Our Growing Family

It's hard to belive that Amaya & Kiara are already 2 years old!!

WOW!!

Kiara is getting really good at dressing herself, and often puts her shirt and pants on the correct way.

Amaya is incredibly active, climbing, dancing and running all around the house, usually chasing Kiara!

They both are into imaginative play, and their vocabulary is AMAZING!!

The cutest thing I think they are doing right now is - saying 'look at me', grabing your face with both hands, and saying 'don't touch'. I wonder who they hear that from? lol

We've had trouble with biting, and hitting already - but fortunately for the girls, they will learn these lessons very quickly - as they each get hourly reminders!

They aren't quite sure what to think of us having another baby. I think once they move into their new carseats, at the BACK of the van, see the baby's carseat set up, and the crib - it might become more real - but right now the baby's room is full of boxes we haven't unpacked. the basement is ALMOST done, we're painting and installing cork flooring in the office. Carpet quotes are in and hopefully by the new year, we'll have a comfy kid safe area for the girls to play!

Just 5 weeks to go!!

We haven't even looked at baby names yet!! YEESH!!

someone asked me '-so how are you preparing differently for this baby, than the girls?'

I relplied with 'we're not!' lol - it's amazing how busy we've been with this house. Perhaps this Christmas we'll slow down enough to 'prepare' ourselves for this baby!!

Enjoy your holiday season!!

Congrats to Darrell & Jess!!

Hooray for Darrell & Jess!!!
We can't wait to meet Mary & Martha!!
Jon & I are so thrilled for you guys!! I'm sure we'll have double pink of anything you may need!!
love you guys!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The girls got these SWEET Teddy Bears from Grandma Great! THANKS!)

Opening their stockings this morning!

It was just Jon & I and the girls this Christmas morning. Amaya & I got sick Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. We postponed Christmas with the Tieszen's until tommorrow. but we had a lovely day recovering today. We opened our stockings... and napped the day away. Tonight Jon & I enjoyed a fire and hot chocolates as we wrapped gifts for tommorrow's Christmas celebreation. It really did feel like Christmas eve today... and I am excited for our Christmas tommorrow.. . even if it really is 1 day behind!! It's what you make of it - not what day it falls on!

Merry Christmas!

Lady Bug & Bumble Bee - Formal Portraits

OK - so I finally took some more 'formal' shots of the girls dressed up in their costumes. This may be repetative for some of you... but just shut-up and enjoy the cuteness!

Kiara - the Bumble Bee

Amaya - The Lady Bug

Could they be any more perfect??

Lady Bug & Bumble Bee

I tried really hard to get a picture of the girls together... but you'll have to imagine how cute they were together!

I love how cute they looked playing in these outfits all day!

We went to see Daddy at the office (no pictures though) and had a playdate with our coffee group. We went to the radio station to visit friends there... and had our first taste of halloween candy! It was a great day!!

Here are some of the kids from our coffee group!

Madison - Monkey

Amaya - Lady Bug

Morgan - Pumpkin

Kiara - Bumble Bee

Warm Day In October

We took a few family self-portraits on warm October day.
They turned out quite nicely!

The girls are WALKING!!!
Actually... almost running. It was amazing to me how
quickly the picked it up, once they took those first steps - it was less than 3 weeks between teetering between couch and chair to walking up and down the hallway, turning around and picking things up without holding on to anything. I am discovering the phrase 'keep you running' to hold so much truth! And with two it's twice as true!

It's quite a challenge to get them both into the van - but I figured out a system! I keep one in the umbrella stroller and either hold the hand of the other, or carry her. It looks a little funny - but it keeps them safe in the parking lot. I can't wait until our house is done and we have an attatched garage!

Well, I know I haven't posted much lately -

but some of you may know why!

Jon & I have had to take over construction of our house, as our builder... well... basically they ran

out of money. So I am now a general contractor, organizing the trades, money and timing of the work being done on the house. It's a full-time job! We'll keep you posted... but probably not as often as before! Keep checking though!

1 Year old!!

The girls celebrated being 1 year old with family and friends in Saskatoon. It was a cool day... but we had a lot of fun.... especially once we brought out the cake! Here they are... getting into their chairs... daddy does such a great job!

Waiting so patiently....

Happy Birthday to you.....
How silly were we... putting fire in front of our babies.... next time they turn one... fake candles!

Kiara was REALLY getting into things... let's review!

Kiara BEFORE.... Kiara.......

....AFTER!! I would have let her keep eating... but I was seriously scared what she would do with that huge cake!



Amaya finally got into it too... she was quite neat at the beginning...

Well we cleaned them up and started opening presents.

Checking out their new chairs! Thanks Auntie & Uncle!

I LOVE this picture!!


I won't bore you with every picture we took that day.

