TBT: 2014

It has been almost a year since I have written anything, and I hope to get back to writing on this blog.  It was a nice release for me.  To catch you all up on what has been happening, here is an update from our life in 2014.

Girls got their first haircut by a dear friend

Girls trip to Disney on ice

The start of their obsession with Frozen

The girls love dance and gymnastics

Mommy survived her first plane ride alone with two girls, two car seats, and carry on luggage (With a 3 hour delay in an extremely small one room airport)

Went to the St. Patrick's day parade in Cleveland with my parents and grandparents, then went to hear the family band- Brigid's Cross play

Girls had their first manicure in a salon

We enjoyed going to Ann Arbor throughout our stay in Toledo

Frozen and Dave and Buster's birthday party

Ian accepted a job promotion back in the summer, which relocated us back to Cleveland.

The girls finally moved out of the terrible three's stage, but when we moved to an apartment, their attitudes started to kick in and the whining started back up.  Hoping this will all go away once we find a house and can get on a routine again.

Ian and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary September 19, 2009
We also celebrated our 10 year anniversary when we started dating December 17, 2004.
I could not have chosen a better person to spend these 10 crazy, fun, amazing, and challenging years with.  From long distance dating for 2 years, to marriage and children, I am truly the luckiest person to get to have this man all to myself for the rest of my life.

Life also became difficult in 2014.  I lost one of the most important men in my life.  He was my second father, my grandfather, and he was my girls best friend.  It has been almost 6 months and I still struggle every day and so do the girls.  One positive is that he knew I wanted to marry a man just like him, and I found that man in my husband.  Before he passed he said how happy he was that I was with Ian.  Now I get to see him through Ian and it is difficult at times, but also a great blessing!

Wordless Wednesday!

I am back after a crazy couple months!  Here are some pictures from our vacation this past summer!

Ocean Isle 2013!

Thankfulness/Tis the season of giving

I am thankful for so many things, here are the three most!

My amazing husband who fought for me to go on a first date with him, who asked me to marry him, for a promise he made while putting the gorgeous ring that I will cherish forever on my finger.  The day we said our personal vows, the promises, and the love we have for each other.  The man who works for hard to provide for his family.  I am so thankful to have this wonderful, caring, patient man in my life.

My children who have been the biggest blessing in our lives.  I love them more than I will ever be able to communicate or put in words to them.  They keep us going everyday, and I look forward to waking up to see what the next day brings us, whether it is a good day or bad day!  I am so thankful for being blessed with twins and given the opportunity to shape them into amazing women.

Our family and friends for without them we wouldn't be the people we are today!  Thank you!

With all that, I knew what I was thankful for and I am thankful for so much more, but I didn't feel I needed to express all of this.  There are so many people who don't get to be thankful for a family, their health, education, etc... My heart breaks for these people. This leads me to "Tis the season of giving."

I have donated to St. Jude's for a long time.  I get so upset every time I hear about a child battling cancer. When I go back to work, I hope to get on a research study and find a cure for cancers.  No child should have to fight for their lives at such a young age or anyone for that matter.  Ian and I have decided to continue this tradition.  I am also going to donate to Metro Health.  Without Metro, I may not have these two girls in my life.  I am forever grateful to this hospital.

We have talked a lot and want our children to understand the true meaning of Christmas.  They will learn about Jesus.  They will learn that it is not all about presents.  They will learn what giving means.  Here are our goals for every year:
1.  Ian wants to get involved with a food bank or soup kitchen and have all of us help with serving or donating food to it. 
2.  We want to adopt a family in need and give them a Christmas they deserve. 
3.  Continue to donate to St. Jude's and Metro.
4.  When the girls understand (I will do it this year), we are going to have them go through their toys every year and give to children in need.

We will add to this list every year, and we will also get the girls involved and see what else they would like to do.  This is something that is very important to us and close to our hearts.  We may not have a lot to give and offer, but I do feel a little goes a long way.

