Family Journeys With Twins

Changes.....

2012-01-25T14:46:00.001-07:00

Well I know it has been a very long time since I have updated the blog. Most people follow me on Facebook and have been able to keep up with us there but I just haven't had the time, energy, and heart to put a post together.

At the end of the summer I made the decision to end my marriage with Jesse. This was a decision that I had thought about for a very long time and I finally got the courage to start taking the steps. I have to say that Jesse really is a great guy, he is just not the right guy for me. We are both better off with different people that fit us better.

So in September I told Jesse the news and began making arrangements to move out. In November I moved out with the girls to a new house in Gilbert. We absolutely love the area and the girls have responded better than I expected. Jesse found a place in Tempe about 15 minutes away so the traveling back and forth is not too difficult.

We are now learning about what our new normal consists of and we have had a few bumps in the road and many modifications but things seem to be going smooth now. The girls see Jesse every Tuesday, every other Thursday, and every other weekend.

The divorce will be final on February 7th and I will be going back to my maiden name. 2011 was a year for changes but I see a bright future for 2012.

2011-11-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

The girls had a fantastic Halloween. This is the first year they understood a little about what was going on. Addison was tickled to be Tinker Bell and we happened to find a costume of Tinker Bell's friend Meredith for Riley. They were both excited to be little fairy's. They loved getting dressed up in the dressed and getting their hair done. Can you say girly girls??? We went around to about 10 houses or so and that seemed to be enough for the girls. They said Trick or Treat a few times and said thank you almost every time. Addison got a little scared at one house when they opened the door and a friendly dog came out and knocked her over. That was pretty traumatic for her but she didn't get hurt. We had to carry her for a few houses after that. That poor girl is really scared of dogs as of late and that didn't help matters. I hope she gets better about that fear soon. The girls got to have a sucker out of their pumpkins when we got home and were such good girls. The very next day they asked to go back to "Halloween" again. I don't think they like having to wait a whole year to do it again.

Family Pictures

2011-09-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. This was my birthday present and we had a fantastic photographer that works here at UOP do the session. Jessica Casper was amazing and did so well engaging the girls and taking the best candid photos. I was so happy to be out of a portrait studio and in the open where the girls could do their thing. Our last portrait sitting was basically a nightmare so this worked so much better. I think we will use Jessica from now on. Here are my favorites:

California Vacation 2011

2011-09-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

This summer we did another family trip to California. We stay in Carlsbad for 3 days and then made our way up to Disneyland for 5 days. The girls were so happy to go on their "big bye bye" as they called it. My dad prepped them with videos about the beach and visiting Disneyland and they were very excited. Riley was very impressed with the beach and keeps asking us to go back to the beach just about every day.

We had a nice time in the Carlsbad area and picked the perfect beach day. We got to eat fish and chips in the harbor and show the girls some of our family traditions. We then headed up to Disneyland for 5 days at the happiest place on earth. This was the girls' 3rd trip to Disneyland and this time they understood where they were. They had a blast visiting Mikey and Minnie's house and riding all the rides. Addison loved the play park in California Adventure and Riley loved hugging all the characters.

Papa planned a character breakfast with Goofy and the girls were excited to see the characters while they sampled all the great food.

The trip was amazing and the girls have many memories to look back on!

Visit with Aunt Joan and Uncle Keith

2011-08-20T13:33:00.019-07:00

The girls have such a good time when we go to Uncle Keith and Aunt Joan's house. The girls love to play on their piano, pick out all of Aunt Joan's pigs (she collects them), and play with their basket of balls. They live in a great condo community with a pool. The girls are getting so good at swimming and had a blast in the water. I am sad that we did not get them into swimming lessons this year but I plan to get them in lessons next year and 3 is probably a good age to be learning. We had so much fun and are so blessed to have great family that loves for us and takes good care of us.

Here is our fun from today:

Riley Picture Post

2011-08-10T07:29:00.005-07:00

Addie would not model for me so I got a few poses of Riley doing her thing:

Escaping child

2011-08-09T19:21:00.002-07:00

Now who pops into your mind when I title a post like that? Who out of our twins would be the one to escape? I will give you one guess......Riley! That girl is my child and takes after me in so many ways. She is so stubborn and strong willed that I have to think about how rough I made my parents lives when I was younger. I feel bad for that now.

So back to escaping....Riley has figured out how to get out of her crib at night and even in the morning. She has scared us the first few times she did it. You hear this loud thump and out runs Riley out of their room. On Monday morning my mom was down stairs washing dishes and she heard a thump up stairs. She thought it was Jesse or I making racket in the morning but she started up stairs to see what made the loud noise. Well she ran smack into Riley who had just closed her bed room door. She looked up at grandma liked this was an every day occurrence (not the first time) and told grandma, "I waked up Grandma". It is so cute to hear her say that - bad grammar and all. She was very proud of herself.

Well then last night Addie woke up screaming from a bad dream and my mom went in to check on her and that made Riley upset so she jumped out of her crib while my mom had her back to Riley. We still have no idea how she is "jumping" out of her crib but I know kids figure it out eventually. Riley then started screaming and running down stairs which woke Jesse and I up. This was all going down at 2:30 am. After a bit of calming down, we go the girls back to bed and we tried to go back to sleep. Riley had other ideas and got out of her crib 2 more times.

So that is the end of the regular crib for Riley. We bought the convertible cribs and today we turned it into a day bed with the toddler bar to protect her from rolling out of bed. So tonight will be the first night of freedom for Riley and I have a feeling we will not get much sleep again tonight. Wish us luck that she needs her rest after last night and will stay asleep and in bed for the night. We are moving the baby gate from the bottom of the stairs to the top to keep her from roaming the house if she does escape.

Phone conversations

2011-08-02T17:54:00.004-07:00

The girls are having more phone conversations with me. I am sad about this fact but at least I can hear their sweet voices while I am working away. Today I called to check in on my mom and the girls. First of all, they slept until almost 8am!!!! That is right folks, the girls are doing so much better with their early morning wake up times. We moved their afternoon nap out an hour which was recommended to us from a friend who studies sleep patterns in children and makes recommendations. But wait, it gets better. Then the girls took a nap from 12pm until almost 3pm!!! Holy cow! This is amazing. I am hoping that my mom can keep the girls up until 8:30 when I get home so I can give them a kiss and put them to bed. *crossing my fingers they make it*

Back to the phone conversation. Addie asked to talk to me so my mom handed her the phone, She screams "Hi Mommy" oh how I love that sweet voice. Then I asked her what she was doing and she answers back "Gmama" which is code for playing with grandma. Then I asked her what she had for lunch, she answers, "apples" (they really had Mac n' Cheese), but cute nonetheless. Riley wanted to get on the action after Addie was done. Riley gets on the phone and says, "Hiya mommy" She can't really just say hi, it always comes out Hiya, which is so darn cute. I asked her the same questions and I didn't get much of a response from her as she tried to walk away from the phone while she was talking to me. She is silly. I just love these little conversations and the fact they can communicate on the phone now. I just have to make it through the next 3 1/2 weeks and then I will be home at night for at least a full month. There is also some possible job changes in my future. I hope to post more about these opportunities in the next week or so. Basically I am interviewing for 2 different positions and I will know what happens after these interviews are complete.

I will leave you with two silly pictures. I hope nobody takes offense to them but I thought they were super cute. The girls were outside in the morning and the sprinklers turned on. They wanted to go play in them so they took their panties off and went at it. I didn't get pictures of their naked bums until they were done running but these are the two I got:

Not much to report

2011-08-01T19:24:00.006-07:00

Time is just passing us by. I don't have much to report but I feel like I should be posting more to the blog. The girls are growing each day and doing new things. I love that they are talking up a storm and learning their numbers. They just adore reading books and spending time with mommy and daddy.

Jesse started a new position as a full time instructor for Grand Canyon University. His new schedule is 12pm to 8pm Monday-Friday. He will have a few hours in the morning to spend with the girls but will miss out in the evenings as the girls are going to bed around 8pm. We may try to keep them up an extra half hour say they can say goodnight to daddy.

I am also working a 2nd job as an instructor at The Bryman College. I teach in the evenings 5-8pm Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings. I would also like to see the girls go to bed a little later so I can say good night as well. I don't plan to teach every month so I can minimize the nights I am away from home but I am enjoying being able to get experience as an instructor so later on I can teach the online courses and be home with the girls in the evenings.

I just adore the silly things the girls say and the sweet things they do. Today I walked down stairs for my first night of my 2nd class. I had on a black dress. Addie looked at me and said, "Mommy wear a pretty dress". That was so sweet. Both girls give each other hugs and kisses and they like to take care of one another. They will get food or grab the other's sippy cup for each other. Now, they also take things from each other and will get mad a hit here and there. We are trying to teach them good behavior and for the most part, they do really well.

They are very into Disney characters and movies. We record as many as the Disney Channel puts on and the girls have many Disney characters to play with. They are very excited for the big Disney trip which is only 4 weeks and 5 days away.

I have a few pictures of the story time the girls participated in when we went to the book store. We only stayed few minutes because the girls had trouble sitting still. They kept wanting mommy or daddy to read a book and didn't seem to understand that the story teller was reading the book. I'm sure as they get a little order they will understand and sit for an entire story. Until then we will just keep trying and reading our own books at home.

Pictures from Aunt Sara

2011-07-21T14:04:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures Sara took of the girls while they spent the night last weekend. They went to the Zoo's Snow Day and got to hold some dirty snow. Sara got a cute photo of them eating breakfast that I wanted to share.

Things are going well in the Prather house. Addie is making more progress on potty training and Riley is accident free.

We have 6 weeks until my 30th birthday and then our trip to Southern California and Disneyland. I'm sad to see my 20's go but I'm sure my 30's will be awesome....or at least that is what I keep telling myself.

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More on Potty Training

2011-07-19T15:47:00.003-07:00

Dare I say it.....Riley is potty trained??? Now to clarify, she does wear a diaper to bed at night and we have been putting her in a diaper at nap time but she wakes up dry from her nap and screams that she has to go potty, so we have to run fast to get her up and get her to the potty. So other than the 1 diaper, she is full trained. She loves being a big girl and wearing panties. We have been keeping her in panties and just a shirt around the house for a couple of weeks now as it is easier for her to stop what she is doing and take her panties off to go.

Addison will not be swayed by what Riley is up to and she is doing things on her own time. She goes potty on the potty often but still wears a diaper most of the day. She has asked to wear panties and it will go well for a while but then she will forget and go potty in her panties. She is not quite ready and we are not pushing her. She will do things on her own time and in true Addison fashion, I'm sure.

The girls seem to be learning something new every day. Their vocabulary has expanded greatly. They say 5-6 word sentences and comprehend more than I realize. They know all of their colors and love pointing out what color each family member is wearing each day. They are working on their numbers. They can count to 5 with some help but other times they say, 1, 2, 8, 9. I guess they don't care too much about the numbers in the middle and go right to the end. It is so cute to hear them try though. We need to start working on letters here soon. I'm not sure why we have not been doing that yet but it is time to get going there. They love books and we have to read them at least 8 or 9 books at a time. 1 will never do. I am glad they love to read just like their mommy and daddy. We are able to buy new books often when Great Grandma Barb sends gift cards to Barnes and Noble. We go there as a family and let the girls pick out the books they would like. It is so much fun!

We are getting ready for out big trip to California. The trip is just about 6 1/2 weeks away. The girls are obsessed with going to Mickey and Minnie's house. They know that Tinker Bell will be there as well as a host of other Disney Characters. I think they sincerely believe that Papa lives at Disneyland since they go so often and bring back treats from the park. We told the girls that we are going to the beach during the trip and they think that the beach is at Disneyland too. It might as well be in my opinion.

I have been working hard to get into shape for the trip. I've lost almost 12 pounds and I feel great. Here is a picture of my progress so far:

I hope to lose about 10-15 more pounds over the next few months and be a healthy mom to my very active girls.

In other big news, the girls had their first overnight visit at Papa and Nana's house with Aunt Sara. On Friday night they stayed over night and did pretty well. They did not sleeping in their pack n' plays which worries me about the Disney Trip and where they are going to sleep but we will figure that out later. Anyway, they ended up sleeping in Aunt Sara's pull out bed with her instead of the pack n' plays and had fun with their Aunt. They went to the Zoo the next morning for a snow day in July which was very interesting. Both girls came home tired as can be but I know they enjoyed theme selves and had so much fun away from home. They were happy to have their cribs back and be at home despite all the fun times at Papa and Nana's. Sara hopes to take the girls once a month like that so Jesse and I can have a night to ourselves. We are thrilled with this idea and we hope the girls enjoy the break and all the fun away from home.

