Zia's Chair

This is Zia's chair, but all three kids love it. Eiley was in it today and Zia wanted to sit there. Instead of moving, Eiley pulled Zia down into her lap and she stayed there.

She was exhausted from the last few days and just crashed at nap time today.

Low Pressure System

The kids have been a bit screwy the past few days. I saw tonight that there has been an extremely low pressure system over our area of the country and it is effecting behavior. Affecting behavior? I'm pretty good with most English, I should be since it's the only language I speak, but I can never remember effect and affect. Anyway, we got all three kids to bed almost two hours late last night. We were at the hospital, talking to couples who are currently pregnant with twins. I was sort of hoping that the twins would take a short nap and Zia would take a long nap today and I'd get a few minutes to myself. Ha! I don't know why I dream. No one napped. Well, Zia napped, but only for about two minutes. The older two were late coming home from school and I was pacing with Z in the house, waiting for them. She fell asleep on my shoulder. The twins had a substitute driver and he went past the house. I had to put Zia on the floor to go meet the bus. She stayed asleep until we came back in the house. THen it was all over. Those few minutes were enough to rob me of any other nap time today. I tried nursing her to sleep, rocking her to sleep, and a ride in the car. She had no plans on sleeping, but lots of plans to be destructive and to scream. After dinner, she even learned out to climb our ghetto gate. She pulls herself up, with one hand on the banister and the other hand on the gate, until she can throw a leg over. I don't know if it's safer to keep the gate in place or not.

Spinning Car

Arya and Eiley both got up from the kitchen table at lunch today and ran away. I yelled to them to see what they were doing. Arya was in the kitchen closet and Eiley was in the front closet. Eiley was the first to answer me. She told me that they were farting monsters. I'm glad they left the table to take care of that. I'm not sure how I feel about them hiding in closets, smelling their own stink.

After lunch, they took Zia for a ride in her car. I walked in on them spinning her in circles on the wood floor. She was having fun, but they started spinning her a bit too fast and she freaked a little.

Cold Day 4

Today was day 4 off for cold weather this winter. I put the twins to work. We really cleaned their room, put away their laundry, washed their sheets, and remade their beds. They even got to help me make dinner. I've never had them peel carrots before, but realized this was something they could at least try. Both were pretty good at it. I had to stop them from moving the peeler back and forth a few times and get them to go in one direction, but overall I was impressed. They had a lot of fun and both ate really well tonight after helping make the dinner and after working up an appetite at swim lessons.

Cold Day 3

Trouble figured out today that she can climb the fireplace. I walked away from her in the kitchen for about 30 seconds and came back to find her on the stove. Later I took a few minutes to send an email for Arya and Eiley's school. I hit send, turned around, and found her standing on the butcher block, coloring on the wall with marker. She keeps me busy.

Today was our third unscheduled day off from school this winter. The twins are loving this. We played around a ton. They had a little goat yogurt at lunch and decorated themselves.

On the Word of God

The kids are learning a song for church right now that goes "We stand on the word of God, on the word of God we stand." Of course the twins were being a bit creative tonight. They changed "word" to "poop" and were dancing all around the bathroom singing it. I know I should probably have put a stop to this, but I was laughing.

I told the twins that they had to be done in the bath soon if they wanted to have time to read books. They got out of the bath and then I saw the state of their bedroom. The Twinado had hit. I told them to clean up quickly and we'd have time to read. I helped a little and then started to walk down the stairs. I heard Cork tell them "I think you two are so cute." Eiley replied "But we're messy." At least she knows it.

Watching Bye Bye

The twins went to their first birthday party for school today. The first party where I didn't really know the parents. That was hard on me. I have no issues leaving them when I know the parents, but this was new territory. I have seen the mom up at school but haven't talked to her much. I know it isn't perfect, but I friend requested her on Facebook so I could browse through her profile before I said the twins could go. I wanted to make sure that her profile wasn't full of trash.

Mema and Bepa came to visit today. Bepa had a table tennis tournament to go to. Mema spent most of the day at our house and gave me a huge break. I have been going a bit crazy with the kids lately and needed a mental health day. I am so thankful for their help today. All the kids had a great time and Zia was very cute to watch as they left.

Green Bean Thief

The thief strikes again. This time she stole raw green beans while I was cleaning them for dinner. This is a better choice than the chips, but she finished the chips she stole. The green beans she chewed up and then spit into the pot of clean green beans I was getting ready for the stove. Yum.

