"If you keep talking I will throw you in the trashcan"

The blog will be making a comeback soon. I have slacked off but my intentions are to start posting something weekly starting this week. I actually did take a couple photos that I plan to post very soon.

The girls are growing like weeds! They try to eat healthy things so they can "grow big". Taylor asked me,"Mommy, how long until I will be big like you?"

The other night I happened to be in the girls' room checking on them and Kaylie was talking in her sleep. She said,"Don't eat my cookie! No!" and she slapped the bed with her hand. Then she said,"Can you make me a ponytail?"

The other day Taylor said, "Kaylie if you keep talking I am going to throw you in the trashcan."

Taylor was talking on her pretend phone to Tinkerbell or a princess. She was having a long conversation in which she told them,"Kaylie is always taking all of my toys."

Kaylie is always saying,"Mama I am talking to you. Talk to me!"

It is amazing how much children change in 3 years. It used to be that the plug for the dvd player in the car would come undone and I would hear screaming and see tears. Now if that happens I hear,"Mama, the cord came undone and you put it back in the green hole but it needs to go in the yellow hole so it will work. Can you fix it?" Sometimes I just do a double take because I can't believe the things that come out of their mouths. They are growing up so fast.

I love to see their little imaginations at work. They take the princess tablecloths from their birthday party and put it on the floor in the living room and have a party. They put books and toys on the tablecloth and pretend they are cupcakes and hand them out to us to eat. They always pretend to make me cookies in their play kitchen. This morning in the car on the way to daycare they pretended they were sitting on top of the car. Taylor said she was "breaking" the car and Kaylie said she was flying. They have started playing with their babydolls a lot more. Taylor especially loves to take care of her babies. She feeds them and covers them up with a blanket. She will make a good mommy one day. Kaylie.....well right now she likes to throw her babies across the room for being bad..... but I am sure one day she will make a great mommy too. I have two of the sweetest, most loving little girls in the world. We are so blessed.

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my mom! She is the sweetest, kindest, most loving woman that would do anything for you. We love her very much! The girls were disappointed they couldn't go to "Nana's birthday party" (she didn't have one but they think everyone should have one).

I can't believe it is almost March! I don't know where time is going but I need it to slow down. The girls are still taking "M-nastics" and are learning a lot. They come home in their leotards and say,"Watch me, Mommy" as they do twirls, somersaults, and straddle splits. Taylor dramatically likes to flip her hair out of her face with both hands and put her chin up in the air. Taylor recently told me,"My hair is curly and it is beautiful." I guess she has heard that a time or two before. I am happy to hear her say that because she has always been the more shy, quiet, and less confident one. Kaylie is and always has been wide open. Kaylie has gotten a lot less high maintenance though and is just such a sweet little girl. She always tells me,"Mama I am a good girl" and she really does her best to be just that. She says,"Mama I am going to share with Taylor because her is my sister." Today Kaylie told Taylor she loves her. I am so proud of what loving and sweet girls I have.

The girls have favorite songs. Taylor will say,"Mommy play my song." She has claimed "Hey Soul Sister" by Train as her favorite. Kaylie has claimed,"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (beautiful Hawaiian version) as hers. They know most of the words and they sing it in their little baby voices. It cracks me up.

Taylor had to stay home sick from school the other day. All day she kept saying,"Can we go get Kaylie now?" When we went to school to get Kaylie it was as though they hadn't seen each other in months! They were hugging. Kaylie said,"I got my sister back! Maybe next time her can come when she is not sick. That would be GREAT!" I don't really think about it but they are together every minute of every day. It must be so great to have a best friend always with you. Twins really do have a special bond. I always think it is funny because other parents always tell me,"I think it would be easier to have twins because they entertain themselves." I guess in some aspects they are right and I just laugh and agree when they say it. Sometimes the reality is more like having two children talking to me at the same time saying,"Mommy...." and telling me something at the exact same time and both wanting my full attention. But I wouldn't have it any other way and I cannot think of a bigger blessing than having twins. Having them really is my biggest dream come true. We are working on the one at a time talking and I have to admit I am very pleased with their manners. It is funny because Taylor will sometimes say,"Excuse me, Miss Mommy..." I guess they are used to calling all the teachers Miss... They are very good with their manners and they will not hesitate to call me out if I forget to use mine. Kaylie will say,"Mommy I said 'thank you' so you are supposed to tell me 'You are welcome."

