Maggie and Madison almost 2 1/2

This was them, exactly 1 year ago!!

Can you believe Maggie and Madison will be 2 1/2 soon?? How did this happen?
We are at the 1/2 way mark to THREE already?
I haven't done a post on them and what they are up to lately, other than specific topics.
And I have LOTS of pictures! So I thought it was a good day for a photo dump! (btw, I totally scored that phrase from fellow bloggers, I like it!)

Where to start.
Life is SO crazy busy with my little rug rats now! They both have two different WAY different personalities and opinions.

I'll start with Madison. Even though born 2nd, she is the boss. Literally. She rules the house. lol. Not really, but if you let her she would! She has the total attitude of "I want what I want, and I want it now!"
She's still a little bity thing. Weighing in at 27 1/4lbs. I can't remember height (I know I know), but I do remember she is in 30% for height, 11% for weight!

Madison has hair totally different from any of my others. She has these these long loose big curls that tend to be super frizzy around her face. Also very thin and has no volume to her hair at all!
However it is long as oh my. When I wash it it easily goes down to her bottom. Even dry it sits in the middle of her back!

Madi is always first to wake up, first to fall asleep at nap, and first to fall asleep at bedtime.

She tells you exactly what she wants to eat for breakfast (lunch and dinner she doesn't get the choice).Most of the time she will say 'sea-we-alls' aka cereal. And sometimes she wants it in a little baggy to eat, other times she has to have a bowl and spoon. Not any bowl. The red one with built in straw on the side. And not any spoon. The mickey mouse one. Other times she says cinnamon toast. Which is actually a cinnamon raisin bagel thin toasted. And while I push for milk to drink she ALWAYS wants orange juice. (I buy Simply Orange Vitamin C, I don't blame her, bc it is delicious!)

She like bath time as play time, and soak mommy and the bathroom time. However when it is time to wash up and wash hair he phrase is simply "Maggies turn first"  lol every. time.

She is a bully. Completely a bully. Maggie has been scratched down the face, ear bitten, slapped, pushed, toys stolen, everything you can imagine. She tells Maggie what to do all the time and what not to do too. I correct her when she is being really ugly with a pop on the hand of thigh if its really bad. Then she has to say sorry and give sister hug, After hugs and kisses they are BFF until the next time. However that is just her personality. She is dominate. She is impossible to persuade.

She is also hilarious. Madison makes the cutest faces. She sings all the time. The big girls are always listening to this one song " Party Rock". Madison sings the chorus and then says "Every day I'm shufflin" as she proceeds to do the dance. lol. She loves Adele and knows the song tracks on cd. If we listen to #1 and try to skip over #2 she will scream "NO!" RUMOR HAS IT IS NEXT!"

She always wants to play on the ipad. She knows how to turn it on, pull up the games, turn them on, play them, and turn it off. She also knows how to You Tube Mickey Mouse videos. Im still not quite sure how she learned that one! And if it dies on her (which is often) she says, "Here mom, charge it" LOL

She always wants to go 'ch ugh ch" aka Church. Almost every day she will ask me "Mommy can we go to church today?" lol I love it!

She surprises me on a daily basis. She comes out with things to say that baffles me!
She talks in paragraphs and pronounces almost every word she attempts perfectly!
She is my baby girl princess and she lives up to her title very well!

Here are a few photos of her, alone!

My sweet face

 Ready for church!

 Being silly!

Got into mommy's makeup and learned her first lesson in concealer is not lipstick!

 Love that smile!!

 Silly hair!! Did I mention she LOVES lotion!!

 That's my diva in training!

 This is Madison exactly 1 year ago-

 

Madison's work on Maggie!

Bit her ear!!

 face scratch #1

 face scratch #2!

Next my miss Maggie!
Maggie is my baby. Literally. She thinks she is still a baby. Even though with sister being so dominate I get why she is ALWAYS a baby. She needs something to get her some attention too! I secretly LOVE it. She will crawl up on my lap multiple times a day and say "my  mommy, I hold you" and will just snuggle snuggle snuggle!

She is also a sweet heart. She will kindly give up a toy to her little sister to 'shut her up'. If she has anything she is eating and Madison doesn't she will say "Here sissy, you want some"
She gives Madisons hugs and kisses all the time, despite Madison turning away and pushing her off her! lol

Maggie is my big girl too! She is now 28 lbs and a whole inch taller than Madison. Again I don't remember heights. But I do know her weight is in the 32% for height and 12% for weight.

Maggie has the most beautiful hair of all! She has this dirty blonde
Her hair is almost same color as Aaliyahs, but same style as Abigail's. I love fixing her hair! it does everything, and has lots of volume!!

Maggie is ALWAYS last to wake up, last at nap time, and definitely last at bedtime. She constantly gets out of bed until she gets a spanking and then falls asleep.

While Maggie is far from a angel (kind of), she tends to be the more social, smiley faced sweet girl.
She has her days when she will fight back with sister, or even begin the fight! Her catch phrase is ALWAYS "she hit me first" Even if I am sitting right there, and I clearly saw Maggie was the only one doing the hitting. lol. She is always the victim! She gets her feelings hurt very easily too.
But turns it off just as quick. As soon as you hug her she is fine. In most cases.

