Wide open spaces.....

We've been super busy over here, there's some big changes on the horizon so things might be a bit quiet on the blog front, but I'll try to take pics and upload when I can. Here's a few from this last week.....

Hope everyone is having a peaceful week!

Work weekend wrap up

I had a mysterious illness the last 2 days, I'm chalking it up to dehydration, & am feeling better now :)

Anywho, here's a recap of the weekend. 

Ava and Hunter, Hunter, Finn, snippets from work, next week's dinners, herbs

I'll try to be more on top of posts for next week including some recipes I'm pretty amped for!

Work weekend wrap up

Dinner w/ fluffy friends, how does pool work again?, rare sharing moment, lil mama!, building Lego cars, fave coffe spot!, have a great week, everyone!

Outdoor space update

We have had some pretty nice weather! Last weekend was super sunny and beautiful, and Monday was the nicest day for sure. Tuesday the clouds rolled in and it's been partly cloudy with rain showers and patchy sun. So, needless to say, not consistent sun for 12-14 hours a day, therefore, my seedlings are growing, but very slowly.

I will transplant them when they get their second set of leaves.

We also have another box ready for some shade loving plants!! I'm excited to try some lettuces and Chinese cabbages as well as cilantro!

(Bad photo patch, sorry!!)

This is basically our back patio space. Valentine's Day flower still going strong!!

Twin meals and kid dinner/grown up dinner

So, I've been doing some kid meal updates the last couple weeks, but I've decided to do something a little different. The babes' breakfast and lunch is pretty much variations on the same theme, but as far as dinner is concerned, I've decided to model their dinners after our dinners so that it will be 1) easier than making two different meals 2) keep me on track meal-wise and 3) get them on the same track with us so that they can transition to what we're eating easier in the future.

So, in light of this, here's what they've been eating for breakfast--

Top: eggs, peaches, maple toast; bottom: eggs, banana, orange segments 

Here's a typical lunch--

Top: toasted cheese sandwich, banana; bottom: peanut butter and honey sandwich, banana chips, grapes

For dinner the last few days the boys have tried a few new things, here's what we had for dinner:

Kid dinner: salmon burger, Apple, sautéed chickpeas and kale; Adult dinner: salmon burger with pan fried capers and sautéed chickpeas w/ kale

Recipe here: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/slow-cooked-salmon-chickpeas-and-greens I didn't make the salmon as directed, I baked salmon burgers and then pan finished them (it's what we had! :)) but everything else I made as directed. Delish! 

Kid dinner: pasta w/ butter, banana slices, peas and corn; Adult dinner: sautéed scallops and veggies w/ Thai noodles

Recipe here: Thai noodles-- http://www.melskitchencafe.com/super-simple-spicy-thai-noodles/  (no toppings or veggies, just noodles and the sauce)

Scallops-- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pan-seared-scallops-with-pepper-and-onions-in-anchovy-oil/detail.aspx (I used white onions, and no red bell pepper, I also used sardines instead of anchovies. Finally, I replaced parsley with cilantro and added sesame seeds)

Kid dinner: baked chicken, sweet potatoes and peas; Adult dinner: baked drumsticks, baked broccoli w/ Parmesan and baked sweet potato w/ garlic and Parmesan.

Recipe here: drumsticks-- http://www.kitchenwithmommy.com/2014/01/wowza-baked-chicken-drumsticks.html 

Sweet potatoes-- http://reluctantentertainer.com/2013/12/roasted-sweet-potatoes-with-rosemary/

Broccoli-- http://milkandcuddles.com/2011/09/the-best-broccoli-recipe-on-pinterest/

Kid dinner: cheese quesadilla, apples, peas; Adult dinner: cheese quesadilla w/ pica de gallo and beans w/ Spanish rice

Recipe here: beans-- http://queenbeecoupons.com/slow-cooker-crockpot-refried-beans-no-frying-no-soaking-plus-easy-freeze-instructions/

Rice-- http://whatyagotcookingoodlookin.blogspot.com/2011/10/restraunt-style-mexican-rice.html (I used tomatoes instead of sauce, and added cilantro)

Wednesday, Gymboree, buddies and development

We went to our first level 3 Gymboree class today! The focus was on socialization, we're good at that! They were super comfortable and did really well, so I think we'll stick with it. Hunter dove right in during busy box time and Finn danced and danced! Of course, I forgot to take pics (BAD!) 

We went the scenic route to pick up Ava from school for auntie Jillian this afternoon. We had much fun with Ava and auntie Jillian and the munchies took a lil nap in the car on the way home. daddy gave them a bath after dinner and went pretty much right to sleep. 

More pics next time!!

Tuesday: Craft Day!

I've been wanting to cover some containers so they were more neutral I color and less advertise-ey, I hand painted one, and covered one with sparkly ribbon and hand made bows. I like how they turned out kind of abstract and gaudy, but in a good way 😉

Work weekend wrap up

This was a pretty busy weekend, and I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have. I'll try to do better! 

