Van's Giveaway

I have a yummy Van's Giveaway on my giveaway blog that you should check out! 

2 lucky winners with receive 4 coupons for free Van's products! Head over to Twice the Love...Reviews to enter!

"Do you want a monster to come out of your closet?"

A lot's been going on this week. Yesterday I went to the dermatologist to have the, as my cousin refers to it, hole in my head, checked. I was all pumped for him to say it's fine and that if I didn't mind having the cyst there it could stay. Wrong. It has to come out, but at least it's not infected so it will be a much easier procedure. This also means I will have a bald spot on top of my head a lot longer than I anticipated. Good thing I watch Jerseylicious on Style and can properly tease that area of my hair. Thank you Tracy, thank you.


The kids are doing so great! I'm literally amazed with the things they come up with now. Let's start with the princess.


No, not her Halloween costume, apparently this is everyday wear when you are as cute as her. She's a big fan of Monsters Inc and we have seriously watched it a million times, I don't even think I'm exaggerating. Anyway, Scott was putting her down for her nap the other day and apparently she pointed to the closet and said "monster!". Scott asked her if she wanted a monster to come out and what does my darling say? "Yes!" This is also the child that wants an apple when she is watching/reading Snow White. I'm definitely going to have my hands full....

Now onto my Bubba man, Mr. Aaron....


He's a smart little you know what. He also has superhero like senses. The kid can hear/spot a helicopter or airplane from Kansas, I swear. We were heading to SeaWorld a while back and Aaron starting saying "helicopter! helicopter!". Scott and I (real safe, right?) are both looking out the window trying to figure out where this helicopter is. Aaron even told us what color it was and we still hadn't even found it. I swear this helicopter was miles away, I have no idea how he saw it.

He's also working really hard on signing his numbers and ABC's. Granted his ABC's pretty much look like either a B, D or A, but I love that he wants to do it.

We also broke out the paints the other day. Jill LOVES when we paint, she did at least 6 pictures, and she pretty much covered each page in paint. Aaron likes it, just not as much as Jill. Plus, Aaron takes his time and really puts a lot into what he's doing. Jill just plows through her paintings.

Don't you love it? Crafts are definitely becoming a lot more fun over here. We even colored pumpkins the other day. I'm looking into fun Thanksgiving themed crafts that we can work on so we can display them at Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

Don't forget to head over to my review blog, I have one giveaway and one really cool announcement from CiCi's pizza!

Mommy and Me Monday

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Scott had to work mandatory overtime this weekend so we really only had one "family" day. We decided to go to Hollywood Studios since all the tourists seem to be going back home. No offense, but it's nice when you go home.

We hardly ever go to this park, it's mainly shows, which are great, but the kiddos definitely have to be in the mood to sit in one spot for 30-40 minutes. We started by grabbing some lunch at the backlot express, which funnily enough, is where Scott started his Disney career many moons ago.



We went to Muppet 3D next, Jill was not a fan, maybe because she was tired? Or she is inheriting the "I hate 3D gene" from me.

The main reason we went to the studios yesterday was to see the Lights, Motors, Action show. It's a stunt show with cars, motorcycles and lots of explosions. The kids haven't seen it since they were 6 months old, and they loved it then. The only downside to this show with toddlers is that there are a lot of breaks between stunts and they lose interest. However, when the stunts are going on the kids have their full undivided attention.



We even stopped to see the parade, which the kids and I have never seen. We got some seats in the shade, which quickly turned into direct sun, got some popcorn and waited for the parade.



Naturally, the rain came and the parade whizzed right by us. Jill loved it though and waved to everyone she could. Aaron hung out with Scott, he was overtired by this point and just wanted to snuggle, which in weather that feels like 104 is awesome.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

All in all, it was a great day with my munchkins and hubs! Hope you had a great weekend too!



Be sure to play along with Krystyn at Really are you serious?

Also, stop by Lani's blog today for her Blog For A Cure party to help benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

And don't forget to check out my review blog! I posted a new giveaway today, more to come this week!

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott giving me 2 hours to do nothing yesterday. He even took the kids to Mimi and Paw Paw's so I could have the house to myself (I was climbing the walls after 30 minutes).

• Aaron's ever expanding vocabulary, which now includes "My turn! My turn!", even if it's not his turn his turn.

• Jill's creative/artistic side, which includes acting out scenes from movies, coloring and yelling the word "arabesque" while doing one.
  

• The way my parents tell a story, I only hope I can make my kids laugh as hard as they do.

• Mimi and Paw Paw having us for dinner on Labor Day and making the kiddos favorite cookies (ginger molasses).

• Finishing my first class, I got a B, I'm not thrilled I got a B though. Should have been an A.

