We are in the middle of some BIG decisions right now....mainly because we made some bad choices in the past. For those of you that don't know, we own two houses. Seeing as we aren't celebrities or tycoons, this leaves us in a less than desirable position. We put the Alamo Heights house (I say that loosely...my husband keeps reminding me that the house is NOT in AH school district, which is the only thing that matters....I say it anyway. It sounds better than "Off Harry Wurzbach, behind Diane's Rainbow Glass and down the street from the Ebbtibe Lounge.) on the market two weeks ago....and we have encountered what we expected. Tons of traffic, based on the fact that the house has great curb appeal and is in a good area....but all the comments are the same. Some idiot who owned our house two or three owners ago added on an addition that looks like it was done by monkeys. It is horrible, and needs to be fixed or torn off the house...Everyone who sees the house hates that back room, and doesn't make an offer because of it. Now, we have to put our Schertz house on the market (which is perfect, brand new, and has nothing wrong with it....not to mention it is thirty seconds from my parents' house) and move back into the other house. I really, really, really hope this house sells fast...I am getting tired of worrying about it! There are a lot of good things about living back over there...Shawn will have NO commute at all, he can come home for lunch and see the babies every day.....that house is bigger.....we will get to renovate, which I always said I wanted to do....I am going to focus on the good and not worry about everything else. If you have some time, say a prayer that Shawn and I have discernment and that SOMETHING happens that allows us to rid ourselves of one or both houses.

We were lucky to have Daddy off and at home for the second Friday in a row! His office didn't work today because of Battle of Flowers, so he got to spend lots of time with the babies....we took them to the gym for playnastics this morning, and stayed an hour. That is just about as long as you can chase two babies around a building before needing to go home and take a nap. (which I did) They loved the "push" toys at the gym....Shawn wants to go get one for them tomorrow, because it is looking like they are right on the verge of wanting to walk. (which is what I said about crawling, and they "looked like they were going to crawl" for two months before any action actually took place!) Hayden loved to stand up behind the push toy, and even walked a little. Cale pushed it all over the place, but wouldn't stand up. He just used his knees to scoot around while holding the handle. Today when we got home, Hayden pulled up on me, and then let go, standing on her own for FOREVER before realizing I wasn't helping her, and plopping down onto her hiney. When we hold her hands and walk with her, she can let go and use only one hand, so I am pretty sure she'll walk before he will. Seeing as he is a full two pounds "huskier" than her, it might take him a little longer. With walking right around the corner, I realize we need to seriously review some of our home decor. I know the candle garden filled with tiny stones has got to go, as well as the basket full of magazines. Unless I want rocks stuffed up nostrils or sixty billion pieces of shredded paper on the floor, I need to start taking baby proofing to the next level. It is funny to me that they can't walk yet, but they are already starting to climb. Especially Hayden....she gets up on her knees on our medicine ball, on the diaper basket, on pillows....she is going to be a monkey like my brother was. He could climb ANYTHING when he was tiny....I already catch her doing things that take my breath away. She is going to be a sneaky one to keep an eye on....Cale's new trick made us laugh today. We ask him "Are you a cowboy?" and he does his own little attempt at "YEEEE-HAAAAW!" Mommy models it for him every time, and it makes him laugh....he does a little squeal that is pretty close. It cracks me up because when you ask him to do it, you can totally tell on his face that he knows what you are talking about. Although I LOVE this phase, and I am excited about the new things they are learning, I had a little baby panic attack at the idea that this is all going by too fast. I want it to slow down a little so that they don't speed through their babyhood. That is one reason I can't imagine being done with having kids yet...I would be really sad at the idea of only getting one babyhood (even though there is two of them) and then it would be over. Plus, as my husband pointed out, we don't want all of our kids to go off and leave us alone the same year. We want to ease into our empty nest....yes, we actually talk about stuff like that!! I know for sure we are not done yet. Now we have to start talking about how soon we want to go down that road again....I am enjoying them so much that I really want to be able to give them all my attention while they are babies. They already get a little bit of the shaft since they are twins, so I don't want to take away any more of their attention...at least not yet!

