At last, the Crackerbarrel

A momentous occasion, my first Crackerbarrel meal. Everyone in sorority was dumbfounded that I'd never eaten there, so that was where we went for social this month. I took the twins, but not Laney. She stayed home to watch a movie with her dad (he still can't walk and carry a baby, so they went with me).
The twins had a first this week: first bath together. Sooo cute. They are deeply into their bathtime. I realize that most babies are, but seriously, they are just hilarious they get so excited about it. Hopefully bathing them together will start to streamline the process. But regardless, I've really been enjoying the bath time.
We went to Phoenix yesterday to see my uncle Phillip, who had a layover on his way home from Costa Rica. Sounds like he had a good trip and since his house still has over a foot of snow on the ground, a little warm weather was probably good for him. It was a really long day though for the kids and since his plane was an hour and a half late, we spent a lot of time in the car. I felt kind of bad because I had to pee so bad by the time I picked him up that we just randomly chose someplace to stop (yeah, seriously, I really needed to go). He was starving so I don't think he cared either. Then we went to a cool park in Scottsdale, but we didn't really see much of it before we needed to go.
Today we went to Pump it Up with playgroup and then to Costco where I had the rudest checker. The more I think about it, the madder I get. When I went to check out, I had coupons and told the guy that I hadn't ripped each piece out--I was trying to ask if I needed to or not and he said "well, who do you think is going to do it, then?" in a really flip way. So I figured, ok, he's just thinking he's funny. Then after I checked out, I realized that I'd forgot that I had a second purchase to make on a separate receipt so I went back to get it and said sorry, three kids under 2 makes me a little loopy (or something to that effect) to which he replied "well if you are looking for compassion, sorry, you chose to have them". What a jerk.

Welcome home David

David came home on leave on Saturday, so we went over to Debbie's for a bbq. The weather was great. The kids also did a pinata to celebrate February birthdays. David arranged for a 50th birthday cake for Debbie too, since he won't be home for her birthday in July.

Laney woke up having bad dreams yesterday morning (due in part to the life size animated TRex at the museum the day before I'm sure) and complained that her ears hurt. I gave her some motrin and she slept on the couch all morning before we left for Debbie's. She seemed pretty good for the rest of the day, but she was still a brat about sharing. She told Marissa not to hit the chairs with a toy hoe because it made her sad. Bossy little thing. Charles was sort of appalled at her behaviour, but I guess he doesn't see her play with other children much.

Children's Museum

We had a really good time at the Children's Museum on Friday. There was a lot to do and see there. I tried to get Laney to pose with the Tucson Electric bucket and lineman gear, but she wasn't interested. Maybe next time. The museum is downtown and I can't say I enjoy going down there. But we'll definitely be going back despite the neighborhood.
The twins had a good time too. There was a room for the rainforest and since it was small and padded I let the twins out to explore. They thought it was pretty cool. Kenna crawled in and out of the little house and Griffin played with the toys. Another mom came that had a daughter who is a few weeks older than the twins. She was huge in comparison, but she was a month overdue compared to the twins month premature, so I guess it all works out. Laney's friend Ella whacked her a good one on the eyebrow with a toy magnifying glass.

Sand and Snot

I thought the snot thing was improving, but noses are running freely again and now I'm sick too. Good times. In other news, we have another tooth! Kenna popped one through on Wednesday. Weaning seems to be going pretty well too, though it makes me sad. It is also a lot more work to feed bottles. On the other hand, it is work someone else can do. I have three more weeks before my trip. I'm leaving the kids with Charles and going to Seattle for the weekend. I'm excited about seeing everyone, but wish I could bring everybody--it is kind of a bummer to go to a big family get together without my family. It will be fun to get away, but it might have been more restorative to go to a spa for the weekend.
Laney has been incredibly 2 this week and we've gone round and round.
What can you do? We went to the park for playgroup on Wednesday and the babies ate sand and sticks. Another mom with a 2 year old daughter and 8 month old twins came to the group but I didn't get much of a chance to talk to her yet (she has boys). Laney climbed the dinosaur again and she and Griffin went on the swings. We went out to lunch with Jamie and her boys and with Mary and her daughter Logan at Burger King. The kids seemed to have a good time, but I had to break up a slap fest between Laney and Nathan (who is almost 4) and threaten them both with time outs. Laney met another boy and she wouldn't come out of the play structure. He was 5, an older man.
Today we're off to the Children's museum with our Friday group so I need to get hopping.

