Strange Play Places

My license expired and I tried to renew it online but for some reason I was not able to. The thing is I THOUGHT I had renewed it (my birthday is in March. We are at the end of April here) and I kept waiting for it to come in the mail. I finally looked into it and discovered that I could not in fact renew it online and I was waiting for a license to come in that was never going to arrive.

Unfortunately I had to make the dreaded trip to the DMV. I made an appointment, in the hopes that that would lessen my suffering. I also knew I would have the girls with me. The appointment was not for a few days so i thought I would stop by a DMV and just get it done. I get in there with the girls to find out that not only is the wait 1 and a half hours but I needed to have with me my birth certificate (short form is fine), social security card and two bills showing I live where I live. Oy Vey! Not having these documents I decide to wait for my appointment and chance it with my expired license.

So we get to the DMV on the correct day and at the correct time (despite going to the wrong one on the other side of town that was closed!) and the people of the DMV make the People of Walmart look like socialites. A lady with a really big wig leans over and is telling Emerson how pretty she is and Emerson starts crying and hiding her face. This did not bode well for our stay. I gave them a snack that they proceeded to drop and tried to pick up to eat. "NOOOOOO!!! give it here, it is now garbage!" I think I used an entire thing of wipes while there.

They started a game of walking along the wall (in front of ALL the people sitting and waiting) with their backs against it. They each went two times then were like, "mama, your turn!" Yep, I walked up, as if on stage, and walked along the wall to the end and back. They then called my number, THANK GOD!

As I am taking care of my business the girls start playing a game of "3 little pigs" with the blue back drop for picture taking. In the middle of getting my license renewed by the slowest clerk ever, Emerson announces she has to go to the bathroom. We take care of that then back to business for me and play for them. Now they have moved to an empty desk and are playing with a little stuffed patriotic bear. Emerson is putting it in her shirt announcing she has a "baby in her belly" then pulling it out the bottom of the shirt. Then they moved to the computers you take the drivers test with. They start touching the screen until the one Emerson is playing with has an error screen on it. Ok, time to leave!!!! "Nooooo!!!! 5 more minutes Mama!?!" "2 more minutes, and you cant play with the computers. " "ok"

Today we met some friends at a REALLY cool park right near the Glazer Children's Museum. We loved the Glazer Museum when we went last week! The first thing we notice are the love bugs. It is love bug season here in Florida. Emerson starts screaming, wailing and trying to climb me. I tried to reason with her. I tried to distract her. None of these things work. When there was a swarm of Love Bugs near her she would scream/wail/climb. Avery was ok with them but I could see she was starting to get a little freaked out too. I talked them into going over to the water area cause I was sure there would be less near the water.

I was right and Avery had a pretty good time for about 30 minutes. Emerson was not that into it and continued to ask to go home. I finally gave in and left with them.

While at the water area a group of older kids showed up and there was a girl who looked to be about 10. She was doing the exact same thing as Emerson. I told Emerson it was ok for her to be acting like this now but I hope she will not still be having this reaction when she is that age. When we left the girl had locked herself in a bathroom and was still crying and sceaming.

On the way home I stopped at Home Depot to get a few things. We went to the garden part to get some more vegetables for the girls garden. While in the garden area one of them says they have to go to the bathroom. We trekked all. the. way. to the other side of HD to use the potty. Then back to the garden center. About 2 minutes pass and Avery announces that she has to poop. So, back to the bathroom we went. We then went to another part of the store. As I was standing in aisle waiting for an associate to come and get some shelving for me the girls started playing with the carpets that hang. They were playing hide and seek. You could totally see their feet. It was very cute. The employee finished getting me my shelving so I tell the girls we are ready to leave and they yell, "nooooo! 5 minutes!?!" "Ok, 1 minute then we have to go." The employee and I stand there and watch them play for another minute and we leave.

Here you can see Emerson in her misery at the park:

Avery enjoying the water

Escalator Issues

Thought I would take them to the mall play area to burn off some energy cause it is rainy and yucky out. I usually park in the parking garage of Nordstroms', but on the lower level. The lower level is where the play area is. Today the lower level of the garage was packed (probably due to the rain...) I parked on the 2nd level.

