Never again.

Never again will I run out of these...



Not because Ben bought a ridiculous amount of them, but because when he was gone I didn't make it out of the house all week except to take Abby to school. So when I ran out of batteries a day into his leave of absence I just pushed the swing every now and then until they fell asleep. Or started to stir. Or was crying because I was feeding the other one and not giving enough attention to her. I could have gone out, but meh, I didn't feel like it:)




This is how they used to swing. Until Georgia turned into a giant. Okay, she is not a giant, but she is about 1 1/2 pounds bigger than Izzy! Now they just don't quite fit in the swing together.

So now we get this. Elizabeth did this every time I put her in the swing for a week or so, I would sit her back up and she would do this again. She is getting better now at staying upright. Maybe it was just comfy? ... haha

I was taking pictures of my kids & my niece tonight, and just because they all can't be frame-worthy...

Yep, that's my Jack!

progress.

My mother-in-law is the best motivation ever. She tells me I should do this project on this day, and I will help you. Love it, because this is just what I need.

So Ben has been in New Mexico since Sunday and I have been getting crap done. The housework is nearly caught up (and hopefully will stay that way, haha), I have redone barstools, a dresser and started to get the twins room ready.


I got three barstools at a garage sale when I was still pregnant. Sherry called and said she would hold babies while I recovered them. So a bit of fabric and a can of spray paint later, they look brand new! Can't beat that for less than $20!

Their corner, so far. This was Jack's room/my craft room and I have been slowly cleaning it out. Sherry told me yesterday she would be over today to take the bunkbed down and put up the crib. I didn't know how to do it and have been begging Ben for weeks to do it, but he was against the idea. Well, since he is gone he doesn't get a say, haha.

The walls are a yellow color that was already there, I don't like it with the furniture, but since we are hopefully moving soon there is no point to paint the walls.

(see the toys in the crib? Jack thought they needed some:)

Sherry made this amazing quilt and that is what I am choosing my colors for the room from. This crib is a soft blue, and the other one is a soft green. Then their hamper is the same soft pink as their dresser. I have plans to paint some picture frames, baskets and maybe a shelf.

Oh, and she also made another quilt the same style in similar colors, but more of a paisley print. Love it too.

This is what I have left to go through. Ugh, where am I going to put it all?? I had a long table with shelves and storage, but that is no more. Our house has exactly two closets that are not in bedrooms, and no extra cupboards. One closet is a coat/shoe closet and the other is a pantry.

And just because they are cute, here is half a Georgia smile...

And a big Elizabeth smile. But of course, not at the same time.

Pinto.

A few weeks back we crashed my in-laws ward party, but first we went to my sister-in-law's cabin up in Pinto. The scenery was beautiful, just beyond this field was a herd of cows, nice knee-deep green grass and mountain views to die for. So of course I had brought my camera along and made my kids and niece pose for me:) And I just remembered I had these pictures, so yay!



Jack DID NOT want to take pictures. This is the best I got. There was another one with Abby, Jack and Avree (my niece) sitting on a little red bench holding hands, I took at least ten pictures and only got one of him even looking at the camera. Yeah, he is my stubborn kid.

Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?!

Definitely her daddy's girl. Ben has been drilling the gun safety rules into her head and she can recite them word for word. She was so excited to be able to shoot!

Uncle Nate took both Abby and Jack on a quick ride.

He begged Jack to go on a ride first, and when he refused again and again he took Abby instead. That made Jack cry. So he took Jack next:)

I meant to take some of Georgia and Elizabeth, but it started to rain so they stayed inside the cabin in their seats. I may have to talk Ben into going back up there sometime when the kids are dressed up, it was so pretty!

Two months.

Baby girls hit the two month mark today. Since they were four weeks premature their milestones will be measured by their due date, so they are one month adjusted. So we are looking forward to seeing smiles in the next little bit.

It is funny how totally opposite these two are. The only thing they have in common is their birthdate, haha.

Let's start with the oldest... Georgia, aka Georgie, George, Giant, Stinky

*She has been holding her head up pretty steady for the last few weeks. She started trying while we were still in the hospital.
*She is an awesome eater.
*She sleeps usually in 4-5 hour blocks.
*She is content being alone on the floor or in her swing.
*She enjoys tummy time... most of the time:)
*She loves her swing.
*She can self soothe and fall asleep.
*She is now in size one diapers.
*She is wearing newborn size clothes, but some 0-3 months outfits will fit.
*She weighs 9 pounds 8 ounces as of Monday.

