Can I tell you…I think I heard angels singing “alleluia” when I finished the last sentence of the book project about 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.  It’s not done.  But it’s in someone else’s hands for a week or so.  And I am very, very thankful to not have to think about making commitments or word counts or whether a certain illustration is good for middle school/high school students.  

I spent most of the weekend on this project.  As in, like, 6 hours on Friday (after Eric left with the twins) and over 7 on Saturday.  Plus another 3-ish on Sunday.  That’s a long, long writing haul, I can assure you.  

Fortunately, the twins did fantastically at the farm without me.  As did Eric.  Though he was pretty beat when they got home.  I did miss them, but it helped to have a project to work on so intensely.  Actually, it surprised me how hard it was to wave goodbye as they drove away.  Still…I didn’t have time to dwell on their absence, so that was good.

By Sunday, I was pretty brain-dead.  I think God knew I couldn’t handle a sermon at church.  So instead, we heard a report from the missions team that just got back from Malawi.  There were videos and short challenges.  And it was so good.  Good for me to hear.  Good to be reminded of.  Good to see our church making an impact.  Just good.  Kinda like God…amazing how he works like that, isn’t it?

Anyway, except for the 3 hours of writing in the afternoon, we didn’t do much.  Eric introduced the twins to the sprinkler.  Alex LOVED it.  Erin…not so much.  But she did enjoy running around in her diaper and “doos” (shoes) for a bit.  And then my parents came up and Karen & her clan came over, and we all ended the day eating supper together.  It was fun and crazy and just the perfect way to end the long weekend. 

And that’s where things stand.  We’ve run some errands this morning.  I can now put together my dad’s b-day present for next weekend.  He turns 60 this year!  And I finally fix some books that Erin ripped a couple of weeks ago.  And I bought more salt so our food won’t be inedibly bland.  I know…the last might have been the most important…

Okay, off to eat lunch while the twins are napping.  Happy Monday!

And what a week it’s been.  I’ve canned, baked, done laundry, played outside, cleaned up A LOT of poop, and tried not to let the clutter swallow us whole.  And that was beside the chatting with Eric, the writing, the stolen moments to relax a bit, and a good bit of chatting on the phone. 

Tonight, I think Eric is going to try a trip to the farm with the twins, but without me.  I know…should be interesting.  He’s got a thing out there tonight (opening a time capsule they put together in HS), but with the writing, I can’t go.  So he’s going to take the twins so I can write.  And we figured a dry run of a night without Mommy would be a good thing since in a few more weeks, it’s going to happen for sure!  But I’m also fairly certain this is the first time the 3 of us have been apart since they were born.  I’m sure they’ll do fine…we’ll see how I do!

Unfortunately, we were up at 6:30 this morning…all of us.   I am sort of thinking I’ll take the twins to the zoo for a couple of hours this morning.  I may even pack a light lunch to give them before we head home.  That way, when they crash in the car on the way, it won’t be a big deal.  We’ll see how that goes, too…

Oh, and we’ve decided to postpone buying a laser engraver for a bit.  With NLS coming in just a few weeks, we decided that now was not the best time to make that investment.  So we’re going to give it six months and then see where things stand.  

And that’s pretty much life at this point.  Have a lovely weekend!

Still pregnant (which is a good thing, really, as I’m only 33 weeks )

Still writing.  Like crazy.  

Still playing with my children. 

Still looking for self-adhesive pages…got them at WalMart the last time, but this time – no such luck.

Still dealing with diarrhea.  And sore, red bottoms.  Poor little people!

New…color wonder markers for the twins.  SO lovely for mommy!

New…size clothes for the kids this week.  It’s nice to have shirts that aren’t too short again!

New…the regular meltdowns caused by having to share.  NOT fun…

Done…with canning applesauce for this week.

Done…using up the fresh peaches (mostly).  I made pies yesterday. 

Done…with all the things I was thinking to put in a post for today.

Happy Wednesday!

That is where I am these days, though I’m definitely better this morning than I was on Friday night!

Apparently, the combination of normal life+toddler twins+third trimester has had me pretty close to my line of “what I can do” all at once.

But I’m also working on a book for some friends.  Don’t get me wrong, the writing has been good for me.  The practice of using words to say just what needs to be said.  Of thinking of examples.  Of putting my brain on focus-mode for an hour or two at a time and seeing chapters come together.  Yeah, it’s been really good for me.  I need to start being more diligent in writing all the time, I think.

