What is your preppy name?

My friend Grace posted this site on her facebook page and it cracked me up. First of all, I am laughing that I even clicked on it because...well...my name is Buffy. But I did it and this is what the verdict is...
Coleridge Lochridge Oakleigh the Fourth
but most people will know you as Bunny

Good to know, especially since when I introduce myself people already think I'm saying Bunny.

I'm not sure how they figure this whole thing out, but I'm SURE it's legit...I mean, it is on the internet! Give it a shot:

http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpreppynamequiz/

Nobody's Perfect...I've gotta work it!

This is what Mag and I are doing tonight. Watching Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus (who are actually the same person for those of you trying to follow along at home) in 3D on Disney Channel. And if you're missing it right now, then I'm so sorry, but I'm quite sure we'll be watching it for weeks to come...wearing our glasses for good measure. I seriously wish I could have a dollar for everything like this I am going to watch over the next 20 years!

Secretly, I love it. I was JUST like Maggie when I was her age. I just loved music and concerts. I went to Chicago, Rick Springfield, Billy Joel...all those rockers...when I was a kid. Then it was onto real rockers in high school with my best friend, Neally. We went to Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Motley Crue. Bon Jovi somehow eluded us, even though we were absolutely loving them.

So for now I'm happy that Maggie wants to watch Miley. Just praying that she (Miley, I mean) keeps it real and doesn't Britney out on us. Billy Ray needs to continue to regulate.

"Baseball's never been hotter with the Jacksonville Suns!"

Oh, what a true statement that is. Last night we did a sitter-trade with another couple and Maggie, Ian and I went to the Jacksonville Suns baseball game. I am not kidding you when I say it was blazin. I mean, we got there after dark and there was literally no breeze at all. I was wearing a white shirt and I thought I might be able to enter a wet t-shirt contest if they had one between innings. They didn't hold one of those contests, but lucky for us they held the "TNT Balloon Buster" contest where these lucky fellas and Hooters girls tried to bust a balloon between their bodies without using their hands. Made me proud I took my daughter to America's game.

Why do the Hooters girls wear hose? It looks crazy.

Anyway, it was good to get out, but I just think a baseball game in Florida at the end of July just shouldn't be allowed. Another few things that shouldn't be allowed...tube tops, bra straps hanging out of shirts, tongue kissing in public, and shorts that show your hiney. I was just praying that Maggie would NEVER try to walk out of the house in some of the outfits those people were wearing.

How OLD do I sound right now?

Maggie Montana

Maggie has an ipod and she is REALLY into Hannah Montana these days. She always listens to this in the car and sings it at the top of her lungs. I tried to tape her once while I was driving, but I ran off the road. Note to self...don't try that. Anyway, she started singing at home the other day so I caught it on tape. Enjoy.

Zoe just cracks me up. She does this crazy kneel, though she's not kneeling down...really she's kneeling up. Anyway, Ian and I have taken to calling her Captain Morgan.

What kind of bloggin' mama am I?

Zoe took her first steps last week while the McSwains were here and I didn't even post about it! It was pretty fun. She pulled up on the crib, turned around and then took two steps toward me. She hasn't done it since and frankly I'm not really encouraging it. I mean, I want my children to walk and I know that for at least two hours a week we spend our time at therapists trying to help Tori get around so she can walk. But Zoe seems to be doing just fine in that category, even though she's only taken two steps. It's just a matter of days. And Zo-Zo is into everything, so I am frankly quite fine with her learning to stand in one spot for a while. I don't really know what I'm going to do when both twins are walking. Wow.

They are already taking over my whole house. I have tried really hard to give them a lot of space to crawl and explore in our new pad, but no matter how many times I push back the gates to free up more room it's not enough. They want full reign and they pretty much get it. If they don't get it then they just stand at the gate and cry until I let them in. So, I've babyproofed our kitchen cabinets, pushed the ottoman in front of the excessively massive tv, propped pillows against the fireplace we'll never use, and let them at it. And they seem to like it...for now. I'm sure soon they'll get bored with ruling the roost and will want even more space. Too bad, kiddos. There's no way you're getting in my closet or ANY bathrooms. I just can't take that. The truth is, they just want to be wherever Maggie and I are at every moment of the day. So if I simply sit on the hardwood floor in the bare living room they are pretty happy going on about their business. The minute I try to sneak into the kitchen to do the dishes (or something else super-relaxing like that) they get ticked. I guess I need to continue to lay down my ideas of having a clean house and settle for having a happy house. (At least that's my excuse for cruddy bathrooms when we have guests).

