Movin' on Up

Breanna started crawling - official good crawls - not the sort of half-baked crawling she was doing for the last month. Friday night, she showed off her moves, and is now pretty awesome. Not one to be out-done, Lillian has started pulling herself up from sitting to standing, and holds on to the coffee table, the outside of the exersaucer, whatever. She just loves to stand up, and is taking little tiny steps as she goes.


Needless to say, our weekend was busy. My DH was gone all day on Saturday, and I was on the go all day, playing with the girls - and completely beat by dinnertime. When he came home, he asked if I wanted to rent a movie, and I bailed out. I just wanted to climb into bed.


We still didn't get the second crib up, but at least we rearranged the baby bedroom to make room for it. And the new mattress pad and bedding are on. Now we need to actually make time to put it all together. If it's not one thing...


After the exhausting weekend of parenting, I let DH take Breanna in for her 1-year checkup. It's a week and half early, but we figured we'd get it in while we can. Lillian goes in for her appointment on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes. Fully clothed, Breanna weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds and is 28 inches long. How is that even possible? And she's perfectly healthy! Just remembering back to how little and red she was at birth, I have no doubt that God has blessed us with incredible abundance.

Superstitious

All day long yesterday, my mind was focused on the date of one year ago. Last April 19, I was enjoying a lovely dinner at the Cork & Cleaver with my husband, babies kicking delightedly, when an unwelcome Bell's Palsy invited itself into our lives. It was the day that turned my lovely pregnancy into the start of what ended up becoming a very complicated pregnancy. It was the one day in my life where I can truly say that all hell broke loose.

Boy, we've come a long way!

I've never considered myself to be very superstitious, but yesterday, I kept wondering how the universe would right itself in my world to make up for the awfulness of April 19th a year earlier. I even thought about going to the same restaurant and ordering the same thing to see if that would be the magic to completely kill off the Bell's. It's still hanging on a bit - barely - but stubbornly, nonetheless. I kept waiting for an exciting phone call - or something wonderful to arrive the mail.

Turns out, my superstitions were justified. Though my Bell's Palsy didn't suddenly disappear, I did have several very wonderful experiences that I have to believe are not just random goodnesses.

I'll be starting a new writing project on Monday that should carry me through a few months. I found out within 24 hours of the initial meeting with the client. It looks like it has lots of room for taking it where I want, with no one to squash me. I'm excited about it! So, today I'm not going to "work." It will be my last free day of vacation for a while. I think I'll go get a facial, pick up some party hats for our girls' birthday, take the dogs for a long walk, take part in noon mass, and enjoy a latte from Atomic.

Happy Friday, friends! And happy weekend, too!

No more hotel stays for a while

Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

I'm beat, as I'm sure everyone else is who stayed at the Best Western in Chaska on Saturday night. My DH and the babies and I hitched a ride with DH's favorite aunt on Saturday afternoon for a quick trip to witness a First Communion on Sunday. DH and his aunt (who is also his godmother) are the godparents to their niece, so there was no getting out of this roadtrip.

The drive down was great, but once we arrived at the restaurant Saturday evening, the tone changed - too subtle for us to realize that it was a whole tonal shift. DH decided to see if our babies liked baked beans. Let's just say that all it took was two bites to learn that Lillian barfs from beans. No crying or anything, just really gross. When we returned to the hotel, the babies went to sleep in the pack-n-play in the other room of our suite.

We were all tired, thinking bed sounded good, when DH's brother decided to bring his fiancee to the hotel at 9:50. They left at around midnight. Once they left, we sat up and visited a bit more and then took turns doing bathroom routines. (I finally found someone who takes longer to get ready for bed than me!) As DA (Darling Auntie) headed off to bed, the babies awoke soon after. For the night. And not just one at a time. DH and I didn't want to wake up DA and the rest of the hotel, so we were both up, trying our darnedest to keep everyone quiet.

Our room was extremely warm - both babies laid around wearing only diapers - no blankets. And Breanna popped a new tooth during the night. And Lillian had barfed up beans. And while the hallway traffic outside of our room was rather entertaining at times, it got annoying when it kept the babies up. There were about a dozen green glowing lights in the room - smoke detector, microwave, clocks, etc. I ended up taping diapers over the ones I could reach to try to remove some of the spaceship feeling.

We even tried just leaving the girls in the pack-n-play with the TV on (if they don't sleep fine, but at least we can sleep through the TV). Didn't work. They just wanted to be held. So held they were. The last time I looked, the clock was 4:49. We got up at 7 in order to make to the First Communion - and we made it just in time.

