OK, so I LIED...

I'm definitely ADDICTED to blogging. I just couldn't resist. Yesterday was crazy, so i have to tell ya'll all about my day.

It started out normal..till Paul called and said someone broke into his server. He worked ALL day long...I mean all day, he went in at 630a and got home at 830p! YEAH, that's right...thank goodness the girls went to school so the day wasn't too long for me. HALLELUIA! So, i got a few hours of nice quiet reading time...and the book is ok so far. It's really about these two ladies that talk to hundreds of moms who though that having children was nothing...then when they had a baby it hit them like a mac truck! It's nice to know i'm not the only one that thinks/thought that way. So, it's a semi humorous book about all these ladies...that are putting on these happy go lucky/white picket fence faces in front of their freinds and family...but underneath they are going CRAZY! O, how life is different with children. It made me think...how rich we'd be w/o children...how we'd be traveling all around from beach to beach drinking fruity drinks and taking off from work soo much my boss would have wanted to strangle me! LOL! BUT, my life is RICHER(Is that a word) in a different way now. I know one day...i will miss my girls when they are all in school. I was already thinking about that yesterday. On the way home from work...i kept thinking...Hannah starts REAL Pre-K in Aug...what am i going to do with just 2 of my precious little babies...i'm really going to miss her, even if she's a sassy pants sometimes. It's going to be REALLY WEIRD! So anyway, i don't even know where i was going with this...but the bottom line is, Yes, children do change you life forever...and sometimes it IS REALLY REALLY TOUGH...or at least it is for me. There are days where i seriously have to just walk into another room...still...and take a deep breath, then go back and take control of the craziness. BUT, that's life and one day like i said...i will miss my girls...but i know one day later in life when we're all good friends and i do become their friend and they come to me to talk about their boyfriends and stuff...it'll all be worth it. And it'll be even more worth it in 30 years when i have grandchildren x's 3! THAT is what life is all about...having children that drive you crazy and then having grandchildren that you can spoil rotten and send home with mom and dad so they get a TASTE of what YOU went through 30 years earlier! LOL!

SO, on to other things. Here's a funny little story. We were on our way to school yesterday and Jennifer had just told Allison about little Jr. and so they called us to tell us that Allison was going to have a baby brother. So, we were talking...and i told Hannah that aunt Jennifer has a baby in her belly right now and on Allisons 4th birthday he should be here. I then proceeded to tell her that she was in my belly...etc. She said "NO, mom i wasn't in your belly". I said "well, yes you were". She said "No, i was not". And we went on and on...i finally said "well, where did you come from?" She said "an egg, that cracked open". WHAT? It was HILARIOUS! I mean she seriously thinks she came from an EGG! And she kinda did...but not the kind of egg she thinks...it's HILARIOUS!

Ok, so now that i'm just ramblings..here's a lesson i learned yesterday. TAKE NOTE: DO NOT WASH target brand(circo) tennis shoes in the washer and then throw them in the Dryer for 80 Minutes! Yeah, i know, 80 minutes! I learned my lesson yesterday...as we were rushing to get ready for school and i grabbed the shoes i had nicely washed from all the mud from this past weekend...and i couldn't jam their shoes on their feet at all! They must have shrunk an entire inch! I mean they just weren't going to go on their feet. SO, THANKFULLY, as much as my hubby hates it, i ALWAYS buy a ton of whatever i buy in different sizes...AKA the nice white cheap tennis shoes at target. When i found them...i bought size 2-5 b/c i wasn't sure how long they'd have them and sometimes they don't get in more later. Well, handy dandy me...i just grabbed the 5's and put them on....then warned the teachers that they were a tid bit big...but we didn't have a choice! :) Ahh...NOW PAUL...see why i do what i do. I would have been SOL if i hadn't bought all those sizes...b/c they can't wear sandals to school...they are forbidden. They have to wear tennis shoes b/c of tripping and playing outside etc. So, thanks to me...they could still go to school yesterday! LOL

And lastly, i'm slowly making my goal for the March for babies this weekend. I've had a couple of VERY Generous donations that i'm so greatful for...and i've given lots of money myself. So, i may not make my 500 goal...but i think i MAY make 300...which would be great. So thanks again to everyone that has donated for SUCH A GREAT CAUSE! I really hold the March of Dimes close to my heart...and i'm honored that so many people have helped me reach my goal. It's such a great cause...and it's my charity of choice since i've seen through my great friends eyes(Melody) how premature a baby can be born. I'm just soo thankful that Sydney and Katelyn are doing so well...thanks to all the technology we have these days. If you don't know and haven't read that far back...a brief summary of Melody. We were pledge sisters in college. We went astray after i went into the police academy. Then, my friend Jaymie, who still talks to Annette(who is Melodys Big sis in chi-o) told me she heard Melody was also having twins. Jaymie got her number and i called her right away. We went to lunch and started haning out some...and we were six weeks apart. On Sept 1st that changed. She called me about 11a that day(i remember it like it was yesterday because xiomara(our cleaning lady) was there and i saw on the caller id...tx womans. I grabbed the phone and she said "Brenda, don't freak out, but i had the babies". They weren't due till Dec 6th! This was Sept 1st! She told me they were doing ok considering...but that they weight in a 1.10lbs and 1.12lbs. I couldn't control myself...i almost had a heart attack. My Twin pregnancy buddy had just had her babies...over 12 weeks early! I had NEVER experienced or really heard of having two babies soo early(i was obviously very naieve back then) and it was that day that i really began to appreciate what the March of Dimes was doing...trying to find a reason and cure for prematurity. It was that day that i realized that everyday i kept my own babies in..was one day better for them and 3 days less they'd spend in the NICU. It was that day that i realized all sorts of things. Anyway, enough sad stuff...thank goodness the girls are doing fine now...of course Melody still worries...they still have to get the RSV shots for another year and they are definitely more susceptible to things than my girls...but they are otherwise doing really good. We will see them this weekend...i can't wait. I'll take lots of pics to add Sunday after we get back from the big walk! Her girls are just precious and so sweet!

