I'm in trouble....

check out L's new skill... soon she'll figure out how to MOVE!!! AHH! She did this all by herself w/ no help from me.... Okay gotta go..

New running outfit... a site to behold!

I can't remember who was there.. surely Jennie, but I'm not sure who else... Julie? Karen? Colleen?? I was running late for one of our weekly Glake runs (as usual). I was so late that I decided to just go straight there from wherever I had been. I got there in my jeans and whatever w/ clogs and everyone was ready to go. I was so in need of a run, but only had running shoes in the car... no clothes. I decided to just wear my jeans and get my shoes. I ran around the lake in jeans... felt like a dork, but was so happy to get the run in.

Well today Tom was supposed to come home for lunch, but had a meeting and was unable to. He's got the car... w/ the walking stroller. The babies were cranky... as was I and it's nice out so I decided to just take the jogger and get us all out of the house. I got Phoebe all sacked up w/ her back pack and put on my old running shoes w/ jeans, a sweater and a fleece baby sling in case someone blew up and off we went. As I took off walking (far enough from the house to not turn around) I thought, 'hmm I wonder what it's like to run w/ this thing." So I ran a block and it was so easy to push... so I took off in my jeans, sweater, baby sling and all. We ran... just like that.

I'm not sure if this makes me super mom taking advantage of whatever opportunity I have no matter how silly it looks, or if it makes me the uncoolest of all uncool runner. I'm the one that laughs (sorry) at weirdos out there running in jeans.. seriously people sweatpants might chaffe a bit less.... but then there I am.. even wearing my sun glasses (not intended for running) and my colored chapstick (trying to look like I give a crap about what I look like when I leave the house).

All told I felt pretty accomplished for 1. being so flexible and 2. actually running w/ the jogger AND the dog. We didn't go far at all.. only about 20 mins worth..w / a HUGE (Seattle huge, not Wisconsin huge) hill that I had to walk up.

Thought you guys might get a kick out of that... just wish I would have gotten a photo!
Signed,

Your pal super mom, the ULTIMATE uncool runner

He's all better!

Thank goodness.. Tom is out of bed and feeling better today. He's at work so that's a good sign that he's all fixed! :)

Please please please say a prayer that these babies sleep on Friday night!!!! They were back to their old tricks and up every two hours last night.. man how that pisses me off when I've actually been getting a bit of sleep! ha I stumbled downstairs somewhere around the 3am hour last night to get some water after a feeding and thought... oh geez, I'll only have another hour before I actually have to get up to get this bus moving toward the airport on Saturday. I felt like SH&*. I think I'm going to need copious amounts of caffeine to get me through that day! I was wishing they had something I could take to give me amazing amounts of patience, but I think the eye of the discerning public will probably be enough for me to at least keep it together externally! ha ha

My next concern is the whole breastfeeding on the plane thing! I do not want to deal w/ anyone giving me hassle about it.. we all know I'm sleep deprived and I just don't want to have to cope w/ attitude from anyone.. or w/ trying to put a blanket over a baby's head. I KNOW that would not go over well. HA! But geez... cramped quarters.. if I sit in the middle my one boob is practically in the lap of my neighbor - think baby popping off A LOT to look around - and if I sit in the aisle my other boob is all out willy nilly for the world to see. It's not that I care. And if I sit at the window and Tom in the middle... well two babies are going to want to get up and walk around during a 4 hour flight... EXCUSE me a million times may be more annoying than a boob in the face! ha ha

It will be an experience not w/o trials I'm sure... I'll try to stay light hearted about it and remember that all the foibles are creating future laughs... maybe as soon as when I wake up from my NAP when I get to Lynda's!

Bumper update

So i couldn't do it.. I couldn't leave poor J w/o his bumper. It went back in the very next day. The good news is that though he still plays w/ it some while falling asleep he is not sleeping on his tummy w/o his face in the bumper! YEAH!

So Tom is up in bed ILL! He was up all night puking and we had NOTHING in the house that he could take for relief. J and I made an a.m. run to Walgreens to get him some pepto while he layed on the couch and watched L play in the exersaucer. Ugh poor guy... just off a trip to Asia and now sick in bed 5 short days before we are to get on a plane at the ass crack of dawn to head to Seattle. Hopefully this a 24 hour bug and he'll be up and at em in plenty of time to recover for our trip.

