Random

1.  Five month olds are impatient.  This strangely makes me feel better about myself.   Patience is a virtue, but a learned one.  It's not something I was born with and have lost.  I was born an impatient person.  It's no excuse to not be more patient, to practice patience, to hope for patience in others...but, it makes me feel better.

2.  At what age do mullets go out of style?  Kate sports one.  She's adorable.  Most mullets are not adorable.

This looks more like a rat tail...it's a mullet, promise.

3.  Girl scout cookies are the best and the worst things to happen to my week.  Samoas,  Thin Mints, and Tagalongs have invaded my house.  They are perfect and make me reminisce and I'm nursing 2 humans and, therefore, normal calorie math does not apply...and I've had a tummy ache for 3 days.  I have NO self control.  It's embarrassing and kinda impressive how many (boxes) I've eaten.

4.  Dan dressed Kate today.  I laughed for about 20 minutes at the time and then everytime I've thought of it since.  Poor baby.  Everything was too tight, nothing matched, she was happy, he was proud of his accomplishment, here it is...

5.  Lauren rolled from back to tummy today!  She was so cute - almost proud of herself it seemed.  She can now really move across the room!  And, I'm already doing some serious self-talk about my comparison compulsion.  They had accomplished all the same milestones for exactly 6 days.  Whatever.

Love.
E dot P dot



How do you do it?

Another happy day here.  I worked (a little), Dan got to play with the girls without my "help", and the girls were smiling and laughing a good portion of the day.  Poor Roxie probably would not agree that it was the happiest of days.  Roxie is our pit mix pound puppy.  We got her right after we got married.  She has been the absolute sweetest dog ever.  She was house trained when we got her and we've never had an accident.  She will stay right by us on walks without a leash.  She never barks, except at hot air balloons when they fly right over our house.  She survived Brother Darin's "obedience test" on her first trip home.  I didn't witness it, but I think that maybe her tail got pulled and her ears toyed with...he's such a good daddy, he was just making sure she was childproof.  She was mostly a house dog...until the babes came home.  She has been so good with them...mostly indifferent.  She prefers to not be around when they're crying.  She never steps on their blankets or gets in their face.  She has a doggie door and has just made herself into an outdoor dog as the weather has gotten nicer.

Well, yesterday we were working in the backyard when I noticed she was chewing on her right front paw a lot.  I figured she had a sticker, so I went to her rescue.  That poor baby had an ingrown dewclaw.  It was angry and bloody and swollen.  I almost cried (and puked).  My poor puppy was wearing her neglect on the outside.  I was so ashamed. 
I made an appointment with her vet for this afternoon.  I probably could have trimmed it myself, but my shame forced me to include the professionals.  So, after I got home from work we all loaded up and headed to the vet.  Loading up the girls and getting anywhere is a feat.  I've mostly mastered it, and it doesn't stress me as much as it once did, but I was nervous for this trip.  We haven't exactly streamlined the feeding schedule when I'm not around.  I figured one or both would be starving about the time that Roxie went bizurk. 
The vet experience turned out fine.  Roxie was such a good girl.  I didn't get scolded for the obvious neglect.  She got a few other things checked out while we were there so it wasn't a super waste of my time.  The important part of this story is that the staff and doctors there were so helpful!  They helped me with Roxie, helped me out to the car, acted super impressed that I was out in the first place...all the right things!!  It got me to thinking about when the opposite is true.
I can't count how many times I have been met with this scenario instead.  I'm out, by myself, with both babies, and juggling some other task.  Maybe it's grocery shopping, just using a public restroom, trying to get in a door, etc.  It's never very remarkable.  In fact, usually it's one of those tasks that 6 months ago I would have done on autopilot.  Anywho, during these menial tasks, on countless occasions, someone stands nearby and says to me "Gosh, how do you do it?!".  And that's it.  They don't open the door.  They don't push the cart or the stroller (have you ever tried to push a full grocery cart one handed?).  They just acknowledge that it looks hard. 

This turned into more of a complaint than I intended.  I meant to tell the story about Roxie's poor foot and the helpful people at the vet clinic.  I like that I've learned to tackle most errands.  I love spending time with my girls and if one little errand takes longer than it used to, it's well worth it.  Simply an observation.

Milestones

What a week!!!  Times are a changing!  I swear, you blink, and they are just different!!  These little girls...we've had some firsts! 

