We survived

We survived xmas barely.  We got so many things that mom now is looking at bigger houses(literally).  Stella bonked her head the friday before xmas and got a huge bump which now has changed into two black eyes.  It is hard not to laugh at her when she growls at you with those eyes because she looks so tough.  O has been trying to catch up on sleep but she has still been overly stimulated with all of the new things that she got.  Mom took down the tree yesterday and she didn't know what to do with herself.  She thought she did something wrong when in reality she just needed to have it explained to her that we will put up a tree again next year but for now xmas is over.  Now on to the big 2 for Stella!!

Christmas

This year is so exciting for Christmas.  Olivia really is getting into the spirit which I love because I think it is the best holiday.  We have been rocking out to holiday tunes most days.  Stella is much more aware of who Santa is but still not quite into him as O.
O wakes up everyday since we got our tree and turns the lights on in the living room which are connected to the tree and says "Good Morning Tree"
We went to Target one day and I let them roam the toy isles for about an hour (not the best idea but they were good about it) and that is where Olivia found the Barbie Mermaid and Friends that she has been asking Santa for everyday since that incredible moment.  We immediately went home and wrote our letters to Santa in which Olivia asked for her Barbie and Stella asked for a ball, and Tinker belle (Mommy already ended up caving on the ball since they sell them in a quarter machine at Old Navy and they were then less crabby and I could get more shopping done).
When we went to see Santa that was the best because she was so excited to see him that she went into her baby mode where she was not sure how to talk.  They took their photo and then she finally had her moment that was pushed by mom but she said can I have a barbie mermaid and friends?  She origianlly told me that she was going to tell Santa that he was to bring her Barbie Mermaid but I had to slowly explain to her that we do not tell Santa what to bring we simply ask for it.  Stella got close enough to Santa to give him a high five and that was about all.  She still says that she is getting a tinker belle though.
Then the other day they both got an individualized email video from Santa telling them that they needed to be nice.  I thought O was going to pee her pants she was so excited.
Stella kept saying "Thats me" Thats me" ( This is her new phrase and she especially likes to use it when she gets somewhere and introduces herself,  Its me)
We all can not wait for Santa to come tonight.  I think mommy is just as excited as the girls.
Other fun things we have been doing this holiday season. . .
We have been making cookies, and the girls helped decorate the house.  We have been dancing to holiday tunes.  O took a tumbling class but it did not go well because there were about 25 3 and 4 year olds with one teacher.  We all liked going though and watching.  We made decorations and presents.  We took the girls to the holidazzle for the first time and they loved it.  Stella kept shouting some more, some more.
I took them to holiday on 44th at my work which has become me and the girls new tradition.  They love going to my work so much that after we went on the horse drawn hayride we went into the gym where there was a live band the girls just kicked off all of their winter stuff including their socks and shoes and started dancing.  They saw Santa there too.  They love that event so much O has been talking about it since last year and they already are asking when we can go to my work and ride on the horses again.
Happy Holidays

Seriously What have I done

Last week I had two very exhausted children and O was in her I am tired and ready for bed so I am completely wound up phase of the night when she decided to give me a hug.  She wrapped her arms around my neck nice and tight.
Mommy: "O, that was such a nice hug."
O in her most serious voice: "Mom, I was not trying to hug you I was trying to break your neck!"
Yep this is what she said.  I immediately went into mom mode and had to discuss with her what things we say that are not very nice.  She then reminded me of her age by saying "love you is really nice"  I have no idea where she heard the phrase that she was going to break my neck but it made me very concerned about what she is learning at daycare:(

What my kids do not do well!!!

So I just had to share these cute pics of O that my sister took.  I am often on here bragging about how great my girls are but one thing they will not do is take photos for Megan when she actually wants them done.  At least these ones of O show her true side.  Hope you enjoy. 

Daycare

We have started at a new Daycare this week and are very happy with it.  Stella is not enjoying it as much as O but O is happy anywhere where there are cars.  Literally the first day she got there and said "They have Cars, bye mom see ya later."  She is getting to be very mature with her speech.  The potty training is getting to be another issue since she is new at daycare I am sure that she is simply not used to being in a new place and sometimes has accidents.  They have been exhausted though after quickly changing their schedule to getting up two hours earlier than they are used to. 

