Big Changes Are Afoot...

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday!

Guess what?!? My husband has a new job! And a really, really, really good job, too...so proud of him. In the end it was totally worth taking our time/being picky (his first job interview was November of 2011, although he wasn't really looking until June of last year).

Anyway...a great salary.

A really good/high level job title, higher than he was expecting.

And we are going to have GOOD health insurance! (Having to deal with your own insurance is one of the hardest parts of freelancing.)

And he has THREE WEEKS paid vacation every year, PLUS the week between Christmas and New Years off, which is huge!

Oh, and he has every other Friday off too.

It's with Sandia National Labs, which means we are moving to...

ALBUQUERQUE!

As I was mentioning yesterday, I am determined to make it good, to love it and love our life there. 

I'm already psyched about: 

• Mexican food (it's different in New Mexico than elsewhere, and oh so good...)
• Hiking and snowboarding close by
• It's not too far from my family in Colorado, we'll be able to see them easily
• Cool New Mexico weekend trips like Santa Fe. Taos. Roswell (that's one my husband is excited about). The Lightning Field
• A city with shopping and arts, live music and good restaurants
• I also love the Albuquerque aesthetic--adobe houses, the American Indian and Spanish influences...
• Etc.

New Mexico's called The Land of Enchantment, so it's gotta be cool, right?

We're going to be down there by February. Lots of logistical stuff to deal with. One step at a time...

XOXO

Image credit: BugsyandSprite.

Places We Seriously Considered Moving, As My Husband Hunted for a New Job

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

As those of you who follow along know, my husband has been job hunting. For a while, but honestly most of that time not that hard...he graduated in May and before that wasn't really looking, and since then it's been so great having him around to help with the twins, and our expenses are really low (small mortgage, no car or student loans, no credit card bills), so with some economizing we can make it work on my freelance income. We actually talked quite seriously about him being a stay-at-home-dad for a while...but in the end, honestly it was the fear of how hard it would be for him to get back in the workforce. I don't mind being the sole breadwinner for a while, but I don't want that to be my role forever, you know?

My husband's situation is a little unusual in that he has a lot of work experience, but just got an engineering degree. We decided the best course of action would be for him to look nationwide, and be open to moving for the right job. I really wanted to stay in Colorado or be on the West coast, so letting fate decide was a little scary. Over the past year or so, there have been so many locations we've seriously considered. In alphabetical order:

1. Albany, NY
2. Albequerque, NM
3. Boulder, CO
4. Chester, CA
5. Costal Delaware
6. DC Area
7. Denver, CO
8. Kansas City, KS
9. Lafayette, IN
10. Minneapolis, MN
11. Ocean Springs, MS
12. Roseburg, OR
13. Salt Lake City, UT
14. Seattle, WA
15. Sheridan, AR (although the whole time we actually thought the job was in Sheridan, WY)

Whew...it's been crazy around here!

Any guesses as to where we're ending up? (And please don't say anything bad about any of these locations...I'm all about being positive about the move. As my dad says, every place has good things about it. And also, right now, especially these next few years, it's all about my family...this sounds so sacchrine, but truly, as long as we're together, I don't really care where we live.)

The big reveal tomorrow...

XO

Image Credit: iCanvas Art.

Monday Snapshot: "Kitten Pile" Edition

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!

I traveled to San Francisco for work last week, and my husband, bless him, sent a steady stream of photos my way. (Must remember how nice this is for when he goes back to work.)

I had a long meeting Wednesday, after which I checked my phone for messages/texts, and found this with the caption 'Sleeping like champs:'

I laughed and showed it to my friend Wendy, who I'd driven to the meeting with.

"Awwwwww," she said. "They're like a little pile of kittens."

The kids are in one crib right now because we don't have room for two, but I'm not so sure I want to separate them even when we do have room. They sleep curled up together all the time...it's the cutest thing...

XOXO

This post is part of PAIL's Monday Snapshot series...click here for more.

