Busy Summer Update

Well today is my laze around the house day so thought I’d update my good ol’ blog!

This past week has been very busy! But also very fun. Last weekend we went to the Clackamas County Fair with the girls and my parents and my Aunt Darlene. The girls got to have some close encounters with animals which they really enjoyed. And silly me only took 4 pictures of the whole event! I swear, I suck at taking pictures! For whatever reason most days that camera never makes it out of it’s case, and when it does I only remember to use it a few times. More on that later!

Then this week I really got down to business with finishing the girl’s clothes shopping. I went out practically every day this week! Some days with the girls, and some days by myself after DJ woke up for the day. The girls really enjoy going out now so most of the time I took them along. It seems like mid-morning is crack up time, but if I take them out somewhere they are perfectly happy. Otherwise they spend time in the living room fighting over who gets to play with which toy. I checked out the local consignment shop for the first time. I wasn’t super impressed with their prices, but I’m pretty sure it would be a good deal if I brought in clothes to sell. So I bought most of their clothes at Kohl’s and Walmart. I made quite a few bargain ‘scores’!

Then I went out to my mom’s on Thursday to visit with one of our dear family friends and her 5 year old granddaughter who had been asking to see the girls. We had a nice lunch together, and the girls had a lot of fun exploring Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Ziva really liked the freedom of no gates there! We also went down to the outlet mall and I found some shoes on sale for the girls. Their first pair of shoes!

Then Saturday DJ & I took the girls to the zoo with my parents along for the ride! We had a blast! And the girls did too! Anya really had a good time watching Packy the elephant and Ziva squealed with delight at the giraffe. Afterwards we went out to dinner, and the girls ate one full restaurant size serving of mac & cheese, a serving of chicken strips and 2 packages of orange segments that I brought along! Holy moley those girls can put it away! And of course, we didn’t take ANY pictures at the zoo! My dad took some, so at least there’s evidence that we were at the zoo! I swear, we need to hire a camera crew to follow us around! Our hands are just too full most of the time to take pictures. There are soooo many times that I think to myself, “That would make a good picture!” But I’m always holding a baby at the time so it just doesn’t happen.

Then Sunday was my grandma’s 92^nd birthday party! It was at my Aunt Charlotte’s house in Gervais, OR. Again, the girls loved the fact that they didn’t have gates! Ziva was walking all over the place finding things that were breakable. My mom and I spent the entire time following each of them around making sure they didn’t get into too much trouble. It was fun though! And we got to introduce a lot of people to the girls who hadn’t met them before.

To top off our Sunday evening Anya decided to take her first few steps! She walked back and forth between me and DJ several times. But then she started to get so excited that she started jumping and couldn’t even stand up because she was so thrilled with herself! It was so precious!

In the process of all this fun over the last 2 weeks I’ve only lost 5 lbs. Which I guess is ok, but I only lost 1 lbs. over the last week because every time I went out I was cheating on my diet! That’s the trouble with leaving the house, there’s always naughty things to eat! So I’m going to try and do better this week, we’ll see if I stick to my guns.

14 Months Old!

The girls are 14 months old today, time flies when your having fun! They’re at such a fun age right now and I’m really enjoying them a lot. They’re very smiley and fun. Most of the day is spent playing and laughing.

Ziva is now walking! She’s been walking pretty well for the past week and at this point walks more than she crawls. She’s also learned how to clap her hands which is very cute! Anya is still watching Ziva walk around and hasn’t decided to give it a try yet. She’s also working on clapping, whenever people clap she waves her arms in the air!

They’re both doing great with eating table foods. They’ll clear their trays in 15 minutes and Ziva will start taking her bib off when she’s done.

We hosted a really fun BBQ with some old friends from Portland Christian HS. We had a great time eating junk food and shootin’ the breeze. If you’re interested in coming to our next shindig you are more than welcome!

We had a garage sale and sold a lot of the girl’s old baby things. Most of the big ticket items sold, but we still have a LOT of baby clothes left. So if you know anyone in the area who needs some pink clothes have them contact me!

DJ and I are still pushing ahead with our weight loss! DJ’s about 4 lbs. from his goal weight, and I’m officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight! I’ve lost a grand total of 25 lbs! I’m still pushing on though, I’d like to lose another 20 and get back to when I felt the healthiest. But it’s been really nice to be thinner. I went shopping the other day and I was able to fit into some pants that I realized were the same size I used to wear. Such a good feeling! So now my next task is to go through my old clothes and find out what fits now and what doesn’t… and what is so out of date that I need to get rid of!

I just finished cleaning out our pantry and making a huge food donation to our church’s food cupboard. So our kitchen is all cleaned out and somewhat organized now. Then I’ll move on to my closet, and then the den… The den is horrible and DJ keeps harping on me to clean it out. Collecting papers is my weakness… I swear they follow me wherever I go. Right now I’m surrounded by piles of mail that I haven’t gone through and stacks of bills that I’ve already paid… I desperately need a system. I may resort to hiring someone to help me because my ADD riddled brain just can’t handle it. I hate doing that because I feel like I SHOULD be able to do it myself, but years pass and nothing changes so maybe it’s time to call for backup.

