At least some pictures...

Ok, so while I'm dealing with technical difficulties (which is to say, my brain) I'll put some photos up of the munchkins. It's tricky these days to take pictures because the boys are crazy and running (crawling) around all over the place. We spend most of our time grabbing them and saving them from tumbling over or into each other.

Here the boys are when their little twin friends (Finn and Annika) came to visit.

The boys can open the drawers in the kitchen.

One of the only times they are confined.

Trying on their UMD hats - Go Bulldogs!!

They really hate hats.

So, that's honestly what I have for the past month... until I can get that video uploaded.

Sorry

I just realized that I have not updated this for an entire month. We have had an incredibly busy month - and it did just fly by... I'll give you a short rundown -

• 2 new jobs keep me pretty busy - balancing paperwork and an entire caseload of new kids is hectic. Fun, but hectic.
• Adam's work has also been extremely hectic. He's been putting in overtime because they are so busy, and in today's time of layoffs, we are very grateful for that!
• The babies are insane.
• Luke crawls, pulls up on furniture and has chewed the paint off his once beautiful crib.
• Andrew crawls, just started to pull up on furniture (as in started yesterday), and is frustrated when he can't do what Luke does.
• I am constantly chasing babies around the house and "resetting" them to a safer place - they do not feel the same way.
• Luke likes to eat dogfood and open drawers and cabinets - awesome.
• Andrew likes to "boogie" constantly, even when it causes him to fall, and he continues to dance laying down.
• They are the cutest things I ever saw.

I will make time this weekend to download pictures from our camera and show you what else they are doing!! Stay tuned...

9 months and new ventures

I honestly can't believe my babies are 9 months old!
So much has happened in the last 9 months and it is truly amazing at how fast those little buggers grow! They are BOTH crawling/scooting now - yep, Andrew's finally moving around. Well, he's capable of moving around. Sometimes, he just continues to lay or sit there, happy as a little clam, inspecting any toy in his reach. Both babies can get from a sitting position to their tummies, and today Andrew sat straight up from laying down (that might have been a fluke - I can't imagine how he did that!). They push up onto their knees, but have not mastered crawling that way yet (thankfully, I can still catch them!). Luke is pulling up on short things, and gets to his knees, but has not yet attempted something tall to stand next to, although he does like standing next to things when he is placed there. So, something new happens around here every day!
Daycare is great! They are taking good naps now (no, they weren't before) and are eating well for Kelly. When I go to pick them up, they're outside in their stroller waiting for me after just having been out for a walk, and I swear they recognize the car! They're waving their arms as soon as I park. Most days it's just them and Kelly's 1 or 2 kids (some days the 5-year old goes to Kindergarten). We're feeling pretty good about it so far! We will, however be starting to go part-time to daycare because Grandma Judy just misses the boys so much, she wants to come once a week to babysit!
So, on to the "New Venture" part of the title. Anyone who reads my blog knows how "crazy" I am about toxins (I prefer to call it informed :) ). I am going to start selling DAISY BLUE NATURAL products. If you haven't heard of them, they are a company based out of Minnesota that makes natural soaps, lotions, baby products, spa products, make-up, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc. I hosted a party last week, and the products were too good to pass up (they smell WONDERFUL and my house still smells like their pillow spray that Nicole sprayed on my chair pillow). (By the way, if you ordered anything, it's coming to my house TODAY, so I'll get it to you soon!) So, if you ever want to have a spa party (with foot spa and hand spa) or are interested in looking at anything, let me know! I'll get you a sample!
So, that's about it for now! (Isn't that enough?)

Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Back to school, back to school...

I'm singing the song from "Billy Madison" in my head right now - in case you were wondering. (and I don't know how to stop this stupid thing from underlining all my words, so deal with it :) ).
Well, last week I started back at work and what a week it was!
I'll give you a run-down:
Monday: Daycare lady called to say her son was sick. I was on the phone on my entire drive to work trying to figure out if we should bring the kids to daycare anyway. It was decided (with opinions from many, many people) that they will be exposed to germs at some point, so we should get it over with.
At school, the Principals didn't know who I was, what I was there for, or who I was replacing. Not a single person said hi to me (ok, maybe one person did), and in fact most people looked at me like I was crazy.
Tuesday: Slightly better. The boys LOVED daycare and Andrew started sitting up all on his own!! I went out to eat with my old college roomies (from the pink house) and got some sweet Christmas garland from Molly's mom's stash of garage sale items (Thanks, T. Heinz!).
Wednesday: Late night at work - we had open house and LOTS of high school kids were there (which really surprised me). I got a phone call around 4:00 that Andrew had a fever and both boys were sick. Awesome. Adam had to go and pick them up, while I stayed at work. When I got home, I checked on them and heard their snoring throughout the house (because of the stuffy noses).
Thursday: I was planning on staying home, but we called for reinforcements in case the babes wanted some one-on-one time (because they were sick and all). Grandma Judy came to visit for the day, and the boys were doing great, so I went to work after a little while. I felt like a terrible mother, but I didn't want to use my sick time up when they really didn't NEED me to be there.
Friday: The day off. I dropped the boys off with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Don for an overnight visit (the first one). We had a wedding and then went to pick the boys up on Saturday and made salsa all day.
Today, in case you were wondering, Adam and I watched Ghost Hunters on tv all day long. Yes, ALL DAY LONG. Tomorrow I have to go back to school - which did get better by the way, once people noticed that yes, I really do work there. :)

So now, for the pictures:

Andrew smiling for the camera.

