Seven Quick Takes (23)

1. Well, this has been an exciting week. On Monday Michael tripped and split open his forehead on the corner of a wall. There was blood everywhere. I have a vivid image of him standing in the kitchen trying to wipe blood out of his eyes but not being able to keep up with it as it dripped off his chin onto the floor.

We were able to stop the bleeding pretty quickly, and my mom stayed with the babies while Michael and I rode in the ambulance--a trip he did NOT enjoy. Luckily Keith arrived just in time to help me restrain him while they cleaned and glued the wound. Ugh. :(

Then the next day he picked the glue off. So he's had a huge band-aid every since, and it bleeds a bit every time I change it, but according to the doctor there's not much more to be done about it.


2. The next day we said "bye-bye" to binky. Ever since then Michael refuses to nap, and "quiet time" has been ... not so quiet. I am not ready for this!! I already knew and appreciated how much sanity naptime gave to my day, so this week has been really frustrating. I've had so many projects I'm itching to start and now no time to do anything. Hopefully a new normal works itself out soon.


3. I've been letting him bring books into bed, but what Michael would really love to do is build things with his door shut. And I would totally let him, except that his palaces of blocks and magnetiles or long looping tracks inevitably crash on his wooden floor, waking up his brothers. He is really good at building and puzzles ... I think he's a very spatial thinker.

At my parent's house, and with a little help, but in his signature style.

4. I've been knitting a lot lately but in a very non-committal way, jumping between hexipuffs and crochet flowers and leaves for Michael's blanket. All little parts of larger projects.


5. I've also had some non-knitting projects in the works ... I bought lumber for this table (before naptime ended ...), written up a spring-cleaning to-do list, and hung up teal paint samples in various places ... But it's all mostly on hold until this naptime/quiet time thing is sorted out.

Apparently Keith and I had an agreement some time ago that our kitchen would be white with teal accents, maybe a backsplash. He reminded me of this in dismay when he saw those swatches up on the wall. But I've definitely developed a taste for more color and would like to experiment a little. I think he's right that anything except, perhaps, a very light teal on the walls would be too much. What I'd really like is painted cabinets ... but since ours are laminate, that doesn't make sense. (Well, 75% of them are laminate. This section is wood; another is metal.) Which makes me a little sad. I'm determined to paint something though. Maybe the door frames?


6. I forgot to post about what we ate last week. On Friday and Saturday we had this curry with homemade naan, and other nights we had frozen ravioli with pesto, a quiche with broccoli and carmelized onions, and mushroom soup.


7. This week's meals:

Monday: Honey Lime Sweet Potato Tacos
Tuesday: Clam chowder
Wendesday: Broccoli pizza and mushroom and carmelized onion pizza
Thursday: Out to dinner at Burgatory with my family ... not particularly Lenten ;)
Friday: Fish tacos

Michael-Mama Time

Mornings are slow around here. A month or two ago I spent mornings doing housework; but I've found that if I spend this time simply being with my boys, they are much more pleasant the rest of the day. And now that the twins are napping more regularly (YAY), we get at least a little bit of time every morning when it's just me and my big boy.

At first he didn't really get it. I would tell him I was putting the babies upstairs for a nap and he got all upset. But sometime last week I told him it was time for the babies to go to sleep, and then it would be "Michael-Mama time." He thought about this for a second. I watched as he processed it and then decided, "Huh ... I like that idea!"

Now when I come down from putting Gregory to bed, I'm greeted by a little voice waiting on the stairs saying, "It's Michael-Mama time!"

Usually he just wants me to build stuff with his blocks. Or watch him build stuff with his blocks. (He loves his blocks. They are what he plays with 50% of the time.) Other times we'll read or draw. Often I have to make him a "nest" out of pillows and blankets so he can be a Michael-bird.

And then some days we make popovers and eat them with lots of butter while this song plays on repeat, per Michael's request.

Often I'll take a shower during this time, or fold some laundry. But I never touch the computer. It really makes a huge difference if I stay away from it until Michael's nap. He knows my attention is all his. And we're both happier people because of it.

Michael loves the wallpaper in his room.

Bedroom Tour (with a little before/after)

In the past few days I've really buckled down and tried to get the twins on a semi-consistent routine. The main goal that being their (sometimes quite short) naps overlap, at least a little. And so far it hasn't been too bad! Some successes, some failures ... but right now I have a kettle on for some chai, a slice of pear-cardamom upside-down cake awaiting the tea, and this blog post open on my computer screen. And all three boys are SLEEPING.

(I'm sure one of them will wake up before the tea is finished brewing. But that's okay! Just ten minutes is enough to make me feel a little more grounded.)

Right now Gregory sleeps in a pack'n'play in our closet. Because I am scared of what will happen if I try to put them down in the same room together. One step at a time.

It's a step above having him in a pack'n'play in our bedroom ... and two steps above him sleeping on our bed, although that's where both babies end up eventually. (They've also started falling off the edge in the wee hours of the morning. :( Time to back off on the bedsharing. Luckily our bed is less than a foot off the ground.)

Anyway. Our closet is pretty awesome. It's a walk-in with plenty of space (and a window, artfully covered by a thick blanket so that Gregory will actually sleep in there). In fact, we have a another (regular sized) closet just across from this one ... I think our bedroom has more storage space than any other room in the house.

Our bedroom was the first and biggest project we tackled in this house. It was a partially finished attic that was used as a bedroom by the previous owner, but ... it was in pretty bad shape. We finished it a week before the twins were born. (And then I couldn't sleep there for four weeks because of the c-section ... and since then the babies have shared it with us to varying degrees!)

