Wordless Wednesday

I was bored & there were blocks in front of me....what else is a girl to do?!

You Capture

So I'm thinking of starting something that I'm not quite sure I'll finish. Why start you ask? Well, I need something to make myself accountable to blog more often. So, here goes. I'm going to start "You Capture". You Capture is a brain child of I Should Be Folding Laundry (yes, the title of her blog is the story of my life - scratch that, if it were my life it would be "I Should Be Putting Away the Laundry"). Anyway, this site gives challenges every Thursday of things to "shoot", now I know I've just started with a camera other than a point & shoot camera, I may not give you the best photos to look at as far as technique, but I can guarantee that if my kiddos are in it, I'll give you the cutest subjects to look at!!

So this weeks theme is completely open "Whatever you want". Well, that's an easy week to get the nerve to start!!! Last weeks theme was "Autumn", so I will go ahead & go with last weeks theme. I will show you what autumn looks like to me.

My Baby Boys are One!!!!

While I've been busy slacking off at blogging, my baby boys turned one year old!! This year has just flown by! I should have posted this on their birthday, but like I said, I was busy slacking off & wanted to wait until they had their one year appointment with their pediatrician so I could share some stats. Both boys are walking & talking. Aaron has just started putting his toy phone to his ear & saying "Hi", he & Brayden both love to say "Ut Oh".

Baby A - Brayden

October 25th 2008 - 5lbs 5oz 18inches

October 25th 2009 - 20lbs 15oz 30.5 inches

Baby B -Aaron
October 25th 2008 - 5lbs 10oz 18inches
October 25th 2009 - 21lbs 2oz 31 inches

While in line to check out at the pediatrician (they were VERY busy), in front of me stood a mother of 2 week old boy/girl twins. I could see the love in her eyes, she hasn't quite hit the exhausted stage just yet, she'll be there soon. Then stood myself with my one year old twins crawling all over myself & their Mimi (my mom who came to help...thanks Mom!!), behind me stood a mom of four year old twin boys. It was very neat to see, but at that moment, I saw where I was almost exactly a year ago, where I am now, & where I will be in 3 years. It was a sad, proud, & excited/scared moment all at the same time. Oh, by the way, the four year old twin boys were seeing the doctor because they'd been fighting with each other, one had a blood shirt, the other a fat lip. I left thinking, my boys will never do that...haha!!

Anyway, on to the fun part.......the birthday party pictures!! We really didn't have a theme for their party, it was pretty laid back, small with just immediate family. The boys had sports theme cakes, they loved tearing into them!!

Playing with Thomas the Train

Aaron's smash cake is the football & Brayden's is the baseball

Brayden loved his cake

I want to taste yours!

Aaron demolished his cake

Thank you boys for the most challenging, crazy, sleep deprived, happiest year of my life. I wasn't sure I could get through this year, but with the help of our family & Payton (Mommy's helper), we did it. We love you boys & we can't wait for many more birthday's to come!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Trick-or-Treat!!

Trick-or-Treat!!! What is that you say? It's too early to go Trick-or-Treating?! It's only September, you can't Trick-or-Treat in September!! Oh yes you can!! A campground in our area celebrates Halloween in September, it's a ton of fun for the kids & a little warmer than Halloween in October is some years. Campers decorate their RV's & campsites while the little ones dress up & try to collect as much candy as they can. Last night our family set up camp & the little ones of our extended family dressed in their spookiest & cutest costumes. After Trick-or-Treating, we visited a haunted island. Payton was very nervous about the haunted island, her & I tried to find the "spooky people" that were hiding before they found us. It was a lot of fun & lots of giggles as we stuck our tongues out at them & there were a few "na na na boo boo's" coming from Payton as well. It was a ton of fun. Unfortunately, Jared & the boys had a cold, so we thought it was best for them to stay home. They missed out on a lot of fun!

Our neighbor made a Snow White costume for her daughter when she was in first grade. Her daughter is now my age. She offered the costume for Payton to wear for Halloween. Of course, my little princess was so excited to be Snow White (She's been a princess for Halloween 3 out of her 5 years). The wig was her favorite part.

Scary Snow White!!

Wordless Wednesday

Bye Bye Summer!!

Just because I'm still so excited about it....

I have had so much fun with the new camera this weekend. I can't wait to learn more. I promise this is the last time I post a ton of pics with no post....okay, well, I won't promise, but I'll try hard not too.... :)

Starting a new hobby

So in my last post I said that I was getting a new camera. Marisa at mamaneedsahobby upgraded her camera & sold me her Nikon D40. It arrived today & I love it. I have a feeling my family (Payton & the Hubs especially) are going to get sick of getting their picture taken very soon! I've been looking at photography blogs all week,(some of you have some awesome photography sites!!) and "studying" a bit. I messed around with it for a little while this afternoon & this is what I came up with (There are a lot of pics. Sorry, but I think my kids are the cutest!!). **Please remember, before today I hadn't used anything but a point & shoot - I know that I have a lot to learn**

I was just messing around outside with this one

Wordless Wednesday

I'm getting a new camera!!! Marisa at mamaneedsahobby.net upgraded her camera. So, as a birthday present to myself, I bought her old one. I'm so excited for it to arrive so I can learn to take great pics (bear with me while I learn)!!

