He strikes again!

The nap thief struck again today.....here are pictures of the little monkeys in the positions they "crashed" in today (after 1 1/2 hours).........UGH!!

The Nap Thief

As I have told some of you, the nap theif has been visiting my house over the past several weeks. For those of you who have not had this lovely experience, let me explain. My girls have taken a nap every day at 1:00 for as long as I can remember. It usually lasts for 2 hours, sometimes longer. As of last Monday, something snapped! Not only did the girls start getting out of their beds, but also out of their rooms. There was one occasion when they both ran into my closet, shut the door, and began taking all of my shoes off of the shelf. All the while, they were giggling and unphased by my many different attempts at keeping them in their beds. So, today my new plan was put into effect.....they don't have to go to sleep or even stay in their beds. All I require is that they stay in their room from 1-3. During that time period, I heard lots of giggling, music, things being pulled off of shelves, and sounds I was afraid to know what they were. It was torture not to go in there to see what was going on. When I went in this afternoon to tell them nap time was over, this is the scene that I walked into. They had pulled almost every toy out, but I guess their sleepiness eventually kicked in and they crashed. They were none too thrilled when I woke them up, but at least I feel like I won the battle today! Maybe tomorrow they will realize that sleeping isn't such a bad thing:)

The Princess Diaries

The Girls went to play with Emma Thompson yesterday and couldn't stop talking about all of her pretty dress-up clothes. So, this sucker of a mom went to Target today to get them some princess clothes. I just couldn't resist! They were allowed to get into the stash after their nap, and they could hardly contain their excitement. Ella kept her princess shoes on until she climbed in bed tonight. Here are some pictures of Snow White and Cinderella in all of their glory:)

A Father's Joy

Since the day I found out I was pregnant, I think Allyn started having images of teaching the girls to fish one day. Well, yesterday was that day! Since we had plans to go to Kirkley's birthday party yesterday afternoon, Allyn couldn't wait to get the girls "outfitted" for the fishing at Holly's parents' pond. We went to Target and picked out Dora fishing rods. Next it was a trip to Dick's for bobbers and hooks. When the girls took a nap, Allyn made a special trip out to Opelika for crickets and worms. He couldn't wait to take the girls out int he back yard to teach them how to use their new equipment and sharpen their casting/reeling skills. Once we got out to the pond, we were so surprised that both girls were so anxious to hold the crickets (mostly to toss them in the water) and worms.....yes, even Gray! Allyn caught a small fish that the girls loved touching and laughing at how slimy he was. All in all, it was so precious watching Allyn share something he loves with the girls. Maybe there will be more fishing trips in our future:)

I've Been Taggged

I was waiting for this to happen, and it finally did. Kristin Barron "tagged" me to share some info. about myself. So, here goes:

Favorite movies of all time:
1. Steele Magnolias
2. Shag (how can any good southerner NOT like this movie?)
3. Footloose
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Center Stage
6. The American President
7. Forrest Gump

Favorite Songs of all time:
1. Anything by Marvin Gaye.....yes, I have a slight obsession
2. True Companion by Mark Cohn
3. Most songs off of The Big Chill soundtrack
4. At Last by Etta James

5 things I love to do:
1. Sew clothes for the girls (simple things only!)
2. Arrange flowers
3. Snow ski
4. Fall asleep in a lounge chair on the beach
5. Open up a good magazine at night when it is quiet and everyone else has gone to bed!

Places I have lived:
1. Grew up in Birmingham
2. Lived in Auburn during college....all 4 years in the dorm, but loved every minute of it
3. Back in Birmingham to live while in Physical Therapy school at UAB
4. In Pelham after Allyn and I got married
5. Iowa (makes me cold just thinking about it) when Allyn was in residency
6. AUBURN since July of 2006!

What I did before I was a mom:
I am a physical therapist, and I worked at Children's Hospital in Birmingham for almost 4 years. My focus was on treating children undergoing inpatient rehabilitation for neurological injuries (mainly traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries). I loved that job! When we moved to Iowa, I worked at an adult hospital treating a wide variety of patients. I stopped working when I was about 24 weeks pregnant with the girls.

Bad Habits:
1. Horrible at making myself exercise...I just don't like it!
2. Too idealistic with expectaions of myself and others
3. Staying up too late watching some re-run of Law and Order
4. Spending too much time on the internet......hee hee!

