tweet tweet

I just joined twitter and I don't understand it. I'm also getting a smart phone this week.

Talk about living in the 21st century.

I hope your weekend was as good as mine. I attended a baby shower, worked on quilt squares, came home to a clean house and flowers {yes, shameless husband brag}, watched lots of Modern Family, went to church, and then to a family dinner.

I also rescued my collection of Beanie Babies and had memories of going to swaps with Fro come flooding back.

Now the question is, do I let the girls play with them or wait to see if someday they're really going to be worth millions?

And here's a picture of the babies because I realize that's the only reason why half of you check this blog. :)

Also, there's still time to enter the giveaway {see below}. It closes tonight at midnight.

*Edit. I just noticed that according to the little tracker to the right, the babies are TWENTY FIVE weeks old! They've been here just 10 weeks and 5 days less than my entire pregnancy was. That's insane.

They might as well be a quarter of a century old. Wait, I'm not even that old yet...

They turn 6 months old a week from tomorrow and I've got some ideas running through my head of what we're going to do. I don't have a half birthday {no September 31st} and always got jealous of kids that did, so the fact that my daughters do is a BIG deal. They {might} even get to try solids for the first time.

Yep, we live on the edge in the Mangelson home.

*Edit #2 (sorry, I keep thinking of things that I want to remember via the blog) Yesterday at church, a family behind us asked how old the girls are. When I responded, the dad commented on how loud they were and that he didn't think 5 1/2 month old babies could make that much noise.
Looks like they take after their mother...

Giveaway!!! *Closed*

It's giveaway time! The first giveaway to grace a little of this, a little of that, is from Memories Remixed. My friend Jessa is giving away a free session to one of my readers! The session can take place anywhere from Spanish Fork to Logan, Utah and can be for families, kids, couples, babies, roommates, etc.

There are 3 ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment here (easy peasy)

2. Become a follower of her photography blog THEN come back here and leave an additional comment saying you follow her.

3. Blog OR facebook OR Tweet about the giveaway. (You don't have to do all 3) THEN leave a comment telling me you did.

So 3 comments = 3 entries.

Easy!

Here are some of my favorite pictures Jessa has taken

You have until Monday at midnight to enter!

Good luck and happy Friday!

Sometimes

Sometimes Lillian screams for 50 minutes straight (like right now) and I have to go sit on our balcony because I can't take it anymore. Is she sick? In pain? Pain from what? Teething for reals? She's not hungry. No poopy diaper. Being held, swaddled, rocked, binkied, and a bathed does nothing. Should I call 911 and tell them my 5 month old child is out of control?

Please can someone make her verbal for ten seconds so she can tell me what the %@!$ is wrong?

It's moments like this when I wish I had a nanny and I could go leave for a few hours by myself and buy a new outfit.

I don't like days like this.

Dear Lillian, please go back to being cute.

Love, Mom


Update: Yes, I'm updating this just 7minutes after I posted it, but guess what? She stopped. I'm sure you're all dying to know what finally got her to calm down, right? Backyadigans. Ya know, before I was a mom I was one of those "my child will never watch tv" kind of people and if you're that kind of mom then great, but next time one of the girls acts like this, can you please come over and figure out what's wrong?

Thanks.

Now excuse me while I go shower.

A Sunday night at our house

Last night we:

Played with the infamous turkey. If you've ever been my roommate, you know the turkey all too well. The girls LOVE it. No matter what they're crying about, as soon as the turkey comes alive and starts singing, "Deck the Halls" all their troubles go away. I should get a video of it some time. It's fantastic. There is no doubt in my mind that these are my babies.

Played in this thing. I can't remember what it's called. Not a jumperoo, but...still an insane toy of over-stimulation. Whatever, the babies love it. Oh and LOOK at those chunky thighs!
Love them.

Pretended we were pirates

Drooled

Ate daddy's finger

And made some mediocre sugar cookies

Stay tuned because I'm fixin' to do a giveaway in the next day or two. Remember my blog header? (I should hope so since it's right above this post...) Well, I'll be hosting a photography giveaway for Jessa. Like I said, stay turned!

Sometimes I take over other people's blogs.

I wrote a guest post on my new friend Becky's blog. Well, technically we haven't actually met, BUT I'm going to her baby shower next Saturday with my former roommate Celia. Yeah, we're cool like that. Anyways, she's pregnant with twin boys and is getting a little bit sick of all the negative comments people throw at her. (I totally understand) From now until her baby boys arrive, she's going to do have a guest blog post every Saturday from moms of twins telling the world why twins are a.w.e.s.o.m.e. and I'm lucky #1! Her blog sorta died this morning, but somehow she worked her magic and got it back and running.

OK, now I'm rambling....er....uh.... you can check out my contribution to her little project here. But be sure to check out the rest of her blog because she's hilarious and when I grow up I want to be just like her.

Don't look back

Seriously? Could they get anymore awesome? I think not. I watched this video probably a dozen times yesterday.

Yes, I'll admit that I watched it while the girls were napping instead of showering.
Judge me.

