Guilty Pleasures

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
Delicious this time of year. Usually something like this is too sweet for my taste, but this drink really puts me in an autumnal mood.

Dancing With the Stars/American Idol
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I can't miss these. It's like a drug.

Justin Timberlake
I love me some Justin Timberlake.

any Will Farrell movie
He is probably the most hysterical person on the planet, in my opinion. I mean, really, have you seen Anchorman?

mid-day naps
I haven't seen a nap in about 7 months. Maybe in another year or two.

Us Weekly/People/any Celebrity Trash Magazine
It brings out the voyeur in me, and it's mindless entertainment, which I sometimes desperately need. Something about seeing that "stars are just like us" makes me feel better.

What's your guilty pleasure?

Music for Babies and Mommies Alike

I just made an iTunes Mix for the babies. It didn't publish all of my songs (some weren't available on iTunes), but most are there. I have my iPod on almost constantly, and I needed a soundtrack for our bedtime routine! I hope this link will take you to it, if you're interested...

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=265216590

E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!

Give and Take

You know how life is supposed to be about give-and-take? Lately, I feel like I'm all "give." The babies are little, so they can't help how needy they are right now. I'm sure I'll get my share of "take" from them later when they are able to reciprocate more than a smile. But boy, at this stage, I couldn't be giving any more of myself...and since I'm nursing, I mean that in the most literal sense.

When the twins finally go to sleep, I just want to be alone. A-L-O-N-E. With a good book. But there's a husband that I need to give some of my attention to, since the only quality time we've spent together during the day included diaper-changing. And then there's my cats, who might be the world's neediest. They want to be petted, and cuddled, and they want to lay all over me. Trying to ignore them makes matters worse - they head-butt me and lay on top of the book I'm reading or the computer keyboard. So I give in, and they get their share of attention too. And then there's the laundry that needs to be folded, the dishes that need to be washed, the toilets that deperately need to be scrubbed because I can't seem to find the time to clean....

Becoming a mother definitely means giving up "me" time. But I'm so busy tending to everyone else's needs, who's left to tend to mine?

Can you tell it's been an exhausting day? I'm off to go read a little of "Eat, Pray, Love."

Sleep Deprivation

Here are some random items that I've pulled out of the washer lately. Apparently, I need to pay closer attention when doing the laundry.

-Charlotte's Robeez shoes
-barrettes of all sizes
-a used, wet diaper
-a pair of Gavin's new pants, with tags AND hanger still attached

Noise

We have some work being done on our house, so there's a ton of noise in here today. Banging, jackhammering, yelling, and just overall chaos. The babies are somehow peacefully napping through it. So why is it that they wake up the moment I tiptoe into the room? In fact, they seem to wake up the moment I even think about them waking up?

It must some sort of weird mother-child intuition thing.

I Scream, You Scream

I know I haven't posted for a week, which is about how long the babies have been screaming. I'm not sure what is going on with them, but if they are not being held or pushed in their stroller, they are screaming at the top of their lungs.

They woke up at about 6:30 this morning, and began screaming right away. It is now close to 9:00 am, and I am just about at my scream-limit, so the babies are screaming in their cribs for the moment. Actually, I only hear one of them, so perhaps the other has screamed him/herself to sleep.

They have no fever, and are eating normally. The doctor thinks they may be teething, and also may need some more solid foods. All I know is, if their screaming doesn't stop soon, I'm going to start. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Did I mention Michael is in Boston for a bachelor party? When do I get my weekend away?

National Nurse Out

Today, there are "Nurse-Outs" being held around the country at Applebee's Restaurants. Have you heard about the incident that occurred recently at Applebee's in Kentucky?

"The dispute with Applebee's began June 14. Ryan chose a booth in the back of the restaurant away from other customers. When her baby, Michael, got hungry, she began to nurse him discreetly, she said.But a waitress came over and said that if she wanted to breast-feed, she had to cover the baby with a blanket. Ryan said it was so hot that she didn't have a blanket. The waitress then repeated her request. Ryan said she then asked to see the manager and handed him a copy of the 2006 Kentucky law that prohibits interference with a woman breast-feeding her baby in public.The manager said he knew about the law but a customer had complained about indecent exposure, so she had to cover the baby with a blanket."

Now, many of you know about my love-hate relationship with breastfeeding. I do it because my babies are the most important people in the world to me, and breastmilk is the ideal, optimal food for them...but I don't claim to love it all the time. In fact, some days I downright hate it. There are times when it's nice to be rocking in my glider, feeding a baby, and amazed at how my body is able to perfectly nourish these two little beings. And there are other days, days when the babies seem constantly hungry, and I feel like I have parasites attached to me 24-7; and so I pull them off of me and announce, "You're weaned!" But inevitably, within 20 minutes I'm nursing one or the other again.

What I just do not understand is how some people are so offended by breastfeeding mothers. You are providing nourishment for a child, for Pete's sake. There's nothing indecent about that. ANY doctor will tell you how beneficial it is to breastfeed, and every bit of research proves it. But there is still this taboo about nursing in public that I just don't get, despite the fact that we live in a nation of fairly educated, informed people.

I had my first encounter with this taboo last weekend. Charlotte was exceptionally cranky, and we were out at a restaurant, in a private room, for a 30th birthday party. I went to the corner of the room, where there were maybe five people, and sat down to nurse Charlotte. I was discreet, and used my sling to cover up, but I got an incredibly nasty glance. No one said anything directly to me, but that was perhaps because Charlotte didn't want to nurse right then. If I had actually sat there and nursed her, there might have been a few comments. I'm not sure how I would have reacted, but I'd like to think I'd be both intelligent and poised.

I respect a mother's right NOT to breastfeed. I would expect nursing mothers to receive the same courtesy.

Random

There are certain phrases and questions that I have become accustomed to hearing whenever the twins and I are out in public. To wit:

"Double Trouble!"
"Boy, you have your hands full!"
"Do twins run in your family?"
"Are they identical?"

But yesterday, at the market, I heard two new ones. In the canned food aisle, an elderly lady smiled and asked, "Twins?" "Yes," I answered, waiting for the inevitable mention of their adorable-ness. "That's painful," she muttered, and walked away.

The second comment was from the teenage bagger at the checkout line. As he was packing away my produce, he inquired, "Are you making sure they are getting all of their vitamins and minerals?" Huh? Would someone ask this of a mother with only one child?

Wordless Wednesday - Hello, Solid Foods!

First Day of School, Minus One

Today is the first day of school in my district. It's the first time in 10 years that I haven't been there to greet a new class. I'm feeling a little melancholy. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be home with the babies for a year, but I sure do miss all the newness of the First Day of School. Freshly sharpened pencils, crisp clean handwriting paper, shiny waxed floors, first-day-of-school outfits, and the endless possibilities that lie ahead for the year...

Everyone likes to feel irreplacable. When I was little, I used to think that when I was home sick, that school just didn't happen that day. I thought because I wasn't there, no one else was there either. I kind of feel that way now, too. Like, how can there be a school year without me? I'm sure I'll get over it quickly, though, when I hear my colleagues talk about how much work they have to do, all the report card conferences and the planning curriculum to align with state standards. I sure won't miss that part of it.

Of Interest Only To Me

I weighed Charlotte and Gavin today on our bathroom scale. Charlotte weighs just under 15 pounds, and Gavin just over 15 pounds (which I can't believe -- he spits up so much it's hard to believe he gains weight at all!) It's a far cry from those 3 pound babies I delivered...