New Layout

Here is a layout that I did tonight with a great picture of my grandmother, my mother, myself and the twins. This picture is especially important to me since my Mimi passed away earlier this year and she loved the twins so much. More tomorrow.

Saturday Musings

Just a quick post to show you the layout I did about Meighan's nicknames today. I'm really happy with it. I love this picture of her. It's one of my all time favorites! I still can't believe that I actually took it. It looks like a professional portrait (if I do say so myself). Full credits here. More later, if all goes well!

Friday Musings

Sorry I haven't been very good at blogging this week ... I'm still trying to get my energy back from this cold so I haven't been getting as much done as I usually do. But, I'm feeling better every day so I hope that I'll be a bit more 'present' here now.

I don't have a ton to write about today. Things have been fairly quiet around here - just trying to spend as much time as possible with the twins and trying to feel better.

I did get a layout done tonight that I'm pretty excited about. I used Jen's Beautiful Day kit again and one of Keely's templates. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I've been wanting to do a page for the baby book that talks about each babies nicknames (well, the variety of names that Paul and I tend to call them, anyway). Here's Alex's layout. I'll be trying to get Meighan's done tomorrow and I'll post it when its done. Full credits can be found here.

Thanks for visiting. I promise to have more tomorrow and Sunday, including pictures. We'll be seeing my Dad, Nina, Elizabeth and Mimi and Papa on Sunday so I'm sure I'll have lots to say about our visit and pictures to share. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Musings

I've been busy trying to get a few layouts done each night so I haven't had time to blog. But, I can't share either of them yet because they are both done using a new Halloween kit that Jen Beschinski's releasing on October 1. And, let me tell you, it is a GREAT kit. I'm not typically a fan of 'theme' kits but this one rocks! It's got some really incredible embellishments that are unlike anything that I've seen. I'm so excited to be a part of Jen's Creative Team because she is really coming into her own as a designer. She is putting out some incredible stuff and I'm so honored to be a part of her team. Those ladies amaze me with the stuff that they are producing with Jen's products - and I like getting to know them because they are just a really neat group of ladies! If you want to see more of Jen's work or see who's on the team with me, you can visit her website here.

Things have been fine here - everyone is getting back to normal and feeling better. I'm still coughing but I know from experience that it will take awhile to get it to go away completely.

Meighan and Alex are really testing us these days behaviorally. They are pushing the limits constantly to see what they can get away with. I know its normal but, boy, can it be frustrating. They seem to act out even more for me than anyone, for some reason. An example of what I mean is Alex's obsession with cutting the tv on and off even though he knows he's not allowed to play with the buttons on the tv. He'll walk over, look at me and slowly move his finger towards the button, waiting to see how I will react. He does this over and over and over. And, putting on his diaper has become a nightmare because he wants to be doing his thing all the time, not what he needs to be doing. He kicks and screams and cries in an effort to get out of it so he can play. Very irritating. We're working on getting control of it but it's not easy!

Well, that's it for me tonight. I'm going to go finish watching a tv show I started earlier and try to get to bed. More tomorrow!

OH!

I was tagged by Kim Hill so here goes ...

List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.

1) I have two different colored eyes - one blue, one brown
2) I am obsessed with Hostess Chocolate Donuts. I have to force myself not to buy a box whenever I see them.
3) I hate leftovers (I generally don't like to eat the same thing two days in a row) and I'd prefer to eat at a restaurant over a home cooked meal any day!
4) I have to have 3 pillows - 2 under my head and one under my side. If I don't have 3, I can't sleep.
5) One of my 3 cats is always doing something weird so let's just say everything about them is weird!

NOTE TO SELF: I really am weird sometimes LOL

Now I have to tag 5 people, so I'm tagging:
1) Jen B.
2) Mikki
3) Kylie
4) Kat
5) Bretta

Monday Musings

Everyone seems to be feeling better except Paul who seems to have finally gotten it pretty bad. Meighan still isn't 100% but she's pretty close. Alex is basically back to normal. I've just got the cough that won't go away.

