Jazzy, Big Sister

Jazzy is our firstborn and always will be considered our first child.  I have a special place in my heart for her and I love her even more after seeing how much love she gives Archer and Lyla.  I'm sure bringing two babies into her once calm, quiet home has rocked her little world.  But Jazzy truly has taken everything in stride.

One of my favorite things Jazzy does is greet her babies after I take them somewhere.  Whenever I come home, she's waiting by the garage door.  She even bypasses me and starts to look for her babies before telling me how much she missed me.  She'll even try to go out into the garage to look for them if I don't bring them inside in a timely manner.  Once their car seats are inside, she kisses each one of them.  Archer and Lyla both love when she does this.  And it almost makes me cry.  Every.Single.Time.

Here is Jazzy in action:

Jazzy also tries to give me a hand when the babies get all riled up.  If Archer or Lyla start to get upset, she'll usually come to check on her babies after awhile.  Lyla and Archer both adore Jazzy, so 9 times out of 10 they'll calm down when they see Jazzy.  They'll look at her, smile and try to have a chat with her.  Once they're not upset, Jazzy will leave and go back to whatever she was doing prior.  I am quite happy Jazzy helps me out with the babies. 

Jazzy is also kind enough to help me keep the floor under their high chairs clean.  If anyone has babies who are into feeding themselves, I highly recommend getting a dog, if only for the simple fact that you'll never have to pick food up off the floor.  Jazzy saves me a lot of time in the floor-cleaning department.  Thanks for taking one for the team, Jazzy.

One other adorable thing Jazzy tries to do with Archer and Lyla is play with them.  She'll get down on her front paws in front of them with her little butt up in the air and her tail wagging.  Then she'll playfully jump towards them, as if saying, "Hey!  Come play with me!"  Of course Lyla and Archer aren't quite sure what "playing" with Jazzy entails at the moment.  They just grab for her fur, which Jazzy doesn't appreciate.  So Jazzy runs off.  I think eventually they will figure out how to play with each other. 

As much as Jazzy loves her babies, they can certainly annoy her.  When they are hollering, sometimes she'll just leave the room.  She gives me a look as if to say, "good luck," and then casually saunters out of the room.  Lucky dog.  Then there's the whole grabbing at her, which she does not care for.  I can't say I blame her.  They don't really have the whole "gentle" concept down.  When they try to reach for her, I take their sweet little hands and help them pet her gently.  I figure one of these days they'll catch on.  And now with them crawling, Jazzy has to be a little more on guard.  She's still quicker than them, which is a good thing. 

I am still amazed at how the transition of bringing the babies home has gone for Jazzy.  There has been very little jealousy.  She did chew up one of their toys and one of their baby spoons, which was uncharacteristic of her.  To be fair, the toy was one that would vibrate if you pulled the top part of it.  I think maybe she thought it was a live creature since it moved.  And we all know what Jazzy does with live creatures...  And the kids do chew on their spoons, so maybe she was just mimicking what the babies do?  Anyways, a toy and a spoon are a small price to pay. 

I'm sure there will be a rough period ahead of us when the babies start walking and climbing up on the couch to get to Jazzy.  But we'll figure it out when we get there.  Jazzy certainly isn't going anywhere. 

Nine Months!

Archer and Lyla are officially nine months old!  They are growing by leaps and bounds and I'm amazed at how far they've come just in the last month.  Both are crawling all over the place and getting fast too!  I definitely have to keep the gates closed in the living room now.  We have a couple stairs that lead down to the family and a set of stairs that lead to our second level.  They can both crawl up the stairs, but don't realize they can topple down and get hurt yet.  So they get to stay in the living room unless Adam or I are around.  However, I can't leave them in the living room by themselves anymore.  We have a fireplace and they both love to pull up on it and Lyla even climbs up onto it!  Again, they don't realize they can get hurt if mom and dad aren't around to keep them safe.  So I've resorted to putting a pack n' play in our living room and put the babes in there when I need to go to the bathroom or make bottles.  Luckily they seem to like hanging out in there together.  I just keep rotating out the toys in there to keep them entertained. 

They are also both babbling up a storm!  It's so cute to hear them talk to not only me, but to each other.  They will stare intently at each other and "talk" back and forth.  I bet they are planning all sorts of trouble!  Even though they pull each other's hair and take each other's toys, I can tell they are going to be best buddies.  

