Oh How Time Changes Things

A long time ago, 2 years to be exact, in a small town, Tomball, a new mom was a super germ freak. Hours were spent sanitizing bottles and pacis that touched anything, and precise care was taken with everything baby related. Oh how time changes things. This 2 year experienced mom has not given up her super germ freak ways entirely but has made exceptions. Today she said something she never could have imagined just 2 short years ago,

"I can't get you one right now, eat that one that's on the floor." (Gasp!) Yes that is right, this super germ freak has accepted that germs happen, especially with two 2 year olds. I have gotten over the dirty hands and clothes and even instructed, not only allowed but instructed, Rachel to eat chocolate teddy grahams off the floor. Big step for me. Yes the times have changed. So sorry to all of those who suffered through my craziness the first little while. Special thanks to Eric, Cassie, Mom, and Brenda for all you put up with from me!

Livy dressed herself up as Dora. It is a Dora backpack she has on and she asked me for stars to put in it (like Dora does, for everyone not privileged to a daily viewing of Dora). So we had to cut out some stars for her. She put her shoes on and said "Where's Boots, Let's Go!"

One of our new favorite habits. So happy I finally tried Dora bubblegum flavored toothpaste. Before this it was a hold them down torture session to get a quick brushing in.

Now they ask for their brushes and Dora paste. Then they assume their position on the fire place and brush or chew away. Rachel does also scrub the fire place with her toothbrush every once and a while but that is minor, remember time has changed me.

This picture is in reference to a previous post when I showed Rachel's hair cut. This is it cut and dry. Can't see that good and it still kind of looks crazy but believe me it looks much better.

Rachel loves putting shoes on but not until the other day has she been able to do it all by herself! Good job Rachel! Her first wrong shoe on the wrong foot pictures!

She even got two of the same shoes and the same sizes!

These pictures are from today when the girls played for the first time with each other without me for more than 5 minutes!! It was glorious! They played on the stairs, another way I seeing the times changing, throwing all their stuffed animals down the stairs.

Then bringing them all back up and putting them away. Repeat. Again and again.

These baskets were the animals beds. The would pick certain ones to put to bed and take care of. The others they just threw around.

Never realized how many they had until today. The pile is as high as the first stair.

It was a great day. It probably won't happen again but I enjoyed it today!

27

A week ago today I turned 27! Old is a relative term I have come to realize. Two weeks ago 27 sounded so old to me, now it sounds like 22 to me. It was a great birthday now matter how old I am. My wonderful mother in law watched the girls so I could have a free morning and lunch. What a treat! Thank you so much Brenda!

After nap time we went to P.F. Chang's with my in laws for dinner and had a fabulous meal. Yum Yum. I love P.F. Chang's. Livy enjoyed the tiny desserts and the fact that she could hold and eat it all by herself. Quite a chocolate mess but she loved it!

A cute little Rachel face from across the table.

The dinner gang outside the restaurant.

The girls love the huge horse they have in front. Come on, what two year old wouldn't love a 15 foot tall horse!

Our family. Happy birthday to me. Thanks for a great birthday everyone.

Everyday Entertainment

Just some recent pictures of everyday things. No big spectacular event to report on just everyday, but entertaining, stuff!

20 little toes that I love.

The girls were on the couch upstairs together snuggled under some blankets. Had to get a shot of them! Of course cat, lip gloss, duck and paci were all present too. And two gigantic Dora dolls.

Livy came down to the landing on the stairs and asked for the blankies Becky made them. I threw them up to her and watched her drag these blankets up stairs. When I went to check on them they were snuggled together on the chair with the blankets. They love their sister.

New favorite toy, Ariel umbrellas. They have been kind of obsessed with umbrellas for a while but I have been scared to give them one for fear of a bad eye poke but they do really good with them and no accidents yet.

Livy opens and closes hers by herself. She especially loves it. She was playing outside the other night and it started to drizzle. She ran into the play room really fast, grabbed her umbrella and ran outside so she could use it! It was so cute.

Just a quick shot of their cute little New Balance sneakers. I love real sneakers on little kids. They are so adorable.

The era of dressing up has begun. Not until this week have they put the dress up shoes and clothes on at our house. Some times they will put the dresses on at grandmas house but now it is daily here.

