Easter 2013

Vera and Nattie wore their Easter dresses from last year, made by my friend's mother. This was their third Easter and best yet...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Photos: Vera hot pink sweater and blue dress except, last photo in striped sweater. 27 months.]

 

 

Trampoline Pool

Vera and Nattie have had this One Step Ahead trampoline pool since they were 18 months. I found it on Zulily and it has been the best outdoor toy for their age. It's not all that bouncy like a regular trampoline, but they jump and wobble all over it. They spend a lot of time on it, playing together. Laughter, giggles and screams can be heard throughout the neighborhood. This summer will be the first time we will flip it over to use as a pool.  

 

 

 

 

[1st photo: Vera in pink pants - 27 months. 2nd photo: Nattie in green shirt - 23 months.]

 



Easter List

I have spent a lot of time lately researching toy farms. I'm surprised that there isn't a larger selection out there. I had a hard time deciding between two farms - the Fisher-Price farm and The Farmyard by Le Toy Van. The Le Toy Van farm will last many years over the Fisher-Price farm but, the Fisher-Price farm is more age-appropriate. After much indecisiveness, I decided to get the Fisher-Price farm for Easter, and the Le Toy Van farm for Christmas.

For the girls Easter baskets, I bought the book Big Red Barn, and some Schleich farm animals. The Schleich animals will start their collection that can be used with the Le Toy Van farm. The girls already have some Wild Republic animals and little figurines that they play with every day. The other toys for their Easter baskets are from the dollar store. I bought them plastic eggs, slinkys, an animal card matching game, sensory balls, books and coloring books. I'll finish off their baskets with some fruit bars, dried fruit and snacks from Trader Joe's.

I love this Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm with it's classic red look, fun doors, gates, and good for outdoor play...

 

 

 

 

 

Big Red Barn book...

 

 

 

Nice quality and realism with the Schleich animals...

 

 

 

 

Schleich girl with rabbit {sweet!} and farmer...

 

 

 

The Farmyard - a good farm for toddlers when they get more into imaginative play around 3 years. This is on Santa's list for Christmas...

 

 

 

 

 



New Blocks

Nattie and Vera love building with their Plan Toys Construction Set. Nice quality rubber wood blocks, non-toxic paint and eco-friendly. It makes me so happy...

 

 

[Photos: Nattie in striped pants. 27 months.]



Mommy Makeover | Skinny Bitch

Pizza, Girl Scout cookies, ToGo's sandwich, cake, flan, candy and sushi...that is what I ate over the weekend, and a lot of it. By Sunday night I felt bloated and sick. Monday morning my stomach was sore. A birthday party on Sunday is what did me in. I was feeling well...kinda totally pregnant with a cake baby by Sunday night. That was when I knew I had to make some quick changes to my diet.

 

I am not at all concerned with my weight most especially, being "skinny". I wouldn't mind being fit with a flatter belly {where all my weight goes. I hide it well with loose shirts} but even more, a belly that doesn't feel like a ton of bricks. Health is my main concern and lately working on my dry, problematic skin. While I was feeling overloaded with junk food, I came across the book Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven. It was sitting on the cabinet in my hallway waiting to be passed on to my sister that is thinking about starting a family. She gave me the book when I was pregnant. It is about health and eating right while pregnant and breastfeeding.
 

I skimmed through page after page of depressing but useful information on chemicals in products, factory farms and toxic foods we eat. I am aware of these things and it just makes me sad to read about it in detail. I almost put the book down as I was reading some of the hard truths but, it's the kinda book that demands your attention in its "bitch"-y kinda way. When I came to the chapter "What The Hell To Eat" I was hooked. It includes daily meal planning for 4 weeks from breakfast to dinner with snacks in between. That was it...all I needed to get on track with a healthy diet. I will use it as a guide instead of trying to copy each meal. I took mental notes of ingredients and bought them today at Trader Joe's. On my list were things like sunflower seeds {my girls love}, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, dried cranberries, blackstrap molasses {add to smoothies}, tofu, panko, eggplant, zucchini, whole wheat English muffins {to use with almond butter}, Ezekiel sprouted tortillas, almond milk {TJ Almond Smooth vanilla is the best}, granola, lentils, edamame, fruit and medjool dates {the girls new favorite}.

 

I already have some healthy products in my pantry, and get a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) box of fruits and vegetables. It has been the best thing...although, next winter I'll get the box bi-weekly because I'm not a big fan of squashes and other winter veggies. We eat a lot healthier because of the produce from Abundant Harvest. We have things now that I wouldn't normally buy like swiss chard, radishes and mustard greens. I recently read a post about the benefits of radishes from celebrity nutritionist, Kimberly Snyder. I've been eating a lot now that they're in season.

 

I try to eat healthy and have high standards of quality however, I live off foods that are instantly gratifying and convenient. I would say overall my diet is "decent". I buy coconut oil, flaxseed, quinoa, wheat germ, chia seeds, organic when possible, etc. I just don't have a good system of putting a variety of recipes together in a convenient way. The menus in Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven are doable and seem filling like, veggie chili with corn chips and a side salad of tomato and avocado. I want to check out their cookbook, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. I browsed their website, Healthy Bitch Daily and can't wait to make the oh so easy chia pudding recipe and Italian mini quiches.