Funny things lately:
Stella currently loves to wear the infamous pink butterfly wings but often that is all she wants to wear.  She loves to try sitting on the potty and pushing with all her might.  Getting up and then saying go potty again a few minutes later.  This too she likes to be completely naked for.  She is starting to use her words more and loves to say uh-huh to everything instead of saying yes.  She does however know the word no but does not seem to use it as much as most kids especially those other kids residing in our household use that word. 
O's favorite things lately have been barrettes,  head bands, and having multiple band aids on the smallest ouchies that she has ever had.  She is very strong willed and determined and loves to make people laugh.  The other day I had to yell at her for dragging Betty around by her tail ( I mean literally picking the dog up by the tail and carrying it and dragging it all over the place.)  We were then in the car where she had a car book that had a horn on it.  She continued to beep the horn over and over again until I stated that if she pressed that button again I would have to take the book away.  Being the entertainer that she is she waited a few moments, grinned a sweet grin at me and slowly while she knew I was watching pressed the button again.  I could not help but laugh, this caused her to state, "See I make you happy, mommy"  "I'm funny" 
I can't help but just love them more and more each day especially for the pure fact that they have become my entertainment:)

Oh Stella

Stella has been especially fun lately.  I mean this a little sarcastically but also in seriousness.  She like all of us has her moments but sometimes I truly wonder what is going on in that little head of hers.  The other day Tim and I took the girls for a bike ride and decided that we would try to make it faster by just going a certain distance and then turning around and going home and then the girls could swim.  The girls though needed a quick break out of the trailer and Tim and I needed some water so we let them out to run around.  When it was time to get back into the trailer Stella decided that is not what she wanted to do so she started her horrible screaming fit which you can always hear for miles.  She screamed incessantly the whole way home and even after putting her in her crib with her blanket. 
Oh by the way did I mention that when we put her in the trailer we were SIX MILES  away from home.  Yep six miles people.  She held on that long.

 The worst part was that O was stuck in the trailer with her in the fetal position covering her ears and occasionally shouting "Stop screaming Stella"  I felt horrible for her. 
Later that day when I thought that all of the screaming was out of the child, nope she proved me wrong when I had made shakes for all of us and Stella had some and then decided it was not in the proper cup for her.  She then started screaming again at which point I started cleaning her up and told her she was done and it was time for bed.  I walked over to the sink threw the towel in and turned around only to witness Stella screaming at O and taking O's shake and throwing it on the floor, as if to say "If I can't have a shake then no one can have a shake"  O's simple response which I love was "I was eating that Stella"  Stella got a good spanking and then was put to bed, apparently that was just a tough day for her.
O graciously just shared the rest of Mommy's shake and the two of us enjoyed a little peace and quiet before bed. 
I hope and pray that this screaming phase will stop soon.  FYI it is getting better now that she knows a little more words but it is still as shrill as ever!  

Stella the Crazy repeater

Stella is now the girl that repeats everything.  She is starting to speak more clearly now and is saying more and more full sentences.  She is very polite and says thank you, your welcome after everything that she gets.  She loves to tell everyone good morning especially our new puppy Betty.  She loves to swim now and it is very funny to watch her because she thinks she is a fish and will jump under the water without any problem.  Her favorite thing to do when we have been swimming is to lay on her back with her head in the water as if we could just pass her a cold beverage and everything would be great.  She is still a screamer and wants to have things the way she wants it when she wants it.  She loves her blanket and carries it around everywhere.  Her favorite thing is fruit snacks and having chicken nuggets (big shocker there).  She loves her grandpas and constantly wants to be around them.  She also wants to put all of her clothes on herself and often puts shirts on as pants.  She has gone on the potty twice now but loves to try to push when she gets on there.

Oh my how we have changed Part 2

O
Right now O just turning three last month is a big girl.  She has been in big girl underwear again for about a month and only wearing diapers at night.  She has had very few accidents since I have been home.  She is starting to become a storyteller and often cracks me up.  Last night she told me this story about teeth :"Once when teeth fall out or I am able to take them out they twist all up and turn blue and then the fish are eaten and the teeth bite down and go away and then they come back to twist again and fall out and then you get money!" (Not sure what this was in relation to but Nemo was playing in the background which may have been why a fish fell into that story.)  She loves to play tag and swim in her pool; although yesterday she was in her pool and came out pouting that she was too big for that baby pool and that we needed a new pool (In her defense when she lays on her back with her arms and legs stretched out she touches on both ends).  Probably time for an upgrade.  She is obsessed with anything fish or the ocean.  She loves to go to Underwater World and look at all of the fish, she runs through looking and squealing every time we go there as if we have never been even though we are members and go about once a week.  We are going to start renovating her room to look more like it is for her since we moved upstairs and she of course wants it to be fish but also wants it to be yellow like stella's room.  She is also my little helper lately and I have even started to give her chores to do once in awhile.  She loves to be with mommy all the time and wants to do everything like her.  She started to want to put makeup on and will now even let me put her hair up since it is very long because she knows that I do it.  She is still very tall for her age and has often been asked if she is five or more.  She and I are on a mission to find the perfect pet for our household because as she will tell you we need a new Harley because the old one ran away.  She is getting better at letters and still wants to read all of the time. She forces us all to watch Nemo about twice a week even though she sits there and says the whole movie from heart.  My favorite new thing that she likes to do is to dance, she all of a sudden will just bust a move and then laugh.  She keeps me on my toes.  

