The McCay Twins

Noah is making his presence known- a belly video

2012-01-16T16:52:00.001-08:00

Ignoring my ugly belly and hideous but extremely comfy pajama pants, I wanted to post this because one day I will forget what this looks like. I haven't taken any belly pics, thought I would take a video!Almost 24 weeks ...

YouTube Video

Leah begins reading

2012-01-16T16:36:00.001-08:00

The other 2 girls quickly lost interest in the reading lesson, but Leah was focused. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3MiAlHrCQQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Following the rules

2012-01-16T16:32:00.001-08:00

Conversation between leah and Matt
L: daddy? why did Phiaro (from Wicked) not follow the rules?
Matt: I guess because he was a rebel and did not follow the rules; but u don't do that right? U follow the rules
L: wellllll..... sometimes I don't, sometimes I get cereal out of the cabinet by dragging a stool over and then you come in the kitchen and get all serious at me.
Matt: you do?
L: yup sometimes you don't know, like today while you were working
Hannah: ya her did
Matt: (palm slaps forehead )

Animal crackers in my soup- spiritual version

2012-01-06T20:27:00.001-08:00

I made the girls repeat themselves for the camera because I liked the idea of Jesus swimming with monkeys in the soup :)

YouTube Video

Even Leah had Jesus in her version of the Shirley temple song

YouTube Video

"we will not fear"

2011-12-31T18:14:00.001-08:00

Another performance by Leah. This is her favorite song from our church's CD "Glory to Glory".

It's very moving. Don't you feel it??

YouTube Video

Leah sings Popular

2011-12-27T20:08:00.001-08:00

We gave the girls a little karaoke machine for Christmas and it has already gotten some serious use. Here is Leah singing another "Wicked" favorite, "Popular". At some point I'll get the whole set list from her.

YouTube Video

yet another pregnancy update- 21 weeks

2011-12-27T08:46:00.000-08:00

After 20 weeks (I am now 21) I feel pretty good. This pregnancy has been a little rougher than the twins were for some reason, with migraines, and morning sickness that seemed to continue forever, and 3 stomach viruses in a month. But I am finally getting some energy and I am guessing I will start to gain weight soon since I was still in the negative a week ago.

This one has been so different in that I can feel him so much more at this point than I could with the girls. I also have much stronger Braxton Hicks than I did this early, but I suppose it is because I know what it feels like. He was measuring big when I went in a few weeks ago but everything looked good.

We have yet to start the first thing with baby preparation. I am hesitant to get rid of the playroom and having 5 kids keeps us a bit busy. I figure we have time.

So I am looking forward to having a few good weeks!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

I wish I had more pictures, but with my camera acting a little off I did not get too many.

I did take the girls to get their pictures made with Santa when he came to our neighborhood clubhouse. Hannah really did not want to see Santa. Leah, who had already sat on Santas lap at a festival we went to told this Santa that she didnt have to tell him what she wanted because she told the "other Santa" already. Oy.

Pictures or not, this was a Christmas to remember. We had the pleasure of giving a Christmas and most importantly teaching the true meaning of Christmas to our 3 foster children. We also really tried to instill some of this wisdom into the girls who now have a much better understanding of Jesus and God (though their questions of the Trinity tend to baffle us at times).

We spent a lot of time with family and the kids did get to see their mom on the 23rd and Christmas Eve so that was special. Providing Christmas gifts, and making sure all is even and everyone is happy with 5 kids is no easy task however. It has always been so easy, especially with having twins. Its always very even if not identical when it comes to buying and gift giving. I had some help from my wonderful coworkers from years ago at UAB who helped a lot with some of their gifts. We did the main ones.

This is a video of Santa's haul after he stopped by our house. It was the only way he could think of to organize things!

All the kids exclaimed it was their best Christmas ever. Good. Im exhausted :)

And the girls got their ever anticipated "Wicked" tickets, which we will all go see in February. Hannah loves her Elpheba doll. It was an interesting image of her carrying the green witch doll into church with her Christmas morning.

Best Christmas Present ever goes to Matt's parents who surprised us all with a change of plans to our upcoming Disney trip in October. We are now doing Disney World for a week and the Disney Cruise for a week! Pumped!

Mid year performance

2011-12-27T07:55:00.001-08:00

Mid year performance a video by tigermatt on Flickr.

They are just too cute

Leahs "Walk"

Hannah's "Walk"

They are loving dance class. It is by far the highlight of their week

We are having a...

2011-12-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

BOY!

We found out December 5th. I knew it all along :) Matt was so giddy when we found out that I had to laugh at him. I on the other hand am a bit nervous, but excited to start this new adventure.

We were still debating on names, but Leah decided on a favorite and started telling everyone, so he will officially be Noah James.

Ill get Matt to add the video on here asap

Defying Gravity

2011-11-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

We saw "Wicked" a few weeks ago, and I came home and song by song showed the girls the play on YouTube. They quickly became hooked and are now begging to go see it. But we have been listening to the CD. Leah particularly likes "Defying Gravity"

Pregnancy update

2011-11-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

The girls were so well documented because that was when my wonderful husband was blogging. I feel like this little one is getting jipped a bit.

But I am a little over 13 weeks and so far all is well with the pregnancy. I am having a hard time getting over this whole no ultrasound every visit (since I kind of liked that when we had the twins) but we did hear the heart beat yesterday and it was 157. I have had a lot of people try to predict boy or girl based on that. This is right where the girls were, but I know a lot of people who had boys with high heart rates. So we will see. We will actually find out on December 5th, which feels like Christmas is coming early!

