A Sweet Way To End The Day!

These days, my boys are pretty extremely competitive.  Bryce more so than Drew.  They race on their bikes, they race to see who can pee first, finish eating first, brush their teeth first, and even fall asleep first! Bryce will stop at nothing to win - even if it means hurting Drew.  He will hold him down, trip him or push him to win!  It has been really ugly.  Drew ends up hurt & crying.  Bryce cries because he gets a time out and a spanking.  Ughh...it's so frustrating and a huge time waster!  It's making me crazy!

Tonight, after a long day of competition, I captured this...

Bryce & Drew layed face-to-face eating their popcorn and discussing their day.  Each one said, "So...what did you do today?!"  Even though they spent the entire day together they recounted the day's events!  It made me smile and thank God for my little boys...even though we have these "tough twin times", I'm glad God gave me 2!

Now and Then

Bryce and Drew can be fighting...biting, hitting, pushing and even tackling each other. Moments later, I can usually find them sitting elbow to elbow, or in this case, cheek to cheek in a basket... as if nothing ever happened!

Today was a perfect example. They were screaming & crying over a sippy cup. Drew had a yellow one and Bryce had a green one. Bryce wanted the yellow one. Once I broke up the fight I found them dumping their diapers out of this basket and climbing in it together. Then they hugged each other. I guess they have their own way of "making up!"

They have loved sitting in this basket together for a long time. At 30+ pounds each, I think they've outgrown it!
NOW

THEN 1 yr ago

The Boys' Pick

The other day I went to run some errands while Jimmy stayed at home with the boys. As I headed for home down our street I could see that the boys were outside playing with their Daddy. I could tell something looked weird about their outfits but I wasn't quite sure what it was until I got a little closer.

Jimmy said they "insisted" on this outfit and just had to wear it outside!

Oh how they keep us laughing and on our toes!!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We got an early start on our Christmas decorating this year. We got the Christmas tree up and lights strung on Saturday. I told the boys if they had a good nap that they could help hang the ornaments when they woke up. It was a good bribe!

Bryce woke up first and was SO excited to help. I told him he could hang the candy canes while Drew was still sleeping, and when brother woke up, they could both hang the balls and ornaments.

Bryce is a boy of "order!" He likes things clean and organized. He likes to know how things work and tends to be an analyzer. He prefers his toys and things to be lined up in a certain order and fashion. And tends to have a "one track mind!"

It comes as no surprise that he hung his candy canes all nicely organized on one tree limb!

No matter how many times we told him to spread them out and decorate the entire tree, this is what he did.

Drew was thrilled too to help decorate. He followed his brother's lead and decorated the same way. Not only did the balls get hung on one branch, they hung them by color! It was a pretty funny sight to see!


We had such a fun day together. It kept the boys occupied ALL DAY LONG...and that's hard to do!

To top it all off, we woke up this morning to snow on the ground. The boys thought it was so cool!

I hope to get our gifts wrapped and under the tree over the next few days. I may regret doing this!

Randomness!

I LOVE FALL!

Yesterday we had another play date with our triplet boy friends. We went to a beautiful, National River nearby. It was a perfect Fall day - 75 degrees, orange and red leaves falling all around and crystal clear water.

The 5 boys enjoyed throwing rocks in the river for a long while. Then they got brave and dipped their toes in the water. Before we knew it, all of them had stripped naked and started swimming and splashing in the cold water. It didn't take 5 "just beginning the idea of potty training" boys to figure out how fun it is to pee in the river. One boy would pee and the other 4 would clap and yell "good job!" while the next one would start. All 5 boys were peeing all day long! It was great practice and a huge encouragement for each of them to have their buddies cheering them on! I have some really funny pictures of them but I don't think they would appreciate their naked bums all over the Internet! We finished our day with a fun picnic lunch by the water.

The boys crack me up with the things they say. I just have to write them down so I don't ever forget!

Here's a few...

"Dats funny!"

"Good job buddy!"

"I'm SOOOOO happy!"

"Cool dude."

"Oh WOW!"

"Excuse me pweas."

"Mommy, zugit please...LOUDER!" zugit = music

"Eew....dat diaper gingky!" ginky = stinky

"Oh no, Bicie gunk!" gunk = stuck

Some funny conversations...

Bryce: "Mommy, I need diaper change. I go poo poo."
Drew: runs over to the couch to observe and says, "Bicie, ew no go poo poo. You have willy big pee pee diaper. Eeww...messy!"

When the boys get hurt they always run to ask us to kiss their "boo boo." They amazingly always feel better after the kiss!

Today, Bryce bumped his head pretty hard.

Bryce: "Mommy kiss it...I hurt my head."

Mommy: "I'm so sorry Bryce. Let me kiss it."

Drew: "No, Mommy, I kiss it. Oh Bicie, I'm sowy. I take you to da doctor!"

