Poor Poor Pirate

Everyone,

Just a quick note.  We've had an awful day. 

Yesterday, I was carrying both the boys downstairs after their naps and some play time up stairs.  I slipped and fell hard on my butt, going down about 3 or 4 steps before I managed to stop myself.  Butterfly was in front of me.  I had two main concerns.  1- Do not fall on Butterfly.  2- Do not let Professor's head hit the railing.  Both of those objectives I met.

Both boys screamed.  I cried a little bit because it really hurt.  Professor was chatting and ready for play within minutes.  Pirate was not.  He just sat with me.  He cried every time I moved him.  I paged Juice and made him come home from his big important meeting because something was obviously wrong. 

By the time Juice got home, I had put both boys to bed.  They were just so tired and Pirate kept rubbing his eyes and moaning.  So they slept, I went out to my church activity, and came home.  The boys ate and went right back to sleep and slept through the night. 

This morning, I woke up to a screaming Pirate who wasn't moving.  Uh oh.  Juice ran him over to another church function where one of our doctors in our ward was.  His best guess was that he dislocated his hip when I fell with him.  We called our peditrician and got an emergency visit with them. 

The doctor poked and proded his leg for a second, listened to him scream when he moved his leg, and sent us to the emergency room.  (Butterfly went to bff Vinny's house for the day.  Professor came with us because the kid has to eat and won't take a bottle.)

8 hours and 3 x-rays later, we came home with about 4 pounds of plaster.  Pirates leg is broken.  The doctor said this was the best kind of break...more of a crack than an actual seperation of bone.  But his cast...

The cast goes from his mid chest to his ankle.  There were 4 of us putting it on him.  Juice lifted him up, the doctor wrapped, the nurse held things in place, and I was in charge of keeping his hands and mind occupied.  We were all sweating by the time we were done.  And poor Pirate just layed there at the end sucking his thumb and breathing fast. 

We barely got him in his car seat to take him home.  I can barely hold him to nurse him.  I am overwhelmed with the idea that this will have to be on for an entire month.

Safire

Huh, Good Money Savings, I Guess

Everyone,

I was thinking about it and I have not driven my car all week long. Nope, I lied. I went to the Metro on Monday morning and the Chinese Food store (what Butterfly calls it) that evening. But yeah, I haven't driven the car in 4 days at least. And since Juice has been riding the Metro and taking the bus every day, we're saving money! And gas! And the environment! Yay for us!

Then why do I feel like a hermit these days? Oh, yeah. Right. Freezing cold temps, twins, a pre-schooler, and no motivation. My get up and go is on the fritz right now. I think I used it all up on the Inauguration. (I just love typing that word now that I know how to spell it.) It could also be that my shirt (and hair sometimes) is covered in snot from two runny little noses. Or it could be because I've been spit up on more times than I can count this morning so now I have a slightly foul smell following me around.

But I did get a shower today so that's a win. Well, I was clean before the spit up and the snot.

I am going to drive the car this evening to get out so that's also a win. Maybe after I change my clothes...

I spent an exhilarating night last night talking to my mom on the phone. We are busy planning their semi-annual trip to visit us. Highlights this year will include sleeping on the Ellipse in front of the White House for Easter Egg roll tickets, the zoo, Mt. Vernon, Easter Sunday, and the boys' first birthday. We are going to have a ball, as we always do.

Juice is going hiking with the Boy Scouts tomorrow so I am on my own yet again. I think I may take the kids to the mall and do some window shopping and have a little lunch. That is, if I can shut my brain off from planning planning planning tonight in bed.

Maybe that's where all my get up and go is. The future!

Safire

PS- Professor has learned how to clap and it's so adorable! And Pirate will come and lay his head on my foot and suck his thumb. Also adorable!

Following Family Lines

Everyone,

About a week ago (I believe on the day of the Inauguration), Juice and I were laying in bed in the morning with Pirate who had just woken up.  It was a rare moment between just the 3 of us.  We don't often get to be mommy, daddy, and one baby.  It was fun to see him sparkle with all of the attention.

We were playing peek a boo and he was giggling up a storm.  His mouth was a wide open grin, legs were kicking like he always does when he's happy or pleased with something, and we were all giggling.  Juice flipped the sheet over his face, and pulled it down.  "Peek-a-boo!"

Pirate laughed so hard.  And then, he said, "Peek-a-boo!" 

No joke. 

Juice and I looked at each other in amazement.  "Did I hear what I think I just heard?" he asked. 

"If you just heard him say peek-a-boo, then yes!"  I answered.

I was telling my mom this story the next day and she laughed.  Apparently, when she was 9 months old, her grandfather was playing peek-a-boo with her too.  He was reading his newspaper.  He would look over the edge, and say, "I see!"  Apparently my mom and my great-grandfather were having a great time with it, just as we were with Pirate.  She piped up and said, "I see!" right back to my great-grandfather. 

Pirate is following in his family's footsteps.

Safire 

Blog In

Everyone,

I found this thread from my good friend Lolli. I hope things change for this.

As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.

The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.
Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html

To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.

To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.

If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.

Safire

Snow Day! Er, Sick Day

Everyone,

Hey it's almost February and it finally snowed and actually put inches on the ground! I was beginning to think that we would be a snow less winter this year. Sad.

I had big plans to get out into the snow. But that was yesterday. And yesterday I had a little smidgen of a cold but was fine. Today, I was not. I hate having colds. I hate the congestion, the sinus pressure, the breathing through your mouth, everything. The kids have had a cold the past week or so and I figured that I wasn't going to get it. I think days of staying up too late along with boys STILL waking up at night have caught up with me. I'm sick. And in no mood to be in a good mood.

I did try hard to get everyone out this afternoon right after nap. I was trying to feed the boys and get Butterfly out of the Tinkerbell dress she has been wearing for 3 days straight. It's a cold dress. One should not wear that dress out to play in the snow. So I told her to go get pants on while I fed the boys. Well, she didn't want to do it alone. She needed help. Why wouldn't I stop feeding the boys and help her?! The whole time this is going on, she is in and out of their room where I am sitting on the rocking chair trying to keep their attention on the business at hand. They wanted to know what was going on with Butterfly. They are her adoring fan base after all. Normally I encourage sibling exchanges but all the smiles and giggles of babies does not diminish the fact that there is milk spraying on them from behind while they crane their little necks around to see what Big Sister is doing!

I tried turning around but that just made her actually come into the room. I tried to keep milk off the computer that's in there and failed. (Just the screen, it still works Dad, don't worry.) I got so frustrated with her. If she would leave us alone for 5 minutes, then I could go help her and we could go. So, I admit. I yelled. She puffed herself up, yelled right back at me and flung the door shut. But she didn't get her fingers out of the way in time and shut her nail beds into the door. Ouch!!!

