A Mothers dilemma...

Here is my dilemma: If I want to be a good mother and play with my girls all day and give them the individual attention they want, the housework is neglected. Yet, if I want to spend some time cleaning the house and doing laundry, I feel as though I am neglecting my girls.

This is the battle raging in my head everyday. Please don't expect much by the way of a clean house if you ever come over. Thanks for your understanding.

Crazy Crawlers

These girls are so funny. They are crawling now, and rather than going around any obstacles in their way, including each other, they climb over it. We have caught them many times with one on top of the other, trying to get to something on the other side. Luckily, who ever is getting "crawled over" is usually so busy playing with something else that they don't even care. Only a few times have they gotten stuck and Mom or Dad has to intervene.
We have had a pretty rough couple of weeks. The week before Christmas Joe got a really bad flu bug that kept him home from work for four days. He was miserable and even had to spend a very long night in the ER getting pumped full of fluids because he was so dehydrated. The twins had the bug for about a day, which was shorter than I had anticipated and I was very grateful for that. I thought Ambree and I had gotten lucky and we spent the whole time Joe was sick trying to care for him while trying to avoid him, if that makes sense. He finally recovered and we had a wonderful Christmas. Santa brought Ambree most everything she wanted and she was very pleased. The twins didn't care about their new toys- the treasured item for them was the Fruit Loop necklaces that Santa put into their little stockings. Oh, and the candy canes. Multiple times I have walked into the living room to find them each clutching a half of a candy cane that one of them pulled off the tree, broken in half, and shared with the other. They are hysterical!
Last night, to our dismay Ambree woke up sick. We had to change sheets and clean her up at 1:30 in the morning. Luckily she was fine today, just a little tired, as were Joe and I. But we got to spend the day together shopping and relaxing before Joe has to go back to work tomorrow.

Our Disneyland Vacation

In October, we got to go on vacation to Disneyland with cousins Jennylynn, Brian, and Emma. We had a blast. It was a nice break for all 3 of us, because we got to leave the twins behind and just focus on having fun. (And we weren't too worried because we left them in good hands. Thanks Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa!)

One of the funnest things for Ambree was getting to meet all her favorite Princesses and characters. Besides all the Princesses, she also met Mickey and Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, the Mad Hatter, and Mary Poppins and Bert. From a distance she saw Cruella DeVil, and the Wicked Queen from Snow White, but she really didn't want to meet them.

Playing at Huntington Beach was so fun and so relaxing. Ambree actually got her feet wet a little, but spent most of the time with Emma playing in the sand.

The big Princesses in Disneyland

Here is Ambree with her very favorite Princess. She calls this one the "Real Snow White picture" although I don't know which Snow White she is referring to...

Ambree with Belle. She was a little nervous around all Princesses with the exception of Snow White.

Ambree and Aurora, or Sleeping Beauty.

Here are the girls with Cinderella. This one was taken at Goofy's Kitchen. And on the bottom is Snow White again.

The little Princesses in Disneyland

The minute we put Ambree and Emma in their princess dresses, they transformed from crazy little girls to little angels, posing and being very proper. Even people whom we didn't know thought they were so cute that they had to take their pictures. They became little celebrities!

Even the Mad Hatter couldn't resist their sweetness. He walked up to the girls as they were spinning, and he gave them his impression of the princess spin and curtsy.

And of course, being the Mad Hatter, he offered them some tea. This was the point that Ambree decided that this was a little too weird, and she came running back to me.

More Disneyland!

The 3 of us on the Ladybug ride in Bugs Life Land.

Ambree and Mommy posing.

Loving on my Daddy!

This was the day we had a yummy breakfast in Goofy's Kitchen with Jennylynn, Brian, and Emma.

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TroubleMakers

These two are always causing trouble, but atleast they look cute in the process!

Look how I've grown!

June 2006
Ambree was 18 months old

Oct. 2007
Ambree was almost 3

When you have kids, you know that they are continually growing, but it's hard to notice when you are looking at them all day, every day. These shots were taken in Disneyland, in Fantasyland at the White Rabbit's house. The first year we went, we saw this spot and had to get a pic of Ambree in front of it. This year when we walked by, Ambree noticed the house and immediately began posing in front of it. I guess it's become somewhat of a tradition, but it's also become a way for us to see how big she's gotten. Hopefully we can continue this little tradition throughout the years.

