The best things in life start with "B"......

Seriously, I never realized (but now do, thanks to Kate and Julia) how many of my favorite things start with the letter "b". The list includes, but of course isn't limited to, beaches, babies, bubbles, baths, bubbles in the bath, brownies, butterflies, books....well, you get the point. And to be fair--a lot of those aforementioned favorite aren't really my favorites, rather, they're the girls'. We were outside yesterday, and the girls were freaking out b/c they wanted to go back to the beach. Julia also wanted the bubbaflies to go to the beach, along with Lovey and bubbles. I clearly have too much time on my hands, as my mind started to wander and I had the epiphany that the girls and I really dig things that start with the letter "b". Anyway, I don't know why I felt the need to share, but there you go.

We spent all of last week at the shore with Scott's parents. So. Much. Fun. Seriously, it was a blast--not many people are lucky enough to have in-laws that they can spend a week with and then be disappointed that that week flew by! We didn't have the best of weather, but it didn't even matter. The girls were beyond thrilled to be hang out with their grandparents, and it's been a rough adjustment for all of us to be back in the real world.

Bama (aka, Scott's mom) introduced Julia to sponge rollers, or "roaders", in Julia-speak. Julia was so enthralled with the roaders, that she insisted on wearing them. In public. To the zoo. To say we received some strange looks would be an understatement. Luckily, all the women we encountered were generous with the knowing smiles, and the "been there, done that" comments. Some battles just aren't worth fighting, especially when your opponent is a willful and headstrong two and a half year old. And, as Pat/Bama/Scott's mom, pointed out, Julia's hair put a lot of smiles on the faces of strangers.

The girls loved the zoo. Julia loved it so much that as soon as we saw the bears, she started screaming. Our little fearless wonder wanted to "go play yard with bear"--she was literally trying to jump the fence to get to the caged area. Crazy monkey!

Kate wasn't as interested in watching the animals--mainly b/c a lot of the zoo is in this heavily wooded area, and to see the animals, you walk on this never-ending (and wide) wooden bridge. Kate likes to run and was enjoying spazzing out in all that open space. She surprised us on the way to the zoo by asking if we would see flamingoes. Umm, I didn't even know that she knew what a flamingo was. Since I had no idea whether or not the 'mingoes would be there, I told her that they wouldn't. Boy was she psyched to find out Mommy was wrong--I'm not sure I've ever seen her so happy.

There were so many precious moments (barf, can't believe I just said that as I HATE the Hallmark figurines that go by the same name) during the week. It's hard to know which ones to write down here, or which ones to store away.

The one that sticks out the most in my mind, though, happened one night at dinner. The adults were eating while the girls played and Scott's parents were making a toast to vacation. Scott piped in with a toast to Kate and Julia, and was quickly interrupted by Kate yelling "yay, Bama Grandpa, yay, Grandpa David!" Her timing was impeccable, and what was particularly sweet was that prior to her contribution, she had never called Scott's dad anything other than "Grandpa." She obviously picked up on Pat calling Dave by his first name, and it was soooo sweet.

The girls loved the beach--the water was almost warm, still a bit chilly, but warm enough that you did eventually get used to it without feeling like your extremities were going numb. Kate was fascinated and disgusted by the seaweed, and the first time she saw it, thought it was cat puke and asked me to clean it up. By the end of the trip, she decided she liked seaweed and would run up and down the water's edge looking for seaweed to talk to. Did I mention she never stops talking :) ?

Our travels are coming to a halt for now, but Mimi (my mom) will be out here in 2.5 weeks--yay! She managed to time her visit to coincide with the girls' first week of school which will be perfect--I may need the emotional support!

Heart hug, off to clean.

TIDBITS........

I have to rush through this post as I'm supposed to be getting ready to go out of town......but there are some things I need to write down so my already horrid memory doesn't forget just how sweet life can be. When I return from vacay, perhaps I'll try and organize these "thoughts" in a more mannerly fashion, but, eh....I doubt it!

*The girls are definitely digging being sisters these days....that's not to say they don't fight, but there has been a lot of positive play time going on. This leads to some really cute moments that make me get that melty-gushy feeling. For instance, we were swimming the other day, and Julia was talking about her purple finger (which Kate slammed the door on about 3 wks. ago). She loves to talk about her boo-boo, and mentions it to me at least 100x a day. Besides wanting the world to know her fingernail is, indeed, purple, she also wants to talk about how "door shut my finger", and how much it hurt. During this conversation in the pool, Julia looked up at me and said "kiss it all better." I assumed she wanted, me, the irreplacable Mommy, to kiss it all better (hell, we even have a song about kissing it all better). Nope, I got the toddler look of death from her as I tried to lean in for a smooch. At the top of her surprisingly mighty lungs, she yelled, "NO MOMMY KISS!! I want KAAAATE kiss better!" Luckily, Kate was in an obliging mood and all ended well.

*The same day, Kate decided that she needed a hug from Julia. Now Julia isn't as forthcoming with the cuddles as Kate, so I was a bit worried when Kate started bothering Julia with her non-stop, "Gia, hug Kate? Gia, hug Kate." Julia gave Kate a very sweet, and quite long hug, and then the shit hit the fan. Kate decided that since that first hug was so great, she needed another. And another. And....yeah, you get the drift. All hell broke loose as Kate chased Julia around the yard screaming for more hugs, and Julia screamed "leave Gia lone Kate" over, and over, and over. Kate would not be distracted and I seriously couldn't even find any words as she proceeded to have one of the most colossal meltdowns I have ever seen her have. Yikes.

