Luck Number Seven {times two}!

My Babies Are SEVEN!!

My little ladies turned seven last week! It's cliche, but I cannot believe it. As we did at age five and six, we interviewed them to check out how they've changed...and have stayed the same. 

Check out their answers this year!

Nickname - Lyla Bear
How old are you? Seven
What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite animal? Monkey!
What is your favorite book? Barbie and the Secret Door
What is your favorite TV show? Sophia
What is your favorite movie? Ariel (aka The Little Mermaid)
What is your favorite song? Shake it Off
What is your favorite food? Steak
What is your favorite drink? Hot Chocolate
What is your favorite breakfast food? Eggs & sausage
What is your favorite snack? cheese stick
What is your favorite outfit? a skirt and a short-sleeve shirt
What is your favorite game? Simon Says
What is your favorite toy? Kitty
Who is your best friend? Eve & Addie & Natalee
What is your favorite thing to do? Watch TV
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the swing
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? American Girl doll
Where is your favorite place to go? Celebration Station
What is favorite restaurant? Ted's
Where do you want to go on vacation? Disney World
What do you to be when you grow up? A teacher
What did you do on your birthday? went to the Devon Tower

Nickname - Nat
How old are you? Seven
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite animal? a monkey
What is your favorite book? the Princess Book
What is your favorite TV show? Sophia
What is your favorite movie? Goofy
What is your favorite song? How Great Thou Art
What is your favorite food? Lasagna
What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
What is your favorite breakfast food? Pancakes
What is your favorite snack? cheese stick
What is your favorite outfit? The striped dress
What is your favorite game? Sorry!
What is your favorite toy? The doll
Who is your best friend? Scarlett
What is your favorite thing to do? Play outside
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the swing
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My purple doggie
Where is your favorite place to go? Chuck E Cheese
What is favorite restaurant? Okie's
Where do you want to go on vacation? DisneyLand
What do you to be when you grow up? A teacher
What did you do on your birthday? Went to the Devon Tower

I love my girls. I love their answers. I love being their mom. Basically, I'm the luckiest momma in the world.

Two Six-Year-Olds

Today, my beautiful baby girls turned six-years-old. They have brought more joy to my life than I could ever imagine. Last year, I conducted an interview of my then five-year-olds. I decided to ask the girls the same questions to see how much they have change. They changed most of their answers but kept a few the same. Enjoy!

Natalee

Nickname - Nat
How old are you? Six
What is your favorite color? Purple and pink
What is your favorite animal? monkeys
What is your favorite book? Jasmine
What is your favorite TV show? Sophia
What is your favorite movie? Frozen
What is your favorite song? The "Let it Go" one
What is your favorite food? watermelon
What is your favorite drink? Sprite
What is your favorite breakfast food? cinnamon rolls
What is your favorite snack? crackers
What is your favorite outfit? the yellow one
What is your favorite game? Madagascar
What is your favorite toy? my drawing thing that I got for Christmas
Who is your best friend? Teagan
What is your favorite thing to do? Play on your notepad
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Do the monkey bars and climb the tree
What is your favorite holiday? Mother's Day
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? blanket
Where is your favorite place to go? to grandma's house
What is favorite restaurant? Charleston's
Where do you want to go on vacation? To the water park
What do you to be when you grow up? A teacher, a kindergarten one
What did you do on your birthday? got a birthday hat

Lyla

Nickname - Lyla Bear
How old are you? Six
What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite animal? monkey
What is your favorite book? Frozen book
What is your favorite TV show? Sophia
What is your favorite movie? Frozen
What is your favorite song? Ariel
What is your favorite food? Strawberries
What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
What is your favorite breakfast food? Pancakes
What is your favorite snack? Crackers
What is your favorite outfit? the shirt with the poodle on it
What is your favorite game? Ladybug game
What is your favorite toy? my doggie toy
Who is your best friend? Avery
What is your favorite thing to do? Color
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Do the monkey bars
What is your favorite holiday? Mother's Day
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my pink bear that Nanny got me
Where is your favorite place to go? Grandma's house
What is favorite restaurant? Charleston's
Where do you want to go on vacation? Great Wolf Lodge
What do you to be when you grow up? Teacher
What did you do on your birthday? Brought cupcakes to school

Once again, they answered some of the questions pretty differently, with a few more things in common this year than they did last year:

