Back again...

I know I have been MIA! Apart from being a busy working mama - our laptop portals aren't working which means we can't upload photos from my iphone or camera :( The main reason why I started a blog was to have a photo journal with minimal writing!

I will try to get some pics of the last few months up soon but for now I'll be posting just words...

We've had a busy few months and just recently we celebrated Keira's 3rd birthday and 11 days later the twins 1st birthday. We had a park party for the twins and it had to fall on one of the hottest days of the year! We still had a great turn out and they had a lot of fun. I'm glad it's done and dusted though as we look forward to our first party of five holiday to NZ in 2 weeks!! We are going for 3 weeks over Xmas and New Years and it'll be the first time in 2 years all of Damo's immediate family will be together again so everyone is really excited about that. We are looking forward to spending some quality family time and no doubt we will have a lot of fun and good times to look forward to.

I'll be busy in the next few days putting together our Party of Five 2012 Family Photo book that I ordered and needs to be completed by Feb as I got it on special. I also ordered a book for each child as I decided that I'll do a yearly book of photos seeing as I have so many pictures of them. So, in total I have 4 photo books to complete hopefully by the time we leave for NZ so that they will arrive by the time we get back.

I don't think I posted that I did reach my goal of 60kgs on my 35th birthday in Aug! Actually it was 60.7kgs but the 60 was still there and I fit into a size 12! I have since put on a kilo and am close to 62kgs which is a shame :( however, my health kick starts again on MONDAY!! To be continued...

Back to work today......

This is just a quick post to document my first day back at work today after 12 months maternity leave. I work part time as an Events Coordinatorr for Cancer Council NSW. I work 3 days a week to coordinate 2 Relay For Life events a year. Pretty sweet deal for me but it's not an easy ride as I have two challenging events to coordinate which keeps me very busy!  

I am writing this on my lunch break and so far it has been the dream first day back at work ....it's only been 3 hours although my day started much earlier at 7am!!! 7am!! I can't even remember the last time I woke up that early. I was supposed to have a trial run last week when my babies started child care but of course that didn't happen we just slept in until 8.30am (which is still quite early as we are used to waking up between 10-11am!)

My prep actually started last night. My dear husband Damien cooked a lovely dinner and prepared a salad for my lunch. I got all the kidlets bags and clothes prepared for child care as well as my own clothes and bag. Keira and the babies went to sleep at 9pm. I fell asleep putting the babies to sleep and I woke up at 11pm to have a shower to find Damien had washed the dishes from dinner, packed my lunch for work,  vacuumed the floor and cleaned the kitchen spotlessly :) He was still awake chopping up fruit for my morning tea.  He told me that after looking after him and the babies for the last 12 months, it's his turn to support me as much as possible. Awww how sweet.

At 7am, I woke up and so did Keira and Lucas. Damien also woke up to get the kidlets ready while I got ready. Montana woke up last and we managed to leave the house by the aim time of 7.50am. I dropped the kidlets off at child care - only Lucas was a little sooky when I left but he has his top teeth coming out. I was on the road by by aim time of 8am. With minimal traffic and finding the perfect parking spot, I was outside my work place in Parramatta at 8.45am for a 9am start. I actually made it to my first day on time! Amazing!

Everyone was very welcoming... it's like I had never left. The handover is going well. Lots of things to do as I have an event in 3 weeks but I am excited to get right into it lol Yes 12 months break from my event Relay For Life has done me good but I wonder how long this enthusiasm will last for..........hopefully until the end of the day at least :)

Twin-isms: Growing Pains

My poor twins have had a bad month of growing pains - teething, colds, chest infections and nappy rashes. This means I've had two very irritable, clingy and upset bubbas. Many people look at twins and think it's so cute to have two little babies to hold, hug, kiss and play with and yes it is cute but not when they both want their mama who only has one pair of arms :(

 

This experience is actually worst than when they were first born and I had the dilemma of who to pick up first as now they both can see me and they can reach out to me or  crawl and cling to me bawling when I already have one baby in my arms - now that is really heart breaking! 

