Call me crazy..........

Ugh, poor little neglected blog. I have NO idea why a couple of days ago this seemed like a good idea and as I tend not to enjoy failing at things (even though we do it so well - wanted to have two kids spaced nicely years apart) I'm going to try to "finish" Nanowrimo, otherwise known as write a 50,000 page novel in a month. Again, why I decided to do that with working, twin toddlers, a blog, and a slight addiction to Facebook's Family Feud, right. My poor plot has major issues and already screams mass market paperback but considering the word count, I really can't change much of that right now. I used to be creative. Is it age or having kids that kills that? Anyone creative and bored hit me up. Writing 1600 words a night with no plot isn't working out so well. (Really, you don't say?)

I'm also apparently missing the "twin" thing. Yes, the girls may have had stunt double shirts as little babies and hubby does like to dress them alike for his family's functions to confuse people. That's about it though. I came across where a couple of other twin moms have twin picture frames or working the twin thought into greeting cards and just occurred to me I don't do any of that. Not that you shouldn't if you have multiples, it's just not me. Maybe it's the inner cynic or I think they'll labeled as "the twins" enough. Granted, their names are very close but that was more by accident and not wanting to end up with an "Anastacia and Jane." Although technically we don't really have picture frames around the house anyway. I have pictures waiting for frames, but lovely hubby likes to order oddball picture sizes.

And as this is mostly an open blog, another point to the above: Just because I don't like something someone else may, it doesn't mean anything else. I don't remember who I was talking to awhile back, but they seemed to take a slight offense when I said I didn't like something they did. Um, I hate vanilla cake. I do not consider myself above anyone eating a vanilla cupcake, it's just a preference. (And yes, our wedding cake was chocolate.)

Speaking of weddings, we were at a reception Halloween night so the girls hung out with grandma and Uncle Chris & Aunt Lori to help hand out candy. (haha, I'm ahead of myself technically since they're getting married next fall but close enough. Then again, that could start the whole discussion on your definition of family but we'll save that for another day.)


Ballerinas thanks to grandma. I like my idea for next year to have them be the good witch and the bad witch from "Oz." (okay yes, I will milk the twins concept for great Halloween ideas. Come on now, they could easily also go as the two girls from "The Shining.") However my friend pointed out how she'd be kind of ticked if her sister got to be all pretty and pink and she got stuck with green face paint - point taken. I'm very sad it's November because October was awesome for horror movies on the television. I think we watched three in one night. Bad idea to stay up though that late. Thankfully even McDonald's serves fru-fru coffee.

For Summer....

Please keep Summer and her family in your thoughts today

Friday Night Leftovers - the amended "got run over by a truck" version

Okay most of these I'd written out last night. The very last one is brand new.

• Simple breakdown here - being sick isn't fun, having sick kids isn't fun. Having sick kids while you (and hubby) are sick, wow, "isn't fun" just doesn't cut it. Guess we got spoiled as they never got sick their first year but what a pain.


• Speaking of, the girls are finally on antibiotics after getting the "sinus infection" determination. Now both hubby and I are sick but not quite to that stage. With my history of major allergies, a general sinus cold and such doesn't bother me - however this time we have a lovely cough that's pretty much kicking my butt and winning. Lungs are not happy! Although, as gross as it sounds, phlegm has to be a nice point value in Scrabble right?


• As a side issue, my right upper arm has been felt like it's on fire - this happens once in a great while but nothing like this past week. Had to pull teeth to get into a dermatologist; he was actually very nice but I could tell his assistants were like "hurry up so we can go home." Gee, thanks. For now we're going with "seborrhoeic dermatitis" (nice way of saying just really ticked off skin) If that's not the case, his other theory requires a biopsy so we'll just hope the first thought is right.


• Hmm, so if the first idea is right, one of the main triggers is stress. Hahaha, okay, really? I work (no less with my hubby and my family), don't sleep well, have twin toddlers... you get the picture. Doubtful that removing a lot of stress is in the near future.


• Had a parent-teacher conference at their school. Yup, our girls are nearly 19 months old and we're already meeting with teachers. They clap when we arrive at school so they must like it, right? Seems Audrey is more the thinker and Allie is the active one. Audrey likes to do little projets while Allie wants to run around the playground and go up the "big" slide. So we're banking on Allie being the first to visit the ER. Although they did try one assessment with colors: Allie wasn't interested in it at all, but Audrey apparently could identify all her colors and color in-between the lines. Progress, right?


• As in what seems to be a complete void of intellect, hubby and I may try to get out and play golf this weekend. Eh, enough cold medicine and we should be good to go. I may be paying for it later.

Now the "new" addition.

• I wrote that, right - about paying for it later. Hah. Started to feel a bit funny during golf and came home to find out I had a 103.5 temp. Okay, wow. Went to the urgent care where the idea was just a nasty, non-flu virus. Stayed well above 102 for five hours and just now dropped to 101. Feeling like total crud. Hmm also burning up, go figure.

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Audrey needs some new material

Hoping this morning goes just slightly better than yesterday's. Audrey's been feeling a bit under the weather and was not happy when we woke her up. (Apparently they need their beauty sleep - due to coughing and such, they were up most of Sunday night off and on and didn't get up until 10am on Monday - nice!) Allergies, teething drainage, who knows? (Common bug being passed around like wildfire at school - probably)

Anyway, back to yesterday. Audrey is whining and moaning all over hubby and sounds quite pathetic. (Yes, poor thing)
"Audrey, do you want to get dressed and go to school?" - No........
"Do you want to go back to bedl" No............
okay, um - "are you going to say anything else today?" And as she buries her head into hubby's lap, "Nooooooooo............"

Meanwhile Allie is dressed with lovey dog in hand yelling "schoo!" (school) by the door.
Then again, once we get Audrey dressed and in the car, they both applaud upon pulling up to the school. It was also picture day so can't wait to see if Audrey even remotely tried to smile. Bet she told the photographer "no!"

Friday night leftovers - the "yeah I got nothing" edition

• We may have to buy a duplicate of every item in the house; if that solves all the screaming and crying fits, so be it. Who knew a little drum set could cause such problems?
• The girls love ceiling fans, having the car windows rolled down, and anytime you fan them or blow in their face. They hate the hair dryer. Makes sense, right?
• Hubby and I got into a slight argument last night (actually a rarity, we really don't argue) I said he was being "huffy" and he looked like I was crazy. Tell me someone else uses that word.
• Not that I blog just to have followers or such, but yeah, I've been a bit lax with the blog and got called out on it - um, if you read it but never comment, I really don't know that you read it, just saying. (Someone please hurt me now that I typed "just saying" since that phrase drives me crazy!!!!)
• I can't complain as it is all our fault - the girls are already sports fanatics. I turned on the Ryder cup last weekend and Allie instantly went to retrieve her golf set and both girls will eagerly do the touchdown signal if asked. All major sports are in their vocabulary. Sadly, pretty much food and sports are the majority for the girls' lingo.
• Speaking of food, I know the girls are picky eaters. Vegetables, forget it. But brand allegiance? Audrey will not touch ketchup that is not Heinz. Really?

