Thanksgiving Week!

The girls have been so silly lately! They are seriously full on talking. I asked Josie on Sunday if she wanted water, and she responded "I NEED water." Alright then, water coming right up!

Alex is practically counting to 10 (assisted) and can point to numbers and knows them. OK she gets 6 and 9 messed up. She also knows all of her colors, she even pointed to my tank top and said GREY excitedly. Josie calls everything green still lol which is apparently way more normal than what Alex is up to. 

Visiting travel town - hanging out an open train window. 

Getting some lunch at IKEA - we got these disposable bibs in Canada, so brilliant!
I even remember them from being a kid myself! 

Playing at IKEA!

New favorite hang out spot is ON the coffee table.
I realized I sit on it too, so I can't really enforce staying off of it. 

Alex doesn't let go of anything. She keeps pointing to a corner of her bedroom and saying "spider" where WEEKS AGO James had to catch a spider at bed time. She points to my nose and says "payt no" (paint nose) referring to when I had a painted nose dressed as an owl for Halloween. And Daddy "boo boo head" from when he had some fake slashes on his head for Halloween. Let's just say Halloween made an impression. If anyone is wondering why we are going to do Christmas by the book (i.e. not open gifts early, ahem Grandma Rachelle) its because of this. Alex is watching, and learning, and she knows! 

Josie thought it was funny to "sleep eat"
Here she is trying to find her mouth with a fork of food lol

More sleep eating. 

Its been cold here!! Bundled up to go for a walk!
More cold on the way, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s!

Getting some paperwork done before bed. 

Finally getting a little hair, enough for a pony tail hah

The girls are such little sweet hearts lately - very sweet to friends and family. Very social, wanting to play and learn. If someone visits, we hear about it for days. If they play with a friend at the park, we hear about it later, too. Josie particularly likes one friend named "Fisher," or at least likes to repeat his name ha ha. 

Tantrums are definitely in full swing, though they don't last too long. We just try to stay calm through them and move things away that can cause a spill or mess. I can't even imagine having this level of communication inside your brain, then trying to express it and not being clearly understood. We definitely still need to interpret a lot of what is expressed and sometimes fail. And of course sometimes we can't read minds, so you know, things are frustrating. ;)

For weeks we were trying to figure out what Happy Shoo Shoo was - as Alex would excitedly scream it out and ask for it. One day Brittany exclaimed HAPPY SHOO SHOO (in an attempt to figure out what it was) and Alex stood there with a big grin. Oh man my heart was breaking that we had no idea what she was hoping would happen next. A few days later, I was singing songs, and, having run out of tunes, went into Happy Birthday, and both girls screamed out HAPPY SHOO SHOO!!!!!! Oh! What a relief to finally know what that means! 

Wearing cute skirts and leggings

Speaking of Happy Shoo Shoo - we asked Alex what she wanted at her birthday, she said she wanted Cupcakes, yellow ones. And "nummy soup." We asked what she wanted for her birthday and she yelled out excitedly "MONEY!" - huh??! Where did she learn that one?! lol Also, a day later she asked for pink and yellow cupcakes. OK lady, we'll make it happen!  

Being silly :D

In my world, things are good - I am sticking to my Holiday diet plan and doing well - hoping to be down a solid 5 by Christmas, if not somewhere closer to 10. I am waking up early to work out or hitting the gym every day. I did a 5K on Sunday and have another one planned for Thursday. We are still loving our weekly cooking delivery, and the clothing rental service is going GREAT! A lot of things are working together to make me feel really good about life in general. Could not be happier! 

We just did family photos this past weekend and can't wait to see the results and put our Christmas cards together. OK they were kind of a disorganized chaos so hoping for at least 1 captured family moment...but don't be surprised if our cards have a picture of Josie eating toast. She was not in the mood. Alex, on the other hand, was a little ham for the camera - kept her bow in her hair the entire shoot, and smiled for the camera. Thank goodness it was only 30 minutes of our lives! It was quite the work out! 

Matchy Matchy and Coordinated

It has been a brain heavy day at work, so taking a quick break to clear my mind. 

I recently came across the blog of a dad who has triplet girls (not identical/fertility treatments) and a 4th (surprise!) girl born just two years later. I noticed many many photos of the girls all wearing the exact same thing or wearing coordinated outfits (like, same dress, different color). Before I go on, let me say I am still not into matching outfits - I just don't think its cool or fair. That said, let me tell you about the joys of coordinated outfits. 

No coordinating dress? Nope!

MIX N MATCH?? Yes please!

