A new low

I know I have written before how EVERYWHERE that we go nearly EVERYONE feels the need to comment. Usually it's fun and the comments, though repetitive, are innocent and decent. Well all that changed today when BOB and I and Rubi were out on a walk with E squared. I was BOBin away to my 80s music on the i*pod and I see a minivan slow to a stop and the window roll down. My first instinct was to pretend like I didn't notice and keep on walking since I didn't recognize this person -- but then I started thinking "what if it's a kidnapper and that just pisses them off" (i have this weird fear of kidnappers -- especially ones in vans). So I pull my earphones off and it was a lady with a tooth missing just off center to the left and the following mini conversation happened:

lady with off centered missing tooth: oh are those twins?
me: yes they are
lady with off centered missing tooth: how cute -- are they boys?
me: nope both girls (now this is a common question even though we could not fit another pink item on or near them)
lady with off centered missing tooth: are they yours?
me: of course
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHAT KIND OF STUPID QUESTION IS THAT? (i did not say these things (notice they are not in bold) but it's what I was thinking. Along with her really being a kidnapper. I mean after a question like that. What was I supposed to think?)
I may be infertile but I'm no baby thief.

BABY FAT

So to help clear the air between myself and a certain somebody -- we need your vote!!!

Here are the facts:
Said baby mama has:
1) gained a substantial amount of weight both pre and during her twin pregnancy.
2) lost a majority of pregnancy weight (all but say 8 pounds).
3) is doing weightwatchers AND lost 12 pounds over 7 weeks.
4) just got a BOB and started walking an hour/day.
5) does not eat bonbons
6) does not get sleep -- EVER!!!
7) took fertility drugs for an entire year pre pregnancy -- HORMONES HORMONES HORMONES.
8) etc, etc, etc.................

You can cast your vote on the top right -- it's very important that you do because there are bets involved. This is a hypothetical situation -- names have been omitted to protect the innocent (sp). Thank you for your participation in our study..........

**** updated ****
to be fair to hypothetical certain someone -- in this hypothetical situation fat baby mama DID ask.

****UPDATE**** Polls are now closed -- thank you everyone for your vote! Hypothetical certain someone was creamed...... votes were 36:0!!! Fat baby mama may be fat but she's no loser!!!!!!!!!

Oh Mickey your so fine. Your so fine you blow my mind. Hey Mickey!!!

As promised -- I would like to introduce you to our new friend..................
This may very well be the best bazillion dollars we have ever spent. We took BOB out today to show him around his new neighborhood. Here we are before our tour.

E squared especially LOVE BOB!!! They have grown to dislike their current set of wheels because it requires them to stay strapped into their carseats. They are no longer big fans of the car seat -- so obviously our "night night" drives aren't quite as effective. That is bittersweet -- what with gas prices as high as they are. So here comes BOB to the rescue -- we walked to the market near our house. Not a peep from the cabin. On the way home -- THEY FELL ASLEEP!!! So I kept on truckin....for another half hour. BOBin along (get it) to my i*pod.... some 80s Madonna (Jon downloaded that... I kid you not) (his favorite... dress you up.... in my love...!!!) (yes Jon is a man) (not a teenage girl). I rocked out to some Riplets --- hey mickey. Some rapper (can't remember his name) Smack that(the riplets and rap are mine). Cranked up loud loud loud....... NO BABIES CRYING. (i could see them if they woke up - i wasn't tuning them out). Can I get a --------- BYE BYE REVERSE MUFFIN TOP. All you baby mamas out their know what I mean -- the spare belly!!! It's going bye bye......... Thanks to BOB.

Here they are after their first walk with their new BFF -------------BOB

Another reason I love BOB so much is that his rear is wider than mine. See.......

****UPDATE****Jon has just informed me that "dress you up in my love" is not his favorite song...... it's actually "la isla bonita" -- that one didn't make it to my i*pod.

Who says you can't buy your friends???

We have a new friend. Picked him up today. He is quite handsome........ very very nice. Very adventurous, fun to be around, easy to handle. I can't tell you too much more right now as I must wait until tomorrow when I can take a nice picture to post for you. I could never do him justice with words alone. I can tell you one thing about him though......... his name is BOB.
For now here are some cuties to hold you over...
I think Rubi may be teething!
Edie is just monkeying around with Max the Monkey.........

Ella looking so unamused at my "dressing them alike" or maybe my staging their position for a picture....... who knows. She is darling. Isn't she?

Until tomorrow..........

for my blogging buddies.