Happy 4th and Potty Training

2011-07-05T10:36:00.001-07:00

In Phoenix it is very hot and therefore not very fun to stay out and watch fireworks so this year we skipped the shows in town. We opted to spend the day at home with the girls. Being that we were home, we were able to help the girls with potty training. The girls were really catching on. They are telling us when they need to go and we are asking frequently. Yesterday Riley had 7 successful trips and Addie had 6. They are so happy and proud of themselves. We are having them wear pull-ups and they do well keeping them dry.

For dinner we went out to dinner with Nana and Papa and enjoy a nice cool dinner inside. Next year we may try to get out of town or find a way to stay cool and let the girls enjoy the fireworks.

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A fun Weekend

2011-06-27T08:45:00.011-07:00

We had such a great weekend. We started the weekend with the girls going to their first Gymnastics class at the Little Gym. I was a gymnast growing up and I was excited to see both girls being interested in the sport. They have been doing somersaults and a few moves with spotting from me in the house and I just knew they would have a blast at a real gym. We had them all ready to go in their leotards and they were so excited to be going to "class" as they called it.

They had such a great time. I hope to be able to enroll them in classes once a week here very soon but as always, having two kids in anything costs a pretty penny. The Little Gym is a little more expensive than traditional training gyms but they really have a great program to develop their skills. Jesse's new promotion may allow us to do this starting next month.

For the rest of the weekend we hung out at home playing the back yard pool and sprinkler. When it is 115 degrees outside, the only thing you can do is play in the water to keep cool. The girls had so much fun playing in the water and mommy and daddy got into the fun as well.

We spent time outside eating watermelon. The girls loved cooling off with the cold fruit and we caught some great shots of them chowing down!
Riley:

Riley:

Addie:

After a while, the girls started to improvise on ways to keep cool. The next thing we knew, they had crawled into their water table and were using the table as their pool. I guess we can't blame them when it is that hot outside.

After all our outdoor fun we decided to go visit Papa and Nana. The girls love going over to their house to play with all the toys my parents have collected for them. Most of the toys are from Disneyland directly and the girls are just so excited to be going to Disneyland here in September. They don't understand the concept of time and they ask me every day to go the beach and Disneyland. I feel bad telling them it will be a little while before we leave but they just keep asking. This family vacation will be so much fun, I know it!!!

We spent the rest of the weekend playing dress up inside. The girls found their Bee and Bunny ears and had fun running all over the house.

I just love this shot I got of Riley showing her major attitude!

Then I got a good shot of both of them on the couch.

I just can't get over how they are turning into little girls. My babies are big girls now. I am proud of their accomplishments and growth but I still want to snuggle a baby once in a while.

I hope everyone had a great weekend staying cool and being with family.

More Fun From Fathers Day

2011-06-21T18:23:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post a few more pictures from our Fathers Day Celebrations. We ate out at Logan's Roadhouse and enjoyed delicious food and family. I am thankful to have an amazing husband who is a great dad! I'm also thankful for my amazing dad and the time the girls get to spend with him. It was a great day!!!!!

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Father's Day BBQ

2011-06-18T19:01:00.002-07:00

My mom's side of the family had a BBQ for Father's day. The girls had a blast swimming in the pool, playing with the pool toys outside the pool, and hanging out with family. They got so dirty and loved every second of it.

This morning they painted daddy a picture and mommy bought daddy some new clothes. This weekend we actually have even more to celebrate which I will make another post to talk all about our exciting news.

We hope everyone has a fun safe father's day!!!

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Riley's Accomplishment

2011-06-11T12:21:00.003-07:00

Both girls have been interested in using their potties, just not for going potty. We purchased their potties about a month back but they haven't been interested in them enough to actually use them. Both girls are good about letting us know when they have peed of pooped in their pants which is showing signs of understanding. I decided to bring the potties back out yesterday and get it back on their minds. This morning I also put pull up's on them just to see what would happen if I told them to tell me when they needed to go potty. Well low and behold, Riley told me about 20 minutes later that she needed to go. We pulled down her pants and she proceeded to pee right in her potty. She was so excited and so proud of herself. She got a sticker and an M&M for her efforts.

Addie is still trying. She is good at telling us right after the fact, just not before. I know that it will take time for them both to get the hang of it and I understand it will probably be a long road before they are trained. I am okay with that as it shows my babies are growing up (faster than I like).

Congratulations Miss Riley on your big accomplishment. Mommy loves you both!!!!

The Terrible 2's are here in full force

2011-06-01T15:57:00.002-07:00

What can I say??? We have two 2 year olds that are giving us a run for our money. I knew that having girls would be a little easier in the early years. Boys are rambunctious and dirty and require more attention when they are younger but then they mellow out and I think they are easier as teenagers. Girls are fun in the beginning with all the pink and bows and frilly dresses. Then they get older and hormonal and then you have a huge mess on your hands.

Well are girls are showing us just how hard things are going to be in the future. Miss Riley has such a personality. She is really letting us know when she is not happy and she is throwing the best fits when she doesn't get her way. After our Zoo trip on Monday, she screamed and cried because I went upstairs to take a bath. Jesse finally gave in and let her come up stairs by me. Then she threw an even bigger fit when I would not allow her to get into the bath with me. She was screaming and yelling and trying so despretely to take her diaper off to get in with me. Jesse came in to take her back down stairs. He tried to take her outside to change her scenery and get her focused on something else but he learned that didn't work and was worried the neighbors were going to call CPS on us so he brought her back inside. It took a good 20 minutes to get her calmed down but she finally did. Now these fits seem to be happening several times a day.

Addison is not as bad as Riley but she still gets pretty upset if lets say....she can't get into the pantry and chose her own snack. If I had two Riley's I would be pulling my hair out with the fits so it is nice that Addison balances things out with a happy smile. Now I love my little full of life child Riley, but that girl is going to give me a run for my money for many years to come.

We also have another problem. The girls have learned how to get over the baby gate at the bottom of the stais. Riley grabs one of her small bins that holds their toys and boosts her self over the gate. Addison can just get herself right over with no help. Now as first time parents, this scares us a bit. Jesse is more concerned about them falling on the stairs but I am concerned about the girls going into the bedrooms upstairs that are not as baby proof. We will have to figure something out here soon so if anyone has any ideas out there to help, let us know.

So that is it for now, terrible 2's and clibing twins....got to love this life!!!

Another Fun Zoo Day

2011-05-30T19:29:00.002-07:00

We took the girls to the zoo again today to enjoy one last time at the zoo until the weather gets cool again. Luckily today was only in the low 80's and it was pretty nice. We are supposed to see 100+ temps for the rest of the summer on now though.

The girls were very excited about the trip and they talked about it for days before we actually left. They were excited to go with Papa, Aunt Sara, and Alan. Sara and Alan volunteer at the zoo and can get us in free anytime. We love that but may look into a membership at some point.

Here are the girls as we waited to go inside:

We went and visited the orangutans first and the girls were able to see the baby and grandma right up close. Riley was screaming to go into the exhibit. She kept yelling, "side" "side" (inside). She was just in love with them.

Then we headed over to the splash pad to cool off a bit. The girls had so much fun running through the waterfalls and splashing around
Addie:

Riley

Riley and Daddy

Addie and Daddy

Having fun together...

We then took a break to eat lunch. The girls were having so much fun laughing and cracking us up. They love to fake laugh and had all of us rolling. Their smiles were pricelss!!!

After lunch we headed over to see the camels. Riley was very excited so Jesse took her for a ride. She loved every second of it and didn't want to get off the camel when it was over

Then Sara took Addie for her turn. As soon as they placed her on the camel, she started crying. She was not having any of it but she managed to stay on for the quick minute ride.

It is funny to see how different the girls really are. Riley used to cry on rides and Addie screamed in delight, now that tables have turned and Riley is our little dare devil and Addie is more cautious. I bet you Addie is the big sister and wants to make sure everything is stable for both her and her sister.

We saw a few more animals and the heat started picking up so we headed home. The girls were exhausted and we saw a few little fits after we got home. I am going to post more about our terrible 2's in another post here soon. Terrible 2's times 2 has me a bit worried.

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Ending of the Park Days

2011-05-23T17:02:00.001-07:00

In Phoenix it starts to get hot this time of year which ends our park season. Usually by June it is too hot to go to the park as the temps rise above 100 degrees. We have had some mild temps this May allowing us a few extra park days. Today was windy enough to give us enough relief to stand the 90 degree temps. The girls had a blast as usual but we must bid farewell to the park down the street until the temps go down in early fall.

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Running, Running, Running Away........

2011-05-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

I’m referring to the girls here, not myself. Although sometimes I think about running away…just for a day or maybe a few hours when things are tough. It is a good thing that those girls are so darn cute, otherwise I would have run away a long time ago. Okay not really but the thought has crossed my mind a time or two. LOL

When I say running, running, running away….I am referring to Riley. Boy oh boy, that girl is fast. Sometimes when you tell her it is time for a diaper change, she takes off running. And sometimes, she is so fast that I can barely catch her. Now she thinks this is the funniest thing in the world, which is probably why she keeps doing it.

When I take the girls to the park, they end up running all over the grass and hardly spend any time on the playground equipment. They must get cooped up in the house and when they get the freedom to just run….they take full advantage of it. It is the cutest thing when they run off together and I just see them running side by side skipping down the rolling hills at our park. I will have to catch a picture of that because it is the sweetest thing in the world.

Now the reason that sparked this blog post is actually about Riley running away when she should not. Twice now, she has taken off running while we are in the street or in a parking lot. At my cousin’s house this weekend, I set Riley down next to the car door so I could start the car….(since it is 100 degrees here, starting the car is a must to get the air going). As soon as I set her down, she took off running down the street. My oh my, it was a sight to see but so very dangerous. Once I caught her, we had a nice chat about how that was scary for mommy and how the big cars could hurt her if she took off running like that again. I hoped that little talk worked and she doesn’t take off like that again. I will start putting her in her seat first and then starting the car before I buckle them up at least to prevent anything bad happening.

I am hoping out of all this we learn that the girls will be good runners when they are older. Maybe we have future track stars on our hands or maybe some basketball players that love running up and down the court.

An Amazing Mother's Day!!!

2011-05-08T19:32:00.003-07:00

My husband was so super sweet to me this Mother's Day. On Saturday afternoon I came home to a completely cleaned house. I had taken the girls over to visit Uncle Keith and Aunt Joan and we were gone all afternoon. Jesse spent over 4 hours cleaning our house from top to bottom. Even the bathrooms were spotless!!!

On Sunday morning I woke up to some flowers and cards from Jesse and the girls.

Jesse had booked brunch for us and my parents and we enjoyed a fabulous brunch with so many fabulous foods to chose from. The girls did their best to behave but it was hard since brunch was booked right during their nap time but they made it through giving us several laughs filled with messy faces.

After we got home, Jesse gave me the best present of all. He coordinated with my dad to make me a Mother's Day video. Click here to view the video.
I was blown away at the creativity and I cried all the way through the video. It was absolutely more than I could have asked for. I will treasure this Mother's Day and I am so proud of my husband and so grateful to be Addison and Riley's mommy!!!

I took my mom out later for some shopping and fun which was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

I hope all the other Mother's out there had a great day.

Four word sentence

2011-05-07T19:43:00.003-07:00

Riley said her first 4 word sentence today. We were visiting with Uncle Keith and Aunt Joan. The girls were having fun with Uncle Keith on the couch which wore him out so he went to take a nap. A little while later, Riley went looking for Keith. She was pulling the pillows off the couch when I caught her say, "Keith, where are you? It was the cutest thing!!! I'm just amazed at how fast they learn and catch on.

Addie still says many 3 word sentences and I hope to catch a 4 word one from her very soon. Way to go girls!!!

Colors and Dishes

2011-05-06T12:30:00.002-07:00

What a strange title I have today. I wanted to cover both of the topics so why not put them together?

Colors are the talk of our household. The girls are really into their colors and it makes me proud that they are always telling me the colors of things. This is more apparent with Addie. Every day when I come home from work, she tells me what color shirt I am wearing. No "Hi mommy" its "Pink", "Pink", "Pink". Then when I go change into my comfy clothes for the night, she then tells me the new color I have changed into. She also does this with things all over the house and every one's clothes. Riley does it a little bit but it is Addie running the color show.