She is not very outspoken. She is a go with the flow type girl. Usually she agrees with whatever Madison wants. Sometimes I have to ask Maggie first bc she will always let Madison choose for her.
Such a good big sister! She loves gummies and asks for them at every meal. She too loves Orange juice, but is more likely to ask for milk first. And will drink every drop!

She is a horrible eater. Im almost positive she will be a vegetarian one day. I have to make sneaky dishes to get any meat in her. She won't eat anything. She doesn't like mac and cheese (neither does Madison) or eggs. Most of the time her plate is still full after dinner and Ill have to give her an apple or something I know she will eat to fill her up. Doctor said she must just have very sensitive taste buds and textures bother her. She eats spaghetti, alot.

She is a total jibber jabber. Meaning phone conversations are "uh huh, and um, and um, and yeah and um" blah blah blah. lol It's really adorable though. She smiles and shrugs her shoulders the whole time. It's like she has a story to tell, just can't find the right words to get out!

When Abigail and Aaliyah are in school she always ask to get on the bus and go get them!

She loves her big sisters!

Maggie loves our dog Newman. She is always hugging him and sneaking him food from her plate.
She is definitely a dog person! And Newman lets her do whatever she wants. Sit on him, pull his ears, poke at his face.. lol. They are best buds!

Her smile is so charming it is sometimes hard to even think of punishing her. She is a doll face and knows how to use it!!

Here are a few pictures of my Maggie!

All pretty for church!

This is the famous baby faces!

Also in mommy's makeup. She covered her face in my powder, and has mascara on her eyebrows!

Loving on Newman!

CHEESE!

Loving on my Aunt Diane's little doggie!

Silly hair!! Big smiles!

Such a doll face!

This is Maggie 1 year ago-

 

Together they are both very big into Dora (ugh!), Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Barney, and still watching The Santa Clause 3. Pretty sure we will be watching that until Christmas this year!
They are just now really discovering the Princesses. So far they love Snow White and Tangled.

We are potty training. about 50% doing great. Hardest part for us is US. Our schedules and daily routines make it really hard to potty train. But both girls do great! They potty every time they are put on the potty. They just haven't mastered letting us know when they NEED to go, -vs- when they just went. Plus pottying at Nana's house hasn't taken place yet, and they are there a couple times a week!  But its a work in progress!

They work together to accomplish EVERYTHING. While I still have gates up at the bedroom door and living room walkway, Im not sure why. They knock the gates off in like 2 sec if they want out. Or they help each other climb over them. There is no stopping them! You have to be on your toes with the both of them. They can destroy a house in 10 minutes!

This is a really fun age! They understand more, and are really having fun with each other. I know they are best friends. Two is such a trying age, this is the year to pretty much mold them into how they are expected to act. Slowly I see them maturing so much. I hate it. I miss my little babies!!

To close, here are a couple pretty pictures of them together!!

Playing Ipad, cellphone and dsi together!

Sweet Sisters!

 Maggie stealing hugs!

Playing Just Dance wii!

 Fun in the park!

Awe!

My new favorite picture of them!!

Worth a 2nd glance!



Hand, Foot & Mouth- and sometimes leg

So recently my little Maggie broke out into a rash. The first piece came up on the back side of her bottom cheek. I thought it was a weird place for any kind of diaper/pull up rash, but assumed it was nothing serious. I put the typical Butt Paste on it. Well that was last Sunday. By that following Tuesday Maggie's left leg had some bumps come up on it. I had recently done some yard work, and she had been outside playing, in this beautiful weather we are having, more than usual. I thought maybe something bit her, or she had an allergy to grass or pollen. I put some cream on it and hoped it cleared up.
The next day was Wednesday. I got home from work about 4:30, and they were just getting up from nap. I couldn't believe her leg when I saw it!! it was covered in red bumps!! All over her left leg. Actually it was almost nauseating to look at! After a 2nd look from my mother (the one who knows everything) I assumed it was probably poison ivy.
These pictures were taken that Wednesday. She had some calamine lotion on, but you can definitely still see the bumps!

We were outside playing and I realized she had been sitting in my lap the whole time. And wasn't playing at all. She was totally being a big snuggle baby. Which I LOVE, but that also means she didn't feel good :( I knew she hasn't been eating too great the last day or two, so I assumed maybe she was doing a little teething too.
The pediatrician was closed by then, so I took her up to the Walgreen's care clinic just to see if they thought it was poison ivy. I wanted to properly be treating the rash so it would clear up!!
Turns out Walgreen's doesn't take our insurance, and I was not about to pay $25 when I was going to take her to doctor anyway. But I did ask pharmacist and nurse there to just glance at it. They both agreed it looked like poison ivy, but that she should probably be seen by doctor in case she required a steroid to clear it up. :( ugh! I was really hoping it wasn't poison ivy. Because I was really hoping everyone else in the house, including me, was not going to get it too!!

That night I bathed her separate just in case, then I calamined her leg really well and put long pants on her to cover it up. This was my poor baby before bedtime. Leg looks pitiful, but check that smile!!

