Love of DOGS!

Our next door neighbors are very unique. They are sweet as can be! We love them dearly, but I'm afraid the boys love them even more. It's not even because of them, it's because of their little yorkshire terrior dog named Becky Sue. She is the queen of the house over there! The boys say her name as "bebby sue".


Whenever the boys are out in the front yard and Becky Sue can see them through the window of her house, she goes NUTS (apparently the love is mutual)!! She usually has to come over and play with them for a little bit! We usually just return her when the boys have gotten their "fix" (or else I'm tired of refereeing over who gets to walk her or hold her or feed her).

Well, our neighbor had to go into the hospital and asked Brittney to walk Becky Sue during the day when she was gone. The boys went CRAZY over her being in our house. EVERYthing she did was hilarious to them. A simple sneeze, her going to the bathroom, her eating...just nonstop entertainment.

When it was time for her to go home, Jace (who is the biggest dog lover of the two) would always throw a fit. One time, I had had enough of him whining and crying. I told him that Becky Sue had to go night-night and if he said Becky Sue one more time, he was going to the naughty chair.

Well, he said it again and off to the chair he went. I have to say that I could not even look at him during this "time-out" session without cracking up. He was yelling at the top of his lungs "BEBBY SUE....BEBBY SUE"!!! It was like I was torturing him or something.

After his 2 or 3 minutes, I went over to him in the chair. I usually get on his level and make him say sorry and give me a love. When I bent down to him, he said "bebby sue go nigh-nigh", hugged me and he was FINE!

He truly LOVES animals. I'm sure we'll have to eventually get another dog. We are such dog people! I'm just not ready to commit myself to such an attachment and another responsibility right now.

Here's the boys with our old dog, Roscoe, who lives with our friends now.

It's nice to visit Roscoe, but it's really nice to leave our friends house without him sometimes!

Big Boy Beds are HERE!

The baby beds have moved out and the big boy beds have moved in!

We had been playing up the idea of "big boy beds" since yesterday. I don't think they had any idea of what was actually going to take place until it happened though.

Although they were thoroughly entertained by watching the man disassemble their cribs, Cade's lip started quivering when he realized that HIS BED WAS GOING BYE-BYE! He could barely talk when he asked me "bed go bye-bye?" I assured him that he was going to get a BIG BOY bed and it was OK. He was fine.


...Until it was naptime!

There was a LOT of noise and jumping and giggling going on in their room. They never came out of the room, but still there was a lot of noise.

I had to go in there after about 30 minutes. Cade was a bit distraught so I had to lay down with him and rub his back. I knew he was exhausted. Then I laid with Jace for a minute. I really didn't want to get into this new habit of laying down with them. (I used to do this with Brittney and I was usually OUT like a dog. I would stumble out of her room at all hours of the night.)

So I exited the room. I, of course, peeked into the room after about 20 more minutes (because it was terribly quiet). This is what I saw from Cade on the left side of the room ....


What I saw from Jace on the right side of the room was terribly different. The minute that I opened the door, I heard the sound of water hitting the carpet. I thought for a second that Jace was maybe pouring out the water from their humidifier. NOPE! He had removed his shorts and diaper and was peeing on the football rug in the middle of their room. I snatched him up so fast that I scared him. I just didn't want him to wake his slumbering brother and have me stuck with TWO cranky toddlers.

So we went outside to play while Cade slept for 2 hours in his big boy bed! Yeah Cade!!

Tonight they were so exhausted, they hardly made a peep! We peeked in several times and Jace was just laying there staring at the ceiling. Cade was already out.

Here's my sleeping big boys.



Oh, they're growing up too fast!

Brittney was such a big helper today! We've been cleaning out closets and getting things together to donate. We don't need crib sheets or crib mattress covers anymore...those are for babies!!

We got rid of so many outgrown clothes and so much other crap, it was unbelievable. The idea of packing and moving is starting to sink in, so I'm doing as much as I can ahead of time!

Crazy or NOT?

We're at a small crossroads in our house.

The boys have definitely outgrown their cribs. Whenever I tell people that my twin boys who will be THREE in almost 3 months are still in their cribs, they simply cannot believe it! What they REALLY can't believe is that they haven't ONCE climbed out of them. One person even exclaimed "What kind of boys are you raising?"

I have to say that I'm truly amazed too! All the horrible thoughts of crazy boys acting like crazy monkeys went through my mind early on, but it just never happened. We've always told them that they will fall and hit their heads and get a BOW-BOW and it will hurt. DONE. Here lately they've been getting their steps and they'll climb in and out if the side rail is down. But if it's not down, forget it!

Now granted, they like to do some gymnastics-arm-push-up-thing on the side rail that makes it look like they are going to topple over, but that's it.

Brittney was in a big girl bed before she was even 2! Why? I don't really remember. I DO remember being a bit more anal about things when it was just her!

