My Robot, Guddy

Today my Mom was gone all day long. So she left my Dad here to take care of Abby, Zack, and me all by himself. Well lets just say he had his hands full. He doesn't seem to know what he is doing like Mom does. Anyway, I guess it was too much for him so he made this robot to help take care of me. I named him Guddy.



Guddy couldn't stand up very well all by himself, so we let him borrow my Dad's boots. That seemed to help.


I asked Dad if my robot was going to be able to walk or talk. He told me not yet, because he didn't have time to make him a brain. I don't think we will ever get around to that though. I don't think Mom is going to leave us alone with him all day again for a while.

Trace-a-Base anyone?

We were sitting on the porch and Lila was yelling and screaming and running around. Then she told me that she was playing trace-a-base. She proceeded to inform me that she knows how to play trace-a-base but her friends don't know how to play trace-a-base. I used a little camera trickery to try and capture the motion. Click on the pictures to see the full size version.

Apparently the game consists of running as fast as you can back and forth across the porch while shouting "TRACE-A-BASE!" at the top of your lungs.


Occasionally you stop, dance, and jump up and down while flailing your arms about.


Hopefully, now you can teach your kids to play and Lila's friends will know how to play trace-a-base too.

Little moments

There are some days as a mom that I think... man, this is the hardest job in the world (which I am convinced that it really is, by the way). And on most days I go through the day doing everything for everyone else without a whole lot of recognition and/or thanks. I mean, let's face it, a 2 year old doesn't really know how much work it is to fold the laundry (they just think it looks like a fun place to jump around) or make dinner (which no matter what it is, is something that they don't like) But... there are little moments in most days that make me think, ok, this is why I love my job. These are the moments that make it all worth it. The moments that help me get through the sleepless nights, and the crying. The moments that motivate me to wipe out the high chairs for the 17th time again today (ugggghhh!!).

Tonight I had a few of those moments. I took a few minutes to really play with my kids, which I realized I don't do all that often. I was crawling around playing chase with the babies & they were hanging onto my shirt and walking beside me... they were laughing and giggling. I was playing peek-a-boo with Abby tonight while she took her bath and she was just laughing and laughing. I wish I could capture the sound of her giggle. The babies have started to wave and say buh buh (bye bye) and so I was trying to get them to talk and they were so incredibly proud of themselves!! It was amazing what effect my attention had on them and it is humbling to realize how much they love and need me. They don't care about anything else, they just love me like crazy no matter what I do.

Then as Lila went off to bed she hollered at the top of the stairs "goodnight, I love you." And then she blew me a kiss "mmmmmuuuuhhhh" and a hug "ehhhehehehhh" (blowing hugs were her own incredibly cute creation!) and I was just thinking about how great it is when your kids can tell you they love you all by themselves.

So, tonight I don't really have anything funny or witty to say but I wanted to write down how I was feeling so that tomorrow morning when I wake up to cranky, hungry, crying kids... I'll remember that there are little moments in life that make it all worthwhile. Tonight, I am totally in love with my kids!

I also decided to post a few of my favorite bath time pictures here. There's just something sweet about a clean baby!

This is not necessarily the best picture ever, but
MAN I love those big blue eyes!!

Abby

Zack & Abby

Subpar Heros!

Tonight we got two spectacular visits. First to appear on the scene was none other than the evil super villian "Diaper Hands".


Diaper Hands primary mode of attack is to use those powerful diaper hands to take various body parts such as your nose, your ear, or even your chin. Here is a shot of an attack about to commence.

Fortunately for me, "Spiderman" came just in time to thwart the attack and save the day (those are her pajama pants).


Stay posted for further developments.

Baby Benson

Wow, it's been a crazy week around here. Johnny's back is still hurt and I've been trying to get ready for this big Enrichment activity for church. And I'm also trying to get ready for this huge twins sale that I'm participating in next week. Anyway, sorry for the lack of interesting things to read from me (Johnny's done a few posts so you've not been totally neglected.)

