Jessica is 9!

Happy Birthday Miss Jessica!! 

Last wednesday we went to Jessica's 9th birthday party. 9!!! Holy crap, I can't believe she's 9. 

I was able to check another Mommy accomplishment off my list: Taking the girls by myself to a swimming pool and leaving there without incident. 

CHECK!

Luckily for me three things came in handy:

Emma's life jacket floaty thing

The kid pool that was the same depth without another pool in sight

Grandma :)

The party was during the day, so Matt was working and couldn't make it. Emma LOVED the water and so did Charly. They both didn't want to leave! It was so much fun. I love spending time with family, and I LOVE seeing my girls have fun. Success!! We love you Jessica!

As Destiny's Child would say, "I'm A SURVIVOR!!"

xoxo
Rachel

Summer Adventures

We've had a fun summer so far. AND compared to last year, we've had a GREAT summer because I'm not pregnant, HOLLA!!

Gosh, I can't stress enough how much I despised my existence last summer. I did nothing, because it was too hot and I was too miserable to try. Yep. I'm that girl. The one who doesn't LOVE being pregnant! 

The best thing we did last summer was visit Matt's family in Illinois, and while it was bloody hot and I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, it was so great to see everyone and let Emma play with Gramma and Papa. 

Anyways, back to THIS summer. The one where I'm not pregnant...

We've played at the park lots, almost daily. We've swam in the swimming pool, ran through the sprinklers, and played with water balloons. We've fed animals at Wheeler Farm. We've had lots of friends over and cousin family time. We went camping! (Next post)

It's been so fun, and summer isn't over yet! 

I love our little family. I love our daily laughs. I love us. I'm a bit obsessed, but I'm entitled to since they are mine, right? 

Here's some pictures of our summer fun so far:

My little socialite daughter. She definitely has Matt's genes running through her, because she loves going up to random kids and making friends. She calls out to them, "hey kids!" or, "hey boy!" to get their attention. In this picture, there was a little boy that was driving a remote control car around, and she followed him around like a shadow.

Miss Charly chillin' in the shade.

Her face when we ask her to smile. It's to die for!

smile part 2

Sister Shenanigans. I am in love with these pictures. Charlotte picking her nose and Emma flashing her smile makes me so happy to be a Mom! This is what life is like most days!

We went to Wheeler Farm to feed the animals. It's a free family trip, and the duck food only costs 50 cents per bag. Emma loves it everytime we go!

I wish one day you will all be able to witness Charlotte's "looks". I'm telling you, she's trying to communicate through each look she gives. I will take a series of pictures right in a row, and get a different look with every shot. It makes me smile! She is my sweet Charly girl. 

Watching some cartoons in their Sunday best :)

It's always a good day when we go to Hot Dog on A Stick 

I cannot get enough of their lemonade!! Delish!!

My beautiful girls!

Emma loves it when Kami and Kadan come over for the day!

We love summer!!!

xoxo
The Twistles

Herriman Beach

AKA

coolest new find ever

AKA

Black Ridge Reservoir

AKA

AWESOME.

While Matt was recovering from gallbladder surgery, my friend Anne invited me to go with her to this new lake type thing in Herriman. 

A lake? In Herriman? WHAAAA???

Yep. A lake in Herriman, a man-made lake, BUT a lake nonetheless. 

I was nervous to go alone, because water and Emma usually gives me Mommy anxiety. She doesn't quite understand the danger of it, and will go charging into water without a care. 

Luckily, she has accepted the use of a life-jacket apparatus that helps her float. She thinks it's pretty cool.

I must say, it was an unexpected success when everything went well and no one drowned OR had a melt down. I felt like screaming, "I Did It!" like Emma does when she does something new on her own for the first time. The prayers I said before leaving were the real reason everything went so smooth. I love when tender mercies like that happen in life! 

Anyways, we plan to go back in a few weeks with family and friends. I love free fun, and free, CLOSE fun is even better.

Emma and her Kami

Charlotte was a happy little girl the whole time!

Sister Love

Laughing at Emma 

Our view from the beach, it's all sand and the water isn't that cold!

People. I don't know them, but they seem to be enjoying themselves! 

One of her new pastimes, balancing one leg in the air as she plays with toys. Multi-tasker!

Emma's "safe" floaty, she loves it!

floating on her tummy. She loves the floaty because of this!

Herriman Beach was a complete success and I am so glad we went! It was a fun time, I highly recommend going before the summer is over! 

xoxo
The Twistles

Baby Food!

I know my sister is going to give me crap, BUT... did you know you can make your own baby food?!

