Spice paints her nails

Spice was coloring on the fridge with a dry erase marker and decided she wanted pretty nails like Momma.

I caught her in the act of coloring her nails blue with the dry erase marker.

So proud of her pretty nails.

Close up of the tongue because it cracks me up.

You can tell she is concentrating by the fact her tongue is stinking out. She gets this from her father he does it when concentrating hard on a subject.

She is concentrating very hard. Wanting them to look pretty.

Such a girly girl already.

She decided she needed to do the other hand.

She is proud of her work. Showing them off while checking them out herself.

Our Little Monkey

Spice has been a climber since before she could walk so why was I surprised to see her climb up the ladder of her bunk bed. She sleeps on the bottom bunk but I have found that she likes to hide things up on the top bunk. Spice gets so excited when her KiKi spends the night now because she sleeps in her room. I don't know how fun this is for Kaitlyn but she is a good sport. I even find KiKi sleeping in the bottom bunk with Spice some mornings.

We have removed all of the baby furniture out of Spices room and have chosen to donate it to a family in need. I was explaining all this to Spice when I had a bright idea of my own. I explained that we where helping out a Mommy who could not buy things for her own little baby and asked if she would like to give the baby her paci. She let me know that she was sad for the baby who had nothing and wanted to help. I made sure to explain exactly what this meant to give her paci's away. I told her this meant no more paci's at night night when she went to bed. She seem to understand which surprised me. I told her to gather up all her paci's and put them in a baggy for the new baby and she did. She even crawled under her bed to get the ones that had fallen over time. I was so proud of her. It really brought a tear to my eye. I was so worried that bedtime for her was going to be a big struggle since she wouldn't have her paci but she did wonderfully. She never even asked for it. She is such a big girl.

Spice reading

Little Miss Spice loves her books. I can tell her to go read her book and she will pretend to read aloud. It really is the cutest thing. She will even read to her little sister at times. We have tried to teach her to enjoy reading but sometimes she takes the enjoyment a little to far. I end up finding pieces of books around the house. She had this really great Peek a Boo Book that she really liked but you could say she loved it a bit to much. I found the parts of the book that the babies would hide behind all over the house. You could say she isn't ready for normal paper pages yet. I try to stay with the cardboard books for now.

Rub a Dub Dub two Girls in a Tub

Sugar has so much fun in the bath with big sister. She gets so excited and splashes the water with her little hands. Spice isn't always into letting her play with all the toys. Spice will gather all the toys on her side and maybe give Sugar one toy. She often tries to take that one toy away and I have to remind her to share. As you can see they are still taking baths in our big bathtub in our room. It is just easier to all get ready at the same time. Some day we will move them into there own bathroom and they will have to settle for a much smaller tub.

Spice primps

Our little Miss Spice loves to crawl up onto my vanity chair and pretend to be getting ready. She will pull my mirror up close to her and try and pull the flat iron threw her hair like she is fixing it. She asks me to turn on the small fan I have on the vanity and lets the wind blow her hair around. She likes to get my powder brushes out and rub them on her face like she is putting on makeup. It is all very cute but at the same time it reminds me that it really won't be long before she is doing all of these things for real.

Sugar Jumps

Sugar is getting older but is still very petite. She is now 11 months and just grew out of her 3 to 6 month cloths. She fits just fine in 6 to 9 month cloths. She is soooo cute. Sugar is sitting up very well on her own and low crawling on her belly. She stands if she is leaning against something and you prop her there. She loves her big sister and laughs at all the funny things she does. Sugar really likes Luci our dog. She gets such a kick out of just watching her.

Sugar has really started to enjoy her jumper that we hang in our bathroom door. We plop her there when we are trying to get ready. She has just started to realize she can jump in it. Spice thinks it is most fun to see how fast she can get sugar spinning in it. Sugar enjoys this to a certain point and then lets us know she is done with spinning.

I clean Momma

Spice starting to help around the house. She will tell me I clean Momma. She asked if she could clean the table while I was cleaning up the Kithcen. I had my back to her while I cleaned the stove and when I turned around this is what I saw. She was so proud of herself. She had cleaned the entire table by herself. Such a big girl she is.