1.  Sweet Kate rolled over.  It was as if she were saying, "There, is that what you've been whining to all your friends about?!".  If she could have given me the bird, I think she would have!  She rolled over on Friday while we were at the clinic for a quick visit.  It has been repeated...don't worry, she's normal.
2.  We set up the second crib, and this will be the third night that the girls have slept alone.  I had a hard time...they didn't seem to notice.  I left the back bumper off of each crib in case they needed to see each other...they didn't seem to notice.  Next change will be to lose the swaddle.  I'm sad...they probably won't notice.

3.  We busted out the exersaucer.  Kate has LOVED the mat with the activity bars overhead.  She could lay there for hours (ok, she has...) and laughs at the hanging birds and little song every time like it's brand new.  Lauren hates it.  She's bored.  She uses the hanging birds as something to hang on to as she pushes herself off the mat to go explore.  We put her in the exersaucer and I thought her eyes were going to bust out of her head and her face break from her big smile!  She couldn't take it in fast enough.  She also couldn't touch with her little feet, but didn't seem to mind. 

We've had a fun weekend!  Dan and I just marvel at how quickly they learn and grow and change.  Lovin' it.

Dare to Compare

Lauren on the left, Kate on the right

Our sweet babes look alike.  Yes, we can tell them apart, they have some very distinctive features, but they do look alike.  They are twins.  They are the same age (to the minute) and the same size (within 6 ounces).  They eat at the same time, they sleep at the same time...It is, therefore, only natural to compare these two little animals.

They are as different as can be!  They sound different - Lauren, a funny little barky cry and quiet giggle; Kate, a cry that makes you want to cry with her (vibrato, a lot of vibrato) and a full out chuckle.  Kate could lay in your arms to hear a story for hours at a time.  Lauren would find a way to wiggle out of your arms without you getting to..."I do not like them, Sam I Am".  Lauren rolled over from tummy to back 2 months ago, she's almost rolling from back to tummy.  Kate, to this day, struggles for a second while on her tummy then lays her little (ok, pretty big, actually) head down and makes her sweet little baby noises.  Kate makes eye contact for so long that you start to feel self-conscious (do I have something in my teeth, what, little girl, what?!).  Lauren can't take in her surroundings quickly enough, and glances at your eyes like she glances at the picture frame on the TV stand. 

This all makes me crazy.  I have picked apart their differences since the day one had orange-y poop and the other green-ish.  Who's normal?  Who's weird?  Who's a little slow?  I know they are both perfectly normal.  They are healthy and happy little girls.  We are blessed.  In fact, I love that they are so different.  Hopefully their differences will prevent some of the inevitable comparisons that they will hear for years to come.  So, I'll continue to count our blessings and stop counting the ways they are so unique.  Exhibit A....

Look closely.  They started out side by side.  Kate has moved about 2 inches.  Finding Lauren...a little game of "Where's Waldo"!

Random

Seriously, my mind is like an ongoing list...here's today's!

1.  Why don't babies look like they just woke up when they've just woke up?  Is this something that comes with age?  Do we start to look tired longer as we get older and tired-er?  I promise, if you caught me 2 minutes after waking from a 2 hour nap at 10 am, I would look like I just woke from a 2 hour nap!

2.  Am I the only person in the world with this self-inflicted rule?  Dan thinks I'm crazy.  We had a few days of very warm weather, and I switched the unit from heat to AC about a week ago.  It was premature, I realize that now.  I was hot and not thinking clearly.  The rule, however, is that we don't switch back and forth all willy-nilly.  If you jumped the gun, you try to learn from your mistake, add an extra blanket, and be patient to not make the same mistake in the fall.  Nevertheless, you flip the switch 2 times per year...choose wisely.  (By the way, must give a shout out to my dad at this point.  I know exactly where this neuroses came from!)

3.  Is it weird to wear your babies?  I love my Moby.  If you wear your baby and don't see a chiropractor, however, you must change this.  I live with a chiropractor, work with 4 other chiropractors, and NEED it after days of this:

 

Don't judge me for wearing grey 2 days in a row - it's just a phase.



4.  Is a salad still a wise choice, calorie-wise, when you disregard portion control?  This is my favorite salad of all time.  It feels like spring/summer to me.  I love it.  This is a serving bowl.  I ate it all.

5.  I love my babies.

Again, no judgment allowed...this is first thing in the morning. The last time she got buttoned up it was dark!

Weekend

My cousin is my best friend.  There, I said it.  We go to great links to disguise this fact from many friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc., but it's true.  Why, you ask, do we feel a small sense of shame from this fact?  It lends itself to the fear that you might think that we can't make friends unless forced into social situations with them (holidays, bathtubs as children, family vacations, etc).  I assure you that it's not true.  I've made other friends, she has plenty of friends, we just happen to share the tightest of friendships...and some DNA.  Whatever, I'm over it, judge if you must!

