So yesterday was a busy, crazy day…

I actually made it to Bible Study on time at 9:15 in the morning.  This is unusual because Megan doesn’t usually wake up until 9, so we can’t get anywhere until 10 (easily).  On Sundays, I have to wake her up.  But yesterday, she was awake at 8, and all the details just sort of fell into place. So we made it ON TIME!  I took that to mean God really wants me to do this study.

We also hung out with some friends in the afternoon.  Eric went to a hockey game with his brother last night, so he didn’t get home until 10.  So I filled the day with visiting.  We had a great time, and I had a really good chat with my friend.  And when we got home, I made a quick supper for us, and we ate cookies and watched TV until bath/bed time.  And then I goofed on the computer.

I also found out that I may already have another writing project lined up for when I finish the one I’m on.  It would be great to see the writing stuff keep growing for me.  I’m enjoying the activity!

Erin had a huge day yesterday.  She started calling our friends by name (Denae became “Nay” and Kennedy was something close to that).  Although Kerrigan, Kennedy’s twin sister, was totally left out of that accomplishment…oh well!  But even bigger is that Erin learned a new skill. 

This is how I found them yesterday morning (and after naps and once after I’d turned out the lights at bedtime).  She can now climb into Alex’s crib.  At least she didn’t go out on to the floor, I guess.  But I’m thinking that means our cribs’ days are numbered. 

And I’m thinking that we are about to embark on the potty-training adventure.  I think I’m going to start a week from today.  I have no good reason not to.  We don’t have that many places to go since it’s so cold out.  And it’s worth a shot.  I’m not going to stress too hard about it.  If one or both picks it up, great.  If one or both really isn’t ready, we’ll back off and try again in a month or so.  But I think they can do it.  The question, I suppose, is whether I’m really ready for it!

So anyway, for those of you who’ve done it before…any potty-training ideas or advice would be more than welcome!

Happy Wednesday!

Why is it that five-day weeks feel so…long, at least after the holidays when we had multiple 3-4 day weeks in a row.  This is the second full week of work (for Eric, I mean), and it just about kicked my butt!  Yesterday morning, I was sure the week was never going to end!

But, now it’s Friday afternoon.  I am packing us up to head to the farm for the weekend.  Of course, Erin has been pretty needy today (I don’t think she feels good), Megan has been off, and poor Alex has been getting in to stuff because his playmate hasn’t wanted to play with him all morning.  And that has made for a slightly stressful morning for Mommy.  But, as the twins are napping and Megan is falling asleep as we speak, hopefully our afternoon will be much better.

I mentioned before that I’m working on another writing project.  Eric asked me what I wanted to spend my earnings from it on the other day.  Nothing really came to mind.  Then, this morning, my mom mentioned the idea of a new kitchen table/chairs.  And I am suddenly very excited about that thought.  Our current table/chairs are hand-me-downs and don’t actually go together.  And the table is small, there are only 4 chairs, and one of these days, we’ll have to figure out how to fit Megan at the table, too.  So…maybe now is a great time to get a new table.  

Of course, that brings me to the question of what type of table to get.  Any suggestions?  Do you have a dream table?  Do you love/hate the one you have?  What would make the perfect set for your house?  

We are switching cable/internet companies at the beginning of next month.  So I am finally ‘graduating’ to a gmail account.  I have a yahoo account, but it’s totally my junk account.  So for years, I’ve just used my Wowway account as my primary address.  But no more.  So…on to gmail!  (PS – if you have my email address…feel free to update to the new address: shannahhogue@gmail.com)

And now, I must get back to the non-blogging parts of my day.  Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

These are the things I’d probably tell you if I could chat with you in person…

This weekend, Eric’s baking has resulted in chiabatta bread, homemade pizza, the kitchen being cleaned twice in one day (maybe even 3x now that I think of it), and my oven being cleaned up.  I’m liking this hobby more and more all the time!

