Express Couponing

I posted back in Nov 1, 2010 about a shopping trip to CVS, where I got a bunch of free stuff (Titled: Yep, It was all free). I can't say that I am extreme by any means, instead I am a practical coupon-er. I do it when I can and I know some tricks to make it relatively easy and quick...hence I call it Express Couponing. During this trip, I did no prep work before and I only spent my typical 30-45 minutes shopping. The total bill was just over $200, but I only spent $80. I could have saved about $10 more if I had all the right coupons in hand at the time...but oh well. Perhaps a 60% savings isn't something to brag about when there are all these episodes on TLC (which I still have yet to see) where people buy $100's of groceries for a few dollars. In this particular trip, there were 23 organics products (including 2 lbs of organic chicken), which makes any bill slightly higher. I also have to add that this trip was at Safeway, which typically has higher priced products when compared to surrounding stores. My favorite find was Safeway's Friday deal: I bought 4 bags of fish and chips for a quick weekend meal for a family of 4. This sounds silly but I can't wait until my kids are big enough to use scissors...then we can have some family time clipping coupons and chatting :)

Yep...He is all boy

I know I am stereotyping but Jakob is all boy. He is attracted to mud, trucks, cars, destroying things, eating stuff that shouldn't, and climbing on things. Let me demonstrate...







...and repeat another 10 times!

Playing Mommy

Meet Joslyn's baby...

She carriers her baby like her mommy carriers her...

Perhaps the carrier isn't sold in petite-ity size but it works.

Anything that Joslyn does, Jakob wants to do too!


Jakob is unique and has to add his boy-ish touch to all activities...in this case, nose picking. Joslyn thinks it is funny :)

This video shows Joslyn carrying her baby and following simple instructions...and then enters Jakob, who gives some typical brother affection :)

Color Me Real

When the twins were 17 months I decided to try out coloring. Joslyn really enjoys it but Jakob can't get passed chewing on the crayons. I have learned that taping down the paper is necessary and twistable crayons are less appetizing (Thanks for the tip, Jenny!).




Below is a video of the twins having fun coloring and chewing :)

Tiny Christmas

Last year the theme was "Christmas Elevated" and I put our tree on a wood box so the crawling twins couldn't get to the ornaments. This year things either have to be gated off or even higher off the ground for my high-reaching, ornament-snatching twin toddlers. I am anti-gating off or decorating only the top half because it takes away from the look of the tree and our home is too tiny for the added gate. I love decorating our tree each year, and if it has to temporarily get smaller to go with the look I like, I am fine with that.



The easiest and best place to elevate our tree was on our kitchen/dining room bar. It is preventing us from using that space as a dumping ground for mail :)


Even though our tree is tiny, the twins LOVE it! The first morning they saw it you would have thought it was Christmas day with the reaction they gave. They could hardly eat their breakfast out of the excitement of the tree sitting, lit up only a few feet away. "Ball!" ...pointing... "Ball!" Although the picture below doesn't exactly show that excitement, it was hard to catch them actually looking at the camera...at the same time. They are adorable!

Pre-potty Training

I have no idea what I am doing BUT I am reading a number of potty training books to try to figure it out. The one thing that is very clear to me is that, at 18 months of age, Joslyn is more interested than Jakob. This particular Sunday morning I asked Joslyn if she wanted to "sit" on the potty. She ran to the bathroom as I followed...and it quickly turned into a family affair.



After bath one night we decided to "test" out the potties for the first time. Guess what?! They sat happily while we read books and they both peed in the potty! Kind of lucky, I think...but it was the first time they realized they actually go pee. After we poured their pee in the toilet, we cheered and waved bye to it. It is definitely a ritual they have picked up on since. The photo below is demonstrating the ritual in action on this particular Sunday. Notice that Jakob is fearlessly flushing the toilet while Joslyn watching and holding my arm. Ever since Joslyn learned she pees and we pour it in the toilet, she is slightly concerned.



Joslyn isn't scared enough to lose interest. She actually "asks" to sit on the potty, can happily sit on it for 10+ minutes, and has peed in it 4 times. She is showing all the signs I read about...but the problem is I haven't finished reading the books to know what the process should be beyond the introducing them to the potties! Plus, it is sooooo difficult to concentrate on her when Jakob isn't ready (but insists on being in the bathroom doing everything but sitting).



Jakob will sit on the potty but it is brief. He is more interested in flushing and pulling on the toilet paper. He does a lot of "musical potties." We have two on the ground and the regular toilet with a potty seat. He will often steal Joslyn's seat if she stands to check the contents of her potty, which makes her upset. This is what brothers do best, right?!



