Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dear Ruth Ellen....


Dear Ruthie,


I am so thrilled that you have appropriately formed the mother-child bond! It makes my heart sing that you want to be with me. But, I promise you, I will come back for you. When I drop you off in nursery at church, I will come back. When I go to put a load of laundry in the washing machine, I will come back. When I walk out the front door to let the dogs outside, I will come back. This is not a permanent situation. So, the complete and utter melt-downs that occur when I leave your eye sight are really unnecessary. You know what I am talking about. The thrashing of your body against the door, the high pitched screaming followed by the hyperventilating sniffling. I carried you for 37 weeks and 4 days. I puked for a solid 16 of those weeks. I endured hemorrhoids for you. I pumped every 3 hours for 6 months to provide food for you. I paid THOUSANDS of dollars in medical bills to ensure that you stay with me. I have spent countless hours at Vanderbilt for you. If I was going to leave you, I would have left you around the hemorrhoid phase of my pregnancy. I promise I will come back and get you. So, take a deep breath. Eat your snack trap. The time will come soon enough where you will want nothing to do with me.

Love,

Momma

Monday, April 27, 2009

Dear Madilyn Jane...


Dear Maddie,
I am writing this to help guide you in the journey of your language development. Although I am thrilled that you are learning more and more words, I feel that it is my duty as your mother to correct you of proper word usage. According to Merriam-Websters Dictionary, the proper definition of "uh-oh" is "to indicate dismay or concern". Although not specifically stated, it is socially used for accidents. It is not to be used for many of your premeditated acts that you do several times each day. This includes, but not limited to, pulling your hairbows out, pulling your sister's hairbows out, throwing your plate, throwing your food, or standing on chairs. It is also not to be used as a warning word for an act that is about to occur that you know you should not be doing. This includes, but not limited to, going to the open areas on the jungle-gym and hanging your foot over as if you are going to step off even though we both know you are just testing me, touching buttons on the DVD player, taking CD's out of the entertainment center and throwing them on the floor and shutting the door on your sister in a dark room. As I have reminded you on a daily basis, "It is not an uh-oh if you do it on purpose".


Love,
Momma

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Bye-Bye, Pee-Pee

In my perfect world, the girls would be potty-trained soon after they are 2 years old. My niece, Lily, was potty-trained a week after she turned 2. Granted, she was trained by my sister's mother-in-law who was given the amazing gift of being able to potty train kids in a week. I see this as a very marketable service that she should be selling to parents. I am seriously considering trying to bribe her into coming to Nashville in September. Anyways, I am looking forward to no more diapers.

My kids are showing absolutely no signs of readiness in regards to potty training, but that doesnt stop me from being proactive about it. So, for the past 2 months, we talk alot of potty in this house. I have two little kiddie potty's in the bathroom and when I go into the bathroom the girls follow me in. They actually really like coming in and sitting on their potty's. I, of course, let them flush the big potty which is a big hit. Every time they flush I say, "Bye-Bye Pee-Pee". I dont know why, but I do. A little insight into the crazy things motherhood will make you say that seem completely normal at the time.

One of the other things that I have started doing is having them watch Elmo's Potty Time video every day. So, I sit in there with them and we talk about Elmo using the potty, no more diapers, etc. If you havent seen this video, it is hilarious. I guess Maddie starting pick up the whole sequence of events I am trying to put together for them because this is what she has started doing during the Potty Time Video.


There is a sequence of toilets flushing in the video and she says, "Bye" every time she sees the toilets flushing. So funny. And, yes. Ruthie is just sitting on the doggie bed watching the video. She has decided she likes to sit there to watch TV recently. It is a memory foam doggie bed, so I cant really blame her.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Out With the Old, In With the Elmo

It has only taken about a year, but the girls have found a new show that they will watch, besides the Wiggles. They have branched out to Elmo now! I have no idea why Elmo, but they will watch it, so I wont fight with that. At least Elmo is kind of educational, as opposed to the Wiggles where a pirate is running around quacking like a duck.

