Pre-Christmas

It just so happens that I bought myself a pre-Christmas gift. I thought of it as a you-work-hard-all-year-and-should-get-to-enjoy-this-pre-christmas gift. I could argue that I needed a new everyday lens, but in all honesty I just wanted it. DH wanted me to have it. So it was bought!

It arrived with Sandy, and was cracked.

Thus, it was returned.

This was an auction purchase with no returned accepted. Thankfully, after the seller didn't respond, the company saw things my way and offered me a complete refund. Yay money!

However prior to receiving said refund, I made sure a replacement was on it's way. 

Isn't she pretty?

I'm over the moon with her, she is big and heavy. She makes me feel important. I hope we will make sweet love photos togethers!

So prepare to be inundated! 

I argued that I can use said lens for holiday pictures, the christmas part, and various other things that need photographing. Makes total sense right?? Yes it's totally selfish, but sometimes that's just what you need.

So have you done a self-serving shopping in prep for this holiday season?!

We're NOT Old Tour 2012

We kicked off the "We're NOT Old Tour" Friday evening when we dropped the ladies off with my parents. DH had a band competition Saturday morning and we had to leave waaaaaaaay too early for my liking. While I wasn't looking forward to a bus full of pre-teens, I was excited to spend the day with the hubs at an amusement park. So I held tight to that on the ride up. For the ride the kids chose to watch Up, which I had ever seen. Guess who cried on a bus full of kids at 6 o'clock in the morning!?

I survived the ride. We made it to the competition. Nothing unexpected happened. 

I say unexpected because I totally expected the "and you are?" I used enjoy watching people's face light up and see their minds racing to make sense of us. There was a time, specifically after the girls were born that I took offense. In fact, two years ago I brought the girls up for this same event and a group of parents approached my double stroller to catch a glimpse of Mr. Hoberts' babies and asked who I was. Who else would haul up twinfants jerkhole? Now I just accept it and move on, we're different and that's ok. However Saturday morning I caught a curve ball.

Mama Fanny-Pack and her herd of Moms circle me. Mama Fanny-Pack introduces herself and says...

...wait for it...

"...and you must be the help?!"

WTF?! The help?

What is that shit? 

Who else would be sitting with him and carrying his personal belongs?!

Then came the "oh" and apparently after that we were friends and she felt she could come up and asked me questions because clearly I know everything since I'm banging the director!

Ugh.

As you'll see below, the hubs and I have a bit of an age gap. 

This was actually taken when a ride we were on broke down. Nice. 

What was amazing is they gave us cut-the-line passes for our troubles. 

Fabulous!

It was a little game ride, the kind you get on to relax and enjoy some ac.

We took those cut the line passes and used them to get on the newest roller coaster, we a substantial wait time. 

We were Douchey McDoucheingtons.

It was fabulous. 

We went back to broken ride after it was up again, in hopes it would fail. 

Here's a super sunny self-portait!

Through every coaster we turned to each other and agreed that we were indeed, NOT old. Old people would never be so carefree. Old people would not leave their kids to traipse through a theme park and ride every roller coaster.

Old people certainly wouldn't be super excited to find their beloved chocolate milk!

We had an amazing day as NOT old people. It was so nice to be a couple again. To have an entire day to be just us. We were young and foolish again, and it was fantastic! I can't wait to do it again some time. 

After the awards show, we took home an excellent rating, we left for the long ride home. 

I kicked myself again, as I did in the morning, for not having my camera to capture this.

We made it all the way home, the children went their ways, and we headed to the dinner for some late night grub in true NOT old people fashion!

We were both dragging!

We we arrived the prom was just letting out so we made our escape from the dinner quickly.

I had had my fill of teens for the day, and teens in ridiculous dresses would have been more than I could have handled. 

We picked the ladies up Sunday morning and made a day of sitting around the house!

How was your weekend?

Pudding Paint!

Today I finally took the time to make pudding paint! Holla! I was excited for the girls to have fun and make a mess. Did I just say that? Surely this all sounded like wonderful fun in my head.

It's All-American, except for the sugar-free part.

Miss Timid-Pants got to be the official 'dumper.'

