Kiddie Kandids Revisited

We went to Kiddie Kandids yesterday because we decided that it had been about 5 months since the last pics and the kids have changed soooo much (plus they were running a great deal)! Anthony and Emily did pretty well, by the end they had decided enough was enough and no more smiles. Our kids are just so dang cute, I don't know how we got so lucky!

Emmy Crawls!

Ben is out of town this week and Emily started crawling yesterday so he keeps calling and asking me to post a video so he can see. I finally got one (not too great but it works) so here you are honey!!!!

8 Months Old Today

Oh, my, were has the time gone? Can you believe these little stinkers are already 8 months old? They have done so much since I posted like a week ago so here are a few things...Emily cut a tooth, hopefully it's here to stay but we'll have to see. We really thought that Anthony was teething hard core (and he may well be) but then yesterday, Emily had my finger in her mouth and lo and behold, something sharp! She has been doing so well, lots of drooling and gnawing but not much fussing so yea! And yea that she finally beat brother at something! Anthony crawls everywhere and gets into everything so we went and got a baby corral which he tolerates for awhile. He also pulls himself up on everything, no "cruising" yet but he'll get there, yikes! Our sleep situation has not been great, they like to wake up at 3, 4, 5 and Ben usually feels sorry for them and brings them to bed so we have to work on self soothing again. Ben is gone again this week, he is doing training in Washington DC so I guess it's a good time to work on sleep! Anthony also started clicking his tongue yesterday and today started covering his face and playing peekaboo. So many changes in so little time! I have been doing pretty well with my exercising, it may be challenging this week while Ben is gone since I have to wait till the kids are asleep and by then it's usually 8, not the best time to exercise but you do what you have to! I suppose that's all we have for the moment so happy reading!

Videos

I promised a video of Anthony crawling and I think I finally got an okay one! I am also going to post a vid of Anthony and Emmy's first bath together (sorry about the private parts) because they are so darn cute!

The start of a brand new me!

I need everybodies help! I have got to lose some weight and I have horrible will power so here's what I need you to do...take a couple of seconds every now and then and text, email, or comment and remind me to get on the treadmill! I have a goal of 30 min on the treadmill every night except Sunday. I set this goal a couple of weeks ago and it took me about a week to get going but have done pretty well since then. I think I just need to be nagged to death. I am trying to feel better about myself and if I can lose some weight I think it will help tremendously. I got new glasses a few weeks ago and need to take a pic because they are way different than anything I have ever had but I like them, Ben actually picked them out for me. Well, better go but if you could nag me that would be great!

We have a crawler!

Anthony has started crawling!! He actually started the day after my last post and has been going strong ever since. He crawls kind of funny, Ben calls it the pirate crawl. He crawls with one leg straight out (like he has a peg leg) but that doesn't stop him from moving pretty fast. His favorite thing is to crawl to his sister and pull her hair. I need to go to BabiesRUs and buy a baby fence/corral so I can keep him out of the kitchen, we can't install locks on the drawers or cabinets so I will just keep him out all together! I keep trying to get a video of it but whenever I start, he stops crawling! The kids have been having trouble sleeping again, it's driving me crazy. Anthony has been waking up at 4:00 and I will usually let him cry for about 45 min before giving up and putting him in bed with me just so I can get some sleep ( I know, bad mom). Emily woke up at 6:00 this morning and decided that she was done sleeping and I really wanted another hour at least but oh, well. Anthony has also decided that he needs to be swaddled (at least on the top half) to take his naps the crazy kid and so Ben asked me if we were going to be swaddling until he was 18 and I said sure, I'll just buy a mummy bag! I keep telling Anthony that he is a big boy and doesn't need to be wrapped but apparently he feels differently right now. That is about all we having going on, we're finally over our colds but I think that Anthony is starting the teething thing again (yuck). I'll post a video of Anthony as soon as I can get a good one!

Twilight

Okay, so I'm sure you have all heard of the Twilight series of books by now and that many of you have read them. I wasn't sure if I was going to read them or not because I thought, yea, I need to get hooked on just one more thing! My mother-in-law had read the first book for her book club and told me that I would love it but I still held off. My aunt asked me to read the first one and tell her if she should also read it so I caved and guess what...I'm hooked! It was a pretty fast and easy read and took a little bit to get into but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down, you know how I am with the sci-fi/fantasy stuff. Now I am going to have to go and probably buy the next book because I checked at the library and they have 3 copies of the second book with about 60 holds. I think that it would be forever until I got to check it out and it will probably be just as easy to go and buy the next one. Ben heard one guy at church a couple of weeks ago commenting that if the sisters in the ward read their scriptures half as much as they read those vampire books our ward would be in great shape. Maybe I had better set a goal that if I read 15 min of scriptures, I can read 15 of vampire books!

