List 2 of 2

As promised, here is the list of positives of having two babies!
1) Double the ATTENTION- I guess it depends on how you look at it, but I've never had a problem with random strangers stopping me and asking invasive questions.  I know, that's weird, but I'm kinda difficult to offend.  So people stopping me to talk about the babies has always been pretty ok with me.  I've had my moments, don't get me wrong, when I want to tell someone to just GO AWAY!  But most of the time I know people are just well-meaning and curious and if I'm honest with myself, I'm one of those people sometimes too...
2) Double the ACTION- I'm a fairly active person.  While I totally appreciate (especially now) time to myself to veg and I love to be with my family, I'm also not truly happy unless I'm able to connect frequently with other people.  Having two babies forces a person to get up and out of the house.  At least it does me, because I'd go absolutely nuts staying home all the time.
3) Double the CUTENESS- No for real, you have NO IDEA ;)
4) Double the HUGS N KISSES- if one baby is refusing to give mama snuggles or kisses, the other will happily oblige.  There is also much to be said for teaching them to hug and kiss each other on command, and then seeing them do it on their own.
5) Double the NEW EXPERIENCES- If I miss one kid's first steps then at least there is always another!  Ha, just kidding.  But there is some truth to this...we get to experience every milestone twice in quick succession, that means if you're melting into a big puddle of goo over how adorable your little one is while he/she tastes Cherrios for the first time, just imagine turning right around to another grinning Cherrio-encrusted face.  It's pretty sweet.
6) Double the REWARD- There is nothing like successfully getting BOTH babies to sleep for a good nap.  Ahhh sigh!
7) Double the LAUGHTER- They laugh at mama, daddy, grandparents, dogs, and hey, each other!!  twin giggle fits are pretty awesome.
8) Double the WORDS- I'm learning this lately as they are just getting their words, listening to how they play with each other using speech is very cool.  They sort of teach each other words and the way they pronounce one another's names is just precious.
9) Double the PICTURES- Yup, gotta take two of every situation!
10) Double the SHOPPING- Bwahahaha...come on, admit it, who doesn't love to shop for their kids?  Add to that the opportunity to dress them in coordinating outfits AND getting to shop both the boy and the girl sections?  Let's just say this girl goes to town at Moms2Moms sales :)

List 1 of 2

Today, a list of those "double the" things that are not so fun about twins.  Tomorrow, the list of the positives.  (Think of it as a "bad news first" scenario).
1)  Double the SIZE.  This applies to everything- pregnancy, nursing boobs, space the little bundles of joy take up in your house, etc.
2) Double the MESS.  Think two toddlers, running through a house with dirty feet, or food on their hands, food on the floor, etc.  What one doesn't touch, the other is guaranteed to destroy.
3) Double the DIAPERS.  Duh, unimpressive, I know.
4) Double the COST.  Again, not surprising.  This fact has just really come to light lately when it comes to medical costs.  One gets sick, they both get sick, one has a doctor's copay, both have a doctor's copay, plus the costs of medicine, etc.
5) Double the LAUNDRY.  Honestly, this one might even be quadrupled because there is no accounting for when they get each other dirty in addition to themselves.
6) Double the TOYS.  In most cases, I'm not into getting two of everything, but this does not mean that others are not.  Also, at Christmas, no one seems to feel comfortable buying one gift for them to share, so we have double the 12 month toys (and every age before that) of any other household that is doing the baby thing for the first time.
7) Double the FIGHTING.  Let's be honest, how many kids fight with themselves?  So maybe we should just note that "Hey, twins fight with each other, so add that to the list of challenges ."  They kick, pinch, hit, push, and bite.  Awesomeness.
8) Double the DOGGIE PESTERING.  Sorry Sammy, it's your lot in life.  Goes right along with being a husky that lives in Michigan.  What were we thinking?!
9) Double the EXHAUSTION.  Some days, mommy and daddy really feel it. 
10) DOUBLE THE WHINING.  Again, this is one of those things that is AT LEAST double because again, a single child gets frustrated, but he/she doesn't hit, kick, or push himself/herself.  So not only is there the normal "I'm having a bad day and just feel like complaining" whining that every child experiences (times 2), but there is also the "Mooooom!!!  Elijah/Evelyn took my toy!  Elijah/Evelyn ate the raisin I wanted!  Elijah/Evelyn looked at me funny!  Elijah/Evelyn smells like the diaper pail!"  Yup.  And there you have it, #10...the whole inspiration behind today's post.