Then the 'mixers' joined in. I must have repeated the words share and whisk in the bowl a million times. I'm sure I sound like I'm yelling at a dog half the time with my short, sharp commands!

 I absolutely love that face. Both of my ladies do it when there is a lot of concentration involved. I hope they never lose it!

Then we waited. Emma and Ham would have been happy to sit and stir all afternoon. Instead we went to play while this vanilla cloud set-up.

Just before snack time we came down. I dished out some pudding, colored, and mixed. My master plan was to hand over spoons and animal crackers when they were done painting. I figured that they would taste the paint and eat more than they painted. For that reason alone we painted paper and not graham crackers. Just to prove me wrong, these little angels didn't take one taste! NOT ONE! 

In fact, they even threw a fit when they got some on their hands! They wanted it wiped off- IMMEDIATELY!

I have raised children who are afraid to get dirty. :( So I then encouraged them to try the paint. They refused. I tried some myself to show them how yummy it is! 

BLECK!

Sugar-free is not for me!  

Then Ham decided she was done painting, Emma soon after. The child who usually has the least interest and refused to tolerate dirt, mess, and disorganization, Miss Claire, continued to paint and paint. She even asked for another piece of paper-until she saw me dishing out real snack cups.

What can you do with a cup of sugar-free vanilla pudding?

I hope they at least enjoyed themselves for the 30 minutes they were occupied. I enjoyed sitting on my arse offering encouragement and praise while sneaking candy!!! 

Bwhahahaha!

Hope you're having a great Friday! 

11 a.m.

It's now 11 a.m.. I have a child pretending to sleep, and two still sacked. I have no plans for lunch yet. It's a rainy, blah day. It couldn't be exciting with thunder and lightening or crazy rain to watch, just enough to be annoying. I am so under prepared.

I am however scouting Craigslist for stuff. Stuff I need. Building supplies and the like. Preferrably free because why pay for it if you don't have to. My search isn't looking too hopeful. HOWEVER...

I did find a free baby last night! GO ME! This is the world I've brought children into. YOU TOO!

Bread

As requested, here is my bread. I try to make bread every week. At the top of my birthday list, the real one not the sprinkled with fairy dust that I keep safely tucked in my bottom dresser drawer, is a decent bread pan. I have a bread maker but I mostly use it for mixing, kneading, and rising. It makes my bread a little too crusty sometimes.

Just a picture of my bread would be totally boring. Who cares about homemade honey-wheat bread? Think the bread from out.back but on steroids and extra flavorful! The aroma hangs in the house and I drool waiting for dinner! I can taste this bread with every breath I take. I'm sure I was getting fatter just breathing.

Then it happened.

I took the girls upstairs to change diapers. Stupid, stupid, stupid! They should have marinated till their father got home but I was all 'Let's be a responsible parent'-LAME! Responsible parent didn't shut the kitchen gate. Responsible parent left the the bread out to cool and spread it's delicious aroma throughout the house. Responsible parent came back down to find herself breadless.

My heart stopped. I even checked in the microwave and fridge thinking maybe I put them up... No, the jerk-faced dog ate it! BASTARD! Just then DH came in to see my fuming. I fumed for about an hour, I'm still pissed off. He ate two huge loafs of bread! AND, yes there's an AND, he ate the butter I set out to soften. What a jerk! Man's best friend my ass! He's about to my man's homeless friend!! What's worse is that bread has to come out. So not only have I lost my bread, I've gained 20lbs. of shit! What a dick!!

Less learned - trust no one with your hard work.

Learning to Follow Through

This has always been a downfall of mine. I never follow through. There is always one thing left on my to-do list at the end of the day, I leave projects "done-enough" and general I tend to half-ass things. Today I'm not following through with this week's project because of exhibits A & B.

Exhibit A: The Sick Baby

Hot and Pukey in Bawlmer (which you totally won't get unless you live here)!

Exhibit B: The Ene.rgizer Bunny

Who continually demands we read Pony Brushes His Teeth! Enough already, we got, he brushed his damn teeth!

