Backyard Fun

We have been LOVING this beautiful weather and have been spending alot of time outside lately. Two toddlers can mess up a clean house in a second and so any time spent outdoors means less cleaning inside! We spend most of our time in the sandbox, playhouse and swing set but I love that Gracie and Bailey are starting to enjoy the simple things in life. This week we talked about the flowers blooming and watched each day as they were ready to pop open. I always ask them "who made the flowers?" and they will reply with the sweetest little "God!" Bailey has just recently found a love for sticks...yes sticks and he picks them up and brings them to his Daddy and then watches in amazement while Daddy will break them in half. It is truly the sweetest thing to watch a little guy get so excited over something like breaking a stick. Bird watching is another one of our favorite hobbies and Gracie always will clap her hands to call a bird closer and she loves to point to them and wave. On the weekends we have been enjoying playing cornhole and having bar b ques. The twins love to play with the beanbags and they think the corn hole boards are slides built just for them. Dixie doesn't miss out on any of the fun and Gracie and Bailey love to bring her toys and they have both learned how to play fetch with her. Dixie is such a loving a sweet dog to put up them climbing all over her. I love plain simple family fun in our backyard as we are looking forward to Spring.

Bailey playing cornhole in the backyard.

Gracie watching the birds.

Bailey giving his puppy a kiss.

Sometimes we have to remind Gracie that Dixie is not a pony!

ZOO

The Atlanta Zoo

This past week we were invited to go on a field trip to the Zoo with our friends Zach and Katie. The twins have been to a smaller Zoo at the beach but this was their first time at the Atlanta Zoo. Katie and I were very nervous to take 3 toddlers to Atlanta but we packed lots of snacks and a giant bottle of hand sanitizer and we were on our way. We put our extra car seat in the car so we could all ride together. We decided to take one double stroller and allow the kids to take turns having freedom to walk/run. Katie and I laughed about bringing those leashes that you see some kids on. Nothing personal but they are just not for me...we don't even walk our dog on a leash so I would feel pretty bad about having Gracie and Bailey on one and I think it is important that they learn to obey and stay by my side without being physically tied to me. The first animals that we visited were war hogs and they were chasing each other around and Bailey thought it was hilarious. He was giggling and pointing and all eyes were on my little buddy who was having so much fun. Next we went in the "bird" exhibit and Gracie and Bailey were so excited as they love birds. They both kept patting their heads because at their cousin's house that is where their pet bird, George will land. Thank goodness none of these birds decided to take a perch! We continued with seeing pandas, tigers and monkeys. We brought a picnic lunch and then went in the children's area. The kids were excited to actually get to pet animals in the petting zoo. We took a train ride and carousel ride. Bailey was so excited when he heard the choo choo but he was scared once we started moving. Gracie did fall down while running to one of the exhibits and she earned her first bandaid for a skinned knee. She has been pointing to her bandaid ever since and demands kisses for her boo boo. By the time we left the kiddos were all tuckered out and Gracie fell asleep before we were even out of the parking lot. Katie and I were quite proud of ourselves for being brave and adventurous mommas!

Gracie enjoying the view of the animals.

All aboard the choo choo

The petting zoo

Zach, Ms. Katie and Gracie on the Carousel

Pajamas and Picnics

Last night I went to Walmart to pick up our weekly supplies of diapers, etc and I found some adorable matching Mickey pajamas that were on clearance for $3.00. Knowing how much Gracie and Bailey love Mickey Mouse I couldn't pass these up. They were so excited when I showed them that they had surprises in my bag and they wanted to put them on immediately. I did steal them away long enough to wash them before we put them on for bedtime.

"Gracie and Bailey taking a ride on Dixie"

"We love our new pajamas"

Today we met up with our friends Katie and Zach for a park play date and picnic. The twins had so much fun playing on the playground and then we enjoyed a yummy picnic where the twins ate all of Zach's lunch and Zach ate all of the twin's lunch. Apparently it is more fun to eat your friend's lunch!

Visiting the Fish

"Andy, Gracie, Bailey and Lauren watching the fish"

We were so excited when my sister, Mary Ellen invited us to go to the aquarium. We talked to the twins about visiting the aquarium and they must have said "fish" about a million times while getting ready to go. Gracie and Bailey always love spending time with their cousins, Lauren and Andy. This was the twins second visit to the aquarium as we went last year but I am pretty sure they did not remember it. It was so much fun to see Gracie and Bailey's expressions when they saw all of the fish. Gracie squealed and shook in excitement every time we walked up to a tank. Bailey stood with his hands and faced pressed to the glass at each tank and didn't seem to pay attention to anyone or anything except the fish. Gracie thought that the moving sidewalk in the tunnel was pretty neat and she just looked down at her feet and grinned when she realized that she was moving while standing still. At the end of the sidewalk she tried to move backwards because she didn't want to get off. We enjoyed lunch at the aquarium and were surprised when our friends Zach and Katie came to meet us and visit a couple more exhibits. Gracie and Bailey both fell asleep on the way home after a fun day of fish viewing!

"Gracie on the moving sidewalk"

"Bailey loves to watch the fish"

"Gracie and Mommy in the penquin tunnel"

Valentines Day!

Valentines Day was a big Holiday in our house this year because "LOVE" is one of the things that I talk about to Gracie and Bailey. I am always telling them to love each other, that Mommy and Daddy love them and that God loves them and wants them to love. With all that "love" why wouldn't Valentines Day be a big celebration? Gracie and Bailey were so excited to get their real Valentines in the mail from Granny and Grandpa. They also loved the Jack in the Box that their Grammy and Daddy Bob gave them.

