Bailey Family

When Carolyn was about two (she was 22 months here), she had 'chicken hair' EVERY DAY - this was a normal hair day. Jared used to pick on her 'mullet' - and she looked a lot like that 1980's punk look - sticking up all over the top and long down the neck in the back. I used so much water (and sometimes bedhead spray) to get that mess to lay down as much as I could. It calmed down by the time she was 2 1/2, but my oh my, what wild hair she had! Now, almost two years later, I wish I had known how it would turn out rather than wishing she had different hair, b/c just LOOK at what beautiful silky straight hair she has now! (and on top of that she has 'natural highlights' that change color slightly as the seasons change) Daily maintanance now - spritz with water, comb out the tangles - done. In fact, some days it looks so good, I forget to comb it b/c it already looks combed! (She'll tell you, just wash it and comb it and go to sleep on it - wouldn't y...

Seth has done well so far, so I assume this means I am excellent at preparing a child for school (hehe), so I feel that I should share my tips on how to properly prepare a child for kindergarten. Tip #1: Teach your child to sit still in his chair and act appropriately. Tip #2: Teach your child good manners. Tip #3: Teach your child to be cheerful. Tip #4: Teach your child to experiment (ok, they probably won't need help with this!) (He thinks with the added feather on his head he can now fly - after experimenting, he found he could not as Mommy said would be the case.) Tip #5: Teach your child how to care for his hair. Tip #6: Teach your child good hygiene. Tip #7: Teach your child to dress appropriately in well fitting attire. Well, there you have it. For more information on preparing your child for school, check back in two years to get tips on "Preparing a princess for life as one of the common kindergarteners" (ok, so I might be reading other blogs for tips on t...

Ok, yes I know you've probably heard me say something like, "have them one at a time!" or "I hope I never have twins again" - b/c they are such a challenge (which is probably what I needed b/c I honestly thought going from 2 to 3 wasn't going to be so bad even though everyone else told me it was a challenge...guess the Lord "blessed" me to teach me - haha). So, in contrast to my usual recommendation to have your children one at a time, this is a post dedicated to the wonderful blessing it is to have twins! So here are a dozen reasons TWINS ARE GREAT... 1. I love to watch them play together. 2. I love to see them get each other's sippy cup from the fridge when they get their own. 3. I love that when one climbs up on my lap to read, the other wants a spot too! 4. I love to watch them hug each other. (I was hoping for a picture of this because they've been doing it a lot, but when I tried to get them to do it, Natalie refused - go figure!) 5....

She was supposed to be taking a nap. I found yesterday that Kaitlyn needs 3 hours for a nap. Natalie barely needs 2. So, I'm going to try to put them down by 11:30, so they have three hours available until I have to leave to pick up Seth. So, she's often "clawing" at the door. We put her next to the door since she needs less sleep and it's easier to get her out without disturbing Kaitlyn that way. She's been messing with the doorknob since we did the room change. Today, she finally figured out how to open the door from her crib - the first time she's ever opened a door at all. So, here she is! That is a "Yea! Get me out!" face that you can't really see. By the way, she must have some separation anxiety problem, because, she burst into tears again today when Seth got out of the car...glad to know it's not just me she cries about. See the vote to the right. (Of course, I'm going to make my own decision, but what do you think.)

Seth is so excited with his new (kung fu panda) bookbag and spiderman lunchbox (mommy was hoping for the plain colored bookbag and the cute ball shaped lunch box!) His classroom says "Welcome to our pond" by the door and has frogs with all the kids names on them. Hence the frog hanging from his neck - it has his name on the front and his teacher's name on the back so that the teachers directing kids from the car to the classroom will know where to send them. (Yes, I didn't realize I was allowed to walk him all the way in until I saw other parents doing it...I will know for Carolyn.) Seth didn't need it, though. He's so ready for this! (I didn't cry either.) Natalie did however! She burst into tears when Seth got out the car and the strange man (with a school id hanging from his neck) "took" her brother! haha...she's going to be one I'll have to walk all the way to the classroom and peel her off my leg by the time I get there! What did y...

