Always Sunny.............

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to shop! Shopping is my cardio workout for the day and my favourite personal mantra is : It is always sunny in the mall!! One of my dream jobs would be to be a personal shopper. It's the thrill of the hunt...and the ultimate bargain or just "perfect" pair of shoes to add to the collection. I believe that I was given twins to curtail my shopping because really, just how much shopping can you do with twins???

Some shopping tips:

1. Never shop during PMS.....what WAS I thinking?
2. Don't even attempt to shop with twin 2 year olds.
3. Don't attempt to shop with Daddy and twin 2 year olds, (even worse).
4. Avoid wearing tops you have to pull over your head. (messy hair syndrome after trying on countless items)
5. Wear slip on shoes..........
6. Wear layers, it can get awfully hot in the mall.
7. Wear something you feel good in.
8. Always check the return policy. (refer to #1)

Now go out and contribute to the GNP. Oh yeah, the reason for this post is that I found a great on-line, (of course), silver jewellery place (in Canada). I just ordered and received a beautiful silver pendant with Sophia and Alyssa's name on it with their DOB. It seems to be really good quality and reasonable, (think Mother's Day girls......even if you have to buy your own like I did..at least you get what you want) so I am passing on her website so go and have a look. I have no vested interest or profit sharing in this company ....just doing a favour for those of you, like me, can't get out and shop anymore. From one sistah to another. You can thank me later.

www.citrussilver.com

Enjoy

Golden Showers

The weather is blah, blah, blah and I am cranky as all h*ll. With no computer, and having to steal limited time on DH's, I have had to do OTHER things to keep me entertained. These OTHER things require more physical exertion (painting, sewing, cleaning, cooking, playing with the kids, blah, blah, blah) which aren't nearly as much fun as posting and lurking on other people's interesting blogsites. To top it off today, during bathtime Sophia stands up and proudly pees in the bathtub and laughs as if it was the funniest thing she's done since birth. I think the funniest thing was when Alyssa did "the poot" in the bath when they where 10 months old. It's all about the payback. Gotta love those twins!!!

Hubby's Home.....and LOTS of Questions

Hi All,
Hubby's back...travelling "all done", (as the girls would say---with arms outstretched palms facing upward) and mommy has lots of questions.

Question: Will I still get the "wife of the year award", if I am torn between hugging my husband or hugging his computer when he arrives home after being away?

Answer: No, because I was knocked out of this one in the preliminary rounds.

Question: Will I still get the "mother of the year award", if I turn up the radio in the SUV to drown out Sophia and Alyssa's whining?

Answer: Yes, because I am raising twins.

Question: Is it better to paint in barefeet or shoes?
Answer: Barefeet, that way you can feel the paint when you step in it and avoid traipsing it through the house.

Question: Just who do they think they are fooling with this "vanity sizing"?
Answer: Rich, fat people.........the more expensive the clothes the smaller the sizing.

Question: Can parents really be subjective when it comes to their own children?
Answer: Not a chance!

Question: Is it easier to teach 32 prepubescent adolescents or raise twin 2 year olds???
Answer: Hands down, teaching adolescents, raging hormones and all, is far easier than the latter.

Question: Am I the only mother to have to readjust my pre-mom thinking to fit into "reality"?
Answer: Hopefully not.

Question: What do you do when driving on the highway and the girls, in tandem, have a snot sneeze? (Otherwise known as "a hanger")
Answer: Hand them a kleenex and hope for the best.

Question: Does this blogging stuff take away from other activities?
Answer: Let's see...........I painted a closet, refinished a doorway, made the girls their curtains (finally!), hemmed a skirt and pants..........all because I didn't have a computer this weekend.

Okay, okay enough of the questions ........still don't have any pictures .....but I do have a story to share.

