Birthday Presents....WARNING, picture overload!!

I'm trying to play catch up on my blogging.  I know a lot of you are waiting on the actual party pics, but I need to start where I left off before I get even more behind.  I hope to have the actual party posting up by the end of the week.

The weekend prior to the girl's birthday party was one of the most gorgeous weekends this year.  We played outside from almost sun up to sun down both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday morning we played outside with bubbles and the girls played on their picnic table that Aunt Gretchen, Uncle Adam and their cousin's Greta and Amelia got for them for their first birthday.  This was the first time they have used this table.  Last summer they were too small to actually play with it.

 They really are sharing.  It was quite cute.

Alexis was infatuated with the sticker on the table.  She eventually pulled it all off.

The longer we were outside, the curlier Addison's hair got.  Love what the humidity does to her curls!

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On Sunday the girls Ga Ga (grandma, aka Terry's Mom) brought over part of their birthday present so that Terry could put it together.  Terry built their play house while they were napping.  The girls absolutely love it!  Thanks guys!

Alexis' first time in the house.

Addison's first time in the house.

Addison's new "cheese face".

Pretending to "cook" on the stove.

I think I've mentioned a time or two that she might be part monkey??

Alexis coaching Addison how to climb into the house rather than using the door.  She told her to "be careful sissy".  It was adorable.

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While we were playing outside on Sunday we had a few visitors.  The girls had a great time throwing bread at the ducks.  They still look out our back door rather frequently to see if the "quack quacks" have come back.

Once the quack quacks departed, Addison started to complain that she was hot and wanted to go inside to play.  Terry decided to let them color.  The coloring books and crayons were a small part of our birthday gifts to them.  Terry learned very quickly that crayons are only acceptable while either outside or strapped into a highchair.  Within minutes our ceramic tile entry way was colored with red markings as well as a few purple marks made their way onto the walls in our entryway.  Magic eraser is a wonderful thing, but I'm hoping Terry learned that crayons need to be supervised a little bit better!  :-)

Can you tell it's getting close to bed time and little crabby pants was worn out from playing all day?

Not enough time in the day.....

I'm working on posting about the girl's birthday party.  It seems like I'm running around like a crazy person lately trying to catch up.  I promise a few posts in regards to the girls birthday are coming soon.  Until then....here is a picture of the girls, while we were shopping for all the food for their party.

We found a new grocery store close to our house that has this double cart attached to the shopping cart.  The girls loved it!  Not the best picture but I was just super excited to find another place with a "double" shopping cart.

(Also, not the best photo since it was taken from my phone)

TWO YEARS OLD!

I can't believe that I'm actually writing "two years old". 

Two years ago today, at 3:34 AM our lives were blessed with our beautiful baby girls.  It really does seem like just yesterday that my little munchkins were born.  Just like last year, this day has already been very emotional for me.   I've caught myself tearing up several times already today remembering and thanking God for how far they have come.  I can't help but reflect on how very fortunate we are to have these two healthy, (knock on wood) little girls in our lives. 

Stay tuned the next few days.  I have a lot of pictures to post of new gifts that the girls have already received.  Their party is scheduled for Saturday.  I just read that we are supposed to have snow flurries on Saturday.  Awesome!  At some point, maybe I will learn that outdoor parties in April just aren't going to work for us.

Fashion Sense???

Who knew that little plastic ring toys could provide hours of entertainment value?  The more "bracelets" Addison put on the more excited she got.  Alexis was not at all interested in the make shift bracelets.  I'm pretty sure she was off climbing on something at the time.

Hard shoes to fill....

The girls are very fortunate to have the greatest Daddy in the world.  He loves his job as a stay at home father and does it a million times better than any of us ever could of imagined. 

My Dear Sweet Addison, while you look adorable trying...those are some hard shoes to fill!

Have I mentioned that I live with a Monkey?

Seriously this girl has no fear!  No mountain is too high for my sweet little Alexis. 

My curio cabinet of collectible Mickey items has now become an obsession for Miss Alexis.  The chair was originally placed there to help discourage the girls from my valuables.  Instead of a working as a deterrent it now serves as a step stool for Alexis to get a better look.  Once again, we move to Plan B.... 

Trial and Error is the motto in our household!

