Love Squared

We are still here

2010-02-08T07:01:00.003-07:00

I've been working nights since October.

trying to squeeze in some fun stuff with the boyos

like this past weekend when we went to see Disney Live downtown
the only pictures I got were some afterwards outside by the Convention Center by the Big Blue Bear statue there

the Convention Center is where my graduation was held last May

Sat What Wednesday!

2009-09-02T22:36:00.002-06:00

So while there is a couple of hours left here for Wednesday I jsut remebered a little something that would definitly qualify for Say What Wednesday. The fun chance for us to share a embarrassing or funny or silly things our kids say.

This one happened to us yesterday as the we were out in the front yard with my mom. A man comes jogging down the street wearing only his running shoes and a pair of pretty short running shorts. My mom said sometihng aobut him adn then we turned away. Hunter then starts pointing and loudly saying look mom and look mama. As if thats not enough Ethan then notices him and yells from the front porch that that man is naked. I really wanted to crawl into the bush in the front yard and hide.

for more say what moments hop on over to Two Little Monkeys

Way Back Wednesday- Birthday Edition

2009-09-02T08:04:00.003-06:00

date: Sept. 2008

age: 3 years

this is a picture from the boys birthdya party last year. They were (and still are) totally into firetrucks. Hunter loved his cake I made him so much that he wouldnt let me cut it and everytime a guest would come he would take them to the kitchen to show them. Good thing I had some extra cakes. This year we are doing a big combined birthday party for myself, my little brother and the boys since my brother will be here for Labor Day weekend. Its hard to beleive that in a week they will be 4 years old. And 4 years ago today I was huge but hoping they wouldnt come that day because I didnt really want to share my birthday with them.

check out some more photos from way back by heading on over to Twinfatuation

Its getting closer!

2009-08-21T22:58:00.003-06:00

Back to school is next week for the boys. They are both ready. Hunter has been asking for like half the summer at least once a week when we get ready to go somewhere "go school?"

This year will be a little different because instead of going in the mornings like they did last year they will go in the afternoons because it will allow Hunter more time working with the spec ed team plus they needed to put some younger kids into the 2 day morning spots that Hunter was in because they had originally put him into two 2 day sessions. I tihnk it might be a good step into getting ready for all day kindergarten for next year if they go next year. But they probably wont becuase if they went next year they would be starting K before they even turn 5 becuase of their early September birthdays and the cutoff being towards the end of Sept. I will probably keep them home a year though because I want them to be able to excel both academically as well as in sports and I feel that being the youngest in their class could pose a threat to that. I know there were struggles for both my brother and and I in school when we were the youngest in our classes.

They will again be in seperate classrooms because of overprotectivness and jealousy issues with both of them. Hunter will look out for Ethan to the point where he will take toys away from other kids to give to him and Ethan gets jealous of Hunter sometimes for playing with other kids and will get upset and start yelling its not fair thats my brother when left behind.

Finally called today about getting Ethan a pt eval but still waiting for that.

I've been slacking at putting pictures from the camera onto the computer so I will share this one from my mom's phone that she took a few weeks ago. This is from before they decided that the mohawks had to go

I dont think I've ever actually blogged about this

2009-08-16T22:14:00.002-06:00

I think I've tried a couple of times but it never really worked because of all the emotions behind it.

But I'm sure its been picked up on through my other posts and now that I did update the sidebar not too long ago.

Hunter is my starting to talk but still quiet kid because he has something called Childhood Apraxia of Speech (also called just apraxia). For those of you who don't know what this is it is basically a neuro muscular thing where his brain has problems communicating with his vocal muscles thus limiting his speech. He started speech therapy last July and at the time only had like 5 words that he could say besides his many sounds for animals and vehicles. A year later he is still severe but does communicate alot better. He has alot more words and is even using them in 2-3 word combos. All the words he does use are all one syllable besides repeating ones like papa. He did imitate yellow and purple before but being more difficult words he didn't keep them which is a common apraxic thing to do. He now calls yellow things orange because that's alot easier to say then yellow but that's a big improvement over everything being blue as it was last year.

He really only uses a couple of names and they are shortened versions such as when he talks about Ethan it comes out more like En which makes Ethan call him H sometimes. And his best friend from school last year was Bren shortened version of Brendan. He doesn't refer to himself by a name yet but rather air writes the letter H and says A because he hasn't mastered that ch sound yet.

He does have an Alternative Augmentative Communication device (AAC) which we got a couple of months ago but I have been about working with him using it. We didn't try much with signing because I wasn't sure of how to work with 2 babies on it when they were little. His first SLP did a little with it but trying to use more then one or two signs when copying her just lost him and it was hard for him to pick up new signs after he got more and help and thank you down. His OT figured that it could be his apraxia affected his hands as well which made it hard to communicate that way.

On the topic of OT he also has some sensory processing disorder (SPD) related things that might be tied in with his apraxia. He has some touch things as well as motor planning and postural control issues. He has gotten better in somewhat as far as getting his hands dirty and touching things. He will put his hands in the tub of beans at OT but wont touch the shaving cream. he actually jumped out of his chair the last time she was playing with him with the shaving cream when she patted the table and some flew towards him. For some reason he also has an aversion to pudding but will eat applesauce and yogurt. He is getting better about eating vegetables and will even eat a few different green things now.

The Pod Swaddler Pattern GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-08-06T13:30:00.000-06:00

such a great idea. This would be great to ahve to make some gifts because I always seem to have friends having babies

The Pod Swaddler Pattern GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Special Exposure and Way Back Wednesday!

2009-08-05T00:14:00.007-06:00

trying something new around here this week...

First off some special pictures from our first picking from our garden. Hunter has been so excited for "his" tomatos to grow and the cucumbers. We would check almost every day to see if anything had grown yet and then he would dance around from plant to plant saying "eat" so when we finally got to pick some cucumbers and a tomato he was very happy.

thats Ethan with just a cuke and Hunter has one of each.

Unfortunatly despite all of Hunter's excitment over the new veggies he didnt want to try them. He wouldnt take a piece of cucumber which he will sometimes eat and I thought he ate the piece of tomato but found it later on the table. Ethan must not have been around becuase he loves tomatos and will eat them like an apple. I think the next thing I will try with Hunter will be some mayo to dip some veggies in because he is loving the mayo right now. Click on the picture below for more Special Exposure Wednesday fun.

Way back along time ago (I cant remember the year but it was many many ago before dad and aunts were born so pre 1940s probably) there was another set of twin babies in the family

I know that the two babies are my dad's twin uncles Ron and Don and I know that his dad standing behind the two ladies but I dont remember exactly who the rest of the family members are.

Now fast forward to August 1, 2009 to our family reunion held in our backyard this year and this is a picture of Ron and Don as well as Ethan and Hunter. Not only were these 2 sets here there was also an 11 year old boy and girl whose grandma is the youngest sister to R&D.
find more Way Back fun by clicking on this button below

Hide N Seek Woodland Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-08-05T00:03:00.000-06:00

Hide N Seek Woodland Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Not My Child!

2009-07-20T13:49:00.004-06:00

So I decided to play along with Mckmama this week as we discuss those little things that our children did not do. Some of these things are things they did not do awhile ago and some are more recent things they did not do.

My child did not yell loudly in Target that there were naked ladies on the wall nor did he loudly talk about the "old" man with a mohawk.
And I most certainly did not suddenly start looking closely at the cute skirts while he talked about the guy with the mohawk.

My child also did not try sticking items in grandma's purse and shirt at target and he most certainly did not pick up a movie off the check out belt on our way out before the cashier could scan it for the lady behind us.

My child did not come outside with his pants around his ankles and did not need his butt wiped because I was not sitting outside enjoying some drinks with friends.

My child did not pee on a tree at the park and my brother did not let him do this because the bathroom was a ways off.

Check out MckMama's blog carnival for more stories of the things that children have not done

Hunter read MckMama?

2009-07-17T23:19:00.003-06:00

At least after his pajama choice tonight I would be lead to think so. He picked out the mismatched top and pants which made me laugh after MckMama's post and picture the other day. Sorry for the poor quality picture I had to use my phone because my camera is on vacation with my parents and I wasn't sure where the cord for the other one was at so I didn't want to use it.

I like that he does include in his outfit the same pjs that Big Mac was wearing only difference being that he went with the pants.

I was pretty shocked that he would want to freely wear pjs that don't match. He is very adamant about not wearing mis-matched pjs 99% of the time.

We had another appointment day yesterday with Hunter having a hearing re check and Ethan having to go in to get a referral for PT. Hunter did really great he didn't even want me to go into the room with him at first. But having to wear headphones while listening to bird noises quickly got old for him and he walked out of the room with only like 5 more to go. S we will have to go back to finish them up. And Ethan's appointment was a breeze pretty much in and out after she looked at his feet and ankles and said why yes he is flat footed and pronates in. She did try saying that maybe PT wasn't the place to go to get him inserts or whatever but I made sure she realized that it was what was recommended by his OT who I think probably had more of an idea about it then her. I was just confused about why now we had to go all official and get a referral for PT when Hunter got into OT off of the recommendation after his speech eval and Ethan got into OT after Hunter's OT observed him while he joined Hunter in a couple of sessions.

