Precious Slumber

My girlies have been early to wake for most of their lives.  There was a {glorious} period of time when they were about two, when they slept until 7:30, or even a little later…but they’ve been waking up around 6:30-ish, give or take 15 minutes, for most of the past six years.

Thanks to their {wonderfully fabulous} “OK to Wake” clock, they were staying put until 7am, when they would call out, “Mommy!  My clock is green!  I slept well!” in perfect unison.  But…when school started last year…I had to wake them up at 6:15.  It didn’t take long before that was their new wake-up time.  And sometimes, particularly Baby B, would wake up even earlier.

[I can’t really complain, as the girls would stay upstairs, usually reading, until it was a decent time to rise.  But I hated that the girls were missing out on sleep that I feel strongly they need.]

I’m not sure what to credit lately…maybe it’s the darker fall mornings…maybe it’s our weekly soccer practice that keeps them up later one night a week…maybe it’s the rigors of first grade…but our girls have been SLEEPY lately.  I don’t know that they make it all the way to 7:00 on weekend mornings, but I’ve had to wake them up (now at 6:30) many of the last school days…

…and what a treat that is!  There’s nothing yummier than warm, sleepy babies!

I usually tiptoe into their room and pick a bed to join.  I snuggle up next to someone and begin whispering good morning to my “tinies”.  The girls will usually moan a bit and snuggle into me.  I sometimes pretend I’m stretching out on the bed, “…but it’s so lumpy!”  And then I call the girls my “lump-lumps”.  They moan and giggle and snuggle some more.

I raise their pajama tops and kiss their warm bellies.  And then I sit up and pull them to me in my lap.  They snuggle in against me, their heads still fitting remarkably well under my chin.  I often physically stand them up and send them on their way to the bathroom.

And…repeat with Baby #2.

There’s just something about bedhead and warm, snuggly babies that takes me back to when they were little.  And I love it. 

(Baby B, from our traditional first-thing-in-the-morning pictures on the girls' sixth birthday.)

Thank goodness for sleeping “in”.

Super Stuff and a Happy Ending

Just a few super things from the last few days...

On Sunday, I let the girls take their wallets to Walmart and pick out a Lego set using their birthday money.  How I loved seeing them figuring out how much they each needed to pull from their stash.  (And how much fun we all had playing, too!!!)

The car they built by themselves...before we embarked on a much bigger challenge.

On Sunday, we got caught in heavy rain leaving the grocery store.  (It was just starting to sprinkle when we walked out, but by the time we got to the car, the rain was pouring down.)  The girls were RUNNING and LAUGHING at having gotten caught in the rain…made me smile.  And then it was so cute to hear A telling GG on the phone, “We got in a ginormous rain storm!”  [“Ginormous” is the word of the week, apparently.]  And then B added, “I’m SOAKED!” to which GG cackled.

The last couple of days, B has started wrapping the silverware before supper.  I guess she picked this up from a restaurant, and she thinks it’s the greatest.  It was so cute when she wanted to surprise Daddy the first night.  She begged him to come to the table with his eyes closed.

I woke A up on Monday morning, B having gotten up a few minutes before her.  I asked A where Sissy was, and she said, “She left.  And I don’t know where she went.”  She made it sound so serious!

We had a big rainstorm a couple of nights ago.  It’s not unusual for A to wake up, but I didn’t hear anything from her.  I asked her the next morning if she heard the storm.  “No, I guess I was too busy sleeping,” she rationalized.

I told the girls on Monday night that their new cousin would be born soon.  “Aunt T is in the hospital right now.”  “NOW???” A questioned, incredulously.  “But it’s BEDTIME!!!  When will she sleep???”  If only...

And…in the exciting conclusion of The Case of the Missing Jacket…I’m thankful to report it was located on Monday.  We are all breathing a sigh of relief.

Short and Sweet

...'cause I just don't want to forget...

When we first moved the girls into their big kid beds, I was so afraid they'd get up and wander around the house at night.  I impressed upon them that they DID NOT GET UP until their clock turned green in the morning.  "If you need something, call Mommy."