• Their age, obviously
• The color pink
• Their favorite animal: monkeys
• Their love of the movie Frozen
• Eating crackers
• The monkey bars
• The world's best holiday - Mother's Day
• Going to grandma's house
• Being a teacher when they grow up

Big girls with their baby sister

Six-Year-Old Stats:
Natalee - 51 pounds, 47.5 inches (up 6.5 lbs and 2.5 inches at age 5)
Lyla - 36.8, 43 inches (up 3.8 lbs and 1.5 inches at age 5)

Needless to say, people typically look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them they are twins. They don't look anything alike and Natalee easily looks a year (maybe two) older than Lyla. I wouldn't change a thing about them. They are both perfect, wonderful, beautiful, sweet, caring, smart baby girls. I am so lucky I get to be their momma. So lucky. Seriously, I hit the daughter jackpot with these three.

Five Years of Fun

A few weeks ago, my big girls turned five. Five years old. They are becoming more and more fun each year and also bring us different challenges each year. I love them so. This year, I decided to interview them for their birthday. Here's what they had to say:

Natalee, Age 5

Nickname - Nat
How old are you? (holds up hand) - Five, I'm five
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite animal? elephant
What is your favorite book? I like the puppy book
What is your favorite TV show? I like, did you say show? I like Dora
What is your favorite movie? Rapunzel
What is your favorite song? You mean on the kiddie songs? I like "you're happy and you know it clap your hands"
What is your favorite food? sketti
What is your favorite drink? grape juice
What is your favorite breakfast food? I like waffles
What is your favorite snack? I like graham crackers
What is your favorite outfit? I like to wear a dress
What is your favorite game? Game? I like, umm, what do we have games? Duck duck goose
What is your favorite toy? I like a ball
Who is your best friend? Avery
What is your favorite thing to do? I like staying home.
What is your favorite thing to do outside? I like going down the slide
What is your favorite holiday? I like Halloween
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? I like my blue guy
Where is your favorite place to go? to grandma's house
What is favorite restaurant? I like Chili's
Where do you want to go on vacation? I'm going to a water park
What do you to be when you grow up? A teacher, a big kid teacher
What did you do on your birthday? I opened presents.

Lyla, Age 5

Nickname - Lyla Bear
How old are you? (holds up hand) - Five
What is your favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite animal? a dinosaur, rawwr!
What is your favorite book? I like the ladybug book
What is your favorite TV show? Dora
What is your favorite movie? Rapunzel
What is your favorite song? Happy
What is your favorite food? I like peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I like it more with goldfish bread.
What is your favorite drink? I like grape juice
What is your favorite breakfast food? I like the pancakes
What is your favorite snack? I like the chocolate cookies at Ms. Marilyn's house
What is your favorite outfit? I like these clothes (points to outfit she's wearing)
What is your favorite game? I like playing the ladybug game.
What is your favorite toy? I like playing with um, I like coloring.
Who is your best friend? I like Avery
What is your favorite thing to do? I like doing the laundry with you.
What is your favorite thing to do outside? I like swinging on the swing.
What is your favorite holiday? What's a holiday? Christmas? I like Christmas.
What do you like to take to bed with you at night? I like to take my new dolly to my bed.
Where is your favorite place to go? I like going to a water park.
What is favorite restaurant? I like going to Wendy's. 'Cause it has the yummiest food ever.
Where do you want to go on vacation? To that place after we go to a cation (vacation), the lego place with the pink castle.
What do you to be when you grow up? A momma
What did you do on your birthday? Get lots of presents.

Not much in common if you look it over:

• They're both five, obviously, and both hold up their hand when telling their age.
• They both like: Dora, Rapunzel and grape juice.
• They share a best friend: Avery (Might be disasterous growing up)
• They both received presents on their birthday (and nothing else notable).

I always tell people how much the girls differ - it really is true, not just in their looks.

Speaking of physical differences, here were their stats from their 5-year checkup:
Natalee:
44.5 pounds (75th percentile) up 5 pounds since age 4
45 inches (75th percentile) up 3 inches since age 4
Lyla:
33 pounds (5th percentile) up 2 pounds since age 4
41.5 inches (25th percentile) up 3 inches since age 4

For their birthday, we took the girls to breakfast to Cracker Barrel (Taco Bell, according to Natalee). After work, we took them to Celebration Station for pizza, games, and mini golf. In case you were wondering, five-year-olds are not so interested in mini golf.

We are seriously the luckiest parents in the world to be blessed with these precious little pumpkins (+ their baby sister).

