We are at a pretty lovely stage with Cecilia right now - nearly constant cute, minimal fussing, and a whole lot of new skills developed daily!  I asked her today what her favorite color is and she said, "Puhpow!  PINK!  PINK JUMPER!!!"  Because Grandma, when asked what color jumper Cecilia would prefer, found a lovely color of pink that Cecilia ADORES.  

This is NOT what I had planned for a little girl.  I never thought we'd have a child so obsessed with all things pink and girly, but Cecilia LOVES the color more than anything!

She's ridiculously verbal, I think mainly because John Paul never stops talking...  But her sentence structures are almost more advanced than his!  She loves to recount all the latest experiences she has had, particularly our latest visits to various farms.  "Diwya pet a TOW (cow)!  Mowwy!  Diwya pet Mowwy ear and Mowwy TISS (kiss) you!  Dee a pig at tox farms wiff Mom!  (See a pig at cox farms with mom) Dee a bunny and pet a bunny!  Doh tweet, doh toft... (see a bunny and pet a bunny, so sweet, so soft)"

Seriously, can you imagine the cute?  She NEVER stops talking, and is just so adorable.  She chases John Paul around the house trying to get him to do things for her or find out what he's reading.  "John Paw, TOOD you peez open it?  John Paw, what you WEADIN?  John Paw, may I peez HAVE it?"

She's recently started asking me what certain words spell whenever she sees them - exactly how John Paul started in his pre-reading stages, so we may very well end up with another early reader on our hands...  Or maybe she'll get over it?  I doubt it though, she's SO determined to keep up with her big brother.  John Paul's using the potty?  Cecilia will too!  John Paul's learning how to hold a pencil?  Cecilia will learn BETTER!  John Paul knows how to read?  CECILIA WILL LEARN TOO!!!

Self-esteem

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...