Tuesday, November 30, 2010




Snuggling in bed after bath time with daddy watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (one of mom and dad's favorites growing up).

Saturday, November 27, 2010






Last night Sue, Zach, and I took Maddie and Lena to see Wildlights at the zoo.  It was COLD.  Totally worth it though.  It is amazing how many lights are strung up around the zoo.  There are tons of activities for kids.  I really didn't know what to expect, so we didn't do any of them.  We wandered around, looked at the lights, and ducked inside displays to check out animals and warm up.  Grandma even took Lena on a carousel ride while Maddie, Zach, and I watched and waved.  We were there until almost 10:00.  Both girls were crabby by the time we left, and were again today from being short on sleep.  In fact, they have been whiny for the last few days.  Can I blame it all on lack of sleep, since they have been staying up late?  They are both going through a really challenging time right now.  They want to do absolutely everything on their own (including dangerous things like walking alone in the parking lot).  They argue with most things I ask them to do, and it usually ends up with either me threatening time out or them actually in time out.  It is exhausting.  Remind me to never be pregnant again while I have a two year old.  Mommy needs her glass of wine at the end of the day!  On a positive note, they are doing really well with potty training.  I don't want to jinx us, but I think Lena has got it, and Maddie is right behind her.  Lena hasn't had an accident in days, and it is also becoming rare for Maddie.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!



Happy Thanksgiving!  Chris' parents and brother were here for the holiday this year.  We celebrated with a huge dinner and lots of relaxing in the afternoon.  We had so much food.  It was all delicious...turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberries (this is all the girls wanted), green bean casserole, pies, and lots of goodies to munch on before dinner.  It was good to visit with everyone and relax and enjoy the company.  We have so much to be thankful for this year!

Chris and Zach ran in the five mile Columbus Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning.  It was the race that either one of them ran in, and the furthest Chris has ever run.  They had an awesome time, and each won a pumpkin pie (sweet bonus that I wish I would have know about before baking the previous day).  We ended up with three pumpkin pies and an Oreo pie...plenty of dessert.  I'm proud of them for being so ambitious on what is socially accepted as one of the laziest days of the year.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010






Somehow mother nature squeezed in one more warm day in November, so we played outside yesterday.  We went for a long walk, and then we played with our neighbor Andrew who is exactly one year younger than the girls.  We had passed along some outdoor toys that M and L have outgrown, and the girls were really excited to see them again.  They like "showing" Andrew how to use the toys.  The high was about 70, but it was super windy.  M and L kept saying "Windy, windy!" and would laugh as their hair blew in their faces.  It was the perfect day for pinwheels.  We came inside after it was getting dark, ate supper, and had popsicles for dessert.  How did I not know about the mini, slow melting ones?  They are perfect for indoor eating!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010



The girls LOVE Chuck E. Cheese.  There is not much more I need to say...pizza, a bazillion buttons to push, junky jewelry to win, slides, rides...you get the picture.  It was so cool to watch them absolutely light up the entire time we were there.  Maddie was terrified of the guy in the mouse suit, but that was the only time there wasn't a smile plastered across M and L's face the whole night.  Grandma played ski ball (my all time favorite) with both the girls while daddy played video games with random kids.  Everyone had a good time.










Mom, dad, and Stephanie were here for the long weekend.  The weather was amazing (almost 70 and sunny every day), so we tried to get outside and enjoy it.  I think it was probably the last of the nice fall weather we will see for the year.  Today it started raining, and it is getting cold...brrrrr.  We took the girls to the park down the road for a little while one morning.  Steph and Grandma played on everything with them, and they were eating up the attention.  Then Grandpa suggested burgers and fries for lunch, so Maddie and Lena were ready to leave.  It was so nice having them here- not only for the visiting, but for all the extra help they gave me.  Potty training two is really quite a bit of work, and I just don't have the energy my nonpregnant body does!  As for potty training, the girls had a rough weekend.  They didn't want to leave all the action to take time to sit on the potty.  Monday morning they got right back into the swing of things though.  We wear panties around the house and pull ups when we are out and about.  They HATE public toilets (who doesn't?).  Any moms have useful tricks to make them more comfortable?

Saturday, November 6, 2010

first day of potty training
wiped out after a play date with buddy Maya
This is what we can do:
potty training- I knew it would be a lot of work, but I am exhausted.  On top of that, M and L have decided to get up over an hour earlier than they usually do.  We just started at the beginning of the week.  Lena really seems to be catching on.  Maddie started out strong, but now she is just being defiant.  When I ask her to sit on the potty, she screams, "NO!"  Then she usually has an accident soon after.
counting- Both M and L can count to 14, after that everything sounds the same.  In Spanish we still just count to 10- mainly because mom doesn't know anything past this, and I don't think Dora does either.  We are also starting to recognize most of our numbers by sight (and quite a few letters, too).
shapes and colors- We can name most all our colors and shapes consistently.  When we are out and about the girls like to talk about what shapes and colors different things are.  They usually race to see who can scream out the answer first (I'm sure this is just a small preview of the sibling rivalry to come).
 talking- Let's just put it this way, they won't shut up.  Most things are coming out in short sentences that I notice grow with each passing week.  Maddie had a little bit of a stutter for a couple months.  I called the pediatrician, and she referred us on to have a speech evaluation.  It is scheduled for two weeks from now, but over the last week she has completely stopped stuttering.  Crazy.  Come to find out, this is very common for children her age.  Their brains are thinking faster than their mouths can speak.