Glasses for two

Other than her eyes, Gracie does not resemble me one bit. And to be honest, her eye color is very much her Daddy's so even those don't look like me. One thing we both have in common is that we are now both the proud owners of glasses.

Apparently, we both read a lot.

One Step Closer to Christmas

I haven't mailed our Christmas cards. One moment it was Thanksgiving and, today, I looked at the calendar and it is December 12! Where did the time go?

I sat down tonight to try to get them started and realized none of my attempts at photos of Gracie and Luke have gone well. So, I decided to see if I could digitally scrap something together. This is our Christmas picture to be included with our cards (at least when I get them done):


If you usually get a Christmas Card from us, keep your eyes open for this crazy creation!

Finally, A Family Portrait

For quite some time, I've wanted to have a family portrait done. There are very few pictures of me with the Twinsies and only two of Daddy, the Twinsies and me. The last time we had Gracie and Lukie's pictures taken, we went to Sears. Actually, the last two times we had their pictures taken, we went to Sears. The first trip was easier than the second. There's something hard about walking 13 month olds and trying to take pictures.

This time, we went to a different place. A Place That Will-Not-Be-Named. Our experience there was terrible. Part of the reason was the horrible traffic caused by everyone and their duck driving out of town for Thanksgiving, making us 30 minutes late for our appointment and reaching into the "I don't want to listen right now" part of our evening. Part of the reason was that Gracie and Lukie wanted to run around. And, part of the reason was that our photographer would not take a picture unless everyone was smiling. Dude! Two year-olds don't smile all the time. Get over it! I have.

Long story short, I needed an alcoholic beverage after the thing was over. For all the trauma we went through, there were only 10 usable pictures. Here are 3 of them:

Mommy, Daddy, Gracie and Lukie

Lukie and Mommy

Gracie and Daddy

While we were waiting for our pictures to print, we went to Red Robin and had french fries and other dippable foods. I had an iced tea instead of the Pina Colada I was craving.

I don't think we will be going to have our pictures taken again any time soon.

I will remember this day

I'm too sick to be witty.  I feel like I'm ready to pass out.

I just want to make sure to record this. 

Lucas just told me, "I love you, Mommy."

It was the first time. Ever.

You won't catch me wearing one of these again!

Today, we had a Halloween Parade at school.  The Math Department and I went as the Von Trapp Family from the Sound of Music. 

See the nun?  That's me! 

 

We rented the costumes, so we aren't too cool, but we were cute and Von Trappy.  

Check back tomorrow to see if Gracie and Luke actually let me put them in their pirate costumes!

A Public Thank You to Daddy

Today, I woke up to the sound of pounding on a door and "Momma! Mommmmmmy!" Well, that isn't entirely true. Daddy shoved me first and said, "The babies are awake." Then, I heard the pounding of the door and my name being called. So, I dragged myself out of bed and opened their door. They almost tackled me in their excitement about escaping.

The first five minutes with Gracie and Luke are among my favorite moments all day. They are blissfully happy to see us, as if the time they were sleeping was a million years and they couldn't stand the time apart. Smiles, hugs, laughter. It's a wonderful five minutes.

And then someone hits the other one and our day truly begins.

As evidenced by yesterday's post, I am very close to the edge emotionally. I've never been good at accepting my faults and since I am my own worst critic, my faults have been many lately. This morning, after milk was thrown at the floor one too many times and Lucas managed to find my bottle of antibacterial lotion, open it, and dump it all over himself, the living room floor and the kitchen (somehow missing the carpet between the two rooms), I told Daddy I needed him to get out of bed and help me or I was going to lose it.

Now, I don't think I really would have lost it, but he's seen me getting closer and closer to a marathon cry over the past few days. I have been feeling more and more anxious, depressed and, generally, unhappy. It's just sad that I feel like this when I am so BLESSED to have my beautiful Twinsies.

