Tuesday, April 23, 2013

All I want for Christmasss isss my two front teef

The Girlchick lost her second front tooth.  She was working on it and working on it and it was finally ready to be pulled.  She was really good about letting me pull it out.  She now has the cutest lisp.



Sunday, April 21, 2013

Happy Birthday Big Boys!

Happy Birthday!

It has been two years since I welcomed you both into the world and you have been full of surprises at every turn.  Just like you started out the day you were created, you were a surprise then too.  I have loved every minute of it.  Well most of it.  The chaos that now rules our house - some days I could go without.  But I wouldn't change a thing.  Every experience, every sweet little boy hug, every step, word and tears.  Wouldn't change a thing.

You both have amazed me and scared me and I really do think that you have caused a lot of the gray hair I have recently discovered.  But I love you both so much.  I love to watch you discover and learn new things.  I love to watch you play and be crazy.  I love to see how you follow your big sister around like little ducks and listen when she reads you stories.  I don't love it so much when you fight, it hurts my heart, but I know that it is mostly normal and hopefully as you get older it will get better. 

It's been an amazing 2 years, I can't wait to see what comes next.  But let's slow it down a bit.  I need more time to enjoy the moment.

The boys had a nice celebration at the school on the Friday before their actual birthday. 

Big sister got to join us for cookies (Thing 1 is next to sissy)





We also had a small Barnyard themed party for them at the house. I couldn't have pulled it off without the Gill family.  Paula made all the labels for the food and did all the shopping for the decorations and Wayne helped us put it all together and blew up all the balloons for the find the piggies game (the piggies had escaped their pen and everyone had to chase them down and put them back in, silly piggies escaped several times!).  The Girlchick at first thought that the purpose of the game was to pop as many of the piggies as possible and was pretty upset when we told her that wasn't the point.  I think this game was the biggest hit of the party.  Well that and the wagon hay rides where daddy was the horse.  They had a lot of fun.  Unfortunately Thing 1 started not feeling well that day and this ended up being the start of a nasty tummy bug. 

The table with all the labels of barnyard themed foods and the banner that The Girlchick made

The Gooooodie bag

Wagon hay rides

Bobbing for duckies

Eating cake and snacks with Grammy And GaGa (thing 1 in the dark blue shirt and Thing 2 in the light blue shirt)

Thing 2 with Grammy

Thing 1 with GaGa

The Girlchick, Thing 2, Ellis & Dorset Gill, sitting on the hay bales in front of the big red barn door that Wayne made on the fence

Thing 1 was feeling pretty yucky by this point at the end of the party and he just wanted to be held so he isn't in any of these pictures


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Terrible 2's x 2

I'm really not looking forward to this stage in their lives.  The Girlchick had a bit of a rough time and still does.  We already know they are hard headed, but the fits and screaming are already starting.  The constant "I do it, I get it" to anything and everything can be a little frustrating.  Like when they drop something on the floor during dinner, they immediately want to get out of their chairs and pick it up.  I'm fine with them picking it up, I just want them to wait until dinner is over, but they don't understand this and want to do it right now.  It's all about immediate satisfaction and has to be at that exact moment or all hell breaks loose! 

So not looking forward to this stage.  It was hard enough with just the one, now we have two at the same time, plus The Girlchick who still has her extreme moments of hardheaded stubborn willful boldness that are hard to deal with too.

Just knock me out and call me in 2-3 years, I'm not sure I'm going to survive.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Work Picnic at the Houston Zoo

My work had a family picnic at the Houston Zoo.  It was a little crazy since it started right at the beginning of the boys naps.  We decided to let them skip the nap and hope that they slept in the car on the way down there for a bit.  Thing 2 was out pretty quick, but Thing 1 per his usual self didn't want to sleep and fell asleep 5 mins before we got there.  They were so tired.  But I think overall they still had a really good time, and for being as tired as they were they were really good until it was time to leave - then they had a huge meltdown!  But that was to be expected.

Waiting to ride the carousel - they were sweating so bad with the masks on but refused to take them off (Thing 1 is the in the orange and white stripes)

Thing 2 would only ride if Daddy was holding him

Thing 1 riding all by himself

The Girlchick getting her face painted

The finished product

They brought out some live animals - she touched it and was ok till it moved.  When she brought it closer to the boys they freaked and and wouldn't stop screaming.

