A Glimpse

Just a glimpse into the world of sweet yet sassy toddlers. Starring Jenna and Daddy. :)

We're Melting

Oh my jeez... In all my years I don't remember a summer that has been this hot for so long. Today is something like our 20th day in a row with triple digit heat. We haven't had rain in FOREVER. Jared, the girls and I have literally melted into our coach cushions just trying to keep cool.  And since the computer is in a different room I've had a hard time peeling myself away to post anything. It is good for you the girls woke up over an hour early from their nap so that it would motivate me to leave them in my bed with the TV while I sit and type without any two year olds around. :)


Anyhoo...


We've been trying to keep busy in other ways. The girls and I found a really awesome city pool (not in our city) that is only about 10 minutes from the house. I am not revealing the name because I would like it to stay one of the best kept secrets around. They have a mini lazy river, a pre-school aged pool with water guns, fountains and slide, and three different sprinkler/spray ground areas. The best thing? It is only $3 to get it...for all of us. :) The girls are free! Can you say, pool please? The girls do...everyday. :) Lucky for us they have a blow up pool in the backyard from Aunt Anne so that they can splash whenever they please. I mean...we can't go to the city pool every day. :p


The girls really do love swimming though, especially at the city pool. Even though it takes Jenna a bit to warm up each time we go. She is going through a "Mommy I'm skeered (scared)" phase that is honestly driving me bonkers. She is scared of everything for some reason right now.


Jared and the girls also joined me for the day at Six Flags when the summer program at my job was there. The girls had an absolute blast! They rode some many rides, I was so proud! They rode most of the rides without us by the way....many of them Jared and I wouldn't fit on. :) There was only one ride that was a bit too much. Jilly probably wouldn't ride again but clearly didn't enjoy it. Jenna screamed at the top of her lungs until it stopped, and come to think it...that is when that whole "Mommy I'm skeered" bit started happening. Whoops, my bad. :( Perhaps I should have put my foot down on that ride even though Jenna asked to ride it. Hmmm....

Jilly and Jenna giving the Tea Cups a try at Six Flags

They loved it! In fact, each time a ride they liked stopped they would start to cry.



Grandpa Winter will be proud the girls liked riding in the airplanes so much. They couldn't figure out how to use the stick to get the plane in the air but that was okay with Mommy and Daddy. :)



The swings were next and Jenna and Jilly LOVED them



See?
































Daddy and Jilly on the BIG ride together

 

Jenna decides to ride with Aunt Anne (mostly because Mommy was too scared to ride the kiddy ride)



Going Up....


 


And not so much...

 

Jilly didn't seem to mind :)

Whoops...perhaps 2 is a little young for thrill rides

Anyhoo, not much else to report. The girls are talking in sentences. They like to sing. Caillou is their favorite show followed by Toy Story 3 and then The Princess and the Frog. Jillian has started to casually use the potty before bath time. I am hoping to potty train in September!!  Other than that it is regular routine in our house...and you know we are home because the instant you step outside you get smothered in what feels like nuclear heat.













A Time to Bowl



Jilly and Jenna watching for balls



Jilly gets a helping hand from Daddy

Fun times! Jilly and Jenna cheese for the camera

Momma helps Jenna out while Jilly looks on

We took the girls bowling yesterday and it was surprisingly fun. Jared LOVES to bowl and before the girls came along it was something the two of us did together quite often. We even have our own bowling shoes and balls! Ha!

Anyhoo, the girls loved it. Jillian liked bowling a bit more than Jenna but both girls loved going up and down the stairs and patting all of the balls lined up along the racks for picking. In the video above Jared is helping Jillian with her turn. She was such a hoot to watch. After each turn she would race back down the lane to me with excitement and sometimes screeches of joy. I was able to catch the screech for you. :) Sorry for the shaking...Jenna planted herself in my lap after she fell down with one of the bowling balls. She was a tad wiggly. :)

PS: Sorry the video is sideways...I forget it translates funny to my computer when I don't hold my phone right. :p

Hold the Pacis, Please

Big news at our house! After 3 weeks, 1 bedroom move, lots of tears and lots of TV, we are now 100% pacifier free. Woot woot! The kicker? Jared was out of town on a fishing trip during those first days and we did it cold turkey. I know....I'm insane.


