We had an at-home, all-by-ourselves, get-stuff-done kind of weekend.  And it was lovely.

On  Friday night, we had pizza for dinner and we watched a Jackie Chan movie. 

Saturday morning, Eric grubbed the lawn (put stuff on it to kill grubs), and I worked on laundry.  In the afternoon, we ran errands I’ve been trying to run for three weeks.  So nice to get all of that done! 

Then in the evening, we watched a movie (America’s Sweethearts) while trying to get dinner and figure out why Erin would NOT sleep unless she was being held.  Eventually, she got Tylenol.  After that and her bedtime nursing, she was happy as could be.  Weird.  Anyway, after the babies were in bed, I ironed and then we watched television for a while.

Sunday was church, then Eric grilled brats for dinner.  Then some resting and hanging with the babies (they’re so cute these days!).  Then we got some more work done.  Eric cleaned his grill.  I finished some laundry, deep-cleaned bathrooms, and cleaned up the kitchen.  And then I watched Nanny McPhee while eating supper and entertaining babies.  And then we watched part of Meet the Robinsons because Eric had the remote and he’d only seen the end of it (he still hasn’t seen the beginning).

In other news:

• Thankfully, we are definitely on the downward side of these colds.  Mine is still clinging on, but the babies are both starting to sound much better now.
• Erin is thisclose to creeping.  She’ll reach for a toy and bring her knee up for leverage which pushes her just the tiniest bit forward.  She will do it twice in a row and then stop.  But a third try would get her the toy.  I figure she’ll figure that out in the next few days.
• We are planning to go to Buffalo this weekend for a gathering of my mom’s family.  We’re a little nervous about 6-hour car drives and first nights in a hotel room for the babies.  But we figured there was going to have to be a first time, and it might as well be now.  And that also means that I have a TON of stuff to do to get ready.  So that will probably be what I focus on this week.  Should keep me hopping!

And that is the world as I know it.  Happy Monday!

Of course, I said yesterday’s would be brief, too, but it really wasn’t.  Oh well…we’ll see how long this one turns out to be!

Erin is sitting on my lap right now.  She should be sleeping, but with her cold/cough, she isn’t sleeping or eating all that well these days.  Poor kid!

Okay, I just put her down and gave her a toy to play with.

This morning our electricity went out for about 15-20 minutes.  I have no idea why.  But I’m glad it’s back now. It’d be a hot day not to have A/C!

My grandparents are stopping by on their way to my parents house today.  Karen and J (and maybe Erik) will be joining us to, for a bit.  I decided that meant I needed to clean up my house for real.  So this morning, I’ve walked, watered plants, changed the crib sheets, started a load of baby laundry, tidied up my downstairs, vacuumed the living room, switched out the babies’ play blanket for a clean one, dusted the downstairs, took out various trash bags, tried on the new shirts I bought yesterday, and took out the recyclables.  Now I just need to keep working on laundry and empty/refill the dishwasher.  Man, have I been busy!

Yesterday I went to a park to hang out with a friend.  We walked around and talked.  Very fun!  Of course, it was crazy hot, too, so I went to Kohl’s for the A/C to cool the babies down.  Okay, so I really went because it was the last day of their big sale and I wanted to buy some shirts (see above) since I had a gift card to spend. And I knew (and I was right) that, once we got home, there’d be no going out again.  So it was a fun afternoon.

Other than that, the day wasn’t too exciting (which is actually a good thing in our world!).  And today should be fun, hanging with family a bit.  And, since Alex is hollering in his crib, I’d better get back to the wacky world of twins!  Happy Thursday!

As I survived a huge wave of “overwhelmed-ness” this morning, this post will be brief.  And as most people are on vacation this week, that’s fine, too!  But here’s the update:

