New Cribs (or lack there of)

Madeline and Eli are babies no longer, and they have the beds to prove it. Last night was the big night - we moved M&E into their big girl/boy rooms. While they are still works in progress, they are ready for their new inhabitants, and these kiddos are ready to inhabit. Brandon and I had a little visitor at 4:00 on Sunday morning. I rolled over to a sweet "Hi Mommy!" from Eli. The little boy had been escaping his crib lately so we decided it was time to abandon it all together. I have been pleasantly surprised with how easy the transition has been. Eli has gotten a few spankings for climbing out of bed, but after a couple each time, he gives up and stays put. Madeline seems to have some invisible force field around her bed because she will not climb into or out of it on her own. So far, one night down and M&E are currently snoozing away at naptime. I think we can call this a success!

The Soundtrack of Summer '09

While this age offers its challenges (tantrums and independent attitudes), it is more than anything, a lot of fun and very high on the entertainment value. Lately, M&E's language is really starting to develop and I'm amazed every time they voice a new observation. Madeline definitely has the more advanced vocabulary of the two, but Eli seems to be learning from her too. Here are a few samplings of my daily soundtrack...

"Wuvy, no!" : Eli has been referring to Madeline as "Wuvy" (like lovey, as in lovey dovey) for a couple of months now - no clue where he came up with that, but she answers to it.

"E-I!" : Madeline calls Eli "E-I" (like e-i, e-i, o) and she usually says it very, very loud.

"Jump Big Pool!", "Mommy, I wanna go pool.", "Mommy, pool!!" : Can you tell where we've been spending a lot of our time?

"Outside!", "Eat Outside!" : Can you tell where we've enjoyed many meals?

"On my knees.", "Eat outside pool on my knees." : M&E have discovered that it's often easier to reach their food whilst dining al fresco in aforementioned position.

"Bobbles" : goggles

"Butt" : bike

"Neigh" : horse

"Dadoo" : tractor

"Tup" : truck

"Peak, Dog!" : speak, dog!

"Slops" : socks

"Mommy night night" : I want to get up on Mommy's bed, throw all the pillows off, make a mess of the bedding and jump around.

"Ice" : ice, ice cream, icing - a multipurpose word dependant on context

I would have to say that M&E's current range of vocab may be nothing to write home about now (although blog-worthy in my book). However, considering how it's grown in just the past couple of months, I'm excited to see how quickly it explodes once they start MDO this fall.

"I Two"

Madeline and Eli are two. My goodness, time flies when you're having fun! We woke them up Thursday morning with a Happy Birthday serenade, which was followed by gifts...

What two-year-old doesn't need his own set of power tools?

After gifts, I loaded M&E up and took them to Panera for a big cinnamon roll for breakfast and a ride on the escalators afterwards. Then, we spent the morning at the pool because that's what Madeline said she wanted to do and she was the birthday girl after all.

On Saturday, Brandon and I had a wedding to go to in Atlanta, so on Sunday we had a little birthday party for M&E with some family members in Newnan that day.

We scraped the icing off of M&E's cupcakes so they wouldn't stain their cute new clothes from Mama Kaye. This was not okay with Madeline however, who demanded "ice," so when we got home that night, I stripped Little Miss down and let her go to town.

Thanks to Mama Kaye and Grandma and Grandpa for the birthday party and to all the grandparents, aunts and uncles for the gifts. We're looking forward to another fun-filled year with our two two-year-olds!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July this year. Unfortunately, we had to steer clear of the pool this year due to a bout of swimmer's ear Eli was fighting. Yep, we've been at the pool A LOT this summer, so much so that we literally got sick of it. But, really, what's better than spending all day every day at the pool in the summer? It sure makes for some good long naptimes!

This year, we actually stayed up to watch the Vulcan fireworks. They start at 9:00, so that was pretty impressive, and the kiddos did great. Eli started out saying "Uh oh, Mommy" every time one went off and then he changed to "Wow" for each one. Both M&E ended up in my arms for the show, so I got a little added work out in.






Brandon and I reminisced about how we watched the same fireworks show two years ago while sitting outside the Labor and Delivery wing of Brookwood Hospital eating popsicles with my big belly stuffed in a wheelchair praying for labor. My, two years sure did fly by!

I Scream, You Scream

We all scream for ice cream!

Beach Trip '09

Brandon was able to represent his company at the Alabama Association of General Contractors convention in Sandestin again this year, so the rest of us got to tag along for the fun. We had to really twist her arm a bit (yeah right), but Mama Kaye agreed to accompany us to help with M&E. Once again, we had a blast at the beach. Before we left, I looked back at some pictures of last year's trip. I can't believe how M&E were such babies! I don't remember them being so little just a year ago. This year was a lot of fun with two toddlers who could walk, jump, eat anything and communicate what they wanted.

We arrived on Wednesday and headed out to find some lunch. After lunch, the kiddos decided it was time to cool off. Did I mention the heat index was 110 while we were there and it was really, really HOT? We were on vacation, so there was no objection from me over this...

After they cooled off, we decided it was time to change into our bathing suits and head to the pool, so we strolled back to the condo...

Unfortunately, Eli and I came down with some sort of stomach bug the first night. Eli was up all night with a fever, etc. and Madeline was up all night because her brother was screaming and Mama Kaye was up all night taking care of them. I got a couple of hours of sleep in the early morning before we headed to the beach. Madeline passed out on the way to the beach, so this was how she spent her first day there...

M&E did really well with the beach. Madeline still had some issues with the sand this year, but the screaming got quieter once she had some water to play with. Both M&E loved the ocean and the pool. No doubt it just felt good to cool off! Eli helped keep the fish away from our feet by telling them, "Tish, no no". Madeline also learned to count to three before jumping in the pool. Okay, she won't say "one" and usually skips "fee" to go ahead and jump, but she's got "two" down. Enough talking, on to more pictures...

2nd Tri's a Charm

Brandon competed in his 2nd ever triathlon last weekend at Oak Mountain state park. He did great (especially considering he didn't train at all for it). In fact, he won!!



Well, in our eyes he did.

In neighborhood news... several months ago, we sat in our living room and watched our neighbor across the street pull up with his horse trailer behind his truck. He proceeded to unload a calf... and then to load said calf into the back of a Ford mustang, which he drove away, and we never saw that little cow again. We do love Alabama!! Anyway, a few days ago, he pulled up again with the horse trailer so I gathered the kiddos up in the big arm chair in front of the window to anxiously await what he would pull out this time. It was a teeny tiny pony! Madeline is enthralled with horses, or "neighs" as she calls them. (You know, like the sound they make.) She repeated about a million times "Mommy, outside neigh!", so I decided just to take M&E across the street, knock on the guy's door and go see the neigh.



I guess if we ever decide to buy our little girl a pony, we know where to go!