I convinced the babies to play in the big kids' room with them during "nap" time.  Think I can rattle out a Quick Takes post while they're happy?

Yeah, I doubt it too.  But I'll try!

--1--

Mary Claire and Elizabeth have just started calling each other by name this week.  It's SO adorable.  Especially since Elizabeth's name is either "Biff" or (my personal favorite) "Beef."  Although Elizabeth insists that her name is "Honey" and corrects me every time I call her "Elizabeth."

Mary Claire is "May Kay" which is not as exciting.  But there's a lot of squeaking and pointing - "Mom!!!  Biff!!!  May Kay!!!  Paul!!!  SEEYA!!!  DADA!!!"

--2--

And because there's been a general shortage of twin photos lately:

--3--

The other night we took down this link in the prayer chain:

And Andrew and I had to try so hard to stop laughing the entire time we were praying.  Cecilia really wanted us to pray for all the kitty cats.  But, you know, animals don't have souls and all that...  So she decided all the people who own kitty cats would be appropriate, as well.

Cecilia asked that God bless them with love.  John Paul asked that God bless them with temperance.  Pressing needs, you know?

Almost as good as when he asked that God bless all unborn babies with diligence.  Priorities.

--4--

They have escaped their jail.   Game over until bedtime.

--5--

I've been trying to do more concrete, productive things once the kids are in bed - particularly starting Easter dresses for the girls and converting our velcro diapers to snaps!  It's so boring that I don't want to dedicate a whole post to it, but basically you want to set yourself up in front of the TV and follow this tutorial (although mine don't have 4 "male" snaps on each side, just 2 on each because I used a Flip cover as my template) making SURE to change the press on the snap press for your "male" vs. "female" snaps!  Made that mistake and boy was it obnoxious...

This starter kit comes with 100 snaps, which is good for four diapers (assuming you're doing BumGenius and just mimicking the Flip covers like I did).  I'm going to buy this set of 250 because that should take care of the other 10 diapers I need to convert.

Bored to tears?  Yeah, me too...  Take advice from a veteran, buy snapping diapers to begin with!

Oh and those are affiliate links, just to be clear - I'm pretty sure that any time I link to Amazon it's an affiliate link, and anything you order through my links gives me pennies to spend on MORE snaps to convert these diapers :)

--6--

I get a kick out of Google animating my pictures.  Don't they all look so big sitting at the table together?

--7--

Go enter my Lilla Rose Giveaway!  And really, check out some of the new clips - I love the new offerings!  

Check out more Quick Takes at Jen's!

Good/Bad/Funny

Warning:  This post contains liberal mentions of bodily functions.  If you don't want to read yet another poop post, SKIP IT!

Good:  Woke up at 5:30 to Mary Claire's squawks - she slept from 7:30-5:30 with no interruption!

Bad:  Elizabeth woke up at LEAST 3 times to nurse between 11 and 5, probably more.

Good:  Mary Claire went back to sleep in the swing after I nursed her on the couch, and stayed asleep until past 8 o'clock!

Bad:  Elizabeth woke up for the day a little before 6, RIGHT after I had fallen back to sleep after nursing Mary Claire.

Bad:  SERIOUS headache, likely a combination of several glasses of delicious sangria last night + not enough sleep.

Bad:  Went upstairs to find last night's dinner & snacks still on the playroom table.

Good:  Breakfast is served!

Just kidding.

But at least the ants didn't find all that food!

Good:  Andrew put away the clean dishes and filled the dishwasher with another load.  Almost cleaned up from last night's get together!

Good:  Made banana/pineapple/strawberry/yogurt smoothies for Andrew and the kids - next up, packing those things full of kale and spinach to cram them full of more nutrients!

Good:  Elizabeth was happy to go down for an early nap!

Bad:  Mary Claire finally woke up and was fussy for 2 hours...

Good:  Elizabeth didn't wake up until Mary Claire had gone down for HER nap.

Bad:  She spent the next two hours fussing.