• My week started out pretty empty.  It’s now totally full.  I have plans today (I think), tomorrow and Friday.  I’m tired already.
• I need to clean my house up a bit for tomorrow’s plans.  It’s not really dirty, but it’s just enough untidy in a lot of small ways that it feels like it’s more than I can accomplish in the hours I have.  That, and I have to clean the bathrooms which I avoid like the plague.
• Eric had a presentation to give at work today.  He seemed almost nervous about it (not usually like him), but I think once he gets a feel for his audience, he’ll be fine. 
• Both babies have colds this morning, and I think I’m starting with it, too.  Yippee.
• I’m still struggling to find a good eating schedule for the babies these days.  Not for them…they’re just fine eating whenever, really.  I just don’t feel like we have a schedule that works well, and that’s hard for me (the type-A, control-freak).
• I’m also seriously considering starting to wean the babies to formula now that we’ve gotten to real food.  It would just be so much easier (i.e., more flexible) to be able to let other people feed them sometimes.  Although, I wouldn’t mind nursing them first and last thing in the day and bottle-feeding them during the day.  Is that even possible?  I guess we’ll figure it out…
• I have a rash of itchy bumps on my hands.  I’ve had it for a week or more now and it’s still spreading.  It’s just on my hands, and I think it’s some sort of eczema-type outbreak.  But I may have to go see a doctor. It’s really annoying to have itching fingers and palms, and any anti-itch cream I use gets washed right back off because I wash my hands so often.  And since it doesn’t seem to be clearing up on its own, I may have to break down and see someone.  Like I have time for that…
• Wow…apparently, I’m very negative this morning.  I need either to start doing things (so my to-do list shrinks) or just get a better perspective on what I do have to do.  I suspect the attitude adjustment would be the better option overall.  But it wouldn’t hurt to get some chores taken care of, too.
• And on that note, I’d better sign off.  Happy Wednesday!

Yesterday was pretty long and tiring.  Last night was long and sleepless.  Today is probably going to be pretty long as well. 

We had our six month checkup yesterday.  The twins are doing great.  Alex is 16 lbs, 2 oz., and 27 ins. long.  Erin is 15 lbs, 12 oz., and 26 ins. long.  Their physicals went well, and the doctor gave me some good advice about feedings and weaning and all that fun stuff.  And I love that he gives no pressure for any of it.  Whatever is best for us is the best thing to do.  Fantastic!

Unfortunately, the visit itself was not terribly enjoyable.  The appointment was at 11:00, so we left home at 10:30.  We arrived on time and were promptly shown to our room.  The nurse came in and we did weight/measurements.  And then we waited.  Erin started screaming shortly after we arrived.  I had to hold her.  Alex was playing with the baby in the mirror (his reflection, of course) for a while, but then he got fussy, too.  By 11:39, I had two crying babies.  By 11:50 or so, when the doctor finally came in, I had two screaming babies (lunch is usually around noon for them).  We finished our appointment and scheduled the next one, but it was about 12:45 before we finally got home.  By then I had tired, hungry, newly-vaccinated babies.  And I was hungry and tired, too (though unvaccinated!).  I fed them, and they took a super long nap.  And last evening was pretty uneventful.

Unfortunately, last night was altogether too eventful.  Erin has a bad cold this week with congestion and cough.  She woke up at 11:30 crying really hard.  I calmed her down, but was back up in about an hour for Alex having a fit.  Basically, all four of us were pretty much up and down from midnight to 3:15 when we finally figured out that Alex needed gas drops on top of the Tylenol we’d given him.  Of course, Erin was back up around 5:15 because of her cold, so I held her until it was time to eat, then fed Alex, then went back to bed (at about 6 am) until 7:15. 

So far, we’ve had a few crying episodes this morning. Both of them have sore legs and mild fevers, though they’re doing all right now that the Tylenol is kicking in.  And Erin just doesn’t feel well, poor baby.  And I’m really bad at saline drops for her nose.  She hates them, and I seem to dribble more of it on her face than in her nose.  I’m hoping we get some good naps in, but that means I can’t run the errands I need to run.  I guess they’ll just have to wait.  So anyway, I’m expecting it to be a pretty long day.

I wish I had someone to hang with me today.  Oh well…we will survive.

On a less self-centered note, I was really sorry, though not surprised, to see that the Gosselins are separating.  How sad that Satan has taken down another family, and one as high-profile and (at least nominally) Christian as this one.  The family is destroyed, but “the show must go on” – what bad priorities.  And as I stopped watching the show weeks ago, I guess I’ll just have to keep praying for them.  Maybe God will do a marvelous work between them, somehow.

And in my sleep-deprived state, I guess that’s all I’ve got this morning.  Happy Tuesday!

I’m pretty sure that summarizes our whole weekend.

We were at my parents’ house on Saturday where we had a burgers/dogs cookout.  And my dad got his Father’s Day gifts/cards.  We bought him 6 extension cords (one for each grandkid) because he’s only got two, both of which are almost as old as we are and are serious fire hazards.  He thought it was funny!