Since I have had many more lovelies reading my blog this week with ICLW -- (friends and family who do not blog can click on the link on the right under the red box to find out what this is all about) -- I thought I should share a little. Most of the folks who have blogs that I read have struggled with infertility. Many who are visiting my blog also struggle with that bastard. We too had our turn on the IF rollercoaster and I wanted to share a brief outline of our journey. I have never been shy about it but since I didn't start this blog until really late in my pregnancy I never went into great detail about how it all started. Oh how I wish that I would have had the support of the IF blogging world in the midst of that hell.

So if you want to check it out I will post a brief outline and if you have any questions about anything just email me. Or leave a comment if you aren't shy. The outline is on the right side of the page.

I just have to say (and this is probably the only time a post will not be about E squared) infertility SUCKS. It is so hard. Harder than anyone can imagine -- unless of course you are/have going/gone through it. We went straight to IVF because our problem was straight forward. Some folks endure MANY MANY different routes before it is realized that they have to end up going the IVF route. There are sometimes daily labs to be drawn, sometimes 3 times daily shots to be given, etc..... it's painful physically, emotionally and financially. I did not have my blogging buddies and I was not surrounded by anyone who understood what I was going through. That sucked. People try to be supportive but .... well it's just hard for all involved. So if you know someone who is going through this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be patient and kind to them. It consumed me and broke my spirit. You won't understand what they are going through so don't even try -- just be gentle with them. (i stole that last "just be gentle with them" line from my dad)..........
Sorry for the long rambling post but I needed to let all my infertile homies (yeah that's what we are infertiles)know that I am with them in the trenches........... peace out. Ok -- now I am just being ridiculous....... SAM

Persistence DOES pay off........

After a couple of months of searching and searching.........EDIE CLAIRE HAS FOUND HER THUMB!!! She has used it more than once today to help her fall asleep. It is so damn adorable. I can tell when she is sucking on it even when I am not looking at her because all of a sudden I hear slurp, slurp, slurppppppp. Too cute if you ask me!!!
Look at her go!!!
Now these were taken this morning while they played in their crib and I put away (almost) the last of their 0-3 month clothes. Oh it's sad. We are now moving on up to strictly 3-6 months. Baffling!!! I did dress them alike today -- I usually don't. These outfits were calling out to me though. Thanks Mrs. Solomon.
Now see if you can guess who is who. (just kidding -- the pillows give it away. cheater.)

Ella the Elephant!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my coworkers brought these awesome Kushie Kritters for E squared when she came over for our cupcake soiree. She also made some delicious cupcakes. That I ate more than 1 of. Actually more than 3 of. But who was counting. But I digress. So these Kritters are great. They rank right on up there on my baby must have list. Right next to the Bumbo seat. One is Max the Monkey and the other Ella the Elephant. Well my little cutie Ella has taken quite nicely to her new friend. As you can see here..........asleep in her swing
And here.... she fell asleep tonight playing with her. Can you believe the cuteness here?

And Edie -- just to keep from having her feel left out -- just fell asleep. All by herself. She likes Max the Monkey but I forgot to bring it in the room for her.

And now just for kicks.......... can I get an aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

I'll have s'more of dem there taters. Please.

Cupcakes galore and twins everywhere!!!

So our cupcakes and cocktails party went off pretty good..... some likes cupcakes better than cocktails and some liked cocktails better than cupcakes (hhmmm my husband)!!! It's funny how before I had twins I didn't really know any twins and now that I have my own I am surrounded by twins......
One of Jon's coworkers in the ICU has a set and of identical boys (the older curly haired cuties) of course you all know E and E and I invited a blogging buddy who came with her A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. "almost 12 week" old B/G twins M and S...... see my blog roll Vicious Cycle of Cycles (sorry I still don't know how to add links here). She and her husband were nice, the kids damn cute and it was fun to meet someone from the blogosphere.
Here is Edie Claire -- she curled right up and passed out. That is Jon's boss Misi.........

Here she is fast asleep AGAIN........ was she tired or bored??????

Here is E squared waiting for their party guests to arrive...........

Now the yumminess......... I made these cupcake daisy arrangements. You can call me a dork I don't care......... I had fun!!! (gotta love the plastic brown tablecloth huh!!!)

Here is the cupcake table....... I made these and some folks brought more cupcakes..... we still have a kitchen FULL of cupcakes. Not helping my weightwatchers here.... I have done well though. Only ate 3 this morning (haha)...... but I added the points to my points tracker. Can't eat again until Wednesday. It was worth it.

