Time Flies

Where does the time go? Violet and Lily are 10 1/2 months old! Updating my little blog has been on the back of my mind for quite a while, but every day is so full. When I do have down time, the last thing I want to do is write! Some find peace or relaxation in writing, but not me! Regardless, here I am. Let's do this!

Violet:
Sits up
Squeals in delight
Purrs
Says "Mama"
Has beautiful, fine, sandy blonde hair
Is very ticklish
Has a squeaky, high-pitched laugh
Is a monkey (loves bananas)
Can pick up and eat small things like puffs
Has one tooth
Baby hyperventilates when she's upset
Waves if she feels like it
Still loves the swing
Hates being on her tummy
Loves standing (with help)
Content to sit on your lap and chill
Started sucking her thumb at 8 months (nerd!)
Sucks only her left thumb with her palm up
Loves reading books
Sleeps like a rock (on her tummy)

Lily:
Sits up
Crawls all over the place
Gurgles and sings
Says "Mama", "Baba", and "Dada"
Likes to whisper
Has crazy long, thick brown hair
Laughs and giggles at everything
Eats everything!
Especially loves spaghetti sauce
Slaps the table when she wants more
Can pick up and eat small things like puffs
Smiles and squints her eyes at the camera
Has two teeth
Waves at everyone (even people on the news)
Is on the go (wild thing!)
Won't sit in your lap longer than about 30 seconds
Pulls herself up to standing and has started to inch around too
Loves bath time with Daddy (splashes, kicks, plays with toys)
Pulls the DVDs off the shelf
Loves reading books

 

I'm lucky I have such amazing, beautiful twin girls! I can't wait to see what is coming next!



Chocolate Balls

I know I haven't posted anything in for-e-ver (working full-time and twin girls keep me pretty busy). If you are reading this you really want to hear about my girls! Sorry. I'll update soon! This one's about chocolate.

 

I have a major sweet tooth after meals. I feel like I NEED dessert. I found these amazing chocolate balls at Costco that are perfectly delicious. They're dark chocolate with acai and blueberry or pomegranate inside. Doesn't sound too unhealthy, right? Well of course Costco stopped carrying them! They have some that are Kirkland brand now but they're just not the same! The chocolate isn't as creamy and the fruit is bleh. As I'm searching up and down the aisles in case they cruelly moved the good chocolate balls, I find dark chocolate and coconut covered almonds. I tried them today in my lunch. Yesssss! All is well. Sweet tooth satisfied.

Baby food

I decided to make my own baby food and I'm so glad I did! It's quick and easy to make. I have a pressure cooker so it's even faster than steaming or baking! Everything cooks in 2-5 minutes. I use the pressure cooker, a stainless steel bowl, my immersion blender (love that thing!), ice cube trays, and quart-size baggies to freeze it. So far I've made sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, green beans, peaches, and zucchini. I've also mashed up bananas and avocado. It's so fun to see the girls' reactions to different foods. We've added in whole milk yogurt too. I'll mix a fruit with that and they really seem to like it, but their favorite is definitely sweet potatoes! I'll add a little olive oil to the veggies for extra calories and I added a little cinnamon to the sweet potatoes. Yum!

We have a little routine down for meal times. After they drink milk, I put them in their high chairs, put their bibs on, and wash their hands with a warm rag. Then I feed them until they aren't interested any more. I wash their faces and hands and then get a small cup of water. Both girls love grabbing the cup (with my help) with both hands and drinking from it. It took a few days of water running down their front, but now they actually drink from a regular cup! It's the cutest thing!

Lily wants to do it herself! She grabs the spoon from me and puts it right in her mouth. I give her a spoon to play with so when she sees the spoon coming, she opens wide and in it goes! She's so eager. I love it! Violet just started grabbing for the spoon, but before she wasn't as sure of solids as Lily was. She'd open her mouth and I'd put a little food in. She'd look at me like, "What in the hell did you just put in my mouth?" I'd say, "It's sweet potatoes, Violet! Yummy!" Then she'd smile with all the food on the tip of her tongue. Half of it ends up on her bib, but that's alright! They're just learning new flavors right now, although I know they need to grow faster so the extra calories are good for them.

