Hazy, lazy, crazy...

Hazy, lazy days of summer?  Not quite.  More like crazy and fast-paced.  I always thought summer was a time to sit back, unwind and relax, but maybe living a Jimmy-Buffet-song-summer is just wishful thinking.  Even when we have some time to sit back and relax,  "just relaxing" with 10 month old twins  is close to impossible.

{Twin on the go, fueled by Cheerios (the ones in his belly and the one stuck to his bum!)}

Our next two weekends alone consist of a 2.5 mile race (call me a dreamer, but I'm shooting for under an hour), hosting a Fourth of July BBQ party, a surprise birthday party, a 1st birthday party, a retirement party, my big brother's birthday and my bestie's twins' 2nd birthday party...oh yeah, and an aromatherapy bath/swedish massage scheduled right in the middle of it all; which can't come soon enough!  The race is a goal I set for myself back in February when I was going to the gym religiously.  Unfortunately, I haven't been to the gym since returning to work in March, but I said I'd do it, so I will.  I'll be proud of myself when it's all over, right? Proud, sore, sweaty, sore and most likely sore.

I've really been slacking off in the sewing room, but I have my reasons... I have a baby shower to plan!  My good friend Danni is expecting her first baby (it's a boy!) and I'm throwing her a shower with our work friends.   I've chosen a theme which seems to be a popular one, even thought I thought I had come up with something original, so stay tuned for a future post on a construction themed baby shower.  Picture yellow, orange, black and white, construction cones and hard hats.  Hopefully I'll be back in the sewing room soon, as I have a few more pillowcase dresses to whip up, and a camera strap to re-do for my sister-in-law, Janet (I botched up the dimensions on my first attempt. *oops*),  and a quilt for the baby shower's guest of honor (you'll probably be getting a raincheck, Danni!)  Then, I'll begin preparing for Andrew and Wesley's party ;) Aw, who am I kidding, I've been working on that since October of last year!

{Construction Baby Shower invite, original design by yours truly!}

July will be here tomorrow, so I say goodbye to the 30 Days of Dan (hope they were good!), an early Happy Birthday to my big brother Joe,  Happy 2nd Birthday to Zoey & Stella, and Happy Birthday America ;)

Garden Time

Dan volunteered to be a single parent tonight and in return, I got some serious garden time.  My gardens around the house are complete chaos, and will be for another year or two until they fill in and I move stuff around, but it's always nice to get my hands dirty and really take some time to admire the ever changing color palette I've created.

Nine Month Check-Up

Today, Andrew & Wesley had their nine month wellness visit with Dr. M.  Wesley is 18 & 1/2 pounds and Andrew is 17 & 1/2 lbs.  The boys were both in dire need of a nap, so they went from being insanely crazy, crawling at speeds of mock five, to being insanely crabby and squirmy.    This was my fault.  What mom schedules her childrens' appointments during nap time? No Mother-of-the-Year runner-up for me, either.

Here is Wes on the scale.  And no, that 16 year old in the blue is not Dr. M.... Just a helper. 

Wes is getting his noggin measured.   He's got a head circumference that should get him into Harvard!

Wesley was not into the exam portion of the visit.  He refused to sit still for Dr. M.  Look at those chicklets in his mouth!

Here's Andrew letting Dr. M peek in his ears... Patiently waiting for his reward...

...a tongue depressor!  It's amazing what this kid will do for a flat chewable stick!

Here's my favorite part of the visit. The nurses are always SOOO generous with the formula samples they give us...  Apparently, "breast is best"(except in my situation), so they don't hand it out too often.   They always hook us up with a good supply, and I'm lucky that the boys can tolerate pretty much anything they've given us.  And it looks like we are upping the calorie count again, as Andrew is still small for his age - just barely making it onto the charts (again).

Oh wait, there was another favorite part to the visit.  NO SHOTS!!  I'm sure Andrew and Wesley were happy about that!  Back again in September for their 1 year visit!  I can't believe it's less than 3 months away!

Busy Saturday

We had a busy, but great day yesterday. 

At 4:45am I was greeted by these hungry faces.

5am. Time to bake birthday cupcakes!

By 8:30 I was at the farmers market with my 3 favorite guys

10am - Home and time for a little nap  (I wish!)

Do a mediocre job decorating for Dan's birthday party.  We're having a 4th of July shindig, too, so I went with festive USA color palate.

