This morning, Erin got up first.  We were playing in the loft, when Alex started to make noise.  “A-ye,” she said.  “A-ye.”  Then she started walking out of the loft, to their bedroom and to his crib, saying his name the whole time.  I turned on the light, and there he was, looking down at her.  I got him and put him down facing her.  She clasped her hands together and batted her long lashes at him with a sweet grin.  And as she walked by him, he reached out and patted her with both hands.  

I think they like having the other one around. that!

And here are a few pictures of the last few days…

We love the piano!
 

And he figured this one out on his own…smart guy

Oh, and Erin loves to give him food from her tray at meals (you’ll notice he already has her cup).

And just some other shots for fun…

Happy Thursday!

Becca Ware!

Congratulations, Becca…message me your address and I’ll send you some new materials to encourage you to start scrapbooking again!

In other news:

My MIL, Pam, is flying out this afternoon for her first-ever missions trip…to AFRICA! She’s going with the medical side of a team to do health teaching in a hospital (first week) and a clinic (second week). She won’t be back until February 7th, and she’s super nervous (she’s never been gone from home for 2 weeks, ever, and she’s never gone anywhere for longer than a couple of days without my FIL!). So, if you don’t mind, please say a prayer for her, for safety and God’s blessing on their service. I can’t wait to hear the updates…I’m sure it’ll be super-exciting!

I think that’s about all I’ve got this morning…happy Tuesday!

Updates:

• We had a good weekend at the farm.  We (mostly Alex) did not sleep all that well, so we’re all pretty beat.  But it was great to see the family and get lots of help with the babies.  And Eric got to hang out with his brothers, which he really enjoys.

• And I’ve finally figured out why the twins haven’t been sleeping well, even though they haven’t been sick, recently.  While tipping Erin upside down yesterday morning, Eric realized that he had a molar through.  And when we looked, we realized that she has 3 in (with the fourth on its way)!  So then we checked Alex, and he has 2 already in.  No WONDER they’ve been so cranky recently!

• The GIVE-AWAY is still open.  I will draw the winner’s name tonight, so if you want to win free scrapbooking materials (and didn’t enter on Friday), say so in a comment below!

• Oh, and I’m working on sending out the chore lists to those who asked for them.  I didn’t get them sent before we left for the weekend, but I hope to get them out today.  Sorry for the delay!

Okay, I am curious about something that came up with I chatted with my sister this morning.  So here’s a question for all of you who attend church.  Does your church cancel or move the time of services on Super Bowl Sunday?  If not, why?

Hope you have a marvelous day…happy Monday!

I just deleted a long, winding post about how I’ve been doing. I do mean to share it, but it isn’t pretty and I’m still thinking my way through it all. So I decided to wait until I could say it more succinctly. Suffice it to say that I think I’ve turned a corner, thankfully, and the feeling of intense internal pressure has found some release. And I’m looking forward to a weekend of relaxing at the farm.

In other news…

1. Erin was really melt-downy for Eric last night. Honestly, I think she missed me. I am super-glad that Eric could handle her tears as well as he did. But I’m also a little glad she likes me that much!

2. I cleaned my bedroom yesterday. I washed sheets, threw out trash, organized piles, put away clothes, remade the bed, vacuumed and washed the (attached) bathroom floor. I also managed to clean the kitchen pretty thoroughly and wash the bathtub. My house is starting to look somewhat kept-up again. It’s making me breathe easier today.

3. Yesterday, I also made myself a chore checklist. Some of my recent struggles have been exacerbated by my unkempt house (which wasn’t THAT bad, but it was enough to cause me some issues). I could see all the cleaning that needed done, but couldn’t seem to get to it. So it was just hanging over me, adding pressure.

So yesterday, I sat down and actually made up (I’ve been thinking it through for many weeks) a chore checklist to go on my fridge. I wrote down all the chores I want to get done regularly and divided them into daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly chores. Then I separated the chores into 4 weeks (weeks 1 & 3 are identical, as are 2 & 4). Each week has a table for each group of chores, so I can check off when I do them.

Being a type-A personality, I’m very excited. Even if I don’t get every chore on the sheet done every day or every week, it will still get done more often than it is now. It feels more organized so I can handle chores in small chunks, rather than trying to do the whole house every time. And maybe it’ll even give Eric a way to see how he can help me out sometimes (if I’m way behind on a week, for example, he could do a chore and check it off for me!). I don’t know how often that will happen, but it’s possible now! SO I’m excited. I know, I’m weird…

EDIT (10:30 am): And I am more than happy to share my “creation”, so if you want it, just message me your email, and I’ll send my chart to you.

4. This article (Carla Barnhill) was really helpful for me yesterday. Feel free to read (or skim) it and tell me what you think of it.

5. And finally, I never win raffle-type things. Last night at Twins Club, I won two different things. A little necklace for Erin (a pink bonnet). And another drawing, too. Which means that, for the first time ever, I am going to do a give-away on my site!