Rachel doesn't like the tops, just skirts and the fairy wings!

Awesome outfit Livy. Can't wait until you guys dress yourselves.

I might have those wings on upside down? I can't tell which way is right.

Jump roping with our crown and shoes on. Livy's pretty good in the shoes. She does stairs, even though I ask her not to, and jumps all over the place. Rachel is another story but she tries and she loves them!

Rachel is very into the accessories right now.

And they are both into being naked. I had a picture of them cooking in their kitchen naked together but I decided to take it off because my blog isn't private and you never know now a days. Sad but true. Cute picture though. Always want their diapers off and then run from me.

Pretty princess.

Trying to get all of her stuff. There were a few pictures in a row of this, dropping one thing or another and then getting it picked up only to drop another. I love her arms bent funny trying to keep the bracelets on.

Livy singing and dancing in her new tutu.

Dancing in the tutus Becky and I made. Finally finished them.

I told them to get their shoes so we could leave and Livy came back with Eric's gigantic sneakers on saying, "okay, I ready mommy."

Rachel's after hair. This was her first real haircut. She only had a tiny trim earlier, not even enough to call it a real trim. And I don't know if this is considered a "real" haircut either since it was just me doing a couple of snips. Anyway, I can notice a big difference so I like the non poofy hair now. Now she just has some wacky curls and half curls but it looks cute.

Rachel's crazy poofy hair before.

Livy playing with Pebbles. She loves that dog.

Livy doing the labor. Rachel is the relaxer, Livy is the worker. Even when we read books at night Livy is always the one to go get another one each time. Rachel sits there and points and says "Niny get it." She doesn't even flinch or pretend she will get one. Here Livy is again pulling Rachel in the wagon whose wheels don't turn. Rachel with a pile of stuff as usual.

Notice the bowing of the wheels from the weight! They did eventually pop off.

Just hanging out having a snack.

There talking is getting cuter everyday. The way they explain stuff and pronounce stuff cracks me up. Although they often give me headaches from so much talking, I do love hearing it! That's all from the Williams household this week. Hope you are having a great one too!

What They Like at 2

I wanted to jot down a few of their favorites at 2. I know they will change soon but here they are for now.

Olivia

Mommy's Girl

Favorite Food: Chips and salsa, bananas, pizza, nutragrain bars, any candy, popcorn, apples

Favorite Songs: If you're happy and you know it, I love to see the temple, ABC's, Itsy bitsy spider, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, Hokey pokey, I am a child of God

Favorite items: Ducky, paci, blanket-knitted purple and white from Nancy Rindos, trains, puzzles, animals (Pebbles), umbrella

Favorite characters: Barney, Elmo, and Dora

Favorite Movies: The Polar Express, 101 Dalmatians

Favorite things to do: Jump, Feed the ducks, Playdoh, Carousel, Exercise with mom or dad, play with Pebbles, bubbles, read books before bed, ring around the rosie, coloring

Things she doesn't like: Holding my hand in the parking lot, getting washed in the tub

Things she says a lot:

"Rae Rae" = "Rachel"

"I know no" = "I don't know"

"I know no see it"= "I don't see it"

"Come on body" = "Come on everybody"

"Hi, how you doing?"

"I hear it, train" = "I hear the train" (or dog, or car)

"My's or me's" = 'Mine"

"Oh goodness" or "Oh no" (with hand over mouth)

"Come on guys" or "Sorry guys"

"I'll get it"

"It's broken"

"Thank you"

"Colors" = "Crayons"

"Okay, ready"

Great with manners (thank you, please, sorry)

Covers mouth when coughs or sneezes

Rachel

Daddy's Girl

Favorite foods: Chips and salsa, steak, chicken, tootsie rolls, rice, strawberries, corn

Favorite Songs: Hokey pokey, Crazy (crazy boom boom), Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, Wheels on the bus, If your happy and you know it, ABC's, I am a child of God

Favorite items: Cat, thumb, lip gloss (wips), babies and bottles, blanket-pink fleece, balls, baskets or buckets to carry stuff in, shoes

Favorite Characters: Barney, Elmo, and Dora

Favorite Movies: Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians

Favorite things to do: Swing, Play-doh, Play with her babies, Carousel, Sing songs, bubbles, sit on someones lap, ring around the rosie, read books before bed