See, that's an excuse and I like to make lots of those! It used to be I worked 50 hours a week and went to school full time. Then it was the whole I'm too depressed doing IVF. That changed to the whole I'm pregnant and stuck in bed fiasco. Now I like to use the babies and hubs as my excuse, cause they take up all my time playing farm and leaving messes. Do you make excuses too? Please tell me I'm not alone...

What bothers me most is when I do start to accomplish things DH tell's me I've done too much! WHAT?! I'm just getting started! Being a parent and a homeowner are two never ending jobs. So how do you balance? (This is where Marcia chimes in... :)) I think I've found a plan.

I've started setting weekly goals on top of my maid/chef/vet/child-rearing expert duties. I set my time limit for one week, so that hopefully it will get done in two! This week's goals were to patch and paint the walls. It's now friday and I am proud to say I've patched! Of course I now need to clean from all the dust, and as I clean I have to tend to the children, and make lunch, and let the dogs out, and tend to the children playing with the dogs, and so on and so forth. I would like to say F*CK YOU house for being old and having plaster walls that I am too cheap and lazy to rip out and actually replace! (and yes I do my own household repair because I am that cheap and lazy) I think part of my problem maybe that I am too much of a perfectionist. I couldn't just spackle the walls, I had to make sure they were perfectly sanded, smooth, and ready for paint lest someone notices that behind my couch the wall was repaired!

I know some of you stay home, others have people that come in, and still others of you attempt to actually work (CRAZY! I think I'd explode!) real jobs with other adults in places full of professionalism and structure and corporate policy!Scary stuff...

So how do you find balance and what are you standards? I just need to know I'm not crazy...yet.

R.I.P. Jonathan

Meet Jonathan!

Jonathan welcomed himself inside. I had a small breakdown and lost 3 of my 11 lives. He was HUGE! HUGE!!!

I brough HAM down for the morning and there he was! Sitting on the curtains, sticking out like a sore thumb. Initially I thought it was a spicket. You've never heard of spickets? Ok, so that's not their real name but who knows the actual names of bugs? Spickets are the crazy crickets that look like spiders and can jump hellaciously high. Does anyone else have those? You would think this monstrosity would have the decency to hide in a corner(like a regular spider) or sit on something hard. No, not dear Jonathan. So have a small panic attack I moved the children, the toys, the play gym, and the pnp away from the curtains. Seriously, Jonathan is going to eat us.

I do everything possible to ignore him will I keep my eyes glued to him. I am soooo not a bug person and he is HUGE! Did I mention that? He was a good 2 inches across. [Marcia, that HUGE centimeters!] I finished feeding the baby and shooing the girls from his general area. My cousin, although I'm sure laughing uncontrollably at work, was encouraging me to kill him. I really wanted to catch him in a mason jar but of course the only jars that had lids on them were pints and this biotch was HUGE! Why do I feel bad for killing a venomous beast?! I got the vacuum and talked myself through the process. I put every pole I could find on the end of the vacuum hose to keep as much distance as possible between us. I lunge forward like Zorro and suck up the curtain and the poles collapsed into each other but no spider. WTF?! Now he is pissed and moving and I'm screaming like Freddie is coming for me. Cue the children crying because mom's a whimp. Try again with the same results only the vacuum has trapped him in folded fabric so he is trapped but not being sucked up. Great. Get in the damn vacuum! Third time was a charm but I nearly died and was to afraid to turn the vacuum off. So I let it run for a minute then carefully removed the attachments. I was totally terrified that Jonathan would come to seek his revenge. So I quickly threw the vacuum back in the utility closet. At least he has a journey to come get me now.

How is everyone else enjoying their Friday?? Are you also afraid a creepy crawlies? Do they even make a die-now spider spray?

I am so excited to announce that my computer has FINALLY shipped and I am tracking U.P.S. like a hawk! Something tells me its going to be a slow boat from China.

STATS....WTF?

So I was directed on how to view my stats and I was surprised!

WTF people?!

My highest viewed post was the picture of my post baby belly! GROSS! Unless you all love to see my flabbiness to make yourselves feel better in which case I feel like I did some good!

In case you don't remember, here is the flab monster.

Hope everyone is enjoying their functioning computers! I'm going back to trading out clothes and laundry and cleaning and...anything else that can be/should be completed during nap time!