When Daddy realized that I was at a critical point, he arranged for Lukie to hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's house and he took Gracie with him to his doctor's appointment. He did not say when he would be back. I figured they would be gone for only a few hours. So, I rushed to put Gracie and Luke's new table together, wash some clothes, do some dishes, and fix the front yard a bit. Before I knew it, it was noon and there was no sign of Daddy and the Twinsies. I actually watched All My Children and called Nana because I could not believe they were doing a story line where a baby boy is being dressed as a girl to keep him hidden from his real dad. I can only imagine the story lines to come for Baby Trevor!

Hours continued to pass and no call from Daddy, no sign of the van. So, I cleaned out my purse, paid some bills, and did a few other things around the house. I have to admit that while I was keeping an eye out for my family, I was enjoying my time puttering around the house. Who knew housework could make you so happy!

Finally, around 3 pm, Daddy pulled into the driveway. Gracie was awake, minus a shoe, and Lukie was passed out with his mouth hanging open. Gracie and I went inside and Daddy offered to go get me some lunch so that Lukie would sleep longer. When they got back, I attempted to put Lukie in his room so that he could sleep more, but it didn't work. As soon as he realized I was holding him, he would not let me go.

I'm not going to write about the hours since Daddy left to go to dialysis. They were hard and there were a few moments that I had to do some deep breathing exercises. But, there were also some lovely and fun moments involving spray bottles, the new Twinsie Table and a warm afternoon.

So, Thank You, Daddy! Thank you for my few hours to recharge my batteries and have a breather. It was a lovely gift and I really needed it!

This parenting thing

I started this blog as a memory book for Gracie and Luke. I knew I would not be one of those mommies who keep meticulous baby books and have locks of hair taped into albums. I couldn't even keep up with my pregnancy journal past the 18th week! I try to make sure that the posts I include here are about them and about things in their lives.

Occasionally, though, I need to take a moment to share my thoughts on being a parent. In 30 or so years, Gracie or Luke will come to me with questions about dealing with a toddler who won't eat their peas or bites her brother or who splashes water all over the bathroom. By that time, I will be a grandmother with the rosy-colored glasses that all grandparents have when they look at their grandkids. Looking at my grandchild or grandchildren, I may not be able to recall the trauma of my own children's early days. I may not be able to give them words of wisdom past, "Love, this will pass. All toddlers do this."

Hopefully, when they come to me, this blog will still be in existence and they can come here to read my "in the moment" thoughts on dealing with the day to day challenges of almost 22 month olds. Maybe the blog will help them where time and my rose-colored glasses will not.

Toddlers are crazy creatures. They are daredevils, organizers, joyous and playful. They are also shy, destructive, moody, and violent. They go from knowing exactly what they want one moment to inconsolable crying the next. They are impulsive and are the reason some mommies start to drink. I know. I have a glass of wine every other night. If you know me, you know this is a HUGE thing.

This time has become a series of challenges. The challenges never seem to end, simply keep piling on top of one another. Mostly it is because Gracie and Luke are testing their environment. For the better part of a year and a half, it's been all about them. During that time, they would cry, we would jump to get them food, change a diaper, or help them fall asleep. Now, we expect them to entertain themselves for 5 minutes and they fall apart. They jump on a bed because it is fun and we stop them, ending their fun. Again, they fall apart.

Every day, these little tests drive me to the brink. I suspect, although I will never know, that one toddler may be easier to deal with. Two is trying and difficult and exhausting. I've been in a constant battle of the wills since January. According to some experts, I have about 14 more months to go. Right.

The thing is, as challenging as this time is, as frustrated as I get, as painful as it has been, I know we are living this for a reason. Gracie and Luke are learning how to interact with the world and are learning what their boundaries are. This is a critical time for them and my response to everything that happens is very important. I'm teaching them what is acceptable and what is not.

