Mommy and Cale in Rockport.

Warning: Rockport makes most people look like a cat sucked on their hair.

The days of sleeping all day are OVER....the babies want to be entertained now, especially Cale. He is so happy in the stroller at the mall...today he flirted with all the ladies in Dillard's....he was squealing and cooing to anyone who would look at him. They are getting so funny!

The last few weeks have been pretty eventful....the babies made their first trip to the coast with me and my mom....we met my grandparents and uncle in Rockport for two days. Despite my disappointment at realizing Rockport is not the tropical paradise I imagined it to be during my childhood, we had a pretty good time! I didn't take the babies to the beach or into the swimming pool, because Daddy stayed home in SA and I didn't want him to miss such important "firsts". We didn't do much except sit on the patio and look at the ocean (and wonder whether or not the tropical storm was going to wash us away). We had a pretty stressful lunch at The Big Fisherman....(home of the potato-less potato soup and the most disillusioned waitresses in the coastal area...) when Hayden decided to do her high pitched screaming routine while we were eating....I know it was her reflux acting up, and we were trying everything to make her feel better...when lo and behold I hear a woman's voice behind me say "They should DO something!" If I had known for sure who behind me had offered such sage advice, I would have had a colorful response for her...but seeing as I wasn't sure who exactly made the remark, I kept my mouth shut. That kind of stuff drives me crazy!!! Along with the comment, "I am SO glad I am not HER!" when people see me tooling in with my double wide of a stroller. My mom says I should smile and say, "Yes, you don't look like you could handle it." or the meaner response, "What a coincidence!! I was just thinking I was SO glad that I wasn't YOU!" Of course, I never actually say anything....I just think it and complain about it later....:) I have always been the person who hears the insult in temporal distortion mode and comes up with a great response in the car on the way home, wishing I had thought of it faster and at the time!

Of course, the babies loved being held by someone for 48 straight hours, but it made it a little hard on me when we got home....I am realizing we need a schedule!!! They are great night time sleepers, and Hayden naps pretty well, but Cale stays awake all day, and then gets so exhausted that dinner time is miserable if he hasn't had a nap in the afternoon... I have about a thirty minute window to try to get him into his crib or he goes past the point of no return and is hysterical. They are taking one great morning nap, and then I have been letting them sleep in their carseats when we are on the go....apparently (according to the baby books) we can't do that anymore.

They are so, so different now in their little personalities....Hayden is so easy that I would have five kids if they were all like her....she doesn't even cry when she wakes up...sometimes we just see her little feet kicking in the air and when we go check on her, she is smiling and looking up at us!! Cale, on the other hand, is a little demanding....you need a little bit more patience with him! He is still a sweet, happy baby, but I spend a lot more time trying to figure out what he wants! My mom said he is a "male chauvanist piglet"....wants all his custodial needs taken care of by women, (including feeding) but wants to socialize with men. He definitely thinks he is one of the boys!

I went to have lunch with my "school girlfriends" today....it was so fun seeing them, and it makes me a little sad I am not going back to school....I am so grateful I am getting the chance to stay home with the babies, but this is a big change because it is the first August in nine years that I haven't been getting ready for the first day of school! I was sad to leave them today....I may try to sub a few days this semester just to earn a few extra bucks and get to hang out with my girls! I will probably miss teaching....I loved making real connections with my kids, and knowing I made a difference in some of their little lives....plus, my students were always the greatest givers of unconditional love....I told Shawn that being spotted in HEB by my former students is my only chance to feel like a local celebrity! But I know the chance to be here every day with my babies is too great to pass up!! I love that I see all of their "firsts" first hand...

We are going Sunday to buy high chairs...can't believe they are already getting that big....I remember when it was easy to hold them with one hand! Makes me remember to enjoy every day as much as I can, because they are growing so fast!

Twelve weeks old...

My brother thinks Hayden looks like the alien from the notoriously horrible eighties movie "Mac and Me". Although I cringe at the comparison of my child to a second rate E.T. knockoff, I can't help but crack up everytime I think about it!! Hopefully she will someday grow hair and won't spend the rest of her life hearing this comment. We realized she also LOVES to listen to Andrew play the guitar. She stares and stares at him, and when he quits her lip quivers. He says it is nice to know he has at least one fan so far.

The babies were christened this weekend. They were so good in church...except during the mass suspicious noises started coming from Cale's diaper...I took him back to the bathroom to change his diaper, because I didn't want him to stink during his baptism....I ended up having to change him on the counter by the sink because there is no changing table at my parent's church. After cursing them for being blantantly "anti-child" I tried to take him into the bathroom stall with me. Going to the bathroom in a dress while holding an infant on your hip is no picnic, let me tell you. I had to look in the mirror before leaving the bathroom to make sure I wasn't going to walk out the door and back up the aisle with my dress stuffed into my underwear. Luckily, they were both so sweet during the whole mass and baptism afterward. The only grumped a little bit while the water was being poured over their heads....(we have been practicing in the bathtub!) Shawn had a hard time with the ultrafeminine baptismal attire they both wore. He kept apologizing to Cale while we were getting them ready. The gowns were crocheted by my grandma Mannecke before she died, so their wearing them was non negotiable...I am sure Cale won't remember wearing what my husband deemed "A dress". They looked adorable...and Hayden only threw up three times during the christening...at one point you could actually hear splashing on the tile....at least she didn't throw up on the bishop, which was our prediction. Speaking of throwing up, I have never laughed so hard as last Saturday morning....Shawn and Hayden were laying in the bed talking....He was laying on his side talking so sweet to her, and then he made this horrible noise and sat straight up...she had spit up right into his mouth and all over his face!!! I was crying laughing....which I am sure he didn't appreciate. I asked him how formula tasted, and he said, "I was trying not to taste it!"...I think he is officially inducted into the Daddy hall of fame!! Hopefully her spitting up is about to reach a crescendo and taper off....She takes medicine for reflux, and cries sometimes because her throat hurts....she screamed us out of Luby's today, while a whole herd of old ladies stared at me like they were judging my parenting skills. I was so frazzled I would have had to strangle someone with a shawl were they to comment....

We had a great time this week because my brother was home from Addison. We hung out pretty much every day....he really helps out with the babies. I am sure he thinks he has no idea what he is doing, but he helps anyway! He put together the exersaucer, which Cale loves. Cale is so happy in it....we think it is because he thinks he is standing up on his own. He SO doesn't want to be a baby anymore. He thinks he is twelve! Both babies are getting so good at lifting their heads and chests off the ground...although we can only do "tummy time" while they are in a really good mood, or lots of crying ensues. They are getting to be so much fun, laughing and smiling at us all the time....Hayden is about five seconds from rolling over...she gets her whole body twisted and could do it if she realized what was going on! Cale still wants to be held every second....which is getting harder and harder to do since he is HUGE....Shawn is worried he is going to be the "fat kid". He just got done eating a minute ago, and my mom said he looked like a tick. He was laying there with just a shirt and diaper on (yes, I have turned into THAT person...next thing you know it, we'll be in Walmart in nothing but a diaper) and his big old gut was hanging out...I am SURE he will work it off the minute he learns to walk, because I predict that once that kid starts moving, he is not ever going to stop!

I still can't believe these babies are mine...I sometimes have a hard time realizing they were the ones in my stomach. I can't believe that at this time last year, we were still hoping and praying for a baby, and now my whole world is babies! It becomes more and more clear to me every day that they are the very best thing to ever happen to me!!