Carrie Underwood- Change- great song!

halfway to 3!

Wow, where has the time gone.  From the time you both turned two until now, so much has changed.  I think back to when you girls were babies, and I have a hard time remembering things.  I will look at pictures and tear up just remembering those times!  It is amazing how much you two have changed, my precious babies are growing up so fast.  Daddy says you are little women. He is so right, you can have a conversation just like adults do.

I am understanding the "enjoy these moments because they will be all grown up before you know it"  It is so true, I feel like the days are going so fast and before I can blink your a day older, 6 months older, a year older.

Here are some things that have happened these past few months:

Tantrums are fewer and fewer, which is so nice.  It is nice because there is less throwing things, and kicking!  Yes, Zoey when you get mad, you have a little temper and throw things.  Harly you like to scream high pitched at the top of your lungs and kick.  You are understanding everything, you know right from wrong, and you are just a joy to be around even with those few tantrums.  Daddy thanks you often because you are finally out of the screaming, crying stage.  He loves this happy little grown up stage!

There are challenging days, you two are just so strong willed and definitely girly girls!  You are so smart that you challenge me everyday, you get bored and want to do harder things.  It is crazy how smart you two are!  You two like to be independent and get dressed by yourself.  Those days are great though because we all get to learn and grow as a family!  I love a challenge too, it makes me a better mommy! If you didn't challenge mommy and daddy then our lives would be dull, so keep doing it!

Its easier for mommy and daddy to ask one of you to calm down your sister.  When we can't get you guys to calm down or understand what is wrong through your tears, we just ask your sister and she can calm you in 2 seconds.  there are times where you are so upset you go into another room, your sister will come find you, hold you, rub your back, kiss and hug you, and bring you back to where we are.  It is the sweetest thing in the world.  I would be lying if I said I don't cry often! 

You two LOVE to help with everything.  From cooking, to baking, to folding the laundry and sweeping the floor.  You want to be a grown up, though you really do not like to pick up your toys!
The "why" questions have started and I love every minute of it! I never say because I said so.  I also refuse to say that because you should understand.  When I tell you not to do something and you ask why, I give you an explanation, same with when you just ask why questions.  I don't want to be that mom who says because I said so.  You two also talk up a storm and sometimes we can't get you to stop!  It is the cutest thing! 

You both love to explain everything.  Whatever you do or whatever question I ask you, you will explain it and not give me a one word answer.  Daddy and I give each other credit for this because we don't like to give you one word answers either!  You both also express your feelings.  You tell me your happy, sad, mad, or scared.  It is so cute!

Nap time is awesome!  You both fall asleep the minute I say its nap time.  It is GREAT!  Bedtime is a million times better!  From the moment we switched you to big girls beds, it has been easier.  You are sleeping through the night 98% of the time too which is fabulous!

I love how excited you get the minute you hear the garage open and daddy lock his car!  You both run around the island, then to the door and open it.  You both say daddy I can't see you (because it is dark outside).  When you do spot him, "there you are daddy."  Then the giggles start, daddy gets in the house and you jump in his arms.  It is an amazing site, you love him so much.  You ask to go see him at work, and ask me 5 times a day when daddy will be home.  I love bedtime when you wrap your little arms around daddy as he lays on your floor and reads you a story.  When you look him in the eyes, take his face in your hands and kiss him.  Then you shout back to each other I love you for a couple minutes!  Daddy always tells me that he loves this stage!

You two love baby dolls, trains, Dora, and playing games.  I love our family game nights, they are the best!  You love to chase each other around the whole house.  Dance, and sing are two of your favorite things.  You both can do this all day long and be happy, as long as you have a tutu or dress on!  You like to dress up in mommy's clothes, so you can be a mommy and take care of your baby dolls.  Its the cutest thing ever!