I don't know what it is about poop but the boys are very intrigued by it. Anytime I change one of the boys' poopy diapers the other one has to stand inches away to see it!

Today I was changing Drew's poopy. Bryce was leaning over him to see.

Bryce: "Dew, I see yo poopy."

Drew: "No Bicie, dats gwoss!"

Bryce: "Eew, Dew, dats ginky and messy!'

Drew: "Bicie, no yook. It's MY poopy!"

Are they gonna hate me someday for posting this?!

Hide and Seek

Bryce and Drew LOVE to play hide and seek. Nana and Papa R were here for the past 9 days so they got to play it A LOT with them! When Jimmy helps them hide, they do really good. They will sit completely still and not make a sound. One of their favorite hiding places is in the hall linen closet. The cupboard is several feet off the ground so he has to lift them into it. Here's their reaction when Papa and Nana discovered them...!

When the boys hide on their own, they don't do as well. They giggle and squeal and jump out so we can find them. They think they are so sneaky!

When the boys "seek" they stand in a corner, put their hands over their eyes, count to 20 and then say "Wedy o not, here we come!"

As soon as they find Nana and Papa, they squeal with joy and say,"Mo hide and seek!" And then they immediately hide in the SAME place that Nana and Papa were hiding in!

One time Jimmy hid each of the boys in their small canvas baskets that we store their stuffed animals in. They laid completely still, covered up with all of their animals until Nana and Papa found them. Then when it was their time to hide, Bryce was insistent that Papa was hiding in the small basket and didn't stop looking until he uncovered each stuffed animal. Just goes to show how sweet and innocent their little minds are. They don't completely understand the concept!


Bryce, where are you?
Can anyone find Drew?

Celery, Teeth and Poop!

What's up with the weird title, you ask?

Last night I made a vegetable soup for dinner that had lots of the boys' new favorite in it. Bryce started his prayer {very seriously}, by saying, "Dear Jesus, thank you fo da celery!" He LOVES celery!

Today, the boys had their first trip to the dentist. Jimmy needed to go for his 6-month checkup so we thought it would be a good time for the boys to get acclimated to the dentist chair. Thankfully and amazingly, they were perfect! They sat with me on the floor for quite awhile eating a snack and reading books while the hygienist got started with Jimmy. After about 20 minutes Drew started getting a little restless and was curious to see what the doctor lady (hygienist) was doing! So he climbed up onto the chair and layed on Jimmy's chest just inches from his mouth talking away to the hygienist. Thankfully, she loves kids and thought it was pretty cute!


I went with Drew into the adjacent room with another hygienist to begin his exam and cleaning. She was so awesome with him. She explained every instrument to him, moved the chair up and down and even let him pick his own toothpaste flavor. Drew thought it was all so fun & cool. His favorite instrument was the water pick and "Mr. Sucky!" He didn't want to let it out of his mouth because "it tickled!" I was so proud of him - he did so great!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Bryce's exam and cleaning. I ran back and forth a few times between the rooms but he was doing just fine with his Daddy. Bryce did great too but I don't think he found it quite as cool as his brother. He was very serious and still!

It was a GREAT experience and thankfully, they all received good reports! I'm always so relieved when I leave a public setting like that with compliments like, "Your boys are so cute. They are so well behaved and pleasant!" I hope they are true compliments and not just what they tell all parents!

We enjoyed a nice lunch together and then I went on to get my hair cut. J took the boys home to get them down for a nap. I got a call soon after arriving at the salon...not a good sign! He had put the boys down and just a few minutes later heard Drew saying "Poop Daddy. Dew pooped." He went in to find Drew without his diaper on and a large poopy in his crib! Oh, J was not happy. He immediately picked him up and got him into the bathtub. Meanwhile, Bryce's curiosity got the best of him. He crawled out of his crib and into Drew's crib to check out "the mess!" Oh boy...poop everywhere and a very angry Daddy!

Thankfully, by the time I got home, Jimmy had both boys bathed, bedding changed AND sleeping. It worked out pretty good for me!

OUR 3RD ONE...And LAST One!

We are SO excited! We have been planning this for a long time.

NO

WE

ARE

NOT

PREGNANT!

We are leaving today for our 3rd and longest summer road trip. My brother and sister-in-law are both in the Army based at Fort Knox Kentucky. Eric has been in Saudi Arabia for the past 6 months and is home on "leave." We're excited to see him, his wife Donna and my 2 nieces Logan and Jordyn. Jordyn is 2 days older than Bryce and Drew so it's always fun to see them all together...it's like triplets! Eric and Donna went on a little get away alone this week so my Mom is there babysitting the girls. We are so excited to spend time with her too, and see her enjoy all of her grandbabies! It will be about a 10 hour drive so we will stay in a hotel tonight to break up our days.

