The long awaited catch-up blog.

I'm looking over my calendar and thinking to myself "Boy, is the reading public going to be disappointed with this one". So fair warning to all...while I have been off-line "forever", not much happened while I was gone.

Moving day:
April 9th was moving day. I struggled to get as much packed as possible before the movers showed up. Steve met them first at our storage building and then brought them to the apartment. As soon as it was confirmed that they were on their way(around 10am) I packed up the cubs and headed out. There was no way I was going to witness this move, especially with the cubs under foot. We drove by the old house, grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A (we ate in the car), I treated myself to a vanilla latte and a chocolate donut from Starbucks, and then we headed to the mall. Thankfully I took Husky (Em's dog) and L.E. (Zach's elephant) with us so the cubs actually behaved better than I expected. Sadly, though, there was no nap. By 3pm I was begging to come home. I couldn't wait to see if things were put where I wanted them....such a control freak. I must admit that everyone did a good job. Later that night I was smack dab in the middle of suffering from the worst sore throat I think I have ever had. I was MISERABLE. I had taken Emily to the Doctor the day before and she was pretty miserable too. Poor Zach and Daddy didn't escape it either. We all spent the next few days under house arrest. I even missed my parenting class. No one felt like doing anything and the boxes remained stacked up all around us. By Sunday (Easter Sunday) Zach had a fever and by Monday he was suffering from the pink-eye minus the pink too. Steve called the Doctor early that morning and we were able to get in within a matter of hours. Little Emily Bear was diagnosed with her very first ear infection. Both cubs were prescribed antibiotics for sinusitis (I wish I could have had some too) and we took our sick selves back home. What an enjoyable way to spend our first days in our brand new home.

Easter:
We missed Easter morning services because Zach had a fever. I was so disappointed because I had bought Zach the cutest little Easter outfit to match a dress that one of Grandma Shirley's friends had sent us for Emily and I couldn't wait to take pictures. We missed out on every Easter activity this year....we didn't make it to a single egg-hunt and I was disappointed about that too. I really think the cubs would have had a lot of fun. The cubs did open their Easter gifts from Great Grandma Betty and Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John. Emily thinks that all gifts are hers. She loves opening gifts and she's good at it, even if they don't belong to her. We had fun playing with the puzzles, reading the books and watching the DVDs they received. Not to mention how cute they will look in their new pajamas. Pictures to come later.

Services:
We have had our fair share of people coming by...the refrigerator was delivered, the security system set up, the painters were here numerous time, the tile cleaners and installers, the TV guy to install the TV/Internet, blah blah blah. We've had a revolving door of service people through here lately.

March for Babies:
April 18th was our local chapter March for Babies. Our friends Kristi and Donna drove all the way from Abilene to join us. Wow! They were also our very first house guests. We were a little worried about the weather, but despite all of the talk about severe storms, we made it through the walk without more than a few drops of rain. It was actually very pleasant. Last year was hot, so I much preferred the cooler morning. Debbie and her daughter Sydney also met us there. I was sad that Steve had to work and was unable to make it. We want to thank everyone for their support! We are very lucky to have such wonderful family and friends.

LCMOM meeting/garage sale:
Tuesday the 21st was my LCMOM meeting. A speaker presented information to us about college planning. I don't even want to think about it. Two words: Golf SCHOLARSHIP. I also chose to participate in the garage sale, so I've spent my spare minutes gathering and tagging items. I had to work the sale on Friday for several hours and was glad to get that out of the way. I have yet to get the final sales total but was happy to free up some space here at the house. I sold the swing that Zach spent most of his first year in due to his reflux issues. That was a sad moment. He's grown up so fast.

Grandma and Grandpa Bear's visit:
My parents arrived on Friday. We were very happy to see them and I was excited for them to see the cubs again. They have changed so much. I was sad that I had to work at the garage sale while they were here, but the alternative was to postpone their visit for two more weeks and I don't think anyone wanted to do that. The cubs opened their birthday presents...we have a band in the making....Emily got a keyboard and Zach got an electronic drum set. I'm going to sit in a quiet corner and read some of the books they received. We cooked out on Saturday, the first time here at the new house. I am really enjoying the patio and watching the cubs play in the yard. I must admit that they are sleeping much better since the move, probably because they are so exhausted after all of the running they are doing. I think they are adjusting rather well. I know we will be happy once all of these boxes are unpacked.

