Good Times

TJ said, "mom when I get my wand I'll do a magic and make grandma not sick anymore. Then she can come from heaven to visit us and ride in our car. We can go all over then." Noah chimed in, "and I will give her yellow flowers. She can sit right here, mom."

I overheard the kids telling each other to, "Rock it out!" the other day as they jammed with their toy instruments.

Noah: "TJ, wanna play with me?"
TJ: "nope"
Noah: "TJ, wanna play trucks?"
TJ: "nope"
Noah: "TJ, wanna play trains with me?"
TJ: "nope"
Noah: "TJ, wanna play blocks with me?"
TJ: "nope"
Noah as SAD as can be: "I'll just play by myself then." (lip out and all. )
Finally TJ said, "really? you want me to play with you?"
Noah: "yes!!" (with much excitement)
TJ: "um, nope." (with an evil smile)

The other night TJ did something rude to Noah so while he is telling her "how sad he is feeling" she says to him, "Noah - it's nothing to freak about! Gosh!"
And then while I'm trying to talk to her she just says, "but Mom - he shouldn't be freaking about it."

TJ just came up to me with her harmonica and said, "I can't do it. My humming isn't working and I can't do any probwem sawving. Can you help me?"

Does this count as a Mother's Day gift: Noah came up to the bathroom door and said, "Mommy, when you are done I will wipe YOUR butt! OK?"

A few weeks ago I asked TJ to come here. She ran in saying, "I'm coming Ms. Miles!" Noah says it now too.

Noah crying because TJ took a toy from him. She said, "I'm sorry noah as they hugged." He said, "it's ok sweetie."

Any time they hear the ice cream man, they run to the window and yell, "Wait ice cream man! I have to eat all of my dinner and then I can come out and get some ice cream!" Then they hum/sing/etc. the "ice cream truck song" over and over and over until they move on to soemthing else. lol


And finally, here is a link to the photographer's blog where you can preview some shots of the kids from last month's shoot. You have to scroll down until you get below the "stroller fit" segment.
http://claycombphotography.blogspot.com/

Enjoy this beautiful life!

TJ Tells A Joke

TJ was playing with a toy saw and held it up to Jill, balanced it on her finger and moved the ends in an up and down motion, then exclaimed, "Look, mom. A See Saw." A 3-year-old who uses conceptual metaphors and visual puns to deliver a punch line? I know she's my kid, but damn that's impressive...

Pic Preview

Here is the first glimpse of the kids' photo session. Just a little teaser of what's to come!

TJ's "On Color" Commentary

This evening during dinner, TJ made the following revelation:

"Noah and dad's shirt are both red. Mom's shirt is bluish and my shirt is greenish."

Suffice it to say, there's never really any gray area with the colorful Ms. TJ.

Our March for Babies Event!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
to everyone who helped with a donation as well as with your inspiring words. We had a walk recently and had a terrific time. It is so rewarding to meet other families and to share their struggles and success stories with their babies. The kids had a fantastic time seeing all of the families and other kids on the walk. It was a beautiful day that we filled with memories to last a lifetime. This was our 3rd year doing the walk and we look forward to continuing that tradition for many years to come.

Baths, Ladders & Mushrooms, Oh My!

Jill went out with the moms from her multiples group this evening, for dinner and drinks, so I got to give the kid's their baths and put them to bed this evening. Of course, all of you who read this blog know, the only thing better than TV is HBO, and the only thing better than HBO is Noah and TJ. In tonight's episode, as I was combing and braiding TJ's hair, she noticed that the linen closet was open in the hallway. Here's what followed:

TJ: Hey, dad, who opened that?

Dad: I don't know, TJ. It was probably mom.

TJ: I think it was Noah, dad.

Noah: No it wasn't me. I'm not tall enough to open that, TJ.

Dad: That's right TJ.

Noah: I could get the ladder and then I could reach it. And then I could step onto a mushroom.

Like I said. It's not TV. It's not HBO. It's Noah and TJ.

Picture Time Preview!

We had some pictures taken last year that didn't turn out as well as we had liked. We finally got around to finding a good time with the photographer to have them redone. Here are few candids that I shot before/after the 'real' session. I hope to have some professional shots to preview in a few days!

Feelings... Whoa Whoa Whoa Feelings

So the kids are totally into showing their myriad of faces - sad, happy, angry, etc.

Here is a sampling of my crazy kids!

Yes, this is TJ showing me her "mad" look on command. It's pretty good I think!

The Young, The Tired & The Precocious

I knew the kids were tired this evening before I took them upstairs for the night, but I didn't realize just how tired they were--especially the little man of the house, Noah. This was quite evident after he got tired of "coloring" and pushed a cup of markers onto the floor. When I asked him to clean pick them up, his response, after plopping down on the floor from frustration and exhaustion in equal measure was, "No, dad. I'm too tired. I'm too tired to pick those pens up."

Then he proceeded to kick his sister and when I asked him to apologize he said, "Dad. I'm too tired to apologize."

Which, of course, is when his sister TJ chimed in with this little ditty. "Noah, you still have a mouth and you can use it to apologize. Just like you still have two eyes and two ears. And two arms."

Wanna Ride?

So yesterday I was eavesdropping on the kids as they were doing some imaginative play. Here is what happened when daddy entered the room. I typed whatever I heard so this is pretty much verbatim what transpired. Enjoy!
CAUTION: Reading the following may cause you to feel drowsy and thankful that you don't have twins. :o) OH, remember to read this with as much enthusiasm, speed and excitement as a 3 year old would use. (Times two!) THAT will give you a better glimpse into a 5 minute section of my day.

tj: Come on dad, it's fun. We're playing pirates. You can come; there's lots of room. Sit here, dad. No dad, you sit right here!

daddy: TJ, I can't get my big butt right there.

tj: Yeah dad, you can. Ok, can you sit right here then daddy?

daddy: That's too small.

tj: No, that's big daddy. Ok, now hold the eggs dad.

noah: You have to just sit now dad. We're on our trip. Just listen to the music.

tj: Hold the baby. Yeah.

noah: Here are the eggies. They have colorful chicks inside of dem. You have to match the faces dad. Open up my eggs. They are prastic. Dad, open the eggs.

tj: You can sit here now dad. Right dere. It's ready.

daddy: Where are we going?

tj: We are going on the Small World ride.

noah: No, we are on the pirate ride! (Yes, the Pirates of the Caribbean)

tj: Daddy - sit right here! No, daddy here! Put your feet right here.

noah: No no no no no we are on the rocket car now.

tj: No, we're on a pirate ride now.

daddy: Where are we going?

tj: Pirate ride and Small World ride.

daddy: Small World/Rocket Ship/Pirate ride?

tj: Yep. No wait, just Small World ride now, dad.

daddy: I don't hear the music.

noah: It's on my computer dad. Can't you hear it? Do you hear it dad? Dad? Do you hear it?

tj: Daddy, you have an owie on your arm. Are you ok? Dad, are you ok?

daddy: Yes TJ, thanks.

tj: Ok daddy. You need to be careful dad. I have 5 owies. They are on my knee and that's all of them.

daddy: Oh yeah? I'm sorry that you have owies, TJ. Ok, I have to leave now. It was fun you guys, thanks. I have to run some errands.

tj: No dad. We're still on the Small World ride.