Our out of town weekend went well...all thing considered! We got to Austin early Saturday, had us some Plucker's in the fancy new on campus location, and walked around a little on the drag while a he/she in one of the shops gave me some parenting advice. We enjoyed the Austin vibe (code for: smell of pot mixed with B.O.) and tried to keep the babies out of the sun....we checked into our hotel and headed to the field for the game. The sun was going down for the first couple of innings, so we were a little sweaty, but it was manageable. Besides being complemented on our "adorable twin boys" (Hayden didn't have her hair bow) we had a really good time! Shawn got the little portable high chair seat out of the car, so Cale watched the game from his own little seat, while he ate goldfish and enjoyed the scenery. Hayden got passed around, and the high light of their night was when Mimi shared her Dippin' Dots with them....they LOVED them. Hayden finally fell asleep at the game, but Cale was cranky and sleepy so we left....they didn't lay down until ten at our hotel, and Shawn and I hid in the bathroom and talked for a while so that they would go to sleep instead of looking at us, wondering why we weren't picking them up. They slept really well away from home...which is awesome because you always worry your kid is going to be the rigid one who has to be in their own bed to sleep. They were so much fun, and we really enjoyed seeing our family...especially Casey, who has a tiny little baby bump! The babies will have another little cousin to play with pretty soon....a baby girl! We are so excited....

Shawn and I are continually amazed at how flexible our babies are...where they get that trait I have NO idea....They just love being taken anywhere, as long as they are being loved on. I am really hoping this attitude lasts....

First zoo trip

Shawn took off work today so that we could take the babies on their first trip to the zoo. We had pretty low expectations about how much they would actually "get" being at the zoo, but it went surprisingly well. For one, they LOVE being in the stroller, no matter where they are. You could be pushing them through the aisles of a meat locker and they would kick their little legs like they were having the best time....but we really wanted to see what they would do when they saw animals (other than dogs). It was interesting...they really did pay attention to everything...they liked the flamingos (pretty color), elephant, fish...all in all it was a really fun day. We chose to eat lunch and head to the zoo later in the afternoon...which worked out GREAT because all the sweaty field trippers were already on their way out. (yippee!) The weather was really pretty, and the zoo was a lot nicer than I remember from the last time I went (with sweaty field trippers of my own) They have done a lot of work on the Africa section of the zoo, and it is starting to look really nice...now all we need is some more monkeys! We thought it was a little sad that some of the animals didn't have a "buddy"...the elephant was all alone...so was the zebra. Maybe there were some other family members hiding out in the shade, but they looked to be riding solo. Some observations I must make note of about the zoo: 1. The world's oldest grizzly bear lives at our zoo....I don't know this for sure, but the poor thing was limping along in a geriatric manner that was pretty telling. 2. The San Antonio Zoo has enough birds to qualify as solely a bird sanctuary. Birds are nice but enough is enough! We heard a mom telling her little boy, "I don't want to see another bird! I am all birded out!" We agreed. 3. They still have the plast-o-rama machines from when I was little. You know, the thing you could put four quarters in and get a plastic gorilla or other animal of your choice? You know the thing that came out of the machine still warm from the mold? It was nice to see that in the era of the $3.33 gallon of gasoline, the plast-o-rama has only doubled in price to a reasonable two dollars. By the time my kids are old enough to want a plastic animal, they will probably be 10.50.....

We had a really good time...the lady in the petting zoo gave each of our babies a piece of food to feed to the tiny goats, and Cale thought it was really hilarious when the goat licked his hand....hopefully the goat didn't just send us from throat ulcers to hand, foot and mouth disease.

After seeing some more animals (and a nap in the stroller for the babies) we had dinner on the patio at Outback, and were totally impressed by the babies interest in eating "regular person" food. Cale had about half of a loaf of bread, and they both loved mac-n-cheese, green beans, and daddy's mashed sweet potatoes. They were in the best mood all day....and humored us all with their reperetoire of "tricks" at the restaurant. Our newest one is to ask Hayden "Are you stinky?" and she crinkles her nose up like something stinks! We laugh every time...so sometimes we get the "stinky" face when we're not even asking for it...she is going to be quite a show pony...

Tomorrow we're off to Round Rock to see our cousin Nick play baseball....we are so excited!

This is what happens...

...when you give chocolate teddy grahams to a sleepy eleven month old!

