Snow Snow........go away!!

So as many of you know I have the crazy twins that are addicted to Elmo!!! Finley started saying "EBA" now and her and Gillian chant it in unison all over the house......Very adorable!

Well this week one of the local children's museums is having a "Elmo's Birthday Bash"! SAY WHAT? This is right up my girls alley. They are going to have a live Elmo there and singing and dancing and cupcakes (which are right up my alley)!

I have this vision of the the girls seeing Elmo and shrieking in excitement and running to him arms wide open!

In reality I think they will scared to death and probably run in the opposite direction. But I have to find out! I've been talking about driving 4 hours to Sesame Place in Pa this summer so they girls can see all the Sesame Street Characters. I've decided this will be the deciding factor!

So, of course because there is someplace I want to take the girls its supposed to snow. Did I mention we have had a ridiculous amount of snow this year? Crazy. I think we are up to around 5 feet as of the last snow storm.

Its supposed to start tomorrow morning as snow all day, then Wednesday its supposed to be ice and freezing rain etc.....etc.....all crappy stuff and then hopefully it will be Cleared for Elmo's big day on Thursday! Because if they cancel Elmo's birthday I'm gonna be pretty ticked!! I don't think I could break it to the girls if its canceled. I may have to have Gary get a Elmo costume and have our own party.

I honest to god never in a million years thought the excitement of the week would be Elmo's Birthday. Hm. My life sure has changed in the past year huh?

Ooh, and on side note the library is staring up their story time again next week and it conveniently lands on my day off each week! Score!

Cookie Cookies!

I realized today that my girls are 14 months old and have never had a cookie. So I made them some homemade chocolate chip cookies this afternoon and needless to say they loved them. Finley devoured hers in about 2 minutes.

The dainty eater.......

The messy eater......

"Nana"

I feel like there is some unspoken competition between the grandmothers. You know the one where they both secretly wish their 2 beautiful grand daughters will say their "name" first.

It really does crack me up, I guess I can understand. I was pretty ticked when the girls decided to say "dada" first. But I got over it, now they never say "dada" and its constantly "mama" out of those precious little mouth's.

Gary's mom is Mema. Even I call her Mema. When the girls started saying "mama" she would tell them "that's not how you say it.....its MEMA" Nice try lady!

My mom however took the cake this week. Before I had the girls she couldn't decide what to be called. Gary and I call her Grammie Pepsi (long story...her name is Betsy, it rhymes and makes us laugh) and we thought it would irk her so that's what we call her. Either way she's Grammie. Like it or not.

I told her a few days ago that Gillian started to say "Nana" for banana and she suddenly decided that maybe she should be called "nana". If that wasn't the lowest of all lows Mom......really? Talk about trying to cheat.....

Let the competition continue........cause she isn't taking "Nana"!

14 Months.

Gillian and Finley are nearly 14 months old now. Its insane. I can't believe how fast time is flying by!

The girls are getting more fun by the minute and I just love it! So here are some random facts about the girls in no particular order!

Elmo is still the favorite show in the house, first thing in the morning Gillian finds the remote and brings it to me and says "EBA"

Finley is starting to hug Gillian over the past few days. Today she hugged Gillian from behind. She leaned her head right up against hers and said "awwwww" while trying to rock Gillian from side to side. Gillian thought she was crazy. Of course!

Finley loves Harley. She is always petting him, feeding him and hugging him and trying to poke him in the eyes. That's not love you say? To Finn it is!

Gillian has a billion teeth. I am pretty sure she has everything but her 2 year molars!

Finley has a new smile and its flipping adorable. She is so cheesy. It too cute for words!

Neither one of the girls is saying much of anything. Finn only says "Night Night, Mama, and Dada" here and there and Gillian says "Ball, Ebo, Baba (Baby), Puppa ( puppy), nana (banana) and Mama and Dada". I am waiting for them to really start talking and for the day I wish they would stop!

Gillian is finally getting some hair! Its definitely blond. I had light hair as a baby too so I'm sure hers will darken up eventually. But its cute. .

If Finley is hungry she goes to her highchair and waits until I come and feed her!

Finley is sleeping through the night.....Gillian gets up just about every night at 10 for about 20 minutes and then goes back down usually for the night. When will she stop waking I wonder?