Riley's favorite thing right now is to do dishes with mommy. She takes such delight in being able to rinse the dishes after I wash them. That is her job! She takes such care to get all the suds off, or bubbles as she calls them. Riley could be in the other half of the house but if she hears me running water in the sink, she comes running with her chair to help me. She gets upset if I don't let her, so each time I do dishes, Riley is my little helper. Now we do own a dish washer but we never really use it. We don't use enough dishes to run the dishwasher and we are the type of people that like to wash our dishes after a meal and clean up the kitchen. So Riley gets extra chances to be my dish washer. I just hopes she enjoys doing dishes when she is older, but I can bet she will not find it as fun as she does now. And Addie just prefers to play with the suds (bubbles as we wash the dishes).

We have growing girls

2011-04-30T20:28:00.003-07:00

The girls had their 2 year well baby visit on Friday. Just another reminder of how fast these girls are growing. I told the girls we would be going to the doctor and Addison seemed pretty excited about going. She kept pointing to the door and saying "doctor". This is really funny since this girl really hates going to the doctor. I think she hates all the sick visits and times when she had to have her heart looked at. Riley doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

The girls seemed pretty happy to look at the fish in the aquarium and play in the front room. They did get a little hesitant once they were called back for the visit. That was short-lived once they saw the big girl scale. Riley even preformed a little dance for the medical assistant as she was waiting her turn.

We learned that Addison our baby A, is our skinny girl but the taller twin right now. She was 23lbs, 12oz and she is now 34.25 inches tall. Riley outweighs her twin by a whole pound now at 24lbs, 12oz and is 33.75 inches tall. Riley was born smaller and weighed less for quite awhile until she reached the same weight as Addie. They kept pretty close for most of that time until recently. You can really tell the difference when you pick the girls up. Addie is much easier to carry....you can really tell the extra pound difference. Maybe Addie will be our tall and skinny girl who takes after her dad and Riley will be our athletic strong girl like her mom.

Here are the pictures from their fun with Dr. W.

The girls were very excited to get some tongue depressors to play with and some stickers for being good. The visits are so much easier when there are no vaccinations involved.

We learned that the girls are right on track for development and have grown out of their prematurity. Woohoo girls!!!

Addison is in the 10-25th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for head circumference

Riley is in the 25th percentile for weight, 50th for weight, and 90th for head circumference.

I am so sad to learn the the girls will not go back for a well visit until they are 3 years old. They have graduated to the once a year recall. This is so strange after taking the girls in for visits so frequently over the last 2 years. I know we will check in at the office here and there with sick visits but hopefully not too often.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-27T20:57:00.004-07:00

The girls had a great Easter Sunday this year. They could understand a little more this year. We had a blast dying the eggs even though Addie was trying to chew on the boiled eggs during the process. Easter morning they knew something was up and got very excited when they saw the eggs. They quickly went on the hunt and eventually found their eggs. Papa and Nana came over and played later in the day and Nana helped to put on another egg hunt in the back yard. They received great gifts and we enjoyed a perfect family day. I look forward to next year when they can start to really understand the real meaning of Easter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_INvghgVC9E

After some of the fun....the girls were worn out and they used their new sleeping bag chairs:

Later in the day after taking a short nap, Addie had some alone time with mommy and enjoyed playing with her new toys by herself while Riley slept.

Birthday Pictures

2011-04-27T20:24:00.003-07:00

I wanted to put in another post about the girls birthday. They had so much fun and I think letting Peter Piper Decorate and clean up after us was the way to go this year. Last year was fun at the park but it was a lot of work and the weather was a bit warm. The girls loved being able to play games, run around, and hang out with family.

My dad was able to win the girls the little balls that you will see in the pictures below. The girls are in love with these balls and they almost love the balls more than any of the presents they got. Really the chairs were the biggest hit of all though!

This was the beautiful and amazing tasting cake we had made. The girls had fun with their very own smash cakes

We look forward to this next year where we will learn more about the girls' personalities as well as venture into the terrible two's....wish us luck!!!

Two of the best Years!!!!

2011-04-21T11:55:00.018-07:00

I cannot begin to describe how much our life has changed in the last two years. These two beautiful girls entered this world a bit early but they brought with them so many lessons. Two years ago, I sat in a hospital room dreaming of the day I could be released to go back home and finish the rest of my bed rest. The doctors wanted to keep me until I reached 34 weeks and then the girls were fine to come at any time and I could wait out the rest of the pregnancy.

Well that was not in God's plan. On the night of Saturday April 25th, my water broke right in my hospital bed. At first I thought no...it is not time, but then I was excited to know I would be meeting my girls very soon. At 12:33 pm Addison was born and my dream to be a mommy had finally came true. The doctors took her away to be checked and it was time to work on getting Riley out. Luckily she was still head down but she managed to get her feet up by her head like a pancake. My doctor tried hard to get her feet pushed back but it didn't work and after a few pushes she came out in true Riley fashion...doing it "her" way entering the world 8 minutes after her sister at 12:41pm.

The first year was a blur of learning how to be parents and how to juggle taking care not one, but two infants. We had many sleepless nights and crying sessions by all involved but after some time, we all caught on. Jesse and I learned how to be parents and the girls learned how to be babies and tell us what they needed.

We were so blessed to have my sister move in with us for 6 months. She took many night time feedings so I could get some sleep and got that special time to bond with the girls while I was at work. After 6 months my mom took over the nanny position and she is still helping us out today.

Here are there 1 year photos:

I just adore how Riley is looking to her older sister

These 1 year smiles were the best!
Now I sit back and wonder where all the time has gone. We have made it another year as a family. The girls have taught us so much! They are growing each day and learning new things. Each week they are in to something new or trying something else, I can hardly keep up. They make us smile, laugh, and even cry now and again. I would not have it any other way, as this is the only way we know.

The girls had a blast at their party despite the fact that Addie had a fever. The day before the party she had a 103 fever but no other symptoms. On the party day it went down to 102 but we still don't know what caused it. She is teething but that seems a bit high for a teething fever. Addie did smile and have fun but some of the photos show that she wasn't completely herself. Hey, it was her party and she was going to cry if she wants to, right?

Happy 2nd Birthday Girls!!! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we wish for another great year!!!

Ponytails

2011-04-19T18:17:00.001-07:00

FINALLY....the girls' hair is long enough for ponytails. This was just a quick run to see if their hair was long enough and if they would keep their hair up and it was a success!!! They were just having fun with their new hair styles while staying liberated in just the diaper look.

I hope to put their hair up like this more often and hopefully they won't be trying to pull the pony holders out like they have in the past.

Yay for a good hair day!!!!

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Fun in the Sprinkler

2011-04-17T16:03:00.001-07:00

Daddy took the girls outside to play in the Sprinkler and they had a blast!!!

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Sticker Fun

2011-04-16T17:32:00.001-07:00

A cute video of the girls playing with Stickers

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Easter Bunny

2011-04-16T13:01:00.008-07:00

This year Here are the photos from last year. The girls were okay when they first sat with the Easter Bunny but very quickly they realized how scary this bunny was and they started crying:

Riley left Addie Right

Addie left, Riley Right

This year I thought they would have a little more fun since they are into bunnies and Easter Eggs. No such luck.

They were actually very excited when they saw the bunny. Riley was really excited and Addie was unsure. Then Addie started crying which made Riley cry and those are the only shots we could get. I don't know if I am a mean mom for making them sit with the bunny or if it is really funny and we can use these photos as blackmail later. I'm not sure but the pictures do make me laugh a little bit. It is also nice to see how much they have changed in the last year. They finally have hair!!!

Poor girls...they did recover quickly and we enjoyed eating lunch with Papa and rolling around the mall. It was a great Saturday morning...too bad daddy had to miss it.

Fun at the mall

2011-04-16T10:28:00.003-07:00

Jesse had to work on Saturday morning. I decided to take the girls to the mall to wear them out and hopefully meet the Easter Bunny. Papa came to join the fun. The girls had a blast and mommy got to relax while they played. I hope we can make it up here more often to meet up with grandma Jean sometime soon .

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Savings Plan

2011-04-10T19:40:00.004-07:00

We have started a savings plan for the girls that they can be involved in. We have a bank account for each one that we put birthday money and such in their account along with some tax return money. I also wanted to do something with the girls that they could be involved in. Thanks to a post on a friends blog Kari's Quads I got the idea to get the girls involved in their own savings. Now each week I save all of my change and divide it up for the girls to put in their bank. I had the hardest time finding a plastic piggy bank. Everything we found was ceramic and I knew the girls would not be gentle with their banks and ceramic would not work well. Today I found these electronic banks that counts how much money you put into it. I think it is amazing how technology has changed how you save and I think the girls will love seeing their totals grow. I bought some stickers so the girls can decorate their own banks. I hope they have a good time personalizing their banks.

We also plan to give the girls an allowance that they can also put in the bank. Each pay day we will give them an allowance that is double their birth years. So starting on their 2nd birthday they will each get $4 every other week to put in their bank. As they get older they will do chores around the house to earn their allowance. If they want to save an portion of their allowance, we will match what they save. I want to teach the girls the value of money and the value of saving. Hopefully we can help to teach them good savings practices that will help them in their future.

First Big Girl Sentence

2011-04-07T18:13:00.003-07:00

The girls talk up a storm now. Sometimes we understand them and other times they are talking in their own language. They will often say two words together like "Mommy up". That is one of their famous sentences. Well today we were looking back at pictures on the blog from last year and Riley brought a book to me and said, "Mommy read it". I just melted, her first 3 word sentence. I love that we can communicate better and that they use their words more often. Addison kept asking for "More babies" after I decided to type this post up. She loves looking at their baby pictures and she was not happy that I stopped to make this post. Addie likes to say all of her family members names in a row but no rhyme or reason to her sentences. They are very polite girls also. Riley says "thanks" after we give her anything. They both say please when they want things and will give us the sign for "more" as they say "please". They somehow got more and please intertwined....probably because we always ask them "what do you say" when they ask for more. We are headed off for their 2 year pictures tomorrow and I just can't believe April is here again. So much has changed in the last 2 years and time is just marching on.

Helping a Sister out

2011-04-05T17:03:00.002-07:00

These girls can be mean to one another sometimes by stealing toys and hitting one another but in the next minute they can be so sweet. Today at the park Addie got scared on the draw-bridge. Riley saw Addie was scared and grabbed her hand to help her cross back. It was so sweet to see them care about each other and for Riley to help Addie. I know they will have their fighting moments but I also know they share a special sister twin bond that will last through the fights. I just love their love for each other.