When we got into Nordstroms we came face to face with the escalators. The girls and I have managed escalators before so I asked them if they wanted to take them down. They both said yes. Avery stepped on before I could think. So then Emerson and I are both at the top watching Avery go. I kind of panicked thinking I did not want Avery to be alone at the bottom. I hop on and and Emerson does not hop on with me. Now I'm headed down and Emerson is stuck at the top. She starts crying. I turn around and try to run up the escalator that is headed down. I can't do it. I had to have looked like a cartoon character getting no where. This very nice lady with a toddler and a stroller asks me if she can help Emerson on. I say, "YES, please!!! thank YOU!!!" Emerson immediate jumps away from the lady like she is the devil. The only option I had was to ride down, then ride up and retrieve Emerson all with Avery in tow as well. It was rather amusing. Thankfully this set of escalators were side by side. SO GLAD I cannot even imagine having to run to the other side of the store to catch the up one and then running to the down one again.

Needless to say We all took the elevator once I had Emerson. The nice lady that had offered to help stood there with Emerson while I made my way back to her. Apparently it was a memorable experience for others as well. About an hour and a half later we were headed through Nordstroms and this guy commented that Emerson wants nothing to do with the escalator now!

To add insult to injury as we past through the lingerie section Emerson ran up to the most slutty, loud nighty and yelled, "I like this ONE!!!" Praying her tastes change before puberty.

Christmas Chaos and Puppies

We have a dog named Cooper, aka Pooper as the girls call him. He had a big sister and since she has been gone he has been lonely. I wanted to get him a companion but I really wanted to get him a dog younger then him, but already an adult. Julie REALLY wanted a puppy. She has a friend at work that has dachshunds who had a litter. The dad was cream like Cooper. I said if any of the puppies are cream we will get one. Lucky for me none of them were. Then they had another litter. This litter was born on October 31st AND there was a cream one born... I was doomed. Oh, and they would be available (be 8 wks old) on Christmas Eve... HELLO? How could I say no???

I picked her up Christmas Eve and brought her home. Julie told the girls that Santa had left them a package on the front steps early cause he couldn't travel with it. Her name is Leni, and I think she is going to be much more red then Cooper. Oh well.

Here is a video of the girls when they met Leni. Avery says, "I have two puppies mommy!" so cute!

As far as puppies go she has been pretty darn good. The first night she cried the whole night....it was complete torture! Then the next night she slept through the night. Since then she sleeps through the night I take her out to pee at 5am then bring her in and she goes back to sleep with us on our bed.

Christmas Eve (while I was picking Leni up) Julie, Nana and the LGs made cookies for Santa.

When we got up we made cinnamon rolls and tried to get the girls to open their stockings first. They were not interested in them they wanted to open the big presents. When we finally got to them Emerson was like an Elf in reverse. Nana called it assembly line gift opening. She would meticulously open a present look at it sit it aside and get the next present. It took a few presents to get through to her to let me read the tag FIRST! Avery opened a few presents then seemed to get a little overwhelmed and started playing with toys as Emerson opened them. For Emerson I think it was that she just HAD to know what the heck we were hiding under the paper. So she needed ALL the presents to reveal themselves before she could play with ANYthing.

There was one present they both asked Santa for when we went to visit him. They refused to sit on his lap so they stood about 3 feet in front of him and told him they wanted a Bullseye and a Stinky Pete. I got them the Bullseye, but they no longer make Stinky Pete. When Emerson got to that present from Santa she was ecstatic! Every yelled, "Where's Stinky Pete" DUH!!!

When the last present was opened Avery said, "all DONE!" walked around the christmas tree and turned the lights off on the tree. Talk about a kill-joy!

Short Order Cook?

I always said I would never be one of "those moms". You know the ones. They make a meal for the grown-up and then a meal for little Timmy, cause he doesn't like green beans. Another meal for Jessica, cause she only eats white food. By the time mom actually sits down to eat her meal is cold and she is alone at the table.

Not only is this bad for the kids because it is teaching them that if they complain enough about something mom will fix it. It just reinforces bad behavior. My other issue with it is that it limits the kids palette. I love food and want my kids to love food like I do. If they are only exposed to foods they "think" they like then they will never get to enjoy all the flavors that different cultures have to offer. Oh and Im kind of lazy and selfish. I dont want to make 3 different meals and I want to eat with my family at meal time. (btw, that last sentence was a joke/sarcasm.)