Well, think that's all for now..again...i've written a novel..and i have pics to add later. I took a couple of pics of the girls in their 1 Gymboree outfit they have(i bought at the garage sale before they were born). It's precious...but then i got to thinking...they can't wear this precious little dress to school...so i took them off and put on some target brand dresses. Glad i did b/c when i arrived to pick them up Sam had PAINT ALL OVER her dress...BRIGHT ORANGE PAINT! LOL! It's like a mother intuition kicked in yesterday. I KNEW it just wasn't right to wear those cute little dresses to school! :)

Gotta run!

Taking a few days off of blogging...well maybe!

We'll see! LOL! BUT i just bought a new book on my target shopping trip today and the name of the book is:

I was A REALLY GOOD MOM before I HAD KIDS
reinventing modern motherhood...
by: trisha ashworth & amy nobile

SO, if you don't hear from me...that's what i MAY be doing.

Sounds like a nice humorous book! I'll let ya'll know!

The definition of Piranha!

A few more pics from today...i think i take more pics during the week than on the weekend! Playing in the cabinet!
All 3 in the cabinet. That cabinet is huge...the other day i was hiding from Hannah...so i crawled in and Paul shut the door...it was pretty funny!
Sarah shutting the door...cute feet and hand sticking out!
Sweet Sarah after a bite and bath! :)

Well, in the dictionary it'd be:

In the Wikipedia Dictionary... A Piranha or piraña (pronounced /pɨˈrɑːnjə/, /pɨˈrænjə/, /pɨˈrɑːnə/, or /pɨˈrænə/) is a member of a family of omnivorous[1] freshwater fish which live in South American rivers. In Venezuelan rivers they are called caribes. They are known for their sharp teeth and an aggressive appetite for meat. However, despite the negative Hollywood publicity Pirahnas are not generally violent, and have been known to be domesticated in home and office fish tanks.

In My house the definiton is: BOTH of my Twins! Yeah, that's right...the biting is NON-STOP around here. It's driving me CRAZY! I feel so bad everytime it happens...but there is nothing i can do. Most of the time, by the time i see them, they already have their jaws locked down on the other one. It does NOT matter where the bite...they'll bit the other ANYWHERE! My poor babies both have bites all over their bodies...on their sides, on their hands(just today in the bath), on their arms, on their backs...EVERYWHERE! I have NO IDEA what to do...other than confort the one that just got bit...and sad BAD to the other one that just bit her. I think i'm going to go crazy soon if this biting doesn't stop.

Now, on top of that they are also, slapping...each other and ME & Paul! Instead of saying NO if they don't want something...they'll slap you! Where do they get this from?? I just don't know. I talk to other MOMS...and i don't think i've met one that has gone through this never ending biting stage. I even talked to the dr. about it...she said "oh, they'll outgrow it". BUT WHEN because pretty soon they're going to be drawing major blood. I mean when they chomp down...they chomp hard. It's not a sweet little love bite...it's a BITE!

Anyway, yeah, i guess their little personalities ARE blooming...if you consider biting and hitting. Sometimes i wonder if it's a girl/girl thing...i don't hear a lot about boy/girl twins fighting...but i could be totally wrong.

Other than the biting, they are really growing up fast. Their vocabulary consists of the following: bad, out, more, up, bye bye, hi, quack quack and some other little words every now and then. They understand pretty much everything i say to them "are you hungry", "do you want a snack", "do you want to go upstairs", etc. They are getting really good at going upstairs and downstairs...and i'm much more comfortable this time around with the stairs. With Hannah, i was SOO scared...not anymore. Hannah goes up and down whenever she wants...and i think by 2 the girls will be just as good...they have finally gotten their dept perception down pretty well.

Think that's all for now..I still can't believe we're going to have a NEPHEW! I'm in SHOCK! I'm soo excited and jealous! Now i want another baby...JUST KIDDING...we'll just pretend like little JR is ours! LOL! I kept calling him Jr. before...it's like i knew...but not really!

IT'S A BOY!!

CONGRATS TO My SISTER & BROTHER IN LAW! They just found out...She's having a BOY!

We are all so excited we can hardly wait! It'll be the first & i'm sure only BOY in the mix of FOUR GIRLS! Talking about ONE LUCKY LITTLE BOY!

A Productive Weekend!

What a way to start the week...3 SMILING BABIES! I think they are all thinking...AHHH...Daddy is gone! Thank Goodness! LOL! Just kidding!After living here since Oct 06', we've finally gotten around to working on the front yard. We actually finished up one side of the yard right when we moved in...but the other side had looked really bad. I guess we could have had it done a while back...and just hired someone to do it as we did at our first house...but with 3 kids and a budget...it's WAY cheaper to do it ourselves. At our old house we actually hired a landscape architect to draw out the front yard...pick what plants would grow good where...and she did the whole drawing and pics of the flowers etc. I think it cost us 200 or 300 to do just that....then she wanted to do the whole front yard for around 1500.00! HOLY smokes. And even though we didn't have kids at the time...and felt like we were rich and i was still working...we took the ladies work and hired some guys that needed work and got it all done with the help of a few guys. But we also put in a lot of our own time and work into the old house...because when we got started we found out that there was a cement curb like boarder around the whole house! HOLY SMOKES! Thank goodness Paul had a dumpster at work so we hauled it off slowly(worried the dumpster guys wouldn't pick it up because it'd be too heavy and full of cement). Anyway, the reason for the whole story is because now that we have 3 kids and we're cheap...we're doing the whole front yard by ourselves...and doing a great job of it thanks to the lady that taught us a lot about planting and keeping it simple and green with a litte color in front. SO, that is what we are doing.
This is actually the front that we already did back in 06'. Very simple and nice...the lady that lived here before had bushes that literally covered the entire beautiful windows in front...that large window you see...was completely covered...it was very over grown.
We did the same thing over to the right side...and since there is not any monkey grass, we decided to add color there. You can't see it...but it looks nice as long as we can keep it and the girls don't yank out the pretty flowers as i've already re-planted for the second time because the first palet of color Paul bought was ugly and there wasn't actually any color to it...so we bought another palet with pretty color.




