Dancing Queens!

What a long week!

A lot of updates and thoughts to get out...

It has been a long week. Trial was a long week, but at least we all went into it knowing it would be. This week was a bit different. My nanny took a few vacation days. With my boss being out of town, I thought, 'sure! I'll work from home' Which I have to say I am very successful at - I wake up early, get work done before the girls wake up, then work during naps and while they play independently, and I think I get more done from home since I feel guilty not being in the office. So we were all set. Well. On Wednesday, my client called with an emergency hearing on Friday, a day I had NO day care set up. James is incredibly busy at work so really it wasn't the best option for him to stay home. I spent all day Thursday preparing for the hearing from home - thank goodness I had bought a ream of paper and an ink cartridge for the trial! The hearing was supposed to take maybe 2 hours, so James covered the morning and would go into work in the afternoon. When we started, and without going into boring detail, it was obvious this was going to take all day. Ugh!! I ended up being stuck in Marina Del Rey until 5:30! Exhausting. 

Playing with dad's child hood toys!

The take away is that I just felt so unprepared - its impossible to get a new case on Wednesday and essentially try it on Friday. You haven't met with anyone, you are scared to ask your witness questions under oath as you don't know all of the answers. You have no idea how the Claimant will present. Meanwhile we have child care issues to worry about and missing work for either of us is not the best option. 

Josie pushing T-Rex around in a box!  

Squeezies are our favorites!

Alex tries on my visor - and looks SUPER cute in it!

Alex wanted to wear her sunglasses during dinner, so naturally Josie wanted to, also. 

Using aunt Becky as a ride on toy. 

In personal news, and since I posted about it here a few months ago, I am down a few more pounds. I have just a few more pounds to my pre-baby weight. I've been focusing mainly on diet, and would love to add some exercise back into my routine but there hasn't been too much time for that lately. And, since it is the "year of sick" I think I am getting sick again - I have a horribly sore throat and some congestion. Hoping its a quick one, though I have felt it coming on for quite a few days now. 

The girls are awesome. Alex has been really into naming parts of her face - eyes, ears, nose, mouth. I just love love love how she says nose: "Noh" And every time she sees you she points to your "Noh" Both her and Josie are starting to say "Ma" and "Da" for us, which is nice. They are really into discovering their toys, and other things we let them play with, and are using their imagination a lot lately. They have some play purses they put on and say "Bye!" They had a bad week of barely eating last week* and this week they are cleaning their plates. Same with naps - they are napping SO MUCH this week, we have been actually waking them up for meals, and so they don't sleep too late and spoil bed time!  (*If I got this sore throat from them, then that explains the not wanting to eat.)

Discovering Kraft Mac and Cheese.

Yes.

James and I have been really enjoying our last two weekends and are using our time to work on our yard. We are trying to set up a nice outdoor space to feel comfortable hanging out in. Last weekend we got rid of bags and bags of dirt that was out there, and planted some flower pots to brighten it up. This weekend we will be adding some river stone, and hanging some patio lights so we can use the space after dark. I can't wait to see the finished product. 

Alex helps me shop for flowers, dirt and some out door garden lights!

Finally got my new kitchen faucet installed

Garden pots - The flowers are Kalanchoe, which is drought resistant and pretty!

Chalk drawings and the bags of dirt in the background

Well thanks for hanging with me for so long! Here is an awesome video of the girls! 

Saturday Swimming!!

We went to our Saturday swim class this morning. It was like 65 degrees and cloudy, and pretty darn cold. So we had some shivering babies at the end of it all. It was a lot of fun, and I am glad we are doing it, and I know as it gets warmer we will all be loving it!

Post swim snack!

These girls!!!

Just a quick blog post because I just can't stop laughing over something Alex did yesterday.

So Josie was playing with the magical blackberry (my old phone, it doesn't even have a battery in it, but it has been, and still is, a favorite for almost a year now).

Alex clearly wanted to play with it, because the million other toys she has just aren't the same. She took it away, and Josie cried. So I gave it back to Josie and tried to show Alex some other toys she could play with. Not convinced, she took the phone away again, this time, SHE handed Josie a new toy to play with, just as I had done for her. Josie wasn't having it...and I don't blame her, here is what Alex was trying to convince her was just as cool as the blackberry:

They kill me! And boy are they paying attention.

Here are some cute photos of Josie playing peek a boo:

 

And a few fun videos taken by Becky! Points to anyone who can figure out what Josie is saying!

Mini Update!

Thought I would share these cute photos of the girls, and a video I took this morning. We are moving into the 18-24 sized outfits, though they are a bit too big, better than the way too small of the 12-18 stuff! Here they are trying to convince us that it is time to go "ousside." In other news, Josie now says mama and its THE BEST, I can't even handle it, I just love hearing it all the time. She also says "Brittany" but it sounds like Bwin-knee but its pretty impressive!

Best Memories

As the girls get older, we look ahead to fun adventures to have with them in the future. We already have savings accounts set up for some trips we want to take with them.

This morning I was just thinking about my best memories as a kid. I was listening to a radio show that was discussing the hosts 14 year old son's middle school graduation, and callers were telling the host that his son wasn't likely going to care if the host went to the ceremony. And I think the callers are right.

I have a ton of good memories from childhood. I only have a few from my teen years. Probably because my focus was mostly on boys and being cool (to attract boys?). I totally don't remember if my parents came to my 8th grade graduation. Sorry mom and dad if you did. My best and most cherished memory, though, is when my mom and dad took my sister Becky and I out for dinner (we went to a french place and had fondue) then to a movie (we saw Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). I don't remember what I wore, I wish I did because it was probably amazingly awful.

I didn't get a lot of solo time with my parents after my younger siblings were born. And certainly not after we moved to Costa Rica when I was 12. We had a sedan - a 5 seater car - for a family of 6. And, since I had no problem being left home alone to pursue my #1 pass time (boys), I often opted out of cramming into the car, allowing the younger sib-set to call the shots on mom and dad's weekend time.

While I can't remember any other time my parents got a sitter so they could take Becky and I out, I guess that's not too horrible of a thing since its such a great memory, seemed like a luxury, and doing it more often might have cheapened the evening.

I've commented about this before, but when James and I learned we were having twins, I decided I would be mindful of spending quality time with each of them. I got to spend a ton of time with just Alex when we went to her bi-weekly helmet appointments together. Recently, I took Josie with me to run an errand while Alex was napping, and we had a super good time. I noticed how much more relaxed I was with just her. Jamey and I usually play point to point defense (you will hear us each call out "I've got Alex" or "I've got Josie!" while we follow them around anywhere outside of our home in our own version of Marco Polo way) but you never fully take your eyes or mind off of both kids.

At the Americana that day, I was following one kid. And because I didn't have to worry about where the other one was, I could let her discover and do what she wanted and take her time doing it. It was liberating and so enjoyable, and while the opportunity seldom arises, I can't wait to do it again.

Cheese Burgers and Pic Nics

I am working on a catch up blog post. I have been crazy busy working on a trial that is coming up, and all of my free time has been going to work. And even some not so free time. I am exhausted and need a clone!

Anyway, just for fun, here are some pictures of the girls this weekend trying some new food adventures.

Saturday, the girls had a real pic nic - we have eaten outside before, but this was the first where they are actually feeding themselves and had their own little plate of food. It was a game time decision since they were soaking wet from playing at the water table. The pic nic was very messy, but it was fun!

Yesterday they had their first cheeseburger! We went to Islands and I have to say, their cheeseburger was delicious - I had order envy!