Where were you at 11:42 am today?
I know where I was.
I was sitting on the floor in the middle of our living room. Two babies were attempting to climb on top of my head, screaming all the while.
Suddenly, the house started to shake. It happens sometimes when an helicopter flies overhead or if a large truck passes in front of our house. Only, there was no helicopter and there was no truck. We were having an earthquake.
I grabbed Gracie and Luke and held them to my chest as the house shook and things started to fall off our bookshelves. My eyes were glued to our entertainment center as I attempted to calculate if it might hit us if it fell. We rode the shaking of the earthquake for a little over 15 seconds. And then, suddenly, it was over.
The phone rang seconds after the shaking stopped and it was Daddy checking to make sure we were okay. The babies continued what they had been doing just prior to the earthquake (i.e. screaming their heads off and trying to push one another off of me). I sat there having to think carefully about my responses to Daddy. Pardon the pun, but I was very shaken up.
Living in Southern California, I've experienced lots of earthquakes. At this point, I am pretty blasé about them. The house will shake a little and I'll stay wherever I am. They'll end and I'm fine. But today was different. Today, I was alone with 2 babies and there were lots of things that could fall on us and hurt us.
In the grand scheme of the world, a 5.8 earthquake is pretty moderate. We are all fine and the only thing that happened was that some things fell from shelves and from our dressers. But I, now a Mommy, am forever changed. I don't ever think I'll be able to experience earthquakes the same ever again.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Word "Vomit" is an Ugly Word
I was going to call this post "Welcome to the Vomitorium," but my friend Kelly used that as the title of one of the posts in her blog in January. Since I am not a plagerizer (I know that isn't a word, but sometimes it is fun to make them up!), I am going with the above title as the warning to all that this will not be pretty. In fact, you may want to skip this one. I am recording it for posterity so that one day, when I need to pull out the "Kid, do you know what I went through for you?!"- card, I have it ready to pull up quickly!
Some one (I don't know who, but if I ever find them they better start praying) got the Twinsies sick. It could have been the lady at Sam's Club who fed them ice cream. Could have been the shopping cart, Lukie decided to use as a teething ring. It could have been the multitude of people who think the Twinsies are their own personal playthings and they can touch-kiss-hug-etc. them. I honestly don't know who got them sick, but because of them, we have spent the past week cleaning up the messes caused by little babies throwing up everything in their tummies and taking multiple showers to try to scrub away the yuckiness and vomity smell.
Lukie got it first. He "exorist-baby" threw up all over Daddy and then did the same to me twice. We thought Gracie had escaped the freaky virus until Saturday when she joined the fun. As of this moment, we have made it 24 hours without anyone losing the bananas, apple sauce or fake-Pedialyte they have consumed today.
I've always felt bad for Mommies who have babies or older children who are sick. Vomit is one of my least favorite things. I have a very vivid memory of a vomit experience when I worked for the YMCA. It was story time and I was reading The Little Mermaid to some 5-year-olds. One of the little girls said, "Jennifer, I don't feel good." Faster than I could react, she leaned forward and threw up all over the book I was reading. My reaction? I threw up all over her. It wasn't pretty.
So far, I've been okay. Let's revisit this when the babies are older and are eating meat. Oh, yeah. That will be fun.
Some one (I don't know who, but if I ever find them they better start praying) got the Twinsies sick. It could have been the lady at Sam's Club who fed them ice cream. Could have been the shopping cart, Lukie decided to use as a teething ring. It could have been the multitude of people who think the Twinsies are their own personal playthings and they can touch-kiss-hug-etc. them. I honestly don't know who got them sick, but because of them, we have spent the past week cleaning up the messes caused by little babies throwing up everything in their tummies and taking multiple showers to try to scrub away the yuckiness and vomity smell.
Lukie got it first. He "exorist-baby" threw up all over Daddy and then did the same to me twice. We thought Gracie had escaped the freaky virus until Saturday when she joined the fun. As of this moment, we have made it 24 hours without anyone losing the bananas, apple sauce or fake-Pedialyte they have consumed today.