Four Years Old!

Happy Fourth Birthday to My Pretties!

My babies turned four on April 30th! How exciting! I'll do a separate post about their birthday parties (that's right, plural)...this particular one is all about them!

Lyla, my first born, twin A

• My tiny little girl, full of personality. She has some major mood swings. One minute she's the most sweet, precious, loving girl you've ever met. The second minute, she is digging her heels in the ground refusing to do anything you ask. She is also a bear to deal with before 9am (much like her mother).
• Now weighs 31 pounds! This is huge, I wasn't sure she'd ever hit 30. This puts her at about the 10th percentile. She's little but growing at a consistent rate.
• Is now 38.5 inches - at the 25th percentile.
• Pink is her signature color. She also has started to distinguish between "girl" colors and "boy" colors. But, she's easily persuaded to wear whatever we tell her to.
• Has the most adorable blue eyes and short, curly blond hair. Spitting image of her father.
• Eats like a little bird.It's not uncommon for her to say "momma, my belly is getting all full" after 3 bites of food.
• Is starting to become sensitive to the fact that she wears some of her twin's hand-me-downs and notices when Natalee gets new things.
• Can dress herself, write her own name, count to about seventeen, recognizes all the major colors and shapes, knows her letters and numbers, and is generally one of the smartest four-year-olds on the planet.
• Can throw a ball and swing a bat like a champ.
• Loves her baby sister to pieces. She loves to hug her, kiss her, talk to her, pick her up and carry her across the house, everything. It's so sweet.

Natalee, twin B

• My even-tempered precious sixteen-year-old in a four-year-old body. She is genuinely hilarious and loves to make you laugh. She has her moments though and can be extremely moody. 
• Now weighs 39.5 pounds - 75th percentile.That's right, a full 8+ pounds heavier than her older twin. People never think that they are twins when we're in public.
• Is now 42 inches - 90th percentile.
• The girls loves purple.
• Has the same adorable blue eyes as her sister. Has a gorgeous curly light-brown mess of hair. Change her eyes to green and darken her hair and she's me 25 years ago.
• The girl LOVES to eat! Seriously have you read this? She will try any food item you put in front of her and 9 times out of 10 will eat every bit of it.
• Loves to listen to "kiddie songs" in the car. Translation: toddler radio on Pandora.
• See Lyla's third to last bullet point above: Can dress herself, write her own name, count to about seventeen, recognizes all the major colors and shapes, knows her letters and numbers, and is generally one of the smartest four-year-olds on the planet.
• Love love loves to color, play with sidewalk chalk, and go on bike-rides with daddy and sissy.
• Has recently started putting her hands on her hips and staring at you when you say something she doesn't like.
• Is extremely respectful, understanding, and reasonable.

I feel so extremely blessed to have these two precious girls in my life. Like I said last year, I never in my wildest dreams expected to have twins. Now, four years later, I couldn't imagine my life without them. Life is hectic and busy - but I am a better person for having become their mother. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas in my world...especially my favorite momma, the lady who made me the person and mother I am today.

Story Time!

I have always meant to start taking the girls to the library for story time. Well, I finally got around to it now that they are almost three years old. I can't believe I waited so long...it is so much fun!

I am always curious what the girls are like when they are around other kids. They attend a Children's Day Out once a week and I often wish I could be a fly on the wall some days. It is so fascinating to see how they interact with other people. Story time at the Moore Public Library is my opportunity to watch the girls in their element. The library has story time for kiddos several times throughout the month. So far, we have attended two Saturday morning sessions. Not only do they read stories, but they also sing songs, play games, dance, and watch videos. It's great!

If story time is any indicator of how they behave at school, my girls are very eager learners! They always select the seat right in front of the storyteller...and often try to climb in her lap to get a better view.

You can see, on this Saturday, there weren't many other kids who were interested in the story. They also like to dance!

I believe this was the start of the hokey pokey. This was so funny; I could not stop giggling at how cute they were. Natalee, especially, was really getting into it. Check out the video (pardon the poor iPhone clarity):

I think maybe the girls' favorite part of this particular Saturday was chasing bubbles:

A few weeks ago, we went back to story time, and the experience was no different.

Here are the girls, sitting right up front, working on their numbers.

The sweet girl reading the story kept having to politely ask the girls to "sit down so the others can see the book." They are just eager learners!

This is definitely an activity that we will continue. I think I enjoy it as much as the girls!