Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Bookworm



Ada discovered her bookshelf today.



A whole new world of amusement at her very fingertips.



I love those tiny fingers, that look of ultimate concentration.



She managed to get her Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings book down but.. alas was unable to return it to it's rightful spot.. we will work on that in the coming months.






Just wait until I take her to the library!



Meanwhile Margot busied herself with attempts to make a call on my cell.



She did a few push ups to show that she is ready to do some scootin' soon, just like her sister.



But mostly she just played airplane and smiled that heart melting smile of hers. How precious it is to experience the joys in every day life through the eyes of your children.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Sunday afternoon



It's another rainy Sunday around our house. Perfect for tea, cookies, and the ACC championship game between FSU and Duke. We are all pulling for FSU but.. so far.. they are a little.. behind. Hope that changes in this next half. Go Seminoles! Even Ada and Margot are doing the chop.

We are having Spiced Braised Beef with Sweet Potatoes for dinner tonight (recipe from our friend Pam) and as it is currently slow cooking it's way to perfection.. the air in our house is scented with spices (ginger, cumin, cinamon and cayenne pepper) and smells oh so comforting.



The last time Mom and Dad came to visit, they brought a truck load of food (thanks you guys!). In that truck load was a half a box of Oreo's from Costco. The box was so sturdy and colorful I had trouble parting with it and figured I would store some baby stuff in there until the girls were big enough to be interested in playing with it (toddlers love stuff like that). Well, that day has arrived apparently. Ada spent most of her post-lunch hour scooting across the carpet to reach the brightly colored box. We moved it, she giggled and scooted for it. I love that kids are amused by such simple things. Glad I kept this thing around since she is not that interested in traveling to reach her own toys.



Two girls after Uncle Page's heart. If I remember correctly, you love Oreo's .. am I right, Page?



After Mommy's camera strap.



Ok Grandpa Larry, she is fascinated with the hair wrap from Ecuador. Feel like heading south with a twin or two? Get ready!!



Ok. So here is my victory for the week. Ever since our girls learned to turn over, they have been getting their arms and or legs caught in the bars of their cribs. It doesn't hurt them, but it does make it difficult for them to settle down and take a nap. These episodes come and go. Some weeks they don't get stuck at all and I think they have figured it all out. Then there comes a week when they are stuck constantly. I have been meaning to order some mesh crib "bumper pads" for months but they are not super cheap and I guess I kept putting it off because I thought they would outgrow it any day. They didn't. I then got the bright idea to go and buy tulle and weave it in and out of the bars and tie it in the front. I finally made it to WallyWorld and noticed that right above the tulle in the fabric department was netting that was only .77 a yard! I got ten yards for (can you do the math?) $7.70 and thought if my idea didn't work at least I wouldn't have wasted too much cash.



I wove the netting in and out of the bars of the cribs, around the back head board, pulled it all super duper tight, and then tied it in a big double knot around the front head board. Trimmed the ends and viola! Turns out I am a good estimator as 10 yards was the prefect amount of fabric and it works like a charm!



No more frightened screams from the babies room and they are even sleeping better during nap time. Why oh WHY didn't I go and do this sooner!?!??! I know it looks pretty girly with the big bow and all that but.. they are girls..so.. I think I am ok with it.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Ada the little soldier..



... belly crawling across the living room floor to get to Daddy's phone. She has been doing this off and on lately but today it was every time she saw something she wanted, ball, Daddy's leg, Oliver's toys.. you name it she wanted it and she knew how to get herself there to get her hands on it. Once again Margot is sitting back and taking notes. She will be on her way soon enough I think :)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Managing the familiar



It's Friday night. How sweet that sounds. Stephen came home today with a little treat, courtesy of John - Thanks for the fun $$ John. We like to drink our beer in completely inappropriate glasses. We used to have two snifters but.. alas one of them broke. So I am having my treat in my personalized chalice that was made for me by David - Thanks David. This night is brought to us by our brothers. So nice.


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The babies are asleep and Stephen is making home- made pizza while I fold laundry. Things are good. The babies do have colds but they are in pretty good spirits, considering. Stephen is on the phone talking art with a friend who works at the art museum here. Things are feeling very familiar again in our house. We sleep through the night, all 5 of us. That was pretty life changing really. I have kicked the procrastination bug and am working on managing this house and my babies the very best that I can. To that end, I have ceased to try and clean the whole place in one day as this always feels insurmountable and ends up not happening as a result. Instead I have portioned out my chores so that I only have one big house keeping task each day. It goes like this:

Mondays: Clean all the bathrooms, wash bathroom linens
Tuesdays: Vacuum the house
Wednesdays: Mop the linoleum and dust
Thursdays: Change all beds and do laundry
Friday: Free day ( do anything that didn't get done during the week... prepare for the weekend )
Saturday: Relax..
Sunday: Relax..

So far this plan has been working out very well, but it does leave me with very little time to mess around on the computer during the day. I find that I am able to accomplish my household task each day and also play with, love on, and take care of the babies, make all their food and feed them, take walks, keep the house picked up and actually prepare dinner - who knew!? Somehow allowing myself the manageable accomplishment of one "major" task a day leaves my mind clear of the stress I used to feel about cleaning. I get my one thing done and the rest of it has it's own day so .. I don't worry about it until it's day comes. I guess I am sort of a freak about house work but.. anyway..that is what is working for me.. keeping me sane right now. I am so much more relaxed when Stephen comes home because even if I haven't gotten my item finished I know what needs to be done and I can knock it out in short order while he plays with the babies. That means no guilt, and that is a great thing. I am horrible about carrying around loads of guilt, needlessly. When is guilt ever needed really?

The babies are as sweet as ever of course. Talking up a storm and loving life. We are loving watching them live it. They still are not crawling and though we are encouraging them in this direction we are not distressed that they have not taken off yet. They will get to it when they are ready.

Pizza is ready. Nitee nite.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sunshine



It has been awhile.. so instead of trying to catch everyone one up on everything let me just say that we are enjoying some very... VERY.. fine weather here in Raleigh and here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. The little girls are.... sitting up on their own, eating Gerber Puffs (for the first time today!!).. playing and being as adorable as always.. hope you all enjoy this update in pictures..



Margot... so warm yesterday that we could put on real summery clothes.



















Ada the future photographer..







Thoughtful Ada.







Playing in the sunshine.











Margot and Daddy



Margot looking like a doll..







Reading Aunt Judy's book



At the park



We love to swing







Margot in the kitchen



Ada loves peas



So does Margot