My helpful little brother, AKA Uncle Jeff

Cory and I went out for a date night to a wine event this weekend and we were trying to figure out who would watch our girls. My mom was busy until 5:30ish and the event started at 4:30. We called my little brother, Uncle Jeff. He's 23 yrs. old, single, and lives in a bachelor pad w/ 2 dudes. I thought, "We can call and see if he'll stay with the girls, but I'm sure he's got plans". We were in luck. He agreed and arrived at 3:30. The girls were SO excited when he got there. Cory and I left and they were yelling out, "BYE, Mom & Dad!" He did great with them, playing outside, wiping bums after potty time, the whole nine yards.

Ryan informed me they want him to come back soon. This was our conversation tonight.

Ryan: Goodbye, Mommy.
Me: Where am I going?
R: With Daddy
Me: If I go w/ Daddy then who will watch you and Reese?
R: Uncle Jeff is coming over
Me: Really? Does he know this?

Reese is in the background saying "Member when Uncle Jeff came over we pwayed in the backyawd? Amember?"

I think we've found our new babysitter. I'm sure he's so eager to give up his weekends to babysit R&R!

Face painting anyone?

The girls had their faces painted at a birthday party we went to today. They were totally eager and willing to sit there and have their faces painted, but these pictures don't look like they were too excited. They look tortured actually. The lady put lipstick on them and it was a bit Jon Benet-esque. Ryan looks SO miserable in these last 2 photos & I'm cracking up every time I look at them. I thought it would be a cute idea for their 3rd bday party, but I'm rethinking it if these are the types of photos I'll get :)

Interactive play

The girls have moved on from parallel play to full on interactive play and it's so cute. They used to just play side by side, but now they play together all day long. My favorite thing is to spy on them when they're playing and hear their cute little conversations. Today Reese was reading a book to Ryan and pretending like she was the teacher and Ryan was the student. They pretend that they are going to school or driving the car to the store. They love when we make up stories--it just fuels their imagination for more play. They are total homebodies right now and never want to leave the house. I told Reese we were going to Grandma & Grandpa's house tonight and she said, "No Mommy, I stay home with my family". We did end up taking them to G&G's house and they told us that R&R played together the entire time we were gone. How fun to have a built-in playmate and best friend. I'm so happy they have each other.

My next investment

I think it's time to buy some leashes. Here's my story for the day:

We had a playdate at our neighbor/friend's house and it's just a few blocks away. It was nice this morning, so we walked in the stroller. When it was time to leave, my friend opened the front door and my girls ran out right past their stroller, down the street. Her house is on a dead end street and there's very little traffic, but I was still frazzled that my kids were running away from me. I chased them into the greenbelt where they were antagonizing a Jack Russell Terrier in one of the backyards. Then they decided it would be fun to slide down the gravel hill on their bums and get SO dirty. At this point I'm trying to maneuver the stroller down the gravel hill in flip flops and trying hard not to fall down. I ran after them through the greenbelt, to the sidewalk area, and then they ran in opposite directions. Reese headed right and Ryan headed left toward the playground area that she could see, which was closer to the road. I had to go after Ryan because the road freaked me out and I saw that Reese was fine where she was. I'm screaming out Ryan's name trying to get her to stop or turn around when I see this lady walking her poodle. She stops Ryan and says, "Is your name Ryan? Your mommy wants you." Ryan says to her, "Yea, I'm Ryan and there's my mommy, Lisa." (So much for being scared of strangers). Poodle lady (PL) helped me get Ryan & I tucked her under my arm in a football hold and ran off yelling Reese's name. I looked like a total nut nut. PL followed me and was trying to entice Reese w/ the dog. She said to me, "Wow, you have your hands full". (Understatement of the year) PL told us her dog's name was Abby and Reese said, "HI Abby, HI neighbor". Finally I got them strapped in the stroller and they were crying because they wanted to walk on their own and play w/ PL and Abby. No way. I was a hot, frazzled, tired mess at this point. I got home as fast as I could, almost running through my neighborhood in flip flops & a skirt, and my mom was there waiting to help me. Thank goodness for her help! So I need to make a trip to Target and invest in the leashes. I think they might be my saving grace as we navigate through this crazy period of toddlerhood.

