Paris

Our Daddy is in Paris. He left Saturday morning to chaperon another school trip. Greece and Paris in less than 12 months..and all for free..? Yes, we really love Stephen's job. His job, the school, the parents at the school.. the teachers we are friends with.. it is all pretty miraculous.









The girls enjoyed helping me go through his list and helping him pack his "airplane".



Ollie was the only one of the small ones among us who truly understood what this all meant.

We miss him tremendously already. He will be back on Sunday and I am counting the moments. In the meantime we are trying to stay busy for the next few hours until it's time to load up and head to the airport to pick up Grammy. Then the real fun begins.

Pink Toes

We have been making more of an effort lately to spend time with the girls separately. I have been taking one girl with me grocery shopping each week and Stephen takes the other on a secret daddy adventure (lately a long walk in the Ergo with a stop by the local chocolate shop). This week we had two days to do something special with them. Stephen took Ada to the mall to get some final things for his trip and Margot stayed home with me.



What to do to make our time more special..? Paint her toenails for the first time! I know I know.. I can't believe I haven't done it before either.



Painting those tiny toes pink with "Strawberry Swing" echoing in my tiny bathroom turned out to be more precious than I thought it would be.



She seemed to really understand what a special treat it all was. Sitting on my bathroom counter with her little feet in the sink. Asking for help putting in each and every hair clip in my personal arsenal. Admiring herself in the mirror. Talking non-stop. Brushing her baby cheeks with my make-up brushes.. sharing her newly honed skill with her mommy. It was truly magical



How could I have ever been sad for a single moment that the wiggly bumps in my tummy were girls instead of boys?

5 Weeks

Stephen took these yesterday while he and girls were enjoying the beautiful weather we had this weekend. I was asleep in bed, nursing the 5th week of this insane chest/head cold that just refuses to go away. I have taken every supplement and OTC drug that I am allowed to take with this little sprout of a girl growing in my tummy. It seemed I was actually mostly better last week and then Sunday night it all came rushing back as I stayed up all night helping a Margot who had come down with the same thing. The last week has been pretty brutal and I was so thankful for the 1/2 day that Stephen had on Friday. I went to bed when he got home and didn't come back downstairs until Sunday afternoon. The doctor finally called in some Tussionex ("The most powerful cough medicine you can get") on Friday and that seems to be helping. I have coughed so hard that I actually pulled a muscle in my seemingly gigantic belly. Sigh. That makes all this coughing that much more fun let me tell you. The lowest point came on Friday when I was so sick I was pretty much crawling around the house taking care of the girls until Stephen got home. Somehow the Lord granted me an extra dose of patience and kind words and the girls were being as cooperative as they could be. I kept coughing too hard and having to go throw up (TMI I know... read at your own risk). At one point I was on my knees being sick in my bathroom upstairs and between.. moments.. calling out the door to the girls in as normal a voice I could manage to make sure they weren't getting into things they shouldn't in our room. When I finally emerged the girls were none the wiser to what had been going on in there and I was able to talk to them in a cheerful voice as we played the last few hours away before Daddy came to the rescue. I sort of felt like a super mom in that lowest of moments, because my kids weren't upset at my being sick and I wasn't letting my illness taint the way I interacted with them. Other than looking like death warmed over I mean. I took that as my accomplishment for the day and felt no guilt at all for sleeping the rest of the weekend away.

Anyway today I am back to my mom duties, solo, and am feeling a bit better. Still would love to be upstairs sleeping but.. that will have to wait until tonight.

In other news, the baby is still doing well. She is very active just like her sisters were. I have only gained 5lbs so far in this pregnancy and the doc said I should have gained 12 by now.. so I am a little behind. He wasn't worried though as being sick for so long and chasing twin 2 year olds around all day will tend to keep one from putting on weight. The other thing is I am just not hungry. Probably because I am too tired to be hungry. Working on that though.

Stephen and I are headed to his swim teams state championship meet Sunday night. Looking forward to an overnight trip with my hubs while Mom and Aunt B wrangle.. I mean play with and love on the girls. This is the last week of these 4:15 am wake up calls!!!! Can't believe we made it through in one piece!! Mostly one piece at least.

