Kid-isms and doings - 2 1/2 yrs :)

I"m trying to think about things the kids do or say that I need to record before I forget.... I may come back to edit or add to this :)  lol this is my lame attempt at journaling... 

The first thing coming to mind for Ashlyn is
"Scratchy water!!"  took me a little while to figure this out... it means "splash in water"

This girl talks.. A LOT.  There are times we have no clue what she's saying- but a "okay! wow!" will make her happy enough to think we understand.  

She loves princesses.  We have a disney castle that has songs of a bunch of the princesses and she sings along to every one.  

Ashlyn LOVES to sing!  She knows all 3 verses to "I Am A Child of God"  It is the cutest thing.

She loves saying the prayer.  

She has sort've given up napping... so now we do "quiet time" and if she falls asleep- even better.  Quiet time consists of having a nightlight right next to her bed, books, a magna doodle drawing pad thing ("draw") and she gets to pick out "friends" from her "friends bucket".. aka: stuffed animals.  

"daddy feet" - when we skype with Jon at night she always asks to see his 

"what happened??"

"so-and-so funny"

"s'okay mommy (daddy, alton...)" she likes to tell us it's okay when something is wrong.. sometimes she'll come over and pat my back.

she says sorry all the time.... "I sorry I sorry I sorry"

Ashlyn likes to sign all the words she knows

Loves to help and for the most part- she will do what we ask ie "Ashlyn, can you go get Alton's shoes, please?"

Alton:

He is still only a 1-2 word phrase kind of guy :)

His longest phrase is:  "watch baby signing time"  

When he says "watch" he makes it into 2 syllables lol "wat-ch"  

He LOVES pointing out birds.  He'll sign bird too.  It's so cute!  "birrr!!"

Just learned how to jump last week and he is so excited about it!!!

Obsessed with trains, cars, mickey

Still loves hugs and "kiss kiss" lol

"yuh woo"  aka: love you

He sleeps with a monkey, cookie monster, 2 puppies (one has a hat).  He loves going to bed and taking naps.

Loves baths- splashes like crazy.

He attempted to say the prayer this week at dinner and was all proud of himself.  Good start :)

So, you wanted twins?

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with someone that I had just met in a store.  Face it, when you have kids with you at a store- people sometimes think you are more approachable.  Anyone else feel this way or is it just me?  Well, with that said, I think that combined with having twins- makes people even more curious and it makes them want to talk to you.  I get it- they're twins- it's a little different.

Anyways, this conversation we had has been on my mind.  It was a woman probably in her 30s if I had to guess.   She approached me and asked how old the nuggs were.  She then told me she had a few kids of her own.  Then she started talking about how she wished she would've had twins (this is something I hear all the time- esp from strangers).  Then started the questions of "were they natural?" and "do twins run in your family?"  I never know what to answer to the first one.  Were they natural?  I know they're fishing for infertility information but it gets weird.  I won't lie, there have been times where I answer "yes" and don't bring up IVF because I don't want to talk about it any further because I'm trying to get myself out of whatever store we're in haha.

I thought for a moment about how I wanted to answer- did I want to bring up IVF?  I had some time and I said "well, they do run in my family, but we went through infertility treatments."  Normally, people just drop it there- but she went on.  Her next question caught me off guard a little.  She asked "Oh, so you wanted to get twins then?"  I'm not an easily offended person- it takes a lot for someone to really ruffle me.  But this, this ruffled my feathers a bit.  I knew that she didn't mean to offend me- but it did bother me. I had to keep my cool and really think about my response.  So all I said was "all we wanted was a healthy baby and we were blessed to get two healthy kids"

This pretty much ended our conversation and we parted ways.  Ever since then I just have been rolling over this conversation in my head and I wanted to write about it.  It has been a long time since we were going through infertility treatments so a lot of the little details of knowing what different acronyms mean or what numbers mean what when looking at blood tests are a bit fuzzy for me.  However, the experience will always be very fresh in my memory.

