Dancing in Church

Katy loves to dance and has since she learned to walk.  She frequently dances in the pew at church because when she hears music, she wants to dance. 

Last weekend, while Papo and Grandma were visiting, we went to an evening program at church.  The church was fairly empty, and the program was mostly music.  Katy asked several times if she could dance.  At first I said no, but she was so confused and disappointed, and I felt guilty that she was having to sit quietly through a second church service that day.  I finally let her dance, and dance she did. 

At one point, I asked Katy to dance at the back of the church behind a row of pews so that she wouldn't distract anyone.  She looked at me very disappointed and said, "but then the people can't see me."  So I let her dance in the back at the end of the isle like she wanted because I just can't be the person to kill her spirit. 

After the program, the man singing during the service told us that he saw Katy dancing and had to close his eyes while he sang so that he wouldn't laugh.  My in-laws thought this was so funny, and it made for lots of laughs during the car ride home.  Katy, misunderstanding why we were all laughing, started laughing because the man "was singing with his eyes closed."  Not wanting to be left out, Cami started laughing as well.  As Katy would say, "Cami is just a joke, a big joke." 

Someday Katy will be too self-conscious to dance in church, or someone will tell her it's inappropriate and forever make her apprehensive about praising God in her language.  Until then, I'll let my girl dance.

October Road Trip

In October, Gigi flew down and then rode back to her house with the girls and I.  It was the twins's first road trip.  They did pretty well with the drive and the change in routine. 

Katy was so excited to visit Gigi's house.  For several days before Gigi arrived, she would wander out of her room after bedtime to tell us, "I'm so excited I can't sleep; Like 100 excited."  Katy now understands that 100 is a big number so she likes to use it when she wants to express a large quantity of something.  She does not understand, however, that in the context she uses 100 it is a unit for measuring something.  Thus her constant misuse of the number 100 to say things like "I'm 100 excited."  It's cute.

As the morning of Gigi's arrival approached, Katy started telling me all the fun things she does with Gigi.  She named all kinds of fun things, like color and play games on Gigi's phone.  Then she said, "And I help Gigi find her glasses.  Because people who use glasses can't find them if they aren't wearing them."  Very true, Katy.

Gigi finally arrived and Katy had a mouthful to report.  When we were talking about how much Cami smiles, Katy added that "Cami is just a joke, a big joke."  Later Katy was explaining to Gigi which classes she and her sisters attend at church.  Because we go to a Spanish church, Katy's Kindergarten class is called Jardin de Infantes and the Cradle Roll class is called Cuna.  Katy told Gigi, "the babies go to... crib and I go to... garden."  Nice literal translations, Katy.  Perhaps best of all, however, Katy told Gigi that "Pops wears the same clothes all the time" while we were driving to Pops and Gigi's house.  If you know my dad, you know that he wears variations of the same shirts, shoes, and shorts almost year round, and has done so for as long as I can remember.

Katy had so much fun visiting Gigi and Pops, and later Grandma, Papo, and her cousins.  For the three days we spent at Grandma and Papo's house, I didn't see much of Katy because she spent the whole day running around with her cousins.  I guess they even went to the bathroom together because I found out that after witnessing Elijah pee, Katy informed her aunt Vanessa that "Elijah did something funny, he peed standing up."

The reason for our visit to north Texas was to attend Chris's 20th high school graduation reunion.  We attended an alumni church service and potluck, and a dinner later that same evening.  We took the girls to the church service and potluck, but not to the dinner in the evening.  One meal was very enjoyable while the other featured brownie stained clothes, multiple food spills, and lots of tired crying.

Babies swinging at the park Katy likes to visit near Gigi's house.

The Sias cousins. 

Grandma Dorothy was so helpful at the reunion potluck.

Sleeping peacefully after clawing a brownie. 

Hawk Dogs

Katy's favorite food: Hawk Dogs!

Nailed It!

Over the summer Katy watched Nailed It! on Netflix.  During one episode in which contestants made a rainbow cake, I commented on how I once made a rainbow cake.  Katy, who is usually a non-responsive zombie while watching TV, magically heard me make that little comment and for the next few days asked to make a rainbow cake.

I finally caved, but convinced Katy to compromise on rainbow cupcakes.  I thought rainbow cupcakes would be easier, which I now suspect to be incorrect.  It took forever to separate all the batter, color it, and carefully pipe it into the muffin liners in equal amounts to ensure we'd have enough of each color for all the cupcakes.  But Katy had a blast and the final product looked really pretty.  So I'd say we Nailed It!

Speaking of nailing it, we nailed halloween this year. 

