A conversation we have multiple times a day:
E, J, R: "Dada, I wan more."
Dada: "More what?"
E, J, R: "More please."
Dada: "Thank you for saying please, but what do you want more of?"
E, J, R: "Please."
Dada: "Thank you for saying please, but what do you want more of?"
E, J, R: "More please."
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Does anyone know how to collect royalties from Target?
Because we brought this box of Easter stuff down from the attic recently, and it's been sitting at the top of the stairs.
Every time we go up the stairs, the girls point at the box and say "Emma!" Julie started it, but now they all say it. Even Emma thinks it's her.
Every time we go up the stairs, the girls point at the box and say "Emma!" Julie started it, but now they all say it. Even Emma thinks it's her.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Personality and Developmental Notes 4/23/11
The girls love to sing right now... ABCs, Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, 5 Little Monkeys, and Row Row Row Your Boat are favorites right now. They used to request that we sing them, but they've started singing them on their own, and Emma will even stop me - "NO, my sing it." (She confuses "my" with "I" in a lot of cases.
Emma has started saying "kay" instead of yes. As in, "I go downstairs, kay?"
Becca's current favorite color is green. Julie seems to prefer orange. And Emma is still pink or purple, unless Julie or Becca has orange or green.
Becca was playing with a baby doll in the shopping cart when she needed a diaper change. I heard her say "No touch Emma, Julie" to reserve her stuff.
They can kind of, sort of, in spurts, count to 11. Julie's favorites are 6-7-8-9.
Daycare called about two days after Emma got her finger shut in the door and said that she wouldn't let anyone touch it and was very upset. Her finger was big and swollen, and she hadn't been letting me touch it, either, except to put a band aid on it. I wasn't too worried about it, until daycare called. Then I started to worry, so we decided to take her to the doctor. She was clingy and quiet, as usual, in the doctor's office. But she didn't cry. And she actually let the doctor look at her finger, touch it, squeeze it, bend it. Luckily, it wasn't broken. We got stickers and lollipops for everybody on the way out. I think it was the first time she can remember being at the doctor's office and not getting her ears looked at or a shot. Because, once she finished her lollipop in the car, she said "I need doctor." And then Julie, "No, I need doctor."
Becca loves "puppy dogs" right now - she loves pretending to be one, and calling these little stuffed bears "my puppy dog."
The girls like to clean up after themselves when they spill things. "I need paypuh towuh" or "I need nap'in." I'm not completely convinced that they don't spill things when my back is turned just to be able to clean it up.
Emma has started saying "kay" instead of yes. As in, "I go downstairs, kay?"
Becca's current favorite color is green. Julie seems to prefer orange. And Emma is still pink or purple, unless Julie or Becca has orange or green.
Becca was playing with a baby doll in the shopping cart when she needed a diaper change. I heard her say "No touch Emma, Julie" to reserve her stuff.
They can kind of, sort of, in spurts, count to 11. Julie's favorites are 6-7-8-9.
Daycare called about two days after Emma got her finger shut in the door and said that she wouldn't let anyone touch it and was very upset. Her finger was big and swollen, and she hadn't been letting me touch it, either, except to put a band aid on it. I wasn't too worried about it, until daycare called. Then I started to worry, so we decided to take her to the doctor. She was clingy and quiet, as usual, in the doctor's office. But she didn't cry. And she actually let the doctor look at her finger, touch it, squeeze it, bend it. Luckily, it wasn't broken. We got stickers and lollipops for everybody on the way out. I think it was the first time she can remember being at the doctor's office and not getting her ears looked at or a shot. Because, once she finished her lollipop in the car, she said "I need doctor." And then Julie, "No, I need doctor."
Becca loves "puppy dogs" right now - she loves pretending to be one, and calling these little stuffed bears "my puppy dog."
The girls like to clean up after themselves when they spill things. "I need paypuh towuh" or "I need nap'in." I'm not completely convinced that they don't spill things when my back is turned just to be able to clean it up.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Happy Easter from the Beach!
We packed up and headed for the beach on Wednesday after work. Grandma and Grandpa had been out there since they stayed with us, and we decided to wrap up their last weekend and spend Easter weekend with them.
The girls did pretty well with the 5+ hour car ride. Best value ever? The $5, 3 hour Curious George DVD. Thank you, Target! Except for the fact that, about 10 minutes in, *something* freaked Julie out and she started crying and did NOT want to watch the monkey. I had to take her DVD screen down so Becca and Emma could still watch it.
