I am in L-O-V-E

I baked today.  An event in itself, but here is the kicker – it was GOOD!!!!

The recipe is from the Joy of Baking website.  Their pumpkin cupcakes are to die for, seriously.  Wow, good.  I think the cupcakes on their own would make an excellent muffin, but add the cheesecake frosting and it is delish!!!  I don’t feel like the muffin/cupcake part would be all that bad for us, there is only one cup of sugar in the recipe, but that frosting, yum, but not so good for you.  

 

In other news, we have been busy all week, but today we are taking a break.  Thus, the baking and I even vacuumed the downstairs before lunch time!  Now, if I can make this update quick I can clean the bathrooms and start the laundry. Jealous, aren’t you?  We have hit the zoo, the pool, and Busch Gardens this week.  The boys were extremely well behaved, especially considering I really have not had a voice for most of the week.  The only questionable behavior was at lunch yesterday when they dumped their entire pasta and peas cup on the table.  They were not big eaters yesterday, so I just let it go. We did have a blast with our besties yesterday though.  The boys were extremely brave and tried a few new rides out.  They started on the train and it was so cute to watch the four friends go into the train car of their choice.  Raleigh picked the first car, and acted as the engineer, and Gus picked the caboose, and E & C rode in the car right in front of Gus.  The next ride was the airplanes.  Again, we let the kiddos choose where they wanted to sit and this time C & Augustus rode in a plane, and Rals and his girlfriend chose the one behind them.  Gus and Rals both went into the front of the plane.  I really start to feel like I have little people when they do these new things!  No more babies:(  Augustus even figured out how to bring the plane up in the air, so C got a great ride!  Rals and E were happy to ride low.  The ride was crazy fast, so they still got quite a ride. 

Next they tried the motorcycles.  They are not tall enough to sit in the front of the cycle, but I think they had fun nonetheless. Although, their faces were not quite as enthusiastic as on other rides, but Gus did let a “weeeee” out when he rode down a small hill on the ride. 

After the rides were over we had a ball exploring the animal sections.  We did not even make it to the Sesame Street area!  The boys got to get up close and personal with a two-toed sloth.  I cannot tell you how lucky these kids are!  Busch Gardens truly provides an up close and personal animal experience.  Our local zoo always wins the Parent’s best zoo award, but we tend to think it is not as friendly for toddlers and multiples, but Busch is amazing.  Now that they have the stroller parking it is even better for us MoMs.  We happened to run into three or four sets of twins too.  None of whom are part of our club.  Miss Nat Nat and I did our best pitch to two moms, both who have fifteen month old boys.  Aw, I remember that age.  I totally love this age better, but I find myself saying that all the time!!!

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Like I mentioned earlier, today is a stay-at-home day.  We did however, make it outside to play a bit.  As soon as I put their shoes on, they start saying “bye-bye” and “Ellie, Conner, Miss Nat Nat.”  ALL the time, everyday.  I remember when it used to be “Nonnie and bye-bye.”  I guess friends are moving up in importance! 

Today, I witnessed the cutest thing. I totally reaffirms our decision to have me stay-at-home with the boys.   I would not change things for anything, but some days are, well, hard! These small moments just make me super happy. Raleigh walked over to Augustus, showed him his boo-boo and said “boo-boo.”  Gus immediately walked over to his doctor’s kit, opened it up and broke out the boo-boo cream.  He then put it on Raleigh’s boo-boo.  Then, the total twin side came out when he said boo-boo again, and put some on his hand.  I laugh every time they mirror each other when one gets hurt.  Of course, it is not as bad as the original one, but they will pretend to fall, or hit their knee, etc.  I don’t laugh as much when they want to be in time out just because their brother does!

After our trip to the pool this week, the boys were playing independently, but then Raleigh ran over to Gus and said “ooh, ooh” and pointed in the sweetest way as to say, you should go here.  His “ooh ooh” was for the monkey bars; get it, ooh-ohh, ahh-ahh, like a monkey!  Love it!!!  Communication development just intrigues me so much!!!

