Getting a break?

I know all moms need a break but I have to ask: how much of a break is it when the person relieving you won't stick to your schedule, second guesses you & ignores your wishes? Then, all you have left to deal with when your "break" is over is HELL trying to get back onto routine, get BOTH babies on the SAME routine, get naps and feedings back on track, listen to screaming and whining for the rest of the day?! Is it just me or would anyone else rather pass on the break because of the inevitable HELL that is sure to follow?

Sorry...I need a BREAK and there is no one that can give me a real break besides Jason and he is working so...I'd rather just push thru and get on with the evening.

Happy 9 months!!!

I swear, it seems like just yesterday they were arriving and now they are feeding themselves finger foods, holding their own bottles, standing, crawling, climbing..they are so close to being toddlers! These were yesterday...

"Are they twins?" and other stupid questions!

I swear, twins are not *that* uncommon! What is WRONG with people?! This irritates me to NO end..."Are they twins?"...what do you want me to say to that? "No, the identical looking kids that are the same size, in the same outfits in a double stroller are NOT twins?!" What the heck is wrong with people?! I think that they are so excited to see them that they say ANYTHING to stop you and get to peer at them. Its annoying. It bothers me more than it bothers Jason. To be honest, I wish I had more patience with this, but come on! Its not like they are quads or even triplets...they are twins and thanks to in-vitro, twins account for 1 out of every 45 births...not so rare anymore people! Which brings me to my next rant..the completely INAPPROPRIATE questions that come with twins. "Did you have fertility treatments?"..."Did you/are you breastfeeding them both?"..."Did you deliver them vaginally?"...What the heck!? I want to say "do you ask ALL parents that or just the parents of twins?" Since I got pregnant with the girls, I have noticed a complete and total lack of appropriate behavior by total strangers. Some of my family said I should write an article, some said to ask Ann Landers, some told me to write a book about twins like Jenny McCarthy's "Belly Laughs" so that I can educate people on what not to do/say to parents of twins. My biggest pet peave is touching them. I am sure it happens to moms of singletons too and not to take away from that, but I think multiples cause so much more of a 'scene' that we get what singleton moms get and then some...double that, in fact! I had a lady walk straight up to my stroller the other day in a department store, without even saying hello or looking at me, and TOUCH my babies and THEIR TOYS! I had to walk away and I muttered as I left "well, I am glad you could help yourself to my children!" I never, I mean NEVER, get the nerve to say what I really should (and have the right to say) to these people. I wish I had the nerve to do it...really. At one point, I contemplated putting a sign on my stroller but then I knew it would cause a bigger scene. I have compiled a small list of the most common (and annoying or inappropriate) things that we get:

1. Are they twins?
2. Are they both girls?
3. Double Trouble-- Clever...Really? Never head that one before!
4. I am so glad their yours and not mine-- Wow! Me too!
5. Are they BOTH yours?-- Ummm...no. I had one and my husband carried the other one.
6. Boy, you have your hands full!
7. Oooh! Twins!
8. Did you have to have a c-section?
9. Did you breast feed them?
10. Are they natural? -- NOooo...They're FAKE twins!
11. How do you do it?
12. Are you done now?
13. Did you have fertility treatments?
14. How much did they weigh when they were born?
15. How did YOU carry twins?

I will continue thinking because I *know* there are more comments...Just had to share that rant!!!

Traveling with twins!?

We have an upcoming trip to Tahoe on August 7-10th. We have a wedding the morning of the 8th in South Lake Tahoe and a wedding the afternoon of the 9th at Silver Lake. *sigh* To accomodate this, we are staying half way between the two locations at Kirkwood. We are also driving my grandmother (Nanny) up with us...so, we will have myself, Jason, the twins and Nanny in the Navi plus a rack thing that hooks to the tow hitch with all our luggage and stuff in it...which brings me to my next point. Do you have any IDEA how much sh** we have to haul up there with us? I am sure the Quad Moms (Steece's, Goerlich's, Gerwer's & McNulty's) all are rolling their eyes at me right now-- and rightfully so. They have double the amount of my double! AHHH! :O

Regardless, its still a lot. So far my list consists of:
2 Pack n Play cribs
1 Bumbo & 1 Bebe Pod seat (these are gonna be our travel highchairs)
1 double stroller
2 dresses for the weddings
Play clothes, PJ's, etc.
Diapers (at 10-14 per day times 3 days that's about 30-40 diapers...AHH!)
Formula (at 48 oz per day times 3 days)
Bottles (8 per day)
Baby food (I make my own so this is another challenge in itself- read below)
Toys & books
Wipes
Blankets, burp rags, Pack n Play sheets
Womb sounds bear and CD player for bedtime

Then add in my bridesmaid dress, Nanny's suitcase, our suitcase and...well, you get the idea.