*The following is a conversation that I had with the girls this week while driving home from the sitter.

Me: So, Julia, I heard you were crying a lot for Michelle this morning.

Julia: Yes. Buggy B crynin.

M: Why were you crying, Bug?

J: I sad.

M: But why were you sad sweetie?

Kate: Mommy, Gia crynin she miss Karen. Mommy Karen. Mommy, YOU be Karen. Yes?

*I'm so bad about keeping up with the girls' baby books (&, ahem, this blog), but I am so entertained by some of the words Julia uses--mainly b/c of her super-sweet girly voice, but also because of the typical mispronunciations that occur as she tries to figure it all out. Some of my current faves include: leakybug (ladybug), bubbafly (butterfly), cool (pool, as in "go simmin in new cool, mommy"), fider (spider), oppodots (opposites), and helipocter (self-explanatory, no?). My all-time fave, which actually isn't that new is "I carry you", which clearly translates to "pick me up".

*Time outs continue to be a success although there are still plenty of tantrums going on. Julia has gotten much better about apologizing, which she never used to do. Kate still spends a heck of a lot more time in time-out than Julia, but Julia will typically keep her sister company while she's serving her sentence.

I know there's so much more, but these are some of my faves. We're off to the shore for a week w/Scott's folks, so I won't be near a computer......hoping to get loads of good pics of our sugars to share when we return.

Heart hug.

Okay, if I've said it once, I've said it a million times.....I really wish somebody would tell me when my babies stopped being babies. How did I miss it? I'm only with them every waking moment so it's a bit frightening that such a monumental transition occurred without me really noticing. I mean, of course, I noticed things.....but still.

First, they figured out how to get up and down the stairs by themselves. Next it was opening and shutting doors, and now, they are practically dressing themselves, singing the ABC song, and counting to 10 (leaving out a number here and there). They are almost at the point where they no longer fit perfectly into my arms. They've grown, for pete's sake. Clearly I knew this was to be expected, but man, I didn't notice how tall they had become until they insisted on wearing their Easter dresses the other day. The dresses were just the slightest fraction too short, and I felt a fleeting but piercing pain. My helpless lil' babes are not so helpless anymore *sniff, sniff*.

The highlights of our week included the girls' first trip to Story Time at our town library.....they were thrilled to see so many books in one place, as evidenced by Kate trying to pull every single book in reaching distance off the shelf. They didn't sit so well during the actual reading of the stories, and I was quite dismayed to hear Kate shout at me (while I was at the water fountain):

"Mommy, I have this for you, I need new diaper."

Um, yeah, okay. Nice to see that lil' Miss Thing had pulled off her diaper and was swinging it in the air as she strutted over to me. Lucky for me there were no scathing glances/remarks as everyone turned to witness the spectacle. Yikes.

Clearly, potty training isn't going well. Actually, we haven't even started potty training, although I don't know why. The girls sit on the potty every single day, but have yet to produce any, um, results. They are quick to tell me when they need to be changed, but their kidneys and bowels are apparently incapable of action once their tushes hit the toilet.

We have two chatty kathies on our hands, and we are really enjoying the daily oratories of both girls. Kate is constantly giving me a running dialogue on what we are doing, what she wants to be doing, etc. She takes it one step further by answering any and all questions posed to other people, especially Julia. It's a little too cute when I make whatever meal for them, and Kate, upon receiving her food, rewards me with a "good job, Mommy." If she's feeling particularly sweet, I even get a "thank you."

Julia makes everything into a song. If we're going to the park, she starts singing about the park. And the slides. And the swings. She loves to sing. Most of her songs are sung to the melody (harmony?) of "Twinkle, Twinkle", but she's just started branching out this week and it's soooo sweet (esp. since she has such a delicate girly-voice).

We have a lot of exciting events coming up--friends from CO visiting this week (which includes Scott taking an entire day off work, the girls going to the sitters, and the adults carousing around NYC--woo hoo), a trip to the shore with Scott's parents, Mimi (my mom) is coming out for a week, and Aubrey, Ottis, and Cam are coming in October.

The only downer there is that I don't have any scheduled sister time coming up. And in case you're confused, the sisters I am referring to are myself and Sara (not K & J). I need to try and figure something out so I can see her, as there is no way in h.e.l.l. that I can wait until the holidays to see Sarie and her family. Not cool. Ugh, the only thing really holding me back from a trip "home" is the fact that K & J's nursery school doesn't prorate. And we all know I need at least 2 weeks every time I go home.

Getting too tired to focus, must try and rest these weary bones. Thank you Nitin, my calves and shoulders are killing me from last night's class.

Heart hug.

P.S. Hoping to update and add pics before I turn 40.

P.S.S. The Mighty Panini is not so freaking mighty. They ran out of meat when Scott when to pick up our lunch. Seriously, that's like a pizza place running out of cheese. I give the place 2 months.

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY, DAD!!

I would typically be on the phone with my dad right about now, trying to wish him a happy one, but, I was just informed by my sister that he's behind the wheel right now. Cell phones and my dad don't mix in general, but I know, as a Leonard, that "yapping and driving" is even more of a no-no. My folks spent the week in Chicago, revisiting their roots, and they chose today to drive back--not how I would want to spend such a significant birthday, but hey, what do I know?