Neale and I try to teach the girls healthy eating habits. Kaylie is easy because all she wants is fruit. Taylor just wants candy and potato chips (which we try not to give them). I have started trying to encourage them to eat healthy things by telling them that by eating fruit, drinking milk, etc. will make them grow big. Kaylie now asks me about everything before she eats it. She will say,"Mama is this hotdog gonna make me big or little?" Apparently she thinks that things that are bad for you make you little.

Neale and I went to Sugar Mountain skiing for Valentine's Day. The girls stayed with "Nana and Ahdaugh". They had a big time and poor Taylor was so sad when we had to leave. She cried and said she wanted her Nana. Neale and I had fun and even got to see it snow about 5 inches!

We are 3!

My third year making their birthday cake
Cupcakes I made for school

Birthday at Leaps and Bounce

Kaylie at party at school

Taylor at party at school

Kaylie bouncing at party

Kaylie sliding at party

Taylor going down the slide with a friend

Taylor

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing presents!

Blowing out the birthday candles

Kissing Granddad after eating a cupcake and giving him an icing mustache

Taylor and Daddy

Our new beds and new room (not yet decorated)

The girls celebrated their 3rd birthday on January 23rd. I love this age and I just wish they could stay this age for about 10 more years. We had their first real "kid's" birthday party at Leaps and Bounce. There were about 12 kids there and I think the girls had a big time! The grandparents all came into town so it was nice to see everyone. We missed Aunt Cathy who couldn't make it because her flight got cancelled due to snow. For the third year in a row I attempted to make Kaylie and Taylor's birthday cake. I made a princess carriage and put Cinderella and Belle in the carriage windows. Kaylie wanted a "Cinderella birthday" and Taylor wanted a "Belle birthday". So we ended up having a princess theme with all the tiaras, magic wands, earrings, bracelets, and little princess like items I could find. We have more toys than we know what to do with now. Taylor has every version of Belle probably ever made and Kaylie has every version of Cinderella. They love them! Neale says our house now looks like we could be on the tv show "Hoarders"! We are moving the girls into the bonus room so the house is a complete disaster. They got new big girl beds and they love them. They are even sleeping in later which is nice although Taylor is already really hard to get out of bed on school days. She likes to sleep! She puts her blanket over her head and she wants you to just leave her alone until she is ready to get up. Kaylie is up early with a big smile on her face most days. The tough part of the mornings with Kaylie comes when she is getting dressed. Both girls pick out their own clothes and dress themselves. Kaylie always picks out a sleeveless dress. I try to get her to wear a shirt under it or a sweater but she won't. I think I am going to have to hide everything sleeveless until it gets warmer. She is just like me. I hate to wear sleeves too. Taylor is much easier. She is not the fashion diva that Kaylie is.
What we have been up to/saying:

Kaylie says "Yes M Are." instead of "Yes, I am."

I am very proud of all the "Please", "Thank you's" and "Yes Ma'am's" my kids have been saying lately. Kaylie said yesterday, "See mama, I am using my manners."

Kaylie and Taylor are still enjoying gymnastics. Kaylie's favorite food is grapes and Taylor loves candy and crackers. Kaylie is a ball of energy and gets really excited easily. Taylor is more laid back most of the time. Taylor has to do everything by herself. She insists on buckling herself, opening the door at daycare, etc.

The day I had Taylor in the hospital she began sticking out her tongue. The nurses used to say she was like Gene Simmons from Kiss. As a baby she never used a pacifier but she would suck on her tongue. She still does it.

