And Another.

I told you this would happen. I just didn't expect it to happen hours after my last post. Paul got home from work today and was standing in the kitchen. Logan was standing by the cupboards a few steps away. Paul looked at him and put his hands out to pick him up and out of the blue Logan took his first two steps toward Paul without holding on to anything. I sat there and watched dumbfounded. Then I repeatedly asked Paul if that just happened and was Paul secretly holding him up or something. We had a little celebration for him and laughed a lot then I set him down to try again and he did it again only he did three steps. Of course when we got the video camera out he quit. Then before bed tonight we tried to get it on video again and he took three steps or so and then he did five steps! Just like that he's standing around like what's the big deal. I tried to get Schaeffer to take some steps but of course he just knelt down and crawled again. These boys are something else.

We Have a New....

Stepper in the family! I was going to say we have a new walker in the family, but walking is a bit of a stretch for what is actually happening. I'm excited to tell you that Schaeffer has taken his first steps though! While we were on vacation my mom somehow convinced him that standing on his own two legs really wasn't such an awful idea. Previously, he would crumple to his knees as soon as you tried to get him to stand on his own or walk holding your hand. But when we came home he was like a new kid and could stand for great lengths on his own. His stability was amazing compared to before and he could even bend at the knees and stand back up. He was playing with toys without holding on and showing an amazing amount of progress. Thursday I tried to get him to walk to me a few times but every attempt he made quickly resulted in a crumble to the floor. Friday afternoon I tried again and he made his first little shuffles towards me! His feet never left the ground but he did make forward progress while standing. I was very excited and we showed Paul as soon as he got home. Saturday we tried again and he actually picked his little feet up and took two wobbly, unsure steps towards me. He collapsed in my arms and we clapped and giggled and made a great big deal of it. A few times since we've gotten him to take two or three tentative steps towards us. We'll see how long it takes him to get the hang of it. Yesterday afternoon he went back to his stubborn ways and won't even stand when I put him down, just collapses in a heap again. Who knows if walking is in his near future but I am so excited to see that we are "taking steps" in the right direction. Logan on the other hand is not quite so steady on his feet. Though I don't believe that is due to lack of ability. I know he can stand, he just isn't quite as sure as Schaeffer yet. On Saturday Logan was so cute though. He saw us practicing with Schaeffer and saw our excitement. He crawled right over to me, looked me in the eyes and pushed off my knee to standing, without holding on. Then he just stood there and grinned at me as if to say "look at me! I can do it too, Mom.". Then he would collapse in my lap and we'd giggle while he thought he was hot stuff. Funny boy.

It will be interesting to see if the boys follow in the same pattern they had when they were learning other skills like crawling and pulling up and rolling over. It always seems that Schaeffer is first but it takes him a while to be good at the skill and Logan is second but does the skill very well from the beginning.

Home Again

The vacation I had so looked forward to is now history. Makes me a little sad. I do love vacation. It was a wonderful break from the everyday, a great time spent with friends and a lovely getaway with Paul. It's very nice to get a chance to step away and enjoy one another's company without being concerned about the laundry getting done or the dishes getting washed or who's turn it should be to change a diaper or break up a fight or put Jack back to bed. It was nice to just be friends, husband and wife and set down the parent title for a few days. Just ask Tanya, I'm not the type to be thinking of my kids every moment I'm not with them. I'm not the type to call home to check on them or think about how much I miss them. I knew they were in good hands and if I was needed, I would be contacted. Other than that I needn't worry, I just needed to relax and enjoy myself and my company. And that's exactly what I did. The setting was beautifully rustic though the hills and winding roads did a number on my head with every car ride until I could get my hands on some Dramamine. We spent lots of time reading by the pool, relaxing in the extremely lazy river, playing cards on the balcony and even had an occasional nap. We went up to Branson a few times and saw a total of three shows. One was fabulous, one was ok and one I could have left at intermission. We tried out a new thing called paddle boarding which is incredibly easy but I thought, lots of fun. We played mini golf and some terrible shuffleboard. One game was so bad we decided to change the rules and play until the first team reached 0 points again. We ate delicious food and went on a beautiful tour of a big park filled with creeks and waterfalls and caves. We had a really wonderful time. But now we are back home. Home to our kids who missed us and who were happy to see us. Kids who learned new skills like blowing kisses and standing by themselves. We are glad to be home but so thankful we had a chance to get away.

Lizzard Face

Big A. Little A.

I finished another project today and I love how it turned out. Jack is really into letters right now and has picked up on them really well-thanks to Dr. Seuss' ABCs and Paul's patience. I had the idea to use letters to make some sort of art work on our walls that would make a fun place for him to practice letter recognition. The letter wall turned out really cute and Jack loves pointing out all the letters he knows. I think as he get's older and starts learning to read we will have fun trying to spell words on this wall.

