Gardening & Mischief

Jared got home from a 2-week business trip on Friday, 5/18.  The next day, we went to a plant nursery and got stuff to plant in our garden: tomatoes, squash, zucchinis, cucumbers, cilantro, Anaheim peppers, jalapenos, strawberries, and watermelons.  The garden already had blueberries, blackberries, beans, and rhubarb in it.  We went in the back yard to play on Sunday and Jared planted everything while the girls played.

Makenna found some of the dogs' tennis balls

 

Avery had fun playing in the dirt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet kisses from Makenna

Jared was home for less than a week--he left last Thursday and will get home this Friday or Saturday.

My sisters, niece and brother came over Sunday evening and we had dinner, we chatted, the girls played on the deck with Carma, we danced, and we watched So You Think You Can Dance.  I have no idea what time the twins went to bed but Kiki thinks it was after 10.  After Nikki and Tim left, Kiki, Carma and I painted our toenails and Carma and I had a snack.  Carma stayed up 'til 11:30!

Nikki, Carma & Kiki dancing

Makenna started making this funny face a couple of weeks ago.  It's pretty funny!

Some posts from Facebook:
5/24: Makenna actually sits and folds her arms and closes her eyes now for bedtime prayers. So cute!

5/27: So I went to use the bathroom and was thinking, "Wow, maybe I'll actually be able to use it in peace" since the girls didn't follow me and bang on the door. But then I went and saw why they were being to quiet and content without me. Avery had a big piece of moss and was "wiping" the floor with it and there were little moss pieces all over the floor. Little stinkers!

 5/27: The twins LOVED the strawberries I gave them with lunch. I can't wait for the strawberries in our garden to come in!

5/27: The girls just woke up from a nap and are having a great time banging on the wall.

5/27: The makings of a great slumber party:
*Good food and snacks: check
*Dancing: check
*Watching TV: check
*Painting toenails: check
*Staying up late: check
*Just having fun: check and check
The twins stayed up until at least 9:00 and my niece is just now going to bed. Great slumber party! :)

5/29: Twins playing on the deck = me eating in peace. :)

5/30: Some of you may remember the picture I posted the other day of the twins getting into one of my plants. Well, I was working on my blog a bit ago (with the girls coming in and out of my scrapbook room) and it took me a few minutes to realize that it had been quiet for a while, so I went to check on them and they got into the plant again. Only this time, instead of just taking some of the moss out, they scooped out a good couple of cups of the dirt onto the floor. Makenna's scalp was caked with dirt and she had dirt all over her clothes; both of their socks were covered in dirt, too. I've cleaned them up a bit with baby wipes but they will definitely need baths tonight!

Here are pics I took of them getting into the plant this morning--they actually did it twice and I had to move the plant outside the door:
 

 

 

Here are some videos:
This one shows how the girls play together (5/27):
This one shows the girls dancing and me being mean (chasing Makenna around with the stuffed animal kitty cat that meows, ha ha!) (5/29):

Just a few notes about the girls

I'm sitting here on the computer and the girls are playing behind me and I thought I'd come and write about some of the things that the girls are doing at this age.  They will be 17 months in 2 days!  I'm listening to Avery "read" a book right now and Makenna is just chatting away.  I just love hearing their jibber-jabber.  It's the cutest ever!  They both have different but equally cute voices. 

Avery has started to sing a lot and will do it if I ask her to or if I start to sing.  She also dances every time she hears music.  She loves music!  They both do, actually, but Avery seems to dance more and Makenna doesn't really sing too much.  I put them both on the piano last week and now they often "ask" me to let them play it.  Here's a couple of pics of them playing:

 

Makenna is becoming more and more attached to her lovey.  She wants to take it everywhere now.  We used to not let her take it out of her crib but I have started letting her recently.  I also just bought some of the same type of fabric that it's made from so I can make a few loveys so we have one for the car and several for around the house.  I hope I'm not creating a monster!  Avery will only go to sleep if she has her blankey but she's not quite as attached to it as Makenna is her lovey. 

They still love Sesame Street, especially Makenna.  She squeals and starts dancing the minute she hears the theme song.  She will usually sit and watch a whole episode but Avery will only watch a few minutes at a time.

They both love being chased by "Mommy Monster".  They laugh so hard that they fall down a lot and run into things.  It's pretty funny!  They also both like to be tickled.

They usually listen pretty well to me when I tell them not to do something but Makenna has become a little stinker about throwing food on the floor.  She will do it even when she's looking right at me and I'm saying, "NO!"  If I get up to take food away from her, she will hurry and throw it on the floor before I get there.  It's kind of funny sometimes but it's pretty aggravating a lot, too!  What a little stinker!!

