something fun and then something scary

The kids were going stir crazy being cooped up in the apartment, so yesterday we ventured outside. I took the apartment complex map with me and bundled up the kids. We managed to take some wrong turns and found a fountain they can run around in. We were outside for an hour. We were all cold and hungry by the time we made it back in.

Here the kids relatively bundled up. It was not that cold, but being outside for an hour made us feel the chill. Thing 1 is wearing a red jacket and Thing 2 is wearing pink.

Here is the fountain we found. I just wished the apartment complex had more grass area, but I think that's too much to ask for right in Dallas where everything is built up.

Curious George is asking to go outside again today, but there is a freeze advisory until Sunday. Today the windchill is in the single digits and tomorrow it may even be colder. It's not much for an issue for me, having experienced Chicagoland weather, but we don't really have warm clothes!

Now for the scary part. Daddy cold me about 1pm yesterday to tell me that he was just in an accident. He was riding with 3 other people in someone's car (F150) when someone ran a red light and collided with them. He said he was alright just with stiff neck and back. He was in a hurry to get back to work, so we left it at that. I was shaken up and worried by the phone call, but not too bad.

At about 3pm, I decided to call Daddy back to see how he was feeling and to get more details. Then, the question popped in my head "were you wearing your seatbelt?". And he said "No." Right then and there, I was instantly angry and started sobbing. What stupidity?! He said he didn't mean to NOT wear it, but it slipped his mind. Haven't we made it a point with Curious George that we NEVER move until EVERYONE has had their seatbelt on.

Daddy was admittedly shaken up and beating himself up over it. We both know how lucky he was and we thank God for it. The car he was in was just coming from a stop (2nd vehicle from the light), so they were probably barely accelerating when they were hit by a smaller car. The smaller car slid, almost spinning, but it hit a utility poll. According to Daddy, the car was totaled, but the driver was not hurt. The F150 he was in was undrivable so they all had to hitch a ride with other people back to work. Medics came to their work to check everyone out, so the news spread about the accident and everyone checked on the all of them involved in the accident. Thank God.

While I was thanking God that Daddy was alright, I was not happy about the fact that he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Words that came out of my mouth were, "had you been any faster, you would have been found several feet outside of the truck" and "you would have had broken bones from bracing yourself!"

I love this man, and the thought of loosing him is very scary. But less scary than the fact that 3 of his children would not have remembered him had something fatal happened to him, and 1 would never have known him at all. Forget the fact that I will be left alone with small children and in a state where we know no one.

Jesus, I thank you for all the blessings we've received and continue to receive. Thank you for keeping Daddy safe yesterday.

Daddy apologized and promised never to forget to use his seatbelt.

at the playground

It is pretty amazing that not 5 days prior, we had 8 inches of snow and now it's 75 degrees! We headed to to park with packed PBJs and allowed the kids to go wiled. This is the twins' first playground experience.

Thing 1 (gray pants) inspects something interesting on the ground, while Curious George and Thing 2 (red pants) follow Daddy.

Curious George shows his "big boy" talents by going up and down the slide by himself. He also found some friends he enjoyed playing with. He kept calling the kid, "boy". "Hey, boy, look at me I can do this!" Daddy had to explain that he must ask the kid's name and call him by his name.

Thing 2 goes under the bridge.

Then the kids enjoyed the swing. And then off for a little hike in the jogging path.

a family that is silly together has fun together!

He looks like he's imparting some great life lesson to his son. Perhaps he's explaining the wisdom in "turn-taking". Whatever it is, I feel sorry for my boy.

Oi. Really, I'm speechless.


Curious George takes advantage of our front yard's design flaw and has a bit fun going downhill. Notice that the whole time he is making sure I get the whole thing on camera. That's my silly boy!



Thing 1 wanted to get to the Jeep but doesn't want to walk on the dead grass, or should I say dead weeds?!



Together, these 2 can get in a whole lot of trouble.

I'm a slacker with an excuse...