Yup.

Make it, like from scratch and stuff.

My sister is gonna give me guff because she did this with Sophia and I had totally forgotten about it. That is, until I quit my job and lost our extra income. Paying $1.00 for two packs of baby food seems pretty steep when money is extremely tight.

So to put it in comparison for you...

$10 will get me 20 packs of baby food. 

5 sweet potatoes for $2.40 will get me 24 1 oz. sizes of baby food. Now, that is all one flavor of course, but when you are paying so little, just imagine how much food you can make with all sorts of fruits and veggies!

So far I've made carrots, bananas, and sweet potatoes. I have pears and frozen peas as well that I am going to make. 

I knew I had to start Charly on solid foods, but money was so tight I just didn't want to buy it. I remembered my sister had made it, and I have also seen the "make your own baby food" pins all over Pinterest. So, I jumped online and searched for recipes. When I read how simple it was, I was so angry I didn't do this with Emma! Seriously, SO EASY!!

To make carrots: 

Steam about 8 carrots, 

puree/blend carrots with water until the consistency is smooth and a little runny 

fill ice cube trays with pureed carrots. 

Freeze in the freezer and then put them into Ziploc bags. 

That's it!!!

Sorry, I'm just very excited about this. VERY EXCITED!!

Steaming carrots. I am using our rice cooker that we got for our wedding that I rarely use, until now! 

pureed carrots put into ice cube trays....

Bananas!

EASY!!! You have to do it if you have little babies, HAVE TO!!

Charlotte loves it, well as much as a 7 month old can. Okay, she eats it and doesn't spit it out. That means she likes it. 

The sizes are just right for her, and I will make her two for each feeding. The bananas oxidize quickly, so after you puree them you have to get them right into the freezer or they turn bad. To heat them up, just throw them in your microwave and defrost until they are warm. I add rice cereal to the bananas because they are really runny. 

It is so cheap to make and you get so much. It just takes a little time!

Have you made baby food? Let me know if you have any tricks or secrets! 

xoxo

Rachel

 

Updates.

Lately, I have found myself checking my blogger list to see if anyone has updated their blog with cute pictures and stories. I think to myself, "gosh, I just updated my blog, where is everyone else's upates?"

Then I look at the date of my last post, and realize it's been almost a month since I updated mine. 

Whoops? I guess I'm not exempt from falling off the blogger planet either. I do know of some blogger buddies that desperately need to do some updating... you know who you are... if I read that your last post was ONE YEAR AGO, then you have some work to do!

Just kidding. But seriously.

Life is moving along for us here in the Twistle home. I love my girls more every day and we have been enjoying the sunshine and warm weather by going outside every day! If I could change anything, it would be the 15 stairs that I am forced to go up and down with a carseat, toddler, and diaper bag in tow. It. Is. THE. worst. Especially when my toddler decides to jump down each stair while I anticipate a mis-jump followed by her tumbling down the concrete stairs o' death. 

Well, I myself have been busy! Here's what I've been up to:

My friend in our ward has her own business making lollipops, and she's recently asked me to help her make them. She is getting really busy, and has been featured in multiple magazines including Martha Stewart! She has been gracious enough to trust me with her secret recipe and the magic of getting an image inside a lollipop. It has been so much fun, and has allowed me to get out of the house and "go back to work" in a way. Here's her website if you are curious to see what it's all about:

www.designerlolli.com
Not only do the lolli's taste awesome, but the images are amazing too! She can even do custom designs for big events or birthdays. If you order something, I may have been the one to help make your lollipop! I know, it's a pret-ty awesome thought.

I've also started watching my friend's baby boy Deion twice a week. He is so different than my dainty and petite girls! He is 8 1/2 months old, so it goes without saying that I have my hands full! He has been so much fun so far, and I love his handsome little face! I'm sure you've all seen the updates on FB, and you can be sure there will be more :)

I will also be watching Anne's babes on Mondays while she takes a nursing class for her degree. It's gonna be a busy summer!!

The girls are growing like weeds, and every day Emma is building up her vocabulary. I can literally watch her struggle to find the words as she is talking with me. Her favorite thing these days is to call our names and then stall by saying, "Um, this!" as she points to some random object. It's pretty adorable. 

Charlotte is rolling all over the place, and I panic daily thinking I have mis-placed my infant. I have to walk around the corner and look beyond the couch until I see her little legs kicking with pride. Then she shoots me the most perfect smile, that makes me celebrate with her as I smile back. 

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world when I think of my sweet family. I can't imagine life without them! Life is good, even with the bumps in the road :)

xoxo
The Twistles