4th of July Celebration

WOW. 

I am so glad Sunday is our day of rest, because after this weekend, I need it! We had a very memorable 4th of July this year. It was really fun to spend it with my family. Matt, Emma, Charlotte, and Me. 

We are a pretty fun group, I will tell you that!

On the 4th of July, we hit up Riverton Town Days Celebration, where they had the whole park set up with carnival rides. Emma loved the carousel and wanted to ride only that the entire time. She would have gotten on the other rides her size, but adults weren't allowed to go on, and she was really hesitant to go alone. So we bought 15 tickets and used them all on the carousel! 

I loved watching her excitement as she chose the horse she wanted, climbed up, and let the wind blow through her hair as we went around, and around, and around. Childhood is truly the best, and I get to experience a little bit of it each time I'm with my girls. Each time I look at them, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for these two little spirits that I have the opportunity to call my own. 

Matt took Charlotte on the ride with us, but since she was in the frontpack baby carrier ... um thingie, he had to go up and down with the horse on the carousel. It was funny to watch, but Matt said she liked it and was holding on to the pole! :)

After the carnival, we had lunch and went swimming in Emma's little blow up pool. We wanted to give her a late nap, so that we could take her to the firework show later on that night. Let's just say, we really wore her out! She slept for almost 3 hours that afternoon!

The firework show was great, we got there around 8:30 and hung out until they started around 10:00. I was a little skeptical how the girls were going to handle the fireworks. Matt really wanted to take Emma and I figured she would enjoy it, but I was more worried about how Charlotte was going to handle it. She can be quite particular and I thought it was either going to throw her into a panic, or the complete opposite. 

She ended up really enjoying them! There were a few times she was startled by the sound, but she didn't cry once, and happily stayed up late until 10:30 when we got to the car. Emma was with Matt, and he said she started giggling when she saw the first firework light up the sky. She had a great time. I am so glad we went! It's good that I have Matt to drag me out of my introverted self sometimes and make fun memories with the girls. 

I LOVE this woman!

The rest of the weekend we spent lighting off fireworks, playing in the water, and spending time with family. It was an amazing 4th of July!! 

Action shot of Emma watching the fireworks! :D

I know it's long, but I recorded a bit of our fireworks we did as a family on Friday night. It's just me, showing off my handsome husband and adorable kids, no biggie :) I always feel so thankful and blessed when I watch these videos.

I love this picture! It so perfectly displays how life with children is always entertaining

Jessica and Charlotte. Charly looks uneasy, but that's just her normal, everyday serious expression

Esau/Entwistle firework show! It was raining just a bit, but not enough to hold us back from lighting off fireworks! Poor Bella puppy did NOT like the crackling fireworks, and tried to high tail it out of the yard a few times.

Protecting Charly from the fireworks, so cute!

Mitchell's rain protecting shield!

Isn't he handsome? My Matty!

This picture, and ones below, show the all-time 4th of July winning face! For some reason Charly made this expression with each firework that went off. I am thinking she didn't enjoy the smell of the fireworks, but who really knows! It was the cutest thing ever! Forgive me for the multiple pictures of her face, but I just think that they are all adorable in each shot! I couldn't stop laughing.

Emma also pulled out the cute card, when she started to scream, "OH A GOSH, FIREWORKS!" with each one that went off. I laugh at the things she comes up with out of nowhere, I have never heard her say this before! She is so smart and observant, and when she wants to say something, she doesn't hold back!

The Matt Massacre, all 3 kids were beating him up

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! I know we had a fun time, and can't wait for the 24th! Woohoo! 2 celebrations for us! Yay!

xoxo
The Twistles

She's Mobile!

Yep. You heard it right, and you've most likely already seen the video. 

Charly started practicing her crawling skills about 2 weeks ago, and within a few short days she had it mastered. Now she's crawling everywhere! Her favorite thing is to crawl right up to you and climb up on your leg, or knees if you are sitting on the floor. She crawls right over to you, and looks up and flashes this great, big smile. I am so proud of my little Charlotte, her personality comes out more and more each day. 

She LOVES Emma. I can see it on her face when she looks at her. Emma can do no wrong in her eyes. It's been such a blessing to watch the bond between my two girls grow. 

Way to go Charly! We are so grateful for you, and excited to see what you learn next. 

xoxo
Mom and Dad

Cousins!

Yay! Emma is getting to the age that she's recognizing everybody. She is remembering names and faces and places!

She especially loves her Uncles and Poppa.

She asked the other day to see Uncle O-nan (Owen) so she could tickle him. The way she asked was adorable... "Mommy? See Onan's house? Cookie, cookie?" (as she scrunched her face and imitated tickling with her fingers).

 It will be a sad day when "tickle, tickle" is no longer described as a delicious baked goodie. 

We had a full week of cousin visits this month! A few days before we were to leave for Montana, my sister and her kids came to Utah for the week. Luckily, we were able to see each other for a day before our trips overlapped. They stayed at our place and took care of our crazy cats and watered our plants while we were gone, thank you Jensen family!!

Emma loved playing with Sophia, Sara, and Brandon. She asked what they were doing the entire time we drove to Montana. 

Aunt Shannen and Uncle Ben gave us Sophia's toddler bed for Emma, so far so good! She loves it!

Emma and Sara playing outside on the patio after the rain 

Playing games with Brandon

Sophia was holding her smile in, it was the cutest thing ever.

Sara turned 13!! Holy crap! The oldest niece of the family :)

More cousin love! Emma met her second cousins little Eddie and Griffin when we drove to Montana:

Griffin and Charly

Emma and little Eddie eating some eggs for breakfast. He is 5 months younger than her, but 10x stronger! This little guy is a tank when it comes to bumps and bruises!!

We love cousins!! 

xoxo
The Twistles

Charlotte

She's 7 1/2 months! Where did the time go?! 

From this:
(about 1 1/2 months old)

To This:

She is absolutely precious, and I love every minute I get to spend with her! She recently learned a new trick, where she scrunches her face and breathes out of her nose. It is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

We also put her in a jumper while we were in Montana, and she had a blast in it! Matt said she jumped the poop right out of her! When she was done jumping she had made a nice little present in her pants for him :)

I love re-living the baby stages with her! This time around I feel so proud and excited for each new step she learns, because I remember it with Emma and I know what comes next. It's so fun having little babies around! I figure as cute as my Charlotte is, I can wait a little longer before I get to sleep through a full night again :)

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