I Have A Climber!

Oh CRAP I have a climber! Today I was in the other room checking my email while the girls were watching Sesame Street and I heard this unusual noise. It was a strange enough noise that the dogs napping at my feet jumped. So I went in to check on the kiddos. Ziva was ON the couch reaching for things on the end table and getting ready to climb over onto the end table! Apparently she's decided to skip walking and go straight to climbing. She was being very careful and deliberate about what she was doing though and only managed to knock over a picture frame (that was the strange noise).

So I decided to call my mom and share with her this exciting story, and as I was talking to her on the phone I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see Ziva STANDING on top of one of our little storage cubes on the other side of the couch! This was maybe less than 5 minutes after I caught her on the couch. Dang it! Now that she's figured out how to do it she's going to be trying it ALL the time! I'm seriously in some deep doo doo! I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time before Anya sees Ziva climbing and decides it looks like fun.

I hope I start growing some eyes on the back of my head.

Nearly Mobile!

Well, this has been a fun month with the girls! Every time someone gets on the floor it's a garantee that someone will get tackled. They're full of laughs and smiles and drama. lol

They're ALMOST walking! I'm sure that will happen within the next week or two. They've both taken a step or two without holding onto anything, so now it's just getting the courage to let go completely. My parents gave them these Fisher Price toy cars that you can either sit on or you can flip them up with a handle and push them. So we have both cars in the pushing position and they've been pushing them all over the place! Anya especially enjoys it. She would push that car around until the cows come home.

We've also made a BIG switch in their diet and are working on figuring out what works best for them. We've switched from formula to Lactaid whole milk. I have a seriously long family history of lactose intolerance so I'm afraid to use the real stuff, we can try that next year or something. And we're now feeding them solids 5 times a day: 3 meals and 2 snacks. So far they're doing good. I've had lots of questions along the way and the wise ladies on Ovusoft.com have been helping me out. So I feel like all I ever do is feed babies, but I guess that's all I ever did before except now it's actual food and actual messes. I've been trying to introduce the sippy cups too. Anya will actually drink from it, in fact last night she picked one up off the living room floor and helped herself to it (YAY!!!!), but Ziva won't even wrap her mouth around the spout. So I'm really not sure what to do about that one. It's not even a matter of 'wait till she's thirsty' because she just doesn't get how to use it at ALL. I guess we'll just keep trying. lol I've heard some mom's say that they chuck the bottles at 12 months and only use sippies, but I just don't think that's even possible if she has yet to take 1 sip from a sippy. If any of you expert mom's out there have any suggestions I'm all ears!!!

In the meantime... I've been busy cleaning out the girl's room of all the things they've grown out of over the past year. I'm planning to have a garage sale July 25th and 26th so mark your calendars! Some key items that we're hoping to sell: a 30" HDTV, a white 2000 VW Jetta in nearly perfect condition, baby cradle swing and bouncy seat, 2 matching infant carseats, and lots and LOTS AND LOTS of baby girl and neutral clothes including some matching or coordinating 'twin' sets. I'm planning to sell onesies for $.50 and sleepers for $1 so whoever comes will get a killer deal. Feel free to send me a message and I'll give you my address.

And somehow in the midst of all this I've lost 15 lbs total. It's actually not gone as quickly as I've hoped but I suppose it's better than nothing. :P

Oh, and I did something yesterday that I haven't done since the girls were born. I actually was able to sit down and read 50 pages of a book!!!! Of course it was a book about parenting twin toddlers, but I figure that's something I NEED to read! LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANYA & ZIVA!!!!

WE MADE IT!!! One full year with twins! WHEW what a ride!

I'm so happy, glad, excited to be so blessed to have two such wonderful little girls. They are the light of my life, that's for sure!

To update their progress: So far no one is walking yet, but they're thinking about it. They're both pulling themselves up on the furniture and Ziva often will stand up in the middle of the room without holding onto anything. So they're close, but not quite there yet. They've gotten much better at playing nice together. I think they've learned that getting poked in the face can hurt and aren't trying that so much anymore. They've both had a few good tumbles. Anya bumped her chin during one trip up and her lower tooth (yes, she still has just one!) made contact with her upper gum and caused some bleeding. Ziva currently has a black eye because she bumped her cheek bone on the changing table. And of course that one happened the day before their annual Dr's appointment! Thankfully their Dr. was very understanding. Ziva is currently 17 lbs 7 oz and Anya is 18 lbs 11 oz. That puts Ziva in the 10th percentile for weight and height and Anya in the 10th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight. I've transitioned them to 12 month size clothing but they're pretty baggy.

