Nap Update and Puddle Jumpers

First, the nap update:

Emery- An hour and 45 minutes
Gavin- 2 hours and 15 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I put them down at noon today (Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!) and we also spent some time outside this morning to burn off some steam. The combination seemed to do the trick. Let's just hope this keeps up!

After their nap, we took a trip to Sonic for a limeade and stopped at a local park on the way home. The park has several baseball fields, tennis courts, a sand volleyball court, a playground, and lots of sidewalks connecting everything together. There are also a couple of bridges that are fun for the kids to run around on. This is perfect since the grass is still wet and very muddy from last night's storm.

I just kept thinking how crazy it is that I can now just unload Gavin and Emery from the car and let them walk with me! Of course, they've been physically able to walk for a long time, but now things are different. They understand when I say "Stay on the sidewalk, the grass is muddy" and for the most part they follow directions! They aren't eating sand and mulch and constantly taking off in two different directions. There are times that they don't want to stay together, but with a little persuasion, I can usually keep everyone in the same vicinity.




We did have a couple of "snags"......Gavin was doing a nice job at staying on the sidewalk, but at one point he was standing on the VERY EDGE of the grass on a mound of dirt. It took me a second to realize that the mound of dirt was a huge ant pile! His shoes were covered in ants! Luckily, I was able to brush them off and we continued on to........THE PUDDLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!


They were having so much fun splashing in the puddles, that I just let them go crazy. They were filthy and soaked, but they loved it. I was having a hard time getting them back to the car, so I finally had to bribe them......."When we get home, we can watch part of the Cars movie". That did the trick! We started the walk back to the car, when Emery tripped and fell into the grass. I didn't think much of it until she said "uh-oh" and was holding her arms out. Again......covered in ants! I went crazy brushing ants off of her arms. She was still bitten about 10 times. I felt terrible for her, but it didn't seem to phase her. Stupid ants. That's one thing I DID NOT miss about Texas!

Hostile Work Environment

My bosses aren't treating me fairly. They refuse to sleep (nap). They're cranky, whiny, and downright hostile.

As you may know, we've been trying (with no success) to transition to one nap for many, many months. I'll try for 3 or 4 days, then give up and wait another month before trying again. Finally, I decided that they'll let me know when they're ready for one nap (ie: They'll stop sleeping well at both naps.). Well, last week the time came. Emery (and sometimes Gavin) refused to take an afternoon nap. So, I knew it was time to phase out the morning nap.

Now it's just a disaster.

They used to sleep about an hour during each nap, so about 2 hours a day, sometimes even a little longer. Now, they are sleeping about an hour total......And this is definitely NOT enough sleep! Gavin is cutting a molar, so this might (hopefully) be playing a part in it.

Any suggestions from those of you who have been through this before? They were taking a morning nap from 10-11 and afternoon nap from 2-3. Now it's 12:30 to 1:30.....and of course we are attempting this when it is raining every day and the swine flu is surrounding us! So, I'm running out of ideas to wear them out in the mornings!

Actually, they've been in great moods lately, but I can see this going quickly downhill the less sleep they get. Today was a prime example of just how quickly things can change!

SIDE NOTE: Don't make fun of me for being scared of the swine flu. They are shutting down school districts right and left around here!

Catchin' Some Air

Gavin's Occupational Therapist wants us to work on Gavin's jumping skills. She suggested that we let him jump off of a phone book. Gavin wasn't too interested, but Emery has had a lot of fun.

I will admit that the camera angle makes it looks like she's getting a little more "air" than she actually was.

Although he didn't jump, Gavin did spend some time reading the phone book.....and tearing out the pages.

Tonight, Emery "upped her game" and started jumping off of the package of foam floor tiles. She jumped, and jumped, and jumped, and jumped........

Pete and I were laughing hysterically at the Michael Jordan tongue. Check her out in action.......

I included this picture so that you can see how much higher the floor tiles are than the phone book. She is fearless!

And of course, if it can be used for jumping, it can also be used for a racetrack!

It's suppose to rain all week, so we'll be stuck inside. Maybe tomorrow I'll get Gavin to lay on the floor and she can jump over him. That should keep things interesting. Just kidding.......I'm sure that day will come!

Wake Up! Wake Up!

This is one of those videos that will probably only be watched all the way through by grandparents and other family members......it's a little long.

On Friday, we went to a 3:00pm playdate at a friend's house. When I got Emery up from her nap, Gavin was still sleeping. Emery was REALLY upset when I loaded the diaper bag in the car before Gavin was awake. I guess she thought we were going to leave without him! So......I let her wake him up..........


Untitled from Shelley on Vimeo.

Knee Socks are In, Right?

