15 Months

The boys turned 15 months on Saturday and we had their checkup today. I have to say the doctor visits are only getting harder as they are more aware of what is going on. Also, they are getting more mobile, gone are the days where they just lay on the exam table waiting on the doctor.

After them walking on the table and trying to pull the blinds down I decided I would put their shoes back on them and let them walk around while we waited on the doctor.

"I got the keys lets ditch this place before they start sticking us"-Gabe

Stats:
Gabe- 22 lbs 9 oz and 30 3/4 in long
Grant- 22 lbs 14 oz and 30 in long

Luckily shots hardly ever affect the boys and they were ready to play outside when we got home. We also had dinner outside on their picnic table.


 Notice what my sweet little boys is holding?(ignore the greasy fingerprints)

That's right a baseball! He carried it around all afternoon. This picture will make his daddy and Scooter very proud.



TIDWTFT:

-Lots of bangs and bruises this week. Grant got a bruise on his cheek from running into his brother. Gabe got a knot on his forehead from slipping in the tub and hitting the side. This will be the first of many I am sure.

- They have been having fun playing with plastic eggs this week. I will be showing you soon some of the activities we have been doing with these.

- They know how to climb stairs. I found this out while we were at a baby shower this past weekend. Scary!

Hippity Hoppity...

Easters on its way! I made this cute little plaque to give my living room a springy feel.

All you need to make one of these is:

-wood plaque (about $3 at Hobby Lobby)

-Spray paint (I used Valspar's Satin Aqua)

-vinyl ( I cut mine on my Silhouette but this is such a easy shape it could easily be traced and cut by hand.)

I am thinking about adding a word or something to the top right. What do you think? I was thinking the word "hop" would be cute.

Totally Organized Tuesdays- Mail System

For starters can I just say, I HATE MAIL. We get so much junk. I usually go get the mail and stand over the dumpster in the garage and throw the majority of it away before it even makes it into my house. For the rest of it we use this filing system.

This is not the only filing system we have. This is just a temporary filing for stuff we get in the mail and until I get a chance to move it to the office or until we no longer need it and it can be thrown away. I also keep the magazines I haven't got a chance to read behind the files.
The files we used:
-To Be Read
-To Be Paid
-Coupons
-Auto Insurance
-Home Insurance
-Medical Insurance
-Mortgage
-Bank
-Misc
-Important Documents
-Important Receipts
-Magazine Articles

I used my Dymo LetraTag Plus LT-100H Personal Label Maker to make the labels for the files. I love that thing!! I bought the basket and cute file folders at Hobby Lobby.

*I will only be doing Totally Organized Tuesday every other week now.*

TIDWTFT

Sorry I haven't been updating this thing as often but the weather is just way too pretty to be inside. Also, I will be totally organized Tuesdays every other week now instead of every week like I was before.


Gabe:
- We have been spending a lot of time outside and he has gotten really good at maneuvering in his cozy coupe.
- He likes to go down his slide on his belly and head first.
- He loves to sit on the grass and pick flowers, grass, pine needles.

Grant:
- He started saying Nana (which is what they call my mom) and she got to hear him say it for the first time.
- I sing the ABCs while changing their diaper and he picks up on a few letter and hums the song with me.
- He says "my momma". Jealousy issues already?

Both:
- I took them to the play area at the mall yesterday and they both went through this little tunnel. They got a tent and tunnel for christmas and wanted nothing to do with it, so we might have to drag it back out.

                                   All my boys asleep at the hotel. Needless to say they didn't sleep well in their playpens

 This is our azaleas(I think that is what these are.) They only bloom for like 2 weeks a year so we have to get a picture while they last.

                                                        Gabe apparently does not want to inherit his Daddy's chevelle.



Update and TIDWTFT

Last Friday, we took the boys to their first festival.

 Grant riding the trucks with MiMi

 Gabe and Mommy

 The carosel was fine until it started moving....

 then Grant man didn't like it. I don't blame him those things go way too fast and I was getting a little motion sick.

 They had a petting zoo. How cute is this baby goat? I think the boys though it was our puppy Lucy.

 This bunny was cute too except for the creepy red eyes.

Family pic..my Dad and stepmom went with us.

                                                                              On Saturday we did a little UTV riding.



Ok now onto Things I Don't Want To Forget Thursday, this week I will not be doing any individually because they are all things they both do.

- They have been getting into EVERYTHING lately and do things over and over again to see what my reaction is. It's exhausting to say the least. This is probably the reason I haven't been blogging as much haha. If you have any tips, feel free to comment them to me. Oh and another question, when did you start time outs?

-Before now, the boys have always been pretty comfortable around strangers but now if they haven't seen you very often they will give you the cold shoulder. I have noticed they start grabbing my arm really tight when we get around people they are unsure of. Grant pulls his arm in as if he were saying "don't touch me" and Gabe will stick out his lip and just wail.

- They love to blow kisses while I am feeding them. Oh and they also love to play with their hair while eating.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We are going out of town for a wedding.

Way Back When-sday- St. Patrick's Day Edition

This was the boy's last year on St. Patty's Day. Don't you just want to eat that baby fat up?

I think if they could talk in this picture their conversation would go something like this....

Grant ( right): Um Gabe...why are you wearing Green? Don't you know that is MY color.

Gabe (left): Can you please be quiet. I'm practicing my hula dance.

So to give you a little background... When we first brought the boys home I couldn't tell them apart (they even had identical birth marks), so we left the hospital bracelets on and then we made bracelets with their names. When they outgrew those I "color-coded" them. Gabe got blue and Grant got green. Now even though I can tell them apart I still do it when I have the option to have a blue and green.  It helps me keep track of sippy cups, snack traps, and helps people who still can't tell them apart. My husband now blames me because the boys now prefer those colors. So do any other twin mommas do this or am I the only crazy one?