As I was sitting in the parking lot just before 7am waiting for Walgreens to open it occured to me that at that same time on Sat we will be on a plane headed for Minneapolis... That's just craziness!!!

As a result of the crazy weather in Seattle my in laws are sitting in the dark hovering around their gas fire place as many trees are down ... and power lines/poles ... in their neighborhood. We are hopeful that the power will be back up and running before we get there... otherwise we will be all crowded around the gas fire place... us in our sweats and babies in buntings... a nice cozy holiday! :) So long as I can eat and the babies are warm I'll be happy! Can't wait to see everyone!

Get Clean...

For those of you that keep up w/ Karen's blog and have seen her posts regarding out garbage situation... ours the nation, not ours mine and tom's... I thought you might want to check out the Shaklee cleaning products... I say this b/c they are concentrated and 108 lbs of packaging waste stays out of landfills and 248 lbs of greenhouse gas are eliminated when you buy the Get Clean Starter Kit versus conventional ready-to-use cleaners.

I'm not a big cleaner and was hesitant to make the commitment to buying these products... I was into going to the store and just buying the seventh generation stuff, but my mom convinced me and I'm so pleased w/ them so far! :) I bought them in mid October and have only used mere drops of the stuff to do all of my cleaning since then... of which I do much more now that I have two munchins to worry about! :)

Anyway... here's a link to their Get Clean Starter kit if you want to check it out, read for yourself and start doing your small part to save our environment! Click HERE! (You just order online... this is my mom's site. Let me know if you have Q's about any of it and I'll get her in touch w/ you!)

Lazy mom's guide to feeding your baby....

so I boiled the crap out of some sweet potatoes the other day and instead of using a food processor or baby mill I just mashed them up w/ a spoon and added them to some oatmeal cereal and breast milk.. There were some small chucks, but J and L didn't seem to mind. And they GOBBLED that stuff up! I tasted a bit... whatever they say about "feed your kids veggies first or they'll never eat them if you try after you start fruit b/c it's so sweet!" Whoever said that obviously never tasted breastmilk... that stuff is SWEET!! Dessert Sweet!

Anyway.. didn't get any pics... it was nothing out of the ordinary. Mom tried letting them eat chunks of it last night, but it was so cooked and stringy that it wasn't really working! When we return from Seattle we'll try some other things like cooked broccoli "trees". Then we're on to meats I guess.

Big Night Out!

So mom stayed a bit longer on this last visit so that she could watch the kids while Tom and I ventured out on our first night out w/o kids. We went to the Pacific Holiday party then headed over to a more "adult" (ready don't bring you freakin' kids in here) coffee / wine shop to have some one on one time.

It was great to get out ... though I found that all we did was talk about the kids.. I guess this is our new life. I think we talked/were asked about some non-kid stuff, but not much. We were trying to think of what the hell we filled the air w/ before bringing two little lives into the world. Surely it was quite profound, but our sleep deprivation prevents us from remembering anything smart/interesting we ever said.

New stats!

Our appt went well... J and L were so tired when we left.. they napped from 10:30 - 11:30AM and our appt was at 1:30pm. They were both fussy starting around 1pm, but out the door we had to go. The appts seem to take so long.. about 2 hours b/c there are two babies. They hung in there like CHAMPS! Toward the end ... while we were waiting for their vaccinations they started to get fussy. I nursed J and he seemed fine then was nursing L when the lady came in. By the time J was done L had fallen asleep. Poor little girl was woken up taken from the breast to be given her shots.... they fell asleep in the car on the way home and J napped when we got home.

On a sad note for mr. man.. we told the doc how cute it was that J would go to bed by rolling on his side grabbing his bumper and sucking his thumb. She told us the bumper had to go because he pulls it down on his face. Poor baby now has NOTHING in his crib to soothe himself other than his thumb... so after a LONG day and getting shots he was put down for a nap w/o his beloved bumper. He didn't go down easy for the nap or at bed time. I feel so sad for him... we finally had this sleeping thing going relatively well and then BLAM! we had to change it up. Better safe than sorry... God forbid something happen after I was 'warned'! He still gets his "lovey"... which he's never used as such, but maybe now that he gets no bumper he'll snuggle up to the lovey..... ????

