Look Who's ONE!!!!

 

Well, I can't believe it.  My little girls are ONE!!!  Seriously, where has time gone?  This year flew by wayyyy to fast.  It's amazing how much they have grown and learned.  This has been the happiest year of my life.  There's no greater feeling than seeing your children do things for the first time, not to mention their laughs, giggles, expressions, sounds and best of all, seeing them interact with one another! The month leading up to their first birthday, I was an emotional wreck.  Every time I thought about them turning one, I would cry!  Yes, motherhood has made me a wimp lol.  I'm very sensitive and emotional now.  Surprisingly, I wasn't that emotional on their actual birthday untill night time.
 
Brad and I started one of their birthday traditions by going in their bedroom in the morning and singing happy birthday loud and clear.  Ahhh, of course Brad gets up from our bed and rushed to their room yelling, "I'm going to see them first on their birthday" haha.  I usually sing a "Good Morning" song every morning, so it was very special to switch it up with a birthday song.  We brought the girls downstairs and I made them a special, birthday breakfast....pancakes!  Not just any pancakes, but STAR shaped pancakes.  It was funny watching them eat it.  They've never had it before.  They ate about half of it and played with the rest. 

We played with the girls for a while before heading to the park for their 1st birthday cupcake. We debated whether to do a smash cake photo session, but decided against it because we really wanted to wait until their 1st birthday for them to try a cake/cupcake for the first time. My sweet friend volunteered herself to take the pictures on the day of their birthday so it worked out perfectly. That morning was a bit cold and gloomy, but the pictures still turned out great! They LOVED the homemade frosting I made. 





 

 

After the big mess, we went back home and cleaned the girls up.  We put them down for their nap and got everything ready for the Aquarium. When the girls woke up from their nap, we fed them lunch and put them in their cute birthday outfits!  How cute are these little twinkies!

 

 

We met up with my sisters, nephews, and niece at the Aquarium.  We really enjoyed ourselves and the girls had a blast!  They were mesmerized by everything around them.  They even got to see a penguin up close.  My favorite part was watching them light up and smile at the fish. 

 

 

 

 



Well..............we decided to get an adult drink for ourselves lol.  Hey, it was a big accomplishment for us as too.  We survived the FIRST year as parents of twins.  It was well deserved and it felt good GREAT to know that I could drink and wasn't in any pain from the c-section, not breastfeeding, and knowing that I would get my beauty rest!!!!

 



 

 

After an amazing, unforgettable time at the Aquarium with the family we went back home to eat dinner.  Before bath time, I read the girls the letter I wrote to them (I plan to do this every year!).  Although they don't understand it now, one day, they will be old enough to really appreciate the meaning behind it.  They will realize how much I love them and how much I have given up to be with them ♥  I will not post my letter on this blog.  I feel like it's a little too personal.  After reading the letter, I showed them a picture of themselves when they were just born.  It was so sweet because Juju kissed the picture as though she knew it was herself. 

 

 

It was an amazing day.  We had so much fun with the girls and we had a great time reminiscing about the past year.  Oh how things have changed for us, but we absolutely love every minute of it.  We ended the night with cuddles and having a good night sleep.

 

 

Happy First Birthday My LOVES!!!!!!!!

 

 

 ***Birthday party blog coming soon***

***Baptism blog coming soon***

***Why did no one tell me this about motherhood? blog coming soon***



Twins' Playroom!

Well, this will be the last post of the year! I figured since the girls are napping I could write a quick blog about the girls' playroom.  It is not finished yet, but its almost there.  I have to give Pinterest a lot of credit for some of the ideas =)



This is the view of the playroom from the stairs.  It's actually the upstairs loft.  It's the perfect area because it's right next to the girls bedroom and bathroom. I apologize that the picture came out so dark.  I had to use my phone for the pictures since my camera is completely dead.

