Trouble Times Two...

I am starting to feel a little stir crazy.  I want to be on our own again.  There are pros and cons to our arrangement and I'm not complaining that we are able to save money for a down payment and I'm not complaining against my in-laws as they have been absolutely wonderful hosts.  But I am ready to have independence and a house I don't have to clean up after each little playtime and nap and toddler proofing to my liking not just enough to save their hides and a schedule that isn't thrown off at the whim of grandparents who want to take them walking.

We've had the grape juice scare...Seren found a mostly empty glass of grape juice in the computer room and came to proudly show it to me while I was changing Kendall's diaper in the front room.  Grape juice was slung over brand new carpet (literally a month or two old).  Thank goodness it all came out or at least to the point you can't tell and my in-laws weren't upset and hopefully keep these treasures out of reach more often now.  Then came the spiral stair case that comes out of the floor fire-house-like except with carpet.  The girls weren't interested much at first and we blocked the entry with a chair but they soon found it was fun to stick a leg out and wiggle it while mom rushed to stop them.  This lasted two days before Seren (see the trouble maker here haha) stuck her leg out while I was holding Kendall a few feet away and when Seren went to step down discovered the step wasn't close and toppled right through the railing and half way down the stairs giving me a heart attack in the process as when she came to stop on her back with her head hanging over the edge that I thought if she moved she'd fall the 4 feet + to the basement.  Oh and then we had a comet scare last week...the girls got a hold of a canister of comet while I was throwing stuff in the car for a weekend getaway and it was flung over the front room.  I freaked out at first thinking they had swallowed some or gotten some in their eyes or such and wondering where on earth they found it.  Thank goodness none of the above happened and a little vacuuming took care of the clean up.  We've had dish soap with lids broken off moved out of reach, dish detergent in capsules hid and re-hid, spiral stairs wrapped in rope to prevent more falls, chairs and furniture moved to block trouble and drawers rearranged to keep curious hands out of jewelry, etc.  I had no idea it required so much rearranging to child proof things.  And bless their hearts all of these has been happily done to accommodate these grandchildren.  Like I said this is nothing against my in-laws.  I simply am ready to child proof in a way that doesn't feel like an inconvenience for anyone else.

We have an offer on a short sale and we're in first position so we wait to hear from the bank.  Meanwhile I look at houses and real estate websites and try to otherwise occupy my time when the girls are napping.  I hope that this is a short transition and I hope that we are not wearing out any welcome yet or that we even get to that point.  Just me.  Rambling on about the mischief two little 17 month old girls can get into.

Something right...

I am sitting in an empty house tonight (well me and the girls are home...oh and the dog).  Jeff is out of state for the week with training and my in-laws are gone until Thursday night.  Kendall just randomly woke up crying and now I'm killing time after checking on them before I can continue my movie.

I am loving this stage of them growing up.  Most of it.  They are definitely developing attitudes and I don't care for the tantrums and neediness but I am so loving the tenderness and the giggles and other pieces of their personality that are shining through.  Kendall and Seren are eager to be held and given attention and are pretty darn great at giving affection too.  Kendall will often turn and give us big kisses as we finish dressing her in the morning.  Both of them will give random hugs to us and sometimes to each other.  Seren has started showing excitement for her favorite people by running into their arms (mostly daddy and grandma lately).

But the things that make me happy and think "hey maybe we're doing something right" are the times when I catch them caring for each other.  A week or so ago the girls were climbing up the stairs and Seren beat Kendall to the top and through the baby gate.  Once Kendall was close enough, Seren (who had waited patiently for her sister) was reaching out to Kendall and literally trying to help her.  When Kendall made it through the gate Seren gave her a hug and kiss on the head and then ran off.  I watched them from a step or two down and just melted.

Last night we took the girls swimming (they didn't freak out...yeah!! They hated the water last year) and when we got home and were getting ready for dinner Kendall had a mild meltdown.  Seren came walking across the kitchen right away and leaned down and hugged Kendall.  Kendall stopped crying (maybe it helped or maybe it was shock haha) and Jeff and I both expressed gratitude to Seren for being nice so then of course she gave Kendall another hug or two (haha she's a people pleaser).

Kendall is also very good with Seren.  She will give Seren the toy they both want.  She gives more random kisses to Seren...she's not big on the hugs yet.  But you can see them looking after each other and it just makes me feel good.  I think perhaps we are (hopefully) doing something right and teaching them how they should treat others and especially to look out for one another.  Such sweet blessings to watch them grow.

Recent pictures...

Just wanted to share some recent pictures that I absolutely adore of these two cuties...

 Kendall

Seren

PS  I love that photoshop allows me to "erase" runny noses and food stains from clothing.  

17 Months

Foods They Like:  They love almost all fruit.  They love cheese, ham fried rice, minestrone soup, pizza, zucchini bread, pancakes, etc.  They are getting better with vegetables (especially if it's mixed in with other things) mostly corn, tomatoes and carrots. 

Foods They Don't:  Avocado, olives, pickles and a lot of vegetables still.  

Favorite Things:   They love splashing in puddles, going on walks, dogs of all sizes, people (Seren especially loves to wave at anyone and everyone).  They like bath time and stories.  Playing in the back yard and with bugs and dirt.  They still love on each other and it is the cutest thing.


Favorite toy: rolling monkey balls and corn popper push toy and a little cell phone my nephew left behind.