When I first suggested the Cat in the Hat to Katy, she was not on board at all.  Two things changed her mind:  (1) We checked out the book "El Gato con Sombrero Viene de Nuevo."  Katy loved this book because (warning: spoiler alert coming!) there were so many little cats hiding in the striped hat.  (2) I told Katy I would make her a fish in the fish bowl to use as a candy bucket. 

The planned costume: short sleeves, no hat, no gloves. 

I made this little fish using leftover felt and stuffing. 

The post-cold front costume: long sleeves, gloves, and a hat.
We made a last minute trip to the thrift store on Halloween.

Katy's costume turned out so cool!  I loved everything about it!  Her fur, her hat, her curled tail, her bow with cartoon stitching, her striped socks, her whiskers, and her fish bowl.  It was just perfect!

While Katy's costume was fairly easy to make, I decided I wanted the twins to have some big blue yarn wigs.  So I recruited my mom to help me sew their wigs.  Many hours went into sewing these wigs but they turned out SO. STINKIN'. CUTE.  Babies in over-sized wigs is seriously one of the cutest things you will ever see. 

Once you've spent countless hours on Halloween costumes, it seems like no big deal to find someone to make matching custom mom and dad shirts. 

Grandma and Papo were visiting over Halloween!

I love homemade Halloween costumes.  They are definitely more work and I'm not sure they save you much money in the end, but they look so great.  Yup, we nailed Halloween this year!

Summer Posts in November

How is it already November?!?!?! I've been absent here for a while but let me explain.

A couple months ago Katy spilled a glass of water on the keyboard of my laptop.   Of course she didn't tell me about the spill, so the computer sat with a puddle of water on the keyboard for several hours.  Somehow the computer still works but the mousepad is super slow, completely unresponsive at times, or even a few times operated by a super-speedy, totally ADHD ghost user who clicks on everything and anything in rapid succession.   When the mouse pad does work, waiting for the cursor to catch up with my movements reminds me of using dial-up internet when I was in college.  It's frustrating! 

I think I've figured out a way to use my computer again, but now it's November and I haven't blogged in weeks (ahem...months).  So here goes my attempt to catch up: Here's what happened over the summer! 

1.  We had several visitors.  Gigi, Pops, and Grandma Dorothy visited in late May and again in July with Layla and Nolan.  My cousin Sara visited with her two girls in June. 

2.  Katy continued her ballet lessons, started swim lessons, and attended a one-week art class.    

3.  Katy learned to ride her bike!

4.  In June, Katy went to VBS and loved it so much that she cried when it was over. 

5.  During the week of VBS, our little town received 13 inches of rain in one night.  Thankfully our house did not flood, but we did have several inches of water covering our backyard the following morning.  I was very disappointed that Katy did not want to splash in our giant puddle of a yard.  The day after the rain, we tried to go to VBS but were unable to exit the freeway because the access roads were underwater.  It was a lot of rain!

6.  I started taking the girls to the library regularly for story time and with me as I run errands.  Almost every time I go out by myself with all the girls, we are stopped multiple times by strangers.  Comments are usually some variation of the following: 

• Wow, you must be busy! 
• You have your hands full!
• Are they twins?
• My (aunt, sister, cousin, friend, etc) has twins?
• How do you do it?

Of course some people ask strange things sometimes.  One person asked if the twins were a boy and a girl, even though both girls were wearing a bow.  Another lady asked if I would invite her to the first birthday party for the twins and was offended when I said no.    

7.  We attended the local Fourth of July celebration, which featured several attractions including a bouncy house overloaded with kids.  Katy, who normally shies away from crowded, new environments, loved it and bounced until we told her it was time to leave.  It was awesome to see her so confident.  

8.  Because we live so close to Chris' place of employment now, he was able to join us for our annual lunch at Chick-Fil-A on cow appreciation day. 

9.  I bought a new tandem carrier and have been loving it.  I never carried Katy on my back because getting her on my back scared me.  But with the twins, I had to learn how to do it.  Now, almost every time I start loading the back baby while in public, strangers come rushing from somewhere to offer their help. It has even happened more than once while I am loading the babies in the parking lot.  It must look quite scary as I do the hip scoot to move the first baby onto my back.  

We got out and about more as a family over the summer than we did during the winter.  Thanks babies for growing up a little so we can be somewhat normal again!  

Seven Months and Sitting Up

These girls are seven months old! 

Here are a couple pictures of just Cami. 

Well, this one has Catarina too.  BUT...look at that silly face on Cami. She is a funny baby for sure!

