March Madness!

Definitely not the basketball March madness, but oh my the crazy, get ready for baby, get ready for Easter, get ready for Clayton and Chloe's second birthday, get ready to hopefully move, madness! We waited to transform the office into a nursery until we knew how close we would be to moving into a new and bigger house. Unfortunately, the house we have been hoping for is taking a really long time to go through. We thought we had it, but then learned there was a number mistake on the bank's end, so we are waiting again. Ryan and I are hopeful we will hear something in the next week or so. Otherwise, we haven't found any other houses that meet our growing family's needs. We intend to be in this next house "forever," so I'm being pretty picky. The baby's room is ready besides all the cute decorations and bedding that truly make it a nursery. As soon as Nonnie knows whether her fourth grandchild is a boy or girl, she will be on the phone ordering the bedding! Daddy has been busy repainting the nursery a neutral color (we will paint more specifically when we move), putting furniture together, taking furniture apart, cleaning, etc. He's been in "nesting" mode too! I've lately gotten into a real DIY mode, so I have high hopes for what I'm going to create for the baby's nursery once he or she is here. I bought a paper cutting machine to help me with all of my projects. I love it! Ryan has always encouraged me to find a hobby and while my new crafting hobby isn't necessarily one that is solely for myself, it makes me happy to create meaningful things for my children. My next projects include Clayton and Chloe's Sesame Street birthday party, an advent calendar for Christmas, and personalized keepsake boxes for each child to keep all of their memorable stuff in. Fun stuff!

Here's some highlights about Clayton and Chloe in the month of March...
Clayton is a talking machine. He is putting together sentences and has more words than I can keep up with. It amazes me how he just knows a word based on hearing it and not being told "this is a ______." His letter recognition is unbelievable. He completely knows A-V now and recognizes them in other contexts too (signs, books, anywhere!). Chloe is doing fabulous with her letters too. She completely learns from Clayton. I used to have to tell her "this is an A, Chloe say, A," but now I show Clayton the card, ask him what letter it is, he says the letter, and then I show it to Chloe, ask her what letter it is and she repeats it. She doesn't quite have the identification part down, but listens to Clayton and repeats. We find this modeling concept to be true in a lot of aspects of our twins' lives. Clayton does whatever it is first and then Chloe follows some time later, but will do or say the same way as Clayton. It's pretty incredible. Another cute thing they both do is "read." They have a duck and goose book that follows the same pattern..."Is the pumpkin under the water goose?" on one page and then "No" on the other page. The pattern repeats with different beginnings for a few pages. I point to the "No" and they say "Noooo" and shake their heads. It's so cute and another thing Clayton did first with me and then Chloe just did without my prompting. Clayton is such a boy. He loves balls and knows every book that has a page that has some sort of ball on it. He's a super climber, can jump, swing from a bar, has an awesome throw, can shoot and "dribble" a basketball, is very aware of anything new or different, doesn't like anything out of place, can say his name, count to 10 (with prompting), and absolutely loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! He has also started singing. He knows some of the ABC song, twinkle twinkle, and several other songs we regularly sing. It's priceless. Chloe is our goofy little girl. She still does the silliest little march and her jump is magical. She bends down super low and stands up over and over again! She can swing from a bar, loves to color, can count to 10 (with prompting), calls her brother "sissy" which is what Ryan, Clayton, and I call her (another modeling thing!), gives the sweetest impromptu kisses, she loves to eat, loves ice cream, loves her daddy so much, and loves to sing and dance. She does the cutest hand motions for "twinkle, twinkle" and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes."

We are days away from little peanut's arrival. This is my last post as a family of four. In a few days we will officially be a family of five!

Here's some pictures that capture the March Madness!

Summertime in Winter!



No day is complete without a trip to the park!



Play time at bed time in Sissy's bed!



Our visit to the Easter Bunny...Clayton absolutely adored the bunny and Chloe was absolutely terrified!







My work so generously gave me a shower before my last day. It was so sweet of them to spoil little peanut.



Full term baby bump! 39 weeks and ready to meet sweet little peanut!


Our office has been transformed into baby peanut's new room, but it won't truly be a nursery until we know whether Peanut is a he or she and we can decorate it with all things baby boy or baby girl!

