I'm a slacker with an excuse...

I am hoping not to uproot our big family, but it is better to be prepared. The company Daddy works for is not doing well and is in the process of laying off more than one half the work force. It's scary. We seem to be in this pattern of staying in one place for only 4 years. But this time, with three little ones, it won't be so easy. But I am hoping we don't have to do that. But to be prepared, it's time to get rid of some junk we manage to haul from house to house. Only now, we have tons of toys to add to it!

We've entered into a new dimension of parenting with the twins. With the little man the time between 15 months to a little bit after 2 years old were the most difficult and this is true with the girls as well. They are at an age where they want to do what they want to do, and any attempt to stop them ends up in a full body tantrum. With two, it's much more difficult.

The other day, when we dropped Big Bro off to school was especially frustrating. I no longer use the stroller now (I don't know why I make it difficult for myself). Instead, I use harnesses. So I put Thing 1 and Thing 2's harness on. Big Bro wanted to hold one, and he's in a mood where he wasn't going to take no for an answer. So rather than lose it, I let him. So he either pulls or pull Thing 1, making her lose her balance. Finally, I was able to get him to give up. But then there was the Exploration room right when we enter the building. It's a huge play area that everyone passes through to get to the rooms. Why it has to be right there in the middle near the doorways, I don't know. The girls went in two different directions. So there I was being pulled in the middle...and then Thing 1 came falling down, hitting her face on the floor. It wasn't serious, but it was the icing on a cake of a very difficult morning.

Today I decided that I can't handle the stress, so I used the stroller. We all need a little break once in a while.

the doll stroller is as much fun as the push car!

my little mommies

Big Bro loves this stroller and the dolls when I bought them for him to get him used to having 2 little baby sisters. He used to zip through the house and stop suddenly, sending the doll flying forward. It scared me thinking this is what he was going to do with his sisters!

Here are the girls enjoying the doll stroller for the first time. Of course Thing 1 had to put her baby in. She wouldn't let go of it, so Thing 2 didn't even bother fighting for it. She just moved on and used the Wiggles car.

Thing 2 looks on as Thing 1 investigates the doll stroller.

Thing 2 moves on to the Wiggles car and waits until Thing 1 is done.

Then I try to trap them in my arms to take pictures. It used to be so easy!

Thing 2 on the left, Thing 1 on the right.

I was able to hold Thing 2, but Thing 1 was just too into her own picture on the camera!

By the way, these 2 aren't all about fun and games. They are also into terrorizing each other. Yesterday I found a circular red mark on Thing 2's left arm. I had a suspicion on what it could be, but I didn't get a confirmation until today. I saw happen to see Thing 1 about to bite Thing 2's arm. I had to rush over to them to make sure it didn't happen and chastised her. But as soon as I turned my back, she bit Thing 2 anyway!!!! And Thing 1 is still into taking Thing 2's things, whatever it is, even if she has the exact same thing.

Thing 2 does her thing too, but nothing so damaging as the Thing 1's bites.

the big scary great outdoors

At 9am, I decided to take the kids out for a walk in the neighborhood. I though an hour would do everyone good, since it's such a nice cool day today. But just getting ready took 15 minutes (changing the girls' diapers, sippy cups, getting the stroller and loading them into the stroller). Then just when we reached the end of the driveway, the little man decided he wanted to ride his trike. So we had to trek back and get the trike and I had to run around looking for his helmet.

Finally, we were off. I had to repeat, "Stay close to the grass, not the middle of the street!" a billion times before it finally sunk in. I'm so glad we live in a double cul-de-sac street! We didn't get far, but we did stay out there for nearly an hour.

The girls took a nap the minute we got back, and the little man snacked and played by himself in his room. I got about 30 minutes of quiet time to myself!



Looking back to make sure we're all still behind him.



A little grouchy for having to stop for pictures.

(Thing 1 in the back, Thing 2 towards the foreground.)

Combi Savvy, our new stroller!

The girls and I checked out the Combi Savvy (thanks to the recommendation of some great twin moms!) stroller yesterday and test drove it around the store. It's an awesome stroller. It's so much lighter than the Graco DuoGlider. Here it is being test driven by Big Brother when he came home from school. Poor Thing 1 was left out of her own stroller.

I don't know what it is about this look, but Thing 2 has got Big Brother's TV look down pat, without needing the TV! Thing 1 is looking goofy as well with her tounge partly out.

I don't know where Thing 2 is but she's definitely note here. Perhaps she's day dreaming about being the only child, especially when Big Brother steals her crackers.

Should I get a side-by-side twin stroller?

Twin moms, I need your help! I'm thinking of getting a side-by-side twin stroller for the girls. Do you think it's worth it? What would you recommend?

We have a Graco DuoGlider. I don't mind it, but I'm finding that the girls want to interact with each other more and more, especially when they feel overwhelmed. I take them wherever we go, doctor's appointments, errands, etc. so I need one that would fit through standard doors. The DuoGlider is big and takes so much room when we go visit the grandparents, when the van is already full (even when we use a top cargo!).

Please let me know what you recommend and what you love about it, or let me know what to stay away from.

Thanks!!!!

It was 70F Outside!

On Tuesday, it was 70 F. Yup. It's like summer! So I took the girls out for a walk in their stroller for the first time!

I thought they would end up flopping around from side to side, but apprently, they have grown bigger from the time they were born 8 months ago. How did that happen?! They fit in the stroller perfectly and enjoyed the warm windy day.

But before we even left the driveway, I get a call on my cell phone from the preschool.

School: Matty had an accident.

Me: (the word "accident" conjured up all sorts of bad images, but I tried not to freak out) Is he OK?

School: They were in the playground and he tripped over his own feet and hit his head on the playground stairs. He has a good size knot on his forehead.

Me: IS HE OK? Is he still crying? Is he confused?

School: He's not crying anymore. We gave him ice and he's behaving just fine. I just wanted to let you know.

I called the husband since he got off of work early today and was going to pick up our son. I told him Matty had just fallen and hit his head and has a good size knot on his forehead.

The picture in my head came nowhere near the real thing. It was a like a head growing out of his forehead. This picture was actually taken the day after, so it had already shrunk.