Fun pictures and Mommy's Big OOPS!!!!!!

Big Sister Meghan made us a dress up box for our birthdays. In it she put butterfly wings, wands, boas, and crowns. We loved that our big sister made us such a special gift! (I know it doesn't look like they liked it too much in these pictures but after the camera was away they loved it!) I wonder if I can make her cry if I hit her with this wand! I don't like the straps! We love our wagon so much that it is the first thing we run to in the morning, even in our rock star jammies!

Gymboree again! Daddy came to help this time. Meilynn does not like it too much yet. I love Gymboree! We pretended like we were puppies! And of course my favorite part, the gymbo kiss! (a stamp on the hand) Sorry to put this one on again. I can't figure out how to delete it once I put it on.

A big smile from Meilynn! Big sister Meghan knows how to make me smile! Emma loves it too! Tickles times two!

Mommy's Big OOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lately the bottom of our stairs has been looking like this. I find the shoes we have worn through out the day and then I put them in a pile to go up the stairs when my hands are empty. Which is not very often because of course they are helping two little girls up the stairs. Yesterday I never made that trip upstairs. So this morning we had an apppointment in San Francisco for the day and I knew my brown shoes were at the bottom of the stairs. We had to get up at 5:00 am to make our flight at 8:00. So in our hurry to get out the door so early I just grabbed my shoes and put them on. We got to the airport fine and then went through security. I was waiting on the other side for my shoes. The grey tub comes through the machine and guess what was in it. My two shoes! Only they were not my two brown shoes. There was a black shoe and a brown shoe. I just looked and couldn't believe it! I called Mike over and pointed to the tub and he just started laughing!Now you have to remember it was dark when we left and I only thought my brown shoes were down there! So I had to wear these shoes all day in San Francisco, at the airports, at pier 39 where we had lunch, at our appointment, and so on. What would you have done? We didn't have time to buy new shoes and I wasn't going to walk around San Francisco in new shoes! So this is what I wore. Now I don't know how many people look at your feet. I am an observant person, but not really a shoe person, so I probably would not have noticed. But, when you go to the airport there are many opportunities where people might notice your shoes. On the bus from the Park and Fly, waiting in line to get on, through security, on the bus that takes you to the rental car place, ok I am going to stop there and just hope that people either looked at me and said "That poor lady!" She must be exhausted! or what I hope they thought was. "Wow, what a trend setter! That is such a great idea! (yeah right!) Anyways I have been having a lot of these moments! And I would rather blame it on being a tired Mommy than on my age!

Here is one more example. I was talking to Kami in Barcelona on Emma's birthday. (This also happened early in the morning and when it was still kind of dark) She wanted to sing Happy Birthday to Emma, so I gave Emma the phone. After Emma was done there was something wrong with the phone. I could barely hear Kami. I told her that I could hardly hear her and she said she could hardly hear me. I kept trying to figure out what Emma had done to the phone when I noticed I was holding it upside down! So I was speaking into the hearing piece and listening in the speaking piece. Of course Kami and I had a big laugh at this! Being a new Mommy again sure has it moments!

Turning Two! x's Two

Meilynn has her first lick of birthday cake batter! She has a sweet tooth and loves it! Emma on the other hand doesn't like it! Emma doesn't get why she likes it. Emma doesn't like it or the cake!

Before Church in their party dresses These are 18 month size and still too big! They like the skirt part! Emma's beautiful dress I am so pretty!

Princess hats and rain boots for Glamis Princess Chairs! Mommy took the easy way out and made cupcakes instead of a cake Party Girls Birthday Girls

Grandma and Papa bought us a wagon and we were in it most of the party! We love it! It is so cool! Meilynn on her new quad Pretty girl

Big sister Meghan helping with the presents Emma loves presents She knows what it is all about Party goers in the kitchen My big sister made me a princess hat

Our cousing Karlee. She will be one in a few weeks The family Papa and Damon More family My friend Debbie who did this most of the party!

Meilynn, my sweet girl loves the ice cream and the cupcake She ate the whole thing Which might explain why she didn't sleep that night Blowing out the candles We had to re-light a few times! Emma knew what to do only a little too early!

Post to follow when I have time. I just needed to get the pictures up for my oldest daughter Kami in Barcelona.

Getting Ready for Emma's and Meilynn's birthday!