Here's what I've learned:

• There are some battles that aren't worth the fight. Gracie and Luke destroy the living room every day. The chaos makes my brain hurt. Instead of worrying about it and getting mad at them, I'm constantly making games out of cleaning up. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but we're working on it.
• Bedtime is a constant battle, but that's because I let it get that way. I've been so worried about leaving Gracie and Luke alone to go to sleep, that I've given them the distraction of ME to keep them awake. The last 3 weeks have been atrocious and it wasn't until I had had enough of the trauma that I remembered what my sleep books said. Gracie and Luke are old enough to go to sleep by themselves. Once I remembered that and let them do it, they finally learned that when you are tired it means go to sleep. They also learned a critical lesson: When Mommy says it is time to do something, she means business and she WILL follow through.
• Just because they don't eat the food I make right now, doesn't mean they won't eat it in a few hours or tomorrow. I used to take it personally that they would not eat my food. Now I know to cover it up and put it away for the next meal.
• Hitting is a constant thing in our home. My first instinct is to run and stop them, but I realized that hitting escalates when they are tired, so it is my job to anticipate tired babies. The hitting is also something they have to figure out for themselves in their relationship. I can help them with the aftermath (gentle hands, saying sorry, and hugs), but Gracie and Luke need to understand that they are hurting one another. It sounds so counter intuitive, but it isn't. If they hit me or use an object to hit the other one, I need to make sure to stop them, but the more I overreact, the more it will continue.
• Consequences, while difficult to enforce, are critical right now. No matter how tired I am, I have to let Gracie and Luke know that negative behavior results in a consequence. As a result, we've had some 3 minute baths recently because they think they can splash water all over the bathroom just like when they are in the pool. They hate getting out early, but slowly, they are realizing that I mean business and that when they do something I tell them they cannot do, I will remove them from the situation. Some day, I won't have to do this any more. I think they'll be 36 years old by then.

Mixed in with all of these challenges have been so many funny and exciting moments. The words are coming fast and furious. The new skills they are demonstrating are fantastic. The new developments in their personalities are so much fun.

When things get bad (i.e. Lukie has just slammed a metal measuring cup into Gracie's forehead), I deal with the situation and then cuddle them close. Because, really, it's all about loving them in the end. No matter how frustrating they are, no matter how much I want to cry, everything I do for them is my love for them.

Everything.

Busy Day

I took my life in my own hands today and took Gracie and Luke out on a walk. In the real world. Where there are streets. And speeding cars. By myself.

Did I mention the cars?

My Baby Center weekly update suggested taking them for a walk and watching what they would do. First, I am not into torture. It is important to state that. I also know that my children are predictable in their unpredictability. Something will go wrong and it will inevitably involve Lucas.

I decided to try and minimize the damage by thinking the walk out carefully. I decided to have them "drive" their cars so that they were focused on the cars instead of that, WHOA! Look at that shiny thing!

See? That's what it is like.



They did really well, until, as expected, we turned around to head home. That is when Luke decided he did not want to ride his car any more and Gracie agreed. They held hands for about 30 feet before Luke was distracted by something and Gracie caught site of a flower. They took off in opposite directions and it was that moment when I had to make a split second decision.


Twin moms will understand this decision. Which one of them is in more imminent danger? In our case, the answer 99.9% of the time is Luke. He has very little impulse control when it comes to shiny things and the chances of him dashing out into the street were high. So, I looked toward my running daughter and determined that she would not make a dive between cars to cross the street and took off the other direction to grab Luke. After catching him, I carried him, the two abandoned cars, and eventually, held Gracie's hand until we got back to the apartment building.

In all, it was pretty exciting. I think it wore me out more than them!

We also spent 3 hours playing with Grandma Rosi's new puppy, Oreo. Well, technically, it is Gracie and Luke's dog, but since Grandma Rosi is paying for him and he is living at her house, it makes him her dog. Gracie and Luke are still trying to decide if they like Oreo. He is the size of one of my hands and mostly just shakes and licks people. Good times!