Oh my jidge

Please stop what you're doing and go directly to the Fresh Market and buy their rotisserie chicken salad. I think I want to buy a tub every week for myself.

Facebook is killin me

I have never taken crack, praise the Lord, but I seriously think facebook is the closest legal thing to it. I just joined last night and I have pretty much been on the computer non-stop. I just had to go on there and turn off all the email posts because I can't handle seeing every move everyone makes. It is the definition of excess. But it's also put me in contact with a few dear friends I have lost touch with. College friends who are so precious to me, but I never see or talk to. That's pretty fun.

After my night last night I have to confess that I hit the white wine (not too much) and then inhaled a hershey bar and a 100 calorie ice cream thingy. I could have kept going, but since I am the model of restraint I stopped.

Doctor Doctor

This picture pretty much sums up how I feel about being a mom today. I took all three girls to the doctor for a check up for Mag. Little did I know that my darling angels would all three scream their heads off pretty much the entire time. It's at those moments that I want to don a three piece suit and run as fast as I can to Vistakon to trade places with Ian. I mean, it was embarrassing, but more than that it was so frustrating. I absolutely hate it when my kids don't act the way I want or need them to act. I just need cooperation...is that so much to ask? Seriously, the nurse was apologizing to ME because they were crying so much. The twins ended up having to get their fingers pricked to test their iron levels, so that just added to the madness.

Zoe has a set of lungs on her. She needs to be a bailiff that yells, "All Rise" in court, or the girl that screams, "Last Time!" to the team of cheerleaders signaling the end of the cheer. She can shout, she can cry, she tries to talk. She never stops. Never. She's always moving, always exploring, always making some crying, laughing or talking noise. And she is most definitely always chewing on something - her crib, her shoes, her books, my shoes, the gate blocking the den and the kitchen, the duct tape around the towels over the bars in her crib. The great part is that she is so full of life and she's pretty much always adorable and so dang kissable. Her cheeks are the best.

Everyone thinks Tori is so sweet, and for the most part they are right. But Tori saves it all up for when we're home. I mean, for a 12 pound girl she packs a mean punch when she's ticked. And Maggie just threw fits today that are very unlike her, but she is really learning that she can decide NOT to do what I ask her to do. I don't like that. We need to get that under control quickly before she hits middle school...wait, she's just going to kindergarten. Maybe it's the "Ramona Quimby" books we've been reading lately. That girl is a real piece of work.

On another note, I entered the world of facebook today and it's totally and completely overwhelming. When the McSwains were here last weekend Emily schooled me on the ways of Facebook. I can't believe the number of people who have pages, and the amount of time they spend on there. I know I'm right behind them. Just what I need - something else to do on the computer!

Make new friends, but keep the old...

The Girls Scouts definitely had it right. These past couple weeks have reminded me how precious my old friends are to me. Last week my sweet buddy Margot surprised me, took a day away from her family on their vacation, and drove down from Hilton Head to see me. We had such a great time catching up, laughing, and hanging out. Margot is my friend who is crazy talented and smart. She has a great website, too, that you should check out: http://www.margotstarbuck.com/. I met her in Durham when her husband came to be the associate pastor at our church. She and I lead a Bible Study for high school girls and we called ourselves the Freshmores. It was one of the best things about my time in Durham. Those girls were really a pure joy in our lives, and having the opportunity to lead alongside a dear friend was a treat. So Margot came and caught me up on the Freshmores, the goings on in Durham, and the lovely craziness of her sweet family. Then she listened as I shared some of my dreams with her...you know, the un-mommy things that are on my heart. She is such a cheerleader and encourager, and she also helped me with some practical ways to get the ball rolling on some of the things I want to do. I am so grateful for her friendship.


