Our busy weekend

While Steve was working in the yard on Saturday morning, the cubs and I went to Jennifer's for a playdate with Andrew and Matthew. It is so funny how playdates still consist of four little people doing separate little people things. There really is no "playing together". The cubs had a ton of fun running up and down the stairs, mom was a little worn out almost dead by lunch time. Thank goodness for the mimosa I had to raise my blood sugar back up after all that exercise.

That afternoon Steve and I took the cubs to run some errands. We then went to Jason's Deli for dinner. We were brave and decided to let the cubs sit in "big" chairs, and much to our surprise they did really well. They were a little restless towards the end, but overall it wasn't a terrible experience.

As we were walking from the car I asked Emily if she wanted to hold Zach's hand and she went and grabbed it. It was so cute watching them holding hands and walking together.

On Sunday we took the cubs to Grapevine Mills....sans stroller. The cubs walked the entire mall. I thought they did great. They held hands there too. They did get a bit fussy around lunch time and Emily refuses to hold my hand once we enter a store, so that was a bit trying at times. That was a lot of walking for their little legs. They did enjoy a very lengthy nap as soon as we got home!

Emily's newest thing....high fives! She wants a 'high five' for everything. "Mommy, I did it. High five." Very cute, except when she comes into our room at 5 am. "Mommy, high five." Good thing she's cute!

Zach answered me in Spanish a few days ago. I asked if he had a dirty diaper...."SI" was his response. And he was right. Good thing he's cute!

Catching up!

I want to thank my Mom for spending two weeks with us and helping out with the cubs. She pretty much handled every diaper for me, not to mention all of the other "chores". Thanks Mom! I also want to thank my Dad for letting my her come...it left him fending for himself. When my dad came to pick her up he brought these sand buckets for the cubs. What a hit!!


Grandpa Bear also brought this cool electronic drum set.

The obligatory Baxter photo.

Emily with Baxter.


Operation Separate Rooms
After much debate, Steve and I decided to separate the cubs. Naptime was going very poorly and it was starting to take a toll. The cubs would choose to talk and play instead of sleeping during their naptime and then they were miserable throughout dinner and the early evening. They would end up going to bed early and waking up the next morning even earlier. So we put Emily in her own room last Thursday. Much to my surprise it went very well. There was not much fuss and both cubs slept through the night. The true test would be naptime on Friday and amazingly it went well too. I have declared Operation Separate Rooms a success. Emily is still in her crib as I am still not brave enough to have her in a toddler bed yet. Luckily she hasn't tried to escape recently. I'm sure that time is coming soon though.

Her first night in her own room.:

His first night alone in his own room.:


Cold front
The weather here has been dreadfully hot. Today it was 105. I am looking forward to the cold front expected on Friday. The temp should drop to frigid 96. Gotta love Texas summers.

Emily's first haircut

Emily had her first haircut on Saturday, July 11. We took her to Sweet and Sassy....how appropriate. I'm proud of my little cub. She did a great job sitting in the "big girl" chair. After her cut (mainly just a trim to even out the length in the back) the stylist put her hair in the cutest little piggy tails and even sprayed glitter in her hair. Such a little diva! I wasn't too sure about the glitter, and would have probably told the stylist that we would pass if I were given the chance, but I have to admit, my little sweet and sassy diva looked pretty cute!

I was a little worried, but once Emily got her hands on this little flower sucker, she did very well in the "big girl" chair.

"Sassy Diva" still with her sucker.

Little cub with her dampened fur.

Putting in the piggy tails.

Getting glitterized.

Safe, secure, and sassy in Daddy's arms.

How cute is she???

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".

Potty training woes!

Happy 21-month birthday to our precious cubs!

We are celebrating with (drum roll please) POTTY TRAINING.

I have totally been dreading potty training with apparent good reason. I have always heard that girls catch on faster than boys (of course!) so naturally I started with Emily first. So the plan is to take Emily into the bathroom for 5-10 minutes at a time. Not a problem. Except it means that Z-Man is running around the house totally unsupervised. This is not good. Tackling furniture, terrorizing the cat, hanging from the ceiling fan...you get the idea. Otherwise he's in the bathroom with us totally distracting Emily from the task at hand. ***SIGH*** What is a mom to do? Mommy is not really enjoying this.

Me, myself and "I...I....I"

Two little monkeys:

Another little monkey:

Not much to report this week. Zach is still having tons of issues with keeping his food down, much to Mommy's dismay. We were doing so well and now we have reverted back to tossing our lunch every day (and/or breakfast and/or dinner). We are going to restart his Mylanta to see if that might help. We also have a call into his Gastro doc to see about doing the swallow study. We're pretty much at our wits end and don't know what to do to help him. According to Mom's unreliable bathroom scale he has lost almost a pound this month, so I'm praying that my scale really is unreliable.

