Mom of the year award

That is exactly what I won't be winning.

I had an appointment to have Maddy & Libby's photos taken today. I knew that it would coincide with one of their feedings, so I packed bottles so I could feed them while we were at the studio. When we arrived Maddy was pretty fussy, so I decided to feed her while our favorite photog was getting set up.

I pulled out the little cooler bag and noticed it was upside down. No big deal, I thought until I unzipped it and noticed that the bottles were both less than half full. The milk had spilt all in the bag and leaked onto their extra change of clothes, blanket, etc. Such a bummer, because I knew they would be hungry, plus the milk is like liquid gold.

Of course, neither one was very happy with the less than stellar lunch, so I tried to breastfeed as well. In a very gorgeous studio with high ceilings, exposed brick walls, oh and with large windows everywhere and construction workers walking by, who are working on other studio spaces down the hall. Yeah, that didn't go over too well.

Luckily they were troopers and both did fine even though they had just had a little appetizer instead of a 3-course lunch . I would post photos, but of course the Mom of the year left my camera at home, so hopefully I'll have some great shots to show you in a couple of weeks.

Going to mark all of those damn bags with an UP arrow for our next outing!

Back to the books

Since I had the girls, and even while I was still pregnant, my reading really consisted of baby milestone books, what to expect kind of books, life with twin books, and of course children's books. Good Night Moon, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Pat the Bunny .... you know the deal.

I love to read, but it's really hard to make the time for it now. As a kid, I was obsessed and would read for hours. Just sit and read. I know my Mom loved it. I still love to read and finally tried to get back in the swing with my book club to read Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey. He wrote A Million Little Pieces, which I loved. Don't care if he made it up or not - I thought it was an incredible book and I think you must have spent some time heavily using drugs to write about some of the things he described in that book.

Back to Bright Shiny Morning ... Not sure how I'm feeling about it yet. It's written in his typically style - sometimes descriptive run on sentences or short one liners. Lots of chapters about life in Los Angeles, facts and figures about LA. I liked several of the characters, but I guess I was left waiting to know how they all interact. Maybe I missed something, but I guess they only had the city was their common thread. Anyone else read it?

I just started Bitter is the New Black by Jennifer Lancaster. Can already tell that I will love it! Easy read, full of sarcasm and fun. What's not to love about that?

why i heart facebook

His friends post pictures of Hubby from his college days, circa 1990.


I love you! xxxooo!

hot damn

My Joes jeans fit! I kept eyeballing them in my closet, but was too afraid to try them on. I would glare and snarl at them on occassion for mocking me. For some reason, today I found courage deep within and tried them on. Still can't believe they fit, but Hallelujah, since I didn't want to have to start replacing my "good" jeans. If I have pants that fit, I can deal with buying new tops.

baby's first meme

I saw this on miss zoot's blog and decided to play.

I figured I’d create one of those survey/meme things for us babies as a way for us to get to know each other better. Remember, it’s what YOU like, not what your parents like.

1. Cloth or disposable? Cloth for burping and spit-up, disposable for our bums. Remember, there's two of us and Mom can't imagine washing all that crap (literally).

2. Breast or bottle? All of the above. We get a little Neosure formula added in, so we take what we can get.

3. Eczema or reflux? Our skin is great, thanks. No true reflux, but Libby loves to spit-up and Maddy loves to freak out the parentals and make it come out of my nose. That gets them moving quick!

4. Jumparoo or play mat? We only have the play mat right now, but we're hoping for the bigger gear down the road.

5. Mommy or Daddy? We love both of course. We love napping on Dad's chest, but we also think Mom's pretty sweet as well.

6. Sling, front carrier, or stroller? Since we are just now big enough for the Baby Bjorn, we've only been riding in the stroller so far. Hopefully, we're going to give the Bjorns a try soon. Mom also has a sling and I think she's used it once ... said it was kind of awkward, but she was hoping to try it again when we were bigger so she could use it in a different position.

7. Pacifier or thumb? Pacifier all the way for Libby, sometimes for Maddy. Maddy's located the thumb on a few occasions, but not all the time.

8. Bumbo seat or bouncy seat? Bouncy seats roooooock. We looooooove the vibbbbbratiioooon.

9. White noise or silence while sleeping? Noise machine, but when we get older, we'd like a fan like our Mom.

10. Crib, Pack’n'Play, or parents’ bed? Crib since Night One. We heard we're getting ready to try out the Pack N Play for an upcoming trip to the Grandparents.

Does your baby need a Meme? Have at it!

Hopping on Oprah's bandwagon

I don't know if any of you saw Oprah's show documenting child predators the other day, but it was so shocking. Seriously - I really had no idea how sick and twisted people are. Oprah closed her show asking viewers to write your state Senators to have laws changed so these predators can no longer harm innocent children and babies.

Information is below. I wrote to our Senators that day and I'm passing along this information so you can do the same. It really only took just a few minutes.

There IS something we can do to actually make a difference! We can help get these predators caught through high-tech software that tracks this sort of activity. Please see the below for more information on how we can help get Senate Bill 1738- The Protect Our Children Act passed. Please take a few minutes and send a request to your Senator to "Vote yes on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act.". Instructions to do so are below. It should only take a few minutes (really). Please pass this information on to anyone else you know...