Spice pushing Sugars buttons

Our little Sugar has such a sweet temper but leave it up to little Miss Spice to figure a way to get her all riled up. Spice of course thinks this is funny and can't get enough of it. The joys of being an older sister. Oh how much fun it is going to be when they are both teenagers.

Spice and her phone

Spice is a talker. She loves to chat it up on the phone. She usually pretends to talk to Mayme or one of her Grandparents. Spice has started requesting that I call certain people on my phone so that she can talk to them. The other day she got ahold of my phone while I wasn't looking. I started hearing my phone ringing like I was calling someone. Spice had some how turned the speaker on and had is redialing the last person called. It just happened to be my Mom's work phone so I let her leave Grandma a message. She thought it was the funnest thing. Needless to say I have to pay close attention to where my phone is at all times.

The Power of the M&M.

The other day I realized I needed an incentive for Spice to go potty so I bought some plain M&M's for her as a treat when she goes. I give her 2 when she pee pees and 4 when she pooh poohs. My word she caught on so fast. I gave her some after her first success and it wasn't to much longer that she was on the pot again. I think she just really wanted more candy so she forced some more pee out. You should have seen her eyes when she got 4 pieces when she pooh poohed. Wish us all luck this ought to be a fun weekend. Maybe this will be the beginning of cartoon character panties. Spice is going to look so cute in her big girl panties.

Beautiful Girls

Sisters

The girls enjoyed a day at the park at Lake Grapevine yesterday. Mayme there "Fairy Godmother" took some wonderful pictures of them playing together. We all had such a great time. The lake out there is so pretty and it reminded me of Lake Granbury. Neither of them are gorgeous lakes but it reminded me of the home I grew up in. Spice is becoming such a great Big Sister. She helps me out when she can. She fetches Sugar's pacifier for her when she cries and tries to feed her when I am busy. She makes a mess but it is so cute watching her take care of her Little Sister. Spice even got a towel last night and cleaned Sugar's face off after dinner.

Spice is so full of life and she loves the camera if you can't tell by now. She knows how to work it. She such a great personality. A little bit of a Drama Queen and over reacts to any negative stimuli. Spice will fall face down on the floor legs out straight arms by her side face on the floor and cry. She learned that by doing this while I was pregnant with Sugar I wouldn't be able to pick her up or move her. I have found that by just ignoring her and going about whatever I was doing she gets bored with it and moves on with her life.

(In this photo Spice has a mouth full of one of her favorite snacks goldfish. She thinks she needs to cram in as many as she can fit.)

Sugar has started to sit up all on her own very well. She likes to sit up and play now with her toys. She often gets tired and ends up falling asleep laying on her play mat. I wish she would fall asleep that easy when I put her in bed. She has started to really have fun in her Johny Jumper now that she has more control of her legs. We got down from the attic Spice's walker and Sugar loves it even though she can only go backwards. She gets a kick out of being able to get around.

(Spice is such a happy little Girl with such a great infectious smile)

(I don't think it is possible to smile any bigger than this.)

(Sugar is so pretty with those blue eyes and ivory skin.)

(We asked Spice to hug her sister and this is what happened. She gave her a rear naked choke hold. Spice thought it was very funny. Sugar on the other hand didn't want much to do with it.)

Potty Time

Spice likes to make herself comfortable while she goes potty. She pulls her little step stool over to use as a table while she reads one of her Daddy's car magazines. Our little girl likes her cars and trucks.

I think the only thing holding her back from being full on potty trained is me. We where doing so well then both girls got sick. I even kept it up until Sugar got real bad off and needed more of my attention. I no longer had the ability to keep up with a toddler who wanted to go potty all the time. Now that both girls are better I believe we will jump back on the potty training bandwagon. Big girl panties here we come.

Spice knows how to wash her hands after the potty even if she can't really reach the sink handles yet. She tries very hard and loves washing her hands. I wonder how long that will last.

