20 Days & Counting...

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted.

The family is doing good. KJ is working hard at Reagan, hating the hot summer days. He's definitely got some awesome tan lines. The girls are getting bigger each day. Avie is getting her 8th tooth and Ella her 7th. They are both walking everywhere, crawling is in the past. They love exploring the entire house and are a little upset about the cabinet/drawer locks. They were still able to squeeze some measuring cups out of our bottom drawer and they think that is the coolest. I'm still working with Marriott, at least sometimes. I try to work my full work week, but it's hard. I like to stay home. I'm starting new depression/anxiety meds and it's been a hard couple of weeks.

But enough about that. Let's get to the blog title...

20 Days & Counting!!!!


That's right! We leave for St. George & Pine Valley in exactly 20 days!! I can not wait to get away for a week, relax, swim and best of all... SNOW FAMILY REUNION!! We always have so much fun with the whole Snow Family. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, the new babies, playing POUNCE with my clucking sisters and having fun with my sweet girls!

I came across this picture when I was thinking about this post and I wanted to share it again!! It just shows you how much Pine Valley effects you! EVERYONE has a good time, even the husbands!! (Jesse is happy, I promise!)

Oh... and look at this!! The girls were really THAT small? I can't believe that they weren't even 2 months old when we went last year. Crazy!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR PINE VALLEY!!!!

Happy 1 Year!

My dearest Ella & Avie,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 1st BIRTHDAY!

Your Dad and I are so proud of you two! You both have made this past year one crazy, yet extremely wonderful ride!

Looking at you both now, it's amazing to think you were once 5 lbs and that I could just leave you on the floor for hours and you'd be fine. Now, you are little chunky babies that won't sit still! Here are a few things that you have accomplished in the last month!

Avie
- You are now walking by yourself. Longest has been 5 steps!
- You are very good at mocking others. Coughing, clicking or sticking out your tongue
- Mama Mia!! (Hands on your head)
- Both arms in the air when someone says "Yay!"
- Climbing up on everything! Coffee table, fireplace, etc.
- Love using your teeth, biting everything! (4 teeth on top, 2 on bottom)

Ella
- Clicking your tongue
- Not quite walking, but you are great at standing
- Who loves Erica? I DO!
- You love the camera! You've established a cheesy face and even do it on cue
- Little Miss Whiness! You want attention, definitely a Momma's Princess!
- Love music! You will dance when you hear music and smile when we sing!

We celebrated your birthday with the whole family and all the friends at the house! You were spoiled beyond belief and got the cutest clothes! You absolutely loved the toothbrushes that your Cousin Jesse gave you. You won't stop playing with them. They actually helped us get you guys to be more comfortable in the bath again. Another favorite toy is the "Little People Home Sweet Sounds" that Grandma and Grandpa Snow gave you! I love seeing you guys playing with dolls!

Your Auntie Erica made you each a huge cupcake for your birthday! Avie, you jumped right in! Making sure to use both fists! Ella, you were a bit more timid. You enjoyed the taste of the cake/icing, but didn't like the whole getting messy thing.

You guys were surrounded by love and have been ever since you arrived! I can't wait to see what the coming months will bring! We are especially looking forward to the Snow Family Reunion coming up during the 24th of July. We are hoping that you guys will be ready for the annual races! Gotta earn those Cracker Jacks! Plus, it is going to be great seeing the whole family and all of the beautiful babies!

Ella, Avie... Mommy and Daddy love you with all of their hearts, more than words! You've changed our lives in so many ways and it's all been for the better. We still look at you both and are amazed that you are ours. It is still so surreal! We enjoy every minute with you, even the ones where I want to pull out my hair. Thank you both for being the cutest little girls EVER!

We love you!
-Mommy and Daddy

We also got your 1 year photos down at FotoFly (amazing  place!) Avie, you were a little pill! After the first picture, you immediately started to freak out. Nothing would calm you down! Miss Ella, you were a little princess! The camera loved you and you LOVED the camera! We got some great shots of you! However, you started getting a little upset when you got you messy with the cupcakes! Avie, you loved it! You dug right in and got all messy! You are definitely my daughter!

{ 11 Months }

Long post. Sorry!

But yes, 1 more month and I will have 1 year old twin girlies!! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I'm a little late at posting. Technically the girls reached 11 months last Saturday, but I was in Vegas so I wasn't able to post then.

What's changed? The girls are so smart and growing every day. They both are still sucking their thumbs as you can see from the pictures below. They generally do it as a comfort when they are tired. They used to do it all the time, which Ella still does I guess.