I am amazed how much the girls understand too. Just about everything I say to them they understand. If I tell them to do something they do it, If I tell them to get me something they get it. Who would have though that at just 14 months old they would be so smart. It just blows me away!

Can't wait to see what happens this month. Will they be talking up a storm by then? Will Finn continue to be my little firecracker? Will the girls ever get along??? The mystery continues!

Don't feed the dog!!!

Ooh Finley. She loves Harley so much. She also loves feeding him. When she has crackers or other snacks I let her walk around the house with she finds him, sticks the cracker out to him, lets him bite off a piece, laughs to herself and then takes a bite herself and repeat until the dog takes the whole cracker from her and she comes to get another one.

I keep telling her not to feed the dog but she isn't listening.....go figure? No wonder he has gained 15lbs since the girls were born. Fat lucky dog.

Sassy pants

So lets talk about the Sassyness thats going on in my house lately. The girls are mocking me. Yes, mocking me.

Sunday while over Mema's the girls were chucking their food off their trays instead of eating. I said in my sternest, I mean business voice "Finley.......no, no, no, no, no!" I did this while pointing my finger for some added scariness and shaking it at her and what did her and Gillian do? Gillian pointed her finger right back at me shaking it and said "mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" Finley quickly followed her lead and I had two babies yelling at me.

Of course the whole table burst out laughing. Because who could keep a straight face after that one? Not me thats for sure!

Other than that the girls are having their nice moments and their not so nice. Finn gave Gillian a hug today in the bathtub. But it was after she tried to bite her and I caught her and told her "she wasn't to bite sissy but give her hugs and kisses" so she grabbed gillians back and gave her a hug.

I'm hoping there will come a point and time when they will be nice to each other. I sure hope it comes soon too!

Blankie

Oh dear. Gillian is addicted to her blankie and wubbanub. What the heck is a wubbanub you ask.......this is a wubbanub

Its a cute little stuffed animal with a pacifier attached. This has been a lifesaver for us when the girls were younger because it was easy for her to find in the dark when she would wake looking for it. Now she is addicted to it and freaks if you take it from her and put it back in her crib.

Now, we don't let her use a pacifier outside of her crib so this is getting annoying. I just let her have a fit and take her out of their bedroom so its out of sight, out of mind. I refuse to have that kid walking around with a stuffed animal hanging out of her mouth.

Her blanket on the hand I know is a comfort thing and I think its good for toddlers to have something for comfort, so I'm not fighting the blanket. She walks around with it wrapped around her shoulders and head. Luckily I sensed this blanket phase coming with her 6 months ago and got a 2nd identical one to swap out when one gets dirty and needs to be washed. Maybe I need a 3rd.

Good Bye Helmet

I forgot to mention Finley is done with her helmet!!! We had the option to have her wear it during naps and nighttime only but we are done. Finley was done. She wore it for 4 months. Her head definitely looks better than it did and I'm sure as she grows it will continue to correct itself some more and once she has hair you won't even be able to tell its not perfect. I'm okay with that.

So goodbye helmet days!!

TV Junkies.....

Oh boy. Since we were sick for the whole flipping week Gary and I relied ALOT on Sesame Street to get us through those long days! It was the only thing that would keep the girls halfway happy while letting us *try* to rest.

Needless to say since we are all healthy again there are some withdrawls going on from the girls.

The past 2 mornings Gillian has got up, managed to find the remote and bring to either Gary or I and say "EBO" (that's Gillian talk for Elmo) It really is cute but I refuse to let them sit around all day watching Sesame Street. They are allowed one episode in the morning and one before bed.

Tonight as I was undressing the girls for their baths Gillian was saying over and over and over "EBO.....EBO......EBO" Poor kid. She loves her Elmo.

The 5 days from hell.......

I knew it was only a matter of time. We made it the past year with only 1 cold for the girls.

Well Monday night all hell broke lose. Finley started throwing up out of no where. Poor Mommy was home by herself and having to deal with a pukey baby and Gillian who was upset that Finn was throwing up. After Daddy got home he took over and I went to bed for a few hours.

Tuesday during the day Finley seemed okay. Which was a relief. Maybe it was a fluke? Then Tuesday night Gillian started projective vomiting everywhere. Okay.....this wasn't a fluke. This was a nightmare. She slept with Daddy most of the night on the couch while throwing up a few more times that night.

