I (heart) Tubby Time!

Bathtime, or tubby time, as it's called in these parts, has quickly become my favorite way to pass the time with the boys. There is really nothing bad about tubby time-the boys like it, it keeps them awake (which later makes them sleep well), they are very interactive during and after, and they no longer smell like formula spit-up. All good things.

This picture in particular is one of my favorites. If you've ever watched a National Geographic show about whales (stay with me here), you've probably seen some spectacular pictures and footage of the whales breeching (jumping out of the water). What you didn't see was the cameraman sitting in the boat for hours waiting for that one particular shot. Likewise, I have spent several hours training the camera on the boys waiting to capture cute moments. My patience paid off, and and I got the baby equivalent of a breeching whale-Grady's first smile! Other parents, hide your envy, my babies are ridiculously cute.

Cole had given me his first smile a few days ago, and chose to entertain me with a different expression. We like to call this face Crazy Bigeyes Cole.

A new playmate!

Good news everyone! Cousin Evan decided he had enough growing time in Aunt Angela's womb, and decided to brave the outside world. He arrived Thursday, March 27 at 1:54AM, and clocked in at 7lbs, 9oz. Congratulations to Ken and Angela! We can't wait to meet Evan William.

Here's what you've waiting for...

And here is a little video of the guy...

Happy Easter

Link to a few more pictures: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMWjlwzcOGb_

'Cause Keith Said So

Last night after Keith and I got the boys settled in bed and we headed to the couch to watch a little tellie, he turned to me and said "you've got to update the blog". Well, yeeeeees sirree, I'll be happy to, but I have to warn you, I'm not very clever on command. So I'll just share some pictures.

Raise your hand if you're a studmuffin! Good job, Grady.

Cole, pretending to be asleep, but ready to holler as soon as he is not being held.

They did this one their own, how cute. And yes, Grady really is that much taller than Cole.

The Ladies and The Babies

Here are our two lucky boys with their bio and surrogate mommas. What a good looking pair!


Oh, and the babies. They're cute too. Are those not the cutest little outfits?

Enjoy a few more pictures from Aunt Karen's visit.

Karen & Other photos

Aunt Karen is here! I put her to work right away, here she is feeding babies. I haven't told her yet that I am posting a picture of her in her pajamas...sshhhhhh, no one say anything....more pictures later today.



And, if I missed you when I emailed out the last batch of pictures, sorry! Here is the link...
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMWjlwzcOGbu

Lap Full on Lovin'

So, there I was, sitting with my cute little boys in my lap, having a good time. Here we are, just hanging out.


Then who would appear in the room? Madam Fannie! (look in the bottom left corner)




Well, Madam was not happy about being left out of this snuggle time, so she took it upon herself to jump up and make herself comfortable. Boys? What boys? She prefers to just pretend they are not there.


In other exciting news, Aunt Karen comes to visit this weekend!! Whoohooo. Check back for pictures of her and the boys on Monday!

Arch nemesis

Behold my arch nemesis. Look at it, sitting there mocking me with it's fancy flashy lights, clear reception and compact design.



A series of events has led to me developing a serious love/hate relationship with this device. Its fanciness lulled me into thinking that it is going to alert me when Grady or Cole are screaming bloody murder . Because neither Keith nor I can sleep without a large fan creating a wind-tunnel effect in our room, so we can't hear anything beyond the bedroom door. Handy when you have visitors in our tiny house, but not so handy when you have two little babies ready to claw your face off when you don't respond to their cries. So, hence the presence of aforementioned flashy monitor.

Off to a rocky start...is what we were after the monitor failed me one night. How was I to know it was going to run out of batteries? I was in bed, waiting to hear babies cry and to see the little red lights flashing, but nothing happened. So I drifted off, thinking all was well in the boys room. When I woke up 2 hours later, and still saw no lights and heard no crying, I thought fantastic!, and got more sleep. Another hour later I woke back up, again, no crying, no lights. By now we were an hour and a half past their feeding time, and as much as I would love to think the boys will sleep through the night already, I knew that wasn't likely. So I thought I should check it out, just in case. And sure enough, there was Cole, all red faced and angry and Grady bellowing at the top of his lungs, demanding to be fed. This instant, woman! Turns out the monitor needed to be charged. Could I have checked this? Sure. Could I have plugged it in for a few minutes before I went to bed? Sure. But for the price one pays for one of these things, I kinda expect it to realize its low on the battery juice,hop off the bedside table and scurry over to the outlet to plug itself in. (thanks again to Aunt Linda for the monitor. It's fabulous, really).