Pictures:
We will be posting pictures as soon as we find the missing cable. UGH. It's either buried in a box or still at the apartment. Moving is such an inconvenience sometimes.

I guess that sums up most of what has happened in the last 18 days. We spent most of the time in voluntary quarantine battling this horrible illness that just drags on and on and on. The rest of our time has been spent scheduling service people and unpacking boxes. Steve took a few days off but unfortunately we didn't get as much done as we had hoped since he was under the shroud of illness as well. We didn't allow the cubs to attend any play dates until this past Thursday. We didn't want to risk infecting any of our friends. I did take them to Paradise Pond since our tile was being cleaned and sealed and we needed to be out of the house. They were still on their antibiotics so hopefully we won't have a relapse. It will be such a relief for things to get back to "normal".

Moving forward

So far so good on the sale of the old house. The date that the buyers could terminate the contract without reason has passed. Steve is finishing up the minor issues that the buyers want fixed. He has managed to bring most of the boxes down from the attic and move them to storage. I think we have enough Christmas lights to decorate the whole neighborhood. Just wait until we have our first Christmas at the new house, we will be the beacon of light that all airline passengers will be able to see as they are flying above. The appraisers are scheduled to come out early tomorrow morning. I am so excited to get this house sold. What a huge relief it will be to not have two mortgages at the same time.

There isn't much to catch up on this week. Last Sunday we took the cubs to the park to enjoy the spectacular weather. Can you believe that we left earlier than planned because it was just too hot?? After the park we visited with our friend Donna who was here from out of town.

Monday night was GNO with Deb and Kristi. LOVE LOVE LOVE those raspberry margaritas. Monday was also the last day of our spectacular weather. The rest of the week was cold and rainy and we have been cooped up since. I think the cubs and I are experiencing cabin fever. We did venture out on Thursday for Zach's therapy appointment. While it did not go as badly as the week before it still did not go very well. I feel like I am watching dollars go down the drain here, and at a particular time where we don't have much money to waste. I'm going to give it a few more sessions and then I might contact ECI (early childhood intervention). They are much cheaper and perform therapy at home where the child is more comfortable. I think the major problem with Zach's therapy is that he's not comfortable. He starts screaming as soon as we put him in the little wooden chair. After his therapy we went to Paradise Pond. Major mistake on my part. The cubs acted horribly and I was so embarrassed that after the third temper tantrum I gathered them up and brought them home. Zach even refused to walk out with me, so I had to carry them both to the car in the yucky weather. UGH. Paradise Pond is supposed to be a fun treat. It's a real beating for me because it is so hard to keep an eye on them at the same time. They are usually at opposite ends of the building, and Zach won't stand still for a second. I don't really enjoy it, but since they (usually) do, I suck it up so that they will have a fun time, but I don't think anyone had fun at our last visit. Maybe we'll have to skip it next week.

The weather is still crummy and we are still stuck inside. When will we ever see the sun again??

Making up for lost time

Since we were sick last week and had to cancel most of our activities, we certainly made up for it this week.

On Tuesday I took the cubs to register for PRESCHOOL. I have heard that this preschool can be difficult to get into. The doors opened at 8am, you were given a number, and then registration would start promptly at 9am. I was number 14. We waited for over an hour before our number was called. Emily was fussy, Zach was noisy, and I figured they would take one look at us and send us on our way. I sat down, the Director asked me what classes I was needing, and I held my breath. They offer two programs. The half-day program which is from 8:45 - 11:45 and the full-day program from 8:45 - 2:30. Both programs are two days per week. I wanted the half-day program simply so I wouldn't have to worry about someone trying to feed Zach. My preference was Monday/Wednesday, but would obviously take Tuesday/Thursday if it were the only class still open. When I told the Director my preference, she opened her book, and said the magic words "you got the last two spots". WHEW!!! We got the last two spots for the entire two-year old class....and we got the days I wanted. Thank goodness, because if she would have told me that there was only one spot left or no spots at all, I think I would have broken down into tears right there at her table. My second choice preschool had already had their registration a few weeks prior so I gambled a little by waiting. For once things went my way.