Finally, chase some babies around

...and visit with a bunch of family and good friends.

Happy 30th Birthday to my amazing husband Dan, and Happy Happy first Fathers Day to him!

Wesley, Andrew and I love you very much!

Music!

The boys attended a music class today with their friends Audrey & Ava from next door.  They spent more time being chased by me than actually participating, but it was fun, nonetheless!

Andrew doing a great job shaking the egg rattle.

Andrew tasting his drumstick

a feeble attempt at percussion

Wesley, wondering if he can eat his drumstick. ...is it just me, or does Wes look super cool here?

Wesley confirming that it's edible

Both boys took the egg rattles and shook them (...and then put them in their mouths - surprise, surprise!)  I love this pic for two reasons,  1.) because they are both in the exact same position; one leg out, one arm up, and 2.) its rare that I can get a pic of them near each other these days.  Too funny!

Broken Camera?

I thought my Nikon Coolpix was busted. It wasn't being recognized by our Mac, and if it was, only several of the pictures would upload, and they were foggy looking... so.... I took few test photos and troubleshot:

...and I took a few more ;)

Turns out that it's just a busted USB cord.  Nothing a little ebay therapy can't fix!  Good thing - I love this little camera - it's perfect for on-the-go Kodak (errrr, Nikon) moments.

Wrestling Match

There's lots of this going on lately.  It's HYSTERICAL.  It's so cool to see Wesley and Andrew finally interacting with one another.

Counting My Blessings

{Three of mine ;)}

This past Sunday, I was waiting in our truck in the parking lot of Lowes for Dan, who's "I'll be out in 5 minutes" seemed more like 45.  The boys were getting very restless. I didn't blame them.  They were spending what should have been their nap time (in a cozy crib) crammed into carseat while we ran our errands.  C'mon, Dan!

Hmmm... when are the twins happy and quiet?  When they're eating!  I had the brilliant idea to give the boys bottles while we waited for our very own Bob Villa and soon realized, after dumping the entire contents of diaper bag out, that I forgot to bring formula.

There goes my Mother-of-the-Year Award. 

Nasty jarred food and bottles of tap water would have to do.   ...and they did.  Dan came out of the store to find me, Wesley and Andrew covered in baby food.  Don't ask me how, but while I was turned around, bending over the seat to feed them, I managed to splatter food all over my face and got a big plop in Wesley's hair.  Andrew got away with minimal splattering.

I buckled up for our next destination and that's when it happened.  "It", being an email from a complete stranger.  I looked at my Blackberry and there it was...

I received this amazing email from an amazingly strong person that completely made my day, and I'm pretty sure changed my life. Michelle, a mother of 3 beautiful children, met my best friend Missy at a party of a mutual friend the night before.  My name came up, and it appears as though Missy talked me up pretty good to Michelle.  (Your checks in the mail, Missy!).  My abilities and accomplishments as a {new} mom of twins... my crafting... my photography... my knack of keeping life organized and my ability to retain my sanity through it all.  Michelle visited my blog, and then decided to email me to inquire further.
In her email, she wrote, "I want to meet you for a few reasons... 1.) to see if you are real. 2.) I think your photography is stunning. 3.) to ask you about your sewing and crafts 4.) to pick your brain about organizing life, photos, memorabilia.  That should be enough for a meeting, right?"  *blush*!    I was completely flattered.  Floored.  Who doesn't want to hear those things, right?  Her email brought tears to my eyes.  All I could say was, "Wow."...Over and over again. Wow.  Did she send this to the wrong email address?  Wow.

Michelle included a link to Mikey's Love, her family's blog, which although hasn't been updated in quite a while (you'll understand why after you read it, they are a bit busy) is sure to bring a few tears to your eyes.  Seriously, line up some tissues.  Her husband's eloquent words about their life after an almost fatal condition Michelle suffered from, and Mikey's arrival makes you want to reach through the computer screen and give each one of them a hug.  The blog focuses mainly on their life with a courageously strong, special needs son.  Mikey, who is now 3, has showed them the true meaning of the words family, love, support, spirit and strength.

I was honored to receive such a complimentary email from someone who has been given so much more on her plate than I have.  I plan to meet her in person and chat for a while when she has a spare moment.  Until then, I will hug my babies tight and count my blessings.  Over and over again.