Go Jazz!

Brielle has developed a love of Michael Jackson lately. She doesn't love all his songs, just Billy Jean, and Man in the Mirror. Any time I put either of these songs on, she smiles so big and bops her little head. I've noticed that she also likes Blondie, so we've been listening to that a lot as well. Looks like she has her Mom's taste in music (Yay!).
On Tuesday, Joe took Ambree to her very first Jazz game. She's seen them on TV plenty, but has never actually been to one. They made it a date and went to dinner first, and then while they were at the game, Joe bought her some popcorn and ice cream. She had a blast. I was asking her about it the next day, and she told me that she got to see the guys who live in the TV play basketball! She also demonstrated how she yelled "GO JAZZ!" when the guys wearing white made a basket. I was surprised that she actually paid attention. Maybe Joe finally has someone to watch the games with!!

Oops!

A few weeks ago I went to the church to work out, and I brought all the girls. Ambree saw a friend that she hadn't seen in awhile, Raeya, and the two ran to each other and began talking like old friends. I was listening to them as I situated the twins and got my step set up. Raeya was telling Ambree that her grandmother had died, and she said that she sure missed and loved her grandma. I walked over and told Raeya that I was sorry that her grandmother had died, and I told Ambree to tell Raeya that she was sorry too. Well, Ambree, unable to grasp the fact that you can be sorry for something that isn't your fault, looked at Raeya and said, "Raeya, I'm sorry that I killed your grandma."

Joy to the World!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!! We are so blessed to have you all in our lives and we are grateful for your kindness. Have a safe and happy holidays!
With love,
Joe, Jaime, Ambree, Bailey and Brielle

Me and my lil' Bean

It's hard to believe that this picture was only taken last year around Easter time. At that point we only had Ambree and we were trying to decide when we would be ready for #2. Flash forward a year and a half and we have gone from a family of 3 to a family of 5!!

Bays' and Bells' 9 month appt...

So, I took the twins into the Dr. for their 9 month check-up. They are healthy and doing well, and it amazes me every time that their stats are so, so close. Their weight and height is either right on, every time, or if there is a difference it is only by a half of an ounce. At this appointment, Bailey was 18 lbs and 11 and a half oz. and Brielle was 18 lbs and 12 oz! Both are 28 inches long and both heads are 43 cm. So heads are in the 25th percentile, weight is in the 50th, and height is in the 75th percentile. You would almost think they were twins or something, right? In every way but looks!!
We had a busy day Christmas shopping, and the girls were so good, even after their shots. Chris took Ambree to the toy section of Target, and Mom and I did some shopping with the twins. We had a good time. We also purchased a gingerbread house kit, and Joe, Ambree and I had fun putting it together last night. Actually, I had fun putting it together while Joe made popcorn and Ambree stuffed as much candy into her little mouth as she could! There was icing and candy EVERYWHERE!! But we did have a good evening.

Here we go...

So, I've finally ventured out and started a blog. I hope this will be a way to capture what happens here in our "Kingdom". We took Ambree to see Enchanted last week, and if she wasn't a princess already, she surely is now. I was coloring with her tonight, and I was caught up in the moment and we were having so much fun. I looked at her and said, "Ambree, I sure do love you!" to which she replied, "I love you too, Prince Eric!" She lives in such a fairy tale, and its fun to watch but it can get crazy. She won't be into Princesses and fairy tales forever, so I just treasure every minute of it now.
I call Bailey and Brielle "my little wrecking crew". Those two keep things quite chaotic here. If I'm making dinner, they are crawling around right at my feet, going through the cabinets and pulling out whatever their sticky little hands can get on. It's nice that I can finally bathe them together, but it usually turns into a 3-ring circus. As I got them ready for their bath tonight, Brielle just could not wait to get in. She stood at the tub naked and ready and screaming in excitement while I undressed Bailey. Once they were in, they sat close and splashed their little hands and laughed.
Life was sure hard when they were just new, but now I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it's awesome that they will always have each other to play with. They love their big sis too, and it's fun to watch them watch her every move. In a few years we will have 3 little girls, twirling and dancing around. Better put in a dance studio, Dad!!