What have we been up to?

That was a long blog break, huh?

So many things contributed to it, but one the biggest reasons is that the girls are actually playing on their own more and I am getting to do things throughout the day. Yay!

So let's see what we have been up to?

The girls are out of cribs and into big girls beds!

Abby's not excited or anything, is she?

Are they sleeping better?  Nope
Are we still sitting in their room with them for sometimes up to an hour so they can go to sleep at night? Yep

Ahh, good times

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Moving right along


Christmas came and went and I might go back and pick that up, but maybe not.

What I do need to let you know is of up-most importance.

The Christmas Card
You know you want to know how it went, right?
If you want to see the disaster that was last year go here, then here. I can laugh at it now....kinda...

I have good news!  We got exactly what we needed!  In a surprisingly short amount of time. 

 It was almost anti-climactic.  They stood there and did it.  They did it in about 15 mins.  Little stinkers angels.  They are the best age for it.  The cards came out really cute.

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The girls are so so into makeup now.  Their favorite model is Grana and she willingly lets them slather on lip gloss and eye shadow.  

Check out the one blue eye (hee hee)

Aunt Hollie is also ready for her make-over

 

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Zachary had lots of Cub Scout activities.  

Back in November, he did the Raingutter Regatta

His boat won 2nd place in his den

A couple of weeks ago he did the Pinewood Derby Race

He got 2nd in his den and 9th overall.  Whoo-hoo!

  

I am looking at these two pictures and seeing the 

difference in him just since November.

Man...

So, now we are caught up a little bit.  Hopefully the break is over.  :-)

Insert clever title here

Here are a few iPhone pics to catch you up on how BIG my kids have gotten.

Fall Festivities

This is another catch-up post :-)

Back in October, we headed to a local pumpkin patch with some great friends.

They loved these little pumpkins

 

Is anyone else a little freaked out about the rat
that appears to be attacking my children?

But time stood still when they saw Dora, Diego and Boots

Yes, that is Olivia stroking Dora's face

True Love

Do you think they could have drawn Dora a little smaller? 

I mean, look at that massive head!  It is 3 times the size of Diego's.

And what's with Boots.  He appears freaked out by something.

Maybe...Dora's head?  Heh?  Heh??

Zachary demonstrates his strength

Abby tries to decide which one

Picking out a pumpkin is hard work!

 

The girls ended up choosing one from the Pumpkin House

Then it was time to carve them up for Halloween.  

The girls demonstrate the face they want

I helped Olivia with hers

 

Zachary helped Abby

And I got this priceless shot

Zachary needed no help to get his started

Ta-da!

 

Scary faces!!

Hallowen

I am going to do some catch-up over the next few weeks. Better late then never, right? :-)

Halloween was so much fun with the girls this year. Zachary was with his dad, so I don't have any pics of him. The discussion of costumes was a long and drawn-out one. We talked about cats, but they settle on butterflies. And when I say settled, I mean Olivia decided she wanted to "fly high in the sky" like a butterfly. So, a purple butterfly it is. Did I pick purple for her? Nope, she has taken over that choice. She loves her some purple. Abby was completely like "whatever" about the entire thing. So a pink butterfly it is for her.

My beautiful butterflies

My pink Abby butterfly

My purple Olivia butterfly

The Butterfly Wagon

::sigh::

I swear they were excited

The first Treat or Treat

With our sweet neaighbor

 

One thing I was really surprised about was that Abby was the one who ran ahead to every house and said "Treat or Treat" loud and clear.  Abby is usually the clingy one who needs some warm up time, but not that night.  Olivia held back a little, which is soo not like her.  A little Halloween surprise to keep us on our toes.

More treat or treating

Ahh, the spoils of the night

 

Chocolate - Mmmm

Notice the makeup?  Yeah, I created a monster with that.

Shifting Priorities

Well, I certainly will not be following my yearly tradition of National Blog Posting Month with a post a day in November.  You can go ahead and laugh right along with me on this one.  Since it has been almost a month (yikes!) since my last post, I can safely say I would be setting myself up for failure. 

I have been thinking a lot about this blog.  Truthfully, I started it because it was the thing to do among my on-line friends, especially my multiple moms.  Then, it became my sounding board, my creative outlet, and my therapy.  It didn't hurt that I was recording details of my life that would never be remembered otherwise.  But sometime this year, I lost my way.  It stopped being fun and started becoming one more thing that needed my attention.  One more responsibility.  One more on top of the meeellion I already felt.  It became a chore (gasp!) I know! 

And let me just say - I detest the new way to upload photos.  DE-test it!  One night I decided to get all caught up by uploading pictures into posts to place later.  What I didn't realize is that it doesn't hold those photos unless you actually put them into your post.  Curses!

