Love talks

Tonight my heart melted as we were doing our night time routine.  As we were all giving kisses, Claire gave Max a "boppy" kiss and said, "I love you, Max"!!!  This was the first time I actually heard/could understand that she said it!  I still can't quit grinning!

She picked out this ensemble for bedtime: Max's old shirt, baby leggings and ballerina socks!

She really is a piece of work!

She really is a mini me.  Loves her friends and family more than anything!! 

Just me and my Buds

Last night Max woke up crying saying, "hold me mommy".  Can that be any more pitiful?  Of course I went right in and he was burning up.  He had a temp of 105!  Early in the day we went to the pediatrician and he had an ear infection.  Max and Claire both get really high temps with their ear infections.  Thankfully, it went down quickly after I gave him some Ibuprofen.
Because of his temp, he had to stay home from Mother's Morning Out.  He got to spend some one on one time with me!

Since I wasn't able to work my volunteer shift today, we went to breakfast.  The whole way there he kept asking where Claire bear was and that he wanted to go to school.  I felt so bad for him.  I knew he was better and would have been fine at school.  This happens all the time.  After an hour of questioning me, he started soaking up his individual time!

Play-doh!

 Glad the buds is feeling better and so happy to have some special time with him!

Weekend Recap

We were supposed to go to Charlotte this weekend to spend time with Justin's family, but last minute had to switch weekends. (Hope you are feeling better!) As much as we were looking forward to a weekend away, we made the best of our weekend here!
Friday night Max and Claire experienced their first Japanese restaurant.  Neither ate any Japanese food, but had a good time watching them cook.  It took Max a while to warm up. He freaked out when they made the big fire!

Our Big girl!!

They both have pretty yucky colds so we stayed at home most of the day Saturday.  We did have their buddy, Trevor over to watch basketball.  They are so cute together!

Today Daddy played golf and Nanny watched Max and Claire so I could go for a run.  Thanks to Liz and her husband, I banked eight miles!

Our 1/2 marathon is about a month away.  This is the longest I have run since the Thanksgiving 1/2 marathon.... time to start longer runs.  It definitely helps to run with other people for long runs.  I know that had I not gone with Liz and Alec, I would have done four on the treadmill.  

When I got back to Mom's to pick up Max and Claire, mom said they had been playing with my old cabbage patch dolls. 

This is how Claire covered them up for nap....

This cracks me up!  No idea why she covered their faces.  I promise that is not how I put them down for naps!

Cookie Time Tuesday

My friend, Lindy, has Cookie Time Tuesday every week.  She always has the best cookies.  This week's did not disappoint!  I made them for a get together last night.  They were delicious and a must try!

Check out her blog and GO make these cookies!  I know I will be making round 2 for this weekend!

still here

Just realized I haven't blogged in almost a week.  My life is pretty boring right now.... just me chasing around two crazy toddlers.  A few nights this week have felt like the new baby stage of CIO.  Claire has been waking up either at 1am or 4am and we have been making her CIO.  She is stubborn (don't know where she gets that from) and holds her ground.....meaning almost a full hour before she finally goes back to sleep.  It's been a fun week ;)

We have had lots of play dates.  So lucky to have such great friends!

Bear is turning into such a big girl.  They both are so much fun to watch.  I am amazed every day with new words, faces, etc...

We've had weird weather the past few days.  Yesterday was 60 and today was 35 and snowed all day.  We spent the day inside and Justin and I cleaned out and switched closets.  We are lucky to have 1970s closets that are teeny tiny{enter sarcasm}.  Up until today, we have shared our bedroom closet and the guest room had all our suits/dresses and sweats - but now I took over our closet and Justin moved all his clothes in the guest room.  We had four bags and about 15 coats to donate to Bargain Box.  Not how we wanted to spend our Saturday, but so needed!

making progress!

So much better!

It will also be so much quieter in the morning with Justin's clothes in the other room since he gets up at 4:15 most mornings!  Hopefully this will help keep our room from getting so cluttered and will be the start to organizing other spaces!

26.2......relay!

I wish I could say I completed 26.2 by myself, but today we participated in a marathon relay.  Each leg ran a total of 6.4 miles (broken up into 4 - 1.6 miles).  You actually have the option to run the full marathon or do it with one other person as a 1/2 marathon.

We ran with our good friends Liz and Alec.  Liz had a baby three months ago and was running seven minute miles!!  I was the slowest leg.... I was hoping to beat Justin, but he turned on his game.

The race results are not up yet, but my fastest lap was a 7:45 pace.  I'm thrilled...that's my fastest time yet!

My mom was supposed to watch the kiddos, but had to go to VA last minute to be with my brother.  They tagged along as our cheerleaders!  They were so good.  My cousin came to get them at 12:30 so we could pack up and go out for pizza and beer!

The weather was great!  A little chilly, but nothing like years past when there was ice on the ground or in the low 20s!
I think it warmed up to close to 50 by the time we left.  Although I can't bend my right knee, I am so looking forward to next year and hoping we can get a lot more groups of friends to join in!

TWO

My babies are TWO....well they turned two on Jan. 22.  Just a little behind on their two year post.  To say I have been busy is an understatement.  If they are awake, they are on the move.  They have turned into little people.  They talk up a storm and are learning so much every day.  I am amazed at the things they remember and words/sentences they are saying.  I still have to pinch myself.  They are my life.  It's hard to imagine life before them... well, I probably slept a lot more, but who is keeping up with that?!

