iMove

What a tiring weekend! I swear I feel like I didn't do anything but work and do laundry. Luckily, we're within the final countdown (I think less than 25 days) of school until we're out for summer. Unfortunately, in that time we have district level benchmark tests, state standardized testing, awards night, 8th grade dance, 8th grade field day, final exams, and grades due - on top of managing a student body that really doesn't want to be here, lol. I'm tired just reading that! Our school had a fundraising 5k on Saturday that I volunteered at - to help out in our community, and within our school. Overall, I think it was a great success.

Zumba warmup






National Anthem


Getting ready to start


And go!




My co-worker and her daughter (she's 2 months older than the girls)


This little guy ran half of the race!


And the boy in the red was our winner - coming in around 17 minutes! It was also nice to see some of my former students

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Random Ramblings

• Is it just me, or does the new blogger format put wonky spaces in between pictures and paragraphs if you switch from the compose to html format? For instance, it will NOT let me put spaces between these bullet points (phew, switched back to the old interface and it worked). Grrrr. I'm not sure how well I like it.
  
  
• I have 25 days of school left - they can't fly by fast enough! Especially after the day I had yesterday. During class change, we're required to stand in the hallway to monitor traffic. In that time, I had a student come into my classroom and hide underneath my couch cushions. Y'all, I can't make stuff like this up. I came in, took attendance (marking said student absent), and started teaching. About 5 minutes in, I noticed another student (his buddy) laughing and looking that way, and I figured it out. But the rest of the class was on task, working, and I didn't want to interrupt them. So, I decided to let it be until after my lesson - and to see how long he'd stay hidden. 30 minutes later, he rolled out and started laughing. I hit the button on the wall, had an administrator come to my room (for the first time in 8 years) and escort him off. And then the whole class and I started laughing. Oh my goodness, WHO does something like that?
  
  
• I finally went to Zumba again for the first time in a long time. I used to take the Hip Hop class at my gym, but the teacher started teaching elsewhere (too far away), and I'm not that great of a Latin dancer, anyway. So, I stopped going for about a year (well, and was also pregnant). But they now have a new teacher, and she does more Hip Hop moves/music, so I'm hoping to go at least once or twice a week. I also love doing Pilates on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Operation Lose 30 Pounds of Baby Weight is a GO!
  
  
• I'm not sure the cold turkey on pull-ups is going to work all that well. Audrey, who has been pee/poop trained for a year, had accidents two nights in a row. She is SO sensitive about it, too. I don't want to upset her, because I really don't think she can help it (she's a deep, fitful sleeper). I have insisted that Natalie wears her princess panties, and she had to throw away two pairs yesterday. I made her take them off, dump the poo in the potty, flush, and throw the panties in a trash bag. And when she had an accident while wearing her tutu, I made her throw that away as well. THAT really made her mad. Also, we sat down and negotiated, and her prize for being completely poop trained is....wait for it...don't laugh too hard....a mermaid tail. And not a Disney Princess dress up costume, a certified tail that she can wear in the bathtub. So I figured I should probably search etsy, and sure enough - I found one.
  
  
• I'd really like to take some small trip with the kids this summer. But finding somewhere for the 6 of us to go, not too far away, for not a lot of money, that has age appropriate fun stuff to do is proving to be a fairly hard task. So if you know of anything that would fit that criteria, within a few hours drive from Upstate South Carolina - leave a comment!

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My Little Ewok

I call Corbin my little Ewok all the time. Maybe it's the ears, or the cute face - I dunno. But he sure is the most cute, slobbery, little baby boy I've ever had.

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A Pull-Update

So I followed the advice of many and we've done away with pull-ups in the house. The only time Audrey used them was at bedtime, because the girls' bedtime routine is dinner, bath, milk, Yo Gabba Gabba, brush teeth, story, and bed. Last night, we cut out the milk after bath time and watched Elmo's Potty Time instead of Gabba. There was almost a full blown riot over no milk, but I compromised by offering peanuts instead (I know, random, right?).

