I have so many fun and random pictures from the last week or so, that I just needed to get recorded somewhere. The funny thing is, a lot of it is just so daily. We take daily walks around the apartment complex, picking up acorns, rocks and pulling dandelions from the ground.
We are getting a little tired of our surroundings and looking forward to a back yard and a neighborhood to explore. Can't even tell you how excited we are to move into my mom's basement! (Once it's finished of course).
Both of the girls take turns finding random places to sit and take a brake. Most often on someone's stair well. Molly is getting so big and LOVES to follow Lucy wherever she goes. They are so much fun to watch. I have no need for TV or any other outside entertainment when these girls are playing good together. Even when they fight it's entertaining. I most often don't get involved, and more often than not they work through their differences with out too much blood or tears being shed. So glad they have each other.
Currently, Molly's favorite foods include, beans, hummus, green beans from a can, avocados, rice, frozen waffles, eggs, oatmeal, and rice chex. Not her favorite foods, my chocolate chip cookies (I'm trying hard not to be offended by that one, but she seriously looks at them with disdain and disgust everytime), and J-ello (also the same, disdain and disgust). Whatever she eats or does not eat, she refuses help and so most meals look like this. She tries to use a spoon but most often resorts to finger method. She can recognize dairy products in anything and will not eat it. Although we don't really have any confirmation that she is or isn't allergic to dairy, whenever I try she either won't eat it or she will develop some sort of rash somewhere on her body. So we are pretty sure she is allergic and we are staying away from dairy for now. (and possibly forever)
Lucy's favorite foods include, cheese quesadillas, mac and cheese, tomato soup with cheese crackers, cheese and crackers with sliced apples, cheese, cheese pizza dipped in ranch, taco soup with lots of cheese and sour cream .... do you see a trend? Obviously Lucy is not allergic to dairy and pretty much refuses to eat anything that isn't at the least smothered in cheese. Just today she came to the dinner table, looked at the bowl of mexican rice and beans that were placed at her chair and declared "Oh man, Beans and Rice! I don't like beans and rice!" Those were her exact words. And she did not eat a bite. Molly devoured hers. Even with their differences, it really hasn't been too hard to keep them both fed and healthy. Lucy will eat several different fruits and vegetables. And she can pack down almost an entire Jimmy John's sub by herself. (It's amazing!)
Lucy is getting much better at dressing and undressing herself, although she has a silliness bug that has kicked in and often times undressing is an excuse for a whole new wardrobe to bounce around in.
I told Lucy to show me a big smile. This is what I got. And yes, she is one big potty trained girl.
I read so many different programs, and so many different ways to potty train in one to three days. In the end, we did our own thing and it worked. She still wears a diaper at night, but during the day, she is a pro and hasn't had an accident for days. I really was amazed how quick she caught on and how well she did. I didn't have to spend all my time with her, I didn't have to set a timer, I didn't have to reward her everytime... So all those programs may be great for others but for this pregnant mother of two... we made out just fine with out any of them. It really is so nice to not have to change two girls bums anymore. (I realize that's quickly going to change, you don't need to remind me)
Molly is talking up a storm these days. She is a fantastic imitator. She remembers lots too. Among many of her words, the most clear and useful are, "dink"=drink "mor"=I want that, "no"=can mean yes or no depending on how she says it, (it's confusing unless you speak molly) "kitty", "Doggie", "duck", "quack", "maow"=meow, "bink"=binkie, "nana"=banana, "baba"=bottle, "beba"=belly button, "eyes", "nose", and many others. I guess some of those are less useful but I'm glad she's picking up language so quickly, because we have not taught her any signs, and we relied on that for Lucy until she was close to two.
Lucy has two white kitty's that are her favorites and she sleeps with them every night. Molly LOVES them as well, which does not always fair well between the two of them. When Lucy is feeling generous, she will share one or both of them, but that is not always the case. Molly knows Lucy's weakness for these kitty's and often will steel them just to tease her. It's one of those really entertaining parts of my days.
Just the girls being silly. It's a daily occurrence especially after naps.
These are the scary ducks I talked about in a previous post. This particular day we threw rocks instead of bread so they left us alone. At the park with the Pope's.
One night James came home to no dinner and the most disgustingly dirty kitchen you've ever seen. We didn't want to go out. We didn't want to clean the kitchen so there would be room to eat. So we made a picnic in the living room. It was a random mix of corndogs, grapes and anything in the fridge that was going to go bad in a couple of days.
The irony of all of this, is that now we not only had a mess in the kitchen but one in the living room. Everyone was happy and fed so it didn't matter, and the kitchen eventually was clean and sanitary again.
This pretty much sums up their relationship. Lucy is a very kind, and patient big sister to this crazy, sometimes demon of a little sister.
Yesterday we took the girls to the toy store. We scored big with Molly's little white kitty that only cost us 8 dollars and a whole lot less headaches, because she now has her own white kitty and doesn't have to steel Lucy's.
We also promised Lucy a trip to build a bear for her hard work with potty training. She deserved it. She picked out this brown puppy and decided it was a boy puppy. I think she is looking forward to a baby brother.
All in all our life is not to shabby. We have good days and less good days, and a few bad ones mixed in between. The girls love to play and sometimes annoy each other, but they are learning and growing so much because of it everyday. I have learned so much watching them. I can't even express the amount of help the Lord has giving me to learn patience and more Christ-like love as I take care of them all day everyday. It's been a miracle to me.
In other news, James finished his first fieldwork on Friday and we are so glad he is done. The 45 minute commute each way was more than we cared for. He did really well, and learned a lot. He starts class tomorrow for six weeks and then we move to St. George to finish up his second fieldwork, graduate, and have a baby all before the end of June. Wish us luck. It's going to be a crazy summer.