They are standing alone really well now and are almost walking. It's pretty cute to see them struggle. Especially Ella. We've noticed that if she wants to get somewhere, she will first try to stand up like she is going to walk over. But then she realizes she can't walk, so she crawls. Oh and crawling! Man they are fast! We've got our entire living room gated off! It's not that we don't want them down the hall and/or the kitchen, it's more just to keep them in one location. It won't be long until the gates will have no more purpose. Like I said, they are smart. They both love to be on their knees, which is adorable. They look so grown up when they do it. Their falls are becoming less and less severe. They can catch themselves almost every time. And they will walk along all of our furniture, so I can see them walking before their 1st birthday, which is "Oh crap" for us!! But hey!, we need to start training for the 24th of July Races down in PV!

What else is new? Oh TEETH!! Both girls have their two bottom middle teeth in. Avie has the 4 top teeth almost through, but poor Ella doesn't have any. She doesn't even have signs of any coming in. She'll probably cute all 4 at once. At least with Avie, it was 2 at a time. But with teeth comes more food opportunities! The girls love noodles and love to make a mess with them. I've been sharing cheese sticks with them here and there, but I'm trying to introduce as much food as I can so they won't be picky eaters. They like eggs, toast, yogurt or pudding, most fruits and veggies (at least all the ones we've given them) Okay, no wait I lie. Ella didn't like raspberries. Which I didn't expect her to, but I thought I would try. But hey, they like olives! We haven't yet introduced juice, just water. The girls are still on formula, bottle fed. Some days I get over ambitious and try to give them formula in a sippy cup but they end up just getting frustrated and crying. I have yet to find a sippy cup that works well. They like the ones with handles, but it's too hard to drink out of. Then the ones that are easy to drink out of don't have handles and the water comes out too fast. See the problem that I'm having?! Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I need to start weaning them off the bottle asap. The girls are doing great at feeding themselves, Ella a little more so.

There is more?! Of course there is!! They are growing babies!! They both love to talk, sing and dance. They dance on queue when Mickey Mouse Club House has their end Hot Dog Dance or when any music is playing nearby. They can say Mama, Dada, Baba and my step dad Kelly is convinced they have said Papa, but I have yet to hear it. Erica taught them to raise their hands when she asks "Who loves Erica?" Avie responds with both arms stretched! They are both starting to know more and more about the NO concept. The majority of the time, they'll stop what they are being told no for and look at me all sad. So I think it's starting to click. Right now we are trying to teach them to blow kisses. They are however great at blowing raspberries. Avie will still do her coughing thing and she has now learned to stick her tongue out at you when you do it to her. Both girls give kisses, Ella's are a little more open mouth and slobbery, but we love them anyways. They both still hate grass! Erica enjoyed torturing Ella the other day. She would put Ella on the grass standing and try to have her walk to her. Ella couldn't do it and was afraid to sit down. It was kinda sad!

We are no longer swaddling the girls, so we find them in the weirdest positions in the morning. Ella is a big fan of sleeping on her belly, butt up. Avie is mostly on her side. Bedtime and Naptime has been getting better. I mean, there will be some bad days. The girls have now started throwing everything out of their cribs on to the floor. That's another game they like to play. At a restaurant, in their highchairs, wherever... you give them a toy, they drop it. You give it back to them, the look at you and drop it. Silly girls!

Below are a few recent pictures of the girls. I'm hoping Erica might be able to take more this weekend when they are more cooperative. It was close to bedtime so the girls weren't at their best. But Erica does a great job regardless!! I'm not going to lie, I like having Erica around. She's become an expert at not only taking photos but editing them as well. Thank you Erica! See more of her photos on her photography blog here! (My girls are featured in a few!)

We've got a full weekend ahead of us for Mother's Day! Saturday we'll be with Nancy and Sunday we'll be with my Mom. I don't know if we are going to fit KJ's Mom in there. He hasn't said anything about it. I'm hoping that I'll have some time alone with my girls for MY Mother's Day, but with me working both Saturday and Sunday (insert UGH here) it may be hard. No worries, just having them is all I need to celebrate!

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all have a great weekend!

Spring is Here! (Picture Post)

Couldn't get one of Avie with Daddy. But doesn't Ella look a lot like Kelly? I think they are even pulling the same face!

More Sacfrices. Eh, I'll live!

That's a little cheesy. Well, maybe even a LOT cheesy because I made it. I couldn't find any other Sacrifice Motivational pictures, so I found my own picture and my own quote!

