holy cow.

these two words have become oh so common in the last year and a half of my life.
*how fast we go through a gallon of milk - holy cow

*how fast we fill up a diaper genie - holy cow
*opening a random diaper - holy cow
*the girls saying a new word for the first time - holy cow

*remembering how lucky i am that i get to be a mom to two babies - holy cow
*the mess in the floor when we leave a restaurant - holy cow
*how they wake up every day looking more grown up than the day before - holy cow

you can begin to see how those two words seem to perfectly sum up my life. people with kiddos have always said "wow time sure flies. enjoy every second" but HOLY COW, no one explained how truly fast it goes. so that is where this blog comes in. with twins, I have been HORRIBLE at writing down the "little things" they do with each month. I know I have already forgotten so much and I cannot stand it. so tonight, while Aaron is catching up on work I decided to write down some of my current favs in this moment of time in the life of londyn and berkley....since stopping time is obviously not working.
so here i go.
ps this is probably more for me than anyone that reads this..but oh well. i hope you enjoy.

FAVS

B&L- they are really good at using their sign language words to talk to us. they use the sign for "more", "please", and "eat" all the time.. sometimes they will use "thank you" and "sorry" (we are working on those though.)

B&L- they are obsessed with ducks! they say "du duck duck" and least 50 times a day when they actually see a duck and/or if they see an animal and don't know what it's really called and/or if they see something yellow. this immediately is repeated by "qua quack quac" love love it.

B&L- other favorite words- "ba" or "ball" (both meaning ball), "da" or "daaag" (dog), "wuf" "uf" (barking like a dog), "ooooo" (moo), "nack" (snack), "uuuppmmm" (i believe this means "up mom", its a londyn creation), "pawpaw", and the all-time favs "momma", "dadda", and "uuuh ohhh"
B&L- the only show they will actually stop and pay attention to is yo gabba gabba. random i know. we even had to buy the video since we never could seem to catch it when it was on tv. it's hilarious watching L&B do the same dance movements and even repeat some words they sing.
L- she loves when we read to her. both the girls will bring us books, say "uh uh" (which mean read this) and then they will rub their chest (which is please in sign language) so seriously.. how can you say no to that? hahah. berk will usually last once through the book, but londyn will insist on you reading it over... and over.. and over.. and over. (you get the idea) she gets so into it though, pointing to the pictures, making the sounds, but when its time to turn the page.. you better let her. its her thing. :)

B- she is such a cuddle bug! especially with her daddy. her big thing right now is for us to say "berk give momma a hug" and she'll walk up to you, put her arms around your arm, neck, leg (whatever she can reach) and she'll say "uuuh uuh uhhh" as she hugs and squeezes you. she also does this with all of her toys. i love it.

B&L- they LOVE to dance (especially to yo gabba gabba songs, the ABC song, and "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz) Berkley bends her knees and puts her hands up with her palms in the air and bounces up and down. Londyn stands with her feet apart and sways left to right.

B&L- they love to laugh! aaron is by far the best at getting them going. its hysterical! they will even run up to him, stop, throw themselves down and lay on their backs for him to tickle them. i wish i could put a recording of their laughs.. crazy how different they are.

B- her favorite color is orange. she always chooses the orange block, crayon, ball, stuffed animal.. anything!

B&L- they always wake up happy! (i have no idea where they get this from) ha! but seriously. usually londyn is standing is her bed or pops up the second i walk in the room and starts yelling "issy issy" (sissy) just in case berk doesn't see me. so funny.

B&L LOVE

the outdoors

crackers, veggie straws, yogurt, pancakes, and bananas

brushing their teeth (even saying please in sign language and then putting their finger in their mouth like its a toothbrush)

brushing their hair

pretending they are talking on the phone

their tennis shoes (and londyn loves her braces)

blow up balls (even the giant exercise ones)

their glow worm dolls

dancing

being tickled

animal noises

bathtime

books

yo gabba gabba

dogs and ducks (real and stuffed animals)

giving high fives and pounding it (knocking knuckles)

ok, so i'll stop for now. as i'm writing all this i'm saying holy cow again as i am in amazement at all they can do. aaron and i have truly loved each month since l & b were born. its crazy how it all is becoming a blur so fast. ahh if i could only slow it down somehow.

easter.

