Two Year Old Henna

The girls graduated from their 2 year old preschool today. I knew they had a young class, but it wasn't until today that I found out 7 of the 14 kids don't turn 3 until this summer. It's been a great group of kids for them to go to school with and I'm glad that most of the kids will be in their class next fall.

I took pictures before school to compare them to the beginning of the year. They were wearing 2T jeans at the beginning. Look at how long those are. Today they were wearing 3T jeans.

The sang for all the parents and then we had a little party after. The girl sing all the songs from school all the time. Today, they did the hand motions, but didn't do much singing during the program. They weren't being shy though. When they had to say their name and what letter their name started with, both were more than happy to give that information. They were both also excited to walk over a little bridge, get a diploma and pause for a photo.

We had our carpets cleaned today. The carpet guys were almost 3 hours late. It cold and rainy out and I was running out of ways to keep the girls occupied while we sat around waiting. Eventually, the guys showed up and cleaned 2 bedrooms for free since I was laid back and didn't give them a hard time about being so late. When they finally left, it was a bit too late to run errands or do anything else out of the house. Instead, I let the kids decorate my belly. They had a blast. I made sure I only had washable markers available and most of it washed off right away. The stuff in my belly button isn't coming off so easy though.

Strange Bird

This adorable bird is torturing my cat. Since early afternoon yesterday, this bird has been pecking at the sliding doors in the back of the house and the windows on the side of the house. I'm not sure what it wants, but the cat wants it. Sometimes it gently flies into the window and sometimes it just stands on the ground and pecks at the sliding doors. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. It'll leave for a few hours and then comes back and tortures the cat again.

Help Yourselves

Help yourselves kids. I ran to the bathroom and they helped themselves to gum, right after me telling them they didn't get gum since we were going to eat lunch. They both chewed the gum for about 30 seconds, then they decided they wanted my tea. I told them they couldn't have my tea since they had gum and not to get rid of the gum. Eiley threw hers out and Arya swallowed hers. They still didn't get any tea.

Bedazzle

The girls decorated flip flops today with my mom. They LOVED it. It was cute to see just how into it they were. They love art projects and jewelery so much right now. I don't think anyone could go wrong combining the two.

Guitar Steeler

I was trying to get a picture of Arya playing her guitar. Obviously I didn't get a good pic of that, but I did get a funny one of Eiley running from the bathroom into the kitchen so she can try to take the guitar from Arya.

I Carried a Watermelon

I am almost to the point in this pregnancy that I delivered the twinado. I'm almost there in weeks, but not by how I'm measuring. I looked at a photo today of me at 35 weeks with them. Ouch! They were riding so high. I was getting kicks in the sternum. This baby is not nearly that high and besides some major hip issues, I'm feeling great. According to some websites, baby is about the size of a watermelon now, so I thought I'd check that theory out.

Happy 10 Years

I was having a hard time finding reasonably priced, cute pajamas for the kids for this summer. I finally just bought pants, cut the legs off and hemmed them. The girls watched while I did this and kept telling me that I "broke" their pajamas. They got to wear the new pajamas for the first time last night and both knew exactly where the leg scraps were. They got the scraps and demanded to wear them. We thought it was funny, so let them.

10 years ago today, Cork and I got married. It's been a great 10 years and we hope to have many many more. He surprised me by taking the day off, arranging for a sitter and organizing a night out. It was so nice to have a night out, without the kids, before Nameless arrives.

Art Garbage

The girls made a mess today and I tried to get them to clean it up. It was a 2 hour stand off and I remarkably kept my cool the entire time. This photo was taken toward the beginning of the 2 hours. The mess got much worse toward the end. At the end of the 2 hours, when there was a bigger mess than there had been, I swept up their art stuff and threw most of it out. They were very upset, but I had told them this is what I'd do, so I had to follow through. Most of what I threw out was pasta they'd helped me dye to use for jewelery, so it wasn't expensive stuff and I was happy to get rid of it. I'm hoping this will help them remember to actually clean up when I tell them. Before I threw it out, I helped them some, directed them back to the kitchen over and over, refused to read books or watch tv or do anything else fun. Nothing seemed to get threw to them until I got out the garbage and they realized I was serious.

Sink Water

The girls are obsessed with washing their own hands and feet now. This is Arya, washing her "hands" after lunch. Looks more like she's filling the sink and making a mess.

The girls have to bring photos into school of them with their dad. I looked back and we didn't have any recent photos of each of them individually with Cork, so I took them this morning. The girls were wearing the same pajamas, so look pretty similar in the photo. Someone was helping the teachers in the classroom and she only hung one of the photos. She brought the other back to the teachers and told her there were two of this kid.

Cold Water

Aren't they beautiful!

They wanted to go swimming and running through the sprinkler today. It was a bit cool for that, but I let them anyway. They didn't last long, but had fun and then enjoyed sitting in the sun.