My infertility never defined me- it still doesn't.  It's a part of me- but it's not the only thing about me.  We went through so so so many different procedures to get pregnant.  There were times I wanted to just give up because it was just too taxing on me emotionally and physically.  Jon and I wanted a family.  We wanted kids.  If that meant we only had one kid- we would've still been over the moon.  So the question "Oh, so you wanted twins then?" really got to me. I know most of my friends who have been through this would probably agree with me that we just wanted a healthy baby.

Did we know that multiples were possible- yes.  Did we also realize how crazy hard it would be (during pregnancy and after) to have multiples?  Well, we had an idea of course- but no one ever knows what multiples are like until you have them.  That being said- I want to answer another question I get asked a lot.  "You implanted two embryos- were you planning for twins?"  We knew the possibility was high- but we implanted two embryos because the day we were scheduled for IVF only 2 out of the 9 eggs that fertilized had reached the stage where the doctors implanted them.  So we had a choice.  Implant 1 embryo and freeze the other or put both in.  The first choice could mean we could lose the first one and then we'd have to do a 2nd IVF and use the frozen embryo.  With only putting one embryo in lowered the chances of getting pregnant.  So this is why we did the 2.  Our odds of getting pregnant were much higher.

We were fortunate that we did get pregnant.  I love our doctor and his staff- they were with us every step and through all the good and the bad.  There were a lot of questions during the first trimesters if one of the babies were viable or if we had lost one.  They were positioned in such a way where they couldn't get good readings off of them.  Thankfully, they both stayed put.  We were lucky.

Will I ever fully grasp why we had to go through what we did (and what we might have to go through again if we do IVF again)?  I'm not sure.  What I do know is that- Alton and Ashlyn were meant to be here together on this earth- together.  Even if I could get pregnant on my own- I don't think my body would be able to have twins "naturally" (I hate that word... my kids formed naturally.. just with help from a doctor).  I honestly believe that Heavenly Father knew this and this is why we had to do IVF.  There was no other way for them to get here together.  They are the best little buddies.  They absolutely LOVE each other.  It's such a wonderful thing to watch.  How they miss each other when the other isn't there and how they laugh together- it is very special.

So, did we do this to have twins? No.  But I can't imagine our lives without them.  They've stretched me pretty thin (and I'm not talking about my waistline- although, that would be nice haha) and shown me all the things I need to work on but our hearts are so full.   We have been blessed beyond what we deserve.

Infertility is such a hard thing.  For me, there were times where I wanted to be private about it because I didn't want the world to know what was going on- but then I got to a point where I needed to talk about it.  I was hurting and I needed to talk about it.  I found that it helped others too.  Even if was just helping someone understand what to expect when going to a infertility specialist- it was worth it for me.  There are those who don't talk about it and that's okay!  I just want those going through it to know that you are never alone!

This little boy

Oh Alton.  What would we do without you?  We sure would listen to way less toddler music haha... but our hearts wouldn't be nearly as full and we would be missing out on all the hugs.

Alton is such a sweet boy and I am so thankful to have him.  Looking back at some old blog posts- he has changed!  That boy LOVES music.  LOVES it.  He doesn't call it music though.  He calls it "dance".  He somehow manages to make that word two syllables but you can understand it.  He is constantly singing songs.  It took us a while to figure this out though.  He'll randomly start to squeal... I can't say scream.. because that makes it sound like he's upset... but it's this high pitch squeal and then he'll say a word that you understand and you're like "oh.. that's definitely this song".  Currently his favorite song to sing is "row row row your boat"  However, it's one of those things where only I know that that's what he's singing.  "wo wo wo uh oat.... may may may may.  Eye-ff deem"... yeah... lol