We have a library book right now in which some characters play music with glasses filled with different amounts of water. I told the twins we would try this out today. They thought it was really fun, but only for a couple minutes, then they lost interest and ran away. Zia came by and decided she should hit the glasses with the knife super hard, drink a bunch of water, and pour out the rest. After we did this, I decided to look up the glasses online. I don't think I'll be using those cups for music again. The site I found them on had them listed at $20 a piece and there were only two of them. I have seven.

Football

Arya was throwing a bit of a fit today. Eiley looked at her and said "Arya, don't be so amatic". I'm definitely guilty of telling them to stop being so dramatic when throwing a fit.

Later, Arya was in the bathroom and yelled to us "one of my poops is like a shark tail." Wonderful child. Everyone in the house is a much better person for having heard that.

Look at who I found stealing salt and pepper potato chips today.

The older two had a rousing game of football today. Arya was "The Badgers" and Eiley was "Go Packers". Their football entailed them hitting a dodgeball with wooden spoons from the kitchen. THis kept them occupied for a really long time. The game ended in a tie, so everyone was happy.

Potty Girl

Am I a bad parent for sort of hoping that Zia will lose interest in the potty? Nineteen months is just too young to potty train. She sat on the potty 5 times today. She used it a few times, but not every time. Her diapers were still wet, so she is not ready. She just loves to interrupt what I'm doing to make me sit in the bathroom with her forever. I am not going to discourage her at all, but I won't be sad if she decides to give this up in a bit. If she doesn't give this up, then I will be very happy to be done with washing cloth diapers.

Curls

Look at that curl. Arya was so in love with that curl tonight. Eiley wanted me to take pictures of her curls too. She had some, but hers were all smooshed down from her hat.

Washing Veggies

We had a big day around here. Big new things from each kid. Zia came and got me to go potty. She went and I took her off. I ran to the changing table to get a new diaper. She usually follows me, but didn't today. I went back to the bathroom to find her and she had pooed on the floor. Too funny. Guess I should have let her sit there longer because she really wasn't done. If only she could talk and not just grunt most of what she wants to say to us.

Arya asked me "Mom, how did the first person get alive?" So we had our first discussion on evolution, creationism, and a blend of both. I'm not sure how much she understood but I tried to explain it at her level.

Shortly after that discussion, Eiley asked me "Why do people get old and die?" This was quickly followed by "Do sometimes kids die?" Which of course started a new discussion. She very seriously told me that she does not want anything to happen to Zia.

On a lighter note, Eiley told me her bladder was full tonight, but she didn't have to urinate. So I told her it was her bowel that was full. She immediately ran to Arya, who was already on the potty, and told her "When you have to poo, your owl is full." I cracked up. Arya had some dairy today, so she was on the potty longer than usual. I checked on her a few minutes later and asked how she was doing. She said "I'm trying to be done, but my owl is so full."

Zia tries to help out around here. Her love of cleaning and Dawn dish soap have combined. She is now washing the veggies that I pull out of the fridge for dinner.

Twins

Eiley and Arya were both wearing their flamenco dancing dresses today and Eiley said that made them twins. I explained that they are twins even if they don't dress alike and that them being in my belly at the same time makes them twins. Then Cork said it's also because they were born at the same time. Arya said, that one of them was probably born just a little bit after the other one. Then Eiley told us that Arya was born first. This is not something we have ever discussed with them and we don't tell other people. Family members and friends know, but when people ask in public, we never answer them. Arya agree with Eiley, so I asked how they knew and Arya told me "we just know some things."

A Pretty Picture

Arya colored this at the library yesterday. She was so proud of it that she wanted to bring it to school with her today. I dropped the kids off today instead of them taking the bus. I went into school with them and watched as Arya took the picture out of her backpack and showed it to a few people. She is definitely an introvert like I am, so it was nice to see her showing something she was proud of and starting conversations. Some times they both sit at the tables before school, watching what's going on around them, but not necessarily interacting with the other kids.

This child has so much personality. I thought I might get bored once the twins went to school. I don't have much extra time, but she definitely keeps me entertained.

Eiley's after school attire was a bit different from usual today...at least for a few minutes. It didn't take her very long to remove almost everything but the goggles.

