All Hail the Pacifier

The pacifier, aka the greatest invention of all time. At least in our house it will always be known. Kenedi LOVED her paci when she was little. We started giving it to her in the hospital. She was really pitiful the second night so we asked for one and she thought it was heaven on earth. She would suck so hard that she would smack. It was so cute. We brought her home at about 5 and a half pounds and they were huge on her little face.

Kaiden on the other hand HATED them. She would push out her tongue, spit it out whatever she could to not take one. We tried every kind made. We were determined she just had to take one. She had colic and oh boy did we need her to take her paci. We finally found one she liked and it changed our lives for the better!!

We were able to put them to bed awake with their paci and they would just drift off to sleep. It was fabulous. It was like magic. If they were teething...paci, fever...paci, mad...paci, car rides... paci it was just wonderful. It made them so happy!!

We started when they were pretty little only trying to use them in their beds or in desperate situations. I was really weird about them using them in public. Don't really have a good reason, I just didn't like it too much. So, when they would wake up we would say "Bye Bye paci" and throw it in their bed. Well, as they got older they would ask for them. They called them "bye byes". It was kind of cute for a while but they got really pitiful when asking for them.

Jeff and I decided that since he was off a couple of weeks ago we were going cold turkey. It was so much easier that I ever imagined. They really don't care at all. So bye bye to the bye byes.

Story Time

Tuesday's is Library Day for the girls and I. We have gone 2 weeks now and it's been interesting to say the least. First off, the teacher in me thinks it is WONDERFUL!! The MOM (Mother of Multiples) in me thinks its more like an aerobic workout. We start off singing a song to get all the "wiggles" out. My girls sit so still and watch and are complete angels during this song. Needless to say we really need to try next week and get those wiggles out!! Next is a story which my girls think is exploration time. Today they tried to take all the books off the display shelf, eat crayons off the tables, eat glue sticks and pour all their animal crackers on the floor. This all in just the first story. Keep in mind that after every event is me getting up off the floor, grabbing them and sitting them back down on the floor or onto my lap. We then sing another song which freezes them in their tracks again. This is the time to move girls!! Then another story (AKA chasing girls). They tell us to let them move around some but can you really get the moral of the story if you are behind the book? Um NO!! Luckily it goes by quickly and we can move onto the craft of the day.

Last week's theme was bath time. So, the craft was to glue a bath tub and a duck onto the paper and color. Kenedi sat at the table the ENTIRE time and colored and lined up her crayons and colored some more. I even handed her bathtub to her and she smacked it down on the paper almost perfectly. Kaiden on the other had never sat in her chair and followed the librarian around because she was blowing bubbles everywhere. Can you blame her? Kenedi really never noticed the bubbles because she was too busy hording crayons.

This week's theme was the beach. They even had beach towels for the kids to sit on (mostly I sat on it by myself). So, today's craft was to glue 5 fish onto the underwater scene and color. I went for the floor station this time and both girls sat for the ENTIRE time. They were still sitting when we sang the goodbye song!! Improvement!! Except this time Kaiden was very into the craft. She picked out her 5 fish from the bowl handed them to me for glue and then placed them on her paper. It was so cute. She really would think about where she wanted them to go!! She didn't want to have anything to do with coloring though. She just wanted to glue fish. Kenedi was hording the bowl of crayons, trying to eat the glue sticks and thought her sea only had room for 2 fish. She colored some but mainly wanted to see how many she could hold at a time.

We cleaned up our mess and headed for the exit. They BOLTED and started chasing each other down the isles of books. YELLING and laughing so hard. They thought it was the best thing EVER. They are super quick too. I scooped Kenedi up and luckily Kaiden was willing to hold my hand and made our exit as quick as possible. Everyone knew we were leaving though because they were yelling BYE BYE BYE BYE to everyone. We will have to work on an exit strategy for next week.

PB&J... It's what's for lunch?

So, as you can see we had PB&J (Mommy only has PB!!) milk, green beans (I know but have to get those veggies in) and grapes. YUMMY!!! I wanted to take a picture of Kaiden with jelly all over her face so I got my camera and asked her if it was yummy. This is what she said....

Thanks for sharing!! How big is her mouth anyway? YIKES!!

Kenedi lost it she was laughing so hard (thanks for encouraging her!!) so I turned and said is your sister funny? This is her answer...........

Nice girls thanks for sharing with everyone today!!

NOTE TO SELF: Work on manners especially those pertaining to food!!

This is the picture I was really after but it still doesn't do justice to what her face really looked like!! She had blueberry jam all over!!

Our Aunt Dana

As promised... All about Aunt Dana!!

The girls are so lucky to have an Aunt Dana. She was there the day they were born and before I received heaven on earth (my epidural) my room was FULL of people and my contractions were ...lets say strong and frequent. Everyone was busy chatting on the other side of the room while I was trying to breathe and not scream can't you just BE QUIET I'm in labor over here!! But Dana was right there watching the monitor and when it would spike her eyes would get big and she would look at me and say, "Um are you having another one?" I would nod and she would giggle and say, "Well I should say so!!" She made it so much better because knowing my competitive side she would tell me how much higher on the charts mine were from everyone else in the hospital. Can you believe they have EVERYONE'S little contraction monitor on your screen and you can see their progress AND their room number? It really was fun and very distracting to say the least. Then I got my epidural and within a very short time (o.k. not really short but quick enough) the girls were here!! I will never forget those few moments. She was the best!! THANKS DANA!!