This is the side we are working on now...oh how exhausting it was to tear up this side of the front. There were tons of big bushes again...we cut all those down back in 06' but kinda left it after that. So, when we started on Sat morning there were weeds and vines all over this part. Lots and lots of roots too because to the right of the pic is a GIGANTIC tree that is probably 60 yrs old and HUGE! We rented a tiller to tear it all up...it was fun and i felt like a pro until quitting time...my arms hurt SOO bad i couldn't pick them up or they'd start shaking. I think i worked muscles i never knew i had. :( I still feel like i can hardly pick up the girls...my arms still hurt! I guess that's what i get for wanting to tear up the front and help paul...i think it may have been a mans job to use the tiller. AND boy, did we tear it up. Every littler sharp edge was bent on the tilling thing! YIKES!
Here's a closer look. We're keeping the moneky grass around the outside and then making a complete circle...the rest of the circle will be bricks of some sort. Then we'll always have color on this side.
The middle is lowered and we're going to put those big bricks down and make a "make shift" patio with a bench and a "kiddie" bench and tie them down with something so no one steals them...yeah seriously that is what happens when you live in the city. At our old house down the street...we left the bench in the front after we moved while the house was for sale...someone totally pulled it up and stole it. It had to weight 100lbs...it was soo heavy...so we're going to tie this one down somehow. Nice, living in the city...where crazy people drive around and steal stuff out of your FRONT YARD!
On this side...this is where the big gigantic tree is...you can see the bottom. It is raised b/c of all the roots...so we'll make another circle and just mulch around the tree and make a retaining wall out of bricks to keep the mulch inside.
On another note, here are some pics from the weekend...the girls wearing their shirts b/c it was actually chilly outside Sat. morning...They say "Yes, we're twins, Yes, we're identical" I LOVE these shirts...everytime they wear them...no one asks...they just stare! Carrie, you need two of these in BLUE...they have them on just4twins.com!
Just another shot of the shirts! They are soo cute!
This was a pic from this morning! The girls ALWAYS get up at 5:30a...i run and get the living room ready..get their pre-made bottles out of the fridge and burp towels(that they HAVE to hold while their drinking their milk) and carry one baby out while paul gets the other one. Then i put the one i'm holding on his lap and go shower. It takes me about 15 minutes to get totally ready...i come out and we switch. When i walked out this morning...this is what i found. You'd think they'd just sleep a little more if they are THAT tired!
Close up of Sarah! Sound asleep!
I mean seriously...they are always exhausted...why don't they just sleep in...instead of getting up in the morning for their bottles???

As for the rest of our weekend...we went to home depot and to the grocery store. Saturday after we worked all morning..we had a picnic outside of Jack n the box...YUMMY! I thought i deserved a REAL hamburger(haven't had one in about 4 or 5 months)...it was DELICIOUS! I even had a real coke(kiddie size). OH MY...it was awesome! The girls ate some of their grilled cheese...but fed most to gracye and sugar who sat right beside us begging for food since we were out on a blanket in the backyard. Our neighbors must think we're a little goofy...we have lots of picnics out in the backyard on blankets...and normally it's a big mess..BUT hey, it's outside...so who cares? The girls had a blast...and Paul did to. I'm not all about picnics because i'm all about being organized and how organized can you be with 3 kidos sitting on the ground trying to eat a little food? Milk all over the place...Hannah kept spilling her drink...the dogs begging for food...a bug here and there.....BUT Paul LOVES eating outside and i guess we better enjoy it now while it's still nice outside. We also saw a van catch on fire on the way to the grocery store. The guy obviously let the old van over heat and we caught it at the very beginning...so being the nosey people we are...we pulled into a parking lot and watched from way back. Obviously the fire trucks here aren't very fast b/c we sat there for a good 10 minutes before they got there...the van was torched and gone by then. I hate to be rude...but it was kinda cool watching it go up in flames...i'm not a fire freak but it was like watching a movie of a car burning up close and personal. It burned pretty slowly...and we sat and watched the whole thing....cops came flying up, people were everywhere and the fire got bigger and bigger. We were waiting for a big BOOM from the gas tank...it never happened. He probably didn't have much gas in the gas tank or something...we did hear as the tires POPPED...one at a time...the plastic was just dripping like gas. Thankfully no one got hurt...it looked like as we pulled up the one guy driving the car was trying to put the fire out with a towel...waving and waving at it...but it kept getting bigger and bigger...and he gave up. It was a very old car so i'm guessing he only had liability insurance and when we drove by on the way back from the grocery store he just pretty much abandoned it in the parking lot of the car place...it had scorched the nice bushes and there was burnt stuff all over the place. I wonder what the business does now? Do they get the vin and try to sue the guy if they have to pay to remove the burnt junk off of their property? I'm assuming if the guy was going to have it towed...he would have waited for a tow truck...but there was no one there...so i'm assuming he just left since he probably didn't want to pay for a burnt up piece of junk to get towed.