An Alyssa Story

Hubby is away and Alyssa finally gets Sophia's cold. Alyssa, having trouble sleeping, is waking up and crying out due to her congestion etc. Mommy goes in to comfort, bring her downstairs, watch TreeHouse, ( Thank you God for 24 hour programming), have a freezie and some meds etc...etc...Alyssa nods that she is ready to go back to bed so off we go. 15 minutes later (time check: 2:00 am) she cries out again. Since Mommy is going for "the mommy of the year" award she takes her back downstairs for another dose of TreeHouse (repeat: Thank God............),
anyway at least one more time of the above Mommy decides, screw the award, and says to Alyssa, "Honey we are going to lie down together in Mommy's bed". Alyssa shreiks and points to downstairs. (Time Check: 3:30 am). Mommy is firm, without beating, that NO we are staying up here together. Alyssa then decides to call out "DADDY, Daddy". Well, I dare say she has definitely figured out that if one won't give her her way she will try the other one. Now I know kids really don't know how to manipulate at this age but.........certainly signs are starting to show at our house. It ended up that Alyssa and I fell into blissful sleep together in Mommy's bed (a rare occurrence) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Until Sophia woke everyone up at 7:00 am........................


Swimming With NONNA

After a "great" night's sleep, off we go to swimming lessons at 10 am with Nonna. Now Alyssa is our water bug and will try new things and just generally really enjoys herself. So, Mommy of course got to have Alyssa and Nonna had Sophia. Sophia being of a different sort, just basically clung to Nonna's neck and said "NO". She won't let you put her on her back, front, etc. ... Everything is NO. However, she really enjoyed the last 10 minutes when the class went into the hot tub. She really enjoyed lounging and the pressure was off to do anything else! All she needed was a cold drink and she would have been in heaven.

That's it.....that's all..............gotta go give hubby a hug!

The "Poot"

This post is hitting "the bottom" so to speak. Lately my girls have been obsessed with their "poot" (translation: poop). The other day in front of the entire class Sophia had to tell her teacher about "the poot". (the teacher was politely telling her to SIT down so the other darlings could see the story). It is obvious to me that Sophia clearly thinks her "poot" or "pooting" is more important than a book about a cow. So there she was pointing to her derriere and proclaiming "poot" and the teacher says, "Yes, Sophia, pink, good girl, now could you please sit down?" Sophia doesn't like to be misunderstood so she continued to chant "poot, poot, poot", So mommy steps in and does the translation. The teacher (red-faced now) says, "yes Sophia, good girl, now will you please sit down?" Finally Sophia happily obliged. Social skills?....hardly, but good for a chuckle at least.

No pics again today.....still on hubby's computer............sorry!:(

Good News.........Bad News

My favourite way of telling my Grade 8's,(in my other life BC), any kind of news was to tell them I had good news and bad news and what did they want to hear first? They ALWAYS wanted to hear the good news first, so of course being the person that I am, I would tell them the bad news first. Never let them think that they are in control (lol)----- So here's the BAD news..............
Just as I was getting addicted to this blogging thing, my computer FLATLINED!!! I mean gone, no pulse, NOTHING!!!! Can't even turn the ?!*@!# on. I guess I should NOT have ignored the warnings....................
The GOOD news is that HUBBY IS HOME after being away a week. He's here for 48 hours and then he is away until??????????????? So I am updating, on his computer and I'm trying to convince him he doesn't need it for work tomorrow.....but I don't think that is going to work. No computer, no book, no hubby ...I am going to go INSANE!!!!!Oh yeah did I mention Sophia is fighting a cold?????
And to top it off he doesn't have any pictures of himself (or of the girls) that I can post for a certain special "someone".
This is certainly a time for medication. I hope you all feel for me as I would for you in the same situation.................................

A Priceless Gift

We have just learned that Sophia and Alyssa, at 9.5 months old, are the youngest set of twins from China to be placed with their forever family. (In Canada) I guess we got lucky.

We also got lucky when we received this picture above of the girls taken when they were only 3 days old! Just before Christmas I received an e-mail from a fellow travel mom-- she thought that someone on the Taihe chat group may have a picture of Sophia and Alyssa. You can imagine how I felt when I heard that....a piece of my girls history! Like everything in the adoptive world, nothing is easy or for that matter quick. I had to join the group, wait for approval from the moderator, search for the mother, and then connect and finally receive the above photo. This was the photo that brought instant cheers of joy to both of us. It was the same feeling we had when we opened up the e-mail attachment and saw their chubby little cheeks for the first time! I can't tell you how grateful I am to the mother that took their picture. It turns out that she herself is a twin which explains why she took Sophia and Alyssa's picture. Apparently the girls had arrived that same day .......and the picture is even dated!!! How unbelievable is that? No other Christmas gift last year compared to this picture and yes, even at 3 days I can tell who is who.....Sophia is on the left.
After this incredible picture landed in my computer I decided to check our own photographs to see if there was any that another mom might treasure. Sure enough there was one picture that I posted and found the mom and needless to say she was just as thrilled as we were to receive an earlier picture of her daughter.
I guess if anyone is planning to travel to China to adopt ..........and manage to see the orphanage..take pictures.......and pass them on.........what a potentially great gift to someone else.........a priceless gift.