Anyway, my dad doesn't even read my blog (at least to my knowledge), but I'm thinking about him and missing him today--I'm so glad we had the party for him because it does help ease the guilt I feel about not being with him on his actual birthday. I mean, seriously, he's kinda getting old, ya know :) ?

He knows how much I love him, so instead of doing what I would usually do--writing a sappy tribute of sorts (which, ahem, was already done/delivered at his party), I'll keep it simple. Happy Birthday, Dad--you're the best and I love and miss you tremendously!

So, the girls........ah, yes, these girls of ours......where do I start? They are a mischevious and wild pair, and they are constantly challenging and delighting us. They seem so much older than 27 months--especially when they say things like "go away, Mommy." That's one of their newest commands, typically reserved for those frequent moments when they are trying to do something they shouldn't be doing.

Both girls have developed incredibly strong opinions. About everything. But, especially about what they will and won't wear. I'm a bit worried about what this will mean for the future. Both girls want to wear dresses. All. The. Time. That includes bedtime. Julia prefers to wear her dresses with a skirt underneath. She's very particular that one. When she goes into fashionista mode with her dress/skirt ensemble, she's adamant that at least 2 inches of the skirt be showing beneath the hem of the dress. This often entails her wearing her skirt below her tush. And all H.e.L.l breaks loose if everything isn't just so. Aye aye aye. I don't understand where they are getting this, as I have NEVER liked wearing skirts or dresses. EVER. Between the dress issue and the obsession with shoes, I have a feeling Scott and I are going to be fighting a long, uphill, and expensive battle when it comes to outfitting our offspring.

I'm pretty psyched because I finally found a pre-preschool program for the girls that is, at least right now, seeming pretty ideal. It's actually a new part of the YWCA's program--this will be their first year running a program for 2 year olds (and the girls don't have to be potty-trained, major bonus!). I went and visited the facility (it's held at a church) and met the two teachers, and it was love at first sight. I hope it isn't presumptuous of me to say this (knock on wood), but I really think the girls are going to thrive there. They are both so hungry for knowledge and new experiences and I don't know that I'm giving them enough in that department. I certainly try, but, who knows......

Okay, must run as Julia is insisting on taking a bath........

Hoping to post pics soon!

Heart hug.

Wow, I cannot believe it's been months, literally, months, since my last post--shall we pause while I hang my head in shame?!

Quick recap of where we've been the past few months......

We took our yearly pilgrimage to the Outer Banks in May, and it was a blast! We spent a week in Duck at a gorgeous house with my side of the family. We had beautiful weather for the most part, and the girls loved spending time with their cousins!

Half of June was spent in Ohio--we started out with a weekend in Cleveland to celebrate Scott's parent's 40th wedding anniversary--WOW!!! We had a lovely party for them and it was really special to be able to celebrate such a significant milestone in their lives. We're both so lucky to have parents that are still together and still in love after decades and decades of marriage!

We then headed down to West Chester and split our time between my sister's house and my parent's house. The girls attended camp with Jack (my gorgeous 2.5 year old nephew), and they loved it! Their hero worship of Olivia continues, and it was so precious to watch the four kids interact and play. Olivia continues to melt my heart with her nurturing manner--she is so good with all of the kids, and I only wish we lived closer so Kate and Julia could spend more time with Livvy and Jack.

Our trip to Ohio ended with a surprise birthday party for my dad, who turns 60 next week (holy shit, Dad!). It was a GREAT party, and I think my dad was truly surprised.

The girls, of course, are starting to wake up from their nap, so I should run. I went and visited a possible preschool this morning, and it was a HUGE disappointment--that's really a whole 'nother post, though. So, it's back to the drawing board in that area.

The girls are talking so much I can't believe it--Kate almost always speaks in sentences, and Julia isn't far behind. They continue to delight and amaze Scott and I, and we had a pretty significant "proud parent" moment this weekend when we took them to a friend's house for dinner. They were perfect little ladies and I was so impressed with the way they conducted themselves.

Of course, my ego was put in check by their behavior the past two days--it's whine central station here. They have been fighting a lot and we've had more time outs in the past two days than I could have possibly imagined.

Must run, but if anyone's still reading, just wanted to a quick post to let you know that I am somewhat trying to maintain this blog!

Heart hug!

Quick--look out your windows......do you see the pigs flying??? They're flying here in Jersey--otherwise I wouldn't be posting again so soon :)!! Lesley, you were right!!!

Since I have the day off from mommy duty, courtesy of our beloved sitter Michelle, I thought I better hurry up and post the girls' birthday letters before it gets relegated to my neverending "to do" list. Feel free to skip over them, as I cannot make any promises regarding their entertainment value!

My dearest Katie-Kat,
Happy belated second birthday, my sweet! I cannot believe that you are already two--it seems impossible that you are no longer a helpless lil' babe. You walk (and run, hop, and jump) and you are talking up a storm--when did you stop being a baby? How did I miss that transition?

I do believe that you've inherited my gift of gab, and I love watching you get so excited about learning new words and trying to figure out how to put sentences together. Your communication skills are mind-boggling to me. Perhaps every new parent feels this way, but it amazes me to witness your vocabulary expanding by such ginormous leaps and bounds.

