The Answer!

Well, after some good guesses (and some completely ridiculous guesses), here is the answer. Below is the original, unedited clip where I have Maddie repeating after me. My favorite part about this clip is when I ask her to say it for the third time, she whispers it. If you have speakers, turn them up because it is so cute.

And the winner is Abby! Good guess Abby! For your prize, I will relieve you of a couch and loveseat when you purchase your new ones! :)

You may blame me for my daughter pronouncing dog with two syllables, and I will accept that blame. When she says "duck" and "dog" they sounded too much alike, so I started to enunciated it more, which she interpreted as two syllables. I dont feel bad about it since the southern dialect she is surrounded by when she leaves the house is known for taking multi-syllabic words and making them only one syllable. I would rather over compensate than have her sound like she has marbles in her mouth

What Did You Say?

I think everyone has been in the position where they are babysitting a toddler, and they keep repeating something, and you have no earthly idea what they are saying. Yet, they keep saying it; over, and over, and over again. Then, in walks the mom and you say, "She kept saying (fill in the word), but I had no idea what she was saying." The mom jumps right in and replies, "Oh, she is saying (fill in the actual word in English)."

I was always in amazement at those Mom's. How did she know that? And, how in the world did she think I would know what that babble meant? Why did she act surprised that someone who had spoken English for their entire life could not make out what her child had just said?

Well, here I am with two toddlers of my own. I can now add interpreter to my list of Mommy-Abilities. I have learned not to assume that people know what my children are saying, but I sure do feel good about it when they get it right! Even though I am pretty sure that no one will be able to translate what Maddie is saying, I know exactly what she is saying. I think if the word was used in context you could probably figure it out. To be non-biased (and, ok, a little difficult), I have her saying the word out of context.

So, a challenge I present before you. What is little Miss Maddie Jane saying? (My husband and mother can not participate....either can Ruthie)

She says it so confidently, you feel as if you should know what she is saying, right?

Let the guessing begin!

(On a more disgusting side note: that entire meal she is eating during this video was vomited up in the middle of the night. Special shout out to Mark for helping with the clean-up mission in the dark, and not vomiting himself.)

Ladies of Luxury

What lady, after a bath, doesnt like to put on some nice smelling lotion to have baby soft skin? Well, that probably isnt the reason that the girls love to put on lotion, but they sure do love to put on lotion! After their bath, once the music is turned on, they run right to the dresser to get their lotion. You can see how exciting of an event this is for them in the clip below. They would put lotion on all night if we would let them. Greasiness, of course, would completely defeat the purpose of the bath, so we let them put it on in moderation.

Dancing Queens

If there is one thing these ladies inherited from their Momma, it is that they LOVE to dance! Every night, after their baths, they run to the radio in their room and want it turned on. They bounce and shake, and it is absolutely adorable. They also LOVE to groove to their Wiggles DVD's. What is funny is that they now are starting to imitate the dances that they see on the video.

In light of their love of dance, GrMaam sent them a gift. KB Toys is closing and having storewide clearances. I think my mother basically bought out the entire store at 90% off. They will be getting old KB Toys gifts until they graduate from high school. One of her finds were these adorable tutu's. I, of course, had to take pictures of them in the tutu's. Ruthie kept pulling the tutu over her face, so hers was constantly bunched up. She also refused to stand still long enough for me to get a full body shot of her in the outfit.

Maddie pranced around in hers like a proper lady.

I caught the ladies in action tonight, and thought I would share. Maddie was more in the dancing mood tonight, but Ruthie is normally right there with her. Can you tell that I have discovered my video editor on my computer? You'll have to excuse the blaring Wiggles DVD. Welcome to my life with Captain Feathersword....

Pterodactyl

Let me start off by saying a couple of things.

#1. Since I am absolutely horrible at writing down things in my baby books, I decided a while back that I would also use this blog as a form of a digital baby book. I still write in their baby books, but this will be a nice thing to look back on when the girls are older and hate me. So, even though some of the posts may not mean a whole lot to you as a reader, they are my precious memories that sometimes you get to be the victims of sharing with me.

#2. I absolutely LOVE having twins. Knowing what I know now, if asked to do it again, I would do it in a minute. It was 2 years ago next month that I was laying on an ultrasound table, bawling my eyes out in complete fear about having 2 babies. If I had only known then what an amazing experience it was going to be, no tears would have been shed!

Because of those two things listed above, I would say that most of my posts tend to lean towards the fun side of having twins. The cute things that the two of them do, how we do things with two of them, etc. I'm sure it is cute when one baby does it, but for some reason it just seems even more cute when 2 of them do it. This is going to be my reality check post. This is a post about the reality of having twins. So begins the story of the girls and the Pterodactyl (and yes, I had to look up how to spell that).
I have no idea what a Pterodactyl actually sounds like, since they have been extinct for quite a while. Maybe it was stuck in my head from one of the Jurassic Park movies I saw as a kid, but I for some reason have in my head a noise that I believe a Pterodactyl would make if I were to see one today. It is not a pleasant sound. You would not make this the ringtone on your phone of a friend.

To put it mildly, the girls are going through a screaming phase. I call their scream "The Pterodactyl" because it is that horrible. Those who have spent an extended period of time with my children know exactly what I am talking about, and are nodding their heads in agreement. Unlike having one child screaming at this ear-piercing interval; I have two. It is so bad that one of their helpers in their Sunday school class has to turn her hearing aid down every Sunday because it hurts so badly when they start (I'm not exaggerating that, unfortunately). Yes, these are my children.

I feel the need to remember these moments for some reason. Not only remember them, but subject you to this sound also. I collected a short video montage of my sweet little girls in action. Although Ruthie seems to be screaming quite a bit, Maddie is also a culprit. I may just not have caught it on video. They are equally as horrible. Please excuse Ruthie's hair in parts of this video. It is absolutely out of control. You'll also notice the slight hitting problem we are having. Awwwww.......twins.

Without further ado...The Pterodactyl.

Music to My Ears

It is a little known fact, to those who have met me after my Harding years, that I was a music major. Whenever I mention that I have a degree in flute performance, the looks that follow are usually one of great surprise. This is of course unless I am talking to my mother. That look is usually one of annoyance and anger over the fact that they paid all that money for my education and I dont use it. None the less; I have a music degree. On the other hand, people are not surprised to hear that Mark has a music degree. It is how we met. I'm sure the pieces of the puzzle are all coming together for you now.

Mark and I were completely different music majors. I had all good grades and could ace a test with my eyes closed (Unless we were in theory class. I stunk at theory). Mark struggled with pulling out the grades. But, to this day, if you ask Mark a music question, he knows the answer and I have no idea. I remembered just for the test and the degree. Mark retained the information FOREVER.

Another little known fact is that in order to obtain a music degree from prestigious Harding University, you must pass a piano proficiency. I think Mark passed his like his sophomore year or something like that. I on the other hand, took all 4 years to pass mine. I stunk it up in piano, even more than in theory (although I always got A's in my piano lessons, I still stunk). I was still trying to pass that stupid piano proficiency test the day before I graduated. I actually pleaded with the panel (all who were music teachers I had for years) just to pass me for this proficiency so that I could get my degree. I in return would promise to NEVER admit that I can play piano or that I had any form of piano training at Harding in order to not deceive people into thinking these are the type of piano players that Harding produces. I think they got a kick out of my request and also had pity on me, so they passed me. I have held up to my end of the bargain by openly admitting I suck at piano, and not holding Harding University liable for that.

Now, Mark on the other hand is very good at piano. He doesnt even need music to play something he hears. I hate him for that. It is a hatred that began when I first met him and continues to this day.

For Christmas, Aunt Vicky got the girls a little piano that she found in a consignment shop in Alabama.

I'm a little concerned that maybe they inherited Mommy's piano playing skills....

I'm Seeing a Trend

If nothing else, Ruthie is consistent. The child has loved bouncing since she was a baby. We took this video when she was 5 months old. It was before any eye surgeries, so please excuse the wandering eye she has. Also, I had no idea Mark was videotaping. I thought he was trying to take a picture. I still have no idea what I am saying at the end of this clip. Any interpretations would be greatly appreciated.

We have fed this obsession by buying her toys, like this bounce and spin zebra.

Almost a year later and she still is entertained by the simple act of bouncing. I'm seeing a trampoline in our future....

I left them alone for 5 minutes....

and this was what I found!

Ode to the SnackTrap

I would now like to express my love of the SnackTrap in the form of a poem;

Ode to the SnackTrap, you marvelous thing

To you my children's hands cling

What marvelous treats you hide inside

You have helped to make much quieter car rides

No longer must I sit and hand out treats one by one

My children can now reach for their own treats, having so much fun

There still is an occasional mess, I must confess

But that doesnt make me love you any less

Ode to the SnackTrap, what a glorious site

To watch my children feeding themselves with small bites

Thank you for my freedom and holding those Graduate Puffs

For you, I can not be thankful enough!

