Is it what you expected?

You know, people ask me all the time if being a mom is everything I expected. And I never really know how to answer. I guess I didn't know what to expect, other than that life would completely change. So yeah, that's about what happened. :-) The funny thing is that I didn't expect to be so completely captivated with these little people. I'm not overemotional (friends who know me in real life are nodding vigorously right now) and I thought we'd get our referral picture and I'd think "hmm, cute babies." And that's it. Then maybe sometime after I met them in person I'd start to feel a little stirring. Then wayyyyyy later, the feeling of babysitting someone else's kids would go away and I'd feel strong emotions. Ha! That was all crap. What really happened is that our agency sent over those referral photos and the minute (no, the very second) that I saw them something grabbed me deep inside and never let go. My stomach turned inside out and upside down. The air was sucked out of the room and I had this instant visceral reaction of "THOSE ARE OUR KIDS!" That feeling never went away, and since then I also flip flop between feelings of "Man, I love these little girls," "How did we get so lucky?" and "Oh god, they could not BE any cuter." Huh. Who knew? I never expected to feel instant love. I never expected to care more about everything they need than anything I need. I never expected that having twins was this much work. I never expected to go an entire day without peeing (and not even notice). I never expected to spend 90% of my waking time with 15-month olds and love it. I never expected to laugh this hard with someone who doesn't even come up to my knees. I never expected to change this many diapers (holy moly the diapers are astounding - they should name a landfill somewhere after us). I never expected my heart would melt just seeing them grab each others' hand to play ring around the rosie. I never expected to be sad when they slept in because it meant that much longer before I could get my sweet morning baby hug. I never expected to survive (and thrive) on this little sleep. I never expected their hair would smell like cotton candy when they woke up in the morning. I never expected to kiss them this much (I'm turning out to be a kiss stealer). I never expected to be this happy. I never expected that this would be better than anything I could have expected. Yep... Here are the lastest pics of our girls - loving, laughing, and enjoying life to the fullest. Click here or on the image below to see the captions, or click here for a non-captioned slideshow. And have a wonderful day - I hope it exceeds your expectations.

Dear Pampers:

I am not a fashionable woman. Honestly. But your diapers, which I used to buy, just don't cut it in this house. Why on earth do you plaster the back of your product with ugly colors and characters? Do you think there are many baby girls out there who wear blue and green or whose clothes look better with the addition of a furry red muppet? Seriously, what would you rather look at all day long: This?: Or this?: Yeah, me too. That's why I'm now buying Huggies Baby-Shaped Fit with the nice, clean white look. Practically invisible, and they go with everything. Ahhhhhh.

An entire post about pigtails?!

Yeah you know it. If you hate pigtails you might want to just move along right now... Yesterday, for the first time ever, something in the universe clicked into place and Ro and Ree let me pull their lovely little locks into pigtails. I nearly died of a cuteness overdose. I must have taken 800 pictures (sorry TubaDad!). And of course I'm going to foist them all on you (sorry everyone!). So here they are, our bitty babies with big girl hair. Click the image below to see the pics on one page with fun captions, or click here for a non-captioned slideshow. I have to go now, I'm just too happy to type any more. Gush, gush, love, love.

No, we don't give the girls sweets

Well, except for one thing. Does this count? Gee, I think they like it... Yep, these girls are a perfect match for our family. Certain relatives, who shall remain nameless, regularly and shamelessly take whipped cream hits directly from the can. PS: Ree is on the left, Ro on the right. Both are sporting stylin' new fringed bangs that I cut after trying in vain for the 800th time to get Ree to wear "a pretty" in her hair so she could actually see.