Tired kiddos - although Thing 1 looks like he is ready to go some more

Friday, April 12, 2013

Little Swinging boys ..... getting so big

Their big sister taught them to swing on their belly's and they love it.  We ended up taking out the baby swings and putting in the other regular swing and the glide swing.  In truth we should just take out the glide swing and put in 3 regular swings.  They are usually pretty good about taking turns between the 3 of them, but not always. 



The boys still amaze me how big they are getting and what they catch on to.  Last night at dinner I noticed that Thing 2 was using his fork to push his corn into his spoon so he didn't have to use his fingers.  He only learned that by watching big sister.  It's something that she does and we haven't tried to teach the boys that yet, so he got it by just watching her. 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Random Thoughts

1. Usually we get the kids clothes ready the night before so it helps to make the mornings smoother for Nathan when he is on his own.  The Girlchick will ask what the weather is going to be and usually dress accordingly.  But what cracks me up is the way she lays out her clothes.  She will lay them out on the floor in the middle of her room and you would think that it was placed on the floor to look like a person or where it would go on a person.  But no - she puts it in a line on the floor in the order of which she puts it on.  Undies first, then her shirt, then her pants then her socks and shoes.  It took me a minute to figure out it wasn't random and her undies were always on her "head".  But it fascinates me how her mind thinks sometimes.

2. In an update to her kindergarten testing - her teacher told Nathan on Friday that she did very well with the actual testing.  She behaved very well and there weren't any issues at all.  I'm very happy about this but a little surprised.  I thought we would have at least one episode.  Now we wait 1-3 weeks for the results!  And you should be really asking why Nathan was at school with her on Friday.  It was show and tell day and usually it relates to what they are working on in class which was the letter N.  She decided that Nathan was a good letter N item to bring into school.  :)  It was fun for both of them. 

3. I have been letting the boys hair grow out.  I have spent more on their hair cuts than The Girlchick by a lot.  Which is easy since she has only had 2 cuts and they were both free since we donated it to lochs of love.  So what I have been doing is just cutting their bangs to keep it out of their eyes.  It's not always perfectly straight, but it's not noticeable either.  But this means their hair is getting pretty long int he back and I love how their cowlick's make it all fluffy and poofy in one spot.  I love to run my fingers through it right in that area.  I do this if they happen to be sitting on my lap just hanging out or when we do "rocky-bye" at bed time.  Sometimes they don't let me do it and tell me "no Mama".  But I try to do it whenever I can.  So it really cracked me up at the dinner table the other night when Thing 1 started to do it to his own hair in the exact same spot in the same way.  I thought it was hilarious.

4. The other thing they have started copying is the way they give me kisses.  I love to give them hugs and kisses, like I torture them since they are like - no mama and want to go play and I just want to love on them.  So I usually have to stop them and I grab their face to hold them still and give them kisses on both cheeks.  The first time Thing 2 did it to me I wasn't sure what he was trying to do but then when I didn't turn my head like he wanted so he could kiss my other cheek - he said "utter ide" which translates to other side.  It's really funny to see what they pick up on and copy.  I wasn't really aware of doing that until I was like - where did that come from and thought about how I usually kiss them.

5.  Thing 1 is still on the smaller side and still about 2 lbs behind Thing 2.  He has these little chicken legs that I just love and is always pulling at his pants to keep them up (I had to go buy some 12 month sized shorts since I thought that by this summer they would be too small and had donated them all).  But he is funny how he will still curl up into the tiniest ball in the fetal position.  He gets so small that it is really like he is a little baby still.

6. They had their first argument last night with actual words that I understood.  They fight all the time but it's usually just shouting no at each other or just screaming.  But last night Thing 1 wanted daddy to do rocky-bye and Thing 2 wanted mommy to do it.  It was funny to listen to them.  Thing 1 kept asking "dada ocky-bye", and Thing 2 kept asking for Mama.  Then they started to talk to each other - Thing 2 said - no, mama and Thing 1 said, no - dada.  This went on for a few minutes.  It was really cute.

7. Thing 2 always shouts MAMA, MAMA, MAMA,MAMA - not matter what to get my attention.  I thought it was because I ignore his first request or second request so I really tried to make sure I responded to him the first time he called for me or tried to get my attention.  But no - he just likes to shout at me over and over.

8. Thing 2 loves to sing.  Doesn't matter what type of music or if he doesn't know the song or he makes up the song in his head.  He just loves to sing.  I've asked Nathan if he thinks he will be a singer when he grows up and he said no - he's too much like you and is probably tone deaf.  I told him that wasn't funny.