Wednesday morning Finn was acting upset and needy and wanted to lay on me so I put her up on my chest and she was laying there. Next thing you know she looked up and puked all over me. Ugh.

Wednesday afternoon Daddy and I started feeling nauseous. I was hoping it would pass but no such luck. By Wednesday night Gary and I were both throwing up and all of us had the worst possible diarrhea at this point.  (got a good visual yet?)

We were up all night sick. And all day Thursday were sick. I honestly felt like I was going to die. I wish that were a exaggeration but its not.

Today is a new day and while we are still feeling punky we are on the mend. I am working on doing our yucky poopy/vomit  laundry that has piled up over the past 5 days and disinfecting the house with Lysol. It makes me exhausted to stand for more than 5 minutes at a time though so this could take a while.......hoping this is the end of the hell. I really just want to feel normal again.

IHOP, U-HOP

We all cry at IHOP!

My mom called last night and suggested we do brunch this morning/afternoon. I hate taking the girls to restaurants. Its always more work than it is relaxing. But I figured we'd have 4 adults to 2 kids so how bad could it be?

The IHOP just opened a few months ago so I had a feeling it was going to be packed but nothing prepared me for the hour long wait with 2 crazy one year olds.

The girls were being their usual selves, Gillian the good listener and Finn being a hard headed punk. We decided to take a walk around the mall while we waited (Ihop is in our mall) and Gillian held Gary's hand while we strolled along while Mom and I were stuck with Finn who refused to hold anyone's hand and keeps stopping every 10 steps to look at herself in the next store front.

We got down to some "toys", you know the annoying riding ones that every parent secretly hopes their kids don't notice. Well mine did. Dad threw in a few quarters and after 10 seconds both girls were trying to jump out. That was fun. Back to IHOP we go.

After what felt like a million hours of waiting we got our seats. By this time both girls were cranky, and hungry.

Finley just wanted some milk, which of course I didn't bring with me because I figured she wouldn't want any until the late afternoon.

The kid started doing creamer shots after being there for 5 minutes. I mean taking the creamers, popping them and drinking them. I could have died. Finally the waitress came and I ordered the girl a milk and some pancakes.

After the food got there the fun started. Finn was chucking pancakes and hashbrowns everywhere. People must have thought we were insane. There was food on every inch of the ground under them.  Some poor man behind Finn nearly got hit by a flying pancake. All I could do was apologize to the waitress.

When we left they had a clean up crew ready and waiting for us. 2 were cleaning the table, 3 were picking up the food and vacuuming. I couldn't run out of there fast enough.

Next time Mom asks to do brunch I think I'll pass........sorry Mom, you can come to my house and have Dad make us breakfast next time. Where I have Harley my clean up dog.

Holy Cow

That is what you would say if you walked into my house right now. Seriously, you would gasp (loudly) and then say "Holy Cow." Maybe even "Holy FREAKING Cow!"

In the kitchen there is not one inch of counter space that you can see, it is covered with mail, plastic bags filled with baby clothes, and other misc random things that don't belong on my kitchen counters.

The floors are littered with sticky spots and cheerios crumbs.

The living room is covered in clothes. Clothes, everywhere. How did clothes become my new life? I am sitting on the only space left on the couch as I type. I'm scared to move in fear the mound will fall over and take my space.

The playroom, forget about it. We got one of those 12 bin organizers but the girls dumped everything out and sit in the bins. Toys are everywhere.

How did this happen you ask? Well, for starters......I have twins. Twins that are terrors and who are emptying out their drawers faster than I can fill them. Tonight I took EVERYTHING out of the dressers they can open.

All their extra blankets that have been piled in the corner in a basket that they keep pulling out and dragging all over the floor were taken out too.

Its all sitting in my living room. Torturing me. Taunting me.

All I gotta say is I am going to spend the night folding it all.......again......and tomorrow Gary better have the drawer locks put on.

Well, enough blabbering. I got a house to clean, and floors to be vacuumed and moped. Fun Fun night ahead.

Snow Days

We FINALLY got a good snow storm. We seemed to be off to a rough start with the snow this year I was actually getting a little discouraged! Yesterday the weathermen were saying we were going to get 1-3" and that suddenly turned into a foot of snow. Weathermen are idiots by the way.......

