Our Twin Monkeys

Great-Grandma's are the most amazing people!

2010-08-01T00:36:00.000-06:00

This week was my grandmother's 88th birthday. Happy late birthday Grandma! She is the most amazing woman. For one week a year she does her best to spend every possible moment with her family. Even if it means sitting by a campfire late at night in the rain. During that special week in July, I was able to capture some moments of her with her with the monkeys. You will notice in a couple of the shots that a certain obstinate 2 year old insisted on sitting on the ground instead of grandma's lap. So my awesome grandma showed my little monkey how much she loved her by getting down on the ground with her. No one could ask for a better grandma than ours. We love you!

Big night in our house.

2010-07-27T01:14:00.000-06:00

We have been talking about working on the monkeys' transition to a big bed for months now. They still crib share and I keep thinking they need more space. Then I look at them sleeping all snuggled up into on small part of the crib and wonder if they really need more space or if I just have some "society says it should be this way" guilt. They seem to truly prefer sleeping together. I know eventually we will have to separate them, but until they are big enough for bunk beds or we move to another house co-sleeping is the way it's going to be. Trust me when I say I have no delusions about how hard it will most likely be to separate them when we finally do move them to individual beds.

Fast forward to nap time today. Isabella didn't want to take a nap and was having a bit of a fit. At one point she put her foot up on the top rail and acted like she was going to climb out. Well that made the transition decision pretty easy. Time to work our way to a big bed before one of them gets hurt. Jeff took the front of the crib off tonight and they are now officially sleeping in their daybed. We bought a bed rail that is too big, so we had to get creative on how to keep them in. For the time being we have the mesh bumper across the front of the bed. It won't keep them from climbing out, but it should keep them from rolling out while they are sleeping. Just in case it doesn't, we have blankets and pillows on the floor.

There was a lot of drama at bed time, but they didn't climb out and fell asleep in less than an hour. I would say it was as close to success as we can get. Tomorrow morning will be interesting. Caitlin likes to wake up early. Too early for me. She hears Jeff getting ready for work and I want another hour of sleep. Now that she has freedom I can see that my 3 to 5 hours of sleep is going to dwindle even more. I don't know how I'm going to cope with that.

More importantly, I don't know how if I'm ready for them to have so much freedom. I've heard plenty of stories of twins and the trouble they can get into in their room. Almost all of those stories involve diapers. Not necessarily the clean, unused ones. I'm just not ready for the kind of scene so many others have had to clean up. Hopefully I will laugh about it when it happens, but I will live with dread until it does. For now, it is time to buy dresser straps and other baby proofing things to keep my little monkeys safe when they decide to climb the dresser or use the window as an escape hatch to their beloved outside.

I am going to have to find more time to post as I have no doubt that life is only going to get more interesting as we enter this new phase.

Yin and Yang

2010-07-24T00:16:00.001-06:00

A few months ago my yin and yang shared a swing at the park. They really enjoy the swings, but I don't think they will be able to share much longer.

More photo fun with momma.

2010-06-10T21:33:00.004-06:00

I have several things I want to post about, but not a lot of time tonight. Instead I am going to post more recent pics of the monkeys. These are from another one of our play days.

Walking with Daddy.

2010-05-17T23:00:00.011-06:00

There is not any activity the girls love as much as walking. They must be trying to make up for waiting so incredibly to do it. Nothing brings on a tantrum faster than telling them they can't go out for a stroll. This day was Jeff's turn to indulge them.

Why can't she focus?

2010-05-13T22:36:00.006-06:00

Sometimes Caitlin has difficulty focusing on an activity. Maybe this is why?

Is caffeine bad for toddlers? She sure seems to like it.

Just kidding! I've never given her a taste of soda. She barely knows what juice tastes like. She loves to play with any kind of soda or water bottle though. I seriously don't know why I buy toys for them.

I see you.

2010-05-12T22:15:00.003-06:00

Yoga time!

You can't work mommy!

2010-05-11T23:47:00.007-06:00

The monkeys do not like it when I try to work during the day. The second they see me walking over to my computer they get upset. Usually they stop what they are doing, come over to me and do whatever it takes to get me to put the computer down, which usually means grabbing the mouse, pushing buttons, pulling cords or straight out turning the computer off. One day a couple of months ago I gave in, put the computer down and picked up the camera instead. This is how our play time went.

Swings

2010-03-21T00:49:00.011-06:00

Last week we met a friend at the park for a walk and some play time. It was such a beautiful day! The monkeys loved the swings, although they were easily distracted by the allure of jungle gym. They did a pretty decent job of playing with the bigger kids. Thankfully my friend was able to give me a hand with them even though she was pregnant and had her own toddler to keep an eye on. Playground trips will be so much easier when they are both walking! I am looking forward to a lot more walks in the parks now that it is getting warmer.

Not enough days like this.

2010-03-11T22:13:00.003-07:00

When we got home from physical therapy today I decided it was time to get the camera out and have some quality time with the monkeys. I haven't done it nearly as much as I should have the last couple of months. I love being with the girls and I really enjoy working in real estate. I've been lucky enough to be very busy with the clients lately, but I've also quickly learned that boom times come at a cost. Today I ignored the phone and the email and was able to enjoy a great afternoon with the monkeys. I certainly need to work on finding the right balance so I can get back to more days like this.

What a month!

2010-02-20T22:48:00.005-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month since my last post! I have been completely swamped with work, which is for the most part a good problem to have. The downside is not enough time with the monkeys and no time to blog. It looks like things are going to slow up a bit, so hopefully I will be able to post on a regular basis again. There is so much to catch up on!

The monkeys are doing well. We've had some drama which I will save for another post. For today I am going to give you some pics of the monkeys having fun playing on their mats. I promise give a real update on them very soon!

Who are these girls?

2010-01-25T23:03:00.006-07:00

When I look at old pictures of the girls I can't believe how much my little monkeys have changed in such a short period of time. Sometimes I don't hardly recognize them because when I picture them in my mind it is almost always how they look today. If try to remember what they looked like in the past, I remember their size so much better than I remember their faces. I'll will always be grateful for the invention of cameras. So much of our lives would be lost without them.

Here is a little refresher for our memories.

Little Cuties

2010-01-10T23:48:00.005-07:00

Little girls with pigtails are so cute to me. I just love how fun and playful the style is. Needless to say, the monkeys' hair is in pigtails a lot. I'm sure it's pretty obvious, but I'm saying it anyway. Of course it is also a lot easier for them to see when their hair isn't in their eyes. :)

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-03T20:39:00.005-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! We had a great New Year's eve and day. The monkeys went to sleep at their usual time so no celebrating for them. Some friends came over to welcome the new year with us. It was so nice to have a spontaneous, fun evening! We need to make nights like that a bigger priority in our lives. It is so easy to get caught up in work and our routines that I think we forget to have unplanned fun.

As you can see, the monkeys think 2010 is off to a great start. Best wishes for a year filled with health and happiness from all of us to all of you!

Whoa Isabella, the bling on your tiara is blinding me!

Okay mommy, here is the required similutaneous smile picture.

We gotta run now! It's time to make 2010 a fun year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T20:30:00.008-07:00

We hope that everyone has a wonderful day filled with family, laughter and happiness.

Merry Christmas!

I think this year's holiday photo turned out very well. Getting that photo was certainly a challenge though. I seriously underestimated how hard it would be to get two one year olds to sit the way I wanted them to, keep their hats on, look the same direction and smile all at the same time. After a lot of work, a few tears, and some good old fashioned cookie bribery, we finally had some success. Here are a few of the photos that didn't make the cut.

Boowwwwl

2009-12-23T21:25:00.004-07:00

Caitlin's newest word is bowl. It is so funny when she says it because she pronounces it with a sharp b and exaggerates the ow. I love this learning stage they are in!

In honor of the addition of bowl to their vocabulary, I am posting some pics of them playing in a bowl. They were in the kitchen playing by themselves a few weeks ago. I walked in and saw Isabella sitting in this container I let them play with. Caitlin thought it was too cool for her to be left out so she tried her hardest to get in the bowl with Isabella. Isabella on the other hand had no desire to share her new found spot with her sister. After a whole lot of pushing on Caitlin's part, Isabella decided there was something else more fun for her to do and left Caitlin to enjoy the bowl. Oh, by the way. If you look closely, you will see that Cheerios stick to fleece jammies very well. :)

First taste of snow

2009-12-20T20:46:00.006-07:00

I meant to do this post back in October, so I'm obviously a little late. :) We had a big snow before Halloween. Halloween day was a beautiful day though. We took the monkeys outside for their first real chance to explore the snow. They had a lot of fun playing with the snowballs and eating the snow. They liked eating it so much that they wouldn't put their snowballs down even when their fingers were freezing.

Look mommy, rays from Heaven appear when you hold it up! It's magical!

Num, num, num.

My fingers are so cold!

Whoa, if you hold it long enough it turns to ice!

I love snow!

Can we play outside every time it snows?

Daddy, where are our snow tires? We can't drive up the mountain with these!

Now this is a snowball!

Joined at the hip

2009-12-15T21:31:00.008-07:00

Our entire living room has been commandeered as the monkeys' play room with the exception of the corner I use as my work area. Our area rug was replaced with the lovely green foam mats that you see in so many of our pictures and there are toys everywhere. Everywhere. Despite having the whole room to play in, the girls spend a great deal of time playing very closely together. As you can see from the pics of this one particular day, they spend plenty of time literally joined at the hip. Someday when they are running around crying "sissy is touching me!" I will pull these pictures out and remind them that once upon a time they liked it.

Door with a view

2009-12-14T23:39:00.006-07:00

We replaced our front door a couple of years ago. Our old screen door was one of those ugly ones with two half panes of glass that you can open. It was nice to have a breeze flow through, but I never felt safe with it. Our current door has a solid pane of glass. Little did I know when we bought it how important it was going to be to our family.

