Cheese Face & Musical Stylings

Me and my girls hanging out last night.  C & O are such hot messes, and I love it.  They crack me up. 

Dog piling mom.



 

 



Mother's Day Weekend

Hope that all the mommy's had a lovely Mother's Day! 

Rob and the girls made mine special, complete with a whole afternoon to myself (best gift ever).  We also spent a couple hours with Grandma Diane and Aunt Kari to wish them a

Happy Mother's Day. 

My attempt at getting a picture with my girls, hmpff.

The girls giving Grandma Diane her gift. 

Mom & Daughter



Don't let that sweet face fool you,

Liney is always up to some sort of mischief.  

This was Livi yesterday morning.  I told her that we needed to get dressed and get ready to go... she says "ok, mommy" and then comes back into my room saying "I all ready!"  Apparently being "ready" means wearing your pj's, Easter ruffle socks and mary janes, and loading all your toys into any and every backpack you find.  There was no arguing with her either. 

She "needed" all that stuff. 

Rob took the girls outside to plant flowers and then for a long walk to the park.  It was heavenly to have a nice, quiet house for a few hours to read and watch a movie by myself.   When they came back, the girls were in a hyper/funny mood, covered in dirt and beyond excited to tell me all they did that afternoon. 

Here's a video of some of our conversation.  You can see how these girls can be EXHAUSTING! 





First Stitches

Unfortunately, we kicked our weekend off with a trip to the ER. 

We were headed out this morning to the "indoor playground" (the play area at our gym so mommy & daddy could work out).  The girls were excited to go, and were running to the car.  I opened the car door to load our stuff, and Olivia ran fast behind me and right into the edge of the ajar door.  I didn't think it would be more than a bump on the head, until I saw all the blood and an open gash on her forehead.  I looked at Rob and said, "we need to head to the ER."  Poor baby was completely freaked out and did not like that I had to hold a towel tight to her head the whole way there.  And Caroline was very concerned for her sister, saying over and over, "what happen to sissy?!.. she bumped her head, she crying mama!"  Thank goodness the Children's Memorial ER was not crowded at all that early, and we were seen right away.  All the doctors were so sweet to the girls.  They were hooked up with a movie to watch, popsicles, princess stickers and teddy bears. 

Three stitches and a supply of Dora the Explorer band-aids later, Livi was good as new.  She was walking around triage, holding her purple popsicle and telling all the doctors, "I all better now!  I get to go to the park now!"  Tough Girl!  {My dad would attribute this to the Smith genes, of course}. 

And after our traumatic morning and a much needed nap, here are my Rocky Balboa's (yes, Caroline HAD to have a Dora band-aid too).  Livi's on the right. 



Easter Weekend

The day before Easter we dyed and decorated eggs.  Caroline & Olivia were just enamored with the whole process.  It was a surprisingly mess-free activity too.  Success!!! 

My Little Bunnies

Sorry for the multiple videos... I was trying to keep them distracted so the eggs had time to dye.

 

 

The morning of Easter, the girls were excited to find treats from the Easter bunny and just HAD to eat all the chocolate and candy in sight.  I gave in just this once...

Liv with a mouth full of chocolate egg.

Then we headed over to Aunt Kari & Uncle Jay's house for an Easter Feast and celebration. 

All the cousins at the Big Kid table.

And then waiting patiently for the Easter Egg Hunt to start!

Great Papa Bob and the kiddos.

The girls favorite goodie in their basket?? 

A Hello Kitty Purse with real lip gloss in it from Grandma Diane.  They just kept reapplying, and reapplying until their whole face was a sticky, glittery mess.  =) 

Are they girly girls, or what!??  {Sorry Daddy}

They were some SLEEPY girls riding home and coming down from that sugar high.  

I hope that everyone had a Blessed Easter this year. 



Potty Training Update

So the potty training saga continues... we talk about it every day, put the girls on the potty often, bribe them with treats and promises of wearing big girl undies... but we're still not quite there yet. 

They both have done it several times, just not consistently.  I don't want to rush them, but man are we ready to be DONE with diapers!  Sometimes our conversations go something like this:

"mom, I need to go poo poo"
me: "ok, let's go sit on the potty."
C or O: "NO!  I need a fresh diaper!  I no want sit on potty, I want a diaper change!" 
me: *eye roll*

you think they're ready to be potty trained yet??!?

We'll keep working on it.. to be continued...


You can see from this video how obsessed
they are about the whole ordeal:



Miss Independence

We split the girls into two separate classrooms a few weeks ago.  At first I wasn't so sure, but I'm liking the idea of them getting a chance to grow and foster some independence, make their own friends, and not rely so much on each other.  I know, I know - they're only two years old... but you should see how much they play off each other's emotions (in both good ways and bad).  My hope is that they have a special sisterly bond forever, but also that they grow up having strong individual ideals and aspirations.  I don't want them to always be thought of as "The Krupa Twins", but as Caroline and Olivia.  Ok, so maybe I should just let them be kids for a while.. I know. 

Anyways, I was nervous for them to be separated.  Really nervous.  I was completely expecting them to revolt against their teachers and have huge melt-downs, and half way expected to get a call at work saying that it just wasn't working out.  But to my surprise, it has been a super easy transition!  Their teachers have been raving about how well both girls are doing respectively.  Of course, when I come to pick them up at the end of the day it is so cute watching them reunite.  They'll run to each other and sqeal, saying "SISSY!!!!" and give a big hug.  Melts my heart. 

This isn't the best example, but I caught a little video of it the other night at pick-up:



Outdoors

These girls sure do love getting outside.  Too bad we're not getting much of a Spring... oh well, it will be hot before we know it and we'll be wishing these cooler days were back. (well, maybe). 

These are from a couple of weeks ago. 

And of course we can't go home without stopping for ice cream first.



Unusually HOT Day in April!

Last weekend we were blessed with a random 86 degree day in April!  Of course it was back in the low 50's the very next day... but we'll take it!  I had to dig around in storage to find all our shorts and sandals.  We had such a great day with the girls - took them on the train a couple stops into Bucktown, walked all over the neighborhood, played at the playground, grabbed some lunch and people watched.  Nice little family day. 

Waiting for the train. 

I thought this picture was neat.  Livi looking for the next train, and the Sears Tower in the background (where I work). 

A few videos from that day:

Chicago "Spring"

These are from last Saturday - we bundled up and headed to the park.  Looking forward to Spring finally "springing"! 

Some videos:





 



After Bath Convo

I have quite a bit to catch up on here, but wanted to post a quick video from the other night of the girls chatting after their bath. 



First Playground Trip of the Year!

The temps are just now starting to be bearable here in Chicago.  The girls were beyond excited when we stopped at the playground yesterday after picking them up from school! 

Here are some pictures I got on my phone: