P.S. A video

Oops! Meant to put this on their eleven month post. This is what happened shortly after our photo shoot. They think it's the greatest thing ever when we put them in one crib!

Eleven Months

(yes, this was the best picture I could get of these wiggle worms)

My mind boggles at the fact that we are one month away from 12 months, which equates to, as you know, ONE YEAR! If it's possible, these girls incredibly become more and more fun each month. It's amazing how much they have changed just in the past month. All of a sudden, I now have two hilarious, sassy, little, dare I say, very toddler-like girls (temper tantrums and all). I was telling a friend today that this year, in many ways, has been a blur. I look back at pictures of when we first brought them home, and I instantly remember extreme feelings of anxiety, hormonal craziness, stress, exhaustion, love, but most of all, I have no recollection of taking those pictures. And then I get really sad and weepy because, holy crap, I don't remember the first few precious weeks of my children's lives. But then I remember that most parents probably don't have a lot of long-term recollection of those moments either. So I'm not the only bad mom, right?

I digress, as usual.

So back to the fact that my babies are almost not really babies anymore in less than 31 days. Here are a few fun facts about us these days...

(picture taken at the fair, post-first bite of a cheese fry. She could not hold still long enough for an individual picture at her eleven month photo shoot)

Campbell Jane

Likes:
-smiling, smiling, and more smiling. You can sneeze, and this girl will smile. She has also developed this hysterical (as I call it) "sympathy laugh." You know that laugh you have when you're pretending something is funny and it's not? Apparently I do that often, because this girl has learned how to do it as well.
-the camera. She still smiles anytime I hold it up to her face. I'm pretty sure she's developed some crazy, Pavlovian response to seeing my camera.
-tapping hard objects (tooth brush, golf club, rubber spatula) on the top of Sophie's head, which Sophie is not a fan of.
-"power crawling" across the house in a matter of seconds.
-chewing on her fingers non-stop because, wait for it, we finally have a tooth coming in!!
-eating anything and everything.
-music! anytime she hears a beat she likes, she bounces and shakes her head like crazy (which makes us laugh like crazy). Between her love of smiling and dancing, watch out Toddlers and Tiaras...
-Talking. Goodness gracious this girl is a chatter box. Her favorite words to say in this specific order: dada (by a landslide), mama, baba (bottle). She says a lot of other words we don't quite understand, as well.

Sophie Kay

One word can describe this girl these days: Sassy pants. I love this little munchkin more than words can say, but most of the time she forgets that she is a twin, and Mommy cannot devote 100% of her time to her very demanding needs. She is really good at letting us know when she is not getting enough attention (cue ear piercing screech). She is also learning the art of slapping my hand away when trying to do things like clean her face off, trim her nails, or feed her something disgusting like broccoli.

Likes:
-eating nutrigrain bars
-Campbell crawling on top of her and trying to wrestle
-snuggling
-Teddy (this is really more of a love)
-the bath (this is also more of a love for both girls)
-she's also a little chatter box. "Dada" comes in as her number one most said word, as well (pay no attention to that crazy lady that takes care of our every need a good majority of the day).

Both cribs have officially been lowered to the lowest notch due to their extreme love of bouncing up and down while holding onto the rail. Sometimes I even think they have contests to see who can bounce the highest. They are starting to interact more and more. I love watching them chase each other on their hands and knees, wrestling, and giggling at each other. Although they truly are twice the amount of work these days, they are also truly twice the fun! I will say that I am definitely starting to see the wonderful benefit of having a built in playmate, even though some days I feel like a referee!

Here are a few more things we've been up to:

Can't get enough of those booties in bloomers

Bubba and his grandkiddos on his birthday!

Big girl, CJ

Fun at the fair! Yes, I gave both of my girls a few bites of cheese fries. Judge away. They loved it, btw.

Chicken on a stick. Never disappoints!

Craft day with the Coys! (and our special helper, Kim)

Our finished products. Thanks Stephanie Coy (and pinterest) for a fun day!

And I'll leave you with a precious (one day humiliating) picture of the girls with their cuz, Crew bear.

The countdown is on to one whole year! 

xoxo

.

Canon turns THREE!

I still can't believe it, but the sweet little baby boy I held in my arms at Mercy Hospital just a few short years ago has officially turned 3. This crazy little kid brightens my day every time I see him, and I just can't get enough of his silliness and cuteness. Here are a few pics I took in honor of his big day.

