Savings Plan

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

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

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

(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

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

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

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!!!

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

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.