Fortunately, Jason bought a cargo carrier similar to this:

Ours is metal though so no worry about the exhaust melting the plastic container which we have read can happen with containers like this.

Why on earth would we need this when we have a big SUV, you ask? Here's why! Anyone with a Navigator will tell you: gorgeous truck, wonderful ride...middle seats are great...but not with twins. We didn't think of this when I fell in love with the bells and whistles and "had to have it"...Our middle row seating is two captains seats with a large center console.

When you put two car seats in that, you can't just climb into the third row seating. SO...one of us will have to be climbing thru the liftgate in the back to get to a seat. AND, at that, there will only be one seat up since we will have to keep the other two down for more storage space. *sigh again*

Now, once we get there, we have a one bedroom place to stay that has a sofa sleeper in the living room and a kitchen. The girls will be in the bedroom with us in both Pack n Plays. AND, we have to take all their food. My first thought was just to buy baby food for the trip and take it. But knowing our luck, we would do that, get there and they would refuse to eat it. So, I am trying to stay as much as possible on the normal routine. I am taking a small cooler with all their veggies, fruits, etc. Add to that baby cereals, crackers, puff snacks and we have another set of items to pack-- not to mention prepare, cook, label, freeze...

Lastly, we have a 3 hour drive to get there because we can't go like we would normally go to Tahoe because Kirkwood is out of the way. We are thinking of taking off earlier on the 7th and just doing the 2 hours to Tahoe and playing on the beach, etc and then taking off and going into Kirkwood-- sort of breaking the trip up a little and getting more "free" time out of the weekend.

If anyone has tips for traveling with infants and twins, please pass 'em my way! And, wish us luck as we prepare for our 1st family trip!

New threads!

Our girls are insanely spoiled when it comes to clothes...well, when it comes to everything really! HA HA! They got some new clothes recently from The Children's Place and Gymboree...this is a sampling of their new threads!


Their shirt says this but in pink, of course!




Little bitty yoga pants! HOW CUTE!








We are huge fans of anything that comes in a two pack! HA HA!


These are for a wedding in Tahoe in 2 weeks:




AND, I can't even believe I bought this but its coming up faster than we can even imagine! *sigh*

We love our Grandpa "B"

This was taken on 4th of July- after PJ's and before fireworks...its just too cute to see him snuggling them up. Notice how much they are loving grabbing his arm hair too! HA HA!

Goodbye swings...it's been a nice ride!

We packed up the swings a couple weeks ago and it was bittersweet for me...On one hand I am getting my office area back and have two fewer pieces of baby apparatus taking up our already cramped house but on the other hand my babies are growing up. Boo... Its so sad to see but also so nice to know that we have done a good job thus far helping them grow and thrive. When they came home from NICU they took a ride in their swing- together. They both fit very easily in one swing. I had to do some before and after pics:

Our cage & poor Parker is sick...

So, we got our baby cage and while it comes in handy, its been interesting trying to get the girls to adust to being penned up for periods of the day. They are both crawling now- Parker in an "army style" and very fast and Addisen more slowly on all fours. This thing keeps them safe while I clean up the kitchen, vacuum or do laundry but is also helping them learn to pull themselves up to stand. Uh oh! All in all, I think its a total necessity for twin moms!





Parker is sick too now...Poor peanut has a bad runny nose, cough, sneezing, watery glazed over eyes, congestion and fevers. Poor thing. My heart is just breaking for her. I have been rocking her all the time, using Little Noses saline drops with the nasal syringe, using the vaporizer at night, Tylenol, Motrin, antibiotic eye drops and even got some Pedialyte I am diluting with extra water to help her with her fluids since she does have break thru fevers periodically. If she is not better by Friday (or dramatically improved or worsens tomorrow) I am taking her in...poor peanut. As much as it breaks my heart to see her miserable, I have to confess, I am LOVING all the snuggling and rocking...now that they are "busy" I don't get to rock and snuggle them as much anymore.

4th of July...or is it?

Ok, so on the 4th we had a BBQ at our house, the girls wore their cute outfits, they played in their pool, we had some sparklers and went to the neighbors for fireworks...it was a nice day...a nice day that we didn't capture on the camera! Boo!

Yesterday, we had a "re-do" so we could put the girls in their cute flag outfits again and take some pictures...here ya go!







This wheel barrow is the girls' great great great grandpa's wheel barrow from the mining days!


This is Addisen playing in an old wash basin at Nanny's house:


Parker being such a little model for Mommy:

"Look what I can do!"

Yes, can you believe it?! I caught her in there STANDING when I went to get them from their naps today! My gosh! They really do grow way too fast!