My Gym Fun With Mya and Milani

You know what is great about having children? All the fun things you can do with them and you as a parent are able to relive some of your favs for your childhood. I am a hands on mom, hence why I did not rest while my girls were babies. I would carry them, interact, always had them doing stuff. My mother called me a drill sergeant. My girls (as some may know) were born at 32 weeks and I wanted to make sure that they were hitting each milestone. I soon realize that they will hit each milestone at their own speed.

I am a mom that likes to go places, I hate staying in the house. The more my girls grow, the more active they have become. This only means one thing, gym!! I attempted to take them to the gym when they were 12 months and that did not go so well. Finally having a free weekend, I decided to take them to My Gym in Westfield, NJ; pretty straight ride. I will not bore you with a lot of words, the pictures speak for themselves. In other words, I need find an extra $200.00 so that my girls can enjoy.

I realized I have a lot of pictures of Milani and that is because...Mya was running around so much!! Next trip, Liberty Science Museum!!

19 Month Old Update: Mya and Milani

Time is truly flying. I remember posting my 11 week old baby bump on facebook, telling the world that I was pregnant with twins, being on bed rest, sleepless nights and now, my girls are true toddlers. I am so happy for their progress and sad that they are growing up before my eyes. I am not sad enough to have another however, let's not get that twisted.

 

Mya

What to say about my Cheeks. She is a true sweetheart. Mya still has slight tantrums, but she is a great listener. If you tell her no, she will stop and go on to something else. She doesn't get upset easily. She loves to share, climb on the couch and lay there as if she belongs up there. It is actually pretty cute. Mya still doesn't look where she is running or walking and ends up falling CONSTANTLY. It drives me nuts. She also loves her Nick Jr. shows. I try to cut down on the television as much as possible, but sometimes, when I need a minute, I know her shows will calm her down. Mya, although the bigger twin, is a very picky eater. She still likes her baby food and sometimes will take table food SOMETIMES. She loves to drink her juice and milk, still loves Cheerios and crackers. Mya is still STRONG. This little girl will pick up her ride toy and bring it to the living room. It is so amazing. She loves gadgets and still loves to close doors; then gets upset when she can't get it open again. Mya loves bath time.

Weight: 27 lbs?
Height: 31 1/2
Head: I never know, but she has a big head :)

Gross motor skills: Mya is running, walking, climbing, throwing balls. She loves to jump. She knows what she wants. Mya can focus when she wants to and when she sees a bottle or anything that she wants, she lets us know.

Fine motor skills: We love to watch Mya on her play phone. She starts dialing and places the phone to her ear. She builds with blocks, puts puzzles pieces back (sometimes in the right order). Mya loves to clap and when we say "good job!" she starts clapping. Mya is so helpful, she sticks her arm out to help me put her jacket on, she helps me put her hat on and shoes. She even tries to dress her self by buttoning or unbuttoning her pjs. Mya likes to pretend she is eating a bag of chips. The bag isn't even open and she will place her hand in her mouth as if she gobbled a whole bunch of food. She pretends to put lotion on her body as well. She knows Bye-Bye and will wave. Mya eats with her hands, but not using a spoon yet.

Body Parts She knows: Ear. Mya doesn't have much of an  attention span. She marches to her own beat, when she is ready she will and excel greatly.

Words She is Using: Mama, dada, caaaaaaaaaaaaaar, dooooooooooooog (yes, she sounds it out like that). Ba.

 

Milani

Miss Feisty herself. Milani is not a force to be reckon with. She will tell you off and then make you laugh at the same time. She is such a comedian. Milani only shares when she feels like it and boy does she love to eat! Milani is like a sponge, she picks up habits from daycare and brings it  home. She has tantrums that out of this world and starts doing this piercing cry that makes you just want to put her outside. However, she is full of love and she is a fire cracker. There is never a dull moment with Milani. Milani is always on the move, she doesn't like to sit still.

Weight: 25 lbs?
Height: 31 inches
Head: I don't know

Gross motor skills: Milani is a trip. She runs, walks, walks backwards and on her tippy toes. She loves to spin around and most recently spins with one arm up. It is so funny.

Fine motor skills: Milani is extremely advance. She eats with a spoon and her fingers. She feeds herself, which is one less toddler I have to deal with. She builds and places items logically. She takes items out of the box and put them back and repeat. She loves to give things to her parents and she loves to fee me. She also pretends she is rubbing herself with lotion. Very cute. When Milani wants something SHE WANTS IT. She points to it and she whines...a lot.

Body Part She knows: Ear, eyes, feet, tongue.

Words She is Using: Back Pack, Dog and she points to the dog in the books and our dog, mama, bye, mmmm, uh (that is when she wants you to have something), she sings all the time, hi, she waves bye bye, Car, Good.

Mommy and daddy are so pleased with your progress so far. Until 20 months....