All ME! Long Overdue

So I was browsing around my posts and found this draft that I had saved ages ago! By draft I mean a bunch of pictures that had no real rhyme or reason-WTF? It was something Marcia(if I remember correctly) tagged me to do. Better late than never right?

I have no clue what I was suppose to do, I seem to remember needing to post pictures of myself and tell 5 things about myself. Well out the window with that. My life is boring, hence it took me months to find pictures of myself! So here I am blog world, please be kind in your comments! Sorry they're all out of order.

This was probably 2005-ish? Definitely a late night on the beach for us. I remember shivering and I was wearing his coat. Such a gentleman.

I can clean up well, thank you facebook for making an album of all my old profile pictures!

This is Ayden and I. If I can straddle that turtle again next week, I'll buy myself an ice cream!

This was our wedding dinner, lots of money well spent. Notice the thin frame, sun-kissed skin, and flowing locks.

Fat chick rockin' the bikini!

A quick picture DH took of Emma and I snuggling. I seem to remember she wasn't feeling well and we cuddle till we were both out. Disregard the muffin peeking out.

This past winter's snow storm I decided to take the obligatory self photo. I was hoping to catch the snow but only caught that second chin...Guess who's lost almost 15 lbs since then!!

4th of July, 2010. Claire and I posed during a break in the parade.

After a smooth day at the beach, the girls once again refused DELICIOUS pizza. We managed to avoid the thunderstorms they were calling for. I'm convinced that I can guess the weather as well as the weather-people. We even had sun and a nice breeze! Take that weather people! I did get a bit of a burn that will fade back to white in no time I'm sure. How horrible is it again to spend 15 minutes of my life baking in a bed? OH THE RELAXATION, I don't even care about the tan! A few more days of work and then I am off for the week to celebrate the girls birthday and plan this %&^$#@* party. Such a hassle, I'm such a bad mom.

To celebrate the end of the pumping era, I am going to get my hair did! Since my hair hasn't been properly 'did' for almost 2 years so I am pretty excited, embarrassed, and unsure. I'm rockin' some gorgeous SAHM hair that lives in a bun because it's scraggly mug turns small children into lawn gnomes. Thats where the best friend comes in and makes everything better. She has picked out my new hair style which I will hopefully debut this weekend! Maybe a pedi for an extra pat on the back! Hope you enjoyed your Wednesday!

It's Always Something

Truer words were never spoken.

Our dishwasher is broken! These hands cannot be stuck in dishwater, I have served my time at the sink! This morning I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, I noticed I forgot a cup and went to put it in and couldn't get the dishwasher open, WTF? I got DH to get it open and then I had to fidget with it. I believe I knocked the spring completely off the door latch, so the dishwasher door isn't catching and locking properly. Not a big issue if the door would fully close and allow it to run! Mrs. Fixit to the rescue-I hope.

In addition to fixing the dishwasher, I wanted to clean off the pool cover, open the pool and cut the grass. That was until the forecast was screaming RAIN, RAIN, RAIN! So now I think I'll just piddle around the house, maybe start cleaning the baseboards or sand the front door for repainting. I think tomorrow I will have to go scout out mothers house and note the cleaning that needs to be done for our evaluation on Thursday. I am a little excited that DH may take a personal day to come be with us for Claire's evaluation on Thursday. Of course the whole reason I was holding this at my mothers' was so I wouldn't have to deal with the insanity of the dogs with everything going on by myself but I can let that slide.

Hope everyone had a restful weekend.

All Quiet

...on the home front.

I am happy to announce that the stomach bug has made it's exit! But not after getting everyone and the animal sick. I am still a little sick and weak but it doesn't matter how the mama feels I have discovered.

In just a little bit I will hopefully be debuting my fully repaired washer. I say hopefully as I am only 86% sure that it will go off without a hitch. I waited a week for the gasket to arrive, it came, I replaced it and guess what? It still leaked! AMAZING! However all the giggling of the basket made a small crack huge and now I have repaired that. Why would you put a plastic tub in a washer? That seems to be asking for trouble. And why does this stupid plastic tub cost $120? So I have patched it and I think I may secretly order a new one when DH has cooled off. So far I have spent $20 in washer repair and it will be twenty bucks well spent if it starts up and doesn't leak this morning! If this works out the real fun begins, time to clean the basement, ACK!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Sunday [Not So Fun Working] Funday

So I stole this Unexplained X2 who stole it from Discovering Wildlife who played along with MannLand. Got it? I needed a way to settle down from work before bed while a certain DH and a pile of dogs over take my bed.

