Sugar and Spice

Having a little girl is a wonderful thing, but I never imagined myself a mom to a daughter. When I found out I was pregnant with twins I was sure that I was going to have boys. Growing up I always imagined having boys. I always thought it would be wonderful to have boys and girls but I didn't think it would happen. I've never been a girly girl. I never really played with dolls, more stuffed animals. I never wore make-up until I went to college. (Even now I'm good if I manage to put on mascara before I leave the house.) Sometimes I'm more comfortable in a group of men rather than women.

And have you noticed all the things that can be done with a little girls hair?

(from http://www.grosgrainfabulous.com/search?updated-max=2011-05-31T10%3A23%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=20)

This makes my heart beat faster and my palms get sweaty. I've NEVER been able to braid. I really tried when I was younger but pretty much gave up. How am I ever going to be able to do a cute little hair do on my little girl? I guess I need to start practicing.  Or little Miss E is going to be living in pony tails and pig tails... those I can do!

One of THOSE days

Monday was one of those days... You know the kind, the kind you can't wait to end, where too much goes wrong. 

• I woke up with a horrible sore throat after a night of interrupted sleep, sore throat woke me up a couple of times
• My kids weren't were back to their usual lots of talking and not much elseness that I had hoped was going to be cured by the ending of our state testing.  Silly me.
• I tried to let them earn the rest of a movie, but they didn't, but I showed it anyway because I felt too bad at the end of the day to attempt to teach.  (Not great teaching but sometimes you have to do what you can to make it through the day.)
• When I got home the kids were super whiny. 
• They stayed super whiny until Paul got home...late.
• We decided on pizza for dinner.  Good!
• Paul went to pick it up and brought it home.
• They gave us the wrong pizza!  (Paul got a p'zone and his was correct.)
• I went back to pick up the right pizza... and then decided I needed a piece of pie from Perkins.  Which happens to be right next door.  I really wanted ice cream for my sore throat but that was too far away.

St. Patrick's Day

So I'm a little behind on my blogging lately.  It seems as though I have a ton to say until I sit down at the computer to write.  So here is the beginning of an attempt to catch up.

We aren't big St. Patty's Day people at my house, except for my love of bagpipes.  We are always up for a reason to celebrate but we don't have any Irish in our blood... we think.  (Paul's family is Scottish but he's not sure about the Irish part.)  So after having some friends over who were heading up to the parade we decided to go too.

We didn't feel like we needed to get there right on time and were greeted with a 10 minute trip up the parking garage.  As we walked to the elevator we heard the bagpipes go by.  We found our friends, and Papa and Nana, in the see of green and then tried to see the parade over the crowd of 6 deep in front of us.  The kids were in their strollers and couldn't see anything so we put them up on our shoulders... and moved to a less crowded place. 

So this is what the "less crowded place" looked like:

It was getting hot (yes, hot, in March) and it was past the kids nap time so we decided to walk a little to see what else was going on.  Well we really just found a better spot for parade watching, for next year. 

After watching the end of the parade we decided that a green beer was in order.  We saw the sign for the Pateros Creek Brewing Company tasting room so we thought we'd head over.  Emily decided she had had enough and it was time to eat so we made sure that she got fed right away.  The patio was pretty full and there were 2 other toddlers about Sam and Emily's age there too.  Who knew this is where you take a toddler on St. Patrick's Day?  We all enjoyed a drink and the kids enjoyed lunch.

After our beer it was time to head home.  The kids didn't have a morning nap and Emily was on the verge of a meltdown.  They were asleep right after we put them into the car. 



Funny...

Nighttime Routine -Reading

We've settled into a new nighttime routine at our house.  It goes something like this:

First- Eat dinner


Then- Start "reading".  That means sit on one of the new plastic tubs like this and then empty the book basket one book at a time.  Be sure to flip through each book at least once.  Every once and a while throw a book so it comes dangerously close to your brother/mom's head.  Once all the books are on the floor around you, toss them back in the basket and repeat.  (Be sure to read your favorite book of the day more than once.)

What I love about you today- Sam Edition

-  Your giggle fits.  Lately you have been very quick to laugh.  Tickling makes you giggle, hanging upside down makes you giggle, having your tummy poked makes you giggle, earlier today walking made you giggle and tonight your Papa pointing to the book and saying "Stop" made you giggle.  Once you get going it is hard to stop because your laugh is so sweet.

- Your snuggles.  You are still a great snuggler.  You have been raising your arms to be picked up more and more lately.  At night you like to sit in my lap and play.

- Your love of blueberries.  Yesterday you were up from your afternoon nap before your sister (this is usual you don't seem to need as much sleep) and I had cut up your snack and you had eaten it.  I had given you blueberries, and something else I can't remember.  Your blueberries were all gone and you were okay with that.  You asked to be picked up and you saw Emily's stash of blueberries on her tray and you threw a royal crying fit because you couldn't have them.  I gave you one and then you were okay.

- Your fearlessness and adventurousness.  We have been going to the park lately and you are loving it.  You like to crawl all over the place and climb on the equipment.  You aren't afraid of the holes on the crawling surfaces or the sand or wood chips or when what you're holding on to moves.  You love the swing and LOVE the slides.  I see many hours of park time in your future.

-  Your pointing.  You are at the age where you are pointing at EVERYTHING.  Once you are picked up you point and point and point.  Once I name what you have pointed at, you point at something new.  Sometimes you try to repeat what I've said.


- Mo, mo, mo... You aren't into sign language and you'd rather use a word.  Mo = more.

Notice the wet clothes... Paul and I are NOT going to win parents of the year this year.  We did have a minor stumble into the water.  He was more mad about being taken out of the water then falling into it.  Notice he is back to smiling and dad is very close.

What I love about you today, Emily Edition

- You LOVE having your teeth brushed. We started adding teeth brushing into the nighttime routine. The first night I brushed Sam's teeth first. You crawled over watch for a second and then started cracking up. You still love it. So funny...
- You are WALKING! In the past week or two you have really taken off. You've gone from 12 steps max last week to to walking from room to room this week. I just love new walking baby look: hands up, shoulders up, and toddling. I love that you still hold my finger when we are out in public and haven't started running off yet.

- You are showing just a little bit of separation anxiety. You only fuss a little bit sometimes when I leave in the morning and you will still let just about anyone hold you, but you prefer mom and that makes mom feel good. I like to know that I'm just a little bit more special to you then everyone else, but I don't want leaving you to become painful.

- You have become a great cuddler. Your brother has always been the cuddly one, and still pretty much is, but you seem to be liking it more and more. You often crawl or walk over and put your hands in the air so that you can be picked up. You like to be held and when you get sleepy you rest your head on my shoulder.