Dear God,
I'm not really sure where the bunny or the easter dress came from nor am I sure about the whole hiding plastic eggs with candy in them thing either. (although tasty) :) I do know one thing though. I know that easter is a day I celebrate my King. I celebrate that You are alive. I celebrate that one day I will meet you and praise you with all those that believe in you and call you God.
Thank you for not staying in the tomb. Thank you for still doing your work around us everyday. Thank you for every single blessing in my life.
As I prepare for "special days" as my girls grow, in all the festivities that we will take part in, I pray that they first know who we are celebrating and why. I pray they will know you.
Love- momma baker

emotional.

so I tend to be a woman who keeps "her world" to herself. if you know me (which you probably do if you are reading this) you know I am pretty much labeled "hard to get to know." I wish this wasn't the case but I've always had a hard time letting people into my life. I'm sure there are many reasons for this and I should probably seek therapy for those. ha! oh well. anyway, my point for writing this is my new "journey" in this life. this journey is one of opening a window to "my world." technically, i'm probably just opening it a crack but hey, you gotta start somewhere.
this all started several months ago when I was asked to do the announcements for our church. I felt God had been placing a burden on my heart to help in some area with the launch of this new campus, but being a mom of 16 month old twins, I was finding it difficult to find my place. to tell you the truth, when I was asked to do this I reallllllllly wanted to say "uhhhh I'll pass" but I felt this was Gods way of letting me help so i said ok. pretty sure this was God's big kick to get me out of my comfort zone of hiding in the crowd. hard to hide when your head is on a ginormous screen in front of the church. still makes me uncomfortable. ok, so back to my point. tomorrow morning we are continuing our series ONE WORD where they will be playing a video of my family sharing our story of how God is our PROVIDER. for me...I'm terrified. people don't know me know me. not many have heard me cry. not many know what makes my heart hurt. so here I am...telling you...the world that listens so well and doesn't answer back. ironic I suppose. I really feel like this, this period in time, is where the walls fall. this is where God wants me. he is pushing me in front of others to share..to be me..to show He is in me and he wants me to let more people in to see him.
so yes, I am emotional. maybe it's the moving, maybe because my girls are growing too fast, maybe because I've seen a young family lose a father and husband this week. I just feel like God is moving.. not just in my life but all of us. this series at church is encouraging so many to share their story! I pray God is breaking walls in all of us. I pray he makes us bold! I pray God speaks directly through our story tomorrow as many will hear it. I pray people hear truth. I pray God launches all of us into a world where we share more and have less walls in the way.
thank you God for using all of these things to show me that you need me to open "my world" so others can see how much I need you and how much I love you.

warmish.

it's finally warm!!!! ish. these pics were taken on the first warmish day this year. well, probably not the first, but the first where we had the energy (and help) to get out for this adventure! I took the girls to the park with my sister-in-law, my sister, my nieces, and nephew. this was the girls first park experience since we pretty much didn't leave the house their first year of life (doctors orders) but holy cow they loved it! berk is not yet a fan of grass and all things that can get her dirty...but she'll learn. londyn, on the other hand, wanted to do everything! pretty sure we'll be going back lots this summer. have I mentioned I love these kids!

lonners

berk kate

a year in review. part 3

to finish catching you up on our last year, I have to show you how BIG the girls are getting. not just growing in size, but in everything they can do. since they are so grown up now, I figured they could handle a few chores around the house. here are a few pics to explain.

cleaning out the refrigerator.

(this is probably their favorite. it's amazing how fast they travel across the room when they hear that door open)

practicing their instruments.

(they do this several times a day, usually ending up in a somewhat concert. thinking the church band is in our near future.)

reading to each other.

(usually works best when they each have a book reading them at the same time, sharing is going to be a long process.)

doing the dishes.

(another favorite. I swear they can be talking and playing so loud and the second I open the door to the dishwasher, they drop everything to help. love it!)

filing the taxes.

