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.

Story Telling

Yesterday we went to a party at Graham's house where one of his mommies did a dramatic reading of How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long. She did a great job and all the kids had a great time. After she did her reading Katy (Graham's other mommy) took them on a treasure hunt in the back yard. The treasure was a small pirates chest filled with candy.

Stories have been a big part of our life lately.

Avery loves the story of Snow White. The other day she wore her Snow White costume when we went to a Le Lache League meeting and this morning she insisted on putting it on first thing. She was sitting on our bed and started telling me the story of SW. She said, "I Snow White, I eat apple, I goes to sleeps, I gets kiss, I wakes up." then she said, "I hear hi hoes." She calls the seven dwarfs Hi Hoes. How cute is that?

At night for their bed time routine now Julie and I lay with them and each of us tell one story. They pick what the story will be about then Julie and I make it up as we go along. These kids love stories. I love that they love stories.

They love for me to read to them when they nurse. Before they "take a rest" they each pick a book and I read them to them as they get their "gawk", then we do that again before our bedtime routine. What I think is cool is that they rarely pick the same book. Most toddlers have one or two favorite books and those are the ONLY books they will alow their parents to read. Not the LGs they pick different books almost every time. Emerson especially. Avery right now is in an Olivia kick and insist on one of the many Olivia books she has. That kid loves Olivia. Emerson love all books and picks a different one every time.

Weekend Shenanigans

Saturday we went to Lowes to do a project with the kids. They loved it! It was a little unnerving to have a bunch of toddlers wielding hammers.

When we got there we were the first to arrive...of course! We are always early to every.thing. So we walked around for a bit and then finally decided to get started even though the other families that were suppose to meet us had not arrived. The next group of parents and kids to arrive just happen to be another lesbian couple with their 2 boys. They sat at our table. Then Pam and Katy showed up. Now it looked like a lesbian parents meet up... Hey, great idea!!! What dyke doesn't love Lowes?

Finally Uncle Randy and Aunt Christy came with Cameron. Oh, well there went our gay theme... ok, maybe not. The girls do love to call Chris Uncle Christy.

Julie "helping" Avery. If you look closely you can see that she is trying to hammer two nails at one time...

Avery in her safety goggles

Total focus! Notice there is no nail though...

Avery showing off her ALMOST finished dog leash holder:

The finished products:

After our project at Lowes we all decided to go to Ricks for lunch. The kids had a great time and the grown-ups had fun too!

Emerson and Cameron:

Avery performing with her air guitar!

Bear Building and New Foods

For the girls birthday they each got a gift certificate to Build a Bear from their friend Mahogany. Today we met Megan and her little girl Anna at the mall and we let the girls build a bear. Anna is Avery's BFF...seriously, you may think 2 is too young to have a BFF but you would be wrong! One day at open gymnastics Anna and Avery were walking side by side and Anna put her arm around Avery and said, "You are my best friend." It was about the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

By the time we got to naming these poor bears the girls were tired and I was loosing patience so they ended up with the lamest names on earth. "Baby" and "Bear"...sad, I know...

Here is how BAB (Build a Bear) works. They pick a an animal they want to build. They have them on display all stuffed and looking cute, but what you get, that you need to stuff, is a pelt...and quite frankly kinda creepy looking. So they pick that out then a nice lady stuffs it and they put a heart in it. Then you brush it and clean it up. After that you can pick out lots and lots of different clothes and accessories that all add up-to BIG $$$. Lucky for me the girls had just as much fun brushing their new bear as they did picking out an outfit. After that you take it over to a computer and input all your info and name the new addition to your family. It really is quite cute.

After BAB we met mom at Queen of Sheba for lunch. It is an Ethiopian restaurant. I like Ethiopian food and I like to introduce the LGs to different foods. They love Chinese, and Thia. They liked Ethiopian but not as much as the 1st two... They had a good time though.

Here are some pictures from our Ethiopian experience:

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...

A Few of my Favorite Things!

I got this idea from Brook (Hamilton Boys Blog) to post some of my favorite things that the LGs are doing lately. But first a few of my not so favorite things or THING as it may be!

After their nap today I heard them giggling, but thought nothing of it. I decided to let them play a little and make their way out when they were ready. Do this most days. Well, after about 30 minutes I heard Avery yell "Mama" so I got off the coach and headed toward her. As I made my way around the corner this is what I found:

They had pulled EVERY SINGLE piece of clothing out of their dresser and put most of it on the dog while she slept.

