Ho ho ho in the snow snow snow

It took us 38 hours to finally get to Idaho. We left Thursday morning at 7 to drive to Phoenix and arrived at 9 on Friday night. Oh the joys of the holiday season. Massive snow storms have been coming through the Northwest since last Wednesday. We ended up having to fly to Seattle Thursday night and buy tickets out on a different airline Friday. We nearly froze to death waiting for the shuttle to the hotel (thank goodness we booked it online from Phoenix--a lot of people slept in the airport). We didn't get to sleep until after midnight and were up at 5 to get back to the airport. When we got there, the line to check in wrapped around a corner of the building, then another corner, then another corner. There must have been 500 people in there. Charles was freaking out, but the Southwest airlines guy ended up moving us into a special line to check in. Once we were in though, our flight got delayed and delayed again. Then, when we were about to board someone in security set off an alarm and no one could board planes at all. Finally we got on and taxied out to the runway. As we were revving the engines to go, the pilot suddenly decelerated and took us back to the terminal. They canceled our flight and all the flights for that day to Spokane. So we unloaded everything and back to the airport we went. Charles called and rented us a car, but we had to have a really big car or a mini van and they were out of vans. So we ended up in a rear wheel drive Mercury Marquis-ish boat of a car and drove over the pass. The car had no snow tires either and super bad lights, but eventually we made it to Idaho. And the snow just keeps on coming. The daytime highs have been about 12.
Our Christmas shopping has been severely hampered by the weather. But I can't tell you how happy I am to be here. We are going to have a very white Christmas.

Xmas Lights etc

Winterhaven was fun last night. We bundled all up for the ride (since it was going to be so cold--like 50 or something) and sang Christmas carols as we rolled through the neighborhood. I've got to say though--I wasn't blown away by the light display. On the other hand, you've got to appreciate the enthusiasm. There were some really cute displays, including one that turned the whole front yard into an underwater scene with Santa. The kids were all very good. The twins skipped a feeding and didn't have their cereal for dinner, so they were up several times over the night.
Today we had a crappy morning and I was definitely not the mother of the year. Laney actually ran and hid in the pantry at one point. So we skipped playgroup today since I was running behind and grouchy. We went to the mall and met Debbie and Olive for lunch. Ollie and Deb came back to the house with me to stay with Laney while I went to the dr. with the twins. Debbie actually came to the doctor with me and was a big help. It's hard to schlep both babies and get them dressed and undressed, especially when they are crying. Tomorrow we have a ton of stuff to do to get ready to leave.
In other news, my mom and dad were headed to Moscow, Idaho to see my grandma. She had a heart attack today and it isn't looking too good. I'm waiting for news still. Hopefully she pulls through. She's a tough lady.

Let the Countdown Begin...

4 days to go! I'm getting excited to go home for Christmas, but starting to freak out a little bit about everything I need to get done between now and then. We've got a lot to cram in before we leave, but I guess that's the holidays for you. Tomorrow night we are going on a hayride through the Winterhaven neighborhood to look at the lights. I'm sure that Laney will love it and probably the twins will sleep through it. I'm going with sorority, so we will have lots of willing baby holders.
We had a fairly quiet weekend. Yesterday we went to the Christmas parade in Oro Valley (which takes sooo much effort since it literally goes right past the main road outside our subdivision). That was fun and we did some socializing with the neighbors. I'll post some picts. Laney was jazzed about seeing Santa.
The weather kind of went downhill and it was yucky today--gray and raining. We are going to freeze our butts off in Idaho--we're cold at 50 degrees! I went to the mall today to buy a few more things for the kids. Hopefully they will have enough warm clothes. I got Laney a coat too. It's not the greatest thing ever, but since she really only needs it for 2 weeks and it was $15, it will do. We also got her new earrings at the jewelry store. She lost one of her earrings and I just can't bring myself to put cheapo stuff in her ears in case she developes a metal allergy, so I sprung for the gold. These have screw on backs though, so should be less apt to get lost. The original earrings were really sharp and had long posts and the backs were so loose that she was constantly losing one.
I made pork medallions with port cranberry sauce for dinner tonight and I must say that it was super yummy. As I was putting it on the table I thought, hmm, I suppose this isn't the typical mom's quicky dinner. We had a rousing dinner conversation related to barking spiders and trod upon ducks. We have classy food, if not classy conversation.

Baby Stats

The twins went to the doctor today for their 6 month checkup. I can't believe that it is 6 months already! Anyhow, Griffin is 26 1/2 inches long and weighs 17 1/2 pounds (less than I thought. He feels like he's packed full of lead). That puts him solidly in the 50% percentiles. Kenna is still dinky, coming in at 24 1/4 inches long and weighing 13.7 pounds. That puts her in the 10th percentile. Her head is in the 70th though, so I guess her little brain is growing! They got two shots and an oral vaccine today and will go back next week for two more shots. Lucky them.
Everyone is still sick. G was up all night and ended up sleeping in my bed. I'm not sure exactly how I've managed to be sharing my bed so frequently with babies. Laney never slept in bed with us. I hope this all passes by next week though. I don't think flying with colds sounds like a lot of fun.