We decided that a love seat would be the perfect size for the playroom. I got the idea of the hanging pictures from Pinterest and also made the pictures using canvases, modge podge, ribbon and wrapping paper =)   I already had the curtain rod and most of the other material so it was very inexpensive!

 

 

Even before I had kids, I knew that I wanted to have a library for them (it's the teacher in me!).  This genius idea I also got from Pinterest.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to do it.  My main priority was to have a library with the books facing forward!!! I got the letters at Michael's and decorated them myself with ribbon and flowers.  I also wanted to display my girls' arts and crafts so I used the butterflies and ribbon to do so...this idea saved me $15 from Target lol.  I love the picture of the girls with their book.  Can you tell that I'm already installing the love for literacy??? =)

 I used the foam letters to spell out TWINS ♥

 

 

I LOVE Dr. Seuss!!!! This quote is definitely appropriate for the library! I didn't want to spend money on Etsy for this quote, so I did it myslef on Word and added the ribbon.  I already had the frame so all I had to do was spray pain it.

 

 

 

 

The "shelves" are actually spice racks from Ikea. They were only $4 each and all I had to do was spray paint them white. I change the books out every couple of weeks and also use books depending on the holiday =) 

 

The outside view from the window...so peaceful!

I eventually want to change the TV stand for a white one to match the rest of the furniture but this works for now. 

I love this quote........and it's so true hehe ;)

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite things in the playroom.  I absolutely adore this quote.  I had it made on Etsy! 

 



 

I love the storage space.  For weeks we looked at different places to buy the storage cubbies and could not bring myself to spend $50 on it with only 9 holes.  When my community had their annual garage sell, I went on a quest to find some........and I did!!!! Not only did I save money on these, but I love the unique shape. Wayyyy cuter than just the simple, boring square ones =)  total price of $25! However, I did spend a lot of money on the storage bins =( paid $7 for each to later find out that the dollar store has them for a dollar!!!  Oh well, these will last for a while and are of great quality.
The mirror came with the dresser in the twins bedroom.  I'm glad I can finally use it.  It gives the room a very princess-like look.  They built the loft with a closet just in case the owners would want to turn it into a 5th bedroom.  I love the storage space!!!

Well that's it for now.  I'm not going to add anything new for a while except for another Dr. Seuss quote.  The girls are enjoying this room already and love to play and "read" their books. 


It's a twin thing

Ok so I know I have been slacking on blogging...........and I would love to write more about my daily life as a mother of twins.  So here are just a few things that I deal with on a regular basis.  Some of these are funny, some not so much!

-My girls fight over all the toys now.  Seriously, what happened to my sweet little girls who shared so nicely?  Not anymore!!! Ugh, I swear I'm playing referee at least 20 times a day.  Although, I must admit is pretty funny to watch.  They now know to take off when they see the other one coming their way.  I can do without the crying though.

-Not only do they fight over toys, but now they're physically fighting too.  They still don't grasp the idea of being "gentle." I need to take a video of the many times they wrestle each other.  Juliana has become quite the bully, which used to be the other way around.  She now pushes her sister, steps on her and yanks on her clothes. 

 

 Ha, in this picture Isa is the bully

 

 

- One of the best parts of my day is cuddle time.  Now that my girls are always on the move, it's nice to get some one-on-one time when they're calm and cuddly.  Carrying them reminds me of how fast they're growing....ok Sandra don't get emotional...opps too late =(

-So my life has become a constant battle every time I have to change a diaper.  If you have never seen a ten month old throw a tantrum you're more than welcome to come to our house, especially after bath time.  We have tried everything possible to reason with them, but apparently, it's the worst possible thing we can do to them.  Come on, I know they don't want to stay in their filthy diaper all day...or do they?  Umm, maybe they can win this battle?  Ok, no, it's not possible, but it feels nice to contemplate the idea for a second hehe.  We've tried singing, giving them toys, letting them play with a clean diaper....we're running out of options.  Payback is going to be a bitch when we start potty training muahaha (scary laugh)!!!!  I need to record this too!!!

