My little angels.

You always hear horror stories about toddlers not wanting to sleep or stay in their "big girl" beds. Well, we tried it for the first time last night. I had Plan A and Plan B and Plan C and so on for when the little darlings resisted. To my surprise... THEY DIDN'T MAKE A PEEP! They stayed in their beds all night long from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am. They didn't even fall out (which was another one of my fears). I'm hoping this is the start to a good thing. :::Fingers crossed:::

6:30 am... Ava is sound asleep!

6:30 am... Izzy is sound asleep!

Big Girls... Ready or not.

Over the next few months, whether they like it or not, Izzy and Ava are going to have to transform into big girls. My plan is to attempt potty training (notice I said "attempt") and if the girls are ready, I will be one happy mama. If they're not, I know it won't be too terribly long that I will have 4 in diapers (ho hum). And today their big girls beds came! They are very excited to try them out. I'm not too excited for them to be free, lol! We'll see how it goes, I'll do an update on that in a few weeks.

The girls love sitting on their potties. We practice, no success yet.

Izzy is in complete awe of her new bed... thanks gma & gpa!

Santa!

Well, he definitely wasn't the Santa depicted on TV, that's for sure! Surprisingly, the girls did great... no tears at all! Santa on the other hand, he's going to have a long day ahead of him (we were only his second customers).

My little bakers.

Over the weekend, while Cory was painting the girls' new "big girl" room (that will be a post coming up!), the girls and I decided to stay busy by doing a little baking. I found a yummy cookie recipe on Pinterest (of course), so we whipped up the dough early in the morning and let it chill. By 11:00 we were ready to cut out our cookies, pop them in the oven, and decorate! Izzy and Ava loved decorating the cookies, but loved eating them and licking the frosting off even more! They made a huge mess, but enjoyed every minute of it. We may have to make another batch before Christmas!

From one extreme to another...

While Cory and I were laying at the pool...

Izzy and Ava were playing in the snow for the first time.

Hollidazzle Fun!

Over the weekend, we met the family at the Macy's 8th Floor Display and then went to watch the Hollidazzle Parade. The weather was beautiful! It was like 43 degrees! We still need to perfect the planning part of the whole trip. There was a lot of waiting (no way around that) and our seats (standing room only) weren't that great, but we were warm! The girls loved all of the pretty lights! Izzy kept screaming, "MORE! Ho, ho, ho!" The best part of it all was when the girls got to see Santa at the end of the parade. They were beyond excited!

This was after a lot of waiting! Two happy girls! LOL!

More waiting...

Loving the parade...

Izzy had a great seat!

Our big news.

Most of you already know, but some of you may not. Our little family of four will become a family of six in early April! Yes, I said SIX! We are expecting twins! Never in a million years did I think that I would have four kids in just over 2 years. Don't get me wrong, this is like a dream come true. I feel like we have won the lottery on this one. Ever since I was a young girl, I have wanted five kids. I'll take four! Close enough! I think I got the idea from my awesome cousins who had five adorable, spunky, sociable, witty kiddos,  that I was fortunate to grow up babysitting. I didn't keep this dream a secret from Cory, I'm pretty sure I told him like on our second or third date. Believe it or not, it didn't scare him away! When Cory and I decided that we were ready to have kids, it didn't exactly go the way we had planned. It took us 5 years to get pregnant with our girls, Izzy and Ava. When we got the news that we were having twins the first time, I immediately became a believer in miracles! When we got the news that we were having twins the second time, I immediately thought, "Wow, God really does have a sense of humor!" I was ecstatic! Although, I've had mixed emotions about having four kids almost two years old and under. I'm scared to death, but so excited I could jump out of my skin. I'm worried, but thrilled for the adventure that will soon be called our life. Most of all I am thankful. Many people think it's crazy. Some even tell me I'm crazy. Maybe I am! I am overjoyed for what the future will bring for my family. Deep inside I know that we would never be given anything we couldn't handle. I have the best partner in the world to take this journey with me. Cory has proven over and over again that he is the best father, husband, and friend I could ever ask for. Again, I am thankful. I am one lucky girl. So come April, Izzy and Ava will have a new little brother and a new little sister. I am eager to watch them take their new role as "big sisters".

A cupcake celebration with the family.

Izzy Sleep Eats

'Tis the season!