That was our weekend in a nutshell. Next weekend is going to be BUSY! We have my parents coming over Sat morning so we can go sign our WILLS. One of our MOMS in my group is a Will attorney and gives all MOMS in our group a deal. We've been planning to do this for a while but just haven't gotten around to it. Now that we are going on a trip in a month...we HAVE to have it done. Plus the one before was when Hannah was a month old...so it was done before the girls were born. We changed things up a bit...and added a few extra clauses...like when we die, when the children should get the money etc. I decided that i would never want my 18 year old walking around with any kind of money b/c if they are anything like i WAS...the money would be gone before it hit the bank. :) YIKES! OH, so we also have the MARCH FOR BABIES Walk this upcoming Sunday! I'm really excited about that...except for the fact that i haven't raised much money...so i have less that one week to raise as much money as i can...last year i think i raised 200 or 300 dollars..i've got 20 so far...so i have a lot of work to do this week! :)

Think that's all for now...have a good week!
Brenda

What kind of shoe are YOU?

Ok, so i normally don't do these little quizzes..but this one was definitely ME!

You Are Flip Flops

You are laid back and very friendly. Cheery and sunny in disposition, you usually have something to smile about. Style is important to you, as long as you can stay casual. It takes a lot to get you to dress up! You are a loyal and true person, though you can be a bit of a flake. You tend to "play hooky" and blow off responsibilities a lot more than most people. You should live: By the beach You should work: At a casual up and coming company

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofshoeareyouquiz/">What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Thanks to my buddy blogger and MOM...who had this on her blog...i thought it was fun and had to share!

What kind of shoe are you?

It's been a few days...

Say cheese for the camera! Oh, how they look like their dad! Even Dr. P commented on how they look exactly like Paul. Amy, my friend down the street calls them Mini Pauls!
Sarah Loves diaper boxes!
Sarah in the diaper box...Hannah was trying to sneak in...
Hannah is NOT going to appreciate this one..this is how she naps! I'm not sure WHERE in the world she gets this from...
The girls first bowl of real cereal...the liked it...but very messy...this was before the bibs...i'm going to have to try it again this weekend!

Sassy Sarah in her Ms. Hollywood glasses...every baby should have some Ms. Hollywood sunglasses...i remember having some myself!

Uh, Sarah...those are on Crooked! Give me a BIG KISS, SIS!
UH...mom...enough of the camera please!
Hannah wanted me to take a pic of her hair...she fixed it herself! TONS of barretts!

Another one with the hair thingies...and ms. hollywood!
Hannah loves to be funny!

I Know i've missed a few days of blogging...but i've been quite busy this week. Uh...don't ask what i've been doing though b/c i don't even really know! LOL! Yesterday was an extra busy day though b/c i dropped the girls off at school...came home..and then had to go to the med center for my yearly appt. I actually hadn't seen my dr. since my 6 week check up after the girls were born...so i was very excited to show him pics of how big the girls have gotten in the past 16 months! Needless to say, he was excited and shocked. He asked for pics the minute he walked in the door...of course i had them in hand so i could show off all my girls. That took forever...it always takes forever at the dr.'s office but in particular..the girly dr. takes HOURS! SO, after that i didn't get home till about 130p and then had 1 hour to dry the girls clothes...eat lunch and get moving back up to school to pick them up. Then the teacher tells me that Sam had a rough nap time...she went down at 12p then got back up at 1p and then went back down at 145p but only for 15 minutes b/c they get them up at 2p so they can go play outside. I told her that's not really that weird b/c the day before Sarah slept for FIFTEEN minutes and got up...then i had to hold her to get her back down(i know, scold me now...i should NOT hold them...just let them miss their nap when they pull tricks like that on me). The teachers were also really excited to tell me that both girls pooped at the SAME time. Very funny b/c they do it here everyday! Every time i change one dirty diaper i automatically go check the other and 99% of the time i end up changing the other one! Maybe something to do with being identical??? I don't know!

Anyway, after that we came home...they had snacks and i was off to my favorite part of my day. We had our Moms of Multiples Meeting...and this month we had the induction dinner...so it was fun and at a hilton hotel(not too far away from my house). It's really funny, but not to get off the subject, but a few weeks ago Melody and i found out one of the MOMS is a Chi Omega(that's how melody and i met years ago) anyway, she was soo excited to find other chi-o's in the group. Well her name is Katherine, and the minute she saw me walk in last night...she told me "grab your name tag and melody's and go put them at my table". SOOO cute...it's was like a sorrority within a sorrority! Funny...considering i'm not that sorrorityish(maybe not a word) anymore. So, I can't really relate...but it's still nice and i think Katherine feels like we have this bond. Either way, she is one of the sweetest girls in the group...so we had a great time talking and meeting other new moms. There was actually one mom at our table(she has 7 month old fraternal twins) and she raised her hand right away and said "HI, i'm...whatever her name was(i already forgot), i haven't been to one meeting...been in the group for a little over and year and on and on. I re-assured her it was not a big deal...and that i had actually only been back to my first meeting since Nov 2006 last month...she was relieved. Now that they've moved the meeting out so far...it's just a bit harder to get there...plus with traffic is horrible getting out NW after 6pm anyday of the week! So, i'm just not real motivated....but i'm going to try harder...because it's really nice to get away and have a quiet night away from the kidso every once in a while.

Back to the dinner last night...we really had a great time...and ended up playing the game "i've never" with tooth picks...and the running joke of the meeting was that one girl at the front table(not mine) said "i've never been to jail"...well lets face it, we're all mothers...not just mothers, but mothers of MULTIPLES...so evidentally the girl that said that ended up wtith 7 tooth picks from her table(which means 7 of the 8 girls at her table had been to jail sometime or other)...and BOY, that had to be the funniest thing ever and the running joke for the whole meeting. Everytime someone went up to introduce themselves that was on the new and old board...they'd say "hi, i'm ____, i have frateral/identical girl/boy twins, and i haven't been to jail so far...it was really funny. Doesn't sound as funny in my blog..so i guess you had to be there. Everyone was rolling. The meeting ended up ending about 10ish..and then everyone was planning an after party at the fox and hound...i didn't go because i was exhausted from running around all day...most of the ladies that went are vetran MOMS that have older kidos...that probably sleep later than my sweet babies do...so that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it! LOL!