Photography 101: Read the Manual Edition

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

So I've got a nice camera (a Nikon 3100), have had it for a couple years and all I do with it is point and shoot. And this year, I really want to learn to use it, and not just from a technical perspective, but also from an artistic perspective...I see in my head how I want my pictures to turn out, and the reality of how they do come out does not match my vision as closely as I'd like, you know?

And I figured maybe some of you out there are in the same boat, and would be interested in the information I dig up. So I'm going to start doing the occasional (maybe a couple times a month?) photography post. If this is not your thing...have a nice weekend and I'll see you Monday.

So the logical (and also kind of boring) place to start in my mind is to read the manual, which is available online for pretty much any camera, I would imagine. Am I the only one who hates manuals and just expects everything to be intuitive? Or am I just extra lazy? Anyway, I'm working my way through the manual and will report back if it did me any good. My tip for reading the manual is read it with your camera in hand so you can try what you are reading about...otherwise, for me anyway, without that tactile input the information just goes in one ear and out the other.

Future topics I plan to write about:

• Tips for taking better kid portraits
• How to light photographs inside (I love natural light, hate flash)
• Getting a shallow depth of field (you know, where the subject is clear and the background is blurred....love that look)
• How to do video (because I think my camera shoots video...and it'd be nice to have some video of the kids aside from the ocasional random iPhone clip)
• This is more a photoshop thing, but how to take an object of of a picture and place it on a white background
• Shooting events (such as birthday parties...you know, what kind of things make for memorable and fun pictures?)
• How to shoot/capture the personality of rooms in a house
• Etc., kind of all over the map as you can see...

Anything YOU would be particularly interested in learning about?

Happy weekend everyone! Thanks for spending some time here this week! :)

XOXO

Grace in Small Things, San Francisco Edition (January 10, 2013)

A few lovely things that happened on my quick (48 hour) work trip to San Francisco (into which I tried to squeeze as much socializing as humanly possible). Oh, how I love San Francisco. I lived there for seven years, miss it every day.

1. Driving up from San Jose on the 280 early misty morning, having just spent a too-short evening/overnight with my college roommate Chris and his fiance Kim, love being around them, they always make me feel so incredibly welcome. (Years ago they even gave me a key to their house so I could come and go as I pleased whenever visiting the Bay Area.) Yesterday driving up to the city the light was just starting to come, the hills so green, the trees so lush...made me think of driving east on the 80 from Colorado the March I moved out to San Francisco, my brother Luke drove me, we left a foot of snow behind in Colorado and the green of the hills and the black-and-white cows, the warm humid air...I will never forget it.

2. Hiking and getting to see some of the art installations in the Presidio with Ryan (with whom I used to surf all. the. time.) So lovely to see him (and see where his family lives as they've moved since last time I visited...it's gorgeous)...and so nice to get out in nature, exactly what I wanted to do.

3. Seeing Wendy, whom I work with and who has a spectacular town home in Sausalito, so girly, so lovely.

[Insert confusing work meeting here.]

4. Getting to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge (twice). And reaching Ocean Beach before dark (which I didn't think would happen), so I could get at least a glimpse of my beloved waves. Cold and windy, wild like always, the feel and the smell of the air like it is only there...heaven...

5. Seeing my friends Stacey and Tobin, who live a block from the beach, you can hear the ocean at night from their house.

True story: We went for sushi last night (which was unbelievable. I'm never eating sushi in Colorado again.) Anyway, parking in San Francisco is INSANELY hard, for those of you who don't know. I lived on Russian Hill when I lived there, and in the evenings if it took you half an hour to find a parking spot and the spot was within a 10-block radius of where you lived, you were lucky.

Last night, there was a space right across the street from the restaurant. Tobin did a U-turn to snag it, and some other guy saw it at the same time, turned from the other direction and was about to take it. After they both tried unsuccessfully to wave each other away from the spot, Tobin got out of the car, the other guy got halfway out, each of them saying, "Hey I saw it first, that's my spot." This is the kind of thing that ends up in fist fights, right?

"Tell you what, why don't we flip for it?" Tobin said to the other guy. "That's fair, right? We both think we're right...this is a fair way to decide."

"All right," said the other guy.

The coin was flipped.

Tobin won.