I made this dessert.  It was yummy.  And fairly easy.  Double score!

On Sunday, we stopped at Kroger on the way home from church and bought some grilling stuff.  And we grilled out steaks and veggies and potatoes and bread.  We tried a bunch of different things…yummy! 

Then on Sunday afternoon, my in-laws came over with Eric’s grandparents.  We had a nice time.  And my MIL, ever trying (a bit too hard at times) to make it easier on me, just brought supper with her.  So we grilled out burgers again.  She also brought chips and a macaroni salad and dessert (a blueberry cobbler).   Sadly, I don’t really love her macaroni salad or cobbler, so I had a bad attitude at first.  Then I decided to get over it and just be grateful for her thoughtfulness.  I just didn’t have any macaroni salad, and oddly, everyone had my dessert from Saturday instead of the cobbler.  Although that had more to do with not having any ice cream to go with the cobbler, I think.  So it worked out.  And they all had a marvelous time with the babies…good times!

Today is the babies’ 6-month well visit.  And other than that, I don’t have much planned.  Although I do want to go to Kohl’s this week.  They’re having a big sale and I have a gift card from my birthday.  And I need clothes desperately!  So maybe we can work that out…

Anyway…better go get breakfast before the babies get up.  Happy Monday!

That’s what I thought yesterday morning about 10:30 am when I was standing outside my locked Jeep in the Target parking lot, just realizing that my keys weren’t in my purse.  That’s when I had the following internal dialogue:

Oh crap!  I don’t have my keys.  Okay, don’t panic, check the purse again.  Nope, not there.  Maybe in the basket of the stroller with the bags.  Nope, not there.  Okay, can I see them on the front seats?  No.  Oh Crap!  Okay, still don’t panic.  Maybe you left them inside at the returns desk.  Yah, maybe that’s where they are.  I’ll go inside and check.

Wait.  It’s already 10:30.  OH crap!  I am supposed to be at Karen’s to drop off the twins so I can get my eyes checked.  My appointment’s at 11:00.  There’s no way I’m going to make it now! Oh CRAP!

So I called Karen, who very kindly called the eye doctor to cancel for me while I went inside to check at the returns desk.  They didn’t have them, but the lady thought she’d seen them in my hand.  I didn’t remember that, but if it was true, that meant they were probably in the store somewhere.   So I backtracked my trip through the store (think Billy from the Family Circus), called Eric to see if he could come unlock the Jeep for me, and began feverishly praying that my keys would turn up.

Thankfully, I had lots of distractions from my worries.  Back in the store, I saw a neighbor who was very willing to help if needed (she even came over later to make sure we’d gotten home!).  While I was talking to her, Karen called back, and then Eric rang in.  So he very kindly left work to rescue me.  And I was stuck at Target until he arrived.  I bought Father’s Day cards.  And I chatted with a friend from church whose 2 year old son had locked himself in the car a few days ago.  They ended up having two sheriffs come to help because a neighbor called the police before checking to see if they needed the police called (they really didn’t), but it made for a good story and the 2-year-old got to sit in the police cruiser which he thought was totally cool.

Finally, I was down to sitting in the Starbucks cafe watching out the window until Eric arrived and unlocked the Jeep.  Sure enough, there were my keys.  It seems that I had them in my hand when I got out of the car.  But when I got to the back of the car, the stroller I needed was buried beneath the other stroller.  So, apparently, I threw down my keys to pull out strollers.  And never picked them back up.  Oops!

Anyway, it made for an adventure to blog about (which I rarely have!) and all turned out well.  And I got Father’s Day cards.  The babies did great (even though they were both poopy when I got home…the diaper bag was locked in the Jeep, too) and both took a nap.  And I still have my keys.  Thank you, Jesus!  Now I just have to reschedule my eye appointment and it will be like nothing ever happened! 

Happy Friday!

That pretty much describes yesterday.

Eric took the day off.  We got lots of stuff done around the house.  Okay, mostly he did, because I just did the normal baby stuff plus a few chores (a normal day for me).  But he felt really productive, I think.  After all, he went to Home Depot and got a bunch of stuff.  Then he refilled the salt in the water softener, edged and mowed the grass, sprayed the house to keep the bugs out, hung a ceiling fan in the nursery (yay!) and moved the old light fixture to the kitchen to replace the one there that had one bad bulb (super-yay!).  Then he relaxed some, worked on some database stuff for work, and relaxed some more.  A good day!