Taylor woke up the other night saying that there were snakes in her bed. Last night she thought there were snakes in the bathtub. When I was little I used to think there were sharks in the bathtub. I remember putting my foot in the bathtub and splashing water on the floor so my parents would think I took a bath. I must have overdone it a little because I got yelled at for making such a mess.

Kaylie always talks about a girl names Addison at school and Taylor always talks about a boy named Jack. I took cupcakes to school for their birthday. Nana and Granddad went with me. Jack pulled on Nana's shirt and told her, "I love Taylor." Oh goodness.....

Kaylie tells me "Mama, I shared to Taylor and Taylor shared to me 'cause her is MY SISTER!"

The girls like to tell on each other and my response is always,"You don't worry about what she is doing. You just worry about what you are doing." So the other night at dinner Neale was telling Kaylie not to do something and Kaylie responded,"Daddy, you don't worry about what I am doing." Oops.

Taylor has started telling me in her baby voice,"Mama I don't want you to go to work. I don't want you to leave me." It breaks my heart.

I always call the girls my "angel", "sugarbear" and "baby". So Kaylie will come up to me and give me a hug and say, "I love you and you are my angel, my sugarbear, and my baby! Forever and ever."

Christmas

It was great to have all of our families here for Christmas. This is the first year the girls really understood Santa so they were really excited. We put food out for the reindeer and left cookies and milk for Santa. The girls woke up went downstairs to see what Santa brought them. Taylor told me that she didn't ask Santa for a car and she did not want it. Apparently Santa is only allowed to bring exactly what is on her list. The girls did have a big time opening their presents. Taylor went back and forth on what she wanted from Santa. At first it was a tiger, then a hippo, then a dinosaur, then back to a hippo, etc. Well the final answer was the hippo and Santa did bring her that. Then she said to me in her little baby voice as she looked around at all of her presents,"Mama, did Santa bring me my tiger and my dinosaur?" (My heart sank) I said,"I don't know, baby. I don't see them."She had the saddest look on her face and she just said,"Oh." and sat in silence for a minute. I shouldn't have felt bad because they got more presents than any child needs but it still broke my heart. Santa will have to pay more attention next year! The girls got a car for Christmas. Taylor is actually a very cautious driver and she is actually really good at it. Kaylie - well she is much more concerned about how she looks in the car. She runs all over the place and flips her hair around. The girls dress themselves these days which is evident if you look at the photos.

I was in charge of the party for the girl's class at school. We read books, danced, anddecorated cupcakes. I think the kids had a great time. Taylor ate half of her cupcake before we even started decorating and Kaylie dumped everything she could on hers so it wasn't even edible.

Taylor has developed a major southern accent. It came out of nowhere and it is hilarious. Here are some bits and pieces of some conversations between me and the girls.

Kaylie (while waving her hands in the air while she talks)- "Mama, Santa ate all of our cookies! Why did he eat all of our cookies all gone?Santa is not nice."

Taylor was talking on her phone she got from Jeff and Kelley for Christmas.

Me - "Who are you talking to?"

Taylor - "Cinderella"

Me - "Oh, what did she say?"

Taylor - "She said her stepsisters BROKED her dress....her pretty pink dress."

Kaylie got mad at Taylor the other day and told her,"You are not my sister!"

The girls have started taking "M-nastics" (gymnastics). They seem to really enjoy it after they get there but getting them dressed and there is another story...I will probably have gray hair before long.

All is great here and we have the girls' 3rd birthday coming up in just a couple weeks! Time is flying by and I am enjoying every mintue with the girls.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My how time flies! I just turned a year older, Neale's birthday is in a few days, and it is almost Christmas! The girls are growing way too fast for me. I can't believe they will be 3 in January. They are getting so big and the things that come out of their mouths just amaze me. They are so funny and they just seem so grown up. It is amazing the things a two year old knows and can pick up on. AND...they are just so stinkin' cute! I could just sit and watch and listen to them all day long. I LOVE, LOVE my babies!

