Twin Tip

I'm headed on vacation!!!

Wahooo! I can not wait to disappear with my family for almost an entire week and a half! And with all the millions of things I have to get done between now and Sunday I can't believe I'm even bothering to post a Twin Tip, but you should know after this my blog will probably stay blank for a good couple weeks. We have trips and weddings and LIFE to live folks! I will do my best to post pics sometime before Christmas :)

So I'll leave you with a gem of a Twin Tip while I'm gone. This one is genius and it comes to you courtesy of the Boyums, who apparently came by it courtesy of one Erin Traynor.

Regardless; this is a life saver at the park...

Get ready for it.

You know how there's FOUR holes in the legs of the infant swings at the park? Well, look who just discovered you can put FOUR legs in those FOUR holes?!?!

And just like that, no more straddling the distance between two swings to push one child and then another. No more waiting (and waiting and waiting...) for not one but BOTH of the infant swings to be free at the same time. No more itty baby sliding quickly forward (because of all the extra space in the seat) slamming their face into the front of the swing because brother, who really really wants to be sweet and kind by pushing their baby brother , accidentally pushed a little too hard. (never happened by the way)

People, THIS is a bonafide Twin Tip. Seeeriously good stuff.

You're welcome.

Peas in a Pod

We had our sweet friends the Vanginkel's (minus "Dr.V" as he prefers to be called) come visit for a few days this week. What fun we had. Luke and Macy are only 4 months apart and since they were itty bitty they've looked like they could be twins. They have such a great time together.


...funny smiles and all.


Much to their elation; Luke got to sleep on Macy's trundle while they were staying with us. They truly did try to follow 'sleep over rules' and actually go to sleep at bedtime, but even Colleen and I couldn't seem to muster up our 'strict faces' when we tip toed down the hall and heard bits of their conversation... this part is right after they had taken turns coming down the hall to tell us they were 'scared because it was so dark'...


Macy: I heard that when you’re scared you should pray.
Luke: Oh wow, where did you hear that?
Macy: My dad told me.
Luke: How did he know that?
M: Oh well, cuz my dad, well my dad preaches....
L: Oh yeah! Mine too!!
M: Wow! How old is your dad?
L: 30.
M: Mine too!

A little later in the conversation after we'd controlled our hysterical laughter and ventured back to hear more:

Macy: So..Im really sorry if I annoy you or keep you up, but I just really have to pray, okay?"
Luke: "Okay."
Macy: (middle of the prayer..a little too much laughter on our parts..) "I just pray that you would watch over our minds and help us be kind to eachother..."

Later on Colleen bravely went in to calm all this crazy praying business down (it WAS nearly 10pm) and with the task of keeping a straight face, here is what she was up against..

Luke: Oh mom we’re trying so hard to go to sleep but we’re just too interesting for eachother. We’re so tired but we can’t sleep right Macy?
Macy: Right. It’s just too hard.
L: And I cant sleep because Macy keeps praying.
M: But I have to pray because Im scared of the dark and that’s what my daddy tells me to do.
Colleen: But you can pray in your heart quietly right?
M: No, I don’t know how to do that

Yeah, she didn't fair very well. These little stinkers.


I love how quickly kids create bonds, Macy and Luke are clearly friends for life. Another overheard conversation the next day...

Macy: I have two best friends..
Luke: Me and who else?
(Thankfully Macy confirmed Luke's confidence, think of the blow to his little ego if she hadn't!)
Macy: You and Carter
(whew.)

Is it too early to sing about 'sitting in a tree...?' :)


And speaking of twinsies! Colleen and I happen to like having babies at similar times. Miss Claire is only 2 weeks older than Jude and Cooper. I think there must be some subconsciousness trying to increase the odds that we'll end up inlaws or something... it may just work too, Jude and Miss Thang had quite the little connection goin on as they babbled and poked and giggled at eachother.


In all seriousness, it was so much fun watching the three of these precious babies together. Can you even guess which two are the twins?!


Sweet babies! It was a wonderful weekend...thanks for visiting VanGinkel's! We love you!!!

Do you like my new Header?

Well, Ryan did it for me last night while we shamefully watched an episode of The Bachelorette on hulu. (Yikes) It makes me laugh every time I look at it; and at this stage of life, laughing is really good for me. So it stuck. We thought it was pretty indicative of our life these days; none of this flowery, frilly flourishes and muted, serene colors stuff. As much as it'd be fun to pretend that an 'Anthropologie vibe' fits my life right now, let's be honest people.

Aaaaanywho...