I bought this dress for Emma's second birthday a long time agoIt has numbers you can change on it either one or two and also a heart.Meilynn's birthday dressOf course I know now that I need two of everything!For the Princess Party A moment of coopreration even though this is a pool table toy they are not supposed to be playing with No more fighting over the bike Meilynn now has her own bike! Meilynn is good at taking the green beans out of her rice

And of course they end up on the floor! After a great deal of thought we decided to celebrate both Meilynn and Emma's birthdays together. I was very hesitant to do this. The girls have different birthdays and they are not twins but even if they were twins I would try to have some birthdays separate. I do want them to have their own identities separate from each other. Since we were not there for Meilynn's second birthday and since it would be hard for her to understand all the attention on Emma, we decided it would be best to do the birthdays together. And since Emma isn't old enough this year to understand that it is only her birthday and when we talk about her birthday she says"Meilynn" we decided to go ahead with the two birthdays. The problem then arose that I had purchased Emma's dress long before we even knew when Meilynn might come home, so I only had one. I love her dress. You can change out the birthday numbers or put a heart on if you don't want the numbers. I couldn't get another one in time for the birthday party tomorrow so yesterday my sister and I went in search of another dress. We found this cute pink and black dress made by the same maker as Emma's dress. And when I went to buy one I knew that I needed two. So now we have two but Emma will still wear her birthday dress that I had already bought. And then they can wear these pink ones together for church etc. We are having a time trying to catch Meilynn up on all the main toys that Emma has. My sister and her boyfriend Tom (who Emma calls Nam) bought Meilynn a bike for her birthday. We gave it to her yesterday so that she could ride with Emma. So no more fighting over the bike. And it doesn't seem to be a problem if they are not exactly the same as long as we define who owns what. Life is very black and white at two and if you know what is what you can live with it I guess. I also got a cute picture of them actually playing together in cooperation. Of course it was with a thing they were not supposed to even have. But, hey, if they are getting along I guess that rule went out the window. And last I have a picture of the bottom of Meilynn's high chair. She is very precise in picking out the green beans out of the rice even though I cut them very small. So as far as vegetables go vitamins will have to do. Oh, they do like the V8 juice that is one serving fruit and one serving vegetables. I also bought a cook book called, "The Sneaky Chef" Simple strategies for hiding healthy foods in kid's favorite meals. I will let you know how that goes. I am anxious to try the Spaghetti and meatballs with 8 hidden vegetables.

I had a few comments on not dressing the girls alike the other day. They were wearing the exact same outfits only different colors. Since we were going to the motorcycle track they were wearing old clothes (pre-meilynn clothes) so I don't have doubles on all of those things. The girls did well with it because I let Emma choose which one she wanted to wear. When Meilynn begins to understand this may not work because she may want the same outfit. So for now if I let Emma choose the color of the cup, clothes, etc they can be different. I only plan on dressing them alike for one or two years depending on how it goes. But it is much easier on me to dress them alike. Speaking of dressing them alike, I did have one funny comment the other day where someone asked me " How will you ever tell them apart?" And they were serious!

To The Race Track

Now I know why Daddy said put on your oldest playclothes! Waiting for Daddy

Riding together Hurry up, Meilynn! Make sure you have your sunglasses on! I am way too Cool! Daddy in all of his riding gear

Hey! We are ready! Meilynn on the riding toy Emma on the Quad

Having a snack Yum! Fish crackers, puffs, and this little yogurt drink they love Playing around Meilynn can use my riding toy

Today Daddy took us to the motorcycle race track to watch him ride his motorcycle. We got up had breakfast and then showers. This works like an assembly line. Mike takes Emma down and starts feeding her while I wake Meilynn up. I bring Meilynn down and she starts eating. We both clean up the kitchen and eat while the girls finish eating. Then Mike takes Emma up to the shower while I pick out the clothes, get the diapers, baby cream and hair things. I get Emma out of the shower and exchange her for Meilynn. I dress Emma while Meilynn gets showered and then I am ready with the the stuff to then get Meilynn diapered, creamed, dressed, and hair fixed. Mike helps Emma brush her teeth while I finish Meilynns hair and then he helps Meilynn while I pick up. Then I take my shower why Mike gets the snacks together and then I get the diaper bag ready while Mike starts getting the girls in the car. Now with both of us we can be done with everything in a little over an hour (if I only take a shower and do not need to wash and dry my hair) If I need to do this then I need to get up before everyone else. When Mike is not here to help me I have a much harder time getting out of the house.