Before

The flooring was this weird white vinyl stuff, and the wallpaper was not exactly our style. I don't know how well you can see it, but the previous owner cut individual plates out of the wallpaper and pasted them to the (also wallpapered) ceiling.

Long story short, we had a LOT of wallpaper to take down. We even bought a wall-paper remover ... we figured it was a good investment since there's wall-paper to take down in every room but the living room and the basement! (And even in the living room it looks like some previous wallpaper was painted over, so hopefully that won't become an issue.)

Removing wallpaper from the ceiling is a PAIN.

We also had to replace one of the walls (you can see the plaster in the first "before" picture), and of course paint. (So imagine me hugely pregnant wearing clothes that don't fit painting the ceiling. Or maybe don't. It's not too flattering a picture.) We also got new carpeting and were paranoid of dripping paint on it ... probably should've saved that step for last!

But the results were very worth it. I love this room; it's one of my favorite places in the house. 

Ta-da!

Doesn't the quilt complement the colors of our bedroom perfectly? It makes me happy. :) The Moroccan wedding rug that Keith's friend gave us for our wedding is at the foot of the bed, and a print given to us by friends of Mary and Joseph's wedding (left of the window). I'd like to get a side table of some sort for Keith's side of the bed, perhaps two matching ones ... we'll see! The doors on the right open to a little cupboard where I keep our sheets and a few other things. 

 The Sacred and Immaculate Heart statues on our windowsill belonged to my grandma. And the curtains in the room were made by my great-grandma Ivy, who passed away when I was 8 or 10. She traced the pattern onto the linen, embroidered the flowers, and sewed the curtains. I think she copied the flowers from an illustration in one of the Little House books. They are a bit worn in some places; I need to have them repaired soon.

Our little alcove. The windowseat opens to more storage, and the door to the left leads to a crawlspace under the eaves. I admit I am kind of terrified of the idea of the boys falling out of this window, so I never ever open it. 

Cat doorstops my husband gave me when we were dating. :) I told him a story about sleeping in a bed and breakfast when I was a very little girl. The lady who owned it had these stuffed cats that served as doorstops, and I took one to bed with me. (I also remember waking up that night to a terrifying noise; when I shook my mom awake she told me it was just Dad snoring.) These cats migrate a lot because Michael likes to come upstairs in the morning and play with them.

View from the bed. (Except normally Keith has clothes piled on top of his dresser ... sometimes up to the ceiling. I staged an intervention before taking these photos. ;) ) The alcove is to the left. Our walk-in closet is just left of the doorway, with the other closet opposite. If you look, you can see we still have that wallpaper above the stairs. 

I found you Mama!

And Gregory just now woke up! How providential. :)

Seven Quick Takes (18): Baby Talk and Brotherly Affection

1 Today Keith left pretty early and Gregory woke up late and somehow that combination made me feel like it was an "up and at 'em" type day. So I thought we'd try an outing. Maybe to Babies'r'Us because I needed to buy a shower gift, and because I can really only go places that have carts with all three children. Michael was pretty excited about driving in the car. I'm glad, because that's all we ended up doing. I made a wrong turn somewhere, and while I wasn't exactly lost, all my guesses ended up being wrong ones, and we came back to the highway exactly one block where we'd left it. One great big squiggly circle! It was fun though. :)

The best part was that right before we got back to familiar  territory we passed a church with a sign that said, "Do you know where you're going?"

Apparently not!


2 Michael's been looking for ways to interact with his brothers. He occasionally likes to join them for tummy time, and a few times he's tried to pick them up. (One hand on the head, another grabbing a foot ... not very effective.) The funniest thing is he will look at them, stretch out a hand (and pat a head if he's close enough) and shout, "MIN!" (Or "men" or "mahn," depending.) I have no idea where he got this. I think he made it up on his own.


3 Unfortunately--predictably--affection sometimes turns violent. Getting up from tummy time=stumbling=sitting on a baby. "Showing" them a toy=hitting them on the head with it. Today he made Dominic cry by ... I'm not quite sure what it was, because I only saw it out of the corner of my eye. And after very sadly saying he was sorry he tried to make up for it by hitting his brother in the head with a camera. Sigh.


4 Anyway. I haven't been blogging much because I have no time. This week has been somewhat awful because "bedtime" has been more of an abstract concept than a concrete reality. Michael's had a fever/runny nose that keeps him waking up, Dominic's been gassy and won't sleep for more than half an hour unless he's in bed with me, and Gregory is always hard to put down. (Also I've taken up swearing after 8pm for Lent ... :-P Even little things seem SO HORRIBLE at night.) But last night Michael didn't wake up and we finally got Dominic to sleep on his belly so we actually had from 10pm-1am without any crying. Yay!


5 I think Gregory suffers from reflux. I'm not positive and may change my theory in a day or two, but right now I believe that's what bothers him so much. Does anyone know of any natural remedies to help him out, especially when it comes to sleeping?


6 And while I'm asking for tips, we're thinking of starting the twins on a few ounces of formula at bedtime. Partly so they'll sleep longer; partly to give me the option of a break; and partly so they'll  take a bottle and I can go places without them. (And no, I'm not pumping. I've tried with very little output ... and frankly I just don't have it in me to try again.) But they are pretty resistant, particularly Dominic. I'm not sure if it's the bottle itself or just the taste of formula. Any advice about getting them to take it would be appreciated! (My husband offers it to them, we warm it up, and have tried two different brands.)