I've always felt bad for Mommies who have babies or older children who are sick. Vomit is one of my least favorite things. I have a very vivid memory of a vomit experience when I worked for the YMCA. It was story time and I was reading The Little Mermaid to some 5-year-olds. One of the little girls said, "Jennifer, I don't feel good." Faster than I could react, she leaned forward and threw up all over the book I was reading. My reaction? I threw up all over her. It wasn't pretty.
So far, I've been okay. Let's revisit this when the babies are older and are eating meat. Oh, yeah. That will be fun.
Where do I begin?
Where do I begin, my first post.
My beautiful wife is my rock and she captures my soul, but ever since the wonder twins have arrived, they both each take my heart, life, but my soul will always be my wife's.
I am so in love the Gracie & Lucas that when people ask me about them my heart beats faster and faster, to know how excited I am about them and tell the world about our beautiful children are, God has truly blessed us well and continues to every single moment of every single day.
My words cannot express the joy and happiness our Twinkies bring to us.
More to come from Papa Bear!
My beautiful wife is my rock and she captures my soul, but ever since the wonder twins have arrived, they both each take my heart, life, but my soul will always be my wife's.
I am so in love the Gracie & Lucas that when people ask me about them my heart beats faster and faster, to know how excited I am about them and tell the world about our beautiful children are, God has truly blessed us well and continues to every single moment of every single day.
My words cannot express the joy and happiness our Twinkies bring to us.
More to come from Papa Bear!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Grown up Car Seats
Two weeks ago, the Twinsies donated their matching infant seats to the brand new twin grandchildren of Sonia. The infant seats were fantastic and have been with us since the very beginning. In fact, they were given to the Twinsies by their Aunt Bec and Aunt Kristen when I was in the hospital.
They probably could have stayed in their infant seats until after they are one year old (they are tiny!), but we decided that the new twins needed the seats more than we did.
I did a lot of research and decided to buy the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 car seats. They are slimmer than most car seats and fold flat when you need to store them. They were kind of expensive, but we needed to be able to fit 2 babies in the back seat of my car and allow space for an adult back there. Of course, the day after I bought them, Nana found the Eddie Bauer car seats at Sam's Club for $99 each. Those are so cool that they hold kids up to 100 pounds. We decided to put those in Daddy's car (that is a story for an whole other post).
Here is what the Twinsies look like in their new fancy car seats. They love sitting next to each other and they can play without having to reach over stuff.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Our First Visit to Sears
Since our private photo shoot in November, we haven't seen a professional photographer. Gracie and Luke's aunts and Nana have been after us to take the babies somewhere to get their pictures taken. They even (kind of) joked that they would hijack the babies and get their pictures taken with out us.
Today, we went to Sears and had the babies' pictures taken (officially). It was quite a challenge as they are super-mobile and interested in everything new! Claudia, our photographer, told me that she had a new workout to do every day: chase after my Twinsies!
Gracie wasn't sure she wanted her picture taken. Whether it was the strange noises Claudia was making to get them to smile (I don't make those sounds) or if it was having to stay still for extended periods of time, Gracie was having none of it. If it weren't for Claudia's quick trigger finger and a lot of crawling around to put Gracie back on the X, there would not be a single picture of Gracie-Lu-Who!
So for all of you who have been dying for some professional photos, enjoy!
Today, we went to Sears and had the babies' pictures taken (officially). It was quite a challenge as they are super-mobile and interested in everything new! Claudia, our photographer, told me that she had a new workout to do every day: chase after my Twinsies!
Gracie wasn't sure she wanted her picture taken. Whether it was the strange noises Claudia was making to get them to smile (I don't make those sounds) or if it was having to stay still for extended periods of time, Gracie was having none of it. If it weren't for Claudia's quick trigger finger and a lot of crawling around to put Gracie back on the X, there would not be a single picture of Gracie-Lu-Who!
So for all of you who have been dying for some professional photos, enjoy!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
1000th Visitor - ME!
I know I shouldn't count myself as a visitor, but surprise! The web counter on the blog turned 1000 when I came to look at some comments. I can't believe there are that many people who are interested in reading about the Twinsies.