Good:  Last night's rain and this morning's sprinkle means I don't have to water the plants until this afternoon, and maybe not even then!

Bad:  Mary Claire pooped enough to get her outfit dirty.

Good:  At least she doesn't wear disposable diapers, because then it would have been up her back AND down her legs, instead of just a tiny bit on the elastic of her romper.

Funny:  Cecilia comes running in while I'm taking this morning's outfit picture, wearing a potholder on each foot, John Paul's old overalls with the legs unsnapped, proclaiming, "I'M A MONSTER!!!"

Bad:  Then she had diarrhea.  3 times so far.  Edit:  Now she's up to 4, and John Paul's at 2)

Good:  At least she made it to the toilet...

Bad:  Heard John Paul saying, "Oh...  What's this???" in a very concerned voice.  Then he brought me something and dropped it in my hand.

It was poop.

Good:  At least I had just cut his fingernails.

Bad:  Cleaned poop out of his underwear.

Good:  Could have been a WHOLE lot more poop.

Bad:  Also 5 poopy diapers so far today.  And it's only 1 o'clock.

Good:  Andrew changed 2 of them before he left.

Good:  John Paul decided 11 o'clock is "school time" so he got out his craft sticks with velcro dots and started making all sorts of polygons.

Apparently once you get past 6, you can refer to them as "n-gons," so this one would be a 21-gon.

Good:  The look on his face when I printed out an info sheet that names all the types of polygons up to 20 sides!

Good:  He wrote this all by himself!

Makes me not mind that he refuses to practice ever...

Good:  After Cecilia spent 10 minutes refusing to put on her underwear, I put it on for her.  She hugged me, unprompted, and said, "Mom, you're so nice to me!"

Good:  Cecilia can get herself water from the fridge now.

Bad:  Unlimited water means a LOT more peeing...

Bad:  Caffeine & ibuprofen seem to be doing nothing to ease this headache.

Bad:  Andrew has a meeting tonight, which means I'm on my own for bedtime :(

Bad:  The playroom looks like this right now:

And the living room looks like this:

Good:  It's raining now, so I'm going to let the kids watch Magic School Bus streaming on Netflix when they get up from their naps.  And since John Paul is OBSESSED with TV, he doesn't get to watch until everything is cleaned up.  Always a HUGE motivator!

Bad:  Cecilia headbutted Elizabeth and made her cry.

Funny:  She didn't understand why that wasn't okay, so I told her that she and John Paul could headbutt each other all they wanted.  So they very gently headbutted each other for quite a while, giggling the whole time.

Bad:  Screaming match between the big kids over a Dr. Seuss book.

Good:  Led to an early nap time, since they both wanted it to be read to them IMMEDIATELY!

Bad:  Screaming woke Mary Claire up from her nap...

Bad:  Baby awake time has just been fussy all day long.  Which means I'm pretty much constantly holding one or the other.  Which means I only write this while nursing.

Good:  At least I have two arms?

So the score so far is...  21 good, 19 bad, 2 funny.  Even on one of the worst mornings we've had in a while, the good still outweighs the bad!  Hurrah!

5 Favorites - I'd rather be sleeping, though...

Ah, gotta love a late-night linkup when one of the babies won't sleep...  And since that means I don't get to sleep either, heeeere you go!

ONE

 Reusable Straw Cups

I'm loving these for smoothies and iced coffee (HAH, a week home and I've started drinking coffee - you all were so right!!!), and the kids are so obsessed that I told John Paul I'd get him his own for his birthday!

TWO

Gap foldover maxi skirt

I don't know why they style it with those stupid heels...  It's way better looking in person, and SO comfy, and 30% off if you buy it today!  And while I'm hesitant to spend that much money on a skirt, a black maxi is a closet staple that you'll be using forever!

Here's how I styled it yesterday, day 2 of Pants-Free July:

 

Psst, I'm posting outfit pictures every day at the facebook page, and then I'll try to recap each week on Fridays!

THREE

Flip diaper covers!

