Sharing

I read somewhere that up to 40 percent of twins develop their own language/way to communicate with each other before they can speak. I imagine today's nap time conversation went something like this...

Alisa: "Whatcha doin'?"
Mason: "Nothing much, just kicking back, relaxing, eating my poop."
Alisa: "Your poop, really? Is it good?"
Mason: "It's alright. Not as good as spaghetti, but better than the Brussels Sprouts mom tried to feed us that one time. Hey, score, there's some corn in here!"
Alisa: "I could go for a snack...can I try some?"
Mason: "Sure. I'll throw some over at you."
Alisa: "This is tasty, pass me some more please."
Mason: "Watch your head, I'm sending the whole diaper over! Oh no, I didn't save myself any!"
Alisa: "There's some right there on your sheets."
Mason: "It's too smushed into the sheets to eat it. Can I have some back?"

Alisa: "Yep, I'm throwing it your way now. This is fun!"
Mason: "Yeah, and Mom's gonna FREAK!"

Now for the real question - is it grosser to eat your own poop or to eat your brother's?

What's Your Favorite

Addie, what's your favorite...

Color? Purple
Animal? Elephant
TV Show? Super Why (I would have guessed Daniel Tiger)
Movie? Toy Story (I would have guessed Tangled or Frozen)
Person? GG
Food? Spaghetti
Song? Bubbles (No idea what song this is!)
Toy? Catepillar (Don't know what toy this is, either...she might be losing interest in this game)
Game? Animals Game (I don't know what game this is either...and with that, I think we're done)

Night Owl

I put Addie to bed around eight tonight and then decided to go grocery shopping after Wil got home from work. 

When I got home at 11:30, Wil was in bed asleep (because that is a normal place to be after 11 at night when all your kids are asleep) and Addie was playing in the front room. 

Closer inspection found a bag of frozen strawberries on the floor, a bag of frozen grapes on the counter, the bag of animal crackers (that were on one of the top shelves of the pantry) on the couch and a melted popsicle on the kitchen table. 

I asked her what happened....

"I'm hungry, mommy!" (CLEARLY!). 

"I do the dishes." (There's a chair by the sink). 

"I get the elephant cookies (animal crackers), they were high. I had to get the chair and go way up high. 

"Daddy's sleeping." 

Silly girl!

Snow Trip!

This weekend was our third annual snow trip! We've gone every year since Addie was born, and I look forward to it every year. It's usually a lot of fun...and well, this year I think we should at least get credit for trying! 

The babies were SO not impressed by the snow and were SO annoyed that we kept putting more clothes on them! Four layers, socks, mittens AND a hat? If they could speak, I'm pretty sure they would tell you it was child abuse!

Mason refused to sit in the sled, but he seemed to like laying down. He would make a pouty face and start to cry whenever the sled stopped, so I spent my snow time walking around dragging the sled behind me. He didn't really smile, so I couldn't tell if he was having fun or just too mad to make noise!

Addie had a great time in the snow! She did, however, refuse to use the sled for its intended purpose - sledding! She was happiest walking around dragging the sled behind her. (We have the weirdest kids!)

Alisa tolerated the sled, but she much preferred being held.

Wil took Alisa down the hill once in the sled, and I took Mason once. They seemed to like it - meaning they didn't cry.

After our snow trip last year, my Grandma pulled some snow boots out of her closet to give to me. Apparently they were hers (or my mom's, I can't remember) when they lived in North Dakota when my mom was a teenager. I didn't even think about the fact that would make them about 30 years old. I just loaded them up and put them on when we got to the snow. The bottom of one of them came off right after I put it on so Wil taped it back together for me before I got out of the car. The bottom of the second one started coming off after my one and only trip down the hill with Mason, so I had to hobble back to the car pulling him behind me to tape it back together. Even being held together by tape snow boots are SO much better than the tennis shoes I've always worn in the snow before!