It is so easy to make Cami smile and laugh.  She smiles so much that almost every person who sees her comments, "Oh wow, she's smiling!"  Cami isn't rolling over yet but she does the cutest little baby sit-ups, or at least she tries to. 

Now a couple pictures of just Catarina. 

Look at those eye lashes!

Catarina has a tooth now and she is constantly reaching for and contorting her body in any way possible to grab every. single. thing. in sight.  She is so fast and good with her hands that she frequently grabs things before I even register their nearness, and she gets so frustrated when she can't quite reach or we take something away. 

Finally, here is the beautiful big sister, who is now four years and seven months! 

I had no idea how much Katy would enjoy her twin sisters or how little she would resent their non-stop neediness.  She is such a wonderful little girl, and a very loving big sister.

I look forward to watching these three build a lifelong friendship.

Trying to be Graceful

One final post about Layla and Nolan's visit.  We took the kids to the trampoline park. Layla, who has taken gymnastics and loves doing cartwheels, jumped very gracefully.  Katy tried to copy her but lacks the same grace.  The result was pretty comical. 

The Cat in the Hat

While Layla and Nolan visited, we took a trip to the beach.  I don't see Nolan and Layla a lot, but I do think the three times they have been to the beach were all with me.  So I've got that. 

The twins in their adorable bathing suits!

Grandma Dorothy made it down to the beach.

These kids had soooo. much. fun.

It was dark by the time we started the drive home.  As we were leaving Blanca Isla park, a cat ran in front of our car.  Chris exclaimed, "Oh, a cat!"  As if it were normal, Katy asked from the back of the car, "Was it wearing a hat?"  What?!?!?!  What kind of cats does Katy think live near the beach?

Fancy Dinners and Parties

For several months now, one of Katy's favorite activities is planning parties and fancy dinners.  A party or fancy dinner for Katy consists of setting the table with paper plates, plasticware, colorful napkins, some kind of disposable cup, and paper straws.  I used to have a basket full of paper goods.  All of Katy's parties had depleted my supply.

Sometimes Katy writes invitations for her parties and fancy dinners, which are really just papers of various sizes, with or without scribbles for writing, folded unevenly several times and sealed into an envelope much too large.  Sometimes she sets the table with fake food.

Last weekend Nolan and Layla visited with my parents.  On Friday afternoon, I was in the baby room rocking one of the babies to sleep.  Nolan opened the door, handed me a small piece of paper folded in thirds, and said, "Here's your invitation."  "To what?," I asked.  "To the party," he replied.  And then he left.  I smiled at the thought of Katy in the other room with someone to join in her party planning.  Perhaps Katy has found her soulmate, I thought.

After leaving my sleeping baby, I found Katy and Nolan excitedly making more invitations.  When all the invitations were made, Nolan asked me for paper plates to set the table for the party.  Yes, I thought, Katy has found her soulmate.  We were out of paper plates, but I wasn't going to let this moment pass.  Finally, Katy had a playmate as excited as her about one of her absolute favorite activities.  So we made a quick trip to the dollar store.

Eventually Layla joined in the party planning fun.  Chris ordered Pizza and Gigi iced caterpiller cupcake cake.  Katy was exploding with excitement when it was finally time for everyone to sit down at the table at their assigned places.  Boys had napkins with balloons, girls had napkins with flowers.  Pops had the checklist with everyone's names, so after prayer he started the party by taking roll. 

After dessert and tasting a few Mexican candies, Nolan announced that the party would end with a game of tag outside.  Katy wanted to play hide-and-seek instead.  Perhaps they aren't soulmates after all, which is probably good because they are cousins. 

We planned to go out for Dinner on Friday evening, but I think our party was much more enjoyable.

The place settings.

All present, thanks to Pops taking roll. 

Ready to play tag.

Happy Half-Birthday!

The twins are six months old today, which means Katy is also half-way to being five.

Last month was a busy one for the twins: they started eating solid foods (or what was once a solid before it was turned into a runny puree).  Catarina started rolling over a couple weeks ago and is already rolling multiple times to travel across the floor.  Cami likes sticking her thumb in the hole in her Soothie pacifier while she sucks on it, so it looks like she is simultaneously sucking her thumb and her pacifier.

Katy continues to be a source of great humor for the twins.  She makes loud, repetitive noises as she jumps around and in their faces.  Her antics drive mom and dad nuts sometimes but also makes the twins laugh and laugh and laugh.  Of course, when the twins laugh, mom and dad laugh too.  All the laughing only encourages Katy to continue being repetitively loud and jumpy, which also drives mom and dad nuts.  So we are in a terrible cycle of laughing and feeling at our wits end sometimes.  Luckily, these three girls make it worthwhile in the end.