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Friday Night Leftovers -the "can we just get this week over with" version

• All joking aside, it's becoming a slight annoyance with the girls and their "pro-dad" stance. Tomorrow hubby is playing golf and I usually would be fine with just us three but hell, Audrey won't even let me get her out of the crib without a complete meltdown lately. If I bring a diaper or clothes to Allie, she'll just take them over so "da-eee" can do it. I'm going to say if Audrey's out of her crib by the time he gets home, it's been a successful day. (I'm kidding.)


• I hate the sun. A bright sunny day (oh like this morning) with no pacifier for Allie = car-ride from hell. Of course the minute we get her out she's all smiles and giggles so no one believes us. Fraud-baby!



• Yes I'm lazy but I have no problems with the girls going as twins for halloween. They won't remember it anyone most likely. Better yet, maybe they can go as single babies; hubby's idea, not sure what he's thinking that should entail.



• Sparing an insane rant, but if you set a precedent, it may just tick someone off when you go and change it at your leisure.



• As cute as the stuff is in the stores, I just can't spend full price on clothes for the girls when they grow out of stuff so fast. It may sound bad, but honestly, a $2 gymboree shirt at a resale shop beats a $20 one in the mall. Of course this falls at a time when I'm considering a pretty expensive fix for the ab area so I can see the point of I should save money on both ends but ............ eh no decision on the latter anyway so far.
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  On a positive note though, I do love October. There are a lot of reasons but one of the top ones has to be that it's "the" cheesy horror film month - awesome!! Anything to feed the addiction, right?
  

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What a difference a day makes.........

Hmm, Friday the girls seemed happy and maybe just a bit stuffed up. Being related to me though, we tend to not think too much about that as I'm dealing with allergies almost year round and especially right now, not a great time. So we enlisted the grandparents and a friend to watch them in the evening so we could visit with some friends. I think hand and foot has to be one of the more addictive card games I've played (it's a variety on canasta)

Well if we thought things were a-ok on the health front Friday evening, we woke up to a big surprise - two completely stuffed up babies with major digestive issues. Props to the hubby as I almost had to leave the room. Ew. I'm sorry but I'm missing the gene or ability to deal with major diaper issues without being grossed out. We got them cleaned up (okay so mostly hubby) and put everything in the laundry. I had to run out to get a few things for later as due to an illness another family member couldn't host MIL's b-day gathering so we were. (Of course we said yes on Friday when we thought everyone was healthy.) On top of that we had a parents as teachers visit right before his family was coming over. I think I really need to start using the calendar that's on our fridge.

Laundry wasn't done by the time the sickies wanted a nap so Allie took one on her bare mattress. (Hmm, given the morning's events, kind of a risky move.) They did fine with the party but had the same diaper issues after the second lap. Laundry time again. (Yes we bought multiple sheets for their cribs, but only one mattress cover per crib - awesome!) Allie took quite awhile to fall asleep that night.

Sunday morning we woke up to yet another round of digestive pyrotechnics and hubby sick as well. Let's just say it made for a long day. It seems a lot of people I know post on FB and such how their sick kids sleep a lot. Our girls apparently have a destructive need when feeling ill. They got into everything. Cd rack, bookcase, bathroom supplies............ Now I guess it's kind of our fault for not shutting some doors but keeping them happy seemed a better option.

Let's just hope by some crazy miracle the girls wake up perfectly happy tomorrow and can go to school. Hubby stayed home today but we both could use going into work and sad to say, sometimes I just prefer a nice routine.

9-10 Friday Night Leftovers - the attempt from my new phone version

I'm "glad" it's Friday, I think. Not as glad though as when the weekends meant sleeping in beyond 8 o'clock.

• The girls are going to eat us (and their school) out of house and home. OMG, where does it all go? Dinner one night was a 9" pizza, 3 nectarines, a box of crackers, and by then I stopped keeping track. Last night they polished off a burger, curly fries, a nectarine, more crackers, rice chex, some of hubby's steak fries, and once again, I lost count. We used to joke how they eat more than I do for a meal, now they're taking out hubby as well.
• Of course Audrey's favorite words lately are "more," "please," and "snack." I think 90% of their vocabulary revolves around things that are edible.
• I hate weed pollen. We'll just leave it at that.
• Hubby's fault for trading in our (lemon of an) Accord for an Altima but oh what a fun little car. Makes passing people much easier. (yeah yeah, shouldn't do that.......... you get behind a tractor or such everyday and see what you think.)
• The girls have a very specific "how things are to be done" mantra lately. Audrey will only let select people take her out of the car. I am not in that category. Seems if you're male, you're allowed - both grandpas and hubby are among the chosen few. Allie, when she gets mad in our car, does not want a pacifier from hubby or me. We must hand Audrey the pacifier who then gives it to Allie. Really, girls? Picky, picky.
• We're a really grown-up couple. Neither of us were jumping up and down to go to the parents' orientation at their school so the "obvious" answer was we both go. Sad, isn't it? Hey, at the rate the Cardinals are playing, I only get a month more of watching baseball, okay? (I'm kidding - the girls' education and caregiving situation is more important than sports. Um, I'm supposed to say that, right?)
• If it doesn't come any sooner, I've run out of luck in my chicken little approach of trying not to travel with the girls. Seems next summer we'll have to make an outing to the lovely state of New York. Hubby says we'll drive but the girls hate the car. That sounds painful. But I don't like to fly. Hmm.........
  
  
  
  
  
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This and that.........

For fun, and I should say this is a "hearsay" story, but hypothetically speaking, what do you think? "Apparently" someone we know was pulled over for rolling through a stop sign. (This particular stop sign isn't in the best spot - anyone I know always pulls ahead of the line for better visibility) She questioned the officer and he had her come back to his patrol car to watch a video tape of what she did. (I don't know the conversation so I can't say he made her or what but ........) Well the problem is she had her two kids (one is five, the other is three) in the car and the officer had no problems with them being unattended. Hubby just thought that was odd - rolling through a stop sign sounds a lot less problematic than two kids alone in a car. Curious what your thoughts are.

Moving on............

I'm about to suck it up and go see my doctor about not sleeping. It's gotten way too old. It also has made my temper very short and things that maybe shouldn't drive me completely crazy easily do. It doesn't help that every morning one of the girls is screaming mad. It varies between the two so hard to pinpoint what exactly is the problem, but hubby and I are both tired of cranky mornings. We don't see the girls a whole lot M-F so when most of that time is with at least one upset and/or mad, it's just not a fun time. This morning they were in-stereo fussy, and same thing from the minute we picked them up. It's draining. I know part of the issue is they don't take nearly a long enough nap at their school but we're going to have to fix that in a hurry.

They have gotten very interested in certain tasks like putting clothes in the hamper or putting away diapers, except hubby and I both swear that tonight, when we asked Audrey to put her clothes away, her babble-answer sounded very close to "why me?"

The girls did get their first day-trip this past weekend as hubby took them down to the cabin. Apparenly all the rocks they could imagine was too much fun and they were completely asleep by the time I got home (I had gone out to dinner for a friend's birthday) Maybe if we had rocks instead of toys around the house, we'd get better results. They also had their first trip to the zoo compliments of their uncle and soon-to-be aunt. Seems the monkeys were the highlight as they now excitedly will tell you what a monkeys says. (That or the dippin' dots - hard call.)