I have a few pictures of the twins to share and a layout that I put together on Sunday while the kids napped. But, before I get to those, I just wanted to say that Alex is becoming quite the mimic. Yesterday he said all kinds of new words - Eagles, Brown Bear, Pizza, Green Beans, football (not new but very cute). Almost anything we said, he tried to say. So cute. Meighan isn't into mimicking - she'd prefer to just talk even if it is usally babbling that no one can understand. They really get frustrated when they tell us something and we can't grasp what they want. Most of their tantrums these days are a direct result of their inability to communicate with us the way that they want to. So, 'real' talking is just around the corner, I'm sure. They are getting so big! I'm having to move them into 18 month clothes now. Well, pants that size are still a bit big but we've definately moved into 18 month shirts and night outfits. I just can't believe how much they've grown over the last 18 months. It seems like yesterday that we were just hoping and praying that they'd get to 4 pounds so they could leave the NICU and come home with us! Time flies!

Well, here are the pictures and the layout ...

This is a layout I did of Sami - tried to keep it simple and focus on the word art. She's a beauty and it scares us to death! Luckily, she's as beautiful inside as she is outside!

Meighan and Alex have finally begun to show an interest in books (YEAH - I'm so excited since I love to read and want them to develop a love for it as well). However, I think I'm going to have to get them some new books because they love two in particular and I think we've read them at least a hundred times over the last week or two. Mommy SO needs some new reading material!

Apparently, Meighan and Alex have rediscovered their binky's and think it is hilarious to 'pretend' to be a baby and put it into their mouths. Just cracks them up! Interesting since neither of them were ever particularly interested in them as babies. Well, Alex did for a small time but it went by so quickly that I forget that he once liked a binky.

This is a familiar site in our house. Alex loves to climb and is constantly trying to get up on stuff. He loves the kitchen table and uses the chairs to get himself up on the 'forbidden' table on a regular basis. He loves to scale the couch, tables, chairs, dressers, and pretty much anything that looks like it would freak Mommy out to see him on it! He has no fear and rarely does more than scream out when he falls. However, this scaling is the primary reason that he has a ton of bruises at any given time!

Isn't she a cutie!?!? I just think this picture is adorable and wanted you to see it!

And, last but not least, here is Alex again. On the go, as usual. Too cute.

More tomorrow!

Saturday Musings

Today was a tough day. None of us were feeling well. None of us were coping well. None of us were particularly happy. Two sick adults + two sick toddlers = NO FUN!

Alex seemed to feel pretty bad this morning - very fussy, nothing making him happy, whining a lot. He seemed better after naptime. Fever gone, a little less fussiness. By bedtime, he almost seemed like his old self - getting into everything, trying to climb on top of the dresser and just generally being a boy!

Meighan seemed okay until late morning and then she began getting a fever and wanting to just lay with me on the couch and cuddle. Which is definately not the norm for her. She seemed to feel a little better, then a little worse. Then, suddenly, right at bedtime she became lethargic and she was burning up with a fever (102.5) yet she was shivering from her fever. Poor girl. I just dressed her warmly, picked her up, wrapped her in a blanket and cuddled with her until bedtime. Gave her (and Alex) some Motrin and put them to bed. I don't like that fever so I'll be going in regularly to check on her.

I had no idea how hard it is to see your children sick before the twins came along. I'd assumed it would be no fun but it's so overwhelming to see them hurting or uncomfortable and basically be able to do nothing except hold them through it. I just hate it when they're sick and I can't make it go away.

All in all, our day was no fun. I got basically nothing done other than stuff around the house - dishes, laundry, made lunch, that sort of thing. No layouts done like I'd hoped I'd get done. I just didn't have it in me. Maybe I'll try to put something simple together tonight. We'll see. I'm not feeling particularly inspired at the moment. Maybe I'll take a shower - that usually makes me feel better. I only have a cough now but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. I napped for 2 hours today while the twins napped but I still feel exhausted. I might just watch some tv that I have on the tivo from this week and head to bed early.

