May in Pictures and Stories

The first half of May we spent in Colorado (glorious), the last half at home in New Mexico, spring easing into summer, the kids growing and changing every day. Some favorite pictures:

One of my favorite things about the twins at this age is how much they are starting to interact...it's generally friendly, such as when I give them the "wrong" forks at a meal (they are very particular about whose things are whose) and they will hand the forks back and forth and say, "Here you go, Luke." "Here you go, Zo." Or Luke watching Zo do a puzzle and saying, "Good job, Zoey!"

There is the flip side, too, which mainly involves Luke playing "Tackle, Tackle Zoey," which she almost never likes, and Zo stealing Luke's Hot Wheels and running across the house with them, leaving him in tears.

Luke is big into cars and trucks, Zo into her kitties, Stanley and Fuzzy Britches; she'll have them interact with each other...I'm actually seeing a lot of imagination from these guys, from cooking up play meals (a favorite activity) to picking pretend grass to feed pretend bunnies.

Some commonly heard phrases from Zo this month:

"I have a pocket." 

"I need a Kleenex!"

"I love you Daddy!" (Mommy, too. Me-ma and Grammy and Papa and Uncle Ben too.)

"I'm making a funny face!" 

And from Luke:

"Not yet! One more minute!" 

"Let's DO it!" (eg, "Would you like to brush your teeth, Luke?" "Yes! Let's DO it!")

"I love you Daddy!" (Mommy etc, too.)

"No, no, I don't LIKE kisses. Don't kiss me Mommy!" (Followed by frantic wiping away of said kiss.)

"Let's whip up dinner!"

"I don't LIKE Mommy!" (Ouch. Oh well, he's two.)

"I don't do shirts!" (Said while trying his best not to let me dress him.)

Cuteness from Zo:

"I need to be careful around cars. And monsters."

"I made a terrible mess!"

And Luke:

"I hurt Daddy's feelings. I need to fix them."

There are LOTS of hugs from the kids these days. 

Luke misses his sister if I take him out alone.

They both love looking for trucks when we're "out and about," as we call it; they can name pretty much anything they see on the the road (eg, "Box truck! Semi truck! Auto carrier! Cement mixer! Etc. All said as an exclamation.)

We still rock and sing at night, although the kids aren't always into it. Sometimes they run around the room while I sing. Or sit in the other rocking chair. I don't know how this started, but I've been giving them the choice of the "Regular Version" or the "Oink Oink Version" of a song, the "Oink Oink Version" having most of the words replaced by oinks.

Both the kids like playing "Tunnel" with Dad, where they give him a "toll," he gives them change, and then they go under his bent legs. They also like playing "Boat," where they sit between his legs on the bed to keep away from sharks. And Luke has been playing "Hit Hit Daddy," where he'll hit his Daddy on the chest and Daddy will tickle him and then stop 'til he's hit again.

"Baby Races," are also a big deal around here, where the kids will start with Dad and he'll outline a course for them, eg, "Run around the coffee table twice, jump on your bunny or bear rocker and rock, touch Mommy and then run back to Daddy. First one back wins!" The kids love to play, and it's fun to watch because it's totally unpredictable who will wander off course when and thus as far ahead as any one baby seems the other baby always has a chance of winning.

Saying goodbye to Daddy in the driveway when he goes to work and welcoming him home are also big activities these days.

And both kids still chime in at random with, "I'm happy!"

"I'm happy too," I always say back to them.

And June, wonderful amazing June is here, so looking forward to it! We're attempting the 3-day potty training method starting Friday and switching out to toddler beds at he same time, so big stuff happening around here! Wish us luck!

XOXO 

March/April in Pictures and Stories

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

We've had a lot of fun around here the past month and a half, and the kids are continuously doing new and cool things. First, a few pictures:

The kids got sand toys for their birthday and a favorite activity is definitely playing in the sand. It's been warm some days, cool others but unless the wind is really blowing I try to get the kids outside every day:

This is the bed in my home office/our guest room...I've been trying to make this space more kid-friendly, with a coloring station set up and some special toys they can only play with in here, a nice soft throw on the bed they can curl up in, etc. My thought is that if they are in here and letting me work, they can hang out for short peroids (especially if I'm doing something that's more rote/not super mentally taxing)...but if they start to get disruptive they have to go back out with Grandma. Trying to eek out some extra kid time while still getting the quiet/concentration I need...we'll see how it goes...

These pics were taken in front of the house en route to the mailbox one morning (the kids LOVE to mail out letters)...

And the zoo...if I take the kids by myself somewhere I'm finding the stroller is imperative so I can corral them if need be. Here we are at the zoo one weekday morning:

And a recent Saturday with Daddy: (We have an annual pass to the zoo/aquarium/botanic gardens, which is the best thing ever because the kids love all 3 places and we can go for just an hour or two without feeling like we are not getting our money's worth.)

And these pics that didn't make it into my Easter post...a little walk with the kids up to a duck pond in the foothills...such a beautiful day that day:

And let's see...what else...so much happening around here that I haven't snapped photos of...

When the kids first got the sunglasses (see above zoo pic), they put them on inside and ran from mirror to mirror, giggling at their reflections...cutest thing ever.

Luke is starting to recite things pretty much word-for-word (my husband has a memory like that too). Like the "5 Little Ducks Went Out to Play" song, one night in the bath I listened to him do the whole thing start to finish. And "Where the Wild Things Are" (oh my gosh I love that book)...one night Luke sat on the couch with me and I turned the pages and he told me the story as written, even including the little wordless song I do on the pages where Max and the monsters are wild rumpusing.