• My friend Jenn's son B, he is so good with our kids and they love him. Some day in the very very very far future he will make an awesome dad. Did I mention in the very very very very far future?

• An awesome librarian in the kids department. She's so sweet, the kids love her and always say hi. She even came out from the back office yesterday to say hi to them.

• Florida State and Notre Dame winning their first games of the season, let's keep it that way guys.

• All the sweet comments from my feature day.
  

• All the amazing sponsors we have gotten for the End of Summer Blog Party, we're around 25 prizes which is awesome (and they're really great prizes, one even made Lani and I say "Oh my God!").
  

What are you thankful for? Link up below:



Don't forget to stop by my review blog and enter my recipe contest. The winner receives 5 vouchers for free Van's All Natural Products!

Way back When-esday

Dateline: September 2008
Age: Almost 4 months

I mean really, does it get any cuter? I think this was one of my most favorite outfits they had when they were this age, and naturally I think they only wore it once. Normally I am not big on the matchy-matchy outfits, but gosh darn this cute! The fact that Jill is practically leaping out of her Bumbo just makes the photo. I really should have known then what I would be up against now. Ha ha!

Play along with Cheryl at Twinfatuation!

Also, head over to my review blog, I'm hosting a recipe contest with Van's All Natural Foods!

Thanksgiving Thursday

Been a long week over here, how about you? This week I am thankful for:

• Scott, most especially for him coming home on Tuesday to take care of all us sickies.
  

• Aaron and me time this week. We went to the pet store to get dog food and got to spend some one on one time. He's a big fan of watching the fish in the store and even said goodbye to them the entire walk to the car.

• Jill's cheesy smile. I pretty much have a photo everyday of her smiling, per her request. She'll love those when she's older.

• The illness being swift and not so bad. Now if we could just get rid of the leftover snot we'll be alright.

• All of our family and friends, you are the best!

• Dawn introducing me to Cupcake wines, so delish!

• The excitement my kids have when they hear we are going to the library (or house as they call it).

• My sister and niece getting the song Big Rock Candy Mountain permanently stuck in my head (sense the sarcasm). Oooooooh the buzzin' of the bees in the peppermint trees.....

• Scott's 15 year high school reunion coming up in a few weeks. I have my reasons for being excited, and his name is Joey Fatone.

• The stuffed cheetah surviving the illness that briefly plagued the house. It was touch and go for a while, but Jill was a terrific nurse.

• The awesome give away I'm hosting on my review blog (I have another coming tomorrow too!)

What are you thankful for this week? Link up or leave a comment letting me know!

Way back When-esday: Vogue

Dateline: July 2008
Age: 2 months

Strike a pose! I should have known then we'd be in trouble now. Jill was already posing at 2 months, now we have to take a daily photo of her saying "cheese!" and then show it to her. Aaron has always done the "hey there" pose and now he tries to make eyes with the camera. Maybe we have two models on our hands?

Play along with Cheryl at Twinfatuation!

*******************************************
The kids are doing much better today! Thank you for all of your well wishes yesterday! If you have a chance head over to my review blog and enter to win a prize pack from Frito-Lay!

Photographer I am not...

Like I said yesterday I pretty much sucked it up with taking photos this weekend. I had every intention of getting a photo of us and our friends Dawn and Dyson at PF Changs on Friday night, I blame the cosmos on that one. And when I say cosmos I don't mean universe, not that you were thinking that, right? I actually tried their crispy green beans (Dawn's suggestion) and you know what I guarantee I ate a full serving of veggies. Probably not the healthiest way, but by far the most delicious way.

Sunday I really sucked it up in the photo department. Pretty much every year we get a photo of Scott holding both of the kids and somehow that did not happen this year. We'll have to take it this week. Anywho, Sunday morning at mass they were honoring the youngest and oldest fathers in our parish. Scott was contacted on Friday and told that he was in fact the youngest father. Normally this would be strange, but when your parish is 80% retired folks, it's not that hard to believe. When we got to church we were informed there was someone who came in at the last minute and was 8 years younger than Scott, so he wouldn't be the youngest father. Scott (and I) were pretty bummed, but amazingly they still honored him because they said they would on Friday. How great right? Funny part of the whole story is when Father called everyone up he referred to Scott as Jesus Christ, as in "Jesus Christ come up here, yes you Jesus". Scott and Father like to tease each other, in case you couldn't tell.


Sunday afternoon we went up to Mimi and Paw Paw's with every hope of swimming but the clouds rolled in and we just knew if we got everyone all set to go in the pool it would start raining. That was a battle I didn't want to fight, let's be honest. Our friends Jon and Courtney also came by with their 12 day old little girl Caitlyn. She was so cute, and so good! I am jealous of her luscious locks though, she has more hair on her head than Jill had when she was a year and a half, no joke. Her super cuteness is why I think I didn't take any photos, I was distracted. Ha ha!