Then said to the other guy, "You know what? It's OK, you can have the spot."

But the other guy said no, wouldn't take it--fair is fair--and we ended up with the spot.

Lovely trip. Missed my babies. I'm exhausted after a 4:15 AM wakeup to make a 6 AM flight. How did I used to travel 150 days a year?

Oh and P.S. any of my San Francisco friends reading this that I didn't get to see...soooooooo sorry! Don't take it personally! There wasn't any time! Next trip I PROMISE. :)

XOXO

Pintrest: More Fun Than Shopping!

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

New Year's Day was exceptionally quiet around our house...long naps for the kids, a day off and I wanted to treat it like a holiday vs trying to cram every spare minute full of tasks that needed to be done like I normally do. I just kind of gave myself permission to do what I wanted to do, and turns out what I wanted to do was play on Pintrest. I love love love Pintrest...have I mentioned that? For years, my analogue version of Pintrest was to tear things out of catalogues and magazines and put them into file folders, but that process was so cumbersome and I never seemed to be able to find things again...problems solved by having everything online.

Anyway, the other day I made a Valentine's Day board and added lots to my Parties board (thinking ahead to March when the kids turn 1). But most fun was clothes...I totally redid my Fall/Winter board, and started a new Spring/Summer one...already dreaming of how nice warmer weather will be. Putting these boards together is more fun than shopping, I swear. Especially since there's nowhere I really like to shop where I live. Plus even if there was, I don't have time with the babies...

Below are excerpts...too fun...and so nice to have a little self-indulgent me time, you know? A great way to start off the New Year...

XOXO

Monday Snapshot: I Should Have Seen This Coming Edition

The good news is, he got down the same way he got up...easy-peasy. :)

Happy Monday!

XOXO

P.S. This post is part of PAIL's "Monday Snapshot" Series...click here for the rest of today's installment.

New Year's Resolutions (Of a Sort)

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

I've been debating whether or not to do New Year's Resolutions.

I love the thought of having fresh goals in mind to work towards. 

But also, there is SO MUCH happening for us in 2013.

And with big change comes excitement, but also some fear, which I'm trying to squash as much as possible. 

So, instead of resolutions per se, I thought it would be good for me to imagine my life the way I WANT it to turn out this year.

Everything--every single thing--could go very, very right, you know.

So here's what things look like (when everything does go perfectly right):

1. We move to a great new city (so excited to be in a city again!), and find and move into our dream home:

2. Our first FET is a big fat success, and towards the end of the year we welcome a new baby (if the first FET doesn't work, we're going to try one more):

3. I cut down my work hours, so I'm truly working part time (right now I'm working a little more than I'd like, but that will change once my husband starts his new job). And, I'll be working from a new office--fun! I'm SO ready for some sort of refresh to my work space:

4. I make lots of new friends. Local friends who I can see in person:

5. I finish my San Francisco book. (Wednesday nights are going to be for me to write):

6. I make holidays etc. really special for my family. (My husband thinks I'm ridiculous, but I'm already planning the twins' first birthday party, which will happen in March):

7. Everything works out great with my mother-in-law coming to live with us and help with the kids--she's happy, we're happy. (And I'm so excited about the fact that she likes to garden...I wish I liked to garden, but really, I don't. But I do love being surrounded by the RESULTS of gardening):

8. We see my parents and my brother and his family lots and lots and lots (we're not sure where we're moving yet, but the choices are both just one state away. They'll visit, we'll visit...it'll be good):

9. Everyone is happy and healthy. (I've been having a LOT of anxiety about people I love dying lately. A LOT. And everybody's fine, so it's not at all rational. I need to figure out a way to get a handle on it):

10. I learn how to properly use my camera (SO ready to go from point-and-shoot to manual, and have my pictures better reflect what I see in my head):

11. Buck Up, Buttercup comes closer to the vision I have for it:

12. I spend some time with my best friend...miss her so much!

I'm feeling excited now, not scared. :)

2013 is going to be amazing, amazing, amazing...

XOXO

Image Credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12.