Baby Pciture Sunday - Gimme Some Sugar!

2009-07-12T19:01:00.004-06:00

Gimme Some Sugar!

9 months I beleive during a photoshoot in front of one of their Winnie the Pooh blankets. This is the cropped version of the picture.

Hanging out in front of the Old House 19 months old I love getting those special moments between the boys when I happen to have a camera available. I have many pictures of them hugging and loving on each other.

I used to ahve an edited version of this photo that included the most perfect quote that now I cant remember besides something along the lines of when brothers wrestle they are really hugging

Head over to Debi's to see more sweet pictures

Random Thoughts

2009-07-08T21:42:00.002-06:00

After pool time today I put Hunter into a pair of plaid shorts that turn out to be the ones Ethan was wearing in the picture posted today in WBW. They still fit around the waist just they are a little short. The shirts are kinda short too but they don't get pulled out very often because the boyos fight over who gets to wear the one with a monster truck on it. Just another reason I buy them identical things these days. All there shorts from 2 summers ago are finally getting too small. Kinda stinks because now I have to go and try and find shorts for them to wear to school in August. Plus all new pants and a few new shirts as well since they have gotten too tall for the stuff they wore last year. I got spoiled these past couple of years where they have been able to fit in the same things because first they wore it long so that it would fit around chunky bellies and diaper butts and then they were the only pants that wouldn't fall down. On that topic Ethan still has a problem with a pair of 3T cutoffs falling down that Hunter's are almost too small to button. Finally his waist is bigger then Ethan's after all this time when it seemed that Ethan weighed several pounds less but was chunkier. Maybe its because Hunter has reached a point where his weight and height are almost the same. almost 44in and about 43lbs. Ethan just hit 40lbs and is almost 42in. Thinking of making some pudding for Hunter to play in but I don't think it will go over to well since he wouldn't even taste it last week. But he did eat a whole serving of mashed potatoes not to long ago with his fingers. First time eating anything off his fingers and the first time even eating more then a tiny taste of mashed potatoes. Plus he ate a whole piece of broccoli last night. Would have eaten more but the rest of it was harder then his first piece. Wow my thoughts were really going tonight. I should do this more often. but I will leave you with a picture of the boyos with Uncle Aaron at the park last week before he went back to New York.

Way Back When-sday! Watermelon!

2009-07-08T12:05:00.003-06:00

May 2007

20 months

Hunter digging in to what looks like a quarter of the melon. He had finished his slice and swiped another one from the kitchen.

Ethan chowing down on his slice.

They have always been big fans of watermelon. Ethan even claimed the watermelon in the garden as his. But I dont think its going to make it. I brought one home last week for the fourth though and he told me his watermelon had grown.

for even more sweet memories head on over to Twinfatuation

Two for Two-sday - Cool Dudes

2009-07-07T10:35:00.002-06:00

here's a little shot from a recent shopping trip to Target. I was trying on sun hats with the boyos until they spotted the rack of sunglasses. Thank goodness for camera phones so that I could snap this photo.

chekc out more doubly delicious photos by clicking on the button

I ♥ Faces “Spice Up Your Camera” Strap Giveaway

2009-06-24T09:02:00.002-06:00

Go check it out now. I ♥ Faces is doing a great giveaway (2 of them actually)this week.

giveaway #1
A one-of-a-kind camera strap from Lori’s business, “Pepper: Spice Up Your Camera”!!

definitly worth checking out. I love love love the prepper and bourbon street straps.

giveaway #2
A 6-month membership to Photo Talk Forum which is set up specifically for those who want to get serious about photography.

2 very great giveaways for your chance hop on over to I ♥ Faces and check it out

It's Here!

2009-06-23T23:25:00.002-06:00

Hunter's Talker came today and we are all so excited. He was so happy to see the Fed Ex truck and ecstatic that he brought something fro him.

Unfortunately there is another little boy in the house who just doesn't understand why his brother gets this new exciting toy and he doesn't get to play with it. The whole concept of that he can talk and his brother cant just doesn't make any sense to him.

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

2009-06-23T14:16:00.003-06:00

I ♥ Faces Week 24: Lets Hear it For the Boys!!!

I was going to use a picture of both boys but as I was going through pictures I ran across this one and thought it just screamed boy. This is a shot of Hunter at my grad party which was a luau after someone taught him how to lick and stick the confetti. I'm pretty sure his fingers are holding onto some pineapples.

I'm still here

2009-06-19T23:14:00.003-06:00

Just been crazy busy around here.

Graduated like a month ago.

took some pictures of me with the boys

been blowing lots of bubbles

and job hunting...yuck...so far not much luck...one interview last month...

Our Mother's Day

2009-05-12T22:58:00.002-06:00

So with all the busyness going on with finals this week ( I should be studying right now) I forgot to post about all our "fun" we had on Sunday. It started out nice getting to sleep in because with the rain we had over the weekend it hid the sun and the boys slept in for about an hour. Once they woke up is when the real fun started. Hunter woke up with leg pain and I figured it was just his growing pains he gets every now and then. He walked/hobbled along the edge of the bed and only made it a couple of more steps before sitting down in the door. I had to carry him to the bathroom and then downstairs because he wouldn't walk. Okay still figured it was nothing because once again he will do that when his pains come. He ended up not walking all morning even after some Motrin and after he fell down when I tried to stand him up decided it was time to take him to Urgent care. I figured when all he wanted to do was lay on the couch and watch cartoons something was up because he will usually sit for awhile and then be up playing. It wasn't that bad at Urgent Care and we didn't wait to get a room to long. It was nice that he is already in the system at Children's Hosp. so we didn't have to fill out any paperwork. The Dr came in to check him out and by that time he was getting pretty mad because he didn't want the bracelet on his wrist and that was all he would focus on. Then to make it even better she ordered x-rays to rule out a fracture because she said it is possible for toddlers to get them easily. He was not a happy camper about that at all. And not long after that she ordered another round of x rays of his foot. Thankfully the x-rays all came back good because I don't even want to think about trying to cast or splint him because there is no way he would tolerate that. He got a dose of Tylenol which was another battle because the first one once I got it in his mouth he waited till we moved away from him and spit it on the floor. come back with another dose and some help and they got it in there. He told the nurse away several times after that. To wrap it all up he ended up walking out of there and was running and jumping by the end of the day. She said it could be a mild sprain or post viral joint pain. He was a little sore yesterday but seems good now. We were there for about 3 hours so he ended up missing his nap but didn't seem to cranky when we went to dinner at my brother and SILs. It did catch up with him yesterday at OT but she took it easy with him.

Awesome Giveaway over at Multiples...and More

2009-05-09T08:47:00.003-06:00

Their Sponser spotlight this week is on My Full House Designs. This is an amazing Etsy shop with personalized hand painted wall art. She has a lot of awesome designs and I think I have found what to get my mom for her birthday later this summer.

this is one of my favorites that I might get her

Right now though you have the chance to win one by heading on over to Multiples...and more

Locks of Love!

2009-05-09T00:50:00.002-06:00

I decided to cut my hair because I figured I needed a new look for graduation since my hair style has pretty much fallen back into almost the same style when I graduated highschool 9 years ago(minus the bangs) and finally was able to go today. I knew I wanted something kinda short but didnt think I had enough to donate to Locks of Love but hurray I did. I'm loving the new look and just couldn't wait to show it off.

Too bad the boys didnt feel the same way. Tomorrow they get their turn for a haircut when I break out the clippers again and they get a much shorter cut for summer.

Baby Picture Sunday!

2009-04-26T08:53:00.003-06:00

Flower Power!

Here's another shot from when we lived in Salida and had awesome flowers. Starting to get some more this year. The boyos have always loved stopping and smelling the flowers. Even when we are at a craft store with the fake flowers we have to wait sometimes so that they can sniff.

Check out more flowery fotos by frolicking over to Who Says Eight is Enough

Two for Two-sday!

2009-04-21T16:25:00.002-06:00

Ethan, Hunter, Brooke, & Mikayla age 3

I know this picture looks like it has 4 kids in it but really it is 2 sets of twins. Since I havent gotten the chance to post any pictures from Easter I thought I would at least share this one of the boys and their cousins. What a difference from last year when I had to be happy with having them all in the boat to get a picture of all of them. Now if only I could have gotten them all looking when I lined them up to show the difference in height. And I got a chance at feeling like many people feel about the boys about how do you tell them apart (but I did learn after noticing one had curls in her hair and the other didnt that their head size is one way to tell them apart)

check out here for the picture of their first Easter (on the same couch) and the one from last year.