I am still having sickness, which is frustrating. I gave myself a timeline and am passed it now, so I think I am more annoyed that I am at 13 weeks and still getting sick. I have lost almost 10 lbs, but I had a little more to start with this go around so no worries.

Matt has been AMAZING. I cannot explain how awesome my husband is, but God definitely gave me a wonderful partner. With 5 kids in the house (our 2 and 3 foster children) life is hectic, but he has held down the fort. He has helped clean, cook, and takes the kids to school every morning. Amazing.

The girls have really been sweet too. They love their little brother/sister so much already. They will randomy come up to me, lift up my shirt and kiss my belly.

Hannah, when I am changing or something will say "OH MOMMY!! You are getting Fatter!!!" Have to laugh at that one. Hannah is also my personal caretaker. When I am hanging over the toilet sick, she is ALWAYS in there to hold my hair back or pat my back. And really, when I am feeling very awful they will lay down with me and cause no trouble. So I am very thankful for my family.

AND I HOPE THIS SICKNESS PASSES SOON!

I THINK i felt the baby move last week. I know it is extremely early, but I have felt that feeling before and it is unmistakable. The tiny little flutters. I was sitting down and my jeans are getting a bit snug and I felt it for a while. I am looking forward to really feeling him/her, and being able to let the girls feel those kicks.

Thats all for now. More on december 5th!

Pregnancy can be scary

2011-11-04T17:13:00.001-07:00

To a 4 year old.

This was a conversation between Hannah and my sister (Lala).

Lala: Are you excited about mommy having a baby in her tummy?
Hannah: Well, I want a little girl but I dont want mommy to get fat (did a hand motion of her belly growing)...Because then she will scare me and knock me down.

Thanks Hannah...

Leah's prayer

2011-11-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

One night while the girls and I were lying in my bed watching a movie, Leah got really serious.

"Mommy? Can the baby hear?" (sure honey)
"can I pray for the baby?" (of course you can pray for the baby)
she folds her hands and closes her eyes, bowing her head over my stomach.
"Dear God, Thank you for the little baby in mommy's tummy. I love him so much. I cant wait to find out what it is when he falls out" (Hannah chimes in here with "pops out, not FALLS out"). And thank you for forgiving us when we throw up in our beds and for forgiving the baby when he throws up. Amen"

I would like to say I have no clue what she was talking about while referring to the throwing up, but I thought that was the sweetest thing ever.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

This year's Halloween was really cute because the girls were SO excited about Trick or Treating. Leah immediately said she wanted to be Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. Hannah and I went through 100 costumes online, perusing and debating until she too finally decided on Dorothy as well. So i had twin Dorothy's and they were precious.

Pictures with the neighborhood kiddos

And of course we went trick or treating with our favorite cousins :)

2 Dorothy's, "Octopus Prime", Superman/Batman, and Batman with no mask. Adorable :)

I would also like to add, even though I did not get a picture, that we carved 5 pumpkins. 5! we have 5 kids in the house, so 5 it was. Two tinkerbells, Lightning McQueen, Perry the Platypus, and Dora. My hands killed me, but this was Matts first time doing some carving with us :)

The girls turn 4!

2011-10-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

We had a big birthday party this year at Pump It Up, and it was extra special because one of our foster children, the youngest, turned 5 a few days before the girls turned 4. It was really nice not having the party at the house, even if it was more expensive. They all had a blast. I cant believe my babies are 4 years old.

This is the best group picture I could get. Ha

And it doesnt help that I kind of dropped my camera and it was acting a little unpredictable.

Each little girl wanted a different princess on their cake. I was too tired to do 3 cakes obviously, so I opted for a castle cake and put all the princesses around it. My cakes arent turning out as well as I would like since I got pregnant because my hands hurt, but they were thrilled.

Even Daddy had fun!

So its official. They arent babies anymore.

Should I change the name of my blog?

2011-09-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

Mccaytwins+1? That's right. After 4 years of swearing we were completely done having children after we had our sweet angels, we are expecting. We are thrilled and I do feel like the girls will be at a great age. They are already hugging and kissing my belly.

I am around 7 weeks and so far I am feeling pretty good most of the time. I am nauseated a lot, sick frequently and very tired but I guess that's just how my body handles pregnancy ( I thought I could blame it on the twin thing last time and I would not be sick at all this time). Matt as usual has been a huge help with the 5 kids currently living here :)

I love that I have absolutely no preference for gender this time and cannot wait until May 9th 2012!! Who'd have thought???

Our trip to California

2011-09-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Matt had a conference in San Francisco this past weekend and I got to tag along. It was a great time to get some much needed rest and see my nephews, friends, and bro and sis in law. Since Katy said pretty much everything I wanted to, and has pictures which I havent had time to pull off the camera yet, I am directing you to her blog. Thanks for the post, Katy!

Our Adventure in Fostering begins

2011-09-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy lately so I am behind in writing this blog, but we added 3 kids to our family overnight! That is mind boggling. Go ahead - try to imagine the same thing happening in your family. It is overwhelming, and scary, and humbling. But 2 weeks later, we have survived to tell the tale and all is going well.

Over labor day weekend, we got news of a possible placement for a 10 year old boy. No problem we thought. By the end of the weekend, we had taken him, his 6 year old brother, and 5 year old sister in. We had to do some major scrambling and with the help of some very generous friends and family, and the wonderful members of Clearwater Community Church we had enough clothes to get by and had changed our king bed to two twin beds.

