Super Stuff!!!

1)      As we were waiting to turn left on a busy highway, B remarked, “They need a traffic light here.  I will get Granddaddy to help me design one.”  HA!  I love that she was thinking of solutions…and that she thinks her granddaddy (an architect) can design anything.

2)      Thursday was our last tumbling class for the summer.  When we got out of the car, a couple of little girls called out to A&B, waving.  After class, another couple came up to give them hugs.  It was so sweet to see their new little friends – older girls who have taken them under their wings.

3)      Miss Jennifer was our first baby sitter, playing with the girls once a week from just after their second birthday until they turned three.  We hadn’t seen her in almost a year – save from running into her here and there in town – and she came over to visit this past week.  The girls were SO excited to learn she was coming.  It took them a few minutes to warm back up to her, but they were so sweet showing her the things she’d missed (new toys and new tricks) over the past year.  And I couldn’t help but appreciate how blessed we are to have had some really wonderful people in the girls’ lives.

4)      We met a friend at Lost River Cave, intending to play on the outdoor playground.  It was closed that morning, though, so we took a short hike to the butterfly conservatory.  This was my first time to “hike” with the girls by myself, and they did a great job.  And it was so very sweet to see the girls and Baby V.

5)      On Sunday night, the weather was absolutely perfect.  We made an impromptu trip to the park, where we played and played, and then enjoyed a pizza picnic.  We chose the park that’s within walking distance to the pizza place, and Daddy picked up a pie, which we enjoyed with our bottled water and bananas.  Just a year ago, I probably wouldn’t have been comfortable “winging” a meal like this…but it’s so very nice to be able to do it now!

6)      While we were at The Farm this weekend, and then again at the park, Baby A wanted to race.  I can still beat her, but I really have to put in the effort!  I cannot believe how fast my little speedster is getting!

7)      Over breakfast at The Farm on Saturday morning, B held up a piece of her melon for me to see.  “Look, Mommy!  It’s a rhombus!”  Hee hee!

8)      The girls were cackling at each other one morning over the pronunciation of the word “warmer” [in the context of a bottle warmer, I think].  One of them, B, I think, kept saying “wormer”…and A kept correcting her.  They were cracking each other – and me! – up for a solid ten minutes.

9)      Daddy accidentally dropped A's baby doll one morning, and she came running to me: "Mommy! I don't think Daddy knows how to be respectful of my baby!"

10)   Baby A, in particular, has been using the words “actually” and “in fact” quite proficiently lately.  It’s so funny in her scrappy little baby voice…and she is totally serious about it.

11)   Baby A was telling me this morning, “When I grow up, I will have a newborn baby…not a pretend baby…but a real one.  And I will have two babies at once, just like you did.  And I will have a swing and a bouncy seat.”  B chimed in, “I will just have one baby, but I will have a swing and a bouncy seat, too.”  [I guess baby gear is top of mind for all future mamas, huh?]

12)  I complimented A on a block tower she built, telling her it was perfectly symmetrical.  Do you know what that means, I asked her?  "It means it's the same on both sides!" I consider the girls to have a pretty big vocabulary, but I love when they can actually define a word back to me...pretty cool!!!

Things Making Me Happy

I have been smiling at Marcia's "Things Making Me Happy" blog post for 24 hours now.  I popped over to [finally] write a response, and I decided instead I'd blog about it.

These days I still feel like I'm running like a nut...the summer is zipping by...but all in all, everything is good.  So what's making me happy these days???

Off the top of my head:

1) My girls taking swimming lessons.  I love seeing them working so hard and having success...and of course, having fun.  I love their teacher, and I'm so thankful we found her!

2) Fresh fruit.  We've picked cherries and blueberries over the past couple of weeks, and we've been able to buy tons of yummy grapes, strawberries, and melons at incredible prices, too.  We've been eating fruit four or five times a day (instead of our usual three)...there's just so much goodness to pack into the day!  We'll be heading to the orchard this week, as their peaches are just beginning to come in.  I can't wait!!!

3) Miss Jenny.  I am so thankful for such a wonderful friend to our family.  The girls get so excited every Friday morning when I remind them, "It's Friday!  Do you know what that means?" 