I've been well aware for months and months, actually for years now; that my header was in severe need of an update. The pic of Macy was before she had even turned three! Geesh. But really, life these days does not exactly allow for luxuriously time consuming things such as designing some beautiful header, especially when I am not the graphic genius in the home. So when my ever so innocent hints to my husband were not given high status on the priority list I conceded that an embarrassingly outdated blog header did not in fact make me a terrible mother. (Hehe)

In all honesty I hope eventually to move to a website where I can have different tabs for different types of postings and topics etc. So pouring much effort into the aesthetics of this blog for the time being kind of feel less and less exciting to me when I've got such visions for the next thing. It's all very beautiful in my head believe you me. Reality is a million miles away, but someday maybe. Someday :)

In the meantime, Ryan did whip this up for me so that Jude and Cooper don't end up 10 years old and wondering why they are still not officially 'MacD Kids'. (Cuz I heard that 10 year old boys care immensely about being pictured on their mom's blogs...right?)

So yes world, incase you have been terribly confused and deceived by my old header, I do in fact have four kids now. And this is the closest darn thing you will probably ever see, to a picture of all of them looking in one direction. Ever.

And while we're in to stating the obvious. That also means that I officially have three boys. THREE. You may begin praying for me... NOW.

All this counting may seem funny to you. Like duh, get over it Katie, you have four kids. But no no, you don't understand how many times a day I still have to remind myself, lest I leave someplace with less than well, ALL of them.

The other day leaving church I literally had Macy and Carter loaded up and buckled in the car. I had my own seat belt on, car started and was putting the car in reverse before it hit me that, oh wait; I had ...FOUR kids. Not two.

Where were the twins you ask? Oh, happily playing in the nursery. I hadn't even picked them up from their room. Atleast they were in good hands :)

So yes, counting and continuously reminding myself that I do indeed have four kids to keep track of is not just me making a joke. At this point in time, it is actually very necessary.

Remembering you. At 10 months.

My little Jude Dude. To you, at 10 months:



Precious little one, it is hard to fine words to describe your sweetness. The elder twin by 7 minutes, you have stayed true to your disposition since the days you lay wedged compliantly in the tiniest places in my tummy. You my boy; are the happiest baby I've ever known. Sweet and content, giggly and squishy and smiley and 100% sunshine.



Your dad and I call you Gumby, because aside from your irresistibly toothless grin; you wiggle and bend and twist like you have no bones in your body. You sway and slouch and relax on whoever's holding you and until recently you've been perfectly happy to watch your brother do all the moving about as you watched from your perch. Occasionally if it suited you, you'd lazily roll on over to where he was at to join in the fun. But about 3 weeks ago you decided to up and start crawling around as well. And you popped in three teeth at the same time too. And now you are standing, for long periods of time; rivaling the skills your brother has been honing for months.



You're have a tender and cautious side to you, but you're tough and motivated all the same. And packed in those teeny tiny features is buckets of personality. From your deep, raspy growl or glass shattering shrieks of excitement to your lopsided grin and impossibly ticklish tummy, you my child, make me smile down to my toes.



We also call you Linus because you're a snuggly little cuddle bug to the core. When you pop your thumb in your mouth and pull your silky little blankie up over your face my heart puddles up and I can't pull my eyes from you. You've been babbling 'da-da-da-da' for months and there are times when you lock your little eyes right on mine, stare me in the face and I swear you and I are communicating. It's like you can understand exactly what I'm thinking and I you; and then.. you pop your tongue out and I stick out mine and we play our copy game.



And in those moments I know there is something very special between you and I.

And now; my Mr. Cooper Man. To you, at 10 months:

First things first Cooper Kent. You are a hard little guy to get a picture of. And you think it's mighty hilarious to watch me try. From the minute my hands release you, you are on the go; flipping quickly to your knees you scamper off with the quickest crawl I've ever seen on a baby. You little boy, are a mover and a shaker. (Also sticking true to your behavior inside my belly.)



But you are so much more than active energy. You are immense and intense JOY. If your brother oozes sunshine, you shoot straight sunbeams out of that toothy smile that spreads dimple to dimple covering every inch of your face. Your body convulses with delight when you get excited, which is often. You also, are one of the happiest, smiliest babies I've ever met. (I just can't get it on camera!)



You're laugh comes from somewhere inside your throat with a hoarse and breathy chortle. Your eyes are so bright and there's a twinkle in them that makes strangers comment you've 'got somethin' up your sleeve'. You've enjoyed the 6 teeth that have been hanging out in your mouth for a few months now. You do this biting/clenching them thing that makes you look like you are concentrating very hard and solving the problems of the world in that little head of yours. I think it's adorable.