And also, thanks to Elizabeth over at E Tells Tales for the idea of having photos be part of this list. :)

Oh, and BTW I made a little Pintrest Board of all this...fun to see it all together...

A Good Start to the New Year (and Some Advice From Julia Child)

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! (And Happy New Year!) 

Hope you all had a nice day yesterday. We spent it relaxing with the kids, which was so lovely. I also put one of my Christmas presents from my husband to use for the first time...he got me Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," Volumes 1 and 2, and I made beef bourguignon...took a good part of the afternoon and about every pot and pan we have, and while I was tasting during the cooking it didn't seem like anything special, but the finished dish, oh my, it was absolutely divine. That for dinner, along with a nice glass of red wine, was such a great way to start the New Year. 

By the way, I love Julia Child, have read several books by and about her and she wrote such a charming introduction to my new cookbooks. Included in that introduction were the following bits of advice (and I'm paraphrasing):

1) Don't be afraid to make mistakes and have fun (she's talking about cooking of course, but it's applicable pretty much anywhere, no?)

and:

2) You can eat pretty much anything you want and keep your figure if you a) serve yourself a small portion, b) don't have seconds, and c) don't snack. Which makes me feel entitled to cook and eat from my new cookbooks once a week or so...it's going to be fun. :)

How did you all spend your New Year's Day?

XOXO

Image credit: Ooka Medias.

Ideal Bookshelf

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday and happy New Year's Eve! My husband's best friend is in town...he's going to babysit while my husband and I go out for a swanky dinner (and I have a new sparkly dress to wear, yay!) and then I'm going to stay home with the kids while they go out on the town. Perfect. Oh and I'm trying to track down some sparklers because I want to do sparklers with the kids before bed...

Anyway...

Have you guys heard about Ideal Bookshelf? They paint a customized painting for you of your favorite books/the books that have most influenced you...I soooooooo want to do this. Part of the fun would be choosing the books, don't you think? (It's also fun to look at the prints they have available to see what others have chosen.) There would be a lot of consideration as far as what would go on my shelf, but I know for sure the following would be there: 

• Love in the Time of Cholera
• Anna Karenina
• Holy Land
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog
• I Capture the Castle
• Gilead
• Cowboys Are My Weakness
• The Namesake
• The Fountainhead

What would for sure be on your shelf?

Hope you all have something fabulous planned for tonight! Happy New Year!

XOXO

Image Credit: Ideal Bookshelf.

Update on 2012-12-31 22:10 by Buttercup

Oh, and The Drifters. And Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Update on 2013-01-02 18:42 by Buttercup

And A Book of Luminious Things.

A Winter's Day in Moab

Hi Everyone! 

Both grandmas offered to babysit today, and we took advantage of it with a quick trip to Moab (Arches National Park, stopping by Seco Canyon on the way for the petroglyphs). So beautiful in the snow. Missed the babies terribly, but I'll spend all weekend with them, and great to get out and be my old self for a day, you know?

Happy Weekend! Thanks for spending some time here this week. :)

XOXO

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

Dear Luke and Zoey (Your First Visit to Santa Edition)

Dear Luke and Zoey,

Today was a Friday. We got up at 6 AM like usual and had bottles (well, I had a cup of Lady Gray tea), oatmeal with fruit (a slice of cheese for me), put on some super cute outfits and then played in the playroom until morning naps, earlier than usual because you had your 9-month well visit with Dr. Tarpey at 9:45. She said you guys are doing great and you are growing like crazy...Zo, you're now in the 83rd percentile with height, and Luke, you're in the 31st, which I was so glad to hear because last visit (and all the ones prior) you were at 1% and I've been worried about your growth. Not anymore.

After Dr. Tarpey, we had lunch with Grammy and Grandpa and Grandma Charlotte and Daddy's friend Tim who is here visiting us for the holidays. You tried to eat paper napkins and we gave you each some puffs and we all marveld over how cute you guys are. 

And then after lunch, we all went with you to see Santa. The line wasn't very long but you got hungry in line so we made up emergency bottles and fed you and Luke, that wasn't enough but we had some puffs left and that made you happy. And then you were both on Santa's lap, calm and happy as could be. Grammy's been telling you all about Santa so that you'd be prepared...that seemed to have been a good strategy. :)

Santa's coming in four days...get ready!