Tuesday night was my last board meeting with my MOMs group at Buca di Beppos. I had volunteered to do the secretary duties that night since Jennifer was unable to attend. Note to self: never volunteer to do things that I already know I'm not good at. I felt a little like being back in college, 1.5 hours of note-taking. I was starving and wanted to eat and by the time I finished my Italian Margarita, who knows what I was writing. Poor Jennifer is going to have to type up my notes and submit them for approval. I sure hope she can muddle through them and make sense out of it all.

I took my muddled mess of notes to Jennifer on Wednesday and the cubs had a play date with her twin boys. It was a pretty morning and we spent some time with the foursome in the backyard. Her boys are so cute and they are talking so well...we need to hang out with them more so the cubs will learn to talk too. Nothing like a little peer pressure.

Thursday morning the inspector came out to inspect the house. We accepted an offer and now have a contract pending. WOO HOO! They have until midnight tomorrow (Monday) night to submit their request for additional repairs or back out of the contract completely. I am holding my breath and watching the clock. So far we haven't heard anything, so hopefully no news is good news. I talked to our realtor on Friday and she agreed that the best thing would be to hear nothing at all and then we will push forward to closing on March 25. So today Steve is emptying out the garage and the attic and moving everything out to storage so the house will be completely empty and ready to transfer to its new owners. Part of me is a little sad. It was the house we first brought the cubs home to, and I'll miss their nursery. It was my favorite room! Now they will have their own rooms at the new house with much more space to play, but you never forget bringing them home the first time.

Thursday morning was also Zach's first feeding therapy appointment. Our copay is $40 per visit, each session lasts 30 minutes, so I paid over $1.00 per minute to listen to Zach scream. All I could think of was that I could do this at home for free. Needless to say, his first session did not go well. He HATES the little booster chair and he screamed almost the entire time. Plus I had to take Emily, so she was a huge distraction. She wanted to be in the middle of everything, she wanted to play, she wanted to eat, and she stuck her fingers in Zach's food. That was thirty minutes of my life that I don't care to repeat. I ushered the cubs to the car, finished feeding Zach, who by the way eats like a champ in his car seat, and took them to Paradise Pond for some fun time. They played for an hour and half and took a nice long nap after we returned home.

Saturday was "Girl Day". Kelli and I spent the entire day together doing what girls do best. Mani/pedis, lunch and shopping. Dad kept the cubs, and I left right after breakfast and came home right before bedtime. I had a ton of fun and it was so good to do things without my two shadows in tow.

This morning I am trying to adjust to this ridiculous time change. Not my favorite time of year, I hate giving up an hour of sleep.

Stopping a roller coaster with your face is not recommended.

Last Thursday I bravely took the cubs back to Paradise Pond. I find this task simply exhausting but well worth it to get the cubs out of the house so they can burn off some of their endless energy. It is impossible to keep my eye on them every second since they absolutely refuse to hang out together in public. So while I was tending to Emily, my friend (who also has twins) was bringing a bawling Zach to me. The flood of guilt overwhelmed me because I knew my little man had gotten hurt and I wasn't there. Apparently he had been playing by the little roller coaster. It is similar to the picture below.

It's large enough for toddlers to ride on and has a little ramp. According to my friend, a little girl was playing on it and Zach decided to lie down on the track. Of course there was no way for the little girl to stop and she ended up running into Zach's head. Poor Zach had a nice little red spot on his face for several hours. We're very thankful that Zach wasn't seriously hurt and hopeful that he has learned a very important lesson. Don't try to stop a roller coaster with your face...the roller coaster will always win. Now there's a phrase I never imagined I would ever say.

We think Emily picked up a little bug at Paradise Pond. During lunch she was so tired she could hardly hold her head up. I just figured that she was exhausted from all the playing, that was the whole point of going. When she woke up from her nap she was burning up. I took her temperature and it was 103.1 so I called the Doctor and her nurse gave me some instructions to try to relieve her fever. She asked me if Em had any other symptoms and she did not. At least not until I hung up the phone. Then she threw up all over me and her Husky. This is alarming. I am very accustomed to throw up...Zach has made me an expert on this...but when it's Emily, that is different. Other than the normal baby formula spit up, Emily has never thrown up. So I called the nurse back and got a different set of instructions. We alternated between Infant Tylenol and Infant Motrin every three hours and then tried to get her to drink and keep down 2 teaspoons of Pedialyte every twenty minutes. This was going to be a long night. Luckily we managed to get her fever down and by the next morning she seemed perfectly fine, so I guess she just had a 6 hour stomach bug. Which she gave to her Daddy. Just great. Thank goodness Daddy can take care of himself.