9. Now on to birthday planning.  They turn 2 at the end of this month.  What to do what to do.  Trying to make sure not to spend too much money and keep it simple, but also make sure that The Girlchick realizes that they all get equal "stuff" (she gets it in her head at times that she gets more "stuff").  I think I need to do what the Hoy house does and do experiences instead of parties.  But how and where to start with that?



Monday, April 8, 2013

Mommies Helpers

Usually it's The Girlchick that is my biggest helper.  But lately the boys have been wanting to get in on the act.  I seem to remember this being the same age when The Girlchick really wanted to help.  It's pretty funny that I can't go into the laundry room for anything without them trailing in after me saying "help mommy".  They love to load the washer, unload the washer into the dryer and unload the dryer and take all the clothes to Daddy to fold.  They love to help at this age.  Be it carrying in a bag or just about anything from the car.  They love to "help" cook too.  Which usually means that they stand on a chair at the counter and watch me mix something.  I'll let them help me stir or help me pour ingredients in.  Stuff that they can actually do.  But as long as you say come help mommy or daddy they will come running like nothing else.  It is their life's mission right now to help.  It's really sweet right now, but speaking from experience I know it won't last long.

Helping Mommy make blueberry pancakes!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Boys go to the zoo

While we were buying a cow.  The boys were with GaGa and went to the zoo.  They had a blast!  They were so wound up that they didn't want to take a nap when she got them back to the house.  They got to see all sorts of animals and the loved seeing the elephants.  They even picked out baby elephants at the gift shop.  She let them pick out anything that they wanted and that is what they picked.


Playing with the baby elephant statue outside of the elephant exhibit






Since they wouldn't nap they were pretty cranky that afternoon.  I took them to the store and they were both asleep by the time we got to the end of the block.  Thinking about it at that point made me think that putting them in the car wasn't such a good idea.  Poor little guys were just so tired!




Thursday, April 4, 2013

Kindergarten testing

This week is kindergarten testing for The Girlchick.  Since she went to a private kindergarten she has to be tested to see if she knows everything (which according to her she always knows everything since her standard answer to anything you tell her is "I know") that she is supposed to know before she can go into first grade.  They have been giving them prep tests and pretend tests for about a month now to prepare them to take this test.  She goes to a Montessori school so their methods are a little different and they do not do the standard testing like public schools.  So they try to put them into the situation with the pretend tests and get them comfortable. 

She has struggled last week with this.  She gets bored very quickly and has a hard time sitting still and focusing.  She makes all sorts of noise and disrupts the class, she doesn't listen to the full questions the teachers are asking her so she gets wrong answers since she answers what she thinks they are asking.  But last week was really bad - she actually kicked one of her friends and shoved another one and had to be carried to the office two times kicking and screaming in a full on tantrum.  It's very frustrating, she has been doing so well lately.  I don't know if it's the stress of the upcoming tests or what.  But we have been trying to talk to her that she needs to listen, needs to focus and concentrate on just her own work.  I'm worried that she is just going to blow the test because she can't follow the rules and instructions.  I told her that if she doesn't pass that she has to repeat kindergarten all over again and do nothing but the same easy work over.  Not sure if any of us got through to her but we will see in the next few weeks if she passes this test.

Ready to have her school pictures taken

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Lost another tooth!

The Girlchick finally lost one of her front teeth last night.  They have been loose for awhile now and one has been on the verge for over a week now. 

I went to pick them all up from daycare last night and she got in the car and the first thing that she wanted to show me was that her tooth could twist.  I told her that it was finally ready and that the first thing we were going to do when we got home was pull it.  She looked at me in horror first saying it was going to hurt and bleed, but I got her all excited about the tooth fairy coming and we were soon past being scared.

Sure enough when we got home - it popped right out - no blood or pain.

She was SO excited!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Back in the cycle

It seems that we are back in the cycle of the yuckies.  Thing 1 came down with a nasty cough and bronchitis with a sinus infection, but his ears were clear.  He ran a fever for about 4 days and they put him on antibiotics.  I ended up taking Thing 2 to the dr with me since he had a nasty cough as well but no fever yet, but strangely enough - his lungs sounded worse.  Go figure.  The dr went ahead and gave us a antibiotic for him, but Nathan and I decided to wait to see if he could shake it.  He started his fever the next day, so we went ahead and started it.  He has still been running a low grade fever now for the last few days and his cough does not to seem to be improving with the meds.  Hopefully they will both get over this pretty quick.  We have even had to use the inhaler a few times since they will run around and start having coughing fits that they can't seem to stop.

Thing 1's idea of sick wear - his sister's minnie mouse slippers and his "backpack" aka his leash.