The monkeys' favorite place to play is in that doorway. They happily spend hours watching the world go by. They smile and point when someone walks by with a dog. They love doggies! Every time someone walks by and waves they get so excited and wave back. When it is snowing, they like to sit there and watch the snow fall. Even if the air coming off of the glass is freezing cold. They love to sit there and wait for their daddy to come home from work. Now that it is getting dark so early, they go to door as the sun starts setting knowing that it means daddy will be home soon. That simple door frames the world that means so much to my monkeys.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T15:06:00.006-07:00

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! We had a nice, albeit very low key, day at home. This year it was just us and mom. She made a very nice dinner for us. It is one of only a couple of years in my life that I haven't spent the day with a handful of family and/or friends. I must say that I much prefer having a gathering. It just didn't really seem like Thanksgiving without the hubbub of people around. Next year it will be back to ordering dinner from Tony's and inviting people to join us.

We spent black Friday at the zoo with our little monkeys. It was a beautiful 70 degree day. We had such a pleasant afternoon. The zoo was quite busy, so I guess we weren't the only people who preferred to be outside over shopping with the vultures. I finally remembered to take the camera along this time. Unfortunately, I missed a fabulous photo op provided by one of the grizzlies. Just couldn't get the camera out and ready in time. I did get some pics of a big bear and some monkeys though. Check them out!

Last Minute Trip

2009-11-28T10:37:00.007-07:00

I finally have a great reason for my missing posts. Last week me, the monkeys and my mom took a little surprise road trip to see Grandma Pauline. It was a very last minute trip. The kind that involved being on the road within 6 hours of deciding to go. I learned that I can pack and load the car in less than 3 hours. Pretty good when travelling with two 1 year olds for a week. We left on Monday night and showed up Grandma's doorstep about 20 hours later. I think she was still in shock when she went to bed that night. It was a good week, although no visit ever seems long enough. The monkeys sure love their Great-Grandma and I do too!

Soda Queen

2009-11-15T02:18:00.005-07:00

My little monkeys are climbers. They will climb on anything they can get up on. As soon as Isabella saw this stack of soda cartons, she immediately decided it was time to play Queen of the mountain. This week Caitlin was the first to climb up onto the couch without having something to cling onto.

Nana Banana is her name.

2009-11-09T22:20:00.004-07:00

Despite my mom's best efforts, grandma is not in the monkeys' vocabulary yet. It's just not a word they feel compelled to say. I have encouraged her to try nana for many months to no avail. Until a few weeks ago that is. She was feeding the monkeys a banana, as she often does, and was trying once again to teach them grandma. I told the girls to call her Nana Banana. They both looked at her laughed. She is now officially Nana Banana. They aren't saying it yet, but they look at her and smile every time they hear it.

I wanna go outside!

2009-11-06T22:46:00.003-07:00

The monkeys LOVE to be outside. Even in cold, wet weather. One day a couple of weeks ago Isabella grabbed her little ride on car and pushed it over to the door. Then she stood up and tried to push the door open so she could go outside and play on her car. When we told her it was too wet and cold to go out (we hadn't bought their winter coats yet), she wailed for the longest time. Neither one of the girls cares about how warm or cold it is or whether it is light or dark out. When they want to go out, they want to go out. No amount of distraction works. Some days I give in, some days I wish for earplugs.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T22:26:00.010-06:00

First let me say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jeff! I hope you enjoyed the day.

Even though this wasn't the monkeys' first Halloween it felt like it was. We took them to their first Halloween Party last weekend. When we first put them in their costumes, Isabella screamed for quite awhile. She did not like it all. She took a nap on the way to the party and was much happier with the costume when she woke up. The monkeys had fun at the party, but they were rather anti-social and only wanted to be right by us. There were a LOT of people there so that certainly played a role. I think I need to try really hard to fit more play dates into our schedule again too.

Today we went and did some early Christmas shopping for the girls and played outside in the snow for awhile. I will post some pics later this week. Then after dinner we put them in their costumes and waited for the trick or treaters. They are so cute in their costumes! The monkeys weren't sure what to think about the trick or treaters. Sometimes they got excited and sometimes they just sat there with a confused expression. Overall I think they enjoyed it. It was so warm out tonight that I wished we had taken them trick or treating. I am looking forward to doing it next year when they can walk on their own and really enjoy it.

Happy Halloween everyone!

P.S. The monkeys didn't get to sample any of the candy in their buckets. I'm such a mean mommy! They were far more upset about not getting to stay outside than they were about not getting any candy.

Polka Dot Tots

2009-10-25T23:08:00.006-06:00

Check out my polka dot tots having fun with their daddy and their nana banana. Why is it that the momma always gets stuck behind the camera? I really do exist! Just not in pictures.

My little cuties.

2009-10-21T23:34:00.002-06:00

Play time!

2009-10-19T23:08:00.006-06:00

In honor of Stacey I am posting lots of pictures of the girls playing. As promised in my last post, I spent a weekend taking lots of pictures of the girls. I am admittedly very late in getting them posted. Things haven't slowed down quite as much as I anticipated, but there is still hope for more blog time coming soon.

Yummy Cheerios!

Your eye is a little wobbly. Let me take care of that for you.

Ooops! Now your smile is wonky.

Whee! Daddy is so much fun!

Mommy, do you move that cursor thingy with your tongue?

I'm cute and I know it.

Must find trouble.

Let's help mommy with her work.

I will not be interrupted.

I want to watch something else. These house shows are boring me.

Our favorite toys. What is that you say? They aren't our toys? We say they are!

Where's that thing you called Elmo?

Still searching for something better.

What happened to my Cheerios?

Rejoining the world

2009-10-09T21:24:00.010-06:00

After an exhausting week, I think I can finally say that things are slowing down enough for me to rejoin the world. The big contract fell through. I was pretty bummed about it, but I'm still working on trying to find a solution to make everyone happy. The good news is that I have my first official contract with a closing at the end of the month. Things are going well and I think I might actually close my first transaction. Yay! I've been working so much lately that Jeff and Mom have really had to take over a significant amount of monkey time.

I like working, but I am really missing my time with the monkeys. They are growing up so quickly. Unfortunately, I don't have many new pictures of them. My goal for the weekend is to keep the camera busy. Here are a few pics of the girls and my mom playing with their music table. They obviously like it a lot!

Bad blogger!

2009-09-22T20:01:00.005-06:00

I am such a bad blogger these days. I have been crazy busy working and just haven't been able to squeeze blogging in. The good news is that I am working on a big contract. Hopefully we will be able to get the contract accepted and closed. Wish me luck!

Since I need to get to work, I will leave you all with some vintage photos of the monkeys.

Rainbow Brite makes everything better.

2009-09-16T20:56:00.009-06:00

We are still in the throes of teething hell. The monkeys have 5 or 6 teeth working their way through the gum line. Their top two molars are about half way through and their bottom two have started breaking the gum line along with one or two of the bottom front teeth. Needless to say my little monkeys are in a lot of pain these days. Isabella has been screaming for days. Fun times! So tonight Isabella was inconsolable so I started trying to use the Rainbow Brite doll to distract her. She has been kind of afraid of it in the past, but today she suddenly likes it. That doll gave us 15 minutes without any screaming so I love it! Here are a few pics of Isabella's rough afternoon and my happy monkey with her grandma and her mommy's doll.

Caitlin certainly had her rough periods today. Thankfully, they weren't always at the same time as Isabella's. During Isabella's last meltdown, Caitlin was blissfully occupied.

What's so funny?

2009-09-12T22:48:00.002-06:00

One day last week, when the monkeys were supposed to be napping, I kept hearing laughter from their room. It was Caitlin and she doesn't normally laugh a lot, so I knew I was missing something good. I grabbed the video monitor to what was going on. Isabella was laying down in the middle of the crib on her back. I saw Caitlin moving around next to Isabella, then she crawled right over the top of Isabella. She laughed and turned around and did it again. The third time I saw her do it she stopped on Isabella's tummy, laughed hysterically, then finished crawling over her. She did it a few more times then she crawled over to her own spot and fell asleep. Normally, Isabella is the one plowing over Caitlin, so I'm sure Caitlin thought it was a lot of fun to be the one treating her sissy like an amusement park ride.

Driving and Texting

2009-09-05T20:06:00.005-06:00

It might be time for me to start teaching Isabella that driving and texting is illegal and dangerous. They grow up way too fast!

With her multitasking sister on the road, Caitlin chose to stay safe in her momma's arms.

1 Year

2009-08-31T23:20:00.004-06:00

Yes, I know that I'm late with this post. August was a very eventful month and the girls didn't have their well baby appointment until the 19th. They were running behind so we were at the pedi's for a tortuous 2 hours. That is way too long for 1 year olds who missed their morning nap because of the appointment. Fortunately, my brother was in town and went with me since Jeff and mom weren't able to. I wouldn't have survived it without him.

The monkeys are still rocking the charts for their verbal skills. Their fine motor and social skills are right up there too. They are still behind on their gross motor skills. We are working on them though. The pedi did put a referral in for physical therapy and said we could pursue it in a couple of months if we needed to. I don't think it will be necessary as the girls are making progress. Caitlin's weight is still at the bottom of the chart, but the pedi isn't concerned yet. Overall the monkeys are doing very well. Here are their stats:

Caitlin

Weight: 17lbs 11oz - 4%

at birth: 4lbs 3oz

Height: 29 1/4" - 48%

at birth: 17"

Isabella

Weight: 19lbs 2oz - 15%

at birth: 5lbs

Height: 30 1/4" - 79%

at birth 17 1/4"

Here are a couple of pics of the monkeys with Sean right before he went home.