February Love

February came and went too fast, which means that I am officially on maternity leave. I am so happy to be on leave, but we have so much to do in the next month. We were hoping to be moved by now, but the market has not allowed for that, so we will be preparing our office for little peanut. Our dream house is looking very promising and if the acceptance does happen, I may be signing loan documents on the delivery table! Ryan is picking up the dresser this week and then we will be painting the red portion of the office to match the golden tan portion...that way it's neutral for either gender and for the future renters who will be living in our house. We went through the attic yesterday and got all the newborn baby gear down. Ryan did all the heavy lifting, while I went through the boxes of clothes. So, newborn clothes for both a boy and girl are washed, bottles are ready to be sterilized, and the swing, well if we are still here, it may be hanging from the ceiling! Needless to say, going through the "getting everything out of storage" process was enjoyable for both of us and really got us excited to meet our precious little one.

Now for Clayton and Chloe's update. They are officially 22 months, two months away from being two! One thing I've learned as of recent is that their every wish is granted by me. I'm thinking they do need to hear the word "no" from me once in a while, but I have such a hard time saying it to them. Of course, when it comes to discipline, I do it, but when my little boy says, "Mommy up" when he's in his crib, how do I not lift my big old self into cuddle with him?! I'm going to try to allow more independent play for them, but it is so hard for me to do. Wish me luck!

Clayton's vocabulary is incredible now. He can say most any and every word and has such a desire to learn what things are. He surprises me all of the time with his words. I was intending to tell him that what I was bagging at the grocery store was "broccoli" but before I could get the word out, he said "brocli." Yesterday he pointed to the vacuum and said, "vacuum." Their little minds are so amazing. Chloe is a little parrot too. She has more and more words daily, but her newest is calling Clayton, "sissy." We, including Clayton, call Chloe, "sissy," so we think she's just repeating his words, not quite realizing that she is "sissy" even though she responds to it when we say it. Silly girl! We still go through ABC flashcards most mornings after breakfast. Clayton can clearly identify A-O and can do so outside of the flashcards as well. Chloe can say her ABC's, but at this point every letter is a B! My favorite time with Clayton is 6:15 AM when we cuddle in my bed and watch Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse. At this point those are the only two shows we watch. Chloe sleeps about an hour longer than Clayton, so when she awakes we head down for breakfast. She actually has no desire to watch television, but Clayton could watch it all day long if we allowed him to! Clayton loves his blankie still, his paci (only allowed to have it when he sleeps and as a last resort in the car), Mickey, Minnie, his "nilk" (milk), sweet potato fries, Daddy's cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats), his cars, anything Chloe has, saying "uppy," dancing, going to the park, playing with any ball, going to My Gym, and giving kisses, especially to his Mommy and Daddy! Chloe loves her baby, eating anything and everything, especially blueberries and eggs, coloring, play dough, going to the park, dancing, dancing with her daddy, singing, going to My Gym, being held, playing dress up with her jewelry, my jewelry, old clothes, bibs, and giving sweet (open mouth!) kisses, especially to Mommy and Daddy!

Here's some pictures from their busy, fun month!

Sweet little sleepers...notice Chloe's unzipped jammies! She's our little exhibitionist!


Ticky, ticky time with Dada!


Clayton and Chloe love to read, especially in the big chair in their bedroom. Clayton likes to sit on Daddy's lap in the morning, eat Daddy's cereal, and read the sports page!


Valentine's Day fun! I've never been a huge fan of the day, not for any particular reason, but mainly because I felt like the day always did its best to push Christmas out, which is my favorite holiday. I hate seeing red and white M & M's before we've even celebrated Christmas! Now, that I have children, though, all of the lesser significant "holidays" are more meaningful. I bought all three babes little Valentine chair backers (I'll have their names embroidered once peanut is here!). We filled them with goodies and when Clayton and Chloe came downstairs they were so excited about the new "thing" on their chairs. They had fun with their little Valentine goodies and even more fun playing with the stickers and coloring later in the day. We also made heart shaped cookies, which they both enjoyed creating and frosting. Mommy burned the cookies, but C and C still loved eating them!









Having fun outside with their new bubble blower and sidewalk chalk!




Serious and focused little artists.


Daddy ran ahead to put our name in at Rainforest Cafe, Minnie was there on our way out of the park, Clayton spotted her, how could nearly 9 month pregnant Mommy say "no" to a photo op with Minnie Mouse, aka, Clayton's girlfriend?!