When you get two girls up in the morning, you have to think about what you are doing that day. Let's say we are hitting the park with friends - so you need the girls to look nice and presentable, so you look like you are decent parents, and preferably in unstained clothing, again, since other people are involved. The outfits need to be temperature based, so lately in our cool shade and hot sun, that means shoes, socks, pants, short sleeves and light sweater. Now try putting that together for two people AND avoid having one in an obviously nicer/warmer/hipper/more desirable outfit. Its kind of the worst. 

Multiple color options? YES!

Alex and Josie rocking some coordinated pieces!

Another example: You are going to a casual birthday party. You need two dresses for two girls that fit the temperature (let's say, high 80s, so warm). So you somehow need to pick two dresses that are of equal fanciness (i.e. not an Easter dress and a strappy beach sundress) AND equally cool to accommodate the weather, all without matching. If you had one kid, you could totally get away with either the Easter dress or sundress, but now you have two kids, so who do you pick to put in the more casual sundress? SEE MY DILEMMA?!?! While again, I am not a fan of matchy matchy, I am learning to become more of a fan of coordinated. I especially love clothing stores that have each item in two colors. And even better, mix and match items so we can get a few pants and tops that all go decently well together. James and I practically buy out the store when we find a good collection of Mix n Match items. 

More matchy than even I am used to, but these

were a hand me down from another twin mom. 

Also: adorable.

A rare time when outfits from different brands lend themselves

to coordinating - both cute, with a matching top, with warm pants and t-shirt

I actually gave myself a pat on the back the day I picked these outfits.

Same sweater in different patterns, same pants in different patterns.

Each wearing  a Star Wars t-shirt because 

who should have to go without?

Not the cutest outfits they have ever worn, but 

at least they clash equally - lol.

Finally, let's talk about where I do give in: shoes, jackets, Halloween costumes. Forget it with shoes - once I find a pair that works, if it only comes in one cute color, then they both get that shoe. Right now they have a few pairs that are different colors, then a pair that match. Jackets - I am certainly not going to break my back trying to find a jacket that is of the same quality and warmth and as cute as one I have already found. And finally, with the Halloween costumes, until they decide what they want to be, I am not going to be the one who decides who gets to be one thing over the other - how am I to know what will be considered the cooler costume later down the road? (To be fair, I did intend to put the girls in different colored bottoms for the owl costumes, but it was too hot for bottoms!)

So much for my short observation!

Gap sweaters gifted a year apart, different pants but both 

stretchy leggings style, matching shoes.

And how cute are they together? 

22 month update!

This has been a heck of a week - I was teaching two nights this week and had a huge deposition at work. Friday our nanny Brittany was off because her boyfriend was having his wisdom teeth pulled. So I "worked from home," but ended up bringing the girls into both of our offices for a visit, so didn't get a lot of work done. We ended up taking the girls to lunch near Jamey's work at one of my favorite places - The Farm. They were so cute enjoying their big plates of frites!

Taking a meeting with my boss, Mike.

Getting their TPS reports in order

BIG plate

The girls are definitely making another leap (note that the "Wonder Weeks" that we were following has long ended, so this is based on observation alone!) - they were really cranky the last few weeks and that was always a sign of new things to come. Both of them just sprouted up, too. I had put them in some pants before our vacation to Ottawa, and they were way too long on them. The same pants fit perfectly yesterday! The biggest change we are seeing, though, is in conversation - both of them are talking to us, and trying to use sentences. They are definitely communicating their likes and dislikes, telling us whether they want to wear a toy necklace or that they don't want cereal or they do want more "cannee" (candy). They are also really into pretend-play - whether its making their dolls do things, mothering baby dolls or telling stories to their dolls. Its all very cute, and it has been a pleasure hanging out with them lately and seeing them use their imaginations so much.

A picture before work

In our parent world, we are trying a few new things - lately I notice a lot of "box" subscriptions are en vogue. I decided to jump on the bandwagon for two of them. One is a clothing delivery subscription, like Netflix, I get a box of three clothing items and two accessories (a purse and a bracelet, or a necklace and earrings, etc.) I get to wear them as often as I want, keep them as long as I want, and when done, stick it in a bag (unwashed!) and send it back, then they mail me the next box of stuff. It has been really fun! This week I tailored mine to include a work dress that I could wear teaching, along with a cute jean jacket because it has been chili. What's great about it is that you don't feel the urge to shop as much as you are having variety in your wardrobe. It is also great for someone like me to have more pieces in a size I don't want to buy too much in (you know, because I am "losing weight," more on that later).

