Alexa's Boston trip

I should probably let Chris do this...but I'm not sure he knows how to blog.

The weekend of the 17th Alexa and Chris headed down for a jam-packed overnight trip to Boston. Friday night included dinner at the Hard Rock (where she was a staff hit) and a Celtics game.Saturday's activities included the Museum of Science. There Alexa got to see dinosaur bones and a butterfly exposition. She also got to go to Faniel Hall and a tour of Fenway Park. They didn't get back until quite late on Saturday night.

Alexa was full of stories to tell for a few days after. And she's just in love with her new Celtics sweatshirt!

water

This week cannot end fast enough. It all started last Thursday...maybe Friday. That's when the ceiling in the twins room started to drip despite there being no rain outside. Luckily I've got the cribs positioned in such a way that it never dripped directly onto the cribs.

Later that afternoon it starts again. This time I happen to hear a washing machine running. So I mosey on upstairs to ask the neighbors to check their washing machine. They do and say "nope...no water. But it was spinning funny." Eventually the dripping stops. But it starts again for a bit on Saturday. So I call my uncle who comes over and tells them to not run the washer until they get it figured out.

And then on Sunday - again it starts. By this point I'd given up complaining because it was obvious nothing was being accomplished. To burn off some of my anger at the neighbors I did a kickboxing video. While I worked up a good sweat I still wanted to kick them directly.

Monday morning rolls around. My aunt (who is the property manager) calls to see how it's going and to let me know she's back in town. As I'm speaking to her I hear drips. But see nothing. Wait a minute...here it comes. Instead of drips out the ceiling it's a steady but light pouring. My aunt tells me to run upstairs and tell them she said to shut their washer off. The response "oops...I forgot."

Tuesday afternoon is a wet one. And about to get wetter. My aunt comes over with a handful of tools and begins to tear the ceiling out. It ends up being a family affair and a bit crowded. The neighbors are asked at this point to run the washer to see if the leak can be figured out. Nothing happens.

In the meantime where are Jacob and Elizabeth? Why they are napping in Alexa's room where they are sharing one crib. The other is in the living room and not really usable due to light and noise. For bedtime they get to squeeze into a pack and play together in my room till I go to bed. Not the most ideal sleeping situation and therefore grumpy babies.

Finally we come to today. Drip, drip, drip is what I woke up to at 6:30 (well actually J woke up wanting to nurse...then I heard it). A soaked floor (some landed in the buckets) and a spinning washing machine. And some soap bubbles just to prove that it is the washer.

Hopefully neighbors will use their brains (which don't appear to be very operable) and not run the washer. Because now everything needs to dry out really good so the ceiling can be replaced. That should hopefully occur over the weekend.

Thank god for that. I don't think I'll survive too many more days with cranky kids.

oldies....but goodies

When I was over at moms last week she commented on how much Elizabeth reminds her of me. I was a little surprised to hear this. I've never thought any of the kids look like me. And a very few others have thought it (like Rhi and her mom!).

So I decided to do some investigating. Unfortunately the photo album I have with baby photos in it has gone missing. Probably just in one of our unpacked totes. But mom did have some in her "picture drawer".

And here are a few that I found:


Funny thing is that we even have the same number of teeth - 4 on top, 2 on the bottom!

comparison

Alexa asked me to get a picture of the 3 kids today. It was hard but I did it!

Here's one of my favorites from August 2007:
And today...same raggedy haired girl with a tight lip smile!

back to the er

This time it was complete with an ambulance ride!

I was working on getting everyone ready to go this morning. Breakfast was done and Alexa was in the shower so she'd be clean for school. Liz and Jake were wandering around as they usually do. I got out clothes for them to wear. I had just set them down when I heard a dish crash down. Thought that was strange because Lex was in the shower.

Turns out Jake knocked it over. He used the footstool he'd seen Alexa standing on to reach up onto the counter and pulled a cereal bowl down. Then managed to crawl over it/next to it. When I grabbed him he seemed fine. It was when I got back to the living room that I discovered his big toe bleeding...a lot. As I tried to stop that I quickly checked the rest of him over and discovered a tear in his pjs at the leg - a nice 2 inch gash next to the knee.

Not knowing what else to do since no one was answering their phones I called 911. Apparently the FD across the street isn't staffed unless needed so they had to arrive then some of the EMTs walked over.

A bandaid for the toe and a few stitches at the knee. I'm not really sure how many because I wasn't watching. I was trying to keep my poor baby calm while he screamed. Not in pain (at least I don't think) but because he had to be restrained while the doctor did his thing.

This makes the 3rd ER visit for our family since moving to Friendship - cat bite, asthma attack, cut up leg. Not to mention a visit on Wednesday to the lab at the hospital for routine bloodwork.

And here he is all bandaged up. He's quite the trooper but will be wearing sometime over the bandage so he doesn't play with it. I have to keep it clean and dry for 7-10 days until the stitches dissolve...guess that means no climbing in the shower for him. And it's extra bulky to give him some padding for crawling.

And the lesson learned - keep the kitchen door shut unless I am in there. Or at the very least keep the counters clear and stools away.

15 months!

It's hard to believe that so much time has passed since the arrival of the twins. That's probably because there isn't a whole lot of downtime at our house!

To celebrate the day the twins had a well-baby check with their new pediatrician. This is the doctor I had planned to go with before deciding to try a family practice. When they took 2 days to call me back after Jake's ER visit (they didn't have his records in hand - I guess they don't have a fax) they got fired. I did make them copy the medical records for me so that the new office wouldn't have to wait 2 more weeks for GPPA to release them.

I like our choice. He's not to chatty with the parents but is great with the kids. After a doctor who talked nothing but politics I'm glad to have one a little more focused.

We definitely have some little peanuts on hand! Jake's stats have him weighing in at 19 lbs 10 ozs, 31 inches tall. Liz's stats have her weighing in at 19 lbs 1 oz, 29.5 inches tall. They've only gained 1-2 lbs since their 1 year visit but have grown 2 inches! And of course they are very, very active. They were all over that office...thank goodness it wasn't too big. Smaller rooms make them easier to catch!

They did have to get some shots and have more to make up next month. Apparently the dr decided to skip vaccinating them at 12 months. Plus we had to head over to the hospital to have some lab work done. At 1 year their lead levels came back high and their iron low. We are hoping to see the lead levels going down now that we have moved.

No post is complete without a picture!

for Aunt Kayla

I was told that I needed a new picture of Liz up...one that you can see her face.

Here you go:

Hand me downs

So can you guess who is who? Once upon a time it was hard to tell! The hair gives it away however. (and makes me realize how lacking Jake and Liz are compared to her!)

There is just something about seeing the same outfits on your next child that gives your heart a little tug. Or maybe it's just me. I love seeing Liz wearing things that were Alexa's. The outfit in these pictures is actually one I made. It took awhile and a lot of help from Elaine. I ended up making only one other shirt before I gave up on sewing for the time being.