By now, the boys have not eaten, milk is covering their backs and will soon make their hair crusty and sticky if Soot doesn't lick it off first, and Butterfly is screaming and trying to climb onto my lap with bloody fingers. And the boys are laughing. I put them down, and the laughing turns to crying. Arg! I had had it!

I very calmly bandaged and kissed the hurts, held Butterfly in my bed until she stopped crying, and ran some damage control from the little tornadoes in my room. By the time Butterfly was feeling better, both boys were clamoring to eat again. I turned on a movie for Butterfly and got the boys fed. Butterfly was not interested in going outside with her hurt fingers. She moped around the house every time she saw me looking at her. Otherwise she played just fine.

When Daddy came home, it was all smiles and trying to get him to go out and play in the snow with her! Because, "Mommy didn't want to."

Uh-huh. Juice pounced on the chance to go out and play. He got her all ready to go out (no dress, 2 pants, all happily done for Daddy) and they played and built a very small snow man. I put two screaming boys to bed and ate dinner by myself.

Juice was very good and put Butterfly to bed and is in the kitchen doing the dishes as we speak. It's nice to just lay on the couch with the computer and not do anything. Ahh...sweet laziness.

It was a snot ridden frustrating day for me today.

Safire

Bad Bad Bad Wii

Everyone,

Last night we had a friend over for dinner. His family has been out of town for 3 weeks, and I figured he could use some home cooking. We made flank steak, baked potatoes, rolls, and green beans. It was good. I cut up some meat and apples for the boys and let them feed themselves. Boy were they happy! They ate a lot, or maybe just a lot fell out of their hands onto their chairs. Either way, they ate and I got to sit and eat with everyone too.

As I put the boys to bed, our friend played our Wii with Butterfly. They had a fun time playing all the carnival games we had. She totally beat him at a few of them. When she went to bed, we broke out Rock Band and proceeded to rock the night away.

We went ahead and bought Rock Band 2 so we could use our other guitar. I have found my calling as a bass guitarist since I could play on hard and get 98% of the song right. Sweet! I was frequently in awe of our friend's talent on main guitar and Juice rocked the drums. We stayed up till 10:30pm playing.

Of course, once our friend left, I had to try out a few new features on Rock Band 2. I had to do the online play. I joined a group for 7 songs and stank. Wow, there are some people out there that are really really good. Juice played for some of the songs, and we commented on how we really were not doing too great on easy. We then didn't get upstairs to get to bed until almost midnight. Bad bad wii! Er, us.

It's snowing outside this morning. I had to take Juice to the metro because he missed his bus. It's Chinese New Year and I'm ordering in Chinese food for dinner. Yum yum!

Safire

Sunday Pictures

Everyone,

Pictures this week from the Inauguration. (I have now learned to spell that word. Yay for me!)
First two are from the crowds. Tons of people!

The second one is of Butterfly watching Lady and the Tramp on my ipod on the train. Yes, I brought it so she would be quiet if there was a long wait or whatever. She loves it. When I pulled it out, Juice looked at me with relief in his eyes and said, "You are so smart!" I love it when he says stuff like that and it's true. ;)

Safire

Don't Touch Me!

Everyone,

I have felt this building. I know what this is. Periodically when Butterfly was a baby, I went through phases when I have been touched out. The fact that she was attached to me pretty much 24/7 made me not want to have any other living person or thing (talking about the dog here) touching me or near me at all. I remember during my mom's class at the hospital when Butterfly was a baby we talked about this. Our nurse/instructor said that it was perfectly normal. That day I told Juice all about it and we laughed a little bit. Normal? Pwhsss... It will never happen to us!

Well it did. And today, it did again. I was really surprised that it didn't happen sooner with the boys with all the holding and toddler climbing I do during the day. And I don't know why today was the day that I don't want anyone touching me. But it is.

Luckily, today is a Saturday and Juice is home! We went grocery shopping...where I wore a sleeping baby the whole time. Wow Professor is heavier when asleep. And I saved about 30 dollars because the store was tripling coupons. Yay!

Juice took a nap. I took a small nap. I made pizza all by myself. I picked up my food from the share program and got 2 huge green cabbages. Any ideas what to do with these things?!

It was a good day. Other than the fact that I didn't want anyone near me.

Poor Pirate is sick again. He has two very bright cheeks and a snotty nose. He has a hard time nursing. It's more of a nurse-pant-through-mouth-nurse-pant-through-mouth thing. Poor boy. I don't know why but he always seems to get the worst of any cold we have. Pirate is awfully snuffily, but no snot yet. And Butterfly sounds congested and throaty when she talks.

I hope I have planned for 9am church a little better today. The boys are sleeping in their church clothes so all I have to do is change their diapers and go. I noticed the other day that they are spitting up MUCH less. Hopefully they won't have a huge diaper blow out or leak. But if they did, it would make me late anyway. I'm going to lay out Butterfly's clothes tonight and actually get up when my alarm goes off at 6:30am. (Ugh...unfair to have to get up so early! Earlier than the boys!) Because if I want a shower, I need to get up earlier.

I am looking forward to an evening watching a movie with Juice and no snuggling involved. Hard to imagine, I know. But really, I just need a little space. And about 2 extra hours in the morning. (Oh wait, that would make it 11am church...I'll get that next year.)

Safire

Guess who?

Everyone,

A- Guess who didn't go to bed till after midnight last night?

B- Guess who decided to start her day off with chocolate?

C- Guess who found the stairs and went up about 4 before I found him?

D- Guess who took a nap today?

E- Guess who rode the metro for the 8th time in 4 days today?

F- Guess who cried all through dinner?

G- Guess who is growing?

H- Guess who went for a run today?

I- Guess who got the mail?

J- Guess who cries every time I put him down?

K- Guess whose pants are a good 2 inches too short?

L- Guess who needs his finger nails cut?

M- Guess who has had leftovers almost every day this week?

N- Guess who has not played the Wii in days?

O- Guess who is excited for Monday?

Answers:
A- I didn't get home from book club till about midnight. We were having too much fun! When I got home, everyone was screaming for me except for Juice. He was in his bed with his head under his pillow. After talking to Butterfly about what I did with my friends (she woke up when I called Juice to tell him I was going to be late), feed both boys and got myself into bed it was around 1am. B- Because Butterfly was up so late, she woke up screaming with big dark circles under he eyes. She stopped crying when I suggested a piece of chocolate to get something in her. Worked. C- Mr. Mischief! AKA, Professor. So help me... D- We ALL took a nap today. Well, not Juice. E- Juice has been going downtown for work this week. He doesn't get home until 7pm every night. And it's going to be like this every day next week too. Sigh... F- Poor Pirate. G- I'm going to guess Pirate's problem is growing. He is very cross. H- Soot. The weather was so nice I figured we could all go for a walk and make some vitamin D from the sunshine. Soot ran around like she hadn't been out in weeks. Oh wait, she hasn't. I- Butterfly did! She put the key in, got it open, and took out every piece of mail one by one. There was a lot of mail. We haven't gotten the mail in days. J- This is another Pirate thing. He wants to nurse all day long but for tiny 3 second spurts at a time, because there are too many interesting things going on. So I won't let him and so he cries whenever I put him down. K- Butterfly! All of a sudden, you can see her ankles and the bottom part of her calves. Looks like it's time for new pants. L- Juice. At least, I'm assuming that's why he's cutting his nails right now. M- That would be me and Butterfly for dinner. Juice normally takes the leftovers to work with him for lunches but since he's been going downtown, he can't. So we've had leftovers every night but Monday and Tuesday. Good thing is that I have most of my meals for next week all ready. N- That would be me. Every time I turn it on, Butterfly is drawn to it and takes over. She loves the photo channel. O- Me! It's Chinese New Year and I get to order Chinese food for dinner. Yum!

