Shoot!

Here I thought I would be getting another entry in long before another month passed. Now I see the date was early September so I won't pat myself on the back...

The babies are 6 months old and they had their check up today. Delaney was 18 lbs 3 oz (86%), 74% for length and a little head at 49%. Bennett is tipping the scales at 21 lbs 10 oz (96%), 98% for length and 98% brains, I mean head. All is well and they checked out to be happy, healthy babies. More shots so that broke my heart to see them cry and give you the look of, "Mom why are you letting them hurt me??!!"

It was put into perspective for me when I got a postcard in the mail saying, "Happy half birthday!!" Really? Don't make me get all sappy about their first birthday already...

Bennett FINALLY rolled over this week. He wanted the stick horse really bad and finally did it. He has been close for so long. He also learned a new trick. I feed them their bottles in the boppy pillows. When he is done (typically always before his sister) he has discovered that he can arch his back up and push with his heals and scoot over the front of the pillow. Once he gets the pillow under his back he will swing his legs up and over his body and somersault onto his stomach. See the progression in pictures above. Once he learns to move he is going to be quick. By they time I get him from his crib after nap or in the morning he as spun at least 180 degrees, sometimes all the way around. He is a very easy smiler and laugher. I hope he will continue to have such a great personality. He is chewing like crazy so I am waiting for the first tooth to pop any day. He is wearing up to 12-18 month clothes already. I guess we can't call him little man any more...

Laney can roll and flip over in the blink of an eye. She is quick. She too can scoot herself out of the boppy pillow and roll over onto her tummy. She looks like a peanut compared to Bennett but she still has a healthy set of rolls to her thighs. She is hilarious when she wakes up and starts her little "motor boat" (or raspberries) - she isn't even totally awake, her eyes are closed... She is starting to eat her cereal and veggies better but she really likes her fruit - sweet tooth already (a woman after my own heart). She has a sizable bump on her gums so it will only be a matter of time before that tooth will push through.

Allison is still my princess. There isn't a day that goes by without her playing "princess dress-up". She had a bout of the stomach flu last week so that was a 2 a.m. shower and hour long clean-up process. Thankfully no one else caught the bug. I am ver skeptical of the flu shot and will opt out of it again this year for Allison and the babies. Allison is very interested in learning her letters and other preschool skills. She has a great workbook that she and I have been working through occasionally while the babies nap in the morning. She sees commercials on TV for toys and ask for it. I have explained to her that we can't have everything we want. Now she asks, "Mom, can you please put that on my list?" Today I was teasing her about her jeans being too tight and how she needed to quit growing. Her response was, "But mom I need to keep growing so I can get big for Bendaroos!" Bendaroos are another one of those commercial items she wants but I told her she was too young this year to put them on her list. She is starting to become very aware of her body and the differences of boys and girls. I will spare you the details but boy have we had some interesting conversations these days!!

Our landscaping project has turned into somewhat of a nightmare. The guy is fitting us in when his schedule allows so the neighbors have all been razzing us about how "great" our landscaping looks. The guy is quit a dingleberry. He showed up to work with no tools (used Troy's), forgot his copy of the design plans, etc. He did not follow the design drawings and has maybe 5 of the 30 plants in the right spots. Needless to say it has been a big topic of discussion around here lately. Those that don't know how it should look have said it is looking nice. We shall see how it all works out.

I left the babies for the first time a couple weeks back for a girl's weekend of scrapbooking. I didn't even cry - you should all be proud of me. But that didn't mean I didn't get sappy and miss them like crazy. I had a great time with the girls in Amboy, MN. Talk about small town MN. A couple of us took a walk at 11 pm and didn't think twice about our safety. We walked pasted a Chinese restaurant and decided we should try it for one meal. So we went the next evening... The only problem?? The place was gutted and had been closed for some time according to the waiter at the Amboy Cafe. Boy did we feel stupid... We had lots of great girl talk and laughs. What happens in Amboy stays in Amboy. Right girls?? I was very focused and wanted to catch up on Allison's book. I didn't but got 20 pages done. Not bad for me.

I went to the MOMS (Mothers of Multiples) garage sale the beginning of September. I was connected with a gal already in the group (thanks Jennifer!) and she suggested I come early to sign up and pay my membership. I got there at 7:30 (sale started at 8) and there was probably 30 ladies lined up at the door??!! They had to announce rules - like no hitting, kicking, pushing, biting - really???? I was starting to question where I was and what I was doing there. Once the doors opened the women literally stampeded in and I just stood there laughing before I got started looking. I had a woman wedge her way in front of me and look at an item I was checking out. Let me tell you it was an experience I will never soon forgot. I went to the first support meeting for the group the following Monday. It was great. They have support discussions broken out by age groups so you can hear from other moms what works for them (or doesn't) and to know you aren't as crazy as some people seem to think you are.

So as some of you know I have been trying to convince Troy that we should have #4. He is NOT convinced at all. But I told him I don't think I could send two off to Kindergarten or two off to college without it being very hard on me. So if I had a 4th it would eliminate that. He just laughed at me. Then he asked what we were going to do if it was a third girl since we have 3 bedrooms up and one in the basement that houses the workout equipment, Troy's gun cabinet and our home office - and I just shrugged. But then he comes back with, "Well I have been thinking, we can just add a second story over the garage and add a couple big bedrooms." See so he has been thinking about it and thinking is might even be possible!!! I am sure I will need to do more sweet talking.

