Today is Eric’s last day of work before vacation.  He’s excited.  Except he probably will have to work a bit late tonight to get everything ready for him to be gone for a week.  Of course.

The babies are doing great.  Alex is definitely approaching the moment of “tooth”, but for now the Tylenol remains Mommy’s best friend!

Erin is her absolute cutest right after she wakes up.  She’s just bright-eyed and smiley.  Love that little face!

Last night, Alex had no intention of going to bed.  He ended up staying up with us until 9:30.  But he just belly-laughed at us and watched the world go by until he was tired enough to be put down.  I think the after dinner nap made bedtime not so workable.  Note to self…

I chatted last night with a friend from college who’s just moved into the area.  We’re going to try to meet next week at a park nearby so she knows where it is and so we can visit.  Should be fun…

The babies and I went outside and sat on a blanket in the yard yesterday afternoon.  It was a lovely day for it.  And I decided I was tired of being “trapped” inside with them.  So I took them out about the time our neighbors start coming home/coming out of their houses so that we could greet them.  And I called my grandparents to chat with them for a few minutes.  And we waited until Eric got home.  He helped me bring the babies back inside.  I think I will try to do that more often!

I think that’s all the “things” I’ve got for now.  Happy Friday…have a great weekend!

It’s fun…to see the babies on their blanket with their heads together as if they were plotting a world takeover.

It’s not so fun…to deal with the small cut on the fingerprint of my right index finger (since I’m right handed).

It’s fun…to watch a funny movie (Kung Fu Panda) with your husband and discover a great line that will likely become part of his repertoire. (“There is no charge for awesomeness…or attractiveness.” Hahaha!)

It’s not so fun…to have done something (don’t know what) to my foot so that it hurts to put weight on my big toe.

It’s fun…to successfully make a weekly shopping trip with two babies (even though it’s exhausting!).

It’s not so fun…to see God pointing out things in my life I need to work on (not fun, but really, really good).

It’s fun…that I have so many friends online and IRL who care about my life.

It’s not so fun…to have my son trying to sneak his early morning feeding time earlier and earlier (we’re not agreed on that course of action).  I’m tired!

It’s fun…to be typing this while my daughter coos to her brother as they play together.

It’s not so fun…to discover foods that the babies (particularly Erin) will not eat.  The most recent was DHA-fortified oatmeal from Gerber.  Apparently the tuna oil makes it inedible…I’ve never seen her gag that violently!

It’s fun…that it’s Wednesday already (where do the days go?)

It’s fun…that I do not have to be sitting in the start-of-year Faculty/Staff meetings at CU today and tomorrow.

It’s fun…that I finally got a frame that fits our most recent family pic (taken, um, 4 months ago) and hung it on the wall!

It’s fun…that I thought of more “fun” things than “not fun” ones.  Woohoo!

So far today…

• The sugar ants have attacked my stove (I’m winning so far).
• Erin has smacked her head twice.
• And I finally finished this…

I hope this works…happy Tuesday!

I had high hopes, all weekend, of having a brilliant post for Xanga this morning. 

But now it’s this morning, and I can’t think of a single brilliant thing to say.  *sigh*  So I guess it’s just a normal weekend recap post. 

The weekend:

• We stayed home for most of the weekend, all 4 of us.  And it was lovely.  It was like a mini-vacation.
• I finally took the recyclables to the dumpsters at a local fire station.  It’s free to do it that way.  But it takes us like 3 months to make a trip to do it.  And we always have TONS of things to toss in.  It took me two trips. In the Jeep.
• I also started to disassemble and pack up baby things we don’t use anymore.  The bouncy seats and exercise mat are gone.  I think the swings will be next.  It’s crazy how big they’re getting!
• On Saturday night, we gave the babies a bath, together, sitting up in the big tub.  It worked great!  Of course, it helped that I’d bought a bath mat so their little bums didn’t slide all around.  But they had a marvelous time.  Alex really likes to splash, but doesn’t like to get water on his face…which is a difficult balance, for sure!
• Sunday was church.  Eric cooked dinner while I fed babies.  Then they went down for naps and we just hung out for the afternoon.  It was pretty nice, actually.  And I talked to my mom for about an hour as well. Good times!