7 Blah blah blah. Sorry, I don't even have any pictures to include with this post. I'd make a horrible mommy blogger. I guess I kind of am half mommy blogger so I suppose that makes me horrible. ;)


Go and read many posts of much more interest at Jen's place!

Birds and Beads

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along, a day late because I had no chance to take a picture yesterday! I was too busy baking bread and making stew for St. Joseph's feast day. (Leftovers for dinner tonight ... yum!)

Because I'm knitting so slowly of late I've been working on Keith's scarf for what feels like ages. (Since December, right? Four months is ages, for me at least!) And I'm not even 3/4 through yet. So ... faced with a bit of time and the desire to knit, I cast on a sweater. Tarian! I'm pretty excited to make this.

I knit three swatches, which was a big act of patience for me. I really want this sweater to turn out nicely! However after trying three different needles my gauge was the same every time. I thought switching from wood to metal might make a difference, but my aluminum needles are otherwise occupied ... so ... I've cast on and will checking things as they go. If it seems like my sweater is going to  turn out more like a dress then I'll just have to resign myself to frogging and starting over on size 4 needles. 

This book ... so, so good. It is really beautiful reading about the experiences of these catechists and seeing how children can know and love God at so young an age--reading this book is such a wonderful reminder of God's goodness. 

I also just finished The Amazing Thing About the Way it Goes by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Very different from her previous books. Less knitting centered, and more personal. But as always very funny. 

And finally, Birds is the book Michael and I have been reading three or four times a day this week. (Fact #1 of living with a toddler: don't pick up any book you aren't willing to read at least 3-4 times in a row! This goes for singing songs, too.) We checked it out from the library and he is hooked. I actually don't mind reading it so repetitively. The illustrations are rich without being complicated, a perfect match for the imaginative text. It embodies the sort of creative wondering I hope my own children cultivate.

Speaking of birds, we visited the National Aviary today. It was the first time I'd been there. I think it was all a bit much for Michael to take in, but he loved having the birds at his level to look at, especially the penguins. And also he loved just running around. Always. :) (Fact #2 about life with a toddler!)

(Fact #3: Mardi Gras beads are awesome, even during Lent.)

Brothers

First I want to thank Rosie, who very sweetly included a link to my blog in her latest post about twin blogs. Some of the other blogs on there are ones I already follow and love, and others I am excited to check out!

Rosie also wanted to see side-by-side pictures of the twins to guess whether they were identical or fraternal--a request which I am quite happy to oblige. After all these guys are pretty darn cute. ;) I think for those who spend a lot of time with them the difference is pretty clear, but from pictures and seeing them only occasionally it may be less so. We are pretty convinced they're fraternal though.

Dominic L, Gregory R

Differences you can't see in this picture--Dominic is bigger, although Gregory has the longer torso; Dominic has reddish hair (just a little bit!) and Gregory's is dark and thick in the back; Dominic's eyes are blue as blue while Gregory's seem to be staying a pretty grey color; and Gregory only has one line on his palms, a trait he inherited from me. (Michael has it too.) Their complexions are also pretty different: Dominic has Keith's (fair), Gregory has mine (a fair olive).

Dominic, I believe, looks the most like Keith of all our children. He looks more like Keith's baby pictures than Michael did.  (I would show you but I think Keith would not be pleased to find his baby pictures on the internet. ;) )

But Gregory looks like my mom's side of the family. Specifically, my mom's mom's side. More specifically, my mom and I both think he looks like my great uncle Jim (who was only a few years older than my mom). 

Uncle Jim as a child

Their personalities are quite distinct. Gregory is the quiet one, but quick to smile, quick to coo, and overall quite the charmer. He is very easy-going (although he is reaching the age where they develop opinions ... I guess that happens around 3 months, doesn't it?). Dominic has a louder personality. He wants to be at the center of any action. If you sit him up in your lap so you can see the world he's generally happy. If he's not happy, he will let you know.

They are both becoming more aware of Michael, and Michael is deciding that sometimes he likes having brothers to be his audience.

Sometimes.

Imperfect

Well, Keith's scarf has crept along another few inches, and I am reading a new book. Sand, Smoke, Current is Wiseblood Books' first publication of the year, and I am much enjoying it. Robert Vander Lugt is able to draw the shapes of the stories in ordinary people's lives in a way that is beautiful and meaningful, and that is something I always admire in an author. These stories are quiet but earnest. My favorites so far are the title story and "Love, Double-barreled."

A while back when I shared progress on Keith's scarf I mentioned hiding a mistake I'd made in the cabling that I hid outside the camera frame. That very Sunday I dressed Gregory for Mass in a sweater that Keith's grandma had knit him when he was a baby. My mother-in-law gave us some of Keith's baby clothes when Michael was little(r) but because he was born in the spring it was usually the wrong season for him to wear them when they fit. But now the twins can wear them, and it makes me happy (although Keith finds it kind of embarrassing, I think!). It's so special for them to wear something their great-grandma made.

All pictures of the boys stolen from my Dad's facebook. :)

Anyway. While Gregory was wearing it, I found a mistake in the cabling. Far from being an imperfection, I found that so neat, evidence that this came from the hands of a real person and was made with love. Anyone might have knit a sweater, but Keith's grandma made that mistake. That missed cable is such a direct connection to her as an individual knitter. 

And it made me look at my own knitting differently.

So I won't be pointing out my mistakes to you ... but I won't hide them either. :) Kind of sounds like a life lesson, huh?

(Oh, and that day, Michael was wearing a sweater knit by his grandma.)

