Frienemies!

Seriously...four and a half months, I can't believe that I have been such a slacker. I can just blame this one on the kids right..why not?? They DO keep me busy but, are in bed at 8:00. I can blame it on the fact that "The Bachelorette" has been keeping me occupied but, that just sounds terrible. I wish that I had some really good excuse like I was writing my dissertation but, I don't. It think for me with summertime comes laziness. This heat makes me want to do absolutely nothing. Kinda makes sense since today is only in the high 80's and I am finally getting around to an update. Again, I will try not to be so long between updates!

Devin and I have recently made up a new word. Frienemies: half friend and half enemy. This defines the relationship between Kate and Shannon to a tea. Half the time they are friends and the other half they are enemies. It just so happens that there is no pattern as to what they are at any given time. They can be friends all day and only have a few fights or ,on normal days, they are friends for a minute and 30 seconds later they are at each others throat. I think there must be a un-written Sibling Code.
Rule #1) Must make nice with sibling to get near the toy you want.
Rule#2) When sibling is not looking,take the desired toy without asking and claim that you have had it all along when your parent walks into the room.
Rule#3) When mom is on the phone, all house rules go out the window and screaming at eachother is the only acceptable behavior!

For those of you who ever brave to call me during the day, I am sure you have heard Shannon and Kates' version of WWII in the background. I don't know what it is about the phone ringing, but it seems like as soon as it does the enemy card is played all the time. I am sad to admit

that I often times lock myself in the bathroom , with my quiet Lucy, so that I can at least finish a sentence without having to tell my kids to get along. Or, so that the person on the phone doesn't think that I am a lunatic and can't control my kids. In reality, I can control them but wish that for at least a few minutes they would be able to work it out themselves. What a thought..I can dream.... right???

Despite the constant mini battles between Kate and Shannon, the past few months have been amazing.We have been really enjoying summer and the girls have accomplished so many things over the past few weeks!

Shannon has amazed me the most. She has learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. On our beach camping trip she had a blast riding next to us instead of in a bike trailer.

She also lost her first tooth. The tooth fairy was so fun, she couldn't believe that she would get shiny coins" ( quarters) just for a little old tooth!

She is also having her first play dates with out me. It is with the neighbors I trust but she couldn't believe that she was able to stay there without me. She is just this cute little girl now...time flies.

Kate has been amazing too. She is Shannon's shadow. So, when Shannon learned how to ride her bike,Kate learned how to ride her scooter. She has become a pretty good swimmer and will be losing her floaties any day now. She is talking so much and is starting to use adjectives. "BeauTIful" is her favorite to use. She emphasizes the TI so much it is funny! The best is when she tells a total stranger that they are beautiful. I can't help but think that she made their day. :) Her biggest accomplishment is potty training. She is amazing and has done really well. Some accidents here and there, but for the most part she has got it down. She thinks she is feeding the potty and it only likes to eat poop and pee! It makes me laugh that she thinks it's alive...hey whatever works!! :)

Recent "Kate-isms" a.k.a. Funny things(funny only afterwards) that two year olds do!

She clogged the toilet up with the tub stopper so much so that the plumber had to remove the whole toilet just to get it out.

She got into my face lotion(the expensive night cream, the $3 Jergens next to it was untouched! Figures!) and put it all over herself like sunscreen. We had to call poison control because we were not sure if she ate it. She got it in her eyes and woke the whole house. She is my child who hates water in her face, and was forced to flush her eyes out for 10 minutes. Poor thing. She also ate a mushroom from the field across the house. Bob at poison control is getting to know us on a first name basis. Kate was fine both times, we just had to monitor her through the night.

When ever she drops a toy she yells "Damn-it"! Oops, I guess I need to keep her away from the garage when Dev is working on a project.( Note to self..."doughnut"sounds similar and can be used instead!.....Tomorrow's project!)

The most recent Kate-ism to speak of is that she broke my mother-in-laws nose! It was an accident, to correctly defend her. They were playing around on the couch, and Kate's head banged into Lyn's nose really hard. Here nose started bleeding, ( or red paint was everywhere as Kate describes it) and poor Kate felt so bad that she cried and talks about it at least once a day.

She is such a good girl, but takes every opportunity she can to get herself mixed up in some trouble. It is pretty comical to read how much in the last few months! I am sure she has more surprises up her sleeve. I will keep you posted!

Lucy is getting so big. She is 10 months and is everywhere. She says "hi", "Mama", "Dada" and "Baba" now. I can't believe my little Lucy is going to be a year old pretty soon. This year has gone by so fast. She can stand on her own for a little while and then falls down as soon as she realizes that she is not holding on to something. It won't be long before her first step. :)

This has been a great summer. My little girls are getting bigger and bigger each day! Even though they may be enemies at times, I can't help but think that they will all be the best of friends in a few short years to come!

Hope you are all happy and healthy!

xoxoxo

Meg