We did it! 7 years of twins! (You can read all about their earliest years here) And just as we do every year, here's their birthday survey:

Mary Claire and Elizabeth, Age 5

Happy Birthday to our sweet twins!!!

Elizabeth and Mary Claire: Age 4

The internet has been killing me at home, but by golly, it's working right now so I'm gonna try to throw a birthday post out there real quick before it cuts out again!

Mary Claire and Elizabeth, Age 3

A week ago, the twins turned three! (Birth story here if you're into that sort of thing) I attempted to do this birthday survey with them together, first with what questions I could remember, then sitting at the computer while they answered questions. It went about as well as you would expect...

Me: Can I take a picture of you smiling for your birthday?
Mary Claire: Take a picture of me CRYING!

The Favorite Sister?

Sometimes I wonder if the novelty of Peter has worn off... Nobody's jockeying for his attention anymore now that he's mobile, mostly they're trying to keep him from eating their various books and chokeable treasures. 

But Mary Claire still acts like every time she sees him again is the FIRST time!

"PEEEEEE-der!!! Can I give him a hug and a kiss? And say 'Ip, Pih-bip?' (Her nickname for him) Can I mush him? And say 'Peter WHAT are you doin'?' And I kiss him and he give me a WET kiss?"

She makes him laugh SO hard. Usually whatever it is is incredibly annoying to me until I see how much Peter absolutely adores it. 

Of course, she also thinks it's hilarious to try to ride him when he's crawling. And she runs up to him "mushes" his cheeks until he MUST be in pain.

Lately I can't leave them alone to play together anymore because I'll hear him inevitably cry and run to find that she's pinched him.

"DO NOT pinch the baby!"

"Um, I di'nt pinch him, I 'nidded' him!"

Not a thing.

Or I find his head covered with saliva, because she practiced her spitting skills right over his hair.

It really is nice to see how much these two have bonded, though - the twins have their special twin thing going on and I really wondered where Peter would fit in with all the other kids. I think they still like him!

What I Wore Sunday: Green & Teal

I had Elizabeth, John Paul, and Cecilia with me today for Mass. John Paul kindly chose the 2nd pew from the front for us, which might as well have been the front since there was nobody in front of us...

Cecilia was SO happy to be able to see well! Elizabeth was MUCH quieter than the last time I took her to Mass, although she squirmed all over the place and kept trying to climb into the front pew. John Paul didn't say the priest's part *too* loudly during the consecration... And Cecilia didn't scream when John Paul took her place on the way back from Communion!

So, all in all? A fairly non-mortifying experience!

Here's what I wore, although I'm not sure how I feel about it looking at the pictures... Honestly, I think I just need to figure out the proper height for the camera, and then maybe I won't hate all the pictures so much!

Shirt: Uniqlo (old, similar in green or coral, similar in a million other colors!)

Dress: eShakti (but I would NOT recommend it - the buttons keep coming off and they never responded when I contacted them about it!) (similar, similar

Shoes: DSW (old, similar)

Petticoat: Amazon (only $16 right now!)

The twins were chasing each other around this tree in our yard earlier and I couldn't NOT snap a picture of the adorable sneakiness!

And Mary Claire has apparently watched me take too many pictures of myself, since she decided SHE needed to pose for her own photo shoot. Those chubby legs! 

Linking up with Fine Linen & Purple for What I Wore Sunday!

The 10-Minute Skirt {PHFR}

{pretty}

Cecilia begs to hold Peter ALL THE TIME now that she has reached the ripe old age of 4 (two weeks ago).  And she's supremely confident in her skills, attempting to carry him around the house and adjust his position constantly.  She's actually getting quite good at it!  I might enlist her to help me out by holding him while I make dinner...

{happy}

In 10 minutes!  Or less if you're lazy and don't bother pinning, like me...

THIS.  This is the easiest sewing project you will ever do.  And I hope you have daughters, or nieces, or neighbor girls that you can give these skirts to, because you'll want to make a whole pile of them once you make one!

