Grace in Small Things, March 7, 2013

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

A few things that are good in my world:

1. A little field trip with the kids to see baby chicks at the local co-op (it's pretty agricultural around here). And their first pizza after, which they loved. (I sent the last picture below to their dad, who called me and said, "Stop doing fun things with the twins without me." It's been brutal for him being away from them for so long.)

2. Our upcoming FET...completely paid for by insurance (except for a small deductible). I can't tell you how incredibly fortunate I feel. Everything we've done up to this point we've paid for 100%. I love my husband's new job.

3. Raining today...love the smell of rain...

4. A cup of hot tea and all cozy inside, dogs napping at my feet...

5. And...we are leaving Monday to officially move to Albuquerque! So excited! My mom and I are driving down, taking two days to make the trip easy on the kids. Close on the house Wednesday, get the keys Thursday, movers come Friday (and it's the kids' first birthday Friday, too). 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for spending some time here this week.

XOXO

Zoey's Diary: 11 Months

Hi Hi Hi!

We turned 11 months old last Friday. We are so close to our first birthday, which Mommy says is going to be fabulous! Here's what we've been up to the past month:

We spent lots of time with Grandpa and Grammy and Grandma Charlotte. In fact, Mommy and Daddy went to Albuquerque without us to find a house and our grandparents took care of us. We had such a good time! Although I overheard Mommy say she's a little worried that we aren't afraid of strangers, are happy in anybody's arms. Because at this age that's supposed to kick in and she said she's worried is she being a good enough Mommy? I say we're just lucky we get so much love.

Also and lately, we never go back to our house anymore, Mommy says because we're moving, and we are at Grammy and Grandpa's all the time.

I am shaking my head BOTH yes and no these days, not just no.

Oh and check out my teeth! I have all the front ones now, but for a long time I had the bottom front and the top sides...Daddy said I looked like a staple remover!

Have we told you about the Baby Stopper 5000? Mommy says it's good we have an engineer as a daddy...he built this to keep us from going up the stairs unsupervised:

We are climbing up on everything! But we also know how to get down: feet first.

Bubs and I love to play together. We are both talking up a storm too, or at least that's what Mommy says.

Nothing better than sleeping with Daddy, that's how Bubs and I feel. Daddy says when we get to our new house in Albuquerque we'll all do afternoon naps together on the weekends. That will be great! Oh, another thing...when we sleep really well Mommy says we are Sleepasaurases. Or Napasaurases. I giggle at her when she says that.

We're starting to eat chunks of stuff, like banana. We love it! And Mommy has been giving us grades for eating...like if we throw all our food on the floor she'll say, "Sorry, guys, gotta give you a D for lunch." But mostly she says, "Good job guys! A+ all around!" Grammy says there is a lot of grade inflation going on, whatever that means.

 

Oh and here's Bubs after trying beets for the first time. Yummy!

Oh and the Roomba at Grammy and Grandpa's is so fun!

And we're starting to take some steps, both of us, but mostly we're all about speed crawling. And a lot of time together...we like to follow each other around.

Oh and last week Mommy helped us make Valentines...they turned out really cute!

So that's it! Everything is great! And Mommy says we will be in our new house in Albuquerque in time for our first birthday. We can't WAIT to find out what this Albuquerque thing is all about!

Love,

Zoey

The Monday Snapshot: Over and Out Edition

Our house got packed by three nice men--a 20-year-old, a 35-year-old, and a 60-year-old--end of last week in two quick days. We all watched as the big blue-and-white truck drove away.

Overall, I'm feeling strangely unsentimental. There have been a lot of tears over the past year about moving, mostly because I'm sad not to be living so close to my parents, but none now. I think because we'll be so close and I know we'll visit often. And because everything about what we're doing is so good and positive...a city (a small one, but still...) which we'll enjoy, we're in the West and my husband having a job is going to be so great after 4 years of him being in school and we're excited about our house and everything New Mexico has to offer.

There are memories that bubble up, though.

Like how we lived off sandwiches and salads and takeout for weeks while the refrigerator was in our dining room and our kitchen was being completely redone.

And how the first fall we lived there I went to visit my best friend in Seattle and came back to our bedroom painted egg yolk yellow.

"What's this?" I asked my husband.

"Yeah, I hate it," he said.

"So why is the entire room this color?"

"I did it in the middle of the night, and I wasn't sure about the color, but I kept going. And then in the sunlight, I knew it was all wrong."

(We repainted it a soft butter yellow that I love, but I have to laugh about having to paint the entire room twice.)

And my Tinkerbell key to the front door, I remember having it cut the summer we moved in...the key that my husband is having me give to our new renters instead of keeping for myself.

