Children of the Corn

Happy Autumn!

Freedom!

This is one of my favorites!

Sweet bear! Look at how those eyes sparkle!

Mommy showing them how to be goofy with corn stalks!

"Sweeping" the floor.

Emma pretending to do some manual labor.

Seriously, you want us to sit still for a posed picture?

Just gimme a minute, Dad.

See, I told you I'd get it.

This looks like a good one.

I don't know. It has a few spotty patches.

Today we went to the Right Choices Corn Maze and pumpkin patch in Southwest City, MO. We'd gone twice with our church Young Adult Group, prior to having the twins. Last year, we passed, since they were so young. This year, we thought they'd have a blast running through the maze, and they did! It was a great way for them to run off some energy. We just let them lead the way. We made a few circles, but we did make it out the actual exit...which is pretty good for us.

It turned out to be a gorgeous day today. It was sunny and in the 60s. I was prepared for frigid weather because yesterday was in the 40s. I'm glad it ended up being mild. It was just the picture of fall beauty, and our drive out to the maze was fantastic. All of the trees are in their prime color right now.

At the Manning Farm, the kids also got to see some farm animals (pigs, goats, chickens, cows) and walk through the pumpkin "patch." They really enjoyed exploring, and we got some great pictures and video. Aaron shot this one walking backwards as the kids were walking through the maze. We've watched it about a thousand times already.

I know that I promised pictures from OU/TX weekend, but we couldn't find our camera last weekend. Dave and Kathy took some pictures, and hopefully...they'll send us some so we can share.

Off to Norman We Go!

Today is "take two" of a trip to Norman that we've been planning since the summer. We usually go for Labor Day, but as you may recall, Alec and Emma ended up with hand, foot and mouth viral infections, and so we stayed home. A very good call. But we decided to try to reschedule for OU/TX weekend. It shouldn't be super out of control in Norman, since the game is in Dallas, and all of the super hard core people will be there.

Our best friends/family aren't going to Dallas...so we are looking forward to hanging out with them. The Lees (Dave and Kathy, Josh, Claire and Nora, and Kyle) are our "Norman family." They were our surrogate family while we were in college, since both Aaron's and my parents lived in Victoria, 8 hours away. I met Josh in Music Appreciation first semester of freshman year...before Aaron had transferred from Victoria College. (He stayed in V-town a semester to get some classes out of the way on the cheap, and also to work 3 jobs to save up more money so that he could afford to move up to Norman with me.) Let's face it...out of state tuition bites! And he's the one that made it out with zero debt... Thanks to a fund that his g'parents had set up and his indomitable work ethic!!! But anyways, back to my story.

So, Joshy and I hit it off rather quickly because he reminded me a lot of Aaron (I know that sounds wierd...but don't read anything into it.) He was a guitar player and loved all the same kind of music. We would converse about Stevie Ray Vaughan and Counting Crows, and I would tell him about how as soon as Aaron transferred up, they were going to be great friends. Aaron did transfer up in January, and Aaron, Charlotte (my roommate, and the other friend we'll be seeing this weekend because she's back at OU for her graduate degree) and I were basically adopted by Josh's family. We love them all dearly, and are looking forward to a really fun weekend. We'll post pics when we get back!

Freedom

Last week, we reached a new milestone. I can't remember which day it was exactly, but both Alec and Emma have known for a while how to escape from their barricaded living room play area. I think they've just humored me by staying inside. But finally, last week, they decided that they were through with the charade. Alec escaped by lifting up the old octagon, which is now a glorified toy box, and just walking right past the ottoman on stilts. Emma dragged the toy lawnmower up to the ottoman and used it as a boost to climb up over the top. The rather funny thing was that Alec, as he was escaping, turned around to look straight at me, as if to say "Mom...it's time. We're done with this." And just like that, they were free.

For a few days, they pretty much had their run of the main living areas. I close and lock the bedroom doors to keep them out of there, since opening doors poses no problem for them. They were fine in the kitchen, for a little while...until they started going after the plants, the dog food/bowls, and all of the stuff in the cabinets. I have cabinet babyproofer thingies that we still haven't installed, because we never let them in the kitchen to play...until last week. But the new setup is that we put a gate in the doorway from the formal dining room to the kitchen. So...Alec and Emma have the whole west side of the house to themselves, and Cookie gets the kitchen and our bedroom. This is a doable situation, for both the kids and the dog and Mom. The only thing that poses a big pain in the rear is the fact that we have an exposed wall with a huge leaky gaping hole in our dining room. The root of the leak still has yet to be found, and we can't fix the wall until we fix the leak...so now the dining table and chairs are barricading the demo site. Ugh. I almost want to put an ad in the paper. "Hefty reward to anyone who can find our leak...after wall remains dry for a full year."