You are such an affectionate little girl--whether we are leaving the house, or just going upstairs for a night-night, you are constantly saying goodbye to your various toys and random household objects. It's so adorable to pull out of the driveway, and listen to you shriek "bye home, bye home." I cherish the way you will, seemingly out of the blue, decide that we should hug--I wish I could freeze those moments. Your hugs have a way of making all the stresses of life fall to the wayside. I can't think of anything sweeter than the way you come up to me and say, "Mommy, hug, hug Kate" with your arms open wide. It melts my heart.

You're such a nurturing "older" sister--you certainly have your moments, but again, it's so touching to see how you are always looking out for Julia. You are constantly bringing her snacks, toys, and of course, Lovey. There have been a few mornings lately where we've let Julia sleep a bit later than you. While I really enjoy getting some one-on-one time with you, you've got about a 10-minute threshold before you start missing your sister and start yelling "Buggie, Buggie." I hope you will always look out for her the way that you do now, just as I hope she will do the same for you.

You also, much to my dismay, seem to have inherited my temper.......there is absolutely no middle ground with you, and you wear your heart on your sleeve. We've had a lot of time-outs lately, but you are really responding well to our new "system." One of your favorite things to do when you get into trouble is to try and cute your way out of time out--meaning, before time out is over, you will look at me with a pathetically forlorn expression and either start asking me for hugs, or you'll try to climb in my lap. I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to maintain my composure and not start laughing. This discipline stuff is hard, although I know it will take you many, many years to really understand that.

You are currently in love with Dora & Diego, Elmo, slides, snacks, Thomas, jumping, and hopping. You love to go over our lists of necessities whenever we switch activities. Whenever we get ready to leave the house, you have to tell us "shoes, socks, coat, walk, beep-beep, sippy." Quite efficient with communicating your thoughts, I'd say.

I am so in love with you, my child, and I still am in awe that I am lucky enough to be your mommy. Not a day goes by that I don't thank the powers that be for giving your daddy and I such a wonderful and precious gift.

I love you Taties,
Mommy

My Darling Julia,
Oh my sweet lil' bug, happy second birthday! I can't believe that you're two!! The time is going by much too fast for my liking, and I cannot get over how much you have changed since your baby days.

You are such a joyous and delightful child--what a world of difference from the baby who cried seemingly non-stop the first 10 months of her life! You almost always have a smile on your face (and what a smile it is, with those scrumptious dimples you got from your daddy), and it doesn't take much to make you laugh. You almost always wake up happy, and I get so excited walking into your room in the morning, because I love the way you pop up in your crib and say "Hiiiiiiii, Mommy." It never gets old!!

I worry that Daddy and I have created a bit of identity confusion for you--while you are certainly aware that your name is indeed Julia, you've become so accustomed to us (esp. Kate) calling you "Buggie" that you respond to that more often than you do your given name. We've also had a couple of people suggest that we should cease calling you by your nickname b/c of the, ahem, "long-term implications".........I'm sure that they worry you will be teased on the playground at school, but to us, you are our sweet and precious Bug. No matter what that word means to others, for us, it holds a lot of affection and love.

Daddy and I keep referring to you as our little engineer. Your ability to become so singularly focused, especially when it comes to trying to figure out how things work, is astounding. One of your favorite things to do, and this is fairly new, is to line things up. Over the past week, you've worked very hard to line up rolls of paper towels, soup cans, and your toy balls. Your precision is spot-on, and you get very, very upset, if things aren't exactly right. You want things just so, and being a bit of a control freak, I can very much relate to your desire.

You remind me sooooo much of Daddy--besides looking so much like him, you have his same need to work and work at something until you find a way, your own way, to figure it out. You are one determined child and you have such a love of learning! You get so excited when you learn something new, and once you figure something out, you like to do it over and over and over again (aka "the repeat game")--which is pretty hilarious to watch. Whether it's saying a new word, or pushing the "eject" button on the dvd player, you keep on keepin' on.

You and I have a special game that we play, and I try to get you to play it with me at least 5 (or 100) times a day. It isn't even really a game, but it's one of my favorite things to do with you. And typing it out, I know it will sound so simple and silly, but I love it. I start by saying "Juuulia, Juuulia." And then you look at me, and you always smile while saying "Mahhhmmmyyy, Mahhhmmmyyy." See, it sounds so lame, but the look on your face and the tone in your voice when you say it are so full of love and adoration that I can't help but feel weak in the knees.

You're also proving to be quite musical--I do suspect that you may be a bit gifted in this area (hee hee). You do have a talent for picking up the melody of a song after hearing it only once. Your favorites right now are "ABC", "Twinkle, Twinkle", and "Dora" (to which you now make up your own lyrics). The sweetest is the way you sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and always leave out "the world"---the Julia version includes the line, "up up up so hiiiiiigh."

My sweet, sweet Julia Grace--what a gift it is to have you for my daughter. You're my precious lil' pixie and I adore you to pieces.

All My Love,
Mommy

Well, it looks like I'm going to win the award for being the laziest blogger ever!! Seriously, I thought this was something I was going to keep up with, at the very least, weekly, and it clearly isn't turning out that way.....grrr.