The girls are far old enough to go to the bathroom by themselves...but during the night, on the rare occasion that someone needs the potty, I get a summons.  It rarely happens, so I don't really mind.

Tonight, the girls had been in bed less than 30 minutes when I heard my A call for me.  I ran upstairs and found her sister already snoring.  "Mommy, I need to go potty," A whispered when I approached her.

I walked with her into the bathroom, and she did her thing.  I haven't done this in a long time, but I picked her up when she finished.  Instead of her walking back to her bed, I carried her.

"Thank you, Mommy," she told me as she hugged my neck.

What precious baby girls I have.

<3 p="">

Sleeping "In"!!!

I can’t even begin to complain.   

KNOCK ON WOOD (as I do each and every time I mention the girls’ sleep habits), my babies have been excellent sleepers from very early on.  Over the past year or so, bedtime has gotten even earlier…usually around 6:30pm!...but they are up BRIGHT and EARLY – religiously – at 6:30am.  Every.  Single.  Day.

Occasionally, Baby A will sleep past her “OK to Wake” clock turning green at 6:30.  I don’t think Baby B has missed the mark more than a handful of times in her tenure, though.

Still, I had the idea to try the girls “sleeping in” after the time change.  They are SO tired at bedtime…and I can’t imagine them going to bed any earlier than 6:30!  I adjusted their clock to a 7am wake-up. 

KNOCK ON WOOD AGAIN…so far, so good!

Baby B is excited to get up, as usual, and Baby A is still all snuggly under the covers.  I can’t tell the extra sleep is affecting them one way or the other, which is a great thing.

The change is affecting this mama, though.  I can’t say how luxurious it feels to have that extra 30 minutes in the mornings!!! 

Unfortunately, during the week, the girls sleeping in until 7 means they miss seeing their daddy before he goes to work.  But the extra 30 minutes gives me more time to make lunches, if need be…or shower AND dry my hair…or just chill out before the chaos of the day begins.  And a few times I’ve slept until shortly before 7 myself…the latest I’ve slept in YEARS!

On school days, we do find ourselves rushing just a bit more than usual…but the countertop-height barstools in our new house mean that the girls can safely sit and watch me cook breakfast, which substitutes for our usual snuggles / book-reading in the morning.

It’s pretty awesome what a difference just 30 minutes can make!

Exercising Their Independence in the Mornings

By and large, I have maintained the same wake-up routine with the girls since they were itty bitty.  They call for me when they wake up…I go into their room, give them lots of hugs and kisses…they use the bathroom…and we head downstairs to start the day.

It’s VERY rare for them to “sleep in”.  Since they got their “OK to Wake” clock when they were about three, they very rarely ask to get up “early”, but I can probably count on two hands how often they have slept past 6:30.

I just imagine B waking up at some point before 6:30, and waiting with baited breath for the green signal that it’s OK to call Mommy.  Sissy usually joins in the chorus, and our day begins.

Very occasionally, Baby A is still asleep.  A handful of times, B has recognized this and slipped downstairs by herself.  She has been SO proud!  Of course I know she enjoys her solo snuggles with Mommy.  And sometimes she gets double goodbye kisses from Daddy, to pass along to her sister when she wakes up.  But as much as anything, I think B loves the idea of “treating” her sis to some extra sleep…taking care of her in that way.

And then, when A does wake up, B loves to go upstairs with me and tell her good morning.

I love the glimpse of independence from B, particularly in a routine I’ve {purposefully} kept the same since the girls were born.

When the girls get up, we usually come downstairs and play for a bit before breakfast.  After breakfast, there’s usually more play time (on non-school days, that is), while Mommy tries to sneak in some coffee.  At some point in the morning, we’ll switch gears and head upstairs to get dressed and “officially” start our day. 

I usually make a suggestion about the type of outfit to wear, based on the weather and what we’re doing.  The girls are mostly agreeable…sometimes wanting to match…sometimes wanting to coordinate…and sometimes wanting to wear completely different things.  Unless we have something special to do, I have been letting them guide their dress, as long as it’s weather-appropriate.

Over the past couple of months, the girls have surprised me here and there by getting dressed completely by themselves.  One day last week, they came downstairs with a “Ta-Da!!!” to show me they’d chosen their Alabama jerseys for the day.  (It was a very proud moment for me!)