Lots of love,

Mommy

Everything Just Feels So Heavy Right Now...

Hi Everyone...

Gosh, what a strange week this has been. Three things:

1. The whole Newtown tragedy has been so hugely on my mind. 
2. I have been missing Luke--my brother who died--so much this week. Maybe because it feels like the whole nation is grieving. Maybe it's the holidays. Maybe something else I don't know but I just have these little snippets of memories running around in my head. Like the year we drove home in the middle of the night for Xmas, Santa Barbara to Colorado, and Luke was pushing it as far as having enough gas and we ran out in the middle of the desert in CA right before the Nevada border...we could see that first Nevada casino town sparkling in the distance. And while we waited for Triple A Luke took his boxer Dexter out and chased him around the Joshua trees on the side of the road...or the time years before he and his girlfriend came to visit me Xmas time in San Francisco and we went to see the Smuin Ballet and then to the bar in the W Hotel...such a fun and unusually swanky night...or the argument we had about the Beastie Boys song where they talk about making a record scratch and then say "don't try this at home boys and girls, only under hip-hop supervision," except Luke thought they said only ON THE Hip-Hop SuperVision, like it was a product you could buy. Why didn't we just look it up on the internet to see who was right? I think we may have been in Baja, or did people not just jump on Google to resolve arguments back then? Anyway, for Xmas that year he bought me a kid's DJ turntable set-up and wrote Hip-Hop SuperVision all over the box...or I think back to when he was a baby, he was born in November and I have such clear memories of me as a little kid, rocking him in the dark in his room with the zoo animal curtains, singing him Christmas carols...big sigh...don't know why I'm thinking of him so much right now...
3. And then, to top it all off, I've been procrastinating on a work project...we are doing a video of a little six-year-old girl with cancer...my client, their product is helping her...and my job is to write the interview questions for her and her brother and her parents. Her mom has a blog and I've been reading through it so I have the background I need and oh, it is just heartbreaking...she and her family are so strong and so brave, so real and the pictures...the picture of her laying with a bunch of pillows and blankets in front of a big fish tank with like 20 different pieces of medical equipment hooked up to her, assuming she's getting chemo...gosh, I've got to just separate my emotions and do my job and write the questions, but it's killing me...just feeling so much compassion for this girl and her family...having a hard time being professional and methodical about this

Anyway, I'm writing this blog post instead of the questions...hoping to get some of the emotion out of me and...you know...

I haven't cried about any of this yet...would probably feel better if I did.

Oh, and I completely stopped breastfeeding less than a week ago, so who knows what kinds of hormonal shifts are contributing to all this...

XOXO

Balancing Life, Work and Parenthood

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday!

Soooooo excited about December's PAIL monthly theme post: "Balancing Life, Work and Parenthood." This is something I think about ALL THE TIME. 

First, a little background for those who don't know me well--these are the things that demand my time:

• I have 9-month-old twins, and we are going to try and have one more baby within the next year
• I'm married and my marriage is very important to me
• I also work part time from home. I work in advertising, as a copywriter/creative director. I've been freelancing for the past 10 years, so the work-at-home thing is not new, although the part-time thing is
• I also write, both fiction and non-fiction, and that is really my passion
• And I love being outdoors...hiking, camping, snowboarding, etc... ("me time")
• And then, there is the normal, keep-life-running kind of stuff that everyone has to deal with (chores, dinner, housecleaning, etc.)

Why I Work

The first questions I'm always asking myself is, "Why do I work?" Right now, my husband is job hunting, so it's a necessity, but soon he'll be working and we could make it on his salary. And I would love to be a stay-at-home-mom...my work is enjoyable and I'm good at it, but I don't feel any great drive to do it, don't feel like I'm contributing anything great to the world. But...I make a pretty good hourly wage, and me working allows us to do things we wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. Plus, my husband wants me to contribute some financially, and I respect that. And part-time feels pretty manageable, so that's the set-up we have, and I think it's working pretty well.