This potty training thing just has me so flustered. I have managed to handle all the other hurdles of being a Mommy but this one thing hangs over me with such dread. It is like homework. It seems like it is going to be so hard and such a big deal but I know as soon as I do it and get it over with it won't be near as hard as I had made it out to be. At least I hope that is how it will be. Wish me luck because I need it.

Sugar Standing Tall

This is little Miss Sugar taking on Standing. She is trying very hard to get down. We are oh so proud of her.

Sugar has been sick for the past 2 weeks so things have been very hard. It started with the Croupe then became Bronchitis now we are finishing up with a double Ear infection. She really started to scare us when she stopped eating and breastfeeding. She got very dehydrated. As you can see in the video she is doing much better. It is amazing how fast things get better when you have the correct antibiotic. This was only one day of being on the right medicine. We are very happy she is on the road to recovery. Thank you Lord!

American Idol 22 here we come!

This is Spice singing her little heart out for me. She is such a ham. She knows when the camera is on her and is always ready to perform. Her doctor told me at her 2 year checkup that I should hire a talent agent for her. He says since she was born she has been such an entertainer. American Idol 22 her we come. LOL!

Barkety Bark

So little Miss Sugar has the croup. She sounds awful when she coughs. It is like a barking seal. She has been demanding lots of attention this week. On a normal day see needs lots of loving and holding so when she is sick it is crazy. Thank goodness she is sleeping a lot due to the medicine so I have been switching out laundry as fast as I can. So far Spice has not gotten it so we are blessed. I was informed by my Mother that the vaccines are not working and it is going around all the schools and daycare. I think we got it from the YMCA child watch. It has been hard not getting to go to the gym this week since it is contagious and I don't want to pass it on to others. I have been walking the park and yesterday I put on some fun music for the girls and we danced for about 20 minutes or so. It was fun and at least I got some cardio in. Spice thought it was more funny than anything. She would sit on the floor and clap for me saying " Ya Mommy dancing ". It was so funny because she was doing what we do for her while she dances.

In other news Sugar has gotten very good at setting up all on her own. She sits up and plays for a good while. I am very happy to also report that she had a great 9 month appointment. She now weighs 16 pounds which is only rated 15% and 20% in height. That is just comparing her to what is norm for 9 months. It doesn't count the fact that she was 4 weeks early. She is still wearing her 3 to 6 month cloths. The doctor said she will probably be petite. She is much smaller than Spice was at this point. She is so cute and cuddly I love it.

Sneaky little Spice

I decided to be an awesome Mom and Wife last night and made home made Mac'n'Cheese for my family even though I can't eat it due to the Gluten. Spice saw me cutting up all the Velveeta and asked for a bite so I gave her a taste. She of course liked it since she is my daughter and I am a cheese lover myself. I kept going on making dinner and feeding Sugar when I noticed she was eating something else. I asked her what she was eating and she opened her mouth up wide to show me the chewed up Velveeta. It was a big mouth full so I knew she had been sneaking a few pieces by that time. I told her no more. She said OK and then walked back over to the island I told her no again and she told me to feed Sugar. I pretended to go back to feeding Sugar and then snapped my head back around to catch her going for another piece of cheese. I of course said the Mom thing "No, I told you no more". She was so upset and tried to tell me to turn around and feed Sugar some more so that she could sneak another bite I told her she had to move away from the island and not take another bite. She then proceeded to fall flat on the floor with her head on her hands and Cry like she does any time she doesn't get her way. I have to admit it was pretty funny and hard for me to keep a straight face while getting onto her. She really cracks me up.

New Teeth

Sugar cut her first two teeth this weekend. Thank goodness because she was driving me crazy. It had been making her so fussy that even the ladies at the YMCA childcare commented about it. They know she is usually a very passive baby and couldn't figure out why she was being such a fussy baby.

Kitty Kitty

Spice likes to pretend she is a kitty cat ever since we spent Thanksgiving With Shawn's family. They have a cat that she just loved even though he didn't really care much for her. She decides every now and then that she is a Kitty and will Meow and lick everything just like a cat. It is pretty cute but I find it kind of gross when she licks me on the face. The other day I was laughing at her while she was doing the kitty cat and she licked me on my tongue. Blah!