After that, Wil brought the babies back to the car to warm up and Addie and I played in the snow. First, we tried making a snowman, but the snow was either too packed and we couldn't get it to form right or it was too powdery and it wouldn't stick together. So, we moved on to snow angels. Addie LOVED making snow angels!

To finish off the day, we played with her bucket and shovel - you know the ones made for the beach - and made snow castles before we headed to the hotel.

The babies LOVED the hotel! There was so much to explore and new furniture to pull themselves up on. Mason made friends with the little boy in the mirror. There was even a heated pool, and we all went swimming that night. I mean, what's not to love?

Well, except the two babies in one pack and play sleeping arrangements. Alisa woke up at 3 a.m. and never really went back to sleep.

You would think snow and swimming would have made it Addie's best day ever. It might have been, until she got sick and started throwing up. She threw up at least four times that night and once in the car on the way home. Ugh! We originally planned to play in the snow the next morning too. But we decided it was best to just head home.

So there you have it...our 2014 snow trip. I'm exhausted just thinking about it...but we really did have a lot of fun...you know, in between the crying and the puking and the crying and the puking...

Lemon

My aunt and uncle have a lemon tree that grows huge, round, slightly orange colored lemons. Basically, it grows lemons that look like oranges. You just have to know that tree is lemons and eat accordingly. 

So, when they sent me home with a bag of oranges from their trees, I assumed all of the large, round, orange colored objects were oranges. Then one night I was feeding the babies and thought, I should peel an orange and see how they do eating just the inside part. I peeled said orange, and took a bite as I was picking it apart for the babies. 

Let's take a quick trip into my thoughts at that moment," Oooohhhh...that's a lemon! Well, I can't give them a lemon...wait...I should TOTALLY give them a lemon!"

Alisa, didn't care at all. She ate every bite I gave her and never really made much of a face. 

Mason looked at me as though he had been betrayed. And then protested until I removed the offending piece of fruit from his mouth!

The Fort

Addie has been obsessed with building forts lately. "Mommy, you want to help me decorate my fort?" Yes, those toys spread all over the ground are her decorations - Alisa and Mason even got to help!

Please notice, all THREE children are LOOKING at the camera and SMILING!! That may be the only time it's ever happened!

Splish, Splash

I was feeling brave last week and decided to try out bath time all by myself while Wil was at work. The mission: two babies, one bath tub, zero drowning!

We did it! Alisa, Mason and I make quite the bath time team! Alisa, had a blast!

Playing with the water, splashing, crawling around, she was ALL about it!

Mason spent most of his bath like this - too nervous to touch the water with his hands. Silly boy!

I had to put Mason on the floor of his room, which is right next to the bathroom, so as not to leave Alisa alone for longer than half a millisecond. I grabbed Alisa and walked back out to him laying on the floor like this and whining. He looked adorable, so I had to take his picture!

If you're keeping score, that's Me - 1, Babies - 1,000,000,002.

The Museum

The week before Wil went back to school, we used our trusty library culture passes one more time to go the Children's Museum. Addie had so much fun she now asks me on a regular basis  if we can go back to the museum. 

Alisa's project for the day was learning to pull herself up. She practiced over and over and over and over using my hands as leverage. 

Addie LOVED the pretend grocery store. She pulled items of the shelf, pushed the shopping cart and put them on the conveyor belt for Daddy to ring up and put in the bag. She could have spent HOURS in that room alone!

Mason especially loved this block, that he carried around in his mouth like a puppy dog!

Also, he found a mirror and made a new friend! He has a noise he makes when he's happy - I'm not sure how to explain it except to say it sounds like a cross between an exclamation and a sigh. This is him, making that sound at his new best friend! I LOVE this picture of him!

Santa

Santa brings the best gifts! 

A basketball hoop, phone and popper thing for the babies...Addie still thinks these are her toys. She was so proud of herself when she made a basket...of COURSE she made a basket, the hoop is designed for kids 6-12 months old!

Look at those cute Santa bum pajamas!

Addie's present from Santa was the best of all! A fully stocked play kitchen. She was SO excited...until Santa's shoddy craftsmanship ended with the oven door falling on her foot (she walked funny for the rest of the day).

