head in shame::

6.  Where does their energy come from.  I've told my husband if I had 1/8 of the energy they had I wouldn't be exhausted when 7 pm comes around.  I mean is their baby crack in animal crackers....it is like an endless supply of craziness.

7.  Toddlers are so very smart.  People tend to underestimate the brain power of a toddler.  Ava and Landon can remember things, like where they found a toy last (I mean I sometimes can't find my own keys).  The other day Ava mocked my mom giving herself an insulin shot.  I mean she has seen her do it maybe two times and she pulled her shirt up and tried to give herself a shot with a marker...Their brains truly are little sponges.

8.  People still ask dumb questions about twins (like they've never seen them before)...I'm sure this will be on my list for a long time.
Example of a typical conversation:
Random Person: "are those twins"
Me: yes
Random Person: "WOW I bet you have your hands full"
Me: yes
Random Person: "They must keep you busy at that age"
Me: yes
(get the point)
Yes my hands are full but so is my heart, yes they keep me busy but I wouldn't have it any other way.

9.  Sometimes it is necessary to loose your mind.  My most favorite post on this is AP from I Love You More Than Carrots where she talks about letter C paint in the bath tub.  Sometimes it is just necessary to do something that you know will be a pain to clean up but you also know it will keep them entertained for a solid 30 minutes and time, my friends, is vaulable.

10. If I teach them young maybe they'll help.  This applies to my little helper Ava who took an interest in all things cleaning.  She love to "clean" with me, she will wipe and vacuum with her little vacuum, I'm not going to lie, it comes in handy sometimes.

She insists on wearing Landon's shoes...

11.  The twitter and the blog world is full of awesome people.  I joined twitter around the time the twins turned 1.  I could never have imagined the amazing people I have met on there, really there are too many to list.  Other moms who were going through similar things with kids around the same age.  People to bounce ideas off of, to ask a quick mommying question.  I have created some great friendships with these people.  It is amazing when more people on Twitter wish your children Happy Birthday than those on Facebook who you know IRL.

12.  Lastly, I could never love two little people as much as I love Landon and Ava.  They may stretch my patience and it can be trying but at the end of the day I would lay down for those two.  I would walk a thousand miles, I would do anything and everything to make sure that everyday they feel loved and taken care of, happy and healthy.  I always have said I love this stage of life that they are in, then they hit the next stage and I love that one even more if possible.

This rarely happens any more

O Hi There

Wow so I basically disappeared.  Life has been, well, crazy! We have been going non-stop since December.  I could say sorry for not writing but it took the back burner while we just lived our crazy life.  Things are finally dare I say calming down for the moment.

After my last post we enjoyed our family vacation to Whistler, BC for Christmas which was so fun this year with the twins, they played in the snow and on the playground they have there which is awesome. We had dinner out and the hubs and I actually had a date night since we had 8 babysitters.  We relaxed and had an awesome Christmas with our two toddlers.

In January our part of the state got hit with a massive snow/ice/wind storm.  We had over 18+ inches of snow which we rarely have seen in the past.  But not only did it snow, the next day is ALL froze and turned into a slippery winter wonderland.  But wait thats not all, then the trees started snapping and the power went out.  Not just a few people lost power but pretty much our whole county was out of power.  We only lost power for a little over 24 hours but enough to book it to the inlaws who have a generator.  O and in January the twins turned 20 months old and both had their first ear infection!

February brought some serious life changes, we decided in order to fullfill our dream of building our forever house we would need to sell or rent our current home.  Considering we bought our house at the literal peak of the market we figured out we would be more likely to just keep it rented for basically our mortgage which to me doesn't sound like a bad idea. So we ask my parents if they would mind 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs moving in.  To my surprise, they said yes no problem.  So we moved all of our stuff into my parents house, sold some of our living room/family room furniture and the moved the rest into storage and my husband's parents house.  We found a renter within 2 weeks and they moved in 3 days later. So now we are landlords.  We are paying off a little bit of credit card debt that accumlated over the past few years with the twins medical bills and while my hubs wasn't working and saving the rest to purchase land and build.

Also in Febrauary our beloved 3.5 yr old Great Dane suddenly got sick and we couldn't figure out was wrong until the vet took an xray and said that his stomach had flipped and that it was basically a death sentence unless we decided to pay 5,000+ for a surgery that may or may not work, so we had to say goodbye.  While I am still very sad over it we both knew it wasn't fair to our children to sink that much money into our dog who may or may not make it out of surgery and even then the life expectancy of a Great Dane is really only 5-8 years on average.  We miss him but when we build a house with a big yard we will probably get another big dog who will have room to run.

That brings us to March.  The twins just turned 22 months old, we only have 2 more months until they turn 2.  I feel like I need a time machine to go back and hold a teeny tiny 4 lb baby in my arms again just to remember what it was like.  They are independent, funny, smart and so energetic.  They can be exhausting and trying and well...a toddler, but they are so fun.  They are talking up a storm these days, small phrases are being put together, we can communicate with them better and I am just loving this age.


I like a crazy women already have their party planned and it will be taking place at a local zoo.  The twins love animals and since I don't have my house to throw a party in I figure we will just bring everything in and have a fun day at the zoo.

Which will feature lots of Mickey

And will be held here

Anyways, that brings us to today. Hopefully I will begin to blog more.  I became almost embarrassed at how long it had been since I last posted, but o well.  All I can do is try and be better.

My Favorite Holiday Things

It's no secret that I LOVE the holidays.  The hustle and bustle out shopping, the smell of a Christmas tree, Santa, baking, and the list could really go on and on.  These are just a few of my favorite things this Christmas season.

