Is it love?

When you get home from Chick-Fil-A with your much anticipated Ice Dream to find out it's not in the bottom of the bag, and Hubby asks if you want him to go back and pick it up?

I do think it's love ... now I'm not sure if it's more for Hubby or the Ice Dream, but that may be another post and my lifelong love of frozen dairy products.

Makes a mom proud

How did they get old enough to wear polo shirts? And have a total of five, yes five teeth? Maddy has one, Libby has two on the bottom and is cutting two on the top. Oh, and they can eat bites of shredded chicken and other "real" food, and sometimes "wave" hi or bye, but only when they are in the mood. Oh, and Libby can now pull to a standing position and Maddy has done it once. Yikes. And crawl up stairs. Bigger yikes.

Hubby said that since I have prepped them out in coordinating polo shirts and polka dot pants, that they will rebel and want to be skater punks as teenagers. Oh well, I went through that phase too, but I came around.

Hey, he has teeth too!

Daddy gets all the attention when he comes home.

Libby

Maddy

Required reading

As any new Mom and especially a Mom of twins, there are several books that make it onto your required reading list. Most of the ones that I've enjoyed dealt with topics about sleeping, development, giving each twin enough individual time, twin speak, etc.

I was happy to find out about the latest "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book, titled Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More, co-authored by Susan Heim who keeps up with fraternal twin boys herself. You can find out more about Susan here. This book takes a lighthearted look at stories of raising multiples ... the good, the bad, the ugly, and the funny. The 101 stories range from finding out "there's 2 in there", to the special bond of twins, to lessons that every parent of twins should read.

This book would be perfect for Mother's Day and with many of the stories only 3-4 pages long, even Moms of twins can find time to enjoy a few moments to read.

Do you eBay?

I'm not sure how to link to my eBay listings here and make them look good, so phooey.

My Mom and I are selling four pair of cute shoes on eBay. I listed, but she's shipping. She lacks the computer skills and I lack time to make it to the post office! If you are in the market for any cute, size 8, preppy sandals or flats this Spring, send me an email and I'll send you a link.

We have these new Kate Spade pink leather flats, size 8, with box. Never worn. So cute. I love the flower.
Gently worn Lilly Pulitzer slides, size 8, with box. Worn a couple of times with minor wear on soles. Very light pink leather with bow. "Cassy" style.
Polka dot pink and green Unisa heels with ribbon bow. These are sassy and so cute. Worn maybe once with minor wear on soles.
These fun and comfy Preen USA slides. These do show wear on the soles and inside, but are so comfortable and cute you won't care. European size 39, converts to USA size 71/2 - 8. For more information, send me an email and I will send you a direct link. My email is listed under my complete profile information. Happy looking!

A little secret

My little secret consists of 13.1 miles, several steep hills, a stranger turned running buddy, and friends & family at the finish line.

After I ran the 5K in March, I decided that I wanted to try to do another half marathon and do it before the girls turn one. I didn't really blog about it and didn't really talk about it. Basically out of fear that I wouldn't be able to do it!

Well, today was the day and I made it and also set a new PR - 2:22! I ran the NC Half Marathon, that was held in a neighboring city. I had taken my place near the back of the line because I really couldn't tell how many people were racing. It turns out that they started the race while people were still in line and in the porta potties, so I think a lot of people had a flustered start.

As they sang the National Anthem, I got a little emotional ... just thinking about all the many blessings of the past year. The next thing I know, the gun sounded and it was time to run so I turned on the iPod and was off. Right after I started a woman ran up next to me and said, "I hope you don't mind if I run with you. I thought you looked like a comparable runner and I don't want to run alone." Ummm, well, since you didn't give me a choice, I said that it was fine. Of course, I'm thinking that I don't want some lady chatting the entire time. But, after 3 miles flew by, Jill and I were old friends and I had decided that this wasn't too bad. We chatted about our families, professions, running, c-sections, music, blisters, hats, socks. You name it, we may have talked about it. We walked all the water stops, walked a few hills, and ran at a better pace than I thought I could do.

All of a sudden, we were done with 6 miles, then 8, then 9, then 11 and I was amazed that it was almost over. We had a beautiful day for running - cloudy, temps in the 60's and even a few raindrops. We made it to mile 12 and Jill wanted to try to sprint the last mile, so off she went and I enjoyed the last mile by myself. I knew I didn't have that much left in me, so I wanted to conserve energy until I was closer to the finish.

I neared the finish and could hear the crowds and realized it was pretty close, so I dug in and ran. I felt like I was flying until this guy that I had passed earlier whizzed by me. Grrrrr.

I crossed the line, received my medal, and found Hubby and the girls immediately. Hubby made a sweet sign cheering me on. Yay! We all enjoyed some post-race festivities, then came home to a much needed shower and short nap. I think pizza is now in my future.

My new running buddy, Jill.

Thank you for getting me up some of those hills and for sharing a piece of Gatorade gum!

