Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Zipper Rosary with 4 Hail Marys

The Hubby put the girls down for their nap at 1:30pm. I watched from the nannycam. I saw Ana handing The Hubby stuffed animal after stuffed animal. He'll carry her animal entourage upstairs and put each one in her crib.
I knew each passing of an animal to Daddy was followed by a cute "Tan-Tao" (Thank you).
Monkey? Tan-tao.
Mouse? Tan-tao.
They climbed up the stairs and out of the view of the nannycam.

A little while later The Hubby called me at work.
The girls didn't want to nap.
Hubby went in the room to check.
Keira naked.
She had removed 1 shirt, 1 pair of pants, 1 diaper and all of our confidence that she could be confined in clothes.

We're petrified.
We're holding onto our zip-up one piece footy sleepers and are praying that her nimble little fingers won't figure out the zipper.
Please God... please don't let her figure out the zipper.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

1:1

Three days after my college graduation I packed my apartment, dropped off all of my belongings at my parents' house and headed to California to help my sister with her new twins. I spent my entire summer getting up in the middle of the night for feedings, changing diapers and more of the same for Eric and Sean. I cried the entire plane ride home - I already missed those sweet boys.
A few memories stick with me: How sick Stacia looked, how tired I was and how cute the twins and their brother were. Sean had a hysterical cry that would make a grown up panic.

Due to crazy family schedules, Sean was in my care once again for a few days. He is now 14, so he is pretty much self sustaining. The first night he wanted to stay out late with his friends, but I played the part of the grownup and made him come home by 8pm (his mom's rule). I was glad to have his mom's rule as an excuse to have him at the house.
I took Friday off to take Sean to the rock climbing gym. The Hubby and I showed Sean as much as we could remember from our rock climbing days. He was a natural. The workers kept asking Sean to join the local climbing group. I was so proud.
We spent our evenings watching movies that probably aren't fit for a 14 year old (I'm still working on my parenting skills... I'm sure his parents will figure it out when he quotes those movies... and it will be another proud moment for me...)
On Saturday he humored us by coming with us to the Dog Show. My twin girls were wearing matching pink outfits and received all of the standard attention that twins receive when they're out and about. Sean smiled as people asked the standard questions of my twins. Being a twin, he is used to all of the questions and looks. He enjoyed his time as a singleton.

My brother-in-law came home early from his trip. While Sean was at a friend's house, Pat came by to pick up Sean's clothes. The Hubby and I already had the evening with Sean planned... we were going to eat dinner and watch "Nacho Libre" - probably pausing the movie to run to the kitchen for cookies. When Pat left with Sean's belongings, I felt a little cheated and sad. I had already planned to have Sean another DAY! I know that Sean lives close, but to get 1:1 time with him is rare... almost impossible. I loved having alone time with Sean and I realize that I should try to take time off of work to spend 1:1 time with Matt and Eric, as well.

Time is passing so fast. The boys will be grown and gone soon. It makes me sad to think how soon they'll be gone. It seems like he was that hysterical baby not so long ago and now he is this wonderful young man... and I feel like I'm still sitting on the airplane crying because I miss them so much.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Enlightened? Check. Illuminated? Got it.

My father, who tries really hard to be serious -but can't, would come home from work every day tired and ready to "chill". We would ask him, "Hi Dad - How was your day?"
The response was always the same:
"It was a day like any other day, which enlightened and illuminated our times."
We would laugh despite not understanding the meaning.

Today typified a Sunday for us...
I woke up at 6:30 to take a shower, feed the cats, prepare for the girls.
Girls wake up at 7am.
We eat breakfast and prepare to go "bye-bye".
The Hubby and I take the girls to one of our area memberships (zoo, museums, whatnot).
Today we went to the Children's Museum. The girls ran around like maniacs trying to see and touch everything, which is perfectly acceptable in the Children's Museum.
We eat at a kid friendly restaurant... today's choice was Luby's (hey... you can't knock the booster seats on wheels and immediate food)
We put the girls down for a nap.
When they get up we run to the store... Target was the choice today.
We get home and eat... today's dinner was strawberry pancakes made by The Hubby (his new specialty)
Bath, play and bed for kids. Play time included 4 rounds of "Baby Bumble Bee" - a stinging rendition prepared by me.
The Hubby and I run around the house and clean as much as possible before we start our week.
I'm updating my blog and running an imagery script in the background for a current project.
Once I'm done, we'll watch a little TV (tonight's selection is a Jack Black movie) and I'll crash.

Boring? Probably.
It was just a day like any other day.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Independence and Dependence

A few quick highlights:

  • Ana loves to feed Keira little snacks. Very cute.
  • Keira can't say her name, yet... she calls herself "Ahwah".
  • Ana can say Keira.
  • 4th of July was awesome. We went to Stacia's house for burgers and cousin watching. The girls LOVE to watch their cousins play.
  • K.T. was here on the 5th. We went to the Aquarium (awesome) and back to the Cuipers. Awesome day. Felt rushed. It always does when K.T. is here. The girls napped in the front room while we chatted and looked at the renovations. Awesome day.
  • Today was the Multiples Splash party at Moody Gardens. Wow - what fun! We played in water for a few hours before we came home and crashed. The whole family napped.

More details to come... just wanted to replay the last week.
The Hubby went to the Symphony tonight.

Symphony update:
The other day The Hubby and I took the girls to the science museum. The Hubby really, really wanted the girls to play on the giant hill that is part of the Miller Outdoor Theater. We walked up the hill and saw the sign for the Symphony... could they be just getting ready for the 4th? Nope - they were rehearsing! It was the best day to go - there were a ton of old friends playing sub and offstage positions. We wandered down to the front during a break. Theresa was there with the biggest smile. We were able to chat with Steve, Alan, Dave, Phillip, Nancy and a few random trumpet players. It was really wonderful to see everyone. I think it was great for The Hubby to chat for awhile and see the rehearsal. It was nice for me, too. I think we both walked towards the museum rejuvinated a little despite the heat. We are ready for The Hubby to go back to work, but we are still appreciating the time we're able to spend as a family.
This July 4th is the only Independence Day we will be able to spend as a family until The Hubby retires.

More photos and updates to come... including a retrospective of all of the idiots tell me I have my hands full with twins.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Honey. I'm home?



When I walk through the door after work I never know what I'll see. Perhaps the house will be clean and everyone is outside playing. Usually there is a great deal of laughter and the entire downstairs is in shambles.

I know that we all go through periods of "creative parenting" when we get bored, but The Hubby takes it to new levels. I've walked through the door to see tennis on the Tennis Channel and the girls chasing balloons with homemade rackets (The Hubby glued paper plates to paint mixing sticks).

The other day The Hubby chased the girls around upstairs while quoting Jack Nicholson from The Shining.

"Honey. I'm HOME."

The girls would yell and squeal as only girls can and run from him.
Pretty soon Ana picked up on what he was saying and joined in with her impossibly small voice, "Honey. I'm HOME."

Today was the Men's Finals at Wimbledon. The Hubby had the girls shouting, "NO NADAL! YES FEDERER!" like good little tennis enthusiasts.

These are the moments that you don't imagine as you're expecting your child and planning your future. You think of the logistics and perhaps you'll think of the "special" holidays (Christmas and the whatnot), but you don't think of these moments... the moments when you walk in the door and don't know what you'll see.

The moments when your sweet 1 year old children quote The Shining.