dueling twins

I don't know why we buy our kids toys. At our twins 2nd Birthday party-the only thing they wanted to play with was Great-Grandma's cane. Unfortunately, there are 2 twins and only one cane. This is what went down.

(Eden has the curls, Elle is in the pigtails-----you can see who won this match---just look at the expression on Elle's face.........priceless!!!)

This scenario is repeated day in and day out in our home-no matter how much you try and teach them to share. These battles take place over things such as sippy cups, a plastic animal toy, etc....

Kolten and Kallyn-1 year old

Blaine's sister has twins who just turned One on Feb. 18th. The "well" ones, Elle and I, from our sick family were able to go and celebrate. Happy 1st Birthday Kolton and Kallyn!!!!!!

Elle is giving her cousin Emersyn a hug.

Aliens

The Aliens have returned my stolen children. Finally! The last 2 weeks have been just downright horrible. What started out as drippy noses, ended up with Elle developing pneumonia and Eden just about getting it, topping it all off --the baby has a touch of RSV. We are just sick of sick!! Augh! Today, my crying, clingy, whiny children were replaced by happy, laughing, silly ones with ferocious appetites. Amen! The twins are now into naming everything-everything they pick up or look at they name: floor, wall, window, light, baby, etc.... Eden was so excited and pointing to something yesterday she wanted me to see. I came around the couch and she exlaimed "vacuum" like she had seen the most incredible thing ever. When I open the fridge, they are both there shoving themselves around my legs and naming everything inside: eggs, milk, cheese, oranges, apple, etc... Their enthusiasm and excitement over naming an egg is just downright precious. Every number Eden see's she calls out for example: the electronic numbers on the DVD player, the stove clock, the signs on the road, etc.. And they are learning their opposites too. Today Eden was coming down our stairs on her bum. She would sit and stand on every stair step and proclaim, "up" and "down" - than laugh. Everything to a two year old is fun and new and exciting (exept following mom and dad's directions-that is optional--ha!)

laughing baby

Evia is a very smiley and happy baby-and she can really laugh. She had been laughing even harder before we got the mino recording this, but it's still cute. Poor Elle @ the end of the video grabbed some of her favorite plastic toys she had on the edge of the counter and dropped the cow on her foot-owie!

new pics

Here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks. We spent a wonderful time up in Boyne with some very good friends of ours (Mike, Jen, Owen and soon to be Olivia!!)-and my parents. We went to Avalanche Bay and the twins had a blast in the water and slides. Eden (look at that wild hair!) even held up her arms and went "Weee" like they do on rollercoasters. I thought Blaine had taught her to put her arms up, but he didn't. So funny where they come up with things. Evia is 4 months old now and growing like a weed-I think she will roll over now any day. And the best thing is that words are coming out of the twins' mouths like crazy, esp. Eden. There are hundreds of words now. She points to all sorts of things and names them. They are counting to 10 and singing the ABC's. Eden counts everything, even the screws in the plexiglass Blaine put over the fireplace. Oh, the joys of child-proofing.

daily ramblings

Things that happened today:

2 toddlers start out the day in complete meltdowns-and ended the same way. Good thing the inbetween stuff wasn't so bad.

I have become a walking human hankerchief. My children literally swipe their drippy little noses across my arms and chest. My shirt has now un-officially replaced this being performed on the couch and cushions (another reason to keep those ugly old couches)

Eden was walking around this evening with Christmas felts on top of her head.

I found a strange mushy thing on the living room rug. I think I could be in CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)---- I was able to determine that this strange mushy thing once belonged to the end of a banana- which to its detriment, was hanging over the edge of the countertop and managed to find itself in the jaws of a toddler.

I found Elle playing with a metal nut-which she unscrewed from beneath the utility sink in the mudroom (yes, she is feeling much better). I am sure when Blaine screwed those in the FIRST time, he didn't think he would be re-peating his labors after a 2 year old figured out how to unscrew them herself.

Mt. Krakatau erupted in Evia's briches today resulting in a complete wardrobe change. Evia seems to produce volcanic eruptions about every 3rd day in this household.

A typical Day in My Life X 3

sick little Elle

Please say a prayer for little Elle. She has been sick this past week and got worse over the weekend. Sunday night she slept between Blaine and I which she never does. I was so worried about her breathing as it was rapid and labored. First thing this morning, I took her to the Doctor and a chest x-ray confirmed pneumonia in her left lower lung. After albuterol and a loading dose of zithromax, she perked up this afternoon and is breathing better tonight. There is nothing scarier than when your kids are so sick! Thank God for modern medicine.

