Second Birthday Picture Outtakes:

Heaten is very upset that Shenzie doesn’t want to hold his hand

Shenzie is very upset that I am taking pictures when she wants to walk back to the wagon

Picking rotten apples from the ground…eww!

Looking exasperated over all of my picture taking

Running away from my camera

* The rest of the outtakes can be found here.

The babies go through many phases. One of them is what I call ‘Somebody Kill Me Now. Ok, so I don’t really call it that but I totally could. Some months Shenzie is my harder child. Other months it is Heaten. This month it is DEFINITELY Heaten.

Good thing I love this boy to bits or I might actually pull my hair out and run screaming from the room.

I have TWO - Count them - ONE ¤ TWO - Two year olds!!! Heaven help me!!!

*Pictures for Uncle Levi. The babies LOVE their new stuffed animals!

This last weekend we had a huge cold front move it. All last week it was in the high 80’s even the 90’s some days. Then WHAMO! Saturday was in the high 50’s and Sunday in the low 60’s. For those of us used to wearing shorts and flip flops every single day for months on end this was a big change. The babies didn’t quite know what to do with themselves. They were SO excited to wear long sleeves and hoods. All day long they wore around their hoodies with the hood up.

Later in the day I showed them that their hoodies had pockets. They thought it was the coolest thing ever and walked around with their hoods up and their hands in their pockets. It was so cute!

Of course I can’t forget to include Shenzie playing dress up. Along with her TWO bows, TWO necklaces, and TWO bracelets that she wears EVERY SINGLE DAY she now wants to wear multiple layers of clothes. My little fashionista!

I was a little worried the babies would rebel over the long sleeves, pants, socks, shoes, and jackets. I guess, as usual, I was worried over nothing.

When the babies were newborns we had the Double Snap and Go that held both carseats. This was a WONDERFUL stroller and I highly suggest anyone with newborn twins get one. The babies go right from the car to the stroller while still in their carseats. It is lightweight, folds flat, and you never have to wake sleeping babies. It was a sad day when we moved to convertible carseats and couldn’t use this anymore. Would you believe I do not have ONE single picture of them in the Double Snap and Go!?!

When they were a little older they moved into the Combi Twin Savvy which I also really liked.

Very lightweight, easy to fold, easy to push. One main problem with the Twin Savvy was its width. It was really hard to get it through one door or through narrow aisles. As the babies got older and started abusing one another it was also an issue since they could easily reach over and hurt one another. Then I went and ran it over and broke a wheel so it was really hard to push. It was quite embarrassing really….the squeaky broken wheel, the fighting in and out of doors because it wouldn’t roll straight. I kept holding out that the babies would soon not need a stroller so why spend the money on a new one. After much going back and forth I decided to purchase a new stroller for those times when we need one, and not a broken ghetto one!

Our new ride!

Baby Trend Sit and Stand LX

This stroller was actually pretty cheap when compared with the other double strollers. What I love about it:
A) The babies can no longer attack each other (easily) while in it
B) It is narrow enough to fit down all aisles and through any doorway
C) It is more lightweight and compact than the other tandem double strollers
D) It offers more independence for the standing child but still has a seat for them that has straps
E) I can push it with one hand and it turns very easily

The concern I had with this stroller were that both babies would want to stand and no one would want to sit. Ha, I shouldn’t have worried. My little Shenzie bear is always on the move and not content to sit still for long. My little Heaten bear is a slug a lug and loves to laze around and look at things. After letting them both try out the sitting and standing parts they each chose their own spot. Of course Shenzie chose the standing and Heaten chose the seat.

So far we love the stroller. The babies ask to go for walks in it everyday and sometimes cry when they have to get out. Outings to the store with it are much easier. They even play with it while it is parked in the garage. Hopefully the newness won’t wear off for quite some time!!!

Bubble Beard Edition:

These bubbles kept the babies entertained for 20 minutes while I finished some baking…yay for bubbles!

*Don’t worry that they are eating them - they are non toxic, made from all natural products.

Dear Shenzie and Heaten,

Two years ago I was at the doctor getting monitored when they sent me to the hospital. I was prepared to have you, I was excited to meet you, and of course I was dying to get off of bedrest. Your bedroom was ready, your clothes washed and rewashed. The house cleaned, my hospital bag packed, and everything sterilized. I was totally ready to meet you. Just not that day. I was not ready to meet you the day they rushed me into surgery. We had a rough start with NICU, monthly RSV shots, a heart murmur, and general unknown territory, but I think we came out ok. Well, I’m ok, you two are the most wonderful things that ever happened to me.

It is really hard to believe my two tiny little babies who cried and meowed all night long are now my two big kids who run, talk, and sleep all night long. You are both amazing and I could never imagine a day without you.