4) Eating out for breakfast.  Hubby and I used to love to eat out for breakfast once upon a time.  Once the girls were born we did it only a couple of times until they were close to four.  It's such an easy meal to make at home, I always rationalized I'd rather just cook and "save" that eating out for another meal.  We've recently found a nice little mom-and-pop diner, and we've been out for breakfast every couple of weeks.  It's such an awesome treat to eat hot pancakes and have someone bring me coffee!

5) Pictures of my girls blowing bubbles.  I have taken a TON of those this summer...and I can't seem to choose my favorites.  I love them all!!!

6) Crafting.  I don't get to do it as often as I'd like, but it's always good for my soul.  I'm due some craft time one of these evenings soon!

7) Being *relatively* caught up on pictures.  They'd go a lot faster if I'd quit taking pictures of the girls blowing bubbles...but I can't do that.  :)

There are many more things, of course, but that's a super-quick list.

Thanks to Marcia for the inspiration (as always!!!)!

Fab 10 Friday

All in all, our girls got over their virus pretty quickly.  Thursday and Friday were kinda tough, but by Saturday we were almost back to normal.  I’m very thankful for that, and for all the things that made this past week fabulous.

1)      We went to lunch on Saturday, and Baby A grabbed a napkin and spread it out under her plate, like a placemat.  Daddy and I cracked up…that’s what they’ve seen him do so many times for himself, and Baby A did it like it was just a normal part of her routine.

2)      Sunday morning we made a quick decision to go to a park across town.  We stopped and bought some bread to feed the ducks, and the girls loved seeing the ducks and geese up close.  And I was so proud of them for not getting scared!

3)      After we fed the ducks, the girls played on the playground equipment.  They’re becoming master climbers.  And although it can be the stuff of heart palpitations for their mama, they’re pretty fearless, too.

4)      On Sunday afternoon, I taught the girls to snap beans.  They did a pretty good job, and they were so proud of themselves!  And of course they were excited to eat the fruits of their labor for supper that night.

5)      Our beloved Miss Jennifer returned from her semester in England, and she came to visit on Wednesday.  The girls were SO EXCITED to see her!  They had to show her all their new tricks, and she had to give all their babies hugs.  It only took a few minutes before they were crawling all over her, just like normal. 

6)      Baby A wrote her name for the first time this week!  I honestly don’t know why I haven’t asked her to do that before…she can write most of her letters…but I finally thought to ask her to put them together.  Proud Mama Moment!

7)      On Thursday the girls and I had a super busy morning, but it was such a nice one.  I treated them to a special snack at Panera (a bagel and milk), and then we went to Target.  They pushed the cart, and did so well!  We came home and took a walk, and then came inside for a bath.  After lunch, they were more than ready for a nap!

8)      Baby A is such a tender heart.  She gets the funniest little voice when she sees a picture of an animal.  “Awwwwwwwwwwwww.  He’s so fweet!!!” in her tiny baby voice.  It seriously melts my heart.

9)      Baby B has been doling out the sweetest compliments lately.  Out of the blue, she’ll say, “I love you, Sissy!”  Or, “You’re so sweet, Mommy.”  It just melts my heart, too.

10)   Two words: new pajamas.  I love-love-love seeing my baby girls all dressed for bed.  I can’t help but call them “my little elves” when I see them trot down the hall ahead of me.

Hope you had plenty of fabulous in your week, too!

Fab Friday!

We’ve had such a full, fabulous week! Starting last Friday…breakfast out with friends…a long-overdue Mexican lunch with Daddy…Easter morning…hunting Easter eggs…haircuts followed by bagels…hiking in a local park…a trip to the zoo with friends…wow!

And I’m very thankful for even more fabulousness interspersed among all our going and doing!

1) After a walk in the neighborhood, the girls and I were playing in the yard on Saturday. They were pushing their bubble mowers, and playing with the soccer ball. They love to run and kick and practice the “heel passes” Daddy taught them. For the first time, Baby A was content to pass the ball back and forth with me. It didn’t last long, but it was a pretty cool exchange!