Fun with rocks

Static issues

Am I missing something?

It's not been the most fun month, I'll admit. A lot of that has to do with my quick-to-develop hatred for general business lately. Does anyone actually care anymore about anything? Well, besides turning a profit. We're not mega-rich, there's nothing we really can do, and that's just ticking the hell out of me. For once, I'd like to honestly see someone high up in that coporate ladder face-to-face and have them explain what so easily they throw down on paper or leave unattended.

The three simple problems that have made me cranky this past month. Call me out if I'm wrong.

#1 This is the extreme brief version - we moved into our house when it was11 years old. That winter, we had to fix a heating element. Next summer had to fix the A/C once, put in a working used unit when it finally failed. Next summer fixed that one again, and it finally blew one night, dimming the whole house and sparking/on fire for a moment. With two small infants we were tired of repairs, needed A/C amid 100 degree temps, so screw it, threw in a whole new unit - inside and out. Decided to file with our insurance as it seemed pretty obvious it was electrical and our agent said "it should be covered but it will have to go to claims." Gee, go figure - denied! The electric company said it "could" be electrical, our A/C guy and other independent said it was pretty much obviously electrical, but with no one ready to go "on recored" (aka save their own butt) we're left high and dry. Our agent is a daughter of a co-worker. I'm ready to resign the fact we're never going to see money, but a nice letter how she was a part of leaving us with nothing is in the works. It seems a conspiracy theory, but what better way to make some money to suggest a claim is covered so people give up a claim free discount and end up paying more, no? (And did anyone ever come out to the house to see it? Nope. Denied it the first time before we had sent any pictures. Obviously we are no longer with Allstate. Granted after months of arguing and a letter to corporate they offered a settlement but at that point for us it's more the flaw in logic - offer an amount right at first. After jumping through all the hoops, we really don't care.)

#2 We love(d) Hondas. First new car - 2008 Accord. Big step, right? Brakes went out at 28,000. Hmm, a bit early I think but hah, I'm not a car person. Hubby seemed to think so too, and he is. Few weeks later the power steering went out and then, the entire front column. ???? We work full time and have to pick up / take the girls here and there. Our idea in saving up for our first car was to have a sound, reliable car. Well, once again,, no one cared / blah blah - another letter to corporate yielded the response of "We're sorry the car has been so much trouble, you can get rid of it if you feel that's the best idea. Maybe next time get an extended warranty." ???? Well, once again, fine, forget you. A Nissan Altima now sits in the garage.

#3. Hubby's mom, MIL, offered to watch the girls this past weekend so we could get a weekend away. Hubby found a golf resort type place 2.5 hours away and booked a night with a round of golf. The person had something about a morning tournament but we should be able to get on around 1 pm. Okay, cool. Well, we got there, room was wrong but they were booked so oh well, no golf until 6 pm, spa's booked so we had to drive around for a few hours (it was in the middle of nowhere) Now I'm picking at straws with this last one, but if there was ever a time I just wanted something to go right, this was it. The restaurant was even out of the dinner option I chose. Grrrr.................. Once again, pretty much "sorry" was about it.

Okay so I probably sound like a big complainer. Granted, but this is the first time we've ever really argued anything. I even got into a slight argument today with my boss-dad when he was fixing a customer's piece at no charge even though it wasn't really in the standard timeline. Okay so we'll work with a customer and give a little when it makes sense but seems no one else does. Apparently I should tape-record every conversation I have.

I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting or expecting too much. Just really annoyed lately. I think you should stand behind a product / service at least a little or really explain to someone why x=y and so forth (answer questions directly). I seem to be wrong.

Follow-up - hubby got samples of a drug last month and it's actually been helping his nausea and stomach troubles a lot. Really happy - he's eating, happier, etc...... Well, insurance strikes again. Apparenly to get a prescription of this stuff you have to do a "protocol" and try other drugs first. Hubby's thought is "why, this one's working great." So while his doctor fights with the insurance co, they just gave him more samples. I give up.

Empathy can be a good thing...........

As touched upon in my previous post, it can be a conflicting state of mind, having gone through quite a lot in our little quest to have a family, to be overwhelmed as a parent. I mean, this is what we wanted - why does it seem so hard at times? I remember a time when the girls were very young (and us as their parents very tired) when a friend commented how her baby was super-fussy and "just like twins." I'm not going to start the "who has it harder" routine, but just a friendly tidbit - do not tell an overtired, frazzled new twin parent how one kid is just as tough. Not to argue validity, but just keep that one to yourself. (If that bothers you, I'm sorry but it just something I didn't need to hear at that time. I understand how she was trying to be sympathetic, but just chose a poorly worded efffort)

Enter empathy - aka akin to been there, done that. We all need it, and I got mine on Saturday. Completely my fault, but it had been a long day. I worked at a twin sale from 7-3 (most of that on my feet) and then had volunteered for a charity dinner & auction from 5-10 (also standing mostly) Never again. Ugh.......I was beat. Nevermind driving a good 2 hours to get here and there. By 9 I decided to wave the white flag and checked with my one organizer if I could leave as our portion was pretty much over with and she was fine with that. So my friend and I went to get our things and the main charity organizer was there - we said how we were leaving and I mentioned that I had overbooked myself for the day and as my little twins would be up early, I was ducking out a tad early. I figured her "how old are they?" to be a routine question.

Well my answer of "almost 1.5 years" sparked an expression. Turns out she has 14 year old twins. She came over to give me a hug and said "it gets better." She kept on talking and almost was in tears - how it can be so hard and while children are a such a blessing, sometimes it's just too much. I said how I hate "thinking" that having two kids isn't the same (she concurred) but I feel badly in thinking that (again - parenting is tough no matter how many, how spread apart, etc........) We talked for awhile and she was just full of supportive comments and how it's okay to find it "tough" at times. It pretty much had her tearing up by the end (and for those who really know me, that sort of thing normally isn't up my alley.)

The point of the story? Again, I'm not going to argue or claim raising twins is "tougher" than anything else. I can only imagine other scenarios that would have me shutting up in a hurry. However, after a long week and an insanely long day, it meant a huge amount to have someone, a complete stranger at that, who's been exactly in my place lending such support.

Belated story, back on the amusement ride

Two thoughts in one here.

My "original" idea was to post yesterday as August 18th is an interesting date, in addition to being the little sister's birthday. Two years ago I thought I had "the" birthday gift for her as it was our very first ultrasound and maybe, if she swore to secrecy, I'd let her in on the "we're pregnant" news. At least that was my plan in the morning. We got sidetracked when we heard for the first "certain, medically verified" time the "T" word. (and thus I forgot all about little sister's birthday)

I tend to like to have things in order, much to a fault a perfectionist, you get the picture. If our plan was to have one kid, and then perhaps down the road add to that, well, karma is a force that rarely listens. Don't get me wrong: we love our girls. We should be grateful to have two healthy daughters. But to be honest, I did not handle hearing "twins" well that first day. The room went silent to the point that I think the nurses were really confused as to why this couple who had worked so hard for this were looking like they were in shock. I wasn't sure whether I was going to throw up, pass out, or what. Another couple had just found out they also were having twins and they were hugging and completely ecstatic. We sat at bread company afterwards pretty much thinking how are we going to manage twins? - the costs, both of us working, etc........ After going through the "trying to conceive" deal, now looking at a twin pregnancy and beyond, it felt like another climb to the top of a rollercoaster.

