"Over the River and Through the Woods"

When Emma and Ethan spend the night with their Mimi and Pappy, they get to experience a cowbaby sort of life where the cows really do say, "MOO" and roam all day in the pastures that stretch as far as their baby eyes can see. There are no fences, not much pavement, and the neighbors are far enough away for privacy and good neighborly friendships. Hank (the cow dog) and the cats run free. The chickens say, "cluck-cluck" and scratch the ground in the coup. Emma and Ethan get to help with the chicken feed and collect the eggs. They toddle around freely in the yard and discover Mimi's herb garden, berry patches and flower beds.

Mimi and Pappy let the babies rule the house. I know they love roaming in a baby gate-free world with less no-no's and more yes-yeses. There are tons of baby toys and Emma and Ethan have their own room with a crib and a tv where Sesame Street is on-demand. Mimi says they usually wake up once in the night. She sleeps nearby so she can reassure them in their home away from home. They wake up long before Bob, the rooster, crows. (Now, may Bob rest in remorseful peace since he has paid the ultimate price for terrorizing the feathered ladies in the coup)

The twinks hang out in their pajamas, have breakfast and try to wake up Pappy.

On one visit, Mimi served them some of the fresh eggs they collected. She said they happily gobbled them up. A few minutes later, just as we got there to pick them up, we noticed that around Emma's eye was red and she was all squirmy. We kept watching her as the redness started to spread rapidly all over her face and neck. She started fussing and scratching her tongue with her teeth and her fingernails. We quickly called a doctor and gave her Benadryl. It gave us quite a scare! Luckily, the medicine worked and she started looking and feeling much better a few minutes later. No more eggs for that little girl. We hear that egg allergies are sometimes outgrown. We shall see...


The latest slumber party was over Mommy's 30th birthday weekend, and they also got to spend some quality time with their cool out-of-town aunt, Jody, Mimi's sister. It was almost like two Mimi's.

 Of course. 
 Doesn't everyone have a twin? :)

Big Church

Cici was out sick this week in the church nursery, so this Sunday was a little different. Mom and I took the babies into the sanctuary for big church. We thought if they started fussing, we would sit with them in the nursery ourselves. Everyone was very receptive when we came in. People smiled and oooed and ahhhhed. Some people said, "Look how big they are!"
"She won't be able to carry them both for very much longer," and
"How brave she is to bring them both to church."

Reverend Ann made an announcement that the babies were sitting in this week due to Cici's absence and that they may be "let loose" during the service. I wasn't too sure about that, but I loved that she was. I held them both in the pew until Mom came to sit with us. She held Emma and I held Ethan. We kept them occupied with Cheerios and prayer request cards.

When we all started singing the first hymn, they were both very intrigued. Ethan started clapping his hands and shakin' his head side to side. It made my eyes a little teary to see him enjoying himself so much. Every time we spoke or prayed in unison, they seemed both amazed and perplexed. They looked at Mommy, then Mimi, and all around: "Wow..." they seemed to be thinking. When Mimi had to go sing in the choir, she took Emma, too. Emma is such a good girl. She sat very nicely with the choir, of course. She kept her eyes on the music book. It looked like she thought it was singing story time.

The hymns and aloud prayers seemed to come at just the right moments for their little attention spans. They made it through the whole service without a single tear or tantrum. At the end of the service, Rev. Ann came and asked Ethan if he would join her. He obliged, thank goodness. He had the privilege of assisting with the benediction. What a special moment! His eyes were focused on her lips. Lately, he and Emma are both watching lips very carefully. They seem determined to learn how we do that thing called talking. The benediction began and it always goes something like:

"Remember that wherever you are and wherever you go, God is sending you there. Whatever you do, He has a purpose for His blessings through you. Now, go and do it. May the love of Jesus Christ and the presence of The Holy Spirit be with you now and forevermore. And let all God's people say:"

"Amen."

"Ashes, ashes...we all fall down."