(My husband would also want me to add here that although I THINK I want to be a stay-at-home mom, that would involve cleaning the house and ironing, both of which I hate and am terrible at.)

How I (Try to) Make it All Work

The second thing I'm always asking myself is, "Is this working?" I'm always wondering if I'm doing a good job juggling everything. Overall, I think the answer to that question is, "Yes," but there's no question some things are getting sacrificed along the way. A breakdown of what gets accomplished (and how it gets accomplished) and what gets neglected:

• Kids—My little ones are obviously my priority, and I'm really proud of the fact that while other areas of my life may be neglected, they are not. Weekends are all about them. Weekdays, I spend 6 AM to 9 AM exclusively with them, and then other pockets of time throughout the day (some days more than others, depending on my work schedule/deadlines). I also do their bedtime routine with them every evening except Sunday (date night). Their dad takes care of them while I work (will be his mom once he's working again), with my mom taking over once a week on Wednesdays
• Husband/Marriage—I make spending time with my husband a priority, do not put our marriage last on the list. Our situation is a little unusual in that he's home (probably not for much longer), so we get some time together every day. We almost always spend our evenings together, too. We also have a date night every Sunday, thanks to my mom and dad who babysit, and it's wonderful. I think it was my husband's fear that he would be totally neglected once we had kids...I'm trying hard to make sure that that is not the case
• Work—I've got the best clients in the world, really...they've been so great about the shift from me doing whatever, whenever, to having to have some boundaries so my kid time doesn't get eaten up. I've learned to say no to huge rush projects. To say no in general when I need to in order to keep my "to do" list manageable. To not travel (with rare exceptions). I try really hard not to work on the weekends. I feel like I'm doing good work...the main thing for me though is not to commit to too much...always a struggle, but I've done pretty well so far
• Writing—This is suffering. Actually, I include blogging in this category...my blog is very important to me...the connections it affords and also I see it as a record of my kids' childhood that will be so precious to me and perhaps to them too in the future, so I make time for it, but there's never as much time as I'd like. (I have 3 pages of things I'd like to do in this space and haven't gotten around to.) So blogging is getting some attention, usually after the kids go to bed or during naps on the weekends. But my other writing has totally fallen by the wayside and at some point, I want to correct that. The only time to write would be after the kids are in bed (or naps on weekends), but that's also time I want to spend with my husband, so... Something I've been thinking of doing is making one night a week my writing night...not a lot of time but better than what I've got going now. We'll see.
• "Me Time"—I love being outdoors, and the exercise is good for me. Love yoga too. I go in waves with this...sometimes I'm really good about getting out and getting some exercise, other weeks I just can't stand to be away from my babies. Generally I hike with my dad every Wednesday while my mom babysits, and my husband watches the kids once a week while I go to yoga. Sometimes I get out walking with the kids in the stroller, which is ideal, but it seems like it's always too hot or too cold, and one or both ends up fussy and that's not fun for anyone. Still trying to figure out the best balance here. And then stuff like snowboarding...a couple years ago, the season-pass-holding-on-the-mountain-twice-a-week me could not imagine not wanting to go, but now...I hate the thought of being away from the babies for a day. Snowboarding may just have to wait until they are old enough to be on the mountain, too. Oh and by the way, other "me time" stuff is pretty much nonexistent...reading and getting out with friends being two things I would love to do that just aren't happening right now. Oh and knitting. It would be nice to knit again someday...
• Daily Tasks—Here's where things really break down. Well, not really, because we have a housecleaner that comes once a week (God bless her) and my husband does most of the cooking (have I mentioned how amazing my husband is?) And we do shopping/errands together, so we get things done and spend time with each other and the kids all in one fell swoop with that. But there are chores I'm supposed to get accomplished each week and I am SO BAD about those. So bad. There is just not time and I'm always stressed about these things and they are never done in a timely manner and it drives my husband crazy and I am trying to be better about it but really, if there is a breakdown in the system better it be here than the attention the kids are getting, right?