They love brushing their teeth.  They will let me do it for a couple of minutes, then I let them brush their own teeth for a couple of minutes.  I usually brush my hair and teeth before I get them out of bed but, this morning, I took a shower, then went and got them, then finished getting ready.  They saw me brushing my hair and I had to give one a comb and one a brush.  It's so cute to see them try to mimic what I do.

They're still not saying too many words, although they "talk" to me and each other quite a bit.  They've been saying "ball" for a few weeks and Makenna will say "baby" but that's about it.  They know several animal noises and most of their body parts, though.  They still sign "please" a lot whenever they want food, ha ha.

I cut out their morning nap last week, hoping that it will help with their transition to nursery.  Maybe if they get use to going without that morning nap, they won't be so grumpy during church.  It's going really well so far.  They are a little grumpy around 11:00 but I can usually keep them occupied enough to be OK until lunchtime.  The afternoon nap is getting longer and longer so I think they're sliding right into the new routine.  They are such little angels.

Jared gets home tonight and we can't wait.  He has been texting me pics of himself to show the girls; they will kiss him when I show them the pics.  So cute!  I'm sure they will be so happy to see him for real!

Mother's Day 2012

Jared is still out of town, so I brought the girls to church by myself . They were so good until the last few minutes, then the last speaker went over time by 7 minutes! I wanted to stand up and say, "Finish already!" One of the RS counselors sent her 10yo girl up to sit with us when she saw that Avery was freaking out in my lap and I was holding Makenna back by her arm, trying to keep her from running out in the aisle. The little girl was so cute and read a book with Makenna, which worked like a charm; they were both good 'til it finally ended. So they were only hard to manage for maybe 2 minutes. Great Mother's Day present from them. :) 

For dinner, we went to Kiki's in-laws' house.  The girls had so much fun playing in the yard and with all of the kids there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carma--fashionable as always! :)

Wy-wy and Avery playing together

 

Swinging on the hammock

When I got home from church, these were on the front door step.  They were from Jared's boss, wishing me a happy Mother's Day and thanking me for letting him be out of town on that special day.  So thoughtful, especially that they were in LSU colors. :)  I love the big purple vase!

It would have been nice to have Jared home yesterday but it was still a great Mother's Day.  Looking forward to Jared returning home this weekend! :)

First real baby dolls!

They are so cute with their new baby dolls, especially Makenna.  She kisses it and cuddles it.  Avery isn't quite so tender with hers.  She more concerned with figuring out how to undo the velcro on the back of the baby's clothes, ha ha.  Makenna is just more affectionate in general.  She gives kisses often, where Avery doesn't, and she even gives Avery kisses all the time, even though Avery doesn't reciprocate.  However, Avery generally likes to play with Makenna more and laughs more when she does.  Just another couple of differences between the two, both nice differences. :)  Here are some pics of them with the dolls:

 

 

April activities

I took the girls to Aunt Kiki's house on 4/10 to take pics of them in the bunny ears she made for them. I took all the kids to the park afterward and the girls had so much fun:

Makenna

Avery

Best friends :)

Cute little Wy-wy

Juddy playing basketball with his arm cast on

Wyatt and Carma, cutie pies

 Here are the girls playing in the backyard with 2 of their cousins at their Aunt Laura's house on 4/11:

Avery

Makenna

 

We went on a family walk to a park around the corner on 4/14:

Pure joy!  :D

Here are the girls eating a very messy meal of spaghetti and meatballs, 4/24:

I haven't been taking many pictures the past couple of weeks due to the move.  We closed on this house on 4/25 and moved in on Sat., 4/28.  The girls "helped" me pack up at the old house and are "helping" me unpack here in the new house.  I find stuff all over the house that belongs in other rooms.  We are all loving this house, though.  The girls love the deck and the backyard.  The dogs seem to like it here and even the cat has had an easier transition than any other move we've done.  

Last week, Jared started his new position as a regional Safety & People Development Manager; he's over 30 operations in several states.  His boss called him Thursday afternoon and asked if he could head to WY ASAP so Jared left Friday morning and will be gone for 2-3 weeks.  He'll be traveling quite a bit so if anyone wants to come and hang out any time, just let me know.  There's a guest bedroom! :)  I am slowly getting the house settled but it's hard to do when the girls are awake, so it is very slow going!  I will post pics as soon as I have most everything in its place--it will still be a little while before I actually decorate, though.  I really do love this house, though, and can't wait to show it to y'all!