I am so exhausted right now. It was really hectic in the kitchen tonight because I was cooking dinner while in the middle of feeding the babies their chicken and broccoli-cheese-and-rice casserole. I also had some veggies I was making the babies for later. Food juggling, I guess.

I have a sort of food fiasco going on. I'm still trying to figure out how to merge our foods and meal times. I end up trying to do multiple things at once. Instead of pureeing vegetables, I am now steaming and chopping. I make everything in bulk and still use the ice trays to freeze them in convenient little ice cube portions. I have also started feeding the babies a lot of what we are eating now that they have been exposed to a lot of different foods. I can't believe they are so big, eating big people food. :)

Anyway, I was attempting Rodney's favorite tonight, chicken spaghetti, in the middle of a food and feeding frenzy. I had boiled the chicken with some vegetables and mixed all of the other ingredients in a bowl, cooked the noodles, and then I poured everything in the casserole dish and popped it in the oven. It looked so yummy! "Wow," I thought. "I am good." Then I looked over and saw that I forgot to pull the chicken apart and add it into the mixture! I pulled it out of the oven and added it, stirred it around. So much for presentation, but at least I saw it in time to fix it.
Then, I picked up the dish and almost made it to the oven, but it slipped and I dropped it. It spilled all over the inside of the oven door and all over the floor. Ruined.
"Call Domino's."
I felt like screaming my head off. I felt like throwing everything I could see in the trash. I hate the heat that rises to my head when I get upset. It's not helpful. The babies were watching me suspiciously while eating their carrots. I just quickly threw the mess in the trash and went back to chopping the squash. The babies went back to yelling out and banging on their trays. While aggressively rocking my knife over the squash, I dumped a huge bowl of diced carrots in the floor. I wonder how much food a person can waste in a single evening... That was so much work and money down the drain, not to mention the floor that I just scrubbed on my hands and knees last night--disgusting again. I am so frustrated and sad. This feels like a tragedy right now. The Death of the Chicken Spaghetti. It is so sad that all of that food, the chicken, the mushrooms, the celery, the pimentos, the cream of chicken soup, the broth, the tomato sauce, the whole bag of shredded cheese AND the carrots...wasted.
I'm so sorry.

I worked so hard all afternoon in the kitchen and now the trash is full of my groceries and I'm eating Domino's. Yes, we are eating Domino's, but the kitchen is a mess, all the dishes are dirty, the inside of my oven is coated with a cheesy, greasy film, and I feel like I just ran a marathon.

                                                                                                        Nighty-night!

A Girl's Best Friend

I took Emma to her first jewelry party last night. Ethan stayed with Daddy and watched some football. Emma Lynny Lou made me so proud. She was a little social butterfly! She's always smiley and sweet, but sometimes being in a new environment can be overwhelming for her. Not this time. She ate fruit like a big girl, and then she got right in there and played with the other kids. There were several big boys there running around, jumping off of furniture, being boys, and Emma was right there laughing and playing with them. Those little boys were so sweet to her. I saw one boy put his arm around her and she smiled so big. Then she wanted to hug him again. She gave him a sweet little kiss on his leg. She was following those boys around, smiling and laughing all the way. She is still a new walker, so she fell down hard several times and I thought she would cry, but she just kept laughing, throwing her head back and laughing like she was having the time of her life! It made me so happy.

 At one point, all the kids were standing at the sliding glass door yelling and talking to the dogs. Emma was right in the middle in front with her nose pressed to the glass. All I could hear through the roaring kid sounds was her happy laugh in the background. There was a time when all that chaos would've sent me into anxiety fits, but I loved it. The jewelry party took a back seat to the kids' party, but I did see some very cute jewelry. The poor hostess was doing all she could to follow through with the night's purpose, but bless her heart, those babies were everywhere. She kind of looked neck deep in an ocean storm, being over-taken by waves but fiercely determined to proceed. She stopped to catch her breath a few times but still never lost her place.