I realized the other day that I haven't taken a single belly picture this time around. Need to do something about that. I don't look nearly the circus freaky size I was with the girls.

On the 26th Stephen is headed to Paris for the week to chaperon a school trip. Mary will be here all week to help with the girls and my Mom will be here the weekend he leaves to fill in as well. I am looking forward to some good girl time.

Last but certainly not least, Mary and Larry are officially no longer residents of Tallahassee. Larry got a wonderful job at a church in Orlando and has been there for about two weeks now..? Give or take.. Mary is finishing up things in Tally before making the big move. Here is the really crazy part.. there house is already under contract!!!! They put it on the market and in something like 24 hours the first couple that came to see it put in a bid and in the end agreed to pay full price. Pretty much a miracle in this housing market. Stephen and I haven't let ourselves think about the fact that we will never spend the night in that sweet home again. We are just looking forward to visiting them in whatever amazing new place they land in Orlando. We will be closer to Tampa and Sarasota when we come for visit so we will be able to see all our buddies and family there more often during trips.. Mary is now retired so she will be able to come and see the babies whenever she is able.. for that matter the girls and I could drive/fly down there and hang out with her at any point in the year for however long she could stand us.. to give Stephen a break and just enjoy some time in FL.. the possibilities are the source of exciting thoughts for us both. Most of all we are so thankful for the reassurance from above that this is definitely where the Lord meant for them to move.

Babies are fighting over their "puppy" .. a green pull along frog on a string.. now Margot is putting it in time out and Ada is crying real tears of this state of affairs.. gotta go.

$10

Went to the half price day at a the Kids Exchange (a local consignment sale). I am feeling like poo with the cold that I can't seem to shake but I stayed home from church to keep my germs contained and get a little more rest. So I was feeling rested enough when S and the kids got home that I headed out anyway. Normally I really just go for the toys.. which are always better at the beginning of the sale. By the time half price day rolls around there ain't too much left.. at least not much worth taking home... but I have a pretty good eye for finding treasures in those piles.. even when the "good stuff" has long since been snatched up. I went looking for some sort of memory game(s) for the girls. I tried a homemade one a couple of weeks ago and they not only loved it.. they were really good at it! I found several contenders but the catch of the day was this amazing Goodnight Moon Game!!! How did so many people look at this and not snatch it up?!?! Perfect condition.. all the pieces.. and you can play it 6 different ways so that everyone from 2 1/2 to 6 years old can enjoy! The girls grabbed it as soon as I got home and we played it.. they loved it and were complete pros right off the bat. I also found another cool memory game called Mom and Baby or something like that (too lazy to go look at the name right now) and it's a little over their head right now but they will be ready for it by the summer. Basically you get to be a Mommy animal and take turns looking for your baby animal. It's cooler than I just made it sound. I also made away with a new FP doctor kit (with all it's pieces included and in great condition!), a bag with 3 Kipper books, and a Plan Toys Fishing Game.. which I have never seen before. It is SOOOO cool.. AND it came with TWO FISHING POLES!!! SCORE FOR THE TWIN MOM!!! I got all of this for $10 .. ten stinkin' dollars ya'll! I think that's pretty dang good. I had some clothes that I gleaned from the endless racks as well.. but then I saw the line. Holy Lord.. the folks nearing the front said they had been there for 2 1/2 hours. Yeah, not doing that. I like saving $$ but.. yeah.. so there was an express line for 5 items or less and I dropped the clothes I had collected and made a bee-line there with my 5 precious items. Still took me 40 minutes to get through the line but I am so glad I took the time.

Nonspecific...

This morning I decided to forgo my shower for day number two and take it easy so that I could recover from this nasty sore throat I have had. Still, I was feeling a little crafty so I decided to make the girls some muffin tin crayons. They are pretty tired of the ones they have, ready for a change of pace. Worked like a charm. While we were waiting for them to cool, I added a little food coloring to some plain yogurt and let them "finger paint" with it. Things were going great until I came around the corner and caught them painting the wall a lovely shade of purple. No worries! It had just happened and a wet cloth took it right off. Sigh of relief. They weren't even concerned that I erased their fresco. Most of the rest of the morning was spent hanging out in their travel cribs. Props to Shing Daddy who busted these out over the weekend. They read books in there, make forts, had some sort of battle with foam counting cubes.. ate snack.. played mommy and baby.. it went on and on.. I was pleasantly amazed at how a little time with an art project in the morning (or two) and some travel cribs could make two little girls so happy and contented. I didn't even bother to get them dressed.. they took their jammies off to paint and they were so cute running around in their little princess panties.. so soft and cuddly.. we just had a naked day.