This morning however I was one of them. I now can see how it can happen. It started innocently enough. I heated up some of our dinner from last night to give the girls for breakfast this morning. (It was this breakfast bake I make that is yummy) Emerson and Avery really had no idea I was doing that. Emerson came running in the kitchen and excitedly asked for oatmeal. I told her I was heating up some of the dinner from last night and she melted down. Suddenly in my head, I am justifying making her the oatmeal. "I should have given them a choice, cause I rarely give them choices for breakfast or at meal time period. It's not that big of a deal to make some oatmeal..." so I made the oatmeal. She happily ran into the other room with it. Then Avery came in. "I want cereal, mama." "um..ok..." so I made her cereal. Again my justification was the same as before with the added, "I gave Emerson what she wanted I cant NOT give Avery what she requested."

Guess what happened next? Emerson came running into the kitchen asking for cereal... yes, in the end they both ended up eating cold cereal for breakfast and I made 3 yes THREE different breakfasts.

What did I learn today?
I need to start giving them more choices for the good stuff too. I tend to give choices for the bad stuff and that works, but they need to be able to make choices for the good stuff as well. "Those Moms" are all of us. It can happen to anyone, innocently enough.

Him Not Nice Mama

About 2 yrs ago I went into Apples to Zinnias with my friend, Wendy and the LGs. The LGs were still in a stroller. When we walked the man working there looked like he was going to blow a gasket. He followed us around and made us feel really unwelcome. I called the next day and talked to the owner. The owner was as nice as could be and apologize profusely. A week later I went in and bought the wallet I had been trying to look at when I was in there the first time.

Today I had A LOT of time to kill in Orlando so I met Wendy at Borders. After that we went to lunch, then I asked her if she wanted to go to A to Z with us. She said sure.

As we walked into the store I saw the employee behind the counter bristle as if he had just seen something that really makes him angry. I told the girls they could touch things with 2 fingers but could not pick them up. As we rounded a corner Avery came face to face with her first Christmas tree of the season. She was touch, touch, touching it. I repeated my touch but dont pick-up rule a few times. I noticed that the employee (who was still behind the counter talking to another patron) was visibly upset everytime one of the girls touched or even looked at something. He would lurch forward and make an audible noise, like he wanted to yell "STOP!!!!"

I saw that Avery was bending my rule a bit. She was taking two ornaments and "tinking" them together. Not pulling them off the tree but making them touch so that they made a pretty noise. I told her a few times to stop. She wasn't listening. In my head I thought, 'I could make her stop. then she would move on to something more expensive or I could take my chances with the $12 ornaments. ok, I would rather pay for those then something $100 that I dont want.' So I kept walking and the clerk was getting more and more upset. I was about 3 feet away from Avery with Emerson in between the two of us and the clerk yelled, "Hey, They are not listening to you!" I of course was already on edge due to the way he was acting so I turned around and realized he was the same guy from 2 yrs ago. Here is a paraphrased version of the conversation(yelling match) that happened next. I am not proud of my self for loosing my temper. I am trying to be a better role model for the girls...I do believe though that I did a lot less yelling then he did.

"Your the guy who was nasty to me the last time I was in here!"
"Probably, if you had them with you."
"Let me talk to your manager."
"Im the owner."
"I dont think so."
"I'll bet you $50, 000 I am!"
"whatever, If they break something I will pay for it."
"YES, YOU WILL PAY FOR SOMETHING IF THEY BREAK IT!"
as if the fates were listening my gentle little Emerson who was standing right in front of me picked up the ugliest ceramic reindeer ever and dropped it.
"OK, YOUR GONNA BUY THAT!"
"IT'S NOT BROKEN!!!" and it wasn't

"Emerson Avery, come on we are leaving."
"Good. (something I dont remember, but it wasn't nice)"
Avery looked at me and I said, "Come on we are not welcome here." and she started to cry (like a fit cause she did not want to leave) "No, Avery we are leaving...Wait actually cry, cry like you you've never cried before." She just looked at me like, 'what? you've never asked me to cry before...'

Im thinking I need to plan a playdate with all my Mothers of Multiples friends.

When we left I had to go sit to calm myself down and Wendy then told me he was talking about me and the girls to the other customer. Avery said, "Him not nice, Mama." I agree Avery, him not nice.

