*** This was supposed to post Thanksgiving Thursday but it didn't so here it is!  Blog Tuesday!***

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!  Hope everyone is celebrating with their families, friends and loved ones near and far.  We are enjoying our time with my family in Indiana.  Blog post next week to recap the trip and our 11 month olds!  Still can't believe that they will be a year old in one month.  

ONE MONTH!
Time, you crazy son of a gun, please slow down. 

See you all next week! 

Much love and peace,

Lauren, Alex, E & B

Can't leave you without some pictures... 

One of our last walks without coats.  It was 70 degrees this day and we soaked it up.  Now that the cold is here, we are finding things to do inside.  Should be an interesting winter.  I'm sure by Spring I'll be itching to get out again.  

Emmy's friend, Magdalene, at the indoor playground.  A friend of mine invited us to a playgroup and they had it at a community center now that its cold.  The babies LOVED it.  We will definitely be going back.

Buddy, making friends.  

Or... just chasing a basketball... look at that GRIN.  He loved chasing the balls all over the gym.  A kid after Alex's heart.

They had a BLAST playing with toys and walking all over.  I though they would be overwhelmed by all the kids but they were totally relaxed and had so much fun.  I can't wait to take Alex with us.

Our tree!  

So far, only one ornament has been pulled off by Bennett.  We'll see how many before the year is over...  We might have to put up a barricade or something.

Emmy girl...

Watching Pooh... while having a little rest.  Walking is hard work.

Buddy B.

That darn nosse sucker is one of their FAVORITE things to carry around.  Thank goodness we never used that.

So we caved, and bought Winnie the Pooh on itunes.  And the excitement that came from them was so worth the $20.

Little Em at bath time.

These babies LOVE their baths.  Even more so now that they can play with toys and take them together.

B walking- hands above his head for balance.

My sassy little Em.

Fall Family Fotos

W e e k e n d   R e c a p...

This weekend the babies slept over at Grandma and Grandpa Keith's for the second time!  Mom and dad needed a date night out together with no weddings to attend.  Alex and I went to Extra Virgin downtown, per the recommendation of my friend from work and it was amazing!  Tapas style Mediterranean food, with an adventurous menu.  Take a look. We were brave and ordered out of our comfort level trying bone marrow, and guys... we liked it!  After a relaxing and peaceful dinner, we joined some friends at the Green Lady Lounge for some drinks.  If you haven't been there, HIGHLY recommend it too... a low key jazz club with live music!  Such a great hidden gem of KC.  It was just such a perfect night and we were in bed before 11.  Such cliche parents (eye roll).  I asked Chris and Becky to share about their overnight and I have to say, they are blog naturals!  Here's an excerpt from their night, written by them, from the babies point of view.

The Overnight Adventure of Bennett and Emmy

We got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Keith’s house this weekend.  They were sure excited to see us and made such a fuss.  We knew we had to lay some ground rules right away.  First, no knick knacks on the lower shelves.  That doesn’t  work for us.  We need those shelves empty at all times.  Second, they have this crazy idea that Tupperware belongs in a cupboard when everyone knows it should be displayed all over the kitchen floor for everyone to see.  We remedied that in a hurry.  Also, they must have spent a fortune on outlet covers.

Once we got everything just right, we decided to give em a little show.  We opened with the ol’ “Bennett walking with his hands straight up and Emmy walking with her arms straight forward” routine.  It killed.  Grandma screeched so loud the neighbor’s dog started barking!  She’s easily amused.  And Grandpa, man,  that guy can roll a ball back and forth with you forever.  He never wears out.  You’d swear he had never played with a ball before!  He may be a bit of a project for us.

Next, we relied on a few of the standards.  Fill a diaper here; fill a diaper there, you know, to make them feel useful. They were impressive with their pit stop times, but Grandma definitely showed the most promise.  Also, she is a great cook!  Pumpkin waffles, eggs, mixed vegetables.. She’s got it goin ’on.  We were shoveling it in with both hands.  We were also filling up on compliments.  “You’re such a big, strong boy” and “World’s prettiest girl”.  I didn’t know which we would get first, a complex or indigestion!

We got to sleep in Uncle Sam’s old room.  It was exciting.  We decided to be perfect little angels and go right to sleep.  One of us, we won’t say who, awoke from a bad dream.  Grandma was there in record time to make everything okay.  Soon we were back to a deep sleep.