Our precious little miracle cubs:


Emily has been doing great. Mom gave up some of her control issues and let Emily spoon feed herself. I was amazed at how well she did. She needed some occasional help reloading her spoon, but other than that, I'd say it was a success. Mom even took some pictures. We are very proud!

Emily had her first face-plant (nose dive off the couch) on Monday. Poor thing now has a pretty little bruise above her right eye to show for it. It didn't keep her from climbing back up on the couch for another try though.

Zach is constantly walking around saying "I". I have reminded him that there is no 'i' in team, but Steve said there is an 'i' in twins. He is now our self-absorbed little man. "I....I....I"

He also loves making "fish lips" right now and he looks so cute when he does it! Such a funny little man.

Fish lips:


We didn't get any rain from Hurricane Gustav. It's been such a dry year and our little yard sure shows it. It should be lush and green by the looks of our water bill though. YIKES!

The cubs are enjoying a Handy Manny DVD from Grandma Shirley, so now they are glued to the TV and it gives Mom a free minute to catch up on blogging. Thanks Grandma Shirley! Otherwise, this blog might not have happened. I'm very busy these days trying to catch flying cubs! It's always a circus here at Cub Central!

Zach taking a break while playing with Dad:

Couch-climbers....our little miracle monkeys

What an eventful weekend! Grandma and Grandpa Bear (and Baxter Dog) visited this weekend. It's always great to see my parents and I know they really enjoy spending time with the cubs. Plus Grandpa Bear always brings me some egg rolls from my favorite little Chinese hole-in-the-wall. YUMMY!

Emily, Zach and Baxter:


Another "first" occurred on Sunday evening. As I was doing some work on the computer, I heard Steve say "Oh God, Zach!". I thought something was horribly wrong. I ran into the living room in time to see Zach crawl up on the couch all by himself. We officially have our first couch-climber!! Not five minutes later we had our second couch-climber. Emily quickly figured out how to do this by watching Zach do it a few times. Now this may not seem huge to some, but to Mom it is beyond huge. It totally changes the dynamic of daily life here at Cub Central. I used to be able to do small tasks in the kitchen or perhaps do a load of laundry while the cubs entertained themselves. I knew they would be reasonably safe. NOT ANYMORE. I am going to have to play catcher of two cubs who like to bound off the couch at the same time. These cubs have no fear. This may be a simple thing for a parent of one, but when two are doing it at same time from opposite ends of the couch, it is quite frightening. Mom desperately needs a longer arm span.

Zach crawling up Mt. Couch:


Zach reaching the summit of Mt. Couch, and he's very proud of it:


Emily scaling Mt. Couch in a single move:


Emily at the summit of Mt. Couch:


Emily took her first tumble off the couch on Monday morning. Mom just wasn't fast enough as she fell and rolled off onto the floor. Luckily she wasn't hurt...she jumped up and smiled, and crawled back up on the couch. WHEW! Trauma avoided.

Soapbox time: I found another house to look at last week and when we called we heard the dreaded words "Sale Pending". My plea to realtors, please update your website so I don't continue to waste my time. If it is no longer available, don't list it on your site!!! UGH!!!

Zach's gastroenterologist suggested adding Carnation Instant Breakfast to his milk for extra calories, so we started that last week. He seems to be tolerating it pretty well. It's more budget friendly than the Pediasure, but I'm still going to give that to him as well for the nutritional value it is supposed to have. Since we started the Carnation he hasn't been eating his solids as well, so I'll be keeping an eye on that. I guess it is pretty filling. He has also been battling the dreaded runny nose (again) this weekend. I can't wait for that to clear up.

Steve switched the carseats around yesterday so they are now forward facing. We're pretty sure Zach has finally reached the 20 lb. minimum requirement. He now has the best seat in the car. Poor Emily gets a lovely view of the back of Daddy's head.

Grandpa Bear gave this monkey to Emily but it seems that Zach has adopted him instead:


Our little girl has a built-in homing device when it comes to our remote control. I used to be able to put it on the top of the recliner, but now her grubby little paws can reach it there too. She's very determined:


Husky had a bath this weekend courtesy of Grandpa Bear, and the poor thing needed it. Thank you Grandpa Bear! Emily cannot sleep without her Husky and it's nice to have him all clean and sparkly. Here she is giving Husky a kiss:

Here kitty kitty....