Getting everything figured out for them to start back school, out of our zoning, took patience. Then the next week, the youngest was sick. But I think we have started to settle into a routine.

My girls are loving it so far, especially their new roomie. They all get along very well, and aside from having to tweak my time management skills I feel like Matt and I are a great team.

Many ups and downs face us, for that I am sure. But, I know we are doing Gods will, and that fels wonderful.

Pray for us and our family of 7!

Tingling feet and other stories

2011-09-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Tingling Feet (feet fell asleep)
Hannah- (crying) my feet are tingling!!!!
Leah- (calmly) my feet are tingling too, but I am not freaking out about it.

Taking orders
Hannah told me that I was the "order maker" (aka cashier?) she orders chicken and fries. I give her the invisible food and Leah yells "Hey! you forgot my diet coke in a medium cup!"

Playing Baby
The girls play mommy/baby a lot (A LOT!) swapping out who is the mommy and who is the baby. Somehow I got dragged into it one day and Hannah asked me to be the baby. I pretended to cry.
hannah: dont cry, honey. Mommy has to go to work!
Me: No! (Ive had some experience knowing what the proper reaction from my girls would be)
Hannah: I have to go to work. I am on call today. But if you dont cry Ill bring you a special treat!"

Think I have said this before?

follow up to "the stubborn child"

2011-09-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

After Hannah bit her Daddy, and refused to apologize all day she decided to recap the incident later.

Hannah: "I pinched daddy"
Me: "you did?"
Hannah: "yes, remember? On his shoulder?"
Me: "you mean when you bit him last week?"
Hannah": "No, I didnt bite him. I pinched him. with my teeth."

Technicalities. Or denial...

Conversations: why leah's younger, auburn, and cousins

2011-08-01T20:56:00.001-07:00

Some days I could sit back and listen to the girls talk all day with very little input. This was one of those days.
3 conversations stuck out in particular.

Convo 1: Leah's youngest-

(Random comment by leah- nothing even led up to this topic. )
Leah: mommy, Hannah came out of your tummy first.
Me: yes, so that makes her the oldest.
Leah: yeah, I was sleepy in there.
Me: oh really? Is that why you came out after her?
Leah: yeah, I waited a little while.

Convo 2: auburn

Hannah: mommy? Where are Brayden and Caroline? (neighbors)
Me: I think they are at Alabama Adventure (local theme park)
Hannah: ?!? You can't say that word!!!
Me: what word??
Hannah: Alabama!!!

( yup- where we come from any mention of Alabama is bad. I can't get her to distinguish between the state and football team. Well, war eagle )

Convo 3- cousins

Hannah: I sure do miss walker and Eli (cousins who recently moved). We can't see them because they don't live on earth anymore.
Me: they don't??? Where do they live??
Hannah: California.

The stubborn child

2011-07-27T19:22:00.001-07:00

The age of 3 is a wonderful, trying age. It's the age of pushing limits and decision making and mood swings. I love it and would keep my girls this age for a lot longer if I could. And then there are days when their stubbornness shocks even me, a very stubborn woman who married an even more stubborn man. We joked that we were sure to parent the Mecca of Stubbornness by combining our gene pools. We did.

Hannah won the stubborn award for today, though it changes up. While hugging her daddy, she bit him. I don't know why. Made no sense. She wasn't upset or anything, more just playing around, but matt now has what looks like a hickie on his shoulder. Of course she got in trouble. And stayed in time out until we had to leave for dinner because she refused to apologize.

All we wanted was an apology. After dinner we went to tcby, her favorite. But we told her she couldn't have anything until she said she was sorry. She still refused. She sat herself at her own little table and Sulked while we ate our yogurt. We prompted her a million times and gave her one last chance. Nothing. She left with no ice cream.

It took her until she was about to go to bed. She finally said she was ready to say she was sorry. 4 hours later. Was it so hard?? Really???

A talk about Heaven

2011-07-27T18:26:00.001-07:00

The other day I mentioned to the girls that I also had a Nana. (my mom is their Nana, her mom was my Nana who passed away about 7 years ago). They asked a lot of questions about where she was and I did my best to answer. I didn't realize how much they were listening until today.

Leah said to Mimi:

Mimi! Did you know mommy had a nana? But her body got tired and she was old so she died. And Jesus came down and scooped her Nana up and took her to heaven. And she gets to live with Him! And see heaven which is soooo beautiful and sparkly and has rainbows! "

I love my children's innocence. When we had had the conversation they were exclaiming how they wanted to see heaven and they wished it wasn't so far away. It was a great time to tell them about the Lord and loving Jesus.

Discipline can be hilarious

2011-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Leah came running out of the playroom crying that Hannah hit her. So immediately we brought said perpetrator out into the den for a talk. Hannah then told us that Leah hit her also. Leah was adament that she did not. Hannah was determined she did. Well someone was lying and we were going to get to the bottom of it. Leah started really defending her case, at which point I sensed the potential for it to get good and flipped on the video camera.

2011-07-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

Daddy had to go out of town, and so he was gone when the girls got up from a little nap. They were not happy. I dealt with this for hours. TCBY helped.

A conversation about dance class... oy

2011-07-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this a while back, but at least I write things down even if it takes a while to do the actual blog entry...

A typical conversation between Leah and I. I can't win.

(me) so Leah, are you excited about dance class tomorrow?

(L) yes! But I don't know any of the ballerinas' names.

(me) Well you can ask them their names...

(L)after we dance?

