One of our new favorite things

The girls got a ton of stuff for Christmas. 

WAY more than they needed.  I was seriously considering donating some of the gifts I had bought them to the Open Door Mission or one of the children's homes in town....they got that much...

Their "big" present this year was a kitchenette, which they love, and the grandparents got the girls some really nice fake food items/sets to go along with it. It's pretty sweet.  Way cooler than anything I ever had when I was a kid, that's for sure!  They also got shopping carts and cash registers. And puzzles, tea sets, coloring books, markers, and crayons.  So much STUFF!  

One of the least noteworthy things that they received (or so I thought) were these bath tablets, made by Crayola, which were nestled in their stockings on Christmas morning.

Ladies, let me tell you...I bought these at Target...I needed something to stick in the girls stockings and they were like $3....I thought, why not?

Major score! The girls LOVE them! They love getting to choose which color their bath water is at night, and they love playing tea party in the bath with the colored water! Totally worth the $3! It's definitely one of the girls new favorite things!  And, it's a great way to kill an hour on a cold morning when we can't go outside and play....take a nice warm bath and play tea party at the same time!

Both of these pictures were taken with the blue tablets (I think the blue is the best!), but the girls like the yellow and the red equally as well.

So there! What I least expected turned out to be a big hit =).  

Do you guys have a favorite item that your kiddos got for Christmas?  If so, share it here! I'd love to get some more great ideas!  

Hope you all are well!

Megan

Guest Post: Type 2 Diabetes Prevention in the New Year

The New Year is often a time of resolutions. Many of us resolve to eat better or to exercise more. Others resolve to attend church more regularly or to volunteer more often. My guest blogger today encourages us to think about how we can be proactive and prevent Type 2 Diabetes in our children in the New Year.  Thanks so much for bringing up a very important subject and sharing your insight with us Carolyn!  


Type 2 Diabetes Prevention in the New Year 
Preventing Type 2 Diabetes became a mission last year, and it's the same resolution for my family in 2013. My little cousin has had weight issues for some time, and was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Last November, during American Diabetes Month, it became clear that more than just adults are susceptible to this chronic illness. In fact, according to information from St. Joseph’s Hospital Cardiac Center, 1 in 3 kids is diagnosed with obesity, with a large majority of them also carrying a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis! For my other cousins and family, this was a big wake up call (and honestly, to me as well!). We needed to eat better, exercise more and do things as a family to really help pull my young cousin out of a dangerous unhealthy path.


The Diabetes Diet: Don't Call It That 
Well it's not necessarily so much as a diet as it is not eating bad food and replacing what you used to eat with tons of healthy vegetables and protein. My family realized it was important to set an example of healthy eating for all the little ones in the family, so we started by cooking and eating healthy meals together.

My little cousin doesn't respond well to broccoli, but there are creative ways to cook things that make it delicious. For example, cauliflower puree looks like mashed potatoes and you can make it taste just as great with a little butter and garlic. In moderation, this is a great recipe for finicky children who love starches and sugar. It’s also really important to incorporate lots of non-starchy vegetables into the meal, such as spinach, mushrooms and peppers. In addition, lean protein is also great for preventing or managing diabetes. Meat needs to be grilled, but you should also look at vegan and vegetarian sources of protein as too much meat isn't necessarily good for kids either because of the fat content. Stick to lean sirloin meats, tofu, tempeh, soy or other protein sources that will excite your kid and that you want to try as a family.

"Mashed Cauliflower"

Exercising with Little Ones 
Kids shouldn't have trouble burning energy, but some do. That's totally okay if they love the indoors and they're whizzes with computers or love video games. However, they need to get active in some way. Knowing where to start is key.

For some kids, it's as easy as buying a game like Dance Dance Revolution or any of the Wii Fit games. For others, you need to do things again as a family. Sports games, scavenger hunts, musical chairs, tag and other fun things with family can make exercise not seem like exercise. For those kids who are already overweight, you may need low impact exercises like stretching, yoga, weight lifting and light movement activities such as swimming!

