Christmas Pictures

One of Mike's friends does photography on the side. We had her come over to our house and do our Christmas pictures. It is not easy taking pictures of three small children! I could never be a photographer in a million years! Ethan didn't cooperate at all. I even bribed him with gum. He ate about 5 pieces, but he still was being a stinker. The girls did much better. We had a good laugh going through the pictures, especially the family pictures. CHAOS!

This is one of the better pictures of Ethan. He just didn't want his picture taken that day!

Doctor Check-ups

We took all three kids into their well-baby checks. I was DREADING this appointment. It's stressful taking just one of them to the doctor! Mia was afraid of the nurse and doctor and cried whenever they touched her, but other than that, it went well. All three had their second dose of the H1N1 vaccine. There's supposed to be yet another wave of H1N1 in January and February. I feel relieved that our three our protected!

Here are Ethan's measurements:
weight: 30 pounds. This puts him in the 75th percentile.
length: 35 inches. This puts him in the 70th percentile.
head: 20.5 inches. This puts him in the 97th percentile.

Here are Mia's measurements:
weight: 21 pounds 5 ounces. This puts her in the 2nd percentile. Can we say shrimp?
length: 31.5 inches. This puts her in the 5th percentile. Can we say shortie?
head: They mismeasured her head. Maybe I'll do it myself later.

Here are Riley's measurements:
weight: 19 pounds 6 ounces. This puts her in the 60th percentile. Mia's only 2 pounds heavier!
length: 27 inches. This puts her in the 40th percentile.
head: 18 inches. This puts her in the 95th percentile.

I told the doctor that I was concerned with Ethan's speech. He asked me if he's made much progress in the last few months and I told him that he hadn't. He asked if Ethan copies words we say, and we told him that occasionally he will. The doctor said it's important for him to do that because that's how they learn. We'll be bringing him to a speech therapist. I'm not sure what they're going to do, but maybe it'll help. I also told the doctor that he's very accident prone and always trips over stuff. He checked the arches on his feet and said they could be better. Maybe as he grows, they'll get better. Other than his speech, he passed with flying colors.

Mia also passed with flying colors. Other than being a tiny shrimp, she's doing everything she's supposed to. Her speech has improved in the last few months and she's copying words that we say, so the doctor was happy with that. He said she has really dry skin, so we need to lube her up with lotion like crazy. I'm afraid she inherited my dry skin!

Riley also passed her doctor's appointment. She's doing everything a 9 month old should be. The doctor said that Riley was very vocal. (She was "talking" during their appointment.) He was happy with her weight. He said we could try a sippee cup with her. I gave her one when we got home, and she made a huge mess. I don't think I'm going to give her anymore! It's too much of a mess!! The doctor said that Riley will probably have Ethan's body type over Mia's.

The doctor said that according to their heights (you double what they are when they're 2), Mia will be 5 feet 2 inches and Ethan will be 5 feet 10 inches. They don't look like twins now, but they definitely won't look like twins when they're full grown!

The next step with Ethan and Mia is the potty training. He said you start them at 2 and hopefully they're trained by 3. I can't imagine it taking an entire year!?! The doctor suggested setting them on the potty chair after they eat because they're more likely to pee at that time. I've been doing it pretty consistently. I'm starting with Mia first, but Ethan also loves to sit on the potty chair. Neither one has peed in it. In fact, we had Ethan sit on it last night. He sat there for a minute and then ran out to the living room and immediately peed on the couch. He doesn't quite get the concept! I bought some pull-ups but they're kind of spendy, so I won't use them until we get pretty far into this potty training thing!

We Partied Hard!

Here are some pictures from Ethan and Mia's birthday party. We had a fun time. I had about 20 balloons blown up and in the living room when they woke up from their nap. Ethan was in heaven. Mia liked it too. We ate pizza and bread sticks and then opened gifts. Ethan received a tool kit, some clothes, a hat, a cd player he can carry around, and a Toys bowl set. Mia received a princess tent, some clothes, a Little Kitty bowl set, a kitchen set, and a My Little Pony. They both had fun opening their gifts this year. They really got into tearing off the paper. We ended the night with cake and ice cream. Ethan, my little sugar-a-holic, dug right in. I found out that Mia is a frosting girl. She didn't want to eat the cake, only the frosting. Thanks everyone for coming and making their day even special! Thanks for your generosity!

