School's OUT!! (What we have been up to- in pictures!)

Yep- its a 2-post type of day.  I am finally feeling the urge to blog tonight :)

School has been out since May 17th and I have loved every minute of it!!!  It has been so great to spend pretty much all day everyday with the girls. 

My principal let me bring the girls to school on the last day.  Brian came with as well so that he could take the girls home after lunch.  There wasn't a whole lot going on academically on the last day.  We had an assembly in the morning followed by yearbook signing, lunch, and 6th grade graduation in the afternoon.  I saw a couple of classes inbetween there and we did some salsa dancing, which was a lot of fun!

I got the girls all dressed up to go to work with Mommy.  Charlotte was thoroughly enjoying playing with her foot.

Charlotte was already in her car seat and Evy was ready to go too!

These girls will sleep through anything!!  We were in the music room doing salsa dancing with the music cranked up and they were just snoozing away

Evy & Char

Daddy and Charlotte

Evy and my friend Sue.  I think Evy was trying to steal her scarf :)

This picture turned out really funny for some reason, but I thought it was funny that both girls were trying to take Brian's pizza.

Me and my Evzie

Me and Charzlie (Ha, I have been calling her that lately)

All of the kids at school were so funny.  They were so interested in the girls and loved making them laugh and smile.  It was especially cute to hear the little boys all telling me how cute these girls are. 

We got home and Charlotte decided that she wanted to take everything out of the diaper bag. 

Evy just wanted to find her blankey

The girls have been having a lot of fun playing with the doggie.  While I am feeding them in the morning, he sits next to them on the couch and tries to distract them :)

"If I just reach a little further I can get him!!" Charlotte

Evy wanted to read Pete the Cat

Charlotte found a bottle of Gatorade extremely fascinating

Evy- all wrapped up in a blankey

Charlotte- posing for the camera!!

Messy girls! Evy & Char

They sleep in the funniest positions

They both had their faces pressed up against the pack n play.  It kind of looked like a smushy face when  your put your face up to a window! ha ha

We went to a graduation party and it was a little chilly so the girls snuggled up under a blankey!  Evy (top) and Charlotte (bottom)

My chunky little girls eating their breakfast

Char & Evy

Sometimes Charlotte likes to spill more of her milk than she drinks

little hands and feet!

First time at the park!! Charlotte

Evy

Char & Evy- sharing a swing

Char & Evy

Evy fell asleep on the walk home

Charlotte looked tired but didn't fall asleep

The dreaded "big box of meds" arrived... man do I hate shots

Evy doesn't like it when her sister tries to eat her foot!

I finally made some time to plant new plants in my garden!! I pretty much just let things go last summer since I was pregnant so this year I am trying to make up for that.

Charlotte's new thing is crawling on top of her sister.  She's gonna be trouble!!

We took the girls to the zoo!!

Charlotte wanted to eat the stroller

Charlotte ended up falling asleep

Evy just woke up from a nappy

Another sleeping picture... I just can't resist!!

Char & Evy

It has been so much fun staying home with the girls!!  I have been taking a crazy amount of pictures, but I figure that you really can't have too many. 

We also just recently went to Minnesota for my brother's wedding and I have a lot to share about that.  I guess I just got behind in my blogging and need to find a way to keep up!!    I will leave you with a picture of Evy.  I just think they look so cute when they are cranky :)

7 Months!!

Its so hard to believe that my girls are 7  months old already.  It feels like yesterday they were kicking around inside my belly. 

Evy & Char- 7 Months

Their usual bear photo shoot was way more difficult than it has been in the past.  The girls were wiggling all around and trying to eat the bear, the blanket, and well really anything they could reach.  Charlotte was hungry so I think that's why she was trying to eat everything... but I wanted to get their picture while their outfits were still relatively clean. 

Yummy bear!!!

Woah! Where are you girls going??

Crazy hair, Evy!

They are doing so many new things these days! Charlotte is soooo close to crawling.  She is very interested in everything she finds.... especially stuff she isn't supposed to play with.... like shoes.  She likes to scoot over to the rug by the door and chew on shoes. I guess I will have to find somewhere else to put them.

Charlotte pulled the diaper bag over and pulled out her bottle, the diapers, and wipes

Evy is still rolling everywhere.  She looooves to roll around.  Today she rolled over to the couch and was underneath the cushion that was sorta jutting out.  She had her thumb in her mouth and I couldn't figure out why she was over by the edge  of the couch.  I looked down and she had her other hand on a tiny corner of her blankey.  She was tired and wanted to go to sleep so she rolled her way over to her blankey that was sorta hanging off the couch.  How funny!

