Well, I knew it was only a matter of time...  We had our first scissors casualty this week:

John Paul, coming into the babies' room while I nurse Mary Claire:  Mom, my hair was getting tangled, so I cut it...

Me:  *shocked gasp*  Where did you cut your hair?

JP, touching the top of his head:  Oh, just here...

 

I ran to the table where he had been quietly cutting out dotted line shapes from a catalog and found this small amount of hair:

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, I began cleaning up the paper and found this rather large pile:

 

And carefully inspected his hair to see that the damage was still fairly minimal, since he has a massive mop of hair and the rest of his hair mostly hides the shorn spots:

 

He still had to do this, though:

 

...

Cecilia, passionately hugging Mary Claire:  *sigh* I'm in wuv!

...

Cecilia, eating her generic Rice Krispies:  Mom, dey're not cwack packin'!
Me:  What?
Cecilia:  Are dey cwap snackin'?
Me:  Do you mean snap crackle popping?
Cecilia:  Yeah!  Are dey snack packin'?

When the babies are asleep, their birthday presents are fair game...

...

Cecilia:  Mom, could I pweez have a snack?
Me:  Cecilia, you just had snack AND lunch.  Aren't you very full?
Cecilia:  No, I'm just a couple full!  Could I pweez have a apple?

...

Cecilia:  What's gwavy, mom?

I know, I'm a failure as a parent....

Me:  It's a sauce that you put on your food, like meat or potatoes.
Cecilia:  And marshmawwows!!!

Gross.  Just gross.

...

Don't you dress up as a knight and a ballerina and then sit down and read quietly?

John Paul and Cecilia start banging on Mary Claire's bedroom door while she's sleeping and I'm nursing Elizabeth to sleep...  Both babies wake up sobbing, and I run out to get the big kids to stop being so very very crazy:

Me:  John Paul, WHY were you doing that???
JP:  I wanted to fight you.
Me: ...You wanted to fight me?
JP:  With my sword.

Yup.  Worth waking the babies for.  And obviously SO urgent.

...

Discovering some new artwork on the slats of the babies' cribs...

Me:  John Paul, do you know who drew this?
JP:  Oh, it was me.  And it was not easy!
Me, stifling laughter:  Why did you draw on the crib?
JP:  I was trying to draw a picture of myself, but then I just drew some lines instead.

...

Cecilia, blowing her nose while on the toilet:  Wook, sometimes Belle bwows her nose just wike DIS!
Me:  ...
Cecilia, swishing the toilet paper in the toilet water:  And sometimes Belle dooes DIS while she's on da potty!

I think I can guarantee with 100% accuracy that Belle doesn't do that...   

..

I walk into Cecilia's room to see Mary Claire hug-tackling her on the bed...

Me:  Aww, Cecilia, she loves you so much!
Cecilia, turning to me with her finger up her nose:  I'm just pickin' a weally big booger.

Usually my reaction when being hugged, too...

...

And now, some quotes from me (from What Would I Say?)

"Now THAT is weird! and he used to hug the pope"

"Isn't the only goat cheese, hummus, and celery.  No, she licks you."

"Next year I'm wondering what the heck do you think it's over."

"Also, Pedro Martinez, Beyoncé, and just do NOT IN a BOOK!"

"Nursing in bed.  Sincerely, JUST GO TO MASS on Craigslist or freecycle"

"Curses, Elizabeth just got home from our job to write."

"My hatred is far too cute!"

"Who's the ham to keep the United Arab Emirates?"

"Yeah, I still had to permeate the children."

Not sure how I plan to permeate them...

 Now it's your turn!  There are so many hilarious kids on the internet and lots of bloggers post quotes from theirs - link up an old post, a new post, whatever!  I'm going to make this a regular Tuesday feature so that we can compile all the hilarity in one place.  Link back to this post if you'd like, and happy reading!

A very brief WIWS

Taking a quick break from preparing mounds upon mounds of food for the twins' first birthday party today...

 

Why am I making mounds of food?  We're only having family over for the party (including godparents - can I call them family?  I mean, we're a spiritual family...) but I decided we're having a pasta party and making double batches of baked penne, bacon mac 'n cheese, pasta salad, meatballs, chicken...  Think anyone would like carbs with their carbs?  Well, I'm making so much because this way we get to eat leftovers all week :P

 

Anyway, here's what we wore today:

 

 

Dress (a repeat):  Shabby Apple (last year's Christmas present)

Scarf:  Same old Forever 21 favorite

Boots & boot socks:  Same old DSW (I think?) favorite

 

Aaaand someone had to take off his socks in the middle of pictures, of course.