For more double the fun head on over to Eight is Great and see who else is playing along

Stellan is in our Prayers

2009-04-21T16:15:00.004-06:00

He is out of surgery ao now we pary that he recovers quickly and is back home with his McSiblings soon.

Baby Picture Sunday!

2009-04-19T07:53:00.002-06:00

Here Comes the Sun!

Here's a shot from when the boys were about 20 months old. we were on a picnic at the park and decided to see what they thought about walking in the water. It really grew on them and in the end they didnt want to get out.

Check out more sunny pictures by going over to Who Says Eight is Enough

Keep Praying!

2009-04-16T08:16:00.002-06:00

Stellan's on the move right now on his way to Boston. Surgery is scheduled for next week once they get him weaned off the medicines. So please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Pure and Simple

2009-04-13T23:44:00.002-06:00

What a great weekend we had. The boys loved the Easter Egg Hunt we went to on Saturday. Though Hunter was ready from the get go to put some eggs in his backet. Haha I tried typing hunt in and started writing Hunter (and did it the second time too). He did great waiting in the lines, actually that was all he really wanted to do. He makes me smile so mcuh. He is getting to be so much more sociable and starting to tell people hi, even without being told to. He was at ot today and another little boy came in and his OT asked him what do you say and he told the boy hi which is like a first for him to talk to a stranger like that and not have to be told to say hi, well anymore then what she said. The girl twin cousins came over for a ltitle bit yesterday and he kept trying to get them to go downstaris with him and play but I'm not sure how mcuh of it was they didn't understand him adn how much was they seem really shy. Ethan had a great time at the hunt too. He rode on the pony cart (which I didn't get a pciture of becuase Hutner had enough of that line and was ready to try out another line). He did the bouncy slide thing. They ran an obstacle course. I have pictures from this weekend but have not yet got them uploaded yet because I had a test today and am worn out from the weekend. Hunter must have been too because my mom told me this evening that he went upstairs after lunch on his own with his blankets and laid down. So I'm off to bed and will hopefully get pictures uploaded in the morning. Got some almost great shots of all the twins yesterday. I think there might even be one of all of them looking.

He is Risen!

2009-04-12T08:23:00.002-06:00

THE LAMB OF GOD

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God

Who takes away our sin

He came the sinless

Son of GodTo cleanse our hearts within

He hung upon the blood-stained cross

Thinking of you and me

Dying like some hardened criminal

His body in agony

His blood flowed down from the cross

His body tormented with pain

He cried out to His Heavenly Father

But it seemed no answer came

People stood and jeered at Him

Mocking to the end

Who Jesus was and why He came

They couldn’t comprehend

Their hearts were indifferent to the Lord

Their consciences grew ever cold

His mother watched on - unable to bear it

As the sword pierced through her soul

As you try to grasp this picture

The pain that Christ went through

Remember that day you were on His mind

He endured it all for you

Just so you could know His love

And forgiveness for your sins

To know His resurrection power

And to have His life within

He cares that much about your life

He endured the cross for you

Like those who jeered, or those who loved

With Jesus – what will you do?

Baby Picture Sunday - Easter

2009-04-11T22:35:00.003-06:00

here's like the only shot I have from Easter 2007 when the boys were 18 months old. They had these really cute outfits but it ended up being too cold to wear them on Easter. Wierd since the year before they were able to wear the same type of outfits. But these were from our photo shoot right before Easter that year.

Way Back When-esday!

2009-04-08T10:27:00.002-06:00

March 2007

18 months

Ethan is checking out the daffodils back when we lived in Salida. I love daffodils and was actually missing these flowers recently. We have a few here that have come up last month but nothing like those in Salida that would come up in February and last for a couple of months. So pretty they were and the boys loved smelling the flowers.

Check out osme more pictures from memory lane by heading on over to Twinfatuation

Baby Picture Sunday!

2009-04-05T08:52:00.007-06:00

So this week's theme is Creative Moments and even though I'm on a new computer with no old pictures on it I had a bunch I made over on my MySpace account to choose from. It was hard just choosing a few so I ended up with four this week. I use Paint Shop Pro XI to do my pictures.

If you couldn't tell from these ones and some other pictures I have on here I really like the b/w or sepia with color.

Head on Over and see Debi at Who Says 8 is Enough to see some more creative moments

So Excited

2009-04-04T09:11:00.003-06:00

So I called this week to get Ethan an OT eval because Hunter's OT thought it wouldn't hurt because she noticed some hesitancy when he came and worked out with Hunter a couple of times. Still waiting to hear back from them. Thats the one of the few complaints I have about Children's is that sometimes it takes a few times to get ahold of someone. Of course it seems like anytime I try and make appointments I end up playing phone tag with them.
I got a copy of the papers Hunter's SLP sent to the company for his talker which means they have the order and it should only take about 6 weeks to get it approved from Medicaid so he should have it soon.
Only 6 weeks left till graduation. Super exciting. Got my dress and shoes. I'll have to take some pictures later because they are awesome.

Magpie Designz in the Spotlight at Mulitples...and More

2009-04-03T13:15:00.003-06:00

So I have found the place I will probably be getting my new necklace for graduation thanks to the awesome ladies at Multiples...and More.

Today they are spotlighting Magpie Designz. Great unique one of a kind jewelry can be found there. For more info check out their spotlight at Multiples...and More and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for this (which I'm hoping to win)

and if not I have the tough desicion of which one to buy including this one

or maybe this one

Great Happenings in Blog Land

2009-04-01T18:11:00.002-06:00

First off a great new blog to connect those of us blessed with Multiples

The ladies here are offering great info, interviews, reviews and give aways. Check them out this week for daily giveaways in celebration of opening up. So far they have interviewed Cheryl Lage, author of Twinspiration (the one book I didnt find out about till the boys were past those stages but wish I would have) and fellow blogger over at Twinfatuation and she also owns Twinsights, site where she answers questions about parenting twins and shares exerpts from her book and pictures of her readers cuties. Today is review day featuring the DVD series Signing Time as well as a giving away the first volume to one lucky reader. Coming up in May will be a fundraiser Blog Party in honor of Tuesday. Learn more at Who Says Eight is Enough Gives Back

Way Back When-esday!

2009-04-01T09:15:00.003-06:00

Ethan on the left and Hunter on the right

Oct 20005

1 month old

Okay I'm guessing on the dates here but it was sometime during their first month and a half. Maybe it was still September. I don't think we actually went anywhere but just enjoyed some warm weather for a few minutes while trying out our second hand double stroller. So tiny they were and funny that they both were trying to cover their faces. This is still in the period where it was harder to tell them apart. Thank goodness they wore different clothes because the one time they wore identical outfits my mom mixed them up and made me look twice at them.

check out more pictures from days of yester year by heading on over to Twinfatuation.

A Dragon and Snow

2009-03-29T23:59:00.004-06:00

So these dragon pictures are from a couple of weeks ago but I had misplaced my camera (found it in my coat pocket from that day which I hadn't needed till a couple of days ago when it snowed). They are at the play area at the art center here in town. It is a giant dragon sculpture that sprays smoke (water mist) in the summer. We had taken the boys last summer and they thought it was kinda cool but it was way better now that they are better at climbing and know what a dragon is.

Hunter doesnt care

But Ethan's not to sure

Dont let it eat me
So we had some fun inside and out this weekend with the snow. While we waited for it to warm up a bit yesterday we made hand print lilies for Grandma since real ones arent allowed in the house because of allergies. We got the directions from Family Fun magazine but they don't seem to be online. Looks like a bunch of other Easter crafts though that we are going to have to try out.

Once we were done with that and had eaten some lunch we headed outside to play in the snow. A couple hours later there were two tired out little boys and one half built snow fort. Unfortunately the sun was out and by the end of the afternoon the front walls had fallen down.

For Stellan

2009-03-27T17:10:00.003-06:00

A storm yesterday dropped about a foot of snow on us giving the boys their first snow day and the first one I can think of happening in a long time. So crazy that it was so nice last week that I got out shorts for the boys and now snow. Just another proof that we live in Colorado. Which makes it wierd because we have not had hardly any snow this year. This is the first time it has snowed this month which is uspposed to be one of the wettest months here. I cant even remember the last time it snowed for sure. At least once in Feb maybe twice. And I'm sure it was procedded by 70 degree days jsut days before the weather turned.