(who knew!)

fixing the cozy coupe.

(holy cow these kiddos wreck this poor car at least 10 times a day. good thing they are so responsible though. no need for shop class in high school)

brushing their teeth.

(I'm pretty sure they would do this all day if I let them. hopefully they will be cavity free for life!)

packing.

(since we sold our house, we have been in cleaning out/packing mode. holy cow these kids love to pack. its truly crazy how fast they can clear off a shelf of books. wow. much better than hiring professionals.)

well..that's all for now. hopefully over the last 3 post you can get a glimpse of life here at the baker house. so nice to be back in the blogging world. I have so much free time now that the girls do everything around here. haha! it may be a crazy life, but I wouldn't trade a day for anything!

a year in review. part 2

more of my favorite pics to catch you up on the last year of our life which was, BY FAR, the best.

just sayin.

first time they realized they looked alike. haha!

maybe my all time favorite pic.

l and b's favorite toy!

yes..they both had tubes..on the same day..awesome

they can stand!

ok I lied..this is my favorite. :) thinking lon found her passion as a hairstylist although berk is not amused....at all.

so we had a garage sale and no, the babies were not for sale although a few tried.

somebody told a joke.

SAMS!! oh how we love you and your cart made for two babies! thank you for thinking of moms that have more than 1 kiddo.

big girl car seats! berk is usually asleep within minutes of getting in her seat and lon loves the window. I love being able to look at them...but I hate how grown up it makes them look.

these are my favorite pjs ever. I washed them pretty much everyday so they could wear them as much as possible. really wish they didn't grow so fast.

londyn and berkley are 1!!!! (I really tried to talk them out of the whole turning 1 thing... I mean..who wants to be 1? 1 is not cool at all. am i right?)

I had to put this one to remind me of how their favorite restaurant is cracker barrel! I'm not joking when I say this, but these babies eat like high school boys. seriously. its crazy. high school boys. dang.

first time lon figured out how to stand up in her bed. now many nap times are spent playing peek-a-boo! hahah oh well.

sooo...they hate snow. hopefully this will change in the years to come. lon will touch it but just barely. berk will not touch it and will scream if it gets too close to her. good thing we don't live in alaska!

ok, gonna have a add a part three to this entry. sorry for the number of pics, but I don't want to leave out anything.

big hugs to our long distance friends! we miss you!

p.s. 3 blogs in 1 week. whew! i love this app!

a year in review.

so apparently somehow a year has passed without blogging anything new about the girls. holy cow! a year. a whole year. 365 days. as I write those words, I get completely sad thinking how truly fast it goes. many times i have begged the girls to stop growing...even offered to pay them if they would..but they never seem to listen.
in these last 15 months aaron and i have been in complete awe. amazed that God would allow us to be parents to these two amazing, beautiful babies. I am overwhelmed with the need to stop and say thank you before going any further. (i know this isn't an awards show..but here I go) thank you to every single person who interceded in our behalf. as you know the road to being "healthy babies" was a long one for us and it could not have happened without your prayers. as we have learned from God over the past few years, many things in life, good and bad must happen for His glory. I will everyday be thankful for the blessings he is allowing us to have. they have completely changed my world and everything I thought I knew. they show me that everything doesn't have to be perfect, enjoy each second (no matter if they are laughing or crying), some things just aren't important, and what love truly means.
ok, so I've rambled on enough for now, here are a few of my favorite pics over the last year to catch you up.
enjoy.
here we go.
since I last blogged about the girls, they have...

cuddled.

posed for pics on mother's day.

loved new york. (they haven't yet been but I tell them how much they will love it.

read a number of books. :)

jogged several miles.

smiled a whole lot!

been forced to wear bathing suits. (hahahah i know i know. poor babies. I promise these suits were the correct sizes!)

learned to sit up by themselves! ..and learned how to pick on each other.

slept several hours in the car.

learned to eat big girl food!

and even made up a few secret handshakes.

ok... so it won't let me upload many pics at one time, so cutting it off for now. hope these make our long distance friends feel like they haven't missed a beat. :)

a year in review..part 2..coming soon.