I can't believe it! We made it through a Temper-Tantrum Tuesday almost temper-tantrum free. Today was actually a very good day. Zach woke up early again, but managed to talk himself back to sleep, and then I finally woke him up at 8:30. It set his nap-time back a little bit, but he still surprisingly managed to get a decent nap in. Emily also took in a good amount of sleep today. They must be going through a growth spurt.

The cubs jabber all the time, but so far I haven't been able to make anything out of it. It may have been my imagination, but I think Emily may have said her first word (besides mama and dada) while we were playing today. It was......drum roll, please......"kitty". After she said it, I asked her where the kitty was, and she stood up and walked over to the couch where Whiskers was napping. So sweet. Whiskers has always had an attachment to Emily ever since we brought the cubs home. When Emily would cry, Whiskers would come out of hiding and sit next to her. She never got too close, she just watched over her. They are big pals now!

Where to begin??

Our stroller arrived on Thursday...now that's service. Steve says it looks exactly like he expected it to. I was hoping for a little more vibrant orange. It looks more like rust or burnt orange, but it's not too bad. It handles so much easier than our Graco. It's a planning process when we journey out because you have to give thought to which stroller would be easier to use. The Graco fits through much tighter spaces, so when going to the mall, the Graco is the far better choice to squeeze through (and sometimes even it is too big...who designs the layouts of these stores??). When going to the zoo, the City Mini wins hands down. Plus there is no more kicking and hair pulling. If only there was such a thing as the perfect stroller....

On Friday, the cubs and I met up with Kelli and her twins at the mall....in the Graco. I thought it went really well except that Zach returned his lunch...thank heavens I had put a bib on him, because I had forgotten to bring a change of clothes. This is the first time he has ever thrown up his lunch in public, but we got through it. The cubs even managed a brief nap and Kelli and I were able to eat lunch almost like real adults do.

Our first attempt at home-made baby food didn't go too well. It was easy enough to make, but the cubs didn't care for it. I wasn't surprised at all by Zach's reaction, but I totally expected Emily to gobble up the veggies. I tried carrots, green beans, and peas, separately and together, and she refused them all after just one bite. I am not giving up. I'm sure she'll eat them after she gets used to it.

Steve had off this weekend which was pretty unusual. We loaded up the cubs yesterday and took them to the mall. It was far less pleasant than the trip the day before. Emily was a major fuss bucket! We only got to go into a few stores before we decided to pack them up and come home. The only bright spot of the trip was watching Emily navigate her first small set of stairs. There were only six, but she looked pretty adorable waddling up the stairs. We also let Zach out of the stroller to walk in the mall. Our little man is quite the speed walker.

For dinner last night Steve requested my italian version of shrimp scampi. This is big! I made it the first time on Thursday and Steve said it was good! I usually get an "it's ok" or "it's not bad", so receiving a "good" is the equivalent to a five-star rating from him. Whoo hoo! We've been married almost eight years, and I finally got a "good"! So twice this week we had shrimp scampi. I thought it was pretty good too, but it probably is not on my diet.

Steve and the cubs have their little ritual before bed. Steve and Emily usually share a banana, and then they all chase each other around the couches. I love hearing the cubs laugh. It is the greatest sound in the world. I think Steve enjoys the playtime together except that he always complains about needing knee pads. I think he's just getting old.

For Steve's birthday I sent him to get a Sports Massage. It's not an original idea, he does it for me all the time, but I know he's been working hard and could use it. We hope he has a happy birthday!!

Making progress

Our little man is making progress. I am so excited to announce that Zach has FINALLY decided last Friday that he is ready to drink from his sippy cup. While he's not doing it consistently, and he still uses it as an occasional chew toy, he has been making an effort to drink from it, and around here that is HUGE! To make things even better, he had several small bites of my baked potato on Sunday evening. Also, very HUGE! AND...for those keeping up, he has now gone 39 days without an eruption. MAJOR HUGE! He's had several small spit-ups, but they are so much smaller on the magnitude scale compared to his Mt. Vesuvius eruptions, that they aren't even really worth mentioning. It's so great to finally post some good eating news for our little man.

I always feel guilty because I don't have much to report on our little Emily Bear. She is doing great as always. She has tried a variety of the Yo Baby yogurts. She seems to like all of them so far except for the vanilla. She sampled some of Grandpa Bear's swiss cheese on Friday and she also inhaled part of her daddy's baked potato on Sunday. The girl loves food, what can I say?! She is having some pretty annoying temper-tantrums and I am hoping that she will soon learn that they aren't very productive. She is so dramatic, and they stop just as quickly as they start. It would be comical if it weren't so annoying. Poor thing.

