The Nightmare on Christmas Eve

These are pictures of their first and second Christmas's. They pretty much explain why the following happened:
So the girls have been pretty scared of Santa, but they seemed to be getting better about it, because they learned that Santa brought presents. That all changed at bedtime on Christmas Eve. Cadence started getting quiet and subdued a few minutes before we put them in their crib. I thought it was kinda wierd, but maybe she was just tired, but when I layed her down she quietly said "don't wanna see Santa". I said okay you don't have to. Then we tried to shut their door, and cries of panic and distress rang out loud and clear. We had to reassure them for about 20 minutes that they wouldn't see Santa. We had to call Santa and tell him to leave our presents on the porch, and that he couldn't come in. We had to look out the window to make sure he wasn't there, and finally we had to leave their door open all night. It took them about an hour to finally get to sleep. I guess we have sufficiently traumatized them for life.

Picture tag

The instructions on this tag is to find your sixth picture folder and post your sixth picture with a description of what is happening in the picture

This is a picture of me doing Candace's hair for her bridal's. I was about 4 months pregnant with the girls and surprisingly small. I only remember being huge then enormous. I can't believe my babies are 2 1/2 now. I've been reminiscing lately as I box up their stuff, and it makes me sad that they are growing up so fast.

I wonder what the food in my hand is? I probably can't remember because all I did was eat, but I think that's why I had such healthy babies. It's probably also why I gained 60+ lbs!


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I want to tag everyone in my family to do this also, and anyone else who might have fun with it.

Surgery time

The girls both had their tonsils and adnoids removed this month, and Kaitlin got tubes in her ears.

It was quite the experience. When the girls were given their first sedative they acted so goofy. Kaitlin just laughed at everything and couldn't even sit up. When they took her away in her wagon she just layed down and laughed. She didn't care one bit.

Cadence wanted to push a toy stroller around even though she couldn't walk, and she thought it was funny. She had a little more time in the waiting room than Kaitlin so she got tired and layed in her wagon until it was her time to go back. We got to follow her a little further than we did with Kaitlin, so Cadence went one way down the hallway while Steve and I went the other way. She cried "I want my mamma!" and I had to hold back the tears cause I was so nervous and felt so bad.

Kaitlin had to have her anesthesia reversed because she kept holding her breath and wouldn't breath. She ended up being on oxygen for most of the day. Steve got to be with her when she woke up and he said she just kept crying, but wouldn't breath in.

I got to be with Cadence when she woke up, and she was upset and crying so hard. Once again I had to hold back the tears. I don't like to see my girls upset. It was also hard that they weren't next to each other, & I couldn't see Kaitlin. Steve brought her over once she was calmed down though and they put us next to each other in the second recovery room. Cadence ended up being on oxygen for several hours also. It ended up being a long day, but all is well once again and they can breathe so much better. Their room is so quiet at night without all the snoring and gasping.

Halloween

I got ambitious and made the girls halloween costumes this year. Mainly I did it because I couldn't find any I thought were cute, and we were stuck with the cow and lamb idea. (which the girls thought up all by themselves, I was suprised when they came up with coordinating costumes.) My mom helped me a ton, so thanks mom! I think they turned out really cute, and the girls had fun trick-or-treating; even in the rain. Kaitlin did get mad every time we stopped at a house and they didn't answer the door. She would start yelling "they are home, they are home" when I told her no one was home.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

How did Grandma end up pushing all the kids in the wheel barrow? That's quite the load.

Cadence sitting on a pumpkin

Kaitlin sitting on a pumpkin

It's nice to have pictures with smiles!

The cousins having too much fun!

Our Disney Adventures

The girls and Pluto. Cadence doesn't really like the life size characters, but Kaitlin thought they were great!

Mickey and the Family

Cadence as a bug.

Kaitlin as a bug.

Steve and I got to celebrate our birthdays at Goofy's Kitchen. If I have to turn thirty, I guess doing it in Disneyland isn't a bad way to go.

So Many Princesses, So Little Time

California Adventure

The girls hugging Pooh Bear. Cadence didn't like that too much.

Petting The Goats

Cadence Loved the Dumbo Ride

The Night View from our room. Pretty Cool Huh?

Knotts Berry Farm

This ride wasn't motorized, the girls had to push the bar back and forth to make it go, it was pretty funny. The ride attendant had to push them because they couldn't figure it out.

Disneyland, Here We Come

After weeks of anticipation, it is finally time to go to Disneyland. The girls have been asking for weeks when we are going. They have watched enough Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to learn all the characters names. Kaitlin's favorite is Minnie (she even insists on wearing the diapers with Minnie on them, It causes a bit of a problem some days) Cadence is a big fan of Goofy. I'm sure they'll be afraid them once we get up close though.

Since our last trip there was such a disaster with all the vomiting and diarrhea I have decided to pack the pharmacy. I have every med you might need for anything from a cold to the stomach flu (nightmare!!!) and anything in between. I pack for the worst and hope for the best!

