Four Eyes, Two Tongues, One Word

My little men have been very entertaining as of late.

There's a lot of talking, squealing, kicking, waving. They sure know and love their Momma.

They're quite keen on Everett as well. He gets the most smiles out of the older kids.

I'm completely fascinated with the relationship that has begun and is to come with the twins. It has become more clear in the past few weeks that they do have differences that are staying consistent. The other day, after spending a little bit of time with each, I thought I would sum up who they are right now, with a simple word.

August: Charming

He certainly melts my heart. He has a way about him that wins you over. He's very happy, very excited, and enjoys a party. When we're out and about, he is less likely to nap in his car seat. But if you're wearing him, he's completely content.

Elias: Peaceful

Elias enjoys a good snuggle. He's more apt to rest his head on your shoulder rather than looking around. After a diaper change, if I leave him on the floor near nap time, I will come back to his room to find his hands above his head and him fast asleep. He most always falls asleep in his car seat, whether we're driving or not. I've always appreciated his extra weight...it suits his character quite well. :-)

I had a weird revelation the other day. As I was chatting with Ozzie, I looked at his dimply smile and remembered the same smile, some seven years ago. When I was pregnant with Carter, I had a vivid dream of what I thought was my unborn son; he was bald, with blue eyes and the smiliest little thing. When Carter was born, he had a head of hair, and was definitely not the baby I dreamt of. Fast forward seven years and I now have that smiley little baby.

Pretty phenomenal.

ps-amazing what wearing different colors do...both babies have the exact same color of eyes, but Oz in blue has blue eyes and Eli in green has green eyes...tricky tricky!

A&E: The Room

Well, it's about time I post picts of the boys' room!

This originally was the older boys' room, but when we got news of the twins, we moved quickly on a plan to make space for them. Carter and Everett got moved to the garage addition (photos to come soon of that change) and the twins inherited a lot of the older boys' room items.

As always, we had about zero dollars besides what I have allotted in my "cash bucket" envelope. It took months to slowly piece things together, partly because we were consumed with the DIY addition, partly because I was puking due to the twin pregnancy, and partly because I still had three kids under five to care for!

I needed something to set blankets, books, etc. in...I found this on the street, gave it a little paint and stain and voila, it fits the space. This has become a little reading/play nook for the older kids while I feed the babies.

I added the twig banner, but the hooks and clock have followed us through a few moves.

This is the third time I have recovered this lampshade and the second color for this lamp...talk about reusing! I went a little crazy with the chop saw and the wood burner in this room. It was in the ninth month of my pregnancy that I finally got the urge to complete the space.

The kids helped find some nature items for decor.

 

I was so pleased to find a vintage golden book called "The Squirrel Twins" at a thrift store years back. It really helped the two littles understand what twins were and is a special memory of prepping for the babies to come.

The wood plaque is a little project the kids and I worked on. I was going to leave it a simple ombre plaque, but I love the addition of the "7"...it makes our family seem so large when we see the number! That's Carter's drawing of our family on the thrifted chalk board.

My in-laws gifted us the unfinished Ikea cribs. I stained them to fit the rustic feel of the rest of the house. They had annoying warning labels that I couldn't get off, so I used some scrap trim, stained it and wood burned some favorite verses that I would love for them to sleep under.

 

The wood portion of the wall was a labor of love. Pun intended as I was nearly in labor with the twins when I created it... nothing like a large and in charge pregnant woman using the chop saw! It had to be done, though. The A & E's were custom made from my friend, Alicia.... I liked bringing in the industrial element to their room.

Both babies sleep together in August's crib. I'm not sure if Elias will ever use his own crib, but according to my research at some point they need to be separated in order to sleep... somehow I doubt these two will ever want to separate. :-)

 

The ampersand I found at Joann's and wrapped/glue gunned yarn around:

 

The cloth nappy/wipes station. Colorful diapers make me happy.

Everett reading to the boys.

My cuties being serious:

My cuties being goofy:

I think they like!

Oh, and can you believe that just a year ago, the room looked like this?

It exhausts me to realize the amount of work that went on in the past year (while brewing two babies). But it is absolutely worth it, our home has definitely become somewhat of a haven...even with five little ones running around!