With freedom comes sacrifice! Big, sleep, sacrifice!

The girls have been in their big girl beds for a month. For the first three weeks, they waited for John and I to enter the room before getting out of bed. This past week, two things have happened: they have taken to crawling into one another's bed (as in sharing the same bed all night) and getting out of bed and out of their room. They come right into our room, which is fine, except for the fact that this is happening at 6 a.m. They normally sleep until 7:30-8, so 6 is quite a shock. They have not had enough sleep and are absolute bears. John and I are hoping it is just a phase, but if not, we will have to mentally prepare for our new 6 o'clock wake-up call. Sigh, we had a good run I guess!

Twinkly Toes

I have officially seen the cutest thing ever: 8 little girls between the ages of 3-4 performing in their first ballet "recital." I use the term recital loosely, as the big performance is on the last class. Today that girls had their first class, which parents don't attend, but we get to return 5 minutes before the end to see what they have learned. It was adorable. The girls were very excited about their dance class, and didn't bat an eye when John and I dropped them off and left. Their end preformance was so cute. Emma, with her seriousness, focused on the teacher and followed each and every step. Maddie stood there at first and grinned at John and I and towards the middle of the performance she got into it. They immediately wanted to go back once the class was over, and have to wait 2 weeks (next week is cancelled for Easter weekend).

We are getting a backyard fence over the next few weeks. It will be great to have a safe spot for the girls to play when the weather gets nice. Emma can play in our friends' sandboxes for hours, so John wants to get a sandbox. It will free up some garage space too, as we can put their outdoor toys in the yard! Everyone wins! Yay!

Sisterly Love

Today in the car Maddie was being super grouchy (no nap and not enough sleep last night). Anyway, I began teasing her, trying to get her to laugh (note to self: do not tease a 3-year-old when they are in a bad mood). So I started calling her Miss Grouchy-Grumps. I said "Miss Grouchy-Grumps, did you have fun at Julie's today?" etc etc. So she was getting annoyed and sort of whining at me saying "I not Gouchy-gump." All of sudden Emma chimes in and says "mom, stop being mean to Maddie, she my sister!" So cute! I told Maddie I was only teasing her and I said "do you forgive Mummy? Are we friends again?" And she said "no, you not my friend, you my mummy." Indeed!

Baby Bump (no, not mine)

Emma and Maddie were at Val's last week, as Julie's father-in-law passed away and their family went to Florida for the funeral. Val is 6-months pregnant and told me that Emma is fascinated by the baby in her belly and was asking tons of questions and feeling the baby kick etc. When the girls came home I was already there and Emma came running over and she said "mom, we at Val's today." John had been dropping them off and i guess she assumed since I wasn't taking them that I didn't know where they were! lol Anyway, I said "yes, I know you were at Val's." Then she says "Val has a baby in her belly." I respond "I know" to which she says "do you have a baby in yours?" "um, no, but you and Maddie were in my belly together." She pulls my shirt out and puts her head under it and says "like this?" and I laugh and say "kind of." Then I tell her stories about how they were when they were little, and the rest of the night she wanted to be my baby (when she has her own kids she will realize she will always be my baby). It was super cute.

Maddie wasn't interested in babies or the conversation, she is in a phase where all she wants to do is watch Dora on tv. I have to jump through hoops to get her to do other things. Thank goodness the weather is warmer as she will never say no to the park or riding her bike outside. The girls' bikes from last year are in good shape and Emma can ride it no problem, but Maddie is still too short much to her dismay. John will put blocks on the pedals so at least she will be able to ride it. I have registered them for dance class and am still waiting to see if they got in. I hope so, they (esp. Emma) love to dance. I will put music on for them and they will dance away. When I start singing they are quick to cover my mouth and Emma even said to me today "mom, your singing is too loudsy, it hurtin my ear!"

Mummy, you my best friend!

Maddie said the cutest thing tonight. She was super, super cuddly and of course I loved it! She kept giving me kisses and then she turned to me and said "mummy, you my best friend!" So sweet! Then when I was tucking her in at night I gave her a kiss and said "I love you Maddie" like I say every night and she said "I love you too mummy, forever and ever and ever...!" This is something I have said to the girls before, but she was the first to repeat it. Melted my heart!

This morning was my turn to sleep in. John is really good and he takes the girls out for breakfast, or they make pancakes at home. He always waits for me to wake up (I am a pretty early riser anyway and up by 9-ish even on my sleep-in days) and keeps the girls out of our room. It must have been around 8:00 a.m and I felt something touch my side (I was burried under the covers). I ignored it and felt it again, this time it tickled and I jumped. I heard a giggle. I poked my head out from the covers and Emma was standing there. She looked like Maddie and I said "Maddie, go downstairs, it's mummy's sleep-in day." Her face totally fell and she said "I Emma and I want to say hi to you." So of course I felt badly and pulled her into the bed with me and we cuddled for a bit. John thought she was downstairs (he had taken Maddie to the bathroom). He said he came up to look for Emma, and came into our room but she must have been hidden under the covers at that time. After a few minutes Emma said "ok mama, I go downstairs now and you have your sleep-in!" I went back to sleep and they came in an hour or so later with my morning cup of Timmy's! If I have to be woken up, the best way is with a cuddle and a cup of coffee!