The love you have for each other is indescribable!  You two may fight here and there, but the sweetness outweighs the fighting.  you are always helping each other out, calming each other down, dancing together, singing together, and watching you play baby and mommy role is my absolute favorite!  I can't get over how much you have changed.  Going from infants, to babies, to toddlers has been amazing.  It has truly been a blessing to watch you both grow up and watch you achieve each milestone.  I am lucky to be able to watch this, and will be so sad next year when you start preschool.  I can't even believe you will be going to school already and I will be losing two hours with you guys.  I think this is going to be harder on me than you two!

I love you more and more everyday.  I can't wait to continue this journey called parenting with you two.  You girls are the greatest gift I could have ever been given, besides your daddy!  Thank you for making me so happy, you two bring so much joy to your mommy and daddy!  I am so proud at the way you two have been growing up and turning into amazing little girls who will one day change the world.  You two are so unbelievably smart, caring, and just all around sweet!  I love you always and forever!

car seat safety

I got a chance to join a twitter party with Ali Landry, Britax, and hundreds of other mommies and daddies regarding car seat safety, and I would like to pass it along to all of you!

Keep kids rear facing until TWO.  Yes, I know it sucks, but it is for their safety.  Their neck muscles are not strong enough for an impact. Hopefully you will never be in a car accident, but you just don't know.  I thought I would have never been in one, but I was.  I was 25 weeks pregnant when I was in a car accident.  If I had the girls and they were forward facing before two, they probably would have been severly injured.  Something I don't want to think about.  We kept the girls rear facing til 2.  I know it stinks not being abe to see them or give them things but it is for their safety!

Latch system limits.  If you vehicle has the latch system use it.  Do not use this system and the seat belt together.  One thing I learned is vehicles have a latch limit, that you have to stop using the latch system once your child hits 40lbs.  The latch system is will not protect your child if you continue to use it after they hit 40lbs.  You NEED to switch to the seatbelt when this happens!

Installation- Take it to the fire/police department and have them check it.

Place children in the middle of the back row.  I have twins so I was not able to do this, they are each next to a window.  The safest place for a child is in the middle though.

Winter- do NOT put a heavy coats on them in the car seat.  Yes, its cold but that coat will not save their life in a car accident.  Those straps are loosened for the coat, not the child.  When the girls were little, I would just wrap them in a blanket to get in and out of somewhere.  Now that they are older I put them both in their seats, and take their coats off before I buckle.  Then when I unbuckle I put their coats back on.  Yes its a pain, but its my childrens safety, it takes 2-5 minutes out of your time, so what, you can spare 2-5 minutes!

Register you seats!

Read your manual, and don't let the car seat move more than an inch

Checking harness-  harness is tight enough when you can't pinch the webbing or staps at the collarbone.  Clip should be at armpit level.


There is a ton of info on the government websites also.  Please keep your children safe!

2012 Olympics!

One of my favorite times every four years is the summer Olympics! I love everything about them, the thrill I get sitting at the edge of my seat during gymnastics and swimming.  At times I feel like Aly Raisman's parents.  I feel like I am living through them, that I know them, and that they are my best friends!  Weird? Right, I know!

There were only certain times our parents let us stay up late, during  special occasions such as the winter Olympics and the Cleveland Indians world series in 1997 (yes it was a school night, but it was a once in a probably (the way Cleveland is looking) lifetime event our parents wanted us to experience!)

I remember the summer Olympics of 1996 so vividly! Maybe because it was in the United States,  it was live during our U.S. time, and there was no facebook, twitter, internet ruining it.  Does anyone else think the NBC coverage is horrible?  Maybe because I wished I was those girls, but I still remember that day!  I remember watching it with my family, sitting, jumping, clenching our fists and eyes during the balance beam routines, yelling at the gymnasts like they could hear me: land it, don't fall, come on girls!  The magnificent 7 were amazing!  I loved those girls!  I even went to college with Dominique Moceanu (very sweet person, she even performed some skills during anatomy and physiology class for the 12 of us that were in it!)