1. How often do you wash/change your sheets?

At least once a week. Gross. We have two behemoth dogs that share the bed (Kenton insists on being under the covers-WTF!) and no matter what I do there is always dog hair or dirt or other unmentionables. I definitely know it's time to change the sheets when they are licking their own funk off the sheets!

2. When is your birthday?

March 9, which I shared with the chinless wonder Steph M, the bratty Steph S and Bobby Fischer. I just found out Amerigo Vespucci too! It also happens to be the day Notorious B.I.G. died.

3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life?

Nope. Never. I would kirk and bail. I am not a very social person although I can totally play the part when needed. I'd much rather never leave my house. But I love to go out. Hence I pass 3 Wally World to go to the one that is always vacant. People are way to curious about twins.

4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney?

Hmm...I'd say Clooney because my girls would have to split the money with way too many kids if I picked Pitt. Haha. And I have a thing for older men that are rockin' the salt-n-pepa!

5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be?

You know when you need to feed the babies and your boobs get ROCK HARD? I'd make that my tummy again! Seriously, this bowl full of cookies, cakes, candies, and way to much whole milk is doing me in.

6. How often do you wash your hair?

Really? I've read 4 people's response and I'm the first one to say everyday. I have horrible thin, baby fine hair. No lie. It's baby hair. So wispy and super fly. It turns to a grease pit every 12 hours.

7. Do you have pets?

Boy do I! Let's start...2 behemoth dogs, a bag of bones cat, a small school of fish, several dust bunnies and a husband. Do the children count? I have to feed them and clean up their shit too. Only they don't make half the mess of the others.

8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be?

How many are there? I only have my fb account and this here blog. I can not tweet, don't see the point. Although now that I have fb mobile and I'm getting a new phone [been working my way up to actually going to the store to pick out a phone-baby steps!] I could potentially use fb like twitter.

So work was not so fun. Grocery shopping in the morning. Do I have the energy to run to Sam's? Does anyone want to go with? My shortness makes getting a car seat into a shopping cart hilarious! How do you/did you shop with two babies? I can't wait till they can sit-at least one of them.

Cereal Anyone?

Someone? Please?

It's only been a week and I shouldn't fret too much but I am worried that the girls will never eat. They don't seem interested in the least, I'm pretty much force feeding them. Well not that extreme but you get the picture. I'm not sure if I should keep at it or just drop it and try again later? Thoughts? I plan on asking when we finally get to their 6 month check up next week. I know there is no rush to eat solids but I'm all about sleeping at night and not waking up to a fussy baby. Emma eats much better than Claire when she does eat and for some reason I am really opposed to doing something with one and not the other. I feel like Claire is being left out. Oh well, everything in time.

This Sunday my aunt is getting married again. To put this in perspective, when I was discussing getting them a gift card DH ask "what do we get someone who makes 3 times my salary-and your aunt?" I didn't have the heart to tell him Marc makes 4 times his salary. LOL. It's amazing what a law degree will get you! So anyhow, I have my dress hemmed, the girls dresses are just about done, shoes purchased and now I'm pondering two things-how to not look quite so fat and how the hell to keep everyone warm! Did I mention the ceremony is OUTSIDE! Yes, outside is nice, the old buildings, la la la-IT'S WINTER! According to the weather man it will be, um, cold! At least the reception will be entertaining, you have to love when different classes of people mix. Awkward at best! Especially since this relationship arose from the affair of two married people, something my mother just cannot get over. Even though my aunt is marrying a younger man, she still hasn't top the age gap the DH and I set. I'm sure we'll get plenty of looks, we always do. Hopefully now they are for the girls and not for us!! I just hope my sister behaves herself and dresses appropriately, that my parents dress for the even and that I am sat no where near them!

Oh, and I would like to thank my banana for telling me I'm fat.