See, I won some scrapbook materials. They are really lovely. But I don’t scrapbook. Not at all. I upload my pics to Shutterfly, order 4×6 prints of each one and stick them in albums. It’s what I can accomplish, and it’s enough for me. BUT, that being said, I am now the owner of some lovely scrapbook materials which I won’t use. So…I’m going to give them away to one of you. If you scrapbook (and want some free materials), let me know in a comment. I’ll put all your names in a hat and pick a winner. Should be fun!

Okay, on to my day…happy Friday and happy weekend!

Here’s a short (bulleted) list of the randomness of my life:

• Alex is beginning to walk a lot.  He was very content to crawl until just this week or so.  And he likes to walk while holding our hands. 
• Erin is walking like a champ.  She never wanted to hold our hands; she just wanted to walk.  And it’s a little weird still to see her stand and walk to bring me something, instead of crawling over.  We are definitely entering toddler stage!
• Yesterday, they got into the half-bath off the kitchen, and when I found them, they were unrolling the toilet paper.  I have to say, I thought that was just too cliche for my babies to do…   I guess I was wrong.
• Last night, Erin was up for about half an hour at 1:00 am.  Then Alex was up for a bit at 2:30.  I’m tired.  They’re still sleeping.  Figures.
• We went to the grocery store yesterday.  They did marvelously, even though we missed the beginning of our afternoon nap. 
• Tonight is a Twins Club meeting that I need to try to get to.  I haven’t been to a meeting for months. But by the evening, I don’t want to go out.  I want to stay home.  We’ll see what happens…
• I am appalled and overwhelmed by the clutter in my house.  For some reason, I can’t seem to get to anything but the basics (clean up the kitchen, for example), and the basics tend to repeat themselves, often more than once a day.  And we are going to the farm this weekend, so I’m losing my at-home-with-help time.  *sigh*  I need help.
• We are going to the farm this weekend because my MIL is leaving next Tuesday on a missions trip, her first one ever.  She’s going to Liberia, in Africa, for two weeks.  She’s really nervous.  So we wanted to get the babies out there before she goes.  I think she’ll appreciate seeing them. 

Random Mommy Questions:

• What do you think we should do with the money the babies were given for their first birthday?  
• How did/do you prioritize your day to spend time with your kids, get housework done, and make time for yourself?  I’m lost in this shuffle these days as the babies seem to be needing a lot more attention than they used to.
• What verse or passage has meant the most to you recently?  

Okay, I told you it would be random.  Happy Thursday.

The other day, after dinner, I was cleaning up the kitchen while Eric took the babies into the living room, shutting the gate behind them. He was on the phone with his mom, and the babies were just playing.

After he got off the phone, I heard him calling for Erin. No reply. He hunted for her in her “hiding” spots. No Erin. I came into the room just as he was looking behind the couch. Still no Erin.

The gate at the bottom of the stairs was shut, so she couldn’t be upstairs. Could she?

He raced up the stairs, calling Erin’s name. And before he reached the top, she poked her head around the banister, grinning happily.

It turns out that Erin now climbs up the first stair, pulls the gate shut behind her and then happily goes on up to explore the second floor unsupervised.

This morning, it happened again. I was in the kitchen cleaning while they played in the living room with both gates shut (I thought).

This time, I found her rocking happily in the little rocking chair in the loft.

I think my ilfe is going to get really exciting from here on…

The Recap

Friday – My MIL and Eric’s aunt came out in the morning and watched the babies while I went to the church’s moms group.  It made the time much more restful for me.  They stayed for lunch and then left when the babies went down for their afternoon nap, so I then got about 2 hours of quiet in the afternoon.  Nice!

Saturday – My parents came up in the afternoon to watch the twins while we went on a date.  Our first date since October, I think.  So nice of them!  So while we went out to a movie and dinner, they took care of afternoon nap, playtime, supper, playtime, bath time, and bedtime routine.  We got home about 8:00, just in time to actually put babies into bed.  Then we chatted with my parents some and sent them home.  Very nice!

Sunday – church and much relaxing. Eric spent a lot of time playing with babies, so I just goofed off. 

Today – Eric took the day off work so I could take Alex to a doctor’s appointment.  So we have another day of “help” at home today.  Super nice!

The Commentary

Moms Group – I’m pretty sure I won’t be doing the moms group next year.  It’s a good program, but it’s not really geared toward a (not-normal) chick like myself.  I’ve done it now for two years, but I’m seriously leaning towards not being part of it next year.

The  Movie – We saw Avatar in 3D because Eric’s coworkers had said he needed to see it.  It wasn’t as full of extreme environmentalism as I’d heard it was.  I mean it was certainly a nature-based group vs. the big-bad industrial white folks.  Though the real bad guy was the military dude.  So I’m sure that says something about where James Cameron stands.  But the story, while fairly predictable, was good and I liked the characters a lot.   But I will say that if you want to see it, you really won’t miss much in the non-3D version.  Being “in” the movie wasn’t a huge benefit for me.  But that’s probably just me.

