Pet Squirrel, Homeschool Coop, Sleeping Beauty and Baby, and Other Random Cuteness

First, the random cuteness. One morning, Max discovered a way to climb into Daniel's crib. This is not something I normally condone, but Daniel LOVED having Max in there with him, especially when Max would jump up and down. Just adorable. In the second picture, you can kind of see Daniel's glee.

I put Dennis on the floor to change his diaper, and Misty mimicked the position next to me. Dennis loves, loves, loves the dog and thought it was awesome. Kynzie thought it was a great time to pet Misty, of course.

Kynzie began a new, simple chore chart and thrived immediately. She looked at the pictures and went right to work, getting dressed (she did pick out her own clothes as well), brushing her hair and teeth, and sweeping the floor among other things. She took it very seriously. She barely wanted to take the time to give me her normal smile-for-the-camera face in the second picture. A very proud mamma am I! Go Kynzie!

We didn't really have a pet squirrel, but it seemed as though we might. This little guy sort of imprinted on Scott and even rode around a bit on the top of Scott's shoe at one point. It was a little bizarre, really. We think he must have lost his mother. Delainey, Kynzie, and Scott peeled some whirly gig (?) seeds for the baby squirrel to eat and brought some water for him to drink. He left, roaming away even into neighbor's yards. Then, much later, found his way back to Scott (while Scott was working on the brakes). So strange. Eventually, after they had all pet him, Scott helped him back up into his tree, and he lived happily ever after. We hope.

The kids in my class at coop think it is great fun to remove the seats from the infant seating table and stand in the 'holes' to eat their snack. It also prevents the babies from being able to share their snacks with them when they sit on the floor. So, here are Kynzie and Max and one of their good friends.

One day while the kids were eating their snack in this manor, Daniel sized up the situation and decided he wanted in on the action at the table too. And all of the sudden his little head popped up through one of the holes! It was too cute! He started looking around for his share of the big kid snack. We had to give him something for his effort, so he scored some O's.

Here is Dennis at Coop having his snack the more traditional way.

Max held the honorable position as assistant to the bell-ringer at Coop. One of the teachers let him ring the bell first hour to let everyone know when they only had 5 minutes left in class. He loved this job and did it quite well. He knew how to hold the bell without letting it clang, as he is demonstrating in this photo.

Delainey spent some time holding Daniel for me during the fever portion of his illness recently. She must have been comfy cuddling 'cause she fell fast alseep along with Daniel. She looks as though she is awake in the second photo, but she really isn't. She didn't even know I took pictures of her until I showed her later. I thought it depicted a super sweet sister moment. Oh, and she is a beauty, isn't she?

Happy Birthday, Maximo! Love, Mom

Well, I forgot to finish posting about our vacation, but I will continue after this brief intermission.



Sunday, after returning home from vacation, was Max's 3rd birthday. We didn't have a party; we'll have a combined party for him and Kynzie at the end of the month. But he did get to have breakfast in bed before church and a special lunch after church at Chuck E. Cheese.


I just wanted to share these photos of Max. His sheer delight is so precious. It didn't even matter what I brought him for breakfast. I think he was too excited to eat. His favorite is probably cereal and milk, but I wasn't taking that to his bed. He is such a great little guy!




Here are some pics from Chuck E Cheese, too.




This motorcycle ride/game was Max's favorite. I think by the end of the day, he may have ridden it by himself, but he was content to just be a 'passenger'. I love Kynzie's face with the tongue sticking out for extra effort.





Delainey played photographer for most of the photos, I think, so this is one of the only ones of her. And here are a couple of the twins.

Branson Vacation, Day 2 (Tuesday)

We didn't set any alarm clocks on Tuesday, we just allowed everyone to sleep in. I think that was about 8 or 8:30. We had a leisurely breakfast and then settled in to our home away from home in the morning. It was enjoying just relaxing there for awhile. After we ate lunch, and the babies napped, we were off to the famous land and water attraction, Ride the Ducks.

