Surprise!

I love surprises.  I'm terrible at surprises, but I love them!  The only way they ever work out for me is when I, too, am a little surprised.  Usually, my planner brain does not allow for plans to change last minute or for things to just "come up", but this past weekend, they did!  Nephew Dakota's birthday party was last weekend in Laverne.  He's 8!!!!!!! which is a blog all on it's own (how does time go by so quickly!).  This coming weekend is an Eells' (my mom's) family reunion, of sorts, in Red River, NM.  Because we would see Dakota a mere 4 days after his party in Red River, we planned all along not to go home for Memorial weekend.  We had ideas of a day trip, or a bathroom remodel, or of couch time.  WELL...plans changed!  After talking to Darin, Shannon, and the gang last week we decided there was just no good reason not to go home.

We surprised Dakota and Makalyn (4 year old niece), then Darin and Shannon, all the grandparents, and even Dodie!  It was fun stuff!  The party was great, showing off the girls is always fun, and nothing beats hanging out with family!

Great Grandma Terry and the babes

Cousin Makalyn with Kate and Lauren

Call of the Wild

We just got home from our daily walk.  I described the bosque trail this morning, but here are some pictures so that you can better imagine this story.

We were cruisin' along, mindin' our own business when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the tail of a reptile!!  Think anaconda ('cause that's how scared I was) but imagine the possible tail of a garter snake or small lizard ('cause that's how big it actually was).  YUCK!!  And scary, and made my heart beat faster than it already was due to the physical activity, and made me want to go home.  But, I pulled up my big girl panties and went on my way.

When, all of a sudden, there was a rustling in one of these.

Not this exact one...there was no time to take a picture!

I about died!  I actually made eye contact with a beaver/badger/chipmunk/wombat.  I know two things for sure, that it's a darn good thing I didn't have my new red gun in a holster on my hip, and that it probably wasn't a badger 'cause my Papa Eells told me that a badger would charge and get me.  At least that's how I remember his story.  If I could have been a little faster on the draw, I'm certain all of nature would still be malling me....down by the river.

This is how worried the girls were:

I'm a survivor.
E

The Little Engine That Could

Oh, the fun we're having!  It's amazing what a difference a few days can make!  Tuesday, I was seriously considering posting one or both of them on Craigslist and loaning them out to the highest bidder.  Today, I can hardly stand to sit here and type this 'cause I just wanna go play with them!!  (OK, I did...I'm back, the beauty of blogging!)  The only variable I know of in the turnaround of our nighttime woes has been naps!  I have stayed close to home this week, made them go down for two naps of decent length a day, and last night L got up once and K SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!  This only goes to prove, once again, mothers, that if you are in a stage that you think you will just NOT survive, just push through a few more days!!  It always changes!

They are days, if not hours away from crawling!  Lauren, especially, gets up on all fours and rocks and rocks...I can just see her little brain chanting "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!".  Kate does this same trick, but she's not as sad about not going anywhere.  She's content to just enjoy the view from a little higher altitude.  They both have perfected the "plank push-up" and I actually semi-suspect that Kate will be a bear crawler before a knee crawler.  She can really get her haunches HIGH!

They are doing so well with food!  I have been making their baby food and can hardly keep up!!  They are fans of sweet potatoes, green peas, green beans, spinach (mixed with another veggie), squash, apples, pears, bananas, and new this week, blueberries!  We're doing it as 2 meals a day, breakfast and dinner...mostly because I've barely got breakfast cleaned up by dinnertime, there's no way I could have it clean by lunch!!  It still makes a giant mess, but I'll take some of the blame for that!  They've also started eating some little puff things...think cheerios that melt super fast in your mouth.  They at least have fun playing with them!  Sippy cups are still hard...they love to play with them (throw them on the floor), but I'm not certain they've ever actually swallowed any water.  Oh, and they still nurse about 45 times a day.  Oinkers.