For our trip to Harding I went to Target to pick up a couple new (cheap) toys for the ride and I saw these Elmo stuffed animals in an under $5 bin. I picked one up for each of the girls. Little did I know the monsters I would be creating. They LOVE their Elmo's. They carry them all over the place. And, apparently, it is IMPOSSIBLE to watch Elmo without holding onto their Elmo dolls.




Ruthie has taken to feeding her Elmo. It is very important to keep Elmo with a full belly.



Maddie showing me her Elmo.


I am sure I will develop a numb spot in my brain for all of the Elmo lingo, just as I have for the Wiggles. We still watch the Wiggles, but it nice to have a little change every once in a while.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Word Crazy


Out of the two girls, Maddie is definitely talking more than Ruthie. She has a couple words that she uses ALL DAY LONG. I think she is just excited that she knows what they mean and how to use them, so she goes around all day saying these four words. I put together a little clip of her saying the words for you to extrapolate. In my opinion, the last one is the hardest to figure out, but I also included a hint in there for you.

A little insider info. I had to ask her to say #1, #2, and #4. For #3 all I had to do was pause her video and that got her attention real quick.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

From the Foothills of the Ozarks

DISCLAIMER

If you did not attend Harding University this post will probably be meaningless to you. If you did attend Harding University then you are about to be inundated with photos of my children in random Harding places. But, if you can make it through until the end, you may just get a little clip of Spring Sing's Megamix that I recorded!

THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

This was the first roadtrip that we have taken with the girls. About a year ago I took a 3.5 hour car trip with my mom, sister and her kids with the girls. Alot has changed in a year though, so I knew it would be an adventure. I had timed our departure on Thursday so that when it was their nap time we would load up in the car so that they would fall asleep until (hopefully) close to Memphis. An hour and a half later we stopped in Jackson, TN to let my wide awake babies stretch their legs. An hour later I looked in the backseat to see this.








25 minutes later they were awake. They stayed awake until they went to bed that night. I was very surprised at how well they managed to keep themselves together despite only 25 minutes of sleeping all day.

Friday was our day on campus. These ugly orange chairs could only mean one thing....


Chapel in the Benson Auditorium!

We didnt actually make it to chapel because by the time I found a parking spot, got them in the stroller and made it to Chapel, they were doing closing announcements. Not to mention the difficulty I had in trying to find a changing table on campus. I now know there is one in the Reynolds Center at least, but not in the student center.

Once the Benson cleared out a little I let the girls loose. They ran up on stage and had a great time!

The girls and I making our morning announcements on stage.

My attempt at making Ruthie stand in front of the podium

My attempt at getting Maddie to stand in front of the podium.

After Chapel my normal Harding schedule was the head over to the Reynolds Center, so we brought them over there. Luckily the Chorus rehearsal hall was empty so they could get some energy out there.

They were able to play some piano with Daddy.

They enjoyed climbing the risers
Ruthie!


Me and the ladies hanging in the Reynolds.

It was supposed to be sunny and in the mid-60's on Friday, but it ended up being cloudy, windy and cold. We had to stay inside most of the day. Saturday was a different story though.

Our Saturday started out with brunch with my cousin, Sharon.

We had planned on IHOP, but apparently that is the newest hotspot in Searcy on Saturdays and was too full for us. So we headed to Bobby's, which of course had a line a mile long and conveniently no high chairs. We considered Waffle House until Sharon pointed out that she thought it was not a good idea to expose the girls to hepatitis, even though they have been vaccinated. So, we ended up at the Searcy-go-to, Dixie Cafe. By this time, our brunch had turned into lunch. I also think that Ruthie and Maddie convinced Sharon to never have children....or at least to never take them out in public if you do have them.

