Whew, What a Day

I think it's probably good that you don't always know what your day will bring at the beginning of the day. Otherwise, I might have just stayed in bed today.
Yesterday morning I called my doctor's office about the Hib shot the twins have yet to receive from their 2 month check-up. The nurse finally graced us with a call today about 1 pm. She said they got 5 doses in, so I could bring them in at 3:30 to get the shot. Finally! At that time I set up the twin's 4 month check-up (which should happen in two weeks) but they can't see the both of them together until March 16th! Good grief.
That said, today was long. Up at 7:15, feed Annie, get Emma and Elizabeth up, Emma dressed, breakfasted and out the door at 8:05, get Elizabeth situated with Curious George (on PBS) with her chocolate milk, feed Maddie. I finally get my breakfast at 8:45, now having been up for 1 1/2 hours. Put the twins down for their nap at 9 and 9:30, respectively. Get Elizabeth dressed, we read/color/rest (me) until 10:30, when Maddie wakes up crying. Thinking she's hungry, I make up two bottles and sit down to feed her. She doesn't want it. I try again at 11, but she cries and gags when I put the bottle in her mouth. Then Annie wakes up hungry and I feed her. Try feeding Maddie again; it's a no-go. More crying. I try gas drops. Not helping. Tylenol. Same non-result. I just hold my crying baby and talk to Annie. At this point, Elizabeth is getting frustrated by the crying and the lack of my attention and starts acting out. She throws half a bag of diapers all over the living room floor. Then she pretends our couch is both a trampoline and a jungle gym. (It's times like these that I rethink my position of being a stay-at-home mom.) I put Maddie in the Moby wrap, make lunch for Elizabeth, put Annie down for a nap, make and eat my lunch and Maddie falls asleep in the Moby wrap. I don't dare take her out, for she isn't crying anymore and I do NOT want her to wake up. So I unload the dishwasher and load it back up with the stuff on the counters, then I sit down to read while Elizabeth watches Mulan. Maddie is still attached to me and sleeping quite well. At about 1:45, she wakes up and I assume the Tylenol must have kicked in, and the crying is because she is so hungry. Make another 2 bottles and try to feed her. She will not eat. That's when I start freaking out. It's been 6 hours since she last ate, and the twins are very regular about wanting to eat every 3 hours. So, I call the doctor's office back and wow! they found a nurse to talk to me just like that. So I explain what's going on, how she has no fever but won't eat. Yes, I've tried the Mylacon drops and Tylenol and she's still having a hard time. "Well, I wish you had told me this when I talked to you an hour ago." Hold the phone. I did not just get chewed out by the nurse, did I? "Well, she was asleep an hour ago and I assumed the Tylenol had kicked in." So, the twins shouldn't get their shots today and they can't see Madeline at all. I should take her to the ER. What? That's an expensive visit, don't ya know. Then I call Ryan and appraise him of the latest happenings, and he agrees to ask around to find a new doctor. And lo, he finds one who can see a sick 3 month old on the same day. Hallelujah! In the meantime, Maddie is CRYING, CRYING, CRYING as I try to feed Annie and talk to Ryan on the phone. Oh, and did I mention Elizabeth vying for my attention. AAGGGHH! Ryan got home, picked up Maddie and took her to the doctor. I got Annie and Elizabeth happily watching a Baby Einstein movie (yah, I know, another movie, but it was just one of those days) and I took a shower. Then I got the dishwasher going, switched laundry, folded and put away two loads and wondered what was going on with Ryan and Maddie. So I called him (now it's 4:30) and he said he'd been to the hospital to do blood work and a urine sample and he was back at the doctor office and waiting for the result. So I made dinner, fed Annie yet again and Ryan called again at about 5:30 saying she's ok, he's setting me up with a check-up appt for the twin's actual 4 month birthday (not two weeks past) and coming home. Maddie has swollen tonsils, but probably as the result of the cold they've both had for the past 3 weeks. She's not badly dehydrated and he finally got her to drink a bottle at 5 pm. Her white blood count doesn't suggest she has an infection, but if she gets a fever they will definitely put her on antibiotics. By the time Ryan gets home, it's 5:45 and he's supposed to leave for a Priesthood Leadership Mtg at 6:10. He decides to take pity on me, as the girls are quarreling over who gets to put forks on the table while Annie fusses and Maddie cries. He called his carpool buddy to inform him that he's staying home. THANK YOU RYAN. I was really thinking about putting Emma and Elizabeth to bed at 6:30 if he'd gone. After dinner, we decided it was a chocolate chip cookie sort of evening, but alas! We had no chocolate chips in the house. How does something like that happen? It was a travesty needing to be rectified. Safeway to the rescue!
Now it's 8 pm, Emma and Elizabeth are in bed. I have Maddie sleeping in the Moby wrap again and it's quiet. I just may survive.

