Pizza!

Tonight we celebrated Halloween with some of our good friends, eating pizza and cupcakes!  We skipped trick or treating for one more year.  Besides, cupcakes and pizza are much more fun!
While the babes were napping, I was busy making cupcakes.  Lots of them. For once I was ready for a party before people actually showed up.  Problem... the kids found the cupcakes and were pissed when I wouldn't let them have one.  Here is Max crying because I put them out of his reach.

We played with Jack and Wyatt before the rest of the crew came over!

Before dinner, we wrangled the five toddlers and two newborns for a quick picture.   Although it wasn't so quick!

 Claire's boyfriend, Trevor!

Best Buds!

And a few pics from their school parade and our Halloween party this weekend:

The little kids were so overwhelmed!  The minute Max saw me, he started crying.

 Any takers?!!  Eggs and Bacon :)

21 Months

Another week behind on our monthly updates.  Could it be bc they keep me busy chasing them all over the place?!
This photo shoot was probably the quickest and most uncooperative to date.

 21 months (and a week) old. That means in only three short months, you guys will be TWO! You both have kept me on my toes this past month.  Busy all the time.  Always getting into something, usually something you shouldn't be getting into.  Both of you are obsessed with remotes, phones and keys.  You have set our car alarms off too many times to count.
You love dancing and music.  Your Favorite is The Wiggles.  Claire calls it "WiWi".  You also love when we play music from our Iphone - especially, Naughty by Nature! ha!  You both have the cutest dances and will stop and dance the moment you hear a beat.

 Y'all love your time at school.  I love your teachers and the kids in your class.  I like that you get to play with kids outside your class as well.  Lots of interaction :)  I always get a good report from your teachers.  They talk about how sweet, funny and cute you are.  Even mention nice manners - makes a Mommy proud!

Buds - you are a HUGE Mommy's boy.  You don't like to be too far away.  You are the sweetest, most huggable little boy.  My favorite is when you say, "hi, Mommy".  Your vocabulary is getting better.  You mostly copy what Claire says.  Recently, you have been talking up a storm and in sentences... only I can't understand them!  You are very attached to your paci aka boppy.  and your bunny.  they sound the same. I have been debating when to take your paci away - don't worry, not before two!  You twirl your hair. a lot.  but mostly when you are sleepy.

You have a lot of teeth.  I think all of them.  I need to count.  You are a bit of a picky eater.  Veggies are very hard to get you to eat.  You LOVE fruit.  You would eat bananas and oranges all day if I let you.
You are obsessed with trucks.  When we are in the car, you point out all types of trucks.  Construction trucks are your favorite.  You also love movies aka "momo"or "mobie".  You ask for them in the car and at home.  By movies, I mean Baby Einstein or The Wiggles.  We watch the same ones 87 times in a row before we switch to another.

You are a big boy.  You are very tall and weigh 33 lbs!

Bear- my fearless child.  You are full of energy, spunk, personality, and sweetness.  You are a little mommy.  It's so cute to watch you go around following what I do.  You have recently started playing pretend.  You like to change your baby's diaper.
You love to do things yourself - whether its getting in your chair, throwing away trash, etc.  You are a pro at using the IPhone and IPad.  It's scary how good you are.  You know how to unlock, find your games and play them (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus and Trucks)  you also know how to play music, work the volume and take pictures!  Crazy!  Itsy Bitsy spider and Wheels are the Bus are two of your favorite songs.  You have also started liking, "you are my sunshine".  After Mommy and Daddy sing "A bushel and a peck", you say, "happy" and "one more".....meaning you want me to sing "you are my sunshine".  "one more" is another new saying.  You say "one more" when you want more food,   if you want me to rewind a song, or anything else you want more of.
You know our routine...you know you have to sit on your bottom if you want a snack, you know where to sit when I put in your "pony"... you are very observant.  It amazes me how quick you catch on.  Smart girl!

You love food.  You eat almost anything that we give you.  This weekend while at at Halloween party, I caught you eating handfulls of black olives.  YUCK! You love cheese and constantly ask for more.  Eggs would be a close second.
You talk A LOT!  You can now say Max.  Before it was just "Ma".  The x sounds so cute.  You also say a lot of phrases.  "you okay, Max?" "Where'd daddy go?"
I think you have had a big growth spurt.  I had been buying you 18 month clothes, but you definitely need 24 mo or 2T - weighing in at 27 lbs!

Sleep - ugh  We still battle with this.  Bedtime 7 -7:30.  Most days y'all just take one nap.  We are lucky if you two sleep til 7.  Some mornings we get 7:15 and others we get 6:15.  Please start being more consistent!