Yesterday I set a basket of laundry down in the living room to be folded. I walked into the kitchen and a few minutes later, Emery came around the corner in her new outfit.........

Pete's sock and an undershirt. She wore this ensemble for HOURS. It's never boring around here with Emery to entertain us!

Beauty School Dropout

Our weekend was full of "firsts". The 1st "first" was our movie going experience on Saturday. The 2nd "first" was that we went to church as a family on Sunday. It was the first time Gavin and Emery have ever been dropped off at a church nursery, or anywhere for that matter. Yes, at this rate they'll be going to kindergarten when they're eight. :-) With Gavin's puking, it has kept us from attending playdates at people's houses, church nursery's, and other places that aren't puke-friendly. By the time the puking came to an end at about 14 months old, we were starting the (long) transition to Texas. So......now.....finally......we have found a church that we like and Gavin and Emery seemed to really like the nursery. We go to the early, traditional service and are among the younger people in the congregation. So, Gavin and Emery had the place to themselves. By the time we picked them up, it was flooded with kids there for the second, more contemporary service. When I was little, you just handed your kid over the half door and hoped they would be ok. Now, it is a huge process with top security. Even so, it was weird that the first time we left the kids (other than with family), it was with someone who we hardly spoke to before darting off to the church service. By the way, I honestly think Gavin and Emery were glad to have a break from us. :-) I'm happy that we found a church and that Pete will be able to go with me instead of keeping the kids every Sunday.

Ok.....onto the 3rd "first". We (Pete and I as a team) gave Gavin his first successful haircut. This isn't the first home haircut he's gotten (read here for the original attempt), but it was the first that was completed and actually looks pretty good! He doesn't like the clippers, so it was all done with scissors, but I think it looks as good as the last 2 haircuts that we've paid $15-$20 for. Best of all, we were able to take our time while he watched Cars (what else), and it really didn't seem to bother him.



His bangs have a bad cowlick. So they look a little crazy, but that's not completely my fault......other than the genes. My brother has the same cowlick.

I even cut Emery's bangs while I was at it. She wouldn't stop jumping long enough for me to take a picture. They look a lot straighter in person than in the picture.

After Gavin and Emery's haircuts, Pete had the wild idea that I could cut HIS hair! So, after the kids were in bed, we set up shop again and I trimmed him up. His hair was much more difficult than Gavin's. I did ok, but I definitely need practice. He didn't let me cut it too short, just in case he had to go get it "fixed". Wouldn't it have been great blog material if I had butchered his hair on "accident"? Don't think I didn't consider it. Only joking.

The worst part is that now I can't get the song Beauty School Dropout (from Grease) out of my head!

We Love Lightning McQueen

If you have spent any time at our house, you know that the kids are OBSESSED with the movie Cars. So, I was excited to find out that there was a Disney matinee at a nearby theater featuring Cars! This was a great opportunity for their first movie since they would know what to expect and hopefully not be scared by the louder than normal volume.

We got there right on time, ordered popcorn, picked up a couple of booster seats, and headed into the theater. I didn't realize that theaters had booster seats. That was awesome!


For the first 45 minutes or so, they were completely zoned in to the movie. There was even a short film with a few of the Cars' characters that came on before the main feature. They got a little fidgety along the way, so they stood out in the aisle for a while (the theater wasn't very crowded), but we stayed for the WHOLE thing.......even the credits! Emery of course, loved the popcorn!

It was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday morning! I'll conclude with a riveting movie of my family watching a movie. Can't get much more exciting than this! :-)

Bedtime Gymnasts

I recorded this on the video monitor after Gavin and Emery went to bed last night. It continued for about 40 minutes. It's kind of hard to see and I didn't have the volume turned up at first, but you'll get the idea.......



Jumping in Bed from Shelley on Vimeo.


There were some other tricks that I didn't catch on film. It's amazing that Emery hasn't climbed out of her crib yet. I should go knock on wood now.......

Did you miss me?

We've had a fun week with Grandma Penny and we're now back to regularly scheduled programming. I'll gradually get back up to speed. For now, I'll start with some pictures of Easter baskets, the Easter egg hunt (moved indoors due to inclement weather), and Easter dinner with lots of family.

Hope everyone had a good Easter. I know, I'm a little late! :-)

Low-rise?

Why they heck do they make low-rise pants for toddlers?????? They should at least make low-rise diapers so that they don't stick out of the back. So tacky. :-)

Just a random thought I had when getting Emery dressed this morning. I'll at least leave you with a couple of pictures from the morning.........

Visitors

I was going to post about a very special visitor who will be arriving tomorrow.......but before I do that I must introduce you to a not-so-special visitor that I met in our kitchen today.......

