The Pigeon Wants...

Currently we're having the siding replaced on our house. We got our tax return and realized that for the first time, we needed to act like adults and use that money responsibly instead of getting to splurge on something fun. I'm a little bit excited about the getting-our-house-painted part, but I'm also completely over-thinking the picking-out-paint-colors process. {Warm gray? Taupey gray? Greige?? How does one make such an important decision?}

AND I've been packing up my kids and taking them to my mother-in-law's every day so they can nap in peace. Even though my mother-in-law is wonderful and feeds me cake at every opportunity, it's a huge ordeal, but I prefer it to my kids not napping at all. I mean, can you imagine?

It's causing me to have control issues a little bit. This morning after breakfast I suddenly decided "HAIRCUTS FOR EVERYONE!" and put Lucy in her highchair with a towel around her neck. {Don't worry, she wasn't putting up with my nonsense and the scissors never even touched her hair.} Then Maggie got all her hair shaved off. {Just kidding, kind of.} Max was only spared because our clippers weren't charged.

And don't you feel lucky YOU weren't at our house this morning? Five minutes after you walked in the door and I would have been saying "at least it will grow out in a few weeks." {I'm not that good at cutting hair.}

It's a special kind of crazy I've got going on right now. I keep coming up with all of these ideas where I'm like, "Do you know what would be totally awesome?" If we took a trip to Boston! If we got a dog! If I took the kids to the park for a picnic! If we got a dog! If our kids had their own mini backpacks! No really, we should get a dog! I remind myself of the pigeon in The Pigeon Wants a Puppy.

I think Christian hates it. He did enjoy watching this baby bulldog video with me last night, though, so... yeah, I think getting a dog is a real possibility for us.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday. Here's how ours went down:

- I went to Target last night under the guise of getting Robitussin and mango sorbet {I've been fighting off a nasty cold/possible sinus infection for the past week}, and came home with bags of Easter basket fillings. {No actual Easter baskets, though - those were all gone.}

- Max and Maggie had fun going through all their plastic eggs this morning, eating the yogurt-covered raisins and fruit snacks inside, and ignoring everything else in the buckets we used instead of baskets. Lucy enjoyed playing with the plastic egg halves and immediately pulling a flower headband off her noggin every time we tried to sneak it on.

- Christian took the twins to church while Lucy and I stayed home. We played fun games like "watch Mama fix her hair" and "go through the bathroom cabinets" and "discover the pregnancy test that first told Mama you existed." {Yes, I still have it.}

- After church, we all went over to Christian's parents house and had dinner with his family. It was a party. Two of his siblings and their families had traveled to be in town, which meant six of his eight siblings and their families were there. I was lucky enough to get the above shot of my in-laws with their six grandchildren.

It was such a wonderful day. And the weather was obligingly warm, which I very much appreciated. Here's hoping the wonderfulness transfers into this upcoming week!

Important Thoughts 29.0 + Our Life in Pictures

29.1: Lucy has recently started talking. A couple weeks ago, out of the blue, she started saying "uh-oh" - the softest, sweetest little "uh-oh" you ever did hear. A little while later she started holding things {remotes, green beans, etc.} up to her ear and saying "eh-wohw," which was surprising because I wouldn't have thought we answered the phone in front of her that much. Her newest official word is "ah dah!" which she says promptly whenever the TV is turned off, whenever we're done reading a book, whenever she's ready to get down after a meal, pretty much any time anything is over, she says "ah dah!" like a champ. And all this is mostly to say, when did she get so big? Where did my newbaby go? I thought that when she started walking, or when she turned one, that would be the moment that she wouldn't seem like my baby-baby anymore. Silly me, for thinking I had a couple more months. {Also, admittedly I am bragging on my Looska a little bit. She's a genius baby and I just wanted everyone to recognize.}

29.2: This morning, after putting Lucy down for a nap, Max and Maggie were so content playing by themselves that I decided to try and clean the kitchen. Usually their brains follow a protocol that states: If Mom is in the living room, then all is well and we are safe and we can be happy and go play wherever we like. BUT if Mom is somewhere else, and especially if she is in the kitchen, then we must all crowd around her and cling to her legs crying or the world will end. But today was different. They left me alone, and I got so much done. Eventually Max did wander in, and he helped me finish loading the dishwasher, and then while I washed a few dishes by hand I let him climb up on a chair so he could play with the running water. And that turned into Max and Maggie playing in the sink with measuring cups {because measuring cups are the coolest, so clanky and water-holdy and good for pouring}, soaking their clothes, and flooding the kitchen floor. It made for a pretty stellar morning.