Little Climbers

My climbers are becoming more and more adventurous. I thought they climbed a lot before, but now they are pulling themselves up with just their arm strength and getting into things they never could before. I love that they've learned a new skill like this just before baby #3 will be arriving.

Bye Bye Elelalalalalala

I didn't shower today until the kids went to bed. I was busy working outside and in the kitchen most of the day. When we were getting ready to bathe the kids, Arya looked at me and told me, "momma, you one stinky monkey". At least she's honest. Honest, but still sneaky. They helped themselves to granola and almonds this morning and brought them outside, along with toys, chairs, blankets and a cat bed.

Both kids said elephant today, not their typical elelalalalalalala. I'm going to miss the way they've said it for over a year now.

Housework with these two is never ending. They love to create a mess while I'm cleaning up somewhere else. I was vacuuming today while they were happily washing their arms and legs in the bathroom. I had to chase them out of there and clean up in there once I was done vacuuming.

Measure

We had a long and fun day today. The girls spent hours running around a friends back yard playing in a pool, a sprinkler and on a swing set. Both were so tired that they crashed on the way home. Arya completely slept through being changed for bed. Eiley woke up a little, but she just wanted to be left alone so she could continue sleeping. I think Cork and I will be following them to bed quickly.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but Arya is measuring Eiley. They are really into their measuring tape right now. They'll ask how big someone is, measure them and then tell them they are "2" or "3".

Smoothie

I think it might be nearly impossible to keep clothes on these two this summer. I was pulling weeds from their sandbox today. I must have looked away from them for no longer than 10 seconds and Eiley was standing about 5 feet from me. I looked up and she tells me "my nakey girl". She'd gotten out of her clothes in that amount of time.

They're fast about everything now. I made myself a smoothy for lunch with banana, spinach and a few other things. The two of them drank most of it before I could even stop them. I couldn't be upset though since they were downing something healthy like it was dessert.

I unlocked the front door to get the mail and told the girls they had to stay in the house while "nakey". Of course they didn't listen and quietly snuck out while I was getting the mail. They both took off down the sidewalk, running faster than I can move. I did something to my hip recently and it's been giving me problems off and on. When it hurts, it's hard to even walk on it. Of course today is one of those days. A neighbor caught them for me. Or I should say a neighbor bribed them with popsicles to stop running. They would have happily kept going. There were a bunch of people out and all were laughing at the girls, which of course eggs them on.

Letter Z

I mopped our kitchen floor today. Before doing it, I brought up a bunch of toys from the basement to keep the kids occupied. Of course it didn't work out that way. I wasn't too far into the floor when I hear "momma, my nakey" and Eiley came running through the room. Arya quickly followed.  Both decided they needed to go outside while "nakey" but they know our rule about wearing shoes outside, so they took the time to put on their sandals before they let themselves out.

The letter at school this week is Z. I decided to give the kids a few options for show in tell, like zucchini, zipper, ziploc bag etc. Arya was all set to bring a zucchini until Eiley proudly announced she was bringing her "pewpew". I explained that computer doesn't start with Z. She opened the computer, pressed the letter Z and told my "my pewpew yeah have letter z". I figured if she's smart enough to know that, then she's more than welcome to bring her "pewpew" to school for show and tell. Arya liked the idea so much that she took her zucchini out of her backpack and loaded her computer into it. It looks like we'll be having zucchini soup sometimes soon.

Ocean

We had great weather today for Mother's Day, so spent most of our day out doors.The kids asked to go to the "ocean" so we took them down to the lakefront. They loved it! I think we've found a new place to take them this summer when they are bored.

I've been spending time on my yoga ball lately because it makes my hips and back feel better. Obviously the girls have been watching because this morning, they both decided to sit on their pink balls.

Forward Facing

Today was a big day in our household. We finally changed the girls from rear facing to forward facing in their car seats. I would have loved to keep them rear facing, but it would have been really hard in the back row of our van. We couldn't get the infant seat into the back row unless it was flipped upside down and I don't think baby Nameless would have liked that very much. So, Arya and Eiley are forward facing in the last row. So far they seem to like it. Some kids don't like it when they're switched since their legs are uncomfortable hanging down. These two loved being able to swing their legs.

Blankie Wrap

If you're cold, most people would put their clothes on. Not these two.

Eileyarya

The way the girls refer to themselves cracks me up. Obviously they know their names. They say things like "momma and me" so they know how to use the word and. But, when talking about themselves, they usually say "Eileyarya" as if they are one entity. Each of them does this and they usually use Eiley's name first. I have to wonder if this is because many times other people say things like "hi Arya Eiley". People group the two names together since they can't figure out which child is which. Or maybe it's just normal since they seem to know what the other wants so often. Sometimes, they have arguments about what they want. Yesterday, they were fighting over what they would eat for lunch. One wanted grilled cheese, the other wanted macaroni and cheese and it was like they couldn't grasp the fact that they could have something different from each other. We were in the car and they were yelling back and forth, totally losing it and getting so angry with each other.