(And Dominic wasn't wearing any sweaters, but he was wearing some pretty spiffy overalls and a collared onesie. :) )

Linking up with Ginny and her yarn-alongers.

Seven Quick Takes (16)--Babies and Blessings

1. I have a list written out of 100 things I would like to do in 2014. (So far you haven't been subjected to it. ;) ) Two of the things were to get our house blessed, and to invite a priest over for dinner. So when a priest we know offered to do an Epiphany blessing for us we excitedly said yes and settled on a time "after dinner." I intended to invite him over for dinner, but between life being crazy and me being procrastinatory (that is definitely a word) it didn't happen. I had a pot roast but didn't make it and figured that we'd dive into our freezer stash for a meal. 

And then ... Keith called me five times in a row and I finally called him back and we realized that Father was coming over for dinner. So I had an hour and a half, an uncooked, 3 lb pot roast, and ... nothing else in the house except eggs ... and cheese ... and milk ... which thankfully I realized could make a quiche. Phew! I'm really glad he ate with us, but I'm hoping we can invite him back again for a nicer meal. 

Michael also decided that Father was such a good friend he would tell him every time his diaper was poopy. Which was at least twice. 

Definitely not identical!

2. Dominic and Gregory are two months old! They've officially outgrown their newborn clothes (it took Gregory a bit longer than Dominic) although we won't know how much they weigh until their appointment next week. As for personality, they couldn't be more different. I want to get around to typing up their birth story soon. The other day I was holding Dominic and getting teary-eyed thinking about his birth ... but I realized I want to type Michael's first. Not because I'm OCD about birth order or anything, but because I'm realizing that how I feel about the twins' birth and how I'm processing it relates strongly to my experience with Michael. (And indeed, writing the birth stories is another thing on my 2014 list.)

3. Yesterday I fed/nursed all the boys, got everyone dressed, put on a pair of earrings and french braided my hair, got everyone into the car and went shopping. We were back before noon, everyone all in one piece. The only hitch was that Dominic decided life was awful the minute we started driving, and was only soothed by me dancing around the aisles of Walmart while wearing him. (Gregory was in his carseat in the cart.) It was empowering but exhausting. I basically spent the rest of the day watching period dramas and nursing babies.

4. One thing that made yesterday possible was getting up a bit earlier than usual, which happened because Keith was up. Generally the babies dictate our schedule. But I know I need to be more disciplined. Eventually I want to have a morning routine where I get up at a certain time, hopefully have some of the morning to myself to shower etc, and make breakfast for Michael to eat while I nurse the babies. This may not happen until the twins have a more regular schedule, but hopefully that isn't too far in the future.

5. My friend Stephanie stopped by with her boys (ages 3.5, 2.5, and 4 months). The house was very full of boyhood--a sort of glimpse of my future in a year or two. There was screaming and running and laughter and tears and pizza and clementines. I have to laugh because who would have known four years ago that we'd soon have six boys between the two of us?? Life is so crazy. My babies are small and Stephanie's are huge; her not-yet-four-year-old can see and reach anything on my counters, whereas my almost-two-year-old is still wearing some 12 month size shirts!

6.  However. Stephanie has the easier babies. I'm not sure what it is about my closest friends (my cousin's babies are like this too), but they all seem to have babies that are content to lie or sit on the floor and watch what's going on and grin at you. Whereas my babies ... ha! You hold my babies for an hour and then when you try to put them down they start crying out of sheer indignance. (Well, Gregory is a bit easier than that. But not Dominic.)

7. It's snowing. That makes me happy. The weather out the window is no longer fooling me into feeling like it's spring, and the days are brighter with a little white on the ground. I wish I could take Michael out to play in it ... but right now Papa has to be the fun parent in that regard.

picture by Keith

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary!

Seven Quick Takes (15)

1. You know what's cute? A toddler resting his head on the couch with a cherubic grin so that he's eye-to-eye with his baby brother, then saying "Hi! Hi! Hi!"


2. What else is cute? A toddler holding a toy in front of his baby brother while he's in the swing so that every time the baby comes forward his feet hit it and saying "Kick! Kick! Kick!"


3. So yes, Michael is adjusting to having two younger siblings. It is a slow process and in the beginning it was really difficult. I think this age (19-20 months) is probably one of the hardest to lost only-child status (although I'm sure I'm biased by my own experiences ...). And I KNOW it's hard to go from being the beloved only child/grandchild who is always the center of attention to having two younger siblings. Sometimes there are simply no arms available to hold you. Especially when Mama had a c-section and can't pick you up at all. (Oh man. That was really hard. On both of us.)

He still gets jealous, of course. But he is secure and knows he's loved, and he is starting to interact with his brothers every now and then as opposed to either pretending they don't exist or glaring balefully at them.


4. So, Christmas preparations. Postpartum with twins. Oy. Thank goodness for online shopping, especially Amazon Prime two day shipping. We're set on everyone except my brother, and Keith's presents at least are wrapped and ready to go under the tree on Christmas Eve. (Michael's presents are still in transit!)


5. As for Advent, well, I did manage to dig out the Advent ring (it has no wreath) and the stubs of last year's candles. We made sure to light the purple ones in reverse order, but even so I'm not sure that the second purple candle is going to make it to Christmas!


6. And I am also doing Christmas cards. Which ... was a bit more ambitious of an undertaking than I thought when I started ...? They may end up being Epiphany cards. :-P As long as it's within the twelve days of Christmas, right?


7. Thanks for your prayers for baby Gregory. We have another appointment in four months to reevaluate, but it seems that he will likely not need surgery, which is such a blessing.