Away in a Manger

Tonight, after dinner, Laney wanted to go outside. So I took her for a walk through the neighborhood to look at the lights. We had the best time...I think my heart grew two sizes today. We walked down the street with the moon shining down on us and talked about Christmas. She told me "Santa says HO HO HO" using the deep voice for the ho ho ho part. At the end of the street was a manger scene and I explained that there was Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus and that Christmas was Jesus' birthday. Then I sang Away in the Manger. She asked me to sing the baby Jesus song for her a couple more times. It was just the sweetest thing. I felt the Christmas magic.
We went to our neighborhood park today to burn off some energy. The weather was awesome. Kenna ate sand about three times. They all have colds right now, so Kenna and Laney both had the gravel crusted booger faces. So pretty.
We've been home all week because they are sick. I'm starting to go a little stir crazy. I went to sorority last night though and we had our xmas party. It was fun. My secret sister gave each of the kids a toy and Laney was thrilled this morning because she got Dora the Explorer toys. She played with them all day (they may have gone to bed with her tonight).
Also, I wanted to add the quote of the week:
"It isn't medicine. It's cheese. Don't put it on your toes"
There are a lot of things I just never thought I'd say.

Sunday Already?

It's a busy time of year and I'm not doing so great at the daily posting thing. I was doing better before I had to share the computer with Charles. It was a busy weekend. I went out on Friday for a massage and then Charles and I went out to dinner with a business associate at Westward Look. It was really nice and I had a good time. I really like Mike and it was good to get out without the kids.
Saturday I went to a sorority luncheon (which takes up most of the day) and it was ok. I always sit there eating my $20 rubber chicken and think "why do I come to these things?" It is usually pretty dull and filled with grumpy old ladies who I don't know since I don't go to city council. Then Saturday night we went over to Ernie and Diane's for dinner. Today I made pork carnitas (which were yummy btw) and went to book club. Debbie and Angelica came over for dinner. We're trying to get together for family dinners on Sunday, even though it's sort of a long haul between our houses. Angelica didn't get the snare drum position in drumline that she wanted, but will be the lead bass drummer this season. They are both trying hard to get up the festive urge, but are missing David quite a lot.
Bedtime for bonzo. I'll chase C off the computer more regularly this week.

Santa Claus came to town

Santa visited the Oro Valley library today and it was CHAOS, but fun. Laney joined in the crowd at the front with Santa and did ok. She looked a little lost every once in a while though. We got our picture taken with Santa, but I was feeling a little harried by that point and didn't want to take too much time so they aren't super great shots. At least the kids didn't cry and a whole lot of the other kids did. I was feeling pretty bad for Santa and I think he was getting a little tired of the whole thing too.

After the library, we went out to lunch at Pei Wei and then had gelato at Frost. Then Laney, Logan, and Nathan all played in the fountains at Casas Adobes plaza. They had a lot of fun, except when Nathan pushed Laney off the fountain and she hit her head. She has a bruise on the back of her head now. Things got a little wild, but hey, that's kids for you.

This afternoon I baked brownies and took my homemade chicken pot pie over to Talia with the brownies. I didn't bake the small pie that I made for Laney and myself yet, but hopefully it will be good. (the casserole didn't make the cut and I went for classic comfort food) The only bummer was that the lid of my pan screwed up the crust on Talia's. I didn't bake Talia's, since I thought they might want to freeze it instead. Food parade's are awesome, but you do get inundated with food.

We ended our night with the now daily dinner scream-a-thon. My kids seem to turn into monsters promptly at 5 (and then I turn into a monster too). Except Kenna, who was an angel tonight. Thanks, K. After they are all in bed, I know I should get busy and pick up/get stuff done, but I'm just wiped out. But tomorrow is another day...

Tuesday - the day of the dookie

This post is going to talk about poop again. You can skip to the next paragraph if you want to. Yesterday morning, as I was nursing a baby and trying to get everyone ready to go to playgroup, Laney took off her wet pull up and ran off. Ok, I thought, I'm going to need to get her dressed again in a second. So as I finished nursing, Laney came running in telling me she went poopoo. I thought "crud! she's peed on the floor!" and went to check. Nope, she went poop. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIVING ROOM. So there it was...a big dookie right on my rug. I have to admit that I was a little relieved because pee would have been harder to pick up. But still..

We went to the park for playgroup and had a good time. The weather was awesome (it was 80 by the time we left) so I actually got a little hot. All in all a good play time for mommy and kids.

I've decided that boys really are so different. I showed Griffin how a toy in his crib will play a song if you squeeze the little feet and he was all over it. He had that thing singing for the next 45 minutes and I showed him twice. Amazing.
Kenna gets the tough baby award for the week. While we were at the park, Mary let her daughter Logan hold Kenna. A few minutes later, we both look down and Kenna is literally eating sand. Logan had poured sand in her face. Kenna was amazingly ok with it all, even sand in her mouth. She fussed a little on the way home though and I discovered that she was pretty loaded with sand all through her clothes so the car seat must have been uncomfortable. Poor baby. She also is sitting briefly unsupported now. I'm wondering if she is going to start crawling while we're in Idaho for Christmas.

That's Broccoli

Went to Nina's (aka Aunt Debbie's) for dinner yesterday. We're trying to make an effort to get together as a family once a week for dinner. Debbie was guilted into serving a vegetable since I was coming and then I made her eat them. Ha ha! She told Laney to eat her little trees and Laney looked at her like she was crazy and said "no,that's broccoli Nina!". Laney isn't huge on veggies, but I don't really say anything and keep putting them on her plate. I figure I'll wear her down eventually.
Today I went to the mall and bought myself a pair of jeans. Yea for me. Laney went to Aunt Di's and played with Leah (who was home sick so hopefully she doesn't come down with the same illness). I went in to get Laney this morning and found her buck naked and busy throwing everything out of her crib again. She had to have another bath this morning and most of her stuff needed a wash. I'm not sure what the timeline is and whether she is taking the pullup off before or after wetting the bed or a little of both. Potty training is on the agenda for the new year and regular diapers may make a reappearance at night time just because of leakage.
Griffin woke up singing this morning and didn't stop all day. He was in bed with me early this morning after nursing and he woke up and sang and tried to touch my face. Which is the nice way of saying he lovingly tried to poke my eyes out and grab my nose. He was very sweet all day long. Kenna cried big tears for a large portion of our mall visit but got happy again later. Griffin got scared by a little boy at the mall and had a panic cry, which is so weird for me to deal with because Laney never did that and Kenna seems pretty oblivious too. So my little boy gets freaked out by strangers occasionally.

