Happy Christmas

With so many family members spread across the country, it's easy to spend too much time traveling and not really taking a moment to enjoy the Christmas season. We didn't want that. We've been there and done that. It was important for us to spend Christmas morning together, just the five of us, in our home. 

The kids woke up around 7, we started opening presents at 7:30, and we were eating breakfast by 8. It was the perfect amount of time for us. Kinsey took an extremely long time opening her stocking and examining each item. The babies ate puffs to keep them from crawling away from their stockings. 

Opening stockings

The first present the babies opened consisted of Scarlett and Shayla stealing the bow from each other. AND this is why they only got a couple presents from us this year!! 

 Scarlett was a little better at opening the paper, but of course they went too slow and lost interest before getting inside. 

Eric got some practical presents from the girls, but at least he had no idea what he was getting. I really need to improve on my present-giving skills.

The girls had as good a Christmas as can be expected for 10 month olds. They play with all their toys so I consider it a success!!

 

Kinsey had a blast!! She loves this table from Grammy and Papa. Shayla started loving it too by climbing on top of it. 

 After breakfast and morning naps, we headed off to Grandma and Papa Walker's house for lunch and more presents. 

 Christmas #3 took a lot longer because there were so many dang presents. The babies weren't too impressed because it was their nap time. Haha. 

 But we enjoyed spending time with the Walker side...

and the girls loved seeing their cousins, as usual!

We hope everyone had a relaxing and happy Christmas too!

Christmas Eve Celebration

We moved the week before Christmas so our decorations were very simple and we had pretty much zero furniture. BUT, we were super excited to spend our first Christmas as a family of five in our FIRST house! 

All dressed up for Christmas Sunday.

Kinsey and I got our decorating on after church. We figured four days of decorations was better than nothing to get us in the Christmas spirit. She was a great helper, and much to my relief, we escaped another year of our tree and ornaments being attacked by baby hands. 

My sister's family stayed the night on the 23rd so Kinsey, Amora, and I made Christmas cookies. They didn't really turn out (still getting used to my new oven) but I'm sure Santa didn't mind some crispy cookies.  

Christmas Eve was dedicated to my side of the family. Since it was the babies' first Christmas, we had to attempt a mini photo shoot like the ones I see on Pinterest. Scarlett and Shayla weren't very smiley, but I still love any picture with my babies in it!

Scarlett

Shayla being silly with her hat

This is my favorite one!! Does anyone else love Christmas jammies as much as I do!?

 Here is the closest we got to their adorable smiles. 

 My mom, stepdad, and little brother came over on Christmas Eve morning and we ate some yummy breakfast. 

Adam was clearly VERY excited. 

 Then we opened presents!!

 Kinsey asked Santa for a pony this year, and she lucked out! My mom got her two My Little Pony items. It was a good thing she got two because she only likes one of them. Haha. She's silly. 

 

I made Snow White aprons for my nieces (thank you Pinterest). I wasn't sure what they would think of them, but Amora seemed pretty happy about it. She put it on immediately. WIN for Aunt Cindy. 

 My sister, Wendy, made the girls pillows for their rooms. Kinsey opened up the pillow then ran straight to her room to test it out. I think that was another WIN. 

 The twins did pretty good with opening their first present ever. They tore at the paper and eventually saw what was inside. Of course, Kinsey was there to help whenever they were taking too long. She's so thoughtful. 

We had a great Christmas #1 and enjoyed spending time with my family! If the toddler is happy, everyone is happy. 

Have a MERRY Christmas!

This past year has given us a lot to be thankful for. We gave birth to two beautiful baby girls, moved to Utah, and bought and renovated our first home!

Scarlett Rosalie and Shayla Hazel were born one minute apart on February 7th. They spent two weeks in the NICU while they learned how to eat and maintain their body temperatures. Both girls adore their big sister and love to follow her around the house and giggle at her jokes. Shayla started crawling at six months old and now enjoys getting into any drawer she can open. Scarlett loves her food and spends her time finding tiny stickers to put in her mouth (thank you Kinsey). The twins are a lot of fun and hard work, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Kinsey’s personality grows stronger by the day. She loves her independence and refuses to be helped with tasks like washing her hands, closing the baby gate, and turning on lights. She loves attention and is an absolute grandma’s girl. Ever since Kinsey turned two in August, she has been talking up a storm, although she still stays pretty quiet during Sunday school. Kinsey is the total package—sweet, loving, funny, sensitive, shy, moody, and bossy all rolled into one!

Cindy has perfected the art of multi-tasking, thanks to the three kiddos. Although many days are exhausting, she loves having the opportunity to stay at home with the girls. The last few months Cindy has spent a lot of time managing the renovation schedule and shopping for the new house. When Cindy has a spare moment and isn’t trying to catch up on her sleep, she enjoys blogging and reading.  

