Opening Day

Today is an unofficial Cincinnati holiday.  It is opening day, the first day of baseball season.  We are lucky and since we have lived here have always been given tickets.  This year was no exception and though I am not the world's biggest baseball fan I actually really like going to Reds games, especially opening day.  I was really excited for the game today, but my kids are sick and just not getting better, we have had a rough couple of days and are headed back to the doctor today.  Wish us luck, I think it is roseola, but we are not sure and...BLAH!  Anyhow, bummer that I missed the game, but Jared got to go and he IS the world's biggest baseball fan, so at least I will have a happy husband (even though the Reds lost).  Hopefully the A's win today!  Nana got Jacob a special baseball season shirt and hat.

Anything for Cake!

Just listen to the video, it is amazing what a little mention of a word will do to a toddler!  He ran a long way!

Easter Part 2

Ok, so this picture was taken several weeks ago, but Jared wanted me to save it to post on Easter.  I got Jacob and Claire these "hats" at Target for a dollar a piece, they really like to use hats and shoes for dress up.  Happy Easter!

On Easter Day Jacob and Claire got fun surprises from the Easter Bunny.  They got a beach chair and buckets, shovels and a sandmill for the beach this summer.  They also got capsules that turn into animal shaped sponges and sticker coloring books.  Nana and Papa gave them each new swimming suits and cute backpacks too.
Here is Jacob in his adorable Easter outfit, it was actually freezing when we went to church, but I dressed him in his new shorts anyway. (We were getting ready for church, so he is brushing his teeth in all his pictures).
Claire looked very cute in her new dress and she loved the sand toys from the Easter bunny.
We took three pictures on the bench, one with neither child looking, one with Claire looking, and one with Jacob looking, I chose this one because Claire wasn't looking at the camera in the last picture.

We had our friends Trisha and Trevor and Trisha's sister and her family over for dinner since they were here to visit for Easter.  The kids all played really well together and we had a great dinner.  It was a really fun day.

Easter Part 1

We had a weekend full of celebrating Easter.  On Saturday we had a big huge Easter dinner at our friends the Browns' house.  There were several families there and it was loud, wild, and a lot of fun!  I have to admit that Jacob was a huge contributor to the loud factor.  The food was great and the adults had their own table in a different room.  Here is the kids' table.

We all walked down the street to the Williamsons' backyard and had an egg hunt.  Jacob and Claire were both much more interested in eating the candy than looking for the eggs.
Claire was very protective of her basket and ate her candy without pausing between pieces.
Here she is when we semi-forced her to try to get more eggs in her basket, she kind of caught on and eventually it seemed to click that more eggs was more candy.
Jacob had no time for hunting because there is a slide in the Williamsons' backyard.  He really loves slides.  We snuck a few eggs from Claire's basket to Jacob's basket.

What I wake up to!

So, this is what I usually wake up to in the morning, but always just slightly different, plus I think my kids play everything down for the camera, usually it is a little more wild.  These moments are the ones that remind me that being a mom is fun.

Camie wondered what time the kids normally get up - this is normally the scene some time between 8:30 and 9:00.  Fantastic, isn't it?

St. Patty's Day and Snow

No, these things did not happen on the same day, or even the same week, but I left my camera at Jared's parents house and I am behind on blogging.  This past weekend some friends of ours had a big St. Patrick's Day party and it was SO much fun.  Jared and I really like to get into the spirit of things, so I was sure to pick up some festive wear before the occasion.  My favorite is the eyelashes (again) but these ones were 2 or 3 times as long as the Valentine's Day lashes and I kept having to tilt my head back to peak under them.  I also thought it appropriate to go as a red head!

When we first arrived they had cutouts to stand behind (our friend Nick is very artistic.)  I love that the girl is taller...perfect.  Notice Jared's hat, it is tiny and he had a huge bowtie, I loved it!
At the party there were about 6 or 7 St. Patrick's Day themed casino games and we each were given a cup of coins to start.  The goal was to be the one with the most money at the end of the night.  We also ate all kinds of Irish or green foods.  We really had a great time.
Here are the host and hostess!
A big St. Patrick's Day thank you to Nana and Papa who took Jacob and Claire for the evening, even though Jacob was a puking mess and Claire threw up all over the kitchen as soon as we got to their house.  What nice Grandparents and what nice parents, it was above and beyond the call of duty!