Anywho! There is a meaing behind this quote, I'm not just a weirdo. We all make sacrifices. I've come to find that being a parent, you have even more sacrifices. Go figure right? Don't worry, I'm not completely clueless and just finding this out now. I've just realized that I will have to make more to make my day to day work.

As some of you know, I'm currently working 4 days a week, 35 hour days. Which it's been fine, especially with Kelly out of work. But I find myself sick with worry now that he is back into work. Will our schedule work out? Since I only work 4 days (I only have babysitters for 3 weekdays) I'm working 9 hour shifts. That is a long time. Especially when you are watching 10 month old twins. I'm usually getting off around 6:30 or 7. And even though Kelly's schedule is flexible, it's also unknowing. He works until work is finished. He like to leave early, just in case and we can't guarantee that he'll get off before me and be able to pick the girls up at a decent time.

So what do we do? How do we fix this? I guess, Andee will work Saturdays too! I know, I'm crazy. I don't know what I've set myself up to do. I'll now be working 5 days a week, 35 hours. I'll be working every Saturday and Sunday, which is 16 hours, and then 3 weekdays at 6.5 hours. I figure, the less hours I work during the week, the better. This way I can get the girls to the babysitter at a decent time in the morning, but be home before 5 so they aren't watching them forever.

May will be my test month. We'll see how it works. Yea, I may miss out on Saturday activities, but I get off at 3. It's not like it's an all day thing. But we have to make sacrifices!! This has to be mine. Will it be hard to go back to 5 days of work, yes. But it will be so nice only working 6 1/2 hour days during the week. SO NICE! But 10 hour babysitting schedules? I mean come on. That's tough! Plus, Kalie AND Erica are taking their only day off during the week to help me out. Do I really want them to waste the entire day watching my hellions? No, I don't! It makes my stomach turn to know that they are going out of their way to help me out and it isn't very flexible. I mean, I can barely stand watching the girls all day long on my day off and I'm their mother!

Again, BIG THANKS to my family!! Erica, Kalie, Mom, Dad & Nancy for your willingness to help us out. I really can't thank you enough. You all are absolutely amazing!!

I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes. I'm hoping this works out. But if it doesn't, we can always adjust starting June. That is another great thing about my job is that they are amazing when it comes to schedules and they are so understanding.

Here's another one. I love my family!!!

10 Months.. I'll get to it!

So the girls are now 10 months old! (March 30th)

I can't believe that I'm already starting to plan their 1st Birthday Party! Time flies!

I'll post about 10 Months soon. Erica has been wanting to take photos of the girls for some time now and I'm hoping we can do it soon! I'll post then!

P.S. Ella, unfortunately, didn't make the Top Ten for Baby Idol on 97.1ZHT. But no worries! I still think that my girls are the cutest ever!

Vote for Ella!

I'm sure this won't be the first contest I enter the girls in, but I need your help!!

Please visit http://www.971zht.com/pages/babyidol11/ to cast your vote for Ms Ella Rae! Once you're there, go to VOTE NOW and select #319! You can vote once per email address, so if you have more than 1, go for it!

I know what some of you may be thinking... "Jeez, Andee! Why only Ella? Isn't Avie just as cute?" Why yes, she IS just as cute. In fact, because of that reason, the radio station thought I sent in two pictures of the same baby. Although Avie's was adorable, I can't help but LOVE this picture. Erica took it one day while we were just hanging out. It's perfect!

Spread the word!! Voting goes until April 4th when the Top 10 will be announced. If we make the Top 10, voting begins on April 5th and ends April 7th. I'll keep everyone posted! Grand prize is Lifetime Store Playset and a San Diego Getaway!

Thanks to all in advance!!!

Our Ella Rae

Today was Ella's appointment up at Primary Children's for her head. Just a brief overview if you don't know, Ella's right ear is more forward on her head then her left. At their 9 month appointment our pediatrician had the impression that maybe Ella's head had fused wrong and it may require surgery. So she referred us to the Plastic Surgery Clinic at Primary's.

Luckily, it was a short trip!! Dr Siddiqi came in, looked at Ella's head and said she was fine. Our pediatrician was wrong, her head didn't fuse wrong or developed uneven. It is actually a result to her flat spot. Ella favored one right side of her head when she slept but her head began to round out so we didn't worry. However, that's when we noticed her uneven ears. The Dr said that it was too late for a helmet and unfortunately there isn't much we can do about it now. We just have to wait for her to grow out of it. She too old to try and maneuver her head while she sleeps, because she'll just move it anyways. The Dr did say that there is a chance that her ears will remain uneven but that it's normal for people to have asymmetry. We won't notice it once she gets some more hair on that head. So NO SURGERY!

