Dear Angel,

I love you, lil Roo!

You are a copycat.  You learn by copying and you copy everything!  You LOVE being funny--anything for a giggle. You LOVE LOVE LOVE teddy bears.  You are like a little pixie faerie.  Everything you do is cute.  You show Seraph how to do her therapy. You used to just watch Bear and Finch and then play with their toys after they left the room.  Now you jump right in.  You love your binky.  You like to share, but you don't let the other kids steal toys from you.  You are the world's best snuggle bunny.  You climb into my bed and just snuggle and snuggle in the mornings.  I love it!

 You can fall asleep anywhere.  You like your pink blanket or your teddybear blanket when you fall asleep. You stand on the edge of the couch and play a game that Beautiful Rabbit started that you love: "I will bring you back to life", you sing.  Then, you jump off the couch landing on your tummy.  "Oh, I am dead....", you sing like an opera...on and on and on.  Then your head pops up and you yell, "elmo and barney". Then everyone laughs.
You also like a bit about chickens and birds flying that I can't quite make out.
You know your alphabet.  You've known how to walk for a whole year.  You pick up song lyrics quickly.  YOu love Funny Bear. You like to play princesses with Delightful Finch. You communicate vocally as well as the older kids....unless you're in need of a nap.  Then you can only say, "binky"!!
You love to sit on my lap, on dad's lap,......on anyone's lap. You LOVE taking baths and showers...which is good because it makes your hair spring into rag curls.
You dance by spinning in circles.  You don't stop spinning when you're dizzy...you just slow down a bit so you don't fall over.  You have an infectious giggle.

 You give the best hugs ever! You like copying Seraph just as much as you like copying the older kids.  Sometimes you drop your words entirely so you can say "AAAaaaaaaaaa" back and forth with Seraph.  When I sing a song with a name in it, you ask me to sing it about you....and then about Seraph, and then about mommy--you make sure every gets a turn to be in the song.  You like playing games on the wii.  When a new friend is playing the Wii for the first time, you stand in front of them and demonstrate what they need to do to play the game.
You're a fast learner. you like playing with (rubber) yucky ducky.
You love puppies and love to pretend that you're a puppy. You are endlessly cute....and your whole family adores you :)

Happy birthday!

Dear Seraph,

I love you!

You are strong and brave and love your family soooo much.  You kick your feet against the floor/bed for fun--even when you're asleep.  I don't know your favorite color yet.  You love your new mobility.  You taught yourself how to go up and down stairs.  At first that was scary, but now I'm just proud of you, glad I don't have to find safety gates for the stairs, and happy that we're finishing off the playroom in the basement so you can explore more places.

You have the hugest smile I've ever seen.  You light up my whole world with that smile....and ensure that any nurses will hold you and play with you and take extra care with you.  I can't stand it when you're away.  I love that you proved the doctors wrong and I knew you would.

You love music -- swaying back and forth/giggling/kicking your feet if it's a good song.  You like dolls and hard plastic you can chew on like toys and baby spoons.  

You grab my hands and face and push/pull them where you want them to be.  You tell grandpa (without words) when you want him to pick you up.  You love to be punched.  It's true!  We punch your belly or face or toes (ever so lightly and playfully) and you think it's the funniest thing ever!

You don't let me put a binky in your mouth...but you'll let Angel put a binky in your mouth.

You stand up as tall as you can to grab the computer mouse and push keys on the keyboard because that's the thing to do!

You give kisses to your reflection.  You practice giving mommy hugs around my neck about 20 at a time.  You plug your ears with 2 fingers when your brother/sisters are being too loud.  You cry when I yell at the other kids.

You love it when we leave a cushion off the couch so you can climb up onto the couch like the big kids. You are NOT easily distracted from your goals.  You don't trust people in white lab coats. You are NOT easy to trick.  You only allow things to go in your mouth if YOU decide it's a good idea at the time.

You hate things that are sweet. You still use your feet to grab things and push things away from you.  When you want to play alone, you go in the den or up the stairs.  When you want to be with the family, you insert yourself in the middle of whatever game looks the funnest. You pull off your oxygen whenever it gets in your way. Your hair is naturally curly and you've learned how to blow your own nose!

You make new friends easily--charming them with your smile. You weigh about 22lbs.

Happy Birthday :)

Happy Birthday, Angel & Seraph!!

We did it!  The girls are two years old.  I've never been so happy for a birthday that  wasn't mine!  I love you, sweeties - Happy Birthday....and many more to come :)

Essentials - oral dispenser locking cap

Seraph has meds 3-8 times per day.  Sometimes I'm not home when it's time for meds.  Packing for a doctor's appointment, I always draw out any meds that she might need while we're gone and take them with me.  Previously, this was a pain in the be-hind!  Then I found this treasure:

I tested the seal with water.  Pushing with a fair amount of pressure did NOT pop off the cap.  Pulling created a vacuum inside that pulled the syringe back to where I'd started when I let go.

I used to fill the syringes and then tape them to a hard strip of plastic to keep them safe.  This is soooo much nicer.  I love it when people invent stuff like this.  Thanks, NeoMed :)

I get them through my favorite pharmacy--not the bland one you find at any grocery store but the nice pharmacy that does compounding.  If your compounding pharmacy doesn't carry them, you might slip the pharmacist this web addy:  http://www.neomedinc.com/distributors.php?dist=13.  

Aside from the cap, they are very sturdy.  They fit well into the connections I use--the bottle and the tubes.

