A little catch up...soon.

So much to blog about, yet no motivation. First we had Thanksgiving, then we picked out and chopped down our huge Christmas tree, then I went and visited my sister inlaw and her adorable kids, then the girls stopped sleeping through the night and then I've been a little preoccupied with a few bits of good news that are floating around my social/family circle. So things are coming and they're coming soon. For now though, know that we aren't dead and that these little girls look ridiculously cute in pig tails (as well as Lillian sucking on that ridiculous blanket...)

 

Oh and THEN my blogger ran out of storage along with at least a dozen other people I know. Gr... I've heard that you can just add another author and keep going from there? I used to be good about uploading through flickr, but I've slacked off and now I guess I've hit my limit. I gotta figure out if this second author thing works (or just keep uploading pictures through flickr) because I'm far too cheap to pay for this blog!

Until next time,

Happy Friday!!!

Turkey lurkey doo and turkey lurkey dap

Even though I sometimes do a crappy job at showing it, I'm feeling especially thankful for these guys today.

 

I hope you all are not reading this blog, but instead spending your day with the people you love most. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

p.s. you've listened to this today, right?

A Wordful Wednesday

Some recent thoughts. 

I don't understand Elf on the Shelf. I mean, I 'get' what it is, but I do not like it. I know this will probably offend many, but that thing creeps the crap out of me! And those things I keep seeing on  pinterest that I people are doing with it? Creeeeeeepy. I hate dolls, mannequins and all things fake human, so the idea of a creepy little elf watching over me kind of sends me over the edge. I love Christmas more than most things in this world, but I refuse to let that little bug eyed elf be apart of my life. Moving on... 

I don't know what my problem is, but I've been SO grumpy lately! I don't know if it's because we haven't felt super awesome the past two weeks, or the fact that my girls have been nightmare-ish (which probably is directly correlated to our physical state), or what, but I've been a monster to everyone around me. I have absolutely no patience for my girls, people on the road, people in stores, people on tv, and just people in general. Really, almost everyone and everything has been annoying me lately.

On a positive note... Who's excited that Carol is alive?!?! You know, The Walking Dead? I literally clapped when she was found near death in that closet because I like her. She survived an abusive husband and this far into the zombie apocalypse. She's hardcore.

Speaking of television, Breaking Amish anyone? I had high hopes for it because I have a slight obsession with The Amish, but that show was disappointing. Too much drama, drinking, surprise marriages and babies and it was just uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as the Meet the Hutterites though...

A week or so ago, I got the Olay Pro X. You. Guys. It's changed my life. I feel like it would take an entire blog post to talk about my crappy skin, but just know that this thing is amazing. I have the driest skin known to man and this thing buffs it all off. It cleans my face like nothing else and I simply adore it. I've wanted the Clarisonic for a while now, but the $100+ price tag was holding me back. The Olay one was only $20 on amazon and I really can't say enough good things about it. It is my new best friend.

I think I'm going to stop stressing over potty training. I'm just not sure it's worth a fight and really, there's nothing pushing me to do it other than the idea that everyone else is doing it. Eh, it'll happen when it happens.

I'm a little concerned because twins seem to be taking over the world. I've been shopping the last two days now and each day I've seen at least two other sets besides my girls. Most of them were easily spotted because of the two infant car seats in a double stroller. I swear, I can spot those things faster than anyone and I see them ALL THE TIME. I just want to hug those women and tell them that it's ok if they don't breastfeed or if they can't tell their kids apart, or if they hate when weirdos approach them and ask them questions about their fertility or they tell you about every set of twin they know or if you cry themselves to sleep because you're so overwhelmed. Having multiples is hard and there really is a comradery among the parents, so I have a hard time not running up to everyone I see and assuming we're going to be best friends.

Practically our entire Christmas is coming from Amazon. I'm pretty sure we're expecting at least 5 packages this week. I really, really hope we can restrain ourselves and wait to open our gifts until Christmas. 

And speaking of Christmas gifts... I have NO idea what to get Josh! I've gotten him a few things, but nothing super awesome. He apparently got me a bigger ticket item and he says it's something that I casually mentioned that I want. I have NO clue what it is and I'm freaking out a little because I feel like I need to get him something equally awesome. I'm stumped though. I have no idea what to get him. 

