Sunday, May 16, 2010

Lady Luck has PMS

Or maybe Karma took a look at our balance sheet and decided things were just a leeeeeeeeeetle too good in our house.

This past week was a bit of a challenge.

First, DH was on a business trip. One that for some reason, I completely approved even though DH said he would have no trouble staying home if I wanted him to. But when he called from work a couple of weeks ago to get my consent, my first thought was: My Mom and I can totally handle it, it's not like DH is home much during the week anyway. My second thought: What a perfect opportunity to bargain for something *I* want! So I told DH he could absolutely go on his business trip, if I could finally order the Learning Tower for Bean that I've wanted for a year now. My Mom and I could definitely handle the household without him if Bean could "help" make dinner on this lovely contraption (his alternative behavior during meal prep: ceaseless whining). Sure, it's obscenely overpriced -- but what are we going to do, build one of our own? Not in this house! And using a chair instead, puhleaze. I'd prefer that he not fall off and crack his head open. This is really an investment in our children's physical health and safety.


What I neglected to consider when responding to DH's travel request were the nights. Alone. By myself. With twins. I'm sure people do it all the time, I don't get any sort of medal for it. But it's difficult, and it sucks. And my bad luck, the little guy (I'll probably call him Peanut on the blog, as soon as I can come up with a nickname for my other guy -- and if you have any suggestions for Twin A, who is bigger, sweet, and smiley, I'd love to hear them) became really congested the same night DH left. He could only sleep upright in my arms, which meant I had to be upright, which meant my already-limited amount of rest was further decimated. *yawn* Sleep deprivation on top of sleep deprivation is NOT a good thing.

But the worst news of the week came regarding my parents' house-selling/house-buying situation. On Thursday, they found out that after difficult negotiations, they were outbid for the home here in Seattle that they wanted. On Friday, they heard from the potential buyers of their Michigan place that they were backing out of the deal. Apparently the wife decided she wanted new construction, and they used a lame excuse from the inspection to pull out and take their deposit with them. This is turning out to be costly for my parents, monetarily and otherwise. We know that everything will work out eventually, but it's extremely frustrating and stressful in the meantime.

But it hasn't all been all potholes and speed bumps:

- My supply of breastmilk has consistently been satisfying both twins. We haven't supplemented in almost two weeks. To celebrate our success, I ordered another desperately needed nursing bra. (To new nursing moms, I highly recommend Victoria's Secret bras. You can only get them online, but I believe you can return them to the store if you don't like them. But that won't happen because they rock. If you plan on nursing a while, they are entirely worth the cost.)

- DH's foot is healed and he's off the air cast. His night diapering duties have resumed. His doc told him he should start wearing super supportive shoes to prevent recurrence, so we had to go to an orthopedic shoe store. We were the only customers not members of AARP, but they did carry some cool sandals. DH got a pair, and I liked them so much I got the girl version. We are currently scouring our Manual of the Pacific Northwest for a loophole to the rule that living here requires us to wear socks with them.

- DH and I went on our first date since having the twins. We tried an Italian place in Federal Way, it was quite good. My Mom was home with Bean (who was napping) and we took the twins with us. They fell asleep on the way there, so we could put their car seats under our table at the restaurant and pretend it was just us. Of course we talked about kids 95% of the time, but still, we'll take it.

Last but not least, some pics.

Bean enjoyed some quality bonding time with Bumpa when he was in town. (That book is awesome, by the way.)


Bean is ready for his next Mariners game with his new baseball cap, glove, and ball.


DH is counting the days until this can be a real mower on the real lawn. (Current count = 4,016 days)


Twin A is captivated as we explain the new health care bill.


There's nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby. Except two sleeping babies. (I admit that took me five good minutes of staring before venturing a guess that it's Peanut on the left and Twin A on the right in the first picture.)*


Photobucket

*Dang it!! Wrong again... DH made a case for Twin A on the left, and on even closer review he's right. What would happen if I actually had identical twins, I'd probably change their identities regularly.

18 comments:

Kristina P. said...

That leaning tower thing is awesome! I'm so glad you're hanging in there. The boys are beautiful.

Lisa said...

that tower looks pretty nifty! We use a good old 2 step stool in the kitchen, but yeah, mine will probably fall off and clunk his head! ;-)

O.M.G. the boys sleeping side by side, SO precious!

Sorry to hear that the parents' move is having some issues but hopefully better things to come soon.

glad to hear all else is going well and YAY for the nursing going so well, you rock! :)

Jen said...