Just a quick note about the fall tv season. I'm obsessed with tv ... it's how I escape and this fall I'm already adding a ton of new shows to my tivo roster. Besides the usual Grey's Anatomy (my fav), LOST (another fave), The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, My Name is Earl, Nip/Tuck (my guilty pleasure), er, and Dancing with the Stars, I'm also now tivo'ing Men In Trees (LOVE this one), Kidnapped (so far so good), 6 Degrees (haven't watched it yet), Studio 69 (so far so good), Brothers & Sisters (hasn't aired yet), The Class (we'll see). I think that's everything. WOW! That's a lot of tv. I know that I'll weed out a few this year because I always do (or they get cancelled). But, seeing them all laid out like this makes me realize that I watch quite a bit tv. No wonder I love my tivo. And, this list doesn't even include the HBO shows that I love like Entourage, Big Love and Curb Your Enthusiasm. YIKES!

Anyway, I'm going to go watch the first episode of 6 Degrees while I fold more laundry (how in the world do 4 of us make so much darn dirty laundry!!!!) and wash another load of dishes (again, how in the world do we go through so many dishes in just one day!).

More tomorrow ... hopefully, we'll all be feeling better!

Friday Musings

I've missed a couple of days ... sorry! I've been fighting this cold and its made me want to do nothing but relax at night. I've been just hibernating, hoping that I'll feel better. I'm feeling a little better today although Alex is really struggling with it now. He has a fever, a runny nose and just isn't himself. Poor kid. Meighan seems okay but I just know she'll be next. Paul has whatever it is too. We're planning to stay close to home this weekend in hopes that we can all get better. But, as promised, I have a few pictures for you from yesterday and today. Enjoy!

Here's me and my sweet Meighan. It's not the best picture but it makes me smile because she's such a wiggle worm that it's hard to get a good picture of her with anyone. This is one of the few pictures that I have of me lately since I always seem to be behind the camera.

Here's my boys trying to figure something out. Very handsome, if I do say so myself!

Meighan in the tub tonight. She was having a blast and laughing a lot.

Alex had fun, too, but he wasn't having a blast. He just wasn't feeling quite himself. See that bug bite on his cheek - poor little thing - first he's sick, then he gets a bug bite.

Another Meighan picture!

Here they are together. These are also few and far between since they are rarely sitting still long enough to get their picture taken together.

More giggles.

Here's an Alex smile although you can see he isn't feeling well.

Poor little red nose and sleepy eyes.

Daddy squirting Alex with his bath toy. He loves to be squirted!

Meighan has begun to float during bathtime, laying back and enjoying the bubbles.

By the way, Alex prefers to swim. He's almost always found on his belly, getting covered with a bubble beard!

Well, that's it for the Melniczenko's tonight. More tomorrow and I hope to get a few pages done this weekend so I'll share them as they are finished!

Wednesday Musings

I'm sorry that I missed posting yesterday. I had a crazy day at work, a board meeting and cocktail party after work and then I really felt like doing nothing but watching a movie on the couch. I don't actually have much to add today either since I'm still basically recovering from yesterday but I do have a page to share that I put together tonight for this week's Digi Dare challenge. The challenge was to do a layout with a book either as the primary picture on the page or as a primary element of the page as well as a quote from a book as part of your title or journaling. Well, being such an avid reader, this was a great challenge for me. So, I decided to do a page about Little Women which I love for many reasons. It was one of the first books to really make an impact on me and it began my life long love of reading. It also brings back wonderful memories of time with my mom since we read it together when I was a child. And, last but not least, my mom chose my name from a character in this book. This might sound strange but I also think it's interesting how several people very important to me have the same names as the women in this book - My mom's middle name is Jo, my name is Amy, my sisters name is Elizabeth (ok - this might be a stretch since Elizabeth doesn't go by Beth but it's still significant to me), and my little one's name is Meighan (and we do call her Meg on occasion - more as a term of endearment than anything). This probably makes no sense to anyone but me but it gives me an even closer affinity to the book. Enough about my odd, stream of conscience thoughts about this book. On to the page - I used Jen Beschinski's newly released kit, Beautiful Day, which is my new favorite kit. It's so beautiful! If you want to see the whole thing, you can go to her store for a closer look. It's incredibly detailed and versatile. LOVE IT! Anyway, here it is.