Eric has had a big year. The first half of the year was spent juggling being a dad, a husband, and a student. He passed all his chiropractic national board exams and moved the family to Utah in June where he began an externship. Eric graduated with his doctorate in August and started working as a full-fledged chiropractor in September. He continues to attend weekend seminars and will earn the status of certified chiropractic sports physician next year. He also managed to find time to do the demolition and some electrical work for our house! 

Although it has been a busy and stressful year, we have been blessed with lots of love, laughter, and helping hands as we raise our three little girls. We expect much chaos next year with three toddlers running around the house, but we are excited to finally be settled in a home of our own. May the next year bring love and happiness to you all! 

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

Eric, Cindy, Kinsey, Scarlett, and Shayla

The Reality of Having Twins - 10 Months and 2 1/4 Years Old

Is it hard having twins? I get this question quite a bit, and to answer: it's twice the work. Obviously. But for the most part having twins is pretty straight forward. The hardest part is when they wake up at the same time in the middle of the night (they sleep through the other's cries more than half the time). When this happens I pick them both up, walk around for awhile, and put them back in their beds. This never works. They want food. But they are at the age where I am supposed to sleep train them and wean them off night feedings. 

They steal toys and pacifiers back and forth. 

But when two babies are crying, the weaning goes out the window and I nurse them both. After nursing I can usually put them both in their beds and they'll go back to sleep. Since I'm holding two babies, the first one I put down is kind of awkwardly dropped into her crib.  Sometimes the baby doesn't like that and will not go to sleep. Or sometimes Shayla finishes nursing earlier, as always, so I try to rush Scarlett and just take the food away. Scarlett doesn't like when this happens.

After stopping the food flow, I put the babies in their cribs. Let's say Shayla goes down okay but Scarlett is mad that she didn't get to finish eating. I then tend to Scarlett so she can finish eating. Well Shayla does NOT like this (she must be the last one I go to before leaving the room) so she stands up and starts crying for me. I put Scarlett down (she starts crying because I interrupted her again) and I pick up Shayla since she is the much louder cryer. I calm Shayla down and put her back in her crib. Scarlett is still crying but I can't go to her because if Shayla sees me do that then she'll get mad again and start crying. I have to walk away and hope they both stop crying. Which they usually don't for a very long time. And this is the hardest part about having twins. 

This is their favorite drawer in the kitchen. They love taking everything out of it.

But they are so dang cute that every second is worth it. Would I have another set of twins? Maybe. It would be nice to be able to love on just one baby and not worry about juggling them. I wish there was more of me to go around. We'll see what the future holds. 

They love playing with the water bottles. 

SCARLETT

Scarlett has had a great month! She is getting stronger at pulling herself up and standing. She now stands up in bed when she's ready to get out. 

Scarlett has the cutest little face that consists of scrunching her nose and blinking. When you blink at her, she'll blink back and make the face. It is so freaking cute!! Of course I can never get her to do it on camera. It almost makes up for the phase she is going through of screaming at the top of her lungs during meal time. SOOOOO annoying and loud. 

This little girl has been sleeping a lot lately. I've definitely noticed her gaining weight and feeling more dense when I hold her instead of feeling like a feather. She still loves to eat paper and seeks out tiny pieces on the floor. Scarlett and Shayla are both addicted to Puffs. I'm pretty sure they only eat their food so they can get Puffs afterwards. She likes standing in front of the heater and feeling it blow in her hair. Scarlett said Mama for the first and only time on Thanksgiving!! I'm pretty sure she was saying Papa (Grandpa) the other day too.  

She looks like a little girl kneeling like this. 

SHAYLA

Shayla is reaching higher and higher these days and can hold on to the top of the dining table. She makes her desires known by crawling right up to you and lifting her arms to be held. One of the cutest things she does is standing with her walking toy and then start walking. Ahhh she's growing up so fast! She took two steps the day before turning 10 months old. 

Shayla started waving the other week. It consists of opening and closing her fist. It's pretty adorable. Both girls are in the copying stage so they dance to music. Shayla sometimes claps when she sees me clap. 

Shayla loves looking at herself in the mirror. She gets jealous when I give Scarlett too much attention. Recently Shayla won't relax and let me sing her to sleep. It makes me sad. My ex-cuddle bug just pushes away from me like "just put me in my bed." I hope this is just a phase. But hey, I have another baby to cuddle, so that's something!

KINSEY

Kinsey's big milestone is sleeping in her big girl bed!! We transitioned her about a week ago. After the excitement wore off, she started napping in the bed, but naps are pretty hit or miss now. We've only had one night where she played for hours before falling asleep. Watch her adorable reaction to the bed here. 

She is a little mini-me. If I brush my hair or teeth then she must do the same. If I put on make-up then so does Kinsey. She even used crayon to do her make-up a couple times. One time I got out of the shower to find Kinsey wearing my make-up. Let's just say if you see a black spot on Kinsey's face then it's most likely not a bruise. Speaking of bruises, Kinsey is ADDICTED to bandaids. Whenever she gets an "owie" then she needs a bandaid. She believes bandaids are instant healers.