We have it on pretty good authority from the elves that they made the play kitchen out of an old entertainment center that used to look like this...

The two elves that made it were extremely proud of themselves and asked us to post the before and after shots on this very blog. :-)

Merry Christmas, GG

Christmas is a funny thing. It's full of joy and tradition and family and reminders of wonderful memories of those you love most. But I was dreading trying to figure out the best way to celebrate without my Grandma. Sometimes even the best memories can be painful. 

Right after Thanksgiving, I decided that it would be fun to do random acts of service in memory of my Grandma. Nothing big, just small good deeds. Last year, a man behind her in line at the dollar store paid for her few items and wished her a Merry Christmas. I remembered how excited she was about someone who was spreading the spirit of Christmas and had done something so nice for her. 

I decided it would be Addie's and my project to do kind things for other people. Here's the list of what we did: 

• Picked weeds at five houses on our street
• Made a special trip to McDonald's and paid for the car in line behind us
• Enlisted the help of a niece and a nephew to pass out treats to kids playing at the park
• Helped make 75 turkey sandwiches for the homeless
• Wil helped hand out the sandwiches to the homeless (and I stayed with the babies so he could go - I totally think that counts as a service)
• Took a treat to a friend who was sick
• Left a treat in the mailbox for the mail man
• Addie ran a treat out to the garbage man to thank him for picking up our garbage every week

I also posted on Facebook and sent notes to a few of my Grandma's friends asking them to participate and then to post what they did on her Facebook page. Here's what other people did and wrote in memory of my Grandma: 

"As we remember Anna & her kind & giving heart, we thought of many acts of kindness. This morning our ward along with another ward went down town to feed the homeless. As I got out my coat to wear, I found another warm coat that I had not worn in sometime & decided to bring it to find a needy soul to give it to. I also had a set of ear warmers as well. When we arrived downtown, the streets werecrowded with the homeless who had just gotten some warm food & hot chocolate. I found an elderly woman walking with her cart of belongings & asked if she would like a warm coat. Her soft smile & thanks warmed my heart as I helped her put on the coat & covered her cold ears with the ear warmers. What a blessing to give! In honor of you dear Anna!"

"What a great way to remember and honor Anna! Since I read the post asking for participation in this, I have found myself thinking often of small acts of kindness that I could do. Recently, I heard of a situation involving 2 young boys who had been removed from a horrible situation of abuse and neglect. Thankfully, they are now being raised by their grandparents. The grandparents are struggling to meet the financial needs of these boys, and aren't able to provide Christmas for them...these two little guys have never had a Christmas present:( So, I joined with my sister, and a good friend and many other contributors, to collect many items that this family needs, as well as some Christmas gifts for two very deserving little boys who have had a difficult start in life!"

"So... I miss you like crazy! And I think of you often. Earlier this month I was in a dreadfully boring meeting and in your memory I did NOT get up and punch the speaker. The irony of this is, you would have been the one begging me to stop the madness and probably would have been egging me on!!!"

"Dear Anna Bloch, I have a random act of kindness. I saw a woman at Walmart with her two year old daughter, she had paid for her merchandise and was left $3 short. She was asking the cashier to remove an item, and that's where I stepped in and finalized her purchase. It wasn't much, not much at all, but I hope that it meant something for her. I've been in her shoes, where I don't have $3 to finalize my purchase, not from lack of bringing a credit card, but from lack of having $3 in general. I love you, and I miss you."

"Dear Anna, My random act of service took place in a full parking lot. I lucked out and spotted a prime parking spot and was about to take it when I saw a car behind me. I thought of Jessica's request of service so I passed up the space and parked much farther down. When I walked passed the spot, I noticed the car had a handicap license plate and I was grateful I had passed it up."

"Aunt Anna Marie - So happy to participate in a random act of kindness in your memory. There are many homeless folks near my work so yesterday I purchased breakfast for them. Miss you ....."

