Easter 2011

For Easter, we went to Oklahoma to visit my family. We had a great time.

Looking for eggs (it rained so it was an indoor hunt)

Gracie on Easter morning hugging her huge duck that Grandma got them

Lizzie and her duck

My pretty girls in their dresses

Our family (you can't see it, but the girls and I have taken off our shoes) They wore their rain boots to church and everyone made comments. So funny.

All Aboard!

Today is Good Friday and Wes had the day off. We decided to have a family day and experience something new with the girls. Last December, DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) opened a rail station close to our house. Wes and I had been talking for awhile about taking the train somewhere and we decided today was the day! Last night before bed, Wes told the girls we would be riding a train today and they were excited. This morning when they got up, they said they were riding the train today.

We didn't really have an end destination in mind, we were just going to get on the train and see what the girls would do. We got to the train station and bought our tickets. We then went up to the platform (3 stories high) and waited for the train. The girls could hardly contain their excitement. While we were up there, we saw a freight train and Gracie waved at it. She is so funny.

Anyway, the train finally came. We climbed aboard and the girls LOVED every minute of it. They looked out the window and talked about everything we saw. They bounced up and down in their chairs.

Gracie on the train looking out the window

Both girls looking out the window, it was hard getting them together they kept bouncing around

Lizzie looking out the window, I love her hair

We stopped in the West End and walked around. When I first moved here that was the place to be and now a lot of it is closed. This is also where we ate lunch. People always talk about where we live being a "bubble". When we were downtown, I realize what they mean with lots of different types of people. In fact when we got off the train, the police where intently "questioning" a man. We decided to not go that way.

Getting ready to get back on the train, don't you love the girls poses. They crack me up!

After lunch, we got back on the train and headed home. The girls still LOVED it. A man got on and sat near us. He was listening to music and had his eyes closed. The girls were convinced he was asleep and they needed to whisper, which worked out well for us. He finally "woke up" and they informed us of that too.

After we got off the train and headed to the car, they wanted to sit on the bench (did I mention it was a really windy day?)

It was a really fun day and the girls had a blast. They loved it and talked about it all the way home. It is so fun to experience new things with them and see the pure joy and excitement that they have.

Dancing Waters

Today, Amy and I took the girls to eat lunch and play in a fountain. We first ate lunch at a restaurant near by (it took forever to order and eat) and then we let the girls play. I brought swim suits and Amy brought extra dresses (we think differently which we always laugh at). Anyway, last year when we took all the girls to something like this; Lizzie was all over it, Gracie took some coaxing but then got in to it and Reese and Riley weren't too sure what to think.

Fast Forward several months and Reese, Lizzie and Gracie were all in the water and soaking wet within 10 minutes. Riley still took some coaxing but did get a little wet. Anyway, ALL the girls had a blast and there was a lot of laughing and squealing! We are definitely going to have to go again.

Here are some pictures (I only had my iPhone as a camera).

Lizzie, Gracie and Reese

Gracie and Reese

Lizzie and Gracie

March for Babies

Yesterday, we participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies. This was the first time for us to participate. With out many expectations, we woke up early on Saturday with the girls and head over to Amy's house to caravan to the walk. We are then on our way.

When we finally get to White Rock Lake, we start walking to the starting point for the walk. Again Wes and I didn't really know what to expect, we thought there would be 100s of people not 1000s of people including lots of strollers. So many people in fact, that it took us 15 minutes to actually start walking and we were in the middle of the pack.

With four sets of twins, we get moving. The girls did really well and stayed in their stroller. Wes pushed the entire time. We both had a great time talking to all the people on our team, including Liz and Chris.

Of course I had my camera the whole time, but I only got one shot and it wasn't a great one. Doing this walk was a great experience for us and a little emotional. Because of the research and programs of this organization, our girls are the healthy happy little girls they are today. We are very grateful for medical science and prayer.

They Look Sweet Don't They

See how sweetly these two girls can smile and look cute?

Lizzie saying "cheese"

Gracie looking cute

Well, they can look cute when they want to and then turn around and be little terrors. I took these pictures after we finished having lunch with my friend Shanon, where they acted like two little monkeys. They climbed all over her, jumped in the booth and tried to put something in a lady's hair sitting behind us. Finally, lunch ended when Gracie started screeching about something I took from her.

The next day, we met up with our friend Anna, Isaac and EJ for story time and playing. We got through story time with out trouble but when we went outside they were naughty. Lizzie would blatantly do something that I told her not to do. She was in time out a lot. Gracie was a little better and didn't go in time out as much.

Some other things they are doing:

• Gracie is fighting me about the car seat, I can't tell if its because she thinks she is in the wrong seat or not
• Lizzie likes to run in the other direction, usually when we are near really busy streets.
• Gracie is still fighting me about the potty. We are trying to bribe her with cute panties. I have to beg her to go when she wants to do something "more fun".
• Both like to hit. Lizzie hits Gracie when she is frustrated and vice versa. Gracie has a temper and tries to hit anything in her path.

We are trying to work on correcting all these bad behaviors. Its a little overwhelming when you have two at the same stage working against me. What keeps me sane and more calm is that they do have very cute moments. They are talking so much to each other. Some times I can't even tell what they are talking about (I think they are plotting against me sometimes) but they talk, laugh and play. Today in the car, they were talking and Lizzie was belly laughing so hard. It cracked me up!

Giving In

Since I started staying home with the girls they were pretty good sleepers. They napped when they were suppose to and went to sleep at night easily. When we switched to big girl beds, it was still the same until recently. Around a month ago, they started playing during nap time and getting out of bed. I would have to go in constantly to tell them to sleep. I knew there was an option of separating them, but I didn't want to do it. I liked the idea of them always being together.

In the last week, I have started separating them during nap time. We did it this weekend and it worked pretty well. I gave in and its actually been nice. They both took really long naps and were so happy when they woke up.

Bluebonnets

Today, I took the girls to get pictures in the bluebonnets. My friend Allison had a great idea for our twin group. To have the kids come out and she would take pictures. I thought to myself, this will be great, my girls love to model for Allison and take pictures.

I should have know that today was not going to go ok. Lizzie woke up cranky and didn't want to do anything I asked her. I finally got them dressed and in the car. We stopped for donuts (I was thinking the sugar would work in my favor) and headed to our field of bluebonnets.

In my crazy dream world, I envisioned beautiful girls smiling sweetly for Allison. In reality, we get to the field to find out it was soaking wet, not from rain but from sprinklers. Allison got some really good shots of all the kids until their feet got wet. Lizzie and Anna (one of Allison's triplets) were not happy about the wet feet and were crying. Gracie wanted to be attached to Allison's hip while she was taking pictures of other kids (thus making taking pictures difficult). Again, my girls LOVE Allison. I think they would live with her if they could.

Anyway, we finally bribed Lizzie and Gracie with Fritos (chili cheese no less, their daddy would be proud) to take ONE shot together. It worked! I just hope Allison got a good one to use.

This is how most of the shots went when I tried to get them together.

The Fritos worked! This is with Gracie stuffing them in her mouth.

In my disappointment, I stopped at a field closer to home after I got the girls McDonald's water and apples