Category Archives: year 2

My Wall Project

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For almost a year and a half I have had no clue what to do with the boys room. The room is rather small and when you add 2 cribs in there, it is even smaller and crowded. So my dilemma (well 1 of 2 dilemmas) has been how to arrange the cribs that optimizes the space and gives them more room to play in there, especially now that they are older and playing A LOT more in there. Oh how nice it will be when they are old enough to move them into much smaller, toddler beds…and then bunk beds – but that’s another story for another day! Anyway, back to my dilemma, I have tried probably 3 different options on how the cribs are arranged. I’ve had them end to end on the same wall, the cribs on opposite walls from each other and now in an L shape in the corner. I think the L shape has worked the best as far as optimizing the space in the room, but the least aestheticly pleasing – I’ll just have to live with it.

               Nursery

So I have figured out what to do with the cribs, now onto dilemma #2 – the walls. We had this really cute tree decal that I put on the wall when the boys were itty bitty, but one of them decided to pull them down one day during their “nap”. Well I moved some things around and got that wall taken care of, it has their names in wooden letters on the wall. But there was still this big blank wall staring at me every time I walked into the room. It was driving me crazy because I had no clue what to do.

I was walking in Hobby Lobby one day and saw some of those vinyl lettering phrases and thought, that would be cool…so I found one that Jonathan and I really liked for their room. I came home and put it up – I loved it! The only problem is that our walls are textured and the paint we used on the walls is a semi gloss. Put those 2 together and vinyl letting does NOT stick to the wall. I was back to square one…..or was I? Since I really liked the phrase that I found, I decided to trace the letters and then paint them on the wall, viola!

If you know me, you know that when I decide to do something, I want it done yesterday. Well, the optimal time to do something like this is when the boys are sleeping. The boys sleep in the room I am painting…
So, it took me about 1-2 weeks to get it all painted. Once the letters were all done I added a few stars to it and then got some pictures printed that we had taken of the boys to put around the phrase. It turned out great!

I am in love with it and its something that can stay on the boys’ wall for a while and won’t have to be changed when they get a “big boy” room.

Here is what the wording alone looked like:

And, here it is with all the pictures around it:

Spring is here…

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The warmer weather means we get to play outside.  Our boys love playing outside – especially Hayden.  When Hayden wakes up in the morning one of the first things he does when he comes into the kitchen is walk over to the back door to go outside.  My parents had a slide at their house and they gave it to us so the boys are learning to climb up the ladder and slide down.  Of course, they want to climb up the front of the slide so we are trying to teach them the correct way to get to the top of the slide.  They also like to swing and play with the bird bath we have in the back yard.  The other day it was in the 70’s here so we were able to play outside for about 45 minutes after I got home from work.  And of course, that gave me ample time to get some video of the boys.  So here is a video of the fun we had…its about 5 minutes long but I think the best part of the video is close to the end when the boys are interacting with each other.

oh boy…..

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Ian on the go

We are in for it! The last few weeks Ian has been giving us a glimpse into the terrible 2’s…can it start as young as 15 months?! Wow….my sweet Ian has been turned into a toddler all of a sudden.  Example #1 – all because he didn’t get his way – one minute he was standing right next to me, the next minute, he was lying on the ground crying, partially screaming.  Example #2 – he didn’t want to go to bed, so he throws his head back and arches his back and cries/screams. But the best part was when he would quiet down in between screaming – when I wasn’t looking! Little booger would cry when I was looking at him, and when he realized I wasn’t looking, he would stop.  The second you give him what he wants, it’s all over as if nothing happened.

Well, this momma doesn’t play that game! The boys will learn that If I said no, I meant no, and screaming isn’t going to change my mind.  Also, if I can’t hold them this very second because I have to hold their brother who just smacked his head on the wall, they will have to wait. Even though I know this will mostly likely result in one or both of them throwing themselves on the floor and crying.  I am only 1 person

Then there’s Hayden…Jonathan was in their room putting their PJ’s on while I was fixing dinner and all of a sudden I hear this yelp, and it wasn’t from the boys.  Hayden bit Jonathan’s foot – hard! The boy has like 12 teeth, so he can bite down. He bit Ian’s finger one day…but in Hayden’s defense, Ian put his finger in his mouth.

The boys have also been trying our patience lately…just to see what they can get away with.  We have started using time-outs with them after they get 3 warnings.  Since they are 1, they get a 1 minute time out.  By doing this, we are hoping they learn cause and effect and that their actions have consequences – yes, we are starting them young, but that’s the best time to start.

I’m sure this is just a glimpse into what we are going to go through when they are older, but I’m ready for it!

Little Hands

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10 little fingers…20 little fingers can get 2 little boys into a whole heap of trouble.  Our little ones like to get their sticky little fingers into everything so they can test it out.  At 15 months old, they aren’t getting into stuff out of spite or being malicious about it…they are simply curious.  They want to know what it is and how it works.  Now, sometimes they may start out doing this and it ends up with “oh, mommy said not to do this, lets see what happens if I keep doing it!” It still their curiosity getting the best of them…they are simply learning cause and effect.