Growing Pains

2009-08-28T23:02:00.006-06:00

The monkeys have had a rough couple of weeks. I was at the hospital as much as I could be after my mom's surgery. The girls are not at all used to me being gone that much. Needless to say it brought out a lot of separation anxiety for them. Add in their beloved grandma who can't pick them up and their 12 month shots last week and you get two weeks with a whole lot of screaming. Way too much screaming! By Tuesday I wasn't sure if I was going to survive another day without loosing my mind.

The last couple of days have been much, much better. My happy babies returned! The nights have still been kind of rough. Last night the monkeys were up and screaming for 3 hours in the middle of the night. There wasn't anything wrong with them, they just wanted me to hold them. I know they love me and I am eternally grateful for the wonderful blessing they are. There are brief moments though when I wish they needed me just a little bit less. Then I look at those adorable faces smiling at me and I remember how good it feels to be needed so much!

I have been swamped this week, so I don't really have any new photos. Here are some vintage ones instead.

I need to childproof my car seats.

2009-08-24T23:52:00.003-06:00

We switched the monkeys to convertible car seats a couple of months ago. Isabella figured out how to get out of the chest straps today. She was able to work the chest buckle down until it was low enough to get her arms out. I think (hope!) she is a long way from figuring out the bottom buckle. I am afraid though that if she can get her arms out then she can get the bottom part of the strap loose enough to get her legs out. Now I have to figure out how to childproof my car seats. :( This is such a bad thing! What am I going to do next year if she is already trying to get out now? I plan on keeping them rear facing as long as I possibly can. Now I am afraid that I am going to be driving down the highway one day and will see her head pop up over the seat.

I told you she likes you!

2009-08-21T22:44:00.008-06:00

My brother came in last week for my mom's surgery and has been staying with us to help out. The helping out part hasn't gone as well as he would have liked because the monkeys haven't wanted him to hold them. Isabella has gone back and forth between crying and being happy around him. Most of the time when he tries to pick up Caitlin she starts screaming. He keeps saying that he thinks she hates him. I keep telling him that she doesn't hate him, she has just been off this week because of me being gone so much over the weekend. So tonight Sean picked up Caitlin and she let him hold her for awhile. She even liked it. See Sean, I told you she doesn't hate you!

I am not smarter than Cheerios.

2009-08-18T22:48:00.007-06:00

Yesterday I put the monkeys on their play mat and gave each of them a small bowl with some cheerios. I thought it would keep them out of trouble and give me a few minutes to get dressed. I walked out of the room and came back to find the cereal all over the floor.

Ok, no problem. I picked them up and put them back in the bowls. Being the bad, not afraid of a few germs mommy that I am, I gave the bowls back to the girls. I turn away for a second and both girls start shaking the bowls like rattles and the cereal goes all over the floor again.

Ugh! Once again I picked the cereal up.

This is where I should have shown that I was smarter than the Cheerios and not given the bowls back to the monkeys. Nope, I was tired and apparently my neurons were a bit slow waking up. I handed Caitlin her bowl, she looked at me with a smile and promptly flung the bowl back to the floor.

Obviously, it was time for me to throw in the towel and go back to sleep.

Answered Prayers!

2009-08-18T00:07:00.002-06:00

All of our prayers over the last week have been answered. My mom is home today and is doing marvelously well. No paralysis, most likely no cancer. Almost all feeling has returned to her feet and legs. We could not have asked for a better outcome. Now she just has to figure out how she is going to make it through the next month without being able to pick up the monkeys. So far it is just as hard on them as it is on her. They don't understand why grandma won't pick them up or play with them. Hopefully this next month will pass without too much trauma for them.

Prayers for my mom.

2009-08-13T23:15:00.005-06:00

Today is going to be a big day for my family. Please send any thoughts and prayers you can spare to my mom. She is having a long and scary surgery that will have a significant impact on her quality of life. We have faith that all will be well, but it is impossible to not be very worried.

Silent Observer

2009-08-10T22:29:00.005-06:00

Our first family photo.

The monkeys on their birth day.

So small! So perfect! So loved!

One night last week I went in to check on the monkeys like I do every night before I go to sleep. It was late and I was exhausted. The floor squeaked and Isabella sat up. I froze in place hoping that she would lay back down without seeing me. She looked around and crawled over toward me. I had a moment of panic thinking I had woken her up and would have to give her a bottle to get her back to sleep. It wasn't me she wanted though.

When she reached Caitlin she stopped and started grabbing at Caitlin's face. I had another moment of panic thinking I was going to be feeding two babies in the middle of the night. Caitlin barely stirred though. Isabella grabbed at Caitlin a couple of more times then she laid back down. I waited a moment for her to go back to sleep. Instead she sat up again and searched around on the mattress in front of Caitlin. Not finding what she wanted, she grabbed at Caitlin once more. This time she was able to get to Caitlin's mouth and found the object of her desire. With a swift tug, she removed Caitlin's paci, placed it in her own mouth and promptly drifted off to sleep once again.

I crept back to my own bed with a smile and the joy of seeing first hand how much my babies have bonded during their first year.

Pool Time!

2009-08-08T22:02:00.005-06:00

The monkeys had a another pool play date with their friend Leo. Here are a few pictures of them enjoying their pool time.

So Caitlin, if you help me fill this bucket I won't pour it on you. Sound like a deal?

I am such a cute deal maker!

Why is everyone sitting so far away from me? Does my hat look goofy or something?

If I turn away from them, they won't see me filling this with water. Then I can spray them when they least expect it!

Our mommy won't put enough water in this pool for us to do a cannonball. Will you pour some water on us so we can stay cool? We really want a diving board on our next pool!

Happy 1st Birthday!

2009-08-02T22:23:00.012-06:00

Today was the monkeys first birthday! Happy Birthday girls! We had a wonderful day filled with family and friends. Here is a little photo summary of the day.

Patiently waiting for our guests to eat so we can have cake.

Getting closer to cake. We can't wait for our first taste of sugar!

Our personalized smash cakes.

Do you think mommy will notice if I wipe my hand on her pants?

Can I have a birthday cake everyday?

The aftermath.

I can't wait to play with the spider legs.

This butterfly rocks! Whee!

Caitlin

Isabella

I bet I can put this toy to good use.

Almost there.

I told you I could put it to good use!

Two Monkeys in a Toy Tub

2009-07-29T00:54:00.009-06:00

The monkeys have some new storage tubs for their toys, which they insisted on trying out before they would allow the tubs to be filled. They also insisted on receiving a bang trim before they would get out of the tubs. Looks like they have given the tubs their seal of approval.

Mommy our new tub is so much fun!

I don't believe you really took a bath. Let me do the smell check to be sure.

My belly is flatter than your belly.

Hey, that wasn't a nice thing to say!

Let me get that hair out of your eyes so you can see.

Thanks! I'll fix your hair too.

Mommy, we are done now.

Take that!

2009-07-25T23:26:00.002-06:00

The monkeys have started fighting over toys. I have mostly stayed out of the toy fighting so they can start learning to resolve their own conflicts. Today Isabella tried to steal Caitlin's toy several times. A couple of times Caitlin screeched a little, but she mostly just let Isabella have the toy. This is how she normally responds, although she does sometimes try to take the toy back. I think she is a little intimidated by Isabella sometimes since Isabella is bigger than her. I might have been wrong about that.

We were playing on the floor this evening and Isabella crawled up to where Caitlin and I were and sat up next to Caitlin. Isabella picked up a sippy cup Caitlin had been using and started drinking. Caitlin decided she wanted a drink too so she pushed Isabella over hard enough to make Isabella's head thunk on the floor and took the cup away. Isabella was so shocked that it took her a minute to start crying. I had been hoping that Caitlin would start standing up for herself. I guess when she finally decides to make a point she does it in a big way!

I survived camping with infant twins!

2009-07-19T21:29:00.015-06:00

A week of camping with 2 infants and no husband. It can be done, but boy was it hard. The monkeys, my mom and I went to our family reunion in Indiana. It was a 10 day trip with a week of camping. The girls and I spent the week in a tent. They loved their Pea Pod tents! I put one outside for them to play in and one in my tent for them to sleep in at night.

It rained every day and we had a severe storm come through. The humidity was oppressive, which made the girls extremely cranky. That combined with teething had me drinking before lunch one day. The girls were super clingy and didn't want anyone but me and my mom to hold them. There just wasn't much time when the girls were awake that I could put them down or pass them off without them screaming. Thankfully my mom was a huge help. I probably wouldn't have survived without her.

Everything considered, the monkeys did really well and I think they liked it a lot. It was a good trip, but it was also really disappointing. I really underestimated how much work the trip was going to be. I had thought that, with so many hands around to hold the monkeys, I would be able to spend some quality time visiting with my grandma and the rest of the family, but that didn't really happen since the girls needed so much attention. In retrospect, I wish I had rented a camper, but I'm also kind of proud of myself for doing it the way I normally would and making it work.

Most of the pictures are pirated from my mom and from my brother's girlfriend Kelly. I just couldn't seem to get to my camera. I can't remember the last time I went on a trip and took such a small number of pictures!

Kelly, my brother and Grandma.

The monkeys having some dinner.

Isabella full and happy.

Sean, Isabella, Mom and Caitlin

Sean with Caitlin and Isabella. Caitlin was mad that Sean wouldn't share his beer. That's Dick lounging in the background.

Ugh! I somehow managed to get a few large puddles of water between my tarp and the floor of my tent during one of the torrential downpours. There must have been an edge of the tarp sticking out. That's what happens when you rush to throw a tent up while trying to keep infants happy. This is us moving everything to get it all dried out before the next round of rain came in.

Grandma giving Isabella a frozen cloth to chew on. Oh sweet relief!

Sean with Isabella.

The monkeys playing with their cousin Jaime.

Caitlin and Isabella playing.

Isabella on a mission.