I am hoping not to uproot our big family, but it is better to be prepared. The company Daddy works for is not doing well and is in the process of laying off more than one half the work force. It's scary. We seem to be in this pattern of staying in one place for only 4 years. But this time, with three little ones, it won't be so easy. But I am hoping we don't have to do that. But to be prepared, it's time to get rid of some junk we manage to haul from house to house. Only now, we have tons of toys to add to it!

We've entered into a new dimension of parenting with the twins. With the little man the time between 15 months to a little bit after 2 years old were the most difficult and this is true with the girls as well. They are at an age where they want to do what they want to do, and any attempt to stop them ends up in a full body tantrum. With two, it's much more difficult.

The other day, when we dropped Big Bro off to school was especially frustrating. I no longer use the stroller now (I don't know why I make it difficult for myself). Instead, I use harnesses. So I put Thing 1 and Thing 2's harness on. Big Bro wanted to hold one, and he's in a mood where he wasn't going to take no for an answer. So rather than lose it, I let him. So he either pulls or pull Thing 1, making her lose her balance. Finally, I was able to get him to give up. But then there was the Exploration room right when we enter the building. It's a huge play area that everyone passes through to get to the rooms. Why it has to be right there in the middle near the doorways, I don't know. The girls went in two different directions. So there I was being pulled in the middle...and then Thing 1 came falling down, hitting her face on the floor. It wasn't serious, but it was the icing on a cake of a very difficult morning.

Today I decided that I can't handle the stress, so I used the stroller. We all need a little break once in a while.

the little people in the little people village

The girls and I tagged along with Daddy to his doctor's appointment (Daddy wanted to show off the girls) and then we spent the morning at the mall. Big Bro is at school at this time.

Thing 1 is wearing the cream dress with brown leggings, and Thing 2 is wearing the purple dress with cream leggings.

It's so rare that both Daddy and I are both on the picture!

Mommy time!

Thing 2 and Thing 1 man the General Store. I do hope they didn't eat all their earnings.

Thing 2 and Thing 1 found the General Store's window a fun place to play peekaboo.

Lunch time after a hard day's work.

The girls with the Jolly Green Giant, I mean, Daddy.

Then we head off to the water fountain. No, there wasn't music playing, and we weren't actually dancing. This is just how it is when you try to get 2 little girls heading in the same direction.

Then Thing 1 became fascinated with the the picture of flowers on the "Keep of the grass" sign. And because she was enthralled by it, Thing 2 just had to join her and see what the fuss was about.

Thing 2 inspecting something interesting on the ground.

Finally, we all made it to the fountain.

walking shoes

We found out at the shoe store that Thing 1 is size 5 Wide and Thing 2 is size 5 Regular. So I dug out Big Brother's box of baby shoes to see if there is anything the girls can use. I found a brown pair of sandals that I bought for dressy occasions. Unfortunately, by the time the dressy occasion came, the shoe was already too small. But as luck would have it, it's size 5 Wide! Yay!

Here is Thing 1 looking like a sassy big girl on Big Brother's baby shoe.



And here she is walking in them. The clanking sound is just hilarious. And her stance... very funny. By the way, I was not choking her at the end of the video.



Then there is a matter of this red Wiggles which has become a source of some loud noise. As was obvious from the previous videos, everyone wants it. Daddy and I agreed that we may have to buy one more. I think we can get away with just one more since of the girls is content just pushing whoever is on it. We'll see.



Thing 2 and Big Brother "playing" together. Thing 1 has been whisked away to bed at this point to keep the peace.

Thing 2's first steps by herself!

Thing 1 and I were just rolling around on the floor today when out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Thing 2 taking a few wobbly steps toward us. I couldn't contain my excitement, so I bolted up and started cheering her own. Then I grabbed the camera and made her do it again. :-)

After the few steps, I think she realized that she wasn't going to get hurt if she had to sit back down if she couldn't gain her balance. So now she's walking about 3 feet at a time.



Notice the frown she gave me after she fell. As if it was my fault!

Thing 1 can walk and Big Bro has huge feet

Thing 1's confidence in her ability to walk doubles everyday and finally this morning, I caught it on video.