Mike took us to a track in Riverside that he has started going to. He is going to be gone in October for a week on a motorcycle ride in Mexico so he is trying to stay in shape for that. We had a fun time watching him. We also found some horses and went to take a look at them. Emma is afraid of Mike with his helmet on. So we were worried if Meilynn would also be afraid. She didn't act like anything was different at all! The girls played on the riding toys but we will need to get another Dora Quad. There was a little fight over that. We went to lunch and then brought the girls home for naps. I need to go pick up the house, it is a disaster!

First Gymboree for Meilynn

Meilynn not wanting to go into Gymboree!

Following Emma Bubbles for Emma Bubble stuck on Emma's nose

Meilynn starting to like Gymboree Especially the balls Emma getting ito it Emma in the tunnelA little shopping at Target after GymboreeThey were fun to play with it the store, and that is where they stayed! The beginnings of a fight

Maybe I will just pull this tippy tail

Today was our first day at Gymboree for Meilynn. I was struggling with how to take both girls and I just decided to let each week work itself out. Before we left everything was going smooth until Meilynn went potty on the potty chair so Miss Tippy Tail decided she wanted to go also. She still has no clue as to how to make it come out and it is so sad to see her say "Day"for Meilynn (which is how she says Yeah!) when she goes and then she looks in her potty and nothing is there! I needed to get the girls upstairs and dressed so we ran up without the diapers on and no sooner had I turned my back and Miss Tippy Tail finally went but not in the potty and not pee pee. So I had to do some major clean up and give baths when I had plannd on skipping those. So that put me a little behind. And then to top it all off Meilynn decides for the first time that she does not want me to fix her hair. Neither of these girls have hair that can just go without being fixed. So a little fight to show who was the boss and I actually one! Meghan was able to go with me this week.She cannot go next week and my best friend who said she could go with me will be in Hawaii next week, so for now I am looking for someone to come next week with us. At Gymboree you have to have an adult for each child. Meilynn was not too excited about going in but once we got in she seemed to enjoy it. She is really behind in her gross motor skills. At times she still walks like a baby. She is afraid to try anything without me holding her hand. Emma is the opposite. She has the body of a gymnast. She is all muscle. She is not afraid to try anything and she is very flexible. She can do the splits. I can only guess at what Meilynn did in China. Her fine motor skills are very highly developed, so I think she may have been sedentary most of the time. It won't be long before we catch her up! After Gymboree we went to Target to get diapers etc. We found these really loud toys that played rap songs which the girls loved. Emma held hers so tenderly and just couldn't let go. She was fascinated with it. I actually have both of the girls down for naps in their cribs! This is a first. Usually Emma sleeps in the crib and we have Meilynn sleep in our bed. But I put them down together and they only cried a minute and were out! That is why I have time to write this post! I am feeling guilty about Emma's 2nd birthday. It is August 28 and I have feel like I have not put enough thought into what we are going to do. I want it to be special for her and I don't want me being so busy to change what I would have done if we had not just come home from China.

First Day of Church for Meilynn

If you look close you can see Emma under the high chair (It is a Peg Perego I ordered from e-bay for the person who asked) Even though she can't keep her hands off of Meilynn she can't wait for her to finish eating so she can play!This was just a cute picture I snapped while we were video chatting with big sister Kami in Barcelona. This is the box our mail came in while we were in China. It was filled to the top.

First day of Church for Meilynn. I could not get a good picture of her. She woke up in a bad mood. She had a fever in the night from her shots and woke up with a dry diaper and then drank two glasses of water and a glass of juice. As the day progressed she was happier. I just couldn't get her to co-operate for the picture.

I love this one! These are dresses made by one of my April Pandas DTC 2005 group. Daddy found something very special for Meilynn's first day of church. Even though we could only get Emma to look at it. A praying mantis! (Is that how it is spelled?)Some of our best moments have happened at the sand table. It is the place where they play togetther the best. They are wearing their cute Sunday School underwear that my friend Debbie bought them.Princess Meilynn and Princess EmmaEmma finds that they have a leak. I caught them playing together with my sister Debbie looking on.

