18 month check up & the past week -

Last week I took Everett & Macey for their 18 month check up.
I had to answer the question sheet for 15, 18 and 24 months pertaining to what they could/could not do. E & M could do everything! with the exception of 1-2 things at the 2 y/o level.
As we got into the exam room I told Dr. Woodward that they were using about 40 words, they know approx 20 body parts and have already started putting 2 words together such as : baby doll, puppy park and graham cracker. She said their vocabulary was fantastic.
The appointment progressed and we discussed transitioning to toddler beds, potty training and dealing with tantrums in public. We gave her quite the laugh! She said she definitely needs to do her research on sibling rivarly as E & M have been competing for my attention. They are little copy cats and want to do whatever the other one is.
As the visit was concluding (after wrangling the little monkeys back to the stroller) she commented on how obedient they were to my request. As she said " their ability to obey your request for their age is remarkable". Ive said from the beginning we were blessed with very good babies- nothings changed! Then this past Wednesday Curt & I took them to see Joanne (the public health nurse) so they could get their shots--eww. She too was impressed with thier skills. They are both very bright kids exceeding in many areas!

Carolyn came up last Saturday afternoon. She hadn't seen the babies in 3 months! They had a great time playing with her. We went to lunch at McDonalds playland, we strolled walmart and then we played at home. She says they are busy little people that can do lots of different things. It was fun for them to show her all they are doing and learning.

Othat than that we dont have anything major planned or to report- Lots of our friends are having/ preparing to have babies and then we have our own coming which means lots of reasons to shop! E & M just got their winter gear (snow bibs. coats. hats. etc) - Im not sure if I was more excited or they were. I cant wait to see them in the snow this year.

We've started trying some new activities such as Plah-Doh and those invisible markers. Ive been feeling brave and am ready to let them be creative!

I have an ultrasound on Tuesday and a doctors appointment Wednesday so Im hoping I will have good things to blog about later next week!

Good Food, Great Company!

Its been a long week (and its only Tuesday). Ive been working quite a bit extra this week with my job-sharer attending a training class. I forget how much work it is to get me AND the kids up changed, dressed, fed, packed and out the door. Thank goodness for flexible schedules and helpful husbands!
We've been taking advantage of the weather and doing as much walking as we can. We finally found a good use for the babies first sleeping bags:

They've also been busy playing in the kitchen. We moved the mat & their little kitchen in doors. Here they are :

Tonight we had a date night with Melanie & Craig. We had a great time. We dined at The Chena Pump house and we sat outdoors in the enclosed area. They have heaters out there. We felt no need for them, but the elderly tourist sitting nearby insisted so we finished dessert quickly and moved to the bar area to get out of the heat. Darn tourist :)
Heres a couple pictures from tonight. Im 25 weeks (6.5 months) :

A cool week...

The temperature dropped drastically after my sister left last Friday; I think she took the hot weather home to Florida when she went :) Its been in the mid-60s and gorgeous. Curt & I have been getting alot of work done around the house because this wave of cold weather only means one thing to me- Winter is coming!

We got all the outdoor stuff cleaned up. Part of the kids toys moved to the shed (which got a new paint job- wahoo!!!) the other half got to come inside.


The babies are enjoying having their kitchen in moms kitchen although they havent figured out they can cook on it yet. For now they just like opening/closing the cupboards.

We still have more work to do next week....I may have 2 children already but Im still feeling that nesting urge and there are things I want to get done to "prepare" for the new baby so we're doing them while we can.

Wednesday was a busy day for me. It was my day to sleep in so I slept till 9:30 and then rushed out the door by 10:30 to make it to my LLL meeting. As I got home at 1pm we were walking out the door again to take the kids to the fair. They werent too sure about the animals but they warmed up. When I get a chance I will upload the pictures. We had to take them with Curts iphone because as of now my camera is officially missing! I cant seem to remember what I did with it, nor can I find it.

