Everything I needed to know...

Well, today was Maggie's first big day! She did great, as you can see. I, on the other hand, had a few tears, but managed to hold it together. Nonnie (Ian's mom), the twins and I walked Mag to the bus stop and she didn't miss a beat. She got the most excited look on her face when she saw the bus and she got right in line to get on. I mean, really? I can't believe how brave she was, and how big she is!

I know I've already blogged about this, so I won't go on and on, but it does feel so strange to have her in school full time.

Don't have time to really think about it, though, because the two crazies take up all brain power and energy!

It just doesn't stop

I am not making this up. This really happened about an hour ago.

I fed the twins dinner at 4:00 because they were hungry and they were contained in their high chairs. While they ate I made a casserole for the rest of us to eat later. I even had my new spiffy apron on. I was Supermom.

After the little ones finished I cleaned them off, thinking we could even skip bath tonight since they just had one and they were relatively clean. I put them in the play area (aka the entire house except for the den and the bedrooms) and let them at it. Keep in mind that Ian and I have spent hours if not days getting this area childproofed. Well, last week during the tropical storm we got a LOT of rain and some ants decided they wanted in, so they kind of swarmed around the bathroom which is in the play area. Earlier today I removed the ant traps, cleaned up around the area in case of residue, put the traps in the bathroom on the floor and shut the door. Good enough, right?

Guess I was wrong because as I was sweeping supper off the floor it got really quiet. Any parent knows this is the sound of danger. So I peeked around the corner and the bathroom door was wide open. I screamed and ran to see what was up, though I didn't really need to see because I already knew. As we've established, Zoe eats everything and Tori is pretty much the same way. Well, there they were in the bathroom... ant traps strewn on the floor (not in their mouths at that exact moment but I KNOW they were in there...it's just what the twins do), and Zoe's hands were wet because she had been splashing around in the toilet.

This happened all in a matter of about a minute.

So by 4:30 the girls had been fed, practically poisoned, had a toilet cocktail, a bath, and fresh jammies.

Who's Supermom now?

What is with this kid?

OK, so we've already established that Zoe chews on everything from her shoes, to her own poop, to the sides of her crib. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but for the past few months I have had hand towels literally duct taped around the sides of her crib so that she wouldn't choke herself with shards of wood that she had gnawed off. I took those towels and tape off a couple days ago thinking we might be past all that now. Also because my hand towels looked like they had fringe hanging from them because she had chewed until the strings of the towel were hanging down.

Let me just say that we are so not past all that yet. Today my friend Melyssa and I went in to get the twins up from their nap. Melyssa noticed Zoe had something in her mouth and sure enough, it was another splinter of wood. Arrrrgh! (By the way, have you ever tried to type a frustration sound? I don't think I really say "arrgh", but I'm hoping it gets my point across.)

So what did I do? Well, this Mother of the Year marched straight to her fridge, pulled out the tabasco sauce, and proceeded to dab it all over the wood on the sides of her crib. Genius!

Or so I thought.

I cracked the door to watch her tonight after I put the girls down. She stood right up and bit the side of the crib, made a hilarious face like she was disgusted, and then WENT BACK IN FOR MORE! Seriously, the child is a trip. I don't know what to do now. So I watched her do it a couple more times just to make sure she really liked it, and then I went in and popped her hand a few times. That seemed to do the trick for now, as she just pretended to whine until I walked out of the room and then she just laid down and fell asleep. My little Zo-Zo. Please, for the love, get all your teeth in!

Where is my Julie Andrews?

Yesterday I was going through some mail that accumulated while I was away. I came across a flyer for a cleaning service that said:

Life's Too Short To Clean Your Own House

Seriously? I mean how snobby does that sound? Don't get me wrong, I daydream constantly about a cleaning lady sweeping down from the clouds and tidying up the place Mary Poppins Style. But "life's too short to clean your own house"? That's a little much. It made me embarassed to live in the suburbs where we would get a piece of mail like that.

Not to get on a soap box (pun totally intended), but that brochure doesn't make me feel like I should get someone to come and clean...it makes me feel like I shouldn't be so busy that I can't clean up the place we've been blessed with. If cleaning is an obsession of yours, which it is NOT mine, then yes, life is too short to clean all the time to the detriment of your health or your family fun. My problem, on the other hand, is stopping family fun or playing with the kids or going somewhere else so that I don't HAVE to clean.

Therefore I am totally justified in wanting Ms. Poppins...right?

I'm not sure. For now I will just simply drag that company who sent the flyer and secretly wish I had one of those nice ladies coming by to scrub the potties.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

I'm not sure whether to break down in tears or bust open a bottle of champagne. I'll have to settle for a double stuff oreo. Here's why:

This afternoon at 2:00 Maggie, Ian and I walked up to the corner of our block for the kindergarten bus stop trial run. Yes, I did say kindergarten and I did say bus...neither of which I am super excited about. They do this excessively suburbian, yet super cool thing in our neighborhood. You go to your bus stop, ride up to the clubhouse with your parent and other kids, then all hop off and have ice cream before returning back to your stop. So sweet, and so great for kids and parents so we can try to get used to this whole idea of our little ones going to school all day every day.

Don't get me wrong, I think Maggie is ready for this. I can't entertain her or involve her enough right now. She needs more and she's excited. I think I'm ready too, but sometimes I just get overwhelmed with the thought of bringing her home from the hospital five years ago or teaching her the alphabet or how to paint her fingernails. I know I will still be doing this stuff with her, but it's not the same and I know it.

As I walked home from the bus stop I wondered if I were going to cry. Just as I was trying to decide (how cerebral of me) it started to rain. Not a scary rain; more like a comforting rain. Kind of like a rain while you're at Disney World...you're sad that it's raining on your (literal) parade, but at the same time it feels so darn good and you realize how much you needed it. That's kinda what I feel like about this whole school thing. But of course I can't let on one iota with Maggie because kids can smell fear a mile away.

So on Thursday, August 28th I'll take my sweet girl to the bus stop (maybe) or school (definitely) and kiss her goodbye. I'll cry, no doubt, while I'm coming home, but I'll also have a couple glorious hours to myself that I haven't had in about 15 months. That is, if I can get the twins to nap at the same time...

Fun with the grandparents and cousins

We are on vacation, just in case you were wondering. We've done a lot of traveling and spent most of our time at my parents' lake house. We've seen every grandparent, cousin, and friend imaginable, which has been both fun and exhausting! Here are just a few pick from our trip. I'll write more when I can.