Their party was a huge success! We had about 25 people come to our house for a BBQ. We had a "Peas in a pod" theme, so everything was bright green and white. The girls had a lot of fun visiting with family and friends, and had a great time smashing up their first pieces of cake! Ziva went at it with gusto using both hands and even going face first into the cake while Anya took a more lady like approach and poked it with her index finger and then tasted the crumbs. They were SO adorable! Since then they've had a lot of fun playing with all their new toys!
DJ's mother and sister were able to come for the festivities. His sister stayed with us for a week, and his mom stayed for 2 weeks. DJ's sister is really throwing herself into the Aunty role! Seems like every time she comes to visit she teaches the girls a new 'trick'. Last time she was here for Easter she taught them how to 'sing' and this trip she taught them how to 'tuck & roll' doing little baby sommersalts. Ziva REALLY got into it and now puts herself into the tuck position and waits for someone to roll her over. She also taught me some baby calisthenics moves and both the girls really love that too. We had a lot of fun with Aunty and Grandma! They taught me a new card game too, Hand & Foot Canasta. If any of you folks know how to play lets get together because DJ won't play with me and I'm now addicted! We can't wait for their next visit!

The girls seem to need a LOT more of my time and attention now. They're down to only one nap a day, so that means less me time and more play time. I'm ok with that though, I'm having a lot of fun!

11 Month Update

I know it's only been 2 weeks since my last blog entry but I'm trying to get back on schedule! lol

Anya & Ziva finally had their last Synagis injection, WOO HOO! No more going to the Dr. for shots every month! We still have to take them in for their annual exam next month, but after that we should finally have a break from the Dr.'s office. The billing has been such a headache for these injections. Seems like I'm on the phone with the insurance company every week trying to get things sorted out... it's become like another job and I'm going to be very thankful when the last billing is taken care of. Oh, I guess I should say that the injections are supposed to prevent RSV infections which can be very problematic for preemies.

I had a very nice Mother's Day. We went out to dinner w/ my parents, my grandmother, my aunt's Charlotte & Sharon (who are also twins) and their families. My sister and her family were also there briefly but they had to leave early. The girls were very well behaved the whole time.

Anya has started crawling! We're so happy for her! She's also started to get her two bottom teeth just within the past couple days. Now that they're both mobile they tend to follow each other around the living room. They smile and laugh at each other a LOT! It's very cute to watch. Anya has also stopped nursing as of a week ago. I kind of have mixed feelings about it. I'm glad because nursing can be very inconvenient but I'm also kind of sad because it was such a wonderful bonding experience for both of us.

DJ and I have decided to start this weight loss program called Take Shape for Life. If anyone is interested the web site is www.kennedy.tsfl.com. Basically we'll eat 6 meals a day, 5 prepackaged meals and 1 lean & green meal. We've ordered our food and we're waiting for it to arrive. I'm really looking forward to loosing weight, but I'm kind of scared of what my skinny post-babies body will look like. I guess there's only one way to find out!

10 Months Old!

Well, the girls are now 10 months old... and very quickly they will be 11 months old! How time flies... I can't believe it's almost been a year since they exploded in on our world.

We had a wonderful time with DJ's family when they came to visit us last month. DJ's mom stayed with us for 2 weeks, and his sister and neices were with us for almost a week. We had family pictures taken, and they turned out beautifully! Finally we have a good professional family picture of the four of us! And we did some cute ones of the girls by themselves. Anya, was a bit of a tough customer, but in the end we were able to make her smile and have fun. We celebrated Easter at Skamania Lodge with DJ's mom and my family. They do a wonderful Sunday brunch, if any of you have a chance to go you really should! It was delicious!

While DJ's family was here the girls just blossomed! Ziva started crawling with much more confidence and she started standing up without help by pulling herself up on the furniture! Now a days she's cruising around the living room holding onto things, it's so amazing! Anya is getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth, so we're hoping that she starts crawling soon. Ziva has crawled up on top of Anya a few times and they end up just piled up laughing at each other... it's so cute! One time a few days ago we were helping Anya to stand up, and Ziva crawled over and used Anya to brace herself while she stood up too! So they ended up both standing (Anya with help) face to face just giggling with glee!

Our Dr. suggested having the girls evaluated by Infant Early Intervention program because they were preemies and Anya is somewhat behind schedule developmentally. But since Anya is starting to make headway we've decided to wait and see what happens. We kind of think our Dr. is overreacting and we know that a lot of babies, preemie or not, take a while to learn how to crawl.

We've started dressing Ziva in long sleeved onesies and Baby Legs. If you don't know what Baby Legs are you should look it up because they are SOOOO cute and really helpful for crawling babies. We've found that footed jammies are harder for her to crawl around in because she ends up crawling up inside of her outfit and then she gets stuck. lol But it's much easier for her to crawl when she's wearing Baby Legs... they're like little baby leg warmers. I can't help but think of any 80's dance movie when I see her in them. lol

We all had colds this month, which is why I haven't been all that motivated to update this blog or do much of anything else. But I think we're finally healthy again... took about 2 weeks to get over it.

After barely leaving the house for almost a year I'm starting to get a bit stir crazy, but at the same time I'm terrified of taking the girls out by myself. I've been trying to think of ways I can get out and leave the girls with DJ, but by the time he wakes up it's time for dinner practically. It's pretty frustrating. I've had some seriously scary nightmares about being out in public and being stuck trying to hold both girls at once... they're getting so big and heavy. I'm just not sure I can do it. But everyone who has twins keeps telling me that it gets easier, and eventually they are able to walk and over time become well behaved and you can actually go out in public with them. I seriously can't wait for that day!