Sunday, November 30, 2008

Santa!!!

Today was Pictures with Santa day! Anna was taking a nap and woke up just before this picture was taken. There were a few shots in the beginning where it looked like Santa had slipped her some children's Benadryl because her head was slumped over completely. I actually wish we had opted for one of those pictures instead. They were so funny I couldn't stop laughing. Unlike Sandy's experience (you can check it out here http://thehardels.blogspot.com/) we managed to get our two kids looking in the general vicinity of the camera. At least you blocked the view of Santa's water bottle, Sandy!
I'm glad we went with Sandy and her family, it was a great way to kick off the holiday madness.

We walked around the mall for a bit after this and ran into another couple with 7 week-old boy/girl twins. As I chatted with them I remembered that when Alex and Anna were that age both Z and I were very hesitant to take them out at all, so I had to congratulate them. Especially on such a miserable rainy day.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

A belated happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We had a great time at my mom's house. My sister J. made an untraditional dinner of roast chicken, which was delicious. I also test drove my mom's Kodak camera based on feed back from Auntie C when I asked her opinion on a Digital SLR camera. I have a Nikon S52C, it's a slender point and shoot which takes decent pics and video, but I may have to upgrade it to one with nicer options after using my mom's.
Last month I bought some nice yarn and a knitting pattern book for easy baby clothes. I finished the Ribby Hat pattern on Thursday night. Alex is wearing it in the picture below. I'm thinking about tackling a V-Neck sweater pattern next. Babies are doing very well. Anna is still not sleeping through the night and is having a very tough time falling back asleep without one of us putting her pacifier back after it pops out. I thought I had found a solution last Sunday when I put her to sleep on her stomach and she slept all night. This did not last long and by the end of the week she is back to where she was before. She is doing very well with eating. I have been feeding them every evening and so far she loves everything, except peaches. Alex, interestingly enough, does not care for anything I give him. I keep trying, however. Alex rolled over completely from back to front Thankgiving day, a first for the little guy! Too bad daddy was snoozing and didn't see it. Z did get a chance to see it the next day, and was just as excited about it.
We bought the Baby Einstein bouncer last week and the babies are really digging it. It occupies them for a good thirty minutes at a time. I'm hoping they get a lot of use out of it, I checked other bounces and exer-saucers and the reviews said a lot of the babies grew out of them quickly, but some had this one a long time.
Sorry about the link to the Russian Facebook in a previous post. I didn't know you have to sign up to get in there. Incidentally, I just signed up for Facebook, so if you have an account add me as a friend. I don't have many.



Tuesday, November 11, 2008

365

One year ago today I peed on a stick and saw a positive pregnancy test for the first time in my life. Watching the liquid (yes, pee) soak up into the test window I prepared myself the same way I always did: expecting a negative. My sister told me a year before that about her sister-in-law and how her pregnancy test showed positive IMMEDIATELY and there was no question about the outcome. I never failed to recall that story for each of the six or so negative home pregnancy tests I held in my hand, squinting my eyes, thinking, well, maybe if I wait another minute it might change.

So when my test didn't immediately indicate my 'condition' I was a little hesitant when I started to notice a plus sign appearing, very faintly. It never did show up completely, so I pessimistically informed Z, "well, it could be the hcg booster I had over 10 days ago." For those of you that don't know, hcg is the hormone that can be detected in a home pregnancy test. If an hcg booster shot is not out of your system completely you can get a false positive. I was well outside the threshold, but I was not about to be burned by happiness of all things. Why was I given an hcg booster, you ask? That's a post for another day, but not today, today if for happy memories.

My emotions were all over the place. I had to fly out to Charlotte that evening with co-workers and pretend like the biggest event in my life up to now wasn't happening. Anyway, some smart ones figured it out. Could it be because I felt I had to buy more pregnancy tests and take one every morning? They were all positive, so by the time I got back and had an official blood test at the doctors I knew I was pregnant. It would be another 5 days until I found out I was carrying multiples, when my upside down emotional state went for another wild ride.
So here it is, forever immortalized in jpeg format. A day I'll never forget. If I squint just so I swear it looks like it's giving me the finger.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Russian Facebook?

My husband discovered the Russian version of Facebook recently and has been having a blast. He posted some pictures and a lot of his friends and relatives have contacted him. I think it is hilarious.
Check out the site:
http://www.odnoklassniki.ru/user/249898223221

The site is completely in Russian, but you'll get the gist of it. The best part is that his mom called me tonight to rave about seeing the pictures. I'm trying to get them to come here to this blog, hopefully now they'll cruise over.

Monday, November 3, 2008

BabyWare

I inherited/stole some of my mom's silverware. I can't remember if it was before I went back to college, before I got married, or after I moved back home to PA. Whenever the date (I'm leaning towards between getting married and moving to Seattle) I like the pattern. It's Paul Revere from Oneida, a very simple pattern that my mom happened to own around 50 settings of. Well, let's say she had some to spare. I remember an oversized mug that had a virtual boquet of teaspoons, with some beautiful iced tea spoons for dramatic effect poking out here and there.

So for some reason or other I was on the Oneida website looking at patterns while I was on maternity leave. Clearly I didn't have enough to do, with all that time to cruise the internet. Anyway, I looked up the Paul Revere pattern and found that this pattern also comes with an infant and children's set. At the time I made a mental note to look for it in the local Premium Outlets, which has an Oneida outlet store.

I finally made it out there and remember to look, and found the set! I'm very excited about them. Here is a picture. I cannot get it to rotate, so I know it looks odd.


So I'm happy to say that all my silverware matches. It will come in very handy, as the babies are doing pretty well eating their foods.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

First Halloween

Alex and Anna's first Halloween was probably more fun for Z and I than it was for the two of them. Every time I put Anna in her costume I could not help but laugh, she looked hilarious. So did Alex. We did not walk the neighborhood, instead Z and I dressed up the babies and sat out on the front step handing out candy and showing off. It was a nice night and there were plenty of people out, we had a great time.

The four month well baby visit to the pediatrician went very well last week. Alex weighed 16 lbs. and Anna 13. They received their shots with appropriate crankiness and crying but recovered very nicely. We discussed starting solid foods and I have been trying out the rice cereal, but so far it has been a mixed bag. Alex is not taking to it, and it's hard to tell with Anna. She doesn't make a face or cry, like Alex, but she does spit some out so I don't know how much actually makes it to her stomach. I'll keep trying, in any case.
I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!