Bending down to see Maddy and Libby. Hope I can get up!

Showing off our medals!

Me, OG Mommy Runs , and AK.

This was OG Mommy's 1st half marathon and she did great!

AK is a true stud and has a 3-month old baby!

It is also rumored that she wore heels in the delivery room.

All about photos

One more post about photos. This picture was taken back in December, right after we had Maddy and Libby's christenings. One of my favorites.

Anyway, I'm usually not one to scream "come vote for my babies", but I did want to tell you about a little contest that I entered over here. No idea what they will win, but the contest was for a) multiples and b) cute babies, so I figured why not.

So, please check it out and we'd love your vote. Voting is open until for just a few days, so don't delay. There are lots of cute photos and if you are a Mom of multiples, this blog is a great resource.

On another photo note, once I can recharge my camera's batteries, I hope to post some photos of the great party Hubby and I attended last night. It was a fundraiser for the Junior League and was truly a great time. Good food, good drinks, a great cause, a gorgeous setting, and good friends. Can't get much better than that. This party meant that I actually put on a cocktail dress, heels, make up, and left the babies with a sitter. Gasp! It really is amazing that all of the stars aligned and I left the house without sweet potatoes or spit up on my shoulder.

Lens cap = teething toy.

I may never get a good picture again.

Whirlwind

I'm still here ... I'll give you the Cliff Notes version of the past few days.

- Two 10-hour car rides.
- Two visits to Cracker Barrel and Denny's. *I swear, these places aren't on my top 10 list, but were awesome places to stop and feed the girls ... they brought us hot water for bottles and didn't care if we spilled 900 cheerios on the floor. Well, since Hubby's a good tipper, I don't think they cared.
- A 13.1 mile run for Hubby, who beat his previous time at this race.
- A 8 mile + 2.5 mile run for me. Long story ... I was supposed to run 10 miles to train for my half-marathon, but ran out of sidewalk (longer story), so I had to break it up into two runs.
- Lots of 80+ degree weather.
- Two nights away from sweet baby girls in a nice hotel, with a king bed, and fluffy pillows, without sweet baby girls, with a Starbucks in the hotel lobby. This is when I wish we had Grandparents in the same city.
- A wonderful dinner with old and new friends.
- A crazy family dinner with yummy food and lots of laughs.
- Picnic lunches, complete with bubbles for the girls by my parents. I really think this was so my Mom didn't have to continually pick up food off her floor.
- A tooth for Maddy!

Two months to cake!

Every month I take Maddy and Libby's "chair" picture, on the 21st of the month to document another month of their lives. I blatantly stole this idea from Goddess in Progress. Well, up until today, it had always gone swimmingly. Today, not so much.

We started off with some that looked like this.

That stopped working rather quickly and I became too scared to keep snapping, and decided to put them on the floor.

Well, that didn't work out and crawling ensued.

Maybe we'll try again later with straps, or duct tape! Oh, and can anyone tell me where the past 10 months have gone!?

Interesting article

Oh, I loved this article about the Comic Sans font. It just always seemed to me like this font was the one that came free with your Microsoft Word software ... it was just different enough to stand out from Times New Roman and Arial, and it always seemed that it was getting overused.

I think my personal favorite overuse of Comic Sans was one of my former coworkers who used this font as her email signature. If that doesn't scream unprofessional, then I don't know what does. I guess dress it up with some blinking pink neon and you'll be all set.

Can you tell?

Can you tell what I thought of my tendonitis diagnosis earlier today?

I have to wear this lovely 24/7, with the exception of baths. Wish I had time to take those long hour long bubble baths now. It basically holds everything "rigid" and "rested" so I won't continue to hurt my gentle little tendons. Oh, I must have small wrists, because the size small brace was too big, so this one was custom made. You would think I would have had a better selection of colors. I opted for black bands so they wouldn't show dirt. Nothing says "ewwww" like a sweet-potato stained hand/wrist brace.

Crack

Observations

On my way to the park for a run this evening, I noticed the following ...

A platinum-blond driving a Jag, wearing big ol' black sunglasses, talking with her fake french-manicured hands, while sporting leopard print fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror. I swear it looked just like Kim from the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Then, I was coming to a stoplight and I let a guy out in front of me. He waved and I waved back. Wish I would have made him wait after I saw his truck window decal of a nudie girl. Nice. Wonder what his wife thinks. Or his Mom. Do guys think that this will get them a date?
"Ooh, lookie there Martha ... that guy has a nudie girl on the back of his truck! Drive faster, I gotta check him out!"

Then on my way into the park, I noticed a sign stating that Registered Sex Offenders were not allowed inside the park. Well, great ... because is there a check-in for those registered sex offenders so they will politely be asked to leave? If so, I think I missed it. Just a little creepy, because unless this is just some sort of state law, I bet it means that they have had a problem in the past.

I guess you could say I might be reconsidering my city for a moment! Maybe I should take that Facebook quiz to see where I should be living.

Busy weekend and Happy Easter

It has been a busy weekend ... On Friday, Maddy and Libby came along to file their first taxes(they said yay for tax deductions) and took a much needed trip to the grocery. They are excited about orzo pasta, kiwi fruit and pears. On Saturday, they went on a 9-mile trail run with Dad, (I ran 8, but Hubby pushed the stroller 9 miles, up and down big hills.), then went to an Easter Egg hunt and an dinner with a few friends. Today, we went to about half of our church service, visited the nursery for the other half, checked out Easter baskets, then traveled to visit Grandparents, had another Easter Egg hunt, then traveled back home. Whew.

I hope you all enjoyed a Happy Easter with your loved ones.

Maddy visited Libby in her crib.

I hope there are some sunglasses in those baskets!

Maddy likes to shake-it, shake-it.

This egg hunting is serious business.

Wondering

Is it in bad taste when my doorbell rings at 12 noon to hug the person, kiss them, and dance around like a crazy person? I guess it would be different if I really knew this person, but it's my cleaning lady who is coming for our first "official" cleaning.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I have days that I feel like I should be able to keep our house as clean as I would like, but in reality ... it just isn't happening.

The fact that instead of scrubbing a toilet or mopping a floor, I can use that time to love on my girls, do a little work, talk to my husband, or actually think about making something for dinner and that makes me insanely happy. There. I said it.

I'm that girl

If you happened to be in my neighborhood this morning, that was me. Yes, I was the one huffin' and puffin' behind the orange BOB stroller, pushing nearly 40 pounds of baby + 23 pounds (the weight of the stroller.) There were times that I thought I might lose a lung, but it was OK. I ran about 3.25 miles and did walk most of the hills, but I am feeling like a real woman right now.

We survived!

Hubby and I took our first trip by ourselves this weekend. Gasp! Gone for three nights and two airplane rides away from home! I thought it was a success since we didn't drink entirely too much and make jackasses out of ourselves and we also didn't sleep away the entire weekend. There were definitely periods of imbibing and rainy, Saturday afternoon naps, but all in moderation!

It was a trip to Vermont for my work, but we were able to take families along to enjoy the weekend after our meetings were over on Friday. Since the girls are a tad too young for skiing, we decided to leave them entrusted in the care of their grandparents. All in all, it was a win-win. The girls were spoiled rotten, and the grandparents, albeit tired were able to spend uninterrupted time with their newest grand babies.

Today, I had to pick up Zeus and Zoe from their kennel and poor Zeuser broke his dew claw nail getting into my car. Ouch. Poor guy ... he wouldn't let anyone touch his paw and there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. The kennel owner tried to wrap up his paw, but Zeus was having none of that. It's no longer bleeding, so that is good. I think he is totally milking us for extra attention.

So it really is back to reality - - emails, phone calls, dogs, laundry, meetings, peas in the hair, and sweet potatoes on my shoulder. Never a dull day.

And the winner is ...

I had a lot of fun with our little April Fool's contest and it turns out that I am going to designate two winners! The first is Meg who hinted at the fact that there may have been some baby switching ... and you were right!

In the first photo, Libby was wearing blue and Maddy was in red.

Later that same day (as if I don't have enough to do), I switched their outfits for another photo opportunity. So for the second photo, Maddy was dressed in blue and Libby was wearing red.

So, I am giving Meg the 1st place price, then chose another name at random from the other guesses and congrats go to Natalie!

Thanks for playing along and I'll be sending each of you a special surprise from two of my good friends who have recently started their own business! Check out BE Creative Goods for great paper products and jewelry. Ladies, I will be in touch for your monograms and shipping information!

April Fool's riddle for you

An April Fools riddle just for you …

Nine months ago,
on the longest day of the year
twin girls were born
both whom are very dear.
Maddy and Libby are their names,
Peek-a-Boo and Patty Cake are some of their favorite games.
We think they are very sweet
From the tops of their heads down to the bottom of their feet.
But they were feeling a bit naughty today

since it is April Fool’s Day.

They want you to see if you can guess who is who.

So, dear readers, what say you?

I have decided to make this a true contest, complete with a special giveaway! Oooooh! Ahhhhh! Ooooo! Here's the deal ... please leave your answer in the comments, and I will pick a random winner from those who answer correctly. You will have until Sunday, April 4 at 5:00 PM EST to enter and the winner will be announced on Monday, April 5. Good luck & have fun!

And a partridge in a pear tree

Today consisted of ...

18 pounds and 10 ounces (Libby)
16 pounds and 3 ounces (Maddy)
27 3/4 inches (Libby)
26 3/4 inches (Maddy)
A combined 6 shots
A few smiles for Dr. L. and a fascination with her cool belt buckle and stethoscope
A few cries for the nurse who had to give the shots
And a TOOTH for Libby! It hadn't quite broken through yesterday, but it was sharp and shining for their 9-month appointment today.