I am a little worried about his speech, but that may just be being a first time mom with no idea.  He used to mimic everything we said- now it's very selective.  If he really wants something he'll use his words.  Or if it has to do with food.    At his 2 year appointment his doctor was a little worried about it (thanks for giving me something else to stay up at night for...).  She kept asking all sorts of questions to me  "What if he wants something?"   the answer to that is that he'll say "more" and make the sign for more too.  Or sometimes he'll say the word.  For example, we got him up one morning after they had been put to bed by a babysitter the night before.  Unfortunately, the sitter really didn't feed the kids dinner.  That is a whole other story... Anyways, so when we got him up instead of saying "hi!" or anything that he'll grunt or squeal.. all he said was "chicken??".. sorry.. "chickuuuuun" haha... so, he does communicate things to us.  It's just hard to know if it's laziness or something else.  Especially when you have Ashlyn saying 2-4 word sentences. "See friend day?"  day = today.  Or my favorite lol  "See elle-fant day??"  Alton doesn't do that.  He is a very one word kid.  Park, walk, slide, sky, sun...  well.. okay, the one two word phrase he says is "all done".  Can't go without giving him credit for that :)

If you are ever with him and you need him to cooperate with you- tell him he's getting "straws" and he'll immediately do anything you want.  These are veggie straws.  Don't be that fooled, they're not like amazingly healthy... just better than giving him chips :)   He begs for them constantly.  Last week I caught him eating Ashlyn's.  Whenever we run out of "straws" it's a bad day... kind've like those recent commercials where the kid runs out of those halo oranges?  lol...

Oh, and I'm convinced that he will be very like Jon in this one way (well, probably in a lot of ways, but i'm focusing on this one).  So, maybe it was the mission, but Jon is really good at figuring out where he is.  He can look at a map for like 5-10 mins and he pretty much has a large area memorized for the most part.  Alton has learned my routes.  Walking or driving.. he knows what direction we're going.  If you start heading in the direction to where we go to church but we don't end up going to church he starts going "church? church?" Or if we're walking and I make a turn that wouldn't end up taking us to a park (park isn't even visible) he starts going crazy "park! park!".  So, if you ever get lost, just ask Alton.. he'll at least be able to give you directions to a park, church or grandma's house :)

Ashlyn's Eye Appointments :)

This goes without saying, but I'm really slacking at this blog.  Sorry.

So many things have been going on.

As many of you know, Jon has been traveling again.  He was put on a new project at work in November and has been traveling every week since around Thanksgiving.  This has been quite challenging for me.  He has traveled before for long periods of time, but that was before kids.  He has been on small traveling assignments over the last two years but not for very long.  Thankfully, he is able to come home late Thursday nights and is home over the weekend.  However, I'm being real here, it's hard and it's no fun.  But, we do what we have to and we are so very thankful for the job and all that it provides for us.

With all of this being said- I'm needing to spend a little time writing about positive things. :)  This post is about Ashlyn's latest eye appointments.

I wanted to write about Ashlyn's last eye appointment.  In January we went in and it was a horrible visit.  Eye drops and lots and lots of tears.  The nurse who put the drops in apparently missed and after waiting around for 20 mins, we had to have them put in drops again because her eyes hadn't dilated.  By this point she was just traumatized.  She kept begging for her glasses. "Glasses on!"  It was really sad.  Then, the doctor said she would need to do some patching on her left eye for 2 hours every day. They then told us as we were leaving that she would come back in March and they would do a few "games" to test her vision.  The main one is called the H-O-T-V test.  They told me it would be a matching game.  I really wasn't sure what that meant and I had a hard time finding a lot of information online... it probably has a different name.  Anyways, at that point I decided that I would start practicing letters with flash cards.

Every day we get out the flashcards while they eat or something (usually only when they're in their high chairs) and we go through them.  I started by showing a letter and say it and sometimes they'd repeat the letter sometimes they wouldn't.  Alton was the one who was most interested.  He picked them up so quickly.  He loves it when we do "letters".  His favorite letter to say is "M" and when he says "U" he points to me lol...  it's really cute.  Now, I just hold it up and they say it without me saying anything- there are a few times where I have to correct or remind- but they are doing really well with recognizing them.