2) On Tuesday afternoon, Miss Jenny came over to play with the girls for a couple of hours. This was her third time here, and the first two times she had some “naughty” behavior to report to me when I got home. (It was nothing major…playing with the blinds one week…and then asking to sit on the potty numerous times the next.) Still, I was SO excited to get a great report from her on Tuesday afternoon. [And it was so much fun to have a couple of hours on the town with my Hubby!]

3) Since the girls were tiny, I have always pointed out different noises to them, one being the beep-beep-beep a big truck makes when it backs up. We incorporate all sorts of noises into our play, so I guess it’s second-nature to the girls. I’ve noticed lately that Baby A has turned “beeping” into an action verb. She’ll see any car or van pulling out of a driveway, and say, “Ohp! That car is beeping out!” I’ve tried saying, “Yes, it’s backing out,” and she’ll confirm, “Yes, it’s beeping out!” [In truth, that’s one of those baby-isms that I don’t really want to go away!]

4) On Wednesday, we met a friend and her kiddos at a zoo about 100 miles from here. It wasn’t just any friend, though…Joline was the first person I “met” – on the phone, a friend-of-a-friend – who had twins about the same age as the girls. Her twin boys are about three months older, and – as I struggled to balance a couple of six-week old babies – I thought her 12 weeks of additional experience were so inspiring. Now, of course, it seems like our kiddos are exactly the same age…and how fantastic it was see them together!

5) While I was getting supper ready on Thursday night, Daddy and the girls were running around in the backyard, playing. It was such music to my ears to hear their giggles and squeals as I cooked.

6) After going and doing so much most of the week, the couple of at-home days we’ve had have been great. I know the girls have missed their dolls and books and puzzles and train, and they’ve been amazingly content to play.

We've certainly been making the most of Daddy's week off...so much fun!

Woot! I Did It Again!

(Channeling some old school Britney…)

I did it again! I left my girlies!!!

I didn’t intend for my girls to spend every waking minute with me until they were more than two years old. And that is a slight exaggeration…there were a few waking moments they spent solely with Daddy, but those were few and far between.

No, I didn’t plan it this way…but we don’t have family close by, so when someone does come to visit, it’s not so I can have some “me” time.

And I was such a nut about every detail – namely the girls’ schedule and diet (and what else is there, really???) – especially for their first year of life, I didn’t have anyone I felt comfortable trusting them with outside of family.

About a year ago, I finally found a nice lady who was set to retire, whom we planned to have come and spend one afternoon a week with the girls. We knew it would be good for them…and Heaven knows it would be good for ME. I was heartbroken when the lady backed out on us.

Having spent a long time searching for this lady, I was devastated when things didn’t work, and then my devastation turned to resolve. I had made it over a year, and I could make it another year before the girls start a preschool program two afternoons a week this coming fall.

But then I had an idea…what if I compromised on my idea of having someone from the next generation to spend time with the girls? What if that someone was younger, even more along the lines of a “mother’s helper”?

I contacted a former colleague who lives in my neighborhood, whose daughter is a freshman at the university in town, and sure enough, Miss Jennifer was the perfect fit!

I knew I’d have to take things slowly in introducing the girls to the idea that there are people...in the world...outside of their mommy and daddy.

The first few weeks, Miss Jennifer came over and hung out with the girls with me. The girls LOVE playing with her, and she’s so good with them.

I gradually put a little space between them and me…first doing some things in the kitchen (within their sight), and then moving into the living room (adjacent to the den).

Last week was our first big test. I had a massage scheduled for Friday afternoon, and there would be a 20-minute or so gap between when I needed to leave and when Hubby got home. The girls didn’t bat an eye when I told them Mommy needed to run an errand. Miss Jennifer later reported they affirmed, “Mommy running errands,” a couple of times, but they never cried!

And yesterday afternoon, I decided to go for a run in the neighborhood. I again used the excuse that Mommy needed to run some errands, and off I went. The girls were without Mommy for about 45 minutes, and again did so well!

I still think it will be a long time before I’m ready to turn the [sacred] bedtime routine over to someone else, but I do have hope that the hubs and I might possibly be able to sneak in a lunch date, or – gasp! – a matinee movie one day.

A few baby steps for the girls...and one giant leap for this mama...