Weekly Wrap-up: Beginning of October Fun

What's this? A third blog post in a week? Might be a new record. Definitely beats the past few months blogging statistics for sure... so we are already into the second week of October somehow and similar to September has flown by. The fact that Madi had two birthday parties and a day I pulled her from school to hang with me have made it fun and busy.

First up - these two. Olivia is taking her molars hard and Evelyn is just goofy. I love their different personalities and the fact that I get snuggles from at least one, sometimes both of them.

The teething has also come with sore behinds for both girls so we've been letting them run around naked... a lot. Fair warning for any friends popping over. And after baths they like to run around like this for awhile -

Our dear friend Kelly from Norway, who now lives back in Texas, had a friend coming to Baku and she loaded up the kind gentlemen with goodies for us, including the Candy Bandit. So much entertainment!

Madi attended a new friend from school's party this past week and I think it was a bad idea because the bar is set way high people. I had heard rumors of said "bubble man" and his fire bubbles and life size bubbles, but seeing him in person was pretty awesome. Madi had a blast and I might have gotten his number for a joint birthday party next summer...

I mentioned above that I kept Madi home from school on Friday. She transitioned to school smoothly, but then had about a week of crying some at drop-off. Jason and I decided that once a month I will keep her home and have a day that I spend with her. We started our day at the playground with all the girls. Here's a snippet of Instagram vs real life:

Instagram: two cuties walking together
Real life: A couple minutes after this was taken both girls fell and Madi burst into tears because Evelyn wasn't going the way Madi wanted to and Madi wanted to hold her hand. #instamakeslifelookperfect

After our fun at the playground Madi and I went to lunch together and then visited a huge Ferris wheel called the Baku Eye that's along the boulevard. We pass it everyday on the way to school and Madi always asks if she can go. She loved it and keeps asking when we can go back and bring Daddy and little sisters.

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Evelyn and Olivia: 15 Months

So it's a bit cray-cray over here with two toddlers running around, usually in opposite directions. Of course. They are both doing amazing and they have great personalities. They are still pretty easy-going and laid back with changes and outings, but are being a bit more of a handful and showing their strong wills when things don't go their way.

Both of the you are working on their molars and last time I checked Olivia has 9 teeth and Evelyn still had 8. But I haven't braved feeling their mouths and doing a closer inspection...because you bite. Hard. So I'll ask Jason to check tonight - ha!

You love jumping on the trampoline and running around being chased. We've had unusually warm weather still in Baku so we've been outdoors a lot playing in the backyard or at the playground. You  still love swings, slides, and have added climbing the stairs quite efficiently. Both of you are also pretty good at going down backwards, but still need to be watched.

Both of you are talking lots more and saying new sounds. Evy is saying "pass" for pacifier and we finally got Olivia to start saying "zozo" instead of "zaza" for the cats. Olivia also will babble on and on more than her sister with lots of different sounds, but still baby babble.

You still both love giving kisses and have started giving one another kisses at bedtime which is so adorable. We need to get it on video. You can also both blow kisses and love waving to people. Evy will also say "buh" for bye when she's waving.

The two of you have never really shown me a twin-bond different than just being siblings (and lately you are pushing one another out of my lap or screaming when I hold one of you and not the other - real fun). But a few days ago Olivia was crying and I asked her where panda was (her favorite stuffed animal). Evy was standing next to it and picked it up and carried it over to you. Talk about heart melt. It was absolutely precious!!

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September Came and Went...

So... #worstbloggerever over here at The Stingerie's. I was looking back to see where I left off blogging and realized it was the end of August with a summer re-cap. Fortunately I was able to get our Ganja trip finished right after the trip otherwise that probably wouldn't even be done. I feel like month went by in a blink and that was probably due mostly to the fact that Madi started pre-school and some extracurricular activities that have taken some adjusting with the new routine. So instead of getting this post at the end of September with a re-cap of the month you are getting it one-third of the way into October. Enjoy!

Madi started pre-school at Bumblebee Montessori. We visited the school on our site visit back in March and felt it would be a great fit for her. She's enjoying it and I love hearing about the new friends she's making and what she's doing during the day. We have a longer commute to school than I'd like, but it's been great using that time to really engage with Madi and ask her questions about her day. (I typically sit in the back seat with her since I'm not driving.)

There was a lot of fun throughout the month and here's some pictures capturing that.

1. We took advantage of the first few days in September before Madi started school to enjoy Wonderland, an indoor play area in the mall with a Starbucks. A winner for both of us. :-)
2. We have our own band. Tickets will be on sale soon for this trio who loves to drum and dance.
3. Homemade taco salads. Taco night is more complex here with homemade salsa and taco seasoning and I used flour tortillas baked over pyrex bowls to make the salad shells. Delish!
4. Madi starting to actually draw pictures. Asking her to explain them is the most fun.
5. Liv strutting her stuff.
6. Evy relaxing.
7. & 8. Madi on duty to feed her little sisters. She loves helping!
9. We love fountains and this one has a playground and casual Italian restaurant nearby (with two high chairs - bonus!) so we visit frequently.

1. Women's Bible study started up again and woo-boy was I missing that over the summer and ready for it! I have an amazing small group and the study we are doing is challenging, but really good.
2. Liv having fun at a birthday party.
3. Coops and Mads hanging out in Fountain Square over the weekend when our two families headed to the newly opened Hard Rock Cafe here in Baku.
4.& 5. These two ate the same thing. But Evy is a million times messier.
6. Working on my lunch-packing skills. Madi's old school provided lunch and her new school has the option to buy or bring each week. I've been trying to do a combo of both based on the menu so she tries new foods, but also has alternatives if something is on the menu that I know she doesn't like.
7. The fun birthday party we attended had a balloon guy who made hats for the girls and a flower/sword for Madi. Loads of fun!
8. Sep 29 was National Coffee Day. I celebrated with multiple cups of java.
9. Sometimes you have a rough morning and just can't stay awake for lunch - ha!

So now that I've caught up on September it's time to work on the first part of October and the twins 15 month post since that's up tomorrow!

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