We got to the beach around 11:30, and the girls wanted no part in sleeping in their pack-n-plays. Julie finally got in hers, and as much as we praised her, the other two insisted on sleeping with us. It was a long night. Well, a short night, since after falling asleep at 1am, we were up again at 6:30.
The sun was strong on Thursday morning, so to get out of it for a while (I'm a bit of a fanatic about sunscreen... but I'm also really lazy), we went to the NC aquarium at Fort Fisher. It was nice, and small enough that the girls weren't overwhelmed they way we were at Atlanta. But they weren't quite as interested this time, either, once we got into the aquarium.
Julie telling me what the albino alligator says ("snap!" with a clap of the hands)
J
E
Fish
Jellyfish tentacle
Psychedelic jellyfish
R
We stopped and got some lunch, and then made a somewhat impulsive (so not us) decision to venture into downtown Wilmington to see what was there. It seems like it's always night time when we drive by, and we were curious what it looked like in the light. We didn't stay too long, since the sun was still bright, and the only nap the girls took was ~20 minutes on the way to the aquarium. We walked along the river for a bit and saw lots of boats.
And then we got some ice cream. Chocolate, of course.
I swear Julie looks like a pirate.
We tried to go out to the beach for a bit on Thursday afternoon, but it was cool and very windy. We didn't get to the end of the boardwalk before Julie said, "I don wan to see the ocean." So she and I turned around and went back to the house. Apparently got a few steps from the end of the boardwalk, but that was it. Emma went a little further, but only briefly. For the most part, they've been content to see the ocean from the windows.
Friday ended up being a lazy day. It was overcast, and rained in the afternoon, so we spent the day around the house, doing silly things.
Like, say, playing with the pop up laundry basket.
And decorating bear for Easter.
And playing a particularly spirited game of "I'm gonna get you!"
We played some music on pots and pans.
And then we used those same pots and pans as stepping stones to jump off of.
Saturday started out kind of gray again. We thought we'd take the girls to the park in the morning to burn some energy. We got them fed, dressed, all sunscreened up, and loaded into the car. We hit some traffic getting to the park, and a few scattered raindrops. We were still going to try to make it work, but when we got to the park, there was a huge Easter Egg hunt going on, people everywhere, and nowhere to park. So after promising the girls a big "adventure," we came home after spending 20 minutes in the car. Emma was annoyed. "Need venture." She didn't want to get out of the car.
We did eventually get her out of the car, and came upstairs and played on the deck for a while.
After nap, the sky had cleared a bit, and it was bright and sunny again. We reloaded our sunscreen, and headed out to the beach. I wasn't brave enough to take a camera out there, but we played in the sand for a bit, and then and walked along the ocean's edge. Becca wasn't terribly impressed. She kept complaining that her hands were dirty and wanted to go inside. Eventually Grandma took her in. It took Emma and Julie a long time of being held before they'd get their feet wet. Eventually, though, they had a ton of fun jumping over the waves as they came in and splashing around. We finally came in when Julie started shivering.
And of course today was Easter. I will have to say that Greg and I did a much better job at Easter than we did at Christmas. That still haunts me. The girls got up, and it took a few seconds for them to see the eggs, but then they were off. And done in about as much time as it took me to switch out lenses on my camera. (I wasn't quite prepared for a 6:45 Easter Egg Hunt.) A few pics before we packed up and headed home.
E
Julie finds one!
Emma's motto: "No egg left behind!" I swear, at one point she was carrying one under her chin.
Becca with the basket grandma made(!) her, "ma mo," and her "puppy dog."
"Do I have a little chocolate over here?"
R
J
Ma mo, savoring the spoils of his victory.
Yes, that's right. My child is having Kashi cereal, jelly beans, and m&ms for breakfast. Of course it was her idea to mix them all together.
Quite a look, huh?
We got home around dinner time, at which Becca said, "I need chocolate."
The girls did pretty well with the 5+ hour car ride. Best value ever? The $5, 3 hour Curious George DVD. Thank you, Target! Except for the fact that, about 10 minutes in, *something* freaked Julie out and she started crying and did NOT want to watch the monkey. I had to take her DVD screen down so Becca and Emma could still watch it.
We got to the beach around 11:30, and the girls wanted no part in sleeping in their pack-n-plays. Julie finally got in hers, and as much as we praised her, the other two insisted on sleeping with us. It was a long night. Well, a short night, since after falling asleep at 1am, we were up again at 6:30.
