Today Rowan woke up again at 7am. This time we think it’s because he had a poopy diaper, hopefully he’ll go back to normal tomorrow. It’s been kind of fun though because Michael will bring him in to bed and I’ll feed him, then we’ll all snooze together for a little while. Then Michael will get up and go to work, and then Elijah will wake up and I’ll bring him in the bed too. Playing with them in the bed for some reason is so different from playing with them in the living room. Change of scenery I guess.

We didn’t do much today. I had to prepare for my first photography lighting class, getting all my stuff organized and together. Michael was supposed to come home by 4:30, but he didn’t leave early enough, so he came home almost close to 5. It was ok though, I was only 15 minutes late, and not even the last one to class. On the way to the class sitting in traffic, I talked to our friend, Gurukarta. Her father recently passed and I wanted to get in touch. I had some trouble finding parking, and so I had to park in the pay lot, but it was only $3.

The class was good, I think I’ll learn a lot. The people were really friendly too. I was talking to one of the guys in the class and it turns out that he is from Kailua! What a coincidence!

As I left class, I was about to pull out onto the main road when a woman backed into my car. Can you believe it? We got out and inspected and it doesn’t look like there was any damage, thank goodness. We exchanged phone numbers anyways, I want to look at it in the light. I don’t think there is any marks at all, it was just a tap.

I came home at around 10:15, and Michael managed very well without me. He had some scheduling issues and some crying here and there, but generally all went well. This was the first time he did their bedtime routine by himself.

Elijah poop watch: It’s been 4 days! Explosion eminent.

I stayed up super late last night (or I should say this morning) not cooking for Michael, but investigating pain relief from shots. I found out that a 24% sucrose solution is supposed to provide short term pain relief. It was interesting, they did a study and it showed that babies who were given sugar water cried 50% less than the control group. I decided to give it a try. I did ask the doctor to prescribe some EMLA cream, but I didn’t have any “dressing” to cover it (I thought it was supposed to be rubbed into the skin, not sit on top), and also I didn’t know where they were going to do the shot. I know it’s on their thigh, but I needed to find out exactly where. So I decided to do the sugar water thing and see how that works out. Of course, I didn’t have distilled water, so I went out to QFC to pick up some. I then went to bed, but my mind was racing with all the things that I need to do in the morning. I finally fell asleep, but a couple of hours later, Rowan woke up out of the blue. Michael changed him and brought him to me in bed. It is nice that I’m able to feed them while semi-sleeping.

Rowan ate, then fell asleep. He was so cute lying on his side snuggled up against me. I had to get up to feed Elijah, and since he looked so cozy, I let him stay in the bed. I fed Elijah and gathered all the stuff together to go to the doctors, and then I went back to find Rowan exactly where I left him.

We went to the doctor’s, and I told the nurse what I wanted to do and she was ok with it. She never heard of using sugar water for pain relief. Hmpf! I dipped my finger into the sugar water for Elijah while he sucked on it. Somehow I feel like he sucks my finger harder than the pacifier. We waited two minutes then he got his shots (IPV and Hib). He did cry but not for too long. After about 30 seconds, he was smiling again. But his crying started Rowan to cry. Rowan cried a little longer than Elijah and I gave him .4ml of the sugar water and that seemed to do the trick. They didn’t cry all the way home. I changed them back into cloth diapers and Elijah was really bothered by it. I think it’s because the cover goes right over the shot area and puts pressure on it. Poor baby! I rearranged the cover so it wasn’t directly on the shot, but it still hurt him. Luckily, he ate ok and then went down for his nap just fine. He was irritable all day but got a lot better towards the evening. By the time Michael came home, he was back to his smiley self. Rowan was just fine the whole day. I think for their next shot, I’m going to still do the sugar water, but also do the EMLA cream. They are going to have a shot or two every month for the next 5 months. The shot that hurts is the DTaP, which is the one we will get next month.

I had to run to the store to pick up salmon for Michael’s meals. I went to Safeway first, and since they are renovating, they didn’t have any fish out. So I had to go into downtown Woodinville and I went to Albertson’s. They didn’t have any fish out at all, so I had to go to Top Foods. At first, I didn’t see the fish and I was about to scream, but I found some. That’s what I get for waiting until 11:30pm to go shopping.

