Cindy's Visit to Norway!

We love Cindy Meeh! Jason and I met her almost seven years ago when we first started attending CEPC and doing ballroom dancing lessons. Since then she has mentored me and loved on our family. She and her husband David open up their home to us everytime we visit Houston and Madi is over the moon for David's Uppy Uppy and Tick Tock games.

So when Cindy said she'd like to come visit us in Norway, I nagged her until she bought tickets. ;-) It was wonderful to have her here and show her some of this beautiful country. She also loved on all three of our girls and was crazy enough to hop over to Warsaw with me for a few days!

The day after she arrived I took her hiking to Maanafossen. The drive there and to Byrkjedal (the candle factory) for lunch was great. The weather was perfect for hiking!

We also ventured downtown to visit Starbucks and just walk around. We had dinner downtown at NB Soerenson's and checked out the Noah's Ark replica located in the harbor. (I wouldn't recommend visiting it though...)

After we got back from our trip to Warsaw, we picked up Madi from barnehage and headed to Sola beach for Cindy to see the North Sea and dip her feet in the water. (She's crazy- that water is freezing. Note the difference in attire between Cindy and Madi, who was also playing in the water...)

I was pretty terrible at taking pictures during her visit so there are none of her and Madi playing together. :-( Madi had a blast though with Miss Cindy and we are so grateful for her friendship and love for us and our girls!!

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Warsaw Weekend Trip

You know what makes an adventurous friend? One who is willing to hop to a new country with you and your newborn children! Our friend Cindy came to visit us and was more than willing to help my cabin fever and fly over to Warsaw for a few days.

The city was beautiful and rich with history and we had a fabulous few days exploring. We arrived late Saturday night and got going first thing Sunday morning with a walk over to Lazienki Park and Palace. We walked around the grounds listening to the history, visited the palace, watched the Warsaw Marathon runners go by, and listened to a beautiful concert in the park by the Chopin monument.

Afterward we made our way to the Palace of Culture and Science. We took a trip up 130 meters to the observation deck to see a fabulous overview of the city.

Then we headed to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. I foolishly didn't get any pictures at this museum, but I would highly recommend it when visiting Warsaw. They did a great job with the displays and information. They also had a 3D video showing the city of Warsaw flattened after it was bombed. It was incredible to think about how the destroyed the city was and rebuilt having just seen a bird's eye view from the Palace of Culture and Science.

We'd gotten a restaurant recommendation near the museum from a local we met on the bus. The restaurant was called Szynk Warszawski. Wow, oh wow. We set the bar way high with this gem. The food was absolutely incredible and while the rest of the food we had during our visit was good - none of it stood up to this restaurant. And the price can't be beat either - one beer, two soups, and three entrees for under $30, including tip. If it hadn't been a bit out of the way from the rest of the tourist sites, we would have gone back there.

The next day we headed to Old Town and caught a quick breakfast before doing a free walking tour. It was wonderful to walk around the area and hear the history from our guide. We did another loop afterwards and spent some time shopping, eating, and enjoying the beautiful weather!

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city and leisurely making our way back to the apartment. We visited some hisotric churches, including the one where Chopin's heart is buried.

The next morning we headed home to get back to Jason and Madi (I was missing both of them!). It was a wonderful trip and the girls did amazing traveling and sightseeing Warsaw with me and Cindy.

Now on to the next adventure! :-)

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Twin Tuesday: Birth Announcement

So I'm way behind in sharing this, but I realized I hadn't done a post showing the girls' birth announcements. We had a DIY newborn photography session where Jason got some amazing pictures of the girls.

I then took those pictures and designed my own birth announcement using Adobe Illustrator. I printed them glossy with GotPrint, the same company I've used the past couple of years for Christmas cards and Madi's birth announcement. (They are really cheap because it's completely design-yourself. It allows me to be creative in my own programs and just upload the final product - a win-win for me!)

I love the way they turned out and I hope everyone that received them enjoyed them too! :-)

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Weekly Wrap-up

I feel like this week was short and long all at the same time! All of us have been battling a bit of a cold and Madi had to stay home three days this week. Snot sucking three littles is no fun. :-/ However, we are all on the mend thankfully and Madi was able to return to school Friday. I got some extra snuggles out of it from all the girls so I'm not complaining. ;-)

We started off the week trying out a gymnastic class that is basically across the street from us. Madi has such a blast!! I'll do a full post on the class later, but take a look at the joy on this sweet girl's face! We've ordered a leotard and she's excited for another class tomorrow night. :-)

There's been some baby gymnastics at home too (if you count tummy time!). These girls are getting so good! Evy just hangs out looking around or lately, rolling both directions. Liv is getting her head up really well and is starting to try and roll herself, but she hasn't quite done it yet.

We took advantage of the nice weather (and the fact that Madi was acting perfectly fine despite a slight fever and runny nose) and went for some walks and also to go feed the ducks.

And of course there was plenty of playing in our household! Madi's awake time when she was nine weeks old consisted of swing, cuddles, playmat, etc. Evy and Liv get to be fed by Madi and interact with her - and they love it! They only had eyes for her in these pictures. She makes them smile and it melts my heart to see how much love they have for each other already!

On Saturday we headed to our favorite indoor play place Leo's and met up with some new friends there. Madi had a ball as usual despite a jammed finger. It's seriously bruised! She told us she hurt it and Jason and I were amazed that at less than 2.5 she's telling us what hurts. Nothing a little ice cream couldn't fix though. ;-) And while Madi played with Daddy, the twins hung out with their new friend Ellie.

And just to brighten your Sunday, here are a few more cute shots from this week. :-)

We've mastered the triple bath! ;-) And both Evy and Liv love baths just like Madi! We've had a lot of people tell us they think Evy is starting to look more and more like Madi, but we see her in Liv as well!

And finally, Zoey hugs. Perfect way to end the week! ;-)

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Twins' Monogram Photo Shoot

My friend Ashley makes the most beautiful baby clothes! She made Madi's One Year dress and I constantly swoon over her Instagram pictures of the Sunday dresses she makes for her daughter Elise (#elisesmamasews).

She surprised me with two gorgeous monogrammed dresses for Evelyn and Olivia! It was such a sweet gift and we had fun doing a mini photo shoot for the girls. They also wore their dresses to the twins' diaper shower last weekend.

I promise these two are super happy and smiley, but man if you thought capturing one baby smiling was hard, try capturing two! I don't know if we will ever synchronize their smiles, but we came close. They both have such a beautiful smile that these pictures so not do justice to the smiles I am blessed to get on a daily basis. :-)

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Twins' Diaper Shower!

My friend Lisa threw a wonderful diaper shower for me and our friend Kara, whose little one was born in May just a couple months ahead of the girls. She did a fantastic job hosting! We played games, laughed, and enjoyed her delicious cupcakes!

I think everyone was happy the shower was after the arrival of the three little ones so they could take advantage of holding the babies! :-)

And of course Kara and I got stocked up on diapers and other beautiful clothes and gifts from everyone. These babies go through a lot of diapers so it's great to have a stockpile! :-)

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