Sorry for the long nights and glitches in your parents move. I know it will all work out though. The twins are looking so adorable! I vote for Bruiser for the bigger twin. I bet Jeramy would vote for Wolverine. If we had a boy, he would have begged to name him that. Good thing we have girls :)

Mary said...

Awww, I love love love them, and they are getting bigger already, way to go mama milk!

My favorite is the 2 sleeping baby pictures and the one where Mr. Mellow has his hands up in the air surrendering to life outside the womb!

Hang in there mama, this is the toughest part now and it only gets better from here.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

busy you,
I see something red on twin baby's face,
they okay, right?
Happy Sunday!
Happy Monday Ahead!

Anonymous said...

My word verification is ... "thpro".
That says it all. You dapro ;-)

Good to hear you are doing fine, despite the small hitches. And the bumps in the road of your folks moving next to you are normal, otherwise it would have been so freaky to have everything go smoothly until you discover the house they moved into is haunted or built on a cemetery or something. Like with a car, it's better to have minor incidents every two years or so than one major accident in fifteen years.

Erin said...

Good to hear from you. Yeay on the 100% breast milk. I am having the same issue with a low supply. I am having to supplement with formula for the timebeing. V lost a pound total both times I tried to do breastmilk exclusively.

Hopefully your DH won't have another business trip for a long time!!

What an adorable family.

AFD said...

I just saw that tower thing in a magazine I think...can you turn it into other things as Bean gets older? Very cool. And I am just itching to get my hands on those boys! All of them! (Except your DH, but I'm sure I'll give him a hug too!) Less than 2 months! Ya-hoo!

Banshe said...

Bummer about the house stresses! Hopefully that means they'll just find an EVEN BETTER house in the end. :)

What about Almond or Cashew? Those nuts are bigger than peanuts...and sweet, right?

Michelle said...

Brave Brave woman you are! I am glad that you got through the week. How about Walnut for the bigger one? They are getting so big already! Has Bean been enjoying being a big brother?

I hope things start to go smoother for your parents. It really sucks when you think things are going great and then BAM they are not. My mom is a real estate agent here in Michigan and things have not been good to her at all. Everyone that looks for a house seems to be very choosy and back out at the last minute. Very FRUSTRATING!

Glad to hear hubby's foot is better and he can be back on diaper duty. :)

Sending many hugs to all!

Sarah said...

I so hear you on the stuffed up baby mess. Georgie suffered from that and immense spitting up. What helped him was either lying right beside me (for some reason) or upright in the carseat. My sister did that with her son too. It's a temporary fix for a temporary problem. They are so cute! Loving the birth announcement. I smile at it everytime I go to get milk or something from the fridge. Now Halle is asking me for two more babies...I just hope that will be as real in our lives as the baby she thinks is in her belly. Love ya!

Coffeegrljp said...

Whoa that's a plateful!

Glad that DH is back and all systems are go again. Sorry to hear that things with your parents aren't going 100% as planned, but hopefully it will all work out far sooner than later!

And I believe the loophole is "If you weren't BORN in the PNW, you are exempt from sock-wearing with sandals". ;)

Anonymous said...

i love my keens :) you can throw them in the washer when they get gross. also...they have a year warranty. had a friend who took a picture of some "damage", emailed it to them and they sent him a brand new pair of shoes!!

sorry about the bum luck with your parents' houses. :( boo!

xx

..al said...

Well, for one, you can call twin A as 'Smiley'...so there you go....Bean, Smiley and Peanut!

I love the picture...I am not sure by the baby's look if he approaved of the health care reform bill.

With three kids, and two of them infants, I think you will have to ration your leisure and rest time, but I hope that you do not have to cut much. Hope all remains 'Sunny in Seattle'!


:-))

..al said...

Ack....I made spelling mistakes...

Anonymous said...

I do nights by myself - and this is what I do:

Sit in the middle of couch
Have bouncer on each side
Hook up breast pump
Feed each baby by bottle while pumping

It saves oodles of time...I am doing so much pumping because I am going back to work June 2...sob...

And - lol to the comment about DH helping loosen the clog...no joke, it was so bad, I ended up putting my steaming hot rice sock on my boob and I actually had burn marks...but it loosened it and thus avoided mastitis...

Finally - my supply has totally kept up with these two - they east 4-6 ounces per feeding 7ish times a day.

You sound like you are doing great!!

Alana said...

Bummer about things falling through with your parents' new house...I hope they find something else soon.

Kudos to you for handling the kiddos while DH was out of town.

Your kiddos are CUTE as ever! :)

MrsSpock said...

I saw that tower in a catalog a couple years ago, and hankered after it. Drooool...