1. Scentsy-  I love Scentsy, I learned about Scentsy about 3 years ago when my MIL hosted a party, I have used it ever since.  I recently learned that Ashley sells it, and I love supporting businesses of the people I know (even if I have never met them IRL), Ashley offered me a great deal on some new Scentsy products and I LOVE them all, I am never dissapointed by Scentsy, the shipping is fast and the smells are amazing.  The main thing I love about Scentsy is that I don't have to remember to blow out a candle, like the other day when I decided to burn my Yankee Christmas candle only to get in a rush doing something else when a bag caught on fire.  My twin mommy brain just can't handle candles any longer.

Right now I am burning my scents in this awesome new burner.

These are a few of my all time favorite smells.

Head over to Ashley's Blog to contact her about getting some for yourself or a family member for Christmas!

2. My Grandma's Carmel Corn

Here is the recipe, you will not be sorry if you make it

Carmel Corn
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup regular sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 sticks butter

Bring all ingredients to a boil for 5 min.  Remove from heat and add:
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t cream of tarter
1/4 t salt

Stir and pour over 2 gallons popped popcorn, stir in pan to coat all popcorn
Bake for 1 hour at 200*
Remove from over, stir and let cool........ENJOY!

3. My Christmas Tree

Ok you caught me, this isn't what my tree truly looks like this year, I decorated it like I always would to see if what the twins would do, well my two 18 (almost 19) month toddlers started to remove every. single.  decoration.  in their arm reach.  So I moved it all up so that can't reach anything and they are doing alright with it.  I still love the smell of a real tree but I think at the end of the year I am going to find a good deal on a realistic fake one.

4.  The Twin's own Christmas Tree

I bought and decorated in soft foam decorations for them to play with and remove and put back on the tree.  They love it.

5.  Holiday Decorations

I purchased this from Lauren whom I met via twitter.  Isn't is GORGEOUS! I love it!

6. SNOW!

Ok so we don't have any snow at my house yet, but I took this coming home from my Grandma's and it was just so pretty!

7.  And LAST but certainly not least

These two precious toddlers!! Because really I went many Christmas' wondering if I would ever get to celebrate with my own children and now I can't belive we will be celebrating their 2nd Christmas!

Our Thanksgiving Recap

We got to have two Thanksgivings this year, one over at my Grandma's house on the other side of the state the weekend before Thanksgiving and then our Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving at my hubby's parents house.

Landon fell in love with a cat at my Grandma's house and now he meows when you ask him what a kitty says, it's probably the cutest thing ever.  I only got a few pictures and I don't have my good camera with me so you get Iphone pictures ;)

I love that our families get along enough to have one BIG Thanksgiving, instead of having to run all over the day of to make it to all of the Thanksgiving dinners, we get to relax at one house all day with both families! We are truly lucky, I know this. 

Landon and Ava got to actually eat turkey and all the good this year! They devoured their turkey and promptly went into a turkey coma as I called it. 



TURKEY COMA!



Mom, my belly is FULL!

Soon after the turkey coma wore off they were up and going again, there is no resting in my house anymore, these toddlers are full on toddlers and showing it these days!

We mainly just relaxed as a family all Thanksgiving weekend, I ventured out a little on Black Friday and got a few deals at Baby Gap but nothing crazy, I mean people were lining up at our Best Buy two days before Thansgiving! Daddy went hunting and my sister and I played all day long with the twins!

We got our tree on Sunday, but it is sitting in our living room waiting to be decorated.  Hopefully I can get that done tonight (fingers crossed). 

The twins also had their 18 month appointment on the 16th in which neither of them gained any weight so we have to go back in 3 months instead of 6 months to see if we just caught them before a growth spurt.  Ava weighed in at 22 lb and 32 inches long and Landon at 27 lbs and 33 inches long.  She is petite and he is a football player like daddy!

We have 18/19 month photos coming up next week and I am super excited about them!! Well thats pretty much all thats been going on here, now that Thanksgiving has come and gone I am in FULL ON CHRISTMAS MODE! Shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking; you name it I love it all during the holidays!



So this is where I say sorry for being a bad blogger...

My days lately have been busy and full and by the time the end of the day rolls around when I used to be able to write up posts and upload pictures I am just plain tired.  So blogging has fallen off for a little bit.  The twins have become so busy and are now down to one nap a day so I either spend my day working at the office or chasing my toddlers around the house and playing.  Our weekends have been taken up by family and now that we are getting into the holiday season they are only bound to become busier. 

So I am sorry for practically falling off the face of the earth and hopefully I can find a little time here and there to do a better job of keeping this up.

Well in the past month we have been busy.

* We bought a new car, a 2010 Tahoe we needed more space, it was getting to the point I could fit the stroller and nothing else so thankfully we have room for everyone and everything again.  However, it was weird to get rid of the first car I owned when we got married/bought a house/brought the twins home in.

* We celebrated my 25th birthday with dinner out as a family simple but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

* We are getting used to daddy working late 2 nights a week, of course those are on 2 of the 3 days I work at the office so it gets a little cray cray around here.

* We visited the pumpkin patch (again) but forgot to take any pictures.

* We went to the twins' first Trunk or Treat at church (where my camera died after taking one picture)

* We took the twins trick or treating around my parents neighborhood to a few houses and got to dress them up all cute!

* I got a new Iphone 4s, so I have now joined the Apple nation.

* I am so looking forward to the holidays, it is my FAVORITE time of year, it means vacation with family, baking cookies, and the holiday spirit in the air.  Also it means Starbucks red cups!

Well that kind of sums up our last month in a nutshell.  Of course if you were awesome enough to read through all of this you deserve some pictures.  So here ya go!

Also as a sidenote...twitter took my blogging mojo, it is so much easier to do from your phone! :)