I know I've told you all about my favorite cloth diapering necessities, but there's a seconds sale at Cottonbabies right now and BumGenius & Flip stuff almost never goes on sale!  We've gotten a ton of "seconds quality" products and the only thing I've ever noticed was a black spot on one diaper shell.  One.  Out of quite a few that we've purchased!

I love the colors these come in, and they work so well for our babies once they're big enough.  The snaps are awesome for summer when you want the baby to be able to cool down in just a diaper but don't want her to pull the velcro and end up naked!

FOUR

These french fries 

I made them last week and didn't take a picture because I couldn't stop eating them...  Very little oil used, wonderful crunch, so tasty!

FIVE

Polyvore 

Mom Style 2 by rosiehill425 featuring leather shoes

It's like paper dolls for grown-ups.   What could be better?

Check out more favorites at Hallie's!

5 Favorites

Time for yet another round of completely disjointed Five Favorites!

ONE

 

Green Toys Tool Set

I rotate our toys to keep things fresh, and this is one that almost never gets put away - I tried to put it away this past rotation and John Paul found it and immediately brought it upstairs!  

I put away the choke-able parts when I have babies in the house, but it's a favorite for all ages - the babies love chewing on any and all pieces, John Paul and Cecilia love using the tools, and it's always a HUGE hit with visitors on play dates!

They have it on sale in blue and pink on Zulily right now and you get $5 off if you sign up with my code, which makes them $13 and $11 plus shipping, a pretty sweet deal!  Normally the neutral set is about $23 on Amazon.

Do you use camelcamelcamel.com to check pricing?  It'll let you set your own price on Amazon and alert you by email when your item reaches the desired price!  Considering how often things fluctuate on Amazon, I find this feature really useful.

TWO

Cuisinart Griddler

It's a grill!  It's a griddle!  It's a panini press!  It's amazing!

I use ours ALL the time - just this past week I used it to make pancakes, fry bacon, and make quesadillas.  The plates are reversible, so you can use the grill side AND the griddle side.  I love how it drains the fat off so nicely, so I can just pour the bacon fat into a bowl and use it in my cooking all week!

THREE

Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Eyeliner

I was never a liquid eyeliner fan, and when I got this as a free sample with mascara, I didn't try it for quite a while...  But I got adventurous and LOVE it!  The tip is flexible, so it goes on really smoothly.  It's NOT waterproof, which means mistakes are super-easy to correct.  But it still lasts all day!

FOUR

 

 

Crate & Barrel small storage containers

I try to do a lot of kitchen prep when I have my hands free, since I never know how many babies I'll be holding while trying to make a meal.  These are the perfect size for practically everything - a diced onion, a bunch of lemon wedges, a million cloves of minced garlic, a scoop of hummus, fresh herbs for tonight's dinner...

And they're only $2/each, or $20 for 12! 

FIVE

goodmama diapers

These are kind of a huge diaper snob sort of diaper...  Ridiculously expensive, amazing prints, so gloriously soft, and wonderfully absorbent!  Back when John Paul was a baby, we got quite a few for a decent price, but we haven't gotten any since then because they're SO expensive.

Well, they just had a promotion where the diapers were cheaper than I've seen them in years, but you couldn't pick a print, you had to buy them grab-bag-style.  And LOOK at how cute they are!  The weird rainbow leopard-print one isn't my favorite, but the beautiful blue floral is!  And Cecilia LOVES the pink floral, and the ballerinas and music is SO cute.

These (and other snapping fitteds) are AWESOME for potty training, since they snap so securely that toddlers can't get them off, and you can change the absorbency so that they can feel immediately when they're wet.  I have no doubt that these are a huge reason Cecilia was potty trained by the time she was 18 months old!

Go check out more favorites at Moxie Wife!  Or at least click over to make a donation for the Race For The Laundry Room or whatever we're calling the "Get Mice out of Dwija's Laundry Room and A Dryer IN!" campaign!

