Schedule Changes

Just when you get really good at something, everything changes. Well that's what's happening here this week. We're switching to 1 nap a day! My kids are big nappers and I always thought I'd wait to switch until they were 18 months old, but I finally decided to go ahead and do it now. The kids haven't been napping well lately and everyone has said you'll really like 1 nap a day vs. 2 so we took the plunge. Although Thursday & Friday last week the kids took 2 two hour naps each day and so I was really questioning if I should make the switch now. We also had a really tough time switching from 3 naps to 2 so I was really dreading the schedule change this time around.
BUT...they're doing really well. They haven't been as cranky as I thought they'd be although they are eating me out of house and home now. They snack the entire morning (during their old nap time). I thought they may just want to be eating since they were tired, but a friend of mine said hers did the same thing for about 3 weeks until their bodies adjusted to the new schedule. We'll see...I'm not a big snacker so it's really driving me crazy that they want to continually eat now!
We fill the mornings with different activities like going to the mall to walk around or play in their play area, go to story time, etc. Anything to keep them occupied and not let them think about the fact they should be napping. They now go down at 12:30, just after lunch and are supposed to sleep for about 3 hours (or at least that's what I've been told!). But so far, mine are only sleeping for an hour and a half. Hmmm...I'll give them a couple more weeks to figure out they're supposed to sleep longer. Hopefully they will.
The days are long right now. I have to say I actually liked the day when we were on 2 naps. It really broke everything up for me. Now I have to come up with so many different things to entertain them for long stretches of time (and our attention span isn't very long). I also haven't figured out how I'm going to do our "field trips". Normally we'd do things over lunch and head back home early afternoon for our nap. But now, I'm not really sure what we'll do since they're down (or at least in their crib for quiet time) from 12:30 - 3. We'll have to do things in the morning I guess (I really don't want to battle rush hour traffic with the kids in the afternoon), but I'm afraid they'll catnap in the car on the way home and won't want to nap any more once we arrive home. Then we'll be in for a long, cranky day since that will be the only sleep they get during the day!

Jake, Our Precious Angel

Well, since our speech evaluation for Jake, he's really been working on communication. He's started chattering again (baby talk) and Friday he said his first word! "Ba" for "Ball". He loves balls and says it all the time now. He can also say "dog", "go", "Sadi" and "color" or at least variations of these...you kinda have to know the context of what he's trying to say in order to decipher the code. Way to go Jake! He's also following a few simple directives like "Get the ball" or "Throw the ball". We had our first therapy session this afternoon and it's pretty much just a play session. The therapist plays and talks with him for about 30 minutes. He loves her and has a lot of fun with her. She also signs as she talks so maybe he'll pick up some more from her. I've kinda run out of stuff to try.

I kinda think the sign language helped "jump-start" his little brain into the communication mode, away from the physical stuff. Lord knows my little guy doesn't need to work on his climbing skills at the moment. We've already conquered that. He can climb up my big chair onto the cabinet behind it to play with the faucet. He can also climb up the spindles of our kitchen chairs to get in your lap. He and Abby are also "exploring" their world by turning absolutely every toy over and standing on it. Once they stand, they then jump on the (unstable) object. We've had several bumps and bruises from falling, but they still continue to do it.

Family Ties

Okay, so this weekend we went to our first family reunion. Well, it wasn't a first for John, but it was for me and the kids. I was so excited about it the day before and John kept telling me not to get my hopes up - it was just a family reunion. But it was a lot of fun. It was tough keeping up with the kids in an old church building that was not only not baby proofed, but it wasn't even kid friendly. By the time we got home, John asked why I wasn't exhausted and I simply said I chase after the kids all day, everyday! I had a lot of help at the reunion - normally I'm by myself. It was great! We meet a lot of John's family that I hadn't met, although many weren't able to make an appearance this year.
One thing I will say though, the reunion has room for improvement. There has to be a better way to get all the family photos. We all gathered in a large group for the photos and had one main picture taker, but everyone wanted the shots on their camera. So we'd all sit there (with squirmy babies) playing musical cameras! In this day in age, we should have one camera and just email the family pictures after the reunion.
I didn't bring any toys for the kids, thinking they'd be entertained by all the people at the reunion, but my smart SIL brought a basket of goodies. We found a SMALL room with tiny tables and chairs in it and set it up as the "nursery". The kids had fun I think although we didn't really take a morning nap and were super late on an afternoon nap so by 3 the kids were really tired.


Everyone's anxious for the food. The kids normally eat at 11:30 or 12 so they were really hungry. I don't think we ate until 12:30 or 1.


Nikki, Krissa, Westin, Alex, Austin and Sharon


I took this picture from the door of the room. It was such a tiny room! But the kids loved it just the same.