So... the girls have been standing on their own for a couple of months already... but every time I get the camera out their hands are glued to some surface or another.

So here they are... in all their cuteness!!

Kiara standing all by herself!!

Amaya just had to show off her skills too!

Well... that's it for now! We'll be partying in Yorkton this weekend... such lucky girls... two 1st birthday parties!

11 Months Old!

Taking Time To Smell The Daisy's


Well... it's hard to believe... but in one month our girls will be 1 year old!! That's right! Today is their 11 month birthday!

They are growing so quickly!


There are so many new things that they are doing... I won't bore you with them all... but here are a few!

They are starting to talk!! Kiara say's 'Hi!' and 'Teddy' and 'Sister'... and probably a dozen other words that we haven't recognized yet!


They are starting to walk! Amaya will walk for long stretches at a time with help or by herself pushing her 'walk-along' toys! Cruisin' down the hallway at our apartment!



They love to read books with us and turn the pages when we ask them too! Kiara will often begin to read us stories out loud... using gestures and charismatic movements to tell the story!

We've been hangin out with good friends... here are the girls with Morgan... good times!!

With the cutting of new teeth.... we decided to try new things... like PICKLES!!!
They LOVE pickles!!! Must be a couple of Dennis girls!



They have been 'waving' for a while... but have recently learned that you wave as a greeting or farwell... when Daddy goes to work in the morning our girls stand and wave to him as he goes out the door... and when he returns he get's big smiles and waves hello!

The girls have also been learning how to 'get in trouble'... I've heard of twins working together... and possibly getting into more trouble than they would on their own... well if anyone was looking for evidence... check out these photo's!




Getting into the Klenex!





Getting into the puffed wheat!!!
notice that Kiara has a BIG bag of puffed wheat that she obtained from the table where I had placed it out of reach (or so I thought) and she has discovered that if she dumps the whole bag out onto her lap... it will trickle down onto the floor... so that her sister Amaya can enjoy some too!


Anyone who REALLY knows us... has discovered that we're a bit crazy... and when you add a 12 year old into the mix... you get this:

Ninja Babies!!!

ahh ...fun times!



This past month we were blessed to have my neice Janelle stay with us! She was a fantastic help! We did lots of fun things that I can't do on my own... like going shopping and going to the pool and the SPRAY PARK! The girls were so happy to play with her... and she enjoyed being here too! When she did leave to go home I wondered how I EVER DID THIS WITHOUT HER!!?! A few tears were shed... but I think I'm back into the swing of things now!
Janelle and the girls at the Spray Park!

We have also been thankful that the girls have maintained a schedule of going to bed at 8pm and sleeping until 7am (sometimes 6:30). Napping is still a challenge but we're working on it! If anyone reading this is wondering... how did they do this?? Read 'The Sleep Easy Solution'... it works!!!

Here is what a well-rested mommy looks like!

hee hee.... it helped that Janelle was still around too!

Well... I have one other bit of news!! Today they began putting the upstairs walls on our house!! If this keeps up and there are no delays we hope to be in our new home for Christmas!!
yes... I just said CHRISTMAS!!!
enjoy the rest of your summer!

one last laugh!!

PICKLES!!!!!

10 Months Old!!!

Today, Saturday July 5, 2008,

the girls celebrated being 10 months old!!

We celebrated with Watermelon and then went on a Pony Ride!!





Amaya has 2 1/2 toofhs (she is cutting numbers 3 and 4)
and Kiara has 4 toofhs!!!


As you can see they are changing rapidly!!

We've been busy with packing/unpacking as we're now on a ground floor unit!! We've been travelling lots too!! Brandon, Minot, Saskatoon. The girls are doing so many fun things lately!!

Besides keeping Daddy and I up at night with Teething Fits...

they are waving, CLAPPING, crawling (on all fours and trust me they are VERY QUICK!!), pulling themselves up and standing on their own...

and walking the couch, the excersaucer, tv stand and anything else that they can reach with their little fingers!!




We've been able to spend a little bit of time outside at other people's places enjoying BBQ's.

The girls were not too sure about the grass at first... Amaya would pick her feet up and scream when the grass touched her... so cute!! Kiara was also unhappy... but just gave us dirty looks mostly.
Their blanket was like an Island that the girls didn't dare leave... it worked for a few weeks... but now they has no fear about grass... It think they are friends now!

I can FINALLY put their hair into little ponies!! so cute!!



The girls have also discovered animals!!

They get so excited whenever they see a little (or big) furry creature. I imagine it would be strange to see a horse for the first time....


Amaya chases our friends dogs around the yard... crying because she wants them to come closer... and then crying because they did come closer... ahh... it has begun!!


Well.. I hope that updates you on what is going on here at the Tieszens....

summer is in full swing and we're planning on enjoying it!!