I also had 3 of those hospital bed pads from my pregnancy with the girls. A nurse had sent them home with me after my month long hospital stay just in case I needed them. So, I put those on their beds. I also added two little night lights (they have these LED star lights adhered to their beds as well), and a lamp in the bathroom. I gave them the pep talk that if they needed to go potty in the middle of the night, that they needed to just wake up and go. They shouldn't cry, wake each other up, or wake me up (unless they pooped and needed to be wiped).

And you know what? Natalie woke up dry! I gave her a huge hug and told her how proud I was of her, and that she was a big girl. Audrey had a small accident, but it must have happened around 6:30 when I was in the shower, because I had checked in on her before and she was dry.

I'm making sticker charts today to see if that helps with the pooping issues with Natalie. Though she doesn't do well when it comes to paper & stickers (she's half goat, half shredder) - so we'll see how well it holds up.

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A Post About Poop

Please, someone tell me that Natalie will be potty trained before this Fall when she starts preschool (and they don't change pull-ups)! I mean, at this rate I feel like Corbin will be potty trained before she is.  Seeing that this child waited until she was 22 months old to start walking, enduring test after test with an official diagnosis by Shriner's Hospital as "stubborn" - she might just be wearing Depends to college.

She is great at going #1 - but we're dealing with a #2 issue here. A handful of times she's gone #2 in the potty, followed by a phone call to me that she just "pooped a castle" and wanted "two pink prizes". So I know she is able to, but at this point in time, she's not wanting to.

• Natalie won't tell us when she's gone #2 - we either have to smell it, find it (yeah, this is gross), or Audrey yells, "Sis smells like pooooooop!".
• Natalie wears undies during the day, because if she's in a pull-up, she'll wet in it as well. She will purposefully not wear the cute Rapunzel & Hello Kitty ones, because "I don't care if I have to throw the white ones away - they're not princess panties anyway".
• She has been known to take off her undies, and put on a pull-up by herself to poop in
• She waits until 10 minutes after I put her to bed to poop. And then I change her. And then she poops 10 minutes later. Basically delaying bedtime for 30 minutes.
• Last night, in a sing song voice, she said "I'm gonna crap again, and you're gonna change it!". First - where'd you learn the word crap, kid? Second, it took ever fiber of my being not to either bust out laughing, or glue her to the toilet.

Can anyone out there commiserate? It's so hard not to compare children, and especially children born 2 minutes apart - so I do have to keep reminding myself how different they are (Audrey's been trained for a year). Any ideas? Suggestions? Donations to the pull-up fund? LOL.

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Sisters

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Friday Phone Dump

Ok, I'm starting something new here. If you have a Friday Phone Dump post, feel free to link it up! Also, try grabbing the button below and adding it to your post.







Snug as a bug in a...woombie

Corbin going in for the kill on the Kindle. His grasp is so strong!

A picture of a picture I took for the wedding I helped shoot this past weekend

Why yes, that's Natalie in one of Corbin's woombies, lol
Sleeping Audrey  

Sleeping Natalie 

 

He loves his lovies

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But not as much as he loves food (but I couldn't get this picture to upload all the way...) 