(me) Or before. You just say "hi! My name is Leah. What's yours?" ok? They won't know your name either

(L)Well... We'll just see if they know my name.

(me) No Leah. They won't know your name. You'll have to tell them.

(L) Well... I think they'll call me "Be-ah"

(me) Beah? Why would they call you beah?!?

(L) Because that's what they'll call me when I am bad or cry.

(me)Leah, you are not going to be bad or cry.

(L) Well, I may cry

(me) No, you are not going to cry.

(L) I may cry just a little.

(me)No, not at all.

(L) Well, maybe a little squeak then.

Playing in the rain

2011-07-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

How fun is this? I remember these days.

Fun in the sand

2011-07-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

What a good Daddy Matt is to let his wife and daughters put a mermaid fin on him. And the girls insisted on adding shells. Not every man would allow this. And of course then it was leahs turn!

Following in Mommy's footsteps

2011-07-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Or swim strokes I suppose. The girls this year have really done well in their swimming. Next year I hope to work on stroke development more. Leah has even learned how to dive with very little coaching from me. Since I used to be a swimmer and love the water, naturally I am proud,
These videos were from fourth of July weekend in destin.

Leah passed the swim test

2011-07-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Leah was extremely proud that she passed the swim test at our neighborhood pool. She told everyone she saw. And I will put in that Hannah could do it. She swims far enough but she refuses to actually take the test in the designated spot. The swim test is there to let kids swim in the deep ends by themselves (or in the shallow end without me within arms length. Well, she isnt allowed to swim in the deep end without me at age of 3, but shes happy nonetheless.

The girls start dance class (finally)

2011-07-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing about them wanting to start dance class since they chickened out on a little "bring a friend" day last August, so I signed them up for a little 5 session class this summer. They loved it. LOVED. Especially Leah. They listened very well and got excited about going. Of course we picked out their leotards for class and Leah screamed at me that ballerinas dont wear leotards without fluffy tutus. So they got fluffy tutus. They were the only ones in the class with the fluffy tutus but they were happy.

At the end of the 5 classes they did a little dance for the parents and a princess walk. We had terrible spots to video them but leah is in the front in the hot pink and hannah, bless her, is in the back on the far end.

They are now signed up to start in the fall for the year.

Disney world

2011-07-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

nevermind that I should have written this post in May. Its now July and I am finally getting around to it. Its been a busy summer!

We went to Disney in May and, now being members of the Disney Vacation Club we actually got to stay in Bay Lake Towers so we could walk to Magic Kingdom. It was fabulous. And we took advantage of that convenience. The first night we were there we were going to let the girls dictate when we left MK, and we got pictures with Mickey at 1:50am. They were angels and wanted to keep going.

This trip was all about the girls, being our very first family trip without my in laws (was not the same) so we saw every single princess except Pocohontas and Tink, plus the main characters.
. The girls just kept insisting we see more friends!

Matt was the Daddy who stood in line for 2.5 hours to see Repunzel while i took the girls to see some other characters. But it was worth the wait because the girls were in Heaven. And Hannah had a bit of a crush on Flynn Rider that was exposed at their encounter. Just look at that face! she couldnt decide who she liked better.

I figured I would let the pictures tell our trip. We had a wonderful time and can not wait to go back!

Almost summer fun

2011-04-26T09:43:00.004-07:00

Anyone else which they were 3??

Spraying water on the trampoline while the cousins were over

homemade water slide

running in sprinklers

Not liking the car wash...

2011-04-26T09:42:00.001-07:00

Beach bums

2011-04-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Destin we hung out under the beautiful sun all day. We found large holes random beach goers had dug, and helped fill them back in against their will, saw dolphins, had other random beach goers want to take pictures of the girls because they were off the charts on the cuteness meter, got buried in the sand (them NOT me)and found yet another sandbar to play in (aka the fun water by Hannah). GREAT day. They were exhausted.

in the big hole

see the dolphin??

being cute

they are definitely my children

beach photo shoot

2011-04-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

some favorites

and sometimes little girls must twirl while wearing twirly dresses

Out for Ice Cream

2011-04-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

We do this a lot when in Destin. The girls take 5 years (using Hannah's time frame reference because to her, everything happened 5 years ago, or will happen 5 years from now) - anyway they take 5 years to pick out their ice cream flavors. And Hannah normally ends up with vanilla. Leah chose Mango this time - I was not a fan. I got coconut which was wonderful, and Hannah wanted to try it. She did not like it - as is obvious by her face.

Leah is so cute with her ice cream because whatever she gets she will eat tiny bite by tiny bite until it is completely gone. Precious stuff. She is such a sweets fan.

They still love to swim!

2011-04-26T08:35:00.001-07:00

We love the jacuzzi at the Destin house. Its perfect for little swimmers. They can not wait for the big pool in the neighborhood to open!

My name is Rita

2011-04-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

Another goody from Leah. Oh I am sorry, "Rita." (Rita is Matt's moms name)

Hannah was pretending to be the baby by the way.

Leah cut up her nightgown

2011-04-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

I would like to preface this video with an explanation.
1. the girls have NEVER shown interest in scissors. 2. The scissors were not in the same room as them. 3. They were supposed to be napping, and I had the monitor outside with me and did not hear a thing.

So when Leah came outside after what I thought was a very good nap and asked me for a new nightgown I actually thought her pull up leaked while napping. NOPE

After getting pretty mad at her and explaining to her that we dont ever do that, she started getting into rationization mode so I thought "this is gonna be good" and flipped on the camera.

So apparently it was in fact my fault. Good to know.