Tinkerbell underpants and other thoughts

My eldest daughter started the day by conning her father into letting her play with the package of tinkerbell underwear that was being saved for when she is a big girl and potty trained (aka incentive underwear). She started the morning by putting on all her panties--one on each foot and one on her head. Hilarious! She and her father then proceeded downstairs to a hearty breakfast of stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, turkey and ham. The man is a mystery to me. I had pie, which is the right and proper thing to do the day after Thanksgiving.

I wanted to mention that you may notice that I do several posts a day, but then no posts for a few days. This is because I let my hubby hijack my laptop downstairs for his warcrack game. I didn't realize that I was giving up my computer; I thought I'd just share it a little. And not to point fingers or place blame, but now that he's using it, it seems to have developed a little bug that causes the desktop to change spontaneously. So anyway, to write a post or whatever, I have to be upstairs with my laptop.

In other news, both babies are now sleeping through the night! This is a good thing unless you ask my boobs, which are still a little miffed about the idea and wake me up several times a night. Hopefully they will get over it soon. Also, Laney is getting jazzed for Christmas. We had a discussion about Santa coming with presents and how we will leave cookies out. and she said:

"we will leave tookies for Santa and coffee"

I told her that Santa always seemed to have a soft spot for his coffee when I was a kid, so probably Santa still likes it. Are you listening Santa?

I braved the crowds briefly today to shop the Carter outlet sale. Three kids never seem like a lot until you have to buy clothes for them. I still need to buy clothes for myself. I hate buying clothes for me. In a fit of post pregnancy organization, I donated most of my clothes figuring it would give me incentive to actually purchase something. In addition, most of the stuff I kept is now too big. I've been shlumping around in jeans that are falling off me, which is driving me crazy. I really need to do something about it sooner rather than later. Stupid spandex and the popularity of low rise jeans are ruining my life. I need to squat down all day long, as well as bend over, sit on the floor and everything else moms do. It would be nice to do so without my butt crack showing.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgiving and have been lazing around all day eating pie. Ricky and Erica even showed up early (a family first--normally they don't arrive until after everyone is eating). No one fought, though I did get a little snappy with Mike. What can I say? I'm still mad at him for eating a big piece of Charles birthday cake and leaving to go to the bar before we had a chance to light a candle or anything. It was a strange holiday--Ricky and Erica were there early and Don and Olive were the last to arrive. Charles was serving very stiff drinks pre-dinner and I was a little worried that family tension would bubble over, but amazingly everything worked out fine. Don had two drinks and stayed quiet most of the night and Olive had two drinks and was happy. The move has been quite tense for them to say the least.
The best part of Thanksgiving for me was watching all of the kids play together. They played and played and played. Nothing says family to me like herds of cousins running around the house. While it might normally be assumed, I will say it: I am so grateful for my children. I'm grateful for my family especially my in-laws who have made me feel like a part of the family since day one, I'm grateful for my husband who does so much in so many ways and for my friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

Baking Pie and takin' names

I have a confession. I am a slight control freak sometimes. Holidays can be one of those times. We're having the big turkey day at my house because a) I asked what the plan was and got volunteered and b) I like to do a lot of the cooking because I like to have certain things. I'm a big believer in making the pies from scratch. I don't believe in stuffing that includes meat. I think vegetables should be served including salad. So I basically make things way harder than they should be if I just let it go and asked everyone to bring more stuff.
I'm working on pie 3 right now, but took a break. We're expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 people for dinner tomorrow, but that depends. Certain members of the family can be a little flaky. I won't name any names.

Wonders of Walmart/Evils of casserole

Not a very exciting day today. Went to Walmart for Thanksgiving groceries and will still have to go to the grocery store again. Walmart has some dirt cheap prices on some things, but they don't have a lot of selection. For example, they don't carry riesling wine for some reason. And their produce is always out of something. On the other hand, they had sweet potatoes for 43 cents a pound.

I have new pictures of the kids I've been taking, but I haven't downloaded them yet. I've been trying to get the "are you trying to kill me?" grimace that Kenna makes with the first bite of cereal. Hilarious. I wish that my camera used the smaller flash cards. There is a super cool gadget for cameras that uses wi-fi to automatically upload photos off your camera and onto the web or wherever you want them to go but it only works with the little cards, not the bigger compact flash my camera uses. Such a bummer. I love the automagic of wifi. In fact, I got all techie and fixed my printer so that I could use it on the wireless network in our house. I tell ya, I'm practically a genius or something. Ha.
I made a casserole tonight to test drive it prior to springing it on a mom in my group who just had a baby (congrats to Talia and little baby Anthony!). It was ok (anything that involves a brick of cream cheese and a carton of sour cream can't completely suck, let's be honest). I have to say, the appeal of the casserole eludes me. They are not easy or quick to make. You dirty up a billion pans to assemble the ingredients and then still have to cook it in the oven to have everything come together. I can saute a chicken breast, make a pan sauce and a side of rice and veggies in 25 minutes start to finish and use only three dishes. When you make casserole, in the end you have...a casserole. And I ask myself: all that work and this is what I got? On the upside, the humble casserole has a comfort food quality about it that can be nice and it is portable hence the need to make one to take to someone else. Casserole is the food of potlucks, new babies, etc.
So anyone out there with a kick ass casserole dish that is not a lasagna, chicken fettucine or enchiladas please let me know (I'm trying to take pity on these poor people. I think they are going to be getting fettucine or enchiladas every other day for two weeks). Meanwhile, back to the drawing board.

