The Sink Family!: February --> Love & Spring

Things are weird. We had a fun-filled wintery January - 10 inches of snow and all! Now, here we are in February, and it's filled to the brim with spring-like weather. I mean, also love and all things Valentines. But I'm talking warm weather, pollen, flowers budding. It's insane. But hey, with active toddlers, that means we get to go outside and I'll take it!

The last month has brought with it sooo much talking! The girls are saying all sorts of words and phrases. We bit the bullet and took away pacifiers. It actually went surprisingly well! They seem to be a bit... off... with sleeping. It takes them a longgg time to fall asleep. Like well over an hour. There is lots of giggling and throwing stuff out of the cribs and Daniel and I being total boring parents and making them be quiet and lay down. We have a few mid-night wake ups. They (mainly Sydney) asks for "wa wa" and tissues over and over. Sydney now has to wear her sleep sack backwards because she tried to climb out of her crib AND remove her sleep sack.

Along with these new found words they have... attitudes. Total attitudes. It's getting hard, ya'll. They act up, go to time out, I'm always making one apologize and hug the other. It's hard, and exhausting. What happened to the "hard" infants?? They weren't hard at all.

This past Sunday, Ella kept sneezing and after each sneeze would say "Bless you Ella". Oh my word, cutest thing ever. This morning in the car, Sydney said "Bless you Momma". STOPPPPP! So adorable.

noses

attacked by Daddy, The Tickle Monster! Love those sweet laughing faces

this view <3

The Brown Bear obsession continues. These girls blow my mind, they know each animal! Sydney's favorite is the teacher "TEECH-IR"

new morning routine - milk and a snack on the milk spot

this is what overalls are made for <3

who needs toys when you have a pot from the kitchen?

of course they needed wooden spoons

delicious soup!

The girls' hair is a little unruly. We thought it was time for their very first hair cut! We took them to Divas 'n Dudes and it literally took 7 minutes each. They did pretty good :)

Baby A goes first!

sweet new 'do

Sydney's turn

pretty girl Syd

We made a whole thing of it - hair cuts, shopping at Target, and dinner at Sergios! We don't often get out like this because... it's hard ya'll, Getting two in and out of car seats, making sure they don't get hit by a car in a parking lot, the stares/conversations from strangers. Eating out isn't an enjoyable experience with them. They're little. They don't understand how to sit still - their tiny little bodies are full of energy and they need to get it out! It'll get easier one day, but it's hard right now, and that's okay :) But we still try!

shopping at Target :)

We had another first that day - I had to ask someone not to touch the girls. I mean, really people!? They aren't a zoo attraction, they are HUMANS. Don't touch them. I'm glad you think they're cute, but no. My hope is that when they get older, they'll become less of an attraction. We can't go out without people staring and talking to us. And they mean well, they really do, but it's a lot. I don't want them growing up thinking they are sooo different because they're multiples. And what's wrong with people?

Sunday morning, coloring Minion pictures

We had some friends over to watch the Superbowl. Had to snap a few pictures of these cute girls in pigtails and elephant dresses!

holding their babies + watching Dory ("Dah-wee")

Loved our last-minute visitor, Mildred! She had the girls call her 'Mi-Mi' which is hilarious, since that's what they call Minions. She spoiled them with gifts, and we loved her company!

We have the very best neighbors. We look out for each other, and really enjoy each other's companies. Kim + Jeff are an older version of Kim + Daniel. They came over and brought Superbowl leftovers for dinner. We even sang some nursery rhymes at dinner, and the girls adore them!

the best neighbors + Superbowl leftovers + nursery rhymes

Daniel planned a snowboarding trip to Seven Springs. That meant I was alone with Ella and Sydney from Thursday to Sunday. Sigh. Remember when I told you they're challenging? I was honestly dreading it. Daniel is my right-hand-man. He keeps this ship afloat, and I hate doing this thing alone. But, he needs a break, and it's my job to make sure he gets that. We look out for each other. Since he was going to be gone, he planned a night out for me! I saw Book of Mormon (LOVED IT!), and the girls stayed at my mom's. Ya'll - I had a night all to myself for the first time in a longgggg time! No twins, no husband. It was amazing. And guess what? We survived. The girls did great, and Daniel was home before I knew it. He even left notes for me all over the house...

haha, since Daniel loves strong coffee, he prepped it weak just for me!

corn on the cob! Ella was a fan

Sydney was too!

how do we survive being alone? PUT THOSE KIDS TO WORK! start 'em young, folks

snuggling with Momma and watching 'Dah-wee'

YES! Thank you sweet Baby J <3

Daniel got me through, and I'm ever-so-grateful for his love

to sweet girls; holding hands going to school

diaper box baby train

When the girls find their art smocks and ask you to paint when you're by yourself... you pull a total mom-move. We painted... with water! Ha, I'm such a genius, right?? Bowls of water, cardboard from the above diaper box, and of course their smocks. Glad they don't know the trick I pulled on them, win-win :)

Ella-girl is slaving away at her stove

Sydney swooped in to be Ella's taste-tester

getting festive for Valentine's day!

we went for a walk to get out of the house, look at these adorable little bears!