Um, but your heart is up here!

I forgot to write about this funny story. Those of you who have seen The Little Mermaid may remember the part where Scuttle, the seagull, us trying to decipher if Eric is alive or dead. Being the sort of goofy character who gets things wrong, he checks his heartbeat by putting his ear to Eric's foot. So at the doctor yesterday, the doc said to Emma "ok, I am going to listen to your heartbeat now." And what does our Emma do? She sticks her foot out and says "ok!" The doctor looks at me and says to Emma "um, but your heart is up here!" I explained and we had a good laugh.

Happy Birthday to my girls!

The girls celebrated the big 3 last week and it was a great day. They woke up and were a tad cranky and I was worried, but they got more energy as the festivities started. We rented a play gym and then went back to our house for pizza and cake. It was a much smaller affair than the last two years, and I think it was the best birthday yet. They got lot's of amazing stuff and I need to find room for it! I decided that both girls deserved their own Happy Birthday song so we sang twice, once for Emma and once for Maddie. Maddie didn't ask me to stop singing for once! I guess everyone else's voices blocked mine out (she doesn't like it when I sing, but Emma does so it can't be that bad)!

We went to Disney's Stars on Ice last night. I was worried as it started at 7 (their bedtime) but they surprised us and had a 3 hour nap before we went downtown. They were so well-behaved John and I were truly impressed. Emma sat on my lap the entire show (2 hours long) and was completely mesmerized by the skaters (she called them ballet dancers) and the princesses. We danced and sang to all the disney songs. Maddie preferred to sit on her own or with Uncle Daniel, and was a bit ansy after intermission, but overall was fine. Of course Daniel and John bought them Ariel wands that light up and this other princess thing and a hat and a necklace etc etc. Super expensive night but worth every penny. I had as much fun as they did as I knew all the songs and characters and I am so glad we went. They got home and in bed at 10:30 and were up at their regular time to say and they were exhausted. They are napping right now and I bet I will have to wake them to make sure they get to bed on time. They need to get back into their "school" schedule as the break is over.

This March break was so much better than last year. They are easier and it was much more fun. Monday was rough and I was worried. I didn't have anything scheduled as they had their 3-year check-up. The girls fought all morning. Ten minutes before we left Maddie said "there is something in my hair." Yep, her electric train was in her hair and her hair was caught on the wheel! I had to give her an impromptu haircut. They were great at their check-up. Very curious and because I had prepped them before, they knew what to expect. Emma was telling the doctor what to do "check my eyes, now my ears, and my belly." It was really funny. Maddie had to pee in a cup as she has been complaining about pain when she pees. Emma insisted on holding the sample and as we were walking down the hall to give it to the doctor, an elderly gentleman passed us. Emma thrust the pee cup in his face and said "Hi, Maddie peed in the cup and we going to give it to the lady" (the lady being the doctor). The man laughed and said "I recognize that sample, good job to Maddie" and Emma said "good job Mads!" Turns out Maddie has a UTI and they want to do more testing as this is uncommon for toddlers. I am a nervous wreck. A good friend of mine's mother once told her "you will never know such intense joy or such sheer terror as when you have a child of your own." Man is this true. I was up all night reading about UTI's in toddlers and what it can mean. I read everything from it's caused by holding in their pee (which Maddie does) to kidney failure (hence my being sleepless). We will just have to wait and see. They will do blood work and an ultrasound. Not sure how they will draw blood from a 3-year-old, should be interesting!

The other day in the car Emma said "mummy, I need to kiss you." I said "oh Ems, I would love that but I am driving. Why do you need to kiss me now?" and she said "because I love you!" Nothing melts my heart more than when the girls tell me they love me. Today we went to the Bulk Barn and they got to pick out their "Friday Treat" as I like to call it. On the way home in the car Emma said "this is the best candy I ever met!" Ha ha. They say funny things. Maddie has been thanking me every day for the princess dress (really a nightgown) that I got them for their birthday. Every morning she says "thank you for the princess dress." What else do they say that i want to remember? Oh, I can't remember the context, but we were talking about mummy, Maddie, Daddy and Emma and Emma said "we a family because we a team!" Yep, we are a team! The girls wanted me to pick them up and spin them around. They are getting big now (Maddie is 22 pounds, and Emma is 30) and I was explaining that I can't pick them up at the same time anymore. Emma said "just try it mama" so I did and she said "see, you doing great!" I have my own built-in cheering section! What a great team I have!