Pumpkin Patch Edition:

I must say our pumpkin patches are pretty lame, but the twinzies had fun anyway. They jumped in the bounce house,

fed the goats (well, Heaten did, Shenze was scared of them),

pushed the wheelbarrow,

and picked out their pumpkins.

For a few months now the twinzies have recognized the letters D for Daddy, H for Heaten, S for Shenzie, M for Mama, A, B, and C. Imagine my HUGE surprise when last month without ANY prompting from me Heaten wrote the letter H. We were at my parents (9.2.09) and Heaten was coloring on his paper. I look down and see this:

I was shocked. Sadly I have never practiced writing letters with the kids so the fact that he did this on his own was awesome. I was cheering, clapping, and jumping up and down. My Dad looked at me like I was crazy, but whatev., My (at that time) two year old could write an H!!

Later in the month (9.23.09) I found Shenzie at her chalkboard writing not only and H, but an S as well (the D is mine). It is a bit crooked, but OMG, I am so proud of my writing kids!!! I suppose this means I need to practice writing their letters since apparently they are ready. Bad, bad Mama!

In the winter I’m a jeans and chucks kind of girl. I love me a good pair of jeans and have spent $150 a time or two for a great pair. When my sister Stacey used to tell me her jeans were over $100 I would roll my eyes and tell her what a waste of money (kind of like Jeff does at me now). =) And then I bought my first pair of designer jeans and let me say…a good pair of jeans not only flatter you in all the right places, they feel divine. [Sigh]. One of my favorite, most comfortable pairs of jeans that I’ve had forever are my paperdenim&cloth jeans. They are so soft and yummy that I will just cry when the hole working its way into the knee finally busts thru.

It looks like my daughter is going to follow in my footsteps with the great jean gene.

Oh my heavens, have you seen anything cuter?!?! Ok, well of course you have because you’ve seen my kids….I mean have you seen any clothing thing cuter?!?!?!

Yes, I bought my daughter her first pair of paperdenim&cloth jeans. These little beauties were at Marshalls for $12.99!! You can’t even get a pair of jeans at Tar*get for $12.99 let alone designer ones. Score one for Mama for good shopping!! Too bad I can’t find myself a new pair of new jeans. I’ve been looking and looking with no luck. Apparently my butt isn’t where it used to be (damn gravity!) and since I’m too busy [insert lazy] to go to the gym things aren’t sitting (haha) where they used to. Oh skinny belly and non saggy ass where did you go?!?!? Please come back soon so I can finally get a new pair of jeans. Mama needs some retail therapy!!

Last year when I entered the babies in gymnastics I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. It was NOT fun to say the least. Heaten cried pretty much the entire time. I couldn’t do it alone so Jeff or my Mom had to go with me. It was high stress and no fun. Over the summer we entered the babies in another gymnastics, this time on Saturday so Jeff could go. We went to a different facility (that I HATED) and while the babies did enjoy it, I did not. This fall I entered them once again in gymnastics hoping and praying this season would be better than last years drama.

OMG let me just say what a difference a year makes! They LOVE it. I LOVE it. We have SO MUCH FUN running and doing. They laugh and play and listen so well. It is just me with both of them so I was a little nervous our first time. Not only do they listen, take turns, and participate they do it smiling and laughing. I am so glad I talked myself into registering them again. Their favorite is the big trampoline

And the regular trampoline (they NEVER jump on our trampoline at home, go figure).

Last week was our last Fall class until the winter sessions start up. They are actually old enough for the pre-gym which is not parent/child, but I think for now I’ll stick with them and maybe next year they can do it all on their own.

As you can see Shenzie likes jumping and head stands so much she does them as part of her night time routine. Or rather, I should say, to get out of her night time routine. =)

My big, beautiful kids. <3

Strollin’ Along Edition:

The twinzies got new shopping carts and couldn’t wait to take them for a test drive on our nightly walk. And yes, it is still hot enough here to wear shorts and flip flops. WTH!!??!?

*Photo taken with iPhone.

