Parenthood

I saw this chart and I don't think I've ever related so much to something in my life. Parenthood has been rough. I knew going into it how much work is it to be a parent, I knew I wouldn't be getting much sleep, but damn it I expected to at least get use to the everyday exhaustion! Not just physically exhausted, but mentally as well.  The mental load mothers deal with on a daily basis is never ending and then you add 5 hours of sleep, cranky kids, and butt load load of chores, sometimes you just it's takes a toll on your mental health. There are days that caffeine doesn't even work, which is something I have to consume on a daily basis. The thing that keeps me going? My kids. They are the reason I get out of bed every morning and keep on going. Because even when I'm tired, or had a bad day, I still have kids I need to take care of. Mom's don't get a day off, not matter what they are feeling.

Been awhile

I realize it's been well over a year since writing. I use to enjoy doing it and definitely miss it so I want to try and make time to start my blog back up. I made this blog a long time ago, and through out the years I've wrote about many things, the most recent one was following my pregnancy and a monthly blog update of the girls. Now I want to write about true and real stories of being a mom. Some of the things I want to talk about are:

• Becoming a mom: the good, bad and ugly
• Raising twins
• Transitioning from a stay at home mom to a working mom
• Dealing with anxiety and post-partum depression (and how no one talks about it)
• Recovering from a traumatic birth
• Post-partum weight loss 

All my posts are going to honest and raw, and may make people uncomfortable to hear. But I feel it's important to talk about the things, I wish people would have told me about before becoming a mom. You always here about the happy and good things about motherhood. How most of the time people use social media to hide behind the reality of what it's really like being a mom. I look forward to writing all my thoughts down and I hope that they help other moms along the way.

Are you ready?

Happy 2nd birthday sweet girls!

Seriously, trying to get a picture of both of the girls looking at the camera seems impossible these days because these girls are constantly on the move!

So I realize that it's been awhile since I've written a blog. I was (I used the word was, I will explain that in a bit) working a lot and was sick with a chest infection for a long time (that no doctor would give me antibiotics for) and it just left me with no energy to do anything. The girls adjusted really well to me working and being in daycare. I knew this was a good decision I had made for me and girls.... unfortunately I had to leave me job otherwise the girls were going to lose their health insurance through the state. I had the opportunity to work part time but it just wasn't worth paying for the childcare. It was a hard decision to make but it's what I had to do

Anyway, Tayla talks non stop and pretty much in full sentences. Ivy talks as well but not as many words as Tayla. They are getting to be very independent. They like to pick out their own clothes, dress themselves and put their own shoes on. While being in childcare I would say that their language really blossomed, they also got a few sicknesses as well but that's going to happen with little kids. Everyday they surprise me with a new word or skill and I just love it. They continue to grow and blossom into their own person and it is just so fun.

Today for their birthday we went to the trampoline park in Salem. They loved it of course. And then celebrated with an ice cream cone.

Happy birthday sweet girls, you may have come into our lives a little early but it's been such a blessing to have you in our lives. On to toddlerhood!

21 Months but full of personality

21 Months old!

I'm excited to say that I got a new job! It's only part time right now but starting in January I will going to full time! For the first time the girls are being watched by a mom who has 3 other kids and they have been doing amazing! The day came where it was my first day back to work and as I dropped them off I expected many tears and a hard drop off. But they walked right in and started playing. I said goodbye to them and I left. And that was it. It actually ended up being harder on me then it was for them. When I came to pick them up the lady who watches them said they did really well and had lots of fun playing with her kids. It makes me feel better knowing they are being taken care of and that they are doing ok being away from mom. I'm really thankful that I was able to find someone who can watch them until the center I work at as room for them, which will be in January.

This is how you eat meatballs right??

Cookie at play group

Cookie at play group

On the days I don't work, I still stay home with them and just try to fill the day with activities outside of the house, like play groups and story time at the Library which they have been loving. That's one of the things I'm really going to miss when I go back to work. But like I said before I think they will do good in daycare and it will be nice to be able to take them to work with me.

I took the girls to see santa claus again this year. Tayla was not a fan at first, but she warmed up to him. Ivy just sat there all serious and not amused like always. I'm excited for Christmas this year now that they are a little older. They still don't understand the whole santa claus thing but they will hopefully be more into opening presents and getting excited about unwrapping them.

I'm going to try and do a Christmas blog so we will see about that. Until then, thanks for reading! Tell what your favorite thing about Christmas is

20 months: on to toddlerhood!

So much has been going on in this house that all the craziness is causing me to lose track of the days. Some day I will get back to blogging reguarlary.

