Tuesday, May 31, 2011

New beginnings

Well, after all of the stuffing, packing, taping and more stuffing-- we finally call a new place our home. We moved from our TINY tiny tiny two-bedroom apartment with no backyard/garage/closet space... into our beautiful, HUGE, four-bedroom house with a huge backyard, garage with two garage doors, dog run, boat parking and two white horses. Yes, we are neighbors to two white horses that we've named "Honey" and "Sweetie," courtesy of my girls and my mom.

It is beautiful and such a blessing. I still cannot believe that we are homeowners.

The kitchen is unpacked, the playroom (yes, playroom- the girls have a room JUST for their toys!), girls' room and our room have all been unpacked. What's left to unpack are the boxes of closet stuff that I forgot about. Wrapping paper that will actually have a place in our office/den in our built-in desk in our room. Harley accessories that will know call the garage their home. Brooms and a new vaccum in the broom closet. And the girls brand-new trampoline in the backyard.

I mean as I type these things- I still can't believe it!!!

Our house is beautiful and we love it. The girls love it. And the number one that I was most concerned about, was their sleep. How sleep affects children- as a parent, you know what I'm talking about. If they don't get sleep or their normal daily naps- they are "toddmonsters." (That's my made-up word.) Ava had a rough patch in the middle of the night on our first night, but since then they've slept through the night, unless it's a potty break or they hear the train noise from afar.

For the update on my packing dilemma=great advice from my friend, Brandy. The color coding thing worked like a champ! I knew which colors meant what, even if I had to think for a second what the heck "pink+orange" meant (girl's closet). I did not use her handy way of listing what was in the boxes, I just wrote a general recap in a word or two what was actually in the box. Though towards the end of packing (which was the day-of...) I just wrote what room the box went into. Can't thank her enough!!!

My favorite is to hear from Ava: "I don't want to go home. I want to go to the new house."

Now I don't know how to post a video from FB, but here's a video of the girls JUMMPPPPINGGG!!!

No....internet....for.....five...days....

How I have survived-- one would know. We moved.. settled... unpacked most of our stuff..... and will have internet at home shortly! So I haven't followed up on my word to blog-a-day in May. Sorry!!! But just wait-- you'll see why it's okay (with pix of my new house!).

Stay tuned for the best ... post.... ever! ;)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Moving day!

Today is moving day!!! Wish us luck and sing with me:

"Rain, rain- go away! Please come back another day (preferably when we're done). ;)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A Mother's Prayer...

A friend of mine sent me this link to Tina Fey's "A Mother's Prayer for Her Child" on a blog I've never read, but might stalk read now: Write in Color written by Melody Godfred. ;) Enjoy!

"A Mother's Prayer for Her Child" by Tina Fey.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Get your 'big girl' panties on

So the last package of diapers has been emptied into the basket on the changing table. And the fresh new box of pull-ups have been purchased. It's time to get Emma potty trained. I swear I could of trained her months ago, but I didn't think she was really 'ready-ready' and I wanted to hold onto my last baby for just a little while more.

But I am so proud!!! She will pee in the potty and poop in the potty! Not all of the time, but when given the chance she does it and does it well. She knows the drill. You get candy and a sticker after you pee or poop in the potty!

But mama knows better than to be dishing candy out here and there... before the 'real' training begins. I've had to stop offering it because Miss Ava will just go pee and then have to pee a minute after consuming her leftover Easter jelly beans.

So to encourage her and to encourage Ava to help with the training, the daily candy will resume and the stickers on the cool Sesame Street chart will start! (Can't wait..... NOT!) ;)

So best wishes are asked for a smooth potty training experience with Miss Emma ... which we will slowly move into once we are settled into our new house. We'll start with the pull-ups for now and get her used to the idea of being a 'big girl.' She's going to do great!!!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Go-to dinner?

What's your go-to dinner? Mine are either tacos and spaghetti. Are those everyone's fave too??

Tacos are super easy because all you do is cook some meat, season it and then chop up a bunch of stuff and pile it into a soft taco or hard shell taco. I prefer the store-bought hard shell tacos because it's easier on the tummy than deep fried corn tortillas (hello heartburn!) and only takes a few minutes to bake.