("The girl is totally artsy like you," he said. "She'll appreciate it.") 

And also, wandering through our packed house, I marvel over the fact that there are boxes that say "Baby's Room" on them...for so many years, I thought that would never come to pass...

Maybe because we are renting the house...I don't think we'll ever live there again, but the fact that we still own it makes everything feel less than final and thus me less emotional.

Crazy how much things are changing. Feeling really excited...

XOXO

Note: this post is part of PAIL's Monday Snapshot series...head on over to see more...

Grace in Small Things, February 6, 2013

Hey Everyone!

It's a crazy, stressful, exhausting time with trying to get packed and moved, buy a house, rent out our current house, and my husband's about to leave us for a month (he starts work on Monday, we're staying with my parents until we close on the house or figure out Plan B)...ugh...will miss him so much.

But there are good things happening in my world:

1. A lovely dinner last night with a writer friend of mine and his wife, who also happens to be my OB. They used to live in Albuquerque and it was such fun to get their recommendations on where to go and what to do. They say we'll love it there...

2. Moved me and the kids and the dogs to my parents this morning. They (my parents) have made us all feel so incredibly welcome. I know it's a lot to take us in for a month, but so grateful to a) want to spend all this time with them (and feel like they want to spend it with me) and b) to get along so beautifully with them...not everyone has this kind of relationship with their parents. I'm very grateful for it...

3. Dexter-the-dog is recovering nicely from his eye surgery. He gets to be a one-eyed pirate dog now...arrrrrrr (that's my best pirate impression). Poor guy, but he seems to be in great spirits. Can't wait to take the cone off his head

4. Sucks to work late into the night, but grateful I can do it on days like today where I needed to be with the kids and take care of a zillion other things during normal business hours

5. The light on the Book Cliffs (which run all the way into Utah) late afternoon is so, so beautiful...for the past month I've noticed it almost every day and it's incredible...I think my mom and the babies and I are going to go on a little field trip someday soon...Jeep out there one afternoon and take some pictures...the light this time of year is one of my favorite things about this place...going to miss it for sure

XOXO

A Day in the Life... (Nine Months Edition)

Hi Everyone! Happy Thursday!

Today I thought I'd give you a glimpse into a typical weekday of ours...I love reading these posts by others, and I wish I had more, but alas, the only other one I have is from when the twins were two months old. These pictures were shot last Monday and without further ado...

Wakeup is at 6 AM sharp and it's almost always me getting up with the kids (a relic from when the twins were up most of the night and my husband took the night shift, with me taking over at 5 AM). Generally I don't mind getting up that early. Sometimes the kids wake up before that but if that happens usually they'll play (somewhat) quietly in their crib.

Once they are up, I take them downstairs one at a time (they are too big for me to carry both any longer), and stand them up against the coffee table in the living room. Luke has a thing for pacifiers lately...we're letting him have them when he wants them. Ideal is one in his mouth and one in his hand. That's one of our two boxers on the couch in the background...the kids and boxers looooooooove each other:

Next comes diaper changes...there is a lot of squirming going on during diaper changes these days, especially on Zoey's part...

After diaper changes I go into the kitchen to make bottles for the kids and a cup of tea for me. The kids crawl into the kitchen to be with me, and then follow me back to the living room:

They drink their bottles lying on the couch, one on either side of me, generally a dog or two close by:

After bottles we go play in the playroom. I'm embarrased by how dirty the rug is in there...I though having a dedicated place for the kids where the dogs couldn't go meant I could do a white rug, but no way. When we move we're replacing it with something that won't show the dirt.

The playroom starts out clean, gets progressively crazier as the day wears on:

After a while in the playroom, it's time to get dressed (usually around 7:30 or so). I dress them in the living room...getting dressed is not a favorite activity...the free twin usually walks around the coffee table, plays with the clothes about to be put on/PJs just taken off:

After the babies get dressed they spend some time roaming around the living room/dining room, which is pretty well child-proofed, although I wouldn't leave them alone in there. They love walking in circles around the coffee table, interacting with the dogs:

Then, it's time for breakfast, generally oatmeal and fruit. Haven't gotten around to changing out the X-mas placemats yet. Breakfast is served with one spoon out of the same bowl. The kids are always enthusiastic about breakfast. While they eat and after, I put my i-POD on shuffle and we listen to music....not kids stuff but just whatever comes up. The kids love music. 

After breakfast, more playing...a favorite activity is both kids walking around with one little scooter. We often read books during this time too...I go often and get a stack from the library so there's always something new.