Here is Max driving the car-boat in the water.

Since Kynzie 'drove', she is convinced she knows how to drive now.

This is Kynzie's face as we splashed into the water.

Max seemed a little out of it. He even fell asleep during the 70 minute ride.

This nice gentleman behind me was thoughtful enough to help entertain Dennis at fussy points... I think the kind sir quickly realized he would be only be able to hear our wonderful tour guide, Captain Science, if he put on finger puppet plays for Dennis. Sorry, kind sir, but thank you where ever you are.

This was one wall at the Ride the Ducks gift shop... barrels and barrels of candy; all the candy you remember from your childhood but can never find anymore. Delainey took several pictures of all the candy. I told her that would last longer than buying it anyway. :)

This is on the ride back home, to The Falls.

Also on the ride back to The Falls Village.

These are misc pics while on the ride... Some of these are courtesy of Delainey, the rest, Scott.

It was fun as well as educational with facts about Branson, Table Rock Lake and Dam, and miscellaneous War trivia. It sprinkled on and off for most of our DUKW ride, but it really didn't affect us. Kynzie and Max both "drove" the car-boat, as Max calls it, during the water portion of the trip.

Upon our return to the resort, we ate dinner and went swimming at the indoor pool. I think we had BBQ chicken in the slow cooker that day. Good day.

Branson Vacation, Day One

Monday we left the house later than we originally hoped, but it didn't matter too much since we didn't plan to 'do' anything except move in to our vacation home. There were some expected difficulties on the ride - bathroom breaks, fussing babies, restless kids. Nothing a little in-transit movie couldn't cure (and a stop at a small town gas station that made you buy something to use their toilet and then charged $1.00 for a regular sized candy bar. The attendant said, "I know; it's highway robbery." At least he is honest about what he is doing, I guess.).

We arrived at our designated resort condo (thanks to our friends we didn't have to stay at a small hotel! Thanks, Scott & Lisa!) and unloaded the van in fairly short order. Our home away from home was located across the parking lot from the clubhouse and on the lowest level. We were directly under their VIP Services suites, which made for early morning neighbors but no late nights, and may have been why we had such great internet connectivity.

This place was huge! We were able to use two suites connected, and I think it was something like 1800 square feet, maybe a little more. It was enough to just be a vacation all by itself. The long list of amenities included on site miniature golf, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, hot tub, exercise room, game room, game to check out, a play ground right across from our building, and more I know I am forgetting right now.

In our condo, we had a 52" TV in the main living area, plus two other televisions. Needless to say, the TV was on more than I care to admit. If I was ever able to hold the reigns (remote), we watched HGTV mostly, and a little TLC. Scott watched all the channels, and the kids overdosed on Nick and Disney when I could stand it. Delainey mostly stuck to Facebook and TLC. But TV really didn't take up as much time as it seems.

The kids slept in the suite on one king size bed and a good-sized fold-out sofa. The babies slept in resort-provided pack n plays (we brought our own sheets for those), and we enjoyed our own master bedroom far away from them all! (We did bring the monitor lest you think we are cruel to leave Delainey to deal with all the night time ordeals. Just some of them.) And this is how we ended the first evening of our stay in Branson.

PS - To Scott and Lisa, we didn't have to move! For whatever reason, pity maybe when they saw four small children (?), they called us the next day and said we could stay where we were the whole time if we wanted! Yay! Super bonus!

This is a blurry photo, but here is part of the main living area.

Shots of the main kitchen. There was a nice round table that seated 5 of us nicely with room to the side for the two babies in their chairs.

These are pics of the connected studio suite. This is where Delainey, Kynzie, and Max slept. They thought it was pretty cool that they had their own kitchen area. They froze their own ice in the mini fridge and got drinks of water from "their" kitchen. Kynzie also only went to the bathroom in "her" bathroom for the most part.