Spaghetti, well that's easy. And it's one meal my mom didn't make over and over and over again for me to hate it in my adulthood. Those meals include mac and cheese and stew. Bleh!!!

I love to make my own sauce. Canned tomato sauce, a ton of chopped onions and garlic, added with cooked hamburger meat and more onions and ... noodles!!!

What are your favorites?

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Dirt, 'honey' and 'sweetie'

Why is it this time that I find that the girls are sooooooooooooooooo dirty once we leave our new house to go back to sleep at our old house? I swear, they get so dirty. Maybe from playing in the dirt ... or because of the HORSES IN THE BACKYARD!!!

We have two beautiful white horses that live (not technically) in our backyard. Yeah, I know, it's awesome. They come right up to the fence and say hello. Since we can't feed them due to special diet restrictions that I keep hearing about from the neighbor, but not actually the owner.. they are the best pets I've ever had. They are sweet to the girls and come and say hello when we want to say hello! But I don't have to feed them, clean up their big poops, pay their vet bills or anything!

So welcome to the family, Honey and Sweetie (names the girls picked out with my mom). Honey is the girl and Sweetie is the boy (was named after we found out how 'happy' he was one day).

What I don't like about these animals is the dirt they kick up! We still have to put up a fence in that section of the backyard (it's divided and the other side has a fence), but will still have enough space on top to say hello to our beloved, free pets!

Friday, May 20, 2011

End of the world??? Come on people!

Amongst other news, unfortunately the San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland A's tonight--booooo! And I guess at 1 a.m. or 6 p.m. the world is suppose to end. Crap! We haven't even moved yet and I was so looking forward to drinking coffee on my new window seat.

Some may take it seriously (and I have heard some people have) and then there's ones that don't care and ones that are believers.. and probably more categories of people. My message to you tonight is... ask Jesus into your heart and ask for Him to forgive you of your sins. You will be saved. Amen.

And ...... a good night! (I promise tomorrow will have a better post-- I'm getting by on lack of sleep and an aching body from moving/cleaning.)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Parenting vs. Parents

Just last month, I realized that the Parenting magazine and Parents magazine are two different things. And don't forget that Parenting also has Baby Talk, a free magazine for new parents.

So even if I wanted to give a review, I really couldn't since I recently just found out that they are two different things. But I do receive e-mails from both and really appreciate their subjects that they often include in their e-blasts. And since we're all bloggers or stalk other blogs, here's Parenting's list of blogs on their site.

Does anyone have any suggestions to magazines that deal with toddlers and the older years (before the teenage years)?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Room position

We have a dilemma! Help! Room position for the girls? We have enough bedrooms so that they can either have their own rooms or share a room and have a playroom/toyroom. I want them to share a room (Ava will be 3 at the end of July and Emma will be 2 at the same time) and my husband wants them to have their own rooms. They currently share their room and are used to each other's cries, screams and championship it takes to share a room with a sibling.

Not only will sharing a room, slice the times they open and shut their door at night (when we put Emma in a toddler bed), all of the toys will be in ONE room.

My husband thinks that they are given the luxary and joy of picking their own room.

What do you all think?

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Keys!

YAY! We are officially homeowners. CANNOT believe it!

Hooray!!!

Now off to skim the ads for sales for a fridge, washer, dryer, rugs, hoses, dog houses... you know, all of that fun stuff!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Very random post day

It's been a day! I thought I'd have a wonderful post today, but I don't. My mom was admitted to the hospital today and is staying overnight. I'm a mess. But she's gunna be okay.

I think as a mom, you are wired with enormous strength, strength that you sometimes forget about. And today, I forgot how strong I am until the clock stroke 8 p.m. and the girls were done and I was done. They were angels all day for what the day entailed.

Oh and please vote for my partner in crime for blog-a-day this month, Ami at The Best Things in Life are Three for Circle of Mom's Top 25 Parents with Multiples. The triples' cuteness qualifies, as well as her great sense of humor! Now go, go and vote!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

VIP

Recently, the girls and I had the chance to have a tour of Marine One, the helicopter that the President flies in. Enjoy the pictures for an up-close look at the machine!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Easter- finally!