I came across this pin a while back and new I had to do it for the girls - they're BIG fans of elastic-waist jersey skirts, but I had a problem...

1.  Jersey skirts aren't always easy to find (especially in colder months)

and

2.  It seemed ridiculous to pay $5-$10 for something so tiny and insubstantial!

I didn't want to make them from scratch, because I don't like the look of unfinished jersey and I didn't want to hem it...  So this was perfect!

I picked up some $2 shirts at Goodwill (and have since added some of mine that don't get worn to the pile) and started whipping up skirts.  No sweat!

Click this link for a full tutorial, but basically you just chop off the bottom of the shirt, fold over the raw edge to make a waist band, and add 3/4" elastic (you may as well just buy a giant roll of elastic, you're going to use it ALL the time!).  See how happy Mary Claire is in her new skirt?

As an added benefit, it fits great over those cloth diapers, which is more than I can say for most clothing!

{funny}

Take a picture of one twin, you HAVE to take a picture of the other!

{Real}

This is Mary Claire's default expression - she cracks me up, so serious all the time!

The skirt is a little long - generally I like little girl skirts to be above-the-knee, but she'll grow into it!

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real} and Ana's Cabin Fever Creativity link-up.

TWO!

Well, we got here.  We survived.  Two years into this twins thing.  And I'm gonna be honest - it was hard.  Really hard.

The other day they woke up and DID NOT INSIST on snuggling me for 30 minutes first thing...  They just walked right by me and started reading together!

I feel like we're just starting to get into an easier stage - one where they don't dash for the street the moment we go out the door to get in the car.  And I can *mostly* count on them not to be sticking non-food items in their mouths.  They are REALLY good climbers, to the point where they don't really fall anymore, so I can send them outside with the big kids and let them have fun on the swing set without constant spotting.  And they mostly don't dump cups of water all over the floor if somebody leaves one unattended.

Sometimes I can just sit there watching them play and it's SO adorable.  I get the obsession with twins, finally - the way they play together is just. so. cute. Until they start fighting, which is still frequent.  But lately they've been getting along better, I think in no small part due to their long naptime conversations before they both fall asleep (Yes, I think we've pushed past the nap strike!  And while I've still been hearing, "LIZABETH!  WAKE UUUUUP!" 30 minutes into nap, Mary Claire's been falling asleep too and NOT climbing out of her crib and it's wonderful!).

So!  In honor of their second birthday, and because it happens to fall on a Friday, here are 7 quick (well, not so quick...) facts about each twin:

Elizabeth (Baby A)

1.  Wicked bedhead (see above picture).  I don't even understand HOW, because she has, by far, the least hair of any child we've ever had.  I'm pretty sure she just rubs her head back and forth for a while before she falls asleep every night, because that's the only way I can explain the nest.



2.  Has VERY strong opinions on everything.  She has to be the one to choose clothes first in the morning, and choose pajamas first at night.  She's obsessed with pink, and usually wants to be wearing as much pink as possible.  She HAS to be in charge of who gets what book or which stuffed animal during naptime.  Basically she's a tyrant, but she's tiny and adorable so it's hard to resist!



3.  Loves Duplos.  LOVES them.  Mostly the pink ones - yesterday she brought me two pink creations she had made that happened to have eyes and told me, "Dere are many different types of pigs!"

4.  Does NOT like physical contact if it's not her idea.  John Paul and Cecilia try SO hard to wrestle her and hug her but she freaks the heck out if they don't ask first, or if they ask and she says no.