My time with Margot made me miss those Freshmore girls like crazy! And lucky for me, one of them came to visit this week! The McSwain girls and their mom, Susan, came to visit on Thursday. I'm not sure I can describe what it was like to have them show up at my door. It just felt like home. Susan was my family while I was in Durham. She watched Maggie early on while I worked at the Young Life office. She had us over all the time for dinners, lunches, desserts. She opened her home and her heart to me and I feel really privileged. Susan's oldest daughter, Emily, was in my Bible study and she just finished her first year at Bucknell. It's crazy to see someone you've known since they were twelve turn into such a woman!

We spent two days together playing, going to the beach, hitting the pool, and taking care of kiddos. Then on Friday Susan told me she wanted to spend the night at our house with her girls and my girls and let me and Ian stay in their hotel room for the night. Wooo hooo! We all had dinner together and then Ian and I hit the road! We had a great date and we slept in until 10 am...heavenly! It was the first time Ian and I had been away overnight since before the twins were born. Wow.

I mean, who would do that? Who would offer to keep your kids and give you a free night away when they have driven 8 hours to visit you on their vacation? Susan McSwain, that's who. Susan, Emily, Caroline and Malissa - y'all are so great. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Just a sidenote...the movie, Hancock, is really not worth the time or money, which makes me so sad because I love the Fresh Prince.

It's a Christmas miracle!

OK, not Christmas, but a miracle nonetheless. After I blogged a couple hours ago I did get the twins up and put them in the car to go to Publix. My sweet friend Melyssa called and asked if Mag could come over to play, so I dropped Maggie off over there, took the twins to Publix and came home. It's 2:58, the twins are asleep, and I have a conference call that starts in two minutes. Amazing how these things happen - I go from triple meltdowns to super silence in a matter of minutes (well, hours, but it all runs togther). Am I a good mother or what? I know it has absolutely nothing to do with me, but I like to pat myself on the back anytime things worked out like I planned. Now let's just see if I actually get to stay on the entire conference call without interruption.

The best laid plans...

If there's one thing I should know by now it's not to ever think I'm going to have a break. This morning I took all three girls out to the beach to meet Tori's Occupational Therapist. We were there for an hour or so and the girls had a blast. They were all sandy and exhausted when we left. I brought them home, gave them lunch, bathed them and put the twins to bed. They fell right asleep around noon. Then I came out, hopped in the shower myself, and then laid down with Maggie in her "house" she made out of all the clean towels, blankets and pillows in my room, and we read a couple chapters of Beezus and Ramona. My plan was to let Maggie rest for an hour and I could read and work on a talk I'm giving in a couple months. As Mag and I were finishing up reading I heard Zoe start to cry. I told Maggie we were done reading and she needed to rest for an hour (rest=lie down for an hour and play with Barbies...not too terrible, I don't think). Well, that just set her off and she started throwing a fit. Then when I went in to get Zoe and change her stinky diaper I woke up Tori. So now they are all three awake, and two of them are screaming. Ugh.

I really think one of the ways I made it through this past year is by having no expectation of ever getting to do anything I want. I know that sounds harsh and very non-Oprah-ish, but it's just the truth of my season of life. That way, if I ever did get to do something for myself it was a bonus. You moms know what I mean, though. You have a haircut planned, or even a babysitter coming so you can go to the doctor. Nine times out of ten one of your kids has a fever and you can't even go. So now that the twins have turned one I have started to believe again that I may be able to plan my day so that I can breathe for an hour or so - if the starts are all aligned. That's a bigger "if" than I am willing to accept right now. But what are you gonna do?

What I am going to do is put my kids in the van, drive to Target, come back home and try to trick them into thinking it's time again for a nap. I guarantee I'll be ready for one when we get home.

Thanks Marketers...

I was just telling Maggie that we were heading to Target and she said, "Mom, Target is a proud sponsor of 'Camp Rock' so that means they have lots of Camp Rock stuff there. Can we go and buy some Camp Rock clothes?". Seriously? Target's a proud sponsor? What the heck.

I guess I can't drag marketers too much since one of them is putting Disney T-shirts on our backs! Thanks honey!

johnny jump ups

So this will give you a good picture of what we do all day. I took this video a couple months ago and it really cracks me up. Especially watching Zoe. She is so big now that she gets the jump up going and then bends her knees and swings back and forth. Ahhh, motherhood.