-The twins, or should I say A twin, managed to get a hold of the dining table linen and pulled it until our glass centerpiece fell off the table and shattered everywhere!!!  It was such a scary sound to hear, both Brad and I ran so fast to our formal dining room to find two scared faces looking our way.  Thankfully no one got hurt.  The mystery will remain....which one did it????

-One of our favorite things we do at night is racing the girls up the stairs. When the girls are ready for their bath, we each grab one and let them go up the stairs.  Brad likes to cheat though!

-One of the things that have kept me sane is going to lots and lots of play dates. The girls enjoy interacting with other kids and well, I enjoy interacting with other adults lol.

-Something that makes me giggle is seeing other people amazed at what I do.  The other day I went to my friend's house for a play date.  At this point, I'm a pro at handling both girls at once...it saves time.  So, I got out of the car with my diaper bag and got one girl out.  Then, as I was holding Isa, I got Juju out of the car. Her front neighbor, who at the time was mowing the lawn, stopped what he was doing and yelled, "wow look at you doing that."  I turned back and said, just another day....I'm used to it  =)

-Taking pictures of the girls was such a bliss when they were younger.  Now, it's so hard to get both of them to cooperate at once.  In addition to that, Isa is now refusing to wear her beautiful bows. UGH!!!!  Ok, fine, don't wear your stupid bow...........but please stop trying to get your sisters off too!!!

- There can only be ONE!!!! Twin problems!!!

- So the girls have mastered the art of climbing on the couch.  It doesn't help that the dogs help aid in this horrible obsession that the girls are on.  Although, I do love that they know how to get down, which means I don't have to worry as much.  Anyways, one day one of the girls was on the couch with me.  She kept jumping up and down and I kept telling her to stop.  I would say, "Juju, stop doing that.  No, you're going to fall.  Juju sit down."  I kept calling her name telling her stop.  Then, out of nowhere comes Brad with the other baby and puts her on my lap.  He then says, "here you go, since you keep calling her name." The whole time I thought Juju was on the couch with me but it was really Isa haha. That's what I get for not paying attention and playing on my phone.

-They now climb on anything that has an elevated surface -_-  If Isa would put as much dedication to walking as she does with climbing, we would have a runner by now!

- Hey, my sister is crying....I guess I'm going to start crying too for no apparent reason!

-Isa makes the funniest sounds ever!  She just started this weird, manly laugh too.  It's a bit creepy lol. 

- For a while, the twins' favorite thing to do was to open the cabinets and get everything out. It was so annoying!!!!!!!!!!   Thank god for whoever invented latches.  It was so funny watching the first time they realized they couldn't open the cabinets anymore.  Poor girls were so frustrated!

 

 



 

 

 

-Nothing is more fun than getting puked all over your clothes and hair. My poor Juju bean was sick =(

 

 

 

- We love when dada comes home from work.  The girls love to play with him and I enjoy taking a break from the girls =)  It's a win, win!

 

-I love that the girls can hold their own bottle/sippy cup now.  It leaves me time to do other things. Other things such as cleaning, dishes or cooking...yay free time!

 

 

 

 

Ok I have so many more things I could write about, but it's pretty late.  I need my sleep since the girls love to wake up at 7am since the time changed.  I wanted to post some videos but my phone is not cooperating.  Hope you enjoy.  Good night.

 



Sorry!

