Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Bottom Line


Don't we all wish we could sport Tinkerbell on our bums?

I thought I'd give a little potty training update, since it's been a daily obsession around here.



*Even though Dora the Explorer's voice vibrates at the same frequency as a migraine headache, I will support her in underwear form for the cause. (See above picture.)

*Madelyn has ended her month-long potty strike and is no longer terrified of panties.

*The girls stay dry for several hours every day, and even two trips to Target last week.

*Poop is still a whole different story.

*Maddie usually gives half of her potty treats to London.

*The process would have been two months shorter if I had realized Maddie will do anything for a Hershey's kiss.

*We THINK we are through the worst.

*I am now considering writing a book called, "Potty Training Your Twins in JUST 297 Days."

Easter


L & M were especially excited about Easter this year. When I asked Maddie where her Easter basket came from, she said, "Easter bunny came and brought trick-or-treats!" I guess for them it was like Halloween and Christmas combined.


I got the girls new dresses and they told me they looked like Cinderella (twirling for the effect). They asked me to do their hair like Cinderella....


Which in mom's hair skills equates to pony tails. Here is 3/4 of a family picture.


I am realizing I didn't get great pictures of the family gathering but we were invited to Ryan's Aunt Tricia's house for Easter dinner. I was pleasantly surprised that Tricia loves to go all out for holidays just as much as my mom, so it really helped with the homesickness I had been feeling all week. After dinner the kids had an Easter egg hunt.



Mostly I ended up with pictures of their backs. Who wants to take time out to pose when there's candy involved? And yes, just like Halloween, I confiscated all the candy afterwards. It should last us all a few weeks. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Monday, March 17, 2008

planties!

A plethora of participants play in planty parties. People, please plop plenty of particularly pleasing plomments.




Saturday, March 8, 2008

A Little Hair Story

Does anyone remember this hair (September 2007)? Even on a short list of Leslie's Worst Hair Ever, this takes the cake.


This was less than a week out of the salon. Roots like nobody's business, weird brassy highlights, and a blunt cut that was completely unmanageable.
Does anyone remember the story behind the haircut? The one where, before my hair was even completely dry, I piped up and told the stylist she had totally missed the boat? I was pretty nice about it. After all, I had specifically requested my hair to be kept longer and dark, also, I had been to her three times and I thought we were on the same page. But we weren't, and she seemed really insulted by my complaint. She agreed to fix my hair but wouldn't do it that day, something about not wanting to damage it. My best intentions and plans to return the next week ended abruptly when I overheard this stylist and another talking about me in the back room, the consensus being, "I think it looks FINE!" Well, fine it may look if you just came out of the Dollar Cuts, or maybe even if you did it yourself with lemon juice and kitchen scissors (oh good! It looks fine!) but fine does not cut it when paying into the triple digits. I went home in tears, cancelled the re-schedule, un-sent the friends I had referred, and sobbed my sad story to friends and family.

Six months later, I found a new girl named Shiva in a little salon in downtown Austin. The most appealing part to me was that she had worked on the runway in New York. She seemed to have some serious hair skills and experience, not to mention the price was way more reasonable. I went for it. I was so glad I chose Shiva because come to find out, she has also been to art school and knows a heck of a lot more about the chemistry of color than a client could ever fathom. One of the first things she said to me was, "Girl, you are orange!" and I just knew we were going to be friends. It fascinated me to hear her talk about the complexity of color being something they just do not teach at hair school. Ultimately, she put her money where her mouth is. In just a couple of hours, she salvaged my hair; the color, the cut, the roots, the damage and in the process managed to salvage my self-esteem. Thank goodness for that. I had started to lose faith in the hair business altogether.


Shiva, you are a superhero.



Back to my roots and couldn't be happier. I'm so glad this tragic tale has a happy ending!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Caught Red Handed!


Who left the permanent markers out?