Grandpa Bear (and Baxter Dog) came on Friday to pick up Grandma Bear. She stayed with us for two weeks and was a huge help, especially when Steve was gone. I sure did miss her today when I had to tackle all of the diaper changes on my own. I had gotten spoiled because she did almost every one while she was here. I miss her!

Steve (and his luggage) came home on Saturday after his week long business trip. We are so glad he is home. I took the cubs to greet him at the airport, and I think it made his day when his little girl "ran" to him and then he received one of Zach's precious hugs.

The cubs are starting to give "kisses". Big, wet, open-mouthed "kisses". Zach even gave one to Emily tonight at bedtime. So sweet!! I love our cubs!!

What a busy week...

Wow, it's been a busy week. On Monday, I had my girl's night out with Debbie and Kristy. It's always great to see my friends and enjoy some real adult conversation. Don't get me wrong, Emily and Zach are great to "talk" with, but their conversations are a little one-dimensional.

On Tuesday, Zach had an appointment to address some possible oral hypersensitivity issues. It may be the reason he is reluctant to try chunkier types of food. Who knows?! Moving along, I am very happy to report that it has been 21 days since his last Mt. Vesuvius type spit-up. WHOO HOO! You have no idea how exciting this is. I certainly hope he keeps this up and we have a very positive result at our next weigh-in. I've added Pediasure back into his diet, so he's even getting some additional calories. Hopefully he'll continue to tolerate it.

On Wednesday, the cubs discovered that they can reach the door handles and actually open doors. We don't have door knobs here, we have lever type handles. They grab on, pull down, and the door opens. JUST GREAT!! Nobody ever thinks about these things. They are smart little monsters, always looking for an escape.

Tonight Steve and I took the cubs to a mexican restaurant to have dinner with our good friends Matt and Beth Ann. The cubs behaved fairly well considering they don't like to sit still for very long. Now that they are both walking, sitting is probably quite boring to them, as they are so very curious and want to explore everything. Zach actually tried the guacamole and to my amazement he even guided my fork to his mouth for a second bite. His facial expression indicated that he didn't really like it, but the point is that he tried it, and more than once. This is a huge step for him. Now little Emily Bear likes everything, and tonight she also tried some new foods: tortilla, refried beans, spanish rice, a small piece of fajita meat, and a grilled onion. Yes, you read correctly, she even had several bites of grilled onion. The girl is definitely mine! She loves Mexican food!!

Grandma and Grandpa Bear are coming tomorrow, so we can't wait to see their reaction to how much the cubs have changed since their last visit! A busy weekend is ahead!

A quick update before bed

It's late on Sunday night (yes, we consider 9:30 late around here) and I know that I had better post an update because I probably won't get a chance tomorrow. The last few days have been pretty typical for Cub Central. Here is a quick run down of the past week's events, in no particular order: Zach is walking more and Emily has now started walking backwards (How stinking cute is that?!?!?). Zach's eating has been acceptable. He isn't eating as much, but he is managing to keep down what he's eating, so we'll take what we can get. I am still working on getting him to take the stupid sippy cup. I even bought one with a straw, but he just chews on that one too. The cubs babble like crazy. I can't understand a single thing, but I'm really starting to believe that they have their own "twin" language. They "talk" back and forth to each other constantly, and I just know they are planning their next adventure. It's a conspiracy! Steve is totally convinced that Emily said "daddy" when he got home on Friday. I was on the phone at the time, so while I can't confirm that it was a true "daddy", I will admit that it sounded pretty close to it. However, it wasn't "mommy", so that's all we're going to say about that. We have a busy week ahead of us. Zach has an OT appointment on Tuesday, we have a dinner date with Matt and Beth Ann on Thursday, and Grandma and Grandpa Bear are coming on Friday! The fun never stops here at Cub Central!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to our dads! We love you Grandpa Bear, Grandpa John and Dad!


On Saturday, we went to a Father's Day picnic given by my LCMOM group. I was very happy that Steve was able to get off work early to join us. It was really nice to finally meet the husbands and finally see all of the babies that I have heard so much about. It was brutally hot outside, so thank goodness for the covered tables and the nice breeze. We munched on fried chicken and biscuits. Emily even tried some chicken and banana pudding. Zach had chosen to skip his nap, so by the time we arrived he was quite the fuss-bucket. He didn't want to try any foods (probably a good thing as I'm sure he would have thrown it up anyway), and if I put him down, he wanted to be picked up. And if I picked him up, he wanted to be put down. FUSS-BUCKET!!

