Interactive Shows

Layla and Aidan enjoy watching a few cartoons in the morning when they wake up. Today they were watching Blue's Clues with me, sitting quietly on my lap with the occasional pointing and saying "duck" or some other object that they recognized. Today was all about singing and learning different instruments, about halfway through the show Layla crawled off my lap, ran over to the pile of toys and pulled out their Elmo guitar and brought it over to me. I am doubting it is a coincident, she was pretty proud that she had found an instrument that looked like the one on TV. That gave me a thought so i then pulled out their piano, drums, and maraca's for them to play along with the show. Again, at the end of the show one of the clues was a "duck" and they kept showing a picture of a duck, Layla exclaimed "duck" happily, and once again ran over to the toys and picked up a rubber ducky to give to me. :) Very cute!

In this picture Aidan is not attacking Layla, this is him wrapping his arms around her in a big hug. Lately ill ask him "Aidan, can you give Layla a hug?" And he will repeat "hug" and walk over to her and wrap his arms around her. Very cute. They are starting to give more and more hugs to us when requested, always makes my day better to have a hug from such precious little kids!

Yea Size 4

This weekend, we bumped up the kids to a size 4 in diapers...it is hard to believe that they were ever in preemie diapers! How fast they grow!
Things around here haven't been all to interesting, i am just trying to get over my tooth extractions, even though i am on my last painkillers and they will not return my call like they said they would to get me more. So without painkillers i doubt ill even head to class, luckily i have a few friends in this class that i will try and get notes from. I am trying not to stress over things but i am going to have to find a babysitter for another 2 hours during the week since my research is beginning, i have to keep reminding myself that it is nice to have research experience, even though it does take a lot of time and effort. I seem to be rambling but i blame that on the Tylex that i am on, it seems to make my mind a little fuzzy.
Like i said not too many interesting things happening, the kids are still learning soo fast, it is crazy how fast a child develops, and how intelligent they truly are when given the chance to learn. As i have mentioned before, they will say at least 1 new word a day, yesterday it was "bite". We are also teaching them the concept of "cold" this week, they tend to understand hot, so decided its only fitting to teach the opposite. I ordered a few packs of flashcards so i can begin working on them more with their words and recognition. Also i ordered number and letter flash cards so i hope to begin teaching them to recognize their numbers and ABC's. They are just so capable of learning so much i sometimes get stuck on what to teach them next, their sign language is growing fast also that i can't keep up on words i really want to teach them. They still love books, i always like seeing the living room torn apart with the majority of toys being books, i guess it is a good sign, even if it is a mess.

3rd Times a Charm

Well, guess what? i am sitting here swollen like a chickmunk and wishing that the Doctor would have listened to me and given me stronger painkillers, ok so he did give me stronger ones, but not as strong as i would have liked since i still feel most to ALL pain...Anyway, my last three wisdom teeth are gone, and the only one really giving me trouble is my only bottom one that got pulled, and it was halfway out to begin with. Ohwell that is life.

These pictures are from Thursday's blanket house with the kids, we had a lot of fun, they really enjoy me building them houses, that is until Aidan discovers it even MORE fun to tear it down when Layla is inside...

Slow Dance

Spin Dance

Walking in Mommies Shoes

Ok, the first is obviously Ms. Layla trying to walk in my shoes, the kids are obsessed with shoes and boots, so they always try and put ours on too. funny. The video is Aidan actually taking a few steps in my shoes, pretty good for his foot being a quarter of the size of the shoe!

It has been a busy week, mainly because i somehow "forgot" or procrastinated doing any sort of homework on my three-day weekend. Now i am regretting my laziness. Adding to the top of that i have to have everything done by Thursday night because i am supposed to get my wisdom teeth out Friday morning...Yes i know this is the 3rd post i have said that i am getting those last 3 #$#%^$#^@@ teeth out. But each time i had a good excuse (lack of money, walking pneumonia, weather) SOOO we will see if i go through it with actually this time or if something else will "suddenly come up". My main thing is i DO NOT WANT TO BE PUT UNDER!!! but the freak'in surgeon won't budge...what a ....whatever i am just pissed that i do not have a choice in it, where many other surgeons even allow the patient to WATCH! C'mon! That would be a lot better in my opinion!