Yesterday (thursday) I took the kids to the sitters for the WHOLE day and curt painted our living room. Finally the last room in our house to be painted is done! Now to just get a couple accent items.

Today (friday) I had to work and then went off to run some errands with the kids. I had them in the shopping cart strolling through the grocery store parking lot when I hit a bump and poor little Macey slammed her face into the cart. Shes got quite the shiner. It looks like I punched her in the face. I can only imagine what it will look like tomorrow- lets hope the motrin helps!

Heartburn has finally kicked in full force with this pregnancy. Luckily it happened about 8 weeks later than it did with the twins :) My friend Melanie is on her way over with dessert, the kids are asleep and my husbands at work so Im off to enjoy some good food & great company!

Its already August?

Well Im not sure where the time went. It seems I was just blogging about the 4th of July and here it is the 5th of August! We had a great visit from my mom and my sister is scheduled to depart on Friday. Its certaintly going to be an adjustment going back to a quiet house. Ha! I said quiet, I have two toddlers...
The weather has been warm but there has been tons of smoke and even ash at times. Today is one of those days where the sky is covered in gray and a nice coating of ash has settled on the cars and everything else outside.

Heres a couple details about what we've been doing over the last month:
Curt & I celebrated our birthdays this past month. Curt is now 28 & I 26.

We both had a cake at home. He got a Stanley Thermos and I got a Vera Bradley handbag (along with a few nice cards & some spending money!). My mom babysat for us and we had a night out together :)

We went kyaking down the Chena river...


We went to the Alaska Salmon Bake...

and this upcoming week I have my 24 week doctors appointment on Monday. Here I am:

Hopefully it will be uneventful. This baby has been veerrrryyy active. Ive been napping alot when the twins nap and thus not getting much done. Im not sure if its the company, the warm weather or their age, but I think we are slowly on the way to 1 nap.

Here they are showing some love to one another!

Today we are going out to lunch and then hopefully off to do some berry picking! We'll see what the day bring

20 week ultrasound~

Halfway there, here I am:

We had our big 20 week ultrasound yesterday! I told Doctor Worrel right away that we didn't want to know the sex. I told him he could leave the monitor on, just not to tell us what he saw.

When he first put the transducer on my belly we immediately saw a head, 2 feet and 10 toes! It was the cutest!

The baby looks very healthy and is already measuring 13oz (just shy of a pound). It appears I may have a little excess amniotic fluid and also a low lying placenta. I spoke with Doctor Ellie about both those things this morning. She said we'll do another ultrasound around 28 weeks to check the position of the placenta (which should migrate up as my uterus grows) and also to check the fluid levels. She said 2 possible causes of excess amniotic fluid are 1. The baby isn't swallowing properly (although Doc Worrel saw the baby's belly clearly yesterday and it looked great) and 2. gestational diabetes, so I will have the GD test done at my next appointment Aug 10th. I'm hopeful it will turn out to be nothing at all!

From left to right babies head/spine, babies face and hand, top of babies head with 2 feet and 10 toes!, picture of whats supposed to be the nose/lip (but don't worry, I don't see it either!)

We got to see the baby yawn and that was neat too!

Curt swears he saw boy parts, and Im not so certain. None the less we've picked out two names (one for each gender).
If the baby should be a boy he will be named: Charlie Reeves Harper

If the baby should be a girl she will be named: Kennedy Marie Lima Harper

Aside from that we havent had much going on. The weather has continued to be hot, we've had intermittent smoke from the surrounding forest firest and Everett has his first tan. Curt has decided E must have my portuguese skin tone! We're not so sure about Macey...

Macey went to the doctors on Saturday, she has impetigo. She has almost completed her treatment, thankfully because shes been miserable and I cant wait for her to get back to the happy little lady I once knew. Macey's three new words are NO, uh-0h and brother :)

Everetts new skills are saying NO in a very serious tone while he shakes his finger at you, jumping up & down and walking down the stairs forward facing unassisted holding onto the hand rail.

