TGIF, y'all!

In no particular order, here's what I'm blogging about today:

1. You know something that saddens me? The fact that T and E will never have TGIF to look forward to on Friday nights. {Sigh.} Just wanted to throw that out there. Here's to hoping they have something equally magnificent by the time they're old enough to care. If not, we'll be borrowing from Carissa's enormous collection of old Full House episodes.

St. Patrick's Day at our house! E is in her signature color, and T is in blue.

 2. The girls cried and cried and CRIED yesterday afternoon, and I was extremely close to googling "spontaneous colic in 17-month-olds" when Chris got home and figured out what was wrong: Even though they had been eating at normal times all day, they were STARVING. Hello, growth spurt!! These are events to celebrate around here, since these two girls are normally just not that into eating!

Of course their outfits contain green. No, we could not justify shelling out the money to make them look like little leprechauns, so this will have to suffice. :) Plus, thanks to me they are partially Irish, so that should count for something, right?

 3. Nap time has not been so glorious this week. There have been skipped naps, generalized fussiness and much crying when I leave the room! Today I even dragged E to the pediatrician after much hemming and hawing, to rule out an ear infection, and instead I found out that she is perfectly fine! She is, however, TEETHING... of course... so I guess she's just taken it up a notch? I don't know! I'm glad she's fine, I just wish I would have saved the money. Now I'm wishing the pediatrician's office had like punch cards or Frequent Patient Rewards or something like that where you'd earn a free visit every now and then. Pretty sure we would have had like 10 free visits by now - ha! You know it's bad when the lady at the front desk sees you come in, laughs and says, "Oh, it's YOU again!"

Getting ready to go on a walk. E would rather play with my phone, which she refers to as "Daddy," I guess because she often sees me talking on it to her Daddy.

3. Please, spring, stop with your teasing and COME already! We took the girls to the playground last weekend, where they enjoyed the swings for the first time ever, and it was magical. And now this. Unfair!

I'm indecisive, so here's another picture that's practically identical to the one above.

4. On a deliriously happy note, we're consigning some old clothes at the Germantown United Methodist Children's Boutique this weekend, which meant I got to go to the presale last night! Y'all, I came home with several gorgeous new dresses for the girls, none of which cost over $5! I'm talking $2 and $3 for mint-condition smocked dresses! FABULOUS! Plus I found a fun wooden activity cube for the girls and a pink plastic vacuum cleaner (something I never thought I'd spend money on), which I'm kind of regretting buying now because it has suddenly become THE IT TOY the girls fight over nonstop. Oh well, at least they love it! And if you're in the market for 6-9-month girls' clothes that T and E once knew and loved, PLEASE go buy them so we can finance upcoming spring shopping expeditions! Yes!!

T smiles...

E smiles...

5. The fun book I'm reading right now: Sparkly Green Earrings, by one of my very favorite bloggers, Big Mama! It's every bit as amazing as I knew it would be, and it's very hard to put down. LOVE!!

... and they both smile, while I'm sitting at my mirror in the playroom getting ready for the day. 

 6. The serious book I'm reading right now: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Yes, you may have seen me mention it on here before. It just takes me forever to finish anything these days, but this book is so fascinating! I know lots of people already read this book like two years ago when it came out, but in case you don't know anything about Bonhoeffer, he was one of the (shockingly) few leaders of the church in Germany who actually saw Hitler for the evil man that he was, wasn't afraid of him, and stood up against him -- and then paid for it dearly. Eric Metaxas is such a wonderful writer, too. He is actually hilarious in his descriptions of things sometimes, but without diminishing the gravity of the situation. Excellent read.

This happened this week. >:( Not a fan of the new street lights in the neighborhood, since they will now effectively cheapen my view of the night sky! I was telling that to Jennifer the other day, and no matter how I say it, it sounds textbooky, but there it is. Grrr.

7. The helpful book I'm reading right now: Don't Make Me Count to Three. The church gave me this book when we were preparing for the girls' dedication, and it is excellent. Discipline is becoming a very real thing in our lives these days. I'm hoping I'm not nearly as clueless by the time I finish this one.

T enjoys chips with her Daddy.

8. The book I'm reading with Chris: Shepherding a Child's Heart. Yes, it lives up to the hype so far. It is very good and very helpful!

E had to have one too.

"Where have these been all my life?!"

Pointing to my computer, where I have pulled up a picture of them with their Granddaddy. They felt like celebs.

That's all I have for now. I'm going to go encourage the girls to, you know, SLEEP during their nap time, rather than jumping and giggling and squealing and throwing stuffed animals. Or maybe I should try feeding them again, at the rate they're going! Either way, wish me luck!!