 I put a few necklaces that were passed around the room around Emma's neck and she beamed just like a big girl with a pretty new necklace would. :) Emma, honey, you are definitely one of the girls and you can hang with the boys, too! It won't be long and we'll have to have a little talk about those kisses and older boys!

;)

Daddy Days

Mondays are very special this semester. Rodney gets to stay home from work and spend all day with his babies. We are very lucky that his job allows such flexibility. It has been so helpful when we get into scheduling conflicts or miscommunications. They have been very understanding and more than willing to help.

Rodney is the sweetest dad. Sometimes he takes them for a morning stroll in the stroller or pulls them in their new Radio Flyer wagon we got them for their birthday. They love that thing! Last night Ethan was digging for toys in it and his little legs lifted off the ground and he almost fell inside. So cute!

Rodney is a big music man, so he plays his music all through the house and those babies get their groove on. Ethan is a fan of "the baby crawl rock" and a little move we call "the Stevie Wonder." Emma is a little more of a free style girl. She gets excited and holds on to something while she bends and straightens her legs really fast. Her crawl dance is more of a fast cat stretch move and she really gets the head nod going. It is very cute.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall during these Daddy days. It's nice coming home to see the smile on his face. Sometimes when I come home, he is rocking one of them for a nap. I love the peaceful, contented expression he has with a little head on his shoulder. Other times, I come home and they are eating. He loves to watch his grandparents feed them. He looks like he is logging every moment in a special place in his memory.

Rodney's grandparents come over for a few hours every Monday and help him with a feeding or get them down for a nap. That makes three times a week for The Hodges. Bless their hearts. I hope they aren't wearing themselves out too much. I guess they just can't get enough of those twinkie dinks! :) I know there must be a special connection for them because Nannie was once pregnant with twins. Sadly, they did not get to meet their babies, but I know they have never forgotten them. I'm sure The Hodge Twins have a special place in their hearts. I bet they have wondered what it would've been like. I can't tell you how happy I am that Emma and Ethan are able to give them a little piece of what almost was.

Rodney says he is really enjoying the time with his family and his babies. He really misses his mother, though. He mentions it from time to time...how he knows she would have loved holding her twin grandbabies and how she would've been so eager to babysit. We really wish she could have met Emma and Ethan, but we can feel her spiritual presence every day. I know she is loving the fact that her parents play such a big role in their lives. I'm sure she is very proud of her son.

She should be.

.

White Rain

Well, the inevitable and dreadful has been realized. The babies have their first cold.

Rodney must've picked up a little virus at work. By the time he was feeling better, I was going down. By the time I was feeling better, I could see it in their faces. It started for them on their birthday. What a great day to get your first cold. It hasn't been making them feel that bad, though *knock on wood*. They've still been playing their little hearts out. They have runny noses and that seems to be causing a little cough too. Not surprisingly, they absolutely HATE the booger sucker. I feel like a child abuser when I have to use that thing. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do, sorry babies.

A few hours after the morning bottle today, both babies started rubbing their eyes and fussing, nap time. I picked both of them up and started rocking them face down on my chest. All of a sudden I felt a warm, wet sensation moving down my chest. I jerked and both babies looked up.

Emma was still throwing up. All. Over. Us. Poor Emma, it seemed to just keep coming. This is my very first vomit incident. I'm not sure what to do. I can't remember screaming like Rodney said I did. Poor Ethan. He was just about to drift off to dreamland when his mother started jerking and screaming and white liquid was raining down all over him. He started screaming too. It was all over Ethan and me from neck to foot. Emma was the least covered. I was stunned. I stood up and yelled for Rodney. I just stood there still holding them both, dripping all over the carpet.

"I need help." Ethan is screaming his head off, and Emma seems fine now.
Rodney came in and I could tell he was trying not to smile.

Everyone strip down, bath time.

Our carpet is in for a long ride. As for the chair, it will probably never smell right again.

Party Planner!

Have I ever mentioned that I used to be a planner? I don't identify with the meaning of the word "plan" anymore. I have revised that definition.

plan--1) verb. something that you think about doing, but don't. 2) noun. an approaching event that produces some anxiety and results in a last minute scramble and sliding finish.