Ok, off to get Emma. Apparently naps are optional!

The New Year

...was rung in with true new parent style-bed by 9! Oh we're such old people now! I did manage to get us up in time for the ball drop. 2009 was full of uncharted waters, waters I will hold forever in my mind. It will go down as the year of baby. That of course implies the year the savings died, I stopped working, and DH realigned his priorities in life. Even though 2009 brought incredible changes, I'm sure 2010 will have even more.

I can't imagine two babies teething, moving, walking...oy! Their first 'insert memorable event here' will be happening all the time. Hopefully they'll get some hair! I've spent a lot of time staring at them and at pictures trying to imagine what they'll look like with hair. I hope they carry on their new morning routine, they are so happy in the morning. They don't want to eat right away and will babble in the cribs. I love to listen, it's a wonderful sound to wake to.

With all these changes, the coming year leaves me a little sad as well. My babies are growing up! They were sooo tiny, and now they are getting too big! LOL! I wish they would stay small and sweet forever. It's sad to think of these as our only children. How greedy is that? All the blood, sweat and tears to get here and I'm already to go again! Does anyone else get that way? I loved being pregnant and I love the girls, I can't help but want more. I guess babies are a little like candy, once you get a taste...

Not being one for resolutions and having absolutely no discipline, I'll refrain from making any promises for the upcoming year, wishes are better. I'd like to leave a message for the money and weight loss fairies out there in the blogosphere - come see me SOON!! If mother nature is listening, please let my garden grow and if I have a fairy godmother, I'd love another miracle-or two! ;)

Walnut Brownie Celebration

So much for dieting right?

Tonight we had walnut brownies instead of the cake I planned to bake. Why a cake? Because the girls are a year old, as in year ago today sperm met egg. I know, how corny, but I think it's neat. I can tell you the exact day the girls were conceived, lets see a fertile do that!

But the mini celebration that has been raging through my head today reminded me of where we were this night last year, thinking that our cycle was a failure and that we would never have children. I have never, and I wonder if I ever will again, see my husband cry so hard and show such raw emotion. I remember trying to calm him, but how do you calm someone who has just had that news delivered? The silence in our house that night, the dread that filled our bedroom, my constant motion and over exertion to keep going and not deal with reality-it feels like it was just yesterday.

I drove us home, you know right after retrieval-HA!, put him to bed, fed him and ran out to get his drugs. Then I waited for him to sleep. I left him. I locked myself in the basement stairwell and tried so hard to cry but I couldn't. I couldn't give up hope. I was hoping for a miracle and that is exactly what I got. Two to be exact. I couldn't be any happier. I can't get enough sniffs, kisses or cuddles in. I even love dirty diapers, how sick is that? DH still carries around the lucky two dollar bill. I'm seriously thinking we'll frame it.

Today I just stared at them for a bit. I wondered how we got here, if I could remember each step, each person we met along the way. My weirdest thought today, which totally screams IVF-er, was wondering how many cells they are now. How silly is that? I'd definitely label them grade A! I feel bad, I sent word of their birth but never sent out the announcements. Holiday pictures will have to do!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures of the girls in front of the tree tomorrow. It took two days but we got it up and decorated. DH picked out a wonderful tree this year, it's full and dense. Did I mention he also picked out our ornament this year? It was raining Sunday morning and after dragging the girls in and out of the car a few times I was spent. He takes such great care of us! Oh, and Mr. Wonderful is also doing the christmas shopping for the girls! I hate stores, especially this time of year. He, however, is a great shopper. He can stay on task and knows all the out of the way places to find just what he needs! I don't know what I'd do without him. I did manage to make the girls stockings, and today I cut out fronts for matching night gowns. I dunno if I'll finish them. I'll leave you with some pictures of our weekend!

Mother called them grinch shoes, I called them elf boots. I'm really please with them. I was upset that I forgot to put in the loops to hang them, not that we hang our stockings!

Our ornament for 2009-we went with "family christmas" as our theme this year.

Our nap this afternoon. Look at how big my babies are! Claire is on top at 14lbs 3 oz and Emma is 13 lbs 8 oz! Jeeze!!