Elizabeth, aka Izzy, Iz, Liz the lizard (her arms and legs are splotchy and look like scales, so Ben made that one up... and only he calls her that), Lizzy Lou (Again, only Ben) puke monster ... and some call her Lizzy, which I hate and am totally against, but what can I do?

*She has been eating a lot better the last week. Before that, not so well.
*She sleeps all day, and is up a lot at night.
*She thinks if she is awake she better be held.
*She hates being left alone on the floor.
*She loves music.
*She tries to hold up her head, but fails. She is still pretty floppy:)
*She has to have her binkie to fall asleep at night.
*She pukes A LOT. And by puke I mean projectile vomits. She has GERD and is on Prevacid. A few weeks ago we had to have an ultrasound on her stomach because they thought it might have been pyloric stenosis. Luckily not because that would have meant surgery, and she should eventually grow out of the GERD.
*She is my runt and is still in newborn diapers.
*She wears newborn clothes.
*She weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces as of Monday.

See? Complete opposites. They told us in the NICU at their gestational age they had a 50/50 chance of behaving like a full term/preemie baby, so Georgia is more like a full term, and Elizabeth is more like a preemie. But a few things are the same, they both LOVE their binkies (thank goodness! Neither Abby or Jack would take one), though they both fall asleep at different times at night they both wake up at 4 and 8 to eat, they both like their baths, they both sleep in their own bassinetts, and they both love being swaddled.

Love these girls!

First day of school.

Little miss had her first day of school on Monday. I don't know who was more excited, me or her. She and Jack have been fighting non-stop for weeks.

So she picked out her outfit the night before, got up early, got ready faster than I have ever seen... and waited :) She was ready pretty early.



Where is time going?? She is six and in first grade!! I felt old when I thought about having four kids, but this makes me feel even older!

I snuck in Sunday night and snapped this picture. She has the whole week's clothes folded and shoes to go with them under the pile.

She was so funny. She knew which shirt she was going to wear, but was weighing the pros and cons of her bottoms and shoes. So she layed out two pairs of pants on the floor and put the shirt between them and once she decided the shoes she wanted moved them back and forth between the pants trying to decide which one. Hilarious. Seriously took her at least 30 minutes. She finally decided on her "favorite Old Navy skinny jeans."

Love her. Every detail was planned, she knew how she wanted her hair, and even made sure she was wearing a watch and her CTR ring.

She LOVES Hello Kitty. Last year she had a Paul Frank pink backpack and that thing was always dirty, she had just planned on using that again but I didn't want to deal with it again. So I surprised her with this and she was so excited!

Her teacher is in our ward, so Abby thought it was cool the teacher already knew her name. She said her favorite part of the day was getting three recesses. Nice. She also was excited because they were coloring and she wrote "grasshopper" by herself and only missed one "p", and told the teacher 6+6=12, and she said the teacher thought it was really cool she already knew that. So last night she wrote out a whole page of math problems and answers to show her teacher. And to think, she was so mad this summer when I made her practice math. Little stinker.

De-stashing for a good cause

Three posts in three days? I am on some kind of roll! haha

I recently went through my fabric and realized, "Holy crap! I have A LOT of fabric!!" (perhaps I have a slight obsession) ... And it may have been pointed out to me by a few people:) So when I decided to start making school clothes I just went into my craft/Jack's room (poor kid) and started digging. Here is what I have come up with in the few times I have had the good fortune to be behind my machine again!



This one was pre-twins being born. At the end I wasn't sewing a lot- or at all- but I saw a cute skirt and decided to try my hand at it. Now I need to make her a cream shirt because she doesn't have anything that matches with it!




I usually steer clear of directional prints (aka fabric like the birds that has to be cut and sewn only in that direction or it will look funky) but I got these two fabrics for 75% off, which made them around $2 a yard. Can't beat that! And... they sat on my shelf for a year or two. But now I am glad I am a hoarder and finally cut into them!