For those of you who own a business...here's a little customer service advice: If you are worried about a child breaking something all you have to do is engage the child. Talk to them about the things they are looking at. Show them other "shiny" stuff. It does two very important things. 1. It lets you keep tally of what the kid has it's grubby little hands on. 2. It gives the parent time to SHOP!!! SPEND MONEY!!!

I was in retail for over 10 yrs... I should know...

Embarrassing But Funny

I'm totally willing to embarrass myself to get a laugh...this is a good and a bad thing cause I'm also willing to share my embarrassment with the world.
Yesterday Emerson was getting "gawk" and I asked her if there would ever come a day she would not want gawk. She said no. I said, "so you will be going off to collage and still getting gawk?" She said, "no". So I asked if she was going to go to kindergarten still getting gawk? "yes"....oh, ok... I then started asking her other questions about her "gawk"

Is there still gawk in there?

yes

Does it come out pretty fast still?

yes

At that point I decided to see for myself so I hand expressed on the other boob and much to my surprise I squirted milk across the room.

Later that evening when the girls were getting their bath, I told Julie about this and she said, "really? prove it hit the wall." Not one to back away from a challenge I whipped em out and while I was concentrating on getting a good trajectory I looked up and realized the giggling toddlers in front of me were trying to catch the milk in their mouths like this was some weird fountain and they thought this was hysterical. Well, and so did I.

Hide & Seek

I had the idea to teach the girls how to play hide and seek this afternoon. It was about the most fun I've had in years!

Firstly, let me just say that almost 3 year olds are really crappy at this game, but boy do they love it.

The first round I was the seeker (by my self) and Julie helped them hide. Then we let them hide them selves for a few rounds. This is what proved to be the most amusing as they hide in the same 2 places each time, but switched who was in each spot each time. The two spots were their closet, and face down in "the hole". After that we split them up one with the seeker and one with the hider. They loved doing both, but we had to help them hide for the above reason. So it was me with the hider and Julie with the seeker. I would help whom ever I had hide, then hide myself . I tried to do a pretty good job with the hiding of the little person I had, like one time I put Avery in a laundry basket and covered her with the stuff that had been in the basket. The only thing that made this a fruitless effort was the constant giggle coming from whatever clever spot I had hid them in.

The best was the times that the three of them could not find me. Because I would hide after I hid the other hider they would get found first (the giggling) then they would also help the seekers try to find me. The first time they could not find me I had hid behind their door in their room. Emerson walked right past me to look in her closet, and did not see me. I was laughing so hard I was crying and biting my finger trying not to make any noise. The next time I was in our shower stall up against the wall. Julie told Emerson to check our bathroom and she just poked her head in and said, "No" She didn't walk in and turn around. OMG we had so much fun!

After the games where over Julie said, "Did you know Emerson can count to 20?" "Um, no... I knew they both could count to 10 with no help" Julie said Emerson counted to 20 with no problem when they were seeking.

Why Oh Why?

We have entered the "WHY?" stage with Avery. She can ask why until you want to bang your head into a wall. Emerson is still ok with whatever answer you give her and she moves on. Avery was like that too, till just this week.

Here is an example conversation between Avery and I as we were getting out of the shower:
Me, "I'm going to turn off the water now."
Avery, "why?"
Me, "Because we are done with our shower."
Avery, "why?"
Me, "because we are clean."
Avery, "why?"
Me, "We are no longer dirty."
Avery, "Why?"
Me, "Cause we took a shower."
Avery, "Why?"
Me, "Cause we were dirty."
Avery, "Why?"
Me, "Because...(sigh) we had a 24 hr period of non showering."
Avery, "Why?"
I think I lost consciousness at this point cause I really do not remember what I said next.

We have though, found a way to make this a little more amusing for us. At dinner tonight we gave the girls the option of sitting at the table with us or eating at the little table cause Snow White was playing on TV. Avery choose to sit with us and Emerson sat at the little table.

