Not These Little Angels

My little brother, Billy, was confirmed on Sunday, so Mike took the kids back to my parents' house for the weekend. I stayed home because I had to work. My mom kept them an extra day so I could sleep on Monday. (Thanks Mom!) She called me Monday afternoon and said that Ethan had opened the door and let Max out (the family dog.) My mom had to chase after Max and after she caught him, she went to go inside and the kids had locked the door. My mom couldn't get in and she didn't have a key anywhere. Luckily, the screen is off Billy's window, and my mom was able to crawl through the window. I would have paid a lot of money to see this! We all got a good laugh out of it.

Ethan's potty-trained

...well, mostly. I would consider him fully potty-trained if we stayed at home at all times. He does extremely well through the day and hardly ever has accidents. Ethan has gotten shy about me watching him use the potty-chair, so he moves the chair to where I can't see. He still needs a diaper at nap time and bed time.

The kid doesn't like wearing underwear, so he runs around completely naked. I did manage to get underwear on him for when we went outside today, and he did have an accident. I think he thought he was wearing a diaper. He wanted his clothes off immediately, so I was happy that he noticed he was wet. Maybe a few more accidents in his underwear and we'll have that part figured out!

Our Trip to Watertown

The kids and I went to Watertown a few weeks ago. I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of our trip to the zoo. Despite having a nasty nasty cold, they seemed to have a good time. Their favorite animal was the penguin. Ethan and Mia are obsessed with penguins right now. They were pretty excited when they saw one up close. I thought that they'd love the goats, but I think they were pretty freaked out! They didn't want much to do with them.

My sister, Amber, and her fiance, Shayne, came with. I didn't give them much of a choice! I wasn't taking them by myself. We gave Amber, Shayne, and my brother, Billy, our nasty cold. Sorry about that guys! Germie little boogers!

Ethan's Potty-Training Progress

Ethan is doing really well with potty training. He's had a couple of accidents. One day, I had gotten after him for being naughty, and I think he purposely peed on the carpet because he did it right next to the potty chair. The second accident involved diarrhea poop on the kitchen floor. All I'll say about that was that it was extremely gross cleaning up!

He's got the peeing part down pat. He does it standing up but has a pretty good aim. He does get some on the floor, but it's not a big deal. He hovers above the seat when he poops. I'm not sure why he doesn't want to sit down and do it. It's really funny to watch. We jump and clap and cheer when he goes in the potty chair. He's so proud of himself. Mia likes dumping it in the toilet and we all wave bye to his poop and pee. Yeah, a little weird, but oh well! There have been times when he wants his diaper on, so I go ahead and put it on. We're doing this at his pace! He still needs a diaper on for nap and bedtime as well.

Mia gets really jealous when we give Ethan some M&M's, otherwise, she could care less about the potty chair. I'm hoping that she'll be interested in it soon! I'd like to report to their doctor at their 3 year visit that they're both potty trained. Speaking of that, I can't believe they're going to be 3 in a few months!

Riley is 18 Months Today

It's hard to believe my baby is 1 1/2. I wish time would slow just a little bit. She's getting so big so fast. We've been pretty busy this past month. The biggest change is that Riley is completely weaned from nursing. It definitely wasn't easy! She still wants to do it, but I haven't given in.

She has such a cute little personality. She's the perfect mix of Ethan and Mia. She can be tough and routy to play with Ethan and she can be sweet and gentle just like Mia. Ethan and Riley tend to fight a lot. If Ethan takes something away from her, Riley yells at the top of her lungs, "ETHAN!" It cracks me up. She learns so many naughty things from the twins. It's like I have three 2 1/2 year olds running around. When Riley gets mad at the twins, she pulls their hair. Mia has such long hair and Riley takes a big chunk and yanks. Mia hollers and then tries to scratch Riley. Ethan will give her a big push if she pulls his hair. I feel like a referee!

Riley has been talking a lot. I can't understand some of what she says, but she sure jabbers a lot! I've been going over her body parts with her. She has caught on to the things on her face, especially her nose. She also knows where her eyes, mouth, and teeth are.