I am feeling much better this evening.. throat is better.. just really really tired. Starting to get a little panicky about this baby kicking around in my tummy. Not panicky so much as just feeling unprepared. I just made myself go on BabiesRUs and start a registry. There are a few things we need for this little one.. like a crib.. since the girls cribs converted to the toddler beds they are currently sleeping in. There are others as well, but for the most part we have all the gear to bring her home in comfort. Need to get new car seats for the big girls so everyone will fit in the backseat of our little car. It's gonna be a tight squeeze but there is a brand .. Sunshine Kids I think.. that is narrow enough to work. I just.. I don't get it. It is really strange how I can't seem to slow down long enough to get serious about this little girl. She is coming! She is coming whether I am ready or not! I am excited she is coming. So excited. For some reason I just can't get my mind to really accept this fact though. Honestly, I keep thinking in the back of my mind.. if I get the crib.. we will lose her. If I register for the swing.. we will lose her. If I go ahead and start making concrete moves towards her arrival.. I will lose her. This is a hard way to exist. These thoughts are so far back in my mind that I can't even battle them.. they just are. They simply exist there, a haunting shadow of doubt. I feel foolish to doubt.. and foolish to be confident. Just.. it's kinda hard.

Millionaire

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you won the lottery? Of course you have. If you haven't then you are a humble non-materialistic masterpiece and I admire you from afar.

I have all sorts of plans for what I would do if I came into a large sum of money. Mostly that have to do with paying off debt, family debt, and then making sure that my family is taken care of for the rest of our days.. good investments .. that sort of responsible nonsense. I am a saver.. it's in my nature. There are moments though when I think about what I would do if I didn't have to worry about the balance of my checking account as much as I do. These thoughts seem to strike me when I am feeling particularly indulgent while going about the functions of my daily life. For instance, I was cleaning the house yesterday and as I did my quick wipe down of the bathroom with my Method Bathroom Wipes that smell like eucalyptus and mint, I was suddenly so thankful that I can afford this little delicacy. It makes me feel so fresh and happy to smell a newly cleaned bathroom. Then I went on to clean the bathroom mirror. I have been using the same bottle of Mrs. Meyers Lemon Verbena glass cleaner for over a year now. It came from the mother of one of Stephen's students and she also sent hand soap, shower spray, and a bar of soap in the same scent. I have not been able to afford to keep us in Mrs. Meyers hand soap but I certainly enjoyed it while it lasted and I just recently finished off that bar of soap. I have, however, determined that when I have run out of the glass cleaner I will make certain to replace it. I always clean the mirror very last in my bathroom cleaning routine and each and every time I spray this refreshingly scented non-toxic cleaner I feel revitalized. I find myself feeling so thankful for the bottle that I own.. and my mind skips to a parallel universe where I am able to purchase Mrs. Meyers products exclusively with absolutely no thought as to the cost. Mrs. Meyers cleaning products make me feel like a millionaire. This inevitably leads me to ponder what else I would love to be able to purchase in abundance at will. My eyes glaze over as I think about endless supplies of raspberries and ripe mangoes , coconut milk ice cream (coconut flavor) and all the Hugo Naturals Geranium Effervescent Bath Salts and matching lotion I could possibly use... enough to take two baths a day for as long as I felt like it. I imagine a bottomless container of Trader Joe's laundry detergent and enough dark chocolate covered cranberries to fill a wash tub. Soft cotton sheets. These are the things that make me feel decadent. Things that I am blessed enough to find in my every day.. not always... but when they do turn up.. I feel like a millionaire. I find it interesting that I don't long for new clothes, movies, music, electronic gadgets, all the books I could read.. shoes.... I'm sure I could find plenty of things to spend money on if I had it to burn but things that I can experience seem to top the list when my mind wanders in that direction.