Their little facial expressions melt me/make me laugh 400 times a day!  Oh my!  They can raise one eyebrow, wrinkle up their little noses, smile so big you can see to their spleen, and stick out that bottom pouty lip to get their way.  Presh.

They are sooooo ticklish!  This might be my favorite thing!  I pester them while they're nursing, while they're playing, never while they're sleeping, but most other times!  They scrunch their little shoulders up to their ears and just giggle and giggle.  Kay-ute!!!

We still go for a walk most everyday if it's not terribly windy and they are talking so much more while we're out.  They talk to me, they talk to each other, they sing...mind you, if you're not the Momma this all sounds exactly the same and exactly like non-sensical babble....I'm so glad I'm the Momma!  They are becoming more and more fascinated with Roxie.  They stare, tell her stories, and once, Lauren got close enough to come away with a handful of hair! 

My view...

While we're on the subject of our walks, I have to tell you about my birthday present from my Daddy.  I take the girls and Roxie on walks on a trail near our house.  It's along the Rio Grande, there's a bunch of cottonwood trees, there usually aren't many people, it's beautiful.  It's also been a little creepy a time or two.  Before I had the babes, it never crossed my mind to suspicious of anyone, but now, I am.  I mentioned this to Dad last time they were out, and he got me a gun for my birthday!!  A red, plastic, pepper shooting one!  It's beautiful and awesome!  So, if you see me and my big yellow buggy with my big, slobbery dog, watch out....I'm packin'!

As we speak, they are part watching Baby Einstein, part having a serious conversation, part crawling, part whining, part licking the dust off my still dirty carpet, part naked, part perfect....

In a better mood,
The Momma

From an earlier post, this is the best we could do to capture the nose bite/growl.  Don't mind the fact that I'm wearing two watches...

Wordless Wednesday

I really am mostly wordless.  The babes have reverted back to a 2 hour feeding schedule throughout the night.  If you aren't clear on the difference between 'like' and 'love', come stay at my house.  Somewhere around 2-5am 'like' takes a hike.  I still love 'em though.

Proof that they know how to sleep!

Kate.  Exhibit A.  Sneeze meets Sweet Potato/Spinach.

We're all tired.

But some of us are still cute.

I have a feeling that when the time comes to get rid of the pacifier it will deserve WEEKS of blogging on the subject.  Just fair warning.

Love.

She who looks tired.

31.

In honor of my birthday, here's a list of 31 random things about me.  (Stolen, thanks Tracy, and whoever you stole the idea from!)

1.  Coffee.  I love coffee.  So strong that you consider chewing.  Black, or with cream and sugar, or with fancy creamer.  Don't care.  I heart coffee.
2.  I love music, but I never know who sings something, or the name of a song off the top of my head.  I can, however, sing most every word.
3.  I like doing laundry.  Especially towels, sheets, baby blankets, etc.  My least favorite things to fold are Dan's undershirts.
4.  I'm tidy.  I don't like piles, or things not put away.  I'm definitely more tidy than clean.  I consider a room "done" if everything is where it goes, not if everything is cleaned to a shine.
5.  I'm out-going and loud with people I am comfortable with, and pretty awkwardly shy with new people.
6.  I'm so tired that when I dream, I dream about sleep.
7.  My favorite social thing to do on a weekend night is hang out on the couch with Dan.  (Yes, it's social, Dan's there, silly!)
8.  I have a super power.  When I think of a patient who hasn't had an appointment in a while, they almost always make an appointment within a week.  Magic.
9.  I like check-ups.  Dentist, optometrist, blood work.  I feel like it's a clean slate.
10.  I think if all women collectively decided to throw away all our make-up except for lip gloss and mascara the men of the world would never notice.
11.  I knew I wanted babies and this dining room table for my house before I had a husband or a house to put it in.

I didn't, however, know that I wanted an antelope on my wall....

