Hodge Podge

Today I went and did a few things that I have been needing to do for a while. One of which is renewing my licence and getting new tags for the van. (Yes, I know it's 2 months late. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator).

The other was that I got Sophia a bike. The poor thing has just been watching Maria ride hers around and staring in envy. You can practically feel her excitement through the pictures, which I ADORE. It's my favorite part of Christmas, too. I just love giving people gifts that I know they will love and the smile on their faces melts my heart. (Oh and they had to ride in the garage because it started raining about 1 minute after dinner).

And we are getting a few fruits of our labor (well, mostly Josh's labor). We've gotten about 10 peppers and just as many green beans. Normally I wouldn't pick the green beans, but they were HUGE and we thought they needed to be picked. Our tomatoes have TONS of fruit on them, so I can't wait to can my own spaghetti sauce! I should take a picture of the whole garden (it's HUGE). Maybe I will save that for later in the summer.

And this is just because he wasn't in on the bike situation. He is loving his new-found independence. He's scooting and rolling ALL OVER THE PLACE. I never know which piece of furniture I will find him lodged under, when I enter the room. He's just getting so big and smart and curious. I say it with each of them, but it's still true. THEY GROW UP TOO FAST!

Nighty Night. Sleepy Tight.

I'm realizing lately, that time is going faster and faster. I think it's having kids that makes it go so fast. You wake up one morning and realize they have grown incredibly fast and you feel like you have possibly missed something or not enjoyed something enough. And speaking of enough, what is enough? When is it ever enough? When can I say that I showed my love enough or played with them enough or laughed enough or enjoyed all of their little idiosyncrasies enough? To me, parenting is one big question that never gets answered. But, I guess, it doesn't feel like it needs to be answered. It feels like a question that needs to remain rhetorical. I think every parent feels, at some time, like are making a mistake or could be doing something better. I think the best we can all do, is try to enjoy every minute and think about whether or not we will regret what we are doing in the end.

In an attempt to remember the kids as they are right now (because this time is so fleeting), this is our bedtime ritual EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

Mommy or Daddy: Ok! time for bed! :D
Girls: OK OK OK! BEDTIME!
Sophia: Hold my hand mommy!
Maria: Hey guys, wait for me! (as she tries to find her blankets and giraffe and baby doll, etc.)
*at this point I am holding Sophia's hand and trying to keep her upright as she trips over her "pink blanket" all the way back to her bedroom.
Mommy: Hop into bed!....Get into bed....GIRLS Get into bed!....Sophia! Get into your bed now! (she thinks it is the funniest thing in the world to act like she can't get into her bed as she laughs so hard that she ACTUALLY can't get into bed)
Maria: Pia, get into bed like me. I'm a big girl going to school cuz I wear panties. You a baby cuz you don't go pee in the potty (this is what she says any time she calls herself a big girl).
Sophia: body slam me daddy!
Josh: Ok. Ok. KA-BUUUSH! (as he lifts her up over his head and slams her down on the bed)
Sophia: HEHEHEHEHEHEHE! Do again Daddy! Do again!
Josh: No, once is enough. Lay down.
Maria: Body slam me Mommy!
Me: Ok. Ok. (my body slam noise is not nearly as good as Daddy's, but it still gets a nice laugh out of Maria)
Sophia: turn my fan on
Me: No, you don't need your fan on tonight. (or ok, depending on how hot it is)
Maria: Where's my blanket with the holes in it? (she means my baby blanket that she sleeps with. It is crocheted. lol).
Me: It's right here, beside you.
Maria: Where's my giraffe?
Me: Right here.
Maria: Where's my blankie baby? (this is the "snoedle" they gave me for when she was in the NICU. I kept it with me while I was in the hospital, so it would smell like me. Then after she was born they gave it to her to keep with her that week until I could come see her.)
Me: It's right here.
Maria: Oh, thanks mommy!
Me: Lay down. *kiss* I love you, baby girl. nighty night, sleep tight.
Maria: I love you, mommy! I wanna kiss your head. (so she does). I think you have nice hair!
Me: thanks baby, I think you have nice hair too.
Maria: thanks mommy. nighty night. sleepy tight!
*then I go to Sophia
Me: I love you, little Pia! *kiss* Night night, sleep tight.
Sophia: Nighty night, sleepy tight. oh! oh! oh! I wanna kiss you head! I wanna kiss you head! (so she does) I think you have nice hair!
Me: thanks baby. I think you have nice hair too.
Sophia: thanks mommy!
Me: I love you
Sophia: I love you mommy. I take a nice nap, then I wear my babysuit and go swimmin.
Maria: and I go see gam if i take a nice nap
Me: I dont know girls, maybe.
Maria: maybe
Sophia: maybe.
*lights out and a big sigh of relief that we got out of there without having to turn water into wine or do the chicken dance in Spanish. ;-)