Avery, "Why is Snow White screaming?"
Me, "Because she was scared?"
Avery, "Why?"
Julie, "Because the woodsman tried to kill her."
Avery, "Why?"
Me, "Snow White's mother told him to."
Avery, "Why?"
Julie, "CAUSE GIRLS ARE MEAN!"
Avery, "Why?"
Me, "Cause her step mother was jealous."
Julie, "Girls are mean."
Avery, "Why?"
Me, "I don't know. Why don't you ask your sister."
Avery, "Emerson, why are girls mean?"
Emerson, (we could not see her, but we could hear her.) "I don't know."
Avery, "Why?"
Emerson, "I DON'T know, AVERY." in a deadpan but slightly annoyed voice.

I was almost falling off my chair laughing. Apparently Emerson has been dealing with this too. Poor Emerson. I feel bad for her, but I will be doing that again!

Vacation All I Ever Wanted...

This was NOT being sung by the LGs...

We went to Clearwater Florida for 4 nights. The first day we were there Avery kept saying she wanted to "go home". Um, sorry sweetie but this vacation is already paid for and we are taking it whether you like it or not.

On day two it was Emerson's turn to be homesick and continue her sisters anthem. We hung out at the pool for most of the day. The hotel was not ON the beach it was on the water but not on the beach. You had to take a trolley, car or hotel van to go to a beach.

Emerson not "happy" and wanting to go home:

Avery wearing her Mom's shirt:

We figured we would have a beach day on Monday. The girls had not taken a nap the day before due to us getting to the hotel so late. So when nap-time rolled around they were not happy about it. They were being crabby and ill tempered. After saying it was nap-time Emerson was saying she wasn't tired and did not want to nap and Julie said, "well, you sure seem tired cause your not happy." For the rest of the vacation whenever it was time to go to bed Emerson would start saying, yelling, screaming or (the best) crying, "I HAAAAPPPY!!!!" over and over again. Funny and cute the first time. Annoying beyond anything you could imagine the 10,000th time.

Emerson:

Mommy and Emerson:

On Monday we got up and started packing for our beach day. Avery promptly told us she did not want to go to the beach she wanted to go to the pool. We had it in our mind that despite her protests she would have a good time once we got to the beach...We have never been so wrong.

When we finally got to the beach Avery whined. the. whole. time. we were there. We only stayed maybe an hour before we decided it just wasn't worth it and went back to the hotel so they could swim in the pool.

On Tuesday we rented a cabana for the day and played in the pool most of the day. I think I only heard one or two "I wanna go home" statements on that day.

On Wednesday we told Avery, joyfully that we would be going home. She cried, "NOOOOOO!!!"

The best part of vacation was that Emerson potty trained herself while we were there. She told us she needed to "tee tee" so we set her on the potty and she went pee. We gave her a maraschino cherry (her favorite) every time she peed on the potty and since we have been home she has been wearing panties and has only had like 2 accidents. I'm so proud of her. I knew she would do it when she was ready and the weird thing is I remember thinking before we went on vacation that she would probably start wanting to use the potty while we were on vacation. So strange that I was right!

Avery:

Emerson swimming. You can always tell if it is Emerson cause she always has her goggles on:

Emerson coming up for air while swimming:

Avery swimming. This kid LOVES to swim!

Parks, Parks, and More Parks

We have been very busy lately, so much so that Avery asked me if we could stay home today. So we did. I made it a "No TV" day though. This made the day harder on me then them...oh well, I hate seeing them parked in front of the TV.
We played with play dough, doll house, played in the little pool and colored.

They have 2 new TV obsessions right now. Monsters Inc. and Toy Story 1 and 2. They could watch either of those three movies all day every day.

Last week I took them to Dell Holmes splash pad with their friend Graham. They aren't as big a fans of the splash pads as they were last year. Now, if it isn't an actual body of water they are not as keen on it. I had to get in with them for them to finally start playing in the water. They enjoyed the jungle gyms though!

Then a few days later we went to Kate Jackson and they enjoyed THOSE jungle gyms... We were actually there to meet up with some other moms, but I was the only one that showed. The meet up was for the splash area.... I could not talk them into it. (you would think I would have figured out they weren't that into splash pads at this point...I didn't)

Last Saturday I took them to ANOTHER splash pad. This one was in Zephyr-hills about 50 minutes away. This is where I finally caught on... they wanted to play on the jungle gyms and not the splash pad. I could have saved my self about 45 minutes of driving and taken them to Kate Jackson park... Sometimes Im pretty slow :) BUT, it was nice seeing a bunch of our twinky friends.

