Sugar and Toy Overload

We had an awesome Christmas. Grandma came Christmas eve and stayed till Saturday. The LGs and grandma made cookies and I cooked dinner. Julie picked up the Honey Baked ham earlier that day. If you've never been to Honey Baked during Xmas DONT! Its bedlam. After dinner we went to see some lights. We went to a place on Rawls Rd in Tampa. It was AMAZING! If you haven't gone you must. The lights are set to music and there are thousands and thousands. When we first got there Emerson was a little scared and did not want to be put down. After about 10 mins she asked to be put down and a few minutes later her and her sister were dancing to the music and enjoying it thoroughly. When we went to leave Emerson cried the whole way to the car and did not want to leave. After we got home Grandma read The Night Before Christmas to the girls and they woke in the morning to a butt-load of toys. It took us about four hours to open all the presents. The main reason for this is the LGs had to play with every toy they opened and try on every piece of clothing before they would move on to the next. AND, before they could play with a toy we had to get it out of the box. To do this we had to remove about 500 twist ties. They people who package toys have to be just plain mean.

Some noteworthy presents:


Santa got them a play house that they ADORE!!! it has a doorbell that works and they ring the doorbell before walking in every. time. now. So cute!


Grandma bought them this FurReal puppy that barks and walks. Well, at first they loved it. Then for some reason Emerson is now scared to death of the thing. We had to hide it in a closet.

Uncle Ted sent them a gift certificate to Toys R Us and we took them to pick out some toys. Well, Emerson picked out this Microwave and she is in total love with it. It lights up and the table inside turns and it beeps. Too cute.

Bouncy horses they received from Grandma. These were a big hit and Avery likes to bounce with her Pink Hat (although in the video she is wearing both her hat and her sisters!) she received from her cousin Cameron. Her favorite thing is to make her hat fly off!


I got a small camera to fit into the diaper bag. Yes, that means even MORE pictures. I swear these are the most photographed twins since Mary Kate and Ashley! I also got a bunch of stuff for scrap-booking (Im only a year behind right now! YIKES!) My Aunt (in law) sent me loads of cut-outs. It must have taken her for ever to do them all.



Last night before bed Avery had to say goodnight to all her new toys. This meant that she had to hug each one too. This took quite a while.


Emerson has learned what chocolate is and calls it ChiChi. NOT A GOOD THING! She is asking for ChiChi every hour.

All in all a great Christmas. I haven't EVER had a Christmas THIS fun!

Sleeping Arangements

About a month ago we moved the LGs into toddler beds. I call it the king sized toddler bed cause I have them side by side. They LOVE them. And the transition has not been that hard...with the exception of naps. Naps are another story all together. I have found that I have to do the opposite of what I used to do with the crib.



With the crib I had to put them in there. Cover them up with their blanket say "night night" and walk out closing the door behind me not to return unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Like I just heard a bomb explode in there, should I go check???




The first few days I tried the same technique and close the door behind me. BIG MISTAKE! They trashed the joint like rock stars. They actually pulled the door OFF THE CLOSET! Its a big freaking wooden slider door! It could have killed them had it fallen on them.



I decided I should try leaving the door open till they fall asleep. As soon as I was out of site they started playing and they got smart about it. They learned to trash their room quietly. They never tried to leave their room they would just pull ever piece of clothing out of the drawers and every toy out of the closet. Their favorite thing was to pull all the rubber bands out of their box. These are little tiny rubber bands I use for their hair. Do you have any idea how f*cking tedious picking up hundreds of little rubber bands up is?




At night it seemed a little different. I could walk away and they would stay in bed if the door was open and go to sleep. Then the other night I heard the door slam shut. I went in there to see what was going on and they were both in bed. I walked away leaving the door open and a few minutes later heard it slam. Seeing as how last time I checked after the door was shut they were in bed I decided to let it be. About an hour later I heard something. Walked in to discover they had trashed the place. Back to bed they went and the door stayed open.




I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VERY NOT ready to give up naps and I know they need them VERY much. So, something had to change or I was going to break out the duct tape and keep their asses in the bed that way. So I started sitting in front of the door with a book or the laptop. It worked perfect. They would stay in bed and fall asleep then I would get up close their door and go do my own thing. Then one day I grabbed a pillow and decided to lay on the floor while I was watching them and of course I fell asleep. So for the last 3 days I have been taking a 20 min nap in the hall on the floor. Then today I was awakened to a door slamming lass then a foot away from my face. Lets just say this is one of the absolute worst ways to wake up. I immediately opened the door to see Avery climbing back into bed. I decided to close the door seeing as how she was headed into bed she obviously would go to sleep. Right???



You guessed it! The room was TRASHED!

