Pups & Pizza

I called the dogs outside so I could take a picture of the snow for the blog. Belle jumped up and went straight outside. Tinsley just sat on the couch and shivered...I'm not kidding...shivered - like "don't make me - poor cold me"! Silly mutt...I'm sure her excess 10+ lbs. from stealing food would have kept her toasty warm!


The girls now have their own Johnny Jumper - I bought it off of craigslist.com for $5! Jasmine thinks it is great - Addie thinks it is torture. I initially bought this for our trip to FL - seeing that we won't have access to exersaucers, swings, etc. - I thought this would pack nicely in our suitcases. I was going to get two so they each had one...but unless Addie starts loving it - I think we'll just need one!

We went out to lunch as a family today (Alex had a free pizza from Pizza Hut for giving blood). It went so much better than I thought it would~! This is the first time we've used the restaurant high chairs. The girls LOVED them. They both sat smiling and swinging their legs. They took turns charming the strangers around them and then stealing each others toys and then more charming/smiling and then dropping toys on the floor and looking at us to pick them up...We had a good time and it was nice to get out of the house for a bit!

Sunday Morning

Here are a few pictures we took this morning (and some we took a few days ago!) Just wanted to get some fresh pictures up - especially for Granny and Grandpa Green. In the picture of Addie with the paper spread in her lap - is when she found the wipes package while Alex was distracted with Jasmine. She had a GREAT time pulling out wipe after wipe after wipe!

Addie is crawling EVERYWHERE - and I'm really quite enjoying it. It is fun to see where she goes and what she is interested in. There are only a few things that she is attracted to that I have to say no to, i.e., outlets, dog water bowls, cable cord, dog bone. Otherwise, our house is pretty well baby proofed - which is nice to not have to take away every little thing and deal with the resulting whining. I love watching her curiously crawling around discovering new things!

Jasmine is still sitting in one place - firmly rooted! She'll do long stretches for toys out of reach, but really couldn't be bothered to roll (even though she can)! We are wondering if she'll go right to walking. My mom says I was like this and didn't crawl until my first birthday....I can see how I might have taken the laid back approach to mobility! : )

Alex is home and it is nice to have him back with us! He took Friday off and we had a nice relaxing day together. The weather has finally gotten out of the 20's so we've been able to spend some more time outside! On Saturday, I made "maintenance" at Weight Watchers - which means I've been at my goal weight for 6 weeks and now go to WW once a month for free for the rest of my life! I just have to stay within 2 lbs of my goal weight.

We are still working hard on paying off debt. It is a GREAT feeling to have our credit card payment actually reduce the debt, not just cover the interest! We are excited about the possibility of additional tax rebates due to the fear of recession - all of this will speed up our debt repayment!

All By Myself....Don't Wanna Be...All By...

If you were here in person (or if we had a video camera) I'd give you a stirring rendition of this song! : ) Alex will tell you to be grateful you don't have to be subjected to this noise pollution! I was actually told in 8th grade choir to just hold my music sheet and mouth the words...hum...I can't imagine why!?

You may have guessed it from the title, Alex has been in New York since Monday. I tend to get in a huff when new trips are announced, but it really hasn't been that bad this time.

Here are what I see as the BENEFITS of Alex being in NY:
1. I get our one car all to myself!
2. We are racking up frequent flyer miles on his work credit card
3. We are saving money because Alex eats like a horse - okay not really - but it was fun to type!
4. I'm learning to be more grown up and to just DEAL with life's circumstances
5. I can set the thermostat wherever I want (shh don't tell Alex)
6. I can eat whatever I want (Alex insists on real meals - I like to eat just cereal while he's away in protest!)
7. I can spend endless hours on craft projects and not feel like I'm being neglectful!

He comes home today and it we are all looking forward to seeing him!

One other random thought!

For some reason I was thinking about college days and jobs I had and I remembered this hilarious memory that many of you may not of ever heard about.

I worked briefly for a gym (opened, worked the front desk, laundered towels, closed, etc.) It was always a little creepy to close up because it was dark and late! I would do my checklist as quick as possible and then get the heck out of there locking up and leaving!!! After closing one night, I got a late call from the unhappy owner of the gym. Apparently in my haste, I did not do a sweep of the men's locker room and there was a teenage boy in the sauna in the men's locker room. Not only did I lock him in....I turned off all of the lights on him as well!!!! The front door (and all other exits) only opened with a key (not very fire safe) so the poor kid had to find the phone and call the police who then arrived and broke the glass front door to get him out..... Amazingly I did not get fired - I would have fired me - but the owner was a very nice guy...I don't think I was ever scheduled to close after that.... : )

Random memory I know, but remembering it made me laugh - hope it made you laugh too!

Daddy Daycare

Here's some pictures of what goes on when I'm not home! : ) The girls seem thrilled with the alternative style of child care and who am I to complain - I get the leave the house baby free!

New Discoveries

The girls are to the stage where they should be adding some solid foods to their diets...humm...not going so well! I tried Cheerios - GAG! These Mum Mum biscuits are the only thing that I've had some success with - I think they like how easily they dissolve in their mouths. It is strange to me to see them feeding themselves - but also very entertaining!

Today Addie discovered (on a roaming crawling spree) that the door stopper goes - DONGGGG! She sat there fixated for several minutes - very cute! I had a mini heart attack when I saw that the plastic cap was off the end of the stopper - thought she'd eaten it - turns out Belle (the dog) ate it and spit it out on the carpet - Thanks Belle!