These are great ideas Carolyn! It seems to me like making some small changes can make some big differences in our children.  Thank you so much for taking time to share your personal experience with Type 2 Diabetes with us! 


Carolyn is a 20-something year old with a passion for life, fitness and overall well-being. She is an avid cycler, golfer and has been known to bust some serious moves on the dance floor. Check out Carolyn’s blog at http://fullonfit.blogspot.com/!

6 months old!

Having a singleton in our household is so very different than having twins.  Or maybe we are so busy now with the twins being 2 and crazy that it seems more difficult having an infant! I'm not sure.  But what I do know is that although we were exhausted with the twins at this point, they were sleeping through the night on a regular basis.  They would take a bottle without question. They liked to try new foods (okay, or they would at least eat real foods). They had a routine.

Hudson does none of these things! 

I'm pretty darn sure I would be a better blogger if Mr. Hudson would start sleeping through the night.  At this point the girls go down for the night, then Hudson gets in the bath and nurses to sleep, then I prep my lunch and clothes for work for the next day and watch the news. 9 times out of 10 Hudson is awake again and wanting to nurse and snuggle by the end up the newscast. Really kiddo?! Then he's up, on average, again at 12:30 AM and 4:30 AM. Oye vey!  I love him to death, and I know that this lasts for such a short period of time, but I'm literally exhausted constantly!  And as it relates to my blog posting, previously 95% of my blog posts were written between 9:30-11:30 PM, so this has taken any blog writing time that I once had and thrown it out the window.  So, my loyal readers, I apologize for the lack of updates. If someone wants to take my youngest child one night a week so I can sleep I promise to update my blog weekly as well  =).

But I digress! Back to the purpose for this post - Hudson is 6 months old - and such a chunkaroosky! Look at these rolls! I LOVE them!

Here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 11 oz (99.9%)

Height: 27.2 " (78%)

Head Circumference: 17.7" (83%)

He is thriving to say the least!  He is currently in size 4 diapers (I KNOW!!!), and size 12 and 12-18 month clothing.  I have got some of the cutest outfits, and he never even made it into them!

He loves to be outside, so the cold weather has not made him very happy.  Good thing he doesn't mind dressing warmly so he can still stroll around the neighborhood in his stroller!

Okay, well, my nap time blogging time is up! Baby H is awake and trying to squirm out of his swing - Gotta go!

Until next time!

Megan

"MINE!"...or is it?

When I was pregnant, I was obsessed with trying to learn from the parenting "experts" (aka - those who had written books on parenting), tips and tricks for the best ways to parent twins.  Most of the tips were things like:"Get your babies on a schedule - when one wakes to feed, also wake up the other"; or, "Tandem nurse your multiples to save time". Which is great advice....if you can make it work for you.  Honestly, most of that "wisdom" went out the window once I was actually presented with two live kicking and screaming babies (interestingly enough - one who nursed well and one who didn't - noting that the "experts" didn't give any great tips for tackling that!).  As I am sure most of you did too, I quickly discovered that parenting was a learn-as-you-go type of job, and that not only was what I had read not necessarily relate-able to real life, there was also obviously no one right way to be a parent!

Well, here's our latest dilemma...

We recently started the hardcore version of the "MINE!" phase.  When the ugly "mine" word would come out for the 57th time in a day I would try to resist the urge to roll my eyes and yank whatever item she would be referring to out of her grubby toddler hands, and instead would semi-calmly say, "no sweetie, actually that is Mommy's, but you can play with it for now" (or something along those lines).

Now, pause for a second for a sidebar discussion. I often forget that the girls are twins.  I mean, obviously they share their birthday, but otherwise they really couldn't be more different. One is a blond, while the other is a brunette.  One loves to color and sing, while the other likes to play with dolls and puzzles. One is messy and abstract, while the other is clean and linear. They are two totally different people. I promised myself that I wouldn't treat the girls as a unit, and I felt like I had done a pretty darn good job of treating them as individuals.