I might sound like I'm doing a little whining myself, and I am.  But hey, I consider it my job to keep it real.  Just doin my job :)

Words

We are gaining language over here!!  Every day we work on new words and I cannot believe how quickly they pick up on them.  Right now I'd say we've started gaining one or two words a week, and it's fun to see who picks them up quickest.  It seems that they alternate picking up words, Evie started using them earlier but Elijah's vocab seems to be expanding a bit faster.  That will probably change by next week of course.  Right now Elijah's words are- Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, Evie (Ebie), Elijah (E-yaya), Poopy (and he looks down at his diaper every time), Bye-Bye, Hi, More (Mo), Night-night (Ni-ni), Bubbles, Binky (Be-be), Baby, and then there is the all-encompasing "woo-woo" for dogs and any other animal.  Evelyn says- Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, Evie (Ebie), Owie, Happy, Baby, Thank you, Poopy, Bye-Bye, Hi, Hey, Wee (used when she is swinging, sliding, or riding in her cozy coupe), Night-night (Ni-ni) and also "woo-woo" for dogs and animals.  The jury is out on how much she understands what she is saying, but Evie often alternates her pronunciations of "owie, evie, and happy" so that when she is sad she sometimes says "ebie" instead of "owie" and when she is happy she might say "happy" but she also might say "ebie."  Apparently she thinks her name works as an ajective in most circumstances.

Anyways the cutest thing was that today Elijah and I were practicing his words before bedtime, I would say "Elijah, can you say....(pause)..." While he would look at me intently.  Then I'd tell him a word and he'd repeat it back to me quick as can be.  However, for some reason tonight he changed his name from E-yaya to Eeeeeeeeee YAYA!!!!  Which was about the cutest thing ever when he would repeat all the other words back to me in a totally normal fashion until I asked him to say his name and out it would come: "Eeeeee YAYA!!!"  Anyway I think he thinks he's pretty cool.  Now we just need to get Evie to start saying her brother's name, she seems to be rebelling against that one ;)

The Plague

This sickness will go down in Heemstra History as "The Plague."  It's only been in the last few days that it has hit "plague" status, but it's been going on for several weeks.  We started with Elijah and a fever three weeks ago, then Evelyn got the cold and developed an ear infection.  Both kids were on antibiotics, then came this weekend...Friday:

After a playdate full of kids and fun, Elijah woke up from his nap with a killer fever(Gotta love making that phone call: "Hey, had a great time at the playdate, sorry my kid seems to have exposed everyone to a plague-like illness...Good luck with that.").  I set him up in the rocking chair with a book, sippee, mardi gras necklace, blanket and binkie...and his loving sister brought him a few more items.
Saturday: we spent the day fighting the fever, the grumpies, and (my personal favorite) the snotties.
Saturday night he'd been developing a rash around his mouth, he was terribly fussy, still feverish, and knowing that he had been exposed twice to Impetigo, we decided to go to Helen Devos for after hours care.
Four hours later he was miserable, and we left with the assurance that the now full-body rash was an auto-immune reaction to a viral infection.  AKA "Sorry, there is nothing you can do except give him tylenol and ibuprofen (which they refer to exclusively as "Motrin" which I think is weird...)."
Saturday night had me with a fever and body aches but feeling much better by Sunday morning...

Sunday: Elijah spent the day with grandma while Mommy and Evelyn went to Nana and Papa's for their birthday party (he was doing pretty good, just sleepy).  Meanwhile, having arrived at Nana and Papa's, my throat started to hurt more and more and we thought we saw spots back there so I headed to the med center for a strep test.  It was negative.
I felt worse and worse so by 7:30 both kids and Mommy were in bed.

Monday: Elijah's mouth rash looked awful, and his buns and legs were very red and itchy so back to the doctor's we went.  Guess what he was diagnosed with?  Impetigo!!  Surprise surprise (a mother's instincts are never wrong), so now we have a new antibiotic, topical treatment, benadryl, zyrtec, and a continued regimen of tylenol and ibuprofen.
Whew!  By tomorrow he should be feeling better, I'm really hoping this is the end and Evelyn continues to be past the whole sickness. 
Just for posterity, here is my photographic record of Eli's rash:

As if pale, skinny legs aren't bad enough.

Sorry about the nose ickies, you can imagine he doesn't like me wiping his face...

A Perfect Pair

A Match Made in Heaven?
My Other Half?
Complimentary?
You Complete Me?

I think I'll stick with the shoe pun, considering the circumstances...

