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.

Just what I wanted to hear

I was playing with the girls on the sofa and we were rolling off and falling onto the carpet. Ry is my little helper and she was trying to help pull me back up on the sofa. She said to me, "Mommy, you're SO heavy!"

Heart Strings

Cory & I are out of town right now and Mimi is watching the girls. She's having all kinds of adventures, including this one that happened in the middle of the night:

Oh, this will tug on your heart strings. I'm sleeping on the sofa and I hear a couple of coughs that could easily be ignored - especially since it was 3:00 a.m. and I didn't get to sleep until 12:30.

Well, after a few more coughs that I could no longer ignore, I filled a couple of sippy cups with water and staggered in to the girls' room to check it out. There was nobody in their bed and it felt like the Twilight Zone because I could hear this distant, muffled cough. I ran back in the family room - no girls. After checking out the living room, their play room, and both bathrooms on this end of the house, I quickly looked in your bedroom - no girls. WHERE ARE THEY??

I turned on their bedroom light and looked more closely. Ree was asleep on the bed, but was horizontal at the bottom of the bed and was easily camouflaged among all the pillows and blankets. Now the hunt was on for Coughing Ryan. Laundry room: empty; all corners of the living/dining room, including under the table: empty.

By this time, there was no coughing to guide me, which greatly impeded my Search and Rescue efforts - that and the darkness, the fact that it was 3 in the morning, my confusion over the whole thing, and tripping over Muffin and Maddie as they 'helped' me. I kept calling Ryan's name, but HEY, these girls don't answer me when they're wide awake and it's the middle of the day!

Okay, she had to be in your bathroom or closet. I knew from the first look that she wasn't in your bed because the bed was made and that in itself was a strange and unsettling sight! This IS the Twilight Zone!! I was closing in on the mystery because she had to be in your bathroom. Well, in my rush to the bathroom, I truly almost stepped on my little RyBoo. She was curled up on one of her blankees with her baby beside her right under that shelf hanging on the wall - fetal position, but face-down, little butt up in the air, sound asleep and sucking her thumb.

Ahhhhhhh..... She must have gotten up during the night to get in bed with Mommy and Daddy and just decided to curl up on the floor since you weren't there. As I gathered her and her baby up to take them back to their bed, she sleepily said, "Hi Mimi..." Tucking her safely back in next to Reese, I told her I love her. "I love you, too, Mimi."

As I was getting ready for bed last night and setting the alarm, I thought I should turn off the lamp in your bedroom and then didn't. So glad I didn't because she could have stumbled all over your dark bedroom looking for you and Cory.

I might sleep in their bed with them tonight..........