Last weekend we spent an entire day juicing apples and making applesauce. We did 27 quarts of applesauce and 20 quarts of apple juice - and we simply quit because we ran out of jars. We ended up throwing some apples away but they had substantial spots so they weren't great for eating or slicing and freezing. We purchased a Vitamix (basically a blender on steroids) to help with the applesauce and boy did that help (since I smoked my blender on baby food).

I feel like we have somewhat of a boring life but I sure can write a book every time I write. I will end it for now.

allison - hello from Allison (she typed her own name).

5 months

Oh my!! Where does the time go and how does it get away from me all the time??? I can't believe it has been more than a month since I posted last.

Everyone is doing well. The babies had their 4 month check-up in early August and they are both doing really well. Bennett was over 18 lbs!!! and Delaney was 15 lbs 6 oz. Needless to say, they are both happy, healthy babies.

Bennett is my jolly, little giant. He is probably close to 20 lbs already and busting out of his infant carrier car seat. I am so bummed!! His 3-6 month clothes are belly shirts and the pants are capri's on him. I am pulling out the 6-9 month clothes. He smiles and laughs very easily. If you acknowledge him in any way you will get the biggest grin. He has the funniest laugh - almost a chuckle. He will laugh at you laughing. He especially finds his big sister Allison funny when she plays peek-a-boo with him. He will get laughing so hard that he can hardly catch his breath. He looks a lot like Troy and we have friends that call him TJ (Troy Junior). He has figured out how to jump in his jumperoo and can really get it rocking. He squeals and "talks" quite often and will occasionally get really loud to get one in over his little sister.

Delaney is my sweet girl. She is a peanut compared to Bennett. She loves to "talk" and gargle. She has many important things to say. She would rather talk than eat. She can roll over from her back to her tummy and will tolerate her tummy for about 10 minutes. Then she gets upset but can't figure out how to roll on to her back. She loves to stand and now has to stand to burp, she doesn't want to sit. Too funny! She is working on sleeping better and is doing well.

They are both loving their cereal and veggies. They have eaten carrots, peas and green beans so far. Next will be spinch, mmmm!! They sleep really well overnight - going to bed about 8:30 or 9 and getting up to eat between 5 and 6 and then go back to bed until approx. 8 a.m.

Allison is enjoying her summer. We went to grandpa's "little" (county) fair in early August. She loves the goats and we had to walk through each barn several times. Her little friend Brecken came with us and between Allison's multiple trips through the barns and Brecken's fascination with the tractors and lawn mowers, we were busy! Allison started talking to and playing with a sweet little girl and decided that she was going to go with her family and just walked away from us. Boy did that give mom and dad a heart attack. She couldn't understand the trouble with her going to see the horses with her new friend (whose name we still don't know)! Then ensued the conversation about strangers, etc. How do you tell your child to be cautious but not make them scared of everyone? She is very excited to visit grandpa's "big" (state) fair this weekend and help him show the goats. She was hilarious last year so I am sure she will be another "big help" to grandpa. She is spending 3 days at the farm this week before school starts for my mom. She doesn't have much time to talk when we call because she is very busy. My dad's cat Elmo has to be sick of her by now because she is constantly dragging him around. She even got to name one of my dad's baby goats. Each year he has a letter that all the baby goats names begin with. This year is Z - so the littlest one is Zipper and is HER goat. Boy has it been quiet around here without her chattering my ear off. She has successfully learned how to spell both her first and last names and has almost a little chat to help her remember it. She finished Littles 1 level of swimming at Foss and will be starting Littles 2 session tonight. I can't believe she is 3 and swimming on her own. What a life skill to have...

Troy and I decided to take the plunge and get a piece of exercise equipment to help me get rid of the rest of my baby weight and him to lose his sympathy weight. Now that I am at home, the kitchen is WAY too accessible and the scale is going to wrong direction. Shouldn't it be going down? We got an eliptical machine and Troy is excited to set it up tonight and get started on it tomorrow morning. I hope we can stick to it and see results.

We are doing the usual fall activities - juicing apples, making applesauce, freezing corn on the cob and making my own baby food. I have officially smoked my blender, oops. They love it and it is so much more economical than buying the little Gerber tubs of food for two!

I am going away for the first time since the babies have been born in a couple weeks for a weekend scrapbooking with the gals. We are going to Amboy again. I am very much looking forward to getting some more done and maybe, just maybe catching up on Allison's book, only to start on the babies' books.

I am going to join the MOMS (mothers of multiples) group and network with some of the other moms and have a support system. I have some great babies but we all know that some days can almost get the best of us. There is a large garage sale the group puts on in a couple weeks that members can get into early before the public. I look forward to picking up stuff that we have decided we needed another of over time.

Troy is working with a landscaper and we are hoping to have him rip up and redo our landscaping in September. I was skeptical of planting new plants in the fall but have since found out that it is the best time of year to plant vs. the spring/summer. Instead of working on growing and getting scorched by the sun, the plant grows a good root system and then goes dormant for the winter. Then in the spring it has a good root system to withstand the next spring and summer. I am excited to get it done because it was certainly a do-it-yourselfer job that was not done well by the previous owners. We will post before and after pictures for everyone to see.

I think I have written a long enough novel already and will end for this time. Besides I hear a little voice over the monitor that someone is waking up from nap. I love it when babies transition from waking up crying to waking up and talking/playing until you come and get them. Until next time, take care...