Life Update - 5 months in with twins

1st picture:  Mary Claire (L) and Elizabeth (R) at 2 weeks, approximately 6.5 & 5.5 lbs
2nd picture:  Elizabeth (L) and Mary Claire (R) at 6 weeks, approximately 7 & 9.5 lbs
3rd picture:  Elizabeth (L) and Mary Claire (R) at 5 months, approximately 12 & 14 lbs

We're a little over 5 months into this twin experience, so how about a little update on the twins these days? 

Edit:  Linking up with Bean in Love for an excuse to show off two of my cute kids - looks like I need a John Paul & Cecilia update, too!

Comparing the pictures of them is kind of awesome - they were terrifyingly skinny at first, being born 3 weeks early and having trouble gaining weight at first.  Mary Claire started chunking up but Elizabeth had trouble for a while.  She's still on the skinny side, but about as long as Mary Claire now.  And all that growth is thanks to me!

Milestones:

Both girls have been rolling front-to-back for a while now, and in the past couple of weeks they (much to my chagrin) started rolling from back to front.  They're definitely behind where John Paul and Cecilia were at this point (Cecilia was almost crawling at this age), but that's to be expected with twins.  Elizabeth has recently started rolling herself over at night, while swaddled, in her glider and in the swing.  Clearly she's capable, she just doesn't feel like doing it a lot while awake.

Both girls have also recently discovered blowing raspberries, which is pretty funny - I've tried to get a video but they won't oblige me yet!

No sign of teeth, thankfully!  And sitting up isn't going to happen anytime soon, either.



Smile at the same time?

Never!

 

Goals:

Elizabeth's current goal?  Crawling/rolling her way off the carpet so she can pee on the floor (she's close!).

Mary Claire's current goal?  Getting her toes in her mouth (she's close!).

Likes/dislikes:

Both babies LOVE watching their older brother & sister run and jump around.  They are all smiles when being sung to and are big fans of their crinkly peacock and dragonfly toys.  They also like spending time in their Jumparoo, which they inherited from John Paul and Cecilia.

A sign of future issues with possessiveness?

Sleep:

They're starting to settle into a naptime schedule - Mary Claire takes two longer naps, Elizabeth takes three shorter naps.  When they nap too close to bedtime, it's REALLY hard to get them to sleep.  When they're down for the night, Mary Claire sleeps in the crib for 6-9 hours before waking up happy and ready to nurse back to sleep.  Elizabeth has been more variable - she's definitely a tougher sleeper, since some nights she's up every 2 hours to nurse, and some she sleeps through for 5-7 hours before needing to nurse.  Once they're up, they're usually in bed with us until the morning.

Naptime happens in the swing or in the glider, and sometimes while being worn on our backs.  Mary Claire especially has a tendency to fall asleep easily while being worn.

Food:

The twins are still exclusively breastfeeding - not a drop of formula or anything other than mom's milk!  Thankfully my body responds very well to my pump and I've got a great supply as long as I eat enough (and for some reason eating enough dairy is REALLY important for my supply in particular).  It's tough sometimes to consume the extra calories I need to maintain my supply, but much easier than it was to eat all that extra food when I was pregnant and had no room for it!

We started John Paul and Cecilia on solids when they were 6 months old, taking a baby-led approach (whole foods only, no purees or cereals).  The plan is to do the same with Elizabeth and Mary Claire, but it's likely that we'll start later than 6 months to take into account their age.  Since it supposedly takes 4-6 months for a baby's gut to be closed enough for solids to be safe, we figure we'll err on the side of caution.  Plus, their fine motor skills are nowhere near what John Paul and Cecilia's were at this age, so I don't think they'll be developmentally ready for solids for a while anyway.  No need to rush something that's really a lot more work than reward!

When they get started, I'm excited to try them on lots of fresh fruits and veggies from the farmer's market!

See how much Cecilia "loved" her first taste of peaches?  Yeah, no need to rush :P

Boring post, I know, but this is basically like my digital baby book because, let's be honest, I never bothered filling out the ones we got for John Paul and Cecilia...