I've always known that the pacis wouldn't be with us forever, but for the last year or so I've been anxious about the girls' attachment and ability to give up their beloved piece of rubber. I've read lots of articles on when and how the paci should go and I was confident that "when the time was right" the girls would naturally -and on their own- give up their beloved pacifier.

Oh...excuse me, I have a knock on the front door.............I'm back, it was Mr. Reality letting me know I was kidding myself.

Not only were the girls no where near giving up their paci on their own, but it seemed as if they were both becoming more and more attached to it as the days went by. We had started restricting the pacifiers to nap time, car time and bedtime. Well, it got to the point that Jillian was completely happy in her crib during the day just so she could have her paci. It wasn't nap time, she would just sit in their and suck on that paci until her heart was content.


So, at that point I knew it was time to intervene. Besides, if I wasn't constantly on the prowl for a lost pacifier, or crawling under a crib at 2am to find one that dropped, I was playing referee between two girls stealing each others pacifiers and making each other cry. The routine was becoming old enough to make me want to sacrifice my own sanity and sleep to help them kick their habits.

One of the last pictures of the girls with their pacis. They were snuggling together in Jenna's bed after nappy time. :)

So one night I just decided that "tonight was the night." Unfortunately, I was have a delusional moment of insanity...I decided to do it the night before Jared left home for a fishing trip to Canada.  Using the Paci Princess method (from Supernanny) I sat the girls down just before bed and showed them a picture of the Paci Princess and then a bunch more pictures of babies with pacifiers in their mouths. I told them how the Paci Princess takes the pacifiers that the big girls leave for her and gives them to the babies that need them. We had the pacis in a pile, the special gift bags, and magic sparkles. They willingly put their pacifiers in the bag and then put the magic sparkles (confetti) in the bags and we left them on the counter and I put them in their beds for the night.


Jenna's pacis ready for the Paci Princess

Jillian's pacis ready for the Paci Princess

Amazingly enough, Jenna only cried the first night for about 5 minutes. She talked for almost 2 and a half hours but eventually fell asleep on her own. In typical fashion, Jillian cried for over an hour and I was so happy when she was finally asleep 2 hours later. They actually slept really well, all through night, and the next morning both girls wanted to see if the Paci Princess took the pacis. Success! Not only had the Princess taken the pacis, but she left the girls gifts for being so brave.

The Paci Princess

The next several days were really rough. Nap times were hard and almost non-existant, night time was hard, in between time was hard. They were extremely emotional and sensitive, they asked about their pacifiers quite a bit. I would say within a day or two of Jared getting back home they were finally starting to get on track with normal nap and bedtimes. Of course, that was only after I permanently separated them. Up until now the girls shared a room. They've slept separately for nap time since about 6 months old, but at night they shared a room (they each had their own bed). Well, not anymore. Jenna's crib is now in the playroom and Jillian has their room to herself.

Prizes from the Paci Princess

At some point Jared and I would like them to go back to sharing a room. Not only because of space issues but we feel that sharing could bring them closer, as well as help them to learn how to share, get along, and learn boundary rules more easily. Since the move, they've had a growing attachment to babies. Lots of babies... the more the better. Each girl probably has about 4-6 babies in her bed on any given night. They aren't necesarrily the same babies tho which is fine by me. The less attachment the better in my book. The lovies are still in the forefront by the way, for those wondering. I can't figure out the baby obsession but I guess they just get lonely being in separate rooms now and need the company. :(

Jillian having fun in the pool and not missing her paci at all!

Jenna looks sad but she is just thinking...she is the thoughtful one. :)



Jenna & Jilly enjoying each other, the sun, and their pool

 Anyhoo, it has been three weeks and I haven't been asked in at least a week about a pacifier. It was really neat though. Every time one of the girls did ask me about a pacifier I would turn it around back to them. They were able to answer who took their paci (princess) and where she took it (babies) each time I asked. :) I will say the girls are much less cranky without pacis (now that they've adjusted that is). They sing a lot more now too which is really fun! Hopefully one of these days I can get a really good video of their singing talents. They are such hams that every time I turn on the camcorder all they want to do is say "cheese!"


More to Come....



