The McPherson Chronicles

We definitely have 2 little fish! We signed up for the same 2 week parent and me swim classes we took the girls to last summer. It didn't take more than the first class before the girls turned into 2 little fish. They LOVE swimming and are so excited to go each night. As soon as they see the pool they nearly go into hysterics and can't wait to get in. Here's how the past 2 days have gone. I'm going to try to get pictures at one of these lessons too. Day 1: Lucy was more interested in watching all the other classes of bigger kids (typical Lucy). Lucy went along with the flow of the class but would not blow bubbles under the water and had to really be prompted to do motorboat kicks. Olivia, on the other hand, could have cared less about the class or other kids. She wanted to swim! She kicked her legs, blew bubbles in the water and nearly jumped out of our arms whenever she got the chance. When the group would get together to practice floating or sing songs, Olivia would...

Great Grandma (my grandma) told me this story yesterday. It happened Friday while my mom was watching the girls. Olivia was in the family room doing one of the puzzles on a chair. My mom and Lucy were getting lunch ready in the other room. Olivia had one piece she was having trouble fitting in the puzzle when my mom called her for lunch. In typical Olivia-style, she completely ignored the initial requests to sit down for lunch as she tried to work out her puzzle. After multiple requests to go sit down for lunch, Olivia became annoyed with the puzzle piece that would not fit and started taking each piece out of the puzzle one at a time. She took out one piece and set it off to the side. Then she took out another piece and, with a bit of force, set this piece on top of the other. She continued to take each piece out setting them down with more and more force. Finally she slammed down the last piece and marched off to have her lunch. She showed that puzzle!

The girls had their first sleepover with Grandma & Grandpa last night and it was a success! I had plans in San Diego to help my friend Melissa with wedding stuff for the night and Kevin was just going to be home. Since the girls were already going to be with my mom for the day anyway we decided this was the perfect opportunity to have them spend the night. This is the first time since the girls were born that either of us has been away for a night. It went by so fast and we were so busy I hardly had time to notice. It probably would have been stranger if I had just been at home for the night without the girls. The girls did great though! They had lots of fun playing with all their toys, books and puzzles and enjoying the luxury of a backyard. It also sounds like they didn't have any problems at bedtime missing us or wondering why they weren't going home. They slept through the night without even waking to go to the bathroom and woke up right on schedule at 6:30am. By the ...

We really were blessed with 2 exceptionally well behaved little girls. I think there's a lot of hype surrounding the "terrible twos" and luckily we haven't seen too much of it (yet). Most people's reaction when hearing we have 2 two year olds immediately focuses on 2 things: potty training and terrible twos. So far we've beaten the odds by successfully potty training (relive that adventure here , here , here and here ) and having 2 well behaved toddlers. Last week my Mom had to help out at Church on one of the days she had the girls. I think the other people were hesitant to hear she was bringing along 2 toddlers but ended up being pleasantly surprised. Here is the email I got later that morning from my Mom. She was so proud of the girls and so are we. Hi Sarah! You would have been so proud of your little girls at church. I brought along their milk, books and the water board. They sat very quietly while we worked. You could hear them singing Twinkle Twink...

Trying to keep up with the girls' ever-expanding vocabulary sometimes gets the best of us. Olivia came and asked for a "tricycle pop" last week. It was clear as day so I knew this was exactly what she was saying but couldn't figure out what she meant. Luckily at least Lucy was on the same page I was. She immediately started to laugh and shake her head saying, "No ride tricycles sister. Tricycles at Grandma's house". I told Olivia the same thing that we weren't going to ride tricycles right now. She persisted in requesting the mysterious tricycle pop until finally I asked her to show me. She walked me to the fridge and said "green". Then it clicked. Olivia wanted a popsicle! So our plan is to fill our warm summer days with tricycles and tricycle pops!

We went to OC Great Park over the weekend for our 2 year pictures with my friend Catherine . We had so much fun exploring this new park and Catherine is such a breeze to work with. She totally sits back and lets the girls do their thing and ends up with the most amazing photos. We're so lucky to have her capture so many wonderful moments in the girls' lives. Here are just a few of the photos of our now 27 month old girls. You can also see a slideshow with more photos  here .

It's awfully fun to drive in the car with the girls these days. They love looking around and talking about all the things they see. They get the most excited to see a bus. As soon as they spot a school or city bus they both yell "Bus! I see a bus!" and they start laughing like crazy. Olivia always says. "Let's get him. Get the bus, Mama!" which means she wants me to pass it. The next most frequently spotted items are octagons, or stop signs. They name each and every one they see. You'd think they were getting paid for each time they spot an object they can name. Memorial Day weekend brought all the sales on new cars. Since we drove over to my mom's a few times over the weekend, the girls had a lot of opportunities to spot the giant balloons at the car lots here in town. They even named the colors of all the balloons they saw. I love how excited they get to see and name things they see. They constantly remind me to appreciate the little things in...

Oh silly girls. Olivia sporting an old pair of 3D glasses   Smile Goosey!   Daddy was watching them. Enough said.  A mani pedi for Elmo  Just trying out Mama's shoes  My little musicians

Kevin and I rotate who wakes up early with the girls on Saturdays and Sundays since they get up between 6 and 6:30. Ideally whoever is "sleeping in" doesn't get up until 7:30 or 8. In our dreams we get to sleep in until 9 or 10, man those were the days.... Anyway, when it's Kevin's morning to get up with the girls he usually turns on some morning children's television show, gives them a cup of milk and lets them cuddle up next to him while he proceeds to fall back asleep. He usually wakes up when a) their show is over, b) their milk is gone or c) they start asking for oatmeal. He's noticed the past few times he's fallen asleep with them, Olivia covers him in stuff. We're not sure why she does this, but it's happened a few times now and it gets more and more interesting every time. So far he's woken up covered in milk cups, pillows, stuffed animals, a pair of his shoes, books and blocks. My theory is that she brings him items that she wa...