And now I'm off to try and get some Christmas cookies started ... head over to Jen's blog for more quick takes!

Color Affection

No baby socks on the needles. Instead I have cast on a Color Affection (because I am late jumping on any bandwagon ...?). From left to right the colors are Thyme, Night Bloom, and Composition Book Gray. All in Tosh Sock, of course. What do you think?

A local yarn store is discontinuing all their Tosh yarns, and so they are on sale at 20% off. I stopped by "just to look" and ended up taking home the middle skein. I've had the other two for a while, and when I put them next to each other it just seemed meant to be.

When I took Michael into the store with me, I made sure to hold him so he didn't run around and wreak havoc. He was so excited and kept waving his pointer finger around saying "Yarns! Yarns! Yarns!"

Right now he's upstairs in his crib, decidedly not napping (but also not throwing a temper tantrum, so that's good). We've been doing a lot of cuddling and reading lately. By naptime there are always at least a dozen board or picture books scattered around the living room. As for me, I am still trucking through Anna Karenina. Now that I am so far through (75%) I will be kind of mad if I don't finish it before the babies are born. :-P

Linking up with Ginny.

Still waiting

Well, hi! Our computer wasn't working all day yesterday, which meant I had no access to the internet. I didn't get online once in more than 24 hours. What's funny is after Keith fixed the computer and I got back online a few people had asked if I'd had the babies! :) We also missed our regular Mass this Sunday because we slept in, and I kept wondering if people would think I was in labor because we weren't there. These babies will be considered full term on Friday, which is crazy. But--they are still inside. :) I'm glad the computer was fixed today, because I think if I missed the yarn along of all things, that would truly be a sign of their arrival!

After a brief break to zip through The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning (highly recommend it!), I am still chugging along with Anna Karenina. A friend stopped by today with my order of Usborne books, so I am reading those too, because they're awesome. :)

As for knitting, I am working on a little blue Milo for one of the twins. The newborn size knits up very quickly and I imagine I will finish it tomorrow. I've already knit another in brown.

See the owls??

I think I would've rather knit Puerperiums, but the amount of finishing (ie buttons) put me off. With Milo I just have two ends to weave in and its done. And I do love this pattern.

Speaking of finished, one of the things on my to-do-before-babies checklist was to knit a sweater for Michael. And I did it! He hates having it pulled over his head, but otherwise he loves it. Every time he saw me working on it, I told him I was making a sweater for Michael. So he loved to come up and play with the ball of yarn or touch the sweater and say "Knitting! Michael!"

Of course, now he seems to think that everything Mama knits is for Michael. And he wouldn't stand still for me to get a good picture, but I guess one can only expect so much of an 18-month-old! The sweater is a bit big, but that is good, as it will fit him still next year.

Head over to Ginny's to see what other people are knitting and reading.

Abate

I forgot to grab the books I'm reading for the photo, but it's much the same as last week. Anna Karenina is a surprisingly quick read now that I'm devoting more time to it than the five or ten minutes in bed before the light goes off.

The sweater is an Abate for Michael, knit in size 2T (the smallest). It will be a bit big for him, even though I'm knitting it on smaller needles than the pattern specifies. But that means it will fit him next year too, I hope. I'm using Quince & Co. yarn for the first time and enjoying it immensely!

I have this belief that the twins will not come until this sweater is finished and the skeins of Tosh I posted about last week are knit into two Milos/Puerperiums. Because they just aren't allowed. ;) Also, a friend of mine is throwing me a diaper shower next week, so clearly they can't arrive before that!

So many people have been predicting the first week of November that I think I'm starting to believe that's when they'll be born, myself. Insofar as I believe anything; in the end I'm clueless! I can't imagine still being pregnant by my due date, and yet I can't really imagine having two little babies in the house, either. We'll see!

Head over to Ginny's to see what other people are working on!

Puffing (and still settling ...)

I finished my birthday socks--not quite in time for my birthday, alas. I was about ten rounds short. But they are complete and I am wearing them now. I would post pictures but socks are remarkably hard to photograph when they're on your own feet. ;) 

I am waiting for yarn to come in for a sweater for Michael, and have finished a sweater and blanket apiece for the twins, so for the past few days I've been knitting hexipuffs from the leftover sock yarn.

Surprisingly, I am still reading Anna Karenina. Perhaps I will stick with it after all. I didn't want to be in the middle of a massive Russian novel when the twins were born, but who knows? Maybe I'll finish it before then. (Probably not.) The other two books are These Beautiful Bones  by Emily Stimpson and Small Steps for Catholic Moms by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss. I won both of these in giveaways--one on Goodreads, one through Ginny's blog--and am excited about both of them, particularly since I probably would have bought These Beautiful Bones anyway.

Both those skeins are Tosh DK--one in Antler, one in Betty Draper's Blues--and I am not sure what to do with them. Originally they were intended for a Milo for Michael. Now I am wondering if they should go into Milos or Puerperiums for the twins. What do you think?

In case you're wondering why that last picture was blurry ... I had to work fast.

 My stash is officially unpacked, as are all the books that will fit on our bookshelf, so our little reading/knitting nook is complete. We are getting new couches tonight, so when the room is more together I will show you pictures.

Linking up with Ginny for her yarn along!

Bugs

One thing about living out of the city, and particularly living around a lot of trees: there are a lot more bugs.

Thanks in part to the warm spell we've been having, there have been a LOT of stink bugs in our house. A lot. They're getting in through the window a/c units (which we need to take out at some point), and the room they like most is Michael's. I've never been able to smell stink bugs before, but one day Keith vacuumed about fifty out of Michael's windowsill, and it's hard not to smell that many.

