Double the Crazy

If you haven't already... be sure to enter the King Doughnut Giveaway!! 

I got a message on Facebook over the weekend that made me laugh... and shake my head.

Meghan G. posted on your Wall. "I kept Zadie and her cousin Lyla (6 mos) in the lobby during a funeral today. OMG KIM!! two babies is tough! I had to let Zadie fall on her face because I ran out of hands. My hat's off to you!"

It's sometimes hard to explain to people what having James and Tyler together is like... but she just about got it. Sometimes it's a lesson in "which is worse?" Meaning basically that at times, I'll have one baby with a blowout diaper... and the other standing (YES, standing!!) on the window ledge... so you have to decide which is worse in the moment and what needs the most immediate care.

Until we got the baby coral - it also meant that I'd have one baby handy and easily monitored - while the other was an escape artist that was good at hiding. James learned pretty early into crawling that shutting doors was fun... and there have been several times that it's taken a minute or two to find him. Even one time that John missed finding him because the door was closed and he couldn't get in there - only to go back and find that HE shut the door!

It means that when you make one bottle - you have to make two... because there is NO way you are getting away with feeding one without feeding the other anymore. Better yet, you can't even feed yourself around my house without James getting something. This goes for beverages too.

It means that just about 98% of their waking hours you are saying "no" to someone about something. Whether that is "No, don't climb on your brother's back." "No, don't pull up the play mat." "No, don't slap your brother with the toy." "No, we don't play with chords" or "No, don't eat the book." - insert each baby's name into each of these statements and repeat... repeat... repeat.

It means that the diaper pail is constantly full... and stinky. Bath time is interesting... and meal time is always an event. Thank God for Baby Einstein and a television in my kitchen - so that I can prepare meals with them entertained and in sight.

It also means that nap times are precious - especially those moments when they are asleep at the same time... because it's the 5 minutes you might get to eat something not toddler appropriate - think crunchy or chewy... because if James is up... he's eating whatever you're having. Or it's the 5 minutes you can take a shower... start a load of laundry... load or empty the dishwasher... or maybe just maybe sit down for a few minutes.

It means you've got twice the teeth coming in... and since they are 6 months apart... you've got that joy going on for what seems like FOREVER! (Seriously, the teething issue is on my "questions to ask in heaven" list... because really? why does it have to be so painful for them?!)

It means that I'm TERRIFIED to put them in the same room together - because they are so opposite on their schedules. Tyler is just now showing signs of potentially starting to sleep through the night - which is helpful... but he typically wakes up about an hour or so before James... and doesn't nap as well as James does... both of which are problematic... and scary for this Momma. BUT, I've got to bite the bullet... because they both need to be enjoying the nursery we created for them.

It means that you've got double the smiles though... double the laughs... because no matter what - someone is just about always hitting a milestone and feeling proud of themselves. The smiles are doubly as cute... cuddles are twice as fun... and on those rare moments that you get to spend a minute or two alone with one of them... you appreciate the distinct differences in their personalities.

I spend a lot of my time on crisis management - so I enjoy those rare times that I can spend enjoying them separately... and the times that I catch a glimpse of them playing together. Which has been more in the last couple of days. I've watched James sit and "read" to Tyler... lots of baby chatter and flipping of pages in a book. I've watched what looks like James giving Tyler the toy rules... shaking a toy in Tyler's general direction while chattering up a storm. I've watched Tyler "attack" while James is drinking a bottle or using the sippy cup... he'll put his hands all in James' face and try to steal said drink.

I know that these times will be missed as they grow older... but I know that they are also tough. I wouldn't trade either of these boys for anything though... they are precious.

Thursday Things #1

If you haven't already... be sure to enter the King Doughnut Giveaway!! 

I'm trying to come up with a graphic for this series... but it hasn't come to me yet. So until I figure it out - bare with me on the lack of graphic. 

My concept here is that I'd like to start letting ya'll in on a few of the things that I am using all the time in my house... both for the kids and not. There certainly are a lot of new products that I'm using for the boys - but we adults have things that are near and dear to us too that don't involve child rearing. 

