NO!

Let's talk about that word. With two toddlers, you can imagine our use of No is frequent. No No! is said way too often in our house. At first we were trying to teach the boys, then we were trying to keep them safe, now they're using it to tell us when they don't want/want to do something. It's a progression I'm not thrilled with. First of all, it means my little babies are grown up enough to know what they want and to be able to express it to me by using their words. Secondly, they're telling me no. Nuff said. My little boys have attitudes that I'm sure they inherited from their daddy :) Their temper tantrums have progressed to a whole new level. And now they are, well, I don't even know what to call it really. They will go up and turn the tv off. This is a known No No! Well, they (Lucas especially) will go up to the tv, look at us and smile, turn off the tv and then smack their own hand and say "No No, Bad"! They obviously know not to do it, yet they do it any way. AH!!! That's so frustrating. And to top it off, Lucas will hold up his arms b/c he knows he's going to time out. I don't really know how to handle this. No is not a word that I'm fond of right now!

Words

It astonishes me the words that come out of their little mouths. They love to repeat anything they hear and it seems like they just love learning new words. They got a book of animals for Christmas but to see the animal and the word you have to hold up the flap. They LOVE this book. It has been a great learning tool as well because they are saying words of animals I sure didn't expect. Last night we were getting ready for bed and out of no where, Lucas says Penguin. It was clear as day too. Of course today when I ask him to say it he says "No". Unfortunately this is a common word around our house now and it's more frequently use by E&L than James & I. Another word is Ok. If I ask Ethan to do something or tell him something I'm going to do his usual response is "ok" which sounds more like Ah-K. It's so cute though. It makes being at home with them during the day that much more entertaining!!

Snow 2011

We got probably about 5.5 inches of snow last week so we were able to pull out the boys' snow suits they got for Christmas and go play outside. Here's a few pictures of that fun. And yes, you see Lucas being pulled on a pool float because we do not have a sled :) They did have fun eating the snow though!

**Oh and check out the link on the side to the Designs by Muah page on fb that shows our handmade goodies!!

Toddler Time

Today my MIL & I took the boys to Toddler Time at our local library. I didn't realize they had this until just before Christmas, but Christmastime was too hectic to go. It went so well. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad we went. I was super happy it went well. Ethan is a little bit more shy socially than Lucas (gets that from me). If he's being shy or nervous, he'll usually cling to me or another relative. He seemed shy when we first got there and sat in Grandma's lap quietly. That was fine because we were seated in a circle for the half hour that it lasted. Lucas sat quietly/still for about 5 minutes then he was ready to get up and do his own thing. Luckily, we switched activities fairly quickly so his attention would be recaptured with each change. By the end of it, they were both smiling and enjoying themselves.

We got a song sheet when we got there and we got there right at starting time. It seems we just can't get anywhere early, although I should be really glad we were able to make it on time :)
We would sing a song, Ms. Shannon would then read a book, we'd sing a song, she'd read a book. Then we sang a song while looking at a pop up book. The real fun started when she busted out the parachute! It was like being in elementary gym again. The kids loved running underneath of it. And when I say kids, I mean everyone else's kids who ran under it. Mine seemed to just like watching the other kids. Lucas was pointing out the Elmo shirt when the parachute would fly up. The boys were most excited and intrigued by the bubbles. Ms. Shannon had a big bubble wand and walked around singing along with a song playing in the background blowing bubbles. The expressions on their faces and the pure excitement shining from their faces was priceless. Made my day! We finished off toddler time singing a song about a nap. Overall, it was a great time. In the children's section of the library there is a train set that was super cool. After storytime we, along with other kids from the class, spent some time mingling while playing with the train. I got to talk with a mom of a 15 month old girl. It was nice meeting another mom my age in my area. I'm hoping to gain a few mommy resources/acquaintances/friends from this. The one mommy I was talking to said they go every Wednesday so it would be nice to go regularly to get to know some of the other moms. I am really glad we went!

Let's Get Crafty!!!

