Yoo hoo...

more blatherings over thisaway...

I'll do this for a little while when I post at my new digs.

Psst...

Over here...

...with my mind on my babies and my babies on my mind.

"You're so laid back." 

"You're so relaxed."

I keep getting comments like these in relation to my mothering, and I just can't seem to take them as a compliment. 

Do they mean:

"Your holey-crotched yoga pants evoke a confident ease." or

"The way you put your greasy mop back in the same ponytail every day shows a true laissez-faire approach to hair care" or more likely,

"Watching you let those babies cry as you pee/shove a meal down your gullet/scratch your ass shows you've developed a truly casual parenting style."

I'm sure that's overthinking it a bit, but I just wonder what people mean exactly.  I don't notice that other moms are super hyper (Well, not all moms anyway).  I'm generally a laid back person in a lot of respects.  And I've discovered that babies cry.  Sometimes they're crying for a reason, but sometimes they're just crying because they don't know what else to do with their bountiful spare time. 

Also, I really subscribe to the theory that if I stay calm, the babies will too.  We keep a fairly quiet house.  The tv is low when it's on.  We don't yell much (ever) and I think (hope) that this will result in chill kids who don't need to shriek to be heard.  But now that I've been getting this comment so much, I wonder if I'm TOO relaxed.  Should I be rushing to them at every squawk?  Or wiping up every drop of drool?  I've recently renamed Sarah "Drooliette Lewis", so I would be extremely hard-pressed to keep up with that constant flow.  I guess I will just take it as a compliment, but I know that every time someone says it, I will wonder a little bit what about me seems so chill.

So, spill it.  Have you ever thought a mom was laid back?  So much so that you told her?  And were you being nice?  Come on - I can take it!

Ubiqui-bounce

Ok, so what is the goddamn deal with bouncy houses taking over the universe? 

Seriously?  I get that they're fun.  But they're not always necessary are they?  It seems like every roadside attraction now has to have one.  Our local farmer's market has one, and what's worse...every pumpkin patch in our area has TWO!  I can only imagine the poor parents trying to get their kids out of the bouncy house, "Come on Johnny, you can't go in the other one until you pick out your pumpkin."  I mean, hello - isn't the fun of going to the pumpkin patch PICKING OUT YOUR PUMPKIN?  It's just insane to me.  I guess they'll be at the Christmas Tree joints, too.  I find it so odd.

I don't mean to be all old-fashioned, but I just wonder if my kids are going to grow up thinking that bouncy houses are everywhere.  It seems like a sign of the times, and not a good one.

You know what else is odd?  The idea that Sarah freaking Palin might be elected into the Vice Presidency.  It's more than odd, really.  It's fucking terrifying.  Not to mention her war mongering pal.  What is wrong with this country?  How has she made it this far?  Who thought that she'd appeal to to Americans?  Why are they a little bit right?  All that babbling last night probably appealed to a lot of people and that's just scary.  I can't even write much more about it, or I'll go nutty.   But I will say that there ought to be an Amendment stating that VP candidates should be able to name at least one major newspaper.

Arranged Friendships

Yes - Pictures below!

So, one of the most interesting things about new motherhood is this idea of Mom's groups. Let me start by saying I absolutely love mine and I would probably be a little lost without it. Having a standing weekly date with people who understand why your hair is so greasy is so nice.

But the concept is definitely a little strange, no? I'm not sure how many of you out there are part of a group and/or how you came to be a part of it, but basically mine was the equivalent of an arranged marriage. I joined the local mother's club at large and then was assigned to a "playgroup" of women who had their babies in April, May or June. Thanks for your $45, now here are your new friends!

Amazingly it is a great group of women. My friend keeps saying, "Has the psycho shown her true colors yet?" and I fully expected there to be at least one, right?  But so far so good. In fact, I am pretty thrilled with the group.  One woman brings wine to all our playdates, not caring that they start at 11am. I heart her a lot. Another had a mom and babies TGIF party at 3pm the other day, complete with beer, bubbly and apps. Heaven!