In The Beginning...............

In the beginning there was a man named Flavio and a woman named Diana. They were very much in love so the decided to get married on July 20th, 1996 and start their family. Much to their disappointment things didn't work out as planned, and after many heartbreaks Diana decided to seek medical assistance. Little was she aware of the tumultuous rollercoaster ride of emotions that she was about to embark on. Flavio, forever supportive, joined the ride and hoped for the best. After many, many years of heartache, heartbreak , and a sadness that cuts right to the bone they finally realized that this wasn't the plan for them. They wanted to be parents, to love and nurture a child. To teach them all about life and to share their lives together as a family on an incredible journey of love. Their journey of love led them to the otherside of the world, across 12 time zones to the small city of Taihe in the province of Jiangxi, China and finally to Sophia and Alyssa. Diana and Flavio had so much love for these two tiny innocent babies that they felt as if their hearts would burst. And as the story goes ..........."they lived happily ever after."

This is our story and this is my venue to "tell it like it is". We wouldn't change a thing about our journey because to do that would mean we wouldn't have our two munchkins. Having said ALL THAT there are days (sigh)......................................

So, the picture you see is of "gorgeous" (*wink), hubby Flavio, with his girls lounging on their new table and chairs (taken at Christmas time).

So I hope you enjoy OUR LIFE with Sophia and Alyssa, as it REALLY is!

All About..........Sophia and Alyssa

Sophia-Li Dorinda---
Otherwise known as simply "Sophia" or,"Alyssa" as she often gets called. Sweet, adorable, sensitive Sophia--she totally suits her namesake, couldn't be further from her mother's personality.

Top 10 things you will find Sophia doing:

1. Playing quietly with her blocks building intricate towers.
2. "Reading" her books.
3. Putting her arm over her mouth (self-soothing technique--since baby).
4. Whining/crying over something her sister did or took...........................
5. Playing with Play Doh.
6. Making towers with the canned goods from the pantry.
7. Saying "NO" .
8. Playing "HIDE" -- no seeking yet.
9. Having a tea party.
10. Hugging her stuffed animals.


Alyssa-Ling Hillie--
Otherwise known as "Alyssa" or "Sophia". Sweet devilish Alyssa. She also completely suits her name --- how does that work out??? Anyway more true to her mother's personality than her little sister.

Top 10 things you will find Alyssa doing:

1. Taking a toy from her sister.
2. Sucking her thumb. (Self-soothing technique -- since baby) --I don't do that!
3. Hiding under the slide with "Mumble".
4. Eating
5. Giving spontaneous hugs usually preceeded by an exclamation of "ahhhh".
6. Playing with Play Doh.
7. Opening the Pantry cupboard where the snacks are.
8. Sitting on top of the table.
9. Kissing a boy. (She kissed 2 boys on Valentines Day! In all fairness they kissed her, but she reciprocated so Daddy had to have a little talk with her).
10. Somersaults---really as soon as the video camera comes out she starts the performance.

Hopefully you have a better idea of what Sophia and Alyssa are all about. To further enhance your understanding take the following MOST LIKELY test (scroll down for answers immediately following list--no peeking!)
Who is MOST LIKELY to:

1. Hug their gymnastics teacher?
2. Laugh at Mommy's antics?
3. Stand in front of the pantry and chant chocklit, chocklit, chocklite over and over?
4. Most likely to be found whining in the playroom while laying on the floor colouring?
5. Have a "boy" as a friend?
6. Take turns politely waiting for their turn to have 5 seconds on the stupid little stepstool/ladder?
7. Play independently!At 2? Well, for about 15 minutes?
8. Break out of Alcatraz?
9. Refuse to eat what Mommy's spoon is offering even though it is the same as theirs??
10. Get cuddles from Nonna?











Answers:

1. Alyssa 2. BOTH! Naturally, Mommy is hilarious!! 3. Alyssa 4. Sophia 5. Alyssa 6. NEITHER! They are 2!!!! 7. Sophia 8. Alyssa 9. Sophia 10. Sophia