Besides hanging out with and enjoying talking to melody, katherine and another mom that has 20 month old twins(that are 26 weekers by the way...and also doing great)...i got to really talk to Laura, who is a new member and 32 weeks prego with fraternal b/g twins. She looks so great to me so far along. She is actually the lady that bought my high chair we had this immediate bond b/c of our scare with pauls heart and the sad ironic story of her husbands best friend who actually passed away b/c of he ended up with 100% blockage in his heart. It's a long story, but to make it short...when she originally wanted to buy the high chair...i emailed her back and forth...but then i blew her off for a few weeks b/c that was also when the whole situation with Pauls heart happened. Anyway, when i finally got back to her and told her what happened...she told me it was really weird b/c now she couldn't come pick it up b/c her husbands bf passed away at 40 and she had to her his wife plan his funeral. OMG how it brought tears to my eyes...the whole story still gets me all teary eyed...and the chances are high that it could have been prevented if the first dr. had acted faster and sent the man right to the hospital since he WAS having chest pains and all the tell tale signs of a heart attack. Anyway, to make a long story short...she is still devistated and everytime i see her she asks about Paul...even though she has never met him before. Anyway, we were also talking last night about how the whole "twin" thing was VERY unexpected for her...and i said ME TOO! She said, oh i'm so glad to know i'm not the only one that was completly SHOCKED..b/c lots of the women in our group have done IVF or some sort of fertility treatment(and please NOTE, there is NOTHING WRONG with doing fertility treatment...i have nothing against it at ALL...it's just that those that do, have some sort of idea that MAYBE just MAYBE you may have more than one...which is a blessing in itself) and with that the chances of having multiples are higher than a person like me or her...who had already had a child(Laura already had two)...and so she was like...o i feel relieved to not be the only one in this situation. LOL!

So, all in all, it's just a great feeling going and hanging out with my new found group of friends...that all have some sort of idea as to what i'm going through and what i've been through! LOL! It gives me such a warm feeling, hanging out with all these ladies, in our little "secret sorrority" that no one knows about other than those that have multiples! :) When our group of ladies get together...we always have a BLAST...there are some ladies in the group that are VERY LOUD and HILAROUS...and then those of us that are a little more conservative...and i think they kinda even all of us out....It's fun! On top of that, we are always comparing notes...about ANYTHING and everything you can think of...i mean some of the things we talk about...i'd never discuss with my MOM for sure...and other things i wouldn't even talk to Paul about....not bad just girly stuff...that only a girl would understand. We talk about birth and what having two does to your body...talk about plastic surgery and tummy tucks, Boob lifts and marshmellow bellys from your belly stretching out past the point of return, c-sections v/s regular births...and on and on! It's nice to be a semi-veteran mom...and be able to give my own prespective on what i feel is better...and what i found important to know after the fact..and to be able to tell the ladies the things NO ONE told me about twins...sometimes i feel like I need to write MY OWN book with the cold hard facts...that no one else talks about! :) Hmm...i wonder if i'd get published. Chances are slim b/c i'm not good at writing and can make a run on sentence go for MILES and MILES without a period! HA!

Well, today i think i've written a novel and my kids are lacking in attention...so i'll leave you on one word for the day!

TGIF!!!!!!!!

A little bit of info about Au pairs..

Forgive me for anyone that has an au pair and loves them...we had a really bad au pair and she left a horrible taste in our mouth. Anyway, i could go on and on about how much i can't believe i took in an au pair that had already been booted from one family...then came over to our house and was partying it up like a rock star....eating so much i don't know where it all went...and then wondering why she gained 35lbs in a few months. Hmm...anyway, i could go on and on. BUT, mainly i'm annoyed because she came into our house...wrecked my car with my child in it...hit her FRIENDS car and then left(well, i FIRED her). NOT only that...but she evidentally used her debit card and over drew money...which i have received many past due/debt collection mailers for her. I send them back-return to sender...not at this address. Anyway, to make a terribly long story short...the phone rang while ago(yep, 830p...we had just put the girls down to sleep) and it was some girl asking for Julia rodrigues! ERRR...i KNEW where this conversation was going...so i politely(well maybe not very politely) told her she does NOT live her and hasn't since i fired her LAST JUNE! As i was talking to her and telling her that she called at 830p and my kids were sleeping..the little Bia&#( hung up in my face! She better say a little prayer she doesn't call back tomorrow night! Not only is she going to get an earful...but i'm going to give her the director or the au pair service's number..so SHE can deal with this BS! I mean seriously...i think she overdrew like 25.00 out of her accont...give it up stupid wachovia bank! What is the big deal...you gave a 21 year old ON A STUDENT VISA...FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY WHO WOULD BE GOING HOME SOMETIME IN A YEAR OR TWO...a BANK ACCOUNT & CREDIT CARD...YOUR PROBLEM DUMB people! Now i'm wondering...i know she had a target card...wonder how much she got out of that one. I truly think...if your on a visa from another country...why would anyone give this person ANY sort of credit...she could totally go run up the card and run back home...then who'd be responsible for that???? ERRR...

Sorry, i know i'm going on and on and it's like beating a dead fly...because hopefully she's gone and it's all done and over with...but NOW i'm annoyed when these collectors start calling me AT NIGHT! That is a BIG NO NO in our house!

Some of my Favorite Inventions for Twins...