Anyway, I wanted to take a quick second to post a picture of my newest little nephew. My sister Natalie and her husband Casey had their little baby boy on Sunday. They're naming him Benson Casey Dalpias. He weighed 7 lbs 13 ounces and was 21 inches long. Nat (aka SuperMom) is doing awesome and is even ready to go watch Casey play soccer... she's making me look bad! :) Right after he was born she said "That wasn't that bad... you had me all scared."

There is just something so sweet and special about a new baby and it is really hard for me not to be home in Hooper right now holding and kissing him! My two little rugrats aren't quite so little anymore (Zack -who is almost walking- climbed half way up the stairs today before I realized he was gone... deep sigh...)


Nat & Case... congrats and we love you! Can't wait to meet your Benson. (Hopefully soon!)

Dedication

All of you that have a blog probably hope that your family comes and checks it regularly. It is sure is nice when they leave a comment to let you know they are there and they care. But after talking to my Mom this morning I learned what a truly dedicated family member will do.

My Mom was over visiting my Grandmother (they live next door), and my Grandmother was asking about the twins and saying how she never got to see any pictures. So my Mom showed her how to get to our blog on the internet. Apparently my Grandmother was so pleased with our blog, that she printed off the entire blog with all of the post, and mailed it to her brother. He lives somewhere in Louisiana where they don't have high speed internet available yet (yes, such places do exist).

Grandmother, thanks for reading. We will do our best to make sure that we keep our pictures and blog posts worthy of your ink, paper, and stamps.

P.S. Hi Bobby & Charlotte!

At the Car Wash...

Lila & Johnny washed the van a few days ago. Abby was quite excited to sit in the kitchen window and watch.


Lila was excited to help. (Zack was asleep.) I was just excited I got a clean van and didn't have to do anything! :)

In The Middle Of The Night ...

Emily & Lila

First let me state categorically that I am amazed everyday at how wonderful Emily is with Lila, Abby, and Zack. She really is spectacular. Until recently, however, I usually only saw her in action during the day. Shortly after the twins were born it was clear to both of us that the normal sleeping arrangements weren't working. Emily didn't have room to nurse two babies and I had a little bit of trouble sleeping while being kicked in the face. As a result I have usually been spending my nights rotating between the couch and the futon depending one what kind of mood I am in (and we wonder why I have been having back problems recently).

I often wondered how Emily was making it through nights with all of the feedings and going on no sleep. Recently things have settled down a little. The twins mostly sleep through the night and don't nurse at night (at least they aren't supposed to). As I have moved back into our room, I realized that Emily has been surviving by going into some sort of autopilot mode at night. I am pretty sure she does everything she needs to with out really waking up all the way.

Let me illustrate with a few stories I have observed recently.

Sometimes when one the babies makes a little noise or movement, Emily will go get them out of the crib and bring them into the bed and start to nurse them. When I ask her what she is doing, it seems as if I wake her up. She asks what time it is (thinking that it's morning) and when I reply that we just went to sleep an hour ago. Emily replies, "Awww, man."

Frequently if I move during the night Emily will pull the "stop short" move on me. I will be rudely awakened as she slams her forearm across my chest. When questioned she invariably tells me she thought that Abby or Zack was falling out of the bed.

The other night Emily wakes me up, hands me Zack, and says take her out while I try to get Zack to go back to sleep. I confusedly look at the baby I am holding to make sure I have the identity right, and then ask, "But isn't this Zack?" Then Emily looks at the baby she is holding and sees that it is Abby. As I leave I hear her say, "Ohhh, I am so confused."

On another night, Emily was nursing Zack. However, as previously noted Emily is prone to identity mistakes when in autopilot mode, and she believed she was feeding Abby. So naturally she went to put Abby (really Zack) back in the crib when done. She only fully woke up and realized what what had happened when she laid Zack down right on top of Abby.