Of course, sometimes they come down in something a little more “creative”…

…and that’s OK, too.  I love seeing how proud the girls are at taking care of themselves…

...even if it’s a little bittersweet for this sentimental mama.

SUPER STUFF!!!

At LONG last, here is my SUPER STUFF {sorta-kinda} catch-up post.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the girls asked me if they could have a Daddy-Daughter day.  I told them to ask their daddy…and apparently he’d already told them to ask me.  The girls were THRILLED to see Mommy off to go grocery shopping in Daddy’s car, while they prepared to go out to lunch.  I’m told they had a great lunch AND made a stop by Walmart to pick up some cat food.  (My hat is off to the husband for braving Walmart with the girls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, too!!!)

We went on a great family walk the weekend after Thanksgiving, too.  The girls get SO excited when Daddy comes with us.  Without both my hands occupied, Mommy took along the camera and snapped a few (or a hundred) pictures.

We joked with A that she has a "nest" in that tree...she calls it 'her' tree now!

My reflection in B's glasses.  Love.

Showing off their mittens!

The girls crack me up with a handful of continued mispronunciations.  Baby A calls kiwi, ‘kew-ee’.  She can say it correctly, but seems to choose not to.  “But it’s kew-ee to me!” she insisted recently.

Baby B still says interesting as ‘inch-resting’.  She doesn’t seem to be able to say it correctly, despite her stellar pronunciation of virtually every other word in the dictionary.  That makes it so sweet to this mama’s ears…hearing her talking so seriously, so grown-up about something, and proclaiming how “inch-resting” it is to her.

B was talking to A about something Christmas-related.  “Sissy [A] Elf,” she called her in the sweetest voice.  Melt.

B cracked me up when she commented – of her own accord – on A’s choice of red-and-white striped reindeer socks with her pink tennis shoes.  “A’s shoes look good with those reindeer socks!” she declared.  Hahaha!

The girls were chatting in the back seat of the car one day on the way to school.  “When we grow up, there will be two mommies in the kitchen, not just one, like you.  That way we can cook faster, and Daddy will be happy, because he is always hungry.”

Another funny quote, from that same conversation…”Daddy goes to work so we have money on the days when he is off.”  I guess we don’t need money on the days he works???

The girls have been practicing dribbling a ball, off and on, for a year or so.  It finally clicked with Baby A last week.  She counted 35 times that she dribbled!  And I know she’s done even more at once…it’s pretty amazing!

Both girls love to come show me how sweaty they get, running around in the basement.  It’s such a badge of honor for them.  HA!

B was sitting by the fireplace a couple of days ago.  She called A over and said, “Kiss me, Sissy!”  I guess A came in close enough for B to plant a kiss, and then she said, “You have to kiss me back!!!”  HA!

We recently let the girls start using placemats, and they think they are SUCH big kids!!!  So far they’ve done a pretty good job at keeping them clean.  It’s one more step towards a normal table setting…hooray, and sniff-sniff.

I asked Baby A to go upstairs and get two ponytail holders from her bathroom (as they tend to migrate upstairs by the end of the week).  She brought down a handful to last us the week, without me asking her.  I just thought it was so neat to see her thought process.  The next day she picked up both sets of pajamas and put them in the laundry basket, without me asking her.  It doesn’t always happen, but she can be such a responsible baby girl.

On a whim a couple of weeks ago, I started teaching the girls some volleyball moves.  They LOVE it!!!  They will hit balls (or try to hit balls) back and forth for ages.  This mama loves it, too.  I can’t wait until we’re more reliably able to pass to each other…so fun!!!

Last Friday Daddy had an unexpected snow day from school.  Since the weather wasn’t supposed to come until later that day, we went out for a family breakfast.  We hadn’t been in quite a while, so it was a big treat.  The girls cleaned their plates…and then part of mine!

This dates back a few weeks, but I didn’t want to forget, as I laugh every time I think about it.  We had gone down to Nashville for a little shopping and then lunch.  The three of us were in the bathroom stall together (a big one, thank goodness), when “The Thrill is Gone” came over the sound system.  The girls have never heard that song, to my knowledge, but Baby B started strumming her imaginary air guitar and swaying slowly to the rhythm…all while Mommy was going potty.  I could have just fallen over, it struck me as so funny.