Kerri did it though.  I still remember that moment, where my sister and I started crying.  The moment she landed it, the moment her coach carried her off, and them receiving the gold medal.  I could lie and say we just got teary eyed and that I don't have any of the newspapers saved, but that would be awful of me.  Yes, I did cry (not tears, full blown crying!), yes I did save every magazine and newspaper article from those Olympics.  You ask, do I still have them?  Absolutely, in my memory box! Even for my birthday that October, my mom took me to see them perform at the Gund Arena.  So to get to relive that moment last night watching the fab 5, it brought be back to when I was a little girl watching the magnificent 7!  No, I did not cry, but I did get teary-eyed.  I wanted to cheer, but I had a very sick little girl laying next to me and did not want to wake her!

So I will cheer now, AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! It was a great moment!  A moment I hope I get with my girls.  I can't wait til they are older and understand.  I can't wait to keep them up late for moments like this and to see them so happy and excited!  I don't know if they will be able to experience that with any Cleveland sports (they may have to be a Pittsburgh fans like their daddy, before you throw me hate emails, Ian was born and raised in Pittsburgh so you can't be mad at the man!)

I am most excited for those little experiences with my girls, like I had with my mom and sister.  I pray there will be moments like this.  Like the Magnificent 7, Fab 5, Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, and so on...

I also hope they find that hobby that they absolutely fall in love with.  It was dance for me, competitive cheerleading for my sister.  Who knows I may have two gymnasts or dancers, two amazing little girls who may want to go all the way.

here are some videos of our dance parties we have every evening in our household and just because I think they are so cute!

Just wait til you see their singing videos!  Coming soon....call me maybe?!?!

fun, fireworks, friends, Dee Dee, LIFE!

We had our first 4th of July in our new house!  This is the third 4th of July the girls were apart of.

1st- they were only about 6 weeks old, we were all in bed by 7!

2nd- they were 13 months old.  We were all in bed by 8!

This year fireworks were on July 3rd, we were debating on letting the girls stay up for the fireworks.  That morning, we decided to put them to bed at their normal time....

well that changed...

We moved into a large development.  Every house was having a party except us (family and friends, next year!)  We were invited to our next door neighbors party.  We went over there for a little bit after dinner. The girls were having so much fun playing with the other kids, we decided to just play it by ear with bedtime. 

then...

Everyone and their mother decided to shoot off fireworks right in front of our house, and the girls flipped.  then it started pouring down rain out of nowhere, and we took cover under a patio umbrella.  Oh yea and I left my iphone outside at our house...

Best part about the fireworks is you can see them from our backyard.  they shoot them off the bridge on the river.  They were far enough away that it was not loud.  They both started falling alseep in our arms around 10 and we were about to walk home (there was a delay from the rain), but they finally started and the girls woke up.  they loved every minute of it!  We said goodbye to all our new friends and the girls went to bed without a fuss and slept in! 

4th of July day, Grandma DeeDee came to visit for a couple days!  Here are some pictures from the past couple days:

Our first juice box

so happy about it

Harly and me watching fireworks

Zoey hanging out with the neighbors and daddy

Watching the fireworks!

4th of July- Harly

Zoey

getting ready to blow bubbles with grandma Dee Dee

farm animals at imagination station, checking out the chicks

Loved the nursery and hospital section!

taking very good care of her baby!

They will be great big sisters one day!

turning on the lights and sirens

Zoey got the ball on the air tube

playing the piano

ended the morning back at the farm animals section

just hanging out the rest of the weekend

having so much fun!

 We ended the day Sunday at the neighbors house, playing with all the kids!  Have I said how much I love our house and development!! The girls already have so many friends, it is awesome!  So happy with our decision!!