A conversation

A conversation related to me by Charles.

[Charles farts]
Laney: Daddy fart! I'll check.
[Laney reaches over, pulls his pants away from his butt and has a good peak inside]
Laney: Daddy poo poo!
Charles: No, I'm not!

A week in brief

I've been slacking on my posting this week. I wrote a post earlier but decided it was negative and bitter so it didn't get posted. It was a long week, what can I say.
Charles was gone until late Thursday night and it was a tough week. Saturday I worked on painting again and am almost finished. We've been waiting to paint until Laney goes down for a nap since toddlers and paint mix too well. I'm really liking the color. Friday night I went out for a mom's night out and we had a great time. I really like my Tuesday mom's group. They are all really nice people without being so saccharine sweet that it makes my face ache. Super sweet people make me wonder if a) they are really that nice or just pretending and b) if they aren't pretending if I'm just a total piece of crap because I'm not that nice all the time.
Anyhow, we had sushi and a lot of fun. Wednesday I went out for dinner with my sorority and took the kids. It was somewhat funny because my friend Kathy came out to help haul the kids in and the waitress asked if we wanted to add another table for when the other moms got there. Ha ha.

Regarding the tough week issue, suffice it to say that most of the time I put on a brave face and sort of "fake it til I make it" but sometimes having three children under age 2 is really hard and I just can't pretend otherwise.

Pee pee where it shouldn't be

I should change the name of my blog to something related to bodily fluids and their distribution. I know that many of my posts relate to pee or poo, but hey that is my life. Deal with it. You at least only have to read about it, I have to clean it up.
This morning Kenna's diaper leaked on my side of the bed. I got Laney up and found her in a pool of her own (stupid princess pull ups). During nap time, Laney decided that her pull up was too wet and needed to be removed. I don't know if she removed it before or after wetting her bed a second time, but I found her dancing naked after a too short nap. She soaked her pull up again right before bath time and sat on me all soggy.
It was just one of those days. Laney spent too much time watching videos, but I was tired. Griffin was grouchy today. He didn't really take an afternoon nap like he normally does and just cried on and off. By dinner everyone was unhappy and they all three sat around me and cried. It was just awesome, let me tell you. They all finally settled down, but when I went upstairs to give Laney a bath Griffin started howling again. That boy gets seriously mad. He turns red and just yells. It's a good thing that he's really cute. Everyone went to bed pretty easy though so I decided to clean my oven after the massive chicken leakage problem Friday night (can't remember if I mentioned this but I roasted a chicken in a pan with a hole in it and didn't figure out what the problem was until 3/4 of the way done. Very smokey). I haven't cleaned my oven before, but it started billowing smoke from all the grease burned in the bottom. So I called my mother. I'm still airing things out. It was eye watering to say the least. Now I'm going to go to bed in my pee peed bed.

Weekend warriors

Charles highjacked my laptop over the weekend and I was too tired to go up and use the other one. So here's a quick recap of the weekend:
Went to Tucson moms Fall festival on Saturday. It was majorly windy, but it was still relatively fun. We met Talia's husband for the first time and he and Charles seemed to get along. Talia's husband just got back from Iraq, where he is a security guard. He's a former Marine, so he and Charles had something to talk about. Laney ate her first cotton candy and the twins took in the scenery. Laney also bounced in the jumping castle and literally bounced out of it! The cover for the entrance was not particularly tight and she popped right out and on to the ground. She was fine, but quite suprised. The festival was from 1 to 4, so Laney didn't get a nap. We went from there over to Debbie's to check out her new house paint job--it looks great! I'm not looking forward to having ours done. Guess I should start saving now. From there we went to Pinnacle Peak for a dinner out with other moms from my Tuesday group. To say that Laney was not her normal sweet self is something of an understatement. There was food throwing, crying fits, and general mayhem. At one point she bit me on the arm for taking the dish of beans away from her and I smacked her face. So yes, I publicly abuse my daughter and I know I'm not supposed to hit in response to biting but I still have a massive ding on my chest where she bit me the other night and I reacted before I thought about it. The twins were both fussy too and cried for a good portion of the dinner. I think both Charles and I just couldn't wait to get out of there. Lesson learned. One thing a day. Skip naps at your own peril.
Sunday we got up bright and early to paint our family room and kitchen. I can't believe how different it looks. We painted the end wall, hall, and under the kitchen cabinets a darker shade of tan. The tv wall and eventually the rest of the family room walls and kitchen is a lighter golden tan. The room really changed in the way it feels and the darker shade seems to make it less long (it's very rectangular for those who haven't seen it). I like it even though the room is a little darker. It really makes the granite pop and warms the space up considerably. Hopefully it will hide kid dirt too ;-) I did most of the painting while Charles took care of the kids, then we painted together while Laney was napping. I was totally beat by last night.

Park Day

We stayed home for the last couple days, so were more than ready to bust out and get some park on. It was a good day at the park. We went to Arthur Pack, a new park, and really liked it. I meant to bring my camera but didn't. There were so many really great potential pictures too. The kids discovered big kid swings and were draping themselves over the seat and swaying back and forth and playing in the sand. It was really cute, though Laney did slip headfirst off the swing into the dirt in a sort of slow-mo slump and when she looked up the swing came back and smacked her right in the forehead. She was ok though (she's tough).
We went to Wendy's for lunch with Richelle and Ella and Tara and Cameron. The twins just crashed out and Laney did such a good job at the restaurant. She's getting so big. I just can't believe it sometimes.

