Show Us Your Life-Moms of Multiples

It's Show Us Your Life over on Kelly's Korner and this week's topic is Mom's of Multiples. I love participating in SUYL. I also love reading blogs of other mom's with twins, so I can't wait to see who all links up! I wasn't exactly sure how I should do this post or how much detail should go into it, so I decided to do a little overview of everything.

I found out I was carrying twins in February 2010. I knew there was a chance since they run in my family, but it was still a pretty big shock. I was very lucky and had a great pregnancy. I gave birth to two, healthy boys on August 18, 2010. We knew immediately that they were fraternal and not identical. They look very different, a lot of people tell us that Evan looks like Greg and Carter looks like me.

The boys newborn pictures. Taken by Kris Grimes

And one of my favorite pictures of them!

I started following a couple blogs of other mom's with twins right after the boys were born. I've found a lot of great twin blogs. Although I enjoy reading any blog about multiples, my favorites are those with boy/boy twins that are older or the same age as mine. I like to see what I have to look forward to, and it's also nice to read those around the same age because it's nice to hear others going through the same things you are.

The boys 1 year pictures, also taken by Kris Grimes

I think a lot of things about being a mother are universal. It doesn't matter whether you have a lot of kids, just one kid, boys, girls, etc. some things, we all just understand and can talk about. But, there's some things about twins that nobody understands except for other mom's of twins. I love talking to other moms of twins because there's things that they just "get" that other moms don't. It's nice to have that support system, even if it's just through emails with moms that live in other states. I think it's so important to have other moms that you can talk to that understand what you're going through.

The boys around 15 months old.

My boys are now 19 months. They are definitely all boy! They love to run, climb, play with trucks, blocks, etc. They both love animals. It's so fun to see the bond they have. Everyday, they seem to play together better and interact more. They both still look completely different and have their own, unique personalities, but they like to keep us on our toes, so they're constantly switching traits. They are always surprising us.There is never a dull moment with these two. It's definitely getting easier as they get older-just like everybody with twins told us it would.

A couple of pictures from this past weekend.

I love getting in touch with other twin moms, feel free to email me samantha (dot) westover (at) hotmail (dot) com. I can't wait to see all the other twin mom blogs that link up today.

Brandi's Trip-Day 1

My friend, and the boys' godmother, Brandi, came out to visit last weekend. She flew in on Thursday and stayed until Tuesday. We had so much fun while she was here. Both the boys love "Aunt B", but Evan REALLY loved her. He did not want to share her with anybody else and everybody else was chop liver when Brandi was around. We tried to pack in as much fun time with the boys, cooking, talking, crafting, etc. while she was here and I think we did a pretty good job. Her trip did end with everybody coming down with a stomach bug, including her, which I feel awful about. But, we're going to try and block that little part from our memory and focus on all the fun we had.

So, like I said, I took a TON of pictures. I picked Brandi up from the airport on Thursday. Greg got off work early to come stay with the boys so I wouldn't have to take them to DC, which I really, really appreciated. On the way home, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for dinner, by the time we got home, it was time to bathe the boys and put them to bed. We all hung out in the basement talking for a little while and then went to bed. I didn't get any pictures of Thursday. Friday, however, is a different story.

Friday morning, we made a quick trip to Kroger and Harris Teeter to pick up the ingredients for our meals for the weekend. Brandi is a great cook and made some pretty amazing things, I'll defnitely post the recipes later.

After we got home, the boys played while Brandi fixed the homemade meatballs to put in the crock pot for spaghetti and meatballs. Yes, she's the world's best house guest, she comes out here and plays with the boys and cooks all our meals. It does make me world's worst host, but if that means getting to eat her yummy cooking, that's fine by me.

Carter pushing his monkey around on his fire truck.

So cute!!

Monkey see, monkey do. Evan had to push Elmo around after he saw Carter doing it.

I wish this picture would have uploaded the correct way, but I think they're so cute playing together.

Brandi making her yummy meatballs from scratch.

Evan wanted to be held, but only by Brandi. I was seriously chop liver while she was here. So, here she is cooking, talking on the phone, and holding Evan. I bet it would have been nice if somebody would have been helping her, instead of, say taking pictures? oops.

 We decided to take the boys out in the backyard for some outdoor time. We got the boys' water table in the mail that day and couldn't wait to open it and let them play. Here's Brandi putting on Carter's sunscreen. Seriously, the more I'm going through these pictures, the more I'm realizing that she seriously did EVERYTHING while she was out here.

And this is Evan crying because Brandi is putting sunscreen on Carter. Really. He wanted her all to himself. He was so funny. Most of the time, he didn't cry when she showed Carter attention, but he would start doing something to get her attention or start hugging on her. it's the complete opposite of her last visit when the boys were less than 3 months old. Carter was her little buddy then.

