Smurf Glasses and a Zap - What a Monday

We took Miss Breanna in to the dermatologist today for a laser treatment on her nose. She has a raised red mark that appeared back when she was in the NICU. Until recently, we figured it was a harmless hemangioma and would disappear within a year or two.

A dermatologist confirmed last month that it is not a hemangioma, but perhaps is a scar from the tube she had in her nose as an infant. So, he recommended a simple laser treatment to try to remove it.

This morning, we wrapped her in a blanket (to prevent the wiggles), donned big blue glasses (to protect our eyes), covered her eyes with gauze, and held her down for the longest 15 seconds of my life. She was quite scared, and thankfully, we were able to pick her up and reassure her we were all done very quickly. It's not a painful procedure, so that makes it a lot easier to handle.

For the next week or two, she'll be black and blue, and when the bruise goes away, so should the redness. If not, we'll go for just one more treatment. So if you see her in the immediate future, please don't assume we beat her. Although, I think she could convince you of that within just a few seconds - her laughter is amazing. What a happy kid!

Never Enough

I feel like life is passing me by right now. I love spending time with my girls, and yet, it seems like just as the weekend starts, they're going to bed on Sunday night. I saw a picture another MOM posted on her website recently - her boys were finger paining and blowing bubbles on the deck. My first thought was why haven't I thought of finger painting? Oh yeah, because it takes time to shop for paints, to secure an area for the mess, to find clothes to become "play clothes" and then the cleanup. We always seem to be in such a rush that those fun things don't get done. Although this weekend, we did go out for supper with my sis and her hubby and the babies got to sit at the table and eat big-people food with us. That in itself was fun for all of us!

On the other hand, I really like the work I do and sometimes get in the zone and could write through an all-nighter or two. And yet, I must force myself to work just 40 hours a week. I haven't always had the luxury of doing work that I love, and now that I have it again, I just want to eat it up. I even dream about it. And yet if I did get into my old work style, I'd miss out on everything else.

On yet another hand (yes, I am a mother of multiples, thus, I have many hands), it's been ages since my hubby and I went out on a real date. In fact, I know that the last time we danced was in December at a wedding. For a girl with salsa music in her soul, that's a really long stretch. Oh, do I miss dressing up and flirting with him.

On the fourth hand, I miss my out of town girlfriends. A lot. Dear readers, take note. I want you to come visit sometime soon. We could even go to the lake if you want. What's even worse - I miss my in-town friends. There's no excuse for how long it's been - we're shouting distance away. And yet, months fly by. Let's kick the social season into high gear! Barbecue anyone?

And then on the fifth hand, this house. We're trying to get it ready to sell so we can move into our new place later this year. Our plan for now is to sell this one, move into an apartment for a few months, and then settle into the new house once it's totally done. That way we won't be trying to manage two crawlers/walkers in a construction zone. I've been trying to get through the basement storage closet to make a "Good Will" pile and darn it - there's just never enough time. Will we ever get out of here?

One unnamed, childless friend (who doesn't read my blog) mentioned last week that I should just hire babysittters in the evenings and weekends for a couple weeks to get caught up with everything. I laughed until I realized that she seriously thought that would be a great option. Let's just hope that one day if she becomes a parent, she'll get it. In the meantime, I'm going to keep enjoying every moment I get with my kids and my DH, and let the rest fill in the cracks. After all, both girls are now standing and walking along the furniture - look out world!

G'night all. Have a great week!

Could my schedule get any tighter?

Here it is, 11:14 at night, and I have my first free moment of the night. Obviously, this is a quickie. I just had to post some birthday pictures, though.

As a little update, Lillian popped another tooth on Saturday and yet another one today. Poor little pumpkin, that's six teeth now, but she's all smiles anyway. If you let her hold your fingers, she'll pull herself straight up and then take off running. Breanna is crawling faster and faster each day. After daycare tonight, I ran a load of clothes downstairs to the laundry room. On my way back up, there she was, standing at the top of the stairs, holding onto the gate with one hand, casually just hanging out and waiting for me to get back. She's pictured in the navy outfit with the stars, on her actual birthday. We have such happy little kiddos!

Needless to say, our evenings are even busier than before because these sweet little honeys are into EVERYTHING. It's amazing to watch their curiosities grow. The few times when I'm brave enough to leave the girls in the living room while I venture five steps behind the kitchen island (and out of sight), it's a guarantee that they'll start getting silly with each other. They make faces and grab each other's socks and laugh like madmen. It's adorable!

Anyway, I'm beat. Off to check on the girls and then on to bed.

What a year!

My babies turned one! What a rush! You know what that means - we survived! Our big healthy girls had a fabulous birthday celebration and as parents, we spent a lot of time reflecting. On their actual birthday last week, the babies were tuckered out after a festive day at Grandma Becky's (daycare). So we fed them their favorites- mashed potatoes and peaches (not mixed - ewww!) Then off to bed they went. And DH and I spent an hour on the deck, enjoying the last two "It's a Girl" cigars, reminiscing. What a year!

We survived a big birthday weekend, complete with cake and balloons and a houseful of party guests. With the prep work for the party, stroller rides after work now that it's finally nice out, shopping for DH's birthday (and his dad's and his brother's, too) and now this week, the chaos continues. I just realized that the number of Tauruses in my life is way off balance.

Anyway, I've been trying to get to a pro-bono newsletter that I put together only twice a year for TEC, and my goodness, I haven't been able to get to it for a whole month! And I have all the materials! And yet here I sit, typing away. I figure that after a whole week of not posting, I'd better put something up here before my family gets anxious.

I hope that this weekend will be nice and mellow so I can dedicate just a few hours to getting that newsletter to the printer. And getting my house back in order. Thankfully, my DH understands the connection with the wonderful TEC program and the need to donate some time to it. Since we've been too busy to work at any of their retreats this past year, this is the least I can do. But what was I thinking? At this point, I might just have to hire a college kid to do it cheap.

Watch for birthday pictures coming soon!

Whirly Whilry

What a crazy whirlwind of a month! Both girls have had their one-year checkups and come up with all smiles. They've grown more teeth and separated into two cribs. And Breanna's just about due for big-girl car seat.

We ended the month of madness with a girls-only road-trip to my folks' place, and then to the Twin Cities over the weekend. Our weekend was so nice, but so long at the same time. We went to a baby shower for my cousin, whose due date is just about a year after mine was. And of course, she's an adorable prego mom, nearly causing me to reconsider holding off. But not quite.

We had another first over the weekend - we ordered something off the menu for the babies. Real food! They shared a grilled cheese and mashed potatoes and loved them! And they sat in the booster chairs like real kids. It was so exciting! What are we in for next? Just two more days until the big 1!