Caitlin happy with her momma.

The monkeys playing near their Pea Pod. Isn't it cute?!

Caitlin spending some time with her frizzy haired momma. Ugh - midwestern humidity sucks!

The best great-grandma ever!

2009-07-18T22:15:00.008-06:00

The monkeys took a trip to Indiana to see their great-grandma and for a family reunion camping trip. Grandma camped for a week right along with the rest of us. I hope that I am still able to get out and enjoy life like that when I am her age. The monkeys loved getting to see her again. Here are a few pics of them enjoying their visit with Grandma Pauline.

I'm back!

2009-07-15T22:10:00.004-06:00

I have returned from a trip with the monkeys and am slowly catching up on life. I'm too tired to stay up and do a real post tonight. Here is a little teaser from the trip.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T23:21:00.005-06:00

The monkeys enjoyed their first 4th of July. We spent the evening bbqing with some friends. The monkeys were up later than normal since we were out. Isabella was so tired that she literally "fell" asleep. Right on Caitlin.

11 Months!

2009-07-03T22:50:00.008-06:00

I can't believe how quickly the monkeys' first birthday is sneaking up on me! We did a little photo session this week to try to get a picture for their birthday party invitation. Trying to get two infants to do exactly what you want at the same time is almost impossible. The picture above was my favorite. It was not exactly what I want for the invitation though, so I'm not sure if it is the one we will choose. Here are a few of the others that definitely will not be on the invitation.

Look I found a pretty flower.

Momma did you see the pretty bow in sissy's hair?

I want the pretty bow!

No Caitlin leave her bow alone!

I must have the bow!

Aw Momma! Switching us around so I can't get the bow was not fair!

Internet OMG WTF BBQ

2009-06-30T23:56:00.005-06:00

On Sunday we went to a big OMG WTF BBQ with a bunch of families from an internet message board I frequent. There are so many great ladies in our group - many of whom I have become friends with in real life. The bbq was at a friends' house in the mountains. She has an amazing view from her backyard which you can't really see through the clouds. It was cloudy and thundered a lot, but we were lucky enough to avoid getting rained out. We were able to get a few family pictures and I tried to get a photo for the monkeys' 1st birthday invitation. As you can see below, it didn't go very well. Caitlin was just not happy with the location I chose for the pictures. Isabella thought it was a fun spot though.

Swim time!

2009-06-28T22:14:00.008-06:00

I bought a pool for the monkeys that is a little big for them now, but next year it will be perfect. I wanted one that was bigger than a baby pool so I could get in and enjoy it with them. We had some friends over for a little pool play date on Friday. The pool was perfect for a handful of babies and a couple of mommas. The monkeys are really enjoying their swim time. I hope they enjoy it as much when we are finally able to go swimming in a big pool.

Momma we're bored. Can we get in the pool yet?

Silly monkeys making silly faces.

Let's see who can make the biggest splash!

My poor nose!

2009-06-25T23:10:00.001-06:00

The girls started giving wonderful baby kisses a few weeks ago. I LOVE baby kisses!! Sometimes they like to do a big wet open mouth kiss to the nose. It always kind of freaked me out not knowing if they were going to bite my nose or not. Yeah, that concern was sooo valid. Tonight they both bit my nose. It hurt so freaking bad when Isabella did it because she has teeth on the bottom and the top. Guess I won't be letting them give me anymore of those weird but fun kisses!

Father's Day

2009-06-24T21:38:00.001-06:00

The monkeys enjoyed their first Father's Day. They gave their daddy a cute card and a couple of DVD series that he wanted. Their mommy dropped the ball and forgot to get the food to make their daddy's breakfast. Oops! I felt really bad about it. The monkeys' favorite part of the day was playing in the tissue paper.

Pool Time!

2009-06-19T22:30:00.004-06:00

We had a pool play date at a friend's house on Thursday. It was the monkeys' first time in the pool. They loved it! I discovered that with two infants you can't look away for more than a couple of seconds. I think every time I looked away one of them fell over into the water or was trying to eat the floating grass. Maybe Isabella is trying to tell me she wants more roughage in her diet.

If you look at the middle picture you will see my friend's son getting cozy in Caitlin's lap. She was just fine with it until he tried to take one of the measuring cups she was playing with. She wasn't having any of that! The last time he tried to grab one she jerked it back so hard that she fell over. The result of the tug of war is the bottom picture.

Caitlin

2009-06-18T00:03:00.009-06:00

Caitlin is such a little sweetheart. She would be happy if her mommy just sat and held her all day. Not in a cuddly way though. She wants to be close, but she usually isn't much of a snuggler. She has so much anxiety. Separation anxiety is still an issue for her. She doesn't like it when I get out of eyesight. Fortunately, she relaxes after a few minutes. Her issues in the car are mostly resolved. Now when she does get upset in the car, she cries but it's not the hysterical cries we were having a problem with. She has learned to clap in the last week. Her cute little style is to hit the back of one hand with the palm of the other. She always has a big smile when she does it. She still only has one tooth, but she has her two canines coming through. It has really disrupted her sleep, particularly around 3 am.

Caitlin reaching for the camera.

She is still so fascinated by the camera and tries to grab it anytime I get close to her. She is really trying to learn to crawl. She gets up on all fours with her head in the air. Then she lowers her head to the floor and uses it for support while she moves her arms and legs. She is so close to perfecting it, that I'm sure she will be crawling soon.

Caitlin playing her favorite blanket over the head game.

My mom usually takes each of the girls outside for a little bit every evening. Caitlin loves being outside so much that as soon as mom picks her up she immediately looks toward the door and doesn't stop until mom takes her out. I love her interest in being outside. Hopefully it will continue throughout her life. We have a big camping trip coming up and I am curious to see how much she enjoys being outside all of the time.

I know this was a random, all over the place post. I just wanted to take a few minutes to catch you all up on what is going on in Caitlin's world. I will try to get an Isabella post up later today.

I am so far behind.

2009-06-13T21:06:00.009-06:00

I know I am slacking with my posts this week. It has been a really hectic week. I officially received my real estate broker's license. So happy about that! Now I just have a lot of work to do to get started. I might have my first client already which is so exciting! I went out on Thursday night for a girls night out. We had dinner and drinks then we went to Rent. It was such a fun night! I need to do a girls night out more often. On Friday we had a play date with a friend and her little girl. The monkeys had a good time, but we are going to have to work on them sharing their toys.

There is a bunch of monkey news to catch up on. I will do a Caitlin post and an Isabella post. Hopefully I will be able to do them tomorrow. We have had a lot of sporadic sleeping issues lately. Between the teething and the milestones they have had a lot of distractions. Here are a couple of pictures of them getting some sleep. Good night!

I passed!

2009-06-09T23:02:00.002-06:00

I took the state licensing exam for my real estate license and passed! Woohoo! I am so excited to be done! Now, if the state will process my license application quickly, I can finally say I have a new career. If all goes well, I will never be chained to a desk from 8 to 5 again. Of course my two adorable monkeys are all of the motivation I need to make my new career a success :)

My daughter the criminal mastermind.

2009-06-07T22:09:00.005-06:00

I've been meaning to make this post for a couple of weeks. The monkeys are always stealing toys from each other. Whatever toy the other twin has is always the best one. Caitlin is not only an excellent toy thief, she is also a hoarder. Anytime she is close enough to Isabella she takes the toy Isabella is playing with and puts it in a pile out of Isabella's reach. When Isabella picks up another toy, Caitlin takes it as well. This goes on and on until Isabella doesn't have any more toys in reach and gets upset. Caitlin doesn't take the toys to play with them. She just wants to pile them up next to her. I think she likes having the power to take something from her sister.

So a couple of weeks ago the monkeys are laying on their boppies drinking from their bottles. After a few minutes Caitlin reached over to Isabella to touch her hand. It was so cute because it looked like she was trying to have a special bonding moment with Isabella. She touched Isabella's hand a few more times and then held it for a minute. I was watching and having one of those awww, they are so darn cute and I love having twins moments. Then, Caitlin suddenly took her hand off of Isabella's and stole her bottle right out of her mouth. As soon as she had it, she turned away from Isabella and started playing with the bottle. The whole sisterly bonding thing was just a ploy to steal Isabella's bottle.

I think instead of trying to teach Caitlin to say I love you mommy, I should start focusing on teaching her to use her intelligence for good and not evil.

The dangling carrot.

2009-06-04T22:09:00.007-06:00

We have all heard that you can get a horse or a rabbit to come to you if you dangle a carrot in front of it. Apparently, it also works with Isabella. This afternoon I put Caitlin in the jumperoo and Isabella in one of the exersaucers to play while I had some lunch. They weren't far apart, but there was a good foot or so between them I thought. I guess I was paying too much attention to my food and not enough to them, because I looked up at them to see Isabella moving closer to Caitlin.

Somehow Isabella had managed to get herself far enough over the edge of the exersaucer to reach one of the support posts on the jumperoo. She was using the post to pull herself and the exersaucer closer to Caitlin. At first I thought Caitlin was her goal. Nope. The carrot that is attached to the jumperoo was hanging off of the side and she was trying to reach it. When she still couldn't quite reach her goal, she grabbed the post with both hands and angled herself while she pulled to maneuver the exersaucer into the right position.

I was blown away watching her do it. First of all, I had no idea she was strong enough. The bigger thing, though, was the level of thought and analysis she had to use to determine how to get the exersaucer moved while she was in it. It took her less than 5 minutes to figure out how to get to the goal. My babies may not be able to crawl yet, but they sure are smart. :)

Isabella with the carrot a month ago.

Caitlin in one of the exersaucers in February.

This day was a mixed bag.

2009-06-02T22:44:00.008-06:00

The monkeys are 10 months old today!

First, I'll start with my test results yesterday. I passed with a very good score. Yay for me! I was hoping to take the state exam for my broker's license this week, but there was not an available slot so I can't take it until next Tuesday. I'm bummed about that. I am so tired of dealing with the class stuff. I really wanted to take it this week so I could move on and start trying to land my first transaction.

Today. Caitlin started off the day with some serious poo grunting and then crying for her mommy. I gave her some prunes thinking that would help her move things along. I put her on the floor to play until she started crying and acting like she was in pain. So I picked her up and sat down in front of my open computer. She was straining so hard to have her bm that she puked up the prunes. All over the two of us. All over my computer. Later on she was straining again and this time when she puked it didn't come out of her mouth at all. It just came out of her nose. She was struggling to relax enough to breath and I was kind of freaked that she was going to suck the stuff into her lungs. We got her to relax and then a little later she did it again. By this time I was getting concerned so I called the pedi's office. They told me to put her in a warm bath. So I did that and voila 15 minutes later everyone is happy. Well, I would have been happier if I didn't have to clean up the tub. While I love being a mommy, there are some parts I could do without!

Caitlin telling her daddy about her day.

I was able to spend some one-on-one time with Isabella today while Caitlin was taking a nap. Apparently, my little baby is suddenly into full on interaction with the world. I am not sure if it just happened overnight or if I have just been too wrapped up in getting my broker's license. We were looking at a touch and feel book and she was completely aware of the fact that the pages had parts with different textures. She really liked the fuzzy animal pages. That was a first. Usually the girls just want to grab the books and chew on them. The other big moment was sitting on the floor with the girls. I have been working on helping them move up to a sitting position on their own. Isabella is really close to doing it by herself. The special moment though came when we did our good job and clap when she sat up. This time her face lit up, she smiled and I think she said yay. It was so easy to see that she knew she did something good and was enjoying the moment. Each time we did the sit up routine after that, her reaction was the same. Her celebration of her success made me feel all happy and mushy. I'm turning into a big sap!

Later in the day, Isabella discovered the basket of clean diapers and decided to help her mommy with them. She kept trying to pull herself up enough to pull the diapers out. After she took out all of the ones closest to her, she pulled too hard and the basket fell over on top of her. It was so cute!

The aftermath of Isabella vs. the basket.

I'm getting anxious.

2009-05-31T19:36:00.002-06:00

I am finally finished with my real estate classes. Yay! I still have to take my final exam in the morning which is starting to make me anxious. For the most part I think I will do fine, but there are a few areas where I am still a bit weak. I can retake the test if I don't have a high enough score, but it will throw off my plans for the state exam if I have to do a re-test. I'm hoping the take the state exam for my broker's license on Wednesday. I am so ready to be past this phase so I can start my career and get back to spending quality time with the monkeys. For now, I must return to studying.

Tooth! and My Birthday

2009-05-28T21:28:00.010-06:00

Caitlin has her first tooth! She wouldn't let me feel her gums for a couple of days, but I believe it broke the gum line on Monday or most likely Tuesday. Her first one is the bottom front right tooth. I'm so happy we are starting to make progress! Hopefully they will both get the other front bottom teeth through soon so we can have a few weeks without cranky babies.

Monday was my birthday. It was such a nice day! We spent the day at home with the girls and a few friends came over for a b-b-q that evening. It was a very low key day, unlike our normal Memorial Day b-b-qs. Life has been so crazy lately, that a quiet day was extra special. My friend Sandi made this spring fling cake for me:

She also made a second cake that was from the monkeys. She was going to have them put their hand prints in the icing. It was such a cute idea! Unfortunately, Caitlin's hand pulled up a large section of the icing so it didn't exactly work out as planned.

Here are a couple of rare pictures of me with the girls and a couple of the girls playing.

Me and Caitlin

Me and Isabella

Isabella

Caitlin

Aaahhhh! and Pssst!

2009-05-24T21:32:00.009-06:00

Aaahhh!!! Mommy, do you really have that much stuff to do in the next 24 hours??? You are never going to get it all done!

Pssst! Our mommy's birthday is tomorrow. We have been trying to plan something special for her, but it's kind of hard when we only know a few words and we can't walk. If someone could please say Happy Birthday for us, we would love you forever. Thank you for helping us!

I am so spoiled.

2009-05-22T23:12:00.006-06:00

We have a sleep number bed and I love it. I have my side set on a nice soft number. When I lay down the bed cradles me in a cloud of comfort. I almost always fall asleep within a few minutes. I admit that I am completely spoiled. I am happy with that, except when we travel and I have to suffer on a hard bed. Admittedly, I do try to find hotels with pillow top beds to make sleep less miserable than it would otherwise be. Outside of being pregnant, I never thought I would have to suffer through another night of pure bedtime misery at home again. I failed to realize that one night I would find myself sleeping on the living room floor.

Last night was my reality check on how spoiled I really am. The last several nights have involved hours and hours of screaming. Mostly by Isabella, although Caitlin has chimed in her fair share. Last night we tried to put the girls down at their usual time. Two hours later we were still trying to get Isabella to sleep. She did finally succumb to her exhaustion and I thought I would be able to crank out some serious studying. Nope, an hour later she was at it again. Two more hours later I finally accepted the fact that she was not going to sleep unless I was right there with her.

Unfortunately, she does not like to sleep in our bed so I didn't have many options. She is too squirmy to try sleeping with her on the couch or in a chair. I decided my only safe option was the living room floor. I piled up as many blankets as I could find and settled down with her in front of the tv. As much as I hate to admit it, watching Nick at Night was absolutely calming her down and, for the first time, I intentionally parked her in front of the tv. We curled up and watched the late night shows until she finally fell asleep. I dozed off for a short time. Then I woke up and was stiff as a board. This spoiled body just can't handle two hours on a hardwood floor. Foolishly, I thought I would be able to move her to her crib so I could go to bed. That didn't work out so well. After some more screaming that involved Caitlin this time, we ended up back on the floor. This time I was smart enough to leave her there until it was time to get Jeff up. Thankfully, he had a vacation day planned and took over for me so I could crawl into my cloud of comfort for a few hours.

I love spending one on one time with my daughters, but I hope I don't have to spend any more time sleeping on the floor with them. I really hope they learn to like my cozy bed soon!

I am officially an Oompa Loompa.

2009-05-21T21:12:00.005-06:00

Isabella is starting to show signs of pulling herself up, so we decided this week that it was time to lower the crib mattress. There is only a couple of inches difference between the middle setting and the lowest setting, so I told Jeff to go ahead and lower it all of the way since it is kind of a pain to do the adjustment. I knew that when we lowered the mattress I was going to have a problem reaching into the bottom of the crib because the front rail is fairly high. I might have underestimated how much of a problem it would be. The only way I can reach into the crib now is by stepping on my nursing stool and stretching. If one of the girls is at the back of the crib, I can't stretch far enough to reach her. I am officially an Oompa Loompa.

After a few rough nights involving lots of screaming, the monkeys were kind enough to let their momma have a nice long nap today. I really needed it and was very grateful. When I woke up they were quietly lounging in the crib. Apparently their mesh bumper makes a nice footrest.

Going for a walk with Grandma.

2009-05-19T23:01:00.006-06:00

Woohoo! We are going for a walk with grandma!

Aren't we cute in our hats and sunglasses?

What is taking her so long to get the stroller ready?

Why did mommy put the butterfly hat on you? It matches my outfit better.

I don't care if it matches your outfit better. You can't have it.

Back off sista or I will show you what these sunglasses are really for!

Tooth!

2009-05-16T22:14:00.004-06:00

Isabella has her first tooth! Well, ok, she technically had her first tooth last Saturday. The left front tooth on the bottom broke the gum line last weekend, but I just didn't really feel like I could say she had a tooth until you could see a significant amount of it above the gum line. It is coming up sooo slowly, but it is starting to be more visible. I can't believe how sharp that jagged edge is! She bit my finger just the right way the other day and it hurt so bad that I might have let a naughty word slip out. Oops! Her bottom right front tooth is almost ready to break the gum line too.

Caitlin's teeth are taking a bit longer to come through. Both of her bottom front teeth are sitting just below the gum line. I think she is going to get her right one first. Hopefully she will catch up with Isabella quickly.

Let the biting begin!

Eat, eat, eat and No

2009-05-14T19:58:00.005-06:00

Isabella's new favorite word is eat. Eat, eat, eat is what she kept saying today. I'm not sure if she understands what it means, but she sure likes to say it. I have been trying to get Caitlin to say it. This evening I asked her if she could say eat. She said no and shook her head. Looks like she knows the word no now. I guess I've been saying it to them more than I realized. Considering how fascinated they are with everything around them, I'm sure I will be saying it a lot more than I want to over the next few years.

New Stats

2009-05-12T20:15:00.005-06:00

The monkeys had an appointment with their pediatrician today. She was very happy with their progress. They are behind on some of their gross motor skills, but they are rocking the scale on their fine motor skills and their verbal skills. She was very impressed with their vocabulary. Their length is fantastic. Their weight is not great. Isabella's weight is making progress on the charts but Caitlin has lost some ground. The pediatrician is not yet concerned about it though. Here's the skinny of their new numbers:

Isabella
Length - 28 inches, which is the 70th percentile
At birth - 17 1/4 inches
Weight - 17 pounds, 1.8 ounces, which is the 16th percentile
At birth - 4 pounds, 15.4 ounces

Caitlin
Length - 28 inches, which is the 70th percentile
At birth - 17 inches
Weight - 15 pounds, 14.4 ounces, which is the 5th percentile
At birth - 4 pounds, 3.3 ounces

Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

2009-05-11T21:10:00.007-06:00

Help! We have been imprisoned against our will. Can anyone help us?

This place is worse than a third world prison. The only food we have been given is a leather camera strap. It's ok to suck on, but we would at least like some bread and water. Milk would be better!

