Imagined Conversations

The babies were happily playing with their toys on the floor this afternoon when I sat down with them to cut out my coupons. I quickly realized I forgot my scissors, and ran upstairs real fast to grab them.

This is the conversation that I imagine took place when I was out of sight:

Eli: She's gone! Can you reach any of that fun stuff?
Elsie: I don't think mommy wants us to touch her papers.
Eli: But let's just see if you can grab it... reach!
Elsie: Okay, I guess it won't hurt. (reaches behind her and grabs the paper)
Eli: Way to go sister! You're awesome! Now hand me some before she gets back!
(Elsie hands him a stack of papers)
Eli: Woo Hoo! I am a ripping and crinkling machine!
Elsie: Great idea Eli! We're having a big time!






I guess this is only an inkling of what is to come!

Charlotte

Yesterday we went to Charlotte for the day with Scott's dad and Mary. We had a great time. It was the perfect reason to get out of the house and do something for the day. We left shortly after eight, and arrived at Bass Pro. Emily loves this place. She doesn't understand the animal heads everywhere, and has asked on numerous occasion about the reindeer that got stuck in the wall. I think that she really believes that on the other side of the wall is the remainder of that reindeer's body. Lucky for us, the other side of the wall is inaccessible, and we're saved the drama of that realization.

We had lunch at one of my mom's favorite restaurants. When guests come to visit we always bring them to Sticky Fingers. It is a great local chain with fabulous ribs.

We did some strolling through the mall, and then headed to Costco where we found lots of Costco favorites. These include: costco breakfast muffins (you know, the ones that are completely fattening and will add one pound each, but are completely heavenly??) new socks all around, and.... TRI-TIP!!! That's right! Perfectly trimmed, Costco tri-tip! Now, please understand that years ago I found out that the Southern population doesn't understand tri-tip. It isn't found in any grocery store, meat market, or warehouse shopping center. I did find a butcher at Publix who has at least heard of a tri-tip (he has friends in Texas) and he made his best attempt to cut one for me. It was good. Very small, and somewhat of the wrong shape, unlike what I'm used to. But I paid almost twenty dollars for it. Needless to say, I haven't been back to ask him to cut me one of those 8.99/ lb tri-tips since! My mom has on occasion lined the inside of her suitcase with frozen tri-tip. Right now there are four tri-tips in my fridge, and Scott and I are in a state of tri-tip bliss!

Finally we made a short trip to Trader Joes. I got my favorite coffee, Scott got his favorite peanutbutter pretzels, and some other great things.

The day was great, the kids were fabulous, and we had a very nice time getting out of the house.

Dress up

We have a large bin in our playroom filled with all sorts of dress up pieces. Emily has always loved to play dress-up and I am sure she was thinking her little sister would want to join in the fun.





That isn't exactly how it panned out. Elsie was happy touching the different textures of the pieces, but dress-up it turns out just isn't her thing.





Emily however did find another willing participant who was much better at cooperating.








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A day in the life...

Actually, more like an hour in the life. A very funny hour.

Yesterday evening was quite comical. And really comical is the only way to describe it. But before I go into detail, I must explain the latest illness to strike the Johnson household. Elsie has a virus. Luckily it has only struck her so far. I thought when she developed a mild fever on Friday that it was just a typical reaction to the vaccines that she'd received at her well visit the day before. But when the fever spiked to 104.0 on Saturday, we realized this was more than just a vaccine reaction. After another pediatrician visit we found that the virus caused a secondary infection in her ear, and that she also has thrush. Poor sweetie! She is only comforted when she is held, but now she has antibiotics and slept well last night for the first time in days.

Ahhh. Okay. So knowing that, please picture my funny evening. I was in the middle of dicing chicken for dinner when I had to stop and feed the babies. Scott was trying his best to feed a very sick Elsie, and I was feeding carrots to Eli when he spit them all over me. And I mean ALL OVER ME! My face, hair, neck and and shirt were covered in pureed orange yuck. So I brought him up to the bedroom to towel off, and then began undressing the twins for their bath while Scott prepared the tub. While I spent two seconds walking Elsie in to Scott, Eli wizzed all over the floor. Nice. Then when I picked up their diapers, Elsie had a lovely tootsie roll that fell out. And in one fluid, non-stop motion the tootsie roll fell to the floor and I stepped in it. Barefoot. Ewww!

Once that mess was cleaned up, I walked back downstairs to rediscover Emily in time-out. (for not cleaning up her toys after being asked about a zillion times!) I noticed that she was rubbing her nose against the wall, and upon further inspection I see streaks of what else? Boogers! I guess that's what happens when a semi-obedient girl is forgotten about in time-out!