Finally! Easter pictures!!! To start off the details, I should mention that the girls went on FIVE Easter egg hunts. FIVE. Lucky girls!!!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Excuses, excuses

Blogger was down the last day or so and I was on vacation at Lake Tahoe (Squaw Valley to be exact!). So I posted my posts that I had all ready to go, but everytime I went to post one, Blogger said it was down.

So those are my excuses! I have figured out how to fix the timing on the posts... so I just re-posted them, but at least I had Wednesdays up, which was apparently pulled down during maintenance.

'Night night, mommy'

When I was little, my mom would sing a "good-night" song and we would hhaaatttteeeeeee it because it meant it was time to go to bed! Well, I have picked this up and the girls love it. It's a soothing song if you are the mama or daddy, when YAY! it's time for the kids to go to bed!

It goes a little summin' like this:

"Night, night, mommy!"
"Night, night, mommy!"
"Night, night, mommy! It's time to go to bed!"

"Night, night, daddy!"
"Night, night, daddy!"
"Night, night, daddy! It's time to go to bed!"

"Night, night, Ava!"
"Night, night, Ava!"
"Night, night, Ava! It's time to go to bed!"

"Night, night, Emma!"
"Night, night, Emma!"
"Night, night, Emma! It's time to go to bed!"

And then the girls proceed to include the animals:

"Night, night, Lucy!"
"Night, night, Lucy!"
"Night, night, Lucy! It's time to go to bed!"

"Night, night, Kitty/Sabath!"
"Night, night, Kitty/Sabath!"
"Night, night, Kitty/Sabath! It's time to go to bed!"

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Birthdays

Ava is convinced that her birthday is in two months. How she knows how long a month is, I have no idea! And how she thinks it's two months away... she's gunna be disappointed! It's three months away and I can't wait to get settled into our house and start planning their joint birthday party in our new house!

Ideas? Well, for as long as I can get away with it-- we're gunna stick with the princess theme. Maybe not full blown Disney Princesses, but a generic princess theme. My cousin set the bar VERY high when it comes to little toddlers birthday parties and hired a real princess to come and do a magic show, facepainting and made balloon animals.
Awesome, huh??
And I have to follow in her footsteps!!! These girls share their birthday and will always have a joint party, so we have one shot, once a year!

We've been very fortunate to have had Ava's 1st birthday (a month after Emma was born) and the girls 1st and 2nd birthday parties at my parents house. So I know about all of the organizing, party planning, food, entertainment (has been swimming). But how do you factor in the cleaning and what timing is your rule of thumb? Late morning? Late afternoon? Noon? (Taking into account.. these girls are toddlers and still take naps, as the rest of their crew still does too!)

Thanks for your advice.. I'm looking forward to it!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Where's the Love? Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! Where's the love, you may ask?!


Well... what I'm loving this week is my girls and well how they commute with each other. How Ava came make complete thoughts by herself and carry a long, long, long conversation about whatever is on her mind. 


And how after pinching Ava, Emma understands and actually goes through the kiss-and-make-up (time-out and then kiss-and-make-up) motions. She may give her death stare, but she follows through.


I love that finally she understands that she did something wrong and will cry and cry in time-out, but will actually go and say "sorry" and kiss her sister.


I do not love the fighting. And I know it will be never-ending and that it's part of growing up and raising kids.


So straight from Akers of Love


Where is your love this week?


It can be fun, lighthearted, deep and meaningful or a little of both.  It can be one thing or many things  It may even be one simple photograph to capture where you're feeling the love.



Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Zoooooooo....


We scored free passes to the Oakland Zoo so we went on the hottest day possible in May! But it was okay that we left early, because, we got in free! :) Enjoy my lazy photo essay post.

Monday, May 9, 2011

'How to' pack and move with a lot of stuff

After posting that dreadful post about the 'process' of moving and packing, etc. I've had a lot of positive feedback that I thought I would share with all of you!

A few things I do practice everytime I move, is a basic labeling system. Label each box with what room and the general idea of what's in the box. For example, for a box that contains wrapping paper and ribbon, I would label the box "Closet-wrapping/wrap." Pretty simple and I'm sure everyone does this. And I also write it on every side of the box and on top... because obviously the boxes aren't going to appear how you staked them at home... in your new home.