The sun was strong on Thursday morning, so to get out of it for a while (I'm a bit of a fanatic about sunscreen... but I'm also really lazy), we went to the NC aquarium at Fort Fisher. It was nice, and small enough that the girls weren't overwhelmed they way we were at Atlanta. But they weren't quite as interested this time, either, once we got into the aquarium.
Julie telling me what the albino alligator says ("snap!" with a clap of the hands)
J
E
Fish
Jellyfish tentacle
Psychedelic jellyfish
R
We stopped and got some lunch, and then made a somewhat impulsive (so not us) decision to venture into downtown Wilmington to see what was there. It seems like it's always night time when we drive by, and we were curious what it looked like in the light. We didn't stay too long, since the sun was still bright, and the only nap the girls took was ~20 minutes on the way to the aquarium. We walked along the river for a bit and saw lots of boats.
And then we got some ice cream. Chocolate, of course.
I swear Julie looks like a pirate.
We tried to go out to the beach for a bit on Thursday afternoon, but it was cool and very windy. We didn't get to the end of the boardwalk before Julie said, "I don wan to see the ocean." So she and I turned around and went back to the house. Apparently got a few steps from the end of the boardwalk, but that was it. Emma went a little further, but only briefly. For the most part, they've been content to see the ocean from the windows.
Friday ended up being a lazy day. It was overcast, and rained in the afternoon, so we spent the day around the house, doing silly things.
Like, say, playing with the pop up laundry basket.
And decorating bear for Easter.
And playing a particularly spirited game of "I'm gonna get you!"
We played some music on pots and pans.
And then we used those same pots and pans as stepping stones to jump off of.
Saturday started out kind of gray again. We thought we'd take the girls to the park in the morning to burn some energy. We got them fed, dressed, all sunscreened up, and loaded into the car. We hit some traffic getting to the park, and a few scattered raindrops. We were still going to try to make it work, but when we got to the park, there was a huge Easter Egg hunt going on, people everywhere, and nowhere to park. So after promising the girls a big "adventure," we came home after spending 20 minutes in the car. Emma was annoyed. "Need venture." She didn't want to get out of the car.
We did eventually get her out of the car, and came upstairs and played on the deck for a while.
After nap, the sky had cleared a bit, and it was bright and sunny again. We reloaded our sunscreen, and headed out to the beach. I wasn't brave enough to take a camera out there, but we played in the sand for a bit, and then and walked along the ocean's edge. Becca wasn't terribly impressed. She kept complaining that her hands were dirty and wanted to go inside. Eventually Grandma took her in. It took Emma and Julie a long time of being held before they'd get their feet wet. Eventually, though, they had a ton of fun jumping over the waves as they came in and splashing around. We finally came in when Julie started shivering.
And of course today was Easter. I will have to say that Greg and I did a much better job at Easter than we did at Christmas. That still haunts me. The girls got up, and it took a few seconds for them to see the eggs, but then they were off. And done in about as much time as it took me to switch out lenses on my camera. (I wasn't quite prepared for a 6:45 Easter Egg Hunt.) A few pics before we packed up and headed home.
E
Julie finds one!
Emma's motto: "No egg left behind!" I swear, at one point she was carrying one under her chin.
Becca with the basket grandma made(!) her, "ma mo," and her "puppy dog."
"Do I have a little chocolate over here?"
R
J
Ma mo, savoring the spoils of his victory.
Yes, that's right. My child is having Kashi cereal, jelly beans, and m&ms for breakfast. Of course it was her idea to mix them all together.
Quite a look, huh?
We got home around dinner time, at which Becca said, "I need chocolate."
Saturday, April 23, 2011
My last-ditch effort
If you're reading this, you likely have some connection to me or my family (why else would you put up with poop stories?). You are a friend. A family member.
You likely know that Emma, Julie, and Becca were born prematurely at 33 weeks.
That they weighed 4 lb 5 oz, 3 lb 13 oz, and 3 lb 11 oz respectively.
That despite evident practice breathing on ultrasound, no signs of distress, and a round of steroid shots, when they were born the doctors had no explanation for why their breathing was not good.
That the day they were born, we weren't so much elated as terrified.
That we couldn't even hold Rebecca until almost a week after she was born.
But they fought with all of the preemie strength they could muster. We had our ups and downs in the NICU. But in the end, we have 3 happy, healthy, normal little girls. As parents, Greg and I could not have asked for a better outcome.
