I remembered this story last night sitting at church. Last week was so busy with VBS and recovering from VBS that I forgot to post it.
One of the twins friends at church is Cole. He is 3 now, but is only about 14 months older than they are, so he was in the cradle roll class with them until he turned 2. Since they were tiny he has called them the babies, and he still does. He sees them at church and says, "Hi babies." It will be interesting to see if he stops that once they move into the 2-3 year old class with him in September.
Anyway...
Cole's older sister (a teenager) passed this story on to me. Last week as they were headed to the Wednesday night VBS program they told Cole that he needed to be good and stand up and sit down when we said to.
He said, "I'll stand up when the babies' Momma says to stand up."
It took them a minute to figure out who the babies' momma was... it's me. I'm the "Babies' Momma".
3 year olds are so much fun...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
She wants what she wants
Alyna asserts her preferences throughout the day. I try to give her 2 choices on things so that she picks an approved item (like snack), but it doesn't always work that way.
On Sunday morning, I got them out of their beds, and as they were playing in their room I went to the closet to pick out a dress for Alyna to wear to church. Last week she wore a pretty blue sundress with little pink fish around the bottom. It was the first time she had worn it because she has a closet full of dresses we received as hand-me-downs from a friend of Aunt Robyn's. So I pulled out a brown dress with polka-dots and said, "how about this one." Alyna shook her head "no" and pointed to the blue sundress. I said, "We wore that one last week. How about this one?" as I picked up a green dress with cherries on it. She shook her head and said, "That," as she pointed to the blue sundress.
I decided it wasn't worth arguing over, and she wore her pretty blue sundress to church. The only people who even knew she'd worn it the week before were those whom I told the story.
Her preferences also extend to which Pull-up she wears. She actually prefers the "Cars" and "Toy Story" Pull-ups over the pink Princess Pull-ups. It's not too surprising since those are 2 of her favorite movies at this point. We've watched some of the princess movies, but they don't capture her attention just yet. It also isn't too surprising since in my baby book it says that my favorite toys were my brother's cars. She's a lot like her mother, I guess.
She has become quite attatched to her baby doll that Uncle Daniel and Aunt Katelyn bought her for her 1st birthday. She picks it up and carries it around a dozen times each day. She puts it in buckets and boxes as a bed, and give her lots of hugs. She hands the baby to me or Daddy to hug, and then expects us to give her back.
She gets upset when Ryan picks her baby up... that's her baby doll. Of course, he gets upset when she plays with his Lightning McQueen car so it's all fair. They share most everything, so it's good for them to have a toy that is their own.
On Sunday morning, I got them out of their beds, and as they were playing in their room I went to the closet to pick out a dress for Alyna to wear to church. Last week she wore a pretty blue sundress with little pink fish around the bottom. It was the first time she had worn it because she has a closet full of dresses we received as hand-me-downs from a friend of Aunt Robyn's. So I pulled out a brown dress with polka-dots and said, "how about this one." Alyna shook her head "no" and pointed to the blue sundress. I said, "We wore that one last week. How about this one?" as I picked up a green dress with cherries on it. She shook her head and said, "That," as she pointed to the blue sundress.
I decided it wasn't worth arguing over, and she wore her pretty blue sundress to church. The only people who even knew she'd worn it the week before were those whom I told the story.
Her preferences also extend to which Pull-up she wears. She actually prefers the "Cars" and "Toy Story" Pull-ups over the pink Princess Pull-ups. It's not too surprising since those are 2 of her favorite movies at this point. We've watched some of the princess movies, but they don't capture her attention just yet. It also isn't too surprising since in my baby book it says that my favorite toys were my brother's cars. She's a lot like her mother, I guess.
She has become quite attatched to her baby doll that Uncle Daniel and Aunt Katelyn bought her for her 1st birthday. She picks it up and carries it around a dozen times each day. She puts it in buckets and boxes as a bed, and give her lots of hugs. She hands the baby to me or Daddy to hug, and then expects us to give her back.
She gets upset when Ryan picks her baby up... that's her baby doll. Of course, he gets upset when she plays with his Lightning McQueen car so it's all fair. They share most everything, so it's good for them to have a toy that is their own.
Monday, June 21, 2010
vacation time
Vacation time doesn't quite mean the same thing once you have children. I still do pretty much the same thing every day regardless of whether Barry is on vacation or not. His 2 weeks of vacation starts today.
We're just staying home this week. He has to adjust back from his night shift schedule, and then we have things to do around the house and yard. I'm hoping we'll fit in a trip to the pool with the kids at some point this week. They really enjoyed it last time we went.