Anyways, I didn't think that Ashlyn was really paying much attention.  A few weeks before her eye appt, she was starting to say some of the letters but she was mixing some of them up.  I just wanted this vision test to not be stressful for her.  Normally I wouldn't have worried so much about them getting their letters down because they just turned 2... but I was nervous for her.

We got to the appointment (March 13th- Jon's birthday) and thankfully, no eye drops.  We didn't have to wait long either- always a plus.  They show videos in the little exam room that have animals and she was having fun pointing out a few of them. Especially her favorite "elle-fant"  She loves elephants.  Anyways, the "game" came.  They handed her this large laminated paper with the letters H, O, T and V on it.  The nurse then said that we were going to play a matching game.  They would show the letters on the tv screen and then she would have to point on the paper which one she saw.  I immediately was a bit nervous.  Ashlyn can be very stubborn.  I was worried that she wouldn't follow the directions and decide that she was "all done".  So I kept saying "Wow! Ashlyn this is going to be so fun!".  The nurse was also promising a lot of stickers lol... so Ashlyn was a little excited for stickers.  Then the letters started to appear on the tv screen.  The first one the nurse kept saying "Okay, Ashlyn, what letter is that?  Which letter on the paper is it?"  Ashlyn looked a bit confused and started to point to "H" and then looked up and just said "H".  Then O came up on the screen.  The nurse kept encouraging the paper thing but Ashlyn said the letter.  It went like that for T and V.  I was a little in shock but wasn't letting that show.  Then Ashlyn was waving the paper around lol... so I just gave it back to the nurse and she kept showing the letters in different sizes and in different order.  Ashlyn did very well.  The nurse and I were cheering her on and Ashlyn had a huge smile on her face and as promised she was given 4 stickers :)  and one for Alton.

The doctor came in after this and expressed how well she did and how proud he was of her (I have to admit, I was proud of her too).  It's hard to do vision tests with toddlers.  IT's not like they can say what they can see more clearly... A or B? 1 or 2?  yeah... so this little "game" is the the easiest they can do.  It's not perfect, obviously, but it's better than nothing.  He noted that it seems like her vision is the same in both eyes and that we could reduce her patch time.  So now she only has to wear it for an hour/day.  Woohoo!

I'm so thankful for those flashcards! She still mixes letters up, but we will still work on them.  Best .50 I've spent in a while!  If we hadn't started "letters" I think that appointment would've been so painfully long and would've probably included tears because she would've been frustrated because of it.

Thankfully, this appointment was on a Friday and Jon was working from home and was able to hang with Alton.  I had planned for him to go to a friend's house, but Alton got sick that week and I couldn't send him over there with him only being a day or two out from when he first got sick.   Ashlyn ended up getting sick on the next morning in the car.. on the way to the zoo... thankfully we were only 5 mins out from home.  Ah, the life of having twin toddlers :)

2... they're almost TWO!!!!!!

It's decided.  I'm terrible at keeping up with this blog.

The babies are turning 2 in less than two weeks!!  That's nuts.  It was just yesterday when I was swaddling them and putting them in their rocker beds, wasn't it??? It's like I blinked and here they are repeating the letters of the alphabet after I say them.  It's just crazy.  Crazy for me encompasses so many things- crazy hard, crazy amazing, crazy wonderful... just crazy.  :)

I couldn't possibly update everything they've been up to in order since my last update post.  So I'll just write a general thing. I apologize in a advance.. the paragraphs are going to be ugly... I'm just going to write things as they come.