5.  The angry face.  Gets me every time.

6.  The fake smile, too!

7.  Talks about going to Mass ALL the time, and how "We whisper at Mass!"  Want to know how many times she's whispered?  Ha.  She likes to try to make us all laugh during grace every meal by shouting random things and trying to sing the ABC's.  So basically, REALLY going to heaven ;)

Mary Claire (Baby B)

1. Close to overcoming her unfortunate hair style - we might be able to turn it into a bob soon!

2.  Thankfully doesn't argue when Elizabeth throws her fits about needing to have the pink cup or the pink plate or the pink bowl or...  Well, everything.  Doesn't particularly care about what she wears or what color anything she gets - thank GOODNESS!

3.  Any animal toy is her favorite - she carries them around the house and lines them up in the play kitchen as her "animal rescue center" (we just got a Dora & Diego book from the library and they're OBSESSED).  The animals are also frequently cooked, served to various stuffed animals, and used as medicine.  A little confused?  Perhaps...

4.  Gave in LONG ago to the frequent hugging and tackling and carrying by the older siblings.  John Paul says that "When Mary Claire grows up, she'll be a world-famous wrestler." The big kids are VERY thankful that SOMEBODY will wrestle with them!

5. Sings a lot, and sings REALLY well.  Like, completely tuneful with a range of more than an octave, which is not common for a kid this young, and not something Elizabeth has accomplished!  Her whiny little voice is so very adorable and I love hearing her sing, since she's got a constant song in her head :)

6. Would be outside all day, every day if we let her.  It's the greatest tragedy of her life that it's getting too cold for me to let her outside barefoot with almost no clothing on.

7.  Getting saucier - she's been mimicking John Paul and Cecilia with their demands and inflections, and hearing a 2-year-old in her high-pitched voice yelling, "GIVE me back my colored pencil!!!" is so hilarious it's hard to correct her for not speaking in a nice voice.  Because SO much talking.

Need more?  Here's their first birthday post, their birth story, and a whole bunch of other general twin links if you want to go clicking down the rabbit hole of the internet!

Linking up (early) with Conversion Diary because, well, I have this written and I kind of love early quick takes posts when other people write them, so here's your Thursday night gift from me!

Just kidding, Kelly's hosting the link up this week! This is what happens when I try to get things done early ;)

Theme Thursday: Crack?

Well hey there!  I'm still here!  Baby's still in utero, although it can't be long now, right?  38.5 weeks...

Anyway, might as well share some pictures that crack me up!

Get it?  Because "Crack" is the Theme Thursday theme.  And considering I kept getting "little girl butt crack" hits on my blog for a while, I thought that maybe an *actual* picture of what first came to mind would be a bad idea...

(It was a blurry picture of Cecilia with her pants falling down, so I'm not entirely sure why anyone actually wanted to click it from their google image search...  But yeah, deleted it.  Creeps.)

The twins each grabbed a whole apple out of the fridge while I was making lunch, pulled the big chairs out, and sat at the big table eating.  Or "eating" in Elizabeth's case...

"Yook!  It's apple mouf!"

Impish, this girl.  Dictionary definition!

Okay, Mary Claire actually goes to TOWN with her apples and eats them as quickly as possible...

"Show me a happy face!"

(Also, show me your apple peel all over the table, since all you do is chew it up and spit it out...)

"Show me an angry face!"

This one cracks me up the most - she makes that face when she doesn't get her way and it's DEVASTATINGLY funny!

And a cute one for good measure.

Can you believe they're almost 2?  Thank goodness they don't know when their *actual* birthday is, because I may very well be in labor and end up missing it...  But we'll celebrate at some point!

Check out more takes on "Crack" at Clan Donaldson!

The Kids These Days {Photo Dump}

It's been forever since I did a general update post, so here's what life is like for each of the kids these days:

John Paul, age 5

- Has gotten REALLY into board games this summer, so he spends a lot of time in the basement setting things up and then getting upset when the twins ruin it all

- Learned to pump on the swing set and is SO happy to be able to go super-high all by himself!

- Adores jokes of all types.  Two of his favorites?

What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole?  Hot Cross Bunnies!

and

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the poopy diaper!  (Yeah, he made that one up himself)

- Loves roughhousing with Andrew, and tries to get his sisters to wrestle with him but they rarely will...  Hopefully his baby brother will fill that need soon!