Rodney and I wanted to keep their first party as small as possible so they might not feel as much social pressure. So much for that. The house was packed. We invited all of the people in our close family, and I also invited several of my new mommy friends. The babies did great! Not one tear! The theme was Mickey and Minnie. I'm still surprised that they wore their mouse ear headbands! They also had little Mickey and Minnie ribbon pins on their chests to mark them as the birthday guests of honor. They were so cute.

I planned to bake healthy ingredient alternative cakes myself.

My mom made the cake and the two baby cakes. They turned out so cute! One cake was shaped like Mickey and the other Minnie, with a little bow. Emma and Ethan have now been exposed to junk food! They loved it. They mostly played in it, but they did have cake and eat it too!

The theme was a perfect choice. It probably seemed like that was part of a plan. In reality, I had no idea what the theme would be, or if there would be one. I went to Walmart to pick up some decorations really fast. Princess, no...Blues Clues, no. Sponge Bob, no.... Hey, there's Mickey... and then I saw Minnie...voila! Perfect! I went right home and ordered some mouse ears from Amazon. We might have just planned our Halloween costumes for this year. Who knows?

I grabbed some pretzels for some salty with all our sweets at the last minute. I realized after the fact that they kind of look like little Mickeys. "Oh...hey! Yes, I totally planned that."

They played really well with their baby guests. Ellie, their 6mth old cousin was there and more active than ever. And their play date friend, Abbie, who is the same age, also came and they all enjoyed each other so much.  They also met their new 3 week old friend, Payton. She slept the whole time in her cute little giraffe outfit.

I am so happy to say that almost everyone was able to come to the party: great grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends.

The babies weren't quite ready to open any gifts themselves, but they seemed to enjoy watching their mom and dad open them. :) They got lots of toys of course and some cute clothes. They played in the floor that night for hours just like it was Christmas. :)

I can't believe these babies are one year old! They are getting so tall! They're really starting to look less and less like babies, and more and more like a little girl and a little boy.

Emma is walking now! She started a few weeks before her birthday. Ethan is standing all by himself. He is still trying to work up the courage to take another step. His first step out into the open resulted in a face plant right into the fireplace bricks. There was a blanket there as a cushion, but not enough. He hit his little face right under the nose! It was very dramatic and Rodney and I were very upset. I thought we were going to have to go to the emergency room. There was very little blood and a little swelling. Poor baby. He wouldn't let me put any ice on it. I have decided that he can never get hurt again. Emma, you too.
I'll let you all know how that goes. ;)

Ta-ta for now!

I love you, birthday babies!

