Cycling Queen and other outdoor activities

E got a tricycle for Christmas and she loves riding it - and now that we live in a neighborhood she has space to ride. E is still trying to figure out the pedals but she can still go the distance just scooting along.

Also last week we had some nice weather so we spent several afternoons outside. E also likes finding rocks and playing ball. However Jibbe and I discovered that E does not like the weeds in the grass that stop her ball from rolling. The best part about the weed situation is listening and watching E say weeds. She puts so much emphasis on the ee sound that she whole face scrunches up! It is awesome. The not so awesome part is that she decided the weeds needed to be picked but then refused to touch them.

Got any good weed killer that is safe around kids?

Left foot, right foot, feet, feet, FEET!

Just to quote one of our fav bedtime Dr Seuss books.

When E was born my mom and I took her to get her feet done and I don't mean a pedicure. I made her first little feeties tile for Lee for Fathers Day. About a year later we did another one. It's a sweet little tradition I started that will carry on until feet or hand prints don't fit on those tiles.

Now it was Rs turn only it was not a surprise for Lee because he came along. We got the footprints no problem though I am bummed they were not more centered so I could do her name at the top. Then enter my creative juices - please note the sarcasm - R was screaming her eyes out I was trying to figure out what the heck to decorate the tile with and Lee was trying to calm R down. I did the first layer of paint - you have to do three - then Lees creative skills were tested as he finished layers two and three so I could feed R / stop the madness of the screams!

The tile was getting fired this week so it will be ready for pick up soon

My lifesaver... A must have for getting things done

This Beco baby carrier is such a huge lifesaver. E lived in this for months and now R I'd taking to it. This morning I needed to finish vacuuming and R wanted to snuggle so just strapped her in and hot done!

Also I have been able yo carry E while wearing this too - no pic of that though

Back to work success

Going back to work this week has been successful. E is back into her MMO routine and I have noticed she has better behavior/attitude possibly because of it? R has been great too. My little power napper gives me lots of time to work. Today she slept from the time we got to the office until 30 min before we had to leave which was just enough time to nurse and get a change. It was actually nice because when we got home for lunch and E was down for her nap R spent some time on her mat and helped me work

All that said I am still super grateful of weekends!

Vote for the Scent of the Month!

Okay here's the deal. I want to know what the scent of the month should be for April. Go to your local Yankee Candle retailer and open those lids, take a whiff, and then pick what scent smells like April to you.

You can vote once by posting a comment to this post. I'll tally the votes at the end of the month and post which scent wins out. Then for all the people who vote, I'll use a random number generator to pick out a commenter who will get a small tumbler candle of the winning scent.

This is not sponsored by Yankee Candle or anything like that. I just like Yankee Candles and like burning a candle a month and think this will be fun to know what other people like.

Transition... Can adding one to one be that hard?

Yes... It really can. I was talking with a friend of mine who is another mom in transition - from one child to two - and the trend seems to be going from zero to one is hard, going from one to two can be like trying to move mountains and after that it's a breeze. I cannot speak of the breeze part yet but the mountains around our house can be quite large at times.

I think that bath nights ate the most difficult right now. Once the girls can be tossed in the tubbies together I imagine it will be a lot easier.

I know that I am part of the mountain though. I can get frustrated with E quickly because I expect more from her - even though I should not. When I look at her especially when she is asleep I see this big girl who I struggle to pick up compared to little peanut R. But I have to keep reminding myself that E is still a baby well a toddler and deserves to be treated like one - expectations just not super high expectations.

Fortunately my mother in law and my mom have given us a break but at the end of most days parenting for 2 is a game changer. I have no idea how twin parents survive but they do so I know even our most difficult days are really not as challenging as we think

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

E has given a whole new meaning to this rhyme. This is her post nap sitting with all the contents of her crib. The past couple nights at bedtime she has emptied the crib and started bouncing or jumping in the crib but then is horribly upset when she does not have her Nini!

Tonight I took pity on her and put her pajamas back on - she took them off- and reloaded the crib. Let's just say the monkeys are all still in bed with the Queen Monkey for now.

We survived!

Today was a big day in our house. I went back to the office officially - I had been a few times in the past two weeks to check in on some things but today was official.