Baby Faces

I tried to get a picture of Annie and/or Maddie smiling. They have such great smiles. Alas, this is what I ended up capturing on my memory card: no smiles. They are too interested in the flashing silver box to smile at mom. So here are some of their other expressions. Maddie crying.

Annie

Maddie yawning.

The Fashion of Miss Elizabeth

We have a pink hula skirt that Elizabeth wears on her head and calls it her hair. She loves to have pink hair. I think maybe it is time to retire some of our dress-up dresses like this one. There is a slight problem with the waist-line, or lack of one. Forgive the shot of her pretty pink underwear. She thought she was beautiful and wanted a picture taken.

I keep socks that haven't been matched, or just don't have matches in the bottom of the laundry basket. Elizabeth took it upon herself to wear the equivilent of about 5 or 6 pairs yesterday. It was too funny not to take a picture.

And then today she did it again.

Cooking With Mom

Last night as a part of Family Home Evening I made brownie bites with Emma and Elizabeth while Ryan took a turn feeding babies. The girls really LOVE cooking with mom. I don't know about any of you other moms out there, but this is one of those activities that I both enjoy and makes me cringe at the same time. Can anyone say MESSY? And you really never know how the recipe will turn out with the exacting measurements of 5 and 3-yr-olds. Even when I do the measuring, getting all of the ingredients into the bowl can be tricky with little helping hands.

Elizabeth calls the spatula a "shovel." Every time I bake, she wants to "lick the shovel" which leaves Emma with the bowl and/or other baking utensils.

I took a couple of the left-over brownie bites to Bachelor Nite. Hello girls-night!

Baby Blessings

Today the twins had their baby blessings. We had family come from out of town this weekend. It was great to have everyone together. We took over an entire middle row in the chapel and a chunk of the meeting for two baby blessings. We are grateful the weather cooperated enough for our family to join us on this special occasion.
At the end of sacrament meeting, the closing song was, "I Am A Child Of God." This is one of my children's favorite hymn. Every FHE includes this song as either an opening or closing song, so we are very, very familiar with this song. Well, Elizabeth was so incredibly excited to have a song she knew, and Emma was scarcely less excited. We sang with GUSTO. Ryan said he could hear Elizabeth sing over the rest of the congregation from the front. Bro. Linde, who was leading the song, was grinning at us, so I would guess it was audible to him as well. It cracked my father-in-law up, and he thinks that his ward will have to sing, "I Am A Child Of God" soon so the primary children can join in. (He's the bishop of his ward, so he's pretty confident he can make that happen.) I'm so glad my family provides amusement for all...

Deep Thoughts From Ryan

In Sunday School last week, there was a discussion about why one shouldn't "cast pearls before swine." Some one's answer was that a pig wouldn't appreciate something as fine as pearls. Ryan leans over to me and gives this insight: "Unless you are Miss Piggy." I can't argue with that.

