Happy Valentine's Day

So, we spent a quiet day and night in for Valentines this year. Grandma Poppy sent the kids Valentine cards in the mail and visited. Maleah was excited to get one and to give one to the babies. She carried both around with her for the rest of the day. Papa doorbell ditched and left Valentine treats on our doorstep, then came back to visit a bit later. Rex brought home a rotissery chicken and salad and Valentine balloons for Maleah. Not just run of the mill balloons, but giant red and white ones with Xs and Os. Both she and babies were impressed :)
After dinner, Rex built a fire in our fireplace (I still love having a woodburning fireplace) and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. This was when Papa was here and this is the purpose of this blog entry . . . :)
Miss Hannah was a big fan of the bright fire - watching intently, the jumping flames. She would fuss if Rex turned her away from it. Papa was holding Javen on the couch when Rex handed Papa a s'more . . . to interject here - Javen has been intrigued by Maleah eating things for months now . . . apparently Javen was hungry. He intently watched Papa take the s'more from Rex and then take a bite. Javen instantly started fussing. With each bite it got worse. Then I got up to take him, to try and settle him down. He lifted his little fisted arm to point at Papa, scrunched his face, and made an exasperated sound - apparently he is a s'more fan :)I wish I had words - or even better - a video - to show his little tantrum. So cute!
A quick update on the little ones -
Javen laughed for the first time on January 31. We got video of it

He is getting stronger with his neck and back. During "tummy time" he holds his head up and scans the room, usually hoping for Maleah to be dancing around. In the bouncer seat, he kicks and moves his arms to bounce and hit the toys on the toy bar. He catches your eye and smiles at you whenever he can. At the last A family birthday party, he smiled big when Grandma Lucette got there (I think they are both starting to recognize people) He is still a very content kid, getting a bit more demanding, but still pretty chill. He and Hannah both have decided they don't appreciate formula. They will take it if starving, but pull faces and spit it out, then gnaw on their hand to show they are hungry . . . working on getting my milk supply up, so I don't need formula . . . but it is a battle. He currently has a cold - seems similar to what Maleah had last week - yucky cough, congested sinuses, etc. Hopefully he is on the mend. It is really hard to listed to him cough and struggle to breathe - especially when he is trying to sleep or eat. He blows lots of bubbles with his mouth and says "goo" when telling me stories.
Hannah is my little social girl. She couldn't care less about toys - prefers to talk to people instead. When she tells stories, she squeals and screams - very expressive. One morning I had them downstairs and Maleah came down to play on the computer, thinking we were still upstairs. When I said good morning to her, she came over and said, "I heard Hannah squeaking, and I thought you were upstairs". Squeaker could easily be her nickname :) While not as strong as Javen during "tummy time", she does well to hold her head up for a bit, then usually chooses to lay down and fall asleep. She has always preferred her tummy to sleep. Her reflux seems to be getting better - whether from Chiropractic adjustments, just getting older, or reducing the amount of formula she consumes, whatever it is, it is working. She can sleep on her back now - no boppy pillow. Her ailment now is eczema! I hope I have found the cream to keep it at bay, but she scratches her poor head when she gets tired or frustrated. The cream is A+D ointment - meant for bum cream, but works wonders to keep her skin not inflamed and moisturized. I also read about a study that found a bath with 1 tsp. bleach to 1 gal. of water 2 times a week can help. I just hope she grows out of this, too. Though she is the fiestier of the two, she is still a sweet baby. She seems to be mellowing out, becoming more patient. When she smiles, her whole face sparkles. First time in the jummper a few days ago and she is in love. I think she likes the freedom to turn and bounce. Both babies try to pull themselves up to do crunches when they are propped on a pillow. They definitely like to be part of the action. They both seem to really enjoy hanging out it Maleah's room and adore smiles and attention from Maleah.
Maleah is still just a hoot to talk to! She tells stories ("once aponce a time"), has "ideals" ("hey, I have an ideal!" - an idea, usually to get something she wants) and loves to play Wii and computer games. She teaches herself to play the games, with minimal help from Rex or me. She adores the babies and would love on them 24/7 if she could. A couple of times now, I have let Hannah stay in Maleah's room while I take a quick shower. Maleah builds block castles for Hannah and dances around and gives her loves. She is quick to come get me if Hannah fusses (which has only happened once - I think Hannah really enjoys the sister time)She is quite the singer - she makes up songs to familiar tunes to express her self and to help settle the babies. She loves to "spin like a princess" - I get dizzy so easily, but she doesn't seem to. She can spin and spin and spin and spin for what seems like forever! Fun story from the cold she is just getting over - during the first few nights, she would have coughing fits. After one of those, Rex heard her say, "Cough, I don't like you! I don't want you anymore!" This story just reminded me of a story from November. I was at the hospital with the babies and Aunt Meggie was in town. She made dinner for everyone at my house. Maleah refused to eat, so Rex sent her to her room until she was ready to finish dinner. She had a mouthful of meat from dinner in her mouth. When Rex went up to check on her, she was saying, "I hate you, meat! I am not going to eat you!"
I just adore my kids :) So fun to be able to say kids - plural. The best thing about being a mom, is get to know each child - they are each distinct and individual. I am so blessed!

