they're cousins...(not-so) identical cousins...

When i was little, we weren't technically allowed to watch TV. Sometimes, when my family would take our nightly family walks, I would feign fatigue (i was only 7 at the time!) and stay home to watch the Patty Duke show! Oh my...

As a twin, i was always fascinated by other twins or, in Patty Duke's case, identical cousins. Speaking of cousins, I love watching the twin's daughter, Lil' Miss, and Baby C interact with each other. The older they get, the less apparent their 5-month age gap is. This week in Florida was a hoot. Here are some of the highlights:

the girls matching with hairbows made by the twin (check out her etsy store!!!)

and, my favorite series of photos...
the girls were eating dinner and watching Baby Signing Time


when Grandpa Tunney sat down:


and waved


the girls' reactions were hilarious...they waited a second:


and then, looked to each other for confirmation that their Great-Grandpa really is as funny as they thought:

i just love how they looked at each other like that. Cracks me up.

Tutorial Tuesday Thanks To The Twin

I love alliteration. Just thought I'd get that out in the open.

Now, onto the post's purpose (ha! alliteration!)

The Twin decided to start a Tutorial Tuesday on her blog. Great stuff! Told you she was crafty!

Check out her tutorial on how to make almond milk. When I wean Baby C, I'll be following these steps, but with a blender.

We did all that in 48 hours?

Saturday started with my road race!

I've decided that, while my training from Wednesday (remember this post?) might have helped me a bit, I could still use a lot more mileage and speed workouts...

In between March Madness games, we took C for a walk while visiting Mimi and Poppy. C liked the view from their stroller and admired the budding spring trees:

We hung out with the twin who was hosting our sorority friend from college and her adorable daughter, Baby J

More March Madness ensued until we were too exhausted to watch.

J and I had nursery duty again this morning. Instead of relegating Baby C to the corner in her crib like last time, we let her play with the kids. She absolutely loved it when Audrey played with her

Lots more happened like a trip to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and a swing in the park:

C was so exhausted that she fell asleep at her bedtime feeding. We tried to get a priceless picture of her passed out, asleep at the bottle, but we didn't want to wake her...[tangent: since she is only taking ONE NAP a day, sleep is precious to her and to us. (I'm still trying to figure out how she dropped her first and last naps without warning. It just happened one day last week--she now only sleeps from 1-2:30/3...any suggestions from you seasoned moms? I miss those nap times!)]

What a busy but great weekend!

Happy birthday to Little Miss!

I cannot believe Little Miss is ONE! Wow.

This time last year, I was teaching at a great Christian school. I really thought the twin would not have her baby until after school got out so I was just biding my time, waiting for updates, and trying to concentrate on teaching Latin! (If I recall correctly, we were reviewing for a test with Latin Jeopardy! Woo hoo always a fun time.)

The twin was induced and the doctors and nurses thought she'd be delivering by 3 PM--perfect timing for me to get out of school and to the hospital. Or so we all thought. Little Miss has been a mover and a shaker since before day 1 (you should see her moving in the belly) and she wasted NO TIME in coming into the world. I think the twin was in "real" labor for about 2.5 hours. Oh my that would be nice!

My dad called me during class to let me know that she was 10 CM and was going to start pushing. I started crying! I wasn't going to be there for the birth! Super sadness. Well, it just so happened that the school had arranged for a teaching candidate to come in and teach one of my classes (since I was just a long-term sub, they needed a full-time teacher for next year). That class, coupled with my class break and lunch, allotted me 2.5 hours of free time in the middle of the work day! God really worked that out for us and I was able to be with the twin a few minutes after delivering Little Miss. It was a great moment. Here we are a year ago:

J got to meet Little Miss the next day:

Click on this picture of Little Miss to see the twin's post on her birth(day)!

Another Giveaway Opportunity

In honor of My First Giveaway being drawn tonight, why not take a stab at another fun giveaway?

Check out this neat crafty blog created by two sisters. Just click on the picture of the item they are giving away below:

They are giving away a fun party banner, much like the banner that the Crafty Twin made me!

New toys!

Well, The Twin (check out her newly-public blog) found a steal of a deal on the local Craigslist so that the babes wouldn't be bored. So, they technically have a new toy, too, as illustrated below:

However, the real reason for this post is to talk about my new toys! I finally received my shipment from Peas and Carrots diapers of brand new cloth diapers. I cannot wait to wash them and try them out on C! Woo hoo. Who knew you could be so excited about diapers?

The second toy is my birthday present from J.

Yeah, I'm just a little excited! Hopefully I won't spend too much time on that thing :-o

DON'T FORGET: Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for my giveaway! Tell your friends!

The Twin goes public!

The twin's blog is finally public! Now you can all read about her fun life with Little Miss (aka Baby R) and see her creativity in action!

Check her out by clicking on this cute picture of her family:

Last post of the day, I promise

Seriously, I promise not to post 4 times every day. Its just that a lot happened today AND today is Valentine's Day. Here are a few highlights from today:

J took C out for a daddy-daughter date. He proved to be a boring date as she came back home fast asleep. J then managed to sneak C into the crib without her waking up. She decided she'd slept long enough 8 minutes later so J made me go in and get her. This is what I found:

C had a VDay gift for me! Aww. Thanks J and C for your thoughtfulness. That Nerd Rope was gone in 2 seconds flat but the card will be kept forever.

After bumming around for a few hours, we went up to visit the twin and her family. The girls hung out with each other, took a bath together (where we experienced an hilarious #2 incident), and then prolonged their bedtime by playing with a fun stroller toy ingeniously attached to the bottom of a dining chair by the twin (I told you she was creative)

Here are some priceless photos of the two of them together:

Happy Valentine's Day!

My crafty twin*

When I was in middle school, high school, and college, I used to tell my friends that my sister sucked all the creative juices in the womb and left me with pretty much nothing. What do I tell them now days, you ask? Well, no one really asks but, if they did, I could claim that I finally found some small bit of craftiness in me. It took about 26 years for it to appear but I'm glad I've tapped into it!

Regardless of that talent I've found, though, my twin is still much craftier than I (no, not in the evil sense!). And I have proof! She has made me many things over the years and now that her daughter and Baby C are around, she has gone overboard on the crafts. For our birthday, for example, she made me a wonderful pennant banner for C's nursery. I just wanted to share a few pictures of them so that you could all agree that she is very creative.

Also, if you look to the far right of the last picture, you can see some canvas paintings made by, who else, my sister. She has a lovely blog, too, full of cute pics of her daughter (baby R) but it is private. Feel free to ask her if you'd like to peruse her personal site!

*I was desperately trying to think of a creative title that had to do with craftiness and twins but, other than something like a "crafty evil twin" that was all I could come up with. See why I need my more creative sister?