An evening at the beach

2011-04-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Our first night in Destin, I took the girls down to the beach to see how they liked it. Least year did not go so well so I was not sure. We fed the seagulls and walked in the sand. It was pretty chilly out (Low 60s). I am incapris and a jacket and not exactly warm. The girls started out in dresses and a sweater, but just in case I put a suit under that, not expecting for them to get undressed though.

The water seemed warm compared to the air, and they found a sand bar. Apparently Leah decidedto make it her life's mission to transfer the sand from the shore to the ocean.

Needless to say, they are fans of the beach this year!

Trip to Destin - car ride there

2011-04-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Can I tell you how excited I am to drive all the way to Orlando in a few weeks? We were only about an hour into our drive to Florida. Yes I took this while driving, but as you can tell, I did not look at the camera while taping.

There is some screaming involved here, so watch at your own risk. My sis thought it was funny.

A fight for the spotlight

2011-04-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Trying to sing "I see the light" from "Tangled"

Ballerinas

2011-04-26T08:03:00.002-07:00

Leah is actually wearing a bathing suit she saw from across the room, and no they are not in dance yet, but they love pretending to be real ballerinas!

Alabama Power Family Counts Day

2011-04-26T08:00:00.001-07:00

Alabama Power Family Counts Day, a photo by tigermatt on Flickr.

Does anything kick off the start of summer like cotton candy? This was a wonderful day filled with snacks, rides, huge slides (which the girls could not get enough of) and of course family. The girls are already planning their trip back next year!

Hanging in papa's "cuzzi"

2011-04-26T07:58:00.001-07:00

Hanging in papas cuzzi, a photo by tigermatt on Flickr.

One of those days where the girls loved each other, and the first time back in some water after the winter

Poor Daddy can't fix hair

2011-03-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Last night Leah finally asked me to put two pig tails in her hair. She never lets me so I was excited that she wanted them. I fixed her hair before she went to bed, knowing she would ask Matt this morning for pig tails before school. I figured it was already separated and all he would have to do was resmooth it out and fix the bands.

So I was surprised when I got this message from matt this AM.

"This morning was awful. We were so late to school because Leah wanted ponytails, which I cannot do. Leah kept yelling 'ALL I EVER WANTED WAS PONY TAILS FOR SCHOOL" with hannah in the background going 'we're going to be late, Leah. I don't have to have pony tails. I'm a big girl. Daddy canit do pony tails. Only Mommy" OYYYYYYYYY"

Hee hee. guess Matt needs me around for something!

Take care of yourself

2011-03-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

I am good about posting things on facebook, but always forget to blog them for my laughing enjoyment later. Thanks to facebook, I can go back.

I was putting the girls down one night and gave Leah her goodnight hug. She leaned in and really softly and sweetly she said " take care of yourself, ok mommy? You be strong."

What the heck? Love those girls.

Love for LaLa

2011-03-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

My sis is still watching the girls one day a week and they this is what they said to her today.
H: Lala! you are getting big like daddy!
L: hannah!, Be nice!

She said she wasnt quite sure how to take that...

no dinner for me tonight, guys

2011-03-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted the girls to go to bed easily the other night so I had not let them nap that day. I gave them a bath while Matt went and picked up dinner. After I got her dressed, Leah laid down to watch tv on my bed while I finished with hannah. I did not know she fell asleep until I went to get her for dinner 5 minutes later.

So, at 6:30 I wanted her to get up so i woke her and took her to the table and went to get Hannah situated while Matt made the plates. Then I hear, "Ummm, Allyson?"

And I looked at Leah...

I put her straight to bed.
Hannah felt privileged because she did not have to go to bed, so after she ate she said she was gonna lay on her mat (from school) and watch a movie. I went to get her a pull up in case she fell asleep and this is what I found when I came back

Early bedtime!!

modeling new dresses

2011-03-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

i have been looking for some Easter dresses for the girls. I went to Kohls about a month ago and Leah found a "beautiful" white chiffon like dress with pink hearts. And it was expensive. She was stuck on it though.

It was still there when we back a few days ago and she was determined. It was on sale this time, but I do not dress them in those fancy frilly dresses and it was more than I wanted to spend. I gave her a choice. She could have that dress but had to give up her ($5 little toy) special toy. or we could find something else and she could have both. "I bet we can find another pretty dress" she said. Good girl.

I ended up finding 2 cute little sun dresses that they can wear through the summer. When we got home they insisted on trying them on. And the girls were obsessed with themselves. Narcistic much? I could not tear them away from the mirrors. Hannah went and got some heels that she thought would match and "fixed her hair" (like Rambo, but whatever). And they kept asking me to take pictures of them, at which point they would strike a "prom pose" together. They make me laugh.
These are their "Im so cute" faces. I couldnt get them to smile regular.

Cant give up those headphones

2011-03-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Poor baby... She may be mad at me for this one day.

Confused about meal time

2011-03-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

Conversation between Hannah and I

H: Mommy, Im ready for dinner
Me: you mean lunch, baby. What do you want for lunch?
H: Dinner.
Me: Ok, what do you want for dinner?
H: A snack.
Me: (?!?!)

"When we grow up"

2011-03-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Conversation Between Matt and Leah
L: When Hannah grows up, shes gonna be an adult.
M: Well, yes. And so will you.
L: No I wnt.
M: ... Yes you will.
L: No I wont!
M: Ok, what are you going to be then?
L: A Princess.

(surprised anyone?)