Weight Watchers

Works.  That's why I am going back tomorrow.  Topped the scale this morning.  Can't wait a minute longer.  It really pisses me off.  The house is finally empty of frozen banana bread, pumpkin pancakes, english muffins.... all the things I go back for "one more".  Time to put away the baking supplies for a little or at least until I can get my control back ;)

That's all.

No excuses!

I was recently contacted by Jim Rollince about doing a guest post on fitness.  He couldn't have asked at a better time!  I love reading/hearing about new fitness tips to get me energized and ready to go!

Stay Fit This Fall This Fall With an Easy, Effective Workouts

Jim Rollince is a member of the creating writing department of Gym Source
He enjoys writing about Fitness, Nutrition, and many other related topics.

Swimsuit season is over, and holiday season is yet to arrive - as the weather cools, you might feel that the pressure is off for working out. But even though you're not baring it all on the beach or working off holiday excess, it's important to keep exercising. You'll be happy you did once Thanksgiving rolls around!

Exercising outside has many proven benefits, including stress reduction and increased motivation. But fall can be tricky, with huge weather changes. Here are some all-over strength exercises you can do, indoors or out, with minimal props.

Lunges: a classic move, lunges work the quadriceps, hamstring, calves, glutes, and even the core, making it a great total lower-body move.

Start with your right leg forward, bent to a 90-degree angle. Slowly lower your back leg to the ground until your knee brushes the floor. Return to the starting position, and repeat 10-12 times. Switch legs and repeat.

Indoor option: grab a weight in your right hand, bend your elbow, and hold the weight at shoulder level. Switch sides when you switch legs.

Uneven Mountain Climbers: This exercise targets multiple core muscles for a fast flab fix.

Find a park bench or other two-level surface and get into a plank position with your arms higher than your toes, body in a straight line. Bend one leg toward the opposite elbow, keeping your back straight. Lower back to the plank position and switch legs. Continue alternating for 15-20 reps each side.

Indoor option: put your hands on an exercise ball, and you'll really feel the burn.

Tricep Extension: the triceps are the largest muscles in the arm; while many workouts target the biceps, the triceps are a quick way to sleek, toned arms.

Hold a dumbell, heavy branch, or even a rock straight above your head with both hands. Squeeze your elbows in. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your arms behind your head, hold for one second, and return your arms to their starting position. Repeat 10-12 times.

Fall can be great for outdoor aerobics, as the heat of the summer fades and the chill of winter is still weeks off. But what can you do when an unexpected rain or snow storm arrives? You'll need some home gym equipment, but it's worth the investment.

Treadmills: A classic home gym mainstay is the treadmill. Invest in one that has a hill-climbing function to simulate the outdoors and keep yourself in top form in the comfort of your home when the weather is bad. A good treadmill will let you continue your aerobic routine without interruption.

Ellipticals: Do you suffer from knee trouble or other sports-related injuries? ellipticals may be the answer: it's a low-impact running machine that will get the results you want without sacrificing your joints.

Use these simple exercises to keep yourself fit during the beautiful fall season if your motivation is low. If you keep your exercise habit strong now, it will be all the easier to recover from the holiday season.

Thanks, Jim!  

..... off to do some lunges!

Cutie Patooties!

I have more pumpkin pictures.  A lot.  Friday, my Mom and I took the to our Farmer's Market to take some pumpkin pictures and scope out the produce.

Every day I am amazed at how in love with these two I am!  Can they get any cuter?

Friday night we packed up and headed to Atlanta to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Justin had a golf tournament with a customer yesterday so we just made a long weekend out of it!  Saturday morning Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Darcy, Max, Claire, Justin and I headed to a pumpkin patch that had a hayride.  It was a great idea and a lot of fun, just really far away! - and we never made the hayride. We were in the car (roundtrip) for probably 3.5 hrs! BUT we got some great pumpkins and even better pictures!

 They started their search together!

 Then went their own ways....

 They liked to hug and kiss the pumpkins?!

 Claire showing off her new boots!

 Max looking all grown up!

 My beautiful girl!

 Max loves his Aunt Darcy!

 Justin and his Dad with the babes

 Grandma found a pumpkin!

Sunday was full of shopping.  Grandma and Grandpa stocked Max and Claire up with winter pjs and lots of cute clothes!  Max and Claire LOVE their grandparents!  When the kiddos went down for their nap, I went shopping with Grandma.  We both had a great time and came home with goodies.  

Monday was just me and the babes.  Justin was playing golf and Grandma and Grandpa were off to work.  We played at the park, went on a jog and took more pictures!

 I am sure she is telling a funny joke ;)

Our ride home was LONG.  We left at 8pm to avoid traffic and in hopes of a quiet ride with the babes. But that wasn't the case.  Within 5 min of being on I85, we were in stand still traffic.  We moved 20 miles in two hours!  So not cool.  Max and Claire ended up waking up around 11/11:30 and stayed awake til we got home.  They snacked, watched Baby Mozart 897 times, danced to Naughty by Nature, fussed and laughed! We ended up getting home at 3 am! - put them down and went to bed!  They slept til 8:15!! went to school, went down for a nap at 1:30 and slept til 4:45!!!! 