Gettin' Organized

I've been busily tidying. I'm not sure what is prompting the urge to purge and cleanse, but it's very strong. I think I'm having some post twin pregnancy thing--I couldn't do anything during the last of the pregnancy with the babies so now I'm making up for lost nesting time or something. Or maybe I just feel the urge to bring more order to a potentially chaotic life. I don't know. But I do love the feeling of doing a thorough cleaning with everything all neat and tidy. Honestly, it's been a while coming. There have been pockets of major mess in my house for a while. I couldn't clean for quite a while and had lots of "help" so nothing was where it was supposed to be. It seems sometimes that if a few things start getting out of place, everything rapidly goes downhill.
I'm ready for someone to develop a brilliant means of organizing baby bottle and sippy cup stuff. It just goes out of control. I've organized the pantry and a few other kitchen cabinets and the laundry room. Now I need to do the garage, which is stuffed to the rafters with Goodwill stuff etc.

Cleaning Help

Happy birthday to my niece Colleen! She was born at 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month--the same time and date that the armistice agreement to end WWI was signed.
We did playgroup at Jamie's today and had a great time. Laney was so good and the twins were in fine spirits. I was trying to get everyone out the door this morning and was nursing a twin when I noticed that Laney was running around with my decorative hand towel from the bathroom. Then a few minutes later she ran into the family room with it and started rubbing the coffee table. She said "I cleaning" and just looked proud as could be. That is when I noticed that the towel was wet. She cleaned my house with toilet water.

Monday

Kenna is being a pill tonight so I'm typing with one hand. Just a joe average day. I dropped Laney off with Diane and the twins and I went to Costco for diapers. Kenna has been grumpy all day, so I'm not sure what the deal is. Laney had a good time with Di and Leah and came home filthy. I got a migraine, so I felt pretty bleh most of the day. On the upside, I finally figured out how to get my slideshow thingy to work. Must go, motherhood calls.
One more thing. I've got to add that Laney says the cutest stuff now. She told Charles that "bubble baths are awesome" the other night. Cracks me up. She also greets me with the most random comments in the morning. I have no idea how that little brain works.

Desert Museum

We went to the Desert Museum today and it was nice to get out and do something with just our little family. We met a lot of people from Europe oddly enough and that was interesting. We always get a family membership at the museum because when we have visitors we often go there and it's the same cost to buy the membership as it is to pay for four adults or whatever.

They have just added a new exhibit about life in the rocks with desert landscape above and then all the little dens and holes that the creatures are in are in the rock with glass so you can see everything. The desert is much prettier in the spring, but it was nice today to get out. Laney had a good time. She picked flowers from the lantana and shared them with another baby in a stroller. She was most interested in seeing a butterfly and we lucked out and saw their first Monarch butterfly of the year. After lunch, I needed to change diapers so I took one kid at a time to the restroom. I kept going by this couple with a new baby in my arms, it was sort of funny. We also tried out the two kids in the stroller/carry one in the baby bjorn solution today and that worked pretty well until my back started to ache. I always get a low back ache when I use those carriers. I probably need to strengthen my abs a little more or something.

All in all a quiet day in Tucson.

Pump it up

We went to Leah's 6th birthday party today at Pump It Up, a sort of indoor jumping castle place. Laney had a great time even though it was during nap. She's so incredibly brave it just amazes me. I was such a chicken as a little kid and she is absolutely fearless. I believe that's her father's genes coming out. I certainly got a workout climbing through everything and bouncing around. You know you're 36 and not 6 when you bounce on those things and think "huh. My bladder does not seem to be quite the same anymore". The downside of having kids, particularly twins. The twins stayed home with daddy today since I can't climb through stuff with Laney and watch them at the same time. The inability to be two places at once when you have a very active toddler and two infants is the subject of another posting though.
Anyhoo, the babies didn't attend. I also went to Hallmark today for their open house and bought way too much stuff, but oh my gosh they have cute Christmas things! Holidays are so much more fun now, but I'm seriously needing to stock up on decorations. I opted not to purchase the cute ceramic gingerbread house that plays the Russian song from the Nutcracker. So sweet, but ultimately way too breakable. I'm proud of myself though--I've got 75% of the way through my Xmas gifts for Tucson family and secret sister gifts for the next two months (not all at Hallmark). I got these tap dancing ornament things that I think the kids will enjoy and the singing snowmen thing. We got the snowman thing last year and Laney thinks it's just the best.
I don't know what the deal is but I'm already feeling very holiday-ish. Maybe because it's suddenly got cooler. We've also bought tickets for our trip home to Idaho for Christmas. I even called the airline to figure out what to do about all the baby stuff. It's such a ripoff to fly now. The airline charges to check a bag and allows either a stroller or car seat but not both. But Charles hopefully will be able to use his status in Star Alliance to get all our stuff there free. They are also now charging for sodas/juice on the plane. Seriously. Add to that the logistics issue of going through security with three children and fun will be had by all. Security will just have to help us I guess since you must put your stroller through the xray machine and carry your child. I don't know what you would do if flying by yourself, since they aren't supposed to hold a baby for you but it would be nearly impossible to hold two babies and collapse a 40 pound stroller (takes two hands just to collapse the stroller). I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Next year we will not be flying up to Idaho for the holidays. It will be time to stay home. That kind of makes me sad but it is what it is. Celebrating the holidays in Tucson isn't quite the same for me. For my family, the holidays are a really big deal and it's quite the opposite here. For example, I have no idea what the family is planning to do for Thanksgiving this year. I know that Debbie will be here, but that's the extent of things. I guess I'd better take charge and make a plan.
PS - I'm going to go back and add pictures now. I finally downloaded the camera. I'm still trying to get a Flickr slideshow to work - that's what that picture thing in the corner is all about but it isn't working for me.