Back to the pool, the boys are amazing swimmers. I want to get them back to a refresher course with our favorite instructor, but I am starting to think they may not need it.  They are fearless, and remember how to hold their breath, turn over, float, etc.  Raleigh was hilarious with Nonnie in the pool.  He kept going under and just opening his eyes, and then would tell Nonnie to do it too, just wanting to watch her do it too.  Augustus does not stop once he is in the pool.  He just thinks he can swim the entire length of the pool.  Here is a short video of Rals swimming back and forth to the stairs.

  

They are totally into imaginary play right now. In particular, pirates.  They will turn just about anything into a boat.  Our friend Conner brought over swords today too, so now they can play real pirates. Here is a picture of them in their picnic table “boat,” Gus with a sword, and Rals on the lookout!

The boys have a ridiculously good memory.  We can be driving somewhere and they will know where we are going well before we get there just by looking at their surroundings.  They did NOT inherit this from me!!!  Today, Raleigh saw the shirts I brought down for them to wear and said “Nanny & Poppy.” They are the shirts Nanny and Poppy bought them in Key West.  Whoa!  Kind of freaky.  It happens all the time though!  They are wicked smart!!!

In other good news, they just broke ground on another house, the one right behind us.  This leaves just one more lot on the street behind us.  Yay, we can hope for some more peace and quiet sooner, rather than later!

Teddy Bear Tea and Other Fun Stuff!

Today, the boys attended their first tea party.  Yup, you heard me right, the boys attended their first tea party.  If you know me, you know I am not all into the gender rules, boys wear blue, girls wear pink, and all, so it was great fun to be part of the tea party fun with all our friends!  The moms of multiples group we are part of put it on as part of our spring celebration. What an amazing idea: dress the kids in their finest clothes, bring their favorite teddy bears, and art work, and leave the rest up to the mom’s group planning leaders.  The china was borrowed or purchased at Goodwill, blankets were brought to let the kids spread out with their tea, and the high tea of cheese sandwiches, jelly sandwiches with cookies, scones and fruit was available for the kids.  Peach iced tea and pink lemonade refreshed us all and cucumber sandwiches held over the parents…along with a few cookies and scones;)  The bonus was that the moms group decided to help my own mom’s newest business venture and hire her and her partner to cater the event.  They hope to be helping hold tea parties around the area soon and having their own tea room eventually too!  If you are interested, email them at crystalsteaandbonbons@gmail.com. The scones were blissful for sure, and the ice tea and lemonade were quite the treat for most of the kiddos who usually don’t get to taste such fancy drinks!  High tea at two years old is pretty fancy. How great is it that kids of all ages were able to enjoy the beautiful spring day as well?  Perfect!  The best part, the boys got to hang out with their friends, learn about tea, and the best is that they fell asleep like legends both at naptime and bedtime from all the fresh air!!!

  

   

Yesterday, the boys had their first popsicle of “summer” – how cute are these boys???  Love that Gus took C’s hat…his old one, and it sooooooooooo does not even begin to cover his noggin!

The zoo was calling our name after we made it to the evaluation by the state bright and early one morning this week.  This was the evaluation to see if the boys were eligible for assistance with their speech.  We were worried that Augustus in particular, was a bit delayed with his pronunciation and ability to express his thoughts in more than one word, but the evaluation found the boys are doing just fine in all areas: gross/fine motor skills, self-help/adaptive skills, social/emotional, academic/cognitive and receptive and expressive communication.  That is a relief!  However, we can contact them again if the do not continue improve with their word conjugation. It is amazing how much they are continuing to put together each and every day.  My advice to other moms out there, or parents, is to chill a bit if you are concerned about “delays” that are not really completely apparent.  Everyone has their own time to blossom.  The boys were born at 33 weeks and sometimes it is good to remind myself that this is a fact, despite their complete amazing selves, they may take a bit more time than their peers. I don’t like to compare the boys to their peers, but sometimes it is just plain tough not too.  Speaking of peers, check out the besties holding hands below.  Almost all looking at the camera, but best of all facing forward…how many pics do we have of their backs?

  Gus the bird man – still loves to hold the birds on the stick and feed them!

Earlier in the week we made pizza with Nonnie.  The boys were super helpful!  Their favorite part was making the sauce and then giving both Nonnie and me a taste.  Yummo!!!

Then, we visited the cows.  A few of them ate whole wheat waffles, a few just came over to try to lick my camera, and us!  Currently, we have some overripe bananas and left over bread crusts from the tea sandwiches, so we will have to go back soon.