We also let them suck/gnaw on big chunks of food. We went to our favorite Thai restaurant last weekend and I gave the girls each a piece of my bell peppers to suck on. They loved it! They also love cantaloupe and broccoli. It's fun to just give them manageable pieces of what we're eating.

They are doing so well, and still drinking a ton of milk so hopefully their weight continues to grow at a steady rate. I just have to remind myself that they were premature and they're twins so it's ok that they're little! They're happy and healthy! What more could I ask for?!

Yummy broccoli!

I love bananas!

Goodbye summer

Summer's coming to an end and I have mixed feelings about going back to work. This has definitely been the best summer of my life, with my two sweet little girls to be at home with. They have grown and changed so much the last few months! They are rolling all over the place, cooing and laughing, and they're almost sitting up on their own. Their little personalities are so precious! They've recently figured out how to do raspberries. It's so funny! I wonder what I'll miss when I'm at work. That's the hardest part! I think I have the best job for being a mom though. School ends at 2:15 and I have every holiday off, including extra days in the fall, winter, and spring, not to mention summers off! I really do love teaching. I'm excited to meet my new students. I spent all day at school Tuesday and my classroom is pretty much ready to go. The girls went to Mary's that day. When I went to pick them up, I heard one of the other kids say, "But I don't want the babies to go!" They already have friends there! I know it's so good for them socially and their immune systems will be stronger from being around more kids. It's such a great day care too. The kids are always playing in the backyard and are laughing and happy. Mary and Val are so sweet and take good care of the kids. I just need to remember that I can work and be a good mom! I have a great example...my mom! She worked full-time, and I can say all three of us sisters turned out alright!

At one of our favorite restaurants.

Working on those raspberries!

The Sandlot

I was able to get tickets to see The Sandlot at THE Sandlot! It really is a sandlot. They just mowed down the weeds and put up a big blow up movie screen. Luckily, we brought a few blankets to sit on. I didn't realize it's on private property, behind some houses on Navajo Street. You actually have to walk through someone's driveway to get to it. Most of the cast was there, as well as the director and producer. They did a little Q&A before the movie, which was a lot of fun! The actors are really funny, especially The Great Hambino! They were all happy to be back to Salt Lake after 20 years. Once the sun went down, we watched the "Making of" and then the movie with about 1500 other people! Some were standing in line for autographs the entire time! Even though it was way past the girls' bedtime, they did pretty good (Lily got a little fussy) and slept well that night too.

At the Sandlot! The cast is in front of the screen.

A coughing kitty

Sometimes when the girls are tired or hungry they get a little fussy. Violet’s fussy cry sounds like a cat meowing! Lily’s fussy cry includes little coughs! It’s actually quite funny to hear them both going! Reowww, cough, cough, reeeowww!

Snuggle buddies

The girls go to bed at 8:00 and have no problems going right to sleep. Ryan and I go in and check on them before we go to bed, usually around 10. Almost every night they are snuggled up together. Sometimes I'll move them apart a bit so they have plenty of room to stretch and so their faces don't get covered. Last night they were right next to each other and Lily was holding Violet's arm. I moved Violet to the other end of the crib, and she immediately rolled back to Lily! A few times Lily has been sleeping on her side and has her legs up on Violet. Other nights we go in and see they are in the exact same position; they have both arms up above their heads or straight out to the sides. Violet smiles a lot in her sleep, sleeps with her eyes half open (apparently I used to do this too), and will sleep on her knees with her bum in the air! Lily will sleep on her tummy with her head face down on the mattress. She's funny because she'll be fast asleep and then lift her head up like she's looking around, and then slam her head face down back to the mattress. She does this about three times before she's settled. We love going in to check on them every night. There's nothing like watching babies sleep. We could watch them all night!