Bluebonnets

About a month ago I went to my church's annual women's retreat (it was awesome, fulfilling, mind-blowing, etc, etc) at a cute little place in the country. The bluebonnets were in full bloom and basically covering the entire area, so I called up my husband and asked him to come pick me up. I'm not sure exactly what I said to him, but the idea was that he could bring me my kids and my camera so we could put the bluebonnets to full use. It's a TX tradition to take pictures in the bluebonnets and last year we missed it, so I couldn't let the opportunity pass us by!!

Unfortunately, my husband didn't grasp that the whole reason he was supposed to come was so I could take pictures. I'm not sure what he thought was the reason for me needing him to drive 2 hours to pick me up when I already had a ride home....I thought the fact that I reminded him about 80 times to bring the camera made the point of the trip pretty obvious. Anyway, he arrived with the kids, two of whom were dressed in cute, spring time clothes that, while they might not have been what I would have selected, were passable for 'photo clothes'. The third daughter...well....here are some of the pictures....see what you think!

Turns out the outfits didn't wind up mattering much...since daughters A. and J. weren't interested in having their pictures taken and B. was obsessing about the bees/bugs :) But did you see Baby Jo's little pony tail?? Daddy did that - I was very surprised!

There were lots of awesome flowers - here are the only other ones in front of which the girls would cooperate and smile:

If you noticed that 'Supergirl' seems to have something on her cheek that is enhancing the tomboy look....well that's what happens when little girls dive into protruding corners. Here's a picture of the cheek taken about 5 days after the crash:

Stealthy Paybacks

Last night while we were unpacking and arranging our closet, we noticed Baby Jo coming in and out. She was walking with purpose. She was coming in with shoes and leaving without them. One by one she was stashing her sister's shoes behind my French horn in the back of the closet :) That'll teach 'em!!!!!

We had quite the barrage of rain and storms last night. I guess there is flooding all over (not around us, luckily) which doesn't surprise me because I honestly don't remember it ever raining so hard for so long. The girls woke up and came into my bed around 3:30am because of the thunder. They were so scared they were shaking and A. kept waking herself up because her fingers fell out of her ears. At one point when I thought they were both starting to doze off, I hear a little voice saying, "The trees must be really thirsty." :)

Ouch!

Today I was sitting on the couch with my hand up on the arm rest. A. was hovering by my side and came down to kiss my hand at the same moment I decided to beep her nose. I wound up jabbing my fingernail into the side of her nose. Amid the tears she informed me that, "no one has ever hurted me there before." I'm sure there is some life lesson to be learned in such an occurance...

And, we bought a house! Woohoo!! I'm mostly unpacked and ready to hang pictures.

We also just watched video of a tornado going right through a farm by my mom's house. We would have been living on that farm if my husband had accepted a job offer he received a year ago. Sort of a weird connection. (PS the farm house only had minor damage and the residents were ok - just 'pretty shook up' - I can only imagine!)

Baby Jo has moved into the ball obsession phase where she loves balls and calls everything 'ba'. I don't remember if the girls had this obsession - I always thought it was a boy thing. Her eyes totally lit up when we walked by the big bin of big balls at Wal-Mart :)

Car Conversation.

A.: "Mom are we going home now?"
Me.: "Yes."
A.: "Mom are we going home now?"
Me, slightly louder: "Yes."
A.:"Mom, talk louder, I can't hear you. Are we going home now?"
Me, very loudly with hint of frustration: "YES"
A.: "Shhhhh Mom, Jo is sleeping."

*sigh*

Now I'm off to send grumpy emails to Wal-Mart because they seem to have stopped carrying our brand of diapers. I tried the Parent's Choice and I've had to change Jo's clothes every single time she poops, which she does at least 5 times a day lately. Even when she just has a 'wet toot' it seems to somehow make it out of the diaper. GRRR. So, now we have LUVs...which usually work fine, but I think they smell funny. I would shop somewhere else, but I've never seen the White Cloud diapers at any other store. And I just couldn't bring myself to spend an extra 4 dollars for the name brand.

The Movie Battle

Every so often (but much less often than I would expect) we reach an impasse at movie time. The girls each decide that they must watch a certain movie and will not budge. After they have both determined that the other is not planning on agreeing to their movie choice, the girls usually follow this process:

1)Much crying and lamenting to Mama about how much they want to watch particular movie.

-Mama's response: if you can't agree on a movie, we won't watch one, if you need to cry about movies, you may go do so in your room.

2)Each girl presents the case for her movie to the other: 'but you like this movie' is the general statement repeated over and over and over and over. (sometimes this is the last step because one sister caves -usually B.) if not...

3)More tears and repeats to Mama about how sister WILL NOT watch desired movie

-Mama's response: 'since you can't agree one of those two movies, maybe you should find a new movie that you both would like'

4)Repeated assurances to Mama that ONLY the movie already selected is acceptable

5)Total depression. The girls lie around sobbing about why they need to watch their movie. Today I heard A. say that she had to watch her movie because the 'guy is purple and purple is my favorite color'

6)Peace offering. One daughter decides to go find a new movie option. (If I'm lucky, this step is successful and the drama ends here)

7)Refusal and realization of power - the other sister refuses the movie option and peace offering thereby crushing her sister's spirit and sending her back into a fit of tears. Mama gets very grumpy when there is a satisfied smirk on the face of the 'meanie' sister.