Here it looks like they are playing together, but they are actually head butting each other! Today we made it to Church! Emma went to her Sunday School class but we kept Meilynn in for big church because we did not feel that she was ready to be left in a class situation yet. She was good as long as I was feeding her. She ran out of puffs and raisins before the sermon even started. We were able to amuse her though until the end. Emma has never made it through big church. Meilynn wouldn't let go of her snack cup and raisin box even though there wasn't anything left. After Church we went to Sizzler with my parents because Mike and I were actually going to go on a date to the movies and my Mom and Dad were going to watch Miss Tippy Tail and Meilynn. They both fell asleep on the way out to my Mom and Dad's but did not stay asleep when we brought them in. We were able to leave without any tears! We saw the new Bourne movie which I loved. I love action movies like that but really any movie I would have loved. It was my first time away! The girls did fine. Grandma got to see first hand the fighting. We came home had left overs and Aunt Debbie came over to say Hi. We all went on a short walk and then Aunt Debbie helped me with baths. It was a very ordinary day!

Grandma and Stroller Ride

The Girls in the Car Grandma eating with an always hungry Meilynn getting as close to the food as she can. She is almost on Grandma's lap trying to get a bite! This is how it started out.Daddy and Daughters

Ready for the walk in our new Stroller Strides Bob Stroller Can we go now Mom! No more pictures!

Yesterday Emma went to spend part of the day at Grandma's House. We thought it would be good for her to have a day without hearing "No" from us constantly. She just cannot keep her hands off of Meilynn. She is so excited about her but when she is excited she is not gentle. And we thought it might be good for Mommy and Meilynn to have some alone time too. So Emma had a great day playing with Grandma and Mommy went to the bookstore with Meilynn and read, and read, and went shopping. When we went to pick Emma up Meilynn had to watch Grandma eat her dinner. Grandma was trying to hurry and eat her Jenny Craig before swimming class. Meilynn kept getting closer and closer trying to get a bite. Grandma gave her a bite of her Jenny Craig turkey and she loved it! Meilynn is still eating all the time. I think it won't be too long until we can get her on the charts. She weighs only 20 pounds at 2 years 2 months old. She eats like she is afraid there may not be more food tomorrow. I look forward to the day she can relax and feel comfortable knowing we are going to have food for her. The Dr. told us to let her graze all day. You would think with all the grazing that she would not be able to eat her regular meals but she has no problem eating all three meals along with all the snacking all day. Today we went to get her shots. She had six today. Poor baby! She has only been home one week and she has had two blood draws and then the shots today. I can't wait until we get her all caught up on shots and all testing is complete. So far her test results have all been negative. We are testing for lead, giardia,HIV etc.

Tonight we all went on a walk with our new Bob jogging stroller. Daddy made dinner as he has been all week! He has been awesome. This week he has made meatloaf, gouhlash, and pasta. He as also gone shopping twice! We actually had our beauties bathed and in bed asleep tonight by 9:00! It has only taken a week to get to this point. Emma is still waking at least once around 2:00. But we are no longer bringing her into our bed. She can come into our bed when it is light outside. It has been very hard for me to do this but it is long overdue. I can't believe we have already been home one week with Meilynn. Her skin is already 100% better. When we got her it was very dry and felt like sandpaper and her legs were covered with mosquito bites. Her skin is smoother and the bites are starting to fade although some may leave scars. Her skinny little legs already look like they are starting to fill out. I can't wait to see a little muscle tone in them.

