The girls...

One thing I love about afternoon kindergarten is our girl lunches. I cannot tell you how much fun we have together. We are enjoying out time together so much!

Seeing Double installment two...

The girls have had their glasses for almost two months. Things have gone very well. The transition at first was a little hard because they really couldn't see better with the glasses at all but I just remained strict and they got into the habit fairly easily.

At their first appointment I had been told it was unusual to see progress with glasses alone (not patching) but they had recently found that it was a good first step as some do see progress. So at our first follow up (6 weeks in) I was expecting any real progress and prepared the girls for patches. Surprising we got wonderful news both girls had improved their bad eye four full lines. When they put the E they could see previously on the screen it was a huge and the E now is much much smaller. I couldn't be happier. As hard as it was at first the persistence and strictness paid off they are making progress. We will keep checking in to make sure we don't need patching as we might still need that to get it even better but we're off to good start.

Pause Please... Twins start kindergarten

When my oldest was old enough to start school, life was pretty crazy. I had a two year old and one week old premature twins in the NICU. I sent Lindsey off to kindergarten with a smile and a sense of relief. A few years later when it was Jacob's turn I wasn't quite as enthusiastic but the twins were 3 years old and keeping me plenty busy. The only thing that bothered me was that it was yesterday that I had sent Lindsey off to Kindergarten and there she was a big 3rd grader. I just blinked and she was in third grade. I learned a true fact which is once you send you kids to school they grow up very fast!

So this year sending my babies to kindergarten was a big deal. Not because they would gone so much quite yet (they only go for 2.5 hrs so its a lot like preschool) but because I knew it means they are growing up and before I blink they, too will be in third grade! Oh my!

The girls have loved kindergarten. They are in the same class but don't sit together are both are very independent. The biggest fear I get is being late. They worry all morning about being on time (we have never even been late). Their individual personalities are really showing more too. Hailey has revealed herself to be a bit of a perfectionist and a worry wart. She wants all her work to be perfect and has even woke herself up at night worrying about it. Sydney doesn't seem to care but is more apprehensive about new experiences whether it be computers or a new friend. I have loved spending time with them each morning. It isn't lost on me that this time is finite and limited so we spend time having play dates and lunches and snuggling because after all I am going to blink and they will be in third grade.

My kids are all at the perfect ages I want to hit pause!

Dance Dance Dance!!!

This fall I was in search of a good dance class that included both tap and ballet, was close to home, was reasonable priced, and offered a class before school (afternoon kindergarten). Pretty steep list huh? With good luck (and a good friend) I found this and more because the studio is wonderful! I love watching the girls take tap, its really adorable. Their teachers are awesome! The girls have detected how much I love them doing it and have asked me a lot about my experience with dance. Hailey says she is going to take her twins to dance class someday just like me. Ha ha.

 

The girls were a little done with pictures at this point. I think its so funny how similar their faces look in it though. They have almost the same mad face!

Sparkle Bear...

As luck would have it Sydney had Sparkle bear the first day she had to wear her glasses to school. Sparkle bear comes home with a child who is really good at school. He/she gets to spend the day with that child and the night and then the child shares the visit with the class. It's a big deal around here.

Going to Kindergarten with her new glasses was causing some major anxiety for Hailey so I decided it would help to invite a friend over to take her mind of it and reinforce that its no big deal. In addition we had a special treat and went to McDonalds. The friend was the perfect choice because she is so sweet and told the girls how great they looked. 
 
Sparkle bear got to join in the fun too!



Sydney had to color a picture of Sparkle doing something.

When we arrived at school the girls got noticed. Most kids were nice (Sydney was worried about being called four eyes) one came and sat with me and told me, "I don't think the girls should wear those glasses again". I had to remind her how fashionable and great they were and that she was very wrong.  Broke my heart.  I left them full of anxiety and almost asked to volunteer in their class that day (though I knew they needed to do this one on their own).  It really made the saying that goes something like ... "having kids is like having your heart walk outside your body", very real. I waited for them as school got out and they were totally fine and doing great.

It's taking some adjustment but they are getting used to the glasses.  They wear them all the time and really don't remove them at all. The worst I have noticed is just letting them slide on their nose or lifting them to see better. It's really a different challenge that they see better without them.

Today we were thankful for good friends and sparkle bear.

Seeing Double...

At the girls Kindergarten check up the girls had a little trouble with the eye test so I took them to an ophthalmologist. A little trouble turned into a big problem when it became obvious that they each were not able to see well out of one their eyes. So easy to miss as they can see 20/20 out of one eye.It's no surprise  that they both have it considering they are identical twins. Interestingly though, its the opposite eye on each girl. We have now determined they are probably mirror twins.

