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Randomness today (or is that always?).....anyway, let's start with Reese.  The potty training is INSANE.  She got #1 down within days.  It's #2 that we still struggle (three weeks later) and I was at my wits end until I started reading more online and realized that apparently it's a battle of wills right now and she is going to win.  So I need to back off on the pressure and give it a rest for a few weeks.  I switch it up between underwear and the dreaded pull-up.  Regardless of what she is wearing she always goes #1 on the potty.  Small victory.  If I catch her in time, I can get her to the potty for #2 but let me tell you, it is a drama-filled ordeal.  Lots of fighting and screaming.  So I basically started ignoring it, acting like 'no big deal if you're freaking 2 1/2 and sh*ting your pants'.  We actually kind of had some success with that.  I think she thinks she won.   Now when I nonchalantly suggest she sit down and go #2, half the time she listens and does.  When she asks for me to just change her, I at least make her go into the bathroom and lay down and often she opts to sit on the potty instead and take care of business.   I will seriously pay any of you to come in here and take care of this once and for all!!!! I am still very thankful that we are dry all night and at naps.
An homage to el potty:
This is the view from my 'office' most days:
Upon closer look....deep breaths.  When I asked what the heck happened, Ryan spoke up for the both of them and said "but mommmmm, we neeeeeded stripes so we could be Tigers".  Got it.
Also, the Reesers is big into dressing herself and isn't too happy when I have to inform her that she has made a fashion faux pas.
Moving along....we did take a mini-trip last weekend down to Table Rock Lake with our neighbors and their extended families.
I'm ashamed to say that I had never been down there before (and it was a relatively painless 3.5 hour drive) - such a pretty part of Missouri. The girls got one last swim trip in for the season.
And we've had lots of little colds around here so falling asleep on the couch has become the norm:
Thankfully we appear to be over all of that and back to assorted levels of craziness:
Hope you all have a good weekend - we're suppose to get sunny skies and 70 degree temps so I smell a little apple orchard trip in our future!

A hint of fall....

The girls helped me do a bit of decorating, seeing as fall is my favorite season.   In an effort to be more budget conscious the last few years, I only buy holiday stuff the day after that holiday is over and prices get slashed.  I then take home my goodies and put them away in my bins with the stuff I already had out - such a fun little surprise the following year to see what items I had completely forgotten I had purchased.   I get the new decor thrill without the in-season pricing.  I have learned that you have to hit up Tar-jay within a day or two or else everything gets extremely picked over....but online deals (Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, etc...) are actually best several weeks later when prices really take a nosedive.  It just requires a little will power when all the new holiday items come out.  I do cheat though, and treat myself to a holiday candle here and there throughout the current season.
Seeing as Halloween is my least favorite holiday, I especially abhor spending money on ghosts/goblins/spiders/etc.....but now with these darn kids running around, I feel the need to up my spirit level.   Target and I have a coffee date set for the morning of November 1st.

I've got nothing.....

Call it writers block, call it a week of coughs, fevers and colds (even while on a mini-vacation last weekend) and call it some pain-a-licious sciatica that has rendered me an old, old woman with a ridiculous looking walk.  But I will give you something....that's why you are here.  In hallelujah news, we were oh so happy a few weeks ago when we tackled the dreaded task of fitting three car seats in my Mazda Tribute.  With fingers crossed (no new car payment, no new car payment, no new car payment), we were able to get all three seats (rather snugly) locked and loaded.   We took the infant seat out, after we did a celebratory dance, and decided to leave Ryan and Reese's car seats next to each other --- knowing the close proximity would open up a whole new world of back seat torture and car seat fighting.  It has not disappointed.  But the plan is for this to wear off by the time we add some very precious cargo to the mix.   Anywho, the infant car seat stayed in the living room for a few days because somebody (clad in her party dress and clutching her 'field journal') claimed it her new recliner and wouldn't let it out of her sight.

