Locked Ourselves in the Bedroom

I woke up Saturday morning and looked at the monitor and the girls were awake but staying in their beds. I was so impressed and was thinking that the big girl beds were going so smoothly. Then I went to their bedroom and the door was shut and locked! It isn't the kind of door that you can stick a nail in to unlock so we had to take off the doorknob. The girls were calm while waiting. Taylor even told me "I locked the door." I guess she was proud.

This afternoon I came home after working most of the weekend and I was exhausted and on the couch (which is unusual for me). The girls came over and gave me hugs and kisses and told me they were going to work. They said " I Love you, I Love you Roxy, I love You Sydney." They told me bye and waved and took off down the hallway (Taylor was pushing her stroller). They came back and said "I missed you!" and gave me more hugs and kisses. They did this about 20 times.

Taylor's new thing is to scream "Mom!" every time she wants my attention. I have always been "Mama" but now to Taylor I am "Mom". She says it over and over....

I taught the girls a game I remember doing when I was little. They sit on my lap and I hold my hand out. I tell them to flush the toliet and they push my hand and then I move my legs so they fall through to a pile of pillows. They thought it was pretty cool and had a big time!

I love by Dora Big Wheel! I can't pedal it yet but I love to push it around.
Kaylie tickling and hugging mama's legs

Kaylie likes to lift her feet and fly down the driveway...just like I did when I was little!

The girls flip flop in who is the laid back one and the high maintenance one. When they were born Kaylie was high maintenance and Taylor was laid back. Then Taylor became stubborn and Kaylie was laid back. Now Taylor is laid back and Kaylie has most of the meltdowns. At least they usually take turns so I don't get double trouble at the same time. When one is having a meltdown the other one will usually try to help by getting them their juice or their stuffed animal, etc. And if that doesn't work then Taylor just tells Kaylie "Shh! Stop it! That's enough."

I am in my big girl bed

Tickling Sissy

Kaylie's sweet but mischievous look

My laid back happy girl

The girls are doing great in their "big girl" beds (which is the crib without a rail on one side). So far they stay in their beds and usually go right to sleep. They will each ask for a hug and a kiss about 20 times but I don't mind that at all. I have such good little girls (most of the time).

A few days ago I was driving the girls to daycare. They have pulled the sun shields off the windows. Taylor likes to wave at the sky and say "Hi Birds", etc. and this time she was waving at the sky saying "Hi Moon". I told her I thought she could probably see the sun and wave to it but not the moon. Well then I felt bad because both girls were staring at the sun so I said "Don't look right at the sun because it will hurt your eyes". OH BOY!!!! They started crying and were scared to death. The whole rest of the way to daycare they were saying "Sun Get Chu" "Sun Hurt Your Eyes" "Mama!". What I thought was a simple statement traumatized them! I had to carry Kaylie into daycare and she held onto me as tight as she could. They just kept saying "Sun Get Chu". They talked about it when we got in daycare. They talked about it when we were leaving daycare that afternoon. They got to the door to go outside and started "Sun Get Chu" and crying again. And they have talked about it ever since. Kaylie says "Sun, I no like it." Oops!

Their "likes" these days - "Pretty" dresses, hair bows, Goofy, Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Dora, coloring, riding big wheels, being outside, Apple Jacks, Milk, Birds, Music, Dancing, Paddy Cake, and doing everything by themselves

First Night in Big Girl Beds

Busy season for me has started so I don't have any photos to post but hopefully soon. Yesterday I worked a wedding all day and night so I wasn't home but Neale said he heard a thump and then footsteps down the hallway. Kaylie escaped from her crib. The doctor told me to leave the girls in their cribs until they could get out because it is safer for them (especially since they are on the second floor). So the time is here and today Neale turned the cribs into beds. They seemed pretty excited about the change and wanted to play and jump on the beds (before we turned out the lights). Surprisingly, they went to sleep without any problems. They got out of bed twice at first and went to the gate in their doorway to peek down the hall but they got right back in bed when we told them to. Taylor cried for just a minute. I am pretty sure she was scared but it only lasted a minute and then they both went right to sleep. (Sigh of relief!) Having 2 two year olds is a handful so I am sure not all nights will be like this but I am certainly grateful that this one was.