Sis isn't doing the word-for-word reciting, but she is singing back songs I sing to them at night, like I've been singing "True Colors" and Sis now sits in the rocking chair and sings it to me, her voice so soft and sweet. She is still super snuggly and lets me rock and sing to her every night. Luke would rather sit next to me in the second rocker, and that's fine, he's his own person, I still sing him his own song, he's just in his own space while I'm doing it. Both kids also like me to make up songs these days because their daddy does it...he is much better at it that I am...

Luke also is starting to get frustrated easily...everything has to be a certain way, his food whole not cut, he has to pour the milk, he's saying (whining really) "Mommy don't kiss me!" a lot and one morning last week he said, "I don't do shirts!" when I was trying to get him dressed. He also says, "I don't like it!" a lot, about food, about songs, about strong winds outside, etc. It's challenging. He is also super caring about other people and kids, very compassionate and empathetic, a mix of contradictions like I'm sure most kids are but I'm really feeling that way about him these days. 

Sis is starting to say, "Yes." instead of "yeah," which makes her sound so grown up. She also says, "Sissy happy!" a lot which just melts my heart. She also talks about making other people happy (as does Luke), eg, "I color a picture, make Grammy and Papa happy!" (We color and send pictures once a week. And speaking of coloring, the kids have such distinct styles already, Luke more of a minimalist, Sis with color covering the page.) Sis also talks about things being cozy a lot, which is super cute. "My fuzzy blanket is cozy." "My play house is cozy." :My crib is cozy."

We're seeing pronoun issues with language development, eg, they'll say "Pick you up" instead of "pick me up." I know it'll sort itself out but it's kind of interesting to see how language progresses.

Sis especially is really into superheros. She runs around waving her Spider Man doll in the air going, "Bip! Bip! Bip! bad guys! (Helping Spider Man fight crime.) She also asks regularly to put on the pink superhero cape her grandma made for her and runs around the house with it flaring out behind her.

The kids are really attached to their daddy. We've been seeing him off to work in the driveway, and welcoming him back home (he'll call me when he's 5 minutes or so from the house). Yesterday morning we waved goodbye, and as soon as Daddy was out of sight Luke sat down on the pavement and said, "I wait for Daddy to come home!"

There is also lots of "Tackle Tackle Daddy" going on (where they bring him down to the floor), and "Tunnel," where they go under his bent legs, and they like to sit inside his legs when he's laying on the bed, they say it's their boat and outside of it are sharks. And "Baby Races" with Daddy as the referee/judge who decides the winner, the kids either running or crawling around the coffee table 3 times and the one back to daddy first wins. And "Ring Around The Rosy," which I taught them in the driveway one evening waiting for Daddy to get home...they want to do it now all. the. time.

We're trying to get together with friends once or twice a week...sometimes bigger groups...more often now just one or two kids they are starting to get to know well. One day after a playdate I asked Luke at nap if there was anything else he needed in his crib and he said, "Elliott and Annabelle in crib!" (Elliott and Annabelle being the twins he had had a playdate with that morning.)

We're talking a lot about potty training around here...we are going to try the 3-day method starting in a few weeks (wish us luck!). I realized a little ways into discussing potty training that the kids thought it was an actual train. "Potty train's coming!" they would say.

Stanley and Fuzzy Britches, the stuffed kitties they got for their birthdays, are constant companions around here. Kids are "feeding" them food and when I ask Luke what he wants for dinner he says, "Stanley wants Mac and Cheese!"

There is lots of racing around the house with their big dump truck or wagon. Full speed.

We've been having a lot of "where do babies come from?" talks, which I didn't expect this young. They generally go like this:

"Where do little cows come from?" 

"Big cows!"

"Where do baby bunnies come from?"

"Big bunnies!"

(They answer the question themselves or for each other these days.)

Etc.

Luke's also been having some nightmares, generally some sort of animal in his room...peacocks, donkeys, dogs...he's generally soothed back to sleep pretty easily but I hate to see him wake up crying...

We had a few days of Luke getting out of the crib...he wanted to be in Sissy's crib with her, which would of been fine with me but it wasn't fine with her, she wanted her space, which I respect but it broke my heart to have Luke crying to be with his sister and her saying no. (He also tackles her and pinches her sometimes...he's either 100% love or 100% a menace.) Problem solved by moving their cribs further apart so he couldn't just flip into her crib. I think we're about to go to toddler beds when we do potty training, though...nervous about that transition, mostly because I want to keep them safe and the thought of them having run of part of the house (I think we're going to block off the back hallway where their room, the playroom and their bathroom is)...I'm sure it'll be fine but I just don't want them getting hurt...

Easter was super fun...loved Luke's excitement. "The Easter Bunny is coming!!!!" he would run around the house shouting. Such enthusiam in both those kids...love it.

I'm doing letter flash cards with them at breakfast sometimes (just A through F to start...and honestly, they got their colors really fast but letters aren't going so well...but I don't really care...I want them to be kids and if they get it, great, if not for a while, they love doing flash cards for 10 minutes in the morning and I figure, what's the harm?) The cutest thing though is when Zo finishes eating before Luke and then she wants to do the flash cards and then holds them up one at a time and says, "What's this, Luke?" like I do, and Luke will guess...she is just so cute mimicking me I can hardly stand it.  

It's so fun to see how the kids put thoughts together. Zo is doing this sort of thing too but the examples in my head are Luke:

--Big white circular onion flowers in the garden, he tells me they are like jellyfish (and they are).

