... and babies make four: Our life with twins. : Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

I feel exhausted at the end of the day – both physically and mentally – from keeping up with them all day. I feel like I need to stay a step or two ahead always, sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. Riley has now had her second emergency dental visit in less than 2 years. She and Landon were jumping around in the living room and I was in the bedroom getting dressed for the gym when I heard the thump and scream. I met her halfway and scooped her up only to discover us both drenched in blood. Details are sketchy, but the forensic evidence indicates that she nailed her face on the coffee table. She tore open her top gum and ripped the frenum. On the plus side, she no longer has a lip tie. ;)

Carnival time with daddy while mommy worked

This being the holiday season, I also feel a little bit extra exhaustion trying to do “all the things.” It seems there is a constant option out there for an activity and we are doing SOME of them, but honestly doing “all the things” is just not an option. We have gone to a few parades, a couple of tree lightings, saw the lights at the Speedway, Huntersville Christmas carnival, drove through McAdenville (where they yelled Merry Christmas to everyone that we drove by), Winter Wonderland at Holy Angels, saw Santa at the CMOM event, and have done various crafts and activities at home and the library. I also joined a local play group and we have been meeting up often for some play time for the kids and some adult interaction for the parents. It has been great for them to be around other kids and develop social skills and they love making friends. I also have joined the Gaston YMCA and the kids and I go several times a week. They have a large playroom with a slide as well as a weekly Fit Tot class that has become a favorite.

I have noticed some growth in Landon over the last few months. He is much more fearless than he used to be. We recently went to an open gym time at a gymnastics studio and he was jumping right off the trampoline into the foam pit. He still introduces himself to everyone we meet and makes sure they know that he is 4 years old. He has become more active in story time and answers the questions enthusiastically. Several weeks I took Landon out to run some errands and the Hubby spent some time with Riley. It really is an amazing difference to have only one of them at a time. Landon and I ended up at the mall. He held my hand the entire time and talked my ear off about everything he saw. We had a lot of fun together and I hope that we can make it a habit of hanging out with them individually. Landon is also making strides into his “BOY” status as his new favorite words seem to be “butt” and we discuss “poop” pretty frequently. (In his defense, his father and I have daily conversations about his sister’s bathroom habits, so it was only a matter of time.) He does like to make me laugh though and it is hard not to laugh at a 4 year old that is giggling and saying the word “butt.” He had me rolling on the ground laughing with tears streaming down my face when we found him playing in the bath tub, naked other than his left sock. He was honestly surprised when we pointed it out to him. Sometimes when we watch a movie together, I look over and catch him smiling. He loves to sit in my lap and snuggle – when his sister allows it. He loves to play and hold conversations with his toys and animals. He is constantly asking questions to see how things work and being able to watch the process of our house being built has been amazing for him. His most requested food item is still a “jelly sandwich” (aka PBJ), but he has now branched into asking for chocolate milk. His favorite toys are his Matchbox cars and he has loved his daily Matchbox advent calendar that my dad picked out for him. He also got the honor of naming our Scout Elf (Treenuts) and has been the first one to tell me every day about the Elf’s shenanigans. He is very excited for Christmas and has asked for a “snow toy” (which took this mom plus family members, google and several toy stores to figure out it is an Arctic RescueBot) and a “garbage truck that will pick up his toys” (much easier to find).

Painting pottery for Jack and Will's birthday

Riley loves her daily morning snuggle under the red blanket. As soon as I roll out of bed, make my coffee, and have a seat on the couch she comes running up with the blanket and crawls in my lap. She makes it hard for me to want to get moving and out the door in the morning. She has been asking for “mommy time” a lot more often lately and we have done crafts and coloring together. She has taken on some of the shyness from her brother and now hides behind me when we are talking to new people, but to a certain extent I think she is just being silly. She constantly is running, jumping, spinning, dancing, and talking. I have no idea where she finds all of her energy and most days I wish I had a quarter of it. Her current favorite companion is the small Saint Bernard puppy that our Elf brought – she cuddles it all day and night in her effort to increase the Christmas spirit (you have to read the book). She is also very excited for Christmas, but I think she really just is waiting for Snuggles to be under the tree. She loves to play with her animals and that is what she asked Santa for this Christmas – Snuggles the Dream Puppy. She also asked for a “petey doll” which appears to be any plastic Barbie type doll. (No, she is not able to explain to me why she calls it a petey doll.) Her most requested food item is a bagel and she now wants to climb up on her chair and help me with spreading the cream cheese. She also climbs up to “help” with the dishes. We have a very tiny kitchen in the apartment and it gets pretty crowded when you add both of the kids and their chairs. She still LOVES Curious George and asks to watch him on the daily. We chose to not have cable in the apartment, so she has developed an affinity for some of the other PBS shows, but her heart will always belong to George. (I acknowledge that most of the pictures below are of Landon, but most of my pictures of Riley are pretty blurry - ha ha).