Now I received A LOT of great advice from my friend, Brandy. She's moved three times with her little girl and her advice was extremely helpful and I'm using some of it.

Tips from Miss Brandy:

* Have your children pick out a few things that they really like to play with and put them aside. Also, have the kids pick out a few books and dolls or whatever. (Will use as we get closer to the moving date.)


* She advises to buy a bunch of clear Rubbermaid containers with colored lids and put really fragile things and clothing. It's costly, but something you'll use over and over again. (I haven't gotten to the clothes yet and my cost-efficient advice is to use big garage bags and just shove all the clothes in!)


* This is her biggest hint: buy colored masking tape in a couple different colors and label each box with the corresponding room. For example, use pink for your child's room, blue for the bathroom, yellow for the kitchen and so on. I tried to go this route, but the tape was pretty hefty in price and we didn't have the funds to buy tons of rolls (retail at Michael's was about $5 a pop and Target was a little less than that). Instead, I bought tiny little post-its and have used the coloring system (pink-girls, kitchen-yellow, bathrooms-blue, closets-purple, etc.).
Here's my master list, along with my supplies.
 * Buy new bedding and let the kids pick it out! This goes along with potty training for any child and if/when they transition to a big kid bed. If there's something new and special, and something they picked out-- it will be even more exciting (and less scary) to be in a new bedroom/house.

* She advises also to number the boxes. Write a list of what's inside each box and have a corresponding number to match on a master list. When movers move your stuff and put it all in the garage or front room, you can find items quickly and efficiently. For example, if you want to work on kitchen dishes, look at your list and find where the kitchen dishes are (yellow #2-4) and there you go! 


Thank you, Brandy!!!

If you have any more great advice or tips on how to move with little ones, please comment below!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

Just a quick post since I'm running late!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommies!

Today for me really was a day to look at my little girls that made me a momma. Those two wonderful beings made me that.. something I wished for my whole life. Just like everyday, you want to remember how lucky you are to have healthy and happy kids. But Mother's Day for some might seem like a Hallmark holiday, but when you're a momma, you want to celebrate it. You want people to fuss over you. You want your children to give you hand-drawn pictures and wish you a "Happpppppppppy muther's dayyyyy!" And you want your husband to roll over early in the morning to tell you that you are the most wonderful mom in the world.

I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed all of your glory as mommas, even though you still had to tend to filling up sippy cups of milk, changing poopy diapers and maybe, maybe-- even fighting a two-year-old to go down for a nap.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Musical potties

Have you ever played this game? Musical potties? I didn't know it existed until now! :)

This is how you play: train two-year-old on how to go pee-pee and poop on the potty. She masters it, yet occasionally pees the bed. Some weeks are better than others and some days are rather not perfect.

Have a lower potty seat in the girls' bathroom along with the normal porcelain god. And it's even better if you have a two-bathroom place.

You go from potty-to-potty and allow your child to pee in different potties. FUN! Especially when she insists on closing the door and then continues to put toilet paper in the potty. Or when the younger one fights for the lower potty to go "PEE PEE IN THA POTTY MOMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIEEEEEEE!"

It's fun!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Ava sayings

My husband takes the girls to Super Franks which is an indoor-child's dream world. Bounce houses, slides, bikes, play kitchen, balls, circle times, crayons, etc.

Well, a bully little girl was bugging Emma and wouldn't leave her alone. She went to pick Emma up and this is how Ava proves her big sister status:

"Put down my sister Emma!"
(pushes little girl and divides Emma away from the girl)
"NOW!"
(with her hand palmed faced out)
"STOP! Leave my Emma alone!!!"

No exaggeration here. Seriously. This is a perk of having kids so close together. The oldest one that is not even two yet, is sticking up for her almost two-year-old sister.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

'Didn't your mama teach you not to stare?'

What's up with the people at the grocery store that just stare at you when your child is having a tantrum? Why do they stare? And stare even harder when you just ignore it?? Especially with those mommies with one child who sits perfectly in their cloth covered shopping cart???