BUT

The added pressure of this outside project has used up the last, teeny bit of reserves I had.  And maybe a tad more.

So I’ve been pretty depleted.  Getting everything done, but barely.  With nothing left. 

Not such a fun feeling, really.  

Thankfully, the book project is a short-term (though insanely busy) one.  And thankfully, we only have about 7 weeks of pregnancy left to go.  In other words, the tunnel is a short one, and the light at its end is pretty clear.

Still, it’s been kinda rough for a week or so.  And I only realized in the last few days, just how rough it was getting.

Thankfully, the farm weekend was actually relaxing (mostly) for me.  Though poor Alex was not feeling great and struggled with diarrhea both days.  But as he really just wanted his dad to hold him when he felt really bad, and as my MIL was happy to pick up all sorts of slack for me, that reality didn’t add to my stress much at all (expect that the poor little guy felt so bad).

But we made it home last night and all slept soundly in our own beds.  Alex seems to be doing well so far this morning.  And we don’t have a lot planned for the week.  Nice…

So even though “maxed out” may be the norm for a few more days, I’m pretty sure we’ll survive.  Though it would be nice to figure out, sometime before I die, how to find the balance between bored and maxed out!  If any of you have the secret, fill me in, will you? 

Happy Monday!

Just in case you were wondering…my favorite candy is M&Ms.  Which may or may not help you guess NLS’s name.  But there you go…

And speaking of NLS, my 32 week appointment today, all was well.  Measuring spot on, happy little heartbeat.  The twins did marvelously (though they looked at my doctor pretty suspiciously the entire time).  So yay for us!

The rest of the news…

I have tidied the kitchen some today and swept the floor.

We’re off to the farm this weekend

I am absolutely running out of “high enough” places.  Apparently, just now, my phone was not actually out of reach.  I just looked over the loft railing and asked, “Do you two have my phone?” At which point they both giggled and took off running, bumped into each other, and headed into the room under the loft (out of my sight).  They are pretty entertaining.

Today is my parents’ 38th wedding anniversary.  Yep, they’re awesome!

Happy Thursday!

Okay, so I’m really beat tonight.  I know, nothing terribly surprising there, what with being 32 weeks pregnant and chasing 20-month old twins all day.

But since we are definitely down to one nap now, I’m finding myself really, really worn out.  

Really they nap well (2.5 hours or so).  And we’ve done a lot of playing this week.  But this new schedule means that I’m “on” for the entire morning (or most of it), which is a much longer stretch of time than I’m used to.

I know I can run errands or go to the library or zoo with them.  But if you have any ideas about particular games or activities that your kids enjoyed doing at this age (particularly if they can be done with Mommy sitting down), I’d love to hear them.  I need to find some way to better balance helping them stay occupied in good things without killing myself in the process.  So I’m open to suggestions!

And in a less whiny turn…updates on my kids!

Alex is not sleeping well at night these days.  I have no idea why (though it’s not helping my weariness, for sure).  Last night, he was got really noisy between 12:50 and 1:30 in the morning.  Really noisy.  And when I finally went in, he was sitting up, wide awake, talking to and playing with the stuffed animals he sleeps with.  He was ready to go!  Poor Erin just looked at me like “Is it really time to get up already?”  I don’t know what I’m going to do with him…

But he’s super fun, in spite of the no-sleep thing.  He loves to run and test his balance and strength.  He will just throw himself down a slide if you let him – feet first, head first, hanging halfway off the slide.  Whatever!  His favorite game right now is to “race” you around our kitchen island, and he’s particularly amused if you scare him as he comes around a corner.  Talk about belly laughs…

Erin is getting quite possessive of toys and things.  We hear a lot of “MINE” these days.  We’re working on the concept of sharing.   But she’s finally started to let me put bows in her hair, and she’ll actually leave them in!  Her newest vocabulary addition is “tih-toh” (the sound a clock makes), which she happily says while she bobs her head back and forth on each syllable.  It’s really cute.  She loves to swing and slide, too.  But she spends the most time in their cozy coupe.  She loves that car, especially when she’s hidden her juice cup and beads in the trunk.

