This week

Here are a few pictures from the last couple days.  Some of the "big" girls eating their snacks at the table.  Of course they both ended up in the floor with their snacks dumped out of the bowl, but it was only pretzels and marshmallows, so I didn't mind.  I am starting to try to feed them everything at the table.  We have always let them run around with their morning and afternoon snacks.  But after our carpet taking a beating over the last year and a half, I have decided it is time to start keeping everything in the kitchen.  Hopefully it works!  This morning M and L found the laundry basket dad had downstairs last night.  They have played in it for about 30 minutes now...just laughing, and giggling, and talking back and forth in gibberish.  Their new favorite word is oops.  They each say it a good 20 times a day.  It is funny to hear how they use it- when they drop something, bump their head, or do something they aren't supposed to do.  Maddie also says ouch when she falls or bumps into something.  She says it really exaggerated and crinkles up her nose.  So cute.  

Things to remember

I have to jot down a couple of things so I remember them in the future.  First of all, I found my kids in the front yard yesterday.  We were having a play date with our neighbor (she has a little boy a couple months older than the girls and a newborn).  Kerri and I were visiting in the living room while the kids played all over the first floor.  I noticed it got a bit quiet, so I went to check on the girls and her son.  Cameron was standing by the front door holding it open, and Lena and Maddie were nowhere to be seen.  I ran out the door (it was raining and had been for hours) to find them wandering down the driveway...Maddie carrying the remote for the TV.  I yelled at them to stop and come back, so, of course, they took off.  Maddie quickly ditched the remote so she could run faster.  Fortunately, I am still much quicker than they are, so I caught them fairly easily.  We live on a culdesac, so at least there is no traffic!  I wrangled them back into the house, changed their pants because they were soaked, and finished up the play date.  What a scare!

Second, my kids are counting in Spanish.  They are really into counting, so they are constantly finding different things to count- pieces of hot dog, daddy's fingers, blocks in the floor, etc.  After their bath this evening Maddie started with uno, Lena followed it up with dos, then back to Maddie with tres.  THANK YOU, DORA!!  I was laughing so hard!  I think Maddie might know Spanish numbers better than English.  They made it to 6.  They can barely say their own names, but they are speaking in another language!  It is amazing to hear what they learn every day.

10

Lena counted to ten all by herself last Friday.  I didn't think it could be, but she did it again today!

Rainy weekend

We had a nice, lazy weekend with Grandma Parmentar.  It rained the whole time she was here visiting, so we made the best of it.  She brought the girls this little slide for the backyard (and their cute pink tops), and they were so excited to climb on it.  We had just a few minutes of sun on Sunday, so she took M and L out to play.

There are a couple pictures I feel need an explanation.  First of all, isn't their hair getting long?!  The first shot was not too long after their bath, so it curled up really cute when it dried.  Maddie and Lena like to "brush" their hair- notice I did not say "like to have their hair brushed?"  They carried these combs around for a couple hours.  Maddie is getting hers good and wet before brushing Grandma's hair with it.  I finally took them away, because they were running with them in their mouths.  You can see the classic pouting look from Maddie.  She even threw herself on the floor and had a little temper tantrum while Lena sat by and looked at her like she was crazy.  Is that how you spell temper tantrum?  Guess I better get it figured out...I think I may be writing it often over the next year or two or ten (or if they are anything like their mom maybe thirty).

Anyway, it was a super nice weekend.  Sue stayed through the girls' naps on Sunday, so I could get out of the house all by myself.  As soon as she offered to watch them, my mind started racing- what to do first?!  She also babysat Saturday night, and Chris and I went out on a date.  It was way overdue.  We went out to dinner and bowling.  It was so much fun even though I lost- two games to one.

My little trooper

This morning Lena, Maddie, and I were playing in the basement before we left for the gym. I noticed something on Lena's ear, and immediately assumed it was from breakfast. Both M and L love to wipe their food covered hands all over their heads, especially in their hair. I tried to brush it off, but no luck. After taking a closer look I realized it was a tick...gasp! Until today, I didn't realize how much ticks gross me out. I froze. I couldn't remember all of the suggested ways to get it off, and I couldn't remember how not to take it off either. I called my mom. (She is always so calm about everything, and I also think she knows the answer to everything. I would have never admitted that before about two years ago...shhhh, don't tell her.) After coming to the conclusion I need to keep many more items in our medicine cabinet, she instructed me to use finger nail polish remover- of course I have that- and tweezers. I tried to distract Lena with a toy while I held her between my legs. She must have known I was a bit freaked out, because she actually held pretty still (that alone is worth blogging about). My hands were shaking, but I got it off. Man, those things are sick little blood suckers! I flushed it down the toilet. I used to get grossed out by vomit, poop, pee, etc. before I was a mom, but I have grown immune to it. I guess as your kids grow, maybe you gain the "immune to insect gene"? Long story short, Lena never even knew the thing was on her, and it is long gone!

Animal sounds

From videos

Click on the picture to view the video.