-Mama's response (to girl who has refused peace offering): if you are going to say no to her selection then you have to go help her find a movie that you both like, if you don't, I will let her select a movie.

8)Usually there is a lull in the drama here while one daughter nurses her wounds and the other considers her options.

9)A movie is chosen and agreed upon.

I did not see how this was accomplished - I try to avoid watching too much of this process because it makes me have horrible flashbacks to movie picking time between me and my sister ;)

Thanks goodness this only happens rarely. Most days the girls have already planned well in advance what movie they will pick. Or if they haven't, I can make a suggestion and they'll go along with it.

And where is Baby Jo during this long drawn out battle?? Following Mama around crying because, in her mind, 4:30-6:00 PM is happy hour at the milk bar and nothing besides undisputed, easy access is acceptable. I've tried snacks of different sorts, more nap, less nap, cuddle time, reading time, etc. Sometimes outside time keeps her distracted...but it's raining today...

I keep giving her a pacifier and hoping she'll decide to comfort herself with it.

Here they are sitting in time-out. Different day, same general idea :)

A's Quote

"I'm breaking out in polka dots!" she says to me while I look for new freckles and moles.

Every once in awhile I examine the girls for new spots. I just like to know where they are. I feel like I know every inch of their little bodies and need to keep updated on the new spots! I remember the girls each got their first mole around 9 months or so. A's is on her leg; B's is on her arm. They only had one each for a long time. The most recent inspection was brought about because I noticed they each had new freckles on their faces. I keep wondering if they will have a full face of freckles like their Daddy. When do nose freckles show up? I don't remember ever seeing a freckled baby....

None of my girls have birth marks like my sister and I do. Although, recently, I found a very light mark on A's arm that looks like a birth mark...except it wasn't there when she was born. It may have always been there, I guess it finally got enough sun to be visible. Well, this is all sort of ramble-y, but I really cracked up at A's concern about her polka dots so I thought I'd record it.

OH and B has her first wart! I was a bit alarmed by this one...does anyone know for sure why warts appear? It's on the side of her foot! She's not concerned though - she's the type of girl who thinks it's funny when her feet are stinky so she's more proud of her wart than anything!

And in Baby Jo news: she discovered how to twirl tonight (while dancing) and so she spent the evening spinning, falling down, and saying 'uh oh.'

Quote of the Week

B.: "A.!!! Mama is making cookies for H. and C.'s Mom cause she just laid a baby!"

and

B: "Mom did H.'s mom lay two babies? "

We must have been talking about chickens and eggs recently....

...or maybe they just have birds on the brain. We've been babysitting my little half-siblings' birds and cat.

At first there was a lot fear from all three girls. Now they beg to get the birds out - and B. has come very close to getting one on her finger (she always chickens out at the last minute). A. has stopped hiding behind the furniture or in her room and will get within about 3 feet of the loose birds. But both girls tend to shriek whenever the birds flap and attempt to fly. Baby Jo loves the birds but tends to tense when they flap (probably more because of her sisters shrieking than fear of the birds...). Jo has even tried to pet the birds a few times and didn't seem to mind when one of them nipped her. Jer and I have fun seeing who can stand the pain of the blue bird's bites. At first it just bit because it didn't want to be messed with - but now it will be sitting happily and decide to gnaw on outstretch fingers or any other skin it can find. We were a little grossed out one night when it looked like one bird was regurgitating and feeding the other....guess I should study up on the habits of pet birds. I'm not even sure what they are parakeets? cockatoos? cockatiels?? I think they are parakeets....

There are no pictures of A. with the birds because, as I mentioned before, she tends to hide when we get them out. There are no pictures of me, ever, because I'm always taking the pictures!

He's pretending to be ready to eat them....I'm secretly wishing they would bite his tongue :)
PS There are no pictures of the cat...the girls love the cat...they chase it around until it begs to be put back in the garage. I have decided that we will not be adding a cat to our family until the girls are old enough to clean a litter box :)

Catching up/New Camera!!/Rodeo!

"My name is A. because I have to go potty."- said very quickly by A. as she gets on the potty.

I got a new camera from my sis! Yay! So, more pictures! While I was waiting for a camera, I missed posting about several things...and now I can't remember them :(

The only thing I remember that I wanted to document was Baby J's transformation from crawling baby to toddler with twins within a matter of days. She was taking two steps, falling, taking two steps, falling one day and then the next she was roaming the house carrying not one but two baby dolls. I got the camera after she stopped carrying both babies - but she still has an affinity toward the dolls (there are four of them - they came as two sets of twins - one set for each of my twins) and at times she latches onto one and refuses to let go for most of the day. So here's a pic of her with her baby watching the girls play outside.

Oh, and we went to the rodeo last week - yeehaw! It was fun. A lady from our church (who is also my husband's boss's mom) saw us walk in brought the girls stick horses so they could be in the stick horse race. A. was a bit unsure and wanted to make sure I stayed with her. B. asked me if the bull would be in the arena with them. I assured her that the cowboys would remove all the bulls before they let the kids come in!!! Here are some pics from the rodeo:

And, to keep things even, here's one final pic of B.- being B.