29.3: I recently started listening to the Bossypants audiobook. It is amazing. If you're the one person in the world who hasn't read/listened to it yet, what are you waiting for? It's like listening to Tina Fey do stand-up, if stand-up comedy was also very moving and sometimes made you cry. Even though I want to listen to it all the time, mostly I save it for when I'm at the gym, which means that while I'm on the elliptical machine I occasionally grin like an idiot. And even though I said before that I love Tina Fey, I'm not sure if I really meant it then. BUT I DO NOW. Tina Fey is an incredible person and I absolutely adore her. {Still not as much as Amy Poehler, though. Christian was recently reading this article and said, slowly turning the computer screen toward me, "What if thiiiiiiis person were to replace Jimmy Fallon?" And a big smile popped onto my face that I couldn't get rid of. Amy Poehler just makes me happy, what can I say?}

Giveaway: $50 J. Crew Gift Card

Hi,you guys! I'm just popping in really quick to say that I'm hosting a giveaway over here, if you'd like to enter to win a $50 J. Crew gift card! {No joke.} And also, I'll be back with regular posts again soon. Until then, go check out Ashley's blog and fantasize about what you'll buy when you win. Personally, I'm loving all of this right here:

{ links: necklace // lipstick // dress // bathing suit // eyelet top // silk collar top // belt // pants // shoes }
Good luck! And I'd love to hear: is there a certain J. Crew item you have your eye on?

Gift Guide: For When Your Twins Turn Two

Max and Maggie turned two years old yesterday. I think. I'm still trying to process it. I mean, they're so big now. Little kids, not babies. It's crazy. We had a wonderful day, full of going to the park and opening presents and eating ice cream {but more on all that later}.

If your life is anything like mine, then when you went to talk to your husband about what to give your twin almost two-year-olds for their birthday, he grumbled something like, "They're not even going to remember. Why do we have to give them anything?" And then you rolled your eyes and decided to buy whatever you wanted.

My philosophy on gifts for our children is usually: classic, durable, something that our children {and all our children to come} will be able to use for years. Since I know a few of our friends also have kids with upcoming second birthdays, I thought I would share what I picked out for them this year. Spoiler alert: they loved everything. And every item is under $20.



Ikea MÅLA Easel - My sister has one of these at her house and my kids love it. LOVE IT. Won't leave it alone the entire time we're there. Drawing on a vertical surface is just more fun, I guess. I also got a giant roll of paper so they can use crayons.

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late & Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - I've mentioned before that Max and Maggie are all about pigeon books right now. Max just loves poking the pigeon in the eye on every single page and telling him "no!" He'll also turn to the pages in each book when the pigeon yells, and wants me to yell, too. "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!"

Melissa & Doug Latches Board - If Max had a favorite thing in the world besides pigeon books, it would be opening and closing doors. He hasn't figured out most of the latches on this board yet, so for now I keep them open so he and Maggie can open the doors and see the animals who live inside whenever they want.

Twistable Crayons - Perfect for kids who love to break crayons. I don't know if the plastic barrels will keep Max from eating the ends of his crayons, but maybe? I can only hope. I'm tired of getting tiny pieces of colored wax covered in saliva slobbered into my hand. Yuck.

Alphabet Magnets - Maggie keeps calling ours "stickers," so it's safe to say that she doesn't totally understand them yet, but she does love endlessly rearranging them on the front of our refrigerator. The Os are her favorites; she likes to put them together and call them "grapes." The perk for me {besides getting time to work in the kitchen without having everyone clinging to my legs} is every now and then when Max holds up a letter D and says "dooh!"

No Spill Bubble Bucket - Fact: kids love bubbles. These no spill containers are genius, because my kids always do their best to dump all the bubble solution on the ground. If you have more than one two-year-old, I suggest getting each one their own container, because sharing is hard.

Brobee Shirt - Anything kind of Yo Gabba Gabba merchandise is pretty much toddler gold. When Maggie puts on her YGG shirt, she refuses to take it off for several days. I thought it was about time Max got his own.

Is there anything you would add to my list? I'd love to hear your ideas for toddler gifts!