Michael doesn't mind them when they're just crawling around, but when they buzz around drunkenly and bump into things they scare him. Part of our routine before naps and bedtime now includes reassuring him there are no bugs (and removing them if there are any). More than once he has woken up from a nap crying and when I go in he looks at me with big eyes and says, "Bugs!" Poor guy!

It's not just stink bugs, of course. We've had a praying mantis on our back deck, spiders of various sorts both inside and out, beetles, and most notably there was a wheel bug on our porch. We took pictures, but I am not putting them up in the post, because seriously? Wheel bugs are not for the faint of heart. You can click to look if you want. These things, they just aren't ... terrestrial. They look like they belong in outer space, or a horror movie, or maybe both. We discovered ours right as the delivery many showed up with a pizza, so the three of us (plus Michael) stood around gawking at it until it started waving its arms at us, at which point we all sort of slowly backed away.

It hasn't showed up since then, but I have visions of coming onto my porch with an armful of toddler and groceries and things, fumbling for my keys, and suddenly ... nose to nose with the ugliest bug you've ever seen.

But, apparently, wheel bugs are one of the only things that eat stink bugs. So I guess it's our friend?

Seven Quick Takes (13)

1. I should be packing right now. Or at least taking a shower. But instead I am typing my (probably) last blog post ever from this apartment. We are so happy to be moving to our new home tomorrow, but just typing that out makes me feel a little emotional. (Hey, cut the pregnant lady a break. She's allowed to get teary-eyed.) This place has been good to us.

2. One of the best parts about living here has been our landlords. Last year they moved in downstairs, which could be potentially awkward, right? But it's been great. They're just good people. For example, my landlady the other day invited Michael downstairs to come see the kitty, which made him SO HAPPY. (Although now whenever he sees her, he starts crying to see the cat.) She's helped me carry groceries into the house more than once since I've gotten pregnant, offered to buy things for us from the farmer's market, and to top it all off last week she and her husband gave us a gift card to Babies'r'Us for the twins. How sweet is that?

3. I suspect Michael might have an ear infection, so I've been trying to call the doctor's office to make him an appointment. It took three tries. Try #1: I get to option 1 on the menu (making an appointment is option 3), when Michael starts crying. I turn around to see he has bitten a piece of plastic off the medal on a broken plastic rosary. (He is past that stage of putting things in his mouth, so I'm not sure exactly what he was thinking.) I hang up the phone and get the piece out of his mouth and decide that when he starts eating random crap it's time for a nap. (And I'm sorry, I really hope that rosary wasn't blessed because it's in the trash right now.)

4. Try #2: I wait a bit for Michael's nap to "take." When he settles and seems to be asleep, I call the doctor's office again. This time I get to option 2 on the menu before there's a knock on the door. I'm still in my pajamas. I hang up, get dressed quickly, and answer the door. It's my landlady, apologetically letting me know that some Italian guy is coming by to look at the house in the late afternoon. (Our landlords are selling this place.) We chat for a bit, and then ... Michael starts crying.

5. Fastforward to try #3: I finally get through the menu ... and have to leave a message. So, hopefully we will get him in for an appointment sometime this afternoon.

6. I have to say that this pregnancy has been kind of difficult. As a family we have dealt with a lot of stuff in the past few months that would have been challenging WITHOUT pregnancy hormones thrown in ... know what I mean? Between dealing with various crises, extended family drama, Keith working in overdrive to finish his degree a few months ago, house-hunting and moving, etc ... I feel like I've been in "survival mode" off and on for the past several months. As my due date gets closer, this has become harder for me to deal with, and it's taking its toll on me emotionally. I feel like any day the twins are just going to "show up" and I won't be prepared, at all. But I am trying to let go of things I can't control (including things that have happened in the past few months) and just live in the present and know that I am where God wills me to be at this moment.

7. Did you know that September 22nd is not only the first day of autumn ... but also Hobbit Day? Happy happy happiness!! It's also, sadly, the day after we move, so I'm afraid a day of feasting with friends hobbit-style is out of the question ... but I want us to celebrate it somehow! I'll think of something. :) Also, Michaelmas is a week from Sunday! So we will have to do something special then too.

Linking up with Jen for her Seven Quick Takes.

Making Way

I am blogging from a new (to me; definitely not new-new) laptop because mine decided not to recognize its power cable anymore. The one I'm using now is my husband's old computer (and it has its own issues ...), which means it's Linux, which means I only got to use my shiny new Windows Live Writer once. Sigh. I have had so much trouble with the pictures in this post, so if any of the formatting is weird, I apologize.

If all goes well (say a prayer for us that it does!), we are closing on our new house two weeks from tomorrow. Have I started packing? No. But. I have started sorting through things in an attempt to prune and organize them, a sort of making way for packing. Lately I've tackled my crafting supplies.

This is the kind of thing it's kind of difficult to do when Michael's awake, but we manage. Until he gets mad because I won't let him dump all the buttons out of my new button box.

Or mad because I put the lid back on this lovely little sewing tin I got for a dollar at an estate sale, contents included.

(Button box on the left)

I love how this is full of little bits and bobs of the previous owner's work, including that crocheted lace. Unfortunately everything has a musty smell to it; does anyone know how to get that out?

I've also been going through my Grandmom's crewel and embroidery kits, I still need to go through some fabric I have tucked away (not much), and then, there's the yarn. Oh yes, the yarn. Would you like to see it?