At 8:45, another bottle:

Then at 9 AM a nap, often until 11 AM although if they wake earlier I get them up.

After they go down for their nap, I shower/dress and then sit down to work (although I generally do a quick voice/email check first thing in the morning just to make sure nothing urgent is happening on the East coast where a lot of my clients are based).

After the kids wake up from their nap, they usually hang out with their dad, although last Monday their dad was under the weather, so we packed up and headed to Grammy and Grandpa's. (I had a full day of calls scheduled, otherwise I would have worked less and watched the kids more.) We're over at my mom and dad's every Wednesday, and the kids go by themselves on Friday afternoons. It's about a 15-minute drive from our house to theirs.

I had a call right away when we arrived, but when I have calls where I have to listen more than talk (like this one where one of my clients was explaining to their writers changes to how graphics are being handled) I do the call with a baby in my lap:

At Grammy and Grandpa's there are toys galore:

And I take lots of little breaks to interact with the kids:

The kids ate some lunch of their own, sat with us during our lunch, and then another bottle and another nap at 1 PM. There can be some resistance in going down for the afternoon nap. Again I work during naptime.

Sometimes--trying to make it always--I'm done with work for the day after the afternoon nap (which ends at 3 PM, or sooner if they wake up), but this day I had a lot going on so Grammy and Grandpa watched the kids. But first, a wake-up snack of puffs with Mommy:

4:30 we packed up to go home...this time of year that coincides with the last of the light:

Dinner at 5 PM:

Followed by a supervised climb up the stairs (the kids love to climb):

Followed by a bath. The kids love baths so much...there are usually a bunch of rubber duckies in the bath with them so we call their baths "Ducky Baths," as in: "Are you ready for your ducky bath?!? Let's climb the stairs and make it happen!"

Followed by bottles, snuggles with Daddy, and a 6 PM bedtime.

So that's our weekdays...this example ended up being a lot less Daddy-centric than normal, but otherwise pretty typical. (Actually, that's probably a good thing...I would have driven my husband crazy following him around with a camera all day, LOL.)

XOXO

A Day in the Life... (Two Months Edition)

Luke's Diary: Our First Christmas

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers! I'm here to tell you all about our first Christmas! It was SPECTACULAR! 

We did it over a couple days, and Uncle Ben and his girlfriend and our cousins Bodie and Bailee came, and Mama's Uncle David, and Daddy's best friend Tim, and Grandma Charlotte and Grammy and Grandpa. Everyone was so happy to be together!

Look at our outfits for Christmas Eve...aren't they awesome?

Shoes off for naps, just like always:

Here's Sissy and Bodie...Bodie loves us soooooo much!

And here's Bailee...she's super cool too!

Grandpa's been wearing this button the whole holiday season...I didn't get it until my mom explained, "Noel."

There were some presents on Christmas Eve...and me and Sis agree, the wrapping is just as much fun as the presents:

Look at the jumpy chair Uncle Ben got us! So fun! Especially for Sissy, who is jumping all the time anyways:

And Mommy's best friends Danielle and Jason sent this crazy bally rampy musicy toy...Grandpa and Bailee put it together for us:

It snowed all day but was especially pretty at night, with the lights Mommy and Daddy put on our fence sparkling:

And we saw Mommy decorate the table for Christmas Eve dinner, but Daddy said we weren't old enough this year because it was past our bedtime. Next year, he said. But we did hear everyone had a super good time, and there were crackers, and an awesome meal Daddy cooked with beef tenderloin and leg of lamb and vegetables out of Julia Child:

The next morning, everyone got up and went over in PJs to Grammy and Grandpa's. First we did stockings:

And then more presents, yippee! Sis and I had some help opening:

Check out the piano Mommy and Daddy gave us! It makes LOTS of noise hehehe...

And the bath towel made to resemble a shark:

While we napped, Mommy and Grandma Charlotte and Grammy and Mommy's Uncle David went for a walk. Mommy said it was BEAUTIFUL out, but too cold for babies:

And then, more presents! Here's the red wagon Grammy and Grandpa got us...Grandpa saw two kids riding in it when he and Grammy were in Amsterdam this fall and chased them down the street so he could find out where to get one. We looooove our new red wagon! Mommy says all spring and summer and fall we'll get to ride in it.

And here's our dino bouncer Grandma Charlotte gave us...you put balls in and they bounce up and down...it's sooooooo cool!

So all in all, it was a GREAT Christmas! Like Grandpa Steve said as we were leaving to go home, "One of the best ever."

Love,

Luke

Luke's Diary: Our First Halloween

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

Today Mommy said I could tell you about our Halloween. I thought Halloween was a one-day affair, but I must have been misinformed.

