A Happy (albeit, belated) New Year! Wow, so here it is 2009 and I have yet to blog until today. January's almost over and I'm still the world's biggest procrastinator. The holidays were fantabulous (minus a run of the stomach flu), and the girls were so into Christmas. Our time in Ohio was all too short, but we're hoping to rework Scott's vacay days so we can have a bigger chunk of time at home during the winter festivities in '09.

So, where to start? We had 3 Christmases altogether--one in Jersey, one with Mimi and Papa and the Leonard side of the fam, and one with Grandma & Grandpa/Grizz side of the family. The girls were spoiled rotten, which seems to be the norm.....they were sooooo into all things Christmas. Even something as simple as driving from point A to point B got them all amped up as they squealed over the various holiday decorations people had on display (and of course, the tackier the better). We were lucky enough to take them to THE neighborhood in Strongsville (where Scott grew up), where it's pretty much a requirement that you have to go all out and then some w/your decorations. The girls LOVED it and watching them really get into the holiday spirit was priceless. They especially loved spending time with their cousins, Livvy and Jack, and watching the four kids play together was probably my favorite part of the trip.

We're back to the daily grind--preschool has resumed (whew for me), gymnastics is over, and the yearly plans for vacations, activities and all that jazz has begun. In less than 3 months, the girls will be celebrating their third birthday--holy toledo!! That means that we have to make the switch to twin beds (bye bye naptime) and start preparing for the inevitable and much-dreaded task of potty-training. I am seriously contemplating hiring somebody to do it for me.

Random bits I don't want to forget.......

*Julia has been sleeping with her tiara ("princess crown") ever since we returned from our holiday travels. I don't get how that can possibly be comfy, but she refuses to part with the damn thing (even wore it to church this weekend, much to the dismay of my in-laws).

*One of the the girls' favorite expressions (esp. when they're trying to convince me to let them have something I don't particularly want them to have, i.e.--an uber-sugary snack) is to say, "that's my FAVORITE (insert desired object)". It's quite amusing.

*Kate is following in my footsteps and has designated pink as her favorite color. Good taste. Mommy should be proud. Mommy is annoyed. Kate only wants to wear pink clothes. Her love for pink runs so deep that she asked Ray, the Home Depot dude handling our window replacement project, to make sure the new window in her room is pink.

*Julia has a new Oscar-worthy routine. Not sure where she got this, but one of her newest gigs is to say in her tiny, sweet, voice "I'm really tired." Doesn't sound that funny when you read it. I guarantee deep belly laughs if you are lucky enough to hear her do it--between her facial expression and her exaggerated articulation/enunciaton of her award-winning phrase, well, it's too damn funny. She's also figured out that if Mommy's crabby, Mommy will lighten up with the simple utterance of "I'm really tired."

*Some evil outside force has taught our precious angels how to say "shut up." Scott and I both almost collectively shit ourselves when Kate first told Daddy to shut up. This is definitely worse than them telling us to go away. This is the toddler version of the middle finger. I hate it.

*Both girls love coloring, especially with markers. I don't know how our parents managed without washable markers. Kate always manages to color her arms when I'm not looking. Aunt Chris gave them an easel for Christmas and I'm wondering when it's going to sink in that the easel is NOT a climbing apparatus.

*Kate is STILL the world's pickiest eater. Julia is STILL the world's greatest eater. I made falafel the other day and Julia loved it. She definitely gets that from Scott. Kate eats so much mac-n-cheese (the dirty, processed, fake-cheese, nutritionally void kind) that I worry she will turn into a gelatinous yellow pile of mush. Trying to get her to eat new foods is impossible and leads to level-10 tantrums.

*Every time the girls take a bath, they fight over who gets the scissors. Not to worry, these are playdoh scissors--since I refuse to let them play with playdoh (mean mommy, yep) they take them in the tub. They use them to cut their bunny loofah's "skips". Don't ask me what skips are. I have yet to get an answer that is comprehensible.

Me: Girls, please, what are skips?

K&J: Uh, Mommy, bunny loofah has skips.

Me: Can you show me the skips?

Julia: No. I cutting them.

Kate: (holding up bunny loofah) Dere Mommy, dose are skips.

Me: Can you point to them with your finger?

K&J......throw loofahs at my face. There you go.

*The girls, when not trying to physically maim one another, LOVE being sisters. Sure, they fight, and yes, it makes me want to run for the hills, but watching them play together rocks. They are so creative and funny and I love the games they make up. My heart still melts every time they hold hands and dance while singing "Skip to My Lou."

So.......I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton, but I gots to go. I smell poopy diapers and both girls are denying they've dumped. Nice.