Waiting to be Born

This was a conversation with Eiley today after she farted.
E: Pee Pee
V: What?
E: She Peed
V: Not that either.
E: She She

Good grief child. She's getting too clever.

She was invited to a birthday party for a boy in her class. I'm pretty sure everyone in the class was invited. I asked what he likes because I have no idea what to get a 5 year old boy as a gift. She said he likes "Batman and all the mans". As in Superman, Spiderman etc.  But I love that she called them "the Mans".

I was in the kitchen and they wanted me to come pay house with them. I walked into the family room to this. They were waiting to be born. What nuts. They broke out of their little belly on the floor and I picked them up. I showed them how I used to scoop them up with one arm and how I'd sit on the couch with them. Then they wanted to know how they ate and of course the most logical next step was for Eiley to ask if she could nurse. Um, NO!. LOL.

Cat Collar

The older two were goofing off on my bed today, jumping and wrestling. I told them multiple times to stop jumping. At one point I was putting away clothes and not watching her. I said, "Arya, stop jumping on my bed!" She stopped jumping, looked at me, and said "I'm jumping on Eiley."

Later, I hit Arya in the head with my elbow. Really lightly. It was more of a glance against her and I barely touched her. She said "Mom, you almost broke my forehead."

I was trying to talk to my mom on the phone today and I was very distracted. I was trying to get Arya to put some clothes back on. She was running around my room wearing pink socks with skulls on them and a blue cat collar with a bell...and that was it.

After School Attire

Zia has mastered taking off her pants. She can get an arm out of her shirt, but can't get the full shirt off yet. She doesn't mind, because Arya and Eiley are more than happy to help her so she can join in on their after school attire.

School's Out

The kids didn't have school today so we went to Betty Brinn. Arya climbed across a set of monkey bars while we were there. I told her she did a great job. So she turns to me and says "Well, not everyone can be a star." What a nut.

Reverse Take Down

Zia spent a bunch of time, this afternoon, stacking and knocking down groceries we had bought and were trying to put away. I'm not sure how, but she managed to not break anything open. At one point she grabbed a glass jar full of home dried chilis out of a cabinet and dropped it onto the tile floor. At another point, she walked up behind Eiley, gave her a big bear hug and pulled her backwards, toppling both of them onto the floor. Once we knew both of them were okay, Cork and I cracked up, even though Eiley was a bit upset. How do you not laugh when a 19 month old takes down a 4 year old?

Doll House Straps

We finally got the doll house moved downstairs today and strapped to the wall. We had to take the roof off to move it. Thankfully we'd just screwed that on and hadn't glued it as well. I have some touch up painting to do after the big move and now we want to fix some of the lighting in the basement. It's nice to have that out of my family room and to not constantly watch the kids in fear that they will tip in.

Since we were buying straps for the doll house, I decided we also need them for Arya and Eiley's two dressers and Zia's dresser. We don't have any other things that can really tip. Book shelves on the first floor are all built in and Cork and I have giant armoires that we couldn't get up the stairs ourselves. Those things aren't going anywhere. We haven't anchored the dressers yet, but that will be done soon. My nephew knocked over a dresser and Zia is starting to try to climb the twins' dressers to see what's on top. That makes me very nervous. The $20 we spent in straps is worth every penny.

Nose Picker

This is what you get when you nurse a toddler. I was trying to take a picture of how she shoves her fingers in my mouth all the time. As I took it, she quickly moved her finger from my mouth to my nose. She's such a nut.

A Christmas Story

Zia has hit that age where she will nap in the car, but once we're home, she's up for the rest of the day. She took a thirty minute nap in the car today and was so tired by the time she went to bed. When she's tired, she's clumsy. She fell so many times this afternoon. She's also a bit cranky. I left the library holding her, while she kicked and screamed because I wouldn't let her touch the alarm button in the elevator. I tried to get her to touch one of the other buttons, but she was totally uninterested.This morning, she fell while bundled up and could not get back up. I had visions of A Christmas Story running through my head.

Cold Day Part 2

I had another great day with the kids home from school today. Eiley had a major break down after dinner. I totally forgot that her school was doing a roller skating thing at a local rink tonight. They got something about it in their back packs last night. She remembered at around 6:30 and was way too tired to go over there, especially with going back to school tomorrow. She was sobbing when we put her to bed. I had to lay with her for awhile to get her calm down enough to go to sleep. I only got her to settle by telling her that she could very quietly sneak into my room after I went downstairs, and stay in there until Cork and I went to bed.