A little perspective....

I've been on a huge spring cleaning kick lately.  I've been trying to de-clutter our house and get rid of the "baby" stuff that we no longer need.  I've also been putting away clothing that is too small and started washing the girls summer clothes, in hopes that I can bring on some warmer weather.  In the process of trying to organize the chaos that is our basement storage area, I came across a huge bag of baby bottles.  You know those little three ounce plastic bottles that we got in the NICU.  No joke, we probably had 150 of those bottles.  I found a few other random plastic things that I brought up from the basement to put in the recycle bin.  When I came upstairs the girls were very interested in what I had.  This is what Addison chose to play with:

Yes, we were having a "stay in your pajama's kind of day". 

Remember that pink little plastic tub that we got from the hospital?  The ones that the girls took their first baths in?

Hard to believe that once upon a time, both my girls fit in that little pink tub.  At least once a day, I have a "wow" moment.  A moment where I think to myself...."wow, we've come so far and we are so incredibly blessed".   Today, seeing Addison play with that little pink tub,  that was my wow moment.  

No more Mullet!

I feel like I'm so behind in my blogging.  Due to this horrible flu bug that has entered our house, I'm finding it difficult to keep up with everything.  We are entering week number two of sickness and I'm completely over it!!  Hopefully these nasty germs will exit our house SOON!!

Any who....The girls got hair cuts a week and a half ago.  Instead of dragging them back to my stylist, we decided that they needed a more "kid friendly" place.  Alexis and her wild mane was way past the point of needing a trim.  I've been cutting her bangs myself  for a few months now, but it was time to figure out how to manage her crazy mullet.  As you can see from the following pictures, her hair was getting seriously out of control!  (You also can tell that she seriously has become our resident climber/monkey of the house.)

Upon arriving, the girls were thrilled with the huge slide and play area that greeted them.  They could of  played on this slide for hours.  Terry commented that we should get one of these for our living room.  My little monkeys have no fear and were climbing all over this thing.

Alexis was less than thrilled about getting her hair cut.  I also wasn't happy about cutting her hair.  It was getting so long.  The lady cut nearly two inches off the back to trim up the craziness.

She sat still but you can tell she isn't happy about it!!

Check out that sour puss look!  I'm sure she was cursing me under her breath!

Over all Alexis did very well.  Sadly, I forgot to take an after picture.  I will post some soon.

We also figured that since we were there, that we would have her straighten up Addison's hair.  Like I said, I've been trimming the girls bangs for a few months.  I'm no stylist, so Addison's hair needed a quick little trim.

Addison on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, loved getting her hair cut.  She loved pretending to drive the car and was completely mesmerized by the lady and her spray bottle of water.  Her only complaint was that she wanted the pink car, which sadly had already been taken by another kid.

A welcome visitor...

You may remember reading older blog postings about one of our favorite night nurses, Lisa.  (If not, and you want to, a few of them can be found here and here.)  Lisa was one of our nurses who I can honestly say, helped me maintain my sanity during our three months in the NICU.  She took care of my girls as if they were her own.  We feel forever indebted to her and she will always hold a special place in our hearts.  They're truly are no words to describe how amazing of a woman Lisa is.  Lisa was the one who revived Addison when she was born not breathing.  In my eyes, she saved my little girls life.  She doesn't see it that way. 

Two Sundays ago, before the sickness entered our house (that's a blog posting for another day), Lisa came over to visit.  My girls, who are generally skeptical of everyone and have major stranger anxiety issues, went straight to Lisa like she was their best friend.  I'm fairly certain that there is a bond between the three of them that can never be broken. 

Addison, Lisa & Alexis... three beautiful ladies enjoying story time!

Learning to play nice...

The girls have a love/hate relationship with our cat Jynxie right now.  Some days it's like a WWF wrestling match at our house, where Jynx is being tackled on an hourly basis....

Other days, Jynxie is a great conversationalist.

All and all, Jynx is a great sport about the abuse.  Except for when it comes to having her picture taken, and then she just runs and hides.  I may be a little partial....but I think this picture is cuter without Jynx.



If you think my hands are full....