Then I really started thinking about this "mine" phase that the girls were in... and perhaps this could be one of those 'twin things' that I should be handling differently.  Maybe it's an identity issue. Maybe the girls are seeing themselves lumped together as a "twin" unit instead of as the individuals that they are.

Then the light bulb came one.
 
All of this time I had thought I was treating the girls as individuals...and while intellectually I was, I had totally ignored the opposite side of the coin.  They are forced to share just about everything physical....a bedroom, clothes, toys, mommy and daddy, all the way down to sippy cups and towels...they do have their own cribs, car seats, and blankets, but otherwise, absolutely everything is shared between the two of them. Maybe they do need actual, tangible, everyday things that are "theirs".

How did I not realize this before!?

Here's our temporary solution to not only the "mine" phase, but also to their apparent 2 year old identity crisis phase (lol).  We call these the girls' "studio apartments". 

When the girls are in their "apartments" anything that they take in there with them is theirs, for the time that they are in their apartments. Books, blankets, toys, snacks, whatever! If it's in there, it is theirs.

Here's Bri's studio apartment view from above (included are Bri, blocks, blanket, and book):

And Livvy's studio apartment view from above (included are Livvy, blanket, her baby doll "Lellow", and Elmo):

Both girls have reacted incredibly well to this concept, and really seem to like having a space that belongs to them, even if it's for a short period of time.  We let them stay in their apartments as long as they wish....it's not unusual for them to be in there for 45 minutes or more at a time, several times a day.

WOW! I feel like such a dummy! But I'm glad our apparent oversight was relatively easily remedied this time =). The next thing we know we need to do is separate the girls so they can get used to doing things without the other one always present. Si and I have tried each taking one girl and doing something special, but they don't react well to that AT ALL. They kick and scream and raise havoc because they want to be close to their sister. We can't even take them in different carts into different sections of Target because they absolutely melt down! Oye vey.  So, we have to work on that.  Any tips or tricks from the real experts (that's you momma bloggers!) is very welcome =).

So, that's all for today.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! 

Until next time -
Megan

Still here!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! My laptop crashed about a month ago, I bought a new laptop but hated it and returned it a week later, and put in an order for a different one that should have been in a week ago! Oye vey! This is putting a serious crimp on my blogging style!!!

So, I am writing this post from my phone. As you may suspect, it will be pretty short! It's hard to type efficiently with one finger and chase around 3 kiddos at the same time. :-).
Anyhow, we are all here, all healthy, and all relatively happy. Hudson is teething, so he isn't thrilled about that, but otherwise nothing big is going on. We are loving the warm weather (50's and 60's in November in Nebraska is GREAT, 70 today!), so we have been soaking it up.

We've played in the leaves...

We've climbed, and jumped, and run around...

And GROWN! Hudson is getting so big! He's getting more and more vocal every day. He still loves his nursing and snuggling time with his momma, and it makes me so happy! :-)

I promise a REAL blog post very soon, once I get accustomed to my new laptop! I have so much to blog about! I hope you all are doing well, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Until next time,
Megan

Two year and 4 month stats

We had our two year well check last Tuesday.  We brought in all three kiddos for well checks at the same time (the girls for their 2 year and Hudson for his 4 month - time flies!). Luckily, Hudson was the only one due for vaccinations or that could have proven to be a not-so-wise decision.  As it turns out, we were able to do Hudson's vaccinations at the end of the visit and simply take the girls out to the car before the nurse came in with the shots.  Whew - crisis averted!

Overall impression from the appointment:
3 very healthy kiddos.  Dr. Moore identified a heart murmur with Brianna, but he said it is benign and shouldn't cause any problems in the future. Thank goodness! I have a heart murmur too, also benign, also found by Dr. Moore when I was just a peanut.  I wonder if it isn't something genetic that I passed on to her? Hmm...