It's like herding cats

The first time I heard the phrase, "It's like herding cats," it took me a few seconds to picture the idea in my head and see how it applied to the situation. Not surprisingly, it made absolute sense. Cats have their own agendas. They do what they want to do, not what you hope they'll do. Cats will sidestep you quickly if you try to direct them where you want them to go. They might even bite or swat at you if they get really annoyed.

Getting my children out the door is like herding cats. First, all they care about is food. See? Cats. I hear the word "cracker" within the first 5 minutes after they wake up. It's like clockwork.

"Good morning, my Lukiloo! How are you this morning?"
kiss. kiss. snuggle. snuggle. kiss.
"Cracka? Cracka? Cracka? Cracka?" This continues until I get up and get the requested cracker.

"Good morning, my Gracie-Lu-Who! How are you this morning?"
kiss. snuggle. kiss. kiss.
"Agua? Agua? Agua? Agua?" This continues until I get up and get the requested water.

We'll watch Barney for as long as they can while I get dressed. It is then that the herding begins.

"Okay! Diaper time. Lukie, let's change your diaper! Do you have potty? Let Mommy change your diaper. Come here! Lukie, come on. Diaper!"

I usually end up going over and picking him up. Raggs the Dog usually keeps him occupied long enough for me to get the diaper changed. Then, the process is repeated with Gracie. If there is poop in her diaper, Oh, Good Gravy! I have to chase her around the house.

"No, no, no, no! No poo poo! No poo poo!" she says as she runs from me.

Diapers changed, we move on to the next task.

"Okay! Everyone get your shoes! Get your shoes. Gracie, where are your shoes? Lukie! Shoes." This one sided conversation continues until I go across the room, sit down on the floor next to the shoe basket and choose their shoes for them. The kicker? They love to put shoes on and will do it for a half an hour while playing. But when I want them to put on the shoes, they won't!

Next, we need to make it to the stroller. The stroller is the safest way to corral wandering cats toddlers.

"Okay, let's get in the stroller."

"Cracka?" says one twin.
"Agua?" says the other twin.
"Papa?" says the first twin.

"If you want to see Papa, let's get in the stroller! Oooh! And Tio Martin and Grandma. Stroller? Stroller, where are you?!"

It starts again.

"Cracka?"

"Agua?"

"Come on, let's go!" I say in a cheerful voice.

"Beeeen? Beeeeen?" A twin falls on the floor. "Beeeeeeeeeeeeen!" the twin wails.

"Where's your binky, Lucas?"

"Beeeeee? Beeeee?" cries the other twin.

"Gracie, where's your binky?"

After 5 minutes of looking and crying, I go to the Binky Drawer. Crisis averted, twins are settled in their seats (with seatbelts...and binkies).

"Okay! Here we go!" And off we go, Twinsies leaning out the side of the stroller trying to reach walls or rip leaves off of plants.

Occasionally, we have to stop for a thrown binky or a dropped shoe, which is amazing because it is 47 steps to our car. I know. I counted. How can they manage to reak so much havoc in such a short distance?

On the days when I bravely choose to leave the stroller in the car, Lukie gets held and Gracie holds my hand (and has to be reminded to keep holding it).

Once we get to the car, I have exactly 2 minutes to get everyone strapped in and get the car turned on so Barney can sing. If not, the crying commences.

"Oh! Truck!" says Gracie, hearing the trash truck coming down the alley.

"Yes, truck," I reply distractedly, trying to strap her in.

"Ooo! Ooo!" exclaims Lukie, trying to turn around in the stroller so that he can catch a glimpse.

"Agua?" says Gracie.

"You can have some water at Grandma's house, Gracie."

"Aaaaagua?" she begins to wail.

"At Grandma's house," I sing.

"Noooooooooooo! Aaaaagua!"

"At Grandma's." I close her door and reach for Lucas.

"Ooo! Uh. Uh."

"What are you looking at Lukie?"