 Periodically Evie will bring me one of her shoes.  She's a girl after all, and the shoes are easily accessible in a lower drawer of her dresser.  Since she loves to go through drawers it's all a natural progression, really.  What's rare is when her counterpart shows up with the matching shoe and both of them demand that I put them on.  Since there isn't anything particularly noteworthy about Evelyn wearing the left half of a pair of Mary Janes, here are a couple of Elijah sporting his sister's shiny platinum kicks.

And he's none too proud of himself and his impeccable fashion sense, now is he?

Is This Kid Mine?

My children...where did they come from?  I mean, I know...I've got the stretch marks to prove it... but honestly could these kids be mine?!

Evelyn has always loved our little spray bottle I used for cloth wipes solution.  She used to just play with it while I changed her, then one day she started sucking on it.  At some point I realized she was actually getting fluid out of it (had to test it myself to make sure)...soap-flavored fluid...ew.  Thankfully the cloth wipes solution is all natural, but at that point I switched to just water because she was begging for it repeatedly and well, it was just easier.  Yup, sometimes I take the easy way out to survive the day.  Go Supermom.

Anyways, she has taken to walking around the house with it, and since I now use my cloth wipes as poo-liners instead of their intended use, I really don't mind.

Hey snotface!

Notice how wet her face is?  Yeah, she has a new trick:

Lest you think this is in any way an accident, let me assure you- it's not.  She finds ways to prop the bottle so it is at face-level (sitting on my leg, bent down on the floor, resting on the ottoman), turns the nozzle towards her face, and sprays.  Before any water makes it out of the bottle she is already squeezing her eyes shut and making a face like she just ate a lemon.  Then "psht" a nice shot, right to the face, followed by another, and another, and another, until she's dripping wet and dissolving into giggles. 
Don't worry, we got it on video :)

When I Don't Have My Camera

Usually when I go to write a post, I am inspired by a picture I've taken earlier in the day.  However, there are some things that happen that are just too cute to get a picture of.  By that I mean that I would not be a proper mother if I walked away from the scene for even one second to grab my camera, it's just too cute.  Besides, the truth about kids is that by the time I got my camera they would have stopped, I'd have missed the moment both for my own mental image and any photographic ones, and just to spite me they would never do whatever cute thing they were doing again.

That said, here are two cute E2 scenes that went on today when I was not about to go get my camera to record them.

1) Elijah fell down in the living room, not the greatest start to a story, especially since it happens 100x a day.  This time though, Evelyn felt sorry for her brother and immediately shouted out "Uht Oh!"  She looked at me, eyes wide, like "Mom, we've got to do something!  Elijah fell down!!"  And proceeded to run over to him all full of fat rolls and sisterly concern.  Elijah meanwhile remained on the floor on all fours watching to see what she would do next.
  She proceeded to try her darndest to pick that brother up!  She bent down, both arms around his waist, and heaved.  When this barely budged him she adjusted her grip, one hand under his belly and one under his armpit, curled up and gripping his collarbone.  She literally turned magenta as she tried with all her might to lift him off the floor.  Finally, and with very little fanfare, she gave up and walked away, which prompted Elijah to just go ahead and pick himself up off the floor and follow her out of the room with his little prancing, tip-toeing, arm flapping gait.  On to bigger and better things I suppose.

2) Picture this- we're sitting on the floor, reading books.  As usual, Evie brings me a book, plops in my lap, insists on opening it to the middle, and then listens as I read from that point on.  Elijah, also in typical fashion is running circles around us, trying to steal the books, bringing us new ones, and talking a blue streak.  Suddenly he plops down and leans in to listen.  After about 30 seconds he leans in further, kisses Evie's arm, and continues to peer at the pictures, listening intently as I read the story.  SERIOUSLY!?  You're killin me kid, that is too precious for words.  At that point I stop reading, talk about "nice brother kisses," and they proceed to kiss each other over and over, complete with hugs, smiles, and "muah's!"

All of this, after I found Elijah in the kitchen, on his knees between Sam's legs, chin resting on the dog's back, humming to himself as he starred off into oblivion...I might melt into a puddle of mommy goo...

Michigan Bleaches

I have been making tees for little boys with fabric designs for awhile now but they were very labor intensive and easy to mess up.  I was inspired to try bleaching some tees and thought doing our state would be a good place to start.
Thus, my new tees: "Michigan Bleaches" were born :)

There is still a lot of room for error but it's a much more enjoyable process!