Keep an eye on my review blog this week, lots coming your way!

What did I just step in???

Before you read any further be sure to check out my review blog! I'm talking about a great summer camp here in Florida!

I'm going to start with an apology, it has been a very long day and I'm half a glass in to some Pinot Grigio, so if there are a lot of typos, sorry.

Yesterday I was able to take the kids outside to play for a little while, until those pesky wasps made their triumphant return. Seriously, I have never seen wasps like these before. They are huge. I could tell what color their eyes are from half way across the yard, no joke. My kids love the outdoors, unlike me. Aaron is constantly asking for his shuws so he can go ouwtside-a.

Jill loves being on the slide and always thinks it's her turn to go down it. Even if Aaron is on the slide she will push him down so it can be her turn. Of course, it's ok, because she says "Whee!" as she pushes Aaron.

We're also getting a lot of birds in our backyard. I think we may have a few nests developing as well. Aaron is practically losing his mind with the abundance of birds in our yard. Again, not like me, I can't stand them (ask Lani, seriously). Yesterday we saw this cardinal at our feeder:

When Aaron saw him he started screaming (no joke on the screaming) "BIRD! THERE IT IS!!! BIRD! THERE IT IS!!!" I had to make a mad dash for my camera to snap the shot before he slammed his hands against the window in excitement and scared it away. I hope he comes back so I can get a better shot, and maybe he'll bring his friend Mr. Blue Jay.

Ok so that's where all the good fun stuff ends. Let's talk about today, shall we? My day started with some "fun" that I left out from yesterday. Scott started coming down with a stomach bug yesterday. And I mean the stomach bug that has been going around. Somehow he dragged himself into work and I began santizing the house from floorboard to ceiling. Anything he touched, breathed on or even looked at got a touch of Lysol. So I was pretty pooped (hmm, wrong word choice?) after my floor to ceiling cleaning and hit the hay. Naturally, I didn't sleep well because I was concerned if he was going to continue getting sick or spike a fever. Then all hell broke loose...

At 2:30 am I heard Aaron crying so I went to see what was up. As I left the room, Scott made the mad dash for the bathroom. Then, as I'm helping Aaron I hear "Amanda???" Seriously? Well, needless to say Scott had to make due on his own while I took care of Aaron. Finally all three of us piled into bed, and Aaron hung out for 2 hours (2 HOURS!). Bite me Daylight Savings and your stupid spring forward. Anyway, Aaron finally went down around 4:30 and was up again at 7 on the dot ready to go for the day. Um, not me kiddo.

So Aaron and I hung out again until Miss Jill decided to wake up. Here's where we start to ice the proverbial cake. I go in to get her and there is this gunk all over her and her crib. What the frick?! Her diaper literally exploded. All the gel from the inside of the diaper was covering her, her sheets, her blankets, her stuffed animal and her crib. G-D. I got her stripped down, rinsed her off in the tub, while fighting off Aaron who thought it was bath time, and then changed into some new jammies. Seriously, this is the worst of the day, right?

Let's add some more icing....

Things went pretty well until naptime. Both kids went down, but Jill kept chatting away. I went in to try and get her to settle down and then I saw it... poop.... everywhere. My darling angel took off her diaper and then flung the poop that was in the diaper all around the room and then proceeded to pee in her bed. And where was the diaper? Sitting under her clean butt. Needless to say she did not nap, and her bedding/blankets/animal got another round in the washer.

Things went better in the afternoon after Aaron got up, and Mimi and Paw Paw brought me a coffee to keep me with it (thanks again!). Jill even helped me wipe down everything Scott touched today. Then we iced the cake some more...

I was Lysoling my couch and stepped on something. What the frick? POOP! I stepped in POOP! My dog took a giant crap in the living room and I walked right into it!

So now that explains the now finished glass of Pinot Grigio. I hope you had a much better day!

PR Welcome

This is a PR friendly blog and I would love to hear from you. I would be happy to do a product review and/or giveaway to be featured on my review blog, Twice the Love Reviews. I do not charge for product reviews. Companies I have worked with include: Frito-Lay, HINT Water, Wings of Nature, The Greener Good and AMC Theaters.

Please feel free to contact me at twicetheloveblog@hotmail.com
with any ideas you may have or with any questions that you may have. Blog stats are available upon request.


Press

• Twin Stuff! - 11/2009
  
• The Daily Buzz - 2/16/2010
• Baby Talk Magazine - 5/2010
  
• Gold Parent Coaching - 12/3/2010
• Twins Magazine 5/2011
• Mommy Page 9/2011