First, there was the visit to the pumpkin patch, after a nice leisurely lunch downtown with Mommy and Daddy at the Rockslide Brewery, sitting outside on their patio on a nice fall day:

Then, there was Costume Try-on Day, to make sure everything fit and that we liked it. Our Grandma Charlotte made these costumes from scratch, can you believe it?!? She didn't have a pattern or anything, she made them up out of her head. As you can see, I was a sock monkey pirate (arrrrr!) and Sissy was a peacock:

Then, last Saturday, we put on our costumes, loaded up in the stroller and went downtown for the Halloween parade! Super fun! (That big buffalo statue in front of Mommy and Daddy's bank...that's called "Chrome on the Range," by the way...)

And then--finally--Halloween! Grandma augmented the mouth on my sock monkey costume so it was even cooler:

After pictures, Mommy and Daddy walked us around to the neighbors we know, so everyone could see how cute we were.

I also heard something about Halloween and candy, but Mommy said we're too young for candy. She said maybe next year.

It was the best Halloween ever!

Love,

Luke

Luke's Diary: Fall Colors

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

Today Mommy said I could tell you about our Saturday. We went up on the Grand Mesa to see the leaves changing! It was totally rad!

Here are me and Sissy in our car seats, all ready to go! How cool is my hat?!? Daddy saw it a week ago and said I MUST have it!

The leaves were so pretty, although a lot of them had fallen off the trees already...

One of the places we stopped was Powderhorn, which Mommy said is her favorite ski area EVER. It's really small and just a locals place...Mommy said nobody flies to Colorado to go to Powderhorm...but she said the snow is the best and there are no crowds. Even on the weekends there's barely a line for the lifts, and on weekdays she said you can have a run all to yourself. She said as soon as we're old enough, she will bring us here to ski and snowboard.

Mommy said when she was on vacation in Key West a bunch of years ago with her friend Sam, they went on a ghost tour of the town one night, and the guide said if you have spots in your pictures that means there are ghosts. So Mommy said whenever she sees spots like in these pictures of Sissy, she always thinks our Uncle Luke is with us and it makes her happy...

After Powderhorn, we got way up high on the Mesa, which Mommy says is either the biggest flat-top mountain in North America or the world, she can't remember. She said she dated a pilot once AGES ago and he said it's a huge landmark when you are flying across the country...you can't miss it.

ANYWAY, we got up high and the Jeep said it was 37 degrees and Mommy and Daddy bundled us up and we went walking and it was so pretty.

AND, we saw our first moose from the car on the side of the road! It was ENORMOUS!

Here's Grandma Charlotte, who came with us. (This is back down the other side of the mountain, when we got back into the aspens again.) She's here for the month to help Mommy and Daddy and to hang out with us, which is so rad!

I love it when Daddy does this with me...Sissy does too...

So that was our trip! It was really fun, and the best part was we all got to hang out all together for the whole day...so awesome! 

I can understand why Mommy says fall in Colorado is her favorite...

Love,

Luke

Dear Luke and Zoey (E 1/2 Road Organic Garden Edition)

Dear Luke and Zoey,

Today I wanted to tell you about your Grammy, and about her fabulous organic garden. (She lives on E 1/2 Road, by the way, which is how it got its name.)

Some of your first vegetables came from this garden--in fact, carrots from this garden were your very first vegetable ever.

And all summer long, when you would go over to Grammy and Grandpa's to visit, Grammy would take you one at a time out to the garden and show you how the vegetables and flowers were doing.

You loved going to the garden.

Your Grammy Peggy--she's had a garden like this every single year my whole life. It's one of the things that defines her...it makes her so happy to grow all these beautiful things...and this year, for the first time, to share them with you!

Whether we stay in Grand Junction or move somewhere else and come back to visit, I know you will have the most amazing memories of your Grammy's garden--just like I do.

Love,

Mommy

Zoey's Diary: A Day in the Desert

Hi Hi Hi!

Zoey here and guess what? Last weekend, Uncle Ben and some friends came to town, and the Blue Angles were here, and we all went out and spent the day in the desert! So much fun!

Mommy and Daddy and Granny stayed with us, but everyone else went riding. Mommy said me and Bubs (that's what I call my brother Luke) can ride quads one day with Uncle Ben, but not motorcycles (even though she knows one's not necessarily safer than the other), because something happened to our Uncle Luke on a motorcycle, and Mommy said she's be too scared the whole time. 

People came back to visit every once in a while:

And then there were the Blue Angles. We were scared of the noise at first, but Mommy told us there was nothing to be afraid of, and then we were OK.