Candid Maleah

Hello all! And so begins our 2011 chapter in funny things Maleah comes up with . . . Just a moment ago Maleah informed Rex that she doesnt want to watch kids' shows anymore - just mommy and daddy shows. Then she added . . . nice shows for Mommy and mean shows for Daddy (I think referring to the fact that Daddy watches football - where people are "mean to each other")
Just the other day - Maleah was trying to get the babies to look at her, I asked, "Do you like to be the center of attention and have everyone look at you?" To which she replied, "No, just Mommy, Daddy, the babies, and grandmas and grandpas." Then quickly revised it, "But not your dad, dad. He scares me."
Okay, a few from last year . . . Grandma Poppy was taking Maleah for a ride, when she came to a stop sign, not too far from our house. Maleah piped up from the backseat, "When my mommy comes to a stop sign, she stops." Grandma Poppy said, "Didn't I come to a stop?" Maleah, "No, you just kind of slowed down."
And last but not least, while at Aunt J and Uncle T's house watching a movie, said, "I can't see the movie." Confused, Aunt J said, "Why not, the tv is right there and you are looking at it." Maleah responded with, "But your tv is too small!"
We just get a kick out her and what she comes up with! As more memories come back to me and new ones occur, hopefully I will have the time to jot them down :)

Wow! Over a year!

Would you look at that! It has been over a year since I blogged! So many memories have been made and not posted about . . . reading that last post, I feel so guilty for not posting more fun stories that happened to our family! This past year has been wonderful and hard and blessed and amazing.
If I can get a second or two to post, I will . . . hopefully recalling some fun stories. Pregnancy and twins have zapped most of my time and brain power, but hopefully the most important stories will come back.

More of the same cute Maleah

So, yesterday I was working on wrapping gifts for the Allen's Camera Christmas party and Maleah chased Murphy, the cat, upstairs. Usually sweet Murph will jump on my bed to escape the sometimes torturous loving of my Maleah. Maleah is now big and brave enough to scale the mattresses and get to him, but not quite confident enough to get herself back down (she has done it before, but 9 times out of 10, will demand help from Mom or Dad). Well, a few minutes later Mr. Murph came downstairs. No Maleah, no sound from Maleah, so I decided to go check on her. When I came upstairs, she didn't see me, so I just watched quietly from the hallway. She was lying on her back, holding a Cabela's ad - seemingly scrutinizing every item. Since, she didn't see me and seemed content, I went back downstairs.
Fast forward 10 minutes: I get a call from my mom. We talk for a couple of minutes. I hear sounds that tell me someone is using another of our cordless phones, but no voice, just a few phonish sounds that let me know someone else is there. When my mom hangs up, I say, "Maleah, are you there?"
"Yep"
"Are you okay?"
"Yep"
"Are you still upstairs?"
"Yep, I want to get down"
"Okay, do you want me to come up and help you?"
"Yes"
"Okay, hit the red button on the phone and I will be right up!"
When I got upstairs, she was still holding the phone. She ran to me at the foot of the bed and said, "You were on the phone. I talked to you on the phone." She sounded almost amazed by it.
Another quick one:
I took our comforter to the laundromat. There was another mom and daughter there waiting for their laundry. The other little girl was probably around 3. Maleah asked if she could play with the little girl. I said of course. She walked up to the little girl with her little fingers tucked in the waist band of her pants, head cocked to one side and just looked at the other girl. The little girl wasn't sure what to do. I prompted Maleah to say, "Would you like to play with me?" The little girl said sure and they began chasing each other around the laudromat. It is so fun to see her make friends and play. About half-way into their playing Maleah came running over to me and said, "Mom, I am being a friend." She was thrilled that she had offered to play with someone and they accepted. I absolutely adore her.
Okay, one more:
Maleah loves to be chased (most children do, right?). Anyway, her new favorite chase is to have me carry her and we run away from Dad (Rex). It started one night when he chased us at bedtime and reached through the banister on the stairs to tickle Maleah. Squeals and giggles galore :) Well, tonight she and I were upstairs after getting ready for bed and saying prayers with Rex. She really wanted to be chased, so we snuck downstairs to tickle Rex and then he chased us around the dining table, around the first floor and finally upstairs. Her little squeal and giggle make me soooo happy. I love to hear her laugh and see her really smile. Wow! I am so blessed to get to be her mommy.

Vocabulary

Just a quick story before I forget it (I am horrible about writing things down, if I can just do when it happens, I could have a lot more stories to tell)
I went in to get Maleah this morning (she still stays in bed until we come to get her - her choice, not ours, we have told her she can get out whenever she wants) :)
and she very excitedly said, "I am wrapped like a burrito!" She was indeed wrapped up in her favorite, pink, soft blankey. She proceeded to say, "I did it by myself! There were no people here to help me, so I helped myself!"
I know parent stories are more important to the parent, than anyone else, but I hope you get a kick out of it, too.
I just love to she her gain more independence (She usually asks US to wrap her up like a burrito, and if I ask her to do it herself, she says she can't!)

Just quote for today :)

Regret for things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
--Sydney J. Harris
Just what I needed to read today!

Maleah's New Discovery

Last week Maleah started going in her closet while she was playing. I think initially she liked the hiding factor, but also she seems to like the hanging clothes brushing her head as she walks under them. Next she started saying, "Mom, come in here with me." I showed her how the doors worked and she explored standing in the partially closed space of the door. She is very cautious about her fingers and making sure she can still get out. Now, the closet is her playhouse. She can close 1 door or both or open them wide. She pretends with her toys in there, she asks me (on the outside) if there are any toys I would like and then hands them through the crack between the doors. She invites me in and we sit in the dark or peek through the cracks.
It just thrills me to see her pretend playing. I don't why I get a kick out of it, but I love it! I love to see her face when she discovers something that she thinks is absolutely, fantastic. And the closet is one of those somethings :)