That being said, my first item that I'd like to talk about is a book called Toddler Menus. This book is fabulous, and has an interesting style. It is a flip system so you can mix and match the meals for yourself with the goal of getting in the 5 fruit/veggie servings that are recommended for each day.

There are some cool recipes in there too - like Cheddar Bacon Muffins... and even things for my gluten free friends, I believe. Or I believe there are some easy modifications that could be made to fit it into your food plan. There are vegetarian selections too. There are 50 meal choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... so there is enough in here to keep the variety up for your kiddos.

I've got three other toddler cookbooks - so I'll tell you about those another time too once I've had a chance to look at them more closely.

Since this is our first time out of the box - I'll give you a second thing...

The Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes - ya'll, I love books like this... because I tell you - I am a HUGE fan of my slow cooker. I've managed to put just about anything in it to make meal times work with nap times. For me the key is being able to put whatever we're eating together during a nap time so that it will be ready when I need it. I've done spaghetti sauce... which only gets you halfway there for dinner... but the meat is sooo tender - it's perfect for the littles who are learning to chew. I've also modified Jaime Deen's Chili recipe to make it in the crock pot as well.

There are several recipes I want to try from this book when it gets a little cooler. I think with our new geography and a longer colder winter than we've ever experienced before - soups and stews are going to be the order of the season once it starts getting into the fall and winter. I'm actually pretty darn excited about that too.

Do you guys have any "go to" cookbooks you want to share with me? I'd love to hear about them... I'm a total cookbook junkie.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

If you haven't already... be sure to enter the King Doughnut Giveaway!! 

Over the weekend, I found myself needing to give the boys a bath while John was busy... in the old house - this was somehow easier - I think because 1) we bathed the boys in our bathroom downstairs and 2) Tyler wasn't active yet. At any rate, I got them both upstairs and decided the best way to keep them entertained and safe was to throw them in the tub together. Thus, we had our first combined bath! Photos were needed, correct? 

I also felt the need to share with you some photos of one of my first babies... Missy. Her sister, Maggie passed away shortly before we moved... but Missy is having a good time here in Memphis in her GIANT backyard. She has her choice of three doors to get into this great landscape... and this is her at a pretty far distance using our new zoom lens for the camera. She was sitting an soaking up some vitamin D before she noticed the camera... and then she decided it was necessary to start rolling.  

Headed out today to pick up our family portraits from a couple of weeks ago - and walk around the mall with a neighbor... so enjoy yourselves folks! Happy Wednesday... 

King Doughnut Giveaway

The wonderful folks from one of my favorite online retailers is teaming up with me for another product review and giveaway! We all love doughnuts, right? If you're like me though, the thought of having to get dressed to to out and buy them can seem daunting on a weekend morning. For me, that's part of the charm of baked doughnuts... I can make them for the family while still in my jammies!

The King Arthur Flour folks sent me a doughnut pan and a buttermilk doughnut mix. This is what you could win for yourself!

The back of the doughnut pan has a recipe for spiced cake doughnuts... YUM! I clipped it out and saved it with all my recipe cards.

You get to batches of mix in the box - so you can try out a couple of different things... and they have other mixes as well! They've got Apple Cinnamon, Buttermilk, and Chocolate.

I poured the mix into a large mixing bowl, and it called for mixing in two eggs slightly beaten. Then you can choose the other ingredients - either milk or water (I chose milk) and oil or melted butter (I chose melted butter). I felt like I needed to go full on with this round to see what the best ingredient options (for full flavor) would make for us. 

You just pour all those ingredients into a bowl together and mix until smooth. It couldn't be more easy! The hardest part for me was getting each of the photos taken.

Here is the batter ready to put into the pan. Just a little note, there is a hint of cinnamon flavor in this batter. I know one of my dear friends is not a fan of cinnamon - so I just wanted to give the heads up. I'll mention this again later - because it brings up a point I want to make when we get to glazing them.

Spray your pan with a little cooking spray (I used butter flavored) and fill the molds about 2/3 full. Then bake! 