Ever since rooming with an art major in college, I've been interested in all things crafty. She showed me how to crochet. She tried to teach me how to sew. She got me interested in painting. I just love being creative and LOVE the feeling of accomplishment in finishing a project. Not everything turns out well, but I love to try. A few years ago I start making my own jewelry. I mostly give it away as gifts or make it for someone who asks me, but I did have a party once where I did really well. I never bothered with Etsy because I didn't really know how to promote it and didn't want to be tied down to it if I didn't have the time to make anything to go on it. Fast forward to now. I spent from before Halloween until the night before Christmas crocheting different items to give as Christmas presents and also made some jewelry as gifts too. I really feel like me when I'm making them. It's something I do for me. Jeannie. The person. Not the wife. Not the mother. I can call it my own. I appreciate that so much.

That being said, my college roommate and I opened an Etsy store. Right now, everything on it is hers but I'm slowly taking pictures of my stuff to add to it. We're even having a show the first weekend in February. We'll have jewelry, my hats, hairbows and other accessories for little girls, and hopefully we'll have a few pillowcase dresses too. If you're local, contact me for the address. It would be great to have some support. Plus it's an ice cream social so come get some free ice cream. Here are a few pics of two of my hats. I pulled the initial patterns from crochet-mania-hats.blogspot.com and tweaked them to make them my own. I'm proud of them. I love this feeling. I'll get the Etsy link on the blog soon so you can check out the rest of the stuff.

Catching Up

The boys had their 18th month check up the week after Christmas. Everything went well. Ethan weighed in at 24.2 lbs and Lucas was 26lbs. I can't believe there is almost 2 lbs difference. Ethan is still a 1/4 of an inch taller. They are so spunky and interested in EVERYTHING!!! Definitely keeping me on my toes.

Favorite/Most used words.....
Ethan:
* Mommy is his most used and favorite word. He says Daddy, just not often enough because everything is Mommy. Sometimes is so cute. Sometimes it isn't ;)
*Bubby. I don't know where this word came from, but out of no where he started calling Lucas Bubby.
*Cold. Anything that he touches that isn't warm, he tells us it's cold.
*Night Night. When it's time to go to bed, he says it's night night time.
*Doggy. Still one of his favorites. If he sees anything that could resemble a dog in any way he shouts out doggy.

Lucas:
*Elmo. He has a new love for Elmo and I'm not sure where it came from.
*Please. He says please now more often than signing it. Makes me proud :)
*Bite/More. This kid loves to eat. He makes sure to let us know he wants more.
*Choo-choo. Every time he hears a train near by, he shouts out choo choo.
*Dad. He gets so excited when James is coming in from work.
*Call. The phone "call" has not gotten old yet, to him at least.
*Down. When he's ready to go downstairs, wants down out of his highchair, or down from being held he says down.
*Book. This kid loves books. Loves to go through them, eat them, tear them, carry them around. Anything he can do with a book, he does.
*Bay. That's what he calls Bailey. Ethan calls her doggy and Lucas calls her Bay.

They do say other things and are big into repeating right now, but those are the words I hear most often (that I can think of right now).

They still don't interact with each other as much as I think twins should/would, but they seem to be a little more interactive than they used to. We have a small child's tent in the basement that they play in together, sort of. They play in it at the same time which is more than anything else. Usually it's Lucas playing with something and Ethan taking it away.

They got potty chairs for Christmas so I am trying to get them used to just sitting on them. They can tell us when they've gone potty/poopy and will tug at their diapers so it's at least time to get them comfortable with their potty chairs. They'd rather just sit their stuffed animals on them though.

So that's about all that's new, I think. They're in to everything all of the time. Keeping me on my toes.

Hello 2011

Here we are in 2011. I have nothing but great hopes for this year, despite the threat of the terrible two's times two!! I have one goal this year. It's something I struggle with on a daily basis. Time management. There are so many things going on right now it seems and I can easily stress myself out because I am awful about getting everything finished I need to. Why? Because I suck at time management. Rest isn't an option right now. I think I have my feet in too much and I am floundering. However, I get aggravated by people who only focus on the negative and neglect to see the good/beauty in life so I will not stop there. Despite the fact I do feel overwhelmed by things, I'm blessed to be able to stay home with my boys, to be invovled in an etsy shop with my college roommate doing crafty things that I love to do, and still doing Thirty-One parties to bring in some extra moolah. My hopes for 2011 also include trying to help "finish" my house. I love my house but it doesn't feel as cozy as I wish it did. I intend to change that this year. I want to streamline and simplify things. We have so much in our house we do not need so I am going to go through things and donate anything I can. So 2011, we welcome you with hope of a great year!