Here are a few pictures we took the first night in their new beds:

Then a few hours later:

Here's Avery...just being Avery:
Here is Emerson helping put the beds together:

"Other Side!" (said in a sing song voice)

It all started one day when the LGs were nursing and decided to switch sides. I said "other side" and somehow it stuck in Their heads and now we cant go a nursing session with out someone saying "Other Side!" in a sing song voice. This has become somewhat annoying as it takes them a long time to coordinate the switch, therefore all nursing sessions seem to take longer.

The real problem is that this has become a game and it has bled into other aspects of our daily lives. When we went to dinner the other evening someone said, "other side" and they both got up and switched sides of the table. This for most people would not be a big deal, but because they are less then 3 feet tall they need help getting into their booster seats and you have to spot them when they get down. ANNOYING!

I really want this game to end soon. We are now in the ignore it phase and hoping they get bored with this game.

Last night Emerson decided to re-purpose one of their toys they have had for over a year. The Ball Popper is an annoying but beloved toy. If you are not familiar with the Ball Popper you will understand part of it's annoyance by the noise it makes...BUT, that's not all! It also launches balls across the room and you always loose them.

I must say this "New" use seems much less annoying.

Missing Mom

Julie has been working really late for the last few weeks. Most of the time she only sees the LGs in the morning getting home after they have gone to bed.

Last night Avery was playing with her Magna Doodle and she handed it to me. She wanted me to draw her something. I started with a cat. She said "Mom." I drew another cat. She said "Mom!" So I drew "Mom". Curly hair, big eyes, HUGE smile... showed it to her and she seemed satisfied. (Julie is Mom Im Mommy or MAMA as they like to call me)She did the sign for more and said "Mom" again, so I drew her again. After doing this for what seemed like forever I suggested we call Mom. This suggestion was met with excitement so wee went into the Kitchen and called her.

Lately when someone is on the phone the LGs have been clamming up. They get all excited to talk on the phone then they act like they are afraid of it. The same was true this time except when I said to Avery, "say hi Mom." She actually said it, but very softly.

Julie decided to shut down her computer and rush home to see them before bed. When she got home I opened the door for the girls to run out and greet her. Avery gave her a big hug. Emerson went screaming down the driveway. It was the cutest thing.

Julie played with them and read to them. Avery kept kissing and hugging her. She is not usually the kissing type. She likes to hug but she's not that big a fan of kissing. You have to bribe her into it, or tell her NOT to kiss you. That works sometimes too. Needless to say Julie was very happy she came home and saw her kids before bed.

Avery will kiss her sister though...

Catching up...

I have fallen behind on my blogs lately, I do apologize... These girls keep me busy busy busy... Let's see since the LGs birthday we have done allot.

We went to our cousin Cameron's birthday party. It was very fun. Cameron got a few vehicles and a helmet for his rides. Avery like the helmet and decided to wear it for almost the whole day. She looked like she belonged on the short bus. When she finally took it off her sister proceeded to put it on.

Avery Locked me out of my car two days in a row. Sad, but true. The first time it happened she was in the front seat playing while I buckled her sister into her car seat. I had already turned on the car and the A/C. As I closed the door I thought, "Oh, God. I bet she has hit the lock button." Sure enough it was locked. I tried to get her to unlock it but she did not understand what I was asking her to do. She kept pushing the side of the door where we were pointing. After a little bit of this game she proceeded to climb into the back seat and get into her car seat...I had already called the police. You see if there is a child locked in the car they will send out the police and "Pop a Lock" to unlock your door for free.

This lady who was parked in front of me said she just could not leave me and asked if I thought that Avery would come upto the window if she saw a toy? I said, "I have no idea." So she whipped out a toy and we started calling Avery to the front of the car. She came like a we were holding up a piece of bacon for a dog. So we started again with the "Push the button, Avery" talk again and she reached out and pulled the handle of the door, opening it.

The next day I took them to the park and as I was wrestling them into the car Avery went to the front seat and JUST. LIKE. THE. DAY. BEFORE. I closed the door thinking, "Oh, God. I bet she locked the doors." Sure enough she did. Only, this time she climbed right into the seat. She did not spend any time in the front seat at all. So, I called the police and tried to coax her to the front. She did not go to the front. Instead she climbed into the floor board in front of her sisters feet. She tried to open that door like she did the day before but it was child locked and did not open or unlock the doors. She got frustrated turned around and threw herself on the floor hitting her head on the way down. So now there was NO. WAY. she was gonna get up. She was hurt and frustrated so she stayed there crying till pop a lock got there and opened the door. As I drove away (after turning a few corners) I looked out and say my wallet sitting on the hood of my car. Yep, the same wallet I have lost about a dozen times.

About a week later I was putting Avery in her car seat after a fun day at the Aquarium and as I closed the door I heard the "THUNK" sound of my doors locking. My heart sank as I realized it had happen yet again, only this time it was Emerson on the other side of the window. I started to panic. Then I stopped and thought she pushed that button with purpose. I can get her to do it again. "Emerson, can you unlock the car?" she hit the clock side. So I said, "the other side of the button sweetie." And she did it. She unlocked the car.

