Off to Hawaii!

Well we're off to Hawaii on Wednesday! My mom came down earlier this week as she has the first shift with the kids. My MIL will be down Sunday for the second shift. Hopefully all will go well. We've all been healthy so hopefully nothing will crop up while we're gone.
I'm really excited to go to Hawaii; it's been on our "must see" list since we've been married. I just wish it would have been easy to take the kids with us. I know it will be better for everyone without them in Hawaii, but...

Walking Warriors

I finally got some video this morning of the kids walking around. It's funny how they both have very different walking styles. Abby is slow and you can see her calculating each step in her head (she also walks with her arms straight out). Jake is more of a drunk man...he just walks/runs around all over the place. I don't think the boy could walk a straight line for anything. They aren't walking great yet, but they try really hard and will walk all over the house. They take about 5 or 6 steps, fall, then get right back up. Jake's only been walking a week so I'm thinking in a few weeks or so, they'll be running everywhere.
I sped the video up so you don't have to sit and watch the kids walk, fall, walk, fall, etc. for several minutes. Enjoy!

We went to the zoo this afternoon and the kids started getting a bit cranky after a while so I went to the children's area and found a somewhat secluded area to let them run around. It was fenced, although there was an opening to get out and wouldn't you know they both went in different directions. When they're both walking well and wanting to walk while we're out on trips, I will have to get some leashes for them! I also need to get them some outside shoes I guess. Right now, we only have indoor/grass shoes - nothing that will work on concrete. I think after we get back from vacation, I'll take the kids in and get them their first real shoes.

Am I taking too much on?

That was John's initial thought when I told him this morning that I would be taking on the Historian position at PAMOM in addition to the Playgroup Coordinator spot I already signed up for. The new historian had to step down before her term even began and I had thought about doing this next year, but when the president asked for someone to step up, I gladly volunteered. Since I just got into digital scrapbooking, I'm planning on doing that for PAMOM (a lot of people have started talking about it in the group, so I think it's about time for that). Plus it will be a lot easier for me if it's digital. I wouldn't have time to do it otherwise. I'm really excited about this new year at PAMOM and can't wait to start my ventures!!

Away for the weekend

Well I spent my first nights away from the kids this weekend. I was actually okay during the day, but was a bit restless at night as I'm used to hearing the kids' sound machine through the monitor. The first night I kept waking up about every hour and a half, but the second night I slept much better. I traveled to my mom's for a day of scrapbooking which I haven't done in quite some time. It was great to catch up on a few things and chat with everyone. I finished the kids' baby albums and finished our last vacation pages, which is good since we're leaving on to Hawaii next week!!
When I got back home I really couldn't tell if the kids were excited to see me or not. They were just waking up from their afternoon nap and ready for dinner. Although Jake ate a few bites then wanted out of his high chair for me to hold him a bit. After a while, he went back in his high chair to eat the rest of his dinner.
Nana and Grammie will be watching the twins at our house while we're in Hawaii so this weekend was great practice for me to be away from the kids and also test out the little "instructions" I typed up for them both. I still have a lot to revise and add, but it was great to have Grammie go through it this weekend to see if I forgot anything major. My little instructions really aren't so little though - so far I'm at 6 pages!!

Color Splash!

Today I finally broke out the crayons and some paper for the kids to color with. Abby is always trying to grab pens and tries to mark on paper so I thought they'd enjoy it even though they're a bit young. Jake did great marking on the paper from the beginning, but Abby enjoyed eating the crayon much better. So, the paci's came out. I figured if they had those in their mouth they'd be less apt to putting the crayons in their mouth. It worked fairly well. They made little signs for John since he's been travelling and had a blast coloring. It kept Jake's attention a bit longer, but it still occupied them for about 45 minutes or so. I'll definitely have to bring the crayons and paper out again soon.

Serving on the Board

This year, I decided to help out on the board of PAMOM (my multiplies club). I signed up to be the Playgroup Coordinator since I love my playgroup and would have lost my sanity a long time ago without it. So last night we had our Installation Dinner at Macaroni Grill and it was great! I hadn't been out to eat in a while (fast food doesn't count) so it was nice to have someone else do the cooking and eat some great pasta. Of course I also went for the Ultimate Bellini (if you've never had one you have to try one - greatness). Many of us didn't have room for dessert so we all took it with us, but it was really nice to get out a bit.