Early this morning I decided to do something else besides going to Reel Moms (movie at Woodinville Theatre where they let you bring in babies and they play the movie softer than normal and not dim the lights). Some people were talking about going stroller skating in Bellevue so I decided to give it a try. Both Michael and I went and as usual, he was the only male there amongst a sea of women and babies. Some of them were really impressed there was a dad there! It was only $4 and it included the rental of the skates. When we first put on the skates, we both were unsure how well we would do. It felt a lot more slippery than I remember! Luckily our stroller is good ‘n heavy with the boys in it and the handle bar is very high. The only thing that sucked was that you *had* to have a stroller while skating, so we took turns. It’s just as well since we both got tired fast. Michael got some “hot spots” on his feet, those tender morsels can take a beating in the mountains, but couldn’t handle a few minutes on skates. Muscles in my hip hurt real quick (right where the joint is to the leg) as well as my lower back. It was good exercise, we both left a little moist. If I skated the whole time, I’m sure I would have been more sweaty. The boys were really well behaved even though they were overdue for a nap, and enjoyed the fast riding. They took turns dozing off. I felt sorry for this woman who couldn’t skate and she had a little umbrella stroller that was so low that it was very hard for her to learn. I offered her to push the boys around since I think it would’ve been easier, but she said she was ok. Her poor son, he was very patient even though you could see in his eyes that he wanted to go fast like every one else. She eventually gave in and switched off strollers with another woman. She did manage to go faster, but still didn’t get the hang of “gliding”.

We also made a new friend, a woman named Alicia and her daughter Kaiya (6 mo). They were very nice and we chatted a bit here and there. She is 1/2 japanese and her husband is 3/4 japanese so her daughter is 5/8 japanese. Michael and I were surprised that she knew the word “hapa”, only Hawaii people say that word! She is from Colorado/Canada, so I’ll have to find out how she knows it. She probably has relatives from Hawaii. She was saying that people come in groups to skate, so it is hard to meet a lot of them, and she was right. Everyone was friendly and smiled, but they stuck to who they knew. No one else seemed interested in talking to us, but that’s ok. I’m sure once I go more often I’ll have more opportunities to chat.

Alicia also mentioned some other things to do that sounded fun, but was expensive. There’s the “Little Gym” and “Gymboree”, but it costs $300 for 20 weeks PER BABY. They give a 10% discount for a sibling, but that’s only $30, big deal. I don’t think we can afford something like that. When they get a few months older, they have music classes that I might spring for. They do give you one free class so I’ll take advantage of that! It’s pretty fun trying to find things to do to get out of the house that doesn’t cost too much money. Just going for a walk is ok, but there’s no one to talk to. I need to find more opportunities to talk to other people too so I don’t get too crazy cooped up in here.

After we got home, I fed them and immediately put them to bed. They went down without a peep! I cooked my breakfast burrito, then took a nap as well. We all didn’t surface until 4 hours later! Geez!

Tomorrow the boys get their first shots. I held out a long time. I did ask the doctor to prescribe some EMLA cream, which numbs the skin and makes it hurt a little less. Keep your fingers crossed!

Michael took the car in today to get fixed. There were numerous problems with it. There was some part of the AC that needed replacing, the check engine light went off and on for some other part (can’t remember what it was) and then one of the rear lights needed to be replaced. We’ve been living with all these problems the last month or so since we got the car back after being in the shop for so long. They aren’t major problems, just little annoying problems that add up to irritation.

We also decided to look into getting a nanny for 1 day a week, so I can run my errands or do whatever. I looked at the website and they said it would be $13/hr. Not too bad. I sent in our application and got the “full” information. It would cost $150 annually to use their service, and you have to pay $20 service fee each time someone comes out to the house. So, say I hire someone for 4 hours a week, it would cost $72 or $75 or $80 if you include a tip. So that’s $20/hour. Not sure it’s worth it. They also have “permanent” placements that you don’t have to pay the $20 per day fee, but not sure it would come out any cheaper. Maybe I can find someone on my own that’s not a referral. We’ll see.