Jake finally had to take a moment by himself outside. He needed a break from all the action.

Abby's Babies

In the midst of our daughter's wild personality, she has a soft side - reserved for her babies. She has many babies and loves them all. Although the top baby is Mister Bear (her pink snugly). She must sleep with Mister Bear and keeps tabs on him at all times. She also has a polar bear that she sleeps with although sometimes she swaps that out for a moose, a frog, or a puppy. She looks so funny when she tries to carry them all around. She doesn't have big enough arms, but she tries anyway. She will often lay on the floor and cuddle with them too. Yesterday I caught her on her couch with them all; she had so many that there wasn't enough room for her!

We All Need A Little Therapy

Abby had her "exit interview" yesterday with ECI for physical therapy. Six months ago they came out to help her get moving. She could barely sit by herself and she wasn't even thinking about crawling. She also would not stand on her feet. If you held her in a stand position, she just lifted those little feet right up. Now she's everywhere. Walking, running and climbing. We are really going to miss our therapist Miss Nicole. She was great and the kids really liked her.
Today though we get to meet the two therapists for Jake. He's not talking yet and doesn't understand simple commands like "Get your shoes" or "Where's the dog" so the doctor wanted him evaluated by ECI for communication delays. He did get accepted and today we're meeting to discuss our six month goals. I'm really curious to see what they do for toddlers in the area of communication. I've started teaching him sign language since our 15 month check-up and he's already picked up 3 signs (eat, more and milk - the real important ones :-). Since he's not speaking, I wanted to give him a way to communicate other than cry. I'm not sure if it's working, but he will sign while he cries.
Abby's picking up on the signs too and knows "more". Although since she's talking more and more each day I haven't worked with her as much. She's up to about 10 or 12 words now and adds a new one every day it seems. Yesterday she said "bye, bye" and waved to Miss Nicole. She was also working on "Turtle" and "Airplane" some, but didn't quite get those down. I'm sure she'll get them in no time though. I'm also going to brag on my little girl a bit more...she actually started talking in 2 word phrases. She has about 4 of these...read book, green ball (no she doesn't know the color green yet, but we're working on this since she can say "green"), what's that?, and let's go.
Mama's so proud of her little angels!

Visiting with Grandma BB & Grandpa John

On Friday, Grandma BB & Grandpa John came down to visit. They got here just after the kids went down for their afternoon nap, so we had a chance to visit and catch up before we had to chase after the kiddos. When Jake & Abby did wake and join us, it took them a minute to figure out what was going on and who was here to see them. They were half asleep when I brought them into the kitchen after naps and they both just stared at Grandma BB & Grandpa John for a minute. At one point, Abby ventured over to Grandma BB, but quickly turned around and ran back to me when she spoke to Abby. It was so funny! But all was well after they got a quick snack.
After snacks the kids were running around playing with everyone. Jake had fun playing ball with Grandma BB and Abby couldn't get enough of Grandpa John. He made the "mistake" of playing airplane with her. After that she wouldn't let him put her down for a minute. As soon as he'd set her down, she'd immediately turn around and want him to pick her back up. It was so cute.
John had to work Friday, but did get off early and made it home around 6. The kids were super hungry (they normally eat at 6) and so we all headed out the door quickly to get to the restaurant. The kids had fun throwing food on the floor (especially Jake) and looking at all the people. We left quite a mess for the crew to clean up afterwards and I felt horrible, but it's there fault for having carpet in a restaurant. Plus it's a pretty kid friendly restaurant so I'm sure they're used to messes.
Thanks for making the trek to play! We all had fun!!!

Cleaning House

Jake & Abby love to "help" me clean house (or at least play with the broom and little electric sweeper I have). So, I bought them their own Cleaning Trolley (complete with two working vacuums!). It arrived yesterday just before nap time, so I of course got it out for them to play with then vs. waiting until nap time was over. The kids had a blast and they each immediately "claimed" their cleaning supplies. Abby is all about the broom. She was sweeping everything yesterday (including the walls at times). Jake was all about the vacuum and began pulling it all over the place. I didn't have enough batteries for the vacuums, but I'll pick some up this weekend so my little angels can really help me clean house. Hopefully they're not scared of it when the toy starts to make noise! The nice makers of the cleaning trolley even included some "dirt" that you can sprinkle on the ground and suck up with the vacuum, but I immediately threw it out. One - it's a choking hazard; two - I have enough dirt around my house that I don't need play dirt for the kids to vacuum!!!


I can't believe mom's putting us to work at this age!


Boy is this back breaking work!


This place a mess! Come on sis, we've got a lot of work to do and Mrs. Spider's Sunny Patch starts in 20 minutes.