Mommy watched with Bubs:

I actually fell asleep in Daddy's lap right before the good parts. Hopefully next time I'll get to see the show!

Thanks Uncle Ben for coming to visit us!

XOXO

Oh, and PS, Mommy asked me to say 'Please vote for our blog on "Top Baby Blogs"!' All you have to do is CLICK HERE, and then click on the left of the screen that pops up, and that's it. Our blog is currently ranked at #30...and Mommy says to say THANK YOU so much to everyone who has voted. (And also FYI you can vote once a day if you want to vote again.) Mommy's going to ask for votes all week and then quit bugging you all, she promises!

Luke's Diary: Palisade Peach Festival

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

Guess what we did this weekend? Palisade is one town over from where we live...it is full of orchards and vineyards, and this weekend was the Palisade Peach Festival, and we got to go!

Friday night Mommy didn't take any pictures, but we went and sat on the grass and listened to some music...the night was warm and the air smelled sweet and Mommy and Daddy had gyros and a beer each with peaches floating in it and there was a bluegrass band and then a rock band from Austin, Texas, which Mommy said sounded just like the music she used to go see on Sixth Street when she went to college down there. Grammy and Grandpa were there too. We had such a fun night.

And here we are Saturday morning...here's Sissy in what Mommy and Daddy call the "playpen" while they were getting us packed and ready. (By the way, I overheard Mommy saying that before she had kids she would never have considered buying something like this and putting it in her living room. But we have so much fun in it...she loves that we have it.)

And here I am in my car seat, ready to go:

Palisade is this really pretty town right at the base of some buttes:

There was quite a line for the pancake breakfast:

And then after the pancake breakfast...and oh! I almost forgot! While Mommy and Daddy were in line for pancakes, we hung out with Grammy and Grandpa, who had gotten there earlier and already had their pancakes. And Grandpa GAVE US BITES OF PANCAKES! (Even though Mommy says all we're supposed to be eating right now is rice cereal.) All I can say is, YUM.

Anyways, after the pancake breakfast, there was a PARADE! It was our first parade and it was so cool. We watched it sitting with Grammy and Grandpa, with Mommy and Daddy standing right behind us:

Oh, and by the way, has Mommy told you about Sophie the Giraffe? Me and Sissy, we each have one, and we LOVE them. They go with us pretty much everywhere.

There were two marching bands in the parade...they were loud but they were so cool:

And the Shiners riding in circles on thier motorcycles:

And the Peach Festival Queen and her court:

And my favorite, obviously--the fire truck. In the fire truck was the Town Grump, which Mommy thought was hil-arious. Apparently, it's an elected position.

So that was the Peach Festival. It was so fun! Grandpa says he hopes wherever Mommy and Daddy move it is a small town that has things like this. I agree.

Love,

Luke

Little Girl

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday! :)

So, over the weekend, I went with my parents to the Compassionate Friends summer potluck. The Compassionate Friends are for parents who have lost a child, and they make siblings feel welcome, too.

After the dinner, we went down to the airstrip. (Actually, I should have started this post by saying this was held at Alice's, who has this amazing piece of land up above the Colorado National Monument. There's an airstrip (her husband flew planes) and the most beautiful little log chapel, which is where my husband and I got married.)

Anyway, down to the airstrip, and they had balloons, and you could write messages and place them on the balloons and once everyone was ready, you let go and sent them up to Heaven.

I picked out a purple one for my brother. And felt a little sad, but it was OK.

And then almost all the balloons were taken, and there were a few left and I don't know why but I went back and asked if I could have a pink one. For the baby girl we lost to a miscarriage. And I shed some tears for her, holding her pink balloon, which I never do. When it happened, I made myself get over losing her so fast...all I could do to get through it was to focus on the next thing, the next procedure, and that maybe that would bring us a baby. (And it did.) But the sadness is there, buried deep inside.

I tied her balloon to Luke's (my brother's), and sent them up to Heaven together. 

Because I know he's up there looking out for her. 

XOXO

Shop Local

These posts, from e tells tales, about her husband losing the family grocery, are breaking my heart. I mean, he did everything right...it's not fair that things ended up the way they did just because the playing field isn't level. Plus, I don't think a lot of people think about what they're doing when they choose Wal*Mart over the local grocer.

The Story of a Store, 1

The Story of a Store, 2

The Story of a Store, End

I hate Wal*Mart. Partly because my brother who died hated it, and someone's got to carry on that legacy, you know? Partly because it's just such an unpleasant shopping experience. Partly because I think they carry a lot of crap. But mostly, because of what it does to small local businesses. 