This year I was more excited than last to decorate for Christmas. The girls know who Santa is and LOVE Christmas trees, Christmas lights, and really anything Christmas! When I told them that we were going to put up our tree, they were super excited. They even helped decorate! I made sure to put the tree up in the front room where I can close the door. This was a good decision... the girls would be in there all day decorating and redecorating, over and over again if they could! Each night we plug in our tree and sit and look at how beautiful it is. It's one of my favorite things to do before we all go to bed. We also started the Elf on the Shelf tradition this year. Our elf's name is Rosie. The girls named her after Rosie on Caillou (of course). They know that Rosie is watching to make sure they are good girls. They enjoy looking for Rosie's new spot each morning when they wake up. The holidays just keep getting more and more each year!

Rosie!

We ventured out.

Over the last couple of weeks, it's been too cold to play outside. We all were getting a little stir crazy. We had exhausted our trips to Target (believe me... the cashiers know the girls), so it was time to get a little more creative. I had looked into different indoor play areas and came across the Brooklyn Park Community Center Tot Play. I emailed dad and he was on board (if you know me, I don't like to try new things alone, lol). So off we went. I had checked, checked again, and triple checked to make sure that the playtime would be in session (it was Thanksgiving week). The website stated that it was in fact going on. When we got to the playtime, it was CANCELLED! WHAT?! There happened to be a National Guard Coat Drive going on and they cancelled the playtime last minute. Ok, plan B. I had been wanting to check out the Maple Grove Maze, so we piled into the car and headed that way. A little more expensive, but well worth it. The girls loved running free, climbing and interacting with strange kids (there were a couple of real strange ones...).

Papa photo-bombed this one

 Our next adventure took place at Chuck E. Cheese. Cory has been dying to go there for the last 4 months (that is an understatement). So we called up some friends and asked if they wanted to bring their little girl Lucy to meet us for dinner and playtime. We each assigned ourselves to a kid and followed them around the joint. Both girls were a little nervous to ride the rides, so that didn't last very long. They were actually very pleased with just roaming around and checking everything out. You know what that means... left over tokens! Susie (Lucy's mom) and I headed straight for the ski-ball! We figured we would play until our tokens were gone and donate our winnings (tickets) to the kids to get a prize. Turns out I'm not as great as I thought I was at ski-ball. Izzy and Ava ended up getting a Chuck E. Cheese tattoo (which they LOVED!) and a roll of Smarties.

Classic photo booth picture to end the night! We're saving this one!

Kiddie Halloween in a barn.

Over the weekend, we went to our first Halloween Party, in a barn! Izzy was a bumble bee and Ava was lady bug. We were going on no naps the prior day and a 10 minute "catnap" on the way there. This mama was a little nervous! Surprisingly, the girls did great! There were a lot of activities to keep them busy. They started with a yummy lunch consisting of hotdogs, fresh fruit, baked potatoes, and chips. The chips and fruit were their favorite part :) After lunch, all of the kids went to the park to play and burn off some energy. Ava of course did not want to leave the park. It took a little convincing, but she finally caved when she heard she got to paint a pumpkin. We headed inside and while the painting was getting set up, we all got to make a bat craft. Cory and I did most of the work. They turned out pretty cute. Next up, PAINTING of the pumpkins! This is what the girls were excited about. Cory on the other hand, was the least bit excited to let the girls dive into a plate full of paint. I was amazed at the control the girls had! Hardly a mess at all! And their pumpkins are absolutely beautiful! I wish I could keep them forever. After we painted pumpkins, we watched the big kids fight over pinata candy and then we all got really nice treat bags. It was the best Halloween party ever! I'm so happy that we got to be a part of it!

The barn at Trout Brook Park

Who said bugs weren't cute?

Balloons are always entertaining...

And so is a huge beverage tub full of ice!

Daddy and Ava crafting

Park time!

Painting pumpkins

Artist at work

Bat craft... can you tell which one Cory made?

Izzy crafting

Group shot of all the kiddos

Twin Cities Corn Maze

Wordless Wednesday

October is here...

Time to start with Halloween fun! Today the girls decorated their own pumpkin cookies with orange icing and black and orange sprinkles. It wasn't the cleanest activity, but they loved it! To my surprise, they both ate their ENTIRE cookie. (NOTE: the cookies were as big as their heads.) That may have led to the lack of napping going on right now.