Aidan's First Haircut

Aidan got his first haircut today at Lollilocks, it is such an AWESOME place. Anyway, as soon as i saw the hairdresser pick up the electronic clippers i knew Aidan would cry, he cries when the vacuum, blender, or hairdryer is on at home...poor little guy.
He got to sit in a car or as he would say "caaaaar" but he stood most the time and he was trembling, his little legs were shaking so hard i thought he was going to collapse!
Ok, a little better, once she finished with the clippers she used scissors and he calmed down pretty quick, they also had some toys for him to play with.
Here is the after picture! I didn't realize his hair was so long until they cut it all off! I guess seeing it grow gradually everyday isn't as noticeable for me. He looks like a little boy now, not just a baby boy...does that make sense?
Here is the neat little "first hair cut" package we got. Worth it definitely, what a handsome little boy!

Overall the kids were GREAT, we walked around the promenade shops for a bit, and ended up eating at Red Robin with Gary and Nikki before we headed home. :)

Thursday Thirteen

Ok, i really considered doing my Thursday Thirteen as things that i am complaining about today, but i decided against it even though i hate my 8am class, and i hate even worse having to walk in -18degree weather to get there this morning, or that since my last name ends in Y i get screwed on things when there is only "enough" for the first half of the class, or...ok enough.

So today's Thursday's Thirteen is....Thirteen Signs that Layla and Aidan know!
1. Eat
2. Thank you
3. Mommy (i am real proud that they FINALLY learned this along with Daddy!)
4. Daddy
5. Table (they learned this completely on their own from their videos...i have no reason to teach them table right now...haha)
6. Baby
7. Ball
8. Bath
9. All Done
10. Library (Again why would i teach them this, they don't even know what it is!)
11. Potty
12. Sleep or Night Night
13. Dog ( they prefer to say it more, but occasionally they will use the sign for me :)

Layla also knows "love" and Aidan is always signing things and i have no idea what he is saying...really need to pay attention and watch his video with him so i understand what he is saying!

Spring Semester

Classes started Monday, it is only Wednesday and i am finding myself behind. I know crazy huh? I have never had a semester just pick up so quickly in the 4 years i have been here. I am enrolled in 16 credit hours right now, meaning i have 5 classes and then 6 hours of research each week. I am also wait listed for another 3 credit hours, however i am starting to except that i probably will not get into that class and will just cancel it on Friday. The kids are putting up a fight against me when i can't play with them and have to read or work on online courses instead...they crawl on me, whine loudly, cry, and even try and run off with my laptop on occasions...Don't get the wrong idea, i still give them loads of attention all day long, to show this, i have been trying to read one 30 page chapter just for ONE class and it has taken me a whole day around them...i still have 4 more chapters to read for other classes...rrrr! At least work starts tonight, steady paycheck again...how much i hate going, it gives me time to work on my homework and get out of the house...sad huh? Work is getting out of the house for me...

Favorite Pictures of the Week

mmmm BK cup...and yes the pop is gone it is just melted ice water left.
















He Did it....She did it...














I love this picture, this was today out playing in the snow in our yard..it finally reached 30 degrees and no wind so we could go outside!!



















Layla trying to eat the sun's rays.

LolliLocks Kids Salon

It's official, i have an appointment set up for Aidan's first hair cut and yes i am pretty excited. I had seen these cool kids hair salons on TV a while back and was kind of bummed because i figured there wasn't any very close to home. However, Nikki mentioned she had seen a LolliLocks in Loveland, Colorado! Less than two hours away at a promenade shopping center which i have visited before and really liked. SOOO I have booked him to get his hair cut a week from Saturday, online they actually have a walk through of the salon by pictures. It is way cute, i think he will have a lot of fun, and from the look of it, they seem to have something for Layla to do too since she will be waiting oh so patiently for her little brother to get his hair cut :) They even have a special package for first hair cuts that includes a certificate and a lock of his hair (yes they probably make money off of crazy keep sake moms like me but hey it's a 1st haircut!!). Here is a website, scroll down to the Centerra/Loveland and click on the icon that will allow you to take a walk through tour through a slideshow if you are interested in seeing how neat these little places are!
http://www.lollilocks.com/contact/colorado.html

Physical Therapy Graduation

Today Aidan's Physical Therapist came over for me to sign a few government papers to officially release him from their program. Although his neck was great 6 months ago, we all decided to continue the checkups every few months to make sure he wasn't starting the tendency to lean his head again, which happens often in Torticollis children. So a little over a year later this is the results Aidan has had...his neck is straight up! He has full movement with no stiffness or pain when he turns it left or right, yes he has a normal 17 month old neck movement:)



On another note...can you believe they have grown so much within a year? It is like time has been put on fast forward, every day i notice something new, something learned, some new milestone. My days FLY by, the weeks wizz by, and the year has just passed by too quickly...i am sure glad that Kendall and I have worked out a situation in where we can spend a lot of time with each of them...probably more time with them then we get with each other but hey, it's worth every second!