 

Sometimes I wonder if being a twin is a good thing? It means they always have to share their cuddles and time with mum and dad while singleton babies get spoiled with parents fighting for a cuddle. I have to admit that when I am on my own, the only time I get to enjoy one of the twins is if the other is asleep or entertaining them self. I love the one on one time with one baby when I don't have to rush and have the other baby looking at me crying and making me feel guilty that I am holding one and not the other.

 

For the past few weeks,  I have spent most of my days in our bed nursing the twins and playing with them while watching children's DVDs.  It's not very productive but there was a time when the twins got really upset when I left their sight. They didn't like being in the play pen and just wanted to be held all the time so our bed was the only comfortable place where I could hold them both. Lately, they have been ok on their own. After an initial cry they end up playing with a toy or find something to distract them while I quickly have a shower or have a quick bite to eat.

 

There are days when all is calm and I may be busy doing some kind of house chore when suddenly I just hear them giggling really loud - oh how I love that sound! When I turn around to see what they are giggling at, they are smiling me but I know I've missed it. I guess those are the times when being a twin is really special.

 

So, while the twins experience their first growing pains - I am still being positive by making the most of the precious times when  I have my two babies cuddled up next to me - it is the sweetest feeling and one I will make the most of while I can because I know one day they will want to be in their own bed and while I look forward to that, a part of me will miss their cuddles and closeness.

 

I've been chatting to a few twin mamas from around the world on Instagram and I'm so relieved that I am not the only one facing this dilemma. Apparently the first year is the hardest and the mothers with older twins say they wouldn't want to trade places with me for the world! They have assured me though that once they hit the toddler stage - it's very fun seeing them interact with each other - still challenging but not as much as the first year.

 

I can't believe that in 8 short weeks our twins will turn 1 and Keira will be 3 and for some reason it just sounds so much easier than having a 2 year old and 10 month old twins!

 

A sad Montana had a bad morning :( but after some teething medicine and a nap she was herself again :) This pic was edited with Iphone apps Snapseed and Vintique

My boy Lucas really is a Mama's boy as there have been times when he won't go to anyone except me or he'll be fine if I'm not around but as soon as he sees me, he only wants me.  This pic was edited with Iphone apps Snapseed, Noir and Romance

Captured: a twin bond moment. Love it!

 

We have come to the realisation that our twins are the happiest when we go out! No wonder everyone comments to us about how well behaved they are because when we are out in public they usually are!

Photo A Day September: Part 1

This is Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day Challenge:

 

Day 1. You, now: All three children are napping, clothes are washed and hung and dinner is cooking but my hair is messy and I'm wearing daggy shorts so no selfie of me today!This is me taking a moment to catch a bit of Spring sunshine :)

Day 2. Father: Montana only has eyes for her father today on Father's Day. We went for a family outing to Chipping Norton Lakes.

Day 3. Far Away: Another beautiful day so we returned to Chipping Norton Lakes to go for a walk. I really wanted to walk across the bridge but it looked too far away!

Day 4. Inside my mailbox: Keira found her (not so well hidden) birthday present of Princess shoes and accessories and put them on for the day. She always loves checking the mailbox for mail because it is the perfect height for her :)

Day 5. Bright: Sisters sitting in the bright sun on my parents front lawn watching my brother leave so it was good timing to get this shot

Day 6. Every day: We are blessed to watch our first born Keira grow up into a sweet little lady. Even when she is being cheeky, she makes us laugh EVERY DAY :)

Day 7. Natural: Keira, the little adventurer climbing the back yard tree bare feet in the natural light

Day 8. At Night: We went to our friends Tatiana and Lino's farewell BBQ - who are leaving to travel the USA and Mexico. We had a great time eating, dancing and karaoke :)

Day 9. What we do most Weekends: We hang out with family and friends. This weekend, Lilly slept over and we were enjoying the sunshine on the front lawn while she showed off her gymnastics skills :)

Day 10. Black and White: Experimenting with new app Snapseed (black and white grunge) of this pic of Keira in the back yard tree

Day 11. Hero: Most 9 year olds would prefer to hang out with their friends. Our niece Lilly begs her mum to sleep over our place to help us look after her little cousins. She changes the twins nappies, feed them solids, holds them when they cry and plays with Keira. Although she finds it toug,h she never complains. We always appreciate the 'extra' arms that is always needed here. Lilly is a hero in our eyes and she'll make a great big sister when her twin sisters arrive in a few weeks!!