Both kids are learning the concept of moving a chair or stool so they can use it to reach something that has, so far, been off limits.  Good skill for them…not so much for me.  They are forever falling down, tripping over their own shoes, running into each other, and generally banging and bruising their way through the world.  But they also love to give hugs and kisses.  They love to sit right up close beside me to watch TV or read a book.  And they love to brush their teeth.  At bedtime, they point to their mouths and say, “Teefies” before running towards the bathroom.  Too funny…

Oh, and not to be left out…NLS!  She seems to be doing just fine.  Lots of movement.  She’s kind of like a cat who can’t quite find that one perfect spot on her favorite cushion, so she stretches and curls up and rearranges herself and flops down and rolls around and on and on and on.  Unfortunately, the cushion is me, right now, so I’ll be very glad when she can wiggle herself outside of my belly!  Oh, and I think we might have settled on a name.  I think we’re going to keep it between us just a little longer, just to make sure it’s really the one we like, but I’ll give you a hint…her (probable) name has a direct connection to my favorite candy!

And I think that’s pretty much it for tonight.  Happy Tuesday (or Wednesday if you read this tomorrow)!

The twins were up early today.  Early enough to see Eric before he left for work.  Good for him…um, less so for me!  We shall see how the day progresses and what meltdowns await us (mine and theirs!).

Last night, Alex woke up about 9:30 just screaming.  I think he had a nightmare.  But, in his distress, he was calling for his Daddy.  As sad as he sounded, it was still pretty cute.  And while it took a few minutes (and his toy puppy) to calm him back down, he really did want Eric.  And he thought getting to snuggle with Daddy in our bed for a bit was pretty great, too.  I’m really lucky to have such a great dad for my kids!

As for the rest of the weekend…

Sunday was a pretty low-key day.  Actually, it was almost boring at times.  Eric tried to make spaghetti sauce by baking the tomatoes, but our fresh ones didn’t really work well.  I wrote a bit and read a bit.  And we made a quick trip to Meijer.  I am now the proud owner of a food mill…now I can make smooth applesauce if I want to.  And we watched our recorded episode of Eureka before bed.  

Saturday, Eric’s brother came over and hung out for a bit.  When the twins went down for a nap, they went out to do “boy things” (like eat wings at Roosters).  So I got to work a bit on some of my own stuff.  My parents came up in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day with us.  It was kind of nice to have them just hang out for a bit.  The twins were highly entertaining.  And we had supper.  It was a pretty relaxing time, actually.  And I got most of my tubs of baby clothes sorted into boy/girl bins instead of by size.  So, I felt productive, too!

One thing is for sure, though.  NLS is starting to be uncomfortable to carry around all the time. It seems like either she is kicking me (hard) or the belly is cramping, pretty much all the time.  And I can tell we’ve reached a new stage.  But I was expecting that at about 32 weeks, and it appears I was right.  Still 8 more weeks of this sounds like a really long time just now.  

I have my next appointment on Thursday.  I think I’m going to have to take the twins with me for once.  I usually try to avoid that like the plague, but with schools starting back up soon, my babysitters are starting meetings or on end-of-summer vacations.  I still need to ask Eric, but he may not want to take much more time off before NLS arrives.   Thankfully, taking them isn’t usually a problem.  The visits are short, and the twins are really good.  But our double stroller just barely fits through doorways, so it’s the logistics of taking them that are really the issue.  Oh well…we shall see…

Okay, there is now a battle for some toy going on, so I may have to go break it up.  Happy Monday!

It occurred to me recently (as in lying in bed not sleeping last night or the night before) that there have actually been some interesting differences with this pregnancy compared to the twins.  And as I have not been as good about recording the minor twitches of this pregnancy as I was with the twins (gee, I wonder why…), I decided that, at 32 weeks, it was high time to write down some things so I don’t forget them.

So, here we go…

Differences between my twin pregnancy and my singleton pregnancy:

1. I do not remember feeling hiccups with the twins.  So when, one day this last week, NLS started this weird, rhythmic twitching, it was really strange and (I’ll admit) sort of annoying.  I sat there trying to figure out “what in heaven’s name” she was doing in there…and then it occurred to me.  She had the hiccups.  And I chuckled to myself.  My baby girl had the hiccups…and I could feel them.  It was a brand-new sensation for me…and it was kind of fun!

2. This one is kicking the crap out of my insides.  I’m sure it’s just that the twins just didn’t have to room to move all that much.  But their movements were definitely more in the stretching, pushing category.  You know, slow and intense.  Not this one.  She’s rocking all.the.time.  Partying down.  And is it better at night?  Oh no…the last two nights, she’s been doing the samba at 3:30 in the morning.  Thanks, sweetie, for sharing your talents, but, well, Mommy would like to sleep.  So let’s save the dance rehearsals until your 6 and taking ballet, okay?