Hello my fellow followers,

I know it has been a while since my last blog. I know I always give the "excuse" of being too busy, but I swear it's true. I have been dedicating my spare time, which is not a lot, to other things lately. I've been working out a lot lately trying to lose the last few pounds of baby babies weight and gaining back my muscle and endurance. This has not been an easy task after been placed on bed rest at 26 weeks of pregnancy. So I literary had to start back from zero. All those years of working out down the drain =( I have also been busy with some projects for the twins' playroom, which I hope it will be done soon!!! Look out for that blog! The other thing that's keeping me busy is selling some of my girls' clothes. It takes time to take pictures, upload them to FB, and then go back-and-forth with the people that are interested in buying them. I have to weigh the clothes and calculate shipping. I'm so glad to finally get rid of some of the clutter and make some money, but I get sad knowing that my girls are no longer teeny tiny. I seriously look at some of their old clothes and wonder how they ever fit in them. Oh yeah, I have also been working on my pregnancy scrapbook. I can't believe it's not done yet....that's what I get for being a procrastinator. To add to all those things I just mentioned, this month has been super busy with play dates, pumpkin patches, vaca to Miami to see the Harper's, substituting, MoMs' nights, and squeezing in some quality time with my hubby. I promise to blog very soon. I'm dying to tell you all about the twins' baptism. It was such an unforgettable experience.

I hope everyone has a goodnight!

19 Things...

So I saw a blog on Pinterest and I absolutely loved the idea of doing this.  Here are 19 things we should always say to our children. 

 

1. I love you! There is nothing that will make me stop loving you. Nothing you could do or say or think will ever change that.

 

2. You are amazing! I look at you with wonder! Not just at what you can do, but who you are. There is no one like you. No one.

 

3. It’s all right to cry. People cry for all kinds of reasons: when they are hurt, sad, glad, or worried; when they are angry, afraid, or lonely. Big people cry too. I do.

 

4. You’ve made a mistake. That was wrong. People make mistakes. I do. Is it something we can fix? What can we do? It’s all over. You can start fresh. I know you are sorry. I forgive you.

5. You did the right thing. That was scary or hard. Even though it wasn’t easy, you did it. I am proud of you; you should be too.

 

6. I’m sorry. Forgive me. I made a mistake.

7. You can change your mind. It’s good to decide, but it is also fine to change.

8. What a great idea! You were really thinking! How did you come up with that? Tell me more. Your mind is clever!

 

 

9. That was kind. You did something helpful and thoughtful for that person. That must make you feel good inside. Thank you!

 

10. I have a surprise for you. It’s not your birthday. It’s for no reason at all. Just a surprise, a little one, but a surprise.

11. I can wait. We have time. You don’t have to hurry this time.
 

 

12. What would you like to do? It’s your turn to pick. You have great ideas. It’s important to follow your special interests.

13. Tell me about it. I’d like to hear more. And then what happened? I’ll listen.

14. I’m right here. I won’t leave without saying good-bye. I am watching you. I am listening to you.

 

 

15. Please and Thank You. These are important words. If I forget to use them, will you remind me?

16. I missed you. I think about you when we are not together!

 

17. Just try. A little bit. One taste, one step. You might like it. Let’s see. I’ll help you if you need it. I think you can do it.

18. I’ll help you. I heard you call me, here I am. How can I help you? If we both work together, we can get this done. I know you can do it by yourself, but I’m glad to help since you asked.

19. What do you wish for? Even if it’s not yet time for birthday candles and we don’t have a wishbone, it’s still fun to hear about what you wish for, hope for, and dream about.

Been There, Done That!

One of the things that I love about being a SAHM is the fact that I have so much time with the twins.  Being a member of 3 different mom groups has definitely made it easier, more fun and helpful.  One of these groups is a MoM (Mom of Multiples) group that I wish did more events locally.  Tonight I went to their monthly meeting, which also included some "workshops" taught by MoMs who have been there, done that!  It's always nice to get out of the house (alone!) and talk to other moms.  It's even better when these moms can totally relate to what you're going through.  Let's face it, you always gravitate to people that have similar experiences or can relate to what you're dealing with.  Tonight was just great to get out and talk to other moms of twins/triplets and really talk about issues that we go through. 

As I'm sitting there, listening to the "teacher" talk about ways to help multiples develop their own separate identities, it just hit me how my life is so different now.  Not even a year ago I was taking trainings for my career.  This is my "job" now.  My world revolves around them. 