Kate & Julia are officially two!! They had a fabulous birthday season.....all of our Ohio relatives, minus Uncle Dan and Cousin Jack (who were sorely missed), came out to visit the lil' monkeys. We had two weeks of almost back-to-back visits and it was wonderful to see everyone! The girls were thrilled to spend time with both sets of grandparents, Aunt Jen, Aunt Sara, and Cousin Livvy (aka "Lilly" in twinspeak). Scott and I really appreciated everyone making such an effort to help us celebrate the girls' birthday and it was rather difficult for all of us to adjust when everybody left (esp. me as we all know how homesick I am).

The girls are talking soooo much now--watching them grow and change is so fascinating these days, especially since their language acquisition has gone through the roof. They repeat EVERYTHING they hear, and I'm amazed at just how much they are able to communicate with simple two or three word sentences.

I've included some recent photos of the girls, and I hope to return soon (hmmmm....how likely is that) to post my birthday letters to the girls!

Heart hug!

8 YEARS AGO.........

On this very day, in 2002, Scott and I had one of the most beautiful, albeit awkward, conversations of our lives. The conversation took place in the basement of my parents house--my mom had a friend over (thus the reason for us talking in the basement), I was living in Cincy, and Scott was living in Oxford. I received a nervous call from Scott saying he wanted to talk to me before I went back to Cincy and could he come over.

For those of you who don't know, up to that point, Scott and I were friends. Just friends. We had been "just friends" for a couple of years, but recent events had taken place that needed to be discussed. A couple of outings (one in Indianapolis, the other in Oxford) had led us to some pretty cool (and surprising) lip-locking sessions.........scary for me, as I didn't want to lose my best friend over what could be a passing physical attraction.

I don't think I've ever had such a bad case of butterflies as I did while I waited for Scott to come over. I knew what we were going to talk about, and I thought perhaps my dear friend was on his way over to tell me that our kisses had been a mistake. My mom kept trying to reassure me, as she had that crazy mother's intuition that Scott liked me. She and my dad had been wanting the two of us to get together for awhile, so it is entirely possible that they were as nervous as their first-born.

After a lot of awkward pauses, foot-shuffling, and declarations from both of us about how we didn't want to ruin our relationship, we made a decision. We were going to date. Aye carumba!!! I was giddy and scared and totally freaking out.........but I will never forget Scott telling me that he thought I was fantastic (that used to be one of his favorite words, fantastic). I had no idea what would happen, but two weeks later, I was telling him that I loved him......wow.

And here we are now, still together, and to borrow the words of one of our favorite artists, "what a long strange trip it's been." We've had our ups and downs, as any couple does, and nobody knows how to get under my skin the way that Scott can. As bad as that sounds, it's pretty cool to be with someone who knows you almost better than you know yourself.

Who knew that an innocent kiss after a Pacer's game would be the stepping stone for the most significant and important journeys in my life?

Who knew that I would trade my plain last name for the 10-letter Polish last name that has more consonants than should be allowed?

Who knew that I would end up with somebody who not only cooks and cleans, but who also truly enjoys doing daddy duty and doesn't make me feel guilty for wanting time to myself?

Who knew we'd end up in Jersey of all places?

Who knew that we'd be blessed with two gorgeous little girls who fill our hearts with so much joy that we almost can't contain it?

We are so insanely lucky. I am so insanely lucky. I have everything I've ever wanted.

Thank you, Scott. Happy Anniversary, Hon.

Okay, the pics of NYC are coming, but I wanted to post again so my feeble brain doesn't forget certain things.

I had one of those incidents yesterday in which I just didn't know if I should laugh or cry (but I laughed, so it's all good). As most of you know, naptime is a sacred time in our house, especially during the week when it's just me and the girls. As I was running around the house during yesterday's nap, my level of annoyance was escalating because Kate and Julia were not sleeping. They were babbling and giggling and engaging in their "yah yah yah" wars--basically, doing anything but napping. Finally, at 3:15 (45 minutes early), I couldn't take it anymore and decided to go and get them.

Now, I'm generally pretty klutzy, so it didn't surprised me when I tripped and almost fell after walking into the nursery. What did surprise me was what I tripped over.

Julia.

Naked Julia.

Sitting on the floor in nothing but a diaper (thank God she kept that on as she had pooped). It took me several seconds to realize what was going on.

First thought: oh, it's just Julia. she's reading her books.

Second thought: oh, s-h-----t, it's Julia. she's not in her crib. SHE'S NOT IN HER CRIB YOU IDIOT, HOW DID SHE GET OUT!!!!

Third thought: oh, s-h--t, did I forget to put her in her crib? Is my mommy brain that bad? No, no, I definitely put her in her crib because she wanted me to cover her with her blankie.

I now know what it's like to be in a state of true shock. I really kind of did want to cry, but I looked down at her and she was beaming, absolutely beaming. Modest, she is not. As sweet as can be, she said, "hi, Mommy." I started to speak, and she looked at me and said, "no nigh-nigh." Really, Julia, no, really........you didn't nap? I never would have guessed!

Kate was just standing in her crib giggling and pointing to Julia, smiling and saying "dees, dees." Sidenote--Kate likes to call Julia "dees", which is her way of saying "this." I think Scott and I confused the poor girl as we used to always point to Julia and say "who is this, Kate, is this your sister?" Anyway........

So, I guess we need to maybe buy a crib tent? I don't want to. They're ugly. And expensive. I'm going to play the wait-and-see game, and if it happens again, I guess I'll give in.