Safire

Blog Tag

Everyone,

My good friend Lolli tagged me a few days ago.  Since I don't really have anything to say today (unless you want to hear my rantings about Butterfly and her attitude lately), here are 7 random things about me.

1-  Did you know that I have 3 other blogs I write on?  I do.  One is a group blog which is private, one is a private one just for me that I haven't written in in months, and one I just started today to keep track of the bloggy giveaways I enter.  You can check that one out here.

2-  I have not gotten my mail in about 5 days.  I probably should do that but I hate walking to my mail box.  It's at the end of my circle, about a block away.  I used to get it all the time with Butterfly.  It was a great little outting for us.  But now, I can't hold both boys and open the box.  Plus we have coats to put on, gloves to put on, shoes to put on.  So the mail just sits there until the box gets full and our mailman grumpily brings it to our house in a big rubber band.  Or he will take it all to the post office and make me go there to get it.

3-  I love love love popcorn and have some at least 3 times a week.  I have a stir crazy popper that I love.  The bowl is cracked and the stirring arm is bent but it still works great.  It gets lots of use!

4-  Since having the boys, I have a really hard time concentrating.  It's frustrating to me because I was always great at being organized and stuff.  I really do think that being organized is one of the many keys to success.  But now, I'm totally disorganized.  I feel like I'm skating through life and I hate it.  I want to get back to being organized.  The only way to do that is to make a ton of lists, and I don't have the concetration to make them.  Sigh...

5-  I used to send out montly pictures to my friends and family.  I haven't done that since the boys were born.  I feel awful because I know my mom and grandma really like them.  I also haven't even uploaded the pictures on to the photo sharing/buying website since my trip to Utah last summer.  I really need to because when I actually do get back into scrapbooking, I'll need a place to get my pictures printed!  I always have good intetions of sitting down to do it every day but then the internet sucks me in.

6-  I have my book club meeting tonight and I'm excited to get out and not have to worry about the kids!  We are reading Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.  I did not finish (okay, start) Mere Christianity but I got through The Screwtape Letters.  These books are very thought provoking.  See #4 above.  I'm vowing to start the next book earlier in hopes that I will actually get through it.

7-  I love reading the credits in a movie.  I love to see people's names.  I really love watching the Pixar credits because they have production babies at the end and that is so cool!  I think I got started with this when I watched the Simpsons when I was younger.  They used to have a funny phrase at the end of the credits every episode.  I wish more people did that.

Okay, so for the rules:

* Link to the person who tagged you
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write 7 random things about yourself
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person know they've been tagged

I tag:

Valinda
My Dad
My Aunt
Rosemarie
Miss X
Karen from Clio
Aubrey

(Wow, that was harder than I thought to pick 7 people!)

Safire

Pictures

Everyone,

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. I was trying to make a montage of them all this evening but it's been kind of busy. So hopefully I'll have it done in the next couple of days. Until then, enjoy!

Safire

Yes We Did!

Everyone,

We did! That's right. We did it. We took all the kids down to the mall on Inauguration day and survived. Seriously, we can go anywhere with these kids now. I know it.

So, seriously, how did our day go? Both Juice and I are exhausted. The kids are the same. But we were warm! I put 3 layers of clothing on everyone and feet warmers in our boots for those of us walking. The boys we strapped on us and wrapped our coats around them so they were nice and toasty and warm. We did not take the stroller. I was afraid that they wouldn't even let us go on the Mall with it so we opted for the leash back pack and hoped for the best. Juice and I told ourselves if she complained too much, we were turning around and heading home.

Boy she was a trooper. We were late getting out of the house this morning so we missed most of the rush. We left by 10am, got there by 11:30am and walked a mile to the mall from Farragut North. They closed off the streets by barricading them with buses and there were people selling all kinds of Obama paraphernalia. It seemed like a street fair. We got to the Mall just in time to hear the end of his speech.

It was moving, even the very end. It was amazing to be down there to hear his voice ringing out over the loud speakers. Every time the crowd cheered, Butterfly jumped up and down and waved her little American flag. She kept saying "This is his party! What a great party!" Obama is going to be a very dynamic leader. I am interested to see what he does.

We left shortly after his speech ended and we took a few pictures. While we didn't meet the press of people coming in, going out. Oh boy. Going out. Getting out. We took the sheep route and tried to walk back to Farragut North. It took us about 45 minutes to get 4 blocks. We stopped to switch babies (poor Pirate really only wanted to be held by me. And occasionally I do have to hold Professor. You know, to feed him and stuff. Yes, I did nursing them walking around with my wrap. There is nothing 6 yards of fabric can't do!) We stopped next to a reporter who was standing on a bus taking pictures for people who handed their cameras up to him. I was considering asking him to do the same, when a reporter stopped us and wanted to interview us! He was from USA Today. Who knows if we'll be mentioned but I'll keep looking and let you know if we are.

Another 2 blocks down the way, the press of people is still very strong. Butterfly walked the whole way. We decided to take a break from humanity and try a different metro station. We picked Foggy Bottom because we know it. Juice went to school there. Another couple of blocks, and Butterfly was falling behind. We decided to take a potty break in the GW student center. I think we spent about 45 minutes eating our snacks, taking a nursing/potty break, and getting warm. It was the best decision we could have made today. After that break Butterfly was bubbly, happy and almost frisking beside us as we walked to the metro station.

The crowd at the metro was impressive. It didn't look like it was going anywhere. So we thought we'd try yet another station. Half a block away, Butterfly had had it. We turned back to Foggy Bottom and joined the crowd trying to get in.

This is the part where I congratulate the metro staff and the police they had out. They were letting a select few into the station at time to have some crowd control. (Someone died earlier at a station.) But these guys had the crowd laughing and participating. They were telling us not to push. Not to crowd. Be patient. When the person in front of you stops, (we yelled) "You stop!" When the person in front of you moves, "You move!" It was a good way to spend waiting. We got seats a few stops into our ride home and made it home safe and sound around 5pm. It was a good day.

Butterfly was awesome. Not only did she walk 18 blocks total, she stayed close all day. She held our hands, only complained a little and ate her weight in fruit snacks. I am amazed at her perseverance and cheerfulness throughout. Amazing for a 3 year old.

