Just pictures........

Another attempt at the white trash mommy of the year award....


Edie just figured out today that she can see reflections in glass and/or mirrors...I was making faces at her and she was watching me in the entertainment center and cracking up. Never mind all the tiny handprints...would you believe we just got that thing yesterday...those prints happened in about 2 seconds. FLAT!



If you are eating something or drinking something in the kitchen and happen to look down...this is what you see. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.



Ella has a new favortie pastime (passtime, pass time ????) Now how do YOU think she is able to reach the window that is several feet off the ground?




Ella is so serious sometimes....




This is the way we wear our pants. Wear our pants. Wear our pants........



Wassup peeps???



Peace out.......

Got twins! Need bike!!!

This bike is so awesome and I WANT it......actually I NEED it. Must have it!!! Please help me win one. Do it for E Squared!!! They would so love to be hauled around in the back of this thing. All you have to do is check out their site by clicking on the button above.....you don't even have to browse if you don't want to. Just click on it and wait for the page to load and get out of there....it's pretty cool stuff though so I suspect you'll be at least a tiny bit nosy and snoop around. They have a way of tracking the traffic that is sent to their site and from where it came......I can do the same on my blog.....and I do. It's awesome!!! I will be entered automatically by setting up this post but can get a separate entry by sending a ton of traffic their way. I am no fool though....some of the blogs I have seen this on have WAY more traffic than mine but it does not hurt to try. Right? Anyways.........thank you and I'm in it to win it.....

Let this be a lesson..........

What happens when you go to bed with your hair wet??????
What happens when you eat your lunch with crazy hair?

You lose your noodle........

We are sooooooo outdoorsy lately!!! Or is it just backyardsy???

Edie and Ella love to play outside lately....well mostly Edie. I think Ella would love it more if she wasn't forced to crawl on the pebbly concrete patio. She is getting so close to walking though...she regularly takes 4 or 5 steps at a time now...it's just around the corner! Edie, being the independent one that she is, just walks and walks around the backyard. Eating rocks, flowers, whatever else she can nibble on back there...fortunately Jon has gotten really good at daily scooping of the poop...I would imagine that she would only "nibble" on that once. That, my friend would be a hard and disgusting lesson. GAG! (disclaimer...I do watch her closely, I was just sayin)
Here are the little rascals.........loving the wagon.......nothing like a little teamwork!!!

E Squared got a really really fun package in the mail today...well it's actually the 2nd this week from their Honey...Theresa! The first were these awesome bowls that can NOT be spilled. Trust me! The second was filled with baby dolls, moses baskets, blankets, and bathtub numbers/letters..........and this awesome little thing.......

turns out I may have thought it was a little more awesome than her.....

or her..........

shoot...this looked like so much fun and I was so disappointed that Edie and Ella didn't feel the same. It was warm out, they looked adorable in their tankinis......the setting was perfect! Ella screamed and cried and shook and........well, me being tha fantabulous mommy that I am ran to wisk her.......um......I mean my camera up for a few fun shots........and then. Once the guilt got to me. I scooped Ella (first since she was howling) up in a towel.......and CRAP!! The water was FUR>>>EEEEE>>>>ZZZZZZZZZZING!!! Again, if you need the address for my mommy of the year award...... whitetrashmommy@blahblah.com !!!

And if it wasn't sad enough.......notice the LONE tear.......(you may have to click on the picture to enlarge it....it's under her right eye).....

work it girl...........how freakin cute is this?????????/

Ella has learned to protect her knees on the gravely concrete......I am more than happy to carry her but she likes her independence......

no need to worry......you WILL NOT see me doing the above crawl maneuvers on the beach in Florida.......15 days from today!!! Promise.......GAG!!!

Rubi......waiting for something to be thrown, I am sure! Maybe a pebble, frisbee or Kong........who knows......she puts the OCD in OCD........Obsessive Compulsive DOG!!!

A little chair posing cuteness......Ella love to blow kisses..........she never moves her hand away from her mouth.......she also does this when I gasp.........she is sooooo multitalented...

Ella also loves to pick her nose.......I can not get an actual shot of this.......only the residual...

the girl is not opposed to crawling in the rocks.........

Edie was telling me........OK mommy.........one short photo shoot and I have got things to do...

Edie making sure daddy filled the birdbath...

We've got a sleeper and an "almost" walker!!!

Things are fun around here lately but nothing really super blog worthy......until today that is!!!
Ella took steps...5 at once! She walked from our ottoman to the TV stand (aka coffee table until new media center arrives)! It was awesome, wobbly and adorable!! Jon said she took some steps yesterday as well...so I am sure she will be chasing Edie in no time!!!
Since we have been co-sleeping with Ella NOONE (except for Edie) has gotten much sleep. She usually wakes up 1 or 2 times a night but we all sleep in a queen size bed.......discomfort for all. I know how silly this is...but she is so small and soft and snuggly!!! Lately she has been waking up ALOT....so I decided maybe I should again give up on the sleep with your baby business and put her in her crib. Two nights ago I laid her down in her crib at bedtime (still 6:30, thank goodness) and went about my business. Fully prepared for a terrible night, I went to bed early........and woke up IN A PANIC at 6:30 am! I jumped out of bed and ran into her room...prepared to find her strangled in her crib slats (which would be so impossible by the way. but still.)..and she was not there. Neither was Edie. OMG!!! Ok...it wasn't that dramatic...they were just downstairs with daddy having some breakfast. He has whipped them up asiago cheese omelets for 2 mornings in a row..they LOVE it!!! It's really sweet....he sings while he cooks and serves them in their highchairs........GREAT DADDY!!! Anyways...Jon said he went in to check on her when he woke up and she was just sitting in her crib playing.......and she started clapping when she saw him. AWESOME!!! Tonight is night 3!!! I have forgotten how good sleep could be!!!
We have been spending quite a bit of time getting our house put together...since we had it painted 2 weeks ago. Hanging pictures and curtains. Moving furniture around. Painting cabinets......I did our bathroom cabinets and they look awesome!!! I plan to do the other 2 bathrooms then maybe one day ... far far off....I'll do the kitchen!!! I love that look!!! I'll post pictures when I have a room complete...I have found my crafty/DIY side. I framed our bathroom mirror with crown moulding, painted cabinets, getting ready to make my own window treatments.........It has been great fun. A new hobby...thrifty decorating!!!
Now on with the kiddos........
Ella recently was on location with Ray Ban.......