Day 12. Together: My poor twins have been teething and irritable lately but it's amazing how comforted they are when they are together. Even though they do their own things they like being next to each other - most of the times ;)

August Highlight: Nana Lilly's Visit

Nana Lilly (Damo's mum) came for a one week visit from NZ to meet her new twin grand babies Montana and Lucas and of course visit her other Aussie grand kids Keira and Lilly.

It was such a memorable moment when mum finally met our twins in person for the first time and gave them the kisses and hugs she had been wanting to do from when they were first born.

Another memorable experience was when we left the babies with Damo and I took my mother in law to the 24 hour Kmart at 3am in the morning where we shopped up a storm. Afterwards,  we picked up McDonalds breakfast to bring home to the family at 5am.

Lilly slept over and shared a bed with Nana and you could hear them chatting in bed as they went to sleep and chatting in bed again when they woke up. The next night Keira shared a bed with Nana who read her bed time stories. Such special moments which I'm sure both girls will remember one day.

Unfortunately, Nana's stay went by far too quickly but we all had an enjoyable time catching up, laughing, shopping, eating, eating and more eating - that was just us adults. The kidlets got spoilt with lots of hugs and kisses!

We look forward to seeing Nana Lilly again and the rest of the family when we all go to NZ in Dec :) xo

Here are some pics of my children and their Nana Lilly: (Note I took the pics of Keira and Lucas while I was holding Montana hence the frame being out of alignment)

Lilly with her two Grandma's Nana Lilly and Nanny Kate:

My children with their two Nana's  my mother in law and my mum:

 

 

My dad jumped in this pic:

Keira-isms: Blowing Dandelions

We moved into our current place in November last year - a month before the twins were born and just before Keira's second birthday. It's a little house built in the 1950's with a back yard and a large front yard that has trees, plants, flowers and dandelions.

Keira loves picking the flowers when we go outside. She most always picks a flower before she gets into the car when we go out and one when we return home. Most of all she loves dandelions. She will either blow them or shake them. Just when I think there are none left,  new ones sprout up so there always seems to be an endless amount of dandelions for Keira to play with!

I'm always finding little crushed flowers in our car, in her bags, around the house, in our bed room and even in our bed. I don't get angry. I just think to myself.... Keira's been here :) xo

Photo a Day August: Part 2

Here is the final part of photo a day August by Fat Mum Slim. Now that I've been doing it every day since May, it has become a daily habit. I have a few Instagram (IG) friends who have started their own challenges in September and invited me to play along. Hmmm I'm not sure how I'll go with 3 photo a day challenges! I'll stick to my current challenge and attempt the other two when I can especially as I'm already stretching my creativity with just one challenge as a stay at home mum who hardly goes out! I can see myself taking a lot of one pic fits all prompts type photos! lol

 

 

Day 16. Food: Doing some quick shopping at Coles down the road from Dees place and I ended up in Desserts - my favourite aisle lol

 

Day 17. Faces: My mother in law visiting from NZ finally gets to kiss her twin grand babies faces xo

 

Day 18. Inside: Our party of five plus Lilly went to celebrate our wedding anniversary and my birthday at the Garden Buffet restaurant in Star City. It is sea food and dessert Heaven inside!

 

Day 19. Hole: Boring prompt today. This is a plant peeping through a hole in our side fence

 

Day 20. Today: We took my met my mother in law shopping at East Gardens shopping centre and today I got some exercise chasing Keira from one side of the mall to other!