"Uh. Uh."

"Use your words."

"Uh." I look up and see a plane.

"Oh, an airplane. Hi, airplane!" I buckle him in and dodge the books Gracie is now throwing at me.

"Let's go!" I say and climb in. Barney turns on and off we go.

This process is repeated when we arrive at Grandma's house. Only occasionally do I have to chase one of them down the street as they go looking for the lion statues or the dogs.

Cats. It's like herding cats.

My Gracie and Luke

Gracie and Lukie,

The past few days have been pretty hard for me. I'm having a hard time with some things that have happened lately and it makes me treasure you all the more. I've stayed in bed with you longer at night and hugged you close while we sit on the floor. I've given you Popsicles because they make you happy and carried your stuffed doggies into day care so that you feel safer and more secure when I arrive to pick you up.

These are some pictures that make me happy.






I love you.

My First Mother's Day Gift from the Twinsies

I wasn't expecting anything. Maybe that's why the sight of my Twinsies walking toward me, smiles from ear to ear, carefully holding little glass jars was so wonderful. Add to that that they
were so enthralled by holding their gifts for me that no one cried while I signed them out of day care. It would bring tears to anyone's eyes.

In their hands, Gracie and Luke cradled their first Mother's Day art projects for me:

If I am interpreting this correctly, their hand prints are the flowers and the little jars, decorated with their pictures, are the flower vases or pots. The pictures are from Gracie and Luke's favorite activity: playing with corn starch. (I've never witnessed this, but I have been told multiple times that they adore it.)

My Mothers Day flower pots are currently sitting atop the cable box. Anywhere else and I suspect they would not last very long. Gracie and Luke were very excited about them!

Thank you, Gracie and Luke, for my beautiful gifts!

I'm seriously in love with my new design!

Normally, I wouldn't comment on this, but I am so excited about the new layout I designed that I have to say something. I've been working hard learning how to customize Gracie and Luke's blog so that it will look fun and happy. Some of my designs have been a little off, but this one is so wonderful!

I used a digital scrapbooking kit by a designer named Ellie Lash. All of her designs are so adorable and when I saw this kit, I had to have it. Gracie and Luke are in love with anything that vrooooms, whirs, or honks. All I hear in the car is "Oh, ruck!" when they see a truck. So you can see why I love this one.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

In need of a fairy godmother

Have you ever had one of those lifetimes days where you were ready to throw in the towel, leave all your worldly possessions, and hop a freighter to a foreign land?

You know you have.

I feel like I've had 6 months worth of those days.

I'm working hard to come up with my blessings today. However, after having been treated unkindly by the nurses at Eddie's hospital, not being able to contact the contractor I hired for the fixing of our house, and having my children hit me, pull my hair, and take an hour and 15 minutes to finally settle into sleep, I'm ready for the high seas and I dare any pirates to try to take me!

We seem to go through cycles. One moment, things look quite rosy. We are in a great pattern of sleep, eating well, etc. And then, wham! Everything gets smashed to smithereens. Gracie, Luke and I were on a great schedule during Spring Break. That darn Healthy Sleep Habits author was totally right about never waking a sleeping child. We had 12 hours of sleep (well, the twins did) and everyone was nice to me (even when they had the stomach flu) during Spring Break. Now that I am back to work and am waking Gracie and Luke a half an hour before they are ready to get up, they are pains in the booty. They fight me at bed time, hit and bite each other. It's pretty ugly.

What I need is a fairy godmother. I don't need Prince Charming, although, some fairy dust on Daddy might be wonderful if it helps him get better soon. I need a fairy godmother who will come to the temporary abode and wave her magic wand to make the clothes, food embedded in the carpet, the piles of toys and random other things magically organize and store themselves so that I don't have to do them. Unfortunately, 1) there is nowhere to store this magically organized stuff and 2) there's no such thing as a fairy godmother.

It would be quite lovely, though.

