Snoop Dogg and Star Wars... Not a Bad Pairing!

Two Year Check Up

The girls were "lucky" enough to go have their two year check-ups today.  Katie is in the 95th percentile for height, about 55 for weight.  Lauren is in the 90th percentile for height and about 70 for weight.  They are doing well even, even after the horrible shots they got.  From the second we walked back from the waiting room, the girls were mad.  They did NOT want to be there!  So, it seems that we will have a couple of very tall little girls.  TJ is probably still in the 95th percentile for his height, too.  I swear the kids grows an inch every season... at LEAST!

Two Times Two Year Olds

Twirls (twin-girls) are so much fun, especially mine.  Now that they are officially two, the fun is just beginning!

We all know how toddlers are famous for tantrum throwing, mostly because they have a hard time communicating and want to be in control over so many more things than they actually are in control of.  This is the perfect description for Lauren.  My colicky baby turned diva, turned diva toddler, is the queen of throwing tantrums for something as small as me leaving the room to make them lunch.  It drives me batty!  Luckily, having twirls has given me a LOT more patience than I used to have - and the ability to ignore a child for need of attending to another child, or in most cases, making them lunch.  Katie, on the other hand, is talking up a storm and can communicate very well and throws few tantrums.  Really, the only time Katie is upset is when I can't give her my attention (like when I have to, again, leave the room to say, go to the bathroom!).  However, most of the time, Katie is a happy child who can entertain herself, sit quietly and look at a book, or just sit next to me and be happy. 

My twirls are exact opposites of each other in temperament.  Lauren keeps things interesting, to say the least, and Katie's calm collectiveness allows me to stop and smell the roses with her!  And well TJ, he's just an active boy who loves to play with his little sisters and keep them on THEIR toes! 

Sometimes it is pure madness in my home - and I love every freaking moment of it!

I took this picture on June 5 when we had their birthday party.  The girls kids LOVE their Mimi!  I am so happy they have a grandparent that is close by that always spoils them with love!  It makes me reminisce on my childhood and remember the wonderful times I had with my Papaw and Grandma. 

TJ Caught a Fish!

We went to Mark's lake house yesterday and even though (as you can see) the rain clouds moved in, we still managed to get in the water for a little while... and TJ caught his first fish!  Way to go TJ!

For Memorial Day (today), we are grilling some steaks and enjoying a lazy Monday.  

On another note, TJ finished 1st Grade this past week and got recognition on Awards Day for being on the "A" Honor Roll for the year!  And as part of our previously set deal, TJ got to pick out the game of his choice for "staying on green" all year, which means he had PERFECT behavior all year long!  He is growing up WAY TOO FAST!

The girls are growing too fast, too.  We are days away from celebrating their 2nd Birthday.  Amazing how time flies!  They are both very talkative, active, happy little girls!  We are enjoying every last minute of it!

Happy Easter!

Obviously, I rarely have time to post! But I wanted to take some time out to say Happy Easter to all our peeps! :)

TJ is doing really well in 1st Grade. He is a straight A student and always "stays on green" (which means he is perfectly behaved). He is doing Boy Scouts and Soccer this Spring. Our first game of the season was cancelled. That's okay - as long as he has a physical activity to participate in... that's all that matters!

The girls are doing really well, too. They are starting to talk a lot more now, and it's amazing what they say! Katie's favorite phrase is to answer every question with "Oh, Okay." Lauren loves to point to things to identify them. She points to the stars on her ceiling every day to let us know she knows those are stars. The other day she pointed to something and said "cool!" The other day I finally got one of the girls to refer to me as mommy, which I've been waiting for :) Katie was looking at my iPhone (which she ROCKS at using) and saw a picture of me and said "Hey, I see Mommy!" MY HEART MELTED!!!!!!!!

I've been doing most of my online living on Facebook.... and post all my pictures there. I haven't updated the Towle Family website in FOREVER (since I was pregnant with the girls). It's just soooooo easy to post to FB.