--The other day he was talking about reindeer when he was eating lunch/I was prepping dinner. I couldn't imagine where talk of reindeer was coming from...I asked him and he said "olive" pointing to the can of olives I had out...there's a story we read at Christmastime called "Olive, the Other Reindeer"

--The kids are really into trucks, which they know go "beep beep beep" when backing up. We were reading a story about a rhino, which you could tell it's a rhino, I explained to Luke, because it has horns. "When the rhino backs up it goes 'beep, beep, beep,'" Luke then said.

Anyway, lots of joyous stuff happening over here, punctuated by lots of whining for things the kids want or don't want vs just straight-up asking. And temper tantrums. And exhaustion at the end of the day.

Can't wait to see what May will bring!

XOXO

Truck Safari

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

I'm all about doing cheap/no-cost things with the kids.

Like right now, they're really into trucks...and there's some road construction not far from our house...so I thought it might be fun to drive over and check it out.

I got a nice hot cup of tea and we spent the whole morning there, parked on the side of the road, kids standing up in the passenger seat for optimal viewing.

It was right along I-25 too, so in addition to the road construction trucks, there were tons of trucks that drove by--semis and cement trucks and car carriers, gas trucks, even a couple of ambulances.

So grateful that I can spend a weekday morning like this...

XO

Farm Tour

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

The Mom's group I'm part of arranged for an organic farm tour, south of town, and the kids and I were soooooooo excited to go.

When I heard there were going to be baby pigs, I was sure that's what the kids were going to like the most.

I was wrong.

The tiny ladybugs on the beet leaves...that's what thrilled them. (With the truck that takes the produce up to ABQ a close second. And feeding the grown-up pigs handfuls of fresh spinach third.)

I would have never even seen the ladybugs if the kids hadn't pointed them out.

One of the best parts of having children...tiny parts of the world being pointed out to you as the magic that they are...

XOXO

Update on 2014-04-01 19:50 by Buttercup

P.S. My husband saw this post and asked why I went on a farm tour with the kids and the only picture from it is of the delivery truck? The answer is, have you ever tried keeping two 2-year-olds under control when set loose on a farm?!? It was all I could do to keep them from stepping on the lettuce and climbing into the pen with the chickens...no bandwith for pictures, unfortunately...they would have been nice to have...

A Day in the Life: Winter 2014 Edition

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

I took some pictures last week as we went about a pretty typical day. I wish I had more posts like this...things are always changing around here and it's fun to look back and see how our days unfolded.

This was a weekday...my weekdays usually involve a 4:30 AM wakeup to go to Crossfit with my husband, then coffee and as much work as I can squeeze in before the kiddos are ready to get up, somewhere between 7 and 8 (usually closer to 7 these days). They wake 6ish, but are usually pretty happy playing with each other for a while.

Here's how I found Miss Zo this particular morning:

Each kid gets some love and snuggles, and a diaper change. Luke's in a regular T-shirt as there was a diaper incident in the middle of the night and all his PJs are in the wash (there are a lot of nighttime diaper incidents lately for some reason.)

Then breakfast. They often share food. Sometimes they steal food from each other, when that happens I move their chairs far apart. But 95% of the time they're sweet to each other and I have them close together.

Sissy's always playing with her hair. And boy, does she ever love milk.

We've been having work done on our house and the kids love to see what's going on. "Watch men!" they say with great enthusiasm.

Then a reading session, usually involving library books.

And time with blocks. The pictures below...this is how their playroom usually looks, truth be told (I wish I kept it more organized). And they usually play as shown...same room, but doing their own thing...

Eventually everyone gets dressed. And brushes their teeth. Brushing their teeth in the shower seems to be the thing, I have no idea why, but don't see any reason to stop it.

Then, out for errands:

And lunch and some running around at the park:

Home for nap at 12. And then I sit down to work for the afternoon, although I'll often take a little break to get the kids up from their nap and give them a little snuggle. After that it's afternoon fun with "Me-Ma" (Grandma). They read and play outside, play with their toys, have a snack, sometimes help her cook something fun like banana bread. Here's Sis waking up from her nap...she doesn't wake up easy...

Afternoon snack:

The kids love it when Daddy gets home...they often snuggle with him in the bed for a little while, sometimes watching "Truck Beep" (You Tube videos of fire trucks driving down the road with sirens on...kids love it) or "Live Fox," ("What Does the Fox Say" on Jimmy Kimmel Live).

After Daddy time, dinner, which we all eat together (usually my husband or mother-in-law cooks, sometimes I do...I play with the kids during dinner prep). Then bath. Always bubbles in the bath. And toys. Kids are great about their bath.

And then PJs and tooth brushing, goodnight to Daddy and Me-Ma and then I rock them one at a time with just the nightlight in their room, Sissy first then Luke. I ask them what song they want me to sing and lately they both always say "Man in Moon" which is an old, old John Denver song, I think it's called "On the Road," where at the end it goes: "Go home, said the man in the moon, go home. Because it's getting sort of late, and I'll soon turn out my light..."

And then sleep for them, usually a little more work and getting everything ready for the morning for me and I try to be in bed by 8:30 or so because I never get enough sleep and I'm getting up so early these days.

Love our little routine...

XOXO

Zoey at 18 Months

Dear Zo,

Eighteen months is such an incredibly fun age with you.

You are tall and lean, full of energy, always. Your hair is getting long, bangs are in your face, I call it your ragamuffin look but it's so cute I hate to change it. Sometimes you'll let me pin it back with bows (often several in a row), but a lot of times not.