I think I need to do better at "me time". I'm not quite sure what that is exactly and I think I'm failing. The girls nap/have quiet time for about 2 hours each day and it's always a debate on what I should do. Laundry? Start dinner? Catch up on recorded tv? Pinterest? Shower? I just never know. I'm not very good at this mothering balancing act and I suspect that it's kind of all coming to a peak and it's one of the reason behind my recent grumpiness. 

 Sometimes I wish you could go to a MAC counter without a zillion girls jumping down your throat. Sometimes I just want to look and sometimes there's something that I want, but it's definitely not a need. And sometimes I try to weed down my purchases to needs and not wants, so I decide to not go to the MAC counter at all, but then I get sad because I didn't even play with the item that I want. 

And sometimes it's really late at night and the girls and I are home alone and I'm on the computer typing a blog post and I swear I hear a tap on our back door, so then I grab a butcher's knife, debate  if I should call my neighbors or not, ultimately decide not to, shut everything off and go to bed. 

Happy Wednesday!

A play date

Last Thursday, we had a play date at our house with Micah, Grey and Milo. The kids played with toys, read books, and got in a few fights before we decided to pack them up and go to the park.

  

Lillian and Milo were quite a pair at the park. They followed each other around most of the time and I'm fairly confident that they was more than just a friendship there...

3 adults and 5 kids under 2 1/2. Kind of insane, but we survived!

And why so few pictures of Sophie? You see that plastic thing hanging out of her mouth? Ugh. The binky is back and has been driving me nuts this past week. I just can't take pictures of her with it! Last night several more took the dive for the garbage and got cut in half. She screamed and screamed and screamed. I'm hoping that today goes more smoothly.

We love play dates especially with Brittany, Becky and their boys.

Time can't erase a feeling this strong

You want to know what's both equal parts awesome and equal parts mind numbing?

The fact that this song has been on repeat in my head for the entire week.

 

And yes, I realized I only knew about 80% of the lyrics, so I looked them up.

I'm glad MC uses big words like "inevitably" and "indefinitely". 

A lyrical genius, that gal was (is? is she still making music?)

Happy Friday.

Insta Dump

 I haven't done one of these in a while, so.... 

Sorry they're so little. I'm not sure what the best way to get instagrams on blogger is. What do you people do?

And sorry this post is up so late in the day! I've done a whole lot of cleaning and a whole lot of internet procrastination today.

Oh well.

  

Scenes from the weekend

So... After thinking about a comment left by my friend Heidi, I've decided not to go private for now. Sorry I was obnoxious and asked for your emails to then not need them, but the good news is that none of you will be hacked off! I think I just need to blog when I want to blog and not to just have a post up for the day. If I put 3 up a week, great. If I got 3 weeks without a post, that's fine too. And at the end of the day *I* chose what goes on this thing, so being more aware of that might settle my blogging soul as well. 

Anyway, I guess if I ever do decide to go private, I now have your emails! And for now, here is what our weekend looked like with a sick mom and Lillian 

It's amazing to me how quickly the girls have mastered the iPad. I've downloaded several apps for them with numbers, letters, animals, shapes, random objects, etc and they know how to get in and out of everything and can do it all on their own. Seriously, they love this thing.

 Oh and don't mind the binky hanging out of Sophie's mouth. That girl....

Hope you all had a great weekend!

We have a winner!!!

Thanks for your entries in the giveaway. It seemed like the general consensuses was people are loving this weather, good food, and spending time with people they love. 

The winner that random.org picked is 

Amy! 

 Who said, 

I could use some new polish. I am just starting to get into it. I don't know that there is anything particular that I am loving right now. I guess it is time to find something.

Congrats! 

Email me at brittanymang@hotmail.com so I can get you your prize!

Hope you all have a great, healthy and warm weekend. We're still a bunch of sickos over here and it looks like the girls are getting it too. Sick babies are the worst! 

Here's to better health!

Drained

Wow. What a week! I'm am exhausted. I've been sick most of the week, Josh has been on graves (which means less sleep and more stress for all of us) and I've been banging my head against a wall with all of this political banter. Can next week be here already so we can forget about this week? I'd like that. Until then, here are some random things that have been going on...