Thanks for looking and checking in with us. I'll try to get a few more pictures of the babies up tomorrow. They are doing well. Getting so big and full of themselves. Meighan has really been testing us, discipline wise, but we're hanging in there. They are so adorable. I just can't get enough of them. More tomorrow ...

Monday Musings

This one will be a quick one because I'm tired. I've now officially got a cold which is no fun. I had the day off today and got a little bit done around the house. I wish I had more time. I should probably take a whole week off at some point to get some of these house things done but I hate to use up my PTO because I need it in case Meighan and Alex get sick.

Here is a layout that I did last night for the baby book. You can see the credits at my DST gallery. This one is about my inability to swaddle and how frustrating it was that swaddling came so easy to Paul. Thanks for visiting!

Sunday Musings

Tonight is likely to be a long one with lots of pictures since I took a ton over the weekend that I want to share. We had a very nice weekend - pretty low key although we got a lot done on Saturday. We were out of the house by 10 a.m. which is practically a record for us since the twins were born. We had breakfast at Chick fil A then headed to Target to pick up a number of things we needed. Then, we went to the grocery store. After we got home and had lunch, the twins went down for a nap and I did too! I feel like I'm coming down with a cold so I decided to take it easy. Then, Paul let me sleep a little longer while he and Sami took Meighan and Alex to the playground where they had LOTS of fun. Very eventful day, overall. Today was much more low key. I never left the house once! So nice to just stay in awhile. We watched football and cheered on the Eagles. Unfortunately, they lost in OT. Alex spent most of the game saying 'football' and throwing his fist into the air like his Daddy and cheering on the Eagles. Paul will make a fan out of that boy yet. Speaking of talking, they are really beginning to talk quite a bit. Alex repeats (or tries to repeat) almost everything that he hears these days. Off the top of my head, with no thought, here are the words that they know now: football, yes, no, kitty, dog, momma, dadda, sissy, meg, alex, sami, bottle, ball, EIEIO and many others that I can't think of right now. Alex loves music and is beginning to do the hand movements that go with If You're Happy and You Know It. Very cute! Meighan likes music too but she's more interested in dancing. They really enjoyed having Sami here. Sami dressed Meighan up in some of her old dress up clothes which made Meighan feel like a million bucks! (Sami also did some beauty treatments on Paul - yes, I have pictures - which only a really good, patient dad would allow their ten year old to do to them). Well, here are the pictures for you ...

Sami and Meighan on Saturday

Giggling together - noone makes Meighan giggle like Sami can!

My handsome little man - sorry about the red eyes, I'm too lazy to fix them tonight!

Here are two where Sami is making Paul pretty - it's definately every dad who'd say yes to playing hair dresser - again, another reason that I love him.

Alex just adores Sami - he'd be happy if she held him or sat near him at all times. He thinks she's so cool!

My boys ... I just adores these two!

Gosh, isn't this girl just the cutest?? She is so full of personality!

Here's our girl Sami - she's growing up into such a pretty girl. It scares the crap out of Paul. But, she is also very smart and has a good head on her shoulders. We're very proud of her.

Well, that's it for tonight. I'm off work tomorrow and planning to get the minivan serviced and clean my VERY messy closet.