Here is my yarn shelf:

But it is kind of deceptive. Only the prettiest yarns get to live on the shelf (and yes, there is a lot of Tosh there). There are various cardboard boxes and a canvas grocery bag that hold the rest (along with various WIPs). So here it all is spread out on the bed.

Toddler included for size comparison. ;) 

Colors make me happy :)

]Actually, it's not as "bad" as I thought it would be, if by "bad" you (who I presume would be a non-knitter) mean "having too much yarn." Especially considering that half of that yarn is from Knit Picks. Much of the nice yarn is destined for specific projects; much of the less-nice yarn is either left over from something or else was bought before I really knew what I was doing in terms of stash enhancement. ;) 

The top half is arranged according to weight, from worsted through lace, except the top right corner which has crochet thread. Then the middle is all Knit Picks yarn. And yes, most of it is varying shades of teal, because I bought it to knit flowers for our wedding. At the bottom, from left to right, are a few skeins of crappy acrylic (and no, it is not a coincidence that that's the corner where Michael is sitting), balls of leftovers, some miniskeins destined for hexipuffs, and balls of handspun from my mom. 

Michael was pretty happy the whole time. Mama was a little stressed, since just beyond the Knit Picks yarn was the Very Nice yarn that Michael was not allowed to touch and yet found very attractive. Then it was time to put the yarn away, and he was none too pleased. It ended with him angry-crying outside the bedroom door, which I closed until I could find a better time to put things away when he wasn't looking. Not even my offer to play trains with him made up for it. 

But now, at least, things are a little more organized. Next up: Keith's art supplies ... maybe. It's pretty scary in that corner. 

Things I am excited about.

(Organized from most to least geeky. The best is last, so feel free to skip the geeky parts if you're not into them. ;) )

First of all, this guy.

Oh, I will sorely, sorely miss Matt Smith, whom I think made a better Doctor than David Tennant. But I am glad that we're seeing someone in the role who's over 50. It's about time. Although I like all the individual actors who have played it in the new series, I haven't liked the trend of the Doctor being played by younger and younger men. Our culture's need for actors and stars to be young and attractive all the time is immature and problematic; and while I've loved the whole 900 years old/young element that Matt Smith brought to the role ... I'm looking forward to seeing what an older actor like Peter Cafaldi can do with it.

Apparently he has played a minor role in the show before, and has also been in Torchwood. The latter fact I couldn't care less about. I hate Torchwood. I hate Russell T. Davies's writing. I hate Jack Harkness when he's not in Doctor Who. So whatever. But I'm looking forward to seeing what Peter Capaldi has in store for us as the Doctor.



Second of all, Bernie Su and Hank Green (of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries) have announced their next adaptation:

I am so flipping excited. I love Emma. I love Mr. Knightley. To be frank, everyone always gushes over Darcy, and with good reason, but I have always thought Knightley was better husband-material. (Although perhaps not for Lizzie. I will grant you that. Lizzie and Darcy are particularly suited to each other.) I also think this novel is particularly well-suited to adaptation as a vlog-style webseries, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with it. I already like what they're doing with this logo--it captures Emma's personality and well-intentioned meddling so perfectly! I have high hopes.



Third of all, as you can see, this kitchen has ugly pink and yellow tile and matching cabinets. Even the chandelier is pink.

What you can't see is that there's a big hole in the wall behind that cabinet where the insulation is now hanging out. (At least it's pink?)

But it has tons of cabinets and counter space, two ovens, a dishwasher, natural light ... and God willing, if things go smoothly with the inspection, mortgage, and whatnot ... this incredibly awesome and hideously decorated kitchen will be ours.

YAY!

If all goes well we should be able to move in mid-September. And then I can get all crafty and nesty and it's going to be great. We are excited and nervous as heck. Pray for us!


Oh, and Michael wants you to know that he is excited about his brand new spiky green ball.

Preparation

(It's still before midnight! Phew. I'm participating in Jen's 7 posts in 7 days challenge, only I am considering cheating and starting the count from last Thursday or Friday, because I have been posting every day since then, which is pretty unusual. We'll see!)

Today I drove Michael to Carter's to pick an outfit for each of his little brothers. Right now the plan is that they will come home from the hospital in these outfits (plus a mama-made sweater and blankie), but you never know ... something else might catch my fancy before they're born. :) I also got the matching stuffed animals, because I had coupons and was standing in line for the register for too long. And because I'm a sucker for Carter's. And because it was a turtle and a fox.

At the checkout counter, Carter's has this neat little bead maze for kids to play with while their parents pay. Michael was pretty upset when I pulled him away from it, so to avoid a tantrum I gave him the fox. Then I felt really guilty, because 1) Michael really loved this fox and he wasn't going to be able to keep it, and 2) because he kept hugging it and giving it open-mouthed kisses, it was getting all drooled on before its intended recipient was even born. But I was able to slip it quietly back into the bag when we got home and he hasn't missed it.

I admit I looked a bit wistfully at some of the sweet dresses in the girl section, disappointed that I couldn't buy any because they were so cute. Not disappointed that I am having my boys, though--just to be clear. On the drive over there was a big, light-up billboard welcoming the new little prince, and I teared up a little. Not because I'm a royal groupie, but because it moved me to see that welcome. And because that's what all baby boys are, truly: little princes. They are so amazing. And baby boy clothes are pretty darn cute, too. ;)

As I prepare for these two little lives to enter the outside world, I have also been thinking a lot about death. Recently an acquaintance of mine discovered that their own little boy likely has a genetic disease that will cause them to die by age four. This little guy is the same age as my Michael. It breaks my heart in a way I know it couldn't have before becoming a mother. Please pray for them, and also for Dwija, who lost her baby last week. She was due a week after me; her boy Nicholas was the same age as my own twins.