First Bubbles for Meilynn

Here they come Meilynn! You can close your eyes if you want. My eyes are closed. Wow! This is so much fun! Let me get that one on your head! We have been very busy getting all of Meilynn's blood work and tests done. They were drawing so much blood that we had to do it over two days. The first day was not too bad but the second day they could not find a vein and they had to poke both of her arms before they found it. It was so sad to see. We are also going to re-do all of her vaccinations. Things are getting better at night. We have been putting Meilynn down first since she takes a while to go to sleep and then I give Emma a bottle and let her lay on the couch until I know Meilynn is asleep. Then I rock Emma and sing her a song and say her prayers and put her to bed. She always goes down really well and without a problem. But...............I don't know what is happening tonight. I have the monitor right beside me right now and Meilynn has been talking in her crib for an hour. She is not crying just jabbering away. I have never had any child do this so I am not sure what to do about it. Now though I am worried about how tomorrow will go since she will most likely sleep in and Miss Tippy Tale is always up before 6:00. This morning Emma was up at 5:45 and I woke Meilynn at 8:00. Emma fell asleep on the way home from lunch, about 1:30 and I put Meilynn down at 2:00. Emma slept two hours and Mike woke Meilynn around 4:30. We put them to bed at 9:00 tonight. It is 10:40 and I can still hear her just talking away. I hope this does not become a trend! Tomorrow I am going to take Emma to Grandmas (I had planned on taking her early) so I could have some alone time with Meilynn but now with Meilynn still up who knows what time I will be able to get her up. She didn't have anything that should keep her up for dinner. She had meatloaf, fruit, water, rice with peas and carrots. No desserts of any kind. So I am confused. It does sound really cute though. I wonder if she is really saying something. I dropped by Gymboree today to see what options I might have for taking two, two year olds. In Gymboree your are required to be a hugs length from your child at all times so this does not work with two. My options are to find someone to go with me, to put the girls in seperate classes where one could be watched while I work with the other one, or wait until they are 3 and put them in another program where you don't have to have your Mommy participate. I really want to do the Gymboree program because developmentally it would be really great for Meilynn and for Emma she would continue with something she loves and is familiar with. So I will be working on how to work this one out. The same goes with swimming. You have to have a Mommy for each child. Meilynn is afraid right now of the pool so we can hold off on this one for awhile but Emma loves to swim so I hate to stop her. What I need is someone that I can hire to come with me to these classes, even though I want to be the one to do it with them. And the only way to do this would be to hire someone to watch the other one while I am with one. I know I am rambling but it helps me to think when I put it down on paper. Well it is getting near 11:00 and I can still hear Miss Meilynn! Time for my bath and to read my book!

First Popsicle for Meilynn and Play

So what am I supposed to do with this? UMM! This is good! This is how you do it Meilynn! I think I am getting the hang of it.

Playtime Do you hold it this way? No, like this. and this It's heavy!

Hey, there is only room for one in this bucket! Is that an airplane? Having fun! Ooh, I don't like it on my arm! Of course Emma had to taste it and then wash her mouth out with the play water!

A few pictures

Things have been very busy around here as you can imagine. We are getting adjusted to being a family. Emma is finding the sharing of her Mommy and Daddy and toys a hard thing to deal with. She was not a hitter before but now she cannot keep her hands off of Meilynn. Sometimes it is just to touch her and other times to hit and poke her. Meilynn has also learned that if she screams she can usually get Emma in a time out. So I need to keep my eyes on them all the time to make sure that things are fair. I also need to duplicate some toys because it is not fair that Emma has to share every toy that she has. The difference between when you bring a new baby into the house is that the baby has its own baby toys and the child that was already there has their own toys. So I can see how hard this is for Emma. I need to teach her sharing but also she has a right to the toys that are hers. Sleeping has also been difficult. Emma didn't sleep through the night before Meilynn came along. Emma goes down without a fight and doesn't sleep all night and Meilynn doesn't go down well but sleeps all night. So we are working on this too. There are good things happening too. The girls do play well at times and it is so cute to see them share and pretend together. They like to copy each other. As I am writing this I had to give Meilynn her first time out for hitting Emma. I think Emma took Meilynn getting a time-out harder than when she has one. She looked quite upset that I removed Meilynn from the room. I have to thank the advice I recieved from another Mom who adopted two, two year olds on the dressing them the same. The couple of times that I have put different jammies on them their is a big fight about it. So for the mean time I will be dressing them alike and it is also easier on me when deciding what to wear for the day. There is much to say but I still have not finished unpacking the suitcases and my house is a wreck but there is a family that is living here and learning to love each other. I can't wait to find out what nickname will appear for Miss Meilynn. The site will then have a new name! Miss Tippy Tails is demanding my attention now so here are a few pictures. Coloring, but not in the books! Having a sister is fun some of the time! Meilynn likes raisins! In fact there is not a lot that she doesn't like! It is fun having someone to eat with! And go Potty with! Yum! Toast, yummy! This is good!

copycat!!!

This is such a cute video from the second to last day in Guangzhou when the two little princesses started to play really cute together...Emma was copying everything Meilynn was doing...too funny! And this video is only a minute long but this was going on for like 10 minutes straight before I decided to film it!