I also talked to my dad, they got the picture that I sent them for my mom’s birthday framed and it looks really really nice. They are so proud. My mom is lucky that she has a friend who is a framer, so he did it within 1 day! Wish I had that kind of service!

My grandma’s services are going to be next week. It’s a bummer that I am not going to be able to make it - we can’t really afford it for one, and it would be hard to be away from the boys in addition to next month’s trip. I was thinking it would be nice to go and bring one this time and then bring the other during the next time I go. But just thinking about bringing all the crap that they need changed my mind real quick.

Today my grandma (father’s mother) passed away. She lived a long life, and died very peacefully of just old age. My dad was able to fly to the Big Island and see her right before she passed. We don’t know much more of the funeral details, so I’m not sure if I’m going to go. It will be hard to leave the boys for another time, but I will go if I can.

Other than that, today was the boys’ 4 month birthday and also my “day off”. Michael took care of the boys all day (except for feedings) so I was able to do some bills, gather stuff together and start on my taxes. Ugh. I think we will end up paying. Michael felt really guilty about making me stay up all the time to cook his meals so he took me out to I Love Sushi for dinner. Yummy!

We found out that Elijah likes the electric piano, not regular piano. One of the things Michael did with him was sit him on his lap and then play/sing a melody and Elijah would sing along! And then he would get all excited when Michael would put his hands on the keyboard and play some notes. So now I have to add that to our daily routine. I’m trying to find things to do with them outside so that I get out and talk to people. I think I’m getting a little stir crazy.

A new thing we also did today was create some original designs for merchandise. Michael does such awesome illustrations that they must be on some shirts! So, if you feel so inclined and would like to help Rowan and Elijah go to college, be sure to shop at our store! If there’s something you would like that is not available, feel free to email me. This idea all started because we were watching “Best In Show” and the guy said something like “His nibs here…” and I was like “What does ‘his nibs’ mean?” So I looked it up through the power of the internet and it means “his royal highness” or a man who acts high class. I thought it would be really cute to have a onesie that had just “his nibs” with a crown. I couldn’t find one anywhere, so I thought I should just make one myself! So, we will put up new designs every once in awhile and hopefully make some money.

I stayed up really late tonight not cooking but working on the new store website. Very excellent use of my time, I think!

Today I spent the day catching up on sleep, poor babies had to put up with their tired mom. Michael had to go to work today, so it was like a weekday. I usually am tired in the morning hours and by the afternoon I’m ok. The boys are starting to grab things now. Elijah grabbed his burp cloth that I put on his lap in the bouncy chair and threw it on the ground. Rowan grabs his bib and pulls on it so it covers his face. Rowan also has a way of travelling on his play mat. He will lie on his back, then lift his legs up to roll on his side and tilt a little, then roll back on his back. I left him at his playmat for a few minutes and when i came back he was about 6 inches away from when he started. It was too funny! They really like story time as well. Whenever either of us reads stories, they both light up and are real quiet. We’re running out of books! Their favorites right now are “How about a hug?” and “In the night kitchen”.

I am getting a little bit stir crazy and frustrated that I can’t get any of my normal stuff done. So Michael agreed to give me a day off tomorrow. I won’t leave the house, but I’ll be able to sleep or get caught up on things. YAY!

