The Circle of Christmas

With four year olds, the holidays are amazingly fun. The twins are over the moon excited and their enthusiasm is contagious.

For me, I'm trying not to get too stressed out and have as much fun as the kids this season. I'm not worried about putting all the decorations up or having a perfectly matched tree. It's more fun to let the kids decorate the tree and let them play with the ornaments which I then find in random places around the house and usually broken. Merry Christmas!

There are sturdier ornaments out there. The other day the twins made salt dough ornaments at school. They turned out really cute.

We hung them on the tree.

And then one of the dogs took it off the tree and ate it. The circle of Christmas.

It is practically a cookie if you don't mind eating a little glitter.

I hope everyone is finding their own way to enjoy the holiday season!

Jump Party Fun

Yesterday the North Dallas Mother's of Twins Club held their Christmas Party at Jump Mania.

It was awesome! The kids had so much fun and totally wore themselves out. They're still talking about it this morning and trying to jump on various pieces of furniture to recreate Jump Mania.

While there we tried jumping with the velcro suit, but didn't have much success sticking to the wall.

Really just enjoyed running through the obstacle course and sliding down. Over and over and over.

We also got to meet Santa who had an awesome, heavy Texas accent. Seriously fun afternoon!

Iced In

Last weekend we had an ice storm here in Dallas and it kept us indoors for a few days. 

We were lucky because a lot of folks lost electricity. My Mom was one of them. Her power went out at 5am Friday morning. I was worried about her staying in her cold house, but she was concerned  about trying to drive on the ice. When the sun started to go down Friday afternoon and her house got darker and colder, she packed up and came to our house. Chloe was thrilled, she and GiGi had a slumber party for the next three nights. Mom didn't get electricity again until Monday afternoon.

The first day we were in the house was fine and a little fun. The kids bundled up to go outside but quickly realized ice is not nearly as fun as snow, so we were back in for hot cocoa after a quick, cold, 10 minutes.

Over the next few days of captivity we did get a few things accomplished. I was happy to get the tree up with a little help from the twins.

My Mom got creative and the kids got to make their own pizzas. Big success!

But mostly there was a lot of laying around being lazy.

The kids were bummed when we could finally get back out on the roads and they headed to school on Tuesday, but Carl and I were totally ready for the ice-in to be over!

Piper Update

A few weeks ago Piper got really sick and after a few days at our local vet we learned she had immune mediated hemolytic anemia and we had to take her to the Animal Diagnostic Center for a blood transfusion and to stay for observation for 5 days. (click here for more background)

Piper has been home for a little over a week now. She is still a little lethargic but seems to be slowing gaining her energy back. We have a line-up of meds we have to give her each day and she's on a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice. Which means we now cook more for our puppy than anyone else in the household.

Carl took her back to the Animal Diagnostic Clinic today for a check-up on her progress. Her red blood cell count is back up. When we discovered she was really sick her packed cell volume, PCV was at 20%, normal PCV is 40% and today she tested at 43%.

She's doing much better but we're still keeping her on all the meds. She'll go back in for another recheck the week after next.

Overall, good news. Big sigh of relief!

First Time For Soccer

This fall the twins are playing soccer for the first time. I was super excited to have an activity they could do together and went crazy with cleats, shin guards and long socks. I think they look adorable in uniform.

However, they're not so excited to play. The very first game Chloe got out there and really seemed to enjoy herself. However, our team is short players and she was totally worn out after playing the entire game.


Connor would not play. He likes to kick the soccer ball but gets really frustrated if someone kicks it from him or keeps him from getting it. Not really a good perspective when trying to play soccer.

It's a bit painful as a parent when the team is short players and your kids are crying on the sidelines refusing to go on the field. I understand this happens sometimes when kids first start playing, but since our team is short players it's obvious when one or both of the twins won't play.

The one fun thing for me is that the coach and one of the other fathers are English and they call the game "football," the field is the "pitch" and I get to be a "soccer mum." 