Kaylie is wide open. She is skinny as could be and it is because she can't sit still. She is full of energy. She still hasn't hit the 30 lb mark and she is almost 3. She talks and talks and wants to go, go , go. The only way to get her to calm down is to put a princess show on tv and then you can talk to her and she won't hear a word you say. She has become such a girlie girl. She insists on wearing "pretty dresses" every day. She has to have a pony tail and a headband or a crown. She wants chap stick or "lips" as she calls it. She is such a sweet child. If she accidentally runs into you or does something she immediately says "Well I am so sorry" and gives you a hug. She loves to snuggle and give hugs. Tonight she told me, "I love you, beautiful." She loves to dress up, read books, sing, dance, and watch cartoons.

Taylor is mellow and laid back most of the time. She does like for things to go her way and does get upset if you don't let her do everything by herself. She wants to open the doors, flush the toliet, let out the dogs, clean the house, etc. Many times she has gotten the mop out of the closet and dipped it in the dog's water bowl and mopped the kitchen. She loves to read and her favorite thing to read is Professional Photographer Magazine. She doesn't really care about dresses BUT she wears my shoes daily. I find them all over the house. She has become really attached to her blanket and it has to have the yellow side up. She also loves to cuddle and is as sweet as can be. She loves to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".

The girls are excited about Christmas! We went to see Santa. Kaylie had the biggest smile and most excited look on her face when we got up to Santa. You could see the magic of Christmas in her eyes. Then..... Taylor started screaming so Kaylie started screaming. Neale and I had to hop into the Christmas photo or there was no way they were going to sit there with him. We prepped for it by telling them how nice Santa was and that they needed to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. They were so excited but they just got scared. Then after the whole screaming incident we walked off and Kaylie told me that we couldn't leave because she forgot to tell Santa what she wanted. She asked me to go back and tell him for her. So I went back and told him that she wanted an elephant. He said okay and we started to go. Poor Kaylie started balling her eyes out. She thought she was going to get the elephant right then. Oops. Kaylie wants an elephant for Christmas and Taylor wants a hippo. Taylor did want a tiger but I managed to steer her away from that. And...they wanted the real thing. I explained to them that real animals bite so they quickly changed their minds and decided stuffed animals would do just fine. We wrote letters to Santa. The girls helped me hold the pen and write a letter to him and they told me what to say. The girls had a Christmas show at school. The teacher said during practice that Taylor sang louder than anyone else but during the actual performance everyone kind of froze and just smiled but it was still precious.

Now that busy season is coming to an end, I hope to post much more often. The girls have said and done so many cute things but since I haven't written them down I have forgotten them all so I plan to post more often.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Photos Soon

Time is flying by and we have been so busy but hopefully I will have time to post more often soon. (After I get all my Christmas orders out!)

Since I am the room mom I put together a Halloween party for the girls' classroom. The kids painted pumkpins, we read Halloween stories, and they had a Halloween themed lunch with cupcakes. The kids had a great time. Halloween was freezing here! Kaylie was Cinderella and Taylor was Ariel. Kaylie is just like me and she is always cold. She is always telling me, "I don't want to be cold mommy." She ended up wearing a sweater under her costume. Taylor was so into trick or treating that she could have cared less how cold it was. She would go to every door and come back and say "More candy." She was on a mission. Of course Kaylie still doesn't like sweets so she was into getting the candy but not eating it.

I have two little divas. Every day when Kaylie gets home the first thing she does is put on a costume, a tiara, and dress shoes. Then she says,"I am so beautiful now." She will tell me to take her picture. Every time I turn around she has on another costume. It always has a crown or a headband, etc. with it. This morning we went out to breakfast and Kaylie wore a tiara. The waitress asked us if it was her birthday. Every morning Kaylie has to pick out her own outfit. She usually shows up to school in a dress or skirt with sunglasses and a headband or tiara. She makes quite the fashion statement. Taylor is just into shoes and she likes to have her fingernails painted.

