The Twinnies are 3!!!!

Oh Baby Girls... How can you be 3?!?!

I often think about what I'd give to slow down time, what I'd give to hold these bran new sweet babies of mine again.  Yet even as the thought comes into my head I wonder if we'd survive it twice.  I mean I'm sure we would but each stage with these girls has felt like it has pressed us to our limits.  I look back now and I think I could be pregnant again, or nurse them, or teach them to walk, or to eat or whatever, but this part right now the potty training and the tantrums, OH MY GOODNESS THE TANTRUMS, now this, this part is HARD!!!  

Why does it work that way???  Brandon and I know better than most how quickly these little years pass and we really do our very best to laugh at their shenanigans.  We laugh so much more than we did in years past and we don't take any of it quite as seriously as we once did.  We see the value of enjoying all the moments along the way.  Yet, we still find ourselves many days wishing this season would pass quickly and then in the next breath that we could hold on to it a little longer.  Makes us feel a tad bit crazy! 

These 2 have minds of their own.  They constantly make us laugh and exasperate us.  They're awesome sleepers, though they don't always go to bed nicely anymore, and they're usually good car travelers.  However, they're terrible shoppers and there tantrums are unmatched.  When they play together we can't help but stop and watch.  They're so connected... they talk in their little pretend voices and laugh and are beyond hilarious!  It's so sweet!  They have literally a million and one things to say EVERY SINGLE DAY, they love their Grammy and their Sadie and their Uncle Robert more than their Mommy or their Daddy, and no one and I mean NO ONE can make them scream like Hazelnut.

Our days pretty much cycle from laugher to tears again and again and we tease that their day of reckoning is coming as they currently have the house wrapped around their fingers more than we'd like to admit.  Disciplining 2 has been a challenge and sometimes they get their way because 2 simply wear you down so much faster.  When I tell people that they are hard they often respond with "I can imagine they probably just feed on each other" and yes but no that's not really it.  At least right now they feed on each other when they're being silly but with the bad behavior its more like they take turns so you NEVER EVER feel like you get a break.  Luckily they're understanding more and more and in our experience 3 is always the hardest.  So, we'll put in the time and the energy disciplining, they'll hate it, and somewhere close to 4 the good behavior will begin outweighing the bad behavior more and more.  We're praying maybe it'll happen sooner since we're working twice as hard and because we're old and tired but I guess we'll have to wait and see.  :)

Birthday Breakfast Donuts

Aubrey

Maddie

Birthday Smoothies at Dutch Bros

Birthday Shopping and Lunch with Uncle Robert

Birthday Dinner and Gifts

Aubrey is definitely a bigger fan of cupcakes than Maddie

Party Time!!!

Aubrey

Aubrey

Maddie

Maddie

Quiet Books from Grammy

Happy Birthday Girls!

I think we'll be watching this periodically over the next months to remind ourselves of what we know when you're giving us a run for our money as I'm certain you will.  We love you so much!!!

When Evie Get's My Phone

Sometimes as Moms we have to squeeze in time to hang out any way we can so that means running errands together or coffee in the car.  Anyway, so on this particular day as I caught up with a friend in the front seat the babies enjoyed their smoothies and Evie played a game on my phone or so I thought until I saw these on my phone later.  She cracks me up.

Another day...Same silly girl.

They're Hilarious AND They're Not!

NOT SWEET!!!

There are still so many ups and downs with these two EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  On this particular day I believe Maddie did not want to get out of the car.  When I finally got her inside the house I had to lock the door so that she wouldn't run back out.  Thankfully they don't understand how the dead bolt works yet.  So she stood there and cried for 10-15 minutes.  

These girls typically refuse to be distracted or calmed down when they're angry so I just left her alone for awhile and then after a bit I walked back in and set some books and her blanket down a little way from her.  In her own time she started to look at the books and then eventually came into the other room totally recovered from her melt down.  They are definitely our strongest willed children.

Miss Maddie

Unfortunately Maddie calmed down just in time for sister to have a melt down about something she wanted that I said no to.  Likely the Easter candy on the counter.

VERY SWEET!!!!

Then big sister Evie took Maddie out to see the goats while Aubrey colored a picture and played with Legos which was so very sweet.  The moment of calm in the house meant the living room got cleaned up which is always good thing.