I decided after seeing Carrie, Brook, Finn & Reid with suction bowls for her boys on her blog(THANKS Carrie)...to try a few new things myself. I can't believe some of the really cool things that work well to keep the floor and the girls clean. I'm amazed and my hubby isn't even mad about the money i spent on these items...which is always good when your on a budget and things are just really expensive now a days!

Here are a few items i can't live without now:

I'd be lost without the above restaurant high chairs(bought at a restaurant supply company...DO NOT buy off of amazon..they are cheap and both had dings on them)...they clean up very easily and are great once the girls hit 1! I HAD two nice evenflo high chairs...it literally took me OVER AN HOUR to clean them after they were done eating...and i hated the covers b/c you could never get them nice and clean unless you washed them in the washer each time...then re-connecting everything took forever! Sometimes i'd just drag them outside and hose them down..that took just as long! Plus, you don't have trays or anything extra to clean up...they go right up to the table and are stackable..so good for those who don't have as much room.I just bought the above items on Amazon...and boy have they all been wonderful. The baby Bjorn bib is AWESOME! Talking about the floors staying much cleaner...clothes stay clean and this bib just catches EVERYTHING. My girls LOVE to drink and spit anything out of the sippy...this catches it all and keeps their clothes dry! I'm actually going to buy two more to keep in the diaper bag. I wouldn't recommend it for babies..but again by 1 this bib is my savior. The sippy cup grip is also awesome. We takes the girls out to eat ONCE a week at most...but they LOVE to play the "throw your sippy on the floor game"..which is gross and i end up wiping the darn things down every other minute while were out. This sippy cup thing..attaches to the sippy and high chair or whatever you want to hook it to...and we've only been out to eat once since we bought these...but i LOVE them! Lastly, the snack traps are AWESOME! I have tried 2 or 3 different types...they never worked and food would go all over the place when they pulled their hands out...this one has a top part that is shaped somehow..that the food doesn't go flying all over the place when you pull the snacks out. I LOVE them and once again..saved me a lot of time cleaning up messes! Lastly, the suction plates...these are kinda iffy...sometimes they work...sometimes they don't. BUT, if you have a child that loves to throw their plate on the floor it's totally worth it...you just have to keep re-suctioning on the table. Either way...it's not too bad.

You may be able to find some of these items on ebay...guess i should have checked there myself since they were all pretty pricy(cosidering i had to buy two of each)...but i know amazon has all of the items above.

So if you have twins...or are having twins and will or do lack the time of taking an hour each time your kidos eat(yeah that's 3xs a day = 3 hours) to clean up your child and floor after feeding a baby...here are some cool things that worked for me! I wish someone had told me about these earlier...i feel like i've spent half my life cleaning floors and babies already..and on top of that..too much money trying to find the perfect item that will work for the girls! LOL!

NOW, if anyone has anything they absolutely love and can't live without...leave me a comment and let me know...i'm always looking for new items that others have tried and actually work good.

My Dancing Queens!

My Girls LOVE to Dance! All 3 of them. We watch american Idol and they go crazy, dancing!

Samantha Knows her body parts!

My baby is going to HARVARD! LOL! She totally knows her body parts:eyes, nose, belly, hands, feet, etc. Turn volume up to hear this one!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

And NO, I'm not pregnant! LOL!

My sister is though! Jennifer & Jeff are going to have a new baby! They are due October 28th...Yes, that is ONE DAY after Allisons birthday(she'll be 4)...How cool is that???! Paul & I are thrilled that we are going to have one more niece or nephew to add to the mix. Allison will have so much fun with her new brother or sister and so will Hannah, Sarah, & Samantha! YAHOO! The big girls do NOT know yet...as Jennifer is waiting till she starts to show to tell her so she'll really understand. Then, we'll get to tell Hannah too!

It's going to be soo exciting...because this time around i'll really be able to enjoy HER baby and help her out more. Last time around...we were both pregnant at the same time...and then i had to take care of my baby, so i really didn't get to enjoy sweet Allison as much because we were BOTH going crazy with new babies. Now, the girls are all bigger...Hannah will be in school and the twins will be in MDO...so i'll be able to go spend some time with Jennifer and the baby after he/she is born and she's home for a while. I can't WAIT! The best part is...I GET TO GO HOME when i'm done and let HER stay up at night and feed HER baby! LOL!

Anyway, CONGRATS to Jennifer & Jeff! We are praying for a healthy beautiful baby...and although i'd love a boy in the mix...we don't care as long as the baby is HEALTHY!

Manipluating our poor babysitter!

Hannah is getting WAY to smart for her pants! We've been very fortunate in the past with sitters...we have 3 we use on a constant basis. Samantha, who lives 2 houses over and is just a complete sweety...she is 14 and has a brother that just turned 2 and 4 other siblings..so she is GREAT with kidos. Then Tara, who is in college, but her mom & dad live a block over and when she comes in town she knows to call us for extra babysittting money and we NEVER say NO to her coming over to watch the kidos. Then we have Ashton(i love that name for a girl), anyway, she is a bit younger...i think 12, maybe 13, quiet but very sweet. We see her a lot b/c they are outside many times when we go by on walks. Either way, we have some great sitters in our neighborhood...all living with in driving distance at night when we get home from a LONG night of partying...JUST KIDDING...we're ALWAYS home by 10p and 99% of the time we go to dinner and come home...that's it.

Anyway, back to my story. Hananh has had sitters pretty much since she turned one. We had a really great sitter in our old neighborhood(her mom was in my playgroup who had a daughter that was a month or two younger than Hannah...so she knew how to take care of babies)...anyway, since we don't get help from any of my family that lives here and have never depended on any of them to babysit...it's been great to have sitters that love to come over and we really do compensate well(i think). So, again back to the story.