Alton.  That boy.  He is SUCH.A.GOOD.BOY!!  He eats well, sleeps well, most fun person to tickle in the entire world, LOVES hugs and is constantly asking for them, he blows fist kisses (he's a manly man haha), loves Ashlyn so much, loves sleeping, loves music and we have just started to realize that he is constantly singing- we just hear gibberish most of the time- and then we'll hear a phrase like "All through town"  aka: wheels on the bus- all through the town.  His favorite song to sing at bedtime is "popcorn popping".  I'll never have to worry about him getting dehydrated ever- he loves drinking his water.  He LOVES cars and trains.  I'm not surprised in the least.  Other than it being a boy thing- he has always loved spinning things.  He loves going on walks to see the ducks.  We've been working on animal noises.. but so far, he is convinced that every animal says "Moo" haha... we'll get there, buddy.  He likes to count to 3 on his own... esp if we are doing something that makes us say "Go!" after 3 :)  In the last few months he has run through 2 finish lines with me :)  a 10k race and a marathon yesterday.  As we were "running" to the finish yesterday he kept saying "go! go!" the whole time with a big fat kid grin.  So magical.  He loves Elmo.  He loves watching baby signing time videos.  He doesn't often sign the signs- but he will say the words.  There are times where he will sign something out of the blue and it's awesome!  Right now he loves a segment that has to do with shoes, socks, a coat and a hat :)  Speaking of shoes, he loves it when we are going somewhere because it means we put our shoes on.  He will go gather his shoes and Ashlyn's shoes and will bring them to me.  Or if he already has his shoes on, he will bring Ashlyn her shoes.  He's very thoughtful.  Loves riding in the car.  Loves "ring around the rosie" and laughs so hard when it's time to "all fall down".  He loves the christmas tree and he is always pointing it out and says "tree!".  He often grabs his kitchen play toys and will bring plates and cups to the table and he will sit there and pretend that he is having his own little.. um.. party?  lol, he will tip his water cup over into a play cup and will pretend to drink from it.  It's really fun to watch.  Every door has to be shut.  If it's open, he will shut it lol.  He likes to hide in cabinets.  Only, he's not so good at it.  He can shut the doors for the most part and lets his feet peek through.  He loves the vacuum.  It's a canister vacuum and he will follow it around and will press buttons as I go... turning it on or off or the button that retracts the cord lol.. it drives me crazy, but some day I will miss it.  So for now, he is my vacuum buddy haha.

Ashlyn.  Where do I even start.  Our sweet wild child.  I fear for her teens haha.  She is a smart cookie. Jon calls her crafty :)  She has come so far with her eating struggles.  There are still a few things we are working on, but we are so blessed to have such a healthy little girl.  Lately she hasn't been the best napper- that can get hard sometimes.  Ashlyn also loves music.  When we go for walks I play the frozen sound track and she selectively sings along.  She repeats certain words or phrases.  It's so so so cute!! She loves Olaf.. aka "Owawf", Elsa, Elmo, Mickey, Minnie Mouse... yes, she says only Mickey.. but has to say "minnie mouse" haha.  She also has to take minnie, mickey and puppy to bed with her.  Quite the party!! :)  This is nothing new, but she still is our bookworm.  She LOVES books.  I feel like we have books everywhere (not really a bad thing).. and our backseat is like her own personal library haha... better than food and crumbs, right?  She also loves magazines.. sorry.. "mas-a-seen" :)  I let her look through all of my "family fun" ones and she happily turns the pages.  Often with the magazines or books she will come over to me and grab my hand and drag it to something on the page and says "s'at?" aka.. "what's that".. at least I'm assuming that's what she means?  She loves to point out trees and flowers on our walks.  Oh, how can I forget.  Her blankets.  This girl is a blanket queen.  Our own Linus!  She has always called it "bahtee" no idea where that came from.. however, now she can say blanket ("Bangket") and will call it "bangket" and then she will smile and say "bahtee"... so weird.  Thank goodness that any aden and anais blanket will pass for her "bahtee"  so if we ever lose one, we can replace it really easily.  She is very friendly and will say hello to everyone.  She does get shy- but after about 5 minutes she's telling you her whole life story in her own language- filled with hand and arm gestures lol she is very animated.  She also loves baby signing time.  She is so good at signing and saying the words.  I am grateful for those videos.  They have helped so much.  She loves everything about it, but right now I think one of her favorite parts is where it talks about transportation the section is called "here I go".. they talk about cars, bikes, trains, airplanes... and she likes to say "He I go!" :)  A few days ago on our walk we passed a little kid's bike in someones driveway and she was all excited and was signing and saying "bike! bike!".  Toys- she loves blocks, cars dolls... she's not super into one thing- which is good I guess.  She doesn't focus long enough to stick with something... unless it's a book :)  She can jump!  She likes to show it off and she gets both feet off the floor!  She also loves to dance.  She's great at repeating letters and numbers.  I'm not sure either Alton or Ashlyn understand that they're saying letters and numbers, but it's a start nonetheless :)  She loves to sweep.  She's constantly sneaking into the pantry to get the broom.  She has wicked curly hair!! I'm almost afraid to cut it- I don't want her to lose her curls!! She tends to mess with it so much that she constantly looks like a mad scientist... a cute mad scientist :)  She is so so so good about saying please (peeeash) :)