C-Biscuit and Toddy

CJ loving Daddy's mask

Daddy of the birthday boy

Bubba and Crew bear

Gigi and Sophie

The 2nd celebration at Mitch Park

Super hero masks!

Oh my word, these girls LOVED the bounce house!

Campbell loooved all the attention!

Sweet Sophie girl

trying out the slide

Of course we had to wrestle just a little...

Weeee!

Smiley pants CJ

Happy 3rd Birthday, Canon man! We love you more and more every year!

xoxo

Fertility Post

I'm doing really well at remembering to do these on Fridays, huh? So much for my cute attempt at alliteration...

This is a rather different fertility post, but I found this other blogger's recent words to be a great analogy to infertility. I know that this woman did struggle with infertility, so perhaps she intended it to be a little reference to that. Nonetheless, I just wanted to share it with the women reading this that are continually searching for a peace throughout their journey.

The gist of her post is that she and her husband discovered a tree on their property that turned out to be a plum tree. They later found out that plum trees are finicky about what seasons they choose to bear fruit and the conditions need to be just perfect (hmm, sounding familiar?). In the end though, it's still a beautiful tree that will continue to be beautiful whether or not it chooses to bear fruit. I know what it feels like to feel like a failure as a woman when you can't get pregnant. It's easy to fall down and feel inadequate and that your life will never have a purpose unless you can have a baby. And in the midst of it all, it's important to be reminded that someday that the conditions will be perfect, and the fruit will come.

Until then, I hope all reading this and need to hear this remember that you are beautiful just the same.

xoxo

Recipes

I thought I'd share two of our dinners this week (ok, let's be honest, the only two dinners I actually cooked this week). And since they are both in the crockpot, I guess I really didn't even "cook" them. Also, they take 5 minutes or less to "assemble" which in my life these days, is the only way dinner gets made.

Thanks to pinterest, I recently learned that you can wrap potatoes in foil and cook on low in the CP for 8 hours, and voila! Baked potatoes. These are currently cooking, so I'm not sure how they will turn out, but I find it hard to believe I could mess these up. I plan on serving them with ready-made BBQ Brisket and a salad.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
4 ounces sliced ham
4 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
1 (8 ounce) package herbed dry bread stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together the cream of chicken soup and milk in a small bowl. Pour enough of the soup into a slow cooker to cover the bottom. Layer chicken breasts over the sauce. Cover with slices of ham and then Swiss cheese. Pour the remaining soup over the layers, stirring a little to distribute between layers. Sprinkle the stuffing on top, and drizzle butter over stuffing. Cover, and cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours, or 2 to 3 hours on High.

**Kyle liked this one a lot. I have to say it was pretty darn good, too. I thought these would be some nice dishes to welcome in this beautiful weather. Happy fall!

xoxo

Funny Girls

One of the greatest things about watching our girls grow up is how funny they are getting. I think Kyle and I sincerely laugh out loud at least once a day at their crazy antics. Here are a few recent silly moments...

Campbell loooves to wave! Sophie does, too. But Campbell does it constantly. (excuse Sophie's runny nose!)

Quite possible one of my most favorite things this little stinker does right now.

Labor Day Fun

Here are a few pics of how we spent our Labor Day weekend in the glorious weather...

Fun in the backyard

Picnic at Ball Golf (I don't think Sophie was a fan of sitting in the bucket o' balls)

However, Campbell loved it!

Our putters from Bubba

(love how this pic shows off her rolly polly legs)

Bubba and his future golfers.

The itsy bitsy spider...

...went up the water spout (our 2nd favorite song)

CJ

my munchkins

Daddy teaching CJ how to putt 

(excuse our hoochy mama daisy dukes-trying to get the last bit of wear out of them before fall)

and Sophie couldn't be left out...

and last but not least, our day after Labor Day trip to the zoo with our best bud, Charlotte!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend in the beautiful weather. :)

xoxo

Girl Talk

Ever since the girls have learned how to pull up in their cribs, this is the sight we see before exiting their room at night. It's funny that I feel the need to tell them to not stay up too late chatting about their day/how mom was in a bad mood that day/wondering aloud where she's going to drag us tomorrow, etc. They are little chatter boxes these days, so I know they probably stay up until all hours of the night telling secrets. I have my fingers crossed that someday soon when they wake up (sometimes a little early for my liking), they will just stand up, yell across to the other, and have a chat before deciding to cry and wake us up. :)