After lunch, it was too beautiful of a day to not take the girls outside on campus. So, off to the front lawn we headed. They had been in their stroller for most of the morning, so sunshine and wide open spaces was much needed.



The flowers on campus were in full bloom and the girls were enjoying smelling them. Or, at least, pretending to smell them.


FREEDOM!!!


Ruthie in front of the newly remodeled Heritage Hotel. I absolutely LOVE the look on her face in this picture!
Walking around in front of Patty Cobb and the old Bell Tower

You will notice that most of these pictures are of Ruthie. Maddie was not willing to let me take her picture this afternoon. So, while I was attempting to get some shots of Maddie, I will admit, I lost Ruthie. She was no where to be found in my direct line of view. The front lawn is fenced in, so I knew she could now have gone too far. I walk around some trees and I see this.


Ruthie had befriended some girls laying out on the lawn, and they were just laying there having a good old time. She also found their stash of thin mints.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the reasons I love Harding. Where my children can wander and not be kidnapped when Mommy is completely not paying attention to one of them.

And, of course, it wouldnt be a Harding visit without swing pictures!





I made an attempt at getting some pictures of me with the girls. They werent too interested.




Then the girls headed off with Daddy to take a nap and I hit Spring Sing 2009!

Let me start off with a few things. I knew something was a little "off" when I was talking to a current student that was in Spring Sing and I mentioned how I was excited about Mega-Mix this year. They looked at me and asked me what Mega-Mix was. When I explained it, they said, "Oh, you mean the Finale". That didnt sit right with me, but whatever. I thought maybe they just had not been paying attention to the YEARS OF TRADITION of Mega-Mix at Spring Sing.

So, I get to the show and the program even has the mega-mix listed as "Finale". Whatever, fine, dont call it Mega-Mix, but wow me, please! It was labeled as a song called "Life Together". We finally get to the Finale. Yay! All clubs on stage. Waiting, waiting. Everyone choreographing together, and then I hear it. A verse in the chorus of this song, "Life Together" that says, "United we stand, divided we fall." Now, every good Harding student knows that you end Mega-Mix with a version of "United We Stand, Divided We Fall". Why is this only a line in this new song that is seeming to be this years Mega-Mix. I was very confused. Balloons fall from the ceiling and lights are out. WHAT!!!! THAT IS THE END????!!! Where is each club coming out to do 15 seconds of their show? Where is my "United We Stand, Divided We Fall?" I was on the verge of a massive coronary in the balcony of the Benson. I included a snip-it of this "Life Together Song" since I thought I was taping "Mega-Mix" . You'll hear the line in the song as soon as you play the clip.


So, as to prevent an uprising in the Benson from all former Alumni, the lights came up and this tune calmed me.



You'll notice that all that the clubs did was bow. I was a little disappointed. Mark was a judge for Lipscomb's Singaroma last week, and I tagged along. I was bragging to some of our Lipscomb friends about the huge ending that we do for our Spring Sing show. I am a little disappointed that this video is my example. Still a good show though. My old club, Delta Gamma Rho, came in second place! Yay!

That pretty much sums up our visit to Harding. The girls got to spend time with Uncle John and Uncle Micah, which is a rare occurrence. I have no Easter pictures of the girls since we spent all of Easter in the car. Mark and I went to midnight service at Downtown Church of Christ so we could head out on Sunday morning.

Overall, great trip to see Harding, friends and family!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Puppy Love

Well, we finally made it back from our trip to Harding for Spring Sing weekend. Unfortunately, my mother of all posts dedicated to every cheesy aspect of Harding memorabilia I subjected my children to will take a little while to put together. So, in the mean time I have included a short video clip for your enjoyment.

We stayed with Reagan and Nate Dennison, who were so kind to let me and two 18 month olds invade their home. They had just brought home a 7-week old puppy that they adopted. She was the size of some of the girls stuffed animals. Ruthie LOVED the puppy. Every night when we would come back to the house she would wrestle with her.