Thursday night my parents will drive into town. Friday we'll pack, and Saturday we will drive off to Branson, MO. I'm so glad my parents will be along to help us out on the trip. I don't think I could make it otherwise.
Saturday night we'll be staying in Oklahoma City where my best friend from college lives. I'm excited to meet her one year old twin boys, and for her to meet our almost 2 year old twins. We haven't seen each other since I was pregnant with the twins.
In Branson, we'll be staying at a resort with my parents, brother's family, and sister and her husband. 2 of my aunts (Mom's sisters) and one cousin will be staying nearby, and we'll have a mini-family reunion. We'll see a couple shows, and go to the Springfield Safari Park, but mostly we'll just be together swimming and playing.
We'll stay there Sunday through Friday and then head home again. My mom is accompanying us home too, and will be staying with us for that week. That will help me a lot since Barry has to go back to work, and I know I'll be worn out after the drive home.
We're just staying home this week. He has to adjust back from his night shift schedule, and then we have things to do around the house and yard. I'm hoping we'll fit in a trip to the pool with the kids at some point this week. They really enjoyed it last time we went.
Thursday night my parents will drive into town. Friday we'll pack, and Saturday we will drive off to Branson, MO. I'm so glad my parents will be along to help us out on the trip. I don't think I could make it otherwise.
Saturday night we'll be staying in Oklahoma City where my best friend from college lives. I'm excited to meet her one year old twin boys, and for her to meet our almost 2 year old twins. We haven't seen each other since I was pregnant with the twins.
In Branson, we'll be staying at a resort with my parents, brother's family, and sister and her husband. 2 of my aunts (Mom's sisters) and one cousin will be staying nearby, and we'll have a mini-family reunion. We'll see a couple shows, and go to the Springfield Safari Park, but mostly we'll just be together swimming and playing.
We'll stay there Sunday through Friday and then head home again. My mom is accompanying us home too, and will be staying with us for that week. That will help me a lot since Barry has to go back to work, and I know I'll be worn out after the drive home.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Skinny boy problem
My skinny boy has presented a new challenge... he's too skinny for the smallest Pullups size. They stay on just fine, but he has too much room to mess around with them.
Here's what I mean:
The past TWO days in a row, Ryan has come to me fussing to go potty around 8:30 or 9 am... so we go. He sits there for 10+ minutes, and doesn't pee. It's not a big deal, and I take him off the potty. 5-10 minutes later, he has pulled "it" out, and peed all over his shirt, shorts, and the floor.
I guess I'm just not letting him sit there long enough, and I'll have to go back to using plain diapers so I can tighten the waist. He really loves the Cars Pullups though, so it's a major motivation for him.
Other times he fusses, we go, and within 2-3 minutes he pees... so it's not that he doesn't know what's going on. I don't know what the deal is at that time in the morning.
Here's what I mean:
The past TWO days in a row, Ryan has come to me fussing to go potty around 8:30 or 9 am... so we go. He sits there for 10+ minutes, and doesn't pee. It's not a big deal, and I take him off the potty. 5-10 minutes later, he has pulled "it" out, and peed all over his shirt, shorts, and the floor.
I guess I'm just not letting him sit there long enough, and I'll have to go back to using plain diapers so I can tighten the waist. He really loves the Cars Pullups though, so it's a major motivation for him.
Other times he fusses, we go, and within 2-3 minutes he pees... so it's not that he doesn't know what's going on. I don't know what the deal is at that time in the morning.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
VBS Rainforest Adventure
This week was our VBS at church, and we had a blast. It was a rainforest adventure, and I helped teach a lot of new songs as well as singing all the songs the kids always love. I didn't have to be the narator during the assembly time this year which was a big relief. I just helped with the songs, and taught the new songs in the music class.
The songs that came with the program were great because the chorus parts were the exact words of the memory verses each day. Then there were fun songs about the rain-forest and following Jesus.
My co-teacher for the music class is 5 months pregnant with twins, so we laughed at ourselves a lot doing all the kids action songs and getting really tired. The funniest was when we'd sing "Hip-hip-hip-hippopotomus, Hip-hip-hooray God made all of us" while swinging our arms down by our stomachs to be big like hippos. We were already big enough...
Ryan and Alyna were in the nursery again this year, and the workers took them around to the different activities during the day for short times. They would come to music class with the 3 year olds and sing songs with us. On Monday, they both ended up in my lap because they didn't understand that Mommy was the teacher. On Tuesday and Wednesday they were both content to sit in the helpers' laps.