But the snow was great because it is bringing much needed moisture (now we dont have to go out and water the lawn yet) and it gave me a chance to make a name picture for baby Stellan.

you can check out other pictures by going to Knowing Norah where she has set up Mr Linky so all of Mckmama's followers can share their pictures

Pray for baby Stellan

2009-03-24T07:42:00.002-06:00

this beautiful boy is in need of all the prayers he can get right now. Not supposed to make it to birth because the drs found Supra Ventricular Tachycardia in utero, many rallied and prayers abounded. This MckMiracle proved the drs wrong when he was born and had no signs of SVT. Unfortunetly things have turned around after being sick last weekend. He is now in the hospital with SVT and the drs are working non stop to try and bring in heart rate down. His heart is swollen from all the exertion and he is badly in need of all your prayers. Stay updated by checking out Mckmama's blog

Baby Picture Sunday

2009-03-08T15:23:00.003-06:00

swinging away

climbing the rock mountain

slide time

So these are like the first park pictures we have when the boys were about a year old. I guess it was probably because they never cared for swings and we took them other places instead. I look at these pictures and think they look so small but really they were about 26-27lbs. Awww and poor Ethan still didnt have much hair while Hunter looked ready for another haircut.

Head on over to Who Says Eight is Enough to check out some more babies at the park

Way Way Back When-esday

2009-02-25T07:59:00.002-07:00

who: my mom and uncle with their mom

when: many many years ago

age: they were around 3, so same age as my boys

I finally got this picture on here so I could share it with you. Another twin family picture. I havent compared too many pictures of my uncle with the boys but I did discover that if you cover up my mom's curls that she looks almost identical to Ethan. Maybe that means Hunter looks more like my uncle. He does have the slimmer face like him while Ethan has the rounder face. Plus just like my boys they are fraternal, hehehe.

Okay anyways, go check out some more memories by heading on over to Twinfatuation.

go, hurry now, what are you waiting for

oh yeah this is my 50th post. So tune in later to see if I'm gonna do anytihng big to celebrate

Two for Two-sday

2009-02-24T07:57:00.002-07:00

what do you do on a nice January night on Colorado? Why roast marshmallows of course. Ok maybe not always but for some reason my mom and Hunter decided it was time to try out the fire ring that they had built in the backyard. The boys thought it was cool and of course we had to try our hand at roasting marshmallows. Probably would have worked better if we would have tried before the fire was pretty much out. Thats okay though becuase Ethan still enjoyed eating slightly warmed marshmallows. Hunter just did it for the fun because he doesnt like marshmallows.

And now I know that you really want to go check out more twofer pictures over at Eight is Great.

So I'm quickly approaching my 50th post (like the next one I do will be it) so I'm thinking I better do something cool for it so keep your eyes open and be ready. I might even have a little give away.

WOW

2009-02-22T10:06:00.009-07:00

Children's Museum that is. So I've been meaning to post the pictures from our trip like a week ago but kept forgetting. This was our first trip to this museum and we were excited because everything I had heard about it and the pictures on the website looked fun fun fun. For some reason I thought it was a bigger building (maybe because I'm used to the 2 story one downtown). But it was great. It was two big rooms with a few side rooms but way better then the other one because there werent as many places to look around and freak out about when one of the little people decided to go exploring on their own. I didnt get a whole lot of pictures of Hunter becuase he is so anti photos most of the time but I managed a few. And lots of Ethan especially dressing up since he is the one who tolerates me doing that to him. Like the other museum the train table was a huge hit. Thats one area where the downtown one is nice because they have a whole room with several tables that you can build your own tracks vs the little one here which was smaller then the table we have at home.

Ethan the Dinosaur ROAR!

Hunter the Marching Band Pirate

Ethan loved playing the piano & he looked pretty cute doing it

the bubble machine was pretty awesome. Hunter didnt want to stop once he finally checked it out. He kept trying to blow bubbles out the side when he pulled on the handle.

Ethan thought it was a blast too

Two for Two-sday

2009-02-17T08:19:00.003-07:00

We celebrated an early Valentine's Day on Friday since the boys didn't have school and went and checked out the other Children's museum we heard about recently. It was lots of fun for the boys and way easier for me since its all in 2 big rooms versus many rooms on 2 levels like the big one downtown. Ethan discovered the music room adn played the piano ofr the longest time. Here Hunter decided he wanted to try it out with him.

Check out more doubly delicious pictures by heading over to Eight is Great

Makes My Monday

2009-02-16T22:42:00.002-07:00

So here it is. My first time doing Makes My Monday. Monday is almost over but I decided after reading a sad story about a little girl getting made fun of because of her apraixia I would share a story that happened to us last week that really makes my day every time I think of it. Rewinding a little further then just last week to start off with because it is a school story and one of the biggest fears I had and still ahve for Hunter going to school is his difficulty when it comes to communicating. I am so afraid that it is going to sepreate him from the other kids and they will make fun of him for it and what not. But some of those fears were dismissed last week at his Valentine's Day party. They did the normal preschool party things beginning with singing songs for the parents. It brought tears to my eyes (and does as I wrtie this) to watch him sitting there while everyone else sings. He did attempt to mouth a few words as he does every now and then at home with some songs and nursery rhymes and he moved back and forth to the music. After that it was time for opening of the valentines and then snack time and making valentines. The thing that really made my day came at the end of the party when one of the little boys in his class came up to him and gave him a valentine that he had made. His mom told me that he had wanted to make it for Hunter. He had taken the time to write Hunter's name inside of it as well as his own. I think Hunter realized how special the card is and we still have the card and he loves to show it off to whoever will take the time to look at it. Thinking back now I remember many other times od that same little boy making sure he tells Hunter hi every time he sees him at the beginning of class and bye when they leave.

Head on over to Twinfatuation to see what is brightening the week for Cheryl and all the others.

Way Back When-esday!

2009-02-11T16:25:00.002-07:00

date: February 2006
age: 5 months

Here are the boys in their shirts for their first Valentine's Day. Too bad I didnt buy them bigger because they didnt get to wear them much. One of the shirts was a 6-9M and the other was 12M. Wierd because they were by the same company but they were the same size.

Join in more way back fun with Cheryl over at Twinfatuation

Two for Two-sday

2009-02-10T10:11:00.004-07:00

If you couldnt tell by the 2 pictures the theme for this week is teamwork (makes me what to start singing the Wonderpet's song "what's gonna work, teamwork" Ethan used to sing this when we would build box houses). You can get alot more accomplished when there are 2 little people helping then jsut one. Cuz sled dont go very far without a brother to pull you and shovleing out the trailer to build up the hill takes alot longer too. Too bad it was so warm that day that all the efforst to move snow over there didnt work and just made a muddier mess.

Head on over and see Deanna at Eight is Great if you want to check out dome more terrific twosomes.

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-09T22:57:00.002-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not turn in my application for graduation almost 2 weeks after it was due. Because that would just be silly if I want to graduate this semester. And I have not been thinking of staying another semester to get a 2nd degree in chemistry.

I did not buy a super cute little dress because I never wear dresses and I did not justify a purchase of any dress by the need for graduation and possibly weddings this summer.

I most definitly did not chuckle when Hunter was having a melt down at therapy this morning because he is my sweet child who would never throw a fit (or play doh) and definitly did not do something like that twice in a morning.

Look Look Look

2009-02-05T22:14:00.003-07:00

It really posted it for me. My new widget for the March of Dimes March for Babies walk in April. I'm going to be on a team with my mommy friends from coloradomoms.com . My boys were lucky and stayed baking till 38 1/2 weeks so they didnt have any NICU time but we know lots of others who couldn't wait to make their appearance. So I'm going to be walking for them. I might even make the boys join me for their second walk ever. They did the Relay for Life with me and my mom when they were like 9 months old. Okay well they did a couple of laps in the stroller and then slept in the back of the car till I took them home sometime around midnight.

Random Ramblings

2009-02-04T23:16:00.004-07:00

I went and got the card I need to fill out for graduation today while I was down at school. Makes me all happy giggly excited to think about graduating this semester. Well fingers crossed becuase I found out that the stuff I picked up today was supposed to be turned in by January 30th. Oops. They said in the graduation office it was okay. But hey if I dont get to graduate this semester I can always stick around till the fall and get a BA in Chemistry along with the BS in Biology because 2degrees are better then 1 right.

I couldnt find my cell phone this morning as I was getting ready for school. Turns out Hunter stuck it in his pocket and took it to school with him.

Ethan decided to play buffalo yesterday in the flower bed and laid down and rolled in the dirt. Hunter at least rolled out in the grass, which by the way is starting to turn green. And some of the flowers are comeing back. A pansy bloomed a couple of weeks ago and the snow and freezing temperatures last week didnt phase it at all. And there is a flock of robins in the neighborhood.

I dont think I mentioned we saw a coyote at the playground a couple of weeks ago. Ethan said later that it jumped up and bit him. That kid tells so many stories and comes up with the wierdest stuff sometimes.

Two for Two-sday

2009-02-03T10:51:00.003-07:00

My 2 cookies

The boys finally fit into these shirts (I dont know if thats a good thing though because I beleive they are boys small or medium which means we have moved out of toddler sizes which makes me want to cry). But anyways, they got these shirts from their uncle when he came to visit from New York last summer. I had a hard time deciding who got to wear which one but decided that Hunter was more tough then Ethan most of the time. Next time I'll probably switch them around.