Evy is also really "talking" lately.  She is starting to babble by saying "gaga" and other two syllable babbles.  Brian swears she said "dada" but I don't think so.  She loves to hear her own voice!  Today when she woke up she was screaming!  But, it wasn't a mad yell, it was just a "mama I want your attention" yell!  We all like the sound of our own voice, right?  Charlotte is less vocal, but communicates more through smiles and facial expressions.  Lately she has been smiling and then crunching up her nose at the same time.  I have to snap a picture of it because it is just so darn cute! 

Charlotte absolutely loves to torment the kitty!!  Sometimes when I am holding Charlotte the kitty will curl up on the couch with us.  Charlotte will basically fling her body onto the kitty and try to "pet" her aka rip out her fur.  I think its pretty funny, but I am just waiting for the day when the kitty gets pissed. 

They both also like the dog.   Evy especially likes to pet the dog... aka, stick her hand out at the dog's mouth and have him lick it.  It makes her smile every time. 

They still take a couple of good naps each day.  They wake up around 6-6:30am, eat, and go down for a little nap.  They wake up, eat, play, and take another short nap.  Sometimes they will get in a nice 1-3 hour nap in the afternoon as well.  We don't have them on a strict schedule and instead let them dictate when they are tired, etc.  It has seemed to work out so far I think because we are not forcing them to eat, sleep, etc.  We just let their natural rhythm take over which has been great!  They eat generally 5x each day.  Approx 7 am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm.  They eat 6-8oz each feeding with the exception of one puree feeding.  They eat their puree (if it is bananas, they eat 1 banana EACH!) and then a 4oz bottle.  Brian and I still make all of their purees.  

We have been talking about what we should be feeding them for a "solid" food.... their pediatrician said that they can eat more solid foods starting at 7 months.  We looked at the grocery store the last time they were there and and all we saw were puffs and similar things with tons of ingredients that were not necessarily natural.  We decided to pass on that and do a little research on what some other options were.  So, last night I was at a party with work people and Evy kept grabbing at people's food and beverages.  The gal holding her asked if she could have some type of finger food.  There were small wedges of watermelon at the party so I thought we would give that a whirl.  Evy absolutely LOVED it!  Watermelon was perfect because it was "solid" but very soft and easily mashed between two little teeth poking out and gums.  A lot of it ended up on Evy's shirt, but that's okay.  I'm glad that she had the opportunity to try it!  I bet the cold watermelon felt nice on her gums as well.  I will have to go to the store soon and get some more watermelon to feed her. 

Evy and her watermelon

The girls also still sleep together.  I think they really like it, actually.  There is mixed information out there about whether twins should sleep together or not.  Ultimately, I think that it just depends on the kids and how they are together.  The girl sleep all night long, and often cuddle up with each other.  When they wake up, they interact with each other by talking, touching, looking at one another, and playing.  Sometimes they roll over each other, pin each other down, and pull hair but I think that's all part of being a twin.  Its really fun to see them interact and they really do learn from each other.  Hopefully they will learn to share toys, blankies, etc.  It will be nice when they are older if we can just buy one of different toys instead of their own.  That's not to say that they won't have anything that's their own.... just not everything. 

Evy & Char napping together with their magic blankies and their toys

Evy & Char

Evy (top) and Charlotte (bottom) taking a little nap after playing.  Evy's foot on Charlotte's head doesn't seem to be bothering her! :)

Evy and Charlotte

I'm sure you can tell, but I really like taking pictures of them sleeping.  They just look so calm and peaceful when they are sleeping.  They don't seem to mind the flash either. 

I'm not sure if I have talked about their blankies, but these seem to be the ones.  We have lots of different types but these are the ones they were drawn to.  They were made by our friend Michelle's grandma.  Michelle brought them to us when she came and visited for 5 magical days back in November.  All we literally did was sat on the couch, talked, and took care of the girls.  It was so nice!!  Anyways, these are seriously magic sleep blankies.  When Evy is tired all she needs is a full belly, this blankey, and her thumb.  I lay her down and off to sleepy land she goes.  She loves to put her thumb and her fingers through the little holes and hold it up by her face with her other hand.  It is awesome!  They first started napping with them a couple of months ago when we were watching (because they were supposed to sleep with nothing) and then they started sleeping with them all the time.  We asked the pediatrician at their 6 month appointment what she thought about it and said that it was probably okay but to maybe wrap them in the blanket so it wasn't just loose.  She said that there was no specific age when it becomes "safe" to sleep with blankets, so I just had to make a decision on what was best for them. 

It is just so fun to be a mommy and watch these beautiful girls grow up.  Their personalities bloom more each day and I am just amazed at what they are able to learn and do.  Its hard to believe that they are only 7 months old and can do so much!