I did not get up as early as I should have but no biggie. E had breakfast I got the bags organized with diapers, cups, snacks, nursing cover etc... Got everyone dressed, shoes on, bags plus bouncy seat, nursing pillow loaded in the car, babies loaded all only 9 minutes behind my target schedule! I was frustrated leaving the house but looking back that us pretty darn good for the first day!

E went to MMO no problems. R survived the first day at the office. I lugged more junk around than I thought possible - it does not help I work on the second floor but whatever. R was strapped in the sock otherwise known as the Beco - can we say lifesaver???

I know I will be investing in another bouncy seat or two - one for each place of work. Also in the coming weeks I will see if another pack and play is necessary. I hate to have lots of baby stuff in the one office I share with my boss because it's his office too. I'll have to see how that plays out.

Notes: I need to be dressed before the girls get out if bed.

Traveling as a fam of 4

What is it like traveling as a family of 4? Hmmm... Can we say thank goodness for Lands End tote bags? I looked around my parents house when we stayed with them and all I can see is piles of our stuff! E's diaper bag, clothes bag, new bows from Grammy, and toys. R's diaper bag, clothes bag, new clothes in the laundry room from Grammy that she washed, bouncy seat, car seat, nursing pillow, blankets, presents from my 2nd mom (it's a long story : ). My junk. Lee's stuff. Our little piles are everywhere!

It is insane how much stuff we drag around - much to my brother/sister-in laws delight! I'll have to post a pic of Lee loaded down with bags just for their amusement.

On a lighter note since both I and my bro were home you can bet there were Famous Amos cookies in the pantry for us to raid. I LOVE coming home to that - among other things. I think he had been in the box first because the bag was definitely not rolled up tightly.

Nursing and a toddler...

A. I know this post will not be of interest to everyone so sorry... I just had to make it because I've been thinking about it. Please skip if you don't want to read about the thrills of nursing

I was flipping through the recent Parents magazine when I saw a disappointing stat about breast feeding and hospitals. The vast majority of hospitals do not have good breast feeding support for mothers between a lactation consultant and support groups. Maybe I was taking that for granted because the Wil-town hospital has both. Anyways point of the article was to make sure your hospital has good support if you choose to breast feed your child - which I can tell you from experience is sooooo imporante!

R and I were supposed to go to our nursing mothers meeting at the hospital yesterday. R had other plans as that she screams her eyeballs out the first 5 min of the trip and the 5 min it took to get home. Did I mention I think we should have moved closer to Wilson? I decided I could not listen to the howling for 35 min so we missed out! I was super bummed because it is so important for moms to talk about babies and all the drama-rama that is motherhood.

I had a couple concerns about breast feeding número 2 and I wanted to get other mamas takes on it before E came along but I did not make it to a meeting. Fortunately when R and I went in to follow up with the lactation consultant she was able to help me out with how to talk to or teach an inquisitive toddler about breast feeding.

1. Should I wear a nursing cover just around the house when E us around?

Answer, which made perfect sense - you are teaching/showing E something perfectly normal. Now that I think about it I would not cover up R if she was getting a bottle so why cover up if nursing? Granted, I definitely cover in public and if there are guys around or if there are women who are not comfortable or if I think it will be a distraction.

2. What do you call nursing?

Who the heck wants to get into an anatomy lesson with a less than two yr old???? No thanks. Yeah so definitely stole the solution from the lactation consultants daughter - E is now totally on board with Mimi when she sees R nursing. We have left it at that for now since she is okay with that terminology.

Just for speculation sake I imagine it might be different if E was a boy I think I might be more inclined to cover up ...

New stocking project

R and I ventured out to get the supplies her Christmas stocking. I am really excited about it. It's from the same book as E's but it's got about half the colors. Looking at the colors they are much bolder and brighter than E's. I'm not sure when I will start yet hopefully by the end of thus month and depending on how fast it goes maybe be done by Christmas? I am not guaranteeing anything...

Dirty Toes

E has started cleaning the lint from our between her toes. I have no idea why I find it so comical... But trust it is

Cousins!

Who does not love cousins? E and R got to see all their cousins yesterday. I have great memories of family get togethers with my cousins and I know E and R will too!