Shoes are (almost) better than chocolate

Making the girls smile (all 3 of us): The girls went shopping with Wela yesterday and she got them the cutest shoes in the world. Am I wrong? Have you seen cuter shoes? If so, please leave a comment with the link. Oh and shhhhh don't tell TubaDad - I don't think he's caught on to my (cough cough I mean the girls') shoe collection that's quietly growing in the closet... I thought this photo would be great for Donna's Family FotoFun Friday challenge, which is "shoes" this week. Oh, and in case you're curious about other shoes our darling little fashionistas are wearing, here's the full closet shot. You'll notice we're partial to Robeez in this house, and of course we love pink and chocolate brown. And do we even need to mention the pure LOVE we have for the two pairs of red shoes we got in China. You just can't go wrong with a pair of red shoes, right ladies? Is this what life is like for normal people? While we were out yesterday, Ree fell asleep in the car so Ro and I left Wela in charge and ventured out solo. It was an odd experience, to say the least. We were almost anonymous or something. I'm so used to steering the stroller around hordes of smiley waving people who are just dying to talk to the girls. I wonder if Ro noticed the difference? She noticed that Ree wasn't there, that's for sure. She kept patting the seat where Ree was supposed to be. Anyhow, it was interesting. I was kind of smiling to myself thinking "Wow, this is how normal people feel when they go shopping, isn't it?"

Whew so much is happening, where to start...?

Too much to say, not enough time (I assume no one's asking "why?"). So here's a quick recap, in photos.

Why yes, they are identical... Well we can finally answer the question with authority. Yes Ro and Ree ARE identical twins. TubaDad ordered a nifty little cheek-swab test off the internet one night (gawd, dontcha love the net?) and we tested the girls' dna. The answer came back definitively: they are identical not fraternal. Cool beans. Actually they said something technical about zygotes, but I don't remember the exact terminology and I'm thinking TubaDad doesn't want me calling him at work to ask. ;-)

Neat little timesaver... Check out this electronic swiffer-type-thing my folks got me. It's called a Q-Live Sweeper. Kids drop Cheerios on the floor? Or cracker crumbs smeared from one end of the kitchen to the other? (Oh sure, never happens in my house, of course, heh heh). Just grab this little guy and suck them up. It has a neato little box underneath you just empty into the trash. And when it runs out of power, plug it back in to recharge. Kinda liking it so far... They sell a version of it (some kind of cordless swivel sweeper) at Target now, tell 'em M3 sent ya.

Dental hyjinks... Ro has odd stains around the gumline on almost all of her teeth. We (ok, I) panicked and nearly peed my pants when the pediatrician said he thought it was decay. But I found the nicest family dentist who looked her over for free (we are terrible parents who were playing the odds and didn't buy dental insurance yet for the girls). He shucked off his gown and gloves, got all sterilized, sang songs with hand motions, and examined Ro in my lap in the waiting room so she wouldn't freak out. Nicest dentist in the world! Oh, and his official word is that it's not decay - it's just stains, probably from liquid vitamins the girls got in China. We can take her back later to have the stains cleaned off, or just let it go. PHEW.

Oh yes we did... We gave in and fed the girls a Chicken McNugget. Well half of one to be specific. Do I even need to describe their joyous reaction, or do these pictures of Ree shrieking gleefully and Ro vigorously signing "more!" speak for themselves? Oh man, we've really crossed over to the dark side now...

They're making lots of signs now, by the way. We now jump when they say "more," "help me," "milk," poopy diaper." We jump the fastest for the last sign, as you can imagine...

As Lee-Anne says: "Books are for reading, not for eating!" The girls have suddenly discovered reading! It's books, books, books, all the time. And they're hardly eating them at all any more. Their favorites this week are anything with flaps (naturally), "I Spy," "10 Little Ladybugs," and the Jamberry book from Chris and Kelly.

Fun with other tiny tots... We joined a Children's Museum and now the girls can go any time they want. Well any time they can get someone to make the long drive with them, I guess. Have you been? It's fabulous. The whole floor is completely closed in, and every single thing is geared for toddlers. Mahvelous!

More pics... Here are all of the pictures in this set (with captions), or you can view them as an auto slideshow (without captions). I'm getting lazy and don't feel like cutting and pasting code any more. Sorry. The rest of the pictures include Ree's famous "ooooo" face, new hair-raising slide from the grandparents, and fun with toilet paper... We also got to see Lisa (Tate R Bug) and her mom and bro this week. Awesome visit!