 

Day 21. Cool: Even though the days are getting warmer - the water is still cool. This was taken at Foreshore Road Beach, down the road from Dees place. Yes, we spent A LOT of time in that area while my mother in law was here. It's a lovely area but the drive to and fro with the babies was just tiring!

 

 

My fave four pictures of the month. Clockwise from top left:

 

Day 22. Home: After an enjoyable 10 day visit, Nana Lilly (my mother in law) flew home to NZ today (I love this unedited shot taken from Foreshore Road Beach)

 

Day 23. Pair: Montana's pair of feet are so hard to capture as she is ALWAYS on the move and she follows me on her hands and knees everywhere which is really annoying when I want to go to the toilet yet so cute too xo

 

Day 24. Path: All I hope for Keira and all my children is for them to choose a path of happiness - getting a little philosophical now when really I just asked Keira to run towards me on the path on our front lawn while I took a pic haha but yes of course I wish that xo

 

Day 25. Fresh: Fresh delicious blueberries. I was at a family function where a few of my friends complimented me on my photo a day pics on instagram. They asked me what today's prompt was - I told them it was Fresh and explained my the creative vision of taking a shot of the blueberries that were in my bag in water to create the 'fresh' look so my friend Tatiana offered to be my hand model and my cousin Lia did the water pouring. This was the stunning result of my creative vision. Not bad if I say so myself (haha lovo)

 

 

 

Day 26. Dream: I met my grandparents when I was 16 years old. When I was young I would dream of having them around. My children are blessed to grow up with their grandparents. My parents left today to go to East Timor for a month - the longest that they have been separated from their grandchildren and ironically they will see my grandfather! xo

 

Day 27. Tap: Keira loves to pick flowers in our front garden and then she likes to wash them under the tap

 

Day 28. Clock: No clocks in our home as we just use our iphones for the time so this is my Chanel watch that my brother got for me when he was in Thailand so I don't know how authentic it is but it looks nice :)

 

Day 29. Down: No escape for me when there is a little one holding me down soon to be joined by the other two. Alright my babies, the errands can wait for another day ;)

 

Day 30. Card: Keira signing her Father's Day card with a hand print xo

 

Day 31. Hidden: There are a pair of big gorgeous dark eyes and a pretty face hidden underneath Keira's wind swept hair. I think it's time for a hair cut! I've been meaning to take her for a while but never enough time (story of my life at the moment)

Photo a Day August: Part 1

 

Day 1. Outside: Hey pretty lady with the high heels on. Keira walking around outside with my high heels one. She loves wearing them and it''s hilarious when she tries to run and jump in them lol

 

Day 2. One: Keira is channelling the MJ look today with one white glove or sock in this instance :) Just another one of her crazy outfits!

 

Day 3. Coin: After a few attempts, I got the hang of spinning a coin and the pic turned out pretty fabulous :) (Yes, I am starting to get a bit lovo with my photographic creativity)

 

Day 4: Somewhere I sat: Today I sat in a church service commemorating the one year anniversary of the passing of beloved Grand uncle Nanti. RIP xo

 

Day 5. Logo: Tricky word today. Sticker logo on the Aussie avo

 

Day 6. Writing: Writing and posting up love notes to surprise hubby when he gets home from work after midnight so it will be our anniversary when he sees it :) xo

 

Day 7. 8 o'clock: Time for dessert. Strawberry choc ice cream - yum!

 

Day 8. Glasses: Anniversary celebrations continue today with chili chocolate mousse filled glasses - yum (ok diet is going out the window in this week of celebrations!)