Christmas Dresses 2008

Here are the annual pictures of the girls in their Christmas dresses on the Sunday before the holiday. Elizabeth was stoked that she got to wear Emma's dress, since Emma had outgrown it.

We took pictures of the twins after church, once they were fed and had their diapers changed. Only problem was Maddie was ready for another nap, not pictures.

Decorating Cookies with the Clauses

Yesterday the Darigold cheese factory hosted cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus. Santa put in an appearance as well. This is a very fun weekend here in town.

This is Emma's pile of sprinkles and goodies, or rather- her cookie. When the girls got home, they picked off all the goodies, licked the frosting all off and then took a couple bites of the cookies.

Santa and Elizabeth. Elizabeth couldn't look at Santa while she was on his lap, and Emma wouldn't even stand by Santa. They love Santa from a distance. I really wanted Emma to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. I'm still not sure what Santa is bringing the girls yet. Since we don't seem to want to talk to Santa in person, perhaps we will be writing a letter to him. I need input!

Santa, Mrs. Claus and a helper.

Happy? Christmas

For our Christmas cards, I thought I would take a picture of all the girls in front of the Christmas tree in their Christmas dresses. Good idea in theory...

These were some of the better ones. Not quite what I had in mind.

I think a good caption for this picture is: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men

I think we will need to try again. I just don't know if I have the energy for another episode like this.

Baby Shower and One Month Old!

Yesterday the high school (where Ryan works) threw us a baby shower after their teacher's meeting. It was so nice of them. We are now the proud owners of a double stroller. Hallelujah! I'm stoked about that. Thanks Voc department! And thanks to everyone else who came. And we've already started in on those diapers... Since Ryan has worked here, this is the 3rd set of twins born to members of the faculty. They've all been in the vocational department thus far. But now a member of the math department will be joining in the fun next year. :o)

The cake. I didn't catch it with all the decorations still on it, but you get the general idea. Very pink, right? (Yea, Ryan)

Emma was camera shy yesterday.

Here are some of the attendees in the library. (Whoa, is that food in the library??)
Today the twins are a whole month old. I can't believe we made it. I guess that means that we might survive. There are times I wonder and feel so overwhelmed.

People ask if we think it would be easier to have twins as your first, or if it would be better after you've already had one, or two in our case. Honestly, I can't imagine being a new mother for the first time with twins. I was so scared and neurotic and afraid I was doing something wrong with Emma. Knowing I've (semi-) successfully raised two children past the infant and toddler stages gives me a certain amount of piece of mind. And I know that the sleepless nights and incessant crying will pass. And I know that sometimes babies just cry (thanks for that Emma) and there's not much I can do about it. It's still hard.

On the other hand, having had two kids before the arrival of the twins presents its own challenges. For one thing, there is NO QUIET around here. Elizabeth chatters ALL DAY LONG in an effort to get my attention. And the adage "Sleep when the baby sleeps" doesn't work so well for me. My day still has to start at a particular time to make sure Emma gets off to school, that Elizabeth makes it to the bathroom first thing, etc. And then that potty training seems to wear off a little for a certain member of the family. (No, no, it's not Ryan) It is getting a little better again, so we are hoping that it stays that way.

I've had so many "I'm a bad mother/wife" moments lately. Like when I was feeding one of the babies and I couldn't walk Emma down to the end of the road to the bus stop. I stood at the front window, nursing a baby, watching my poor 5 year old tear up walking away from the house and weeping myself. Or growling at Elizabeth for jostling me as I try to sleep on the couch while bouncing one of the babies in a bouncer. Or letting Elizabeth watch the 2nd full length movie of the day. Or the fact I've vacuumed maybe once since the babies came home. Really, the examples go on and on. The table only needs to be washed every other day, right? And as long as the laundry gets washed, why bother folding it?

Annie and Maddie are getting so big. They are so beautiful and sweet and innocent. I am so invested and wrapped up in all my girls. I love them all so much. As crazy as my life is right now, I wouldn't trade any of it. They are so worth it.