They're students now, next thing ya know they'll be asking for the car keys

TubaDad and I woke up at the crack of dawn and took the girls to their first class ever! A free trial Gymboree Play & Music class that I found online last night during an insomniac moment. It was for "Level 3" kids, and the girls love, love, loved it. They were grinning from the minute we strolled into that garishly colorful room with tantalizing tot-sized play equipment and plenty of other short folks to pal around with. They thought the funny little songs were brilliant (Ro squealed and clapped enthusiastically after each one, winning the teacher's heart). And they couldn't believe they got to play on and under a huge parachute (shown below) and a cloud of real bubbles. After class they hung out with their new BFF (best friends forever) and had 15 minutes of open playtime on the equipment. Dang, it doesn't get much better than that in a 15-month-old's life. (TubaDad and I were pretty happy about it too and then put a cherry on the top of our fun morning by letting the girls nap in the car while we read the paper and ate Donettes in a nice sunny parking lot. Ahhhhhh.) Here's today's set of 7 pictures with the girls, uh excuse me I should say "the students," enjoying their morning immensely, or here's a slideshow. First pics are at the mall playground, which they had all to themselves (this also elicited a squeal), and the rest are from the Gymboree class. We're going back next week to try out the music class for their age group (also a free trial class), and then we'll sign them up for a series. We heard that if you sign up for one of the classes, you can also drop by and use the equipment during the dropin times, so that'll be purdy fun too. Cheers, and hope your weekend is turning out to be Donette-worthy also.

Help, I'm melting... melting... meltinnnnnnng

It was a wild and crazy morning (exactly what passes for normal around here nowadays) and the girls were dying for a snack. So I gave them each a delicious stoneground cracker, then got caught up in loading the dishwasher, wiping off the highchair trays, sweeping around the table, and... hey what the heck? The eerie quiet hit me and I panicked. Took off for the playroom at full tilt and burst into the room to find.... (drumroll please): Get out of town! The girls had meandered into the playroom, climbed up into the blue chair, and were sitting there happily munching away on their crackers having quite a fascinating little conversation with each other. They were actually kind of surprised to see me (as I was to see them). It was the cutest thing you would ever want to see. The cutest thing in the county - I swear. My little heart probably grew 3 sizes just looking at it. Then later, as if I wasn't melty enough after that blue chair affair, they did it again over their afternoon cracker. This time on the kitchen rug. Unbelievable. And this from two girls who usually don't stop moving for even a millisecond. Couldn't you just drool all over that adorable sisterness? I've gotta tell you - these tiny moments just make my day. I love hearing the girls belly laugh, die of happiness when they hug each other or hold hands, and melt inside when I pick them up and they sigh happily and pat my back. And I am NOT a mushy person. No way. I'm tough. Cynical. And sometimes intimidating. Ask anyone. Aw, I think someone's giggling in the kitchen, I'd better go get some of that. Thanks for all the "no means no" advice, by the way. We've read every comment and are adapting a plan that works for us. You guys are dang smart, and we really appreciate all the tried and true advice. I posted 8 new pictures with captions here, or you can click here to see them in a little auto slideshow. These pictures include the new handmade story bench from Grambob (apparently better for standing than sitting right now), Xena in the highchair (sigh), accessorizing is key, and more.

No means no - in what universe?!