Chowing down on some cake.

Mia licking off the frosting.

He dug right in!

Going for the frosting.

Checking out their cake.

I bought glow necklaces for the kids to wear. They had fun playing with them.

Mia's kitchen set. Ethan had fun playing with this too!

Mia's princess tent. They are all in there!

Yey! Fingerpaints!

A transformer's hat.

Ethan's plate set and tool set.

Tearing off the wrapping paper.

Mia's Little Kitty plate set.

Dad helping Mia open her gift.

Playing with Mia's baby stroller. He'll love this picture some day.

Crazy cousin Janai.

Riley with her glow necklace.

Their friend, Rhea.

Uncle Billy. I'm sure he's going to love this picture being on here!

Mia checking out baby Jude. She LOVES Jude. She tries touching her eye balls and eye lashes. She always wants to rub her head too!

Riley chewing on a balloon.

Their Sesame Street themed cake. I think next year I'll have to get them their own cakes. It was hard finding a gender neutral one!

Happy Second Birthday, Ethan and Mia!

We've officially made it to the terrible two's! Happy Birthday to two of the most special people in my life! I can't believe that it's all ready been two years. It seems like they've been with us forever. I can't even remember what my life was like before them.

We haven't started potty-training yet. I'm kind of dreading this, to be honest. It's going to be so much work! We're going to start with Mia first, since girls are supposed to be easier. Wish us luck!

Both kids are still pretty picky. Their favorite foods are breakfast items. They love cereal, oatmeal, muffins, pancakes. Mia is still a fruit fiend. She'll eat any type of fruit. Ethan's favorite are bananas and he's starting to eat more apples. Supper is becoming a battle. They love their booster chairs, but they like to climb out of them. Ethan thinks he can hop on the table whenever he wants. This is one of Mike's pet peeves! Both kids like to sit on our laps during meals. Most of the time, I have both Ethan and Mia on my lap. That means I have four little grubby cute hands digging through my food! :)

Ethan is starting to act more like a two year old. He loves to tell me, "no" when I tell him to do something. This is going to get old really fast! He is becoming more and more independent. If I have something to eat, he won't accept a bite from me. He's got to do it himself. He's got quite the temper. When he gets mad, he gets this look on his face and starts breathing REALLY heavy. He usually tries to hit something or bite something. And that something is sometimes me!
I'm still concerned with Ethan's speech. He will occasionally copy what we say. Sometimes you can understand it and sometimes you can't. He has started saying, "please" when we prompt him. He's made some progress in the last month. I'm definitely going to ask the doctor what he thinks.

Mia is also acting more like a two year old. She also loves to tell me, "no." She also likes to do things herself, but will accept more help than Ethan. I think her temper tantrums are increasing a little bit. She loves to throw herself to the ground and scream. I have to keep myself from laughing some of the time!

Mia loves to play with cell phones and remotes. If we leave the remote on the couch, she runs and grabs it. She put a parental lock on the tv downstairs on one of Mike's shows. It is demanding a 4 number password before it'll let him watch it. Of course, we have no idea what 4 numbers she chose. Mike is NOT impressed. hahaha What a stinker! She also records random shows. She likes to record every episode of a show, so when I open up the DVR, there's 20 shows recorded. Her recent shows include, "NCIS", "Wow Wow Wubzy", and "John and Kate, from Love to Hate."

Her speech is getting better. She copies what we say quite a bit. She does pretty well pronouncing her words, too! There are some that you can't understand, but the majority you can! She is starting to talk more throughout the day, so that's a relief for us!

I'll post some more pictures of their birthday party later! Thanks to everyone who came and made their day even more special!

He is currently obsessed with my dishwasher soap.

He uses my lazy-susan as a step-ladder. Mike put shims in it, so he can't open it now.

Ethan crawled into her crib and jumped until she woke up! Poor Mia! What a way to be woken up.

Guess who took her pants and diaper off!

He went outside for the first time after it snowed. He kept touching the snow and would cry afterwards!

Should I tell him he has a marshmallow stuck to his forehead?

Being pretty serious.

Yummy ritz crackers.

A little big for the bumbo, aren't you?

He loves these red gloves.

Trying to wear my red heels.

Hard to walk in, aren't they?