Thanks for reading :)  Again, I apologize at the ugliness of the paragraphs... I just needed to write this out before I forgot to do it!  The faster the better!!  I'll see if Jon will add his own thoughts too :)

Items that helped us survive the first year

This post has been a long time coming (don't ask how long it took me to finish this post).  I am constantly being asked about baby gear or things that we couldn't live without during the babies first year.  I know that I did my own research while I was pregnant and I often came up empty or things that were being recommended were from mom's with only one baby.  Now before you go crazy on me about the "only one baby" comment.. hear me out.  When you are buying two of almost everything- one of the goals is to keep things as inexpensive as possible.  Yes, you should always look for the best deals and not spend a lot.. blah blah blah... but I think when you don't have multiple babies, there are things that you can justify splurging on... because you only need one.  A nice car seat for $250- why not?? It's the safest.. blah blah blah... well.. when you all of a sudden have 2 babies.. that's $500!!  Yikes!  So, that's what I mean by "only one baby".  Trust me, all you mommies out there are tough cookies.

Anyways... Jon and I made up a list of things that we felt were lifesavers to get through this year.  Due to the lack of time I have to be able to concentrate on things like blog posts... none of this is organized haha... we just wrote things down as they came.. so I'm just typing it all out.  Sorry.... well, not sorry :)  oh- and also, there is probably more stuff we could've put down... maybe I'll have to do a "part two" at some point.  Also I need to note that I haven't been paid to talk about any of these products.  These are just my own personal opinions on things we bought ourselves.  If any one wants to send us items to review... we wouldn't complain! :)

-Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'N Play Sleeper

The babies slept in these for the first 3 months.  After the first 3 months they went to cribs, but we still used these all the time for a while- esp if we took them to Jon's parents house.  They would use them for naps.  Hands down- one of my favorite things we bought.  Actually, both of the ones we had were used and they were both pink.. sorry, Alton :)  These were fantastic because of all the reflux problems we had.  It helped made the babies more comfortable.  I also think it really helped Ashlyn before we found out she had an underdeveloped larynx.. but that's a whole other story.  Our bedroom is next to our living room, so the babies slept in the living room in these things.  There was maybe one or two nights that they slept in our room, but it was because the power went out during the winter time and our room is the warmest in the house.  These are super portable.  I would buy these again in heartbeat.  They were easy to clean and wash too.  

-Kiddopotamus Snuzzler Complete Head and Body Support

If look in the above pictures, the babies are snuggled in tight with this insert.  The babies were a little over 5lbs at birth and they kind've sunk into the rockers.  So, we put this insert in them to help them not sink and to help them feel more secure.  I honestly think it helped them sleep better!

-Plug in swing

I can't find the one we got.... but I think this is the pink version of it

Er.Me.Gersh. Alton needed to be put in a swing for a looong time when he needed help calming down.  I would often avoid our swing with batteries because I was worried about the life of the batteries.. seriously... that was the last thing I needed to worry about.  So, we invested in a plug in swing.. Again.. a used item that we got off of a craigslist type site on facebook that's just for our city.  We still use it for the music :)

-DaVinci Mini Cribs

I love normal cribs.. but having two in the same room is just a lot of furniture.  I love these cribs.  They were worth it.  There aren't very many bedding choices in the big box stores, but etsy has a ton.  I ended up sewing my own sheets out of broadcloth (and after 17months... they still are in great shape! I have the tutorial/pattern if anyone wants it).  I also made my own crib skirts too.  Babies are almost 17mo old and still have plenty of room to grow.   We used this mattress and it fits perfectly!  Also- they make mesh liners for mini cribs too.