12.  When the babes go down for a nap, or when we leave the house and they are both in good moods, I feel like a timer is set and move in freakish, super-speed fashion.
13.  I'm not crafty.  At all.  Poor babies.
14.  Dan makes me laugh as many times as he makes me roll my eyes at him.
15.  My favorite job other than mother and chiropractor was tractor driver.
16.  I'm a handwriting chameleon.  You know when you get a card in the mail and can tell who it's from by the handwriting, I'm not like that.  Sometimes I don't even recognize my own handwriting.  (Dan fears that there are hidden alter personalities due to this ability!)
17.  I am NOT fashionable or trendy.  If I ever leave the house looking cute it's because someone talked me into buying said cute article, and I finally had to give up and leave the house wearing one of the 18 things I had tried on, and just happened to get it sorta right.
18.  I LOVE books on tape.  I used to have one going in my car all the time. 
19.  Dream jobs to try:  Reading a book for a book on tape (except I'm TERRIBLE at accents, so no accents), Professional Organizer, Starbucks barista.
20.  I wear out funny stories. 
21.  I'm equal parts sad and happy that Monopoly is over at Albertson's!  (Happy because I know there will be some new mundane thing come up for me to become obsessed about and I can't wait to see what it is!  Sad 'cause I didn't win.)
22.  I have SEVERE anxiety when I have to play ice breaker games.  Severe.  Like I have butterflies right now, thinking about it.
23.  I like cookie dough more than I like cookies.
24.  We have a xeriscaped yard.  Sometimes I rake the rocks as therapy.
25.  I can't nap.  Strange because I come from a long line of nappers.  I'm not good at it.  It takes me 45 minutes to calm down, and then 4 hours to feel like I've finally come back to life from my nap.
26.  I sometimes pretend like I'm on my own cooking show when I make dinner.
27.  I must really feel like I'm only 27.  I can't think of 4 more things.  AND, the babies are down for a nap and I'm in super speed mode!
28.
29.
30.
31.

Happy Birthday to Me!!
Erin

Death by Cookies

It can't wait.  You MUST make these cookies now.  Make a quadruple batch.  And make 45 extra pieces of bacon.  Oh MY.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies


Stolen from http://www.howsweeteats.com/


Stolen from http://www.howsweeteats.com/

Go to this website.  Make these cookies.  Follow her blog.  I'm in a bacon daze.  There are no more words.

Love.
The Bacon Perfumed Momma

Freezer Food

I have been putting off a post about this brilliant idea, because I've been trying to figure out a way to make it into a side business.  I haven't figured it out, it's been months, so I'm sharing.  If you figure out of a way to make some cash from this go for it!  Or else tell me how and I'll love you forever.

I received this book as a baby shower gift - thanks Katye! - and have put it to good use!  It is brilliant!  Not only are the recipes tasty; it describes to you how to freeze them, how to reheat them, when to add extras, and even gives side dish ideas sometimes!  Brilliant!  (BTdub, when I type brilliant, I 'say' it with a British accent - you should too, it's more fun!) 

The GENIUS part of it is the suggestion to do this with other families.  It, again, describes this plan in detail in the book.  (That the authors came up with all these brilliant ideas makes it hard for me to figure out how I should profit...darn those smart ladies taking all my good ideas!!)  Split the groceries, do prep work before you get together, get together, have a ton of fun, put together the recipes and leave with a ton of meals prepared for your freezer.  The ONLY downside I can think of is that if you picked a recipe that you didn't love you'd have to eat it 2-3 more times.  That's it!!  And if you are like me, this is really not that big of a deal as there are very few things I turn my nose up at.

My friend Daisy and I have done this 3-4 times.  We usually spend between $70-$90 each on groceries, 2-4 hours "cooking", and leave with 12-16 meals for the freezer.  I don't have the time or the desire to do that math right now, but it's a GOOD deal. 

DO it!  Get together with your best girlies, have the hubs watch the kids, have a glass of wine, and get your grocery savvy on!! 

Happy Friday!
E

These have nothing to do with this post...I just fear that if there are no pics of the babes, you'll boycott.