So we took advantage of the awesome amounts of snow and nice 30 degree weather and bundled the girls up and headed out for our first snow adventure!

Finley was all about the snow. She loved it, she didn't want to come back inside.

Gillian on the other hand wasn't a fan. I was having a hard time telling if she was tired, or wanted milk or just hated it but she wasn't very happy that's for sure. I eventually took her back in and then she decided she wanted to go back out and was in a better mood. I don't know what her deal was.

Either way, here are some pictures of the snow fun.

I have no idea where Finn got this water bottle......

Harley enjoying the snow too

Finn in her cute little hat

Finn looks so excited and Gillian less than impressed

It went downhill from here......

She's such a big girl trudging through the snow

I'm pretty sure this was the only smile we got out of her

The moment I've been waiting for.......

I was making dinner while the girls were eating some Cheerios's out of their snack cups. Finley dropped some Cheerios's on the ground and went to bend down to get them but Gillian beat her too it, Poor Finn looked so disappointed she didn't get the O's first and what does Gillian do?

She holds the O up to Finn's mouth!! Sisterly Love.........FINALLY.

Now mind you, Finn looked at her like she was crazy but hey, its a step forward folks!

Buried......in laundry

Holy cow. My WHOLE entire couch is covered in laundry. Half of it is folded, half of it isn't...then there are odds and ends that were thrown on top of it. Its nuts. I never would have imagined the amount of laundry 2 babies create!

The problem isn't folding the clothes. Its putting them away. A normal attempt at putting them away goes something like this:

Me-open drawer and put pants in.

Finn comes on the other side of the drawer and pulls pants out.

While I am chasing her to get the pants back Gillian comes by and grabs more pants.

Repeat chasing babies around for clothes until everything is pulled out and strewn around the floor and I am laying in the middle begging for mercy.

Throw in someone getting their fingers pinched in a drawer by their "over eager-helpful" sister and some hysterical crying and you have a night!

So this is why I have piles of clothes on my couch. I would rather dig through the hampers of folded clothes than have to deal with putting them away!!

Resolutions

Lets face it, most of us make them. Most of us also break them by Jan 5th.

My resolution this year is to get in shape! I used to have a smoking hot body. Not a ounce of fat on me.....then I got pregnant and everything went down hill. Way, way way down hill. More like a ravine than a hill actually.

I am so flabby. I hate flabby. I want my old body back. Please, please let me get my old body back.

I heard someone say if you can make it until Valentines day with your resolutions you will usually stick with them all year. So I am setting small goals for myself. February, I just need to make it to February.

Michelle talked me into joining the gym with her. I figure what the heck, its good motivation to go with a friend! The catch is, the only time we can go is 5:30 in the morning. How much does that suck? I don't usually go to bed until 1am. Never mind get up at 5. So I am going to *try* to go to bed at 9 tonight. I have everything packed and ready to go for when I get up. All I gotta do is drag myself out of bed. That's gonna be the hard part.

I hope this isn't going to end up like the time Michelle and I decided to take some college classes together. She ended up dropping the classes to go to Jamaica and I dropped the classes because well.....what fun was it if Michelle wasn't there?

So what was everyone else's resolutions this year?

Bubbles Bubbles

Gillian loves to read (well, she brings me book after book and I read) but she loves it. Her latest favorite is "The bubble book" as we have affectionatly dubbed it. If she is crying-get the bubble book, in a bad mood-bubble book. I have memorized the book.

I don't even have to have the book and if I say "bubbles, bubbles on my nose, bubbles, bubbles on my toes" she gets excited.

AND her latest word.........bubble.

Speaking of words. She is saying "baaaa" when she see's a sheep, "cack" (quack) when she see's a duck, "Ebo" for Elmo, bubble and the usual Mom, Mama, and a occasional Dada. Ironically they both started out with Dada but hardly say it anymore. Guess they like Mama better!

Finn is being her usual stubburn self and says "night night" and mama, dada, baba....but thats about it.

Gillian has been blabbering up a storm and having full blown conversations with herself for about a week now, Finn goes on occasional rants but nothing like Gillian yet. I'm waiting.....should be interesting to see who's going to talk more. Goodness knows if they are like their Mama they won't shut up.