And that's my sadly put-toghter segue. Funny exactly two years after that, I'm feeling much the same. The girls are in their first week of "school." Not sure how they're handling it (seemingly not too badly) but I'm not doing that well. I liked the place and people before they started, but my typical worrying/negativity is winning the war. Running myself short and not sleeping aren't helping. Somehow there's stuff going on all the time - a twin sale, a couple volunteer events (don't ask me why without any free time I added those into the mix, a couple birthday parties - I swear I need a completely "free" weekend and so far it might be October by the time that rolls around. We're also waiting to sign on our re-financing so we can ditch our lemon of a newer Accord (Boo for Honda! I've loved my past Hondas but this one has us switching companies) So add in car shopping sometime soon too.


I told hubby I'll try (and fail) at letting the rest of the year be a trial period for a lot, so hoping I stay on the sane side of things until January and by then the school and budget should be in good, working order. We can hope. After tonight, I've learned that, if we do move as planned in a few years, we're going to probably need a lot bigger yard for the area than I thought.

If you got through all that, a small girls update:
So far at school, Audrey is the happy, easy to nap, social one and Allie is the opposite. As Audrey is very fussy with us, it's "amusing" they're pulling the switch for others. The other night they were both very happy to throw laundry into their hamper which included shoes amongst other things - baby steps, right? We did get the proofs from their last photo session but it's set-up on password, so let me know and I'll send the info.

Who am I? (another Audrey gem)

Something on a deeper level I've been thinking about - what type of mom am I, trying to venture out here or there, be more social, working / future of working.....

Nevermind that. Let's go with the really simple answer, right?
Yesterday, with the girls in their chairs, I thought let's have a little identification round.

Pointing to hubby, I ask "who's that"
Audrey was quick to establish "da-eeeee" (daddy)

Ok, follow-up. Point to myself, same question.
Audrey looks at hubby, and then comes to the conclusion that I am "no da-eeee"

Quite the comic, isn't she? Hubby now calls me the au pair since it seems "mommy" is not exactly in the daily vocabulary. However mum-mum is. Apprently I'm ranked lower than a rice cracker.

Blog name & switch?

Thoughts? I brought this up on twitter but Carrie had a great idea to throw it out here.

A post back or so I mentioned trying to figure out the HTML for an upload form where people can submit photos. Well hubby suggested owning a domain name would work out a lot better versus running it all through blogspot (and cost-wise it's not that much for a small site)

So if I do that, I thought it'd be fun to change up the name a bit but the creative juices are severly lacking. So, any good twin-blog names come to mind or just keep what I have?

And for that matter, just stay on blogger and keep to my little pointless blogging. :)
On that note, I need caffeine.

Here we go again.

Before the serious part, a shameless photo blog plug.

Okay, I've mentioned it on more than one occasion, but I have one major pet peeve. Distracted driving. This includes being on the phone, general not paying attention, etc........ Take basic physics to understand why it only takes an insanely small amount of time at a decent rate of speed to really foul things up. It's not worth it. (And yes, I honestly can say I "practice what I preach." I will even take hubby's precious I-phone away from him if he's driving.) We live amongst one lane roads and it's a daily thing to see people wander across the double yellow because they obviously have better things to do then actually pay attention to the road. Studies have shown cell-phone usage in the car to cause reaction times of someone's who had a few too many (and actually car and driver's study, the cell phone was worse). Not to mention just basic driving, At highway speeds, it's going to take you a certain amount of time if you'd need to suddenly come to a stop. Now, I'm not saying to take drunk driving any less serious, but I think attention needs to be paid to distracted driving as well - it's just a bit trickier to handle.

So, why do I bring this up now? The results aren't in, but from witness accounts and such so far, I'm going to bet distracted, improper driving was the cause of a huge mess today. I work right in the area. There are signs posted how you are "nearing construction zone - expect sudden delays" Yes, the traffic can come to a halt in a hurry. That's your responsibility to note speed limits in construction zones and keep an eye on the road. Especially if you're at the wheel of a school bus filled with kids. I'm hypothesizing, but look at the pics. Things can happen way too quickly. It's also partially why we're trying to cut down on driving with the girls as something's just bound to happen.

As I started this blog after the girls were here, I may have not mentioned that Christmas Eve of the pregnancy (23 ish weeks) we were rear-ended approaching a merge onto a highway. Luckily nothing happened (besides getting to sit at L&D for three hours of monitoring) but the guy even said to hubby "oh I didn't see you." Lovely.

I want my own "Choose your own adventure book"

Anybody remember those?
As we're nearing the start of "school" for the girls, I've had a lot of different thoughts running around. I'm not sure if anything will happen based on said musings but here we go.

Not that my photo blog will be a huge hit, but for fun I thought I'd attempt to put up an upload page with a copyright box (versus people emailing me photos) Okay so after a few minutes of digging into the HTML code, I said "wow, this is hard. Eh hubby, have one of your HTML friends knock this out."

What? Brain cells - hello? You guys used to be capable of insanely long calc problems. Used to read Latin like it was your first language. What the hell happened? Have I not really "used" my brain in so long, I just give up a new challenge. That's not me. Well, that's not the old me, and that's what's bugging me.

I used to have no problem saying or thinking I was smart. Straight A's were the norm. I honestly can say I never got a C. (Just so we're straight let me add -Do I think less of people who have? Not a chance) I was just the determined type, wanting to go to a good college and major in either geology or meteorology. That was THE plan. I wanted to "play with hurricanes." (crazy, yes, but I love the science behind severe weather) Then, as it always has with me, money came into play. One school offered me quite a bit, and even an internship in the geological field. But I'd still have to pay a good $10,000 a year. Yikes. To an 18 year old, that's not pocket change.
So when an in-state school offered the full ride with money for books package, in the end, I chose that. Got a degree in an area of study that I truly liked, but besides academia, no job market. As most IRL people know, I work in the family business.

The worst/best decision I've made. I met hubby via a friend from college - If I were to go to the first school and we don't have hubby or our daughters. Hubby is a great guy, we have it pretty good - a house, jobs, family. But what would have been, I'll never know. And as the type who likes to cover all the bases, that drives me nuts sometimes. Hence my choose your own adventure book reference - I'm not saying I want things different, but I really would like to know "what if." Just a peek. I don't feel I accomplished everything I could have in the professional world for sure, and the brain cells have either gone away or gave up on ever being challenged.

Okay, so then what's wrong with just doing what I do now, being a mom, etc? Why won't the little voice that keeps going "don't you want that degree" shut up? And why now? Maybe because I always thought I'd change fields or go back to get another degree but with their school, saving for retirement, that won't happen. Somehow becoming a working parent, I lost a small part of who I once was?

Girls, when you read this - money isn't everything. It sure is a lot, but it's not everything. I wouldn't trade you guys (or your dad) for anything. I'm just wondering if I can revamp myself just a bit. I guess this is also a realization I'm getting older.

The (hopeful) return of the photo blog..........

I have other posts in mind, but today I'll try to have some fun.