Connor did tell me his favorite part of soccer is the "high fives." So he doesn't like going on the field to play, but his favorite part is when they line up at the end and give everyone on the other team a high five.

We're waiting to see if the twins can find a way to enjoy it more or this may be our one and only season of soccer.

Pensacola Beach Vacation II: The Rest

After the stingray incident, the vacation went pretty smoothly. For the first part of the trip Carl's Mom, Betsy, and her sisters, Aunt Deb and Aunt Denise stayed with us. I love having these ladies around and the twins get plenty of love and attention. It was their birthday everyday. Literally, the twins opened a birthday present every single day JoJo and the Aunts were there.

back row: JoJo, Aunt Denise, Aunt Deb
front row: Chloe, Carl, Connor, Me, GiGi

One day we took a dolphin cruise. We didn't see any dolphins until the very end, but the kids loved their life jackets, the snacks and then eventually seeing a few dolphins.

We didn't go to the beach as much as I thought we would. I couldn't go in the water with the kids and most days there was a yellow flag for rough conditions.  

We also learned a new flag on this trip. The purple flag for dangerous marine life. During the last few days of the trip there were a lot of jellyfish in the water and quite a few washed up onto the beach.

The second part of the trip our cousins from Louisiana came and stayed with us. We had a full house with Lauren and Kevin, baby Owen, sweet Elizabeth and Andrew (same age as the twins). Aunt Marlene, aka Mae Mae joined us too and I'm so glad she was there. She just another set of hands for the kiddy chaos, but as a former kindergardener teacher, she's someone I consider an expert.

Lauren with Owen & Elizabeth

With cousins around the twins had an awesome time. 

We did make it to the beach few more times, but I'm so glad we had pool. Much easier to get a refill on your margarita when you're at the pool!

Pensacola Beach Vacation I: The Stingray

Travel to Pensacola was smooth, but our first day on the beach was a bit rough for me. We'd only been on the beach about 10 minutes, I was in the water and Chloe was headed in, I was looking up at Chloe, stepping towards her and I suddenly felt something sting my foot.

As the rest of the family played in the water, I hobbled up the beach, bleeding all the way to the towel. Carl and my Mom yelled from the ocean they thought it was probably just a shell but I didn't feel well and knew it was worse. I looked up sting-ray stings on my iPhone and was pretty sure that's what happened.

Not the actual stingray that stung me, but an example of stingrays

When I told Carl I needed to go back to the house and maybe consider going to the emergency room all hell broke loose. The kids were not happy to leave the beach after being out for only 10 minutes. They did not care one bit I was injured and had a total meltdown leaving the beach.

By the time we got all our stuff and the twins back up to the house, I could feel poison in my body and I was a little scared. Carl took me to the emergency room.

They put my foot in hot water and I felt better immediately. I feel silly for going to the emergency room. If I'd known I just needed to soak my foot in hot water I could have done that at home.

They did give me a tetanus shot and told me I had to stay out of the ocean for the rest of the vacation to avoid infection.

My sympathy shot, it hurt at the time!

A bit of a bummer, first day of a beach vacation and I'm told to stay out of the ocean. At least we had a pool.

What made it funny for me is no one was really concerned. The kids made up a story saying I stepped on the poor stingray and it cried all the way home looking for it's mommy. 

All the love for the poor stingray.

Vacation Travel

A few weeks ago we took a family trip to Pensacola Beach. Last year we drove to Pensacola; six hours to New Iberia, LA spending the night at Carl's Mom's and then six hours to the beach. Then the same thing on the way home. The drive was too much for me. I wanted to go to the beach again this year so I talked Carl into flying with the twins.

I have never had the courage or energy to try to pack up the twins and fly with them until now. I know several other twin Moms who have flown a ton with their twins and they had great advice.

The first tip was simply to have lots of snacks. Since we usually take a bag of snacks whenever we run errands with the twins this was pretty easy. I kept their water bottles empty through security and filled them up at a fountain once we got to our gate. They were a little more interested in the novelty of some of GiGi's snacks versus the boring ones I brought, but no one went hungry.