As usual, our kids are tipping the scales for both weight and for height.

Here are the stats, by kiddo:

Baby A - Miss Olivia - 2 year well check
Weight: 34 lbs 7 oz  (98th percentile)
Length: 37" (99th percentile)
Head circumference: 50 cm (96th percentile)

Baby B - Miss Brianna - 2 year well check
Weight: 34 lbs 14 oz (98th percentile)
Length: 37" (99th percentile)
Head circumference: 48.5 cm (76th percentile)

Note their height at 2 years - 37".  That's tall.  And let me tell you what I know about that.  I have read from several sources that if you take your child's height at age two, and multiply it times 2, the number you get will roughly be that child's height (in inches) as an adult.  So, lets do the math here with the girls.  37" x 2 = 74"!  That is 6'2" tall!!!  I'm a perfectly average 5'6". My family isn't overwhelmingly tall, so it must have come from Si's side! I have a couple of volleyball players on my hands! WOW!

Both girls have slowed down in weight gain, and have slimmed down through the waist (although I'm guessing this is common at this point because they are still so high in the percentiles for size!).  After their 8 month appointment I changed them from Vitamin D milk to 2% milk, against the advice of my pediatrician.  At this visit he told me I could switch them to skim if I wanted.  They are big girls. But they are proportional, not overly heavy for their weight.  Just tall, and appropriate weight for their height.  It's big for their age though...they do look like 3 year olds....

The girls are still wearing a few 24 month items (I am squeezing them into some 24 month fleece Carter's outfits this winter because Carter's doesn't do actual outfits past 24 months and I LOVE the fleece outfits), but really they are in mostly 2T pants and 3T shirts.  They seem to be interested in potty training and tell me that they need to go...as they are going...they've only actually pottied in the potty once so far...sigh...one day my patience will pay off, I just know it!

So, what about the little peanut?  

Well, there's nothing "little" about him!

Baby Hudson - 4 month check
Weight: 19 lbs 11.5 oz (100th percentile)
Height: 25.5" (61st percentile)
Head circumference: 43.5 cm (91st percentile)

He's already wearing mostly 9 and 12 month clothes. 6-12 month clothes are still okay, but most 6 month clothes are way too small. 12 month PJ's are the norm. He's in size 3 diapers.  He eats 6-7 times a day (4.5-5 oz bottles if bottle fed).  This kid LOVES to nurse. I love it. =).  He is becoming a distracted eater though, so that makes me a bit sad.  They grow up SO fast! He's also sitting up on his own already, something the girls didn't do until they were at least 6-7 months old.  I think he is able to do it simply because of his size -  he's so round - his fat rolls hold him up! HA!

Hudson has been sleeping through the night for a while now.  He goes down at about 10 PM and gets up between 7:30 -8 AM.  I am so blessed. Occasionally he will wake up at 5 AM, but I don't feed him if he wakes up at that time, so he usually just talks for a bit then goes back to sleep.  He's a really good baby.  Very mellow.  Goes with the flow. That is perfect for our crazy chaotic household!

I think I am going to wait a little longer before I start him on solids.  The pediatrician gave us zero guidance on starting solids.  I suspect he thinks that since we just went through this with the girls that we kind of know what we are doing.  True that Dr. Moore, true that.  I'm taking my sweet time with this one...if he will let me =).

So that's our update!

Hope you are having a great week!

Until next time -
Megan

We are TWO!

The girls turned TWO last weekend! Oh my!

I remember when the girls turned 1 as if it were yesterday.

It was so bittersweet.  My precious peanuts were no longer my little "babies".

And not only that, everyone who already had kiddos older than mine felt the need to tell me that the second year would go even faster than the first did, so to hold on tight! I didn't believe them.  How could it possibly go any faster than the first year already had?! Well it was possible alright! I feel like this last year has gone significantly faster than the first year did. Crazy.