It's just..I mean.. I can't even.. uh...

..because I need to remember right now.. I need to remember how much fun we have had in the last two weeks.. how much love has been shared between us..right now I just feel so defeated I can hardly put a sentence together.

I am not a fan of whiny posts on here but I need a place to vent.. in writing.. so read at your own risk.

The girls started getting up at around 5:30 or 6am last week.. a great improvement from 4am.. and we were so excited .. feeling like we were finally turning a corner.. and now we are back to that 4am wake up call.. I mean they are getting up even before Stephen's alarm goes off at 4:30 for swim practice. Seriously guys?! You are exhausted.. we are wiped out.. why can't you just SLEEP?!??!?!? Send you back to your room and you scream .. put you in bed with us and there is a 50/50 chance that you might go back to sleep..

Then there is the potty training. The girls were doing great.. no accidents.. then Ada regressed a bit and started pooping in her pants.. and peeing.. then she turned it around and got better again.. no accidents again.. suddenly Margot started doing it.. now they are both doing it.. not so much with the pee.. but the poop (oh so much more fun to clean up than simple urine).. don't seem to even make an effort to go in the potty.. just look at me with a panicked look and say "Oh NO mommy!!!! Poo-poo yucky!!!" You said it friend. Poo-poo EXTREMELY YUCKY. I am losing ground day by day. I was so proud of how well they were doing.. so proud of them.. ready to tell anyone who would listen.. now I have put away the big girl panties.. got tired of throwing them away covered in poo... They are in "princess panties" (Pull-Ups) until they start going poo in the potty again.. they can tell when these are wet so I feel better about that.. at least they don't think they are back in diapers. I was following my potty training e-book to the letter.. even making sure to make them stand up while cleaning up accidents so they wouldn't mentally revert to babyhood while laying down getting cleaned up.. my poor pregnant back can't take the frequency of these episodes now.. I laid Ada right down on the floor this morning and felt like a total failure as I changed her "poo-poo yucky" that she graced me with at the breakfast table. I know regression is a natural part of it.. but how long does it stinkin' last?!!? I am so tired.. so pregnant. so.. having a pity party I know. Just need a break.. some light at the end of the tunnel.. Stephen called me while I was grocery shopping Wednesday to tell me that Ada had gone poo in the potty and I literally cheered while standing in line at Trader Joe's.. then I got home and he said right after she had done so well.. she had a sicky poo right in her panties that spilled everywhere.. sigh. Cling to the good.. cling to the good.. cling to the good for heaven's sake Sarah!!!

And now.. to make sure that someone out there gets a chuckle out my crazy idea to potty train my twins... here is the "funniest" potty incident of this week. I have already started to laugh about it a little myself.

While watching something on the computer so I could get my quiet time in, Ada suddenly stood up and let loose in the chair she was sitting in.. a fountain of pee flowed down the legs of the chair and onto the carpet. I jumped up, grabbing her and racing her to the bathroom, leaving a trail of pee behind us. Cleaned cleaned cleaned.. changed clothes.. rinsed clothes. Back to life. Twenty minutes later I walk past Margot and smelled an unmistakable smell.. yeah.. she was sitting in it pretending it hadn't happened. Carry a crying Margot at arm's length to the bathroom to deal with the incredibly nasty accident she just had.. her lower half is covered in poop... it is falling in drips and drabs on the bathroom floor.. I am feeling thankful that I took my Zofran that morning.. still in the midst of the clean-up process (and starting to get pretty loud about it all to the room [and the twins] at large) I hear Ada yelling from the kitchen "Uh oh Mom!! Pee-pee yucky!!!". Peering around the door with wild eyes I see my daughter standing in the middle of a giant puddle of pee on the linoleum "Don't move!!!" I shout out. She looks down at her feet and starts to splash around in it as though she were outside on a rainy spring day. What to do!? Margot is still dripping poo.. Ada is now looking around for her galoshes .. Swallowing a mouthful of four letter words I screamed at Ada to stand still until I came over to her.. continued cleaning the poop from Margot with a little more urgency. Raced over to Ada and disinfected her and the area of our home she had befouled .. herded their little naked hineys upstairs and into fresh panties and clothing.. chased them into their beds and walked out of their room in a huff.. refusing to even sing a single lullaby. Holy frijoles. If I wasn't pregnant.. if we had vodka in this house.. just sayin'...