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Addie and Riley-isms

2011-03-28T05:44:00.001-07:00

(Sorry this post won't allow me to have breaks in between paragraphs. I can add the breaks and then when I post, the whole thing goes together in one long paragraph) There are so many things the girls do that just make me laugh, smile, or even get angry. They are the neatest little people I know. Both girls are really concerned with owies. They notice scrapes and cuts from 10 miles away. Lately I have been really horrible at my leg shaving and I have several cuts to show for my lack of paying attention. The girls are very concerned about these cuts and need to point them out and say "Ouch" every time they see a cut one me. Riley now wants to kiss my booboo's when she sees a cut. I showed her that kissing the scrapes makes them feel better so she always has to give my cuts a kiss. It is so darn cute. Riley even has to kiss her own scrapes and owies. You can see her bending over to kiss her own knees or pulling her feet up to her mouth to kiss a cut. That girl is flexible just like her mama. I even caught Addie trying to do the splits yesterday so maybe both of them will want to get into gymnastics. Both girls are obsessed with taking their baths. They ask to go take a bath all hours of the day. If we tell them it is not bath time, they cry....literally cry because they can't go take a bath. I probably get asked for a bath at least 10 times between the hours of 5:30 and 6:30pm as they know it is getting close to that time. We take them up for their bath at 6:45 and they are usually in bed by about 7:15. During their bath they love to play with their bath toys, splash each other, and we usually read books while they are in the bath. It is easier to get their attention in the bath and they just love sitting in the water and listening to stories. Both girls are AMAZING at going to sleep. We hardly ever hear them after putting them to bed. If we do, it is just a little talking back and forth and then it is peace and quiet. I am so thankful for our girls who love to go to bed. I am hoping to maybe see if we can put them to bed a little later and see if that equates to a later wake up time but I seriously doubt that will happen at this point. Riley is my early riser and I don't know if she will "learn" how to sleep in. Addie does better and likes her morning sleep. Riley is our baby wipe thief. If you happen to leave the box of baby wipes on the floor after a diaper change, you will soon regret that decision. She will have half the box ripped out and she will be busy cleaning the house with her wet wipes. I am thankful that she loves to clean but it gets a little expensive if she uses half a box. Addison is our girl who loves to take out toys and make a mess while Riley is running after her cleaning things up. Just tonight Addison thought it would be fun to rip up a piece of tissue into a million pieces all over the living room floor. Once Riley saw this, she picked up every single piece and brought them to me. I love how these girls complement each other. I don't see them having the ability to share a room when they are older because Addie will love her mess and Riley will be going insane trying to clean it all. Who knows...maybe that will work out well for them. Addison loves to make sentences...and by this we mean she likes to say several words or names over and over again. I think she believes she is having conversation with you but it usually goes like this, Mommy: "Addie where is daddy?" Addie: Aount know (I don't know)...then she goes, Mama (grandma), Papa, Nana, Sara. She just strings along a bunch of words and we just love to listen to her. Both girls are learning their ABC's and 123's. We are trying to teach them but all they pick up on is "A" and "B" and 8, 9. Hopefully they will get more soon. The thing that aggravates us the most is Addison loves to throw rocks out in the backyard. This isn't so bad if she isn't hurting anyone else but she likes to throw the rocks into the grass where the landscape people have to deal with countless rocks as they are mowing the lawn. If you tell Addison to stop, she will just laugh at you and keep on with her rock throwing. I think some time outs or some discipline is in order here soon. Wish us luck with that. Riley makes us mad when we tell her it is time for a diaper change and that is cue for her to run as fast as she can to get as far away from us as possible and she laughs the whole time. Boy oh boy these girls are silly and we love the ups and downs. I hope to keep track of more of their funny things and remember to write them on the blog more often.

23 Months

2011-03-27T15:54:00.013-07:00

We are less than 1 month away from the girls turning 2!!! I really do feel like we just celebrated their 1st birthday. It is shocking how fast the time can pass. If I look back on pictures and videos, I can see how far they have come but when I just look at them, I see my little babies still. I'm sad that they are growing so fast but I am so proud of them for hitting their milestones and catching up to their chronological aged peers.

We are planning a Minnie Mouse themed Party for a tentative date of the 23rd. Look for your invitation in the mail!

It is a beautiful 75 degree day in Phoenix and the girls wanted to play with the hose in the backyard. I got them dressed in their new bathing suits and they had a blast.

Addie...do you like my bathing suit?

Riley giving us a big smile

Riley playing the grass

Riley

Addie giving us her big smile

Riley giving Addie a hug

Fun in the sun!!!

This hose is fun mom!

Happy 23 months girls...from now on we will be keeping track of their age by years rather than months. WOW!

Another Week

2011-03-22T16:53:00.001-07:00

Once again it has been a week since I blogged last. We had a busy week as most weeks are in our house. We celebrated grandma Jean's birthday with a big dinner out to Red Robin last Tuesday. We learned that the girls don't like to sit in their high chairs anymore and they were running all over the restaurant. We also learned that the girls do not eat much when they are not sitting in their high chairs. We did meet another family that had 18 month old twin boys while we were eating. Those boys were well behaved putting the girls to shame.

On Friday, Jesse and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We had dinner at Olive Garden that night while my parents watched the girls. Then we had my mom watch the girls on Sunday when we headed out of town to do a "Stay and Play" at a casino resort. We had some great food and lots of fun playing Blackjack and a night away from the girls. I enjoyed sleeping in and we even left winning $50.

Today it was back to work and I was excited to get home and play with the girls. The weather is nice after a storm yesterday so we went up to the park. The girls had fun in the sand and going down the slides. We are looking forward to a quiet week and lots of fun.

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Pretty in Pink

2011-03-13T17:08:00.008-07:00

Do you like the new header picture? I figured it was time to get a current picture of the girls since the old one was taken back when they were about 16 months old. Now they are just about a month away from turning 2!!! We are so excited for their 2nd birthday....I just need to get on the party planning hat and get going on what we will do for the 2nd bash.

We had a great weekend playing outside in the beautiful 85 degree Phoenix weather. The girls enjoyed time with lots of family members including, Papa, Nana, Aunt Sara, and many of my mom's side of the family.

I got the girls dressed for a baby shower in these cute pink dresses and they were very excited to model them around the house. And for the first time in long time, they sat on the couch and looked at the camera somewhat. I think I may try to get a header made to use on the blog for the next 6 months or so.

Sweet Addison

Smiley Riley

Our sweet girls playing together!!!

Addison and Riley's first trip to the Zoo!!!

2011-03-12T16:59:00.022-07:00

We took the girls to the Phoenix Zoo for the first time last weekend. It was a beautiful (almost) spring day and we really enjoyed the family time. We met Papa, Nana, and Aunt Sara at the zoo and we all traveled together looking at animals and, ridding on the carousel, and petting the goats.

All dressed up and ready to get into the Zoo

Riley took the fun way in by ridding on Grandpa's lap

After spending some time at the carousel, we made our way into the kids area and found the petting zoo. The girls had fun petting the goats and talking to the animals. I think they were a little overwhelmed at first but they quickly got right into the action.

Addie and Sara checking out a goat

Both girls

Addie giving us a goofy grin

Riley and Sara checking out a brown goat

Addie

Then we headed off to the play area and we found a statue of a cow so we put the girls up there for some photos....

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the play kids area where the girls played with the statue animals and went down the slides.

Sara having fun with her nieces!!!

The first trip was great and we hope to get to the zoo again before it gets too hot or again in the fall.

What to do when it is 89 degrees outside

2011-03-12T08:00:00.016-07:00

If you live in Phoenix you know that we already have some warm temperatures. Yesterday was my short day at work and I was home to play with the girls by 10am. In order to stay cool we planned to go out to lunch with Papa and Aunt Sara. We met up at Olive Garden and enjoyed a fun and yummy lunch together.

Grandpa, Aunt Sara, and the girls

Grandpa and Riley

Sara and Addie

Addie was trying to show us her scrunchy smile

She finally gave us a good one

Grandpa made Riley laugh

We had such a good time, eating, playing, and drawing at Olive Garden. The food was delicious and the company was even better.

After a good lunch, the girls wanted to go outside to play. Riley quickly found a puddle of water in our grass to play in....she started jumping up and plopping herself down in the water and grass.

Both girls had a blast and soon I had to get the hose out to clean them off and let them play more and stay cool.

Addie all soaking wet!!
Who needs a bathing suit...we just play in our clothes!!

Fun with the hose

Riley

We had such a fun day. The temps are not too bad right now but we know in a few months we won't be able to be outside as much. I think I will get the girls a kiddie pool so they can play outside more since we don't have a pool in our new house.

Our Jumping Beans!!!

2011-03-08T12:04:00.001-07:00

My little girls have figured out how fun jumping is. I think they learned how to jump from Mickey’s Play House. They love this TV show and yes, I do let them watch this show. They have learned their colors, some numbers, and shapes from this show and now they are jumping around the house just like the Mickey crew does at the end of the show. They sing “Hot Dog” and jump around at the end of the show. They are so cute as they jump around, scream and occasionally run into each other. I hope they don’t hurt each other too much but Jesse and I just get a kick out of their “performances”.

I will have to get a video here soon of their abilities so you can all see how cute they are.

Their favorite things to do consist of going to the park everyday when I get home from work….this will only last until the weather gets too hot in Phoenix. They also love watching Mickey Mouse and Caillou on PBS kids. They love to help wash and rinse the dishes and play with the bubbles. They have so much fun playing outside and trying to ride their tricycles. Their legs are not quite long enough yet but they try every day. They love sitting in our laps and getting individual attention and spending time with mommy and daddy. I will be sad when they are older and we are not as exciting to them as we are now. But for now, we just love playing with them and letting them learn so much!

22 Months....a few days late

2011-02-28T19:57:00.005-07:00

We are off and running and not slowing down!!!

Silly Addie (she looks like her mama did when she was younger in this pose)

Riley

Boy oh boy these girls are almost 2 years old. When I sit back and think, I feel like we just had their 1st birthday. However, these girls have changed so much in the last year. They light up when I come home from work. They scream "mommy" now instead of just mama. They are also saying "daddy" too. I just love how kids love you unconditionally and light up every time you walk in the room. Riley is my cuddle bug and Addie is my tough girl. Riley loves to sit in my lap for hours. Addie can run and fall and just pick herself right up without a cry. I think she will love playing sports when she gets older.

For some stats:
Addie is still working on a few teeth. She is missing her canine teeth and her 2 year molars.
Riley has all her teeth except her 2 year molars.

They both wear mostly 24 months or 2T clothes, although they still fit in many of their 18 month stuff too.

They are wearing size 4 diapers but we hope to start potty training soon. These girls are catching on fast and let us know when they pee and poop and boy, is it ever exciting.

They are picky eating toddlers but they will eat mac and cheese, cheese crisp, string cheese.....notice a theme here? They will eat fruit all day and most vegetables so we can't complain.

We love watching them change and we love living for each day.

(p.s if you read this before I proof read it, I am sorry. I am posting most of the pages from my phone and it likes to change my words around and make up words so I apologize)

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Another Fun Day at the Park

2011-02-24T18:42:00.001-07:00

I love the days when I get off work early and I can take the girls to the park. The girls are so big now and they run all over the park and down the slides by themselves. We had a great afternoon together.

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Our Silly Girls

2011-02-22T17:41:00.004-07:00

Addison trying on mommy's shoes (Sorry for the bad focus...this is the best I can get on my camera phone)

Look at how much fun we have

Addison rocking her head band and diaper look

Can you see how we crammed into a cart car for 1 while we shopped. We don't mind being squeezed together, we are used to that.

Having fun with Nana and Aunt Sara

Riley rocking her head band with Aunt Sara

These silly girls make us laugh every day. They are getting themselves into silly situations and making trouble as much as they can. With all that play, there is bound to be a bump or bruise now and again. Both girls have a few war wounds to show for all their silly play but they are pretty strong and get over their wounds quickly. We just love how their little personalities are coming out. They are saying the darnedest things and make the funniest faces. I just had to post a few of their silly shots over the last few weeks. I try my best to catch as many as possible but I sometimes forget to have my camera ready.

We are beginning party planning mode for the their 2nd birthday. I just keep delaying the planning because I really can't believe they will be 2 in about 2 months. We aren't sure what the theme will be but we are thinking of holding the party at the park by our house if everyone can make the drive out here.

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Play Date with an SK Sister

2011-02-21T19:39:00.002-07:00

Katrina and I

Katrina's son Braden and Addie

Riley off doing her own thing

All of us together

I had the pleasure of meeting up with an online friend. Katrina and I met at the beginning of 2008 on online on a message board for women trying to conceive. Little did we know, we would need all the help and support that the cycle buddies message board brought to us. We both suffered through infertility together and both of us are Infertility Survivors.

Katrina used to live in Scottsdale AZ and she was back for a week visit away from her home state, Ohio. I took this opportunity to invite her and her son Braden over to our house for a play date for us and our kids. Katrina and I had a good time talking and comparing our motherhood stories. We have a bond that few women understand and it is nice to spend time with someone who understands your story and your effort just to become a mom. It was fun to watch our kids play together. I hope that Katrina and I can stay good friends online and catch up now and again if she is visiting AZ.

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Feeling Better

2011-02-15T07:28:00.002-07:00

Pretty Miss Addie

Busy Miss Riley

It looks as though we are all just about back to normal. I thought I would skate by and not get sick.....and then Saturday night happened. After having a nice day out with Granny for her birthday, I started feeling sick on Saturday night. I ended up being up most the night with horrible stomach pains. I very little sleep and the girls thought it would be fun to start stirring at about 4:30am. I made them stay in bed until 5:30 since I couldn't drag myself out of bed. Luckily my mom came to the rescue shortly after and let me go back to sleep. The rest of the day was touch and go and by Monday morning I was back to my old self with a couple of pounds loss from my sickness. Hey, I will take those pounds however they chose to come off.