9 Months Old!!

8 Months!!

Our Lot, May 1, 2008

8 Months Old!!

Kiara

Amaya

Teething!! Two Teeth Each!!

Family Trip - April 17, 2008

7 Months Old!!

Holy Cow!!


My babies are 7 months old! Where has the time gone??

The girls are.... well huge!! They are getting so tall! Their legs and bum are way off my lap when I nurse them!! And carrying them in their carseats is almost impossible these days. I am sure I'm carrying around 40 lbs++ these days!!


So what's new??? Everything. Daily these girls amaze me with how they devour this new world they have discovered! I love seeing them learn and succeed.

They sit up all by themselves ( I keep a few pillows tossed around... just in case a nogan is bumped)

They are eating solids (well mush - hee hee hee). I love how they open their mouths for more!!!

They say 'da' . Well it's more like ' da da da da ddaaaaa aaah daaah geeeeh da ddaa'
and 'ma' - although that one is more rare. Amaya started the 'ma' sound at Christmas... but forgot about it for a few months. Kiara said 'da' first... and then all of a sudden Amaya can't stop saying 'da' that's all she says!! though Amaya say's 'ma' in her crib and 'da' when she is playing.

We have started to teach them 'signs' like - all done, more, Mommy and Daddy.

They put their soothers back into their own mouths!! That's right!! They find it and put it in themselves when they want it!! hooray!!

They are sleeping through the night!!! YES!!! It took a few nights of 'cry it out' which wasn't as tramatic as I thought it was going to be. For us it was really just.. pick them up, settle them and place them back into their crib where they fall back asleep immediately!

They are really starting to move around. They go from sitting to a 'crouching' position to on their tummies... to rolling around! I think they get 5 or more feet away from where we put them these days! Uh oh!! Crawling is coming!

There is probably alot more that I could tell you... but it's late and they are sleeping!!! So I should go to be too! here is a picture for you...... i'll post more soon

My Little Easter Bunnies

6 Months Old!!

Family Self-Portrait

Fun Times!

Our Beautiful 5 Month Old Twin Girls!!

Kiara

Amaya

Doctors Visit

The girls have been quite sick with colds for the past while.

Amaya had a cough and wasn't eating or sleeping through the night... pretty much all of January. Kiara never got it and continued to be my little healthy happy baby until Saturday last week.

On Saturday night Kiara got a fever, runny nose, eyes and a real deep cough. We called the 'hotline' at 3am on Saturday night as Kiara had a fever of 101.9. After alot of questions we established that they didn't need to go to the Doctor. We got her fever down and thankfully didn't have to take her to emergency in Yorkton (there are not 24 hour clincs there). Amaya caught the cold a few day's later. So yeah - it's been a rough year so far and an extremly rough week.

It got to the point this past week - that I was up with one or both of the girls constantly in the night and could not nap as they weren't on the same napping schedule. I have also been feeling pretty awful. So - we decided to go to Saskatoon! The girls needed their 5 month checkup and we were able to get an appointment for this past Friday. The Doctor has checked them out fully and even though they are very sick and uncomfortable - there is nothing to be concerned about yet.

It has been so comforting to be around my Mom. To see her to hold them and comfort them, as she used to comfort me - brings me comfort. It is nice to hear that my concerns aren't in vain and at the same time it's really great to know that there really isn't anything major to be worried about.

The Results of the 5 month checkup:

Amaya is 14 lbs 6oz
and
Kiara is a whopping 16lbs 11oz.

Yes - Kiara is a full 2 lbs heavier.

They are both the same length at 26 1/2 inches long or 67cm.

Amaya is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 80th for height.
Kiara is in the 75th percentile for weight and 80th for height.

Thank you for thinking of me this past week - I had been updating a bit on Facebook. It was difficult - but somehow God gave me the energy to get up each night with the girls - and even without sleep - He gave me rest.

5 Months Old!!

Tub Time!!

Hanging out with Mama and the Teddy Bears

3 Month Photos

Kiara

Amaya

Cute Sweaters!!

(These outfits are brought to you by

Uncle Kevin
Auntie Juanita & Auntie Jess)

Happy Birthday!!

Talking to Grandma & Grandpa Dennis

Playing with Daddy

My Fairy Princess

Why is the Coke gone?

Christmas!!!

If you had noticed... I have been trying to put pictures on blogger of the girls so that you can see how they have grown and changed. But two things have happened.. 1. Blogger takes FOREVER to load pictures and 2. I have been short on time lately... go figure with two little munchkins to love and cuddle all day. SO here is the plan = here is a very recent picture of them... and i will try to post ALOT of pictures now that we actually have internet and eventually we will catch up to Christmas! sound good? good!

Ready to go out on the town!

Just 10 days old here!

These bonnets hardly fit them now!

Amaya napping after nursing.

She is less than 2 weeks old... and so tiny!