Here's a couple of cute pics from this week...

Bryce has found new things to explore this week...he is such an investigator!

My sweet and silly Drew!

2 year old twins + 3 year old triplets = crazy play dates! (I can't show any more pics - the boys were swimming naked and I don't think they would appreciate their naked buns all over the Internet!)
A common sight - Mommy on the computer with 2 little monkeys crawling all over me!

You're Doing What?

Today at nap time I could hear the boys laughing and being silly, long after I had put them down. I knew they were up to something. I walked into their room to find Bryce in bed with Drew and their cheeks puffed up like chipmunks. I thought it was cute too until I realized they were holding water in their mouths and spitting it over the crib railing onto the carpet!

They thought it was absolutely hilarious.

Mommy DID NOT...the carpet was soaked!

I've never been a fan of the term "the terrible two's" but I think I'm changing my mind!

Musical Cribs!

How ironic. Yesterday, I blog about my sweet, sleeping babies. Today, I'm ready to pull my hair out, cry and scream...because the babies are not sleeping!

If someone were to ask me what the hardest part of having twins is, my answer would be (besides my pregnancy) one word. SLEEP! It seems like every few months, we go through a new phase. We are in the "I don't want to sleep, it's more fun to climb in and out our cribs and do what we want phase!"

My boys, of course, are TOTALLY different.

When it comes to sleep, Bryce probably is more like me. We love it! Once we go through "the nite-nite routine" with him, he typically lays on his pillow and falls right to sleep. If he struggles to fall asleep immediately, it's usually because his crazy brother is talking, jumping or doing something loud to keep him awake!

Drew, on the other hand, is more like Jimmy. He just won't give up! He doesn't want to miss out on anything! The funny thing is he likes his naps and often sleeps in later than Bryce in the mornings, but it's a struggle to get him to finally fall asleep. He is smart enough to realize that if he gives into a nap, he's going to miss out on fun play time. So, he finds every excuse in the book to stay up. "Mommy, eat!" "Mommy, Micky Mouse!" "Mommy, book!" etc, etc, etc! He has become quite manipulative. So, for the past 2 weeks, to prove that he IS NOT going to sleep, he has been crawling out of his crib at nap time. In the beginning, it would usually occur after Bryce had fallen asleep so thankfully Bryce wasn't witnessing his brother's disobedience! As frustrated as I was with Drew, I would take advantage of our time together, feed him a snack, read him a book and then he would ultimately fall asleep, on HIS time frame!

A few days before our trip to KC, Bryce was not quite ready for his nap. I had put the boys to bed but could hear the typical chatter and giggles from the baby monitor. Then it got louder. Then I hear a CRASH! BANG! WAAH! Bryce had watched his little brother crawl ever so effortlessly out of his crib so he thought he could give it a try and landed on his head... not once, but twice!

Now I've got to do something. It's turned into a huge safety issue.

So, the next day, I drive 3 hours to the big city in search of these crib tents.My cousin Marcy's little boy Dane has one and loves it. I was thrilled to find them on clearance at Toys R Us and felt so relieved that I could keep the boys zipped up and safe for many more months in their cribs. But of course, my luck, they don't fit the boys' 3-in-1 cribs...ARGH! Drew slept in Dane's crib while we were in KC and loved the tent. He would say, "Mommy, zip tent, pwease!"

Yesterday, I put the boys down for their nap. I started my usual afternoon cleanup and listened to them chatting and laughing on the monitor. It sounded like they were scheming up a plan. Well... they were! When I went to check on them, Drew had climbed into Bryce's crib and they were playing ever so nicely together. I separated them, told them to stay in their own cribs and walked out. The next time I went in, they had both climbed out of their cribs and were playing with their bedroom toys, as if it was just regular ole playtime! They got a swat and put back to bed. Things got really quiet on the monitor so I knew something was up. This time I went in to find Bryce in Drew's crib and Drew in Bryce's crib - with big smiles on their faces! They each got a timeout and put back to bed. The fourth time I went in to find them both in the same crib again! I was so FURIOUS! Are they NOT understanding me? Don't they know how much I need to get done during their 2 hour nap? Don't they know how precious naps really are?

Instead of reacting to my anger I just stood there with my arms crossed with a scowl on my face. You know the one I'm talking about. The very same one our mother's had on their faces when we did something wrong!

Bryce said, "Oh, Mommy's angwy! Dew, Mommy's angwy. Oh no, Mommy's angwy!" Pretty smart boy, I thought to myself.

Even with "timeouts" and spankings, the games continued for quite awhile longer. They thought it was so funny and didn't really mind the discipline, so I finally just had to separate them. I put Bryce in my bed and he immediately fell asleep. Imagine that! Drew stayed up another hour before falling asleep. Needless to say, I got nothing accomplished during nap time!

Wordless Wednesday