So now that we are all healthy, we are looking forward to enjoying some outings and going to the park in our beautiful AZ weather. For some reason Phoenix is a little confused on what season it should be with nice temps in the mid 80's. The girls enjoy the extra time outside but I want it to be cold a while longer because we know summer is just around the corner and we will be dying of heat exhaustion here soon.

So can anyone believe how fast these little girls are growing up. Take a look at those pictures above. How in the world did these girls get so big. They are turning into little ladies and they have lost all of their "baby" looks. They love to dress up, wear jewelery, and wear mommy's shoes around the house. They are talking up a storm and have mastered their colors. They are beginning to count and use their numbers and their favorite word has been "yes" lately. I will take "yes" over "no" any day. They are so cute when they say "yes" and nod their little heads at the same time. Each day they surprise us with something new and we have to be on our toes to keep up with them. If anyone is good friends with father time, tell him to slow things down a little bit so we can enjoy these younger years.

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Sick houseold

2011-02-10T18:17:00.001-07:00

It has been a rough week in the Prather house. It all started on Sunday night when Riley woke up and started throwing up. She also through up a few more times in the morning, then she seemed to get better so we thought it was just a 24 hour thing. Then on Tuesday it started back up and then Addison joined in. Riley also had several bouts of diarrhea. Once again things looked better by Tuesday evening. By Wednesday morning my mom got sick so I stayed home from work. Wednesdays are my class night so I left my sick mom in charge for 30 minutes until Jesse got home from work. During the 30 minutes my mom tried to feed the girls. Riley got sick at the dinner table and then so did my mom.

Then to make matters worse....Jesse got sick this morning and has had several trips to the restroom. Some how through all this, I have stayed healthy. The girls seem better tonight and I hope Jesse and my mom get better here soon.

I will leave you all with the cute photo of Riley playing in the cupboards.

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Fun with friends

2011-02-06T18:44:00.004-07:00

Addison trying to sit herself in Cougar's dump truck

Jaime

Cougar...he doesn't like to smile for pictures much. :)

We had a fun visit with some old friends on Saturday evening. The Sheltons became good friends of ours while Jamie worked at UOPX with Jesse and I a few years back. We all had fun working together and Jamie and I talked girl stuff and even worked on conceiving our first babies together. Jamie got pregnant with her son Cougar a few months before we conceived the twins. We shared pregnancy stories together and she even visited me in the hospital when I was on bed rest.

After we had our kids, Jamie stopped working at UOP and we resorted to catching up with each others families through our blogs and on Facebook. Jaime was able to lure us over to her house by offering to give her coupons up that she was using. She used to do coupon sense like I do but she is now pregnant with her 2nd baby and doesn't have the time and effort to cut coupons and shop at several stores to save money. I am happy to take her coupons off her hands but I can understand the time it takes to keep up with all the deals. Doing that while pregnant sounds tiring.

We had a nice visit and were able to catch up with each other's families. It was nice for the girls to play with another toddler their age. Cougar is only about 1.5 months older than the girls and it seemed as though all three kids were at about the same level with each other.

The girls had fun playing with all of Cougar's boy toys. Addison kept trying to get into Cougar's dump truck. She thought she could just sit herself in the back of Cougar's truck. See picture above.

We hope we can do this again sometime and I know I will be begging to come visit once they have their 2nd baby. I am so sad that my girls are getting older and it makes me want to have another baby but I will have to settle for visiting my friends that are having babies here soon to get my baby fix.

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Misc Catch Up

2011-02-03T19:26:00.002-07:00

I dressed up a blog a bit...do you like it? I hope to get a new header with some more current photos here soon. The girls were around 16 months in that picture. They have grown so much over the last 5 months. The only struggle is that it is almost impossible to get both girls in a picture where they are looking at the camera. Maybe we will get lucky with that again soon.

Life has been so busy since I came back from Disneyland. I feel like I haven't had a chance to post to the blog since I got back. I swear the girls grew some while we were gone for the 4 short days. They seem to be talking more and using two word sentences more which is adorable. Those sentences mostly consist of "up mama" as soon as I get home from work. They both love to say Addie's name but neither one of them says Riley's name. The laugh and giggle all the time and they make me laugh and smile too.

It is safe to say the girls are obsessed with Mickey and Minnie. They love to watch Mickey's Play House in the morning when they get up and have several Mickey and Minnie animals that they sleep and play with. They have books and puzzles with Mickey and Minnie and that is all they like to talk about.

I've been concentrating on school, working hard in my program to learn as much as I can about teaching adults and instructional design so I can bring some extra money into our house with a few side jobs. I enjoy the material but I hate that I am gone on Wednesday nights and I can't put the girls to bed. On Thursdays, I am exhausted but once I come home and see those sweet faces, I get a burst of energy and we run off to play.

I have had some friends experience some great moments this week in regards to parenthood. One of my friends delivered her first baby girl after years of suffering from infertility. Another friend finally got the two pink lines she has been waiting years to see. I feel so much joy for my friends this week.

I am hoping for a nice weekend at home where I can spend as much time with the girls as possible. Although I am praying they sleep in a little bit so mommy can catch up on sleep too. We will watch the Super Bowl on Sunday and we hope everyone has a fun safe weekend.

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Missing my girls

2011-01-29T15:32:00.003-07:00

I'm away on an adult trip to Disneyland with my parents. I have already taken the girls 2 times in the last 6 months so it was time for mom to go back without the girls to enjoy a little time away.

I'm having a good time staying up late and sleeping in which is something I rarely get to do. I do find myself missing the girls especially when we go on rides that they like or when we see their favorite characters around the park. Above you can see the pictures I took of Mickey and Minnie to send home to the girls.

This is the longest I have been away from my sweet girls and I am a tad homesick. We come home tomorrow evening after we stop and have lunch with my grandma Barb in Carlsbad. I can't wait to see my girls tomorrow night.

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Turning 21.....months that is

2011-01-27T08:46:00.002-07:00

The girls are now 21 months old. Can you believe it is just 3 short months away from their 2nd Birthday???? I can't understand where the time has gone. We have 2 happy toddlers running around and keeping us busy. They are so curious about their surroundings and they learn new things everyday. They are very into playtime and love going to the park with mama. They don't even need me to go up the stairs and down the slides with them. Sniff Sniff.

Their vocabulary is growing more and more everyday. They love to say all the names of their family members. Addison has to go through the list of family members every day to ask where each member is. She loves to say her Aunt Sara's name which sounds something like "yara" but it is so darn cute. Riley loves to say her sister's name and always asks where Addie is when ever Addie is not in the room. They are attached to each other and follow each other around.

It is great that they can entertain each other for short periods of time and we don't have direct their playtime as much. I can see them getting into trouble with each other very soon. They are understanding right from wrong and when they should not do things but I see Riley leading some of the naughty things and Addison going right along with it. Lord help us when they get older. LOL

Each day the girls amaze me with something new they are doing, saying, or understanding. I just love the changes and the little girls they are growing up to be. I want time to slow down a little bit because it is moving a tad too fast for me, but I can be happy with their progress knowing they are doing so well.

Happy 21 months girls!!! It will be a long time until your real 21st birthday so enjoy the fun you get this month.

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Fun with the girls' tree house tent

2011-01-23T11:10:00.007-07:00

Big Addie Smile!!!

My mom bought the girls a tree house tent last weekend and they just love playing in it. The dog even follows them into the tent and they play together. We caught some really cute photos of them playing.

More pics of Bubba

2011-01-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

The girls just love their new dog and he is a part of our family now. There is some things to get used to again with taking care of a dog but so far things have been good. Bubba has adjusted to his new house, new cat friends, and his new family. He seems happy and he makes us happy.

Our Newest Family Member

2011-01-23T10:39:00.008-07:00

We knew we wanted to get another dog after we lost Matti at the end of my pregnancy. We missed having a dog around the house but we wanted to get used to parenthood and taking care of twins before we got another dog. The last few months, the girls were really interested in dogs and they called every dog they saw "Bubba". Jesse found a dog online from rescue name Bubba and showed the girls and since then, every dog's name was Bubba.

We thought we would get a Boxer because Jesse had one when he was younger and was interested in that breed. We met a dog from the rescue and soon found out that those dogs were too hyper for our girls. While we were in PetSmart visiting the Boxer rescue, another rescue was there with a dog with the best temperament. The dog let the girls pet him and he would roll over on his belly when they were petting him. It was adorable to see the girls with the dog so we put in an application for him.

Later in the week we got the call that we could adopt the dog! We were thrilled and they brought him to our house last week. I had wanted to post about it right away but we lost our camera cord for a little while. I found it this morning so I had to get on here and show you all our "Bbuba"

Car Seat Safety

2011-01-15T11:05:00.002-07:00

I am borrowing this post from a friend (Thanks Kari). I am very passionate about car seat safety as my best friend Brea is a car seat technician and she has educated me to something I probably would have never looked into. My girls deserve the best and that is why I chose to rear face my children as long as possible.

"Everyone asks why the babies are still rear facing and when we are going to turn them. The answer is because it is safer and when they no longer fit in the seats that we have. Here is an interesting article that I have found which will explain the benefits of extended rear facing. We waited far too long for these babies to get here to endanger their lives unnecessarily.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible for the best protection. This means that children should rear-face to the maximum limits of a convertible carseat...which is 30-35 lbs. (depending on the seat) OR when his/her head is 1-inch from the top of the carseat shell. The rule that most parents know is that children must rear-face to at least 1 year AND 20 lbs. (the child must be BOTH 1 year and 20 lbs., not either or). What is not well known is that 1 year AND 20 lbs. is the bare minimum and it is strongly recommended that they be kept rear-facing for much longer.

When a child is forward-facing, there is a lot of stress put on his/her neck in a crash. The weight of a child's head in a crash causes the spinal column to stretch...the spinal cord, however, is NOT meant to stretch! The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches but the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps, which means paralysis or even death. This is referred to as "internal decapitation"...the child's head would be slumped forward and it would look as though he/she was sleeping. It doesn't matter if the child has great head control...that means nothing. Data is showing that a forward-facing child is 4 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rear-facing child of the same age.

Rear-facing seats do such a great job of protecting children because the back of the carseat absorbs the crash forces. The child's head, neck, and spine are kept in alignment, allowing the carseat to absorb the forces. The child's head is also kept contained in the carseat, decreasing the risk of coming into contact with projectiles.

Something I hear often is "His legs are scrunched up, he must be uncomfortable" or "Won't his legs be injured that way?". There has NEVER been a single reported case of hip/leg/foot injury from extended rear-facing. Even if there were...a broken leg is much better than a broken neck.

Children are much more flexible than adults, so what may be uncomfortable for us, is not for a child. If you watch a child playing, you will notice that they choose to fold their legs up...they don't sit with them straight out or hanging over the edge of the couch. My boys fold their legs up in the stroller and squat or sit with their legs underneath them when playing quite often. They have never once complained about being uncomfortable in their carseats...never...the just fold their legs, hang them over the sides, or prop them up on the seatback. That is comfortable to a child.

Just the other day, when we got into the car, my 3 year old got in his brother's seat (rear-facing) and refused to get out. I asked him several times if he was sure he wanted to ride that way and he said yes. After being forward-facing for almost 3 months, he chose to sit rear-facing again and didn't complain once. He's hovering around the rear-facing weight limit though, so I did turn his seat back around forward-facing today.

As far as being harnessed as long as possible, think race car drivers. They wear 5 pt. harnesses, not just seatbelts. A 5 pt harness is much safer in side-impacts and rollovers, which tend to be very serious/deadly crashes. Most children outgrow their carseats (most go to 40 lbs.) before they are truly ready for a booster. The bare minimum for a booster is 4 years and 40 lbs...a child should be in a 5 pt. harness until then and even longer if possible.

Even at 4 years and 40 lbs, a child should only be moved to a booster if he or she can sit in it properly for the entire trip, every trip. It is extremely important for the belt to fit properly and stay in place (lap belt as low as possible, touching thighs, and shoulder belt between neck and shoulder).

The 5-Step Test.

1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

If the answer is no to ANY of those questions, the child needs a booster seat. A 4-8 year old child in a booster seat is 59% less likely to be injured in a crash than a child of the same age wearing a seatbelt alone. On a side note, a booster must always be used with a lap/shoulder belt and it is also important than any person riding in just a seatbelt wear a lap/shoulder belt, not a lap belt only.

You can't control how others drive...accidents happen, it's just a fact of life. So why not keep our children as safe as we possibly can...that is one thing we CAN control. If I am in an accident, I know that I've done everything I can to make my babies as safe as they can be in the car. I know that any injury they have will not be because I did not protect them and I can live with that!"