The boys are getting to the point where if you take their hand to hold it and walk with them they will actually grab on to your hand.  I love it! There is just something about a little, tiny hand.  Those 4 little hands represent the world to me. Whenever I see them, they remind me of what all we had to go through to get them; the pain, anger, frustration, and heartache.  But they also remind me of all the joy, laughter, smiles, and anticipation of what is still to come.  Its crazy how something so simple as a pair of hands can mean so much!

goofy boys…

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Most people don’t get to see our boys like we do.  No one really gets to see the goofy and crazy side of our boys like we do.  Especially Hayden…the boy is stoic! When he meets people for the first time, he doesn’t smile much, doesn’t really talk or laugh.  But let me tell you, he is a hoot!

This is how most people usually see Hayden:

Hayden

But this is the goofy Hayden we get to see every day:

It is never a dull moment at our house.  The boys keep us on our toes and keep us laughing constantly.   They are always doing something new and it is so much fun to wake up and see what they will do that day.

Christmas 2011

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This year was so different than last Christmas. The boys did a whole lot more this year. Instead of just laying there and being passed around from person to person, we were taking turns watching them as they run around the house! They weren’t too into the whole unwrapping presents, but they did love what was inside all the wrapping.

Christmas Eve we went to church for the Christmas Eve service and then had my parents and Jonathan’s parents over for dinner. The boys got to “open” their gift from Jonathan’s parents and were to interested in playing with it to go to bed when the time came. They got a big truck full of blocks!

Christmas Day We opened present at our house and then went to my parents for lunch with my family.  My parents got the boys some riding firetrucks so we have been playing with them for the last week. After lunch we drove to s=Sulphur Springs to spend the evening with Jonathan’s family.  The boys did really well for not having more than an hour of sleep all day.  We expected them to sleep the whole way home from Sulphur Springs but they did no such thing! They were over stimulated, over tired and not in the mood to sleep.  Overall, it was a fun day.

Here are some photos of all our Christmas fun.

Christmas Eve at our house

Christmas Morning

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas from the Blundell Family

 

My How They’ve Grown…and duplicated

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Every year at Christmas we have our annual Turner-Medlin Christmas extravaganza.  Since us “kids” are all grown up now, we try to take a picture of all our kids each year to see how much the have grown from the last year…and its fun to see the group multiply year after year. Here are some of the pictures we have taken over the years. We started doing this in 2006 and I have no clue what happened to the 2007 or 2008 picture, but I have 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011 to show you. Its interesting to see the group and how as the kids get older, the picture is more organized and just a better photo overall…It will be fun to see if the group grows more next year! (NOT BY US ADDING TO THE GROUP)

Its a tradition now that the little kids get new pajamas from the grandmas so in every picture you will see them wearing their new PJ’s.

2006 - Jake (6), Brooklyn (2), Aubrie (2mo)

2009 - Jake (9), Brooklyn (5), Aubrie (3)

2010 – Jake (10), Brooklyn (6), Aubrie (4), Hayden (2mo), Ian (2mo)

2011 - Jake (11), Brooklyn (7), Aubrie (5), Hayden (14mo), Ian (14mo), Blake (2mo)

Blog Book

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Last year, I printed the posts from my blog from our journey through infertility and pregnancy with twins. I wanted the boys would have a keepsake one day and know just how special they are to us.  I have decided to do that every year so the boys can have their life in print (well at least the first few years…we’ll see how long I keep it up).  I finally finished last years book and received it in the mail.  I feel like Christmas came early this year!! I absolutely love it and can’t wait for people to see it!

Christmas Photos

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Last weekend we had some pictures taken of us for our Christmas card.  We had 1 cranky boy that only slept about 30 minutes that afternoon so he was not in the mood for pictures!  But we did get some good ones despite our cranky toddler.  Its so funny to see how the differences in our boys comes through in pictures. Hayden is all into stacking things like blocks and playing with toys, where Ian is all about the electronics (much like his daddy).  The only way we could get a picture of Ian was to give him my cell phone.  Ian also started climbing on the step ladder, so we just threw lights around it and made it a part of the photos.  So here are some of the pictures we got…

Our Family

My boys

Hayden

Hayden

Ian

Ian

 

 

Thanksgiving 2011

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Our Family Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day was a little different this year than it was last year. Last year, we had two little babies in tow that pretty much just sat there and were passed around from person to person while we ate, visited and so forth.  This year, they were a little more mobile, to say the least! They were running everywhere and getting into everything.  We brought their high chairs so we wouldn’t have to sit them in our laps while we attempted to eat and feed them at the same time.  They both ate some yummy turkey that my aunt Gwen made, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and their favorite, rolls.  Their feast was much better tasting than last years feast of formula!

We are blessed in that my niece (7) and nephew (10) were there and more than willing to play with the boys, AKA chase them around so we can have a little break. They had fun playing with the sit and spin, their toys, play dough and sliding down the slide.

We had a great time with my family and then it was time to head over to Jonathan’s parents house for round 2.  His cousins had already left before we got there but we did get to see some family before they headed out too.

The boys didn’t get much of a nap that day – maybe 20 minutes in the car -  so they were pretty sleepy and cranky by 5:00 or so.  We visited with Jonathan’s family for a little while and then headed home so we could get the boys in bed before total meltdowns occurred.  Here are some pictures of our fun from that day. Some of them are from my phone so they are a little blurry.

Brooklyn playing play dough with Hayden

The boys playing with play dough together

Hayden sliding while Ian waits his turn

Ian sitting in my moms rocking chair she had as a kid

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The cousins playing together

Lastly, here is a picture of the boys last year at Thanksgiving and this year….it’s crazy how much they have grown in a year!

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Thanksgiving 2010 and 2011