About Our Vacation

We took a trip to Long Beach Island, NJ with Nana & Pop Pop, Aunt Amy & Uncle Steve, and cousins Rachel & Emily.

Here is the sunrise that greeted us each morning. Most of our vacation days were spent at the beach. Why else go to the shore right? Kaylie took a day to warm up to the sand but after that she liked to play in it. Surprisingly, they didn't eat as much sand as I thought they would. We spent most of our mornings on the beach and then headed up to the house for lunch and naps.

One morning we went to Barnegat Lighthouse, AKA "Old Barney." You can climb to the top and I have in the past, but with kids in tow, it wasn't an option. Bob took the picture of the lighthouse and it is one of my favorite pictures. Could be a postcard right?

Here we all are, minus Bob who was taking the picture.

We headed over to the shops at Beach Haven and took in the view of the bay.

Bob & I were able to get out for dinner and some walks by ourselves. (Thank you Nana & Pop Pop) We also went jet skiing. I admit to being apprehensive about going (hmm...does Kaylie get this from me?) but I ended up fully enjoying it. Kaylie & Ryan enjoyed spending time with everyone. We had beautiful weather all week and enjoyed ourselves.

Happy 15 Months!

Happy 15 Months!

We're Back!

We are back from our vacation down the shore. (That is New Jersey speak for going to the beach. We don't say we are "going to the beach" or even "to the shore," instead we say we are "going down the shore" and everyone who lives here gets us.) We spent a week at Long Beach Island in a beautiful beachfront house! It was wonderful weather all week too which made for a fantastic time. Pictures to follow of course. I'm honestly pretty tired. The kids got up super early every day and even woke every night (sometimes multiple times) so I'm not so rested from the vacation. Here's a picture of the house.

Off on Vacation

I'll post all about our vacation when we get back! Have a great week!

Crunch Time

We leave for vacation Saturday and I haven't packed a thing. Well that's not true-- I have towels in a pile and some of the kid's clothes. I have lists--lots of lists-- but I'm having a hard time getting my act together. Mostly because I don't know how to go about packing everything and it's daunting to me all the stuff we will need. Not to mention a lot of things we have to pack last minute. We do have a minivan with a rooftop carrier and we are staying in our state so it's not like there won't be stores. I am still wondering how it will all fit. It's near impossible to pack with Ryan & Kaylie around. I can't focus. Well, tomorrow is crunch time.....I may not sound like it, but I am looking forward to our first family vacation despite this packing hurdle.

It's a Tie!

The Halloween poll is officially closed and the results are in.......


Pebbles & Bam Bam tied with Raggedy Ann & Andy!! Next was Peter Pan & Tinkerbell, followed by Dorothy & Scarecrow.


To be truthful I am leaning towards Peter Pan & Tinkerbell or Pebbles & Bam Bam. I know for a fact that they would not keep the wigs on for Raggedy Ann & Andy so I really need to eliminate that choice. Dorothy & Scarecrow might be best for when they are a bit older. Thanks for voting!!

Town Fair

We took the kids to our town fair this evening. We grabbed dinner and a funnel cake. There wasn't a whole lot for them to do besides take things in. Ryan didn't like the sound that the rides made, but I am thinking next year will be a whole different ball game I am sure. I was tempted to put them on a pony ride but didn't.

A Day at the Park

Ryan & Kaylie met their friend, Taylor, at Holmdel Park yesterday. This was the first time they were together since Ryan started really walking. Taylor thought he was trying to chase her, but in reality Ryan was just trying to master walking on uneven ground. He fell quite a few times but it didn't seem to bother him. He was loving it.

Here's Taylor looking so cute.

Kaylie was content picking the grass. She really has two legs!

Now Standing

Kaylie stood by herself for the first time today! YAY! She did it for about 20 seconds but hey it's a start. She kept wanting to do it like she was making the connection "Hey, this is neat. I am upright, not holding on to anything, but not falling." That is a good sign.

My Halloween (Yes I said it) Poll

Ok so yeah it's August and I am thinking about Halloween already. The stores force it upon you! It's everywhere you look. Anyway so I started thinking about costumes and put a poll up to the right. If you have any other suggestions please let me know. My disclaimer is that the winning one doesn't necessarily mean they will be that! Just for fun!

What's New?