So anyway, slightly my fault, but in the interest of feeling like a semi-decent mom I am shifting all blame to the monitor. This one night has led to a lack of trust, so now when I am in bed, lying awake staring at the monitor, I keep thinking are they really asleep, or is this thing's battery dead? About every hour I wake up thinking I hear crying, stare at the monitor, turn it off and then back on-you know, just to make sure it's really on- stare at it again, try to close my eyes to sleep again, hop out of bed anyway, run into their room anticipating Armageddon, only to find that they are sound asleep. See? Fast asleep.

I come back to bed, glare at the monitor for being right, apologize to Madam for waking her up once again, beg her to move out into Keith's side of the bed, (she won't, she's 12 lbs of stubborn dog) and to try to get a little sleep before they really do cry and the little lights flash red.

For good measure, I also silently curse Keith for being able to sleep through all of this. Sleep deprivation makes for a vengeful Trudi.

PS. Tracy, that is your scarf in the background of the picture, you left it at our house, and I'm holding it ransom until you visit again.

PPS. If you don't get come to claim scarf in 2 weeks, it becomes part of my wardrobe. Sorry, those are our house rules. I'd make an exception, but you know what a stickler for the rules I am. And you know how good I look in off-white chenille.

Snuggly

Aww, aren't they cute when they snuggle together? They napped like this for a few hours.

Ode to the Bouncy Seat

I love you for the way you bounce their butts to sleep,
I love ‘cause when that happens, they don’t make a peep.

I love you for the way you’re decorated with little fishes,
When the boys lay in your vibraty pouch, I can finally clean the dishes.

I love you for the way you can use a battery forever,
But no word rhymes with that, so this line isn’t very clever.

I love you because we got you both for very cheap*,
$5 for both of you, no price could be less steep.

The only problem is-and this I do despise,

I wonder why they don't make you in an adult size?

*”cheap” refers to bouncy seats, not babies. Those are pricy. Priiiiiceeey.

C-spot on the left, G-baby on the right.

Brothers, yo.

Here they are! Does it look to anyone else like they are throwing gang signs? Maybe they've developed their own form of communication to gossip about our parenting skills.

Walking & Other Types of Babies

Oh my. So much going on that I've forgotten to entertain you all with my wit and candor. Since Nana Estelle is here for a few days, I can focus on giving you all a little blog attention without feeling like I need to stop every two minutes to go stare at my beautiful boys.

We've been pretty busy, mostly with feeding, changing diapers and gazing adoringly at the boys. They are both beautiful content babies, and as you will probably agree, are the two most handsome things I've seen (other than their dad, of course). Both are great babies, (knocking on wood), and it seems both are on track for whatever 3 week old babies are supposed to be doing. As I said before, that is lots of eating, pooping, sleeping. Occasional bouts of fussiness, but only when it's feeding time and a diaper change is needed. Grady has taken it upon himself to be the spokesperson for the two when feeding/diapering is required and he feels like his parents are not quick enough to get these tasks accomplished. Cole is happy to just lay there looking around until it's his turn.

This weekend we had a few firsts, one being that both boys rolled over on their own already. When it happened I had a little moment of panic as I envisioned the two careening wildly through the house on their own in a year or so, but plenty of time to have Miss Piper to baby-proof the house before then.

We also went for a walk in our SUV of strollers, this thing is amazing! If not for the weight limit I could have crawled in there and demanded that Keith push me around as well. Here is Keith, on the walk, notice how well he coordinates with the stroller. Such an eye for details, that one.


And here is the view the boys would have if they could look out, I'm thinking that I could possibly just hook these two up to the stroller and let them pull it:


Speaking of Madam and Elvis, they are both really fairly well with the two new additions. Madam is actually doing a bit better, she does what she's always done, which is demand attention when she wants it. And that is not often, but when I'm on the couch and she wants to sit on my lap, she's gonna do it, whether there is a baby in my lap as well. She very happily curled up next to Grady this morning. Gave him a couple of looks when he grunted and woke her up, but otherwise she's happy to coexist. Elvis, on the other hand is feeling a bit neglected. He was the baby in the house before these two came along, understandable how he would feel left out. If you happen to visit, be sure to tell him that he's the cutest baby with fur, and he's handsome and a smart dog, etc.etc. It seems to help his self-esteem. And yes, I fully expect you to make a fool of yourself talking to him. He's know to be a licker, which we knew could be a problem, and he has snuck in a few rogue licks when he gets close enough to one of the boys, but he has been very gentle, which is good. He has claimed a few of the boys' items as his own, here is where we found him a few nights ago. We just had the boys in the pillow to take their birth announcement picture, and when we came back into the room, here is what we saw:

Aww, poor Elvis, he's a baby too. That's it for now!

Whole lotta this going on...

Here is the proud Papa holding his boys while he watches movies of which The Mommy does not approve. Lots of sitting on the couch, holding babies going on at this house.