Things you don't like: Getting your hair done, sharing your babies

Things you say a lot:

"Niny" = "Livy"

"I like it"

"Right now"

"Eric" calling Daddy by name

"Rachel" loves saying her full name

"Gimme"

"I can't do it"

"Rachel scared"

"My cat" or My anything

"I have some"

"I hear it" (with hand up to ear)

"Chocolate milk" = Anything chocolate

"Careful Mommy"

"I don't want it"

"I carry you"

Counts to 10

Sings to herself

Repeats everything you say

But most of all you both love each other. You are always wanting your sister to be with you and ask where she is if they are not with you. You both take care of each other and make sure that your sister has her cat or duck. You always make sure I give your sister whatever I give you and don't hesitate to share your candy with each other. You ask for your sister as soon as you wake up and cry if she is still sleeping. You both take turns pushing and taking stuff from one another but it is easy to see you always love each other unconditionally. There is nothing better than that!

Aunt Becky

I am so lucky to have such a great cousin and friend. Becky has come to visit us in Houston the past 4 years. Every year it gets funner! I hope she can keep coming and we can head to Hawaii to visit her soon too! Get ready for a long post, here we go!

This is how the visit began. Rachel welcomed Becky from the minute she got into the car! Yeah right! These are the eyes Becky got for the whole first day or so. In the beginning in the car she wouldn't even turn her head to look at her, just her eyes. And they were more intense than this.

Livy loved her from the second she got here and they were good buddies the whole time. Becky is a librarian at BYU-Hawaii and got the girls these shirts.

First night dinner at Chili's.

Riding on the carousel at The Woodlands Mall. Looking for daddy, who was sitting down, every time we passed him. They love that game.

One of Rachel's funny faces.

Hugs from my Livy.

Rachel, as she now calls herself. She has always called herself Rae Rae but the last day of Becky's trip she started calling herself Rachel and has ever since.

Enjoying the fruits of her labors! (see below)

Doing our exercises. I usually do any sort of workout while they are napping but we did an old school ab video called The Firm (1980's) while they were awake and they loved it. They would ask for more every time it was done! Becky and I were laughing at them so much it was hard to actually do it. Rachel would say the cutest stuff when she saw me doing things that looked cool, "Wow Mommy" was the funniest when I was doing this bicycle move, I guess it looked pretty good to her! They were so cute trying and every once and a while they would just get up and plop on your stomach which put an end to your workout for a minute.

Becky is so crafty these past few years. Here are the girls birthday presents. she made them blankets with their names and butterflies on it.

Enjoying some sister time while we cleaned up after making cookies. Sitting reading together. I am finding them sitting together a lot more often these days and it is so cute every time.

After making cookies in their new aprons Becky made for us for our birthdays! Mine is cute too but they look especially adorable in these aprons!

Birthday aprons! Sorry all the pictures are not int he right order. I always upload them backwards on accident! oops.

This is only the second time we have done cookies and the first time was for Valentine's Day at April's house and they didn't do anything really so I don't know if that counts. This was their first official time. And they loved it.

Enjoying the cookie dough.

It was quite a rush though. We had to have everything measured and ready to go.

They were really good and more patient than I thought they would be. They had turns dumping, stirring and tasting!

Another 1st. Getting their nails painted. They were excited while doing it and sat really good for Becky. They didn't care too much about it later. I think Rachel will be requesting it before long. She is a girly girl and already love lip gloss.

Pretty pink nails.

Watching so intently.

We also made tutus for the girls but ran out of material so I just finished them the other day. I will put pictures of them up later.

Cheese.

My Rachel and me.

Story time with Becky. As you can see Rachel warmed up well to Becky!

Rachel and her "wips" or lips as you may know them. That is short for lip gloss! She carries at least one with her all the time now. She has traded carrying her babies for her lips so at least it is a smaller pile of stuff to carry.

Livy's new fascination is changing diapers and potty time. I think she will be ready to potty train soon. The question is will I! She tries to change barney and ducky. She says they are stinky and have poopy. Proceeds to wipe them for like 10 minutes straight and then tries for another 10 minutes to get a diaper on them. The other day she was trying to change Rachel. Rachel laid down for her and they unzipped her pajamas, and Livy already had the wipes and diaper out. They got stuck on the diaper!

