MG is 3

This fiery red headed princess was just that, all fluffy in her tutu as we all headed to church.  It was a funny, cute sight to see all 5 girls in there tutus holding hands in a line walking into church.  After a mini crisis was looked after, Sophia broke out in hives at church and I took her to see Darcy at work to verify - to this day I am still not sure what caused it and it cleared up as the day went on, it was off to the princess tea-party. 

  

MG's birthday has special meaning to us as during her very emotional and unexpected birth, God must have thought we needed some joys in our lives and this is when the twins started their lives.  The are true comrades and friends - best est cousins!

"Can we wear our underwears today mommy?"

Our morning routine has changed a bit in the last month.  Instead of the girls picking out their own diapers....they are picking out their own underwear.  I am happy to say the girls are potty trained!

I am a bit amazed, as this milestone just seemed to happen right under my nose...kinda like one day I was changing 6-8 diapers a day to changing a few sets of clothes to only changing them morning and night.    Now I do need to add that visitors...do not be alarmed if there is a naked toddler be-lining it for the bathroom - as they both strip off all clothes, on the spot when they need to go.  Kinda weird as Darcy and I do not do that.  But as Emmy says - she does not want to have an accident on her shirt.  Valid reason!!?

I had read that when potty training twins, the chances that they both will be potty training at the same time are  well.....slim. Most mom’s of multiples have to go through the process separately with each child, so I was mentally preparing for a long potty training haul.....but we lucked out.  Both of them wanted to sit on the potty at the same time - which sprang a shopping spree one night to get a bunch of potties....I'm sure the check out lady thought I was a neurotic mom who has a potty in every room.  Not quite, but we do have one in the garage and in the back of my truck which have been great "mess-savers" 

Potty training the girls was one of my fears and so far it hasn’t been as bad as I had imagined. I think the key is to just wait until they show that interest enough to stay with it. And, if accidents happen, they happen – I fully expect a few more accidents...unless you are Sophia and just wipe down your pants and pee on the grass, "mommy I have to go, I have to pee on the grass - go away!" something she has done at gramma and grandpa's as well as the neighbours....hum mm must of been on daddy's watch!

It actually warms my heart to see them both go through this milestone together – I never thought going potty would be a mommy-heart warming moment, girls mommy is super proud of you.  So, these days we spend a ton of time in our bathrooms or policing who gets the potty and who gets the potty seat! 

Cheers

R-xo

August Family Vacation

We decided, and thanks to the Ogies! for letting us camp with them, to go on a camping vacation just like we used to in the days before kiddies.  There were lots of campsite of friends, including the typical crew which I was totally thrilled about.  Now I was not that naive to think that it would be just like the good ol' days....but I was not totally prepared for what this 4 day trip was to bring.

We had a great drive to Parry Sound, Killbear Park, set up the site, had dinner and a campfire.  The girls were making adjustments to their new...totally dirty home.  To add a bit more to this trip, we were potty training the girls and they were almost fully trained, so this meant 2 potties propped up against a tree waiting to be used at will...and they were. 

It rained through the night, and as morning was breaking, crash - the lid of the cooler was opened by a raccoon - or so we thought.  About 1/2 hr later I could hear heavy foot prints and heavy breathing.....it was a bear.  The darn thing climbed up the back of our pick-up truck looking to see if he could get in.  When he could not, he moved on to the neighbouring campsite and shook the car until the car alarm went off - waking up a ton of people, but not my husband....he was awake, so he says, but did not move a muscle.  I told him there was a bear on our truck, but he brushed it off until the next morning when the evidence was clear - paw prints on the back of the truck and tunnel cover.

Big group dinner extravaganza!

Daddy n the girls

Campfire snacks

The rest of the trip was not that exciting, but not that relaxing either.  I spent most of my time, with the girls as they explored the outdoors, nursed Fia through her first bee sting, defied afternoon sleep time and were not that keen on the beach.  The one thing they did like was the nightly campfires with their bowls of cheezies!
On our final day we packed everything up and decided to have a beach day.  I like the beach and on this trip so far I had virtually none, so dear hubby went along with the idea and we spent the day at the beach.  It was a great decision - the girls really like it and were not "needy" almost the entire time.  We had a lot of snacks, so that might of helped!     A highlight for me was a wonderful smoked meat dinner at the Sharps's campsite.  They had all the camping toys you could imagine.  Doug smoked the beef the entire day...to perfection!  truly a camping treat!

Over all the trip was a great experience for the girls and a learning experience for their mother and father.  This is not going to detour us from making these types of memories...I will just be better prepared!

Farm girl at heart

"Emmy, where are you going?"  "I am going outside mommy to sit on the wheat"  it took me a minute to figure it out...she was talking about sitting on the giant straw bales in our back yard. 

Last night I took the girls out to the field in our backyard to play with the straw.  Emily loved it, in fact she even picked up the straw, throwing it into the air and then picked up a long piece and put it in her mouth.  We have not been on a farm where she would have seen that, so that kinda made me wonder. 
Sophia just cried and wanted to be held....she heard the tractor reeve up as it was picking up the bales and stacking them on a wagon - from the other side of the field...She cried like a tiger was about to eat her...poor little duckie.   I tried to snap a few pics with her in them, but she was so scared, it was hard to leave her there when she was so upset.