Sydney says "look over there, Eyya!"

After naptime, I packed up the girls and sent them to my moms! It was glorious. They had a great time with Nana and Papa, and I loved every minute of the Book of Mormon.

Breakfast time at Nana's house

they insisted on wearing the vests and also feeding Nana her oatmeal :)

cute little girls on Papa's tricycle

What is the most important part of February?? Valentine's Day! Our day was super low key and very much like a regular day. The girls went to school, Daniel and I went to work. We celebrated with a heart-shaped pizza and watched This is Us after the girls went to bed.

<3 <3

And I wrote the Ella and Sydney love etters, because we just love them so very much!

My most favorite MMaD fundraiser we do is called Martingrams. We basically mesh together elementary school cheesy Valentine's, add a balloon, and deliver on Valentine's Day! It's so much fun, a ton of work, but absolutely worth it!

look at this fun view of my department!

the #martingrams dream team <3

If a heart shaped pizza doesn't say love, then nothing does

Pacifiers. It was time. And you know me... I document the shit out of everything with pictures, and this chapter in our lives is no different. I snuck into their rooms and snapped some pictures of them sleeping with their precious pacis on their last night.

Ella Grace and her red dog

Sydney Ann.. always had a paci stuck into her index finger

And when they woke up, a quick photo shoot with their beloved soothers! I'll miss them reaching through their cribs and yanking them out of each other's mouths and giggling.

Sydney says, "Here Eyya, take my paci"

cute girls

And that's it. All she wrote.

Daddy's Little Girl, Ella

Mommy's Little Girl, Sydney

It's like a baby's version of a horror film

And so it happened. Night #1 sans pacifiers.

Instead of playing with pacifiers, they ganged up and started playing with the monitor cord

Ella couldn't deal, so she plopped a pillow right over her head, haha.

I took a few days off work around the long President's Day weekend. Naturally, the girls went to daycare so I could get some errands run and things done around the house (read: binge on Netflix)

My mom and I went and read to the girls' class before we ran some party errands. It was lots of fun! We tried to get a picture with everyone in their class, but Ezrah was the only one who wanted to participate, so it looks like we adopted a little black boy haha.

Friday Hibachi lunch date with this stud <3

We had dinner plans at my mom's that Friday, so we picked up the girls and enjoyed the gorgeous weather at the park! Point of Rocks has an awesome toddler play area, and the girls had a blast!

Sydney & Ella vs. the Slide. I have to say, I definitely think they won.

look whose carseats got turned around!

Star Wars cuties spinning away on the Sit 'n Spin

As I was watching Sunday Morning, this view of my lap cracked me up. A Cabbage Patch Doll, book, Minion, and an ice cream cone.

My parents gave us a Zoo membership for Christmas. Since it was going to be a gorgeous day, we made our inaugural trip on President's Day! We even met up with our baby bestie, Evelyn.

three musketeers hanging out with the monkeys

sweet girls holding hands <3

feeding giraffes

Definitely the highlight of our trip - feeding birds!

Momma and Ella

Sydney was a true bird whisperer

Katie & Evelyn

#doublesinks and #doublebirds

fantastic day!

When we got home from the zoo, we could have bet money that naptime would be a breeze. Wrong. It took almost 2 hours. Sydney decided it was a perfect time to try to climb out of her crib. NOPE. She then got to wear her sleep sack and successfully took it off. WRONG AGAIN. She now has to wear it backwards. Suckers.

Double swingin'

big hugs for da-da

child labor

Just a momma and her two girls, headed into Don Pepe

Momma the horsey

The Couringtons were away for the evening, and Daniel had plans... so I had to walk Daisy + Ella + Sydney. We survived!

everyone has to hold hands!

trying to get a picture of all three - the girls were saying "Sit, Daisy!"

When bedtime goes South, we rock.

The next series of pictures aren't photoshopped. Yes, this is February. Yes, we are at the beach.

I mean, really. It doesn't get any better than this. It was going to be gorgeous, and I thought we should think outside the box instead of planning a trip to the park. We packed up and headed to Yorktown Beach and it was incredible. The weather was perfect, the girls LOVED playing in the sand, and we had a fantastic day!

Ella and Sydney loved playing in the sand so much that we got to sit and chat and soak up the gorgeous weather + view

Monkey See Monkey Do - one falls to her knees, they both do it. And laugh.

Last one, because it was so perfect.

We ate a late lunch at the local pub and hit the road for naptime.

We chased storm clouds home, and when we hit Chester, the thunder and lightning started.. and we came across the craziest hail storm. We went from sunny and beautiful at the beach to this: