Hugs N Love!

Long day today...I needed a good laugh today, so I went to some of these photos from our vacation at Xmas (yes, I am still posting about it because there are so many funny photos) and some of these photos just make me laugh. Contagious smiles, laughs and pure happiness of our family. Great thing about twins- you get double hugs and love.

This one just makes me laugh because of what my husband and brother in law are wearing to go sledding. My husband looks like a huge marshmellow with this puffy silver coat- we dared him to wear . My brother in law, is so proud of those straps on his pants!

Aunt Diana laughing hysterically that we are sprinkling reindeer food for Santa's reindeer in 20 degree weather!Aunt Sammy loving on Nicolas's stinking toes.Uncle Mike just can't get enough of the boys hugs!Same for Aunt Deb

ARE YOU SMILING YET? ISN'T IT CONTAGIOUS!

Aunt Diana cracking up over something Christian said while he was wearing his shades, thinking he is the coolest.Going for a plane ride with Chris!Ro- Ro just can't get enough hugs!This last one, just makes me laugh because I remember how happy Nicolas was to get this present as you can see from his face. (HE IS IN THE BACK).

Potty Training Update

We have officially been potty training for 2 weeks and it is going good. This is a huge moment for any mom and any toddler. HUGE! You save a ton of money on diapers, don't have to change disgusting diapers but its just another reminder they are growing up and hit this huge milestone. (That part makes me so sad). But having two at once, the advantage is I don't have to do this again. My question is.. when do you stop calling it potty training?

• When they tell you they have to go?
• When there are no accidents - for how long?
• When they wake up from naps/night and are dry?
• When they stay dry for 2-3 hours at a time and go out of house NOT in diapers?
• When they can walk in pull down pants and go on own (other than wiping)?

I never know what to say when I am asked if the boys are potty trained. They do all the above for the most part, between the two of them in the past two weeks we had only 3 accidents. Now, they get it. Now, they don't run off once their diaper is off leaving me with the decision..do I chase the one with no diaper and a potty getting dumped or do I stay while the other one runs and pees in the house. THANK GOD, no frantic mommy at potty time.

How did I do it with two boys? I think most of it was timing and they were ready. The other key part (with twins since you have two sitting at once, two sets of pants to pull up, two sets of hands to wash, two potty's to clean) is to have two rewards and to be fast at cleaning up . I give 1 reward for staying dry in between going (I do not give a reward for going or else they won't empty their bladder and will keep wanting to go for their treat) except when they go #2 they get a reward because Nicolas tends to want to not go #2.

My system to eliminate the running off and ensuring hands were cleaned. I put a HUGE bowl of lolly pops in the bathroom. Then when one is done before the other, I put the bowl on the floor for him to sort through and pick their favorite lolly pop. This is a BIG DECISION for a 32 month old. I let them choose the flavor they want (I know secretly know their favorite so I only put a few at the bottom of the bowl) it's a stalling technique. If you have one child, don't even worry about the stalling technique. But the reward system for staying dry is key for anyone.

The hardest part is the time it takes to sit there with Nicolas when he has to go #2- he takes forever. I read a book, sing but after 10 minutes, I just get so bored and finally just say..call me when your all done. I also hate the part of washing hands because they still want to swipe at everything and just play with the water /bubbles which is annoying.

Funny conversation they had while going (Don't read this part if you hate reading about poop). Here is a typical bathroom conversation between my two boys while they are sitting side by side.

Christian : "Did you go poop Ney-ney"?

Nicolas : "Not yet..did you"?

Christian goes ( he tries to stand up to see how much he is going, fascinated by it).

Christian: "Wow -I went..you want to see..it's big".

Nicolas leans over to see.

Nicolas: "That is huge, he did poop mommy, I want to". Then he tries.


So my question still stands - when do you say.."Yes my boys are potty trained?

Houseful Of Germs

Well...the boys and I are sick AGAIN. With twins, it seems to last SO LONG, then you get those few days of glory and whamo it starts all over again. I am OVER IT.


I had a whole day planned yesterday..getting my hair done (much needed from lack of attention for the past 3 months) and then having a afternoon with some of my best buds having a girls day out movies, shopping and dinner. I was bound and determined to go. Nothing was going to stop me with getting my hair blown out straight and colored which I dream about for months at end.

Then..I got home and took my temp- 101. I called my girlfriends and with lots of persuasion I canceled (feeling defeated) and went to the DR instead - strep /sinus infection. At least we are all feeling better already, loaded with antibiotics , watching lots of TV, lots of sleep (and I got loaded with a fabulous dose of cough medicine that makes you forget all your problems...) My girlfriends and I try to have a girls day out once a month and I can't even begin to describe how much I look forward to it. As soon as I see a runny nose, I get that slight panic, like oh god here we go again. Just the thought of being in the house days at end away from friends and family till it passes. Blah Blah Blah! Then add allergies on top of it..buggery noses every day it seems! Damn you colds and allergies. Damn you for taking 7-10 days to get rid of.