This morning Michael slept in late and we had a lot of fun talking, it seems like forever since I’ve seen him with this crazy schedule. I cracked him up with my tale of the shallot. When I went to Safeway last night, I needed to pick up supplies to cook his meals. One of the recipes called for a shallot. Now, I had no idea what it was. I walked around looking for a sign. There was lots of construction going on and while I was walking around the onion counter, this guy half way in a hole pipes up and says “Sorry ma’am, can I help you find something?” and puts his hand up to stop me, like I would go falling in the hole if he didn’t stop me. I told him “no” and continued searching. Around the other side, I found the sign for shallots and there was another sign for pearl onions right next to it. Above the shallot sign was a bucket full of what looks like pearl onions, and above the pearl onion sign was a bucket of what looked like large brown garlic. I stood there a minute or so, then the guy in the hole piped up again “do you need some help?” And I asked him if he knew what a shallot was and he came out of his hole to look. He said “Them’s the shallots” (well, he didn’t say it like *that*, but I’m adding the western accent for color). I said “Are you sure that’s not pearl onions?” And he said “No, those are shallots and those are pearl onions” And I said “They sure look like pearl onions to me”. He said it again “Those are shallots”. I didn’t believe him because his “shallots” were white, like pearls and looked like little onions, hence, pearl onions. He was just so sure that the signs were not wrong. I took one of each and brought them to the checkout line. I asked the woman, hoping she would know. She confirmed that the white one was a pearl onion, and she held the other one and said, “it sure looks like a garlic”. I said “yeah, but it was next to the shallot sign”. I noticed in her checkout book, there was a picture of a shallot and it was pretty close to the brown garlic. She said “Well, *I* think it’s a garlic, but maybe it is a shallot in a funny shape”. I went home very confused and figured I would just look it up on the internet. Sure enough, the brown garlic turned out to be a shallot. I could tell once I cut into it and my eyes started to water. Anyways, it turns out that even Michael knew what shallots were. I was kind of surprised!

I was so tired from the night before that I could barely entertain the troops. I put them down under their playmat and took a nap on the couch next to them. We all took naps together, thank goodness they took a long one after their morning play time. I did better the second round, I read them a few stories, they like that a lot, and tried to make them laugh. It is so much fun to find new ways that gets a little chuckle.

In the evening, Lorna stopped by to drop off some cookies and chatted a little about diapers. She met with a diaper consultant, and she highly praised the bummis and the hemp doublers that I loaned her. I was very pleased that all my research has been “approved” by an expert. All she needed was to try out some other thicker diapers along with the hemp. Hope she finds a solution soon!

So, my theory was correct. The boys slept very well last night and didn’t get up until 8:45am. Today was a great day! I still had to spend the day catching up on sleep as usual, but whenever we were up, we practiced smiling and laughing. They are both learning how to laugh, they can both make a big smile and do “heh-heh” and that’s it. In the morning, almost any face you make will make them have a big smile. They both like it whenever I repeat what they say. Elijah makes sighing noises, 4 of them, they start out high and get lower. It’s hard to explain. Rowan likes to say “aaaeeeuuuwww”. Whenever I get close to his face and repeat it back to him, he either gives me a smile and a chuckle or he stares really hard at my mouth and tries to mimic it. It’s so much fun to have them so reactive to whatever you’re doing. Elijah especially likes to smile A LOT, but whenever I bring the big ol camera out, he stops. I have to be very patient and hold the camera off to the side and try to sneak one in. I’ll have to get a tripod and do a video since it’s so dang cute. Or maybe me and Michael can do it on the weekend.

This evening I wanted a break so we went to the Woodinville Cafe for dinner (Michael could only get a salad). It was nice to get out. Once we got back we had to get them ready for bed, put them down, I had to pump, then start a load of laundry and then go out to the store to get food for Michael’s meals. Then I stayed up to cook. It wasn’t too bad tonight, I spent most of the evening writing this blog!