Saturday Musings

I was planning to do a big post tonight with lots of pictures but I'm just not up to it tonight. I'll do one tomorrow night. But, here is a quick layout I put together for Alex's baby book. I used Keely's Sweet Baby kit. Full credits here. More tomorrow.

Friday Musings

Just a quick note tonight. I got one page done tonight while waiting for Paul and Sami to get home. It's using one of Heather Ann Melzer's quick fill pages and some Jen Beschinski goodies! I'm really happy with it. It's a great way to get lots of photos on a page yet also add a few personal touches and journaling. More to come this weekend, especially pictures of Sami who is now here and looking adorable. She's doing so great in school - I asked her how she was doing and got a 10 minute description of her school achievements which basically summed up to the fact that she's brilliant as well as beautiful! We are very proud of her and how well she's doing! Anyway, here is the layout ...

Quote To Share

Here's a quote that I came upon that really sums up what I'm feeling right now and what I'm trying to focus on ...

" ...but the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three on them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in a hurry to get on to the next things: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." - Anna Quindlen

Thursday Musings

I don't have a lot to say today. Fairly dreary day with lots of rain. Work was fine - no major drama. I actually accomplished a few things today.

Paul and I had a quiet night - we watched a movie that we tivo'd ages ago and just got around to watching. It was nice to just hang out together - we don't do it enough these days.

Here are a couple of pictures of Meighan and Alex in the bath tonight. So very cute! They were having a great time playing together.

That's all I have for today. I'm going to go change the cat litter and head to bed to read a book!

I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share over the weekend since Sami will be here and I always take a ton of pictures when she's with us!

Wednesday Musings

I don't have much to blog about tonight. Things were better at work today. I felt like I actually accomplished a few things. Meighan and Alex had a fun filled day with their Grandma and Grandpa today. They went to the Children's Museum and had a great time checking out everything.

I did a page tonight using this incredibly cute Hey Diddle kit that Mikki Livanos (whose creative team I'm on) has up for sale at Plain Digital Wrapper. Very cute and unique! This one is an Alex page with the cutest picture of him sound asleep. I don't get many of those since he is rarely still sleeping when I make it to his room in the morning. Isn't he adorable!? You can see full credits for the layout at DST.

That's it for me tonight. I'll be back tomorrow and I'll try to show more beautiful pictures of Meighan and Alex!

Tuesday Musings

Today was a crazy day at work - too much drama and too much on my plate to keep up with. I just worry that I'm going to drop one of the MANY balls that I have in the air. That happens when you have too much going on and not enough time to think things through. I need to get a handle on this so that I can avoid it in the future. I'm going to just try to take it one day at a time and know that we'll get through this craziness. But, I was wiped out when I got home so I sat down and put a quick page together which always makes me feel better. This one is for the We Digi Dare Ya Challenge (Week 2) and I am happy with how it turned out. For those who don't know the challenge was to do a page about someone who'd had an impact on your life and you had to include a song lyric in the title or journaling. There were also extra points for using products by the sponsoring designers so I used a few of Meredith Fenwick's products (the papers are hers. You can see the full credits at my gallery at DST. I tried to keep it simple so that the journaling made an impact. Here it is ...

Well, thanks for listening to me rant about work. I'm sure it will get better. I hope so. Gotta get to bed ...

Monday Musings

I think that I might be in denial because I've spent all day avoiding thoughts of September 11, 2001. I just can't go there again. I'm still sad about how many lives were lost and how it impacted all of us in very personal ways. But, I can't focus on it today. It's just too much. So, I'm not going to post much about the fact that 5 years ago that terrible thing happened to us all. Instead, I'm going to post about the people who have changed my life in ways that I'd never imagined ... Meighan and Alex. I just can't believe how different my life is today than it was 18 months ago when these two came crashing into our lives. It has been quite a ride and I'm so honored to have been invited along. They are such incredible little people and I still can't quite grasp the fact that they came from me. Let's start with pictures (since they're so darn cute and I take hundreds of pictures of them every week) ...