In an attempt to provide myself with more free outings, I've joined another group for twin moms (my other group is all singletons). More coming after our inaugural meeting next week!

Speaking of next week, my triathlon is one week from today. I haven't exactly been training much. I walk all the time, and now with the B0B have been tackling more hilly terrain, but as far as, you know, actual TRAINING... uh no. In fact, I recently convinced myself that it's better if I don't take a run between now and the race. I figure there's not nearly enough time for it to have any training-type effect, and in the worst case I'll injure myself! So, that run will be my first in 13 months. The last being another 5k that I did absolutely no training for. Smaht. This race is even shorter than a true sprint tri, and I know I could complete each component (somewhat) easily on its own, but put all together? Gawd. It could get ugly.

Ok, as promised, photos!

 

This is a happy girl.

 

 

My big man.

The quintessential twin picture

 

Daddy keeping his girl warm.

 

Matty doing his best "sack o flour" imitation at our twins club summer picnic.

 

Matty in the jumperoo - he has no idea what it is, but he likes it!

 

Sarah taking her turn.

 

Once you get your fill of the cuteness, look past the babies to the SEA of baby gear.  It's EVERYWHERE...

test post

testing Windows Live Writer...

Yawn

Let me start by saying that I'm not posting any photos in this post. I don't blame you if you decide to just move on without reading any further. I get it. I'll make up for it next time, but I'm just too damn lazy to go find the camera AND the cable. Just trust me, they're cute. Gummy, dimply smiles... Drooly, goofy grins... you get the idea.

So, I'm on night 3 of putting them to bed by myself. W has a wicked deadline and has been working til 9 or so for the past week and a half. Last week my mom was around to help out, but this week she's illin', so I'm flying solo. Honestly it hasn't been that bad. I'm pretty tired from being "on" all the time, but other than that it's going ok. Tonight I even went for a higher degree of difficulty by adding in baths! Madness. Of course, as I type I can hear Matthew starting to clamor for his "dreamfeed." Guess I'll deal with him before he wakes his sis.

To be continued...

Ok, let's hope that takes. They've both got colds, so nighttime hasn't been all that fun lately.

Oy. The whining has commenced. FUUUUUUUUCK. Come home W, come home!!! He's supposedly about 10 minutes away. I'm letting M sputter it out - at least until Daddy gets here. It's not like he needs more food. As of yesterday Matthew weighs 15lbs 4 oz to Sarah's waif-like 12-11. She looks so tiny next to him! It's funny, though - girls really do do everything first. She smiled first, grabbed toys first, rolled over first... all that. And now she's gabbing away. He does a Chewbacca like moan, but she has all different kids of sounds that are so friggin' cute. I could chat her up all day long. Especially because the babbling seems to make her SO happy. She giggles and talks and giggles... I just love it.

I feel like I need more angst to blog. I know I'll have this to look back on and I'll enjoy reading all about the day to day stuff, but god I am SO boring, right?

One angsty thing is the fact that my mom is leaving me. She and my stepdad live in Palm Springs during the winter and they're heading down early this year - on October 1. She isn't here every single day, but she does stop by most days and often for a few hours. She has been a lifesaver and I don't know what sort of state we'd all be in if not for her presence. So that begs the question... What the fuck am I going to DOOOOOO????

Thankfully I have my mom's group, but that's only once a week. I will be going on lots of walks, I think.

Also, I'll be busy unpacking... Assuming that all the inspections pass muster, we BOUGHT A HOUSE! Well, they just accepted our offer. So we've got a ways to go, but it's looking good. It's in need of a bit of cosmetic work, so once that's done we'll be moving in. I'm so glad because the winter is coming and our current townhouse is pretty dark. Also, it's on the 2nd floor, so if we're not actually going for a walk, when the dog needs to go out it is QUITE the production. One kid in the bj0rn, one in my arms, poop bag in my pocket, dog on leash and then navigating the stairs without falling. It aint' pretty. The idea of just opening a slider to the backyard is very exciting.

Ok W is finally home! Woo hoo! More frequent, boring posts to come, but from now on punctuated with cute pics.