Hoping for Spring

We had a beautiful day yesterday.  In the sixties and sunny so I'm posting a couple pictures of Ella, Katie and Ceci playing outside.  

They've all got facepaint on from our morning at the Children's museum.  We left when Katie and Ceci started poking and knocking on the glass of the baby chick display yelling "CHEEP! CHEEP!"  I think the volunteer was as terrified as the chicks.  Unfortunately they couldn't read the "don't tap on the glass" sign and I did my best to get us all out of there quickly but when Ceci goes boneless it's a challenge.  This is when I usually break a sweat.  I'm going to just start wearing t-shirts when we're out regardless of the weather because I'm always sweating when I've got them in public in an open area.    

Here's a picture I took last week of Sophia and Ella on their way to church.  Sophia is wearing a dress handed down from her cousin Emily.  What is so cool is that Emily is now in her twenties! Sophia has been dying to wear the dresses from Emily in the back of the closet.  I thought they were all bigger but she came down in this on Sunday and looked beautiful. 

Not so Super Mom

Yesterday a woman at the library was observing me trying to keep Ella, Katie and Ceci in check and after a while walked over and said "You are super mom."  I wanted to give her a big hug but decided that wasn't socially acceptable.

It came at a great time because I'd had a rough couple of days.  Sophia was home sick for two days. Having a extra child home who is sick meant we were confined to the house which made it a tough 48hrs for mom.

I try to bathe Ella, Kate and Ceci together and have worked out an assembly line procedure for bath-time that helps it run somewhat smoothly.  Nonetheless bathing three toddlers is always hectic and with Sophia lying on the floor moaning outside the bathroom door it had an added dimension of stress.  After the bath Sophia came in the bathroom and was joking with Katie when I witnessed her spit on Katie's face.  Are you kidding me??? I couldn't believe my eyes.  This was the 6yr old I had been following around with anitbacterial wipes all day to prevent anyone from touching anything she had just touched and she just SPIT into Katie's MOUTH.  I don't know what the point is of even trying to keep them apart.

After I snapped at Sophia she told me that she loses a little bit of love for me when I get mad at her.  Way to top off my morning.  She then very sweetly came back to me a couple minutes later and said that she actually didn't lose any love for me but was just mad so she said that.  "I still love you the most you can mom."

At least two people in this world think I'm a Super-Mom.

Gymnastics part 2

OK, if next week weren't the last week of gymnastics I am positive they would ask us not to return. We went from instructors asking where is the mom to everyone knowing Katie and Ceci's names because I'm always yelling..."Katie wait for us!" "Ceci, leave the baby alone!". There are easily 100 children most of whom are part of 3 (Ella), 4 and 5yr old classes with teachers. We don't even have an instructor since we're mom and tots and just roam around but they now all know us.

Periodically I hear people yell "Katie" or "Ceci" when they are running from me. Katie is FAST. She has this roadrunner sprint where her upper body is still but her legs move like they've got a motor. At one point I was dragging Ceci out of this big donut shaped pad that she had dove head first into the middle of when I heard multiple adults yell "Katie! No! GET DOWN!" I turned and Katie was perched on top of a platform surrounded by tension wires over the big foam pit. I put Ceci under my arm like a sack of potatoes and sprinted to grab smiling Katie who was having a ball. I wanted to say, I'm very sorry, we're out of here, I realize this class does not work for my girls but resisted since they LOVE it and Ella has to go to her class.

What almost makes it worse is that there is another set of twin girls in this class and they seem to stick together very nicely while their mom talks to other moms about summer camp and the Bachelor. I can't take my eyes off my girls for a second and am in perpetual motion. Last week a couple people noted that I get the biggest workout there chasing and carrying the girls. I guess that's the bright side.

I think we'll go to McDonalds to celebrate our last gymnastics class next week. Too bad they don't serve wine there because I'll be ready for a glass.

Twin bonding

Katie and Ceci are able to communicate with each other and play together more as they are getting older. It's fun to watch the interaction and I'm seeing the twin bond that everyone talks about who is a twin or has twins.

They are really sweet together. I took this last week in the basement. Katie said to Ceci "Ceci tired? Lie down on my lap" and Ceci hopped on the couch and put her head on Katie's lap while Katie rubbed her back. It was a very tender moment between them. I wanted to record it so they could see how their friendship began. I hope that as they get older and fight over jeans, boys and the car that they'll always return to this special bond.

Today after Katie went potty Ceci's face lit up and she said "Yeah Katie! Good job! Hug! Kiss!" and gave Katie a big hug and kiss. They are definitely each other's cheerleaders.

Then Ceci threw herself on the floor and started crying hysterically when she didn't also get an m&m. She wasn't upset enough though to actually sit on the potty even though her tantrum wasted 10x the energy it would have taken to just sit on the potty.

Potty-training

I am not looking forward to potty training Katie and Ceci. I really wanted to do them at the same time but Katie is really ready while Ceci won't even sit on the potty. I think if I told her the real Barbie was going to come bring her a dreamhouse if she'd go pee-pee on the potty she still would say "NO potty Ceci."

Katie on the other hand is becoming a pro with no help from me. I've started putting her on the potty, but until this week was actually telling her to go in her diaper when she said "Mama potty". I was waiting for a sign from Ceci that I'm now realizing may not be until her 4th birthday.

So, I bought some princess underwear for Katie and she's been doing a great job. One roadbump yesterday though. I was giving Ella and Ceci a bath and Katie walked into the bathroom bringing with her the distinct smell of fresh poop. She looked up at me with her big eyes and said:

"Mama, I poo-pooed on Ariel."

It was so sweet. Who thought cleaning poop out of underwear would make me smile.

Ceci did get new underwear too. We went to lunch at Subway yesterday after our trip to Target and she would not let go of her little plastic bag of Hello Kitty underwear. After I ordered our sandwiches I turned around and saw her three pairs of underwear scattered on the floor next to the chip display while she was holding two bags on Doritos yelling "My chips! MY chips!"

Separated at Birth?

Last night Sophia and I were watching a program about Siegfried and Roy and the tiger attack. In retrospect probably not the best show to watch before bed but she didn't seem scared and liked seeing the white tigers and lions.

This morning the news was on while I was getting the twins and Sophia said:

"Look mom, that guy who got bit on the neck by his tiger is in a rock band!"

I looked up and saw U2 performing and realized there is an uncanny resemblance.

Surprise

I threw a surprise party for Rick's 40th on Saturday. It was a small gathering with just our families. The big surprise was that his family flew in from California. His parents, niece Kaytlin, sister Stephanie and her fiance Tyler and his brother Tim and wife Ellen all came out from California. I am SO relieved that the party is over and I don't have to keep the secret any longer. I kept looking into his eyes for any hint that he knew and wanted to say so many times over the past month: "Do you know??? If you do, just TELL me NOW so I can end this charade because I feel pretty stupid acting like we're just going to dinner if you know what's up." He had an idea there was something up but I really don't think he had a clue that his family would be there.

It was a great night which was mostly due to the awesome group of family and friends who were there.

Sophia and Ella were also surprised. A couple people asked if I had told them ahead of time. Are you kidding me??? It would have taken about, ummm...ONE SECOND for them to tell Rick.

Here are some photos:

Rick and Stephanie




Hi, I'm Ella, I just sucked down five Shirley Temples because no adult is really supervising me. Look at my red lips and sugar powered smile.