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5 Months Old

• Corbin is now 5 months old!
• If I had to guess, I'd say he weighs at least 15 or 16 pounds.
• We're already up to size 3 diapers (the girls wear size 4, lol) and outgrowing 6 month clothing.
• He loves blowing bubbles, and if you blow them, he'll blow them back.
• He still has blue eyes, and his hair is a light brownish color (like mine).
• Corbin can roll over from front to back - and back to front. However, he would much rather fall asleep during tummy time instead.
• He adores all 3 of his big sisters. Anytime they are around, he is watching them. I have a feeling they'll be thick as thieves pretty soon!
• Corbin had been tripod-ing for the past few weeks. Anytime he is flat on his back or in his chair, he tries to sit up. Little dude is strong!
• Corbin loves his jumperoo, and wants nothing with sitting. He'd much rather stand while we're holding him, and attempt to take steps. I really do think he'll be my earliest walker (Audrey was 12.5 months, Natalie was freaking 22 months old!).
• He loves playing with his Oball. It's perfect for him to grab and try to shove in his mouth.
• EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. He's even trying to shove his feet in - and the poor fellow is not nearly as limber as his sisters were. I'm willing to be his teeth are going to pop out soon.
• He sleeps a good 9-11 hour stretch at night. Yes, he is a magical baby. You know, the kind you always hear about, but then have children who wake up every hour instead (ahem, Audrey & Natalie).
• He has started babbling a whole lot more, but the past few days has been hoarse. We think it's allergies because everything here is blooming.

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Blog Stats

You know, my favorite thing to do every now & then is pull up my site statistics for my blog. For instance, my top 5 sites that refer people to me are (http://lettenbergertwins.blogspot.com/, http://www.pyjammy.com/, http://www.astheforestegrows.com/, top mommy blogs, and pinterest).

But even better than that, are some of the search terms people plug into Google and find my site with. Here's just a few of the more recent ones.

Monthly income from blogher kellys korner blog - Dude, I don't know, but it HAS to be a lot. I'm willing to bet at least 10 times what I make from BlogHer - which would be more than I make teaching.

Living room wall art - I guess this post is fairly helpful for people? It's gotten 75 visits from search engines in the past week.

Kellys korner haters - Ok, this makes me sad. I adore reading Kelly's blog, because it's a life that I don't lead. You know, the perfectly put together mom with kids always wearing nice clothes, bouncing off to party after party. I'm lucky if my hair isn't in a ponytail and my kids don't look homeless. She just seems so sweet. (Update: y'all, I just got 24 hits in less than one day for this term. Why do people hate on her? If you searched and landed here, would you mind sharing?)

alice in wonderland costume - Hey ya'll? It's April. Why, oh why, are you searching for Halloween costumes already? Psssh, just kidding. You totally know I am, too.

mckmama without pity - Ok, I'll own up to reading this one. I mean - I can't imagine having the balls to be a "Christian" blogger, all the while pushing diet pills, running away from nearly a million dollars of debt, and spinning the truth a million and a half ways. It's like a reality tv train-wreck for those of us who don't have cable.

little gym birthday - two words for you: do it! The girls had their 2nd and 3rd birthday parties there, and the staff and location was awesome. You literally just have to show up (unless your lifetime goal is to end up on Kara's Party Ideas and you spend countless hours cutting out mermaids for your children who decide the NIGHT BEFORE that they want a Rapunzel party instead).

burt reynolds vaseline - so, the time Natalie decided to take a tube of baby orajel toothpaste and smear it on her toy piano, and herself - it so reminded me of Burt Reynolds in Striptease. So I spent a good bit trying to find a picture of it. And apparently, other people do, too.

Scary Elmo - This post tells the tale of how my children were traumatized by a 6' tall scraggly looking Elmo - and how they were horrified at the children who were beat the crap out of an Elmo pinata.

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I Miss

I miss how short and sweet the girls' hair was last year. Back then, I thought it was a task to keep up with. Little did I know it'd get longer, and more tangled, and less baby curly - and they'd want "fancy" french braids, fishtails, barrettes, ponytails, pigtails, buns, headbands, and bows.




I miss them being so sweet to each other and to me. Audrey went through a phase from about September until December where I honest to goodness wanted to drop her off at the fire station. Natalie seems to be right in the midst of that. Terrible Twos have nothing on Slit Your Throat Threes. What's worse is that the girls feed off of each other. If one starts chanting "I need to peeeeeee" twenty minutes into bedtime, then they both start. They went from petty rioters to full blown mutineers in a matter of a year.