In other news, the girls have had a great week--we went to Wee Play on Wednesday with Michelle and Jake (Kate's boyfriend), and we had a blast. I wish somebody would have told me about this place sooner--it rocks! It's basically a huge open room, all baby/toddler-proofed w/sandboxes, jungle gyms, pretend grocery stores, and mucho mucho toys--the girls were in hog heaven. They have a little dining area so you can feed your kids if need be, but even better than that--they sell coffee! And it's good coffee--there are like 10 flavors to pick from and they can do latte's and cappucino's!! So cool. The girls ran themselves ragged and just had so much fun. At one point, Kate came up and threw her arms around me, and I really think it was her way of saying "thanks, Mommy."

Okay, need to bust it out.

Heart hug.

Strayer and The City

As most of you know, my dear friend Strayer came out for a visit a couple of weekends ago. She's getting ready to move across the pond due to her husband's job, so it was especially nice to get some alone time (read: child-free) with her before she leaves. For those needing some background deets, Strayer (first name, Jennifer) and I met many moons ago when we were both working at Abercrombie & Fitch. I will never forget the blindingly green coat she was wearing the first time I saw her--or that I thought she was soooo not the type of person I would be friends with (I was fresh out of my college-hippiedom days and fighting the lure of the prepsters). Talk about a case of not judging a book by it's cover (or a person by their outerwear).......Strayer has been my girl for over 10 years now, and I cannot imagine my life without her. We spent our swinging single days together, gallavanting and prowling the bars of Cincinnati, and ironically enough, we both started dating our hubbys at around the same time. She's the kind of person that will always have your back, and me loves her a whole hell of a lot. We've had so many crazy adventures together, and even though geography has been keeping us apart the past few years, I know we'll be kicking it until we're old and covering our gray with cheapo bottles of Miss Clairol.

She flew in Friday night, we went out w/Scott, yadda yadda. Nothing too exciting--just headed to a local eatery followed by a short visit to a neighboring waterhole. The Jersey boys were out in full effect, and I'm sure Strayer must have felt like she definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore!

Saturday was the BIG day--our day in the city, with no duties or responsibilities, other than enjoying ourselves to the fullest. We barely made the train into Manhattan, and almost went into cardiac arrest sprinting to the station. It was quite a sight, especially since Stray was lugging around a 28lb. suitcase! We truly had one of those days where everything went perfectly--I had a feeling we would since we made the train--I'm a bit of a believer in "signs."

Upon arriving in the city, we headed straight for the TKTS booth to try and snag tix to Rent (which Strayer had never seen). It was really important for us to get tickets since the run is ending soon, so we were a bit worried. Not only did we get our coveted tickets, our seats ended up being on the freaking floor in the fifth row--score freaking score! There's nothing cooler than having rocking seats to a rocking show!

Prior to the show, we met up with Lori (one of Stray's good friends) and her sister Katie. We had a great lunch, and headed over to the theater.

But wait--I skipped something HUGE--our hotel! We went to our hotel before lunch--duh, that's where we met up w/Lori and Katie. We had originally hoped to stay at The W, but couldn't justify spending that kind of dough. We ended up getting a room at, drumroll please, The Best Western........silence, before you judge! Let me just tell you that hotel was seriously one of Manhattan's best kept secrets. Located in the southern most part of Midtown, it looks like a dive from the street. And, since we were only paying $125/night (split 3 ways), we did NOT have high expectations. The gods were smiling on us that day--the front desk dude upgraded us for no additional charge to a 2-bedroom apartment that was seriously bigger than the first floor of my house!! This place was fully loaded and cute as can be! We could have fit a football team in there, or at least their defensive line.........it was crazy.

So, we go see Rent, it was great, not as great as the first time I saw it, but still great. Tamyra Gray from American Idol played Mimi, so that was kind of cool (not that I knew who she was prior to the show starting). The best part of the whole thing was getting to meet some of the cast members after the show. Katie, who lives in the city, is a huge Broadway buff (with a scary obsession w/Xanadu, but that's another story!), and suggested that we not leave the theatre right away. Lo and behold, out walks "Mark" about 5 minutes after the show ends. Being the cheesy tourista that I am, I totally mauled him and we had our pics taken with him. We got to meet some other members of the cast and got more pictures, and it was just so much fun. I felt like I was famous!

It was getting late so off we went to the subway (gross).......it took us a few tries but we eventually made our way to Canal Street, for, what else? Everyone's favorite pastime--shopping for fake designer bags! There is something highly liberating about doing something that makes you feel like you're breaking the law, and it was quite the experience. I bought an adorable imi-Prada (and a matching one for my sis), and Strayer bought an imi-Gucci.

We pre-partied in our hotel room before dinner, and then cabbed it to this Mexican place whose name is escaping me. The food was good, as were the drinks, but I was already a bit, ahem, tipsy. Dinner seemed to go by really fast, but I could be wrong about that.

We found a great little bar by our hotel and spent the rest of our evening there. I'll have to google it or else email Strayer to see if she remembers the name--I know it's something with "pig" in the title. There was a band playing, and for once (keep in mind, I'm an old broad now), the music was not only good, it also was the perfect volume--we were still able to talk without shouting over one another. And, it wasn't crowded so we were able to sit and/or dance whenever we felt the need. We drank, we talked, we laughed, we drank and drank and drank, and danced.........it was a blast!

