happy 9 months to my little animals

is it me or did i just post their happy 8 months? i guess you hear all the time that they grow so fast, but i am experiencing it first hand. and i also think that because their first few months at home druuuggg on and i thought they would never become anything but newborns who never let us get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time, now the time flies by even faster. they're sitting up (finn) and crawling all over the place (liam), eating things even i don't (salmon), and becoming little people. just to clarify, the salmon is part of a recipe that also contains cheddar cheese, orange juice, and a sweet potato. oh, and butter and milk. so it really isn't that bad... they're not really so much into the finger food, they'd rather me just put the cheerios in their mouths. they love to bang on the table and bounce in their bouncer. and just recently, liam has started showing interest in climbing the stairs... watch out world. they make each other laugh, climb all over the other, and think it's funny when their eyes are gouged out by brother. they love going on runs with their daddy, which i really appreciate because it gives me time to blog, have an uninterrupted phone convo about grey's anatomy, actually blow-dry my hair, or just be. these babies really are such a joy.

finn

liam

totally sacked out after a long run

such a big boy

i don't even know how this happens...

peace out!

typical liam- curious about everything

our first fat lip (and i'm sure, not our last)

my baby boys

happy fish face friday!

and yes, we do realize this bib makes him look a tad

like a circus dog...

baby noah

these were the birth announcements i made for one of my best friends and her new little one, noah. kari wasn't too specific about what she wanted, she just knew she wanted it to say somewhere "the best things come in small packages". so with the help of my friends at paper source, i used the square petal envelopes in bluebell, mounted his darling little serious face on white cardstock, and used a white sticker with the quote to seal it all together. hand-addressed and stamped them - signed, sealed, delivered! bear with me on the amateur photos, i'm still learning... : )

happy birthday bf

i was told the other night that i should put other things on my blog besides my adorable children. not that this certain person doesn't want to see my adorable children, but it is always good to spice things up. so this one's for you, bf.

it's my best friend's birthday today. and i don't know where to start. it's a fine line between saying what is deserved and total cheese. because i know her, and i know the total cheese would not be appreciated, i'm going to try my best. she turns 28 today, the day before i do. i bet she's freaking out, now that we're only 2 years away from 30... i am too, a little. but i think the two of us will always be driving to juco together, giving each other what passers-by probably thought were gang signs, but were just numbers for the radio stations we wanted the other one to turn to... that's normal, right? so in honor of her birthday, and in an attempt to bring more than just babies to my blog, here are:

28 reasons i love my bf.

1. went proudly to the 'n sync concert with me in college- and made shirts!

2. talks faster than anyone i know, and i think i'm the only one who keeps up

3. her spanish accent is impeccable (sally hansen?)

4. is even more of a hopeless romantic than i

5. her knowledge of the movies is endless

6. waited almost 28 years, but i think she finally found it

7. drove a car that leaked oil all the way from kansas to california

8. can tell me what i'm eating over the phone

9. comes from a family who loves her, but doesn't fully understand or appreciate her

10. made the first years of college two of the best of my life

11. is still wondering, along with me, where the hell peter cetera was?!?

12. bought a toyota, even though they wanted her to buy a ford.

13. is the only one that knows what was playing one of several times i got a speeding ticket

14. loves sex and the city, but not the movie.

15. knows why a person needs 2! bathroom doors

16. is the only person i know who honestly can't catch a break

17. although i think things are lookin' up

18. loves passionately

19. harmonizes almost as much as i do

20. although she's in hollywood because it's where she needs to be, she'll never be a typical 'l.a. girl'... and may i say thank GOD for that.

21. wasn't with me on our 21st birthdays, something neither one of us wants to think about

22. is a vegetarian, but on a very rare day, might crave a burger

23. designed my engagement ring

24. is someone with whom i've laughed the hardest in my life. ever.

25. will interrupt a shower for her broken-hearted bf

26. made a life-altering decision to move to los angeles because she knew she had to, and sometimes forgets how freaking amazing that is.

27. was born only a couple of hours before me

28. is the female version of my soulmate, or more simply put: my person. *

i heart you buddy...

*except, of course, my husband. :)

my love affair with curry

no, not that curry. ew. i love pretty much every color, as long as it's intense. i don't really go for pastels- i went through a light blue phase in high school (which my mother hated- hey, it could have been a lot worse, mom), and i think it ruined me for any pastel forever... that's ok, though, there are so many more to love and drool over. for instance, curry yellow. it is my current favorite color. i even painted and re-painted (actually, my wonderful husband painted and re-painted) my new 'workspace' this color. it's yummy, you can put almost any color with it and it goes. navy and curry is a safe fav, but i love the funky fuchsia and curry combo even more... anywho, when wrapping presents, i always have to put just as much time into this as the actual gift. i really don't like gift bags, i just really appreciate a box wrapped with beautiful paper and ribbon... one of my good friends is getting married in a little under a month and her colors are deep red and gold. so, in following with these colors and the fall theme, this is how i wrapped her gift for tonight's lingerie (oo la la!) shower:

i'm going to go ahead and toot my own horn a little and say doesn't this look dynamite?! :)

introducing...

eight months... already?

and it's even almost 2 weeks after the 26th! oh well, at least i'm doing it at all...