This all culminated a couple of nights ago. Emily wakes me up and tells me to hold on to Zack to make sure he doesn't roll out of the bed while she goes to the bathroom. She gets up and leaves whilst I grope around the bed trying to find something that resembles a baby. Unable to find anything I go back to sleep (not because I am that apathetic about my parental duties, but because I realize now that Emily has delusions in the night). Only in the morning did I realize how serious the situation was. Not only did Emily think that I was holding Zack for her the night before, she thought she was bringing Abby with her to the bathroom. It was only after a minute or two in the bathroom that she noticed she was holding a pillow! Both the babies were in their crib the whole night.

Many of you have made comments to Emily like, "I don't know how you do it, I would lose my mind." I just thought you might feel better knowing that Emily is losing hers as well. Even more amazing is the she is a fabulous mother even in this state of mind.

Cinderella's Winter Luau

Cinderella Dress... zero dollars (thanks Aunt Amy)
Coconut Bra & Grass Skirt... zero dollars (thanks Grandma Liz)
Pretty Pretty Princess Jewelery... zero dollars (thanks Aunt Nat)
Snow Boots... zero dollars (thanks Andrea & Emma)
Care Bear Book... zero dollars (thanks Cassi)

Wearing them all together... Priceless!

The stinkin' sandbox

Tonight we played in the "backyard" (which is really a 10 foot patch of weeds and a parking spot). We have a little turtle sandbox that I got off of Craigslist and some slides and a play house that I got out of the trash (some seriously nice trash finds... I know!) While the kids played in the sand, I played around with my new camera. The following are a couple of my favorites...


As you can see from the expression on Lila's face... let's just say the sandbox doesn't smell quite as fresh as it used to!!

Zack reaches new heights

I only left them for a few minutes. They were eating their little dinners and I went into the kitchen. I heard them whining but I just figured they'd run out of food. When I came back a minute later (with more food) this is what I found...


I mean seriously here! Are you kidding me? He's only 9 months old (by a few days...) Though my first thought was for his safety, once I realized he was stable there, the blogger in me grabbed my camera (don't worry mom, it was right on the table!) And to think, I was worried about him starting to walk!!

Get this though. Here's the best part. Right after I took this picture Abby started eating food out of his bib! I am tempted to be a little grossed out by that, but considering that they eat junk off of my floor all day long, I'd say that Zack's bib is fair game. Especially since it's on her tray. At least this stuff was fresh!!!

A boy and his truck...

Ok. So the truck's not really his. But man, he sure acted like it!


Zack found this truck sitting on the grass at the park. He speed-crawled over to it and pulled himself up. Then he began pushing it. He made it half way around the playground before this happened...


He didn't seem to mind much though. He climbed right back up and kept going. He even tried to drag Abby along for the ride! I think he's going to be walking soon. Man... I'm in trouble!!


Ahhh, the love of a boy and his truck!

You make Daddy proud...

Lila told me tonight that she wanted to type "her letters". So I opened a word document and let her type.


She proceeded to type L, J, E... all the letters that start each of our names.


She can even spell her own name on the computer (I know, I'm bragging.) The girl can't draw a circle, but she can type her name!! Anyway, she had a whole list of letters up there and then I see her do this...


For those of you (like my mom) who aren't as computer savvy as my 2 year old, she's pushing Ctrl+A (notice she's even doing it one handed). This is the shortcut to select all the text. Then she does this...


which deletes all the letters at once so she can start over again! No messin' around here. No time to waste while she's typing her letters! Apparently Johnny's been teaching Lila how to use the computer. This is a child that makes her MIT daddy proud!

And... after I had gone upstairs for a little while I hear her screaming. "My blog... my blog... I need my blog!!" (She had switched to a different screen so her "letters" were gone. Apparently she was typing up her latest post!) ha ha ha Lila Bean... you make your mama proud too!!

Playing Chase

We went over to the Chase's house today to play in the sprinklers and on their new "slide set". The babies had a great time crawling around and tasting the grass. Mindy & Brian have an awesome back yard that makes my Boston heart jealous! And... to give credit where credit is due, Marci Romney took some of the following pictures (the one of me & Zack and the one of Abby). She also took the picture of Zack that I posted here when the babies turned 9 months old. (Thanks Marse!)

our sweet flower girl!