Octomom

The story about the Suleman Octuplets has been driving my absolutely nuts! The mother of these now 14 children really is crazy or is "smoking crack"! (My brother uses this phrase sarcastically when people do stupid or crazy things and I have somehow seemed to pick this phrase up-I need to be careful what I say since I have 2 little toddlers soaking up language running about). Anyways, what put me over the edge about this story was when I saw a few video clips of her in the NICU w/her 8 preemies and touching and carressing their little heads. Did anyone else notice that she has a french manicure??????? Ummmmm...........I was looking at my feet the other day and thought about how they look like they belong to a 80 year old, cracked heels, toenails in need of attention-let alone my fingernails. I am just having a great day when I can wash and blow-dry my hair in consequetive order. I only have 3 children, I don't know where this lady has time for fingernails. Something about this whole thing is just not right. It's even downright creepy to me. She saved over $100,000 for IVF treatments instead of buying a house, car, etc... Uh, Lady, you need to have these to raise children! I know this is not my usual blog posts-but this whole thing has captivated me.

computer time

There are a few things I have found where the twins will physically be so close together and will 'share'. About once a week, they sit on my lap and we will play computer games that are free by Fisher Price and Knee Bouncers. They love it and it is somewhat educational as they learn cause/effect, numbers, ABC's, etc...This is about the quietest, most still moment of them two together while actually being awake!

winter dulldrums

I can never have enough pictures of my girls-poor Evia, she is awake while the twins are napping and so what else do we have to do except take pictures!

Birthday Party

The girls had their 2nd Birthday Party this weekend. It was Elmo themed-their favorite red monster. We had a house full with 8 toddlers-and a baby, but we had a fun time and lots of great food to eat. The girls had been practicing blowing out their candles. Eden blew hers out, but Elle (in pigtails) stared into the flame and was practically mesmerized. I will post more pics later, but the girls got such beautiful gifts-here is Eden in a special coat all the way from the Anne Geddes store in Disneyland from her great Uncle Don!! too cute!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO MY PRECIOUS BABIES ELLE AND EDEN!!!!

Two years ago, the most precious little baby girls were born. Happy Birthday Elle and Eden-you are such big girls now and we love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!!!!!

Here is a glimpse from one year ago.

carrots

There used to be the days when you could brag, "Oh yes, my kids LOVE vegetables." Asparagus, squash, green beans, etc... Those days have passed....hopefully not forever. We are in the terrible two's food rut. My kids are basically surviving on fruit, pancakes, string cheese, toast, raisins and fishy crackers. Eden does better on some days, but there are times I just throw my hands in the air after they spit out what I've prepared. Last night I was peeling raw carrots to cook and gave the girls some raw carrot slices to munch on before dinner. This is what I found later.

Bits of spit up raw carrot pieces found themselves in just about every room of the house. Even on the window ledge!!! They kept coming back for more pieces and I was so excited thinking that they were actually EATING them.

snowsuits

If you think getting two 2 year olds dressed to go out and play in the snow is fun...think again. Snow pants, coats, mittens, hats, snowboots, etc.... and than right before they leave the door I smell what most parents dread-the poopy smell. I had to peel all the layers off Eden, change her diaper, redress her.............all the while she is mimicking me sneezing, "Ah...Ah......Ah..........CHOO!" over and over, giggling each time with this super high pitched little laugh only a toddler can make. I guess getting them dressed for outdoors isn't so bad after all.

Exxon Valdes

This morning a small little wrist with a hand and fingers attached to it somehow eluded the child lock on the lazy susan in the kitchen and a brand new bottle of vegetable oil on the top shelf tipped over and spilled e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!! It is amazing how much oil is in a container-it seemed like gallons. What a mess! Having kids somedays makes you feel like you are taking one step forward and two steps back.

The twins are practicing for their 2nd B-day party. Everyday we put on elmo party hats and they blow out 2 candles that are stuck in a cup of rice. Eden is pretty good at blowing already, but Elle just sucks air in through her nose. We are still working on that.

Last night we came home from visiting Blaine's brothers house and the baby was in the car carrier in the entryway. Eden spotted her, gave her kisses, and than proceeded to put her shoes on the baby. She stepped back, admired her work, than ran off to play.

Elle lately is OBSESSED with the Fisher Price farm and animals set. She drags the barn everywhere--her favorite destination with her barn is usually your lap. Than she gets all the farm animals and makes them slide off the roof--She will do this 20-50 times. If you move the barn or face it in the wrong direction she gets so mad!! While it is cute watching this little body drag this barn and silo all around-I have to put this toy away at times to give us all a break.

