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 :)