Rachel is not a baby!

It is official, Rachel is not a baby! It has been a month of no diapers and no bottles! Rachel potty trained herself and stopped drinking a bottle right around 2 years and 3 months old! Having a big sister is a much better motivator than just mommy! Rachel is known to want a paci to suck on when she is tired and it seems to be helping her through the difficult time of getting all four molars at once. Thanks to Dr Lout for clearing that up for me. I couldn't figure out what was happening with her molars. Another accomplishment is that Rachel and Mary can go upstairs, take off their pajamas, put them away, pick out an outfit and put it on. Sometimes there is needed help with a hard to reach zipper or button but who doesn't need help with that once in awhile!

Curly Hair Please

Mary and I read the book "Dandelion". It is about a lion who had his hair curled and none of his friends recognized him when he arrived at the big party. Mary asked if she could have curly hair too. I pulled out the foam rollers and it was the perfect activity while daddy was playing basketball. Rachel asked for the same but when bedtime rolled around she didn't enjoy sleeping on them so we pulled them out. I sitll think she had some pretty curls in just an hour or two. Mary was excited the next day when her hair was curly. She really hoped she would trick her friends the way Dandelion did but everyone still knew her cute face! I loved her hair even more the second day. We will have to do it again and I will get pictures!

Phoenix Zoo

Mary made some friends in her Aqua Tots swim class. They had some extra passes and invited us to meet at the zoo on Saturday morning. There were so many for things for the girls to do. They liked the petting zoo, the little people farm/play area and a couple of different playgrounds. There were some sprinkler playgrounds so we will have to go back with their swimsuits or a change of clothes. We really liked seeing the koalas too. It was a really fun morning!

Grandma Came to Visit

Murray was out of town so my mom came into town. On her last day here the girls were invited to play at their friends house so my mom and I went shopping. We went to Penny's and she got the girls several matching summer dresses and it has been fun dressing them up. We have been getting a lot of comments about their being twins. I think it does seem like a possiblity when they are sitting side by side.

Babysitting Co-Op

We joined a babysitting co-op with a group of friends and it is fantastic! Murray and I watched the kiddies on the first rotation and they loved it! The girls cried when everyone left and they call it the babysitting party. They look forward to it on Saturdays and I look forward to having a date with Murray on Saturdays.

30 Weeks Pregnant

There was an activity for the ladies at church one night. As I was heading out the door Murray snapped a picture because we haven't taken many this pregnancy. Here I am around 30 weeks or so.

Doodlebook

Mary stopped taking naps and started a quiet time a long time ago. Quiet time has kind of split in half to part Mary & Mommy time and part Mary's quiet time. I am always looking for fun things to do during that time. We came across this doodlebook at Costco and it has been fun to see the things Mary has drawn in it.

Storytime

We have a library close to our house and they put on the greatest story times. They have different times and days for different age groups. There is one that works well for Mary and Rachel and we like to go when we can. They librarians put in a lot of effort and do so much more than read stories. The girls love it and so do I!

Here is a picture of the girls sitting in their usual spot, front and center!

Garage Door Ride

We had a pretty crazy accident happen on a Saturday morning in February on President's Day. It was quite scary so it has taken me awhile to actually write it down. Although it is pretty funny too, only because nothing bad happened from it. On with the story! We were heading out the door for some Saturday morning fun when we were all in the garage I pressed the button to open it and realized I left the girls waters on the counter. I ran in to grab them and started to hear Mary screaming. I dropped whatever I was holding and ran out there. The garage door was open and Rachel was hanging from it. I ran and grabbed her and she let go. It was totally frightening to see her so high in the air and slightly funny only because who would think something like that could happen? I told Mary she did a great job calling for me right away because Rachie could have been really hurt. We all calmed down and headed out for the days activities. The girls made a briefcase at Lakeshore and liked decorating them. Rachel is now good about reminding everyone not to touch the garage door and Mary has told several people including her sunbeam teachers and class that she "Saved her sister's life".

I took the is picture of Rachel just before we walked out to the garage because I thought she was looking so cute in her piggies.

Transportation Day

While Murray was taking the third and last part of board exams in Memphis my Dad came to keep the girls and I company here in Phoenix. There was a free and fun activity on Saturday for the community. It was a pretty big deal and there were so many people there. My dad was so nice and dropped us off at the front while he parked the car a mile away. The girls got to check out boats, bikes,a limo, cars, horses, buses, a taxi, a fire truck, an ambulance and who knows what else. The coolest was the helicopter that landed in the morning and took off that afternoon. The girls really liked being able to check out all the fun modes of transportation!