So (way back when) I set up a private blog and a photo one, when I tried to keep up with a weekly photo-shoot blog. All that's gone to the back burner due to lack of time, creativity, what have you. Well, the private blog mainly because blogger doesn't update anyone's reader when you post. Nice.

I'm not sure out of my "followers" who reads my lovely contributions to online ramblings regularly, so this may fail horribly but maybe it's time to have a little fun with the photo blog. The catch is I'm hoping it's more of a reader contribution deal, but for now I'll start things off.

The idea is pretty simple (i.e. dumb) Random pic of the day. I was going to make it a "stupid people" segment but we'll open it up to any picture that makes you smile, roll your eyes, what have you. So, email me any pic, what category you'd like it to fall under, and we'll go from there. If you want a link back to your blog, no problem. If I make anyone laugh, smile or likewise, I'll consider it a somewhat success.

Check it out......

Tomorrow (ish) a more thoughtful post.

Friday Night Leftovers 7-30

• Why is it still that the girls saying "no" and us saying "no" have completely different meanings to them?


• I sort of kept it a secret (not on purpose, there's just been a lot going on and my memory left, oh about 16 months ago) but I set up a little photo-shoot for the girls tomorrow morning. Figuring with them starting "school" and heading into hopefully the busy season at work, we probably won't get around to doing pictures until the holidays after tomorrow's deal. Just told hubby about it last night. Whoops.


• Talk about having fun - tonight I'll be cleaning up around the house and hubby gets to tackle the jungle outside. Literally, our front yard is almost beyond help. Not so much the actual grass, the the insane weeds that are growing along the huge drainage ditch in the front. Got to love living at the bottom of a hill.


• I'm used to it as it gets insanely hot and humid every stupid summer in STL, but enough. Can we have just one day in the mid-seventies or something? Today's high is "only" 87 and that's due to rain - which isn't going to help the grass-cutting that has to be done tonight before pictures. As much as I love golf (eh.........) playing in 105 heat index is getting old. Yeah, poor me, I'm whining about playing golf.


• Neither I or hubby can remember the last time either of us had a haircut. That needs to be fixed but finding the time is a challenge. Most times, by the time the girls are asleep, I have no motivation to go.


• Lesson learned. I bought two little storage boxes and spent the other night sorting all of the girls' holiday and birthday cards for each of them. Very happy to free up a desk drawer and it was all nice and organized. Forgot to shut our bedroom door and the girls quickly decided I needed to do all of that again. Boxes empty, cards all over the floor. Thanks, kiddos.

Visit our host Danifred @ Sippy Cups for more.

A communication problem

Yes, I've been horrid at keeping up the blog. Something like that. Seems blogger lacks such fun tidbits like Family Feud, (Facebook) which has been sucking up my free time. That and cleaning. (which should translate as throwing away anything it seems we don't use)

Just when you think you're making progress - from earlier tonight:
Picture Audrey holding a lego. I'm trying to teach them how legos can go back in the container, rather than spreading them around the house like wildfire. Between the sickness lately and all, my living room is more an odd cross between a Toys-R-Us and a Walgreens.

Me - "Audrey, can we put the lego back in the box?" (I demonstrate with another lego)
Audrey, looking right at me "Puh in bah?"
Me - "Yeah, put it in the box"
Audrey, looking now at the lego. "Puh in bah!"
Me - "yup, yup, let's put it in the box"
Audrey, clear as day. "No"

Audrey walks off with the lego.
And I thought we were so close.

Lots of lists......collecting dust.

To begin, I seem to be missing the sympathetic gene. Guess you can't buy one? As in hubby is sick with a sinus infection and I'm just not being very understanding. WIth his stomach issues and all he's been feeling ick since January and I just find it a bit draining, especially now with him being "actually" sick on top of it. Yes, sinus infections are a PITA. I've had umpteen of them. (Is that a legit word?) Yes, eyes full of junk aren't fun. Mine swell up with allergies all the time, whatever. See? The girls are going to get hurt and I'll be the one, not their father, to say "eh, walk it off." "But it's broken!!" Eh, here's a popsicle stick and some tape. Sigh. Not good!

While nothing is set in stone and I have to "finally" decide / accept a few things, the plan as it stands is that the girls will be going to school next month. Yup - 15 month olds in school (well 16-17 by then) It cuts down on their driving and they get some little kiddo interaction. This ushered in my latest list making craze.

• Budgeting list as the school isn't free (duh) so have to make sure after all the money in, money out, we're still in the green. Also working on retirement planning - fun.



• Lists of all the EOB / allowed charges and corresponding medical bills. Yup, I'm that type - hey I don't want to be double-charged. Last year it took having twins to max out our deductible. Hubby's managed to do it all by himself this year.


• List of what all the girls need for school (huh??)



• List of what needs to be done around the house



• List of upcoming birthday party presents to be bought



• You get the picture - I'll stop with the pretty dots......... I'd add grocery list, but like we're even going to get to the store anytime soon.
  

The problem is besides making up the lists, I've managed to do nothing with them. They're sitting on the desk, with all the school paperwork, my latest unread magazine, and by this point, probably some dust bunnies. By the time the girls are in bed, I'm tired. I want to sit and do nothing that actually requires a functioning brain cell, so we play on facebook naturally. Last night I was going to, but oh look, All-star game. Tonight, nope, hanging out with a friend. Thursday - way too far in advance!! (Yes I know that's tomorrow

I've never really complained to hubby about what I do, but lately, and for the first time, it's starting to creep up on me. Except for three bills that hubby takes care of, I do anything involved with money, paperwork, filing, receipts and HSA spending, taxes........... It's not that I don't trust him and I do, but I just like having the personal knowledge things are getting done and on time. (okay to be fair, his memory, yikes.........) It's my own decision to do so, but sometimes I wish he'd at least acknowledge that it does take up free time -aka something that's not exactly in abundance around here. Is this making any sense? Probably not.

Off to my Lamb Chopper! (Now I'm really not making sense - call it a super-yummy sheep's milk cheese) Tasty, tasty. Who says wine and cheese isn't a good dinner? Bleh......

(The return of) Friday Night Leftovers

Okay so it's been awhile but I'm playing along since I refuse to do anything on my actual "to-do" list tonight. Tonight's for random web-surfing and probably staying up way too late to finish a book.

• The girls are like little homing pigeons when it comes to either food or trying to clean up their toys. They could sense either activity going on a mile away. I guess it's a great diet plan as they tend to eat whatever I'm trying to snack on, but if we're trying to clean up their toys, they tend to go into mass-destruction mode.
• Why is it that almost immediately after the girls wander off and I question "oh crud, did we leave the toilet lid up?" do we always hear an excited "Wa-wa!" (water) out of Audrey. At least it's a quick answer to our question.
• In my next life, if I have kids, they aren't getting any toys. They're getting lots of cardboard boxes and greeting cards as those are what seem to occupy the girls the most.
• Is it normal to have kids who mimic and/or try to match the noise level of electrical appliances in the house?
• The girls have an interesting concept to the word "no." If they say it, they expect we understand whatever we just asked is not going to happen. If we tell them "no," it means "do whatever I just did repeatedly to see if the answer changes."
• I think we have something going on every weekend until late August. Normally I'm very happy to have a budding social calendar, but right now I'd prefer if that just weren't the case. Of course as much I hate tagging crud for the twin sale, I'm very happy to make some money for what it's worth.