I am not sure that I have a conclusion to these thoughts, and I don't mean to be morbid. I am not walking around in fear of loss, but rather in humility before things so much bigger than I am. It is easy to forget how big these little lives are, so easy to take them for granted. On a simply practical level, I cannot comprehend that there are two lives inside of me, even when as they grow and I am able to feel them interacting with each other. There is not much I can do to truly prepare for their arrival except live and be humble.


Which isn't to say I don't have a list of things that need to get done before the babies arrive. I know you're dying to see it, so here it is.

-Move. This has a list of to-do's all its own, obviously, not the least of which is "buy a house to move into." But one list at a time.

-Buy: two bouncy seats, newborn diapers, a double stroller plus toddler seat, a twin nursing pillow. (These strike me as the immediate essentials. Am I missing anything? Things like cribs can wait a month or two since they'll be in our room.)

-Wash and lay out infant clothes, and figure out what more is needed since these babies are being born in a different season.

-Measure the back seat of the car(s) and buy new carseat(s) as necessary.

-Register at the hospital and take a tour.

-Make plans for Michael during labor.

-Pack bags for everyone. (I feel like this is far away, but everyone tells me to be prepared way earlier than I think I need to be.)

-Stock up on freezer meals.

-Knit. Blankies, sweaters, hats.


Am I missing anything important?

Seven Quick(ish) Takes

Today's theme: babies. Or perhaps "offspring," since I am coming to realize that Michael isn't much of a baby any more. This makes me sad. But I guess with two more on the way I don't have much to complain about, do I??

1. I realized that when I posted yesterday about being huge I forgot to include a picture of my current bump for comparison. So here I am at about 18 weeks with twins.

2. Speaking of twins. With Michael I remember constantly having to push him back down away from my ribs so I could breathe. I don't remember when this started--maybe the end of the second trimester? I guess I just have a short torso! Anyway, I am sorry to say that these little ones are already trying to climb their way up into my diaphragm/stomach. Or something. Not comfortable.


3. I am a little disappointed because I wasn't able to schedule our ultrasound for next week, since they need to set aside extra time for twins. So we won't be finding out the genders until the week after next. I've been reassured that finding out the sex isn't any more difficult with twins than singletons, but the twins and I have been having some heart-to-heart conversations about cooperation, just in case.


4. I think that Michael has been going through an intellectual growth spurt lately. He is getting pretty good at communicating, and his list of words is growing pretty steadily. Because I am sure you are all dying to know, here is a convenient list of his most common words, complete with translations.

Mama
Papa
Gaga (grandma)
Keek (Keith)
kaka (avocado)
nana (banana)
ba (ball)
ka or kak (car)
kak (clock)
kunk (klunk. As in banging his head against something.)
ig (egg)
eezh (cheese)
eezh (Jesus)
eezh (keys)
bap (beep; also his term for the microwave)
bubbo (bubbles)
na (no)
ee (eye--usually accompanied by a finger poke in mama's eyeball)
hm (home)
meetbo (meatball--he hasn't said this since but I put it on the list because I was pretty impressed.)

Also I think he sometimes says "poopy" when I change his diaper, but I could be imagining things.


5. I just realized that I forgot #5 when I originally posted this. Oops.


6. Because Mama is the boring parent, and because he no longer nurses, we hear "Papa" a lot more around these parts lately. One day he chatting to himself and I asked if he could say "Mama." He looked at me, smiled, and said "Mama papa papa." Back when he used to have trouble saying "Papa," he used to do the same thing only reversed: "papamama." It actually really touched me because I realized how closely we are tied together in his mind. Papa, Mama. Both of them. Separate but united. Of course. That's how it is, how it's supposed to be. That is his reality, his world, and I am so grateful.


7. I think I'm going to have to break down and buy some yarn for the babies. I just can't stand it! Only one nearly-finished shawl stands between me and baby knitting, and gosh darn it I need yarn.

Honeymoon shawl + baby tricks

I really enjoyed knitting this shawl with my honeymoon yarn. It is a great pattern; the border flew by for me because it had long repeats, but they weren't too difficult to memorize (although I did always have the pattern handy to double check). Right now I'm working the crochet bind off, so I will probably finish it tonight.

That monster of a book is moving quickly enough, too. (I should have taken a picture from the side so you could see how thick it is ... almost 1000 pages. Yikes.) I realized that season 3 of Game of Thrones actually ends somewhere in the middle of book three, so in another 200 pages or so I should hit new material. (Although I admit, I've looked ahead a bit for one or two characters' timelines. For shame.)

Today was my last appointment with the midwives. They don't deliver twins, so I have to find a new doctor. :( But we got to hear both heartbeats today, and Baby A kicked the doppler a few times. (S/he is the one I always feel moving. Very seldom Baby B.)

Someone has learned a new trick. He likes to do this and throw all his stuffed animals out of the crib, then cry because his monkey is on the floor.

Energy levels are up and down with me lately ... and I need to find ways to eat better during the day. I find that I am already having trouble eating a full meal (at 16 weeks!!) but I get HUNGRY. Please share your suggestions for eating protein that don't involve lunchmeat/tuna/dairy (as I get enough cheese and yogurt already--probably too much!)--pretty please? :) I'm eating for three over here! 

Linking up with Ginny's yarn along!