Illinois

The girls and I made the trip to Illinois on Monday to spend the week with my family.  My grandpa's 80th birthday party is this weekend, so we couldn't miss that!  And, of course, we will be here for Easter.  The weather is beautiful, and we are all totally enjoying ourselves.  Grandpa bought a new grill right before we got here, and he saved the box for M and L to play in.  He told us he bought the grill so he could get the box for the girls- Grandma said he is full of crap.  It is difficult to see in the pictures, but Grandma, Maddie, and Lena were all playing in it the first night we were here.  It is cool to see how different the girls are each trip we make.  They are crawling up in Grandpa's lap a lot and just relaxing there...a little abnormal for them to hold still for very long.  They have finally figured out that they can climb up and open and play the piano.  I find them in there a couple times a day, and they have been playing really nicely together.  Even Max has found a great buddy- my sister.  Steph is starting a new job on Monday, so she is home for the week- yay!!  She has had Max out running errands with her this morning, and she took him to the park to run around.  Not to mention, she found the biggest stick Max has ever seen and played tug of war with him.  He loves her (and he loves my mom, because she pets him all the time and gives him the leftovers from Maddie and Lena's plates).  This morning the girls and I were looking at Sesame Street videos on the computer.  I told them it was time for lunch, and I walked out of the office into the kitchen.  I heard the door slam and a click.  They locked themselves in the office.  I had to have my dad come in from the project he was working on in the garage to open the door.  We found Lena sitting in the swivel chair watching the video while Maddie spun her around.  They are characters!

Lena has been just a bit under the weather.  She threw up in the middle of the night.  It didn't seem to bother her, because I don't think she even woke up.  Then this morning she had an accident in her high chair.  Hopefully both M and L get a long nap today.  They are both pretty short on sleep, so right now that is what I am attributing Lena's upset stomach to.  Hopefully she is 100% when she wakes up.  More pictures to come...

Genius idea

My mom told me a while back that when we were really little she would give us popsicles in the bath tub.  That is the only place we had suckers, too.  So, after a long day of mattress and bedding shopping, I rewarded M and L with a treat in the tub.  They seemed a bit surprised that I handed over such a messy prize.  They did a bit of a double take, then they dove right in.  The popsicles ended up under the water about half the time, so they didn't last long.  We got blue water as an added bonus!  The only downside to the color was Lena's hand came out of the tub blue, but oh well...worth the mess.  Easiest clean up of the day.  I also forgot to throw laundry in to wash earlier, so we were out of jammies.  These are some from last fall that are a little snug, but for some reason they actually wanted to put them on.  Typically I have to catch the girls as they fly by, because they love running around in just their diapers so much.  I think they like the stripes.  Information I will remember when purchasing future pjs.

Oh crap

This is M and L's nursery.  This morning I found both of my children between their cribs facing the same direction.  "How?" you ask.  I have no freaking clue!  I heard them moving around over the monitor, so I got up to brush my teeth, put my contacts in, etc.- my usual morning routine.  Typically they will play just fine in their room until I get them out of bed to head downstairs.  Between the two of them, they have figured out how to climb out of their cribs.  They just finally fell asleep for their naps (it is 1:30 and they have been in there since 12:00), because they were excited I was sitting in the room watching them.  Basically, they just stick a leg over the side and get right out.  Of course I didn't let it get that far, but I can safely assume from what I saw that that is the process.  We are SO lucky that neither one was hurt.  They did cry this morning when they realized they were stuck, but as soon as they were free, the crying stopped.  Can you believe it??  I'm not really ready for big girl beds, but I guess they are!  Unfortunately, Chris left for three days this morning, so I am on my own to handle this one until he gets home.  Guess I will shop for mattresses this afternoon.

Rainy day

These are just a few pictures from the weekend and this morning.  I love the first one...best seat in the house!  M and L like to pile on daddy while they watch cartoons in the morning.

Today it is raining outside, so I pulled out the colors.  They act like it is magic when the color appears on the paper.  Each girl will use one crayon for about 15 seconds, and they they want a new color.  I'm not sure if they actually like coloring or swapping colors better. 

Zoo with Grandma

We have had the most amazing spring weather this last week.  It's been in the upper 60s, so we have been outside every day.  Grandma and Grandpa Parmentar were here for a long weekend.  While Grandpa helped Chris finish up the trim in the basement, Grandma and I played with the kids.  Friday afternoon was spent outside in the yard playing with bubbles the Easter bunny brought early and sidewalk chalk.  M and L like to take off in opposite directions, so we both got a good workout in that afternoon!  Saturday we took the girls to the zoo.  I think their favorite part was the ride on the carousel, but them seemed to enjoy checking out the animals, too.  The petting zoo was our last stop right at closing time.  I love that M and L aren't afraid of any animal.  They walked right up to all of the goats and started petting them and pointing out their eyes, nose, etc.  I think we can thank Max for their early introduction to a wild animal :)  But, in all seriousness, he and the cats have helped them feel comfortable around animals.  It was a great trip (thanks, Sue!), and I can't wait to take them back again soon.