Taking a snack break at the park

The other subscription we signed up for is a food delivery service. Its a box that comes full of ingredients for three recipes that make enough for two people. It comes with all of the fresh, whole ingredients, but just enough. So last night the meal was Jerk Chicken, and it came with a small bunch of collared greens, a red onion, a lime, and a plantain to make the side dish, an inch of ginger, and two chicken breasts with a little packet of spices. You follow the provided instructions for prepping the ingredients, cooking and plating and ta-da, you have a dish you would have never tried making otherwise. It takes about an hour to do so if I start while the girls are still up, then we aren't eating too late. They also like to "help" by spinning the salad spinner and I like letting them see and touch the real ingredients, and telling them what they are. Much better than our typical lean cuisine dinner. I've made 4 dishes and only didn't like one of them - though James cleaned his plate for that one, so who knows. We also feel like we are more satisfied from these meals, likely because they are all whole ingredients and not frozen fare. And clean up isn't too bad because you don't have any leftovers to manage.

Jerk Chicken with Fried Plantain and Collared Greens

Steak with Apple Hash and Grilled Butternut Squash (AMAZING)

Korean BBQ Chicken Wings and Bok Choy Rice Cakes

Pork Meat Ball Lettuce Wraps and Rice (Also amazing)

I'm going running this morning. It has been about 8 months since I last ran. I signed up for the 5K I do every year on Thanksgiving so its time to get ready for it. My weight loss has been stagnant for a few months but at least it hasn't reversed. And I am hoping to lose a few more pounds before the girls' second birthday - something about their age reminding me how long it has taken to lose the weight is dejecting. Not that I am in any way unhappy with how I look - actually I have felt very strong, confident and happy with the way I look lately. So I do wonder, is a number on a scale such a big deal if I feel so good about myself, as is? I don't know. And it certainly seems like others seem to care. But I do know that I have been happy going back to Curves the last few months and I will be happy to go for a run this morning, and exercise IS good for your health even if it doesn't change the number on the scale. So off I go!

Halloween!

Halloween was really fun this year!! We spent the day at our friends' daughter's first birthday party - they did an amazing job, and had a ton of activities to keep the kids busy (a slide and bounce house!), a great selection of food and a large ice bucket of drinks for the adults, and tons of stuff to keep kids happy (pizza, juice boxes).

Trying the costumes out the night before.

 Lucky for me, the shoes I got them for our xmas family 

photos just also happened to match their owl costumes! 

The girls protested every time we put their Owl costumes on, but ultimately they wore them for a while at the party. It was 90 degrees though, so I didn't put the pants on them (they just had onesies on under the costume) and I took the thick felt costumes off after an hour (well, Alex came and told me she was hot, so off it came, and I didn't blame her!).

Josie wanted to pat the dogs - she finally did later that day!

We had full intention of not staying too long and going trick or treating, but the party was so much fun we ended up staying quite a while. We came home, relaxed, then prepped the house for handing out candy. Becky and Tom brought over some dinner and we started to put on costumes. James was handing out candy and Alex got SUPER into it - she was excited to open the door for trick or treaters, to hand out candy, look at costumes and finally, got bold enough to run down the street and point out pumpkins and spider decorations.

It had been getting late so I had changed the girls into pajamas, but nevermind, we decided to grab their pumpkin buckets and take them to the neighbors houses for some candy! Alex loved it, Josie seemed to kind of get it, but was probably annoyed that we had taken her away from Daniel Tiger. Alex got home and dumped her bucket onto the carpet to see what she had gotten. Where did she learn to do this?! Love her so much.

James, Becky, Tom and I went off to our Halloween costume and birthday party (Happy Birthday Simone!!) and had a great time. I finally got to show off my hours of work on my owl costume! I had a fun time putting it together and wearing it, and we had a blast at the party. I had a drink that came in a pineapple, so yeah, it was fun.

Makeup! 

Josie wanting in on the photos!

I intended to wear my costume with the girls in theirs, 

but it never happened. Ah well, next year!

The next day we took it easy and stayed home, took down our decorations, and let the girls have a few licks of their lollipops. I can't wait for Halloween next year, when the girls will really be into it!!! It will be so much fun to watch them get even more into the fun and festivities! I am already thinking of costume ideas!

Here are a few pictures from the Burbank Boo Bash the week before Halloween - a little toddler friendly event with booths and crafts set up, and a little toddler costume parade. Again the girls were NOT INTO dressing up so we ditched our intended clown costumes and put them in these dress up clothes they have worn a few times. The Boo Bash had a bake sale and all 4 of us shared 1 cupcake - I seriously had no idea that 1/4 of a cupcake could make such a (cute) mess!!

Lining up for the costume parade!