Actually...
I can!
Actually...
I can!
Monday, July 14, 2008
A funny video I had to post
This weekend, we stayed with Nana. The Twinsies managed to make it past the dam we built with boxes and ice chests and started crawling around the kitchen. Luke loves to play with plastic bags.
This one liked to play with him!
This one liked to play with him!
Bilingual Babies
We decided early on that we wanted Gracie and Luke to speak English and Spanish. Luckily, we have 2 experts who can teach them Spanish: Grandma and Grandpa. From January until June, Grandma and Grandpa spent hours and hours talking to babies in Spanish, reading to them in Spanish, and playing with them in Spanish. Now, Grandma and Grandpa are only coming once a week, but the Spanish has stuck.
It was only a matter of time before the babies started speaking Spanish.
Gracie's official first word was "itty." Which, in Gracie language, means kitty. Her second official word, if you don't count "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma", was "eera." She says this while pointing, so we are translating it to mean "mira." For those of you who don't speak Spanish, "mira" means "look!" Gracie loves to point at things and say "eera!"
I'm so excited that they understand Spanish. They will crawl toward us when we say, "Ven! (Come!)" Daddy is practicing Spanish with the babies every day.
I speak English to them and make sure to give them English words for each Spanish word they hear.
But now I wonder...Do my babies speak English or Spanish?
It was only a matter of time before the babies started speaking Spanish.
Gracie's official first word was "itty." Which, in Gracie language, means kitty. Her second official word, if you don't count "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma", was "eera." She says this while pointing, so we are translating it to mean "mira." For those of you who don't speak Spanish, "mira" means "look!" Gracie loves to point at things and say "eera!"
I'm so excited that they understand Spanish. They will crawl toward us when we say, "Ven! (Come!)" Daddy is practicing Spanish with the babies every day.
I speak English to them and make sure to give them English words for each Spanish word they hear.
But now I wonder...Do my babies speak English or Spanish?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Who's Hair
Gracie-Lu-Who has amazing hair! Not only is it very soft, but it is in the most fantastic style. People pay tons of money for hair like hers. This would be wonderful if we actually wanted her hair to look this way.
Most times, we simply hide her crazy, spikey hair with headbands.
Other times, we try hair products. They simply don't work. We usually get about 5 minutes of tame, flat style before it bounces right back up!
But lately, her hair has gotten out of control. Aunt Bec suggested we just go with it and accentuate the positive. What do you think?
Most times, we simply hide her crazy, spikey hair with headbands.
Other times, we try hair products. They simply don't work. We usually get about 5 minutes of tame, flat style before it bounces right back up!
But lately, her hair has gotten out of control. Aunt Bec suggested we just go with it and accentuate the positive. What do you think?
Friday, July 11, 2008
Why won't my babies nap?
I was so looking forward to being at home. I had images of our day: waking up with them smiling at me, breakfast, playing with babies , half hour to hour long naps, playing some more, lunch, a walk or two, another nap, playing, dinner, bath, bed. They were very detailed images.
Why wasn't I warned that my babies don't nap?!
Some days, the babies will sleep for an hour. Other days, I can get them to sleep for 2! The secret is that these are the days we are in the car for long lengths of time. Put us in our house and forget it! They won't sleep for anything.
We are currently on day 2 of a nap strike. They are clearly tired. Clearly can't keep their eyes open. And yet, they won't sleep unless they are in the car or being held.
You can only imagine the problems this causes. We can't drive anywhere because both of our cars only get about 20 miles to a gallon. If I hold one baby, I can't hold the other (they like to touch each other and keep waking each other up).
So, what are we to do? Help!!!! Tell me there is light at the end of the Nap Strike Tunnel!
Why wasn't I warned that my babies don't nap?!
Some days, the babies will sleep for an hour. Other days, I can get them to sleep for 2! The secret is that these are the days we are in the car for long lengths of time. Put us in our house and forget it! They won't sleep for anything.
We are currently on day 2 of a nap strike. They are clearly tired. Clearly can't keep their eyes open. And yet, they won't sleep unless they are in the car or being held.