Tickle Time

Zack's looking up at Lila in this picture...

"mmm grass... want some?"

Make way for ducklings (and pigeons)

We went downtown to Boston Common this week to ride the swan boats with some friends. For those of you who don't know, the swan boats are famous from the book "Make Way for Ducklings" when Mr. & Mrs. Mallard are trying to find a place for there baby ducks Clack, Jack, Oack, Pack, etc... I had some great ideas for pictures to take but the realities of holding two babies and sitting on a boat with your two year old make picture taking sort of impossible.


It was still a fun time. Lila even got to chase some pigeons! What more can you ask for in an outing!

Twins

Two little faces with matching grins,
Nothing could be any sweeter than twins.

Abby (on the left) and Zack are officially 9 months old today! I wanted to take a second to talk about the incredible blessings that these two babies have been in my life. The last 9 months have been incredibly hard but have been so rewarding too. As I have watched them grow and become aware of their world I have also felt the sweet joy of their discoveries.

My favorite thing about having twins is watching how much they love each other. The smiles that they give to each other are priceless. A few months ago at the beach I left them with Johnny's mom and sister. Tiffany was holding Zack and Abby had been crying. Abby hadn't wanted Tiffany hold her until this point. When Abby saw Zack she went to Tiffany and as long as she was with Zack she was happy.

And that's how it goes... what one does, so does the other.
My two sweet babies that I love more than I ever could have dreamed possible!

Lila & her bowl

Lila has taken to sleeping with a bowl. Not a blankie or a "d-d" or an animal or doll... she sleeps with a bowl. Several months ago she was sick and threw up. It was actually pretty sweet because she didn't know what was happening. After she did it she said "Mommy, I spit". Anyway, when we were in Florida at the beach Lila witnessed her cousin Haley get carsick and throw up. (Sorry if any of you have weak stomachs). Since then, Lila has become quite obsessed with throwing up. Several times a day she says "I think I'm going to throw up, I need a bowl." Tonight she said in a really pitiful voice, "mommy, you forgot my bowl." The last few nights when I leave her, this is what she looks like...

My 4th Child

It's official. I've got a 4th child now. Last week Johnny hurt his back (we don't know how) and he has been pretty much been out of commission. He had an MRI last week and the Dr. said that he has two herniated discs. He has an appointment later this week with orthopedics so he'll hopefully be able to get into physical therapy (as opposed to surgery which his doctor said might be an option.) We've also consulted with our personal physical therapist Shawnee (my brother's wife) and she's been incredibly helpful! Johnny can walk around pretty good but he's in a lot of pain all the time and he can't sit for more than a few minutes. We're still not sure what this means for his research plans but we're hopeful that he'll be feeling better soon. Johnny's doctor said that if he wants some stronger medicine he'll prescribe it for him... any recommendations? ;)

As for me, things are getting a little chaotic. I guess it's a testament to the kind of dad & husband Johnny is that I need his help so much! Or maybe it's just a sad statement about how pitiful I am. Either way, I also didn't realize how much help he was before. I guess I take him for granted a lot.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a picture of what it's come to around our house with Johnny hurt. This is a picture of me and the babies. I was trying to get dinner finished and they were both just crying and crying. I got desperate and this was the result!

Talk about having a bad back!!!

Here's a picture I snapped of Johnny on his sick bed!

My thoughts on blogging

So I've decided that if I was obsessed with blogging before I had my own, now I am a total nutcase! The night after my first post I was dreaming of blogging (seriously, I know it's sad. The saddest part is the short time I was dreaming... but that's a topic for another post!) Anyway, I think that blogging is a great way to catch up with old friends and keep up on each other's lives. I've loved all of your comments and can't wait to see you all in the "blogosphere"! (Johnny told me that if I want to be a real blogging nerd, I have to call it by it's proper name!)