Final Swim

We had so much fun last night at the swimming pool (our last swim this season). The park district had a movie at the pool night and despite the lateness of it we decided to take Jack on a Mommy/Daddy/Jack date night. He doesn't get many chances to swim in the big pool and I don't get many chances to swim with just Jack. I was really excited for the evening and so grateful that Paul's parents were up for watching the twins. Jack did such a great job swimming. We didn't get signed up for lessons this summer but he still has come a long way in a few months. His friend Haley was there and they jumped and swam and slid the night away. Jack spent about half the time last night jumping in to us and he was going under almost every time. I even let him jump a few times without catching him at all and then just helping him come back up. He did great, but that's a little scary for me! He and Haley also swam under the rope a few times. Peer pressure at this age is a wonderful thing. If Haley or Jack did something the other one would too even if they didn't want to at first. After an hour of swimming we all got changed, got some snacks and watched Finding Nemo on the lawn at the pool. I did not even consider that it might be chilly and we were all under dressed for the occasion, but we made do and the kids had a lot of fun sitting under the stars watching a movie and getting to stay up late and eat treats. I hope as our kids get older we can always find the time to spend one on one with them doing fun things like this.

A Ridiculously Great Day

Today I did something ridiculous. I spent 5 hours in the car with three kids by myself so I could get the boys hair cut at a specialty kids place near our old home. They get to sit in a car and pretend to drive it, they get to watch a movie, the hair cutters are really good with kids and if it's their first cut they get a certificate with their first lock of cut hair and a picture with their new do. I know it's ridiculous, but it turned out to be a great day. We got haircuts, had lunch and a play date with some friends and made a quick trip to Ikea. All three boys did exceptionally well in the car and even more exceptionally well during their haircuts. Somehow we were only a few minutes late for a 10:45 am appointment. Jack went first and showed his brother's proper hair cutting behavior-be very serious, do not smile, sit very still, and drive the car. Surprisingly, they pretty much all followed this routine. You could tell they were interested and curious about what was going on, but they only really got fidgety when they couldn't get their arms out from under the cape. Logan was mildly upset by the "tickler" aka the razor, but he didn't cry he just wasn't thrilled with it. 

First haircuts are a big deal to me. It's an instant transition from baby to "big" boy. It is a little sad to see their sweet baby hair fall to the floor, but these boys needed it bad. Schaeffer was practically sporting a mullet and Logan's hair was a wild mess and always getting tangled. The lady even had to spray some detangler on his locks so she could get her comb through them. Now when I look at their sweet faces they seem so grown up, and they look so much more alike. I thought Schaeffer would look a lot different with his stick straight hair cut off and no longer able to fly in the wind. But really he doesn't seem much different, just a cleaner, less mullety version of himself. I also didn't expect Logan's haircut to make such a difference. But his wild hair was sort of a visual cue to his personality. Now he looks like he needs a business suit and briefcase. His little curls are gone and his once darker hair is now even lighter since the dark was at the ends. I've actually called him the wrong name more times today that I have in the last several months combined. So their new do's are cute and very big boy, but I'm hoping that Logan will be like Jack and get his curls back when his hair grows out again.

Here are their before and after shots.

Schaeffer

Logan

And this is what Jack looked like after his first haircut. He was a little over a month older than the twins when he had his hair cut for the first time.

Magnetic Tapestry

Jack's starting preschool soon. I'm sure I'll have more to say on that subject later. But I started thinking how he'll start bringing home projects from school and I wanted a place to display them. But I didn't exactly want stuff hanging off my fridge. It's been clear since we moved and I sorta like it that way. So I started brainstorming ideas. I wanted something in our common living area, not tucked away where no one would ever see it. I also wanted something that looked a little more sophisticated/designed than a basic cork board. And I wanted something big. If I'd had the perfect wall for it I would have done something on an entire wall, but I couldn't determine I had the perfect wall for that. So I started some searching online and came across a few tutorials on making your own magnetic board. And it seemed really easy, and it was pretty good size, and I could customize it to my liking. Here is my finished project. Paul calls it my magnetic tapestry. He really did most of the actual work. Something about not really trusting me with power tools. We adhered a large sheet of galvanized metal to a thin, but sturdy piece of plywood. Then I wrapped the now magnetic board with this canvasy fabric I found at JoAnn's. Paul made the frame out of chair rail and I spray painted it. Then Paul attached the frame to the board and hung it on the wall for me. Ta-da! Now I have both a fun, colorful piece of art and a prominent place to display Jack's and eventually Schaeffer and Logan's projects and school work. 

