It Began with a BBFT

Even though this wasn't the girls' first Christmas it sort of felt like it was because they were just little cuddlebug newborns last year.  We kicked off Christmas Eve day with breakfast in Canton with our college buds.  Lydia and Grace made Christmas Eve memorable by demonstrating their new skill . . . walking!  Grace had been taking a few steps here and there but all of a sudden they both just started toddling all over--in their Christmas jammies (thanks to Aunt Sarah). It was a very picturesque moment. Christmas morning was a fun type of chaos. It is different with kids involved--not different bad--different good. The girls loved all of the paper and boxes. They fought over their new shopping cart within the first  minutes of owning it. It was great. . .
 . . . and then the puking began!  Well, first my Dad wasn't feeling that great and then Megan and Adam had the full blown shabang the day after Christmas.  Ryan and Lydia both bit the dust around the same time. Poor Lydia woke up in a pool of costco pizza and ice cream-- an impressive inaugural vomiting episode. After we cleaned her up, she did it again, right into my Dad's hand.  Ryan was vomiting in tandem, but was able to make it into the appropriate receptacle. It was pure chaos.  I quickly packed up and loaded my puking family members (ryan and Lydia) and the nonpuking members (Grace, myself and the dogs) into our car to head back to Columbus. Lydia rode the whole way with her plastic bib on just in case.  The fun continued when our dogs Bocce and Widget got sick as well!  Grace held out until the night of the 27th, but needed an impromptu bath and sheet change at midnight after her first vomiting episode. Last, but not least, I joined the ranks on the morning of the 28th.

Even with all the illness, we had a great time. We were able to have our own family Christmas at our house in between episodes of vomiting :). We didn't get the girls much since they're much more into boxes and paper, but we did stuff their stockings and they had fun pulling little trinkets out of them.

This year was like their first halloween. Last year they were 6 weeks old and we stuffed them into peapod costumes (see below) but they of course didn't get any candy. This year we had a choice of several handed down costumes: a black cat, a monkey, a rooster or tinkerbell. Since it wouldn't be fair to put one in pretty little tinkerbell and another in an animal costume (that has therapy written all over it) we decided to go with the animal theme for both. We went with some of their cousins (Charlie, Bailey and Hudson) in Chagrin Falls.  The girls aren't quite walking independently yet but they were able to go down a couple of walks with our assistance. They learned quickly about grabbing goodies from the big bowls or buckets.  I felt weird carrying my infant/toddler up to people's doors and holding out a bag for candy so we didn't do a ton of houses, but it was fun. They'll be much better at it next year.  Bailey is 1 year older than the girls so she gives us a good idea of what it might be like next year--Bailey wanted to eat every piece of candy right on the spot. She didn't quite get the put it in the bag for later idea :)

The first birthday party for Lydia and Grace has come and gone. Kind of a let down now, like the day after Christmas :). It was so much fun. We had so many wonderful friends and family that attended. It felt like a mini version of our wedding day. On days like that I am floored by the love and generosity of the people we are surrounded  by.  The weather was perfect and Lydia only had a mini melt down in her highchair. Grace thoroughly enjoyed the cake while Lydia exercised a bit more caution. Today they had their one year doctor's appt and shots (they are both in the 18 pound range and doing well per their doctor and it's o.k that Lydia is slow to love solid food) so it's a big, big let down compared to the fun of Saturday :).

P.S. Lydia got her first tooth today too which we noticed right after I told the doctor that she is ' the toothless wonder'

Today is the girls actual birthday. How could I not blog on this important day? They are fast asleep in their cribs, Grace with her blanket and Lydia with her stuffed sneech (another story) hopefully having sweet dreams about their very first birthday. We started it off at Northstar, our favorite breakfast place that we've been taking them since they were a couple of weeks old. It was the only way we could get out in the beginning so it holds real memories for us. They had their first taste of their famous cloud nine pancakes and of course the obligatory sweet potato hash. Then hope for a nap (you can't totally abandon routine even on a birthday). After the nap Lydia woke up with a fever and was super duper fussy. I tried to look in her ears, but they were too waxy so I dragged her to the doctor and held her down while the doctor (the non-mom doctor ) cleaned out her ears and checked her out. Her first sick visit. Just wanted to be sure so her eardrum didn't rupture with pus during her upcoming party:). Usually I let them fester with their fever until they are truly lethargic and so far we haven't gotten to that point. Anyhow, next we went to the pool and splashed around which is really more work than it's worth right now (swim diapers can be hard to get off) but we wanted to do something out of the ordinary for their b-day. By then it was bedtime so we grabbed a pizza on the way home (their favorite food so far) and put them to bed. It was a monumental day for all of us. Feels weird to be on the other side--to be the mom now and to try to make them feel loved and special on their birthday in whatever way possible. Looking forward to many many many more birthday with my daughters.