 

Day 9. Messy: Sonia and Diva took me out for an early birthday lunch today and this is Keira's chair when she got up. I think she was feeding the chair lol

 

Day 10. Ring: My birthday today :) so I bought Keira a ring pop - especially for this prompt lol

 

Day 11. Purple: I attendede the Fairfield Relay For Life launch dinner tonight. I went solo and had to leave my own birthday party but I had a really good time especially as I was an actual guest and NOT working! Purple is the Relay For Life colour :)

Day 12. Spoon: I found Montana crawling around with this wooden spoon. Keira must have gotten it out to play 'cooking'. If only she was old enough to cook with it ;)

Day 13. Simple: A simple ball and dandeloins keeps Keira entertained in the back yard while I hang the washing

Day 14. Arrow: Boring prompt. I was on my way to my parents place and drove around the quiet streets trying to find a safe place to take a picture of an arrow. With some editing, this pic turned out pretty cool (lovo again)

Day 15. Ready: My mother in law arrives today from NZ for a visit. The twins are ready to meet Nana Lilly for the first time :)

Twin-isms: Interactions

Our twins look so grown up in the picture below. To me it looks like they are discussing the very important subject of shopping tags and stickers ;) I love seeing them interact with each other more and more everyday. In our eyes, Montana is the adventurer and Lucas is  the safe player. We can just see the following scenario in a few years time where Montana will be coaxing Lucas to follow her 'C'mon Lucas' in some kind of adventure and Lucas will hesitantly respond "But mum told us to stay here"....hahaha

 

Well they are only 8 and a half months old so there is still plenty of growing for them to do....meanwhile it's really fun watching them together. Sometimes I wish I could just wake up with a camera in my hand to capture them saying good morning to each other by putting their foreheads together or capture the look they exchange to each other when big sister Keira is doing a funny dance or acting silly in front of them. Their cuteness just makes my heart burst with happiness xo

 

Keira-isms: The little Housekeeper

Keira can make quite a mess, as most toddlers do. She is a Miss Independent who likes to feed herself, pour her own drinks, make her own milo and cereal. Sometimes when I am busy with the twins, she will look for food in the pantry and fridge then get her plate, cutlery or cup to serve herself. It's cute but her 'independence' can leave a mess behind.

However, on the bright side Keira has shown a likeness and eagerness to cleaning especially to vacuuming, sweeping and washing the dishes. Teach and start them young right? Is it wishful thinking to hope that this will continue for years to come? ;)

Playing with my new toy

I bought my sisters Canon DSLR camera when she bought herself an upgrade. She gave me a good price and I was excited to finally own a flashy dashy camera! Even though it's second hand and it's at the bottom rank of DSLR cameras - I love it and I was eager to play around with it straight away which happened to be the weekend that my niece Lilly was staying over.  

 

Now, there was no instruction manual included (my sister is yet to give it to me) so I just basically did a point and shoot with no idea of what I was doing. We all had fun though and here are some of the results of our playful photo shoot in my front  and back yard. All unedited.

 

Lilly getting close to nature with our back yard tree - the top shot is my favourite



I took a few pics of Lilly and her cousins -  I shot these pics in the wrong spot as there was too much shadow caused by the sun but it was hard to move the twins around plus it was starting to get windy so I had to do a quick photo shoot hoping I'll get some half decent shots!

Lilly and my adorable little man Lucas

 

Two beauties. My beautiful Montana was all smiles for the camera :)

 

 Lilly and Keira started to get sick of posing and just wanted to play around the front yard





Lilly showed off her gymnastics skills (she asked me to make sure I included this cartwheel photo)

 

Jumping around.... 

 

Ring o ring o rosie....

We all fall down....

 

The girls had fun playing in the front yard and I had heaps of fun playing photographer although it's quite evident that I need some photography lessons. I am hoping to do a basic photography community course which my sister did and recommended for new starters.  I don't want to be a pro, I just want to learn how to make the most of my new toy, capture lots of memorable moments and have fun along the way :)