I am oh so proud of this giant cupcake cake. Yes I made that all by myself!!! I am not a baker by any means but I bought this cake pan and it inspired my cupcakes and cocktails party theme. We did not even cut the cake (a waste I know) but it sure it cute. Don't you think?

A lollipop bouquet. It disappeared faster than you can say lollipop bouquet.........

For some odd reason I felt the need to paint and hang this E in the kitchen for the party......... like I said DORK !!!

How did this happen????????

These outfits -- the lemon and orange -- were the first outfits I bought after we found out we were having twins. I couldn't wait to buy them something. That was before we knew the gender. Back then I swore I would never dress them alike and I would put them in gender neutral clothes mostly........ well that was before I found out they were girls. Their is absolutely NO gender neutral about their wardrobe. Courtesy of ME!!! And I am proud of it. They are girly girls -- (no hair bows though) (I mean not until they get hair) we have pink galore and then some more. Pink is my new favorite color -- there are so many shades of it. There's light pink........... just kidding I won't go through all the shades of pink. So here! Look at these cuties then read on about their appointment with Dr. B today.........

Here they are watching their 15 minutes of baby einstein...... they love that DVD. They get bored quick but for that 15 minutes it's like magic..... I never thought I would let my kids watch TV but with 2 sometimes that 15 minute break is GOLDEN.......... I mean a girls got to pee every once in a while. Right?

I love this picture of Edie "swimming"...........

E and E had their 4 month check up today. 4 months. It was 1 year ago Wednesday that they were thawed (after being frozen for 1 year) and we had the FET (frozen embryo transfer for all you non IVFers). So around today or so this time last year they were implanting and now here they are 4 MONTHS OLD!!! The entire infertility rollercoaster seems so long ago -- but when we were in the midst of it it seemed to drag on forever. It felt hopeless. And now we are 2 of the luckiest people alive. They are awesome!!!

Their pediatrician called Ella robust. ELLA !!! She weighed well under 5 pounds just 4 months ago. They both were a little cranky at the appointment -- it seemed like (though I am sure they didn't) they remembered the torture that took place there at the last appointment. My good friend Lauren (we went to nursing school together) came with me. THANK GOODNESS!!! Jon was asleep because he had to work tonight. It would have been a nightmare handling 2 crank pots by myself. She held them while they got their shots too. That is the most awful thing. I can't help but sob myself -- I am useless. I mean I give shots for a living almost but it's different when they are messin with my sweet babies.

So here are the stats:

WARNING -- you are not going to believe your eyes but I assure you - you are reading these numbers correctly............

Edie Claire:

HC 40.5 cm

length 24.75 in

weight ............................................. 14 pounds 6 ounces!!! Can I get a C.H.U.N.K.Y. M.O.N.K.E.Y.

Ella Grace:

HC 41 cm (she gets that big head from me)

length 22.5 in

weight...............................................12 pounds 1 ounce!!! Short and sweet I like to call her. She is 2 pounds less than Edie but she is also 2 inches shorter. Her thighs are fat fat fat!!!

Edie is in the 75th percentile all the way around and Ella is just hitting the bottom of her chart at about 3 %. Her head circumference is in the 75th though -- so can't we take an average or something so she doesn't feel behind?

Yumminess!!!! (is that a word?)

We are having a par-tay!!!!! I mentioned it before but I thought I would post a copy of the fun invitation (flyer) that I made. I am noticing the print is not very dark but if you click on it it should get bigger so that you can read it (if you even want to). Those of you locals and work folks that read this - if you didn't see it at the hospital -- here is your invite. I did block out my address so that creepy internet crawlers can't show up. You know how to find us though.

I am so excited about it. I love to plan parties and haven't done a good one in a while because of well -- you know I have been tied up this past year - what with being enormously pregnant and all. We will have fun I am sure. I am only doing cupcakes -- which is so unlike me -- because E and E are getting shots Friday so I have no idea how they will be. Besides EVERYONE likes cupcakes. And most importantly these days a cocktail or two or well.....