Well, she came to play this weekend!!  It had been entirely too long.  Oh sure, we'd seen each other at many holidays, and weekends at home, but this was quality hang out time.  Having our moms here to babysit the 3 babes was perfect for us too.  I think the moms were surprised that we just wanted babysitters so that we could bake, run to the grocery store, get a pedicure, eat one meal out...I think they were hoping we would get up in the morning, leave them with those sweet babies, and come back late that night.  Nope, that's just not really our idea of a good time anymore.  Chocolate souffle, an apple pie, and some delish cookies...freshly rubbed feet and painted toes...a meal eaten while hot that someone else prepared - now this is a good time!!!

Mine are those pasty white dogs....yikes!

It must be repeated soon.  We just recharge well together. 

While spending time with Amanda was my "mom who needs a break with her bestie" favorite part, watching our babies "play" together was my real favorite part.  I've watched my girls begin to interact with each other over the last few weeks.  They make eye contact and smile.  They reach out and touch, scratch or take each others pacifiers.  They "talk" their creepy twin baby language to each other.  It's all just precious and has been my favorite development so far.  But, this weekend, I got to watch them interact with a new baby.  Sweet Kendall is 3 weeks older than they are.  He's taller, stronger, does more tricks, and they just could hardly peel their eyes off of him.

  

It was all just so sweet.  Sure, there were tears, there were scratches, there were a lot of babies in one living room.  It was wonderful.  You can't help but have dreams and wishes and plans for your babies.  After this weekend, I hope that they share well, are kind, laugh easily, and become good friends with their relatives.



Oh Blarney!

Today was a fun day!  I have moments where I actually get a little misty in the eye area and act like a girl.  Today was one of those days.  At one point-a short, fleeting moment-I had both of the girls with me in the kitchen.  I was singing and dancing and baking, they were drooling and smiling and trying to keep their head upright in their little Bumbos...it was awesome!  I do believe I was born to be a momma.  Anyway, it didn't last long, one needed changing, then a nap, one needed bouncing, etc.  The project was Blarney Stones.  We are having a little snack feast at work tomorrow (how sweet that a party fell on one of the two days I go there!!!) and I felt that Blarney Stones would be the perfect contribution.

A little back story on these Blarney Stones.  First, they are part of one of my fondest junior high school memories (there aren't many!).  I had/have a great group of girlfriends back at old LHS.  One March day, we gathered at Grandma Opal's to make Blarney Stones.  Grandma Opal was Leigh's grandma, but we all claimed her.  I don't remember much, but I remember laughing a lot, having so much fun with my friends, thinking Opal was one cool grandma, and that Blarney Stones are the perfect combination of a sickeningly sweet, salty bite.  Sweet Opal passed away this year, and Leigh sent me a photocopy of the recipe in Opal's writing.  What a treasure!

Well, I needed Opal today.  Maybe on that day we didn't really help much, and just watched her make them for us.  Maybe the recipe leaves a little too much room for interpretation.  Maybe my two little helpers interrupted the process too many times.  I don't know - but they're not just like I remembered.  No matter though.  I baked with my babes, remembered a sweet lady, and good times with dear friends, and sampled enough that I have a little belly ache.  And, I'm not embarrassed to take them to work.

Now, I'm left wondering.  Who will be the Grandma Opal in my girls' life?  Who will I be a Grandma Opal to?  And, isn't it funny how some experiences just stick with you?  I can probably count on one hand the number of times I was in Opal's home - but I think they were each noteworthy.

Randoms

Be prepared for more of this to come...my brain just works in lists!

1.  I saw an infomercial the other day for a program to teach babies to read.  It was really kinda impressive - these little ones who could barely talk were reading flash cards.  Craziness.  BUT, if we're going to teach infants to do anything beyond their God given skill level, I vote we work on the ability to BLOW.  Blow your nose little baby girl.  You hate the sucker bulb, I hate the sucker bulb, it's just no fun for anyone.  So, creative people of entrepreneurial America, get to work.  I promise I'd buy the DVD.

2.  Going to the pediatricians office for 'well-baby' check-ups feels like my periodic performance review.  It's not about the babes.  It's about me.  Am I doing a good job?  Have I neglected something?  Are you proud of me?  Do I get to keep my job?  Oh, the stress.  Today was so stressful, in fact, that I locked my keys in the stinking car.  (I didn't tell the doctor, so he still said I was doing a good job.)  The girls did great.  They are healthy and beautiful and flirts.  They are on all the charts - fifth - tenth percentile of all measurable things.  Perfect.  I, on the other hand, sweat through my t-shirt and cried after I finally got in the car.  (Not really, I don't cry.  I do, however, sweat.)