You can only imagine the problems this causes. We can't drive anywhere because both of our cars only get about 20 miles to a gallon. If I hold one baby, I can't hold the other (they like to touch each other and keep waking each other up).
So, what are we to do? Help!!!! Tell me there is light at the end of the Nap Strike Tunnel!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Feeding Ourselves
Dear Mommy and Daddy (or Papa or Dad or whatever it is we are calling you),
We are sick and tired of formula. We are 10 months old now and we don't need it as much. And the purees? They are so 4 months ago!
When are you two going to go with the flow and start feeding us table foods? We each have 6 teeth now. That is plenty to eat spaghetti with. Those green bean things are fun too. We love our Baby Mum Mums. Give us more of those!
Lots of love,
Gracie and Luke
What happens when Twinsies are allowed to feed themselves:
We are sick and tired of formula. We are 10 months old now and we don't need it as much. And the purees? They are so 4 months ago!
When are you two going to go with the flow and start feeding us table foods? We each have 6 teeth now. That is plenty to eat spaghetti with. Those green bean things are fun too. We love our Baby Mum Mums. Give us more of those!
Lots of love,
Gracie and Luke
What happens when Twinsies are allowed to feed themselves:
Pool Time for Babies!
Monday, July 7, 2008
What do your babies eat? Mine eat bugs.
Most babies eat squash, carrots, apples, pears...you know, the normal foods. My babies eat these and much more!
Oh, we aren't talking about the Baby Mum-Mums or the Gerber Puffs. We aren't talking about the Wagon Wheels, rice cereal, or even oatmeal. Nope. My babies eat anything they can get their hands on.
This includes (but is not limited to):
carpet fibers
plastic food wrappers
baby blocks
June bugs
June bugs, you ask? Yes. Apparently, they are all the rage among the 10 month old set!
This past weekend, we spent two nights at Nana's. We had lots of fun activities, including our first bout with a major virus. On Saturday morning, we were hanging out and enjoying the fact that we weren't ill for the moment, when I noticed that I did not see Gracie in the general vicinity. Now, this does not normally worry me immediately. Gracie is a very fast crawler and likes to find places to hide.
So, I called out her name and there was no response. I got up from my chair and found Luke trying to push his way past the Baby Dam into the kitchen. No sign of Gracie.
I looked down the hallway, thinking perhaps she was going for the long distance medal. Nope, no Gracie.
It was then that I saw my tiny sprite sitting on her knees by the screen door. She looked intent upon something, but I was not immediately suspicious. That is, until I noticed that her jaw was moving as if she were eating something.
I headed over, ready to swipe my finger through her mouth to pull out whatever paper or carpet fiber she had shoved into her mouth when I noticed a slimy June Bug carcass on the floor in front of her. Now, the June Bug was not new. I saw it when we came through the door the day before. I remember thinking that I should pick the thing up and throw it away. Right. I thought that. I did not do it.
Just as I was about ask Gracie what she had in her mouth, she opened her mouth and spat out the insides of the empty June Bug shell.
Now, I am sure you have several questions, among them being:
Yuck! Didn't she know it was a bug? Um, right. She's 10 months old. Everything is food to her.
Eek! What do June Bug insides look like? Well, they are hard to describe. The best I can do is refer you to those Polynesian noodles. You know, the clear ones.
Yikes! Did you clean her mouth out with bleach??!!! I don't think that is really advisable. I'm sure Dr. Anderson would not have appreciated meeting us at the emergency room for bleach in the mouth.
After I calmed down, I picked Gracie up and said, "Gracie, no! Bugs are not for eating!" (Brilliant, I know.) I complained a lot to Nana, the woman I felt was certainly to blame for my baby girl eating a June Bug. I panicked, thinking, "Holy cow. That thing was dead. What if it died from the horse fly killing pesticide Nana uses!?!?!"
Nana, of course, thought this was all hysterical and tried to calm me down by saying that the June Bug was dead because it did a kamikaze type dive into the screen door. She was just saying that to avoid the blame for letting her granddaughter die from June Bug venom. (Okay. That was an exaggeration.)
