Earplugs...

I thought I would update a few things that are going on around here before they change or I forget them. 

• naptime is still horrific... i've tried everything that i know, everything that i've read, everything that has been suggested, but the twins are still winning out on a daily basis.  it takes over an hour to get them to actually nap, and sometimes it never happens at all.  my favorite time of day is now my most miserable. 
  
  
• henry is talking ALL of the time now.  it really has helped with his frustration, but it's not completely eradicated. he's had a language 'explosion' as we like to say around here.  henry's favorite topic is colors.  he likes to tell us the color of everything around us at all times.  tediously, he will say it over and over again until you say it back to him.  all of my children have gone through this stage so i know it will end, but oh my... 
  
  
• Mary Catherine is as dramatic as ever.  Seriously, the adjective 'diva' could not be more fitting.  Clearly, she is the queen bee (in her eyes) and the rest of us need to shape up if we want to stay.  I'm sure it's our fault.  We just cannot help but dote on her because she's so stinkin' cute and funny. 
  
  
• The twins love to watch Dora and Blue's Clues.  I try to push Diego more because there's something about my son running around wanting to watch Dora that just doesn't sit right with me.  They have a scheduled tv time right before their nap each day, if needed.  
  
  
• When they are not watching that glorious 22 minutes of tv before their naptime they are successfully destroying my house in the process of playing.  Usually this involves Mr. Potato Head, plastic animals or cooking supplies.  Oh, let's not forget about blocks.  Some of those blocks get made into a tower, but most of them are strewn around the room in record time. 
  
  
• The toilet is still a fascination of Mary Catherine's, but we try to keep the door locked.  Washing her lovies over and over all day is not fun.
  
  
• "I love..." is another favorite game here.  The twins each take turns saying all of the people they love.  It's very sweet. 
  
  
• Our day is never boring, never quiet, never neat, and I wouldn't have it any other way, although I do wish I had some good earplugs sometimes...
  
  

Clueless...

i'm already beginning to prepare myself for the snickers behind my back.  in a few years Mary Catherine will be more than I can handle unless the Holy Spirit intervenes quickly.  I pray she gets saved at a very early age. 

She is absolutely, without question, the most stubborn/strong willed child that we have ever had.  Along with that stubbornness comes an unbelievable charm.  Half of the time I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  In the midst of disciplining her she just smiles and laughs and shakes those curls.  UGH. 

I suppose the Lord puts charming and stubborn together so that we don't give our children away with the trash on Monday mornings.  *kidding*

So, if you must judge me and talk about my ill behaved child please do it behind my back and if you could, please fix her. 

Monkey See Monkey Do...

monkey does the same as you...

Mary Catherine and Henry were playing with this bucket on the beach.  Mary Catherine piped up and said, "I want hair wet!" and proceeded to stick her head in the bucket. 

 So, then, of course, Henry had to follow suit...

I would've gotten after shots, but I was laughing too hard...

Too Early! Too Fussy!

Henry's new found wake up time is absolutely driving me crazy.  Today he woke everyone in his room as well.  I'm so grouchy. 

Between Jackson's incessant "What? I didn't do anything!" with guilt ridden eyes and the twins' high pitched angry shrills every two minutes, I'm going to book myself into the Funny Farm. 

Stop the screaming.  Stop the crying.  Just hush.  Play nicely.  Eat without whining.  For Pete's Sake, give me a few minutes of happy noise. 

Changes...

The babies woke up today and started playing in their room instead of coming to the top of the stairs and screeching, "EAT! EAT! EAT!" incessantly like a bunch of pelicans in Finding Nemo. 

It's amazing how the little things bring me joy.

Nevermind... they escaped as I was writing this...

Let's Go Babies, Let's Go!

Every night when it's time to go to bed, I do a little chant for the babies.  We make up songs all the time at our house.  I always have and I do not know exactly why.  Some songs are nice, some songs are not, whatever rhymes is fair game (stinky, smelly, poopy...). 

So, the chant goes, "Let's go babies, let's go! *woot-woot*"

Amazing, right? 

Well, the babies have caught on to this ritual and so if I try to chant this at another time of the day they look up and say, "Go Night-Night?" and I have to explain that we aren't going to bed and I just want them to hurry up. 

Funny little monkeys...