Kaylie is still all over the place and hyper and Taylor is still laid back. They are opposite in just about every way. Taylor is very concerned about her sister. She will get a juice box and say, "I need to get one for my sister." They were watching "Sleeping Booty" (Beauty) and it scared them. Taylor said "That witch is not going to get my sister."

The girls went to a birthday party on a pirate boat in the Inlet and had a big time. They got their faces painted and got to squirt the pirate on another boat with water cannons. They got treasure (rings and coins) which Taylor was thrilled about. She left a ring in the bathroom and had a meltdown because " I lost my treasure".

The other night I got home from work and Taylor came and sat on my lap and started talking.....and kept talking for 30 minutes nonstop. Taylor is usually quiet so it was unusual. I mean she didn't take a breath. She was telling me about her day, her teachers, a movie she watched at school where they cut off the princesses' hair, etc. Finally Kaylie held her finger up to her mouth and said ,"Shh! Taylor be quiet. Shh!"

When Kaylie is being bad I give her until the count of 3 to do what I have asked. Now when she knows I am getting frustrated she looks at me very seriously and says,"Don't count."

Today during nap the girls were being loud, doing backflips off their beds, and both jumping in Taylor's bed. I could see and hear them on the monitor. I yelled upstairs for them to be quiet and go to bed. Taylor told Kaylie,"Be quiet so mommy can watch her football game."

Neale and I went on our annual trip to Key West with all of our "Parrothead" friends. Jimmy Buffett showed up and played. We had a great time and I had computer issues so I actually hardly worked for 5 days straight (now I am suffering for that and way behind but it was nice)! His mom and Dale were kind enough to stay with the girls which we appreciate! I know the girls had a great time with them and they ended up with new books, clothes, shoes, etc. that are a huge hit.

A couple weeks ago my parents were in town and my dad tried to get the girls to say "Go Tigers". Kaylie said,"No granddad. It is 'Go Gamecocks'. You need to go to timeout."

I will post photos soon.

"You are both mommies"

Taylor (in Halloween colors not to be confused with Clemson)

Taylor picking berries to make pretend pie and picking flowers

Turn your head for one minute and the walls or Taylor get colored!

Partying like a rockstar! Kaylie loves to dress up and of course she has to pick out her own clothes. Part of this is her Halloween costume.

Kaylie puts on a crown or a hairbow and says "Now I am so beautiful" .

Kaylie is full of energy. She is quite the talker these days. She is non-stop constantly going whether it is dressing up, singing, talking, running, or squealing with excitement. The other day I picked the girls up from daycare and Kaylie said,"Mommy, I love you and you love me. You are both mommies. You are my mommy and you are Taylor's mommy."

Kaylie always tells me there is an alligator on the ceiling in the corner of her room. She asks me if he is going to get her.

I was tucking the girls into bed and Kaylie said (just like she was ordering from a menu),"I want a hug and a kiss and a 'I love you' and a 'Have sweet dreams'."

Kaylie told me,"Mama you are a good girl. I am so proud of you. You will always be my baby."

Taylor's favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me". Kaylie sings it and then tells me as she nods her head,"Jesus is SO STRONG mama. He is SO STRONG."

Kaylie is into dressing up. She has to pick everything out herself and if you pick something out for her she will absolutely not wear it. Taylor is into shoes. She could spend all day putting on my shoes. She gets them out of my closet and wears them all over the house.

Neale talks in his sleep and so do both girls. Last night I went into the girls room to check on them and Taylor was said,"I want to put on the other pair of shoes." She is so obsessed with shoes that she is even dreaming about them!

Both girls are potty trained except they wear Pull-ups to bed at night. After Kaylie went to the bathroom Taylor told her,"YAY! I am so proud of you!"

The girls are as opposite as could be. We took the girls to Octoberfest last weekend. They got their faces painted and jumped in the bouncy castles. Taylor held her head down the whole time the lady tried to paint he face. Kaylie had her head held back and thought she was a princess! Even a stranger at the festival said that just by watching them there she could tell that Kaylie was wide open and Taylor is laid back. They are opposites but they are both the sweetest, most loving little girls. I am so blessed!