1 Year Pictures

I had the boys pictures done last weekend. For the first time I gave them each their own appointment, hoping that we would get more/better pictures of them. While it was a bit of extra effort going multiple days, we got some cute pictures of each of them. While getting pictures done at JC Penney's will never be my favorite option, it is much more economical. And I can't complain too much because we got a couple of pictures of each boy that to me really capture your typical Schaeffer and your typical Logan. Schaeffer is actually quite a smiley guy most of the time. Until you pull out the camera, then he just stares at you, or at the camera. It's almost like he's been dared not to smile for the camera. As soon as it's put away he'll flirt and grin at anyone. Thankfully, at the beginning of his session he was a little more smiley. Logan was cracking himself up most of his session. He LOVES to sit in chairs or on couches. He acts like he's really a big shot and get's all happy. So we took in this cute little chair that we borrowed and right away he was grinning his great big smile. I was so happy to see several pictures that show his great big smile and we had several that showed off his playful personality. He would hardly sit still after we took him out of the chair. Next weekend we have one more session scheduled to try and get some pictures of the twins together, all the boys and hopefully a good family shot. We shall see who decides to cooperate.

Stinky Boy

With small children around there are bound to be numerous poop stories. And despite the disgustingness of poop the stories always make me laugh. Yesterday we had our worst poop incident ever. Sunday night we were putting the twins down for bed. I changed Logan's diaper but Schaeffer's had been changed recently and still seemed practically dry. So we left him. Paul claims that had we changed him none of this would have ever happened. He's probably right. Throughout the night Schaeffer was coughing quite a bit and I know he was just lying there awake for a while because I watched him on the monitor for quite some time. Sometime in the middle of the night the coughing was bothering me and I turned the volume off on the monitor. Around 7:30 in the morning Schaeffer started screaming. This is unusual for the twins. They typically hang out in their cribs until 8 with hardly a peep, even though I know they wake up around 7:30 or earlier. So I drug myself out of bed, threw my contacts in and went to get him and figure out what was wrong. The instant I walked in the room, I knew someone had pooped. Stinky! I walked up to Schaeffer's crib and was shocked and disturbed to see it covered in poop. Not just a little and not just in one spot. It was everywhere, his sheets, his crib, his face, hands, legs, feet. And he was angry. I also quickly noticed the clean diaper laying in the corner of the crib and my naked baby. Hmmm....somehow he wiggled out of the diaper. The tabs were still attached to the diaper. He hadn't undone them. But he had gotten out. Gross. Disgusting. Stinky. Mess. I instantly called for Paul to come help quick. Thank goodness he hadn't gone to work yet and wasn't even dressed in work clothes yet. Paul stripped off Schaeffer's t-shirt (perhaps a onesie would have also prevented this) while I cleared the tub of toys and got a bath started. Schaeffer was so angry, screaming the whole time. Poor guy was not thrilled with this situation. Can't blame him. I scrubbed and scrubbed Schaeffer while the other boys looked on and Paul stripped the bed. Thankfully, all of the poop smeared bedding came clean in the wash. And surprisingly I didn't smell poop all day long. I wish we would have taken a picture. And had Schaeffer not been so terribly upset we probably would have. Somehow, though we were both disgusted, I think we also both saw the funny side and had a chuckle about it all. That is, once Schaeffer finally calmed down.

What Tuscon Taught Me

I've been kinda quiet lately. I guess without Monday pictures to keep me going I sorta let my blogging slide. That and I've just not had a lot to say. I tend to keep quiet on the blogging front when all I can think to write is whiny, complaining, frustrated stuff. But even if you don't want to read it, it does help me process if I write. So we'll see where this goes.

Paul was in Tuscon last week and I think his absence helped me figure a few things out. I'd been getting a little difficult to live with again. It seems I often slip into this pattern of getting frustrated with stupid stuff and then taking it out really bad on Paul. What I found to be interesting is that I didn't get quite as frustrated with him gone. It's not really Paul that makes the difference-it's my mental state, my expectations. I knew I was just going to have to suck it up and get through the week without him. I knew going into it that there would be difficult moments and I would be tired and worn down. I had realistic expectations of the week, I was mentally prepared for it before it happened. Thankfully, I did have friends and family to help me out in various ways which was wonderful. The thing is, when Paul is home I think I have unrealistic expectations. Scratch that, I know I have unrealistic expectations. I think that just because Paul is home I won't have to do much, I can take a break and relax. Truth is while he is a tremendous help with the kids and does a lot around the house...I can't really take a break just because he's home. I don't even know why I think I can. But it frustrates me so bad when he gets home and I still feel like I'm working just as hard to take care of the kids and the house and our marriage. Clearly I have a few issues to settle with myself.

I also tend to keep all my communication with him in my head. I tell him a lot of things mentally but turns out he did not come equipped to be a mind reader. Once again, why do I even think he knows I need help just because I thought "help me!". So when he doesn't do what I "asked" I get frustrated and and if the kids are whining or crying my fuse just gets so short. Oh me. It all sounds quite silly when I write it. I wish I had that perspective in the moments when my frustration is starting to get the best of me. I guess I'll just have to consider this an opportunity for growth.