You're talking up a storm, lots and lots of words and if I ask you to repeat something a lot of times you'll repeat it back to me. You also talk in long, nonsensical (to me) sentences.

You say "no" a lot, but it's so soft and sweet, you're just gently letting your opinion be known.

You are great with your brother and with other kids (except for a few biting incidents with Bubs).

Your favorite foods are milk and cheese. When Daddy gives you a cookie you run around in circles and screetch.

You love doing "beanbag splashdown," where you jump from the coffee table into your beanbag.

You're on a strict schedule and sleep from 8 to 8 at night almost always, with a nice nap in the afternoon.

The boxers who live with you, Dexter and Newton, are a little overwhelming, but you've learned to say, "back!" to them when you need some space.

You love your stuffed animals (which we call "stuffies"), especially Rock and Mimi, your rabbits, and dog-dog, your schnauzer.

You wear lots of dresses with Converse tennies (so you can run around and be a kid). You love being outside. You love to swim. You love bubble baths. You love stories, or even just turning the pages of a book by yourself. You love your new legos and can build and build and build. You are full of snuggles and giggles, and your smile is one of the best things in the world.

You are, overall, an easy, sweet, smart, fun little girl. Like I tell you every morning, I am so lucky I get to be your Mommy.

Love,

Mama

Through the Glass...

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

Strange thing happened late last week.

I had Zo out just the two of us...when I can, I really like just taking one of the twins with me out to do errands. I think it's good for them to have some time alone with me, to not always be a unit.

Anyway, we were at the gas station getting gas, and I didn't want to take Zo out of her car seat because it was such a short amount of time. But I did want to play with her. So I looked through the tinted back window and said, "Peekaboo!" to make her laugh and she giggled, love that giggle and the smile on that girl, one of the best things ever in my life. And then I put my hand on the outside of the window and she put her little hand up to mirror mine...such a small moment, but so sweet.

And it made me think of Hunter, my lost daughter, how there's something like this glass between us, we can never touch, at least not in this life.

Next stop: Car wash, where I got Zo out and was so grateful to be able to tickle her and hold her and touch her warm belly and her hand, skin to skin.

So sad I can't do that with Hunter. It's all so just heartbreakingly sad...

XOXO

Image credit: homewrk.

Luke and Zoey: Months 16 and 17

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

I haven't done an update on the kids in a couple months, being on vacation and with everything that's happened with Hunter. I haven't been as present as usual in my life and with the kids--and I'm sad about that, but it is what it is--but wanted to share some pictures and stories.

Summertime, and lots of time outside. That's their grandmother's garden in the background...the kids have especially loved the cherry tomatoes (in fact, Sissy is eating a green one in this picture)...hard to keep them out of them...

Luke especially is such a helper...in the garden, with cooking...if you tell him to take his dirty clothes to the laundry hamper he even does that. :)

My dad was here for a few days before we all drove to Colorado...here he is with Sissy in the park...

One of the things the kids like to do on the banquette in our kitchen is balance like this...we always say, "London Bridge! Yay!" The other thing they really like is to bend over and stick one leg up in the air, to which we say, "Ballet! Swan Lake! Beautiful!"

Reading is a big activity at our house...here's Sissy with "Dinosaur vs Bedtime," one of their all-time favorites. The dinosaur in the book goes, "Roar! Roar! Roar." The kids' dad has a variation on that, where he'll sneak up on the kids and go, "Rar!" They run to me laughing for protection, more for show than for really being scared. It's super cute. Sometimes, Daddy will go, "Rar!" to Zo and she'll go "Rar! back to him in the sweetest, softest little "Rar!" you've ever heard...

This is the day after we lost Hunter...boy, did I need hugs from my kids...and they were happy to oblige... Hard to look at this picture, knowing how much pain I was in...

Cottage cheese. Definitely a favorite. (And one of the messiest meals, unfortunately.) Oh, and speaking of eating, we are trying to teach the kids to use a fork and spoon, but often they end up getting used like swords, battling Mommy and Daddy. "Fork Wars," we call it...

We got the kids a beanbag a few weeks ago...one of the best purchases ever. The rabbit with Sissy in this picture is called "Mimi" (Sissy came up with the name)...her other rabbit that she carries with her everywhere she named "Rock."

Mommy's sun hat...

We've had some rain and cooler weather...it's been nice. It's so rare here...

Bubs lounging on the beanbag... Sometimes they lounge with their dad and watch a short video (5 minutes or so) of a car or a truck doing something...both kids love that time with their dad.

And the kids dressed for the cooler weather...

Oh and the kids are talking up a storm, both of them, Sissy more than Bubs, but that's pretty typical. Some random new words include "neck" and "knee" and "sock" and "shoe" (and they are starting to be kind of interested in dressing themselves, by the way.) Oh and a very popular word that started with Zo but is used by both kids now is "gug-y gug-y," which means "pig." They've also learned "uh-oh," and how to use it. And Zo's first sentence happened last week. We were all having dinner together and Zo's Daddy was trying to be funny, dripping drops of water from her sippy cup into her hair. Zo looked and me and said, "Mommy. Daddy. Uh-oh." We could not stop laughing...

I cannot believe my babies are a year and a half! Time is going by so fast. And always but especially now after what happened with Hunter, I am doing all I can to soak up every minute, to spend as much time as I can with these little ones because this time is so fleeting and although I don't know for sure yet I have a feeling I am never going to have kids this age again...

XOXO

Up and Down...

Hi Everyone.

Big sigh...