I have another slight obsession. Collecting patterns when they are on sale at Joanns. Collecting, not doing anything with them other than looking at the covers. Probably because last time I attempted one I failed. So i got brave and tried this one, and LOVE it on her! The picture doesn't do it justice. I almost started another one right after she tried it on because I loved it that much... but maybe later, I am tackling another Mccalls pattern for now!

This was another one I got for 75% off! As I was cutting the pattern out I was so not loving my fabric choice, but as I slowly got it put together I knew it was perfect! I imagine it with brown cords in the fall. I will have to find a pants pattern:)

Speaking of cord... I have a kids pattern book that the model was wearing a simple corduroy (I can't spell... or can I? I don't know, ha!) skirt and the next week I saw this cute zebra print and scooped some up. And again, it sat on my shelf for forever.

I am on a new kick, I absoloutely love piping!! I want it on all the clothes I make and I usually try to see if I can make it fit in nicely with the pattern. Probably another obsession... I have a drawer full of it! See, I just looked back at the top and decided next time I will put some piping where the bodice meets the bottom panel, and I could have put some on the hem of the bird skirt.

Trust me, Abby DOES NOT need any more clothes:) But I have missed sewing so much and been itching to get started again. Sadly, none of my patterns fit the twins yet since they are still both around 8 pounds. I even sized down my smallest pattern and it was too big! So... someday:) And I have a pattern for myself to try soon... but... I know Abby will look good in what I make her, me? Who knows!

Seriously?

So I took all four kids to the Walmart for the first time today. For the first time ever, no one stopped me or said anything about the twins. Well, take that back, one little girl tried to stop my cart while I was walking past by hanging on to it. Her mom wasn't paying any attention to her and I nearly ran over her toes because she came out of no where.

... I am going to get a little side tracked here, but it will tie in later... I walked to Walmart two days ago with the girls in the double jogging stroller. It was only 100 (only, haha.) and I only needed a few things, so I thought I could get in and out real quick. Wrong. I had a polygamous lady follow me through part of the store until I stopped to get diapers then she told me about how a bunch of her sisters had twins. I know she followed me because I had to stop and pick Izzy up and I saw her watching me and she was headed the other way, then all of a sudden she ended up in the diaper section, she didn't get anything, had to be over sixty and had a teenage boy with her. Not a problem though, I just thought it was funny, and she was super nice. Then I was over getting butter when an old man stops me and tells me about his 8 month old granddaughter and how her father passed away soon after she was born, and his daughter also has a four year old... all while breaking down into tears... what do I say to him?? I was stopped two more times on the way to the check out. Then I am trying to power walk out past the greeter who tried to stop me on the way in to look at them. She chases me down, and when she wasn't quite fast enough she yelled for me to stop. I had put Iz back in the stroller and when I stopped she lost it. The lady tried to tell me they needed a pacifier, no she didn't- trust me, I already tried that!! Then she said they were cold. Nope, but thanks again. So I just told her I walked there and needed to get back before dark... so bye... And I ended up carrying her the entire way home, which is a 15 minute walk.

Anyways, back to my original story. I had a very uneventful trip for the first time ever. It was great, I was thinking, "This wasn't so bad, why have I been putting it off?" Well I got up to the checkout stand and it all went downhill from there. My debit card was expired and my credit card was still in the stroller. Grrr. So she suspends my order and I hurry out to the car to get my checkbook. I wait in line again and write a check. She asks for id. Ugh! Well, it is also in the stroller, I took it just incase I needed it. You just never know when they will ask! So I have to go home and get some money. Poor Jack was so tired he just said over and over "but my legs are so tired" So I went home, got back and was finally able to pay. And Jack fell asleep on the drive home. Told ya he was tired;) So moral of the story? Check my wallet before I leave the house!!

My biggest helper.

Bet you thought I meant Abby. Nope!! My biggest helper is... Jack!! (She tends to whine when I ask her to get me a diaper or binkie, though she has helped me feed them once or twice) He has been so awesome helping me with the girls. If he hears one of them crying he will make sure he finds a binkie and "plug her in". He loves to hold them and give them kisses, play hide and seek, and just stare at them:)




He begs me to hold them;)

He makes sure they have toys to play with...

... No matter how many times I explain they can't play with them yet...

He will get their binkies and plug them in until they stop crying... and take them back out, and put them back in until they stop crying, and take it out, and well... you get the picture:)


George and Izzy are lucky to have such an awesome big brother!