I think a lot of people think we are really crazy for taking all the kids downtown for this. Yes, we are crazy times three for doing it. But I knew we could do it. I knew it would be okay. Why did we do it though? For the story. We all do things for our stories. And when Butterfly and the boys are starting to vote, I can tell them that they were there for a historic day in history. I can say that we, as a family, were there supporting something big and new. A change for us. A change for our country. A change that I hope is a good one. For our country. For our family. For Butterfly's future. For Pirate's future. For Professor's future.

Change is good.

Safire

PS- I have TONS of pictures but they are all on my small camera. That is connected to my big computer in the boys' room so no pictures today. First thing tomorrow.

9 Months Old

Everyone,

The boys are 9 months old now and getting into everything. Their favorite no-nos are the dog's food and water, Juice's computer, our tv (yes, they pull up on our little tv stand and tap their little hands on the screen), and any little tiny thing they can find on the floor. I try and keep plenty of toys out for them to play with but they have a system. This system, while it is driving me a little batty, is also fairly predictable so at least I can anticipate their destructiveness. First thing in the morning they play for about 2 minutes and then come into the dining room to see what I am eating and beg off my plate. They love waffles and bananas. Once they had some food, it's off to the dog bowls. Poor Soot...I've had to take her bowls off the floor when they are around. After the bowls, they try and chase after the dog. She runs outside and I take pity on her (and me, breakfast is never easy for me to eat anymore) and put them to bed as Butterfly watches a "show" so she will be quiet. (This is exercise, shower time for me.)

After their nap, I bring them downstairs and they both crawl over to the couch and pull themselves up. They terrorize Butterfly who has put toys up there that she doesn't want them playing with. They either loose interest in her screeching or I move them to their dinosaur. That's interesting for about 2 minutes, and they move on to our toy bins. They pull all the bottom ones out or find the puzzle pieces that Butterfly has tried to hide and chew on them for awhile. Most of the time this phase lasts the longest and they will be content there as long as Butterfly doesn't take their toys. After the bins, it's on to Juice's computer. They love crawling under the desk, pulling up on the chair, and trying to stick their little fingers into little holes. Most of the time I can distract them by playing with one of their toys. But if not, they move on to the tv, then into the entry way with the shoes and scatter them all over. Then it's back to the dog dish. Because I brought it back out for Soot during their nap and forgot to put it back up.

Together they really egg each other on. When one gets bored and moves away, the other follows. They want to play with the same toy, and be in the same place. It's very cute.

Professor is my mama's boy. He follows me around the house and wants to be involved in everything I do. If I leave, he cries the loudest. He is always the one that is checking in on me as he plays. He always crawls over to me to climb into my lap for a snuggle, or plays with my toes and ankles if I'm on the couch. The other day he bit my ankle pretty hard and we've been calling him our little ankle bitter ever since. He hates to be picked up by strangers, but will do okay if he doesn't see me leave. He needs sleep the most and fights it the hardest. He is also so loud and babbles all day long. He crawls very fast and can cruise on the couch just a little bit. He is serious about his food but eats in tiny spurts throughout the day. He weighs 16 lbs, 7 oz which is only up a pound since our last doctor visit. He is in the 3% for weight. The doctor didn't seem too concerned about it because they destroyed the exam room in short order. They opened the cabinets, pulled all the books off the shelves, tried out the trash can, ripped the exam paper to shreds and Professor alone went through at least 5 tongue depressors. He was also trying to talk over the doctor as we were talking about their development. The doctor stopped, said, "Well young man do you have any concerns?" and Professor chirped, "Huh? Mama?" and patted my shoulder. While the doctor was looking him over, he was screaming "mamamamamamama" and the doctor said, "At least he knows what he wants and can say it!" Professor is the more active of the two. He may be tiny, but he's got some power. He is 28 inches long (50th) and his head is 17 3/4 inches (75th).

Pirate is my little sweet guy. And boy what a smiler and a laugher. He may not be as loud as Professor, but his babble sounds more like adult speech and he talks if you take time to listen to him. He's a big talker in the mornings, but it dies out as the day goes on. He is crawling, although not as fast and furious as Professor. He still kind of hops around some days. And sometimes he crawls sideways. It's like he's trying out all different styles till he finds one he likes the best. He can pull himself up on things, but not very often. Probably because he still loves to kick his legs (think frog jumping leg kicks) when he gets excited. This he can't do while standing and he's taken a few tumbles trying it out. He does love to bounce though and Juice thinks it's fun to chase Butterfly with him bouncing along the floor. Pirate thinks it's pretty fun too. He loves his thumb but couldn't suck on it for a few days because his top teeth were coming in and it was just too painful. Now that they are both in (finally!) he's back to sucking just fine. He really loves to drum on things. I do have a little drum he uses, but he likes to drum on anything. The hardwood floor, the wall, the doors, hitting two toys together is the best it can get. He is 17 lbs, 4 oz which is up a pound and a half since last visit. He is in the 30th percentile for weight. He is also 29 1/4 inches long. He is so tall. I can't remember what percentage that is. His head is also 17 3/4 inches.

I did move them into separate cribs this month because they just kept waking each other up. They still play with each other through the bars of the cribs and that's fun to see. I almost always find them sleeping in the corners that are touching. They got 3 shots today (polio, flu #2 and Hep B) and also the TB skin test. (They put a tiny bit of fluid in their arms that has a reactor to TB in it...if they have it, they get a hard bump where the fluid is.) They have to look at their arms on Wednesday as a walk in check but still...it's getting hard to get out with them all by myself and I'm not looking forward to this "small" jaunt.

We had our first real snow today and I took the boys out in it to walk around. Juice was surprised that I didn't put them down in the snow to let them play with it but I'm not. Picking them both up, brushing them both off, getting them back into the carriers...what an ordeal! Nope, we let Butterfly do all the playing with her best friend Vinny. They both burned off some pent up energy. Yay!

Safire

PS- Better pictures later. We had one busy day today!

Sunday Things

Everyone,

I don't have any pictures to share because I haven't taken any pictures lately. The boys and Butterfly have been running me a little ragged lately. They are 9 months old today. Stats and pictures tomorrow.

9am church is kicking our butts. We at least made it in time for the sacrament today. But just barely. I'm hating the rush rush rush to get out of the door. Butterfly screams about it, the boys are shoved into their coats when it's nap time and then don't nap at all during church.

Today we all came home and crashed.

It's been rough.

Safire

A Trip North

Everyone,

We have started a new thing every month. We have been trying to have a monthly game night with friends to come over every second Friday. We've only had one. Other things have gotten in the way. BUT, we invited our old neighbors over every time we have it. Lavender (our old neighbor) liked it so much she decided to invite us over to her house every third Saturday.

