A Year and a Half

· Justin 22 pounds 13 ounces (25-50%)

33 inches tall (50-75%)

· Lana 23 pounds 4 ounces (50%)

32 inches tall (50%)



· Justin is going to be the strong silent type. He’s not very talkative. He has about 10 words he says very clearly. But for the most part, he doesn’t say much. Danks (Thanks), Dog, Mama, Dada, Ba (Buzz), Uh oh, Dis (This), Dat (That), Ni-ni (Night night), Hi/Hey, Bye, Gigi (my Mom), Ball

· Lana on the other hand, is going to be a talker, like Collin. “Ba” is a variety of things, depending on context. Buzz, Cup (I’m guessing somehow it arrived from bottle?), blanket. DaDoo (Thank you), Ease (Please or Cheese, depending on if she wants something or if I have the camera out), Mama, Daaady!, Mo (More), Doggie, Car-ya (Carly), Woo-ye (Woody), Ja (Jessie), Owie, Uh oh, Gigi, Bubbles, Cookie

· Lana will make kissy sounds to get the cats to come to her, Sammi, on occasion will. She’s really come to like the kids over the last year. Something I never thought would happen.

· They fold their hands to pray at dinner

· Both are pretty good eaters. Justin is basically a bottomless pit most of the time. Lana is a little more pickey. But if you can get her to open her mouth and try something once, she’ll most likely realize it’s good and finish the meal. It shocked me one night when she ate almost an entire can of green beans on her own. She kept asking for more. It was unbelievable.

· Lana LOVES shoes. My mom recently got her a pair of orange tennis shoes from Target, the look on her face when she saw them was absolutely priceless. I love that she brings me random shoes sporadically throughout the day and want to wear them.

· Justin LOVES his Toy Story. The Woody doll has to go with us everywhere. He even came with us to the Zoo one day. I couldn’t believe I let that happen. Lana’s “item” is her blanketS. Yes, plural. The girl loves her blankets. And don’t try to take them from her, she will NOT be happy.

· Both have a temper. No idea where they get that from ;)

· Justin has been very clingy and having separation issues recently. I’m hoping its just a phase and I’ll be able to drop him off at his class and not walk away with us both in tears.

· Lana’s pigtails are probably the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

· We changed her earrings out for the first time. They were pierced a year ago for the first time. She did really well while I changed them.

· Their favorite bedtime book is “Bubbles Bubbles,” a $1 Sesame Street book I got from Target when Collin was a baby. It’s adorable how much they like to read. I’ll turn around and find them upstairs in their chair reading their board books.

· Lana is quite the dancer. Girl will bust a move whenever she hears music, it doesn’t matter where she is. It’s pretty cute.

Dining Room Work In Progress

I've had a very specific view for our dining room for a year or so now. And we are finally making it happen! We found the EXACT table I have been dreaming about, a great table cloth, placemats, napkins, made a centerpiece and the rug was delivered today. All that needs to happen now, it to settle on a paint color in the next couple weeks, put some stuff on the walls and I can have a legit adult dining room!!

Laundry Room Revamp

Months ago I saw a Pin that I knew would be an easy-to-complete-organizing-project. No painting. No trips to the hardware store. No building. Just some bins, that I knew I had seen at Target and wanted for ::something::

Well, Brudder got me a FABULOUS Christmas present! The bins! Yesterday I started tackling the project during naps. The only bad part was the liquid detergent. It didn't flow out of the drink dispenser well, so I had to nix that from the plans. But other than that, I'm pretty much in love. Still a couple things left I want to do, but overall, 2 hours well spent.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

For months now, Lana has been bringing me things to "dress" her. It started with shoes, the boys' belt, a hair bow, jackets, whatever. She's just turning into such a little girl. (Much like the boys have turned into little boys with their trucks and climbing)

For Christmas Lana got a Minnie Mouse tea set, she's in love with it. So, I, in turn, am in love watching her. In less than a day she mastered carrying a cup and saucer in each hand across the room. It's adorable to see such intense concentration from such a little person. She also got her first Cabbage Patch Doll, a purse filled with purse type stuff and a bunch of play necklaces and jewelry.

Pictures really just don't do the cuteness justice.

Ice Cream Truck

A few weeks ago I heard the ice cream truck down the street. So Collin and I went on a walk and got some ice cream together.

This afternoon I put him down for a nap and started doing various things around the house. About an hour later, I heard the truck. It got louder and louder. The next thing I knew, Collin's door was opening and he was running downstairs yelling, "it's the ice cream truck mommy! Mommy! It's the ice cream truck!"

