Donut Cravings

Over the weekend M and I finished up a project we had going on in our dining room (more on that later). So, naturally we rewarded ourselves with donuts and coffee on Sunday morning.

We loaded up the car with our tribe (most of us in our pjs/yoga pants) and headed to our favorite donut shop, Donut Cravings. As we were leaving the shop the owner realized we had twins and said, "There's two!" I replied, "Yeah! Do we get free donuts for that next time?" He gave us an enthusiastic nod. And I'm totally taking him up on it next Sunday. ;)

Everly is so cute here and she KNOWS it!

What he probably doesn't know is that his shop is where we took our photo to announce that we were expecting twins! And it all comes full circle. :)

Anti-aging Regimen

As my 33 birthday approaches I'm more and more concerned about my skin care regimen. I've been noticing more and more wrinkles, (whhhyyyyy) age spots, etc. I'm really starting to be consistent with my bedtime skincare routine because they say that consistency is key.

I thought I would share with you the tools I've been using to help combat the signs of aging. I don't have before and after pictures yet because I want to be consistent for three months before I compare things but I'm very hopeful!

1. Tria cleanser and serum: I use these products before and after I use the Tria laser to combat my wrinkles. My friend's dad actually makes the lasers for a living so I received mine for free (always a win).
2. Rodan and Fields eye cream: I use this to combat my crow's feet and dark under eye circles. They have SO many products I could benefit from but for now I'm starting here.
3. GrandeLash MD: Ok so this isn't really for my skin but it helps my lashes to grow thicker and longer. I'm trying it for three months to see if I notice a difference. My friends swear by it.
4. Clinique lotion: I use this for a daily moisturizer in the morning.
5. Tria Laser: As I mentioned above I use this before bed to fight against my wrinkles. I do it about 4 times a week.
6. Red Light Therapy: I've read great things about red light therapy and my friend has a tanning salon with one of these beds so I've been trying it out. Again, I want to be consistent and see what my results are in about three months! RLT can help with stretch marks, wrinkles, joint pain, acne, and the appearance for cellulite. I'm down with all these things!

Cal and Evie: Six Months

We made it! The babies are officially half way to being one year olds! Contrary to popular belief it did not fly by and honestly you couldn't pay me to do those first three months all over again (oy vey that was hard and took a village), BUT that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for those precious babies. I'm thankful for them but am completely okay with those months being behind us! Ha ha.

The babes are becoming more and more fun the older they get. Their personalities are really obvious now and although they are both pretty easy babies their personalities are so different!

Cal has been deemed the "chill" baby. He is laid back and such a happy fella. He loves to suck his middle and ring fingers at the same time and rub his own head while he nurses and takes a bottle. He is happy to just sit on your lap but also likes to play on his play mat, swing, go for a stroller ride, take a bath, and watch his big sister play. He sleeps through the night, rolls both ways, gets up on his hands and knees and rocks, makes hilarious "martian" noises, takes two solid naps and one cat nap a day, and has the cutest way of smiling at you and then getting shy and burying his head. His nicknames are bubba, sweet boy, and formerly butterball (before he got skinny). Ha ha.

He is 26 inches long (23 percentile), weighs 13 lbs 4 ounces (1 percentile), and his head circumference is 45 cm (91 percentile). So basically he's like an orange on a toothpick. ;) He's such a skinny little guy but is so happy so I can't complain!

Evie has been deemed the "spicy" baby. She is full of smiles but man when she gets tired or hungry everyone knows it. She's a girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to tell you. She doesn't consistently suck her thumb or fingers yet, although she does love chewing on her blankie. She is obsessed with rolling all over the place and enjoys her play mat. She likes to sit in her bumbo or swing outside and watch Blair play. She enjoys the stroller and bath time. She sleeps through the night, rolls both ways, rocks back and forth on her hands and knees, takes two solid naps a day and one cat nap, and also gives big smiles but then buries her head and hides. She has the cutest roly poly thighs just like Blair had. Her nicknames include: mad kitty, coo coo, cucamonga, little hen, megamind, and Evie G (her gangster name).

At her sixth month check up she was 25 inches long (16 percentile), weighs 12 lbs 12 ounces (3 percentile), and her head circumference is 42 and 1/2 cm (59 percentile). Her body reminds me so much of Blair's...so chubby! Her thighs are so yummy I just can't take it!

Routine
The babies are getting much more consistent with their naps which is AMAZING. They typically wake for the day around 7:30/8. They take their first nap around 9/9:30 and sleep for about 2 hours. They eat 5 times a day usually and I supplement 3-4 of their feedings with 3 extra ounces of breastmilk from a friend along with nursing them. They take their second nap around 12:30/1 for about an hour and a half and then they squeeze in one more cat nap around 4/4:30. Our hardest part of the day is still right before bedtime between 5-6:30 pm. It used to be straight misery. They are still needy during this time but at least aren't crying or insisting on being held in a carrier. Everyday I try to run an errand with them, take them for a walk, let them swing outside and watch Blair play, and take them to pick Blair up from school. I finally feel like I can manage them on my own although it's not ideal.

This weekend I plan on giving them solid food for the first time and seeing how they like it or if they are ready. We're going to start with avocado mixed with breast milk. :)

I included so many details in this post so I can refer back to it. If you are still reading you must be pregnant with twins or just want to see what real life insanity looks like. ;) I still stand by my best advice for those expecting twins. There is no miracle product...get a nanny! Best decision I ever made!!! We sure do miss ours but are thankful for the six months of help she was able to give us.