The girls both just got over sinus infections and an ear infection, so hopefully we have gotten our illnesses out of the way. Actually, Cadence is never really over her sinus infections, and will be seeing an ENT soon after we get home to decide if her tonsils and adnoids need to be removed. The poor girl can't breath! She stops breathing at night, and then will gasp for air. It sure makes us nervous, which means we don't sleep well because we want to make sure she is still breathing.

I'll be sure to post our pictures when we get back. We are way too excited!

Potty Time!!!

The past month or so our house has been all about going pee-pee and poopy on the potty! Cadence has been doing awesome, and Kaitlin is going at her own pace as usual. The first couple days I was ready to pull my hair out, and I didn't think I could clean up one more accident. Just when I had decided to give up Cadence started telling me when she had to go, and she has been doing great ever since. She even naps without a diaper! Kaitlin on the other hand is more interested in getting a potty treat with as little effort as possible. She will pee in her diaper, then say she has to go in the potty. She will go about 2 drops in the potty just so she can get her treat.

We used several potty videos and books, but my favorite was a book with potty songs in it called Tinkle, Tinkle Little Tot. Here is a sample of one. (Sing to the tune of Hokey pokey)

You pull your undies down
You take your potty out
You sit your bottom down
And you push a poopy out
You do the tushy pushy
Til the poop is in the pot
That's what it's all about!


I thought that one was hilarious, it was my favorite. The girls even learned some of the songs and would walk around the house singing about pee, poop and potties. The song they sang the most was this. (Sing to tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)

An itsy bitsy poo poo was floating in the bowl
I wiped my bum with paper and flushed it down the hole
I washed my hands with soap then I walked right out the door
And I'll return again when I have to poop some more.

I hope those songs brighten someones day, I have to laugh every time I hear them, and I have heard them a lot!

The other night I was folding the girls laundry, and Kaitlin saw a pair of panties and said "Ooooooh, Panties!" It was said so cute in such a high girly voice, we had to laugh for quite a while. It is now a common phrase at our house. She really wants to wear panties like Cadence, so maybe she is actually ready now. I think we need to have a small potty party for her.

Family Reunion

We had our family reunion at Palisade State park this year. It was fun, but very hot. We planned on sleeping in the tent, but when the wind started blowing the first night we gave up and moved into grandma and grandpa's trailer.

We took the paddle boats out on the pond, played with little frogs, roasted marshmallows (actually only 1), played in the dirt and rocks, painted rocks, ran races and just had fun. Here are some pictures of our adventures.

New Slide Show & music

I was having fun reminiscing while I organized my pictures, so I decided to make another slide show. It needed some updated pictures anyway. My girls love it when I bring up our blog and they get to see pictures of themselves, so it's fun for the whole family.

I also decided to update my music. I used to listed to music constantly, but don't get to very often anymore, so this was fun for me to think about some of my favorite songs, and of course I had to add more of the girls favorites.

Check out my Slide Show!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Cancun

I took a much needed trip to Cancun with my mom, sister, and aunt. Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

Above is a picture of the front of our hotel which was very nice, and we had an awesome view of the ocean from our room. I have seen pictures of water this blue, but you need to see it in person to really appreciate it.

We toured the ruins at Chichen Itza which I thought were really cool , but I am still disappointed that they won't let you climb them anymore.

I am not a very adventrous person, and I'm usually not brave enough to swim in lakes, and I'm afraid of fish touching me and the unknown, so I was very proud of myself for swimming in the cenote with my sister. We made a couple guys we didn't know jump in before us to see how cold it was. It was chilly, but not bad. The vines are hanging down from the top of the well which is about 75-100 feet up. It was really cool.

Here are a few more pictures of the cenote (which is a natural well) you have to walk down a lot of stairs to get to the bottom, and they have several look out stops on the way.

We had a lot of fun playing on the beach, and playing in the swimming pool. I kinda felt like a little kid again. It's been a while since I haven't had little kids to worry about.

We did get caught in a rain storm one day. I have never seen it rain that hard before. We were in the middle of downtown Cancun shopping, and had nowhere to go, but a nice business let us drip on their floors for a while.

I learned that my shoes foam if you walk in them when they are wet.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was raining so hard the street flooded in about 10 minutes.

Once we got home from the rain storm we had fun trying on our souvenirs. I got me and the girls matching dresses. I want to have all of us wear them to church one day, but I'm sure Steve will make fun of us. I don't have pictures of the girls in theirs yet, but this is what they look like. I think I will leave the sombrero at home though.

I have to include this picture of my sister wearing all the souvenirs her husband requested. The Nacho Libre mask was a surprise. I thought it was pretty funny. Since her sombrero was so large she had to wear in to board the plane because it was too big for carry on. Luckily she was able to put it in the overhead compartment once we boarded.