Ok, on to the things that make my heart melt...

We like to dance in the kitchen. My Ipod is in the kitchen and we dance quite often as a family. Emerson has taken to singing. She LOVES this song that was popular the year they were born actually. Its Fiest's 1,2,3,4 This is the best video. It has Emerson singing, and Julie and Avery Dancing behind us. I could watch this video over and over and never get tired of it.

A few weeks ago I slept with Avery and Emerson because Avery had a cough and I wanted to make sure she was ok. Neither she or I got much sleep that night. She was coughing and Emerson is a mix-master when sleeping. Well, in the morning I woke up to Emerson rolling her hand on my stomach saying, "Tee Tee Tee!" she was trying to tickle me! So flippin cute!

Avery is one of the funniest people I have ever met. She cracks me up. She is always trying to make people laugh. She likes to run like a cartoon character. She will laugh at ANYTHING! She loves to give hugs but not so much with the kisses. Emerson, on the other hand will give anyone a kiss.

Avery yelling "Pooper!" (Cooper our dog) She addores that dog. The other day it was really cold out and I could not get Cooper to come in. He had been out for hours. He finally came in, but Aver must not have seen it cause she was pointing at the door yelling, "Cooper!"

Avery loves to be read to. Her favorites right now are Olivia and If You Give a Moose a Muffin.

Emerson likes books but not as much as her sister. But she really likes to point out objects. She can sit for hours and have you ask her "Where is the ____?" I think I need to buy her some where is waldo books.

I found them sleeping like this the other night:

Tonight here is where we found them sleeping...on the floor.

Every night after the girls go to sleep Julie picks up the living room. She always leaves something special for the girls (and me) She will leave a doll riding a horse or a hat on the rocking moose. I love it it is so sweet. Julie calls them "Easter eggs" little surprises. Here is tonight's "Easter eggs".

Ringing In The New Year!

New camera in ACTION!!! Took the LGs to Kate Jackson Park last week. How cute are these girls I ask you?? (Avery on the Left)

Emerson

Avery

Thursday I planned on heading to Orlando to spend New Years with family. Before leaving I wanted to get the girls out of the house and let them work off a little steam before that two hour drive. I found a little park called Friendship Park. It reminded me of KJ park but the little kids area and the big kids area are separate AND the biggest difference is I can bike there. Grandpa bought us a bike trailer so I will be biking me and the LGs to this park very much in the future!

My only worry with this park is the inappropriate behavior of the wild life....

Emerson on the big girl slide:

Squirrels doing the nasty:

When we got to Orlando I took the LGs to my cousin Brenda's house for New Years Eve. Cousin Brenda bought them Disney Princess Dolls. Apparently every year they have a block party for new years. The girls had a great time at the party. Unfortunately I had to leave early because Avery started wheezing. Thankfully we did not end up in the hospital with her.

New Years day we started a new tradition. Homemade pizzas! They were deelishis and the girls loved making them. They started out with clothes on but I made an executive decision to get the shirts off...good thing cause Avery ended up with Pizza sauce on her belly.

Avery enjoying the fruits of her labor!

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!

Crib Climbing...

Avery has figured out how to climb out of her crib. My first reaction was to run screaming to the nearest store and get crib tints. They are these mesh tents that supposedly make the crib impossible to get out of. Well, Julie was not very into the whole tent idea and we got into a huge fight about it. Come to find out it was me being completely not ready for baby-hood to end. Seriously, I was sobbing. Think I must have been ovulating or something cause it was very emotional for me.

We still have not decided exactly what we are going to do. In the mean time, I have put the sides down so that she does not break her neck climbing out. The amusing thing about this is that her sister has not shown ANY interest what so ever in climbing out of her crib. Avery's favorite thing to do is climb into her sisters crib and sleep with her. Unfortunately that means that she usually end up kicking her sister in the face except...yesterday. I put them down for a nap and heard someone crying so I went in there thinking it was E getting kicked. It was actually A crying cause E was sitting on her head. Avery had climbed into her sisters bed, proceeded to lay down to go to sleep and Emerson took that opportunity to sit on her.

I do like to play a game I call "Where did she end up?". I wait till I know they are asleep (they have been silent for over 15-20 mins) then I go in to see where Avery is sleeping. So far I have found her in her sister bed, on the floor, and the cutest on the nursing chair.