So last night Terry and I loaded the girls up in the car and made a trip to Costco.  Normally we go to Costco on the weekends after the girls are fresh from a nap.  Wanting to be able to have a relaxing weekend at home, we decided to go yesterday evening after I got home from work.  The girls were a little crabby since they are getting some new molars. 

We got to Costco and Alexis doesn't want to sit in the cart.  Terry and I immediately go into power shopping mode, both knowing it's a matter of maybe ten minutes before we have a full on melt down.  Armed with our usual shopping list of diapers, wipes, paper plates, Cheerios, applesauce, peaches, green beans etc etc.  Terry heads in one direction and I take the cart with the girls and head in the opposite direction.

Long story short, as I'm trying to load two massive boxes of diapers into our over sized cart, Alexis is trying to climb out of the cart and Addison is crying "where Da Da go".  I'm sure I was looking frantic and a little stressed.  A woman walks up to me, puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "it looks like you have your hands full."  I reply with my usual response when people say this...."yep, but I wouldn't change one second of it."  She then says.....

"I'm sure no matter how full your hands are, your heart is even fuller."

Yep, she is/was 100% correct.  I couldn't have said it any better myself!

We're going Streaking!!

Have you ever seen the movie Old School?  It's one of mine and Terry's favorites.  Remember when Will Ferrell yells, "We're going streaking! Through the quad and into the gymnasium.  Come on everybody!"?? 

Well this is my current dilemma.....My dear sweet Addison has become a streaker!  During the day she will not keep a shirt on.  Every morning when I get her up she has taken off her footed pj's and her diaper, and is standing in her crib completely nude.  She has the biggest smile on her face like she is super proud of herself.  I've tried different pj's thinking maybe she was getting too warm in the footed ones.  Nope, didn't work.

Until yesterday afternoon, she hadn't pee'd while running around diaper'less.  I went to get the girls up from their naps and Addison once again was buck naked sporting a huge smile in her crib.  She had pee'd all over her bed, blanket, pillow and her two stuffed animals.  When I ask her why she did it she looked at me and put her hands in the air and said, "what just happened?"  This is the same response I get every time I ask her why she has taken off her shirt.  Terry always yells "we're going streaking" every time he sees her running around naked.  Maybe we are a little lax in our parenting style, but if you been through everything we have, you have no choice other than to keep things light and laugh about the small stuff!

Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can keep my sweet little Addison from exposing herself to the world?  I don't mind her running around naked when we are at home, I just can't have her going diaper'less.  I've tried putting the diapers on backwards that doesn't work.  I've tried safety pinning her zipper to her shirt so she can't unzip her pj's, that doesn't work.  My little Houdini manages to figure out how to escape her clothing no matter what I do.  Even overalls don't work.

I've also been told by several parents with toddlers that this is her way of telling me that she is ready for potty training.  This is not the case!!!  She wants nothing to do with the potty.  I will not force this issue and will let my girls decide when they are ready.  Just like with everything else since they were born, they will let me know when they are ready.  I will do some encouraging, but I will not force them.  She screams when you sit her on the toilet or on any of our three different types of potty chairs.  She takes her diaper off regardless of whether it is bone dry or wet, so I'm not sure I agree with that assessment.  I've never claimed to be a parenting expert so If you have any suggestions or ideas, I'm all ears!!

On a side note.....Yesterday when we were changing the sheets on Addison's bed, I told Terry that we might as well wash Alexis' as well.  I was changing the girls diapers while Terry put on new sheets.  Alexis was walking around the room holding her stuffed cow and proclaiming "mooooo"  "mooooo".  I told her "Good job honey, a cow does say moo".  Then she started "baaa'ing" (you know the noise a sheep makes).  I told her that the cow says "moo" not "baaa".  She started "baaa'ing" even louder.  I kept telling her that there was no sheep in her room and that she was being silly.  She kept getting louder and louder.  I asked her to show me where the sheep was.  She walked right over to the mattress that Terry was holding, pointed to the sheep on the mattress tag, looked at me and yelled "BAAA" as if she was saying,  I told you so and you are an idiot not to believe me!  The girls have Serta mattresses in their cribs and on the mattress tag is a picture of a sheep....You know the sheep that you count when you can't fall asleep.  It was actually pretty comical, but I'm fairly certain that Alexis cursed me under her breath for not believing her.