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Here is a glimpse of what has become a daily ritual in our house, as mentioned in the last post.  Wow!  At least they are getting better at putting their toys away.  I guess it is good to take inventory every once and a while as well!

 

That pretty much sums up our week.  Fun times indeed, peppered with a few more bites – UGH!  If anyone has any tips I am all ears…

What We’ve Been Up To; You Just Know You’re Dying to Know!

We are focusing on a slow down after being in a frenzy to get out and enjoy some beautiful weather after a winter of cold, cold, cold.  The weather is still nice, and we are spending plenty of time outside in our neighborhood and the parks around our house, but we need to slow down and take it easy for a little while. 
Here are a few snapshots of the past week.  The boys had fun at the zoo and even made it to Nonnie’s pool a few times.  We had a great time with some of our friends on Saturday in particular at the park and pool, but I did not take my camera.  Wow, shocker!!!  I had my hands full enough, though.  Augustus and Raleigh have kicked up their daredevil gear and are all out anywhere they go now. At the park Saturday, both boys took a flying leap to the “bobo” bars – that is Spanglish for monkey bars – and would yell, “swing” as they hung on and swung on the first bar.  Augustus also shocked the you-know-what out of me and climbed the entire ladder type contraption at the park too!  I know they are super strong and have the strength to do more than most two year olds, but it is like their fear has completely left the building.

Happy Anniversary to us!  Nine years, wow, time flies when you are having fun!!!
 
  
Baby rhino!

Bug watching!  Favorite sport;)

 
 
Favorite Things:
Raleigh says “Raleigh do” or “Raleigh do it” about 1,000 times a day.  Just great to see him want some more independence and string some words together. 
Augustus has been more verbal too.  However, he is also in a big rut with his whining; particularly due to Raleigh’s bossy tendencies.  Any time Raleigh pesters him, Gus just starts to whine or cry. Unfortunately, with Raleigh’s personality, this just eggs him on!  I hope Gus finds his voice soon!  Nonetheless, Gus is still the bulldozer.  I just laugh any time he just tries to push through or dictate what Matthew and I do by just positioning us into whatever he wants. 
Gardening boys.  They are super helpful and love to spend time with Daddy in the garden. Oh, and Nonnie too.  Mom, not so much, it is  just not my thing. Although, when Daddy pointed out a spider from the garden and I screamed over it, they were both in tears.  Lots of help from me…
Potty training update.  They are interested in their undies, and we are moving towards training soon. Today was a great day because Raleigh said “poo poo potty” and then went straight to the potty and did a big poo poo.  Gus will go pee pee on the potty any time I ask him and he has to go, but really has not shown interest in the poo part.  Hopefully by next month they are ready. I want to start when it is warm out and we can do some of the training outside.  Sounds so redneck, right????
Swimming is coming back to them.  When we went to the pool Saturday, it was my first time being on my own with them in the pool and man, they were like fish.  Augustus in particular was all out.  He barely wanted to keep his head above water.  Again, fear has left the building!  It is great to see. I cannot wait for the water to be warm enough for us to stay a little longer without the boys’ lips turning blue! 

I Know You All Know This, But Can I Just Say How Much I Love These Kids???

Yesterday was awesome because we broke free from the asylum, and ventured farther than Nonnie & Pickles house.  We made it to the zoo for some shenanigans with friends.  Here are some cute pictures.  There is also a great video of Augustus feeding a budgie.  He loved it!!! Raleigh wanted to hold the stick with the bird food on it, but would squeal if they landed on it, and would shut his eyes, or run away in fear.

Did you know we gave birth to sea gulls?  Yup, we sure did.  And, these birds are getting bigger.  If you dare eat in front of these children, expect them to devour anything you are eating.  It is accompanied by the squawk of birdies as well.  Seriously, this started from the time they barely had any teeth and has continued to expand.  We of course don't just let them swipe our food, but we are extremely good at sharing;)  Matthew recently mistakenly bought spicy barbeque chips, he thought they were just BBQ, and of course when they saw Daddy eating them the boys wanted to try them.  No, we don't usually give them chips, but to leave Matty alone, he gave them a chip.  We totally did not expect them to like them, but they did.  As a side note, if you like extremely spicy snacks these things are awesome - Lays Spicy Barbeque chips!