Dislikes:  Being hungry and tired.  Getting into trouble or being told "no". Teething again.  Bumps and falls...they do this more with stairs and more confidence walking/running. 

Their Accomplishments:  Both Kendall and Seren are confident walkers now.  They climb up stairs and are getting pretty good at going down.  They seem to be understanding language more ("give that to sister", "show ___ to daddy", "where is the dog?", etc).  We're working on body parts and they are learning those.


First words/Verbal:  Seren says "uh-oh" quite a bit and a week or so later Kendall said "dirt" while we were playing outside.  Seren also loves to hum or babble "Rock A-bye Baby" as Grandma D often rocks them in the recliner and sings this.  They are also enjoying songs with motions (ie Popcorn Popping).

Teeth:  Seren has four on top, four on bottom and one molar peeking through.  Kendall has four on bottom, three on top and two molars.  

Sleep:  Same bedtime routine and usually works well.  They had a little trouble adjusting to the new surroundings I think but sleep great usually now.  

Looking forward to:  Looking forward to them talking more and being better at the stairs (they make me so nervous around stairs still).  Also just getting into our own place again. 

Settling in...

It has been 2 1/2 weeks since we moved in with Jeff's parents.  Is that all?  It seems longer.  It has not been a bad arrangement...two empty rooms in the basement are now full of our clothes, cribs and toys.  We have a bathroom and shower all to ourselves and my in-laws have been very easy to live with.  But I still long to be back on our own, in our own beds and organizing the chaos that comes when you first move into a new place.  But in the meantime I am enjoying:  helping hands who adore these girls and never pause to offer to watch them, watching my girls light up and reach out to their grandparents to be held (sometimes even snubbing me for them these days), switching off meal responsibility and enjoying time they get to spend together.

They love to sit on this bench on the porch

Following Grandma D through the puddles

Enjoying some puddle splashing

Playing on the piano



Another separate bonus: my parents will be coming to visit this summer so we'll be cramming lots of time in with them as well.

16 Months

I think I will update this meme a little and simply include the categories below (or less) for "off" month (for myself and remembering their milestones and favorite things).

Foods They Like:  They love almost all fruit...strawberries, oranges, grapes, applesauce, pineapple (Seren does not so much Kendall), etc.  They love cheese, ham fried rice, minestrone soup, pizza, zucchini bread, pancakes, etc.  

Foods They Don't:  vegetables aren't popular still.  Also skins of fruit or potato skins get spit back out.

Favorite Things:   They like being chased and tickled.  They love taking baths.  They both love to cuddle and give hugs and kisses.  They like to kiss the dog now as well.  The cuddling has cut back a little as they are more interested in exploring.  Their favorite toy right now is their stacking cups and petting the dog (if you can call him a toy).

Dislikes:  Being hungry and tired.  Getting into trouble or being told "no". Teething again.

Their Accomplishments:  Both Kendall and Seren are confident walkers now.  They climb up stairs (supervised of course).  We're trying to teach them to go down. They seem to be understanding language more.  They are interactive with each other and play pretty well together.

Teeth:  Seren has four on top and four on bottom but no molars.  Kendall has three on bottom, three on top and two molars.  Kendall seems to be getting her teeth in an odd order and is more bothered by teething in general than Seren seems to be. 

Sleep:  Same bedtime routine and usually works well.  Kendall has had trouble sleeping for the last month or so.  At first it seemed to be night terrors as she would wake up exactly one hour after falling asleep and would cry and scream for a couple hours.  Now she is doing better sleeping but having trouble falling asleep.  We are trying to be better at not getting her out of bed unless she needs a diaper change though and that seems to help.

Looking forward to: Looking forward to warmer weather and getting them outside more again.  We've taken them to the park a couple times and they love it.  Yesterday they went on the swings for the second time.  Kendall loved the swing and Seren wasn't so sure.  Also we have sold/closed on our home so we are living with Jeff's parents temporarily, so we are also looking forward to moving to a new location and settling into a home again.

Packing...Moving...Oh My!

We are moving.  Moving in basically a week.  Despite the fact that I've been packing boxes full of clothes, pictures, home decor and other items for storage this doesn't seem real.  We have lived in this home for almost four years.  They have been four good years.  We were fairly over the hardest part of infertility when we moved in...less depression and more proactive about saving and preparing for our future and our decision to try a donor egg IVF cycle.  Hopeful and scared to try but knowing it would be worth it.  Now four years later we are packing up our things and moving our lives and our dear daughters with us.  The only home they've known so far.

We had talked about moving for the last year or so.  We weren't in love with the location of our home, the schools in the area, the neighbors, etc.  Things that I think crossed our minds during our search four years ago but never really mattered as much...we honestly had no idea and weren't sure if we'd ever have children at the time we purchased the home.  Now we feel it would be a good trade to be able to buy during such a good market and low interest rates.  I initially thought I would love to move before the girls were up and moving...I wanted their first steps to be in the new home.  But that didn't happen.  And now we are temporarily moving in with Jeff's parents (about 45 minutes south) and we both really do hope it's a short stay.  So now all I really hope is to be settled with the girls into a new place by the end of the year.

They are such good girls and we are really so lucky.  They are both doing great.  We sold our fridge after a less than appropriate appraisal and re-negotiating of the contract so we have been living out of ice chests for a week.  It's been quite the adventure in creative cooking and meal planning.  The girls have been taking everything in stride though and although sometimes I think things make them anxious they are always okay as long as we are there for them.  It will be exciting to see the progress of things in the future for them.