Baby Babblers

Ok, so there is something i have noticed over the past 17 months...i am maybe in a dozen pictures out of....thousands of the kids that i have. Why am i not in any pictures with my kids? Same reason many of us parents find us lacking in the pictures with our kids...Obviously i take on the picture taking around here, maybe i go overboard by taking 10 pictures of them rocking in a chair together, or 25 pictures of them wrestling big bear, but hey its what i do and out of all those shots i actually get some perfect pictures without eyes closed, back of heads, so forth. Anyway, what comes with this picture taking job is nobody around to take MY picture with the kids...the pictures i AM in is when i get sad about it and shove the camera in Kendall's hand and say TAKE A PICTURE of me with the kids!! Yes i know there are timers on cameras, and i use to use that to get in the occasional photo, but now it is next to impossible to get the two to hold still let alone with me there and look at a camera with nobody behind it making noises to get their eye contact. ANYWHO, these are pictures i took of me and the kids...the old fashioned holding it out in front of me and snapping a picture...these are my favorites of the 8 i took! haha.


Ok, on to what i originally wanted to blog about/brag about...same thing. December 9th i wrote down a list of words that the kids could say, or have said. Average between the two it was about 16 words...well i again made a list today of the words that the kids have learned and said since that date...in a full month the kids vocabulary has doubled! It averages out to about 16/17 again in one month! Little smarties, and these lists don't include the words they prefer to sign instead of say, such as table, baby, potty, eat, and thankyou. Some of the words they have recently said are highchair, bear, coat, dress, frog, car, truck, and Aidan's favorite...boots. I am real proud of how fast they are growing and developing. Each day i try and work with them i hope to buy some flashcards and teach them words off of those, but right now them just pointing out things in their books and on their Baby Einstein videos is enough for me!

BFF Big Bear

So it seems that "big bear"(Actually Big Bear II since their cousin Adrianna has Big Bear I) has become a favorite friend for the kids. They are always wrestling him, sitting on him, and just cuddling up to him. There has been many times i have had to remove the bear from the living room because baby UFC broke out and the two were just pushing, shoving, and throwing each other down not wanting to share. Now that Aidan realizes that he can take Layla, this happens more often now...errrr. Today i caught the two "reading" books together with Big Bear, sharing quite nicely:) . Very cute, you can see Aidan is pointing to a car...he can say car real good too so Layla is looking at his car. Also the books are RIGHT side up this time!

A story about the two partners in crime that Kendall told me last night, i so WISH he would have taken a picture. But here it goes. If you have been in the kids room, their cribs are next to each other with a small walkway for us to place them in their cribs between. Anyway, i have known that they pass things back and forth over this space, and they also enjoy throwing everything out of their cribs into this space(Aidan especially lately). Apparently Kendall walked in to find that all the blankets and stuffed animals from both cribs were all the way across the room by the changing table, meaning that Layla had to pass her stuff to Aidan in order for him to throw it out on that side. He then grabbed their infant play mat that was stuffed between his crib and the wall and handed it to her. Kendall found it spread out in her crib and her playing with it. It was almost like a trade...
"Hey Aidan, ill give you my stuff to throw out if you get me that play mat."
"Deal!"

Happy New Year.. little late huh?

Well, i am still around, just have been more lazy than busy i guess. Christmas was great, we got to hang out at Gina and Geoff's and let the kids get aquinted with their home a little more, since we headed to Vegas for the weekend and they watched the kids for us. Vegas? It was a lot of fun, a great time for Kendall and I to be together as a couple not parents...however the way home we got stranded in Evanston due to snow and bad roads...rrr. oh well it happens, i was way more worried for Gina, Geoff, Layla and Aidan who got stranded at the top of the summit for 3 hours in their vehicle due to wrecks and such...scary! We are all home and safe though! New Years we stayed home, had some champaign and headed to bed...fun huh? After averaging 4 hours of sleep for the past 5 nights., just sleeping sounded good, new years or not! Well, not much has happened i guess other than that, just enjoying my last week of break before classes start and kick my butt all over again!