The First Communion was lovely and the family gathering was nice. On our way out of the cities, we met up with some very dear long-time friends for a quick bite to eat and visit. Both DH and DA grumbled a tiny bit as we pulled into the parking lot, but once we left the restaurant to officially make the rest of the trip home, both of them admitted that they were glad we'd stopped. It was by far the highlight of the trip for me - old friends breathe so much life! We arrived at home by about 10:00 and quickly put the babies to bed and then collapsed.

This morning, we all slept until 9, which is a small miracle in itself. I think I'll take a quick snooze now and then get back to work. This is a week full of fun writing/consulting projects on my docket. Happy Monday, everyone! May you be rested and joyful!

What goes around...

In case anyone is wondering (and I know you are because of all the phone calls/emails), my life is really good. Business is coming in and the projects are all fun so far! In between, I've loved spending some time with my family!

As I've finally had a little down time to reflect during these past few weeks, I've noticed that when you live your life with purpose, choosing to live with a conscience and awareness, with good intentions and the hopes of being a good example, you get it back. Goodness returns to you, sometimes in ways that surprise, sometimes in teenie little niceties.

Nonetheless, it pays to hold your head high, resist clever opportunities for revenge, and be proud of being nice. To those who encourage goodness, thank you. For those who egg on the negativity, please stop. (It comes back to you - avoid it at all costs.) Life is so very much lovelier when you can concentrate on being the kind of person your kids look up to. The kind you know your grandmother can be proud of. The kind whose spouse says they love you not just because you're a "looker," but because you're genuinely nice.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends. On this beautiful Friday afternoon, I encourage you to go out of your way to share the love.

Easter Dresses

In case you're wondering how cute our girls looked in their Easter dresses, here are a couple pictures. I can't help it - I just have to show them off. My folks recently returned from Playa Del Carmen, where they spent a week on the beach. My sister and I both agreed before they returned to the US that Dad and Mom most likely picked up some pretty little dresses for the babies. Do we know our folks or what?
The dresses are hand-made, a little different from one another. So intricate, so delicate. So fun! Thanks, Gramma and Grandpa!



(Breanna is in sleeves - Lill is showing off her teeth.)

Babylegs

Just a quick photo to share - this one's for Newzgirl. Breanna loves being a ballerina in her Babylegs.

Sorry it's a litte dark.

The Good Life

We enjoyed a mellow Easter weekend, with my family here Thursday through Saturday and over to DH's folks' house for Sunday. About half of the people originally expected to join us at the in-laws didn't show up for various reasons, so it was actually pretty nice. Not too chaotic or noisy, and not too drink-y. As a bonus, no one tried pushing drinks on me. I enjoyed my wine at Easter dinner at my own pace. : )

My DH tried playing a joke on my family Friday night, but no one fell for it. He crayoned an egg in line for dyeing "Unborn Baby" and then our last name. Then he calmly went back to the couch to continue visiting with my dad and brother-in-law. No one noticed until my sis pulled the turquoise egg out, and she and my mom quickly discussed it - very quietly. And then I heard someone say "No way. She had a glass of wine." So, while no one actually fell for it, we all had a laugh.

As to be expected, we had a few more new moments over the weekend. Our girls both fell asleep during church. Holy cow! What a joy! And they both mastered "Soooo big."

It looks like it will be a nice week ahead. I have several business dealings in progress right now, and lots of exciting decisions to make. Plus, I have a few social dealings to look forward to, as well. (Our Mothers of Multiples meeting is tomorrow night, and I have a few other get-togethers now that my schedule has relaxed a little.)

The girls are in daycare M-W-F this week, so I'm going to get back to work while I still can. Happy Monday, friends!

Busted

Whenever I hear that Breanna is awake in her crib, but not crying, I have to laugh. Thanks to a video monitor, I've been able to see what she's been up to. She's wagging a tail.

My pen pal from Pequot Lakes gave us some adorable pillows for the babies. One is a lion and one is a sheep. Each has a biblical saying embroidered on it and is super cuddly. For the past several months, I've had the animals stuffed between the crib and the wall, sort of looking over the girls as they sleep.

Lately, Breanna has been reaching through and grabbing the lion's tail and wagging it. Whenever I come into the room and see her doing it, she lets go and acts like she was just laying there doing nothing.

Already a sneak! Well, I finally busted her on camera tonight!

Graduated

The girls have moved up from the infant bathtub to this super-deluxe duck! We tried it out this weekend and my goodness was it fun!



P.S. This is the first April Fool's Day where I didn't come up with a prank to pull on anyone. What's happened to me?