Don't see anything? Look again.......

I freaked out! I had grass snakes for pets when I was growing up, I had mice for pets in college (I know....weird), but I CAN'T handle spiders or scorpions.

His visit was short-lived and ended abruptly with the bottom of my shoe.

Ok.....onto the real visitor. Pete's mom, Grandma Penny will be flying in tomorrow. We are so excited because we haven't see her since last summer, over 9 months ago!

Here she is with Emery last July......


So, I might be missing for a few days. We'll be out having fun instead of writing about it.

Penny, we hope you enjoy your visit. We can't wait to see you! You just might want to check your sheets before crawling into bed. :-)

Maybe I could be a surgical nurse

I've decided that I'd make a good surgical nurse. You know......the ones that count all of the surgical equipment to make sure nothing was left inside the patient? I'm constantly counting to make sure I'm not missing something.....

Do I know where both kids are?

How many sippy cups have I handed out and how many have made it to the dishwasher? Finding a cup of milk a week later is NOT fun.

Do I know where both kids are?

Are all of the crayons back in the box? A stray crayon could be bad news.

Do I know where both kids are?

Wait......one of the kid's forks is missing from the table. Where is it?

Do I know where both kids are?

Does Gavin still have a car in each hand? If he loses one, the search could go on forever.

Do I know where both kids are?

Uh-oh. I just changed 2 dirty diapers, but one is missing. Who took it and what did they do with it?

This is all getting more interesting as Gavin and Emery "hide" stuff in interesting places. Before I could find one of the missing sippy cups, I realized (when I backed over it), they they had left it behind the back wheel of my car. I guess in that situation, I would have left the sponge inside the patient. Hmmmm, maybe I should rethink this. :-)

**Side note: I realize that I only have 2 toddlers. I CAN'T IMAGINE what the counting must be like for people with 3 or 4 toddlers!

Edited to Add: About 2 hours after I posted this, Emery found ANOTHER lost sippy cup in the "trunk" of her beloved red push car. This one was over the top disgusting! It actually had something growing on the outside of it. Yuck! It went straight into the trash and Emery's hands were disinfected pronto! I would be a terrible surgical nurse!

Easter Egg Hunts 1 and 2

On Saturday, Gavin and Emery participated in their very first Easter egg hunt. This was our first activity with a new mom's group that I recently joined. Everyone was very nice and we all had a great time. Gavin was was VERY social.....He made the rounds to all of the adults, sitting in their laps and giving them hugs. When it was time for the Easter egg hunt, he was more interested in driving his matchbox cars. Eggs don't have wheels, so I guess he's not interested. :-)


He finally did pick up a few eggs.........so that he could throw them!


Emery, on the other hand got the hang of it quickly and gathered quite a few eggs. She was on a mission!

She kept taking Gavin his basket so that he could find some eggs! Look at how many eggs she has compared to Gavin.

The next day, we had round 2 of the Easter egg hunts. This one was with my Twin's Club. We got there just as the hunt was starting, so we didn't find many eggs and it was a MUCH more competitive group than the day before. Twins are vultures! :-) Plus, it was SOOOOO windy.......It was almost pulling the baskets out of their hands.

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to see the chaos.

The highlight of Gavin's Day was seeing the Easter Bunny. I fully expected the kids to be scared of him/her (it?), so I wasn't going to push it on them. Continuing his social streak from the night before, Gavin LOVED the Easter Bunny! He was obsessed with her and didn't want to get out of her lap. I couldn't believe it!

A rare family picture......

After seeing the Easter Bunny, we played on the massive playground.......

And watched the other kids take a ride on the "trackless train". We decided against letting Gavin and Emery ride the train this year. The only adult allowed on the train was the Easter Bunny....... although, it would have been funny to watch the Easter Bunny running across a field chasing our kids.

A lot of twins......

Swinging while doing her "fake yawn"......

This is only about 1/2 of the playground. Like I said.....it's HUGE! We'll be going back to this park when it's not quite so windy. This is right in the center of a bunch of subdivisions. Could you imagine this being your neighborhood park when you were a kid? Holy cow!

When Twins Collide

When Twins Collide from Shelley on Vimeo.

Every time Gavin falls, he kisses the ground or whatever he falls on. He just started doing this and it makes me laugh everytime. Watch closely and you'll see (and hear) him kiss the concrete.

New Train Set!

I bought a "starter" train set at IKEA a few weeks ago and decided to pull it out of the box today. Emery was not at all amused, but Gavin was lovin' it!

Trying out the new track.....

Deep concentration....
Mom finally figured out how to put the figure 8 track together.

Obviously not happy with my work.