-Swaddlers

These are lifesavers.  Enough said.

-Foscam

Don't waste your money on a baby video monitor.  Too expensive.  We got this one- it's a night vision camera.  We can connect to it only in our home through our network on our phones, tablets and computer.  It's nice to be able to see what's going on instead of risking waking them up over nothing!

-Bath slings

No need to spend a ton of money on a small tub for your kid!  These were amazing!  We first used them on the counter in our bathroom and then we moved them into the tub.  They fit in them for quite a while.  When they were able to sit up on their own/crawl we retired the slings.  They fold up too and are easy to store!  

-Boba carriers

I cannot say enough good things about this carrier!  It folds up into itself so it's excellent to travel with!  We recently flew out to see my family in NH and this was a need.  It can be used as a front or back carrier.  It fit Jon who is about 6'3" just as well as it fit me at 4'11".  The arm straps are adjustable so you can customize the fit.

-If doing formula (esp for multiples) Dr. Brown pitchers

Just imagine- 6-8 feedings per kid every day... yep.  That was A.LOT. of formula.  So we would make it the night before and we kept the pitcher in the fridge and we would pour it out as needed.  Oh... I should add, we had two pitchers lol... so.much.formula.... lol.  I don't even want to know how much we spent on formula.. anyways, get the pitcher.  It'll keep you sane :)

-Rent your pump from the hospital!  More powerful!  Don't spend a ton of money on a pump- it's not worth it.  I rented mine for 4 months.  

-Fisher price rocking chair  AKA: the buzz chair :)

This thing was awesome.  It was a lifesaver.  Not only was it entertaining for the babies... it also helped them poop when they were constipated.  No really.  When one of them was having troubles, we put them in the rocker, turned on the vibration and within 15 mins... they pooped... when they hadn't pooped in a while.. and you could tell they were having problems.  We only bought one of these and it was just fine only having one.  Alton spent the most time in the chair lol.... 

-Sign up for Amazon mom.  It's free for 3 months and then it'll turn into amazon prime.  It's so worth it.  I didn't leave the house for the first few months... diapers and wipes were reasonably priced and if you do the subscribe and save- you save even more.  Delivered in 2 days- free shipping.  Worth it.

-Swaddler blankets (aden and anais)- these are still favorites.  We received these as a gift and I am so thankful because I wasn't going to splurge on them- however, looking back knowing what I know now- I would buy them myself in a heartbeat and splurge.  Ashlyn is always carrying them around the house.  She calls them her "bahtee"  aka: blanket... don't ask me how those two words are supposed to sound the same :)

  

-Sleep sacks.  Invest in these.  Once the kids didn't want to be swaddled any more, they still needed to stay warm and this was a sure way to know they'd stay warm in bed.  The blanket wouldn't fall off.  They can stand up in them, but walking is a different story.  I think these have helped prevented any crib escapes.  Win.

-Baby Einstein- My kids love this.  Baby motzart.  Who knows why.  There was a time where they would only drink their bottles if this was on.  We had a lot of feeding problems.  I now only put this on when I'm desperate.  Like if I'm cooking dinner and I need the kids to be entertained.  I think it's only 3-4x a week that they watch this now.  So, not a big deal.

15 month update :)

Just a quick update of the kiddos :)

15 months!!

These two just keep getting cuter and sweeter.  We have our moments, but for the most part, we have been so blessed with two really amazing kids.

Taken on Jon's birthday March 13th

Alton is such a boy.  We call him our little dump truck.  Okay, that might sound weird... but really, he is.  Nothing he does has any finesse and Jon says he "bumbles" around when he's walking.  He's so cute though.