Today was a pretty busy day. Rowan got up early (5am?), so I fed him and then immediately put him back down. Thank goodness he didn’t fuss and want to stay up. My eyes could barely stay open since I stayed up until around 3 cooking Michael’s meals and my dinner. I spent the day catching up on sleep, getting up with the boys and sleeping whenever they did. It actually works out well. The change that I did this week was that I usually let them sleep however long they want, and let them get off schedule. But now I wake the other one up when one gets up. It was hectic yesterday but today it seemed to be ok. I actually managed to get in 15 minutes of knitting (2 rows), which I haven’t done in the last week or so. For those 15 minutes, I felt like a very leisure person with no one to entertain, it was great. Then I had to get organized and get them ready to go. First, I had to get all the myriad of things together - diaper bag (check to make sure it’s stocked), milk bottles, 2 rattles, blanket, pacifiers, etc. I went to Lorna’s house (our babysitter and fellow emom) to drop off some diaper doublers. I’m helping to solve her son’s “Niagra Falls” night time diapering problem. Basically, disposables are not hefty enough for his bladder, so she is trying out cloth. I loaned her some diaper covers (bummis) and some hemp doublers. It’s better than the disposables, but sometimes he still leaks. I loaned her the small doubler, so I dropped of a larger size since I just got them in. I hope they help. Anyways, after I stopped there, we went to REI and met Michael and Theron at around 6:30. The boys were very quiet and satisfied up until they started the slide show. They started to fuss so I started to feed them. Thank god Nancy was there to help with Elijah. I fed Rowan while standing and that put a real strain on my arm. He was fine for a few minutes after he was fed, then Michael cracked a joke, everyone laughed and he freaked out. I realized that he has become much more sensitive to sound and lots of loud noises bother him now. Bummer. So, I had to take him out and walk him around the store. Elijah was fine and Nancy could stay inside and watch. I looked at baby backpacks and they’re an awful lot of money. I’m wondering how much we would use them. Since our stroller goes on trail, do we need them? Not sure. I guess when we find a need, we will get them. Rowan mostly slept through the rest of the show (outside in the stroller in the shoe section) and I just sat with him. It sounded like the slide show was a success, I heard lots of laughter and the place was super packed. After it was done, I talked with some folks - my sister and Scott, Mike and Helen, John Bennett, New York John, the Haleys (of course), I wish I could’ve talked to each of them longer, but alas, REI was closing. There was a funny moment in the elevator though. We all were in there - the Haleys, Theron, us, babies and Shaun and Scott. I forgot to introduce Mark Haley to my sister, so I did and Theron piped up and said “Oh, I didn’t know that was your sister” and introduced himself. He thought they were some Microsoft friends. I guess you had to be there. I could’ve sworn I introduced her to them, although it was a long time ago so they probably forgot. We went home in two separate cars, I realized how much I haven’t seen Michael lately. He’s gone early in the morning and in the evenings he’s exercising and I’m making his meals for the next day. Thank god it’s only for 2 weeks. I can’t keep this up much longer!

Tonight is a big milestone, we moved the boys into their own room (across the hall from our bedroom). I have been reluctant to do it, because it comforts me to hear them breathing or slightly snoring as I fall asleep. But since they have been getting up earlier whenever Michael does, I’m suspecting it’s because they are more sensitive to sound, at least Rowan is. In addition to the slide show freak out, yesterday, Tami (the cleaning gal), turned on the vaccuum cleaner and he got scared and started crying really loud. I was feeding Elijah at the time and he jumped too, but I guess since he was nursing, he was immediately calmed. I had to pull him off to get to Rowan. Poor baby! Elijah has been an extremely patient baby, since Rowan has been needing a little more TLC the last few days.

Elijah is super close to turning over. Whenever I put him down on the play mat, he almost immediately goes on his side. He hasn’t figured out how to throw his weight over his arm. Rowan is getting very good with his hands. He plays with this fish that makes noises whenever it moves and he makes it almost constantly go off. Elijah likes to lie next to him and watch the light/music show. They are really cute together.

I apologize to my faithful readers for my 3 week absense! You would think with grandparents around to help that I can get off my lazy butt and write something, but no. So, I’ll just sum up in this post.

First, my parents came from March 1 to March 11. It was a really good visit, they got to know the boys well. Every day that they stayed at our house, they took the boys for a walk to Safeway. It got longer and longer each time because they would stop at the lake and chat with folks there. They loved all the attention they got from carting around the boys. One woman even stopped her car to take a look and show them her twins! During their visit, my mom was able to make Rowan smile a lot. Before then, he would smile every now and then. Now, he smiles all the time and it’s so cute! We had a party at my sister’s house on the weekend for my mom’s birthday since she turned 60. That was the first time the boys stayed out so long. From about 4pm to past midnight! They did very well and slept ok in the car seats whenever it was their bedtime. I’m amazed that they could sleep through all the noise! We also went to dinner at Izumi on my mom’s official birthday with just us and Shaun and Scott. Their “signature” sushi is the salmon and Shaun, Scott and Michael ate a lot of it. It was really an interesting cut, it was a huge piece with a long “tail”. After dinner we went to Shaun and Scott’s house and we hung out for awhile and played some poker. As usual, I didn’t win. It looked like my mom was going to win but at the last minute, Scott won. Click here for the pictures of their trip.

Also during their visit, since we had free babysitting, we went to a couple of movies and I also had my first photo shoot! I had 3 sets of twins (emoms volunteers). I thought it would be easier if everyone was together, but since all the twins were mobile, it was kind of chaotic. I think the pictures came out very well and it was exhausting working with mobile twins! I definitely have to work on posing and getting them to stay put.

For my mom’s birthday present, I did a photo shoot of them with the babies and I think it came out well. Click here for the photos.

After they left, Michael’s parents arrived and they were here from the 13th to the 19th. It was also a good visit, but it was unfortunate that we didn’t get to indulge in a little more exotic food. Tom has lots of pain in his throat so he has to be really “safe” with what he eats. No spicy things or anything hard. We made the mistake of going to dinner at an Indian food restaurant! Michael took off from work during the week for extended visiting. I also did a photo shoot with them and the babies, click here for the pictures. The highlight of the trip was Carole went up in a 2 seater plane. Michael has a friend who does flights in the mountains and so he took her up. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t very cooperative, but they were able to go to Mount Baker and back. She wasn’t used to using Tom’s camera so she only took 1 picture!!! Michael was able to get some good pictures of the takeoff and landing. They were basically out the whole day and came back at around 11pm. They left last Saturday morning. Click here for the pictures of their visit.

After they left, we went to the Seattle Children’s Museum for Misha’s 2nd birthday party. Too bad the boys weren’t older, they would’ve enjoyed playing there. In the evening, our friends Jeff and Karen (newly grandparents) came over for pizza and to meet the boys. The big topic of discussion was that their youngest daughter was being “initiated” into the varsity softball team. They heard that they were going to be dropped off in Woodinville and had to find their way home. We still haven’t heard from them to find out what happened.

On Sunday, Theron and Aidan came over to work on the slideshow. They stayed until 11pm working on it! The show is on Wednesday so they had a couple of dry runs. Michael also started a new diet/exercise program called the “Ultimate New York Diet Plan” or something like that. It’s a 2 week intensive exercise program and I volunteered to cook all his meals. He is so desperate to lose weight, so I found this book and we’re following it to a “T”. The exercise is really intenese and the food is very sparse and hardly any sugar/carbs. I don’t know why everyone gives the Atkins plan a hard time since all diets nowadays cut out the carbs.

The days have been hard lately since Michael’s added his diet. The boys have also been getting up early the last couple of days. They have been doing so well with sleeping through the night, I am so pleased. I tried to put them to bed earlier, but they get up WAY earlier. So, I’ll put them down at 10pm again. I’m trying to squeeze in as much as I can without staying up too late. It’s hard! Even though I don’t watch TV at all nowadays (except for when I feed or pump), I still can’t fit everything in. During the day, I’m either getting caught up on my sleep or cooking myself breakfast or lunch. Whenever Michael gets home, I visit with him for awhile then I’m off to the store to pick up whatever supplies I need for his meals for the next day. I spend the evening cooking, putting the boys to bed, laundry, dishes, pumping, and doing whatever bills or chores that need to get done. The last couple of nights I’ve stayed up until 3 or 4 am, so I really don’t get that much sleep. I’m trying to get better. It’s only for 2 weeks, so I can handle it for that long.

I signed up for a photography “Light Control” class. It’s thursday evenings and that is “mommy only time”. It will be good for me to learn about lighting and how to control it. Right now, I just take pictures and whatever looks good, that’s what I use. It will also be good practice for Michael to put the boys to bed by himself. It’s not hard, but there is a sequence to it. Once you do it a couple of times, it’s not that bad.

Anyways, that’s the news fit to print! Hopefully I won’t be so lazy anymore!