Nap times were off a little this week because Alyna would fall asleep on the way home. Tuesday, I made the mistake of letting her sleep for about 20 minutes on the couch, and then she didn't nap at all when Ryan took his 2 hour nap. However, they made up for it all on Wednesday. I (myself) took a 2 hour nap, which means that they slept for about 2 hours and 15 minutes without stirring. It was bliss.
Wednesday night after dinner I asked Alyna if she wanted to go bye-bye... and she actually shook her head, "No." That's a first. Neither one really complained when I put their shoes on to go to church for the wrap-up, but everyone commented that they looked tired.
It was a long week for all of us.
The songs that came with the program were great because the chorus parts were the exact words of the memory verses each day. Then there were fun songs about the rain-forest and following Jesus.
My co-teacher for the music class is 5 months pregnant with twins, so we laughed at ourselves a lot doing all the kids action songs and getting really tired. The funniest was when we'd sing "Hip-hip-hip-hippopotomus, Hip-hip-hooray God made all of us" while swinging our arms down by our stomachs to be big like hippos. We were already big enough...
Ryan and Alyna were in the nursery again this year, and the workers took them around to the different activities during the day for short times. They would come to music class with the 3 year olds and sing songs with us. On Monday, they both ended up in my lap because they didn't understand that Mommy was the teacher. On Tuesday and Wednesday they were both content to sit in the helpers' laps.
Nap times were off a little this week because Alyna would fall asleep on the way home. Tuesday, I made the mistake of letting her sleep for about 20 minutes on the couch, and then she didn't nap at all when Ryan took his 2 hour nap. However, they made up for it all on Wednesday. I (myself) took a 2 hour nap, which means that they slept for about 2 hours and 15 minutes without stirring. It was bliss.
Wednesday night after dinner I asked Alyna if she wanted to go bye-bye... and she actually shook her head, "No." That's a first. Neither one really complained when I put their shoes on to go to church for the wrap-up, but everyone commented that they looked tired.
It was a long week for all of us.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
In all Cuteness
This morning I put on the movie "Beuaty and the Beast" for the kids to watch for a while. A little ways into the castle scenes Alyna gasped, looked around, and then ran over to the snack table to retrieve her teapot and teacups. She recognized them as being Mrs. Pots and Chip in the movie.
The "Turnaround, Fall Down" game is even more fun in the baby pool.
The "Turnaround, Fall Down" game is even more fun in the baby pool.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Weekend of Firsts
First Garage Sale
We had our first garage sale at our own house on Saturday. We'd done one up in Washington with some friends, but we hadn't done one on our own. When we called to place an ad in the paper, all the space was full. Because we're in a good location (1 block from 2 major streets), we didn't have a problem with lack of people anyway. Lots of people were out driving around looking for the sales because so many were listed in the paper. We had our first customers at 6:30 as we were pulling some tables onto the driveway. We had a steady flow until about 10:30. By then it was 100 degrees, and only 1 person came that half hour, so we closed up at 11 am... because it was just too hot. We were glad we hadn't posted times in the paper or anything.
We got rid of a lot of clutter we've collected over the years since we'd both left our parent's homes. Books, clothes, vases, baskets, candles, massage pads/tools etc. Our criteria was that if we hadn't used it in this house (3 years), it should go. Our storage rooms are no longer overflowing which was the goal since there's a baby on the way.
First Scorpion Sting
At the garage sale we sold ice cold bottled water and sodas to the hot customers (and made a profit too). The cooler was sitting by the kitchen table on Sunday morning, and Ryan flipped open the drain on it. Water gushed everywhere so I grabbed a couple towels by the back door that we use outside or when our dog is wet.
As I rearranged a towel to soak up the water, I felt a sting like I had a thorn in the palm of my hand... only it got worse and worse. I looked down and there was a scorpion. I screamed for Barry, who came and squashed it with a shoe as I continued to scream, "Ouch." It hurt a lot.
I ran my hand under cold water while Barry tried to look up what to do on the internet. We found some things, but weren't satisfied so we called the New Mexico poison control. The lady was very helpful telling us what symptoms in the next couple hours would indicate I needed to go to the hospital. Otherwise, you just clean it, and apply an antibiotic and cortisone cream to it. An ice pack helped keep the stinging away until it was at a manageable level. It still bothered me throughout the morning, but by the time we all woke up from our Sunday afternoon naps, I was fine.
The lesson is that clothing, bedspreads, and shoes need to be shaken out before being used at this time of year. Scorpions go find a new den about this time every year.
Ryan's Potty Training Successes
Sunday night before bed, after I'd already put on their pajamas and night time diapers, Ryan started pulling at his shorts. I put him on the toilet in my bathroom (with an insert), and he actually peed.