Happenings

Not much has been going on, the babies are finally getting over their colds, and I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel from the cold I caught from them. Anthony is getting pretty mobile, I don't know if you could call what he does crawling but he can get around. Emily is still content to either sit in one place or roll onto her stomach and screech until you go and put her back up. They are really becoming interested in the cat, heaven help her. They think that she is sooo funny, anytime she meows they laugh and laugh. She does pretty well with them too. I have been feeding them cereal and fruit or veggies about 3 times a day and they love it. They have taken to everything so far, even prunes. We haven't given them peas yet which I have heard is the real test. I try and grind up fruit and stuff in the baby food grinder and it seems to work pretty well. They have really started picking on each other, Anthony loves to either maneuver himself into Emily' s lap or pull her hair until her face is in his lap. Ben and I have decided that they will probably both do things to the other but that Anthony will be the one to get caught.

We took them over to this big, really nice park across the street the other day but they didn't seem to impressed with the swings or the slide yet, I guess they will have to get a little bigger.

I guess that's about all we've been doing so hopefully we'll do something absolutely marvelous soon so we can write about our brilliant children:)!

Time Out

This weekend my mom and my aunt Louise came down to visit us and go to Time Out for Women. For those who don't know what that is, it is a conference put together by members of my church to help uplift and edify the women of the LDS church. It was a wonderful experience and very fun. It was nice to be able to leave for a day and hear wonderful messages. There were many different topics but there really seemed to be one central theme: that our Heavenly Father loves us and wants up to be happy and blessed. There were several different speakers and musical numbers and it was really fun, there was humor mixed in with the spiritual aspect. One experience that was given by one of the speakers was when she and several friends got together and decided that they could demand a standing ovation from the group at any time, all they had to do was stand up and say I need a standing ovation. She told about how special and appreciated that made each of the friends feel. She explained how they continue it to this day and even use their computers to do it via email and instant message. She then challenged us to do the same thing in our families. I haven't yet explained or demanded it of Ben but who knows, maybe if the time is right I will. I really appreciate experiences like this that give me the opportunity to be reminded of the importance of my faith and to be reminded that I am a daughter of God, who loves me! After the conference we went to the mall, where I spent money I probably shouldn't have but it was on the kids and the items were on sale so I don't feel too guilty. After our visit to the mall we went to dinner at Olive Garden. I haven't been to Olive Garden since the day I found out I was having twins so it was really fun. Ben stayed with the kids all day and it was nice to know that they have a great dad that could do it! They have been fussy because they caught a cold and have noses that are running like faucets but he said they were pretty good. It was nice to spend the day away but I did miss my little rugrats and was glad to get home to them (even though Anthony was asleep when I got home). I just wanted to share this fun day with you and hope that someday in the future you all get to have an experience like this!

P.S. Here is a link in case you want to check it out: http://deseretbook.com/time-out/

Labor Day Weekend

We went to Rexburg to see my family since Ben had extra days off and had lots of fun. We left Friday after Ben got off work and a trip that normally would take about 5 hours took 6 1/2 because there had been a fire in the median on the freeway. We finally got there about 10:30 and put the kids to bed, then ended up putting them in bed with us, because they kept waking up crying. I know, not good for the sleep training but you do what you have to. On Saturday, my friend Linda called me in the morning to see if I wanted to go see Momma Mia with her, and luckily Ben and my mom agreed to watch the kids so I could. We had so much fun, I love ABBA so I sang along to all of the songs in the movie (there were only 2 other people there). Later that afternoon/evening Ben took me to Outback for my belated birthday dinner and then we stopped by to see my aunt, and then drove by our old house in Ririe. I sure do miss that house and it doesn't look much different from when we were there, needs a paint job though! On Sunday we went to church and then later that evening, all (well, most) of my aunts, uncles came over to my Grandma's where we had a bbq with hamburgers and then my uncle cooked Dutch Oven Potatoes (yummy!). On Monday my brother decided to go fishing with his family so we took a spur of the moment drive and went and had a picnic at Teardrop Lake. It was very pretty and a balmy 45 degrees!! We weren't exactly prepared for that cold of weather so we spent a lot of time in the car. It was really cool though because when we got there there was a mist just above the lake, I tried to take pics but you couldn't see it too well. We took our time coming home today and stopped to visit my friend Rob in Jerome on the way home. All in all, a great weekend!

Ben, Anthony, and Emily trying to stay warm!

Teardrop Lake (you can sort of see the mist)

Grandma Nef with Emily and Anthony