It is getting increasingly difficult to take pictures of the two of them together.  They both want to move and prefer not to sit still.  Like, ever.  So I end up with a lot of pictures like this: 

Archer is going through a separation anxiety phase lately.  When he's not busy crawling around, he likes to be held.  He also gets very upset when I leave him anywhere alone for even the briefest of moments.  I have to get him distracted with a toy and then sneak off to go to the bathroom or get something to eat.  It usually works for a couple minutes, but then he realizes I'm gone and starts hollering, "Mum," with a few tears thrown in for good measure.  

But, boy, is he cute!  They way he gets so happy to see me melts my heart.  His 4-tooth smile is adorable.  I think he knows just how adorable he is, as evidenced by the picture below:    

Archer can also say "Dada" and even "Jazzy."  He is a champion eater!  He has still eaten everything I've ever put in front of him.  We've been getting into more actual foods (hard-boiled eggs, avocados, blueberries, peas, strawberries, bananas) and he just devours them.  He is becoming an expert with his pincer grasp.  He even realizes when he drops food in the little pocket on his bib and reaches in there to retrieve it.  

He is still a bit cautious when pulling up on things and can't quite figure out how to get down once he's up.  He is also quite dramatic if he happens to fall down or bump his head.  He also makes it quite clear when Lyla takes something he was playing with.  He still adores his Johnny Jumper!  We had to move one of the Johnny Jumpers to a wider opening so he would have more room to swing like Tarzan!  He's pretty entertaining to watch in it.  He will get a running start and then knows to lift his feet up so he can swing back and forth.  He's a wild man!    

Archer is sleeping well and still wakes up once for a nighttime bottle.  He doesn't require as much rocking or snuggling to get back to sleep like he used to.  I'm not going to lie, that breaks my heart just a little bit.   

Lyla is really on the go!  She is an expert crawler now and pulls up on lots of things with ease.  She can ease herself back to a seating position, too.  It's only a matter of time before she starts to walk.  Yikes!  She prefers to be moving around on her own most of the time.  She will tolerate the Johnny Jumper and exersaucer for short periods of time, but prefers to be independently moving.  

She is also quite LOUD!  She's generally happy, but likes to shriek rather loudly in public places.  I guess she wants to make sure people know she's there!  She's also a big flirt.  Whenever people stop to admire the twins when we're out and about, Lyla gives everyone her best smile and shows off her dimple.  

She is also a good eater, but has shown a preference for things like crackers, toast and fruit over things like peas.  She might be related to me.  She's good at picking up her food, but is also good at dropping things down for Jazzy to eat.  The two of them must have some sort of agreement.  

Lyla is definitely an independent girl!  She likes to feed herself and go where she pleases, without me helping out.  I can tell she is strong-willed and a bit feisty.  I am not looking forward to her teenage years.  She also likes to ignore Adam and I from time to time.  When I am trying to feed her lunch, she'll try to look around me out the window in front of her.  When I try to give her a kiss and she's busy playing, she'll dodge my attempts.  But when she wants some attention or loving, she'll smoosh her darling cheeks into mine.   And she'll grab my face and look me in the eyes and just smile.  She's going to be very good at getting what she wants.  

I love these two sweet knuckleheads more and more each month!  

Pantry Revamp

Since the arrival of Lyla and Archer, things around my house have not been nearly as organized and tidy as they once were.  But I'm learning to embrace that fact.  However, when I do get a chance to do a little organizing project, I jump for it!

This past weekend, I decided our pantry needed a little revamp.  We have one of those tall cabinets with the drawers that roll out.  I would love to have an actual pantry that you can walk inside or even a pantry closet, but for now our pantry cabinet does the trick.  It was getting a little crazy.  I had some loose organization going on and tried to keep like items together, but I didn't always stick to it and I didn't really communicate this system to Adam.  So even though I tried to keep it organized, it didn't always happen.

Here's what things were looking like before:

Nothing horribly unorganized, but definitely some room for improvement.  (Please excuse the grainy cell phone pictures.  One of these days I'll use my good camera to take pictures again!)  So while my mother-in-law watched the babies (Thanks, Janet!) Adam and I set out on an adventure to buy storage containers.  This was certainly not Adam's idea of fun, but he was kind enough to oblige since it was my birthday weekend.  Before we set out, I made sure to measure the dimensions of each drawer and made a list of the items I wanted storage containers for so I knew what to look for while shopping.