Emily on the other hand loved it.  At one point she thought the bale might move while sitting on it - "common, give me my ride"  she said as she jumped up and down.

When it was time for bed, Sophia could not run fast enough to the deck.  Emily stood in the field looking out over the horizon like she was contemplating what crop to plant in the field.  When she was done we went in the house and off to bed.  Since we are potty training the girls, potty time had to happen before bed.  When I helped her out of her undies....a pile of straw fell on the floor and a bunch was still stuck to her belly.  It was cute as she picked off the straw and then she put one piece in her mouth, just like a farmer.  Sophia was more concerned there was a mess on the floor and "Emmy did it" 

She is a farm girl at heart!

cheers
R-xo

The sucky is gone!

For the past few nights, Emily has drifted off to sleep without that annoying, plastic sucking sound oozing out of her mouth – the sucky is a thing of the past. I told her about a week ago (I flush it mommy) that in a few nights there would be no more sucky, she is a big girl. She hummed and hawed about it and then the other night she told me she was a big girl and did not need a sucky. We immediately took them away and she has not cried about it since. She will ask if she can have one, but we tell her she is a big girl and does not need it. That seems to okay with her.   

Sophia never really took to the sucky, so breaking her of that habit was a breeze. Now if potty training would be that cut and DRY!

I know that the sucky is a comfort item, and I would not have survived this past virus season, I mean winter season without it. But I felt is was time to go. She does have several snuggle blankets, which she carries around and buries her face in laughing. So a comfort item is still there. Sophia has her “fuzzy” blanket which in the heat must be soooo hot.  It is a homemade blanket with ties she plays with while falling asleep. That too comes into our bed in the mornings…some mornings there are so many snuggle blankets and fuzzy blankets we have to fight our way out of bed. Oh well….those are the moments I was waiting for…the snuggles in bed and if a few blankets come along, so be it.

 

Cheers

R-xo

Mini family vacation

We had a mini family vacation this past weekend. Not just with the 4 of us, but with my parents, sisters and their families. We were all at Aunt Jessie and Uncle Jason’s family trailer. It was one of the rare occasions where we were all together…not for a traditional holiday gathering. Their trailer is near Chesley, on Aaron Lake. It is a nice spot for families and boy there are a lot of them. The beach was packed every day and Jessie said that the park doubled the size of if last season. WOW it would have been a tight squeeze had they not done that.

It was chaotic and at times challenging to get through some moments, but the girls had a great time with their Aunts, uncles and cousins and have some great memories to hold on to - hopefully!

The beach was a hit..(finally!) and so was the time we spent at a near by farm. Since there was not enough room for all of us to stay at my sister’s trailer, my parents and us decided to stay at a B&B close by. A quaint rustic home, that we had a fabulous stay at. Breakfast was wonderful and the mule rides were a hoot. Literally…my dad, who has a comment or smart remark for everything did not hold back as we were chauffeured around the farm on a mule drawn wagon ride.   The girls were able to pet chickens and ride a mule.  They were sooo thrilled, they still ask us "can I ride a horse today mommy?"      

We did achieve one of "mommy’s milestones" ….swinging on the big girl swings. It was nice to see their little buts wrapped up in the cloth sling, swinging away…while their cousins pushed them.    

I have a few "mommy milestones" that I would like to knock off the list, this being one of them, getting rid of Emily’s sucky being another, putting away the high chairs in favour of booster seats (we need a new table for that), drinking/eating anything without dripping or spilling, colouring on the paper and asking if they can have a treat, not just going to the cupboard and getting them.

One of the first things we did when we got home was install the big girl swings…no more pushing them in the buckets. Now they can swing themselves, take turns pushing each other and the most fun…laying down on their bellies and flying like an airplane. Sophia likes to hold on, lean back so far that her hair drags on the grass…..ahhh what a moment. 

I shed a few tears thinking they are getting bigger, more independent but on the other hand there is no more pushing a swing for hours on end. My husband scolds me every time I wish them to be more independent or complain about something. I know that he is right and I do not want them to grow up, but at the same time I want them too.

Cheers

R-xo

"I flush it mommy"

"I flush it down the toilet mommy"  That kind of news makes one jump out of bed and race to the flushing toilet to see if I can still retrieve whatever it was.  This morning we had a suckie emergency - Emily dropped it in the toilet while in full flush.  I've been waiting for the day that something would be flushed, just hopin it was not something of mine!

She was pretty upset and wanted us to get it for her.  It was a hard lesson for her to experience, the little look of devastation on her face was making me sad that I could not get it for her.

She still uses it for sleep time and can get upset if she does not have it.  Sophia does not need a suckie and that can be a good thing.  She does need her "fuzzy blanket"  which in this heat, looks really uncomfortable, but whatever works...I'm okay with.

I will take this opportunity to try and stop the sucky usage, but we do have spares if needed.

Cheers
R