Swimming, Swimming, Swimming...

Said in a sing song voice. This is what the LGs say when they are practicing kicking in any body of water. It can be a pool, bathtub, kiddie pool or puddle for that matter.

We have been taking swim lessons for the last few months. The girls are doing GREAT! They love the water. For a while they were going back and forth as to who would be brave and who would be scared. It seems as if every other lesson they would switch. Then one lesson it was Emerson and since then it has been Emerson. Avery is no longer scared but Emerson has surpassed her in the swimming capabilities.

They both can swim (not very far) under water. They both know how to "monkey crawl" around the edge to get to the steps. Emerson can jump into the pool and swim to me or the edge. Avery could do this but she is a little scared so she will ask you to stand right up against the wall below her and then she has you hold her hands and she kind of slides in. It cracks me up cause I always think of her as the carefree one, but she is very cautious. Emerson is starting to figure out how to come up for air and tread water. Avery is the master of the "noodle". She will swim around with the noodle for what feels like hours! She also really loves the kick-boards and tells you, "no touching." when she is on one. She wants to do it by herself. Emerson really just wants nothing between her and the water...except maybe the air she is catching when she jumps in!

We have 3 sets of neighbors with pools that have told us we can use their pools anytime we want. But, one set is out of town EVERY weekend ;-) They have practically begged us to use their pool on the weekends. Today we decided to go for it.

After naps we packed up our waggon with snacks, swim gear, Cooper and headed over there.

We had a great time. Watch Emerson jump into the pool and notice how Julie is keeping her eye on everyone (even Cooper):

Yesterday afternoon I let the girls play in their little kiddie pool while I was cooking on the grill. They told me, "mommy, swimming lessons!" I look over and they had one of their dolls in the pool with them giving her swim lessons. I thought 'how cute'. Then a few hours later I went to the pool to dump it and found this:

Dont think they are ready to teach swimming just yet.

Universal Truths... Land of the Mouse

We took our first family vacation to Disney World last weekend. Julie worked for Disney for about 10 years so I have been there quite a few times pre-LGs. Some of these I already knew, like #4 if you are ever have body image issues head to WDW and you will feel like the skinniest hottest person on the planet. Some of these truths I learn, unfortunately while I was at WDW.

We stayed at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. It was really nice and different then what we have done in the past. The "cabin" is a fleetwood RV converted into a cabin. So we had a separate bedroom, kitchen, living room and it really reminded me of a single wide trailer. As a child most of my life was spent living in a trailer. A trailer makes a distinct sound when you walk down the hall and the cabin made that sound. It was kind of cool and creepy. The "resort" camp grounds had a lot of stuff there to do. The first day there we played at the water park area and rented a golf cart to get around in cause you cant drive in the grounds. You have to take a bus, ride bikes, skateboard, cart, walk or anything that is not a car. The girls (and I) really enjoyed driving around in the cart. We also went to the camp fire sing along. Chip and Dale were there and both girls got to meet Chip and both gave him hugs and got his autograph.

Universal truth #1: Even if your kid/s has no idea who a character is, once they are excited about characters (not scared to death of them) they will be over the moon to meet them. I know the girls have no idea who Chip and Dale are, yet they couldn't wait to meet them. Gave them hugs and kisses.

I had ordered the girls a plush Minnie and Mickey with 2 autograph books to have waiting for them when we got to the cabin. They were a HUGE hit and they traveled almost EVERYwhere with their Minnie and Mickey dolls. And they were VERY into getting autographs as well.

This is when we first got there and they discovered their present:

notice the mice that they HAD to have sit with them while they ate their snack:

Our second day we went to the Magic Kingdom.

Our goal was to meet Mickey Mouse. We did! Avery was way excited to meet him and Minnie. Emerson despite her excitement to meet Chip the night before was a little scared of them. I think she was a bit overwhelmed though. Disney can do that to a person!

I decided I really wanted to see the fireworks and found out that we could see them from the beach at our resort. I didn't want the girls to be scared of them so I thought I would prepare them for how loud it was going to be. The night before when I was trying to get them to sleep. We heard the fireworks and told them that's what it was. So, while telling them what we were going to do I said, "remember when we were trying to go to sleep last night and we heard the fireworks? Tonight we are going to go see them. It will be loud but very pretty." Emerson seemed to listen and take it in. Avery started telling the story of, "we sleep (hands to face) then boom boom boom!" We heard this story retold all weekend.

