Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Our Last Month...



Another catch up…

In August we were thrilled to have my cousin Meredith and her family come visit us all the way from New Hampshire.  We had not yet met Dominick in person and we could not wait to get all the cousins together. We had a wonderful time that passed entirely too fast. The little ones enjoyed their time together playing and checking each other out. Avery was enamored by her little cousin, always wanting to pat him and give him toys. We were able to get off to downtown Annapolis for lunch and some sightseeing and even had some time to show Dominick our neighborhood beach. We can’t wait for our next reunion!



 

At the end of September we went to Virginia to celebrate our favorite Aunt Suzie’s birthday…



I couldn’t wait to get the kiddos to the National zoo now that they are so into animals. I have SO many fond memories of going there myself when I was growing up.  I was waiting for the weather to cool down a little and school to be back in so the crowds wouldn’t be as large. We found the perfect day in September to go on a Friday with our friend Reece and her mommy Abbey. The dads were able to pop over and meet us after work on Friday afternoon.

 
Next up was my birthday weekend…
I had been training for weeks to run my very first Half Marathon.  On September 14th (why not do it on my birthday) I ran the Navy/ Air Force Half Marathon in Washington D.C. with my very best friend Ren and my co-worker Jennifer. 13 miles on my 31st birthday! I’m not gonna lie, the training was pretty rough considering I had never really pushed myself beyond my comfort zone of running about 4 or so miles. Not to mention I was training in the months of July and August…ugh (H-O-T and H-U-M-I-D), but I did it. My long runs leading up to the race were pretty rough but the actual half really wasn’t so bad. The weather was amazing, a nice 70ish degree day, no humidity and the adrenaline of all the racers coupled with running alongside my best friend made for an awesome first half. I definitely got the itch and cannot wait to sign up for my next race…and maybe a full marathon someday…maybe! After the race we all met for brunch followed by a quiet afternoon of resting and hanging out with my family. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday.
 
So, that about sums up the last month in the crazy life of the Hatchers. It doesn’t look like we will be slowing down anytime soon, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Oak Island 2013

We've been back from our 2013 Oak Island family beach trip for over a month and I am forcing myself to take the time to post about it. I feel like a broken record, but oh my lord how busy life has gotten with two toddlers. This is by far my favorite and most tiring stage we've reached. I am trying desperately to keep up with two incredibly active, spunky toddlers all while keeping up with working two jobs, house duties, family duties, etc. You name it and I'm probably behind on it! That being said, this blog has become my form of documentation aka baby book for Avery and Grayson so I'm trying my best to keep up with the bigger events in our lives, one of which was our yearly trip to Oak Island, North Carolina.

I treasure this week every year as it rolls around because it is our only week in the entire year that we truly get to spend every moment together as a family with little outside interruption. This year we were lucky enough to have my sister join us and oh how she helped with two little crazy monkeys! It was the second year with Avery and Grayson in tow but the first year they were really able to partake in the fun. They LOVED the beach, which I pretty much knew they would from their experience at our neighborhood beach.  We made sand castles, sand pools, chased a sand crab, played in the water, ate watermelon and ices on the beach, went on runs, ate yummy food, spent time with lots of visitors and just plain enjoyed our time in paradise. Oak Island is absolutely beautiful and I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to go every year to such an amazing place for our family vacation. 

The day we arrived we got an extra special visit from Linds as she was leaving a nearby beach from her family vacation!

On our first day we decided to drive the boat to an island and let the kiddos run around and play.
Captain and her first mate!
 


He loves his shovels!


Nana and Grayson on the boat



Ellie became enamored by a sand crab and would not leave it alone. A & G thought it was pretty cool too!

They loved setting up the baby pool to keep cool and away from the crashing waves.

Mommy & Avery!

Suzanne and Grayson (best buds all week)

Aunt Devin made sure she spoiled A & G rotten!



I absolutely love this picture! We went to Provision Co. for dinner...Yum!

Aunt Devin bought A & G a kite. Grayson was obsessed to say the least. I think he would have stared at the kite all day if he could have
.

Smashing someones hard work!

Bury the babies!


European style baby!

My parents were able to shoot over for a few days to visit!

A flying the kite

...and eating lots and lots of watermelon!!!!!!

Yoga!

and night night time (her new favorite game)

Breakfast on the porch

Ices!!!!
Beautiful sun kissed kiddos!

Taking Aunt Devin's ice cream!

The girls! (cousins)

Granddady and his grandaughter!

Aunt Devin and G!



Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Buh Bye Pacifier

We officially gave up the pacifier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For months now they only got it at nap time and bed time but I was hoping to get rid of it all together. I tried once or twice and just didn't think I could take the crying. At their one year appointment their doctor even said there was no real reason to fight the fight just yet. Put them in bed and give them their paci and blanket and they would literally be asleep in minutes with no fuss what so ever. Put them in bed with their blanket and no paci and it would sounds like someone was in their room hurting them. So I gave the thought up for a few months. Until...Grayson starting reaching in his bed for his paci (where we made them leave them after waking) which made me realize he was getting more attached rather than less attached. I decided if he was going to whine for it I might as well take it away before it got too bad. I started by not giving it to them at nap time one day and oh my goodness I did not think I could follow through. They literally cried for 45 minutes straight. Not a whimper cry but a full on someone is hurting me cry. Just when I didn't think I could take it any more I called Kevin to tell him I might fold. I had been reading articles on getting children to give up the pacifier and it said, DO NOT GIVE IN or you are teaching them if they throw a big enough fit they will get their way. So I stayed strong and after 45 minutes and a phone call to daddy it was suddenly quiet. They had both fallen asleep and slept for 3 hours they were so worn out. But I still wasn't sure I could take such sad crying for who knows how long. 45 minutes is a REALLY long and torturous time when you have kids that rarely make a noise when put to bed.

Next up was bedtime. We did the same thing as usual, bath, pajamas, story, kisses goodnight and then laid them in bed with their blankies only. There was slight cry/whimpering for about 5 minutes and then boom they were out cold again.

After that they really didn't even cry at all. For the next few days Grayson seemed a little off but they were falling right to sleep and sleeping throughout the night without waking for the paci. I believe taking the pacifier away is all about timing. They were big enough they didn't need it anymore for soothing purposes but they were attached and therefore needed some time to figure out how to put themselves to sleep without it. Thankfully they are still pretty little and did not have it during the day so they didn't really know to ask for it.

I am incredibly thankful the transition went so well but I have to admit a part of me was a tiny bit sad that another 'baby' stage was over. It breaks my heart that my little itty bitty babies are full on toddlers these days!

Monday, August 26, 2013

18 Months (A Year & a Half)

Size- According to the house scale my little peanuts are coming in around 24 pounds each.

Clothing- They are in 12 month clothing for the most part. They can fit some 18 month clothes and sometimes still fit in something that is 9 month or smaller depending on what it is. Avery is pretty much a size 3 shoe and Grayson is a size 4. They are still in size 3 diapers. I bought 4s but they were entirely too big.

Hair- Grayson has the blondest of hair that is straight as can be. It grows SO fast I feel like every time we turn around we need to cut it. He has already had 4 hair cuts since his birthday. Avery has brunette hair with the cutest little curls. We haven't had to cut it yet and I hope the curls don't go away when we do. We can finally put her hair in little itty bitty pigtails. Kevin had the kids the other day and I came home to Avery with a little tiny single pony tail. I didn't even know he knew how to put a pony tail holder in! I only wish I'd seen him doing it :)

Teeth- They both seem to have most of their front teeth and a molar 4 molars. We’ve had an occasional rough night but I can’t even say for sure if it was teeth hurting or just an off night. For the most part Grayson hasn’t been bothered too much with his teeth and I’ve really haven't ever noticed any issues with Avery and teething.

Skills- At this point they’ve both mastered walking and are full on running. Grayson is so fast sometimes I literally have to kick into high gear to catch him. When I ask him for something he loves to take off running full speed to try and get away from me. He thinks it’s so funny he will look back and giggle.

Just this week they figured out how to climb on the coffee table. In fact, they love to climb on anything these days, the couch, chairs, stools, the laundry basket, the dishwasher door when it is open.

They are really good at pushing toys including their walker, shopping cart, Little Tykes cars, or really anything with wheels. Grayson has tried pushing his highchair, the diaper pail, the recycling bin, you name it he tries to push it. I feel like every time I turn away for even a few seconds I turn back and they are trying to get on something or in something they probably shouldn’t.  They have certainly taught me how very busy it can be having twins. This is by far the busiest, craziest, hair pulling, but most rewarding month yet.

They learned a few new things this month including how to stack their Legos and rings. They can put toys away when you ask them or make it seem fun.  They can put the animal puzzle pieces where they belong. They will watch anything and try to mimic the action, such as bubbles. We were blowing bubbles the other day and they both took the wand and tried to blow themselves (aka- jamming the bubble wand full of liquid in their mouths). We are also working at using utensils. They are getting better every day at picking up different foods with a fork and we just started on the spoon.
This summer we have spent a lot of time at our river, the lake or the ocean. We learned that we have two water lovers for sure. They jump at the chance to swim around and play in the water. We have to be a little careful with Grayson because he thinks he can swim independently and will try to kick his legs and go in as deep as possible. I love that they love the water just as much as their mom and dad do.