In other news, I recently joined the NW Arkansas Mothers of Multiples Club (NWAMOMC). They hosted a huge consignment sale this weekend. I didn't get to go check it out until Saturday (the last day of the sale) but that was great because everything was 1/2 off. So...I hit a super jackpot of clothes for Alec and Emma for super cheap. I got the most adorable Christmas dress for Emma, and tons of Fall/Winter items for both kids. I was stoked! I know lots of mothers who either cringe at the thought or refuse to buy second hand for their children. Well, I'm not that mother. When you have kids and see how very little they actually wear their clothes because they grow so darn fast, you come to realize that it's really okay. Plus, it's ridiculous to pay full price for something that your kid is only going to wear a few times. And the things that I've bought through consignment or had given to me by friends have always been in super condition. I fully plan on actually being a consignor at the Spring sale that the club hosts. Most of the other moms made several hundred dollars, and the club as a whole made over $8500 on the sale in three days!

18 Months Old

Wow! On Sunday, my "babies" turned 18 months old. I guess they are officially at the toddler stage now. I can't believe that it's been a year and a half since they were born. The time certainly flies.

We had kind of a lazy Saturday. I went to Zumba class in the morning and then got groceries while the kids napped and Daddy played PS3. Then we all had lunch and went to Sam's. We found a counter height table that we love for the breakfast nook...but it looked like they were out...except for the display. We'll have to go back anyways because it won't fit in the Pilot unless we take out the car seats and lay both back seats down. Later that evening we watched OU bring it and then lose it to Miami. Why do they do that to us??? Why??? At least Arkansas beat Texas A & M. That gave me a little bit of consolation.

Sunday, we went to church, of course. It was "a lazy Sunday" because neither Aaron or myself were scheduled for worship team, and we didn't have to teach Kids' Church either. So, we got to take it easy. We were scheduled to have an all church excursion to a corn maze in SW Missouri at 3:30...but the weather was cold and rainy, and so it was cancelled. I think they're going to reschedule for 2 weeks later...but we'll be in Norman visiting friends for OU/TX weekend. OU: you have 2 weeks to work your butts off in practice so you can take your "A game" to Dallas. Don't disappoint me!

We spent the rest of the afternoon just being cozy indoors. I did some housework and Daddy played with the kiddos. We watched the Cowboys play, and again, were disappointed!

But back to the reason for this post. My babies will be TWO in 6 months, and that is unbelievable. They are growing and I can't do anything to stop them. I guess I just have to try to soak in as much babiness as I can, while I can!

10 Stack

Here is a picture of the awesome 10-high stack of blocks that Emma made yesterday. Alec makes them quite often too. In fact, I counted an 11-high a few days ago. It just always seems like the towers get demolished before I can get the camera. Both of the kids are pretty coordinated.

Emma actually escaped "the pen" today. I'm pretty sure she flipped over a box and climbed on top of it to scale the ottoman and get out. She came parading into the kitchen with a big huge smile on her face. Then she wasn't too happy when I put her back in the living room. But I stayed around to have a dance party with them, and all was well. I had honesly only gone into the kitchen for a moment. They're smart kids. I won't be able to keep them contained forever. But as long as I can convince them that they can't get out of the living room...I will. :-)

This afternoon I had to take Emma to the ped. She has had two blister-like sores in her diaper area for about 5 or 6 days now. I've tried zinc oxide and Neosporin. Nothing has cleared it up. It's getting worse and spreading. I was concerned that it might be staph and that's what the doc thinks it is. I'm still trying to decompress from the visit because the appt. was at 2:40pm and the doc didn't enter the exam room until around 3:20-25ish. Usually, Aaron and I always take the kids to the doc together, or one of us will stay home with the well child. One on one is the best possible scenario. But today that wasn't an option. He had a full day of meetings, and tomorrow wasn't looking good either. I wanted to nip this in the bud, so I sucked it up and took them.

We take them in in the stroller when we have to go solo. The trick is to get them to be entertained in the stroller. I can't handle running after two toddlers in the waiting room. Then, when we were waiting in the exam room for what felt like an eternity...I finally let them out to walk around. It was okay...better than screaming to get out of the stroller (and screaming because as soon as they saw the room they thought they were going to get shots). But after 20 mins of trying to block the door, the cabinet doors, the computer, the sharp corners of the bar top, and the electrical chord to the ear light thingy, I thought I was going to go ape. I finally put Alec back in the stroller (the lesser of two screamers), and let Emma stay out because she'd have to be examined anyway.

Finally, the doc came in and spent 2 minutes checking her out. We got an Rx for a strong topical antibiotic and were told that if that didn't work, we'd need to get an oral one. That sounded great, until I got the bill for the stuff at the drug store. $78!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's with insurance covering part of it. All I have to say is, Emma is totally worth it, and staph is not something we mess with around here. We have a healthy fear of that stuff...but dang, it's like I'm rubbing gold on her bottom! So, that was our afternoon. They're napping now, and I need to go start dinner. I'm done venting. :-)