The babies are growing up so quick!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Well the summer sun has been in full force! At one point today my car read it was 91 outside...we don't have air conditioning in the house (like most Alaskans) so we've been keeping all the windows open & fans on but it sure is a change from winter. Heat like this makes me long for those cold blustery snowy days. Poor little Macey was so hot and shes just been outside a few mintues. Heres a picture of her waiting to be put in the car: The time has been flying by (hence no new blogs), Jenna has been here almost 3 weeks now and Lea Ann (my MIL) arrived here very early Wednesday morning. We spent most of Wednesday going to twingroup at Pioneer Park, and then headed out to Chena Hot springs.
Along the way we spotted several moose! One mama moose had her 2 calves with her - it was quite the site to see. Lea Ann & Jenna were both very excited about the moose!

We completed the evening with a nice dinner at Silver Gulch Brewery. The waitress even commented on how well behaved the babies were.

Thursday I had to go to work so not much happened during the day, once I got home I learned my dad was making a work related pit-stop here in Fairbanks so I went and picked him up from the hotel he was staying at. He got to meet my sister and spend some time with the babies. We headed to the tower so he could say hello to his favorite Son-in-law and then we went to Lavelles where Lea Ann and dad had drinks and I had a HUGE piece of cheesecake! We stayed up way too late and thank heavens Lea Ann got up with the babies this morning. I don't think I would have made it.

After everyone had their showers and lunch we went to the bontanical gardens at UAF. It was beautiful but HOT! Heres my sister & I, and then everyone together:

Here I am, only 5 months pregnant- (and yes I was much larger at this point when I was having the twins) but I wasn't pregnant in the summer and chasing two toddlers. I don't know about 4 more months of this --- I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday morning and should get an ultrasound sometime in the week to follow so we'll see how this baby is doing! So far I think all is well. The baby has been moving a TON and Jenna even got to feel it a few different nights this week!

After the botanical garden we went and got some famous Hot Licks ice cream and came home to nap yet again - well all but Curtis, unfortunately he had to go to work again ;(

Curt has to work most of the weekend as well so as it stands we will probably enjoy a nice leisurely lunch tomorrow and then back to Pioneer Park for some fourth of July festivities.

Happy 4th of July!

Gloomy Days

It's been 1 week since my sister, Jenna, arrived here in Fairbanks. She's been a great help, even getting up with the babies alone a few mornings and letting us sleep in :) Sunday the four of us went grocery shopping and by the time we came home she collapsed on the couch exclaiming " that was exhausting I never want to do it again". Who knew 2 toddlers could take so much out of a person. Shes been napping daily and I find it refreshing that for as young and energetic as she is, they wear her out as well!

Since shes been here we've done a few things. We went to Twinsgroup at Pioneer park, Snedden park for a regular playgroup, North Pole Park for a birthday party and the Bently Mall. Shes been Kayaking with Sarah & to hot licks ice cream. She got to see the summer solstice street fair and Monday night we went to the movies and saw The Proposal. We also went to the food factory & the library. She's slowly learning her way around town. There's not a ton of tourist attractions here especially that appeal to a 17 year old girl so Im trying to find a few things to keep her interested but its challenging.

Here she is Kayaking:

All day yesterday & today it was dark & gloomy, cold & pouring rain. Most of our moods have reflected the weather. I sure hope the warmth & sunshine come back soon.

In other news, a good friend of mine loaned me some "soap nuts" laundry detergent to use on the babies cloth diapers- so far Im loving them. She also loaned us a Bum Genius 3.0 Diaper but we havent tried it yet. We looked for the babies some new Seattle Mariners hats (toddler size) and were able to find 2 very cute ones at LIDS in the Bently Mall but they were spendy so we passed for now.

Tomorrow, Friday & Monday I have to go to work :( then Tuesday my MIL arrives! Hope the weather is nice for her so we can do a few things! We're hoping to go to Chena Hot Springs so her & my sister can see the ice museum and we can all enjoy the hot tubs and indoor pool together. The babies LOVE the water!