Back to school

My oldest baby started Kindergarten last week. I can't believe how fast the past 5 years have just flown by! She seems so grown up. One week in & she loves it. I was a little worried since this was a different school than her pre-school & she would be riding the bus. Okay, so I was a lot worried. She really enjoys riding the bus with the "big kids" & it's certainly easier than getting the twins ready & driving her to and from school. In our district, kindergarten is all day, every day. This can be hard on some little ones. Payton is so very active, more active than I can keep up with, I think this is good for her. It's definitely takes a toll on her though. We get no argument from her when it comes to bedtime & she's asleep within 5-10 minutes of her head hitting the pillow. Overall, I think she will do great this year.

The boys are almost 11 months old. Both boys are standing on their own. Aaron has started to take a few steps. Recently, their grandma bought them a walk behind toy, so I'm sure they will both be running in no time. Brayden has 5 teeth & Aaron has 8. Their little smiles are just incredible! Aaron has been clapping & playing patty cake for a few weeks, Brayden just started clapping today. Once he started, you couldn't stop him. He clapped nonstop for literally 5 minutes straight. They definitely know how to make their Momma laugh.

Wordless Wednesday

Life, Kindergarten, & Sam's Club

I'm not going to apologize for being a bad blogger. I've been one, but life has gotten in the way. I can't apologize for life getting in the way, life should get in the way & that's that. One of the reasons I haven't update lately is due to the fact that I haven't felt 100%. I've been suffering from labyrinthitis. An inflammation/irritation in the inner ear that causes vertigo. This is not fun. So let me catch you up on what has been going on in our world.

School starts in a little over a week!! AHH!! It seems the past 5 years have flown by. Soon, my baby (My 5 year old baby. Yes, my oldest is still my baby.) will start Kindergarten! She did so well in Pre-school, I know she will do great & make a ton of friends in Kindergarten. I'm just a bit nervous about her being in school all day, five days a week.

Our boys are 10 months today. As I'm sending one little one to Kindergarten, I am continuously reminded how fast time flies by, I can't believe my babies will be 1 soon! Okay, before Mommy get's all nostalgic, let's rewind a bit. Due to the fact that I've been so horrible at updating, we missed the 9 month check up stats. Here they are:
Brayden: weight: 18lbs 0.5oz - 10-25th percentile

height: 28.5 inches - 50th percentile

5 teeth

Aaron: weight: 18lbs 12ox - 25th percentile

height: 28.75 inches - 50th percentile

6 teeth

Both boys are doing well. Brayden recovered perfectly after his surgery. Aaron is standing on his own & has started taking a few steps (as long as his Mommy or Mimi are in front of him). Brayden just started standing on his own, thanks to his Poppa's help today. Aaron is proving to be the brute of the two brothers. He certainly crawls over & tackles his little (but two minutes older) brother.

Payton & her Poppa (he didn't get a bad dye job, it's fake hair in that hat)

Shopping today at Sam's Club with Mimi & Mommy

What happens when twins attack! :)

To all of the other "boo boo" kissers........

A friend of the Hubs sent this excerpt from Humor for a Mom's Heart for me to read, I thought I would share.

I Am Mommy, Hear Me Roar
Nancy Kennedy
Excerpted from Humor for a Mom’s Heart

A long time ago, I gave up using the name on my birth certificate and just
started referring to my self as Mommy. As in:
“Come give Mommy a kiss.”
“Tell Mommy where it hurts.”
“I told you Mommy’s ears can’t hear whining.”
“Mommy’s face looks like this because Mommy just found out that somebody
used her lace tablecloth to wipe off fingernail polish”

I knew I wasn’t alone on that either. I know for a fact that none of my
friends have names. We greet each other in the market:
“Hi, Sarah’s mom!”
“Hi, Laura’s mom!”
The vet even calls me “Blackie’s mom.”

I may not have a real name, but you know who I am. There’s a container of
Gak dumped in a corner of my living room carpet and the moldy remains of a
peach deemed too gross to eat stuffed in the cushions of my couch. I walk
around the house with dryer lint and used Q-tips in the pocked of my robe. I spend the majority of my day behind the wheel of a car - traveling
hundreds of miles to and from softball practice, cheerleading, and trips to
the market - yet never leave the city limits. I can’t do a quadratic
equation, but I can tell you how to get to Sesame Street.