27th Birthday Recap & DIY: No Sewn Curtains

Today, February 17 is my 27th birthday. I know, I am one step closer to the age of 30. At first, I was nervous about turning another year older, but now, I embrace it. First, it is not like I can change the fact that I am getting old and second, I have accomplished and have been blessed in my 26 years. I have no complaints and I know 27 is going to be even better. Third, which is a reason my father came up with, some, do not even make it to the age of 27. For that, I am truly bless to see another year.

My birthday was pretty quiet, which is kind of ironic since I have twin girls. Besides the normal screams, running around and laughter; I enjoyed my birthday at home; with my girls, fiance and dog Snoopy. My fiance drew me a candle lit bubble bath, ordered food and next week my mom is going to watch the girls. It is hard to go anywhere with them these days because all they want to do is run and walk around. The rarely ever want to sit down.

There is a point to me talking about my birthday. I woke around 7AM. Everyone was still asleep, so I decided to get started on the curtains for the girls room. FYI, we moved into a new place, down sized greatly but I feel like it is much better than the place we were before, except the neighbor downstairs has a illegal day care that the landlord did not tell us about but I digress.

As a mom, I have had to learn a great deal, especially with having twin girls. The main lesson was learning how to braid, which I accomplished (thanks Youtube!) and the other is being frugal and being creative. In a previous post(click here), I discussed working on a nursery from ProjectNursery.com that gave me inspiration. The fabric from the curtains, Suzani White (can order at fabric.com), arrived at my job two weeks ago and I finally was able to go to Walmart and get the proper materials to make these curtain panels.

Now, I can sew, but with 18 month old twins, it is hard to finish a project. Using thriftyinspirations.net, instructions, I will share with you how I created these curtains panels and how simple it was to do so.

When I say simple, I mean SIMPLE. Just a little time consuming.

Materials You will Need:

1. Fabric of Your choice 6 to 7 yards will be PLENTY
2. Stitch Witchery or any fabric bonding tape. (I found mine at Walmart.com for $2.97).
3. Scissors
4. Iron
5. Ironing board
6. Measuring tape
7. Wash Cloth

Step One

Before you start cutting the fabric. MEASURE THE WINDOWS!!! You measure from the top of the windows to the bottom of the floor. I did not do that. I used the measurement of thriftyinspriations.net, however I was able to fix it. See below.

Step Two

Lay your fabric out on the floor and measure it to match the measurements of the windows. Because I am left handed, I cut on an angle, which results in an uneven line. If you have the same problem, fold the fabric in half and cut along the fold. Again, I measured my fabric to the measurements in the instructions and in the girls room, there is only one window so I made two panels. If you have more than one window, you use these same instructions, but repeat.

Step Three

Take your iron board and place one of the panels onto the board. Begin to fold 1/2 or 1 inch on whatever side you want to begin hemming the panel. Run your fingers down the fold to make a crisp crease. Plug in your iron and set it to wool. Iron along the fold to make the crease crisp.

Stitch Witchery in Crease

Step Four

Open your fold and place the fabric bonding tape along the CREASE of the fold and fold the soon to be hem over it.

Step Five

Take your wash cloth and make it nice and wet. If it is dry, the fabric will not stick to the bonding tape. The wetter the better. Place the wet wash cloth on part of the fold. Taking the iron, set it on top of the wet wash cloth for 10 seconds. Repeat along the fold. When you tug on the hem, it should not be able to peel back; It should be firm.

Step Six

Repeat along the whole panel, folding 1/2 or 1 inch, using bonding tape, iron the crease, place bonding tape in the crease, fold over the tape, take the wash cloth, place the iron on top of the wash cloth for 10 seconds.

As mentioned twice, I made my curtains longer than needed. No problem! I measured the windows, measured my panels. Cut where I needed and hemmed the bottom.

This is my results! I purchased the rod set from Ikea and the curtain rings from Amazon.com (link). When I went to Ikea to get the rod, I realized they had curtain rings there SMH. If you do not want to use curtain rings, instead of hemming the top of the panels. Take the curtain rod and place the top of the panel around the rod and hem it that way.

I didn't show the other panel, because I did not iron. PLEASE IRON YOUR CURTAINS!!! I am also going to add creases for a drapery look.

These curtains on etsy.com  was $260.00. All of my materials including fabric:

Fabric Suzani White (fabrics.com), but ordered from amazon.com: $44.88 ($748 a yard)

Stitch Witchery (Walmart): $2.97, two pack $4.00

Black Rod (Ikea): $3.99

Black Rod ends (Ikea): $5.99 for set of two

Curtain rings Set of 14: $11.98

Grand Total: $73.81

Savings: $186.19

I think it was so worth it. For my first time, doing a DIY project, I don't think I did so bad. Also, I have so much fabric left to do some other things for the girls room. Stay tune...

Room on ProjectNursery.Com

Girls curtains!

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