Two Year Check Up

Laney went to the dr. Tuesday for her 2 year appointment. She's 34 inches and weighs 25 1/2 lbs. She was a real trooper about getting two shots. She watched the nurse do both of them without really any reaction, though she was excited about the tweety bird "stickers" that were applied afterward. Hopefully she remains blase about shots always (ha).
G and K seem to be doing better. They are getting busier every day and play with toys a lot more now. They particularly like this big ball shaped rattle thing that is bigger than their heads. When I get motivated, I'll post picts of them with the toy. Kenna particularly likes to chew on it, no hands. She reminds me of one of those desert tortoises stretching her neck out to mouth the toy. Hilarious.
We're having playgroup at our house tomorrow for the first time. Hopefully all goes well!

Happy Birthday Part 2

So we skipped the Tea for Two party on Monday in favor of sending Mommy to the doctor. The diagnosis? Possibly pleurisy, an infection of the lining of the lungs. I'm waiting for blood work to come back and taking tylenol. That night I fed both babies cereal for dinner and then Griffin screamed for hours straight. We tried everything but nothing was making that baby happy. During the scream-a-thon, Charles checked on Kenna and found her face down in a puddle of vomit. He rolled her over and she projectile vomitted across her crib. So he cleaned everything up and took care of a puking baby while I dealt with the screaming baby. Meanwhile, the birthday girl had been sent to bed a little early and was also screaming for quite some time. After the Kenna thing, we decided to do a check on her and found her passed out in her crib with a majorly runny diaper spread everywhere. So I woke her up, cleaned her up, and Charles rocked her back to sleep while I dealt with Kenna (Griffin had gone to sleep). Did I mention that we have 3 cribs and 4 crib sheets? On a two crib disaster night, this did not work out well.
Sometimes you've just got to laugh. It seems like there are just times like this when it all goes south at an amazing rate and there just isn't anything you can do about it but carry on.

Happy Birthday Delaney

Today was Delaney's 2nd birthday. We had a family party yesterday and were supposed to have a birthday party with friends today, but my lung thing came back and I went to the doctor instead today. The doctor suspects pleurisy, but I'm waiting for blood work to come back. Laney's birthday was also highjacked by the dreaded Don and Olive drama about money.
Laney got a trike for her birthday and thought that was pretty cool. She also got a fairy Barbie sticker book with the stupidest story I've ever read. She of course wants me to read it to her over and over. Seriously the worst story ever. It's like someone took a bunch of the classic stuff and smashed it together into this awful mess of a story.

Halloween scare Laney

Happy Halloween! We made another attempt at the Tinkerbell costume for the playgroup party in the morning and it was a no-go. Laney thinks that costume was created by the devil. She will not, I repeat, will not wear it. In the afternoon, Charles explained that she needed to wear a costume and that she would say Trick or Treat and people would give her candy. Boy, she was all charged up and ready to go! She brought him her regular clothes and said put these on me and let's trick or treat. So I had to MomGyver a costume together at the last second. White tshirt, white shorts, bunny ears from Easter and some eyeliner and boom! you're a white rabbit. It worked.

We canvassed the neighborhood with the twins and Diane, Leah and Brandon. Everything went well, except one little thing. Some idiot in my neighborhood decided it would be super fun to answer the door in a Scream mask that literally ran with blood all over the face. Laney was truly horrified at the boo boo and after that house she stated over and over again that "Halloween scare Laney". I felt awful.
I cannot believe how much candy that child came home with. Seriously, a bagful from just close neighbor houses. What are we going to do with it all?

Stroke, stroke, stroke

My dad had a little stroke on Monday night and went to the hospital Tuesday. Get this: he drove himself over to his dr's office (he doesn't understand that whole call the dr. first thing) and the doctor wasn't there so the person he spoke to at the dr's office TOLD HIM TO DRIVE HIMSELF 10 MILES TO THE HOSPITAL while potentially HAVING A STROKE. What??!! So of course, he did. He got all settled and started getting tested then left my mother a voicemail at work "yeah, hey I'm at the hospital...". She freaked out a little bit when she finally picked up her voicemail. So they did tests and can't find any damage, but still this was very scary. Thankfully Dana, my sister, called me and let me know what was going on. Sheesh. No one called forever. This miffs me because even if they think, no big deal, because I can't be there in person I need to know. I need to have an opportunity to call at least. What if everyone thought it wasn't a huge deal and put off calling me and something major happened? What if I missed an opportunity to talk to my dad one last time?
I'm hoping that this time he'll take a hint and finally quit smoking (including all tobacco products) for good. My kids need him to be their grandfather and I need him to be my dad. Preferably until I'm like oh say 75 or so.
So what else is going on? Laney is talking so much more, but we are starting to have a lot of conversations where she just doesn't have a word yet for what she's trying to say. She gets frustrated as I try to guess what she's trying to tell me about. I can relate to the problem because half the time anymore I can't get the right word out that I'm trying to say either.
K and G are spending more and more time on their tummies voluntarily. They are definitely at the glacier stage of babyhood. They move great distances but you can never actually see it happen. I need to buy another highchair since we all have dinner except Kenna who sits over in the family room. Griffin loves to be in the highchair since he can watch everything and be involved. I might even start feeding him in it soon. I'm still slacking on that cereal thing. Just another chore to add to my day.