Take yesterday... we scored one of those carts with the pretend cars in the front that Ava calls "hers" and insist that people are borrowing them when we can't find one for ourselves.

Well, both girls go in and start to pretend driving. Then there goes the pushing, Emma's feet on the chair which is pinching Ava's leg, the screaming and then the crying and then the hair pulling.

If I was another parent and my kids were grown, I would give that mother (me) and reassuring smile or nod. But no. People just stare.

And maybe I'm doing things wrong. Maybe I shouldn't ignore them after the 50th time Emma has pinched Ava's arm. But I do, because in life, you have to learn to sort minor problems out like that.

Or just go and get them a cookie from the bakery that will save you 5 minutes of scream-free noise.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Where's the Love? Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I'm bringing you the 'Blog-a-Day in May' edition of "Where's the Love?"


The love sleeps in my living room and eats in my kitchen. That little love was my first baby. She is the one that is never mad at me, rather she gets more upset with herself when I am mad at her.


The love this week (and everyday!) is our dog, Lucy. (Lucy Lou to be exact!) She is the girls' playmate, their huggable bear, protector, pretend horsey and best friend.


And yet, she never gets much appreciation these days with the girls around. But without her, I would have to vacuum and mop more often; I would have to teach my girls not to be afraid of animals; and I wouldn't have the best friend that I've had for the past seven years.


She is my Lucy. My black Labrador retriever that sheds like no other. But one that loves like no other.
Always happy-- the right kind of BFF to have!

So straight from Akers of Love:

Where is your love this week? 

It can be fun, lighthearted, deep and meaningful or a little of both. It can be one thing or many things. It may even be one simple photograph to capture where you're feeling the love.

Comment below or join along!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Dads and poopies

This has been taken from my partner-in-blogging for 'Blog-a-Day in May,' Ami from The Best Things in Life are Three. Prepare to roll on the floor laughing while crying. It's hilarious!

The story of Emma

Emma is a blessing and a gift from above.

She was the best gift a little girl turning one could ever ask for. Emma was born exactly one year, two hour and 18 minutes after her big sister, Ava. Her entrance into this world was quite dramatic, but that little girl, she wasn't phased.

After being born and baked in my oven for almost 38 weeks (one day shy), she was delivered in a non-emergency environment.

The story begins like this.....

Monday, May 2, 2011

Process

Happy Monday and my #2 post of 'Blog-a-Day in May!' We're in the process of...

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Happy May Day! and welcome to 'Blog-a-Day in May'

Well, it's May 1. And that means it's May Day (which I'm not sure where it's actually celebrated, but as a child I always wanted to walk around the pole holding a ribbon); and that it's the first day of my commitment for 'Blog-a-Day in May!' I am joining Ami from The Best Things in Life are Three who is mother to triplets. Now my blogger friend, Ami, has a theme of 'maybe.' Maybe she will blog about this or that. I'm not sure that I have a theme, since it's just going to be a challenge to get a post in a day!

To start off and get this started right, I will share one thing amazing about my two girls. Ava shows so much love for her sister and cares for her as asks "you okay, Emma?! You okay??" All while pushing her two two minutes later for getting in her view of "Tangled." Emma has begun potty training and has been occasionally peeing in the potty from time to time, maybe once a day. But I think this girl would rather poop in the potty than really pee. She must do it everyday. AMAZING.

And one thing about them together. People everyday ask if they are twins. And I can see this as they are exactly a year apart (a year, two hours and 18 minutes- to be exact). But really-- can't you see one has a chubbier face and the other one is like 3 inches taller?? Or Ava's feet are a little bit bigger than Emma's?

Do you think they look like twins?


I do love it though. I love saying in the phrase: "no, they are Irish twins" and proceed to explain what Irish twins are and how it's ONE IN SEVEN MILLION that a child is born exactly a year apart from the first sibling.

And yes, if you're wondering, I do know magic. My husband and I both know it. And, yes, of course, we planned to have them so close together. Wouldn't you want it that way too? Have a one year old, who really is 10 months adjusted age, and a newborn.

I will take off for now and leave you with that thought and welcome you to 'Blog-a-Day in May!' Please follow along with Ami, she has a great sense of humor and adorable little kids.