Here's a family photo from Christmas when we had 5 days of pure freedom of buggers!! Its pretty sad when as a mom, I dream of days when the kids wake up and the noses are dry. Kind of pathetic that dry / clean noses put me in SUCH a good mood.

So Many Questions - Who is God????

I am getting RAPID FIRE questions of "WHY" and "HOW" for EVERYTHING. The boys are slamming my brainpower. I call it that because the questions are SO HARD yet over things that are so easy. I am talking the most basic questions that I can't believe that I don't know.

For example: The other day I got a geometry question - yes seriously from a 2 1/2 year old! "Mommy is stop sign a octagon"? I tend to find my brain spinning when I don't immediately know the answer to something I should. I quickly called Ken and said "Quick..is a Stop sign a octagon, hexagon"? Ken says..I think it is a hexagon. I wasn't convinced so I started looking for a stop sign. Of course there are none in sight as my boys are saying 100 times in a row..Mommy is it? When I said, I am not sure, let me see if we can find one (feeling like a idiot) then the next questions is "WHY"? Like...Why don't I know, I'm mommy I should know all , to them anyways.

Here are just a few of the questions I had this week:
1.) What is a chemical? Explain that one.

2.) I was explaining twins. They ask "How was I made"? I quickly deviated from the question and said you were both in my belly at once..Nicolas says "How'd we fit"?

3.) Who is God? - I think I did a TRIPLE take and almost fell over. I tried to explain who God was in simplest terms to a 2 1/2 year old. Then I get the questions pertaining to God- Where does he live? How do you explain that one? When I tried to explain heaven, Nicolas says "In A House"? Then I said no and he says to me "That's crazy then where does he live"? Finally, the hardest part of that conversation (and do I mean tough conversation) Christian asked "Is he at work"? ummmmm... ummm... think Jody, think..they believe everything I say..this is heavy stuff here. So I said.."God made the sun, moon...us.." again simple terms for a 2 1/2 year old to only be told by Nicolas(as he is laughing) "That's crazy mom, how'd he do that"?

5.) Do you have a Wee- wee ? (referring to male body part). When I said no.."Why"? What do you have?

I am serious, I am getting question after question. And it's hard stuff!! By the way - a stop does have 8 sides - octagon in case your child asks!!
Yes his pants are not snapped, he is getting so big and this week it seems he outgrew his pants out of nowhere!!I had to put the photo above on, just because it is so sweet of Nicolas using his imagination with his dog. I want to FREEZE THIS INNOCENCE!!

This is What Happens!

This is what happens when you try to take a family photo of a group of young boy cousins (ages between 7 - 2 1/2) as we are literally walking out the door to fly home. Grandma desperately only asked for a simple photo of her grandsons that were all finally together. However, we waited to the last moment as things were chaotic and hectic....... Socks / No Socks ~ Smiles / Tears ~ Switching Spots / Running For The Hills ~ Terrified/ Happy ~ Tired / Awake !!! Just doesn't come out how you imagined as you can see the progression!

Sometimes I Just Need Peace and Quiet

Sometimes a mom needs a little peace and quiet!! Are you with me???
No but seriously, they did this themselves! They took Ken's sisters hats and door signs and put it around their binkies! No wonder it was so peaceful! God I love the binkies when I want the whining to stop and some peace! AND yes, yes..I know the binkies (pacifiers) are ridiculous at 32 months and they will be cut soon (once we finish potty training and change to big boy beds)! We are on our first "true official" week of potty training and holy shit are certain times hard as hell, but other parts of it easy breezy! I think if it was just one child it wouldn't be bad, but two at once- especially trying to get out of the house in the morning and be on time! That warrants A BINKIE and another whole blog in itself with training twin boys! But for this week..I will take the binkies for some quiet!

The Great Outdoors ~ Being Spoiled!

We just got back from our holiday vacation, we went to Upstate NY and Boston for almost 2 weeks and had so much fun( not to say some parts were hard, like the kids getting sick and Nicolas dislocating his elbow, trying to put on the layers and SNOWSUITS - worse than putting on sunblock) but we got to RELAX, EAT good and enjoy lots of family!

The first part of the trip we spent with Ken's family and stayed with his sister Dianna in Elmira NY which is a GORGEOUS part of NY, as you can see from the photos of her land. I have so many photos so I am going to post a few from our vacation every few days! During the trip, we had a huge snowstorm that was awesome! Most of these photos are from before the big snowfall.