After I talked with her and disinfected the wall, I noticed my coupon organizer on the floor. Upside-down. With every coupon strewn about. And if you know anything about me, you know that I often get three sets of Sunday coupon inserts which means my coupon organizer is full. Very full. And dear reader, you should be horrified. I know I was!

I ignore the coupon organizer, secretly hoping the issue would go away, and I walk in the kitchen to resume the dinner preparation I had started over an hour earlier. But the chicken breast I was dicing looked funny. Hmmm. Yep. Dakota (our lab/chihuahua/boxer mut) had eaten half of the raw chicken breast. The remains were hanging off the cutting board, dangling from the counter top. Where was Dakota? He was trembling from underneath the kitchen table.

What else does one do after these event? Laugh. Hard. Then you call your mom to explain how hilarious the evening went. And when she says "oh honey, I'm so sorry!" You tell her it is really okay. Because one day the house won't be this crazy. It will be quiet, and calm. And I hope when it is that Scott and I will remind ourselves of nights like last night as we wish we could go back just for one crazy, chaotic night.

Carolina Snow

We rarely get snow in South Carolina, but when we do it is a big event. Yesterday afternoon the snow began falling and continued for most of the night, ending around midnight. We played in it a bit last night, and again this morning. What fun!



In our neighborhood there is a big grassy hill that goes from the top of the road, down to the pool and sand volleyball court. This big hill makes a great sledding hill, and whenever we get any snow it is covered with neighborhood kids and their make-shift sleds. We saw kids sledding on rubbermaid storage container lids, big metal mixing bowls, and boogie boards. Emily has a shark boogie board, and that is what she is riding with her friend Joseph, who she affectionately calls "Jofus."





The snow is simply magnificent! We've had such a special Saturday morning in the snow. And its so beautiful! Of course fun in the snow has to be followed by a hot cup of cocoa!

9 month appt.

The babies had their nine month appt. today. The big news of the appt. was that Elsie had finally caught up, and passed her brother in weight! She nows weighs one ounce more than Eli! We all decided it was because of her chunky thighs!

Here are the nine month happenings of Elsie and Eli:

-Eli weighs 16 lbs 10 oz and Elsie weighs 16 11 oz
- I've been giving them more and more finger foods lately. The other day I slow-cooked a whole chicken and fork-shredded it before giving it to them. They thought this was fabulous. And while Elsie thought the bits of mushy/steamed broccoli was great, Eli thought I was surely trying to poison him.
- When I sit Eli down, he quickly flops backward so he is laying down, and then precedes to roll and roll and roll. Elsie on the other hand will sit as long as I'll let her. She hates falling or flopping backward. Crawling is not in her near future, as she feels laying on the ground is beneath her.
- Both babies sleep fabulously (right now). As long as they are healthy they are sleeping well. Normaly bed time is around 6:45 and wake time is 6 a.m. I'm trying to push back the bed time to 7 p.m. so that maybe, just maybe we could stay in bed until 6:30. Apparently all of our three children have my cheery morning disposition. (and no, that's not sarcasm. I'm annoyingly chipper in the morning. Ask Jenny. I think this was one thing she HATED about living with me! :)
- Eli has horrible eczema on his face. We've tried numerous oinments and lotions. We've followed doctor's orders regarding creams and applying it as many times as we've been told with no avail. Just a few days ago it had gotten so bad that poor Eli began rubbing his itchy face on his crib sheets until he had blood all over. It made my heart drop. Today we got a new prescription steroid that we're hopeful will help.
-While Eli grew out of his reflux, Elsie still struggles and requires Zantac twice a day. When her reflux gets out of control she has a hard time sleeping, which is normally an indicator that her dosage needs to be readjusted for her ever-growing weight.

I still am in shock at them being nine months old. Didn't I just have them? Wasn't I pregnant with them just yesterday? Again, I need to remind myself that it goes by too fast, and that I need to slow down and
enjoy EVERY. SINGLE. MOMENT. (Don't even get me started on my almost-five-year-old!?!)

Bed Time

Bed time rituals and routines are somewhat of a necessity in our home. Even when the kids are sick, teething, or having reflux issues we try to stick to it. We have the bath time, the play time, the last bottle, the snuggles and kisses, and then lay them down in their crib.