Kaylie has really only had one or two meltdowns since we got back from Disney World. I think the meltdowns really only happen when she is overtired or hungry so I will do my best not to let either of those situations happen. Otherwise, the girls are great and very chatty these days.

Disney World - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Taylor and Pluto
Taylor and Mama - I have a photo of myself and my dad in front of this castle when I was little

Kaylie and Daddy watching a parade

Me and My girls

Kaylie giving Daddy a kiss

Taylor waving at Mickey Mouse in the parade

Back home on my Dora big wheel

Taylor waving at the birds

I had a photography seminar in Orlando so I decided to make it into a family vacation and take the girls to Disney World. I know they are too small for Disney World but my logic was that they would still have fun just walking around looking at everything. Well.....lets just say the good times were AMAZING and the bad times were MISERABLE. I can honestly say that I would never do it again and two years old is way to small for Disney World but we did have some good times. We also hit the terrible two's with Kaylie in full force. I have seen people in the store before with their children who were having a meltdown and thought "If that was my child I would...." or "I can't believe that parent...". Lets just say my outlook has changed. I will not ever pass judgment on anyone in that situation again. Kaylie had regular meltdowns where she would throw herself on the ground (in the middle of everyone going by) and scream and kick. When I picked her up she would hit me and pull my hair. When she would hit me Taylor would come over and kiss me where Kaylie hit me. I tried time out, spanking, ignoring, removing her from the situation, etc. I decided that ignoring is best and spanking only teaches her to hit but ignoring doesn't really work at Disney World. It was not pretty and it seemed to go on forever. Put that together with a husband who isn't the most patient person in the world (not that I am either) and you have a recipe for disaster. So that was the UGLY.

The BAD - 2 Year olds can't wait in line for an hour to go on a ride so you can pretty much skip all the rides. We did make it on 3 at Disney and 1 at Animal Kingdom and the girls did enjoy them. When they got off they would say "Again" and Kaylie would say "I like it" and nod her head.

The GOOD - We got to visit with Grandma Fran and Dale while we were there. Dale's sister, Jean, came out to meet us for lunch too. Fran and Dale were kind enough to stay at the hotel one night so Neale and I could enjoy dinner at Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. The girls loved the hotel room (The Dolphin on Disney property). They pushed their strollers around the room and jumped on the bed. They loved the idea of seeing the characters at Disney World as long as they didn't get too close. We stood in line so they could see Mickey Mouse (who we have been talking about seeing for a while now). Kaylie told me she was going to hug and kiss Mickey but when we got close it was quite a different story. We took a picture with Mickey but Mickey had to stand off to the side. The girls got to pick out stuffed animals. Kaylie picked out Minnie Mouse and "Pooh". Taylor picked out Pluto and Dumbo. The girls enjoyed "It's a Small World" and we have been singing the song ever since. The most fun we had was at a parade at Magic Kingdom. The girls loved watching the parade and then they let everyone go out into the street and dance with all the characters. My girls love to dance! They had a big time. Kaylie dances by jumping up and down and Taylor sticks out her booty and squats and bounces. It is pretty funny to see. Taylor's other dance is to put her hands in the air above her head and sways back and forth with her mouth wide open. She reminds me of a hippie when she does it. Those moments were perfect.

I really have to watch what I say these days. On the ride home Kaylie was screaming and it was apparently even annoying Taylor. Taylor looked at her and put her finger over her mouth and said "Shhhhhh Sissy! Shhhh!" Then Taylor told her "Stop it!". At one point she said "That's enough". I believe those were some of my words earlier in the trip.

We do plan to go back to Disney but not until 2016!