July Highlights

Lia's Birthday

My cousin Lindsay (Lia) celebrated her 23rd birthday on 20th July.  Lia has been doing 'work experience' with me since when she was 15 years old! Her first job was assisting me with the clean up of the events storage room when I was a PR Assistant at Marrickville City Council. This room was called the 'cage' and it was situated underneath an old town hall. Not the place one would like to clean out alone! Even now, we cannot look at flags or banners the same way! I got her to work by telling her it would be good work experience for her and she could put it down on her resume. I then started working at Cancer Council as an Events Coordinator where for the past 7 years Lia has volunteered at my events including Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, Daffodil Day, Pink Ribbon Day and has been a Fairfield Relay For Life committee member for 6 years. In that time Lia completed her HSC in the States top 8%, graduated with a double degree in Economics and Commerce (or something fancy like that) from University of New South Wales and now has a HR job at a top firm so obviously she does not need to volunteer with me for experience any longer! This year she told me that she wants to volunteer for another charity.........as if I'm going to let her go!!! Haha

Apart from being a wonderful volunteer, Lia is also a talented cake baker/decorator. We give her a theme or concept and the result is a brilliantly decorated cake. So, for her birthday this year, her sister Tildy, my sister Flavia and myself went all out to make some delicious desserts for her. This is the result:

Clockwise from top right: Creme Brulee by Tildy and red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting by me, Triple layer white buttermilk cake with buttercream and coconut icing Birthday cake made by me, White chocolate oreo cheesecakes made by my sister and Strawberry fruit jelly made by my Aunty Zinda. Lia was impressed by our efforts and felt the love.  It was all so delicious!

Happy Birthday Aunty Lia! Keira and Jaime love singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles

Cheeky cousins creating their own fun at the party. Jaime rode the bike pulling Keira who was sitting on a chair behind him and then they swapped. Clever kids :)

Lilly's Visit

Cousin Lilly stayed over for a weekend. It was great for me as I had an extra pair of hands from a very willing helper! The pictures above are snapshots of what Lilly did over the weekend which included looking after the twins when we were at Play School, changing nappies, feeding the babies their solid food and comforting crying twins (she was pretending to scream in the picture or did she really want to scream? haha) Lilly also played with Keira and read her books. What a wonderful help she was and great practice for when her twin sisters arrive. She is going to be a great big sister! xo

Play School

Play School has started and on our first day, it wasn't as hectic as we thought it be! Hopefully it will continue to be haha but I know that Keira and myself had an enjoyable time.  They had a fun lesson on the Human body and next month they are learning about the Olympics :)

The 2-3 year old class learning shapes and colours. Hyrum looks disinterested, Mercedes is concentrating on colouring in, Kingston playing with cars and Keira playing with shapes.

Photo a Day July - last days

I have now completed my third straight month of Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day challenge and it is now a part of my day which I look forward to. As I rarely venture out of home with my three kidlets these days, it really has become a challenge to do but that's when I have to be creative and most often, the opportunity presents itself throughout the day. Here are the last few days of July:

Day 23. Mirror: Keira loves dressing up and dancing/ twirling in front of the mirror

Day 24. Stranger: I stood on my front lawn for 10 mins waiting for a stranger to walk past and no one did except our neighbour in his front garden so I went up to him and introduced myself - finally after 8 months. His name is Tony and we chatted for 30 mins and then I asked him for a photo. It took today's prompt to finally say hello to him! I wrote this on Fat Mum Slim's photo and she commented that she loved this story. This photo then gave me some insta fame with over 40 likes and 12 new followers...amazing what a little photo and caption can lead to!

Day 25. Heart: Keira's look this morning - heart shirt, beanie and pink bloomers over her tights. Her fashion statements always make our day :)

Day 26. Sunshine: The sunshine finally made an appearance after a gloomy start to the day

Day 27. On the Road: I was in Parramatta today and this is one of its on the road street art

Day 28. Cup: We had my friends Alwin and Charlie over for dinner. I made enchiladas and this picture is of the cup of dates needed for the sticky date pudding I made for dessert. It was a hit and I'm so glad to make an impression on Charlie the Chef

Day 29. Last thing I bought: I  bought this fancy dancy camera off my sister who has upgraded her camera for a bargain price. I had a great time playing with my new toy all weekend

Day 30. Calm: With the twins teething now, all is calm when they are asleep. I actually joined their hands together and they held it together for a few minutes - long enough to capture it :)

Day 31.Toothbrush: Keira's cute Mr Toothbrush - she finally enjoys brushing her teeth properly now! Better late than never! :)



Is it worth it?