"Bailey and Gracie opening up their Valentines that came in the mail"

We all had a blast at our twin Valentines party which was held at Catch Air. The North Fulton Mothers of Multiples rented out the whole place just for the club and it was fun to see so many twins and triplets all at the same time. There had to be a couple hundred people in attendance. Gracie and Bailey were exhausted after playing in the ball pits, jumping in the bouncy houses and sliding down all the slides.

"Gracie climbing into the ball pit"

"Bailey having lots of fun in the balls"

Preston surprised me with roses, chocolates and a card. My sister, Mary Ellen volunteered to babysit and so we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Tams in Cumming. We gave Gracie and Bailey their surprises on the weekend so they could enjoy them while Daddy was home. We looked all weekend for a sandbox but nobody had them in stock yet and so Daddy came to the rescue with his own invention and the twins loved it!

"Gracie and Bailey's Valentine surprises"

all from the $ store :)

"Daddy's make shift sandbox for 2"

Valentine Cookies

Today we were invited for a play date at our friend Zach's house. I used to work with Zach's mommy, Katie when I was in college and we became friends. After a couple of years Katie and her husband moved to Minnesota and they just recently moved back to Georgia due to a job. Last time Katie and I saw each other we had just both gotten engaged and now we both have kids around the same age as Zach is 20 months old. We used to talk about things like hip restaurants and clothing stores and now our conversations consist of potty training and playgrounds! Gracie and Bailey love Zach and they all play so well together. After mentioning to some other moms that I wanted to have a cookie decorating play date they looked at me like I was nuts. Katie said that she was brave and willing to join in the fun and so she planned the day. It was so much fun watching the kids dive into the sprinkles and lick the icing off their fingers. They giggled and had mischievous looks on their faces like "is mom really letting me do this!" Bailey stuck all of his fingers in the icing and then into the bowl of sprinkles and decided to lick them like they were yummy lollipops. Sweet Gracie was so prim and proper and only has a couple sprinkles on the sides of her mouth while the boys were covered in icing and sprinkles. What is a playdate if you can't get a little messy and have lots of fun!

Story Time

Today Gracie and Bailey attended their very first library story time. We joined a group called Forsyth Mommies and met up with the group at the library. Our friends Zach and Katie also joined us. I was nervous about how the twins would do but they did great. The story time was very interactive and they loved singing the songs and doing hand motions after each story. We will definitely be adding the story times to our list of outings! Have I mentioned that I LOVE staying home with Gracie and Bailey. I am enjoying introducing them to their "firsts" and we are having so much fun!

18 months

Gracie and Bailey turned 18 months old on 2/02/11. I had a very hard time believing that my babies were a year and a half old! Where did all the time go and more importantly where did my little babies go? So we are big kids now and we are loving being more independent and doing big kid things. We are learning how to eat with a spoon and a fork. I usually put the food on the spoon and they are pretty good at getting it to their mouth. Gracie and Bailey take one nap a day from 1-3 and I love my "mommy time" during those hours. We have become very active in our twins group and other play groups and we usually have about 3 outings with friends a week. Gracie and Bailey continue to sleep in the same bedroom and they are pretty much sleeping around 11-12 hours. Gracie sometimes will wake up and cry a little bit but her brother sleeps straight through it. Mommy and Daddy no longer come upstairs during the night and thus Gracie and Bailey and learned that crying doesn't get a reaction during the nighttime. We love doing new things like coloring. The first couple of times they did try to eat the crayons but now they do art each day for about 10 minutes and will say "art please" while pointing to their crayons. Both Gracie and Bailey can say a couple 2-3 connected words like "more milk please" or "go out Dixie." I was so excited that the twins did not have to get any shots at their 18 month apt.
Gracie weighed 20.6 pds and is in the 5%. She is 31 1/4 inches and is in the 40% for height. She loves pretending like she is a mommy and I have actually caught myself reminding her a couple of times that I am Bailey's mommy and that she is his sister. She is a big help around the house as she loves to help with chores. She hands me all the dishes out of the dishwasher and loves to wipe the front of the kitchen cabinets. She puts the diapers in the diaper genie and follows me with the dust pan while I sweep. She loves to take care of her brother and will bring him his paci, blankie or his favorite books. Gracie has recently has had a "light bulb" moment with puzzles and she loves to all five of her puzzles every day over and over again!
Bailey weighed 24.2 pds and was in the 30% for weight. He is 32 3/4 inches and in the 60% for height. He continues to eat all of his food and whatever Gracie does not eat on her plate. He is obsessed with blueberries and he loves any type of fruit. Bailey always seems to be giggling or laughing at something. His biggest interest now is trains and he begs for me to set up his Thomas the Train track. He likes to carry Thomas around the house with him. Bailey also enjoys music and he likes to play his electric piano and guitar. He will make a drum out of just about anything in the house. Bailey and I have a special "dance time" each day where I turn on his favorite cd and we dance around the house.

One of the things that I love the most about this age is that Gracie and Bailey are really starting to care for one another. They pay attention when they other is sad or happy and they will try to help each other out. They are playing well together at most times but we still have to work on sharing at times. My favorite thing is to watch them hold hands while walking as it is the sweetest thing ever.

Holding hands walking while walking into the playroom

Bailey playing the drums with his cousins

Gracie loves to go down "big girl" slides

Bailey loves to play in the sand

Gracie is mommy's little helper