The drawer that drove me the craziest was the drawer with the cereal.  Those boxes are so big and bulky, which means they take up lots of space.  I decided that I needed to get some cereal storage containers that would maximize the space.  When I told Adam about my plan he said, "Oh, so we're going to be one of those households now."  He knew what he was getting into when he married me!    

So, yes, I set out to find some cereal storage containers.  It was a little tricky to find some that weren't too tall for the drawer or didn't cost a fortune.  I wasn't going to spend 20 bucks on a cereal container!  I did end up finding some at The Container Store for $9.  That was much more reasonable and I used my birthday money.  I guess you know you are old when you use your birthday funds to buy storage containers.  Or maybe that's just me. :)  

I also found some small white storage bins at TJ Maxx to help corral some of the smaller items, along with a small jar to hold tea bags.  A napkin holder and small jar for Jazzy's treats were found at IKEA.  And finally a water bottle from Target got a new use as a container to store rice.  I also used some other items I already had to store and organize other items.  

After collecting all my new storage containers, I took everything out of the pantry.  I threw away expired items.  Then I sorted everything into categories.  I assigned a general category to each drawer and made labels so Adam would be able to know what was going on in my head.  I just printed off the labels and glued them on top of some pretty wrapping paper.  I used some packing tape to stick them onto each drawer.  (Packing tape might not be the best thing to use if you are worried about messing up the surface of your drawers.  Ours are old, so it doesn't really matter if sticky stuff is left behind or the finish is removed when the tape is removed.)

Next came the fun part of putting everything in it's new home.  We typically only buy what we intend to use for the next few weeks since we don't have a lot of space to store food goods.  I've also found that if we buy too much stuff in advance, we never tend to use it all and end up throwing things away when they expire.  Once everything was in its place, our pantry looked way nicer!  Now, instead of cringing when I open up the pantry, a little smile comes to my face.    

The top drawer holds all of our baking supplies.  Things like powdered sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, vanilla, vegetable oil, etc.  I ended up using some glass Pyrex containers to store our powdered sugar and brown sugar.  I was going to buy some jars, but couldn't find any that were short enough and large enough.  I have a ton of Pyrex and never use it all at once, so I figured I could spare two containers to hold those items.  I just put some of my favorite tape on the top with the expiration date.    

The next drawer is my favorite!  It has the new cereal storage containers.  One is filled with Cheerios for the twins and the remaining three are for whichever cereal Adam happens to be eating at the moment.  They take up less space than the bulky boxes and don't make as much noise when Adam makes a bowl of cereal in the morning.  No more crinkling bags!  Behind that are things like oats, pancake mix, tea and a bin full of instant oatmeal packets.  

The next drawer has snacks-everything from chips and pretzels to animal crackers and trail mix.  I also added a bin to hold the smaller items like granola bars and popcorn bags.  I always take things like granola bars and popcorn bags out of the boxes to free up more space.  

Then comes the dinner/stuff for Archer and Lyla drawer.  The left side has canned goods and pasta, while the right side has baby food and baby snacks.  Again, I used a bin for the smaller items that I took out of their boxes.    

Finally, the last drawer has Jazzy's food and poop bags, along with paper plates and party napkins.  

The whole pantry looks much tidier and should stay that way thanks to the new labels and storage containers.    

There was one moment during the organizing process that made me super proud, but then immediately bummed out.  I saw this water bottle at Target and thought it would be perfect for storing rice.  I could easily pop off the top and and pour out the amount I needed.  Whenever I am pouring rice out of the bag or box, it tends to go everywhere!  So I thought this would be the perfect solution.  I even wrote the expiration date, water to rice ratio and cooking instructions on some tape and added it to the side of the bottle.  I was tooting my own horn as I went to put the rice in the dinner drawer, but it was too tall!  Whomp, whomp.  So it has to live in the snacks drawer, even though I would never eat rice for a snack!  But I am getting better at letting things go these days, so live it up with the snacks, Mr. Rice Container.  

Rice container height aside, it was a successful organizing project!  I was so excited to have the time to work on this organizing project.  In the end, it will save more time while I'm getting items from the pantry.  I won't have to pull out every drawer to find what I'm looking for.  Now I'll know just where to look!