Karen’s clan and my parents came up last night and helped us eat the pizza Eric made.  It was good food and good times.  The children loved hanging with their grandparents, and we took some pics of McKenna in our little studio.  We took 185 shots (or something like that)…hopefully we got one or two good ones!

Megan’s poop has been green recently.  Maybe it’s the broccoli I’m eating a ton of these days.  Could be that she’s getting too much foremilk (that one came off the internet).  And given that I make a LOT of milk…it probably wouldn’t surprise me that she’s not getting to the back of the milk supply.  Maybe I should switch to one side per feeding and see if her poop changes back to yellow.  And hey, maybe that would eliminate a bunch of the spitting up that she’s doing, too.  Who knows?

I’ve also decided to stop pumping extra.  I have a lovely stockpile in my chest freezer (haha…look, a pun!) in the basement.  And anyway…even if I do feed her a bottle of the stored stuff, I’ll have to pump for that feeding anyway.  So I think I’ll just let my supply drop to only what she’s eating when she’s eating from me.  

I got new glasses and a haircut this weekend.  The glasses are just enough differently sized/shaped that it’s taking a little bit of adjustment.  But they are a bit sturdier, I think, that my previous pair. Maybe they’ll stand up to toddlers a little better than the previous ones.  Oh…and the haircut made me happy.  Time away…a trim to make my hair work with me again…a short head massage while she washed my hair…and I like the results.  Nice!

I took the twins to the mall playplace for the first time ever on Friday.  They LOVED it.  It was a bit busy, and the bigger kids at places like that do not pay attention to the little kids like they should.  But they had a blast.  It was a bit hard to keep an eye on them and an eye on Megan.  I carried her for a bit, but then I didn’t have a hand to help them climb on stuff.  But when I put her down, I worried to leave her in her car seat.  So apparently, I need a third eye, a third hand, or someone to meet me there and help me watch them all.  

I’m in the mood to start yarn crafts again.  I have really wanted to for about 2 months.  But I can’t figure out a) when to do it or b) how to keep yarn and needles out of the hands of my toddlers.  But I really think it’s time to start doing stuff like that again.  

And to end…some cute kid stories:

Two weeks ago, Erin’s affirmative response was “yah.”  Last week it was “yep.”  Recently, it’s morphed into “yeth” or “yesh”.  It sounds distinctly like Leon the Ladies Man…

Erin also gave herself a black eye yesterday.  Fell and donked her cheekbone on a chair in the basement.  She’s my bruiser!

Alex is such a snuggle-buddy.  Especially in the morning while we watch a little TV.  He just piles all his stuffed animals around himself and snuggles up next to me.  Love it!

My MIL got them number, color and alphabet puzzles for Christmas.  Erin does them all the time (and can do them all by herself, too).  Alex surprised me the other day when I realized that he, too, knew all his numbers.  I had no idea!  And in the alphabet puzzle, each of the letters has a picture underneath (F has a fish, for example).  “H” is a house.  Except that “H” has always been for “Holly” – my niece.  So now, when we do the puzzle with Erin…”H” is for “Holly’s House.”

I think that’s about all for now, though…so I hope everyone has a marvelous week!  Happy Sunday!

Ours went off at 5:50 this morning.  

Thankfully, it wasn’t a big deal (some food on a burner smoked a bit when Eric put on the water for his tea), but man is that NOT a good sound to wake up to.

And it turns out the the alarm in Megan’s room is right over her bed.  She FREAKED out when it went off…poor baby.

At least our normal morning routine starts about 6:00, so we weren’t too far off.

But still…I don’t intend to do that again anytime soon!

So I could tell you about my very good weekend (which involved homemade cinnamon rolls and a visit with my parents).  Or I could tell you about the writing project I’m doing.  Or even about my day last week that ranked in my “Ten Worst Mom Days of All Time”…so far anyway.

But it’s late, and I don’t feel like writing any of those stories out tonight.  So instead…here’s some photos from recent weeks.  