That night was by far the worst night, since they were infants! Maggie didn't close an eye till almost 1am. Then was up every hour, on the dot. She screamed and cried. She didn't want to snuggle or anything just screamed. I was almost crying with her!! She woke Madison up twice, so I took her to the living room with me, and put the gate up. Just in case I accidentally dosed off I didn't want her able to get into anything. Ha ha. Me dose off?? I wish. Even when she would calm down and lay on my chest and fall asleep, it was only for a few minutes and she was back up moving around fussing again.

This was not much new that week. Actually every night that week was hassle at bedtime. That Wednesday night was by far the worst. But that previous Monday night was the first time she actually spent the whole night in my bed with me!! (one downfall to twins sharing rooms, one wakes up and wakes up the other one!!)

I didn't think all the different symptoms would add up to the rash. But they did.

That Thursday morning, after little to NO sleep. I had to call out of work, call the pediatrician and get baby girl an appointment.

Leaving for doc appt was NOT fun. Madison couldn't understand why I was only getting Maggie ready and her shoes on. I had decided to take Maggie alone. Madison tends to like to run around and open cabinets, and I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate and listen to doctor with her there. We woke Michael up early to hang out with Madison while we were gone. I honestly didn't think it was going to be an issue. Until it was time to leave.
Madison screamed for her shoes, "Mommy mommy get my shoes, I go too, I go to doctor I go to doctor!!!" All with red face screaming and crying! It was heart breaking! And honestly if I had had time to get her ready real quick I would have caved in and took her. But Doc appt was in 20 min, and its a 15 min drive! We pulled out of driveway watching Madison cry through the window :(

When we got to doc they weighed her. 28 lbs!! Which is pretty good b/c a month or so earlier she was only 27. Glad to know she is still growing good ;) Slowly, but surely!
They took her temp. 99.6. That moment I realized I never took her temperature the night before. I BET she had a fever! Ouch! I hate after the fact 'oh yeah's.
So Doctor came in. (BTW have I mentioned I LOVE our pediatricians!! We go to P.A.L. Pediatric Associates of Lawrenceville- BEST EVER)
When she first started looking at Maggie she was paying close attention to her hands and feet and I was thinking the whole time, "Hello lady do you see the huge bumps down her leg?!?!"
lol
No. You can't. Well idk actually you  might be able to. But she didn't.
 Because she didn't have poison ivy.

She asked me if it was ok to bring in Dr. Messick for a 2nd look. Of course we didn't mind, he is our normal doctor and our favorite!!
He looked and right away said, "Yep, it's that same thing again, that's definitely Hand, Foot and Mouth"
Me- dumbfounded again- "What?? What is that??" "The rash is on her leg"?
Apparently she was 1 out of 3 cases that week. All similar symptoms too. Turns out Hand, Foot, and Mouth is a virus. (I hate the word virus) Virus is the Coxsackie A-16 virus. (pronounced cock-sack-e, HELLO got my laugh in for the day!)
What causes it? Who knows its a Virus.
I especially hate when something is called a virus. Because before the doctor even said anything I knew they didn't know much information about it, and there is no cure. It has to just run it's course.

They assured me it doesn't last more than 10 days. BUT it is VERY contagious to anyone under age of 4! Doctors were shocked that Madison hadn't gotten it!! And *fingers crossed* we are over the contagious stage so she won't be getting it either!!!
After several days of a calamined lotioned leg, and benedryl night times, she is almost all better!
Today is the 8th day and it is finally almost gone. Still a few bumps that are little scabs though.

Can you tell she is feeling better??? She thought it was hilarious I was taking pictures of her leg!

This was a really scary thing for me. I hate not knowing about something and not being able to fix it!
I hate that she didn't want to eat anything for 2 days because she had ulcers in her mouth I didn't even know were there. Meanwhile I'm trying to to make her eat anything!!!
I'm glad though that I know now. And hopefully I will never come in contact with this virus again!!

Hand, Foot, and Mouth (and sometimes Leg and Bottom) is NO fun!!!

What girl doesn't like to dress up?

I love dress up! No matter how old you are, there is just something so fun about lots of makeup, a hat, fancy jewels, and high heels! Well my girls LOVE to dress up too!

When bored you can bet at least one will be trying to pair together an outfit, fix their hair different, sneak on some makeup, and steal mommas heels!!

Plus any extra excuse to take a picture I am ALL for!!

So here is a little dress up fun we have had recently!

 (Birthday trip to Charming Charlie turned into a public dress up session!) #awesome

 Yes. They fit. But NO she is never allowed to wear them, EVER. She just has big feet like her mom!

 Isn't orange such a great color on her?? I LOVE the pic below!

 Aaliyah wants to take ballet this year, you will occasionally find her sitting around in this outfit!

 That's my girl, Tangled princess dress, pink baseball cap, and silver heels. LOL

 Maggie and Madison recently discovered heels. They got a box of dress up clothes, jewels, and shoes for Christmas, but until recently they never paid attention to the heels. Now its the 1st thing on!

Having 4 girls is TOO much fun!