We have ipods for the kids to play games and watch movies, but one Mom reminded me that you have to turn them off for take-off and landing. Where this becomes a problem is if you let them play with them while waiting to board and then try to take them away and shut them down for take-off. Her recommendation was coloring and a quiz game you play together called Brain Quest. This was awesome advice. The game is compact and the kids loved it, especially Connor.

Overall the twins were amazing on the flights. Although it's expensive to get the whole family in the air it is so much better than driving.

The one big drawback is packing. I need to work on packing less and carrying it on. It is so painful to pay for a checked bag.

If we can make it work in the budget, we'll definitely make flying part of our travel routine. For the kids it's all part of the vacation adventure.

Poor Piper

We adopted our newest family member, Piper, a little less than a year ago from Take Me Home Pet Rescue. She was born in January of 2012 but didn't come to live with our family until last Halloween.

On Monday night we noticed Piper wasn't interested in her food. Tuesday morning she still wasn't interested in food and she seemed really lethargic. That morning Piper rode with me to drop off the kids at school so I could then take her to the vet.

The twins were really concerned about Piper being sick and interested in what the puppy doctor would do to help her. They wanted to go with me to take Piper to the vet, but I convinced them I'd take a picture for them instead.

Since Piper is our little rascal and chews on everything, we thought she might have eaten a toy. Either that, or perhaps she'd gotten too much people food at the twins' Pirate birthday party the previous Saturday. The X-ray didn't turn up anything so I brought Piper home with an antibiotic and instructions to keep an eye on her.

We watched Piper carefully that Tuesday evening. I showed the kids the picture of the puppy doctor and they were not impressed since they took me literally and thought there would be a "puppy" doctor. Honestly, I'd be disappointed if I'd expected a dog with a stethoscope checking Piper too.

The next morning Piper was still not eating and not herself, so we took her back to vet and started to get nervous. They discovered she was anemic, which means she has a reduced number of red blood cells (normal is 40% packed cell volume and Piper was at 20% PCV) Anemia for Piper is the result of some other disease process that we've being trying to figure out.

For the rest of the week she spent the days at East Dallas Veterinary Clinic for drug therapy and tests and then would come home to be with us in the evening. A fecal exam and blood parasites tests were negative. I really thought she'd eaten something crazy at the birthday party but a pancreatic test came back negative. We're still not sure what's causing the anemia.

For the weekend we had to move her to the Animal Diagnostic Clinic which is more of an animal hospital. She's had a blood transfusion which made her feel much better, but it's only a short-term fix. We still need to find out what's causing the anemia and how to treat it.

The kids understand Piper is sick and at the doctor. At this point they seem fine. For Carl and I it's causing a bit more of depression. 

We hope to learn more soon and that it is something we can treat.

I cannot thank the folks at East Dallas Veterinary Clinic enough. They have been so amazing and caring, I'm so glad they've been our partner in this process.

What They're Saying Now

The twins are nearly 4 years old and I love how much they talk. It was so hard when they were younger and would try to tell you something but just couldn't communicate. We'd all get frustrated.

But now, sometimes it's hard to get them to be quiet. Which is OK because a lot of what they say is really amusing. 

Bad News and Good News
I don't know where they picked it up, but lately they've started using the phrase, "I've got good news, and I've got bad news."

A few nights ago Connor woke me up around 4:45am. We tiptoed to his room so we wouldn't wake up Carl and then the he whispered so we wouldn't wake up Chloe. I was sitting on the floor right next to him as he told me this, "I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is you're here. The bad news is my bed is wet."

Chloe hasn't really mastered how the "good news/bad news" thing works yet. She'll say she has good news and bad news but then will never tell what the news is, or it's the same thing. Still pretty cute.




Poopy DiaperThank heavens the kids don't cuss, which is kind of a miracle considering Carl and I let a few cuss words slip out more often than we should. But they've made up their own cuss word, "poopy diaper." If they don't like something, or someone they call it a poopy diaper. You get the meaning, it's pretty clear.

