Balloon Madness

Today Lexi had a MAJOR meltdown in the Target parking lot that lasted the entire drive home, plus a little after we got home. You see, these girls love, love, love balloons!! It is an obsession. The girls got red balloons at HEB about 3 weeks back and they still occasionally ask for them and cry about them being gone.

So picture this....we are walking to our car outside Target, when the girls spot a double jogging stroller 2 aisles over. This wasn't any normal stroller, but the stroller of identical twin girls who were apparently celebrating their 1st birthday and happened to have pink princess balloons tied to their stroller.

So Lilly starts screaming, "Mine!!! Mine!!! My BALLOONS!!!" Then Lexi starts in with her screams of anger. She was screaming something that sounded similar to what Lilly was saying, but was slightly harder to understand. I got Lilly into the car and she calmed down. I thought maybe they were just tired and cranky. It was also time for lunch.

When I tried to put Lexi in her carseat, she squirmed sooo much and pinched her leg in the seat...just a tiny bit, but enough to really upset her. By the time I finally got her to stop squirming so much and got her strapped in properly, it had been about 3 minutes. The girls with the balloons were already in the store!!

Well, Miss Lexi cried SO hard all the way home that she was even trying to make herself gag and throw up. Thankfully she didn't succeed. I almost pulled over 3 times, which is a lot considering I live 5 minutes down the road from Target.

Eric helped me talk to her when we got home, but it was no use. She continued her fit for another 10 minutes or so, making Lilly cry because she didn't know what was wrong with "sister!!" In a few minutes she realized I was feeding Lilly lunch and decided to join us in the kitchen.

The funniest part was that I fully intended to take them to HEB today and let them get a balloon!! But not after that attitude!

Since I finally copied all my cell phone videos off the phone and onto my computer, I can show you all how excited they get with balloons. These are my SUPER happy little girls a few weeks back when they got their balloons at HEB. They continued screaming like this for hours after we got home!

Backyard Fun

Our backyard has sort of been...well, off limits to little feet. The backyard was doggie territory and it was just not baby/toddler proof. Eric has been working really hard over the past week to remedy that fact. Yesterday he finished cleaning up everything and it was time to release the kiddos and let them explore. I am super excited about this, especially since it will be easier to watch them run around this summer. I am going to put their little pool out there and the sprinkler when it gets hot.

Of course, I had to take some pictures of their first backyard adventure!! This is Lilly's surprised face when I told her we could go out there.

Lexi was much more mellow at the time...
Wow, we can really go out there? Cool, here we come!!
Sneezers....
14.5 year old, balding, deaf, and DARLING little Toby!!!
Watching the neighbors mow their grass through the fence....my 4 children!!
Cool wall, sister!
Daddy showing them how to spin in their big yard!
Happy, happy Lilly!!


Hey Sneezy, you sure are cute!
You could use a big hug!
Are you in there, Pete and Kelia?...Lilly was trying to find her friends.
Twirling Lexi...
All in all, it was a lot of fun. As I sit here and write this, they are begging to go out there again. I think this will be a daily activity for sure....

Cameron Park Zoo with Papa

I mentioned before that Eric needed more quiet than us silly girls were able to give him last week, so we met my Dad at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. This is a wonderful zoo for the location. I went a lot when I lived there and we have now taken the girls 4-5 times.

It was the perfect zoo, but never in my life have I seen so many people there, or at any zoo for that matter. I realize it was Spring Break and St. Patrick's Day, but I have been there on July 4th, the day after a new HUGE exhibit opened and there wasn't half the amount of people that were there last week. We had to park outside of the zoo on 4th street and walk down a city street with no sidewalks just to get in the gate.

Even though we skipped a few exhibits, we still had a blast and enjoyed hanging out. The girls always get a kick out of Papa. :) These are mostly pictures that my Dad took, but a few are mine.

This is the very lion that made the girls fall in love with lions and "roaring"...

This beautiful girl is Zoe. She came over towards us when the girls started yelling her name and waving. The 2 elephants were both in a great mood and were giving the crowds a show.
Little Lilly...
She also decided that the first time to really pick her nose was in front of Papa's camera...

Lexi helped me pull our wagon...
Lexi....looking all grown up and not at all like my baby anymore!!

These guys were feisty....it was definitely spring time!
Just chilling out...
Looking for the bears...
Snack time requires the hats to be EXTRA cute!
Can you tell it was St. Patrick's Day??
Lilly butterfly...
I can't wait to go again with less people, but I usually boycott the zoo from April until October, so we won't go back for a while. It is just too hot and the animals hardly move from the heat. You see way more fun things if the weather is slightly cool. The animals get feisty and fun!

A Cute Conversation

Sneezy was laying across my lap on the couch, trembling and panting. Enter Lexi...

Lexi - "Sneezy, shakin"

Me - "Yeah, Sneezy's scared of all the noises outside" (Ft. Hood is playing with some artillery again today.)

Lexi - "Awww! No scared, Sneezy! Helicopters, airplanes, motorcycles, cars, ice maker...Noises!! It okay, Sneezy!" (She was telling him all the noises that have scared her lately.)

Then there were hugs, kisses, and a few pokings of the nostrils! She really loves her doggies. And it is so sweet to see how she wanted to tell Sneezy all the things that have scared her in order to comfort him and let him know that they were only noises.

Not in the Mood...

I have just not been in the mood to blog lately. I have been CLEANING instead! Yea!! I always feel bad making Eric help but he was so sweet to help me yesterday. We sat on the floor yesterday in our bathroom and sorted through all of our toiletries, medicine, and excess junk. Then after trash bags were taken to the garage, I scrubbed and organized. I have TOO much lotion and I always love buying more!

So now our bathroom is almost done, the girls bathroom was done a few weeks back, the attic is currently stocked with out-grown baby clothes, and Eric's office gets a few small adjustments a week...that one's a BIG job!

I have had 4-5 boxes of fun stuff on my dresser that I wanted to mail to people..since Christmas. As of today, I finally finished putting together everyone's packages and mailing them off. That is such a relief and joy!!

Now I have to go see what those little ones are up to in their room....napping is such a waste of time according to them!

Spring Break with Daddy

Now I know that Eric is home a lot more than most dads who work normal 8-5 jobs, but the girls just ate up the fact that he has been home all week for Spring Break. They love their Daddy!!! If he went into his office to work on his homework, they would fuss and go knock on his door. I love how demanding Lilly gets when she knocks. I hear this..."Daddy!! DADDY!!! Daddy, home!!!" all while banging on the door with her little fist.

So with the exception of vacating the house on Wednesday so Eric could write this very important 14 page paper, we spent every day with him this week!!

Lilly and Daddy...

Lexi picking up sticks in the yard...don't you love all the dead grass! :)
Lilly loved wearing her daddy's shoes....

Hanging out after a long day of fun...
They even stood at the back door and waved while Eric mowed the grass...

The new favorite thing....Daddy, can you flip us!! This is Lexi getting flipped.
She was having a blast...
Wednesday we met my Dad at the Cameron Park Zoo to let Eric have some peace and quiet. Pictures of that nutty adventure are coming soon....

Cadbury Eggs

Well folks, we let the girls taste their first Cadbury eggs. I believe Lexi's response was, "Mmmmmm, chocolate, yummy!" Sounds about right...they are good. I still love sharing all of these "firsts" with them. It's so much fun to watch them explore their worlds.

Lexi gets her first (and only) bite...

I love her expression!!

Lilly's first bite. She really went for it. :)

Her first response was to reach and beg her Daddy for another bite...Eric promptly ate the rest. :)