Claire's smashed ear. She did this all the time when she was first born, she would rub her head into the mattress just like I do! I didn't think they would still get stuck-I was wrong!

Hope everyone is have a good week. I think I'll make cookies tomorrow and finish putting out decorations. I figure if I finish before christmas I won't be a bad mom!

Totswapt

I should be working on a pair of pants, and some new shoes for the girls. I need to go down and make the evening bottles and figure out where this funky smell in my bedroom is coming from but instead lets talk about the totswap!! I invited mother to go to this totswap with me and it is turning out to be the best idea that I ever had!!! Now mother and I are not affectionate at all. We're more along the lines of coworkers in terms of our relationship, maybe close neighbors. However she has taken this grandma thing to new levels in terms of shopping. My mother has always been cheap-not frugal or thrifty but down right cheap! Now that the girls are here, she suddenly has all this money to buy them things. Did I mention she was to be laid off on Halloween? That didn't stop her! Luckily she found another job.

So Friday we're going to the totswap, basically this giant consignment sale at the state fair grounds (MD) and they have vendors there as well. My musts list include new diaper covers and maybe some new diapers if I can find a deal and a new wet bag if I can find a deal. All the consignment stuff is just gravy. Today went we visited dear mother she was dancing around the house with Claire singing to her about going shopping and spending all of Poppy's money! She even sang about buying me things!! It turns out that Friday my father is getting an uber paycheck for work crazy hours at work, I think it was 65, and she is getting her severance package, and she can take her christmas club money out. So I think I need to make a list of everything the girls will need for the next YEAR and pull my "I'd love to buy this for them but I just don't have the money" and see what I can get.

Does that sound awful?? I think of it as reimbursement for everything I was denied that my sister received. I'm bitter but only to the benefit of my children. I'm so excited I don't mind if she brings the she-beast along. The sister creature is have her tonsils out and all the drama might be a bit much for me to handle but again I stress the fact that my mother could potentially be spending large sums of money on my children, I may have to suck it up and be a big girl!

So ladies of blogland....what is everything twins will need from 3-18 months? Don't skimp, these are my babies!

Drizzle

It's been a long few days. Fall is here and I've felt my mood dropping. Seasonal effective-probably not but winter is always long and hard for me. I do love fall however. I wish the girls were a bit older and we could do the pumpkin farm thing. I often find myself torn over doing things with them. They are still so young and small, but they won't be forever. As much as I want them to grow, I want them to stay small more.

So what have I been doing with myself. Maintaining my laziness though creativity. Some times a mama needs to eat, even if it means making the kids work for it!

Necessity is the mother of all invention!

But why couldn't I just wait till they were done eating and fast asleep? What lead me to this? Miss Claire is bottle energy, I can only imagine what she will be like as a toddler! She also knows my every move. Anytime I am near food, she wails.

Example A:
Sometimes the spoon will make it to my lips before she lets out her first shriek! I swear she wants me to starve! Dear sweet Emma will settle herself down, if she is awake at all. Even if she is she is usually quietly taking the world in.

Other than my Claire enforced diet program, not much has been happening around here. Today we have a doctor's appointment for our last shot. I decided to break them up and still feel better about it, even if it doesn't matter. It is of course drizzling, it is always raining when I take the girls by myself. I swear they know when they are going too. They thwart all my attempts to move their feedings! I had them set up to feed at 3:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. so we could have time to get ready, head out and make our 9 a.m. appointment without the fussies. Well last night they choose to sleep, which I am NOT complaining about! 3:30 a.m and 7:30 a.m. have turned to- you guessed it!- 5 a.m. and 9 a.m.! So we will again be fuss pots at the doctors, then get shots and be even fussier! I'll feed them in the car and hopefully they'll eat without a fight. Emma has a tendency to not eat during the day when her Daddy is at work. She'll chug it down for him, me-not so much. We'll come back home where I'll hopefully be able to eat!! Throw some clothes in the wash and settle in for a nap after our lunches. I have always been one to value my sleep and I used to get a strong 8-11 hours a night so this new torture of 4.5 hours, which is more than I had in the beginning, still isn't cutting it!