Bottom Line

I have lots of help, and I prioritize. And I don't get everything done I want to (the things that are suffering the most are my writing and chores). My writing...honestly, I feel like if it takes a backseat for a year or two that's OK. And chores...everything seems to get done eventually. I am feeling really good about how much time I spend with my kids and how good my relationship with my husband is, also that I am doing a good job at work and contributing to my family in that way.

By the way, so excited about the possibility of three kids, but also scared because things are going along pretty smoothly right now...will three put us over the edge?

Once the list of other PAIL posts goes up, I will link to it here. Can't wait to hear what everyone else has to say on this topic!

XOXO

Some Thoughts About What's Happened in Newtown, CT (Because I Can't Stop Thinking About It)

In no particular order:

• I can't stop thinking about the parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. who have lost children/siblings/etc. Why do people have to live through things like this?
• I'm trying to avoid the news. Difficult.
• Sometimes I used to think about how it was selfish to have children, because how is fair is it to them to bring them into a world full of such pain, where terrible things happen every day?
• I've been to Newtown...my aunt, uncle, cousins lived there, in a perfect house at the end of a perfect street in the perfect little town...so picturesque...
• I'm not quite sure how to phrase this next part without sounding callous to the families involved...and that is not at all my intention...but although what happened is absolutely horrible, what about all the children who died of cancer on Friday? Or in car accidents? Or of suicide? Why does the nation focus on the Newtown children and not the others...the others, every day, who die...their lives are just as precious, their deaths hurt those around them horribly, too. "But it's not 20 at once," my dad says, when I tell him this. True. And there is something different about this, I just can't really put into words what it is. And maybe in some small way I'm jealous, because the whole nation didn't fly the flag at half mast when my brother was killed. I'm not saying that our response as a nation to this, to what happened to these children, is wrong...just, what about all the others?
• Are some people just plain-out evil? Do traumas occur that lead to things like this, or can I raise my kids well and still end up shot to death and one of my precious babies out murdering children?
• I was supposed to fly to San Francisco on business today...the trip got cancelled at the last minute and I'm so glad...I was dreading leaving my children.
• I don't understand why human beings have such a penchant for horrible things. I can't just think of Newton and the other recent shootings, my mind goes to all the other horrors I can't forget...very specific awful things from the Holocaust to...gosh, I'm not even going to write it down because I don't want to put it into anyone else's head...
• God bless those who are suffering because of this and...not just this...anyone who's suffering and that seems to be all too common... Really feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders today and I know I'm not the only one...

XOXO

Zoey's Diary: Nine Months

Zoey here--Hi! Hi! Hi!

(By the way, my way of saying "hi" these days is smiling a big smile, shaking my head back and forth no, waving one or both hands up and down, and saying ay! ay! ay! ay! ay! at the top of my lungs. I'm talking A LOT...Luke not so much (actually, he makes a lot of squeals and clicking sounds instead of the ba ba ba ma ma ma da da da I do), but Mommy says he's got more advanced motor skills. Oh, and I've learned to pout, too, although I don't pull that move very often.)

Anyway, we turned nine months old on Saturday...Mommy and Daddy helped us celebrate by taking us to brunch where we sat in high chairs and ate puffs and scrambled egg whites...it was super fun.

Early in the month, we spent a week at Uncle Ben's for Thanksgiving. It was really fun, although we started getting sleep trained there and that wasn't so fun, but it's all good now. Here are some picutres from our trip:

Mommy tried to feed me some turkey at Thanksgiving dinner...I wasn't having it! Luke and I are eating really well, but we're not much for texture. Or meat.

Luke and I each have some new powers. We're crawling at super-speed, and just starting to stand without holding onto anything. (I did it first, Luke a day or two later). I can wave hi and bye when someone asks me too, or I do it on my own when I get excited like when I haven't seem Mommy for a little while and she comes back. But Luke can eat puffs better than me, picking them up with a thumb and finger and popping them right into his mouth. And he started climbing the stairs first (only under supervision is this allowed, although we try to sneak off and do it on our own whenever we can), but I'm doing it too now. We are speedy. We take our ducky baths upstairs and we'll crawl from the kitchen through the dining room and living room and up the stairs super quick, me screetching the whole way because my ducky bath (you know, the bathtub full of warm water and rubber duckies) is my favorite part of the day. Here we are after ducky bath in our PJs, climbing on the stairs:

We hang out in our sports car walker sometimes too, and on our new couch if supervised, and in the bouncy seat:

And we go to Grammy and Grandpa's every Wednesday...we have so much fun over there!