Well we're on the road to recovery (except TubaDad, who we mercilessly infected this weekend) and I just wanted to thank you all for your good wishes and emphathy. Whooeeeeee. Anyhow, now that the illness is fading, I have a serious question for y'all: how do you teach your toddler that "no means no"? Or is it just a pipe dream at this age? We've babyproofed most of the area they're in all day, but there are a couple of things we can't get around. Like a few lamps so we're not groping around in the dark, some tantalizing cords that connect us to our precious electronics, that kind of thing. We've already banished the poor houseplants to a kid-free zone. (I know I said I wasn't going to move them, I was just going to teach the kids to leave them alone. But it was a really bad day and I couldn't take it anymore. Let's just pretend it never happened.) So anyhow, the girls are 15-months old now. And when we say "no" it's like we're saying "here's the best candy in the world - have at it, about 800 times in a row. Isn't it delicious and hilarious?!" The word "no" has somehow become a magnet to them and all they want to do for the next 10 hours is peck away at the forbidden item (and my sanity). So do we: A) Give up until they're older and just keep moving everything out of the room until only kid-proof items are left? or B) Suck it up and keep trying to teach them "no." Leave the rooms the way they are so there are a couple of forbidden items. They'll eventually get it and stop torturing me (and I probably won't maim anyone in the meantime...) Any tips out there in blogland? Help! PS: to leave you with a funny picture, we had to do an emergency diaper change in the parking lot of Whole Foods and when I came back from dumping the toxic bag in the trashcan, this is what I saw - TubaDad is attending to bizness in the back of the van, and my mom is standing in the van keeping the other twin amused. Yes this is my village, and it's a good one. Oh, and in case you saw us at the mall this week, I should confess that yes it's true I took the girls to the germ pit (aka: the kid's play area in the mall) after they already got colds. Well shoot, they were already sick, it was finally a safe place to take them. Ok, ok, everyone say it at once: bad mama!!! I posted a few more pictures with captions here if anyone's bored.

I can still hear the screams echoing in my head

Oh wait, it's not my head - TubaDad's home now but the girls are still making a horrendous racket. Ro and Ree are sick, I'm sick, and our new Mother's Helper is now sick. So it was just me and the two unhappy kiddos with runny-faucet noses today. All day. And it was a looooooong day. Here's the rundown: 7 = total hours of fighting, whining, screaming, or crying 6 = number of times I picked up sippy cups that were angrily flung from highchairs 5 = number of times someone spontaneously crumpled to the floor sobbing (the kids? me? I'll never tell) 4 = number of times I ransacked the cupboard and freezer before finding a sanity-saving carton of Bob's mint chip icecream with Scharffenberger chocolate chips 3 = number of times I called TubaDad to politely (haha) inquire when he was coming home 2 = number of boxes of Kleenex used 1 = number of minutes remaining before I pour a big glass of wine and slip into a bubblebath Here's the soundtrack of my day - I cut it down to 17 seconds so no one would sue me for bleeding ears or anything. Don't bother calling - I'll be in the bath and TubaDad has his hands full...

Wow, Christmas really is a lot more fun when you have little kiddos around

Cool. Our first Christmas with the girls was everything we hoped for. They oohed and ahhed over the tiniest bit of cheer, heartily applauded anything bright or garish, and seriously got in to the present unwrapping thing. They thought the backyard Nascar Santa was just the bomb, and couldn't believe their good fortune when new guests like Uncle Bob, Aunt Jane, Granddaddy, and Grandmama showed up to play with them All Day Long. A few photos from the season: Here's what the playroom used to look like... And here's what it looked like after we left the girls alone in it for FOUR MINUTES while we tried to clean up the kitchen. Oops! Never underestimate the power of the Hubei wrecking crew. Bob and Jane took the girls for their first exciting ride in the bike trailer. Ro was a trooper and enjoyed waving like a princess from her little trailer, but Ree was out cold within minutes. Bobby says he tried to prop her back up but she just kept flopping over, so he finally just made sure the big fluffy blanket was under her face and kept going. Ro took advantage of the situation to use Ree as a footstool. That's my girl! Both girls have learned how to climb onto the dishwasher door and into the refrigerator, which I'm pretty sure is expressly prohibited in the manuals for both machines. Ro and Ree think it's hilarious. I am less than amused. Here's Ro trying to reach her goat milk. (Yes goat milk... The pediatrician said they weren't getting enough brain-building fat with the soy milk so now we're forking over $3.79 a quart for this liquid gold. Damn goats must be living in a palace.) Even in the midst of intense fun and revelry, the girls always remember to take a minute to hug the ones you love. For more Christmas photos with captions, click here, or click here to see an auto slideshow without captions. Happy New Year to all.