Last night, Samantha(the sitter) came over at 7p. I think i may have told her the wrong time b/c we always leave at 730p, which is just enough time to get the girls dressed and down for the night so technically she only has to watch one baby(Hannah). But it was actually nice because she came over and got to interact with my shy(yeah, seriously they are really shy around people other than us) girls. Most importantly, she is just soo good with them...she really really tried hard to play with them...pick them up and get them to play with her...she's GREAT! So at 730p, we put the twins down for the night and left. I felt really good about out date night...like nothing could possibly go wrong...Hannah was so excited she didn't even look up to say bye to us. So we leave, and get to the restaurant, and everything is fine besides the annoying old idiot for a waiter we had. UGH! No biggie, we were OUT ALONE...and it was nice either way. We finally got our drinks...reminded the poor old waiter about what we wanted for an appetizer for the second time...and were just sitting around. I always make paul put his phone on the table...just so we can hear it in case of emergency...and it has NEVER RANG in the 2.5 years we've been leaving Hannah with a sitter. BUT, last night it did...i almost had a heart attack...i gave it to Paul to answer...as i was freaking out. Paul answered and it was Samantha...she said "Hannah wants to talk to ya'll"...he said OK! She got on the phone and was bawling...i mean hard core crying...she told Paul "I want to talk to mommy!!!" SO, i grabbed the phone and ran out the door so i could hear her...she kept saying "i fell off the couch and hit your laptop that was sitting on the couch with my elbow and it hurts"...O geeze...talking about playing the babysitter! Anyway, i FINALLY convinced her that i'd bring her home anything she wanted if she stopped crying so we could finish up our dinner and have a quiet nice evening away. She said "then bring me some lipstick and i'll be ok". I said "ok, we'll bring it when we get home...just calm down and be nice". We took our time because Samantha said everything was fine...but she insisted on calling to tell me about her elbow...which was actually her knee she hit. SO, we ended up home around 945p(our waiter took FOREVER with everything) and she was wide awake waiting for her lipstick...so luckily we had one hid from her..and Paul ran and grabbed it right when we walked in because she was waiting for it! UGH!

Anyway, to make this story as short as possible...this morning after it was all over and done with...she told me as she was giggling..."i made Samantha give me a cookie, and then i put it back b/c i didn't want it, so i made her give me an oatmeal cream pie and then some pretzels"...talking about some major manipulation of us and Samantha. Errr...i guess we're just going to have to set some ground rules for Hannah from now on now that she's going through this manipulation stage! :)

I'll take this as a lesson learned!

FUN FRIDAY!

Just a few pics of the girls...they made up a new game with the help of their big sis. Flip the anywhere chairs upside down and climb up...then slide down! Notice my beach towel covered couch in the backgroud...that's to protect the couch from the wrath of Hannah's pukey cough! :)


Hannah & i went shopping yesterday...she picked out her own dresses that she wanted! This one is for our trip to FL.

Sarah wearing mommys shoes...she LOVES to try to put them on...so when i said "let's go to the store" she ran and put these on.
OOPS...they were falling off...
Sam decided to try one on too!
This is the reason i really think she's going to end up dressing funky like punky brewster. She was cold...so she put a long sleeve shirt on and pants on underneath her cute little dress.

TO Match or to COORDINATE?? That is the Question!

Since the lady i usually buy all my matching clothes from second hand, didn't have any 18 month clothes...i've been doing a little shopping lately. BUT, since i've been turned into a bargain shopper(thanks to my hubby) i have been shopping for cute dresses at marshalls lately...Target is starting to bore me...or maybe it's because every cute dress they have there i have already bought(2) and the rest aren't very cute. Unfortunately, they don't have as many "Matching" outfits. SO, we've been coordinating instead. Paul does NOT like it. I think it's just as cute...since they look alike anyway and they need their own identity! What do you think of the new dresses?


Sam & Sarah snuggling up with sweet Gracye..who is sick of this two kids chasing her around the house with a torn ligament in her leg. Hannah and her gum...she doesn't LOOK sick here..does she?
All three girls...2 smiling and all 3 looking at the camera!
I think these dresses are cute! They are cute BUT they knew they didn't match this morning...they were both grabbing at each others dresses...it was weird. Like they knew they weren't dressed alike and wanted to wear what the other one was wearing! Funny!

P.S. don't worry...i did fix all their hair before we left to drop off the little girls at school today!

Almost done with the blog...and boy it's been a long night!

TTL pukes today to clean up: 2! Luckily i've got it down to a science and KNOW it's inevitable...so i have a puke bowl right beside her and the minute i hear the gagging...i shove it under her face! That saves cleaning clothes...extra crying and extra stink to clean up! AMEN!
TTL times Hannah has had coughing attacks...WAY too many to count.
TTL hours awake last night consouling Hannah past 9p bedtime: about 4!
TTL Hours my hubby got to sleep last night: TOO MANY!
That's what being a mommy is about though...taking care of sick babies when they are sick and then i STILL have to get up with the babies at 5:45a! UGH!


YEP, that's right, Hannah's sick with the cough and it just doesn't seem to stop! UGH! I feel like we've all got a touch of it...but not like her. I would love to look in her mouth and see what in the world is making her cough SOOO BAD! It's HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! I just can't seem to figure her out. I've made up my mind i'm going to call that allergist today and see if that's what it could be v/s just a bad cough. NOW, the honey isn't even working!

Anyway, i'm taking the twins to school today and Hannah & I are going out to spread her germs around the city! LOL! Well, not really, but we're going to go shopping for a new dress for me for our date night friday night. I want a new dress that fits me good...so i can finally show off my "almost 16 month post pregnancy with TWINS body"! LOL!

That's all for now!

TGIT(Thank goodness it's Thursday! :)

Excuse the blog...

Thanks to my Blogger friend Lindsey...i'm working on re-vamping my blog. Please excuse the mess while i get it all worked on...It's a work in progress!

The Never ending Cough!