It's such a mission to go out alone with my three so unless I am visiting family and friends - I don't do it!.....with the exception of going to the library. I try to take Keira alone in the mornings to Story Time when Damo is home to look after the twins but he has been working earlier shifts so lately, I've had to take all three babies with me and when we don't make it to Story Time at 10am, we still go during the day to make returns, re-borrow and to keep up the library routine.

Getting all three kidlets and myself dressed to go out: 40 mins

Loading three kidlets in the car: 10 mins

Drive to the library: 10 mins

Unloading car including pram: 10 mins

Keira borrowing books and DVDs: 5 mins  (10 mins if I get a chance to borrow something and 30 mins if we make it to Story Time)

Re-loading car to go home: 10 mins

Drive home: 10 mins

Unloading three kidlets: 10 mins

So it takes more than 1 hour to make our weekly 10 min library outing (or 30 mins for Story Time outing) and I have asked myself "Is it worth it?" on more than one occasion.

When we get home:

Keira excitedly opens up one of her DVD's to play

Keira and sometimes the twins are entertained by the DVD for 30-60 mins. Keira is often dancing and jumping along having fun

I read the books we borrow to put Keira to sleep

A few days later, Keira is singing the tunes to the new songs and repeating new words from the books I've read to her

This is when my question is answered: Yes it is worth it!

Keira is such an expert at borrowing DVD's - she has it done in 5 mins! lol

Keira-isms: Winter sun

Keira loves to wear dresses and she loves dressing up. These Winter days, I dress her in the morning in long pants and jumpers and when I'm not looking she'll change into a dress or a tutu. She has a 'favourites' collection, which includes this dress given to her by Damien's Aunty Fou for her first birthday.

We've been lucky to have beautiful sunny Winter days which for me means doing the laundry and for Keira it's an opportunity to play in the back yard while I hang out the washing.

I've never really noticed her playing on her own before but now that I have developed an iphone camera/instagram obsession, I stopped hanging the washing and took a moment to capture her running around and playing with her shadow in the Winter sun. I love how she can entertain herself in her own little imaginary world and I hope that she will share this world with her siblings as they get older so that I can capture many more of these playful moments.

Twin-isms: Twin bond

When we were told we were having fraternal twins, the Dr told us it was like having two separate pregnancies at the one time. People like to think of twins as having a special bond because they've grown together in the womb and when they are born they need to be put together because they are so used to each other and can't be separated. Not my twins. When they were first born it was each to their own. Like most newborns they just wanted their mama and there was no indication of trying to reach out for the sibling whom they had shared a womb with for 38 weeks. Our boy Lucas, even though the youngest by a minute was more domineering and attention seeking. When Montana cried Lucas would cry louder - he always wanted to be held and he did not want to share. Even when they slept in the same cot - they still cried and preferred to sleep with me. You would think that they'll be comforted having another baby next to them. Not my two. They had their first separation when they were one week old when Lucas went to the hospital to get his cast and there was no separation anxiety at all. I remember thinking how right the Dr was - it did feel like I had two pregnancies at the same time as I saw no twin bond between them whatsoever. I was beginning to think that maybe it only applied to identical twins until one day - 11 days after they were born, I checked in on the sleeping twins and saw this:

Awwww YES they do have a bond and they ARE aware of each other. They show it in their own way. Now that they are older, I catch them looking at each other and there is an unspoken, unique communication only between the two of them. There is no denying that they have their own special twin bond. We love it when they share this with us.

Below are pictures of the twins playing around - Lucas was trying to get onto Montana's bouncer and she was kicking him off and he thought it was so funny. Too cute!

We look forward to seeing their twin bond grow, nourish and develop together and with others (as long as they don't gang up on mummy and daddy!)