Two weeks ago we (me and the LGs) took Julie for her birthday dinner. We went to Columbia restaurant and the girls loved the flamenco dancers. We all had a blast!

Avery's restaurant

Over the Thanksgiving weekend Avery made up her own game where she served us food at her restaurant. Sometimes she wanted to be served but mostly she ran the show. When she wanted to play she would "EATS!" and point to her table. It was a little confusing because she would also do this when she was hungry.

Here is her at the beginning of the day and the service is superb!


In this episode of "Avery's Restaurant" Mom does the serving:


In this next episode you can really see the service going down hill FAST!
Everything grandma asked for was greeted with a "NO!" and then a maniacal laugh. She did eventually allow grandma to have some bacon and milk...

The kindness of strangers...

Today I took them to the park...it was a little late and I knew I was pushing close to nap time. I did it anyway. What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment.

On our way there I stopped and got us lunch so I could let them eat, then play, then home for a nap. It went pretty much like that except there were interjections of temper tantrums like every ten min.

One of the problems is that they both LOVE. LOVE. LOVE to swing. That is ALL they would do at the park if I would let them.

So, the first time they asked to swing I let them. I pushed them (actually on the big kid swings!) and they did great and were loving it. I told them that swing time was over and uncurled the death grips off the chains, plopped them on the ground and walked away. Avery followed and went to play on one of the jungle gyms. Emerson chose to stand by the swings and cry. I decided to ignore her, and went back to fighting the squirrel with the cleft lip for my iced coffee and cheese burger. (anyone that has EVER gone to Kate Jackson park knows how freaking annoying those squirrels are and the one that was viciously trying to get our food today was missing part of his lip!)

After a few minutes I no longer her the plaintive wails of my oldest. I look over to the swings and see 3 toddlers, a little boy and two girls, probably no older then 5 years of age trying to figure out how to get E into one of the little kid swings. It was about the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I went over and gave in. How could I deny the child a swing when these little children were trying to comfort her and give her it. So I put her in and we swing for a bit then I end it. This time I tried to give her more notice and let her get prepared for the end of her ride. It did not matter. She had another fit. So this time she ended up getting a time out. She sat in her time out and cried like she was being beaten.

As I sat their yelling at the squirrel I see the little boy going over to E and trying to see if she is ok. (How sweet is this little boy???) After her two minutes were up I went over and talked to her and we agreed that she would stop crying for me to swing her. She trots off happy as can be over to the....swings. She stands there, pointing and grunting. And there goes the little boy. He goes to her and holds her hand.

I looked around and said, "who does he belong to?" His mom said, "me." "OH. MY. GAWD. your little boy is about the sweetest thing I have ever seen."

If you don't have it... GO GET IT!!!!!!

We now have the answer to the question, "what was the best birthday present to the girls got???"

The LGs had their 2 year well baby check up this morning. I was NOT looking forward to it. Most Doctor appointments pretty much go the same way. The girls are excited to be there till the Nurse shows up to get the party started. Also, Avery has been...lets just call it moody lately. This particular apt. was off to the same start.

When leaving the house I decided it was a good idea to put the mail into the mailbox on our way out of the house. I head toward the street and as I step toward the mailbox my left ankle rolls off the curb. Hurt like hell and now I'm limping... GREAT!!! this should make the appointment all the more fun...

We get there and my ankle is hurting more and more. I was actually having a problem putting any pressure on it. I choose to not put them into the stroller cause I did not want to lift it with my ankle hurting like it was. We get into the building and I get them into the waiting room where we eat some snack and read some books.

The nurse comes and gets us. She measures E and A's head. They are not happy about it but are being pretty good. Then she weighs them they are acting the same: reluctant submission. THEN she wants to lay them on the table to measure them. That's when they start crying like someone is trying to kill them...This is the usual M.O.

The nurse sends us into the next room to wait to see the Doctor. They stopped crying cause no one was poking at them. Doc comes in and chats with me and talks to them. (I Love my pediatrician!)She asks about their development and then tells me that she needs to do their exam and she can do most of it with them on my lap. We started with Emerson. I put her on my lap and the Dr listens to her chest, her back, looks in her nose her eyes, her ears, lays her back on me and checks her pulse, and makes sure all her girly parts are ok. All the while E does NOT CRY ONE TEAR!!! she actually seemed like she was having a good time as the doctor chatted with her about what she was doing. Then we did Avery and she was just as good as Emerson.