Happy First Day of Summer (x2)

The first day of Summer is Seraph's special day that she does NOT have to share with her twin, Angel.  We celebrated with a pizza party and balloons!  We also had whipped cream to play with :)  Seraph didn't like drawing in the whipped cream like I'd hoped.  She'd play with her balloon and accidentally get whipped cream on her fingers.  Then she'd stop and try to clean the nasty/sweet white cream off her fingers.  Beautiful Rabbit snuck a taste of whipped cream into Seraph's mouth.  Seraph acted like she'd been poisoned!  She couldn't believe that her loving sister would do such a thing to her.

We tied the balloons around the kids' ankles.  Seraph learned to pull the string down until the balloon was low enough to play with.  She also held onto the balloon's string to help her balance as she walked. She's getting more confident with walking each day.

My lil walker..

New Slip&Slide for Summer--well worth it!

Mom: What does Delightful Finch say?
Finch:  I wanna binky!!
Mom: What does Beautiful Rabbit say?
Finch:  I wanna give Finch a binky!!!

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Strong Bear's kindergarten doctor appointment

Mom: go hop in the shower so you're all clean.  We need to take you to see the doctor today.
Bear: why?
Mom: to make sure your body is all healthy for kindergarten
Bear: but it is healthy already!
Mom: I know, but the school wants the doctor to know. You'll stand on the scale to check your weight--just like on the wii.  He'll look in your ears...
Bear: but why??
Mom: to make sure your ears are working right...and that there's nothing in them that shouldn't be
Bear: but my ears work already
Mom:.......
Bear: Mom, is he going to give me the flu???? [shot]
Mom: um....I'm not sure....[/hums innocently]
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• learned the meaning of "Still's Murmmer"--a musical heart beat that's NOT considered a defect/problem
• picked up fresh Epi pens for his peanut allergy
• 90th % height
• 75th% weight
• no tears for the shots because boys are strong and brave
• he didn't like the blood pressure cup...but figured if Seraph could do it, he could too. (I didn't tell him that she hates it too....hates it so much that she squirms like crazy and the nurses have to start over again and again until they give up....)
• lunch w/ just me and the boy at a burger place with a playland all to ourselves :)
• shakes and chocolate cakes 

Outside the doctor's office there was a car in the middle of the road.  Dead battery.  As they jumped it, a mom drove up.  "Sorry. Can you let me get by, my boy is in anaphylactic shock and isn't breathing."  They pushed the car out of the way.

I hurried to the pharmacy to get our Epi pens. Kindergarten, here we come!

We did it!

Saturday night I wrote out a crazy detailed list for each person of everything that had to be done at what time so we could get everyone fed, showered, and dressed for church today.  So this morning when Sexy Haqon woke me up with kisses at 8:25am (yes, that task was on his list), I hid under my covers until Heather's words flashed thru my brain:

When I think too much, I psych myself out. The first time I took the kids grocery shopping by myself, I sat in the parking lot, terrified to go into the store. I thought too much about all of the things that could go wrong or how difficult it would be. I learned that I have to not think about it and just do it.

So, I threw off the blankets and just did it.  It went crazy well.  Everyone followed the plan.  Everyone helped.  Everyone was ready to go....a bit early.

Church was amazing.  We stay home during RSV season...and last year Sexy and I traded off going and staying home with Seraph even after RSV season was over.  So, we hadn't been to church together in.......I have no idea...a super long time.

And it was Seraph's first time to go to church--our first time going as a whole family since the twins were born.  Many of our church friends who've been praying for Seraph finally got to meet her today :)

Seraph's first trip to church

Seraph was super friendly and social.  She explored.  She visited the people around us - instantly charming them with her huge smile.  She danced (rocked back and forth) for each of the songs...

Delightful Finch cheered "yay" and clapped after the opening hymn.  (ummm...not so reverent but super cute!)

When it was time for sunday school, both of the twins went into their own nursery class!  Sexy Haqon and I got to go to sunday school alone.  together.  alone.  No kids on my lap.  for an HOUR!!!  

Five minutes into the second class, the teacher brought Seraph to me.  She'd started crying when they'd put away the toys for singing time.  But, she was happy to play with her toys on the floor next to my chair.  So, I got to listen and participate in real-life adult conversations about God and testimonies.

Somehow I only had to change one (wet) diaper while we were there...

Strong Bear went to class with his favorite neighbor-friend.  He only wants to play with boys.  He's sick of all these sisters and wants to play boy games with boys and make boy jokes and laugh and grunt and be strong and do boy stuff.  He's super excited to meet boys in his kindergarten class and loved being in his friend's class at church.  

Beautiful Rabbit helped me take the younger kids to their classes....so she was a little late for her class.  So, when she walked in, her friends got excited that she was there.  She got to sit with a friend she really likes playing with....

Angel came home singing little churchy tunes.  She's less anxious around strangers than she was last month.

I was so scared that it'd be a torturous experience that left everyone hopelessly grumpy.  I'm soo, sooo glad that we went.  Everyone had a good time.  We're gonna do it again next week...and we've invited gma and gpa to come along ;)

The whole Family at Church

Going Crazy at the same time....

Our cousins came to visit - yay :)

Angel & Seraph with Professor

But wait....there should be one more......

Pirate, Angel, Seraph, & Professor (age 2)

Ok, so my girls won't be age 2 for a couple of weeks.  Still, how often do you see twins with twin cousins that are only 2 months apart??  They still play next to each other more than with each other...but it's exciting to see them all together.  Think of the messes they could make if only we lived a bit closer together!!  Maybe someday....

Pirate & Professor

Here's their older sis, too:

Strong Bear & Butterfly

My kids could play with Butterfly every day and still want to have her over more.  She's a fun girl!

My Days are Numbered...

I just saw Seraph climb up the first 2 stairs (to the first landing) and down again without falling or getting too scared to move.  Noooooooooooo!!!!!!