Wondering what that is? Well, wonder no longer. That my dear internet is Heaten’s Great Wall of Boogies. Gross I know, but hilarious at the same time (well, to me anyhow). I found this Great Wall when I moved his crib away from the wall to add some stickers. Guess I need to clean behind things more, who knows what other “treasures” I might find. =)

Whew! There are not many times I am glad that the weekend is over and Monday has arrived. Actually, now that I think about it this may be the ONLY time I’ve ever had this wish. I was doing drugs or something the day I decided that 4 mini sessions along with 2 full sessions in one weekend was a good idea. This is not to say I didn’t love every minute of it. I met a wonderful new family with the CUTEST 3 year old daughter, a beautiful Mama to be, and saw four wonderful families again for my first ever Mini Sessions. I will say I am glad it is over because my stress level was quite high and my poor head is very tired. Soon I’ll be posting pictures on my photo blog. If you head over there you can see one of my all time family photos along with a family dip in the pool. =)

I feel really bad my babies blog is so neglected lately. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to devote some time to writing all of the funny and insane things the twinzies are up to these days. And maybe I’ll finally find the time to change out the Summer 09 header with a fall or winter one. Oh, and I really want to post pictures of Shenzie’s new room. Oh, and I really want to write about our first family vacation. Oh, and…and…and… the list just goes on and on.

A HUGE thank you and much appreciation to my fatabulous husband for taking the kids to the pumpkin patch, grocery shopping, and doing all of the cleaning and cooking this weekend. I LURVE you!

Family Pictures Edition:

My sister and I traded photo sessions this year. I figured since we’ve NEVER had real family photos taken it was about time (sad I know). Due to time constraints we each decided to process our own families so of course I went a bit crazy with the BRIGHT colors. =)

My favorite from the session. It goes to show you that the best photos aren’t always the ones with the cheese smiles. I love the interaction in this one, the realness to it, and of course the fun, funky colors!

The twinzies weren’t having much fun and rarely smiled, but I’d rather have real serious than fake smiles. I’m sure I smiled enough (my HUGE cheese grin) to make up for it.

Jeff was a little unhappy with my choice of location. Granted it was downtown in the ghetto with bums and druggies on the corners, but I love the Art District and really wanted to do our session there. It must be bad when Kristy was scared to get out of her car until we got there and wished she’d brought her gun.=)

Anyway, I love our family photos, thank you Sissy!! Now I just have to decide what to hang and where. =)

*All photos taken by Kristy Milton Photography

My mean husband decided that this year the twinzies didn’t need a party since we were taking them to San Diego and Sea World for their birthday. I was sad, but agreed that having a party the day before our first family vacation might be too much. And then I changed my mind and decided they weren’t going to get the short end of the stick when it came to parties. A little backstory - my birthday is on Christmas Day. You can imagine growing up how many birthday parties I had. ZERO*. My first birthday party was when I was 25. My second and last birthday party was my very favorite. My husband surprised me on my 30th birthday with a Karaoke Party! It was so fun!!!

Having twins means they already have to share their special day with someone else so as long as they let me I’m going to make a big deal out of their birthday so they won’t ever be sad they didn’t get proper celebrations.

*Mom, this is in NO WAY saying anything bad about you not giving me a party. I get that my birthday is inconvenient (as I’m sure you know since you were the one delivering me on Christmas). =)

Ok, on with the birthday tales. Jeff took the day off and we went to their totnastics class. This was fun because I usually take them by myself which is A LOT of work. They had a great time and Jeff got to see how far they’ve come. After burning off all of our energy we went to our favorite breakfast joint, The Omlet House, and pigged out on yummy food. From there it was home for a nap before the party.

I tried to keep it easy so I planned a little family party at the park. The weather was amazingly perfect, the park was fun (minus the bees) and the twinzies had a blast. I kept it simple with pizza and cupcakes with and Elmo decorations. We had a pinata which of course was a HUGE hit and quite hilarious.

The twinzies had a great time and were spoiled silly. By far the best present of the day was from Uncle Levi to Heaten. Thomas the Train tracks and Choo Choo. Heaten has been wanting a set for months and finally got it. We’ve since added to the trains with Billy who he takes EVERYWHERE. He will now sit at the train tracks forever watching it go round and round or pushing it thru the “train wash”.

Thank you so much Grandma, Grandpa, Aunties, Uncles, and Cousins for making the twinzies birthday so special.

Why oh why on the weekend I have not one, not two, but SIX photo sessions does Heaten wake up sick along with Daddy. Noooooooo. I CANNOT get sick. I refuse. There, I said it so it can’t happen. That will work, right?