weekend update

Valentines day we took the kids in for pictures. I can't say they are the best pictures ever. All the kids were sick and grumpy, though Kenna was feeling photogenic and hammed it up. Most of the pictures featured Laney and Griffin looking drunken or mad. After pictures, we went to Ernie and Diane's for a while and they invited us for dinner (it was Ernie's 51st birthday). We had a good time and it was good to see them--it's been a while. We hadn't seen Ernie and the boys since before Christmas.
Sunday Debbie was supposed to come over, but she was tired from her ordeal on Saturday (she was a chaperone for the drumline on a trip to Phoenix and I don't think they got home until around midnight). So we had a lazy day and Charles actually felt good enough to make lasagna. I did laundry and lowered the cribs since the babies had been greeting me in the morning standing at the waist high rail.
Yesterday I went out to preview preschools (sortof). Laney can't go to preschool until 2010, since her birthday is in November. I think that's stupid. I think she's going to be ready to go to school long before she's able to. Anyway, she'll be able to do a 2 year old preschool. I just have to get her into it. I'm going to have to camp out the day of registration to make sure she has a spot. There are only 24 places and church members and families with children already at the school get first dibs.
It's playgroup day, so I've got to run...

Teething

I thought I'd written another post, but I must not have saved it. Dang. Sunday Griffin got a second tooth! They have all got head colds too, so my life has been joyous this week. It turned really cold here suddenly, which I hate. I don't mind cold weather but I like to adjust over time. From 80 to 50 in one day is just too much for my body to take. So anyway, the snot is flowing and it has been cold and windy so we've been home. Kenna was playing with Laney's trike yesterday and can get up on her knees behind it and push it along the floor. She pulled herself up to a stand at the bottom of the stairs today too. That little devil is going to be walking too soon. Yesterday we went to the mall for a couple of hours with our friends Richelle and Ella. We went into the bathroom to change diapers etc and Laney announced that she needed to use the potty. And she did. Today she pooped on the potty, though that took a lot more initial encouragement on my part (I made her go try when I saw what she was doing). She also fell into the toilet upstairs yesterday morning, but without any adverse affects I guess (she didn't hit the water, just got stuck). I'm trying to up the frequency of our attempts. We'll probably go "live" in another week or so. I need the practice of reminding her to go though. Of course, she spent a good amount of time buck naked today and that really was a definite reminder to me! She just decided clothes were not for her today for some reason.
I'm crabby again and can't decide whether it's hormonal or lack of sleep or a combo. Both babies have been up a lot the last couple nights and I'm tired. Also, I'm trying to wean them, which makes me both sad and uncomfortable. Breastfeeding is a burden in a sense, but it also gives you a lot of closeness with your children that you just don't have bottle feeding. But since Kenna bit me yesterday, the time is coming to move on to bottles. I just think I'll miss it more with the twins in some ways, because that time is my special one-on-one time with each baby.
Babies are crying again. Gotta go.

Our weekend

Yesterday we went to Gymnastics World again and out for bagels with our playgroup. It was a good time. Griffin's new tooth also made its debut! It popped out in the middle of the night. Which probably explains his wakefulness. I finally got Kenna to sleep through the night just in time for G to start waking up.
I spent yesterday afternoon working in the backyard. I got the lantana repotted finally (it's pot exploded months ago and it's been holding together by roots and goodwill), mowed the lawn, and pruned the roses. I got a little carried away with the rose pruning. They are just stubs now. But I didn't get a chance to prune last year since I was pregnant and they were wild. Besides, I'm not the daughter of Agent Orange for nothing. The only thing better than chopping something down is chopping it down and burning it. I'm thinking about ripping out the roses eventually. They use a lot of water and require a lot of work for very minimal pay back. They are so huge now that I'd need some pretty heavy duty hardware and labor to remove them. Everyone came outside with me while I worked. Laney played in the sandbox and was completely coated by the time we were done.
We went out to dinner for the first time since we got home last night. It went ok, but Laney didn't take a nap yesterday and went into meltdown mode by the end of dinner. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
Today Kenna was the cutest thing ever. She sits and laughs and claps. Heartmelting. Seriously. She's also pulling up to stand on her knees. She was looking into the bathtub while I filled it tonight. I need to drop her crib down tomorrow since I keep finding her looking over the railing at me.
Griffin was busy busy busy today. He played legos with Laney and explored all the nooks and crannies he could get to. I keep having to remove him from the laundry room. I tried cleaning me carpet today while the kids were down for a nap, but my carpet cleaner isn't working right. It looks better, but not great.