Bday party @ the zoo

We have gone to the zoo a lot lately and last Sunday we had a birthday party there. It was lots of fun and the kids were taken into a private room and shown different animals. I thought the girls would be afraid of the bearded dragon, ferret, & hedgehog, but they loved all of it. They were way more eager than most of the toddlers there. It was so cute to watch.

Ummmm......

I don't really have any words for this. It's the end of dinner time and that's my margarita and dishtowel on the counter. I really needed to clean up, but the margarita looked way more appealing than my sweet friend the dishtowel.

Rolly Pollies Playdate

We had such a fun playdate today at Rolly Pollies (thanks, Miss Kyna!!) There were lots of friends that showed up and we romped all over the place and had a great time!

Cheap thrills

Oh, the stuff that excites us around our house. We decided to have laundry basket races at the Whyte house tonight. The girls sit in the baskets and we push them all around the house. They could not get enough. It's a bit Dub-T, but who cares, we're all about the cheap thrills these days.

It's all fun and games until someone goes down.

P.S. One of these days our kids will have clothes on.

A beautiful day!

We got together today at Bryson & Sara's house today to celebrate the life of Sara's dad, Robert Loeffler. He was a wonderful man that will be dearly missed and it was a sweet ceremony that Ulla, Sara, & Bryson put together. Here are a few photos:

Auntie Cece & Emmie and the girls

A sweet sister hug.

Sentimental words read by Ulla.

Some of Bob's heirlooms being presented to Bry & Sara.

And now for the comic relief...is March too cold for skinny dipping?
Come on in. It's only 65 degrees.
As if this isn't funny enough, they both decided to pee in the pool.
Sorry, Bry & Sara--just warming you up for parenthood!

Outdoor bathroom break

Of course our girls are always naked and we have a potty outside so they can just go w/o having to be inconvenienced by going inside. Usually there is only one potty outdoors, but today Reese grabbed the pink potty and brought it outside. In true twin fashion they both decided to drop a bomb at the exact same time outside. It was quite the cleanup chore for me. They just kept yelling out "Look, Mommy! I going BIG poopy!". As always, I just had to laugh at this funny moment.

Maybe

R&R have become very wordy and they love to give their opinions in such a sweet & sassy way that it's hard not to laugh. Today we were playing outside and Ry was walking around the edge of our outdoor fire pit which is a no-no. Here's our conversation:

Me: My job is to keep you safe and I think you should get down from there.
Ry: Maybe not.
M: Maybe so. Please get down.
R: Maybe not, Mommy.
M: Are you being helpful right now?
R: No, Mommy. I walking on the edge. Maybe I go over there. (to another area that's off limits)
M: Maybe not.
R: Maybe so.

Oh, how the sassiness increases w/ the vocab. Here's another conversation between Reese & I.

Ree: Mommy, my 'gina hurts. (That's her hoo-ha if you haven't figured it out.)
Me: Ummm, okay. Maybe we should go take a bath and wash it.
R: No Mommy, maybe I put my 'gina in the washing machine.
Me: You can't put your 'gina in the washing machine, only in the bathtub.
R: Okay Mommy, I go wash my 'gina in the tub.

Oh goodness!

Busy Bees

The past 2 weeks have been B-U-S-Y and I have seriously neglected my postings. We got a call on the 19th for the girls to audition in a national Sears commercial in LA. The audition was the very next day and we had to road trip it out of town on that Friday morning. We were like that movie "Little Miss Sunshine". It was my mom and I and R&R. The audition went really well even though it was v. short and sweet. We stayed w/ my cousin Alexa and her husband, Justin at their adorable house and it was so great to spend time with them. We drove back the very next day b/c we had a birthday party, baby shower and charity event to attend all on Saturday. I'm tired just thinking about it. Sunday was a pretty relaxing day after all that craziness, but the insanity continued. They contacted us on Monday for a callback at 5pm that day. So we headed back to LA for their callback. We had to see it through since they had gotten the callback, but let me tell you it was stressful. The girls did so great, but didn't end up booking the commercial. It's really nice to be back to our normal routine--Rolly Pollies, the zoo, Mimi babysitting on Wednesdays, & playdates w/ friends. These are a few photos of our adventures in the past 2 weeks.