Did anyone notice that "dashboard" has changed its look a little? cool...anyways - on to my post. I can't believe Seth starts school tomorrow! Right before the babies were born I was wishing he were in school so that I wouldn't have 4 at home so young. Right after the babies were born, I was SO glad he wasn't in school so I could sleep whenever I could without worrying about any schedule other than the twins' feeding schedule! For a year or so now though I've been looking forward to his starting school so that he could have all the fun benefits he will get at kindergarten that I just can't provide at home. Last year, I found I was grateful for his late birthday so that we could go to the zoo and go on trips and do stuff all together for that 'last year' before school starts (and I know the 'end' won't be in sight for YEARS to come - my mom and her sisters STILL have kids in school - several not even half way through!) BUT...all summ...

Some information about what's going around around here (yes, other than the room change): While painting the shelves, we let the kids paint the prototype Rob made with finger paint. Carolyn got mad at the fly flying around, "That dagumit fly!" Kaitlyn peepeed on the potty Sunday night. (yeah, you read that right) She kept telling me she needed to pee pee, ok it was more like she grabbed her crotch and yelled "peePEE, peePEE", so after about 3-4 times of taking her out of the bathtub and sitting her on the potty, I noticed that there was a little puddle of peepee in the little potty seat. Two things on potty seats: 1. I hate them. I refused to buy one with Seth and Carolyn b/c I think they're disgusting to clean. But...if these are the results I get, I SO am changing my mind!! If you have a baby under 2, go get one! (not that I think she'll potty train any earlier, but if it's not like pulling teeth to convince her to go, then it was so worth its $1...

So my 'supermom' powers wore off between Thursday and Friday - by that time, I was out of energy, patience, yeah, all that - after I almost had a meltdown, I decided it was time for a nap. So, after a nice segmented nap Friday afternoon (that's a nap when someone comes in to aggravate you with some unimportant information every 15 minutes when you really just wish they'd leave you alone!), I was ready to finish what we'd started the week before. At the close of Saturday, the rooms were officially changed. For more information on how I completely wore Rob out, and to see pictures instead of videos, you can read his blog and comment to him on his site . So, here is "the green room" before (we call them by their paint color since the purpose of rooms around here changes more than the wall color). It was originally, "the baby room" ... and is now "Seth's room" (or the boy(s) room, but we only have one boy, so why bother with that name?...

So here's a fun idea, especially if you are about 18 months old and just learning to feed yourself. Get your mom to let you feed yourself mashed potatoes. This should be fairly easy since she lets you feed yourself all the time and is tired of spoon feeding you for the past 18 months. She knows that she can just wipe up what doesn't make it to your mouth and eventually you will learn your new skill and she and your father can both eat without feeding someone. Next, wait until she is not really paying attention (also fairly easy b/c being she will be watching you out of the "corner of her eye" - which is really not that great of a sight). Now, If your high chair doesn't have a buckle, stand up. If it does, just push away from the table slightly so that you can see the floor better. On to the fun part. Laughing loudly (which you'll be doing anyways b/c this is so fun), start putting your chubby little mischevious hands into the mashed potatoes. Then shake them a...

We like to re-arrange and change and that makes messes, so I've nearly trashed the entire house for our big "Room Change 08"! (That is making our two kids bedrooms be a 'boys room' and a 'girls room'. Lucky for Seth, he's the only boy.) 1st goal: make a quilt for Seth I want: matches his curtains and fits a twin sized bunk bed. Seth's want: dinosaurs and lizards, and crocodiles on it. No matching fabric with those things (in fact, no fabric at all with those things). So, I can appliqué, why not do it? Yeah, I like to plan things that are beyond my skill level...not too bad I don't think (Carolyn now wants a cat quilt...I think she'll get iron ons!): Kept the rest of it pretty simple. The plaid is the fabric for the roman shade I made him a few years ago. He likes it: (It will go on the bottom bunk once he has his own room) 2nd goal: Make toy shelves for each room (which I've been requesting...