 Advice regarding noise:  I really don't have any, the girls are afraid of everything!  We have a train that is about two streets away, (sometimes I don't even hear it but they do and come running and crying).  They are afraid of the train, fireworks, if you raise your voice, little noises.
                    * I try to make the noises interesting, such as
Train: Train is not going to get you, its just tooting its horn for you to hear!
fireworks: They are loud, but they won't get you, they show you all the pretty colors you know in the sky!
Thunder:  It is just grandpa Benny and Jesus bowling in heaven!

milestones

I have a lot of people with multiples asking me about milestones. I am not a fan of people who make a big deal about milestones in front of everyone, especially because it is always the one who's child exceeded a milestone early, or the people who tell you that your child is behind or that they will never catch up.  When I delivered the girls, I got an email to subscribe to baby centers milestone updates.  I am also not a fan of those, I have been getting weekly updates from the day they were born.

Let me just tell you all, milestones are GUIDELINES!  With that being said, your child should meet these milestones, but at their own pace and when they are ready.  Some babies achieve the milestones before the targeted age, some achieve it right on the day, and some don't achieve it for a couple weeks.  Don't worry, and DON'T listen to the other not so nice mothers (yes, we have all encountered them!) who like to make you feel like your not doing a good job, or that your child will be delayed.  If you have any concern at all, talk to your pediatrician.

Every child develops differently, if they all developed the same then it would not be fun and exciting.  I don't mind that they are sometimes delayed because I get to watch other children who are a month or more older than the girls and see what I am in for!  I get to keep them at their previous stage a couple weeks longer!  Just embrace it, enjoy it, and don't rush them!  When they are ready, they will let you know or show you.  It is an awesome feeling watching your children change day to day!

The girls have been delayed by about a week from the time they were born (sometimes longer such as walking).  Now they are starting to achieve them right around the correct time frame.  Our pediatrician told us that by around two this would happen! The girls were ahead of one milestone that I got in an email.  At 22 months, it said that children will begin to jump, but not off 2 feet yet and that it will take a couple weeks to a month.  Well, the girls have been jumping off two feet since they were 21 months old!

Here is just a fun clip of the girls!

Stranger danger

This is part two of my last post. 

We try to teach our kids and instill fear into them about strangers.  We tell them not to talk to strangers.  To never get in the car with a stranger or take candy from a stranger.  Natalie from the Today show just did a segment on this.  But yet we are contradicting ourselves and here is why:

1.  Halloween-  We go out and take candy from strangers.  What is that teaching our children.  We just told them to never take candy from strangers, but its ok if mom or dad is there?  That is making it very confusing for the children
    *Solution for us:  We didn't take the girls to any strangers houses for halloween.  We only went to the neighbors we know and who the girls know.  We will continue this tradition even if it may only be 5 houses.

2. We tell them never to talk to strangers.  But wait, 5 strangers in the store just stopped me and said how cute my kids were, and asked them their names.  I told the girls to say thank you for the comments.  I am telling my children to talk to strangers.  Again contradicting everything that I am trying to teach my children.  So again do I tell them, that they can talk to strangers only when mommy and daddy are around?  These evil people know how to carry on small talk with children to make the children trust them.
     *Solution for us:  I don't have one so if anyone with older children have one please leave a comment or email me!  It would help tremendously!

3. Never go into a strangers vehicle or pet their animals.  With this I have to watch Natalie's segment on that and I will take any advice too.

There is so much more to stranger danger now than when I was a little girl.  I was able to ride up and down the street hang out with friends on the street.  Now its like you can't even leave your yard, let alone be in your front yard.

I am nervous, paranoid, and have a huge fear regarding all of this.  I don't want to instill to much fear into the girls that they will never go outside, leave our side, or withdraw when people talk to them.  I don't want to not instill enough fear into them that they will think it is nothing if someone if a stranger comes up to them.  Which one won't because I will be that parent that is always involved with my children, always outside, never leaving them alone, and all the kids in the neighborhood will hang out at my house.  I am also lucky to have pretty shy girls when it comes to strangers, they always look at me for reassurance which is good.  I hope it stays that way!

How do you talk to your children, and what advice do you give them? 

I leave you with a couple pictures of our precious girls and two of Gavin because I just love him so much too!

Harly

Zoey

Gavin and his adorable big eyes!

Gavin and his mommy!