Tot Time

My children seem to have a ton of energy, so I found a gymnastics place around here that offered "tot time" for $4 a child for an hour. They can run throughout the gym and play. Apparently, this place is owned by the parents of Chellsie Memmel, a gymnast who won all around gold in the 2003 Olympics. The kids seemed to really love it. There were two other mothers there with their children. B (my son) was going after the pit of foam they have under the bars in case someone falls. He crawled right in and just let out the biggest belly laugh. He is incredibly strong; he was doing chin-ups on the swing set a couple of weeks ago. He nearly did a complete flip. K (my daughter) seems interested in gymnastics but not quite as interested as her brother. They have a slide and stairs at the gym, so she kept running toward those. I figured that I will spend $8 a week for them to go play at the gym during "tot time" to give them something fun to do out of the house. When it gets warmer, we'll probably start a garden and go hang out in the wooded area around our house. The kids really love watching the ducks in the creek.

For our own memory: Tonight, B smelled like his diaper was dirty. I told him to go tell daddy that he needed a diaper change because his diaper was sagging. He walked over to K1, leaned over, grabbed his diaper and made it swing. Then he looked up at K1. He did this not once, but multiple times. We were both laughing so hard that we couldn't breathe.

Parenthood is awesome. 

It's Always Something...

While I was in Texas, I went to my normal doctor to have a physical done. I've been to a couple of the doctors here in Wisconsin and I wasn't impressed. I had my blood drawn and everything was pretty much normal. Since I was having upper right quadrant pain, she sent me in to have an ultrasound done. Later that day, I got a call that said I have gallstones and I need to be seen for a surgical evaluation. This was all on Thursday afternoon and of course, I had a flight back to Wisconsin on Saturday, March 24th. So, I found a surgeon here in Wisconsin who is right down the street from my house. My evaluation is in a couple of days, so we'll see what happens. I'm worried about how I am going to take care of the kids if I end up having surgery and I can't lift anything over 10 lbs. for a few weeks. Sometimes they require that for even minor surgeries.

Where Does the Time Go? 19 Months!

We've been in Texas for a little over a week now and I've tried to rest up some while the grandparents are playing with the kids.

I cannot even begin to go over the sudden burst in development these two have had in just a week, but I will try.

Kayla: (her verbal skills have improved dramatically...mommy is so proud)

• Put her shoe on all by herself today (it was really Bryce's shoe, but she put it on without any help from me...velcroed it and everything)
• Says, "book" when she grabs the dinosaur series books and wants me to read them to her
• Said, "G-ama" and held her arms up when she wanted my mom to hold her
• Says, "uh oh" when she drops something or falls
• Said, "oh my gosh" and "good Lord" when she was playing outside in the sandbox (brother was getting on her nerves)
• Said, "where did it go?" and "there it is" when playing hide and seek with a spatula from the kitchen 
• Can say and recognize the letter H
• She tries to wash her own hair in the bathtub (and brother's, too)
• Wears size 4 diapers, but they're still a little big
• Wears 12 month and some 9 month clothes; 18 month are way too big usually
• Wears a size 3 toddler shoe, although I just went and bought some shoes that were size 4 today
• She loves bathtime
• She at an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen for the first time on March 19, 2012 (technically, this is at 19 months)
• She can take a step down out of a doorway
• She sucks her thumb when she's stressed out or tired
• She loves going down the slide at the park
• She enjoys playing by herself most of the time, but does tolerate her brother on occasion
• She has the best belly laugh

Bryce:
  

• Peed in the potty for the first time! Although, he hasn't done it again since (but then again, we haven't really tried...we'll pick up when we get back home.)
• Says, "what's that?" and "who's that?" and waits for an explanation

• Says, "hot" when he touches food or the oven (everything is hot to him, even if it came out of the freezer)
• Gives momma hugs when she cries (I stumped my toe once and he came over and laid his head on my chest and wrapped his arms around my neck)
• Wears size 4 diapers, although they are still rather big
• Wears size 12 clothing, but size 6-9 month pants still fit around the waist...18 month clothes are way too big
• Wears size 3 shoes, but I bought size 5 shoes today because his feet are growing so quickly
• Can do chin ups on the swing set at Grandma and Grandpa's house
• Chases his sister around the backyard
• Says, "ooh" when he falls
• Loves bath time, although sometimes, I can't get him out to dry him off
• Loves to dance
• Tries to "sing" in the car
• Had his first ice cream cone at Dairy Queen today and ate the whole thing!

They both love: oatmeal, fruit bars, Teddy Grahams, Gerber's little baby cheetos (I forgot what they're actually called), yogurt, apples, peanut butter crackers, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Rosa's tortillas, chicken nuggets and strips, bean burritos, and rice

We are leaving for home on Saturday. Kevin is already there. I'll fly with both kids by myself. I think the biggest challenge will be getting through security. Once we get past that point, it should be smooth sailing (I hope). Pray for us. ;)

Things are Looking Up

Where do I begin?

K2 is still yelling out "Aubrey" (babysitter's daughter's name) periodically throughout the day. She now says "Lulu" (the other babysitter's dog's name) when she sees one of our dogs. I wish I had stayed home with them sooner. They are picking up names from the babysitters instead of names that belong in our household. It's kind of a shot to the heart and I am feeling guilty.

I've started organizing the house because well, it needs it. K2 has this thing with the wipes box. She'll go in and dig out all of the wipes and throw them on the ground. So, I got an empty one and put cut-up burp cloths in it. She takes those out and puts more toys in it. She's a pretty funny girl.

A couple who is getting married later this month made an offer on the house so we signed the official offer this weekend. We're still waiting to hear when the closing date will be, but we're headed to Texas here soon to get more stuff out of our garage. We're going to fly down there together and then K1 will drive up here a few days later with the stuff from the garage. I'm going to stay in Texas for a little while longer since my grandmother and my friend have birthdays later this month. I also want my parents to be able to spend some time with the twins. Once we sell this house, it will be a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders. We have so many stressful memories there and we can't wait to be done with those.

K2 has been waking up in the middle of the night so K1 has had to bring her back to bed with him. Unfortunately, I am a very heavy sleeper, so I don't hear them cry very often (even with the monitor on my night stand.) Yesterday and today were exhausting days for us because the kids haven't been going to sleep until almost 10:00, leaving K1 and I to wait until then to do our daily house chores. We didn't get to sleep until 1 a.m. on Sunday night and then the kids woke up at 5 a.m. We are exhausted and we need a break, so we're going to get a hotel room for one night so we can get caught up on some sleep. We could sleep at my parents' house, but the walls are really thin and the kids' beds are in the room with us. We hear every cough, sneeze, or movement.

That's all for now. I need to post more pictures on here, but it takes a while. I'll wait until I have more time.