These boots are made for walkin'

2011-03-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

I took the girls shopping one day and they picked out some little rain boots that were on sale. They love them and wear them when it is sunny with anything. I randomly started singing "These boots are made for Walking" and they caught on and loved it. I showed them Nancy Sinatra on YouTube. They danced along with it. And wondered why she has no pants on... (only bloomers)

They learned the chorus immediately.

Leah had been playing on my phone again...

2011-03-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I go through my camera and I have about 20 self portraits of Hannah or Leah, and I know they found my phone and the camera button. Well, Leah has a game on there that she loves because she can dress herself up. You can save the images but I did not think she knew that. Guess I was wrong. This is what I found.

Posers

2011-03-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

They are posers in more ways than one. Not camera shy in the least.

Disney Trip Planned

2011-03-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

And we are ready! we are so excited because in May we are headed back to Disney and staying in Bay Towers next to the Contemporary (and therefore next to Magic Kingdom!) 2 months away... Cannot get here soon enough.

And Leah is already planning her wardrobe! her dress is tattered and I am thinking I will have to find another one like it. it is her favorite.

Cute cousins

2011-03-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Just a cute picture I took on my phone. Eli chose to duck out and Colin was sick, but these are 3 good looking kids I think.

Walker was actually getting annoyed because Hannah was hugging his neck a little too tight... girls!

A day at the movies

2011-03-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

One thing I love about this age is that the girls finally enjoy going to the theater and sit through a movie. Leah, being my tv addict doesnt move the whole time. Hannah does pretty well but normally ends up in my lap or asleep, then claims it was the best movie ever.

Some friends of ours went with us to see Gnomeo and Juliet. They all looked so cute in their 3D glasses. And of course Leah in her tiara. Sorry for the blurriness. It was a dark theater!

Hannah and friend Grier

Princess Leah

Snow "Storm" of 2011

2011-03-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am behind in my blogging, so already the memory of this little snow has faded in hopes that spring and warmer weather are here to stay. But I do know we were very happy to actually get a little accumulation to play in that cold Thursday in february. And I was thankful that it did not affect my tuesday/wednesday work week.
What we learned: 1.) The trampoline is a great place to play on when it is covered in snow. 2.) gloves must stay on. Hannah learned this the hard way and her fun in the snow was over. 3.) It is only fun for a short amount of time.

We were not outside very long, spending most of the day snuggled up together by a fire watching movies. But we enjoyed it for a good 30 minutes!

A Dance lesson from Leah

2011-03-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

This is what ballerina Belle does. Per Leah. Who, ignoring what Leah tells you, has NOT started dance class yet. She starts in June.

5 little monkeys

2011-03-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

A cute little song from Leah that she apparently learned at school. I love when they come home singing something new that I do not even recognize

Sweet Abby and Hannah

2011-02-09T10:10:00.001-08:00

Hannah loves her doggies. She is such a nurturer. Abby laid in her spot on the couch and Hannah snuggled right down by her and loved it.

Pictures say so much

2011-02-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

Best Friends

2011-02-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

I have said so many times that I love having twins. And they love having each other. They are so different and yet they are great together. ( they do fight but are good most of the time.) Still, it amazes me daily.

My princess and curly haired Hannah, sans pants. They insisted on taking this picture together and posed for the camera.

French braid

2011-02-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

A picture of Momm's first ever french braid. I never learned as a child so I had to watch YouTube to learn and still didnt do too wonderfully. But I was proud all the same. And she wanted Daddy to "do a braid like Mommy did" when she went to school the next day. Ha. That did not happen.

Sleeping like a baby

2011-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Or a rock! She fell asleep on the ottoman, fell off, and went back to sleep. Wish I slept that hard!

Walker's Train Cake

2011-02-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

Amazingly, my nephew is 5. So for his 5th birthday I had to make him a cake. My first attempt at a boy cake. It was fun to do but i seriously need an assistant next time! :)

love the diaper in that picture.... ha

Bible Story "Jonah"

2011-02-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

she did so much better of course when i did not have the camera on her

Mickey and Minnie cake

2011-02-09T09:12:00.001-08:00

The girls were begging for a mickey cake, and kept telling me that they wanted one for their birthday. They are very into birthdays and parties right now. Well, they dont turn 4 until October, so that is a long time for me to have to hear them begging, so I offered to make one just for fun. It was very quickly done, and of course Hannah wanted Minnie and Leah wanted Mickey.

They were happy and it got it out of their system. Now they want a train cake with pluto on it?

Why I love being home more

2011-01-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I try to spend entire days where I do no more housework than a load of laundry or emptying the dishwasher and spend all my time playing with the girls. And it is those days that I enjoy being home with them more than anything. Yesterday was one of those days, and I had to capture it in pictures. Please note Leahs outfits. (unpictured, woke up as sleeping beauty)
After breakfast, we started with a little painting (Leah is now belle)

Then played with moon sand (it takes concentration)

They are a bit OCD about being clean, so they insisted on a mid day bath. (belle dress got dirty.)
After bath we made cookies! (Leah is back as sleeping beauty)

Then quiet time (Leah changed to cinderella)

After dinner it was time for play doh (Leah is a "fairy princess without wings")

Finally it was bedtime. This mommy was tired! (leah went to bed as ariel)
_

Learning from Dora the Explorer

2011-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

I walked in to Leah counting some blocks in spanish. I asked her to do it again later but she didnt do quite as well. Considering I havent taught her this though, I find it funny what she learned from good ole Dora.