Here are my babies in their little warm comforting oven... ready to do their magic and be ready to eat in about 10 minutes!

I didn't really prepare enough ahead of time and wasn't sure if I'd have all the needed ingredients to make my own glaze, but I had this Duncan Hines glaze from something else I was going to make before we moved. So I used that. I'd HIGHLY recommend you go to King Arthur's site and look at these glaze recipes. I can honestly say, that I wouldn't go chocolate glaze again with this mix. It wasn't right for me with the cinnamon flavoring... I think vanilla or the cider recipe would be better.

On thing that is different from most baked goods is that the doughnuts are finished baking but the tops never brown. It's a good thing that you glaze them, but it is sort of against the nature for someone that bakes fairly regularly. 

Here is my glaze all ready to go, and the doughnuts sitting on a baking sheet ready to take their dip in chocolatey goodness. I pulled them out of the pan after a minute or two for a little more cooling - because my "natives" were getting restless, and I needed them to be room temp to serve them to James & Tyler.

Doughnut in the pool! It quickly got a shower of pecans after the dip in the glaze. You can have so much fun with the glazes and toppings. I mean you could do an orange juice glaze... maple glaze... and the topping options are limitless!

Here they are ready to eat! Yum-o! I couldn't have been more happy with how these turned out. They were fluffy, tasty, and made everyone in my family happy. The mix and instructions couldn't have been easier... and the pan was wonderful! I know without a doubt that you would LOVE having this as an addition to your kitchen.

James getting to eat his first taste of a doughnut... he's never had anything like that before - so it was a very successful first breakfast pastry!

Chocolate face proves how much he enjoyed it!

Tyler's first bite of a doughnut... no chocolate for him though.

MMMMMmmmmm... tasty!

Alright, so lets get down to the contest rules - shall we?

Contest ends at midnight on August 2nd. 

PLEASE, leave ONE comment PER entry - it is easier for me to figure out the winner!

There is a total of 10 entries per person... so you'd need to put in 10 comments to get them all.

** 1 entry for following this blog

** 1 entry for following Kim's Cuisine
** 1 entry for blogging about this giveaway or tweeting about it (must leave a link to post)

** 1 entry for telling me about your favorite doughnut... place and flavor

** 1 entry for telling me what you'd love to have from King Arthur Flour

(I'd kill to try out their scone pans, scone mixes, and popover pans & mixes)

** 1 entry for joining the King Arthur Flour newsletter - bottom right corner of their home page

** 1 entry for following King Arthur Flour on Twitter

** 1 entry for following KBHawkins00 (me) on Twitter

** 1 entry for liking King Arthur Flour on Facebook

** 1 entry for liking Stella & Dot by Kim Hawkins on Facebook

READY, SET, GO....

C is for Change

Now, change is something I've learned A. LOT. about over the last 2 years. Lets see... two years ago I was: working at a job I hated, was dealing with infertility treatments, submerged in my church with ladies that I adored hanging out with, living in my hometown with a good portion of our family living close by.

Fast forward a few months, and James enters the picture and we found out that I've got a miracle pregnancy. A few more months (6) and Tyler appears. A couple more months and we find out about the possibility of a cross country move. January 2011, we start the craziness of living in separate states during the work week... and in June, we moved to Memphis.

As I read that paragraph, my head spins. My life looks nothing like it did two years ago - and I'm still working to wrap my head around it all. It's been two years of enormous changes with little time to adjust in between each new item being added to the mix.

I'm not saying that the changes are bad... TRUST me. They are each exciting and wonderful by themselves, but heap them all together into about 14 months - and it can get a bit overwhelming.

To be sure, the best of the changes were the births of James & Tyler... it's funny how life is almost unrecognizable if you try to think back to the days before they came along. It's hard to imagine what life was like before - quieter and cleaner to a certain extent, but also much more dull and boring.

Can I just say - GOOD LAWD... I need to join Weight Watchers pronto! Anyway... there is so much to experience with these little boogers... and I can't wait until they're a little older and we can get out to see more of it. It's a little tough on me at the present time to deal with them by myself at certain venues.