Not Me Monday!

2009-02-02T00:12:00.004-07:00

Hey its again time for another round of Not Me Monday! The wonderful tell all event brought to you by the lovely MckMama.

I have not been a slacker on playing along with MckMama for over a month. Bit in case you forgot you can always head on over to her blog and see what she did not do this week as well as her many followers.

I did not skip class last week because it was so cold out. That would be silly because I am not graduating in May. And I did not drop a class because I didnt want to go to a night and class later did not re add it because I dont need at least 6 credits to get financial aid.

I did not excitedly text my best friend tonight after the Steelers won the SuperBowl because I didn't really care who won. And I definitly did not cheer for the Steelers just because she was cheering for Arizona.

Since we now live in a big city we did not start a fire in the fire ring in the backyard last night just for the heck of it. And we did not try and roast marshmallows for the first time with the little people.

Tuesday

2009-01-30T23:26:00.002-07:00

Go Rest High On That Mountain

I know your life
On earth was troubled
And only you could know the pain
You weren't afraid to face the devil
You were no stranger to the rain

Go rest high on that mountain Son,
your work on earth is done
Go to heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Oh, how we cried the day you left us
We gathered round your grave to grieve
I wish I could see the angels faces
When they hear your sweet voice sing

Go rest high on that mountain Son,
your work on earth is done
Go to heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Go rest high on that mountain Son,
your work on earth is done
Go to heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Go to heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Written By
Vince Gill
Copyright 1994

Pray For A Miracle

2009-01-28T23:34:00.002-07:00

Tuesday needs your prayers during her battle with cancer. Please pray for her and her family as they hit another rough spot in the road. I can't even imagine what her family is going through right now. I had 2 aunts that won against breast cancer but to watch your own child.

Two for Two-sday

2009-01-27T16:49:00.002-07:00

Today's twosome is My older brother, Sean and Hunter. My brother works for UPS which I tihnk is why Hunter wanted to be a UPS guy for Halloween and loves his swaetshirt I made for his costume. This picture is from Christmas Eve when my brother came over after work so he still had his uniform on (which unfortunetly had reflective stripes on it and I couldnt get him to take the vest off to try again) so Hunter had to go get his jacket when he saw his uncle. So I had to take a picture of the 2 of them. When Sean got down to be on Hunter's level, Hunter crouched down too.

Why Multiples are Easier then Singletons

2009-01-25T23:26:00.002-07:00

This post and the one before it were not written by me. I found them on MySpace I beleive it was. I enjoyed them and after finding them saved on my computer awhile ago decided that I would share them with y'all since there are many that read my blog (at least I hope there are people reading this) that have multiples. SO I hope that you can find some truth in these posts and hopefully a few laughs.

Why Multiples are Easier then Singletons

When you have multiples, you will learn that there really is safety in numbers. They look out for each other, and you can rest assured that they will always let you know when someone is up to no good!

When multiples are young, they can watch and rarely argue over the same television program or video. This is not usually the case with siblings of different ages.

You don’t have to organize playgroups. You will already have one. However, being invited to one might be more of a challenge.

Once they are on a schedule, multiples generally take naps and go to bed at the same time. This is a great opportunity for mothers to regroup and take care of other responsibilities. This is not a possibility with a house full of singletons.

Since “misery likes company,” doing things they don’t necessarily want to do (like going to bed) is more acceptable to multiples. Peer pressure makes them conformists.

You can enroll them in the same activities for a number of years. This means running in fewer directions.

You can entertain the masses. Aside from gener-related toys, they tend to enjoy the same entertainment. For example, you can sing the ABCs and they will both/all learn from it, as well as enjoy it.

You don’t have to be a short order cook. Children the same age generally eat the same things.

Hand me downs are a possibility with multiples! Many sets of them are slightly different sizes.

A stroller built for two or three is much more convenient than a stroller built ofr one with older singletons running in every direction in a shopping mall.

Parents of multiples can use assembly line techniques in just about everything they do with their children. At the end of the day, they often have it easier than parents of singletons because of all the short cuts and efficiencies they strive for, and become good at, on a daily basis.

One birthday party a year, one invitation mailing, and best of all, one set of thank you notes!

Two really is company, and three really is a charm…most of the time!

It is very convenient for parents to have best friends that live in the same house. They are a source of entertainment for each other.

One pregnancy, and it’s usually shorter than average!

Things Mothers Of Multiples will Only Admit to Other Mothers of Multiples

2009-01-25T23:23:00.002-07:00

They admit to being a bit envious of mothers with singletons, due to their seemingly effortless ability to get around with one child.

Mothers of multiples would sometimes rather not do something than pack everyone up in order to do it.

Many occasionally feel bored as a result of their inability to get out of the house as often as they once did.

Lots of them feel guilty for not doing enough with each child on an individual basis, or simply because they cannot do certain things with multiples. As a result, they feel as if they are “cheating” their children.

They sometimes resort to using the television as a babysitter.

A number of them admit they are more addicted to pacifiers than their children.

They occasionally put their babies to sleep with a bottle full of milk or formula, knowing very well they shouldn’t do it. They do this as a last resort once exhaustion has taken over and nothing else has worked in getting their babies to sleep.

Nearly all of them prop bottles, and have numerous techniques. At the same time, they feel guilty about propping bottles.

Most find the dishwasher to be sufficient for cleaning bottles.

Some are embarrassed to admit this, but lots of them do it, and it saves them bundles of money: They put formula back into the refrigerator if a baby takes a sip of his bottle and decides he doesn’t want any. NOTE: If you do this, be sure to replace the bottle top with a clean cap and nipple, and refrigerate it right away. Feed the child with the same formula as soon as he’s ready for another bottle. You might think this is not a possibility now, but just wait. With multiples, this happens frequently. Pouring formula down the drain!

To save time, they often use the same bowl and spoon to feed their multiples. To simplify things even more, they also feed right out of the baby food jars, although baby books tell them not to.

They leave crumbs on the kitchen floor until the next meal.

It’s not uncommon for mothers of multiples to have a disorganized or unkempt home when company is not present. I’ll never forget one Thanksgiving dinner at my house. As soon as all of my company sat down to eat, my son asked, “Mommy, why is the house so clean?” I was so embarrassed, I felt like crawling into the turkey!

They admit to taking the stress from their day out on their husband as soon as he walks through the door at the end of a workday. Sometimes they give him five minutes and then unload!

While their children are babies, many would prefer to sleep than to be intimate with their spouses.

Many use prescription drugs to help them cope with stress, particularly during the infant stage.

They often don’t feel the need to change their children’s clothing if there are “only a couple of spots on it.”

They don’t always shower everyday, and shave even less frequently.

Some admit to having a “favorite.” Some admit to having a favorite one month, and a different the next!

If you do any or all of these, don’t feel guilty. You are not alone!

Two For Two-sday

2009-01-20T09:56:00.003-07:00

This week's duo is Ethan and my little brother Aaron. These are from the outing to the park that I had shared a couple of weeks ago. Ethan decided that he wanted to push his uncle on the swing and I decided I should take some pictures of it since it was two cute.

Check out more doublely ctue pictures by heading over to Deanna's blog, Eight is Great

These are a few of my favorite L things...

2009-01-17T08:56:00.011-07:00

Yay! Cheryl from Twinfatuation has given me the letter L for the letter meme. Thank You! What a great letter!

Besides being the letter that starts my name, there are many other favorite things in my life that start with L. Here are ten of those. Also let me know if you want to join in and I'll ahve the boys pick a letter for you from our alphabet letters. Dont worry I'll make them pull one out other wise you'll end up with H or E probably.

1. Little People

More specifically the two little people in my life. I have taken to calling them this sometimes trying to get away from calling them the babies since at three years old they arent really babies anymore. And definitly not since they have moved into boys sized clothes. And they really are the lights of my life.

2. Lord of All Creation

He is definitly a favorite. For all He has given me and all the greatness He has planned in my life.

3. Laughter

A great exercise and really music to my ears when it comes from the little people. Ethan is really a giggle monster that doesnt take hardly anything to make him laugh. Hunter takes a little work but when he gets going its hard not to join in.

4. Llama, Llama Red Pajama

One of the first books I got when I was pregnant. This one has it all: beautiful pictures, great ryhmes, and of course the llamas that I adore. This book quickly became a favorite of the boys especially Hunter. Maybe becuase it is the one I have read the most to them. Also along with this is the second Llama, Llama book she wrote called Llama Llama Mad At Mama which describes his shopping trip with his mama. I got this one as soon as I heard abotu it and it it also on our most read list. Coming in March is the newest one Llama Llama Misses Mama. I will probably continue our Llama Llama library with it even though we have already done the first day of school.