Totally Organized Tuesdays: Toy Storage Edition

I was sure as soon as I found out I was having twins that my house would look like it threw up primary colors and it did for a little while when we had two swings, two bouncers, a jumperoo, activity mat and two walkers in our living room but now that all of that stuff is behind us I feel like we have things under control. At least when the boys are asleep.

See you would never guess two babies live here.....

until you see this. This was a christmas gift and it came from Pier One and we LOVE it. The hinges on it keep it from slamming on little fingers.

I keep these baskets in our built in bookshelf. The small toys one is for balls, blocks, cars. stuff that would fall to the bottom of the toy box if I were to put it in there.

This is not even close to all of their books. They also have a bookshelf in their room. These are all of their board books, you know the ones that I don't have to worry about them tearing to shreds. Notice I stand them up instead of just piling them in there, this makes it easier to flip through and find the book you want.

Now I know what you are thinking this doesn't look like toys to you but this is the big boy of the house's toys (aka my husbands toys).Oh and if anyone has any tips on how to hide all those wires please let me know. They drive me CRAZY.

Since our tv is mounted on the fireplace I put this end table next to it to house the electronics. Unfortunately our new HD satelite box is too wide to fit under the end table but the playstaion does and I keep a basket under there for my husband to put the controls and headsets in. 

(notice the chubby bald babies...those are my boys, they grow up WAY to fast)

So my organizing question for you guys is...if you decide to keep baby swings, bouncers, etc. for future kids how/where do you store it? Right now ours is hiding in our guest room closet.

Slacker, a Feature, and a Blog Hop

Sorry for being such a slacker the past week but well sometimes life happens and I get a little side tracked but I am back on board now. I will be posting Totally Organized Tuesdays later today and give an update with lots of pictures of what we have been up to. But before I did that I wanted to thank some people.

I got my first feature last week with Tara at Undeserving Grace. Her blog is very inspirational. So head on over to her blog and check out her series Inspire Before You Expire.



I am co-hosting a blog hop with these fellow twin moms. If you don't already follow them and link up to their blog hop "Tag Back Tuesday" every Tuesday. Oh and you don't have to have twins to link up.








Happy Blog Hopping!

Totally Organized Tuesdays: Kitchen Edition

Here are some organizing solutions I use to keep my kitchen in order. This is obviously not all my kitchen cabinets, just the ones I thought might help someone organize their space.

I got tired of digging around to try to find the cookie sheet or muffin tin I wanted to use so I bought this slotted organizer from Walmart. It would be more ideal if this could go sideways but the size of the cabinet doesn't allow it.

This lid rack allows me to be able to stack all the pots together and have all the lids together.

All my dry measuring cups and spoons go in that basket.

I keep all appliances(except for the microwave) in a large cabinet together. An appliance that only gets used a couple times a week or less is not worthy enough to clutter up my cabinets. However I do like to keep all my kitchen utensils in a crock on the counter so I am not digging in a drawer to find what I want.

All meds seperated by symptoms. Makes it easier than digging in the back of the cabinet and knocking all the other bottles over.

If you have any neat organizing tips that you have done feel free to leave me a link in the comments section. Organization makes this momma very HAPPY! It is a little bit of sanity in my chaotic world.

Strollers

I have two strollers right now and am looking for a more narrow compact side by side stroller.


The first stroller we had was the Quattro Tour Duo Tandem Stroller. We didn't have the same fabric, ours was called platinum. We also had the Graco Snugride Infant Car Seat, Platinum that snapped in. This stroller was great until the boys outgrew their car seats and I put them in the stroller part.
Pros:
-Two carseats would snap onto this stroller. A lot of strollers only accomodate for one carseat.
-Big basket at the bottom for shopping bags.
-Cup holders are nice
-Double Handle is great to put diaper bag and shopping bags on.
-Narrow enough to get through tight spaces.

Cons:
- Buckles are hard to fasten with a wiggly toddler. This was not an issue of course when we were still snapping the carseats in.
-Double Handle is hard to steer one handed. Like when I am in target pushing the stroller in front of me and pulling a cart behind me.
- Boys like to be able to see each other and they can't in this one.
-Heavy and bulky when folded.



Over the summer, we bought the Baby Trend Expedition Double Jogging Stroller, Skylar. They were 6 months old and they loved it.
Pros:
-Obviously great for jogging.
- Adjustable sunshade.
- Cupholders and a place for wallet and keys
-Very easy to buckle wiggly toddler.
-Side by Side, the boys love to tickle each other and steal each others cheerios.
-Very easy to steer.

Cons:
- Because it is a jogging stroller when the wheel isn't locked it gets kinda wobbly when you are walking fast.
- The basket is divided so if you have big bags they won't fit.
- One handle doesn't allow for you to put your diaper bag on it.
- Heavy and bulky when folded.
-Hard to get through doors. Always having to open two doors to get in which is challenging when I am by myself.  When there is only one door, we just don't go in that store. By the way, I think every place should have automatic doors haha.


Now here is the one I am thinking about getting, the Combi Twin Sport 2010 Side by Side Double Stroller, Sand. From what I have read, it folds pretty compactly and is narrow for a double side by side at least. The only drawback I see is that there is no cupholders for the Mom but I could buy one that hooks on if I see fit. So Moms that use a double stroller, is this a good one for shopping trips and doctors offices? Is it easy to buckle the babies in? Is there a better, cheaper option out there that you love. By the way I am keeping the jogger so this will be strictly for indoor use.