Daddy tried to calm me down by saying that people all over the world eat bugs every day. Right, Daddy! They aren't my baby girl!
Then, Daddy tried to say that I would pass out if I knew all the things he ate when he was a little boy. He even listed some of them. Gross! I SO did not need to hear that list.
In the end, I swiped Gracie's mouth to make sure that there wasn't antennae or something like that in her mouth, cleaned her up with a wipie, and made her drink some Pedialyte. I know, so anticlimactic. But what else would you have me do?
The good news is that Gracie is still alive. No rashes, strange things growing from her head, or anything like that. She lives to eat something else she isn't supposed to sometime soon.
That is if I let her out of my sight!
Oh, we aren't talking about the Baby Mum-Mums or the Gerber Puffs. We aren't talking about the Wagon Wheels, rice cereal, or even oatmeal. Nope. My babies eat anything they can get their hands on.
This includes (but is not limited to):
carpet fibers
plastic food wrappers
baby blocks
June bugs
June bugs, you ask? Yes. Apparently, they are all the rage among the 10 month old set!
This past weekend, we spent two nights at Nana's. We had lots of fun activities, including our first bout with a major virus. On Saturday morning, we were hanging out and enjoying the fact that we weren't ill for the moment, when I noticed that I did not see Gracie in the general vicinity. Now, this does not normally worry me immediately. Gracie is a very fast crawler and likes to find places to hide.
So, I called out her name and there was no response. I got up from my chair and found Luke trying to push his way past the Baby Dam into the kitchen. No sign of Gracie.
I looked down the hallway, thinking perhaps she was going for the long distance medal. Nope, no Gracie.
It was then that I saw my tiny sprite sitting on her knees by the screen door. She looked intent upon something, but I was not immediately suspicious. That is, until I noticed that her jaw was moving as if she were eating something.
I headed over, ready to swipe my finger through her mouth to pull out whatever paper or carpet fiber she had shoved into her mouth when I noticed a slimy June Bug carcass on the floor in front of her. Now, the June Bug was not new. I saw it when we came through the door the day before. I remember thinking that I should pick the thing up and throw it away. Right. I thought that. I did not do it.
Just as I was about ask Gracie what she had in her mouth, she opened her mouth and spat out the insides of the empty June Bug shell.
Now, I am sure you have several questions, among them being:
Yuck! Didn't she know it was a bug? Um, right. She's 10 months old. Everything is food to her.
Eek! What do June Bug insides look like? Well, they are hard to describe. The best I can do is refer you to those Polynesian noodles. You know, the clear ones.
Yikes! Did you clean her mouth out with bleach??!!! I don't think that is really advisable. I'm sure Dr. Anderson would not have appreciated meeting us at the emergency room for bleach in the mouth.
After I calmed down, I picked Gracie up and said, "Gracie, no! Bugs are not for eating!" (Brilliant, I know.) I complained a lot to Nana, the woman I felt was certainly to blame for my baby girl eating a June Bug. I panicked, thinking, "Holy cow. That thing was dead. What if it died from the horse fly killing pesticide Nana uses!?!?!"
Nana, of course, thought this was all hysterical and tried to calm me down by saying that the June Bug was dead because it did a kamikaze type dive into the screen door. She was just saying that to avoid the blame for letting her granddaughter die from June Bug venom. (Okay. That was an exaggeration.)
Daddy tried to calm me down by saying that people all over the world eat bugs every day. Right, Daddy! They aren't my baby girl!
Then, Daddy tried to say that I would pass out if I knew all the things he ate when he was a little boy. He even listed some of them. Gross! I SO did not need to hear that list.
In the end, I swiped Gracie's mouth to make sure that there wasn't antennae or something like that in her mouth, cleaned her up with a wipie, and made her drink some Pedialyte. I know, so anticlimactic. But what else would you have me do?
The good news is that Gracie is still alive. No rashes, strange things growing from her head, or anything like that. She lives to eat something else she isn't supposed to sometime soon.
That is if I let her out of my sight!
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