Visit our host Danifred @ Sippy Cups for more.

Call me a bad blogger

Yeah, it's been awhile since my last post. I "was" going to wait until tomorrow with their slightly belated 15 month check-up happening, but I'll just throw that up as a new post. Back to work in a bit - I really should win the lottery. This whole "not working" thing is kind of fun. Besides the story to follow we had a week off full of the girls, some golf, a winery dinner, and shopping. Call it a week of blowing our budget sky-high as, if we decide to start the girls at a place we're interested it, such won't be happening for a long time.

Call me old but I was "that" parent on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I love the 4th - it's hubby's birthday, I love fireworks, and we have the week off work usually around then. The annoying part is the 1.5 long fireworks session that ended close to 11 p.m, thanks to a house a few up from ours. The girls couldn't get back to sleep until it was over (had been perfectly asleep by 8) and they, Audrey especially, were super-cranky all day Monday. No naps, no appetites, ugh. They were in bed and asleep by 6:30. Only problem Audrey woke up an hour later and couldn't fall asleep again. 9pm she finally settled down. Our lovely trustees were out of town so they weren't much help. (It's legal to set off fireworks, the by-laws just say no disturbing the peace, whatever.)

Why do I bring up our handy trustees? Well, because I'm also not a fan of them. Back when I was pregnant and on couch-arrest, my mom would come out sometimes to entertain me. One day right before lunch, my cell goes off and it's our trustee. She tells me how we really need to move the white car as it's a tricky corner and the snowplow needs to navigate it. Huh? White car? And nevermind it had snowed overnight and the snowplow never gets around our street until like a day later. Well, as I was talking to her, my mom walked in. Really? She was that quick to get on the phone about a car in the street? It's not even a declared snow route. WTF. But oh no, fireworks at 10:30 that rattle our house, perfectly fine. Stupid, stupid subdivision. Maybe since he has a hard time fitting it in, hubby should just cut the grass at 4 am. Much cooler then too.

So we posted the little Audrey walking video on May 5th . Well somehow now we have both girls full on walking laps around the house and with this new mobility they are discovering rooms they never really bothered with before. So very quickly we are learning to keep some doors shut, toilet lids down, cabinets locked, and so forth. It's very true the quieter the girls are, the more destruction they're creating. Box full of greeting cards on my closet floor - easily all over our bedroom in under five minutes. They also are in love with the dryer and vacuum and will mimic them. Too bad we don't have a clear door dryer - that'd probably entertain them for hours.

Pics and baby-stats tomorrow after the doctor's.

Yawn............

I know I'm not "that" old but seriously, I used to do way better during stages of not so great sleep. Case and point - my birthday last weekend. Went out with friends and got home around 1:15. Dead tired. What - like four or so years ago staying up past 3 a.m. was a breeze. This is making it very difficult to even think about dropping the caffiene habit. Ha ha, not a chance!! Not sure on this getting old thing - is there a particular age that "young" isn't the best adjective to use or is that all just how you feel. I'll be better next year when, finally, hubby joins the ranks of being "in the thirties" as he apparently finds it amusing to point out he's still twenty-something.
(Must be a guy thing - he's not too concerned about doing anything for his birthday which is next Sunday. Fair enough, I already asked a friend to watch the girls so we can play gof and go out to dinner. If he doesn't want to make plans, I will.)

We don't have their 15 month appointment until July 7th so I won't have any fun stats for awhile. A bit tipsy / off-balanced, but both are walking all over the place. Allie, for whatever reason, prefers if you're around to help her, but on her own she's fine. Also yells "go, go. go" when on the move, thanks to hubby. I'm pretty sure "go Yankees" is right around the corner, sigh....... They also are huge on yelling "done" when they want out of their highchairs. Funny thing is once one yells, the other usually decides she's done too (even if she's really not) If Audrey takes her bib off, Allie has to also.

Not that it should be a surprise, but the girls aren't much for the logical side - I think that's going to be the toughest thing for me to work with as a parent. Awhile back we got the dvd player for the sedan since the girls have never been fans of the car. Well, I guess that only lasted for so long as Allie is back to screaming fits in the car. Okay, I'm science-based - there's got to be a reason, right? Rule out this or that and we'll figure it out. Problem is on Monday, she was perfectly fine and then on Tuesday, screaming mad. Weather-wise, travel time, all the major components were the same. Only other thought is either she gets gas or carsick so might try to find something baby-approved for motion sickness. (But again, then why was she fine on Monday?) She also is a lot more fussy once we get home on the days she's mad in the car - their doctor mentioned she has molars coming in so that might be part of it, who knows.

I apologize to anyone on facebook as this is the same video I posted. They are in love with the window curtains.

So much for planning...........

Nevermind all the other stuff clogging up my head. Although I'm really going to have to figure a few things out in the very near future so we can not feel so bogged down.

Very simple plan for last night / this morning.
Once the girls were in bed, do one load of laundry, pay some bills, go to bed around 10 so I get some decent sleep to get up by 6 for a workout. Simple, right?

Karma says not so fast. The dryer took forever so bedtime was closer to 11 - okay, I may be a little tired but still fine. I woke up around quarter to 2 to some pretty strong winds. Huh, that's odd, didn't see wind as part of the forecast. Of course then I realize that a front is probably moving in which means a storm (a thought echoed five minutes later with thunder) I'm the type that just can't fall asleep while a storm is going on. Rain, yes. Hail / thunder / bunch of noise, no. Well this sucker lasted forever, and to the point I finally checked out the radar to see that it was going to be a long night. Easily well past 3 am before things quiet down enough. 4:30 - another storm. At this point I give up. Can't get back to sleep, screw working out (which as my birthday is merely 11 days away is not cool!) and mentioned to hubby when he got up that an epresso drink was going to be necessary. And then why not blog about it?

Luckily the hail didn't cause any damage - good thing as their baby pool is still out on the deck.
The big silver lining to all this is the girls have yet to wake up during a thunderstorm. Guess they can't teach me?

Okay twin / close age sibling moms: How to deal with toy and book stealing without meltdowns, or is that a myth? Big, big problem as of late. If Allie wants us to hold a book and read it to her, Audrey wants to hold the book herself. If you try to give Audrey another book, forget it - she wants the one in question. Vice versa, same with toys, etc...............

Hello, sun?

Not that the sun helps anything (and for car rides is probably a worse choice) but seriously, this raining for a week straight thing with colder than average temps, enough. Hubby needs to cut the grass, probably twice. Give it a break.

Okay new week. A pretty up and down week last week which culminated on Saturday - had a great day planned and a really good friend dropped the ball and I pretty much got way too mad. Just had been looking forward to it and then nothing. So I was crabby, the girls probably feeding off me were crabby, sigh...... Sunday went a lot better so we'll move on. She's "redeeming" herself this weekend which, if the weather perks up, means hubby and I can go to the winery. (Sigh, if he feels like it, ugh, seriously)

A slight "issue" with the girls is differentiating commands. If you say no to one, both of them sort of stop what they're doing and the one who isn't doing something wrong seems confused. Even if you say "No, Allie" Audrey still contemplates the whole scenario. Or say "go get the ball" and they both race off. Even better was Sunday morning. We're slowly failing at trying to get Allie off the pacifier. With both girls in the general area, I asked "Allie, can you give mommy the pacifier?" And like a train-wreck unfolding, I already knew what was going to happen. Audrey perked up, went over to Allie, took it right out of her mouth and proudly handed it to me. Meanwhile Allie, um, total meltdown. So I had to give it back to her while Audrey stared at me as if to say "Um, what the heck? You just wanted it."