Luke, innocently chewing his toy.

The 8 month "bowling pin picture"
Yes, we do this to see how big they are getting.
No, the did not sit still for the picture - AT ALL!

8 months old!

It's hard to believe that these 2 are 8 months old already!!

I know everyone would prefer pictures, and we do take them, it's just been tougher now that we are constantly trying to corral our little movers. Above they look calm, sitting on the chair, but I assure you, seconds after this shot was taken, Andrew arched backwards almost falling out of the chair, which made Luke curious, so he crawled to Andrew's side of the chair, biting him along the way, of course. And so, 2 really do make more trouble than 1 (at least I think so, I wouldn't know, would I?)

The boys like to read books (I try to get there before they eat all the pages).

Luke can sit up all by himself - the boppy is only there as a precaution because he can't really get down from sitting so well by himself. Then he cries. Then he needs to be held. Then we have to try to stop his crying before Andrew starts; the boys have started to exercise their empathic (is that a word?) skills and now will cry if the other one starts.

Playing nicely together.

This was actually really nice. They were both digging in the toy bucket making sounds, seemingly discussing which toy to pull out, which really didn't need much discussion because soon ALL the toys were out and strewn around the carpet, pinned under backs and bopped into heads.

Andrew can sit too, he just needs some support - he's pretty tippy.

Luke crawls over, under, and through EVERYTHING, as you can see by him going under the exersaucer, which is WAY more fun than being in the exersaucer.

Luke under the coffee table - he was on his way to see Andrew who was sitting on the couch (see above).

One of the favorite places to be: eating!

Boys after my own heart. They love to eat and are eating 3 meals a day, including puffs, which they are actually getting pretty good at! They never miss a meal (just like their mom!).

Andrew doesn't crawl yet, but he does roll, and often rolls himself up in the blanket on the floor.

He can't crawl, but he can, however, stand. For short periods of time. When placed carefully against something sturdy. And caught if necessary.

It really is quite something to see. It's unbelievable to see how every single day, they do something different. Luke is making faces and imitating them. He says "mama" and "dada" (not really knowing what he is saying) and he clicks his tongue really loud! Come to think of it, he pulls out "mama" when he's upset, hmmmm. Andrew just started with the /m/ sound (that's an "mmmm" for those non-SLPs) but he's REALLY good at screaming when he needs to be!

One really nice thing that has happened lately is that Andrew will no longer be bullied. He holds his own; not letting go of toys, biting back, and fighting for what he wants. Although, maybe not great that he fights back, at least he's not letting Luke walk all over him (which I was worried about especially since Luke has always been so much more dominant and demanding *sigh* like his mom, again) :)

So now, we start another chapter. Back to School.

I'm sad and excited at the same time. We've had such a fun summer and I've been able to really get to know my boys. I'm sort of sad that I am going to miss out on all that "little" stuff that happens during the day, but I am much better when I am working. I'm more organized, get more done, and I appreciate my family much more. The boys love daycare, and Kelly (aka "daycare lady") sends picture texts throughout the day so I know what they are up to. They always look really happy in the pictures!

Then again, they always look really happy!

How did that happen?

Where did my summer go? I had my first day of workshops today, and although I am ready to go back to work (I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune in November) I just can't believe it's time for that already!
The boys had their first day of daycare. They were good all day according to Kelly (the daycare lady), and I asked the older kids if the twins were good and they said "yeah, pretty much. They only cried one time." (They were hungry - it was before lunch and naptime.) All in all, a success!
Luke LOVES daycare. He loves to watch all the other kids and giggles at them almost the whole time. He is quite the social butterfly (who does that remind you of?). Andrew is quite content, as usual, to be at daycare. I got there to pick them up around 2:30, and Andrew was still napping so Kelly went to get him. He was just fine with her and looked up at me like "huh, what are you doing here?"
They must have had fun, though, because when we got back home they each took another short nap. Andrew was happy to see me, I got about 5000 "kisses" this afternoon - which made me feel better, like they know who I am!
In other news, I officially have a "pukey kid". Thank you Daddy. Apparently Adam was quite a gaggy, pukey kid and now Andrew is. He gags and "spits up" any vegetable that's green unless it's mixed with applesauce or something sweet. Gross.
Luke still loves ALL foods and will usually say "mmmm" throughout a meal. He also tried "puffs" for the first time. I was thinking it might take a little practice to pick up the food and get it into his mouth. Nope! In the first 5 seconds, Luke had a puff in each hand and was cramming both fists into his mouth. Guess he's ready for finger foods. :)
Andrew is finally getting teeth, but they are MUCH slower than Luke's and he's been pretty crabby the past couple of weeks. Lucas is army crawling around like a madman and loves to get close to the dog, hit the fireplace, air vents, or tiles on the floor. He bites anything in his way; toys, diapers, dog bones (yuck) and Andrew's legs.
That's our updates for now! I hear some babies whining (it's bedtime!) so I should go help with baths. Later!