Except for where I live now, I've been really lucky to have lived my whole adult life in places where small local shops and restaurants and bars etc. are easy to come by (Boulder, Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, Santa Barbara). And even here (Grand Junction, Western Colorado), we have such a great downtown. We live downtown, and part of the reason is so I can walk or ride my pink bike with the wicker basket to do errands. I try to do most of my shopping at the small downtown businesses, although there are trips to Target (I know, I know, not much better than Wal*Mart), and recently Starbucks because they have a drive-through and twin babies are the reason drive-throughs were invented. (Although if I have time I still walk to Main Street Bagels with the twins in their stroller and get my coffee there).

Anyway. It's easy to say Wal*Mart and the like are the reason small family businesses aren't making it. And that's partly true. But it's also about the choices we all make. Sure, it's cheaper to go to Wal*Mart. But would you rather have one super cute kid's outfit from the adorale little shop on Main Street, or five poor quaity boring ones from a box store? And would you rather live in a town where you have cool places to shop, and where the people who own the stores know you, or where everything is homogenous and ugly and impersonal? I'd rather have the former, and am willing to spend money to do my part to make sure those shops stick around.

(Note: I DO spend some money at places like Target, but I try to minimize it.)

(And also, I'm not rich, but we have a decent family income and I know that makes it easier. I always think about, you know, there are people who can only afford Wal*Mart. But I also think in most cases part of our culture is pressure to buy MORE...and do people really need all the stuff they buy? Or could they spend the same amount, shop local, and just have less stuff?)

Anyway, something that's been on my mind a lot this week. Am I alone in thinking this way? Sure feels like it sometimes...

XOXO

Zoey's Diary: Fourth of July

Hi! Hi! Hi!

Mommy said I could tell you guys about our first Fourth of July. You guys! It was so fun! Except there weren't any fireworks because of all the fires in Colorado. I don't know what fireworks are, but Mommy said it's not really Fourth of July without them. She says next year we should get to see for ourselves. I hope so!

Fourth of July was a Wednesday, which means we got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's...we always go over there on Wednesdays. They live in this area called the Redlands, and all along the streets up there there were flags:

Mommy and Grandpa went for a hike like they always do, and we stayed and played with Grandma. Here are some pictures Mommy took on her hike:

Mommy said there's been some construction going on to the west of this lake, and she and Grandpa jumped the fence to see what it was all about. (It was Grandpa's idea, she said.) She says she thinks it was fish ponds, lots of square ponds side by side with rubber lining the steep edges. She says Grandpa's dog Jack and our boxer Newton jumped into one of the ponds and couldn't get out, so Mommy had to go into the pond and help. Mommy says going anywhere with Grandpa is always an adventure!

After the hike, Mommy came back and hung out with us and Grandma, and Mommy took a nap in the hammock with us. Grandma made lunch and we sat on laps while they played Upwords, which Mommy says is Like Scrabble but you can stack letters on top of each other. Grandma and Grandpa are already teaching us how to play. I think they are pretty hard to beat, though...Mommy almost never wins.

After that we went home and hung out with Daddy! Mommy and Daddy took us out to the yard and played with us on the grass. Here's my fourth of July outfit...isn't it cute? It's red, white and blue with the red bow in my hair:

And here's Bub'ses outfit...he got stars and stripes:

Grandma and Grandpa went to the parade, but Daddy said it was too hot for us. After, they came over and Daddy made dinner, teriyaki burgers and all the sides, and red, white and blue parfaits for dessert. Daddy said next year we can have some! Yay!

So that was our Fourth of July. I thought it was pretty great, even without the fireworks. :)

Love,

Zoey

Rustler's Loop

Really loving the Wednesday morning hikes I've been doing with my dad.

Two things that are going to be really hard for me to leave when we move--my parents, and all the wide open spaces we've got around here:

XO

"If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth Overdoing"

So I've come to the realization that the last of the baby weight is not going to lose itself, and, thus, austerity measures have been instituted. (eg, no cheese allowed in the house. I miss cheese. No desserts either, but that's not really a big deal for me.)

Also in an effort to lose the weight, and also, to feel more like myself, I've gone back to yoga this week (which has been so great), and have decided that I'm ready for harder hikes.

My dad and I went out Wednesday, six miles, lots of elevation gain, rocky trail, hot. HARD. As my dad always says (and this statement totally shaped my childhood, and who I am today): "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." We did the same hike about a year ago, and it wasn't hard. This week has really highlighted how far I have to go to get my pre-baby strength back, but that's OK. I love yoga and hiking. And after months of babies 24/7, it's lovely to be reclaiming little bits of my old self (although I do feel a little guilty. But it's OK to take care of the mama, right?)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for spending some time here this week! :)

XOXO

Good to Do the Things That Bring You Pleasure...