I suspect the major difference between how we (as parents) view "Year 1" and "Year 2" is that the first year the kiddos are hitting so many huge developmental milestones (rolling over, sitting up on their own, crawling, first words, first steps, first foods, sleeping through the night, etc.) that there are more huge accomplishments to document and keep track of.  And pictures - oh the pictures - we had pictures taken so many times the first year! Newborn, 6 week, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 1 year.  And year two?  18 months, and two years. Maybe one more time in between somewhere, if we were lucky.

The second year the kids are building on what they learned the first year....they learn how to run, hop, and jump; how to color, how transfer items from one container to another, how drink from a cup or water bottle without a lid; how to use silverware properly; how to use multiple words together (like today at lunch "lights up more please" - Olivia asking us to turn up the lighting in the dining room during lunch); how to communicate with each other and show love and affection; learn that they have a choice (I want to wear this, not that).  It's no longer a year of firsts. Accordingly, I don't think we (as parents) document it quite as much.  That sure doesn't mean that not as much happens though!

So, what's new with our two year olds?

Miss Olivia - 
Olivia is our little diva! Loves to be dressed up, clean, and cute. She is Miss Independent. She hates having her hair done. She always wants to be first to do anything and will race her sister to the bathroom to go potty, to the dinner table to eat, and to the door to go outside. She's defending her first born status I think...I'm older...I get to go first...LOL!  

Olivia has become very attached to her baby doll "Llellow" ("Yellow" for those of you who don't speak toddler), and insists on putting "Llellow" in Hudson's swing, car seat, bouncer, exersaucer, etc..  Super cute.  

Olivia is becoming more and more verbal every day.  It is common for her to speak in 3-5 word sentences ("Mommy go work, bye!").  She likes to do lots of different activities, but she doesn't like to do anything for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Unless she is outside...she LOVES to be outside.

Favorite foods include: eggs, ham, cheese, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, bananas, and yogurt

Miss Brianna - 
Brianna is our lover. She loves to cuddle.  When she gives you a hug, she will pat you on the back as if to say "it's okay Mommy". She will hit, or kick, or pull hair, just so that she can give a hug and kiss afterwards.  We've tried to explain to her that you can give hugs and kisses without hurting someone first, but she just doesn't get it! 

Brianna is very attached to her blanket "Bella".  I have no idea why her blanket has a human name and Livvy's baby has a color name, but whatever! Bri looks for "Bella" constantly when we are at home.  She doesn't  have to have her always, she just wants to know where she is at all times. Interesting.

Brianna loves to sing, dance, jump, and color.  She has been working on her ABC's and knows almost the whole ABC song.  She gets stuck on L-M-N-O-P, just as I know I did when I was little =). 

Favorite foods include: "K" (Special K cereal), yogurt, string cheese, peaches, cupcakes, and ham

Both girls can identify all of the letters of the alphabet and love going for walks up and down our block, stopping at each of the political signs in people's yards, and pointing out the different letters.  I'm so proud.  LOL. They also know all of the neighbors by name, and know where they live.  Awesome. That should come in handy when they start escaping out the front door when we take our eyes off them for 20 seconds to go potty...=)

The girls have their differences as well, naturally.  While Bri likes to sing, Livvy really doesn't.  Conversely,  Bri doesn't really talk much (in actual words) and Livvy talks a lot. Similarly, Bri excels physically - running, jumping, and spinning - where Livvy lags a bit behind. It's funny really.  We watch as one girl surpasses the other in one specific developmental area; and then almost like clockwork, 3 months later the other girl comes up from behind and surpasses the one that was previously in the lead.  It's amazing to watch.  We are so blessed to have twins =).

So that's what's going on here with our two year olds!  We had our two year well check this week too, but this post is already long enough, so I will post those stats separately =).

Hope you guys are having a wonderful fall weekend!

Until next time -
Megan