Nostrils are SO entertaining!

I have never really had to child proof the house. Lainey wasn't one to put things in her mouth, or climb things. Let's face it, she didn't walk until she was 17 months old, so I had it pretty easy in the keeping-up-with-the-baby department.

She has always enjoyed playing with small things. Marbles, checkers, and these seriously tiny beads she calls "littles" (hence the name for our girls!) are her go-to toys. She loves to put them in cups and pour them back and forth, or just carry her "jewels" around, showing off her treasure to anyone who cares to see it.

One night, a few weeks ago, while she was eating dinner, I said something to her from my seat on the couch (feeding a baby - it's what I do). Oddly, she was staring at the wall and wouldn't even acknowledge my voice. If you've met her, you know that girlfriend rarely passes up an opportunity to chat. After several attempts to get her attention (Lainey Hope, look at mama!), my mom meandered over to the table, took a look at our gal and said

um, we have a problem.

Then she started to giggle.

I jumped up, ran over to the table and there she was - my girl, sitting in all her glory, with peas stuck up her nose.

Not just any peas, mind you.

They were dried peas.

Know what happens when dried foods get stuck into snot filled nostrils?

They REHYDRATE.

Yep, just let that thought sink in for a moment.

So, I gathered my wits about me, as well as a nose-sucker, tweezers, and a flashlight. (Not really sure what the flashlight was gonna do for me, but it seemed like a proper tool).

Now she's crying, because she realizes this isn't going to end well. My mom keeps saying, I think you're gonna have to go back to the twilight clinic (we'd been that day for Emmy's pink eye), and I am determined to get these little boogers (bwahaha, I am too funny!) on my own.

Or call a friend to do it for me.

Unfortunately, my good friend and neighbor, Courtney, wasn't home.

So it was all on me.

If this should ever happen to you, please note the following. If your toddler hasn't fully grasped the concept of blowing his/her nose, now is not the time to try to teach it. Because now the peas have climbed higher up and she's telling me it hurts.

Oy vey.

Eventually, between the nose sucker and the tweezers, her tears and my giggles, we got them out. Two of them actually, one for each hole.

I did use the flashlight, for good measure, just to make sure there wasn't anything else up there - like maybe chocolate chips or something.

You know, for dessert.

Twinnie Tuesday - Cereal!

My little Anna has literally been chomping at the bit to start solids. She stares, drools and even sometimes growls at anyone who dares to eat in front of her.



(Poor Grandpa didn't even finish his sandwich, he felt so bad for her. Bless him.)

So I promised my little starving gal that when we got back from our trip to Columbus, we would start cereal. She clapped in delight and got a twinkle in her eye. I guess it could've been gas, but regardless, she was definitely excited.

Emily wasn't really showing any signs of being ready, but being new to the twin thing, I couldn't feed one and not the other! Heaven forbid! I just knew that if I only fed Anna, years from now, in some therapist's office, my Em would be pouring her heart out about how I fed her sister first, leaving her to waste away.

Turns out, I probably should have waited for Emily to start. Because, well, just check it out for yourself.....

note the sour face? poor Em, she shuddered, she hated it so much


one more try, um, no, this is not for me....


Anna giving it a go...


hmm, this has definite possibilities.....


and then, Em tried desperately to stop Anna from eating any more of that drivel


So I jumped the gun with Baby B a little bit. Guess I really do have to treat them as individuals. I am continuing to give Anna a little "lunch" every afternoon.

I just make Emmy watch.

We are so going to be on Dr. Phil.

We did it! Part Two.

Thanks to my procrastination spot-on planning , we were very nearly packed for our Columbus trip before we even got back from Indy! Just wash those clothes and throw 'em back in the bags.

Martha Stewart would be so proud.

Lainey and those sweet Littles did so very well in the car, maybe a little too well, because when we first arrived at my aunt and uncle's house, they all got a second wind and stayed up until midnight. Not cool.

Andy had a day off (!) and we finally got Lainey to the Zoo. Poor thing had never been and we had been trying to go since last summer. Then I got pregnant with twins....(really, that's my excuse for everything - paid a late bill, twins - forgot to write thank you notes, twins - haven't shaved my legs in a month week, twins....you should give it a try sometime!).
The weather was overcast, which for our girlies was perfect and really, the pictures speak for themselves!







and then there was baseball fun......

 

Where shall we go next week, girls?

God is angry

A few weeks ago, while we were in Indianapolis doing the baseball thing, I went out for a walk. I was in search of bottled water to use for formula (which I hate, but that's another story for another day). Apparently, no one in Indianapolis gets thirsty after 11 pm, because all the pharmacies were closed. That, or there's some seriously dehydrated people there. What was open were bars and the like. I don't think they make a lot of dough on purified baby water, so I kept walking.
If you've every been in the downtown area you've seen the really lovely Circle Fountain area. It puts Lexington's traffic circle to shame in every way, but again, I am getting sidetracked. Anyhoo, just before I came to the circle/fountain I walked past the alley behind our hotel and there were about 3 homeless people sleeping on the hard, dark road. I prayed for them, and kept walking. Partly because I am a chicken and partly because my husband would kill me if I attempted to help someone in a an alley. At night. Alone. You get the point.
It was one of those out-of-sight, out-of-mind moments that we've all had. You see someone on the curb, holding up a "will work for food" sign, thank the Lord it isn't you, and as soon as the light changes, forget all about it. I do it. We all do.
So, I am still walking, looking for someone to provide some H2O that doesn't come out of the tap and I start hearing this noise. Now, I was hearing alot of things - traffic, people coming out of bars, motorcycles, the splashing of the fountain etc., but this was annoying. And loud.
There were 3 men "preaching" on a street corner. One of them had a megaphone, letting us know that God is Angry. Just in case we weren't hearing his tirade, another guy was wearing one of those sandwich boards with the same phrase on the front and back. I know that there are things that make God angry. Scripture tells us so, but all I could think was, um, yea, He's ticked at you nimrods for standing around yelling like ninnies, when there are homeless people one block away from you who need to know He LOVES them. He wants the BEST for them. He has PLANS for them. His heart BREAKS for them.............
The next day, Lainey and I went out for some fresh air and one of the homeless guys was sitting on the corner with a cup. She had some change in her hand that she had scooped up from the coffee table and I told her to give it to him. She said "why mama?" and I simply told her that he needed it more than she did. She marched her little self right up to him and dropped it in there. No qualms about losing her precious loot, and we went about our morning.
That night after the game, we were headed back to the car and there was a man playing the violin with his case open for donations. He wasn't very good at it, but he was trying. As we were approaching him (and by we, I mean me, the double stroller, one baby bjorn, a backpack and three small children) Lainey said she "needed a dollar". Thank the Lord, I had one in my pocket, because I wasn't about to dig through the diaper bag. Then my sweet girl instructed me to roll her up there, because "he needs it".

And God was not angry.

seriously, where does the time go? Lainey is two and A HALF as she tells everyone and the Littles will be 6 months this week! loving my girls........