Getting Creative!

Being a stay at home mom of two almost two year old twins is honestly one of the hardest jobs that I have ever had. Not to complain but when it gets simply almost too hot to go outside then our house can become a disaster within a matter of minutes if I do not keep Gracie and Bailey busy, which is hard to do because their attention spans are only a couple of minutes long. This month I have tried to become more creative in thinking of new things for us do to at home. We put together an art station that has lots of fun art supplies and we have started using new things like glue sticks, puffy balls and stickers. In the play room we try to change the train table up into a zoo and we put all of our Noah's ark animals and little people animals on it for the day. The twins love helping throw the train tracks in the basket and love helping to gather all the animals. We also have started make believing out story books and trying to do more "role play." Just yesterday I asked Gracie if she was ready to take her bath and she said "no mom, a shower." I held my mouth open in shock as my not even two year old little girl just told me she was going to take a shower but I thought why not and into the shower they went. Needless to say, they loved it as they played in the "rain." One of my girlfriends died laughing when I told her that I sat on my bathroom floor and enjoyed a book as they played in the shower but a mom has to do what a mom has to do to get a little peace. I am looking forward to the fall when more of our structured activities start back but for now my creative wheels will have to keep spinning!

Role playing "The Three Little Pigs" Bailey loves to huff and puff!

Playing in the "rain" can be so much fun

Big Kid Room!

On July 9th we decided to transition Gracie and Bailey's room into a big kid room. We already had the mattresses and bedding but we had been waiting until just the right time. We kept going back and forth on whether or not they were "ready" but we decided to cave in and just go ahead and do it. It was emotionally hard to say good bye to their nursery that I loved so much but I kept telling myself to concentrate on the positives and the blessing of having two healthy big kids now! We had prepared ourselves for the worst on the first night after hearing horror stories from other moms in my twin club but our babies "oops I mean big kids" surprised us and they did great. They both stayed in their beds all night and have done super ever since. Gracie just recently did discover that she can get out of her bed and help herself to books in the middle of the night but we are hoping that this will pass once her two year molar breaks through and doesn't wake her up at night. The big kid status has really seemed to help their self esteem and I am so proud that they are doing so good. Bailey has train sheets on his bed and Gracie has pink birdies on her sheets. They love to count their trains and birdies as they doze off to sleep. I am looking forward to adding some big kid decor to their room but with twins everything is doubly expensive so we have to do a little bit at time!

Celebrating the Fourth

We started celebrating the Fourth of July this year with the twins helping me to put up our flag decorations. As you can see, they were really into hanging the flag on the front door as they are fighting over it in the picture above! We also did a little art project one day where we made flags and colored them. This past Friday we headed up to Helen to celebrate the holiday with Preston's family. The twins had a great time playing with their cousin Mary Elizabeth and they loved swimming and visiting downtown Helen with their Grammy. Preston enjoyed playing golf with his dad and brothers and we were blessed to be able to enjoy a double date with Parker and Nicole while his parents watched all three little ones! We came home on Sunday and today we met our friends at the Steam Engine Parade in downtown Cumming. It was so much fun to watch the twins clap and cheer as we watched the parade. I think this was their first parade in which they have attended. Bailey especially loved watching the trains and different types of trucks that were a part of the parade. I love that Gracie and Bailey are at an age now where they are beginning to understand the different holidays and that they can join in our celebration.

Bailey and Gracie sharing baby Mary Elizabeth

Sweet Gracie and her baby doll!

Bailey cheering at his first Fourth of July Parade

Daddy and Gracie enjoying the Parade