Photo a Day July Part 1

Our internet has been down so I haven't been able to post on my blog lately. Here is part one of July's Photo a Day pics:

1. Self portrait - I was trying to take a self portrait but Keira kept on trying to get in the picture so in the end I included her in it :)

2. Busy - I was so busy packing my shopping that I almost forgot to take my $50 cash out. Thank goodness for the annoying computer voice reminding me to take my money!

3. Best part of my day - 2am shopping at 24 hour Kmart. No kids, no lines, no crowds and cheap prices = shopping bliss :) I go at this time when Damo gets home from work the all the kids are asleep :)

4. Fun - Keira loves bubbles and she had fun chasing them on our front lawn. It was a bit tricky trying to blow bubbles and take a picture with my phone at the same time but I'm happy with what I captured :)

5. On the floor - Twins playing and crawling around on the floor. They are moving around so much!

6. Chair - Keira was entertaining Montana in her high chair by singing Ring a Ring a Rosie and Montana was laughing at the Ah tissue part. It was sooo cute xo

7. Garden - Even in Winter my dad's backyard garden still looks lush!

8. Lunch - Baked Chilli Lime salmon with apple corn salad. It was delicious! One week of NO junk food detox down, two more to go. Healthy eating needs a little more prep but it is worth it

9. Big - Toot toot chugga chugga Big Red Car - Keira enjoyed this ride at Westfield and didn't want to get off! It looks like this car has seen better days!

10. My favourite colour - Yellow is my favourite colour but all my favourite fruits are red. I love watermelon, strawberries and cherries which are in season :)

11. Letter - M is for Missing. I found this letter in the backyard and other letters ALL over the place thanks to Miss Keira. Now my poor twins no longer have a floor mat :(

12. Texture - This is a tree from our front garden - I think it's a Mulberry tree. I took this in a rush because it was starting to rain but it turned out pretty good! :) 

13. Open - This is a boring picture of  waiting for the shopping door to open when I went grocery shopping with the kids and Dees who was over. It was the end of the day and I had totally forgot to get a picture so I took this while in a rush

14. Building - We didn't go out today so it was either this picture of Keira's doll house or my building washing basket. Damo said to go for the doll house haha Keira got it for Xmas from my sister and although she has lost most of the people and furniture she still loves playing with it

15. Finger - The best way to eat Cheesy Gobbles is on your finger haha I was lucky to get Keira to keep her hands still for this shot!

16. Sign - The twins had a bit of conjunctivitis and I found them like this when I went in to check on them. A heart melting sign of twin bonding xo

17. My addiction - I love my herbal teas which I drink 2-4 times a day. I especially love the Twinnings brand of berry flavours

18. Plate - I baked some Anzac biscuits and from the empty plate it looks like it was enjoyed by all :)

19. Pet - We don't have a pet so it was a stroke of luck that we went over to the Simpson's place today to do our tax and so I took a pic of their cute dog Terminator aka Termie

20. Eyes - Playing Peek a Boo with Montana

21. 9 o'clock - 9am and everyone is still asleep. I'm in bed editing iphone pics for my blog including this one of Lucas with Great grandma Maria. Love it xo

22. Upside down - I'm going to miss their cute little socks (and feet) when these are outgrown (which is very soon! :( 

Snap Happy Aunties

Every time we see my cousins, they whip out their mobile cameras and take heaps of photos of my three babies which they then post up on instagram and Facebook or they sms me the photos a few weeks later with an 'I miss them' message. It is really sweet that my kidlets have snap happy aunties :)

My cousin Teia took these photos of Lucas last week and I am so impressed! I love these photos of my handsome little man. I told her so and she replied that it's all him because he is so gorgeous and I couldn't argue with that! :)

My sister Flavia upgraded her SLR camera and wanted to test it out on my girls when we went to my parents place for a visit a few weeks ago. Below are some of the photos she took. Fabulous new camera + great photographer + gorgeous models = beautiful photos :)

Keira

Montana