We had a great day until Eiley's break down. We didn't do as many projects as yesterday, but we did paint snow in the bathtub with food coloring and water in squirt bottles. Then I got a little ADD after washing the tub out. I had to pull all the caulk out of the tub, bleach it, and get it ready to re caulk. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile and sitting in there with the kids just made me think about it and I couldn't leave it any longer.

Arya asked me to make hummus today. While I was making it, I noticed that both of the twins were dancing. I asked them if they needed to go potty and they ran off toward the bathroom. I had the food processor going and wasn't paying attention to what was going on, until I heard Zia screaming. I've never heard her scream like that before. I'm a super calm mom. I didn't even panic when Zia had a tooth brush stuck in her cheek. I was definitely panicked today. I turned off the food processor and went to grab Zia. Her poor hand had been smashed in the bathroom door. It looked horrible. I was sure it was broken. I don't know how it wasn't broken. She had a huge line indented in the back of her hand that was all purple and she wasn't using her hand. I asked Arya what happened and she told me she'd shut the door so Zia couldn't come in. The twins do not like her in the bathroom while they are in there. She really is a bit obnoxious, so I don't blame them, but we talk all the time about not slamming doors. I did not yell, but based on the sound of my voice, I don't think Arya will be slamming any doors again soon. Her hand is bruised, but working and not swollen more than it should be, so I assume it's not broken.

After our hand slamming incident, the three kids and I went to the gym. Arya and Eiley had their first swim lesson tonight and I took Zia swimming while they were in their lesson. I had more than one parent comment about how Zia is in the water and asking how old she is. She really has no fear. She'll hold onto the side and dunk herself, she'll push off of the side and just hang under the water, and she'll hold onto hands, jump in from the side, and go under the water.

Cold Day

The older two had their first day off of school today due to weather. When we woke up, it was -13 with a wind chill of -39 and the real temp was only getting worse. I decided to use the temp to our advantage. We colored water balloons and froze them, we made colored light catchers with ice cubes and pie plates, and we threw boiling water in the air to see it turn into snow. We also painted, read for over an hour, and they spent a very long time not cleaning the mess they made in their room. All in all, we had a great day. I know a lot of parents don't enjoy snow days. Since I'm home and don't have to figure out child care, I don't mind at all. I don't know how our district handles snow days. I'm not sure if the kids make them up at the end of the year, or if they have some wiggle room padded into the schedule.

This is totally normal to find at the end of the day...right?

Kicking My Kraut

Zia was kicking around on all of us as we sat on the couch reading today. Eiley said "Zia is kicking me in my kraut!" Too funny. I'm usually really good about what I say around the kids, but I know I said "crotch" a couple weeks ago.

Zia enjoyed a little chocolate after dinner tonight.

HD Piggy

It's The Home Depot class day today. The kids made super cute calendars. Some of the projects they do we have ended up throwing out. The planes they made got destroyed, so those got pitched, but at least they were being played with. After the class, we saw this piggy as we left and I thought it was funny to take their pictures next to it because of their hats. The man who had made the pig saw us taking the pics and loved that someone liked it and was taking pics of it.

We had a busy day with a rehearsal at church this morning for the postponed Christmas program and then a birthday party for the twins this afternoon. It was sort of nice to drop the twins off for a few hours.

Back to School

Arya and Eiley went back to school today after almost two weeks off. Zia was calling "Arya" as they climbed onto the bus, and then she cried when it pulled away. She quickly recovered when we got home and she discovered that all the Christmas toys were hers to enjoy without sharing. The twins will not let her touch the Care Bears while they're home. She was so happy.

When the twins got home, Arya told me she wanted a kitty for Christmas next year. She said that she wants a really kitty and to not wrap it up. I couldn't get Christmas Vacation out of my mind.

I think someone may start using the potty soon. I am not ready for that. I just imagine a 19 month olds bladder size. This is not something I want to deal with. Hopefully she'll stay in diapers for awhile, at least while we're out. She still nurses often enough that her diapers are wet. I don't think she'd be able to hold it long enough for outings.

Hair Stylists

Look at who has started doing each others hair. It doesn't look good when they're done, but it's fun to watch them.