However, the twins each have their own way of nodding off to sleep. They do it so regularly, that I knew I should be able to catch it on video without a hitch. I tried to tonight, and they didn't disappoint. I think it is rather funny, and so true to their differing personalities that I wanted to share!

Eli:



Elsie:


*And don't worry... every night I go back in and pull Eli's blanket back down!

Emily Grace

Emily just keeps growing. I try to make her stop, but she doesn't listen! In the past few weeks she has talked incessantly about her big five year old birthday that is coming up in March. There are seven other children in her preschool class (yes! EIGHT out of 18!) that are also born in March, and I think much of the birthday hoopla is perpetuated by the little girls discussing their parties at school.

When Emily was two she attended a birthday party for her friend Ella at a place called American Cheer Xtreme, or ACX. I guess this place made quite an impression on Emily, because she has requested to have her birthday there. I'm a backyard birthday type of mom, but was willing to make an exception this year as I instantly potential relief that comes with not having to have my house clean to welcome 18 preschool guests and their mommies.

The date is set, and the party is being planned at ACX. Emily is thrilled! She can invite a total of 20 children, and while you may think that a little girl may have a hard time finding 20 children to invite, Emily already has a list of many more than 20. I guess she'll have to think that through in the coming weeks before we send out the invitations!

Just today the UPS man brought a box to the door for me. Emily was at the door questioning if it could possibly be for her. I asked her what she thought may be coming via the UPS man, and she answered, "ACX may be sending me something, mom. You never know!" Then she promptly went upstairs, wrote something on a piece of paper, and taped it to the outside of the storm door. I looked and saw it said "101 ACX." Emily told me this was so that ACX would know her address in case they wanted to mail her something. :)

Anyhow, I guess all this birthday talk from Emily makes me remember all the birthdays she's had in the past. I included some pictures, starting with her first birthday and ending with last year when she turned four. It really does go by just too fast!

Much better!

Today I woke up and told myself that I was going to have a better attitude, no matter what the day brought. It worked, and for the most part, we had a very, very good day. Thursdays are my favorite because we don't have to be anywhere, and if we want we can stay in our pajamas all day long and play till our hearts content.

While both babies are still recovering from their viral infection, I feel much better. I still need pain meds to keep my teeth from feeling like they are severely in pain, but it is totally manageable. Today has been the first pain-free day all week, and I am so grateful! I was thinking about it this afternoon- I have taken more pain meds with this toothache/sinus issue than both of my c-sections combined!

And finally, I have to share about our dinner time at our house. I was trying to prepare dinner while Scott fed the babies. Emily was playing with her toys. But I want you to try and visualize our long galley kitchen with its (very many times mentioned) ugly upside-down rose wall paper, with the babies strapped in their high chairs, cheerios all over the floor, Emily rolling her toys across the kitchen floor, me chopping vegetables for dinner in-between singing to keep the babies happy while the babies fuss and shout between spoonfuls of baby food that Scott is giving them while he dances around the room to "our house." All with loud music in the background.

It was chaos. It was loud. It was our house at dinner time. And I loved every minute of it! A good attitude makes such a difference! Once again I am reminded that as a mom, my attitude has so much impact on my home and those who live in it!

Life

... is overwhelming at the moment. And it seems like this moment is lasting forever! Right now I feel like I can't keep up with anything. Things like the laundry, dishes, house cleaning, etc. are piled up all around our home as constant reminders of my shortcomings.

To be brief, let's just say I've had some tremendous mouth/tooth pain this past week. Turns out it is from a sinus infection (I didn't know that could happen!?!) and I'm on antibiotics that slowly seem to help. But it literally feels like I need a series of root canals. I'm on 1000 mg of ibuprofen for pain. And I am NOT a medicine taker.

And Eli is sick. We took him to the Sunday pediatrician's office when he was really congested and yucky. We were told it was viral and to expect his twin sister to get it shortly. After many days of a healthy Elsie, we thought we'd dodged that bullet. However this evening Elsie was very fussy and had a little cough that I'm afraid is only the beginning.

I have a hard enough time keeping up with life when everything is "normal" but I don't feel anything like normal right now. I'm praying the antibiotics will make a break through in the next day or so, but I'm also remembering the sinus infection that almost landed me in the hospital with pneumonia during my pregnancy.

Most of all I know that I have a horrible attitude, and I need to change it. I have talked a lot about my attitude in the past year as I've been shown over and over again how my bad attitude effects the tempermant of my entire family, the climate of our entire home. I will chose to focus on the blessings we've been given even when I feel crummy. And I will look forward to spring.... which bring nicer weather, kids outside, and less viruses!