A big thing that's been on my mind this week, is this whole going private issue. Did you know you can only have 99 readers when you go private? I didn't until last night. Now, I don't have too many more regular readers than that, but I did have 99 comments on my post asking for emails. On top of that, I know of several other people that I know read my blog who I haven't heard from yet. So...? I'm not sure what to do. Do I make a second, identical private blog? Do I just scrap the whole idea and keep my blog open? Do I just hack some of you randomly out of my cyber existence? I don't think the last option is a good one, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. Why is this such a big deal for me?! Bah! Last night I took some sleep aids because I knew that I would be up all night thinking about it. Ridiculous, right? I'm not sure what I'll do. 

Have I ever complained about our bed on here? I doubt it because complaining about something like that probably makes me seem super ungrateful, but you guys, I've been having a hate/hate relationship with our mattress for years. It originally was Josh's aunts. They slept on it for a short time, but then moved it to the guest bedroom. I'm not sure how much usage it got there, but after several years (like 5ish I think?) it was given to Josh's parent's a his brothers have slept on it at different times. Then, we got it and have been using it for 4 years. I'm incredibly grateful we were given it for free, don't get me wrong, but it was so uncomfortable. It was a pillow top and so worn down. There were body imprints in it and no matter how we flipped, turned or smacked it, it was uncomfortable. A few weeks ago, we decided that enough was enough and we were going to buy a new bed. Sometimes we're a little impulsive with purchases and within a few days we had a bed frame (with head and foot board...I'm so excited! It's beautiful!)  ordered and we were sleeping on a new memory foam mattress. I love it so, so much. 

It's November 8th and I've taken less than 20 pictures this month. And you might be saying, "20 pictures in 8 days?! That's more than I take!" but you have to realize that those 20 pictures are of two different events and essentially all the same picture. It's lame, but I've been sick. I hope to do better next week. 

And lastly, I had a friend send me some information about a charity walk. It's the St.Jude Give Thanks. Walk and it's taking place a week from Saturday at my favorite park in Salt Lake, Liberty Park. Registration is free, but their asking people who register to raise money for the Children's Hospital. At the walk, there will be sponsored masocots, face painting, goodie bags, and free food among other family friendly things. If you make a $35 donation, you get a t-shirt, but that isn't required. The walk itself will be about a mile and if you want to do same day registration, it starts at 8 am. I think this is great and perfect timing after such an nasty election and right before Thanksgiving. AND just in case you're sad that you live nowhere near Salt Lake, don't worry, there are 90 different locations that are hosting this same walk. I think it's pretty great and activities like this are definitely things that I want my kids participating in.

With that, I'm off to go blow my nose for the 3,000th time this morning. I'll leave you with a picture (a grainy, poorly lit picture) because I feel like I haven't done that in a while.  

 

Lillian deep in song and Sophie deep in thought. 

Happy Thursday! 

This terrible week is almost over!!

Giveaway time!

Sorry this wasn't posted yesterday like I said. We're a bunch of sickies over here and it just didn't happen...

First off, thanks for the response with my last post. I just wanted to mention that the photo contest is definitely not the reason why I am going private. It really has been a decision I've been struggling with all year long. That's why I've slowed down with the posts a bit, because I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with this blog. But really, thank you. I'm thinking I'll make the big change next Monday, so if you haven't left me your info and would still like to follow along, feel free to. 

And now...are you ready for a giveaway? I've thought about what to giveaway for a few weeks now. My original idea was to do a photo shoot, but I'm afraid that could go terribly wrong. I'm not a professional, nor do I want to be a professional, so why should I pretend I am?

So then, I was trying to think of things that I'm currently obsessed with. The thing that kept coming to my mind was Moonrise Kingdom. You guys. I love it. And what else do I love? Nail polish. 

Lately, I've specifically been loving 

 OPI's Dutch Ya Just Love OPI,

Essie's Watermelon

Might be more of a summer color, but I love bright toes all year round!

And Essie's Sand Tropez 

A basic nude that everyone should have in their collection

 One of you will get all 4 prizes. The movie and the nail polish. All ya gotta do is leave me a comment telling me what you've been loving lately. Food? Movie? Political agenda (although please don't, I'm so over this election)? Music? Whatever it may be, just let me know! 

I'll draw the winner using random.org on Thursday night and announce if Friday morning. 