This morning after breakfast at 7 am, they both sat on the potty chairs. They'd both already wet their diapers just since waking up, so I didn't expect much. We put pullups on this time... and went on with the morning. I've been trying to take them to the potty about every hour, but it was about 8:30 when they both started to fuss. I took them both to the bathroom. Alyna had wet her pullup (which doesn't upset me at this stage at all), but Ryan was still dry.
Ryan peed in his little potty while Alyna sat on the big toilet. But then he reached inside and touched it... so we washed his hands before putting on the same Pullup he'd been wearing. I had to put the little potty chair on the back of the toilet while I got Alyna off the toilet and into a Pullup , and then could dump Ryan's pee.
This is one complication twins bring to the whole potty training exercise. They really like to sit on the big toilet, but always want to do it at the same time. And they always seem to want the same book during that time too.
Alyna's had quite a few near misses lately... a lot of times she'll tell me she needs to pee, but does it before we get her on the potty. Once this weekend, the flowers on her Pullup faded (to indicate wet) just 3 minutes after she got off the potty where she had sat for at least 5 minutes.
Ryan's favorite part of the potty is flushing the toilet, and waving "bye bye". Alyna's favorite part is getting to wash her hands afterward.
We had our first garage sale at our own house on Saturday. We'd done one up in Washington with some friends, but we hadn't done one on our own. When we called to place an ad in the paper, all the space was full. Because we're in a good location (1 block from 2 major streets), we didn't have a problem with lack of people anyway. Lots of people were out driving around looking for the sales because so many were listed in the paper. We had our first customers at 6:30 as we were pulling some tables onto the driveway. We had a steady flow until about 10:30. By then it was 100 degrees, and only 1 person came that half hour, so we closed up at 11 am... because it was just too hot. We were glad we hadn't posted times in the paper or anything.
We got rid of a lot of clutter we've collected over the years since we'd both left our parent's homes. Books, clothes, vases, baskets, candles, massage pads/tools etc. Our criteria was that if we hadn't used it in this house (3 years), it should go. Our storage rooms are no longer overflowing which was the goal since there's a baby on the way.
First Scorpion Sting
At the garage sale we sold ice cold bottled water and sodas to the hot customers (and made a profit too). The cooler was sitting by the kitchen table on Sunday morning, and Ryan flipped open the drain on it. Water gushed everywhere so I grabbed a couple towels by the back door that we use outside or when our dog is wet.
As I rearranged a towel to soak up the water, I felt a sting like I had a thorn in the palm of my hand... only it got worse and worse. I looked down and there was a scorpion. I screamed for Barry, who came and squashed it with a shoe as I continued to scream, "Ouch." It hurt a lot.
I ran my hand under cold water while Barry tried to look up what to do on the internet. We found some things, but weren't satisfied so we called the New Mexico poison control. The lady was very helpful telling us what symptoms in the next couple hours would indicate I needed to go to the hospital. Otherwise, you just clean it, and apply an antibiotic and cortisone cream to it. An ice pack helped keep the stinging away until it was at a manageable level. It still bothered me throughout the morning, but by the time we all woke up from our Sunday afternoon naps, I was fine.
The lesson is that clothing, bedspreads, and shoes need to be shaken out before being used at this time of year. Scorpions go find a new den about this time every year.
Ryan's Potty Training Successes
Sunday night before bed, after I'd already put on their pajamas and night time diapers, Ryan started pulling at his shorts. I put him on the toilet in my bathroom (with an insert), and he actually peed.
This morning after breakfast at 7 am, they both sat on the potty chairs. They'd both already wet their diapers just since waking up, so I didn't expect much. We put pullups on this time... and went on with the morning. I've been trying to take them to the potty about every hour, but it was about 8:30 when they both started to fuss. I took them both to the bathroom. Alyna had wet her pullup (which doesn't upset me at this stage at all), but Ryan was still dry.
Ryan peed in his little potty while Alyna sat on the big toilet. But then he reached inside and touched it... so we washed his hands before putting on the same Pullup he'd been wearing. I had to put the little potty chair on the back of the toilet while I got Alyna off the toilet and into a Pullup , and then could dump Ryan's pee.
This is one complication twins bring to the whole potty training exercise. They really like to sit on the big toilet, but always want to do it at the same time. And they always seem to want the same book during that time too.
Alyna's had quite a few near misses lately... a lot of times she'll tell me she needs to pee, but does it before we get her on the potty. Once this weekend, the flowers on her Pullup faded (to indicate wet) just 3 minutes after she got off the potty where she had sat for at least 5 minutes.
Ryan's favorite part of the potty is flushing the toilet, and waving "bye bye". Alyna's favorite part is getting to wash her hands afterward.
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