Emma

You are almost 11 months old. I can't believe it. You have really come a long way since St. Francis! Your social development is coming along amazingly. You wave and say "bye-bye." You clap your hands. That has to be the cutest thing I have ever seen. You also have recently started copying my sounds and gestures. I can tell that you are learning that everything has a name. I say the name of something and you look for it. "Mimi is here" gets you looking at the front door or out the window. You love all of your family and get very excited when you see a known visitor. Sometimes meeting new people is hard for you though. You don't miss a thing. I just know you will be a people person. You are very observant of everything people do. Sometimes if I make a strange and sudden sound, it upsets you very much. You cry like you're terrified if I growl during a story book or laugh very loudly, etc. You look so cute when you cry. I've said that since you were born. Someone once told me that I wouldn't think so when you got a little stronger and louder, but they were wrong. You are still the cutest little unhappy camper.
You pull up on the coffee table and walk around all the furniture. You also recently have discovered that you can stand all by yourself without holding on to anything! It amazes me to see your tiny frame standing there like a big girl. You can stand and clap, too. You hold it there for quite a while. Daddy has almost convinced you to take a few steps, but you still drop to crawl for now. I have seen you take one single step a few times, so I know it won't be long before my little girl is officially a toddler.
You are still a very good eater. We still introduce a new food every few days. You and Ethan are also no longer vegetarians. You have had chicken and turkey. You love it. A few more new additions to our menu are plum, black beans, red beans, oatmeal, mango, blueberries and honey dew. You tried watermelon, but you and brother both hated it. Surely you will change your mind on that before long. That's one of the best things about summer...besides swimming. You love swimming! You splish-splash all over the place. You're Momma's girl. Hopefully you can help me get Ethan to like it too. I hope to take you both out on Pappy's pontoon boat soon.
You have a lot of teeth now, girlfriend! All of a sudden, you have two top teeth, and the ones next to them are coming in now, too. The ones beside your bottom front teeth are also coming in. You have bitten me a few times, Miss Lynny Lou. I yelled out and tried to really frown and tell you how much it hurt. I think when Ethan gets more teeth in, you'll understand empathy a little more. ;)
You and brother had your first 4th of July at your Pawpaw James and Gramma Janis's house. You both had an awesome time and did great with meeting all the new people. The fireworks made you squeeze me tight, but you were mesmerized by the pretty color bursts in the sky.
Another first: you and Ethan stayed in the nursery at church by yourselves this week. You had so much fun with Cici! You are the only babies, so I know you were getting her full attention. I'm excited to take you back because you had such a good time and Mommy is able to go to church again by herself and pay more attention to the sermon. Win-win. :)
We are about to wrap up your first year and I am loving our new family life.
You are my favorite baby girl and I love you so much! I tell you every day how pretty and sweet my little Princess-Em is, and I really mean it, Shug! You're my angel!

Ethan

You will be 11 months old in 5 days. I can't believe how fast you are growing. You are like a little sponge, learning so much about how things work in your world. You have learned to build and take apart your stacking toy. You can also pull yourself up to standing on anything and walk around all the furniture. When we help you, you can even walk! You much prefer crawling because you have gotten so fast!
You love your bottle, baby. You're not as interested in your solid foods these days. I have to really encourage you to eat and really praise you big for taking good bites. Oh, but you were just introduced to cookies. So far, you get a little carried away with them. You wolf them down so fast that you gag and sometimes get choked up a little. I try to show you the chewing signal and tell you to be more careful.
You are getting more and more verbal. You are working on lots of letter sounds now and sometimes you just stand at the coffee table yelling and banging a toy to emphasize your point. Your daddy says you are working on your assertiveness with the complaint department.
Recently you discovered that you can turn the pages of a book all by yourself and you love it. You coo and coo while you're reading. Story time gets your full attention before bed. You can soothe yourself to sleep now. Mommy doesn't have to rock you until you're sound asleep anymore. You are getting more independent, but I still rock you long and hug you tight for your naps. I think this will be one of the things I miss the most when you get too big.
One funny thing: you love bath time, but you don't like your swimming pool at all. You cry and cry if I put you in there with Emma. On your second try, I eased you into the idea and you still hated it. I let the water stand all day, so it wouldn't be too cold. I let you sit beside the pool and get warm, so you might like being refreshed. This has been, after all, the hottest summer in record time. It has been over 110 degrees outside for weeks! I've never heard if it being that hot before. Oklahoma summer misery is usually barely over 100 if ever over 90. You see Emma enjoying herself, splish-splashin in there. I don't get it. I tried to get you interested by putting some cool toys in the pool, let you hold your hand under some dripping water. I almost had you. But as soon as I let it drip on your back, you started to wrinkle your face and cry. I thought you might get over it if I let you sit in there for a minute with Emma and all of your toys. You sat there on all fours shaking and crying hysterically until I got you out. How will I convince you that water is fun? We will try to go swimming again this weekend in our neighbor's big pool, The Pickles' House. I hope when I get in with you, you'll like it this time.
You are the cutest dancer ever. You have several cool moves, dude. All you need is a beat. You rock to the rhythm on all fours or shake your head like Stevie Wonder. All of the toys that sing songs or play music are big hits with you.
You have discovered that things are yours. At times you seem absorbed in figuring out how a particular toy works and mastering it. I have seen you take things from Emma while she is playing with them, but she doesn't cry...yet. I will be working out how to teach you to give Emma a toy that you are playing with. I know you can do it because you are the sweetest little boy in the world.
You have started leaning in for kisses from Mom and Dad and Emma, too. They are a little sloppy and open-mouthed, but we are all suckers for them. It makes Emma smile when you give her your lovins.
It's not uncommon for you to wake up at 5 am and start crying. I come get you because I don't want you to wake Emma...and you're Momma's baby. I lay you in bed next to me and you snuggle up and usually sleep for another hour or so. I think this may be a bad habit, but I just love it.
I'm looking forward to your first birthday party. We plan to keep it as simple as possible so you won't feel pressure and I'm looking into healthy alternative cake recipes, so you can chow down and not get sick. I promise, it will still be yummy. You're gonna love it!
Love,
Mom