So, the Doc and I are totally impressed with the behavior the girls had just displayed. I told her that I think it is the Dr kit that they got from their friend Anna on their birthday. They play with it and sometimes I take it show them "Here's what the Doctor does..." and do to them what the Doctor does to them. I also give them a shot with the fake needle. They actually LOVE that part and ask me to give them many many many shots. Which, brings us to the last and usually the most dreaded of all pediatrician appointments.... THE SHOTS....

I decided to get them the regular flu shot and the MMR shot (I had delayed that one due to not being in daycare) So, the doc leaves and the nurse comes in with the shots. She takes A first and puts her one the table. As she is doing this I tell Avery "she's going to give you a shot like I did this morning but it is going to sting for a few seconds and that's it. The nurse then does some sort of judo maneuver and gives her the two shots in her arm. Avery did....nothing. She did not cry. at.all. I started praising her like she just wrote the Magna Carta, and got her a treat from my bag.

Now it's Emerson's turn. The nurse turns to E and says ok it's your turn. She hid behind the chair. Then she suddenly ran to the nurse and asked her to pick her up. The same thing happens....no crying. She did do the turned down lips that is the start of a cry. She maybe cried for a second. But, I was so busy telling her how brave she was and getting her her treat that the tears stopped in their tracks.

If you do not have one of these and your doctor appointments are dreaded GET ONE NOW!!!!

Sandboxes and Bounce Houses

The LGs b-day was on Halloween. They turned two and I am in denial! I don't waaaaant my babies to grow up! Anyway...enough of my wining....here's what we did! We had their party on Sunday so they could go trick or treating on Saturday. The first exciting thing that happened was Grandma bought them a sandbox for their birthday. They LOVE it!!! They get sand in places I had no idea sand could get. The issue with the sandbox is that it gathers dirt, yes dirt not sand and the dirt is black and it looks like cat poo! It came with a cover so I know that it is not, but it's still disturbing.

For Halloween they were fairies and I must say, I think they were about the cutest fairies I have EVER seen! They were so crabby before I dressed them and the minute they saw themselves in the mirror they were giddy. We just went down our street but they were saying "triii o trree" It was so cute. They also would just walk right into peoples houses. Thankfully we had already introduced ourselves to the neighbors so they weren't too shocked! Here's a video of them soooo excited to go trick or treating:

True to forum Avery "vagrant style" took a rest on someones porch.

We had a party for them with just some family and friends. I cant believe my babies have friends!!! I got a steal on a bounce house for the day. It was a huge hit. All the kids jumped their butts off. Instead of a cake I got them cupcakes and we had pizza for lunch. One of the pizza's I got pineapple on it cause that's the LGs favorite topping. I was surprised at how many kids asked for that pizza!

For their birthday they got a Kitchen, some food for the kitchen, two dolls and strollers, a Doctor kit, and some books. They also got a gift certificate for Build a Bear. Im sure they are gonna love making their own bear. They really love one of the books and when I read it to them they ask for "more". It's the I Love You Book.

Here is the chaos that ensued during the party.

The kids loved the pizza and of course the cupcakes!

Here is the bounce house I rented. The kids loved it. It was such a deal too. If anyone in Tampa area needs one ask me for my guys number!

A video of the bounce house fun:

Busy weekend!

Holy crap we had a busy weekend!!! It's Wednesday and I am still recovering from the fun.

Saturday we packed a lunch and went to the park the LGs and I had a great time...I wish I could say the same for Julie, but she was a complete butthead the whole time. I kept thinking "wow, Julie is in SUCH a bad mood..." Then on the way home I see her rubbing her shoulders and she says, "Damn, I don't have on a patch.". THANK GOD!!! That explains it! She is not aloud to leave the house the rest of the weekend without a "patch check". Here are some pictures from the park.

When we got into the car Avery brought one of her dolls with her. Then she insisted on carrying it with her while at that park. It's so not Avery, but it was really sweet!

Sunday we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out some pumpkins. The LGs were able to ride ponies and feed various animals, including some very nasty geese.

Emerson picking out a pumpkin.

Avery

Emerson on the left, and Avery on the right.

Avery

Avery and I feeding the geese just before they attack! (ok, attack might be over stating. They started bullying us)

Hanging out by the lake in the afternoon sun.

Avery on the pony. She was so brave and actually rode the pony.

Emerson was not that into it. She was scared and this is right before she scaled my arm.

Here is Avery feeding a pony and Emerson putting her fingers into Avery's mouth.

There was also a bounce house at the pumpkin patch.

Sunday night we met a friend, Jenn and her daughter Mahogany for dinner at a Greek restaurant where they encourage you to dance and throw napkins on the floor. The girls had a BLAST!!! They still will yell "HOPA!!!" every once in a while.

This is Mahogany dancing and throwing the napkins. She is about the most outgoing child I have ever met. She is a very cool little girl.

Jenn and Emerson

Avery and Mahogany

This is a video of them dancing and yelling "Hopa!"