Then, THEN, I had the brilliant idea to tag each picture I wanted to put in a post as I pulled them from my camera.  Brilliant, right?  Yeah, until I realized that I couldn't choose a certain tag when uploading photos.  Curses, again!  Hours of work, wasted and who has hours in the first place, right?  

But I digress...and continue to think about where I want this blog to go, pretty much on a daily basis.  It used to be high on the priority list.  It was one thing I had for me, by me.  Priorities are shifting.  In a perfect world, I could update everyday with a hilarious story of what goes on here and cute pictures.  I just haven't found the umph I need.  Meanwhile, birthdays, holidays, milestones, moments have passed without a single notation of them.


I hope I can find it, because just doing this has made me realize how much a have missed it.  Who knows, maybe this will be my kick in the pants to get started again.
 

This Big Blank Page

Here it is again.  This big white space ready for me to fill it with updates and cute pictures and funny stories.  Every time I sit down to type/write, I just stare at this empty space.  Then I go on to something else.  I just haven't had it in me this summer (and fall).  Then as it got longer and longer between posts, it just seemed daunting.  Know how many posts I have started and saved to be finished at a later date?  10.  10 posts are sitting in my list.  Some need captions, some need photos, but all need something. 

I have no idea if anyone still reads besides my family and close friends.  I know my site numbers have gone WAY down.   

So today is the day to fill the white space a little bit.

Here are my big kids just a few weeks ago.

Potty Training Marathon Day 6-7

They have it.  They really have it!!  Now do they DO IT, every time?  No, especially Abby.  She had several accidents yesterday along with a really nasty poop one. 

I have no doubt that in a few days we will be down in accidents.  The only thing we are struggling with is night time.  Olivia wakes up about 1:30 or 2:00.  We put her on the potty and she goes but then she doesn't want to get back in her bed.  She wants Mommy in Mommy's bed.  She also wants Mommy's pillow and Mommy's space.  She stays dry, though.  Abby wakes up sometime in the night, either 2:00 or 3:30 or even 5:30 or 6:00, but she is wet.  Sometimes she sleeps through an accident and sometimes she wakes up but she is always wet.  Plus, she is upset because she is wet.  She also doesn't want to go back to her bed.  She wants to sit with Mommy in the recliner.  So every morning it has been Mommy in the recliner with Abby, and Gary ends up with Olivia's feet in his back. 

Are toddler beds our next step?  That scares me more than potty training because then they will be LOOSE!  But really, we are on the verge of it because they can get a foot over the rail and I am sure they could figure out how to get out if it occurred to them     

We also had our first outing yesterday!  We drove through Chick-Fil-A and brought it home.  I even had to stop for gas.  They did great.  Then, last night we went to a Spaghetti Dinner benefiting the 3 day Breast Cancer Walk Gary is participating in.  I was very nervous to take them out, but they did great!  I had them go twice before they left.  When we got there they tried to go, but didn't until we got home.  They stayed dry!!  Whoo-hoo!
     
Today, we started with an actual Potty Chart.  Each time they go tee-tee in the potty, they get a sticker.  If they poop in the potty, they get two.  Then they get to pick a prize after 7 stickers.  I had them both go to earn their first sticker.  They don't "get it" but maybe it will help them to know they are working toward something.  So far today, Olivia has told me she had to poop.  Abby has told me twice she had to pee and she has had one accident.  Again, she was so upset and said, "I tee-tee on the floor." over and over again.  Poor baby. 

We ran out of rewards so Gary went to the store to get some more along with...

Aww, yeah, BABY!  Finally!  I have been waiting for this one all year.  I can't wait to dive into it.

Potty Training Marathon Day 5

We have turned a corner.  Olivia only had one accident today.  It was really quite funny when Abby is yelling at me, "Shissy tee-tee!  Shissy tee-tee!  Shissy TEE-TEE!!!"  After that she told me every time she had to go and even when she had to poop.  Yay!! 

Abby had a couple of accidents, one of which was poop.  She gets really upset at herself when she has an accident.  I know she gets it and it is just a matter of her making up her mind to do it!  Over all she told me more times than not today.  Double yay! 

I can see the results.  I know they are almost there.  Tomorrow night we have to get out of the house for something and it will be a true test of how ready they truly are.   

We did have a "Oh crap, what do we do now?" type moment tonight.  We went for a walk and made sure that both girls went potty before we left.  About halfway through our walk, a mile from home, Abby says she has to tee-tee.  Gary and I look at each other blankly, because, seriously?  What do we do?  We tried to put her off but it was obvious she had to go.  So we stopped beside an empty grass lot where there were no houses close and let her go in the grass.  I mean, what do we do??  Next time, I will bring our travel potty with us.  Luckily no one drove by or anything.  Sheesh!  Diapers are so much easier!   

Thanks for hanging in there with me through all of these picture free posts.  I know cute pictures are so much more fun to read about.  Those are coming soon.