Fun Fact...and probably too much info: In one day we average 7 poopy diapers. Yes, I am ready for them to take care of their own "business" but I don't know if I have the energy it takes to potty train at this age. Good news is they poop pretty much on schedule so perhaps that will make it a bit easier when it comes to helping them learn to know when to go to the bathroom.

Stay tuned! Will we get one or both potty trained before 2? Wouldn't that be great!

Happy Halloween: Updated

The little duck and little dog had a wonderful Halloween this year! They got to wear their costumes at two events and they passed out candy at our home.




Halloween night the twins greeted trick-o-treaters. At first they didn't understand why kids in funny clothes got candy but they got nothing :( So I decided to let them dig in the bowl and put the candy in the kiddos' bags. That kept them very happy... in fact, they loved it so much that they ran to the door frequently to press their little faces on the glass door to see if anyone was coming.

Sleep Website!

www.InfantSleep.KrystalWorkman.com

It is official! I have a website for my sleep consulting stuff. Check it out!

Here's how it all started: In November 2010 I created a lecture complete with PowerPoint and handouts, reserved a location, and hosted a free infant sleep workshop for what I thought would be a small group of parents. I even rallied enough support to provide free childcare for the 2 hour lecture. Little did I know that there were/are lots of parents in my community who struggle with obtaining good, reliable information about sleep, just as I did in the beginning. That first workshop was packed with no empty seats; we estimated over 65 people were in attendance. Since that first workshop, I have been a guest speaker at other events and provide in-home consults to families all over the DC metro area. I have a passion for this subject and for helping families build a strong foundation. Due to the overwhelming influx of emails and requests for sleep assistance, I can no longer provide free support...my personal life just can't take the extra load. I do want to continue helping families but those families will have to decide if my expertise and time are valuable enough to them. I have done a lot of research on pricing and, it might seem surprising to some, but I am still way low for what others charge. However, since I began charging, my work/life situation is a little more balanced.

Volunteer effort: I am still remaining true to the very first reason I started this endeavor: to serve my community in a unique (but practical) way. As long as I can manage it, I plan to post free daily/weekly sleep facts and tips on my facebook business page. Search "Krystal Workman: Infant Sleep Consultant" and like this page!

A side note: I am so proud to say that I designed AND coded my own Flash website! It took way to long but I had fun learning along the way. The site currently takes a little too long to load (so be patient)...I need to do some more coding/adjusting to make things run a little smoother. Limited time is the only thing holding me back :)

LOL, thinking about it, this the exact reason I haven't updated my blog in a while. I will get back to it soon...so many new photos and stories to tell! Stay tuned...

The First of the Fruits

I rarely consider a tomato a fruit but it is what it is...

On July 26th we got our first ripe tomatoes and there happened to be just two of them. All of our tomatoes have been HUGE this year so that is probably the reason they took so long to ripen. The following pictures are of just the tomatoes in the garden and an example of the size we are getting from this batch this year.



This particular day I picked the two ripe tomatoes and the babies remembered the zucchini fest they had earlier this month. They demanded to touch, then hold, and finally eat the first of the fruits. Needless to say, it was a mess! Good snack though :)









In the following video you will notice that Joslyn likes to savor her foods while Jakob likes to eat on the run...


Then there is this video that demonstrates that we are just now grasping the concept of sharing...it is a hard one to learn.

Giant Legos

I bought these Lego blocks nearly 6 months ago but only recently did I feel that they were age appropriate (according to the label). I am so glad I grabbed these because the twins love them. To my surprise, this is the first toy that they have grasp the concept of "putting it back where it belongs." We will see how long that lasts. In the meantime, they love pulling apart the blocks but haven't figured out how to connect them.

Step 1: Build something.


Step 2: Disassemble it.


Step 3: Joslyn is an innocent bi-stander and Jakob stands at the scene of the crime.

I have a feeling that the look on Joslyn's face of "You wrecked my stuff!" is going to be used a lot over the course of the next few years :)



Above is a video of Jakob breaking apart the tower Jared made...at the end he throws it and it breaks into many pieces.

Jakob's Little Quirk

You know when your kids do something quirky and then they grow out of it...and then you miss it. Our twins have gone through several quirky phases but they were too hard to catch on camera or video. Well this time I finally caught Jakob scrunching his nose and breathing heavy. The reason I was able to catch it on camera is he is in copy mode right now. Other than copying, it seems to be random when he decides to put on his "cute" face.




Here is a video of him copying me at the dinner table...