So, the weekend before that we had a HUGE snowstorm where we got over a foot of snow.  Our kids love snow, so we had to let them out in it, but they don't have boots or snowpants, so we couldn't let them out for long.  Claire was fearless and tromped right into the deep stuff.
Jacob was so curious about the feel of the falling snow on his face.
He was also insistent on 'helping' Daddy shovel the driveway.  He really wanted to 'help' all by himself though.
Claire loves the snow and really loves outside in general.  
I like this picture.
We also had some of our friends come over on Friday night to be snowed in with us.  I made tons of food and we spent the weekend playing games, watching movies, hanging out, and eating until the roads were plowed and they could go home late Saturday evening.  It was a fun storm and now that it has been here we can move on to Spring. (Now it just keeps raining constantly)

Little Miss and Mr. Man

I just can't believe how big my kids are getting.  (I am also a little behind on posting pictures that we have taken).  So, here are some of the pictures showing just how big Miss Claire and Mr. Jacob are getting.

Claire's hair is long enough now that I sometimes put it in a ponytail.  I took this picture in February the first time I put it in a ponytail (I know you can't see the ponytail, but it is a cute face).

In February I also decided that they were big enough to eat a little cup of ice cream by themselves in the car...they loved it!  (I also knew that there jackets needed to be washed anyway).
I just think Claire looks big in this picture, she is really in to wide open mouth smiles when she is in her highchair.  
Sometimes I spike Jacob's hair now, it is cute!  They both just look like little kids in these pictures, not babies!
This was the same day, we went out to lunch for my friend Trisha's birthday.  After I took this picture outside the restaurant I attempted to walk back to the car with the leftovers under my arm and a child holding each hand; Claire then lost a shoe and sat down in the middle of the parking lot insisting that I put it back on that very second.  That meant that I got to balance the leftovers and try to trap Jacob (an almost impossible task) with me while I tried to put her shoe back on (not to mention my happy green bag [what some may think a purse] that kept slipping off my shoulder.)  Fortunately we all made it back to the car in one piece (even the leftovers, though they were thoroughly mixed).

The Power of One

Ok, so I can't get my pictures to publish right now, so I will post some oh-so-cute pictures soon, but until then I wanted to post about my latest deep ponderings/realizations.  On Wednesday I took Claire to the Doctor (see previous post, and just fyi I am going to pick up the strong antibiotic today).  I left Jacob at Nana's house for the appointment which meant that I got to experience something that I practically never get to experience.  I got the tiniest taste of what it is like for a parent to have one child because outside of the 28 minutes that I was pushing Jacob out, I have never had this experience.  I cannot even begin to tell you all how much easier a doctor appointment with one child is (even if I have help for the other child).  Also, after the appointment I had to stop at Wal-Mart to get the supplies (also see the last post).  But I also just can't get over how easy Wal-Mart was with one child.  I have two double strollers in my car, but I didn't have to get one out, I just carried her in and quickly got the things that I needed while I carried her or she walked with me; this means that I got to skip the getting out and unfolding a stroller with a trip to both sides of the car to unstrap and restrap two kids and the weaving down the isles with quick turns to keep the little hands on both sides of the stroller from pulling things off of the shelves in each isle.  I also got to skip the screaming from two children for pretzels ("papoo") the whole way through the store (if one of them forgets then the other will remind them).  This is all not to mention the both sides of the car unstrapping and restrapping with a folding of a double stroller when I get back to the car (I think I just mentioned it).  This whole experience totaled less than 1 hour (which it never would have with 2) and it really got me thinking.  I think because I have always had 2 and will always have at least two I just moved on and never thought too much about what having one would be like.  Just to clear it up for all of you out there who think twins are just twice as hard, you are wrong...it is more than twice as much work, I can now speak from my little one hour experience.  It got me thinking about all of the other things that are more than twice as hard, I could make a list, a long one, but instead I will tell you all (actually probably some) of the reasons that two are more fun:

*My kids are best friends, as soon as one wakes from a nap (the only time they are really apart all day) they start calling for they other, they get so excited to see each other.

*I feel like we get twice the laughter, they make each other laugh so much that I think more laughing happens than would with one

*My kids still haven't learned the word "mine" I think this is because their cribs and clothes are literaly the only things that they have of their own.

*They keep each other company at night and it reduces the bedtime screaming...they may keep each other up, but I actually love their little parties.

*We ALWAYS go through the whole gallon of whole milk before it goes bad.  (usually 2 probably).