Stats;
JASON:
26 inches (30th%)
16lbs (24th%)

I thought he would weigh in closer to 20lbs just by his size and weight holding him. He went from teh 50th % in weight down to the 24th... doc said it's nothing to worry about. I do think they just had a growth spurt so I suspect he's switch back to packing on the lbs! He went from (I think) 23.5-ish inches to 26... not bad for 2 months.

LILY:
24 3/4 inches (18th %)
13lbs 6oz (8th %)

Lily's percentiles are pretty close to her last ones so all's well there.

Other than that eveything checked out just fine. We got he schpeel about baby proofing and I guess what we are doing regarding eating/nursing is spot on... go us! ha They suggested that we start giving them meet by 7 months of age... and to give them some variety in flavoring/spices... meaning if we like spicy food to not be afraid to share our love w/ them... like if we have curry chicken to mash some up and share.. they might like it! Their diets don't have to be bland. I didn't get into the whole babylead weaning thing that I plan to do... don't know why. I figure they are getting the food... what does she care.. and part of me didn't want the idea poo pood .. geez, J already lost his bumper! ha

We also opted not to do the flu vaccine and she didn't go balistic on us or anything. She just said okay. :) YEAH!

Happy Half Birthday peanuts!

I can't believe it's been 1/2 a year already!!!!! We have a pediatrician appt today at 1:30pm so I'll come back and update this post w/ their stats after that, but wanted to share their 6 month pic for those of you that are jonesing for it!! ha ha I'm sure you've been checking in frantically today waiting for it! haha



Yes Lily is sitting up all by herself here!!! She sat there and played for a bit.. I'll load more pics onto the photo site later today!

On another note... wow stinky poo is in full affect here!!! YIKES!

Thanks for a whole 1/2 year of wonder and amazement.

Brain food....

so the babies are just watching us eat SO much and try to grab at the spoon (and what we eat) when we feed them.... so I got some avocados (good brain food) and let them feed themselves. Well, J would hold it himself, L wasn't interested in holding it, but she sure enjoyed eating it!!!!





And here's one more photo.. when I looked at it I couldnt' believe how big Lily is.. she looks like a little girl here.. Not a baby. They are growing up so fast!!! We can now add jumping, grabbing everything, laughing out loud, getting the pacifier in their mouths the right way, baby push ups (Lily is getting her tummy off the ground) and sticking out their tongues to their list of tricks!

12/9/06 Jingle Bell run!

damn.. I forgot to get a picture of Kelly and I before our big run! We had such a great time! Kelly was (as she should be) so proud of herself for finishing.. and setting a PR! GO Kelly! I'm so proud of you for training for and sticking to it and getting through the 5k.. w/ not one complaint I might add... she kicked ass!

We were running a bit tight on the start time as we headed down.. for those that may think that was Kelly's fault... it wasn't.. it was me!! ha Nursed babies... tucked my shirt in and we headed out the door. The good news is that we walked right up to the back of the pack as everyone was moving and didn't have to spend even one SECOND standing there waiting in the 29 degree weather.

All told I enjoyed the race... cold weather included. It was so nice to run w/ someone again! To run again.. to be in a race... all of it. It was great! Kelly thank you so much for making the trek up from Evanston to run w/ me. I look forward to our next one!

wow.. I can't believe that there are only a few weeks left in the year 2006! J and L will be a WHOLE 1/2 A YEAR old on Thursday... we've lived in Madison for over a year now! Will time keep cruising by this fast... the first three months of J and L's life went REALLY slow, but the last 3 have really gone fast.

I'm finding myself bored already and it's only December... it's going to be a LOOOONNNNNGGGG winter! UGH! Hopefully I'll have good turn out for my Thursday play group... it's just that much harder to get babies out of the house when it's this cold out.

Mom and dad bought a condo!!!! YEAH! It's about 10 mins away, close to the mall and it has a pool! YIPPEE! They are now all set w/ a place to stay when they come out for the summer.. they just need to furnish it now! I'm so excited! They are now committed to spending time here and there will be a place for all the other folks that visit us throughout the year to stay... b/c I'm sure the amount of visitors we had this past year wasn't just a one time shot b/c the babies were born.. ha ha ha Okay... maybe it was! I'm jazzed to use the pool this summer w/ the kiddos.. MOM, you best be ready to bust out a bathing suit b/c I won't be able to take them both in at the same time! :) hee hee

Tom and I are already starting to talk about when our next trip out to the NW will be ... for 2007 we'll need to make a trip other than Xmas.. we are pretty sure we will be staying put for Xmas next year (think two 1.5 year olds.. )... anyone that wants to join us for a white xmas is invited and welcome!!!