I love going up there for the drive. They moved about an hour north of us in a little country town. (As country as it gets out here. Frankly, it's bigger than the town in Idaho that I went to college in when I was there 10 years ago.) It was founded in the 1700s and I love driving through main street and seeing all the old churches. They live out of town about 10 minutes and I always see horses and cows on the way out there.

We always bring Soot. As we cross the Catoctin River bridge, she starts to whine. She loves it out there as much as we do. Lavender has a pug of her own, and fosters cocker spaniels. She had a brand new foster today named Rusty. And apparently he is good with kids because he could care less about ours. He was very interested in Soot but she wanted nothing to do with him.

We played Uno tonight, and Butterfly won the very first game. Then she lost the other 3 times we played and cried big sobbing tears. "But I wanted to win! It's fun to win!" Ahhh, sore looser. She does have it right though, it's fun to win! She'll learn to be better with this eventually.

We had yummy tacos for dinner. Butterfly declared our meat better than Lavender's (sorry Lavender) and only ate tortillas. The boys did very well and we only had to take away the dogs toys from Professor three times and wash his hands from playing in the dog's water once. Pirate was so happy with the toys we brought him and was angelic. Butterfly entertained herself with the small dog openings in the gates Lavender has up and ordered the dogs around. Soot listens, and the rest of the dogs followed Soot around. It was cute.

All the kids fell asleep within minutes of getting into the van. Juice and I had a nice conversation on the way home. We got to see some snow! I believe this is the first snow fall for the boys that actually touched their skin. And that was only for a second as we bustled them into the car to get home.

We are looking forward to our next visit.

Safire

Our Filing Cabinet

Everyone,

In a random spurt of energy, I decided to clean out our filing cabinet. It's only a two drawer cabinet. Black, metal, and missing the handle of the bottom drawer. It's pretty dented in places. When we moved to Virginia, we put something heavy on the top and it did not do well on the cross country move. Juice took a towel and a hammer to it and put it back into shape. Sort of. We keep talking about getting a new one. A taller one. But it never happens. I do kind of like having just a tiny bit of storage because it forces me to keep it up to date and clean it out every once in awhile.

Like today.

After clearing out the year's receipts and things, Juice jumped in and starting pulling out all the folders. Wait, I was just going to do the top drawer, not the bottom one! But now that they were out, we had to do them. My favorite folders were the marriage licence folder and the love notes folder.

In the marriage licence folder you have our marriage licence (surprise surprise) but also a card from our sealer (the guy who married us) and what he said during the ceremony. We also had a ribbon that tied up our marriage certificate, and a schedule of the Jordan River Temple. It was fun to hold up everything for Juice to look at and to smile at the memories of the day.

In the love notes folder, there are a whole bunch of birthday, anniversary, baby shower cards. Juice was asking me where the more current anniversary cards were and I said we hadn't been getting each other those in awhile. He wanted to know why that was. Me too. Also in the folder are a ton of little tiny notes we wrote each other when we were first married. We were both in school. We had my old car Alex and I think I had two jobs and he had three. We planned our day around where we were going and who needed the car and where we were going to park the car so the other could pick it up. We had a note pad in the car and wrote short notes on how our days were going and how much we loved each other. It was cute and I'm glad we saved them.

Oh, I also found our list of kid names we made up as our final list long before we had any kids. We had three girl names and three boy names. We used one girl name. I don't like one any more and Juice doesn't like the other. We've used one boy name, and one boy middle name. My brother used the other boy name on the list. Those were some good names.

Because of this, the cabinet can now shut. Yay for progress! I have also found our wills and the deed to the house and re-organized our "house is burning down better grab this folder" folder.

In other news, we went grocery shopping today and it was SO COLD. If it's like this next week we are NOT going downtown. (The jury is still out on if we're going at all...Anie, find me at church and let's talk. Maybe we can all go together.)

And now, I'm going to go play rock band again. Love that game!

Safire

Nicknames

Everyone,

We all have our set of nicknames at this house. We never call each other by their Internet names (except for Juice, that was a nickname of mine for him in college). But we do have a long list of other things people go by here.

Such as: Juice, Daddy, and Darling.

Butterfly's nicknames are:
Honey
Sweetie Pie
Sister
Big Sister
Baby Girl
Baby Princess Monkey Dog (that was hers today, she wanted to be a baby, a princess, a monkey, and a dog. Okay then.)


Pirate's nicknames are:
Mr. Grabby
Pirate-Boy (except insert real name)
Happy Boy
Smiley

Professor's nicknames are:
Mr. Independence
Mr. Explorer
Columbus
Sweet Boy
Mischief Maker

Want to know my nicknames?
Darling
Mommy
Mama

and my newest one that I'm really not liking?

Mudder

She tries to say mother but it just doesn't come out right. I have no idea why I don't like it. I just don't. And she calls me it all the time. What happened to Mommy or Mama? I have no idea where she got this from and why she INSISTS on calling me that. I've even asked her not to call me that and she still does.

I'm hoping it's a phase.

Safire

Praying for an Invincible Summer

Everyone,

You guys know that my sister in law had twins about two months after my boys were born, right? She had girls, Angel and Seraph. That's Seraph on the left and Angel on the right taken last summer. They were about two months old.

These girls are special. Not only did they come as mo/mo twins (sharing the same placenta, same amniotic sack [my boys were di/di twins, two sacks, two placentas]), Seraph was born with a heart problem. She has been in and out of the hospital since she was born trying to help her heart get better.

They did an MRI on Seraph's heart the other day and delivered some hard news to my sil and her family. They are not exactly sure, but they believe one of her blood vessels to her heart is too small. If it is too small, there is nothing they can do about it.

They need a miracle.

Splats (my sil) is special to me. She has always been sweet and lovely. Wonderful to Juice and to me. She and I were pregnant together with Butterfly and Bear. They were born a week apart. We were pregnant with twins at the same time. How often does that happen?!

I want her to have her baby home. I know I would be going crazy if one of my boys was in the hospital. I want her to experience all the joys of having twins. When they scream at the same time, laugh at the same time, laugh at each other. I want her to try and make macaroni holding both of her babies at the same time and think, "I have a big head, and little arms." (Name that movie.) I want her to be happy that all of the macaroni went into the pan and not all over the counter because then she'd have to put a baby down to pick it up and screaming would result. I want her to tell her other kids to stop taking the babies' toys from them. I want her to go to church with her whole family and have the girls whisked away by loving helpers in her ward. I want her to have two of everything, including twice the chocolate because she has to in order to stay sane.

I want our kids to be able to get together and play when we visit. I want us to have twins (Butterfly and Bear) and then a set of quads...along with her other kids! I want my boys to have cousins who know what it's like to be a twin.

They need a miracle. Please please pray for them and especially for Seraph and her doctors. They need to know how best to help her and get her home.

Because next summer I want an updated picture of them in their strollers together.