Baby things:

• Alex tipped over backwards on Saturday and gave himself a tiny cut when he hit the corner of a book.  It was our first wound like that.
• Erin is army crawling now…all over the place.  My corral isn’t going to work much longer!  She’s also grunting and making all sorts of new sounds.  It’s really funny to listen to.
• They are totally interacting with each other now.  Alex does whatever he can to make Erin laugh, and he bangs his little hand on any part of her close enough to hit.  She just stares at him (and laughs) and steals his toys.  Sometimes they even seem to be talking to each other. But they are definitely aware of each other…so cool!
• The teething is still in full force.  I’m trying to keep the Tylenol going on a regular basis which does help immensely.  Erin’s little tooth is pretty sharp, though she hasn’t bitten anything but fingers yet (that’ll teach us to stick our finger in her mouth!).  Alex still hasn’t gotten a tooth through, but it’s definitely coming!

Random thoughts:

• Eric’s got vacation scheduled next week, so he only has 5 more days of work before a good break.  Of course, he’s got a big client visit this week to make it miserable, but I think he’ll survive.
• We have a number of things on the vacation to-do list already: a trip to the farm, a trip to the zoo, some outside painting of the house, and an exploration of the potential leak coming from the upstairs guest bathroom (the water marks are showing up in the garage ceiling).  Hopefully, we’ll strike a good blend of getting things done and getting some rest. 
• I think I’m going to do some running around today, maybe to Target, Michaels, and Payless.  They’re all in the same shopping center, and I feel like wandering a bit.  And I do need a couple of things.
• For the rest of my to-do list today: baby laundry, an August meal plan, a grocery list, and cleaning up the kitchen from yesterday.  I think that’s plenty for a Monday!

It is Friday. 
It is the last day of July, 2009 (*gasp*). 
It is garbage day. 
It is only one more week until Eric’s vacation. 
It is sort of rainy this morning. 
It is almost nap time for the babies. 
So…it is shaping up to be a good day.

Yesterday, I was thinking to have pizza for dinner.  Then a friend of mine called in the morning to ask if she could buy a pizza for us for dinner. What?!?  See, she had signed up to bring us a meal when the twins were born, but then couldn’t do it. And for almost 8 months has been determined to make it happen (though I kept telling her it was not a big deal!).  But it worked out perfectly yesterday.  So we had pizza.  I didn’t have to pick it up.  And we got to chat for a few minutes.  Fun!

Unfortunately, Eric’s day didn’t go quite so well.  As he left for work, he mentioned his back was bugging him, sort of in passing.  When he came in the door (a bit early), I could literally SEE that he was in pain.  His shoulders were stuck in an unusual position, and he was walking as if he was utterly stiff.  Poor guy!  He started to do better after Advil, a heating pad, and my (sad) attempts to work the knot out.  This morning he was back to where he was yesterday morning, so I hope he manages not to mess it up again today.

So our evening was very laid back.  It involved pizza and lots of television watching.  The babies took a really long nap in the early evening.  And went back to bed pretty well at bedtime, thankfully.  All in all…very nice!

Today, we may run out to Target this afternoon.  And my parents are going to stop in to drop off the green beans my mom canned for us on their way to New York State.  Should be fun!

This week is still going so much better than last week, which is so nice.  It could just be my perspective, too.  But either way, it’s Thursday, and I’m not ready to quit (which I was last week at this time).  Yay!

I think Erin has the very tip of a tooth through.  I can feel a sharp little point on the front of her gum.  And Alex is not far behind. 

The sleeping less-than-fantastically does continue, but now I’m pretty sure it’s because of teething.

I got to see Kimberly’s beautiful ring and talk wedding stuff last night.  So fun!

Erin learned to make a “fun” new noise yesterday.  It invovles high-pitched screaming which results in her red raccoon face (her eyes and nose turn all red when she cries really hard).  She did it about 4 times in a row in the afternoon…which made Alex cry.  Apparently he doesn’t like her new noise!

Eric may be home late tonight.  Never fun, but maybe we’ll just run an errand in the afternoon to fill the time.  I’m glad he’s only got 6 more days until his vacation!

Okay, that’s all I can think of to tell you right now.  Happy Thursday!

This recipe is for a FANTASTIC dessert that appeared at the Mother of Twins club picnic on Sunday.  They rivaled Kimberly’s cake balls.  They were that good.

OREO TRUFFLES (the link is to Kraft foods website for recipe and picture)
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
Sanding Sugar (optional)

Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs or sanding sugar.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

How to Easily Dip Truffles
To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Then use two forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove the truffles with forks and allow excess chocolate to drip back into bowl before placing truffles on prepared baking sheet.

Enjoy!