Thanks again for being so supportive with this blog. This past weekend was strangely emotional for me because I felt like it was the end of an era. Dramatic, right? And again, I probably won't stay private forever, just until I figure things out. 

Thanks a zillion times! You guys are the best!

Oh and p.s. Lest you think I have pretty, long nails, I got these images from google. My nails are even shorter than the last picture and I like them that way. :)

Not sure how this is all going to come out

So... I've been thinking about, stressing over, and yes, even praying about this post for days. This past week has been crazy and my eyes have been opened to some things that have really made me take a step back and think about this blog. Some of the things that have been on my mind are a little superficial, but a few of them are definitely more serious and while I'm not going to talk about everything that's happened, there are a few things that I want to address.

You know that silly contest I entered the girls in? Well, it got a little crazy. Accusations were thrown around about things *I* had no control over and I although I don't want to play the victim, we were kind of dragged through the mud. Not by the other family at all, but by their friends. By their "team" by the people that were voting for them. My blog was passed around (my hits spiked to over 500 in one day) and I got a few comments and several emails that, in my opinion, were less than kind. Again, I don't want to play the victim, and I'm thinking maybe I still have some of those new visitors reading this (*waves at all the newbies*) but it really made me stop and realize that everyone can read my blog. Everyone can have this glimpse into my life and for someone who's never really like the spotlight on her, it's not something I've ever really been comfortable with.

The contest is over and the top two families both got an iPad. I was so, so happy with that outcome because part of me did feel guilty that it turned so ugly. I had no control over how other people shared the contest, got people to vote, etc and the other family was working just as hard to get the prize. Emotions ran high and at the end of the day, three innocent kids and two moms were in the middle of it. I didn't like it and I hear she didn't either.

But this decision is about so much more than that. I've been having glimpses into my own past and how much I hated the scrapbooks my mom made for us (don't worry, mom, I love them now!) I especially hated this one picture of me in 2nd grade where our teacher made us wear a stupid cowboy hat and vest and pose with our hip jetted out as part of a reading program (or something like that). I still remember that page in my scrapbook. It's the only picture on the bright yellow sheet and I used to dream about burning it, but I was too scared my mom would find out and I'd be grounded for life.

The funny thing is, is that it was just a scrapbook in my own little home. The world didn't see it. I'd venture to say that less than 20 people have ever seen that picture, but it brought so much turmoil to my 7 year old self. And then I think about this blog. There are thousands of pictures my girls on this blog. Thousands of words describing their tantrums, their milestones, and my frustrations and joys with them.

How are 7 year old Sophie and Lillian going to feel about that?

Now, this isn't to say that I'm against blogging or sharing your life through social media. I think it's great. I've learned so much from other blogs and from my own readers, it's made me a better mom and helped me not lose myself in motherhood.

But I can't let go of that nagging feeling that I've had for almost a year now. I think I need to go private. 

I think I've said it before, but I've always thought that going private was blogging suicide. I think I read maybe two private blogs on a regular basis. And that's a big maybe. When you go private, people don't get your updates in google reader or on their side bar and your readership falls drastically.

But does that matter? For someone who doesn't like an over amount of attention, I've had to ask myself why I blog. And I'm not sure what the answer is. So, I've decided that until I figure it out, I'm going to go private.

I don't want you to think that you can't come along though. Even if we've never met or if you hated me in middle school, or you hate me now, you can still continue reading. And I don't think I'll be private forever, but for now, it's what feels best. So, leave your email here or send me an email to my hotmail account and you can continue to read about the Mangelson twins. I'll probably give it a week or so (since I still am going to do a giveaway on Monday) and then this blog will be under lock and key.

Don't hate me for this, ok? Apparently I'm not alone in this. I was surprised to get on my google reader page after a few days and see that Busy Bee Lauren had gone private. Her blog is pretty big, WAY bigger than mine and even she went private.

And again, I don't think this will be a permanent thing. I've met so many amazing people through this blog and it makes me sad to do this, but for now, this is what's best. This has literally been on my mind for almost a year now and these last few weeks and a few specific events made me realize that now is the time.

So, enough rambling from me. If you want to keep reading while I go off the grid so to speak, leave me a message and I'll add you to the party.

Thanks for everything. My eyes have been full of tears as I've typed this. This blog has been amazing for me and I hope I don't stay in the shadows for too long.