They both wave bye bye and often times say it as well. They blow kisses and love to blow raspberries thanks to their Aunt Devin. They love to hug and kiss each other and will sometimes hug and kiss others when asked.  They think it is so funny to play ‘night night’ and lay their heads down where ever they are for a few seconds and then pop up and laugh.

Every day I notice Avery and Grayson becoming more attached to each other. They will help each other get something as well as get each other into trouble. I am amazed at how well they play with each other at 18 months.  I think this is because they’ve always had each other around.

Another new first is time out. Grayson has had a few instances of being placed in timeout and just recently Avery decided to join him in being placed there. Anytime there is a behavior that is dangerous or that I am trying to stop I remove them from the situation, explain simply what they did that is not okay and I sit them on the floor in their room with the light off and the door shut for a few seconds. They definitely get it and know they have done something they shouldn’t. I ask them to say sorry upon being taken out of timeout. I have gotten Grayson to say sorry but Avery has only been there twice and hasn’t gotten out the word sorry just yet. At least she knows it's not a fun place anymore as the first time I placed her in timeout she looked at me, smiled, and started laughing. I’m sure this is the beginning of many, many defiant moments and time outs over our lifetime!

Words-
Grayson: Ball, Dada, Uh-Oh, Here you go (heego), Thank You (tahyu), Buh Bye, Balloon (Ba-boon) 

Avery: Ball, Dada, Daddy (Dadeeeee),Uh-Oh, Here you go (heego), Thank You (tahyu), Buh Bye, Baby, Tickle Tickle (while tickling you).

They will say Mooo if you ask what a cow says, roar if you ask what a lion says, kack if you ask what a duck says, or Arggg if you ask what a pirate says. They will point to their nose, eye and belly every time and sometimes other body parts when asked. We definitely need to be working on new body parts, colors, identifying animals and more animal noises.
I have a feeling their vocabulary is about to take off. It seems like they have a new word every day and they try to repeat Kevin and I anytime we've said a single word at or around them multiple times. I guess we better start really paying attention to what we say around them!

Personality-
Grayson- What a spitfire my little man is. He is the happiest, sweetest little guy I've met. He loves to nuzzle up with me, cuddle and give hugs. On the other hand, upset him and you will see a whole other side to him. He has a pretty short temper theses days (can we say terrible 2's already???). He is SO loud when he is not happy just to ensure that everyone is aware of the capacity of his lungs. He will throw himself to the ground and bangs his head, something we are trying really hard to curb. I believe all of his intense reactions come from how much he can comprehend but how little he can verbalize. He isn't quite sure how to get his point across or his words out. I try very hard to get him to use the words he does have such as 'help' or 'no thank you'. Outside of those moments we have a happy wild little man on our hands. He absolutely loves balls and basically anything round or moving such as balloons and airplanes. He loves to get messy and act wild. He couldn't be happier than when he gets to run around and play outside (especially when daddy is home).

Avery- Avery has quite the personality as well, but oh so different from her brother. She prefers to sit back and take in what's going on around her. She is OBSESSED with her daddy. She rarely cries other than the occasional time her brother has gone too far and upset her or if her daddy leaves and doesn't take her with him. Most of the time she is fine with Grayson taking a toy from her or knocking her over. She kind of just looks at him funny and moves on to the next best thing. Although lately I've noticed her giving it back to him a little. She is such a girly girl. She plays in my make-up and loves to go to her drawers and pull something out and bring it to me as if she is trying to put it on herself. If she sees a bow or a shoe laying around she will pick it up and try to put it on herself. And the girl loves to dance. As soon as she hears music on TV, in the car or out somewhere she starts bouncing and waving her hands. She will look around and smile to see who is watching.

This month has brought so much more to each of their personalities. They have had such differing personalities from the start which still holds true today. I love them each so much for what fun and joy they bring to our lives every day. It's incredible to watch how they take the world in as so much is new and entertaining to them!
Happy 18 month birthday Avery and Grayson! Now please stop growing so fast!!!

Avery's first selfie!

Yummm...enjoying feeding themselves their yogurt. It's definitely quite messy!

They love playing at the park


They've even begun to color (briefly) when we're at a restaurant. Can't wait coloring lasts longer than throwing the crayons ;-)

17 Months Old!

I just realized I left this post in the draft stage. Needless to say it has been a pretty busy month/summer for us. Avery and Grayson are INCREDIBLY busy these days and becoming increasingly independent with each passing day. Below is one of my favorite pictures of my little monkey's at 17 months. However, not such an awesome thing having matching black eyes! I guess with independence comes bumps and bruises. Avery bumped a speaker trying to run after her brother and about a week later Grayson fell into the padded part of the coffee table but still managed to get a shiner. Good news is we are all healed and having fun!