On the other hand, Erin is doing TONS of spitting up these days.  Sometimes she’ll eat 2-3 meals without so much as a drop.  Then other times, she’s like a little volcano.  Last night, I nursed her around 8 pm, and handed her to Eric so I could get and nurse Alex.  By 8:30, she’d spit up three times – all over the both of them and one couch pillow.  I really don’t know what’s causing it, but I hope it’s just a phase. 

I also went to the dentist yesterday. I hadn’t been for a cleaning in about 18 months.  Oops!  But between pregnancy and twin infants, it just wasn’t feasible.  But, since Eric was home yesterday, I took the opportunity to go.  It was nice to get out (even if it was a rush hour), and I had a great report.  Nice!  Today I have an eye doctor appointment.  Karen is kindly watching the twins for me while I do that.  She’s the best!

And that, sadly, is about all that’s exciting about life since my last post.  Oh well!  Happy Thursday!

Eric is taking a vacation day tomorrow (he needs it desperately), so today is Fri-Tuesday for him.  It’s really just Tuesday for me, but that’s okay.

The babies are eating three meals a day, on top of my nursing, now.  It’s a little hard to rearrange the eating schedule as I’ve gotten really good at every 3 hours.  But now they can go longer because they’re getting other things to eat, too.  But I’m totally lost on how to schedule them now.  I guess I’ll just make it up and see what happens!

Yesterday’s roast in the crockpot turned out great.  I tried the Italian beef sandwiches that bethelaine posted about a month or more ago.  They are truly yummy!  We also made our own chip dip (don’t be too impressed, the stuff I had was old so I improvised) with a Tastefully Simple seasoning option.  A good dinner!

I also did a number of little chores yesterday that I was WAY behind on.  Like updating the money program so Eric could crunch numbers from May.  And putting away last week’s laundry which was still folded in our baskets at the foot of our bed.  And such things.

Today I will be running to the grocery for my weekly trip.  And maybe I’ll do a load of baby laundry.  We shall see.  Happy Fri-Tuesday!

The English major in me won’t let me not capitalize my titles according to the “rules.”  I just had to go back and fix my own title.  I’m such a nerd!

The weekend was good.  Friday was low-key at home.  I did laundry and tidied the house.  Saturday was a visit from Eric’s brother (they went out for lunch and talked about their brotherly things) and then down to C-ville for my niece’s 4th birthday party.  Fun times!  Sunday was mostly hanging out, though I did get the ironing caught up.  I not a fan of ironing.

The babies are doing pretty well these days, too.  Erin is getting super-close to creeping.  She pulls her little knees up under herself, trying to push herself forward.  It’s cute, but man, am I in trouble when they do manage mobility!  And she talks ALL THE TIME.  Just jabbers and blows raspberries and generally makes noise.  It’s so fun!  Alex loves to be in the jumperoo.  He bounces around and laughs…too cute!  They are both eating well, too.  Alex, in particular, will happily keep eating as long as there is food to go into his mouth (picture a baby bird).

Of course, last night we didn’t sleep so well, but mostly we’ve been doing great!  And I figure that, because things are starting to go so smoothly, we are about ready for teething or something else that will disrupt everything.  I mean, if things keep going as they are, I’ll start to think I am getting the hang of this!

And I think that about covers the world according to me.  Today I don’t have much planned.  I have tidied the kitchen, fed the babies their breakfast and put them down for naps, and put a roast in the crockpot for dinner tonight.  So really, I think I deserve to take the rest of the day off! 

Happy Monday!

I’m up, and the babies aren’t.  This means that we went to bed at just before 9 pm (them) and 9:30 (us).  And they are still sleeping!  Woohoo!

Of course, this also means that I have a huge milk “rack” right now and can’t exercise until they eat.  And that also means that I probably won’t be able to walk outside today (I’ve started doing that while Eric gets up and around in the morning) since Eric will probably be ready to go before they’ve eaten. 

But as I just got NINE HOURS OF SLEEP, I think I’ll let it go!

In other news, my sister and I were planning to make freezer jam today.  But it turns out that we both still have lots of jam from last year.  So she’s still going to get some fresh berries this morning, but we’ll just be freezing them this year.

In even more other news, my niece’s birthday party is this weekend (Saturday).  She turns 4.  How fun!

Other than that, I can’t think of anything interesting to tell you.  So happy Friday!