I miss only having to do an outfit change if food spilled. Now, I'm lucky if they wear no less than 2 pairs of pants, 1 dress, 2 skirts and a bazillion shirts. They go through more outfit changes than Cher because "that skirt is unacceptable and I don't like it anymore ever, never, all of my life". And only having one pair of shoes at a time? LOL unheard of now! They have flip flops in every color, cowgirl (not boy - get it right) boots, "high heels", mary janes, sandals, and rain boots. 




But I love how independent they are becoming. Someone wants juice? They go in the fridge and grab a pouch. Audrey's been potty trained for nearly a year - and Natalie is still working on it. They dress themselves, get their own toys, and can play well on their own (until I have to referee WWIII). I can't wait to see what the future holds for them.

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Weekend Warriors

Oh my goodness, talk about a long and action packed weekend!

On Friday, I headed over to my inlaws to take pictures of my sister in law and her date. Afterwards, the hubby & I were able to go grab a quick bite to eat at Cook Out (yummy and cheap), and see Hunger Games (amazing - and Eddie even liked it).

Saturday morning, I made everyone a pancake & egg breakfast, and then we started getting ready for the day. I was hired to be a second shooter for a wedding for my friend Rachael. I got downtown to Falls Park around 2:30, and we wrapped up shooting around 9:30. I swear my finger is still cramped in a clicking position, lol. Right after, I went across the street to Chicora Alley, and met my friend Tiffany for some delicious nachos and drinks. By the time I got home at midnight, I was wiped out. Eddie was home with the kids all day and managed to do all of the laundry, dishes, pick up toys, and go on a Target run. I swear he's the best husband ever. My parents picked up the girls around 7:00 to take them "camping". They let the girls sleep in their camper in their driveway for the night. Let's just say my girls are not lovers of nature - my mom had to kill a gnat while they were shrieking their heads off, before they'd fall asleep.

Yesterday, we loaded up and headed to Lowes. With my blogging money from last month and the money I made shooting that wedding, we bought my first lawnmower. Yes, I'm 30 and have never cut grass. We also priced out the bushes we want to put in our front yard (Helleri Holly), along with the weed paper, and other things. I'd also love to have nice, lush, green grass - instead of the dried brown stuff covered with green crab grass weeds. But, we live in a hot, dry during summer place with red clay for ground. We also have torn out all of the overgrown shrubbery/trees that were dwarfing our house. The flowering bushes will be planted on the right side of our house, along with some tulip bulbs I have. The left hand side has massive azalea bushes and irises that were probably planted a decade ago when our house was built. They are so beautiful in the Spring. Hopefully I'll have some "after" pictures of our landscaping soon (here are the before).

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Junior/Senior

I was able to take pictures of Anna (my sister in law) and her date before their Junior/Senior banquet yesterday. The sun was harsh, and we only had a small window of time to get them done in - but I think they turned out pretty good! Oh, and the ruler is a joke - they both attend a very conservative private school, so they needed to be sure to leave room for the holy spirit.



  

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Friday Phone Dump

It's been a while since I've done a Phone Dump - so I do have a bunch of pictures to share!

Going to see Ariel. Audrey has that "I don't know about you" look  
 She still hasn't fallen off the bed - this was about as close as she's come  
 I swear, I don't dress them, lol 
He looks a bit concerned
Yes, it was hailing with a rainbow - and my goofy husband was outside in it  
I had a meeting, and this is what I came home to  
Naptime!  
Easter outfit  
Hanging out  
So...I have a purple boppy and room, lol  
Hey blue eyes   
Wake up at 6:30 + no nap = pass out at 5:00   
Straight hair!    
Audrey is really into having her picture taken   
Child labor, lol  
He is so close to sitting up on his own! 
Poor kid!   
So, Natalie was able to make him a bottle early one morning, lol. I always keep a bottle with water, and formula in his room for easy night time feeding. Well, she decided he was hungry. Oops! 

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