Tis the Season!

December is SO busy, it's hard for me to find time to blog! But - I do have all my Christmas presents bought, wrapped and under the tree and the Christmas cards are in the mail, so it should be pretty smooth sailing from here!

Last weekend was Matt's birthday, and we took our 2nd overnight trip since the girls have been born. We planned it for months, but just went to Tulsa and stayed at the Hard Rock Resort & Casino. We're not big on gambling, but wanted to pretend we were on a Cruise, where we could park somewhere and stay all night. We had a blast! We ate at McGill's on the 19th floor, which turned out to be very nice, then just laid back, drank wine, and talked. NO SCHEDULES! NO BABIES! NO INTERRUPTIONS! It was GLORIOUS! My mom watched the girls from 5pm on Fri night to noon on Saturday and Matt's parents watched them from noon to 6pm on Sat, when we got home. After checking out of our Hotel, we met our friends, Andrew and Courtney, for lunch. (Andrew's birthday is a few days from Matt's, so we've traditionally always celebrated their birthdays by going out to dinner). After that, we did some Christmas shopping and came home. These 24 hour get-aways are few and far between, but very nice!

Right now, here are a few things they're in to:

Isabelle Rae (a.k.a Izzer, Wizzer, Monkey girl, Izzerrae, Izzy)

Izzy is still getting into everything she's not supposed to, the moment I leave the room. The others do also, but Izzy is always a given. As a matter of fact, the other day, I had a drink sitting on a side table... they could only reach it by climbing up on the couch and reaching for it from there. I checked on them 60 seconds prior to the "incident", but when I came back in, Izzy was standing on the couch, holding a large Diet Dr. Pepper upside down, letting it spill EVERYWHERE! I'm seriuosly gonna need new furniture and carpet when these girls are older. Izzy likes to say the word "no" too. (I'm sure this has nothing to do with how often it is said to her  ;)  She says it so matter of factly too, with a little "mm" on the end. "Nome, Nome".

Abigail Haley (aka lil doe, Abder, Abby, Abder Raheem, Abberdale)

Abigail spends most of her day trying to get in my lap. She has learned how to say "Up Pease", but over time, this has transitioned into "Uppies". If I'm talking on the phone to someone, you'll hear "uppies, uppies" in the background the entire time. It's also difficult to keep a shirt on her lately... every time I look up, she's taken her shirt off and is running around topless! Let's hope this is just a phase! :)  Not sure I mentioned in my last blog, poor lil doe got her fingers smashed (yes, by me) a few weeks ago in a door jam. It was pretty bad, and I loaded her up to take her to the Emergency room (1st time parent), but then decided to swing by Matt's parents' house to get a "2nd opinion". Thank goodness I did, because the fingers were a tiny bit swollen and pink the next day, but she acted as if nothing ever happened. That mommy/daddy freaking out emergency trip would've cost over $400, so thank goodness for grandparents!

Allison Michelle (a.k.a. Chubda, Ally, Allychelle, sweet cheeks, baldy 2/4/8 teeth - lost count of number on that nickname)

Ally loves this shape finder toy that's shaped like a barn. She loves to stick the shapes in the holes and claps for herself every time she gets one in. She will play by herself, but prefers to stick it up on Mommy or Daddy's lap, so she can have an audience and more applause than just her own. Needless to say, we're very tired of holding the barn all the time. She love love loves books! I'm amazed that she can recognize certain pages as if she's reading them. They all love books, but I'd say Ally loves them the most. She loves the page in the book I mentioned in a previous post when she can yell, "When I shoouuuwwwt!" It's hard to describe how cute it is, so I got a little video of it... Here it is:

She also manipulates the situation so you'll read her a book. The other night, I watched her work her way up onto Matt's lap, then she pushed a book into his hand, and then made him open the book in front of her like you would when reading to her. Little turkey.

Our vacuum recently broke, so I had to borrow Cheryl's Rainbow vacuum to clean my house (LOVED it by the way, but can't afford it).... anyway... I was cleaning the living room with it, vacuuming the curtains, blinds etc and the babies were driving me nuts as I was trying to clean. Here's a good example of their personalities though:  Izzy is smart and ornery - she noticed how I turned the canister on, and kept turning it off everytime I would be right in the middle of cleaning. Abby, aka lil doe, was afraid of the loud noise and kept about a 15 foot distance from the canister at all times. Ally, on the other hand, attempted to ride the vacuum more times than I can count! This, in a nutshell, is their personalities.