Anyway, moving into the new house was a really rough transition for the girls. They did not have very good naps and did not sleep well during the night. This caused cranky toddlers and tired/cranky mom! It was just a couple of weeks ago they started sleeping through the night again. And let me tell you how amazing it was to wake up in the morning knowing I didn't have to get up 4 times during the night! We are starting to get out of the sleep regression phase so that means longer and better naps. We finally got the house baby proofed which has made it so much easier on me and lot less "No's," Recently Tayla's talking has just exploded! She's in a copying phase right now and likes to repeating words, and loves pointing to things asking, "that?" Ivy says some words but not as much as Tayla. She does still talk quite a bit, you just can't understand what she is saying. Both of these girls are currently obsessed with books! And they each have a favorite book they love.

I'm in the process of looking for a job. I've had a few interviews but no luck landing the job. The hardest part I'm having right now is finding care for the girls. Not only is daycare expensive for two kids but a lot of centers are full. My hope is to start working at a center where I can bring the girls with me and then I get a discount on child care, but haven't had much luck. I do have a back up plan of someone being able to watch the girls for when I do back to work and then hopefully be able to find a preschool for them when they get older. This will be a hard transition for both me and the girls. They have never been in a day care situation at all and when they visited one center did well being away from me, nap time however did not go so well. It will take a couple of weeks for them to adjust but I know in the long run it will be good for them.

Helping mom with groceries

Ivy wanted help too

Story time at the libray

Someone took her clothes off during nap again...

Forever photo bombing my selfie's

For the time being I'm trying to make due of the situation by getting out of the house as much as possible. Believe it or not these girls love going on errends with me and they do pretty well too. We also started going to storytime at the Stayton library, which they have been LOVING. I like it much more then the one in Salem.

Until next time!

18 months and settling into our new house

It's been a week since we've moved into our new duplex and I have to say it is so much harder to move with kids. We still have random stuff we need to move from our old place as well as cleaning. We got maybe half of it done on Sunday but since we have to bring the kids with us we do what we can. We have until Saturday to get everything out and have the old place cleaned! It's a little stressful but I look forward to being done with the place and we can focus on getting our new house all organized. And then once we get the keys turned in at the old place and get settled in to our new house I plan on looking for a job.

The girls seem to be settling into the new house pretty well. They are definitely liking all the extra space and on Friday they both decided to get up and walk. Now they are walking all over the place. The big downside to having them walk, it means that's all they want to do, that includes when they should be sleeping. That and on top of being in a new room it's been a rough week of sleeping. So now that they know how to walk, they are on the go non stop and always want to do whatever the other one is doing. (this includes causing trouble) Ivy is normally my trouble maker and she's starting to be a bad influence on Tayla because she likes to copy her sister.

 

These girls may be driving me nuts and leaving me sleep deprived but gosh if they aren't cute!

Changes

17 months old!

It's been awhile since I've done a crib picture. I was doing one every month up until they turned one and then I stopped. Tyrel was the one that gave me the idea to keep doing it. They didn't really want to cooperate... Tayla kept trying to roll over, wanted to put her hands in her mouth, Ivy wouldn't stop moving. You know the usual when it comes to taking pictures of your kids.

Anyway, so much is happening in this family lately. These growing girls are currently in size 5 diapers and out growing their 18 month clothing! They are down to one nap a day, enjoy eating all kind of foods (although Ivy is going through a picky phase) and Ivy is showing interest in walking!! I posted that video of her trying to stand up on her own and take steps, well now she is doing that more often and tries to let go of things while take steps! Tayla is more timid when it comes to walking. She tries to stand on her own but won't take any steps yet. They will however walk while holding onto one hand though. It's very exciting!

Another thing that's happening is that we are going to be moving soon! We found out in June that they were going to be increasing our rent here and ever since then we've been looking for a place to live. In the beginning it was because we couldn't afford it since they were increasing by $150, but the more I looked the more I realized that housing is expensive and we really didn't have choice when it came to renting! We were originally on the wait list for a ground floor apartment here at our current place but we made the decision that it would be better for our family to get a house instead. And let me tell you, rental houses do not come cheap! It's been pretty stressful but I knew something had to come up, and just recently something did! It's an adorable well kept duplex in Sublimity. It's only 2 bedrooms.... but it's big! And the best part? It has a garage! They are still processing our application but we should be hearing from them soon! 😆

I mean just look at this cute house! I'm a sucker for small towns and it will be nice to get out of Salem. Now if anybody has tips on how to move while handling little kids, that would be great! 😓

Another big change that's going to happen is that I'm going to be going back to work. I've looked at few places, but when I found out they were raising our rent I made it a priority to find a place to live! I'm mostly wanting to go back for my mental sanity, but it also depends on how much the childcare is too. Since this place will cost a little extra AND we have to pay for utilities it would be nice to have a little extra income.

Well I think that's all for now. So enjoy these pictures of my adorable kids 💓

Ivy is always blurry because she won't stop moving!

Climbed up there all by herself

Can't take a selfie without being photo bombed