We spend this time of year reflecting on our journey, with the annual March for Babies fundraiser for the March of Dimes coming up on April 30th.
For the love of babies -- all babies --, we ask that you consider supporting us in our goal to raise $1500 for the March of Dimes this year. Please use this link to contribute:
You likely know that Emma, Julie, and Becca were born prematurely at 33 weeks.
That they weighed 4 lb 5 oz, 3 lb 13 oz, and 3 lb 11 oz respectively.
That despite evident practice breathing on ultrasound, no signs of distress, and a round of steroid shots, when they were born the doctors had no explanation for why their breathing was not good.
That the day they were born, we weren't so much elated as terrified.
That we couldn't even hold Rebecca until almost a week after she was born.
But they fought with all of the preemie strength they could muster. We had our ups and downs in the NICU. But in the end, we have 3 happy, healthy, normal little girls. As parents, Greg and I could not have asked for a better outcome.
We spend this time of year reflecting on our journey, with the annual March for Babies fundraiser for the March of Dimes coming up on April 30th.
For the love of babies -- all babies --, we ask that you consider supporting us in our goal to raise $1500 for the March of Dimes this year. Please use this link to contribute:
Friday, April 22, 2011
Safari A-Z
I meant to steal this from Beth and Em when they first posted it, but I forgot. Imagine that. Below, from A to Z, are the websites that show up in Safari when I type the letter into the address bar.
- A - Amazon.com. But of course.
- B - Blogger.com. Duh.
- C - Coordinatescollections.com. Sniff, sniff.
- D - disney.go.com ??? Seriously, I have no idea. I've never looked at anything Disney. Putting that off as long as possible.
- E - email.childrensplace.com Weird, weird. I buy stuff from them online. Maybe it's from opening their website through an email?
- F - Facebook.com Hiding my face in shame.
- G - greenvilleuu.com Oops, I'm not comfortable talking about religion, but I'll admit I was doing some reading about the Unitarian Universalist church recently.
- H - hulu.com Yeah, we succumbed and subscribed to hulu prime
- I - intellicast.com This is the weather site I check at work, but I didn't think I looked at it much from home...
- J - Em's blog (private)
- K - kevinandamanda.com This one freaked me out, because I was afraid I was stalking someone I don't know... But I think I must have looked at it because it lists some free scrapbooking fonts. Oh, and a mouth watering recipe for cinnamon honey butter on the main page.
- L - well, right here.
- M - Beth's blog (private)
- N - news.bbc.co.uk Uh, I don't think I've ever looked at that.
- O - OneStepAhead.com Bought the girls some sun hats and water shoes last week.
- P - Pinterest.com My latest obsession for bookmarking images.
- Q - http://www.oprah.com/food/Quesadillas-with-Butternut-Squash This was from when I was trying to find an online copy of a recipe from Deceptively Delicious to post a few weeks ago.
- R - Reader.Google.com Obsession.
- S - StudioCalico.com My new shop for scrapbooking kits.
- T - TwoPeasInABucket.com Yup, on there all the time.
- U - upload.facebook.com That's pretty boring
- V - http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/lily-bee-design/110203-villa-12x12-happily-lost-collection-paper/?filters=received-in-last-48-hours%2Flily-bee-design More scrapbooking.
- W - www.facebook.com Am I blushing yet?
- X - http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/fiskars/96084-xx-large-square-lever-punch/?filters=_square_punch_ Scrapbooking. This is getting a bit repetitive, huh?
- Y - yahoo.com Ummm, not really.
- Z - Zulilly.com I signed up for this daily deal site, but I don't really think it's something that I'll use.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
A Mother’s Prayer for Its Child By Tina Fey
“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.
May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.
When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.
Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.
Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.
May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.
Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.
O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.
And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.
And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,”she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.
Amen.”
-Tina Fey
-----------------------------------
Tina Fey's new book Bossypants is already on my Kindle list. This is why.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
CC April Kit
I was totally shocked to learn that CC is closing this month. Heartbroken, really. And I am totally behind on blogging my stuff from my very last kit.
Emma's first haircut
Julie girl. That "Sugar and Spice" die cut pretty much fits her perfectly.
Becca's first haircut. I think this was my favorite of the month.
A quick and easy summery wreath I made with two packages of Basic Gray Bloomers.
Emma's first haircut
Julie girl. That "Sugar and Spice" die cut pretty much fits her perfectly.
Becca's first haircut. I think this was my favorite of the month.