Nothing better than waking up at Grandma and Grandpa’s house at 7:30 in the morning.  We were so excited we just giggled and blabbered. We made faces at the baby monitor camera, sometimes flashing all eight teeth between us.  Grandma and Grandpa rushed in and, man, were they excited.  Admittedly, we were pretty darn happy as well.  After a world class breakfast, we got dressed into our cute clothes for the day.  We played for a while, then decided to pack it in.

It was such fun and Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  It is so easy to melt their hearts.  We had an awesome time there, but after a while, we really missed Mommy and Daddy.

Thank you again Chris and Becky!  We are so fortunate to have grandparents in town who love having overnights and babysit for us.  

Also this weekend, we went out and took some family pictures at a local park.  Since we bought a nice camera recently and my mom also had one, it was easy to take some great pictures.  My mom was our personal photographer and probably will be booked for the next 18 years at least.  The babies had already had a long day and it was about 3:30 in the afternoon so they were not incredibly enthusiastic about being sat down in from of a camera.  Well, Bennett was.  We ended up getting some pretty great pictures and I'm satisfied!  

Buddy is such a cheese!  He was LOVING the camera.

My boys

Our fantastic photographer, my mom, Heidi West.  Thank you so much for spending the afternoon capturing our family!

My absolute favorite picture.  Emmy and her daddy.  The love he shows for our babies is immense and I can't get enough of watching them together. 

U p d a t e   O n   T w i n s...

Walking, walking and walking some more.  They are pretty much completely mobile, although they look like a couple of drunk bums leaving the bar, they are moving along great!  Bennett walks with his hands over his head.  Emmy, with her hands straight out.  Bennett is fast and Emmy, more cautious.  

They are down to a solid 2 naps a day, morning and afternoon.  They absolutely LOVE their walks, sometimes we clock 3 in a day when it's nice out.  Weather in Kansas is still getting up to 70 degrees during the day and we are not complaining because we get outside.  

They're beginning to follow simple commands like "come here" and "no" although that "no" one is interchangeable with "sure go right ahead even though I said no".  Still, they understand their names, who I am, when I'm happy and when I'm frustrated.  They are showing so much personality and I love love LOVE it.  Watching them develop is incredible beyond words.  Before long, we will be stopping formula and switching to regular milk.  I can't tell you the happy feels I'll have that day.

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is one week from today!  We will be heading to Evansville, Indiana and are so excited to see my family.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Christmas is only 37 days away!

Lauren, E&B

'Walkin' Around... The Christmas Tree...

U p d a t e   O n   T h e   T w i n s...
B R E A K I N G   N E W S !!! Emmy walked! And so did Bennett!  My babies are growing up so fast!  Emmy is a little more cautious with her walking- making sure her balance is set, arms out and she claps while walking, almost as if to encourage herself.  It's really beyond cute.  Check out the video on my Instagram to see: lpatriciawk.

Bennett is a little more of a dare devil when it comes to this whole walking thing.  He just dives into his steps, even if it means face planting after.  He's such a boy.  So rough and tough.  I really have to watch them when they're playing together- sometimes he tackles little Em and I have to break things up.  I feel like a referee most days.  But I'm fine with that.  Pretty soon, they'll be running around the house and just in time for Christmas and their birthday!

We're taking family pictures this weekend and I'm excited to get some good ones before the holidays get here.  It seems like the weeks are flying by now.  We will be taking another trip for Thanksgiving and I'm anxious/ excited to bring the twins.  Now that they are so much more active, it'll proof for now challenges in the car.  Any advice would be MUCH appreciated.

My grandma visited this weekend and it was SUCH an awesome time having her spend time with the babies.  We hung out all Friday night, went out to lunch Saturday and then Sunday night dinner at my mom's.  Time with this woman is so special to my family and I.  The memories I have of her reading to my cousins and I are memories that I hold onto so tightly.  And to see her reading to my babies and holding them, it absolutely is heart melting.  We love you Grandma!

With everything that's going on this week, I'm just going to end here.. and leave you with this... something I stumbled upon this week.

“These are the few ways we can practice humility:

To speak as little as possible of one's self.

To mind one's own business.

Not to want to manage other people's affairs.

To avoid curiosity.

To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.

To pass over the mistakes of others.

To accept insults and injuries.

To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.

To be kind and gentle even under provocation.

Never to stand on one's dignity.

To choose always the hardest.” 