My husband and I are trying to kind of "get back to normal" after the holiday weekend, which I think is the right decision. Overall, I feel generally OK, and then something happens and I start crying and am so, so, so, so sad, and then go back to OK. Spending mornings with the kids, which is awesome, working in the afternoons. Trying not to work too much and just give myself a lot of space right now. I've got a lot of projects but I'm not stressed about the deadlines or anything. Health and family first, I keep thinking. Work will get done as I'm able to get it done.

It's weird going back into the "real world." Like yesterday, I took the kids to story hour, where I've become friendly with the other moms and dads, and everyone there knew I was pregnant. All people said yesterday is, "It's good to see you guys again, it's been a while." And all I said was, "Yeah, we've been on vacation." It's weird that no one's talking about the fact that I'm not pregnant anymore. But I totally understand...how do you bring it up? You can't really say to someone you don't know that well, "Oh, I see you've lost your baby."

And then work...some of the people I work with are close friends and know what's going on. But there's a whole group of people I've worked with for years, and I know they were told some version of what happened (although what I'm gathering is that they were told this was a run-of-the-mill miscarriage, and not really the extent of what was going on)...anyway, some of those people have said I'm so sorry, but most have said nothing. It's weird. Have people just not ever had bad things happen to them? I'm not mad, but it's just so strange...

Today, I went to the funeral home and picked up Hunter's ashes. I cried about it after, but actually going there was strangely devoid of emotion. I have to tell you though, it's killing me that the only place her name will ever actually officially be is on the forms at the funeral home. Absolutely breaks my heart.

Yesterday, both the doctor and the nurse who were with us last week through the hell we went through called to check on me. They both said everyone can't stop thinking about and talking about my family...that we and our circumstances touched them all deeply. Which was cool to hear...I figured they deal with tragedies like this all the time, and we're just one more...

I still can't believe all this is happening.

It's a week today since we lost little Hunter. 

It's been a tough, tough week. Punctuated by joyful moments with the twins, and my husband and I really trying the best we can to take care of each other. And also, really, overall a lot of support from family and friends, and all you guys too...I really appreciate the effort so many people have made to reach out to us.

I hate that this is my "new normal."

XOXO

Kintsukuroi (and Some Other Random Thoughts)

I read about kintsukuroi on Jasmine Star's blog the other day and can't get it out of my head. (Why am I reading a weeding photographer's blog, you may ask? Because I really admire the way she runs her business...especially how she feels that you get ahead by helping other people, not stepping on them. I believe that too. It's how I try to run my business. I feel like it's pretty rare.)

Anyway, kintsukuroi - it's Japanese, "to repair with gold", the theory being that something is more beautiful for having been broken.

Honestly, I'm not sure I 100% believe this, but it's such a lovely thought, and I hope that it is true. 

On a completely unrelated topic, so sorry to neglect this space so terribly as of late...a massive pre-vacation workload and now I'm on vacation and don't feel like doing anything, plus the kids are teething and incredibly fussy/clingy at the moment so makes it hard to do anything but be with them, which is OK because, ahhhhhh, so great not to have to worry about work deadlines and just spend the whole day with my kiddos.

(At least that's how I feel most of the time. But when they haven't stopped whining for 3 hours straight and both want my lap to themselves, pushing the other one off, all I can think is, "what am I doing wrong?")

Anyway. Hope everyone out there is doing well and I will be posting more regularly soon, promise.

Happy Wednesday!

XOXO

Image credit: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/58787_376544129119318_1944135826_n.jpg

"No Regrets Parenting"

Hi Everybody! Happy Wednesday!

PAIL has a little book club going on that I'm participating in this month. The book is called "No Regrets Parenting" by Dr. Harley Rotbart. There was a list of questions submitted by participants, and I'm going to use those questions as a framework for my discussion of the book. And so, without further ado:

• What, if anything, did you find particularly useful about this book? I love the premise of this book, which is to spend time with your kids and really live every minute of their childhood, so once they are gone you have "no regrets." I haven't really seen that idea spelled out before, and it was useful for me to gel some of my thinking about parenting. On the not-so-useful side, this book also played into two of my biggest fears, namely: 1) How in the world am I going to let these kids go when they are 18? I love them so much, can't imagine life without them (although I probably will still be part of their life, I know, it's just not the same) and 2) Should I be spending every waking minute with my kids? Is my working part time harming them? This book talks so much about spending all the time you can with your kids, and I already feel guilty sometimes for working...
• How did this book influence how you think about parenting or how you approach busyness? This book pretty much just reinforced what I've been thinking, which is time with the kids is good and it can be totally unstructured and be fine. My day is so busy, my "to do" list a mile long, but kid time comes first so from 7 AM to 11 AM I'm pretty much solely with/100% focused on the kids...ditto for 5 PM to 8 PM and all weekend.
• What parts of this book do you disagree with and why? This book stated right up front that it wasn't intended to help people figure out ways to get time for themselves, but I wish that had been addressed. The book makes it seem like you should do your job and spend time with your kids and that's it. That's what I'm doing now, pretty much, and maybe that's as it should be, but I really would like to figure out a way to have a little life of my own--just a tiny bit of "me time"--as well.
• The author keeps talking about time, time time with your kids. I know a lot of us at PAIL have young toddlers, and I’m wondering what others do with their kids in this age range. Sometimes when I have the whole weekend, at some point I feel like I run out of ways to keep everyone entertained. This was actually my question, and I love, love, love spending time with my twins but I do sometimes feel like I run out of ideas. They're 16 months old and the only real structured things we have are story hour on Tuesday mornings and Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. Other than that, here's my list of go-to ideas, but I'd love to hear more: Reading (but there are only so many times you can read "Curious George and the Puppies"), playing in the yard, going to the grassy park and running around in the grass, going to the playground and sliding down the slides and/or swinging on the swings, pool time on the weekends, having them "help" me (eg, this morning it took us an hour and a half to make enchiladas for dinner, something it would otherwise have taken me half an hour to do. They also helped take the laundry, piece by piece, to the laundry room this evening. Not very efficient, either of these tasks, but we spend the time together and I know they are learning tons and we have the time), coffee shop for bagels, errands (although this can be a bit challenging with twins), playing with their toys...help...I need more ideas!
• What kinds of things do people do to “double dip” as is discussed in this book? I like to take the kids for walks in their stroller...I get exercise, they get fresh air, we end up at a park where they can run around...everybody wins. And as soon as they are old enough to ski/snowboard I want to start going to the mountain with them...
• Do you have child activity limits or do you let your child sign up for everything like the “potpourri” parent described? If your kid(s) is (are) young, what are your plans? We plan to hugely limit what our kids sign up for, because we want to spend lots of unstructured time with them and keep our lives from becoming too chaotic. What we're thinking to start is to sign Luke and Zo up for ballet and karate (both activities for both of them)...and then things will evolve according to their interests but we feel very strongly about not having our kids over scheduled.
• How do you make time for yourself if you are focusing on spending time with your children and keeping up a demanding career like the author describes? Hahahahahaha..... No, seriously, I am trying to do better, spending a night or two a week doing something creative after the kids go to bed. And also my husband is great about watching them if asked, so I'm trying to plan some evening/weekend things like a yoga class or a pedicure. It's really hard--this trying to make time for yourself is what I'm finding most challenging about motherhood right now...
• Frequently people tell parents to “enjoy every minute” while their kids are little, and at times this book has that sort of feeling. What do you think about this advice and how can you make it practical as a part of your life? I think it's good advice. I do try to enjoy every minute, although sometimes it's easier than others. (Morning sickness isn't a big help in this regard.) I try to be very present and not do email/internet/talk on the phone/etc. while I'm with the kids. I try to plan fun and meaningful activities for us. I try to take lots of pictures and write about the things we do here on my blog so when I look back and it's all a big blur I can see that this time was made of lots of leisurely minutes/hours/days and I did what I could to make it special.
• How do you keep track of your child’s activities? Do you find it helpful or hard to see what you might be missing? My kids are young so this isn't really and issue...

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and liked some of the concrete suggestions that it had. It also helped me to reframe things a little for the better...for example, I do baths and bedtime ritual 99% of the time, and I used to kind of feel like, "Why am I the one who always has to do this?" But the truth is I love doing it. I love spending that time with my kids. What else would I be doing if I wasn't doing that? Cleaning up after dinner (which my husband and mother-in-law so graciously do every night)? Getting in another hour's worth of work? Working on my endless list of chores/phone calls/organizational tasks/errands? It's not a burden to be with my kids--it's not something that's keeping me from other things--it's exactly what I want to be doing. Because I know how fast the time is going to go and how much I'm going to miss doing things like baths when the kids start wanting to do it themselves instead. This book helped to clarify things like that in my mind and for that alone it was worth the read.

XOXO

Image Credit: No Regrets Parenting.

Zoey's Diary: 15 Months

Hi! Hi! Hi!

Zoey here, to tell you all about the past month!

Mommy doesn't have a lot of pictures this time, because she was feeling really sick and also her camera wasn't working, but there are some good ones of Grandpa visiting us, even if a few of them are blurry, you can see how much we love him (and how much he loves us)! He is sooooooooo good with us. He read us tons of stories and he even gave me my first milkshake! We love it when Grandpa visits. Grammy visited us too, just a little while ago, but Mommy's camera REALLY wasn't working by then so she doesn't have any pictures. We had soooooooooo much fun with Grammy though! We can't wait until July when Mommy says we are all going to get together in Colorado...it's going to be so much fun!

We're doing lots of cool stuff these days, lounging and playing. We love outside and water, the pool but also Mommy fills up a little container on the patio and we splash in it...so fun. And Mommy says Luke is into EVERYTHING these days...she says she feels bad because sometimes all she says all day is no no no. I'm pretty mellow at the moment...Luke gets into enough stuff for the both of us, I figure.

Mommy still reads to us tons. We both plop ourselves down in her lap for stories, side by side. It's the best.

Oh and we are both starting to talk, me and Bubs. We've been saying mama and daddy, but I've also started saying teddy and nana for banana and Bubs says bird and we both say ball and face parts like ear and nose and mouth. Oh, and rock was one of the first words for both of us...Mommy says clearly we are New Mexico. :) 

And also, we are getting more and more affectionate with each other, me and Bubs, giving each other hugs or just laying our head against one or the other. There is a bit of roughness too but it's not intentional...we're just learning how to be with other people. I also always make sure Bubs has a beeper (paci) when he needs it (I'll go looking for one if he's fussing, bring it back to him). And he's always bringing me teddies because he knows how much I love them.

So that's it. We are loving life around here!

Love,

Zoey-kins

Balance

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday!

I have a lot I want to say today and not sure how to start, so I'm just going to kind of dive right in.

I've been struggling for the past few months. There's been:

• A move to a place I don't know and didn't choose (I told my husband we'd go wherever was best for his career), also away from my family and the state I grew up in--the state that feels like home
• My husband stopping his full-time stay-at-home-dad gig and starting a full-time job
• Getting pregnant with our third child (via an FET and all the craziness that entails)

So lots and lots and lots of change.