COMPLIANT!!!

Next snack time and Blippi while mommy drinks another cup of coffee.

NOT COMPLIANT!!!

Followed by another stubborn melt down about not wanting to eat lunch.  Do you see her hanging onto the couch with her foot?  She is stubbornly refusing to come into the kitchen.

This is how Aubrey felt about going back to school to pick up the kids but hey at least she's not screaming.  I'll take hiding any day.  I'm mean half the time that's what we want to do.  So who can blame her.

NOT WORTH THE BATTLE!!!

Here we are a couple of days later headed to Costco.  I rarely pick a battle over what they wear.  This outfit is particularly great as she's rocking a rash guard, dress, shorts, and tights.

WORTH THE BATTLE???

This was not one of my best decisions.  I saw these beautiful fuchsia hanging baskets as I walked into Costco but underestimated how many groceries I needed to get.  So by the time I got to the register I had more than I could carry and actually let the babies out of the cart momentarily which was a terrible idea.  That's when I had the terror filled moment of realizing I might not actually be able to get us safely back to the car.  So....  Do I abandon the plants?  Do I ask a stranger for help?  If a baby takes off will someone come to my rescue or will everyone just stare at me?  What have I done?  Just then thankfully a helpful Costco employee walked up and showed me I could hang the baskets off the outside of the cart allowing me to then bribe the babies back into the cart with a fruit roll up making only a little bit of a scene and so we survived a near fatal trip to Costco.

HILLARIOUS!!!

Like I said...Anything goes!

NOT HILLARIOUS!!!

I think this was the worst day I've ever had with a toddler.  I just had the twins because Evie was with Grammy and they really wanted to go into the store.  I should have said no!  I always say no!!  We'd just done a grocery pick up and I'd forgotten a few things as usual but I really didn't need to go in.  Yet, I though we could handle it.  It was just a quick trip after all, good practice, and it would make them happy because I always say no.  Well all was well until we got to the register and Aubrey wanted some gum.  I caved and bought her the gum I thought she wanted to avoid a fit (good parenting, I know) but as we exited the store she proceeded to make it abundantly clear that the one I'd purchased was NOT the one she wanted.  Well at that point we couldn't get to the car quick enough.  She was literally screaming and trying to wiggle out of my arms while I tried to maneuver my way through the parking lot.  Once I got her into the car I could not get her buckled.  It was another panic moment of do I call Uncle Robert, do I call Daddy, what do I do?  I felt like it was only a matter of time until CPS showed up to find out why this child was in the car screaming her head off.  Finally, after what felt like FOREVER she finally wore her self out enough that I was able to get her buckled into her car seat.  I thought it was over but as we were pulling out of the parking lot she lost it again and began pulling her own hair.  I reacted because it startled me which caused her to escalate and me to frantically pull off the road as quickly as I could.  I then climbed into the middle seat and held her hands so that she couldn't pull out any more hair.  At this point I was a mess, she was exhausted, and when she finally calmed down and looked at me in tears I said, "This makes mommy soooo sad!"  It was so upsetting to see her this out of control, but thankfully somehow as I showed her the hair and cried something clicked and she finally really calmed down.  We drove home in silence except the occasional recap from Maddie of "Aubrey screamed!  Aubrey naughty!"  In all seriousness I'm not sure I'll ever laugh at this one. :(  It was terrible!

HILLARIOUS AND SWEET!

And then when you literally cannot handle even one more tantrum because your tank is so far past empty they wake up silly as ever, smiling and talking and you think this must be why God made toddlers so dang cute.  Somehow the cute and sweet moments refill your tank just enough to manage one more disaster.

Another day the same story.  It's basically just rinse and repeat here.

In addition to dressing themselves they've also decided they can potty train themselves.  Heaven help me!!!!  I thought maybe I could potty train them quickly before school was out but I underestimated chaos of two yet again.  We were on and off the potty dozens of times, had many accidents, and every time I turned around water was running because they were "washing hands" or they were helping each other on and off the potty.  And so just that quickly I decided we are not quite ready for this adventure and we are getting off this crazy bus IMMEDIATELY!  This is a job that will require significantly more attention than this mommy can muster with the chaos of summer right around the corner.

HILLARIOUS AND NOT...SOMETIMES IT'S BOTH

Seriously sometimes they're just too much!