I remember that the Easter Bunny took her binkies away when she was 2 1/2. (Ahem, Cade still takes his binky at night...) I remember being nervous that she wasn't quite potty trained at the age of 2 (oh my!). She wasn't fully trained until she was 2 1/2! (Ahem, the boys could really care less about being potty trained - it's all on their terms.) Food would have NEVER been eaten food off of the floor or she would have NEVER run around in a wet or dirty diaper. GEEZ...both of these things happen on a daily basis now!

Anyway, I've decided that the cribs are truly about to fall apart. The boys may not be climbers, but they are definitely JUMPERS!! Cade is in Brittney's old bed and Jace is in my niece's old bed. That makes each bed approximately 10 years old! All of the screws have been tightened to the point that they are stripped. These beds rattle like no one's business when they get going!

So, I've decided to go and purchase BIG boy beds tomorrow. We're going to go for twin beds that will eventually make bunk beds. I'm not brave enough to put one of them UP in a bunk bed yet...but later they will enjoy it and they will have more room.

Wish me luck! By Saturday afternoon we should be taking our first UNCONFINED nap in big boy beds!

This is really more of a test for me. I've become accustomed to the fact that when they're asleep, it's the ONE place they can't roam free. I do remember that when Brittney was first in her big girl bed, she would still lay in bed and yell for me to come and get her. I just don't see the boys doing that. I am picturing them poking me in the eyes to wake me up in the morning.

I have a feeling that naps are about to become nonexistent...especially for Jace. Cade still loves to curl up for a good nap!

Wish us luck!

Good and Bad Things About a Birthday

Today is my 36th Birthday.

My morning began as I was awakened at 7 o'clock to the sound of giggling little boys in the room next to me. Once my eyes focused on the alarm clock, I realized that I had forgotten to set the alarm and I WAS LATE!! I'm usually ready by this time and getting the boys out of bed if they're awake. My mom arrives at 7:20 and I'm usually gone by 7:30.

Boy did I kick in into gear. Luckily I could just throw my hair in a clip, wash my face, throw some make-up on and throw on a reliable outfit. I was actually out the door at my usual time. I even had enough time to eat the bagel that Steve prepared for me and had happy birthday sung to me by the boys before I left.

I was greeted by some lovely traffic on the way to work....how nice!!

But once I got there, I had a small bake sale going on at my desk. There were 2 dozen donuts, a better-than-sex cake and a cookie/brownie cake that was absolutely OUT of this world.

THEN as if that wasn't enough to make me gain back the 9 pounds I've recently lost by doing Weight Watchers, they insisted on taking me out for lunch.

I LOVE the people I work with, they are GREAT and they are like my second family. They even sung Happy Birthday to me at the table...not the waiters from the restaurant, it was my co-workers who sang to me! It was a riot!

Here's me being FORCED to eat a piece of coconut birthday cake....

My best birthday present was a new camera from my family...which I desperately needed. My other one has seen better days. Plus an hour massage from my parents, which INCLUDES babysitting services!

But the absolute best present was to hear that tomorrow could be the official start of building on our new house.


We can't wait for the building to start. It gets exciting when you see all the good stuff you picked out in the design center actually going into YOUR house. But then the reality of moving and packing sinks in.... oh so much to get ready for!!

This birthday was much better than last year when my present included trading in my GMC Envoy for a mini-van!! That was tough!

Birthdays aren't a bad thing at all....I have a lot of special people in my life and I'm very thankful!

Signs of Growing UP!

We've haven't officially started potty training yet. But summertime is a great time for the kids to run around in the backyard without ... ahem... any restraints!

When we fill the inflatable pool up, I always stress that there's NO PEE PEE or NO POO POO in the pool. It's absolutely amazing how the boys can get out in the nick of time to pee in the grass EVERYtime! But when we're inside, they could care less!

We've had quite a few successes on the potty. It's just that nothing has been consistent. This morning they had big boy underwear on and they both went peepee in them. But then later, Jace announced at the table that he had to pee pee and he actually made it to the bathroom to successfully complete the task. Then we all did the pee-pee dance around the house! He was so proud of himself.

Then last night, Brittney decided that she was going to fix breakfast this morning for all of us. So I woke her up when the troops were up this morning. She proceeded to mix up the pancake batter and whipped us up some "homemade" pancakes.


The pancakes were a big hit and they were actually VERY good! Of course, it's always better when someone else cooks for you. I think I can handle this part of growing up!

Life as a 9 year old!!

As I've written before on the blog, my daughter is a very social little girl! I don't ever worry about her making friends or not having plans. She always has something in the works and can usually arrangement just about anything within reason.

Her cheer team mom called the other night to let us know about a team party they were planning at a new indoor game/pizza/rides-type place called ITZ. She went on to say that this place had its' own stretch Hummer limo and we could rent it for dollars a child if everyone went in on it! Brittney has been DYING to ride in a limo, so I immediately agreed to chip in!