So apparently this is not the healthiest two weeks of the babies' life thus far. This weekend, Cale was NOT himself...whiny and grumpy and not wanting to be put down AT ALL. He was like a little Rhesus monkey clinging to me wherever I went. Even putting him in his high chair made him cry. (And the boy usually LOVES to eat) Monday he was miserable...I tried Tylenol and it wasn't helping. At about four a.m. we get a screaming wake up call coming from the nursery, and sure enough, he was BURNING up....we took his temp and it was over 102...we gave him Tylenol again, and put a cool rag on his head...he was so mad, we were thinking an emergency room visit might be in order.....Finally Shawn decides we should put him in the tub, mainly because he loves a bath and we thought that playing with his tub toys would make him happy. Well, what do you know? My husband seems to know a thing or two about parenting!! He was happy as a clam and as soon as we got clean jammies back on him and laid him down, he was sound asleep. I hoped and prayed he would feel better when he woke up....which he did, but not good enough. He was just cranky enough to let us know that something was still wrong....we took him to Dr. Fitch, only to find out his throat is covered in white ulcers! How sad is that? The kid was in terrible pain, and we had no idea! He prescribed him an antibiotic, and something called "pink magic" (which sounds like a drug I would willingly injest after three days of having a crying, sweaty baby glued to my side) It is a combo of Benadryl, motrin, and lydacaine to numb his throat. Poor, poor baby.....and too bad that he tries to spit out every medicine we give him....you are supposed to aim the pink magic to the back of his throat so as not to numb his lips and tongue....but the way he spits and thrashes around, his whole head region is probably numb. (along with the back of his neck, since that is where most of it seems to roll) Ugh!!! Not an easy few days....Cale felt terrible, Hayden had to play all by herself, and I was WORN out. This is when having two is a little harder than one. Luckily, my parents took Hayden with them today so that I could love on Cale....he and I ran errands, and he was in a MUCH better mood. It is easier to run errands with one baby, but I wouldn't want to do it too often...We both missed Sissy....when we were getting in the car, I asked him "Where's your sissy?" and he leaned over to look at the space where her car seat normally is. Smart baby! Now if I could just keep him from sucking on the handle of grocery carts, he would avoid some sickness!

What new to report?? Well....let's see....
-Cale's new trick is to put anything on his head or over his face...then he smiles really big and waits for you to laugh.
-We ask Hayden "Are you funny?" and she courtesy laughs for us. It is hilarious!
-We took the babies to the church nursery Friday night, and they did okay....besides the fact that Hayden was being held by one of the workers in the hallway. Apparently, she cried, but not nearly like the last time! She was doing fine until another baby tried to hug her, and then a toy made a loud noise and scared her and she had a melt down.
-There's a little mirror on the wall in their room at church....it has a little wooden ballet bar hung about a foot off the ground....apparently Cale stood up and talked to himself for about an hour. They told me, "He really likes himself" when I came to pick them up.
-Both babies shake their head "no" when asked almost anything...
-My aunt bought the babies two "Little Tikes" swings to hang outside....we finally hung them on the tree in my parents backyard, and the babies love it. They don't really care that the tree is crooked and that they swing sideways, or that the swings shake tree bark all over their heads... My dad, however, can't stand it...and is building a big frame to hang the swings on. It will be a lot nicer, and probably safer too....it's funny how we turned two nineteen dollar swings into a hundred dollar project.
-People have scheduled showings of our house in Alamo Heights, and it isn't even on the market yet!! Please, please, please let it sell, and quick!
-we took the babies to the doctor and were suprised to learn that: Cale has "temporary lactose intolerance" and has to take soy formula for a while, had a massive diaper rash, and a weird rash on his head that necessitates the use of cortisone cream.....Hayden has what looks to be eczema (yeah!), an ear infection, and a diaper rash as well. And to think I was just taking them to the doctor because I thought Hayden had a rash and Cale's diaper rash wasn't going away....when we were leaving the doctor stated, "Wow. Pretty much everything is wrong with ya'll." I had to get in the car and make a list for myself of all the stuff I was supposed to buy and do to treat this laundry list of maladies. When I made the appointment, I told my mom that all their problems would probably be gone when we got to the doctor...she said that is impossible, because anything that makes you look like a bad mother will always appear at the doctor. She was right!! Finally we are getting control of the diaper rash...Hayden has only had it one other time, and Cale has never, ever had it before this. I HATE that they got it....they were crying so hard when you changed their diaper...it made me teary eyed because I could tell it hurt so bad. Joni told me that when they are cutting teeth sometimes they get diaper rash...I am not sure how that is connected, but I know she is right. Luckily they are both getting better...thanks to about twelve gallons of Vaseline.

It's almost one a.m....I can't sleep...so I thought I would post these pictures...I forgot to add (to the sixties post) that the next morning, Shawn came out with his wig on from the night before and the babies didn't like it one bit! Hayden looked at him like she had no idea who he was...Cale stared at him, and then let us put the wig on him...We tried to put the wig on Hayden, but she was not interested. She had it off so fast, and with such distaste, we had to laugh. They are already so different...

Please ignore the random items in my living room, the 352 baby toys on my floor, the makeshift animal pen made to keep my children from crawling out the front door onto I35, and the fact that my husband is never wearing a shirt.