So even though we're probably moving (although not sure when or where...I'm doing pretty well overall with that uncertainty), I've decided we should make a little bit of effort to make things nice in our yard. So easy with infant twins and not knowing what the future holds just to blow it off. But my mother-in-law is here this week, and this morning she helped me weed, and I planted some flowers for our back patio, swept the winter leaves and dirt up, washed the cushions and generally made it so we can be outside and enjoy it. And I'm so glad I did. We may be here all summer, and there's no reason to deprive ourselves of outdoor pleasures, right?

By the way, my husband's job hunt is going well...he's on his second and third interviews, respectively, for jobs in L.A. and Virginia (the Virginia job involves a likely transfer at some point to Seattle).

And also, I have become obsessed with Instagram:

Hope everyone's having a lovely day. :)

XOXO

Nursery Tour

Hi Everyone! 

I've been meaning to do a nursery tour forever...and today is finally the day!

My husband and I were both hugely involved in decorating this room, and because we both had things we wanted, we didn't end up with a particular theme...instead a mish-mash of things he wanted, things I wanted, budget items, small splurges, sentimental things, things we made, gifts, etc. Here is the finished room, which I love:

This used to be my husband's office, and the gray on the walls is his color, which he was adamant about not changing. I actually like the gray, although when we move I think I'd like to do a lighter, more pastel shade of it. We've just got one crib for now (from Target), a dresser with changing pad (dresser: American Furniture Warehouse; pad and cover: Land of Nod), and a rocker (vintage, from my mother-in-law):

We got tons of quilts/blankets as gifts and are using them all...you really can't have too many! The ones below: polka dots: a gift from a college friend (Nordstrom); multicolored paisley (on crib) and the animals (lower left of picture): hand-made by my BFF's mom (from fabric my fabulously stylish BFF picked out); patchwork quilts on the floor for tummy time: hand-made by my mom (with a little help from me). The white rug on the floor is from American Furniture Warehouse:

These giraffe mobiles were a gift from my aunt and uncle back east...so cute! (From Amazon.) And my husband wanted an alien in the room, and I found kind of a girly patchworky one on Etsy, so we were both happy:

The paisley curtains my mom and I made from fabric from Hobby Lobby...they were super easy. The dotted changing pad cover is something I splurged on. And this bunny is from a dear friend of my mom's...she's English and I so admired her style all the time I was growing up:

My husband and I changed out the plain silver knobs on the dresser...replaced them with some Anthropologie knobs that I'd used on cupboards in my bedroom in Santa Barbara and have been waiting for a chance to use ever since. The silver trash can fit our aesthetic much better than the diaper pails we saw (at least the reasonably priced ones). It works great as far as containing odor, by the way (from Bed, Bath and Beyond).

Love, love, love this vintage rocking chair that my mother-in-law refinished for us. And the leather footstool was a steal at Ross. Great for putting my feet up while rocking, or sitting on while selecting clothes out of the dresser:

Here's a detail view of the pillow in the rocker. When we originally put the room together, it felt too masculine to me, so I tried to add some girly touches like this. This is also something I had in Santa Barbara that I've been trying to find a home for ever since I left (from Land of Nod, although purchased years ago):

A few additional details that I love:

Above the rocking chair we have zoo pictures I got from Etsy:

And my BFF gave us this fabulous nightlight:

My husband has a thing about Ugly Dolls. Actually, it's really cute...when we were dating and in Seattle, we went for a walk in the Arboretum one day and passed by an open house and went inside...in one of the kid's rooms there was an Ugly Doll and my husband said, "If we ever have kids, we need one of those." So the Ugly Doll collection (each given to us as a gift) is kind of sentimental:

My husband's also all about the kids being smart, so he really wanted a periodic table in the nursery (this one's a gift from a woman I work with; from Land of Nod). I added the flower (which I used to wear around my neck some nights going out in San Francisco), again trying to keep the room from becoming too masculine. :)

So that's it! Hope you've enjoyed a peek into our happy little nursery! :)

Happy weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

XOXO

Up In The Air

This has been a really hard post to write for some reason...I've started it like five times...but today I'm going to write it and hit "publish" so I can maybe quit obsessing over all that's going on...

My husband just graduated from college with an engineering degree (he went back to school on the GI Bill), and a few months ago we though he had found a job in Salt Lake City and that we were set. It was a great job, and I was excited about SLC because it's not far from my family and it's in the West where I feel most comfortable and there's so much great outdoor stuff going on (hiking, snowboarding, etc.)