* There are always enough of us for a game of ring around the rosies ("wowee")

*I get to be a member of a club that has an ENORMOUS gently used kids stuff sale 2 times a year...it is awesome.

*I only had to be pregnant once for 2.

*My kids are socially astute...they really know how to and love to play with other kids.

*They always have an partner in crime (this is more for their own sake, but it keeps me on my toes and I actually find more humor in the crime because of it).

*I learned VERY early in motherhood how to let a child cry and not feel so bad about it, I learned this out of necessity because you  can only do some things for one child at a time.

*Coordinating outfits are really fun, and people love twins!

*I will never have to go through the experience of "Oh Wow I have to kids now, how will I do this and how will I give them both the attention they need" phenomenon because we skipped right over that.

Now, I don't think that anyone else has an easy parenting experience, but my little experience just made me think about what I never did experience.  Yeah for kids, yeah for lots of them and applause for the parents of many children.

What do these things have in common?

Antifungal cream, hydrocortizone ointment, Desitin, Hairdryer, banana???......

All of these items are now a part of a new routine that happens several times a day at our house.  Claire has developed another very stubborn UNI (Unidentified Nasty Infection...my own term) in her diaper area.  Last time this happened we had several doctors visits and tried a few things before settling on it being a staph infection and giving her a super strong antibiotic.  This time it has been almost a month and started very small and got progressively worse, I tried all of the things that we did last time before the strong antibiotics before returning to the doctor.  Because antibiotics tend to create more 'stool' we are trying something new before calling it a staph infection because if it isn't the anibiotics will make it worse.  So now every time I change her diaper I first apply the antifungal (athletes foot cream) then I apply the hydrocortizone which is followed by the Desitin... are you curious where the hairdryer comes in???  After applying the three creams/ointments I am to dry them with a hairdryer (on cool obviously).  Claire is so nice to lay there until the hairdryer time comes, for some reason she is deathly afraid of the hairdryer, so she flails around everywhere dispensing the cream on the carpet and on me before I can hold her down to try to dry everything at least a little, I have yet to get it completely dry.  (My doctor said she had one mother that took a hairdryer everywhere with her to use whenever they needed to change a diaper...No thankyou!)  The banana is just a big part of her newest diet...if you are a parent you know what it does, if you are not a parent, you probably did not make it this far in the post and thus, you really don't want to know what it does.  I feel so sorry for the poor girl, and I really hope this works fast, or it doesn't work at all so we can stop trying it and move on to the antibiotics because there is just not enough time in each day to change ONE of my children's diapers that way.  I have now gone through this routine 4 times, it is a pain...I think it might actually be working!

The bright side is, I actually have a use for my hairdryer now (those of you who really know me know that I use a hairdryer about 3 times a year).

Happy Birthday Aunt Peepee

Today is my sister's birthday.  Her name is Kaci but Jacob calls her Peepee.  She is my older and only sister and we look just alike!  We used to work at Dairy Queen together and she would tell everyone we were sisters and when they seemed confused she would tell them that I was adopted, even though they all knew my mom.  My parents adopted Kaci from Korea when she was an itty-bitty baby.  If it wasn't for height and looks you would never believe she was adopted though because she has the perfect combination of my Mom and Dad in her (she may have just a little too much of my Dad's sarcasm, but I think we all got that).  Kaci is 3' 21" (4' 9") and has enough spunk for a 6' 11" body (I love to watch her try to reach things on high shelves).  In this picture I am squatting!

Kaci is among the best at bringing out the very silliest in me!  She is mother to 4 and caregiver to many.  We all love her!  Happy Birthday Loser (it is a term of endearment with us)!

Happy Birthday Amber!

Today is Aunt Amber's (Jared's sister) Birthday.  I am sure she would like you to know that it is the only birthday in the scriptures (..and they did march forth).  Amber is an English teacher (a brilliant one...she has an Ivy League Masters) and she loves her work, she also loves to travel and has been more places than I dare to list.  She is a great Aunt and Jacob and Claire really wish they could be there to help her eat her cake.  Happy Birthday Amber.

When the Lights Go Out, the Party Starts!

Our kids have a tendency to party a little after we put them to bed, they just really have a lot a fun with each other (especially when they can't touch each other).  The sound is what you are watching on these videos because there is nothing to see but the doorknob, we just wanted to capture a little bit of the party for everyone.  The first video was taken at 8:20, about 20 minutes after bedtime; the second video was taken at 9:30, about one and a half hours after bedtime.

Try playing them at the same time - it's really funny!