Mom, I can't beleive you're sipping on a drink while we're hard at work.

Precious Pups

Well, after months of keeping the dog door shut in order to keep the kids from going through the door, everything has paid off. This weekend, we left the door open (on accident). Abby quickly spotted the open dog door and ran towards it. I was off after her, when I saw her stop in front of the door, turn to the wall and grab the plastic insert that goes in the door and try to put it in. YEAH!!! The next day, Jake did the same thing!!!
However, now the dog door must be shut while they're up. They can't stand it open. If I leave it open, they immediately try to put the insert in the door to shut it. Poor dogs. They'll never get their freedom back.

Testing Dad

This weekend was the first good amount of time John has spent at home since we got back from vacation (the week after we got back, he jetted off to Singapore!). During his time away, I started time out with the kids and they're actually doing well with it. Although the kids are in time out several times a day for the exact same thing, they are learning what it is and the things that get them in trouble. Since dad was home, our sweet little Abby decided she'd see what he would do if she did something wrong. So, she walked over to our little side table in the den, looked at dad, smiled and shook it as hard as she could (laughing of course). She kept at it and I finally told John that he had to put her in time out. She knew what I would do, but she was looking at him to see what he would do. He didn't want to do that, so I ended up putting her in time out. Then as soon as she got out, she did this all over.
Later I told John he should read Love & Logic so we are at least on the same page with disciple, but he said he'd rather I deal with this "testing" phase and he'll pick up when they're out of it. Hmmm - when do they get out of this testing phase? I think it only gets harder from here.
However, by the end of the weekend, my fabulous husband reluctantly joined in on the time out train. The kids were very hurt to have daddy put them in time out, but hopefully they'll catch on to the time out idea soon so we're not spending so much time in time out. (okay, could I have said "time out" any more times in this last paragraph?!?)

Happy July 4th!

A Little Culture

Since it's so hot right now, I've been looking for alternatives to the zoo. So today I ventured to the Museum of Nature & Science in Fair Park.
Well I should have known to reschedule the trip when the kids woke up at 5:30 this morning. I left them in their cribs for an hour hoping they'd go back to sleep, but the cries never stopped. I finally went in at 6:30 and changed diapers, but their diapers weren't really that bad. As I was changing Jake's, John walks in the kids' room to see what's going on and if he could help. Well, that was it. As soon as they saw daddy, they lost it...they weren't going back to sleep. So, I told John to grab Abby and I grabbed Jake and we headed off to our bed. I was so tired and really wanted to sleep. Abby cried for a bit longer, but finally settled down. Jake just played and played on our bed. We all finally crawled out of bed and I made breakfast early for everyone. I was hoping to get them back on schedule, but by 9:15 they were so cranky that I put them down for a nap early.
They also decided they didn't really need to nap that long (even though they were SOOO tired) and woke up in 45 minutes. I wasn't dressed and didn't have anything packed for the museum so I just let them cry until I had everything loaded. By 10:30 we're heading out the door for our adventure!
We made it into Dallas in record time, but suddenly came to a halt. CONSTRUCTION!!!! I decided to try an alternate way to the museum, but I ran into construction with every turn. Traffic was absolutely horrible too. The line was so backed up to get into fair park. I finally find my way there and then the parking attendant tells me it's $15 for parking. What? I have no CASH!!!! He tells me to do a U-Turn and on my way back through the line I ask if this is normal traffic. It really seams heavy for the museum. He tells me no, there's a concert with 20,000 people going on. Okay - note to self, check for special events before venturing to Fair Park!!!
I finally wind around through Fair Park and find FREE parking for the museum (That guy knew where the museum parking was, but he just wanted my money! He knew I'd have to walk a mile to the museum if I parked in the concert parking lot!!! Jerk!).
Okay, I've been driving in the Fair Park area for almost an hour and FINALLY I'm parked and getting the kids loaded up to go inside. YEAH!!! I have to give the kids credit though, they didn't fuss a bit in the car. I on the other hand did.
Once inside we had a great time. The children's museum was great - everything was hands on. Although my guys just looked at everything. I wasn't brave enough to let them out to explore by myself. We'll have to go back with John one day. I actually think he'd love the place. They did get to play in the toddler area (it was gated - smart people). After the science museum, we headed to the nature building. I didn't think the kids would like this, but Abby cracked up laughing at every exhibit. She also pointed at almost everything in the place and asked "What's that?". She loved it!!! Jake was a good sport, but he was pretty tired.
Take the traffic and construction out of the equation and it was a great trip.

Jake and Abby crawled and climbed over everything in the toddler room.


Look at that picture!


Kids could "dig" for bones in the sand pits below the dinasour. Very cool!


What are you looking at?


That beaver is so funny looking!