On Monday I received a phone call from Baylor to schedule Zach's feeding evaluation for this Thursday. After explaining Zach's behavior to the therapist I am optimistic that they may be able to help us. At least she said that there was something else going on other than reflux, wich I had tried unsuccessfully to convince the other therapist of. Hopefully our new Doctors and new therapists will be able to help.

I went to my LCMOMs meeting on Tuesday. We elected the new board so I am looking forward to passing on my position to one of the newer moms. I didn't run for a position this year. With Steve working so much it is impossible to make any commitments. Especially since he works most weekends and we never know his weekend schedule until the Thursday before. It makes it so difficult to plan anything.

Emily has been very fussy yesterday and today. She has refused to take her naps even though she is obviously tired. I finally just let her cry herself to sleep since nothing I did was calming her down. She would take a short nap and wake up in the same mood. Then she would cry and fuss some more. It makes the afternoon drag on forever and I literally count the seconds until Daddy gets home, and then she's fine. Daddy thinks she's an angel. He sees her at her best, I see her during the time she has her halo off.

Potty training has also been put on hold. She did awesome the first two days. She was successful three times and I was so very proud of her. On the third day she started crying each time I took her in to the bathroom. I don't know why this was suddenly different but I decided to put off potty training for now. Maybe we'll try again after we get back from Grandma and Grandpa Bear's this weekend.

Tonight was my monthly dinner with the girls from THC. Patti was able to join us for the first time and she always makes me laugh. Mom loves the adult conversation and the absence of temper tantrums.

Rewind one week....

I am so far behind that I need to track back to January 28....Girl's night with some of the other moms from my moms of multiples club. No one needs a drink more than we do...and my raspberry margarita did not disappoint. YUM! I could have used a triple!

We had a big party to attend on Saturday (the same day we had to trek up to Plano to reselect our tile and granite) for Izzy and Maddie's first birthday. I think the cubs had a lot of fun. I didn't even manage to get any good pictures of the birthday girls...they were buried in presents most of the time. Because I was chasing Z-man around most of the time I didn't get many pics of the cubs either. Here are the few I managed to get:

Zach trying his hardest to be the center of attention:


Zach caught red handed with someone else's water. Thief:


Emily caught red handed running off with my cell phone (she even managed to call Kelli with it). The other thief:


Outside playing with bubbles:


We drove by the house on our way home and snapped a few more pics of the monsters cubs.

Zach screaming in delight. He loves hearing his echo!


Emily on the run:


Who's there, Emily?


The cubs are fascinated by something:


Checking out the stairs:


Zach working his way upstairs:


We did our very best that day to wear the cubs out and they were exhausted by bedtime. We all welcomed a good night's sleep.

The next Monday was another night out with the girls. It almost sounds like mom has a social life, doesn't it? It also came with another raspberry margarita...those things are yummy!

On Wednesday Emily had a Doctor appointment with her new pediatrician. We just wanted to get her established and meet the Doctor. I love our new Doctor and wish we would have switched a long time ago. She listened to all of my questions, she played with Emily, and actually answered all of my questions. Amazing!

On Thursday I took the cubs to a place called Paradise Pond. It is a little play area at one of the churches in Grapevine. It had a big jungle gym, a bounce house, and lots of little "stations" for the cubs to play. Emily had a great time in the "grocery store". She looked at every item before she decided it was good enough to go into her shopping cart. She took that shopping cart everywhere with her. They had a "dress up" station and an area full of Legos. I tried my hardest to get Zach to play in the jungle gym or the bounce house but he was perfectly content running around the place. He must have ran 100 laps around that place. I was exhausted chasing after him. This is also an activity that requires an extra person to help keep an eye on both cubs. Luckily Emily was content in the grocery store area so I had time to run after Zach. If I go back I am going to dress them in bright neon yellow T-shirts so they will be easier to spot. Or maybe I will just get them implanted with a homing device.