Jake's Walking Too (when he's in the mood)

Okay, yesterday afternoon Jake surprised my mom and I by taking off and walking. He walked quite a ways and didn't fall, but did a controlled sit when he was done. He walked far better and longer than Abby, but I couldn't get him to do it again for anything last night. He did walk a bit this morning, but not as well as yesterday. So...he's quite capable of walking if he wants to, he just chooses not to at this point in time. Abby's still practicing away, although she hasn't made as much progress as I expected. Today we had PT and she wouldn't take even 1 step for her. She was really clingy and shy and didn't want to show off her new skills at all. Hopefully next month she'll be running around everywhere.

A day of mourning

Well, last week we finally cancelled our housekeepers. It was a very sad day for me. They didn't do the best job and only came every other week, but it was a big help knowing that if I couldn't get to all the cleaning each week, I had someone who would come every other week and do a thorough cleaning. So, today (their normal cleaning day), I tackled everything myself for the first time in a year (yes I'm spoiled). I'm still not done as it's hard to get everything with the kids. I'm pretty much doing what I can during their naps and then will finish up tonight after they go to bed. I don't know what I'll do after they drop their morning nap. There's no way I'll be able to do everything in 2 hours. I'll probably have to split it into 2 days, but then I'll be cleaning all the time! I already sweep the kitchen and den almost daily and the kitchen is a never ending task; there's always dishes and messes to clean up.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is actually my second Mother's Day. Last year we baptized the kids on Mother's Day so today was all about me. Although John hasn't been feeling well today so it's really been a quiet day. He napped when the kids napped so I've been busy doing my usually Sunday stuff (laundry and groceries). It's been a pretty good day and the kids are back to "normal" (normal is in quotes, b/c normal changes periodically). Jake's still as clingy as ever and Abby has decided she doesn't need an afternoon nap anymore and hasn't taken one yesterday or today. Although she'd better decide quickly she will take an afternoon nap. Well, I'd better get back to it. I have a load of towels calling my name. :-)

Happy Mother's Day to all!!!

Abby's Walking!

Abby & Jake have been taking 1 or 2 steps to/from things for a while now, but on Monday Abby started walking out in the middle of the room for quite a while. I wasn't even paying attention when it happened the first time. We had playgroup at our house this week and I was talking to the other mom and holding Jake who was fussy. Abby wanted my attention and I looked down as I was talking and noticed she was "chasing" me down! Yeah Abby!!! She only takes about 6 steps at a time and she doesn't like me to "make" her walk more than 3x in a row. I think this will be like crawling and in a couple of weeks she'll probably be all over. I've tried to take video of her, but she doesn't ever want to walk when that's out. Anyway, here's a (not so good) clip of her walking. I'll keep trying to get better footage this week. She's so funny when she walks, she's so proud of herself and cracks up laughing the entire time. She can also already walk and drink at the same time. Big accomplishment!

What a week!

Wow, what a week it's been for us. We had fun last weekend at Paige and Ethan's party, but we picked up an extra party favor that I wish we'd left at the party. Jake, Abby and I have all been sick with a stomach bug and John was traveling out of town. On Monday, Jake was a bit crabbier than normal and when he got up from his afternoon nap, I found out why...he had a bad stomach bug. I spent the rest of the day and Tuesday taking care of him, hoping Abby and I wouldn't catch it. But by 6p Tuesday night, I had it too. I put the kids to bed early since I didn't want Abby to get sick and I couldn't even carry them down the hall really. Then at 1a, I awoke to a familiar sound...but it was Abby not Jake. She seemed to have it worse, throwing up every half hour for several hours. She finally fell asleep around 4 and we got a bit of sleep. It was a sad night for me and Abby, we made several trips to the bathroom together. Poor thing would get so scared when she'd get sick and she just wanted me to hold her. On Wednesday, I put the kids down for their nap at 10 like normal and I had to go and wake them up at 2 for a small bite to eat and to try and get some fluids down them. Jake was back in bed by 3 and Abby by 4.
Abby's completely recovered now, but Jake's still fighting it. Although he hasn't gotten sick since Friday, he's still really wiped out by the thing and sleeps all the time (he's also lost some weight and is back down to 18 lbs even - we'll never flip his car seat at this rate!). I'm still pretty tired too and actually sleep during the kids' naps as well. I'm hoping Jake and I start to feel better soon as I can't afford to be out of commission any longer.