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!"

Shoo bee doo bee doo waaahhhh...

When Avery is in a good mood she will sing "shoo bee doo bee doo waaaah..." it is about the sweetest sound every. For a while we thought she was channeling Frank Sinatra. Well, we think we finally figured out what she is actually singing. She is singing a song from the Wiggles. The Big Red Car.... Im trying to get it on video cause it's just really sweet this little girl voice singing "shoo bee doo wahhh".

At the beginning of this video she kind of does it. I will try to get a better video. Turn your volume way up!

This is Emerson's favorite facial expression right now... Don't ask... I have no idea.

Who needs to talk?

This evening I put the Wiggles show on for the girls so that I could finish making dinner. At some point Avery came running into the kitchen making the more sign for more. I had no idea what she wanted more of as I had not given her any food or drink... "honey, I dont know what you want more of..." She did another sign for more. "what do you want more of?" She then did this little wiggle like dance...she wanted more wiggles...

This morning we had a play date with some other twin kids. It was a blast watching all these little twins running around destroying a house...the scary thing is they come to our house this Thursday!!! We got a new door today. It is BEAUTIFUL!! love it. I wanted to get new hardware for it so I tossed my non-napping twins into the car and took them to Lowes. While I was waiting for the key guy to come to the counter I saw a little book for kids. I handed one to Avery to look at while we waited. She carried it the whole ride through the store. When we got to the registers I took the book from her and put it on a shelf by the register. Avery started to cry, but because I was ignoring her she stopped and looked at the couple behind us, pointed to the book and said, "HuH!?" (her version of can you give me that?) The couple laughed and the lady said "sorry sweetie, I don't think your mom would appreciate us giving you that."

Family and Fun

I haven't seen my father's side of the family since I was 17 (long story and not nearly as light hearted as this blog so I'll skip it). I was missing some of them and decided to look them up. I finally found them and we decided I would bring the girls to meet them on Sunday. Ironically they live less then a mile from my MIL! We went to the Aquarium Saturday morning. Before leaving for Orlando.

The otters were especially playful and I think I need one for a pet!

Avery being pretty...

Emerson loving the sting rays.
Sunday morning we met Aunt Christy and cousin Cameron at a park for a picnic lunch and play. The LGs had a blast feeding the squirrels!

Cameron

After the Park we went to grandma's and took our nap. After nap it was time to go meet some relatives! The girls LOVED it at cousin Brenda's house there were so many people there and so much to do. They had a blast! Funniest thing that happened was when Avery was sitting near her cousin Kevin and he said, "Your Avery right?" and she shook her head pointed to her sister and said "Avery."

Emerson and her cousin Amanda

Emerson and her Cousin Kevin.
My uncle Toad, Avery and me

Emerson and her cousin Amy

Avery CHILLIN in the dog chair...

Apparently Avery loves chairs as this is where she took a two hour nap yesterday.