Our night ended around 3ish in the a.m., and we stumbled back to the hotel. The next day was brutal beyond belief........hangovers are harder to cope with when you're in your thirties. Strayer had to catch an early flight, and I really felt for her when she left--pretty annoying to have to navigate your way to a somewhat unfamiliar airport of virtually no sleep!

All in all, it was a fan-great-astic time and I hope Strayer feels that it was a suitable "sendoff"! I'll miss ya, Stray--but as long as you don't pull a Madonna, you'll always be my girl (sniff, sniff)!

I'll post pictures when I have more time--just wanted to get this down while I had a minute.

Heart hug.

Last week was exhausting and challenging, to say the least. I thought having newborn twins was hard, but man.......I don't know, I think having toddlers that are embracing the "terrible" part of the "terrible twos" may be even tougher. By Friday afternoon, I was questioning my ability to survive motherhood. Someone decided to give me a break and I was treated to a wonderful weekend.

Scott and I were lucky enough to have a date night on Friday--our favorite sitter, Abbey, took over our parenting duties for the evening and we went out for a fabulous dinner, followed by a nightcap at a local watering hole. We had a great time gorging our selves, and I really needed a night alone with my guy, away from the girls to regroup. The girls were pretty good for Abbey, minus one "incident" with Julia. She recently learned how to take off her pants, and she decided that it would be fun to take off her pants and diaper after Abbey put her to bed. It's unsurprising that Abbey had to rush upstairs to Julia wailing after she had peed all over herself and the contents of her crib. Other than that, no problemos.

Saturday couldn't have been more perfect--it was one of those rare days where everything just falls into place. The morning started off beautifully, as I was able to sleep in while Scott tended to the monkeys. I woke up to the sounds of the girls laughing, and I have to say, there really isn't any better way to start the day. Not only were the girls happy, but they were thrilled to see me when I came out of the bedroom--I was greeted with hugs and kisses and numerous exclamations of "oh, mommies" (Kate), and "hi, hi, hi" (Julia). The rest of the day proceeded in much of the same fashion, with the girls behaving beautifully and doing their best to claim the title of the cutest, sweetest, most precocious children to ever live.

We went to mass Saturday afternoon, and then out to dinner at a diner. The girls were well-mannered in the restaurant and I was really consumed by feelings of gratitude and joy. I think this was God's way of not only giving me a break, but also trying to reassure me that I was indeed up to the challenges that the girls have been throwing my way.

I've been really bad about keeping records on the girls' milestones, so after I type this post, I'm going to sit down and make a list of all the words they know. This is probably one of my favorite aspects of this age--the rate their vocabularies are expanding is amazing and I'm in awe of these little people.

Kate spoke what Scott and I have decided is her official first sentence the other day. As a former Lit major, it really melted my heart when she picked up her book as Scott was carrying her up to bed, and said, "Daddies, I read book." I'm so in love.....

I'll try and post the vocab list if time permits.......

Looking forward to this weekend, as my dear friend Strayer is coming for a visit before she moves across the pond. We're spending the night in the city on Saturday which means no mommy duty for almost 24 hours--holy shit!

Back later, heart hug!

Wow--I cannot believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post! I've really let my blogging fall to the sidelines and I'm not happy with myself for doing so. Things were insanely busy and chaotic here from Thanksgiving until the beginning of the new year. Both girls fell ill after Turkey Day, and spent almost a month battling double ear and sinus infections--not fun for any of us. I caught their sinus infection right before we were supposed to leave for the holidays, and we incidentally had to delay our travels a bit.

Anyway....I'll try not to let this post drag on too much, but it may be hard as I have a lot to share :).

Thanksgiving was wonderful and especially precious as we were able to spend time with my beloved grandmother as she turned 90. I am in awe that my grandma has been around for almost an entire century, and I am sooooo thankful that we were able to go to Ohio to surprise her for her birthday. If you met her, you wouldn't believe for a minute that she's 90--she's so spunky and cute and wonderful and we're all so lucky that she's still in good health. It meant a lot to me that she was able to spend time with the twoddlers. At one point, she picked Julia up and started bouncing her on her knee, singing a Lithuanian song that she used to sing to me and my sister. It took all of my self-control not to burst into tears.

Christmas was a whirlwind, but also soooo much fun--we were all very, very spoiled by our families. It was kind of hectic going back and forth b/n NJ, northern OH, and southwestern OH, but it was well-worth it. The times that we spend with our parents and siblings are the times I cherish the most. We don't get enough of those times now that we are living in Jersey, but being so far away from our families has really taught me to value the precious times together that we do get to share.

Kate has always had an affinity for Olivia, my sister's daughter, and this Christmas we really got to see that affinity blossom into something akin to worship! It was too cute to see how Kate just took in every single thing Olivia did--the two of them spent a lot of time holding hands and walking around my parents' house together. Olivia is such a little mother hen and it's just so sweet to see how patient and loving she is with the girls. She is wise beyond her years and I never tire of spending time with her.