Random pic time.

Audrey and a basketball


What happens in a "divided" household - you take your MLB concerns out on the bibs


Allie

Been a bit...........

I had another long post written but I'm putting that on hold for a bit. Sometimes it seems holiday weekends are more stressful in a sense but moving on........... hit up the rarely ever used Ramblings blog for a run-down (and again if you need an invite let me know but if I know you IRL :P sorry, no dice!)

So hubby still isn't feeling better and while I feel badly and wish that wasn't the case, I did get on him a bit about having to "play" hurt and the world can't come to a halt. Not sure how well that went over but he's been in a better mood for the most part. And even feeling ick he got the girls up and they all ran out to bring back breakfast Sunday so I can't complain.

On to the girls -
First off, do they ever love to sleep. Both hubby and I were up way too early this morning with major storms in the area. We didn't hear a peep from their room and this is while thunder is just shaking the house. I'm not too happy when they blow a nap (yes we mean you, Audrey) but I can trade that for how well they tend to do at night.

For all the pictures and videos we have of them, you really just don't get some of the best moments on camera. Tonight Allie decided to do "laps" on the landing - no idea but she'd crawl 4-5 feet, turn around and crawl back, and then repeat. She finally stopped probably wondering what I found so funny. Or how Audrey will clap after she's done something she thinks is worthy of such applause.

Off topic - do you think it's better to take potential risks that could turn out badly or risk never changing things in hopes of making things better? (Random, aren't I?) And no has nothing to do with hubby and I or the girls...... More just a thought process.

A bit wobbly

Call it laziness, a bit overloaded this week, tired.......I'm stealing another facebook video for a post.

I'm not sure why, but she insists on taking the baby dolls out of the stroller beforehand. (I didn't get the carnage of her rolling over the one doll's head on video - nice!)

Not sure why we stand her up? She will pull herself up but guess why not have the work done for you.

Trying to get back on track

Or better yet, why don't people get to come with a warranty - hah. (Cheesy, no?) I'm really glad the girls have impressive immune systems and such (one little cold per each in their 13 month span) Their parents are another story.

So after months of ongoing and increasing nausea and stomach troubles, hubby finally started to get it checked out. With nothing showing up in bloodwork, Monday he gets (well not sure that's the best wording) to have an endoscopy. Hoping at least this will give us some insight versus the "can't find anything" so far. At least to some degree, this has been going on since around January.

Well, misery loves company. I'm about to go have an ultrasound and a little chat with my doctor on general cramping I've been having. (No people, I'm not pregnant either.) Also started out sporadically but the past few days has gotten a lot worse (and keeping me up at night and we just can't have that)

Baby news:
Allie - thanks to her dad, yells "Bummm" (Boom!) anytime she knocks down a tower or makes a loud noise. Finds doing somersaults or having her head upside down (head rush) highly entertaining.

Audrey - took their baby dolls out of the doll stroller and yelling "wah" (walk) tried to climb in. Really wasn't happy when we told her it wasn't walk time nor was that the right stroller. Also wants you to read anything that remotely looks like a book to her. This includes DVD and CD covers. Nothing like reading off track titles for entertainment value.

They both love the new addition of their ball pit - although soon we may have to limit that to just a day here or there (Kind of kills a lot of space in the main room and of course we need that for Wii bowling) :p

Cheap entertainment

And sometimes with two, you have to have a little fun - I'll blame this on hubby. They love to have the couch cushions stacked so we decided why not have a baby race.

And for more couch climbing fun (with a slight interlude poking fun at my good friend and her WWII knowledge)

Pictures.............

Moving on from yesterday's rant.......... Just disturbing sometimes, especially when you do hit that "parent" level. I've seen a few people on FB link to an article on empathy in connection to the girl up in New England who was bullied. I think on a larger scale empathy would certainly lessen the occurence of a lot of tragedies, but how do you get an entire population to listen?
Very good article I think if you have time. And this one as well.

But it is Spring right - can't focus on the negative all the time so, as I've been wanting to do, a little visual comparison

Last summer





Last week


I guess as I (and anyone else who routinely sees the girls) am around them so much, I don't "see" the changes so apparent but wow, they have.

And even they are reluctant to accept growing up (probably moreso just losing their stuff!)
I had the twins club sale last weekend and sold quite a bit, but the girls decided to give their bouncers one last go the evening before we took the stuff over.

Warning.......pretty depressing post

Why? Well, not sure (as in why I'm posting this - maybe to get it out of my head?)

I know the world changes a bit once you become a parent, or rather your perception of things, etc. While I've come across infant loss blogs, other sad stories that have affected me, I finally had one "really" get to me. Maybe I shouldn't take something so to heart, but with a slight parallel to the situation, I guess sometimes you don't have a choice - you feel what you do.

Monday marked the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma bombing, and while I've always considered it a tragic, horrid event, this year I gained a new perspective. I have kids now. It hits 100x more that someone could park a bomb underneath a daycare center. Or the fact that the little girl in the infamous photo had just turned one and had a birthday party. I just had two little girls turn one with a big party. To know what transpired not even 24 hours after hers? And for her mother to have to even now see that photo. I can't even look at it knowing it's a baby about the age of mine. Just for once, as every year there's always news coverage, can't we see her happy and playing?

I guess the bigger picture is raising our girls in an imperfect world. Hoping like crazy they experience everything they should.

Again sorry for a depressing topic - normally scheduled twin blogging with pictures returning shortly.

Been awhile, but we have year stats and pics

I've been a bit lousy with blogging lately so sorry. I don't remember where it was but at one point (the girls were a month old) another twin mom mention how things don't necessarily get "easier" but they do get better. That being said, just when you think you've got most things figured out, it all starts to change.

Long, long couple of weeks and not quite over. The girls are starting to once again really, really (let me emphasize that word!) hate car rides. I don't want to say we'll stay locked up in the house all weekend long but yikes. As much as I try not to use tv or movies for entertainment, let's just say hubby is out this evening getting a DVD player for them - less frustration for everyone. Since I'm also a big advocate of non-distracted driving, it would help not to have insane screaming during such.

Along with that hubby is going on a month plus of feeling ill - nauseous all the time and so far we don't know why. I know all the stress going on isn't helping that at all so hoping in the next few months we can change something with our daily schedule to make it just a bit less hectic. I've thought about moving but to get the house in sellable shape, packing, etc., that idea may be more hassle than it's worth. Somehow we'll figure something out as we're both just feeling burnt out lately.

Now the girls update / side of things. And yes I'll throw in some pics so skip way down if you just want some visual fun.

Big one year old appointment: Allie is around 19.5 pounds and 30 inches tall. Audrey is 20.5 pounds and 30.5 inches tall. Doctor said they're doing fine - pretty routine visit. We're supposed to start losing the bottles which, so far, isn't going too well. But they are completely on regular milk so we're getting there. A couple of months ago we really had a routine down, but now we have very mobile "pre-toddlers" (what do you call one year olds?) They're starting to really show off their personalities and even trying to figure out each other.

