2011 In Review

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

How Many Do You Need?

I don't know how anyone would go a day in our house without laughing at the things these two do. Eiley makes me wonder how many pairs of under.wear are too many.

Museum Time

I used to take the girls to a local kid museum all the time, but since they started school we haven't been there in way too long. It was packed today, but they had a blast. I love this museum because they are constantly changing the activities. There were so many new things for A&E to do while we were there. Neither wanted to leave when we had to go.

Glove Warmers

Eiley tried on a pair of my gloves today. The finger part is cut out as they slide over another thin pair of gloves. How does she look?

Arya had to give them a try as soon as Eiley was done.

Laundry Fun

Who doesn't love to play in a laundry basket?

Music

These two definitely love music, even the kind they make themselves.

Merry Christmas

Christmas day is always magical with kids in the house. Arya and Eiley are too young to wake up ridiculously early on Christmas morning. They were up late last night and slept in until 7:00. I didn't get up until about 6:45 and it was so nice to have that extra sleep. They both got up and came downstairs with the glowsticks they'd received at last night's church service. It did not take them long to discover that their stockings at been moved and had something in them. I think Arya was the first to see it. It was so much fun to see them unwrap each little thing.

After stockings, we moved onto their presents from us. We bought them a felt and wood food set, a baby and highchair and I made them aprons. They loved all of it and were so cute running around in the aprons. I started them months ago and of course did not finish them until yesterday. After presents, we had a quick breakfast and then Cork and I got to cooking while the kids played with their new stuff.

A few hours later family started arriving. After some appetizers for lunch, we sat down again and opened presents from aunts & uncles and grandparents. Arya and Eiley love opening presents and just couldn't get enough.

We had an amazing day with family. It was so nice to be together and be able to share this day with so many people we love. I realized at the end of the day that we did not get a family photo of the four of us or of the different families that were here.

Mince Pies

Merry Christmas Eve! We've been busy cooking today. I made these amazing desserts. Yum! Home made vegetarian mince pies and a brandy butter to put on top. Fresh out of the oven, they might be the best dessert I've ever made and that's saying a lot since I'm definitely a chocolate person.

We tried a new church today. I know that trying a new church for a Christmas eve service does not always give the best idea of what a church will really be like. Our old church lost all 3 pastors this past year, did not have enough kids and was too far from home. We tried one much closer to home and really liked it. We didn't have to fight the kids the entire service. They really enjoyed all the music and there were a ton of other kids there. I'm hoping that the weekly services are as great as the Christmas eve service was. If so, I think we've finally found the church we've been looking for.

Pretend Potty

Arya has a new habit of sticking stickers on me when she doesn't think I'm paying attention. This cracks me up and I'm sure will crack my parents up too since I used to do the same thing to my mom when I was little.

The kids dragged their potty out of the bathroom today and were both taking turns pretending they were pooping. We don't ever use this potty, so I think it's funny they decided to pretend with it. The only thing they use this for is to sit on while they wait for the other one to finish on our real potty.

Surgery

Maybe she's going to be a surgeon. Eiley spent a good 5 minutes today trying to pull stuffing out of one of my old bears with a paint brush.

Eating Frenzy

The girls are growing again and eating like crazy. I'm amazed at how much food they are packing in. They stayed up 45 minutes past their normal bed time tonight because they were busy eating an enormous snack after dinner.

Cleaning Help

I cleaned the bathrooms today. Arya and Eiley decided they wanted to clean too and were wiping down picture frames. I went to another bathroom, cleaned, went back to my room and found that Arya had "cleaned" my toilet for me.

Goof Balls

Goofs!

Stairs Beware

The kids have started to walk up the stairs without holding on to anything. They are pretty good at it too.

They have also perfected sliding down the stairs in about 2 seconds.

Hiding Arya

Arya's new favorite activity is hiding. She has some really great hiding spots.

Imagination

The girls had a birthday party for "baby gigi" today at school. For those of you who don't know, baby gigi is baby Jesus. They love to yell "happy birfday baby gigi".

After school, they were up to their normal tricks of stealing things out of cabinets. Today, they were pretending to pour water back and forth between containers. It's so much fun to see their little imaginations taking off.

Vomit Comets

Today was rough. Two toddlers with the flu is not fun. My poor washing machine could not keep up. I think I did at least 9 loads of laundry today. The kids were miserable for most of the day.

Happy Birthday Flu

I don't know when, but at some point Arya and Eiley started saying things I say. I know this is normal, but it's still funny to hear.  If they're leaving a room, they will now tell me that they'll be right back. They'll also tell me that they'll do something in a minute. For example, if I tell them to clean up, they'll say "in a mimuh". Today, I told the girls that I was going to go upstairs to clean up. Eiley was reading a book when I told her this. She glanced up from the book, then waved her hand in the general direction of all her toys on the ground and said "clean dat up too". Wonderful!

Arya gave me a wonderful present tonight. She went to bed and vomited all over. Then, she climbed into bed with Eiley to make sure she shared. An hour after I went to bed, I was back up bathing her. Thankfully Cork isn't traveling this week and was able to strip the beds, start laundry and remake the beds while I handled the kids.

Kiwi and Crack

I gave the kids kiwi at breakfast this morning. It's apparently been way too long since they've had it since neither remembered it and didn't want it. I told them I was going to have some and asked if they wanted some of mine. Of course that sold them on it. They ended up loving it.

Eiley walked around like this most of the afternoon today. LOL.

Change Die-dah

We were at my parents' house today. I saw Arya go walking through the kitchen and Eiley followed closely. When I saw Eiley grab Arya's hand, I knew they were up to no good. I told my sister to watch them. Eiley guided Arya back to the family room, where she had a napkin laid out. She told Arya to lay down so she could change her diaper.

Candy Canes

This morning, Eiley asked for cake pops, cookie dough, egg nog and chocolate for breakfast. I denied each of her requests. So, she and Arya decided to help themselves to a candy cane off the Christmas tree. They were behind a large chair surrounded by books, so Cork and I thought that they were reading. We both thought that they were quietly reading. I really should know by now that silence, even when I think they are reading, is a bad thing.

Night Night

My dad called the girls "chickens" the other night because they have free range of the house. The house shows it too. They have adopted one of the upstairs rooms as a playroom and scattered stuff all over it. They have their corner of the family room that looks like a toy store purged itself there. They have recently claimed the basement as their own as well. Our plan is to create a playroom down there, but they have done their own re-decorating before we could have have scattered toys and their old baby gear everywhere. Today, they were in the basement while I cleaned up from lunch and it suddenly got quiet. As any parent knows, a quiet toddler is rarely a good thing. I went to check on them and found them in the spare bedroom down there. They were "night night nana papa woom". My parents have been staying here a lot lately as they've been helping my little brother get his new house ready to move into. Since Arya and Eiley haven't seen anyone else sleep in that room for a while, they have assigned it to my parents.

Screwdrivers

Sometimes the girls do really well playing on their own. Other times I find them playing with things like dolls and screwdrivers when I check on them.

My cats are very overshadowed on this blog by the kids. Sometimes they are just as cute as the kids and need to be shown as well.

I love the difference in their technique.