Letterfolk: Yesterday's letter board for today's home.

Unless you live under a rock you've seen all the hype going on over Letterfolk boards. And for good reason! These old school boards have made a come back from from their glory days of listing the hymns at church on Sunday morning and are now adorning hipsters' homes everywhere. Including mine (although I'm definitely not a hipster)! ;)

The boards come in all different sizes, colors (grey, black, white), and frame finishes. I chose the oak finish in the "writer" (medium) sized board and have been loving playing with mine. M and I like coming up with sassy/snarky phrases and I imagine we will soon be leaving each other "love notes" in plain sight. Blair also likes to practice her sight words and name on it too. It's a gift for the whole family! ;)

Beyonce is always copying my style...

The board comes with a slew of letters/numbers/punctuation and a nifty bag to store it all in. 

Lucky Matt ;)

One of my favorite verses that encouraged me through infertility. 

You should definitely check out Letterfolk and follow them on Instagram @letterfolk. Their posts always make me chuckle and give me inspiration for my own board. This would also be a great gift for anyone. You could take monthly photos of your baby with this board, write down your latest epiphany, quote your favorite Bible verse or song lyric etc. So many options! Depending on your mood you can keep it casual or make it inspiring...the options are endless!

Sleepless in Seattle

I got out of my comfort zone last week and went with M and the babies to Seattle! He had some work up there and with the encouragement of a friend I decided to give it a whirl. We ended up having a great time! We were definitely tired but decided the food fun was worth it!

Honestly the babies did really well on the flight. It was the 1.5 hour drive home from the airport during rush hour traffic in Orange County that did us in. I will say traveling with twins is a total circus and I was thankful that people had grace for us! Shout out to the airport employee that let us skip the GIANT line for security. I've never seen M give such a good "poor me" face to get us some special treatment... "Ma'am we have not ONE baby but TWO babies. Can we get in the priority line?" Ha ha ha.

One the way home...oh that's a tired Mama face!

The babies also slept in the same room for the first time in a long time. The first night was really rough...for some reason Cal was not down with his crib but the second night was great! M and I enjoyed watching TV in bed (oh, the luxuries!) and actually ordered "Moana." Insert crying laughing face here. Blair has seen it twice and we wanted to see what all the hype was about!

I was even super brave and explored downtown Seattle with both babies by myself! We shopped and Cal was a dream in the stroller. My spicy friend, Evie, had to be worn in the front pack but I'm still calling it a success.

Matt and I have also decided that there are no children in the city of Seattle. But for real. When people walked by us and saw us wearing the twins they would say things like, "Wow that's a really cool contraption (the Ergo carrier)." and, "OMG you just made my day!" and "Babies!". It was honestly like we had aliens or celebrities strapped to our chests...people just stared like they had never seen two infants before.

I'm glad I can put "babies first flight" in the checked off column but I won't be hopping on a plane to go out of town with them again. Packing for them was a beast and finding hot water every 3 hours to thaw the breast milk I supplement them with was a huge pain in the A. Thank you to all the restaurants, coffee shops, and flight attendants who made feeding my babies possible. ;)

Needless to say it was an adventure and I'm glad I did something spontaneous for once. It made me gain more confidence as a Mama and prepared me a little bit for life with no nanny. :(

This Calls for a Donut Ice Cream Sandwich

If you watched my Instagram story this weekend you saw that on Friday we had some bad news...our nanny has to get a full time job. We have completely fallen in love with her and she has surely been the best thing for our family and I'm just devastated that she has to leave. She's honestly like a part of our family and she knows my kids just as well as I do.

Needless to say I cried a good part of my weekend. Yes, I am sad because I am losing my best helper but I'm also sad because I'm losing a friend. We spent a lot of time together and I really enjoyed her company. It can get lonely just hanging out with two six month olds all the time! She will be SO SO missed.

Now the question is whether or not I will get more help. I'm on the fence. I'm not thrilled about introducing someone new to Blair all over again or teaching someone all about the babies idiosyncrasies either. We were a well oiled machine and had things down just so! And it's not that I can't take care of the twins on my own it's just that it's SO much easier with a second set of hands. I know this is another opportunity for me to rely on the Lord's strength to get me through this and trust that his plan is better than mine but of course right now that is hard to see. There is purpose in this but it's so hard to know what that is.

For now Blair will be my little helper along with some friends who offered to take her to preschool. I'm going to give this "mom of twins plus one" thing a try on my own but if I start crying every day then it's off to care.com again. Sigh. All good things must come to an end.  Said some annoying person.

My number one girl.

Valentine's Day Cards with Tiny Prints

I LOVE creating special/handmade Valentine's with Blair for her friends. This year with five month old twins there will be nothing handmade about her Valentines, ;) but I still wanted them to be unique and cute. Tiny Prints saved the day with their darling personalized cards. They also have personalized stickers to put on favors (they fit perfectly on mini Playdoughs) to ramp up the cuteness. The fun part about having Valentine cards that are personalized with a photo is that friends and family can enjoy her smiling face for the rest of the year!

Since donuts happen to be Blair's favorite (mine too!) we chose this Tiny Prints card below...

There is still plenty of time to order Valentine's from Tiny Prints so head over there today! They always have great promos too!