5. Long socks

The kind that come up the legs. You know to your knees. I used to have a sock fetish where I would buy all kinds of socks that were all very unique. And many of them had stories behind them, But now I have moved on to knee highs. They are great in the winter for keeping my legs warm under my jeans. And they have so many awesome colors. Most of the ones I have are striped but I did see some awesome penguin ones at Target the other day that I might have to go back for since the yare on sale. And sale socks are even better. I love Targets selection of knee highs. I have gotten 4 new pairs this week since they were on clearance and it cost me less then $5 for all of them. The green and white striped ones I have on now are probably my favorite of the new ones.

6. Literature

Reading has always been an important thing for me. I love books. I am trying to pass that on to the boys and we have quite the collection. I am trying to hold myself back on buying too many more for them since I weeded out the ones that were too young for them and we didnt read anymore and ended up reducing the number by 50 books. I didnt realize how many we had and I'm pretty sure we still have somewhere in that range. When I was in elementary school my lvoe for reading was the one thing that my mom could use for a punishment for me so instead of losing tv time and such I lost reading privelages. I soon adopted the flashlight under the covers thing so that I wouldnt miss out on that valuable reading time. And tried to behave more so I wouldnt be in that situation anymore.

7. Lazy days

Cause who doesnt like a lazy day with the kids where you just hang out in your pjs all day. Enough said.

8. Lollipops

ahh lovely candy on a stick. the many flavors and colors and designs.

9. Leftovers

so good the first time around and many times better the next day. There's just something about the way the flavors all come together when they have time to just chill. mmmm some of my top favs are chili and beefaroni.

10. Live, Laugh, Love

No matter how you say it or whatever you might put in after the words what better motto for life. When I finally get to painting it on the wall for my mother it will say Live Well Laugh Often Love Much. And so I give you those six words as my wish for you for this year and always. thank you friends for reading these words I have to give you and may many more come your way along with all the blessings life can give you.

What Not To Do For Your Twins' birthday this year

2009-01-10T23:55:00.004-07:00

Its the beginning of a new year and its never to early to start planning those all important birthday parties. I'm sure most of us have through experience of some kind have learned that it is never a good idea to share a birthday cake. Well there are some people out there who just havent learned that and we get the pleasure and laughs of seeing those mistakes in the pictures over at the Cake Wrecks blog. So do your self a favor and go check it out.

I have not yet even given any thought to the boys' birthday this year but we have till September so I think we're safe. Plus we had a theme last year and then we ended up changing it a week or two before the big event. Gotta do something great this year that will really take the cake which might be hard to do after last year's fire truck cakes which Hunter didnt want to cut. Course he got to make up for that last week at school when he decorated styrofoam bowl cakes. Nothing like tinted shaving cream icing to make ya want some cake. They wouldnt be so bad if they didnt smell so strongly. And the glitter falling off whenever they get moved. I guess I will just have to take some pictures before they get sent away on the garbage truck next week.

and I will leave you with a recent picture from the park since I havent shard any new pictures in so long. The one in my header was taken today since I figureed it was time to update the layout and I needed new pictures to use for it.

Its A New Year

2009-01-03T22:19:00.005-07:00

I hope its going to be a good one. Hard to tell right now just three days in. Judging by the fact that we started the new year off with a funeral the first day of 2009 it could be easy to say it can't get any worse. The boys did do amazing during it and we did get a compliment from a cousin on how well behaved they are. Two 3 year olds at a funeral was not my first choice but with the only people I would leave them with overnight either with us or in Mexico I didn't have a choice. To regress a bit to fill you all in on why we were at a funeral the first day of the year, my cousin and her husband were killed in a car accident two days after Christmas on their way home from Christmas shopping because her husband had had shoulder surgery right before Christmas. This event brought together our family in a sort of reunion that unfortunetly hadn't happened that way since seven years ago when my grandpa passed away a week an half before Christmas.

We said farewell to my little brother yesterday as he returned to New York after his week long trip out West. It was great to see him again and the boys had a great time with him. They got to even have a boys only party one night when I got to have a rare night out with some friends which was my first time to a Avs hockey game where I got to enjoy great seats and see them win.

Hunter will be getting some great help this year with his speech as he goes to his first appointment Monday with a new SLP and will be getting an Augmentative Alternative Communication device which will help him to better get across what he wants. He will start back at OT on Monday as well after having a week off while we waited to see if Medicaid would approve him for more sessions. I know I haven't ever really mentioned anything about his speech problems but he has childhood apraxia of speech and right now has a total vocab of about 30 words half of which are not that understandable but is a great increase from last July when he started speech therapy and had a vocab of about 5-6 words. He also has some problems with balance in his trunk and some posture problems which is related to his apraxia which is why he has been in OT for about 5 weeks so far.

I have changed the name of the blog a bit just for the heck of it because the old name was kinda boring but still there because I just made it into the description. Look for it to really appear once I redo the layout as soon as I get some time.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas season and the new year brings lots of enjoyment and many blessings.

Way Back When-esday!

2008-12-24T08:57:00.004-07:00

Christmas 2005

age 3 months

Here the boys are in their first Christmas outfits. This is one fo the few matching outfits they had when they were little and one of the very few that made me look twice to see who is who because of their hats. I lvoe it that Ethan looks like he is waving to the camera. This photo was also seen on Cheryl's website Twinsights in January '06.

this one doesnt do justice for the amount of hair Hunter had compared to Ethan but shows how much Ethan was always smiling and Hunter rarely smiled for the camera.Hunter in his striped outfit

Ethan in his striped outfit.

I don't know what it is about them but I love stripes. I think at least half of the boys' wardrobe has always been stripes. Between stripes and overalls I have tons of baby pictures of them.

Two for Twos-day

2008-12-23T10:07:00.002-07:00

Baby Jesus has a Twin?

Today's picture is Hunter's work on one of the nativity's here. I guess he feels that since there are two boys that there needed to be 2 babies in the nativity. He had done it last week with a larger baby Jesus in there with the one that belongs and my mom put that one back to see if he would bring it back. He found another one though that was about the same size and fit in there better.I wasnt sure who did it so I had asked them and he said "me" and "two" so I would know that there were two babies and he made it sound like thats the way he felt it should be. So we have left his two babies in there for now. The first time he did it I had taken pictures but didnt keep those ones but I should have because there was also only two wisemen with the third one over in the buildings talking to the camel.

Baby Picture Sunday - Peace on Earth

2008-12-14T01:16:00.004-07:00

What a great theme Debi has this week. I debated finding a holiday picture to go along with what she had started but there is really only one photo that comes to mind when I think of a peaceful picture.

This is the boys' first photo after coming home from the hospital. Only 3 days old all snuggled up together in the bassinet. Nothing is more peaceful to me then little babies sleeping. They were so tiny and swimming in their coming home outfits.

Check out some more peaceful pictures by going over to Who Says 8 is Enough. And I hope you have a peaceful Sunday as we will with all the snow we are now getting.

Way Back When-esday!

2008-12-10T13:45:00.002-07:00

December 2007

age 2 years old

Last year was really the first year we took pictures for photo cards and the beginning of the best of our pictures being with them eating because it was alot easier to snap a picture when they have a treat. This was one of the ones that it wasnt as obvious that they were eating cookies. Add in a little editing to bring out the Christmas colors and we had a cute picture to use in making photo cards.

Check out Cheryl's Twinfatuation for some more memories from Christmas cards past.

Two for Twos-day!

2008-12-09T14:46:00.002-07:00

two pictures of two boys on one sit and spin.

proof that they can get along and share toys once in awhile.

it didn't spin real good with both of them on there so this sharing didn't last very long.

check out Deanna's blog for more pictures that are twice the fun.

Way Back When-esday!

2008-12-03T00:30:00.004-07:00

My First Christmas

my age: 3 months

Look at that cute baby and Santa has some creepy looking eyes.

I decided to dig out the photo albums for this week's way back when since the boys still don't have any pictures with Santa. I am going to try and get one this year but I dont know if it will work. Their first Christmas they were only 3 months( same as mine since their birthday falls exactly a week after mine) and I didnt trust some Santa to hold both of them plus they didnt go out much at that time. The next year we were still in the mountains with Wal-Mart being the only store in town to have him and we kept missing him. We tried that year at the lighting of Christmas Tree Mountain but after waiting awhile in the cold my mom decided we should just head home, even though we were only maybe 10 minutes away from seeing him because it was so cold and they were starting to get all red cheeked. Last year we went to one that didnt have any line and as we headed over there Hunter saw Santa slammed on the brakes and tried to go the other way. As much as we tried, we werent able to get them both on Santa's lap at the same time for long enough to snap a picture. This year we have tried once so far. It was at the mall last week and they were so excited to go see Santa. When we were on the opposite side of the entrance they both waved at Santa but as we got to the entrance and made our way through the lanes they both stopped and turned around. And both waved and said good bye to him as we left.

check out some more memories from Cheryl and more by heading over to Twinfatuation

Two for Twos-day

2008-12-02T13:05:00.004-07:00

my 2 little firemen with their 2 little firetruck cakes. After much debate between what theme to do for their birthday this year they finally agreed. Ethan wanted dinosuars but Hunter doesnt really like dinosaurs that much. He didnt really have much of an opinion till I came up with the idea of a firetruck party. They both love any kind of vehicle and especially fire trucks and ambulances. I made the cakes while they were sleeping the night before the party. When they sae them the next morning they were so excited. Hunter especially and he kept taking everyone who came to the party to the fridge to see the cakes. He didnt want to cut his cake so luckiely I had extras since Ihad to do chocolate for Ethan and carrot for Hunter since he doesnt like anything chocolate (except milk and hot cocoa).