But in my defense, the timing of the babies arrival made me miss their FREE concert in Salt Lake.
I love the babies, but seeeeriously?

She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.

I love everything about She & Him.

I hope you love them too.

One baby at a time

Sometimes, I like to pretend I have one baby instead of two. I usually am not strict during the day to keep them on the same schedule because when one is asleep and one is awake I can give the awake baby the attention she really deserves. Being home alone with both of them all day gets a little crazy and sometimes the non-crying baby gets a little neglected. So when I can, I like to play or cuddle with just one baby.

This is probably my only complaint about having twins (well this and getting cross examined during every public outing). I am completely outnumbered during the day. Josh is working/commuting about 10 hours each day so that leaves me with LOTS of baby time. I don't mind it of course, but I'll admit, I get cabin fever frequently {I can't wait for spring/summer. We've got a playground and a swimming pool at our apartment!} and like I said, I don't feel like I can give the babies the attention they individually need. I guess it's not a bad thing though, since I've always heard that twins never have the 'first child syndrome'. They obviously don't get as jealous when a second sibling comes a long because they were never an only child. I'm sure every mom of 2+ kids feels a little torn between giving equal amounts of time between their kids, but sometimes I wish I knew what it was like to only have one. Maybe I sound awful for saying that, but like I said, I feel like the non-crying baby doesn't get any attention. Hopefully within the next few months they actually start playing with each other instead of just starting and giggling (don't get me wrong, I love that. That's my favorite thing about twins so far actually).

Until then, I'll continue to soak up my 'mom and Lillian time' and 'mom and Sophie time'.

(I recently cut about 4 inches of nasty, nasty bleached hair. I didn't realize how dark my natural hair color really was. It's light brown!)

(Did I mention that I'm constantly tired? And I realize how unflattering this picture is, but Josh took it a few mornings back and I think it's adorable.)

Out of the water

They love bath time, but will do everything humanly possible to make sure their toes don't get wet.

Silly, silly girls.

p.s. School has started. Somebody please save me.
p.p.s. I've gone a little cloth diaper crazy lately. Expect an updated post in the near future on cloth diapering awesomeness.
p.p.p.s. Happy Martin Luther King day! Did anyone catch Oprah today? I may or may not have cried. Racism is one of the saddest things in our county's past and present.

Cannibals

Sometimes a little photoshoot with mom (which usually happens on an every morning basis) turns into a lecture on cannibalism. 

I wonder how they taste?

What to do? What to do?

Have you guys read this article? I don't like it. Not one bit. I get that things change and technology improves the lives of the general population, but really? 

No more separation of work and home? 

Paper maps? 

Encyclopedias? 

Hand-written letters? 

The lack of paper makes me sad.

I'm all for saving trees, but I don't really like this new world of kindles and google maps that we live in. Sure it's convenient, but what happened to curling up with a book on a cold, rainy night? What happened to pulling out the map on your road trip to California? 

I'm also not a fan at the lack personal contact we have with each other. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I didn't really even know my next door neighbors until about a YEAR after we moved into our last apartment (and Natalie, know that I fully blame myself. You're the one who had a baby to take care of. Me? I sat on my butt and did nothing about it. Don't feel bad at all about it.) I mean, we shared a wall and I said nothing more than 'hi' to them if we happened to get in our cars at the same time. Oh, and once they moved, Josh and I successfully avoided the newbies. They lived there for a few months without any of us acknowledging each others existence.

Pathetic.

Sometimes, I like the fact that we have facebook and I can stalk the girl in high school who I said 3 words to, or the crazy people in my sociology classes, or random friends of friends, but I think it's hindered me to have conversations with people face to face. There's no 'catching' up anymore. Now conversations start, "I was reading on your blog blah blah blah." It's just weird and very impersonal. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I love blogging. (obviously) I think why I love it so much is because this blog has become my journal. I used to be a VERY avid journaler. There have been times where I've written 3-4 pages per day. I sadly haven't written since I've been married and have instead focused my time to this blog. But do you know what I miss? Writing. With a pencil (or pen) and actual paper. I wrote a check the other day (I know, a check? How old school can I be?) and I realized that besides signing my name on the Relief Society roll at church each week, I NEVER write. I at least used to write at school, but since the babies and taking online classes, all I do is type. 

So now, I'm stuck with a decision. Do I start journaling again? If I do, I'll still blog, but it will take a serious hit. Should I start a gratitude journal? I've always thought those were a tad cheesy, but at least I'd be using a pen, right? Write down stuff about the babies? But that's what I do here with typing and pictures. 

Hmmm...

What to do? What to do?

5

It's amazing what just 5 months can do...