 

Mass went surprisingly well today - I think the kids were sufficiently terrible last week that they made up for it by being decent this week.  Hurrah!  Very little embarrassment!

 

And now to return to the cooking frenzy, but not before linking up with Fine Linen & Purple - check out more outfits!

7 LONG Takes: 1 year with twins!

Ah, November 14...  Well technically I'm posting this on the 15th, but I'm writing it on the 14th...

 

Two babies, one co-pay!

 

Anyway, November 14, 2012 is when the twins were born, which means we just celebrated one year of insanity!  We spent 8 months with 4-under-4 (2.5 months with 3-under-2 and holding steady with 3-under-3), and have lived to tell the tale of the first year with twins!

 

I made brownies to celebrate their birthday today, and we sang to each of them separately.  Elizabeth thought being sung to was the most amazing and wonderful thing ever.  I kept thinking her smile couldn't get bigger and her eyes couldn't crinkle more, but it did and they did through the whole song!  She cared for the brownie not even a little bit.

 

Mary Claire cared not even a little bit about being sung to.  She wolfed the brownie down. 

 

Have I mentioned that they're totally different?

 

In honor of their first birthday, here are 7 things about each twin:

 

Mary Claire

 

 

1.  "Baby B" - Mary Claire spent her entire time in utero as "Baby B," which means she sat wedged on top of Elizabeth for weeks and weeks.  She still doesn't particularly care about respecting her sister's personal space.

 

2.  She's a talker!  She likes to mimic anything we say, and uses far more inflection than any of our other children have.  My favorites are how she calls any toy person "Baby" with a VERY excited voice, and how she says "Bah-Bye!" while waving to us.  And the "Bye" is in such an amazingly adorable squeaky voice - too cute!

 

3.  She loooooves fruit - every morning for breakfast she eats every bit of fruit on her high chair tray and then throws her cheerios on the floor so that she and Elizabeth can snack on them as soon as we clean them off.  Elizabeth, on the other hand, eats her cheerios first and mostly doesn't care about the fruit.

 

4.  She took her first steps first, but walks FAR less than Elizabeth.

 

5.  She's a ridiculous climber.  I keep moving things so that she stops climbing on the furniture, but now she's figured out how to climb in the bookshelf in the playroom without using anything to help her up.  Thankfully she can also get down by herself, and the room's carpeted so it's not a huge deal.

 

6.  Her eyes are actually still really blue!  It takes a while for our kids' eyes to change color, but I think hers might actually stay?

 

7.  She absolutely loves to be read to, especially if you point to every single thing on the page and name it.  She'll try to echo whatever you say and point at it too.

 

Elizabeth Anna

1.  Elizabeth has walking down!  She turns, she crouches and stands back up, she walks as far as she wants before she chooses to get down on the floor and crawl because it just happens to be faster!

2.  She loves to dance.  If I say the word "dance" she immediately starts bouncing up and down, panting and grinning while waving her little hands.  She has certain songs that she ALWAYS dances to and it's pretty adorable watching her bounce!  John Paul did that too when he was a baby, but not Cecilia.

3.  She's very interested in toys that involve building - legos, stacking cups, things like that.  Mary Claire's happy with stuffed animals, dolls, and books, but Elizabeth always wants to be shaking things, putting balls in cups, trying to stack legos, etc.

4.  She's so very joyful!  Except when she's incredibly angry...  Still not a lot of calm behavior from this one - everything is either incredible or terrible.

5.  She loves her dad.  She spends most nights snuggled up sleeping with him - when she wakes up (which is frequently) she wants him to cuddle her back to sleep more than she wants to nurse! 

This is a testament to what an awesome dad Andrew is, because some nights this means I actually get to SLEEP because Mary Claire generally sleeps through the night.

6.  She is our baldest (and blondest) baby so far!  John Paul was leaning towards being a redhead at this age.  Cecilia was very clearly strawberry blonde.  Mary Claire's got the exact same hair color as the older two (and me and Andrew).  But Elizabeth, when the light hits her hair so that you can actually tell she has some, is definitely a bit towheaded!  Now if only we could convince her hair to grow...

7.  She thinks the song "Open and Shut Them" is perhaps the most hilarious thing there has ever been.  As soon as I start singing it she starts grabbing my fingers and sticking them in her mouth and pulling them out again, laughing and laughing!

And now, 7 pictures of the twins!  I made them birthday crowns (loosely following this tutorial) and *tried* to get good pictures, but they're both getting over colds so they're super snotty and red-nosed...  This is the best I could do!

--1--

"Get this crown off of me!"

--2--

Dazed and Confused

--3--

"Quick, make a break for it while she's trying to keep our brother from using the camera!"