Am I upset about the $35 copay that basically went down the drain? Maybe.
But am I glad to have some peace of mind knowing that she is okay? YES!!

Driving home Kelly and I had a moment of thanks. It's amazing at how you forget how lucky you are sometimes. I don't know how many time I can say it, but I'm so happy that I have two healthy, beautiful baby girls. I plan on enjoying every moment of their childhood, because it seems to be going to fast already!

Ella had a very exciting day today! Not only did she have a trip up to Primary's but we noticed her right eye was watering a lot and red. GREAT! Pink Eye!! So another $25 copay and $5 for her drops. Expensive day for Ella! But I guess it was inevitable. My nephew Jesse had it, then Kelly got it. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Avie gets it. We're home now sanitizing all toys and may make a laundromat run so we can wash their sheets, blankets and pajama's. I can't wait until we have a healthy household!!

Lesson of the day: Don't forget how lucky I am for all of the people in my life. Especially my baby girls!!

Avie & The Mirror

Make sure you check out her reflection!! She is so adorable!

| 9 Months |

please forgive the orange faces... carrots stain!

Avie Joy

18.8 lbs - 52%

28 in - 67%

Head 18.1 in - 94%

Ella Rae

17.9 lbs - 34%

27.5 in - 49%

Head 17.9 in - 88%

They BOTH:
- Army crawling like crazy. We've started barricading them in the living room with pillows and turned over chairs. We need to purchase some gates.
- Located the DVD rack!! What is it with babies and DVD racks?
- Starting to pull themselves up on to everything, more comfortable on their knees.
- Waving! They don't do it all the time, but mostly with Bye Bye.
- Holding their own bottles, so nice when you have to feed them by yourself.
- Two beautiful bottom teeth! They make their smiles that much more adorable!
- Getting better with sippy cups. I'm hoping to have no bottles after 12 months.
- Starting to experience new foods! (non baby food) Fruits and Veggies, Cheese, Yogurt.
- They love to talk! Da Da is the only specific thing we hear, other than rambling.
- Both have learned to do raspberries! It's so cute to hear when they are playing.

They both seem to be learning and developing the same. If one starts to do something new, the other follows shortly. I think Ella being able to clap is the only thing that Avie can't do. And Avie does her little coughing thing. But yea, they pretty much learn from each other and learn quick. Great Doc appointment, which leads me to the next info.

Ella's head. It's mishapped. No, well it's uneven. The left side of her face is bigger than the right. More noticeable in the cheeks and ears. Also, when you look at her from the back, you can tell her ears are lopsided and from the top of her head they aren't even. Anyways, the Doc recommended seeing the Plastic Surgery Clinic at Primary Children's to get a diagnostic. From what she said, her head isn't flat so a helmet wouldn't help. She thinks it has more to do with how Ella's head fused together. I'm hoping it's more so like "she'll grow into it" then, "she has to have surgery." I know it probably wouldn't be a major surgery, but I've been lucky enough with my girls so far that something big like this would kill me. I'd worry way too much about her!

In other news, I'm happy to say that I nursed these girls for 9 months! I can't believe I was able to do it that long. Okay, yes... we did add formula in at about 6 months just because I wasn't producing a ton. But hey, I'm proud non the less! I knew it had to come, I wanted to at least try and go for the full 12 months, but with the girls new teeth, they loved to bite! I know I've said it before, but omg hurts like hell! Plus, not only were they biting, but they were viewing my nipples as more as toys than a food source. Grabbing, pinching, flicking and biting. Not the best time for me. It hurt for the first couple of days, but I just wore a really tight bra and that seem to help. I actually didn't need to pump out any and I think I've been okay. I still getting really hot sometimes, but other than that it was fairly easy to stop.

In other news: Kelly goes back to work in a couple of weeks and he couldn't be more excited. He's getting a little stir crazy couped up in the house and playing Mr Mom. We are still going to look for other employment for him since Reagan isn't what he wants to stay with. But the plan is for him to work his butt off this summer (they can make good money) and then maybe go back to school in the fall. We are thinking more of a trade school, like ITT Tech or something. I'm absolutely loving work right now, only because there is a new training class in. I absolutely love back up training!! It's so much fun and I hope to one day go full time!

Other than that... not much more to report. The next month will fly by I'm sure. My little sister Jessica is getting married, so I'm sure we'll have loads of fun things to keep us occupied! Much love to all!