Also going back a few weeks, Baby A called me in the middle of the night.  I went up to her room and found her sitting in the middle of the floor, between the beds.  “Mommy!  I can’t find my blanket!” she cried.  I chuckled and told her her blanket was on her bed.  I tucked her back in, and she went to sleep.  It wasn’t until a week or so later that it dawned on me, I think she fell out of bed.  Poor kiddo!  She’s one tough cookie, though.

And from the second night (I think) we were in the house…the guy was here from the gas company, working on our fireplace.  Hubby went outside with him to look at the gas grill.  Baby A followed them on the inside of the house, looking through the windows.  “Mommy!!!  Why is Daddy going to the edge of darkness???”  She was so alarmed, and it cracked me up how she characterized it.  She’s been using “darkness” a lot recently, instead of “dark”.  That just seems so foreboding!  

Lots of SUPER I don't want to forget!!!

Moving Day and the First Night in the New House

It’s so hard to believe it’s been over FOUR WEEKS since moving day!  It seems like yesterday in many ways, though, and I’m thankful I still remember some of the sweet details.  I definitely want to capture those before any more time slips by and I completely forget!

I originally had a different game plan for getting the girls to school on moving day but that fell through the day before the big move.  I was so incredibly thankful that Miss Demara, M&C’s mom, was off that day.  It was a huge stroke of luck that, particularly on very short notice, she was able to pick up the girls and take them to school in her van, which is obviously outfitted with two perfectly-sized car seats.

The girls didn’t mind that I wouldn’t be taking them to school.  They were super tickled to be riding in M&C’s carseats!

It dawned on me that morning that no one – apart from my husband and me – had ever driven the girls anywhere.  It was almost surreal to wave goodbye to them as they pulled out of my driveway.  They were smiling and waving back, flashing the “I love you” sign all the way.

I had scheduled “Aunt” S and “Aunt” K to pick up the girls from school.  They found their way to the bookstore, where they enjoyed a cookie and milk, and then a seat on Aunt S’s lap to read some books.  I know they had such a fun time!

The girls got home – to the new house! – just after Daddy did, the movers still having a few minutes to finish things up.  They were very excited, but thankfully not “wild”.  :)

The girls’ room was already set up, and I made sure they had everything they’d need for a relatively normal night-night, including a favorite bedtime story.  Miss Demara brought over supper, which was a huge blessing. 

We were running a bit behind our normal schedule, but we held our bedtime routine as close to “normal” as possible.

I put the girls in bed, bid them goodnight with the same words I’ve used since before they were born, and I closed the door to their room.

I was a bit nervous, knowing they were in a new space, of course, AND with this being their first night in big-girl beds.  I was listening to them over the monitor, and I thought I heard some commotion.  I went upstairs, maybe 30 minutes after I’d tucked them in.  I didn’t hear anything, so I turned out the light in the hall to head downstairs. 

I then heard B whisper, “She just turned it off.”  For some reason, that still strikes me as hilarious.  The girls always call me “Mommy” – to me, and to each other, and to anyone else.  I think that’s the first time I’d heard them use a standard pronoun.

I shrugged it off, though, and went back downstairs to sweep the floors.  Hubby had gone back to the old house for a few more items, so I was alone with my [supposedly] sleeping babes.

There was not a sound in the house, as we didn’t yet have cable or internet service.  I was exhausted, having had a couple of very late nights prior to the move, and an extremely full day of directing traffic.  I was lulled into cleaning mode when something caught the corner of my eye.

There stood Baby B, silently, at the bottom of the staircase.

YIKES!!!

I tried not to show my surprise, but to calmly show her back to bed.

On the way upstairs, we talked about calling Mommy if she needed something.  You do not come downstairs for me.  I will come to you.

My heartbeat eventually fell back into a normal pace, and the girls eventually went to sleep without further incident.

That was a day of many firsts, for sure…some very sweet, some bittersweet, and some downright hilarious…which is really pretty fitting.