Our Kids

Well this is the second time the girls have been to Sea World so far and this time was the best. The girls did so great spending almost 5.5 hours in the park with high temps and high humidity. Piper was so excited cheering with glee every time she saw a whale or dolphin jump in the air while Lela stared on intently. Lela was way more in to actually feeding the animals and she fed the sea lions and the dolphins, that was very exciting. We also saw Shamu, watched them feed the penguins, Piper rode the tea cup with Grandpa Norman, saw the scuba diver in the aquarium and even checked out the Clydesdale horses. All in all it was a super trip. The girls started to melt down as we exited the park but not because we were leaving just because they were beat, we had timed it perfectly. So we loaded everyone up and headed down the road, 5 min later they were both asleep.

The only thing that could make the day better would be to have a fresh parent at home ready for the carnage of two tired kids that need to eat and bathe and be rocked to sleep. But since I am the only one here I am freshening up as we speak by taking a shower and a break while the girls enjoy the Berenstain Bears (oh how I love those bears).

We are really having a great time here in Texas. I have to admit it is the best trip I have ever taken with the girls. It could be the family, the break from the hot Phoenix weather, or the fun we are having but it is probably a combination of everything. As I type the girls are swimming in the spa with Nana Peggy and having a blast. We have been to the lake, went out on a boat, we swam, the girls went jogging with me (which was a hoot), went to the library, out to lunch, seen a movie and just had a blast. I think the girls are doing super on this trip and are so much fun.

Landis is definitely crawling now, she does a one legged drag thing but can move from here to there in nothing flat. She has kind of forgotten about pulling herself up to a stand now that she is moving on all fours. She is having a good time to being the happy go lucky baby she is she just adjusts to whatever we have going on.

Tomorrow we are heading up to Austin for the day to visit with my BFF Shannon and her twins and then back here for Sunday thru Wednesday. We are hoping to go to Sea World on Monday which the girls should really love. I wonder how many stuffed Shamu’s I will be carrying when we leave.

We arrived in Texas safe and sound. It was a 14 hour drive with one 6.5 hour day and one 8.5 hour day including stops. We stayed in El Paso at a Holiday Inn and it was a good thing. The girls did super fantastic better than we expected as usual. We stopped only once (or twice) on both days which was awesome. When we arrived in El Paso we went swimming and out to dinner and then back to the hotel for a little Berenstain Bear watching on the laptop. We got in around 5:30 on Saturday and the girls have been adjusting spectacularly, definitely our best visit ever (so far).

Today we headed out to the McKenna Museum in New Braunfels and the girls had a great time (I did too). Then we came home and drove around while the girls caught some zzz’s in the car and I visited my sister. Then we came home and played, did the spa a little, went on the swings and watched a little tele before going to bed. We are off to the lake tomorrow which should be fun because the girls are going to take their first boat ride. Friday we are off to Austin to visit a friend for a day and then back to San Antonio. We are hoping to go to Sea World next week and since the girls are doing so great with my folks this time I think we might actually get er done:)

PS. Jason FINALLY got his 3G iPhone, so we can all collectively sigh in relief…the world will keep spinning. J-

So she passed with flying colors. The ped actually said I have no advice for you, I can’t argue with perfection! LOL! Landis was 20lb 10oz and 28# long. Of course she has a huge brain (read head) but most babies do. She has finally finshed one round of shots, LOL! I am taking it really slowly with the shot thing but she is healthy as a horse and doing super.

She also pooped on the potty again, that is three days in a row! Yeah, no cloth diaper for me to change. She seems to go after her mid day nap and it is so obvious when she is going and it takes her a bit to get started so you have enough time to go and get the potty. Today she looked glad to get on the potty and as soon as I put her on she started to push to go, I know TMI but how cool. We will be taking our little potty with us to Texas so we can keep up the good work. Hopefully it will help us with real potty training a year from now.

All is well, the girls are super, Landis is great and we are off to Texas.

The girls attended their first pro baseball game last night and it was fun. The girls were a real kick taking it all in in their own ways. Lela, who is often shy in groups is in her element in crowds. It is almost like she knows that she is anonymous and walks right through the throngs of people without a care. Piper, who takes her sweet time walking, stops to smell the roses and would be lost in a crowd PDQ.