3. I am only now, at 32 weeks, starting to have serious heartburn.  And really, serious isn’t the right word.  Maybe noticeable is the right word.  Or even, slightly uncomfortable.  But anyway, it’s just now starting to get my attention.  By this time, with the twins, I had been downing Tums for weeks.  I’m not sorry for the delay.

4. And speaking of physical discomfort…despite the return of the diabetes, I am still NOWHERE near as uncomfortable as I was with the twins.  My hips and lower back are starting to be pretty cranky most of the time.  But that is to be expected with 20-month old twins to chase while hauling around their sister stuck to my abdomen, I guess.  Mostly, I’m just really grateful not to be itching ALL THE TIME.  Without the PUPPPs to make me want to scratch the top layer of my skin off, the occasional itch from dry skin is really not so blog-worthy.  

5.  On the other hand, there are some similarities.  I am reaching the point where the downward sloping floor of our church is starting to make it difficult to both stand AND sing on Sunday morning, especially for 20 minutes at a time (especially as I can’t really prop up the belly on the pew in front of my like I did with the twins).  And since I carry my babies entirely out in front of me (the reality of being short and petite, I guess), the belly is starting to sag a bit now.  And that makes this baby feel heavy.  Not as heavy as two babies felt, but definitely hard to balance well.  

6. I love that I have not out-grown my clothes at this point.  While some of my shirts shrank the first time around and, thus, may not be totally effective for the entire span of this pregnancy, I am still wearing my normal size, and I still have a good bit of room to grow in most of my shirts.  It’s SO nice not to have rotate between the 4-5 shirts that still fit at this point, as I did with the twins.  SO nice.

7. And it’s also strange to not have a c-section scheduled by now, as we did with the twins.  Our intention is a VBAC, assuming all things allow for the attempt.  But not being able to just plan the day and time, or who will watch the twins, or how long the ‘birth’ itself will take…well, that’s all new and kind of disconcerting for a planner like me.  I mean, how did women do this for all those centuries?  Just waiting until one day they realized the baby was coming that day.  Yikes!  I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing being flexible and not stressing (good luck to me on that one!).  Should be interesting anyway…

And that’s about all I have right now.  If other interesting (to me) comparisons pop up, I may write them down.  Or I may not.  Either way, at least I have these ones recorded.

Happy Weekend!

Yesterday felt “off” somehow.  Not really sure I can explain it.  But even though I did get some things done, I never had a sense that I was actually running my day.  It was like I couldn’t seem to stay ahead, even though I wasn’t “behind” either.  Weird.

Anyway, I hope today is less like that.

I’m sure part of the issue is that the twins’ napping is suddenly OFF.  The last couple of days they have barely slept.  And having them constantly needing my attention during times of the day when I’ve been used to doing my “stuff” throws me off.  Hopefully, we’ll figure out the new sleep pattern soon…

Anyway, yesterday, I cleaned up my bedroom.  It was so nice to walk into it during the day and see the floor!  I did a lot of computer work, too.  I have a couple of projects going that are keeping my brain working, which is nice.  And after supper, Eric and I canned the last of the peaches.  Oh, and of course, we played with the twins, too!

And that pretty much is all I have to say today…happy Thursday!

That we’re going to the zoo this morning for a bit.  We haven’t been in a while.

That my children are pretty much moving themselves to a one-nap schedule (since putting them down twice doesn’t work anymore!).

That I need to finish the book I started and haven’t picked up since last week.  Eek!

That canning is not too difficult to do while pregnant, as long as I sit down for an equal amount of time as I stood cutting peaches.

That my children are suddenly getting big.

That I need a better arrangement of toys and books for the loft.  This might involve rearranging some small furniture pieces…

That it would be great if I’d made dinner at all over the weekend so that I’d have leftovers to feed my family this week.  But I didn’t.  (Seemed like a great thing at the time, though!)

That Erin would absolutely live outside if I would let her do it.  

That Alex would absolutely never play with another toy if he had his very own iPod. 

That blue crayon on my wallpaper never starts to look more attractive just because it’s been there for 2 days and I still haven’t taken a moment to clean it off. 

That having our church schedule a special Sunday event on the day I was supposed to work nursery, thus freeing me from nursery duty, is a great thing!

That I need to clean out my refrigerator.  

That this is about all I have to chat about this morning.  Happy Tuesday!