Safire

Trying to Decide

Everyone,

As you know, next week is the Inauguration of our 44th president. We live in the DC metro area. We could go downtown and be a part of the festivities (but not part of the actual inauguration because tickets were gone the night after Obama was announced the winner).

Do I want to go?

Absolutely. I want to go and be a part of our country's history. I want to be able to tell the kids that they were there. I want to get some pictures and see the sights and just be a part of it. It seems amazing that we live in this area and have such opportunities to experience everything. We may not be here for the next inauguration. This is probably our last chance to do this! Plus, if we do this then I think I can probably talk Juice into going downtown for the 4th of July some year.

Should I go?

Probably not. There will be a record number of people downtown next Tuesday. We would have to rely on Metro to get us there and back. I've been reading the Washington Post's guide to the inauguration and they said to plan on walking at least 3 miles to get into the city. And then walking to the parade route (which is all we'd go down to do anyway). They have closed down almost all of the metro stops downtown and shut down all the bridges for pedestrians only. Lolli said her sister (who lives even closer to downtown than we do) was told not to go anywhere that day, to stock up on their food because the grocery stores will be closed or out.

Could we do it?

Juice said he'd take the day off. The Metro stop is very close to us here. We can get there without even needing to park our car there. We are the end of the line so we would probably be able to get a seat on the way down. Butterfly is very good at staying close. I would even probably put a backpack leash on her just to be safe. If we took BOB (our awesome stroller) we would have a place for her to sit. The boys would be secure. And warm because we have fleece liners for it. We could take all of our gear and load BOB up. We've done it before. Or we could carry the boys all day. That would get tiring after awhile, but it's doable. Hey, I even hiked in the wilderness with a boy strapped to me so I'm not worried about all the walking and carrying them. We could carry them and then put Butterfly in one of her single strollers. That might even be better than BOB because frankly, BOB is huge and can be cumbersome in large crowds. It would be cold. But it would be amazing.

So why have I not decided to go?

The crowds. I would worry about us being separated just by the press of people. I would insist on us getting a tracphone for Juice and I would take our cell in case of separation. I worry that Metro would shut down and we would have no way of getting home. I worry that something will happen and they will shut down Metro as we're on it. If you don't know, there are no bathrooms in Metro at all. That could be dangerous for Butterfly. The security worries me too. Because with three small children come a lot of stuff. I think I would have the bare minimum with me: diapers, wipes, nursing cover, change of clothes for Butterfly, and something to keep her entertained on the train. I would leave my wallet at home and take my id and cash in my travel pouch inside my clothes. But what if something horrible did happen and I intentionally put my babies in harms way?

I'm so torn. I really do want to go, but I guess I'm afraid to do it. What would you guys do?

Safire

Lost the Blogging Mojo

Everyone,

I don't know why but today I feel like I have the most boring blog out there. Oh I post every day, but it's basically nothing. And I suppose that that is what life is...a whole lot of nothings put together to make a something. My mom told me an old quote: May you live in uninteresting times. I have stuff going on, it's just not all that interesting.

It could also be because my Internet is horribly slow on the lapple and I'm frustrated with it. Maybe I just need a change. I was thinking of doing a new banner at the top but I'm seriously no good with computer stuff like that and every time I've tried, it's come out horribly. So, same old same old. Which is okay. It's nice to have something I don't have to worry about.

Today was good. We went over to Lolli's house and I watched Mamma Mia for the first time. Very cute! I missed out on some stuff because of kids/babies but it's definitely a toe tapper. (Don't forget that Lolli is giving this movie away and you can win it from her!)

Professor was so cute at her house. He screamed all through his morning nap. Just couldn't stop pulling himself up and sobbed every time I put him back down. What happened to my good sleepers?! I want them back please. By the time I got him and Pirate up, into their coats, Butterfly dressed and in her coat, and out the door, Professor was done! He screamed at the top of his lungs until the car started. And then it got eerily silent from the back seat.

At Lolli's, Professor was almost asleep. But the second I pulled him out of his seat (which, by the way, is super annoying. I miss the big bucket seats.) he was wide awake. I set both boys down on the floor right as I came into Lolli's house. Professor rolled over, grabbed his binkie, and shut his eyes. He was out in that spot for a good two hours. Butterfly and AJ kept checking on him but he was out cold and didn't even stir for their prodding. He woke up as we were winding down to get ready to go.

Pirate, on the other hand, had a great time playing with the big toys and having apple bits for lunch and sitting with Mommy the whole time. He was cross when we left because he was tired! He fell asleep instantly at home in his bed and slept until about quarter to 5 when I woke him up.

Professor did not have an afternoon nap at the same time the other two did. Instead, he clung to me and cried whenever I put him down. He wanted me to play! And all I wanted to do was sit and not be climbed on!

Juice has some major project at work this week so he was late getting home. Which means I cooked dinner, fed the boys their dinner (butternut squash today), got them cleaned up, got Butterfly a snack because I burnt dinner, and started to get the boys ready for bed. Normally Juice is home during all of this. He typically will feed the boys as I make dinner. And I guess it's going to be like this the rest of the week too. One good thing, I think he may get Friday off.

Anyway, Professor went to sleep tonight in a wink. Pirate...not at all. He was the one who kept standing up in his crib and crying and crying.

I just had a thought. It's Monday right? Mondays are always icky because church throws everything off.

Yes, I've lost my mojo but I did type a whole lot today. Huh.

Safire

Picture Sunday, part 2

Everyone,

The boys on New Year's Eve playing with Big Sister's toys while she is napping.

Butterfly at Monocacy Battlefield in November.
Safire

PS- Pirate pulled himself up in his crib for the first time today! And wow, is he a tall baby.

The Mart

Everyone,

Today Juice and I tried to run some errands (got them all ran, but didn't get anything but diapers. Boring!). One place we did try to go was to the new grocery store in town. It replaced our regular store when it closed down. I had heard a few things from some friends about it (like they have rabbit in the meat section) so I had to see it for myself.

Apparently it is a Korean grocery store because absolutely everything was in Korean. I had no idea what most of the things were. There was produce I had never even seen. Really long mushrooms, gray fruit (although it could have been a vegetable for all I know), and other stuff. They even had a bunch of live fish in tanks. We were looking at them when a hand plunged into the tank, grabbed a fish, and then promptly cut off it's head right in front of us. Wow. (They also had crabs, lobsters, eels and abalone in the tanks.) My favorite thing was the small silver chopsticks with a small silver spoon for babies. I really really wanted to buy these for my kids but I suppose I would have to learn to use chopsticks to use them!

The other half of the store was all Hispanic things. Most of this stuff I was familiar with. Wow you can buy 10 lbs of beans there for about 6 dollars. Food storage here I come! And the spices...Juice was drooling over the spices.

This was an interesting experience. The store was JAMMED PACKED. We used to go to this location every week for about 4 years and I have never seen more cars in the parking lot. This is one of the reasons why I love living here. You never would have this kind of experience within walking distance of our home in Utah!

Safire

A Babysitter!

