Saturday, June 28, 2008

Walmart

Walmart. The mere name conjures up images of cheap wares and that bouncy yellow smiling face, slashing prices. Right?

That used to be the case for me, at least. Since the Powers That Be at Walmart decided to build one less than a mile from our house, we have been spending more time there than we ever anticipated we would. Other than loving the price cutting yellow face, Walmart is where I go on days when I am at home alone with the boys. Yes, I take them to walk around Walmart just to get out of the house. (Oh, the hor
ror! I take them into a huge megastore instead of outdoors? I sure do, and I don't feel bad about it. I used to take them outside in the stroller in the mornings, but it's getting pretty damn hot out there). Normally we cruise around the aisles, staring and drooling on ourselves, but lately our Walmart trips have become a little game of bobbing and weaving down the aisles. Why? To avoid people. You see, twins have a weird celebrity-esque status, and a set of twins in the baby phase apparently is the equivalent of Brangelina. Can't turn a corner without people stopping to ask questions or make comments. The first few women at Walmart that stop me doesn't bother me, it's # 4-22 that get to be a bit much.

Here is a sampling of the questions we're asked:

Is it hard? I usually just answer this by staring back at her as I am frantically searching for a pacifier, burp cloth, or some other item to either shut a baby's mouth or clean up what came out of the mouth. As I walk away, I wonder...did she ask that because I'm not wearing any make-up, my hair looks like a huge afro and my shoes don't match? In my defense, black and navy flip-flops made by the same
manufacturer look the same in a dark closet.

Are they identical? I try not to use the voice I used to reserve for the dumb kids in my class when I say no. I realize that they both look like two chunky babies, but they do have different color hair and face shapes....so...perhaps the stupid-kid voice is well deserved?

Boy-Girl? Someday we will chuckle about the number of times people assumed Cole was a girl. He does have an adorable cherub face with big eyes and a cute little mouth, but he's dressed in blue 90% of the time, so....no, they're both boys. No one ever assumes Grady is a girl, interestingly enough.

How do you do it? I've been waiting to use this picture, it makes me chuckle each time I see it. Am I a lush? No. But I do know that Keith and I would never have gotten this far into parenting without the help and support of our sets parents, my sister and a few bottles of this stuff.

So, if you see me at Walmart, please don't be offended if I make a sharp right and cut down an aisle filled with items I would never buy. If I stop to engage in some mindless chatter, the baby who is at the time in the Bjorn carrier will start kicking me, much like a jockey might kick its horse to get it to keep it moving. It seems the babies don't like the questions either.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

New Pictures

It's been a little too hectic to write a full blog post, but I've uploaded a few recent pictures for you all to enjoy!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Get it When You Can

I'm referring to sleep, get your mind out of the gutter.

The most irritating thing we heard as expecting parents was "you better get some sleep while you can!" This bugs me for two reasons-one, I hate being given advice when I don't ask for it (can't help it, I am both a Capricorn and a KnowItAll, neither wants to be told what to do), and two: it's not like you can store up sleep to use later, you know? We knew we'd be sleep deprived, but no one wants to hear the negative when you're supposed to be excited about thte good times ahead.

So anyways, a few weeks ago the boys decided to give the all-night sleeping a go. For a few days, the world was a better place, and I a more pleasant person. But as they have with every milestone, the boys regressed a bit and decided to interrupt my night's sleep with periodic hollering for food/diaper changes/middle of the night babbling & leg kicking sessions. This has left us needing many more naps. (And by us, I mean me, Madam, and Elvis, since Keith has that unique ability to sleep/pretend-to-sleep when anyone is screaming at night) I did not realize how prevalent the napping was until I started looking at our more recent pictures...

Elvis Napping

The Couch, from Keith's perspective. That is Cole sitting on my belly while I rest my eyes, and Elvis is the one giving you the Kujo stare.

And finally, the boys...What? Why are they not napping in the picture? That's what I wanted to know...sleep already, babies!

G-baby on the left, Cole on right.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Happy Father's Day, Papi!

Happy Father's Day on this first of many happy Sundays in June when we celebrate how fabulous of a dad you are. You are already a great husband and now also fantastic dad. Thank you for helping clean the house when I am tired because the boys insist on starting the day at 4AM, and for walking the dogs for the same reason. For making batch after batch of wretched smelling formula, vacuuming the house when I freak out about all the hair all over the boys' stuff and for washing the bottles countless numbers of times. For giving Snarfus a big ole black lady voice, for mimicking a hyena when you want to make Grady laugh, and for letting me and Cole laugh at you hoola-hooping with the Wii Fit. (And by the way, the console won't know if you don't lift your arms to catch other hoola hoops, it only measures the pressure of your feet....but I guess it would not be nearly as funny if you stopped raising your arms and bobbing your head)

You Rock. We love you.

Cute together

At 4months! and oops, I forgot to do the red-eye removal thing.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

When Mommy's Away...


I've started back to work, so a few other lucky people have taken care of the boys while I am at work educating the masses and doing other very important (rolling eyes) work related things. My mom has taken on many of these days, and this coming week Gran GG will be here to watch the boys. Last week our boys also started attending Camp Keller, and I am pretty sure they loved it! What's not to love? They got tons of attention from Camp Mom Suzanne, and Camp Counselors Amanda, Alex and Adam. Service is top notch at Camp Keller, they even open the door for you when you arrive....thank you Adam...



Here is another picture of Big Dude and Little Dude (the boys' Camp Keller names for Grady and Cole, respectively), getting lots of love from Suzanne and her daughter Amanda. I just realized that for the second time I have not gotten a picture of the elusive Alex. He's always hiding out upstairs when I pick the boys up. I'm coming looking for you next time, Alex!

Friday it was Keith's turn to step up to the BabyWatching Plate, and as usual he did it and did it well! Here's what greeted me when I got home:


It's nice to be greeted by three handsome men!