Cardboard Testimonies... Sweet Restoration!

There are several YouTube videos going around about the Cardboard Testimonies... Check out these punchy proclamations! And dig on the song! (We are in the first one, but they are both fantastic.)
http://metro-kc.org/scrapbook_vid.htm

Losing Weight After Twins

Since I have so many questions about this topic, I am going to address it briefly. I know this may come as a surprise to some of you that know me, but I am not one to fret over my looks so much. I have a husband who prefers I not wear make-up, which is just fine with me 99% of the time. I don't weigh myself more than once a month, maybe less. And I don't really keep up with the latest fashions. It's just not me. On the flip side - I could stand to eat healthier and exercise more, or just exercise at this point.

I weighed 126 lbs before I found out I was pregnant (with the twins). I weighed 191 lbs the day before I went into labor. Simple math tells us I gained 65 lbs, which I thought was really fantastic. I fully expected to put on more than that and still be healthy with twins. The day they were born, I weighed 161 lbs (after birth, and yes, I was able to walk down the hall and around the corner to the scale by myself while Scott stayed with the babies). Thirty pounds in one day!

[I DO NOT recommend weighing yourself immediately after birth! I only did it because I had twins and wanted a record. I have not done it with any of my other births.]

The babies are 11 months old now, and I am not sure what I weigh but I know last time I weighed myself I was at 126 on the dot, and my new pants are getting too big. I have not dieted. I have not restricted my food intake. I nursed Dennis and Daniel exclusively for the first six months at which point they started to eat baby foods and home made cereal. I still nurse them several times a day. Beyond some additional water in a cup, they don't drink any other liquids at this point.

So, I know nursing has helped shed pounds. I still have to keep eating plenty of (healthy) calories and drinking tons of water. I am somewhat active, but not more than keeping up with babies and toddlers and running up and down the stairs.

Twin skin? Well, now we're getting a little more personal. It is not as exaggerated as it was shortly after birth when I first blogged about it here. But I suppose it is still there. I am not so worried about it anymore. Neither is my husband, and that's really what mattered most to me!

Oh, by the way, I previously mentioned my only weight-loss goal was to be able to wear my wedding rings again. I have met that goal!

Twins - Two very different babies

The twins are going to be a whole year old this month. I can't believe how quickly this time has gone by... I am enjoying this twin mama stuff so much! We are seeing more and more of the babies' very different personalities, and it is a blast! Most people now realize right away that they are not identical, even when I have them dressed in matching outfits. In fact, more and more people comment on how 'each of us (Scott and me) have one', referring to the thought that there is one baby that looks like each of us.

Dennis definitely looks like his daddy (it's all in the eyes and those eyelashes!), but I am not so sure how Daniel looks like me just yet. I am not so sure any of my kids look so much like me really. Dennis and Kynzie favor one another, and Daniel and Max favor one another in looks. Personality-wise, Dennis and Daniel are so different from one another as are Kynzie and Max. I am not sure who favors who in this category yet.

It has been interesting to witness these babies have the same influences at the same time and see how differently they respond. It is a wonderful example of how God imparts definite personalities in each of us. There is much to be said about how environment (parental training and nurture as well as other household influences in our case) affects the outcome of a child's character. But seeing what God has placed in them from the beginning seems to be more evident when we have these two side by side than it was raising one at a time.

With one at a time, it was easier to say "Well, we did this or that differently with this child or that child, so that could be why they act this way and the other acted that way..." But here we are doing the same thing with two different little people at the same time. How marvelous to experience this phenomenon!

For example, both babies understand "no", but respond to it almost directly opposite from each other - one says I can get past this no stuff, and one says no means no. While the first baby may not want to obey 'no' just yet, this baby is also the one who seems to want our approval more. The baby who seems to understand it is best for him to obey 'no' seems to not care whether we give him our approval or not. I am interested to see how this continues to develop over time.