Everyone,

We were brave. Tonight was our ward's annual adult only white elephant exchange party. We love going. Every year we have such a great time and laugh so hard. This year there was some question as to if we were going to go. We both wanted to, but were we ready to leave the boys with a babysitter that wasn't family? (The last time we had a babysitter was in Utah, almost 6 months ago.)

We, okay I, decided that I was ready and called our normal babysitter to see if she could come. No! The 14-15 year old girls in our church were all having a sleep over together. So that meant that all of my regular babysitters were busy.

An older girl's mom said her daughter wasn't doing anything and so I asked her to babysit. Worked out great. She's really close to me and 16 too. And she has twin younger brothers. So I feel very comfortable leaving them with her.

And I'm glad we did! As we were leaving, Juice said that it was a good thing that Butterfly was staying home because she was driving him crazy today. Me too! We had a good laugh at that one. Poor Butterfly, it's been rough on her lately. RSV in the house, no one to play with, and a lot of pent up energy. She needed a fresh face to play with and we needed a night without her bedtime games.

The party was a blast. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. We all get together in a circle, a huge pile of presents in the middle, and everyone has a number. When it's your turn, you get to either pick a present or steal a present from someone else. Once the present has touched three people, it's locked and that person it it's final owner.

I've gotten some interesting things in the past. Like last year when I was pregnant with the boys, I got a fat burning work out dvd. Juice got a manicure set the year before. We always bring some pretty fun stuff too. Like a bunch of really stinky soaps (sorry Lolli who got them). This year we brought some stickers I won't be using and cup Juice got at a conference he went to this year. Juice got to pick his present first and picked out a wooden bird house painted as a barn with toy animals stuck to it. It was not functional, but kind of cute.

The missionaries came to the party, and Juice and I were wondering to ourselves what in a missionary apartment could you bring to a white elephant gift party. I found out. It was....

a box of cheez-its with only crumbs inside.

What a lame gift! Worst gift ever, and bordering on not funny. It was the missionaries so I forgave them that. Plus, as the night went on and we saw some of the funny things people brought (VHS tapes, a signed picture of themselves [really really funny!] and random bits of makeup) I was actually kind of happy with my cheez-its box because I would not be bringing home useless junk.

Someone stole it to get a laugh. So I got to pick another one. I picked out a hanging holiday sign with a saying on it about friends and holidays. Something sappy. The missionaries took back their cheez-its box and the person who stole them got to steal something else.

We had the best time laughing and being with our ward and our friends. It ended way too early though so we decided to go to Toys-R-Us and see if we could buy Rock Band 2. They closed at 9pm so we drove around for a few minutes and went home.

All was quiet on the home front. The boys didn't even peep and Butterfly went down without a fuss and was asleep when we got there. Awesome! I checked the messages and Lolli had called to see if we wanted to get together and play the Wii tonight. Yes!

So as I took the babysitter home, Lolli and CandyMan came over and we played carnival games and Mario Kart. Fun fun fun!

It was a great night and a good recharge for me. Now if only I could guarantee myself several hours of sleep, that would just be the cherry on top.

Safire

Over a Week Late

Everyone,

So. Yeah. I never posted what we did on New Year's Eve! I know it's over a week late but better late than never right?

Although if you read my friend Lolli's blog, you already know what we did. There was way too much food. There was a lot of laughing. And a lot of Wii playing. Because seriously, we are addicted to the Wii in our house. We had originally thought about playing some card games along with rock band but who are we kidding? We played the Wii all night long. And it's because of this night that we went out and bought another guitar so when Lolli and CandyMan come back over, we can all play at the same time.

I bought a guitar at a wonderful price! (Less than $20 which is huge, they normally sell for over $60 thanks to a tip from "Deal"icious Mom.) Guess I should have researched the guitar a little more than just the price because we got it yesterday and it doesn't work with rock band! Who are these crazy video game people who don't make their things compatible with other games?! Arg! Doing a little more research on it yesterday revealed that it's compatible with rock band 2 but not rock band 1. Whateves. Juice was all for sending the thing back and getting a different one but I convinced him we should just buy rock band 2 since we will be spending $40 or so more in a guitar. So soon we will have another game and be able to use our guitar. (This almost made me want to boycott any more Wii stuff but seriously, the thing is so fun!)

Besides rock band, we did play other games. Well, the guys played the games and Lolli and I talked and cheered them on. CandyMan has the fastest finger in the East because he whomped Juice in the target shooting game. Enough so that Juice has been practicing it every night for a few minutes just so that he can beat CandyMan. I did the best on the fishing, and Lolli is the quietest drummer I have ever seen.

And for my SIL- A picture of us (well me and The Candies) playing.


If you are thinking of purchasing Rock Band, get the Rock Band 2 stuff. It seems to be a little more compatible with other things! And I do suggest it. We have a ball every time we play! And this night was no exception. What a great way to ring in 2009! This year is going to Rock.

Safire

PS- Be sure to Check out Lolli's movie giveaway!

Mommy Help!

Everyone,

This is what I see every day now when I get the boys up from any kind of sleeping. Professor has learned to pull up on things and boy does he ever! And he loves to stand. Any way he can get closer to Pirate and play with him is good.

This is a slight problem though. Why you ask? Not because we need to put his crib mattress down and haven't yet (bad parents) but because he hasn't learned to sit down. So he gets himself stuck like this every time he pulls himself up. His little legs are shaking sometimes when I get to him they are so tired. Poor little guy. I remember Butterfly going through this as well. Nothing to be done but to let them pull up and learn to sit back down.

For the past three days, I've had to go rescue him at nap time. "Huma! Huma!" (This is what he calls me.) And he's right by the door and just ready to be picked up. So I've had to rock him till he's drowsy, and then put him down. Well, Pirate is right there too and I wake him up rocking sometimes and he's very unhappy that I'm not holding him. (Although we do have some great peek-a-boo games because I get close then far. Then close, then far. He loves it.)

The picture of Pirate is just too cute not to post.

Safire

PS- I think the boys are finally over RSV. Both have been sleeping through the night (BOTH! for 2 whole days!) I haven't had to wipe one nose in 2 days. So I'm saying we're free from contaminating people and we can go back to our regularly scheduled programing. Thank goodness. I am so tired of being at home.

Too Tired

Everyone,

I have just woken up from a nap on the couch that lasted 3 hours. I fell asleep before Butterfly did tonight.

Good night!

Safire

Activist Post

Everyone,

Yesterday while Juice and Butterfly were at church and the boys were napping (did I say I was able to get almost 3 hours to myself yesterday? No? Well, I did. It was great and went by way too fast.) Anyway, I came across a blog I like to read and she had a big article about the new safety law set to come into effect on Feb 10. The law basically states that anything sold to a child 12 and under has to be tested for harmful toxins. It also means that anything that is not tested will be considered toxic waste after Feb 10th. (Read a good article about it here.)