We have rights and we know it! We have been screaming for our release for over an hour. We demand to see the warden!

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank goodness, we are free at last!

Do you like our hair?

2009-05-08T23:03:00.004-06:00

Since several of you have commented on Caitlin's peacock hair, I thought I would post a few pictures from days when we have played with the monkeys' hair. Enjoy!

Shopping is so exhausting.

2009-05-06T21:16:00.002-06:00

Mom and I took the monkeys out for our regular shopping excursion on Monday. We go once a month (when Similac is on sale) and stock up on all of our Target stuff. I needed a new phone so our first stop was the Verizon store, which turned into a major time waster thanks to a super slow sales guy. That's almost 3 hours out of our lives that we will never get back. :( By the time we got to Target the monkeys were exhausted. It didn't take long for them to drift off to sleep. Shopping is a whole lot easier when they are not fussing or trying to grab everything they can get their hands on! Usually when they are sleeping people don't stop us as much as they normally do, but this time Caitlin fell asleep with her leg in its favorite place. The cuteness of it caused more people to stop us instead of less.

9 Months!

2009-05-02T20:10:00.006-06:00

The little monkeys are 9 months old today!

Caitlin wants you to know that being the little sister does not mean that she is afraid to pick a fight with her big sister.

Let's get ready to ruuummble!

2009-05-01T23:24:00.006-06:00

You wanna fight? I'll fight you. Let's take it to the mat!

Fighters take your positions.

This is so easy I need something to entertain myself while I wait for you to surrender.

I can wrestle, read and play with my ball all at the same time. Do you want to take me on too?

And the winner is Caitlin The Multi-Tasker with a solid leg pin.

Sissy!

2009-04-29T19:33:00.006-06:00

Isabella called Caitlin sissy today! It was sooo cute! She rolled over to the base of the chair I was sitting in. I was holding Caitlin at the time so I held Caitlin over Isabella to let Isabella play with Caitlin's feet. Isabella was looking at Caitlin's face and said sissy. I was shocked! Thinking it might have been my imagination, I repeated it a few times and each time she said it right back while looking at Caitlin. It just melted my heart. I really didn't think either one of them would say it for a few more months, but they do hear it all of the time so I really shouldn't be so surprised.

They are both talking quite a bit. They both say mama, dada and yeah. Isabella has said bye and we think she said hi a couple of times. Caitlin has said uh-oh and nite, nite - well that one came out more as ni, ni - and bob. Not sure where bob came from. For a couple of weeks Isabella was saying dada all day and night long. It was making her momma a bit crazy. Her first word was mama but after the first week of saying it she rarely does anymore. I am happy she says dada so much since I'm sure it makes Jeff happy, but at 3 am I would rather hear mama than dada, especially when daddy is sound asleep. :)

Cottage cheese = big mistake

2009-04-28T21:44:00.005-06:00

The monkeys have been eating solid foods for some time now. We have been moving fairly slowly with it, but the girls have tried a large variety of meats, fruits and vegetables. So far, they have eaten everything we have given them without any problems, with the exception of some occasional weird expressions when the food has a lot of texture. Until today that is.

We have given them yogurt a few times and they really liked it. So today I thought we would branch out into cottage cheese. Um, yeah, that did not go so well. They both took a few bites with an expression that clearly said they didn't like it. I thought I would keep trying since they were eating it to see if they changed their opinion of it. We got a couple of more bites in before Isabella started trying to spit it out and then started choking. I went to get her out of the high chair to help her get it out. She beat me to it though and cleared it out on her own, along with all of the contents of her stomach. Yuck! I guess we will not be trying cottage cheese again for some time.

On another note, my brother finally decided to visit our blog today. He apparently is having some trouble telling the monkeys apart. In his honor, I am posting a picture of a time when it was really hard to tell them apart. In fact, if you look at their feet, you will see that we left the bands on them just in case we had any problems. (We didn't, but the bands were helpful to the home visit nurses.) This is Sean with the monkeys when they were 8 days old. Caitlin is on the left and Isabella is on the right.

The Zoo

2009-04-25T20:34:00.010-06:00

I took the monkeys to the zoo again yesterday. We met some friends and had a good afternoon. The weather was beautiful, which meant the zoo was really busy. Before the day was over the girls played with a panda, Isabella bit a zebra's ear and Caitlin threw a giraffe. I did manage to take a few pics of the monkeys in action.

Oops! This isn't the zoo! Our mommy was too distracted by the animals to take pictures of us at the real zoo, so we made her do it at our zoo.

Yummy! Zebra ear tastes like chicken.

Look mommy! I can swing a giraffe over my head!

Isabella wants you to know that she saved the giraffe.

Caitlin thinks the zoo is fun!

Bye zoo animals we can't wait to see you again! Bye everyone else - visit us again soon!

Once upon a time...

2009-04-22T23:13:00.009-06:00

Once upon a time I said I would never be a stay at home mom. I thought stay at home parents had an easy life that could not possibly be fulfilling or rewarding. I was so wrong in every respect. I am a stay at home mom. It is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding. It is also one of the hardest things I have ever done.

At this point in my life, I cannot imagine anything more fulfilling or rewarding than the monkeys' smiles and laughter. My heart bursts with joy every time they hold their arms out to me and smile with the anticipation of knowing that I am going to hold them. Each time they learn something new I know that our daily activities have played a significant role in their success. People are always commenting on what happy babies the monkeys are. What can be more rewarding than knowing that I have created the environment that makes them happy?

So how hard can it really be to be a SAHP? I don't think anyone who hasn't been one can truly understand the challenges SAHPs face. I certainly didn't have a clue until I started walking the proverbial mile in my own shoes. Sure working in the professional world is hard. I'm not saying it isn't. But for comparison purposes think about these: (1) at the end of a bad day at work you get to leave the environment and go somewhere fresh; (2) on the rare occasion that someone at work is screaming, it is short lived, it is generally only one person screaming and you can tell yourself what a jerk that person is or just walk away if you need to; and (3) if you fail at your job you can get assistance to improve your performance or, in a worst case scenario, you find a new job. SAHPs face all of these problems on a frequent basis, yet we do not necessarily have those resolutions available to us. We also have to face constant scrutiny from people who think our lives are no more difficult than a casual walk in the park.

A bad day for a SAHP doesn't end at 5:00. We can't walk out of the office and leave the problems behind. There is not a fresh environment for us to go home to. Some days the best we can do is drift off to sleep telling ourselves that at least tomorrow will be a new day. When children scream and cry there are times when we can't make it stop and we never get to walk away. Sure, a screaming baby can be left in a safe place for a few minutes while we take a breather, but, if the baby doesn't calm down during that time, the problem isn't solved and we still have to cope with it. If there is more than one child, there is often more than one screaming child at any given time. So can a SAHP fail? Of course we can. Obviously, we have some of the same correctional options as people in the workforce. The difference is that our failure directly impacts the life of a helpless child, sometimes with lasting effects. We always hope that if we are doing something wrong we will be able to fix it. We don't have a manual to tell us how to do our job though. What if we don't know we are doing something wrong until it is too late to fix it? There is not a greater failure in my mind than one that has a lasting impact on a child's life.

So what brings this on? Well today was an extremely hard day. It was the kind of day that makes me question whether I am cut out for being a SAHP and whether it is in everyone's best interests for me to be one. I haven't had a lot of those kind of days over the last 8+ months, but there have been a few. I've been feeling a great deal of pressure lately to try to be everything to everyone. The reality is that I can't. It just isn't possible. I know this, yet the transition from knowing it to accepting it isn't a quick one. So I'm stressed, not sleeping as much as I need to and just generally creating my own little vicious cycle of daily failure.

Last night I finished studying for the day and headed for bed about 1:30. I accidentally woke the girls up and they wouldn't go back to sleep without a 2 am feeding. I finally headed to bed at 3 am. At 6 am the girls were awake and calling for milk. No biggie, I get up, feed them and put them back down like I usually do. They don't always go to sleep, but they generally play quietly in the crib so I can get another hour or so of sleep. Not today. They fussed and cried until I got them back up. It was all downhill from there. The low point of the morning was hours of them screaming and a momma who couldn't refrain from crying her own tears of extreme fatigue and frustration. I am sure that any mom of multiples will tell you that the hardest part of having multiples is not being able to properly comfort more than one baby at a time. Sometimes we just have to let one cry while we take care of the other one. It is heartbreaking but it is reality. Today it was more reality than I had the strength to cope with. I know that their bad morning was the result of teething. We have been going through the teething phase for some time now and it is starting to wear all of us down. Thank God Isabella's teeth are getting ready to break through. I'm not sure I could survive many more days like today without medicinal help. I probably wouldn't have survived today without my mom's help. Thankfully she didn't have to work today and was able to provide some much needed relief.

What brings me to the conclusion that being a SAHP is the hardest thing I've ever done? Well it isn't just this rough patch. I've haven't met my own performance expectations in any way. I thought I would have a clean house, make excellent meals, do a killer job of sticking to our budget through bargain shopping and provide the monkeys with every possible developmental advantage. I couldn't have been more delusional. First of all, there are two more people in our house now. Two more people to take care of. Being at home during the day time doesn't necessarily provide tons of time to clean and cook. It means that instead of having people here a few hours out of the day to make messes and need meals, there are people here all of the time. That means more to clean and more meals to make. I barely even look at the grocery fliers. I save what money I can, when I can, but I know I could be doing so much more. While I know that I do everything I can for the girls, it never feels like enough. I always feel like I should be doing more physical activities, playing more learning oriented games and just plain hugging them more. Maybe if there was only one of them I would be accomplishing these things. Maybe not. I don't know. What I do know is that I never want to find out the answer to that. All of the stress and feelings of inadequacy could never outweigh the love I feel for our girls.