Cousin Addie came to visit for Thanksgiving. You'd think with two baby sisters Kinsey would have enough babies in her life, but NOPE! She LOVED Addie and wanted to hold her all the time. 

She's also pretty obsessed with her cousin, Christian. These two are two peas in a pod. 

Kinsey loves her books and I love seeing moments like this when she reads on her own. We have been trying to see what she wants for Christmas and all she has said yes to so far are bubbles and an iPad. Great. 

We're super excited for Christmas around here, as you can see!! Our house is about done and we'll be spending Christmas in it. I can't wait! 

The Twins at 9 Months

My babies are learning so much in their 9 months of life. At their check-up Scarlett and Shayla weighed 12 lbs and 12 lbs 7 oz. Scarlett is catching up! Their heads are the same size and Shayla is a quarter inch taller at 25 1/4 inches. I'm thankful they are still so small, not only because they are cute and tiny, but also because sometimes I have to carry them both and I'm not very strong. 

They both tend to go for the same toy. It's pretty funny watching them steal it back and forth until one of them gets bored (or until Kinsey just steals it from both of them). And oddly enough, Shayla always tries to steal the boob Scarlett is nursing on. TMI? So Scarlett, being the sweetheart she is, just moves to the other side. Shayla will not let me get away with nursing Scarlett alone. If she sees this happen she crawls right up to me with expectations. And yes, she will crawl over Scarlett to get what she wants. 

 I'm convinced Scarlett is the sweetest baby in the world. She loves sitting on my lap and just being held. She enjoys watching everyone and everything. 

She looks like a Hershey's kiss!

Shayla's huge accomplishment this month is balancing! I think her longest time standing up is close to ten seconds. A couple times she has tried to take one step (aka step then collapse) but for the most part she just loves standing. Shayla has a walking toy that she will crawl up to and start walking with. It is so stinkin' cute!

This month Scarlett started to crawl!! After a month of bouncing, she decided to take the next step. She was pretty slow at first but now she can almost keep up with Shayla. She ventures onto the hardwood and loves to be a part of everything that's going on. She has also been pulling herself up into standing position. When you help her stand up she just starts giggling. She loves it!

Scarlett is such a happy baby

 We've got the nap schedule down now! The only problem is Scarlett is more of a day sleeper and Shayla sticks to about 1 hour naps, so I almost always have at least one kid napping at any point throughout the day. It makes it pretty impossible to go anywhere unless it's right at lunch time. I guess it's a moot point right now since we only have one car, but I feel pretty stranded. 

Shayla kept waking up a TON at night all of a sudden, so I decided to separate the babies and move Shayla to the other room. Then Shayla slept through most of the night, waking up once, and Scarlett started waking up a lot. So I switched them and had more success with Scarlett out of the room. In order to get my room back and prep them for the new house, I then put both babies in the same room (away from us). Some nights they wake each other up and some nights they sleep right through the cries. I'm sure they'll get used to it because it's so nice being able to have a room again past 7 pm! 

Playing with leaves for the first time! Scarlett immediately tried to eat them.

 Shayla is quite the curious little thing. She's always looking for new things to do and has started opening drawers and pulling items out. She also loves pulling things out of boxes and cupboards. Did I mention she climbs stairs? Yup, we had to finally put up the baby gate when I found her halfway up the stairs one morning as I was getting Kinsey up. I'm so grateful she didn't fall!!

Kinsey has been a moody two year old with her sisters. One second she is showing them a toy and the next she is taking everything away from them. She is SOOO possessive of her books, so the babies only get to play with those during Kinsey's nap. 

Kinsey pokes and pushes Shayla so she goes in time-out quite a bit. I don't know if it's just because Shayla was mobile sooner, but she doesn't do that to Scarlett. She likes picking up Scarlett. Scarlett doesn't really mind--she just goes with the flow. 

Kinsey throwing Scarlett around

A week after they turned 8 months old, Shayla started saying Mama! It was mainly when she was crying and crawling after me. It was like deja vu when Kinsey used to follow me everywhere. Shayla has since started saying Dada A LOT. Scarlett hasn't said Mama yet but will say Dada on occasion. 

Shayla was freaked out by the monkey the first time she sat by it. Just like Kinsey!

I enjoy putting Shayla to bed more. She will take her paci, cuddle into me, and close her eyes really quickly. Scarlett, on the other hand, tries to push away and she tries to keep her eyes wide open. It isn't until I put her in her bed and walk away that she will give up and go to sleep. I guess all babies have their own way of doing things. 

Scarlett is adorable in her hats.

They are getting to such a fun stage and have their own personalities. I love watching the little humans they are growing into. But sometimes I just look at all three of my babies and miss the days when they were little...or littler.