He really loves his sister.  Even though he steals her toys and tries to take her glasses off, he has his moments where he shows how much he loves her.  So, he has always given her kisses, but lately, he kisses her hand when they are in their high chairs.  It's so sweet.  Ashlyn will definitely have her brother to look after her for sure.

Alton's vocabulary keeps growing all the time.  I'm just amazed with how well he can say things.  I'll write some words down that he says and I'll try to see if I can write them down the way he says them.

dada, mama (this is new! finally!), tank-oo (thank you), ga-pa (grandpa), buba (sippy cup with milk/bottle), seep (sweep), goo-jaa (good job), peese (please), cheese, bahbee (strawberry), chee-o (cheerio), ah-doo (water), hi, bump (for a fist bump), puppy, sookie, baw (ball), baby, tukee (turkey), teeth ti (teeth time), pay (prayer), mamen (amen- this is new too), sit, bye, tasty, touch down, done, ma (more), bee (bib)...   The kid mimics everything lol... must be careful with what we say :)

Alton LOVES being outside.  He loves taking walks in the stroller and going to the park.  He loves going down slides and swinging.  This last week has been gross and rainy and he always goes up to the garage door and knocks on it and says "bye" and looks at me like "Hey! Let's go!"  Sorry kid... it's raining :(

Toys he's into: his puppy, cars... well, the wheels on cars, blocks, his toy phone and anything he can chew on.

He loves watching wheel of fortune.  It's the only thing that he will sit still for.  It's pretty amazing.

He loves chasing Ashlyn down the hall and they giggle like crazy.  He loves pointing out puppies on our walks.  He doesn't like to cuddle, but he gives the best hugs.

He is my helper.  He will try to sweep for me and likes to shut the pantry door whenever I'm done.  He often will clap for himself and said "good job" or... he claps for me once I've finished with a chore and says good job... why, thank you ;)   Everyone needs their own cheerleader haha

Ashlyn is a wild little girl.  She get's cuter every day.  She is doing wonderful with her glasses still.  We saw her eye doc the other day and the doctor loved her glasses and how they fit and how they were helping her.  She doesn't need a patch right now like he said she might- so that's very good news.

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house :)

She loves wearing necklaces.  So chic :) haha 

She is a very curious little girl.  She wants to discover everything.  She's into pointing at her belly button and pointing at our noses and figuring everything out.  She hates getting her diaper changed lol.  She is our runner.  She runs everywhere she goes.

Toys she's into: blocks.. always blocks, little people farm animals, her "beep beep" aka: their sit/push car, puppy, her doll, balls, toy phone

Words- Ashlyn doesn't say as much as Alton but she says a lot more than she used to lol.  She babbles all the time though with her own little language.  It's really cute. 

dada, mama, puppy, sookie, mamen (amen), touch down, she said cow a few times yesterday, she signs "more", done, ah-doo (water), baba (bottle), beep-beep (for her car), dahwee (dolly), hi, bye, bump, bahbee (strawberry)... I think that's about it

Ashlyn also loves going to the park.  We just have to watch her like a hawk because she'll stuff thick mulch pieces in her mouth haha.

She loves dogs.  She can spot them like a mile away.  She just chants "puppy! puppy!" over and over and I'm like.. sorry kid... no puppy.. and then as we get further down the road, I see the dog she was going nuts about.  It's really cute.

She loves being held and cuddled.  If we are holding Alton she also must be held at the same time. :)  She loves her blankets and walks around with it quiet often.

I cannot get her to really drink from a cup.  She just doesn't care.  She'll suck out of a straw until the liquid gets to her lips and then she stops and just pretends she's sucking.  It's the weirdest thing.  So, bottles are still a must for her.  Rats.  I so wanted to be done with those.  Oh well, every kid is different and goes at their own pace.  She is eating better.  She has her moments of hoarding food in her cheeks and refusing to swallow, but she eventually does.  Progress is progress, right??