How do you say no to that?? So I scooped him up and we walked to the end of the driveway, where the truck was stopped. He decided he wanted the penguin. So I gave him the $2. We stepped to the window and Collin told the man, "I'd like the penguin please!" Then handed him the money. When he got his ice cream he said, completely unprompted, "Thank you! Merry Christmas!"

Sweetness!

Picture This

I'm changing diaper in the morning. I got Justin undressed and changed his diaper. During that time, Lana found her Thing Wig from Halloween and brought it to me to put on her. So, I did. She also brought me her purple jacket she had on the day before. Justin is now in just a diaper but Lana is in her pajamas, blue wig, and purple jacket. I got up to go get some clothes to dress them for the day and came back to find them both on the Thomas train. Neither really wanted the other one there. Lana was leaning backwards in effort to push Justin off. Justin was pushing forward in effort to get Lana off. While neither wanted the other on the train, neither was really upset by the fact the other was there, just didn't want to share. I reached for my phone to capture the picture. I leave you with this...

15 Months

Several weeks ago I took the twins for their well check. Justin is 21.5 pounds (25%) and 31 inches tall (50%) and Lana is 22.13 pounds (50%) and 31 inches tall (also 50%).

Both steal my heart more and more everyday with their emerging personalities. The more the days go by the more I feel like they are turning out like by original thoughts about them when I was pregnant. Lana was always more active and she's definitely higher maintenance,these days, than Justin. Justin, was always calm, is exhibiting the middle child qualities. Usually he is pretty chill, but he can have moments of defiance and tantrums.

My Baby Girl is just that: THE BABY GIRL. She is the baby, and knows it. She is THE girl, and knows it. She loves to dress up and accessorize. It doesn't need to be her stuff either. She will happily bring me Justin (and Collin's) shoes and hold up her foot for me to put it on her. She has been bringing me jackets and holding her arms out and hoodies and leaning her head forward. If she finds my hair tie on the ground it becomes a bracelet (but doesn't want to wear the ACTUAL bracelets I have for her) depending on the day, she will even tolerate a bow without yanking it out. Baby Girl loves her blanket too. Every morning she stands up and hands me her blanket before she puts her arms up to get out of bed. She loves cuddling with it, with any blanket really. It's one of those things that's got to be with us when we travel if I want her to sleep. Quite the little mommy and helper. She will take a wipe from the box or washcloth from me and wipe her face, the counter in the play kitchen, a toy doesn't matter just something to clean. She has taken more to baby doll type things lately too. Stuffed animals or Buzz, she likes to hug them, lay her head on it and say "aaaawww" :) Oh and dancing. Girl likes to dance whenever she hears music -even in her high hair or carseat. But just because she's Baby Girl doesn't mean she can't hang with the boys. She can hold her own against Justin and Collin and she loves and. Adorable to watch her fly it in the air and make the noise associated with the airplane.

Oh my Justin. My sweet sweet Justin. He gets sweeter each day. He's so generous with his love. The best hugs at just the right moments. A giggle that could cure cancer. He's got a current love for trains. The Thomas collection we have is one if his new favorite toys. It's very cute to see him push them Round and make the "ch-ch-ch" sound. He is sucked into the TV more so than Lana. He will sit and watch a good chunk of Toy Story (any of them) with Collin while Lana is off on her own. Their (Justin and Collin) new movie is The Lorax. They like the music and little bear. Justin also likes his blanket. Not as much as Lana, but it's a definite necessity when traveling in order to sleep. Climber! Oh my goodness Little Man can climb! He will get up onto the kitchen table faster than I can pour a glass of milk for him. It's cute to see him so proud of himself, but really frustrating to keep him on the ground. He's taken to building lately. The big brick blocks he loves and is really good at stacking and ultimately knocking down. His other new favorite obsession is Buzz and Woody. He's been taking Woody everywhere, being careful not to forget his hat of course.

Recently they battled. Nasty cold and pink eye in both eyes. Poor little guys would wake up with nasty crusty snot all of their faces and dried gunk in and around their eyes. One morning Lana's eyes were really puffy and one was completely shut. It was many mornings if a warm wet washcloth gently cleaning off their faces. It was like the summer quarantine when they had HFMD. We didn't go anywhere of see a home for weeks. ThT is both exhausting and trying on the kids and Mommy.

Both are fascinated with the Christmas tree. The bottom two feet are lights only again this year (just like when Collin was their age) because they kept pulling ornaments off.

They fight like brother and sister and love like they are twins. I love watching them grow and bond together. They really are amazing little guys. My babies aren't babies anymore, they are toddlers. Two of a kind yet completely individual at the same time. Definitely the blessing I didn't know I needed or wanted.