After driving Big Bro to school, we headed to my orthopaedic appointment. We arrived 15 minutes early so I freed the girls from the stroller and let them roam around. Luckily for me, they didn't roam too far. They provided great entertainment for the people there.

Unfortunately or fortunately (it depends on which angle I view it), I will have to undergo arthroscopic surgery for both my knees. The 12 weeks of physical therapy provided only minimal improvement. The doctor can do the surgery right away, but it's not that easy with 3 little ones. I opted for about January to coordinate help from the hubby's parents. The surgery will only be for 1 knee to see if it improves. If it does, then the other knee will be done as well. If it were up to me, I'd go for both knees but it doesn't make sense if there is a possibility that the surgery won't help.

My two princess were wearing dresses today. The weather was on the cool side (finally!).

Thing 1

Thing 2

Big Bro's ginormous feet: Size 10 shoe at 3 1/2 years old
(about 7 1/2 inches)

I decided to buy Big Bro a pair of new shoes last week and found out that his feet is even bigger now. I picked up a size 9 toddler, but he was quick to tell me that it was too small when I attempted to put it on. So I looked for the foot size measuring thingamabob. I couldn't find it so I had to ask a lady who works there. She measured his feet and said he was a size 10. Ten?! In some stores, size 10 is already a youth size! Oh my. For the whole day, Big Bro kept saying, "I'm a 10! The lady said I'm a 10!"

the big scary great outdoors

At 9am, I decided to take the kids out for a walk in the neighborhood. I though an hour would do everyone good, since it's such a nice cool day today. But just getting ready took 15 minutes (changing the girls' diapers, sippy cups, getting the stroller and loading them into the stroller). Then just when we reached the end of the driveway, the little man decided he wanted to ride his trike. So we had to trek back and get the trike and I had to run around looking for his helmet.

Finally, we were off. I had to repeat, "Stay close to the grass, not the middle of the street!" a billion times before it finally sunk in. I'm so glad we live in a double cul-de-sac street! We didn't get far, but we did stay out there for nearly an hour.

The girls took a nap the minute we got back, and the little man snacked and played by himself in his room. I got about 30 minutes of quiet time to myself!



Looking back to make sure we're all still behind him.



A little grouchy for having to stop for pictures.

(Thing 1 in the back, Thing 2 towards the foreground.)

some twin fun and mischief

The girls are becoming quite mean to each other. They hit and bite each other. When the little man was this age, I was right there to do some reverse time-out. I either put him down if I was carrying him, or turn my back on him when he hits. We've been doing the same thing with the girls, but it's not been as effective because they reinforce each other's bad behavior. Sometimes the other think it funny being hit and giggles, so the other keeps doing it. Oi! Just this weekend, Thing 1 bit Thing 2 on the arm. Hard. There was no mistaking that cry of pain. I didn't know how she was hurt at first, but then a the evidence appeared a minute later. Her arm was swollen for a day or two.

On the other hand, Thing 1 is becoming more and more confident with herself and takes more and more steps. She walked 3 feet just yesterday. She no longer does a head dive after taking two steps. Instead, she steadies herself and walks some more. Thing 2 now experiments with standing up by herself in the middle of the room, just like Thing 1 did a few weeks ago.

Today, fun consisted of riding on Big Brother's Wiggles push car and one pushing the other.

4 steps to freedom

Little Miss Thing 1 just took 4 steps toward me before she went top heavy. Yay! She's been taking 3 steps the last couple of days and now she took 4.

practice walking

Once in a while, the twins do get out of the play yard. :-) And today, Thing 2 uses her time to practice taking steps. I tried to let Thing 1 do the same, but she was too afraid of falling. Notice how her hair stick out all over the place?

This is before Thing 2's bath (taken this morning after dropping off big brother at school).



And this is what happens after the bath, after all the dirt and grime gets washed away. (Her car seat now faces forward!)



By the way, this is a partial evil eye. The camera was too slow to catch the whole thing.