- Has crazy bedhead no matter what we do... 

- Likes to identify with antagonists in stories because he knows it's annoying :(

- Best frenemies with Cecilia - they hate being separated, but they fight ALL the time

- Has been "composing" a lot on the piano, which mostly means he records himself banging all over it, but has started being more thoughtful about the intervals he combines, and tries to pick out familiar melodies

- Likes dictating stories to me - mostly stream-of-consciousness with a lot of "AND SUDDENLY!" and "ALL OF A SUDDEN!"  Nothing happens gradually in the world of a 5-year-old.

Not a mullet, her hair just looked really weird at that moment...

 Cecilia, age 3.5

- Still changes her outfit at least once a day because she gets bored with what she's wearing

- Loves to pretend to be Mary, St. Therese, and St. Bernadette

- Tells me that when the new baby is born, she will hold him forever and maybe he would fall asleep in her arms!

- Told me her heart was a bone.  Yikes.  So we looked up some anatomy diagrams on my phone and now she wants to know EVERYTHING about her body!

- Still wants to be a mommy, a nun, a princess, and a REAL mermaid when she grows up (but also wants to be a kid forever and grow up in Heaven with Jesus, Aslan, Prince Caspian, and Mr. Tumnus.

- Is SO sensitive when she has to be corrected for bad behavior (which is rare) and usually starts crying as soon as you start using a stern tone of voice with her.

- Frequently thanks God for making her so beautiful and giving her golden hair.  Not the least bit vain, this one...

- Climbs like a monkey.

- Loves roping the twins into whatever crazy game she's come up with lately - mostly it's their most recent obsession with sliding into each other outside.  Everyone has many bruises and scrapes as a result, but they seem to be having a blast so I allow it...  Do you see the progression of their facial expressions in the pictures below?  It's hilarious.

Elizabeth, 22 months

- THE most exuberant child there has ever been.  She loves EVERYTHING and loves to make jokes.

- Favorite joke?  "Cupcake poop!!!" Yup, she made it up herself.

- Runs everywhere, and spends a lot of the day practicing her jumping and spinning.

- Is finally starting to have actual hair, but it's filling in slowly!

- Throws pretty epic tantrums, but gets over them quickly when she has to spend time in her crib.

- Loves getting tucked in with her baby blanket every nap and nighttime

- LOVES CHICKEN!!!

- Lifts up my shirt and blows raspberries on "Baby Brudder" whenever she can

- Generally the more cautious of the twins, she only *just* started going down the slide facing forward instead of on her belly

- VERY picky about what she wears, so she usually gets her choice and Mary Claire gets whatever's left...

- Not even close to being potty trained

 - Adores her Dad above all other people!

Mary Claire, 22 months

- Still eats dirt pretty much every time we go outside

- Gets really excited about "Baby Brudder" every time she sees my belly

- Wants to be picked up ALL the time, and generally throws a fit whenever we refuse

- Usually prefers to eat the opposite of whatever Elizabeth likes, so they eat their meals and then I switch their plates so they can finish each others leftovers

- Seriously regressed in her potty training once we returned from vacation, so we're taking a break

- Talks. So. Much. Complete sentences, thoughtful conversations, tells me what she's pretending to be and what she's pretending to do - it's adorable!

- Sings so well!  Perfectly tuneful and clear, you'd never guess she was as young as she is.

- SUCH a daredevil. Goes down the slide as fast as she can and bumps triumphantly at the bottom every time.

- Keeps trying to shove her way into Cecilia's reading lessons - she's a little smarty, but I don't want to let her try to learn because I know Cecilia will be upset if she learns first!

- Loves to talk about all the Little House characters as if she knows them personally

- Still looks almost EXACTLY like Cecilia when she was that age

So there you have it!  I'm sure my mom enjoyed this post a lot ;)