Tomorrow, Nana is going to kidnap us and take us to Palm Springs. There is a Mexican restaurant there with this very happy chipotle chicken salad. My stomach is growling just thinking of it. Auntie Ten Ten and Nate are coming, too.

Maybe my fairy godmother will show up while we are gone.

Hey, a girl can wish!

19 Months Old

Dear Gracie and Luke,

It may seem odd that I am writing these letters to you each month. Daddy and I swore we would not be the kind of parents who obsessed over monthly "birthdays." But so much is happening with you that I want to make sure I share it with you in these letters. I want you to know when you started doing certain things and how much more they made me love you!

This past month has been a whirlwind. It seems like every hour you are learning a new word or doing something to show me how much you have changed.

Here are some highlights:

• New words include No, bubby (bubbles), down (used for up, down, in or out)
• You understand almost any direction I give you. The other day, I told Lukie to take his cracker and sit in his Elmo chair to watch Barney. He turned away from me, walked across the room, and sat down quietly to watch Barney and eat his cracker. I was stunned. I asked Gracie to bring me shoes so that we could get ready for our day. She brought me a pair of shoes for her and a pair of shoes for Lukie. Two matching pairs: one Lukie's and one Gracie's!
• You are obsessed with crackers. When you had the stomach flu during the first week of my Spring Break, all you wanted was crackers. First, it was tons of Saltines and then, as you felt better, it was Ritz and finally, it was graham crackers. The first thing you ask me for in the morning are crackers. When we get in the car: "Mommy, cracka!" Morning, noon, and night!
• You "swim" in the bathtub and think it is hysterical. When I put the colored Elmo Fizzies in the bathtub, you shriek and giggle and pour the red or purple water all over each other.
• Lukie does a Happy Dance whenever he has a food that he likes. It goes like this: cracker goes into hand, Lukie (standing or sitting) shakes his hips and waves his arms. Aunt Bec loves it!
• Gracie's hair is insane! I remember this past summer when we were worried she would have Who-Hairs for the rest of her life. Now, she has so much that her hair looks like it is a big poof ball around her head. Luckily, I can gather it into ponytails or clippies.
• You can both use spoons! Your favorite are adult spoons. Gracie is an expert at carefully picking up rice or whatever you are eating and getting the spoon directly into her mouth. You can even use them to eat cereal with milk!
• Every time you see a phone, you yell "Papa!" and hand it to me so that I can call him. You recognize him immediately when you see his picture and whenever you see him, you smile and do Lukie's Happy Dance.
• You hold my hand, well, at least Gracie does, whenever we walk in dangerous places. Lukie usually holds my hand until he decides he would rather walk by himself and then he falls to the ground like a wet noodle. Luckily, I am smarter than that and he ends up being carried the rest of the way.
• Lukie has all of his baby teeth and Gracie is growing her last two on the bottom.
  
• You like Strawberry Nesquick. You don't like chocolate milk. That's one point for Daddy.
• You like to brush your teeth. Actually, "brush" is an exaggeration. You put the bristles in your mouth, suck off the toothpaste and wag the end of the brush back and forth to immitate me.
• You are the easiest children in the world to give medicine too. In a way, it is actually quite frightening!
  
• You are getting more and more independent every day.
• You LOVE Barney and Sesame Street. Gracie especially loves the Barney theme song and shouts and points at Barney when he comes into view.
• Lukie survived my attempt to trim his hair using the clippers. Even though around your ears has some rather interesting patterns, Aunt Bec came to the rescue and fixed the crazy long hairs that stuck out all over your head.
  
• You know that hitting isn't nice and do it anyway.
  
• Lukie tackles Gracie when she has something he wants and lays on top of her until she drops it (or I rescue her).
• You love to blow kisses when you say Goodbye, when we read the Counting Kisses book, and when you are trying to say "I'm sorry."
• You say "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone.
• You are obsessed with "Wow-wows" (dogs). Sometimes you call cats "wow-wows." We are working on that.
  