Politely Spoiled

It's tough raising kids and sometimes I find myself focusing on the wrong things. Or perhaps it's just doing what's easiest.

This shot was taken at Target after I bribed the twins to go shopping with me by promising hot chocolate. Yes it's summertime, but they don't care. Don't worry, the drinks are really only smalls, they put them in bigger cups to prevent spills (which didn't really work if you look closely at Connor's hand)

I've noticed lately that the twins are picking up on cues to be more polite. When we were at the grocery store the other day a lady overheard me ask Chloe if she'd like some cantaloupe and her response of "no thank you." With a big smile, the lady commented how polite Chloe was but then wasn't around ten seconds later when she threw a tantrum because I wouldn't buy her a new toy.

It hasn't been too hard to get the twins to say "please" and "thank you." They've also gotten pretty good at putting their dishes on the counter after eating and sometimes will even put away their toys. But the toys are the problem. We have a ridiculous amount of toys, it's embarrassing.  

Carl and I are the biggest contributors to the pile of toys. We'll buy something as a prize for them when they've been good, but also if we think it's cute, or frequently we'll just give in (or give up) when the kids tantrum and get them the toy their screaming about. That last one is the problem, we're reinforcing the bad behavior, and we know it, but usually just want to move on.

Well, at least they're polite. I'll have to work on not being spoiled. Hopefully it's too late.

Swimming Summer

The twins stayed home last week and we had a ton of fun. They were pretty unhappy when they realized we intended to take them back to school today.

I guess school would seem like a disappointment after swim play dates, a day a the arboretum, a first visit to the movie theater and swimming, swimming, and more swimming. 

I'm really thrilled we're getting such great use from the pool. It has been a blast this last week.

Connor is much more confident jumping in and now swims with his face in the water.

I've mastered the art of poolside snacks.

We've been able to really enjoy the pool as a family.

Lucky Family!

Visit to the Arboretum

We've really had fun while the twins were home during this fourth of July week. We got lucky with the weather, not nearly as hot as usual in July, and we spent the morning at the Arboretum.

Checked out the Aztec slide.

Splashed with the toads.

Picnicked with a view of the lake.

And played around in general!

The Lot

We finally tried the new restaurant a few blocks from our house called The Lot.

They call it a "genuine kitchen/neighborhood beer garden" but the big appeal for our family friendly neighborhood is the sandlot for the kids.

We could never get Chloe to come eat dinner. Connor sat down and snacked but was easily distracted with other games.

Overall, the food was just OK, but the entertainment for kids was outstanding. They play in the sand while you can sit a watch from the screened-in porch with a beverage and food.

The big drawback is you take home sandy kids and Chloe attracted a ton of hungry misquotes.

What They're Saying Now: June 2013

Now that the twins are nearly four we're getting a bit more conversational. Lately they've had some interesting phrases.

The Beach
Like last year we plan to head to Pensacola Beach, FL in September and share a rented house with family. The twins are very excited about this trip and ask me almost every day if today is the day we're going to the beach. Connor has also turned this into some sort of punishment for anyone he thinks is "naughty." If I tell him "no" or raise my voice, he tells me, "your not going to the beach."

I've tried to explain to him that I'm the "decider" on who gets to go to the beach, but he doesn't buy it. What makes it even funnier is Chloe gets a little worried when Connor tells me I'm not going to the beach, she wants to be sure I'll hold her in the waves.

A Bit Dramatic
Connor can get a little dramatic in his use of phrases. Beyond not letting us go to the beach, if I've told him "no" another reply from him is, "you broke my heart." I feel bad for him and his broken heart, but I usually make him go back to bed or whatever it is anyway.

Also, instead of just asking for a blanket, he'll tell me his "teeth are chattering." He's not simply chilly or cold, his teeth are chattering.

Proper Kisses
You may remember Chloe has a very European way of kissing you on both cheeks. After she kisses you, you're allowed to also kiss her back on each cheek. However, she'll tell you "don't kiss my hair" if you don't do it right and brush her hair off her cheeks first.