Oh my how we have changed

Stella
Stella continues to be a very talkative and also a very loud screaming child.  She loves to scream at any chance she can get and uses it when something is not going her way.  She is very much a person who knows what she wants already in life and expects that she is to get it immediately (reminds me of her birth).  She says very funny things, such as about a month ago she started saying Hime (which of course is short for Hi Mommy)  She also says ball, daddy, fishy, up, down,(she often gets these confused).  She is very funny and you will definitely know when she wants something.  If for instance Tim is tickling her on the floor and he gets up she will walk over to him grab his hand go back to the spot on the floor and lay down so that he can tickle her again.  She does this often with anything that she likes.  She is still a pig and eats everything in site, seriously this is how I know she is my child.  Last week I asked if she would share her Oreo with me and she literally pressed her finger against the cookie getting the absolute smallest crumb and then said ahh to me wiped it on my tongue while proceeding to say mmmm as if I had actually tasted anything.  She loves being outside and it is also one of her favorite words.  We got her a red wagon for her birthday and she will just sit in it for hours even if you are not pulling her.  We are liking being home together and have been doing a lot of fun things.  She loves to go to the Humane Society just so that she can say "Hi kitty" to each and every one of the cats over and over again.  Finally two days ago she decided that she was no longer deathly afraid of the swings anymore and went on them  by saying WHEE.  Previously she would have a panic attack and high levels of anxiety.  She loves Grandma and Grandpa on both sides of the family and usually calls all four of them Grandpa.  She still has a little trouble going down the steps because like most she gets excited at the top step which freaks me out and then I end up turning her around.  She wants to be just like O and anything and everything she has and does Stella wants to do.  She currently is working on her 7th and 8th tooth both fangs on the left side of her mouth, which makes her a little more crabby than normal.  Her other favorite thing right now is babies, she absolutely loves babies both real and fake.  She loves to just watch Regan and Weston and know what they are doing at all times.  She loves to carry her baby around and feed it and make sure that it is hugged a lot(usually followed by throwing it across the room to grab another toy).  She is also my little helper and knows how to get on my sweet side by just stopping what she is doing and coming in for a snuggle.  I can't believe how big she is getting and how much she has been changing every day.

Funny things lately

O has been really funny lately with great quotes that have been cracking everyone up.  Last week she told Tim, "My butt is cracking!"  "Dad, my butt is cracking"  she is crazy she is also too smart with things because I asked her to say gracias which she knows from Dora (don't judge mom for that one).  I asked her to tell me thanks in spanish,  her response "thanks in spanish"  really she is too smart for her own good.  She currently has regressed back to diapers and seems to have no goal to get back out of them.  She continues to not want to go to school next year even though Mommy and daddy know that she needs to.  This is moms motivation for her to get out of diapers but I guess it is not for O.
Stella is talking more everyday.  Yesterday she said choo choo.  The other words that she knows and says are hot, up, momma, dad, o, uh oh, fish, and ball.  She is starting to become obsessed with balls and fish just like her sister.  Last night at class we sang a song about turtles and even though she could not do the hand signs she went over to the table and grabbed all of the turtles off the table and brought them over to the circle making sure that everyone knew that she knew what a turtle was but maybe could not say it.
She also is learning her animal sounds.  Ducks, cows, and puppys, and of course monkeys.
We can't wait until it continues to be nice out for more than a single day at a time to let out energy and go to the park.