Waiting patiently for the girls to be born!!

Well, she loves the girls so much and is super with them and they love to make her laugh!!! She bought them their first Astros outfits and made them blankets and pillows for their chairs so they can be comfy when they watch TV. She is the best!!

For those of you who don't know Dana has brain cancer and has had WAY too many surgeries to count!! She is currently undergoing chemo in order to treat her current tumor. She comes down to MD Anderson frequently and gets her checkups and sees her doctors. She was just down today and received a new treatment plan. She will be taking chemo in pill form AND in IV. Yikes. She is our hero, one of the strongest people I know. Unfortunately, I have known way to many people that either have or have had cancer. Right now there is a member of my mothers of multiples group whose 4 month old has a inoperable cancerous tumor in her eye. CANCER SUCKS!!

Here are a few pics of Aunt Dana and the girls!!

Here are the girls wearing their Brain Cancer Awareness bracelets. (Sorry my models weren't into the camera today!!)

Kaiden is checking out her pretty bracelet!!

Kenedi (who either needs a haircut or a ponytail) has to have all of them like always!!

So, say a prayer for Aunt Dana and everyone else out there who is fighting this terrible disease!!

BIG SID

Big Sid was in town visiting Aunt Dana (watch for an Aunt Dana post tomorrow!!) so he stopped by to visit the girls. They had a great time sharing ice chips with him and showing off all their new tricks!

Kaiden is making sure her Big Sid is watching her!!

Kenedi's not having very much fun is she?

Does anyone know where Big Sid is?

Begging Big Sid for ice chips!!

Thanks for coming to visit!! We had fun!!

Summer Days = Fun Days

First off for those of you who don't know, Jeff has a new job!! He starts working for DHL tomorrow. We are super excited for him to have this new opportunity!! So, he has had the last 2 weeks off to play with his girls (oh and squeeze in 3 rounds of golf!!)

So, we took the girls to the Splash Pad at the Y by our house. They love the water and we were exhausted chasing after them.

Check out the play area behind Kaiden. We can't wait until they can climb and play on it, we (I mean they) will have so much fun!!

Since their 18 month birthday was Friday, we used that as an excuse to head downtown to The Children's Museum and to have lunch at The Aquarium. We had the best time and wore them out!! And Mommy and Daddy too!!

Kaiden loves this fish!! She rides on it forever.

Kaiden's checking the rear view mirror and Kenedi's checking to make sure they are well within the speed limit!!

We then headed off to The Aquarium to have lunch. What we didn't know is that they had a ton of fun things for kids to do. We rode on a shark train ride. I just thought that was a cute name because we were at the aquarium. No, it's really a shark ride. They take you into this tank of sharks and they are swimming all around and OVER you and they STOP the train. Ok, most of you know I am a huge CHICKEN and I'm having to sit very calmly so I don't freak Kenedi out. All I wanted to do was yell what are you thinking lets get this train MOVING.

Here is an example:

Well we all survived and headed inside for lunch. Daddy and his girls.

Can you believe I was actually there? Here is my ONE picture I was in for the entire day!! OH WELL!!

We had to ride the carousel before we left. Kids under 2 are free so we just walked on over. Jeff and Kenedi went in first and Kaiden and I followed. Jeff went right in and the guy looked at me like I had lost my mind. I told him she was under 2 and he LAUGHED... out loud. I really think he thought I was scamming him to get a free ride on the carousel. So, as I am telling him I promise she's only 18 months I go to set Kaiden on the carousel next to Kenedi. She immediately starts climbing up my body and whimpering. This is not like her lately so I look down and I am trying to put her on an alligator that has the biggest teeth I have ever seen on a carousel. Poor thing. So we opted to scoot Kenedi over to the seahorse so Kaiden could ride on the dolphin. She sat right on and let me buckle her in. She thought Mommy had lost her mind!!

Kenedi and her seahorse!!

Kaiden loving the dolphin ride!!

They are having so much fun!!

The alligator!! YIKES!! Sorry Kaiden!!

The end!! Nap time!!

The Weekend Update- Continued

Sorry this is so late in coming. We have had a very busy and super fun week. I will have to post about that later!!

Kissing sisters!!

So, last weekend at Grandma and Grandad's we had all kinds of fun. They decided that based on their relatives success with T-Ball they needed to get started. Uncle Christopher could hit off a tee at 15 months so we are already behind!! Daddy used to hit homeruns (over the fence) off the tee so, we have to get busy!!

Daddy, I think that's a little high! Don't you?

Perfect!!

Now lets hit that ball!!

Me too daddy!!

We also swam for the first time this year. Luckily for the girls Grandma braved the cold water and gave them some lessons. The pics say it all they had a BLAST!!

Kaiden thinks Kenedi is so funny blowing bubbles!!

Kaiden's turn...Kenedi just can't watch!!

Grandma and Kenedi (no idea why it is so small!!)

Check out that smile on her face. She is having the time of her life!!

Kaiden was wondering if she had enough flotation devices on?!?!?

The girls also helped Grandad hang the flag for Veterans Day!!

Kenedi standing at attention. Doesn't she look like she's on duty?

Grandad and his girls!!

With all those parties, the girls had to help Grandma in the kitchen. Kaiden is ready to help!!

I don't want to cook, I want to help Grandad in the yard!!

We really had a great time and the girls always have fun seeing all of their relatives!! I just have to leave you with one last picture!!

How much fun is it really at Grandma and Grandad's?? This picture says it all.