1. From our last visit to the farm

This is their favorite toy at Grandma’s house.  It’s a singing Hallmark seasonal thing.  They LOVE it.

At Aunt Lori’s house…gives new meaning to the phrase “getting into the cupboards”

This is what happened when we tried to take a Christmas picture.  

Then we got to play outside.  Daddy pulled them on their “sled” around and around the yard. 

She got a crown for Christmas…

2. Everyday life at home

Reading with Mommy

How she sleeps with all the craziness going on…I have no idea!

Alex in our basement “playroom.”  His new love…hand weights.  Go figure!

Fun random shots

And finally…

3. Megan’s Three-month Pictures

It’s already four days into 2011.  So I guess this is my “Happy New Year” post.  Sorry it’s a little late!

I hope you all had a marvelous holiday and New Year celebration.  Our weekend was pretty much…um…uneventful.  We did not stay up until midnight.  We did not spend New Years with anyone but our little family.  We had no plans or big dinners or parties or anything.  

And it was really relaxing, for the most part.  Eric worked on his new hobby: baking.  He made three kinds of bread and tried making crackers over the weekend.  I guess it’s not a bad thing that he went back to work today…we’d have to start a bakery and sell what he made if he was home much longer!  As for the rest of us, the kids played and generally enjoyed our attention.  I have started on a new writing project and did laundry and caught up some of my chores.  I got to go grocery shopping all by myself on Saturday.  And we enjoyed a more relaxed Sunday morning because our church did a single 10 am service instead of two morning services.  So, overall, it was a really nice weekend.

As for things like resolutions…I don’t really make them.  But I have started my pen-n-paper journal again which I do at bedtime.  I realized how much I missed doing that because it lets me decompress and pour out my day before I go to bed, thus helping me sleep better (usually).  And while it often does overlap with this blog or my FB updates, I think it’s just good to empty my head of all my crap at least once a day.  It makes for a less stressed Shannah…and that is always a good thing. 

I’m also trying to just focus more on the Good News.  My MIL’s pastor made a point the day after Christmas that has really stuck with me.  If I don’t tell people about Jesus…it’s most likely because I’ve stopped seeing Him and the gospel as “GOOD NEWS” – it’s become an agenda, a checklist, an academic exercise.  But it isn’t good news anymore.  So this year, I want to regain the sense of just how good that good news is…for myself…every day.  And then, I’m hoping God uses that to inspire me to be more eager to share that good news with those around me – Christian and not.  So that’s my sense for where the year is starting out.  We’ll see how it goes.  

And, since it’s been been a few days since I blogged, I thought I’d include a “normal life” update as well… 

Megan is really moving forward these days.  She’s added laughing and grabbing to her repertoire recently.  She was actually pulling the loop that makes the music play when she was in her bouncy seat yesterday.  It took me a minute to realize that Erin wasn’t doing it for her!  And we did get her on video laughing.  Maybe I’ll try to post that…since baby laughter is one of the best things in the entire world!

So Alex was up again last night.  I realize that is not necessarily unusual.  But this time…he was laughing and playing and bouncing in his crib like he was waking up from a nap, not awake in the middle of the night.  In fact, when I heard him, I thought it must be like 5 in the morning.  Nope…midnight.  Thankfully, they both laid right back down when I told them to (he’d gotten Erin up by that time), and I covered them with their blankets and went back to bed.  I didn’t hear much else.  But still…it was little weird to be woken up by laughing, not crying!

I got $75 in gift cards for Christmas.  I think I’m going to spend them on clothes.  Now if I can just get to a store sans children…

We went to Home Depot yesterday.  You know…I can remember being dragged to stores like that by my parents when I was a kid and HATING it.  But now…I get surprisingly excited about buying a new garbage can (for taking to the curb) and lightbulbs for our halogen stand lights.  I guess I’ve officially become an adult!

And on one final note…as much as I love having Eric home (and I do), I am very much looking forward to getting back to a normal routine.  So, on that note, I think I’ll get my day started and see where it goes!  Happy Tuesday!