Join in the double fun by heading over to Deanna's at Eight is Great

Baby Picture Sunday

2008-11-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

Wrapped in Holiday Cheer

Ethan's 3 month photo
Hunter's 3 month photo

they were finally starting to gain some weight and didnt look like they had chicken legs

here are the boys in their Christmas outfits. I had been so excited when I first saw them at Carter's since they were the smae pattern but one was turtleneck and overalls and the other polo shirt and pants. But I later regretted the big difference in them. They usually were dressed in the same thing different colors or once in a while matching outfits. I dont think they ever wore these much after taking pictures in them.

check out more holiday babies by going to

Who Says 8 is Enough

Something to be Thankful not to have

2008-11-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

So in this time of giving thanks and all this talk about what we are thankful for I just wanted to pass along a laugh to ya'll and give thanks that these cakes don't belong to me. So go check em out Cake Wrecks and hopefully everyone will be able have some laughs while they are giving thanks this year.

Way Back When-esday!

2008-11-26T17:31:00.001-07:00

First Thanksgiving

age 2 1/2 months

The boys' first Thanksgiving and first photo with their uncles who they share names with. Hunter Aaron is held by my little brother Aaron.

Ethan Sean held by my big brother Sean.

check out more memories by heading over to Cheryl's list at Twinfatuation

Lets Give Thanks

2008-11-25T00:50:00.000-07:00

I decided I would share a few things that I am thankful for. One of the big things would be the boys. They have filled my life with such joy that I can't imagine life without them. So a few things about each of them I am thankful for.

Hunter:

I am thankful for his usually cheerful attitude. For the amount of words he has gained since starting speech therapy in July. Last count was about 30 words with a beginning count of 5 or so. His love of school. He has just jumped right in and can't wait to go every morning. The 3 day weekends are so hard for him and he asks almost every morning about school. The way he looks out for his brother. At his Halloween party he tried getting another beanbag from the boy playing with them and the teacher showed him where there were more so he could have one for each hand when he really wanted to make sure Ethan had one.

Ethan:

I am thankful for his sweet smile and big laugh. For his morning chatter about wanting dinner and another hamburger. His hugs he has for everybody. His ability to make me laugh everyday. I think I could fill notebooks with the things he says that make me laugh and most the time wonder where he came up with it. His care for his brother. He always checks on him when he is sick asking if he is okay. Well okay one day he coughed and he took the checking on him a little far by asking him if he was okay a couple of times and then telling him to say something.

Getting ready for the final count down

2008-11-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

I'm off from school next week for fall break and Thanksgiving. Then when we go back we have one more week of classes then finals. Yikes. 2 papers, 2 tests, and a presentation finished in the last two weeks. 1 take home exam, 1 lab practical, 2 lab reports, and 2 finals to go to finish up this semester. I'm so glad to have my presentation over with. It went well besides I got nervous and was having trouble saying coccidioidomycosis. Which I guess is a pretty hard word to say when I'm not nervous. Still havent registered for classes for next semester yet because they wont let me register till I get proof of immunizations so I guess I better remember to call my highschool tomorrow.

Way Back When-esday!

2008-11-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

After seeing Carrin's twin family picture last week I decided to dig up the one's we have. We definilty have twins running in our family. My mom is actually has a twin brother, who looks nothing like. My dad has some twin uncles and I have a cousin who has twin girls that are almost 3 months younger then my boys. These pictures I share today are of my boys and her girls. We've only seen them like 3 times since they were born and 2 of those times were Easter. Their first one and this last one.

1st Easter April 2006

Ethan, Brooke, Mikayla, Hunter

Boys age 7 months Girls age 4 1/2 months

Here is what happens when you wait to take pictures till after dinner and everyone is getting tired. I love the look on Ethan's face as Brooke is crying and leaning on him. Mikayla sits back and wonders what is wrong with her sister while Hunter could care less about the other babies.

Easter 2008

Mikayla, Brooke, Hunter and Ethan

Age 2 years

And I thought it was hard to get two 2 years old to stay still for a picture. Nothing compared to getting four 2 year olds together for a picture. Putting them all the then empty boat sandbox at least kept them together. Getting them all to look was a different story.

Head on over to Twinfatuation to see some more picture memories.

Two for Tuesday!

2008-11-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

So here is my first time posting on Two for Tuesday and I decided to show a picture of my twosome last year when they turned two. So here they are on their way to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the train museum. Being the big train fans that they were they got tickets to go see him and ride the train for their birthday. So they got all decked out and headed off with mom and grandma.

check out some twosomw pictures by going over to Eight is Great

Christmas Pictures

2008-11-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took some pictures of the boys hoping to get some good ones for Christmas cards. I did get some good ones of them both together and then seperately. Hunter is in blue and Ethan is in red. I can't beleive how much taller Hunter is getting to be then Ethan. I was looking at the one where they are standing back to back almost and though there must be some mistake because it cant be possible for him to be that much taller but I checked them later and yes he is quite taller.

And of course there were many that will never get the oppurtunity to grace a Christmas card but will now get their time to shine.

Way Back When-esday

2008-11-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

May 2006

age 8 months

I really wanted to share a picture that showed the hair difference the boys had when they were little but when searching for a picture I ran across this from the boys first picnic. This is one of my all time favortie pictures of the boys. You can still see the hair difference a bit in that Hunter had a full head of hair and Ethan was finally starting to get some on the top of his head.

May 2007

age 20 months

Just has to throw this one in as well because its a year later at the same picnic area just a different angle because there weren't any dandilions in that spot as much. This was a month before we moved and we weren't able to go back this year which bummed me. Still a hair difference. I think Ethan had probably had one haircut by this time which would have put Hunter at 2 because he had his first one at 10 months.

Check out more pictues from way back by going over to Twinfatuation

Win Some Baby Leg Warmers

2008-11-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

at babysnazz.com. You can enter to win 20 pairs and then post a link on your blog like I am doing to get another entry. Plus they have a bunch of other stuff including twin onesies. And you have to check out the collegiate leg warmers they have called Skid Pants. Super cute. If only I had some girls to wear the Ohio State and West Virginia ones (I can say the WVU ones now that CU beat them back in September).

a peek

2008-11-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with one of the pictures from our session on Sunday for a texture challenge and wanted to show off what I came up with. More to come later tonight.

Not Me! Monday

2008-11-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

Another Monday. Another chance to declare what I did not do.

I did not procrastinate writing my paper that is due in class tomorrow night.

I did not spend all afternoon trying to get good pictures of the boys for Christmas cards and I did not put off cleaning the kitchen till this morning.

I did not eat most of the bag of toasted coconut marshmallows in one day.

Check out the list over at MckMama's to see what else her faithful followers have not been doing.

Tagged!

2008-11-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

There you have it. I have been tagged for the first time by the wonderful Melissa from Twincredible Twosome. So now I must come up with 8 interesting facts about myself to share with ya'll. Let's see what I can come up with:

1. I think llamas are one of the coolest animals ever. My nickname used to be Llama. We own 4 books about llamas including Llama, Llama Red Pajama. (and finding the link for that cuz I know that ya'll are gonna want to check this awesome book out if you havent all ready, I find a new book coming out in March by the same author)

2. I am science nerd. I own 2 stuffed giant microbes. Hepetits C and African Sleeping Sickness in case you were wondering. One of my favorite "vacations" was the trip to the American Chemical Society Conference in Sacremento,CA a few years ago with 3 guys from my chemistry club at school.

3. I can't eat meat that has any pink in it since I was pregnant. I sometimes miss a nice medium rare steak but the sight of it makes my stomach turn. Speaking of eating things during pregnancy I never liked cherry pie till I was pregnant and now think a slice with some vanilla ice cream is pure heaven.

4. I spent 3 weeks in Ecuador on a mission trip several years ago. I had to brave the airport by myself coming home because I left a week early because I didn't want to miss my little brother's highschool graduation. Nothing like being in an airport in a foreign country at 5 in the morning and not knowing where to go to get on the plane.