or was she just trying to cover that shiner????
here she is trying to get her shades back on...

OMG....someone shrunk Jon....

oh phew......it's just Edie in her daddy's cap!!! Can you believe how much she looks like him?

doing a little backyard shopping...awesome shorts and sandals. no?

Ella still diggin the sink... again....baby shorts/shoes!!!

Both Edie and Ella have a new love of apples...they gnaw on them every chance they get!!!

My Mother....the day after Mothers Day.

I do realize that most of you check this blog for updates on E Squared. We appreciate your loyalty and love keeping you all updated...that is one of my two major reasons for keeping the blog up to date. My second reason is to have it for Ella and Edie to look back on...their baby book! That being said, my post today is to document for them something that I hope they will look back on and well.......I don't know what I hope they will think but I want to make sure they are aware!!!
Many of you (anyone who knows me in person) know that I am adopted from the foster care system. I have been VERY VERY fortunate. I did not bounce from home to home. My foster family is still MY FAMILY! They love me and I them. That story is long and I won't go into it here because that is not the point of this post.
I had a tumultuous relationship with my biological mother...she was in and out of my life as a child. She lacked direction and support in her younger life...none of this was her fault but she did allow that to guide her adult life. I struggled and struggled with our relationship for a very long time. I am not sure when but somewhere along the way to where I am now I was able to let my expectations of her go and we began to have a tolerable relationship. It even bordered on good for what it was anyway! Many in my support system had a difficult time understanding why I continued the relationship after all of the disappointment but the reality of it was once I let go of my expectations there was no longer disappointment. The fact remained that she was my mother and that is a bond that CANNOT be broken. The connection is there. She was so very proud of me! And honestly, it made me proud to make her proud. I like to do nice things for people! I haven't done anything extraordinary in my life....graduated high school, went to college, became and RN. Basically got a career...that's normal for us. Right? Well to her that was amazing! NOONE in her family had ever done anything like that. The process of my becoming the person that I am made her happy and for that I am grateful. I'm nothing special but to her I was. She always wanted to come to California to visit me. She probably never left Louisiana...I don't know. She died July 17th. Three years ago this year...2009!
I got her ashes in the mail today! It's harder than I thought it would be. Maybe it's because yesterday was Mothers Day. Maybe it was the lightness of her bag of ashes. I don't know. Maybe it's just the connection...still not broken. The package even smelled like her...smokey! Stale cigarette smoke. Her husband is in poor health...he always has been. I worried that if something happens to him she would get thrown out with the trash. So I asked my dad (my foster father for those of you who may be confused by that) to pick up her ashes and send them to me. Being the person that he is...he did it, gladly.
I hope that Edie Claire and Ella Grace never question the love I have for them. I know how that feels as a child and it's terrible. I am very grateful though that when my mother died I no longer had to question whether she loved me or not. I know she did!

Mostly Edie......with a touch of Ella!!!

Normally once Edie is put down for the night she is out. Well tonight I heard her crying about an hour in so I went up...gave her some teething tablets and tried to put her back down. Typically this works...(FYI...teething tablets are freakishly successful). But tonight little Miss Edie Claire was not having it.....well, I am a sucker for crocodile tears....and these girls KNOW IT!!! So I brought her down with me and we played! Even though I feel a little bit of mommy guilt even saying this..it's sometimes nice to just have some one on one time with each girl!!! Here are some pictures from our playtime...

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!

I found her like this.......

Here is Edie sampling something her sister whipped up.....

"man this needs some salt Ella".....(that's a plastic salt shaker in her mouth)

A little prelude to THEEEEEEEEEEEE...........

With E Squared being mobile now......and hungry....it's very hard to eat ANYTHING without them needing some. Jon and I often try to hide things that we eat...by hide I mean eat with our head in the fridge and the door closed as much as possible, hide food in our palm only take a bite when they aren't looking, etc... (we only hide things we don't think they should eat, ie...skinny cow ice cream sandwiches....)! More times than not we get BUSTED!!! It's as if they have tiny hidden food sensors or something.....and they always want some! So yesterday I had to have a skinny cow......you know......my time of the you know what.....the time when chocolate is my BFF. Oh who am I kidding chocolate is always by BFF!!! I attempted to "sneak" a skinny cow and Edie needed some...she would not let me hold it......she insisted on doing it herself... complete with the back arching and high pitched screams. So I reluctantly chopped it up and let them have at it in their high chairs......it was too cold for Ella but here......

Edie LOVED it!!!

Here is Edie in her 12 month sized (too small) PJs........

remember the prelude before..........well.......here it is!!!

We have moved up from a bucket to a sink..........

Ella loves loves loves this thing........

Nite Nite...........