the last couple months have been very busy for these little guys.  finn is still extremely laid-back (just like daddy), but has finally started to come alive!  he decided to give rolling over a try, which now he does with the greatest of ease- i just wish that he'd learn to do it in bed- he sleeps on his tummy (bad mama), and when he's coming out of a deep sleep, sometimes he rolls over onto his back.  and there he lies, like a beetle who can't turn back over, until he talks loudly enough for us to hear and come flip him back over...  silly little bird. :)  although not a bird anymore, and not little.  we've crossed "our first ear infection" off of the list and had to visit the doctor the other day.  he is weighing in at an impressive 18 pounds 9 ounces. chunk. o.  we're working on sitting up, but he'd much rather lie on his back or tummy... we've forayed (?) into the world of solid food, and he's very much enjoying it- on the good list: sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, peas if you mix them with an orange/sweet veggie, avocados, bananas, apricots, pears, apples, and peaches.  we started chicken this last week, too- i had a recipe from one of the super foods cookbooks which has pureed chicken, butternut squash, and potatoes in it (with a bit of butter).  he LOVES it!  on the bad list: broccoli and cauliflower. he does this adorable thing where he'll take the bite, but then he actually shudders after it goes down.  and he's inherited my gag reflex, so he usually does that until it comes back up.  needless to say, we haven't gone there again...  and except for the last few nights with the ear infection and the endless drainage (which translates into not being able to breathe), he sleeps from 7-6am with a couple of 2-2 1/2 hour naps! angel baby. :)

so sweet

something green, i'm assuming

onto liam... he is all over the place. not officially crawling yet, but definitely getting around to his satisfaction.  everyone said, oh, they'll be everywhere before you know it, and i didn't believe them.  but they were right! my goodness, it's impossible- thank goodness we have a finished basement that has been completely childproofed, so we can let him just roam free...  we just have to make it a little more hang-out-able for us, because it's still the basement.  on the food front, he eats everything.  and there are things he likes more than others: everything on finn's good list, but he will eat everything... he also is dealing with textures a little better than finney... he loves cheerios, but finn's gag reflex comes into play with these- apparently, anything that stays on his tongue a second too long sets it off... geez :).  haven't weighed liam since his 6 month appt, but i'm thinking he's a least a pound behind his brother- he's too active to be super chunky.  i wish i could say he sleeps like finn (wouldn't that be heaven?) but that would just be too good to be true- he does sleep from 7-6, but you would think he had an alarm clock... it is 6 o'clock on the dot every. single. morning.  but i'll take it :)... his naps aren't as good, but we just got darkening shades in the nursery, which helped tremendously! he now usually takes a couple naps that are 1 1/2 hours long... so i do get a bit of me time :)...

crawling to aunt kathy

i don't even know...

we are loving these little ones, we can't stand it!  as cliche' as it is, it really is double the fun!!

be grateful.

my dad says that fear and love are the only two motivators in life.  i honestly believe it, and before i had my babies, it was easy for me to remember to not be afraid.   that, although i'm still figuring it out, i was probably not the one in control.  that being afraid was not a way to live.  and still, after having my babies, i am mostly able to pull this off.  but i think, as a mother, there's always a teeny tiny voice in the back of our heads, reminding us of what could possibly happen.  the worst.  one of my best friends called me tonight with the incredibly sad news that one of our friends in fresno, who had twin girls that were about a year older than our twins, lost one of them last night.  i don't know much, only that she had cerebral palsy, had been in and out of the hospital and as of last night, was on the mend.  of course, mother or not, this would have been hard to hear.  as a labor nurse, i've dealt with several patients who have lost their babies, and it has never gotten easier.  but this is the first time i've had to deal with it as a mom, and have had to think about what i would do if it happened to me.  which is physically painful.  so i try not to dwell on it, and instead of being frustrated that my baby won't take a nap or that my other baby spits up so much our washer and dryer are continuously running, i am grateful.  that after 2 1/2 years of on-and-off trying to conceive, we finally got our baby boys.

i am so incredibly grateful.

i'm so excited!!

and i just can't hide it!  i am sitting here, enjoying the peace and quiet of my house while all of my boys sleep (bryan worked a night shift last night), eating the same lunch i eat every day, and doing one of my favorite things: blog-hopping.  if i had the time, i could spend hours all day, just going from one blog to the next, finding so much inspiration from this wedding blog or that stationery website- or etsy.  don't even get me started on etsy...  one of my favorites is m writes.  i found marta through jane's website, and she's an extremely talented writer slash graphic designer slash mom slash cool lady.  she has super funky handwriting, which of course, i love (because i'd like to think i have pretty cool handwriting) and i always look forward to her posts, whether they're about her little boy, graphic design, or chocolate chip cookies.  i think she's pretty famous in the blog world, so imagine my surprise when i found a comment from her on one of my recent posts!!!  i had just been feeling sorry for myself because i haven't been getting many comments. ( i know, boo hoo, but seriously, melanie- you didn't have anything to say about liam's mohawk?!?! :)...  that was for you! ) anyway, my self-pity is over.  i'm a little star-struck at the idea that marta took the time to leave a comment about my babes!! very cool...