Terrible!

I'm a terrible blogger. Not that anyone reads this...but obviously I can see why. Any family or friends looking to see some cute pics of the girls or get the latest ridiculous stories, will come here and be sorely disappointed to see I haven't updated in over a YEAR.

I will definitely try to post some updated pics soon. As far as what is going on now... a LOT. Things change so quickly. The girls change so quickly, our family life changes so quickly.

Most currently - Brianna is our little spitfire. She is challenging, cute, funny, independent, stubborn and amazing.
Kaitlyn is a girly girl. She is cute, dramatic, high pitched, silly...and she is going into Kindergarten this fall!!

Andy is Lead Developer now at his job. He has lost 100 lbs and completed a triathalon.
I am in Grad School for Health Information Management. I have lost 70 lbs and both Andy and I are at the end of training for a 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks.

That is as basic as I can make it. I will try to do better sometime soon, but it's hard when you are training for a 1/2 marathon, have a 3 year old and 5 year old, work 50 hours a week, and are in grad school. LOL. When I do get free time, I tend to want to use it for reading or sleep or playing with the kids or drinking wine. Ha!

Latest and greatest

I'm sorry I haven't updated lately. It has been a crazy few months. Sicknesses floating around, me working 60-70 hour weeks...there has literally been no extra time. Well, there is, but I prefer to spend it sleeping or playing with the girls :-)

As I write, I am home with a sick Kaitlyn. She had a stomach bug yesterday, and is still recovering today. I took it as a perfect opportunity for some mommy/Kaitlyn time, and we celebrated Easter a little early:


Brianna is at daycare. Hopefully being better for them than she is for us at home! She is such a cute, but stubborn little spitfire! Oh man. Kaitlyn is our girly girl, and Brianna is our tough girl. Don't try to tell her what to do, oh no! Not that Kaitlyn doesn't get an attitude, because she sure does, but Brianna's is on a different level. Good thing for us all....she is the cutest little stinker ever (along with her sister of course). And she has the cutest laugh, and she is finally starting to talk with us and say sentences and be able to ask for what she wants. She has been able to for a long time, I believe, she is just stubborn and preferred to keep her skills to herself for awhile.

Ah, I love those girls!!!

I leave you with a pic from one of our adventures last weekend...nail painting. And what fun is it to have both feet the same color? None, so each girl got one foot full of blue toenails and one foot full of pink toenails. Mommy did her toenails too...but opted for pink on both sides.

My big girl!!

Brianna just pooped in the potty for the first time!!!! (Her little "princess potty"...but good enough!

I love you, mommy

Kaitlyn said to me last night "I love you mommy. Even when you're naughty, I still love you".

Aaaah, unconditional love. I'm so thankful that I can be naughty and my daughter will still love me :-)

What is Brianna saying?

While she still doesn't talk around other people a whole lot, she is exploding in words around us at home. Some of her favorites:
Mommy, help!
More, please
Again! Mommy, AGAIN!!!!
Dora (or Elmo or Barney), Please
Press play!!
Puzzle
Nice Kitty

But of course at this point there is way more than what I can possibly remember. She talked later than Kaitlyn but it is SO nice that she is finally conversing with us, we can understand more and more what she wants with less guessing, and I just LOVE it!!

She has also taken to singing (her own version of) Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It goes something like this:
Winkle, winkle staaah
How I wun er ow oo aaaaah
Up 'bove wo hiiiii
Like dine da sky
Winkle, winkle staaaah
How I wun er ow oo aaaaah

Kaitlyn's first report card and QA with Brianna

Part 1: The report card!
Today we received a "report card" from Kaitlyn's preschool class. I am so proud of her, and of course as with any 3 (almost 4) year old, there are things to work on.

Things she can do:
Write her own name (sometimes she does it backwards though lol)
Follows the dots (they do dots to trace letters)
Counts to 30
Recognizes many numbers by sight
Sings and says her ABC's
Recognizes ALL letters on sight
Knows all the basic shapes
Uses (kiddie) scissors correctly (and is apparently the best in her class)
Knows all her colors

and they did not mention it, I don't know if they know, but she can write words too, like cat and hat, or really any simple word you can help her sound out. As I type this I am also finding that she can write numbers on her own as well.

Things she needs to work on:
Staying still and being patient in lines (she gets "ants in her pants")
Picking up when asked
And general listening skills at times...which let's face it...she is almost 4 years old. Show me a 4 year old who always listens all the time. Pfsshhhhhh, yah right!

At the end they say that Kaitlyn is a smart, inquisitive kid who makes them laugh. I'm so proud of her :-)

Part 2: Brianna's QA!

Favorite animal? Moooo. Duck.
Favorite color? Aaaaaaaah...purple
Favorite movie? Dora!
Favorite food? Aaaaahh....poooof. Calliou! (Calliou was on tv at the time)
What is your sister's name? "Awklin"
Favorite book? Aaaaah Dah!
What do you want to eat? EAT EAT! Ahside? (pointed outside)
What does Santa say? MOOOO!
No, what does Santa say? Ho, Ho, Hoooooo"
What do you want for Christmas? Aaaah Baaaabaaaa
A what? A ball.

QA from Kaitlyn coming soon :-)

Sidewalk sitter/QA

Today I carried a screaming Kaitlyn out of daycare. Upon making it outside, Brianna took that opportunity to sit down on the sidewalk, look at me, and smile. Kaitlyn of course, is still screaming and crying. "Brianna...let's go home honey!" The response I get? "NO". "Oh B, we have to get home so I can make you girls supper"...."NO"....."Do you want an apple when we get home?"...."NO"....Uuuugh. Luckily I was parked very close, about as close as I could have been. So I quick put Kaitlyn in the van and then went back and picked Brianna up. She was still sitting there, all smug like "Hah, whatchya gonna do now, mommy?!" Ah man. The fun they bring to my life :-)

And now a short QA with Kaitlyn:

What is your favorite color: Pink
What is your favorite animal: I don't know...mmmm...a seagull (this isn't true, usually she says something like tiger or kitty or elephant).
What is your favorite thing to eat: Mmmmm... I like...mmm, ummm, french fries! French fries. I like to eat french fries at McDonald's. That's my favorite food.
What's your favorite drink: Juice. Blueberry juice.
What is your favorite toy? Umm, milk. (me - milk's not a toy) ahahahahaa! I like to spill. (me - yah but what toy do you like to play with) aaaah, I like to drink. I like to driiiink...Brianna's milk.

And obviously, I started losing her on that last question....so on that note, I ended our QA session.