Almost made me want to get another puppy, but I quickly got over that.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Bible Blanket Update

Seriously?!? I have searched for this thing all over the internet. I tried searching under Bible Blanket, Bible Quilt, Bible Stories on a Blanket and I could never find anything. I put it on my blog and ta-da! All the sudden ebay has them! So, if you like the Bible Blanket, this is where you can get one....and for only $4! http://cgi.ebay.com/Beginner%27s-Bible-Play-Mat-Jonah-David-Lion-Fabric-Panel_W0QQitemZ300306088392QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090407?IMSfp=TL090407156001r2646

Shout out to Abby for finding it!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Bible Blanket

When my niece, Lily, was a baby, my mother bought a Bible Blanket. I absolutely LOVED the Bible Blanket and had always planned on getting one for when I had kids. So, when the girls got here I began my search. I have not been able to find a duplicate of the Bible Blanket that my mom purchased, so I stole it from her on my last visit. It seemed the appropriate thing to do.


Here is the Bible Blanket.

It has scenes from different Bible stories that you can act out with these stuffed guys...

You've got Jonah and the big fish, Daniel and the Lion, Goliath and David and Moses. The original set also included Joseph, but one of the Golden Retrievers at my parents had him for a snack one day. What this blanket is missing is any form of tags to link it to a company or a publisher. It even has a soft covered book that comes with all of the stories from the blanket in it, and even that doesnt have a publisher or a name with it. When I asked my mother where she bought it, she can not remember. It is like this Bible Blanket just dropped out of the sky one day into her house. If any one has seen anything like this or knows where I can get one with a full set of characters or new characters, let me know!

Anyways, we have the Bible Blanket now. I didnt know how the girls would like it, but I thought I would give it a try. I keep it up in their bedroom, and I only bring it out after their bath and before they are going to bed. We go over the stories on the blanket after we read a story out of their Bible every night. As soon as I pull this bad boy out and set it on the floor, they come running to it and sit down.




They love when I start pulling out the characters for them to play with!




Every night the Bible Blanket is a HUGE hit!



I would encourage everybody to get one for their kids, but apparently magic elves dropped this one out of the sky, and we all know how hard it is to get those magic elves to drop anything twice!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Anatomy Class Revisited

Oh what a difference a month makes! http://simplysullivan.blogspot.com/2009/03/anatomy-101.html

I think they have moved on to Anatomy 201 now, at least!


Saturday, April 4, 2009

Easter Egg Hunt

Every year our church, Hillsboro Church of Christ, does an Easter Egg Hunt. Last year the girls were too young, so I didnt even bother to bring them out. This year was a completely different story. I would be lying if I said that I wasnt looking forward to it. This is so completely up the girls alley. I was so excited!

They had a little area set up with balloons and face painting for the kids.

After a while all of the kids headed over to the side yard to begin the Easter Egg Hunt. So, the girls grabbed up their Easter baskets and began to collect their eggs.



And collect they did!








What a great way to start out the Easter holiday!

Sounds so nice, doesnt it? Yeah, I thought so too. In actuality, it was a complete nightmare. How can we go wrong with running around in the grass, carrying baskets and picking up things to collect in the basket? This is what they do ALL day at the house! That is what I thought too! I think the following two pictures can sum up the experience.




Complete meltdowns. I mean, complete and total meltdowns. If you go back up to my pictures you will notice that most of them you can not see their faces. That is because they were screaming and crying as I literally FORCED my children to pick up eggs filled with candy so I could take pictures and capture this special moment in their lives.

What about these puffy, tear-filled eyes doesnt say, "I LOVE EASTER EGG HUNTS!!!"???

I will choose to remember this precious moment in time as presented in the original version instead of the real version. Every one else at the Easter Egg Hunt will probably have the screams of my twins being forced to collect eggs and pose for pictures stuck in their heads for quite a while. Sorry about that.