Regardless the official diagnosis is lazy eye. So we begin by wearing glasses and then if we don't see progress they will begin patching.

My first reaction was sadness but a week later it's gratitude. Grateful they each have one 20/20 eye and grateful we can begin to fix the other one. Hopefully we see lot's of progress. Either way they may wear glasses.

The girls had a mixed reaction at first but when I told them we would get fashion glasses they were excited.

So we began searching for the best fashion glasses. If you know me this took a bit of research :)

We ended up with pink.  Fun, sassy and all their choice. Each got similar but different which makes it nice.  I have to say even though I had a lot of sadness over this, the girls have done great.

 As we were walking out Sydney told me she didn't want to wear them to church. When I informed her that she had to wear them all the time (which is hard because they actually see better without them on) she told me she would never look pretty again!  Oh my... my tears fell but she never knew and I was able to get her to realize she looked pretty either way!

Girl's night

Alan took Jacob camping so I decided to plan a girls night out for my e little girls. Lindsey went to a carnival with a friend. The twins were so excited because they see me go out on girls night out and are always desperate to join. In fact they play girl's night all the time when pretending (we better warn their future husbands).

Anyway the girls chose a local bakery that has huge dessert case to drool over. It was a priceless time. Dinner conversation was the best part of the night Hailey said when she grows up she is never going to get her kids in trouble. Then she remebered she wants to be famous so she can't be a mother Sydney is quite sure she wants to be mother, but Hailey is very serious about becoming famous. I told her she could do both motherhood and being famous. I also asked her what she would do if her kids were bad? Sydney piped in that she might put her kids on time out but she would never ever yell at them. Hailey agreed. Oh my. The ladies behind me were laughing so hard.
As we drove home Hailey wanted to go to a store, a "make up store" which is Ulta. We picked nail polish. A real treat. I have thrown every nail polish away after so many serious disasters recorded here. I pray I won't regret it. The girls declared it the perfect girls night ever.
It's nights like this that reward me on my path of mothering. Being a mother to these girls. Innocent, excited and sweet. It's a gift today. 

Ebay

I have been working hard getting the girls ebay clothing up. If you interested you can find it with the link below. Most items have a match for twins, but please ask me first, as some times things sell.
http://shop.ebay.com/Lauraall/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

A visit with snow white….

The other day we came home to find two beautiful purple invitations on our door. Hailey and Sydney were invited to meet and have a tea party with Snow White. Can you imagine?

The girls were nervous at first but by the end they were dancing and smiling. I don’t think they stopped smiling all day.

*All pictures were taken by Susan who hosted the party. Can you imagine someone hosting something so fun? She doesn’t have any daughters but she sure knows how to make a lot of little girls VERY happy. Thank you so much Susan for doing all this. The pictures are priceless. She emailed them to me which I appreciate so much! Susan, is also a amazing photographer. If you live in the area and would like to use her check her out here… Susan Hayward Photography or check it her blog here Susan Hayward Blog, she is a wonderful writer and its a great blog!

From the mouths of babes...

The other day while cleaning "the girls" took quite an interest in helping. The next morning they found some dry cloths and began cleaning the house. Pretty soon one was caught windexing my bedspread to "clean" it. I abruptly stopped that method. She was given freedom to clean once I took away the bottle. Pretty soon she was upset that her cloth wasn't wet. In the bathroom, within ear shot, I heard her sister sneak up and say, "don't worry I know where you can get it wet". She replied with. "oh yeah the toilet". I ran behind them to stop this disaster wondering how much toilet water had cleaned my tooth brush when to my relief she turned on the sink.

Whew... who knows I am sure the toilet has been used before. She just came up with that idea way too fast.

The other day Hailey came running in with the following:

H-Sydney Elizabeth is in BIG trouble.
Me- What did she do?
H- I don't even know what its called but its really messy.

Ran into the room to find Styrofoam. Which is really messy. But better than I was expecting especially since she has never used the middle name method before.

Today is the first day of summer. I am sure there is some limit to how much screaming I can listen to before my heads explodes right. Someone is always hurt or hurting and someone has been constantly crying. Oh and its unseasonably cold and rainy. So no good pool or outdoor time to rescue us.

Wordful Wednesday- On back then........

