Busy Busy

Today has been a busy day! Typically I'm lucky to get one chore done per day (some laundry, or the kitchen, or vacuuming). Well today I have being going like a mad women in between caring for the girls. On one hand I've accomplished a lot, on the other, nothing is really DONE. I've vacuumed the bathrooms, and scrubbed our shower (twice! it had been a while...)...but the rest of the bathroom still needs cleaning. I vacuumed the media room - but it really needs dusting too....that kind of thing.

At this point I'm starting to grow weary, in fact I'm thinking a nap when (if) the girls take one could be in order. I have a playdate to go to at 4:00, and women's church group at 7:00....so a nap might be very well in order!

Okay, so I know you all want some pictures, but I don't have any new ones on the computer. Sorry! I'll work on that. In the meantime I'll share a few "ungettable pictures"....the ones that I'd love to get, but doubt I'll ever be able to. The girls have this habit of stopping instantly what they are doing as soon as I grab the camera. Argh!

Ungettable Picture #1: The girls reaching out and holding hands while sitting in their highchairs at dinner time. So sweet!

Ungettable Picture #2: Allison as she wakes up slowly, then looks around for me. As soon as she sees me she starts to crawl over to me and buries her head in my neck. My baby.

Ungettable Picture #3: The look of glee in both girls eyes as they play together - in particular when Naomi is crawling and Allison starts to crawl after her...Naomi looks behind her, sees Allison and starts giggling like crazy and crawling as fast as she can so that Allison will chase her. Hilarious. It's rare that Allison catches up with her (Naomi is fast!), but when she does, she just tackles Naomi and they both fall over and laugh hysterically. Sisterly fun.

Okay, I will really try to have some pictures next time! :)

And, I just remembered I was going to do the checkbook at nap time...sigh.

Feeling Blah

Several nights (weeks?) of getting up numerous times with each girl has left me feeling run down. I had a good work day on Monday of this week - accomplishing quite a lot (for me anyway, vacuumed downstairs, mopped kitchen floor, washed/dried several loads of laundry but didn't get htem folded/put away)....but since then the house is falling apart. I should be up and working right now (or taking a shower or eating breakfast which I haven't done either of yet)....but I'm not. I got online to research baby gates, badly needed, and have been sidetracked onto blogging. LOL It happens. :)

Yesterday Naomi (I think) climbed her first stair, hence the pretty urgent need for baby gates. Hopefully we'll get some ordered tonight. Along with a video baby monitor. I've been wanting one since we got home with Allison but the $$ is a deterrent. But, I just need to do it. I have a sound only monitor in Naomi's room, which is good enough since she can't climb out of her crib. But Allison naps and sleeps in our room and the bed situation isn't quite as safe as Naomi's (but it's as safe as I can make it)....so I really want a video monitor where I can keep an eye on her even while I'm elsewhere in the house. 

While we are purchasing items I'm also going to get a baby jumper/johnny jump up. Our friend Haley has one and the girls tried it out and loved it. Anything to keep the girls occupied for a biit here and there.

Lots on the list to buy! All for the babies as usual! LOL

Well better go brush my teeth at least. :) Before the little monkeys wake up from the rare occurence of simultaneous naps.

The Taking of the Paci

I think the pictures speak for themselves...but I'll help a little. :)

Hello There!

I'm cute! And I'm SO gonna get that paci!

Gonna get you sister!

She'll NEVER get my paci!

(Naomi) Uh oh, this doesn't look good

Success!

I don't have any pictures of Allison gloating or Naomi crying...'cause honestly they both lost interest in the paci within about 30 seconds. Easy come easy go!

Blueberries!

The happy gatherer

Woohoo! We got some blueberries! Brian went to Eaglecrest and got a bunch of blueberries yesterday. We are happy; we haven't had local blueberries in years. We used to go every summer and freeze up a bunch for the winter...but life got busy. Yesterday Brian sacrificially went out in search of berries on his own, while I sacrificially took care of the girls on my own. As you can see he was very successful. He says if he goes out one more time and gets about the same amount we should have enough for the winter, for our weekly sourdough blueberry pancakes and occasional batch of blueberry muffins.

So that he could pick through them and discard leaves, etc. and prep the berries for freezing, I gave the girls a bath and got them ready for bed by myself. It's not impossible, not even overly difficult...but is more time consuming, a bit more fast-handling (no babies alone in the tub, tough to handle to two wet slippery babies!)...and it is very nice to have a second person. I almost had them both in bed on my own, but Allison got upset and was crying and after about 8 minutes Daddy felt bad and went to rescue her (I was in Naomi's room rocking her to sleep).

So when I came downstairs after getting Naomi to sleep, I found Daddy and Allison picking through blueberries...well Daddy was picking through them, Allison was eating them! :) We think she especially like rolling them around in her mouth before swallowing. Supercute.

Typically at bed time Allison has no use for Daddy - only Mommy will suffice! Turns out that if Daddy feeds her, he actually isn't a bad substitute. :)

Progress

Yesterday I had my friends ("adoption mamas") over for a visit. Four other women who I met via the adoption process. Over the past 5 years we have become a pretty tight knit group and finally as of last year we all have our babies! We all started out adopting internationally and we ended up with a surprise domestic adoption...and of course our token biological child - Naomi. :)

It was a great afternoon, but with two 6 year olds, one 3 year old, and three 10 month olds....pretty insane! :) In the best way. And we were even missing one 2 year old (you know who you are!). But it was a blast, we hadn't all been together in a few months and it was fun to catch up and reconnect.

Allison always gets a little anxious when around a lot of people, even though she knew almost everyone here. So for the first 30-60 minutes I carried her in the moby wrap. She likes it but it was a bit problematic for the times I needed to pick up Naomi, who has had three teeth come in in the last couple weeks and was a bit "squeaky" or needy. :)

However after the first hour Allison had warmed up to everyone enough that I put her down and she proceeded to crawl on everyone and play without even looking for me. This independence after getting comfortable shows great progress in attachment skills. I'm not worried about her attachment, but it's always nice to see progress. :)

It's Sunday so I better get moving. These days we usually manage to get to church about 15 minutes before it's over...and that time is usually spent in the foyer due to loud babies. :) But every Sunday I hope we could make it there for some of the worship. Ah, someday. :)

Friday!

I like Fridays, even though I'm not out in the workforce anymore. I look forward to Brian being home, and also look forward to the blueberry sourdough pancakes he makes most weekends. :) Also just a change from the usual M-F routine is nice.

This Friday has been eventful already - Naomi woke up needing a bath. Diaper explosion of epic proportions. I tried making do with wipes since tonight is bath night....but quickly gave up and put her in the tub instead. She was very happy as she really enjoys her bath.

Now the girls are playing (and fighting) in a corner where I can't see them as I type. This is their favorite...it's always better to be where mom can't see you. LOL
Not sure what the plan is yet for today. I know I have leftovers for dinner, so I don't have to cook tonight - yay! I'm thinking probably some laundry, and general straightening up. There is always lots to choose from.

A nap might seriously be in order too. Naomi has about three teeth coming in all at once and was up several times last night. Allison was restless....so I'm pretty tired.

And,, today is jogging day. UGH. This has been my first week of "exercising" again after a LONG absence. It's so hard to get back into it! Sorely needed though so I'm going to do it!

Evidently I have a lot to do so I better get to it!

Have a great Friday!

You Made it Over Here!

Here are few pictures as a reward for making it over to the new blog. :)

Enjoying the sun

First Frozen Strawberry!

Yum!

Naomi's first park swing experience

This was as close as Allison wanted to be to the swings, she cried when we put her in. :(

Three little bears at the glacier :)