Well just wanted to share my night with you all.  It was nice to meet new people and learn some great things that I will apply now and some in the near future.  Brad doesn't know it yet, but when Juliana and Isabella are ready to be potty trained, he will have to use the potty sitting down hehe.  Sorry dada, the girls will be too young to comprehend why he needs to pee standing up!  So he will have no choice but to be a good model and pee sitting down =)

Goodnight my wonderful followers!

I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way!

So after 8 months of being a MoM, I can honestly say that there has never been a time where I can quickly run to the store to get a few things.  There are always people who want to stop me to ask a million questions about the twins, look at them and/or tell me their own personal stories.  I don't mind the attention and I kindly answer the questions (even if I had just answered them ten mins ago!).  My husband has now mastered the "don't make eye contact" technique, in order to avoid conversation.  Don't get me wrong, I love that people are interested in my twins and want to ask questions.  However, sometimes people can be a bit rude without realizing it. 

About a week ago, I went on a play date with a moms' group that I absolutely love.  As we're sitting in a circle, some of the moms were venting/complaining about their one baby.  What made me really upset was when one of the moms looks over at me, as I'm trying to keep both of my girls in the same area, and says something along the lines of feeling sorry for me because I have to take care of two and how bad I have it.  Really? How dare someone tell me that having twins is anything but a blessing!!!  I wanted to say "You really want to complain about your child being sick at night?  Try having two sick babies at one time, crying at 2am while your husband is at work.  Having to take one baby out of the room to put her to sleep because the other one is sick, crying and wanting to be held too.  Knowing that as your rocking your ONE baby to sleep, your other baby is in her room crying hysterically.  Praying and hoping that she falls asleep quickly so that you can go comfort the other one.  Finally, when baby ONE falls asleep, putting her down on your bed because taking her back to her room will wake her up from her crying sister.  Then going to get my second baby, rocking her to sleep, putting her back in the crib.  Then finally being able to bring baby ONE back to her room." 
No, I didn't say that to her for two reason:

1. I would have proved her right for feeling sorry for me lol
2. She has every right to complain about her own experience as a mother, without someone else putting her down for it.

I just looked at her and sort of laughed.  No point in explaining why having twins is so AMAZING!  I've had plenty of people tell me they're happy they don't have twins.  Yes, I get it, better me than you!  AMEN to that!  But seriously, why do people say those things to a mother of twins? Keep those comments to yourself! What the heck do they want me to say back? Yes, you're right, having twins is horrible!!! Wrong!!! Once again, no point in explaining why having twins is so AMAZING!

About two weeks ago, two of my best friends came to spend the weekend with me.  It was much needed since Brad was working long hours.  We went to the mall to hang out for a bit and have lunch.  As we were leaving, two ladies across the street were staring at us.  I'm used to people staring, but my friends are not.  What is so interesting about loading two babies and putting a monstrous stroller away?  I guess the fact that I was having trouble putting the stroller in the trunk didn't help the situation at all.  The two females started to laugh.  My friend Jessica was getting mad because these ladies were blatantly staring, so she was staring back at them.  I just laughed. 

I know that for some people I'm a walking advertisement for birth control.  I admit, having twins is challenging but I could not fathom having it any other way.  I love that I have two babies that need/want my attention.  There's nothing more amazing than having both of my girls climb on me! How many people can experience that amazing feeling when your baby first learns to crawl twice within the same week? Take that, moms of singletons!  The number one best feeling is to see my twins interact with each other.  I love when they make each other laugh and giggle.  That is something that only MoMs will get to enjoy.  It's mind-blowing to see how two babies, who can't speak yet, talk to each other.  I've watched Isabella purposely do things to make her sister laugh.  She repeatedly does it to get a reaction out of her sissy.  It's so wonderful to see and I love every minute of it. 

I know that outsiders will continue to be fascinated and stop me where ever I go.  I just want people to be nice and keep their negative comments to themselves. Yes, I do have my hands full and yes they're double trouble.  I still wouldn't have it any other way =)