Random Library Pics

A random post because I pulled pictures off my phone tonight. I can't remember when I took these, but they crack me up. The first one makes me laugh because of the sign on the fountain that I've never noticed while we are there. I always let the girls run around the fountain before we leave our library. I don't know who had the brilliant idea of putting a water fountain in a library entrance, but every kid that goes in there wants to play in/by/near the water.

The other pictures crack me up because there is one little hole in the middle of the library's lego table and A&E have to squeeze themselves in there despite not really fitting.

Stop Whining

I now know that the kids do listen to me when I discipline them. By 5:00 pm today, I was done parenting. I don't feel well, I'm exhausted and the girls were taking full advantage of my being sick. Cork got home and knew I needed a break, so he sent me to our room on a time out. Genius! The girls know not to bother each other on a time out, so Cork figured they'd leave me alone for a few minutes if I was being disciplined. Arya looked at me as I walked away and told me "you stop whining then you come back downstairs." I couldn't not laugh at this.

Nameless

My goofball!

She was sitting way back here when I tried to take the picture.

I had my 34 week appointment today. Nameless baby is head down and hopefully stays that way. My midwife made me laugh today because she felt all around my belly and announced that she thinks baby is around 5 lbs. I love the difference between my visits with the twins vs. this baby at this point. I love that I don't have to have weekly non stress tests, OB appointments and ultrasounds. I love that she just feels my belly to determine how big baby might be and that it's not really an issue how big or small she's measuring since I'm measuring right on at 34 weeks. The girls went to the appointment with me. I'm not sure if I'll continue to take them or not, but they love going. I think I've said it before, but the staff there is amazing with them. The nurse walked into our room, asked how they were doing and Arya announced "my no know my baby sisser's name". She's right, she doesn't know her baby sister's name, but neither do Cork nor I at this point.

Mam

The kids keep asking to go to the "mam" and I keep promising to take them, but it hasn't worked out in way too long. Today, we took a 2 hour trip to the kids museum and they had a blast. So many of the exhibits had been changed since the last time we were there.

Pizza Picnic

I grabbed a strawberry today and absentmindedly walked into the family room with it. Arya and Eiley took this as an invitation and brought their strawberries with. We don't normally allow the kids to eat anywhere but the kitchen or outside (when it's nice). Arya told me that it was "fun" to eat in the family room and I told them that some time we could have a little picnic on the hardwood floor. They took that as another invite and ran away to get their picnic table. Since they were so excited about it, we let them eat dinner in the family room. It was like a little party. We had pizza, ice cream sandwiches and watched the end of The Lion King. Both kids were super tired, and this kept their mind off of their usual dinner time fits. They were so well behaved.

I'm almost 34 weeks pregnant now and am feeling really great. Daily, I'm amazed at how different this pregnancy is than my previous one. Ace Hardware was giving away quarts of paint this weekend. Of course that meant we had to pick a color, get a quart and I had to paint our laundry room. There is no way I could have done that at 34 weeks with Arya and Eiley. I was definitely tired by the time I finished, but my body was cooperating and didn't mind the fact that I'd been bending in weird angles and climbing on a ladder.

Normal?

It's never a good thing when one 2 year old helps another in the bathroom. You just might end up with poop on the toilet seat, toilet, and maybe all over one of the kids. I got the bathroom cleaned up as Cork cleaned up Arya. After I was done, Eiley decided she had to use the potty too. She climbed up and then told me "You leave me lone. Shut da door." I was scared about what state the bathroom would be in when she finished, but I understood her request for privacy. I needed a break yesterday, so locked the door when I used the bathroom and both kids freaked out. Next time I do that I'll remind them that they want privacy now. I honestly don't care about the privacy, but a minute alone is priceless on a day like yesterday.

And in case the first picture didn't convince you...my kids aren't normal. Arya insisted on wearing my socks today and wore them for most of the day.

Spawn

I let the spawn take a nap today. Or more accurately, I made them take a nap. We had an extremely bad morning. I can't even begin to express how bad it was. I wasn't sure how I was going to last the day without yelling or crying. After a 90 minute fit and 30 minutes of trying to get them settled, I had an hour or so of peace. I used that time to read a little and then took a short nap myself. While they were still cranky when they got up, it was a typical 2 year old cranky level and not devil spawn level. It should be interesting to see what they they go to sleep tonight. They haven't laid down in their beds to nap since shortly after they turned 2.

Mice

Who doesn't love to chew on a pacifier outside?

Or play with play dough mice?

Closet Time Outs

As I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning, I hear Eiley say "my on timeout" and then she shut herself in the closet. I had to laugh. I do have to promise you that I've never locked any kid in a closet, so I'm not sure where she got this. She and Arya then spent the next few minutes taking turns having a time out in the kitchen closet.