So, this post title is from yesterday's game they came up with.  I love this age.  They can change overnight and come up with the funniest things to entertain themselves with.  Yesterday after naptime we went outside for some more fresh air.  They both started to fall down and then wanted their brother to help them up.  I just about peed my pants watching them do this for at least thirty minutes straight.  Here is a funny video of their fall, pick up, thank you with a hug and just all around fun rolling around in the grass together.  How can you not love these boys!?!?!?!?!

In other news and some of my favorite things...both boys can say Raleigh.  Ra Ra is no more.  Their Raleigh sounds more like "Row-ley" - rhymes with cow, not row.  We have moved up to 2T jeans overnight because the 18 month jeans look like flood pants.  Almost all of their PJs we bought for the winter are too small.  Which is a bummer since it is STILL cold here and I don't really want to buy bigger fleece-style PJs for the Florida summer. 

It is almost one month until our babies turn 2; can you believe that?  I cannot.  We are prepping for their birthday party.  We of course will be incorporating a charity play date party for The Ronald McDonald House again.  This year I am also trying to get some friends together to make a meal at one of the local houses, so if anyone is interested in that please shoot me an email, or post here.

I love that they wake up and want to read immediately.  All the books Great Auntie Julianne and Uncle Tony, and Nonnie, among many others, have bought for the boys are going to very good use.  Seriously, Augustus will carry his books around and then go crawl in our bed to read.  How sweet is that?  They still love construction truck or fire engine books best, then anything train, and of course all the Aussie books with animals in them.  The boys' concentration level is truly amazing for being nearly two.  Both boys will sit and put every puzzle together, take it apart, and do it again.   

I also love that when they see a smaller object and a bigger object the immediately connect that one must be the mommy and one must be the baby.  Even smaller airplanes are called babies. 

Our Week in Review: Zoo, Aquarium, Birthdays, the Usual

So we could not get all the twinkies in one shot, but this is as good as it gets.  I really love this age on days and moments like this, where all the kids will hold hands, and be sweet to each other.  Don't ask how I feel about the hitting and kicking, biting, throwing food stage though.  That is not one of my favorites.  Tonight we were talking to the grandies in Oz and the boys would not eat anything and were throwing everything they could.  Ugh.  If we took it away and tried to feed them one piece at a time they would just spit it out.  Oye vey.  I have to say it is most likely due to them not feeling well.  They did not eat much all day, and have runny noses again. 

But on a prouder note, Raleigh made a poo-poo on the potty again tonight.  They are consistently going pee-pee on the potty, not all day, but when we ask them.  Bad for us if we don't ask them I guess.  We are still not pushing them, but they are so happy to do it.  Raleigh is still doing a poopy every so often, but has not been as excited as he had been. We are happy that he is doing it at all so we'll take what we get!  Seriously tonight, I was so happy he was going on the potty though when he was pooing more then I have ever seen - EVER!  We flushed three times and had to use a plunger afterward.  I know, I know, too much info, but heck, this is the reality of our life.  

Here are Gus and little Miss A holding hands.  Gus held her hand and dragged her to the other end of the goat pen.  Too cute for words!

Happy Birthday to Nonnie Bon Bon.  The boys and Grandpa Pickles, and Nonnie Bon Bon and I went to Outback to celebrate.  They were so well behaved and had a ball despite a crazy nap day.  Good thing they have crayons.  The boys love to draw, and had fun watching their grandies color as well. 

The boys enjoying an up close view of a turtle.  This is still their favorite word, I swear.  They will yell it anytime, anywhere.  Plus, it is one of the best shots I have of them in their flannel Henley shirts.  We love them Auntie Kristy!

Not only did we hit the zoo, but we also managed to get to the aquarium for some fun times with friends too.  Loved to see the kids run wild and do a little dance on the lights on the floor.  They all sat down nicely and enjoyed a snack together too.  Gus got in on the hand action dragging Miss A around too.

This shot is for Poppy.  The boys can now ride in a space ship while I do some shopping.  Thank you Publix for continuing to supply us with easy to use double shopping carts.  Love the race cars, but this one is not as bulky and easier for me to navigate.  I am a good driver, I promise;)