Chalk Up Another First...

The twins experienced their first Hurricane over the weekend. THANKFULLY it was not too bad once it hit our area. We had a couple trees fall and did lose power for 12 hours (very minimal compared to most). We are very grateful to have stayed safe and sound in our home.

Our neighbor's tree fell across their driveway!

Even our little beach cottage survived without any damage at all. Although the beach is now just a pile of rocks! Guess we won't be building anymore sandcastles this summer, but in hindsight if that's all we lose, we ended up pretty lucky.

Boarding up for the storm

This was the day before Irene hit. There were surfers out there but you can't see them in the fog.

The aftermath, Our beach now covered in rocks

We send our thoughts out to all those who were affected by Irene and hope all those without power (including a lot of our family members) get it restored soon!

Interchangeable Phrases

To lighten the mood a little while Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene is ripping through New England, I thought I might post a few of the phrases I have used on both my children and my dogs...

1. No biting!
2. Please don't chew the furniture.
3. We don't pee/poop on the floor!
4. Stop licking the door.
5. That's the dog's/kids' toy, please don't chew it!
6. Sit! Stay! Lay Down!
7. Don't eat that!
8. Please stop trying to climb on my lap while I pee.
9. Mommy's shoes are not a chew toy.
10. Don't chew that dirty diaper!
11. Stop playing in the trash!

So I guess in conclusion, if you have a dog before you have kids, you've got some phrases already down.

*I hope everyone in the East Coast is staying safe right now!

J-O-B Hunting

Can you get burned out by job hunting? The answer.... YES!

For those of you that may not know, I am on the job hunt. I have loved spending the past (almost) 18 months home with my babies, but it's time to get back to work.

HOWEVER, the job hunt has been VERY unsuccessful. I've applied to several places and only had one phone interview... which didn't end up working out. So what do you do when you've been out of work for so long and want to get back? No, really, I'm asking.

I've done my homework on each company I apply to and write (what I think are) amazing cover letters tailored specifically to each position and company. All to no avail. The main problem, the economy is tough right now and they say for every position you apply 300 others are applying as well. So where do you stand?

I have tried so many different ways to stand out. Now I'm starting to get burned out and losing a lot of confidence over it. I don't know what's worse, the almost instant rejection email or not hearing anything at all.

So if any of you have any good job hunting tips, please let me know. Or if you're hiring you can let me know that too :)

Yee-Haw

Ryan and I are known to pack up the kiddos on a Saturday morning and head out to the yard sales, usually with Ryan's mom as well. Always looking for the deals on anything from a table saw (yes Ryan bought one for $20) to a Schwinn Bike for a $1 (also found). But this weekend I think we found the greatest deal of all... A Spring Horse for the kids for $5.00!

Ryan's mom bought it for them and all we had to buy was a wooden dowel for a handle and some rubber covers for the metal part (total $8.00). So for $13 we have a great new toy. And do the kids love it you ask...

All signs are pointing to yes. They were completely rocking out and LOVED it! I'd say it was well worth the investment.

What's Up?

So here is what we've been up to since the last update... wow almost 7 months ago! Well the twins turned 1, I turned 29, and Ryan turned 30! Now for the more specifics...

Kaylie:

Since turning 1, Kaylie is not only walking, but RUNNING everywhere. Still a dancer at heart, she shakes her little tush to every beat she hears, and is even starting to learn some words to songs. Oh did I mention she is a talker? I don't mean just a couple words here and there. Oh no, she speaks in sentences. Some of her most common phrases are:
"Momma, Where are you?"
if someone leaves, "Where'd it go?" followed by a dropped jaw, wide eyed look, and right hand in an open palm face up position. Yes she's sassy.

She loves singing the alphabet (Getting a few of the letters right too) and Itsy Bitsy Spider. Recently she has become VERY attached to me. I'm working on helping her through this phase (Since that what I've heard it is), but it's not easy when she screams anytime I leave her sight. I'm up for any tips you other moms may have for this.

She's really coming into her sweet personality though. She's quite the little lady, when she's not shaking her finger yelling "No, no, no no, no!"

Cavan:

Well to give you an insight on Cavan's motor skill advances, we've given him the nickname CAPTAIN DESTRUCTO! He is ALL boy. He literally comes running into a room and will have it destroyed in 15 seconds. He loves climbing anything and everything! He's also developed a few dance moves too.
Talking? This kid is a parrot. He will literally repeat everything I say. He's also extremely retentive. He remembers everything I tell him and will repeat it back to me days later. This includes colors (Red, orange, green, purple, blue, pink, and yellow) and the weather (Sunny, cloudy, raining). He points out objects in the books we read and will tell me what they are. A pro at animal sounds, he can recite them off without even thinking about it.

He is also a cheese ball. He puts on this cheesy grin all the time and imitates his sister and cousins no matter what they do. If they fall down and get hurt, he will pretend to fall next to them and do a fake cry followed by his cheesy grin. This kid makes me laugh everyday, which I guess makes up for him pulling all the folded laundry off the couch right as I'm about to put it all away.

Me:

I'm embracing the fact that this is my last year as a "Twenty-Something". I've actually come to the decision that it's time for me to go back to work. As much as I love my babies and am extremely grateful that I was able to spend the first year and a half with them, I think it's time for me to get back in touch with some adults and start bringing in some dough. So far I've applied to several positions all to no avail. But as the saying goes, I'm just going to Keep on Keeping on.

Oh and I'm a Pinterest.com ADDICT! Love it. If you don't know what it is, you MUST check it out. Let me know if you need an invite too.

Ryan:

Ry turned 30 last month and we celebrated the best way we could... We went to VEGAS BABY. The first time for both of us, I surprised him by having a bunch of our friends come along with us. It was a blast and we broke even so I'd say it was a win win.
He was recently laid off from his job, but we're staying optimistic that new work will be coming along soon. For now the twins are just trying to soak up as much "Daddy Time" as they can.

So that's what we've been up to lately, hopefully you are all caught up. I'll try to keep you all caught up along the way :)

Reunited and it Feels So Good...

I'm back folks! I've decided I miss blogging too much to stay away. That and I've had a few people tell me they miss keeping up with me and the twins. So I made the executive decision to come back.

A few things will be different though. I'll be writing about more than just the twins. It'll truly be an insight on OUR Journey.

You'll still see pictures of the twins, how could I not post those?

I hope I can find the time to blog, but per usual, my babes are my number 1 priorities... And with toddlerhood comes VERY little ME time. So we'll see what happens, but hopefully I will provide you all with enough of a good read to keep you coming back! So how about a little incentive?

You know you want to see more of them :)

So for now I leave you for the weekend (Summers are good for long weekends away) and I will return next week with a full update on what we've been up to!

PS. Please excuse the design. Although I am going with a more simple design, I will be adding a pretty header in the near future :)