24 weeks

I got a bonus round of ultrasounds at my appointment this week.  Last time around the little mover/shaker wasn't fully cooperating and the tech did not get a couple of measurements she needed.   Her nonchalance (as well as my doctors) at the previous appointment had me excited for the extra glance inside.  Fast forward till I was getting in my car that day and heading away that I started mildly freaking out "why couldn't they see what they needed to see around my baby's heart"......  I was very anxious to get back in there and put my mind at ease.   And ease it, she did.  She got what she needed and all looked good.  The best bonus....I brought my mom along so she could see her first ultrasound since 1980.   Things have changed quite a bit in 30+ years - it was fun to see her reaction to the crazy coolness that is a 4D ultrasound.
Stats: I am up another 4 pounds (total is roughly 12-13 pounds),  heartbeat was 139 and while the tech said babies at this stage are just about to start putting on some fat, no surprise here, but the newest Stiffler was already a meaty looking baby.
Monthly belly pic:

Life

While I was making dinner last night, Ryan came in to inform me the Barbies and Princesses were having a birthday party.  She left out the part where my 'office' would be hosting the fiesta and they would be utilizing my stash of party supplies.  
But at least I got dinner made in peace.

Block Party

Sunday evening we (along with our next door neighbors) hosted the neighborhood block party in our front yards.  The girls referred to it as the 'picnic' and it was all they could talk about for 24 hours.   Part of the excitement (sarcasm) of hosting/planning the shindig is you get the barricades dropped off at your curb.  Our little gymnasts were only too pumped to get their balance beam on.
Fast forward to the 'picnic' and the arrival of the firetruck.
Always a fan favorite except for the fact that 75% of the young kids were scared out of their minds and didn't want to climb in.   Ryan was happy getting stickers...
and playing on the back of the truck with her buddies.
I was finally able to coerce Reese away from her boytoy Timmy...
and into the drivers seat of the firetruck
After all the other kids had bored of the truck, one little lady was still standing....charming the firemen with her crazy personality

Sunday shake-up

A HUGE shake up has occurred over in these parts.....Our usual Sunday morning routine has changed a bit - instead of Grant and Ryan taking off to donut shops, diners and restaurants all over the greater St. Louis area, Grant is braving the deadly force better known as Reese.   That's right - for the past two weeks, Ryan has been my coffee date with my dad.  What used to be a 20-25 minute circus has now turned into a peaceful, hour-long, lazy Sunday chat.  And Reese and Grant have been venturing out together - not so bad when you keep it short and sweet.
Apparently she styled herself, Sunday morning essentials:  puffy coat, monkey hat and Google lunchbox
Sugar kicking into gear....

Friday morning artwork...

Topless of course.  Since it is cold and dreary (LOVING this glimpse of fall weather, by the way) and because we are relatively house-bound with the potty training and all, we've been doing our fair share of coloring...
Ryan has added her sister's name to her spelling repertoire.
*Potty Alert* - stop reading now and start your weekend if you don't want to hear about the inner workings of toddler intestines....you have been warned.
So...an honest update to Reese's potty training. I started out with the 3-day potty training practice in mind....we had a tearful farewell to all of our diapers first thing Monday morning - Reese was uber-sad to say the least. Grant's parting words as he took off for work were "have fun with that"....we devoted all day Monday-Wednesday to staying inside (minus the need to take/pickup Ryan from school), wearing our big-girl underwear and using the potty (either little one or real ones, her call). I offered potty toys (usually cheapos from the Target dollar bin until Grandma showed up with awesome Christmas in September-type toys) and a skittle reward for each success.  And I scolded, chastised and punished her for each accident.  Kidding.  Just making sure you were still with me.  I knew her #2s weren't their usual going in, but didn't think too much of it b/c she wasn't extremely off and I didn't want to procrastinate another week.  Well by Tuesday, we quickly learned something wasn't up because while she got the knack of going #1 extremely fast, she would cry and fight #2 and then muster out the tiniest bit...only to repeat 4 or 5 times over the next hour or so. To say it was exhausting (for both her and I) would be an understatement. And, naturally, Grant was out of the town the last few days so it was all me, all day and night. I quickly started sneaking in as much fiber as I possibly could, we have tried prune juice and this morning I started my first round of Miralax in her juice. We shall see what the weekend holds.  But, for the positives, KNOCK ON WOOD, I have yet to have any accidents during naps or bedtime and we have successfully ventured out to the farmers market and store!!! If it weren't for the poop-debacle (or lack thereof), I think we could have mastered potty training in full by 3-4 days. Now, however, I think it'll definitely take until we get her parts moving again but rest assured, those diapers are out of sight.  The last thing I will do is throw away the previous insanely long 5 days by putting her back in diapers....oh hells no. Our weekend will be chalk full of fiber, juices, and Dad spending some quality time with his ladies while mom sneaks away for an hour or two to avoid a mental breakdown.  Happy Friday!  Just the kind of topic you wanted to hear about, eh?