This stuff is old news but still had cute pics to show so I'm sharing anyhow. A couple months ago they started pulling to stand. One of the pics shows them both standing in their cribs and it was the first time they both pulled to stand. . .that we witnessed anyhow. I heard laughing in their room towards the end of their nap, walked in and there they were just standing and laughing at each other. Grace loves to fling clothes (folded or unfoded) from laundry baskets, drawers, etc. They are crawling everywhere. We have a playroom that is essentially baby proofed that we put them in when we're feeling lazy but when we 'let them loose' there's so much exploring to do (wires, lamps, dog bowls, remotes) around our little house. I'm sure when they are older they'll ask me, "mom, which one of us crawled first" so just for the record here's the milestone tally so far:
first to roll over: lydia
first to pull to stand: lydia
first tooth: grace
first to babble: grace
first to wave: grace
first to crawl: lydia
first to pull to stand:lydia
First to walk:???, they are taking their time :)

Pics to to bottom:
twins first pull to stand
Mas giving Lydia her bottle
Grace and her Laundry

I'm trying to wind down from a busy shift so why not blog a little? Most of the time I love being home with the girls when I'm not working. The other day though I had a trying afternoon with one thing after another. it was all going well at first. the twins were sleeping the dogs were happily playing outside and I just sat down to get some studying done before I had to leave for work. Bocce came trotting over for some affection and she stunk like garbage or dead animal. It was terrible! She and widget had been wrestling so Widget was stinky too. First i sniffed around the backyard and couldn't find what she got into. So the studying came to a grinding halt and instead I had to bathe both of the dogs. I tried the hose, but bocce pretty much had a seizure (she barked at the hose for 10 minutes later that day) so I had to do it inside. Then the twins started to cry so I had to see what was up with them. Naptime was apparently over so I went to change Grace and realized she had had a blowout that soaked through 2 layers. I got Grace cleaned up and of course, Lydia was stinky too but she managed to keep it in her diaper. Ryan came home at the tail end of this , found the culprit of the smell and was holding it up for me to see--a fly trap that has putrid liquid in it to attract them and it had dripped onto bocce.

Baths aren't as frequent as they should be in our house (for the babies mostly) but when they do happen it's a lot of fun. Here's how we have to do it with two potential drownees:
1. Struggle to undress twin 1 and put in dry tub with toys
2. Struggle to undress twin 2 and add to dry tub with twin 1 and toys
3. Rinse pee out of tub from twin 1 while she was waiting for twin 2
4. Turn on water
5. Watch twin 1 and twin 2 climb over eachother to get to the faucet
6. Enjoy the surprised-blink-gasp-blink face that comes from putting their face under the faucet
7. Make twin 1 sit back down.
8. Pull twin 2 off of twin 1
9. lather, dump water over twin 1 and twin 2 to rinse. enjoy surprised-blink-gasp-blink face again
10. Drain tub
11. Remove twin 1, towel dry and diaper/dress
12. Go back for twin 2 (from dry tub), towel dry and diaper/dress
13. Put twin 1 and 2 down for a nap
14. Pour cup of coffee and blog about it.

I was off of work today which was glorious because last night was rather busy and I needed time to recover. Since the humidity was better we took advantage of it and just wandered around westerville with our double stroller. We ate dinner at a local place and sipped coffee afterwards while the girls sipped their bottles. We stopped at the swings on the way home which is the twins ultimate favorite thing to do and then a quick library stop. Now I know that a rundown of my evening is boring to most outsiders, but one of the reasons I have my blog is to be able to look back and remember things, especially simple every day things.

Now, the blog title does relate to something funny. Today as I was changing Grace's dirty diaper I found a very intact blue sticker with white writing in classic gap style that said 3 for $5 mixed in with her poop! Of course I showed Ryan and we almost took a picture, but then thought better of it. I guess Grace has a taste for gap stickers. We'll have to keep a better eye on her.

I say new jobs plural because I feel like a stay at home mom in the mornings and an urgent care physician at night. I finished residency about 1 month ago and now I am working at several pediatric urgent care locations in Columbus that are owned by Nationwide Children's Hospital (where I did my residency). The upside of the job is that I am only working about 3-4 8 hours (in theory) shifts a week. I get to spend my mornings and early afternoons with the girls even ondays that I work because my shifts don't start until 3pm. The downside is that it's urgent care which goes a little like this: you're fine, you're fine, really you brought him in for this?, now where exactly is this rash. . . um can you point to it?, you're fine, you're fine, virus, virus, virus, oooh really bad break--and stay off those trampolines, so the fever just started 2 hours ago?, so this pain has been going on for 6 months and you're here tonight why?, rash. . . uh. .not sure what that is but it won't kill you!, etc, etc, etc. It's still very much a learning process. I don't think I've been paying attention at all the last 3 years during residency :). So far I like it, but we'll see. The winter is coming and I may just want to poke my eye out daily when it rolls around.

