Out of the Mouths of Babes

The girls' vocabularies are exploding.  It's awesome.

Amelia is always "tuck" in her carseat, her booster seat, when she wedges herself between the couch and the ottoman.

Julia loves to let us know that "It's mine."  You really have to hear her say it to fully appreciate it.  She is very emphatic about it and even points at herself just to make sure she's getting her point across.

Amelia enjoys her babies so much that she has started throwing the word baby in her phrases.  "Hi, Baby", "Bye, Baby", and "No, Baby, No!" are some of her favorites.  The thing that makes it especially funny is that she says these things to Jonathan and I.

We took the girls to the zoo yesterday with their Aunt Audrey and their Aunt Adrienne.  While they enjoyed the animals, they were really excited about watching all the airplanes take off and land at the very nearby airport.  Every few minutes we heard two little voices shouting "Airplane!".

The Second Year: A Pictorial Review

Time flies when you're having fun...

13 Months - Julia in purple and Amelia decked out in beads

14 Months - Apparently the pool is just as much fun upside down as it is right side up.

15 Monrhs - Obviously a favorite activity.

16 Months - We love America, Huggies, and grapes.

17 Months - First Hug

18 Months - It's hard to be mad when they are just so darn cute.

19 Months - My little Thing 1 and Thing 2.

20 Months - Planning a trip to Disney World.  This is serious work.

21 Months - Opening presents is the best.

22 Months - Too cute.

23 Months - Who needs a bed when you can sleep in drawers?

24 Months - Swinging like big girls on our new swing set.

Stats as Promised

The girls had their 2-year-old check-up Friday.  The doctor confirmed what we already knew.  They are perfect.  Both stand 35" tall.  Julia is 27lb 4oz and Amelia is 29lb 6oz.  So if it's true that you double their height at two to determine their adult height, they should reach approximately 5'10".  I guess I better enjoy not being the shortest in the family while it lasts.

We survived!

Today Jonathan and I are celebrating surviving two years of twin parenthood.  While the first year of their life was hopefully the most difficult thing I'll ever go through, this second year has definitely had more good than bad.  I love (most of the time)...

:: that the girls are fully mobile.

:: that they are able to communicate most of their wants and needs.

:: that Julia loves airplanes and Amelia loves babies..

:: that they give each other and us sweet pats on the back.

:: that they laugh when they toot.

I'll post the girls stats after their doctor's appointment on Friday, but suffice it to say that they are in size 3T now.  I've got some big girls.

Happy Birthday, my two blessings, my little angel monkeys.

Pictures to come soon.

Binoculars

My girls brought home a craft from church Monday.  Toilet paper tube binoculars.  Aren't they fun?

It looks like they just decorated two toilet paper roll tubes.  Not sure if it was finger paint or stamp pads, but you could be creative.  Stickers, glitter glue, whatever you have lying around.  Then they taped them together with what looks like painter's tape.  I'm sure you could use duct tape, packing tape, or masking tape too.  What a cheap and easy project and the girls love them!

The Making of the Dresses

The long-anticipated (okay, maybe not) how-to for making t-shirt dresses for toddlers.  I'm not big on "patterns" in the traditional sense.  I just like to figure out what I'm going to do, measure, cut, and sew.  My mother thinks I'm crazy.  She's probably right.

1.  Pre-wash all your fabrics and iron.

2.  Determine how wide you'd like the waistband to be and add half an inch for seam allowance.  Measure the diameter of the shirt where you'd like to place the waistband.  Add half an inch for seam allowance.  Use these two measurements to cut two identical pieces of fabric.

3.  Determine how long you'd like your skirt be.  Double that number and add half an inch for seam allowance.  The width will be double the width of your the waistband pieces.  Use these two measurements to cut two identical pieces of fabric.

4.  Fold your skirt pieces in half lengthwise with the wrong sides together and iron.  This way you won't have to sew a hem on the bottom of your dress and your skirt will be double-sided.  No ugly back side of the fabric will show no matter how much your little ballerina twirls.

(Not sure why this is sideways.  I'll work on that.)

5.  Put the two right sides of your waistband pieces together and sew one of the short sides.  Do the same on your skirt pieces.  Iron the seams open.

6.  Pin the right side of your waist band fabric to your shirt so that the seam of the waistband lines up with one of the seams of your shirt and sew.  Fold the waistband fabric down over the seam and iron the seams down.

7.  Take your skirt fabric and baste all the way along the long open seam.  Do not backstitch and leave your thread a bit long.  Hold one piece of thread and gently pull the other piece of thread to gather the fabric.

8.  Pin your skirt fabric to the right side of your waistband fabric so that the seams line up and adjust your gathering so that it is even.  Carefully sew these two pieces together.  Fold the skirt fabric down over the seam and iron the seams down.

9.  Turn your dress inside out and sew the final seam together.  Iron the seam open.

10.  Embellish in any way you like.

(Sideways again?  You're killing me Blogger.)

Close up of my embellishment

I'm sure I didn't explain this well.  So if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask and I'll do my best to clarify.

A Sunnier Outlook

Feeling better since the last post.  The girls are well again and I have several things checked off my to-do list.

Yesterday I did five loads of laundry, worked on the girls' birthday dresses, did my homework, and bought the batter for the girls' cakes.

A how-to on the making of the dresses to follow.