Here's to a new day.. and fresh new day that started at the crack of 4:22am.. hey it's better than 4am on the dot right??? .....right..?

Good Practice

Baby Sister

Here she is. This is the least creepy looking picture that they sent home with us on Wednesday. I still think these 3D images are a bit strange looking but at least she is looking human at this stage.

She is absolutely perfect and was so busy moving/swimming around that the tech had a hard time getting the measurements she needed but in the end she cooperated. Her little heart was so beautiful to me. All four chambers beating their tiny rhythm in harmony. I have been feeling her little pokes and jabs for the last few weeks and they are getting stronger. If you are patient, you can feel her exercises on the outside of my belly now.

Funny how almost everyone in the doctors office felt the need to look at Stephen with sympathy. Three girls, poor Daddy. What they don't know is that he was hoping for another girl.. and so was I. We didn't discover this hidden secret until the day before our appointment. We have been referring to the baby as "he" and we would have loved a boy in our home, please don't misunderstand. It's just, as it turned out, we were both trying to talk ourselves into the idea of a boy because that would have been the biggest surprise outcome we could think of. Deep down we are both relieved and almost giddy that we will be raising another sweet little lady. Who would have thought that we would end up loving parenting girls so much? I was so sure I wanted boys and only boys. Stephen is such a great father for girls. Granted.. our girls are not the girliest girls .. yet.. but they are ours. Maybe the newest member of our tribe will be the first to bring the world of princess play into our home.

..and it snowed..

Grammy and Grampapa were particularly excited because this was their very first experience with this much snow. Such a treat.



Nana and Papa even braved the snowy roads to come have lunch and play with everyone.



Daddy made one of his famous igloos.



Grammy made her first snow man.






Then Daddy helped our neighbor make an even bigger igloo.



Yeah, those are socks on her hands.





..good times.

It was Christmas

Mary, Larry and David all joined us for Christmas again this year - which was awesome as usual.



There were lots of hugs and overwhelmed two year olds on Christmas morning.



One of the favorite gifts - lacing beads. Ada and Margot mastered them right away.. they sure have a lot of Shingler blood in their veins.







Another super awesome favorite SURPRISE GIFT came all the way from Seattle. THE most amazing box of art supplies EVER. We can not WAIT to dig into it!!!



Grammy made us the cutest aprons on the planet.





Another mega favorite gift was a giant Strawberry Lip Smackers chapstick.



Ada made sure to moisturize her chin as well with each application.



Yet ANOTHER favorite gift was a stamp set of baby animals.



Anything hands on and creative is a big hit in this house. Or physical.. they got jump ropes too and have been hopping around the house ever since... they hopped as frogs and bunnies before.. now they have a clear purpose.

Christmas was a wonderful day. We enjoyed lots of good food the whole time we were together.. Grammy made her traditional cinnamon rolls and the most perfect sugar cookies (from great grandmother Shingler's family recipe). I wish I could just go on and on about what an amazing time we all had.. I mean I could.. but there was another side to this lovely holiday. It came in the form of the stomach flu. Holy Lord. Why the heck did we have to get the stomach flu at Christmas?! It struck Margot in the middle of the night Thursday.. then Stephen fell on Christmas Eve.. Christmas day was all good.. then Sunday afternoon it took David .. and I fell victim Sunday night while listening to David attempt to dislodge his liver on the other side of the wall.. mine came with a migraine and took me out for two days.. I didn't even get to hug everyone goodbye Tuesday morning. Sigh. SO.. while Christmas had it's magical moments.. even full days (Stephen and I even got to go on a date one day to lunch and a movie... Black Swan in case you are interested).. it was also filled with a lot of.. well.. sick.. lots of sick and lots of cleaning. Mary is my hero. She cleaned and cleaned and cleaned bathrooms, sinks... did laundry.. did everything really.. she and Stephen and Larry.. and I am sure David helped too.. and so did I for that matter when I was able.. sheesh. I sort of hate to admit it but I am really glad to see Christmas go this year. Ready to put it all behind us and start fresh with the New Year. The biggest thing I am thankful for is that we have the sort of family that can stay in the same (tiny) house for over a week and listen to each other get sick and clean up after each other and keep our sense of humor and still be looking forward to the next visit. Pretty stinkin' amazing.