• You love to say "quack" whenever you see a bird. We are working on distinguishing between normal birds and ducks.
• You love the moon.
• You love to sweep and pick up trash.
• You think shovelling sand into a pail is one of the best activities ever.
  
• You are starting to realize that you can take off your clothes. Gracie knows how to take off her pants, but can't quite figure out how to get them over her feet. This is a good thing, because she also knows she can move her diaper. I'm really hoping we can avoid that!
• You love to try on all of your shoes.
• You love ice cream, but yogurt is even better.
• You will eat grapes and strawberries until your tummies stick out.
• And the most frightening of all: You both know how to open all of the doors inside our apartment. In fact, as I was sitting uploading pictures tonight, I heard the bedroom door open and then the door between the foyer and the bathroom opened. There, wearing his dino jammies, was Lukie. It is like the end of an era!

What is so amazing to me is that just when I think I could not possibly love you any more, you do something, smile at me, say something silly, learn something new...and my heart swells. I love hugging you, showing you how to do things, chasing after you when you decide you are going to be independent.

19 months is not very old. What it is, is the start of the countdown toward 2 years old. In five months, you will be two. I can't even fathom that! My hope is that when your second birthday comes, we can celebrate it in our house, our real house, not our temporary apartment with the yucky slab leaks, broken washers and dryers, and no Daddy. I hope we are home with Daddy and everything is wonderful again.

I am so proud to be your Mommy, Gracie and Luke. When things seem their bleakest, I need only hug you or watch you tickle each other or listen you to "talk" about something. In those moments, I remember how very lucky I am to be your Mommy.

I love you!

I will remember this day, My Children

I will remember this day because you kept me up from 2 am on with coughing and crying and general sickiness.

I will remember this day because I stayed home from work to take care of you and Gracie cried for 4 hours straight.

I will remember this day because you both kept falling on the ground screaming when I could not, would not, hold both of you.

I will remember this day because you threw food at me. My memory is not generally great, but I will remember that. That was not a good move.

I will remember how Gracie kept climbing behind the little table into the electric "danger zone."

I will remember how Lukie kept climbing on and in everything and got his finger stuck in the boards of the fence outside.

I will remember how Gracie's hacking cough disappeared in the doctor's office, just to start up again when we got in the car.

I will remember how Lukie thought it was fun to throw water all over the bathroom and kept trying to put a bowl over Gracie's face.

I will remember how we lie in bed together snuggling for the night and Lukie fell asleep. Gracie lay there and kept waving at me and saying: "Hi, Momma! Hi!"

I will remember how even after such a long, traumatic day, I stayed in bed with you and loved you even more. Even though you were such pains in the butt.

It's a good thing you are so darn cute!

My New Favorite Grocery Store

Last year, my mom mentioned the name of a new store that was opening in Upland. It was called Fresh N Easy. Honestly, I thought it was something like Whole Paycheck (oops!) Foods. I never had any intention of going there. It sounded chi-chi-la-la. I don't have time for places like those.

Interestingly enough, when we moved into our apartment, we realized that our grocery options were limited. There's a Ralph's a few streets up, but they are really expensive. There's a Jons, but I just can't shop at a place that was a Vons, but erased the left part of the V. We were driving around one day and, surprise, there was a Fresh N Easy a few blocks east of our temporary home. We decided to check it out. We needed milk and a few other things. Eddie stayed in the car with Gracie and Lukie and I headed inside.

It was like a grocery wonderland, only with reasonable prices! They had sliced apples for reasonable prices, ready made meals waiting to be heated. The best part was the clearance area. They put food that is a day or so from expiring for sale 50% off or more. I bought the apples, already a great price, for 50% off. I got a chicken burrito, amazing! I got some wonderful garlic red potatoes and a chicken dish for 50% off, too. When I went up to check out, there were no checkers. It was a self-check out. I love those! So, in the end, I bought everything for $13. We had an amazing meal with leftovers for under $6.