My days these days, they go like this:

• Up with the kids at 7 AM. Hang out with them until 10:30 or 11
• Work from 10:30 or 11 to 5ish (or whenever the kids get up from their afternoon nap. My mother-in-law, who is living with us, watches the kids while I work)
• Watch kids from 5 to 8 (with some help from my husband, but I'm generally the primary caretaker, and I'm fine with that. He and my mother-in-law do dinner and clean up most nights, which is huge)
• After 8 work more if needed, do any housework that needs to be done, watch some TV/Netflix, or read. Honestly after 8 I am absolutely exhausted

And I'm really feeling like all of a sudden there is no time for me, that my life is kids, work, kids, chores, sleep. And it's made way worse by being so sick in the first trimester of pregnancy (not to mention the exhaustion). Sometimes I can't work from 11 to 5 because I have to lay down and then I have to do nights and weekends to make up for it. I've just started getting a massage every other week, but that's really been it as far as doing anything for myself. And it's my fault, because I have my mother-in-law to help and my husband is great, he says to schedule whatever I want to schedule and he'll watch the kids, he's so awesome. But even though "me time" is being so generously offered, it's so hard to do.

Part of the problem is work, I work as a freelancer and it's supposed to be 20 hours a week (well, right now we are shooting for 30 so I can save some money for a maternity leave), but there is no way to work exactly 20 hours a week as a freelancer. So for a lot of May I wasn't working much at all, which was so nice, but in June I have been working a lot because there are projects and I need to even the hours out. The busy times are so incredibly hard on me, though. It's stressful and exhausting.

Part of the problem is having an enormous TO DO list, and everything but me getting put first. I never feel on top of things. I need to just squeeze in stuff for me. Like today, I have so many work projects it's so easy to work every second of my kid-free time, but my camera hasn't been working and I stopped work to take it to a camera repair place and get it fixed and that was so great, the work will be there tomorrow and I can't tell you how good it feels to do something for me.

The way I see it, there are four things:

1. Kids
2. Work
3. Running the household (everything from laundry to cooking and cleaning to calling the tree guy because our trees don't look that great or the pool cover guy because our pool cover needs adjusting to going to the bank and the post office and etc., all of which I have help with)
4. Me time (which includes time alone with my husband)

The kids are my first priority, and I'm really proud of how well they are taken care of/how much attention they get.

Work gets the attention it needs because I want to make my clients happy (it's a problem, actually, I have no trouble putting their needs before mine), and also if I don't do a good job there won't BE a job and I am extremely grateful to be able to freelance.

The household, my mother-in-law is doing so much, and my husband...I definitely play a role here but it's between the three of us that things get done. I am extraordinarily grateful for the help. Oh and we have a house cleaner every other week. If it were all just up to me, the household would be a complete disaster.

And me...always on the back burner and I think that has a lot to do with me feeling so sad. A lot has changed, the rhythm of our days is totally different than it was when my husband was a stay-at-home-dad and I don't think I've really thought about that and adjusted for it. Before my husband started working again this (not feeling like I have any time for myself) didn't seem to be a problem. Now it is.

So starting with tomorrow's pregnancy update, I'm going to do a "What I've been doing for me" section. And make sure there's something to put there each week. That's my strategy for feeling better. And with the morning sickness that's really complicated this whole thing set to subside soon (in theory at least)--being so sick has made it impossible to want to do anything in time that's not work- or kid-related other than lay down--I think that's a reasonable goal.

XOXO

Good Mom

OK, I know I'm pregnant and all, but the following totally made me cry. I feel so judged as a mom, and the worst of it is probably me judging myself, wanting to be perfect (or at least as close to it as possible) and not even knowing what that is (is working part time OK? Is disposable diapering OK? Is it OK that my son was on his dad's lap watching a video game for a short time yesterday?), let alone how to acheive it.

Anyway, I've never heard this put quite this way before, and reading this made my day:

“To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom. 

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom. 

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom. 

To the disposable diapering mom: Damn those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom. 

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom. 

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom. 

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a red box with a big yellow M on it. You're a good mom. 

To the mom who gave her kids a homecooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom. 

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom. 

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above? Glass houses, friend. Glass houses.” 

Posted by Jill Smith in London Ontario https://www.facebook.com/JillSmith/posts/10151591809572180

(via Danielle Ramsey)

Happy Monday!

XOXO

Mother's Day 2013

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

Mother's Day started out pretty rough for me...I've been super homesick for Colorado and I miss my mom so much...just wanted to be able to hang out with her, you know?

But then my husband took us all to the nicest brunch...it really meant a lot, I felt so spoiled. And then we went to the park...so sweet to just laze together on a warm spring day. It ended up being such a great day, truly.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

XOXO

Sweet

Last night, I was feeding Luke and Zo their before-bedtime bottles, on the carpeted floor, one kid on either side of me.

Luke finished first, and was quickly up tearing around the room (funny, both the kids are so high energy right before bed, but as soon as it's time to sleep they go down no problem.)

Anyway, mid-tear Luke came over, crawled into my lap, put his head on my chest and snuggled into me and just sat there, very still and close. And then a minute later he was down, back to his wild ways.

It's hard to explain what makes this so different from anything that has happened before. I mean, my kids cuddle with me all the time...I think what it is is that it's usually me picking them up and them reciprocating...this is the first time either of them has initiated anything like this. Just so completely out-of-the-blue mine for that minute...so much love communicated through his little body.

It's so cliched, but this is what they mean by moments that take your breath away. I'll remember it for the rest of my life...