Well, we found out right around the time the babies were born that that job is not going to happen. We were a lot less upset about it than we would have been otherwise, because we had just had two beautiful healthy babies and figured that's all that really matters, right?

So now my husband is job hunting. Which doesn't really scare me...he's got a great resume and I don't think it's going to be a problem for him to get a job. Plus we're living pretty cheaply right now and there's no financial pressure for him to start working right away. And honestly it's ideal to have him at the house at the moment 24/7...he helps sooooooo much with the twins....ladies who do this on their own, I am in awe of you...don't know how you do it.

So I'm not worried about the job part. The part that is freaking me out a little is the moving. My husband's looking in the town where we live, but it's unlikely that he'll be able to find what he's looking for (it's a small town without a lot of opportunity). He's also looking in Colorado and Utah, either of which would keep us close to family and so wouldn't be such a big deal.

But we're also open to moving away. Maybe somewhere I know I want to go (eg, Seattle). But more likely somewhere I've never lived (right now there's talk of Virginia and Minnesota).

I hate change in general and moving in particular. There's fear surrounding going to a new place. But the biggest thing for me is not living near my family. Especially with the twins...it's really important to me that they are close to my parents. I've actually got a lot of grief tied up in this...it's so hard, and also I don't want to hurt my mom and dad in any way. There have definitely been tears and sleepless nights on my part over this, and my husband and I don't even know what we're doing yet.

Anyway, I'm trying really hard to look on the bright side/focus on the positives, such as:

1. We might end up close by, in which case all this worrying is for nothing
2. My parents like to travel and will come see us (we'll make sure wherever we end up there's a nice place for guests)
3. We can come visit as a family, and I can come for extra visits with the kids
4. There's phone and email and iChat etc.
5. I was VERY close to my grandparents growing up, even though they lived in another state, because my parents sent me to stay with them twice a year (Seattle in the summer, Mexico in the winter) for weeks at a time...some of the best memories of my life...we can do the same with our kids
6. My husband having a job is going to be amazing. We've done fine while he's been in school, but it'll be nice not to have the weight of providing for the family on my shoulders
7. Him having a job also means I can work part time, which is huge, as all I want to do is be at home with the twins (I freelance/telecommute so I can work from anywhere, which is a blessing)
8. A new town/city is going to be cool. I like exploring new places
9. A new house to decorate will be super fun
10. Also looking forward to being somewhere where I can settle in and be a bit more sociable than I've been here. I've had a hard time making friends here, which has never been the case for me. Part of it is when I moved here, I was so overwhelmed with grief over my brother's death that I didn't want to be around people I didn't know well. Plus I traveled a ton for work and pleasure, and got to see a lot of friends doing that, so there wasn't a huge need to make new ones. And I had my parents to hang out with

Anyway, lots to look forward to with this next chapter in our lives, wherever it may take us. And wherever we go, it doesn't have to be forever. That's the other thing...I always worry so much about making decisions like this because I feel like I have to make the "right" decision. But whatever we decide, we can change if it ends up not working for us.

Just trying really hard not to stress about all this and enjoy the here and now, which is me and my husband at home (I have one more month of maternity leave), my parents close by, a beautiful spring-moving-into-summer, great opportunities on the horizon...

A Present From My OB

So I complain sometimes about living in such a small town, but other times, I'm incredibly grateful for it.

I'm good friends with my OB's husband. (I actually have a long history of trying to find the right OB/GYN. I initially dismissed the idea of my current OB, because I thought maybe it would be weird being friends with her husband, but it hasn't been weird at all, and both my husband and I love her. Even thought the first time we saw her professionally--right after my old OB, her partner, had suddenly died--she had to tell us our 11-week-old fetus was dead...what a sucky way to start a relationship. But she was very kind, and things have gone smoothly since then, knock on wood.)

Anyway, I digress.

Her husband, my friend--I invited him to my local baby shower, which was otherwise all women, but he's part of a group of writers I hang out with and I didn't want to exclude him.

He didn't come. ("Too much estrogen," my OB told me when I saw her a few days later.) But he did have a present for me the next time that I saw him.

A sweet little essay he'd written for me.

And two quilts, one for each baby.

Handmade by my OB.

Both my husband and I were so incredibly touched. I mean, who gets presents from their OB? Especially ones I know it took her hours and hours and hours to make.

I love the though of her in her sewing room, after being a high-powered doctor all day, making something so sweet and beautiful for our babies.

Sometimes living in a small town is the best thing ever.

XOXO