Leah's heart is so filled

2011-01-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Katy, my sis in law said that Leah should be followed around with a camera at all times because you never know what she will say or do. Well this was one of those moments. I made her a heart in playdoh. It filled her heart apparently. Where does she hear these things?

Driving the new jeep

2011-01-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Do Re Mi with new microphones

2011-01-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

My little singers got microphones from Santa in their stockings. they love to perform. Leah insisted on wearing her size 2T Easter dress that is 2 sizes too small (short), her matching heels, and standing on a stool (stage) for this rendition of Do Re Mi. And I love Hannah chiming in the background. Bless her.

Bye Bye Birdie

2011-01-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Not Leahs best performance of Bye Bye Birdie, but a performance nonetheless. This movie ranks right on up there with Sound of Music in her eyes.

Im too smart for that #2

2011-01-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

A follow up to Leah's earlier video.

Hannah is a baker

2011-01-12T08:47:00.001-08:00

I am sure every little girl loves helping Mommy in the kitchen. Hannah is obsessed. And thankfully, she does a pretty good job.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful age the girls are at. This Christmas was by far the most fun we have ever had. Christmas Eve we went to my parents house for dinner, and even got to enjoy Christmas Eve service at Clearwater Community Church before coming back to my parents and opening presents. The girls received new Repunzel nightgowns and some dressup clothes which were immediately worn, and the Repunzel tower. We are all about the princesses!
this is "ballerina cinderella". We wear this often.

When we got home, the girls put out about 20 cookies for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer. And I have to say that I wish Santa came every night if only because the girls did not make one peep in bed that night.
Santa Came!

And the excitement was huge

Christmas Morning video

And for the first time I can remember we had a white Christmas! (A dusting)

We went to Matts parents house that even\ing (still thinking Leah had chicken pox) and enjoyed a liesurely dinner and more present unwrapping. Apparently our camera was tired because no one took pictures, but the girls now have a better tv in their room than matt and I do, thanks to his parents.

As usual everyone did way too much and we are so blessed to have the people in our lives that we have. As excited as the girls were about Santa, we also were trying to explain to them that it was Jesus's birthday. They kept asking when He was coming over. And they were disappinted when the oven went out and I couldnt make Him a birthday cake.
coming over.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandmother (Nina)!

2011-01-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Through the coarse of all the illness going on at our house we had muliple family Christmas gatherings, Matt was out of town for a week for work, and we celebrated my Grandmother's 90th birthday with a surprise party at my parents house. My dad was not in on the surprise for fear he would give it away, but all of his kids (minus my brother who was on call) came into town for the get together. I made the cake and left it in the car until my aunt and grandmother came inside from shopping to find everyone there. When everyone started arriving, my dad had thought they were all in town for Christmas, and came up with this brilliant idea to throw a surprise party. It surprised him just as much when I brought in the cake and realized the party was planned. It was a great time to be with my family who I dont get to see much, and Grandmother was so thrilled that everyone came to see her. She is such a sweet, special person and I am glad to have been a part of her 90th birthday.

Sick kids

2011-01-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

I have said before that we are very lucky to have been blessed with healthy children and to be healthy ourselves. But when the girls get sick, it is no fun for anyone. Plus, we all give it back and forth to each other so it seems like it never goes away. It seems from Thanksgiving to New Years we all had something, mainly being a cough and just the general icky feeling. The girls were troopers, and liked sleeping in Mommy's bed. matt and I got it bad the week after Christmas and then I got a corneal tear/abrasion because my eyes were too dry for contacts apparently. We are better now thank goodness.
And a little FYI, if your child is taking amoxicillin, and anytime during the coarse of the treatment looks like he/she gets chicken pox, this is a side effect of amoxicillin (not an allergy). Does not itch or cause pain. But we really thought Leah caught chicken pox on Christmas day, though she was vaccinated.

here are some pictures of the girls through the duration of their pitifulness.
on her way to the doctor

looks like pox doesnt it?

SEC Championship

2011-01-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Since I am way behind in posting any new blogs, we have already won the National Title which is way more exciting than the SEC championship, but either way, we got to go to Atlanta and cheer our tigers on to their victory. We all had a blast, and what more can I say than WAR EAGLE! (would have loved to have gone to Glendale, but just didnt happen for us)

A Christmas Miracle!

2010-12-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well it is a huge victory for us. Both girls sitting on Santas lap and smiling!

This was taken at Christmas Village after we saw Fantasy in Lights at Callaway. The light show was incredible as always and the girls loved being able to sit in the front seat and peer out the window at the light displays. It will have to be a yearly tradition. But we will not stay at the Fireside Inn again. Dont ever stay there. We had to call the cops at 2am. Thats all I will say about that.

Fabulous weekend though

Callaway Gardens - Butterfly Garden

2010-12-15T09:15:00.001-08:00

We went to Callaway gardens to the "Fantasy in Lights" show and I have to say it is definitely worth the trip to Pine Mountain.

We went to the butterfly garden first and sadly there were not that many butterflies. Hannah liked them, but made sure they were not going to land on her by covering her hands with her sleeves.

Leah had a "The Santa Clause" moment and climbed up on the lap of an unsuspecting Santa look a like hanging out at the garden. Well he did have a Santa SHIRT on! She was not going to miss an opportunity to tell him she wanted a Princess jeep for Christmas
And here is a pretty butterfly

And being cute

The best we could do here..

A video from Santa

2010-12-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

The girls each received a video from Santa from the Portable North Pole and they had very different reactions. Hannah was in awe, silently staring at the computer screen with a little smile. but she wanted to watch it over and over. I knew Leah would be dramatic so I recorded it (mainly because Matt was out of town and couldnt watch her for himself).