I also have to call and make reservations. When I attempt to make them online with two children it says the rooms exceed maximum capacity. We need a king bed. We are headed home to the shore with the girls. This will be our first stay with them and I'm planning on it going well. All week my mind has been racing with plans and what-if scenarios. I want no surprises, just peace and relaxation! Next weekend can't come soon enough! My big planning issues are bottle washing, scheduling pump time, and the stroller. All self explanatory. I think I'm going to take a basin to wash the bottles in, and possibly my own towels to dry them on. (Note to self: pick up more bottles-thanks Kenton for eating one!) I really don't want to be running back to the hotel every 4 hours to pump, and I don't want to skip pumpings to have to make them up at night. I wish my production weren't so sensitive to change!!! The stroller is a god-send. I swore I wasn't going to get one, then we found out we were having twins. So I picked out a cool and practical stroller, and love it. However it does draw a lot of attention, or maybe it's just the girls (why are people so shocked to see twins? I could understand higher order multiples but twins, really?). It's also long and if it's crowded, and DH hates a crowd, it's a little tricky to maneuver around people. If we go into the outlets, which we will because everyone needs clothes and I think I'm going to start getting the girls some x-mas presents, the stroller will be nearly impossible to use in a store and I hate leaving DH there to rock them. So I scoured e.bay and got a 'new to us' baby.bjorn for DH and planned on taking my wrap. The carrier has extra long straps so it's pretty much solely for him and actually says for small people NOT to use it. However I used it, and loved it. SO I scoured again! Hopefully the second one comes before me leave and I have time to wash it! They are the greatest things ever. What is better is that I got both of them, with shipping for less than half the cost of a new one!! GO ME! So before I get off to find some ill fitting clothes to wear, because I can't allow myself to trek to the doctors in sweats, I'll leave you with my new favorite picture of the girls.

Thank you Coka-Cola

Today we took the girls home for their first visit. With our delicious pizza I had a soda. Then another on the ride home. After having not pumped all day I was bursting with milk so I collected and bottles were dished out. The babies, thankful to be back in a familiar environment, chugged! What happened next?

Milk + Caffeine = Fussiness

DH thinks I didn't consume enough to have an effect. But as I see it, the girls usually zonk out after eating and this feed they were MORE awake after eating and almost two hours later they are still wide eyed! I think the long car ride and being in the sun and heat would have worn them out so I feel the only explanation is the soda I consumed. The problem is after not pumping all day, I had a lot of milk. I don't want to feed them that milk through the night, I'll never sleep! I also don't want to feed them formula because they don't like it, don't drink it all and they had it during the day. AND I don't want to be up all night pumping to have enough for them both! Why must soda be so sweet and delicious??

Now they settle down and are sleeping....maybe they knew I was writing about them?!

First Trip Home 8/30~5 weeks

No Babies In There!

So....I was at my parents today checking in on their home and dog. They picked the hottest week of the summer to go on vacation-lucky them! While I'm in the bathroom I see the scale and couldn't hold myself back, especially after I promised to post a belly pic today! Mr. Scale told me that I've lost 25 lbs in 3 weeks doing absolutely nothing! I weighed in at 109 which means I have 14 lbs. to make my pre-pregnancy weight and 19 lbs. to make my pre-IVF weight! I didn't think it would be so easy. I have to admit I don't want it all to go though. I like the extra padding, it's nice not to be a stick! One of the perks of pregnancy is the addition of hips and thighs to my normally twiggish body! Hello new wardrobe! I tried on some of my pre-pregnancy pants and although the waist won't be much of an issue, getting them up to the waist is. I do however miss my abs. I'll have to research how to get them back, they seem to have vanished totally. I can't tighten my lower belly which I'm sure is totally normal. So without further ado...

So this is what a 36 week belly looks like-minus the babies ;)

Ewww...I just had to!

Guess what I just found....(warning, not suitable if you've recently eaten or plan on doing so in the near future)

This was taken two days after the c-section. With my still being quazi-drugged I thought maybe they left someone in! Don't you love the sexy granny panties? I should have taken pictures of my gorgeous corner room or all the bruising on the front of my stomach compliments of Claire being removed from her rib cage penthouse! I think tomorrow I will post another tummy picture complete with my post surgery body blues.