A Village

I had put off the question of what to do with the babies when I returned to work. I refused to think about our separation for as long as possible. I love my job, and it's not that easy to find a job as an English instructor so close to home. I knew the babies couldn't go to daycare with my germ-phobia and their preemie-ness, so I felt some pretty high anxiety on this topic. Luckily, Rodney's hours allow him to stay with the babies every week day until noon. Asking my mother to fill in the gaps was the only plan I could feel good about. But how do you ask someone to take care of your twin babies while you go back to your normal life? Oh, and for free. "Hey, Mom, I know you have your own busy life going on, and these are your care-free, child-free years, but could you forget about that, drop everything and take care of my two babies every day?" It is my responsibility and my highest calling in life to care for these babies. To delegate it feels wrong and selfish. Yet, to cut this part of my life, my personality, not to mention our income, would have its own negative effect.

So, my mother, better known these days as Mimi, comes to our house four days a week to take care of Emma and Ethan until Rodney or I get home from work. I will never be able to thank her enough for it, and I get tongue tied when I try. I don't think there is language to express this kind of deep gratitude.  Like most kids, I never really understood how much my mom did to take care of my sister and me, how much work it was to maintain the household and how little I helped, how seldom, if ever there was an occasion, I thanked her properly. Yet, here she is, back for round two...only this time I will be a better student. I'm watching, learning and wondering how on earth I will ever measure up to that kind of grace.

I must give proper credit to Her Royal Miminess for all that she does for my family from diapers, baths and naps to bottles, sippy cups, and baby food. Keeping both babies occupied and supervised alone is no easy task. I love how she thinks of new ways to do things, helps me solve problems and most of all, how she reminds me to relax and have fun. Sometimes she even finds time to help with our household chores if she can. I may come home to find the laundry pile folded or the kitchen sink clean, dishes done. Mimi, you are simply amazing.

Mimi isn't the only "villager" who watches over our children. We are blessed with other amazing family members who also pitch in their time and energy to make the twin operation go as smoothly as it does. Rodney's grandparents live nearby and they come to assist Mimi two times a week.

To have them as part of our team is pretty special.

Not many people have the opportunity to get to know their great grandchildren. Not many kids get that extra generation of unconditional love. They look so happy holding them or watching them crawl around in the floor. I think their favorite part is feeding time. Nannie laughs and laughs at the expressions Ethan makes when he eats and she ooohs and aahhs over Emma's bright-eyed smile. Papa is playful. He calls Ethan "Biggon'" and gets animated with the airplane spoon. It brings special joy to our hearts and theirs.

My sister also comes one day of the work week. She has been so kind as to spend her day off working at our house, taking care of the babies.

It's obvious that she enjoys spending time with them and I'm proud to have her on board. I only wish I had been mature enough to help more with her babies, but I have always loved them tremendously and have some very fond memories of them as babies. I'm so proud of who they are becoming. Amy is such a good mother and aunt. She is good about breaking the monotony of our routine. She may take them for a walk in the stroller, change their clothes for fun, or play with a different toy or in a different room of the house. I can see how much she loves them when I come home, and I think to myself,

"what a wonderful world." :)