It's been a While

I know, it's been a while. I'm sorry I've been an awful blogger and next week is my blackout week so I won't be posting at all either! Well to give a quick update, the twins are really coming into their personalities. They are little chatter boxes! They talk so much now! They are starting to sit up on there own now!

 Also, we have recently introduced them to the jumparoo. It is hilarious to watch! Take a look!

We had a couple of our friends come out to visit us from Wisconsin this week and they brought cute little finger puppets and the cutest little blocks that the twins LOVE to play with. See...

So this will probably be my last post before my blackout so I will post again after the 4th (my anniversary by the way!). Hope you all have a great week and a Happy 4th! I'll leave you with a few more pictures to keep you occupied! OH and check out the twins first ocean experience on my 101 page!

Winner Winner!

The winner of the It's Sew You Coffee Sleeve Giveaway is... Drum Roll Please.....

Kara from Keeping up with Kate

Congratulations Kara!! Just email me your info at Lilbumpkinblog (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you your coffee sleeve!

Thank you all for participating in my very first giveaway! I know I had fun with it!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

Ok, first off, if you haven't entered my giveaway yet, click here and enter now! Who doesn't love free stuff??

I can't believe how big the twins are getting! So much has changed even in the last couple of weeks! Well first off, they are officially in size 6 month pajamas! Yes 6 months! And even those are starting to get a little snug. Not so much width wise, but the length is a bit tight. All of their regular clothes though are still 3-6 months. Do pajamas typically run a bit smaller?

Next on the list of ch-ch-changes, both the twins have officially rolled over for the first time! Kaylie did it about a month ago when she got so fed up with tummy time and just rolled herself onto her back. Cavan just did it yesterday. I was changing his diaper on the couch and he kept rolling onto his side. So finally once I had the diaper on him I just let him do his thing and within minutes he flipped himself right over.

They're also both trying so hard to sit up on their own. They no longer like to be held in a laying down position. Every time we do they go into ab crunching mode and try to sit themselves up and fuss until we sit them up. They sit great in their little Bumbos and when we sit them up on the couch with the back behind them. I'm thinking it won't be all that long before they are sitting up by themselves!

Next, the twins have officially turned on the spicket in their mouths. Constant drool keeps flowing! I've heard that this is only to become worse as their teeth start coming in. Good thing we have about 500 bibs to keep them dry!

Lastly, they talk...and talk, and talk, and talk! Lots of cooing going on in this house! I swear a couple of times actual words have come out. True story! Ok, maybe they weren't intentional words, but they sure sounded like it to me!

I'm absolutely LOVING all these milestones, but will say it's kind of sad to see them growing up so fast! I guess all I can do is absorb every milestone and just keep encouraging them through life. After all, that's one of the best parts of being a mom!

My Very First Giveaway - It's Sew You!

Are you excited as me? My very first giveaway! As a thank you to all my lovely readers for all your constant support I am giving away this adorable and economically friendly coffee sleeve made by my friend Kirsten at It's Sew You!

Isn't that so cute? Well if you're like me, a big coffee drinker, and have Dunkin Donuts put a hot cup around your iced coffee or use the cardboard sleeve at Starbucks, then this is perfect for you! Not only does it keep the sweat from iced coffee off your hands, but it also keeps the hot coffee cups from burning you. All while providing a more earth friendly option! It's reusable and since I've bought mine, I have used it literally every day!

So here's how you enter:

Mandatory Entry: Visit It's Sew You by Kirsten on Etsy and browse all the goodies she has to offer (including the cutest baby onesies), then come back and leave a comment on what your favorite item is! (1 entry)

Follow my blog (1 entry)

Follow me on Twitter

Become a Fan of It's Sew You on Facebook (1 Entry)

Follow It's Sew You on Twitter (1 Entry)

Tweet about this giveaway and leave me your twitter name (3 entries)

Extra-Extra Entry:

Purchase an item from It's Sew You (10 entries) **Leave your name and what you purchased**

Leave a comment for each entry you do. The contest will run until Thursday June 17th. I will use Random.org to pick the winner and will announce the winner on Friday! Good Luck to all and as always thank you for reading!

No Babies for 5 Years...

Yes you heard right. We are content with two babies at this point in our lives. So unless I have a slight lapse in sanity, no babies for at least the next 5 years. I went last Friday and got Mirena put in. The procedure itself took about 5 minutes and really wasn't all that painful. I mean there were a couple points where it didn't feel great, like when they measured my uterus... the inside of it...yeah not fun.

One thing that was a little strange, they sprayed a numbing spray and it oddly enough smelled like cherries. Why? I'm not quite sure, but ok. Then they inserted the IUD and that stung a bit, but was literally like 10 seconds worth of pain. Then they cut the strings and I was on my way.

I really was expecting a lot more pain for some reason. I thought I'd be keeled over in bed with a heating pad and box of midol, but I only really had a slight back ache for a couple hours then nothing.

So far so good other than a little breakout on my chin. Although I would like to say, if Mirena insists on giving me back my skin from my teenage years, could it at least bring me back to that weight as well? Would be a nice trade in my opinion.

Attempting a Major Challenge...

Update: I am going to start this challenge June 28-July 4th. Ending on my Anniversary, how sweet, lol. Email me if you want to be a guest blogger. If you've already contacted me about it, just send me you post anytime before June 28th! The topic is "One thing I can't live without"!

I am going to go without a cell phone, internet, and television for one whole week! Am I insane? Technology is a way of life! This will be like losing my right hand! Well they are all things on my 101 in 1001 list so I thought I might as well group them all together and get it over with.