The girls are loving to talk on the phone and my grandma even bought them 3 little play cell phones to pretend with. She did this the day after Izzy talked to her on the phone and said, "Hi Mamaw". They keep walking around holding the phones up to their ears, saying "hewow?" (That's hello, by the way). I also gave them the phones to play with at dinner the other day, and as they were tapping away at the keys, I had this vision of 3 teenagers texting at the table years from now... made me giggle and freak at the same time!

Last week, we took the girls to see the Christmas lights at Rhema in Broken Arrow. It was a cold night and they were bundled up so tight, it was hard to tell if they enjoyed it. I was mad that I forgot my camera, because they sure looked cute in their little coats and hats, with blankets on top of that!

Here are some of the pics we had taken for the Christmas cards this year....

I liked this one because Abby is so interested in what's in Izzy's stocking

The official Christmas Card:

Last night, we were on our way to Choir practice at the church, when a friend told us Santa was in the fellowship hall for the Children's Christmas party. She told us we could cut to the front of the line and get the girls' pics taken with "Santa". I knew this would happen, but it's a memory of their first sitting on Santa's lap!

Ally screaming and trying to get away....

Izzy in a panic at this strange man holding her

we

Abigail looking at me like "how could you?!' and screaming her head off!

Because of our overnight trip, I typed up a schedule for the grandparents to follow. Here's a current example of our schedule/routine:

Schedule for 12/10 - 12/11

6:00 Dinner
• chicken pot pie
• pears
• pudding
• ice water

8:00 Sippies with milk

8:40 Night Night Routine
Brush teeth - Toothbrushes/paste are in cabinet in a coffee cup. Abigail – purple brush, Izzy –fat green brush, Ally – skinny green brush.
• All girls diapers changed and in jammies and zip-up sleepers, both fans should be on.
• Abigail needs Srog, Izzy needs Wigga Wigga, Ally needs bunny and a paci
• Monitors in bedroom should be on – Abby/Izzy’s room is on Master bedroom window sill, Ally’s is on floor near bathroom.
• They may cry for a little while before going to sleep. If Abby or Ally cry in the middle of the night, it’s usually best to go in, make sure they’re ok and comfort them. If Izzy cries, you’re usually best to give it a few minutes and see if she calms down on her own. If you go in there and leave, she will be mad and will cry for half an hour or more.
• If coughing at night, can give Benadryl – ¾ tsp (use syringe)

8:30/9:00 Breakfast
• Sippies with milk
• 3 pancakes (cut up into pieces), 1 banana (cut-up), Cheerios if still hungry (in Foldgers container)
• Close off living room gates and let babies play

10:30 Juice (1/4 juice, ¾ water)

12:00 Lunch
• grilled cheese
• 2 containers mand. Oranges
• green beans
• ice water
• ½ a Flintstone Vitamin

1:15 – 3:45/4:00 Nap
• All girls diapers changed and in zip-up sleepers, both fans should be on.
• Abigail needs Srog, Izzy needs Wigga Wigga, Ally needs bunny and a paci
• They may cry for a little while before going to sleep. If Ally cries in the middle of the nap, it’s usually best to go in, make sure she’s ok and comfort her. If Izzy or Abby cry at nap, you’re usually best to not go in there!
• If coughing, can give Benadryl – ¾ tsp (use syringe)

4:00 Snack & Juice
• Snack cups with goldfish & juice (1/4 juice, ¾ water)

6:00 Dinner
• Mac & chz
• Chicken & rice
• Fruit/pudding/cereal bars (depending on how full)

Medicine:
• ¾ tsp Benadryl every 6 hours, if needed
• Infant Tylenol – 2 droppers filled to .8, every 4 hours, if needed
Misc:
• Make sure front door is locked – they can reach door knob now.

• I usually set the heat at 71-72 degrees at night. It gets really warm in Izzy & Abby’s room, but really cool in Ally’s room. When you go to bed at night, open Ally’s door, so she gets some better heat in her room. It gets hot in the Master bedroom since the heater is so close, so we usually shut the vents.