5. I subconciously seemed to know I was having twins but never gave it any thought till I found out I really was. I joked with my little brother about having twins and if I did then he would raise one and I would raise one and we'd see who raised them the best. Plus my mom kept trying to give the "baby" a nickname like Itsy Bitsy (eww its a baby not a spider) and then Wee Willy (no not happening) so I joked with a friend about calling it Pipsueak but couldn't because there was no Pasquale (I had a pair of kittens growing named that and then used to baby sit twin girls and that is what my dad would call them). Finally I had a dream about having twin boys. Luckiley with that one I had never heard about TTTS because the babies in my dream were affected by that.

6. I like to think that my cousin just couldn't be outdone by me being pregnant because a month after I told my family that I was pregnant so was she. A month or so later I told them it was twins and she made the same announcement a couple months later. So the boys have a set of twin girl cousins that are almost 3 months younger then them.

7. One of my favorite summer jobs ever was when I worked at the dirt track about 5 years ago. I had good friends that raced there so after spending one summer there every Saturday paying $20 to get into the pits I decided to get a job there and then I could see them race and get paid for it. I worked in the pit shack admitting people so I got to know all the racers pretty well.

8. I have attended 4 colleges. I started out at Colorado Christian University and was there for a year. Then I took a year off to help my mom after she had surgery and took a few classes at the community college at home. Then I went to Adams State College for 3 years. I then had the boys and took off a couple of years with them. I went back last fall at Metro State College and plan on finishing in May.

Now comes to the fun part. Who am I going to pass on the tagging to. I am pretty new at this blogging thing so I don't have very many people on here to tag so I'm going to tag 5 people and hope they can continue on with tagging 8 more to keep this going. So here they are:

1. Susan @ Smell the Roses

2. Valarie @ Surviving South Park, Colorado

3. DeniseAnn @ Under A Tuscan Sun

4. MckMama @ my charming kids

5. Cheryl @ Twinfatuation

Way Back When-esday!

2008-11-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

date: October 2006

age: 16 months

the boys have always loved books so I have many pictures of them "reading". We had a huge collection of them and last month I decided to sell some of the ones that we didnt used anymore because they were mostly board books for younger kids and was shocked to count up 50 books to get rid of once I had sorted them all out. No wonder there wasnt room for them all in one place.

Now hop on over to Twinfatuation to see her's and everyone elses memories from way back

awww cuz everyone needs a reminder sometimes

2008-11-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

10 reasons you are a better parent than you think you are

1. You are the best mommy or daddy in the world for your child - Regardless of what the experts or anyone else says, in your child’s eyes you are their one and only. If you can live up to that kind of love and acceptance, you’ll be happier for it.

2. You trust your gut - Most of us try not to get too worried or upset by the proliferation of news stories about lead-poisoned toys or tragic stories of kidnapped children, but it’s not very easy. When push comes to shove, your gut can be your guide. If you feel more than a tingle of doubt, you’ll do the right thing by your child. You’re wired that way.

3. You give the best love you know how to give - Love isn’t perfect or always kind, but you want to be a good parent and you try every day to be the best parent you know how to be.

4. You feed them every day- Not always meals with enough vegetables or fruit, but you feed them, and you worry about their health. And that makes you a good parent.

5. You smile at them, beam even, and they make you proud - When you smile at your child (and you know you do, often) you are transmitting your love and tenderness. Kids are sponges and they feel every iota of that sweetness.

6. You teach them about wonderful things — You fill their heads with the wishes of childhood — Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and other wonderful creatures. Even if they don’t believe you, their eyes light up with the spark of imagination.

7. You love them unconditionally, even when you don’t like them very much - Most kids know that you love them no matter what. Even when they have tantrums in the grocery store and hit their sister or brother and refuse to eat their dinner. Even then you love them deeply.

8. You comfort them when they’re scared - Monsters, bad dreams, and things that go bump in the night hold no power over the comfort of your arms and your murmured reassurance.

9. You want your child to be happy - Almost more than anything else, you want to see evidence that your child is happy, well-adjusted, and secure. You want this for them more than you want it for yourself.

10. You are their one true love - For so many years, you are your child’s sun, moon, and stars. You are the keeper of their small open hearts, their only one. This essential truth, when fully appreciated, makes parenting the most fulfilling thing you’ll ever do.

Not Me! Monday

2008-11-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

We're back with another edition of Not ME! Monday. The only place where you can read about the things I did not do this week.

I did not bribe the boys with candy corn so that I could get pictures of them on their first day of preschool.

I did not skip lab on Thursday to go to Ethan's Halloween party after I did not skip it on Tuesday to take him to his first day of school.

I did not send Hunter to school with a sore throat on Friday because he really wanted to go and her ate his breakfast great. And I did not wonder about taking him to the doctor when he came home from school and passed out on the couch and had a fever when he woke up.

I did not lose his medicaid card and did not take quarters out of their piggy back to pay for his prescription.

Head on over to Mckmama's to catch what the others have not been doing this week

Not very many treats for us this Halloween

2008-10-31T21:43:00.000-06:00

This was supposed to be the boys first time getting to go trick or treating because last year it was too cold and the year before that they were just too young.
Hunter woke up this morning and told me that he had a boo boo and would point to his mouth. I thought maybe he had a sore throat but he was acting fine other wise and ate breakfast great. Because of that I decided it was fine for him to go to school. I went in an hour before they got out for their Halloween parties and he seemed fine. He wasn't really eating his snack which surprised me because he loves strawberries and cantaloupe. Once we got home from school he went and laid on the couch and fell asleep. I checked his temperature when he woke up and he had a fever of 101.3. Gave him some Motrin and that helped and soon he was back to his normal self. Being Friday though I decided I'd better take him in to make sure he was fine. The doctor figured it was a virus at first because she had been seeing a lot of viral sore throats. She wasn't going to do a throat culture since it was the first day of having a sore throat and it his throat was just a little red but his lymph nodes were swollen so she decided to do it anyways. It came back with a faint positive for strep throat so she got him on some antibiotics. So we canceled our plans to go out. At least I had already taken a few pictures the last couple of days of them. Ethan is the big scray bat or so he says and Hunter is a UPS driver. I fixed the jacket after taking the pictures so the letters stand out more

Way Back When-esday!

2008-10-29T07:06:00.000-06:00

Dateline: October 2005

At a month and a half old this was the extent of dressing up for their first halloween. Grandfather got these bibs for them so we did have a couple of photo shoots with them so he could see that they wore them.

Check out some more photos from "Way Back" by jumping over to Twinfatuation

First Day!

2008-10-29T00:34:00.000-06:00

It went great. E-Dawg told me this morning that he wasn't going to go to school today but then he was excited along with H-Man. They both had great days. E-Dawg told me he learned at school today. Later I asked him what he learned and he told me he learned stuff, lots of stuff. Other then that he didn't tell me much about what he did. I did ask him if he colored because he had marker on his hand and he said he colored his name. H-Man had another good day. His teacher said he is getting better about sitting with the class and changing stations. She did mention that he needed to work on keeping his hands to himself. She said he hasn't had a major melt downs which is good. I guess that means they aren't asking him to do too many things that he doesn't want to do since he has learned that throwing a fit during his speech therapy will shorten the time of doing what he doesn't want to do. I'm hoping that chsnging the time but staying with the same SLP will help change that because right now he goes before class on Wednesday and we are going to change to Wednesday afternoons.

Hunter

Ethan

They both will be preschoolers tomorrow

2008-10-27T14:36:00.000-06:00

The H-Man started preschool last Tuesday and tomorrow the E-Dawg will start as well. They are going to be in different classes which will probably be good for them. I just hope the E-Dawg is as excited about going as the H-man was last week. H-Man was so excited that he just kept telling me "go" when I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and only ended up eating half his piece of cinnamon french toast which is like one of his favorite breakfast foods. So hopefully I get some good pictures of the both of them tomorrow since I didn't get any of the H-Man last week since he hates having his picture taken in the first place and just wanted to go. Does it make me a bad mom that I wasn't sad about H-Man going last week and I'm not sad that E-Dawg is starting preschool tomorrow?

Not Me! Monday

2008-10-27T10:04:00.000-06:00

Okay here is my first shot at this.

I did not give the boys graham crackers for breakfast because I did not put off going to the store to get milk and eggs.

I did not let the boys watch a movie so that I wouldn't have to make cookies with H-Man.

I did not run out of things to make this post longer.

check out what others are not doing by going over to MckMama's blog by clicking on the orange Not Me! button on the side.

The Family

2008-08-02T07:48:00.000-06:00

Here they are:

My Oldest

Ethan Sean

aka:

Ethan Bird

E-Dawg

Booger

older by a minute

loves his stinky dog

the talkative one

My Youngest

Hunter Aaron

aka:

Hunter Bug

H-Man

Bubba

younger but taller

loves his Nemo blankets

the strong silent type

My double delights

they totally surprised me because they were standing next to each other on a rock like they were posing for a picture. Its not very often that I get a picture of both of them looking at the camera.