Lazy days of summer

Things are going well around here. I am in the midst of planning a "meet and greet" type of soiree for Edie and Ella. Since they are 4 months old now. 4 MONTHS OLD!!! How did that happen? The theme of our par-tay is Cupcakes and Cocktails........ Jon is really excited about this theme (hahaha). ((( Those of you at work who read this...... see flyer in break room))). E and E are sleeping much better -- still up 1-2 times each night BUT NOT every hour or so. Edie fights her sleep like nobodies (sp) business. She is less obsessed with fingers because she can finally get some of them into her mouth - usually 2-3 at a time - so we don't need to swaddle her anymore. Thank goodness with the heat the way it has been -- thank you mr. portable air conitioner man!!! We have been spending alot more time on the floor -- Edie can roll fairly consitently from back to front -- and that is where she gets stuck. She will swim for awhile then lets you know when she has had enough. Ella can half roll but she is persistently working on it and I believe she will roll very soon. They both LOVE LOVE LOVE to laugh -- it's is damn cute. They especially like it when we sing, dance and make faces at them. I often wonder if they are looking and laughing and thinking "what an idiot". Who are these fools?
Here are some pictures..............
Rubi says "hey remember me?"
Of course -- another photo shoot!!! I did this one for real because I sooooooooo needed to finally send out some announcements. Only 4 months too late -- but hey I got it done. It's busy 'round here. Some of you will be seeing some of these photos in your mailboxes next week.
Here is Ella posing pretty in her Alabama dress........ ROLL TIDE. (she says that when daddy is around but when it's just us she yells GEAUX TIGERS!!!)ssshhhhhhhhh don't tell daddy...

I love this awesome grin that Edie does -- too cute.

Snickering behind their dresses ........ see what I mean? geaux tigers!

Sweet feet.................

Sorry about the rotated picture here -- I don't know why it does that sometimes. But it is such a cute picture it is worth the craning of your neck.......... whatever daddy did to wear Edie out worked on him too............

Ella ........... bored in her bumbo!!! Fell asleep while watching me wash her bottles.

I got them a baby einstein DVD..... and as you can see they sort of like it.

Sorry about this picture of a picture but I loved this and had to show it off. I finally framed our professional pictures........ I wanted to have them to display for our soiree (i guess a soiree is fancier than the party we are having but it sounds fun to say soiree). I have a ton of pictures but these are soooooooooooo cute......

And yes........ don't worry. Your eyesight is not failing you. Those are Jons hands/arms in the following picture........ WASHING BOTTLES!!! I HAD to get that documented. FYI -- if you want your husband to start doing something -- make a big big deal of it. Ever since I snapped this photo, said I was putting it on the blog, etc......... Jon has washed A TON of bottles. First time for everything.......... he does do alot of other things though........ ie... diapers, diapers, diapers..... man do we change some diapers!!!!!

HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Awwwwww -- sweet little Ella. Sleeping so soundly in her swing. Notice dustbuster under said swing. This is her new naptime lullaby. I have noticed that they fall asleep when I vacuum while they are in their swing -- so since we have a long haired German Shepard and 2 cats our need for frequent vacuuming is high. Well after my third time today I got the wise idea to try out the dustbuster -- and sure enough she fell asleep right before the battery ran dry. Thank goodness for chargers.
We got a portable air conditioner today. We broke down since our "heat waves" started earlier than usual this year. We figured we may be in for a damn long summer without some sort of cooling -- our fans just don't quite cut it. Jon was just saying that with the over pricing of houses in this area you would think they could throw in a bit of air!!! So we have 1 cool room in our house now -- during the day it will be like heaven on earth. The craziness of our temperature extremes here is bizarre -- high 90s by day and mid 50s by night. I hate being hot in my own house so this ac on wheels has me super excited. Bye bye $100 utility bills!

We've got a roller !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edie Claire in action.........................

I shouldn't say this out loud.............

I waited an entire week before mentioning anything. I am still a bit nervous about saying something but............. we have been sleeping. Waking only once maybe twice each night. Last weekend I separated them -- still in my bed but not right next to one another. Since then they are sleeping more soundly -- they had been waking each other up before. They left that out of the owners manual and being the novice that I am took a while to put 2 and 2 together... it's funny how you get all the advice in the world when you don't need any BUT when you could actually use some --- WHERE THE HELL IS IT?????????????? Just kidding. People have told me I shouldn't sleep with them in my bed -- but cosleeping is a practice that I and Jon have both embraced. That is not the problem. Many people cosleep. The problem is we need a bigger bed because we are running out of room in this one. We plan to buy a house this year and when we do we will upgrade to a king sized bed...... or maybe a CA king!!!!!!!!
So now on to the cutie patooties......... how do you spell that word anyway?
Here they are together.... we have been playing on the floor alot more lately-- they should be rolling soon so they need practice..........
I washed all the 3-6 month clothes that I had stored for them (sad sad sad). I found this bathing suit and tried it on Ella -- sort of against her will...............

Here is Edie in action............ she almost has it but not quite!!!

Here is Ella posing in her 4th of July dress.................

Here is Edie in her 4th of July dress practicing push ups..............

We tried a tiny bit of rice cereal from a spoon --- these are the before and afters. First Edie then Ella...............