Errr...i'm so confused at to what could be wrong with Hannah. I can't even say how many coughs she's had this year...but it's coming back full force again. I knew it was coming back a few days ago...and so i remembered my MOM friend Stacy telling me about giving Cameron(her little boy) honey at night to coat his throat to stop the never ending cough. SO, i started yesterday morning because she was coughing and coughing and i wanted to take her to school so i thought it was worth a try. Well, i gave it her yesterday morning...and it was the "MIRACLE DRUG" for her. But i still have to get down to the bottom of this issue so i've been giving her inhalers of albuterol and steroids as my dr. has instructed me to do each and every time this happens. So i called the dr. and she told me to make an appt with an allergist...so i'm going to do that today. BUT, to make it through school i thought i could just take the whole thing of honey up to school with a teaspoon and let them give her some every time she gets a bad attack. Evidently that's a BIG BIG, NO NO! So, i argued with the administrator for a bit and gave up. I was soo annoyed..i know it's not school policy...but i'm NOT going to make her miss school i'm paying for ALL the time because of this cough...no snot, no fever, nothing...other than this yucky on going DRY cough. So i said fine, deal with it..but don't call me if she has an attack...give her some water and deal with it...if she pukes...it's not because she has a virus it's the cough...so don't call me. Gosh, i know that sounds bad...and it's not that i don't care...i was just REALLY annoyed that they wouldn't make an exception(she's been going there for almost 3 years and i've NEVER sent her to school with meds...because i'm one of the moms that usually just keeps their kids out of school if they are sick)...but i'm sick of this cough and taking her out all the time for a simple little cough that could be prevented with my new Miracle honey! :) The teacher asked me...well if she has an attack...i'll just call you and you come pick her up...i said NOPE, i'm going out to the woodlands...so i won't be anywhere near here.

Anyway, to make a long story short...no call all day. When i picked her up, the teacher said "she hardly coughed all day"...Hannah said "i did cough a whole bunch"...you know how kids tell it to you like it is when you want to sugar coat something. I said "ok thanks" and we left. The MINUTE we got in the car she started coughing non stop..yeah right...she didn't cough hardly at all my keister. Anyway, i told her NEXT time i want to give her some honey..i'll dump out one of her prescriptions and give her THAT! Err...how annoying. Some of the rules they have at school are so stupid...like for instance not only the medicine rule, but the birthday rule. If you want your child to celebrate his/her birthday at school you MUST bring pre-packaged things from a store bakery...not anything home made(which are always much better). I saw one lady who hadn't known the rule as i hadn't...and she made all these really cute individual kiddy cakes for each and everyone of the kids and teachers...she was walking back out with everything...i would be some money she said at least ONE POTTY WORD :) I would have at that point.

Anyway, so now we're going to go to a allergist sometime soon. I'm going to try to make an appt today while the girls are napping...hopefully we can get in sometime soon...we'll see.

On another note, the girls vocabulary is really blooming...last night Sarah walked right up to Paul while he was holding Sam and said "UP". It was the first real time it was completely understandable...i mean there was no missing that word. Then this morning Sarah yelled "bye, bye" as Paul was walking out the door...it's the cutest thing ever. I can't believe my girls are talking...one part of me is SOO excited, while the other part of me wants them to wait a while longer...how am i going to deal with THREE girls sassing me back???? One is WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH. I mean Hannah is really going through a bad phase right now...she is fighting, sassing, and hitting. I do what i can...but the discipline plan i have been working on just doesn't seem to be working. We've tried everything from time out in the foyer to putting her in her room and holding the door shut(well now i put one of those handle things on the inside, so i shut the door and she can't get out). But now that i'm writing this...What would she do if she got sick at night and couldn't get out to get us. EWH....i better re-think that one.

Happy HUMP DAY! Thank goodness...only 2.5 days left of the week!

A Taste of Texas...

I'm a BAD AUNTIE...the first time i posted this...i forgot to add my favorite pic with all FOUR of my favorite girls...well 3 are mine and one is my niece! :) Look at those bluebonnetts! They are GEORGOUS...see below for original post! Sorry...i don't know how i forgot these pics! BTW...it's actually illegal to pick bluebonnetts in any public/state area...do you think they'd throw these cuties in jail for picking flowers?? Besides, how do you STOP two 3.5 year olds and two 15 month olds from picking flowers??? I made sure we left all the ones that were pulled there...so that the seeds will reproduce for next year! :)
THIS WAS MY ORIGINAL POST!!!

Since we DO live in Texas, i feel it's only appropriate to have pics of my girls with the STATE FLOWER! So, with spring arriving and the flowers in bloom...this is a taste of Texas! BTW, check out what a difference a year makes.

Enjoy!

Brenda

Three of my FOUR favorite girls! Sarah on left, Sam on rightOh, here's my Fourth favorite girl...Allison & Hannah..Aren't they adorable???

Another precious shot...they are just soo sweet!

Family shot...with three kids, i'm not sure they'll ever be ONE shot of all three looking the same way! :)Another close up..wait...are they all looking? Perhaps..close enough!Another cute one...although mom has her eyes closed!Amazing what a difference a year makes. This is one year ago almost to the day! The babies were only sitting up thanks to the bumpos!And then this year...What cuties!! Oh my, how they've grown! Again, one year ago...they were TINY! YEAH right...do you seriously think i can hold all 3 and have them all look the same way? HA HA!I tried though!NOPE...ain't happening this year! Maybe NEXT year!On the way out...
What a cute pic...auntie jennifer...with one of the girls holding her hand!
All lined up in a row...up front Uncle Jeff and the two big girls...racing ahead!The END!

BTW, i have to tell ya'll...these were taken in the CITY! Actually by our old house, right on a bayou! Isn't this just amazing??? Such beautiful flowers in the city? We drove 10 minutes from our new house to get there!