Dinner – We went to Noodles & Co.  I really like that restaurant.  Of course it helps to enjoy the company, and we had a great talk while we ate our dinner.  But seriously, try Noodles…it’s yummy!

Alex’s Appointment – we are getting his teary eye checked today.  It has stopped gooping so badly that his eye is sealed shut in the mornings. But he still has a pool of tears in the corner of his eye almost all the time.  So we’re getting that looked at.  I don’t know if they’ll probe it to open it up today or not.  The biggest concern for me today is that the appointment (which was made for us) will overlap nap time, and it’s supposed to be 1.5-2 hours long.  I guess they do an entire eye exam, including dilation.  This could be a lot of “not-fun” for both of us.  And unfortunately, Eric wanted to stay home with Erin so he didn’t have to be the bad guy.  Lucky him. 

So that’s the update.  Happy MLK Day!

No, this is not a post about Eric. 

Actually, I had decided I was not going to do any more posts reviewing books.  I love getting the free books.  But I don’t so much love the subtle pressure I felt to be “nice” in my reviews even if I didn’t love the book.  So I was going to be done. 

And then, the day after I’d made this decision, I got another email about a book that really intrigued me.

The Male Factor (see above).  So even though I’m a SAHM these days and this book is actually about men in the work world, I decided to read it.  And it’s been very interesting, to say the least. 

Shaunti Feldhahn has written previously about the differences between men and women in For Women Only and For Men Only (written with her husband) and now she is addressing how those differences, and resulting (mis)perceptions, sometimes cause women to struggle in their outside-the-home interactions with men.  Her idea is that if women realize how the male brain works and what rules they “play” by, they will be better able to interact successfully and decide whether to challenge those rules (when necessary).  It is not a book about “how women need to be different at work” so much as “what women need to understand about men so they don’t shoot themselves in the foot” at work. 

Now, for the sake of full disclosure, I am not finished with the book yet.  I’m about halfway through.  But as I am not currently working outside the home, it hasn’t been a pressing read.  But the insights have been really intriguing, and I can easily see their application even on committees or at church or in any situation where men and women have to work together to accomplish a task.

So, I really have no qualms about recommending this book.  It’s worth a read if you work with men on a regular basis.  And it might just explain some things about those strange male creatures, whom we all know and love, that have been confusing us for a long time. 

Anyway, if you want more information about the book, check out the Multnomah website. 

And of course (per the FTC regulations), this book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Okay, that wasn’t so bad, was it?  Maybe I’ll keep getting free books for review after all…

So I’ve whined a lot about Alex recently (who’s doing MUCH better), and I haven’t spent nearly enough time (as in none) telling you the fun things that have been going on. Most of which have to do with Erin. So here are some of her recent antics:

For months, Eric’s made them laugh with this over-the-top greeting. He waves his whole arm in a large arc and says “Hoooow-dy”. They giggle hysterically when he does it. But yesterday, Erin did it back to him. Out of the blue. Except hers came out as “Hoooow-by”. But still. She even waved her arm around. So cute! I’m hoping to get it on video soon.

And speaking of saying things, she is definitely calling Alex by name these days. Of course, it sounds more like “Ayee”, but it’s definitely him. And he even comes when she calls sometimes. He’ll learn not to do that soon enough, I’m sure.

As a point of order, Erin refuses to wear socks. Without shoes, she pulls socks off in seconds. But as she has warm feet, I never worry about it. Alex, however, tends to have cold feet. So on one of the really cold days last week, I put socks on him. And spent the day putting them on again and again because Eric kept stealing them right off his feet. One time, she took a sock and then crawled away with it giggling, hoping I would chase her down (I did). The stinker.

And finally, the same day of the sock escapades, I got a really fun picture of Erin.

I was upstairs for a few minutes after breakfast, but came back down a few minutes later to get my phone in case my sister called (though I later remembered she wouldn’t call because it was a snow day). Anyway, I stopped short, halfway down the stairs when I saw this:

That’s right. She was sitting on the end table, grinning like a cheshire cat, so proud of herself. I laughed outright, took this picture, and took her down and scolded her. Then I moved the push toy so she couldn’t climb back up there as soon as I turned my back.

That’s my girl…

for Mylicon. I am thanking God today for whoever invented infant gas drops.

Seriously…Alex was like a different little boy yesterday.

No, strike that, he was like himself yesterday. For the first time in 3+ weeks, he was happy and smiling and played with his sister. It was lovely!

We did have some early night-time fussiness, but from about midnight to 7 a.m., we were all asleep. That’s much better than in recent days! WooHoo!

Here’s looking forward to another day of happy little boy time.

Happy Tuesday.