In the past year you have grown so much. You are so much more. More vocal, more independent, more fun, more loving, more and more and more. It is totally true what they say, you don’t believe you could possibly love anything so much and then love them even more.

You talk up a storm and are constantly asking “dat”. If I don’t guess what it is right away you both have tantrums. Silly Mommy, you need to think quicker on your feet!! You both love being outside. We spent a lot of time at the park or outback sliding and having picnics on the grass. You are both very active and love to run, jump, spin, climb, and slide.

You love each other and always notice when the other one isn’t around. You play together, sit on my lap together, laugh together, chase each other, share toys, hold hands, kiss, give squeezes and melt Mama’s heart. You hit each other, push each other, scratch each other, pinch each other, bite each other, steal each others toys, and fight over Mama’s lap. And every single day you make me happier than I could ever imagine being.

Shenzie Weather Echo,

My little Shenzie Buggle.

Little spitfire so full of sass. You are such a jokester. You make me laugh so much, sometimes even when I shouldn’t. When you very purposely do something you shouldn’t all the while looking at me. You love to tease me and make me laugh. When you first meet new people you are very shy and serious. They would never know how much of a little imp you are under the serious facade.

You are very quick to smile and just as quick to go crazy. You are still very aggressive. Your choice of attack start with the nails and scratching, but pinching and even biting are not unheard of. You share very well and you are very tolerant of your toy stealing brother when he constantly takes what you are playing with.

You love to dress up and every single morning we go through the routine of putting on necnec and bacca (necklace and bracelet). Next we put on your stickers, one on each hand and one on your shirt. You then find a hat, usually of the winter variety even though it is still 98 degrees outside. If I forgot to hide them you find your boots and put those on and then complete the look with a blanket wrapped around you like a dress. It is quite the site!

You love to dance and sing. You love when Daddy dances with you and twirls you in the air. You love to sing along to Mommy’s music which is great since I would lose my mind if I had to listen to kid music in the car.

You love Bindi the Jungle Girl and Elmo. You love dogs, birds, balloons, wearing bows and hats, and wearing shoes. You pick me out a specific pair each day. You love to give me big squeezes and of course you still love your baby Bear. You have started to pretend play and will pretend to eat things from my hand. You still love to feed baby bear and give her a bottle. You are a little Baby Mama and I love watching you “mother” your dolls.

You are very much a Mama’s girl and I love every minute. The moments you want to sit and cuddle with me are precious. You are still a little timid with strangers and get scared from loud noises. A long time ago before you were born I would watch your cousin Alexee run to her Mama when she was scared and couldn’t wait for that to be me and my baby. I don’t mind one bit that every time a motorcycle passes by outside you come running to me. I hope you always come to me when you need something. I hope you always know how much I love you and how very special you are.

I love you Shenzie Weather,
Love,
Mama.

Heaten Grey Myrick,

My little man.

As always, I will say that you are still very emotional. You are sweet, loving, fun, cuddly, and happy. You are very ticklish and I have a lot of fun getting your legs and belly and hearing you laugh so hard you get the hiccups. Your laugh lights up your whole face and causes the rest of us to laugh with you.

You LOVE to watch tv. It is pretty sad that at 2 years old I already have to monitor how much television you watch. You will sit and watch Signing Time for an hour at a time if I let you. You love to sign and know a lot. Since I was not a good Mommy and didn’t keep track of words or signs I don’t know the exact number but I’m guessing you know at least 30 if not more. You also love Bindi the Jungle Girl and It’s a Big Big World. Elmo has made a comeback around here as well.

You are the toy stealer of the house, but you are getting very good at sharing. You are generally sweet natured, but have developed a bit of a temper lately. This results in you yelling and hitting things (just like a boy). You are seriously all boy. While Shenzie picks flowers or plays with dolls you chase around the big kids or play in the dirt. You have recently got over your fear of new things and now scare me daily with your new no fear attitude. You love to slide and go on the big kid slides all by yourself.

You are still a picky eater, but in the last month have really improved. You will at least try something new which usually leads to you liking it. Of course junk food and carbohydrates top your list of favorites. You DO NOT like to get your hands dirty. While eating if you get food on your hands you freak out! You now eat with a napkin to wipe your own hands clean (about 15x each meal). You DO NOT like to get sand in your shoes - you freak out! You love airplanes and yell airplane whenever one flies overhead. Then you wave and tell the airplane bye bye.

You are still very much a Daddy’s boy and the minute he gets home from work you run over and hold your arms up to him. One of your very favorite things to do is sit on Daddy’s lap with a sippy full of milk, your doggy, and watch one of the above mentioned shows. You are a tvholic and need intervention.

You have really come out of your shell these past couple of months and have grown into a handsome, wonderful little boy who lights up my life like no other could. I love you little man, forever.

Love,
Mama.