Do I really have a point in all of this? Yes. In spite of those days when I think it would be so much easier to go back to work full time, I will not do it unless it becomes financially necessary. Finding a way to master being a stay at home mom to our beautiful monkeys is a challenge that I am unbelievably grateful to face. Yes, in some respects it is a privilege. At the same time, it is the most difficult career choice that I ever could have made. I know at the end of the day that I am a great mom. I am not perfect and I never will be. There will be days when I say I really need a drink, even though I rarely have one. The most important thing, though, is that our daughters know that they are loved and that we are doing everything we are capable of doing for them. I know I excel at those two things without a doubt.

Uh-oh mobility is coming.

2009-04-20T23:43:00.008-06:00

The monkeys have been making a lot of motor skills progress over the last couple of weeks.

Isabella is getting her knees up underneath her. She is so cute when she is sitting there on all fours with an expression on her face that says I know there is something more to this but I'm just not sure what it is. A few times she has maneuvered herself over to her super seat and pulled something off of the tray. She is mostly just reaching, but she is showing some signs of starting to pull herself up. She is also doing a great job of standing on the floor with some assistance and unassisted when she is in the exersaucer. She does a great job of sitting and is working on learning how to get back to the floor from a sitting position. She still hasn't figured out how to roll from her tummy to back. The little Houdini has figured out how to roll over within the confines of her sleep positioner. Now it's back to repeatedly going in and turning her over during nap time.

We are so thrilled with the major progress Caitlin is making! We bought a jumperoo to try to get her to put her legs down and start putting some weight on them. It has worked so much better than the exersaucer. We all work with her everyday on the floor too. She is finally starting to stand on her legs a little. She is also starting to roll all over the place on the floor. She is really good at rolling onto her stomach and is pretty good at rolling back over to her back. She does such a better job of staying on her stomach for awhile before she gets upset. She is also starting to put her knees underneath her. She has not really figured out the pushing up on her arms part yet though. It is so great to see her moving around instead of just laying in one spot!

They both reach for everything they can see, especially Isabella. She doesn't give up when she sees something she wants. It's really fascinating to watch the wheels in her head spin as she tries to find new ways to reach her goal. We are going to have to do some serious childproofing soon!

Moving on up.

2009-04-17T21:21:00.015-06:00

I have been feeding the monkeys in their super
seats for the last couple of months. In the beginning it worked out very well and was easier than getting their highchairs out. The feedings over the last few weeks have been much more of a chore as they have been distracted by toys and bending all over the place. Yesterday they moved up to eating in their highchairs. It is so much easier to feed them now that they are strapped into place. The only downside to their cool new chairs is that the straps are made for bigger babies (even on the smallest setting) so they still have a lot of wiggle room.

Today was an eventful day. We are in the middle of a spring snow storm. Fortunately, the snow is mostly melting or we would be buried right now. The flakes were huge and really pretty for a good part of the afternoon.

Isabella's bangs were getting pretty long and straggly so I trimmed them today. If they are not straight, don't blame me. That little monkey will not be still for me! On the funny side, the girls were playing on the floor and Isabella worked her way into Caitlin's space. Caitlin wasn't too happy about Isabella's head being in her way so she gave her a few get-out-of-my-space kicks to the head. Don't worry, the kicks weren't hard enough to hurt - they were just enough to motivate Isabella to move.

Play time with Daddy!

2009-04-15T23:52:00.003-06:00

The monkeys had fun playing with daddy today. First daddy flew Isabella over Caitlin.

Then Caitlin got to fly over Isabella. If you look closely you will see that Isabella apparently thought Caitlin needed some help getting a bat out of the cave.

Then daddy took a breather to admire Caitlin's peacock hair.

I can't believe I own a mini-van.

2009-04-11T21:25:00.010-06:00

We bought a mini-van this week! I always said I would not be a stay at home mom and that there was no way I would ever own a mini-van. Now look at me. I feel like a suburban stereotype. Now I just need a cashmere sweater set and a pearl necklace to wear when I take the girls to soccer practice. :) Alright, so it is not really that bad. I loved my Accord. It was so fun to drive and it was such a sweet looking car. It just was not right for our family. Caitlin's car anxiety was a big motivator to finally give in and make the trade. There just was not much room between the car seats and it was only going to get worse when we made the transition to the convertible car seats. At least now we will be able to take one car when we have visitors. Road trips will be a lot easier too. It took a lot of creativity to pack the Accord for four people for a week, especially when two of them are infants. We will be able to take the kitchen sink with us now :) Seriously, the new van is really nice. It is a 2009 Honda Odyssey. It is a dark blue, although the paint is kind of iridescent so it looks like a Barneymobile in some light and kind of teal in other light. So far, Caitlin seems to be doing much better in it than she did in the car. We think she is able to see out of the windows more, which might be alleviating some of her anxiety.

Here is a picture of the girls from yesterday. The little monkeys are making their momma a bit crazy. I have been sure they are teething for about two and half months now, yet there are still no teeth. If those little buggars do not come through soon, I might have to take a long solo vacation. The monkeys have started drooling excessively the last couple of days so I am hopeful that we are finally getting really close. Please let me be right!

Busy, busy.

2009-04-09T00:51:00.004-06:00

I know, I know, I am slacking on my posts. It has been a really busy week. Trying to balance time with the girls, taking care of the house, my broker classes, car shopping, a meager social life and some contract work is wearing me down. There are some fun things happening that I will have to start catching up on tomorrow. Right now, though, my comfy bed is calling my name.

8 Months!

2009-04-02T20:49:00.004-06:00

Our little monkeys are 8 months old today! I just cannot believe how fast time is passing by.

Isabella

Caitlin

Long day.

2009-04-01T21:42:00.005-06:00

I know that there are rough days for all moms of infants. For a mom of multiples those rough days can be extremely challenging. Today was one of those days. Another mom of multiples once told me that some days simply surviving the day is a success. We survived the day so it must have been a success. Thankfully, every single day the monkeys do something to make my heart burst with joy. Even on the hard days.

A thought about those mythical super wives of the 50's occurred to me today. They always had the perfect martini waiting when their husbands came home because they spent the whole day drinking themselves. If I really thought it would make my house clean, keep my monkeys happy, put dinner on the table and make my appearance polished at 5:00, I would take up the fine art of martini mixing myself :)

Uh oh!

2009-03-31T21:11:00.006-06:00

We spent a long weekend in Estes Park with some friends. It was a great weekend! We always enjoy getting away, even if it is just for a few days. Here are a few pictures of the monkeys enjoying their trip.

Our highlights for the trip are all courtesy of Caitlin. Our little spider monkey said her first word! Jeff and I were naturally hoping it would be momma or dada. No such luck. On Sunday the monkeys were in their pack-n-play babbling away in an effort to stay awake. At one point Jeff went over to give them their pacis and Caitlin said "uh oh." I thought I was just imagining it and laughed and asked Jeff if that was what she said. Sure enough, he heard it too. Out of all of the words she hears everyday, I'm not sure why she chose that one for her first word. I say it quite often when they drop their toys, but they hear momma and dada many more times a day. I guess it puts an end to our momma or dada competition :)

Our other two big events were more anxiety meltdowns for Caitlin. She did fairly well on the way to Estes Park. Up until about 15 miles out of town that is. Then it was a full on meltdown. I think Jeff thought I might have exaggerated how bad they are until he got to see/hear it first hand. Hearing her gagging in the car seat is a scary thing, especially when you can't see her or get to her. By the time we got to the cabin we were both really stressed. It was the same thing on the way home, except this time it started fairly early in the trip. I had to ride most of the way home wedged in between the car seats to keep her calm. We aren't sure how we are going to deal with this problem. I really hope it is a temporary anxiety that passes quickly.

Hi Grandma Pauline!

2009-03-26T20:59:00.005-06:00

Why did I start this blog? My grandmother, who is 86, joined the internet world a couple of months ago. I thought I would try to send her regular emails with updates on the monkeys and pictures of them. I thought it would give her something to look forward to and, more importantly, a reason to actually get on the computer and check for new email. Then I gave myself a reality check. There is a list of friends and family that I have not really sent email updates to since the girls were born. As much as I love my grandma, the odds of me suddenly changing and finding lots of time for sending email just are not there. I was also trying to journal events for the girls in their journals, but I wasn't doing a great job of getting it done regularly. So I decided that a blog was the answer. Now my grandma and all of those other people who I so rarely send messages to can all check up on us any time they want. It is working so well. I know people are checking the blog expecting to see something new and I am finding that I feel really guilty if I don't make a post every few days. It is amazing what a difference a little public accountability makes!

Anyway, I just wanted to point out how incredible it is that my grandma has joined the internet world. Way to go grandma! I know it is hard at her age and I am so proud of her for not letting fear of the unknown stop her. Just to make this post a little extra special for her, I am including a picture of her holding the girls at Thanksgiving. I hope you are enjoying the updates and the pictures of the monkeys!

Separation anxiety

2009-03-24T21:11:00.006-06:00

Caitlin is having some major separation anxiety. She does not want her momma to be out of her sight. Every time I walk out of the room she cries. Sometimes she cries when I am simply on the other side of the room. In one respect it is cute that she loves me so much. In another respect this is a really frustrating development. This is why.

My cousin Stacey was here with a friend last week for spring break. On Thursday, I took Stacey and her friend to the airport. Caitlin started crying on the way home. I knew she was a little tired and thought she would fall asleep like she usually does. I was so wrong. She worked her way into a frantic episode. Caitlin does not get really upset very often, but when she does it is a major event and takes awhile to get her to calm down. This was one of those times and, of course, I was in rush hour traffic and I was alone with the monkeys. As she became more frantic, I kept thinking about the vomiting and choking episode. I was concerned that she was going to work herself into such a frenzy that she would vomit again while I was stuck in traffic with no way to get out and nowhere to pull over. I took the first exit I could and parked to calm her down.