"Remembering my friend Anna this Christmas!! I'm doing a random small act of kindness for a friend by helping her prepare for Christmas by wrapping 20 of the presents she bought for her family while we shopped together this week and she has to work the next 5 nights at Phx Children's Hospital. Hopefully, this lets her get a little ahead before her family come next week for the holidays."

"I baked bread for two neighbors that were mourning. I bought 4 angel tree gifts. I've committed myself to doing about 20 loads of laundry for my RS pres (as a service for her generosity). and... I've been making an effort to be more kind when truly it's been challenging... refraining from gossip and being peaceful when I felt justified in anger... hey! that's huge! I love Anna! I miss her!"

I'm so grateful for all the people who participated. The world was a better place because my Grandma lived, and I hope in a small way these acts of kindness helped make it a better place now that she's gone. 

I had so much fun thinking of ideas for our service project that I think I might make this an annual tradition. Although I'm playing around with the idea of doing it in July for her birthday and then doing random acts of service in December to remember the Savior. 

Nativity

Mason goes to bed super early. In fact, he's usually down for the count around 6:30 p.m. Trying to keep him up any later than 7, is playing with fire! Which means by the time we were ready to act out the nativity on Christmas Eve, Mason was already snug in a makeshift bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. 

I thought about taking a picture with the four of us gathered around the Pack-n-Play in the back room, just to prove he was there. I have visions of his older sisters telling him he's adopted when he's older and using the multitude of pictures he is NOT in (because he's sleeping - he's also my best napper) as proof! 

But, the fear of waking him up won, so here's a picture of four of the five of us. Addie, Wil and me as shepherds and Alisa as baby Jesus. Her time as the Christ child was short lived - as she decided it was bed time immediately after we finished getting our costumes on, and before the reenactment actually began. 

The Picture In My Head

Sometimes I have this picture in my head. You know, the picture of what my perfect little family is supposed to look like. In this ideal picture, the house and children are clean, the kids are dressed super cute with their hair done and their teeth brushed at all times. They get along and never cry and I walk around singing Disney songs and talking to birds...oh wait, I hate birds...how did that get in my picture. 

Anyway, life NEVER looks like the idealized super perfect picture in my head...NEVER. But since I am a little slow at times, I just knew I would be able to get the perfect picture for our Christmas card, with all three kids wearing their Christmas best and smiling ever so angelically at the camera. 

Yeah...so here's what the photo shoot actually looked like...

And like this...

But, I did manage to get a few cuter shots. 

Finally, since I couldn't get one with all three of them looking AND smiling at the same time, I moved onto individual shots. 

Oh, my dearest Addie - this is SO YOU!

Looking at the pictures now, I'm actually impressed they turned out as well as they did. If I could just change that stupid picture in my head that says everything needs to look perfect.

Don't tell anyone, but this photo shoot definitely ended up in a meltdown, lots of crankiness, yelling and finally, a well timed - we're done - go to BED!

Our Life is a Zoo

Before Christmas, we took advantage of our local library's culture pass system and went to the zoo. We had the best time! It was fun to spend time with Wil, since he'd been so busy with school, and to get out of the house with all three kiddos.  Plus, Addie is finally old enough that she understood what was going on and LOVED it!

Petting zoo, fun!

The monkey exhibit was our favorite part of the day. If you look closely, you can see a monkey sitting on the tree branch behind Addie. She went through it with Wil while I nursed the babies and then was so excited to come get me and take me through the monkey exhibit, too!

Mason loved this guy!

Have you ever tried to get two babies and a zoo animal to pose for a picture? I'd say getting them all to look at the camera is a win for me!

Alisa loved chewing on the grape stems while we were eating our lunch. Silly girl!

Addie wanted to take a picture by this guy before we left. It's as close as Wil got to seeing a gorilla - his favorite animal - since they don't have real gorillas at the Phoenix Zoo.

And, this is how Addie walked to the car. Silly girl...do you think it was past her nap time? I think all three kids were asleep before we even made it out of the parking lot!