She has gotten 5 teeth in the past month and is working on another one. Poor thing. It can't feel good to get all of those teeth! She hasn't been too crabby, either. Riley has been sleeping through the night again. Thank goodness! It was those darn teeth that was causing her to wake up all night. She takes one nap a day for an hour or so.

We've been enjoying the outdoors, especially since it has cooled off. We play on our swingset a lot and have been going to some local parks. It's weird to think that the snow will be flying before long!

Riding the carousel at the zoo.

At least one of them is looking at the camera.

Naughty girl likes to sit in the sink and turn the water on.

For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to give them each their own chocolate ice cream cone. All three of them looked like this!

Riley's Doctor Check-Up

First off, I want to wish my older sister, Amber, a very Happy Birthday! I'd like to say your gift is in the mail, but it is not! You should be used to this by now! :)

Riley had her 18 month check-up today. Mike took her to the visit and said she did very well. She passed her exam with flying colors. She received the MMR, which always makes me a little nervous, and a flu shot. I thought it seemed a little early for a flu shot, but I guess they're all ready seeing some cases. I'll need to get the twins in for their shots now!

Here are her stats:
-she weighed 22 pounds, which puts her in the 45th percentile.
-her length was 30 inches, which puts her in the 10th percentile.
-her head was 19 inches, which puts her in the 85th percentile.
-her weight-for-length puts her in the 90th percentile.

To sum her up, she has a big head and a short, chubby body. I guess she's the perfect combination of Ethan and Mia! I wouldn't want her any other way.

Shocked

Ethan tore his diaper off, went over to the potty chair, and peed in it while standing up like an adult. I couldn't believe it. And he didn't even make that big of a mess. He then peed in it about 10 times in two hours and pooped once in it. I was so happy I almost screamed! We were clapping and jumping up and down for him. He had the biggest smile on his face. Everyone tells me how girls are so much easier to potty train so that's why we started with Mia. It looks like Ethan is going to be first! I hope he continues to do it. It would make me so incredibly happy to get one kid out of diapers!

Weekly Recap

-This week has been one of the longest weeks of my life. The kids and I all have a nasty head cold. They're very crabby but yet have enough energy to fight with each other and tear my house up. The best of both worlds!

-Despite feeling like crud, they're all still sleeping well! Thank you, God!

-Ethan and Riley decided to escape the house yesterday. They waited until I was in the bathroom and slipped out the back door. They had crossed an acre lot and was in the neighbor's yard. Ethan was trying to climb up their fence to get in their back yard where they keep their HUGE Great Pyrenees dogs. I was pretty ticked off, to say the least. They could have gone straight for the road and I wouldn't have had a clue. And not to mention that it was chilly outside and Riley had on only a shirt and diaper. And I had to chase them down in my pajamas! None of us was wearing shoes. I wonder what the neighbor thought!

-Starbucks brought back their pumpkin spice lattes. Yum! I've gotten a couple this week all ready! One of which I spilled on my white purse, which is now a splattered orange color.

- I went to a Tastefully Simple party last night at the neighbor's house. It was pretty fun. They built their house a couple of years ago and it's beautiful. She keeps telling us to come over, but I don't want the kids to destroy anything! They have white carpet. Enough said.

-Mike wanted the two of us to have a football party last night for the Viking's game. I grabbed a beer and sat down. He kicked us out within 10 minutes, us being the kids. They couldn't have been upstairs by themselves, so I was sent to supervise. I bought cute little Viking's cupcakes for the kids. The funny thing is we aren't really Viking's fans. They loved them and made the biggest mess ever.

-I'm off to work tonight and am hoping for a peaceful night!

So Sweet

Having twins are really hard but also so rewarding. These little moments really make me remember that and thank God that he blessed me so. Most of you have probably heard me complain about my little blessings and what they do to my house, but never would I ever give them back. I couldn't imagine having it any other way! I came across this quote that made me laugh: "God, grant me the patience to deal with my blessings."