I think you might not be afraid of anything. You've been crawling for months, standing and cruising the furniture for about as long and just in the past few days you've hobbled your first mini steps. I know it's a matter of weeks now til you're full blown running the halls with Macy and Carter. You climb the walls of the baby gate cage and you've been known to chew whole corners off of board books. But when you get sleepy or have just woken up, you hold that binky in your mouth and your blanket in your arms; you rest your head on my chest and with eyes wide and calm, your whole body lays still. I am secretly glad when you wake first from naptime before any of the other kids, because you are the only one who will stay perfectly quiet and content on my lap; prolonging those last precious minutes of a peaceful house.



And in those moments, I know there is also something very special between you and I.

Precious baby boys. Only 10 months in, and something tells me life with you two; is going to be alot of fun.



Love, your mama.

Holiday!

Fourth of July being on a Sunday this year made it a little different. I still wanted the morning to feel fun and festive amongst the typical mad rush of chaos that normally ensues as I'm trying to dress, feed and load 4 kids and myself in the car and make it to church by the first song! I figured a few decorations and a themed breakfast would suffice; and I think the kids agreed!

After an afternoon swimming and BBQing at the MacDiarmid's we headed up to Paradise. My parents met us up there and the next day we went out on the boat. It has been a looong stretch of summers full of pregnancies, nursing, infants and broken boats. It's been so long since we've spend a day on the lake I didn't even remember how much I missed it! My Grandma and Aunt were so sooo great and offered to keep the babies back at the house so we could just go with the big kids. It made it such a relaxing day, so incredibly wonderful! Thank you Gigi and Cheryl!

Cita tubing with the kids. World's most active Grandma!
Papa, the cruise director. Such a good sport. Thanks Dad!
Loving the tube!
Game face.
After watching my mom and I ski the kids were convinced they could do it and kept asking to try. So we let them put the skiis on and feel the sensation of being pulled by the boat.
They were so brave, I was super impressed!
Then we thought they'd have a little more success being pulled on the knee board. They loved that!

So much fun in one day!
Yes. Boating and waterskiing makes me one happy mama. This was a great day.

Twin Tip : Caged

These days, if a stranger were to happen upon the inside of our house; they may justifiably wonder if they had mistakenly stumbled into a zoo. Or Babies R Us. Or a toy factory. Or the WWF World Championship wrestling/screaming smackdown of the century. Sigh. But for the purpose of this post. We'll go with zoo.


My friend Mikala loaned me this...cage. You could try to be PC and call it a gate, because you can stretch it out and just use it to block off certain sections of the house. Which by all means, we do. But most of the time? Well, this heaven sent contraption connects into itself and creates a glorious, tip over proof, cage. So judge if you must, but that is what we opt to use it as. And it is wuuunderful.


That is not a wild caged animal. That, is Cooper. And he likes to try to eat the cage.


Say hi to Jude's pudgy little fingers. :)


It's really not as small an enclosed space as the picture makes it look. Honest. I often climb in with them to get some playtime in without having to chase them all over God's green earth at the same time. Plenty of space people. Tons.


Seriously though, I can not tell you how helpful it is to be able to plop the babes down in this handy little thing and walk away knowing they will not be found with a lego, melted crayon or door stopper cap in their mouths. None of which have ever happened. Ever.


And I can assure you, they like it too. Because this little puppy doesn't only keep babies in, it keeps rambunctious big brothers out.


Now, before you go contemplating calling CPS all up in my house. They honestly don't just stand at the edge of the cage staring at me the whole time they are in there. Something about me standing over them flashing a camera and looking and smiling at them but not picking them up seemed a bit confusing to them, and they were too distracted to continue playing happily together. I can't figure it out.


So there you have it, twin tip # whatever: Once your twins start crawling, if you ever plan on cooking, cleaning, paying any attention to your big kids, sitting still for two seconds, or closing your eyes long enough to sneeze. Get a cage. You will be glad you did.

GAG WKND 2010

As promised: A little re-cap from our most recent reunion. I am loving Imovie. I'm not so much for the techno savvyness per say, but this little peach of a program is suuuper duper easy. Not the greatest pictures, lots of shaky video, and atleast half of the footage is of the babies (pretty indicative of our lives I suppose) but still... the weekend was too much fun to not commemorate!

And as for the song...well, it just felt fitting to bring GLEE into the mix... what can I say? GAG girls, my life would suck without you!