I love age 2 years and 10 months dearly. I never know what my little girls are thinking about. I never know where our conversations are going to go. Since this is the age where kids' dialogue is all external, meaning everything they think comes out their mouth, I love getting to jump aboard every train of thought. And here's a little example about London.

Does anyone remember in A Goofy Movie the part when Goofy and Max go on a camping trip and run into Big Foot? I hadn't realized the girls were paying such close attention, but during that part London turned to me and said, "big foot?" Two words she had never fathomed together before. She then proceeded to pick up her foot, examine it closely and say, "London no have big foot." She went through the same examination process for Madelyn, Minnie Princess, pink hippo, and mommy. "Maddie no have big foot, Minnie Princess no have big foot," etc. It was really something she was trying to wrap her little mind around. After a couple of minutes of thinking about it, she turned to me and finally declared, "Daddy have big foot!" To which I responded, most daddies do.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Calling All Potty Trainers...

So if I haven't returned your phone calls, e-mails, or seem especially aggravated when you talk to me, you guessed it, we're potty training. And it turns out my low-key approach wasn't getting results, you know the one where I decided not to stress myself out or my kids out and let them do their thing and see what happens. Turns out there really is no progress in potty training twins without a few days, weeks, months of wanting to tear your eyes out.
Lucky for me, having my mom here for a few days kick started progress, as she demonstrated some things that worked with all five kids and two dogs that she potty trained. My mom also mentioned that ONE DAY of potty training with the twins was harder than any of her kids/dog experience put together.
So here's the dilemma, friends that have done this, and you know who you are because I am running into some of the same problems. What do you do when your child holds it? Sits on the toilet, obviously knows what to do because she has done it before, but is suddenly afraid to "go" and screams for a diaper? For the past 2 days, I did not give in to the diaper, but instead watched Maddie throw the bloodiest screaming tantrum ever all the way to flailing limbs on the bathroom floor, and then we were all covered in pee. Londie, on the other hand, went 3 times today with no problems. Keep in mind on any given day they switch it up on me. We always end up covered in pee, they just like to surprise me whose it's going to be. Things we've tried: setting a timer, stickers, jelly beans, gummi bears, potty parties, games with pennies while they sit on the toilet, potty books, pull-ups, and last but not least (pulling out the big guns with this one) grandma. I have read all the literature on twin potty training and though I skip over anything that does not start out with, for example, "Potty training twins is like gearing up for an Olympic event," because if the author will not admit to extreme difficulty, I don't believe they've potty trained so much as a puppy. And though I know we are making some progress as the girls have started staying dry for longer periods of time, I'm not sure how to handle this resistance. Because deep down I know, if I decide to put potty training on hold for even a week, I will never, ever, have the guts to pick it back up again.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Texas Vacationers


This week my mom and youngest sister Jocelyn came to visit. Though we are new to these parts, we managed to track down some fun Texas sites to show them (mostly food). Did I mention the temperatures here have been in the 70's?


Here we are at TGI Friday's. Ry and I were hands free! We chose this specific restaurant and location because apparently at dusk, you can sit on the balcony and watch the 1.5 million bats come out under the bridge. However, come to find out it's not bat season.


I tell you one thing, a fish tank is a close second. The girls were so entranced by the fish they forgot they like to throw tantrums in public places.



We kept hearing about the fantastic children's section at a library nearby and were finally able to sign up for a card. The girls didn't get much reading done, but they did make some new friends.


We spent Saturday at a park downtown called Mayfield park. It's a reserve for the indigenous plants native to Texas before the Spanish explorers came. The park reminded me of some of the botanical gardens in Hawaii. There was beautiful vegetation and so much to explore.



Love this shot of Maddie and Jocelyn crossing the river.



The girls wandered off by themselves held completely still, looking at the ground. We heard them discussing in low voices something about a snake! I think they thought the tree roots looked like one. Oh well, better that than a dead lizard.


And a little help with the bedtime routine goes a long way. Thanks for the visit mom and Jocelyn. I know the girls will be talking about it for months.