Sorry this is so disjointed... I was up a lot w/ babies last night.. am really tired right now..and though they are both sleeping and I should/could take a nap I'm afraid to lay down b/c as soon as I do ... and as soon as I start to drift off to sleep I KNOW they will wake up.. happens 9 times out of 10.. so I wait.. maybe I'll be hitting the sack at 7pm tonight! ha

I miss everyone!!!! Can't wait to see our Seattle peeps soon!

We went for it...

I was going to wait until we got back from Seattle, but the babies had other ideas.. they've been tracking us when we eat and have started to grab at stuff so we (I - tom's out of town) decided to just try some rice cereal... J loved it, L thought it was okay. Today I decided to do it again.. I don't know.. they just seem ready and I feel bad denying them some food... so we did Oatmeal today b/c I heard rice cereal is constipating, J needs no help in that department....

They LOVED it! Both of them wanted more more more... so tomorrow mom and I are going to go get high chairs (tried to by them on craigslist, but no luck) and some bibs and feeding 'stuff'... the denial is over.. it's time. Lynda, glad you rented that highchair.. turns out we'll need it. You know a thing or two about this kid thing, huh? haha

Here are some pics:




My little babies are growing up SO fast!!!

WTH!

I guess even after the babies get into a sleeping routine they will have bad spurts... L wouldnonly nap for 30 mins yesterday.. twice. Other than that she would just cry.. she had a HORRENDOUS night last nigth then popped up awake and ready to go at 5am. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? It's now 8:15am and I rocked her to sleep.. put her down, she woke up and she's been crying for 5 or 10 mins now.. what a set back. I'm not sure why. She was just SCREAMING last night. As soon as I picked her up she stopped... I brougth her down to check her diaper.. when I put her down she started screaming again.. I had to calm her down to change her.. then I fed her. Is there a growth spurt at 5.5 months... they are both nursing A lOT!

One step forward, two steps back. Hopefully we'll have a better night tonight.

sleep and snow!

It's a whole new world at the Mount household! Jason seems to have gotten the idea on this whole sleep thing... 1. when he gets tired and fussy he goes right to sleep when you put him in the crib.. almost as if that's what he wants now. He rolls over grabs the bumper to hug, pops his thumb in his mouth and he's out. It's amazing! 2. it's 9am and he's still asleep. He took a late nap yesterday (sometime around 4ish), went to bed around 7pm, woke w/ Lily at 11pm to nurse and hasn't made a peep since then!!! YIPPEE!!! We're making progress. Hopefully it won't all get blown to shit when we go to Seattle!

Lily is getting better. She is less frantic when she cries when she's been put in the crib. She still doesn't nap as long as Jason, but I have to remember that they are different babies and maybe she will never be a great napper (apparently I wasn't so this small fact about Lily probably brings mom great joy!! ha ha) She did a decent job on the sleep front last night. She went down w/ no protest at 6pm (she was EXHAUSTED from not napping so well and having some friends over), woke at 11pm to nurse then slept until around 6:30am. We lingered in bed nursing until almost 7:30am and she was back down around 8:30am.

I'm getting some longer stretches of sleep now and it's really helping. And they aren't waking up at 9pm anymore.. they were still waking and crying a bit at 9pm (coincidentally, or not, when I went to bed)

So we have both babies in a crib in their room.. they come to my bed for feedings and have both woken together the last two nights so they get nursed and go right back to their crib! Tom is elated to be baby free in the bed! We have the crib, mattress and sheets etc for Lily's crib now and hope to get it all set up today so they can have their own space in there!

We've got a space heater and humidifier in there too.. they are all snuggly warm and love it! We are all sleeping better!

So happy Dec. 1st... it's snowing here! Hopefully mom and dad's trip from Ohare won't be too bad and hopefully mom's flight into O'hare won't be delayed, or GOD FORBID, cancelled! Tom heads to Taiwan tomorrow. ("hopefully" the weather won't keep him from going.. ha ha)

gotta get some laundry done before J wakes up any minute now!