XOXO

I Can See Why People a Lot of Times Don't Figure Out Guardians for Their Kids...It's Really Hard

Note: This post was written as a contribution to PAIL's February Monthly Theme Post. Click here to view the entire list of participants.

Planning ahead...ah, isn't this what adulthood is all about? I've just recently started doing a lot of this planning-for-the-future type stuff, and also--perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not--have just recently begun feeling like an adult. Confession, though: Left to my own devices, things would not be as buttoned up as they are. I have my organized and responsible husband (and also parents) to thank for that.

Family Planning

We've got two babies, and want one more. (We think.) We're in the process of buying a house that will accomodate that plan. And have money saved for either a new car for my husband, if we end up with just two kids, or a minivan for me (gulp), and my husband gets my Jeep, if we have three.

We also have a plan for our IVF embryos, if there are any left over, and that is embryo adoption.

Financial Planning

Wills. Check.

Life insurance. Check.

Retirement savings. Check.

College savings. Check.

What to Do With the Kids if the Worst Happens

That's easy...my brother will raise them. 

What happens if my brother is not around either?

Well, that's a lot tougher.

How in the world do you make that decision?

We (my husband and I) talked and talked and talked about it and nothing felt right...everyone we were talking about "nominating" either lived too far away (we want the kids to be near their grandparents) or we felt was too involved in their career/not family oriented enough, or it seemed that it was too much to ask, aka they didn't feel like close enough friends. 

My husband's best friend, who is single but has raised a son, all things considered seemed like the best bet. He's a nice person and is very smart, would be willing to move to our town so the kids could be geographically close to their grandparents, has similar morals to us, goes hiking and snowboarding so the kids could still be exposed to those things which is important to me...he is where we were landing, but something didn't feel quite right. Talking about it with my husband one evening,  I burst into tears.

"If we do it this way, the kids won't have a mother," I sobbed.

"The kids aren't going to have a mother any way we do this," my husband said. Which made me cry even harder because it's true.

In the end, we did set it up with my husband's best friend. It's hard for me to think about and I get scared thinking did I make the right choice for my children? But I have to remind myself that the chances of my husband and I dying AND my brother dying are so incredibly small, it's not like this is a likely scenario. I think it's just a hard decision. I think we made the right choice, but still. Hard.

Please oh please oh please, don't let my children have to grow up without a mother. (This is the little prayer I say as I try to let the whole thing go.)

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

Luke's Diary: 10 Months

Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!

We turned 10 months old last week, and today Mommy said I could tell you about what we've been up to the past month!

Lots of back-and-forth to Grammy and Grandpa's...we're trying to get as much visiting in as we can before we move to Albuquerque! (But Mommy says we'll still see Grammy and Grandpa all the time, so not to worry.) Grandpa always bounces me up and down on his knee all the time and says, "Hey Luke, want to ride to Texas?" Mommy says Albuquerque is on the way to Texas, so I already feel like I know where I'm going!

I'm big on pacifiers all of a sudden. (After having no previous interest at all in them.) Sissy could care less.

Grandma Charlotte was here over Christmas...she's so fun to play with. And Mommy says she's going to move to Albuquerque with us...we are so excited!

My new thing is I loooooooooove the dishwasher! Sissy does too, but not as much. I like to climb inside it if Mommy will let me. She's always hurrying to get everything out, especially the glass things. I don't see why, I'd be more than happy to help!

Here are some pictures of us playing at Grammy and Grandpa's:

Mommy can't carry us both downstairs any longer, so when we wake up from naps or in the morning, one of us will wait in the crib while Mommy takes the other downstairs. We are both pretty patient:

Here are a couple early-morning pictures of Sissy. She is standing on her own lots, and even took a couple steps for Daddy while Mommy was out of town! (Mommy's friend Kim said that that happened because Sissy missed Mommy and was trying to find her.) I don't really stand on my own or walk yet, but I do cruise all over the place holding on to furniture or my scooter.

Speaking of us being mobile, apparently something HAD to be done to keep us off the stairs, although I don't see why, both me and Sissy are EXPERT stair climbers! Mommy and Daddy went to the home improvement store and got wood and white plastic lattice and Daddy made an L shape that fits over the bottom 3 stairs and gets bungee-corded into place. Mommy says it's good to have an engineer husband. They call it the "Baby Stopper 5000."

And here are some pictures of me patting my dog Dexter, and playing with the little scooter Grandma Charlotte got us for Christmas. Oh and by the way, I've REALLY started talking. At the beginning of the month I was more making clicking sounds...Mommy said I was probably a dolphin in another life. Now my thing is making really animated ascending "hut" sounds that make everyone laugh and imitate me. I've also started doing some things with vowels and consonants like Sissy has been doing.

And here are some pictures of us with Daddy. He's still with us every day, but not for long because he got a really good job! That last picture is Daddy helping me drink sparkling cider to celebrate! We'll still see him in the evenings and on weekends...we'll have sooooooooooo much fun on the weekends. We will miss him, though. Mommy said we are so lucky to have had our first 11 months with him and that most babies don't get that so I am trying to be grateful and not sad. Anyhow, now I can brag about how my daddy works for Sandia National Labs doing all sorts of cool national security stuff! I hope me and Mommy and Sissy get to visit him at work! That will be fun!

 So that's it! Everything is great as always around here!

Love,

Luke

P.S. Mommy asked me to ask if you would pleeeeeeeease vote for her blog on Top Baby Blogs (she's just going to be asking this week): just click here and then click on the owl on the left of the page that pops up. She says you can vote once per day and to say thank yooooooooooou!

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)