So two of my brothers have put out the invitation to join them in wearing 'cutoffs'. See link: http://lefthandedblues.blogspot.com/2008/07/cut-offs.html I had a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee and didn't want to get my new shorts dirty cleaning the bathrooms, so I accepted their invitation: Now I need to go buy some jeans since I'm down to one fitting pair which is a few threads away from a hole in the knee also! One pair will probably become a jean skirt.

So Kaitlyn HATES diaper changes. I noticed today that she laid perfectly still while I took one off and wiped but she freaked out when I tried to put a clean one on and I couldn't get her to stay down (this is usually where I pop her little leg or I hold her down with my extra limb, oh wait - I didn't get one of those, but I should have with twins). So anyways. I said, "You don't want to wear a diaper?" she shook her head "NO" (this is how we communicate - I ask questions and she shakes her head yes or no until we figure out what she wants). So I said, "Do you want to wear panties?" She shook her head "YES". So, we went in to Carolyn's room, took some (no - NOT the princess ones - that would have been WWIII), and she willingly stepped into them. I don't know why I'm letting her do this b/c I am like 98% sure she is NOT ready to potty train, but cleaning up pee out of the carpet sounded easier than holding her little fat b...

I have a fascination with organizing things. This is not to say that my house is organized. But rather that I am constantly reorganizing things! So, here are some of my favorite organizational finds and some areas I still need some help in! __________________________________________________________________ organized - cheapness from walmart gotta love those plastic (and canvas) boxes - I use them EVERYWHERE organized: The kid korner _______________________________________________________________ organized: hair bow board ok, I stole this idea online - even Carolyn can keep this neat! note the little metal hooks underneath for the kids' hooded towels (that idea came from my mom - she did that when we were little) _____________________________________________________________ needs work: 72 hour food I got a rolling hamper for our 72 hour kit food - let's hope there's no real emergency b/c if we rolled this thing anywhere ...

1. This sock was left at my mom's house and has no match. If it belongs to you or someone you know (that has visited mom's), claim it within the next week.... Or it may become a sock puppet! Is it yours? 2. We found a few really cool shells that I put on the piano with pictures from the beach. However, we have this bag of shells that aren't cool enough to display individually, but still, part of our 'souveniers'. Any ideas on what to do with them? (Other than put them in the trash!) Last year we tried to glue them to wooden (blank) picture frames, but because of the curvature of them and the lack of flat surface space, I don't think we can just glue them to something... I thought maybe filling a jar with them. Seth wanted to make a necklace with them, but I don't think I can figure out how to drill holes in them and string them? any ideas different from these or building on these....?

A few weeks ago at bathime: Carolyn: Daddy, I want to take a short bath tonight. Daddy: That's fine. Do you want to get out right after you get clean? Carolyn: No, I want to stay in the bathtub. Daddy: Carolyn, what does it mean to take a short bath? Carolyn: I don't want to stand up to get clean. LATER... Carolyn: Can I stay in the tub 5 minutes? Daddy: Yes. Carolyn: Can I stay in the tub a long 5 minutes? Daddy: Yes. Carolyn: Can I stay in the tub lots of 5 minutes? Daddy: I'll let you stay in for 5 minutes. Carolyn: OK. Having Carolyn potty trained has added a whole new dimension to the comic relief around here. Check out these two experiences! About two weeks ago: Carolyn said to me over the babies running bathtub water, "Turn of the water so I can hear my pee-pee!" So I turned it off (even though I wasn't done). I told her to go ahead and peepee. She told me grumpily, "You missed it because the water was too loud!" Today during the "morning...