Vomit

This morning started with an 8:30 eye appt. What is the deal with these drs anyway? They tell you to be there 1/2 hour early and don't take you back for the appt until 15 minutes after your appt. Seriously, what's the hold up. Then they have the nerve to charge all sorts of extra fees on top of the copay for doing things like a contact lense exam or writing a prescription. Irritating. I'm still sick even while taking the z pack antibiotics. I was awash in sweat the whole time--literally soaking. Gross, I know. But wait, it gets better.
When I got home, the house was slightly more disturbed than I left it but all the kids were still in pajamas. So I quickly fed everyone and got them dressed so that I could take them over to Diane's. I needed to run errands for Laney's birthday, but I had limited time since D had to leave by 1. So I ran but I didn't get much done before I had to pick up the kids. I wanted to find hats for Laney's party for each kid, but I just can't find them at this time of year. Anyway, I got the kids and got home and then the fun really started.
Kenna started to vomit around 2:30, totally covering me in vomit. And she kept puking. Poor baby, I felt so helpless to do anything for her. Meanwhile, Griffin was crying and then Laney woke up and finally Charles came home from the eye doctor. I was up all night with Kenna. I guess that's just part of the joy of motherhood.

Disgruntled

My house looks like a bomb went off and I'm too tired to do anything about it. We went to visit Olive today--she's going in for surgery on Monday. We didn't get much done in the morning. Charles attempted to play his video game downstairs but got mad when Laney kept messing with him. I wasn't managing much but the basics. After lunch at McDonalds we went up to Olive and Don's. There is another big dispute between Olive and Don regarding her IRA. The whole family blows up over the issue on a periodic basis. We came home to go to our playgroup Halloween party. I felt bad that I didn't bring any food to share. I definitely will next time. I need more options on potluck food.
It sucked getting the kids ready to go. We had to wake Laney up from a nap and she really wasn't prepared to put on her Tinkerbell outfit. By the time we were nearly ready to go, we had everyone crying. The party was nice, Mary does such a great job with that sort of thing, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. Laney didn't wear her costume at all. The twins looked cute in theirs but I took them mostly off since they were hot. We came home and I cooked dinner and fed babies. After the kids went to bed, Charles played his game and I tried to go to bed early.

Bronchitis and birthday parties

Saturday was a little wild. Charles told me that he wanted to go out to breakfast, so I got up and got cracking. As I'm getting the kids ready, Charles says go ahead and leave Kenna in the crib and then starts being really weird. Needless to say, I was getting irritated because I had to go to breakfast, finish wrapping a birthday gift and go to a birthday party by 10. Finally, after I started getting snippy because he was feeding Laney breakfast, he told me that my sorority sisters were coming to get me for a kidnap breakfast. It was fun, but it could have been a better day. Charles finished dressing the kids and came to get me. He was all grouchy because he had to go the party (2 hours, how awful). I just felt crappy. After we got home I went to urgent care while Charles played his video game. I had a fever over 100 and a lung infection. Yeah for me. I came home thinking maybe I could get some rest, but it just wasn't to be. I fed babies and then came back downstairs to cook dinner.

Catch Up

Ok, skipped a few days due to illness etc. Charles came home from his trip Thursday night. The kids and I went to the mall to run errands and ran into Richelle and Ella. Laney had a minor altercation with another little girl over the Thomas the Tank Engine train table at Barnes and Noble. It was a tiring day. I've been sick all week so not my most energetic self.
Friday Charles was watching the kids, so I ran a few errands. I went and got a massage and then got my hair done. The lady that does my hair is so incredibly slow. My appointment was at 5 and I didn't leave until 10. Seriously. I thought I'd never get home (so did Charles).

Monsters Emerge

Laney learned about things that are "scary". We've reached a milestone. This might explain why she was acting weird at the park when playing last week (she suddenly came over and sat next to me. She has never, ever done that before) Tonight she read the Fry's ad and pointed out the scary Halloween mask. I hate to see her be scared of anything. I wish I could keep her from knowing about any of the bad stuff in the world. Last night she woke up at around 1 and I had to go in and get her comforted and back to sleep. I think that's one of the first times I've done that.
On an upside, all the kids went to Diane's for a few hours while I went to the dentist today (no, that's not the upside) and while there Kenna scooted her way across the blanket. That child has a will to move like no one else. They played pretty hard with Di and Leah. I guess Laney had a tantrum while there. Griffin and Kenna took their bottles well and only Kenna slept even though Griffin needed to. He isn't a day time sleeper as much and likes to be entertained.
Griffin is something of a momma's boy. He gets a little scared by strangers and loud or sudden things. It's funny that my two girls are so oblivious and my little boy is the sensitive one. I guess they just process the world in different ways. A part of me has never been able to relate to Laney's fearlessness and outgoing personality, but I understand sensitive quite well. Of course, Griffin is just slightly subdued in comparison to his sisters. Compared to the rest of the world he's still pegging the happy baby scale.
I bought Laney a Princess Aurora (aka sleeping beauty) nightie while I was out today and she was super thrilled to put it on tonight. I let her keep the light on tonight so that she could lay in bed and admire it. Her first nightgown. I'm a sellout to Disney commercialism, but it makes my daughter happy so what the hell.
I'm not feeling well tonight, I have a weird chest pain. So keeping it short.