Evan, happy that he now has Brandi's attention.

Brandi loved styling Carter's hair with the extra sunscreen. He looks so cute!

The boys water table, that Brandi put together. Haha. I wanted this water table for them since before their 1st birthday. I thought it looked like so much fun and plenty big enough for two toddlers to play with at the same time. The boys seemed to really love it.

Carter loved taking the water out and dumping it out on the ground or on himself.

so happy!

The boys also loved drinking the water.

After they got done playing, their clothes were soaked. We stripped them down and let them swing for a few minutes before taking them inside to dry them off and put on fresh clothes. I'm so glad the weather was so warm for Brandi's first day here.

Afterwards, we decided to head up to Yoder's. It was still pretty early and the weather was so nice out, we had to try and take advantage of it.

Inside Yoder's, shopping for some goodies.

Evan and Brandi looking at the goats.

Aww....

Carter petting the goats. I still remember taking them to the county fair and Carter crying because he was terrified of all the animals and now he's going up to goats and chickens all on his own and petting them.

After we got back, we bathed the boys and pet them to bed. Then, we enjoyed our delicous dinner, some moscato, and cake pops for dessert. Brandi is co-owner of Sweet Party Stix, people pay her money for her to make these for them. They are so good!

So, that was Brandi's first day here. Uploading all the pictures, looking through them, and blogging about it makes me sad that it's already over. I cannot wait for her next trip. I'll post about day 2 of her trip tomorrow.

Easter Bunny Visit

I have my friend, Brandi, here for a visit, and I've taken so many pictures and have so much to blog about her stay so far. But, I'd much rather be spending time with her while she's here than blogging, but I figured that I'd post this quick picture of the boys with the Easter Bunny this weekend. I'll post more on that later, but here's their Easter Bunny picture for this year.

And for fun, here's their picture from last year.

I hope everybody had a great weekend.

Family Visit

Greg's parents came to visit from Arizona. They got in on Wednesday and left on Monday. The boys had a great time with their grandma and grandpa! Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures. The weather was great while they were here and we enjoyed a lot of time outside on the deck and in the yard. Greg put together the playhouse we found for them on Craigslist and they had a fun time playing in it. I also picked them up some chairs at a consignment sale on Friday and they look like such big boys in them. They had more fun moving those chairs around and getting in and out of them than they did with their outdoor toys. Greg and I had a lunch date and dinner date while they were here, and it was so nice to sit down and eat and talk without rushing. I know the boys were sad to see their grandma and grandpa go, but they'll get spoiled with attention all over again when my friend, Brandi arrives on Thursday.
I didn't get a single picture with either boy with either grandparent, so I stole this one off Facebook. I think this was the only one. :( I can't believe I was so bad at taking pictures.

Evan reading a book after his nap. I'm just posting all the pictures I've taken since my last blog post.

The boys the morning that Grandma and Grandpa arrived.

This isn't a good picture but the weather was so warm while Greg's parents were here, that I got to pull out the boys summer clothes. Don't they look so cute!?

Evan one morning before Carter woke up. I was getting ready and put all my stuff up afterwards, so he got it back out for me. Look how he lined them up in a straight row.

Greg's parents offered to keep the boys so Greg and I could have a date night. Then they offered to even bathe the boys and put them to bed for us too. It was the first time we've ever had somebody else bathe the boys and put them down. It's a two person job, and I'm pretty sure Greg and I were out the door before they finished their sentence when they offered. It was pretty early, so we went to World Market and Best Buy to look around. It was so fun to browse and not feel rushed. Then we went to Sakura for hibachi. It was so good! Then we went to T.G.I.Friday's for drinks afterwards. This was the only picture I got of our date night. :(

Evan on the way to check out a lake we might want to go to this summer. I bought a hat at the consignment shop, but there was only one, so when the boys started fighting over it, I had to bring out their ones from last year that were too small. they wore them anyways.

Neither boy wanted to wear their new hat, so they both ended up wearing hats that were too small. This is Carter at Lord Hardwhicke's for our St. Patrick's Day lunch.

The one of two pictures I got of the boys on st. Patrick's day. I'm telling you, I was AWFUL about getting pictures this weekend.

This was the other one.

The boys playing in their playhouse on the patio. Yep, they're in their pajamas because it was morning but now that they're obsessed with going outside, they don't care if it's 6am, raining, cold, etc. They want to be outside all the time.

Yesterday after Greg's parents left, the boys had their 18 month appointment. This is them in the waiting room. I'll do a full post eventually on that, but they're healthy. Both are still tall and skinny and were so good for the doctor. They only had to get one shot and now they're done with shots (except for flu shots) for awhile. Yay!