Mommy and the girls

The girls and I have had a nice week.  Chris had a pretty crazy schedule this week, so unfortunately, we haven't seen him too much.  Maddie, Lena, and I made the most of our girl time together.  We went to the park twice (clearly I got brave after the first successful trip).  I was pretty nervous to take M and L on my own...Would one run off?  Could I watch each of them close enough that they wouldn't fall off the play ground?  Would they throw a fit when I told them it was time to leave?  Just a few of the many worries I had before we headed out on our first journey alone.  They were such angels, I couldn't believe it!  I swear I saw halos glowing above their heads!  We took our second park trip this morning.  There was no one else to be seen, so I let the girls run around a bit.  We played on the slides, crawled in the tunnels, and went in the swings.  While Maddie and Lena were swinging, they were really calm and quite- just enjoying themselves and the nice weather with a breeze.  After no one saying anything for a few minutes, Maddie looked up at me, and in a really quiet voice said, "Awesome!"  They say the funniest things when there is no one else to hear them.  Yesterday morning we played outside with our neighbors on their swingset.  The girls really like the sand box.

We took a trip to the zoo with three other moms and their kids on Wednesday.  We had nine kids (three sets of twins) between the four of us, so we slowly made our way around to a few exhibits.  It was such a beautiful day, and M and L loved watching all the other children around us...oh, and the animals too.  I think the elephants were their favorite.  They kept saying "elephant, elephant" the rest of the day.  It has been a little difficult to see how quickly the girls are growing up (the last couple weeks with the new bedroom and big girl beds has made it so obvious), but I love that we can communicate so much easier and do so many new fun things together.

Fun in Illinois

We had lots of fun excursions while we were in Illinois.  These pictures sum up some of our adventures.  Chris flew out of St. Louis Monday, so my mom, the girls, and I drove him over and had a day in Missouri.  We played at a playground for a while in the morning, then we met my Great Aunt Maria (she is 91) for lunch.  I haven't seen her since I was pregnant, so I was really looking forward to a quick visit.  Pretty cool the girls have met a great great aunt from each side of the family.  We took the girls into her house for just a bit before we left, and they immediately started rummaging through her things and climbing her stairs.  Maria thought M and L were fabulous, and she loaded them up with toys and books before we left. 

The next shot is from McDonalds in WF.  It was a super windy afternoon, and my mom and I had talked about taking the girls to the park to play.  It just didn't work out, so we grabbed a happy meal and hit the playland instead.  The girls are just big enough to climb through the whole thing.

Of course the next fe pictures are of cuddle time with gma and gpa (while gpa sneaks them candy).  Classic picture of Maddie with her finger up her nose.
The last shot is from a play date with two of my high school friends and their kids.  All the little ones ran around while Leah, Ashley, and I tried to catch up.  The three boys (Hudson, Brady, and Cade) are Ashley's (with one more baby on the way- yay!).  The two girls are Leah's (Kaylin and Avery).  The girls were so excited to see other kids their age that they were literally jumping up and down.

Big girl beds 2

These are the last pictures of my babies in their cribs.  Pretty clear to see why they went into big beds, huh?  I love the look Lena gave me right before she climbed up the side of her crib and over the top.  Stinker.  As soon as Chris brought the mattresses into the house, they figured out what to do with them...jump on them.  In the last picture they are finally getting the hang of it.  

Last night went surprisingly well.  We only had the one fall before Chris and I went to bed.  I woke up a little after 7:00 to a brown haired, blue eyed little girl in yellow pajamas standing next to my bed with a huge grin on her face.  She looked so proud that she woke me up (and that she had spent the whole night in her new bed)!  Soon another girl matching the same description was standing next to her.  I couldn't ask for a better wake up call.

One last thing, we made it into the daycare at church today without the stroller!!!  I know this doesn't seem like much, but to me it is huge.  Not having to lug that huge double stroller in and out of the car saves so much time.  M and L held onto my hands like perfect little angels...totally momma duck moment.

Big girl beds

Well, I have officially uploaded a ridiculous number of pictures and videos since Maddie and Lena were born. I am over my free storage limit with Google, and I just had to purchase additional storage (hopefully it lasts quite a while).

I have pictures to add with this post (of course!), but I can't until tomorrow. Chris worked hard this evening to get the girls' big girl beds all put together. We ordered the mattresses before we went to Illinois, and they came in while we were out of town. Nap time today was officially my babies last nap in their cribs- insert tear here. Pretty sad how quickly they are growing into little girls. On the other hand, they were really excited to see their new room. It is not totally done, so I will get some pictures up once we add the finishing touches. With all of the changes going on we didn't get M and L down until 9:00, so they were pretty tired. Maddie laid down in her bed and drank her water like it was no big deal. Lena was a little weirded out, so I laid down with her for about 20 minutes until I was sure she was asleep. She kept reaching over to touch me to make sure I was still there- pretty cute.

BREAKING NEWS- Chris just came downstairs to tell me Maddie fell out of her bed. Poor thing. He put her back in, and I think she is going right back to sleep. Apparently, she got around the safety rail...waste of $50. Keep your fingers crossed we do well the rest of the night. I am most nervous about nap time tomorrow!

Egg hunt

Lena and Maddie got the hang of this really quick.  The eggs were out of the yard before Max even had a chance to snatch one.  Grandma and Grandpa showed the girls how to pop them open to find the candy inside.  It was super windy.  I love that the girls' hair is getting long enough to blow around.  We spent the afternoon hunting eggs and running around outside enjoying the 80 degree weather.  Other than a mild stomach bug that has circulated through almost everyone here, the holiday was fantastic.

Easter

These are a few shots from Sunday morning...finding baskets the Easter bunny filled, playing with Brittian, Richard, Uncle David, and Grandma, and pictures after church.