Boys - 4 years, 9 months

They're the exact same height at 43.5". Alex weighs 44 pounds and Tony weighs 40 pounds. Alex is in the 75th percentile for both and Tony is in the 50th percentile for weight...we've had him pegged as tall and thin like Opa and Uncle Bob for awhile now, so this is no surprise.

Today was picture day for their first season of soccer. Their first game is next week.

Jill is 2.5!

She's 37.5" and 33 pounds. That puts her squarely in the 90th percentile for her age/height/weight.

She's finally started talking and has taken it upon herself to start potty training in preparation of starting preschool in November.

Still girly. Still loves all things pink, purple and sparkly.

Jillian is 2!

Favorite...
Color: Sparkle. Does not discriminate between pink and purple.
Toy: dolls. dress up clothes and accessories. writing instruments/things to make the world more colorful. (markers, crayons, chalk, pens, highlighters, paint)
Place to go: Shopping. School with her brothers. Disneyland.
Food: Macaroni and cheese. grapes. raisins. bananas. King's Hawaiian rolls.
Movie: Frozen. Little Mermaid. Cinderella.
Animal: Ponies. Followed closely by puppies and kitties.

What do you want to be when you grow up? She's convinced she's a princess, so I'd imagine she wants to be Queen.

*While not talking much, these are her favorites as interpreted by her parents.

Pre-birthday Measurements - Jillian

Just measured Jill...she's as tall as her brothers were when they were 9 months older. That makes her 97th percentile for height at 36 inches. She weighs right around 30 pounds. This puts her in size 3T clothes, but usually 4T for one piece swim suits, rompers, and dresses. Size 5 diapers. Size 7 shoes.

Top 10 Things I DON'T Miss About the Corporate World

Kim posted a hysterical video of a conference call depicted in real life (I'd link but I'm posting from my phone), which led me to declare conference calls being in the top 10 list of things I did not miss about the corporate world. So then I started thinking about what else would actually be on that list...

In no particular order:
1) conference calls
2) work clothes/heels
3) business lunches/dinners
4) conferences/meetings/seminars
5) stupid policies and procedures aka red tape
6) training (as both trainer and trainee)
7) HR/political correctness (especially as it pertains to CA)
8) dealing with those who feel entitled
9) technology issues
10) being stuck in a building all.day.long

Edit 1/30/14:
11) Performance Appraisals

Happy 2014!

Not really a new year's resolution, but something I've been working on for awhile now. But since it's the day to put these things out there, and I'll better hold myself accountable by doing so (totally contradicting what I'm about to say):

I'm going to stop worrying about what "everyone" thinks of me and stop being a people pleaser. Or at least less of a people pleaser...sometimes it is a good thing...but I do it too much.

For awhile now, I've watched while my mostly twin mom friends all frantically clean our houses before we have guests over. We will bare our souls to each other as we share our struggles on this wild ride,  but heaven forbid we let each other see our sinks piled with dishes, toys strewn all over the floor, and stacks of stuff on our counters or shelves placed out of reach of our little people. I totally will scrub every inch of my house before a big gathering. But if I just want to have a play date or a few friends over for wine? Must let the worry go. I'm fairly confident that 90% of my friends that have similar aged and quantity of kids have homes that appear to have been recently ransacked...because their kids outnumber them and are living and playing and happy. While striving for organized chaos, sometimes, often, it's just chaos. I'm trying to be okay with that.

Tony is 4!

Favorite...
Color: Red
Toy: Lightning McQueen and dinosaurs
Place to go: Disneyland
Food: Cereal and macaroni and broccoli and brownies
Movie: Cars 2
Animal: kitty and a puppy

 What do you want to be when you grow up? Builder Guy