First, some fun things I forgot to mention yesterday:

• Alex and Erin are definitely interacting with each other now.  Alex will flail on his tummy, which makes Erin laugh.  And not the pity laughs she gives us.  Nope, belly laughs.  And when he realizes she’s looking at him, he does it more so she’ll keep laughing.  He’s such a social little guy, it’s amazing.  
• Both babies pushed up into crawling positions at the end of last week.  Alex even rocked back and forth in that form before his legs slid back out from underneath him.  We are seriously thisclose to movement.  Yikes!
• I think they’ve both figured out how to turn their crib sound machines on and off.  Mostly on purpose.
• We won a prize in the drawing at the picnic on Sunday night.  An autographed puck from the Columbus Blue Jackets!  Too bad we don’t like hockey or follow the Jackets at all.  But it was still fun to win something.  AND we didn’t win the gift card to Golden Corral, so that’s good, too!

Yesterday was pretty good for me.  For a couple of reasons.

1.  I got a few things done.  The babies took good naps and went to bed MUCH more easily than in recent days.  We ran some errands in the afternoon.  Dinner fell into place easily. Eric came with us to the grocery store in the evening.  All in all…very nice.

2.  More importantly, I focused on someone other than myself for the day.  And spent a lot of time in prayer.  It did me a world of good. 

See, in the morning, I clicked into this blog to read about Baby Stellan’s heart issues.  He’s just a bit older than my twins.  And yesterday, he was in VERY bad shape.  And my heart broke for his momma.  So I joined the prayer war on his behalf.

For the first half of the day, I mostly just cried (literally) out to God to save this little boy’s life.  But gradually, I began to realize that I had to pray not just for what I wanted, but also for God’s will to be done.  No matter what it was.  And suddenly my prayers began to change.  They got…bigger, for lack of a better word.  Prayers for his family and, of course, still for his healing.  But also prayers for God’s glory and for strength for them all if God’s healing came in the form of Stellan’s passing.

And then my babies woke up from their naps.  And suddenly I was holding a little man, just about Stellan’s age, who is healthy and happy.  And my heart just about burst with love for him and with gratitude that I am not the momma in that hospital room today.  We prayed together, my little guy and me, for this family we do not know.  But because of them, God helped me to live yesterday more fully than I’ve done in a while.  No more slogging.  Just lots of praying (for someone other than myself for once), lots of thanking God for babies, and lots of letting God fill my day with his presence. 

It was lovely.  Refreshing.  Eye-opening.  It made me think a lot about prayer and how I pray.  It made me grateful that He is a God who hears and answers our prayers.  It made me wonder why I don’t spend more time really interceding for people like that.  It made me forget about slogging through and helped me really “remain in him”…and I saw fruit, even much fruit – just like he promised.  

So, all in all, it was a good day.  And gave me a much better perspective from which to approach today.  So on that note…Happy Tuesday!

I think (hope) the babies are teething, thus resulting in the “not-themselves-ness” of last week.  They did some better over the weekend (and some worse, at times).  And they are both currently sleeping (yay for me!).  But they are cute, healthy, generally non-fussy babies whom I love very, very much.  And for that I’m so very thankful this morning.

The weekend was busy.  And continuous.  And I struggled to have the right attitude for most of it.  I guess it’s just one of those seasons (a brief one, I hope) where the trying to live the truth I’m learning means slogging through a mud pit of my own selfishness, suddenly aware again of how utterly un-Christ-like I really am.  *sigh*  At least He’s the one leading me through the muck to the fruit he promised (John 15).

As for the weekend, we really did have some nice times. 

• I got a haircut and a new phone which meant 3 hours of being outside the house without babies. 
• My in-laws came out for a few hours on Saturday.
• Eric grilled dinner on Sunday (ie, I didn’t have to cook!).
• We had a picnic with the Mother of Twins club in Columbus on Sunday which was a good time.

And now it’s Monday again.  I’m going to have to get out of the house this week more, even if it does mean the babies don’t nap as well.  Last week was proof enough that staying home all day every day is not healthy for me!

Okay, sorry this post is so up-and-down.  I guess that’s just where I am today.  So off I go…happy Monday!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you barely left the house, the baby(ies) stopped sleeping and were very needy, and you were just out of resources to draw from?  That’s where I am today.  And I’ve still got today to get through. 

I’m doing a bit of bible study on the concept of fruitbearing, focusing on John 15 where Jesus talks about it.  He said:

John 15:5 – I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Nothing, apart from him.  Yep.  That’s where I am this week.  So I’m trying to reconnect to Him this morning, and figure out how to get some sort of break for myself today, and I hope to see much fruit. 

Because that’s the promise.  And that’s what I need.  And that’s what kind of mom the babies need. 

Happy Friday