PS: click HERE to see all the latest pictures











Fruit Salad...Yummy Yummy

So the girls sing now. :D Twinkle, Twinkle, Zacchaeus, and Ring Around the Rosies are some of their favs; however, one of our favorites for the girls to sing is a Wiggles song called Fruit Salad. I know, right? Like we don't get enough of those guys already? Seriously though, Jillian does an amazing job at part of the chorus of this song. Tell ya what....endure just a few minutes of the Wiggles Fuit Salad video here and judge for yourself. I've posted a video below of Jilly's version. :D

Remember to pause my songs below (at the very bottom) so they aren't blocking the sound of the videos. Our home video may be a bit quiet so increasing the volume once you start playing may be required.



Amazing, huh? At only 2 years old people!! :D

Stay tuned for another post from me sometime later this week (I hope! Fingers crossed!). I've gone cold turkey on weaning the girls from their pacifiers and I will give you an update on how it's going...or isn't. ;)





Jenna enjoying nice grass and the warm sun



Jilly and her piggies enjoying some one-on-one time with the grass :)

Love,

Weighing In...

Yes, I know the blog is about the babies....and I am sure most of you will yawn at this post. BUT...I am the author so :P  

I am officially weighing in on the style of THE DRESS. I honestly don't know why I feel compelled to do so but this way I can say "I told you so!" and be backed up by it. Yes, I will be watching the Royal Wedding a week from today on TV (mostly because I'm off work on Fridays so it is awfully convenient to tune in); but, and let me make this clear, by no means do I have more than a casual interest regarding the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (I will admit that I am fascinated in general by Royals & their lifestyles). Actually, most of it is WAY overblown and I honestly feel sorry for the couple and especially Middleton. I mean....what bride will have the least control of wedding decisions ever besides her? The invitations should say "Please Come to the Queen's Wedding" in BIG BOLD FONT and then in teeeny print say "oh...the wedding is for wills and kate by the way."

Anyhoo, the only reason I can think of regarding my compulsion to write this post, is that I surprisingly have an idea of what I think the all important dress will look like and I find myself annoyed by all of the fashion columns and their (in my opinion) way off base guesses of what the dress will look like. Yes....THE DRESS, the dress that is likely to cost thousands and thousands of dollars, worn for the ceremony and formal brunch thing after, and then put on display in a museum several years from now but never worn again.

Again, I am surprised I have an opinion at all....my own wedding dress was lovely but very simple. Jared and I wanted our marriage to be center stage, not our clothes, flowers, food, or anything else. So...without further ado, here it goes:

1. The dress will have some sort of sleeve. She is marrying a royal after all and this particular royal family is extremely old fashioned and traditional and perhaps even a bit modest. The dress will fit the traditional ceremony as well as the historic opulence of the Abbey the big shindig is taking place in. My guess is that the sleeve (which is a compromise for her, see #5) will either be cap sleeve or 3/4 length and perhaps more sheer than anything.

2. The train will be long....not anywhere near the length of Princess Di's train, but it will be appropriate for the looooooong walk to the front of the church.

3. The dress silhouette will be more traditional (no figure hugging, slinky material...) but I do think the details and fabric will have more modern touches....dare I say even more fashion forward elements. I am leaning more towards details that are simple but statement making. It won't be a gaudy dress. I do think there will be a mix of lace and satin.

4. She's a hat lady. Let me back that up....she wears architectural hats...very modern, almost...art...on her head. I think the veil will incorporate some sort of artistic "hat." Clarification: the hat won't look like the Queen Mum's hat. 

5. It won't be the dress she would pick if she were marrying a common person. The dress will have touches of her style but will be a compromise with what is acceptable by the royal family. 

Obviously the dress will be an original...and none of these pictures have all the elements I described, but it was as close as I could find. Of course I could be TOTALLY off base with all of these assumptions and if that is the case then this post will be promptly deleted and I can claim ignorance that any such post was ever made. :)

Hat, Fashion Forward Dress Elements (ruffles, waist, bling...)

Sleeves (the silhouette isn't something you will see)

Cap Sleeves, Layered Ruffles combined with Lace, Neckline

The Sheer Wrap, Dress Details

PS: I SWEAR I am not a royal stalker...this really is just a casual interest. :)

Zzzzzz.....

The girls are so busy that they wear themselves out these days. I haven't felt the need to have an 8:00 bedtime for myself since they were wee babies. :)

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