I did feel bad for Jack, my nephew (and Olivia's little brother)--he was being so sweet to the girls, trying to play with them and repeatedly saying "hi", and the girls weren't very affectionate in return. They can be so unfriendly at times and it made me a bit sad. He's the spitting image of his Daddy, and it breaks my heart that I don't know him in the way that I know Livvy. I worry that he won't love me because I don't get to see him enough and I'm missing his formative years. He's just so freaking cute and funny--he loves to dance and it cracks me up to see that at the mere age of 2, he has more rhythm than Scott and I combined. Go figure though, my sister is the original dancing queen, so of course her kids can dance!

We have officially entered the "terrible twos" here.......the girls are really testing their boundaries, and although I know it's perfectly normal, it's incredibly challenging and frustrating. They fight with each other daily, and between the whining and tantrum-throwing, I fear that I may end up deteriorating into a state of psychosis. Julia can be such a bully and she has zero patience when it comes to waiting for things she wants (I think my dad would say she gets that from me!). Kate seems to be a bit more patient, but man, her tantrums are straight from hell. She hits and screams and when she's really ticked, bangs her head against the floor, the wall, or whatever solid object she can find. People keep telling me she will grow out of the head-banging phase, but I have yet to see it, thus, I don't believe it.

On a more positive note, the girls' language skills are realllllly taking off! It seems like they have a new word every hour, and it's really funny to listen to them. Kate has the same word for Santa, Sara, and Simon (our cat)--all three of them are "Sasa" (think of salsa without the "l"). She has also decided that every name needs to be pluralized (is that even a word?)--I am now "mommies", Scott is "daddies", and Julia is "buggies". Kate particularly enjoys going around the house and pointing to things that belong to either Scott or myself, and telling us who the item belongs to. She was playing in the laundry basket this morning, and actually pointed to a pair of Scott's boxers and said, "oh, daddies, daddies." Very cute.

One of Julia's favorite games is to start yelling Kate's name whenever Kate is either in a different room, or just simply not paying attention to Julia. She cannot pronounce the letter "k" very well, so she calls Kate "Tay." The past few afternoons during nap time, I've heard Julia babbling up in their room while Kate's sleeping, and every once in a while, she'll yell out "Tayyy, Tayyyy, TayTayTay." Luckily, she hasn't seemed to disturb Kate's sleep, but I know it's bound to happen.

Speaking of sleep, the girls have been really resistant to sleeping at night. They seem to be following this trend of falling asleep and then waking up after an hour in tears. These aren't the kind of tears/crying fits that I'm able to ignore as they work themselves into absolute frenzies. That in and of itself is trying, but it's even worse since they are going through a big "only Mommy can comfort me" phase. And, to top it off, they both get very angry when I try to comfort them both at the same time. I used to think there was nothing harder than the newborn stage and all the sleepless nights, but I have been proven wrong.

Okay, need to get some stuff done. I'm going to try my damnedest to be a better blogger this year..........good old resolutions and what not.

I'll post some new pics taken w/the newest member of our family--my beloved and gorgeous Canon Rebel XT! Still need to learn how to use it well........but, that's a whole nother post!

Heart hug!

Wow, I've been a really lazy blogger lately. I'm going to blame it on Scott being in China last week--clearly it wasn't his fault I wasn't blogging, but I was running around like a crazy woman while he was gone. The girls and I went to the gym almost every day (they FINALLY like being in the nursery there), and I got a lot of cleaning done.

Speaking of cleaning.......seriously, somebody should just surgically attach the vaccuum cleaner to my arm because I feel like that's all I ever do. We have a newish vaccuum that I HATE--it's bulky, extremely loud, and really annoying. Now, I do know that vaccuum cleaners aren't meant to be fun, but ours really sucks (pun intended). It doesn't matter what setting I put it on, it never seems to want to eat anything off of our hardwood floors. Every time I vaccuum, which is at least twice a day, I have to alternate between our regular vac and our mini to get our living room floors fully cleaned. It's infuriating and I spent a lot of time last week contemplating just taking a hammer to the damn thing. Since I couldn't think of a logical way to justify such destruction to Scott, I refrained. Barely.

The girls are doing so well and were really good while Scott was gone. Kate had a harder time coping and by the end of the week, you could tell she just wanted her daddy back. Scott came home Saturday morning, and right before his car pulled up, I asked Kate if she knew who was coming to see her today. Without missing a beat, she looked at me and said "Da da." About two minutes later, Scott walked in the door (as I was carrying the girls downstairs for breakfast), and Kate practically jumped out of my arms into Scott's. She spent the majority of the weekend following her daddy around, randomly giving him hugs, and just beaming at him every time he looked at her or opened his mouth.

On Friday, Julia decided that she was going to work on pronunciation--she spent a lot of time this weekend cracking us up as she practiced saying "noooo", "hiiiiii", and "byyyye." Previously, those three words were pronounced "nah", "hah", and "ba ba", so it was really precious to watch Julia figure out how to talk like a big girl. She was very pleased with herself, as evidenced by her squeals of laughter and the rounds of applause she gave herself. She also got a kick out of walking around and pointing to the outlets while saying "noooooo, mama, noooooo." That child makes me fall in love with her about a million times over every day.

We leave for Ohio on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with my family. My grandmother is turning 90 the day before Turkey Day, and she doesn't know we're coming to see her. I am so excited. There's nothing more that I love than being with my family and I can't wait to see the look on my grandma's face when she sees us. I'm sure I'll burst into tears!

Nothing more to report--I need to start packing before our mini-vacay!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Heart hug,
Karen