--4--

"Does she realize how stupid we look in these things?"

--5--

"If I slide slowly out of the chair, maybe she won't notice?"

  --6--

 

Hours old and already giving us attitude (Elizabeth)

--7--

 

Just born!  Elizabeth on top, Mary Claire on bottom

Aaaand with that very long 3-for-1 quick takes post, I bid you adieu!  Go check out more at Jen's :) 

Five Favorites: Board Books for Christmas

Last week I talked about some of my favorite Christmas & Advent toys for kids, so let's talk books this week!

Here are 5 of my favorite Christmas board books - some are beautiful, some have a lovely flow to the words, and some are just going to occupy your kids during that extra-long, extra-crowded Mass!

ONE


Who is Coming to Our House?

You can get this in paperback too - beautiful wood-cut illustrations, a really calming rhythm to the words, and an anticipatory feel that make this a really great Advent book.  And what kid doesn't love a book all about animals?

TWO


A Peek-a-boo Christmas!

Sturdy flaps, cute kid-friendly pictures, and it's maybe the most adorable thing ever hearing the kids read, "Peek-a-boo Jesus, I wuv you!"

THREE


The Little Drummer Boy

Another that's available in paperback, this is a classic - gorgeous illustrations, a good way to help kids focus on what *they* can do to serve rather than what they're getting for Christmas! 

I seriously HATE the song "The Little Drummer Boy" but I'm okay with it in the context of this book because I love the illustrations.

FOUR


Lift-the-Flap Nativity

From my favorite bible stories series!  Tons of flaps to keep kids occupied during Mass and Christmas themed, obviously!

FIVE


Christmas in the Manger

Okay, creepy long-fingered Jesus at the end isn't my favorite, but the kids have always been enchanted by this book!  Again, animals, lilting rhymes, and a shiny star - it doesn't take much to please little kids!

Kendra's got some great books for older kids - what are some of your favorites once you get beyond the board book phase?

Linking up with Hallie and trying not to think about that awesome conference that there's no way I'll be able to attend!

Ups and Downs

 

 Cecilia had her first Mass meltdown in QUITE a while yesterday.  I can't even really remember what it was about...  She thought John Paul had bitten her hair?  Anyway, I had to take her out while she screeeeeeeamed and yelled during the prayers of the faithful and boy, is it a good thing I put my foot down and didn't let John Paul seat us in the first row because that second row seat made all the difference...

Not?

I tried very hard to stage-whisper to John Paul that it was time to leave and that he needed to gather up all his things, but he chose to stare blankly at me and remain in the pew.  I chose to trust the three ushers sitting on the other end of the pew to make sure he didn't make a run for the altar.  But I apparently didn't need to worry about anything - when Cecilia finally calmed down, we returned to the pew to see him praying quietly from the missalette.  So that was our little Sunday miracle. 

And the fact that he didn't freak out when he didn't get to receive communion, although he DID decide to lead us aaaaaaaall the way around the back of the church to get back to our 2nd row pew, which led to many an awkward look at the people waiting in line for communion as he cut in front of them and Cecilia and I tried to follow...

I didn't get a decent picture of yesterday's outfit, hence the lack of WIWS.  But I was feeling pretty darned proud of myself for making TWO things for the kids - A box castle and homemade play dough.  And THEN I made homemade apple cider (but didn't let them drink any, because there wasn't that much and holy cow was it delicious!).

 

The problem was, I ran out of packing tape so it was a little... lacking in stability.  Andrew recycled it today, sadly.  But we have ANOTHER car seat that just came in the mail so you better believe I'm making another castle because, hello, awesome?

Baby Jaguar even loved it. 

Despite the apparent threats of decapitation (yes, he's a tiger.  She knows.  She tells me he's a silly kind of jaguar with stripes instead of spots, because that way it's more like Go Diego, Go!)...

While Cecilia imagined various scenarios in which I was the witch eating her or not eating her or telling her to leave my house alone or chasing her around the house, John Paul kept busy by writing math problems on the box. 

So there are the kids in a nutshell for you - imagination vs. mathemagician.

 

And speaking of math problems...  Do you like John Paul's homemade trail mix?  Raisins, craisins, and apricots.  Because we like to pretend we eat healthy by allowing free access to all forms of sugar as long as they come from fruit...

No, actually speaking of math problems...  That's what John Paul likes to do with play dough.  Make math problems and then solve them.  A close second place is making lumps of the dough and sticking toothpicks all over them to make aliens or sea urchins.

So I labeled it "homeschooling" and pretended that it actually counts even though our homeschooling consists entirely of me buying John Paul workbooks and him teaching himself everything there is to know.

I know, you're impressed.