The second year of their life is by far harder than their first.  BUT we have so much fun.  I love watching them interact together, play with their friends and watch them grow.  We stay busy by going to the gym (they love gym daycare), Children's Museum, play dates with their friends, kicking the ball outside and running around the house with Daddy.

They have so much personality.  Claire is very outgoing and loves to show off all her tricks.  She likes to sing songs and dance.  She is the Mother hen in their "school" classroom.  She is a rule follower (for the most part) and will tell on Max when he is doing something he is not supposed to be doing.  She talks up a storm and has a pretty large vocabulary and can say a lot of 3, 4 and 5 word sentences.

Claire is very opinionated and always speaks her mind.  She likes to pick out her clothes in the morning and her pjs at night.  LOVES shoes, especially her red patent leather pair!  She is a great eater and will try most anything. Her favorite foods are cheese, eggs and "pastas" and also loves raisins, apples and most fruits.  I've been pretty strict about juice and a lot of sugary foods.  I still have not bought juice, yet they have had it a few times at a birthday party.  I'm going to keep up with water and milk as long as I can :)

She is a mini me.  At least once a day she says, "look, Mommy". I turn around and she is sitting or holding her hands just like me.   She is a Mama's girl.  They fight over sitting in my lap every morning or who I hold first at night when we sing our songs.  Flattering, but I wish it didn't lead to fights :)
Favorites:
The Wiggles and Sesame Street - however still only watches a few minutes here and there.  Singing, dancing, running around the house/outside with Daddy, coloring,  and spending time with her friends (Favorite song is Brown Squirrel)
She adores all her Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins and loves to look at their pictures.
Most of the time she is a good girl.  She is a typical two year old with the normal tantrums.  I adore and love her so much!
She can count to seven, knows her colors and is starting to learn her ABC's.  I recognize a few letters out of the whole song.

Max and Claire are best friends.  They always want to know where the other is and don't like to be too far way.  My favorite is how they adress each other.  Recently, Max only refers to Claire as "Claire Bear" and Claire calls Max, "Max Brother"  It is so cute to hear.  I love their conversations with each other.  They play well most of the time except when it comes to sharing certain toys or Mommy!  Recently they have both being saying, "My Mommy", "My turn", "mine"....It's like all the sudden they turned two and learned "mine" :)  Both enjoy reading.  Their favorite book is, I want my hat back.  It is a great book!

Their sleep patterns are so-so.  They are early risers, but take a great afternoon nap.  Normal schedule is 7:15pm-5:30am with a 2.5-3 hr afternoon nap.  

Buds is my little snuggle bug.  No question he is a Mama's boy and our shy one.  It takes him quite a while to warm up to new people and places.  Even though we go to The Children's Museum every Monday for Busy Bees (singing/daning in a circle with other kids/parents), he insists I hold him or he sits on my lap.  Occasionally, he will participate in the last song or two.  He LOVES his sister.  We have been having a rough time with tantrums and hitting/pushing Claire... today he bit her.
He's not the best eater.  You would think he ate a lot and often bc he is SO big, but he is extremely picky and rarely will even try things.  The only way I can get him to eat veggies is by making a spinach and fruit smoothie.  He loves squeeze pouches, but will turn his nose up at green veggies.  I have tried to cook different ways, but as soon as he sees it, he turns it away.  He loves oatmeal, peanut butter, bananas, oranges, avocado, apples/pears and pizza.

Max's vocabulary has really grown in the past few weeks.  He is saying a lot of new words and 3-4 word sentences.  He is very good at puzzles and putting things together.  He can count to six, knows his colors and is starting to learn ABCs.
Favorites:
Running fast, jumping, listening to music and dancing and playing outside.  He loves playing with cars and trucks, puzzles and coloring.  Enjoys The Wiggles and Sesame Street.  Loves Bananas and his milk!  {I} love that he twirls his hair when he is tired! He loves his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Love this sweet boy to pieces!

They both also love their lovies aka "bunny" and their pacis aka "boppy". I swore I was taking them away when they were two....but that has yet to happen.  I'm really going to start trying to make them keep it in the bed only- soon!

A Mommy weekend!

Friday while the kiddos were in school I got a facial (thanks to a gift card the hubs got me for Christmas).  It was fantastic and so relaxing!  THEN I went to get a manicure - definitely a day planned for me....but it didn't stop there! Friday night my parents kept Max and Claire and we had a date night with two other couples.  It was so much fun and even better bc we were able to sleep in!  Unfortunately, my parents were up with the babes at 4:55am!  They haven't slept past 5:30 in at least 10 days....not sure what's going on.
Saturday night I went out with the girls.   I was so tired from Friday night that I really didn't want to go, but so glad I did bc we had a blast!

Today was a great family day.  We took the kids on a cold run and had lunch with two of their Godparents.  They brought M and C's bday presents - soccer balls!  They were ecstatic, so much that they insisted to sleep with them.  I was hesitant, but let them anyway - nap went well, how I just hope tonight goes well :)  While they were napping, Mom and I went in search for some organization help for the playroom.  I was tired of this...

 I still have work to do, but happy with the progress we made today!  Thanks, Mom!!

 Max has the blue bin and filled with all his trucks/cars. Claire has the pink bin that has all her girlie toys and the green ones have balls and all their pretend food.  It is nice to have all the little pieces off the floor...we will see how long this last!

I snuck this picture of Max last night when I went in to check on them -

both insisted on sleeping with their new soccer balls!  I also must add that it's kids-10 parents-0.  We had another 5:20 wake up time :(