My Biggest Fear came true

I have always had this fear of falling down our stairs while holding one of our babies and last night it came true. I feel like I have been beaten with a bat this morning but Zoe is just fine. I put everything I had onto protecting her so it left me open for the beating. In most cases when I fall I know how to brace myself for the least damage. You all know that I have mastered the art of falling over the years. Some of you have even commented on how graceful of a faller I am. It was around 4 a.m. and since Zoe has been sick she has not been sleeping well so I decided to take her downstairs to sleep on the couch with me so she couldn't disturb everyone else. I have no idea what happened but I some how forgot about the last four steps and fell backwards after trying to take one of the steps on the top of my left foot. I then slammed my back and head on the stairs and continued to slide the remaining way down to the hardwood floor on my well cushioned bottom. I was able to hold onto Zoe the entire time. After it was all done I sat her down on the floor as I tried to gather my aching body together and make sure it was all in it's correct position. Of course she had no idea what had just happened and was upset that I had put her down and was not feeding her. Thank God she is OK. Can't say the same about myself.

The Potty Song

Last night I heard Spice upstairs in her room singing herself to sleep. Her favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle but when she sings it sounds more like Tinkle Tinkle. The same music can also be the ABC song so you could say she has two favorites. She will change the words as needed for the situation. For example the ABC song is sang at all attempts to go potty. That is my doing because I was trying to find a way to distract her so that she would stay on the pot longer and that song popped into my head. Spice thinks she needs to sing it at every sitting now. I wonder when she is 18 if the ABC song will go through her head as she goes to potty.

Sugar is still running fever and feeling icky. Spice has a little of the same thing but not as bad. Poor little Sugar doesn't know what is going on since she has never been sick like this before. You know it is bad for her when she doesn't even want to be held when she gets sleepy. On the other hand it is nice to put her in bed and get stuff done without having her cry about it.

Sugar is getting so good at sitting up all by herself. She will actually sit on her own for a few minutes before she falls over. She is also getting close to crawling. She gets her but up in the air and knees under her but doesn't realize she needs to push her body up with her arms. It will all come together in time.

Oh my Goodness at least I hope.

Spice is at the point where she likes to copy things people say and I am learning a lot about myself. She is very expressive a bit of a Drama Queen. I know she gets that from me so you don't have to say it. Spice has started saying "OH MY GOODNESS" I hope. It kind of trails off at the end so it sounds like she is saying "OH MY GOD" which I would rather her not say. I don't like taking the Lord's name in vane so it isn't something she got from me but if it is the "OH MY GOODNESS" then it could be from me. I am now trying to get her to either not say it at all or pronounce the "NESS" part of it better. I think I am out of luck being that she is only two and it is hard enough to understand the words she normally says. Hmm... Maybe she won't say in Church. Ha, I know I shouldn't hold my breath on that one.

Sugar is sick with a cold and fever. I have learned that you shouldn't feed a sick baby prunes while they are taking medicine. It causes things to be a bit runny if you understand what I mean. Let me tell you she has had a lot of baths these past few days.

Something New

So here I go.
I have never been good at keeping a journal or diary but I really want to leave the Girls something for when they are older to read and laugh about. My spelling is down right pathetic so I worn you all now. My journalism teacher in High School would always laugh while she read my papers. She said I spelled words the way they sounded. It's always nice for people to laugh at your inabilities.

It is my Sister-in law that has inspired me to try this. I get such a kick out of reading hers and it allows me to get to know the boys better. I thought maybe someone in my family would like to have this kind of info about our girls. I know it is hard on those family members that don't get to see them very often. I hope this helps them see how the girls are growing.

I have decided that I am getting old and have already started loosing my memories so I need to right down the good stuff now or they will be forgotten. I realized the other day that I couldn't remember some of the fun things I did in High School that I remember thinking I would never forget. If I only new then that having two babies in two years would drain my brain I would have maybe been better at keeping a diary. Hopefully I have learned my lesson and will start jotting some of the good stuff down for the girls sake.