I remember when the twins were little and I had four kids 5 and under (twins, 2 yr old and 5yr old). I couldn't get anything done. I couldn't go many places without help. Even Costco was a real feat and its pretty much the only place I ever attempted to do and I still took my Mom. I rarely talked to friends, I never read books or watched t.v (unless I was nursing or pumping). My house was a mess, the laundry wasn't done, and I was rarely ever in anything but sweats. My days were spent nursing (with two babies it took a while), changing and feeding. There weren't any girls nights out, unless you count that me and the twins outnumbering Alan a girls night. Because we spent most of our evening walking the floors, the four of us, with crying-lots of crying. As the sun would go down dread would enter my body. Those long evenings with two fussy babies were hard, then when midnight hit and the girls often didn't sleep and I spent so many nights desperately tired. Feeding them and praying they would just stay asleep. Every morning when the sun rose I felt renewed. I could do it another day, I knew I could. Maybe today would be the day everything felt easier? And day by day it did get easier. Sometimes I have a bad day (like today) and life seems too busy and overwhelming( because with four kids it still is) and I think back to those days and I think how did I do that?

Well there were a few unsung hero's who carried me through this time.

A group of women in Lindsey Kindergarten class who heard I had twins, and did not know me, offered to drive Lindsey to and from school. I cry remembering that. A simple act of service for someone they did not know.

My mother. She listened to me when I needed a friend and a outlet. She cheered me on and she sympathized. We all were so grateful to get our babies here safely. She came over to give me naps and recognized I often needed companionship as much as sleep. So we talked instead of slept. She was ready to take me anywhere I needed. We loaded three car seats up several times and went to the doctor, Costco, getting my driver's license. I couldn't go anywhere quite yet without her help. She was there for me any time I needed her.

My Inlaws also came over and gave me naps and walked the floors with twins. The brought food. The offered date nights. Watching all four of my kids in those evenings was almost too much for them or anyone for that matter, with the twins fussing all the time. Not to mention, before the twins were born they lived in California. The pushed their retirement plans into fast forward and moved close to us.

Alan. He worked long hours and still walked the floors with me every night. I longed for weekends because he took the middle of the night feedings. It was amazing to get 5 hrs of sleep.

It's memories like this that make me realize anything worthwhile takes sacrifice. I never questioned or felt discouraged about my girls once they were here. The journey to get them here was so difficult I knew I could do anything after we made it through that.

Today I can read a book. Run an errand alone (when they are in preschool). I get dressed, I wear make up. I am involved in volunteering.

My house is still often messier than I want. I still never feel caught up and I still have those days were the girls cry way too much and I need a time out. But my good days outweigh my bad and it's better... it's much better.

Random musings...

At the mall the other day the girls saw a sign about the Easter bunny. Hailey expressed interest in meeting him. Sydney, however, promised to go running. She was not interested at all. That wasn't fair so I trotted Hailey over. Sydney hid behind me. Hailey asked me if it was a real Easter bunny or just a guy dressed up. Not being sure at first how to respond to that I admitted he was just dressed up (the sales girl at Gap looked at me funny but what would you do). So we arrive. Hailey gets tense. She tells me... "Mom it IS the real Easter bunny". That was it, she was NOT interested at all either. She went running to Sydney who knew all along how she felt about meeting Easter bunnies or anyone she doesn't know for that matter. Seeing his creepy smile I guess I don't blame them.

On Friday I purchased the Paas kit. The one everyone gets. No gimmicks just good old tablets and the white crayon (gotta have that). I set all the groceries down and literally seconds later found the kit torn in a million pieces. I frantically ran to discover the girls upstairs in their room. EATING the tablets. Cool colors running from their mouths, to their outfits, to the carpet. Yahoo. Oh and apparently Paas makes Edible color tablets (they are a food item) so they girls will survive for another day of bright ideas. We had to use food coloring and vinegar to dye eggs (which works just as well of course).


Today Sydney asked me if we get to fly to heaven when we die. I was busy and responded with I think so... but I don't know. She was curious then... "if we can't fly how will we walk so far"?

Jacob and Hailey are playing a game in the kitchen. It's all creative and fun. You know not electronic. I ask Hailey why she hasn't gotten in her jammies and she responds to Jacob, " can we pause the game". He says sure.... Pause? I think she knows all about Tivo and its wonderful features. I often wish I could rewind and pause real life too or even fast forward.

A lesson in shopping...

A new Nordstrom Rack opened just down the street. Dangerous I tell you! Grandpa came along and gave the little girls a lesson in shopping.










The girls each ended up with a new dress and new pink shoes! It was a great day!