My prayers are often frantic and generally specific. (“Lord, please help my
child to throw up in the bucket and not on the wall.”) At times I pray to
be made invisible, like during PTA meetings when they need someone to chair
the fifth grade fundraising car wash or during the Christmas program when
it’s my child up on stage singing “Let there be peace on earth and let it
begin with me,” as she proceeds to slug the boy standing next to her.

I know you know me. I wash my children’s faces with spit and my thumb.
Pick at the dirt behind their ears. Whine about their whining.
Nag abouttheir nagging. Worry that I’ll never live to see the day they’ll change
their underwear without coercion or threats of bodily harm.

I have eyes in the back of my head and a nose that can sniff out doggy
doo-doo on a sneakered foot fifty yards away. I have ears that can hear
Oreo cookies being eaten underneath the covers by a child who is supposedly
asleep. With just one sideways glance, I can tell who sharpened her crayon
with my eyeliner pencil sharpener and who accidentally-on-purpose let the
bathroom sink overflow.

A few years ago, you would have recognized me as the one with strained
chicken and peas plastered in my hair and a faraway look in my eyes, as I
dreamed of a life that was not planned around nap time and late night
feedings. I was the one who, when asked by a poll-taker to name my
favorite male television performer, answered without hesitation, “Ernie
from Sesame Street”.

Once upon a time I had a stomach that didn’t fall to the floor. Once, I
had hips that didn’t serve as a baby saddle and a shelf for grocery bags.
Once, I could even take a bath. Alone. All by myself. Without someone
pounding on the closed door, asking if she could use the blue food coloring
or “just wondering” if Super Glue ruins dining room tables.

If you looked in my closet you’d find baggy sweats with elastic waists;
big, long sweaters; and pull-on pants. Forget Bill Blass and Anne Klein,
give me Hanes Her Way any day.

You know who I am. I eat standing up. “Breakfast” consists of the soggy
cereal left in bowls on the kitchen table, the ends of bread left in the
bag, and blobs of strawberry jam scraped from the counter. I grab lunch on
the run from a drive-through window and nibble on dinner as I cook it. I
finish everyone else’s ice cream, then wonder why I can’t ever seem to lose
weight.

Don’t tell anyone, but I live for bedtime. I yearn for the sounds of a
child’s slumber. I long for my own head to hit the pillow. I pine for
(yawn)…zzzzz.

You know me. I’m the one with the knot in her stomach, praying her child
will figure out how to turn over on the playground turnover bar so she
won’t be humiliated in front of her classmates during gym class. I’m the
one who drinks the powdered milk so that everyone else can have the “real”
stuff. I’m the one who eagerly counted the days until both daughters went
to school, then cried when that day finally arrived.

I’m the one who willingly suffered through morning sickness, swollen
ankles, uncontrollable crying jags, and overwhelming desires for lemon
meringue pie and out-of-season blackberries. (Not to mention pushing a
bowling ball through a part of my body a bowling ball doesn’t normally fit
– twice.)

I’m the one frightened voices call for in the middle of the night. I’m
who changes wet sheets at three in the morning, rocks a
nightmare-strickened preschooler back to sleep at four, then gets up at
five to let the dog out.

I’m the one who, despite an utterly selfish nature and a propensity toward
evil (in addition to an inadequacy in and of myself and a definite lack of
experience), God chose as caretaker, teacher, and nurturer of two totally
dependent little sinners.

With apologies to the Peace Corps, I have the toughest job anyone will ever
love. I am battle-weary from refereeing squabbles over who did or did not
do the dishes last and battle-scarred from getting smacked in the thigh by
a line-driven softball during backyard practice. Still, I endure.

Who am I? I am a cooker of oatmeal and cleaner of soap scum. A taxi
driver, spider killer, purchase of folders with pockets and prongs, pencil
finder, and dental appointment maker. Loudest cheerleader and most fervent
pray-er, encourager of dreams and holder of hands. I am a tear wiper and
boo-boo kisser, the toothbrushing gestapo and an example of faith. You
know who I am.

I am a mother.

9 months old!!

I cannot beleive that my boys are 9 months old today. The past 9 months have flown by! Two beautiful boys who started out at 5lbs 10oz & 5lbs 5oz, are now at least 18lbs (I will post their weights after next weeks well baby checkup). Things were so incredibly crazy during the first 3-4 months. Lately, I somewhat felt like I have a handle on things only to have the get even crazier once my little guys started being more mobile. Both boys have been crawling for a while & are cruising now. Next step - WALKING!!!!! I'm really not ready for it!

As I've done before, I love to show pictures of the boys when they were first born to compare to pictures now.

Two days old - Brayden (left) Aaron (right)

Brayden playing

AJ giggling