And just so you know, Josh goes through the same thing with the girls, except when they kiss his head they say "I think you have a little bit of hair, Daddy". Which is probably much funnier to me, than to him. lol :D

One day they wont want us to tuck them in and all I will have are these memories of when they couldn't get enough of us.

and the journey begins

Yep, we're starting the inevitably tortuous journey of potty training with Sophia. Yes, I am well-aware of the fact that she is 2 1/2 yrs old and I should be positively humiliated by the fact that she STILL has never actually gone IN the toilet. Next to it, yes. In the next room, sure. Immediately following a 20 minute sitting on it, of course. But never actually IN the bowl.

I have to say that the girl has some staying power too. She is absolutely obsessed with food. If we want her to do anything we offer food (I know, I know. stop shaking your heads in disapproval). But not this. I even bought chocolate chip cookies to offer as an incentive (the small piece of candy wasn't doing the trick). But still nothing. There she sits today on the pot telling me "mommy, I don't want to be big girl like Mia and go pee on the potty! I like going pee in my diaper!" WTH!? Who would proclaim their love for such a thing? Only Pia, I suppose. hence the nickname "Pia pee pants". Cruel yes, but truthful nonetheless. I have implemented the "no diapers" method. It's a major pain in the ass for me (like I don't already have enough laundry to do), but it is the only thing that worked for Maria and it honestly didn't take too long with her.

I personally, am blaming all of my shortfalls as a mother on Maria. She was too easy. (other than nearly dying in the NICU and all). When I told her to do something, she did it. When I said something was off limits, she stayed away. When I said no to something, I never heard a word about it. She was sleeping through the night a month after she came home from the NICU, for crying out loud. I was recently watching video of her a couple days after her second birthday (she had just learned to walk and I was capturing her running 4 days after taking her first step). The door to the basement was wide open and she was standing about 6 inches from the opening because I had told her MONTHS before to not go past that line. Show me another 1 1/2 yr old that would say "ok mommy" and never go near it again.

So then we get Sophia and I act like a 15 yr old with my first child or something. I remember telling Josh one day "she said no, to me today" Josh goes "WHAT? well what did you do about that?" (like we're solving the war on terror or something) I said, "I stood there like a moron trying to figure out what just happened". That had never happened the the 3 yrs Maria had been alive. And now, here Sophia is telling me that she doesn't care if she ever gets to go to school, be a big girl, wear Dora panties or EVER get out of diapers at all. We have been joking about the fact that she can count to 10, recognize some letters, knows almost all of her shapes and colors and speaks like a 4 yr old, yet she can't seem to figure out the complex equation that is "peeing on an actual toilet". At this point we are convinced that she will be heading off to Harvard in her Depends with a travel pack of wipes in her backpack.

Well either way, wish me luck. I understand that this is an uphill battle and am totally prepared for the fact that I am totally unprepared. (again, thanks Maria ;)

hot dogs, sparklers and facepainting, oh my!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. I know we did. We went to Silver Park and watched their gorgeous fireworks display with my parents and sisters. It's beginning to be a tradition for us. This is our 3rd year and we just love it. We go in the afternoon and hang out all day playing games and talking and all the fun stuff they have there is really cool. Here are some of my pics from the day, unfortunately my camera batteries died so I couldn't get any pics of the actual fireworks. But you can just take my word for it, they were great.

I don't know if you will believe it, but he slept through the fireworks!

The girls waiting for "Gam" and "Gampy". It was actually kind of chilly and windy the whole day, then it cleared up at about 8:30.

The 26-years-apart twins lol.

Eating...the best part of any holiday ;-)

Yes, we did give our 2 and 4 yr olds sparklers....ok, WE didn't, my parents did.

They were so good with them. I couldn't believe how careful they were being to not touch the hot part to anything. And Maria was obviously mesmerized.

They got butterflies painted on their cheeks. They were really patient and never moved while they were painting them. The girls doing it even said "I can't believe how still they are being". Maria wasn't quite sure how to show hers off though.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

Ok, you're right, no it's not. I really don't know why I do it to myself every year. I start obsessing about Christmas starting in the summer. And to be honest, I have no idea why it happened so early this year (I usually at least hold off until Christmas in July). All it takes is one Christmas episode of Friends to start the Christmas train a rollin'. So, to add fuel to my holiday fire, I'm going to post some pics of Christmas' past. Enjoy. :D I know I'm already making lists. lol.

2003
2005
2007

2008