A quick and easy summery wreath I made with two packages of Basic Gray Bloomers.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
It's that time again
Strawberry time... mmmmmmmm.
Greg says I'm a produce snob. And I totally am. When I was a kid, I was spoiled by fresh produce. Strawberries in May, blueberries in July, peaches in August, apples in September and October. We picked them all. We also picked tomatoes and had a grape vine in the back yard. And my grandfather had an amazing garden every summer.
We didn't pick these, but we get them at an open air market down the road. They get delivered from the farm periodically, and they taste amazing. The girls still aren't fans, though.
Greg says I'm a produce snob. And I totally am. When I was a kid, I was spoiled by fresh produce. Strawberries in May, blueberries in July, peaches in August, apples in September and October. We picked them all. We also picked tomatoes and had a grape vine in the back yard. And my grandfather had an amazing garden every summer.
We didn't pick these, but we get them at an open air market down the road. They get delivered from the farm periodically, and they taste amazing. The girls still aren't fans, though.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Better
Well, I'll have to say that this week is shaping up to be better so far, though I did spend 2.5 hrs doing work from home tonight because I'm still so far behind.
But Sunday was pretty nice. The girls were up at 7, and we all got up and had breakfast. It was a gorgeous day (after Saturday was pretty rainy and nasty - we had been planning to go to an Easter Egg Hunt that our work was holding for the kids, but decided that taking the kids out when a tornado watch was posted might be considered bad parenting), and Greg and I were determined that the girls would nap, so we ran them ragged at the zoo. And we had a great time.
J riding the lion. She was the only one that would get on.
E roaring at the lions.
R riding on daddy's shoulders.
There's a small playground in the middle of the zoo that we had been pretty much avoiding. It's kind of hidden so they hadn't even noticed it. But remember how desperate we were for the girls to take a nap?
Em
Bec
We actually got all 3 of them on the bear statue this time, but Becca wouldn't let go of Greg's hand. And I have no idea why Julie's tongue is out. That child cracks me up.
On the way out, they all insisted on walking on the curb like a balance beam. I blame the gym.
We'd heard about a new restaurant near the municipal airport where you can watch the planes take off and land. The girls still love to shout "airplane" whenever they hear a plane (or a lawnmower or a loud car), so we thought they'd love it. It was pretty much awesome. We didn't sit outside, since they had already been out in the sun for a while (and mom of the year didn't put sunscreen on them), but you could basically sit on the runway. (It's just a municipal airport, so it wasn't loud or anything - just small private planes.) We literally saw a plane land and pull up outside the restaurant. The people got out and came and had lunch.
Julie got all excited (and not about the chicken nuggets). I love these pictures Greg got of her.
And the best part? They fell asleep in the car home (Becca could barely keep her eyes open when she was finishing her lunch) and stayed asleep as we carried them up and put them down for their nap.
But Sunday was pretty nice. The girls were up at 7, and we all got up and had breakfast. It was a gorgeous day (after Saturday was pretty rainy and nasty - we had been planning to go to an Easter Egg Hunt that our work was holding for the kids, but decided that taking the kids out when a tornado watch was posted might be considered bad parenting), and Greg and I were determined that the girls would nap, so we ran them ragged at the zoo. And we had a great time.
J riding the lion. She was the only one that would get on.
E roaring at the lions.
R riding on daddy's shoulders.
There's a small playground in the middle of the zoo that we had been pretty much avoiding. It's kind of hidden so they hadn't even noticed it. But remember how desperate we were for the girls to take a nap?
Em
Bec
We actually got all 3 of them on the bear statue this time, but Becca wouldn't let go of Greg's hand. And I have no idea why Julie's tongue is out. That child cracks me up.
On the way out, they all insisted on walking on the curb like a balance beam. I blame the gym.
We'd heard about a new restaurant near the municipal airport where you can watch the planes take off and land. The girls still love to shout "airplane" whenever they hear a plane (or a lawnmower or a loud car), so we thought they'd love it. It was pretty much awesome. We didn't sit outside, since they had already been out in the sun for a while (and mom of the year didn't put sunscreen on them), but you could basically sit on the runway. (It's just a municipal airport, so it wasn't loud or anything - just small private planes.) We literally saw a plane land and pull up outside the restaurant. The people got out and came and had lunch.
Julie got all excited (and not about the chicken nuggets). I love these pictures Greg got of her.
And the best part? They fell asleep in the car home (Becca could barely keep her eyes open when she was finishing her lunch) and stayed asleep as we carried them up and put them down for their nap.
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