Fun Fact:
My parents and 3 of their best "couple" friends from college have taken a beach trip together every summer. Children (and now grandchildren) have been added to the mix, and the trip still continues every summer. This summer will be the 32nd year of the trip. There will be a total of 31 people there this summer! If it sounds like chaos, it is! But, this group of people are my closest friends in the world, and it is something I have looked forward to every summer of my life. I realize now the importance of having friends that know everthing about you (good and bad), but still love you inconditionally. That is what this group is to me.

Favorite Foods:
1. The grouper at Warehouse Bistro
2. Soup/salad/breadsticks from Olive Garden
3. Crab cakes at a little restaurant in Birmingham called Fox Valley
4. Turkey Wraps at Amsterdam
5. The Thanksgiving dressing that my mom makes(makes my mouth water just thinking about it)
6. Mashed potatoes
7. My grandmother's potato salad

Characteristics that I admire in others:
1. Humility
2. Honesty
3. Selflessness
4. Confidence

The girls are waking from their nap, so that's all for now:)

Cousins!

The girls had so much fun hanging out with their sweet cousin, Caroline, while we were all visiting Memee and Papa in Montgomery. Gray was a little unsure as to why little Caroline liked grabbing her hair, but it was a great visit! They are already talking about getting to see their other cousin, Hill, next weekend.

Girls' Bedroom Finished!

As most of you know, I have been struggling over what to do with the girls' bedroom for quite a long time. I practically drove my sister nuts with all of my ideas (a.k.a. changing my mind). I am proud to say that it is finally completed, and the girls and I are all pleased with how it turned out. On to the next project.......

Daddy's Girls

The girls LOVE when Allyn comes home from work and usually shower him with lots of hugs and kisses. Luckily, I caught some of it on the camera today. I even got the girls to make their "silly faces" for me.

Two going on sixteen

Should I be worried that my girls LOVE to talk on the phone at such an early age? Since Ella's teachers at school have dubbed her a "talker," I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I walked in my room yesterday to this scene.

Check out my Slide Show!

Time Out

My sister sent me this picture she took of Ella when we were at the beach over Spring Break. She had been put in time out for not letting me put her clothes on. This is just too priceless not to share!

Night Out

Our sweet friends, The Rouse's, had us over for dinner last night with several other families. The girls love the fact that Mrs. Mandi has a swing, slide, and 2 cozy coupe cars INSIDE! They had a ball playing with all of their new found little friends. I've included a few pictures of the chaos:)

Couch treasures

I have finally gotten so disgusted with the crushed goldfish and "other" children remnants all over my house that I decided today was the day to do some heavy cleaning! The girls even "helped" me dust. Gray kept saying "Mommy, give me another job." Man, too bad cleaning is only fun and exciting in the mind of a toddler. I even started spraying pledge on the furniture and having them wipe it off. Hey, if they are willing to help, I might as well get some work out of them. As most of you know, our couch has seen better days. It was spit up on so many times in the infant days, that we decided to wait and flip all of the seat cushions and seat backs at the same time when we moved to Auburn so it wouldn't look quite so bad. Unfortunately, the clean sides all look dirty now too. I decided that a good vacuum might do some good, so off came all the cushions. Oh my goodness!!!! What treasures we found.....money, memory cards, hair bows, more goldfish, teddy graham parts, string, etc. I am proud to say that the couch now looks a little more spunky and may survive a little longer in this house. O.k., I'm off to clean out the refrigerator......better do it now while I'm still motivated!

Potty Training (a.k.a. mommy killer)

So, we are well on our way to having Gray totally potty trained. Thanks to bribery with jelly beans, she has been very successful while at home. Out in public, it is a little more sketchy. Fear of public toilets leads her to "hold it" a little longer than she should, and thus causes a few accidents. Who can blame a girl for not wanting to use a public restroom! And then there is Ella......she would be happy to wear diapers for the rest of her life. She too likes to be rewarded with jelly beans, but she doesn't quite get it. She will have an accident in her pants, then finish up on the potty, and ask "can I have my jelly bean now?" Ugh!!!! This potty training thing has been a true test of my patience, and I am sad to say that I don't always get a good grade! Maybe one of these days we will bid farewell to diapers, but I will most certainly have to welcome in several new gray hairs!!

First-time blogger

Welcome to the Thames Family Blog! My friends have convinced me to try this out, so here goes. Hopefully this blog will allow us to share some of our crazy adventures with all of you.