Wild Life

We went to the zoo today with our play group and then to lunch at Claimjumper. I should have known that it was going to be a hard day when I got to the zoo (after a few wrong turns) and discovered that I didn't bring my wallet. I had emergency cash though, so on to the elephants it was. I can't say it was the best zoo visit that we've had, but it was ok. A kind docent lady held Griffin while I fed Kenna. I nursed my children next to the cave cockroaches. Tasty.
I feel sorry for Laney sometimes because her life is harder than it is for the other kids . I only have two stroller spots and three kids--she gets to walk everywhere. (though I can't say I'm against that anyway. Kids can walk and it's good for them. Maybe that is the beginning of the childhood obesity epidemic--getting pushed around while eating goldfish and raisins to keep you quiet) I didn't bring the leash with me either or the baby carrier. So it was hard to manage the running toddler and the fussy babies. C'est la vie.
I should have called it quits and gone to McDonalds for lunch with the kids, but decided to go with everyone to Claimjumpers. Laney and the twins were fairly good, but it was still stressful and I was more than ready to leave by the time we were through. They all screamed in the car for the first 20 minutes of the car ride home and Laney didn't fall asleep until we were nearly home then skipped her nap. I made her stay in bed until 4 anyway because I needed some downtime. I'm mean, what can I say. She has plenty of entertainment in there and if she would stop screaming she might enjoy the quiet time too.
Griffin tried cereal tonight for the first time and seemed to like it quite a bit. He didn't eat much, but it was a good first effort. That boy likes his chow. Kenna rolls at will now and spent a good part of the afternoon checking out the playmat. She doesn't sit up quite as well though. The dr gave the ok for cereal last week, but I have to admit I'm being a little lazy. I need to buy another highchair and am not as enthused about adding another chore to an already full day. Sigh. But the upside might be better sleeping. They seem to be sleeping less at night than they were before, so they might need a little more in the tummy. Or less incentive to come have a cuddle with mommy. I don't put them back as promptly as I should because I usually fall back asleep.
Our evening bedtime ritual kicked up a notch tonight. Kenna had a major diaper blowout today and Griffin was covered in cereal so there was just no ignoring the fact that they needed baths. So we tried something new. Previously, I've left the babies downstairs while bathing Laney, but they always get mad. Tonight, everyone went upstairs together. I got all the stuff together and bathed Kenna, wrapped her in a towel, bathed Griffin, wrapped him in a towel, put Laney in the bathtub to get on with her important water playtime and diapered and dressed both babies there on the bathroom floor. It was a little crazy: Laney helped me by trying to steal the soap, dipping a wet wipe in water and squeezing it out on my back, and turning on the faucet. Griffin peed and nearly got me. But all in all, it worked out. God knows what I'm going to do when they can all get around. though maybe I can bathe them together then. Getting them dressed afterwards will be another story.
All were in bed by 8 and mommy had a glass of wine. I need to hit the hay now too.

Bookworm

Today we picked up my mother-in-law, Olive aka Vovo, and went to the mall. It's been a while since we've seen her and it was good to catch up. Diane joined us for lunch at Chick fil A. Love me some of that Christian chicken.
Laney woke up really late today. She was so quiet that I did the stealth check to make sure she was alright. What is it about being a mom that gives you that chilling thought that something might be wrong if your child sleeps in? I hate that I think things like that, but I guess it is fairly normal. When I went to check on her a second time, she was quietly reading "Olivia" (she calls it her piggy book) to herself. She has about 10 books in her crib and loves to "read". Tonight I think I went through every book we own with her. She's also taken to wanting to leave the light on when I put her down at night so she can read to herself before she goes to sleep. I think that it's just a delay tactic, but it's so cute I can't say no. Unfortunately, after going back to find her half asleep tonight, I turned out the light and it caused a tantrum of major proportions. Sigh. On the up side, the babies were completely exhausted from their day at the mall (and no longer naps), so they zonked out early. That meant they didn't get baths though. So I have dirty well rested children.

Starting Somewhere

Ok, we've all got to start somewhere. This is my first post in what I hope will become a meaningful journal that gives those closest to me a way of staying in touch with my life and me a way to look back and remember how it really was.
I told my sister-in-law a story about Delaney today and she said that I should write it in her baby book. Um, what baby book? Laney will be 2 in two weeks and I never wrote down a thing. Now that the twins are 4 months already (!) I try to remember what I was doing and what Laney was doing at this age and I just can't. At the time, you think that the special memory will last forever, but in reality it fades away and you only have the impression of the moment. So Laney's first two years are largely undocumented, even though they have been incredibly wonderful. My memory of those years? I remember giving birth and feeling a profound, intense love like I've never felt and being really suprised by it. I remember a beautiful, easy child who was always amazing and only occasionally exasperating. That's the impression, but the truth is lost in the day to day chaos of life.
So what was it that I should write down from today? Laney and I were talking on the couch and I asked her if she had filled her pull-up. She said no with a twinkle in her eye, so I asked her if she was lyin'. She said yes. I laughed and she said "lion! rraaarrgh!". Then I laughed harder. Language acquisition is a riot.
Kenna is rolling and trying so hard to crawl. She rolls and her legs go crazy. If I give her something to brace against she can scoot across her playmat. So cute. Griffin is having a major mama moment this weekend. He wants to be held and loved by mommy and is somewhat fussy. He conned me into letting him spend half the night in my bed last night, until finally I put him in his crib at 2:30 to cry it out and go to sleep for the night. I swapped him out for Kenna, who has been eating reliably at 2:50 and 5:50 each night/morning. She managed to hang out in my bed until 4. She's very stealth. But if they are there I can never sleep well and get all stiff from trying not to move.
So this morning dawned with me tired, stiff, and very cranky. I did not win the motherhood award today. By noon all three were screaming and I was about to pull out my hair and run from the house like I was lit on fire. I feel bad that the patience well runs dry so often and that Laney receives the brunt of the anger/impatience. I vow to do better.