John Paul, upon viewing himself in the mirror after getting dressed this morning:  "Ooooooh I am SO handsome!!!"

Cecilia immediately remarked, "I am doh TUTE!"

Evidently these kids have plenty of self-esteem, at least about their appearances :P

Things are about to get VERY interesting...

So we've been pretty lax about this third pregnancy - didn't really concern ourselves with actual prenatal care until suddenly I was in the second trimester and realized, "Oh hey, we should probably schedule an appointment!"  I mean, we've had a boy, we've had a girl, we know how to have babies already.  Right?  What kind of wrench could possibly be thrown into the plans?

Everything was planned out; I had my winter concert with the choirs scheduled for December 6, due date on the 8th, figured I'd have the baby around then or a little later and work up until I go into labor (less tiring than staying home with the kids!).  With such perfect timing, I'd be back to work in 6.5 weeks, right in time for 2nd semester to start.

This pregnancy has been going pretty smoothly - morning sickness was worse than with Cecilia, but far better than with John Paul.  My belly definitely got bigger earlier, but I figured that was just my body remembering the drill.  We joked about twins and didn't consider it in the realm of possibilities.

So today I finally had an ultrasound.  Everything was looking good (you know where this is going...) and then the ultrasound tech said, "So...  You know you're having twins, right?"

WHAT?

I thought she was joking.  Ha.  Ha.  Funny!  Then she showed me two VERY distinct babies.  Yup.  We're having twins.  WHAT???

All I could think was, "Man it's a good thing we bought that minivan..."

So now we have a whole new set of details to think about!  Obviously my maternity leave will have to start earlier, I might have to be out for longer, and who even knows what kind of childcare we can find that can affordably handle a 3.5-year-old, a 2-year-old, and TWINS!


Cecilia's reaction to the news?  "TWO babies!"

John Paul's reaction?  "TWO babies!  Ezra and Nehemiah!  THOSE ARE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE!!!"


I mean, we were planning on having a big family anyway.  I did not think we'd get so far so fast!  I'm still in a daze thinking about all that this will entail...  So any prayers, resources, ideas, ANYTHING - offer them up! Most people aren't as lazy as we are and know this kind of news early on; we found out at almost 30 weeks.  Yikes!

It was bound to happen eventually...

Cecilia hasn't been a big fan of initial consonants - a frog is a "wog," a truck is a "wuck," her crib is a "wib," etc...

But lately she's been trying hard to incorporate these consonants in her words.  A frog is a "fwog!"  A crib is a "fwib!"

And a truck?  Well, it starts with an "f" and...  rhymes with duck?

Yikes!  Let's hope this stage passes quickly!

Cuteness and frustration

Cecilia put on my shoes and belt and told me, "Ah you Mom?  Wess doh!  Wess doh to Wobbindon!"  (Are you Mom?  Let's go!  Let's go to *mom's place of work*)

And it was just too cute not to memorialize...  Of course, I told her I was taking a picture and she immediately wanted to perform "Twinkle Twinkle" so I couldn't get a smile.  You get the point :P

I'm at the end of my leash when it comes to dinnertime...  Seriously considering putting a baby gate up so the kids can't get in the kitchen.  How many "samples" of dinner do two children need before they're willing to leave me alone???  I can leave them tons of fruit and veggies and let them snack for an hour before dinner and they're STILL in the kitchen constantly, begging for more food and then eating a ton when dinner is finally served.

It would be one thing if Cecilia didn't constantly demand to be picked up and John Paul didn't constantly try to reach on the counter around sharp knives and bottles of olive oil in an attempt to eat a whole tomato...

They were finally being quiet and leaving me alone for a while during my meal prep this evening.  Then I looked over and saw that they had taken the sewing kit out of its drawer and had taken ALL the pins and needles out of the pincushion.  YIKES!  Nobody was hurt, thank goodness, but REALLY?  THAT'S what it takes to keep them out of my hair?

I need ideas...

Sunday best

One of these days they'll start fighting the strict dress code we enforce for Sunday Mass... But until then, they  absolutely love dressing up!  John Paul especially likes it if he gets to match Andrew - the other day he narrated the whole time he was getting dressed, "Put on seersucker pants...  Just wike Dad.  And a belt just wike Dad!  And a white shirt just wike Dad....  And a BOWTIE just wike Dad!!!  AND BWOWN SHOES just wike DAD!"

A Prayer to St. John Chrysostom

As requested & composed by John Paul before bedtime:

"Oh...  GWEAT St. John.

Hewper of all the saints...

Hewp all the saints in...  December.

And September.

And Febuawy?





Amen."

Mom's work

The kids LOVE going to Mom's work.  There are hallways they can run in, grown ups who think they're cute, and their latest find - a mural and dry paintbrushes!

They found the used paintbrushes and had a BLAST pretending to paint the mural that was already on the wall.

And looked pretty cute while they did it!

Although John Paul was the only one tall enough to reach...

And he proved what a good big brother he is by trading paint brushes with Cecilia whenever she decided she'd rather have his.

I think I'll need to get them a few of those foam paintbrushes for home and let them "paint" in the bathtub or something - who knew pretend play could be so fun? 

Cooperative play

The kids are doing a lot more playing *together* lately.  Mostly it's initiated by Cecilia because she freaks out if John Paul wants to do something that wasn't her idea...  Here they are doing a puzzle together - John Paul puts the whole thing together and Cecilia hands him pieces, telling him what she has found.  "Minnie Mouse HAND!  Minnie Mouse EYES!"

John Paul wanted to help me cut up squash for dinner, so he got a squash end and a table knife.  And of course Cecilia had to join in.  And they both ended up eating raw squash...  

They've also been doing lots of physical play - Cecilia tackles John Paul to the floor, Cecilia chases John Paul around and hugs him when she catches him, etc.  But there's no way John Paul can tackle Cecilia, or she'll freak the heck out!  Ah, a little dictator who takes after her mom...