This is my current favorite picture of them ... kissing each other because they love each other so much. We've tried to teach them to kiss instead of hitting and for the most part it's working. It's a work in progress but they do love each other and we see lots of kisses. I love that I captured this sweet moment between them. Very cute!

And now for the other side of the sibling coin ...

Although they love each other, they also LOVE to antagonize one another. Meighan decided to use Alex's toy as a way to get up on the sofa and he was NOT happy about it. He screamed bloody murder until she left 'his' stuff alone.

Here is a picture of my very funny girl ...

She is such a ham - she loves making funny faces and making people laugh. This is her current favorite face - a scrunched up face with a huge grin! She also loves to watch herself make faces in the mirror. Such a funny girl!

And here's my little man ... so very serious here. He can be hilarious too but its easy to forget that since he has a tendency towards seriousness and getting intensely focused on things. He's notorious for spending a long time just trying to figure out how to get a top onto a bottle. I love that he can be so serious.

Meighan and Alex are learning all kinds of new things such as how to feed themselves with a fork and spoon. They are coming along pretty well although if they're really hungry, they sometimes give up silverware in favor of their much faster hands. It's so much fun to watch them explore the world and learn new things.

I just adore these two little ones ... they've made my life so much better than I could ever have imagined. They have made me a better person. I'm so glad to know them and be able to love them. Okay, enough gushy stuff. Here's one last picture for tonight.

Isn't he adorable? We'd like to be able to say that he is pointing out that the Eagles are #1 since this picture was taken during the Eagles game yesterday. But, if we're honest, he's probably pointing to the ceiling and saying "What's That?" which he says almost constantly these days. Very curious, our Alex!

Well, that's it for me tonight. I'm tired. I was going to try to get a page done tonight but I'm just not up to it. I need to do a layout for the Digi Dare Ya challenge but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I need to rest. I have several movies on our tivo so maybe I'll go catch a movie. Have a great night!

Sunday Musings

We had a really nice, quiet Sunday (well, as quiet as it can be with two 18 month olds running around). Football season has arrived and most of the day was spent with football in the background. By the end of the day, Alex was saying 'football' but Paul wasn't able to get him (or Meighan) to say 'Eagles.' I'm sure it won't be long with a huge Eagles fan in the house. He'll make little Eagles fans out of them by the end of the season, I'm sure. I didn't get as much done this weekend as I'd hoped but I did pare down the kids toys (where in the world did all these toys come from?!?!?!) I put a bag of them in their closet and I still have them all over the living room. I didn't get many layouts done but that is because I took a nap today while the kids napped. I was up too late last night getting this blog ready so I was exhausted this morning. The nap helped. Here are two pages that I did get done this weekend. I am loving the Sweet Angel kit that Keely just put together - it's perfect for baby girl pages. She also has a kit for baby boys which I'm sure you'll be seeing soon. I also love Jen's templates - I've already used this one several times! I'm so happy with the Ocean layout about Alex's first experience with the ocean - Mikki's kit was perfect for my idea to use one of Keely's templates to focus on Alex being so small next to the great big ocean. I think it turned out pretty well.

Credits can be found at DST

Credits can be found at DST

Well, that's all for tonight. It's getting late and I need to head to bed if I am going to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for work. I'll try to post a few recent pictures tomorrow. I didn't feel like downloading them to the computer tonight. I'll also try to give everyone an update on all the cool things that they are doing these days. See you then!

Welcome

This is our new blog ... we had one back when the twins were little but I had trouble customizing it and eventually just abandoned it. I've been meaning to put another one together so that we can share what's going on with our family but raising 18 month olds seems to always get in the way! But, I finally found time to get it ready so, I hope you like it. I'll be sharing photos of the twins, updating everyone on their progress and sharing my scrapbook layouts. I appreciate your visiting and hope that this will help keep you up to date on what's happening with our family!