New Days

Stella, is now a huge talker and I believe that she will be a very good public speaker some day.  She talks with such inflection.  Her new words as of today.  Up, down (but it just is the sound of down and not the actual word.) Hot, Mama, Dada, Stick.  You know all of the important things in life.  We are also currently working on three new teeth so I have been up most nights with a little girl trying to rub her gums in the middle of the night to make them feel better.  She is running around and loves the outdoors.  She is getting very good at going up and down the steps outside but she can't quite reach the railing inside our house so she is having a little trouble getting down.  Her new favorite activity is throwing away her dirty diapers or anything else she can reach to put into the garbage.  She thinks it is so fun to pop the lid open throw her diaper inside and than clap for herself and say horray!  Thus why she finds anything she possibly can to throw into it.  She also does not like going to daycare which my kids started three weeks ago and they only go on Mondays and Tuesdays however this is the first week that they actually went both days because both of them have had colds all winter that they have not been able to shake.
O has become Mommy's girl.  She wants to help me with everything from carrying in the groceries, pushing the cart at the store, washing dishes or helping with Stella.  It has become a little bit of an issue because she wants very little to do with daddy and I am hardly ever able to leave her alone.  She is still having stomach issues and diarrhea so we are off to the dr.  again later this week to have yet more tests done to try and see why she has watery poop.  It is very fun.  I am pretty sure that someone in our family has been to the dr every week this year.  Not a good way to start out.  Anyways O also does not like going to the daycare ladies house but really her issue is with getting up in the morning.  She is very calm and wants to be picked up though which tells me she is just not used to her yet.  She loves to sing songs and still amazes me everyday.  Our new favorite activity when I come home from work is to change our clothes (I put on comfy clothes and O puts on her tutu) and we play music really loud; whatever is on the radio and dance around the room.  Stella even likes to get into it.  They are getting too big too fast.  I cant believe O is going to be 3.

Some funny stories

Olivia likes to talk to everyone around and is not shy at all.  Anyone that has met her knows this.  She is also still very unaware that anyone is ever watching her.  Hence the following story.  We had to go to the DMV to meet Frank my car salesman and have the title transferred over.  Frank walked in to the completely silent DMV where Olivia very politely stuck out her hand and stood up on her chair and said "Hi Frank nice to meet you I am Olivia"  he said it was nice to meet you too.  I then told her how he lived next to Auntie Angie.  So she asked, "You know Auntie Angie?!"  Then while standing up turned around and started shaking her rump asking Frank very loudly(reminder this is the most quiet place I have ever been with the girls) "Can you see me shake my rump?  Look Frank can you see my rump?  Look there is my rump."  That was most likely my proudest  moment of my daughter second to when she was learning to potty train and just squatted in the lawn next to Miley (the dog) who also squatted to pee.  Anyways we are currently sick with a cold but still in good spirits.  I can just tell that we don't feel well when we really just want to snuggle and watch cartoons or read books. 
Stella, is teaching herself how to go up and down the stairs.  She has had the up part down for some time now but still is not understanding the falling part of going down because she likes to dare mommy by standing at the top of our steps and then jolting just the top part of her body forward.  Someday she will fall down them and then she will not be so daring.  She is also getting her 10th tooth, a molar, which I would believe to be the most painful of teeth to get in.  She is currently living on Tylenol because it also gives her a little fever.  Also still in ridiculous spirits.  She said cheese today when she was getting her picture taken.  I believe she is going to chat people's ears off more than Olivia does.  She is much more shy around new people though and it takes her awhile to warm up in a new environment.  I am hoping that once she starts going to daycare she will get over that a little bit.  She is so sweet and still much more cuddlier than  O ever was.  We are almost starting to run.  The two girls love to play with each other and make each other laugh.  I can't wait until we can go outside and run in the backyard.  Maybe by July when all of the snow melts:)

Horrible Mommy

So it has been way too long since mommy has posted about us.  Stella is now one years old and walking all over the place.  She still is liking to crawl if she needs to get somewhere in a hurry (especially when it involves getting to food).  She is mainly just babbling but she says some things that strangely sound like the word that it should be.  Such as today she pointed to a picture of a bird in a book and said bir.  Mommy thought that that was pretty close.  Stella has been giving mommy and daddy some concerns though.  When Stella was born she had ridiculously purple feet since then they have turned different shades of purple.  Some days they are a light pinky purple and others they are a "I just dipped my feet in purple dye purple"  The doctors say that it is fine and they should get better with time but it is still concerning especially since mommy has been doing too much research on the internet about it.  Also she screams all of the time@!!!  Not the cute Im just testing out my voice scream but the "Im trying to make mommy and daddy literally deaf" scream.  But other than that she is very happy and loves to play with all of her toys that she got for her birthday.  Mommy still needs to get out thank you cards for that. 
Olivia has also been giving mommy and daddy a run for their money.  She had a little difficulty with Stella getting all of the attention from her birthday but thankfully that only lasted a week.  Two weeks ago she had a stomach flu thing that was very fun because she acted completely fine except for that anything she ate for about three days was thrown back up making her very tired.  She continued to throw up milk for almost a week straight so she got to get all sorts of tests done and daddy even had the privilege of collecting a stool sample.  Mommy was really disappointed she missed that one!!! She is getting bigger every day, I swear that she grew an inch this week.  She is becoming quite the little drama queen also which for those of you reading I keep hearing that threes are worse than twos so get ready.  She still loves to play with cars, trucks, trains, and books.  But also now if the opportunity to dance is occurring needs to have her pink tutu on.  She is a funny one.