Garage sales and field journals

Last weekend I had a garage sale out at my parents in hopes to rid their basement of 30+ years of stuff. We succeeded and Goodwill made out like bandits with all the leftover items that didn't sell.    Ryan really got into the garage sale spirit all last week and asked if she could setup one of her own (for her Barbies of course - the dream house must be a little sparse these days and Ken is watching the wallet) - so while I was redoing my office/craft room, I let them have at it.  Every day, for five days, they would take to the landing of the stairs and play 'garage sale' - it was pretty darn funny to watch.
We even had to organize our supplies...
When they weren't trying to sell my shiz, they were channeling their inner Tinkerbells and working in their 'field journals'.   I'm sorry, but listening to 4 year old Ryan ask me if I want to help her collect pictures for her field journal is about the sweetest darn thing you've ever heard. The back story is I came across Tinkerbell on ABC Family one night and taped it....they watch it constantly now and field journals are a big thing in the film.   Anyway, even Reese is in on the action.   She will find me in the kitchen, no matter what I am doing, and oh-so-forcefully tell me to 'sit down mama, look at my journal with me'...
PS - day 1 of 'for realz' potty training is complete (I dabbled for a few days at the start of summer just to see where Reese was at and what I was in for).   Overall I give it a 'B'.   Long day but a good number of successes.  Girls are still sleeping but at last check, the bed was dry.  Knock on wood.  And thank god for coffee.   I found this on Pinterest and seriously couldn't be more true (even if pregnant and watching my caffeine intake):

Reesey Piecey

If you ask the girl what her name is, god love her, she answers "Reesey Piecey" - I vow to you now, I will never NOT call her that.   To hell if we're dropping her off at college, watching her get married or she lands some hot shot CEO job (most likely at a cheese and/or climbing company), the girl will always be our Reesey Piecey.

Barbie has been a bad, bad girl....

Now that the girls are roomies, they often willingly head up to their room to play a plethora of imaginery games Ryan concocts. The seemingly peaceful quiet time that ensues is often a double edged sword. Like every parent out there, the wise little voice in the back of your head starts flying the red flag if more than 15 minutes passes without so much a loud noise or fight.  Often I will come up to find something like this happening:
Or, I'm met at the top of the stairs or the doorway with a "mom, we're not doing anything wrong in here....go back downstairs" - don't be fooled, this isn't Ryan welcoming me into her room, rather she is about .5 seconds away from shutting the door on me so I won't enter.

God forbid they play in their actual clothes for the day.....it's an unspoken rule that the moment you cross the room threshold, you MUST change into a 'party dress', 'princess dress' or pajamas.

The theives raid the house in search of baskets...
And, as I learned yesterday, apparently when the Barbies/Princesses are bad girls, they are thrown in jail...
This would be Reese's foot enforcing the punishment
You load as many perps as the jail will hold, exerting your almighty 4 year old force:
If all else fails, you put your whole body into it....I swear we don't let them watch Prison Break:
Rest assured, after adding a few more reinforcements....
...the girls were freed and are currently enjoying the life of leisure again.
And since we're on the subject of the girls' room....my latest garage sale finds.  I had wanted the Pottery Barn wall shelf for books for years but never pulled the trigger on the $100+ price tag (depending on which one you got) AND I had wanted to install a second bar for hanging clothes in the closet now that they are sharing (and professional estimates to make the closet all fancy were $400-$600).  With that in mind, I had my eye peeled whenever I went to Goodwill or a garage sale.  A few weeks ago, Reese and I stumbled upon a cute little house, not far from us (on a Wednesday sale nonetheless) and immediately saw my bookshelf (actually Pottern Barn too) and a quilt hanger (Pottery Barn as well).  They were going for $60 total, I countered with $40....we settled on $45.  And home they went:
Because the quilt holder was meant to hold a quilt (duh), when hung flush against the wall, you couldn't hang a hanger straight on (they had to be angled) so Grant drilled some thick pieces of wood directly to the wall and then afixed our new addition directly to that to give us about a 4 inch seperation which now allows hangers to fit as they were intended. The girls are in heaven - they play dressup and 'store' non-stop now that they have easy access.
I've already given up separating clothes by child....I had a lovely order going for all of 10 minutes one day.  Now it's just a smorgasbord of randomness and often you'll find Reese sporting 4T and 5T shirts and Ryan shimming into 2T/3T skirts.    At least they're cool with the sharing.....for now anyway.