An extremely long day - but what a great one it was!

Halloween was a blast - from sun up to sun down!

TJ's regional end-of-the-season celebration and tournament too place. Our first game was at 8am and then we had two more games after that. The Yellow Jackets won the first two games, but lost the third game. That put us in second place for our group (there were two groups). Then we had the playoffs for third place. The Yellow Jackets were tied with their opponents when the game came to a close, so that meant overtime! We had to play two more 8 minute quarters and we won 5-3! WAY TO GO YELLOW JACKETS!

I am so proud of TJ! Even though he thought it was a bust (he didn't make a goal during any games), I think it was a very rewarding experience. I really hope he plays in the spring because I think he will get even better and will find himself scoring goals!


Our day ended at 4pm with Soccer - so that means the girls were good sports during 8 hours of being out on the fields. Here are some pictures I took:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42013&id=1303620738&l=3cbf60d7f5

We got home in JUST enough time to scarf down some food, get dressed and go Trick-or-Treating. Actually, we did trunk-or-treating at two different churches within a mile from our house. The girls LOVED being out and dressed up for the occasion. Lauren loves prancing around as a Leaf Fairy and Katie made an ADORABLE little Dorothy! Here are some pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=832545&l=11544f5c76&id=1303620738

Fun at the Farm

We went to Lyon Farms today with HAMOM and had a blast! Here are some pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41057&id=1303620738&l=26cc8af466

It was pretty cold and windy, and the girls were cranky a little, but they still managed to have fun while freezing in the cold! TJ was up and going the entire time we were there! HE had a BLAST!

Teeth, Eyes and Hearts

The latest in pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39516&id=1303620738&l=8784e33478

TJ lost is first front, top tooth. Although this is tooth #5 as far as the number of teeth he has lost. Lauren is up to 12 teeth now, and Katie sits at only four.

Went to see the opthamologist on Wednesday for Lauren's astigmatism. Is hasn't gotten any worse and since both eyes are about the same, we are good for at least another year. If we see problems, we can go down there and see the doc again (in Birmingham). Lauren will probably need glasses at some point, but when is the question.

Tim and I will be celebrating seven wonderful years of marriage tomorrow! No plans since he and I won't be in the same town tomorrow... but as soon as he is back, I am sure we will find a way to go off and have a nice dinner without the kids :)

So far, everything else is going okay... :)

The latest at the Towle House

I've posted a few good pictures from the past few weeks here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36954&id=1303620738&l=5a45985c8d


TJ's soccer team, the Yellow Jackets, are doing really well! They've won all three of their games so far! TJ is starting to get better and starting to actually enjoy it. He was very timid and uncoordinated at first, but we've seen some real growth from him.

The girls are doing very well! They had their 15 month check-up on 9/11 and Lauren outweighed Katie 15 ounces. Katie is 3/4 inch taller than Lauren. They are both pretty high up in percentiles for height, and just a little lower for weight. They are doing WELL!

Katie has become quite the lap baby. She loves sitting in momma's lap! Lauren is much more of a go and get 'em type. She loves, loves, loves to dance and be silly. She's a lot like TJ was at that age. Katie seems to be more interested in books and sitting down with herself and her toys. It is so much fun to see the contrasting personality types between them and even TJ!

TJ is doing well in 1st grade. He needs to pay better attention and this shows in his reading comprehension and math, but he is more than capable of acing all his subjects. He's very smart, but right now things like Batman and Iron Man are much more important to him! Boys will be boys, right? He's got a b-day party to go to this weekend and he is so excited about that!

I will post more as things happen! I am not on top of this like I used to be, but I am trying!

So much to say, so little time

There are so many things going on, and so little time to write about it!

Here are some pics from TJ's soccer:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34293&id=1303620738&ref=mf

They named their team the Yellow Jackets :)

I wish I had more time to write... and I will as soon as I can!