― Mother Teresa, The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living

Love to all,
Lauren, E&B

Bambi and Flower

H a l l o w e e n...
Experiencing the babies first holidays has been so fun.  Halloween was Monday and we, of course, dressed them up.  I felt the pressure to get extremely creative with their costumes, since they're twins and all, but in the end ended up with Bambi for Emmy and Flower (Bambi's skunk friend) for Bennett.

I am so damn proud of them for keeping those hats on all day.  They were troopers.  "Do it for the picture!"

My little lone deer

Bennett made a P E R F E C T skunk it was unreal.  When he sees this 20 years from now, he'll be like, "Why mom, why?"

We started our day off visiting Dad at school.  All the teachers could bring their little guys up to trick-or-treat through some of the classrooms.  They did so great, I was worried about them getting overwhelmed by all the students and people coming up to them but they stuck it out and were cute as ever.  Next, we headed to Grandma Becky's school and visited.  I brought the wagon so they could see more people and people could see their costumes.  That Radio Flyer wagon has got more use than I ever thought it would.

After all the visits, we headed home for lunch and naps.  The trick-or-treaters start around 6 in our neighborhood and we were ready to go!  They were real troopers being in their costumes 3 times in one day.  We went to our neighbor Mary's house and that was the extent of their trick-or-treating.  They had a long day and baths were a necessity that night.  In bed by 7:30 and asleep a few minutes later.  I would say their first Halloween was a hit.

My little bubba and his fang teeth.. Had I known he would look like a mini Dracula, that might have been his costume.  Store that away for any babies that will be about 9-10 months at Halloween.  You're welcome. 

My sweet boy!!!

Right before trick-or-treating for the first time!

Alex's mom came over along with my dad, Anna, friend Kristin and Alex's grandparents.

Our first visit... our neighbor Mary's house!  She was so excited to see the babies.  We're so lucky to have such an awesome neighborhood.

This past weekend also happened to be the wedding of one of my best friends, Marissa.  It was such a fun weekend!  The babies got another sleepover at their Grandma and Grandpa Keith's house Saturday night.  From the report I got, they were champs.  Sleeping in, eating all of their food and getting loved on by their great grandparents and Uncle Sam.  We are extremely lucky and blessed to have family here and willing to take the babies overnight when Mom and Dad need a little break.

Such a beauty!  I've been friends with this girl since grade school and was SO blessed to share in her special day!

The love of my life.

N e w   S c h e d u l e...
So our schedule, that I have held onto as tight as I could, has changed.  We now have the twins on 3 bottles a day and 3 meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We start the day at 6:30 with our two little alarm clocks yelling out for us.  Bottles start them off and we say goodbye to dad.  About 7:30, we get breakfast going and then play for a little.  Naps start around 8:45 and lately they've been sleeping at least an hour (sometimes 2!!!) and I can get some morning chores and my coffee in.  When they wake up we sometimes run errands, go to the park or just out for a walk in the neighborhood.

Bottles again around 11:30 and then we play more until lunchtime, which is anytime between 12-1 pm.  Afternoon naps start anytime after 1 and normally they can get a solid 2 hours in.  So going from 3 naps a day to 2 was tough for me to adjust to but for them, it's been better.  Longer naps= happy babies.  When they wake up, we typically go for a walk, get a snack, kill time before their 5:30 bottles.  Dinner starts around 6:30 and bedtime routine begins around 7:15pm.

It's still a schedule that seems very structured but it's allowed me to be more creative with my days (or at least I'm learning to...).  I struggled this week because I forgot that I can bring the babies places and I don't need to feel "stuck" at home all day.  Since they are eating more normal foods and waiting longer in between meals, I don't have to worry about being somewhere during a "feeding".  Lord knows I do not miss those feedings every 3 hours.

That being said... when did they get so big????? :(  They're growing like CRAZY and I am constantly telling myself to slow down, hold them when they cry and cuddle them before bed.  Take these moments now, because in 15 years when all they want to do is be with their friends, I'll miss these days like crazy.

That's all for today... I'm busy getting my house ready for....... CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!  If you have followed me since December of last year, you may remember by slight obsession with the holidays.  Don't freak out yet.... I'm going to wait to decorate until next week :)

Peace,
Lauren, B&E

So Emmy is literally right around the corner from walking.  And coincidentally running into corners too.  She took a spill in the kitchen this week and won herself her first bandaid, which also was the size of her forehead.  She was so brave and didn't cry that much at all.  My strong little lady :)