....cars, schmars

Yesterday Blaine and I went to the Detroit Auto Show and than he had a dinner meeting we attended. Just to eat a meal, sitting down, and not being interrupted, was a treat in itself. The Auto show was OK (I'm not a big car fan)-you could tell that it was "toned down" from previous years. Whoever would've thought that the most attractive vehicle to me would be the Chevy Suburban. I could LOVE that vehicle right now with all the carseats and paraphernalia that comes with 3 small children. The kids were home with grampa and gramma and I am sure had fun-but did I ever miss them. These pics are just some that I took this week-Eden is being quite silly here and I am trying to get some of Evia's little rolls on her legs and her chubby little fingers.

facebook

Facebook. I had little knowledge of this phenomenon and had an account about a year ago to look at a friend's pictures, but other than that, ignored it. Well.........facebook is major scary!!! Scary because you could potentially spend every waking moment on it. My friend Jen Meuller was here last weekend and showed me how to connect w/friends and within one week I have connected with over 108 friends from college, high school and all over the country. It's unreal!! I will have to discipline myself-but how much fun I have had seeing friends, their pictures, see what they are up to, etc... So, maybe I will see you on facebook.

hand-me-downs

So, one positive of having a baby girl is that we have everything that little girls need, including clothing-and double at that! Well.....I am getting a bit worried. Little Evia, or should I say -- 90th percentile in weight Evia-- is wearing size 6-9 month clothing. This was the twins SUMMER clothing size. We are in the middle of winter. Last night it was a record low, -16 degrees. I am hoping that Evia will start growing more lengthwise instead of widthwise (I don't think that is a word).

Today I put Evia in a bumbo and lined all 3 girls up and read to them. Eden kissed Evia's head about 15 times after the story was done and Elle patted her head like she was a kitty. It was so cute. What wasn't cute was the fact that Elle did not take a nap today. This is almost worse than death when your child doesn't nap, because the rest of the day you know you will have a cranky toddler with a short fuse. I am not necessarily blaming this on Elle, but every now and than, poopy diapers sabotage naptime. If a #2 occurs during a nap, forget the rest of the nap. I found Elle in her crib, pants off, all her teddy bears, blanket, sheets, everything, thrown out of the crib and she had a poopy diaper. I will be grateful the diaper didn't get thrown too. That can even make me, a seasoned nurse who has taken care of plenty of #2 situations, shudder.

Sorry if that was too much information for a blog. Anyway, I found a picture of the twins wearing an outfit Evia had on today. All I can say is Wow! Look at my cuties wearing the same outfit! (Evia will be 3 months on Thursday, the twins were almost 8 months here)

fashion moments

These are a few reasons why a mother of 3 little munchkins does not wear designer clothes:

Eden sitting or should I say wiggling on my lap and than sliding down my legs to the floor, only to leave a wet spot of drool on my jeans

Baby spit up that rolled down my neck and underneath my shirt

Elle flung her fork today leaving a spattering of pizza sauce on the table, my shirt, the floor, and all over herself

Dolly's white cat hair shows up on just about everything we wear-it's a good thing I love that cat-or else!

Diaper cream-a favorite to find itself in numerous places other than in the diaper-and especially on my clothes. I will miss this the least when the diaper days are OVER.


All this is worth the slobbery wet kisses of my children

DIPPY lunch

I've been having so much fun taking video, the camera has sat in the closet for a week. So today I took some pics of our daily adventures. We've had LOTS of snow again and so we are inside almost all the time-ugh! Evia has now gone from my little peanut to my little toad-she is so round-but adorable and such a sweet baby. A strip of hair on the back of her head has worn off from turning her head. She will quietly sit on my lap and watch the twins run-all the while her head is turning back and forth, back and forth.
Here she is w/daddy:

























We had a "dippy" lunch today. I had bought the twins the cutest frog and ladybug melamine themed plate sets from Target last year. Good thing I found a similar set for Evia (it's the cow/barn set) just this past week at Target (I remember my brothers and I fighting to the death over special plates when we were kids). The twins love to dip things and so lunch today was all dipped stuff: chips dipped in guacamole, pretzels dipped in yogurt, etc... They loved it. I think it was the quietest lunch ever. And maybe the messiest.

Here is Eden (it got much messier after this picture was taken): Eden had the ladybug plates and Elle the frog.



















































So, I had to take all of Eden's clothes off from her messy lunch. While I was wiping the floor up, she zooms around the corner in her Plasma car. She was being so silly, and I had to laugh at her purple and pink boots (her favorites).
















































This afternoon, I set up their zebra tent and filled it with plastic balls. They were having a ball entertaining themselves in there. I tried to capture their hair as it was sticking out all over the place from static electricity


















I just can't believe how big my girls are getting. Can they really be 2 years old in a coupld of weeks??? I was filling out the twins' baby books this past week and I honestly can't remember them being babies. It was here and gone in a flash. I am trying to savor these moments w/Evia, for I know they will be gone too. I don't ever remember my life flying by this fast. I don't see it slowing down anytime soon either.