Julie almost deleted this photo! I love it. Not sure why....

Universal Truth #2: You are going to yell at your kids at Disney. I remember going to Disney pre-LGs and seeing moms yell at their kids and thinking, "jeez, you spent all this money on a vacation that is centered around your kid and now you are yelling at them. Give the kid a break..." Well, guess what I found myself doing...yelling! I think its a perfect storm of sorts. You want your kid/s to have a good time, you have to keep them safe, your HOT, you and the kid/s are in sensory over-load. If you get through going to Disney without yelling at your kid/s at least once then you must be a robot. Don't get me wrong I felt bad (although they could careless, I mean really, they were at Disney!) I just must apologize for judging all those moms of years past.

The third day we went to Epcot. We had wanted to go to Animal Kingdom, but Epcot was the only place we could get in that we would be able to meet princesses. Universal Truth #3: All little girls love princesses. Doesn't matter if they know who they are or not. Doesn't even matter if they know WHAT a princess is, they love them... If you are looking for a great place to meet princesses and cant get into the Castle do Norway!! Lots of food, ALL the princesses come to your table, before you are seated you get to meet Belle and they take a picture (8X10 and 2 4X6s)that are free with your meal!

Another story Avery told, told and retold was her version of Snow White. "She ate apop (hands to mouth with munching noises), go to seep (hands to face like she is sleeping), kiss (hand to nose), she woked up (hand gesture like no big deal)."

The princess lunch made quite the impression on them. When we got back to grandma's house they were pretending they were princesses coming around posing for pictures with grandma, Julie and I. They would come up to us say hi, pose for a picture and then give us a hug.

Our last day (check out day) we had one more quick service meal left on our dining plan. And I refuse to not use everything we paid for! We went to the Polynesian and ate breakfast before heading to Grandma's house. We ate out side and there baby ducks, along with mama and papa duck and a white ibis hanging around. I saw him try to take a piece of sausage off a little boys fork. A few minutes later I turn around and he jumped on our table and grabbed a piece of sausage off of Emerson's plate. I shooed him away, but Avery told this story again and again, "pink beak took sister's sausage." then Emerson would yell, "NOOOOO pink beak!"

Emerson was about the best behaved two and a half year old I have ever seen the whole trip. I was/am so proud of her.

I have tried to get some of Avery's story telling on video, but she has a tendency to clam up when she sees the camera.

Things To Be Thankful For...

Last weekend we went to a Teddy Bear Tea Party. It was hosted by our local Mothers of Multiples club. It was about the cutest thing I have ever seen. All the moms dressed their kids in their Sunday best and brought their teddy bear to a fancy tea party complete with real china. Only 2 pieces got broke too! I think that should be on the news!

Nana had bought them these dresses and I loved them, but for the life of me could not think of where we would go that was fancy enough for them. This fit the bill perfect!

The girls before we left for the tea party

We sipped cold peach tea and ate finger sandwiches with our teddies and then played at the park. It was a great time.

Emerson sipping tea

The group shot (as best I could do with what seemed like millions of twins running around!)

When we got home and was putting the girls down for their nap we were saying the things and people we are thankful for. Emerson for the first time decided to add her own in. They were; Swings, Tea, Slides, Cheese, and Shoes. I must agree those are some of the things I am grateful for too!

I take the girls to Gymboree play once a week and they love it. Emerson especially loves Gymbo he is this little clown mascot thing that they take out at the end and she is smitten. I am kind of creeped out by him, but whatever. Well, someone brought a Gymbo doll with them to the tea party and Emerson was stalking it.

Emerson stalking Gymbo

LET'S HEAR IT FOR AVERY!

This morning, during naked time Avery came over to me and said something about poop and pointed to the bathroom. I asked, "do you need to poop? Let's go sit on the potty then." We walked into the bathroom and low and behold there was a pile of poop in one of the potties! I can honestly say I have NEVER EVER been so excited to see poop! I was so happy I took a picture. Gross I know, but I wanted to document her HUGE milestone. Dont worry, I wont make you look a the poop picture.