Just 7 months ago, I had these little guys at home alone during the work week and a full-time job... I can't even tell you how hard that was. For all the frustration that comes with being a stay at home Mom... (I'll get into some of that in another post inspired by a FB post from a friend) there is nothing like being here for these little guys.

Today, I live in a different city... and most of my day is spent looking at these faces...

There's lots of messy diapers, food everywhere, bottles galore, and even vomit... but it's worth it!

I would dearly love to start meeting some other women though to find some groups and meet some ladies in the same boat as me. Surely if we all meet up at the mall play area during the week in the middle of the school year... if one kid throws a fit - they won't know which Mom to glare at, right? HA!

Missing our family and friends is really the hardest part of it all - because we've never lived so far away from all of them, but I know that once we start getting some roots... and maybe the occasional babysitter... things will start to look normal. Notice I didn't say "normal again" because we've reached the point in our lives that we've lived so long without normal... I can't tell you what it looks like anymore... but I do look forward to establishing that again and enjoying my time with our little family all living together again.

Family Fun

These first few photos are from July 4th. We let the boys play in their pool while we grilled dinner. I didn't have their swimmy diapers - so we let them go in their regular ones. They filled up with so much water that I thought they were cutting of their circulation. Tyler doesn't really enjoy being in the pool - so we took him out for cuddles while James played. 

My little nekid baby playing in the water. He of course had to practice pulling up. I'm saving ya'll from the naked baby butt shots that I got while he was playing too.

He's sooo going to kill me for these photos one day! He was having so much fun - there was a pretty epic fit thrown when Daddy got him out to come eat his dinner. 

We took John to Benihana's for his birthday, and this is a shot of him blowing out his candles with the boys. It was his first birthday with Tyler - so we tried to make it fun. 

This past Saturday, we had some more portraits taken of the boys - and attempted family photos... but that didn't work out too well. So on Friday night - both boys got a hair cut. It was James' 2nd haircut and Tyler's 1st. I can't say that either of them enjoyed it too much... but we tried to entertain them with Veggie Tales.

Is it over Mom? Can I go play now - or eat dinner and then play? Poor guy doesn't he look just disgusted with us?

Tyler was pretty ticked off about the whole thing - he didn't like having his head held to cut the hair. They certainly look older when their hair is short! 

All done! Ready to clean up and eat. He still looks a little less than impressed with the whole process. HAHAHA! 

Tyler and his friendly barber... hahaha. Sorry buddy, Daddy like short hair - so you're gonna have lots of hair cuts in your lifetime!

After the photos, we took the boys to the park. Tyler was not an enthusiastic participant. Poor kid looks miserable when we do stuff outside. 

Swinging - I actually sat in a swing next to James and took a turn - which made him laugh. I guess Mommy's look silly while swinging?

He had a lot of fun - but the swing wasn't his favorite part... we let him play on the slide - which he enjoyed SO much!

Trying to make my TyTy have a good time. He wasn't having any part of smiling for most of the 20 or so minutes we were at the park. 

Silly boy playing on the slide. He had the best time trying to crawl up the slide... then loved it when John helped him slide down. I think we'll be hanging at this park quite a bit when they get a little bigger.

Isn't his face priceless here? HAHAHA! Having so much fun! 

A smallish smile-like facial expression. Oh, Tyler - I love you buddy... you're gonna have to learn to enjoy the outdoors to keep up with that brother of yours!

He had a little bit of fun sitting on the slide - and you can see his brother's booty in the background... he was having a blast. 

Wheeeeeeee! Enough said! He wasn't too thrilled about having to leave the park either - but we needed to get Tyler home. 

Tyler being told about how one day he'll slide down the pole and run around like crazy. He doesn't look too sure about all of that business though.

Our portraits didn't turn out so great - a couple of cute shots of the boys individually... family shots were not that great... and the ones of just the two of them didn't happen. The only shots they got had the back of James' head and Tyler looking at him - not the camera. HA! I guess it'll be a year or two before we get too many good photos of them together that are posed.