Here's a fun bath pic from Ryan's mom's sink to make the post more interesting.


p.s. lydia fell down the stairs the other day . . . but we didn't even take her to urgent care!!! Wish others would do the same.

We completed our mini-vacation a couple of days ago and we are settling back into our own little place again. We traversed Indiana back to the great state of Ohio and spent some time with our college friends in Canton, made a brief stop at the Dreniks beautiful home and then last but not least enjoyed a couple of days in Chagrin Falls with my family. It was wonderful to just hang out with friends and family without any real agenda. I'm glad we did it because if we stayed in Westerville for my time off I would've cleaned and organized something for sure and not really enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who hosted us! See pics below.

I had my first urgent care shift last night so I am officially employed therefore we all officially have health insurance so we can be crazy as we want to be. More on my urgent care job in the next post. I gotta space out my tidbits of info :)


Photos Top to Bottom:

Ryan and Hudson on their matching laptops

Dad and Grace reading/eating the paper

Hudson helping to feed the twins

Lunch at our favorite . . . Costco!!!

Relaxing on the Drenik's porch with their kids

We got home from vacation a few days ago and after reuniting with the twins (They both started crawling while we were gone and Grace got her first tooth) we made a quick turnaround and decided to take an impromptu "tour de midwest". We drove to Chicago on Sunday are are staying with our college friends, the Eleks who have an almost 2 year old (Norah). We were also able to catch up with the Rozkos and a brief stop at Northwestern to visit the newest NICU fellow, Megan Lagoski. We are quite the crew because we brought the dogs too so the car is overflowing with dog crates, pack and plays (baby crates?), formula and diapers. Yesterday we went to millennium park and strolled Michigan avenue (see pics below). Three children don't seem like a lot until you are living with them :). This morning Norah dumped her cereal onto her tray while I was changing Lydia's diaper. We crammed them all into one room last night for the girls first real sleepover. I don't think the pillow talk went well. The Eleks are good sports to allow such chaos into their home (two babies, two dogs, a giant stroller, two good sized adults).



Watching Baby Einstein to give us a break.



Visit with Dr.Lagoski

The nude beach was going to be my title, but the current one is more intriguing don't you think? we're apparently down the beach from a nude resort and since there is only one direction you can really walk from our hotel (the other is too rocky) we have to pass through the "nude gauntlet" every time we want to take a beach walk. Naturally we've had a lot of discussions about whether we would or would not do something of that nature (would not was the answer by the way) as we go by. I try desperately to find something else to look at so they won't think i'm staring but they are everwhere. The ironic thing is that they are carrying on with all the usual beach activities just without clothes on! So on a typical afternoon you will see naked people sitting on their lawn chairs playing cards, running into the waves, sunbathing, etc. They even have a volleyball net which they have thankfully not been using when we have passed by. There is a rooftop pool and they're all perched up around the pool like naked birds on a wire. The best was a woman walking around the beach with a sheer sarong on. .. the kind you are supposed to put over a bathing suit, but no she was using it to for I'm not sure what since it wasn't covering anything. just an accessory I guess. About 75% of them are not what you'd consider beautiful bodies either which makes it even stranger.

I typed this entry in the plane but before I could post it we dropped below 10,000 feet for our descent and I guess that's when wifi has to be turned off. So, here it is a couple of days late, complete with pics.

It's been a busy couple of days. Lots to blog, but for now I'll dedicate this one to our trip. We're (let me clarify the "we" thing--it's just Ryan and I) flying over somewhere and are 1 hour away from Cancun. Ryan's parents graciously agreed to watch the girls for us. I have left the girls overnight quite a bit for work, so I didn't anticipate that I would have such a hard time leaving them for this trip. I started feeling homesick for them even before we left! It's that homesick feeling in your chest that you used to get when you would go away to camp. I would just pine away for my parents like crazy. It's the worst at night too (remember crying in your bunk at night?) so even though I'm feeling fine now I could be a mess later. I told Ryan, "be extra nice to me because there is still a chance I'll just say, screw it we're staying home". Kids do weird things to you. It's not that I'm worried about the girls at all--they will have a great week with their grandparents and Aunts/uncles/cousins in Cincinnati. It's purely a deep-missing-them-feeling. Now, if I post again while we are in Mexico enjoying the sun, pools, ocean and endless breakfast, lunch and dinner dates I will probably be singing a different tune. When I left, the girls were happily playing on the floor, oblivious to my inner turmoil. So girls, if you ever go back in cyber world and read this blog, know that I never wanted to leave you. . . your father made me do it. Before you start feeling too sorry for me, I've placed our lighthearted plane pics up below.