A whole new world

Before I get into how potty training went today, here is a glimpse of genes in action. My genes to be exact. Margot has inherited several of my little quirks, most having to do with being a little on the OCD side. This more recent development is a little more unique.. but originated with me all the same. We have to literally force her to bite down and eat anything that is sweet (this includes her daily Flintstones vitamin). She wants to save it and make it last. When I was a kid, I would hold candy in my mouth until it melted to nothing (gross, yes.. I no longer do this). Margot prefers to "leek it".

So today was day two of potty training the girls and man, what a difference a day makes. We were going to wake them up an hour early to go potty (as my books suggests for kids who aren't staying dry though the night when they start potty training) but we were a couple of minutes late and we missed Ada. She was at the door tearfully asking to go potty. Margot was still sleeping but when we woke her up she had wet the bed, presumably in her sleep. They both sat on the potty right away and went pee. We loaded them up with liquids again this morning and had one.. yes ONE accident all day! Both of the girls have also gone poo in the potty (for your records Ada went last night before bed and Margot went this morning). We are so proud of them we could burst. Tonight, Ada even interrupted our story reading to let us know she needed to go potty. We have made a small alteration in our game plan though. Since we spent so much time fighting the girls to go down for nap and bedtime yesterday, today we broke out the Pull-Ups for nap. We did the same thing we did yesterday (cut them off from their barrage of liquids at 11am and had them go potty twice before putting them down at nap time) but this time when we closed the door, for some reason I felt a little better about being stern and limiting how many times they trot to the potty to pretend to go. I went back and checked on them 15 minutes later and they were fast asleep.. and they were completely dry when they woke up and went pee straight away again. We are doing this again tonight and plan to use these as insurance for at least the next few days until they quit fighting us on going down. Once again, doing everything we would still do with panties to make sure they keep them dry (Stephen just ran upstairs after hearing someone up asking to go). I will wake them up about an hour after they fall asleep to take them to the potty too. I taught them both to open their bedroom door but they don't have much interest in getting out of their room on their own yet. We will keep working on that. Right now we are focused on the potty stuff and learning to pull our undies up on our own. There is so much parent training involved in potty training when you really get down to it. It is a whole new level of awareness. Planning to just give them their normal liquids tomorrow and put on Pull-Ups for church. It has been a trying two days but not nearly as trying as it could have been and we are learning to adjust to this new stage of development. Every stage comes with its share of challenges and rewards right? They are pretty dang cute running around cheering about going potty. Don't worry all you friends out there, I will put a Pull-Up on them if we come over to play :)

The end of an era

We started potty training boot camp today. As I lay in bed this morning, my thoughts drifted fondly to those little diaper bottoms and how much I would miss them. The way that diaper comes up so far on their back.. the way those diapers waggle when they are running away from me down the hall to hide in their room. Diapers are pretty dang cute.. even on two year olds.

But this is now. Now I am sitting here after a day of running dripping babies to the potty and I am F*&^ing exhausted. Funny thing is I gave Stephen this huge lecture last night about how he needed to be more patient because tomorrow (today) was going to be so tough and I was worried he might lose his temper. Ha. I am pretty sure that I almost punched Margot after she headed butted me in the chin tonight. Holy God in Heaven. What the cuss man?!

I have been talking up this whole experience for the last week. Getting the girls all excited about "not wearing diapers anymore!". They have been telling anyone who would listen that when Daddy comes home from school there will be "no diapers anymore!". They have been into going potty so I have indulged them and helped them out of their diapers whenever they said they needed to go.. and then put it all back on after they did/or didn't have some success. I got all the liquids I could think of that they would want to drink in large quantities. I read my little potty training e-book cover to cover several times. I have somewhere between 50-60 pairs of the cutest little panties you have ever seen. And of course.. M&Ms. Lots and lots of M&Ms. We were well prepared when we woke up this morning, ready to fight the good fight.