We get along so great, too. It seems like one baby would be so lonely. We sometimes steal each other's toys, and cry, but generally we just have the best time together. We are still sharing a crib and sometimes before we go to sleep we sit in the crib and giggle, giggle, giggle. And we're always side-by-side at home and out. We're so lucky we're twins!

So that's it! And I know month ten is going to be great...Grammy's been teaching me about Santa Claus and I can't wait!

Love,

Zoey

Eight Months

Seven Months

Six Months

Five Months

Four Months

Three Months

Two Months

One Month

Grace in Small Things, December 14, 2012

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

Some things that are good in my world today:

1. Spent a LOT of time with my parents this past week, with my husband out of town most of the week. The time I get to spend with them is so precious.

2. Massage and chiropractor appointments today...I feel sooooo good now...carting around two beautiful babies doesn't do my back any favors, that's for sure.

3. Our new couch arrived! I LOVE it! It's my dream couch and it is really the best thing ever.

4. Not ready for X-mas, but getting there, slowly but surely. I will not be totally frazzled and running around like crazy at the last minute, at any rate.

5. Have I mentioned how AMAZING it is to be getting a good night's sleep on a regular basis? I am so grateful for that turn of events. It's made such a huge difference.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for spending some time here this week. :)

XOXO

PS Love this photo with the lights...want to do this with my kids/our family next year. (In regular clothes though. Obviously.)

Image Credit: 100 Layer Cake via Lesley Schoch on Pintrest.

Dear Luke and Zoey: Christmas Carolers Edition

Dear Luke and Zoey,

Today we spent the day at Grammy and Grandpa's, because Daddy was traveling (Kansas City, out and back in one day). But we hurried home right after your dinner (carrots and rice cereal), because some of Mommy's friends were christmas caroling around the neighborhood, and promised they would stop by.

I just had time to get you into your PJs and a warm hat each--Luke, your brown-and-orange plaid lumberjack hat with the earflaps, and Zo you wore the white-and-gray striped knit one with the pink-and-red flower--before the doorbell rang.

I took you outside, one on each hip, arms around you, it wasn't that cold and there were ten people in hats and scarves and coats with candle-lit lanterns, the white icicle lights on our black wrought-iron fence sparkling in the background, stars overhead, and they sang--oh, they sounded beautiful, harmony and everything.

You were mesmerized.

A magical part of your first Christmas--a small part I will never forget.

Love,

Your Mommy

Playing Santa

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! 

We've had such fun picking out some things for the kids for X-mas...wanted to share with you. We tried not to go too overboard...I mean, they are only going to be nine months old, but I am excited about the things we selected.

First, music is big in our house...playing songs, singing, dancing, and both kids but especially Luke pat things with their hands, which made us think bongo drums, which led to all sorts of musical instruments. They may be too young for all this, but I don't think so. I was really trying to think of things that we could play with together and I think these fit the bill:

And then, we wanted to get some more age-appropriate things...like this toy for their crib (they're often up for a while playing before it is officially time to get out of bed), and this activity box, which I think they are going to love:

And finally, they have new shoes for X-mas day. I wanted to put them under the tree, but my husband said, "That's lame, no kids wants shoes for Christmas," to which I replied, "a, they are only nine months old so they don't care, and b, maybe they are both going to be little fashionistas, you never know."

Anyway, new shoes for X-mas but they will be wearing them, not unwrapping them:

By the way, these shoes are from a company called Robeez...only shoes that I've found reliably stay on the kids' feet. (And they're pretty dang cute, too.)

And aside from some little stocking stuffers, that's it. 

What are you guys doing for your little ones?

XOXO

Image credits/shopping info:

1, 2, 3: Land of Nod.

4, 5: Target.

6, 7: Robeez.