mini update before the big one...

the babybears turned 1 year old! this is just a mini update for their big day. i will write up the big one later tonight when i'm not running around with them!

11 months

i can't believe the twins are 11 months already. i swear it was just yesterday that i was rocking them to sleep and they were snuggled in the bed with us.

lincoln is crawling, standing, and learning to feed himself. he's also starting the whole cruising and climbing thing so we always have to keep a close eye on him - can't turn our backs on him for a split second! reagan just started army crawling and has yet to learn to sit up from lying down, but she just doesn't seem in a hurry to do so. she's content with being the princess and having us do her bidding. haha! she has her moments of feeding herself when she feels like it, but for the most part, she prefers we feed her.

they're both still sleeping through the night and, for the most part, napping well. they love walking around the house in their walkers and exploring. they're starting to get picky about what they eat now though. i'm hoping it's just a phase.

we're frantically trying to get everything ready for their 1st birthday around here too. between their 1st birthday plans, starting a new calligraphy & lettering business, drowning in the wedding planning/consulting stuff, and chasing the twins around the house all day every day, i'm EXHAUSTED!

being a stay-at-home-mom is a lot harder than anyone thinks! i'll write a whole different entry on that later though. for now, this momma needs to finish up some work and then knock out! tomorrow's mark's first father's day - will do a mini-update on that and my first mother's day (in may) if i have energy to remember!

10 months!

i can't believe time is flying by so fast! the babybears are 10 months today!

unfortunately, they both have a cold today too - hence, back to jammies with covered toes! poor kiddos. they are so congested and snotty. i hate colds. i hate that for babies, there's almost nothing you can do for them. fortunately, i have (finally) started using Essential Oils on them. i'll write a post on that later. so, i'm hoping the oils and other remedies and of course lots of mommy cuddles will help them get better sooner than later.

in other news, the twins are just amazing. lincoln is inching away all over the place and pulling himself up at least to his knees. so i had mark lower his crib just as a preemptive move to avoid any accidental climbing over the rails. lincoln wasn't a big fan of it at first, but now he likes having a different view of everything. he smiles a lot more and is more interactive too. he just loves being thrown into the air and being spun in circles with mommy.

as for reagan, she's still not on the move. she's content sitting in one place as long as she's surrounded by toys of her choice. when we put her on her tummy, she just lies there and spins in circles or "swims" in place. i'll try to get a video up of that next time. it really funny and cute. she did crawl the other night because she was about 2 feet away from where i had last left her. well, either she crawled or just kept rolling till she got where she wanted to go!? haha!

the twins both LOVE mickey mouse clubhouse! they freeze every time we put the show on for them. and they both can't resist the music of Taylor Swift! every time they are fussy in the car, i put "shake it off" on the radio and they instantly stop crying! i'm thinking i'm going to seriously have to send Taylor Swift some sort of thank you gift for calming the twins down! haha!

time to go tend to the twins and they're yucky cold!

9 months! a quick update

just a super quick update that the babybears turned 9 months on monday! time is flying toooooo fast!

8 months + a lot of stuff!

okay, i keep saying i'm gonna update and i never do... till now! i'm just gonna give y'all a jist of what's been happening... but first... the babybears turned 8 MONTHS!!!

sooooo much has happened!
my family came to maryland to spend christmas and new years with us and the babybears. it was everything short of amazing. the babybears didn't quite make it to midnight, but we still snuck in to give them new year's kisses. here is one of my fave photos from the holidays of the twins with their cousins from texas.

after the chaos of the holidays died down, things got back to normal... sorta. reagan all of a sudden developed this awful stranger anxiety and wouldn't allow anyone but mark or myself hold her or even be near her. i read that it often happens in development, but i didn't think it would be so bad for her. in less than a week of seeing her grandmother (mark's mom) she decided all of a sudden that she was a stranger and wouldn't let her hold or even come within a foot of her! i felt so bad for mark's mom.

this new anxiety of hers did not bode well for what was to come... me getting carpal tunnel surgery. at the end of january, i had to undergo carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand. because of this we needed to have help from mark's aunt and his mom to take care of the twins while i healed. but with reagan having this anxiety, it wasn't easy. it took her a full week to allow mark's aunt and his mom to come near her.

during this time, the twins also started eating solids aaaaand SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! here are videos of their first solids experiences.

so i never ever wanted to do the whole "cry it out" method of sleep training. i hated the idea of my babies crying themselves to sleep. it sounded so heartless and traumatizing. but the pediatrician insisted on it and assured me that it would be best for all of us. and she was right. the twins are now sleeping 10-12 hours each night and are awesome nappers on most days. there are still some restless times here and there, but i'll take what i can get.

in february, we celebrated mark's 36th birthday - brunch with family, dinner with just us 2 and a party with some friends. we spent our first valentine's day with the babybears quietly at home - just the 4 of us.

 

in mid-march, we took our first trip on a plane to houston with the babybears. it was interesting to say the very least. we learned a lot of do's and definite don'ts as well. it'll help us with our trip scheduled for october! i'll have to do a separate entry on that next time. we spent st. patty's day in houston too.

i also, recently, revived an old hobby of mine - calligraphy - and am slowly turning it into a potential side-business. i'll soon be creating a section on the blog dedicated especially to this! keep an eye out for it!

i think that's all for now. being a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom takes a lot of my time! so the updates will be few. hope y'all understand!