So what? You ask. Well, I'm a little heart sick at this news because it means that anything sold to children, even second hand stuff, will have to be tested. Most of the kids' clothes I get second hand. Most of their toys even. Babies go through their clothes so fast and they are barely used sometimes. My clothing budget is what it is. And if I have to buy new clothes with it (you can bet that prices for new clothes will go up because of all this testing), they will have 7 outfits and a Sunday outfit and that is it.

Want to do something about it? Check out these links to help.

Sign the petition.
Vote for it to bring to Obama's attention.
Write a letter to your congress.

It's a good law. I think our kids deserve to be as safe as possible. But I don't think this is the way to go about doing it.

Safire

My Little Sunbeam

Everyone,

It was Butterfly's very first day in big kid primary. She is now a Sunbeam! (The name of the class she is in.) All week long we have been talking about her becoming a Sunbeam and singing "Jesus Wants me for a SunBEAM" as much as possible. Church time has changed from 1pm to 9am with the new year change (each congregation or ward rotates through the different times...there are 3 wards in our building so we have 3 times: 9am, 11am, 1pm). When she got up this morning she went marching around the house saying, "I'm a SunBEAM! I'm a SunBEAM!" It was very cute.

The boys are still coughing with bad runny noses so I stayed home with them. I was sad not to be able to pick her up from her very first Primary class and celebrate this milestone with her. She seemed to have a good time. Juice said she went right in and sat right down at her chair. No crying, no problems.

I did remember to take a bunch of pictures of her with her new dress from Costa Rica from my brother. So cute! And this is such a Butterfly expression. She is telling me a story and I asked her what was next. She said, "Hmmm..." and this is what I got. I love that dimple of hers.

When we first moved into this ward I was the Sunbeam teacher. I was pregnant with Butterfly at the time and sick. A lot. I think I maybe made it to church once a month. But I still remember all those kids. They seemed so big at the time! And now look, my Baby Girl is in there too. I think she is ready for this change. She told me that they got to sing songs and she even knew one. Oh, she also said that Daddy was late picking her up, but she was being a good helper picking everything up. (Daddy teaches his own class of 12-13 year old boys during the last hour.) So hopefully I'll be able to pick her up next week and she can tell me all about it.

Safire

Moving On Up!

Everyone,

I don't know what got in my head today but I was ready for the boys to move from their infant car seats to their big kid car seats. Probably because the car seats were in big boxes in our our entry way and I am trying to keep our house semi-box free. Or maybe it's because I have hard time carrying them in their infant seats. 17 pounds plus the three or four pounds of car seat in each hand is very hard. I've been finding myself more often than not unbuckling them and putting them in the sling or the backpack or both to get around.

Juice was nice enough to clean the Fern Tree Van today (after promising to do it for 3 weeks, ever since he spilled cereal all over the back). He then took out the baby seats, and installed the big seats. They are the exact same kind as Butterfly's, but they are grey instead of brown. If anyone is interested in which brand we got they can click here (and then click on the Sunshine Radian 80 demo).

The reason why we picked this brand is because they are one of the tallest car seats in the business, and also the slimmest. If we ever need to fit three across the backseat of a car, we can! (Hey look, our van seats 7. We could have another set of twins and not have to buy a new car!) Right now, we have the boys in the captain chairs and Butterfly in the back. She likes to be in the back because she has her own cup holder, light, and window button. When the boys become forward facing in a few short months, we will move one back to the back seat and have one of the captain chairs open. Of course, with this set up, no one can ride in our car unless they are extremely agile because the only open seats are in the very back seat.

It seems weird to put them in these seats. They seem so small still. And yet, they were ready to get out of the infant seats. I hope these will be the last big car seats we have to buy. Butterfly will probably be in a booster seat when the next baby is born (if there is a next baby) so he or she can have hers when they are ready. Of course, we could have another set of twins (hahaha) and then we'll have to buy at least one more.

I can't believe how big they are getting!

Safire

RSV Update

Everyone,

Looks like Pirate is out of the dark woods of RSV. New Year's Eve morning he woke up coughing and coughed with every single breath. He probably coughed for about an hour when I decided we should call the doctor again. Juice said to give him a blessing before going to the doctor. (A blessing is a special prayer in our church, specifically for helping the sick.) As we were waiting for another brother from our ward to come over to help, he coughed up a ton of mucus all over me. Seriously, I looked like I had been slimed like in Ghostbusters. But he perked right up shortly after that and has spent the last 2 days reminding us of his huge infectious smile and eating every two hours or so.

Professor, on the other hand, has decided that he's going to go into the shadow and will not let me put him down. Oh Daddy can hold him for a minute or two. But I better be coming back. At least I was able to make it to the bathroom by myself. And it was good that Daddy was home today. But he has spent the entire day strapped to my chest. He at least loves being wrapped and has napped/moaned/sobbed/coughed/screamed on me all day. I don't mind him being with me all day, especially since I was able to play skee ball on the Wii this afternoon, make dinner, do some grocery shopping, and play on the computer. A nice day for me. Not so nice for him.

I imagine Professor will pull out of it as Pirate did. Just hopefully a little less messy because that was really gross. I do foresee even more long nights a head of me. I am beat and a little foggy lately. I was up till 11pm last night with Juice organizing our movies (yes, it took that long) and then I was up at 2am, 4:30am until 6:30am, 7am and then dozed until about 8am when Juice brought me screaming Professor.

Hopefully I will go to bed earlier today and get a longer sleep. But until then, I am enjoying Pirate's smiles and laughs, enjoying Butterfly's joy in her toys, and enjoying the weight of Professor on me. These kids are so special...I would do anything to make them happy. It's what makes me happy.

Safire

2008 Best and Worst

Everyone,

My friend Lolli had this up on her blog and I thought I'd steal it from her. Here is 2008 in review, best and worst things!

WORST:

Juice: He lost one of his favorite gloves in the airport. (Boy, a very good year for him if that's the worst we can think of!)

Me: Gestational Diabetes, giving birth twice with a bad epidural, preeclampsia, bed rest

Butterfly: Two new baby brothers and having to learn to share parents/toys

Pirate: RSV (Juice says that being evicted from the warm comfy place aka my uterus is worse)

Professor: RSV

BEST:

Juice: Having the boys!

Me: Two healthy baby boys! Being able to breastfeed them, being able to stay home with everyone, lots of visitors this summer and a very long trip to Utah

Butterfly: Turning 3, and Christmas with 3 times the toys and boys who don't mind if she plays with them

Pirate: Big Sister

Professor: learning to crawl

I've been reading through my blog this past year and it's been fun to see things change. We had a huge shift in our family when the boys were born. Having them and Butterfly have been amazing. I can't imagine it any other way. Here's hoping we have another good year!

Safire

PS- I forgot to put the boys on the list. Oops! At least I remembered before I published it.

PPS- Professor has learned to pull up on things! He was standing in his crib today. Very first time!