Look at this awesome, BRIGHT, limo ride they took!

She was in heaven. She said they got to jam out to tween music while they watched the flat screen TV and had a ceiling that twinkled different color sparkles.

The rest of our crew went to hang out and pick Brittney up. I didn't think the evening would go that great because Jace decided to NOT take a nap that day. It was a chance, but we took it. It was pretty overwhelming for the boys, but they liked it. They played skee-ball, rode the horses and even agreed to ride the train. Jace was dying to ride it a second time but we couldn't convince Cade to endure the ride twice. Jace, however, ended up crying during his second turn...I think he got a little scared and his heart went beep beep (that's what they say when they get scared!)

(I had to chase a skee ball or two that made it's way off of the game.)

They watched Sissy ride a disko. It was an indoor roller coaster thing that went up higher and higher and turned around at the same time. It was kind of loud and this is what the boys looked like while watching...

They kept saying "it's Yowd"....that's 2 year old speech for "it's Loud"!

We had to pay for a buffet in order to get into this place, so we make our way down to the food and tried to get our money's worth. I think we succeeded!

Once Jace had officially had enough and thrown himself down on the floor for the third time or so, we scooped everyone up and left.

On to more examples of how "socially advanced" my daughter is....

When we get home, there are NINE messages on our answering machine. On a good day there may be 3 or 4 messages with ONE of them actually being for us. But NINE was definitely out of the ordinary. I kind of started to get worried and checked my cell phone to make sure there wasn't a family emergency of some sort. But there was nothing.

As we listened to the messages, they all seemed to be from Brittney's "boyfriend" Blake...and he was using his cell phone. I use the term boyfriend very loosely. They have simply liked each other since Kindergarten. BUT this boy has started to call the house on occasion. Steve has had a COW over this...I don't care all that much because I figure it's pretty innocent.

Each message he left, he got louder and demanded that Brittney "answer her darn phone". EXCUSE ME??? Is this a NINE year old boy talking to MY daughter like that? Steve and I are officially pissed off when we finish listening to the messages. Not only have you talked to my daughter like that, but you have done it on my home number that affects mommy and daddy now!

This boy is not very smart though. He continued to call back after we were home. When Steve answered and told him to put his mother on the phone, Blake HUNG UP ON HIM! A few more calls were made to our house, but he hung up even before we could say hello! There was approximately 15 calls from him on our caller ID that evening...with the last one being at 10:07 PM!!!!....and we were never able to get in touch with his parents. Steve and I went to bed with a little unease.

The next day he started all over again. He left 2 messages apologizing for his previous day's messages. But alas in the evening...after the 10th call or so for this new day...I answered and he actually asked for Brittney. I immediately started lecturing him on how this was not acceptable behavior and I needed to speak to his parent. He gave me her number and I repeated it. I told him he could talk to Brittney for a minute, but I was about to call his mother. Turns out he handed the phone over to his friend who was spending the night and he "broke-up" with her for Blake.

THEN the number that the little sh*t gave me wasn't his mother's at all, it was his older brother's cell phone! I was BOILING mad!

Then we started receiving more calls from his brother's number resulting in them hanging up on us.

Since these people were unlisted in every form and fashion, I put my detective nature into use. I went into our county's appraisal district website and pulled up where this little brat lived. I printed out a map on google's website and made a little trip over to his house at 10:15 PM.

You know he was pooping in his pants when I rang his doorbell at this time of the evening.

His dad ended up answering and was absolutely oblivious to the fact that all of the calls had been made. I showed him a record that I kept of all the calls and also the times. I told him I didn't appreciate the fact that his son was rude and disrespectful to my daughter, myself and my husband. He totally agreed and even made Blake come out there so I could scold him myself. My heart was absolutely pounding, but I didn't care. I wanted to show him that he needs to treat adults with respect and he didn't have the upper-hand on me.

WHEW!!! It was an exhausting evening, but I'm glad we stopped it before it got too crazy!! If all of this is happening and my daughter is only NINE...what in the world do we have to look forward to?

Happy 4th of July!!

It was so nice to have a day off from work today! We got an early start this morning and headed over to the Children's Museum. The weather has been so rainy and wet and humid...I figured that we needed an indoor activity. It seems like the mornings get long and the kiddos get whiny if we don't start early.

ALL of the kiddos enjoyed themselves....heck, I did too! They have crafts to complete all throughout the museum. I ended up making all of them for the kids. Steve kept making fun of me because I seemed to be having all of the fun. We went over to the "tot" section...how cool!!!

We drove cars.....

Brittney even played along....

milked cows.....

went grocery shopping......

even did some face painting!

We stopped on our way home to eat at one of our favorite mexican restaurants. It's amazing how much easier it's getting to go out and about. All we have to do is order chips and queso and the boys are SET! Cade didn't even touch anything else and was still the last one eating!

Then we all came home and took a NAP!! It was just heavenly...I couldn't have asked for a better day.