Again, sorry about the backwards order of the pictures. We had their family birthday cake on the Sunday after their birthday so Becky could be here too. This is a picture of the bottom of the Carvel ice cream cake we got. I left it to soften up a little too long before we ate it so by the time I was cutting it, the bottom was melting all over. Finished product looks like I put the cake strait on the counter, don't worry, there was the bottom cardboard under the cake.

For anyone who did not have Carvel ice cream cakes growing up like we did in NY, I strongly recommend trying one. They are a little pricey but yummy too! It is only ice cream no cake in it in layers: vanilla, chocolate crunchies, chocolate ice cream, frosting. Yum. You can already see the bottom melting out before I even cut it.

Enjoying their b-day cake! I was cutting and didn't notice poor Livy got a fork instead of a spoon can could barely eat any!

Happy Birthday again.

Actual proof that Rachel is not scared of Greg all the time! She goes back and forth with him. Scared to death one day, playing the next!

I throw an awesome party! Two packs of 59 cent cat shaped balloons and they had a ball! Just kidding, melted cake, an allergic reaction, and poo smushed into the carpet is how it really went!

You saw the cake already. Katelyn got licked on the eye by Pebbles and it blew up swollen bad. Poor kid. After everyone left Rachel pooped, pulled her diaper off and smushed some that got on her foot from the diaper on the way off into the carpet. But they really did have a ball with the balloons! Good times!

Carousel at the zoo. They love love love the carousel or the "neigh-neighs" as they call every carousel, even the zoo one with no horses on it! They scream and shout and jump and run to the carousel and they when they are on it they just sit there almost emotion less!

Fun in the backyard. Beck is so good with the camera. She was taking pictures all the time, thanks Beck! Her kids are gonna have such good recording of their lives!

You can never get sick of bubbles! Livy kept shooting Becky with the bubbles right in the camera. "Ready....set.......GO!" She would say every time!

The diaper comes in very handy for holding things when your hands are tied up with more important things!

Becky got to see lots of their shenanigans. On this day Rachel managed to pull the pool out from behind the grill. Her and Pebbles were sitting in it together while Rachel took a little taste of Pebbles pig ear. Totally make me vomit why don't you. Becky took it away from her and of course there was waterworks and as she was crying a raisin came shooting out of her nose! Don't worry it was only from that morning, not days before-if that makes it any better!

And Becky helped me see the bright side, for some kids around the world pig ears are delicacies! She has so much patients and love and just an ease about here. Just calmer than me and that is something I am striving to be. I always learn how to be a better person when she is around. Thanks Beck!

Look at my sweet face, I would never eat a pig ear!

Livy taking care of her little sis. It is hard to see but Rachel had her legs crossed while sitting there getting her hair brushed. Too cute!

Story time again with Aunt Becky! Good thing she loves books! And Rachel and Olivia!

We saw Toby Keith at the rodeo and although it was way too loud the concert was good. I knew all the songs which I was surprised by and he sounded good. We would have liked to see Taylor Swift or Keith Urban but we only had a few nights to choose from while Becky was here.

Becky at her first real rodeo! Our favorite part was the mutton racing or something like that it is called. These little 5 year olds try and hold on to the back of a sheep and they let the thing run. Most of them fell of in one or two seconds but they were so cute these little kids. They would show them on the big screens and you could see how happy they were when everyone in the whole place cheered for them.

Good times and good food.

My hubby and me. Eric and I hadn't been to the rodeo for the past two years so it was fun to do again. And to have a night without the kiddos. Thanks Brenda!

Oh what a fun trip with Beck! I am so happy you came Becky and I miss you. We really wanted Cassie to come too but it just didn't work out. We missed you Cass. Can't wait to see everyone this summer again! Thanks for a great trip Beck and all of your help with the girls. They still talk about you going home on an airplane. At least they haven't forgotten you! There were many cute things the girls said over and over again while Beck was here but that list will come later. My next post is going to be about things they are doing now, a 2 year old list so I can remember what these 2 year olds were doing and saying.

Our best discovery this trip was an awesome lentil soup recipe. We know we are old because we like lentil soup! Never would we have eaten it when we were little but it is a good one!