We also teach a little bit of sign language for help in early communication (although admittedly, we have not been as diligent in this with the twins). One baby enjoys the signing and tries to imitate it, and the other baby ignores it and makes up his own signs. One baby is better at self-comfort, and as a result, is seemingly more patient and more cuddly but not as smiley or interactive. The other baby wants to be first to get your attention when he wants it, and is sure to give you lots of smiles and interaction as your reward if you comply.

Anyway, it is no wonder to me that twins and other multiples are the subjects of so much study... there is so much we can learn!

We're Having Twins... Now What? Help!

I am going to revisit some random themes about being pregnant with twins. First, let me say this... I would do it all again. I have several factors working in my favor for twins, I suppose. 1) I have an older daughter who is very helpful and loves her younger siblings. (I did not say she never gets annoyed or never needs a break!) And 2) I do not work outside this home! Whooo Hooo! Number 2 is probably really the most important key. Some other factors include training the other children well, which is a continuous process. But if they aren't strangers to training prior to the birth of twins, it is better for everyone. I guess that is only one other factor.

Okay, I need to go nurse the twins now... I will be back.

I also want to say that giving birth to my twins was the most awesome experience... I accomplished things in this pregnancy and birth that I never even knew were possible.

Good Nutrition - Brewer Diet is a good place to start... look around the website www.blueribbonbaby.org There is lots of good stuff in there to be found.

Protein, Protein, Protein (I resorted to protein powder to boost protein intake, but that is not necessarily the healthiest road to take...but we're talking 120 - 160 grams of protein a day!) Don't neglect the other important foods and nutritional elements either! I had to eat even when I wasn't hungry. (FYI - I have lost every bit of the weight I put on during this pregnancy. Don't worry about weight if you are eating properly!)

That is a good place to talk about exercise. DO IT! It is a vital part of preparing your body and keeping yourself in good health, good spirits and keeping mobile for as long as possible. Even though I never had to go on bed rest, it became more difficult to move around toward the end of the pregnancy. I think exercising helped save me from bed rest.

Drink lots of water... safely. Don't guzzle so much at once that you hurt yourself, but try to get in at the very least 64- 80 oz a day. My goal was 96 oz a day. And I was successful most of the time.

Be careful. I fell in my kitchen at about 34 weeks, I think. And it was painful... for a long, long time.

Variety in diet - too much of any one food could cause a food allergy to develop in the baby and maybe even in you!

What you believe is key! If you believe being pregnant with twins is a disease that the medical community needs to help you cope with and and help protect you from and then eventually relieve you of, then you have already sold yourself out for a C-section. I know, pretty harsh. But if you want a natural birth, you have to believe that God gave you this double blessing, and He created your body with the intention that it could give birth. He did not make a mistake. He did not forget what He was doing in any of this.

Having goals is important... a birth plan! Make it earlier than later so you know what you are working toward. It takes as many months as you can give it to prepare and train mind, spirit and body to make the goal of natural birth.

Read Having Twins by Elizabeth Noble - cover to cover. And then read it again.

Watch Mindy Goorchenko give birth to her twins, Psalm & Zoya, at home unassisted. It is amazing! And it gave me courage to keep believing I could do what God intended as naturally as possible with as few medical interventions as I could get by with... (and we did... see our birth plan somewhere on my blog... I'll find the link and add later...) Her babies weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and 8 lbs 11 oz! That is like a 16+ pound singleton!

Get a really good Doula! I had a great Doula, and I am very thankful for her.

Attend Bradley Method birth classes. We had an excellent teacher who inspired me that I could do this. I did not have as natural a childbirth as can be had (especially since mine was in the hospital), but I am so thankful for it! I don't think I would have had the courage to even try to "buck' the system with twins had I not been inspired by her.

Okay, that is all for now... I know there is more... I still haven't blogged about their actual birth, and they will be a whole year old this month!