The babies had their two year Dr. appointment today. I got my days mixed up so Jeff wasn’t going to be able to go. I called my backup Dr. goer (hi Mom!), but she wasn’t able to go either. I was stressing how I was going to manage two very active toddlers through the entire appointment AND shots. Thankfully Jeff was able to make it and all was good in the world.

Shenzie Weather:
33 Inches Tall ¤ 30th Percentile
25 Pounds 10 Ounces ¤ 35th Percentile
48 cm Head ¤ 60th Percentile

Put me down NOW!

Heaten Grey:
33.25 Inches Tall ¤ 25th Percentile
26 Pounds 1 Ounce ¤ 25th Percentile
50.5 cm Head ¤ 90th Percentile

The appointment went good. The babies are both on track and the Dr. has no worries. They are both on the smaller side still (except for their giant melons), but if the eating and sleeping around here is any indication they are having a growth spurt right now that will hopefully continue for a long long time. I LOVE growth spurts. They eat much better and the naps are nice and long!

They had to get two shots today and this was the first time they were actually old enough to understand and yell out. Poor little buggers. What a difference 6 months makes. While we were waiting for the Doctor to come in the babies were running around and looking at everything and asking what everything was. They are such big kids now, I still find it hard to believe they used to be so tiny.

October 2006

I remember sitting in the waiting room when they were babies in their stroller watching the bigger kids play with the toys. In my head I was thinking that my kids will NOT play with the gross, germ ridden toys at the doctors office. EWWWWW. Hahahahah. Jokes on me! Guess who ran right over and started playing with the trucks and blocks. Ewwwww. Gross Dr. office germies. Then in the examination room they were running around in their diapers with no socks or shoes on. SO GROSS! But really, what can you do? They want them stripped down for the weigh in and the babies (toddlers) were NOT content to sit on our laps for the whole time. I made sure to sanitize them really well in the car, but boy have the times surely changed. You think you have it all figured out and in your head you have a list of things that you would never do. Then the day to day hits and you do all that you can just to survive. Times two!

*Yes, I realize I look like complete crap in both of those photos but oh well, you’ll just have to deal with it! =)

Sunday was the babies birthday party. Mostly family and a few close friends. It was a blast! The food was yummy, the babies were in good moods, and everybody showed up (well, minus my older brother, BOOOO)! Of course the babies were spoiled rotten by all of their Grandma, Grandpa, Aunties, and Uncles (and friends!). Our house was already overflowing with toys, now it is to the point of no return!!!!

Here are some of my favorite photos from their party (thank you Kristy for taking all of the photos!) As you can see it was monkey themed. They are my little monkey’s so I thought it was appropriate. =)

I’m loving how cousin Ethan jumped in front of the camera. Haha.

All of the kids (and there were a lot!) jumped in to “help” open the presents.

*The rest of the birthday pictures can be found here.

For a great start to the babies birthday weekend Jeff took a couple of days off of work to celebrate. The babies actual birthday was Thursday which is our story time at the Library so Daddy joined us for his very first story time. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to only have one baby on my lap instead of them both crammed on there. After story time we headed to our favorite breakfast joint The Omlet House where we all pigged out on yummy breakfast. When we got home we let the babies open a couple of their presents from Daddy and me.

Off to bed for a nap and then the real party began. While they slept I got them balloons, ice cream, and cupcakes. Any post nap grouchies were quickly erased when they saw the balloons and treats!!

Then Daddy brought in the rest of the presents. New bikes!!!

They love their new bikes. They don’t quite get the concept of peddling just yet, but it won’t be long before they are riding like pros. We sang Happy Birthday, let them pig out on sweets, and all in all had a fabulous afternoon.

Friday Jeff took the morning shift so Mommy could sleep. When I finally got my lazy butt out of bed we took the babies to The Natural History Museum downtown. It was surprisingly nice, I was really impressed.

There is a Animal Family room full of bears, lions, tigers, monkeys, birds, and tons of other animals. A dinosaur room with GIANT dinosaurs, baby dino’s and eggs, all with buttons you push that make the animal noise (which of course was Heaten’s favorite part).

There is a hands on childrens science center where you can “dig” for fossils, look through microscopes at things, “drive” a submarine, and play dress up.

They have a huge marine room full of fish, sting rays, sharks, snakes, and other live water creatures.

Downstairs is the Africa room which was my favorite. There were hippos, lions, and a bunch of other animals I can’t quite remember the names to. I highly recommend going to the Museum if you have a toddler aged child. Their website has a buy one get one off coupon and all kids under 3 get in free so it is really cheap which of course I love!!

The babies had a blast and Jeff and I quite enjoyed ourselves as well. Stay tuned for more tales of the actual birthday party complete with more balloons, more cupcakes, and of course more ice cream. =)

*The rest of the animal pictures can be found here. Now if only I could really go to Africa on a picture taking safari!!!