They were tickling each other!; we went for a long walk; saw some turtles; they didn't love the swings; this week's menu

Something I've been thinking about on this special day, at least to me

There's been a lot of buzz about Caesarian birth lately due to a troll site that posted some inflamitory statements glorifying 'natural' childbirth and also putting down c-sections as basically getting off light. So, on the anniversary of the date that my twins would have been born, had I carried them to 42 weeks, I'm going to tell you my birth story, in total. 

Just a little back story, when I found out I had two babies in me, I also found out that there were 3 (later, a 4th one was found as well) fibroid tumors in my uterus along with my little babes. One of them was 8 or 9 cm (LARGE) and completely blocking my cervix, so Caesarian was the only option. I also developed gestational diabetes toward the end, but didn't receive insulin.

Cut to Saturday February 16th, my water 'broke' (actually, it sorta just trickled out all throughout the day, I just thought I had to pee a lot) and I went in to the hospital that night. During the whole time I was in the hospital, they had to put an IV in me several times, (one time getting too close to a nerve, it felt like my arm was broken!) Four days later, on Wednesday, it was decided that they had to come out that morning. I was only dialated about 2 cm, but I was contracting consistently and had been for the previous 18 hours. I called Dave and at 9:30 am I went up to the OR. 

Once I got up there, they gave me the shots and started prepping for the surgery, and I kind of just zoned everything out, which wasn't too hard because I was soooooo tired. I'm very VERY fortunate that nothing abnormal occurred, I knew it was coming and didn't have to fight through major pushing and then have an emergency surgery sprung on me. Only one babe's water broke, so after he came out the second babe had to have a little CPR when they first pulled him out, but he was never blue and perked right up. They were small, only 3.3 and 3.15 and at 31 weeks 6 days, they were 8 weeks premature. I didn't get to hold them, see them or touch them, they were whisked away pretty much the minute they came out and went right up to the NICU. (Dave went with them) I went to a recovery area where my family was waiting. I talked with my parents and sister, then they wheeled my whole bed up to the babies and I got to see them, but I couldn't touch them yet. They were in their isolates and we all had too many wires and tubes happening for it to be possible. They then wheeled me up to the post birth room and I finally got to sleep.

Later that night/morning my bff came to visit and we got me into a wheel chair and we went down to see the babes. I could touch their tiny hands and bodies but couldn't hold them yet. The next day I tried to walk, but couldn't, so I started taking a heavier pain killer and was able to get to the bathroom and back so they took out the catheter (yay), and I got to hold them, finally. By the end of the next day I was able to make it to the end of the hall and back, so they sent me on my way.

It took a full 6 weeks for my body to heal, and during that time my full time job was pumping and visiting my babies. Every two hours, morning noon and night, I pumped, and every morning I got up, got ready and went to the hospital. I would take turns holding my babies while they received my milk through a tube that went directly into their stomach. There were also monitors that tracked and reported their heart rate, and other things I barely understood. Every day the doctors would check in with me and thankfully everything was quiet and boring. After two days they were both off the breathing tubes and after a few weeks they both were in bassinets instead of the isolates. There was a check list of videos, a car seat installation class, and a lung stress test with the babes in their car seats that we had to check off but 6 weeks later, they came home 2 days apart.

Top-bottom: first day, first day home, today (their version of 'peek-a-boo')

I'm off my blog game

I've bee a bit frazzled since Easter weekend. I ended up taking the weekend off to try and see my sister before she moved to London,but that didn't happen, so I've been playing catch up ever since. The boys have been teething pretty hard core, which means they have a pretty constant river of snot pouring out of their noses, and it's been pretty rainy so we've been holed up at the house a lot which leads to a messier house, etc. anyway, I'm in the process of steering things back on course and should be back to our regular schedule by next week.

I should have showed the kitchen too.....that's a more startling transformation. Ah, next time 😉

Outdoor space update

I got some seeds started this week! I'm waiting for a few dry days to direct seed some onions, I'd also like to get some herb and green starts and the materials for potatoes!

Not a lot of sun, so it might take a while to get these babies going, but I'm attempting some flowers, lettuce, beets, and chard. Pretty jazzed for summer!!

Where we're at this Wednesday

The boys had their 12 month check up today (a bit late, I know!) they are in the 50+ percentile for their real age (23.77 lbs and 23.20 lbs Hunter and Finn, respectively). Not too bad for a couple of (almost) 32 week-ers!

The boys are feeding themselves exclusively now, with the exception of soup and yogurt. Here's a sample of what they ate this week:

T-B: spaghetti with veggies and cheese, eggplant pizza with grapes and spinach w/ oil/vinegar and pine nuts, peanut butter and honey sandwiches with banana chips and apples, spaghetti and cheesy meatballs and apples, Cheerios and apple juice 4eva!