Giving Stuff Away

I am going through the garage today, purging some things from our current inventory. I want to pass things along to family and friends who need it/could use it first. So, I decided to list some of the items here and include photos of some of the items. (Photos will have to be added a little later - the babies are awake now!)

If I don't have a pic of something you want to see, I probably can get one for you. Let me know if there is something you would like.

Vanity bench - gold metal frame, off-white cushioned seat. Small darkened spot on cushion. May be able to clean it? I haven't tried.

Christmas type 'mini' lights - 1 strand green, 2 strands purple, 1 strand clear. These have been used, but still worked when I put them away. I have not plugged them in but could try to get to that later today.

Safety first infant to child booster seat with tray - missing one strap for fastening to chair (one out of two), but I know I have it out there somewhere. Will update when I find it. Needs cleaning but in good condition. It tilts and has height adjustments.

Miscellaneous infant boy clothing - 0-3 & 3-6 months so far - mostly random items that I haven't already given away. Will add more as I come across them.

Nursing Bras - all are white; one 38B with underwire. one 40D Medela brand. one 40D Motherhood brand - more sport style

Black "formula" diaper bag with brown trim. New. I will have two of these but don't know where the other is just yet. I think it even has the sample formula in it... probably need to throw that out :).

Pink 'princess' over-bed canopy net thing that hangs from the ceiling

2 long strands of purple beads for crafts or decor (not necklaces), like 5 or 6 foot each, and 1 similar strand of peachy beads

2 soothie brand bottles - 4 oz each with nipples, lids and the snack containers that attach to the bottom

Assorted Playtex bottles with a few 4oz drop in liners

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I wish I could do blog posts from facebook. Or I wish my statuses would update to my blog. It would just be easier, I think.

Today was a beautiful day! We played outside, and I didn't think to take the camera, but the batteries probably would have died anyway.

So Kynzie and Max dug in the dirt and found worms. Kynzie brought each one to me with such delight and pride. She knows they are important for her garden, and she does love to garden. They were tearing up leaves and putting them next to the worms so the worms could compost the leaves for her garden. That comes from Granny!

Daniel, once again, loved being outside, but Dennis fussed all but the first minute he was out there. Odd. I was certain he would love it. Before he went outside, he was looking out the window at the kids playing on the swing set and frantically started crying. He wouldn't stop so I thought he really wanted to be out there with him. And I think he did at first, but somehow his enthusiasm was short-lived.

A Few Miscellaneous Tidbits

For all who are curious...
The babies had a check up today. They are doing quite well and pretty much past the RSV now. I am very thankful it was as mild as it was. I think prayer, garlic and extra vitamin C and some Elderberry may have helped. That and not taking them out of the house for a very long time, along with a COOL mist humidifier in their room.

Anyway, Dennis is a little taller than Daniel, by a little less than half an inch. But Daniel weighs nearly a pound more at 19 lbs. Everything is wonderful, and they are doing fine. But then, we already knew that.

Delainey found the math that was lost. Hooray! I didn't really want to buy it again. Now we don't have to. But she will have to do double time in math to get caught up. I am confident she will do just fine. After all, she enjoys math.

This weekend, we will be celebrating my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary with the extended family. I am pretty excited about seeing everyone and celebrating my grandparents. I love them dearly.

Twins Update - 10 Months Old

Since the twins have been sick, they have not really been themselves. Well, Daniel hasn't really been his normal, happy, talking, playing, laughing self. Dennis still smiles right after he's done coughing so hard his eyes turn red and water. I think that is why we knew Daniel was really having a difficult time with his illness, but it was manageable. We didn't realize Dennis felt so poorly until we noticed his labored breathing. That's when we took him to the doctor, finally.


The doctor did a test for RSV, and it came back positive. So they sent us home with a breathing machine and a script for albuterol. We have only done one breathing treatment thus far. (Doc told us we could do when and if needed.) I bought a stethoscope to be able to hear the breathing better. He really has had very little wheezing since we took him in. So I think the worst is over, thankfully. Daniel didn't seem to have the same trouble with breathing; he's just been miserable.



