If I get like this.. Let me know..

 You know those things you always say you are "NEVER" going to do once you are a parent because YOUR parents did them to you.. or because you find them ridiculous? Yeah.. I wonder how many people end up doing them.. I caught Jordan saying "I'll give you something to cry" about to the dog the other day.. lol.. Of course he wasn't serious but it made me laugh and got me thinking about how hard it is to try to be a parent.. Especially with nay-Sayers who think you are doing everything wrong.. So here are a few observations I have about how to be better effective as a parent..

#1). Don't listen to Dr. Laura Schlessinger . Why oh Why I keep doing this.. I don't know. I can't stand her. Hate everything she stands FOR, and agree with her on nothing.. yet I find myself flipping over to her satellite channel and listening to her berate anyone who has ever gotten a divorce, been a mom who worked, been a separated parent who remarried, etc.. She doesn't even believe Jesus is real.. So seriously.. I'm done. I'm making it a point today to NOT listen to her. Because she makes people feel bad about themselves.. And while yes, I'm sure everyone wishes they had stable, families who never went through tragedy or got divorced, that just doesn't happen.. Plus I'm here to tell you, my parents are divorced, and its awesome for me. I have two extra parents that I love, and 2 more people to love my girls.. so yes, It CAN work out.

#2) Don't listen to other judgmental moms. Yes, everyone has a 'theory' or a 'way' things should be done because thats they way "THEY" did it, or "THEIR" child did it.. Anyone can try to make you feel like crap because you are a working mom, or because you started feeding formula, or because you put your kid in daycare, or because you hired a nanny, or because you skipped baby food.. Just disregard these people. YOU know what is best for YOUR family and YOUR kid.. I'm not going to listen to people tell me I'm a jerk for working and not staying home.. or I'm a jerk for not taking my kids to daycare because I have a fabulous nanny that I found on care.com instead. I'm just not interested in it.. Look at my girls.. do they look sad? No. They are like the happiest babies ever, so I'm not listening to people try to tell me otherwise. Plus, I think the more people you have to love your kiddos the better!

#3) Read Books. Yes, I know that books can't raise your kids, and everyone is different.. but I know, for me, I feel so much better being prepared.. Plus I love knowledge.. And I read to the girls every single night.. We love books in our house..So read.. Plus it gives you fun ideas of things to try when your baby is screaming, or teething, or hollering, or being a hellcat. At that point you are game to try anything. Plus, we read a book for sleep training that CHANGED OUR LIVES. So yes.. read.

#4) Talk to parents who are successful.. This means, their kids still like them, their kids want to be around them, and they are successful adults. Sometimes these folks are hard to find, but I'm blessed to have Terry & Laura Feix in my life and their kids love them, and even hug them.. so I'm going to be picking their brains as the girls grow.. I even introduced Laura to the "Windit" last week.. she had not heard of it, and its a fabulous product.. so I love sharing my knowledge with others too!

#5) Get advice from people who have the same problems you have.. For Example, Chelsea is my friend who has twins that are about 8 months older than mine.. this was SWEET.. She helped me revamp my baby registry, told me exactly what to expect, and listened to me cry about being a giant pregnant lady.. So now I have a new friend who is having twins, and I'm helping her do the same.. If I know someone that has a baby that is not sleeping, or is gassy, or is looking for the best convertible car seat, then I provide the knowledge I've learned.. Sharing is caring right?

#6) Don't feel guilty. There are so many things, people, items, etc that will make you feel guilty. Don't. Don't get caught up in what your child is or isn't doing, or what milestones they have, or haven't reached.. People are different.. they do things at different times.. So going to the Pediatrician and demanding to know why your 5 month old doesn't have 3 teeth by now is pointless.. the teeth will come in.. Cross still doesn't' have any, and I'm not stressing over it.. mainly because my teeth or crap, so the longer hers wait to come in, the less time they have to rot out?!? lol.. Hopefully she gets her daddies teeth! Don't feel guilt about going to work, or having a date night, or whatever.. The best thing people can do for their kids is be a good couple first.. and Couples might need time to themselves.. so Don't beat yourself up over this.. We certainly don't.. We have two kids at a time, so we are already over achievers, so we aren't going to feel bad over a date night!!

So thats my rant for that right now.. In other news, Lapoppins has given us her notice.. We are super sad about this, because we love her, and the girls do too..She has become a part of our family, but she is leaving to go take care of her granddaughter full time. So we have started looking for a new nanny. We interviewed all weekend and had some GREAT candidates from CARE.COM.. We are super excited about that. We are going to try to make a decision this week. Just feel blessed to have some strong candidates.

In other fun news, we kept Reese's dog over the weekend. Reese was one of my contractors at CHK, and I brought him over to LOVES after I left to work in Deskside support. He has a Golden Doodle named Banks, and she has been wanting to come over to play, so we got her.. She is precious! She was so gentle with the girls and just immediately started watching over them like a nanny!

Sawyer was mean to her at first, then he gave her a hug and they played.. We took them to the field and let them all run free..Banks was very well behaved and the girls laughed and giggled at her. They both LOVE dogs.. We are going to get her next weekend and let her stay the night and play.

We took the girls to Build a bear for Valentines Day.. We let them pick what they wanted to build. Cross picked a Lion and we put bunny shoes on him, and LL picked a Shamrock Bear. The bear is a bit creepy with beady bird eyes, but she liked him because he was shimmery with his Shamrocks.. So we put a little dress on him, but he's still weird.. However, LL likes him so thats all that matters.

Next weekend the girls go to Child Dedication at Church. We walk up front with the girls and their names are announced.. then they show a picture of them, and the church stands up and agrees to pray for us. All of our families are coming up for it, and we are excited to do it. We just love our church and love sharing it with everyone. So we are super excited about that, and to see everyone.