Team Green

The girls have become more aware of each other. Alex says Addie was "kissing" Jasmine on the forehead after their bath tonight! Of course, Addie's version of kissing is mouth wide open!

Since Addie is the mobile one, she usually initiates the joint activities - but Jasmine is always very aware of what her sister is doing! Jasmine is like a magnet for Addie's nonsense. Addie will cross rooms to steal a toy from Jasmine - and then she'll sit in Jasmine's lap and enjoy her freshly stolen toy!

Today, I do believe Jasmine was trying to sink her teeth into her sister who was once again sitting her lap with what was once her toy! (Jasmine has already bitten me once...so I know she's capable).

The pictures show them chatting in their cribs after they've decided that they've had enough of nap time!

The Great Wall

Why is this child behind bars?! : ) Because sometimes her mom needs to walk out of the room and know Addie won't get into something dangerous or try to crawl out the doggie door (hasn't happened yet - but just waiting for that to click)!


The girls have actually taken to their confinement quite well! I think they enjoy the new surroundings. We usually play in the living room in the morning and this room in the afternoon. Addie has already figured out where the gate swings open and will crawl to and whine to be let out if I'm not inside with her! Smart girl...hum...!

Get Me Outta Here!

I've been a bit mopey because Alex has four - week long business trips coming up on the next three months. I'm sure you can already hear the whine! I'd love to join Alex in New York, Germany, California - or any of the other exciting places he gets to go for work. He says that it isn't all that exciting since he's working - but come on - I just drool at the idea of being in an airport going somewhere - anywhere!

Well - the good news is I'll be joining him on one of the four trips!!! YEAHHHH! One of his trips in February is to Orlando, Florida - which is perfect! Leah, lovely Leah - my best friend and roommate pre-Springfield days lives in Orlando. We are even going to be able to swing the trip and stay on budget! Alex's ticket will be covered by his job and mine will be covered by frequent flyer miles. 

For a brief moment we felt like we were experiencing twin discrimination! Alex was arranging our itinerary with Delta and the guy on the phone said only one infant could fly free per family - WHAT!? So Alex said thank - but no thanks and hung up! Then we decided to call back just to see if this guy had his facts straight - and the next guy had no idea what the other guy was talking about! So the fam is coming to Florida! I've already started researching how to travel with our LARGE carseats, double stroller, etc. Thankfully I think Leah will be able to borrow two Pack N' Plays and two high chairs!

And tonight Alex asked me to join him for a work dinner (parents are babysitting)! And Saturday Alex asked me to go to movies with him!!! My outlook is brighter already.

Tornados, Babies, & No Basement!

This picture accurately describes how Alex and I felt about being parents of two infants amidst  the slew of tornados that passed through our area yesterday. The sirens started going off just as Alex was coming home from work around 5:30 and they continued throughout the night with the last storm passing through at 3:45 am!!! It was a very long night! We didn't do anything but watch the weather radar on TV. Since we don't have a basement, and my parent's house that has a basement is across town, we called our neighbors to see if we could come over if the weather got bad enough. It such a hard call to make to wake sleeping babies and take them across the street when the storm may or may not get close. We watched closely and decided to stay put. 

However, when we were awoken at 3 am by sirens once again - we decided this one was serious enough to get in the bathroom. So there we were - with two newly woken babies, the dogs, a papasan cushion and the bathtub! I know - you're all jealous you weren't here too! The girls were THRILLED to be awake and thought it was EXTRA FUN to be in the bathtub together. We were a little afraid they won't go back to sleep, but they did! 

Some of Springfield has damage, but most of the serious damage is in outlying towns around the area. Several schools are closed (missing roofs, etc.)! I was SO enjoying my walk with the girls in the warm weather yesterday...little did I know we would be paying for the record temperatures later that night. Alex and I are very thankful that we are safe but have thought about getting one of those cement bunkers installed in our backyard...would that make us one of the crazies??? : )

Here's are my nine month old little girls looking cute!

Here's some pictures from playtime! We just introduced the little car this weekend. Addie loves to have Alex push her and even puts her legs up...Jasmine is still figuring this out! 

Ah, and this is our favorite activity - find mom wherever she is and crawl on her, pull up on her, insist to be held by her at the same time, and if our needs aren't meet on demand make faces like the first picture in this post!

Progress!

Alex wanted me to post the full debt and then today's total - more satisfying that way! Today we sold one of our two cars and are officially a one car family!!! It is a little scary, but it is very exciting to see our credit card debt reducing!!! Just wanted to give a quick update - off to help Alex bath two very cute little girls before we go to some friend's house for dinner.

Guess Who Is Crawling!

It is official, Addison began crawling this weekend. For weeks she's been close, just not actually making any forward progress. This weekend she began to move forward! Her crawling is slow and haltering, but she does eventually make it to her chosen destination. 

I usually sit on the floor with the girls to eat my breakfast (they've been fed and are playing). I realized this morning that this set-up is not going to last. The first thing Addie did with her new ability was crawl over and try to get into my oatmeal bowl! I guess that is why you should eat at the table!!! One of the moms in my moms of multiples group said, "Oh, just wait until there is a mini stampede as the both crawl and follow you to the bathroom!" Ah, so much to look forward to! : )

Here's a quote from a daily e-mail I get - thought it was a good fit for my life! If I had gotten what I had planned I'd be living in a big city, working as a graphic designer, and utterly miserable! I'm much happier that life has turned out as it has!

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, 

so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

— Joseph Campbell