Dennis and Daniel are 'talking' quite a bit these days (when not sick), and Daniel is so close to taking his first steps. Dennis 'sings' along with us when we sing Jesus Loves Me to them at night. It is so cute. He 'sings' for a line or two, then cuddles his cloth and sucks his thumb. Daniel is cozied in on your shoulder for song and prayer time. He sucks his thumb too, the opposite thumb from Dennis, and holds his cloth as well.



Daniel does 'sing' along with some of the toys in his room, especially the ABC song. It is adorable. He seems to pick up on certain things pretty quickly, especially mechanical things. It is so much fun to watch how different they are. I love it! It is such a special blessing to have twins in our family.




Delainey put the babies in a laundry basket for the first two pics. Daniel climbed onto the lower shelf of the changing table in their bedroom and became quite frustrated when he couldn't sit up straight in there to look at that book.


Dennis eating. Daniel fell asleep in the "kiddie playland" play yard we have set up in the living room. Poor baby, didn't feel well at all.

Oil Cleansing Method for Rosacea, Acne, or Seborrhoeic Dermatitis

I am not really certain with what 'condition(s)' my skin may be afflicted. One doctor a few years ago told me I have rosacea on my cheeks and chin specifically, and that he could prescribe me a nice drug to get rid of it. He also said that I shouldn't plan to get pregnant cause the drug could be devastating to the unborn child, and at the same time, the drug would render birth control ineffective. What kind of drug is that? No, thanks. I think red is starting to be my color.

Then, during one pregnancy, I developed acne for the first time since, umm, forever. As I have researched these skin issues, I have started to see that many of them are interrelated. Rosacea, acne, atopic and seborrhoeic dermatitis, eczema, keratosis pilaris, and who knows what else.. All of us have something going on in the skin department. Some say that many of these skin issues come from the same gene as allergies, asthma, and eczema. Interesting.

Oddly, right now, Daniel's skin issues are the most severe with seborrhoeic dermatitis and eczema. And Dennis has the most unaffected skin of the bunch so far. They eat and drink the SAME THINGS. Always. It is just one more fascinating side to having twins.

So, aside from some moist air in this dry house during the winter especially, I have been learning about some other natural remedies/helps for our skin. We started playing around with diets a bit to see what food allergens may or may not set it off for each of us. I need to take it more seriously maybe and start a rotation diet or something. Also, I found some information about the Oil Cleansing Method.

It sounds a bit like an oxymoron - oil to clean your face? I read about it. I thought about it. I bought the ingredients and left them in the cabinet for awhile. I made the concoction but didn't use it right away. Then, I took the plunge, and I must say that my skin felt silky when I was done, not at all greasy. I was surprised, really.

Anyway, I have only tried it twice, and I have read you have to give it a couple weeks. I made my recipe based on several I have found. I used equal parts extra virgin olive oil, Castor oil, and grape seed oil. I also added several drops of tea tree oil because I love that stuff. Different skin types may require different ratios of the various oils. And some have said they use different oils altogether except the castor oil. That is the constant.

There are some good instructions online. Below are a few sites, and I will try to update about how it works in a couple of weeks. If it works well for me, I may see how it works on some of the kids' skin afflictions.

The Oil Cleansing Method
OCM instructions and mixture ratios
OCM various instructions

It was Max!

Tacy, you know me too well. I was being all tricky. Sorry, Kerry. And, yes, Schaun, Max had much more hair than the twins have. But as I was looking over the pictures of Max, I thought it was interesting how he looked like one twin or the other at different times. I had thought he looked like Daniel, but when I looked through more pictures, he favors Dennis at times, too. Except for Dennis' ears.

Oh, the other sure-tell sign that it is Max was his left eye always pooling tears prior to surgery at one year.

The prize is you have bragging rights... ?