What do I hope to gain from the experience? Well to be honest, I'm not sure. Some more quality time with my family? Of course. A more active lifestyle? Maybe. Or maybe just less dependence on technology. Whatever it will be, this will certainly be a challenge.

I am currently looking for some guest bloggers to keep my readers entertained while I'm on my technology vacation. If you're interested leave me a comment or email me at Lilbumpkinblog at gmail dot com.

I'm looking to do this either the last week in June or the first week in July. I need some mental preparation for this!

What I Used my $100 Mother's Day Check On

I mentioned that my mom gave me $100 to spend on me for Mother's Day. So what did I spend it on? Stuff for me of course! Here is what I bought:

Aren't these so cute? Very "Green" too. They are coffee sleeves from It's Sew You on Etsy. I have literally used them every day since I got them. They're good for hot coffee to keep from burning your hands, or iced coffee to keep your hands dry when you iced coffee sweat!

Then I needed some summer clothes because I still have a pesky 5 Lbs that won't go away. I opted for a few summer dresses from Target:

Also from Target, because of those pesky 5Lbs, some suck-me-in underwear! Yes I admit it, I wear them. I refuse to buy all new pants over 5 Lbs that I know I can lose if I work at it. So my solution, $10 for 2 granny panties!

It was nice to spend some guilt free money on myself and I think every Mom deserves a little treat now and then. Go on, you're worth it!

3 Months!

Updated with pictures!!

The twins are 3 Months old today!!! I can't believe how fast these last three months have gone by. It is absolutely amazing watching them grow. They are so responsive now. Always laughing and smiling when we talk to them and sometimes when they're just sitting in the bouncers, haha. They are holding their heads up so well now and even trying to sit themselves up! They're also working on rolling over. Kaylie did it once from her stomach to her back. They are also getting very close to consistently sleeping through the night. Mostly when we're at the beach they will sleep from 9 or 9:30 to 5! Then they'll eat and go back to sleep for another 3 hours. At home it's more like sleep at 9:30 or 10 and up at about 4 for Cav and 5 or 5:30 for Kaylie.

Here is what I have learned about parenting in the last three months:

1. Don't always rely on the books to tell you what is "normal" for a child. 
2. It is possible to take twins out in public by yourself.
3. A baby's smile, coo, and laugh can melt your heart and brighten any day.
4. Schedules are becoming a bit more realistic.
5. If your baby wants more food, they WILL tell you.
6. When traveling with twins, bring extra people!
7. Sometimes you will need to give your child a bath after they explode out of their diaper.
8. Sleeping more at night = more awake time during the day = finding things to entertain them
9. Bibs are key if you have a spitter.
10. Babies LOVE the beach! It's soothing for them and your sanity!

So how did we celebrate the twins turning 3 months today? We took them to the zoo!

It was so much fun, more so for me and Ry, but I think the twins had a good time too.

We've decided that Cavan has the same expression as a Lemur, haha (well not in this picture).

We want to take the to Roger Williams Zoo hopefully in the next couple of weeks so the twins can see even more animals!

It's a Full Time Job...

Being a Mom is a full time job. I never truly understood that until I had my twins. Now don't get me wrong, working moms have a lot on their plates as well, but being home with your kids all day can also be exhausting, especially when you're doing everything twice.

• You wake up and get their bottles ready while they scream at you because you are taking too long.
• You change 2 sets of diapers (sometimes a few times when they decide they were not finished yet)
• You have play time for about an hour, sometimes longer, which may not seem like a lot of work with 3 month olds, but their attention span is very small. So I've constantly got to move them around or they'll fuss.
• Then it's nap time. You would think, oh you get a break then right? Wrong. That's when I clean the bottles, get myself cleaned up, do the laundry, make a meal, or just have a cup of coffee if I can. Now nap time also is not consistent. They will sometimes sleep for and hour and a half or twenty minutes at a time and then the cycle repeats.

Repeat this throughout the day every 3 hours and that pretty much sums up my day, every day. I'm not complaining at all. This is what I chose to do, I chose to be a stay at home mom and I love every minute of it. I'm just letting everyone know what the life of a stay at home mom is like because it really gets to me when people think that stay at home moms shouldn't be tired, or "Just play all day". That is not the case. 

Thankful Thursday...

I am thankful for:

• My daughter sleeping through the night last night
• My babies' smiles
• My Grammy being here to snuggle the twins
• The wonderful, supportive family I have
• The beautiful weather we've been having lately
• My swing that calms my children when they fuss

Weekend Wrap Up...

So the twins, Ryan, and I ventured to the beach again for the weekend. I'm convinced I need to move down there for several reasons, but most importantly because my children SLEEP when they're there. Every night we were there we would feed them at 7:30/8 and then they'd go to sleep around 9. Then they would sleep until between 4-5!! The first night I thought the clock was broken when I saw what time it was. I'm hoping that the pattern continues. I mean they did sleep until 5 this morning but I'm not sure if it's because they were at the beach during the day. I guess we will see tonight if this is a new pattern.

It was a great weekend. The weather was perfect and the twins spent most of the day each day outside. They loved the fresh air and the sound of the waves crashing. We will definitely be making more appearances there during the summer!

Oh I almost forgot to mention that we also have a little cheerleader in the making. Following in her mommy's footsteps, Kaylie was cheering on the Celtics on Friday night. It was the funniest thing. We had the game on and she was in her pack-n-play and every time the Celtics scored she would laugh, coo, and smile! Ryan said he is going to have to buy her a Larry Legend jersey and I said I need to make her little pom poms!