For the most part it has gone so much better than I ever expected. We got them up and put them in their big girls panties and t-shirts, turned up the heat in the house and girded our loins for the day ahead. They had about 7 accidents between them before lunch time and at least 10 successful pees on the potty. Pretty dang good I think! There were several giant waterfalls of Gatorade and apple juice pee and Stephen and I dutifully scooped up the offending party and raced them to the toilet in the hopes that they could finish there. Then we either cleaned up the pee trail that they left in our wake.. or doled out massive praise and an M&M when they were able to stem the tide long enough to get to the potty to finish. All in all we were really, really proud of them. And then we headed upstairs for nap time. AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER.....we finally closed the door on two exhausted girls who seemed too tired to fight anymore and were settled into their beds. I say "fight" because this was the time that our resident little manipulator (aka Margot Dagny) reared her little attitude. She didn't want to lay down for nap.. and what better way to stay up than to keep telling us that she had to go potty. Here is where the competitive nature of twins makes things infinitely more difficult as Ada screams that she has to go too. Both girls run happily to the potty.. where they may or may not actually go. If they went they were happy to jump down and run back to bed.. if they didn't go... they kept insisting (MARGOT) that they had to go and would scream and fight like the dickens if one of us tried to remove said child and take them back to bed. If we were successful in getting them back to bed.. it was only to renewed screaming about how badly they had to go potty. Back to the potty.. where nothing happened.. you can see where this is going. Who want to ignore a newly training toddler when they say they have go potty?! Better yet, who wants to clean up the mess if they happen to be right??

Ok. I know we could just put them in diapers or pull-ups at naps and at night time but given how well they have done during the day, it seems stupid and lazy to just put them in something disposable with the basic understanding that it will be ok if they have an accident. As it was, despite all the craziness.. they did NOT have any accident during nap time. True, they might have slept only 20 minutes.. but still.. mission accomplished. Since we just finished going through another 1 and 20 minute bedtime struggle.. my resolve is slipping slightly. It would be so much easier to just put them in the stinkin' pull ups that are sitting in their closet and shut the door and let whatever happens in there.. happen.

And then, just as I was writing this, our little wolf calling girl called out for me. I went upstairs and she tearful announced that she needed to go potty (really?!). I sceptically herded her down the hall to the potty.. and sure enough she went pee straight away. Then she fought me to stay on the potty to keep trying.. and I let her try for a few more moments and then finally talked her into heading back into the bedroom for night night. See? She knew she had to go and she called for help and then went. Would she have done that if she had a diaper on? Or would she have just gone in the diaper. It seems worth the craziness if the outcome is for the girls to be fully day/night potty trained by the end of it all. Who knows if that will happen. From where my tired body sits I still feel pretty hopeful. Ask me again same time tomorrow.

Dear Aunt Tracy...

...we went on an owl hunt this morning and guess what we found ?! Two baby owls living in our Christmas tree!!! Mommy and daddy brought us a special book this morning called "Owl Moon" and after Daddy read it too us.. we started hunting for owls... we thought they might be in the Christmas tree. Daddy said we might be right and then he went upstairs for a second and when he came back.. WE FOUND THEM!!! Ada's owl was in the very top of the tree and Margot's was hiding on the side near the window!! We called and called ("Hey Oooooowwwll! Hooo hooooooooooo???") and they just sort of appeared out of nowhere!!! Ada named hers "Owl Baby" and Margot is calling her owl "Baby Owl".



Margot tucked Baby Owl under her arm right away and started reading Owl Moon to him.







Ada made sure to show Owl Baby how we only touch the ornaments on the tree with "One finger!"... or in his case.. "One wing".

Mommy says she knows it would have been fun to find the owls while they were hiding under the kitchen sink.. maybe even on Christmas morning.. but if you had seen how excited we were about going on an owl hunt..and you were a beautiful soft snuggly baby owl.. you would have come out of hiding too.