Another thing that is getting me on track with meal planning is Pinterest. It's the best way to organize and keep recipes! I still need to put together an organized binder of photocopied recipes from magazines, books and online. That may never happen as it's the last thing I want to spend time on. Pinterest is one of the best tools for organization. Love it, love it, LOVE IT!



Daddy's Pics

Nattie and I scored these little photo gems off Chad's iPhone...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Photos: Nat in pink. Vera in white. Close to 27 months.]

 



Mommy Makeover | White Tea

White tea contains more antioxidants than green, oolong and black tea. All are derived from the plant Camellia Sinensis however, processed differently. White tea is the least processed.

 

The benefits of white tea include cancer prevention, weight loss, and a stronger immune system with antiviral and antibacterial action. While these things are great and all, I'm most interested in the effects it has on preventing or repairing damage of free radicals and sun exposure on the skin.

 

I have an economical box of organic white tea and The Republic of Tea, ginger peach 100% white tea. I'm looking forward to mixing the two to make a delicious summertime iced tea. Now the trick is to make it part of my daily routine.

 

Every day I drink two cups of coffee - one in the morning and the other during the girls' afternoon nap. I'm thinking of replacing the second cup with white tea. It only has a tiny amount of caffeine but maybe that's a good thing. It's recommended to drink three cups of white tea a day. I'm thinking I can work in two cups. Maybe I'll have my two cups of coffee in the morning, and two cups white tea in the afternoon. My yin and yang - white tea makes the skin radiant and coffee is dehydrating. I just can't give up coffee...ever (except while pregnant). Anyway, it has it's own health benefits. Maybe I only need a cup though...alright, just one cup...lots of water and white tea. Change is good.
 

 

 

 

 

Doubling Up

I was in a state of shock and panic when I first found out that I was having identical twins. The shock and panic turned into a deep gratitude. It is the greatest gift for them, and as a parent. I feel like we won the lottery. Now I am kind of in a phase of fascination with twins. The special bond, similarities, differences and scientific studies...twins that have been reunited...ones that are inseparable.

At the moment, I've been looking into twins that work together or live in close proximity. Many of the identical twins that I've talked to either work together or/and live blocks away. One woman I talked to said her twin sister lived a couple hours away and that the distance was "hard". Sometimes twins have to move far apart, but it seems they remain in close contact. I imagine my girls will live close or even work together. They just better live near me, that's all! Here are some famous twins that work or live together...
 

 Tegan and Sara are identical twin sisters that formed an indie rock band. I read an interesting article about them growing up as twins and lesbians. Click here to read.

 

Source

Monette and Mady - identical twins that model, act and dance together. They play up their twin image by dressing alike, finishing each others sentences, etc. Read their story here.

 

Source

 

I love this "identical twins = identical rights". Also, it's a good example of how different "identical" twins can be. Identical twins share 100% of their genes, but when the egg splits it is not an exact match like an apple cut in half.

 

Source

 

Camille and Kennerly - the Harp Twins. Click here to watch a video of them playing the Taylor Swift song, "Mine".

 

Source

 

The San Francisco Twins - Vivian and Marian Brown had over 100 matching outfits and famous for their "twin-ness". Their inseparable bond and charm created a beautiful and touching life story that you can read about here.

 

 Source



Training Unders

Thanks to a favorite blogger and blog - Samantha from Sanow Twins, I found out about these Hanna Andersson training pants. I recently wrote a post about undies that I bought from Old Navy to get us excited about potty training. Nattie was more interested in putting the undies on her head. I wouldn't have bought them if I knew about these training unders that have a four-ply crotch panel...four-ply! ;) Hey now, and it's organic cotton.

I plan to start potty training in a week or two. I've been going back to the links on my last post about potty prep to re-read experiences from fellow bloggers. I still have to read up on potty training techniques. All I know is that I'm going to take them to the potty every half hour and give a sticker as a reward. A few weeks ago, Vera started asking to use the potty when she felt it coming on. That would have been a good time to start the training because she has since lost interest. I'm not looking forward to the training but at least these Hanna Andersson unders will make it fun...

 

 

 Source
 

Source

 

 

Also bought a couple matching camis...
 

Source

 

 

 

 

 

Disneyland - 3

 In a spontaneous moment Saturday morning, Chad and I decided to take the girls to Disneyland! It was the first time just the four of us. The spontaneity made it a real adventure. We had such fun in the Roger Rabbit ride, Minnie Mouse house, Chip and Dale house and the Enchanted Tiki room. We ended the day at Rainforest café. The girls kept a watchful eye on the animatronic elephants next to us. Nattie was scared that we almost moved seats but I'm proud to say...dealt with her fears! The happiest day together...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Photos: Vera in zebra shirt. 26 months.]