On the mend!!

2011-01-15T10:36:00.002-07:00

The girls seem to be getting a little better each day. Their fevers are gone and their appetite is improving. They are back to sleeping through the night. It looks as though the worst is behind them and that makes for a happier mama.

This morning the girls were sitting together in the laundry basket and I figured it would be a perfect photo opportunity. Boy was I wrong. The girls think it us funny to run or stop what they are doing if I pull out the camera. So the above shot is what I was left with. at least Addie was giving us a little smile.

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Post From Daddy

2011-01-14T20:57:00.002-07:00

When Amy starting blogging, I laughed it off as a silly time waster. However, now that I have the opportunity to look back at our struggles to get pregnant and see my amazing daughters grow up in front of my eyes, I realize I am the foolish one. I have never posted a blog, but I want the girls to be able to look back when they are older and know what their daddy thinks of them.
To Addison,
My darling little Addie. You love your daddy and make my heart soar everytime I walk in the door. From the hilariously goofy faces to the deep belly laughs, you are always making me smile. I love your cautious personality and how it takes time for you to warm up to new people and places. I think most of all I love how you give those big open mouth kisses. You are so much like me already, with your laid back personality and the way you can entertain yourself for hours.
To my spunky little Riley,
I dont know where to start with you. You are a wild daredevil without a care in the world. Your fiesty personality reminds me of someone....oh that's right your mommy. You want what you want when you want it and there is no stopping you. I love your dancing and the way you nod your head when you say "yes". You give the best hugs and look so adorable when you run around sucking your thumb.
And finally, to Mommy,
You impress me everyday with how wonderful of a mother you are. You give so much to give the girls the best life possible. I don't say it enough, but you are not short of amazing, and I am truly thankful that our daughters have such a fantastic mother. I look forward to watching our girls grow up together. I love all of my girls always and forever.

Sick little girls

2011-01-13T19:51:00.002-07:00

Our little girls are very sick. Addie was sick with croup a couple of weeks ago. She then started to get better only to take a dive for the worse. Some how along the way she got RSV. We are warned as parents of preemies that RSV is very dangerous. To adults RSV is just a bad cold but for babies and especially preemies it can get life threatening. We got very scared yesterday night when Addison was not breathing properly and she had a temp of 103 degrees. She would cough like crazy if she laid down and you could see her struggling to breathe so I took her right into urgent care. At this point we didn't know she had RSV and it took 3 hours, a breathing treatment, an RSV swab, and a chest x-ray later, we learned she did have RSV. Unfortunately the breathing treatment didn't really help. All it did was put her to sleep. The doctor said we just needed to wait out the cycle of the virus but watch her carefully.

The next morning Riley started getting a fever and a cough similar to Addison's. We then packed up the girls and went to their regular pediatrician. Riley was tested for RSV and she also has it. Luckily, Riley is not as bad off as Addison. Addie has lost 1.5 pounds since she does not want to eat much. Riley has only lost .5 pounds. Riley's chest is a little clearer and both girls temps went down.

I hope that the time will pass quickly and they will begin feeling better soon.

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More Addison and Riley Talk

2011-01-10T19:31:00.002-07:00

Boy oh boy are these girls talking up a storm. They went from saying their key 10-12 words to repeating almost everything we say in a matter of a week. It is the cutest thing to hear them try each word. Some they get right to the syllable and others they are way off but they are trying.

Riley loves to say her sisters name. She walks around saying "Addie, Addie". We try to get both girls to say Riley but they both won't even try. Addie is now saying "mommy" instead of just "mama". That just melts my heart.

They are always asking where mommy and daddy are while we are at work. Once we get home they start asking where Nana and Papa are. They are questioning things and I can just see their little minds at work. They are putting two words together often and we can really communicate with them now.

On a sad note, Addie is sick again. She has her congestion back and a fever this time. I hope this is short-lived and she feels better soon. She is on a Tylenol rotation with extra love and cuddles.

************************************************************************************

On a note for me, I am getting myself and the house back on a healthy lifestyle. The first of the year I went on a diet and exercise plan. I feel bad because I gained back all but 5 pounds of the weight I lost last spring. I knew it was time for a lifestyle change not just a quick fix. I love all of the advice, products, books, and exercise routines that the Biggest Loser uses. I am following some of the meal plan from the 30 Day Jump Start Program and I doing the workouts from Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred. I just love the way I feel and I want the girls to be active and eating better quality food. So far into the program I am down almost 5 pounds and I know I am gaining muscle at the same time.

This is the Prather report for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the new year and 2011 is a year to remember.

Dominate Twin

2011-01-03T19:30:00.002-07:00

For those of you that have twins or multiples, do you have on baby/kid that is the dominate one? My little Riley is our dominate one. Maybe it is the "baby B" syndrome. She was the smaller one, 2nd born, something to prove maybe. She is the little mommy and is super bossy. I look at her and wonder how she could take after her mommy so much. She has a lot of traits that I do and she just loves to tag along and cuddle with me.

Addison is the perfect sister for Riley because she is more laid back and will let Riley do what Riley does best. Addison takes after her daddy and she can just roll with the punches. She doesn't get mad that often but if she does, she lets you know. Sometimes she will even laugh when Riley takes her toys or pushes her down. We try to intervene when necessary to keep the peace but sometimes Riley just runs the show. I have to take special time alone with Addison to focus on her and give her positive attention since her sister gets so much negative attention.

It is so funny to see their differences and to see why they were chosen to be sisters. I hope that they will learn to get along with each other and love each other dearly.

2010 - What another great year!

2011-01-01T08:08:00.012-07:00

First of all, I am surprised that it is 2011 already. This last year went by far too quickly and our chubby little babies turned into lean happy toddlers. We love seeing both of their little personalities grow and most of all we love all the smiles, hugs, and kisses they give us everyday! In this last year, the girls have grown out of their prematurity and have caught up in development to their peers. We are so proud of our girls and we encourage them to grow and learn more every day.

I want to say congrats to my online friends who got pregnant or had babies in 2010 after years of infertility. We are looking forward to some 2011 babies as well! Congrats girls! Motherhood is one of the best gifts from God and I try to celebrate and remember that every day....even when the girls wake me up at 4am on my days off of work. :)

January

In January Riley got her first tooth and Addison decided to work on her teeth on her own time. These girls are so similar sometimes but so very different other times.

As the girls got bigger and more mobile, we took them to the mall to visit with their 2nd cousins, great-aunts, and great grandma Jean. This was a tradition to do almost every Friday afternoon since I worked half days on Friday. The girls loved interacting with all the other kids and the family. We will have to start going back to mall here soon, especially now that the girls love to go and play.

Addison started showing signs of crawling as she began getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She was taking the lead as the older sister.

February

In February the girls personalities really started to show. They were laughing, saying "Dada", and learning to play patty cake all the time. They also began to sit up by themselves and preferred to play sitting up.

The girls graduated out of their baby baths in the sink into the big tub where they could take a bath together using bath rings. They loved taking baths together and the extra time they could play. Mommy and daddy also liked it because it made bath time so much easier.

The girls also celebrated their 1st Valentine's Day by getting balloons, cards, and toys from the family. They had so much fun eating their cards and playing with the toys.

March

In March the girls made us laugh so much. They had this "scrunchy face" they made and we took several videos and pictures. Riley was famous for doing that face and we died laughing every time she did it. Even now Riley makes us laugh with her many different faces.

In the middle of the month we traveled by plane out to Forth Worth TX to meet with my friend Trinity and her family. Trinity and I met on an online message board for women trying to conceive. We went through all the trials of infertility together and ended up getting pregnant within a month of each other. Of course the girls came early and I had them 5 days before she had her sweet daughter Penny. After all the time of talking on the phone and internet we finally met. We had a blast in TX and we also got to meet up with one of our other online friends Jenny. The girls did great on the plane rides both ways and the trip was a big success.

On March 18th Jesse and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary! And finally the girls started saying mama!

April

In April the girls celebrated their 1st Easter. They had pictures with the Easter Bunny and they screamed all the way through. They enjoyed getting their Easter baskets and playing with all the eggs.

We took the girls to celebrate in the March of Dimes walk for premature babies. This cause is near and dear to our hearts and we plan to participate every year to help raise money for more research and help for premature babies.

On the 26th the girls celebrated their 1st Birthday Party. The 1st birthday bash was a big success. So many family and friends came to celebrate with us and the girls made out like bandits with all the gifts! Just one day shy of a year Addison popped her 1st tooth. She really does things on her own time. We love how similar and different our girls are.

At one year, the girls were weighing in at 18 pounds each!

May

In May we went on our 1st big family vacation to San Diego. Growing up, our family traveled to the Southern California area to vacation with the Haasis family. It was time to take the girls and start some of our own family traditions vacationing in San Diego. The girls were great travelers and they enjoyed staying in the condo and visiting the ocean.

At this time mommy was still pumping milk for the girls too!

June

In June we were waiting for the girls to learn to walk. They were cruising furniture like pros but they were slow to start walking on their own. We got them involved in physical therapy to help them learn the skills to begin walking.

We spent time out in the pool to cool off from the Phoenix heat. Riley loved the pool but Addison was not too fond of the cool water. I think she preferred bath water temperature.

The girls practiced hard and started standing unassisted by the end of June. Walking was just around the corner.

July

In July we celebrated the 4th of July by having a yummy BBQ with family. The girls were still going to bed to early to see the fireworks but we had fun just the same.

On July 5th Riley took her first steps and we were so proud. We thought Addison might be the first to walk since she was the first to crawl but Riley found a way to show off and do it first.

On July 23rd Addison took her first steps! In July we finally had two walkers. What a great month!

At 15 months the girls were weighing in at about 20lbs and mommy decided it was time to stop pumping.

August

In August we had a quiet month at home. We spent time visiting with family, working on walking skills, and staying cool. We prepared for the girls 1st visit to Disneyland.

September

In September we took the girls to Disneyland. Daddy was busy at work so the girls and I traveled to Disneyland with my parents and Sara. We all had a blast and the girls had so much fun playing in Goofy's Garden and seeing all the Characters!!!

Mommy celebrated her 29th Birthday...just one more year of her 20's left!

In September we decided we needed more room and so we put our house on the market

October

In October we got the house ready to sell the best we could while living with messy twin girls. We packed hoped that the house would sell quickly.

The girls had fun actually going Trick Or' Treating on Halloween. They went to a few houses and showed off their cute costumes. They also went to the NICU Halloween reunion party where we visited with other parents of preemie babies. It is amazing to know how far the girls have come in 18 months.

November

In November our house sold and we moved into our big 4 bedroom 3bath 2600 square foot home in Laveen. The girls love their new house and mommy and daddy love all the extra space. We like our new area as it is a little further out and things are less busy out here. We even have dairy farms just right down the road.

Jesse got a new job at Grand Canyon University after losing his job as a teacher. He seems to be happier and has new career goals in mind.

We celebrated Thanksgiving in our new house by hosting the family dinner. Nana Linda cooked most of the meal since we were just in the house a few days. Aunt Sara made some yummy food as well. We enjoyed entertaining in the new house and spending time with family.

At just over 18 months, the girls were weighing in at just over 23 pounds.

December

As the last month in 2010 we enjoyed it to the fullest. We took a 2nd trip back to Disneyland and the girls were able to walk around and enjoy things a little more at a couple of months older. They traveled well and had fun in the park. We learned that Riley hates most rides and Addison is our dare devil and loves to ride on anything.

We celebrated a wonderful Christmas and made new traditions. The girls loved seeing all the Christmas lights and all the Santa's out everywhere we went.

At this point their vocabulary is growing every day. They repeat things we say and are putting two work sentences together often. They are still about 23 pounds each because they are busy toddlers and eating is not always at the top of their list. We love how far they have come and we are looking forward to another great year.

Happy New Year!!!

Shopping with mommy

2010-12-29T09:43:00.001-07:00

Riley insisted upon holding this football when we went shopping. She was just so cute about it.

It looks like daddy raised her right!!!

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Enjoying time with mommy

2010-12-27T13:24:00.003-07:00

I am off work this week for an extended Christmas break. The girls and I are having fun playing with their new Christmas toys.

We did some errands and ended up at Burger King to eat lunch and play at the kids play place. It is nice to have that one on one time with the girls. Life is good!