Kaylie & Ryan are enrolled in a 12 week Music Together class starting in September and ending in November. Still wondering how I will do it myself with them. My only saving grace is that a friend of mine will have her daughter in the class as well and might be able to lend a hand if needed. I'll have to don my SuperM.O.M. cape (as another blogger put it) on Wednesdays.

Ryan has another tooth, bringing him up to 8. Still waiting for one year molars however. Kaylie still sits at 6 and no molars.

Ryan is basically running now. Still topples over here and there and loves to land on wall corners much to our dismay. Kaylie has begun walking with the walker and just wants to stand up all the time. Ryan was like that, so it should be a few more weeks before she is walking I suppose. She gets so mad when the walker gets stuck on something.

Ryan got his second haircut. He was much better than the first time around. I think because this hairdresser didn't use the trimmer and I told her not to put the cape on him. I just had a change of clothes with me.

I joined the Jersey Shore Chapter of Moms of Multiples. I'm hoping to reach out to other M.O.M.s and looking forward to going on some playdates this fall.

These pictures are with the SLR but everytime I seem to pick up that camera, they act up or become obsessed with touching it.

Project Basement Update

Bob the Builder...Can he do it? YES HE CAN! (insert theme song here) So we are slow going on Project Basement. It does take time when you do things yourself, have twins, and a full time job. I think we started this project way back in April but there were several weekends in there where we were busy and Bob had no time to stick to his promised end of July completion date. I still say November will be the completion. We'll see. So far new lighting was installed, lots of wires were run, new switches installed, 2 pocket doors were installed, a half wall was built, and some other minor things that I have forgotten but I'm sure Bob knows. I know the next step is putting sheetrock on the ceiling.

half wall built

view into the storage room.

One In My Eyes

If I had gone full term (40 weeks that is), today would have been Ryan & Kaylie's first birthday. Their birthday was 10 weeks ago but in my eyes, they are officially one year olds TODAY. Of course I began to wonder if I will be thinking this same thought each year hereafter. "Today's the day you would have been 2, 3, etc..." When does that insanity stop? That's what it is you know--the life of a preemie mom--the constant focus on well if such and such had happened....or as I have done here many times with pointing out what a date WOULD HAVE BEEN. I surely can't be the only preemie mom who does this. Am I?

Are there any other preemie moms out there who can shed some light on these things for me? Tell me how to get over this stuff already! Does it go away once they are "caught up" (a preemie term I loathe) or will these thoughts be with me forever?

Anyway, Happy 1st "birthday" kids! We won't be having any cake or gifts but it's a date worth noting here...um...I think.

Playdate

Today we met up with Ryan and Kaylie's friends, Amelia and Sal. We met at Brick Reservoir. The place was really great with a 1.8 mile path to walk around the reservoir on. It was so clean and quiet. I will be going back! Ryan is not liking being in the stroller longer than an hour. He wants to get out and go. Unfortunately he isn't walking well enough for that. I'm seriously in trouble when they want to start walking around places aren't I? Go ahead and laugh.

Otherwise a pretty slow week here as you can tell from my lack of posts. LOL. Just the usual trips to the market and mall.

Pics of the Week

I've really been slacking in the picture department. I haven't done any SLR practice and now I practically forget everything I learned. Ryan got a new pair of sneakers and sandals this weekend. He is now a size 5 WIDE which limits my shoe selection quite a bit. Also let me say that it is hard to find sandals in August! All the fall stuff is out in the stores.

Maybe not a big deal to anyone else out there, but Ryan finally started clapping. Yesterday he did it one time and today he did it too after seeing me do it and asking him to do it! We were getting really worried about this "milestone." Now let the waving and pointing begin please!!

Kaylie has taken to tackling Ry. She is relentless about it. Sometimes he takes it and other times he wants nothing to do with her on him.

Here he was happy to oblige.

Ryan has discovered books. His favorites are Brown Bear, Brown Bear and some other lift the flap type of books. We read them over and over so much that I have some memorized.

Ry decided to use his dinner as hair gel here. Hard to see.

I brought out the Leap Frog fridge phonics and randomly put the letters up and you can see it spelled out x-men. weird right? Kaylie wasn't happy having them on the door. She needed to get every single one on the floor like it was a sickness. We aren't quite ready for these. We'll try again another time.

Last night we bought them these tunnels and play huts that pop up. Another ehhh type of toy. Not quite ready for these either. Kaylie and Ryan got in but wouldn't crawl through the tunnel.

Kaylie giving her best cheeseball smile.

And this one just because she is so cute.