Needless to say, I've been back several times. I've learned that Gracie and Luke need to be in their own carts or we have meltdowns. I've also learned to check out the clearance area first because stuff flies out of there. Recently, I saw an ad in the mailbox for Fresh N Easy offering a gallon of milk for $2.09. That seems impossible! I pay $2.14 when I go to Sam's Club and if I am desperate, $3.50 or more at Ralph's. Sure enough, they were seriously selling milk for that price. Even better, they are selling it for $2.09 until March 7th!

This afternoon, Gracie, Lukie and I headed over to buy our milk and look for a chocolate dessert for me for Valentine's Day. We had a great shopping expedition and found a slice of Belgian Chocolate Cake for me in the clearance area. Instead of $4.29, I paid $2.39. (I'm eating it as I write this. It tastes like a million bucks!)

As we were leaving, I saw something I never noticed before. Four of the parking spots right outside the door had this sign in front of them:

The sign reads: Reserved Parking - Adults with Children

On the pavement was this image:

I don't know how I never noticed that! My twin mom friends and I have been talking forever about the need for Moms with little kids parking spots. The fact that Fresh N Easy actually has them makes me want to be even more loyal to them.

Eventually, we will get to move back to our house. But I'll still be shopping at the Fresh N Easy. Even if I have to drive 12 miles to get there.

Sickness - Then, and Now

It was much easier being sick before Gracie and Luke. We could sleep for hours on end and heal. We could be lame and selfish while we were getting better. Now, we have Twinsies who get sick too and they don't sleep! They wake up when they are sick and they cry until someone holds them or fixes their sickie-poo-ness.

Both Gracie and Luke have ear infections. This is Gracie's second ear infection in 4 weeks. They wake up multiple times during the night crying and not knowing what they want to help them feel better. They are both on antibiotics and are sick and tired of taking medicine.

At the same time, Ed and I are sick too. Ed coughs most of the night (maybe why the Twinsies wake up as much as they do) and I can't sleep because I keep waiting for Gracie and Luke to start crying. I'm exhausted and I can feel myself getting sicker by the second. I am really worried about what will happen if I get really sick. I can't imagine what will happen then!

Getting back into the swing of things

Well, Tuesday night was very blissful. I fell asleep with Lukie in my arms and stayed asleep from 7:30 pm until the first cry around 3 am. If you add up all of the hours I actually slept, I got 8 hours of sleep! Stunned? Me too!

Gracie slept like a log last night. This could be due to the Motrin and antibiotics she is taking for the ear infection we discovered. She wasn't acting like herself and kept grabbing her right ear. We thought she was being cute and pretending to talk on the phone like Daddy. When her forehead got really warm and she started melting down over nothing, we took her to the doctor. Next time, we plan on reading the signs better (i.e. quicker).

Our house is still a mess. Things were packed so quickly for the evacuation that some were kind of tossed around. We are putting things back slowly but surely. Our hope is that we will be back to normal before Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, it is the annual Pumpkin Festival at Cal Poly Pomona. The Cook-Arteaga-Uribe-Uribe Clan is on our way Saturday. I guess I need to get Gracie and Luke's wagon put together asap!

Off to sleep!

Do Either of the Twinsies Look Like Me?

Ever since the babies were born, I've thought they both look like their father. Lucas is the spitting image of his Daddy, while Gracie looks like her Grandpa Al.

We get all kinds of comments:

"Luke looks just like you!"

"Gracie looks just like Ed!" and so on...

I can't find any baby pictures of Daddy, but here are some of me.

What's the verdict? Do either of them look like me?

Digital Scrapbooking

I've never been a scrapbooker. I don't have the time or patience for cutting, adhearing, etc. I'd much rather use a less messy method to create memory pages. Here's one of my attempts at digital scrapbooking. Very non-messy, very cute, very free, and I can see it right away!