Allie - very much the social butterfly. Loves to eat. She very rarely refuses any food you try. Still loves the pacifier (next thing to lose after the bottle) Loves to play peek-a-boo with any object she finds. She's started to tripod (puts her head on the floor and extends her legs) and even does a somersault here and there. Guess gymnastics aren't far away.

Audrey - going through some stranger anxiety. Picky, picky eater and without warning. One day she may eat a certain food at a restaurant, but try it at home and no way. Also loves to makes the overly dramatic expressions if you dare feed her something she hates. She, moreso than Allie, is into manipulating her toys - putting little people in the bus, putting the balls back in the holder, etc..... She also will give toys to anyone who's around.

Picture time - my sister and her boyfriend were in town the past week and took, literally, hundreds of pics so I'm borrowing some from her

Audrey and her bus toy (with the water bottle in it of course)

Stroller time (haha bonus points if you guess who's who)

Audrey

On the carousel


Allie

The party post (finally!)

Sigh.......this is a bit outdated but since blogger was so nice enough to save it, here it is.

Had planned on a two topic post, but with pictures I'll spare everyone a novel length segment and do a two-parter.

So as the first deal - the party recap :

Went well - was a complete zoo for awhile and we, of course, overbought on food and drinks but all in all I can't complain. I didn't get to sit and chat with a couple of friends I haven't seen in awhile with all that was going on / with their kids they had to leave early. Until the girls went to bed it didn't feel like I really got to sit back and relax, but kind of what I expected. The girls got lots of new clothes and Allie epecially, being ever the social butterfly, enjoyed all the extra people around. They did fine with their cupcakes and went to bed without much complaint - the only night I have ever had Audrey come over and say "ba-ba, nigh nigh" (bottle, night night) - she was so tired............ I think Allie would have stayed up awhile later had we let her.

I guess if I want pictures, I should designate someone to just take a lot and then go through them later. I haven't gotten around to getting everyone's copies, nor did I take very many either. Something to remember I guess if we do the same sort of party next year (haha and buy less food too) Of course the majority are of the girls :)

Allie happy to be at the food table (that girl eats anything!)

Audrey - spent most of the time with grandpa - that's her thing now.

Allie and her toys

Hubby seems happier with the shirt than Allie

Allie and me......

Already hitting on the boys........

One of the better Audrey pics - she actually was a lot happier once she ditched the tutu.

Slight baby drama......

I could post about their party or how tomorrow we officially have one year old girls but I think for the meantime I'll take a third option - the recap of this evening.

We were late leaving work which translated into some very vocally frustrated babies on the car ride home. No toy, music station, or such was working so ugh - those are the worst. In-stereo crying for the last half of the trip. So after that and getting through dinner, hubby and I were a bit stressed. Did the whole bedtime routine, put them in their cribs, hubby left to go get some baby food, and I tried to sit down for a second.

Well, a few minutes later, major yelling and screaming from their room - by the sound of it I figured someone had either fallen out of the crib or was stuck in the rail. Of course I rush in and find both girls standing up at the edge of their cribs facing one another. Audrey is hysterical while Allie is just mildy upset. It took me a couple seconds to figure out Audrey is so upset because she's tossed her little lovey dog out of the crib. After putting it back, she settles down and Allie, seeing that the show is over, sits back down.

Guess I'm buying a few backup dogs tonight.

But for fun, I'll end on a couple pics of the birthday girls.

Allie

Audrey

Friday Night Leftovers 3-19

• We're one day away from the big bash. Of course today is already sunny and nice (forecasted high of 67) while we have rain and maybe it'll get to 47 tomorrow - awesome............... (inherent sarcasm is just so hard to imply sometimes in writing, isn't it?) Someone please stall that system - not sure how - but please!
• I'm starting to think I'm crazy for setting up a haircut and possible highlight a day before I'm supposed to see a lot of people, but really don't want to put it off any longer. Going to go very conservative however (boo...... I know, no fun)
• Went out to dinner for the anniversary and of course we said no presents so I got hubby a card and he got me a gift. They just don't listen do they? :)
• Besides the party, most of my weekend will be spent watching basketball (and the complete ruin of my bracket most likely) First day had some really good games though.
• I think I'll try to motivate myself and get back on an exercise routine (finally) for the next month which also then means going through the closet and tossing stuff that I'm just never really going to wear again. Hubby loves to point out the various items in my closet that still have tags. Yeah, yeah.

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A "quickie" post

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Small little post because a. I'm tired and going to bed soon, and b. don't really have any new, fun pictures or such to share. Their "somewhat soon to be official" aunt Lori bought them St. Patrick's day shirts that looked really cute but I didn't have my camera on hand.

Hmmm, let's see......four years ago today we were at our rehearsal dinner. Our anniversary is being a bit overshadowed by the big birthday approaching. There's still a decent amount to due before the party, yet it amuses me how much effort one can put into a single day event. (Half a day to be more precise) I even fit in getting a haircut which has been long overdue - the extent of which I'm actually too embarrassed to point out.

Again, if I ever used to worry about the girls not being mobile, silly me. It's hard enough to keep track of them now........can't wait until we have full on walkers. Allie's already trying to throw herself out of the crib. She also has a very interesting crawl - she prances more than anything. Audrey is more your streamlined sports car - very quick. It's almost comical to watch the two of them go after the same object - kind of a real life hare and tortoise race. Hopefully I can get that on video at some point.

So tomorrow we're going out to dinner for the anniversary, Friday is my niece's birthday party, and the girls party on Saturday. Think I'm going to absolutely nothing on Sunday.

Friday Night Leftovers 3-12

• Allie's pretty much over her cold; Audrey's getting there. But I have odd children. The healthy one usually insists on having her nose cleaned out or temp taken when we're doing the same for the other. They both love the humidifier and getting medicine. I can't complain though as all we've had are runny noses, coughing, and fairly clingy babies
• You would think with all the whining and meowing our cat does as of late, she'd lose her little kitty voice. Seriously. Not sure when we'll have time to find her a kitty friend, but she's really driving us nuts.
• Maybe it's just me but why is it that the longer the to-do list becomes, the less motivation in general you have. (Easy conclusion that the "no caffiene" plan is going horribly)
• No matter how much I want to get back into exercising in the morning or getting tons of stuff done at night once the girls go to bed, being tired / sleep always wins out. This is getting old.
• I'm all for spring and the warmer temps, thunderstorms, flowers, etc.............. except for the very annoying Japanese lady beetles - they somehow manage to still get into the house in the fall and once it starts to warm up, try to find a way out. Usually they met their demise via the handy dyson. (I have no problem with bugs - just stay out of my house and I'll leave you alone.)
• Next week's leftovers should be highly amusing - either I'll be on cloud nine and way ahead on the party plans, or, well, we're in trouble and looking at a very long night. Not to mention if the week goes as planned we have our anniversary Thursday night and hoping to go out for dinner, my older niece's birthday party Friday night, and then the "big" event on Saturday. Again, I seriously did not mean it if I ever said I was bored.

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