Goin to the chapel and we're going to get married

Well, it's 10 days before LaLa and Mad-dog's wedding, and we're starting to get excited over here in Kingwood.  I'm making the video for their rehearsal dinner that has pictures of the soon-to-be hitched couple from birth to now.  It's funny how I see little bits and pieces of my girls in our childhood photos, it could be a smile that resembles Natalie or a pose that is strikingly similar to Claire.  I think genetics are one cool subject, maybe I could be a geneticist in my next life or the life after I am a private detective (seriously, ask David, I've really wanted to be one).  Anyways, there is no point to this blog entry.  I just wanted to share my joy about the upcoming nuptials of two of the best people I know.  Seriously, Mad-dog is the real life Handy Manny and has been a blessing to not only Lauren but to my family as well.  Love you guys! 

Oh, and what's a blog entry without pictures.  Here are some random pics that make me smile and hopefully you too.

Claire's second haircut (28 months old).

Claire learning the walk (10 months old).

Natalie also walking (10 months old.)

The girls first swim (9 months old).

Natalie learning to ride a tricycle (29 months old).

Love my girls.

Must they get into everything...

This is what I found when I got out of the bathroom, a mascara mess....

At least they know the general area where mascara is applied.

Scrappin....

Here are a few scrapbook pages that I've recently made for calendars that I'm giving to family.  It's hard to pick out pictures for these calendars.  I have about 6 thousand pictures of the girls (no really, that's what Picasa's facial recognition program has under their profile), and to narrow it down to 20 is really hard.

Oh, and here's their Valentine's Day card that I cut in half, and we gave to their friends.  One of their friend's mom told me that he loved the cards so much that he wanted to hold them during nap time. 

Bribes

Bribes totally work with 2 year olds.  It's one of my most useful parenting tricks :)  Honestly, it's probably out of desperation like in this situation at the Kroger parking lot: "Natalie, Claire can you please just sit in your carseat. No Natalie, don't climb over the backseat.  No Claire, don't go into the front seat...please stop pushing all those buttons on the stereo.  Ok...if you get into your carseat right now...I'll give you a chocolate heart."  Works everytime :)  So, in order to get them to sit still for these next two pictures....

I had to bribe them with these heart-shaped Little Debbie cakes......

Works like a charm.  Hmmm, I wonder if these cakes will work with David and the pressure washer.....

Thanksgiving...Finally.

So, I'm now ready to tackle the Thanksgiving post.  Thanksgiving holidays started off with a bang.  The Richardson crew held a shower for LaLa and Mad-dog in Baton Rouge, which had a college football theme.  It was the perfect timing because Ole Miss was playing LSU the next day. 

Yes, that is an Ole Miss black bear...(wow, that felt weird to write).

The soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Turner with Lauren's maid of honor, Lindsey.

The annual cousin picture

Aunt Emily is a natural....

Patrick's great wrapping job, exactly what I'd expect from Bugar.

I just love this picture of Nat Nat.  She's totally up to something here.

The following day, we took the our Rebel cheerleaders to the LSU campus to see Mike the Tiger and catch up with some of the tailgaters.  It didn't occur to us that Mike might actually be in a mobile cage for the game instead of his home.  Here's the girls looking for Mike.  I wonder if Ole Miss is going to build a huge oasis for the Black Bear. Hmmm...something the kids would enjoy. 

Then Natalie decided she wanted to climb a tree.  As David would say,  "That girl is goofy like her momma" or "the Richardson blood is strong in her". 

Later, we learned that Claire is in love with Superior's salsa.  I loved watching her dip chip after chip and not even look up from the salsa container. 

 

To be continued.....Thanksgiving Part II in Covington.  Wish I could finish it tonight, but the girls didn't take a nap at Mother's Day Out today.  I walk into a room with sleeping children everywhere, except for two little, happy girls that were jumping up and down and yelling for me (which did make my day).  So, I am worn out from stalling bed time to 7 pm, let's just say that they were more than ready to go to bed at 5 pm, which made for an eventful dinner time.  "No Natalie, you can not chew your food with your bubby in your mouth."

Christmas fun

I know I haven't even touched on Thanksgiving yet, but I couldn't resist sharing my favorite ornaments of the Christmas season.  They were the girls' favorite too since: 1. they weren't allowed to touch them 2. they were made of glass 3. they had glitter on them.  Anyways, can you guess what ornament goes to which kiddo?

Answers:  The bunny is Natalie, due to her infatuation with bunny rabbits at petting zoos.  She tells them her whole life story while she is giving such huge hugs that I fear for the bunny's safety :) The cowboy is for David, since he has fallen in love with cowboy boots this year.  The poodle is for Claire because she likes bling and makeup.  She is in love with jewelry and eyeshadow and she didn't get that from her momma :)

Changes

I started this blog for one purpose, to give my family and friends a little glimpse into the daily life of Natalie and Claire.  I've also wanted to give my girls insight about how they were raised from their mommy's perspective through a journal of some type.  I later realized that I can use this blog as that journal, but I now have reservations about their privacy online.  So, I'm going to make this blog private, which will only allow people with permission to view it.  I also found a company that makes photo books from your blog with the journal entries next to the pictures.  So I can't wait to do this one day for the girls.  Now that I am making this a private blog, I can post more detailed entries (something that may bore you to tears unfortunately).  Email me if you'd like me to add you to the list.

I can't finish an entry without sharing a picture.  The girls have been sick with a cold, so I have kept them out of MDO.  So we had "MDO" type crafts, to keep the girls busy (which means I kept them out of trouble:).  Here's Claire with her tamborine.  They helped me fill the tamborine with pasta and beans and then they got to decorate it however they pleased (minus any sharpies or paint).  I love this picture of her, just not the sunlight spots from the blinds.  She was so proud of her artwork, and she looks so grown up!

The next day, we did fingerpainting.  Can you sense my enthusiasm for this?  There are very few things that I like about fingerpainting.  The girls' excitement is one and the other is that it can be therapeutic for mommy.  It also makes me let go of  my controlling tendencies and not turn into Kate Gosselin.  I know kids do need to be kids, which does require using paint, playing in mud, etc., and in my girls' case, breaking a dozen eggs, painting a sister with nail polish, and coloring my walls with fireplace soot.