The last week-ish

It was WARM ENOUGH TO GO OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!! As in, the snow that has been a permanent mountainous fixture on the ground here MELTED.
So we went on a walk. It turns out the babies do not like walks yet. They both cried the whole time. Which meant it was a very short walk. Poor Indiana winter babies. The sun will come back, some day...


But Dorothy had fun.


The babies are increasing in chubbiness and cuteness, if I may say so myself. The second little thigh rolls are in. (That's Norah in the picture.)


I finally made Dorothy wings. For a girl who lives in dressups most days, this was a big deal. I've been promising her wings for a long time now. Since then, she has been a butterfly, bird, Buzz Lightyear, a fairy, an angel...


That fabric was a steal at Goodwill. I thought it looked like perfect butterfly wings.


Dorothy (as she's "holding" Norah): Grill, would you do me a favor? (If you don't know who Grill is, or the whole Grill story, click here.)
Me: Sure.
Dorothy: Would you go into the babies' room and get me a binky please? (I get the binky.) Thank you Grill. Good job.

Do you think she's heard that before?

Picture sequence

Norah left in the red, Ruby right.

Randomness

We got lots of potatoes this summer. Every time we open a new bag, we find a little potato garden growing.


Dorothy was particularly distrustful of this tuber. To be fair, it looks a little bit like an alien. (Also, who knew a plant would just break through a plastic bag??!)
She kept eying it suspiciously and hugging my leg. Until we made it into french fries, at which point she fully embraced it.


Talking to the babies.




Two babies sleeping. (Ruby L, Norah R)


If you stare at it hard enough, the turtle will come to you.

Slave Labor

Also, please excuse my messy kitchen. Maybe that should be our slave's next job?

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

Today is the twins' three month birthday. Yahoo!
But a good photo shoot just wasn't going to happen.
Norah left in the red, Ruby right


Dorothy and I had a party and made cookies. We used this recipe, oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip. Yummy! Funny, because I am a creature of habit and I usually stick with my trusty chocolate chip cookie recipe. This time, I branched out and tried this one and it was SO good.


Dorothy graciously blew out the candles for her sisters.


I graciously ate lots and lots of cookies so that the babies could have some, seeing as I make their food and all. They have to get their birthday treat somehow.
Isn't the light coming in funny? I think it looks like I'm having some lovely cookie revelation or something. : )


Norah.


Great party, eh Norah?


Ruby.


What followed was a raucous celebratory dance party. Dorothy graciously provided the music.

Today...

..I turned away for a minute, and when I looked back, Dorothy was putting "makeup" on Norah's face.

Only it wasn't makeup. It was a glue stick.

There were hugs that made it hard for babies to breath, tries at "helping" them to sit up by themselves, and handstands shown to them that ended with a foot to the face.

These babies are loved. Let's hope they survive all of this loving.

Babies and some Dorothy photography

Baby pics.

Norah is on the left, Ruby on the right.



Don't they just have the most heavenly, chubby cheeks?!! (Again with my cheek fetish, I know.) A lady came up to me in church yesterday and commented on their chubby cheeks and I just gushed "I know, aren't they wonderful!!!"
I think people read my blog and comment on them because they know I love my cheeks. : ) Thanks guys.
Ruby left, Norah right.

While I still can't really tell the babies apart at a glance (and Ruby's toe nails are still painted red, just in case), their personalities are really starting to differentiate.

Ruby (below) is our thoughtful baby. She looks at us sometimes and makes the sweetest cooing noises with an expression on her face that looks like she is desperately trying to communicate something very important. Her temperament keeps us on our toes a little more-- she likes her routine, and she's not a happy camper if we get off a little. She has the most fantastic smile-- she smiles with her whole body. Her eyes light up and open wide, and she flaps her little arms and legs. A friend told me that when your baby smiles, it triggers a reaction in the same spot in your brain as methamphetamine. I'd believe it.


Norah (picture below) is our resident smiley face. She'll smile at just about anything. It makes parenting very pleasant. We'll come pick her up from a nap, and she'll be waiting for us with a big grin. So so so so cute. She's our sweet, mellow baby and goes with the flow easily. I usually end up nursing her second because she's okay with sitting and waiting while Ruby nurses. And this girl spits up a lot. This has been my first real experience with projectile spit up. Come to find out, if a baby is born breach, they're more likely to be a spitter. Who knew? That's obviously been the case here. Norah is the more aggressive nurser, but she quite possibly makes up for it in the spit up department.


When I uploaded pictures, I found out that Dorothy had taken some as well.

I think she needs a pedicure, stat.


Interesting shot.


Aw. So sad. That's Norah, and I think I was changing Ruby's diaper when Dorothy took this picture.


I think this is Ruby. Isn't that kind of a cool shot? Bravo, Dorothy!


Dolly eating lunch, with a napkin on her lap.

I'm really trying to get a good picture of all my girls, but so far they've all turned out pretty badly. Hopefully next time.

Let's Play

Dorothy has concluded that the baby sisters are pretty boring. They sleep. They eat. They cry. They stare blankly. But she found a new game.

Enter dress up. The babies are really really good at dress up.
Ruby getting the star treatment.


Now doesn't that look like fun.


Ruby escaped by needing a diaper change. No worries. There's another baby sister.
Norah having the time of her life.


Dorothy showing off her necklace. Actually, I just thought that this picture turned out really cool.


Ruby...


...and Norah. She's not so happy.


Dorothy started going to PRIMARY with the new year. *Gasp!*(For those of you who aren't familiar with Mormon church classes, primary is where older kids go while parents go to Sunday school.)

She's pretending the antennae is a microphone and she is the teacher. And look! She's started wearing shirts!


Here is her class.


Update:
This has been a hard, hard week. I'll spare you the details, but this was probably our hardest week yet- complete with the lowest cumulative sleep total to date. I'm tired and ready for a good, solid nap this weekend when Dallin is home. That's one thing I'm finding. Naps really aren't an option with this crowd unless there's a third party helping. I think that is the nature of three kids.
The babies are doing well. We've had a few nursing issues, so I've been nursing one at a time now rather than at the same time. That's not such a big deal at this point, they eat a lot faster than they used to. And... they're working on they're second chubby little thigh rolls. Thank goodness for cute, chubby babies.
Sorry to sound so doom and gloom. We're really doing pretty well. I think being tired throws a negative light on everything, ya know?
Here's to the weekend! And husbands having school off! And probably ordering pizza tonight!

I think I need to sew something. That's therapy to me. I want to make this.

I need to have more fun with my twins' twiny-ness. I like this, it's cheeky and not overly matchy. And it would be so easy to make. The question is, who should wear the dog's butt? The one who is crying the most when I get them dressed? The one who pooped the most recently? Any thoughts on how to be a fair and even parent to twins in a wardrobe situation such as this would be greatly appreciated.