For those of you who do not know, these are SnackTraps. The slogan for them is "SnackTrap...because kids spill things". They are GREAT! They have a trap like top that keeps food in but kids can put their hands in and pull it out. So, for example, when my 1 year olds are flailing them around in the car, they dont spill out treats. It is wonderful! The girls use them all day long!

As you can probably guess, the dogs like them too...

Briley is eagerly waiting for Ruthie to drop just one treat for her to munch on. Both Bailey and Briley follow the girls around when they have their SnackTraps.

More importantly, the SnackTrap has allowed Ruthie to combine two of her favorite things; eating and her slide. Heaven forbid we put the SnackTrap down for even a minute!

All joking aside, it is amazing to me how independent these girls are getting every day. They are figuring more and more out so quickly. Time is just flying by!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall....

Who has the curliest hair of them all?

RUTHIE!!!!!

The curls on this girl are amazing!

I have no idea where these curls came from, but I LOVE THEM!!!!

Ring Around the Rosie

The girls have learned Ring Around the Rosie. You would think, since there are two of them, that they would love to play this with each other. You would be wrong. They refuse to hold each others' hands, which causes problems with Ring Around the Rosie. They have figured out how to play the game without touching anyone though. Such smart little girls. Ruthie does the same thing, but only wanted to play in the lazy boy this evening, so no video of her. See if you can catch what Maddie says at the end.

Who would have thought that a game about the black plague would be so cute!

Traveling, Twin Style!

When the girls were infants, I would say that traveling with them was a unique experience. Especially the couple of times I traveled by myself with the two of them as infants. I would only travel by myself with them at this point if it was a complete emergency. As I watched other parents with their kids, it seemed like we were all in the same boat now. As soon as they get mobile, I dont think it matters what age they are; you have your hands full. We had a pretty good trip back to Nashville from Albany.


Check-in normally has one parent up at the counter and another feeding our children so that they will stay calm enough to get us all checked in. Then off to the gate where we normally just let them run wild since they will be sitting the rest of the time.

Once on the plane, anything goes. We will do whatever it takes to keep them entertained and quiet during the flight.

Maddie enjoys taking Daddy's hat and wearing it. The game lasted for about 10 minutes. We'll happily take entertainment in 10 minute intervals.

The Wiggles are always the "go-to". Unfortunately, electronic devices are not allowed until 3,000 feet. It is the longest 3,000 feet of my life. This usually holds them off for a little while. Whoever invented the portable DVD player should receive the Nobel Prize.


Mark attempted to sleep with Maddie in his lap. It didnt work.

When we got to Baltimore, of course our flight was delayed. That left us enough time to catch a snack with the girls and then find some way to entertain them. Then, in Concourse B we found a lone walkway that was foot-traffic-free.

Needless to say, they were entertained until it was time to board.

For your viewing pleasure. Please ignore the freaking out Mom at the end of the video. Escalator safety should not be taken lately. Wikipedia backs me up on this one, since we all know how accurate wikipedia is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator#Accidents_and_litigation According to another website safety experts estimate as many as 70 people are injured every day nationwide riding escalators. I refuse for my daughters to become one of their statistics.

Calling For a Few Flurries

A few predicted flurries that were supposed to begin in the middle of the night and die out by the morning, turned into a full fledged snow storm of 7 inches that lasted all day in NY. I was excited because the last round of snow had turned nasty and brown, so this next layer of covering made everything look pretty again. It also let me take the girls out for their first time in the snow! I mean real snow....none of this 1 inch, melts within hours, Tennessee kind of snow. Snow the way God intended!

The first step is to get the girls dressed. Now, for those of you not from a place that has a lot of snow, you probably dont know that there is a developmental step that children must master when they live in this climate. It goes roll over, crawl, cruise, walk, and then learn to walk in a snowsuit and boots. It truly is a demanding task. We gave the girls a few test rounds in the house to get used to the pants and the boots.

After a few successful attempts we added the jackets (which make them top heavy and wobbly!) and moved them outside.

My father snowblows a trail in the backyard for the dogs, so the girls had a nice clear path to walk in.




If not for the trail, all of our pictures and their "playing" would have consisted of them just standing in snow, like this.

Overall, I think they had a good time. They managed to at least stay warm and only fall a couple of times. This was my favorite picture from the day!