3.  I have decided to try to channel my baby A a little more often.  That girl can lose her breath laughing so hard at a mere glance in her direction, a raised eyebrow, a ceiling fan.  Her whole body gets into it.  If she could be upright, she would double over in laughter, 14 times a day.  I want to be like her.

4.  One of my besties (see About Me section) is coming to visit in 45 hours.  I am abnormally excited.  I've made lists about making lists to prepare for their arrival (she has a sweet lil pumpkin 3 weeks older than the babes!).  And then, the most exciting part is that our moms are coming to spend the weekend - we get to go play!!  Just us big girls!!!  I think maybe we'll go to Target.  Or maybe a grocery store.  Or maybe just sit in a quiet car and chat.  Ah, how the definition of an outing has changed!  In the meantime, I'm praying for their airplane ride.  Sweating and praying.  Ugh, it's like a performance review for her by 100's of random strangers.  Yikes.

5.  I am feeling undeservedly blessed today.  The tragedy in Japan, stories of unthinkable loss, those in chronic pain...I can't help but try to wrap my mind around those things that you just can't wrap your mind around.  His ways are not our ways. 

I'm liking getting this all out on "paper".  Thanks for spending a moment out of your day indulging my need to share it with someone.  And, by the way, Kate whispered in my ear at the 10 feeding last night and asked me to please swaddle her.  I did.  She just wanted to try out the flailing and had already had enough for one night.  Baby steps to loose limbs.

Nighty, night, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Workin' Girl

I remembered how!!  Oh, what a relief it was when it all came back so naturally.  Work was fun today.  Dan made it home in time for the switch to be painless, and the girls were both acting like they felt better today, so it was easier to leave than I feared.  My sweet patients acted like they missed me and it was fun to catch up with them.  I'm glad we made this decision - I'm also glad that I prefaced this return with "but I can change my mind and stay home any time I want to!".  I think I'll go back on Thursday.

I am blown away by how quickly my babes are changing.  Today's big change is the swaddle.  We have swaddled the girls since day 1.  They were premies and just seemed to do well with the tight wrapping.  Also, we chose to crib them together from the start and you just can't have all those flailing arms!  Some have balked at our "mummifying" our babes, some almost have a panic attack about the imagined claustrophobia just looking at them, some (ok, just me) loves that it makes them look so tiny and you can smoosh them super close together while they're wrapped.  Well, almost overnight, they are done with it.  Kate is in the crib right now with all her limbs loose.  I could just bawl.  Only big babies can do that, not my sweet little pumpkins!  I think a second crib is in order - their arms still seem to flail about!  Let's reminisce...

See!??!  Tiny, smooshed together, melt your heart loveliness.

My sweet Lauren.

Babies grow.  Each stage has been better than the one before - I'll trust that it'll just keep getting better - flailing arms and all.

To Blog or Not to Blog...

That became the question.  I have never been an indecisive person.  Never.  I do all things quickly, efficiently.  So, it came as a shock to me that I have had such a hard time starting this process.  I decided to look into blogging after having our twin babes and being at home with them for the past 4 months.  I found quickly that I have a lot of random thoughts everyday, I think most of them are funny (you'll be the judge), and my internal dialogue was like a really long, unpublished Facebook post.  So, I logged on, did some research, became a Pioneer Woman stalker, and decided this was the perfect outlet for me!  Then, I spent 2 weeks trying to think up a title for my blog....seriously!!??  Pick a name, get to work, share the sitcom that is our life - I couldn't do it.  So, FINALLY, I made a decision, created a blog and posted this - in a matter or 30 minutes (or 3 weeks, whatever).

I start this adventure on the eve of my "back to work" day.  I am headed back to the clinic tomorrow (chiropractor, love it, haven't missed it) after a 6 month absence.  I'm petrified.  Do my hands remember how to do what they need to do?  Will the babes do something cool while I'm gone?  Will the Hub make it home in time for the switch-a-roo?  And, of course, my little Lauren is sick for the first time...now...when I'm going to abandon her for the first time.  Ugh.  All that whining done, I do have a pretty sweet deal.  I'm only going in to see patients 2 days a week for one 3 hour shift/day.  Cake.  AND, my sweet husband has rearranged his schedule (also a chiropractor) to allow for him to be with the girls while I'm working those 6 hours.  It should work beautifully, and I really am looking forward to a few things - doing my hair, fun shoes, seeing my patients, using a part of my brain that has been off duty, etc.  I'll keep you posted.

Critique away - now is when habits are established...if I'm annoying, let me know - in a few weeks, I'll be beyond repair.