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Our Christmas fun 2010

2010-12-26T15:28:00.044-07:00

This Christmas was a lot of fun. The babies understood what was going on so much more this year. The girls were excited to see all the presents under the tree but I don't think they completely got what was going on but as soon as we started helping them unwrap their presents, they were so excited to see what was under the shinny paper. Santa brought them some magnetic doodle boards since they are very into drawing and mommy and daddy were not ready for them to have markers yet.

Riley unwrapping her doodle board

Addison opening hers
Oh what fun

Look mom, this is exciting!!!
Addison opening a package of clothes

Addison spotted a gift for daddy
Jesse bought them a toy dinosaurs that growls and moves to music and it was a big hit.
Mommy got the Eclipse DVD from daddy.
Mommy also got some Bath and Body Works scents
The girls got a nursery set for their babies
Lesson learned...we should have put the thing together the night before
The next big hit was the shopping carts grandma got them.
Addison thought it would be fun to get on the box for some reason
They even got a bunch of food to carry around in their carts
The girls were less interested in the clothes
But they did model them quickly for us

Daddy got a big present from Santa
And that ended up being a new laptop!!!!! And mommy got one too....that Santa is so nice!

After all the presents were opened...the girls took off to use their shopping carts.

After our celebrations were over, we headed over to Grandpa and Nana's house to open more presents with Aunt Sara and her boyfriend Alan and Uncle Steven and Aunt Liz.
The girls got tricycles and a bunch of Disney items. They were so excited! They were spoiled rotten by everyone!
After all the fun at Grandpa and Nana's house, we headed over to Aunt Shannon and

Uncle Dan's house to celebrate with the Westrum side of the family. We enjoyed some good food, good family, and lots of fun.

Riley tried to feed Aunt Sara a snack!

Then the girls got strollers to carry their baby's around that they got from Grandpa and Nana. These babies were twins which was perfect for "our" twins!

Later in the night we found a bunch of Christmas hats and headbands that we the girls and I tried on and modeled for everyone.

Addison was not as thrilled as mommy was to play the game.

She even got upset at the idea....poor girl.

Riley had a bit more fun with me

Addison found a Santa hat and she was much more into the game.

Mommy had fun!

Mommy is so goofy!

At the end of the night, Addison gave us a silly smile. We had such a great day and it was finally time to go home and get some rest.

We hope everyone had a great family day and we look forward to watching the girls grow in this next year. Today they are 20 months old and we can't belive they are almost 2.

Twas the night before Christmas.....

2010-12-24T20:52:00.010-07:00

What a busy day we had in the Prather house. The day was spent cleaning the house, finishing up some small shopping, and preparing the food for our Christmas Eve party. My mom's side of the family celebrates on Christmas Eve and this year we hosted in our new home. This house is perfect for big family gatherings.

The girls were really shy at first as people started to arrive but as they warmed up, they took over as cute little hostesses. They had fun playing with their 2nd cousins, eating countless M & M's, and opening up their new gifts.

Overall the evening was a success and the girls were very warn out by them time it was close to bed time. We thought we would let them stay up as late as they wanted but with all the party activity, they began to fade and we put them to bed at around 8pm. Mommy and daddy are praying they sleep in a little bit tomorrow morning since we have another busy day ahead of us.

Santa visited late and here is what our tree looked like packed with presents for 2 good little girls.

Big Talkers

2010-12-23T19:34:00.003-07:00

I feel like I keep neglecting t he blog. This is the place for all my thoughts and to put memories down in words and pictures. The days just fly by and I find myself with little time to write about all the things that matter. I used to be able to post a lot at work but now things are slow and our Internet usage is really being monitored. And at home I have even less quiet time to get all my thoughts and all the cute pictures uploaded.

Now with that said, I'm want to talk about how much the girls are talking these days. Their vocabulary seems to grow almost daily. One of their favorite words right now is "Santa". Well it really sounds like "nanta" or "nana" but it is so darn cute. I'm so happy to hear them get into the Christmas spirit and they find Santa on TV, in the stores, in books, and in people's Christmas decorations. It is like a Where's Waldo game except it is a "Where's Santa". Those girls pick out Santa faster than I can. It is just the cutest thing.

They enjoy learning about colors and animals the most right now and they love to show us all the animals in their books.

A quick list of words they are saying, ball, bottle, buba, mama, Dada, mama, Nana, papa, apple, baby, all done, Elmo, and many many more I can't think of right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are in full Christmas mode around here. I might pick up a few more stocking stuffers but everything else is done. We are hosting my mom's side of the family for Christmas Eve and Christmas day will be the beginning of some new Christmas traditions in our new house and with the rest of the family.

Merry Christmas All!!

Christmas Pictures

2010-12-19T20:05:00.003-07:00

It is that time again for Christmas celebrations and I just can't believe a year has gone by. To add to that, the girls will be 2 in just 4 short months. How did that happen??? I'm trying my best to slow down the clock but each day just passes so quickly and I find myself looking back to all the girls baby pictures. These sweet girls have turned into fun little toddlers that are talking up a storm and keeping us so busy. I wanted to share our attempt at getting pictures with Santa. Last year we got a decent shot with Santa but they were only 6 months old.

Here is a picture of them sitting with me on Christmas day last year:

These girls have grown so much. Here they are with Santa at Disneyland's California Adventure. They were none too thrilled to sit with Santa and I didn't even get a shot with Addison by herself with Santa. She was having non of that Santa business. I hope you at least laugh at these photos.....

Riley looking so very upset!

We are in full swing of finishing up all of our Christmas duties. Most of the presents are wrapped and I am getting the last minute donations for the Onesie Drive. Thanks to everyone who participated. The families will be so thankful!

2nd Disneyland Trip 2010

2010-12-14T20:03:00.052-07:00

Here is part of our Disneyland trip documented on my camera. The girls really enjoyed this trip more because they were older and able to understand a little more. Riley's favorite Character is Poo Bear and Addison loves both Mickey and Minnie. They were great car riders over this time around with just a little fussing around their normal bed time as we were still driving. We made it to the hotel and gave the girls a bath and they finally settled down a few hours later. I was so exhausted that Nana and grandpa entertained the girls while I dozed on the bed for a while.

After a good night sleep, we were all ready to get into the park. Here is the first shot I go of the girls waiting to go into the park:

Our first stop was to go over to Goofy's garden just as we did the trip a few months back. The girls had a blast but I could tell that they were almost getting a little old for the toddler park.

Here is Addison checking it out:

Riley found the piano inside:

Both girls got to sit on Goofy's chair, this is the best shot I got...they don't sit still for long.

Addison

Riley

Both girls playing with Goofy's Armour

Riley found the slide and she had to go down it over and over again...Weeeee...
She was smiling with every step
Addison thought it would be fun to go up the slide the wrong way:

Addison made her way up the the pumpkin for a little photo shot:
We then made our way over to the trolley we visited last time for a few shots:
The girls were lucky and got some stickers to play with from some of the nice Disney workers
Addison thought it would be better to push her stroller instead of us pushing her in the stroller
Riley was having more fun with her stickers
Then the girls made their way over to Mickey's Car for some fun
Addison was teaching Riley how to drive...
Silly Riley
Addie and Nana
Addie
Now since Riley is in LOVE with Poo, we took her on the Poo ride and then had a chance to take pictures with Pooh's honey area

After some lunch we took the girls on the Mark Twain boat ride. This was a great place for the girls to relax and settle down so we could take them back to the hotel for a nap.
Riley and mommy
After the nap we made it over to the carousel where Addison had a blast and Riley hated every second of it.
Addie and Nana
Can you tell by that face that Riley was not too pleased with us for sticking her on the horse?
A nice end to a great day!
On the second day we had breakfast at the Carnation Cafe'...this is a family tradition to have one meal there and their breakfast is delightful. Riley entertained Grandpa and did some coloring while we waited for our food.
Addison enjoyed tasting some crayons...
Grandpa was so nice and let offered the girls carnations off of the table

Grandpa and Riley
We had some more fun around the park and the girls got tired and a little cranky at times:
But quickly we found more fun things to do.

The last night we ate dinner at the Mexican resturant and the girls wore their sweatshirts and their Mickey hats

Riley:
Addie:
Riley enjoying some juice
Addie laughing:

I have many more pictures to post that Grandpa took.....stay tuned.

Are you ready for Christmas???

2010-12-14T09:01:00.002-07:00

This is how festive I am at work today. It was dress like your favorite Christmas character today. Since I don’t have any character appareal I decided to dress like Mrs. Clause today….what do you think?

I can’t believe it is 11 days until Christmas. I have most of our Christmas shopping done, I just need to get the wrapping done and pick up a few more gift cards. We are hosting the Christmas Eve party for my mom’s side of the family. We are finishing our decorating and getting the rest of our unpacking done from the move.

We just got back from a 3 day trip to Disneyland and I will be posting pictures and details of all of our fun. We have a blast as a family going to Disneyland but it is a lot of work to bring the girls. The girls got to go on more rides than our last trip. They enjoyed the trains and Dumbo and Riley actually got scared on the carousel which was strange but overall it was a good time. Stay tuned to all the fun.

I hope you all have enough time to get everything done before Christmas and enjoy the season!

Sick baby and the Holidays

2010-12-05T17:14:00.004-07:00

Riley has been sick, throwing up, diarrhea , and she has been lethargic for the last 3 days. We thought it was just a 24 hour thing because she started feeling better during the day on Saturday, just to go back to throwing up Saturday night. She is actually vomiting golf ball size chunks of curdled milk. I'm not sure what is going on there. And when this baby is sick, she ONLY wants her mama. She won't sleep in her own bed except for short stretches. She just wants to be glued to my chest. This is very difficult since I have so much to get done over the next few weeks but I do enjoy having my busy toddler take naps on my chest whens he normally is too busy for cuddles. That is how we know Riley is sick, she never sits still otherwise. It is one hug or kiss and she is off to the next thing.

We had plans to go back over to Disneyland this next weekend, but now I am not so sure. I will probably take her into the doctor tomorrow to see what they think. I don't want anymore nights of screaming and very little sleep while visiting Disney so we will have to wait and see how things go in the next couple of days.

I was lucky to get a good chunk of the Christmas shopping done on Saturday but I still need to wrap a few things and get them out in the mail to my out of town family and friends. I am also sad that we had to reschedule our family pictures we had scheduled today because Riley was so sick. We will get them done next weekend if we don't go to Disneyland and if we do end up going, Christmas pictures will end up as a last minute thing, which I really hate.

Too much time, and not enough time to get it all done. That has been my theme lately. Thus, the reason why I have not had many blog posts. I'm back in school, working on my 2nd masters program. I got an A in my first class but my 2nd class is so much more work and it all runs through the holidays. I only have a 1 week break for Christmas which is not enough time for all the parties, shopping, and projects I have going. Why oh why do I do this to myself???

I hope your holiday season is going better than ours and I am in aw that I have already received Christmas cards from people who are really on the ball. You people rock!

Addison and Riley's Post!

2010-11-28T14:27:00.017-07:00

Mommy and Daddy have been very busy lately because we have been moving into a new house! We needed more room to play and to put all the toys Mommy and Daddy are buying us!

While Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma were moving everything, we got to spend two days with Nana and Grandpa. This was their first time babysitting us all by themselves, so we were good little girls!

"I like to wave at Grandpa!" - Addison
"We always have lots of toys to play with!" - Riley

"We're comfortable at Nana and Grandpa's house." - Addison
"We ate lunch!" - Riley

We played with all the toys Nana and Grandpa have at their house for us. We ate lunch and took naps. We also went to go visit Great Grandma Jean where she volunteers at the thrift store so she could show us off to all her friends.

We didn't stay overnight but Nana and Grandpa said we could do that real soon and Mommy and Daddy seemed VERY excited about that idea!

Quick Update with more to come

2010-11-27T20:22:00.003-07:00

I know it is been over 2 weeks since I last blogged. Things have been very hectic leading up to the holidays and our move. We moved into our beautiful 2600 square foot house last weekend and we all love it. Our old house sold and we sign over the house this coming Friday.

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving entertaining at our new house. I will post pictures very soon.

Lastly, the girls are now 19 months old. I feel like I will be blogging about them turning 19 years old before I know it. Happy 19 months girls.

I will post a few more updates with pictures very soon. I apologize for being MIA and I hope to be more active posting here again soon.