My little Sophie

and Lillian

are HUGE.
I say it all the time, but unless you held them when they were newborns and now, I'm not sure you fully understand. They were under 5 pounds when we brought them home and now they're pushing 15. Their sweet little kitten cries of the NICU have now turned into bloody murder shrieks. They giggle and smile every day and keep getting fatter and fatter. They recently got some new cloth diapers (which I was SUPER excited about) and we're getting closer to saying goodbye to disposables forever. They love the Backyardigans (and so do I because it gives me 20 minutes to do something while they are glued to the tv. Yes, I've already picked up my horrible mother card. I'm over it.) They haven't started solids yet and are still only drinking 4-5 oz at each feeding. We're going to start solids soon, but quite frankly I'm scared for the poop. They LOVE standing and can even stand while holding on to the couch for about 3.5 seconds (yes, I'm TERRIFIED). They can also sit up on their own for a few seconds, but then come tumbling down. We're getting there. They hate their car seats, nap time, being a part from each other, farting, and the wind. They love being swaddled (although they're starting to fight it. Again, I'm terrified) diaper changes, open windows, standing, farting noises, getting out in their stroller, reading books (especially Lillian. It's hilarious how excited she gets), bath time, and shoving anything they can get their hands on into their mouth.

(yes, those shirts say "My sister is my BFF" Hilarious.)

Happy 5 months, girls.

Death by sleep regression

The buzz on our babycenter birth board (not that I check it really, those ladies are pretty foul...) is about the 4 month sleep regression. Technically, I'm a member of the September board so I get their updates even though my girls are sometimes-sorta-if-their-in-a-good-mood a month ahead. In my stupid little head, I thought the cursed 4 month sleep regression magically passed over the Mangelson household. I thought that God himself was blessing me with children that slept 6 hours each night.

I.was.wrong.

The past few nights have been hard. Literally, the hardest nights we've had. At least when they were tiny and waking up every 2 hours, they would instantly fall back asleep when they were done eating. Now? Not so much. Last night, I broke the cardinal rule of having twins. I DIDN'T wake the second baby up when the first woke up. I thought that maybe Lillian would grace dreamland with a few more hours of sleep while her evil sister Sophie ( chillax, this is an obvious attempt at me making a joke) showed off her fiery dragon screams. So, I took care said dragon and fell back to sleep. Not more than 30 minutes later, the sleeping beauty turned into the same scary dragon. I literally started crying (just a little bit) because I realized what I set myself up for.

Between the hours of midnight and 6 am I had to get up FIVE times. Not cool at all. And of course I got my 7:15 wake up cue from the broken down car trying to start outside our window (It happens every morning. The car's engine turns over about 4 times before it starts. I'm patiently waiting for it to officially eat the dust. No offense neighbor, but your car is annoying!) Once the car drives off, I can almost time it to the second that I'll either hear the girls start to babble or scream. Today was no different. Luckily, they were kind enough to be giggling and cooing at each other when I walked into the nursery today. I am a little terrified however, because their swaddling blankets are getting to be too small for them. We were able to use those dinky receiving blankets for about the first month of their lives and I NEVER thought we'd have to use the giant blankets we have, but now they're almost too small. Maybe I'll find a fabric store (yes, I still don't know my way around my new neighborhood) and make my own. How do babies sleep without being swaddled??? I'm admittedly too much of a chicken to find out.

So the moral of this story is (that people do change. Fro, I hope {and I'm assuming} that made you laugh. Isn't it funny how it actually kinda fits in this circumstance? Hilarious.) that the 4 month sleep regression is real. That along with the early stages of teething makes for a very sleepy mom. Luckily, I fell asleep at 7 last night whilst reading so I was able to get a few hours of sleep before the fun began.

My mom has always said, "good thing he was cute!" about my brother. I never understood exactly what she meant by that until about 4 days ago. Seriously though, good thing they're cute. ;)

Oh and the new header picture? It was taken by my awesome friend, former co-worker and most importantly step cousin (I still think that's hilarious) Jessalynn. She took some adorable pictures of the girls on Sunday and I'll post more soon!

Discovering

A certain little girl is discovering her toes....

And another little girl is discovering her tongue....

Yep, we're full of skills at our house.

Buddies

Remember how I've been so excited for our girls to notice each other and be friends? Well, over the past few weeks it's happened. They laugh with each other, stare at each other, and get sad when they're not by each other. I'm so jealous of them. Who doesn't want a twin sister (or a twin in general)?

Perfect.

Don't you love how they hold hands? They also chomp on each other's clothing, toes and fingers. I need to get a picture of it. It is the most adorable thing you will ever see.

Love my baby girls.

Calendars

I'm pretty sure this is the first year since I was 3 that I didn't get a calendar for Christmas. {and no mom, I'm not bitter like I am about not getting a stocking. ;) } So, I browsed the interweb for a few minutes and realized that there are lots of free printable calendars that are ADORABLE!

Like this amazing Owl calendar that you can customize yourself.

Or this one that you craft yourself.

Or these ones that would be perfect to stick at a desk or on the fridge.

Or this one that you can tweek in photoshop to make it fit your family.

and possibly my favorite: This one filled with beautiful Polaroids. {ok, it's a toss up between this one and the owl for my favorite.}

Awesome, right?

I don't think I'll ever buy another calendar again. Unless, my girls want a Fraggle Rock calendar like their awesome mother had back in '08.

What a fantastic year that was....