Steve and I put the cubs in the park swings for the first time. Emily didn't seem too impressed. And Zach didn't want to even sit in the swing, but once we got him in there, and gave him the first push...SMILES all around. He LOVED it! He laughed the whole time. It's such a shame that it was so hot outside because we had to end his fun early. Then it was back to FUSS-BUCKET! Finally Steve took him for a ride, hoping for him to fall asleep (didn't happen) so that I could stay and visit just a little while longer. Adult conversation does wonders for Mommy's spirit.





Matt and Beth Ann came over Saturday night for "game night". We used to have game night often before the cubs arrived. Now that the cubs are here, game night is now considered a special occasion. We played a board game called Sequence. Of course, as always, Steve and I lost 2-1. It's a good thing that we are gracious losers (um, yeah, I'm not at all competitive...I HATE to lose). We have lots of losing experience, I'm starting to get used to it!

Steve's request for Father's Day was to watch the US Open. So that was our big exciting Sunday. GOLF! Steve is so excited to teach the cubs to golf. He's even started working on showing them the proper golf grip. GOOD GRIEF!

It's official

Emily Grace has taken her first official documented steps. Mom managed to get two separate "runs" on video, the second one lasting an impressive 15 steps. So now we give the challenge back to Zach. It's his turn now.

Today was Zach's nutrition appointment. How fitting that it fell on Friday the 13th. Here are his latest stats: Weight: 18 lbs 1.3 oz, and length: 28 3/4". He is in the 2.13 percentile for weight and the 15.63 percentile for height. So for those that have been keeping up, he has managed to gain some weight, but he has fallen some percentile points for both weight and length. ***SIGH*** So depressing considering that he went 20 puke-free days. But I guess any ground that we managed to gain then was lost in the last two weeks where he managed to spit-up 8 of the past 12 days. It's hard to narrow down what caused the spitting up to restart. He really seemed to like the Pediasure but he started spitting up after three days of it and has basically not stopped since. We're not sure if the Pediasure is the reason or not. It does have a higher calorie content than he is used to, and maybe his system just isn't ready to handle it yet. The Nutritionist gave us some new stuff to try. It's called Vital Jr. It costs on average $1800/month. You must be kidding me. I'm secretly hoping he hates the stuff. We are also going to try whole milk supplemented with Carnation Instant Breakfast for extra calories. A way cheaper alternative. Keep your fingers crossed!

Steps, teeth and cheese

I'm in trouble because I didn't write about Emily's first steps. Apparently she took three steps on Sunday. The reason I did not write about it was because I did not see it. No videotape, just Daddy's word. So, via second-hand information, our little Emily bear took her first steps. Still, just to egg on the competition, Zach took five. For once, Emily has a little catching up to do.

We did a tooth check tonight. Emily now has two bottom teeth and four top teeth. Little man has his two bottom teeth and three top teeth cutting through. He has been incredibly fussy today, so I imagine it's because he's hurting a bit. So with a friendly proactive dose of Tylenol, I'm hoping we all get some sleep tonight.

Last night was girl's night out with my LCMOM group (Mom of Multiples). We met for dinner at The Melting Pot. Yum! What can be better than good conversation, cheese fondue, wine and chocolate?! And it's always nice to come home and find the cubs sleeping soundly in their beds.

First steps??? Who took them???

Yesterday our little man took his official first steps. He took three steps - a short pause - and then two more steps for a grand total of FIVE steps....AND I managed to get it all on video! Man, I'm good! Especially considering that we were home alone. Emily and Daddy had left to go to Sonic when the big event occurred. We are very proud of little man. We had a feeling he would walk before his big sister. He seems to have no fear, so letting go of Mom or Dad's hand is no big deal. Emily walks like a champ as long as she has a hand to hold, and she's very fast, but she's just not ready to let go and try it on her own yet. She'll get there. You have to give the girl a break, she has a lot more weight to carry around than little man does.

It's been a really busy weekend around here. Because of the terrible winds we've been having, our fence finally gave in. We needed to get this repaired ASAP because our neighbors have two dogs (one is a pit-bull mix) and we didn't want any issues since we have our Eva. I had called on Thursday for some quotes and they were ridiculous, so we decided to fix it ourselves. So now Steve and I are tired, ant and mosquito bitten, and we're only half way done. The fence between our two houses is fixed, but we still need to replace some posts across the back. Stupid fence.

On Friday evening, we treated ourselves to Subway. I had my usual sub, totally loaded with the veggies (minus tomatoes thanks to the Salmonella outbreak), when Emily Grace decided she wanted some. That girl sure is grabby. Grabby Emily Grace! So she got to try a pickle and some black olives. We totally expected some funny faces, but she really seemed to like them. Big surprise! Is there anything that girl doesn't like??