Help Pass Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act
Hundreds of thousands of babies (!) and children are victims of sexual abuse each year. Due to the sheer lack of resources, law enforcement is unable to follow up on the majority of leads they have.The PROTECT Our Children Act will:

• Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
• Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
  Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.
  Act Now!

Your U.S. senators will be voting on the bill soon, so it is crucial you contact them mmediately.Go to www.senate.gov to find contact information for the senators in your state. Search for your senator by name or state by clicking on the arrow from either dropdown menu. Contact information is provided here. To send an e-mail, click on "Web Form" below his or her name, and e-mail your letter to make a difference! Call Your Senators. If you choose to contact your senators by phone, be sure to tell them, "Vote yes on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act."Write to Your Senators. If you choose to write a letter, fax, telegram or e-mail, you may use the following sample letter—and modify it how you see fit.

Dear Senator:I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children and babies being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch). This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.(Your name here)

Keep your children safe from online predators
If you think an online predator has been in contact with your child or that your child is in imminent danger, contact the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI or go to www.fbi.gov

From The Oprah Winfrey Show Internet Predators: How Bad Is It?

3 things

3 things on my mind today ...

1. We are shopping for a new laptop and it really overwhelms me. Our home computer is old, currently dead, and we've realized that it's time to make a purchase. We shopped a little yesterday (kind of hard with twins and the train stroller in Best Buy), and did more research online. I'm torn between PC vs. Mac and just get a little frustrated by too many options and too many questions about what I need/want. I just want someone to tell me what I need, show me where to order, and it'll be delivered by a nice man in a brown uniform and none of those damn surveys on any of the websites seem to do that.

2. I'm feeling less than inspired on the ol' blog as of late. I'm sure you can't tell since I've been pretty apathetic about posting lately. (insert sarcasm here) Also, #1/dead computer makes it a little hard. I'll be back posting at a more regular basis at some point.

3. The girls are great and sweet and make wonderful little sounds and noises. They can just look up at me and it really does melt my heart. I still can't believe how much love I have for them. They also make some not-so-sweet sounds that if I didn't know better, I would think I had teenage boys in the room, but that's another story. Hubby and I had a lazy Saturday morning and just spent time with them in our room, while we partially watched a movie and gazed at them. I can't remember the last movie we watched and it was fun to see them sleeping and playing on the duvet. They look so little in a big bed. Not sure why I enjoyed this so much - it was just new for us and great to have the entire family in our room. Zeus & Zoe were also in attendance, happily napping on the floor.

mixed emotions

sad = computer dead, big ol black screen and won't turn on dead. (borrowing Hubby's laptop for a few minutes)

happy= Target has Halloween candy in stock, so my pantry is full of mini boxes of Hot Tamales.

So I don't fall for the bodywrap infomercial

I made it to Mom & Baby yoga again on Monday and it was great. The girls both slept like, well like babies and I was able to get in an actual workout, complete with abs (I use that term loosely) and glutes. At one point we were in boat pose and the instructor told us to roll on our backs and then up into the standing position.

I proceeded to roll on my back, and then in my very ungraceful like, turtle on its back fashion, got stuck there on my back when I didn't have the strength to sit up, let alone stand. I just had to laugh. I knew that my core strength was pretty bad after the c-section, but I didn't realize that it was that bad. Geez.

So the baby weight is gone, but nothing went back where it belonged and I've been left with pooches and bulges that are getting in my way! My old clothes don't fit, but I can't keep wearing yoga pants, PJ bottoms, and maternity clothes forever either. Any good brands that I won't look like I'm wearing my grandma's clothes, but will start to feel somewhat normal? I need things that "float" away from the tummy and hide a multitude of sins. Oh, and yeah, don't cost a lot. Remember, I'm working from home these days and my boss is way behind on payroll.

Never too early

I think I've mentioned before that I love Halloween. Since the girls won't be doing any trick-or-treating this year, I'm not sure if a real costume is in order. So when I spied these, I knew they would be perfect! Plus, they're from Old Navy and on sale. What's not to love?

Time waster

You must go to this site immediately! It lets you do fun stuff like this ...

Me circa 1960

Me circa 1984


Yep, I guess I should get off the damn Internet and go take care of the kiddies!

shmack talking

Hubby and I were invited to join a couples fantasy football league with 7 other couples in our neighborhood. Hubby is a die-hard football fan, Steelers specifically, but if there's a game on from September to February, college or Pro, he's watching. He's already part of a fantasy football league where the guys are fanatic, but the most I know about it is the amount of shmack talking that they do via email, because when he looks busy on the Blackberry, it's normally reading someone's rude comments about one of the other guys.

So, I am looking forward to our draft party tonight, even though I don't really have the slightest idea about what to expect. I love to watch college football and will watch some pro, but honestly I don't understand all of the aspects of the game. So, either I'll be picking all of our players based on the uniforms or player cuteness factor or I can become really good at talking trash to the other teams!