When we got to our seats and settled they were really taking it all in. Piper was yelling and pointing at our team on the field while Lela could not tear her eyes away from the jumbo tron. So Piper cheered and would look at the jumbotron and see the players number and then yell, “49 49 49.” She was so into it that folks in front of us were turning back to see what little person was yelling. When we tried to explain the game to Lela and tell her to look at the field she would just look at the jumbotron and miss the whole thing.

Landis was a bit leary at first but did not cry. By the fifth inning she was grinning from ear to ear and making all the folks behind us fall in love with her. By the 7th inning we were all ready to go and headed out. I did not see one bit of the game but I had a good time anyway, the games turn into the experience for me even when I go without kids so it was all the same. All in all it was one of my better decisions this summer (not at all like the camping fiasco).

I figure I might as well post a Landis fix since it has been a while. She is doing super of course. We are going in to the Dr. to get that confirmed on Monday afternoon (after my root canal, yikes). She is weighing in at a solid 20.5 lbs dead weight! She can pull herself up to a stand in her crib and if she has a solid surface to grab on to like the girls trampoline. She can stand on her own if you let her go for a few seconds, she is quite proud of that accomplishment. She has pooped on the potty again, more a thing for me than for her one less diaper to wash:) She seems to be teething again since everything goes in her mouth.

Yesterday we were swimming and she was trying to bit everything in sight. One time she leaned forward and tried to bite the pool water, I was a bit startled at first because I did not know what she was doing but she did it over and over and I finally realized she was biting the water. That was funny. Unfortunately that means she is also biting me, YEOUCH! She is down to napping twice a day and sleeping 12 hours at night. We are blessed again with happy go lucky, thank goodness. A wonderful, wonderful, happy, content, chubby little angel.

Okay so today was going oh so well. We had played, had the house cleaned and even met Daddy for a snack and then it happened. Lela’s ugly green monster visited. How can it be going so well to all turn to total crap so quickly? I mean who knew and really how the hell am I supposed to know. Here is the deal, we get home from our snack date and I ask the girls to remember to bring in their shoes. Piper asks why and I tell her because then we will know where they are when we want to wear them. Lela starts to whine that she does not want to bring in her shoes, so I say okay and I get her shoes. THEN I assume that she won’t want to carry her two dolls and doll bottle into the house either so I grab those….WHOA NELLY.

Here is where I should burn in all eternity for actually picking up her doll. As you can imagine (if you can’t, just try to go there, it is somewhere dark and scary) I was in deep doodoo now. It went from whining to full on meltdown and I could barely set my keys down without sending her into some sort of screaming rage. I swear I wanted to slam my head against the counter until I passed out in the hope that it would all be over when I regained consciousness. Instead I had my moment, she had her moment and when we were all emotioned out we chatted about how we both could have handled it better. I suppose I should realized that she is cut from my cloth and the emotion overload I feel she feels as well but she does not have the ability to process it yet and sometimes neither do I.

Okay so I know that is lame but it is true. The summer heat is on us and it is a race through the day to keep the girls busy crafting and doing things (other than watching TV) to get from sun up to sun down without going outside. Some days we don’t even leave the house which actually leaves the house in a horrible mess. But at night as we step over the endless toys and crafts all is well, the girls are happy and we have made it through another day, sigh.

Speaking of toys everywhere yesterday I asked the girls to help me clean up, it wasn’t in the cards even with the enticement of swimming. Rather than beat a dead horse I let it go and then we praise them each time they do help clean up, it is a slow process but it is working and I don’t have to do the yelling to clean up thing, I figure we will get there eventually. Anyway, I said if you are not going to help me clean up then go to your room or playroom and play while I clean up. They were happy to do that and I set about cleaning up, I was hot and grumpy. So Piper came out to retrieve a baby I had already put away and as she skipped back to her room she said, “Looks good Mama.” All at once the tension went away and I smiled and I realized that the house did not have to be spic and span at that moment it could wait, so we put on our suits and went swimming.

Guess what, the house is picked up now even with the swimming:)