Later in the day. Emerson looked at me grabbed her crotch and said, "PEE PEE!" I asked her if she needed to pee she confirmed that she did. I asked Julie to take her diaper off and help her get on the potty. Seconds later I hear Julie exclaim, "You did it!!! You peed on the potty!!!" So we all praised her everyone got a Skittle and I went to dump the little potty into the big potty. When I looked into the little potty there was a little water in it from the earlier morning festivities, but no pee. She put one over on Julie. She sat down on the potty then hopped up with excitement and declared she had peed. Julie saw the water and assumed it was pee.... little sneak! She has tried to do this to me too, but I am on to her wiley ways.

Shy Pee'er...

Someone is peeing in the potty but not telling me when they do it. I give them naked time every day. Every time they have NT I tell them if they need to pee or poop sit on the potty. 3 times I have found that someone has pee'ed in one of the potties, but I dont know who it is.

A few days ago when I took their diapers off I told them, "If you have to pee or poop sit on the potty and then tell me and you will get a piece of candy."

While I was in our bathroom getting ready (Emerson was in there with me) Avery came in and said something about pee pee and the potty. I asked her if she went pee pee in the potty and she said, "Ay Yah!" (Oh Yeah). We went in there to look and sure enough there was a lot of pee and a little piece of tp in one of the potties. So I praised her like she was a child prodigy then took her into the kitchen to give her a Skittle.

The other day I went to the bathroom and the seat was wet. I looked into one of the potty chairs and saw a little pee and a little tp. When I say a little I mean like 2 or three drops and the soft ring that they are suppose to pee on was on the floor... She had pee'ed and then dumped it in the toilet. So not only is she PT'ing herself she is also cleaning up after herself.

Then tonight after baths they were running around naked. Emerson kept asking for "Kay Kay" (Candy) Julie told them if they wanted candy someone had to pee pee on the poty. They both went running to the bathroom and Avery asked for a book. I went to hand her a magazine (one of Julie's gossip mags) and she said, "No, boo!" So I left the room to get her one of her books, get back to the bathroom and she had already pee'ed on the potty.

I think she is a shy pee'er!!! I think she needs her privacy to be able to pee on the potty. How funny is that!?!

Needless to say everyone got a skittle...

We've Been a Busy Busy Family!

So busy that its taken me a bit to update the blog... We're gonna work backwards today... Do you know what Gasparilla is??? No??? Ok, open a new tab, google it and then come right back!

Saturday was the parade for kids we decided we would give it a try this year cause we thought the LGs would enjoy it and if we loose one it's ok as we have another. Well, it was crazy, but we had a blast and we learned allot for next year...like dont park 2 miles away!

We went with our friends Pam, Katy and their son Graham and some of their friends.

We had to really make some big promises to get them to even consider the eye patches. Here is Emerson downing one for like 2 seconds.

Avery was willing to wear the scarf, but only for a minute or two.

There was this one float that royally pi$$ed me off. Keep in mind this was a parade for KIDS. It was crazy and the only place we could find to stand that we would be able to breath was a few feet past the end of the parade route. As the Molly Brown float went past the flags a lady on the float over a microphone said (very rudely) "THE PARADE IS OVER STOP MUSIC AND DONT THROW ANY MORE BEADS!" There were literally 100's of kids and adults just past the end markers. It was only the 3rd float the parade was no where near being OVER. Julie heard little kids asking their parents, "does this mean we dont get any beads?" "Is the parade over?" I wanted to yell some really nasty things at this lady. Instead I yelled some kind of nasty things at her. I mean, why did you have to do that over the mic? And why the nasty attitude? I hate her... Unfortunately its a foundation and not a company I can boycott... Oh and get this they enrich the lives of children!!!!

Monday the 18th was MLK day so Julie had the day off. That night we went to Acropolis with Pam, Katy and Graham. We had a great time. We danced, we ate, we had a blast!!

I love this family shot. Julie and I are looking all happy and look close at the attitudes of these girls! The teen years are gonna be a pain!

Earlier that day we went to zoo with Katy and Graham.

Emerson and Avery rode the carousel for the first time. Julie and I of course rode along beside. Can I just tell you I thought I was gonna hurl! WTF!

The kids always love to feed the birds Graham and Avery have something in common they let the bird land on the stick then they shake them off like a bad cold.