Great fun!

New mom goodies

I have a lot of friends that are pregnant or have just had babies with the majority being their second kid. I usually take some homemade Mac and cheese and/or a sweet treat. However, yesterday while I spent way too much time on pinterest, I saw a great idea. This lady had a tray and filled it with main dish, side, bread, dessert, breakfast and paper plates!
So I put myself to work tonight. I was in the kitchen for over two hours, made a huge mess and had a whole lotta fun!







I ended up making mac and cheese, pumpkin pancakes, and chocolate chip cookie bars. I also added vanilla yogurt and some apples and I will go buy some veggies on my way to her house tomorrow. I may even pick up another sweet. Justin said my cookies weren't sweet enough!

And a few pics of my babes!



We went to my friend's house this morning to decorate pumpkins. She has 3.5 year old twin boys!






I took their picture with the pumpkins the first day we brought them home and now every time we go up the steps, Claire says "bottom. Cheese!" meaning, sit on your bottom and say cheese! Every time! And it always puts a huge smile on my face :)

Kelly - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Choose your colors wisely!

Apparently, when you wear cool colors to get your oil changed, it ends up free! Yep. Thankfully, I didn't throw on my gym clothes this morning before leaving the house. Max and Claire go to mothers morning out on Tuesday and My car was in need of an oil change. When I was checking in I told the Honda service guy that I only wanted an oil change and I was on borrowed time - lots to do when I am sans kids. The first thing he said was he liked how I chose my colors today. That made me all smiles - then he asked what I was going to do with my free time - I went on about how last Friday was my birthday and how Justin was in a golf tournament all weekend an I didn't have time to birthday shop. Then he said he'd make me a deal - a free oil change!!! Heck yeah!
So next time you go to get your oil changed, choose wisely!



My good day/luck continued. I made my first stop in a Clark's shoe store. Two words. In Love! They have the coolest boots and very cute kids shoes. I found a pair of booties that I loved. They were a bit more than I wanted to spend. After a few minutes talking to the clerk, she asked if it would help If she took 20% off the price - um, yes!



So I left with these!!

Yay for good deals! And nice people!

Kelly - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Caked out

Omg. I don't think I've ever eaten as much cake as I have this weekend. I'm pretty miserable and mad at myself. I have had zero self control. Zero.
Last night we celebrated my birthday with two other couples. One of those couples were also celebrating their birthday (today). It was a nice dinner followed by cake.






This morning I had half a piece a cake and this afternoon I had a pumpkin cupcake my mom had brought me yesterday. THEN she brought over her famous pound cake and, again, I shoved my face with cake. It taste amazing, but I'm paying for it now.
Tomorrow is a new day. I went to the grocery store today and it's time to get back to reality. Last year on my bday I was buying size 4 jeans - this year my size 6 are getting snug. :(. Wish it were easy!

Kelly - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pumpkins

My two cute pumpkins met one of their playgroups at the pumpkin patch today.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for picking out a pumpkin!
We had to do a little photo shoot at the house before we left.

She looks mad, but she is trying to get me to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" (She's doing round and round with her arms!)

LOVE him!

Too busy for pictures.  They were ecstatic to have pretzels and juice! (we don't drink juice at home)

Buds doing his own thing and trying to sneak more juice!

My beautiful girl!

Tomorrow is my bday!! They have Mother's Morning Out, so I will treat myself to a mani/pedi and meet a friend for lunch!

Burrrr!

It's cold here. Like 40s/50s. That's really cold considering Saturday it was 80 and I was wearing shorts! I kinda like it. I like wearing my flannel pjs and eating a good, hearty soup for dinner!
Tonight I made taco soup. It is so good and easy. You can make on the stove or in the crockpot, you can use turkey, beef, chicken or just beans - all are delicious!
Tonight my recipe looked like this:
1lb 99% lean ground turkey
1 chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
Packet of low sodium taco seasoning
Packet of ranch season
1 can kidney beans - drain and rinse all beans
1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can mexi corn
chicken broth - i used a can, but use as much or as little as you'd like!
*saute onions and garlic, then cook meat.  add seasonings and beans.  let simmer for a while. or not.
Tonight I made it in a big pot on the stove. When I worked, I would throw 2 frozen chicken breast in the crockpot along with the other ingredients and dinner would be ready when I got home! Freezes well too!


Top with shredded cheese and sour cream (I use light). Avocado would also be yummy!



These two had a good day (besides waking at 6 again)
Their teachers bragged about how sweet they are - especially to each other :) makes me proud!

Kelly - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone