All tuckered out after partying...

We had a great time with good friends tonite! The babies were definitely oohed and aahhed over and it was nice for Mom and Dad to get out!

Has anyone seen my keys???

I had them Thursday afternoon but they've been MIA ever since!  I came home from the store Thursday (with Carter) to a sick Alex.  I remember unloading all the groceries and getting Carter out but can't remember what i did with my keys!  I've searched high and low (trunk of the car, wal-mart bags from groceries, all countertops and tables, all of my pockets, all 10 of my bags that I take everywhere with me (for those of you who know me, you'll get a laugh outta that one!), the diaper bag and the entire car!  I cannot imagine anywhere else they would be!

On a good note (although I'm afraid to jinx myself), everyone in the house is well with the exception of snotty noses but that kinda comes with the territory when you have kiddos.  I'm here blogging with you (Caroline's asleep on the couch next to me) and the boys (Chris, Alex & Carter) are at the "Orange Bob" Store (Home Depot).  Not to be confused with the "Blue Bob" Store (Lowe's) :)

Mana packed up and headed back home this morning after breakfast for some MUCH DESERVED rest!  Mom (who finally (LOL) came down with the stomach bug yesterday) is starting to feel a little better and should be much better by tomorrow...

I've had a shower (insert joke here) and am on my 2nd cup of coffee :)  At this exact moment, life is good.  Who knows what the next few minutes will bring but for now we're good.

Tonite Alex will be going to our friend's house (and his best friend Nate!) while Daddy and I go to the annual "After Christmas" Party with our Sunday School class.  It should be ALOT of fun and I am SO looking forward to it!!!  We all bring a gift (white elephant) and take turns exchanging or stealing gifts from one another :)  It just occurred to me how old I sound.  10 years ago (Hell, maybe even 5!) I would've laughed if someone told me that was their idea of an exciting nite!  But alas, after 3 kids and countless sleepless nights (for one reason or another), it sounds mighty good to me!  I guess I am getting old!

Well, Chris just walked in and Carter is NOT happy so I guess that's my update for now :)

Love,
E

Seriously? Can we just have the whole house fumigated???

Now Mom is sick with the same bug.  It's spreading like wildfire.  About the only good news is that it is a fast moving bug so you're typically only sick 12-18 hours and it seems like the younger the age the quicker the bug passes.  Alex was feeling better already last night and spent the day with Mana and Daddy at home today.

Tomorrow is a new day.  :)  This too shall pass!  One of my Mom's favorite sayings and I'll never forget.  It's like my mantra since the twins have been born.  This too shall pass...

Work was good today just very hectic.  It was one of those days where I had a lot of "little" things on my to-do list but everytime I started one something else came up.  I finally caught up and was able to leave this afternoon around 5:30pm to pick up babies at daycare by 6pm.  I spent a good part of my day today coaching my tellers.  I really do enjoy that aspect of my job I just feel that I don't have the opportunity to do it as much as they need/I would like.  I love a good challenge so when they say, "I don't know how to talk to this customer about...", I enjoy helping them come up with different approaches.  For those of you who don't know, I'm a teller operations specialist at Bank of America and a very large part of my job entails coaching my tellers to meet certain daily/monthly referral goals...  I love feeling like I'm part of the team and coaching reinforces that for me.

So, last week when the babies were SO STOPPED UP and snotty, Chris googled for some advice and came across a product called "Baby-Vac".  Hold on to your seat here.  It's very similar to what the hospital used to suck out Carter's nose when he was sick.  It's a long tube (that attaches on one end to your house vacuum cleaner) with a bulb thingy on the other end to collect the ick.  I have to say I was VERY skeptical and thought for sure that it would hurts the babies or scare them.  Well, it came in day before yesterday and we tried it for the first time yesterday.  It was AMAZING!  Best $30 we've spent in a while!  It can also be used on adults...

Well, that's all for now, I'm dozing off as I'm typing this (yawn!) and I've got to get some good sleep tonite.  Sleeping on the couch last night just did not do it for me.  I woke up feeling exhausted...

Love,
E

The last few days...

...have been BUSY!  I came down with the stomach bug last weekend and it seemed that the rest of the family was in the clear.  Or so we thought.  Today while at the grocery store I got a call from the daycare saying that Alex had thrown up 3 times and was still sick.  So Chris went to bring him home and within the hour Chris was showing the same symptoms.  So, I immediately went into "survival mode"!  Ha!  I called in the reinforcements (Mana who just left our house a few days ago was back en route to our house, Uncle Robo was here to help and "Aunt" Leslie was on her way over!)!  By the time Mana arrived (thanks mostly in part to Leslie), the babies were contentedly playing on the floor, Daddy was asleep in bed and Alex was watching DVDs in his room (Thanks Uncle Robo!!!  Yes, we TEMPORARILY moved a TV into his room so he could "rest").  The house was calm.  Thank God for Mana!  I know I seem to say that alot lately but she truly has been a Godsend and I hope she knows how much we really appreciate her!

Now for the past few days...  The babies seem to be growing up overnight!  I'm LOVING having my iPhone 4 and taking advantage of lots of video and pictures on the fly :)  Here are just a few...

Carter LOVES bathtime!

Our cheeky monkey :)

Our typical morning routine...

Caroline is already learning to use Daddy's iPhone...

Not too sure about the exersaucer!

A long read but too funny not to share!

And I agree with it 100% (just times 2 for twins!!!

Thinking of having kids..Try this 11 step program first

 

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

 

Lesson 2 Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

 

Lesson 3 A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM. 9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive) Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

 

Lesson 4 Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

 

Lesson 5 Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this - all morning.

 

Lesson 6 Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

 

Lesson 7 Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

 

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air. You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

 

Lesson 9 Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

 

Lesson 10 Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

 

Lesson 11 Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

 

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent! For anyone else reading this - I'm thrilled that you are all enjoying it, as I did - immensely. However, I DID NOT write it! It was sent in an email from a friend of mine... and I'm not sure who the original author is.

Elizabeth L. Scogins

"Bloom where you're planted..."

www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Update on Mommy...

I hit send too quick. If you go to the blog directly instead of just reading the email you'll see the corrected version.

The doc said for me to lie on my left side and drink plenty of water and recheck my bp again in an hour. I did and it had dropped to 132/86 thank goodness. Who knows why it went up in the first place.

I'm feeling some better but am still quarantined to my room until tomorrow. We can't risk anyone else getting it and it's VERY contagious.

Cari called and even though they have just gotten home from a long trip, said they'd watch A so that has helped alot. He and his mom just have the twins to watch now and that's MUCH easier...

I'm feeling better already just very tired so hopefully by tomorrow I'll be good to go!

Thanks for the prayers, He truly does answer them...

Elizabeth L. Scogins
"Bloom where you're planted..."
www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!

Uh oh, Mommy's sick...

I feel awful. I was up all night every hour vomiting with diarrhea. For the past 2 hours I've had a really bad headache. I took 800mg of Advil an hour ago but it's not helped. I just took my bp and it's 151/105. I just talked to the oncall Dr. He said the blood pressure is concerning because he'd expect my bp to be low with the vomiting and diarrhea. He told me to lie on my left side, drink lots of fluids and retake my bp. If it hasn't went down after an hour I'll need to go to the ER. Please say a little prayer for me.

Love,
E

Elizabeth L. Scogins
"Bloom where you're planted..."
www.scogins.com

Sent from my fabulous iPhone!