SKIP

I recently discovered a program in our local community school called S.K.I.P. It stands for Successful Kids, Involved Parents. It is held 1-2 times a week at the public school. The children are ages 0-5, so there are even babies there, though Evia gets to stay home and spend some special time w/Grandma. The twins now know where we are going when I say we are going to SKIP and they are so excited. We are there for 1 hour and they have play time with story time and activities interspersed here and there. Today, the girls' attention span was about 10 seconds I think. They would touch or play w/something, than off to the next. Since they are always bumping and grabbing from each other, they have no qualms about doing this w/other kids--so I have to watch them pretty close. I am so glad that there are a great bunch of moms who understand toddlers there. There was a mom reading to her child in the corner on a tumbling mat. Well, Eden decided she was going to tumble and body slam them ( I will blame Blaine for this, since the twins love to be rough-housed and he is always tumbling with them on the floor). So Eden throws herself across both of them-and I am apologizing-and the mom was saying it was OK. She has 1 year old twins-so she really understands my life right now. Elle is slightly dangerous at times because she will pick up things and whip them up over her head behind her-this is why poor little Evia is INSIDE the play yard and they are OUTSIDE. Like I've said, my job is to make sure these munchkins get to 18 years old safe and alive. Ha!

At this very moment, they are ALL 3 asleep (don't worry, not for long). Elle had a hard time going down for a nap this afternoon. After 3 trips upstairs to her crib, putting her blanket and teddy bear back into bed w/ her, getting her water, etc.... The last time I went up there, she had sipped from her sippy cup and let the water drizzle out of her mouth, got her shirt and sheets all wet-all of which had to be changed. Kids.

playing with daddy

Blaine and the girls had a blast one morning as he pushed them around the house in their doll strollers. It was a hoot! If you listen carefully, you will hear the baby, who I was holding, let out a surprise near the end of the video (she will kill me someday for putting this on the blog).

January Days

some new things happened on Monday

1) I actually paid to have my house cleaned. Well, a good friend of mine did it and I am grateful to her for even having the courage to clean my floors. I told her I think it would've been better to have a complete stranger clean-but it's nice to know you have good enough friends that you don't have to worry about it. So, I watched my 3 little ones (thanks mom for helping this morning-actually, many mornings-I would die at times without you!!) and my friend cleaned. (this is why the house isn't getting cleaned, you either watch kids, nurse the baby, or clean, there isn't time to do it all). The house feels so good tonight. Plus, I got caught up on the laundry-which really never ends. I announced to everyone that we will now only wear one outfit a week-this way I won't have to do laundry again till sometime in the spring. ha! This lasted about 10 seconds till the baby spit up on the sweater I had just put on her.

2) Eden said all sorts of new words today including penguin, gorilla, walrus, donkey. I will have to put some video of them making animal noises and babbling away

3) Evia is reaching out and grasping at things-I am not sure how intentional it is, but this is new. She is wearing 6 month clothing and even some onesies the twins wore. She is a chunk-er-oo! She is even giggling now-it's heart melting!

4) The girls got plasma cars from Grandma for Christmas and Elle and Eden pushed me around the kitchen and dining room about 15 times in a row, fighting over who could push me next. mmmmmmmmmm..........I hope this energy and enthusiasm will someday translate to chores.................mmmmmmmmmmmm.........most likely not!


The following video clip is of Evia, following her bath, wrapped in her towel. She is so cute!
I was thinking that about this time last year, the twins were zipping around our house in walkers. Little did we know what climbers were about to emerge-oh, how they grow so fast.
(by the way, I hate listening to my voice on video-ugh!)

The Surgeon

Elle seems to find and play with the smallest little things. She will find a tiny twig or string or the plastic piece that attaches price tags to garments-and will go all through the house sticking them into any hole or crevice that she finds. Wednesday, I was making a taco dip for New Years Eve and gave Elle pieces of green pepper and tomato to snack on. There was a roll of wrapping paper on the edge of the counter top and that evening I just happened to notice that she had stuck a piece of tomato inside the cardboard tube along with a piece of grass from her new broom grandma got them for Christmas. I would just love to know what goes through their little minds sometimes.



















This week at the breakfast table, Doctor Elle was carefully threading a piece from her grass broom through a cheerio-I had to laugh at Blaine's narration. You'd think he worked in the medical field (don't forget-he passes out at a drop of blood).

Organized Chaos

So Blaine got a Flip Mino for Christmas-it's a tiny little camcorder that fits in your pocket. All it does is takes Vidoes. There is a USB plug on it that flips out to plug right into your computer. It's so simple and fun. It really is the coolest little gadget and I especially was excited about it since I can now add video clips to the blog. Here is a taste of what it took to get 8 kids to sit still for a picture-!

what you can't see is that we have a TV playing Baby Einstein-my twins are GLUED to the TV when that is playing, otherwise they wouldn't of sat there for more than 10 seconds