Travel Update and the Million Dollar Question

June has been a crazy travel month. First we flew in from Doha. We were in College Station for a few days then off to Kerrville we went. After a few days there, it was off to Arkansas. Mr. D flew out of Arkansas to go back to Doha. That left me driving back to College Station alone with the girls. I finally got enough courage to do that today. It took us 9 hours, but we survived. It's good to be back in College Station....for a few days anyway. Wednesday we'll drive to Austin to catch a plane to Indiana. We'll be there for about a week and will return to Texas the first week in July.

So on to the million dollar question.... it has to deal with the girls. Are they identical or fraternal? I've been asked that question so many times --- probably at least a hundred times by now... no joke. And I've never had a definitive answer. Our doctor couldn't give us one when they were born so of course we could never give one either. But most people look at you like you are stupid when you say you don't know. In short, if there was just one placenta at birth, then they are definitely identical twins. But if there were 2 placentas at birth, then they could either be fraternal or identical. This was the case with us.

We decided that there was no need to do genetic testing to find out the answer to the identical/fraternal twin question because it really didn't matter to us. And we both leaned towards them being fraternal twins since we could tell a difference between them. They looked very similar, but not identical. There were definitely differences.

After doing some internet research, I discovered that identical twins could actually look a little different. So I thought maybe they are identical. But then I also read that fraternal twins could sometimes look a lot a like. (Like the Olsen twins.) So then I got really confused. There were days that I would answer the question by saying they were identical twins and then other days that I would say they were fraternal. We actually asked each doctor that we saw this summer what they thought by looking at them. And their opinions were split about 50/50. So I decided enough is enough and with Mr. D's permission ;-), we had genetic testing done. It was just a swab in the mouth so it wasn't painful for them at all.

So..... we know what they are. Can you guess? Here are 2 pictures from last Christmas and Valentine's Day. Let me know what you think. I'll post the answer later this week.

My Birthday Presents

These were two of my best presents this year.

Lil N:

Lil H:

Workin' at the Car Wash...yeah!

Mr. D has waited for this moment for a long time....

Exercise is Fun!

Well, at least Lil N thinks it's fun....

Oman Trip

We had a wonderful time in Oman. The resort was fabulous. We had fun at the pool, the lazy river and the beach. We also went dolphin watching one day. That was a neat experience. Oman is a pretty country. Nice and green, and even has mountains which we had no idea about. So that was a nice surprise.

Quotes from the trip:
"Mom, I'm not sleeping in that bed. It's not my bed." (Lil N)
"This isn't our house. We have to go to our house." (Lil H)
And we had this conversation every night....

We also found out that both girls grind their teeth while they sleep. Ouch! And they aren't very good bed partners at all. Mr. D and I were happy to get back home so that we could have our bed back to ourselves again. Here are some pics:

Mr. D and Mr. P(a friend that happened to be there the same day we arrived) and the girls floating down the lazy river

Mr. D, Lil H, Lil N and me on the hotel terrace

Mr. D just had to have a pic of this

Lil N, Mr. D and Lil H hanging out in the kiddie pool

The girls having a conversation....my favorite pic

On the boat dolphin watching

There go some...

A resort that we saw from the boat

The girls and I on the beach picking up sea shells

The girls and a new friend they made at the airport

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

Happy Birthday sweet girls! I can't believe you are already 3.

Today we took cookies to school, then went to CircusLand and rode the carousel, the airplanes and other fun things. We then went home and waited on Mr. D to show up with dinner. We sang Happy Birthday one more time, ate cake and opened presents. It was the perfect day!

Lil H and Lil N riding the horses

Up in the airplanes --- whee!!
Lil N driving with a bear
Lil H driving a puppy dog

Catching Up

Time to play catch up. I know....it's been a while since my last post. I'm not exactly sure where the time went. I'm sure there was some sickness in there somewhere. And then my new found freedom on Monday and Wednesday has allowed me to venture out more and that keeps me off the computer.
So let's start with Easter. It was a great day. We started off the day with Easter baskets which included all sorts of stuff.... singing Easter eggs, My Little Pony's, books, loads of candy, and a nice cuddly lamb with an Easter story to go along with it. :-) We then went to church for a lovely service and then had a late lunch at a friend's house. The girls also got to hunt Easter eggs which is definitely a highlight for them. And I'm happy to report that the Easter bunny has already hopped away with his eggs so there will not be any more egg hunts until next year. Last year I think we hunted Easter eggs for about 3 months after Easter. This year, it only lasted about 3 weeks so that's great news for me. Some pics from Easter:

Lil N and Lil H before church

Lil H and Lil N hunting eggs

The girls are really enjoying school and they now tell me they want to go every day. It looks like they will get their chance next year as a 5 day program is all that is offered at the school they are at now. I was hoping for a 3 day program.... but we'll take what's given to us I guess. There is one other school that is closer to our house that we may check out, but I think we are all leaning towards staying at the same school next year.

The girls will soon be 3. We had their birthday party this past weekend. We had 7 little girls in attendance. It was a Hello Kitty birthday party. We colored Hello Kitty sheets, played Hello Kitty Bingo (I know Grandma is proud!!) and snacked on rainbow-colored goldfish, graham cracker butterflies and strawberry birthday cake. Everyone seemed to have a great time. And the girls got some really neat presents. Here are some pics:

Lil H before the party

Lil N before the party

Everybody coloring their Hello Kitty sheets

Everybody playing Hello Kitty Bingo

All the little girls eating cake

Lil H and Lil N with one of their new presents

Lil H with a present

Lil N with her new best friend

This week we leave for our vacation to Oman. We are staying at a beach resort for 4 nights. We are all very excited and will share pictures when we get back.