Preemie Onesie Drive - Need your Help

2010-11-11T14:42:00.008-07:00

As a mother of preemies, I know how difficult the NICU journey can be. Many parents don't anticipate that their child or children will need to spend time in the hospital before being able to come home with mom and dad. These parents usually don't have clothes prepared for such small babies. Most of these parents are spending as much time up at the hospital and don't have the time to go out shopping so their baby can have some clothes to wear. Having a child in the NICU can also be a financial strain on the parents. For me, being able to put clothes on my girls made taking care of my girls a more normal experience rather than focusing on trials of having your baby hospitalized.

I would like to celebrate the lives of the babies that are going to be spending December in the NICU this year by giving these parents an outfit to put on their baby. I did find shopping for preemie clothes to be a little bit of a challenge when my girls were so small. The best places to find preemie clothes were Babies R Us, The Carter's store, and Walmart.

I'm urging all my friends and family to help me out on quest to donate at least one article of clothing to each preemie baby staying in the NICU. The NICU normally holds around 60-70 babies at a time. Please help me by purchasing onesies or sending a donation to help me purchase as many onesies as possible. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. I would like to make the donation by December 19th just in time for Christmas. Please contact me and send me an email at ahaasis@yahoo.com to let me know if you can help us out in our goal.

We did not have clothing ready to put on our girls and we received a few donations while Addison and Riley were growing and learning to eat in the NICU. The first onesie that Riley got to wear was a donation. Here is a picture of our beautiful girl with her very first outfit that the NICU donated to us:

And Addison's Pretty Outfit after hitting her 5 pound milestone:

I have also been blessed to have friends that have gone through a similar journey as us. The Hickey Family over at The Daily life with Quads were blessed with 4 happy healthy preemie babies and they all have done so well. We all rallied to help this family and make sure they were the best dressed set of multiples in the NICU. Something as simple as dressing your baby(s) while they have to live in the NICU can bring so much joy to a parent struggling in the new and different stages of preemie parenthood. Take a look at a few of her bundles of joy:

If you have made it this far, thanks for reading and thanks for considering this cause. Please email me at ahaasis@yahoo.com to make a donation and have a blessed Holiday season.

Getting Bigger....

2010-11-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

The girls had their 18 month well visit a week late. Now I am late getting up their stats. The girls have graduated into big girls at the pediatrician. They no longer have to take off all of their clothes and sit on the baby scale. They get to stand on the big girl scale and keep their clothes on. Riley was a pro at being a good patient while Addison hates anything to do with the Doctor. She doesn't like laying on the crinkle paper having the doctor inspect her ears and mouth. The good news is that both girls checked out great and they are growing beautifully.

Their stats:

Addison:
Weight: 23 lbs even
Height: 31 1/4 inches
Head Circ: 19 inches

Riley:
Weight: 23lbs 3oz
Height: 31 1/4 inches
Head Circ: 19 inches

It just amazes me that both girls are so close to each other in each statistic. They are such TWINS!!!!

The doctor was a little upset to hear that the girls are still using bottles for milk at night and in the morning. The girls do fantastic with sippy cups for their juice and water but they wanted nothing to do with drinking milk through a sippy. The doctor said it was time to take the bottles away so we complied. The girls have done pretty well transitioning. They are big girls now and we even decided to take away their highchairs. They are eating up at the table with the rest of the family with their booster seats and loving the ability to feed themselves at the table.

Here are pictures of the girls eating dinner at the big table and drinking out of their sippy cups:

And just for fun...here are a few pictures of Addie hanging out with mommy giving us her very un-photogenic looks at the camera:

And a big kiss for mama:

More Picture Fun

2010-11-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

With all of the things I have had on my plate lately, I have been neglecting the blog. I take pictures of the girls all the time but it takes time to upload the photos and add them to the blog. Now that I am not teaching gymnastics anymore, I do have a little more time to get blog posts out. Here is a picture post of the last month. Aunt Sara took the pictures at the park last week. You can really see why I got the girls hair cut after seeing some of these pictures.

Both girls sitting on the Kitchen counter playing with groceries I just bought:

Riley:

Addison, giving us a really homely look, That girl is not very photogenic sometimes:

Park Time:

Addie:

Riley:

Addie:

Riley:

Addie:

Riley wearing Aunt Sara's hat

So cute!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T18:02:00.010-07:00

Halloween was a lot of fun. The girls enjoyed wearing their costumes and sporting their new haircuts. Riley had fun twirling around in her outfit and Addison had fun curtsying and sitting pretty in her dress.

We took them to a few of the neighbors and the girls were able to pick out some candy. One of our neighbors gave them some glow lights to play with and they were more interested in the glow lights then the candy. Another neighbor gave them some toy skeletons and they were happy and content to pass out candy. They loved seeing all the other kids with their cute and scary costumes.

Here are the pictures from their fun:

This is what happens when you try to get a picture of them standing together. By the time you snap the photo, it turns out like this:

And at the end of all the fun, two tired girls:

1st Haircuts

2010-11-01T11:34:00.011-07:00

What a milestone. Our girls have had the strangest hair growth pattern since their hair finally starting coming in. They were growing that cute little mullet style and daddy was fed up. He almost attempted to cut their hair himself but luckily I stopped him.

I finally took the girls in on Halloween day to get their hair cut and reshaped.I took them to a kids hair cut place in hopes of them having a little fun with the new experience. I was a bad mom and totally forgot the camera so I had to catch everything on my camera phone.
Addison was not very happy with the whole thing and screamed as soon as we got her belted into the seat.

And when she wasn't screaming, she was giving us this sad, sad face.

Poor baby girl did not like it but the hairstylist was quick and was able to do a nice job. Here is the finished result after she was safe in grandma's arms:

Riley did much better. She got a few weird faces but she did rather well during the whole experience.

Here was her one weird face:

It was a bittersweet milestone. It makes me realize how fast the girls are growing. I got their little pieces of hair to put in their memory cans.

I will also be posting later about all the fun we had on Halloween. The girls had a blast and look so very cute!

NICU Halloween Party 2010

2010-10-30T10:36:00.012-07:00

The Banner Desert Medical center where the girls were born holds an annual Halloween party for the graduates of the NICU. Last year we went and had a good time catching up with some of the nurses that took care of the girls after they were born. Here were pics of our girls one year ago:

This year they had so much fun because they were able to run around and have fun with the other kids. I had fun talking with some of the nurses and some of the new parents of babies who were born in the last year. The girls enjoyed snacks and playing with the other kids and decorations.

Addison;

Riley:

Addison:

Addison:

Riley:

Addison:

After some time we met with a family. Their daughter Zora was wearing the same costume that Riley was wearing. Little Zora was 14 months old but she was born at 25 weeks. She stayed at the NICU for 99 days and is now a happy healthy girl. She is still catching up with her peers due to her prematurity but she was doing great. She was darling and both girls had fun playing with her:

We had such a good time and the girls got to spend some time with children that had a similar start to life as they did. I was actually surprised at how many other babies were there who were born at around 24-25 weeks and had done so well. It makes me so happy to see that.

Happy 18 months!!!

2010-10-26T10:45:00.007-07:00

18 months! Wow, this seems like another big milestone for the girls. Each month is a milestone but those birthdays and half birthdays seem a little more important. I'm looking back to pictures that were taken last Halloween and comparing them to now and I just can't believe how much the girls have grown in the last year.

Here were their pictures from last year:

I just love those bald heads. At the time I didn't realize how little hair they had. I always put bows on their heads to make sure they looked like little girls.

And again, here is now:

They sure have more hair but it grows in so strange with more in the back than in the front.

Some statistics on the girls.

Teeth: Addison: 8 Riley 12
Diapers: Disposable size 3's still. They will wear size 4's at night for extra protection
Food: They eat just about everything. They will try anything off our plates. The love yogurt, cheese, Mac N' Cheese, peas, and crackers.
Clothes: Size 18 months. Some things are still big and others are just right.
Shoes: They are between a size 5 and 6. Riley has a little bit bigger feet so she can wear the size 6's but Addison is closer to the size 5's.
Activities: Reading books, dancing to music, pushing toy lawn mower and vacuum around the house, talking, saying animal noises,shopping, and going to the park.
Words: Mama, Dada, Nana, grandma (sounds like g-ma), kitty, take this, uh-oh, no, ba-ba, and a few various other words.
Sleep: 10-12 hours through the night

We are so proud of our preemie girls that have caught up to their age group and give us so much joy. We are excited for their first year to actually trick or' treat and they have 2 parties to go to. I just pray that the next 6 months doesn't go by as fast. I can't fathom having them turn 2.

58 Degrees and Raining....>Woohoo

2010-10-21T06:40:00.002-07:00

Finally Phoenix has got the memo that is fall and the weather is starting to change!!! I am so excited to see rain and feel the cooler air after still experiencing 90 degree temps in October. On the way to work today the temp in my car said 58 degrees and I instantly got excited. It doesn't rain very often in Phoenix so it is a nice change of pace although Arizona drivers don't know what to do when water is falling from the sky. They either drive like maniacs and cause accidents left and right, or they drive like a snail because they are too scared of water on the roads. After living in the Pacific Northwest for 9 years, I know a thing or two about driving in rain and even snow but the drivers in AZ have no clue at all.

Some other updates for everyone, Riley now has Roseola. It is funny to see her break out with the virus after Addie had it back in August. Riley had about 3 days of a high temperature and she was very lethargic and cranky. Then yesterday you could see the rash begin to start and she was almost back to her normal self. It was rough couple of days because all she wanted to do was be held by one of us, sleep extra naps during the day and then wake up several times at night which we are not used to after having them sleep through the night for so long. I'm glad the worst is over.

I had to make some decisions about how busy my life was and I decided that I could no longer coach the gymnastics classes. Somehow I ended up teaching 7 classes a day on 4 different days and that was pulling me away from the girls more than I wanted. I enjoyed the gymnastics classes so much but I hated leaving the girls so often. They barely saw me one week after I had several late nights at the gym. So I decided to put in my two weeks last weekend. I needed to prepare for starting my next Masters program and being away from the girls 5 days a week was not going to be an option. I started my first class last night and I have to say that I was completely thrilled with the subject matter and I found myself enjoying being in class for the 1st time. I have had other classes that I enjoyed but it was still school. The 4 hours that I spent in class last night felt like enjoyable. My program is a Masters in Adult Education and Training and last night we learned about the history of education. It makes me wonder if Jesse enjoyed his program as much as I am enjoying mine. We will have to have some good conversations here soon.

Tomorrow is my sister Sara's 22nd birthday! We will be celebrating tonight with dinner out with the family.

End of Summer BBQ

2010-10-17T19:59:00.010-07:00

It is sad to say that we are still experiencing summer like conditions here in Phoenix but we are finally on the downswing into cooler temperatures. Thank goodness!!! To celebrate the change, we got together with family at Aunt Shannon's house. It was also Aunt Jennie's birthday along with a few other birthdays that were missed and coming up. The girls just love being around all the family but they are so shy when we first get there. Eventually they warmed up and got passed around to visit all the family members. They had a blast playing on the trampoline and pushing the big ball around the backyard.

I enjoy those family get-togethers so much. In a society that gravitates towards material things, it is just nice to sit back and make good family memories.

Riley visiting with Aunt Shannon and Jennie

Sarah and Riley

Jesse and Addison

The Moore's have a pet turtle and the girls got to touch and check out this neat creature. They still think every animal is a kitty since we have 3 cats in our house. Anytime any other animal is around them or in a book or on TV, the girls say "kitty" we try to correct them but it is so darn cute to see them say that.
Here is Riley getting to know the Turtle:

Addison

Riley

Addie and Daddy

Addie

Addie and Sara

And this is what happens when you try to pose both girls together. I am serious...this is how so many of our photos turn out. Riley was not having it at all.

But then she gave us a goofy grin

Mommy and Riley

Mommy and Addie

Mommy and both girls

Addie playing with the big ball

Addie and Cousin Nick playing together, so much fun!

Halloween Costumes

2010-10-14T11:30:00.006-07:00

Here are the girls Halloween costumes. Riley is our Lady Bug as her nick name has always been "bug". Addison is our adorable Bumble Bee. I tried to get some photos taken but it is sooooo difficult to get them both looking at the camera. I will be purchasing black tights and little shoes to finish out their costumes before Halloween arrives.

And yes, it is still hot and in the 90's here in Phoenix so we probably won't need any jackets to wear with their cute little outfits.