After trying unsuccessfully to get Caitlin to stay reasonably calm with me out of her sight, I eventually had to call Jeff and mom to come get us. She probably would have been ok, but I was too leery to try it after the choking incident. When they finally met up with us (almost 1 1/2 hours after I first stopped), mom sat in the back with the girls and we headed home. Even with mom there, Caitlin was practically inconsolable until we were almost home. As soon as she could see me again she was just fine and didn't cry at all.

Thankfully, there are a lot of sweet moments like the one in this picture where all she wants is to be close to her sissy. These moments make it easy to forget all of our recent car drama.

Going for a walk

2009-03-20T21:38:00.009-06:00

Jeff has been going for a walk after

work as much as he can. He usually takes one of the girls with him if the weather is nice enough. Thursday was Isabella's turn. I put her sweater and hat on so she was ready to go. Then, I put her in her chair to wait while Jeff got the stroller ready. She apparently was not very happy about sitting there all bundled up with nowhere to go. I took this picture right before she let me know exactly how unhappy she was about waiting.

As soon as she was strapped into the

stroller she was all smiles!

While we were getting Isabella ready, our little zen baby Caitlin patiently waited for some quality time with her momma. We spent our alone time reading 8 Little Monkeys, which is one of her favorite books.

Mooommy - Get her off of me!

2009-03-17T22:47:00.007-06:00

Naps? What are naps? No one takes a nap in this house anymore. I keep trying to get the girls to take their naps because they need them and, well, I need those few precious minutes to do fun things like brush my teeth, take a shower, or I don't know maybe eat an actual meal. It took more than an hour to get the monkeys to take an afternoon nap today. I put them down and then had to go in every two minutes to take one of them off of the other one. They have such a fascination with rolling around in the crib and, since they love each other so much, their preferred rolling direction is toward each other. Caitlin has become quite the little tormentor for her sissy.

After the 7th or 8th trip in to free the one being squashed, I finally decided I had to stop their fun and break out the sleep positioners. I doubt they are going to nominate me for the best mom ever award after doing that. They did finally get some sleep so I guess momma won that battle. I know the obvious solution here to get the second crib, but they like to be where they can see and touch each other. We don't have these issues at night time and they do sleep well together then. For now, I think I will just keep taking cute pictures and maybe try eliminating one of their naps.

Why do I keep missing it??

2009-03-15T22:18:00.006-06:00

On Friday the little monkeys were not interested in napping. Again. I left them in their crib in hopes of at least a little nap creeping on up on them. I went in to check on them a little while latter. Caitlin was on her stomach. Caitlin who hates tummy time and will not roll over without someone trying to train her to do it was on her stomach. My first thought was - yay she did it all by herself and she is not crying. My second thought was - you have got to be kidding me. I am with the girls all day, every day. Yet I have somehow missed seeing both of them roll over by themselves for the first time. Isabella did it during play time one day when I stepped out of the room to get something. I came back into the room and there she was on her tummy with an expression that said she didn't really know how she got there. Now Caitlin has done it too. I think I am just going to have to become one of those helicopter moms who never leave their kids alone. There is no other way to keep from missing the firsts. Or maybe there is :)

I didn't get a picture so I will post a couple of pics from times when there were actually taking a nap.

Caitlin at 29 days. Isabella at 26 days.

The Museum

2009-03-11T23:28:00.005-06:00

Our little monkeys took their first trip to the Nature & Science Museum today. We met some friends and spent a few hours walking around. The girls were great! Other than a little I'm hungry fussiness, they spent the whole time taking in the sights and babbling away. I think we will have to go more often.

The monkeys have made some more progress this week. Yesterday Isabella rolled from her stomach to her back for the first time. She is now rolling all over the place. She keeps ending up with her legs trapped under the couch and hasn't figured out how to get them out yet. She gets the cutest expression on her face when she realizes she is stuck. Caitlin rolled from her stomach to back for the first time today. This is great since she really dislikes tummy time. Hopefully she will start rolling off of her tummy when she wants to so she doesn't get so frustrated with tummy time. She is starting to roll to her sides more, but she hasn't quite made it from her back to her stomach without assistance yet. My little babies are getting a little more mobile every day :)

Scariest day of my life.

2009-03-06T22:21:00.008-07:00

Mom and I went shopping with the girls this afternoon. Caitlin started crying a little in the car becuase she was tired and maybe wanted a little more milk than the bottle I had given her in the store. I hoped that she would fall asleep like she ususally does when she is tired and in the car. About half way home she suddenly starts crying really hard. We are in rush hour traffic and I'm trapped in the middle lane. Then I hear something very liquidy and Caitlin started making a really weird noise. I asked my mom if she was choking. Mom asked what I said. Then I realized Caitlin was really choking. I yelled out she's choking! Mom launched herself into the backseat and frantically tried to get Caitlin out of the car seat while yelling at me to pull over. Mom finally got Caitlin out and was able to get her positioned so she could clear her airway.

My baby had vomited and was choking on it and there was nothing I could do. Thank God my mom was with me. That minute when mom was trying to get Caitlin out of the seat was the scariest time of my life. Not being able to get her myself was the most helpless feeling I have ever had. I was so scared that we wouldn't get her out in time. I cried and hugged Caitlin for the longest time when we got home. I'm still shaking thinking about how different the outcome might have been if mom hadn't been with me. Caitlin is ok now. She was laughing and playing before bedtime like nothing had happened. As for me, well I could use a strong drink.

On a much less dramatic note...the monkeys had a play date with 7 other babies today. Most of the babies were born within a few weeks of each other. It was a lot of fun and a lot of chaos! I think the play dates are really starting to have a positive effect the girls' development. Having so much action going on around them when they are on the floor is a big motivator to keep playing instead of trying to get mom and dad to hold them. Both girls sat up unassisted for long stretches while we were there. They seem to like being around other babies and are doing a pretty good job of not staying in their twin bubble. Our pediatrician said its common for twins to only want to play with each other and ignore other babies, so I hope they continue to develop their peer interactions. The big benefit for me is all of the adult interaction. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time with other women at the same stage in their lives.

You are supposed to be sleeping!

2009-03-05T23:21:00.004-07:00

The girls have been showing some night owl tendencies over the last month. Last night was one of those nights. They were up a lot. Most noteably at 1 and 4 when they were wide awake and wanted to play. I oh so foolishly thought I would be able to catch a nap while they were napping today. I guess they did not get that memo. Naps apparently interfere with their bonding time. During one of my many trips into the nursery, this is what I saw:

Isabella has only rolled all of the way over by herself a few times. This is the first time she has done it in the crib. Caitlin clearly wants to keep her sissy as close as she can :)

In other news, Caitlin surprised her momma and sat up unassisted for a couple of minutes during our floor time. She is also gradually starting to like tummy time a bit more, so there is hope that she won't skip crawling. Isabella has really started going after everything around her. She is becoming mobile very quickly. We bought gates today so we have them when we need them. I am not sure I am ready for the fully mobile stage!

The Zoo

2009-03-03T22:58:00.003-07:00

The animal count at the zoo went up by two monkeys today. The weather was beautiful.. in the mid 70's.. so we met a few friends for a walk at the zoo. It was the girls' first visit. I think they liked it even if they didn't see many of the animals. Unfortunately, I did not get to show them what actual monkeys look like. Hopefully we will see the monkeys next time.

I bought them sunglasses yesterday and the girls tried them out today. Isabella's are plaid and Caitlin's have turtles on them. The girls looked so cute! Lots of people walking by commented on how cute they looked. Nice comments always make momma smile :) Caitlin did a pretty good job of leaving her sunglasses on. Isabella considered her sunglasses a mouth accessory and held them there most of the time. Wish I had taken a picture, but I was too distracted and didn't think of it until it was too late. I will try to be better in the future!

7 Months

2009-03-02T22:55:00.006-07:00

Wow, our little monkeys are 7 months old today! Throughout our lives we always hear the old saying about how fast time flies. While I always knew it was true, I did not realize how true until the monkeys arrived. Each month just seems to pass more quickly than the last one. I want to experience all of those wonderful moments that are going to happen as the girls grow up, but at the same time I want them to stay just the way they are forever. They have already changed so much. It makes me so happy to watch them grow and blossom and yet so sad to see a little bit of my babies disappear each day.

On the day we brought them home, Caitlin weighed 3 lbs 14 oz and Isabella weighed 4 lbs 11 oz. At their 6 month check up, Caitlin was up to 13 lbs 6 oz and Isabella was up to 14 lbs 6 oz. Below is a picture of the girls on the day we brought them home (wearing the smallest preemie onesies we had) and one from today.

Us!

2009-02-28T21:50:00.010-07:00

I know, I know, it took me a few days to get our introduction posted. There is always so much to do and so little time to do it all. With no further ado...

I am Alyssa. I am a stay at home mom to two wonderful twin girls. I never thought I would want to be a stay at home mom and now I cannot imagine any other life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to watch our girls grow up. I treasure each day with them and constantly remind myself how precious every fleeting moment is.

My husband is Jeff. He is a Senior Sales Engineer for a major telecom company. He works hard and we love him for it. The girls light up when he walks through the door.

Alyssa and Jeff on our Wedding Day. We were married in January, 2006, following a whirlwind romance. It was a wonderful day filled with friends, family and fun.

Our twin monkeys joined us in August, 2008.

Isabella came first.

Caitlin arrived one minute later.

The arrival of the twins completed our family. I hope that you all enjoy following us as we share the love, laughter and occasional chaos that fill our lives.

Oh my!

2009-02-24T22:09:00.003-07:00

Facebook and a new blog all in the same day. I may never sleep again! Tonight I rest. Tomorrow I will fascinate the world with our introduction.