Too smart for her own good

2010-12-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

Yup.

Miley's Hoedown throw down

2010-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been seeing a bunch of little 10 year olds dancing it out to this song from the Hannah Montana movie. Not to be outdone, I was determined to learn it. Did you know there was a how to video on you tube? Anyway, I am not posting a video of me doing this, but the girls picked up on quite a lot, and that is a lot more entertaining than me stumbling my way through it. And yes it is december and they are wearing bathing suits. Don't judge.

Bet no one knew there was a break dancing move in this hoedown

That's the Deal

2010-12-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Just trying to capture a little of Hannah's personality here...

She was just letting us know how it was all gonna go down...

Do Re Mi

2010-12-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

The girls love Musicals. And of course Sound of Music is their favorite. Here are some videos for your listening enjoyment from the beautiful vocals of 2 sweet 3 year olds.

Christmas Goodies

2010-12-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

We have been doing some Holiday Baking and crafting lately. Here are some of the girls creations

Handprint sweatshirts
Hannah's

Leah's

Gingerbread houses - check out the concentration - and its finger lickin fun!

And their favorite was making Muddy Buddies! (chex mix coated in pb and chocolate anc covered in powdered sugar)

Twelve days of Christmas

2010-12-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

The girls have been watching "Barney's Christmas" in which Barney and his gang act out the "12 days of christmas". Whenever it comes on, Leah has to get up from where she is laying and do her best to copy them. I always try to get it on camera because she actually does better than she will perform in front of the camera but this is the best I could do. Its too cute.

and both of them get in on it. they really like the 5 golden rings and the partridge in a pear tree.

Miss Cinderella

2010-11-17T17:40:00.001-08:00

Leah (while wearing her cinderella dress) : mommy, I want lots of green beans. Can I have lots?
Me: yes, honey.
Leah: can you say "yes miss Cinderella"?
Me: ...yes, miss Cinderella ...

Smashed pillow

2010-11-15T19:28:00.001-08:00

I Washed the girls' sheets but they were using their pillows in the living room. I laid their pillowcases out on their newly made beds. Later we hear Leah yelling from her room.: Daddy, come in here! Look! My pillows smashed! I can never sleep on it again! It's smashed!

She comes out holding her pillowcase up, very distraught. "it's smashed daddy!"

Matt then tells her to go to her room and he would fix it. He put the pillow in and saved the day. Leah returned from her room and gave her hero a big hug. Then she told her daddy to blow hannah's pillow up too.

A few pictures

2010-11-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2010

2010-11-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

I found these cute little sleeping beauty dresses on sale at cracker barrel, and the girls were so excited to wear them for Halloween. Especially Hannah, because leah has her sleeping beauty nightgown she wears 24/7 that shebfindsbgo be the most beautiful thing In the world...

So on Halloween (eve actually) Leah got all dressed up, crown, wand, makeup, and ponytail (ponytails are for princesses of course). We were going trick or treating with the cousins and some friends so Leah ran downstairs to await the candy asking adventure.

Hannah was still taking a cat nap in the living room and I had to wake her up. And she woke up on the wrong side of the couch. As I went to get her dressed, the conversation went like this.

Me: ok lets get your pretty dress on so we can go trick or treating! Everyone is here!
H: no I'm cold!!! ( she has taken off her pjs and not happy about it)
Me: well hurry! Put this on
H: no it's scratchy.
Me: ok we can put a shirt under it.
H: no I don't want that. I can't wear the dress. It's too long
Me: no it's not. Now come on, we have to Urey or everyone will leave us!
H: it's too long. If I wear that I'll step on it. You'll have to carry me all the time
Me: (exasperated). Fine then what do you want to do?
H: I wanna be a fairy!

So I rummaged through their dress up clothes and found a shirt and some pants that matched and then she was happy. But I couldn't do her hair.

Now we got some cute pictures of all the kids ready to go trick or treating. Unfortunately when i asked Matt to make sure the camera was ready he checked the batteries, but didn't make sure the memory card was in there.

The kids had a great time trick or treating and all of them were adorable.

These pictures are actually from the next night on our way to the church's wild night. Matt tried to make it up to me...

Who's the Mommy here anyway?

2010-10-20T21:08:00.001-07:00

(upon Hannah coming out of her room after bedtime)

Me: Hannah! Get back in bed right now!!!! (yelling voice)
H: (runs back to her room sobbing)
L: (to H) what's the matter sweetie?
H: mommy yelled at me! (sob sob)
L: (comes out to find me and says in a very stern voice:) Mommy! Did you yell at H?! You say you're sorry right now! (returns to bedroom)
L: (to H) mommy is going to say "you're sorry", ok sweetheart?

3 year checkup

2010-10-16T23:16:00.001-07:00

Just for the records
Hannah :
height 36.5 in (25-50%)
Weight 33.2 lbs (75-90%)

Leah
Height : 35.5in (10-25%)
Weight 34.2lbs (75-90%)

Haha. They eat their wheaties.

Dr. Bo asked if they were talking well yet when he first came in. I said yes with a smirk. Then he asked if strangers can understand them - as Leah proceeded to tell him she has a stethoscope at home just Like his - plain as day. Got a chuckle out of the little doc who never laughs ;)

Thank you, Your Majesty

2010-10-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

So after a little cat fight, Leah pulls a line from Alice in Wonderland. No, I do not make my child call me "your majesty'